Nobel laureate Prof. Takaaki Kajita of the University of Tokyo called for continuous collaboration between Japanese and Indian scientists in his keynote address at the 64th annual convocation of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on November 1, when he was conferred an honoris causa degree by the university. “I am confident Tokyo University’s collaboration with AMU will increase by leaps and bounds in times to come,” he said.
Delivering the varsity’s annual report on the occasion, AMU vice chancellor Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah, said the AMU Amendment Act, 1981 has obliged the university to work for the educational and cultural advancement of India’s Muslim minority. “We have fought for the minority status of AMU and we’re taking all suitable steps to safeguard it,” he said.
Maharashtra
LinkedIn’s online test
Leading California-based professional networking service company LinkedIn (estb. 2002) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry to create more job opportunities for graduates of Indian universities. Under the terms of the MoU, LinkedIn’s ‘placements’ online test will be accessible free of charge to all institutions affiliated with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
LinkedIn’s online test can now be taken by students and graduates regardless of their location. “We’re excited about the Union HRD ministry and AICTE enabling undergrads and graduates to write our online test. This will make it easier for college students and graduates to land their dream jobs,” said LinkedIn (India) country manager Akshay Kothari, speaking on the occasion.
Bihar
Novel police initiative
In a novel initiative, policemen posted in Bihar’s backward district of Purnea are doubling up as school teachers after duty hours in a shaam ki pathshala (evening schools) programme conducted by the Bihar state police in collaboration with several NGOs. The objective of the programme is to provide basic education to illiterate children and adults in remote areas of the district.The children (and adults) who attend these makeshift schools are provided with free-of-charge stationery, SP Nishant Tiwari and DIG Upendra Singh said, addressing media in Purnea on Children’s Day (November 14).
Endorsing the liquor prohibition policy of the state government enacted earlier this year, a spokesperson of the Bihar police said: “The positive impact of the new prohibition law is clearly visible in evening schools as many adults who have given up drinking liquor, are now engaging themselves in teaching while others join our schools as pupils.”
Punjab
Widespread neglect discovery
During surprise raids conducted by 136 special teams of the state education ministry, 21 absentee teachers, 47 latecomers and 26 long-time absentees were discovered in 1,045 government schools statewide, according to an education ministry statement released in Chandigarh on November 8.
The teams swooped down on 390 schools in the Faridkot Circle, 354 schools of Nabha (Patiala) and 301 schools of the Jalandhar Circle in the exercise conducted to ascertain the punctuality and discipline of the state’s teachers community.
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Delhi
New chair at Amrita U
The United Nations has instituted a Unesco chair for gender equality and women’s empowerment at the Coimbatore-based Amrita University which has an aggregate enrolment of 18,000 students in its campuses in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, according to a university communique issued on November 2. The official ceremony of endowing the Unesco chair was conducted in Paris on October 30, during a spiritual programme of the university’s chancellor Amritanandamayi Devi.
Launched in 1992, the Unesco Chairs Programme covers a global network of over 700 universities in 128 countries. Its objective is to promote international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacity through knowledge-sharing and collaborative work.
West Bengal
Kolkata’s Confucius Classroom
To meet rising demand for learning Mandarin — the official language of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — a first-of-its-type Confucius Classroom, named after the legendary Chinese teacher and philosopher (550-479 BCE), is set to be inaugurated in Kolkata next year. Approved by the PRC government, the Confucius Classroom will be staffed by 10-15 qualified Mandarin teachers from China.
“Confucius preached a way of life. Most people in PRC don’t follow any religion, they follow a way of life which is integrated into their culture. Our aim is to teach the language together with the culture, literature and geography of China,” Charisma Saraff, principal of the Kolkata-based School of Chinese Language, informed media personnel on November 25. Classes will begin in June 2017.