NEWS UPDATE 03/02/2010

EDUCATION

Economic Times ND 3/2/2010, p-5
Higher education set to get new regulator
Our Political Bureau NEW DELHI
National Commission for Higher Education and Research To Subsume Powers Of UGC, AICTE & NCTE

ALL institutions of higher education will need to be accredited by the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) before offering courses. The proposed overarching regulator, which has been in the works, will subsume existing regulators the University Grants Commission, All-India Council for Technical Education and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

The structure of the proposed overarching regulator has been prepared by a panel of experts set up by the HRD ministry, which will hold regional consultations on the draft legislation.

Hindustan Times, ND   03/02/2010
IIMs' short courses
For those executives who can't afford to take two years off for an MBA but still want the coveted IIM tag on their resumes, there is now a snappier alternative. Some of these prestigious institutes have begun offering short-duration courses that can help executives upgrade their managerial skills - coached by the best of the best. The duration of some these programmes is as short as three days and aimed at accentuating skills in a particular area of specialisation for executives with at least two years experience.

IIM Ahmedabad is currently inviting applications for two such programmes -managing IT projects and enhancing sales-force performance. These will commence in the last week of February and company-sponsored nominations will be accepted till February 8. IIM Lucknow's Noida Campus is offering a six-month course in advanced sales and marketing skills for executives with two years' experience in this field. This is an online-cum-campus programme stretching across 78 hours of study. Of these, 24 hours will be spent on campus in Noida. Selection will be based on an aptitude test as well as an assessment of the candidate's background and motivation.

Business Standard ND 3/2/2010, P-12
ARE PRIVATE SCHOOLS BETTER?
If private schools are indeed better, as Aser says, and cost a lot less than government ones, involving them in programmes Wee Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Right to Education Act may be a good idea

The advocacy in some quarters to start using the central and state governments to fund the education of children in cheap, unrecognised private schools, even as the country is on the threshold of notifying the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, is either a consequence of ignorance, or an ideological campaign for privatisation of elementary education.

Two facts need to be kept in mind while dealing with this somewhat redundant demand at this stage. One, 80 per cent of the schools that impart elementary education in the country are run by the government; the remaining 20 per cent comprise aided private schools, recognised private schools and & proportionately minuscule number of cheap, unrecognised private schools. Two, the Right to Education Act, once notified, will not allow any unrecognised private school to function.

BUSINESS NEWS

Business Standard ND 3/2/2010, P-1
DELHI AIRPORT TO BE MADE GLOBAL AIRLINE HUB
Air India to shift, unused capacity in existing bilaterals may be mobilised
MIHIRMISHRA New Delhi, 2 February
The civil aviation ministry has prepared a blueprint to convert Delhi airport into an international hub for passenger airlines with effect from August this year to help the airport, which is being expanded by a GMR-led consortium, utilise large amounts of additional capacity that will be ready by July. A senior civil aviation ministry official confirmed the development and said the decision has been conveyed to both international and domestic carriers. A meeting has been scheduled in March to finalise the details.

Under the plan, the government decided that National Aviation Company Ltd (Nacil), the company set up after merging flag carrier Air India and domestic carrier Indian Airlines, will set up its hub in Delhi (Delhi currently serves as the hub for domestic operations and Mumbai for international operations).

The government is also planning to make Delhi a regional hub to connect south East Asia to Europe by leveraging the capital's strategic mid-point location, a ministry official added.

The ministry has also decided to lift earlier limits on allowing more flights under bilateral agreements, which was originally done to protect domestic carriers. "We won't sign any new bilateral agreements, but any unused capacity available in the bilaterals would be given out," said the ministry official:''


POLITICAL NEWS

Hindustan Times, ND 03/02/2010, p-1
Apologise or go to Pak, says Sena; SRK unfazed
WARNED Theatre owners told not to screen My Name is Khan
Rajendra Aklekar and Anirudh Bhattacharya
NEW YORK:
 The Shiv Sena on Tuesday threatened it would not allow screening of Shah Rukh Khan's movies till he apologised for his remarks regretting the absence of Pakistani cricketers in the forthcoming Indian Premier League tournament in March.

Though Khan has a major film, the Karan Johar directed My Name in Khan slated for release on February 12, he remained unfazed. In New York, he said he did not regret any of his comments, be it about Pakistani cricketers or about Mumbai belonging to all Indians and not Maharashtrians alone.

Hindustan Times, ND 03/02/2010    
Sacked by SP, Amar 'relieved'
Charged with anti-party activity; Jaya Prada also expelled for spitting venom
Pankaj Jayaswal & Srinand Jha
LUCKNOW / NEW DELHI:
Ending its tenuous relationship with its former national general secretary Amar Singh and Lok Sabha member Jaya Prada, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday expelled both of them for engaging in anti-party activities and damaging the SP's socialist image by "infiltrating capitalism and communalism" into the party.

Newly appointed national general secretary Mohan Singh told mediapersons that Amar Singh had been engaging in activities against the party for the past month-and-a-half and had floated a parallel organisation called the Lok Manch.

As for Jaya Prada, the party said she had been "spitting venom" at the SP leadership and party policies and was a "guided missile of Amar Singh".

The decision to expel the MPs (Amar Singh is a Rajya Sabha member) was taken at an SP meeting chaired by party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Economic Times ND 3/2/2010, p-4
Every part of India belongs to every Indian, says Rahul Gandhi
Ashok K Mishra Our Political Bureau NEW DELHI
A WAR of words has broken out between Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray over Shiv Sena's anti-North Indian campaign in Mumbai.

On Tuesday, Mr Gandhi once again came down hard on the 'Mumbai for Maharashtrians' campaign being run by the Sena and MNS, asserting from Patna that Indians have a right to go anywhere in India. Responding to Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray's criticism of him in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna', Mr Gandhi said: "I am really not interested in what Bal Thackeray or Raj Thackeray have to say. Frankly, I am interested in one concept that India belongs to Indians and every part of India belongs to every Indian. He added: "People have a right to go anywhere. I am not going to remain silent and stop people of UP and Bihar from going to Maharashtra." He said India had to move forward and all Indian had to be taken forward.

Business Standard ND 3/2/2010    
Manmohan, Sonia admit to 'lapses' in implementation of NREGA
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi
 Marking completion of four years of the government's rural employment guarantee scheme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday admitted there were some "lapses" in its implementation, including the problem of payment of wages to the workers.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, too, listed problems like delayed payment and unemployment allowance provisions not being followed.