EDUCATION - 2004 - Indian Social Institute

What perhaps is better news is that the scholarship amounts may be revised and could double.
NCERT will also give a window period of one year between each course to the students. "The
aim is to extend as much help as we can to these students. Not everyone may benefit but then, if
it helps even a few, the objective would be reached," added Jain. Amen. (Times of India
29.12.04)
30 th Dec
In Joshi’s absence, History Cong loses its sting (11)
BAREILLY, DECEMBER 29: THERE was a wave of support for HRD Minister Arjun Singh at the
foothills of the Himalayas, where 1,200 historians are quietly celebrating M.M. Joshi's exit from
the Ministry. This is the first Indian History Congress since the return of Congress at the Centre.
And as the temperature plummeted, the History Congress suddenly became a congregation
dealing with cold facts. The rage against a "rampaging" BJP-led government that made it such an
interesting forum for six years is a thing of the past. For the first time since 1998, the History
Congress is being patronised by the Union Government. The historians did not hesitate to accept
HRD funds, now that bete-noir Joshi is no longer running the show. Joshi had refused his
ministry's involvement in this annual assembly of historians. Had Singh not stayed away because
of the state mourning, it is likely he would have been mobbed by his Centrist and Left-of-the-
Centre academic supporters. Even historian Professor Man Habib, who was moving around with
his small band of admirers, said: "Historians would definitely congratulate Singh for the
volume of work (read detoxification) done by him". Singh's brief speech was read out at the
inaugural session yesterday. It showed why he is a master in playing to a gallery of professors
and researchers. He stressed the importance of the Preamble and underlined the
words, secular and socialist which were music to the ears of both the Centrists and the Left.
(Indian Express 30.12.04)
1 st Dec.
Mulayam sees Urdu Bill through (11)
LUCKNOW, NOVEMBER 30: RELATIONS between the Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav
touched a new low today, as the ruling Samajwadi Party managed to get the controversial Urdu
University Bill cleared at the state Assembly, despite strong protests from allies Congress and
CPI(M). The fate of the Bill is still uncertain as it has to be sent back to Governor TV Rajeshwar
for approval, who has already expressed reservations about a provision in the Bill that makes a
state minister a pro-chancellor for life in the university. Sources say, the Samajwadi Party is well
aware that the Governor would never approve of the Bill, but it nonetheless went ahead with the
agenda to give an impression to the minority community that it was due to Congress opposition
that the university could not take shape. Mulayam made it clear that he was in no mood to
entertain the Congress' demand for an amendment in the Bill. "The University will be built and
Azam Khan will remain its lifetime pro-chancellor. We will move another Bill in the Assembly for a
private university if the present exercise goes in vain," he said. (Indian Express 1.12.04)
15 th Dec
Minorities education Bill draws flak
New Delhi: Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday criticised the government for seeking
creation of a national commission for minority educational institutions, saying that a bill for this
purpose was politically motivated and aimed at appeasing Minorities. Criticising the government
for not consulting all political parties on the measure, Opposition members said the move would
lead to curtailment of powers of AICTE, UGC and other bodies that decide on accreditation and
affiliation of institutions of higher learning. From the treasury benches, as also RJD and SP, the
bill received full support with the hope that this would raise the standards of education among the
minority ccommunities. The members were participating in a combined discussion on "the national
commission for minority educational institutions bill" and a statutory resolution disapproving an
ordinance which it seeks to replace. Initiating the debate, Bachi Singh Rawat (BJP) criticised the
UFA government for not consulting the BJP, the second-largest party in the Lok Sabha, before
coming out with this kind of a bill. (Times of India 15.12.04)