Free entry draws students to ASI monuments

PHAGWARA: Farmers on Monday blocked traffic on a national highway near a sugar mill here to protest “inordinate” delays in clearance of arrears worth Rs 72 crore to cane growers by the mill management.

Under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba), the farmers began an “indefinite” sit-in on one side of the Ludhiana-Jalandhar section of NH-1 on Monday. The other side of the highway was kept open.

Addressing the protesters, BKU(D) president Manjit

Singh Rai accused Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of having failed to resolve the issues faced by cane growers.

General secretary of the outfit Satnam Singh Sahni said, “If the amount of Rs 72 crore is not transferred into the cane growers’ accounts soon, we will block the other side of the highway too.”

He also called upon the government to take control of the mill and attach its properties.

Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police Navneet Singh Bains said vehicular traffic was diverted through arterial routes due to the blockade.

NEW DELHI: Parliament Monday passed a bill to convert the National Rail and Transportation University, a deemed-to-be university, into Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, an autonomous central institution.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, which also seeks to expand the scope of the University from beyond the railways to cover the entire transport sector to support the ambitious growth and modernisation in the field, was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion.

The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha last week, also by a voice vote.

Union Railways and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to the debate on the bill on Monday in the Upper House.

“Railways’ national training institute is established in Gujarat. This university covers the entire transport sector. Railway plays an important role in that,” Vaishnaw said.

He said several campuses of the university will be set up in various parts of the country and children will be able to take admission.

The minister said the bill has provision to use the existing training infrastructure.

He said the railways, metro and transportation sector is a very complex sector and many disciplines including mechanical, electrical, telecommunications, signalling and civil come together to run the railway system.

“This is a public university. Already, the Ministry of Railways has made provision of Rs 166 crore in the budget plus there is another budget being worked out for the construction of the building. This is going to be a publically funded university,” Vaishnaw said.

NEW DELHI: The number of students visiting ASI sites after the government made entry free as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ has increased, and the culture ministry will reach out to schools and colleges to further boost the number, Union minister G Kishan Reddy said.

The Union Culture Ministry recently announced free entry to all Archaeological Survey of India-protected monuments, sites and museums across the country from August

Several campuses of the university will be set up in various parts of the country and children will be able to take admission

5 to 15, for both domestic and foreign visitors.

“The response of people has been good so far, especially students. For students below 15 years, entry was already free earlier, but more students are coming now, and they are bringing their parents too,” Reddy told.

The Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, who also holds the portfolio of tourism, said Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is a start to foster a greater sense of patriotism among people and it should be promoted more.