Srinagar, June 13: If all goes as planned, the University of Kashmir shall soon have the facilities for Earthquake Monitoring and Mountain Meteorology in the wake of their importance to Jammu and Kashmir.
 The KU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Talat Ahmad, says the facilities are being established on the campus/Valley with the support of Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation (C-MMACS) Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata and National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) Hyderabad.
 Pertinently, the establishment of such facilities in the Valley assumes a high degree of significance in the backdrop of Valley’s placement in Seismic Zone-V, thus making it highly vulnerable to earthquakes.
 The University—according to a five-page document signed by Prof Talat Ahmad to mark his one-year stint as the Vice-Chancellor—has also mooted a proposal for establishment of Centres of Glaciology and Atmospheric Sciences at the University. The proposals, according to the document, are shortly being submitted to the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences at the Government of India “for financial support.”
 “Proposals have also been submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Minority Affairs for establishment of Residential Coaching Institute for imparting coaching to students for Central and State Service Competitive Examinations,” the document reads. “The University also plans to establish J&K Higher Educational Research Portal for optimal use of resources available in different institutions of higher learning and Sophisticated Instrumentation Facility Centre with state-of-the-art facilities for the benefit of teachers and students of the entire state.”
 The document—circulated among all the departments and centres of the University—lists the “achievements of the University” in the past one year, and its future plans on campus expansion.
 “The University has completed identification and acquisition of land, and its contour mapping for establishment and commissioning of Leh, Kargil and Kupwara campuses. 31 new departments/centres/courses have been projected for establishment in the Main, Satellites Campuses,” the document reads, adding, “In view of significant increase in the number of quality research contributions made by the University during recent past, an additional grant of Rs 50 lakh has been sanctioned by the State Government to the University for providing seed money to the newly recruited faculty.”
 The University has also referred to the Memoranda Of Understanding (MoUs) it has recently signed/or is signing with other institutions like Delhi University, JNU, IUST-Awantipora, SKUAST-Kashmir, Project Management Associates of India, University of Jammu and SKIMS-Soura.
 “The process of admissions to various programmes offered by the University has been made more transparent by providing carbon copy of OMR sheet to the students. Several reforms introduced/initiated in the examination system, such as e-award system, single paper scheme and provision of division/percentage improvement at UG level, have been made for the benefit of student community.”
 The document also mentions that “a backlog of about 50,000 degree certificates of students has been cleared.”
 For “the achievements made and initiatives undertaken in the past one year”, Prof Talat mentions that “it would not have been possible without the active support of the faculty members and officers/officials of the University.” “I must reiterate that it is my earnest desire to make this University as one of the premier educational institutions in the country and a hub of original, innovative and cutting-edge research in frontier areas of local regional and global importance,” he writes, asserting that “it is possible only when we join hands and pool our resources and work in unison for the overall development and progress of the University.”

Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST