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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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
