The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Battle lines drawn for high-stake DUSU poll
Gaurav Choudhury

The stage appears to be set for a battle royale between the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) for the forthcoming polls of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU).

Canvassing has already started in all earnestness with the candidates and their supporters adopting various techniques to woo student voters to their side. Canvassing will end on September 4, two days before the elections are to be held on September 6.

The contest in the DUSU poll, since the last several years, has been primarily two-cornered between the ABVP and the NSUI – the student wings of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress respectively.

For the candidates, the stakes are high as it marks the beginning of their political careers. Many of country’s leading politicians, including BJP general secretary and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley, have graduated from the DUSU to the national political scene.

With more than 80 colleges affiliated to Delhi University, the DUSU poll is an elaborate affair and for the candidates, it means exhaustive canvassing spread all across the city.

Unlike Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which is a stand alone university with no colleges affiliated to it, the students of affiliated colleges of DU are entitled to vote during the poll.

Conventionally, the DUSU elections are held during the first fortnight of September just before the 15-day autumn break begins. Already bills, posters and banners can be seen plastered all over the campus carrying portrait-sized photographs of candidates.

While 10 candidates each will slug it out for the posts of president and secretary, six candidates will vie for the posts of vice-president and secretary.

While the NSUI has decided to field a “political novice”, Ragini Nayak, its traditional rival, the ABVP has fielded Nakul Bharadwaj. Nakul is the vice-president of the present union.

The choice of Ragini, a second year student of Kirorimal College, did raise quite a few eyebrows and there were murmurs of resorting to “gender politics”. Ragini’s choice was at the cost of current DUSU joint secretary Rohit Chaudhary. Another ex-joint secretary of the DUSU Harsh Chaudhary’s name was also among the probable contenders for the post of President.

Back to the past

The three-day 14th Annual Management Education Convention of the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) ended on Sunday at Amity Business School, Noida. Governor of Uttar Pradesh Vishnu Kant Shastri and Minister of State for Labour and Employment Ashok Pradhan attended the valedictory function.

Mr Shastri called upon academicians to go back to India’s ancient scriptures and include lessons from ancient texts in management education. “The answer to all of today’s economic woes lies in our ancient scriptures,” he said.

Mr Pradhan stressed on the need to strengthen village units in order to make them self-sustaining. He said that a vast untapped potential lied in the 1,000-odd tiny villages of India.

Dr Karan Singh, MP, who inaugurated the convention said: “Aspiring managers need a dos of values along with the regular fare in their curriculum to prevent the accelerating erosion of business ethics and practices. The corporate world especially is undergoing a crisis in ethics and values. Educational institutions alone can arrest further deterioration,” he said.

Prof N. Natarajan, Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), narrated the national scenario of management education before and after Independence. “The global scene is changing rapidly and there is an urgent need to become rapidly competitive through improvements in technology, management, labour productivity and quality of engineering education,” Dr Natarajan said.

Heading down under

Australia has always been one of the most favoured destinations after the United States for most Indian students. “There is more than 100 per cent increase in the number of people opting for Australia to pursue their higher studies”, Mr Henry A. S. Ledlie, Director, IDP Education Limited, said.

“Australia is definitely one of the most preferred destinations, not only because of the opportunities it offers but also because it is one of the most reasonable destinations in terms of money, so to say,” he said.

The Australian Government has recently instituted federal changes in the immigration procedure, which will allow overseas students to take up permanent jobs in the country immediately on commencement of their studies, eliminating the need to return to homeland to apply for fresh visas.

“The Australian Government is making it easier for the educated Indian to cash in on the immense scope in the Australian job market,” Mr Ledlie said.

Business games

The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, had organised the National Business Games (NBG), 2002, this week in the Capital. The NBG 2002 comprised various stimulating new management challenges. These games did not require hardcore management skills, but were rather meant to test the skills expected of competent managers.

The FMS is a pioneer in the field of management education in India and takes pride in being a centre of excellence for management learning. Founded in 1954, the FMS was the first institute in the country to offer management training for professional managers in the form of part-time MBA programme. The full-time programme of the FMS started in 1967 in response to the recognition received by its trained managers within the industry.

Today, the FMS is rated among the top management schools in the country.

Computing degree

IT training major Aptech has formed an academic alliance with Australia-based Southern Cross University (SCU). As part of the MoU, current and prospective Aptech students can obtain SCU’s Bachelor of Applied Computing degree from select Aptech centres in India itself.

“This global alliance with SCU is already operational in around 20 countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Fiji, Sri Lanka, China etc and we are training over 1,000 students worldwide currently. “We aim to train 500 students in select metros in India in the first phase. Under this offshore programme, as part of the three-year stint at Aptech centres, students will have the opportunity to undergo Aptech’s popular and critically acclaimed ACCP World Programme along with the curriculum from Southern Cross University simultaneously,” Managing Director of Aptech Training Limited Pramod Khera said.

Mr V. Balasubramanian, who has recently been appointed as the Executive Director on the board of Aptech, said that students will have an added advantage of completing the course in three years as compared to other four years degree programmes.

“With this course, students will have the advantage of pursuing two world class curricula and attain international certification. It is our endeavour to prepare them for the trends tomorrow by incorporating the latest technology framework in the curriculum,” Mr Balasubramanian said.

The Bachelor of Applied Computing is an offshore degree programme that allows the student to procure an international degree from Southern Cross University. Through this partnership, students can pursue the SCU degree in Bachelor of Applied Computing, which is a three-year programme at the Aptech centre.

The ACCP World Programme curriculum earns the student 16 credits. The remaining eight credits can be acquired on completion of eight SCU modules, which are to be studied concurrently with the ACCP World Programme curriculum. On completion of a total of 24 credits, the students are eligible to a full-fledged Bachelor of Applied Computing degree from Southern Cross University, Australia.

SPORTS

Kunal spells St. Michael’s doom
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, August 28
Deadly bowling spell of 6 for 27 by off-spinner Kunal Narang and a fine unbeaten knock of 83 by Karan Wahi helped St. Mark’s School, Meera Bagh defeat St. Michael School by nine wickets in a league match of the Ramjas Inter-School Cricket Tournament at the Ramjas School Sports Complex ground. Kunal Narang was declared the Man of the Match.

Put into bat, St. Michael School scored 131 all out in 27.3 overs. Nishant Taneja (46) was the top-scorer for St. Mark’s. Kunal Narang took six wickets at the cost of 27 runs and Karan Wahi claimed 2 for 23.

In reply, St. Mark’s School achieved the target easily at 135 runs for the loss of only one wicket. Karan Wahi scored an unbeaten 83 runs with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Ishu Tayal scored 30 with five boundaries.

Scores: St. Michael School: 131 all out in 27.3 overs (Nishant Taneja 46, Akshay Khatree 24, Kunal Narang 6 for 27, Karan Wahi 2 for 23).

St. Mark’s School, Meera Bagh: 135 for one in 26.2 overs (Karan Wahi 83 n o, Ishu Tayal 30).

Chapter on Dhyan Chand figures in textbook
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, August 28
August 29, the birthday of hockey legend Dhyan Chand, is celebrated as the National Sports Day in the country.

And for the legion of Dhyan’s Chand’s fans, on the occasion of his 88th birthday, there is good news as a profile on the hockey wizard, written by hockey chronicler K. Arumugan, has been included in the Class XI English test book.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the apex body for making syllabus and publishing text books in the country, recently revised the English curriculum for higher standards and brought out a new set of books for the academic year 2002-2003.

Arumugam’s article, “The Wizard”, from the book “Great Indian Olympians”, has been included in the core course of the English textbook.

“The younger generation will get to know something about one of the greatest sporting icons the country has produced”, said an elated Arumugam.

August 29 is the day when the President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, confers the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Dronacharya and Arjuna Awards on the cream of the country’s sporting talent, at a function to be held at the Rashtrapathi Bhawan.

This year, a new award, “Dhyan Chand Life Time Award for Sports and Games”, has been introduced by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The article on Dhyan Chand highlights how an “other ranks” soldier rose to become the Indian hockey captain when class-consciousness and Anglo-Indianism had a major say in matters related to sports under the colonial rule.

The Dhyan Chand-led Olympic team had eight Anglo-Indians and one “Nawab”, who won the gold in the 1936 Olympic Games, which also disproved Hitler’s theory of “Aryan supremacy”.

CRPF School beat Salwan
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, August 28
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Public School, Rohini beat Salwan Public School 4-0 in the Nivia Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital.

A brilliant hattrick by Vinod Arya, who scored the last three goals, was the highlight of the match.

CRPF took the lead through Salim. Vinod Arya then scored a hattrick to complete the tally.

In the second match, Delhi Development Authority beat Modern School 6-2. The scorers for DDA were Ashish, William, Humani and Adnan (three, no hattrick). Varun and Jitender scored for Modern School.

Thursday's fixtures: Ryan International vs Bhawan Samai (11 am); Apex School vs Vasant Valley (12.30 pm)--Ambedkar Stadium.

Yogesh star for Satish School
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, August 28
A dashing knock of 46, studded with eight fours, by Yogesh Kumar Gaur, helped Satish Public Senior Secondary School, Rewari beat Jain High School by 32 runs in the final of the District Rewari Inter-School Cricket Tournament.

Satish Public School has now qualified to participate in the Haryana State Inter-District Cricket Tournament, to be held at Panchkula, from August 30.

Yogesh Gaur was declared the Man of the Match.

Scores: Satish Public School: 120 (Yogesh Gaur 46, Lokesh 23, Moman Parjapat 4 for 10). Jain School: 88 all out (Savit 3 for 15, Yogesh Gaur 3 for 16).

Ishan, Abhilash Malik shine
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, August 28
A fine unbeaten knock of 54 runs by Ishan Chaturvedi and deadly bowling of 5 for 15 by left-arm spinner Abhilash Malik, helped Gyan Bharti South Delhi Academy defeat Shanti Sports Complex by 67 runs in an under-12 invitation cricket match at the Gyan Bharti South Delhi ground.

Electing to bat, Gyan Bharti scored 165 for 9 in the allotted 30 overs. Ishan Chaturvedi scored 54 not out, with the help of five fours.

Shanti Sports Complex, in reply, were bundled out for 98 in 25.2 overs.

Jaideep was the top-scorer with 21. Abhilash Malik (5 for 15) and Swapan Deep Singh (2 for 1) were the most successful bowlers.

Scores: Gyan Bharti: 165 for 9 in 30 overs (Ishan Chaturvedi 54 n o, Shaiv Arjun 26, Anirudh Ghosh 21, Jaideep Singh 2 for 27, Bhavya Vishnoi 2 for 27).

Shanti Sports Complex: 98 all out in 25.2 (Jaideep Singh 21, Bhavya Vishnoi 20, Abhilash Malik 5 for 15, Sapan Deep Singh 2 for 1).