EDUCATION

CAMPUS
After the DUSU euphoria, the DUTA deluge
Gaurav Choudhury

Even before the euphoria and disappointment after the annual polls of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) had sunk in, the teaching community in the university has announced an elaborate agitation plan to protest against the University Grants Commission’s (UGC’s) high-handedness.

Among other things, the teachers of Delhi University, under the aegis of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), are currently on a week-long strike to press for their demands.

Effectively, this has relegated academics to the background. Incidentally, the new academic session (2002-03) has been marred by several incidents adversely affecting the academic calendar. The spat between DUTA and UGC has shown no signs of an early reconciliation.

While students are worried about the developments as the first term is due end in about a month’s time, the teachers, on their part, has put the blame squarely on the University authorities and the UGC for not arriving at an early resolution of the issue, which they say are affecting their core interests.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has warned that if the University authorities did not take an “academic view” of the current stand-off arising out of the recent circulars issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), there could be “widespread anger” among the teaching community.

“The policy intent of the new modus operandi is clearly to render the duly constituted university system defunct and infructuous, and an attempt a direct take-over of colleges via pliant governing bodies and principals”, the DUTA said in its letter to the DU-VC.

The teachers association said that the potentially most disastrous of these recent letters from the UGC is the one that concerns teachers’ workload.

“We were shocked to discover that the UGC does not know the difference between notification, regulation, guidelines and circulars. The UGC also appears to be unaware that the workload requirements as enlisted in the UGC Regulations of 1998, stipulate an upper limit of three clock hours per day for lectures/discussions, which corresponds to the upper limit of ‘fifteen hours per week’ set out in the Delhi University Ordinance XIII,” the letter said.

In a communication to college principals recently, the UGC has directed that 80 per cent of all vacant posts should be filled up on a temporary basis for three months. This was followed by another missive yesterday to freeze all recruitment, reduce total staff (teaching and non-teaching) strength by 10 per cent and abolish all vacant posts that are older than a year.

As a result, several classes are being disrupted and students are not getting the required hours of teaching, DUTA said.

For students, this has meant losing out on precious hours of academic orientation. Add to this the security concerns raised by the recent incidents of molestation (one of them involving a cop) and alleged gang rape.

These incidents have again thrown open debate on converting the North Campus into a closed one, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and stopping all thoroughfares through the campus. The alleged molestation of the girl is not a one-off incident.

“A few years ago, there was a case when a girl student was killed in a bizarre accident in the periphery of the campus when an reckless driver knocked her over as she was crossing the road. Not much has happened since then except for naming a road (Shriya Mishra marg) in the name of the victim and putting two speed breakers right in front of University Hostel for Women on Chattra Marg”, a former student, who is now a teacher in the University said.

Tata’s tie-up

Tata Infotech has announced an academic collaboration with Deakin University, Australia’s ‘University of the Year’. This alliance is primarily aimed for the students, who have completed the G-Tech programme of Tata Infotech Education from its centres in India and overseas locations. On successful completion of the G-Tech programme, students will be given a lateral entry into the Master of Information Technology (MIT) from Deakin University.

The collaboration will commence with a focus on an accreditation and credit transfer arrangement. Under this arrangement, Indian students with a Bachelor’s degree from a University in India and a G-Tech diploma from Tata Infotech Education will get four units of credit towards the Master of Information Technology (MIT) programme at Deakin University, Australia, thus saving six months. Additionally, students who successfully complete Tata Infotech Education’s G-Tech programme after Class XII, will get direct entry into fourth semester of the three-year Deakin University’s Bachelor of Computing programme, thus saving one and a half-year.

Commenting on the tie-up, Mr Rahul Thappan, Head-Education Services, Tata Infotech, said that this would result in considerable savings in tuition fees and living expenses for the students. Students doing the G-tech programme will also have preferential access to a prestigious University such as Deakin, hence benefitting from the international exposure. This will position the students very well to exploit the growing IT opportunities in Australia, he said.

The Master of Information Technology programme enables IT professionals to develop a specialist, technical expertise at the forefront of key areas of computing and information technology, together with a capacity to keep up to date with developments in the field.

The Bachelor of Computing programme has a strong technical emphasis including object-oriented and Internet programming, computer architecture, operating systems, databases, computer networks and artificial intelligence. Graduates will have the capacity to develop, implement and maintain information systems, databases and computer networks of considerable size and complexity.

Management courses

Dr P. C. Shejwalkar, Dean, Faculty of Management, University of Pune, Dr Anil Lamba, Director, LSM and Padam Shree Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Dishnet DSL Ltd (from left), at the inauguration of Lamcon School of Management, Pune.

A new management school, Lamcon School of Management based in Pune, is offering two-year full time post-graduate diploma in Business Administration. The institute is also offering several part time programmes, including a one-year diploma in Finance Management and one year diploma in International Trade.

For the PGDBA programme, LSM plans to limit each batch size to 30 students. The institute in promoted by the Lamcon group, which has been present in the academic world for more than 18 years.

Induction ceremony

Distinguished guests at the DIHBM induction ceremony.

The Dina Institute of Hotel and Business Management (DIHBM) held an induction ceremony, to welcome the new students of its first two International Hotel Management Diploma batches, for the year 2002, in Pune recently.

The Dina Institute is affiliated to the Educational Institute of American Hotel and Lodging Association. The institute has launched a special two-year post-graduate course with specialisation in hospitality. Other specialised diploma courses in areas such as food and beverage management, food production, rooms’ division management, front office and housekeeping management are also offered by the institute. 

Students protest against ‘dictatorial’ policies 
Our Correspondent

Meerut, September 11
Hundreds of students from five Engineering colleges protested against the dictatorial policies of the Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, in front of the Collectorate here.

The Engineering students from various colleges gathered at the district headquarter and proceeded towards the Collector’s office in the form of a procession.

The students shouted slogans against the anti-student policies of the UP Technical University and submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate, Mr Rama Raman, demanding the end of harassment of the students by the University authorities.

Talking to the ‘NCR Tribune’, the students from various colleges of Meerut division said that the University was bent upon failing them. They said that they had been forced to take the extreme step of going on strike because the authorities had failed to redress their grievances.

In the memorandum submitted to the District Magistrate, the students demanded the conduct of a special examination for the unsuccessful candidates. They also submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner, Meerut division, Mr N.S. Ravi, at his offices.

CULTURE

Indian crafts going to win German hearts
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11
Indian crafts and arts have found admirers all over the globe. The domestic as well as the international markets find themselves constantly entreated for exotic Indian crafts. Indian craftsmen will be a part of the three-day International Gift and Consumer Product Fair in Germany late this week.

The fair, Cadeaux 2002, will display designs of a wide variety of lifestyles and home products. Made from materials like wood, iron, steel and jute, these articles have been developed for participating Indian companies with the help of German designers associated with the National Centre for Design and Product Development.

The joint Indian participation comprising Indian companies at the fair has been organised by Indo-German Export Promotion Project as a part of its core sector activities to assist Indian companies enter the German gifts and handicrafts market.

The lifestyle products focussing on latest designs have been developed with the help of Indian exporting companies and are trendsetters for the year 2003. The aim of the developing designs is to change the existing export basket of the Indian handicraft product exporters from the country and make them adopt the latest trends to further capture the handicrafts market globally. 

Hungarian treat for art aficionados
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11
Art lovers in the Capital will find plenty to gaze at, courtesy a Hungarian collage that was unveiled here on Tuesday. The collage is a collection of seven outstanding contemporary artists from Hungary. The exhibition is centred around the genre and technique of collage. Obsolete criterion of purity of genre collage somehow finds no mention, claim the artists.

Collage finds favour with these artists as they put their work and try to get it at par with other genres like painting, sculpting and graphic arts. The present exhibition provides an opportunity to seven artists to showcase their best. Their collection is not only a proof positive of the viability and vitality of the collage, but also shows the countless possibilities inherent in the technique through exciting variations of temperament, intellectual approach, fantasy, interpretation of age, artistic inventions and the use of materials.

Among those who will be a part of the exhibition are Marton Barbabas, Istvan Birkas, Erzsebet J Lieber, Gabor Kazinezy, Tamas Konok, Andras M Novak and Kati Szekelyi. The exhibition is on at Hungarian Cultural centre. 

Delhiites get taste of Kerala backwaters 
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11
Kumarakom Lake Resort, on oasis of eternal calm, brought the backwaters experience close to the Delhiites on Saturday at Dilli Haat.

The resort, in the heart of Kerala’s lake country, offered a taste of the culture and cuisine of Kerala along with a dance and martial arts performance. The event was inaugurated by Professor K.V Thomas, Minister of Tourism, Government of Kerala.

Kumarakom Lake Resort, situated on the banks of lake Vembanad, the emerald backwaters formed by the confluence of Pampa and Meenachil rivers, offers a memorable holiday in Kumarakom. One can enjoy Kettuvallam (Kice-boat cruises, water sports, Ayurveda, meditation and Yoga along with tongue-licking scrumptious traditional cooking at the resort.

To offer the Delhiites a feel of this exotic and serene experience, the resort organised a cultural bonanza at the Dilli Haat. The event consisted of a scintillating dance performance by renowned Mohiniyatttam dancer, Ms Radha Marar. This was followed by Kalaripattu, a martial arts performance by well renowned Mohiniyattam dancer, Ms Radha Marar. This was followed by Kalaripattu, a martial arts performance by Murugan and his troupe. The Delhiites enjoyed an exotic dinner comprising of Kerala’s Travancore and Malabar cuisine. The event saw an enthusiastic and encouraging response from the audience, who were captivated and enthralled by the performances of the artists and their troupes. The event started with a welcome note by Mr Shelley Thayil, general manager, Kumarakom Lake Resort. In his welcome speech, Mr Thayil said, “This event was organised to expose the essence of Kumarakom Lake Resort to the North India based domestic customers. We also wish to underline the importance of our travel partners based in Delhi, who have made it possible for our customers to easily approach us.”