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Calcutta-University.com is a helpline for information seekers who have questions regarding Calcutta University. The aim is to provide correct information about the University of Calcutta, Kolkata to students already studying in the university or those looking to become a part of the university in future. Users can post any questions related to Calcutta University on Calcutta-University.com.

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About Calcutta University

The University of Calcutta is one of the Indian universities that have been at the forefront of education in the country since their inception. The first, and thus oldest, modern Indian university in the subcontinent, it was established on January 24, 1857 during the then-governor general of India Lord Canning’s administration. The Calcutta University is a public, or state, university.

Based in Kolkata, it is recognized by a number of national and international institutions such as UGC, NAAC, AICTE and BCI. Its functioning is due to the seven different authorities: the senate, the syndicate, the faculty councils for PG studies, the councils for UG studies, the boards of PG studies, the boards of UG studies and the finance committee.

Its motto is ‘advancement of learning’, and indeed Calcutta University has shown steady progress from the time of its very first academic year in 1857. From 244 candidates that applied then, the university can today boast of 100,000 undergraduate students. The Masters classes were started in the 1860s, with the first MA exam having been held in 1861; currently, there are 12,400 post graduate students studying in the University of Calcutta.

Continuing the description of the university in numbers, it has 18 research centres, 650 teachers and 3,000 non-teaching staff. It is affiliated with 153 colleges and several other institutes. Its student union – Calcutta University Students’ Union (CUSU) – is the biggest student body in India, with 13,000 members.

But it isn’t only the numbers which are staggering. The University of Calcutta has several achievements to its name. It has been the ‘first’ in so many things: the first university to teach courses such as English literature, occidental and oriental history in the east; the first university in Asia to have a media school; the first college for women (Bethune) was opened in CU in 1879. The laudable initiatives don’t stop here. India’s first science college (1917), first school for blind people (1925), first management institute (1953) and first homeopathic college (1980) were all created in Calcutta University.

It is therefore of no surprise that this is the only Indian university that consistently appears year after year among the ranking of the top 500 universities of the world: no simple feat.

The remarkable nature of the university also lies in the fact that it is the only Indian alma mater of the four Indian Nobel laureates – Ronald Ross, Rabindranath Tagore, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and Amartya Sen. The illustrious cast of the university’s alumni includes the likes of Academy Award winning director Satyajit Ray, the business tycoons Lakshmi Mittal and Aditya Birla, the politicians such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the current vice-president of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

The above provides a quick but tantalizing insight to this distinguished university. Its past has been illustrious, and it continues its endeavours to remain a premier education institution: it has been named as a ‘University with Potential for Excellence’ in 2005 by UGC and India Today ranked it as the best state-governed university this year.

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