Excelsior... Nation

Market-driven education posing challenge to Indian varsities

SHILLONG, Nov 6: Noted historian Sabyasachi Bhattacharya today called for examining the ‘idea’ of the university .....more

CNI control on Jaipur Church restored

JAIPUR, Nov 6: A local court has restored the control of the Church of North India (CNI) on a 129-year-old Jaipur Church and restrained a society from ......more

Don’t air views publicly, says Naidu

HARIDWAR, Nov 6: As internal differences make it to the media of late, former BJP president M Venkaiah ....more

PM leaves today for India-EU summit

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: In a step that will strengthen old ties with Europe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves here.....more

Emotional Sonia recalls Rajiv’s letter to student Rahul

KOLKATA, Nov 6: An emotionally charged Sonia Gandhi today read out a letter ......more

Rao deposes against Sukh Ram in disproportionate assets case

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao today deposed ......more

Wada Na Todo campaign launched to force goverment implement promises

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: A national-level campaign ‘Wada Na Todo Abhiyan’ has been launched by organisations working at.....more

Court acquits 10 persons in sati-glorification case

JAIPUR, Nov 6: Sixteen years after Roop Kanwar immolated herself on the pyre of her ......more

Market-driven education posing challenge to Indian varsities

SHILLONG, Nov 6: Noted historian Sabyasachi Bhattacharya today called for examining the ‘idea’ of the university as market driven education in the liberalised economy were posing challenges to the Centres of higher learning in the country.

The post-colonial leadership had little to offer by way of rethinking about the role of the university. Into this vacuum, there entered a new element in the education system -a new model of marketisation in line with the wind blowing from the west.

It is a model that proposes privately financed institutions, abolition of weak regulatory mechanisms and in general the creation of a structure hospitable to market-driven education system with a tilt towards vocationalisation, Prof Bhattacharya said in his convocational address of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) here.

The professor who teaches at the Jawharlal Nehru University’s Centre for historical studies, said with India entering the globalisation process in the 1990s, the model of recasting institutions of higher education in business management, medicine, technology etc gained strength. The same pattern would spread to other disciplines in response to the ‘demand-supply’ changes.

It is evident that this constitues a challenge to the ide of the university as we have known in this country... The battle has just begun. This is the moment which demands that we examine the idea of the university he said.

Delivering his address on ‘the idea of the university’, Bhattacharya, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Viswabharati University, said in the post-colonial era the course of politics ‘marginalised’ the educationists’ concerns.

Citing historical references on how the constituent Assembly decided against the Radhakrishnan Education Commission’s Recommendation of putting education on the ‘state’ list instead of ‘concurrent’ list, the Professor said the University Grant Commission was also made a statutory body in 1956 but ‘denied’ any enforcing power to maintain standards.

Without specific statutory teeth, the UGC could only recommend action and use its funding powers as an indirect means of persuading the universities, he lamented.

This marginalisation of education in Independent India was accompanied by a huge numerical proliferation of universities created in the regions suffering from under-development.

NEHU Chancellor and eminent sociologist Andre Beteille termed the Indian universities as ‘inclusive’ institutions for being ‘open’ to all sections of students as compared to the famed Oxford and Cambridge Universities which he termed ‘exclusive’ for discriminating against women students till the 19th century end.

The Chancellor however advocated a system of ‘weeding out’ students in universities based on their educational performance as everybody cannot be given the first class marks to enable them avail scholarships or higher studies.

This, he noted, was required to retain the ‘standard’ of an institution. Relaxation of standard pays a serious price in student admission and in recruitment of faculty, Beteille said.

The 14th convocation awarded 23 PHD, 8 MPHIL, 134 MA, 53 Msc, 23 Mcom, 11 Mlib info SC, 23 bed, 9 LLB and 833 Bachelor’s degree to the students. (PTI)

CNI control on Jaipur Church restored

JAIPUR, Nov 6: A local court has restored the control of the Church of North India (CNI) on a 129-year-old Jaipur Church and restrained a society from availing the service of a priest not appointed by the CNI.

The dispute arose as a registered society formed by some Church parishners staked claim on the ownership of the all saints Church, Jaipur and a school functioning in its premises challenging the CNI’s control over it.

The Church was set up in 1875 on the land allotted by the then Jaipur ruler, who also donated Rs 3000 for its construction. Since the formation of the diocese of Rajasthan with headquarters at Ajmer in 1981, the Church was functioning under it.

On the all saints Church society challenging the CNI’s right to appoint priests and ownership of the Church property, additional District Judge Mithilesh Kumar Sharma issued the interim injunction restraining the society from engaging any priest not appointed by the CNI and its affiliate diocese of Rajasthan.

"If the society, registered in 1989, was allowed to function, then two distint entities would emerge to run the same religious institution and would curtail the authority of the organisation which had documentary evidence of ownership", the Judge said in his order issued early this week asserting the CNI control over it.

The diocese of Rajasthan has contended that the society, with a motive to usurp the Church property, had started interfering in the Church affairs holding parallel mass after the resignation on health ground of priest D D Pitamber in 2002. (UNI)

Don’t air views publicly, says Naidu

HARIDWAR, Nov 6: As internal differences make it to the media of late, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu today advised party leaders not to air their differences and sort it out within the party forum.

"Whatever differences are there, our tradition has been not to debate them publicly. They should make use of the party forum available to them," he told reporters here emerging from the national executive meeting of the RSS.

Naidu, who did not name any individual was responding to a question on the "growing differences" within the party after his exit as party chief.

He said that during the two-day meeting, RSS conveyed to BJP its concern and views on several issues facing the nation.

"RSS does not interfere in political matters. We will discuss their views at our party fora and prepare our response," Naidu said.

Denying that the Sangh Parivar outfits were at Loggerheads, he said the entire political situation in the country will be discussed at the meeting of the party’s Central office bearers in Delhi on November 10.

Dismissing reports that VHP had "boycotted" the meeting due to the presence of BJP president L K Advani, he said "we were told that they were performing anusthan (programme) and had taken prior permission for the same."

On the reservation expressed by some NDA allies over Advani invoking the Ayodhya issue, Naidu said any differences would be sorted out at NDA meeting in Delhi on November 15.

"There would not be any problem related to NDA. Every party is a different entity with different ideology with different views on different issues. Every party is free to have its own ideology.

"BJP had functioned on its own before NDA and during NDA. As NDA, we ran a Government on the basis of a commonly accepted programme. We have different views on certain issues and they know our stand on major issues," Naidu said.

He said the upcoming national executive of the BJP in Ranchi from November 24 to 26 would discuss "the party’s health and the tasks ahead and not any one individual or incident." (PTI)

PM leaves today for India-EU summit

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: In a step that will strengthen old ties with Europe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves here tomorrow for the fifth India-EU summit at the Hague, whose highpoint is a ‘strategic partnership’ between the two countries.

India and the European Union will enter into a strategic partnership focussing on multilateral, bilateral and global issues at the India-EU summit on November eight.

The summit will endorse the the EU’s proposal to upgrade its relationship with India to a ‘strategic partnership’.

The EU has strategic partnerships with only five other countries, namely United States, Canada, Russia, Japan and China.

The EU-India summit is the fifth in the annual series that began in Lisbon in June 2000 and has since been carried forward in New Delhi (November 2001), Copenhagen (October 2002) and New Delhi (November 2003).

At the delegation-level talks on November eight, both India and EU will discuss the India-EU strategic patnership, global and multilateral issues, regional developments including south Asia and recent developments in the EU, especially the enlargement and problems and promises it holds for India.

Dr Manmohan Singh will be assisted during his visit by External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

The crucial features of the coming summit would also include the first ever EU-India cultural decleration, the creation of an India-EU energy panel and the launch of a euro 33-million scholarship programme to enable Indian graduate and post-graduate students to study in universities located in various member states of the EU.

The EU plans to double trade with India by 2008, which at present stands at euro 25 billion. The other economic issues which will be addressed include extending cooperation to new areas like energy, bio-technology and information technology, and textiles in the context of phasing out of the MFA agreement in 2005 as well as expanding the scope of BPO.

The thorny issue of non-tariff barriers will also be dealt with during the talks.

Problems of larger FDI flows to India from Europe and the prospects of Indian companies going in a larger measure to invest in Europe will also be taken up.

The EU will be represented by the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in his capacity as the preident of the European Council, President of the European Union Romano Prodi and EU high representative Javier Solana.

Dr Manmohan Singh will also pay a courtsey call on the Dutch Queen Beatrix and Foreign Minister Michael Bot, with whom he will review Indo-Dutch ties.

In order to carry forward and intensify the relations in various areas, the EU and India will examine various proposals sector by sector. These proposals will be spelt out in an action plan to be prepared in the months following the summit. The action plan will, in turn, endorse at the sixth summit in India in 2005 along with a new joint India-EU political decleration.

A joint statement will be adopted at the end of the delegation-level talks, reflecting shared perceptions on issues of mutual concern.

There will also be a decleration on India-EU cooperation in culture that will provide a broad framework for enhanced cooperation in the field which will enhance exchanges of scholars and students as well as techniques and know-how in conservation and restoration of works of art and monuments. (UNI)

Emotional Sonia recalls Rajiv’s letter to student Rahul

KOLKATA, Nov 6: An emotionally charged Sonia Gandhi today read out a letter of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, before a huge crowd of students and elders, to their son Rahul egging on the young Congress leader to give his best in everything he does.

"When you have to do something, it must not be done in the best way possible but the very best way. Try a little harder and put in the extra bit till you feel you are about to burst," my husband had written to our son Rahul when he was in the boarding school," Ms Gandhi recalled in her address here after giving away "the telegraph school awards for excellence" to students, teachers and parents who fought all odds to keep burning the flame of education.

"Most of you need to be true to yourself and not just passively do what you are told by elders. Listen to the voice within you. Because if you are true to yourself, you can be true to others," she said, urging the young people of the country to be free-spirited.

"I am full of hope for the future since the young people I see are full of idealism, frankness and desire to change. I see a clear honesty in you and you are full of qualities that dull with age," the Congress supremo said praising the young generation of the country for their outlook and integrity.

"My heart is full after watching this ceremony and the examples of heroic courage and determination. I can only wish them all the best," an overwhelmed Ms Gandhi said observing the humane, courageous and inspiring stories of the award recipients whose examples of fight against poverty, disease, physical handicap and social constraints brought frequently bursts of applause and standing ovation.

"I don’t get the opportunity to talk to those who are the backbone of our society-the teachers. Today I think it is important to reward the teachers along with the students as they prepare the future generations," Ms Gandhi said.

"I think there is no better place to come together and celebrate than Kolkata which is known for its intellectualism," she said as she borrowed from Rabindranath Tagore to say "every child comes with a message" and "education is not in the classrooms but outside".

The Congress president, who was accompanied by senior party leader Salman Khurshid, kept her speech short as she in a lighter vein said "long speeches are very painful and so I would be very brief".

The science city auditorium also witnessed an emotional meeting of students and teachers from India and Pakistan as student Ansuman Dalal, who won the ‘bonding beyond the border’ scholarship, got a Pakistani "mother" in Parveen Kasim, the principal of Karachi high school, who "adopted" him to sponsor his studies.

Earlier, Ms Gandhi and other diginitaries, including eminent industrialists and ABP group chief Aveek Sarkar, gave away the prizes to students, teachers and school staff in categories like the telegraph "school of the year", "academic excellence by a student", "best sportsperson of the year", "best all-round student", "award for courage", "lifetime achievement for a teacher", "a school that cares", "best maintained school", "best academic performance by a school" and "a school that looks beyond" Et al.

Don Bosco, Park Circus and St James School from Kolkata are the joint recipients of this year’s the telegraph school of the year award. (UNI)

Rao deposes against Sukh Ram in disproportionate assets case

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao today deposed against his party colleague and former Union Minister Sukh Ram who is facing trial for amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income while serving as an MP and a minister between June 20, 1991 and August 16, 1996.

In his about 30-minute deposition at his official residence at 9, Motilal Nehru Marg before special CBI Judge Dinesh Dayal, an ailing Mr Rao gave a jolt to the veteran Congress leader, who has been contending that the money seized from his house during CBI raids in 1996 was part of party funds, by saying that only the treasurer of the party was authorised to collect donations for the party.

Mr Rao, who was the party president at the time, said during his tenure, he had made it clear that no party worker, including MPs and ministers, was supposed to collect funds on behalf of the party, CBI counsel Gurdial Singh said.

Further, funds collected for the party could only be kept in the bank or the party office. No one was authorised to keep party funds at his residence, he said.

Besides Mr Rao’s deposition, the court also recorded a plea by Mr Sukh Ram seeking postponement of the matter as his lawyer was not available for cross-examination due to illness. Earlier on a similar plea, the CMM had issued notice to the CBI yesterday but it was yet to be served.

Though proceedings were not halted today, Mr Sukh Ram may get an opportunity to cross-examine the former Prime Minister after he takes up the issue on the next date of hearing on November 27.

Mr Rao’s deposition assumes importance as the former Communications Minister, from whose official and residential premises a huge amount of cash was recovered by the CBI during raids on August 16 and 17, 1996, has been contending that the money belonged to the party. The then party treasurer Sitaram Kesri died before deposing in the case.

The court had framed charges against the former minister on July 10, 2001 for possessing unaccounted assets worth Rs 5,36,67,135 —which was beyond his known sources of income.

According to CBI, Mr Sukh Ram, who was an MP between June 20, 1991 and August 16, 1996 and a minister from July 2, 1992 to May 16, 1996, possessed assets — movable, immovable and cash — worth Rs 6,00,90,365 at Delhi, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and other places as on August 16, 1996.

Before the check period starting on June 20, 1991, he had assets worth Rs 26,13,010. As per the records, his total income from all known sources was Rs 84,98,180 and total expenditure was Rs 46,87,960 during the check period from June 20, 1991 to August 16, 1996.

The investigating agency charged Mr Sukh Ram under section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) after he failed to provide a satisfactory account for assets seized during the raid on his official and residential premises in Delhi, Mandi and other places on August 16 and 17, 1996.

The CBI had seized Rs 3.61 crore in cash concealed in bags and suitcases. Apart from that, his bungalow in the Kaushambhi residential scheme in Ghaziabad, bordering Delhi had been valued at Rs 1.10 crore, jewellery worth over Rs 10 lakh, bank accounts and fixed deposits worth Rs 7 lakh, house in Mandi evaluated at Rs 50 lakh and a farmhouse at Panarasa in Mandi worth Rs 50 lakh.

Other property belonging to him and his family included an apple orchard spread over nearly 12 acres and the hotel Mayfair in Mandi. (UNI)

Wada Na Todo campaign launched to force goverment implement promises

NEW DELHI, Nov 6: A national-level campaign ‘Wada Na Todo Abhiyan’ has been launched by organisations working at the grassroot level to monitor the Government’s action and create popular pressure for the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme and the tenth five-year plan goals.

The campaign, launched by about 350 activists and organisations would work to ensure people’s participation in the process of implementing the programme, monitoring of the budget priorities of the Government and impact the programme on the ground, Dr Yogesh Kumar, spokesman of the campaign, told reporters here today.

"Wada Na Todo Abhiyan is a citizens’ campaign to make the Governments accountable. It will ensure that the political system fulfills the promises it has made. CMP will never be real unless it is claimed by the people. What matters most are the changes at the grassroot-level and the people’s participation in the process," he said.

"We will keep on reminding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders about the promises made to the people and use all the means available in a democracy like right to information, protests and demonstrations to highlight any lacunae in the system. Also voluntary sector would set up examples by launching programmes at the grassroot-levels with limited resources for the benefit of masses.

Dr Kumar said the campaign was launched after a two-day national level convention which concluded yesterday. However, it has emerged through a process of several state level consultations as it was a felt-need of marginalised like dalits, tribals, women and other marginalised sections of the society.

Its main focus would be the promises like right to education to all, the Proposed Employment Guarantee Act, land reforms and the right to food which was the basic human right, he pointed out. Moreover, it would work to create an environment in which legitimate rights and aspirations of people are addressed.

It would highlight the deficiency in the midday meal schemes, the manner in which dalit students are deprived of their right to education and how girls could be empowered through education. The campaign would not only work at the national-level but go down upto the Panchayat-level so that people are aware of their rights and work to get it.

The campaign would also monitor the tenth five year plan goals and the millennium development goals in the Indian context. The MGDs are a set of eight development goals set by the 189 member-countries of the united nations aiming at goals such as ending extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015.

The process would work with other solidarity movements across the world to challenge the trade rules, international debt and working with the peoples movements at the grassroots level. It is being supported by groups like national campaign for Dalit human rights, Nafre, Actionaid, Oxfam GB, Sansad, Samarthan, Nacdor and NCAs among others. (UNI)