Jawaharlal Nehru University has been selected as the best University for the year 2011 for the “Mother Teresa International Award”.  Mother Teresa International Awards are presented to eminent Personalities/Institutions who have excelled in the fields of Education, Science, Culture, Songs, Music, Sports, Sports, Social Work, Medicine, Industrialist and Politics etc. in the County and abroad.

• Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Science has been appointed as Chairperson, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.
• Dr. Praveen Jha, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences has been invited to be on the Global Advisory Committee of the Governance Assessment Programmes of the UNDP. The Governance Assessment work is one of the important cross-cutting areas of work within the Democratic Governance Group of the UNDP
• Ms. Sipra Sagrika, Research Scholar, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, and Mr. Shakti Prakash, Research Scholar, Centre for French and Francophone Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, jointly bagged the First Prize in the debate competition on “Voting should be mandatory or not” on the occasion of National Voter's Day 2011, facilitated by the Election Commission of India.
• On the occasion of its silver jubilee celebration a Mumbai based badminton club 'Badminton 45' conferred the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' to Damayanti V Tambay, Arjuna Awardee in Badminton and Dy. Director, (PE) in the Sports office for her contribution to the game of badminton for over five decades. The felicitation was held on the 5 February, 2011 at Mumbai.

Horticulture Show 2011

The Jawaharlal Nehru University participated in Pusa Horticulture Show, 2011. Since last four years, University has won many prizes.  Pusa Horticulture Show 2011 organised by Delhi Agri-Horticultural Society in the lawns of Genetics Division, IARI, Pusa New Delhi on 26 – 27 February, 2011 was an open competition for all exhibitors (Government or Non-Government Agency/ Institutions/ Private Organisations/ Embassies/ Hotels/ Clubs/ Nurseries/ Individual) from Delhi and New Delhi.  JNU submitted nine entries for various types of gardens and pot plants. A Committee from IARI, Pusa inspected the 07 gardens of the University. It is matter of immense pride that the University was Awarded 03 DAHS Cups for gardens with a) VC Lodge given, the Best Medium Private Garden; b) Garden in front of Dean of Students Welfare Office, the Best small Public Garden; c) Aravali Guest House Garden awarded the Best small Garden, and 01 Pandit Brothers Challenge Cup for Best collection of 24 pots of annual flowering plants arranged in a group.

Sunil Kumar,
Horticulture Officer, JNU

Vice-Chancellor's Speech

Excerpts from Vice-Chancellor's speech delivered on 25 April, 2011 at the University Court Meeting

On behalf of the University and on my own behalf, it is my privilege to welcome you all to the thirty-eighth meeting of the JNU Court. In particular, I extend a warm welcome to the Hon'ble Members of Parliament who have so graciously spared time out of their busy schedule to attend today's meeting. It is gratifying that Hon'ble Members of Parliament have always evinced keen interest in academic development of the University. JNU is a unique institution of higher education in India with a global reach.  The University has a very long and well nurtured tradition of participation by different components in its growth and development. The University attracts students, teachers and supporting services from all over India to participate in its academic programs and other activities. Its unique character is reflected in the cordial atmosphere in which students from all over the country and abroad live in sixteen hostels. Faculty and staff also live on campus and all of them together contribute in a major way to the composite life on the campus.

At the outset, I would like to place on record the university's appreciation for the invaluable services rendered by my predecessor Prof. B.B. Bhattacharya and his team of officers, and the then Rectors, Professor Rajendra Prasad and Professor Ramadhikari Kumar.

Before I highlight achievements of the reporting period, I would like to introduce my team of officers. Professor Sudha Pai, a Professor in Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences is the Rector. Professor V.K. Jain, a Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences is the Dean of Students and officiating Registrar. Professor Himadri Bohidar, a Professor in the School of Physical Sciences is the Chief Proctor. Dr. S. Chandrasekaran as Coordinator (Evaluation) and Shri Shankar Dhar, Officiating Finance Officer. Professor Rajendra Dengle, a Professor in the Centre of German Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies is Professor In-charge, Library; and Dr. Sachidananda Sinha, Centre for the Studies of Regional Developent, School of Social Sciences is Associate Dean of Students.

Now, permit me to turn to the academic and other affairs of the University.

JNU has a two semester academic year. The first – Monsoon Semester – extends from 22 July to 5 December and the second – Winter Semester – from 6 January to May 12. The University has continued to maintain its academic calendar.

Now, for the purpose of convenience, I would like to summarize the major events during the period under report and also inform the august members of the Court about recent developments which do not normally come under the reporting period.

University has made a singular contribution to all-sided development since its inception. The significance which the institutional environment at JNU has for academic pursuits is well recognized. There has been continuous increase in the academic programs over the years. More recently, the University has established  a few programmes in the emerging areas and also those of innovative in nature under XI Plan. These include:

Programmes Introduced/integrated:

I would like to inform the august members that induction of new faculty to support the existing and new programmes is important and, therefore, keeping in view the academic interests of the University, all necessary steps will be taken to move forward in this direction in the coming months. The faculty strength as on 31.3.2010 stood at 485. In addition, we have 19 Emeritus Professors  and 5 Honorary Professors.

Infrastructure: As reported by my predecessor last year, new infrastructural projects were undertaken under OBC Expansion scheme and 11th Plan programme that included upgradation of classrooms, lifts, toilets both in schools of studies and hostels, construction of a 544-seated state of the art hostel, Koyana, for girls, new buildings for School of Physical Sciences and Language Laboratory complex for School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies. All these have since been made operational. Modernization of existing physical infrastructure and expansion of capacity is a continuous process in order to maintain standards and bring about both quantitative and qualitative changes. Accordingly, major projects for upgradation and expansion of infrastructure to meet the growing demands have been initiated. These are:

On behalf of the Executive Council of the University, I have great pleasure in placing before you the 40th Annual Report for the period 2009-10 in fulfillment of the requirements of Statute 12(1) of the University Act and Statutes of the University. The Finance Officer shall present the Annual Accounts for the year 2009-10 and Budget and Financial Estimates for 2011-12.

The University Court met once, the Executive Council thrice and the Academic Council had four sittings.  The Finance Committee met twice during the reporting period.

Admission: During the reporting period (2009-10), the University conducted entrance examination in 68 centers, including an overseas centre in Kathmandu (Nepal). In addition, our university has been conducting Combined Entrance Examination on behalf of 48 universities for M.Sc. Biotechnology, including admission relating to M.Sc. (Agri.), M.V.Sc . (Biotech.) and M.Tech (Biotech.).

As in the previous years, in the reporting period (2009-10) too, a steady rise was seen in the number of candidates seeking admission, both from India and abroad.  Through the Entrance Examinations in 2009-2010, University admitted 1729 students from all parts of India, besides 110 foreign nationals representing 29 countries. For the academic year 2010-11, the corresponding figures are: 1888 students from all parts of India and 100 from abroad.

It may also be mentioned that the number of female students admitted to JNU has been increasing steadily.  In fact, girls now outnumber boys in new admissions in several schools.

Similarly, for the reserved seats, during the last  four  academic sessions, the university has not only been able to fill in the seats meant for SC/ST/PH  students, but  marginally exceeded the statutory minimum intake limit with the only exception for SC category in 2010-11 which is close to 15 per cent. The University has also admitted more students from the middle and lower income groups.

By the academic year 2010-11, we have implemented 3rd phase (27 per cent) of OBC non-creamy layer reservation in admission to complete the 27 per cent of OBC reservation ratio consistent with the provisions as contained in Section 3 of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Admissions) Act 2006.

The total strength of full-time students on the rolls of the University in 2009-10 was 6153.  Of them, 3668 students belonged to M.Phil/M.Tech./Ph.D. programs of study, 1722 students were enrolled for MA/MSc./MCA, 763 students in the undergraduate programs in the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies.

In terms of the student-profile of the total students on rolls, 837 students come from the Scheduled Caste; 495 students come from the Scheduled Tribe; 132 students under the Physically Challenged category; 1029 students under Other Backward Classes (OBC) (non-creamy layer); foreign national students work out to 285; and the general category students are 3,375.

Publications: The faculty of the university has published about 121 books, more than 264 chapters in edited volumes, published over 427 journal articles, about 750 general research papers/articles/media articles and conference papers, and participated in about 1083 conferences/ seminars/ workshops. Besides, over 652 lectures were delivered outside the University during the period under report.

The University brings out four research journals which have high academic visibility in India and abroad.  These are: Studies in History, International Studies, Journal of School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies (JSL) and Hispanic Horizons. Besides, several members of our faculty also edit national and international journals.

Research Projects: About 243 research projects are running during this reporting period.  Funds received through sponsored projects were to the extent of over Rs 35 crores which support the research endeavours of our faculty in various Centres/Schools.

Constitution of Institutional Ethics Review Board: University had constituted an Institutional Ethics Review Board (IERB – JNU) on human subjects in 2008, as per ICHR guidelines, which has now been reconstituted with every category having a panel of four to five names so that at least one from each category may be included while constituting a committee for a specific review meeting.

Intellectual Property Management Cell: IPM Cell was established in 2006 with a vision to assist the University to manage its intellectual property (IP) by providing assistance to file patent applications in India/abroad, help in copyright issues, reviewing licensing and related documents and facilitate technology transfer to industries to help the society to enjoy the fruits of invention.

Awards/Recognitions to Faculty: JNU faculty has been conferred with several prestigious awards, recognitions and fellowships of academies, both within and outside the country. Many faculty members have become members of the Editorial Boards of prestigious international journals. Our expertise is highly sought after and many of our faculty have served the Government of India in many capacities as Secretaries of Departments, Chairman, UGC, Member of Planning Commiss-ion, Vice Chancellors of Universities. Many of them are still carrying on these onerous responsibilities.

Degrees awarded: During the period under report, 3069 degrees/diplomas/certificates, were awarded.
Students' Activities: Students of the University have participated in various sports and other activities and have won medals. I am happy to inform this august body that participation of our students in national/international seminars/conferences has been considerable. Several of their papers have been accepted for presentation in these conferences/seminars both within and outside the country. They have won awards and medals also. The University provides financial support to the confirmed Ph.D. students for presentation of papers in seminars/conferences.

Endowments and Fellowships: The University has established several endowments with support from Government of India, State Governments, University Grants Commiss-ions, public financial institutions, like RBI and SBI; foreign governments under collaborative arrangements, and distinguished  public figures, by instituting chairs, scholarships, fellowships, awards   and  memorial lectures. The University is making sustained efforts to establish a chair in the name of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore as Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Literature on occasion of  the 150th anniversary of the great poet with support from UGC, and another Chair in Malayalam language with support from State Government of Kerala,  similar to the one established earlier in Tamil language with support from Tamil Nadu Government.

Welfare of Weaker Sections: JNU has set up an Equal Opportunity Office to facilitate and monitor various needs of SC/ST and Physically Challenged students. In line with affirmative national policy of the Government of India, the University endeavours to ensure representation of persons belonging to SC/STs, OBCs, Persons with Disability, etc. in its teaching, academic programmes and staff strength.  The university ensures that facilities of reservation in jobs, hostels, university accommodation, etc. are provided to these sections in accordance with norms. The University is making every effort to become more disabled friendly.

Fellowships: Besides fellowships awarded by University Grants Commission (UGC), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Biotechnology, a few State Governments, etc., the University awards scholarships/fellowships/medals to deserving students on certain conditions  out of several endowments that have been established. Thus, more than 80 per cent of our students get fellowships/scholarships from various sources.

Distinguished Visitors to the University: Several distinguished scholars, dignitaries, and high ranking professionals have visited the University either to participate in the seminars/conferences organized by Centres/Schools or as part of delegations to interact on academic and research interests.

The University Library is the hub of all academic activities of the University. The library acquired 3443 volumes during the year. The total library collection was over 5.5 lakh volumes at the end of the year under report. The books worth Rs 5.46 lakhs were purchased, while a sum of Rs 192 lakhs was spent on subscriptions to journals. The library subscribed to 933 journals. The number of e-journals/online databases subscribed was over 20. The total expenditure on subscription to various important data bases, was Rs 533 lakhs. Initiatives taken on automation and networking and also launching of WEB-OPAC in the library have since been completed. To meet the special needs of the visually impaired students of the university, a special unit named after Helen Keller has been established in the newly renovated Reading Hall.

University Science Instrumentation Centre (USIC) executed 257 jobs of design, fabrication and repair of scientific equipment/instruments besides undertaking maintenance jobs of 3000 computers and related peripherals.

Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF) has a specialized research laboratory facility that houses 20 sophisticated state of art instruments. It is an expanding central facility of latest and advanced analytical instruments for research in the application area of physical, environmental, biological, allied and interdisciplinary sciences. It serves as academic, research and scientific service provider and helps in the inter-disciplinary academic and research programs, etc. Its usage has resulted in various important publications by user faculty of science schools of the University as well as by many others from neighboring research institutions. AIRF endeavours to develop the future programmes in such a way that it can cater to all scientific community of JNU and thus can become an integral part of scientific research and development of the University.

The Academic Staff College celebrated its 20th year by initiating the Foundation Day Lecture Series, with the publication and formal release of a monograph “The Idea of Identity” on January 14, 2010. Between April 2009 and March 2010, ASC conducted five orientation courses and trained 165 college/university teachers. It also conducted nine refresher courses on various subjects, thereby training 222 college/university teachers from various parts of the country, including 10 from JNU. Besides, ASC organized the first Academic Administrators' Workshop. This highly successful four-day workshop conducted during 03-06 November 2009 had a sizeable participation from JNU i.e. 19 in addition to 30 participants from various parts of the country.

University Health Centre provides specialized services in the fields of Cardiology, Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Orthopedics and ENT. Besides a 24x7 ambulance service fitted with medical gadgets and a Doctor are available. Students and retired employees are given medicine from the Pharmacy of the Health Centre. Lab tests are carried out in Biochemistry and Microbiology lab. Besides, primary health care to the students, HIV counseling is also done.

Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH): JNU's GSCASH has been working tirelessly to safeguard and expand the culture of gender sensitivity, equality and tolerance on the campus. It has contributed significantly in organizing public meetings, workshops, preparation and distribution of hand-outs for gender sensitization, bringing out sensitization posters, organizing essay and poster competition for students, and holding stage play/women's day march.

Alumni Affairs: The University has established a Standing Committee for Alumni Relat-ions and International Linkages (SCRAIL). JNU recognizes its alumni as important stakeholders in its continuing quest to provide excellent education. It realizes the enormous benefits that can come from the engagement and support of its alumni who have considerable expertise in many areas and can help identify strategic directions for JNU. Accordingly, Alumni office has established links with more than 4500 JNU alumni and several JNU alumni associations.

International Collaboration: JNU has established academic linkages with foreign institutions/universities of repute. It has signed 114 MoUs, 39 AoCs and 5 students exchange agreements. As part of such MoUs students and faculty from various overseas universities/institutions   visit the University and our students and faculty visit those universities to conduct joint research, field work, to organize joint seminars/conferences and to participate in seminars/conferences for mutual benefit.  Under Global Studies Programme, the ninth batch of 20 students from 14 countries arrived in the University this year.

Jawaharlal Nehru  Institute of Advanced Study (JNIAS) is envisaged as simultaneously a self-contained site of scholarly pursuits in an environment of intellectual fellowship; and a source of academic enrichment for the university. It hosts scholars from all over the world, who despite their diverse disciplinary backgrounds are able to engage in an intellectual conversation that enriches them and benefits the Institute as well as the wider university community. During the year under report as many as 21 fellows were invited from all parts of the world for durations ranging from 3 to 6 months who interacted with centres/schools, delivered lectures and participated in seminars and workshops.  JNIAS also organized 24 seminars/workshops/dialogues in collaboration with other institutions, and signed 3 MoUs.

Financial support from UGC

The University's finances are mainly maintained in the following account. (i) Maintenance (Non-Plan) Account; (ii) Development (Plan) Account; (iii) Earmarked Special Fund Account; (iv) Fellowship Account; and (v) Debt, Deposit Account. However, I would like to inform this august body that the University is  utilizing  funds given under XIth Plan, including OBC Capacity Expansion Heads. All the major ongoing infrastructure projects have been taken up under XIth Plan Grant. The costs have, however, gone up substantially resulting in shortfall of the funds required for completion of these projects. We have approached the UGC asking for additional funds in order to complete the various ongoing projects in time.

University Employment Information and Guidance Bureau (UEI&GB) has been functioning in coordination with the Delhi Administration. JNU contributes the services of a Professor-in-charge of the Bureau and also provides infrastructure facilities. The Bureau helps JNU students in seeking employment registration, individual counseling and guidance.

Anti-ragging Initiative: JNU has set up a Anti-Ragging Committee to oversee and regularly monitor incidence of ragging. JNU, unlike other academic institutions, has the distinction of zero tolerance towards ragging. Instead seniors take all care of the freshers in all possible respects and welcome them with warmth. Learning together from each other while keeping the motto to achieve new heights of excellence sums up the ethos of JNU. We hope to work with earnestness to keep these ethos going.

Grievance Redressal Mechanisms: The University has devised Grievance Redressal Mechanisms for redressal of individual or collective grievances of teachers, non-teaching staff and students.

Cultural Activities: Various Cultural Clubs in JNU have been set up to encourage human creativity. Debates, discussions, drama, music, paintings, etc. provide avenues for the development of personality traits and induce a sense of achievement. Students Activity Centre (SAC) has been constructed for this very purpose. I am happy to inform that these cultural clubs also coordinate cultural activities with the help of associations in the Centres and Schools. It is gratifying to state that the regional cultural associations in Delhi and outside also sometimes perform and add variety in the cultural activities of the campus.

Sports Activities: The University has a good stadium and about 11 sports clubs which are very active in organizing inter-hostel competitions every years besides inter-school and the annual competitions. Additionally, all the hostels have arrangements for badminton and table tennis, have a small gym where the students can do exercises at leisure to keep themselves fit. The Yoga Kendra established by the University with the help from UGC has been rendering valuable service to university community. Besides attending to 50-60 persons every day, the Yoga Kendra has been organizing short-term crash courses on yoga regularly.

Recognized Institutions: The University has given recognition to two more research and development institutions for their Ph.D. programs. The new recognized research institutions are: (i) Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune; and (ii) National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow. The number of recognized research institutions has now gone up from 11 to 13.

JNU is now uniquely recognized for ensuring academic freedom. With its highly open, transparent and responsive academic-cum-administrative set up, JNU has all along worked to preserve and expand academic freedom of its faculty, students and researchers. The University thus is a vibrant and enterprising centre of academic activities. Although its achievements are splendid, it believes that it has still many promises to keep. In the competitive environment, which is characterizing every sphere of modern social life, an educational institution, more so JNU, can withstand the competition and justify its existence only by its proven high degree of academic excellence. Adequate funding for research and development would be needed.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chancellor, Professor Yash Pal for his guidance, the hon'ble Members of Parliament for offering their enlightened views, and my distinguished academic colleagues, both from the University and outside JNU for valuable insights, and officers of the University for their active support and cooperation. I seek your continued help and assistance to do better. Without sound advice, a policy framework and guidance from all of you, it will indeed be difficult for us to take the University to newer height and glory. My sincere thanks to you all, once again.

Sudhir Kumar Sopory
Vice-Chancellor