
Fulbright programme gets underway in Kashi
As part of this international educational exchange, three delegates from the United States—Alyze Rabideau, Jamie Schorsch, and Susan Mathison — are on a week-long academic visit at SARA from July 11 to July 17.
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They will interact with students and faculty, observe classroom practices, and immerse themselves in India's rich cultural and educational landscape. Their engagement is poised to build bridges across classrooms and continents, promoting mutual respect and shared learning. The TGC Programme, an initiative of the US Department of State, aims to cultivate global competence and foster cross-cultural understanding through teacher exchanges and collaborative learning.
The activities will include interactive sessions, heritage walks, cultural performances, and community outreach programs, offering the delegates an authentic experience of Varanasi's spiritual and historical ethos. This first-of-its-kind initiative amplifies Kashi's emerging role as a hub of modern, globally connected education.
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Hans India
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Time of India
15-07-2025
- Time of India
From civilian roots to Army greens: Against all odds, Vadodara youth joins Indian Army
Vadodara: With no military lineage to guide him and rejection letters piling up, Prashant Chaudhary could have easily given up. But the 25-year-old from Vadodara held fast to a dream he had nurtured since childhood — to wear the Army uniform. That dream turned into reality recently at the Indian Military Academy's (IMA)passing out parade in Dehradun, where he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Indian Army. Fuelled by his passion for the defence services, Chaudhary joined the Naval wing of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in Vadodara while studying in Class 9 at Baroda High School, Alkapuri. After graduating with a BTech in civil engineering from Babaria Institute of Technology with 85% marks, he began preparing for competitive exams to join the armed forces. However, the road to the Indian Army was far from easy. It took Chaudhary five attempts to finally earn a permanent commission, securing All India Ranks (AIR) multiple times along the way. In 2022, Chaudhary made his first attempt by appearing at the Kolkata Recruitment Board, one of the five Service Selection Boards (SSBs) of the Indian Navy, responsible for selecting candidates for both permanent and short service commission (SSC) officer positions. He even bagged All India Rank (AIR) 2, but since he had 2.5 vision in his eyes, he did not meet the eyesight requirements of the Indian Navy, in which a candidate should not have a power of more than +1.5. Two months later, he applied at the Allahabad SSB for recruitment as an Indian Army officer but was not selected. His third attempt was also in the same year when he appeared at SSB in Bengaluru, also for officer positions in the Indian Army, but he was not selected there as well. Undeterred by three failed attempts, Chaudhary continued his efforts. In 2023, he got selected with AIR 1 in civil engineering from the SSC Bhopal in the technical exam conducted by the UPSC, after which he was supposed to undergo eight months of rigorous training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai. "But as fate would have it, on the day he was about to board a train to join OTA, Chennai, a vacancy for a permanent position through the Indian Army's Technical Graduate Entry Course (TGC) came out. The train was delayed by six hours, which provided him an opportunity to fill up the form and apply for the exam," said Chaudhary's father, C L Chaudhary. "While he was undergoing training at OTA, Chennai, he appeared for the TGC exam conducted by UPSC in Bengaluru. He secured AIR second in the exam, in which there were only seven vacancies in the civil engineering department. Finally, it was last month that he got commissioned as a lieutenant in the army at the passing out parade of the IMA, Dehradun," said his father, an officer in the Dedicated Freight Corridor, Vadodara, under the Ministry of Railways. The senior Chaudhary was recently honoured by the Union railway minister with an annual award.