Bengaluru: In a sign of growing popularity of residential schools in the state, as many as 2,75,610 candidates have applied for the 52,830 seats available at govt-run co-educational residential institutions under the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS) and the minority welfare department for the 2025-26 academic year.
According to KREIS data, 2,19,186 candidates have applied for 41,500 seats available in co-educational boarding schools. This marks an approximately 17% increase in the number of applicants, compared to the previous year’s figures of 1.87 lakh, according to data from the department of social welfare.
The trend has held in schools under the minority welfare department as well, which have seen a roughly 34% increase in number of applicants for 2025-26, over the previous year. According to the department, it received 56,424 applications for the 11,330 seats that are up for grabs this year. In other words, roughly five students are competing for each seat in this category.
Last year, 42,000 candidates had applied in this category, the department said.
KEA data show, so far, 26,182 seats have been allotted in the first of two rounds of selection under KREIS.
Exams for KREIS schools, conducted by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), are crucial for 821 institutions, including Morarji Desai Residential Schools, Ekalavya Model Residential School, Kithuru Rani Channamma, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee School among others.
“There has been so much focus on KREIS from the state govt and the chief minister himself. This time, 34% additional funding was made available to KREIS. So, we can improve the schools like never before. All schools are going to get their own buildings. Results have also improved. Notebooks and uniforms will come on time,” said an official.
For the first time, the minority welfare department held the selection process online. The entrance test was held on April 27 at 145 exam centres across Karnataka.
However, with increased competition, it is now quite common for students in the northern districts to skip regular classes and train at coaching centres for entrance tests.
Sounding a word of caution, a primary school teacher said: “Many illegal tuition centres have cropped up, which are in a tie-up with some of these schools. Primary school students often skip regular classes for a full day to attend these coaching centres, just to crack the entrance exams.”

Currently, piling is underway on either side of the Palarivattom junction as part of constructing the 11.20-km viaduct for the metro’s Kakkanad extension.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) expected to shortly finalise the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the elevated highway on the 17-km-long Aroor-Edappally NH 66 Bypass corridor, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), which is constructing the Kochi Metro viaduct for the project’s phase-two extension to Kakkanad, has submitted pertinent details of the proposed viaduct at Palarivattom Bypass Junction to the NHAI, to ensure that the alignments of both projects, which would criss-cross at the junction, do not clash.

The NHAI had in March directed the Bhopal-based consultancy firm preparing the DPR for the elevated highway to revise the contents of the report after taking into account the vertical and horizontal clearances for the metro viaduct that has been proposed over the existing four-lane flyover at Palarivattom Bypass Junction.

“The firm is exploring ways to finalise an optimal alignment for the six-lane elevated highway at Palarivattom, after taking into account the design of the alignment for the metro viaduct. The NHAI has forwarded the details submitted by KMRL to the DPR consultancy firm,” official sources said.

As per the NHAI’s tentative plan, a pair of three-lane highways is to be built on either side of the four-lane flyover at Palarivattom and on either side of the six-lane flyovers at Vyttila and Kundannoor. This plan would be finalised based on the DPR, it is learnt. Currently, piling is underway on either side of the Palarivattom junction as part of constructing the 11.20-km viaduct for the metro’s Kakkanad extension.

Sources in KMRL said they have handed over to NHAI the general arrangement drawing for the 60-metre-long span of the metro viaduct that would be built perpendicular to the NH Bypass, over the Palarivattom flyover.

“The span would be an open-web girder/truss structure and would hover 14 metres above the road surface. It would be built 5.50 metres above the existing flyover and the proposed elevated highway, while the pile caps for the span would be located beyond the Right of Way (ROW) of the NHAI,” they said. Apart from these aspects, the metro agency has agreed to submit, in due course, details like the work programme, construction and erection methodology of the span and allied structures at the Palarivattom junction, along with their designs, they added.

Hyderabad: Amid growing curiosity over Telangana’s next director general of police (head of police force), sources say the Congress govt has sent a list of seven senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), to be considered for the top job.
This list of probables includes: CV Anand, Ravi Gupta, Jitender, B Shivadhar Reddy, Shikha Goel, Soumya Mishra and K Sreenivasa Reddy.
Some sources privy to the developments say Hyderabad police commissioner C V Anand and DG (Intelligence) B Shivadhar Reddy are the frontrunners. Special chief secretary, home, Ravi Gupta is the senior most DG-rank officer on the list. He was in-charge DGP from Dec 2023 to July 2024 when the govt replaced him with Jitender.
Anand, meanwhile, is set to retire in June 2028, while Shivadhar’s retirement is in April 2026.
As per Supreme Court guidelines, any DG-rank officer who is selected as HOPF gets a minimum tenure of two years, irrespective of his/her date of superannuation.
Incidentally, since the Congress came to power in Telangana in Dec 2023, it has not appointed any full-time DGP. All those assigned the role were in-charges. M Mahendar Reddy was the last IPS officer in Telangana, who held the full-time post of DGP (HOPF) till Dec 2022. The BRS govt had selected him in 2018 in line with SC guidelines.
Since then, Anjani Kumar (he was appointed by the BRS govt), Ravi Gupta and Jitender who were posted as DGP (coordination) with full additional charge of DGP (HOPF).
The UPSC, after considering various aspects such as performance record, tenure of service completed, seniority, pending service etc — will pick three IPS officers whose names will be sent to the Telangana govt. From this, the state govt can pick the officer of its choice.