News Analysis India

Tag: Ashoka University

  • Astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury appointed vice chancellor of Ashoka University

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Eminent astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury has been appointed as vice chancellor of Ashoka University, officials said on Thursday.

    Raychaudhury, who is currently director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), will take over from Professor Malabika Sarkar who has been serving as the VC since August 2019.

    “Professor Raychaudhury’s appointment follows an extensive global search conducted by a Search Committee consisting of the chancellor, deans, faculty members, founders and trustees of Ashoka University. His date of joining will be announced shortly,” the varsity said in a statement.

    Raychaudhury holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge and undergraduate degrees in Physics from Trinity College at University of Oxford and Presidency College at University of Calcutta.

    He was earlier the Head of Department of Physics and Dean of Sciences at Presidency University.

    He also held various positions at the University of Birmingham, UK; the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics and Lowell House at Harvard University; and the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge.

    Raychaudhary is one of India’s leading observational astronomers, and has made seminal discoveries using observations at radio, optical and X-ray frequencies.

    He pioneered the study of galaxy superclusters as the universe’s largest structures, and has worked on exotic stars such as black holes in nearby galaxies.

    “He has developed innovative machine-learning algorithms for mining large astronomical datasets, and recently co-chaired the committee to compile the vision document for the next decade of astronomy research for the Government of India,” the statement added.

    NEW DELHI: Eminent astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury has been appointed as vice chancellor of Ashoka University, officials said on Thursday.

    Raychaudhury, who is currently director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), will take over from Professor Malabika Sarkar who has been serving as the VC since August 2019.

    “Professor Raychaudhury’s appointment follows an extensive global search conducted by a Search Committee consisting of the chancellor, deans, faculty members, founders and trustees of Ashoka University. His date of joining will be announced shortly,” the varsity said in a statement.

    Raychaudhury holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge and undergraduate degrees in Physics from Trinity College at University of Oxford and Presidency College at University of Calcutta.

    He was earlier the Head of Department of Physics and Dean of Sciences at Presidency University.

    He also held various positions at the University of Birmingham, UK; the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics and Lowell House at Harvard University; and the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge.

    Raychaudhary is one of India’s leading observational astronomers, and has made seminal discoveries using observations at radio, optical and X-ray frequencies.

    He pioneered the study of galaxy superclusters as the universe’s largest structures, and has worked on exotic stars such as black holes in nearby galaxies.

    “He has developed innovative machine-learning algorithms for mining large astronomical datasets, and recently co-chaired the committee to compile the vision document for the next decade of astronomy research for the Government of India,” the statement added.

  • CBI charges Gupta brothers who founded Ashoka University in Rs 1,626 crore bank fraud

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The CBI on Thursday said that it has lodged a case against Pranav Gupta and Vineet Gupta, the co-founders of the Ashoka University, a Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical company and 10 others for allegedly cheating the Central Bank of India and other banks to the tune of Rs 1,626 crore.

    A senior Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said that they have lodged an FIR against Pranav Gupta, Vineet Gupta, Chandigarh-based Parabolic Drugs and 10 others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

    The official said that the accused persons allegedly took loans from 11 banks including the Central Bank of India but didn’t repay the money.

    A CBI team also conducted searches on the premises of the accused persons on December 31 and recovered incriminating documents.

    “We recovered cash around Rs 1.58 crore, digital evidence, incriminating documents and other documents from them,” said a senior CBI official.

    He said that the team has recorded the statements of a number of people, and is in process of gathering more evidence against them.

    The Gupta brothers are facing charges under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 463 (forgery) of the IPC.

    The CBI official said that the accused have been asked to join the probe and get their statement recorded before the investigating team.

    “We will record their statements on what they have to say over the matter. Once we get more evidence, we will place them under arrest,” said the official.

    He said that the probe in the matter is being done under the supervision of senior officials.

  • Row over academic freedom: Ashoka University to appoint Ombudsperson by March-end

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Founders of Ashoka University, which has been at the centre of an academic freedom debate following two high profile resignations, on Monday said they respect the autonomy of the institution and will appoint an Ombudsperson by the month-end to encourage free expression.

    “Our aim is that through this and already existing processes we will be able to ensure that Ashoka lives up to its vision of being a space for free enquiry, free expression, intellectual honesty, respect for the dignity of all human beings and openness to constructive change,” the Board of Trustees said in a statement.

    They said to maintain separation of academic functioning from founders, it is necessary to establish certain protocols and processes.

    “Many of these are already in place in bodies like the Academic Council, the Board of Management and so on.”

    “These need to be strengthened and this can only happen through a more intensive consultation within the faculty. If necessary and required, the Founders are open to helping out in the task of strengthening these processes,” it said.

    “Once again, the Founders want to articulate their deep commitment and respect for the autonomy of the University and its academic functioning.”

    “With this in mind the Founders are supportive of the appointment of the Ombudsperson (as had been decided earlier) by 31st May 2021,” the statement said.

    “The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor will propose candidates for this position for approval by the Governing Body.”

    This comes days after political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who had resigned as vice chancellor of the university two years back, chose to step down as professor, saying that the founders made it “abundantly clear” that his association with the institution was a “political liability”.

    This followed noted economist Arvind Subramanian resigning in solidarity.

    The Board said liberty, which includes the right to express oneself freely, is integral to life itself.

    “Ashoka University, fashioned as a liberal arts university, has enshrined the freedom of expression in its very ethos. More formally, the rights and responsibilities of faculty to articulate themselves freely is recorded in chapter/section 8 of the Faculty Handbook and Guidelines,” it said.

    The founders, it said, have never interfered with, nor do they intend to interfere, with the academic functioning of the university.

    This even though they have devoted resources and energy to establish Ashoka University.

    “‘Academic functioning’ in this context includes not only how and what faculty teach, how they assess, how they are recruited and how they secure tenure but also their freedom to write and speak in their chosen fora and on their chosen themes,” the statement said.

    “While the Founders stand apart from the academic functioning of the University, they also see themselves as being responsible for protecting and upholding the vision and the aims of the University they have helped to establish.”

    Stating that students also have valid concerns about their freedom of expression and the need to be heard by various decision-making bodies, the statement said the founders are conscious of this.

    “All this cannot, of course, be achieved overnight. Ashoka will always be a work in progress. The present moment provides an opportunity to make a fresh start by collectively reaffirming our faith in the vision and ethos of Ashoka.”

    “We seek to work together to make Ashoka not only one of the best universities in the world but also an institution that makes a difference to the world,” it added.

  • Ashoka University row: Free speech in India suffered grievous blow, says Raghuram Rajan

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has joined his voice to the chorus bemoaning Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation from Ashoka University, saying the institute’s soul has been bartered away.

    In a LinkedIN post, the eminent economist and professor at Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, said free speech had suffered a “grievous blow” in India with Mehta exit from the Ashoka University.

    “Free speech is the soul of a great university. By compromising on it, the founders have bartered away its soul. And if you show a willingness to barter your soul, is there any chance the pressures will go away? This is indeed a sad development for India,” Rajan said, also referring to former chief economic advisor Aravind Subramanian’s resignation in protest against Mehta’s exit.

    His criticism comes a day after over 150 academicians from some of the world’s top universities wrote an open letter to the trustees of Ashoka saying they “should have treated defending him (Mehta) as their institutional duty” instead of forcing him to resign. 

    Academicians from universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Oxford, London School of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology averred that Mehta, “a prominent critic of the current Indian government”, became a “target for his writings”.

    Agreeing with this view, Rajan said, “The reality is that professor Mehta is a thorn in the side of the establishment. He is no ordinary thorn because he skewers those in government and in high offices like the Supreme Court with vivid prose and thought-provoking arguments.”          

  • Ashoka University students announce two-day class boycott over resignations of professors

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Students of Ashoka University have announced a two-day boycott of classes from Monday in protest against some recent developments at the institution, including the resignations of faculty members Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian.

    The Ashoka University Student Government, a student body, also said on Saturday it will be organising a separate movement demanding the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor.

    The university in Haryana’s Sonipat became the centre of a controversy earlier this week, when political commentator Mehta, who had resigned as its vice chancellor two years back, chose to step down as professor, saying that the founders made it “abundantly clear” that his association with the institution was a “political liability”.

    Arvind Subramanian, the former chief economic advisor to the government, had resigned from the university two days later in solidarity with Mehta.

    The demands of the protesting students include a public acknowledgement by the university founders on Mehta’s statement that he felt that he was a “political liability” as well as assuring the Ashokan Community that Mehta will be given a unconditional offer letter.

    The students are also demanding an open meeting organised by the founders with the student body, the divesting of administrative powers and roles from founders of the university to the elected representatives of faculty, students and administration.

    “We are extremely saddened by the resignations of both professors and incredibly dissatisfied by the conditions under which the resignations took place. Not only have we lost intellectual giants and erudite academics whose scholarship we value deeply, but also our trust and faith in this administration to protect the students within this university from external political pressures.

    This is a gross violation of academic freedoms and we strongly condemn it,” the students’ body said in a statement.

    “We will not back down in the face of injustice. We will continue our struggle for a more just and equal institution and for true academic freedom at Ashoka and beyond,” it added.

  • People must rise, ‘resist imposition of one thought’: Chidambaram on resignation of 2 Ashoka University professors

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: After two professors of Ashoka University resigned, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Friday asked what does this say of the “academic freedom” in the country and urged people to rise and resist the “imposition of one thought”.

    He alleged that this “BJP thought” will “wreck” India and turn it into an autocracy.

    “What does it say of academic freedom in this country if two distinguished economists have to resign as Professors of Ashoka University,” he asked on Twitter.

    “The people of India must rise to fiercely resist the attempt to impose one thought all over the country. ‘BJP Thought’ or ‘Modi Thought’ will wreck the country and turn India into an autocracy,” he said.

    Faculty members, students and alumni of the Ashoka University in Sonipat have expressed anguish over noted political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation as a professor, saying his exit seems to be a direct consequence of his role as a public intellectual and critic of the government.

    While the faculty members have written to the vice chancellor (VC) and board members, saying Mehta’s exit has set a “chilling precedent for future removals of faculty”.

    Eminent economist Arvind Subramanian also resigned as a professor of the university on Thursday.

  • Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit result of his role as govt’s critic’: Ashoka University faculty

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The faculty and students at the Ashoka University issued strong statements in support of political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who resigned from the university two days back citing infringement on academic freedom. They demanded the university administration urge him to join back.

    Mehta’s exit was followed by the resignation of noted economist and former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian a day later, who rued in his letter that the institution “even with its private status and private capital can no longer provide space for academic expression and freedom”.

    Mehta, who had left the chair of the university’s vice-chancellor two years back, in an email to his students Wednesday evening — a day after he put in his papers, had hinted that a discussion with the university regarding the “prevailing circumstances” led to his exit.

    “The decision to leave Ashoka was not an easy one, especially because of the exceptional quality of students I have been privileged to teach,” he wrote. “But after discussions with the university about the prevailing circumstances, it became clear to me that it was best to move on. Hence, I took the decision to resign.”

    Faculty at @AshokaUniv issue a strong worded statement in support of Pratap Bhanu Mehta

  • Arvind Subramanian resigns as professor from Ashoka University

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Eminent economist Arvind Subramanian has resigned as professor from Ashoka University, two days after noted political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit from the institution.

    Subramanian, former chief economic advisor, had joined Ashoka  University as a professor in the Department of Economics in July 2020.

    “Dr. Subramanian has resigned,” a senior faculty member of Sonipat (Haryana) based Ashoka University said.

    A query sent to Ashoka University regarding the resignation remained unanswered till the filing of the story.

    Faculty at @AshokaUniv issue a strong worded statement in support of Pratap Bhanu Mehta#AshokaUniversity #pratapbhanumehta #ArvindSubramanian pic.twitter.com/mBQhtRKYPs
    — Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) March 18, 2021

    Subramanian was appointed Chief Economic Advisor on October 16, 2014, for a period of three years and was given an extension in 2017.

    However, he quit the job with close to one year of his tenure remaining and returned to the US.

    Subramanian’s official contract was till May 2019.