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Maharashtra

Turning universities ‘Atma Nirbhar’: Governor Koshyari holds meeting with VCs of public universities in Maharashtra

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 Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday called upon vice chancellors of public universities in Maharashtra to turn universities ‘Atma Nirbhar’ to attain the goal of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.

Stating that many private universities are doing well through self-finance and distance education programmes, he called upon the State universities to take steps to implement the National Education Policy in an effective manner.

The Governor who is also the Chancellor of public universities in the State was addressing the full-fledged meeting of vice chancellors of Maharashtra’s non-agricultural universities at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. 

Stating that the National Education Policy lays thrust on culture and Indian knowledge system, Governor Koshyari asked vice chancellors to create small Advisory Committees comprising dedicated officers, professors, young people and resource persons to advise them on the effective implementation of the policy in universities. The Governor said he will hold a follow up meeting of vice chancellors within six months to discuss the Action Taken on the issues agreed upon in the meeting.

Participating in the meeting, Chief Minister Mr Eknath Shinde asserted that the State will implement the National Education Policy in the best possible manner. He said the state government has decided to make suitable amendments in the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 to make the selection process of vice chancellor and pro vice chancellors in sync with the guidelines of the University Grants Commission. Stating that the process of selection of vice chancellors will be expedited, he said new search committees for the selection of vice chancellors will be constituted soon.

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xpressing strong displeasure over the poor performance of some of the universities in Key Result areas such as declaration of results of various examinations on time, Deputy Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis asked the vice chancellors to take note of the lacunae and make amends quickly.  

Expressing the need for bringing a robust digital system to make the implementation of National Education Policy effective, Mr Fadnavis called for creating a Live Dashboard to report the 17 Key Result Areas of the Vice Chancellors to monitor the situation from time to time. Laying thrust on greater transparency by educational institutions, the Deputy Chief Minister said the findings of the College Inspection Teams should be made available on the websites of the colleges. He said while good progress is being made in achieving higher Gross Enrollment in the State, the Universities must pay focused attention on bringing excellence in education. Mr Fadnavis expressed concern over the low percentage of voter registration among college students.   

Minister of higher education Mr Chandrakant Patil reminded the vice chancellors that there is no option for universities to implement the four year degree course from June 2023 as mandated by the National Education Policy. He warned that action will be taken against those failing to do so. Patil said a Committee of retired vice chancellors will be constituted by the government shortly to address the concerns of vice chancellors in implementing the National Education Policy.  

Taking note of the dismal percentage of the voter registration by students of universities and colleges, he said the Government will issue a Resolution mandating students to get their voter registration for getting admission to the college.

Stating that as against the goal of attaining the enrollment of 50 lakhs students in the higher education system, Maharashtra has enrollment of only 32 lakh students. He called upon universities to run a campaign to encourage higher enrollment.  He also reminded all to take cognisance of the recommendations of NEP regarding providing education in the mother tongue and skill development. 

Minister of Skill Development Mangal Prabhat Lodha asked all universities to open Skill Departments and design innovative skill programmes that would enable youths to find jobs locally. He said his department has sent Rs 5 crore to all universities for opening skill centres. 

Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra Mr Shrikant Deshpande called upon universities to create Electoral Literacy Clubs to involve the students in the democratic process. He said as many as 90 per cent of University and College students are presently out of the Voter Registration list. He called for efforts by universities and the government to ensure cent per cent enrollment of students as voters.

Principal Secretary Higher and Technical Education Mr Vikas Chandra Rastogi briefed the meeting of the Action Taken Report on the previous meeting of the vice chancellors held on 7th April 2018. He apprised the meeting of the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.

The meeting discussed issues such as Areas of Concern for Implementation of NEP 2020, Academic Calendar of Universities, Formation of Students Grievance Redressal Cells, Development of User Friendly Websites, Online Payment Facility and Non Availability of Challan, Execution of Memorandums of Understanding, Designing of Self Finance Courses with CSR Funding and Industry Partnerships, NIRF Ranking of Universities, status of autonomy of colleges, implementation of Choice Based Credit System, Implementation of the Recommendations of Examination Committee Reforms, Academic Audit of University Departments and Centres of Competitive Examinations, etc.  Vice Chancellors of various universities also spoke of their concerns and problems in the meeting.

Maharashtra

Winter rains expected in the state, alert issued in three districts

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Mumbai: The weather in the state is constantly changing. Now after the severe cold, the Indian Meteorological Department has given a major warning of direct rain. The state is currently facing favorable weather for rain.

The state has been experiencing cold and temperature in the last few days. The mercury is continuously falling. Pune is experiencing severe cold, Punekar is facing pink cold due to the drop in temperature. Not only Pune, many parts of the state are experiencing severe cold and cold winds are blowing from the north. North India is experiencing severe cold and the mercury is likely to fall further in the next few days. However, the cold has decreased slightly since yesterday. The mercury is falling in the districts of Mumbai, Nagpur, Akola, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Beed, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Ahlia Nagar, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Bhandara, Ayutthaya. The mercury in Dhule fell to 7.5 Celsius. The Indian Meteorological Department has now issued a big warning.

Although the cold is being felt at the moment, the cold has decreased in some areas compared to the last two or three days. Not only this, the weather is also cloudy. Currently, the environment is favorable for rain in the state. The Indian Meteorological Department has also issued a rain warning in some districts. Rain warnings have been issued in Kolhapur, Sangli and Sindhudurg districts.

The mercury is below 10 degrees in some places. On Friday, the lowest temperature in the state was recorded in Dhule. The temperature was recorded in Dhule at 7.5 degrees. The temperature was recorded in Parbhani at 8.9. The temperature was recorded in Nafad at 8 degrees Celsius. The mercury dropped to 11 degrees in Pune, Ahlia Nagar and Mahabaleshwar. Today, the weather is favorable for rain in some cities of the state. There will be light to moderate rain in Kolhapur, Sangli and Sindhudurg.

The mercury has dropped below 10 degrees in Pune. Due to which there is a heavy fog in the air. To avoid the cold, Ganpati Bappa is traditionally dressed in a woolen sweater and ear caps at Saras Bagh in Pune. This sweater is given to Ganpati Bappa with the pleasant feeling that Ganpati Bappa is also feeling the cold. Every winter, whenever the cold increases, Ganpati Bappa is given a sweater.

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Maharashtra

Disturbance at Kalyan Ideal College over offering Bajrang Dal prayers, students pressured to apologize with Jai Shri Ram slogan, tension remains under control

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Mumbai: Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal were in a frenzy over prayers at Ideal College in Kalyan, adjoining Mumbai. Its mischief increased so much that it forced the students to apologize. This extremist group intimidated the students and forced them to apologize in front of the statue of Shivaji Maharaj and the southern extremist was seen raising the slogan of Jai Shri Ram with hooliganism. This video is viral on social media, but so far the police has not taken any concrete action on this issue. Controversy arose over offering prayers at Ideal College in Kalyan area. The students apologized, while the college administration has promised action.

According to initial details, the controversy escalated after a video of some students of the pharmacy department of Ideal College offering prayers on the college campus went viral on social media. As soon as the news of this was received, workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal reached the college and lodged a protest with the administration. Meanwhile, the local police also reached the college after the commotion and reviewed the situation but no case has been registered in this matter.

According to the college administration, some students were offering prayers in an empty classroom for a few minutes. Someone shared the incident on social media. After the video went viral, some organizations protested and demanded action against the students involved.

The police reached the college and brought the situation under control. However, the college administration requested the police that since the matter is related to the academic campus, it should be resolved at the college level. Respecting the administration’s request, the police handled the situation peacefully.

The college administration then summoned the concerned students. The students admitted that they had offered prayers but they had no intention of inciting any controversy or inflaming religious sentiments. To avoid any misunderstanding, the students apologized to the administration and the staff present there.
The college administration said that discipline and rules are essential in educational institutions. Such religious activities are not in accordance with the rules of the institution and strict vigil will be maintained to ensure that no student repeats such incidents in future. He also assured that necessary action will be taken against the students involved.

The college campus is under complete control after the incident and the police have withdrawn from the spot after a short period of surveillance.

Currently, the police administration has handled the matter peacefully, while the college has also taken cognizance of the matter internally. However, no statement has been issued by anyone yet.

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Maharashtra

Charkop Firing Case: Four More Arrested In Attempt On Real Estate Agent Freddy D’Lima; Total Accused Now Five

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Mumbai: In the Charkop firing case where 42-year-old real estate agent and social worker Freddy D’Lima was targeted, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested four more accused on Friday.

The arrested men have been identified as Rajesh Chauhan (42), resident of Kandivali; Subhash Mohite (44), resident of Virar; Mangesh Choudhary (40), resident of Pune; and Krishna Singh (25), resident of Thane.

The arrests were made by Unit 11, under the leadership of Unit 6’s PI Bharat Ghone, following the directive of DCP Vishal Thakur. All four were traced and detained from Kolhapur before being brought to Mumbai for interrogation.

With these arrests, the total number of accused in the case has reached five. On Thursday, Charkop Police had arrested 35-year-old Munna Sheikh, alias Guddu, a bar and restaurant manager, for his alleged involvement in planning the attack.

During investigation, police found that Guddu had a financial dispute with D’Lima. Officers suspect that Guddu may have hired shooters to eliminate D’Lima.

An officer revealed that both Guddu and D’Lima live in the same housing society but were involved in redevelopment deals with different builders. The project was reportedly valued at around ₹4 crore, which may have caused prolonged tension between the two.

It is suspected that this dispute may have driven Guddu to plan the firing attack, although police have not officially confirmed this motive. Guddu has been remanded to police custody till November 27. The Charkop Police continue to probe the case.

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