Universities

Taiwan imposes sanctions on 7 Chinese univs over national security concerns

Taiwan does not acknowledge academic qualifications issued by the PLA-operated National University of Defense Technology, Naval Medical University, and Air Force University

AI will completely transform offline universities, says Sanjeev Sanyal

Sanyal stated that universities need to focus on creating new knowledge through research and development (R&D)

Tamil Nadu universities face financial crisis, autonomy eroded: Guv RN Ravi

Many state-run universities in Tamil Nadu are starved of funds and are in a dire financial crisis and unable to pay salaries to teachers, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi said on Saturday. Their autonomy has been "severely eroded to such an extent that it was not the university syndicates but the state Secretariat that runs the varsities," the Governor alleged. "Higher Education scenario in Tamil Nadu is no better. About 25 lakh students are enrolled in our 20 state universities. Most of the universities are starved of funds and are in dire financial crisis not even able to pay salaries to teachers," Ravi said in his address on the eve of Republic Day. The universities, he claimed, have not received their due shares of fund from the state government for the last many years. And as a result, many were functioning with less than 50 per cent of teachers' strength. "Universities have no money to recruit teachers. In Madras University, which used to be our nation's pride, 66 per cent of ...

One step back: Draft UGC regulations add to Centre-state tensions

The new draft regulations, issued on January 7, purport to clarify ambiguities in the process of appointing V-Cs in regulations set out in 2018

21 fake universities operating in India: Govt urges MPs to caution students

Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar urges MPs to publicise the list of 21 fake universities operating across India. See full list here

UGC allows universities to conduct entrance exams to fill vacant seats

The UGC has allowed central universities to hold their own entrance exams for UG and PG programmes if seats remain vacant after standard admissions

Universities can offer admissions twice a year from 2024-25 session: UGC

From the 2024-25 academic session, the two admission cycles will be in July-August and January-February

VCs, scholars slam Rahul for false varsity appointment claims

As many as 181 academicians, including vice chancellors and former VCs, have accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of spreading "falsehood" regarding the appointment process for university heads and sought lawful action against him. In an open letter, they said the Congress leader has alleged that vice chancellors are appointed solely on the basis of affiliation with some organisation rather than merit as they slammed his claims. The process by which VCs are selected is characterised by stringent and transparent rigorous procedure grounded in the values of meritocracy, scholarly distinction and integrity, they claimed. Jawaharlal University Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Delhi University VC Yogesh Singh and AICTE Chairman T G Sitharam are among the academicians who have signed onto the letter. The selection has been completely based on academic and administrative prowess and with a vision to take universities ahead, they said. Though they did not quote Gandhi's specif

WCopEF aims to create 500 campus cooperatives in universities across India

World Cooperation Economic Forum is targeting to establish 500 campus cooperatives in universities across the country to attract youth to this movement. According to a statement on Saturday, World Cooperation Economic Forum (WCopEF), along with the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI), will work to establish and promote 'Campus Cooperative' across various universities in the country. Under the new initiative, the forum said that it is planning to set up a 'Campus Cooperative' at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the national capital. "There is a much greater emphasis on the cooperative sector across the country, but the participation of youths holds the key to taking the movement forward," Dileep Sanghani, Founder of WCopEF, said. "Campus Cooperative could just be the right approach to attract talented youths to the sector and propel it to greater heights," said Sanghani, who is also the Chairman of IFFCO, and President of ..

Bihar govt for amicable resolution with Raj Bhavan over univ jurisdictions

Seeking to downplay the stand-off between the Bihar education department and Raj Bhavan over their jurisdiction in state universities, the Nitish Kumar government on Thursday called for an amicable resolution to issues that might have cropped up. All stakeholders are determined to keep improving the academic atmosphere in the state-run academic institutions in Bihar, Education Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said. "Everything is normal and smooth. If any issue crops up, it should be resolved amicably. All are working to create an environment conducive to academic growth by ensuring full utilisation of the existing infrastructural resources," he told PTI. The minister also said that the recent order to freeze bank accounts of all state-run universities has been put on hold. The development came after vice-chancellors did not attend a review meeting called by the education department on February 9. Earlier this month, the Raj Bhavan had also written to banks to overrule that order. Th

Bihar Raj Bhavan directs banks to de-freeze accounts of state-run varsities

Bihar Raj Bhavan on Sunday wrote to banks to overrule an education department order that had frozen the accounts of state-run universities, barring one. This comes after vice-chancellors of the universities allegedly failed to attend a recent review meeting convened by the education department. Meanwhile, the standoff between the Raj Bhavan and the education department seemed to worsen with the authorities lodging a police complaint against at least one of the VCs on Sunday. Robert L Chongthu, principal secretary to the governor (who is also the chancellor of state universities), directed the banks to de-freeze the accounts of the universities immediately. The letter stated, "The chancellor (governor) has ordered that the orders of the education department stands withdrawn." The a copy of the letter is with PTI. Earlier, the education department had ordered the freezing of bank accounts of all state-run universities, except one, and withheld salaries of their vice-chancellors for

FM gave no final decision on foreign varsities in Budget: Kerala Minister

Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Wednesday made it clear that the LDF Government has taken no final decision to welcome foreign and private universities in the state and the Finance Minister just indicated about exploring it's possibilities in the recent budget. In the budget for the fiscal 2024-25 presented on Monday, Finance Minister K N Balagopal indicated about utilising such possibilities with utmost care protecting the interests of students, she told reporters here. There is a situation prevailing in the country in which the policy approaches of the Centre are being imposed upon states, she said. "As far as the Finance Minister is concerned, he spoke about the financial aspects of such possibilities while presenting the budget. He announced that such possibilities will be explored...not that a final decision has been taken (in this regard)," Bindu said. When foreign universities are permitted in the state's higher education sector, several aspects, including whethe

Macron's Republic Day gift to India: 30,000 students in France by 2030

Republic Day 2024 chief guest: French President Emmanuel Macron is India's main guest in this year's celebrations

Education Dept shouldn't encroach upon jurisdiction of varsities: Bihar Guv

The Raj Bhavan had also written to Chief Secretary Amir Subhani in December over certain orders issued by the Education Department

140 pvt universities set up in India in last 5 yrs; maximum in Gujarat: MoE

A total of 140 private universities have been established across the country during the last five years with a maximum of them being set up in Gujarat followed by Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, according to the Ministry of Education statistics. According to data accessed by PTI, 28 private universities have been established in Gujarat during the last five years while 15 universities were set up in Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka welcomed 14 and 10 universities respectively during the period. "Private University is established by an Act passed by the concerned state legislature and Notification issued by the concerned state government," a senior education ministry official said. "The name of a private university is included in the list of universities by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as per Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, on receipt of the copies of the Act and notification from the university," he said. Such private universities are empowered to award gener

UGC warns edtech cos offering degrees in association with foreign varsities

The UGC has warned edtech companies and colleges offering degrees in collaborative arrangements with foreign universities not recognised by it, according to officials. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also reiterated that none of these degrees will be valid and cautioned students against taking admission in such courses. "It has been observed that many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and colleges have entered into collaborative agreements with foreign-based educational institutions or providers not recognised by the commission and have been facilitating the issuance of foreign degrees to the students," UGC Secretary Manish Joshi said. "Any such kind of collaboration or arrangement is not recognised by the UGC and, accordingly, the degrees issued subsequent to such collaboration arrangement are also not recognised by the commission," he added. Joshi said it has also come to the UGC's notice that some edtech companies are advertising in newspapers, social media and ...

UK keen on welcoming IIT offshore campus, universities already in talks

The UK is keen on welcoming an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to set up an offshore campus in the country and some UK universities are already in talks with IITs to explore the possibility, according to top British government officials. Several universities from the UK are also interested in setting up their branch campuses in India and are waiting for final regulatory framework from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to move formally in this regard, they said, adding with five UK universities having their campuses in Malaysia, the country has the expertise. "Certainly, there has been a discussion about IITs setting up their campuses abroad. We have talked to the Indian High Commission in London because we think nothing would symbolise better the genuine two-way nature of the relationship between the two countries than IITs or other top institutions in India deciding to set up campuses in the UK. So we are very open to that," Steve Smith, International Education Champion of

UGC bars varsities from printing Aadhaar number on degrees, certificates

Printing of Aadhaar number of students on degrees and provisional certificates is not allowed, the University Grants Commission has told varsities. The directive by the higher education regulator comes amid reports that state governments are considering printing of full Aadhaar numbers on provisional certificates and degrees issued by universities, for subsequent use in verification of said documents at the time of recruitment or admission. As per norms, no entity in possession of Aadhaar number shall make public any database or record containing the same unless the number has been redacted or blacked out through appropriate means, UGC Secretary Manish Joshi said in a letter to varsities. Printing of Aadhaar numbers on degrees and provisional certificates is not permissible. The higher education institutions should strictly comply with rules and regulations of UIDAI, he added.

Campuses in Bengal have been converted into hellholes: BJP's Amit Malviya

Amit Malviya further asserted that the Jadavpur University campus is "littered with comrades" who have reduced hostels to a "den of drugs and promiscuity"

UGC declares list of 20 universities identified as 'fake'; 8 in Delhi

There are four fake universities in Uttar Pradesh, two in West Bengal, two in Andhra Pradesh, and one each in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Puducherry