The Hindu : New Delhi News : Teachers take umbrage at decision on retirement age

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Teachers take umbrage at decision on retirement age

The Democratic Teachers’ Front has taken “strong exception” to the decision of the Delhi Government’s Department of Training and Technical Education to refer to a committee the issue of extension of retirement age of Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) teachers to 65.

The Front president Sanjaya Kumar Bohidar said: “The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has already recommended extension of retirement age for all engineering teachers to 65 years due to shortage of educators in the country. Instead of acting on the recommendation, the DTTE has chosen to refer the matter to a committee that may submit its report by January-February next year, causing the college to lose some senior teachers who will retire during this period.”

“DCE is working with a dismal teacher-student ratio of 1:30 as against the AICTE-recommended ratio of 1:10. This attitude of the DTTE smacks of its indifference towards academicians,” Mr. Bohidar alleged.

The School of Life Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in the Capital organised a satellite symposium on “Advancing Nano-technology and its implications in Biological Sciences” in the second week of December.

Along with JNU faculty members, experts from Delhi University, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and National Institute of Immunology spoke at the one-day event.

Virinder S. Parmar of Delhi University’s Chemistry Department spoke on “novel nano-spheric materials for encapsulation of drugs”, while Prasenjit Sen from the School of Physical Sciences at JNU discussed the properties and applications of “Electro- exploded metal nano-particles”.

“Nano-technology is an interdisciplinary field. We wish to make a network in Delhi to explore the different aspects of nano-technology and its uses,” said Atul Kumar Johri of School of Life Sciences, the convenor of the symposium.

Close on the heels of the JNU event, Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon, also organised an international conference-cum-workshop on providing a multidisciplinary view of the various facets of Nano-science and Nano-technology.

Over 20 foreign delegates and more than 100 experts from all over the country attended the five-day conference.

The highlight of the event was a video conference with Nobel Laureate Harold Kroto on “Architecture in Nano-space”.

Youth for Equality team of Delhi University visited the Darbhanga region in Bihar in October on a post-flood management project. The objective was to assess the post-flood management programmes in operation in the flood-affected region, analyse the various factors that hamper quick recovery from the flood, find out alternatives to the problems and inculcate efficiency in the system to mitigate the losses incurred due to such natural calamities.

“We had a two-point agenda. First, to put pressure on the Government authorities to provide benefits of the Government schemes relating to heath, sanitation and education that can drastically improve the flood-recovering capacity of the region. For this, we met the Government officials concerned,” said a YFE representative.

“Second, we wanted to arouse people’s consciousness about their rights, the significance of education, knowledge of Government schemes and ways and means such as the Right to Information to avail themselves of their benefits. We interacted with over a large number of people in a week’s period and disseminated awareness on various issues pertaining to them,” he added.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi recently released a book based on the documents of the great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, edited by Prof. Chaman Lal of JNU.

The book, titled “Shaheed Bhagat Singh: Dastavejon Ke Aaine Mein”, includes 107 documents written by Bhagat Singh, including letters, court statements and essays, apart from his jail notebook.

The copies of the book were presented to Kiranjit Singh and Abhay Sandhu, both nephews of the great martyr.

Parul Sharma

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi