Academic appointments

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Five Andhra varsities get vice-chancellors
HYDERABAD : On November 10 Andhra Pradesh Governor-Chancellor appointed vice-chancellors to five state universities and rejected a name suggested for Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Anantapur.

In all 17 state universities were running without vice-chancellor creating an embarrassing situation for the state government as well as the governor-chancellor.

According to a Raj Bhawan notification Dr Rameshwar Rao, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Osmaniya University, would be the Vice-Chancellor of JNTU-Hyderabad, while G. Tulasi Ramdas of the JNTU-H would head JNTU-Kakinada.

Dr G. Rajarami Reddy, professor of zoology at Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, will be the new Vice-Chancellor of Vikrama Simhapuri University, Nellore while K. Krishna Naik, professor in the department of history, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, would head the Rayalaseema University in Kurnool.

Dr K. Ramakrishna Reddy, professor of management in Srikrishna Devaraya University, Anantapur, has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the university.

The Raj Bhawan notification said that the appointments would be subject to the decisions in the writ petitions pending in Andhra High Court.

There are still 12 universities waiting for appointment of Vice-Chancellors. The universities are : Sathavahana University, Karimnagar; Andhra University, Vishakapatnam; Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad; Palamoor University, Mahabubnagar; Adikavi Nannayya University, Rajahmundry; Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur; Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam; Krishna University, Machilipatnam; Jawaharlal Nehru Fine Arts and Architecture University, Hyderabad; Sri Padmavathi Mahila University, Tirupati; ANGRAU, Hyderabad, among others.

Baskar Gupta to
head Bengal JEE
CALCUTTA : West Bengal government has decided to appoint Jadavpur University (JU) professor Bhaskar Gupta the
chairperson of the state joint entrance examination board after his colleague stepped down from the post last week.

The decision to appoint Gupta, a professor in the electronic and telecommunication engineering department, was taken at a
meeting of Higher Education Department officials on September 16.

He will replace Samir Saha, a mechanical engineering professor at JU, who quit the JEE board post last week citing “academic
and other commitments”.

“We have taken Gupta’s consent. He has agreed to accept the offer,” a source said. An order
announcing the appointment will be issued next week.

“I am ready to accept the appointment. But I have not received a confirmation from the government yet. I will try to
discharge my responsibilities well if I am given the appointment,” Gupta said.

Saha, who had been appointed the board chairperson on September 2, had attended office for just one day. He was the third
academician handpicked by the Trinamul-led government refusing to continue in a key post.

Sukanta Chaudhuri, an emeritus professor at Jadavpur University, had earlier resigned from the advisory committee of higher
education. Sunanda Sanyal, a retired college teacher, quit the post of chairman of the panel and was replaced by Abhirup
Sarkar of the Indian Statistical Institute.

The government is planning to overhaul the joint entrance counselling system and introduce online counselling from next year.
Gupta said he was “prepared to accept the challenge”.

MHRD advertises
top posts
From Sanjiv Dube
NEW DELHI : In a major policy shift the Ministry of Human Resource Development has decided to advertise for top academic posts and the first series of advertisements for top posts appeared in newspapers on February 24.

Starting with AICTE chief's post, the newspapers also carried an advertisement inviting applications for the posts of IIT directors of Roorkee and Delhi.

The advertisement for the post of Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education, a copy of which is also on the MHRD website education.nic.in says that the post carries a pay scale of Rs B0,000 (fixed) and is to be filled in by deputation or short-term contract for a term of three years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Applicants should preferably be below the age of 60 years at the time of closing date for applications.

At present the top posts of country apex monitoring bodies -- the AICTE and the University Grants Commission -- are vacant and are being looked after by their respective vice-chairmen who are officiating as chairman. The post of AICTE chief has been lying vacant for nearly one year while the post of UGC chief fell vacant on February 5.

While the MHRD has issued the advertisement for AICTE top post, the ministry is yet to make up its mind on the top UGC post.

The advertisement for the AICTE chairman's post says that the applications (in duplicate) in the proforma as given on the website of the Department (www.education.nic.in) may be sent, through proper channel, to the Under Secretary, Technical Section-11, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development Room No.431, 'C' Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 so as to reach within 25 days from the date of advertisement.

The advertisements are in addition to the age-old policy of inviting nominations from eminent academicians. It may be recalled that the IIT Council, the institutes’ highest decision-making body, resolved last month that apart from inviting nominations, advertisements would be put out in newspapers and websites of the HRD ministry and IIT alumni associations.

“The appointment process will be more open and transparent with this method (ads). More aspirants from within and outside the country can apply,” said IIT Guwahati director Gautam Barua, who is a member of the council.

Under the IIT act, the director of each institute is appointed by the council with prior approval of the President, who is the Visitor to the tech schools.

But the nomination system was challenged around three years ago through a petition filed in Madras High Court, which questioned the process and asked why advertisements could not be issued to fill such posts.

E. Muralidharan, an alumnus of IIT Madras, had challenged the appointment of M.S. Ananth as director of the IIT. A single-judge bench of Justice K. Chandru had criticised the government for limiting the appointment process to nominations. The ads for the Delhi and Roorkee IITs are being seen as a fallout of the court rap.

The directors of the IIMs will be appointed the same way. There are 16 IITs and 13 IIMs in the country.

However, vice-chancellors of Central universities will continue to be appointed through nominations, again from “eminent persons” alone.

Apart from a couple of Central universities in the north east, the post of Vice-Chancellor is vacant in the University of Hyderabad and the newly-established Central university of Jammu whose VC Amitabh Mattoo refused to join the university after the appointment.

S Satyanarayana gets OU, P Prakash
Andhra Open varsity
From Our Correspondent
HYDERABAD : Professor S Satyanarayana, Registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies is the new Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University while Dr P. Prakash, Additional Secretary of UGC has been appointed vice-chancellor of Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.

The appointments were announced by the Raj Bhawan on July 15 here. The Raj Bhawan communiqué said that Prof. Akbar Ali Khan Mohammed, Professor and HoD of Commerce Department in Osmania University would be the new vice-chancellor of Telangana University in Nizamabad.

The term of the three appointments made by the Governor-Chancellor Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, would be of three years, said the communiqué.

The appointments have come as a surprise for the Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who had been pressing for re-constitution of search committees for VC appointments.

The appointment of Dr P Prakash has, however, triggered a controversy he has no teaching experience.

The top Osmania University post had been lying vacant since February 18 when the outgoing vice-chancellor Dr T. Tirupati Rao demitted office.

On February 17 the Andhra Pradesh government appointed Prof D N Reddy as the officiating vice-chancellor of Osmania University.

Dr Reddy is the Vice-Chancellor of prestigious Jawahar Lal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad.

L N Bhagat is Ranchi varsity vice-chancellor

RANCHI : On January 1, nearly a month after the retirement of Vice-Chancellor of Ranchi University (RU) and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU), Jharkhand Governor-Chancellor, Syed Ahmed appointed Dr Lakshmi Narayan Bhagat and Dr Ram Yatan Prasad as the vice-chancellor of RU and SKMU Pro VC respectively. Their appointment is for three years.

Dr LN Bhagat was serving as the Director of Institute of Science and Management (ISM), Pundag and Dr Ram Yatan Prasad had been serving as the Head of the Chemistry department in Vinoba Bhave University.

The names were proposed by the search committee comprising Justice RK Merathia, chief secretary SK Choudhary, principal secretary to Chancellor AK Pandey and former Vice-Chancellor of RU, KK Nag.

Later Nag said : “We had shortlisted three names for the final selection list for the posts of VC and Pro VC. Prof Ramesh Kumar Pandey, GS Singh from IIT-Roorkee and Dr LN Bhagat were among the final names in the list.”

GNDU don Ishar appointed Jammu varsity VC

JAMMU : On January 29 Dr Mohan Paul Singh Isher, a Sikh, took over as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu (JU) from the outgoing VC Prof Varun Sahni.

After Dr Mohan Paul Singh Ishar assuming the charge, Dr Isher held a detailed interactive session with the university staff at the university guesthouse. Later, talking to reporters, he said he would focus on various aspects of providing quality education so that the students could meet the requirements of international standards in academics.

“My priority will be to ensure quality education with overall development. All necessary measures in this regard would surely be taken,” he added.

Dr Isher, Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar was appointed vice-chancellor on January 18.

The appointment was made by Governor-Chancellor N N Vohra, in consultation with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (Pro-Chancellor of the University) rom among a panel of three persons recommended by a search committee headed by Professor G K Chadha, President, South Asian University, Delhi.

Prof Varun Sahni, the out-going Vice-Chancellor had completed his tenure on December 7, 2011, and had since then been awaiting the appointment of his successor.

Dr Ishar was born at Kathua district of Jammu on November 4, 1954. His forefathers had migrated to Kathua from Mandole in Poonch district, now in POK.

The search committee chaired by Chadha, comprised Prof M M Salunkhe, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Rajasthan, and Dr S S Bloeria, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Jammu.

Dr Ishar, 58, belongs to Kathua district. His forefathers had migrated to Kathua from Mandole, Poonch, now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). He secured second position in his B.Sc. examination and was awarded Certificate of Merit for standing first in the M.Sc. (chemistry) examination by the University of Jammu. He was the recipient of National Scholarship of the Government of India and did his Ph.D from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Dr Ishar has the distinction of being a Fellow of various reputed institutions of the country. He has remained a Junior Research Fellow, Chemistry
Department, IIT, Delhi (1979-81), Senior Research Fellow, IIT, Delhi (1981-83), Senior Research Fellow, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
sponsored research project “Organic Photochemistry and some applications of 1H and 13C NMR Spectroscopy”, Chemistry Department, IIT, Delhi (1983-85) and Pool Scientist (CSIR), Chemistry Department, IIT, Delhi (1986-87).

He has remained associated with professional bodies and held varied assignments.

He has co-authored a book on “Synthesis of Organic Medicinal Compounds”, which was published by the Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, and Alpha Science, Oxford, London. He has supervised several M.Phil and Ph.D research studies at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

Prof DS Jamwal, president of the Jammu University Teachers Association (JUTA) hailed the appointment. He said : “Dr Ishar, a professor from Guru Nanak Dev
University, Amritsar, originally hails from Poonch. He had settled down in Kathua, before shifting to Amritsar. He is a JU product and we hope he will
understand our issues in a better way.”

“Various stakeholders have been demanding a local Vice-Chancellor for several years. He (Dr Ishar) is a local and has worked in another university, so we expect him to have a productive tenure,” he added.

Y K Chawla elevated to head Chandigarh PGIMER

CHANDIGARH : Dr Y K Chawla took over as Director of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here.
Dr Y K Chawla
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had given its nod to Dr Chawla’s name earlier this week and a formal notification was issued by the Department of Personnel on October 7.

Dr Chawla, who was heading the hepatology department of the institute, emerged as the consensus candidate due to his vast experience. He
pipped the other two heavyweights — Dr Amod Gupta (HoD Ophthalmology, PGI) and Dr Raj Bahadur (Director Principal, GMCH-32) — o the post.

Talking to reporters soon after taking over, Dr Chawla said, “I was expecting my selection as my interview had gone rather well. But still the news came as a big surprise”.

Saying that his priority would be to give a fillip to organ transplantation, he said, “If all goes well, the PGI would soon go in for heart transplants.” He said his priorities would also include improving emergency care at the hospital.

Admitting that there was a lot of scope for improvement at the PGI, Dr Chawla said he would strive to provide the best possible healthcare to patients. “The PGI is a great institution and people expect a lot from us. I’ll strive to meet these expectations,” he said, adding that improving the working conditions for the staff, doctors and students will also be on his
agenda.

Unlike his predecessor Dr K K Talwar, who came from AIIMS, Prof Chawla has spent 28 years at the PGI. A recipient of the Dr B C Roy Medical Council of India Silver Jubilee Research Award in 1999 for research in the field of hepatology, he joined the PGI as a lecturer in 1983 and went on to head the hepatology department in 1999.

He had earlier done super speciality in gastroenterology after his MBBS and MD from Jabalpur Medical College in 1969-78.

Rajneesh Arora gets another term at PTU

JALANDHAR : October 5 The Board of Governors of the Punjab Technical University met on October 5 and approved second term for the Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora.

Arora's term was to end in December. The members said that a letter in this regard would be issued at appropriate time.

Confirming the development, Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Technical Education, said that the issue of taking over government-run Giani Zail Singh Institute of Engineering and Technology at Bathinda as constituent college had also been cleared.

The move will make the institute a university property and teaching staff as its own team of academicians. An approval from the state government for starting new courses would also be not required in future, as had the case been earlier.

Baskar Ramamurthi is IIT Madras director

NEW DELHI : Bhaskar Ramamurthi, a professor of electrical engineering, has been appointed the new director of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.

The appointment was made by President Pratibha Patil, in her capacity as Visitor and the IIT board chief Prof. M.M. Sharma was accordingly informed on September 22.

“The chairman informed me this morning. I will assume charge on Friday morning,” the new director said.

“People are looking up to the IITs to improve the quality of their lives, especially in rural India,” he said. He is optimistic of delivering products and solutions suited to the inclusive growth model of the country. Research would also be a major thrust area. Most of the IITs have doubled the Ph.Ds in the past five years but still the output was modest compared to that of China and doctoral scholars were required for industry and teaching, he pointed out.

Dean of Planning at IIT-Madras till now, he graduated from IIT-M in 1980 with a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering and then went on to pursue his M.S and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After obtaining his doctorate, he joined the AT&T Bell Laboratories in the United States where he worked on problems in indoor wireless communications and joined the faculty at the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT-M in 1986.

His research area involves modulation and coding for mobile communications, wireless communication networks and design and implementation of wireless local loop systems. He is a founding member of the Telecommunications and Computer Networking Group (TeNeT) that has come up with several products like Rural ATM, medical diagnostic kit and Indic computing to name a few.

Sushanta Duttagupta appointed Visva-Bharati VC

From Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : Prof Sushanta Duttagupta, director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Calcutta was, on September 13 appointed vice-chancellor (Upacharya) of Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan.

He succeeds historian Rajat Kanta Ray, whose term as vice-chancellor expired in July. His appointment was made by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the university was formally informed about the appointment on Tuesday.

Duttagupta (63) is expected to join Visva-Bharati, a Central university, within a week.

Duttagupta, who had joined IISER as director in August 2006, is on extension for three months. He has been a member of the Visva-Bharati academic council for the past four years.

He is also a member of the advisory committee set up by the Mamata Banerjee government to prepare a road map for higher education in Bengal.

After Ray’s term ended in July, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is the university’s chancellor, had asked former Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi to head a panel to find a new vice-chancellor.

The other members of the committee were Kaushik Basu, economic adviser to the Union finance ministry, and U.R. Ananthamurthy, former chairperson of Sahitya Academy.

The search committee had sent a panel of names to Visva-Bharati Chancellor Manmohan Singh for consideration. A shortlist was sent to President Pratibha Patil, visitor of the varsity, who chose Duttagupta.

Duttagupta, who has a master’s in physics from Calcutta University, did a Ph.D from Brookhaven National Laboratory and St John’s University in New York. He was also a lecturer in physics at Presidency College between 1968 and 1969.

K S Sriprakash is new RGUHS vice-chancellor

BANGALORE: Dr K S Sriprakash has been appointed Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) for a term of three years, commencing from July 14, 2011. Sriprakash succeeds S Ramananda Shetty, whose three-year term ends on July 13.

Dr Sriprakash, director of Bangalore's Minto Opthalmic Hospital, was chosen for the coveted post by the Governor-Chancellor HR Bhardwaj from a panel of three names. K S Sriprakash

A search committee headed by M S Thimmappa, former Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University made the selection. The other members of the committee included Dr Mayilvahanan Natarajan, VC, Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai and Dr V Ramanamma, former director of medical education, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Bhardwaj preferred Sriprakash over renowned cardiologist Vijayalakshmi Belekundri and former RGUHS registrar (evaluation) S Sachidanand, who were shortlisted for the top post from among 30 applicants.

Speaking to reporters here on July 11 Dr Sriprakash said that his priority was to address the current examination procedures and to bring out a transparency in the way it is conducted.

“We need to build confidence among students by streamlining the examination process. I am aware of the recent controversies with regard to the valuation. I will look into the matter and address the issues,” he said.

The VC designate said he would look at research and training faculty and try to develop collaborations with other health universities in India and abroad.

He said he would like to strengthen faculty exchange programme and encourage tie-up programme with other universities and institutions abroad.

Dr Sriprakash said he also wanted to develop the infrastructure of RGUHS and try to develop a dedicated fullfledged university campus in future.

R Ramaswamy is UoH vice-chancellor

HYDERABAD : Dr Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Physical Sciences, has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad.

Sources said that he would be taking charge from June. Dr Ramaswamy received his Ph.D from Princeton University in 1978.

His research interests lie in non-linear sciences, computerised biology, systems and synthetic biology.

Dhiman appointed 1st VC of Himachal tech varsity

SHIMLA : Prof Shashi K Dhiman has been appointed first Vice-Chancellor of newly-established Himachal Pradesh Technical University at Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, according to reports.

Shashi K Dhiman The university was established by the state in July last year by a legislative enactment to monitor, supervise and coordinate technical education in the state. However the appointment of its vice-chancellor got delayed for various reasons.

Dr Dhiman is of Physics stream and was Chairman of Physics Department at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. Besides he was also Director of the University Institute of Information Technology, Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill, Shimla.

His studies in Nuclear Structure Physics have been lauded the world over.

He has 17 years of teaching experience, having published nearly 70 papers in peer reviewed international journals.

A K Singh is Allahabad University vice-chancellor

NEW DELHI : Dr A.K. Singh of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, who had quit Bundelkhand University in a huff two years ago has now been appointed Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University. His name was approved by the the Visitor Pratibha Patil following which a formal notification was issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on January 21.

Prof Singh was one among four names shortlisted by the search committee headed by the Visitor's nominee R.A. Mashelkhar, University's Executive Council nominees Anandakrishnan and Dr Satish Chandra.

The committee proposed the names of Dr M.D. Tiwari, Director of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Allahabad, Dr Amitava Raychaudhuri, Director, Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad; and Ravi Shankar Srivastava, Professor of Economics, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The term of the outgoing vice-chancellor R.G. Harshe, ended earlier this year while the search committee submitted its report to the Centre late last month.

Having done his Ph.D from IIT-Kanpur, Prof. Singh joined IIT-Bombay in 1984, and has served as Director, Regional Research Laboratory, Jorhat and as VC of Bundelkhand University. “I have got the appointment letter today and will join the Allahabad University shortly,” Prof Singh told reporters on January 21.

D N Jauhar is new Agra University vice-chancellor

AGRA : Former chairman of the Department of Laws at Panjab University, Prof D N Jauhar, has been appointed Vice-Chancellor of Dr B R Ambedkar University, formerly called Agra University.

He has been appointed to the post for a period of three years. He has received a formal communication in this regard from B.L. Joshi, Chancellor of the University and Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Born in Chhintanwala village of Patiala, Professor Jauhar studied law at Panjab University. With approximately four decades of teaching and research experience, he is only the second scholar in the North-West region whose research work on landlord-tenant relations has been cited by name and is quoted with approval of the SC.

Dinesh Singh is Delhi varsity vice-chancellor

From Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI : On October 29 Prof Dinesh Singh, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, took over as the new vice-chancellor of Delhi University giving battered university teachers a much need relief to wriggle out of the stir impasse on semester system.

Dr Singh took charge from Deepak Pental, whose term had expired on August 31. A mathematician, Dr Singh has also been the director of the University’s South Campus, and was the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university during Pental’s tenure.

Following Singh’s appointment, the Delhi University’s Teachers Association (DUTA) promptly called-off its five-day strike with DUTA president Aditya Narayan Mishra issuing a long press statement welcoming Dr Singh's appointment. “We have called-off the strike, as we honour the HC judgement. As for the new Vice-Chancellor assuming office, we hope he would end the era of corruption and arrogance. I hope everything in the University gets back to normal,” he added.

An alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Singh earned his doctorate from Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London. Director of the Mathematical Sciences Foundation in Delhi, Singh is also adjunct professor in Mathematics at the University of Houston, Texas.

He began his career as a lecturer in Delhi University after his association with IIT-Delhi and Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. His name was picked up from the panel of four names recommended by the search committee. The other names were Meenakshi Gopinath, principal of Lady Shriram College; Seyed E Hasnain, VC of University of Hyderabad; and BS Chimni, professor of the Centre for International Studies, JNU.

The biggest bone of contention during Pental’s term had been the introduction of the semester system in 13 undergraduate Science courses this year, which DUTA says has come without the approval of the Academic Council and the Executive Council. Another issue of contention between the teachers and the administration has been the continuation of Pental in the chair after the expiry of his term.