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Some universities like Ashoka, Plaksha, and Masters Union have gone out of their way to offer greater convenience to students with admits in overseas universities to apply to their university. In other cases, there are rising inquiries from students and parents who either suffer visa rejections or fear venturing abroad

When it is becoming increasingly difficult to study abroad, new-generation private universities that brand themselves on their global education are being seen as a worthy alternative for those students who would otherwise be opting for a foreign undergraduate education. Such institutions have also gone out of their way to attract these students.

Universities like Ashoka, Plaksha, and Masters Union are some of the private universities who have gone out of their way to facilitate the process of enrollment for students with admits in foreign universities and have also witnessed interest under such isolated application streams. Others like FLAME University mention rising queries from parents and students who either receive rejected visas or are hesitant to study abroad.

Plaksha University extended its application deadline for students holding firm acceptance offers from global engineering universities.

Rajiv Khosla, VP - Ext Engagement, Plaksha University, said, “We introduced this initiative to accommodate exceptionally talented students who were considering alternative pathways despite already securing places at prestigious institutions abroad. We’re very pleased with the interest it generated, and the extended deadline has now closed.”

“At Plaksha, our curriculum is built on interdisciplinary learning and is supported by partnerships with renowned universities such as UC Berkeley,” he added.

Ashoka has specifically opened up a special admissions track for those holding US admissions and said that this was to support students and families seeking academic continuity and a world-class education, as they navigate increasing concerns around safety, visa delays, and shifting global policies.

Gurugram's Masters' Union, which provides undergraduate courses in tech and business management, data science and other programs in collaboration with other institutes, has made it possible for foreign admits to bypass their entrance test and invites them directly for group discussion this year. "It opened last week and we have received about 30 applications during this time frame, and we can enroll about 60-70 students in this stream," Masters' Union Director of Undergraduate Programmes Swati Ganeti said.

While FLAME University has closed admissions for the year and is not extending it to such students, director-admissions outreach, FLAME, Anju Deoskar shares that they are receiving calls from foreign admits students who are now facing visa denial or are fearful of pursuing abroad. "Actually a few of these requests and inquiries are also from second year US students," she adds.

In addition, joint degree programmes offered by universities and involving two years of study in India and two foreign partner universities are also gaining more takers.

"Back at BITS, we are also getting good traction for our joint degree programmes where students do 2 years here and 2 there. We have tie ups with US, Australia and France universities for that. It reduces up to 40 per cent of tuition fees for the parents and also makes them relaxed to send the kid abroad after two additional years," V Ramgopal Rao, vice chancellor BITS Pilani group of institutions, said.

Educationists averred that although the new-age universities are not an alternative for those students who have gained admissions at marquee US institutions, they are quickly becoming a choice in place of global education.

Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, ex-Chairman and MD, Cognizant India, opines that private universities of the new era, particularly those supported by corporate houses as well as group philanthropy initiatives, have revolutionized Indian higher education and are making standards in a very short span. "These universities have enticed the best talent in the world, created collaborative linkages with the world's finest institutions, and introduced inter-disciplinary thinking and immersion learning," he added.

They came to America with suitcase full of books, hope in their hearts, and in most cases no more than a pocketful of dollars in their pockets. Where there was no money, there was plenty of guts and inherent talent. These ten Indian students—some from small towns, some from premier colleges—came to America not in name, but in hope. Today, they are health, tech, and public policy titans, a testament to the reality that talent nationality is never anywhere and victory is never linguistic.

Vinod Khosla: From Rejection to Reinvention

Denied first choice at IIT Delhi, Khosla majored in mechanical engineering, attended Stanford, co-founded Sun Microsystems, and ended up one of Silicon Valley's most famous venture capitalists. "IIT was the only level playing field," he once told The Chronicle of Higher Education. Today, he makes other people's dreams others have not yet had the courage to dream.

Kanwal Rekhi: The Man with Eight Dollars and a Vision

He stepped onto American soil with just $8, a degree from IIT Bombay, and unshakable resolve. Rekhi’s journey through layoffs and struggle led him to Silicon Valley, where he built Excelan—the first Indian-owned tech firm to go public on Nasdaq—and mentored a generation of Indian-American entrepreneurs.

Suhas Patil: Father of the Fabless Chip

From MIT to IIT Kharagpur, Patil had less money in his pocket but a mind that would revolutionize semiconductors once and for all. From Cirrus Logic, he developed the "fabless" model of business that led to chip manufacturing and exporting today.

Vinod Dham: The Pentium Father

With a degree in electrical engineering and just $8 in his wallet, Dham was among the people who helped develop the Pentium processor that powered PCs for millions and changed personal computing forever.

Shantanu Narayen: Revolutionizing Adobe

Engineering alum Narayen, born in Hyderabad, joined Adobe and became CEO. Under his watch, Adobe revolutionized itself into a cloud-based subscription model business, revolutionizing consumption of creative tools worldwide.

Satya Nadella: The Humble Revolutionary

From Manipal to Microsoft, the humble determination of Nadella was able to get Microsoft overhauled as a cloud-first firm and the largest tech giant in the world. His pragmatic, open-minded, and vision-driven approach of leadership attracted a new generation of technology leaders to Microsoft.

Nikesh Arora: Cybersecurity's Power Player

IIT BHU graduate who reached the top of Google search rankings to be among America's highest-paid executives, Arora is now the chief executive at Palo Alto Networks, international cyber security shielding millions online.

Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Storyteller of Science

From AIIMS Delhi to the Pulitzer Prize, Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies brought human beings into cancer's story. His book marries medicine and poetry to educate the world about illness in the form of stories.

Atul Gawande: The Doctor Who Rewrote the Rules

Surgeon, writer, and activist, Gawande's Checklist Manifesto was hospital scripture nationwide, safer surgery. With Being Mortal, he took dying patients at the brink of life, reshaping how doctors discuss dying.

Vivek Murthy: America's Doctor with an Indian Heart

An immigrant himself, Murthy was the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General. From fighting the opioid epidemic to leading COVID-19 initiatives, his number one priority never changed—science, compassion, and public trust.

They already have the world's best e-commerce firm with a foot in their door, and so now they get to open the curtain to catch a glimpse of a sneak peek behind the scenes.

Luka Paraskevov and Aidan Benoit both graduate in days. Before that victory lap celebration, they brought the Amazon fulfillment center in Gates to an invite-only internship and scholarship that they received under the Amazon Future Engineers program.

"I have never actually seen people enjoy this sort of in these kinds of situations where there are high-level positions, you know? I'm a little curious about what is going on behind the scenes," Luka tells News 8's Mikhaela Singleton.

News 8 had interviewed the two as part of Generation ROC coverage when their acceptance was first made public. From thousands of state-wide applicants who applied for Amazon Future Engineers, only 400 succeeded and only three from upstate New York.

These two Rochesterians had plenty of questions to ask the local Amazon team and say they were deeply fascinated to see how AI, programming, and design have melded together to create a seamless flow from warehouse to your door.

“It’s not as mechanical as actual engineering, but it’s still very — you’re able to be very creative with it,” Aidan explains when asked about his passion for computer science.

The boys admit that when they reach the stand of the graduation stage, they thank the head start provided on their behalf and are ready to meet the challenge of college with valor.

"I'm really a little afraid, actually. A little anxious, but I think that I'll be okay," Luka reflects on his college experience. "I've made it through the majority of my worst yet, so I guess whatever is next, I can cope."

The initial batch of evacuation was coordinated by Indian missions in Israel and Jordan since Indian nationals present in Israel were always living in suspense with the ringing of sirens, frequently going for refuge in bunkers and safe rooms alongside Iranian missiles and drone defenses.

With Israeli airspace closed and commercial flights suspended, Indian missions in Israel and Jordan jointly evacuated 160 Indian citizens in the first flight under Operation Sindhu on Sunday, an embassy official said.

The missions organized the first batch of evacuees from Israel due to Indian citizens living in Israel never ceasing to fear that they would hear the screaming of sirens, normally fleeing to bunkers and safe and secure rooms from Iranian drones and missiles.

"First batch of 160 Indian citizens evacuated from Israel have crossed safely into the Israel-Jordan border and are in Jordan safely," authorities reported to PTI.

"Arrangements have been made for them to come back to India, special flight for early tomorrow morning," they said.

The Indian nationals had earlier reached the Jordanian border to be evacuated, sources in the Indian embassy informed PTI.

Their transit and accommodation are being arranged by the Indian embassy in Amman.

India had launched Operation Sindhu a week back to evacuate Indians from Iran and Israel as ties between the two countries soured.

The Indian mission in Tel Aviv recently installed a 24/7 control room to monitor all facets of the evacuation operation, the source added.

The control center requested Indian citizens to self-register online and created a detailed database of Indians in Israel, it added.

"Evacuation priorities were established based on medical emergencies, the presence of young children and infants, women, and students. The embassy officials took the initiative of calling registrants by phone and email to verify travel plans and allocating them to available evacuation flights," the source added.

The ground reality is being monitored closely at the highest echelons of the government, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself being kept informed on a constant basis about the safety and security of the Indian citizens in real-time, the source further added.

"This operation reflects India's unshakeable commitment to security and well-being of its nationals overseas. Operation Sindhu is another testament to India's reputation as a trustworthy 'first responder' to international crises," said a release issued by India.

The initial group of Indian citizens to be evacuated reached the pick-up points in Tel Aviv and Haifa on Sunday morning and were then transported by road to Sheikh Hussein Bridge on the Israeli-Jordanian border, about 120 kilometres from here. 

After immigration and border formalities at the Israeli-Jordanian border, the group went on to Amman Airport, another 120 kilometres of journey.

Arvind Shukla, a researcher from the Hebrew University, who left early on Sunday, described "the smooth and well planned process" of the embassy in "trying conditions" as impeccable, and said to PTI: "I have completed the visa procedure and I am already on the Jordanian side. The embassy was very helpful in ensuring that our passage was smooth, and we were taken care of."

The governments of Jordan and Israel helped ease significant aid in helping Indians pass safely and in order across the border, the Tel Aviv mission reported.

The Indian Embassy in Jordan also helped play a significant role in giving the evacuees a warm welcome at the border to enable them to proceed further to Amman Airport, it said.

Special flights from New Delhi to Amman have been organized by the Ministry of External Affairs to return Indian citizens safely home.

There are also going to be some flights that will depart from Egypt in the next few days, as there are a large number of Indians residing in the south of Israel.

Operation Sindhu is a follow-up to high-profile evacuation operations such as Operation Ganga, Operation Devi Shakti, Operation Kaveri, and Operation Ajay, where Indians were evacuated from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Israel, respectively.

"These operations are a reflection not just of India's increasing global stature but also of its operational capability and deep sense of responsibility towards its diaspora," an embassy official said.

"Indian Government always gives top priority to the safety and well-being of Indians abroad. The government will keep a close eye on the situation. The embassy keeps in constant liaison with the community all the time to give them all possible assistance," the official said.

The Indian embassy in Israel again reached out to its citizens on Sunday to register for regular updates and assistance, and provided a 24/7 helpline number.

They are over 40,000 Indian nationals living in Israel, working as caregivers, workers, students, professionals and many others.

Coastal Carolina's season was completed without its head coach on the field. Kevin Schnall was ejected from Sunday's 5-3 loss to LSU in Game 2 of the College World Series championship for disputing balls and strikes.

Schnall stepped onto the field several steps in the first inning, flashed three fingers and seemed to mouth, "You missed three pitches," before being thrown out of Omaha's elimination game by home plate umpire Angel Campos.

The theatrics were preceded by an even more heated argument on the field, in which another umpire was left on the ground. Coastal Carolina first base coach Matt Schilling was also ejected during the brawl.

They were ejected for "prolonged arguing," the NCAA stated, which has a two-game suspension attached to it. That would have left Schnall and Schilling out for a winner-take-all Game 3, too.

But sixth-seeded LSU completed the three-game best-of-series in two games to win the eighth title in program history. LSU's Game 1 victory put an end to the 26-game winning streak that 13th-seeded Coastal Carolina began in the College World Series final.

Game 2 was even when Schnall and Schilling were both ejected, Schnall's position being filled by associate head coach Chad Oxendine. The ejections drew enraged responses on social media, such as from ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan.

"There aren't a whole lot of combinations of words in the English lexicon that require booting a coach out of an elimination game in the Men's College World Series championship finals," Passan wrote on X. "And yet Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall — and first-base coach Matt Schilling — just got plunked in the first inning."

The Chanticleers pursued their second title, as they won the College World Series back in 2016.

Ranging from pre-school and kindergarten kids dancing and prancing on the stage in forest animal costumes to high school students reciting long dialogues and tunes as the principal characters, the California-based Mount Madonna School's annual production Ramayana as its culmination event is a feast of a sort.

The 46th-year production is a beloved and cherished tradition by the students of the school as well as the teachers, parents, non-teaching staff, and alumni who lend their services voluntarily at the school's annual production.

The longest-running Broadway-style production in the western hemisphere, adapted from the ancient epic, was this year held at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose from 5 June to 8 June. A blend of different skills of the students, from ballet steps, classical dancing in Indian tradition and acrobatics to singing and acting, was all put on display through creatively blended dance choreographies, songs and other elements. The school show changes every year, blending the old elements with the new.

A large number of the senior high school students who have been involved in the production for years attain their peak in acting and singing as the principal characters of Lord Rama, Lord Shiva, Goddess Sita, Goddess Parvati and others. The production started with nearly 200 students taking part in the invocation to Goddess Saraswati with Jai Ma-Jai Jai Ma chanting.

"We learn more and more about the epic as we perform Ramayana each year. Our senior class of six attended India and had time in Himachal Pradesh and Haridwar at Sri Ram Ashram, which is a sister school to Mount Madonna School," adds Director Chelsea Otterness. "The seniors learned more about the character that they were playing and were immersed in the colorfulness of the Indian culture of acceptance of other cultures."

Otterness brings the depth and the learning more about the depth of the story and how Ramayana is a well, and it is possible to learn so much, including the learning of the evolution of consciousness.

I never thought that 10,000 miles away from India, I'd be able to see a play on Ramayana. Like most Indians, I too have been raised on the tales of the ancient epic, and I recall arguing and discussing with family members and friends some of the doings and judgments of the heroes of the story. I also have very fond memories attached to the stories of the scripture. I recall countless summer vacation evenings, sleeping under the refreshing night sky at my paternal grandmother's residence in Chandigarh, when my cousins and I would gather around our grandfather to listen and re-listen the innumerable stories from Ramayana. Our Pitaji's portrayal in exact details of Sitaji in her diverse jewels was so that we were transported to another world.

The eagerness with which school students in the US have embraced the Orient's ancient scripture as a topic for its performing arts program and the ultimate triumph of the exercise are fascinating. While the artistic value of the production can be improved in many ways, the presentation of the long and arduous story within less than four hours felt like a Herculean feat in itself.

On the field of set grandeur and costume sparkle, the production wanted nothing further. All the ingredients of children's entertainment had been brought together, and adults benefited from the labor and resulting delight of the juvenile artists.

The showcase of the production on the holy scripture was started by the members of the Hanuman Fellowship Centre, a non-profit organisation founded by the students of Baba Hari Dass and Mount Madonna School (an affiliation of the Hanuman Fellowship Centre).

Ramayana was introduced by teacher and Yoga Master, Baba Hari Dass. In 1972, students of the Hanuman Fellowship performed at yoga retreats and then at various venues, including universities. Initially, some children were members of the predominantly adult cast, but in 1979, the Mount Madonna School commenced a production with the students and other children making up the cast. After running parallel productions for several years, the school show evolved into an exclusive program.