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CAMPUS
DU remains in the mire of controversies
Sanjog Gupta
The Delhi University authorities/administration cannot seem to put a foot right. They negotiate one problem and another crops up, almost as if they are navigating through a minefield sprayed with volatile issues just waiting to explode. So if it isn’t the teachers union striking against the workload norms, then it is the students union announcing an indefinite strike for the alleged harassment of Jubilee Hall residents.The authorities try and buy time to pacify the aggrieved party and defuse the issue, during which time the issue just snowballs and becomes a controversy. Take the case of the Jubilee Hall meant as a residential facility for the postgraduate students. The problem of students not vacating rooms has been recurrent for long but no effective system has been devised. On September 2, the problem blew up in the face of the authorities when 13 students who had failed to obtain admission in Ph.D. after completing their M.Phil. were asked to leave. The students did not vacate the rooms till September 22, which prompted the Resident Tutor, Mr Suresh Chowdhary, to double-lock the rooms. This prompted the students to ‘gherao’ the Resident Tutor till late evening. Elections for the student representatives on the Hostel Managing Committee have not been held, for any practical reason since 1999. The posts of the student representatives allegedly serve as foil to the authorities to dole out favours to students of their departments. Residents have also been alleging financial irregularities and harassment from the hostel authorities. Vacancy in the hostel has been cut down but it still remains alarmingly high while a number of students hunt for residence. The financial burden of the deficit made by the hostel is passed on to the students and the mess facilities are in a deprecatory state. The issue snowballed on October 31 when disgruntled students protesting against the expulsion of four other residents allegedly roughed up the Provost. The residents, in tow with DUSU ‘gheraoed’ the Resident Tutor’s residence with the Provost and the Warden locked up inside. Next day, the 250-strong protestors marched to the V-C’s office demanding the resignation/expulsion of the hostel authorities and resorted to violence when the authorities would not beckon. Students were lathi-charged and 20 of them were detained, prompting the union on November 11 to call for an indefinite strike in colleges beginning on November 14 demanding the V-C’s resignation for “his inefficiency and inadequacy in meeting the students’ demands”. The authorities finally woke up and realised the precarious position that they found themselves in. Elections have been scheduled for November 28 and the students are being pacified through a process of meetings of the managing committee with the union members. At the meeting, it is reported that Nakul Bharadwaj, DUSU president was assured that an immediate investigation pertaining to mess bills’ irregularities would be initiated. He has also been asked to submit a list of grievances in consultation with the residents. The signs of trouble brewing in the jubilee hostel have been apparent for almost a year now with incidents of violence, reports of harassment by the authorities, poor mess facilities etc. But it seems that the authorities woke up to them only when the union threatened to strike. If the authorities had performed the monitoring function that they are required to perform slightly better, maybe the whole crisis of students being “lathi-charged”, violence against the authorities, anarchy outside the V-C’s office and absolute mayhem could have been amiably avoided. But then, in the Delhi University, nothing can be resolved through amiable means, one must resort to agitations, strikes, ‘gheraoes’, demonstrations and what not to gain the attention of the “elusive” and “can’t be bothered” authorities.
Pearl broadens
students’ visionPearl Academy of Fashion, for its first annual festival “Pearl Utsav”, invited faculty members and students from Vietnam to perform the traditional bamboo dance “Mua Sap”. The Vietnamese students and teachers are attending a vocational training programme at the institute, which
focuses on the fashion industry in their native country. The dance is a traditional festivity for Vietnamese farmers who indulge in it to celebrate “a hard day’s work”. The traditional dance took all of two weeks to prepare and would not have been possible without the aegis of the Embassy of Vietnam. The Vietnamese embassy contributed a great deal in making the endeavour a grand success by providing guidance (provided by “Huyen” - a dancer from the embassy) and organising bamboo dance costumes, which were imported all the way from Vietnam specially for the event. The presence of Vietnamese students at Pearl is an effort by the institute to widen their students’ vision and help them imbibe foreign culture. By equipping the students with a global perspective, the institute aims at ensuring that the same universal thought will be imbibed in the students’ creative activities.
Swami inaugurates computer institute
Swami Divyanand Maharaj inaugurates Bhagwanti Computer Institute at Raghubir Nagar in the Capital. |
A new computer institute meant primarily to cater to the poor strata of society was inaugurated recently in Raghubir Nagar. Bhagwanti Computer Institute, established by the Krishna Trust, was inaugurated with the blessings of Swami Divyanand Maharaj. While inaugurating the East Delhi Institute, the Swami expressed his happiness at the endeavour, which seeks to enlighten the underprivileged class by spreading awareness through IT education. The institute has been established with the objective of taking IT education to the masses so as to strengthen the technology revolution in India.
NIIT receives another Microsoft accoladeNIIT, the Indian IT education pioneer, has added another laurel to its voluminous bag of credits by acquiring an Asia Pacific Region Award from Microsoft Corporation for churning out quality software manpower in Microsoft Technologies. What makes the conferring even more landmark is that it the fourth year in running that NIIT has bagged the prestigious award. Mr Michael Rawding, Microsoft’s President, Asia-Pacific/Japan, presented the Certified Technical Education Center Solutions Award to NIIT’s Head of Asia-Pacific Operations, Dr Arvind Shukla, at the ‘APAC Fusion 2002’ – meeting of Microsoft’s premier partners – in Singapore. Over 650 Microsoft partners witnessed the award being presented to NIIT, which credits its efforts in popularising Microsoft technologies and producing quality manpower across 2,500 centres in 28 countries as the main reason for the honour. Microsoft India Managing Director Rajiv Kaul said, “NIIT is making pioneering efforts in offering quality training on Microsoft’s technologies. NIIT’s role in building skilled manpower on these platforms is commendable.” “This award recognises NIIT’s commitment to creating a pool of skilled, industry relevant professionals, whose expertise in new technologies can be harnessed by both the Indian and global software and ICT industry,” added Mr P Rajendran, Chief Operating Officer, NIIT. The award comes as another feather in the cap of NIIT from the stable of Microsoft. The company has been consistently bagging Microsoft’s Best Training Partner Award. With the Certified Technical Education Center accolade under its belt, NIIT has once again reiterated its strengths in developing learning materials and offering classroom and internet-based training on Microsoft technologies. NIIT has developed over 1,000 hours of instructions with Microsoft
covering various curricula including .Net, XML, e-Commerce, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Visual Studio, Biztalk and MSTV platforms enabling Certified Technical Education Centers worldwide to train their students through learning material on Microsoft technologies.
Seminar on Education & employment The Bhimrao Ambedkar College in cooperation with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) organised a seminar on the theme of “Education & Employment and the role of youth” recently. The chief guest on the occasion was Nehru Youth Congress Director V. Muralidharan. He directed the attention of the attendees towards the problem of growing population, rural-urban migration and the contraction of employment opportunities. He also brought forth the only course of action, which in his opinion, could serve as a solution to the problem – the congregation of youth. ABVP leader Manoj Verma pointed towards the party’s rally on November 26, which according to him, “is a struggle in this very direction”. He also extended an open invitation to all attendees to join the rally and revel in its success.
Wigan & Leigh brings parents backWigan & Leigh College, UK undertook an innovative initiative recently by encouraging the involvement of the parents of its students as partners in the education process. The appropriately titled “Parent Partnership Program” conducted on the Sainik Farms campus of the WLC attempted at absolving the notion that “parents’ involvement in their ward’s education is limited to monetary commitments”. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vinay Pasricha, director, Wigan & Leigh College said, “We at Wigan & Leigh College believe that parents should be actively involved in the education process. The Parent’s Partnership Program is an initiative to encourage that.” He added, “The first workshop that we had on the campus was just a beginning. We had an interactive session with the parents that helped in breaking the ice. There was an interaction with the faculty members as well, which provided them with a feedback on their child’s performance.” Many more such workshops and interactive sessions are being planned for the Delhi campus of Wigan & Leigh as well as other centres over the next few months.
APTECH launches Scratch Card SchemeAptech Ltd. is trying to cash in on the Cricket World Cup fever gripping the country by offering tickets to South Africa as an incentive for students to enrol into the ACPG World Program, meant to develop BPO professionals. Each enrolling student would be given a scratch card with prizes on it ranging from mobile phones, personal stereos, computers, and music systems. The Aptech Certified Professional Graduate Program (ACPG) suite of courses focuses on domain specialisation in the areas of banking, sales & marketing, accounting, and call center specialisation. The last date for enrolment under the “Scratch Card Scheme” is December 31. All graduates and students pursuing graduation are eligible to apply. For the ACPG-banking course, Aptech has entered into a unique alliance with I-Flex Solutions Ltd. for its proprietary banking software FLEXCUBE, which facilitates learning on a globally acclaimed banking solution. The ACPG - Sales & Marketing course curriculum includes training inputs from the world leader in soft skills training, TACK International, and from NETg, the leading computer-based training major. The ACPG – Call Center Specialisation course hones both the IT and Non-IT skills with topics such as Database Basics, Stress Management, Language Training etc. The ACPG-Accounting course covers topics such as accounting process, standards & policies, transition from paper to a paperless environment etc. Contact your nearest Aptech center for more details.
UGC panel at MDU The three-day visit of the University Grant Commission’s committee to Maharshi Dayanand University in connection with the assessment of varsity’s requirements vis-a-vis the 10th Plan concluded today.
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