NLSIU Bangalore’s executive council (EC) has today decided to delay the decision to select the next vice chancellor (VC), we understand from two authoritative sources.
It is understood that current VC, Prof Venkata Rao, has requested that his term should end by the end of this month.
The EC have scheduled another meeting for 23 July to decide on next steps, or possibly to finalise one name amongst the three shortlisted final candidates, but we have not been able to authoritatively confirm the exact next steps at the time of publication.
Supreme Court Justices SA Bobde, Mohan M Shantanagoudar and Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra will be making a final determination on the process then.
The EC had been expected to make a decision today, with students having made a wish list in a letter yesterday for their ideal VC.
To be updated.
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" overall research eco-system in the country is strengthened"
- "concerted efforts to improve" performance in QS and Times London rankings
- "a programme, ‘Study in India’, that will focus on bringing foreign students to study in our higher educational institutions."
This is in line with the SBA proposals and Sudhir's international credentials, and so the new VC MUST be Sudhir according to our government's own priorities.
www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/budget-2019-text-of-fm-nirmala-sitharamans-speech-4174871.html
And its not like only students who did this know Sudhir, he has in his short but illustrious career worked with so many people in Indian academia, and so many students. And they all have good things to say about him. He taught Sidharth Chauhan at NLS and now the latter is his biggest cheerleader.
I have seen him be fairly empathetic to students- I have seen him make exceptions for students who genuinely are struggling with mental health issues or family problems, and I have seen him inconvenience himself to go out of his way to help them. This is not to say that he is always kind. He can often be harsh, and quick to judgment, and kind of catty. But atleast he is open to being questioned and challenged which is more than can be said for any of the other dinosaurs who are up for the VC job.
And as for his skills as an administrator- speaking with his colleagues at APU or CLPR , who would have had a chance to work with him more recently, would provide a better measure than people who knew him almost a decade ago when he was just starting his work.
APU caters to students belonging to marginalized backgrounds and if you have attended his classes, you would know he is very accommodating of students who struggle with language barriers. Of course he can be unkind and strict with evaluation but not with any sense of condescension. Much less condescension than what I see in the comments section here, anyway!
Also, guys, firecrackers, really? So much for logical reasoning and deliberative democracy! Good luck with whoever your new VC is. APU clearly lost an asset.
Sources also indicate that Prof V Nagaraj will take over as acting Vice-Chancellor. He previously served as Registrar of NLSIU from 2008 to 2013. He also served a stint as Vice-Chancellor of National Law University, Odisha from 2013 to 2014.
In the Executive Council meeting held today, names proposed for the new NLSIU VC have been rejected. It is understood that a fresh search will be undertaken.
The search for the NLSIU VC was chaired by former NUJS Director MP Singh, Attorney General KK Venugopal and Senior Advocate Arvind Datar.
It is understood that former NLSIU student and faculty at Azim Premji University Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Symbiosis Law School Director Dr. Shashikala Gurpur were amongst the candidates who had applied for the post of Vice-Chancellor. With the conduct of a fresh search, new names are likely to be considered.
barandbench.com/nlsiu-to-get-new-vice-chancellor-dr-venkata-rao-to-leave-end-of-this-month/
Early rumours floating around had also indicated that the entire list had been scrapped, but we understood that this was not what would be recorded in the minutes and is currently mere speculation, hence we did not publish it.
Someone else's gossip sourced from unreliable sources: Speculation
In this case, cutting a long story short, one authoritative source had confirmed Dr Nagaraj's appointment as interim VC to us off-record, but a second authoritative source directly and unequivocally contradicted this off-the-record. We therefore didn't run with the angle of his appointment. Also, the first source later confirmed that they had been been mistaken in their initial version of events.
It seems that Nagaraj is probably the front-runner for becoming interim VC if that position is not filled by month-end (and in light of his administrative experience as registrar and former NLUO VC this makes sense). However, we understand that no formal decision has been made yet on that front.
Regarding the scrapping of the shortlist, we had also heard this from a source but this had again been contradicted by a second source (though it remains an option after the 23rd meeting).
Hope that clarifies...
After this, some members raised pointed objections against Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Shashikala Gurpur. As described in one of the comments below, questions were asked about Sudhir's direct appointment as Professor at NUJS in February 2009 and Shashikala Gurpur's suitability for the role was also indirectly questioned. Given these objections, the internal faculty representatives argued that they did not have sufficient knowledge of the present capacities of the three candidates. Thereafter, the EC resolved to set-up another sub-committee to interview the 3 shortlisted candidates again in New Delhi on July 23, 2019. This is an unprecedented step, since it amounts to re-examining the High-Level Committee's recommendations. It remains to be seen whether the CJI will accept such a broad exercise of powers by the NLSIU Executive Council (EC). Given that Senior SC Judges such as Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice U.U. Lalit were in attendance, we cannot reasonably predict what might happen next.
Sudhir, Gurpur and Rao will probably all reapply, but a few new entrants above 60 may come in, such as:
- Ved Kumari and Kamala Shankaran (DU background, well known and respected in Delhi circles)
- VC Vivekanandan (non-threatening to the establishment and technically an alum)
- Bharat Desai of JNU (impressive CV, but may not want to leave JNU)
- Some NLSIU profs themselves
This will make things a bit hard for Sudhir and he may not make the top 3 shortlist.
Indicates who funded the Columbia trips and for what. Intellectual dishonesty and on top of it we are dealing with an intellectual dwarf.
Clearly by that article Sudhir didn’t mean to argue that Modi was personally trying to patent cow urine! If this is the level of reading comprehension perhaps Sudhir is better off at APU!
The argument clearly is that India’s rigorous parenting regime which has done this country and the global south a lot of good is being undermined by political bull crap from the ruling party. Sorry to burst any bubbles but cow urine doesn’t cure cancer- or any of the other diseases it claims to. And spending taxpayer money on researching and protecting cow urine is unconscionable and it undermines what is otherwise a standard IPR policy that has been in written and rewritten by both congress and bjp governments. Sudhir is speaking truth to power hear and you would hear it if you could critically examine claims of “Hindu science”
Nowhere in the article does he say that the actual parenting standards need to be lowered - to the contrary he applauds India’s parenting policy (from before Modi came to power) for making life saving medicines accessible to the global south. Half baked knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Let’s not resort to calling people intellectual dwarfs at least until we have proven ourselves comparable scholars. This kind of bullshit is why the country is going to dwarves. I’m sure there would be less opprobrium from that section if Ramdev or sadhguru were to become the VC instead. Cause they’re such scholars.
At this stage, we can only appeal to the long-term interests of the institution as the SBA has done in its statement released a few days ago. Sudhir Krishnaswamy is by the far the best candidate among the three shortlisted names, especially in terms of his own academic qualifications, teaching ability and published scholarship. As mentioned above, he has now accumulated significant institution-building experience at the Azim Premji University. Hence, there is no surprise in learning that the High-Level Committee consisting of Prof. Mahendra Pal Singh, Mr. K.K. Venugopal and Mr. Arvind Datar had put Sudhir's name on top in their list of recommendations.
Ordinarily, the Executive Council (EC) chooses one of the three recommended names. If it has serious objections against all the candidates, then those reasons need to be communicated back to the Chancellor (Chief Justice of India in the case of NLSIU). This step of setting up another sub-committee to interview the three shortlisted candidates again (on July 23, 2019) is without precedent and highly irregular. It also directly undermines the role of the High-Level Committee which had interviewed the candidates earlier (on May 8, 2019). It could possibly lead to litigation from the candidates who miss the bus. We hope that the SC Judges in the NLSIU Executive Council take note of this point and stand by the recommendations of the High-Level Committee.
www.pib.nic.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1541801
- Is it correct that some NLUs are hostile towards hiring young alumni as faculty? Is there a "traditional lobby" that does not welcome such people as faculty?
- Does this hostility also extend to NLU alumni teaching short courses as guest lecturers?
- Do the NLU alumni faculty currently teaching find themselves being discriminated against, such as large teaching workloads, hostility from older colleagues etc?
- Is is true that all NLU alumni join JGLS purely for money, as is commonly alleged? Or could there be other reasons like academic freedom and support from admin?
Discrimination bit is also true. Mostly resulting from same jealousy, administrative efforts to please the old-timers etc. One of my friends just ended up quitting an NLU for that very reason.
As for JGLS, the money is definitely a point of attraction, but the additional incentives for research including monetary consideration for SCOPUS publication, greater funds etc. don't hurt either. That doesn't mean JGLS faculty are all top quality. Plenty of bad apples are there too, armed with a foreign degree and little else. But there are some very good people down there too, including NLU alum.
Regarding your point about existing teachers' hostility, I won't presume to generalise or cast negative aspersion on the lot, but it's like StarryBucks mentioned before. Senior faculty in law schools on getting entrenched, can become quite power-hungry. A lot of them tend to perceive young and bright NLU alum desirous of joining academia as threats to their power base and are too set in their own ways to respond favourably to the changes these new people may try to bring. Of course, even young non-NLU alum can bring in such changes, but usually NLU alum are familiar with the system already, so they can figure out the problem areas sooner than others. Especially those alum who join their own alma mater. They either are expected to join existing coteries or at least pay homage to one, unless they are so incompetent (and some NLU alum actually are when it comes to teaching, just like non-NLU alum) that they aren't seen as a threat at all. The alum also tend to be more outspoken when it comes to protesting against the existing high-handedness or general inefficiency prevailing in most of the NLUs administratively and that's also a source of concern for many people who have grown accustomed to less work, shoddy performance and relatively good salary.
www.newsclick.in/Bengaluru-National-Law-University-Protest-25%25-Fee-Hike
indianexpress.com/article/education/bengalurus-national-law-school-students-protest-steep-fee-hike-decide-not-to-pay-fee-5818726/
www.deccanherald.com/sites/dh/files/styles/article_detail/public/article_images/2019/07/07/file763pny8gtj719jkfsj7p-1562477196.jpg?itok=cKhb6Afq
www.thequint.com/news/india/nlsiu-students-protest-25-percent-fee-hike
NLSIU is all-inclusive institution: Prof R Venkata Rao
“Our two-year programme on public policy has been hailed as better than Harvard Kennedy school.
This is how NLSIU earned the "Harvard of the East" tag... the gave it to themselves!
www.deccanherald.com/state/nlsiu-is-all-inclusive-institution-prof-r-venkata-rao-745885.html
1. Readvertisment of VC position with 65 as age limit
Arguments for: followed by other NLUs, under 60 limit narrows pool, may be challenged legally
Arguments against: Young blood is good, readvertising will be a lot of effort and also make NLSIU look bad.
2. Confirm search committee's recommendation of Sudhir
Arguments for: will not disrupt the process, Sudhir is the best possibly candidate anyway.
Arguments against: Sudhir has less work experience, unprecedented for a person below 50 to be VC, questions over eligibility in view of MP Singh's fast track promotion.
One of these options will be decided.
Quote:mrunal.org/2016/05/upsc-topper-chandan-law-optional-patna-bihar.html
twitter.com/SBAnlsiu/status/1151434631687761920
Other NLUs should follow NLSIU and similarly invite their local BJP MPs.
You know what this means? Was it organic, manufactured or instigated or all of the three?
theleaflet.in/nlsui-llm-2018-batch-students-allege-loss-of-job-opportunities-as-university-delays-exam-results/#
Will someone still get a smooth exit? What about the others who allowed such a situation to precipitate? Will new blood necessarily change things?
Have not been able to authoritatively confirm new VC yet from multiple sources, but the committee did meet candidates and it's possible has recommended something.
Yes, everyone deserves a break. But is Kian telling us that LI is now a single-person outfit? That's not a great business model. You found time to "break" a random story on some law firm fellow but nothing about the s**t going down at NLUO?
Do you even know that this completely scuppered the chances of KDR and SK is pretty much a done deal now? Worse KDR who is pretty much over at NLUO is now out of NLUD race and may not even find place in HNLU and CNLU? Maybe MNLU Aurangabad by a long shot.
If SK makes it NLSIU, expect major changes in the VC play a NLUD. There is a good chance it will also go to a young Turk unless RK intervenes on behalf of GSB since PJ is pretty much out. PJ is actually stuck and may continue at RGNUL. The students squandered their opportunity to evict PJ.
If young Turks take over NLSIU and NLUD, the new VC at NUJS may have the same lifetime as the state govt there since he is rumoured to have started the old ways of returning and currying favours.
I am also interested in knowing which Young Turk is in contention for NLUD? I thought no one except Sudhir was qualified to become a VC? Now that the NLS VCship is settled NLUD will be a play between FM (NALSAR) and SKD (NLUO). It'll be one or the other. SKD will definitely apply. FM might. Dark horse will be some professor from DU. These DU people have a lot of connections with judges and people in government. It won't be Ved Kumari because of her health don't think she will apply. Whoever it is, it won't be any Young Turk for sure.
1. #NationaliseNLUs discussed in Parliament
2. Sudhir next NLSIU VC
3. New developments on NLSIU domicile quota
4. NLUO protests
www.facebook.com/vselizabeth
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