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The principal student factions have released their manifestos that address education, accessibility, campus security and well-being as the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections approach. The front runners are the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and the SFI-AISA combination.

The ABVP has pointed out that its manifesto was influenced by over 5,000 suggestions garnered from students. It has promised subsidised health insurance, more money for academic and cultural societies, enhanced sports facilities with nutrition for sportspersons, and accessibility audits to open up campuses. Free Wi-Fi in DU and scholarship for final-year research scholars are also on its agenda.

The NSUI, however, has emphasized affordability, accessibility, and students' rights in its manifesto. It has come up with a barrier-free campus, Rs 5,000 monthly stipend for disabled students, and their representation in major university committees. It also vowed protection schemes for North-Eastern and linguistic minority students, along with green campus initiatives.

In its independent women's manifesto, NSUI has emphasized safety and health with promises of dedicated helplines, sanitary pad dispensing machines, menstrual hygiene awareness campaigns and gender sensitivity training on campus. The organization has also demanded rejecting the National Education Policy (NEP) in place of increased public funding.

The SFI-AISA alliance has set forth its agenda as "a true student-centric manifesto". It has vowed to fight against fee increases, advocate for elected Internal Complaints Committees, insist on gender sensitisation cells, and revive grievance redressal apparatuses. The alliance has also committed menstrual leave for women students and exhorted women's colleges such as Lady Shri Ram, Gargi and Daulat Ram to come under the union.

The alliance contended that crucial teaching hours were being sidetracked towards "bogus courses" in the Skill Enhancement and Value Added categories, rather than core subjects. It pledged to restore core course credits, rework internal assessments and reintroduce entrance examinations.

As per the official time table, voting for DUSU elections will be conducted on Thursday, 18th September, 2025. Two shifts have been arranged for voting: from 8:30 am to 1 pm for day students and from 3 pm to 7:30 pm for evening students. The counting of votes is scheduled for the following day, Friday, 19th September, 2025.

Mathematics has been aptly called the language of logic, pattern, and structure. However, for most students, it turns into a language that is alien, replete with symbols and processes that appear abstracted from reality. An ongoing question is: Why is it that learners are doing well on textbook problems but can't seem to bring the same principles to bear when confronted with new, everyday situations? This disconnect between procedural and conceptual understanding is being increasingly highlighted with India's embrace of the National Education Policy (NEP).

With the new curriculum, there is a deliberate shift towards competency-based learning. For instance, students are increasingly being examined on how they can apply mathematical logic to case studies and emerging problems. Yet classroom instruction continues to focus on solving standard, textbook problems. This causes a disconnect, Students perform well in scripted formats but falter when asked to use the very same concepts under unfamiliar settings.

The imbalance in the way mathematics is taught, examined, and applied in everyday life renders even top-performing students inadequately prepared for examinations that attempt to test real understanding.

Ramana Andra, Lead Faculty, and Krishnan VP, Research Associate, Prayoga, stress that mathematics comes across as abstract and isolated for students. They point out that India's NEP emphasizes learning mathematics by intuition, practical applications, and inter-disciplinary relations.

ABSTRACT BEFORE EXPERIENCE

In most classrooms, formulae and definitions are given early on, occasionally without sufficient context. The student may understand that a linear equation has the form "ax + by + c = 0", and that such an equation graphs as a straight line. But the deeper concept, that this form describes a constant rate of change in a relation between two variables, is stressed infrequently. The result is an ability to perform symbolic operations without grasping the conceptual foundations behind them.

This lack of continuity is revealed in assessments. It is not uncommon for "sharp" students, students who have memorized solutions of textbook problems, to flunk when requested to solve or interpret a problem not encountered before. They do not fail because they are less able or less hard-working, but because they have been taught merely to remember and regurgitate rather than think and analyze.

Recognizing the Problem

The 2023 National Curriculum Framework for School Education is recognizing this problem, noting that "conventional methods of teaching mathematics directly dive into abstract symbolic manipulation". In so doing, they lose sight of the importance of building intuition and capacity to apply in the real world. As an example, a physics concept like Hooke's Law, where the displacement of a spring is in proportion to the force used.

Concepts of proportionality, variation, and rate of change are learned in separate subject areas so that students can't see the underlying patterns that mathematics is designed to reveal.

At the university level too, math students might be good at doing things with n-dimensional vector spaces and playing around with abstract symbols effectively. Yet, many of them have difficulty with fundamental principles in physical settings, e.g., torque or electromagnetic theory.

TEACHING FOR INTUITION AND APPLYING

The answer is not to cut the mathematics down to its simplest level, but to rearrange how it is first introduced and encountered. Rather than starting with symbols, students should be led to discover mathematical concepts through examples, patterns, and models from their surroundings. Visual argumentation, testing, and everyday contexts provide good points of departure for learning, like using pictures, manipulatives, or everyday examples make ideas more concrete.

  Shifting beyond x and y does not imply throwing away symbols, it implies grounding them in experience, so that students can view mathematics not as a method to conform to, but as a prism to comprehend the world.

A teachers' workshop on Value Education at Doon Valley Public School became something more than a training session — it became an opportunity to reflect and bond. 60 teachers gathered, led by CBSE resource person Shivani Vashisht and school principal Devendra Mahal, to learn about how values influence not only students' learning but also their lives. Through role plays, songs, and group work, teachers refocused on the essence of their calling — developing critical thinking, creativity, and character. The mood was festive, with teachers freely sharing classroom challenges, finding solutions, and renewing appreciation for the underlying purpose in daily teaching.

A workshop on "Value Education" among teachers on the values of ethics for the students and their role towards designing their lives was recently held at Doon Valley Public School. CBSE resource person Shivani Vashisht and school Principal and District Training Coordinator Devendra Mahal guided 60 teachers from various schools on this subject.

Discussion revolved around how five "C's" — critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication and character — could be inculcated and how these could be related to the academic syllabus. The faculty members were apprised of several methods and techniques for imparting value-based education. Role play, chart preparation and singing were also performed as workshop activities. Eager participation of the teachers was seen in these exercises wherein they presented their views in the form of enriching presentations.

Discussions were also held on the importance of Indian culture and its inherent values, problems emerging in the new academic setup and their solutions. During sessions of discussion, educators identified problems emerging in the classrooms and they were advised on practical measures to solve them. Additionally, the contribution of digital media and social media towards propagating value education was also deliberated thoroughly.

On this occasion, various educational videos and short films were also exhibited.

More and more universities and academic communities are severing their ties with Israeli ones, accusing them of being complicit in the Gaza war and with the Israeli government's handling of the Palestinians, according to The Guardian.

According to Gaza's ministry of health, over 63,000 have been murdered in the region, the majority civilians, and UN-backed experts have said much of Gaza is in a "man-made famine.

Boycotts build momentum

Universities in Brazil to Europe are suspending collaborations with Israeli academia. In 2024, the Federal University of Ceará in Brazil cancelled plans for an innovation summit with an Israeli university. Since then, Norway, Belgium, and Spain institutions have cut ties. This summer, Trinity College Dublin did the same.

The University of Amsterdam ended a student exchange programme with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, while the European Association of Social Anthropologists declared it would not engage with Israeli institutions and asked its members to do the same.

Stephanie Adam, of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, contended that Israeli universities are closely bound up with the actions of the state. They are, The Guardian reported her as stating, complicit in "Israel's decades-long regime of military occupation, settler colonial apartheid and now genocide," and that there is "a moral and legal obligation for universities to end ties with complicit Israeli universities."

Resistance in the UK and France

The report added that in Britain, France, and Germany boycotts are still uncommon. Universities UK (UUK) reaffirmed its opposition, and informed The Guardian: "As a representative body, Universities UK has a long-standing public position of being committed to the free exchange of ideas, regardless of nationality or location. As such we do not support blanket academic boycotts, as this would constitute an interference with academic freedom."

The Royal Society has also adopted the same position, the report reported. Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel winner and previous president of the Royal Society, was quoted by the report as having mixed opinions. "On the one hand, the response of the Israeli government to Gaza has been immensely disproportionate, causing civilian damage, including young children, in thousands," he said to The Guardian.

However, the great majority of Israeli scholars I personally know, and many of whom I consider as friends, loathe Netanyahu and his administration. A boycott of this would punish people who are not responsible for the policies of the Israeli government, and who in reality are highly sympathetic to the cause of Palestinians," he has been quoted.

Sharp disagreements

The report stated Israeli historian Ilan Pappé dismissed the idea that the majority of scholars are against the government. "If they were, I would have found them among the few hundreds [of] courageous Israelis who protest against the war because it is a genocide, not because it doesn't bring back the hostages," he said to The Gurdian. Protests characterizing the war as genocidal are considered "illegal in Israel," he is quoted as having said.

Pappé had blamed universities for being at the service of the state: "They offer courses and diplomas to the secret service, police and are government agencies oppressing the Palestinians on a daily basis," according to the report.

To him, the boycott is a much-needed reckoning: "[It] is a very severe and hard, though necessary, talk to the Israeli academic communities, making clear to them their duty and for being a natural part of an oppressive system."

Pressure from the UK

As The Gaurdian reports, students and academics in Britain are demanding more drastic action. British-Palestinian surgeon and Glasgow University rector Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah stated that institutions are thwarting official boycotts.

"The moral outrage about what the Israelis are doing is leading more and more academics to take personal decisions, not to have joint projects with Israelis," he was quoted as saying by the report.

Funding question

Some of Israel's scholars maintain the boycotts have not seriously impaired research. But the stakes are high: Israel's economy is science- and technology-based, and partnerships with Ivy League and European universities are crucial.

Israel has been paid €875.9m (£740.4m) by the EU's Horizon Europe scheme since 2021. However, in July 2025, the European Commission suggested suspending Israel from aspects of the scheme, including startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in sensitive areas like cybersecurity, drones, and artificial intelligence.

Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier confirmed this to The Guardian, although 10 countries are against suspending Israel. Nevertheless, Israel stands to be excluded from Horizon Europe's follow-up scheme in 2028.

Adam pointed out pressure is already evident. Israel allocated €22m (£19m) in May 2024 to push back against the boycott campaign, and its portion of EU money has fallen. The European Research Council granted only 10 Israeli scientists grants in 2025, from 30 the previous year, according to the report.

Brain drain

Decreasing opportunities have fed fears of a "brain drain", particularly in medicine, the report added. If collaborations and funding decrease even further, Israeli scientists may depart and not come back.

As per the report, However, many contend that academia must not be targeted. Some emphasize that collaboration promotes dialogue, while others remain skeptical that boycotts will alter government policy.

Nevertheless, Abu-Sittah thinks they have the potential to be make a difference: "The threat of academic boycott is enough to force the Israeli government to end this genocide," The Gaurdian reported him.

Selecting an effective research topic is essential to academic success and career development. Research in the modern world is developing so fast that it finds opportunities to investigate not only innovative but also not as well-explored topics. The following are 10 areas of research in various fields for Masters and PhD students. 

1. Quantum Computing Algorithms and Applications (Computer Science & Physics)

The field of quantum computing is still evolving, especially the creation of practical algorithms to tackle quantum computing problems such as cryptography, optimization, and molecular simulation problems that are computationally infeasible on a classical computer. The subject is perfect for a person who is interested in the field of combining physics, mathematics, and computer science to transform the field of computing.

2. Climate-Resilient Agriculture (Environmental Science & Biotechnology)

Creating crops that survive severe drought, pests and changing climate with minimal environmental effects is an urgent worldwide issue. The local agro-climatic contexts have not explored much on projects that revolve around gene editing, precision farming, and sustainable practices.

3. Ethics and Bias Reduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI and Social Sciences).

With the rise in AI use, studies are required on ethics, ethical framework design, bias identification, and policy consequences. It is an interdisciplinary topic, which students who are interested in technology, law, and social justice will find interesting.

4. The Relationships between Human Microbiome and Mental Health (Life Sciences and Medicine).

The gut-brain axis and the microbiome have complex and not well understood effects on mental and neurological health. This is a promising direction where important discoveries can be made in individual medicine and mental illnesses.

5. Renewable Energy Storage Technologies (Engineering & Materials Science)

Storage of energy has been identified as a stumbling block to sustainable energy such as solar and wind. A new area of innovation is researching new materials (such as solid-state batteries or supercapacitors), and storage techniques. 

6. Blockchain Applications Beyond Cryptocurrency (Finance & Information Technology)

The possibilities of blockchain in the areas of supply chain visibility, voting security, and privacy of patient data are still in their early days. This subject is appropriate to include students who are interested in fintech and decentralized systems.

7. Neurotechnology and Brain-Computer Interfaces (Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience)

How to develop speedy, dependable, and non-invasive brain-computer interfaces to serve debilitated persons or enhance cognition is not an easy area of knowledge and full of mystery.

8. Circular Economy Urban Sustainability Models (Urban Planning and Environmental Policy)

Research niche The specific topic of investigating how cities can radically cut waste by sealing resource loops and AI-guided analytics to streamline materials flows has real-world consequences.

9. Multi-Omics Integration of Precision Medicine (Healthcare and Bioinformatics)

The combination of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics information to customize disease prediction and treatment remains immature, particularly in using AI models in varied populations.

10. The Effect of Social Media Algorithms on the masses (Communications & Data Science)

It is essential to study the way content curation algorithms can influence political opinions, misinformation distribution, and the dynamics of social behavior in any study, and existing research is not as comprehensive as it needs to be ( not focusing on non-Western societies).

Why Choose These Topics?

These variety of inter-disciplinary subjects concern the problems of the world and new technologies. Masters and PhD students addressing these will bring new knowledge, enhance their employment prospects and become leaders in areas that define the future.

What Should You Do Next?

• Assess interests and strengths and then choose a topic.
• Discuss research questions and methods with supervisors.
• Research sources of funding that are targeted at innovative and societal impact projects.
• Connect with research communities. 

In conclusion, these ten innovative research topics represent the forefront of knowledge across diverse disciplines and offer exciting opportunities for Masters and PhD students to make meaningful contributions. With the option to work in emerging and under-researched fields like quantum computing, AI ethics, microbiome health, and sustainable urban development, students can become future leaders in their respective fields, and will help the world become a better place by solving some of the most pressing problems in the world.

 Since the field of research is rapidly advancing, keeping abreast of the current times, working together, and researching on these emerging issues is not only beneficial to the growth of academic excellence, but will also open up opportunities into a future where science and technology are used to create a positive change in the society. By adopting these domains, the future generation of researchers can be able to be more innovative and create a better future.  

The Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2024-25 report published by the Ministry of Education indicates some interesting developments in school infrastructure during the academic year 2024-25. These enhancements will ensure that the learning experience of students is improved in terms of safety, inclusivity, and resource-rich settings that are closely aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020.

Key Highlights of Infrastructure

• 93.6% of the schools have electricity now, which is a lifeline in the rural and remote regions. 
• 97.3% school has separate girls toilets and 96.2% boys toilets that strengthens hygiene and gender inclusivity. 
• In 95.9% of schools, handwashing facilities are provided, and this contributes to health and hygienic practices. 
• In an impressive 99.3% of schools, students have the basic health protection of access to safe drinking water. 
• There are playgrounds in 83.0% of schools, which are necessary in a child’s physical growth and well-being. 
• In 89.5% of schools, there are libraries, which encourage the culture of reading and access to knowledge. 
• However, the proportion of schools utilizing rainwater harvesting is at 29.4% only, which signifies the possibility of an increase in the environmental sustainability.  

Such improvements in infrastructure have direct and positive association with higher attendance and retention of students and improved learning outcomes, leading to a more student-centric ecosystem.

Teacher and Digital Infrastructure 

In addition to physical infrastructure, the report notes an optimistic increase in digital infrastructure 65% of schools currently have access to computers but as few as 58% of these computers currently are operational. Internet connectivity has been enhanced to 63.5 percent of schools making online resources and online classes accessible based on the learning requirements of the 21st century.

The teacher strength has surpassed 1 crore with the increase of 6.7% compared to 2022-23. Pupil teacher ratio has also improved significantly at all levels, shifting closer to the NEP 2020 ratio of 30:1 (one teacher for every 30 students), enabling individual attention and good teaching.

Local Differences and Problems 

Although so much has been accomplished, the regional inequalities still exist. The gaps that are still present in electrification are in some parts of the north and northeast, and the use of more sophisticated digital tools is not evenly distributed. The reduction in zero-enrolment and single-teacher schools is encouraging though needs constant monitoring in order to preserve equity.

Aligning with NEP 2020 Vision

These discoveries are an important milestone to achieving the vision of NEP 2020: equitable, inclusive, and quality education to all. Improved infrastructure facilitates comprehensive growth, cares about the health and safety of students, and adopts technology- the key to the education system of the future in India.