Karnala/Ludhiana, Sept. 5 -- Region's premier agricultural institutes - ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana - have bagged the second and third positions, respectively, in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025under the Agriculture and Allied category. The Union ministry of education announced the 10th edition of the rankings on Thursday. The first rank in the Agriculture and Allied category went to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, which scored 89.23 marks. NDRI in Karnal, with a score of 75.87, retained its second position from the 2024 rankings. Director and vice-chancellor Dheer Singh received the award from Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi on Thursday. PAU also maintained its third position from last year, scoring 75.83, just marginally behind NDRI. Vice-chancellor Satbir Singh Gosal received the award at the Delhi ceremony. In the overall category, the varsity slipped to the 81st spot, compared to 80th last year and 74th the year before. Among the Top 100 Universities list too, PAU slid to the 64th rank, down from 57th last year and 54th in 2023. But it recorded an improvement in the Top 50 State Public Universities category, climbing to 25th from last year's 30th. Among other educational institutes from the region, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali, secured the 32nd rank in the overall category, followed by PGIMER, Chandigarh, in the 33rd place. Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, ranked 44th; Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, came 49th; Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, 56th; Panjab University, Chandigarh, 57th; and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, 70th. National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali, was placed 9th in pharmacy category.htc...