QS Ranking: IISc Bengaluru fastest rising South Asian university, 4 IITs in top 200
New Delhi(PTI): The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is the fastest rising South Asian university among the coveted QS World University Rankings top 200 varsities, having gained 31 places while four IITs have also figured in the category attaining a higher rank compared to the previous edition.
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), London based global higher education analyst, on Thursday released the 19th edition of the world's most consulted international university ranking.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which has bagged the 172nd position, is India's second best institution, rising five places while IIT Delhi has risen eleven places to bag 174th rank.
The IIT Kanpur has risen thirteen places to its highest position (264) in the history of these rankings, while the IIT Roorkee rose 31 places to its highest rank ever (369).
The rankings revealed that IIT Guwahati has gained eleven places, reaching its best result of all the editions of the QS World University Rankings while IIT Indore is the highest-ranking debutant in this edition, placed 396th globally.
OP Jindal Global University is the highest ranked private university for the third year in a row, according to the rankings.
A total of 41 Indian universities have featured in the ranking of which 12 have improved, 12 remained stable, 10 declined while seven universities are new entries.
According to the rankings, 13 Indian universities have improved their research impact relative to global competitors, seeing a rise in the Citations per Faculty (CpF)score.
Conversely, Indian universities continue to struggle with QS' measure of institutional teaching capacity. Thirty of India's 41 ranked universities have suffered declines in QS' Faculty and Student Ratio (FSR) indicator, with only four recording improvements, it showed.
However, on an encouraging note, now two Indian universities rank among the top 250 for faculty and student ratio, compared to none in previous editions.
The highest performing in this metric is Savitribai Phule Pune University (225th for FSR) and OP Jindal Global University (235th for FSR), followed by IISc Bengaluru (276th for FSR).
"This edition of the QS World University Rankings reflects the excellent work that several Indian universities are doing to improve their research footprint, with positive consequences for their reputation on the global stage.
"Conversely, our dataset also suggests that the Indian higher education sector still struggles to provide adequate teaching capacity. Further expansion of provision both within universities and across the sector as a whole will be necessary if India is to continue reaching new heights," said Ben Sowter, QS Senior Vice President.
"The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 aims to achieve equity, inclusivity, and quality across the education sector. Prime Minister Modi, his ministers, and the University Grants Commission (UGC) are implementing new frameworks which should radically transform India's higher education.
"Among these, the multi-modal education framework is instrumental in taking education to remote and inaccessible parts of the country and partially addressing the exponentially rising demand for university places in the largest democracy in the world," he added.
QS surveyed 99,000 employers and hiring managers globally, whose opinions inform the QS' Employer Reputation (AR) metric. IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi are the only two national universities to feature among the world's top-100 in this crucial metric, ranking 59th and 72nd respectively and improving their rank year-on-year, it showed.
India struggles also in the QS' internationalisation metrics. For example,Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (1001-1200) is the best-performing local institution for the proportion of International Faculty, ranking 411th globally.
On the other hand, Amity University (1001-1200) is the national leader for the proportion of International students, ranking 542nd globally.
This year's QS World University Rankings is the largest ever, with 1,418 institutions across one hundred locations, up from 1,300 last year.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
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Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
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Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
