News Analysis India

Tag: Banaras Hindu University

  • Lucknow Diary: Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?

    Express News Service

    Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?As all political parties are getting into the poll mode in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party has planned to launch its campaign with a workers’ training camp at a prominent Hindu religious site, Naimisharanya in Sitapur district, 80 km from Lucknow. It will be a tryst with soft Hindutva for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, which is perceived as the first choice of Muslim voters during the 2022 UP elections. The camp is likely to be held on June 9 and 10 to kickstart SP’s campaign. Party chief Yadav and other senior party leaders will start the camp by performing a ‘havan’.

    Who will be the next state police chief?As the state’s acting police chief RK Vishwakarma is set to retire today, the question that is again doing the rounds is whether the state will get a permanent DGP?  Not since Mukul Goyal was removed from the post about a year ago, it has had two ‘acting’ police chiefs — DS Chauhan and then Vishwakarma — who the government didn’t consider ‘fit for the job’. Now, as Vishwakarma retires, Goyal again leads the seniority list, followed by Anand Kumar and Vijay Kumar. They all have one-year tenure left. The question remains if the government will consider any of them. 

    BHU 2nd in IIRF ranking; AMU 3rd after JNUThe Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has brought another laurel to the state by being ranked second just behind Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the recently released Central university rankings of the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF). The other university to figure out just after BHU is Aligarh Muslim University. Another UP university has made it to the top 20, Ambedkar University, Lucknow. BHU has missed the top position narrowly, by just 0.17 points. The IIRF ranking is based on several parameters including teaching, research quality and productivity.

    Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?
    As all political parties are getting into the poll mode in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party has planned to launch its campaign with a workers’ training camp at a prominent Hindu religious site, Naimisharanya in Sitapur district, 80 km from Lucknow. It will be a tryst with soft Hindutva for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, which is perceived as the first choice of Muslim voters during the 2022 UP elections. The camp is likely to be held on June 9 and 10 to kickstart SP’s campaign. Party chief Yadav and other senior party leaders will start the camp by performing a ‘havan’.

    Who will be the next state police chief?
    As the state’s acting police chief RK Vishwakarma is set to retire today, the question that is again doing the rounds is whether the state will get a permanent DGP?  Not since Mukul Goyal was removed from the post about a year ago, it has had two ‘acting’ police chiefs — DS Chauhan and then Vishwakarma — who the government didn’t consider ‘fit for the job’. Now, as Vishwakarma retires, Goyal again leads the seniority list, followed by Anand Kumar and Vijay Kumar. They all have one-year tenure left. The question remains if the government will consider any of them. 

    BHU 2nd in IIRF ranking; AMU 3rd after JNU
    The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has brought another laurel to the state by being ranked second just behind Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the recently released Central university rankings of the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF). The other university to figure out just after BHU is Aligarh Muslim University. Another UP university has made it to the top 20, Ambedkar University, Lucknow. BHU has missed the top position narrowly, by just 0.17 points. The IIRF ranking is based on several parameters including teaching, research quality and productivity.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

  • Actual Covid infections in India 17 times higher than reported: BHU study 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The actual COVID-19 infections in India may be around 17 times higher than the official figure, a study led by researchers at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) suggests.

    According to government data, nearly 4.5 crore people in India have been infected with COVID-19 so far. However, the study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) estimated that the actual coronavirus cases in the country may be between 58 to 98 crores.

    The research “has shown that the actual corona infection in India was at least 17 times higher,” according to a statement by BHU.

    “The discrepancy observed in our study is due to the overwhelming number of asymptomatic people, which was several-fold higher than the true official infection,” said BHU geneticist Professor Gyaneshwer Chaubey.

    “Asymptomatic cases were more inclined towards the younger population,” Chaubey, who led the study, said.

    The study involved 88 scientists from 34 research institutes across the country. The team conducted a serosurvey (antibody testing) among 2,301 individuals in urban areas of fourteen Indian districts in six states during the month of September-December 2020.

    The most striking aspect of this study was that a large proportion of the Indian population was asymptomatic for COVID infection and the age group 26-35 had the maximum number of asymptomatic people, the researchers said.

    Antibody tests in people after any coronavirus wave accurately assess the actual infection, they said.

    The team conducted the research among a large number of people — street vendors — living in urban areas from fourteen Indian districts who are most at risk of corona infection.

    “For the first time, we have used a novel approach to estimate the frequency of people infected in a certain geographical region,” said BHU’s Prajjval Pratap Singh, the study’s first author.

    Samples were taken of only those people who self-reported that they never had any Covid symptoms or positive RT PCR test.

    ALSOP READ | No new Covid-19 variants found in genomic testing in Karnataka

    The minimum proportion of antibody-positive people was observed in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh (2 per cent), while the maximum proportion of antibody-positive persons was found in the Ghazipur district (47 per cent) of Uttar Pradesh.

    The research also revealed that the cases reported by the government were several times lower than the actual incidence of infection.

    Through mathematical calculations, it was estimated that the actual corona cases in India are between 58 to 98 crores, the researchers said.

    “The extensive serosurveillance has enabled us to have a clear picture rather than antigen testing or RT-PCR test,” said Professor VN Mishra from BHU, who led the medical testing in the study.

    ALSO READ | Vaccines: Injecting Hope exhibition in Delhi looks into India’s Covid-19 episode

    India on Wednesday recorded 96 fresh COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases increased to 1,785, according to Union health ministry data.

    With the new cases, the total tally stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,83,639). The death toll increased to 5,30,746 with one death reported from Uttar Pradesh, the data stated.

    NEW DELHI: The actual COVID-19 infections in India may be around 17 times higher than the official figure, a study led by researchers at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) suggests.

    According to government data, nearly 4.5 crore people in India have been infected with COVID-19 so far. However, the study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) estimated that the actual coronavirus cases in the country may be between 58 to 98 crores.

    The research “has shown that the actual corona infection in India was at least 17 times higher,” according to a statement by BHU.

    “The discrepancy observed in our study is due to the overwhelming number of asymptomatic people, which was several-fold higher than the true official infection,” said BHU geneticist Professor Gyaneshwer Chaubey.

    “Asymptomatic cases were more inclined towards the younger population,” Chaubey, who led the study, said.

    The study involved 88 scientists from 34 research institutes across the country. The team conducted a serosurvey (antibody testing) among 2,301 individuals in urban areas of fourteen Indian districts in six states during the month of September-December 2020.

    The most striking aspect of this study was that a large proportion of the Indian population was asymptomatic for COVID infection and the age group 26-35 had the maximum number of asymptomatic people, the researchers said.

    Antibody tests in people after any coronavirus wave accurately assess the actual infection, they said.

    The team conducted the research among a large number of people — street vendors — living in urban areas from fourteen Indian districts who are most at risk of corona infection.

    “For the first time, we have used a novel approach to estimate the frequency of people infected in a certain geographical region,” said BHU’s Prajjval Pratap Singh, the study’s first author.

    Samples were taken of only those people who self-reported that they never had any Covid symptoms or positive RT PCR test.

    ALSOP READ | No new Covid-19 variants found in genomic testing in Karnataka

    The minimum proportion of antibody-positive people was observed in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh (2 per cent), while the maximum proportion of antibody-positive persons was found in the Ghazipur district (47 per cent) of Uttar Pradesh.

    The research also revealed that the cases reported by the government were several times lower than the actual incidence of infection.

    Through mathematical calculations, it was estimated that the actual corona cases in India are between 58 to 98 crores, the researchers said.

    “The extensive serosurveillance has enabled us to have a clear picture rather than antigen testing or RT-PCR test,” said Professor VN Mishra from BHU, who led the medical testing in the study.

    ALSO READ | Vaccines: Injecting Hope exhibition in Delhi looks into India’s Covid-19 episode

    India on Wednesday recorded 96 fresh COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases increased to 1,785, according to Union health ministry data.

    With the new cases, the total tally stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,83,639). The death toll increased to 5,30,746 with one death reported from Uttar Pradesh, the data stated.

  • BJP MP Sanghmitra Maurya seeks action against BHU professor who taught students how to make cow dung cakes

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A BJP MP on Friday demanded in Lok Sabha that strict action be taken against a political science professor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for teaching students the technique of making cow dung cakes on the campus.

    Raising the issue during Zero Hour, BJP MP Sanghmitra Maurya said these types of activities by a professor of a prestigious institute is regrettable and needs to be condemned.

    She demanded strict action against the professor for promoting “such activities in the temples of learning”.

    Speaking in Lok Sabha, Rahul Kaswan of the BJP said the government and the Reserve Bank should take strict action against app-based loan providers which are exploiting customers by charging exorbitant rates of interest and penalty.

    He said that there are about 1,100 such companies operating in India and many of them are acting like “digital mafia” and blackmailing customers to recover loans.

    The app-based companies which are operating illegally in the country should be banned by the Reserve Bank, he said.

    Syed Imtiaz Jaleel of the AIMIM demanded that District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committees (DISHAs) meet regularly.

    DISHAs were set by the government to ensure better coordination among all the elected representatives in Parliament, State Legislatures and Local Governments (Panchayati Raj Institutions/Municipal Bodies) for development activities.

    Taking note of Jaleel’s concern, Speaker Om Birla asked Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh to issue appropriate directions for holding regular meetings of DISHAs.

    Singh said the issue has been raised by several members and it is regrettable that DISHA meetings were not being held regularly.

    “We will try to find out a way to ensure that DISHA meetings are held regularly,” the Minister assured the House.

  • PM Modi unveils 100-bed Maternal and Child Health Wing at Banaras Hindu University Hospital

    By Express News Service
    VARANASI: Amid worries of a possible third wave of Covid-19, which may impact children more, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated maternal and child health (MCH) unit at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) hospital in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Thursday.

    Considered to be the AIIMS of Purvanchal (East UP), adjoining Bihar and even Nepal, the Sir Sunderlal Hospital in BHU campus got the MCH wing, comprising 100 dedicated beds for maternal and child health care, particularly in view of the vulnerability of children to the possible third wave.

    “The 100 new beds in MCH wing comprises 30 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, 30 high dependency unit (HDU) beds and 40 maternal care beds. It also has an operation theatre, labour room, a library and in vitro fertilization (IVF) facility,” a senior officer of the hospital told The New Indian Express.

    After getting information about the new facility, PM Modi visited the antenatal care ward as well as the labour room along with a team of young gynecologists and paediatricians.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate maternal & child health unit at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as he visits Varanasi today. People begin arriving at the venue, Police personnel deployed at the spot. pic.twitter.com/z3z1tJRaYR
    — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 15, 2021

    After spending seven to ten minutes at the newly inaugurated MCH wing, the PM also saw detailed presentations from the Varanasi district magistrate, the district’s chief medical officer and the director of Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS-BHU), besides a private practitioner paediatrician Dr Ashok Rai.

    Visibly satisfied with the arrangements at the Banaras Hindu University Hospital, PM Modi took keen interest in knowing how the facilities at the hospital are being regularly updated, particularly the hospital’s bed capacity having been raised from 1500 beds to 2700 beds in the last seven years.

    According to sources present at PM’s interaction with doctors, the Modi particularly enquired about the pace of vaccination in his parliamentary constituency as well as how the state government had handled the spread of Covid pandemic in the second wave in rural areas and the future plans for combating the possible third Covid-19 wave.

  • Reliance Industries Limited refutes reports of Nita Ambani joining BHU as faculty

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Limited on Wednesday said that the news on a proposal to make Reliance Industries Executive Director Nita Ambani a visiting professor at Banaras Hindu University is false.

    Reliance Industries Limited spokesperson told ANI that the news is fake adding that “no proposal or invitation to make her visiting lecturer of BHU has been received” nor has it been extended to Nita Ambani from the university.

    ALSO READ | BHU students oppose proposal to make Nita Ambani as visitng professor

    Several media houses had reported that students staged a demonstration at Banaras Hindu University on Tuesday opposing a proposal to make Nita Ambani a visiting professor. 

  • BHU students oppose proposal to make Nita Ambani as visitng professor

    By PTI
    VARANASI: Opposing a proposal to make Reliance Industries executive director Nita Ambani as a visiting professor, students staged a demonstration at Banaras Hindu University on Tuesday.

    Shubham Tiwari, one of the protesting students, said instead of Ambani, those who have set an example of women empowerment should be invited.

    Meanwhile, Prof Nidhi Sharma, coordinator of the Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, said the proposal to make Nita Ambani a visiting professor has been sent to the authorities.

    She said, “Ambani is a woman entrepreneur. If she joins our centre, the women of Purvanchal will get the benefit of her experience.”