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New Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
54 institutions from India make it to QS World University rankings, IIT Delhi highest at 123rd spot
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the performance of Indian educational institutions in the World University 2026 Rankings, which were made public on Thursday. In a post on X, the PM said, 'The QS World University Rankings bring great news for our education sector. Our government is committed to furthering research and innovation ecosystems for the benefit of India's youth.' India is the fourth most represented in the list with only the United States, United Kingdom and China surpassing it, said an official release from the PIB. A total of 54 Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) from India featured in the rankings with IIT Delhi emerging as the country's top-ranked institute by securing the 123rd position. Twelve IITs have made it to the ranking list. Compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the internationally recognised ranking system compares HEIs worldwide on an annual basis. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a statement said, 'From just 11 universities in 2014 to 54 in the latest rankings, this five-fold jump is a testament to the transformative educational reforms ushered by PM Narendra Modiji's government in the last decade. National Education Policy 2020 is not just changing our educational landscape, it is revolutionising it.
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Govt not seeking donations for Indian Army, social media claims 'fake'
A social media post is falsely claiming that a bank account will receive public donations for the Indian Army's modernisation, the government's fact-check unit has said. Viral claim A widely circulated WhatsApp message and social media posts named the account as 'Indian Army Modernisation Fund' and gave bank account details for donations. PIB's fact-check clears the air The fact-check unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Tuesday denied the existence of any such government bank account. 'A message claims that the Central Government has opened a bank account for Army modernisation and is seeking donations. This claim is fake. No such account has been opened by the Government of India,' PIB said in its official post on X. PIB urged citizens to rely on official channels before forwarding such unverified information. What should citizens do? Avoid forwarding unverified messages. Always check facts with official sources like PIB or respective ministry websites. Do not transfer money to bank accounts shared via social media forwards, unless verified through government websites. Report suspicious posts on platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and X to prevent further spread. Defence funding India's defence modernisation is a structured and budget-driven process. Every year, the government allocates funds to the Ministry of Defence through the Union Budget. These funds cover the capital expenditure needed for modern equipment, technology upgrades, and infrastructure. The government has not created any separate donation account for army modernisation. Citizens are advised to stay alert and not fall for misinformation circulating on social platforms.
News18
5 days ago
- Politics
- News18
PIB Fact-Checks Congress, Debunks Reports Claiming Caste Enumeration Not Included In Census 2027
The clarification comes amid political criticism, particularly from the Congress, which alleged that the gazette notification issued on Monday did not mention caste enumeration. The Central government has dismissed social media claims suggesting that caste enumeration will be excluded from Census 2027, labelling them as fake and misleading. Responding on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday evening, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) urged citizens to rely only on official sources for verified information. 'Always rely on authentic sources for accurate information," PIB posted, countering the misinformation being spread online. In another post, PIB clarified, 'The Government has already announced that the Caste enumeration will be conducted along with Census 2027. Please see the details below: The clarification comes amid political criticism, particularly from the Congress, which alleged that the gazette notification issued on Monday did not mention caste enumeration. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, however, had already reviewed preparations for the upcoming census on June 15 with top officials, including the Union Home Secretary and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The official notification to conduct the census was published the same day. The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases. The first phase—Houselisting Operations (HLO)—will gather data on housing conditions, assets, and amenities. The second phase—Population Enumeration (PE)—will collect detailed information on demographic, socio-economic, and cultural parameters of each individual in a household. Caste enumeration will also be a part of this exercise, making it the first caste-based census in Independent India since the British-era enumeration conducted between 1881 and 1931. The decision to include caste data was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30. The census will be conducted digitally for the first time, using mobile applications and offering a self-enumeration option to citizens. Around 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, along with 1.3 lakh Census functionaries, will be deployed for the massive exercise. To ensure data security, the government has assured that stringent protocols will be followed during data collection, transmission, and storage. The reference date for the Census will be October 1, 2026, for snow-bound areas like Ladakh, and March 1, 2027, for the rest of the country. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had also fact-checked the claims questioning caste enumeration and reiterated that the upcoming census will include it. Responding to the issue, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded that the Centre adopt the Telangana model not only for caste enumeration but also for detailed socio-economic data collection. However, the Centre has made it clear through its notification and official statements that caste data will indeed be part of the Census 2027.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Hindustan Times
DNA profiling for Air India crash victims may end today, kin await results
The painstaking process of DNA profiling of all the victims of the Air India Dreamliner crash is expected to finish by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, a top doctor said on Monday, potentially exacerbating the wait of scores of relatives who continue to camp in Ahmedabad. Also Read: DNA verification completed for 119 victims in Air India plane crash A group of 54 experts across Forensic Science Laboratories in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Rajkot are working round-the-clock to carry out profiling and matching tests. But there is still no final word on the official toll on what is India's worst single-aircraft tragedy that killed all but one of the 242 on board, and at least 30in the hostel building the AI-171 jet rammed into, or in the neighbourhood. Dr Rakesh Joshi, superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, said that 119 DNA samples have matched with the victims of the crash. Using these, 76 bodies have been handed over to families. Another eight bodies, which didn't require DNA sampling, were returned on Friday. Also Read: Did double engine failure cause the Air India plane crash? PIB fact-checks At least 14 more bodies will be returned by Tuesday morning. 'The DNA profiling all the victims will be completed by either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning,' Joshi said. 'We are trying our best to finish this process as soon as possible.' One of the people identified by DNA profiling was former chief minister Vijay Rupani, whose final rites were conducted in Rajkot on Monday. Also Read: New video shows lone survivor walking away as crashed plane turns into fireball The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed 33 seconds after taking off on Thursday afternoon and rammed into the medical college hostel, marking the worst air tragedy in the country in three decades. Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the debris of AI-171 at the crash site roughly 3km from the Ahmedabad airport premises. The aircraft – which carried almost a full load of 125,000 litres of fuel – entered a slow descent shortly after taking off at 1.38pm, with its landing gear still extended before exploding into a huge fireball upon impact. The twin-engine plane had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190.5 meters) at a speed of 174 knots, according to data from Flightradar24. Since Thursday, scores of relatives have trooped into Ahmedabad, their wait turning from hours into days as authorities struggled to identify charred bodies and recover samples. At Dr Pratik Joshi's home in Ahmedabad, for example, 50-60 relatives from Rajasthan's Banswara are anxiously awaiting DNA confirmation to claim the remains of Pratik, 41, his wife Dr. Komi Vyas, and their children — Miraya, 8, and twins Nakul and Pradyut, 5. 'We are caught in a nightmare, unable to sleep or stay awake,' said Anil Vyas, Komi's father. 'They've confirmed Pratik' identity, but we're still waiting for the others. Nothing is in our hands…Hospital authorities have promised answers by tomorrow. The wait gets heavier with time,' he told HT. Dr. Pratik Joshi, a 41-year-old radiologist, was relocating his family from India to London for a new chapter. The family had captured their joy in a selfie on board, moments before the crash. Other families grew more impatient. 'They told us 72 hours. It has been four days now. We haven't got a call from the hospital authorities yet. I don't know when I will get to see the body of my brother and his family members so we can lay them to rest,' said Imtiyaz Ali, whose brother Javed Ali, sister-in-law Mariyam, and their children Aman Ali and Zayn Ali were killed in the crash. `Javed is of Indian origin and Mariyam is of Pakistani origin. 'The doctors explained to me that through DNA matching of my blood sample, they can confirm the DNA sample of my brother Javed. Then through his DNA, they can confirm the DNA samples of his two children,' Imtiyaz said. Finally, the confirmed samples of the two children would be used to identify Mariyam. Dr Joshi urged the grief-stricken kin of the victims to not panic, but acknowledged that complaints were mounting. 'Some are complaining that the results have not come even after 72 hours. I appeal to them not to panic because this is a very important process with legal implications. We will call them as soon as results arrive,' he said. He underlined that delays were on various accounts. 'Two foreign nationals will arrive on Tuesday for DNA testing, …11 families who have lost multiple relatives in crash have received one body but are still awaiting the release of others…18 other families, whose loved ones' DNA has been matched, have yet to inform authorities when they will claim the remains for final rites,' he said. Rohit Patel from Nadiad shared that hospital authorities confirmed a DNA match for his brother Anil Patel's daughter-in-law, Puja Patel, but added that he was still awaiting results for HIS WHO Harshit Patel. 'We're heartbroken and unsure what to do next. We've asked them to release both bodies together so we can perform their final rites,' he said. Doctors cautioned that the nature of the remains – many of the bodies are charred due to the intense heat of the fire that accompanied the crash – is making extraction of viable DNA challenging. A doctor from Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital told HT that often samples of multiple relatives needed to strengthen statistical certainty, especially when the DNA is degraded. 'We may need to test several relatives—parents, siblings, children—and if the body is dismembered, all recovered parts are tested to confirm they belong to the same individual before release,' the doctor said, requesting anonymity. Dr. Saumil P. Merchant, professor and head of forensic medicine at Narendra Modi Medical College, said that under normal conditions, a DNA report takes about three months due to the stepwise nature of profiling: sample cleaning, DNA isolation, quality assessment, amplification, sequencing, and matching. 'In this case, the timeline has been compressed to just 72 hours by adopting a 24x7 operational system involving multiple forensic labs, including the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Gandhinagar—one of India's largest— that can process around 130 samples at once,' Merchant told HT.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
DNA verification completed for 119 victims in Air India plane crash
DNA tests have verified the identities of 119 victims who died on June 12 after an Air India flight AI1717 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off, reported ANI. Dr Rakesh Joshi, superintendent of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital confirmed that efforts were still ongoing to identify the more than 270 victims of the plane crash. Also Read: New video shows lone survivor walking away as crashed plane turns into fireball Dr Joshi said, "We have matched DNA samples of 119 victims. Of these, 76 mortal remains have already been handed over to their respective families." He added, 'Out of the remaining 43, the mortal remains of 14 deceased will be handed over by tomorrow morning. As time is running, people are also going through panic. We are receiving panic calls. As we are matching DNAs, results will keep coming.' Also Read: Did double engine failure cause the Air India plane crash? PIB fact-checks The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed into a hostel complex shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, killing most of the passengers and crew, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. 241 out of the 242 passengers and crew on the flight died, while 29 ground victims were reported. There was only one survivor from the flight. Also Read: 'Asked to pay ₹1.1 lakh before flight': Air India crash victim's claims; MHA clarifies Of the 51 people injured in the incident, 38 have been discharged, while 13 are still undergoing treatment, said Dr. Patel, a professor of surgery at the government-run B J Medical College. The Gujarat state relief commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey told PTI that families of all 230 passengers who died on the flight had been contacted. "Members of only three deceased passengers are yet to give their DNA samples as they live abroad. They are expected to arrive tomorrow evening. Along with the mortal remains, we are also handing over death certificates to the kin so that they don't face any issues afterwards," said Pandey.
