Record 91 Indian universities in Times world rankings
New Delhi (PTI): A record 91 Indian universities have made it to the World University Rankings announced by the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, with the top performing Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, returning to the global 250 for the first time since 2017.
Ninety-one Indian universities in the list is a significant increase from last year's 75 even though top Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) boycotted the rankings for the fourth consecutive year.
India has also become the fourth best represented nation in the 2024 rankings, up from the sixth last year.
According to the rankings announced by the London-based THE magazine on Wednesday, the second best performing universities in India are: Anna University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Mahatma Gandhi University, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences. The are all in the 501-600 band.
Two IITs -- the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad -- moved up two bands to join the world's top 800 universities, from 1001-1200 to 601-800.
While Anna University in Chennai moved up from 801-1000 band last year to the 501-600 band, Aligarh Muslim University moved up from the 801-1000 band last year to the 601-800.
The Bharathiar University in Coimbatore moved up from the 801-1000 band last year to the 601-800 band, while Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur has entered the ranking for the first time, breaking into the 601-800 band.
Seven IITs Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee opted out of THE World University Rankings in 2020, casting doubt on the rankings' transparency and standards. IIT Guwahati reentered the rankings last year.
In the 20th year of the ranking, 1,904 universities -- up from 1,799 last year - from 108 countries and regions were ranked.
The THE World University Rankings 2024 assessed the universities across 18 indicators covering their core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation.
The indicators were grouped into five pillars -- teaching, research quality, research environment, international outlook and industry. Four of the five new metrics include three that look at research quality and one that examines patents.
"India has well and truly embraced the international agenda, and international competition, with an unprecedented 91 universities making it into the rigorous and demanding Times Higher Education World University Rankings this year making India now the fourth best represented nation in the rankings," said Phil Baty, THE's Chief Global Affairs Officer.
"Although methodological changes this year have not been kind to some Indian institutions, the overall picture remains positive with a rise into the top 250 for IISc and several other rising institutions," he said.
The UK's University of Oxford is the highest ranked university in the world with Stanford University taking the second place, making it the US's top-ranked. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is at the third place.
As many as 165 universities are ranked for the first time, 89 of which are from Asia with one newly ranked university from mainland China.
Mainland China has the best ranked universities, overall, in Asia. This year an unprecedented 33 Asian universities are in the top 200, up from 28 last year. The biggest drivers for this jump are China (from 11 to 13) and Japan (from 2 to 5).
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Some glitches can happen at any large event: Tharoor praises AI Summit
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday praised the AI Impact Summit, saying the first couple of days had gone "extremely well" and "some glitches" can happen at any "large event".
He said what has been impressive is the attendance of presidents, prime ministers, and world leaders who have come with a strong message of wanting to see a newly integrated world in artificial intelligence development.
While noting that the first couple of days went “extremely well” at the summit, Tharoor said there have been “some glitches” but such issues can happen at big events.
His remarks come a day after former Congress president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the ongoing AI Summit in Delhi a "disorganised PR spectacle" and alleged that Chinese products were being showcased there.
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior party leaders have also criticised the event, saying alleged mismanagement has resulted in "embarrassment" for the country.
Responding to a reporter's question after the launch event of his new book on Narayana Guru, Tharoor said, "Though I have not had the chance to go to the summit, I am speaking there tomorrow. From what I understand, these first couple of days have gone extremely well. There have been some glitches, some organisational things, these things happen in a large event."
"But by and large what has been impressive is the attendance... a number of presidents, prime ministers, and world leaders are here, and they've come with a strong message of wanting to see a newly integrated world in AI development, where the impact upon society would be the principle," Tharoor said.
"Preoccupation in India has clearly led the drive in this area," he added.
Asked about French President Emanuel Macron's remarks about procurement of Rafale jets by India and the Make in India component of the deal, Tharoor said as far as the French Rafale is concerned, parts of it are being manufactured in India.
That is a very important aspect of the deal because it is part of strengthening defence, but also increasing our self-reliance in the defence sector, he said.
"Defence is important for India not because we want to go to war, but because we don't want others to think that we are so weak that they can be tempted to go to war. It is a defensive defence literally, and that is what we are working for and I support the government on that,” he said.
On the upcoming film Kerala Story 2, Tharoor said the first film, Kerala Story, was a “hate-mongering film”.
“They were saying that thousands of people were converted, which is not true. I think there were around 30 such cases over a number of years. Ours is a very big country. If a case occurs here and there, it doesn't mean you should turn it into a big story and use it as propaganda,” Tharoor said.
“In our childhood, films like Amar Akbar Antony used to get entertainment tax exemptions,” he added.
