Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Sanskrit journalism course at IIMC soon

- Smriti Kak Ramachandr­an

THE PREMIER INSTITUTE, WHICH COMES UNDER THE I&B MINISTRY, ALREADY OFFERS COURSES IN URDU, MALAYALAM, ODIYA AND MARATHI

NEW DELHI: State-owned Indian Institute of Mass Communicat­ion (IIMC) will soon begin a course in Sanskrit language. The decision, taken at a meeting last week by the executive council of the premier institute, was announced on Thursday.

According to IIMC director general KG Suresh, a threemonth certificat­e programme in Sanskrit journalism will be offered to students wanting to pursue a course in the classical Indian language. The institute already offers courses in Urdu, Malayalam, Odiya and Marathi.

“We have set up a new unit known as the department of Indian languages that will offer courses in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. A memorandum of understand­ing has been signed with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth­a. They will look after the language part while we will draft the curriculum,” Suresh said.

IIMC, a premier institute under the ministry of informatio­n and broadcasti­ng, offers courses in journalism, advertis- ing and public relations and is also a hub for training officials of the Indian Informatio­n Service, foreign correspond­ents and personnel of the armed forces.

On whether there is a market for Sanskrit journalism, Suresh said, “There are a few Sanskrit publicatio­ns. Besides, All India Radio and Doordarsha­n have programmes in the language. Our research has shown there is a growing market for journalism in Indian languages.” Data from Audit Bureau of Circulatio­ns, a non-profit body for measuring and auditing newspaper and magazine circulatio­n in the country, shows while English and Hindi publicatio­ns grew by 17.6% and 37.8%, Bengali, Malayalam and Marathi publicatio­ns grew between 5-9% between June and December 2015. NEW DELHI: Two senior Gujarat policemen stepped down from posts at which the state had re-employed them after their retirement.

The officers — NK Amin and TA Barot — are facing allegation­s in fake encounter cases. The two offered to relinquish their postretire­ment jobs a day after the Supreme Court warned of an adverse order. During the hearing of a petition challengin­g their re-induction, a bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar disapprove­d of the Gujarat government’s offer to employ them on contract despite them being named in criminal cases.Amin, who retired in August last year as SP, has been reappointe­d as SP of Mahisagar district of Gujarat on contractua­l basis for a year. He faced trial and was acquitted in the Sohrabuddi­n fake encounter case. But he continues to face charges in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing.Barot was re-inducted in October last year as deputy SP with Western Railways at Vadodara for a year after retirement. He was accused in the Ishrat Jahan and Sadiq Jamal encounter cases.

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