Guwahati, February 11. State governor Jagadish Mukhi, ex officio chancellor, suspended Ranjit Tamuli, vice chancellor of Dibrugarh University with immediate effect following allegations of misuse of public funds.
Earlier, the Dibrugarh University Teachers’ Association and several employees unions of the university, and MLA Rituparna Baruah had petitioned governor Mukhi to investigate Tamuli’s financial irregularities and misappropriation of university funds. Dissatisfied with the vice chancellor’s response to a show-cause notice, Mukhi constituted a four-member facts-finding committee to ascertain the veracity of the allegations.

In its report, the committee found “prima facie a case of grave misconduct, abuse of power and lack of commitment on the part of the vice chancellor”.

Kerala
KUDSIT inauguration

Thiruvananthapuram, February 20. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan virtually inaugurated the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (KUDSIT), the country’s first digital university in Technocity Mangalapuram after completion of its first phase of construction.

Spread across a ten-acre campus, the digital university — which has the capacity of 12,000 postgrad and research scholars — has been set up by upgrading the two-decades old Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala (IIITM-K) through an ordinance promulgated in January 2020.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the country’s first digital university will create “enormous opportunities” for scholars. “We urgently need to foster technologically-advanced individuals in accordance with changes in the new world,” he said.

Maharashtra
Disale to mentor teachers

Mumbai, February 10. Ranjitsinh Disale, a primary school teacher of the Zilla Parishad Primary School in Solapur district and winner of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize 2020 of the UK/Dubai-based Varkey Foundation, will mentor government school teachers across the state through online ‘teacher inspiration’ workshops on modern technology in education, said the state’s rural development minister Hasan Mushrif.

“Through these workshops, teachers in the state will gain new confidence and work with greater vigour. This initiative will also help change the way communities look at government schools,” said Mushrif, speaking on the occasion.

Disale who won the prize last year in recognition of his efforts to educate girl children, has thus far mentored 16,000 teachers and taught children from over 1,400 schools in 143 countries through his novel ‘virtual field trip’ initiative, added the minister.

Gujarat
IIS co-promotion agreement

Ahmedabad, February 4. The Mumbai-based Tata Group of Companies (annual revenue: $113 billion or Rs.8.3 lakh crore) and the state government signed an agreement to establish an Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) for 5,000 students on a 20-acre campus in Nasmed village in Gandhinagar district.

Under the terms of the agreement, the state’s labour and employment ministry will begin construction of IIS under the not-for-profit public-private-partnership (PPP) model. This institute will train graduates to work in artificial intelligence, cyber security, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, system integration, cloud-based application, simulation solutions, says a statement issued by the Gujarat government.

Sikkim
Girls self-defence courses

Gangtok, February 15. All girl students of classes VI-X in government-run schools statewide will be trained in self-defence, announced special secretary (education) Bhim Thatal. The announcement followed Thatal’s inauguration of a self-defence training programme for girls at the Samdong Government Senior Secondary School on February 14.

“Self-defence training will inculcate discipline within students as well as prepare them for future obstacles. Girl students will be trained in Taekwondo, karate, boxing and kickboxing,” he said.

Uttarakhand
BharatNet 2.0 project

Dehradun, February 22. Under the state government’s BharatNet 2.0 project, 12,000 villages will be provided Internet connectivity. The decision to implement the project’s second phase came after chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat met with Union IT minister Ravishankar Prasad in the national capital recently.

The two ministers agreed that time-bound implementation of a state government model of the BharatNet project is necessary because of Uttarakhand’s difficult geographic terrain, strategic significance and vulnerability to natural disasters. They also agreed to strengthen digital connectivity in the Chardham pilgrimage area and to also boost Internet connectivity in border areas, said an official statement.

Paromita Sengupta with bureau inputs