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Indian Couple Donates $20 Million to US University to Create AI College
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Aaj Tak
www.aajtak.in

Indian Couple Donates $20 Million to US University to Create AI College

The Indian couple, Anuradha and Vikas Singh, made a substantial donation of $20 million to the University of North Texas (UNT) in the USA. These funds will be used to establish a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. The university announced its intention to name the new college after this couple.

The new educational center will officially be named the Anuradha and Vikas Singh College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics. It will foster research and education in various fields related to AI and data. Disciplines to be studied include artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, medical informatics, and information science.

In addition to conducting scientific research, the college will create new facilities for students. The donation will ensure the creation of six endowed funds that will support programs related to scholarships, professorships, college leadership, and startups. Work will also be conducted on cutting-edge research and new technologies.

Vikas Singh noted that AI will become one of the most important technologies for the coming generation, and therefore, it is the university's responsibility to prepare students to work with it. His contribution is also linked to his personal experience.

Anuradha and Vikas Singh initially earned bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from Sri Venkateswara University in India. After that, they moved to America and continued their studies at Florida Atlantic University. Vikas Singh also studied at Northeastern University. In 2023, he received a doctorate in information science from UNT.

Currently, Vikas Singh serves as a vice president in the mainframe programs division of Broadcom. Since 2023, he has also been on the governing board of the University of North Texas Information College.

This is not the first time the couple has provided significant financial assistance to the University of North Texas. In 2024, they helped establish the Anuradha and Vikas Singh Data Science Department for the university's data science program. Later, in 2025, they made a major contribution to the establishment of the Singh Data Science Innovation Lab.

Vikas Singh emphasized that education provided him with many opportunities in life, and now he wishes other students to have a chance to move forward as well.

The new college will feature two main academic tracks. One track will focus on the development and application of intelligent systems, while the second will study the interaction of AI and intelligent systems with people and institutions.

The University of North Texas will also establish the Institute of Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. The goal of this institute will be to integrate learning and research in AI and data science across various disciplines. The university will also encourage industry collaboration in research.

University President Harrison Keller stated that the new college will help prepare students for rapidly changing technological demands and labor market needs. At the end of the current year, the university will hold a campus event dedicated to naming the new college.

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Indian MFA: About 16 thousand Indian students are studying in Uzbekistan
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gazeta.uz

Indian MFA: About 16 thousand Indian students are studying in Uzbekistan

According to the Ministry of External Affairs of India, approximately sixteen thousand Indian students are currently studying in Uzbekistan. The majority of these students specialize in medical fields. This information was provided by Sibi George, the Secretary for Western Affairs at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Following meetings between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tashkent, both sides agreed to expand educational cooperation. This cooperation will include the exchange of students and teachers, joint scientific research, and the development of direct ties between universities of the two countries.

Sibi George also conveyed that Narendra Modi presented the Uzbek side with information about GIFT City—a specialized financial technology center located in the Indian state of Gujarat. India is interested in attracting campuses of foreign universities to this center. The MFA representative noted the possibility of a delegation from Uzbekistan visiting India to study this issue in detail.

A project for creating an International University Town is under development in Tashkent, which will include branches of leading domestic and foreign universities, as well as academic campuses and dormitories. When working on this project, it was suggested to consider the experience of Education City in Qatar, the International Academic City in Dubai, and the Global Campus in Incheon.

According to Sibi George, strengthening educational ties could potentially lead to the creation of new jobs.

During Narendra Modi's visit, an initiative was announced to provide one hundred scholarships named after the former Indian Prime Minister Lala Bahadur Shastri. These scholarships are intended for Hindi language studies by students from Uzbekistan and are established in memory of the former Prime Minister on the 60th anniversary of his death in Tashkent. Additionally, a Sanskrit department is planned to be opened at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The Indian side emphasized that expanding educational interaction aligns with the strategic plans of both countries: the 'Uzbekistan - 2030' program and India's goals of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

According to data from the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, 24,647 foreign students are studying at universities in Uzbekistan, representing over fifty countries. More than half of them, specifically 13,060 people, are citizens of India. Other nationalities represented include students from Turkmenistan (4,884 people), Pakistan (1,165 people), and Kazakhstan (1,129 people).

Medicine is the most in-demand field among international students, with 16,476 students studying it, accounting for about 67% of the total number of international students. The largest number of international students study at Tashkent State Medical University (4,155 people) and Samarkand State Medical University (4,153 people). A significant number of students also study at the National Research University 'TIIMSKh' (2,886 people), Bukhara State Medical Institute (2,178 people), and the National University of Uzbekistan (1,917 people).

This agency's data is based on the HEMIS information system and reflects the number of foreign students registered in educational institutions.

According to the National Committee on Statistics, between January and June 2026, 21,042 foreign nationals entered Uzbekistan for educational purposes. This figure significantly exceeds the number for the same period last year, increasing by 2.2 times, or by 11,500 people. The main flow of students comes from Turkmenistan (9,207 people), followed by India (3,723 people), Tajikistan (1,915 people), China (951 people), Kyrgyzstan (834 people), Pakistan (689 people), Egypt (603 people), South Korea (526 people), the Philippines (367 people), and the USA (302 people).

In the first seven months (January-July), the number of Indian citizens who arrived in Uzbekistan for study was 3,853 people. During the same period, 44 people traveled from Uzbekistan to India for study. Furthermore, 32,462 tourists from India visited Uzbekistan in January-July, and 12,003 Uzbek citizens made tourist trips to India.

It is important to note that the data from the Indian MFA pertains to the total number of Indian students studying in Uzbekistan, whereas Uzbekistan's statistics only record the number of Indian citizens who arrived in the country for educational purposes during a specific time frame.

Unacademy and upGrad Deal Completed; AI Could Boost India's R&D Revenue to $100 Billion
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yourstory.com

Unacademy and upGrad Deal Completed; AI Could Boost India's R&D Revenue to $100 Billion

upGrad has completed the acquisition of Unacademy for a sum slightly over 200 million dollars. This deal faced hurdles because the companies were initially unable to agree on a valuation at the beginning of this year. After several months of negotiations, the acquisition was successfully concluded, merging two major educational technology enterprises in the country.

The final transaction value turned out to be more than 90% lower than Unacademy's peak valuation of 3.4 billion dollars in 2021. This sharp decrease reflects a shift in investor expectations regarding consumer edtech following the boom observed during the pandemic.

Concurrently, insurance technology startups InsuranceDekho and RenewBuy announced a merger to create a pan-Indian platform for insurance service distribution. This combines InsuranceDekho's strong presence in the northern and western regions of India with RenewBuy's network in the southern areas.

The combined entity is set to operate with impressive metrics: a premium portfolio exceeding 6,600 crore rupees, comprising over 600 thousand digital partners, and providing coverage to 98% of Indian postal codes.

Furthermore, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented a 20-year vision for creating the country's semiconductor ecosystem. The 'Semicon 2.0' program, the second phase of India's semiconductor initiative with allocations of 1.27 lakh crore rupees, aims to stimulate domestic manufacturing and strengthen the nation's skills and design base.

India's main objective is not merely chip production but achieving sufficient depth to compete across the entire value chain. According to Nasscom, revenue from Research and Development (R&D) services from India is expected to surpass 100 billion dollars by 2030, compared to a forecast of 63 billion dollars in FY26, driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and new technologies transforming global product development.

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