No Indian varsity in top 100 global universities list

In a further embarrassment to India, Brazil, Russia and China, the other BRIC nations, have at least one university in this prestigious list

NEW DELHI: None of the Indian universities could make it to the list of top 100 most prestigious global universities in the latest 'world reputation ranking' by Times Higher Education. The rankings for 2015 based on invitation-only survey of senior academic opinion, placed Harvard at the top, followed by University of Cambridge and University of Oxford in the second and third place respectively.

The latest results come even as the government has initiated a series of measures to place its institutes among the top globally. "It is really a matter of concern that a country of India's great intellectual history and its huge and growing economic power does not have a single university that is regarded by academics globally as being among the world's most prestigious," said editor of the Times Higher Education Rankings Phil Baty.

For the fifth year in a row, the rankings highlight an elite group of six Anglo-American brands that stand head and shoulders above the rest, headed by the Harvard University. University of Cambridge moves into second place (up from fourth) and the University of Oxford takes third (up from fifth), swapping places with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, respectively.

The University of California, Berkeley holds on to sixth spot. Overall, the US continues to dominate, with 26 of the top 50 places and 43 of the top 100 (down from 46 last year). University of Tokyo in 12th has topped in Asia and China has gained ground over previous years with its top institution, Tsinghua University up 10 places to 26.