‘Selection process for VC must be apolitical’

Mysuru: Former minister B K Chandrashekhar has asked universities and higher education institutions not to be subject to political or government interference in their functioning. He said as all governors are not higher education experts, universities and higher education systems must be free from their control. Governors should not be decision-makers in universities, as the quality of education has collapsed in many. The state government has constituted a search committee for the selection of VCs, recommending three names to the governor from which he chooses one. Prof Chandrashekhar said that this system is not efficient and fool proof as there are allegations of bribery over the selection of VCs. He urged the government to discontinue this system as it is riddled with allegations of corruption. Government must include experts from reputed institutions such as Indian Institute of Science in the search committee, he said
Final voters’ list released for Kodagu dist
Madikeri: Kodagu has 4,44,098 voters as per the final list released by the district administration who are eligible to vote in the coming assembly and MP elections. As directed by the Election Commission of India, the final list of voters in Kodagu district has been released across all polling stations in the district. The district has two constituencies - Madikeri and Virajpet - and has a total of 4,44,098 voters. While Madikeri constituency has 2,25,910 voters and Virajpet has 2,18,188 voters in total. As confirmed by the district administration, during the electoral roll revision period, a special campaign was conducted in all the colleges in the district to identify students who were not registered in the electoral roll and a total of 3,747 young voters aged 18-19 years were registered on the electoral roll. Members of the Jenukuruba community living in 76 inhabited tribal settlements in the district were registered in the voter list. A total of 1,002 voters from the tribe were identified and have been included on the electoral roll, said Kodagu DC Sateesha BC.
Nos to be increased in schools: Min
Madikeri: Students’ admission numbers will be increased in government residential schools in Karnataka from the next academic year, said social welfare minister Kota Srinivas Poojary at Madikeri. He was speaking after inaugurating an event at the Morarji Desai Residential School in Kudige on Friday. “The residential schools across the state are recording an increase in number of admissions and are obtaining good results. There are a total of 830 residential schools in the state with a total of over two lakh admissions. In the next academic year, the number of admissions to grade 6 will be increased from 50 to 100 admissions,” said Poojary. He said service securities will be extended to teachers hired on contract at residential schools. Honorariums of the teachers will be increased and Rs 18 crore will be used for it. He said Rs 135 crore is required to maintain the residential schools. He said the state will also extend Kanakadasa residential schools in 50 places and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya residential schools across five places, including Mangaluru, Belagavi, Gulbarga, Mysuru and Bengaluru.
Name Mysuru-B’luru Expressway after Wadiyar: BJP leader
Mysuru: BJP leader R Raghu Kautilya urged the central government to name the Mysuru-Bengaluru expressway after Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. In a series of tweets, he objected to Mysuru MP Pratap Simha’s demand to name this expressway after River Cauvery. “Former CM SM Krishna proposed Wadiyar’s name voluntarily. MP V Srinivasa Prasad also supported this. As a Mysuruean, I feel, we should not propose any other name than Nalwadi because it would be like humiliating the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysuru. Nalwadi is the architect of modern Karnataka, and it is our duty to always remember him,” he said. Raghu Kautilya said the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway should be named after river Cauvery as it is the lifeline for both states..
Truck carrying cane husk gutted
Mandya: A truck transporting cane husk caught fire after it came in contact with a live wire near Madikepura village of Pandavapur taluk of Mandya district on Saturday. The fire destroyed the truck completely. A truck was heading to Hunsur in Mysuru from Chikkabyadarahalli in Mandya when the tragedy happened. A biker told the truck driver that the husk had caught fire. He immediately stopped the truck on the roadside and tried to douse the fire with the help of local residents. Passers-by brought water from a nearby shop and an attempt was made to douse the fire. Using an earth-moving vehicle, they attempted to remove the husk, but to no avail. Later, fire extinguishers rushed to the spot and extinguished the raging fire.
Quiz contest winners
Mysuru: The students of Kaveri PU College have emerged as winners and the students of Sharada Vidyamandir as runners in a quiz competition organised by Kaveri Women’s First- Grade College. Students from 26 colleges in the city participated in the inter-collegiate quiz contest. Students of Sharada Vilas Pre-Graduation College stood third.
Cultural programme held at college
Mysuru: Srikanta Mahila Pre-University College, the department of Kannada and culture and Suvidhatri Kala Pratishthan organised ‘Srikanta Ragalahari’. Dr C V Shilpa, who spoke as the chief guest, explained the health benefits of music. Kannada and Culture department director M D Sudarshan said: “Of late, culture, customs and thoughts are forgotten due to gadgets. Girl students must ace in competitive exams to work in top positions.” Former governor of Lions, Nagaraj V Bairi, called upon students to serve the needy.
Protest against Rangayana director
Mysuru: Members of Swabhimani Horata Samiti will stage a protest against Rangayana director Addanda C Cariappa for allegedly misusing the theatre repertory as a platform to defame KPCC president D K Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah, on January 10 at 10am at Oval Grounds. A decision to this effect was taken at a preliminary meeting held at Town Hall in the city on Saturday. The members who attended the meeting, cutting across political party lines, will picket Rangayana office on the day of the protest. They took strong exception to the Rangayana director for allowing the staging of the play ‘Sambashiva Prahasana’, which depicted Congress leaders in a poor light.