Kushan, Gupta era pottery discovered
The Archaeological Survey of India has unearthed rare pieces
of pottery dating back to the Kushan and Gupta periods in the ongoing
excavation at the dilapidated fort of Raja Ram Baksh Singh at Unnao in Uttar
Pradesh. ASI found bangles similar to those in the
Indus Valley Civilisation. Archaeologists say the find proves the kingdom
existed 2,000 years ago
The Gupta dynasty is often known as the Golden Age
of Indian culture because during this period of Indian history, there was
peace, progress and prosperity. Great advances were made in art, literature
and science. There was renewed enthusiasm in religions like Hinduism and the
world's first universities were established.
The Gupta dynasty was
founded by Chandra Gupta I. A classic case of history repeating itself?! (The
last major empire, the Mauryan dynasty was also founded by a man called
Chandragupta, Chandragupta Maurya). Chandra Gupta soon broke away from the
dozens of kings of the period, and created a decent size kingdom. He soon
strengthened the kingdom by marrying Kumaradevi, the daughter of the king of
Licchavis. The Licchavis controlled a major portion of the region of Bihar
and possibly Nepal. his alliance
further strengthened Chandra Gupta's position. During the rest of his reign
Chandra Gupta extended his empire and controlled a substantial area of North
India. Chandra Gupta also held an important ceremony during his reign, where
an assembly of councillors and various members of the royal family were
present. It was here that Chandra Gupta nominated his son Samudra Gupta as
the heir to the throne.
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President for revision, upgradation of curricula in universities
Not
a single Indian university or institution finds a place in the top 200, pointed
out President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday as he called for a revision and
upgradation of curricula, introduction of choice-based credit system,
examination reforms and promotion of a culture of excellence.
Addressing
the first-ever conference of Directors of National Institutes of Technology
(NIT) at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Mr. Mukherjee said at least one or two
departments in every NIT must be turned into centres of excellence.
“It
is not difficult to see where our institutions stand today vis-à-vis the best
in the world. In two reputed international rankings of universities – the QS
ranking and Times Higher Education ranking – not a single Indian university or
institution finds place in the top 200,” he said.
“Apart
from leading universities of the West, the universities in countries like
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Malaysia are ranked
higher than Indian institutions. The highest ranked Indian institution in the
QS Ranking is IIT-Delhi at 222nd position. Not a single NIT is amongst these
institutions,” Mr. Mukherjee said.
Calling
for wide-spread changes and improvements in the education system, the President
said the ranking process needs to be taken seriously not just for the ranks per se but for the fact that high ranking
helps attract the best faculty from across the world.
This,
in turn, improves the prospects of good placement for graduating students and
provides a benchmark for continuous quality enhancement.
“During
my recent visit to Belgium and Turkey, I had the privilege of being accompanied
by a delegation of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities as well as the UGC
Chairman. I used the visit to provide impetus to the international
collaboration efforts of these Universities,” he said, encouraging NITs to look
for similar collaboration.
He
said engineering programmes must be also periodically evaluated based on
industry trends and emphasis should be on research and innovation in NITs.
“India
ranks 12th among top 20 countries in terms of publication on science and
technology. We have 119 researchers in research and development per million
people, as compared to 715 in China and 468 in United States. NITs must evolve
clear strategies to encourage research and development, which then leads on to
innovation and patents,” the President said.
“The
Government is investing huge amount of resources in higher education. The
effort to increase ‘quantity’ exponentially must be matched with commensurate
efforts to improve ‘quality’. We must lead our institutions into the ranks of
the best such institutions in the world,” he said.
Punjab to build new domestic airport at Adampur
The
Punjab Government has decided to build a new domestic airport at Adampur in the
district to cater to people of the Doaba region, especially NRIs.
The
State government has prepared the blue print for the airport at Adampur, Deputy
Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said at a rally in Jamsher near here, after
laying the foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs.50 crore.
He
said the new airport would prove a boon for the whole region as it would
facilitate businessmen and traders as well as NRIs from the Doaba region.
Mr.
Sukhbir said he is in constant touch with the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation
for necessary approvals.
Exercise Malabar scaled down
t
least a few in the strategic community resent the Indian defence
establishment’s stance in scaling down Exercise Malabar, the annual India-U.S.
naval interaction, whose at-sea segment now under way on India’s eastern
seaboard is a shadow of the previous editions.
The
ongoing edition is indisputably the weakest, with just a guided missile
destroyer of the U.S. Navy, with a few helicopters to boot, operating alongside
two frontline Indian warships — the stealth frigate INS Shivalik and the
destroyer INS Ranvijay — besides a few soon-to-be phased out Tu-142 long-range
maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
In
contrast, the U.S. Navy last year fielded the super-carrier USS Carl Vinson, a
destroyer, a cruiser, a supply vessel, a submarine and a P-3C Orion patrol
aircraft and India mobilised at least five frontline platforms, besides a fleet
tanker.
“The
beauty of the Malabar series was that we [the Indian Navy] got so much exposure
to super carriers and nuclear submarines operated by the world’s biggest naval
force. We have benefitted immensely from the exercise,” said the former Navy
Chief Admiral (retired), Sureesh Mehta, who was at the helm when the exercise
faced flak from India’s Left parties.
Citing
the Chinese reaction to India’s attempt to forge a naval-power quadrilateral
using the exercise, he said change of governments in Japan and Australia
rendered the move impractical. Australia’s calibrated response to China, its
largest trading partner and contributor to economic growth, pre-empted the
possibility. While it was legitimate for India to hold military exercises with
other countries, if it stemmed from a containment strategy towards China, it
would be unsustainable and antithetical to our traditions, he said.
On
the part of the U.S., in the wake of its pronounced policy of ‘strategic
balance’ in the region, it needed to maintain a certain distance with India, as
Pakistan was a key ally, giving it critical logistics support in AfPak.
States topping on HDI take lead in Aadhaar enrolment
Recent
data on UIDAI enrolment (till October 2013) reveals that eight States have
achieved a saturation rate of over 75 per cent. Five of the States — Kerala,
Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab — are among the top States on the human
development index.
“Aadhaar
enrolment is an indicator of well-governed States. These States take the lead
irrespective of politics or political parties,” a senior UID official told The Hindu . The leading States include the
UPA-ruled Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim, the BJP-ruled Goa, and the
Left-governed Tripura.
All
southern States are in the medium to high level of saturation. Tamil Nadu
stands at 45 per cent, Karnataka at 53 per cent, and Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
at 87 per cent. “Andhra Pradesh took the lead and was one of the first few
States to realise the potential of UID. Besides, big and small States have made
huge progress. It is in the interest of State governments and their understanding
of how Aadhaar can be leveraged,” the official added.
“Gujarat
is in a funny situation as the State government bureaucrats are stuck thinking
that they are already far too well governed,” the official said. The State has
recorded a 29 per cent saturation rate, similar to West Bengal, which stands at
28 per cent.
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