Editorial 1: In India, education without employment

Context

The educational system has no clear understanding of the employability of India’s graduates in the workforce.

Introduction

Supporters of the current government’s educational policies claim that education is now free from past government constraints. They highlight initiatives like Atal Tinkering Labs, coding in middle school, recruiting Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe teachers, and empowering Muslim girl students. The key claim is that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 “will lead to an educational renaissance.”

Key Issue: Educational System and Graduate Employability

• The educational system is clueless about the employability of graduates in the ever-changing marketplace.
• Education has multiple roles: it enables, energizes, and elevates. As Vivekananda said, it empowers one to stand on their own feet.
• After 75 years, India has sacrificed both excellence and equity, leading to graduates unable to find meaningful employment. Degrees are often not worth the paper they are printed on.
• It doesn’t matter if these issues were created or ignored by Congress or BJP. The current government must take action and clean up the mess. The NEP 2000 is the fourth attempt at reforming education, after the Radhakrishnan Commission (1948), Kothari Commission (1966), and Officers’ Commission (1985).
• What Makes a Good Education?
  • Depth: Provides technical expertise for employability.
  • Breadth: Offers flexibility in an AI-driven ecosystem, requiring constant re-skilling to stay relevant.

Lack of Progress in NEP Implementation

• Four Years On: There is little to no evidence that any of the NEP recommendations have been effectively implemented.
• Graduate Employability: In 2025, India’s overall graduate employability rate stands at 42.6%, almost unchanged from 44.3% in 2023.
• Knowledge-Intensive Employment: In 2023, only 11.72% of jobs were in knowledge-intensive sectors.
• E-commerce Jobs: NEP’s emphasis on multiple entries and exits has resulted in low-quality and poorly paid jobs in e-commerce.

The High Rate of Educated Unemployment

• The current high rate of educated unemployment indicates that education in India is actually disempoweringstudents.
• NEP’s Approach: The NEP is a retreat to an outdated mid-20th century U.S. model, without the necessary financial support.
• Outdated and Unviable: The NEP is financially unviable in India in 2025, with superficial ideas like Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), mother tongue learning, and flexible curricula, but no methodology to implement them.
• Implementation Issues: The NEP relies only on course choice to correct imbalances, without considering that the course content itself may be unworkable.
• Lack of Industry Representation: There was no industry or business representation in the committee that drafted the NEP.

University Rankings and Growth Claims

• QS World University Rankings (WUR): It is claimed that 11 Indian universities are ranked in the top 500 of the QS WUR.
• Growth in Rankings: 318% growth in the performance of Indian universities is highlighted, but this statistic ignores India’s low ranking (above 100) and poor publication quality.

Ranking Metric	India’s Position (2024)
Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI)	16th among 19 G-20 countries
Indian Universities’ Growth	318% increase in performance (highest growth in G-20)

• Press Releases: The Ministry has promoted these improvements in Press Information Bureau releases (Feb 13, 2025), claiming Indian universities showed the highest performance improvement among G-20 nations.
• Government’s Misunderstanding: In this digital age, the government fails to recognize the commercial implications of agencies like QS and THE, and the reasons behind their skewed and deceptive analyses.

Unrealized Outcomes of Mega Research Projects

• Past Projects: Several mega research projects were launched with great fanfare, such as:
  • New Millennium project (CSIR-NMITLI)
  • $10 Akash tablet project
  • IMPRINT (IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology)
• Despite being in the spotlight for years, the public remains unaware of the outcomes of these projects, despite hundreds of crores of taxpayer money being spent.
• Taxpayer Expectations: The focus should be on whether these projects provided value for money, regardless of whether they were initiated or shut down by Congress or BJP.

India’s Global Innovation Index (GII)

• Rankings: India’s ranks in the Global Innovation Index (GII):
  • 2014: 76
  • 2015: 81
  • 2024: 39
• Comparison with Other Nations: Malaysia and Türkiye rank higher than India in the GII, with ranks of 33 and 37, respectively.

Country	GII Rank (2024)
India	39
Malaysia	33
Türkiye	37

• Innovation Clusters: India has four key innovation clusters:
  • Bengaluru (Rank: 56)
  • Delhi (Rank: 63)
  • Chennai (Rank: 82)
  • Mumbai (Rank: 84)

Bengaluru vs. Silicon Valley

• Bengaluru’s Comparison: The Bengaluru cluster is often compared to Silicon Valley, particularly regarding startups and Unicorns, but its 56th rank is far behind Silicon Valley’s 6th rank.
• Cluster Intensity: The intensity of the top 100 clusters reveals:
  • Bengaluru: Ranked 94
  • Chennai: Ranked 96
  • Delhi: Ranked 98
  • Mumbai: Ranked 99
  • Silicon Valley: Ranked 2
  • Cambridge: Ranked 1

Patent and Scientific Publications Comparison

• Silicon Valley Cluster:
  • Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications per capita: 7885
  • Scientific publications per capita: 9211
• Bengaluru Cluster:
  • PCT applications per capita: 313
  • Scientific publications per capita: 1077
• Leading Patentee in Bengaluru: Samsung Electronics (South Korea), which highlights the lack of indigenous innovation.

The subject of start-ups

• Start-ups in countries like China, the U.S., and Israel focus on solving cutting-edge problems such as:
  • Semiconductor technology
  • Refining rare earth elements with ecological sensitivity
  • Making metformin cheaper
• In contrast, the Indian government often praises new apps that mainly sell food products, which are far from the innovative start-ups seen in other nations.
• India cannot have start-ups without indigenous technology.
• Indigenous technology is impossible without indigenous science.
• Indigenous science requires quality education that is free from political agendas.
• Two-wheeler kiranas are not start-ups in the true sense of the term. They lack the innovative and technologicalaspects that define real start-ups.

Conclusion

The UGC continues to control universities, despite the Education Ministry’s view. It has no justification for holding both regulatory and financial power. Can the UGC prove that changes in teaching methods and syllabus have improved industry skills and employability? India might be better off without the UGC. Leaders like UGC chairs, vice-chancellors, and ministers should focus on implementing policies and ensuring employment for youth, not pushing their agendas in the media. If they don’t, we, as independent academics, will speak up.
“When stupidity is seen as patriotism, being intelligent is unsafe.” — Isaac Asimov.

Editorial 2: Prime message

Context

India needs to rally global support against Pakistan’s nuclear threats.

Introduction

Prime Minister Modi’s recent address and visit reaffirmed India’s strategic approach to combating terrorism with clarity and resolve. Emphasizing national interests, India continues its firm stance on Pakistan’s terrorism support and suspends the Indus Waters Treaty. Modi’s visit to Adampur Air Base showcased India’s defense capabilities, while efforts to address nuclear risks and global opinion remain pivotal in India-Pakistan relations.

Prime Minister Modi’s Address and Visit: Key Takeaways

Address to the Nation (May 12, 2025)

• • Reaffirmed India’s Strategic Approach: Prime Minister Modi emphasized that India’s response to terrorism would be characterized by clarity and resolve, signaling a shift toward a more decisive approach.
  • No Tolerance for Pakistan’s Claims: India is no longer willing to accept Pakistan’s claim that terrorists are non-state actors, marking a shift in policy. The continued support of terrorist organizations by Pakistan is now seen as a direct challenge to India’s security.
  • Operation Sindoor: This ongoing operation is viewed as a continuation of India’s strategic focus on counterterrorism efforts, building upon the surgical strikes of 2016 and Balakot airstrikes of 2019, which demonstrated India’s willingness to act unilaterally in safeguarding its national security.
  • Diplomatic Engagement with Pakistan: While India remains open to diplomacy, it has made it clear that terrorism and the issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will be the primary subjects of dialogue.
  • Indus Waters Treaty: Modi reiterated India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, a bold move aimed at exerting diplomatic pressure.
  • National Interest Over External Claims: Modi firmly rejected any claims of third-party mediation and reinforced that India would be guided solely by its national interests in future actions.

Visit to Adampur Air Base (May 13, 2025)

• • Strategic Reassurance: Modi’s visit to Adampur Air Base, located just 100 km from the Pakistan border, provided a symbolic and practical demonstration of India’s military readiness.
  • Debunking Pakistan’s Claim: The visit directly challenged Pakistan’s false claim that the base had been hit during the recent military face-off. It also showcased India’s robust air defense systems, especially the S-400systems.
  • Defense Systems: The base’s strategic importance was highlighted by the presence of the S-400, an advanced defense system that enhances India’s capacity to protect its airspace against potential threats from neighboring countries.

The Path Forward

• Insulating Strategy from Populism: India’s national security strategy must be shielded from the influence of populist rhetoric or media sensationalism, which can often undermine the effectiveness of a carefully crafted defense policy.
• Balancing Diplomacy and Covert Operations: Although high-profile covert operations may not capture media attention, they can be crucial for India in maintaining strategic superiority and achieving long-term objectives without escalating tensions.
• Addressing Nuclear Risks: As tensions rise, especially with Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, it is crucial for India to initiate a global conversation on the risks of nuclear weapons and the potential for catastrophic consequences in the region.
  • India must ensure that nuclear diplomacy remains a central element of its foreign policy and collaborate with other global powers to de-escalate nuclear threats.
• Building Global Opinion Against Pakistan’s Strategy: India must continue to assert its stance on third-party interference, reinforcing that all issues between India and Pakistan should be addressed bilaterally.
  • Global opinion needs to be shaped to expose Pakistan’s strategic use of terrorism as a weapon and its attempts at nuclear blackmail, which threaten the peace and stability of the entire region.
• India should foster international support to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and undermine its position on the global stage.

Conclusion

India’s firm stance on terrorism, national security, and strategic defense, as demonstrated by Modi’s recent address and visit, highlights a determined approach to safeguarding its interests. By prioritizing diplomacy and covert operations, while addressing nuclear threats, India is setting the stage for a more secure future. Global support against Pakistan’s terrorism strategy remains crucial in maintaining regional peace.