A sequel to the first-ever EducationWorld India Private Higher Education Rankings 2017-18 league tables published in May, the four-hour awards nite programme celebrated the country’s most admired private universities, engineering institutes and B-schools whose growth, development and potential tend to be obscured by mainstream media – Summiya Yasmeen The inaugural EducationWorld India Private Higher Education Rankings Awards Nite staged at Bengaluru’s Shangrila Hotel on June 10, attracted over 150 vice chancellors, deans, trustees, and faculty of India’s top-ranked private universities, engineering institutes and business schools. The awards nite was a sequel to the first-ever EducationWorld India Private Higher Education Rankings 2017-18 league tables published in May. During the four-hour awards nite programme, the country’s most admired private universities, engineering institutes and B-schools — emerging islands of academic excellence whose growth, development and potential tend to be obscured in institutional league tables of mainstream media — were feted and celebrated Among the vice chancellors, deans and promoter trustees who received awards on the occasion were Dr. Souvik Bhattacharyya, vice chancellor of BITS-Pilani; Dr. Poornima Baliga, pro vice chancellor, Manipal University; Tejal Amin, chairperson of Navrachana University, Vadodara; Ali Imran, vice president, Ashoka University, Sonipat; Nisar Ahmed, promoter-chairman of Presidency University, Bengaluru; Abhishek Gupta, CEO, Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal; Dr. K.N. Subramanya, principal, R.V. College of Engineering, Bengaluru; P.R. Agarwala and P.K. Agarwal of the Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, and Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology, Mumbai’s Prof. A. Nagananda. In the full-card programme, the awards presentation ceremony was preceded by a keynote address ‘Education 3.0’ delivered by T.V. Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, Bengaluru, former chief financial officer of Infosys Ltd, and well-known champion of education reform, followed by a 90-minute panel discussion on ‘How to Ensure 10 Indian Universities in Top 200 World University Rankings by 2025’ chaired by Anand Sudarshan, former CEO of the Manipal Education Group and currently chairman of the Bengaluru-based Sylvant Advisors Pvt. Ltd. Knowledgeable panelists included Dr. R. Natarajan, former chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); Dr. Ashok Misra, former director of IIT-Bombay and chairman of the Standing Committee of the IIT Council; Dr. Souvik Bhattacharyya, vice chancellor of BITS-Pilani; Dr. Poornima Baliga, pro vice chancellor of Manipal University, and Dilip Thakore, publisher/editor of EducationWorld. The inaugural EducationWorld India Private Higher Education Rankings Awards which acknowledged the achievements of India’s best private universities, engineering institutes and B-schools striving for academic excellence in a discouraging environment — and which will henceforth be an annual event — concluded with accomplished amateur musicians Suleiman Jamal, Jagan Chandy and Dilip Thakore entertaining the invitees with retro music renditions. The awards nite was supported by Armstrong World Industries (India) Pvt. Ltd; Sylvant Advisors Pvt. Ltd; Littlemore Innovations Labs Pvt. Ltd; PALGenie Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Afairs Exhibitions & Media Pvt. Ltd. In the pages following, we present excerpts from the keynote address and panel discussion, followed by an awards nite pictorial essay. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: T. V. Mohandas Pai Get going with Education 3.0…
