Tripura ICRE outpost inauguration The Dehradun-based Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) announced detailed plans to inaugurate a branch office in Tripura at a media conference in Agartala on November 28. The office will be sited in the Shantirbazar forest division of South Tripura district. According to Dr. V.K. Bahuguna, director-general of ICFRE, the branch office will conduct research on forest resources such as bamboo and timber and impart education on forestry and wildlife. Earlier, Tripura’s forests minister Jiten Chowdhury met Dr. Bahuguna on November 27 and assured him of the state government’s full cooperation. According to Bahuguna, ICFRE’s charter is to promote and coordinate forestry education, research and application, develop forest extension programmes and propagate forests preservation through mass media, audio-visual aids and extension machinery. Rajasthan Additional SBC quota The Rajasthan government announced acceptance of the Justice I.S. Israni Committee report recommending 5 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for five communities, including Gujjars, under the ‘specially backward category’ (SBC). After the committee submitted its report to chief minister Ashok Gehlot on November 22, its acceptance was announced in Jaipur on November 28. According to Gehlot, although following acceptance of the Israni Committee report the reserved quota for scheduled castes, tribes and other backward classes will rise to 54 percent, exceeding the 50 percent cap imposed by the Supreme Court, the committee’s additional 5 percent quota for five SBC communities is in consonance with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Indira Sahni vs. Union of India (1992). Gehlot also announced a committee to examine the possibility of 14 percent reservation for economically backward communities. However, Gujjar leaders have not welcomed the decision describing it as politically motivated. “It is a political decision because we wanted the reservation within the constitutional limit of 50 percent,” says Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who has spearheaded several Gujjar agitations in the state. Odisha Vedanta Foundation’s e-shiksha project Vedanta Foundation, the CSR (corporate social responsibility) arm of the London-based Vedanta Resources Plc (annual revenue $ 11 billion or Rs.59,689 crore) signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the state government of Odisha (aka Orissa) for implementation of its e-shiksha project in 1,000 schools statewide, on November 23. Under the terms of the MoU, the foundation will provide quality e-content to over 200,000 children (class VI-X) statewide in English, science, mathematics and social sciences. The foundation will provide e-content developed on the basis of the CBSE curriculum. “The teachers training programme will help our teachers to learn new technology-aided pedagogies and deliver quality education,” says an Odisha government spokesperson. A total of 2,500 teachers are expected to be trained under the project. Maharashtra IDFC bets on MSFM Private equity player IDFC Alternatives announced an investement of Rs.100 crore in the Bangalore/Manipal-based Manipal Education Group’s management business, in Mumbai on November 26. “IDFC Alternatives, through IDFC Private Equity Fund III, has invested Rs.100 crore in Manipal Servicecorp Facility Management (MSFM), promoted by the Manipal Education Group,” said an IDFC statement. MSFM currently…
