Madras High Court questions basis of Shobha Karandlaje’s allegation on Rameshwaram Cafe Blast
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday sought clarification from Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, regarding her allegation that the bombers involved in the Rameshwaram Café blast in Bengaluru on March 1 were trained in Tamil Nadu.
Justice G Jayachandran, who presided over the hearing of Karandlaje's petition to quash the FIR filed against her by the Madurai City Cybercrime Police, questioned the minister about the basis of her claims. The FIR was lodged following a complaint by a local resident who objected to the minister's allegations.
The judge pointed out that Karandlaje made the allegations about the bombers' training before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in Chennai. He indicated that this timing suggested Karandlaje had prior knowledge of details related to the bombing, including the identities and activities of the bombers and their trainers. Justice Jayachandran emphasized that if Karandlaje had such information, she should have disclosed it to the police as a responsible citizen but had failed to do so.
Karandlaje's advocate, R Hariprasad, argued that the FIR was politically motivated and sought an interim injunction to prevent the police from continuing the investigation. However, the public prosecutor, KMD Muhilan, opposed the request for an interim injunction. Muhilan urged the court to view the video clip in which Karandlaje made her comments about the blast. He noted that the NIA's investigation had not implicated any individual or organization from Tamil Nadu, yet the minister publicly made the unfounded allegation.
After reprimanding Karandlaje for her statements, the Madras High Court adjourned the case to Friday, July 12.
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School enrolment drops for third consecutive year: Government data
New Delhi: School enrolment in India has declined for the third year in a row, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Education, highlighting a concerning trend in the country's school education system.
The latest figures from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), as cited by Scroll on Friday, reveal that total school enrolment stood at 24.6 crore in 2024–25, down from 24.8 crore in 2023–24 and 25.1 crore in 2022–23. This marks a drop of 11 lakh students in the most recent academic year.
The data indicates that the decline is primarily concentrated in government and government-aided schools, while private schools continue to see an increase in enrolment. Between 2022–23 and 2024–25, enrolment in government and aided schools dropped significantly from 13.6 crore to 12.1 crore. In contrast, private school enrolment rose from 8.4 crore to 9.5 crore during the same period.
As a result, private institutions now account for 39% of total enrolment, the highest share since 2018–19. The shift in preference is also reflected in the number of institutions: government schools fell slightly from 10.18 lakh in 2023–24 to 10.13 lakh in 2024–25, while the number of private schools grew from 3.31 lakh to 3.79 lakh.
The sharpest decline in enrolment was observed among children aged 3 to 11 years where enrolment dropped by 25 lakh in 2024-25 compared to the previous year. However, modest increases were reported at the pre-primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels.
This trend aligns with findings from the 2024 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), released earlier in January, which also highlighted a post-pandemic decline in government school enrolments.
