appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday his government would provide free online coaching lessons for competitive exams, weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign.
Modi said the initiative was aimed at easing the financial burden on millions of families caught up in the country’s fiercely competitive education system.
The 75-year-old leader made the announcement while speaking from the ramparts of New Delhi’s imposing 17th century Red Fort to mark the country’s independence from Britain on August 15, 1947.
“We have decided to provide free online coaching for various competitive examinations for our youth. We have the digital public infrastructure, and we have highly talented teachers and educators,” he said.
The move comes after nationwide protests triggered by the leak of a key medical entrance examination paper and a series of other recruitment scandals.
The protests, which culminated in the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month, exposed deep frustration among young Indians over access to jobs and educational opportunities.


They also highlighted immense pressures on students in India, the world’s most populous nation where admission to government-run colleges remains one of the most sought-after pathways to economic security.
The cutthroat competition has fuelled a sprawling coaching industry where students spend years preparing, often at enormous financial cost for their families.
Modi said the free online classes would ease financial burden on “poor and middle-class families”.
“The competition surrounding coaching classes has become a huge burden for middle-class families … (Students) can stay close to their families, receive their care, and avoid placing an additional financial burden on them,” he said.
Modi also announced plans to train several million young people in artificial intelligence tools.
“We have decided in the next one year, one crore (10 million) youth will be given training in AI skills,” he said.
Since the protests, authorities have attempted to appease the nation’s youth, with the parliament hiking penalties for leaking exam papers.

Critics say the protests posed one of the biggest challenges to Modi’s government since coming to power in 2014.
In a speech lasting more than an hour, Modi also reiterated his government’s vow to help India achieve the status of a developed country in the next 20 years, announcing a seven-point growth and reform framework.
The initiative would focus on manufacturing, agriculture, technology and defence, as well as India’s “soft power” through yoga, tourism and handicrafts.
India, Asia’s third-largest economy, must “establish itself as a trusted global supply chain partner for the world”, Modi said of manufacturing.
In the coming years, he said India will have eight more semiconductor chip plants and five nuclear reactors which will generate 100 gigawatts of power by 2047.
Last year, the government allowed private firms to build and operate atomic power projects, underlining a push for alternative energy.
Modi said young people stood to gain the most from his vision for development.
“The youth have a big role to play in the journey towards a developed India … the greatest beneficiary of a developed India is the youth of the country.”


Indian transgender patients left in limbo following legal amendments

India, Pakistan summon each other’s diplomats after naval ships collide in Arabian Sea

Gold rebounds after Fed rate rise as banks back long-term demand outlook

US Congress passes bill targeting Russia’s leading energy buyers – China and India

India

India’s Modi woos youth with free coaching, AI training after Gen Z protests

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (middle) greets school children after addressing the nation during Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: EPA

Protesters celebrate the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Mumbai, India on July 26. Photo: Reuters

AI threatens nearly a quarter of Southeast Asia’s workforce but not all is lost

A man looks at a screen depicting a person made out of pixels. AI is affecting some jobs in Southeast Asia. Photo: dpa

The Generative Bionics team demonstrates the Gene.01 humanoid robot at a conference in San Francisco on July 23. Photo: AP

People walk at the central business district in Singapore. Photo: Reuters

‘India’s biggest corporate decision’: Tata Group chair’s exit raises hard succession questions

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran arrives at the Tata Group headquarters, a day after he announced his resignation, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

A man walks past a logo of Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai, India. Photo: Reuters

High-tension power lines are pictured outside a Tata Power substation in the suburbs of Mumbai, India. Tata’s businesses span salt, software, cars, steel, airlines and hi-tech manufacturing. Photo: Reuters

N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, speaks during the foundation stone-laying ceremony for India’s first AI-enabled semiconductor fab manufacturing facilities in Gujarat in March 2024. Photo: Reuters

An Air India Airbus A350 aeroplane is displayed at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad. Photo: Reuters

Why India is eyeing France’s next-generation combat aircraft tech amid jet shortage

Visitors watch the unveiling ceremony of the full-scale jet fighter model of the Systeme de Combat Aerien Futur, the French-German-Spanish next-generation Future Combat Air System (FCAS) at an air show near Paris in June 2019. Photo: AFP

The Indian Air Force displays the Vajraang formation, comprising six Rafale fighter jets, during Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. Photo: EPA

A full-scale model of India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft on display at Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru in February 2025. Photo: AFP

An attendee sits in the cockpit of a full scale mock-up of a GCAP Tempest fighter plane at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, on July 23. Photo: Reuters

Will Trump’s proposed drug tariffs end India’s reign as ‘pharmacy of the world’?

Employees work inside a pharmaceutical company manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, in April 2025. Photo: Reuters

President Donald Trump has said the US will impose 100 per cent tariffs on generic medicines from August 2028 and increase them to 200 per cent after one year. Photo: AP

A medical ampoule production line at a pharmaceutical factory. Observers say Indian pharmaceutical companies would need to actively diversify their markets in light of Trump’s move. Photo: Shutterstock

A production line for mass-produced blue capsules. Bain and Company data shows India holds the highest number of FDA-registered and compliant manufacturing plants outside the US. Photo: Shutterstock

News

Asia

South Asia

This came weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign


This came weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign.


India’s Modi woos youth with free coaching, AI training after Gen Z protests

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}This came weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign

This came weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign