New Chairpersons/Director/Advisor

• Prof. S.S.N. Murthy as Dean, School of Physical Scinences
• Prof. Z.S. Qasmi  as Chairperson, Centre for Persian and Central Asian Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies
• Prof. Kiran Chaudhry as Chairperson, Centre of French and Francophone Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies
• Prof. A.K. Dubey as Chairperson, Centre for African Studies, School of International Studies
• Prof. A.K. Ramakrishnan as Chairperson, Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies
• Prof. R.K. Jain as Chairperson, Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies
• Prof. R. Madhubala, School of Life Sciences, as Director, Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility
• Prof. Vidhu Verma, Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, as Director, Educational Records Research Unit

Administration

• Dr. Saurabh Bhayana as Medical Officer (Health Centre)
• Sh. Ajay Kumar Sahoo as Pharmacist in Health Centre
• Sh. P. Muneeswaran as Senior Lab. Assistant in School of Environmental Sciences
• Sh. Jitender Kumar-II as Cook (Mess) in Inter Hall Administration
• Sh. Gautam Rao as Cook (Mess) in Inter Hall Administration
• Sh. Rajeesh Gupta as Office Attendant in Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences
• Sh. Vijay Kumar as Office Attendant in Administration Branch
• Sh. Deepak Mudgal as Office Attendant in Dean's Office, School of Social Sciences
• Sh. Meenu Khan as Office Attendant in Office of the Dean of Students (IHA)
• Sh. Umesh Mahto as Office Attendant in the RTI Cell
• Sh. Raghubir Singh as Office Attendant in the Central Library
• Sh. Ajay Rajan as Office Attendant in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor
• Sh. Ajit Kumar as Office Attendant in the Office of the Registrar
• Sh. M. Imran Kataria as Office Attendant in Evaluation Branch
• Sh. Surender Kumar as Office Attendant in Legal Cell
• Sh. Gajender Shah as Office Attendant in Administration Branch

Retirements/Resignations

• Prof. Saraswati Raju, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences
• Prof. P.C. Jain,  Centre for West Asian and African Studies, School of International Studies
• Prof. Pushpesh K. Pant, Centre for International Politics, Organization & Disarmament, School of International Studies
• Sh. S.K. Grover, Section Officer, Students & Project Section
• Sh. Vinod Kumar Khullar, Personal Assistant, Centre for International Politics, Organization & Disarmament, School of International Studies
• Sh. Prem Singh, Professional Assistant, Central Library
• Sh. Puran Chand, Laboratory Attendant, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences
• Sh. Raman Kumar, Senior Assistant, School of Life Sciences
• Sh. Sher Singh, Office Attendant, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies
• Sh. Bala Dutt, Cook,  Jhelum Hostel
• Sh. Nazar Mohd. Khan, Groundsman, Sports Office

Obituary

Prof. Shashikant Jha, Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies passed away on 18 November, 2011. On this sad occasion we recall with deep gratitude Prof. Jha's enormous contribution to our Centre and to the University.

In his years at the School of International Studies he served as Chairman, Centre for Russian & Central Asian Studies; Director, Russian & Central Asian Area Studies programme; and also as Director, Europe Area Studies programme. He was a real institution builder. As the first Chairperson of the Centre for European Studies he worked tirelessly to put the Centre together.

Prof. Jha was a brilliant scholar of Political Science as well as Russian & European Studies. He was, however, not confined to the limits of his discipline and took keen interest in Hindi and Maithili literature. One could seldom converse with him without stories and anecdotes liberally thrown in from Indian epics and literature. However what perhaps set him apart was his humility and modesty.

It is because of these qualities that Prof. Jha was liked and admired by his colleagues and students enormously. He was always willing to give his time and knowledge to anyone interested in knowing Russian and East European politics or Indian political thought and philosophy.

Prof. Shashikant Jha had an illustrious academic career. He was MA in Political Science from Patna University and M.Phil and Ph.D. from Soviet Studies, SIS, JNU. Since 1985, he was teaching in SIS, first in Russian & Central Asian Studies and later in European Studies. Prior to that he taught Political Science at Patna University and at the University of Delhi. His teaching and publications focused on political systems and processes in Russian and Eastern Europe; ethnicity and nationalism in CIS and Eastern Europe, and foreign policy. He travelled widely in Europe including Russia and Eastern Europe. First as an international visitor and later as a Ford Visitor Scholar, he also travelled to the United States.

He contributed extensively to research journals, anthologies and popular media in both English and Hindi. Some of his important books include Ethnicity and Nation-Building in Eastern Europe; Reform Conflict and Change in CIS and Eastern Europe; and Amidst Turbulence & Hope: Transition in Russia & Eastern Europe.

Apart from his academic activities he contributed enormously to the University life as President of the JNUTA, Warden Narmada Hostel, Chairman of Security Committee as well as Library Committee.

His untimely death is a great loss for the Centre of European Studies and the entire academic community of JNU.

Bhaswati Sarkar, Assistant Professor
Centre for European Studies, SIS