Shivaji University signs MoU with C-DAC

Kolhapur, April 1: The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Shivaji University, Kolhapur today. Under the agreement, the two institutions will exchange information and communication technology. "The MoU is a milestone for both institutions and will help strengthen educational and IT technology cooperation," the director general of C-DAC Rajat Moona said. Dr. Devanand Shinde, Vice Chancellor of University termed the MoU as a historical achievement saying, the MoU will bring the two institutions together to work closely on big data analysis, free and open source data mining embedded systems, wireless sensor network, Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) design, software engineering and multilingual technologies. Dr. Shinde said, "Now that we have C-DAC with us, it will bring unlimited opportunities to students and researchers. Knowledge sharing between the two institutions will benefit the society and will boost research at the university." He said, The MoU will also help institutes expose students to cutting-edge skills. Apart from this, seminars, workshops and training sessions on innovation and research can be arranged in the future. Under the MoU, experts from C-DAC can be appointed in the university while last year's computer department students can also get an internship at C-DAC.

"We have been working in the IT field for the last 28 years. C-DAC has played a crucial role in making India an IT superpower. Our focus is to use technology to uplift society. We are happy to be associated with the university, which has adopted open-source learning platforms. We will make sure to take forward the relations," Moona said after the MoU signing ceremony. On behalf of the university, acting Registrar Dr. V. N. Shinde signed while Colonel Anupkumar Khare was signing authority for C-DAC.

Mahesh Kulkarni, associate director of C-DAC, said that his institute is keen on taking up several joint activities

with the help of the University. Dr. R. K. Kamat, head of the computer science department expressed

satisfaction over the initiative.

SUK publishes entrance exam details

Kolhapur, April 1: The Shivaji University, Kolhapur (SUK) has published its online and offline entrance exam

details for various courses on its website.

An university circular was issued on April 1, asking candidates to submit applications by April 16. The first

phase of the entrance exam through the offline mode will be held on May 9, 10 and 12. The online entrance

exams will be conducted on May 13 at the designated exam centres.

The SUK has issued the information of the exam centres for five online exams as well as the rest of the 27

offline exams. On May 13, online exams for PG courses in MSc zoology, biotechnology, biochemistry,

environmental science, food science and technology and environmental biotechnology will be held.

In all, seven exam centres have been announced for the online entrance. In Kolhapur, the exam will be held at

the Kolhapur Institute of Technology's College of Engineering, the computer science department at the

university campus and the Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Engineering.

In Satara, the KBP College of Engineering and polytechnic and the Yashoda technical campus will host the

exam. The Annasaheb Dange College of engineering and College of engineering and technology in Miraj will

host the exam in Sangli.

The offline exams will be conducted in two centres each in the Kolhapur and Satara district and one in the

Sangli district.

The offline entrance exams for the Yashwantrao Chavan School of Rural Studies will be held on May 10. This is

for courses like the MSW, MRS, MBA, MCA and M. Tech. The exam for mass communication and journalism

courses as well as MBA courses will be held on May 9.

While, the entrance exam for other major courses like MCA, mathematics, botany, electronics, physics, MJC

and geology will be conducted on May 11.

The applications should be sent with regular fee by April 16, while with late fees the deadline has been fixed

on April 21. With super late fees, candidates have to submit applications by April 25. The merit list for all

entrance exams will be declared on June 1. Discrepancies can be reported till June 4, after which the final

merit list will be announced on June 8. The first admission round of the admissions will begin from June 10,

second round on June 16 and the third round on June 22. The third round will be held for spot admissions.

The university has 40 different departmental courses and conducts the entrance exam for 26 postgraduate

courses each year. The rest of the courses fall in the social sciences, languages and political sciences and do

not require entrance exams. There are many such courses which students can opt for at the post-graduate

degree and the diploma level as well.

Shivaji University stands 28th in NIRF ranking

Kolhapur, April 4: Shivaji University has bagged the 28th position in the rankings announced by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development today. The ranking process was initiated in September 2015 by the ministry. The list consisting of all the universities is available online (https://www.nirfindia.org/univ) in which the names of seven universities and autonomous institutes from Maharashtra have found a place. According to the online data, the Shivaji University has scored much better than the North Maharashtra University in Jalgaon and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad.

"We are happy to secure a good ranking. We are at the 28th position in the national ranking and first among

non-agriculture universities in Maharashtra. This is a proud moment for the faculties, students and employees

of the university," said Dr. Devanand Shinde, Vice Chancellor of Shivaji University.

The ranking is decided on the basis of teaching-learning-resources, research-professional practice-collaborative performance, graduation outcomes and outreach of an educational institution. Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru has bagged the first position, while Mumbai-based Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) grabbed the second rank. Homi Bhabha National Institute (Mumbai) has stood on the 17th position, Pune's Institute of Armament Technology on 38th position and North Maharashtra University in Jalgaon on 59th position.

SUK publishes 2016-17 academic calendar

Kolhapur: The Shivaji University, Kolhapur (SUK) has published its calendar for the 2016-17 academic year. According to the calendar, the new semester for under-graduate courses in arts, commerce and science streams will begin from June 15, and from June 20 for post-graduate courses. For UG engineering and pharmacy courses, the new semester will start from June 15 this year, and from July 4 for PG courses. The semester for UG and PG arts, commerce and science streams will end on October 27, while the UG engineering semester will end on November 15. The PG engineering semester will

come to an end on December 13. In its tentative schedule earlier, which was published in February, the university had planned to start the engineering courses semesters from June 30. The plan has now been pre-poned by 15 days after taking the feedback of stakeholders into account. In its final schedule, the university has also released details of the second half of the academic year. Accordingly, classes for UG arts, commerce and science courses will begin from November 18 and will end on April 28 next year, while the semester for PG courses will end on May 20. The stakeholders' feedback was very important in finalising the academic calendar. The fact the university has pre-poned the semester exams by a few weeks this year, especially for engineering courses, the 2016-17 schedule needed to be balanced. The stakeholders, including principals of affiliated colleges, heads of departments, administrative department officials and all recognised institutes, were asked to submit their queries or feedback on the draft schedule. The final version of the draft has been scrutinised and assessed by the dean of faculties from arts and fine arts, social sciences, science, law, commerce, education and engineering and technology, and has received nod from the higher authorities. The SUK has as many as 280 affiliated colleges under its jurisdiction in Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur districts. Currently, more than 2.5 lakh students are pursing various educational programmes in UG and PG disciplines. The university also offers PG education through its 40 departments within the campus in Kolhapur.

NSS unit of university to go paperless soon

Kolhapur, April 10: The university's National Service

Scheme (NSS) unit is set to go paperless soon.

Students from the Kolhapur Institute of Technology

(KIT) College of Engineering are developing a website

to keep a record of the NSS activities.

Dr. D.K. Gaikwad, NSS co-ordinator of university said

that 10 students, along with their faculty members,

are developing the website. The website is in its final

stages.

He said that there are around 250 SUK-affiliated

colleges with NSS units and so the university has to

keep a record of all activities related to this

department. Currently, important records including

photos of various events, certificates, online badges,

press notes and circulars are being looked after

manually by the unit's staff members. However creating the website will allow a safe backup and make

maintaining records easier for the unit.

KIT Principal Dr. V.V. Karjini told that since last four months 10 students along with two faculty members are working hard on the website creation which is now in final stage. We are quite sure once the website is ready it will be helpful in reducing the current work load to at least 70% on the staff members. We have already given a presentation to vice-chancellor about it and have received a positive feedback from them. All the suggestions have been implemented in the new version of the website, he said. National Service Scheme, which is popularly known as NSS, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, was

launched in the year 1969, in 37 Universities involving 40,000 students with primary focus on the development

of personality of students through community service.

Enjoy the process of Research: Bharat Ratna Prof. C.N.R. Rao

Honoured with SUK’s first ‘Kanbarkar National Award’

Kolhapur, April 12: There is no age limit for the innovations and creativity. The researchers should keep

enjoying the process of those innovations and be a part of nation building, appealed Bharat Ratna Prof. C.N.R.

Rao today here, while accepting the Shivaji University’s first (Late) Principal R.K. Kanbarkar National Award, in

presence of Smt. Shalini Kanbarkar and Vice Chancellor Dr. Devanand Shinde, chaired the programme.

Prof. Rao praised the research work going on in the University. He said that he was busy in research since last

65 years. He started it at the age of 17, and interestingly his H index and citations started increasing after his

60s. It means that there is no relation between age and research. Still he publishes at least 25 research papers

annually on which he expressed his satisfaction.

He said, the students should come out of the negative mindset that nothing is happening well in our country.

He said that he is much happy for doing all his research living in India and could be able to shine his country

name all over thorough his work.

He emphasized on the need of research work in the field of Water Management and Energy Management. He

also said that it is up to students in which direction they wished this country should progress.

Vice Chancellor Dr. Devanand Shinde highlighted the similarities between Dr. Rao and Late Dr. Kanbarkar. He

expressed his satisfaction over the acceptance from Prof. Rao for receiving the Award.

Dr. B.A. Khot welcomed while Dr. D.R. More, Director, BCUD read out the citation. Dr. V.N. Shinde, acting

registrar proposed vote of thanks.

Creating Constitution-aware Society is a responsibility: Uttam Kamble

SUK celebrates Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniverasary

Kolhapur, April 14: The universities should take the responsibility of creating Constitution-aware society, appealed

Uttam Kamble, the Senior Litterateur and Journalist.

He was talking at the lecture organized at Shivaji University on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Bharat

Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Vice Chancellor Dr. Devanand Shinde chaired the programme.

Talking about ‘Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Preamble of Constitution’ Mr. Kamble said, Since last few years we are

reading and celebrating the preamble but still we are much illiterate about it. It is our national duty to create awareness

about constitution. The Universities should start its day with recitation of preamble.

Kamble said that the creation of constitution was not mere political development but was the creation of the history of

this country. It was a challenge in front of Dr. Ambedkar as in this country only castes were alive instead of Citizen. It is

the only Constitution in the world dedicated and focused on and around its people.

He said that Preamble is the soul of Constitution which reflects the essence of it with merely 60 words. It motivates the

feeling of Unity, brotherhood amongst its citizen through the words “We, the people”. The preamble highlights the

identity of our Indianness. With the acceptance of Constitution, we started our natural journey of humanity, which was

impossible in pre-constitution days, he added.

Vice Chancellor Dr. Devanand Shinde told that University has already introduced a credit course on Constitution under

CBCS. He laso emphasized on the need of scientific approach of Dr. Ambedkar towards every social issue and movement,

he handled.

At the programme ‘Baharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti Gaourav Granth’ was released at the hands of Shri.

Uttam Kable. The students from Dr. Appasaheb Pawar Vidyarthi Bhavan handed over a set of 125 books and e-books to

Vice Chancellor for the library of Vidyarthi Bhavan. Dr. Krishna Kirwale, the coordinator of University’s Dr. Ambedkar

Research & Development Centre welcomed. Dr. D.R. More, Director BCUD introduced the dignitaries and Dr. V.N.

Shinde, acting Registrar proposed the vote of thanks.

SUK 2nd in Country in NPG e-journal Usage

Kolhapur, April 22: A recent Infonet Digital library consortium (INFLIBNET) report stated that the Shivaji

University, Kolhapur (SUK) stands second in use of Nature publications group's (NPG) e-journal usage in the

country. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) stands third in the usage of the coveted scientific journal.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides the INFLIBNET service to universities across the country.

The service offers over 8,000 scientific journals in its network, including the Nature journal.

It also revealed that the number of Nature scientific journal users in the SUK have risen from a mere 34 in

2014 to more than 1,800 in 2015.

Dr.Devanand Shinde, Vice Chancellor said that it is a special achievement for the university after having also

accomplished first rank in the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) at the state-level few days ago.

He said that over 3,000 computers are connected via INFLIBNET in the university campus and the service of journals is open 24x7 for the students. Dr. Namita Khot, the university librarian, said that the Cochin University of Science and Technology has won the first prize of the NPG e-journal usage award, followed by the SUK. She added, Rajendra Kumar, assistant general manager of NPG emailed the university about the feat on April 22. Dr. Khot further said that the university subscribed to 8,643 scientific journals via its own services and the

INFLIBNET.

University distributes help to draught hit families

Kolhapur, April 29: Responding dutifully to its social responsibility, today Shivaji University distributed 57 quintal food grains along with 3 truck fodder in the drought hit regions in its jurisdiction especially in Jath and Atpadi talukas in Sangli district. Vice Chancellor Dr. Devanand Shinde personally led the distribution team and gave away the help to nearly 700 families from four villages. Taking the high cognizance of the drought in the jurisdiction, the University had appealed the students to collect the food grains and fodder through the Directorate of Students Welfare and NSS spread thoughout its affiliated colleges in three districts. It received huge response and 57 quintal food grains and 3 truck fodder has been collected. This was distributed to the needy, drought hit families at the hands of Voce Chancellor Dr. Shinde. He was accompanies by Dr. D.R. More, Director, BCUD, Dr. D.K. Gaikwad, Dr. V.N. Shinde, Registrar, Dr. D.K. Gaikwad, Director, Students’ Welfare along with Dr. AbhayKumar SAlunkhe, the Chairman of Shri Vivekanand Education Society.

This help is a sign of gratitude towards the society from the University and is matter of paying back a little, said Dr. Shinde, VC of Shivaji University after the distributing the grains to the needy people. The University is of the opinion that each person under its jurisdiction is its family and we should try to give them relief supposing it as our responsibility. We will keep it up with it forever, he added. 450 families from Tadwale (Tal. Atpadi), 100 families from Madgule (Tal. Atpadi), 100 families from Vajrawad (Tal. Jath) and 50 families from Khilarwadi (Tal. Jath) were benefitted with this help. Principal Dr. S.R. Karande, Principal Dr. B.N. Pawar, Dr. Sadashiv More, NSS programme coordinator of SAngli district, Dr. Rajendra Lawate, Programme Officer of Jath, Dr. Sangeeta Patil and the Local Bodies of the concerned villages contributed a lot towards the successful distribution of the relief material.