HC dismisses plea against publishing NIRF rankings
Madurai:
Madras high court
dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the
National Board of Accreditation
(NBA) to publish the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings only after comparing and verifying the data submitted by the institutions with the data in govt records and disclosing the calculation method.The court was hearing a
public interest litigation
filed by C Chellamuthu.
The petitioner stated that in all the ranking parameters, the data provided by the institutions that got NIRF ranking was manipulated and completely false. There is no transparency or accountability of the data submitted by the institutions. Instead of collecting data from the available official govt records, institutions were invited to submit the data online. Rankings are published based on the data without verification.
Operation Sindoor
'Common sense prevailed': Trump on India-Pak ceasefire on Truth Social
'Pakistan initiated call; both nations agreed to stop military action after direct talks', says India
Ceasefire took effect at 5pm; top India, Pak military officials to talk again on May 12
This could negatively impact the quality of education in India. Hence, the petitioner moved court.Earlier, the court granted an interim stay restraining the Union ministry of education and the NBA from publishing the NIRF ranking for 2025. The court also directed the authorities to file a counter. The Centre submitted there is a separate scientific method that is being followed and that the method is prescribed by an expert body.A division bench of justice J Nisha Banu and justice S Srimathy observed that from the materials available on record, it is seen that the petition is premature. There is no data before the court to compare and determine the correctness of the rankings. Therefore, the court is not inclined to entertain the petition. If the petitioner is aggrieved after the publication of the list, he may challenge the same along with evidence in the manner known to law, if so advised, the judges observed and dismissed the petition.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
29 minutes ago
- Mint
Donald Trump has many ways to hurt Elon Musk
THERE WAS a time, not long ago, when an important skill for journalists was translating the code in which powerful people spoke about each other. Carefully prepared speeches and other public remarks would be dissected for hints about the arguments happening in private. Among Donald Trump's many achievements is upending this system. In his administration people seem to say exactly what they think at any given moment. Wild threats are made—to end habeas corpus; to take Greenland by force—without any follow-through. Journalists must now try to guess what is real and what is for show. So it is with the break-up between Mr Trump and Elon Musk, the world's richest man and until last week a 'special government employee". A few months ago Mr Musk posted on X, his social-media platform, that he loved the president 'as much as a straight man can love another man". On May 30th, at a joint press conference in the Oval Office to announce Mr Musk's departure from government, Mr Trump called him 'an incredible patriot" and praised his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (known as DOGE). Yet by June 5th it had all broken down. On his Truth Social media platform the president posted that the billionaire was 'wearing thin" and 'went CRAZY". Mr Trump then threatened to 'terminate" his government contracts. Mr Musk responded on X, claiming that Mr Trump's name appears in the government's files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier who was convicted of trafficking and having sex with underage girls. 'That is the real reason they have not been made public," wrote Mr Musk. Later he agreed with a post saying that Mr Trump should be impeached. He also said he would begin decommissioning his Dragon spacecraft, which transports astronauts to the International Space Station. If carried out, the threats could be disastrous for both men. Mr Trump could lose a valuable donor and the supportive sway of X; Mr Musk's business interests could suffer enormously. But in response to a comment advising him to 'cool off", Mr Musk wrote 'good advice" and backtracked on his call to decommission the Dragon. Where things go from here is anyone's guess. The initial cause of the falling out between Mr Trump and his 'first buddy" was the president's so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill". Mr Musk was incensed that the measure would add enormously to the deficit, and so undermine the work of DOGE. On June 3rd he escalated his criticism, calling the bill a 'disgusting abomination". On June 5th he added another complaint, saying that Mr Trump's tariffs are going to bring about a recession. Mr Trump has his own explanation for Mr Musk's sudden disloyalty. He says the Tesla CEO is unhappy because his bill would cancel a government subsidy for electric cars created by Joe Biden. If Mr Trump does decide to retaliate, the risks to Mr Musk and his businesses are extensive. The threats the president has already made, however, are the least credible. Cancelling the contracts of SpaceX, Mr Musk's space company, would be profoundly disruptive to the government. Without SpaceX rockets, it would struggle to put anything into space, including spy satellites. The Pentagon relies heavily on the firm's Starlink satellites. SpaceX itself could probably weather such moves. Though it has benefited greatly from government contracts, the firm's commercial revenues soared nearly three-fold last year, according to estimates by Quilty Space, a business-intelligence firm. Mr Musk has also wanted to cancel the Dragon spacecraft for some time. Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Mr Trump who is no fan of Mr Musk, has proposed even bigger penalties. He wants the South African-born billionaire to be stripped of his American citizenship—he says Mr Musk is an 'illegal alien"—and his companies nationalised under the Defence Production Act. Such actions also seem unrealistic. Stripping Mr Musk's citizenship would require a judge to rule he committed fraud. The Defence Production Act almost certainly does not permit sudden nationalisation, even if the country is at war. That does not mean Mr Musk can breathe easy, though. His interests are vulnerable to more routine measures. At the time he entered government in January, he and his companies were subject to 65 potential or actual regulatory actions by 11 federal agencies, according to the minority staff of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, an arm of the Senate. These include accusations that Tesla, Mr Musk's car company, lied about its self-driving technology; that Neuralink, his brain-implant company, violated the Animal Welfare Act with its experiments on monkeys; and that SpaceX repeatedly failed to follow the law when launching rockets. (As head of DOGE, Mr Musk was able to dismantle some of the agencies within the government investigating him, such as the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.) One of the reasons why Silicon Valley magnates like Mr Musk rallied around Mr Trump last year was that he promised a more favourable regulatory environment. But 'there was always the risk that what they were buying instead were the conditions of oligarchy", says Donald Moynihan of the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. That is, business leaders who are loyal to the president get to operate as they like, while those who are critical get the full force of the law. Mr Musk may be about to discover what life is like outside the tent. Perhaps on feeling the cold he will find a way back inside. © 2025, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on
Mint
31 minutes ago
- Mint
Pakistan reacts as PM Modi says Islamabad involved in Pahalgam attack
Pakistan said on Friday it was "dismayed" over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that Islamabad was involved in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed. Commenting on PM Modi's remarks, Pakistan's Foreign Office said it "firmly rejects the baseless and misleading remarks" made by PM Modi. 'We are deeply dismayed that the Indian prime minister has once again chosen to accuse Pakistan of involvement in the Pahalgam attack, without presenting a single piece of credible evidence,' it said in a statement, as per news agency PTI. PM Modi accused Pakistan of targeting "insaniyat and Kashmiriyat" through the terror attack in Pahalgam during his speech in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. PM Modi reiterated that the April 22 Pahalgam attack was a stark example through which Pakistan "intended to incite communal violence in India and cripple the earnings of hardworking Kashmiris". 'What happened in Pahalgam on April 22 is a clear example of this. Pakistan attacked both insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat in Pahalgam. Its intention was to incite riots in India. Its aim was to stop the earnings of the hardworking people of Kashmir. That's why Pakistan targeted the tourists,' PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Katra after inaugurating the first direct train service to the Kashmir Valley. He added, 'The way the people of Jammu and Kashmir have stood up against Pakistan's conspiracy, the strength shown by the people this time has not only sent a strong message to Pakistan, but also to the entire world's terrorist mindset. Jammu and Kashmir's people have given a powerful response.' Earlier on Friday, the prime minister inaugurated the Chenab bridge and India's first cable-stayed Anji bridge, both symbols of India's engineering excellence, before flagging off Vande Bharat trains to mark the completion of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link (USBRL) providing direct train connectivity to the Valley. About two weeks after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes. (With inputs from agencies)
Mint
31 minutes ago
- Mint
Stun Grenades, Armored Trucks in ICE Raids Spur Tensions
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is intensifying efforts to round up migrants and it's using increasingly aggressive tactics. In scenes from Los Angeles to Massachusetts, agents outfitted with bullet-resistant vests and often displaying military-style rifles are shown in social media videos and photos being escorted along city streets by armored vehicles. A clip from Rhode Island shows an agent standing in a truck's open hatch, manning a rifle. Teams of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deployed heavily armed and helmeted officers to make arrests Friday around LA. In the downtown Fashion District, according to video posted to X, agents holding riot shields moved through the area on an armored vehicle, while others fired multiple flash-bang grenades as protesters gathered along their path. It's at least the second time in the last week that such tools were deployed to disperse protesters. LA Mayor Karen Bass and other elected officials denounced the raids and the use of force. 'These tactics sow terror in our communities disrupt basic principals of safety in our city,' Bass, a Democrat, said in a statement. The Service Employees International Union said its California president, David Huerta, was injured and arrested during one of the operations. The union said Huerta is a US citizen. ICE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Nationwide the ICE-led operations, often joined by other federal agents and local law enforcement, have coincided with an increase in arrests of people for running afoul of immigration laws. ICE reported more than 1,600 daily apprehensions, eclipsing 2,200 a day over two days earlier this week. That's more than double the 630 average of recent weeks and a roughly 450% increase over typical numbers during former President Joe Biden's last year in office. The latest figures are still short of the administration's goal, but the White House is moving forward with efforts to remove legal obstacles to deportations while ramping up prison capacity and enforcement capability. In the meantime, it's deploying social-media videos with quick edits and throbbing techno beats, made-for-TV moments to get attention. 'This is not normal,' said David Shirk, a political science professor and expert on US-Mexico border issues at the University of San Diego. 'It is a response to what has been a long-standing problem that is greatly exaggerated and intended to convey a sense of shock and awe.' Critics have long decried the increasing militarization of US police forces, which took off after equipment used in the Iraq war was handed over to state and local forces. In the case of ICE's immigration raids, Shirk and others say the tactics aren't only over the top, they risk further inflaming already tense situations, making it more dangerous for the targets, bystanders and the agents themselves. They say the raids are disproportionate to the threat and seem designed to maximize optics for US President Donald Trump and his supporters, while demonizing migrants who lack legal status but are otherwise law abiding. ICE officials are unapologetic about the shows of force, saying agents must take maximum precautions to protect themselves from dangerous gang members and other criminals. And if the high-profile raids encourage other migrants without documentation to leave, all the better. In social media posts, ICE routinely urges people to avoid arrest by self-deporting. In San Diego last week, an operation targeting workers at the popular Italian restaurant Buona Forchetta included agents dressed in camouflage, helmeted and masked, and some carrying rifles. It drew as many as 250 spontaneous protesters who shouted abuse at the agents. Eventually officials deployed stun grenades to disperse the crowd. The agency declined to specify the exact number of arrests or detail any criminal records of those taken into custody. 'The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary,' Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security department, said in a statement. 'In large part due to protests like this, our ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests.' Operations across Massachusetts over the past month resulted in the arrests of nearly 1,500 people for immigration violations, more than half of whom the government said had criminal records in the US or abroad. Heavily armed and masked officers were involved in many of the apprehensions. In raids in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard last month, about 40 people were arrested and moved out of the area on a Coast Guard patrol boat. In February, agents in Phoenix used an armored vehicle equipped with a battering ram when they arrested a 61-year-old man. At the time, the agency described the arrest as part of a routine operation and said the man had been deported several times and had multiple criminal convictions. 'The more police dress up in military gear and arm themselves with military equipment, the more likely they are to see themselves as at war with people, and that is not what we want,' said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project manager for policing at the American Civil Liberties Union. An expanded show of force by policing agencies can 'lead to unnecessary violence that leads to unnecessary harm,' she added. Todd Lyons, the acting head of ICE, this week defended agents' actions, including wearing masks, saying it was for their protection as the public grows increasingly hostile toward their work. 'I am sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I'm not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, and their family's lives on the line, because people don't like what immigration enforcement is,' Lyons said during a press conference. He cited incidents of people identifying agents and then harassing them and their family members online, sometimes posting children's photos and other private information. The agency has made tens of thousands of arrests and deported tens of thousands of foreigners since Trump took office. But top administration aren't happy with the pace. In a tense meeting last month with dozens of top ICE officials Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump and an architect of the the administration's hardline policies, said arrests should average a minimum of 3,000 a day. Many of those senior agents and officers left the meeting worried they would lose their jobs if the quota isn't met, according to a person familiar with the private discussion. The growing frequency of operations — and the gear agents are toting — can be unsettling to community members who aren't accustomed to such broad enforcement operations, according to Jerry Robinette, a former ICE agent who led the agency's Homeland Security Investigations office in San Antonio until he retired in 2012. 'They are in areas where people aren't used to seeing them and some folks are taken aback by what they are seeing, taken aback by the show of force,' said Robinette, adding that it's hard to second guess the show of force in San Diego without more details. 'Without knowing what the underlying crime that they were concerned about, its really hard to say this was an overkill.' Robinette and others said raids involving heavily armed and helmeted agents aren't unheard of in HSI operations. He said a more robust presence is often used in cases involving serious criminal organizations, including drug trafficking networks. In Warwick, Rhode Island, last month, a heavily armed contingent of officers was deployed to arrest a Guatemalan man who had evaded arrest during an April traffic stop. In that incident, according to federal court records, the suspect flailed about and wiggled away from arresting officers, leading one to twist her ankle and ultimately fracture her leg. The suspect was charged with assault, resisting and impeding a law enforcement officer after his May arrest. He is being held in federal custody, court records show. In San Diego, there's been no clarity on who was targeted by the ICE raid at the Italian restaurant. The tactics raised alarms from local officials. 'Militarized immigration raids in our neighborhoods erode trust, destabilize families and undermine the constitutional right to due process,' County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said in a statement posted to X. City Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera posted a photo of the restaurant raid to Instagram and wrote the word 'terrorists' over the image. Others have described ICE agents as a 'gestapo.' Lyons, in an interview with Fox News, said such descriptions of his officers were 'just plain disgusting.' Elo-Rivera said he stands by his comments, and described the show of force as unnecessary and intended to instill fear. 'It would scare anyone who saw them,' Elo-Rivera said. 'Nobody is safer as a result of the Trump administration attempting to enforce immigration laws.' (Adds details of Los Angeles raids from third paragraph.) More stories like this are available on
