For Delhi University students from outside the city, academic breaks are often the only window to travel home. But with a tighter academic calendar and fewer extended holidays in the new session, many said they are finding it difficult to plan trips around classes, assignments, and attendance requirements.

The newly issued academic calendar has drawn criticism for providing limited breaks during major festivals. The week-long Deepavali break has been removed, with a holiday only on the day of the festival, which falls on a Sunday this year. For Navratri, which begins on October 11, holidays have been granted only from October 18, covering Ashtami, Navami and Dasara.

The winter break is scheduled from December 25 to 31 – seven days – with the even semester beginning on January 1, 2027, leaving little time for students to travel, celebrate, and return. “For students coming from far-off States, this is not practical,” said Arnav Vaid, a BCom student at Hansraj College from Jammu and Kashmir. “With ticket prices so high, we cannot spend ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 for a break of just five to seven days.”

72 holidays this year

According to the academic calendar, the total number of holidays stands at 72 days this year, compared to 71 days last year. However, students note that in practice, holidays are often reduced. In the 2025–26 session, although 71 days were scheduled, students effectively received 53 days due to extended examinations and delayed breaks.

University officials, however, said the calendar has been framed in accordance with University Grants Commission norms. “There have to be 90 teaching days per semester, which we are following,” an official said.

A faculty member involved in preparing timetables, speaking on condition of anonymity, said provisions exist to revise holidays later. “There is one day for Deepavali now, and more days might be added later as the university has the provision to do so. This is done later in the year after examination days are calculated,” the faculty member said. Since the Common University Entrance Test became the basis of admissions in 2022–23, delays in the NTA-led process have pushed back sessions. In 2022, undergraduate classes began in November, nearly three months later than usual.

Students also point to the university’s past record of deviating from its own calendar. In the 2025–26 session, theory examinations were held on January 1, 2026, and classes resumed the next day, effectively eliminating the winter break despite the calendar indicating a break from December 28 to January 1. In practice, the winter break was reduced further depending on exam schedules, leaving some students with little or no break at all.

Tusti Mehra, a History student at Lady Shri Ram College, said frequent revisions to the calendar add to the uncertainty. “Revised schedules are often issued just weeks in advance, forcing students to cancel travel plans, which leads to financial losses as well as emotional stress,” she said.

“Within such a short time frame, it is difficult to unwind or prepare for the next semester,” said Pavani Chourasia, a third-year History student at Hindu College, adding that shorter breaks also limit opportunities for winter internships.

Structural Issues

Faculty members, however, say the issue reflects structural constraints rather than administrative disregard. Abha Dev Habib, a professor at Miranda House, said starting the academic session on July 28 could mean that admissions are still underway when classes begin.

“Students admitted in later rounds may already be behind academically,” she said. “While aligning the calendar is important, the transition needs to be managed carefully.”

She added that accommodating extended festival breaks may not be feasible for a central university of this scale. “With a student population running into lakhs, it is difficult to account for every regional festival. Even a mid-semester break could become disruptive depending on when festivals fall,” she said.

Published – July 27, 2026 01:25 am IST

As we usher in the new year, it would be great to know when the banks will be closed in January 2025. There will be approximately 15 bank holidays in the first month of the year, including the second and fourth Saturdays, along with Sundays, which are weekly holidays. The new year will begin with a bank holiday on January 1st in some areas.

Although the RBI official list of bank holidays for the year has not yet been released, we have compiled a list of the key holidays for January 2025 to help you plan your work and banking activities.

While banks will be closed on these holidays, do not worry because your finances won’t be stopped. You can still carry out daily transactions through internet banking and ATMs. However, banking operations may be limited during these holidays, so it’s a good idea to confirm the dates with your local bank branch to avoid any inconvenience.

Here are the bank holidays in January 2025:

• – 1 January 2025, Wednesday: New Year’s Day – Across the country
• – 6 January 2025, Monday: Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti – Several states
• – 11 January 2025, Saturday: Missionary Day – Mizoram
• – 11 January 2025, Saturday: Second Saturday – Across the country
• – 12 January 2025, Sunday: Swami Vivekananda Jayanti – West Bengal
• – 13 January 2025, Monday: Lohri – Punjab and other states
• – 14 January 2025, Tuesday: Sankranti – Several states
• – 14 January 2025, Tuesday: Pongal – Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
• – 15 January 2025, Wednesday: Thiruvalluvar Day – Tamil Nadu
• – 15 January 2025, Wednesday: Tusu Puja – West Bengal and Assam
• – 23 January 2025, Thursday: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti – Many States
• – 24 January 2025, Saturday: Fourth Saturday – All over India
• – 26 January 2025, Sunday: Republic Day – Across the country
• -30 January 2025, Thursday: Sonam Losar – Sikkim

Important Note:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will officially announce the holiday list soon.

While banks are closed, you can still use ATMs and online banking for most transactions.

It’s always best to confirm holiday dates with your specific bank to avoid any inconvenience.

Plan Ahead:

Knowing these dates will help you plan your financial activities accordingly, such as scheduling important payments or bank visits.

Travel is on the rise again. According to the UN’s tourism agency, international travel for all purposes reached 97% of its pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of 2024. In some regions such as Africa and Europe, arrivals are already surpassing these levels.

Indian travellers, in particular, are adding to this growing trend – no nation’s outbound tourism market is growing faster. In response to this rapidly expanding travel boom, Indian airlines ordered record numbers of new planes in 2024.

The Indian travel market is gigantic, with its middle class now representing 31% of the country’s population. This figure is expected to increase to 60% by 2047, meaning there will be more than 1 billion middle-class Indians by the middle of the century.

For budding Indian tourists, the future of travel looks exciting. But for the many destinations already besieged by overtourism, this new market may be viewed through a more sceptical lense.

Nonetheless, Indian tourists spent US$33.3 billion (£25.3 billion) in 2023, and many destinations are recognising their potential. In April, for example, Japan introduced a new e-visa system for Indian tourists in the hopes of increasing arrivals.

Two months earlier, Dubai created a five-year, multiple-entry tourist visa tailored to Indian visitors. South Africa’s simplified visa scheme will also start in 2025, while other nations including Malaysia, Kenya, Thailand and Iran have scrapped visa requirements for Indian tourists entirely.

India’s outbound tourism market is growing rapidly. (Representational image)

The evidence suggests these schemes work. Tour operator Thomas Cook reported in May that Indian demand for holidays in Georgia has surged by a staggering 600% year-on-year since the country launched its e-visa system for Indian tourists in 2015.

Other European markets have been slower to adjust. Europe’s border-free Schengen zone has introduced a new “cascade” system, which will allow Indian visitors who have used a short-stay visa twice in the last three years to now apply for a two-year, multiple-entry tourist visa.

But, while this is a positive step towards easier travel for some Indian tourists, it will have no effect on new travellers. The Schengen visa process can also still take months, requires significant paperwork, and appointments are notoriously difficult to find.

The story is similar for British visas. Many people in India, as well as other applicants, feel the process is too harsh and can be humiliating. Endless amounts of paperwork are required, including bank statements and invitation letters, and rejections are often not explained.

In a study of travel trends in India, online travel platform Booking.com also found that Indian tourists typically book their trip at the last minute. They spend just 30 days planning a holiday on average, compared with 63 days for Americans and 90 days for Brits. Many simply cannot be bothered with time-consuming visa requirements, and are opting for easier and more welcoming destinations instead.

So, where are they going?

Budget airlines flying to relatively nearby destinations have contributed to India’s tourism rush, with south-east Asia increasingly popular. According to Google Trends, Vietnam was the most-researched destination by Indians in 2023.

That year, the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism reported a 231% increase in visitors from India compared with 2019. Other south-east Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia are seeing similarly huge jumps in arrivals.

Indian travellers are hugely influenced by television and movies, often opting to visit the places they have seen in Bollywood. Despite visa restrictions, the number of Indian tourists visiting Spain jumped by 40% in 2011 after the La Tomatina festival – where participants throw tomatoes at each other – was featured in the popular Hindi movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

It has been a similar story for Switzerland. Several Bollywood movies filmed there over the past 50 years have resulted in an Indian tourism love affair with the country. The Swiss tourist board even offers Bollywood tours to the various sites featured in Indian cinema.

While only 9% of Indian travellers focus on long-haul destinations in western Europe, Switzerland has been a top-20 destination for Indian tourists for over a decade.

Other destinations have started using Bollywood actors in their promotional campaigns. Dubai, for example, is promoted by the Indian acting superstar and film producer Shah Rukh Khan. And the heartthrob actor Siddharth Malhotra has been New Zealand’s brand ambassador since 2015.

By 2040, the number of international tourist departures from India could hit 90 million, not far from the 104 million Chinese tourists who travelled in 2019. However, research suggests that Chinese holidaymakers are increasingly deciding to travel at home, meaning Indian tourists may soon overtake them.

As more people in India flock to airport departure lounges, tourist destinations around the world are jostling for position in the race to take their share.

(Author: Ross Bennett-Cook, Visiting Lecturer, School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster)

(Disclosure Statement: Ross Bennett-Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
 

In India, bank branches are closed on every other Saturday (second and fourth) and all Sundays. Public holidays are another reason you might find the bank doors shut.

While many holidays are nationwide, some states celebrate unique occasions based on local traditions. To know for sure if your bank will be open on a particular day, it’s best to consult resources specific to your state.

Some common national holidays that close banks include Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti, and Christmas. Religious holidays also affect bank hours, but these dates vary each year. Examples include Diwali, Dussehra, Eid, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Buddha Purnima.

June 2024 does not feature any nationwide holidays that apply to the entire country. However, there are a few regional holidays observed in specific states.

Here is a detailed list of public holidays for June 2024:

2 June 2024, Sunday: Telangana Formation Day (Telangana)

9 June 2024, Sunday: Maharana Pratap Jayanti (Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan)

10 June 2024, Monday: Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji’s Martyrdom Day (Punjab)

14 June 2024, Friday: Pahili Raja (Orissa)

15 June 2024, Saturday: Raja Sankranti (Orissa)

15 June 2024, Saturday: YMA Day (Mizoram)

17 June 2024, Monday: Bakrid/Eid al-Adha (national holiday except for some states)

21 June 2024, Friday: Vat Savitri Vrat (many states)

22 June 2024, Saturday: Sant Guru Kabir Jayanti (Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab)

30 June 2024, Sunday: Remna Ni (Mizoram)

Please note that banking holiday schedules may change or include additional dates. It is recommended to verify with official announcements from the Reserve Bank of India and your respective state governments for any updates or revisions to the holiday calendar.