Australia’s strong ties with Indian educational institutions appreciated

CHENNAI: Australia has a
strong and growing relationship
with educational institutions
in India with focus
on excellence, Australian
Consul General in India
David Holly said today.
Speaking after signing of
a MoU between SRM University
and the University of
New South Wales, Australia,
he said “India is at the front
ranks (among top fi ve) of
Australia’s international
partnerships in higher education.
“We are proud of
the strategic partnership that
we have with India.
‘And it is the growing
strength of our bilateral education
partnership that has
resulted in both our Union
HRD Ministers meeting annually
and the establishment
of the Australia-India Education
Council”, he added.
Noting that these initiatives
would steer the joint partnerships
of both the countries
in higher education and vocational
training, Mr Holly
said in Tamil Nadu alone,
Australia has 38 active higher
education partnerships
and the one signed today
with SRM was 39th agreement.
He said Australia has
great empathy with the challenge
in India for providing
medical care in a community
or rural setting.
“Like governments and
hospitals in India, Australian
Governments and hospitals
are working to ensure that
demography and distance
won’t be the determinant of
Australia’s health, medical,
technology and community
medicine research which are
key parts to fi nding solutions
to this challenge”, he added.
He said it was nice that India
and Australia were continuing
the tradition of not
facing these challenges in
the delivery of medical care
alone.
“Today’s signing of MoU
between SRM and University
of New South Wales,
joins a long tradition of collaboration
that has assisted
each country in providing
community medical care,
particularly in rural and remote
settings”, he added.
Mr Holly said to encourage
research; the Australian
and Indian Governments
have established the Australia-
India Research Fund
which has a Rs 270 crore
commitment from the Australian
Government which
was matched by the Indian
Government.
“Currently, 60 separate
projects between Australia
and India’s premier Universities
and research institutions
are supported by the
Fund with projects in a wide
range of areas
like bio-tech, renewable energy,
agricultural science,
nano technology and astrophysics”,
he added.
The next phase under the
Fund was the “grand challenge”,
which focused on
energy, food and water security,
environment and health,
he said, adding, today’s
MoU would lead to greater
application in these areas.

Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare enters Tamil Nadu

BANGALORE: Maruti Suzuki
Dakshin Dare, which
was fl agged off from Mysore
in Karnataka entered
Ooty in Tamil Nadu after
two days of rallying in Karnataka
and Kerala.
Motorsports enthusiasts
are getting set to leave today
late night for the toughest
and most grueling part of the
rally spanning 530 kms over
26 hours. The Night Rally
spanning over 60 kms will
traverse through the blue
valleys of Nilgiris to reach
Coimbatore by sunrise tomorrow
morning where another
9 special stages await
them, reports reaching here
said.
Meanwhile, at the end
of leg 2 of Maruti Suzuki
Dakshin Dare, the positions
remain same. Gaurav Gill/
Mousa Sheriff clocked a total
time of 1.24.55 Hrs and
are leading as of now. Lohith
Urs/Chapong Chaiwan
is following them at 1.28.41
Hrs just four minutes behind.
Anwar Khan/Md Nadeem:
1.35.02 maintains their third
position as yesterday.
In the Endurance Car category,
Sanjay Takale/Musthafa
are at the top with a penalty
of 0.00.35 hrs. Last year’s
winners and Bangalore couple
Satish Gopalakrishnan/
Savera who are driving a
Grand Vitara and having
closed yesterday’s difference
to just one second, retain
second spot with a cumulative
penalty of 0.00.37 hrs.
Kartik Maruti/Shankar
Anand has lost their third
spot to Ashish Budhia/Yogesh
Gupta who has a cumulative
penalty of 0.00.41
hrs. In the ultimate bikes
category, Pramod Joshua
who was tied up at the top
slot with Nataraj, slipped at
one of the hair pin bends and
damaged his bike.
He will be unable to continue
further. He had shared
the top slot yesterday with
Nataraj who now leads with
an overall timing of 1.23.36
Hrs.
The second spot in bikes
is with Chetan Ganapathy:
1.28.43 while Sharath follows
him just one minute
behind with a total timing of
1.29.46 Hrs
Earlier, Maruti Suzuki
Dakshin Dare left very
early from the chilly Wayanad
through the Kozhikode
Ghats into the lush tea and
rubber plantations in the
foothills of Munnar. A 18
km special stage was held of
the participants of Ultimate
cars and bikes at Kakkadam.
The rally then traversed
through Gudalur ghats into
the fl ora and fauna rich Nilgiris
to reach Ooty covering
an overall distance of 230
kms. through Gudalur ghats
into the fl ora and fauna rich
Nilgiris The results (after
second leg) : Ultimate Cars:
Gaurav Gill/Moussa Sheriif:
1.24.55 Hrs, Lohit Urs/
Choupan Chaiwan: 1.28.41
Hrs, Anwar Khan/Md Nadeem:
1.35.02 Ultimate
Bikes: Nataraj 1.23.36 Hrs,
Chetan Ganapathy:
1.28.43, Sharath: 1.29.46
Hrs Endurance Cars: Sanjay
Takale/Musthafa 0.00.
Hrs sec, Satish 0.00.37 Hrs,
Ashish Budhia 0.00.41 Hrs.

Tech students should turn entrepreneurs: Offi cial

MYSORE: Students passing
out of engineering colleges
should explore way
to turn entrepreneurs than
merely looking for a job, M
N Vidyashankar, Principal
Secretary, Department of IT,
BT and S&T, said.
He said this will help bring
newer technologies as the
young techies-turned-entrepreneurs
will be able to look
to bring them to the country
from abroad.
Speaking after inaugurating
the Centre for Nano-
Technology at Institute of
Engineering (NIE), he cited
the example of Taipei, the
capital of Taiwan, which,
despite being one fourth the
size of Bangalore city, had
made astounding progress in
the fi eld of IT and electronics
hardware.
Speaking about the advances
made in IT&BT because
of which the lifestyle
of people have changed vastly,
Vidyashankar said akin to
the payment of bills made
easy through the mobile
phone technology, in future
it will be easier with ‘special
technology’
through satellites.
Explaining about the
progress attained through biotechnology,
Vidyashankar
said that cotton, which used
to be imported eight years
ago, is now being exported,
thanks
to BT seeds.
NIE Principal G L Shekar,
speaking on the occasion,
explained about two projects
- ‘Characterisation of composite
materials and application
of nano-materials for
sustainable energy’ and ‘Development
of CIGS-based
nano-materials for photovoltaic’s
-which have been
housed in the Centre.
Its primary objective is to
characterise structural and
mechanical properties of
nano-materials for various
applications.
It is a research centre for
Physics, Chemistry and Mechanical
Studies, he said.

All parties must create of National Health service

All parties must help to create an equivalent of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). If a
war-ravaged Britain could constitute the NHS as early as in 1948, there is no reason why India
endowed with better resources and technologies now could not emulate it, Dr. Narayan said in
a statement here. - Lok Satta Party President Jayaprakash Narayan

New terminal at Chennai Airport to open in June: AAI

CHENNAI: The new terminal
buildings at the Chennai
airport would be commissioned
by June this year,
Airports Authority of India
(AAI) Chairman V P Agarwal
announced here on
Wednesday evening.
He told newspersons here
the testing of electro-magnetic
equipments were on
and the new domestic terminal
premises was also being
cleaned. Space has been
allocated for all stakeholders’
including customs, immigration
and airline companies
and handed over keys
to them, he added.
Airline companies would
take about a month to move
into the new premises, he
said, adding the soft opening
of the new domestic
terminal might take place
by the third week of May
with arrival and departure
of two airlines from the new
facility. Asked about the
international terminal, he
said, the works would be
completed by May-end.
He said both the terminals
would be opened simultaneously
some time in June but
the commissioning date has
not yet been fi xed. ‘We expect
it to happen within two
months,” he indicated.
Agarwal added that the
AAI has submitted its recommendation
toAirports
Economic Regulatory Authority
(AERA) for charging
user development fees
at Chennai airport. Earlier,
Mr Agarwal said, the AAI
is keen on the Greenfi eld
airport at Sriperumbudur
and the state government
has also envisaged interest
in promoting it. “We had
discussions with the Tamil
Nadu chief secretary Debendranath
Sarrangi on Tuesday
and we expect the land
acquisition process to start
soon,” he added.
Noting that need for
Greenfi eld airport is immense,
as the present airport
at Meenambakkam would
be constrained by 2017-18,
Mr Agarwal said that all
sanction process for the new
airport is taking place and
modalities are being worked
out to take project forward.
He added that the state government
should address the
connectivity issues. According
to him the total
project cost envisaged for
the new airport that would
initially have limited construction
is Rs 7000 crore, of
which the land alone would
be bought for Rs 3000 crore.
“We would do the initial
works and let both the airport
- Chennai and Sriperumbudur
to stabilize. Then,
we would bring in private
partner,” he added.

Gujarat massacre: 18 gets life; 7 years RI for 5

AHMEDABAD: A special
court in Gujarat’s Anand
district on Thursday pronounced
the quantum of
sentence in the 2002 Ode
village massacre case and
awarded a life term to 18
convicts.
The special court also
awarded seven years of rigorous
imprisonment to remaining
fi ve convicts. On
Monday, almost a decade after
a mob killed 23 Muslims,
including nine children, in
the Ode village, the special
court convicted 23 of the 47
people accused in the case.
The court also acquitted 23
others in the case and one
accused had already died
during trial.
Special court judge PB
Singh delivered verdict
against 47 accused in the
case.
The Ode massacre was
one amongst the nine post-
Godhra riot cases investigated
by the Supreme Court
appointed Special Investigating
Team (SIT). The
massacre took place after 59
karsevaks were charred to
death in the fi re that broke
out in the S6 compartment
of Sabarmati Express train
at Godhra railway station on
February 27, 2002.
The case was fi rst investigated
by the local police
but, later, it was handed
over to the Supreme Courtappointed
SIT, which fi led
a charge-sheet against 47
accused in the case. One of
the accused died during trial
while two others fl ed abroad
after getting bail and have
been evading trial.
The SIT has urged the
court to place the incident in
the rarest of the rare category.
It is, therefore, likely to
seek capital punishment or
life sentence for the accused
who were allegedly actively
involved in the massacre.
Out of the 10 riot cases
investigated by the SIT on
the instructions of the Apex
Court, this would be the
third in which a judgment
will be given. Last year,
the special courts set up for
trial of the riot cases had
pronounced judgment in
the Sabarmati Express train
carnage case and the Sardarpura
riot case of Mehsana
district.
In the Ode case, special
prosecutor PN Parmar had
earlier argued on behalf of
the SIT that the complicity
of the accused in the case
had been established from
the evidences on record and
eyewitness accounts, in addition
to the scientifi c and
medical evidence.
He had further argued
that the court should look
at the gravity of the offence
in which nine children were
among the 23 innocent people
killed by the mob.

Educational institutions all under RTE: SC

NEW DELHI: Supreme

Court today upheld the

constitutional validity of

the Right to Education Bill

making it mandatory for private

schools to reserve 25%

seats for children of economically

weaker sections

of society.

The RTE judgment will

come into effect from

Thursday and the court said

prior admissions would not

be affected.

A bench comprising Chief

Justice SH Kapadia and Justices

KS Radhakrishnan and

Swantanter Kumar, which

had reserved its verdict on

August 3 last year, upheld

provisions of the law which

made right to education a

fundamental right of children

in the age group of

6-14 years.

The RTE Act will be applicable

for day schools and

not for boarding schools.

The RTE Act will also not

be applicable in private minority

schools. Reacting to

the judgement, RTE campaigner

and lawyer Ashok

Aggarwal said, “I am happy

with the judgement. I am

hoping that overall it will be

a boost to the child centric

policy of the government.”

The order was passed on a

bunch of petitions by private

unaided institutions which

contended that the Act violates

the rights of private educational

institutions under

Article 19(1)(g) which provided

autonomy to private

managements to run their

institutions without governmental

interference.

During the marathon arguments

in the case which

went for many months, the

Centre had defended the law

saying it was aimed at uplifting

the socially and economically

weaker section of

society. The Centre had emphasised

the need to de-link

merit and talent from social

and economic differences

among different sections of

society and said that the act

calls for “moving towards

composite classrooms with

children from diverse backgrounds,

rather than homogeneous

and exclusivist

schools”.

The main petitioner Society

for Un-aided Private

Schools, Rajasthan, and a

host of associations representing

various private

schools questioned the

validity of the Act on the

ground that it impinged on

their rights to run the educational

institutions.