Showing posts with label UGC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UGC. Show all posts

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Library Support for Researchers: Series 3: UGC CARE List of Journals

The Scope of the UGC-CARE List

  • UGC-CARE has taken the responsibility of preparing the “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List).
  • A list of Indian journals, especially from disciplines of Arts, Humanities, Languages, Culture and Indian Knowledge Systems is being prepared and updated quarterly (UGC-CARE Group I).
  • The UGC-CARE List includes journals from all disciplines indexed in globally accepted databases, such as indexed in Scopus (Source list) or Web of Science (Arts and Humanities Citation Index Source Publication, Science Citation Index Expanded Source Publication, Social Science Citation Index Source Publication). These journals are to be considered for all academic purposes. Journals indexed in Scopus and / or Web of Science are part of UGC-CARE List Group II.
To access the UGC CARE list of journals:

For important FAQs on UGC CARE List of Journals, please visit:

Monday, February 1, 2021

Here’re UGC Instructions For Accreditation Of Higher Education Institutions

Bhubaneswar: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued fresh instructions for accreditation of higher education institutions in the country.

As per the UGC (Mandatory Assessment and Accreditation of higher Educational Institutions) Regulations 2012, it is mandatory for each higher education institution to get accredited by the accreditation agency after passing out of two batches or six years, whichever is earlier.

The UGC also set a target that colleges and universities should get accredited with a minimum score of 2.5 by the year 2022.

To achieve the target, the UGC introduced a new initiative called ‘Paramarsh’ in the year 2019 for mentoring the non-accredited institutions.

“This initiative intends to promote well-performing accredited institutions to mentor the NAAC accreditation aspiring institutions to upgrade their academic performance and get accredited. A well-designed scheme of Mentor-Mentee relationship will not only benefit both the institutions but also lead to quality education for the students who are currently enrolled in the Indian higher education system,” stated a UGC notification dated January 29, 2021.

So far, 167 Mentor Institutions have been approved under ‘Paramarsh’ to mentor 936 non-accredited higher education institutions. The list of the Mentor Institutions can be found on the UGC website, www.ugc.ac.in.

The UGC in the notification said that there are still a large number of institutions which are yet to be accredited. These institutions are expected to make all out efforts to get themselves accredited at the earliest. Moreover, the NAAC accreditation aspiring institutions may seek guidance from the Mentor Institutions as well as other high performing institutions so that they can get an exposure to the best practices.

The higher education institutions are therefore expected to come forward for accreditation so as to maintain global standards and ensure quality of our higher education system, the notification read.


Source: https://sambadenglish.com/herere-ugc-instructions-for-accreditation-of-higher-education-institutions/


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Bill to merge AICTE, UGC in final stages

The HRD ministry’s five-year Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), which was released in June, called for the need to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The official however, refused to share more details about the elements of the bill.(HT image)

A bill that aims to merge the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to create a single regulator for higher education in the country is in the final stages of preparation and likely to come up before the cabinet next month, according to an official aware of the development.

Till now, the UGC regulated the functioning, accreditation and also fund disbursal to 40 central varsities while the AICTE played a similar role for technical institutions. The government has been considering setting up a single regulatory body that would focus on imparting quality education and learning outcomes. The function of fund disbursal would not be a role for such a body.

“The India Higher Education Commission Bill to replace the UGC and the AICTE has been prepared in consultation with the states. The ministry plans to take it to the cabinet next month,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The official added that the bill is in its final stages.

The official however, refused to share more details about the elements of the bill.

The HRD ministry’s five-year Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP), which was released in June, called for the need to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).

The plan envisaged the HECI as a regulatory body to promote the quality and standards of education by merging the UGC and AICTE.

According to the suggestion of the EQUIP report, the HECI will primarily focus on academic and quality matters related to ensuring learning outcomes, mentoring of institutions, training of teachers and administrators. It would also seek to promote education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives.

According to the EQUIP report, which HRD officials terms as their five-year implementation plan, the HECI will grant autonomy to best performing higher educational institutions and award them powers to confer degrees.

The disbursal of funds that the UGC presently undertakes will be kept separate from the commission, according to the EQUIP report. “Disbursal of the funds shall be done through an SPV [Special Purpose Vehicle]. The HECI shall provide for comprehensive and holistic growth of higher education and research in a competitive global environment,” the report said.

A bill seeking the formation of a National Research Foundation (NRF) is also ready and expected to be placed before the Union cabinet for approval.

In her budget speech in July, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to the formation of the NRF to fund, promote and coordinate research in the country. “The NRF will assimilate the research grants being given by various ministries independent of each other,” she had said.

“The need to create an umbrella body for the higher education sector has been felt for a long time. However, what kind of relations it has with other bodies including varsities and institutions would define its success. Its role vis-à-vis all other bodies will have to be carefully defined,” said former UGC member Prof Inder Mohan Kapahy.

Friday, August 30, 2019

UGC urges colleges, varsities to join PM’s Fit India Movement, create fitness plan

In an attempt to bring focus to fitness among the youth, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently shared a circular on its website, urging affiliated colleges and universities to participate in the ‘Fit India Movement’, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched yesterday.

As part of the movement, universities and colleges have been asked to make efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of students as well as teaching and non-teaching staff, in order to achieve physical fitness, mental strength and emotional equanimity.

“The Fit India Movement helps take the nation forward on the path of fitness and wellness and it provides a unique and exciting opportunity to work towards a healthier India,” said the circular released by UGC.

“Every person should pledge and attempt to walk 10,000 steps… and follow it up in his/her daily routine,” states the circular. It further requests institutes to implement an institutional fitness plan to incorporate exercise into the daily routine of staff and students.

HRD directs UGC to set up committee to probe 'sale of fake degrees

Thursday, August 29, 2019

UGC plans panel to shape anti-bullying policy in schools and colleges

A government official said on condition of anonymity that the panel will prepare draft amendments to existing anti-ragging regulations to add ways to curb bullying and also prepare an action plan to implement them.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to form a high-powered panel to suggest norms to curb bullying in colleges and universities and to come up with an implementation plan. (HT FILE)


India may soon have an anti-bullying policy in schools and colleges to combat a menace that is increasingly rearing its head in schools and colleges across India, especially with students from diverse social and economic backgrounds increasingly studying together.

The policy will be framed for colleges first. The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to form a high-powered panel to suggest norms to curb bullying in colleges and universities and to come up with an implementation plan to put them into practice, according to an order the higher education sector regulator issued recently in this regard.

A government official said on condition of anonymity that the panel will prepare draft amendments to existing anti-ragging regulations to add ways to curb bullying and also prepare an action plan to implement them.

A second official who asked not to be named said the recommendations will also be passed onto the HRD ministry’s school education department for the implementation of the norms in schools.

“The UGC has come up with elaborate regulations as far as ragging is concerned. However, bullying is another problem that silently makes the education experience a nightmarish experience for many,’’ a third ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Globally 32% of all students aged 13-17 years had been bullied at school in the month preceding the publication of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report on bullying in February. According to UNESCO, bullying is the most common example of school violence and includes physical, psychological and sexual violence. It found frequently bullied students are nearly three times more likely to feel like outsiders, and are more than twice as likely to miss school.

The Teacher Foundation, a non-profit trust promoting the development of schools and educators in India, studied bullying between 2013 and 2017 across 15 Indian cities and found that 42% students in classes 4-8 and 36% in classes 9-12 reported it.


One of the officials cited above said the decision to form the panel was taken at an inter-council meeting of HRD ministry, UGC, Central Board of Secondary Education and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and other officials in May this year.

According to the order cited above, UGC chairman D P Singh has formed the panel under the leadership of Sushma Yadav, who is a UGC member and Sonepat’s BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalaya vice-chancellor.

HT has accessed a copy of the order, which said the panel would include representatives from NCERT, CBSE, HRD ministry and All India Council for Technical Education.

The third official cited above said ragging is an issue that emerges at the time of admissions in colleges, but bullying, while invisible sometimes, is as prevalent a problem, and probably not even time-specific.

“Moreover, apart from a senior student intimidating junior ones, there can be issues which are region-specific or are linked with social realities. The committee will examine the issue of bullying from all aspects,” the official said.

“Though at the Higher Education admission stage the UGC has very stringent anti Ragging Regulation the same is missing at the school level. It is a well known fact that some senior school students are great bullies. School students are in a very wide age spectrum. They enjoy sadistic pleasure in harassing their juniors which are far younger than them. Therefore this UGC initiative is very timely,” said eminent educationist Prof Inder Mohan Kapahy.

UGC notice to University of Mumbai over blind eye to 'plagiarism' woes

Students feel the varsity is stimulating the 'copy-paste' culture among the students by not abiding the UGC policies.



Mumbai University

In May this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had sent a notice to the University of Mumbai (MU) regarding detection and prevention of plagiarism manual. This letter was in response to a complaint sent by a PhD student of the varsity, citing the problems students are facing when it comes to writing and preserving their thesis or dissertation. However, as per Shodhganga – a digital repository of the thesis by UGC – from the year 2010-18, MU has uploaded only 122 total thesis meanwhile Savitribai Phule Pune University in the same period has uploaded 1,243 thesis.

Students feel the varsity is stimulating the 'copy-paste' culture among the students by not abiding the UGC policies.

"Technically, if you upload a thesis on Shodhganga, if it has any plagiarized substance in it, it will draw a red line on it which will refrain from completing the uploading process," a senior professor and a PhD holder explained. She continued, "However since this isn't existing, students will be free to copy and paste just for the sake of completing their thesis or dissertation."

UGC's anti-plagiarism policy allows up to 10 per cent content similarity or reference from elsewhere in their thesis. Anything exceeding it will be asked to withdraw from the manuscript. "My dissertation must be lying around somewhere and I wouldn't even know if it's being copied by somebody else. In case I need it in the future, nobody will even believe if I had written in because there won't be any authenticity," a student told DNA on the condition of anonymity.

Ravindra Kulkarni, pro-Vice Chancellor of MU while said, "The library and the thesis section at the university have limited manpower and only a couple of anti-plagiarism software. In order to resolve this, the existing Thesis Section is being converted into a department and will be shifted from the Fort campus to Kalina campus." He also said that henceforth every work attached to the thesis and dissertation will be completed with a year.

Online ArchiveA thesis uploaded in Shodhganga, a digital repository, is considered authentic, and students bear a ‘certification of originality’ by University Grants Commission

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

UGC asks all faculty, students to walk 10,000 steps as PM Modi to launch Fit India movement


The higher educational institutes have been directed to prepare and implement a fitness plan, incorporate sports, exercise, physical activities for fitness into the daily routine.

The higher education institutes plan to include fitness in the curriculum. (Express Photo By Bhupindra Rana/ Representational image)

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to announce the Fit India Movement on August 29, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked higher educational institutions (HEIs) to motivate staff and students to attempt walking 10,000 steps each on the day and “and follow it up in daily routine”. The commission has also directed institutions to screen the launch event live for faculty and students, while ensuring their attendance.
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Short video clips of activities held on campus are to be sent to the UGC. The institutes have also been directed to prepare and implement a fitness plan, incorporate sports, exercise, physical activities into the daily routine on campus, as per the latest circular released by the UGC.

The Vice-Chancellors and principals have been directed to upload their respective fitness action plan on the official website and campus notice board within a month. The same has to be uploaded on the UGC’s fitness movement portal. The portal (ugc.ac.in/uamp/), however, is yet to go live.
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The commission, in an official notice, said, “Universities and affiliated colleges can make well-meaning efforts for the health and well-being of their students, teachers, staff and officials to achieve physical fitness, mental strength and emotional equanimity.”

During his latest Mann Ki Baat — a radio address by the PM — Modi asked people to take part in ‘Fit India Movement’ which is being organised to celebrate the upcoming ‘National Sports Day’ on August 29.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

UGC's 'Paramarsh Scheme' gets 100 university proposals

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has received more than 100 proposals from universities for its 'Paramarsh Scheme'.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is expecting to receive around 100 proposals from the higher education institutions for its 'Paramarsh Scheme'. As a part of the scheme, top institutions will mentor five non-accredited institutes to secure National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grade.
"The last date for submitting proposals by the mentors is September 2. These will then be examined," a UGC official said here on Monday.
"Once the proposals are accepted by the UGC, the institutes can start the mentoring programme within a month," the official added.
The scheme mandates that the mentor institutions should have secured a NAAC score of 3.26 out of 4. Human Resource Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', who launched the scheme last month, said it would improve quality and standards of higher education in the country.
The official noted that since securing NAAC accreditation has been made mandatory for the open universities too, the top institutions can also mentor open universities which will be applying for NAAC grade for the first time.
How 'Paramarsh' scheme is useful:
Under the 'Paramarsh' scheme, the leading institutions will provide regular mentoring to help colleges to get accredited by the NAACA.
The mentor institutions can be provided financial assistance of up to Rs 30 lakh. There is also an option of appointing an expert, who can be paid a fellowship amount of Rs 31,000 per month.
The scheme aims to improve the global rankings of Indian higher educational institutions.
"The scheme will lead to enhancement of the mentee institutions' quality and its profile as a result of improved quality of research, teaching and learning methodologies. The mentee institution will also have increased exposure and speedier adaptation to best practices," the official added.

About NAAC
The NAAC is an autonomous body that assesses and accredits higher education institutions in the country.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/ugc-s-paramarsh-scheme-gets-100-university-proposals-1591812-2019-08-26 (Accessed on August 27, 2019)

Monday, August 26, 2019

UGC on a cleansing process in research sector

Bogus journals, substandard PhD theses under the scanner

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is on a cleansing process against bogus journals and substandard PhD theses as the quality of our research sector has been eroding, UGC vice chairman Bhushan Patwardhan has said.

Speaking on the sidelines of a symposium on ‘Research in Ayurveda: Need, scope and future’ organised by AMMOI (Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of India) here on Sunday, he said the quality of research papers had been eroding in the country, especially over the past 10 years.

“The UGC has appointed a 20-member committee headed by Padmanabhan Balram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, to review the research papers approved by the UGC in the last 10 years. The committee has been given six months to review the situation. At least we will know where we stand and how much damage has been done to the research sector,” he said.

To check the umpteen dubious journals that publish papers with vested interests, the UGC has published a list of approved journals, Mr. Patwardhan said. We have requested the universities and institutions to consider only papers that appeared in the journals listed by us while deciding on faculty appointments. They have been asked to go by quality, not quantity,” he said.
Credit bank

‘National Academic Credit Bank’ (NAC bank), is another revolutionary step to be taken by the UGC in the higher education sector in near future. “It will make the inter-university degrees a reality in the country. The NAC bank would allow the students to join one university, pursue courses in another university, and earn the degree from yet another one. This student-centric system, already exiting in foreign universities, will bring lots of flexibility to the students,” Mr. Patwardhan said.

Speaking about STRIDE (Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research in India’s Developing Economy), Mr. Patwardhan said the objective of the system was to improve collaboration among various stakeholders in the research sector for the benefit of society.

UGC to decide on proposals to review PhD theses soon

UGC to decide on proposals to review PhD theses soon


Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70833071.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst (Accessed on August 26, 2019)

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Mumbai University’s distance learning wing hopeful to get UGC recognition

In June 2017, the UGC had issued a notification to regulate distance learning courses offered across the country that required institutes to seek the regulator’s recognition for these courses

After it was dropped from the University Grants Commission (UGC)’s list of approved distance education institutes, the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) of the University of Mumbai (MU) said it was hopeful of making it in the fresh list, which expected in a week.
In June 2017, the UGC had issued a notification to regulate distance learning courses offered across the country that required institutes to seek the regulator’s recognition for these courses. IDOL did not figure in UGC’s first list of recognised institutes, issued in August 2018, as MU’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grading had expired. IDOL also failed to show up in two consecutive updated UGC lists after that — one in January this year and another in the last week of June.
IDOL had to stop admitting students for courses in the current academic year because it did not get the UGC affiliation. Admissions to IDOL, which had begun in the first week of July, are on hold.
“IDOL didn’t figure in the last updated list because our expert committee visit had just concluded so obviously we had to wait for their report. Now that the report is submitted, we are sure the affiliation will come through in the subsequent list,” said Vinod Malale, public relations officer, IDOL.
“Since our application has been accepted and the visit by a UGC-appointed expert committee also completed, we are hopeful our name will show up in the next list,” added Malale.
According to the new rules, applicant institutes need to attain a NAAC score of 3.26 on a four-point scale before the end of the academic year 2019-20 and also get UGC affiliation. NAAC assesses and accredits higher education institutions in the country.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Varsities should send teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research: UGC panel


Universities and colleges should develop action plans to send mid-career teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research and writing, a panel set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended.
The four-member committee on “Promoting and improving quality of research in Indian universities and colleges” headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently submitted its report to the commission.
“The UGC should encourage and support state universities and affiliated colleges to put in place a rigorous but generous program that would offer sabbatical leave to mid-career teachers for pursuing research and writing books and monographs which consolidated accumulated original research knowledge,” the panel said in its report.
The report said mid-career national level sabbatical awards on a competitive basis for a year may be introduced enabling 50-100 faculty-members to pursue research which may also provide an opportunity for faculty to build collaborative contacts with major national and international institutions.
“Such opportunities must be mandated in both public and private institutions,” the report said.
Developing classroom pedagogy, curricula and system of assessment, promoting academic integrity, remedial teaching, encouraging vernacular languages, use of technology and media platforms and policy internships, are among the other recommendations made by the committee.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/varsities-should-send-teachers-on-sabbatical-leave-for-pursuing-research-ugc-panel/story-4M0Wgrtmh6uYy83T4W5AVO.html (Accessed on August 7, 2019)

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Inside India’s fake research paper shops: pay, publish, profit

Despite UGC blacklist, hundreds of ‘predatory journals’ thrive, cast shadow on quality of faculty and research nationwide.

In the world of academia, getting published in an international research journal is almost the holy grail, it helps bump up the CV for hiring and helps in the competition for tenure or promotion. It takes rigorous research, an original contribution, exhaustive peer or expert reviews, and dogged persistence.
But then, there’s also an easy way — pay and publish.
An investigation by The Indian Express shows that India has emerged as one of the biggest markets for a business in which over 300 publishers manage what are called “predatory journals” that claim to be international and publish papers for a listed “charge” or “fee” that ranges from $30-$1,800 per piece.
From a plush office in the heart of Hyderabad, home to one of the world’s largest such publishers, to a one-room, one-man, one-laptop office at Richha in Bareilly, The Indian Express found that most of these publications exist online, claim to have a list of experts as editors, and employ minimal or no editorial checks before publication.
Hyderabad-based OMICS is, in fact, facing legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US for fraudulent claims — a charge the company denies.
“These so-called predatory journals have brought a bad name for the country and also for many of its sincere researchers,” S C Lakhotia, professor emeritus at Banaras Hindu University, told The Indian Express.
Ten months ago, Lakhotia resigned from a committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to assess publications recommended by universities for inclusion in an approved list of around 32,000 journals maintained by the regulatory body. “The list had many bogus or dubious journals,” Lakhotia said.
On May 2, the UGC removed 4,305 journals from the list, saying they were of “questionable” nature or lacked mandatory information on their websites.
To read the full article, please visit:

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Explained: Why some are concerned about the undergraduate ‘LOCF’ curriculum

What is changing, why, and why is a section of teachers — most vocally at Delhi University — opposed to the idea?

Eighteen-year-olds entering college in a couple of months from now will follow a new curriculum for undergraduate courses that the University Grants Commission (UGC) believes will improve, among other things, their employability. What is changing, why, and why is a section of teachers — most vocally at Delhi University — opposed to the idea?
The new curriculum will be modelled on the UGC’s ‘Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework’, or LOCF, guidelines. What is it?
To read the full article, please visit:

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

10 percent EWS quota to be implemented in colleges and universities in the academic year 2019-20 itself- Shri Prakash Javadekar

Benefits of 7th CPC to be extended to teachers and other academic staff of State Govt. / Govt. aided degree level technical institutions in the country- HRD Minister
Union HRD Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar while addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, informed that in a landmark decision, the Government  has decided that from the academic year 2019-20 itself, 10 percent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota will be implemented across 40, 000 colleges and 900 Universities in the country. This 10 percent quota for EWS will be over and above the existing quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs and General seats.
Adequate additional seats will be created in these colleges and universities to implement the quota for EWS. The UGC and AICTE will be provided the operational mandate within a week to implement the quota.
In another major announcement, Shri Javadekar informed that the Government has approved proposal to extend the 7th CPC to the teachers and other academic staff of the State Govt. / Govt. aided degree level technical institutions in the country, which will have additional Central Government  liability of Rs.1241.78 crore.  
He said that the Central Government will reimburse 50% of the total additional expenditure (from 1.1.2016 to 31.3.2019) to be incurred by these institutes for payment of arrears on account of 7th CPC implementation.
This will directly benefit a total of 29,264 teachers and other academic staff of State Government funded institutes. Besides, about 3.5 lakh teachers and other academic staff of private colleges/ institutions within the purview of AICTE will also benefit from the approval given today, he added.
The Minister said that the implementation of pay commission recommendation in State Government Aided / funded AICTE approved technical institutes will help them in attracting and retaining the faculty of high academic standards.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=187513 (Accessed on January 16, 2018)

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