Mangalore University to suspend four postgraduate courses for 2025–26 over poor admissions
Mangaluru: Mangalore University has decided to discontinue four postgraduate (PG) programmes from the 2025–26 academic year, following a decline in student admissions.
Vice-Chancellor P. L. Dharma said the programmes that will be kept under suspended animation are Electronics, Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ), Statistics, and Human Resource Development (HRD).
“The university had initially decided to discontinue PG programmes temporarily with fewer than 15 students. Later, it was decided to continue admissions even with at least 10 students,” explained Dharma.
Despite this relaxation, several departments failed to attract adequate candidates. “The Department of Statistics did not receive any admissions last year, while the MCJ Department had only one applicant. Administrative notices have now been issued for the temporary suspension of these programmes,” Deccan Herald quoted him as saying.
The HRD course, he added, lacked a permanent faculty member and was being managed by teachers from the Commerce Department and guest lecturers. The Statistics Department has also been functioning without permanent staff since the retirement of senior professors, while the MCJ and Electronics departments each have one permanent faculty member.
Dharma said the MCJ faculty will continue to handle journalism as an open elective paper, while the Electronics Department’s permanent faculty member has been assigned to assist with the Cyber Security programme.
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Karnataka approves AI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru's Electronics City
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has approved the establishment of a CoE for AI in Biotechnology at IBAB in Electronics City (Phase 1), here.
The decision, taken by the state Cabinet on Thursday night, marks a significant step towards strengthening Karnataka’s leadership in emerging technologies, IT and biotechnology, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Friday.
The centre will be established over four years with a total outlay of Rs 20 crore, in partnership with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), according to a statement from the minister’s office.
"Karnataka has consistently been at the forefront of technological innovation. As we enter the decade of deep tech, our focus is on building future-ready capabilities at the intersection of artificial intelligence and biotechnology," Minister for IT and Biotechnology said.
"This Centre of Excellence will strengthen our research ecosystem, accelerate innovation and enable Karnataka to lead in high-impact next-generation technologies," he added.
Priyank added that the state government, through the Departments of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, is actively investing in emerging technologies and taking steps to strengthen Karnataka’s AI and deep-tech ecosystem.
The minister said the Cabinet has also approved the transfer of a 51 per cent stake in the Karnataka Technology & Innovation Museum Foundation (KTIMF) to the Unboxing BLR Foundation.
KTIMF was established by the Government of Karnataka as a not-for-profit organisation to promote innovation, technological awareness, startup culture and public engagement in science and technology, aligned with the state’s vision of building a robust innovation ecosystem, he said.
The Technology & Innovation Museum will be developed at the NGEF campus in Baiyappanahalli, Bengaluru, under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with a total project cost of Rs 100 crore. Of this, Rs 49 crore will be contributed by the state government and Rs 51 crore by the private partner, he said.
