THE central executive committee of the Students’ Federation of India, in a statement issued on October 5, has denounced the efforts of ABVP to create anarchy and a reign of terror in the Himachal Pradesh University campus. In the last one-week, ABVP goons have attacked research scholars, girl students and tribal students in the campus. All this is happening in the presence and protection of police and the administration.ABVP is trying to terrorise the students in the campus and disturb the academic environment.

THE new academic year has begun in Indian universities with signals of authoritarian highhandedness in different forms. The beginning of any academic activity is supposed to be fear free and must be in an atmosphere of freedom. However, the news coming from campuses from EFLU to JNU, situated in diverse locations in the country offer stern warnings regarding what is in store for the new students.

INDIA is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 54 percent of its total population below 25 years of age. An effective education system with proper balance between the three basic parameters of accessibility, equality and quality is essential for utilisation of this young human resource towards the task of nation building.  Today India has the largest number of youth and adult illiterates in the world with the youth literacy rate (15-24 years) and adult literacy rate (15 years and above) at 86.1 percent and 69.3 percent respectively.

THE confusion surrounding the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET) -- a centralised entrance for the MBBS, BDS and PG medical courses  --ended in the last week of May, with President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent to the ordinance brought by the central government following the Supreme Court ruling, which called for holding NEET from this year itself. Now, what does this mean in effective terms?

The following is the statement issued by emeritus professors of the JNU, on May 9, 2016.

DEAR Vice-Chancellor,

As emeritus professors of the JNU we are disturbed by the turn of events at the JNU. The university has always been a space where we allowed free discussion of issues raised by students and faculty. In the course of such discussion whether in seminars or at other informal gatherings, speakers from both within the university and from outside were invited to participate.