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Saturday, October 19, 2024

NEWS TODAY 19.10.2024

50 candidates in interview for VC posts

3 DAILY SLOTS

Many Serving, Ex-VCs’ Names Not On List

Poulami.Roy@timesofindia.com 19.10.2024

Kolkata : The selection process for the vice-chancellor posts at three universities, including the University of Calcutta (CU), commenced on Friday. The search committee, appointed by the apex court and chaired by former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit, began interviewing shortlisted candidates for each university. A total of 17 candidates appeared for the interview for the post of the Calcutta University VC on Friday. In all, around 50 candidates were interviewed during the day. Apart from the CU VC’s post, candidates were interviewed for Sidho-KanhoBirsha University and South Dinajpur University. Names of several former and officiating VCs, who had applied for the posts, was not on the shortlist. They included CU’s officiating VC Santa Datta, who had applied only for the CU vicechancel lor’s post. She declined to comment on the matter. Former VC Debkumar Mukherjee, who applied at six universities including CU, expressed surprise at not being called either. Another former VC, who wished not to be named, found it difficult to accept that he couldn’t meet the required criteria after having served as a full-term permanent vicechancellor and being nominated by the search committee in the past. A higher education department official clarified that there was no intention to exclude them from the process. The shortlisting was based on a system where each expert submitted a list of 10 candidates, and those with the most common names received the highest professional score.

The official emphasized that the highest level of confidentiality has been maintained, leaving no room for questioning the process. The interviews are being conducted in three daily slots — morning, afternoon, and evening — for 3 universities. The first phase, ending on Oct 28, will cover the shortlisted candidates for each university.

Govt probing how cost of secretariat doubled in 4 years

Koride.Mahesh@timesofindia.com 19.10.2024

Hyderabad : With allegations of abnormal increase in cost and inferior quality of work doing the rounds, the vigilance and enforcement (V&E) department has now begun a probe into the new secretariat's construction. The state govt, which is already investigating various projects and decisions taken by the previous BRS govt, entrusted the secretariat probe to V&E department last month. It was in 2019 that the BRS govt decided to construct a new secretariat in place of the old one and sanctioned Rs 617 crore. The contract was eventually awarded to Shapoorji Pallonji Group in a competitive bidding process for Rs 494 crore, much less than the sanctioned cost.

But by the time the project was completed in April 2023, the cost had touched around Rs 1,100 crore as per the estimate of roads and buildings (R&B) department which supervised the construction Moreover, even after one and a half years since the inauguration, the R&B department has not finalised the total expenditure incurred by the govt, including for furniture and other additional expenses, except for computer peripherals.

Missing files on secretariat construction raise suspicion

Also, many files related to the construction are missing from the R&B department, raising suspicion about the role of some officers. An officer, who worked for several years after retirement and played a crucial role in secretariat construction, was removed from the department two months ago. “The department officials claim the cost of construction increased due to rise in material costs after Covid-19. But generally cost escalation of any project will be 10% to 20%. In this case, it is more than double. If the cost escalates more than 10%, the department must send the file for cabinet clearance. But it was not done,” a senior R&B official said.

There are also allegations about the quality of construction. There are leakages in the buildings and the department is struggling to plug them, sources said. Many officers have also complained to the R&B department that within one year of construction they have been facing issues related to electric, plumbing and other problems. Officers said ACs and other material procured by the R&B department were of inferior quality and no tender system was followed. The officers are now finding it difficult to gather information as the files were handled by a couple of R&B officials and directly sent to the CM without following any proper channel. For similar reasons of cost escalation, CM A Revanth Reddy had earlier ordered a probe by V&E wing into the construction of a superspeciality hospital in Warangal in Aug this year. The initial estimation for the hospital was ₹1,100 crore which was later revised to ₹1,726 crore. The probing agency is also collecting details of four hospitals being constructed in four corners of the city.

After months delay, 9 T varsities finally get VCs

3 Universities Still Remain Headless

Nirupa.Vatyam@timesofindia.com

Hyderabad : After a delay of several months, vice chancellors (VCs) were finally appointed for nine of the 12 state universities in the state on Friday. Although the notification was released in Jan/Feb this year, the appointments got delayed as the search committee meetings were not held until the first week of October. In the meantime, these state varsities were being administered by in-charge VCs, who were all bureaucrats. The term of regular VCs had ended on May 21 for all varsities except Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) where the post had been lying vacant since Jan, 2022.

On Friday, governor Jishnu Dev Varma appointed the VCs for nine of the state varsities from the names sent to him. VCs have been appointed to Osmania University (OU), Hyderabad; Kakatiya University, Warangal; Satavahana University, Karimnagar; Telugu University, Hyderabad; Palamuru University, Mahabubnagar; Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda; Telangana University, Nizamabad; PJTSAU, Hyderabad; and Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University (SKLTSHU). The new OU VC, Kumar Molugaram, who is from the varsity’s department of civil engineering, told TOI: “It is a great moment for me as I was born in Telangana, studied here and I am now appointed as VC of one of the greatest universities not just in the state, but in the country.”

New VCs of T varsities focus on faculty, research initiatives New OU VC, Kumar Molugaram said his priority will be to improve the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Institutional Ranking Framework of the varsity. “In consultation with the govt, we first want to address faculty shortage. We will also focus on ensuring there is a peaceful and academic environment in the varsity,” he added. Kumar, who earned his bachelor's degree from OU, has held various administrative positions at the varsity, including principal of University College of Engineering, chairman of the board of studies in civil engineering department, and dean of faculty of engineering among others. Along with Kumar Molugaram, three other retired professors from OU – Pratap Reddy (zoology), Umesh Kumar (chemistry) and Nityananda Rao (Telugu) – have been appointed as VCs of Kakatiya, Satavahana and Telugu universities respectively. Two professors – Altaf Hussain and Yadagiri Rao from Kakatiya University – will be the VCs of Mahatma Gandhi and Telangana universities respectively. Likewise, GN Srinivas from JNTUH has been appointed as VC of Palamuru University. Two professors – Aldas Janaiah and Raji Reddy from PJTSAU – will be the VCs of PJTSAU and horticultural varsity respectively. “The university will reorient its research to benefit farmers and serve as a knowledge partner for the govt in the agricultural sector,” said Janaiah, who is the senior-most professor in all universities in Telangana with the highest academic degree of post-doctoral fellow from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, the Philippines). The three varsities which are yet to get VCs are Jawaharlal Nehru Technology University, Hyderabad; Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University and Dr BR Ambedkar Open University.

TVK cadre get training in duty, dignity, discipline

V Mayilvaganan@timesofindia.com 19.10.2024

Salem : There were anecdotes from the life of Mahatma Gandhi, Periyar E V Ramasamy and C N Annadurai. Key milestones in Tamil Nadu politics like the origin of the Justice Party, first election and the free meal scheme in schools were explained. The virtues of “Kadamai, Kanniyam and Kattupadu’ (duty, dignity and discipline) were elaborated and the evils of receiving cash for votes were emphasised upon. Finally, the training session of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam held near Attur in Salem on Friday, also gave a detailed briefing on dos and don'ts at a political conference.

“Never rush in or out; bring medicines if you have health issues; identify mischief mongers; inform supervisors at the conference venue; and approach zonal heads for any help,” the functionaries of TVK were informed at the session. First impressions are the best impression, more so when all eyes are on us, TVK’s general secretary N Anand told functionaries asking them to ensure that the party’s first conference at Vikravandi was free from untoward incidents. “Many question if we know politics. But we should prove ourselves so that others learn how to conduct politics from us,’’Anand told the functionaries who had gathered from across TN and Puducherry.

“If there are any mischief mongers, inform the supervisors at the conference venue, they will be removed,” he told them. Political commentator Ayyanathan, who spoke at the session, said TVK cadres would be facing numerous challenges henceforth. “Trying times are ahead. Be prepared,’’ he told them. At the same time, people have high hopes in us, he said. “If we deliver, we will win,” he said. TVK treasurer Venkatraman said discipline was paramount for the party to succeed. The discipline should begin from the first conference, he urged. “There will be CCTV cameras all over the venue. Drones will be monitoring. Besides, there will be volunteers, bouncers and security personnel there,’’ he said.

Functionaries of different wings of the party were given booklets of standard operating procedure during the conference. For the functionaries, the training session was an eye opener. “I never needed training to grab tickets for first-day-first-show. But I realised that it takes a lot of training to be a committed cadre,’’ said V Selvaraj, a functionary.

NEET coaching centre owner booked for assaulting students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 19.10.2024

Tirunelveli : A NEET coaching centre owner was booked for assaulting students and throwing footwear at the girl students attending the classes. Though the incident took place a month ago, it came to light only recently after the CCTV image of the assault went viral in social media. The accused, Jalal Ahmad, caned the students after he found one of them sleeping in the early morning classes. He threw footwear at the girl students after one of them left the footwear outside the classroom, in an unspecified place other than the designated area for keeping footwear, according to police sources.

Member of state human rights commission, V Kannadasan, who was visiting Tirunelveli for hearing cases, visited the centre and carried out an investigation. He said that the commission took the case for investigation on suo moto. One of the staff members and some students filed a complaint with the Melapalayam police station. The affected students met Kannadasan and showed their injuries. Jalal Ahmad from Kerala started the centre two years ago. He was said to have worked as a trainer in Kerala. The coaching centre authorities said that Ahmad was strict with the students since parents pay a lot of money for the training, and he did not throw the footwear intentionally to hurt the girl students. Melapalayam police are investigating. Ahmad remains at large, and police are looking for him. Police booked Ahmad for assault and assaulting to dishonour aperson, and under section 75 of the JJ Act for cruelty to children since the students were minors.

MBA student conned of ₹99,000

Chennai : An MBA student who transferred ₹99,000 to a scamster has complained to the Seven Wells Police Station saying he was conned. Police said the Sai Saran, 22, a resident of Kondithope received a call from a man, who told him that the parcel he sent contained drugs. He said Sai Saran was involved in unaccounted cash transactions. The caller asked him to transfer ₹99,000 to a UPI ID to prove his innocence. After he transferred the cash, the conman disconnected the call. Sai realised he was conned and lodged a police complaint