Maharashtra
Turning universities ‘Atma Nirbhar’: Governor Koshyari holds meeting with VCs of public universities in Maharashtra
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.
E
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
Samajwadi Party will contest Mumbai BMC elections alone Abu Asim Azmi

Mumbai: The Samajwadi Party will contest the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections with full vigor, this was claimed by Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and worker assemblyman Abu Asim Azmi in a press conference held at Islam Gymkhana here today. He said that the situation in Govindi is very bad, there is a shortage of funds here and difficulties have arisen in providing funds. If any funds are sought, the excuse is given that the funds have been spent on the Ladli Behan Yojana and the funds are not available. He said that the Samajwadi Party is also participating in the Zilla Parishad and Gram Panchayat elections in Maharashtra. Along with this, Abu Asim Azmi has also announced to contest the elections alone on about 150 seats in the BMC elections.
Abu Asim Azmi said that from November 20, the Samajwadi Party will distribute AB forms to its candidates and this process will continue till December 5. The Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in the constituencies where its candidates will be able to participate in the elections with strength. He said that the way the Samajwadi Party had made an agreement with the Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi last time, but it has been betrayed, he said that the Samajwadi Party was not provided a seat until the date of filling the form in the assembly elections ended and then two seats were given and no discussion was even held with us regarding this. The Samajwadi Party is free to take decisions for the elections in Maharashtra. National President Akhilesh Yadav has given full responsibility for this. He has made it clear that he is free to compromise with secular parties in Maharashtra to keep communal forces away from power. However, despite this, the attitude of a big party like Congress towards its allies is not appropriate and compromises are broken in the very elections. Therefore, the Samajwadi Party has now decided to contest the BMC elections alone. He said that in Maharashtra, a Samajwadi Party candidate is also in the fray in the Gram Panchayat Zilla Parishad elections, along with this, the Samajwadi Party will contest the elections on development works. He said that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had visited Govindi once and expressed concern about the plight of the streets here. After that, we demanded funds from Ajit Pawar and he promised to provide more funds, but when we talked to him, he said that the funds have been spent on the Ladli Behan Yojana. He said that elections have not been held for four years, so the condition of other districts including the corporation is very bad. He alleged that funds are not being provided to former members of our party, but if someone joins the Ajit Pawar group or Shinde Sena, it does not matter whether he was a corporator or not, funds are provided to him immediately. In such a situation, this discrimination should end and all former corporators should be provided funds because they understand the problems of their areas.
He said that the lives of the people have become unbearable due to the SMS company in Govindi Shivaji Nagar. The High Court has given more time to the company, due to which there is disappointment among the people. The issue will be approached in the Supreme Court. Abu Asim Azmi has once again strongly demanded from the government to close the SMS company and has also assured to take all necessary steps for this and has requested the people to strengthen the Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party leader Advocate Yousuf Abrahani, MLA Raees Sheikh, and other leaders were present in this press conference.
Maharashtra
Mumbai: Massive Fire Breaks Out At Kurla’s LIG Colony Due To Gas Pipeline Burst

Mumbai: A massive fire broke out on November 19 in Kurla West near the Mubarak Complex at LIG Colony, reportedly triggered by a gas pipeline burst. Videos circulating on social media captured thick black smoke coming into the air as flames spread rapidly.
According to the visuals, the blaze was seen in the shop located on the ground floor of a residential building and firefighting officials were present at the spot trying to douse the fire. Several residential buildings are seen in the lane where the fire took place, bringing in security concern for residents.
Maharashtra
Pune Zubair Hangekar’s Pakistan connection, hope for new conclusions in the investigation… ATS releases him after questioning 19 people so far

Mumbai: Pune Suspected terrorist Zubair Hungakar’s contact list has Pakistani numbers. Zubair Hungakar’s mobile contact list has 5 international numbers. Numbers of Gulf countries were found in Hungakar’s old and used handset. The old handset has 1 number for Pakistan, 2 for Saudi Arabia, 1 number for Oman and 1 number for Kuwait. It has been found that 1 Omani and 4 Saudi Arabian numbers are stored in the mobile phone used.
When asked about this number, Zubair said in response to a question during interrogation that he did not know. Suspected Al-Qaeda member Zubair Hungakar has been sent to judicial custody. Zubair Ilyas Hungakar was arrested on charges of spreading jihad in support of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent and threatening the unity and security of the country.
Zubair is originally from Solapur and currently works in a software company in Kalyani Nagar. He is married and has two children, and his family resides in the Kondwa area. Meanwhile, the ATS is thoroughly investigating the matter and is investigating whether Zubair had any links with Al-Qaeda members, why he had these materials and for what purpose. The police will also question his friend and examine his mobile and other electronic devices. It is also being investigated whether he was in contact with any other terrorist organisation. All these international numbers are important to Zubair and it is being speculated that he has terrorist connections and links. However, when questioned about these numbers, he gave vague answers that he did not know who they belonged to or what they were related to.
ATS officials said that investigations are being conducted to find out whether Zubair had any links with Al-Qaeda members and what was the purpose of this contact. We are also investigating why and for what purpose he had the Al-Qaeda material. His friend in his custody will be questioned and his mobile and other electronic devices will also be examined. It is also being investigated whether he came in contact with any other terrorist or not. Meanwhile, the ATS had earlier this month conducted search operations in different parts of the city. The operation was related to the investigation of an old ISIS module. At that time, suspected radical individuals were kept under surveillance. During this operation, 19 people were detained for questioning, but they were released after questioning. During these raids, the police have also seized some important documents along with electronic devices.
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