Kerala

Former student leaders face off

Comments made by Kerala education minister and CPM leader M.A. Baby decrying boycott of classes by student unions and organisations, have drawn  sharp response from opposition Congress spokespersons. Congress leader and former chief minister Oommen Chandy has enquired whether this wisdom dawned on the CPM leader only after he assumed office. In a statement issued to the media on September 23 in Thiruvananthapuram, Chandy enquired whether the CPM-affiliated Students Federation of India also shares this point of view.

“What has Baby to say now about umpteen strikes led by him when he was the leader of SFI and DYFI,” asked Chandy who added that Baby was making these comments “after using student strikes as a ladder to climb up in politics.”

Clarifying his comments, Baby said that students should not resort to boycotting classes on flimsy grounds, and that boycott should be used as the last weapon to fight serious issues.

Both Baby and Chandy, who now heads the Congress-led UDF in the state assembly, entered politics as student activists.

Punjab

Abhinav Bindra Ace Public School chain

At a press conference called in Chandigarh on September 21, India’s pistol shooting ace and sole Olympic individual gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, announced the promotion of a countrywide chain of 500 public schools to provide excellent education and sports training to generation next. The schools will be christened Abhinav Bindra Ace Public Schools (ABAPS), said Bindra adding that he will personally oversee the performance of each school on a regular basis.

“My objective is to provide quality education and sports training under the banner of ABAPS, with at least one branch of the school in every district of every state in the country. The motto of the school will be fortes fortuna juvat (‘fortune favours the brave’),” he said.

Bindra disclosed that the co-ed English medium, residential ABAPS schools will be operated on a franchise basis and affiliated with CBSE, Delhi. He informed the media that he has written to the Chandigarh administrator for allocation of land in the city, where the first school is proposed to become functional within 18 months. In the event the proposal doesn’t come through, the first school will be established at Zirakpur, where the Bindra family resides.

Students will be encouraged to specialise in sports such as rifle shooting, archery, horse riding, tennis, badminton and judo. “Sports facilities will be world class and best coaches will be hired. Moreover all ABAPS schools will have grounds for games and state-of-the-art infrastructure for indoor sports,” added Bindra.

Maharashtra

Marathwada Liberation Day promise

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh informed press reporters that the struggle of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Marathwada region will be included in the new syllabuses of state board affiliated schools.

Marathwada was liberated from the rule of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad a year after India’s independence, and the contribution of its freedom fighters should be known to future generations, said Deshmukh, who visited Aurangabad on September 17 for Marathwada Liberation Day celebrations.

According to the chief minister, the under-development Marathwada has suffered is due to “backlogs”, stretching back to the rule of the Nizam. Never-theless he expressed confidence that the region’s problems related to health, irrigation, roads, education etc will be resolved within the next two years.

Orissa

Mobile phones ban in colleges

The Orissa government banned the use of mobile phones on all its college campuses, with effect from September 16. “Mobile phones are a disturbing element on college campuses. Therefore, the state government has banned them,” said higher education minister Samir Dey, adding that the order is applicable in both government and non-government colleges statewide. “Students found carrying mobile phones will be fined,” said Dey.

According to academic sources in Bhubaneshwar, the ban has been imposed on the recommendation of college principals who say that apart from disrupting classes, mobile phones were also being misused by some students for harassment of women students.

Principals and teachers complained they were unable to take disciplinary action against errant students because the legal status of mobile usage on campus was uncertain. “Now with government banning entry of mobile phones on campuses, it will be easy for us to take action,” says the principal of a college in Bhubaneshwar.

Madhya Pradesh

India’s first tribal varsity gets going

India’s first tribal university, established to promote higher education among the scheduled tribes, has become operational in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh.

Although it has yet to acquire its own campus and appoint faculty, the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), the first varsity dedicated for the education of tribals admitted its initial batch of 150 students on September 16. “We have admitted 150 students, including 100 from tribal communities. They are enrolled in our undergraduate anthropology, tourism, political science, geography, history and commerce programmes,” says IGNTU vice-chancellor C.D. Singh.

The university, which is yet to appoint its own Academic Council, has adopted the syllabus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for its study programmes. “We have hired a building from an ashram in Amarkantak where we will conduct classes. We hope to be allotted land soon from the state government,” says C.D. Singh.

However since a major portion of the land earmarked for the campus falls within a protected forest area, it hasn’t yet been transferred to the university.