IIT-Kanpur suspends 22 students for ragging juniors
The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has suspended 16 students for three years and six others for a year after they were found guilty of ragging their juniors, in the first decision of its kind in the history of the premier institution.
The decision was taken by the IIT-K’s senate, the apex decisionmaking body, at a meeting held on Monday night after it heard the third-year students guilty of making their juniors strip and do objectionable acts to each other. The ragging was recorded on cell phones and circulated on social media groups.
IIT-K’s deputy director Dr Manindra Agarwal said the 16 students were expelled for three years as the charges against them were “extremely serious”.
The senior students will not have the right to appeal for mercy during the expulsion period and can appeal only after the completion of the suspension period and would be allowed to take admission in the course.
In addition, the president and other office bearers of the student gymkhana were removed from their respective posts allegedly for ignoring the complaints. About 30 junior students filed a complaint to the dean of student affairs against 50 seniors, saying they were thrashed, abused, and forced to do inhuman acts on August 20.
The dean of student affairs referred his complaint to the antiragging committee for an inquiry and recommendation of punishment. The committee found the involvement of 24 senior students and recommended the termination of the students from the courses as well as registering a police complaint against them.
Action against the senior students was expedited only after a professor at the institute wrote about the incident on his blog. The senate at its extraordinary meeting in September suspended the senior students from different disciplines from the hostel and the ongoing academic session.
Ragging is outlawed in Indian campuses but despite interventions from the government and the Supreme Court, fresh college entrants are often subject to days of physical and mental abuse by their seniors – a practice often dubbed as entertainment or fun.
: There has been a ‘step change’ in the India-UK relationship in the defence sector since the November 2015 visit here of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence secretary Sanjay Mitra said on Tuesday after two days of talks that included the key issue of counterterrorism.
The Defence and International Security Partnership between India and Britain was agreed to during Modi’s visit. It was taken forward during the November 2016 visit of PM Theresa May to New Delhi, with a particular focus on the ‘Make in India’ programme. “We are keen that British companies participate in defence sector, to be fully involved in the strategic partnership. There has been a deepening of ties in the defence area since the prime minister’s visit in November 2015,” Mitra said.
He said key issues in talks with officials of the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall included capability building across areas, cyber security, equipment and supply chains.
No details about the talks related to counterterrorism were disclosed, but New Delhi has been pleased with the explicit comments by defence secretary Michael Fallon on the eve of his visit to India in April this year about terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Britain has committed to continue its engagement with India’s defence ministry and Indian defence companies to simplify and expedite export controls and to support transfer of technology to enable projects in areas of mutual interest.
KANPUR: THIRDYEAR STUDENTS WERE FOUND GUILTY OF MAKING THEIR JUNIORS STRIP AND DO OBJECTIONABLE ACTS TO EACH OTHER LONDON NEW DELHI HAS BEEN PLEASED WITH EXPLICIT COMMENTS BY DEFENCE SECY MICHAEL FALLON ABOUT TERRORISM EMANATING FROM PAK