New Delhi, May 26 (PTI): The University of Liverpool is set to open a campus in Bengaluru and will welcome its first batch of students in August next year, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Monday, as he handed over the Letter of Intent to the varsity administration here.
The move comes after the University of Liverpool, part of the United Kingdom's Russell Group, received formal approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to open the first foreign university campus in Bengaluru.
The University of Southampton was the first UK university to receive approval and is set to start offering academic programs in Gurugram by July, 2025.
Pradhan also announced that 15 foreign universities will be coming to India by this academic year.
"Delighted to hand over the Letter of Intent to University of Liverpool, one of UK's premier academic institutions, for setting up a campus in India. Today's development is another milestone in India's journey of deepening academic partnerships with leading global universities, the minister said, adding that the development was a reaffirmation of India's emergence as a trusted partner in global higher education.
Pradhan also announced that 15 foreign universities will be coming to India by this academic year.
Expressing confidence in Liverpool's Bengaluru campus, the Union Minister said, "it will be a global campus that will push the boundaries of research and innovation and foster scientific temper for contributing to global welfare and prosperity."
The Bengaluru campus will initially offer programmes in Business Management, Accounting and Finance, Computer Science, and Biomedical Sciences. It will also introduce a programme in Game Design- a unique offering for a UK university campus in India to offer the subject.
The new campus will also create enriching global exchange opportunities, providing UK-based students with an exciting new destination for international study.
Senior leaders from the University of Liverpool also signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to explore future collaborative opportunities with companies and organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited, Wipro Limited, YouWeCan, and Dream11.
"We are delighted to have received approval from the University Grants Commission to open Bengaluru’s first international campus. Opening a campus in the State of Karnataka and Bengaluru feels like the next natural step, building on the fantastic partnerships and collaborations we already enjoy there," Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool said.
Further stating that he is looking forward to providing students with access to an exceptional learning experience and a range of opportunities to develop their skills and employability, Jones added, "we are also committed to embedding a strong research culture to the benefit of industry, the region and the wider world."
In 2023, the UGC announced the setting up and operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India Regulations.
Two Australian universities - Deakin and Wollongong - already have campuses in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
Queen's University Belfast and Coventry University have also received approval for setting up campuses in GIFT City.
Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology, which became the first US university to get a nod to set up its campus in India, will be established in Mumbai in 2026.
Delighted to handover the Letter of Intent to University of Liverpool, one of UK’s premier academic institutions, for setting up a campus in India.
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) May 26, 2025
Congratulate and welcome University of Liverpool. Today’s development is another milestone in India’s journey of deepening… pic.twitter.com/tD661HtO1F
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).