Barring high profile professional training institutes like IITs and IIMs, mainstream Indian universities are known for their dismal performance in International rankings. Most of the international rankings are highly complex exercises and evaluates both quantity and quality of scientific research in educational institutions. Following are the top 25 universities in India for their research output and quality. These are drawn based on the new performance index developed by Gangan Prathap and BM Gupta, based on the data collected by SCOPUS (www.scopus.com). Both of these researchers are associated with NISCIR and NISTADS respectively.

Tamil Nadu tops the list with 5 universities finding place in the top 25 list followed by Andhra Pradesh with 4 universities, including University of Hyderabad at the number one position. Though most of these universities are already highly popular and known for their credentials in various fields, the rankings based on scientific research will add more value to the existing reputation. Following is the list of top 25 Universities in India based on scientific research:

1. University of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
2. Delhi University, New Delhi
3. Punjab University, Punjab
4. Jadavpur University, West Bengal
5. Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh
6. University of Madras, Tamil Nadu
7. Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh
8. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
9. Pune University, Maharashtra
10. Anna University, Tamil Nadu
11. Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu
12. University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan
13. Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab
14. CMC Vellore, Tamil Nadu
15. University of Calcutta, West Bengal
16. Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh
17. University of Mumbai, Maharashtra
18. Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu
19. Shri Venkateswara University, Andhra Pradesh
20. Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala
21. University of Mysore, Karnataka
22. Osmania University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
23. Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
24. CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Haryana
25. Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab

The list has been drawn for a total of 25 universities with high output of publications during 1999-2008. These universities had each published more than 1200 scientific research papers during this period, according to the SCOPUS International data. If taken together, all the universities contributed 59685 papers, constituting 18 percent of papers to the total cumulative research output by India during the specified time. The list may be relevant today, even though it is based on the recent past research work of the universities.

There may be some important and inadvertent omissions in the list. Some of the other equally reputed universities in India are: University of Allahabad, Jamia Milia Islamia, MS University of Baroda, Madurai Kamaraj University, Pondicherry University etc. What is your take on these universities and their reputation. Do you want to add any other University or like to delete any institute from the list? You can express your opinions in the form of comments below!

With exciting opportunities such as Translator, Adventure Sports Trainer, Naturalist etc on offer, Tourism as a career option is catching up with students in India. The tremendous growth of Tourism industry in the country in the past one and half decade, enthusiastic and energetic students are finding the career as most lucrative and joyful. The galore of opportunities in tourism, hospitality, airlines, medical tourism, Eco-tourism and adventure sports, graduates, post graduates and diploma holders of Tourism and Hospitality education are finding it easy to cash in on the growing opportunities. Following is the brief description of various careers associated with tourism and hospitality along with some reputed institutes across the country.

1) Tour Operators: The job of tour operator consist of creating a complete tour package for the client. The package may includes accommodation, travel plans, sight seeing etc. The career of tour operator starts at the position of executive trainee and may get a stipend of Rs. 6000 – 12000 per month depending on the educational qualification and communication skills.

2) Hospitality Sector: Tourism graduates can find lucrative opportunities with hospitality and hotel management sectors. The hospitality sector is a conglomeration of different integrated departments such as the front office, food and beverages, housekeeping, back office etc. Most crucial skill required to excel in this career is maintaining guest relationship. Students may think that the hospitality is nothing but jobs related to hotel management. But the candidates can now enter into various other sectors like BPOs and Airlines with attractive remuneration.

3) Adventure Sports: If you are a dashing and daring person, and like to go crazy with adventure activities like para-sailing, kayaking, rafting, mountaineering, skiing, sky diving, there are good opportunities opening up for you. Courses are available in almost all the adventure sports. After finishing the course that you like, you may settle as an independent instructor or can associate with a training institute as trainer. But starting your own adventure institute / company can yield better results.

4) Airlines: Sales and Air Ticketing are the most popular and demanding opportunities in this sector. Students may need to use relevant software for jobs in air ticketing and reservations. Guest Service Executive, Operator are other attractive options in the airlines field.

5) Medical Tourism and Eco-Tourism: Tourism is also offering lucrative opportunities for doctors, nurses, technicians, travel coordinators, translators etc in the form of medical tourism. The salaries in the sector are depend on qualifications and experience. Eco-Turism is more or less a part of Hotel Management. If you are more adventurous, you could enter into careers like naturalistand park guide. The average initial salary for a park guide would be around Rs. 10000 per month.

Some reputed institutes offering Tourism, Hospitality and Allied courses:

1. Amro Tourism Academy and College of Hotel Management, Nashik, Maharashtra.
2. Amity School of Hospitality, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
3. Christ College, Bangalore, Karnataka
4. College of Hospitality and Tourism, Faridabad
5. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi
6. Heritage Institute of Hotel and Tourism, Agra
7. Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, West Bengal
8. Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai
9. International Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi
10. National Institute of Watersports, Goa
11. National Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarakhand
12. Pusa Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, New Delhi.