Campus Watch
Finally, HPU gets rid of ADN Bajpai as VC, RS Chauhan to hold office till new appointment
SHIMLA-Embroiled in controversies and corruption charges, the six year tenure of Prof. ADN Bajpai as the Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University has come to end. He hasn’t been given another extension as reports had suggested earlier. As per notification, Prof. R.S. Chauhan, Pro- Vice Chancellor, HPU, Shimla will hold the charge of the post with effect from 25 May. Prof. Chahuan will also continue to discharge his own duties till the appointment of new Vice Chancellor.
So far, last six years since appointment of Mr. Bajpai as VC has been toughest time for the HPU Campus. He was appointed during the Bhartiya Janata Party rule in 2012 despite his controversial past and pending case against him. His appointment was also challenged by the students. His decision to force drastic rise in fees on students, poor implementation of Rastriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA), and prohibition on direct elections to Student Central Association faced sever protest from the student organizations. Demand for his removal followed him during his entire tenure in HPU. The VC also remained in news for allegedly misusing his official position for personal benefits.
A petition filed in the State High Court, that was accepted, alleges that Mr. Bajpai caused a loss worth about Rs. 2.5 crore to varsity as he misused official staff and services at his official residence. The petition also alleged the VC of opening backdoor entries in recruitment and issuance of degree to non-eligible students.
The VC turned the campus into a police cantonment when the student protest grew aggressive. Police was openly allowed to unleash brutal force to repress the student protest. Two major organizations at HPU, Student Federation of India (SFI) and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had even joined hands against Mr. Bajpai demanding rollback of massive fee hikes and RUSA. Several protesting students were detained and some spent months in jail for showing resistance.
Not just the VC displayed involvement in and association to political activities himself, but also encouraged same environment for all administrative staff. He even managed to sit over the report of review committee formed to assess the massive hikes in fees. The system also seems to have supported Mr. Bajpai in his endeavors well.
Students are likely to take a sigh of relief now. But to recreate academic environment, HPU would now need a real educator and true visionary as its Vice-Chancellor, if government could spare this position from its political propaganda.
Solan: Naincy Sagar, an alumna of Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni has bagged a fellowship for pursuing PhD from France. Nancy has reached France and will be pursuing PhD in Forest Genetics from the University of Orléans under INRAE fellowship. INRAE is France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Naincy has completed her BSc Forestry from College of Horticulture and Forestry (COH&F), Neri in 2018 and MSc Forest Biology and Tree Improvement and Genetic Resources from UAS, Dharwad, under ICAR’s National Talent Scheme. Before leaving for France last week, Naincy was working as a Junior Research Fellow in a research project at COH&F, Neri.
She had applied for a PhD with a scholarship in Forest Genetics which was advertised by INRAE. Naincy was successful in the interview and was awarded a fellowship for three years for pursuing PhD at the University of Orléans. During the course of the PhD, she will receive a total scholarship of around Rs 70 lakh along with medical reimbursement. Naincy will be working on forest tree larch species in the Project titled ‘Vigour at what cost? ‘Trade-off’ of hybrid vigour in Larch-Phenological, morphological and physiological determinants of hybrid superiority in Larix X eurolepis’ with a team of 20 scientists of Joint Integrated Biology Research Unit having expertise in genetics, genomics and physiology for the enhancement of tree and forest diversity
Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Vice-Chancellor of the university spoke to Naincy via web conferencing and congratulated her. Dr. Kaushal, who has also done his doctorate from France, shared some tips and suggestions. He asked Naincy to explore this opportunity to learn about new cultures along with doing research that could help to enhance and conserve forest wealth in the future.
Naincy expressed gratitude towards her father Satya Prakash Sagar (Retd. SDO BSNL) and mother Monika Sagar, who is working as SDO in BSNL for their continuous support for higher studies. She also thanked Vice-Chancellor Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Dean Dr. Kamal Sharma and Dr. Dushyant Sharma, Project Investigator and all the university staff for their support and guidance. The university administration, Dean of COH&F Neri congratulated Naincy and wished her success.
Shimla-Dates for admissions to undergraduate courses for the session 2021-22 in colleges affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University has been extended, which has come as a relief to not only those students who were seeking fresh enrollments in the first year but also to the students of the second and third year.
The varsity informed that the decision was taken after considering requests received from various students regarding the same.
Now, willing students can apply for enrollment in both government and private colleges till 5 PM, October 25, 2021.
This extension of date would benefit students who recently passed supplementary exams or those students of the second and third-year who had missed admission due to delay in declaration of their previous results.
Solan– Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni, has extended the last date for applying to various Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral programmes in Horticulture, Forestry, Biotechnology, Agribusiness and Business Management. Applicants can submit their complete online application on the university’s admission portal till 18th October.
The normal seats of BSc (Hons) Horticulture, BSc (Hons) Forestry and B Tech Biotechnology will be filled on the basis of scorecard of ICAR-AIEEA (UG) 2021.
Admissions to MSc, MBA (Agribusiness) and PhD (for normal and self-financing seats) will also be conducted on the scorecard of ICAR AIEEA (PG) and AICE-JRF/SRF respectively. Students who have appeared in the ICAR-AIEEA 2021 for UG and PG, or AICE-JRF/SRF examination and are interested in seeking admission, such students must fill the university online application form before 18th October. Undergraduate aspirants who have not appeared in the ICAR test can however apply for the self-financing seats for B Sc and B Tech Biotechnology programmes run by the university by filling the online application on the university website.
The university has also advised the registered candidates to submit complete online application forms along with online payment acknowledgement slip before the due date. The schedule for online counselling will be announced by the University on the website after the declaration of the ICAR examination result. Application forms other than online mode will not be accepted.
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