News from the world of Education: July 24, 2026

Competitions and admissions

Aswini Bajaj Classes, Kolkata, in association with the CFA Institute, has announced the sixth edition of Chanakyaneeti, its annual online business and finance competition.

When: July 28

Eligibility: Currently enrolled UG students across academic disciplines

Rewards: Participants securing ranks 1 to 6 will receive CFA Institute Scholarships applicable towards CFA Level I registration, while participants ranked 7 to 25 will receive scholarships worth a combined ₹85,000 from Aswini Bajaj Classes. All participants will receive a digital certificate upon completion.

Deadline: July 27

Details at https://tinyurl.com/jym6z5ar

FinX launched Season 2 of the Franklin Templeton National Mutual Fund Olympiad 2026, with Groww as its Knowledge Partner.

Eligibility: UG and PG students across all academic streams from India. 

Deadline: End of September

Details at https://tinyurl.com/yfkh7h7r

Applications are now open for the January 2027 intake at Sheffield Hallam University, the U.K., for UG and PG programmes in Engineering, Computing, Health, the Life Sciences, Law, and Social Studies. Visit for courses, eligibility, application process and other details.

Events

Fifteen first-year IIIT Bangalore B.Tech AI and Data Science students participated in an international learning immersion at Aivancity School of AI and Data for Business and Society, Région Île-de-France, Choose Paris Region, France, exploring AI, ethics, business, and societal applications through lectures and interactive sessions.

Thesecond edition of the 27th Russian Education Fair 2026 attracted over 500 students and parents seeking MBBS opportunities in Russia, with representativesfrom more than 25 Russian medical universities facilitating admissions and guidance. The fair will conclude at Guwahati and Patna on July 26.

Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), Gurugram, appointed Raj Krishnan Shankar as its Director. He previously served as Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Nord University, Norway, and as Programme Director and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at GLIM, Chennai.

SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies appointed Prof. Sougata Ray as its Vice Chancellor. He held the positions of Thomas Schmidheiny Chaired Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Practice and Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business, and several academic and leadership positions at IIM Calcutta.

The Board of Directors of ESCP Business School has appointed Professor Thomas Jeanjean as Executive President and Dean. He previously held several senior leadership positions at ESSEC Business School, as Deputy CEO and Dean of Post-Experience Programmes and Executive Education.

Manipal University Jaipur concluded its three-day orientation programme for UG and PG students of the 2026-27 batch across the Faculty of Science, Technology and Architecture; Faculty of Management, Commerce and Arts; Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Monash University and the Manipal Institute of Technology welcomed the inaugural cohort of 40 dual-degree Engineering students in India.

Birla Global University organised the Commencement Day Programme for students of the BBA batch of 2026-30. Brishti Mondal, Vice President and Head – HR, Nomura Research Institute Fintech, who delivered the commencement day address, was the chief guest, and Ankur Zutshi, Principal, IQVIA, Basel, Switzerland, was the guest of honour.

IIHMR University, Jaipur, held its convocation where 506 students received their degrees. Jitendra Sharma, MD and Founder CEO, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, was the chief guest.

BITS Pilani conferred degrees on 1,477 graduates at its convocation, where alumna Revathi Advaithi and her husband Jeevan Mulgund announced a $1 million scholarship endowment for deserving women students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

East Point College of Physiotherapy celebrated its fourth convocation where around 35 Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) graduates received their degrees in the presence of Prof. Dr. U. T. Iftikhar Fareed, Chairman, Karnataka State Allied and Healthcare Council, Syndicate Member, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, and Dean, Dr. M. V. Shetty Group of Colleges, Mangaluru, the chief guest.

The K.C. Mahindra Education Trust awarded ₹426 lakh in interest-free loan scholarships to 92 postgraduate scholars, under the K.C. Mahindra Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies, extending its 70-year scholarship programme to students pursuing PG studies in India.

Babu Banarasi Das University commemorated the birth centenary of the late Justice D. P. Gupta, former Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Dignitaries included Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and Chairman of the 23rd Law Commission of India, the chief guest; Justice M. N. Bhandari, former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA and PMLA, New Delhi; Justice Shamim Ahmed, Judge, Madras High Court, and Justice Pramod Kumar Srivastava, Judge, Allahabad High Court, the guest of honour.

IIM Kozhikode inaugurated its new Kochi campus and Urban Learning Centre, offering the Bachelor of Management Studies and the Executive Post Graduate Programme initially, with plans to expand executive education, specialised courses, international collaborations, and digital learning initiatives. Loknath Behera, MD, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., was the guest of honour.

VIT Bhopal University hosted the first IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Electronics and Computational Systems 2026, featuring 232 selected research papers and global expert interactions.The university also developed and patented the Apparatus for Dynamic Monitoring and Analysis in Pulmonary Fibrosis, an intelligent remote monitoring system for pulmonary fibrosis assessment.

Groww Foundation launched the first cohort of its INV.ENT programme supporting 35 innovators from IIT Bombay, with grants of up to ₹25 lakh for Grand Challenge Fellows and ₹30,000 for POC Support Track teams.

Deeksha Vedantu’s EduVision 2026 conclave themed Shaping Tomorrow’s Schools, Today brought together over 100 education leaders in Bengaluru to adopt a 10-point action agenda for K-12 education and discuss the future of schooling in the AI era.

According to the Bavarian Longitudinal Study led of 416 adults, by Professor Dieter Wolke, University of Warwick, published in JAMA Paediatrics, a majority of adults born preterm or with very low birth weight achieve stable, fulfilling lives by their mid-30s, though around one in five experience lasting challenges with employment and social relationships.

FLAME University, Landstack, and the H T Parekh Foundation hosted Land in Transition, a symposium exploring how land governance, urban planning, and real estate practices influence climate resilience and rising heat in peri-urban Pune. Speakers included Prof. M. A. Venkataramanan, Pro Vice-Chancellor, FLAME University; Prof. Prasad Pathak, Dean – Research, FLAME University; Pranab Choudhury, Co-founder and CEO, Landstack; Shekhar Gaikwad, YASHADA Centre of Excellence; Pralhad Kachare, former Deputy Commissioner, Revenue Department, Government of Maharashtra, and Ramakrishna Nallathiga, NICMAR University.

Beyond 8 hosted Voyaging, its higher education exploration event, which brought together students, parents, mentors, and over 30 Indian and global universities for higher education guidance, programme consultations, and career discussions. The participating institutions included Ashoka University, FLAME University, Krea University, O.P. Jindal Global University, Arizona State University, Monash University, Trinity College Dublin, University of Birmingham, to name a few.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), the Manipal Foundation, and KITES Senior Care launched a Certificate Course in Geriatric and Palliative Care for Caregivers under MAHE’s Multi Skilled Worker Programme, with the first cohort of 20 caregiver trainees beginning training.

Invertis University has partnered with Google to become a Google Agentic AI University, integrating Google’s AI ecosystem into academics to build practical AI skills among students and faculty.

Aahwahan Foundation and NTT DATA inaugurated the 511th Model Science Laboratory at CCMA Government Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore, providing students with modern infrastructure and hands-on experiential science learning opportunities.

HCL Foundation and HCL GUVI felicitated 1,070 Engineering students from six Tamil Nadu government colleges who completed an AI and Python programming training programme.

Salesforce and REVA University launched REVAion, an AI-powered platform that personalises student engagement across admissions, academics, enrollment, and campus services.

VIBGYOR Group of Schools hosted its 16th Model United Nations, focused on SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, in which over 750 students from more than 40 schools across India and abroad participated. Darrin Farrant, Director, United Nations Information Centre, inaugurated the MUN.

The National Service Scheme, Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Autonomous, and Rotary Club of Chembur organised a blood donation and thalassemia screening camp, with over 72 donors contributing blood and 116 students undergoing screening to promote preventive healthcare awareness.

Lovely Professional University concluded placements for over 2,000 students. Recruiters included Microsoft India, Amazon India, Google, and more.

The Department of Mathematics, Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women, Chennai, celebrated Pi Approximation Day and launched the Matrix Club, featuring a Maths-focused journal-making competition to encourage student creativity and collaboration. S. Roseline Mary, Assistant Professor, PG and Research Department of Mathematics, Loyola College, Chennai, was the chief guest.

National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) recognised NIIT Foundation as an Awarding Body (Dual), enabling it to conduct training, assessments, and issue NSQF-aligned certifications across India under NCVET’s framework.

The Goa Institute of Management completed the pilot phase of Digital Ability and Knowledge for Sustainable Her-Income (DAKSH), a service-learning initiative under its Give Goa project that equips women-led micro-enterprises in practical digital business skills. The pilot helped entrepreneurs gain 1–5 new customers, earn an incremental income of ₹1,000 – ₹3,000, digitise 5–15 product catalogue items, and achieve a shift to structured business messaging.

Research

Researchers from IIT Guwahati, IIM Kashipur, and the National University of Singapore have developed a framework to integrate private transport services such as autorickshaws, minibuses, and vans into mainstream urban transport. The findings were published in the Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice journal, in a paper co-authored by Atanu Bhuyan, Assistant Professor, School of Business, IIT Guwahati, in collaboration with Abhishek Srivastava and Vivek Roy from IIM Kashipur, and Prateek Bansal from National University of Singapore.

Prof. S.K. Srivastava, Department of Geology, Nagaland University and research scholar Tsenchumo Lotha, have traced the formation of Sylhet Limestones in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district to the Eocene period, offering insights into the region’s ancient marine environment, climate, and micro-organism habitats. The study was published in the Journal of Geosciences Research.

Angana Sarkar, Associate Professor, along with research graduate Pritam Bajirao, Department of Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, have developed and patented a biodegradable composite film as a sustainable alternative to conventional medical plastics, addressing healthcare plastic waste and the growing demand for eco-friendly biomaterials.

Professor Arun K. Shukla, Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering at IIT Kanpur, and his team, have uncovered how the experimental molecule EP67 activates a key immune receptor to enhance vaccine effectiveness. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, the Department of Biotechnology, and the Department of Science and Technology.

Kiran Trivedi, Associate Professor from the University of Wollongong India, in collaboration with former student Harsh Shroff, has developed a low-cost, portable AI-powered device using Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML), that identifies disease-carrying mosquito species within seconds using wingbeat sounds. The innovation was showcased at the UN AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.

Researchers at the Human Interface Technology (HIT) Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in collaboration with physiotherapy experts and Engineering faculty, are conducting a trial on a virtual reality-based learning tool that allows Engineering students to experience the physical challenges faced by people living with tetraplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injuries. The tool complements existing inclusive design teaching by giving students first-hand insight into the practical difficultiesfaced by people with spinal cord injuries.

Awards

CityFlow by CITYDATA.AI, and Nippon Koei and Janjatra by The Urbanizer were declared winners of the Sustainable Cities Challenge Varanasi, an initiative led by Varanasi Nagar Nigam, in collaboration with the Toyota Mobility Foundation, Challenge Works, and WRI India.

Nandheeswar M., G. Saran and Sushmitha K. S., B.Tech Fashion Technology students from Sona College of Technology, Salem, won first prize at Sanrachna, the Product Development and Design Innovation Hackathon organised by the Ministry of Textiles during BharatTex 2026. A second team from the department comprising Supriya E., Monika S. and Kabila Shree N. R, received the Special Innovation Recognition Award in the Best Innovation Project category for the project, Flame Resistant Finishing on Cotton Fabric Using Natural Resources.

Istituto Marangoni Mumbai unveiled Astitva, its annual student showcase featuring the work of its second-year Fashion Design students across themes including memory and family; resilience; grief, heritage and transformation. Pallavi Singh was awarded The Designer of the Year 2026 for her REVIVE collection, while Anushka Puranik won the Sustainability Award 2026 for her collection, Anchors of Immanence.

Kalpana and Dilip Gangaramani, founders, Target Learning Ventures Pvt. Ltd., won the Visionary Leadership award at the Beacon of Leadership Awards 2026 organised by the One World Women Network, with D Y Patil University as the Knowledge Partner and Luv My India as the Nationalist Partner. 

Collaborations

Medhavi Skills University signed an MoU with Sashastra Seema Bal wives Welfare Association (SANDIKSHA), to provide full tuition waivers for children of SSB martyrs and personnel who died in the line of duty, along with fee concessions for wards of serving and retired SSB personnel across its industry-integrated degree and diploma programmes.

BIT Mesra partnered with IIT Bhubaneswar to collaborate in research, academics, innovation, and institutional capacity-building.

Hindustan Group of Institutions has signed an MoU with the University of Southern Mindanao, Philippines, to collaborate on research, academic exchanges, curriculum development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural initiatives.

Dnyaan Prasad Global University School for Hospitality and Tourism, partnered with Singapore’s Nanyang Institute of Management to collaborate on cross-border learning, research, and student-and-faculty exchanges.

Nemetschek Group India signed an MoU with Novatr to enhance digital construction skills by providing students with hands-on training in Building Information Modelling technologies and industry-relevant workflows.

Renault India has partnered with IIT Kanpur to enhance vehicle R and D through advanced aerodynamic and wind-noise testing using the institute’s National Wind Tunnel Facility.

upGrad Learning Support Centres and iHUB DivyaSampark, IIT Roorkee, have launched industry-focused certification programmes in Data Science and Full Stack Development with hands-on learning and mentorship to improve job-readiness.

The University of Leeds signed an MoU with IIT Kharagpur to advance interdisciplinary research and innovation through academic collaboration and a jointly funded seed fund of up to $50,000 each for pilot projects.

Veltris launched the Veltris Vertical AI Academy, in partnership with Woxsen University, and named it the Academy’s first private university, with the programme to be established at Woxsen’s Hyderabad campus. The duo will design and offer an industry-led AI curriculum integrating academic learning, enterprise expertise, and the Databricks ecosystem.