Delhi Partners with IIT Kanpur to Launch AI, Based Grievance Redressal System The Delhi government, in its effort to provide technologically, driven and transparent governance, has collaborated with IIT Kanpur to introduce an AI, powered Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System (IGMS). The initiative is aimed at making the process of tracking citizen complaints more user, friendly in terms of the capital city, their analysis, and resolution, IT Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh informed on Monday. 

Delhites can file their complaints using different platforms such as the Public Grievance Management System (PGMS), LG Listening Post, and the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). These portals are functioning separately; however, the unconnected departments between the portals result in delays, duplication of complaints, and absence of accountability, officials say.

 The new IGMS is an attempt to solve these problems by consolidating all the major grievance portals into one digital dashboard. The system, created by IIT Kanpur, will be equipped with artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to understand public grievances and the responses given by the departments in real, time. Also, secure APIs will facilitate smooth data sharing between the platforms, thus, ensuring complete visibility for the officials from start to finish.

 The platform is also equipped with AI, driven department prediction that will automatically route the complaints to the appropriate department along with spam filtering to remove irrelevant or duplicate entries.

IIT Kanpur will handle system integration, cybersecurity audits, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and maintenance to keep the platform up to robust security and performance standards.

Singh termed the project as a move towards citizen centric governance: "We are embracing technology to serve Delhi's citizens better. This AI, driven grievance monitoring system will empower officials with data, driven insights and help deliver faster, more accountable public services."

The Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System, when put into effect, is likely to bring about a drastic cut in the time taken for complaint resolution, facilitate inter, departmental coordination, and enhance public trust in Delhi's governance frame work the potential of a model other states may follow.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has announced the availability of seats for the MBA in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DS & AI) course for the 2026, 28 academic year, thus making the program as one of the promising options for those students willing to combine management education with technology skills of the latest trend. Candidates wishing to apply can do so via the official website of IIT Mandi until January 27, 2026.

To equip business leaders of tomorrow with a solid technology background, the MBA (DS & AI) programme at IIT Mandi blends the core management skills such as strategy, finance, and marketing with the advanced topics like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and digital transformation. Students can leverage advanced analytics laboratories, high, end computing infrastructure, and the innovation and startup ecosystem at IIT Mandi through its technology incubator, Catalyst. Professor Anjan Kumar Swain, Chairperson, School of Management, talked about the future vision of the program that intends to develop leaders who excel in the fast, changing digital economy. He added that our curriculum is a mix of management, analytics, and technology, which is instrumental in the development of critical thinking, creativity, and leadership qualities.

Eligibility IIT Mandi is calling for applications for the MBA program starting in 2026. All candidates must have a valid CAT 2025 score.

Furthermore, applicants with a Bachelor's or Master's degree from Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) or from the institutions ranked within the top 100 by NIRF 2025 (overall or engineering categories) are eligible to apply. Comprehensive admission criteria are listed on the institute website. Placement Highlights The School of Management at IIT Mandi has undergone a significant curriculum transformation in the recent past. As part of the revision, a variety of new electives such as Generative AI for Managers, AI, driven Financial Decision Making, and AI for Marketing have been introduced. The changes have been quite effective in placements as well. 

The last batch managed to achieve an average CTC of 18 lakh per annum, with the highest package going up to 49 LPA. Alongside these, the top recruiters have included companies primarily from the fields of analytics, consulting, BFSI, technology services, and AI driven enterprises, which after all, is a clear indication of the program's increasing industry relevance. As the application window is currently open, IIT Mandi's MBA in Data Science and AI is rapidly becoming an excellent choice for management aspirants who want to be future ready.

A student-led innovation from Lucknow University (LU) is set to receive government support, marking a significant boost for technology-driven solutions in agriculture. The project, titled ‘Krishi Sakhi’, has been selected for funding under the Engineering Students’ Project Grant Scheme 2025–26 of the Uttar Pradesh Council of Science and Technology (CST, UP).

Designed as a data-driven smart agriculture decision support system, Krishi Sakhi aims to help farmers make informed, scientific choices at every stage of cultivation. The project is led by Ratnesh Tripathi, with Krishna Yadav, Abhishek Pandey and Aditya Maurya as team members. The project is overseen by Dr. Himanshu Pandey, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Lucknow University.

Essentially, Krishi Sakhi is a technology driven solution that combines artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to provide on, spot, location, based guidance to farmers. The device is a compact sensor unit developed around an ESP32 microcontroller, with sensors for soil moisture, temperature and pH measurement. Data collected is sent for processing and receiving commands through a GSM, based communication.

The innovative aspect of the project is its capacity to integrate local sensor data with weather predictions, satellite images, soil health profiles, government agricultural databases, and market price trends. The platform, which operates from this extensive data ecosystem, enables farmers to decide the crop to be planted, manage fertilizer application and plan irrigation, thus cutting down on the guesswork and input costs, and at the same time, increasing productivity. Dr Himanshu Pandey, calling the project a powerful instance of student- led innovation, said that Krishi Sakhi is a demonstration of how interdisciplinary technologies can be utilized to solve real agrarian problems. “The students have shown remarkable enthusiasm in developing a solution that can empower farmers while promoting eco-friendly and economical farming practices,” he said.

With CST funding now secured, the LU team plans to further refine and pilot the system, bringing smart, accessible agricultural technology closer to the grassroots.

An Amendment to the Madras University (Amendment) Bill by President Droupadi Murmu prevented Tamil Nadu from changing the way Vice-Chancellor appointments take place within State Universities.

This bill was already approved by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in April 2022, and among other things, the proposed changes would have allowed the State to appoint and remove Vice-Chancellors.

Currently, the Governor has power to appoint Vice-Chancellors because the Governor is the Ex-Officio Chancellor of University, and The proposed Amendment would remove from the Act any reference to Chancellor's Authority.

In reserving the Bill for the President, Governor R.N. Ravi has expressed concern that the proposed changes to the Vice-Chancellor Appointment Process conflict with the VC Appointment Regulation established by the University Grant Commission (UGC).

Ongoing Conflicts with the DMK over Administration Higher Education Institutions

The ongoing tension between the state of Tamil Nadu's H.E. and the state's DMK government has resulted in management problems for the majority of state universities. The DMK government is not recognizing the constitutional authority of the governor, who is responsible for appointing VCs at state universities. In total, approximately 14 of the 22 state-operated universities, including the 168-year-old Madras University, currently do not have VCs or have their operations overseen by committees of academic officials.

The Supreme Court of India has also addressed this issue by delivering a judgment in April that dealt with the governor's role in relation to the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu and granting 10 of the amendment bills that were introduced into the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2022 automatic approval under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani on Sunday said that India is beginning a defining period where technology, talent, and national purpose need to move together and urged the next generation to rise and lead the age of artificial intelligence.

"India's enduring strength lies in aligning people, institutions, and long-term vision. The same clarity must now guide young Indians as they approach artificial intelligence or AI, not as passive users but as builders and leaders of capability," Adani said while addressing the inauguration of Vidya Pratishthan's Sharad Pawar Centre of Excellence In Artificial Intelligence (CoE-AI) in Baramati, Maharashtra.

Acknowledging anxieties around AI, he reminded the audience that history gives grounds for reassurance. "Every major technological transition from the industrial revolutions to India's very own 'Digital Amrit' has increased human possibility," said the Chairman of Adani Group.

"AI will take this even further by putting intelligence and productivity directly in the hands of ordinary citizens, opening pathways for youth from every background to participate in growth," he added. Gautam Adani also warned that AI leadership cannot be outsourced. "In a world where intelligence increasingly shapes economic power and national influence, dependence on foreign algorithms carries risk," he said.

"Data, decision-making and capability must remain anchored in national interest. Building indigenous AI models, strong compute capacity and resilient intelligence ecosystems is essential to India's economic security, cultural confidence and strategic freedom," the billionaire industrialist said.

Gautam Adani along with NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar during inauguration of Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Baramati. Placing this vision in context, Gautam Adani pointed to the growing role of the Adani Group in the global AI ecosystem.

The diversified conglomerate is investing big in data centers, digital infrastructure, and clean energy that powers compute at scale, drawing in sustained engagement from global technology leaders such as Google and Microsoft, as India emerges as a serious hub for AI-led growth.

The centre of excellence is established under Baramati-based educational trust Vidya Pratishthan, with a contribution of Rs 25 crore contributed by Gautam Adani in 2023.

This is a call for research proposals in advanced research, skill development, and industry-oriented training in emerging technologies under the initiative. People associated with the project said it will focus on applications of AI in agriculture, healthcare, governance, and industry, among others, with strong collaboration between academia and the private sector.

SAI International School in Bhubaneswar has continuously been ranked the No. 1 day-cum-boarding school in India in Education World India School Rankings 2024-25 and has provided a transformative CBSE, IGCSE, and IBCP education that has cultivated well-rounded global citizens with innovative pedagogy and eternal values.

Vision of Founder

Established in 2008 by the visionary Late Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, SAI International School was born from a profound dream to create joyful learning environments where every child thrives and happiness and optimism. The philosophy of Dr Sahoo, imprinted on each brick of the institution, is focused on spreading well-being and making India better through education. 

Guru-Shishya Parampara

Deeply rooted in the ancient Guru-Shishya Parampara, the school views educators as true Gurus who guide Shishyas toward ultimate truth (satya), salvation (moksha), and complete growth of body, mind, and spirit within the framework of righteousness and virtues.  This is an ancient practice that builds strong mentor-student relationships and guarantees the personalized approach to tutoring that extends beyond the academic field to inspire life-long curiosity and morality.

Comprehensive Academic Ecosystem

Spanning Pre-Nursery to Class 12 on a sprawling 5-acre campus at Plot 5A, Chandrasekharpur, Infocity Road, Bhubaneswar 751024, this co-educational powerhouse offers streams in PCM, PCB, Commerce, and Arts. Fully CBSE-affiliated (Affiliation No. 1530112) as a "New Generation School," SAI integrates a multifaceted Learning with 360 framework:

• Intelligent Classrooms and Technological Benefit: The use of innovative digital solutions, AI-based applications, and interactive whiteboards makes the lessons more interactive.
• State of the Art Laboratories: The laboratories are well equipped with advanced science, computer, robotics, and biotech labs in order to assist the inquiry.
• Improved Curriculum: A combination of CBSE and IGCSE/IBCP, with the focus on critical thinking and global skills.
• Experiential Learning: Field Trips, project based programs, and real world simulations develop practical skills.
• Assessment & Remediation: The evaluation is continuous and total personalized remediation is ensured that no child is left behind.

The curriculum prioritizes six holistic pillars, Physical, Social, Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, and Purposeful, balancing peak health, well-being, and life purpose for every student.​

Impact on Leadership and Community.

The legacy of Dr. Sahoo is maintained through a 500+ faculty team of SAI under Principal Nilakantha Panigrahi (M.Sc, B.Ed). Diversity in the school helps eliminate the socioeconomic boundaries and cuts across the board in the society and retains leading positions. Parent reviews are glorifying the fun: "SAI makes learning an adventure, according to one parent.

Extra-Curricular Excellence and Student Life.

Outside of school, SAI develops leaders in 50+ clubs in robotics, debate, MUN, eco-warriors and performing arts. There is the resilience and teamwork created by annual events such as SAI Olympiad, cultural fests and international exchanges. Wellness programs combine yoga, mindfulness, and counseling, which is in line with the spirit of body-mind-soul harmony. The results have been national toppers in CBSE boards, wins in Olympiads and alumni in IITs, Ivy Leagues, and other companies worldwide.

Leadership and Communal Impact.

SIA continues the legacy of Dr. Sahoo with a 500 plus faculty body that believes in progressive methods of pedagogy under Principal Nilakantha Panigrahi (M.Sc, B.Ed). The school is inclusive and cuts across socioeconomic boundaries such that it serves a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds without compromising on the top rankings. Parent reviews speak of the happy mood: one of the guardians states that SAI makes learning an adventure.

Significance of Parents to SAI International Bhubaneswar.

Regarding academic performance (nearly 100% board performance), overall development, and capability to secure the future, the families in Odisha can be provided with the best ROI at SAI. Siblings, merit and entrance tests will be prioritized in the admissions of 2026-27 via saiinternational.edu.in. The education centre of Bhubaneswar is the right place where SAI raises the future innovators.

The reason why parents prefer SAI international bhubaneswar.

As a family with the ideal CBSE school in Odisha, SAI provides the best ROI in terms of academic excellence (almost 100% boarding results), overall development, and skills in the future. 

Admissions for 2026-27 opening soon. Apply via the official website of the school.

The new AI course provided by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which is available to take on-line, will allow doctors to diagnose patients utilizing the latest in artificial intelligence (AI). What you will study in the new course for doctors, which is provided for free, was made known to us in an announcement by NBEMS.

It has been announced that post graduate doctors and their faculty may use AI in the future. No fee will be charged for the course according to the statement made by NBEMS within its notification. Candidates interested in participating in the course may submit applications via the official website natboard.edu.in/Sangam/index.php.

The course will last six months. There are twenty interactive on line modules, which include live on line presentations, and are designed to emphasize the ethical, safety and accountable aspects of using AI as a clinical tool. In addition, prior experience with computers, technology, or programming is not required for participation. A description of the curriculum and the format of the course, along with the individual modules, are outlined in the announcement by NBEMS. The purpose of the course is to enable physicians to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to improve diagnosis and patient care, through the application of AI.

Faculty from the following universities and institutions will provide the AI training:

• Mayo Clinic
• Harvard University
• Oxford University
• Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore
• Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow
• And many other universities around the world

Eligible participants include current NBEMS trainees, all alumni who were trained after the 2020 session, faculty of NBEMS accredited departments, and other professionals. In order to qualify for certification, participants must attend at least seventy-five percent of the live classes. Attendance will be recorded at both the beginning and end of each session. Upon completing the online modules for the assessment, participants will have earned a digital certificate of completion of the course.

How to mark your attendance

The class timetable will be available on the official NBEMS (www.natboard.edu.in) website and in turn will allow participants to access a session by clicking on the Join the Class hyperlink located on the corresponding module. Clicking the hyperlink will direct participants to the virtual classroom where attendance will be automatically logged once the session has begun. The hyperlinks will be active for 30 minutes prior to the session specified on the schedule, and the session will not be available after 30 minutes from the scheduled session time.

What will the course cover?

According to the notification, after attending this program on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Educational Courses, participants should be able to demonstrate basic knowledge of AI concepts as they apply to healthcare; therefore, this program does not require any prior knowledge of AI programming or AI technical skills. Participants will also be able to evaluate critically for Clinical Validity, Clinical Utility, Bias, and Risk to Patient Safety with regard to AI Tools, Models, and Research Literature.

Advantages for doctors:

This course stresses effective clinical decision-making. This course will help physicians evaluate whether or not to use AI as a medical tool and also other related issues such as ethical and legal issues related to Indian healthcare settings.

The participants will be able to integrate AI outputs into clinical practice through patient-centered thinking, function effectively in a multidisciplinary AI team as a domain specialist, and exhibit professionalism, accountability, and ethics in AI-assisted tools in patient care, education, and research.

Applicable to MBBS as well

According to the media report, “The aim, as stated by NBEMS President and Chairperson, Abhijat Sheth, is to enable doctors to understand, appraise, and use Artificial Intelligence safely, without encouraging them to become programmers or change their approach of thinking.” He further stated that the effort of incorporating Artificial Intelligence education in the education system of doctors is being implemented with a clear understanding of a 'phased plan, beginning with the postgraduate faculty members, moving on to the postgraduate students, followed by the undergraduate or MBBS education, and finally culminating in a local education infrastructure of Artificial Intelligence.’

In a world that is getting more dynamic by the day, with the challenge of businesses emerging to be far more complex than ever and in an environment that is changing rapidly in terms of industries never experiencing such transformation earlier, increasingly being looked for in an Indian context not just engineers and/or managers but problem-solvers and professionals who comprehend an environment in terms of an overall perspective or design experts. The concept of strategic designing does not appear to remain limited by ornament and visual terms but diversified streams. Strategic designing relates essentially to solutions for large-scale and complicated problems.

The emphasis on design is developing internationally from an auxiliary service to the forerunner of innovation in businesses. Various organizations across industries are looking for design leaders who understand complexity and can scale their solutions. The requirement is also increasing in various industries like energy, fins-tech, health care, and mobility for professionals who understand the interface of user needs, technology, and businesses. The role of strategic designers is gradually becoming an interface in a team for innovation from idea to launch service or product.

The Indian case, too, will see opportunities for strategic design competencies cropping up fast and in a big way. Currently, for instance, organizations are concentrating more on recruiting design talent that has familiarity with business metrics, digital ecosystems, and strategic value addition. Designers aren't considered simply as visualization specialists but as strategic innovation partners with the ability to navigate complex paths while building business outcomes.

Due to this increasing demand, the education area in design also has to face a transformation in this country. Although design schools have already been changing their learning pattern, it is still an area which requires some change in this context. These are the courses which need an introduction in design education in order to teach their students the skills which would be applied in strategic designing.

• Entrepreneurship: Students should be guided not just to design products for corporations, but also in becoming entrepreneurs where they could use these products to solve current problems.
• Team Work-Interdisciplinary: The future design leaders are supposed to work together with the engineers, business analysts, psychologists, and urban planners.
• Industry Integration: Practical involvement with industry projects and industry collaboration may turn out to be quite effective in reducing the gap between education and industry.

There are already some such institutions like the Stanford d.school in the US, Aalto University in Finland, and the Royal College of Art in the UK where strategic design as a field is already incorporated into the academic system offered by these institutions. The Indian institutions have to benchmark against these models of excellence and upgrade their standards to international levels.

Preparing for the Future There The future belongs to those who can adapt, co-operate, and innovate. In the following, strategic design education may enable students to Systems Think: Think about the larger economic, cultural, and environmental implications of decisions related to design. Innovate Responsibly discusses how innovation must target not only making profits but also meeting social responsibilities, being environmentally sustainable, being ethical, and being consistent with the Integration of Technology: This will help to incorporate technology, Artificial Intelligence, as well as analytics so as to enhance efficiencies but above all to make a difference in consumer experience. This mostly lies in the realm of 'how', rather than in the realm of 'what'. This shall be all about innovation rather than the aesthetics of design. This innovative design may well be the next big leap for the country, as it has very cutting-edge design innovation in the realm of the aesthetic.

On paper, the state of global healthcare has never been better. There are more hospitals now than ever before, better medical facilities, more health insurance programs, and more medical personnel than ever before. But lurking behind this positive trend is the tougher reality that whereas the number of medical facilities is increasing, the gap between treatment accessibility is also on the rise.

Until roughly the year 2015, the world metrics suggested that while there was some scope for improvement in the issue of access to healthcare outcomes, such an outcome was possible without the possibility of financial stress for the family. But ever since, the situation has become different. Even as there has been an enhancement in the number of people who can avail themselves of health services, the possibility of financial difficulties has been and perhaps has even risen.

Yet again, this is more segmented than a consistent trend. This average state of affairs itself masks that greater availability is associated with rising out-of-pocket expenses, in particular among the poorest families.

The fact is, disaggregated data shows that women have always ended up with weaker access to health services compared to men in all countries. The worrying trend, however, is that women who come from poorer, less educated backgrounds have been affected. There has been no change during the past ten years to close the gap that already exists between women who come from better and poorer backgrounds.

For most of the women, the problem is not distance but the costs involved. The cost of transport, consultation, medicines, as well as the lost revenue for the day, makes accessing the clinic, which is the feasible option, even less feasible.

Age, Disability, and the Cost of Survival

The most vulnerable are Elderlies, who are drained economically through long-term medication. For young families, a poor health status for mothers means a poor health status for children, generating a personal problem that snowballs into a family disaster.

It is double-trouble for persons with disabilities. Even where there is an availability of health services, cost-related expenses linked to hospital visits, health equipment, and home health services make health care unaffordable and thus inaccessible to the communities. Lack of proximity to health facilities does not help where there are cost and administrative constraints.

There has been a gradual out-of-pocket expenditure on health over the past two decades at a time when the level of poverty in the world has been declining. Poor people consider health expenditure to be an aspect that contributes greatly to their levels of severe poverty as opposed to their previous experience. Women specifically impact their own health in that they put off their own health care.

It does not affect wealthy people only. The increasing expenses of outpatient care and medications are pushing financially unstable families on the verge of bankruptcy. These families are not considered to be living at or below poverty levels; however, if they have poor health, they can lose their financial sustainability.

Different Regions, Same Crisis

The problem with families in rural areas is that healthcare facilities are very far, but in urban areas, patients have healthcare facilities at walking distance—but very expensive. This problem is prevalent all over.

Africa & Southeast Asia: Results are widespread, with limited access for poorest women.

Latin America: Although progress has been seen in tackling infectious diseases, research funding expenditures are high because of chronic disorders.

South Asia: Noncommunicable illnesses have received more attention from the richer class than from the poorer segments of society due to the high cost of medicines.

Europe: Services are widespread, but the needy and the physically disabled lack access.

Many people just stop using the healthcare system because they know that the services are not affordable for them. Many people just do not appear in healthcare statistics or in the statistics of those living with poverty. It is a silent crisis. The Hidden Cost of Staying Alive In most instances, they are addressed by cutting food, removing children from school, and even forgoing satisfying one’s basic needs in order for treatments to proceed. The influence of a disaster occasioned by poverty in health care has not got the attention that it requires due to its catastrophic nature. However, it is important to note that the first people to be displaced by this lack of capacity within the healthcare system, even after new medical facilities have been put up, are the poor. Medicines alone constitute the primary cause of high medical bills for most nations, with poor families being the greatest contributors. 

It appears that the goal of Universal Health Coverage could be reached on paper, but millions more would still be left in the margins of UHC. So long as progress has been measured with averages, health care services will be viewed as good but will widen inequalities. The power of health care would be reached when health care services will be measured by how they can safeguard those who have less in society: the elderly, the disable, patients with chronic diseases, and those who would always be at the edge. When that happens, health care would no longer be near and accessible.

The number of people demanding forensic science courses in India is increasing due to an increase in interest in crime investigation, cyber forensics, DNA, and the growing justice system. The increasing popularity of crime-based TV series, along with an awareness for forensic science in reality, have made forensic science the most in-demand profession for science students in Class 12.

A query that often arises for interested students is whether one can get admission to forensic science courses by sitting for an entirely online entrance exam. The answer to this query is yes.

Demand for Forensic Science in India is rising.

Forensic science is an interdisciplinary field that integrates biology, chemistry, physics, law, and technology in crime analysis through scientific means. Based on the estimation associated with crime and policing demands, more than 10,000 forensic personnel are required in the country every year in both the public and private domains. Jobs under BSc and MSc Forensic Science are available in central agencies such as CBI, state forensic science labs, cyber crime cells, legal firms, insurance companies, and organizations.

The salary for an entry-level person can vary between ₹4 lakh to ₹12 lakh per year, based on skills and the organisation.

Are There Fully Online Entrance Exams Available in Forensic Science?

Yes, India has 100% online forensic science entrance exams. Among some of the most popular forensic science entrance exams, one of the most well-known options is All India Forensic Science Entrance Test (AIFSET).

What Is AIFSET?

The AIFSET is a national-level online entrance examination conducted for admission to various universities in the country for BSc and MSc Forensic Science programs. Some colleges accepting the scores in this exam are Alliance University, Parul University, Silver Oak University, and APG Shimla.

The whole process is online, from registration to result, which is quite an advantage for students from Tier-2, Tier-3 cities, as well as rural areas.

Is AIFSET a Totally Online Program?

Yes. The AIFSET is an online examination that only needs a conventional computer setup connected to an unbroken internet supply. The candidate does not have to go to an examination center to participate in this examination, as they would have to for other exams that this career is usually compared to.

Under this, the following are the eligibility

• BSc Forensic Science: Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, & Biology
• MSc Forensic Science: Relevant science subject at graduation level.

The eligibility may have a slight variation from one institution to another, but a background in science is a mandatory requirement.

AIFSET usually involves MCQs related to Class 11 and 12 Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The preparation work involves notions in NCERT, Subject-specific MCQs, and internet practice tests.

Career Opportunities After Clearing AIFSET

Successful individuals may find numerous options in the following fields:

• Forensic Scientist
• Crime Scene Investigator
• DNA Analyst
• DNA
• Cyber Forensics Expert
• Forensic Toxicologist
• Consultant for legal & private agencies
• Advanced educational pursuits such as MSc, PhD, and lecturing positions are also popular.

Are Online Entrance Exams Reliable?

Recognized online exams such as AIFSET are totally valid and have been accepted with resultados used by over 180 colleges. Candidates must apply only through authorized websites and checks participating colleges. Final Takeaway Students wanting to have a forensic science career in the future find that 100% online entrance exams have made it easier to get admitted compared to before. Of these options, AIFSET is the most popular choice that provides an entry to the increasing number of forensic science professionals in India.

Because fashion trends change with the seasons, the fashion sector is no longer just related to attires; rather, it is a representation of identity, mentality, and lifestyle. Such a passion for sustaining this trend can be easily identified among all people, right from children to seniors. Such is the reason for the ever-increasing demand for the fashion industry, which is most likely to provide good job opportunities for the masses in the days to come. The fashion industry in India is also expanding at a very rapid pace due to the meeting of the best of the past and the new.

The profession of fashion designing can be very rewarding if you have the ability to identify the latest fashion trends and then implement those trends to launch new ones. Apart from intuition, there is a need for industry-related knowledge in this area as well.

Skills that are mandatory for the purpose of succession as a Fashion Designer. Originality/creativity has always remained the deciding factor which would ensure a successful outcome of designs. This would help a person create new designs, copy, and then further enhance them as efficient designs, thus making that person a distinct fashion designer. The skill of drawing, creativity of artistic skills, and familiarity with fabrics, textures, colors, and match-and-mileage designs would help greatly in creating new designs. Although effective external communications are needed, an awareness about the current fashion designs’ trends would never prove a straightforward escaping channel for a fashion designer in the fashion sector.

Apart from this, several academic courses are also available for those students who are interested in pursuing fashion designing as their chosen profession. Based on interest and merit, these students are provided with undergraduate courses, postgraduate courses, diploma courses, as well as certificate courses. The most popular courses among these include Bachelor of Fashion Designing, BSc Fashion Designing, Bachelor of Fashion Communication, Diploma in Fashion Designing, and Diploma in Fashion Styling. The next level of courses among these include MA Fashion Designing, PG Diploma in Fashion Designing, and Master of Fashion Management. 

Career Prospects & Salary 

There are many opportunities available after completing the fashion designing course, and the individual can choose from these. They can work as a fashion designer, retail manager, fashion stylist, shoe/jewelry designer, personal shopper, make up artist, fashion photographer, fashion journalist, or textile designer. At the beginning of their career, their pay can be depending upon their skills or the company they are with in the start, but later on their pay increases enormously. They can also attain success and fame in the fashion industry as fashion designers specializing in fashion designing attain success and fame in the fashion industry as fashion designers. Conclusion: Fashion designing is a superb field offered to the youth as they have skill in creative thinking skills and can adjust themselves with the changes taking place in the fashion industry.

India's media and entertainment industry is no longer a niche career choice; it is a ₹2.7 trillion powerhouse. As the FICCI–EY Report 2025 reports, the sector is growing rapidly, digitally driven by journalism, OTT platforms, advertising, film production, and public relations. With skilled media professionals increasingly in demand, picking the right media college has become the most crucial first step for budding journalists, filmmakers, and digital storytellers.

What has changed in recent years is not only the scale of opportunity but also the manner in which students can gain access to top institutions. Through a single entrance test, GMCET, it became possible for students to seek admission into more than 50 leading private media colleges in India.

India's Best Media Colleges

Several of these institutions have, therefore, continued their domination in media education, primarily for their strong industry linkages, practical training, and placement outcomes.

National School of Journalism, Bengaluru, is amongst the top few options providing courses such as BA Journalism (Honours) with average placement packages being in the range of ₹10–15 lakh/annum.

The NRAI School of Mass Communication, New Delhi offers PG Diploma and Mass Communication programs, with average reporting packages of ₹8–12 lakh.

JECRC University, Jaipur offers BJMC and multimedia-related courses. The fee structure is approximately around ₹1.5 lac per year, and the placements lie in the range of ₹7–11 lac on average.

The MET Institute in Mumbai is known especially for the courses in media, advertising, and journalism and fetches average packages from ₹12–18 lakh.

Some of the other prominent names in this category include GNA University, Punjab; Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune; The NorthCap University, Gurugram; School of Broadcasting and Communication, Mumbai; Alliance University, Bengaluru; and Chandigarh University that offer specialized courses in Journalism, Digital Media, Communication Design and Broadcasting.

How GMCET Is Changing Media Admissions

Conventionally, aspirants had to sit for numerous entrance tests with varying formats, syllabi, and timelines. GMCET has streamlined this into a single nationally accepted test for admissions into over 50 reputed private media colleges.

Such an examination would test the students on current affairs, media awareness, writing skills, and logical reasoning—closely at par with industry expectations. GMCET also offers merit-based scholarships, with fee waiver from 25 to 50 percent or more for the top performers.

Most often, the registration for GMCET starts from September and goes on until July, offering ample opportunity to students, hence reducing admission-related stress.

Why Media Careers Are Booming

From IPL broadcasting to Netflix originals, digital-first newsrooms to influencer-led brand storytelling, India's media ecosystem is expanding across platforms. From Presidency University, Bengaluru, for example, it has been reported that there were median placement packages of ₹15-25 lakh with alumni placed at NDTV, BBC, Disney+ Hotstar and other global media organizations.

For students targeting such competitive institutions, it all comes down to early planning and the right entrance pathway. As a single test opened the door to many colleges, GMCET has emerged as a practical solution in this increasingly crowded admission landscape. As the media industry in India continues to expand, the real challenge for aspirants is no longer a lack of opportunity-but choosing the right launchpad.

Students interested in studying computer science in the best UG and PG programs such as B.Tech, BCA, MCA or M.Sc IT require the Global Computer Science Entrance Test (GCSET) as their gate way. It is a single 60-minute online test at the national level that facilitates gateways to the top tech campuses in a simplified manner. This step-by-step guide will help you apply and be in the 2026 cycle on time.

How to Register for the GCSET Entrance Test?

Step 1: Go to the Official GCSET Portal.

Go straight to gcset.org which is the single registration hub. To escape frauds, avoid third-party sites. The portal takes care of subscribing to the site, as well as payment. Note it down during registration usually starts several months in advance and 2026 dates are usually towards the middle of December or a bit earlier, depending on the cycles.

Step 2: Create Your Account

Press the Register button and fill in a working email and an active mobile number- these are used as your log-in details. You will receive a verification OTP. Enter your actual 10 th marksheet information of names, date of birth and gender to be used in further documents. The step takes a maximum of two minutes yet lays the groundwork to admission card access.

Step 3: Complete Personal and Academic Information.

Log in to the dashboard. Enter complete address, 10 th /12 th grades, and graduation scores (when applying to PG). In counseling, choose your favorite program (B.Tech CS, BCA etc.) and campus. 

Step 4: Upload Scanned Documents

Prepare these in advance (JPEG/PDF):

• Passport-size photo (formal attire, white background).
• Signature.
• ID proof (Aadhaar, PAN, or Passport).
• 10th/12th marksheets.
• Upload clearly; blurry files get rejected. This ensures smooth verification later.

Step 5: Pay the Non-Refundable Fee

The fee is just INR 2,000, payable via UPI, Paytm, credit/debit card, or net banking. Save the transaction ID. Payment confirms your slot; expect an admit card 48 hours pre-exam.

Step 6: Take the Examination

Ensure that you join the exam link 15 mins before the examination. Take the 1hr test from your home or anywhere you feel comfortable. 

Pro Tips

Check the eligibility requirement before plunging. GCSET is offered to applicants who have successfully completed 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, Math (PCM) or Computer Science or with B.Sc in Computer Science/IT (minimum 50 percent aggregate). Final year students can also apply with up to three attempts. This keeps the focus sharp for serious tech enthusiasts building skills in AI, cybersecurity, and software development.

In summary, students who wish to pursue computer science courses can take this exam and study their desired program from a top university. Registering for it is easy via the GCSET official website. For free consultation, call on the toll free number mentioned on the portal. 

The term scientist, which immediately creates a feeling of smartness and genius, is an extremely realistic profession in the year 2026. In case you are in Class 12 or first-year college, and aspire to become a computer science scientist, like an AI researcher or a data wizard, then you have arrived on time before you are 25. India is going through a technology boom which requires new brains like you, which are in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Noida centers. 

This career guide will be your own counselor; we will map actual career, we will compare exams such as GCSET, JEE Main, BITSAT, and so forth and we are going to give step-by-step plans. Nothing but quality  material aimed at offering fast-track advice on how to turn your B.Tech CSE or BCA into a high-salary job. Continue reading.

Why CS Careers before 25? Velez Real Talk on Opportunities in India.

Suppose you do this at 22 years, you can code AI models at startups or projects in ISRO earning 8-15 LPA. There is an increase of 20 per cent annually in the fields in CS in India and the overall number of jobs will be 2 million by 2026. The careers of data scientist or an ML engineer do not involve any decades of experience but intelligent entry points in UG programs or combined classes.

But how? Post-Class 12 crack permits, follow a major of their choice, secure internships, create GitHub profiles, and become a specialist prematurely. Quite a good number of IITs or GCSET colleges are hired to the junior scientist post by 22-23 years. No delays acceptable: Aim at 4 year B.Tech, not interminable pre-training. 

Best Entrance Exams for Computer Science: GCSET vs. JEE, BITSAT, and Others (2026 Guide)

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Here's a counsellor’s comparison of top exams for B.Tech CSE, AI/ML, or BCA. GCSET shines for quick, CS-focused entry; JEE for prestige. Now, pick based on where your strength lies, whether in maths, technicality, or logic?

5-Year Step-by-Step Roadmap: From Class 12 to Scientist

• 5-Year Career Roadmap: Class 12 to Scientist.
• 17-18 yrs (Class 12): Select 1-2 exams: To enter the prestigious colleges, JEE + a backup, GCSET. Get ready to take the admission test by using 2 hrs/day NCERT maths/ physics + CS basics (gcset.org syllabus). 
• Age 18-21: UG: Join B.Tech CSE/AI. Complete 2-3 internships, create 5+ GitHub projects. CGPA aim: 8+.
• Age 21- 22, Graduate: Land campus placement 5-10 LPA. Join Upwork as a freelance worker. 
• Age 22-24 be a Scientist: Pursue M.Tech via GATE/GCSET PG, publish papers in IEEE, or join research at IISc/ISRO.  Network on LinkedIn-add 50 pros/month. 

Pro Tips: Balance health too. Keep 1 hr for sports.  Track trends in AI, quantum.

Top 7 CS Career Paths to Scientist-Level by 25 (With Roadmap)

From GCSET or JEE, dive into these booming paths. Salaries from Naukri.com 2025 data. Build skills via Coursera (free Python courses) alongside college.

India needs CS scientists like you but you need to ensure you put in efforts. GCSET offers a chill entry to elite CS paths, but matches it to your style. Download syllabus from gcset.org, attempt a mock to ensure you are ready for the exam, and dream big. By 25 you will be a scientist inspiring others. So, start your career right after 12th. Visit GCSET official portal for info and free consultation. 

 The AIFSET result is expected to be declared tomorrow, on 30 December, on the official AIFSET portal. AIFSET, also called All India Forensic Science Entrance Test, is amongst the key exams in India for students who want to build a career in forensic science after Class 12. If you appeared for the AIFSET 2026 exam, you are probably waiting nervously for your result.  In this article, you’ll know how to check your result, download it and the next steps you need to take. 

What is AIFSET, and for whom is it?

AIFSET stands for the All India Forensic Science Entrance Test, and it is a national-level entrance test conducted for admission to B.Sc. Forensic Science and related undergraduate forensic programs offered by participating Universities and Colleges across India. Students who have passed or are appearing in Class 12 with Science (usually PCB/PCM or relevant subjects, as per official eligibility) can apply for this exam. The test is usually conducted online with objective-type questions from basic science and related areas. It is popular among students who want to work in sectors like crime scene investigation, forensic labs, cyber forensics, and other scientific services. Students should always refer to the official AIFSET website/portal for specific eligibility criteria, participating institutes, syllabus, and pattern of the examination.

AIFSET Results Tomorrow: Where and How to Check

Once the results are declared tomorrow, candidates would be able to check their AIFSET result online. The process is usually very simple and similar to other entrance exams. A basic step-by-step guide you can follow is hereby mentioned:

Steps to check the result: First, go to the official website of AIFSET. There will be a link available on the homepage itself with text like "AIFSET Result", "Result 2025", or "Download Scorecard". Click on that result link. You will now be required to enter your registered email ID / application number / mobile number and sometimes your date of birth or password, as per the login system. Once you submit these details, your AIFSET result and scorecard will appear on the screen.

Verify your name, roll number, marks or rank (if provided), and qualifying status carefully. After verifying the details in the score card, download it as a PDF and save it on your device. One or two printouts of the scorecard will also be useful since you will need it at the time of Counselling and Admission. If, upon declaration of result, the website is slow because of heavy traffic, wait for some time and try without repeatedly refreshing the page.

Scholarship for All Qualified Students: 20% Scholarship Benefit

The most attractive feature for students appearing in AIFSET is the scholarship opportunity after clearing the exam. As per the general information shared for this cycle, all students who clear the AIFSET exam and meet the qualifying criteria will be eligible for an early-bird scholarship of 20%, which is independent of category. This implies that General, SC, ST, OBC, and all other categories will be treated equally for this 20% scholarship, provided they clear the exam as per the official cutoff or qualifying rules.

This is a big relief for many families because the forensic sciences are a specialized field, and quality private or semi-private institutes do not come cheap. A flat 20% provisional scholarship for all eligible candidates makes the courses more affordable and encourages more students to opt for forensic science as a serious career option.

Extra Fee Concession for Top Scorers

Besides the exclusive early-bird scholarship to all eligible students, high scorers in AIFSET will also be awarded additional financial benefits. A candidate securing higher ranks or coming under the top merit list (defined by the official notification) may also be provided extra concession in their total college fees. This concession can be in the form of a higher percentage scholarship, reduction in tuition fees across all years, or other financial support schemes, depending on the participating institute and the policies for that year.

This usually includes clear mentions of the exact details of who all will be counted as top scorers, what is the rank range which will get extra concession, and how much will be the total fee reduction. Students are strongly advised to go through the scholarship and fee concession section on the AIFSET portal after declaration of results, and also confirm the terms of scholarship with the specific college chosen during counselling.

What to Do After You Check Your AIFSET Results?

The first step is to download and save your scorecard once you have seen your result; you can be sure you have qualified. It’s better to keep a printout of your score card with all your valuable papers such as Class 10 and 12 mark sheets, identity proof, and photographs. The second step is to visit the official AIFSET site and enroll for the counselling section. During this, candidates are normally asked to adhere the following steps: 

• Registration to counselling
• Filling selection of colleges
• Document submission

According to your score or ranking, you are supposed to shortlist the AIFSET participating for forensic science and are in your interest, location, fee budget and scholarship benefits. It is quite worthwhile going to the websites of these colleges, to read about its B.Sc Forensic Science course structure, laboratory, time and placement. After the online counselling session, you will have to provide all  the required documents, pay the provisional admission fee and secure your seat in your desired university. 

In case your score is not as high as you thought it would be, do not panic.you can give another attempt and secure your seat in the top universities. However, only 3 attempts are allowed. 

Important Advice on what to do when waiting on AIFSET Result.

As you await the day of the result, ensure that you have your login credentials as well as the email address/mobile number used at the time of registration. You should not use unchecked links or result pages of third parties, you should always log in using the official AIFSET website. Do not disclose your OTPs or passwords to other people. You can also discuss with your parents or guardians about your budget, your accommodation (hostels) and city of choice in advance, such that when the counselling and admission window opens, you will also be fast and able to make decisions. 

Remember that clearing AIFSET is a strong first step towards a scientific career in forensic science, whether in crime labs, investigation agencies, private labs, cyber forensics, or research. With the 20% scholarship for all qualifying students and additional fee concessions for top scorers, this is a good opportunity to enter a niche field in India. Connect with your allotted counsellor and take the further steps towards your future. 

The green job boom in India makes B.Sc. Forestry 2026 a smart pick for students looking towards stable careers due to climate challenges. In tune with the target of the National Forest Policy for 33% forest cover, the demand for forestry experts is going up. This course merges the elements of outdoors, technology skills, and government jobs-ideal via entrances like AIACAT for admission to top colleges.

Hands-on courses offered by top Universities in India prepare you for careers in Conservation and Agri-tech. If you are unsure whether B.Sc. Forestry admissions 2026 is the right pick, here's why it beats generic degrees.

5 Proven Reasons B.Sc. Forestry Tops the Lists of Indian Students

Forestry addresses very real issues such as deforestation (India lost 2.33M hectares since 2000). This is why India is in dire need of experts in this field who can save, preserve, and maintain the balance between man and nature. 

Here are the reasons why students (genZ) are willingly choosing this course:

1. Combat Climate Change: Learn sustainable management, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity protection of forests, which absorb ~15% of India's CO2 emissions annually (vital for meeting 2030 climate targets).
2. Diverse Jobs in Demand: Forest officers, wildlife biologists, GIS analysts, Eco-consultants. The private sector (e.g., ITC plantations) contributes 20% growth.
3. Prestigious Government Jobs: Crack Indian Forest Service with UPSC or through state exams for ₹56,100 entry-level pay plus other benefits.
4. Integration of State-of-the-Art Technology: Master in GIS, drones, AI for forest monitoring-India's Digital India push to create 50K+ tech-forestry jobs by 2030.
5. Health & Fulfillment Boost: Nature work cuts stress by 20% per studies; perfect for outdoorsy lovers who earn purpose + paycheck.

Why pursue B.Sc. in Agriculture via AIACAT?

The AIACAT simplifies everything; thus, it acts as your golden ticket for top private universities such as Parul University, LPU, Techno India University, and VGU. This national-level test eases entry into B.Sc. Agriculture, Forestry, and related courses without domicile bias, making it ideal for students from Haryana, Kolkata, or, in fact, any corner of India.

Unlike the very stressful ICAR AIEEA, AIACAT provides a non-exploitative merit-based admission process with only 50% marks required in 12th PCB/Agri (Age 17+). Toppers get up to 50% scholarships, saving lakhs on fees at these elite institutes known for modern agri-tech labs and 70%+ placement rates. These universities prioritize AIACAT scores for direct admissions, skipping lengthy counseling rounds.

With the boom in green jobs, AIACAT connects you with practical training in sustainable farming, GIS, and climate solutions. For 2026 dates and cut-offs, visit AIACAT.com or call 08071296500 for a free consultation. Do not miss this opportunity. Top Private Agri Colleges await you!

FAQs

AIACAT Eligibility?

12th with 50% PCB/Agri; Age 17+. No upper limit.

Is forestry tough?

No, it is a moderate course.

Top colleges via AIACAT?

There are many Top Colleges accepting AIACAT scores like Parul university, VGU, LPU, Techno India and 100 others. Take the agriculture entrance test and secure a seat seamlessly. 

B.Sc. Forestry duration? 

4 years; honours options available.

Being  in the IT industry, you are well aware of how saturated the field is, which is why building a career in data science and data analytics is a good decision for students. The inclination of India towards data-driven decisions has spiked demand for professionals who have a blend of engineering skills with business smarts. MCA in Data Science and Data Analytics or Business Analytics is one outstanding PG option for students targeting the tech-data-strategy crossroads. Other than a few quick certifications and pure management courses, this degree goes deep into core concepts in engineering to make it perfect for tough analytics roles in IT, consulting, finance, and research firms.

What is MCA in Data Science and Data Analytics?

MCA Data Analytics is a 2-year postgraduate course (AICTE 2020 norms) offered to BCA /B.Tech/BSc students and is based on Python, Java, SQL databases, machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch), big data tools, and cloud services (AWS). In contrast to M.Tech engineering heavy modelling, MCA focuses on software development, integration of apps, and data infrastructure that best suits the creation of scalable analytics.

Why Data Analytics Skills Are Exploding in India

India's analytics boom fuels demand: e-commerce (Flipkart), fintech (Paytm), and Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in Bengaluru/Hyderabad hire aggressively. Pune, Gurugram, and Chennai lead with tech-driven ops. Apart from that, MCA Data Analytics provides technical depth to create data pipelines and deploy models, unlike short certifications or MBA programmes. India is facing analytics talent shortages, with LinkedIn 2025 noting 3x more AI/data roles than qualified applicants and 54% recruiter dissatisfaction. This is why choosing this course is gaining popularity and becoming a preferred choice for computer science graduates.

MCA Data Analytics vs M.Tech Business Analytics

MCA suits IT grads wanting quick tech entry; M.Tech fits engineering research paths.

Top MCA Data Analytics Colleges in India (NIRF 2025)

• NIT Trichy (NIRF #9): NIMCET cutoff ~150 rank, 95% placement
• Delhi University: CUET-PG based, ₹20k fees
• NIT Warangal (NIRF #21): Strong AI/ML labs
• BHU Varanasi: Affordable, research focus
• VIT Vellore: Private with ₹12 LPA avg package

GCSET 2026 offers direct entry into Top Private Universities (if you fail to secure a seat in the above mentioned colleges) without high cutoffs.

High-Demand Careers After MCA Data Analytics

Graduates land roles like Data Engineer, Analytics Developer, ML Operations Engineer, Business Intelligence Analyst, and Data Pipeline Specialist. Projects include fraud detection systems, customer churn prediction, and supply chain dashboards. Recruiters: TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, Capgemini, 90% placement at top NITs.

Realistic MCA Data Analytics Salary in India (2025 Data)

Pay varies by college and skills:

Avg MCA package: ₹7.5 LPA nationally (NIRF 2025 placements). Skills > college matter most.

Research and Government Opportunities

MCA includes capstone projects on AI automation or data systems, qualifying for NIC, CDAC, or state IT boards, not core DRDO/ISRO (M.Tech preferred). Corporate R&D at Infosys Innovation Labs welcomes MCA grads for applied analytics.

Who Should Choose MCA Data Analytics?

Perfect for BCA/B.Tech CS/IT grads loving coding, databases, and data flows over pure math modeling. Skip if you want management (choose MBA) or heavy research (M.Tech). Ideal for 2-year fast-track to ₹10 LPA+ tech jobs.

Why Take GCSET 2026 for MCA Data Analytics?

GCSET 2026 is a national level entrance examination for students who wish to study B.Tech, M.Tech and MCA programmes. Global Computer Science Entrance Test, gives Computer  Science graduates an opportunity of getting admission to hot fields like Data analytics, AI, Data science, and Computer science programmes by the leading Universities in India in a hassle free channel. It is a 100% online national-level test, powered by Edinbox, that helps in easy admission in all the participating campuses helping you eliminate the offline entrance exam hassle and admission process. 

This computer science entrance examination takes only 60 minutes and can be taken either through phone, laptop or desktop. No negative marking so there is no reason to be hesitant when it comes to answering all questions. Syllabus will be centred on the essential computer science topics and sample papers and mock tests will be provided on gcset.org to assist you with preparation. Registration can be done through their portal at INR 2000 (non-refundable) and by selecting their preferred campuses and going through a simple process: exam, results, counselling and booking seats.

By selecting GCSET, an M.Tech opens up good career opportunities, and the initial salaries after an M.Tech are about 8-12 LPA on offer in the top jobs by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro. It also prepares AI or Machine Learning, or even Ph.D. specialisations, which is again in line with the rapidly growing analytics industry in India. 

Lastly, according to NASSCOM, over 5 lakh analytics roles are expected to be projected by 2026. Thus, GCSET 2026 is a practical option in the case of B.Tech graduates and those who would like to pursue a rapid and skill-centred Master degree without GATE cutoff. Register today, develop projects and contact us using GCSET official site through free consultation. 

Enroll now,build projects, and connect with us for free consultation via GCSET official website.

AIFSET 2026 is scheduled on 27th December 2025 making the next few days crucial. It is a great opportunity for BSc/ MSc Forensic Science aspirants targeting Top Universities India like VGU, Parul, or SOU. This online home-based 1-hour exam consists of 100 MCQs divided among Physics, Chemistry, Biology/ Mathematics, and Forensic basics, without negative marking. This means last-minute study holds the key to achieving top scores and ensures direct admissions. With results out by 30th December,here are some quick tips on how to revise smart and crack AIFSET from home.

AIFSET aspires to target 10+2 students who have scored at least 50% in PCB/M for undergraduate courses and graduate individuals for postgraduate programs, focusing on practical forensic careers in crime labs, cybercrime, and pharma. Unlike long exams like NEET, its 60-minute format rewards speed and accuracy; aim for 80+ to bag scholarships at partner colleges and of course the early-bird scholarship (general category students are also  eligible). Download your admit card 48 hours in advance from aifset.com. Ensure stable internet and practice on desktop/ mobile.

Revise the AIFSET Syllabus in 24 Hours

Divide the revision into time-slots matched with the pattern of the exam: 

• 40% Physics/Chemistry
• 30% Biology
• 20% Forensic Science
• 10% Maths/Aptitude. 

Prioritize those topics with high weightage-sciences include Mechanics and Optics, Organic Reactions; for forensics, Crime Scene, Toxicology, and DNA. Take NCERT 11th-12th as your base and then quick references like HC Verma for Physics, OP Tandon for Chemistry, Trueman for Bio, and RS Aggarwal for Aptitude.

Start with Physics/Chemistry (2-hour equivalent focus): Revise formulas like Newton's Laws, Ray Optics, Thermodynamics, p-Block Reactions, Equilibrium.  Solve 50 MCQs each from past papers. Note common tricks aimed at unit conversions, etc. Biology: Genetics, Human Anatomy, Ecology. Flashcards for diagrams like DNA profiling save time. Forensic Science is unique because all you need to do is commit to memory things like Chain of Custody, Fingerprint Types, Poison Classes, with only 20 questions in total, so 30 minutes of revision will go a long way.

10 Quick Revision Hacks for AIFSET 27th Dec

1. Timed Mock Tests: Take 2 full 1-hour mocks daily from aifset.com samples – score 90+ to build stamina. Analyse errors in 10 mins.
2. Formula Sheets: One A4 page per subject – Mechanics equations, Mole Concept shortcuts, Biotech terms. Recite 5x before sleep.
3. Forensic Keywords: List 50 terms (e.g., Luminol Test, Ballistics, Cyber Forensics) – match with images for recall.
4. Weak Area Blitz: If Bio lags, do 100 PYQs; Maths – Algebra, Percentages, Logical Puzzles only (easy 10 marks).
5. Night-before Plan: Sleep 8 hours; revise notes 2 hours morning. No new topics post-25th Dec.
6. Tech Setup: Test browser (Chrome), webcam for proctoring; quiet room. Backup power/internet.
7. Mindset Boost: Visualise 90% score – positive affirmations cut anxiety by 30%.
8. Diet Hack: Light meals, hydration; avoid caffeine crash.
9. Post-Exam: Note questions for result prep – counselling starts early Jan.
10. Resources: Free mocks on aifset.com; YouTube "AIFSET PYQ" channels for 1-hour solves.

What will Happen after the AIFSET Entrance Test?

1. Result to be announced on 30th Dec
2. Counselling starts early Jan.
3. Provisional admissions start in Jan

Common mistakes to avoid on AIFSET test day 

• Rushing without reading options costs 20 marks. Spend 30 secs per question. 
• Attempting all question: Skip tough questions; return later since no negative marking. 
• Proctoring flags tab-switching – stay focused. 
• Time trap: Allocate 25 mins Physics/Chem, 20 Bio, 10 Forensics, 5 Aptitude..

Parents should understand it is a low-stress entry into high-demand forensic jobs and the average starting pay is 6-8 LPA. With a proven exam process, AIFSET's high score on 27th Dec lets the candidate secure VGU, Amity, etc seats fast. If not registered, do it now; if done, revise as per these tips and turn panic into top rank. All the best!

Between reform momentum, trust deficit, and the race to stay relevant

As 2025 closes, Indian higher education looks bigger than ever—andmore uneasy than ever. Participation is rising, aspirations are rising faster, and the everyday “rules of the game” feel less predictable to students, teachers, and institutions. The system is being pushed to do several difficult things at once: redesign its regulatory architecture, restore confidence in accreditation after a credibility shock, respond to a jobs market being reshaped by AI, and compete globally for learners and faculty—while also navigating the hard realities of India’s federal politics.

What made the year feel different is that the big headlines were not about shiny new campuses or fashionable programmes. They were about governance and trust: a proposed super-regulator, new norms that could normalise contract teaching, an accreditation scandal that forced a pause and rule changes, and an internationalisation push that is ambitious in intent but still thin in early enrolment outcomes.

Scale is real. So is the anxiety about outcomes.

India’s higher education system is now among the world’s largest—and its scale is no longer the debate. The question that is getting sharper is what this scale delivers: do graduates leave with learning and credentials that translate into mobility—jobs, entrepreneurship, research pathways,

or global opportunities—or do they leave with degrees that the market increasingly discounts unless backed by demonstrable skills?

A key tension shows up in mobility numbers. Foreign students in India remain modest, while Indian students going abroad have surged—turning “internationalisation” from a branding phrase into a competitiveness test. The document notes AISHE 2021–22 foreign- student enrolment at 46,878, and cites a policy brief that places Indian outbound mobility at over 13 lakh in 2024—an asymmetry that is hard to ignore.

This is not only about “brain drain.” It is also about the credibility of the Indian campus experience for an international learner: predictable administration, clear degree equivalence, housing and safety, academic support, and a visible route to employability. If those elements feel uncertain, permissions and MoUs alone do not convert into inbound demand.

Consider a simple, familiar campus example. A student in a tier-2 city may now access more courses than before—minors, skill modules, even micro-credentials—but still struggle to find a good lab, a stable mentor, or an internship pipeline. The system expands choice, but the student’s question stays stubbornly practical: “Will this degree move me forward?”

The biggest move of 2025: rewiring the regulator

The most consequential policy story—because it could shape the next decade—was the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan Bill, 2025 in Parliament on December 15, 2025. As summarised in the document, the proposed body is designed to replace UGC, AICTE, and NCTE, while excluding legal and medical education from its scope.

The political economy around the bill is as important as its administrative logic. The document points to the bill being sent for Joint Parliamentary Committee consideration, expected to deliberate until end-February 2026, and highlights concerns around centralised appointments and limited representation for states and teachers.

There is an honest argument for simplification: India’s higher education regulation has often been seen as fragmented, compliance-heavy, and duplicative. But the counter-argument is equally structural: a single super-regulator can become a single point of failure, especially in a

federal polity where state universities educate a large share of students and where higher education is politically sensitive.

So the crossroads insight is not merely “reform versus status quo.” It is the difference between smarter regulation and more centralised regulation, and that difference will be determined by the final bill text, rule-making, and whether institutional autonomy becomes substantive rather than procedural.

The faculty question: flexibility or a slide into permanent insecurity?

Even as the system debates architecture, it is wrestling with the labour market of teaching. The document notes that draft UGC regulations removed the cap on contract teachers, and also captures the anxiety this triggers: exploitation risks, normalisation of precarious employment, and the possibility that contractualisation becomes the default staffing model.

Yes, contract hiring can bring speed and flexibility—useful in fast- changing fields and in institutions trying to scale quickly. But the deeper risk is cultural: when teaching becomes a short-term gig, research careers become less attractive, mentoring becomes thinner, and

institutional memory erodes. The classroom may continue, but the university’s core promise—long-term academic community—weakens. In everyday terms, this shows up in small, painful ways. A department runs three new “industry-relevant” courses, but the faculty rotates every semester. Students lose continuity, projects become superficial, and recommendation letters become transactional because no mentor has actually watched a learner grow over time.

When accreditation loses trust, quality becomes everybody’s problem 

If regulation sets the rules, accreditation creates the trust layer that makes those rules meaningful. In early February 2025, that trust took a major hit. The document references a NAAC inspection committee bribery case that led to arrests, a multi-month pause in accreditation, and changes in inspection committee rules, while larger reforms remained pending.

This kind of episode is not a one-off scandal; it is a systemic risk. Once accreditation is perceived as gameable, it distorts everything downstream—student choice, employer confidence, institutional funding logic, and the legitimacy of quality claims. The document frames the core requirement clearly: quality assurance cannot become “more forms”; it

must become more credibility, built through auditability, transparency, and robust conflict-of-interest controls.

A practical analogy helps. If grading in a university is suspected to be manipulable, even honest students suffer because the value of everyone’s marks declines. Accreditation works similarly at the institutional level: once trust falls, even good institutions pay the price.

India’s federal fault line: reform is also negotiation

One policy lesson the year underlined is that education reform in India is never purely a central script. The document points to disputes linked to funding arrangements and prolonged litigation around vice-chancellor appointments in multiple states, creating institutional uncertainty that directly affects campus functioning.

When VC appointments stall, promotions and hiring stalls. When funding is delayed, infrastructure and student support weaken. When calendars slip, credibility suffers. This is not abstract politics; students experience it as delayed exams, missing faculty, and administrative drift. 

Internationalisation: permissions are not the same as Experience 

Internationalisation ran through 2025 as ambition and anxiety. The document notes that letters of intent were issued to foreign universities for campuses in Indian cities, but also flags the “first-batch reality”: the earliest foreign university campuses in GIFT City reportedly admitted only about 60 students in their first cohort.

At the same time, India is also experimenting with “knowledge export,” including an Indian management institution’s overseas campus launch with a small initial cohort—symbolically significant, but still early-stage in scale terms.

The document’s central point is operational and unavoidable: internationalisation will rise only when India fixes the last mile—visa and mobility facilitation, degree equivalence, professional student services, housing, safety, predictable regulation, and employability outcomes. This is where institutions must move from announcements to “international student-ready” systems. An international learner is not only buying a syllabus; they are buying a life setup for two to four years. Any uncertainty—on paperwork, internships, safety, or post-study pathways—reduces demand sharply, regardless of branding. 

NEP at five: momentum on paper, strain on delivery 

By end-2025, NEP 2020 will be completed in five years. The document captures a critical interpretation: monitoring, deregulation, and digitalisation have advanced faster than academic reforms, while flexibility and choice remain constrained by staff shortages and infrastructure limitations, sometimes resulting in poor-quality course experiences. It also cites operational strain in implementing structural reforms like the four-year undergraduate programme, where administrative breakdowns, such as exam-paper delivery failures, became a public lesson in what happens when reform outpaces capacity.

The underlying message is simple: modularity and choice require advising systems, course design capability, assessment readiness, and staffing. Without these, flexibility becomes confusion. 

Professional councils push back, and remain outside the new architecture

A subtle but important detail is what the proposed new framework does not cover. The document notes that legal and medical education remain outside the bill’s scope, reinforcing that India is moving into a hybrid regulatory future rather than a single consolidated logic. It also notes sharper interventions by professional bodies, including a multi-year pause on new law schools and expansion by the Bar Council of India, and standardisation moves in allied health that will affect admissions and curricula. The implication is that coordination—rather than consolidation alone—will determine whether the ecosystem becomes clearer or more contradictory for institutions and learners.

2026: the “crystal gaze” and the hard choices ahead

The document frames three possibilities for 2026: a cleaner governance regime if the bill is redesigned for trust, a credible quality reset if accreditation becomes auditable, and internationalisation at scale if India fixes last-mile delivery rather than relying on permissions alone.

It also lays out three challenges likely to intensify. First, the AI-skills squeeze. The labour market tilt toward skills is already visible, and degrees will increasingly be valued when they come with portfolios, projects, internships, labs, and industry-validated Competence.

Second, the “contract trap.” If contractual faculty expands without safeguards, short-term savings can create long-term losses in pedagogy, mentoring depth, and research culture—exactly when the system needs stronger learning outcomes.

Third, reform fatigue and operational breakdowns. Reforms that change programme structures and assessment models can overwhelm under- resourced administration, unless phased rollouts and capacity-building become the default approach.

The real crossroads: permission-led reform or outcome-led rebuilding

The most compelling framing in the document is that the crossroads is ultimately a choice between two futures: a permission-led future with new regulators and frameworks but weak delivery capacity, and an outcome-led future with fewer headline reforms but deeper investments in trust, teaching careers, student services, and global-grade campus systems.

From that lens, the 2026 agenda becomes clear. Legitimacy must be designed into the new governance framework. Accreditation must become auditable, not just inspectable. Faculty careers must remain careers, not gigs. Internationalisation must be built as student experience, not only announcements. And AI-era curriculum realism must shift classrooms toward projects, internships, micro-credentials, and the ethics of new technologies—so degrees remain economically credible.

If 2025 was the year the pressure points surfaced loudly, 2026 could be the year India decides whether it will treat trust, teaching talent, and student experience as “implementation details,” or finally place them at the centre of reform.

The author is the Chief Mentor of Edinbox and works as a Director with the Techno India group of Kolkata, along with being the Principal Adviser of the Kolkata based university of the group.

India has spent decades exporting talent, sending millions of students overseas and watching top faculty and researchers build careers elsewhere. Now, a new NITI Aayog report, released in December 2025, argues that the next phase of India’s higher-education story must be about two-way flows: attracting international students and faculty, scaling cross-border research, and building globally networked campuses, without losing India’s cultural and intellectual identity.

The document, Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential and Policy Recommendations (Dec 2025) was prepared by NITI Aayog’s Education Division with a consortium led by IIT Madras, and it is explicitly framed as an academic/policy research output, not a binding policy statement. At the centre of the report is a concrete implementation blueprint: 5 thematic pillars, 22 policy recommendations, 76 action pathways, and 125 performance indicators an attempt to convert “internationalisation” from rhetoric into measurable delivery.

What the report means by “internationalisation” (it’s broader than foreign students) 

NITI Aayog’s framing treats internationalisation as a full-spectrum redesign of how Indian universities teach, research, partner, and present themselves globally. The report explicitly includes internationalisation- at-home, student/faculty mobility, international research collaborations, international student offices, offshore and onshore campuses, and Indian knowledge systems and intercultural fluency as part of the operating model.

This matters because India’s global footprint is not only an admissions challenge; it is also a systems challenge like visa processes, degree equivalence, credit transfer, campus support, safety, and the “soft infrastructure” that makes international learners and faculty feel welcome.

The targets: a push toward global medians by 2047

To create urgency, the report introduces time-bound targets for international student presence. It points to a goal of raising India’s “international student mobility intensity” to 1.0% by 2047, translating into roughly 8 lakh inbound international students (and about 22 lakh total international enrolments when accounting for multiple cohorts). The report’s underlying message is clear: India cannot become a credible global education hub without scaling inbound mobility significantly—and doing so requires coordinated action across education, home affairs, external affairs, and state governments. 

At-a-glance: the flagship proposals (and the “brands” the report wants India to build)

Each element above is drawn from the report’s policy recommendations

and implementation roadmaps.

Pillar 1: Strategy—build a national operating system, not scattered pilots

The report’s first move is to treat internationalisation as a whole-of- government, whole-of-system programme, not a set of disconnected MoUs. It proposes a comprehensive national strategy, including coordination mechanisms and measurable monitoring. A key strategy lever is the creation of Global Higher Education Hubs—regional ecosystems designed around STEAM disciplines and anchored in collaboration among universities, industry, government and society. This can be also criticised that the recommendations actually ignore the non-STEM disciplines, which in effect may also include management, law, communication, design, languages. The proposal explicitly suggests replicating hub models (including the “GIFT City approach”), creating incentives for high-potential Indian and international universities, and aligning hubs with national missions such as Digital India and Startup India. There are critics who explain with facts how the GIFT City of Gandhinagar has not been a success to boast

about.

The intent is not just student recruitment. These hubs are positioned as education-led innovation ecosystems that drive regional economic transformation and global reputation—i.e., internationalisation as industrial strategy, not only education policy.

Pillar 2: Regulation—reduce friction for people, programmes, and campuses

If strategy sets direction, regulation determines whether anything moves at speed. The report’s regulatory proposals focus on three bottlenecks:

1) Mobility permissions and administrative simplification

It calls for streamlined administrative procedures to enable smoother movement of students, faculty and researchers.

2) International branch campuses and eligibility rules

The report pushes for broadening eligibility and simplifying approval processes to make India a more competitive destination for foreign universities—moving beyond narrow filters and enabling faster decision cycles.

3) Co-located and “embedded” campus models

Instead of waiting only for standalone foreign campuses, the report proposes integrated/co-located campuses within Indian institutions—where foreign HEIs can plug into Indian public/private campuses through shared infrastructure and academic delivery. And to create a visible “proof-of-concept zone,” it recommends establishing GIFT IFSC as a model international education hub, expanding academic disciplines and aligning the ecosystem for global participation.

Finally, it argues that incentives matter only if rankings and reputational systems reward the right behaviours—hence the recommendation to revise NIRF to include internationalisation metrics aligned with NEP 2020.

Pillar 3: Mobility at scale—“Tagore Framework” for regional exchanges

Rather than only bilateral exchange MoUs (which often remain symbolic), the report advocates a multilateral architecture an Erasmus- like system adapted for regions such as ASEAN, BIMSTEC, or BRICS.

It even proposes a cultural-diplomacy identity for it: the “Tagore Framework,” taking into consideration the early internationalization of art and culture by Vishwabharati University at Shantiniketan, founded by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

The strategic subtext: India’s comparative advantage may lie in building Global South academic corridors that are structured, credit-recognised, and easier to navigate than today’s patchwork.

Pillar 4: Finance—new money, smarter instruments, and research-linked internationalisation

The report’s financing logic is blunt: internationalisation needs long- horizon funding, and India’s diaspora is an underutilised strategic asset. Bharat Vidya Kosh: a diaspora-led research sovereign impact fund. It proposes a National Research Sovereign Wealth Impact Fund—Bharat Vidya Kosh—a diaspora-led, government-matched trust-style vehicle to finance research, innovation and capacity-building. The model includes a proposed USD 10 billion corpus, split between diaspora/philanthropy and a government match.

Vishwa Bandhu Scholarship and Fellowship: prestige as policy To compete in global talent markets, the report recommends a flagship scholarship for international master’s students—Vishwa Bandhu Scholarship—modelled after global benchmarks. For researchers and faculty (especially diaspora), it proposes the Vishwa Bandhu Fellowship, designed to be globally competitive and administratively streamlined.

Erasmus Mundus, Ford Foundation Fellowships, Commonwealth Fellowships and many more are there as global illustrations of similar initiatives. Policy Recommendation 12: use existing global research money—systematically. A quieter but highly operational recommendation urges leading Indian central and state public universities to proactively tap bilateral and multilateral joint research funding programmes—by building internal capacity to access and manage such funds and by creating global consortia.

Pillar 5: Branding, communication and outreach—treat education as diplomacy

NITI Aayog’s report is unusually explicit that “internationalisation” is also a market-building exercise—with differentiated messaging for different countries.

It recommends developing country- and region-specific outreach strategies (BCO) based on Indian strengths, employer demand, diaspora influence, and trust signals.. Two notable “soft power” levers stand out: Indian Alumni Ambassador Network (“Bharat ki AAN”) to build credibility, mentoring pathways, and recruitment pull in target markets.

An annual flagship convening—Bharat Vidya Manthan—to position India as a global meeting point for higher education and research partnerships. The report also proposes a structured push for Global Academic and Research Exchange Programmes, including outward mobility schemes and institutional partnership engines, so exchanges become repeatable programmes rather than ad hoc arrangements.

And finally, it calls for revamping “Study in India” into a one-stop solution—reducing friction from discovery to application to onboarding.

Pillar 6: Curriculum and culture—internationalise “at home,” keep India’s intellectual signature

A key theme is that India should not chase global norms by flattening its identity. The report calls for building globally connected but culturally grounded institutions—linking internationalisation to India’s civilisational and knowledge traditions.

This shows up in three practical recommendations:

1. Internationalisation at home through curriculum redesign and campus practices (including language and cultural preparedness).
2. Build intercultural and foreign-language competence via national missions and institutional mechanisms.
3. Integrate global approaches with Indian philosophy and IKS, while promoting research addressing India’s socioeconomic challenges and giving global visibility to Indian knowledge systems across 

STEM and non-STEM.

The “student experience” shifts towards safety, housing, counselling, and belonging. One of the most implementable recommendations is also one of the most consequential: treat international students as a serious constituency with baseline global expectations.

The report recommends that universities adopt global standards for housing, campus safety, academic support, counselling, and cultural orientation, plus language assistance and mentorship to enable integration. This is not cosmetic. In global higher education, student satisfaction and word-of-mouth are major recruitment engines; without credible student experience, branding campaigns simply leak conversions. One of the biggest challenges for foreign students coming to India has been the hostile situation some of them have faced due to racism and due to public perception of the nations from which  foreign students have come.

The report’s strength is its operational clarity—named programmes, named actors, and measurable indicators. But three “watch areas” follow from the proposals themselves:

1. Coordination risk: many recommendations require tight synchronisation across ministries and states (especially visas, campus approvals, and safety standards).
2. Reputation and quality assurance: faster approvals and hub models will only work if quality signals remain credible.
3. Delivery capacity inside universities: several proposals assume capable International Relations Offices, sponsored research offices, and student services systems—capacities that vary widely today.

NITI Aayog’s report does not argue for internationalisation as a fashionable add-on. It frames it as a strategic necessity tied to Viksit Bharat 2047, backed by a full-stack programme architecture—from hubs and regulations to scholarships, diaspora financing, and student experience.

If implemented seriously, the proposals would reposition India from a country primarily known for outbound mobility to one that also hosts, convenes, and co-creates global higher education on India’s terms, with India’s identity intact. However, looking at the pace of implementation of NEP 2020, there are natural questions on the pace and extent of the limitations of these apparently clearly stated goals and perspectives by Niti Ayog.

The author is the Chief Mentor of Edinbox and works as a Director with the Techno India group of Kolkata, along with being the Principal Adviser of the Kolkata based university of the group.

When the Prime Minister Internship Scheme was launched as a pilot project a year ago, it raised high expectations among both young people and industry. The government claimed the scheme would prepare graduates and students for employment by offering hands-on work experience in some of the country’s leading companies. However, a year later, official data raises serious questions about the scheme’s ground-level reality.

The figures show that while interest in the PM Internship Scheme has been overwhelming, the outcomes have been extremely weak. Across the first and second phases combined, nearly 7.5 lakh young people registered for the programme. On the supply side, companies did not fall short either—over 1.27 lakh internship opportunities were posted in the first phase and more than 1.18 lakh in the second. Despite this, the number of candidates who actually completed their internships is shockingly low. Against a government target of 1.25 lakh completed internships, only 2,066 candidates have managed to finish the programme so far.

This gap is not merely statistical; it points to deeper flaws in the scheme’s design and implementation. In the first phase, more than 28,000 candidates accepted internship offers, but over 4,500 dropped out midway. The situation did not improve significantly in the second phase either—by the end of November, 2,053 candidates had left their internships incomplete. The obvious question is: why are so many young participants exiting the scheme?

The government’s intent was clear—to provide real-world work experience through a 12-month internship. But the long duration, limited stipends, or unsatisfactory working conditions may be major reasons behind the high dropout rate. For many graduates, committing to a year-long internship is not economically viable, especially when they are under pressure to secure stable employment. A mismatch between the expectations of companies and interns also appears to be a critical factor. If internships become mere formalities with limited learning value, disillusionment among youth is inevitable. This explains why, despite massive registrations, the final outcomes remain dismal.

Budget cuts have further compounded concerns. The scheme was initially allocated ₹840 crore, which was later reduced to ₹380 crore. This raises questions about whether the programme received the seriousness and resources required for its success.

The objective of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme is commendable, but current data clearly shows that merely posting opportunities and attracting registrations is not enough. Internships must be made financially and professionally attractive for young people, corporate accountability must be ensured, and monitoring mechanisms need to be strengthened. Otherwise, the scheme risks becoming yet another government initiative that looks successful on paper but fails on the ground.

Every Indian admission season comes with a familiar soundtrack: hoardings promising “world-class” degrees, social media reels of shiny campuses, and counsellor calls urging families to “book a seat” before deadlines close. But behind the noise sits a tougher reality: privately managed universities are operating in a red-ocean market—too many providers, too little differentiation—and today’s students and parents research harder than institutions assume.

Branding, in this environment, is not decoration. It is a survival system—one that must translate real academic substance into credible narratives, build trust fast in a high-stakes purchase, and run an efficient admissions funnel without creating ethical or reputational blowback.

“Branding is no longer ‘logo + tagline’—it is the aggregate stakeholder experience, a function of substance, not cosmetics.”

1) India’s admissions market is crowded—

but the real battle is for belief Higher education is an “experience/credence” service: families pay first and discover outcomes later. That makes trust the core currency. In a cluttered marketplace, branding helps reduce perceived risk, improves discoverability and shortlisting, and can strengthen fee resilience—but only if outcomes and student experience sustain the promise over time.

This is why some of the most respected private institutions in India have leaned into credibility architecture—the public signals that help families verify seriousness before they verify outcomes. Consider how Ashoka University has repeatedly positioned itself through faculty profiles, research visibility, and student outcomes rather than high-decibel mass persuasion; or how O.P. Jindal Global University (Sonipat) has built a case for outcome trust by foregrounding data-led narratives and external validation; or how Shiv Nadar University has held attention through interdisciplinary outcomes and research-led positioning, rather than “poster-first” marketing.

The catch is non-negotiable: branding cannot substitute for academic quality, governance, outcomes, transparency, and student experience. Any institution that tries to use marketing to “cover” weak substance may win a cycle, but will struggle to sustain reputation, referrals, and yield.

2) Stop reversing the order: substance → narrative → amplification

Many institutions amplify first (ads), invent narratives next (brochure language), and try to build substance last (labs, MoUs, hurried “initiatives”). The sustainable institutions invert the sequence: substance → narrative → amplification. This is the central discipline: build real institutional capability, convert it into auditable stories, and only then scale distribution. It is slower at the start—but it compounds, because every admission cycle becomes easier when stakeholders already believe your promises.

Here, India already has instructive cases. KREA University (Andhra Pradesh) has anchored communications around a distinctive learning model (“Interwoven Learning”) after building the pedagogy as the primary product. FLAME University (Pune) has strengthened its liberal education narrative through long-run curricular design and learner experience—then amplified it via alumni voices and substantive content. Ahmedabad University has often let faculty-led work and academic seriousness do the early heavy lifting, before pushing for mainstream attention.

“Most private universities amplify first… The institutions that fill seats sustainably do the opposite.”

3) Find your “mountain peaks”—

and make your promise falsifiable. In India, “excellence” has become a meaningless word because everyone uses it. A credible brand promise must be specific, falsifiable, and evidence-supported—built around a few genuine “mountain peaks” where the institution truly stands above peers.

A useful way to sharpen the promise is to answer three questions with discipline: Who is this for (and not for)? What outcomes will a learner realistically achieve? What institutional system produces those outcomes?

When these answers are clear, marketing stops sounding like everyone else—and admissions teams stop “selling everything to everyone,” which is often the fastest route to weak-fit enrolments and high regret.

Examples help clarify what “mountain peaks” look like on the ground. MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU), Pune has leaned into a peace-and-ethics-inflected identity (including peace-oriented engineering narratives) to separate itself from generic “tech + placements” talk. Amity University has often argued scale and global visibility using external credentials and accreditations rather than only adjectives. Symbiosis International (Pune) has long owned a recognisable “internationalism + student services” story, supported by tie-ups and systems for inbound/outbound mobility.

4) Build the proof engine:

turn institutional enablers into admissions assets Universities often complain that “marketing is hard because education is complex.” The counter is operational: the institution already has its most persuasive content—if it documents its enablers and outcomes properly.

A practical approach is to treat internal enablers as a content-and-proof engine rather than fabricate promotional claims. Done well, this produces a steady stream of evidence: pedagogy in action, projects, lab outputs, fieldwork, internships, student portfolios, faculty explainers, and student support systems—each mapped to the decision anxieties of students and parents.

This is where several private universities have built visible “proof loops.” NMIMS (Mumbai) frequently showcases industry-linked learning assets—projects, market tools, and faculty-industry interface—because these compress the distance between “degree” and “job role.” Chitkara University (Punjab) has invested in public-facing showcases of student work and innovation outputs that function like an always-on admissions showroom. Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) has made clinical, simulation, and partnership ecosystems part of its public narrative, so parents see systems—not slogans.

5) Sell evidence of transformation—not “a campus”

Some enablers convert exceptionally well because they directly answer the fears families carry into the admissions decision: affordability, employability, and credibility.

Consider how a proof-based story system can be built around the “admissions gold” areas: scholarships (“Investing in Talent”), organic learning (“Learning by Doing”), skills training (“Career-ready from Day One”), and multi-assessment (“Show What You Know”). This is the pivot that changes everything: you stop selling “a campus,” and start selling evidence of transformation.

What does that look like in Indian practice?

 Scholarships as transformation proof: Institutions such as Ashoka and Shiv Nadar University have repeatedly used student journeys—who got funded, what they built, where they went next—to make financial aid feel like a merit-and-outcome system, not a discount.

“Learning by Doing” as visible pedagogy: UPES Dehradun has often highlighted capstones, industry-linked projects, and applied learning narratives to reduce the “will this be employable?” anxiety.

 Career readiness as a public dashboard: Large-volume private universities such as LPU often publicise competition wins, innovation outputs, incubations and role outcomes to show movement, not just infrastructure.

Portfolio as currency: In design and creative education, institutions like Pearl Academy and World University of Design have relied heavily on portfolio showcases to make competence visible—because in creative careers, work speaks louder than brochures.

“You stop selling a campus, and start selling evidence of transformation.”

6) Your website is the “ultimate brand statement”—

and your trust infrastructure. The institutional website is not a brochure. It is the definitive brand artifact—and, increasingly, your credibility backbone.

A high-performing admissions website typically does five jobs: proof hub; outcome clarity; program-market fit; conversion layer; and reputation defence.

In a market where parents assume “marketing exaggeration,” the website becomes your quiet differentiator—because it is where claims either stand up or collapse. This is why institutions that treat the website as a verifiability machine tend to earn disproportionate trust. Ashoka’s public-facing architecture—faculty, research, policies—signals “auditability.” NMIMS and O.P. Jindal have leaned into website-as-proof-centre logic: disclosures, processes, and clarity presented in one place. And universities like FLAME have experimented with richer “life on campus” visibility so that the lived experience doesn’t feel hidden behind poster language.

7) Gen Z won’t “believe” your ads. They will audit your footprint. Gen Z learners research institutions through social media to gauge authenticity; a strong footprint should reflect substantive capacity, not poster-making. Translated into practice: stop treating social as announcements. Treat it as public documentation of learning—student portfolio walk-throughs, faculty explainers, project micro-documentaries, transparent webinars, and parent-facing trust content.

This is also where “earned trust” is built: thought leadership and credible events that signal seriousness beyond paid media.

India’s private universities are already moving—unevenly, but clearly—in this direction. Amity’s social channels often foreground student work and wins to feel “real,” not manufactured. Shiv Nadar University has used explainers and long-form conversations to build faculty credibility in public view. UPES has leaned into student diaries and applied learning storytelling. And institutions such as MIT-WPU and FLAME have used conversation formats—talk series, faculty conversations, theme-led programming—to create a footprint that reads like a knowledge institution rather than an ad campaign.“Stop treating social media as posters… Treat it as public documentation

of learning.”

8) Treat admissions as a measurable funnel—

not an annual Panic If you want optimum admissions, you need a measurable funnel with disciplined stage tracking: lead → qualified lead → application started → submitted → offer → enrolment (yield) → 30/60-day attendance (retention proxy).

Then map content to stage: top-of-funnel reputation; mid-funnel proof and fit; bottom-funnel transparency on fees, scholarships, safety, escalation, deadlines.

The uncomfortable truth: many private universities don’t lose admissions because they lack leads. They lose them because trust breaks right when parents ask, “Show me what you deliver—and what you do if something goes wrong.”

This is why operationally mature institutions behave like high-integrity consumer brands: they instrument the funnel, reduce friction, and remove ambiguity. Large funnel operators such as NMIMS and LPU have increasingly treated admissions as a stage-wise pipeline with measurable conversion points. Ecosystems such as Manipal and Chitkara have leaned into dashboards and systems thinking—connecting lead sources, counselling, and deposits into a single operating rhythm. Meanwhile, higher-selectivity institutions such as KREA and Ashoka have often focused on a different funnel discipline: applicant experience and credibility at each touchpoint, deliberately avoiding coercive “sales culture” even when volumes are pressured.

9) The caution zones:

what quietly destroys brands (and seat yield). In a tightening reputational environment, the fastest way to damage admissions is to trigger distrust through overclaims, rankings misuse, coercive sales culture, privacy negligence, or discount-led positioning.

The recurring minefield is outcome claims—placements, ranks, “#1”—because they invite scrutiny and backlash when they are not defensible with proof. The safer discipline is simple: publish auditable methodologies and avoid absolute claims unless they can be supported by verified data.

The other slow poison is a “spammy” funnel: if the admissions experience feels manipulative, the brand damage is immediate—even before any formal complaint. The positive contrast is instructive. Institutions that consistently prefer verifiable, third-party-supported narratives—and maintain “single source of truth” discipline on websites and disclosures—tend to be more resilient when public scrutiny rises. The core advantage is not that they are perfect; it is that their claims are easier to audit, clarify, and defend.

The institutions that win won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the most provable. Strip away the hype and a privately managed university sustains admissions by doing three things well: deliver a distinctive learning model, publish auditable proof (not adjectives), and run an ethical, measurable funnel that respects families as high-stakes decision-makers.

Across India, the institutions that keep showing up as “proof-over-promise” examples—Shiv Nadar, Ashoka, FLAME, Ahmedabad University—demonstrate a simple strategic truth: reputation compounds when the public can verify the systems behind the story. And operationally scaled institutions such as NMIMS, UPES, Chitkara show another truth: disciplined documentation of learning, outcomes, and student support can sustain admissions even in fiercely competitive metros.

In India’s private higher education market, the winning “thought” will not be “they advertise everywhere.” It will be: they are credible, transparent, future-ready—and they can prove it. And credible universities will gradually find honourable mentions in NAAC Accreditation, NIRF Ranking, QS and Times Higher Education ranking.

On a humid afternoon in a small Bihar town, a first-generation college aspirant stands outside a bank clutching a thin folder of certificates. He has earned his place at a reputable private university in Kolkata. What he hasn’t earned—because no exam allows him to—is the shortfall of ₹42,000 in first-semester fees. His merit has opened the gate; his economic reality may still shut it.

Multiply that tension across millions of Indian households and you begin to understand the quiet crisis building beneath the promise of higher education. Scholarships in India are not an optional add-on. They are now the difference between a system that expands and a generation quietly pushed back into the margins.

Under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, India has set an ambitious goal: lift its Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from 28.4% to 50% by 2035. That means bringing more than 60% additional students into colleges and universities—and ensuring they stay long enough to graduate. Without a predictable, transparent, and timely scholarship ecosystem, that target becomes less policy vision and more political slogan.

This is a story of why India must treat scholarships as national infrastructure, how the current system actually works on the ground, and what universities must urgently rethink if we truly want grassroots talent to walk confidently into the future.

From Kindness to Statecraft: How India Must Rethink Scholarships

For decades, scholarships were rooted in charity—philanthropists, donors, or the occasional empathetic administrator stepping in to support “poor but deserving” students. That world is gone.

Post-pandemic India is navigating job losses, inflation, rising cost of living, and the steep expense of running modern university campuses—labs, hostels, digital platforms, research facilities. Families that could once stretch to accommodate fees can no longer do so. Many students secure admission but cannot afford to join; others join but drop out mid-semester because money simply doesn’t arrive on time.

For universities, this is not a footnote. A dropout means:

• lost future revenue
  
  
• damaged placement and alumni outcomes
  
  
• a reputation in local communities that says, “These campuses are not meant for families like yours.”

Institutions across the Global South have begun adopting the idea of “empathetic universities.” Financial aid is not a welfare activity—it is a strategic investment in retention, completion, and institutional credibility. Every fee waiver or emergency grant is not a cost but a protection of long-term institutional health.

If India is serious about democratising higher education, scholarships must move from a side-desk in a dusty admin corridor to the centre of institutional planning.

Who Actually Pays for Scholarships? The Multi-Wallet Map

Every scholarship letter hides multiple layers of funding—from governments, universities, corporates, communities, and alumni.

1. The Government Bedrock

The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) has consolidated major central schemes:

• Central Sector Scheme (CSSS/PM-USP): ₹12,000–₹20,000 annually for meritorious low-income students.
  
  
• Post-matric support for SC/ST/OBC students: tuition, stipends, non-refundable fees.
  
  
• Top Class Education schemes: full coverage for high-performing marginalised students.
  

Institutes like IITs add their own equity measures:

• 100% fee waiver for income below ₹1 lakh
  
  
• 2/3rd waiver for ₹1–5 lakh
  
  
• Interest-free loans for remaining dues
  

This ensures a landless farmer’s child sits in the same classroom as a CEO’s.

2. States Add Their Own Layers

Odisha, the North-East, Himachal, and Telangana run targeted schemes—small amounts, but often the difference between staying enrolled and dropping out.

The real challenge is not absence of schemes, but lack of navigation. Students rarely know what they’re eligible for without institutional guidance.

3. Inside the Campus: Public vs Private Institutions

Public institutions rely on fee waivers and government support.
Private universities—especially not-for-profit ones—now run detailed need-based assessments, sometimes covering:

• 25%–100% tuition
  
  
• hostel + mess
  
  
• even small living stipends
  

This is quietly redrawing the old map where “private” meant “elitist.”

4. Corporate, Community and Philanthropic Funds

India’s CSR law, mandating 2% profit spending, has birthed:

• STEM scholarships for girls
  
  
• scholarships for aspirational districts
  
  
• disability-inclusive schemes
  
  
• community and faith-based bursaries
  
  

Often these act as crucial top-ups to bridge the last mile.

The New Categories of Scholarships: Beyond Merit vs Means

Indian scholarships now fall into a broader spectrum:

1. Pure Merit – attracts toppers; boosts institutional brand.
   
   
2. Need-Based / Merit-Cum-Means – the most effective for mobility.
   
   
3. Social Justice & Identity-Based – supporting SC, ST, OBC, minorities, PwD, EWS.
   
   
4. Gender, Region, Talent Focused – girl-child, musicians, athletes, North-East students, Ladakh scholars.
   
   
5. Crisis & Completion Grants – for medical emergencies, lost income, last-semester dues.
   
   
6. Digital Access Support – devices, data for blended learning.
   

These emerging forms acknowledge the hidden costs of studying—travel, nutrition, devices, rent—which often determine success more than tuition.

Cracks in the System: Delays, Leakages, and a Trust Deficit

Students consistently face:

• delayed fund disbursals
  
  
• unclear income documentation rules
  
  
• inconsistent scheme combinations
  
  
• poor coordination between colleges, banks, and district offices
  

Worse, investigative reports in several states show ghost beneficiaries, siphoned funds, and forged lists.

Every delay deepens mistrust. Every scam pushes a vulnerable student closer to dropout.

What Universities Must Do—Now

The good news: universities do not need to wait for national reform. They can act today.

1. Make Scholarships Core Strategy

• Integrate financial aid with admissions and outreach.
  
  
• Track effects on retention, not just count of scholarships distributed.
  

2. Build a Diversified Funding Base

Blend:

• government schemes
  
  
• CSR partnerships
  
  
• alumni giving
  
  
• community trusts
  

and publish transparent impact reports.

3. Create a One-Stop “Scholarship Navigation Desk”

An institutional NSP helpdesk can:

• guide families through applications
  
  
• map all eligible schemes for each student
  
  
• help secure loans only as a last resort
  
  

For first-generation learners, this support is transformative.

4. Use Tech with Empathy

• WhatsApp reminders
  
  
• multilingual chatbots
  
  
• digital grievance tracking
  

Let automation free staff for human problems.

5. Protect Emergency & Completion Funds

A ₹10,000 grant at the right moment can prevent a dropout.
Universities must institutionalise such quick-response funds.

A Scholarship is a Social Contract

A scholarship letter is not merely a financial document. It is an assertion of belonging.

When a Dalit girl from eastern Uttar Pradesh receives a Top Class scholarship, a central grant, and a full waiver, it tells her:
“Your place in this classroom is not conditional.”

When a private university writes to a rickshaw-puller’s son saying, “Your fees are waived—come study,” it rewrites generational narratives about who “belongs” in higher education.

When a state quietly reforms its portals and ensures timely payment, it builds bridges across centuries of exclusion.

If India truly wants to become a $10-trillion knowledge economy, it cannot leave half its young talent standing outside campus gates, admission letter in hand, waiting for a bank draft that never comes.

For every vice-chancellor, trustee and policymaker, the question is now stark:

Will scholarships in your institution remain a marketing tagline—or become the empathetic engine that powers India’s mobility, merit and modernity?

For that young student in Bihar—and millions like him—the answer determines whether higher education becomes a staircase of opportunity or another locked door.

The author is the Chief Mentor of Edinbox and works as a Director with the Techno India group of Kolkata, along with being the Principal Adviser of the Kolkata based university of the group.

Where Technology Meets Trust, Governance, and Human Changee

The post-pandemic Indian university is no longer debating whether to adopt technology. That argument was decisively settled during COVID-19, when campuses were forced to go digital almost overnight. The question confronting higher education today is far more complex and consequential: how to govern, integrate, and humanise technology that has quietly become the operating system of the university itself.

Across campus India—from elite metropolitan institutions to universities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities—the student experience has been fundamentally rewired. A final-year student applying for an internship no longer gathers photocopies or queues outside administrative offices. Instead, a smartphone replaces the file folder. Transcripts, degree certificates, and credit records arrive digitally within minutes—verifiable, shareable, and instantly usable. What once felt like an exception reserved for a privileged few is rapidly becoming the baseline expectation of the post-pandemic Indian university.

This visible convenience signals a much deeper transformation. Technology is no longer “ed-tech” in the narrow sense of online lectures or virtual classrooms. It has evolved into an end-to-end digital fabric that shapes teaching and assessment, admissions and examinations, governance and compliance, finance and HR, research administration, campus safety, and even alumni engagement. While the pandemic accelerated adoption, the post-pandemic phase is forcing institutions to confront the harder, less glamorous work: rationalising fragmented systems, securing data, ensuring interoperability, and delivering measurable academic and administrative outcomes.

From emergency online classes to a digital fabric

During COVID-19, universities moved online at breakneck speed. That emergency pivot kept learning alive, but it also produced what many campuses now candidly describe as “digital sprawl”—a cluttered patchwork of apps, platforms, and departmental workarounds adopted for speed rather than strategy. The post-pandemic question, therefore, is no longer “Can we adopt technology?” but rather: can universities integrate systems, protect institutional and student data, and use technology to demonstrably improve learning quality, retention, transparency, and student experience?

Future-ready campuses are now being imagined as layered digital ecosystems. At the foundation lies a resilient network and cloud backbone—high bandwidth, secure, and always on. Above it sits the academic core, anchored by Learning Management Systems tightly integrated with student information systems. The top layer is the emerging “smart campus,” where sensors, automation, analytics, and AI are used to optimise everything from classroom utilisation and energy efficiency to safety alerts and service delivery.

Backbone, brain, and senses

India’s higher education transformation is not being driven by institutions alone. It is increasingly shaped by national digital public infrastructure. Initiatives such as the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), DigiLocker, the National Academic Depository (NAD), and SWAYAM are nudging universities toward interoperability, modularity, and verifiable credentials by design.

The policy intent is unmistakable: seamless credit mobility, trusted digital degrees, and blended learning at scale. For students in smaller or resource-constrained universities, this opens access to high-quality electives in emerging fields without forcing every campus to build niche expertise from scratch. For institutions, however, it demands cleaner data practices, standardised workflows, and audit-ready governance—often requiring deep internal restructuring.

What integration looks like on campus

Early institutional examples offer a glimpse of where Indian campuses are headed. At KIIT University, large-scale ERP-driven automation aims to make the campus function “as one system,” integrating academics, research, consultancy, HR, and administration. BITS Pilani’s vision for an AI-enabled smart campus shows how hybrid learning and digital services are being embedded into campus design itself, rather than layered on as afterthoughts.

Other shifts are quieter but equally transformative. Experiments with blockchain-based credentials at institutions such as Amity University and IGNOU seek to tackle verification delays and credential fraud. Programmes like IIT Madras’ online BS degrees point to a distributed university model—online teaching combined with physical assessments—that blends access with academic credibility.

The pedagogy test

Yet technology alone does not transform education—pedagogy does. Frameworks such as SAMR and TPACK underscore a critical truth: meaningful integration requires redesigning learning tasks, retraining faculty, and building institutional instructional design capacity. Uploading PDFs or recording lectures is not transformation; rethinking assessment, feedback, collaboration, and student support is.

This is where many universities struggle. Buying software is easier than changing academic culture. But the post-pandemic student is quick to notice the difference. They recognize transformation when learning becomes interactive, feedback is timely, pathways are personalized, and systems respond when they struggle.

The human bottleneck

Technology integration is often framed as a technical upgrade. In reality, it is a change-management project with human beings at its centre. Faculty resistance rarely reflects hostility to innovation; it more often stems from lack of confidence, rising workload pressures, and anxiety that technology may erode the value of classroom teaching.

India has attempted to address this gap through initiatives such as the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), which has reportedly trained over 126,000 beneficiaries through Teaching Learning Centres focused on ICT-enabled pedagogy. Alongside this, the rise of instructional designers as “learning architects” signals a growing recognition that quality digital education requires specialised roles, not just individual effort.

Resistance can also be institutional and political. Debates at universities like Delhi University over SWAYAM credit transfers—often framed as fears of “digital displacement” or “teacherless universities”—reflect genuine anxieties about workload, autonomy, and academic identity. Universities that dismiss these concerns risk fractured trust; those that address them transparently can position technology as augmentation, not replacement.

Toward a human-centred digital university

The post-pandemic lesson for campus India is clear. Technology is no longer a department or a set of tools used by the enthusiastic few. It is the connective tissue of the modern university—powerful enough to widen access and improve quality, yet equally capable of amplifying inequity if deployed without ethics, capability, and trust.

In the years ahead, the success of India’s digital universities will not be measured by how advanced their platforms are, but by how thoughtfully technology is governed, how inclusively it is deployed, and how humanely it is woven into academic life.

The author is Chief Mentor at Edinbox, Director at the Techno India Group, Kolkata, and Principal Adviser to a Kolkata-based university within the group.