Campus jottings

Principal suspension issue settled

After keeping the University community guessing for nearly two months, the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Deepak Nayyar, has finally decided to accept the Maharaja Agrasen College governing body's decision to suspend the principal, Mr. Ram Avtar Sharma.

Needless to say, the section of the teaching community which had been gunning for the suspension of Mr. Sharma, is not just happy with the development, but is also sure to take credit for it. But, University authorities insist, the decision of the Vice- Chancellor was not fashioned by the pressure tactics; particularly, the threat of the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) to launch a week-long dharna outside his office from May 28 if Mr. Sharma was not suspended.

The delay in taking action against Mr. Sharma after the governing body had recommended his suspension on finding him guilty of financial irregularities, manipulation in appointments, and violation of University rules had even found mention at the recent meetings of the Executive Council and the Academic Council.

Welcoming the Vice-Chancellor's decision, the Democratic Teachers' Front articulated the hope that Mr. Sharma's suspension would pave the way for normalisation of the academic functioning of the college and an impartial enquiry into the charges against him. The Indian National Teachers Congress has also welcomed the decision of the Vice-Chancellor; adding that it had vindicated their position that educational institutions should be free from `tainted heads'.

Undoubtedly, arch political rivals, the National Democratic Teachers Front will be quite upset with the Vice-Chancellor's decision. The RSS-backed Front had boycotted the meeting of the DUTA executive where it was decided to stage a week-long dharna outside the Vice-Chancellor's office from this coming Monday.

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With the Central Board of Secondary Education slated to announce the results of the school-leaving examination sometime next week, preparations have begun in right earnest in Delhi University for the onslaught of admission-seekers.

Making a head start, Gargi College has decided to organise four open days on its premises to facilitate better understanding of the courses offered. The first two open days will be held on the college premises this coming Friday and Saturday. The other two open days are slated for June 6 and 7.

On all four days, the sessions will begin at 9 in the morning and go on till 4 p.m. The sessions are open to both parents and students.

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While Delhi University is getting its act together to meet the rush of admission-seekers, the fledgling Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University has already set the ball in motion by beginning sale of information bulletins and admission forms for the coming academic year from March 20 itself. The forms will be available till June 28 at the various counters.

Meanwhile, the process of admission also began this past Tuesday. It will continue till July 19. Being a recent entrant in the higher education arena, the University authorities are rather pleased by the sale of application forms. As per the last count this past Tuesday, more than 55,000 forms had been sold and the University's website had registered 35,000 hits.

A particularly in-demand course is B.Tech/M.Tech (Integrated Course). Till date, 2,300 applications have been received for the course that has just 30 seats. Besides the programme in Information Technology, other popular courses include Bachelor of Computer-Aided Management, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Hotel Management & Catering, Bachelor of Mass Communications, Master of Software Engineering and Master of Computer Applications.

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Sixty students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) flew off to Germany earlier this month as part of the DAAD Sandwich Scholarship Programme that is administered by the German Academic Exchange Service. All post-graduate students, they are part of an exchange programme meant to intensify cooperation between the top institutions of India and the leading technical universities in Germany.

Having completed their course work at either Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai or Mumbai IITs, the 60 students will do their project work at six select German Technical Universities -- Aachen, Berlin, Darmstadt, Dresden, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart.

They will start their nine-month stay in Germany with a six-week intensive German language course and round it off with an internship at some leading companies. Upon their return to India, they will be awarded their Master's degree from their respective institutions.

According to a release issued by DAAD, ``like students of previous batches who have availed of this programme, it is expected that this additional and somewhat unique qualification that combines excellent Indian education with a German component, will enhance their career prospects with companies in Indo-German joint ventures''.

- Anita Joshua

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