* Chairs 21st Executive Council meeting of SMVDU
Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Mar 21: N. N. Vohra, Governor, today emphasized the need for preparing a revised Master Plan of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Campus which adequately meets the existing and the emerging requirements in the next 25 to 30 years.
He observed that the revised Master Plan, besides providing for new hostels for boys and girls, residential accommodation for faculty and staff, and meeting other arising needs would also need to reckon the requirements arising from the introduction of new academic programmes and the admission of an increased number of students.
The Governor, who is Chancellor of SMVDU, was chairing the 21st Meeting of the Executive Council of the University at Kakryal near here today.
The Governor emphasized the need to ensure the timely completion of all ongoing infrastructure development works, particularly the boys and girls hostels and urged Prof. Sudhir K. Jain, Vice Chancellor of the University, to very early draw up calendar of the important events of the varsity during Academic Year 2014-15 and see that firm dates are fixed for the meetings of the various bodies, including the Executive Council.
The Council took a number of important decisions for developing the University as a centre of excellence in teaching, research and co-curricular activities.
The Executive Council approved introduction of new academic programmes in a phased manner in the next 5 years; maintenance of a Corpus Fund of Rs. 20 crore and the interest accrued thereon to be utilized for providing scholarships to the meritorious students of the varsity.
The Council also approved the award of Post-Doctoral Fellowships of Rs. 35,000 per month and a Contingency Grant of Rs. 50,000 per annum in various schools of Study in the University, with the objective of enhancing research activities and capacities of the schools.
The Council approved the institution of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Medals to be awarded every year to the best students and a Medal for the best girl student of the year.
Prof. Sudhir K. Jain, Vice Chancellor of the University, in his presentation, gave details of the academic and extra-curricular achievements of the University. He also dwelt on the efforts being made to improve the existing infrastructure and the initiatives taken in the fields of teaching and research and the future Action Plan.
The Members of the Executive Council put forth several suggestions for the future growth of the University.
Earlier, on arrival at the University, the Governor planted a sapling of Putaranjeeva in the University Campus.
The Governor also inspected an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) which had been designed and fabricated by the Team Mechanix of the School of Mechanical Engineering, under the supervision of Dr. Ankush Anand and Varun Datta, Assistant Professors, School of Mechanical Engineering, SMVDU. The Governor was briefed about the salient features of the ATV which has a 10 horse power engine and can operate smoothly in hilly and rough terrain. The Governor lauded the initiative of Team Mechanix and suggested bringing about further refinements in the design of ATV.
The Executive Council meeting was attended by Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir; R. S. Pawar, Chairman, NIIT Ltd; Prof. Vinayshil Gautam, former Director IIT; Prof. D. Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Faculty of Management, SMVDU; Prof. V. Verma, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, SMVDU; Prof. V. K. Bhat, Director, School of Mathematics, SMVDU; Dr. Yugal Khajuria, Incharge Dean of Students, SMVDU; Navin K. Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor; Dr. Mandeep K. Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board and Ajay Khajuria, Registrar of the University.
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