Punjab Panjab-Birmingham concordat Panjab University’s vice chancellor Arun Kumar Grover and University of Birmingham provost and vice principal Adam Tickell signed a collaboration MoU (memorandum of understanding) in Chandigarh on behalf of the two universities on December 8. Under the terms of the MoU, the two universities will collaborate for research projects, faculty and student exchanges, stage conferences jointly and organise workshops to develop innovations and discoveries for large-scale application. Each party will appoint a coordinator to conduct collaborative activities covered by the MoU. Panjab University is ranked in the 501-600 bracket of the THE World University Rankings for 2015-16 and Birmingham #148. Odisha Maa Rama Devi University Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Odisha’s first women’s university in Bhubaneswar, named after freedom fighter and social reformer Maa Rama Devi, on the occasion of her 116th birth anniversary (December 3). “Increased participation of women in higher education promotes gender equality in society. The development of society requires equal participation of women in every walk of socio-economic life,” he said speaking on the occasion. Describing Maa Rama Devi as an icon for women’s empowerment, Patnaik added: “Breaking the traditional world of conservatism, she dedicated herself to the nation. I hope Rama Devi Women’s University will bring qualitative changes among its students, and gradually evolve into an institution that inspires women in Odisha.” Haryana Forced labour row Several education ministry officials including block education officer Rajkumar Ahlawat and senior principal Naresh Verma questioned students of a government senior secondary in Hat village in Jind on December 1, following complaints that they were forced to whitewash and paint classroom walls. Earlier, some students had complained that school principal Lajpatray compelled them to whitewash classroom walls “under threat” of reducing their exam paper marks. However, others said they participated of their free will. Village panchayat members, including Sarpanch Rajendra, alleged the principal has transformed the school into a “hub of politics”, while some village residents complained that scheduled caste and other backward caste students haven’t been paid their stipends for the past three years. However, principal Lajpatray claimed he had paid the students for the painting work from his own pocket. The report of ministry officials will be sent to district headquarters soon. Meanwhile block education officer Ahlawat clarified that whitewash and painting are not included in permissible campus beautification projects. Bihar Fraud-free exam initiatives The state government has announced stern measures to counter cheating during board exams scheduled for March 2016, Bihar’s education minister Ashok Choudhary informed media in Patna on December 10. According to Choudhary, 12 exam centres have been dropped from last year’s approved exam centres list. Over 1.6 million children will write their board exams in March. The black-listed exam centres include the government school, Manhar in Vaishali district, whose photograph showing scores of parents and friends scaling the walls of a four-storied building to aid and abet examinees in March last year, went viral on social media. Choudhary warned that if cases of mass-scale copying in the 2016 matriculation examination…
