Some of India's top educational institutes could end up losing their 'deemed-to-be-university status' following a UGC directive.Bengaluru's Christ University becomes the first varsity to follow UGC's directive to drop university title from their names.The apex education regulator, according to reports, has given the institutes time till 4 pm today to discard the 'university' title against their names, a directive which is a follow-up of a November 3 Supreme Court order on stopping deemed-to-be universities from using university titles.UGC had put nearly 123 deemed-to-be-universities on notice over the university title usage, asking them to look for alternatives following the apex court directive.Some of these institutes, according to reports, include Pune's Symbiosis International University Jain University . The KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research, JN Medical College Campus, Belagavi and Manipal Academy of Higher Education are also, the reports stated, among the institutes on the list.Representatives of these institutions felt the order will affect their brand perception and lead to confusion among students/guardians regarding their status as to whether they are autonomous/affiliated institutions or degree-awarding institutions.The SC observed in this context, "All that the UGC Act does is to confer deemed to be university status on an institution which has achieved excellence in its chosen field so that its development in the concerned field and its attempts to attain excellence and conduct research are not hampered on any count and at the same time it could be extended the facilities of Aid.It is precisely for this that the distinction between a regular university established under a Central, Provincial or State Act and an Institution Deemed to be University is maintained in the UGC Act. A deemed to be university can certainly award degrees but, cannot use the word 'university' by virtue of Section 23 of the UGC Act."