India, Pakistan students launch diary campaign!

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Courtesy: Special Correspondent, The Hindu / MUMBAI, September 1, 2011.

IIT Techfest's Ummeed-e-Milaap, an India-Pakistan student peace initiative, being launched in Mumbai on Tuesday - Special Arrangement.

Programme received an encouraging launch on August 30 in Mumbai

Students from India and Pakistan have launched a first-of-its-kind initiative called “Ummeed-e-Milaap” to invite opinions on initiating peace. It will be compiled into a 120- page diary and released next year.

The brainchild of Techfest, the annual science and technological festival of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, the venture is partnered by the Lahore University of Management Studies (LUMS) and the Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (AIESEC), world's largest student-driven organisation.

“Ummeed-e-Milaap” aims at uniting the students of India and Pakistan. “We aim to set an example to the world that students can lead the way in establishing peaceful relations between countries and a hatred-free world,” according to Ronnie Philip of Techfest.

The programme received an encouraging launch on August 30 with over 350 entries from students of 11colleges here. IIT student Anish Sankhe writes, “Let's add every Pakistani Student on Facebook and share our thoughts. I am sure that [the] youth of both these countries thinks positively on the peace process. So friends, Lets remove the hatred, lets spearhead Love.”

Bharat Prabhakar says: “Whatever we do today is gonna be in the history textbooks of tomorrow. It's time we make our generation-Y immortal by taking a stand which no one has ever before.”

The media too came in for criticism. Revanth Raju says: “Media on both sides must act more responsible. The attitude of pointing fingers at your neighbour as soon as a terror strike happens should change; and I think media can play an important role here by spreading the message that a common man across the border faces the same threat as we do, and we must stand united to fight against the common enemy.”

Others demanded that the voice of youth should be heard. Suparna Vivek Gharpure says: “We should have India-Pakistan student meets where we would get to meet and interact with people across the border. It's time we realise that people across the border are also just like you or me! And the youth of both nations should stand up to get counted in this social issue.”

Techfest aims at instilling in the youth of both nations a sense of fraternity. Over 30 colleges will be involved in Mumbai, Lahore and Karachi, and two dairies will be circulated for students in both countries to give their comments. In Mumbai, 11colleges will take part and about 20 in Lahore and Karachi.

From each college, 20 best entries will be selected and pasted in the diary, which will then move on to the next college. Students are required to comment on the peace process and their thoughts on the role of students, media, people-to-people exchanges and their perception of the common people in each country. An online campaign is also being launched where people can write their thoughts in a diary at www.techfest.org/umme

ed_e_milaap.

The diaries from India and Pakistan will be received by Techfest before the festival and an ‘Ummeed-e-Milaap Diary' will be created along with a special section for the best entries from the online campaign.

The diary will be released from January 6 to 8, 2012 and kept for public viewing. In Pakistan, the diary will be kept on display in LUMS during their scientific festival ‘PSIFI'.

                

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Hazare arrest: Delhi students erupt in protests!

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Press Trust Of India / ibnlive.in.com/ / Posted on Aug 16, 2011 at 11:07pm IST.

New Delhi: Students from Delhi's prominent universities came together on Tuesday evening to lodge their protest against what they called were "unlawful detentions" of Anna Hazare and his supporters and pledged to join Wednesday's march to the Parliament.

Protesting under the banner of the All India Students Association, a number of students from Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University gathered at JNU to protest the detentions of anti-corruption activists.

They were also protesting against the treatment meted out to students who showed black flags to Kapil Sibal at the Constitution Club.

The protest this evening came in addition to sporadic demonstrations that had erupted in Delhi University earlier in the day.

"We cannot sit quietly when unlawful detentions are being made in Delhi, and we have decided to answer Prashant Bhushan's call to the march to Parliament tomorrow," AISA General Secretary Ravi Rai said.

Earlier in the day, DU and Jamia students waved black flags when Sibal stood up to address a meeting on Lokpal Bill at the Constitution Club. They were physically evicted from the hall.

Students said they were assaulted after they protested against Sibal.

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http://ibnlive.in.com/news/hazare-arrest-delhi-students-erupt-in-protests/176181-3.html

Hazare's arrest: Kapil Sibal heckled at seminar!!

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zeenews.india.com / Last Updated: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 20:46.

New Delhi: HRD Minister Kapil Sibal was on Tuesday greeted with protests from Anna Hazare supporters at a seminar on Lokpal here, hours after the arrest of the Gandhian.

The students reportedly from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia University were protesting Hazare's arrest under the banner of All India Student's Association at a seminar.

"Janlokpal Lagoo Karo, Jantantrik Andolan ka daman band karo," they chanted slogans inside the Mavalankar Auditorium taking the audience and the organisers completely by surprise.

They were, however, evicted by the organisers as Sibal stood at the podium silently.

"We were evicted out of the auditorium, when we rose to ask the Minister why our right to protest was being curbed and why Anna Hazare, who has been spearheading the agitation against corruption was arrested in such an undemocratic way," said Ravi Rai, one of the protesting members.

Instead I would rather the Minister be hounded out of the Seminar!

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http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/union-minister-kapil-sibal-heckled_726497.html

‘Robbery, not racism, is the cause behind assault on Indians in Australia’!

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PTI / The Hindu / MELBOURNE, August 11, 2011.

Indian students in Australia were robbed more frequently and were more likely to be the victims of assault as compared to other foreign pupils, but race was not the reason for these attacks, an official report said on Thursday.

The 172-page report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), which deals with the incidents of assault and robbery crimes against overseas students in Australia during 2005-2009, is a first of its kind against the backdrop of Indian student attack crisis.

In essence, the study “indicates that international students are less likely or as likely to be victims of physical assault and other theft” as the general population of the country.

“Further, the level of crime experienced by international students of different nationalities varied, with Indian students typically experiencing the same or a heightened incidence of assault and other theft than other student nationalities,” it said.

“The findings for robbery were more concerning in international students, again predominantly Indian students (males and females), but also Chinese males, were significantly more likely to be the victim of robbery for some jurisdictions for some years compared with Australian reference populations.”

The report, however, rejected racism as a cause of the higher theft rate.

One reason it offered was that Indian students had a better grasp of English than students from China, Korea and other source countries, and so were better placed to get jobs where they were exposed to the public.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2346729.ece

Supreme Court: allow students to inspect evaluated scripts under RTI!

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J. Venkatesan, The Hindu / NEW DELHI, August 10, 2011.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the disclosure, under the Right to Information Act, of answer sheets of students of any examination conducted by any agency in India. A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik gave this ruling, upholding a Calcutta High Court order permitting students to inspect and photocopy their answer sheets in any educational or professional examination.

The Bench held that evaluated scripts would come under the definition of ‘information' and reiterated the duty of the public authority to allow maximum disclosure as envisaged by the RTI. Explaining the scope of the ‘fiduciary relationship' of the agency holding the examination, the Bench held that bodies conducting examinations could not retain evaluated answer sheets in any fiduciary capacity and contend that they would not disclose the same.

The exemption under Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act would not apply to disclosure of answer sheets. The Bench was disposing of appeals filed by the Central Board of Secondary Education, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the West Bengal Council for Higher Education, the University of Calcutta, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the Assam Public Service Commission. The Human Rights Law Network filed an intervention application, on behalf of the applicants, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and Join Operation for Social Help. They argued that such disclosure would open the floodgates for information-seekers and the magnitude of the demand would be overwhelming. If answer scripts were made available to each examinee, it would lead to an unworkable situation. The Supreme Court, however, rejected these arguments.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2340762.ece

Students of Northern Virginia University meet Indian Embassy officials!

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PTI / The Hindu / WASHINGTON, August 6, 2011.

Nearly 70 Indian students of the University of Northern Virginia, which was recently raided by the U.S. authorities on charges of fraud, have met Indian Embassy officials here and sought help in continuing their studies in the country.

Authorities in the U.S. last week raided offices of the university’s Annandale campus on charges of fraud, where 90 per cent of the 2,400 students are from India.

The students and their representatives explained some of their concerns particularly related to the time, money and energy that many of them had already spent at the university. These students wanted to see if some arrangement can be made that the years that have already spent at the University of Northern Virginia were not lost.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2330656.ece

UP CRIMES: Student shot at in Uttar Pradesh institute!

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August 5, 2011 / IANS, Allahabad / DC.

Student shot at in Uttar Pradesh institute.

A student of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) here was shot at and seriously injured by unidentified assailants inside its premises, police said on Friday. The attackers escaped and are untraced.

Pawan Reddy was shot by two attackers near his hostel late on Thursday. The seriously wounded student is undergoing treatment at the Jeevan Jyoti Hospital here.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/student-shot-uttar-pradesh-institute-459

SADIST GURU: Girl student stripped, checked for cellphone!

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August 5, 2011 / By DC Correspondent , Chennai.

The student community is shell-shocked after a girl student was allegedly stripped by a lady physical education teacher in Prince Venkateshwara College of Arts and Science, in suburban Gowriwakkam to check whether she carried a cell phone.

Some students, on condition of anonymity, said the college had harassed students on the pretext of maintaining discipline. “Our teachers used to check our bags periodically to find out whether we carried a cell phone and if we wore a T-shirt we are asked to go home. When this girl student was taken to rest room for checking we objected. Despite our objection she was stripped and checked,” one student said.

Another student said that when they questioned the teacher about her inhumane action, she said that it was the management that had asked her to do so.

However, students lodged a complaint with Madras university vice-chancellor Prof G. Thiruvasagam who said the university had constituted a committee to inquire into the matter and report to the university before August 30 based on which they would initiate suitable action.

“It is not right on the part of the college do something like this. All students should be treated like our own children. We do not have any policy regarding the use of cell phones in colleges. When the situation is so I don’t know why the college acted in this way”, he said.

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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/girl-student-stripped-checked-cellphone-451

U.S. students hail subsidy for veterinary care in India!

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M. K. Ananth, The Hindu / NAMAKKAL, August 3, 2011.

Students of Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine interacting with a scientist at the Namakkal Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

“Backyard rearing of country chicken plays a vital role in rural economy”

It is interesting to learn that veterinary vaccines and treatment is supplemented by the Indian Government unlike the United States where treating pets and cattle is very expensive, says Julia Treseder, a third year student of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).

She was here at the Veterinary College and Research Institute for about a week with five of her classmates from VirginiaTech Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine as part of their six week clinical tour at veterinary institutions and clinics in Tamil Nadu.

Julia told The Hindu that another major difference between the countries in veterinary care was the care for animals. “In our country we focus on preventive medication such as detection and vaccination but in India importance is given for treatment,” she added.

Jessica Romine said that they had to choose Chile or India for their visit as she added that they opted for India as they were impressed with the one hour presentation made by their seniors when they returned to Virginia after taking part in a similar programme last year. Jennifer Finder finds it amazing to see how quick veterinarians here provide treatment to the animals. She said that in the U.S. they spend more time diagnosing the cause for the discomfort of the animals but observed that the vets here are more concerned about treating and relieving them from their ailment.

Cathryn Doyle who is interested in pursuing higher education in wild life studies exclaimed that she has heard that wild life in India is really wild. “It is not so wild in the U.S. as wild animals could be seen only in the zoos unlike in few parts of India where people see tigers and elephants as part of their day to day activities,” she adds.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article2317148.ece

Kalam urges students to stay off the beaten track!

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Staff Reporter, The Hindu /  COIMBATORE, August 1, 2011.

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam speaks at a youth meet at AJK College of Arts and Science in Navakkarai near Coimbatore on Monday. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan - The Hindu.

India Vision 2020 of transforming India into a developed nation can become a reality only if every student and youth is individually innovative. It involves putting the nation before oneself, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said here on Monday.

Inaugurating ‘Youth Meet 2011' under the theme “Rise to Achieve” of the AJK Educational Institutions at Navakkarai near Coimbatore, Mr. Kalam asserted that of all the resources on earth, youth was the most powerful resource. Hence it was important for them to leave the beaten track and try something different.

“Those who have achieved through their innovations are remembered even today. The question is whether you want to be remembered for something you do,” he asked the huge audience of school and college students.

Mr. Kalam said that the vision for the nation should be based on strong pillars of development. It should focus on reducing the rural-urban divide, equitable distribution of land and water, providing value-based education, access to best health care, ensuring responsive and corrupt-free governance, alleviation of poverty, and a secure and terrorism-free state. He also urged students to become active in the PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) Mission by taking it up at micro-levels such as colleges.

Uplifting 700 million people

It was important to uplift the 700 million people living in India's villages through an integrated approach by providing them physical, electronic and knowledge connectivity, that would eventually lead to their economic connectivity.

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NRI AFFAIRS: Australia-India council meet discusses students' mobility!

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Special Correspondent, The Hindu / NEW DELHI, August 1, 2011.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal (left) is seen along with Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Australia, Senator Chris Evans, at a Joint Press Conference after the Meeting of Australia - India Education Council, in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar - The Hindu.

‘We must have certain parameters which are common to both the jurisdictions'

The first meeting of the Australia-India Education Council saw extensive discussion on mobility of students between the two nations.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said student mobility could be ensured only if there was assurance regarding quality of education and if qualifications were recognised. Terming mobility of students as key to any successful collaboration between the two countries, the Minister said the two sides agreed on a number of issues during the bilateral talks.

About the issues under discussion with the visiting Australian delegation, Mr. Sibal said: “A whole range of issues were discussed between the vice-chancellors to ensure that quality education is imparted in the university system to allow student mobility.”

The Australia-India Education Council was conceived in April 2008, and that dream has been realised today, the Minister said, adding that the interaction of vice-chancellors was going to be an annual event.

The delegation, led by Senator Chris Evans, comprised 15 vice-chancellors from different universities in Australia, including Premier of South Australia Mike Rann.

About the Indo-Australian collaboration, Mr. Sibal said: “Essentially, we are talking about collaboration in the field of education. We must have certain parameters which are common to both the jurisdictions (in India and Australia).”

“The other area where both countries are extremely keen to collaborate is in the area of vocation... In an aging population, countries will need young people with skills and quality to immigrate to those countries. India can provide as a center for such quality human resource,” he said.

Security concerns

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HIGHER EDUCATION: ‘Madhya Pradesh discriminating against Kashmiri students'!

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Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

MAHIM PRATAP SINGH / The Hindu / BHOPAL, July 2, 2011.

The Madhya Pradesh government has found itself embroiled in a controversy after being accused of trying to keep Kashmiri students out of higher educational institutions in the State.

The most vocal has been Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who expressed concern over discrimination against Kashmiri students in Madhya Pradesh after the State government notified changes in the guidelines of admission to higher education institutions in the State.

Mr. Abdullah expressed disappointment over the issue. “Disgraceful: Hindutva groups campaign to keep Kashmiri students out of M.P.,” he stated on the social networking site Twitter

The latest “admission guidelines/guiding principles for admissions” notified by the State's Higher Education Department make Kashmiri students ineligible for admission to the State's public as well as private higher education institutions.

While under the older guidelines, “Kashmiri displaced/students” were eligible for admission, the new guidelines omit the term ‘students' leaving only “Kashmiri displaced”— implying Kashmiri Pandits — eligible for admission.

ABVP demand..........................................

“Remarks uncalled for”...........................

‘Not an isolated case'

Shujaat Bukhari reports from Srinagar:......

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2153590.ece