Seems I'm going through one of those idealess phases again. So instead of something fun I give you this.

And one more dilemma - depending on birthday/christmas money received I may be in a position to buy another bit of kit for my camera. Question is: SB600 (would need wireless triggers at added expense) or 55-200mm VR lens?

So far I'm leaning towards the lens, but having seen this shot by Disco~Stu I'm not so

sure . . .

Sorry

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~ )~ (11i I)Join Solidarity Public Meeting Prof. M. H. Qureshi, formerly at JNU .

Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Jamia Mi llia islamia.

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Scrapping of'Foreign' Languages in UPSC: .

Prof. B.R. Deepak, CCSEAS, JNUA~t..v, Hovt. t~Mk~~ _ Prof. M. N. Khan, Head, Dept of Arabic, DU.

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Dr. Ranjana Saxena, Head, Russian, DU Dr. Vijaya Venkatraman, Dept of Spanish, DUDr. Ajith Kanna, CFFS, JNU Dr. Parnal Chirmuley, CGS, JNU26 5ep, Today, 555·1 Committee Room, 2.30pm Dr. Akhlaque Ahmad, CPCIS, JNU Dr. Ajay Karnati, CRS, JNU .

Over the past few years, we have been witnessing systematic attempts to elitise higher education, On the one hand, in thename of 'educational reforms', a slew of legislations to commercialise and privatise higher education were introduced,These proposed bills, such as the Educational Tribunals bills and the Foreign Universities.

' Bill, are aimed at handing overthe education sector' to private players, They are essentially c:: blueprint to facilitate fee hikes, commercialisation ofcampus spaces and facilities, and moreover they even attempt to shield profiteering educational institutions from the lawof the land ! The latest assault on higher education is of course being borne by one of the largest universities in the country:in Delhi University next door, the four year undergraduate programme (FYUP) is wrecking havoc on the very idea of ameaningful. affordable, quality education, Even as education is being converted into a commodity available only to .

the rich and the privileged, there are also systematic attempts to elitise bodies such as the I BPS and the UPSC,.

Recently for instance, the IBPS arbitrarily reduced the age limit and increased the minimum percentage required for.

applying, And now the UPSC is closing its doors for students from different Indian languages backgrounds and studying.

'foreign' languages, .

A recent UPSC decision exc;ludes various 'foreign' languages from the list of optional subjects in UPSC examinations,These languages-which include French, German, Russian, Chinese etc, as well as Arabic and Persian -are being.

offered and taught in several colleges and universities across the country in undergraduate and postgraduate level including.

in research, Therefore there is no logical reason to prevent students from choosing the subject of their choice as an.

optional in the UPSC, At a time when the Government is sing.ing praises of 'globalisation' and telling us to forge.

fresh links with the globalised world by tapping into newjob prospects in foreign languages, they also strangely.

curtailing job prospects and avenues through such legislations! .

It is a matter of further concern that even Arabic and Persi.

an, which have been taught in this countrv for centuries. havet 1een termee! as 'foreign' languages, Arabic and Persian been long been regarded in India as classical languages: they aretaught in more tnan twenty Universities and in numerous colleges, Several universities, such as the Maulana Mazharul~QQ1\robic and f'le~!iM Ul"liV~I·sily ;,, Poliii:t, u'~ Maulana Mohd All Jauhar University In Ram pur and the Alia University in Kolkata have been recently established, Persian, as the language of the courts and culture in India for several centuries,remains an important and historically significant academ ic discipline, When English is not considered 'foreign' in India, it is strange that the authorities hold Arabic and Persian to be .

'foreign'!! I As a result of the existing UPSC reoulat10n.

hundreds of students from Madarsa backgrounds, and who are pursuing a higher education in these languages, will nownot be able to choose the subject of their academic interest as an optional in the UPSC exam, When our concern should.

be to ensure greater participation of students from Madarsas in all avenues of public life, such discriminatory clauses would end up closing several doors and options to such students, .

Growing elitisation in UP5C .

The new CSAT (prelims) format in the UPSC exam tends to give a disproportionate advantage to students from science,.

medical and engineering backgrounds, while disadvantaging those from the arts and humanities, There is also an evidenttrend to exclude students from rural, non-English writing bar.kground, Let us look at some figures, Candidatesappearing in MAINS in 'HINDI medium (candidates appearing in the common paper of ESSAY being thebenchmark) has gone down from 5082 in 2008 to 1682 in 2011, in KANNADA has fallen from 14 in Z008 to 5 in.

2011 , in TAMIL from 98 in 2011 to 14 in 2011, in TELEGU from 117 in 2008 to 29 in /011 .On the whole. there is clearlya highly disturbing Increasing tendency to make UPSC examinations exclusionary, .

It is of utmost importance to fight such excl usionary tendencies in education and job opportunities, JNUSU has started aPetition against the UPSC's exclusionary regulations and a massive Protest Action will be organised at tile UPSC We.

have contacted students~ and faculty members in various universities to oppose such moves, and today .(26September), a Solidarity Public Meeting on the issue is being organised, which will be addressed by severa.

l teachersfrom JNU, Jamia and OU, JNUSU appeals to the student community to participate in large numbers in this Meetmg, from?,30 pm in SSS I auditori um, .

Akbar, Anub,huti Sandeep Saurav Sarfaraz..

President,JNUSU Vice-Presiri'Jilf: JNUSU Gen,Secy" JNUSU Jr se~,. J .. su .

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