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Govt buys Mahatma Gandhi papers for 60 mln rupees

July 10, 2012

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New Delhi, July 10: The government has bought thousands of letters, papers and photographs which shed light on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, days before they were to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London, a government official said on Monday.

India paid around 60 million rupees or $1.1 million for the papers, which cover Gandhi's time in South Africa, his return to India and his contentious relationship with his family. The auction that was to be held on July 10 has been called off.

"These (papers) are of huge importance to India to carry out research on the Gandhian view on various things, that is why we decided to purchase them," said a senior official at the ministry of culture in New Delhi, who asked not to be named.

The documents will be placed with the National Archives of India in New Delhi.

The documents previously belonged to relatives of Hermann Kallenbach, a German-born Jewish architect who met Gandhi in South Africa in 1904 and was impressed by his ideas.

Gandhi began his civil rights work and philosophy of non-violent resistance during his 20-year sojourn in the African country. He remained friends with Kallenbach after returning to India in 1915.

Some reviewers of a Gandhi biography by Pulitzer prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld published last year, which documented Gandhi's friendship with Kallenbach, said the book cited correspondence between the two men which suggested that they had had a homosexual affair.

Lelyveld has denied that his book "Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India" says Gandhi was bisexual. But Gandhi's home state of Gujarat has banned it as an "insult" to the father of the nation.

Among the most illuminating of the documents are dozens of letters written by Gandhi's sons which provide details of his life in India, particularly in the period immediately after his return, when he lived in relative obscurity.

"Father is becoming more and more awful," read one incomplete letter probably written by Harilal, his eldest son.

"It would not be strange if a time may come one of these days when either those who are living with Father might have to go or he might leave us all not being able to stand our life."


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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: With an increase of 10,667 cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has reached 3,43,091 on Tuesday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

It is noteworthy that today's spike in cases is lower than the 11,502 registered in the country yesterday and has also stayed below the 11 thousand mark it had been crossing for the past two days in a row.

However, there is an increase in the number of deaths due to the infection from yesterday, with 380 deaths being reported from across the country, the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,900.

The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,178 active cases, while 1,80,013 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far.

Maharashtra with 1,10,744 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,567 active cases while 56,049 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the four thousand mark and reached 4,128 in the state.
It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 46,504 and the national capital with 42,829 confirmed cases.

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News Network
February 2,2020

New Delhi, Feb 2: The Congress on Sunday released its manifesto for Delhi polls, promising to implement unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000-7,500 per month and cashback schemes for water and power consumers, if voted to power.

Presenting the manifesto, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said the party will provide free power up to 300 unit per month.

The manifesto also committed to spend 25 per cent budget each year on fighting pollution and improving transport facilities.

An unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 for graduates and Rs 7,500 for post graduates per month will be provided under the Yuva Swabhiman Yojna, he said.

The Congress will launch flagship cashback schemes for power and water supply to benefit consumers saving these resources. The party, if voted to power, will open 100 Indira Canteens to provide subsidised meals at Rs 15, Chopra said.

The Congress will challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Supreme Court and demand the Centre to withdraw the law. The party will also not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the existing form of the National Population Register (NPR), if voted to power in Delhi.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: The new National Education Policy (NEP) approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday is set to usher in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country, providing high-quality education to all, and making India a global knowledge superpower.

The draft of the NEP by a panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Kasturirangan and submitted to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal when he took charge last year. The new NEP replaces the one formulated in 1986.

Some of the key highlights of the New Education Policy are:-

The policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, scientific temper, creativity, spirit of service, and 21st century capabilities across a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, among others.

It identified the major problems facing the higher education system in the country and suggested changes such as moving towards multidisciplinary universities and colleges, with more institutions across India that offer medium of instruction in local/Indian languages, a more multidisciplinary undergraduate education, among others. 

The governance of such institutions by independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy has also been suggested.

Under the suggestions for institutional restructuring and consolidation, it has suggested that by 2040, all higher education institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students, and by 2030 each or near every district in the country there will be at least one HEI.

The aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in HEIs including vocational education from 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035.

Single-stream HEIs will be phased out over time, and all will move towards becoming vibrant multidisciplinary institutions or parts of vibrant multidisciplinary HEI clusters.

It also pushes for more holistic and multidisciplinary education to be provided to the students.

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