Odisha Lecturer suspended for poll violation A TEACHER OF A government-aided higher education institution was placed under suspension for violating the Election Commission of India™s model code of conduct by campaigning for a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party candidate in the Pattamundai assembly segment of the Kendrapara district. Sridhar Behera, a lecturer of Pattamundai Women™s College, allegedly canvassed for the ruling BJD. The allegation was probed by an inquiry committee constituted by the district Election Commission office. The committee found corroborative evidence supporting the charge following which Behera was suspended, district collector Nitin Bhanudas Jawale informed media personnel in Kendrapara on April 9. Earlier in the week, a junior clerk of a government-run high school was also suspended on similar charges. Arunachal Pradesh University curriculums upgradation plea ADDRESSING FACULTY AND students of the North East Regional Institute of Science & Technology and the Rajiv Gandhi University in Itanagar on April 26, D.P. Agrawal, chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said the curriculums of universities in the country need upgradation because they have not been revised œfor more than a decade. Moreover Agrawal advocated vocationalisation of the education system to enhance skills of students to earn livelihoods, while urging the state government to ensure optimum utilisation of resources to provide quality education. œImparting quality education is the biggest challenge before us today. We must focus on nurturing and developing our education system for a better Arunachal and India, he said. Punjab ADR Lok Sabha candidates profiles OF THE 253 candidates contesting the 16th Lok Sabha elections in Punjab state, barely 50 percent have passed their class X board exam with only 32 percent having graduated. According to the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 68 candidates failed to clear class X while 62 have. According to the report, nine contestants are illiterate. A total of 80 candidates testing the electoral waters in Punjab are graduates, graduate professionals and/or postgraduates, says an ADR press note issued in Chandigarh on April 27. Prominent among them are Congress candidate Partap Singh Bajwa; Patiala Congress nominee Preneet Kaur, and BJP™s actor-politician Vinod Khanna (Gurdaspur). Among 21 graduate professionals are the BJP™s Arun Jaitley (a law graduate of Delhi University), contesting the Amritsar seat, and the Aam Aadmi Party™s H.S. Phoolka (law graduate of Panjab University) contesting from Ludhiana. Only 29 candidates are postgraduates, notable among whom are Congress candidate Ambika Soni, who has a postgrad diploma from the University of Havana (Cuba), and AAP™s Amritsar contestant, eye surgeon Dr. Daljit Singh. Maharashtra Reduce defence spend call DURING A DISCUSSION with Maharashtra governor K. Sankaranarayana and political leaders of the state on April 3, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sanchez called upon developing nations including India, to slash defence expenditure to release resources for investment in education and health. œThe world is spending $175 trillion (Rs.1035,000,000 crore) on arms and ammunition. Poor countries of the world don™t need to spend that much. India is one of the…
