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In a dramatic diplomatic move against growing geopolitical tensions, Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication (HJU) - a government-sponsored journalism university in Rajasthan - has temporarily suspended its academic tie with Turkey's Afyon Kotechnology University. This comes on the heels of Türkiye's strong support for Pakistan in recent Indo-Pak showdowns, during which some Indian universities had proclaimed a collective boycott of Turkish universities.

The June 22, 2024 memorandum of understanding (MoU) was centered on academic collaboration and institutional engagement. HJU Vice Chancellor Prof. Sudhi Rajeev explained unilaterally putting the agreement on hold in the national interest.

Recollecting the pro-Pakistan and anti-Indian policy of Türkiye and open support to Pakistan, we have formally written to the suspension of our MoU with Afyon Kocatepe University, said Prof. Rajeev. "It has been done in the spirit of national sovereignty and security. The MoU will automatically lapse after three months unless it is renewed.".

This move by HJU is part of a comprehensive Indian academic movement, with the majority of universities now starting to disaffiliate from Turkish universities. The boycott is based on Türkiye's alignment with Pakistan and alleged interference in internal affairs when it comes to Indian domestic security matters of local concern.

This action is a dramatic departure from Indian academic diplomacy, indicating how global political interests are finding their way to influence knowledge exchange programs and institutional linkages. Whereas such MoUs have so far enabled international academic interaction, the recent episodes alert us to the fragility of geopolitical compulsions to upset these collaborations.

With school institutions increasingly focused on national interest in forming alliances across the world, suspension of the HJU-Türkiye MoU is one step in the direction of a world in which education will be more intertwined with diplomacy than ever.

Mizoram has achieved 100% literacy rate. A total of 292 volunteer teachers, including students, educators, resource persons, and Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators helped educate the illiterate people. Know details here.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Lalduhoma declared Mizoram–country’s 1st fully literate state.

The decision was announced in the presence of Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary at a Mizoram University (MZU) function.

"As we commemorate this success, we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining literacy through on-going education, access to the digital age, and vocational skills training," the CM's Office quoted him as saying in an X post.

"Let us now shoot higher: digital literacy, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial skill for all Mizos," he added.

Chaudhary congratulated the state govt and people on the milestone.

"Today, we proudly announced Mizoram as the first completely literate state under visionary Ullas Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram. Congratulations to the people of Mizoram and Hon'ble CM @PuLalduhoma for this feat," he shared on X.

"Special thanks to Hon'ble Education Minister Dr. Vanlalthlana for pushing this agenda. The Chief Minister was kind enough to appreciate the contribution made by earlier State Governments as well in the historic journey of development Mizoram has embarked on. May the Northeast continue to lead the march towards a Shikshit, Kushal, and Atmanirbhar Bharat," he stated.

Based on the 2011 Census, Mizoram is at 91.33 per cent literacy rate, 3rd in the nation.

Building upon this base, the ULLAS -- Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society -- and Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram were put into place to locate and educate the last non-literate persons.

According to estimates based on the 2011 census figures, surveys were carried out and 3,026 illiterates were identified. Among them, 1,692 were identified as potential learners.

292 volunteer teachers, comprising students, teachers, resource persons, and Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators, were at the forefront of this endeavor, officials added.

The combined efforts, commitment, and mobilization of the community have led to Mizoram becoming totally literate, they added.

The Kerala High Court on Monday held that the Governor's appointment of an ad interim Vice-Chancellor for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University was illegal.

It ruled that the appointment was not in accordance with the correct procedure prescribed by law.

The state government had filed the case, questioning a notification (Ext.P9) made by the Chancellor (Governor of Kerala) on November 27, 2024. It was a notification that had appointed Dr K Sivaprasad as acting Vice-Chancellor of the university after the previous appointee, Dr Saji Gopinath, resigned.

The court decided that according to Section 13(7) of the University Act, the Governor cannot appoint anyone as Vice-Chancellor without the recommendation of a name from the state government.

As Sivaprasad's name was not recommended by the government, the court declared the appointment invalid. The court did not, however, oust Sivaprasad at once, observing that his tenure expires on May 27, 2025.

The court directed the government to provide a new list of worthy names to the Governor at the earliest. It also instructed the government to expedite the normal appointment process for a new Vice-Chancellor.

Significantly, the court stated that any appointment to the post will have to be made in accordance with the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations 2018. Kerala's CPI(M) government welcomed the High Court judgment, saying it was a clear message against the conduct of the Governor and a step in favor of federal values.

"The court has made it very clear that temporary Vice-Chancellors should only be appointed from the panel of names selected by the state government," CPI(M) state secretariat stated in a release.

The party condemned ex-Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for going against this rule while making appointments of Vice-Chancellors to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the Digital University of Kerala.

Though the court did not revoke the appointment of the present acting Vice-Chancellor as his tenure is over on May 27, CPI(M) asserted the judgment is a strong message that such encroachments should not occur in the future.

CPI(M) stated this is also a clear warning to the BJP government at the Centre, which has been accused by it of using Governors to advance political agendas in universities. CPI(M) also castigated the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, stating that it backed the former Governor's efforts to introduce RSS-supported policies to higher education.

The court verdict, they stated, is a blow to such political positions and a triumph for democratic and federal ideals.

A power struggle in North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has reached a dramatic level, with Vice Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla declaring an Academic Council meeting called by Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Sherwin Sungoh to be "unauthorised" and endangering the academic stability of the university.

The May 21 meeting was made public by Prof. Sungoh in a notification issued by the Joint Registrar. But the move has sparked strong objection from Prof. Shukla, who claims that only the Vice Chancellor is legally authorized to convene such meetings under the NEHU Act and university rules.

Prof. Shukla warned that in the event of the meeting, serious administrative action could be taken. His greatest concern: anything that is decided at this contentious meeting can not only be legally invalid but will directly impact students — from delaying exam results to jeopardizing degree awards and even risking plans for the following session.

This is not just a protocol matter. It is safeguarding our students' academic future,\" Prof. Shukla is said to have said university staff in confidence.

According to sources, Prof. Shukla had already instructed the Joint Registrar to issue a notice convening a meeting of the Academic Council, but to no success. The Registrar, Col. Omkar Singh (Retd), therefore stepped in and duly announced the meeting on May 23. Notwithstanding this, Prof. Sungoh's unilateral call for a May 21 meeting has reignited confusion and further deepened the rift in NEHU's leadership ranks.

Academic and legal scholars in the university caution that a bypass of the Vice Chancellor's authority could have far-reaching consequences. "If the actions taken in this meeting are later challenged, the university would end up stuck in court battles," a senior academic said.

Students and staff now wait nervously, hoping administrative egos do not get the better of academic imperatives. With critical academic choices on the brink of being made, many are urging discussion and collaboration over conflict at one of the Northeast's top universities.

The Bodo National Students' Union (BoNSU) has requested Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to intervene and bring to a halt what is claimed to be a huge corruption scandal in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Education Department. The student union has charged BTC government officials with corrupt practices in procuring high-priced books from blacklisted publishing companies for Bodoland University-related colleges.

This amidst growing student agitations across the Bodoland region. Previously, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) had organized a protest on Bodoland University campus in Kokrajhar for the ouster of Vice Chancellor Dr. Laishram Ladu Singh at the earliest. The protest was in reaction to last year's arrest of Dr. Singh by the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption and Chief Minister's Vigilance Cell on corruption charges. Since then released on bail, Singh remains a controversial figure.

The students were also irate against the inquiry committee formed by Assam Governor to investigate into the matter. The committee members are Dr. Mihir Kanti Choudhury (Secretariat Adviser), Additional Chief Secretary Higher Education Department, Prof. S.K. Dev of IIT Guwahati, and Dr. B.B. Misra, Finance Officer, Tezpur University. ABSU protested the proceedings of the committee and once again demanded the sacking of Dr. Singh.

The controversy goes back to the May 30 previous year, when a financial misuse of the university's funds was exposed, and the CM's Vigilance Cell had taken a number of crucial documents.

As the controversy gained momentum, ABSU declared a grand protest march on October 11, pressurizing the state government to act decisively.

 People reported that the school's education department informed the parliamentary committee that the government schools were impacted as the teachers were transferred elsewhere for voting and classes were suspended for a few days.

Maharashtra state education department has placed on record the fact before the joint parliamentary committee established on the significant 'One Nation One Election' Bill, regarding how schools under government control become loss-making because of regular elections as teachers are put on election duty.

Joint parliament committee (JPC) initiated the multi-city tour by beginning with Mumbai as day-one destination and cross-examined some of the witnesses. Senior Maharashtra government officers such as chief secretary and DGP among others were among those who were to be interrogated by the panel.

The state government went into elaborate detail explaining how this bill will be implemented to give more priority to governance and not get diluted due to consecutive elections.

Sources have described that the education department had appeared before the committee and detailed out the impact on government schools. They believed that if the elections were concurrent, the deployments would also be concurrent but that would be in government schools as the private schools were not closed during an election. The government schools were also affected with the deployment of the teachers for election duty work which left the classes pending for three days. One Nation One Election has been in the news for controversy among party workers who can prove useful to the education sector.

It was further reported that the RBI officials presented to the JPC the evidence. RBI has complained to the panel that since there is a code of conduct and cash transfer limit, it has clear mention of them, said the sources. RBI, they continued, proceeded to say that there should be detailed examination of the effect of the law for which they asked for six months to come back to the panel, they continued.

Aged politicians of all the various parties, and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, and state party leaders were heard as witnesses by the panel. BJP and alliance leaders have appreciated the Bill, whereas others like Congress and NCP believed that it would restrict the freedom of the citizens to criticize their elected representatives. They also question the necessity of regional parties in such an alliance.

After a break on Sunday (May 18), JPC will resume hearing its proceedings on Monday (May 19). Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar too would be facing the panel, it is learnt. A chief minister would be facing the panel for the first time in history.

The committee was formed last winter session of Parliament after the Centre stated it had conveyed its readiness in introducing the Bill into Parliament for debate following its tabling in Lok Sabha. It is led by former minister and Lok Sabha member PP Chaudhary and consists of 39 members, among them Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Some veterans such as MPs Kalyan Banerjee, P Wilson, and Manish Tewari are included in the panel. Congress's Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala, Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Desai, and NCP's Supriya Sule are Opposition MPs included in the panel.

BJP's Anurag Singh Thakur, former minister Baijayant Panda, Bhartruhari Mahtab and BJP's Anil Baluni are among the ruling party members sitting on the JPC. Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde and TDP's Harish Balayogi are among the others on the JPC. India Today.