The Hindu : New Delhi News : Campus Jottings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 17, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Campus Jottings

Student's arrest flayed

The teaching associations of all Central universities in the Capital have condemned the arrest of Chandramohan, a post-graduate student of Graphic Art in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Aesthetics at Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara.

They have also demanded immediate reinstatement of Dean Shivaji Panikar, who was suspended by Vice-Chancellor Manoj Soni for allegedly refusing to obey the orders for closing a controversial art exhibition that was objected to by the Sangh Parivar groups.

Delhi University Teachers' Association president Amar Deo Sharma said it was "shocking" that the police did not act against those who disrupted the exhibition and interfered with the examination process.

Claiming that the incident was an "attack" on basic academic freedom, Jamia Teachers' Forum president S.I.A. Zaidi demanded security for students and teachers and protection from "blatant fascist attacks".

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association has demanded suspension of Mr. Soni for his "high handed action" against students and teachers and has defended the freedom of artistic expression and academic autonomy of the university.

NIIT, Asia's largest IT trainer, launched a state-of-the-art learning centre for infrastructure management at Hauz Khas in the Capital early this week. The first such network lab to be set up in the city, it will train thousands of aspirants in the field of IT infrastructure management.

"The new centre will offer students hands-on training in hardware aspects of infrastructure management. It will give them an opportunity to learn like in a real life environment. It will also provide multiple certification opportunities that would equip students to take certificates from global certification agencies," said G. Raghavan, president of Global Individual Learning Business, NIIT.

NIIT will offer highly specialised training programmes in networking and infrastructure management technologies from the new centre. Learners can avail themselves of short-term modular programmes as well as the one-year career programmes. The fee structure would range from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 60,000.

"The curriculum of these courses has been endorsed by the industry," claimed Mr. Raghavan.

NIIT plans to set up 100 such network labs in the country in the next 18-24 months.

Greeting the nation on the celebrations of 150 years of the First War of Independence, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association has said that the country needs to revive the same spirit of communal amity in the wake of several "communal" happenings in various parts of the country.

At its Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, JNUTA said the massive movement of the Indian people against British colonial rule in 1857 was a glorious chapter of Indian history when both Hindus and Muslims fought together for the country's freedom. However, the members expressed concern over "disturbing" happenings .

"We demand strong action against these communal forces that are disturbing the social harmony of our society. All cases of extra judicial killings in the name of `encounter' should be probed and guilty police officers, if any, be punished," said JNUTA president Chaman Lal. JNUTA has also demanded that Siwan MP Mohammed Shahabuddin be disqualified from the Lok Sabha and other cases pending against him, including the alleged murder of former JNU Students' Union president Chandrashekhar, be speeded up.

-- Parul Sharma

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