India expands presence in global university rankings, but drops out of top 300
London, Sep 12: Indian universities have expanded their presence in the annual rankings of the leading global educational institutions from 49 to 56 but dropped out of the top 300 bracket in this year's 'Times Higher Education World University Rankings'.
India's top-ranked university, Bangalore's Indian Institute of Science (IISc) declined, marking the first time that India is not in top 300 since 2012 in the tally once again topped by the UK's University of Oxford.
IISc still ranks the highest for India but has dropped into the 301-350 bracket (from 251-300 cohort), due to what has been described as a significant fall in its citation impact score offsetting improvements in research environment, teaching environment and industry income.
"India has a huge amount of potential in global higher education, given its rapidly growing youth population and economy and use of English-language instruction. However, it is disappointing to see the country fall out of the top 300 of the rankings this year, with only a small number of institutions registering progress, said Ellie Bothwell, THE' rankings editor.
"The Indian government has strong ambitions to boost the global standing of its top universities and attract foreign students, academics and research collaboration. It now needs to back up these aspirations with high levels of investment or risk declining further amid increasing global competition, especially from other parts of Asia, she said on Wednesday.
Overall, 56 Indian universities feature in the table, up from 49 last year. As a result, India holds on to its place as the fifth most-represented nation in the world and the third most-represented in Asia, behind Japan and mainland China. It has eight more universities than Germany, which is sixth in the country ranking, but 25 fewer than China.
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KSRTC bus catches fire near Junior College in Chikkamagaluru
Chikkamagaluru: A KSRTC bus travelling from the city towards Belur caught fire suddenly near the Junior College in Chikkamagaluru on Tuesday. All passengers escaped safely due to the timely action of the driver and conductor.
The bus had left the city bus stand and was heading towards Belur when flames were noticed from the vehicle near the Junior College area. On spotting the fire, the driver and conductor immediately stopped the bus and ensured that all passengers got down safely.
Fire and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control.
Though the bus was carrying several passengers, no injuries were reported. It is suspected that the fire may have been caused due to a diesel leak, sources said.
