KOLKATA: A raging debate over whether the name of Presidency College should be officially changed to Presidency University may finally be laid to rest with the authorities choosing a middle path. Though it has not yet been decided whether the prestigious institute will get a new logo and new nameplates, the authorities are keen on retaining a bit of the Presidency College legacy. Though vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar said it was yet undecided if a new logo would be...
KOLKATA: Historian Barun De, a pioneer of Bengals heritage conservation movement, died late on Tuesday at the age of 80. Des area of research was modern India and he specialized in the social and economic history of India in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bengal Renaissance and British constitutional history. His passing away is truly a sad event. He had an unbounded interest in every part of the world and many historical situations, historian Romila Thapar told TOI. It led him to make...
CHENNAI/COIMBATORE: The anti-Lanka protests are spiralling out of control across Tamil Nadu with more apolitical youth and students coming out on the streets. It is believed to be the largest ever students upsurge for the Tamil cause from seemingly apolitical campuses like IIT and Loyola. It is also touted as the second largest mass protest of students after anti-Hindi agitation. In Chennai students of the Loyola College and Nandanam Art College continued their campaigns on Sunday...
: Presidency University seems to have become a star attraction for several scholars from the foreign shores. On Friday, the authorities announced the names of assistant professors appointed to four departments English, history, physics and statistics. In all 21 vacancies were filled up, of which several are scholars who have studied in foreign universities or have taught there or both. Apart from fresh recruits, teachers of the erstwhile Presidency College have also been...
CHENNAI: More than 35% of the autonomous colleges in the country are in Tamil Nadu. In a recently released report Indian higher education - quest for excellence, the University Grants Commission identified 441 autonomous colleges, including 155 from TN, across 21 states. The idea of partially delinking colleges from the affiliating structure of universities and promoting autonomy was to allow institutions to design their own curricula, prescribe syllabi, evolve pedagogy and appropriate...
CHENNAI: Spurred into action by the frequent clashes among city college students, police have formed a special students wing that will prepare a list of regular trouble makers and check their backgrounds. The list will be forwarded to the respective colleges seeking removal of the offenders. The aim is to monitor students indulging in violence and keep a check on various outfits infiltrating colleges and instigating students. Two members of the wing will...
KOLKATA: St Xaviers College is all set to start an IAS coaching centre from August, with specialised coaching in eight subjects - commerce, economics, political science, international relations, sociology, statistics, history, management and physics. It will be a full-time course for nine months and selected candidates will have to attend classes on the campus for five days a week for four hours daily. There are some privately-run coaching centres where module-based training is imparted and so,...
KOLKATA: From today, Presidency College will not have a principal. The prestigious post was unceremoniously scrap-ped a day before the first vice-chancellor takes charge, stirring up yet another controversy surrounding the elite institution that has recently been upgraded to a university. The move has left existing principal Amitava Chatterjee extremely hurt. Earlier, the government had announced that he would continue to function alongside vice-chancellor Amita Chatterjee.
CHENNAI:: Thirty-two students of Presidency College, arrested for roaming near Central station with clubs and sticks in a reported bid to attack students of a rival college, are to be released from prison on Wednesday morning. The XIII metropolitan magistrates court in Egmore granted bail to the students on Tuesday on a petition filed by the college administration. We moved the bail petition for all the students, principal Dr R Sabanayagam told TOI. Earlier in...
KOLKATA: Panic gripped Presidency College on Saturday morning when the authorities were informed over the phone that a bomb had been planted there. The threat, however, turned out to be a hoax. It took a few hours for sniffer dogs and bomb detection and disposal squad personnel to comb the premises and declare it safe. Most classes and other college programmes were disrupted due to the alarm. A prankster called up the college around 10.20 am. The male caller told college...
CHENNAI: In a fresh clash at Presidency College on Thursday, at least three students were injured and admitted to a private hospital in Chennai. Police have taken at least 25 students into their custody for questioning. Perumal, a third year BA (Economics) student, Karthik, a third year Zoology student and G Satish Kumar , a BA (Political Science) student were injured. Police said the injured students were chatting in the canteen on the college campus when a gang wielding...
CHENNAI: A clash between two groups at Presidency College on Friday left two students injured. Police said two groups of students of the college travelling in an MTC bus (29A) on Friday morning had a tiff over the college union election in the bus. An argument broke out but other students in the bus pacified the groups. After they reached college, members of one group allegedly teased their rivals and this led to a brawl on the campus, leaving two students injured. Police said Selvam...
CHENNAI: The time and energy spent by the city police to diffuse trouble created by college students is reaching ridiculous levels. On Friday afternoon, several police personnel chased away a group of Presidency College students who tried to stage a road roko outside the institution after a few of their mates were earlier picked up by police for creating a ruckus. A demonstration had earlier been staged on the campus. Trouble began after a student, a regular on the 6D bus...
KOLKATA: The West Bengal Higher Education Council is setting up a committee to examine complaints regarding teacher-selection at Presidency University after the recent spate of resignations. Sources said the council has been receiving several complaints about alleged bias in the teacher-selection process at the university. It has been alleged that some of the new recruits do not meet UGC-stipulated eligibility criteria, and a few do not even have PhDs. Higher education council...
Given the ever-rising cut-offs in some of the premiere colleges in India, getting through an Ivy-League university for a science programme seems easier than finding a place in an engineering or medical institution in India. Each year, hordes of students throng foreign shores in search of a more comprehensive and intensive learning experience, coupled with a global environment and more lucrative job prospects. Says Akshay Govind Dixit, an economics major graduating from Presidency...
KOLKATA: Yet another teacher of Presidency University - this time an assistant professor of statistics - has decided to leave the institute. While leaving, Subhra Sankar Dhar, a Presidency alumnus who did his post-doctorate from Cambridge, had to tender his resignation in a hand-written letter because the printers in his department did not work on that day. The department has around three printers, but apart from the one at the HODs office, the...
KOLKATA: A senior teacher of Presidency College, who opted to stay on but was eliminated by the new universitys selection panel, has taken the prized institution to court. Zoology teacher Rina Rani Roy has filed a suit in Calcutta high court, claiming she is a victim of injustice and that she had been eliminated without proper reason. When TOI contacted her, she refused to comment. The matter is in court. I wouldnt like to make any statement. However, its true that I have taken the...
KOLKATA: A Presidency University teacher wants to revert to college teaching, giving up the cushy job he got after due screening. Samit Kar, associate professor of sociology, has written to the university to allow him to take up teaching in a government college again. However, for Kar, who is visually challenged, seeking a transfer to a government college was not a compulsion. Kar had opted for university teaching and got through the selection interview when many of his...
CHENNAI: At a time when the city is flooded with usual summer camps for children, a recent camp conducted by Tamil Heritage Trust had a different story to tell. The two-day camp covered a wide range of subjects like bronze-, history of vegetables, textile printing and coins of great empires. At least 25 students between the age group of 8 and 15 participated in the camp. This also included an introductory section on musical story telling by Isai Kavi Ramanan and...
