Latest news with #ArifMohammedKhan
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
President withholds assent to Malayalam Bill without giving reason in violation of SC order
An unprecedented constitutional challenge has cropped up in the State with the President withholding her assent to the Malayalam Bill passed by the Kerala Assembly a decade ago, without assigning any reasons. The President's move, it has been pointed out, violated the April 8 judgment of the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Governor case where the court held that the President cannot exercise an absolute veto on Bills and cannot withhold assent without furnishing reasons. First after judgment This was the first Bill to be withheld assent by the President without assigning any reasons since the landmark order of the top court. The apex court had directed that the withholding of assent for a Bill 'must be accompanied by sound and specific reasons that necessitate the withholding, by clearly outlaying the policy considerations on which such an action is predicate.' The court went a step further and added that a constitutional 'requirement and responsibility of assigning reasons to the withholding of assent is cast upon the President and the reasons assigned by the President for withholding of assent must be communicated to the State government concerned.' The Bill was returned to the State government the other day without assigning any reasons. The President had earlier withheld assent to three Bills namely the Kerala University Laws (Amendment No. 2) Bill 2022, University Law Amendment Bill, 2022, and the University Law Amendment Bill, 2021, which were referred to her in November 2023 by the then Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. Incidentally, the President's move comes at a time when the State government's petitions challenging her actions on the Bills are under the consideration of the Supreme Court. The State government is yet to discuss the issue, said P. Rajeeve, State Minister for Law. No legal precedent Top legal officers of the State felt that the President's act has created an unusual legal and constitutional crisis where she went against the Supreme Court order, which is the law of the land. The State may be forced to move the Supreme Court against the act of the President. There have been no such legal precedents in the recent legal history of the country and the framers of the Constitution may not have foreseen such a legal crisis, said a senior Supreme Court lawyer.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
24 girls get gold medals at PU convocation
1 2 Patna:Patna University (PU) girls outsmarted boys by bagging as many as 24 out of 40 gold medals awarded to the toppers of postgraduate (PG) examinations at its annual convocation held here at Veronica Auditorium of Patna Women's College auditorium on Saturday. Governor-cum-chancellor Arif Mohammed Khan presided. Altogether, 1,237 scholars who passed the postgraduate examinations of PU in the 2022-24 session were awarded degrees and 57 scholars were awarded PhD degrees at the convocation. Former vice-chancellor of PU and sitting chairman of the Bihar State University Service Commission Girish Kumar Chaudhary was awarded an honoris causa doctorate degree in recognition of his valuable contributions to the all-round development of PU during his vice-chancellorship (2021-24). Delivering the convocation address, Guru Ghasidas University's vice-chancellor Alok Kumar Chakrawal congratulated the degree recipients and appealed to them to serve their country in earnest. "The youths were agents of social change and they could help India attain the status of a developed nation," he said. Lauding the provisions of the National Education Policy-2020, Chakrawal said if properly implemented, this policy would help India become the most developed economy in the world. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025: Steel Suppliers From Mexico At Lowest Prices (Take A Look) Steel Suppliers | search ads Search Now Undo The new policy is capable of turning India into an entrepreneurial hub. He also appealed to the youths to be enterprising and start working along with their studies to boost their confidence. In his presidential remarks, the governor lauded the performance of the girls in PU examinations and said that no society can prosper without the progress of women. "India would become great only when women take the social leadership," he said. He appealed to the youths to remain disciplined in every walk of life. "The youths should always work for the betterment of their society by ensuring the development of the marginalised sections of the society. They should also work hard to preserve their cultural heritage," the governor said. PU vice-chancellor Ajay Kumar Singh, in his welcome address, outlined the academic and infrastructural development of the university in recent times. PU registrar Shalini led the academic procession. PU geology department teacher Atul Aditya Pandey conducted the proceedings.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
How campus violence has marred ‘Oxford of the East' Patna University
For the last few days, the 19-year-old student of Patna's BN College has been both scared and furious. It's been two weeks since two crude bombs hurled on the campus killed a fellow student and sparked massive protests, and the student is now worried about his own safety. 'Studying at Patna University was once a dream of many. Now, it's a nightmare,' the student says. The incident that has shaken the 19-year-old and many of his fellow students occurred on May 13, fatally wounding Sujeet Kumar Pandey, a second-year history honours student. According to the police, the bombs, hurled at 12:45 pm, was a result of a student rivalry and led to the detention of two people. The bombing has once again brought into focus the turbulent – and often violent – nature of Patna University's student politics. Once referred to as 'Oxford of the East', Patna University has seen at least five incidents of campus violence in the last two years – three of these in the last three months alone. 'Good, genuine students still avoid the hostels and find accommodation outside campuses due to this atmosphere,' one police officer says. 'Every now and then, we find sticks, rods, hockey sticks, and even firearms and materials for making crude bombs during raids at the college hostels.' The incidents led Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan — the Chancellor of Patna University – to make scathing remarks on the need for discipline on campus. In a speech made during a visit to the campus, Khan made particular mention of 'outsiders illegally occupying hostel rooms' as a key factor in the university's 'antisocial' environment. Both students and professors The Indian Express spoke to appear to endorse this. 'Various political parties have been misusing university students – some of whom no longer study here – as pawns for their own political gains, even using them for criminal purposes. There's a nexus involving these antisocial elements and political leaders,' N.K. Chaudhary, a retired professor and a former principal of Patna College, tells The Indian Express. Calls and text messages to Patna University Vice-Chancellor Ajay Kumar Singh, Registrar Shalini and Dean of Student Welfare Anil Kumar went unanswered. 'Antisocial elements' Founded in 1917, Patna University is India's seventh oldest and Bihar's first university that counts several of Bihar's most prominent leaders – from chief ministers such as S.K. Sinha, Lalu Prasad Yadav and the incumbent Nitish Kumar to diplomats such as former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey and former Chief Justice of India Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha — among its alumni. Since the first student election at the university in 1959, the Patna University's student body, the Patna University Student Union (PUSU), has been known as a vibrant forum for debate. But it was the 1970s – right around the time of the Bihar movement, also known as the JP Movement – that marked its true coming of age. Led by the veteran Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, the student movement in 1974 was aimed at protesting corruption and misrule in the state of Bihar, although it eventually spread to the central government under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as well. At Patna University, where the protests first began, Lalu Prasad Yadav, then president of the PUSU, was one of those driving the movement, along with Sushil Modi, who would later become deputy chief minister of Bihar, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who would eventually go on to become a Union minister. 'Politics has always been at the core of Patna University,' a college professor tells The Indian Express. But by the 1980s, the general mood of the campus had changed, with escalating caste conflicts and student clashes prompting the university's authorities from banning PUSU elections. This ban was lifted only in 2012, when the All India Students' Federation (AISF), the students' wing of the Communist Party of India won two of five key posts in the student body. The absence of elections, however, didn't stop political tensions from rising in the university — according to former professors and officials, caste lines began to be drawn here, allowing 'criminal elements to entrench themselves on campus and use college hostels for antisocial activities'. 'During that time, many non-students and antisocial elements backed by politicians made university hostels their safe houses,' one former professor claims. These problems persisted even after student elections resumed in 2012 – according to students and former professors, political patronage began to turn the PUSU elections into proxy battles for political parties, who viewed the campus as a training ground for future leaders. This eventually took the form of student clashes, violence and even bombings. For instance, in 2013, a mob of students barged into the Dalit Bhimrao Ambedkar Welfare Hostel armed with hockey sticks, bricks, stones, firearms and crude bombs, and assaulted residents. Three Dalits were injured in these clashes. These tensions came to a head in May last year, when a 22-year-old student of BN College was beaten to death at the Patna Law College. The incident, allegedly over the student union election, led to then Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar ordering the closure of all university hostels. This year too has seen at least three instances of campus bombings – including the incident on May 13. On March 5, days before the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU) elections, a bomb that went off near the university's Darbhanga House allegedly damaged a professor's car. Then on April 26 – just after the university announced it was reopening its hostels to students – four crude bombs exploded near Cavendish and Minto hostels after a clash between students. Police detained 13 students over this incident and allegedly found bomb-making materials in a room in Minto. Violence marred this year's PUSU polls too, leaving a journalist and a student wounded. According to students and professors, political parties 'openly' support student groups in defiance of the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, which recommends against external interference in student body elections. The guidelines, submitted by a panel under former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh in 2006, state that no person who is not a student on the rolls of the college or university 'shall be permitted to take part in the election process in any capacity'. Caste equations – always a permanent fixture in Bihar's social fabric – further fuel these student rivalries, which take the shape of hostel turf wars, as authorities struggle to enforce rules out of fear of retaliation from 'antisocial elements and politically connected groups', students and former professors allege. 'Different hostels are dominated by specific caste groups, and if a student is assigned a room in a hostel that does not align with their caste, they are often not permitted to stay,' Hritik Raushan, one of the presidential candidates for this year's PUSU elections, says, adding that these hostels have been left 'orphaned by the PU administration'. Former IPS officer Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande, who has previously served as Patna city's superintendent of Police, says hostel administrators 'are often too afraid to confront or to deal with these groups'. 'When I first joined, there were reports of clashes among boarders… Use of crude bombs was frequent even in the past at Patna University. Some hostel residents had as many as 20-25 criminal cases against them,' he says. For students, all of this means fear of returning to the campus. 'We have to think twice before seeking admissions here),' one student at BN College says, while another adds that he has chosen not to live on campus because 'it's unsafe'.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
PU convocation: No DLitt or DSc degrees to scholars, honorary doctorate for Ex-VC
Patna: Even as 108-year-old Patna University (PU) will not award the coveted Doctor of Letters (DLitt) or Doctor of Science (DSc) degree to any scholar at its annual convocation scheduled on May 31, its former vice-chancellor (VC) and sitting chairman of the Bihar State University Service Commission, Girish Kumar Chaudhary, will be awarded honoris causa doctorate degree on the occasion. Governor-cum-chancellor Arif Mohammed Khan has reportedly approved the PU's proposal for awarding the honorary doctorate degree to Chaudhary in recognition of his valuable contributions to the academic and infrastructure development of the university. He will be receiving this degree after a gap of nine years as per PU records, said PU examination controller Shyamal Kishore. Earlier, Banaras Hindu University's VC Girish Chandra Tripathi was awarded the honoris causa doctorate degree in 2016 when Y C Simhadri was PU's VC. And, before that Indira Gandhi National Open University's VC HP Dixit was awarded this degree during the vice-chancellorship of K K Jha in 2003. Much earlier, renowned historian Syed Hasan Askari was awarded honorary doctorate degree by PU in 1984 when G P Sinha was the VC. It may be recalled here that PU had approached President APJ Abdul Kalam for this honorary degree in 2005, but he politely declined the offer. Patna University Teachers Association's president Abhay Kumar told this newspaper that the names of RJD supremo and former CM Lalu Prasad (2004-05), CM Nitish Kumar (2011) and some other politicians, including former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha, were proposed by the syndicate, but the honorary degree could not be awarded to them owing to some controversies. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Kickstart your new journey with the Honda Shine 125 Honda Learn More Undo So far as the award of D Litt and D Sc degrees is concerned, not a single scholar has been awarded this degree by the university for more than two decades. In fact, the universities in Bihar, including PU, have stopped registering candidates for DLitt or DSc degree following an instruction from the chancellor's secretariat more than a decade ago, not to allow candidates undertake research leading to DLitt/DSc degree on the basis of old, outdated statutes. This year, 1,237 scholars who have passed the postgraduate examinations of PU in the 2022-24 session will be awarded their degrees at the convocation to be held at Patna Women's College. The recipients would include 57 Ph D scholars. Altogether 40 toppers of PG examinations, including 24 girls, would be awarded gold medals. Guru Ghasi Das University's vice-chancellor Alok Kumar Chakrawal will deliver the convocation address.
New Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Vice chancellor selection in KTU, DUK tough call for Kerala government
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Uncertainty prevails over the appointment of new vice chancellors in APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and Digital University of Kerala (DUK) as the term of the incumbent interim VCs in both universities is set to end this month. Though rules stipulate appointment of a regular V-C within six months of appointing an interim V-C, the process has been stalled indefinitely in all varsities due to differences between the government and governor on the composition of the selection panel. This would necessitate a return to the interim V-C arrangement. In November last year, former governor Arif Mohammed Khan had appointed interim V-Cs in KTU and DUK for a six-month period following the failure to reach a consensus with the government on V-C selection. Khan made the appointments after disregarding a panel of names provided by the state government. His decision was challenged by the government in the High Court. On Monday, the High Court made it clear that the V-C appointment must commence with the state government's recommendation. Though the verdict has come as a shot in the arm for the government, it is in a fix as finding a suitable person as interim V-C, as per the Acts of both varsities, seems a tough task. As per the KTU Act, the charge of vice chancellor can be given either to the vice chancellor of any other university, the university's pro vice chancellor or the higher education secretary. Notably, KTU does not have a pro vice chancellor at present. In the case of DUK, the charge can be given to either the vice chancellor of any other university or secretary of electronics and information technology department.
