Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of Government of India S Krishnan inaugurated the facility.

The day of inauguration

This Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS was inaugurated on 20 Oct 2023 and is all set to play a major role in upcoming years to reduce existing gaps in the country and fulfil the ambitious objectives of India Semiconductor Mission of the Government of India.

Support

This Centre at IIT Madras is established with MeitY funding support, will provide essential training to bolster the future ecosystem of Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) manufacturing in India.

The CPPICS is actively developing indigenous PIC design rules and hardware infrastructure for precision packaging for system-level applications, say sources from IIT Madras.

Souvenir

During the event, S Krishnan also released a commemorative souvenir to mark the momentous occasion and provided his best wishes for the Centre in taking the technology to its full commercialization and starting PIC manufacturing in India, say sources from IIT Madras.

Eminent personalities

The CPPICS was inaugurated in the presence of Smt. Sunita Verma, Group Coordinator (R&D), MeitY, Government of India, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Prof. Bijoy Krishna Das, Chief Investigator, Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS, IIT Madras.

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The other eminent personalities present were Prof. Nagendra Krishnapura, Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras and Dr. Kishore Kamath, Vice President (R&D), Intel Silicon Photonics Product Division, U.S., besides other core faculty members, research scholars and students.

We have caught up (with rest of the world) and now we should leapfrog others…. This Centre of Excellence complements many things MeitY is trying to do, he said speaking at IIT Madras.

He further said the fact that there is an insistence and there is a rigour and discipline of bringing in industry participation is very significant.

I would like to thank the industry partners, specifically Intel and Si2 Microsystems. This partnership will take us very far, both in terms of developing capacity and ensuring that all of us benefit from it, he said speaking at IIT Madras.

When we work together, there are larger benefits, he said.

Immediate focus

The immediate focus of this CoE is to provide better solutions for microwave and quantum photonics applications such as advanced photonic processors to be used in high-performance RF transceivers, scalable linear optical quantum computing processors for the next generation qubit computation, and chip-level quantum key generation and distribution circuits, among others.

Director of IIT Madras

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, as our country is moving towards building its own capability in semiconductor electronics, it is very heartening to see our Institute establish a Centre of Excellence in Silicon Photonics, which is an outcome of extensive R&D pursued over nearly two decades.

The substantial seed funding for establishing this state-of-the-art Silicon Photonics CPPICS by MeitY has helped in consolidation of indigenously-developed Silicon Photonics technology at IIT Madras, said Prof V Kamakoti.

I am confident that the Centre is going to impact significantly, both in the domestic as well as global silicon photonics R&D market in the upcoming years, he said.

Importance

Highlighting the importance of this Centre, Prof. Bijoy Krishna Das, Chief Investigator, Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS, IIT Madras, said the Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS is forging critical partnerships including a strongest collaboration with M/s Si2 Microsystems in Bangalore, to deliver state-of-the-art System-in-Package solutions for silicon photonic processor cores.

This transformative technology is primed to cater to a wide array of sectors, including quantum computing, quantum communication, 5G/6G communications, IoT, radar and avionics, and more, said Prof Bijoy of IIT Madras.

The nation is looking forward to witnessing the success of CPPICS as it takes this technology to full commercialization and spearheads PIC manufacturing in India.

Prof. Das further mentioned that Team CoE-CPPICS has tied-up with Silterra silicon Photonics Foundry, Malaysia for wafer scale yield testing of some novel silicon photonic devices already demonstrated using in-house technology at IIT Madras.

The team has also signed a MoU with Keysight USA for joint R&D activities in the area of silicon photonics technology, he said.

Admission into UG medical courses, popularly known as MBBS would commence with conducting NEET UG for 2025. Candidates who pass the exam have to take part in the counselling for MBBS admission.

A few other sources convey that registration for NEET UG in 2025 may also commence in March 2025.

Schedule

NEET UG 2025 registration schedule will be made known after the announcement about exam’s application submission commences.

The NEET UG 2025 registration would usually be open for a month or more. The application correction facility will be made active after submission comes to an end.

After corrections, the admit cards are made available for download. Those who have completed their NEET UG 2025 application submission process successfully, alone will be able to download the hall ticket.

Candidates have to write the exam and pass it with required qualifying marks to be eligible for taking part in the counselling process for getting admitted into a medical college.

More about the exam

The full name of the exam is National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test  Undergraduate.

The exam is conducted offline in pen-and-paper mode and answers have to be registered on a separate answer sheet.

The questions in NEET UG 2025 would be related to biology, physics and chemistry which are taught in classes 10,11 and 12 in recognized educational institutions across India.

Questions will be in a multiple-choice format where each question has more than one reply and the right one among that has to be chosen to get marks.

Students willing to join BDS in colleges located across India also have to submit NEET UG 2025 application.

Medical colleges abroad also consider scores of NEET UG for providing admission into MBBS courses.

Who can take up NEET UG 2025 application submission?

Candidates who have passed plus-two in the science stream with biology, physics and chemistry as subjects can take up NEET UG 2025 application submission.

Students who have appeared for their final year exams and are waiting for the results or students who are about to appear for the final year exams of their qualifying degree can also take up NEET UG 2025 application submission.

However, these students have to pass their exams and provide proof of it by the time of admission.

1. The above URL has to be typed into the browser and submitted to allow the website to download.

2. Once the webpage is ready, candidates can click the button Click Here for Registration/Login

3. Clicking the above button will open another webpage with URL ‘https://neet.ntaonline.in/frontend/web/’

4. Once the webpage with above URL opens, candidates can click the registration link and create an account with username and password.

5. After obtaining the account, they can come to the same webpage (https://neet.ntaonline.in/frontend/web/) and login and start applying for the exam.

Website for NEET UG 2025 Application is Here

NEET UG 2025 application submission fees

NEET UG 2025 application submission fees is Rs 1700 for General category candidates and NRI applicants. The same is Rs 1600 for General-EWS/OBC-NCL category applicants.

SC/ST/PwBD/Third Gender category applicants have to pay Rs 1000 while taking up NEET UG 2024 registration.

The fee may also change due to various reasons, candidates can read information bulletin related to NEET UG 2025 application when it is released.

How to download hall ticket?

The process to download hall ticket is online and it can be done on the official website ‘https://exams.nta.ac.in/NEET’

1. Candidates have to type the URL mentioned above in the browser and submit it to allow the website to download.

2. Once the website is ready, candidates can click the link for the hall ticket.

3. This will likely open another website and there, they have to enter their application number and other details and submit them to view the admit card.

Point to remember

Once the admit card is visible, applicants can download and take a printout. Only those who have successfully completed NEET UG 2025 application submission will be able to download admit card.

The link to download admit card will be made active on the official website at the appropriate time.

Students can visit the official website as the exam time nears, to find the link for download hall ticket. Link for obtaining admit cards are usually made available about 10 to 15 days before the exam day.

Students who pass NEET UG 2025 application submission with the required qualifying marks can apply for counselling where they choose the college and course. Counselling takes place to fill seats at the All India level and state level.

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Students who wish to study in central government institutions can apply under the All India Quota for which Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) conducts the counselling.

Respective authorities of various states in India conduct counselling at their state level. Candidates can visit the official websites of the respective authorities for more information.

The best thing to do would be to follow the website of NTA for updates on 2025 NEET UG. Registration can be done at the appropriate time.

Candidates who do not get a seat in the institution of their choice in the initial rounds of counselling can apply in the subsequent rounds.

Preparation involves studying all the lessons in the syllabus, students must ensure that they have mastered all the subjects to score marks in NEET UG for 2025.