Six universities participate in Japan Education Fair at DU

A two-day Japan higher education fair was held at Delhi University to encourage more Indian students to take up studies in Japan.

Six Japanese universities, including The University of Tokyo, International University of Japan, Ritsumeikan University, Waseda University, and Hokkaido University participated in the education fair held at the South Campus on Tuesday.

The first day of the education fair was held at North Campus on Monday.

Officials from Japan said the country wants to encourage more Indian students to go there as currently only about 1,000 Indian students study at different Japanese universities.

Professor Aya Ikegame from the University of Tokyo said there were many benefits of studying in Japan, including the easier VISA process. “It is much easier to get a working VISA in Japan than in other countries. The fee is also much lower compared to western countries,” she said.

The University of Tokyo is the coordinator in India for ‘Study in Japan’ initiative of the Japanese government, she said.

She said that most students enquired about engineering and science and technology programmes being offered by Japanese universities.

“We have liberal arts, business management, engineering, and science and technology programmes. There is a perception that Japan is good with technology so we got many students enquiring about those courses,” she said.

As part of its plan to reach out to more Indian students, the representatives from the universities will be visiting schools in Delhi, Lucknow, and Chennai.

“He had married a local Kashmiri girl, today also he had gone to meet a girl, (but) can’t be sure if it was the same girl,” Vaid told Hindustan Times.

The GOC of 15 Corps, Lt Gen. J Sandhu, told reporters that Dujana was less into militancy of late and more into “aiyashi”, an Urdu word that translates to debauchery.

Dujana’s killing came just over a year after the gunning down of top Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani.

As news of Dujana’s death spread, thousands of Kashmir residents came out onto the streets and clashed with government forces, throwing stones at them.

Troops retaliated by firing tear gas, pellet guns and bullets, killing a young man in Hakripora village near Bandipora, around 30 km from state capital Srinagar, witnesses and police said.

Witnesses alleged police fired indiscriminately to break up a protest about an hour from the encounter site. A woman nurse was wounded inside a hospital in Pulwama town, south of Srinagar, one of several people injured by bullets, they said.

Wani’s killing in July last year sparked months-long street protests by stone-pelting civilians across Kashmir, leaving close to 100 people dead. His successor Sabzar Bhat was gunned down by security forces in May this year.

A top police official said forces will not back off despite growing protests, which have prompted global rights bodies to call for restraint by India to avoid civilian deaths.

“Stone pelting or no pelting, disruptions or no disruptions, our operations will continue,” said Kashmir’s inspector general of police Munir Khan.

“In spite of our warnings and requests, people on behest of terrorists tend to come in between encounter(s)...that is how they get injured or killed.”

India accuses Pakistan-based groups of funding the street protests and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing money trails from the neighbouring country to separatist Hurriyat leaders.

Following the protests on Tuesday, the authorities shut down schools and colleges for the day and cut mobile internet, frequently targeted by authorities to stop the spread of what they claim to be rumours and fake messages that provoke civilian anger.

Dujana was among 11 top militants of the valley, many of whom were categorised A++ target by the army.

Dujana’s marriage, sources said, could have been the reason for a rift with his-Pakistan-based handlers.

He was challenged by one of his aides, Abu Ismail, who set up a rival faction along with some Kashmiri youth. Sources said most of militant incidents involving LeT were carried out by the rival group, including the recent attack on Amarnath pilgrims.

IG Munir Khan said Dujana was involved in “harassment of girls”.

“I want to tell women and girls in the valley that they are safe now,” Khan added.

In a memorandum to the poll panel, the Congress said use of NOTA in indirect elections contradicts the Constitution-man- dated system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

Simply put, elected MLAs of legislative assemblies of states and Union territories elect Rajya Sabha members.

Of the 10 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in various states, only Gujarat will record a contest. Gujarat has three vacancies and the ruling BJP has fielded party chief Amit Shah, Union minister Smriti Irani and Congress turncoat Balwantsinh Rajput. Shah and Irani are set to win, given the BJP’s numbers in the assembly.

For the third seat, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel is up against Rajput.

Patel needs the support of 45 MLAs after six Congress lawmakers resigned amid horsetrading charges against the BJP, bringing the party’s strength in the assembly to 51. The Congress has flown 42 MLAs to a resort near Bengaluru to keep its flock together before the crucial vote.

“First Rajya Sabha election was postponed, Second NOTA was permitted post-notification. Reasons best known to the Election Commission,” Patel tweeted on Tuesday.

For its part, the Election Commission clarified that the provision for NOTA in the Rajya Sabha polls has been allowed since 2013 after a Supreme Court judgment.

A column for NOTA was there in the ballot paper used for filling vacancies in Karnataka in 2016, poll officials said.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley too referred to the Supreme Court judgment allowing NOTA to counter the Opposition.

“The judgment came several years before this government came to power. The Election Commission pursuant to that judgment had issued some notification under Article 324. Article 324 covers all elections in this country and, therefore, that’s a circular which they issued, not now, but earlier,” he said.

But the Congress insisted that NOTA would violate the party’s whip to its legislators in Gujarat.

“The whip that all the Congress MLAs have to participate in poll and vote for Ahmed Patel, writing ‘1’ ahead of his name, stays,” party leader Shailesh Parmar said.

“The BJP’s rumour that voting NOTA is not violation of rules is false,” he added.

It was found that an SUV consumed about 40.25 millilitres of fuel per kilometre when it travelled on the Noida Expressway, considered a good, fuel-efficient road.

The same vehicle consumed about 95.5 millilitres of fuel for every kilometre when travelling from Noida Expressway to Kalindi Kunj and onto Jasola.

The consumption was even higher at 137.2 millilitres per km when the vehicle travelled from Botanical Garden to Kailash Hospital in Noida.

“The initial findings of the study conducted on two road stretches in Delhi have revealed that Delhiites could be consuming at least two-to-three times more fuel because of bad quality roads and traffic conditions,” said Ravindra Kumar, principal scientist of CRRI’s transport and planning division.

“The result is they end up paying more.”

A preliminary estimate puts the wastage across India at Rs 960 crore a day. Although the extra expense incurred by an individual driver might not ring alarm bells, the cumulative wastage would be an added burden on India’s oil imports bill.

The initial study was carried out on more than 600 km of the best roads in Delhi and its suburbs such as the Yamuna Expressway, Delhi Gurgaon Expressway and NH24 to collect the baseline data – the best fuel-efficient roads.

“Now we are driving the same vehicles on various roads of Delhi to find out how much extra fuel they consume,” Kumar said.

“Some of the roads that we have selected are Peeragarhi to Najafgarh, Kalindi Kunj to Jaitpur Extension and Mayur Vihar Ext to Trilok Puri among others.”

The authority is tasked with collecting data, including fingerprints and iris scans, and issuing Aadhaar to all Indian residents.

The government is keen to expand the reach of Aadhaar, saying it is necessary to plug leaks in subsidy schemes and to ensure benefits reach those targeted.

But there have been instances of details finding their way in public domain. More than 200 government websites had published names of beneficiaries of welfare schemes with their addresses and Aadhaar numbers, the government told Parliament last month.

It has also faced some tough questions from the court which has said if privacy was not a given the status of a fundamental right, where and who would a citizen complain to.

Privacy was protected under the Aadhaar law but it wasn’t a constitutional right, the UIDAI said on Tuesday.

“Aadhaar data cannot be used for surveillance or tracking citizens... Privacy is a vague and subjective concept and cannot be elevated to the level of a fundamental right,” additional solicitor general Mehta said.

The government recognised privacy as a common right and protected it through laws such as right to information act and income tax act that prohibited disclosure of personal details of individuals.

Mehta also urged the court to leave it “to the wisdom of Parliament” if privacy was a fundamental right. Constitution-framers also did not touch on this vague concept, he said.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra government, too, took a similar line, saying only Parliament, which spoke for India’s 1.2 billion people, should have the final say on privacy.

During previous hearings, non-BJP states have opposed the Centre’s stand that privacy was not a fundamental right.

Modi was in Assam to review the flood situation and didn’t attend the Tuesday’s meeting but was said to be extremely upset.

The Prime Minister on several occasions has asked lawmakers to be regular in Parliament. On Monday evening, he called for the names of those who played truant.

The government, said sources, was unlikely to accept the change and could go for a fresh bill. But with numbers not favouring it in the Rajya Sabha, it could wait out till the situation was more favourable in the House.

The NDA hopes to improve its bench strength when Rajya Sabha elections are held over the next one year.

In the meantime, it plans to turn the tables on the Congress by telling people that the opposition party blocked a bill for OBC welfare as part of its policy of minority appeasement.

In the BJP meeting, which was well-attended, Shah minced no words and asked MPs to wake up to their duty. There were many leaders but only few got the chance to be members of Parliament, he said.

“Till Parliament is on, all members should be present, matter of members not present will be taken up seriously,” parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said after the meeting.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley also spoke to some his absentee colleagues, source said.

“Both factions are with us, but there are differences among themselves. Besides, there is no urgency as far as we in the BJP are concerned,” said the leader. The AIADMK has 50 MPs in the two houses of Parliament and the BJP would like to firm up an alliance in time for the 2019 general elections.

According to a senior leader in the O Panneerselvam camp, “dumping Sasikala and Dinakaran must take place before merger happens.” Another BJP leader privy to developments within the AIADMK factions said on Tuesday that “Mannargudi family will be removed from party.” State finance minister D Jayakumar said that “merger talks were going on. It can happen very soon,” the minister said.

Former chief minister O Panneerselvam had put the precondition that Sasikala and Dinakaran must be removed from party posts and kept away from the government for any merger to happen. Former education minister M Pandiarajan reiterated OPS’ demand. But CM Edapaddi Palanisami has dug in heels and insists that he remains the chief minister, which is where the talks were getting stuck, party sources said.

“Demand for a probe into death of J Jayalalithaa and ouster of Mannargudi family are the two preconditions that are absolutely non-negotiable,” Pandiarajan said. OPS will in all probability form another committee to discuss merger modalities, sources said.

But Dinakaran himself has ruled out a merger and is standing in the way of a reunion. He asserts that he was acting on behalf of general secretary VK Sasikala who is in jail.

“Few of our ministers and leaders are saying things (about joining NDA) out of their own fears. I am sure they will come out of fear and it will not happen,” Dinakaran said.

Within minutes of Dinakran’s statement, the chief minister and senior ministers congregated at secretariat to take stock of the situation.

He will serve the think tank till August-end.

According to government sources, Modi wanted him to stay but relented when Panagariya told him that his wife too wants to be with their children in the US.

Panagariya said he informed the Prime Minister, who is the ex-officio chairman of Niti Aayog, about his decision about two months ago after Columbia University refused to make an exemption for him and extend his two-year, public-service leave.

“There is nothing unusual in this. Henry Kissinger returned to Harvard after his leave was not extended,” he added.

Modi chose him to head the new think tank to decide policies for accelerating India’s growth after his government dismantled the Soviet-style Planning Commission that functioned for 64 years.

Panagariya, who is standing down after two-and-a-half years in the job, said he is satisfied with the stint in which his team built the organisation’s foundation and forged ties with the Centre and states.

“Many states adopted our land leasing law bill. Over 400 schools have Atal Tinkering labs and we promoted digital economy in a big way.”

He is the second economist after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to quit a top job in India and return to academics in the US. Rajan resigned after a three-year term in 2016 to rejoin Chicago University.

At US universities one can teach as long as health permits.

Panagariya said: “I would not have got a similar job. There is no retirement and one can work till his or her body and brain functions.”

He holds a PhD from Princeton University and worked with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD.

The economist wants to write the next edition of India: The Emerging Giant, his 2008 book that describes India’s contemporary economy.

Niti Aayog advised the government to sell sick public sector units, including national carrier Air India, and proposed new regulators for education and health. It also recommended minimal government intervention in agriculture and replacing the minimum support price for farmers with a deficiency payment.

But the think tank had its fare share of criticism. Some of its reform-oriented proposals were not accepted, or appreciated either.

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmer union affiliated to the ruling BJP’s ideological mentor RSS, called several Niti Aayog proposals anti-farmer and anti-labour.

“There is poor response (from the government) to labour and services sectors. Following the advice of Niti Aayog, the government is moving towards contractual employment, relaxing labour laws to benefit industry,” CK Shaji Narayana, the union’s president, said some time ago.

The organisation’s performance has been sketchy and change incremental. So far, it has only circulated a draft of a proposed three-year Action Agenda.

Panagariya said a seven-year strategy and 15-year vision for India is “80-85%” ready.

A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2012, India’s third highest civilian honour, he expects a successor to be named soon to complete the work.

DK Shivakumar, the power minister in Karnataka’s Congress government, said a Gujarati chef will be made available for the MLAs soon. “Some have even expressed the desire to cook and asked the resort for permission, which has been granted,” he added.

A nostalgic Shaikh said a typical breakfast back home in Gujarat consisted of ‘bhakhri’ and ‘thepla’. Lunch normally consisted of dal, roti and a dry vegetable dish.

However, breakfast at ‘Eagleton - The Golf Village’, some 40km outside the state capital Bengaluru, typically comprised idli and dosa while the menu for lunch mostly included rice or ragi balls.

“In Gujarat, we are not used to consuming much rice. We prefer roti,” Shaikh explained.

The Congress legislators were flown to Bengaluru late on Friday after six of their colleagues quit the party, depleting its numerical strength in the Gujarat assembly to 51.

At least half-a-dozen of the remaining legislators are reportedly loyalists of Shankersinh Vaghela, a former chief minister recently expelled from the party. Patel needs the support of 45 MLAs to be re-elected and the Congress is doing everything it can to keep its flock together.

On Saturday, the Congress moved the chief election commissioner, accusing the BJP government of Gujarat of using “money, muscle power and government machinery” to engineer defections. The BJP has denied all the charges.

THE UIDAI SAID ON TUESDAY THAT PRIVACY WAS PROTECTED UNDER THE AADHAAR LAW BUT IT WASN’T A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT Some (MLAs) have even expressed the desire to cook and asked the resort for permission, which has been granted