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Monday, August 31, 2026

NEWS TODAY 31.08.2026

Foreign universities find their feet in India

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesofindia.com 31.08.2026

Bengaluru: Foreign universities that have set up campuses in India are reporting a positive response, with several institutions already operational and conducting classes, while others are preparing to begin their inaugural programmes. The University of South Wales (UNSW), for instance, began classes in Bengaluru in Aug with 100 students across four programmes, after receiving more than 700 applications. Its inaugural offering includes bachelor’s degrees in business, data analytics, and computer science, and a master’s in cybersecurity.

The campus at Embassy Manyata Business Park in north Bengaluru spans approximately 70,000sqm. About one-third of the inaugural cohort is from Karnataka. “We’re particularly pleased with the geographic diversity of the cohort, which reflects the strong national appeal of the programmes. UNSW’s approach to its operations in India is deliberately starting small, ensuring an excellent student experience, with a progressive expansion plan. Our goal is to increase the student body to about 5,000 students in five years,” said professor Payyazhi Jayashree, rector, UNSW Bengaluru. At the University of York Mumbai, Prof Lindsay Oades, president and academic provost, said the university is seeing interest from graduates who had completed UG education overseas and were considering further studies closer to home. There is also interest among students with entrepreneurial ambitions, particularly in postgraduate programmes in management, finance and artificial intelligence. “For parents, the lower tuition cost compared with the UK, coupled with the elimination of overseas accommodation and living expenses, is a key consideration.”

The Mumbai campus offers five UG programmes, including business and management, computer science, computer science with AI, and computer science with cybersecurity, as well as one-year PG programmes in AI, management and finance. Illinois Institute of Technology has received close to 10,000 inquiries from across India, along with interest from students in the Middle East and Indian-origin students overseas considering returning to India for education, said Mallik Sundharam, vice-president for enrollment management and student affairs.

The Mumbai campus in Vikhroli’s Godrej Business District is operational. Orientation is scheduled from Aug 31 to Sept 3, with regular classes beginning Sept 7. The University of Liverpool said its BSc Biomedical Sciences and BSc Accounting and Finance programmes have attracted particularly strong interest. Biomedical sciences has appealed to students seeking careers in healthcare, life sciences and research, while accounting and finance has drawn those seeking internationally recognised qualifications and pathways into global business and financial services.

“The admissions cycle is progressing positively, and we are on track to meet targets for our initial intake,” said professor Richard Grose, provost, University of Liverpool Bengaluru. The university plans to grow its Bengaluru campus to 10,000 students over the next 10 years. Classes will begin on Sept 28, 2026, with induction on Sept 21. The Whitefield campus has been ready since March 2026.

Odisha govt staff face salary cuts over alimony

Debabrata.Mohapatra@timesofindia.com 31.08.2026

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha govt on Sunday issued an order mandating automatic deduction of alimony payments from the salaries of its employees who default on maintenance obligations to their estranged wives and children despite clear court directives.

“Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has ordered strict enforcement of court-mandated alimony and maintenance payments by govt employees. Defaulted amounts will now be deducted directly from monthly salaries and transferred to the bank accounts of the estranged wives or children concerned,” the CM office said in a statement.

The order followed repeated complaints from women in distress reaching the CMO. “Several male employees failed to provide maintenance grants or alimony even after divorce, ignoring explicit court instructions. On an average, 2-3 such complaints are received during the CM’s grievance hearings,” the statement noted. Majhi said, “It’s unacceptable for govt employees to act unjustly towards their spouses and children while drawing salaries from the state exchequer.” Officials said they will track such errant husbands from complaints. 133629165

219 more Tamils traced in Nepal, set to return today, says Rajmohan

31.08.2026 TIMES OF INDIA CHENNAI EDITION

Chennai: State school education minister A Rajmohan said 219 more people who had travelled from Tamil Nadu to Nepal have been traced. “We have gathered information that as many as 319 people from Tamil Nadu had travelled to Nepal in batches. We have found that 219 people are safe and secure. They will be reaching Chennai by Aug 31.

The remaining one hundred-odd people are missing,” Rajmohan told reporters at Chennai airport late on Saturday night after his return from New Delhi. The minister said govt was not only focusing on tracing the pilgrims who travelled from Tamil Nadu, but also Tamils who went to Nepal from places such as Bengaluru and Malaysia.

So far 21 Tamils who managed to escape the flash floods in Bhotekoshi river were brought to Delhi and flown to Chennai. Rajmohan said they were part of a 57 member group who travelled through a Thanjavur based agency. The remaining members remain untraceable, he said. While chief minister C Joseph Vijay had deputed four ministers to New Delhi to coordinate with central agencies on the rescue efforts, minister for non-resident Tamils welfare department K Thennarasu continued to camp in Delhi and facilitate the return of rescued Tamils. Rajmohan said the belongings of the missing people were found far from the place they were last seen. “The terrain is tough. Armed forces of two countries are involved in rescue efforts. Everyone is working together,” he said. Times News Network

Search intensifies for 900 missing at hydel units, 1 tunnel head located

FULL COVERAGE: P 5, 16

Deaths Rise To 810, Over 3,000 Missing

Vishant Agarwala & Kalyan Das

Nuwakot (Nepal)/Dehradun: Time running out for more than 900 people missing from Nepal’s flood-hit hydropower projects, rescue teams led by Nepalese Army personnel intensified operations to search for survivors, particularly at Upper Trishuli-3A, where they located the tunnel’s crown head and began widening an opening to send rescuers inside with oxygen cylinders.

While the Independent Power Producers’Association Nepal said 537 workers and staff were unaccounted for across nine projects, Nepal’s disaster management authority, NDRRMA, stated that 933 workers from hydropower projects were untraced. The number of dead rose to 810 Sunday — 794 in Nepal and 16 reported in Tibet — with 3,048 missing across both countries, as search ops entered a fifth day.

NDRRMA listed 2,502 people missing and Tibet another 546. Nepal said 592 foreign nationals were among those missing, besides 127 Nepalese citizens travelling with foreign groups. MEA said at 5.30pm Sunday that 149 Indian nationals had been rescued in Nepal. Its latest missing-person tally, issued Saturday night, listed 275 Indian nationals missing or uncontactable and another 128 people of Indian origin as uncontactable. India had also not announced a confirmed number of Indian deaths by Sunday evening.

Efforts to hunt for survivors at the nine hydropower projects picked up pace as weather improved slightly. Road access to Upper Trishuli-3A remained cut off, forcing Nepalese Army to airlift dismantled excavators, bulldozers and other earth-moving machinery to the project area using helicopters. Joint teams operated the machines through the night despite rain and moved closer to the tunnel entry point. Nepalese Army spokesperson Brig Gen Rajaram Basnet told TOI that the team, which included tunnel experts, had located the crown head — the main section — of Trishuli 3A using excavators and hydraulic cutters. “A hole of 2x3ft was dug, which revealed a water surface spanning a diameter of around seven metres and extending to a significant height. An expert from the army rescue team entered the hole area and assessed the situation while looking for any human life there, but with no luck so far,” Basnet said. Photo: AFP

Canada hikes cost of living funds for foreign pupils from Sept 1

Lubna Kably tnn 31.08.2026

International students applying for a Canadian study permit from Sept 1 will have to show more money for living expenses, with the minimum requirement for a single student rising to CAD 23,448 from CAD 22,895. The increase of CAD 553, or about 2.4%, applies to applications submitted on or after Sept 1, 2026, for students headed to any Canadian province or territory other than Quebec (which determines its own threshold).

The amount is for living expenses and is in addition to tuition and transportation costs. The financial requirement has risen sharply since 2024, when Canada more than doubled the amount from CAD 10,000 to CAD 20,635. It was subsequently increased to CAD 22,895 in Sept 2025. Gurpreet Oshan, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant, said the increase should be viewed as part of Canada’s annual adjustment rather than a standalone restriction.

“Until 2023, students were required to demonstrate only CAD 10,000 for living expenses, a figure that had become completely disconnected from the actual cost of living in Canada.”IRCC says applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient funds for their first year and, if their study programme lasts over a year, explain how they plan to finance the full duration of their studies.

Nepal begins shallow burials after preserving DNA; only 29 flood victims identified so far

School Ties, Jewellery Become Clues As Unidentified Victims Get Tracking Code

Vishant.Agarwala@timesofindia.com 31.08.2026

Nuwakot, Nepal: Authorities in Nepal began temporarily burying unidentified victims of Bhote Koshi-Trishuli-Narayani flood in shallow graves after collecting DNA and forensic evidence as morgues overflowed and remains recovered far downstream became increasingly difficult to identify.

An update issued on Sunday evening said only 29 of the 650-plus bodies had been identified even as recoveries continued along the roughly 200km river system. Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Abi Narayan Kafle told TOI that 211 of the first 669 recovered remains were mutilated, partial or severed. “Many remains were buried under thick mud and water for two to three days,” he said.

Bodies swept dozens of km from Rasuwa were recovered in Nuwakot, Chitwan, Gorkha, Tanahun and Nawalparasi, far from where victims disappeared. Chitwan became the biggest pressure point. By Sunday, 259 bodies had been recovered along Trishuli and Narayani riverbanks but only nine identified.

Authorities began moving unidentified remains to Devghat forest after post-mortem and DNA collection, with 26 placed underground in the first batch. The process was designed so that burial does not end a family’s search for closure — every body was assigned an identification number; photographs, physical features, clothes, jewellery and other belongings were recorded, while DNA, fingerprints and other forensic samples were preserved. Burial locations were geo-tagged so remains could later be located if relatives established identity. “If family members come forward in the future to claim a missing relative, these scientific and legal records will allow us to confirm identity and locate the exact burial plot,” Kafle said. Gorkha district also buried 29 unidentified bodies and body parts after collecting DNA. “Gorkha does not have sufficient mortuary facilities, and bodies are being recovered every day,” chief district officer Tulsi Prasad Shrestha said.

For families, identification increasingly depended on small personal details. More than 1,000 relatives reached Pokhara on Saturday to examine photographs of 102 bodies brought from downstream districts. Police said families recognised loved ones through tattoos, necklaces, earrings and even school uniforms. One father from Bidur identified his five-year-old son after seeing a photograph online. The clues were the child’s school tie, necklace and earring. “Where faces are not recognisable, relatives are identifying bodies through other things on their person,” police inspector Deepak Rijal said. “More relatives are continuing to arrive.” Getty Images Marker plates are prepared for the unidentified victims. They will be buried at a mass burial site at Devghat forest in Bharatpur