India not only lost its top place as the most represented higher-education system to China, several of its marquee institutions saw a significant drop.
India has 54 institutions in the QS World University Rankings, making it the 4th most represented country after the US (192), the UK (90) and China (72).
A report by Scholars at Risk, 'Free to Think 2026', states that academic freedom in India is "severely restricted" due to increasing government influence over higher education, university governance, and curbs on student expression. India is listed among six countries in this category, with its Academic Freedom Index score sharply declining. The report cites instances of faculty dismissals, event cancellations, and pressure on student protests, highlighting the alleged use of the UGC as a vehicle for state influence.
India is developing a 'Gross Domestic Knowledge Product' (GDKP) to identify and define its knowledge assets, a move aimed at safeguarding them amidst global efforts to monetise and 'weaponise' knowledge, according to NITI Aayog member R Balasubramaniam.
The Indian education ministry has undergone a significant reshuffle of top officials, including the removal of higher education secretary Vineet Joshi, amidst widespread controversies surrounding NEET-UG paper leaks and CBSE digital evaluation glitches, with the opposition demanding the resignation of Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated that the historic Free Trade Agreement with India, now in effect, will help grow both economies, allowing Kiwi businesses to reach over a billion more customers with significantly reduced tariffs, leading to 'more jobs and higher wages for Kiwis'.
The lack of faster growth in salaried jobs may well account for the degrowth in the unemployed educated population who are actively seeking jobs.
If India wants to satisfy the aspirations of its youth, it will have to revamp the higher education system without ifs and buts
The Centre has announced a major bureaucratic reshuffle, appointing Prakash Rajpurohit as Deputy Election Commissioner and approving appointments for 27 civil servants at joint secretary and equivalent levels across various ministries and departments.
India's student housing shortage is widening, but high land costs, weak rental yields and regulatory hurdles are keeping organised developers away.
Madhya Pradesh has achieved the top rank in India for drug destruction, eliminating over 2.74 lakh kilograms of narcotics in two years. The state is implementing a comprehensive strategy, including forming anti-drug committees in educational institutions, launching a three-year campaign to dismantle drug networks, strengthening intelligence, and expanding de-addiction centres. Authorities have also seized significant quantities of drugs, attached properties, and conducted extensive public awareness programmes.
rediffGURU Dr Nagarajan JSK, a career counsellor with nearly 34 years of experience in teaching, research and career guidance, explains the benefits of pursuing higher education in India.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule that sought to cap the stays of foreign students, journalists, and exchange visitors, citing potential 'catastrophic' damage to the US economy and higher-education system.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has removed over 4,700 books, including banned publications, from colleges across the Union Territory after a comprehensive review of nearly 2.2 million publications. This action follows a controversy over objectionable content and aims to uphold constitutional values and national integrity in higher education institutions.
The number of Indians travelling abroad for education fell from 908,364 in 2023 to 770,127 in 2024 and 626,606 in 2025.
Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that revised NCERT textbooks for classes 10 to 12 are being prepared in "mission mode," while textbooks for classes 1 to 9 under the new National Curriculum Framework have already been released. He emphasised NCERT's role in building a 'Viksit Bharat' and highlighted the need for curricula to evolve with AI advancements and the importance of India's young population as a global asset.
Noted scientist Prof V Ramgopal Rao highlights India's significant progress in higher education and research but points out a critical gap in converting scientific discoveries into market-ready technologies. He advocates for a robust institutional framework, multidisciplinary collaboration, and stronger academia-industry ties to foster innovation and translate research into practical products.
A national study of top 75 Indian B-schools reveals a significant competency gap in AI skills among management graduates, with industry expectations far exceeding current MBA capabilities. A new framework by AIMS, EPSI, and IMC highlights the urgent need for management education to adapt to an AI-led workplace, emphasizing behavioural competencies alongside data fluency.
A major 'deliverable' for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit last fall to the United States was the launching of the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative.
21st century may have witnessed expansion of higher educational institutions, but who can afford it? Sushree Panigrahi & Jeet Singh look at the numbers.
Nagaland United Sports Club (NUSC) is poised to make history by becoming the first club from Nagaland to compete in the Indian Football League (IFL), with its debut scheduled for the 2026-27 season starting October 30. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio lauded the club's entry, highlighting its potential to inspire youth and provide a platform for local football talent. NUSC's formation in 2024 and its arrangement with Aizawl FC underscore a significant step for football in the Northeast region.
'Everything will be decided by the Centre.' 'Universities will have no autonomy to start a new course or introduce a new syllabus.'
90 per cent of institutions recorded no improvement in international student metrics, despite government initiatives such as the Study in India programme, UGC regulations on internationalisation, and efforts to attract foreign students.
Samsung India has launched an Innovation Campus in Karnataka, in partnership with Nrupathunga University, to train 2,000 young individuals in industry-relevant AI skills. This initiative aims to support Karnataka's goal of building an AI-native ecosystem and developing a future-ready technology workforce, expanding access to practical AI education.
171 IIT student deaths by suicide or other unnatural causes have been recorded between January 2006 and September 2026. Of these, 120 were recorded between 2016 and September 2026, compared with 51 in the preceding decade.
BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi emphasized the importance of fair elections, transparent bureaucracy, and constitutional adherence for a functioning democracy. His comments come amidst opposition protests led by the INDIA bloc, alleging irregularities in electoral roll revisions and demanding the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation.
Alert: The US Higher Education Fair, organised by the United States Educational Foundation in India.
The ministry of education is actively formulating a computer-based testing strategy to transition the crucial NEET medical entrance exam to an online format.
Panagariya is of the view that school education and higher education need to grow together to help India face various challenges.
Will Covid-19 permanently change higher education, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Providing funds and autonomy to a few institutions that may not have the intent to excel must not become a case of trying to feed those who are not hungry and starving those who are famished,' says Jitendra Kumar Das, Director, FORE School of Management, New Delhi.
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar met with AI major Anthropic to discuss a long-term partnership aimed at accelerating AI adoption across governance, education, healthcare, research, and the state's startup ecosystem. The collaboration focuses on deploying AI solutions responsibly, ensuring data privacy, and developing AI-focused skilling programmes and an AI University.
The SBI Platinum Jubilee Asha Scholarship is one of India's major scholarship programmes, designed to support meritorious students from economically weaker sections. The scholarship covers students from Class 9 onwards, including those pursuing higher education in India and abroad, helping ensure that financial constraints do not stand in the way of quality education.
The overhaul comes after a series of controversies surrounding the conduct of examinations administered by NTA, which has faced questions over examination security and its handling of irregularities.
The objective should be clear: Energy security without abandoning environmental responsibility; water security without ignoring local concerns; and strategic resilience without sacrificing public confidence, notes Varun Arya.
A career break does not erase the experience that came before it. But the labour market can act as though it does. The more women invest in building professional careers, the more costly an interruption can become. How, then, do we enable women to make a comeback? Whose responsibility is it? asks Radha Roy Biswas.
Tata Trusts, India's largest philanthropic group, disbursed Rs 1,556.31 crore in the year to March 2026 and announced plans to establish a network of 40 to 50 not-for-profit general hospitals, with funding from paying patients supporting care for those who cannot afford it.
Education sector experts agree that using the "best technology" was essential to ensure students did not have to sit for an examination all over again because of a question paper leak.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called upon Indian industry to prioritise not just scale but also resilience, better governance, and deeper technological capabilities to achieve the 'Viksit Bharat' goal by 2047.
Experts at AI Manthan 2.0 in Kanpur stressed the need for Artificial Intelligence to be customised for India's specific requirements in education, healthcare, agriculture, and governance. Discussions highlighted the development of local language models, AI solutions for farmers like crop loss assessment and a single-window platform, and AI's role in healthcare for diagnosis and reducing doctors' workload, all while ensuring data privacy through federated learning.
