International Academic Excellence Awards

Educators are spine of academic system, says expert Educators Shape the Foundation of Learning An education expert has emphasized that educators form the backbone of the academic system, playing a vital role in shaping students’ intellectual and moral foundations. Teachers not only deliver subject knowledge but also nurture critical thinking, creativity, and lifelong learning habits that define the future of learners.   Beyond Teaching: Mentors and Role Models According to the expert, educators go beyond textbooks and classrooms by acting as mentors and role models. Their guidance helps students develop discipline, confidence, and ethical values, making educators central figures in personal as well as academic growth.    Driving Quality and Innovation in Education The expert highlighted that the quality of any academic system depends largely on its educators. Innovative teaching methods, research-driven instruction, and adaptability to new technologies all stem from well-...

  ‘Rethink academic model’ as India suffers from talent shortages  Growing Talent Gap Across Key Sectors India is facing an acute talent shortage in critical sectors such as technology , healthcare, manufacturing, research, and higher education. Despite producing millions of graduates every year, industries report a mismatch between academic training and real-world skill requirements. This gap has slowed innovation, increased dependency on foreign expertise, and affected India’s global competitiveness. Outdated Curriculum and Rote Learning One of the major challenges lies in India’s traditional academic model, which continues to emphasize rote memorization over problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. Many university curricula remain outdated and disconnected from rapidly evolving industry needs. As a result, graduates often struggle to adapt to modern workplaces that demand digital skills, interdisciplinary knowledge, and practical experience. Weak Industry–Aca...

Mizoram to shift school academic calendar to January-December cycle from 2027-28  What’s Changing: New Academic Calendar from 2027–28 Mizoram has announced that from the 2027–28 academic year, schools in the state will switch from the current April–March calendar to a January–December academic schedule. This change applies to primary and high school levels — students in classes 1 to 10 will follow the new calendar year format. However, classes 11 and 12 will continue with the April–March system for now, and the Class 10 board exams will still be held in the usual February–March period.   Why Mizoram is Shifting the School Year The state government, led by Education Minister Dr. Vanlalthlana, says the decision is rooted in local realities such as the climate, hilly terrain, and lifestyle of families in Mizoram. Officials believe a January–December calendar suits the state better, especially considering the monsoon season and frequent landslide risks. Authorities are also explor...

Mizoram to revert to January–December academic calendar from 2027–28 Academic Calendar Shift Announced The Mizoram government has decided to revert to the January–December academic calendar starting from the 2027–28 academic session. This marks a return to the earlier system, replacing the current April–March calendar that was introduced to align with the national pattern.  Classes Covered Under the New Schedule The revised calendar will apply to primary, middle, and secondary school levels. However, higher secondary classes (Classes 11 and 12) will continue to follow the April–March cycle, ensuring alignment with national-level board examinations and entrance tests. Reason Behind the Decision The move comes after extensive consultations with teachers, parents, and education stakeholders, where a large majority supported the January–December format. The government stated that the calendar is more suitable to Mizoram’s local conditions, climate, and social practices.  Focus on ...

  War pushes Ukraine’s academic journals towards open access War-Time Pressures Reshape Publishing The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has put enormous strain on the country’s academic publishing ecosystem. Editors are coping with challenges such as power cuts, staff shortages due to brain drain, and the general instability of war conditions. These difficulties have accelerated efforts to adopt open access models that make research widely available without paywalls, ensuring knowledge continues to circulate even as traditional operational structures are disrupted.   Growth of Open Access Practices Even before the current phase of war, open access was growing in Ukraine as part of broader “open science” initiatives. Ukraine’s National Plan for Open Science commits to increasing effectiveness and quality of research dissemination, with open access as a key component. The war has intensified this momentum, as many journals — including those affiliated with Ukrainian universities — pr...

  The claim is audacious: scientists in the U.S. say they are building the world’s first experiment explicitly designed to detect an individual graviton — the hypothetical quantum particle of gravity. The idea has attracted $1.3 million in funding but also deep scepticism from physicists, reviving a decades-old debate about whether gravitons can ever be detected, and if doing so would actually prove that gravity is quantum in nature. What exactly is the new experiment? The proposal comes from researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology working with collaborators at Yale University. Their plan is to build an ultra-sensitive detector using a cylindrical resonator filled with superfluid helium — a state of matter that behaves as a single quantum object when cooled close to absolute zero. The idea is to cool this cylinder to its quantum ground state, eliminating thermal noise entirely. In this near-perfect silence, the detector would “listen” for the faintest possible disturbance. ...

  A major new scientific review has found no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy increases the risk of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disability in children. Published in “The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health”, the study directly addresses confusion triggered by comments made last year by US President “Donald Trump”, who had suggested a link between prenatal paracetamol use and autism. Led by researchers from “City St George’s, University of London”, the review is being described as the most rigorous analysis of the evidence so far, drawing on data from 43 studies and hundreds of thousands of children. Why This Question Matters for Pregnant Women Paracetamol — also known as acetaminophen — is the most commonly recommended painkiller and fever-reducing drug during pregnancy across the world. Unlike non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or opioids, it has long been considered safer for both the mother ...

  A striking phytoplankton bloom has drawn global scientific attention to the remote Chatham Islands, located about 800 kilometres east of New Zealand’s South Island. In January 2026, vivid green and blue swirls appeared in surrounding waters, forming a natural halo visible from space and highlighting the region’s unique oceanographic conditions. Satellite Observation of the Bloom The bloom was captured on January 10, 2026, by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite onboard the NOAA-20 satellite. The imagery revealed dense concentrations of phytoplankton arranged in intricate wisps and circular patterns. These formations were shaped by surface currents and ocean eddies during the austral summer, when biological productivity typically peaks in the southern oceans. Role of the Chatham Rise The Chatham Islands sit atop the Chatham Rise, an underwater plateau extending eastward from New Zealand’s South Island. The rise is relatively shallow compared to deeper waters to the north...

  West Bengal has been placed on high alert after two samples tested positive for Nipah virus , a zoonotic infection known for its high fatality rate. The confirmation came from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, following re-testing of samples from two nurses admitted to a hospital in Barasat. Both patients remain in critical condition, triggering extensive contact tracing and containment measures. Laboratory Confirmation and Patient Status The samples were first tested at AIIMS Kalyani and later sent to the National Institute of Virology for confirmation. NIV confirmed Nipah infection in both cases. Health officials said both nurses are currently on ventilator support, with one patient reported to be in a coma. A house staff doctor from a Burdwan hospital, who had close contact with one of the nurses, has developed mild fever and is being monitored. Contact Tracing and Isolation Measures The state health department has identified over 120 close contacts of the two nurses, ...

  Against expectations of a hard landing, the global economy surprised in 2025 by holding together. Growth endured despite wars, supply-chain rewiring, and sharp monetary pivots. The real question now is not how the world avoided a downturn, but whether this resilience can be sustained as technology reshapes work, trade fragments further, and policy space narrows under debt and fiscal strain. A resilient world economy — but with cracks beneath the surface Global growth in 2025 defied pessimism. The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy pace, though headline GDP masked a slowdown in job creation, signalling late-cycle dynamics. China, meanwhile, delivered strength through record current account surpluses as global trade routes reconfigured, even as its domestic economy remained weighed down by real estate stress and cautious consumers. Inflation cooled across advanced and emerging economies. In response, nine of the ten central banks overseeing the world’s most traded currencies cut i...

  Scientists at the University of Adelaide's Davies Livestock Research Centre (DLRC) have unveiled the most comprehensive cattle genome ever assembled, a breakthrough expected to improve Wagyu breeding and enhance beef marbling. The research delivers a clearer picture of cattle genetics than any previous reference. "We have presented a near complete cattle genome that is 16 percent longer than the current reference genome," said Dr. Lloyd Low, a senior author of the study and researcher at the DLRC. The findings were published in Nature Communications. "This new Wagyu genome provides a much more complete and accurate view of the genetic blueprint behind one of the world's most prized beef breeds," said study co-lead author Paulene Pineda from the University of Adelaide. Unlocking the Genetics of Beef Quality and Profit Beyond scientific insight, the discovery carries clear economic potential for the beef industry. By revealing more of the Wagyu genetic make...

  The year 2025 has underlined an uncomfortable reality for India’s growth ambitions: artificial intelligence alone will not secure global competitiveness unless Indian workers can adapt to it at speed. While public debate often centres on AI replacing jobs, the deeper disruption lies elsewhere — jobs are changing faster than India’s systems of education, certification, and hiring can respond. For a country with the world’s largest youth population, this mismatch has become a defining economic challenge. The real disruption: jobs are mutating, not vanishing Globally, skills required for AI-exposed roles are changing 66% faster than those in less-exposed jobs, according to PwC. India, with its massive and youthful workforce, sits at the epicentre of this churn. Degrees that once signalled employability for decades now lose relevance within two to three years. India produces more than 1.5 million engineering graduates annually, yet industry surveys repeatedly show that fewer than ha...

  As governments race to build governance frameworks for artificial intelligence , a recurring pattern is becoming clear: policies do not fail because they are poorly drafted, but because they are poorly understood. Even the most carefully designed regulatory architecture collapses if those who must implement it — and the citizens it seeks to protect — do not grasp what it means, why it matters, and how it improves outcomes. In the age of AI, communication is not an accessory to governance; it is governance. Why trust is the real infrastructure of governance Every governance system rests on trust — and trust is fragile. Without it, adoption slows, compliance weakens, and citizens disengage. Trust is not generated by publishing regulations or releasing policy PDFs. It is built through sustained, transparent, and honest communication. Institutions earn trust when they explain decisions clearly, acknowledge uncertainty rather than masking it, and demonstrate accountability when things...