Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen at loggerheads with Modi govt; to resign as Nalanda VC

February 20, 2015

New Delhi, Feb 20: Celebrated economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has declined a second term as Chancellor of the famous Nalanda University. The decision seems to be a political one, as Dr Sen feels that Narendra Modi-led BJP government does not want him to continue after his current term ends in July.

Amartya Sen resignSen announced his decision to opt out of a second term through a letter to the University's Governing Board, even though the Board had unanimously voted to re-elect him on January 13.

But Sen had a stinging critique for the government, calling it out for its interference. He wrote that "...sad, at a more general level that academic governance in India remains so deeply vulnerable to opinions of the ruling government..."

Dr Sen writes that his decision to not continue in the post after July was after neither the President, Pranab Mukherjee, nor the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) replied to the Board's decision. Because the Board consists of representatives of several Asian countries, the rules required the decision to be routed through the MEA to Rashtrapati Bhawan. Since he received no reply for a month, Sen concluded that the government did not want him to continue as Chancellor.

Sen however continued to lash out at the government, implying that President Mukherjee was under pressure. "Something makes it difficult - or impossible - for him to act with speed in this matter", wrote Sen.

Accusing the government of attempting to unilaterally reconstitute the entire Board, Dr Sen points out that, "the legal provisions (some of them from colonial days) allow the government to turn an academic issue into a matter of political dispensation."

Interestingly, Amartya Sen was a scathing critic of Narendra Modi during the latter's high profile Lok Sabha Election campaign.

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Agencies
January 21,2020

Kochi, Jan 21: A special court here on Tuesday sent two students, who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case in Kozhikode last November, to the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a day.

The NIA court ordered that the duo, who were in judicial custody till now, to be produced before it tomorrow.

In its application, the NIA had said that the accused must be interrogated on the basis of digital records and sought custody of the duo for a week.

However, the defendant argued that no new evidence had been found against the accused and therefore no custody should be granted.

During an earlier hearing, the two had told the court, "We are not Maoists. We are CPI (M) activists. The Chief Minister, who says we are Maoists, should bring proof of whom we killed and where we bombed. In the last election, we have served as CPI (M), booth agents. We are the ones who went out to vote and pasted posters for the party."

The two were charged under Sections 20 (punishment for being a member of terrorist gang or organisation), 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA.

Allen and Thaha, students of law and journalism respectively of Kannur University, were taken into custody by the police from Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode on November 1 last year.

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News Network
April 19,2020

Shimla, Apr 19: A man, who had recovered from the novel coronavirus, was again found suffering from the infection in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

The man, a Tablighi Jamaat member, tested positive for the infection on Saturday within a week of his two reports coming out negative, they said.

Residents of different places in Mandi district, the man along with two other Jamaatis had been staying in a mosque of Nakroh village in Una'a Amb tehsil and all tested positive on April 2.

They were admitted to Tanda's Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district on April 3.

As per the available information, they had tested negative for the first time on April 10 and they were declared as cured as per protocol after they tested negative for the second time on April 12.

Subsequently they had been discharged from the RPGMC and were kept in institutional quarantine.

However, with the man again testing positive, the total number of active cases in the hill state has increased to 23 out of the total 40 positive cases.

Four persons have been shifted to a private hospital outside the state. Eleven have recovered while two others have died.

A total of 16 confirmed cases were found in Una and health department statistics now shows 14 active cases and two cured.

Officials said 11 patients — three each from Chamba, Kangra, and Solan districts and two from Una district — have recovered.

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News Network
July 10,2020

Lucknow, Jul 10: Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Friday raised questions on gangster Vikas Dubey's encounter killing after an accident, saying the car did not topple but it was an effort to save the government from toppling if facts came to light.

Dubey was killed in an encounter after a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot, police said.

"Darasal ye car nahi palti, raj khulne se sarkar palatne se bach gayi hai," (Actually, the car did not topple. It is an effort to save the government which would have toppled if facts came to light)," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar P said that the accident took place in the morning when it was raining heavily and the police vehicle overturned near Kanpur.

Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3.

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