Anna varsity among top 50 young institutions in the world in QS ranking

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, JULY 05, 2019 00:00 IST

University rated ‘very high’ in research output

The QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) ranking for 2020 has placed Anna University among the top 50 young institutions in the world. It is the only State-run university to be among the ‘under 50’ category.

The other two institutions ranked ahead of it are the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Jindal University.

The university has been placed in the 101-150 rank band, and among the world universities it is placed in the 751-800 rank band. The institutions are rated based on their academic and employer reputation; faculty-student ratio; citation per faculty; international faculty and international student ratio.

Anna University, with a student strength of 15,196 and academic faculty strength of 698 is rated “very high” in research output. Unlike even the older IITs, it has international students and international faculty. The citation per faculty is 45.3, which Vice-Chancellor M.K. Surappa said was the best among universities.

“Eight IITs and the IISc are ahead of us. IIT Bombay has a citation per faculty score of 54.6, just ahead of us,” he pointed out, adding: “It can be improved. We have to improve our faculty-student ratio.” The University has not recruited faculty for over two years.

Mr. Surappa said the ranking had failed to factor in the university’s outreach programmes and service to the nation. This had been the central issue for the IITs too. They had rejected the international ranking exercises pointing out that the institutions’ effort at nation-building were ignored.

No vice-chancellor in TS varsities may get second term this time

R. Ravikanth Reddy

HYDERABAD, JULY 05, 2019 00:00 IST

Process of appointment to the posts tobegin soon

No vice-chancellor in the conventional universities in Telangana is likely to get renomination this time even as the government is making efforts to complete the appointment process by August this year.

Seven vice-chancellors will complete their term by July 24 while three varsities are already vacant. “The process of appointment of new VCs is on and the existing V-Cs may not get a second term,” said an official, wishing anonymity. Unlike in the past when the appointment of vice-chancellors was inordinately delayed, leading to criticism, the government this time it is keen on appointing the V-Cs by August itself.

Institutional changes

The delay in the appointment of V-Cs after the formation of Telangana was delayed as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was keen on some institutional changes in the varsities and he toyed with the idea of a Chancellor for each varsity and bringing in a few bureaucrats apart from academics. However, that did not materialise but the government relaxed the norms for SC and ST aspirants deviating from the UGC norms. It relaxed the applicants’ experience of a professor to just five years for SCs and STs but it was challenged in the court. The Government justified the relaxation, saying SC and ST teachers with the mandatory 10 years’ experience as professors were not available and it wanted to appoint a few from these sections. However, the relaxation was withdrawn after the court’s intervention.

However, this time it wants to continue with the existing norms assuming any deviation will be challenged in the courts, leading to delay again.

“The notification seeking the applications will come out any time and aspirants will have 14 days to apply,” said a senior official. Applications will be scrutinised and three names will be picked up by the search committee, which is comprised of nominees from the UGC, Executive Council of the university concerned and the State government. The Chief Minister will have the final say which the Governor generally endorses.

Completion of term

As of now, three varsities are without vice-chancellors while the term of seven V-Cs will ends by July 24. While the posts in Satavahana University in Karimnagar and Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), Basar, have been vacant for long, the V-C of Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda, completed his term last month.

Seven other V-Cs who will complete their term this month are S. Ramachandram, Osmania University, B Rajarathnam, Palamuru University, R Sayanna, Kakatiya University, K Seetharama Rao, Dr. BR Ambedkar Open University, P Sambaiah, Telangana University, SV Satyanarayana, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University and A Venugopal Reddy, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.

The vacancy for Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University will arise in January next. The government has already announced another extension of for Prof. Jaishankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) Vice chancellor, V. Praveen Rao, who will also complete his term on July 24.

Pension for disabled: War hero slams HQ
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:05.07.2019

Amid the continuing row over the government’s decision to tax the disability pension of military personnel, a 1971 war hero has criticised Army Headquarters for using his name to defend the move as well as deride soldiers with non-combat disabilities, medical conditions and ailments.

Maj Gen Ian Cardozo (Retd), who as a young major amputated his own leg with his khukri after a landmine blast, conveyed his “deep anguish and concern” to the Army HQ. “What soldiers suffering from any disability require is care and compassion, not disdain!” he wrote.

‘Misuse of system by a few must not be used to target actual cases’

The two types of disability benefits given to soldiers are the war injury pension and a normal disability pension due to the stress and strain of operational service.

The government, as well as Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat, have faced flak for the finance ministry’s recent order that the disability pension of all military personnel will now be taxed unless they have been forced or “invalidated” out of service prematurely, as was reported by TOI earlier.

The Army HQ, on its part, initiated the move on the ground that the “broad-banding and higher compensation awarded for disability with tax exemption” has led to a significant rise in personnel seeking it even for lifestyle diseases.

“The trend, if not checked at this stage, is a cause for worry. The Army cannot have a large number of personnel with medical disabilities in the rank and file when security challenges to the nation are on the rise,” it said.

But the move has not gone down well among veterans, who contend that misuse of the system by a few personnel should not be used to target all genuine disability cases.

“It’s ethically, morally wrong. We need to correct the system and not punish innocent disabled soldiers,” said former Army Chief Gen V P Malik (Retd).

An organization, the Disabled War Veterans (India), also took strong exception to the Army’s endorsement of the government’s decision, stressing any “discrimination or invidious distinction” affects the morale of the entire military community.

Gen Cardozo, on his part, said the disabilities painted as “lifestyle diseases” by the Army “are fully covered under the rules for disability pension” for the armed forces as well as central armed police forces because of their tough service conditions.

“If there indeed are a few instances of ‘feigned disabilities’, the loopholes may be plugged rather than broadbrushing. It is not understood why permissible benefits mandated by law are being demeaned,” he added.

Yogi govt retires 200 tainted officials
Pankaj.Shah@timesgroup.com

Lucknow:05.07.2019

The Yogi Adityanath government in UP on Wednesday said that in pursuance of its ‘zero tolerance’ policy against corruption, it has given compulsory retirement to over 200 tainted officials and employees in the past two years, while more than 400 others are under the scanner for ‘exemplary punishment’.

The move has been initiated on the basis of a report of a screening committee formed in July 2017, soon after the BJP government came to power and Yogi ordered to identify officials and employees who have crossed 50 years of age and are involved in graft cases.

“The government has given forced retirement to 201state employees. Many are on the radar,” UP minister and government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma said, adding that 417 others are being watched and could get ‘exemplary punishment’. Sharma said all departments have been asked to prepare a list of officials facing corruption charges.

Among those who have been given forced retirement, 51 are from the home department, 36 from revenue, eight from basic education, seven from dairy development and six from cane development. Besides, five employees each of urban development and excise departments and three of khadi and village development board were also handed over retirement letters, said official sources.

For full report, www.toi.in

Centre told to pay pension to freedom fighter aged 100
K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:5.7.2019

Taking a dig at the Centre for making a 100-yearold freedom fighter run from pillar to post for his pension, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court dismissed an appeal by the Union government against a single judge order and directed it to grant pension to him from the date of application submitted in 2014, within a period of four weeks.

A division bench of Justice K Ravichandrabaabu and justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy which heard the appeal filed by M Kaliyan, of Sivaganga, observed, “A man aged about 100 years who fought for the freedom of this country, was imprisoned by the British, and ultimately succeeded in seeing a free India, is now made to suffer at the hands of the bureaucrats.”

Kaliyan had participated in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned from March 1943 to March 1944 at the Madurai Central Prison. The state government under the State Freedom Pensioner’s Scheme had granted pension to Kaliyan. He appliedfor theCentre’s Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme,1980. As pension was not granted, he moved the high court. A single judge on October 30, 2018 passed an order to grant pension. During the hearing, the counsel for the Centre stated Kaliyan produced only secondary evidence — co-prisoner’s certificate and lacked primary evidence — jail certificate, and denied pension.

‘Consider raising retirement age’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:05.07.2019

Citing improved life expectancy, the Economic Survey has made a case for increasing the retirement age, raising expectations among government and private sector employees that their working years could go up.

“Given that life expectancy in India is likely to continue rising, increasing the retirement age for both men and women could be considered in line with the experience of other countries,” the document tabled in Parliament said. Although lower than other economies, in 2016, healthy life expectancy at the age of 60 in India (the number of years a 60-year-old is expected to live in good health) was estimated at 12.9 years — 12.5 for males and 13.3 for females — compared to 20 years or more in Singapore, Japan, France, Canada and Australia.

‘Higher retirement age crucial for viability of pension system’

Currently, the retirement age for most government employees is 60 years and most private companies have aligned their age of superannuation to the Centre and state governments. Teachers, doctors and high court and Supreme Court judges are exceptions as they get to work longer.

Even private bank CEOs can stay in office till the age of 70 as do a few corporate sector bosses. For a vast majority, however, working life ends between 58 and 60 years, although a large section of the urban population lives well past 80.

The Economic Survey has suggested that a higher retirement age would be crucial for the viability of the pension system, which was in a nascent stage, apart from increasing female labour force participation in older age groups.

It went on to suggest that this was “perhaps inevitable” and, therefore, recommended that it would be useful to signal the change a decade before the anticipated shift to help people in their pensions and retirement planning.

In fact, whenever the Centre constitutes a Pay Commission, there is heightened anticipation that the retirement age will be reviewed, especially because the retirement age for government employees was last revised over two decades ago. With the next pay revision due in 2026, the signalling may have to begin now.

Full report on www.toi.in

Can wife be prosecuted as abettor post death of husband booked for corruption?

SC Entertains Woman’s Plea In ‘Unique’ Case

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:5.7.2019

Can a woman, accused of abetting her public servant husband to indulge in corruption, be prosecuted after the man dies and the trial court closes the case against him? The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to examine this unique legal question raised in the woman’s petition.

The vigilance department in Odisha had in 2005 chargesheeted retired electrical superintending engineer Anant Ram Behera under Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to his sources of income. It had roped in his wife Arati Behera nee Sahoo as co-accused as an abettor as most of the properties purchased through the alleged ill-gotten wealth were registered in her name.

Challenging concurrent decisions of the trial court and Orissa high court refusing to quash the case against her despite death of her husband who was the prime accused, advocate Shibashish Misra argued before a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta that she has been made an accused as an abettor, a role which could be proved only if the commission of corruption against her husband was established.

Since the husband died on June 12, 2017 and the case against him has abated, there was no means for the prosecution or her to establish what was the accused public servant’s known sources of income, Misra said. “When the husband of the petitioner who is the principal accused in the case has died and the case against him has abated, the accounting of such alleged disproportionate income cannot be fastened on the wife,” he said.

Though the CJI-led bench initially observed that “it will be a dangerous proposition to be accepted”, it later felt that the question of law raised by the woman had not been dealt with by the apex court in the past. It issued notice to the Odisha government’s vigilance department seeking its response to the petition.

The trial court while closing the case against Behera after his death, decided to continue trial against his wife under Section 13 of PC Act as well as Section 109 of IPC for helping her husband amass ill-gotten wealth. The special judge at Cuttack had held that even in case of death of the main offender, the case shall stand against the abettor.

The HC had dismissed Arati’s plea for quashing of the case against her saying there was no provision under the criminal procedure code that on the death of the main accused, the case shall be closed against the abettor of the crime. “Whether the offences under PC Act has been proved or whether the public servant cannot satisfactorily account for the property disproportionate to his income has to be determined at the end of the trial and not in the midst of it,” it had said.

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