KU’s new VC is a geologist from Delhi

Director of SKIMS likely to be appointed by month-end

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 23: Prof Talat Ahmad, who functioned as Professor at Department of Geology, University of Delhi, for the last eight years, has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Kashmir. He has accepted the appointment and will be joining in Srinagar on June 1^st.

Raj Bhawan sources revealed to Early Times that Governor Narendra Nath Vohra, who is also Chancellor of the University of Kashmir, approved Prof Talat’s appointment on the recommendation of a search committee headed by former Member of Planning Commission, Prof Abid Hussain. Following Prof Talat’s acceptance, Raj Bhawan issued the notification of his appointment this evening.

Prof Talat confirmed to Early Times from his New Delhi residence over telephone that he had accepted the offer of his appointment as KU’s VC and communicated it to Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. He said that he subsequently received the order of appointment and he would be joining his new assignment in Srinagar on June 1^st.

Sources said that the search committee, headed by Prof Abid Hussain, who also functioned as India’s Ambassador in Washington DC, had been constituted by Governor on November 10^th. Former VC of Central University Hyderabad, Prof Syed Ehtisham Hasnain, and former VC of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Prof G K Chadha, functioned as its members. It submitted a panel of three names to the Chancellor who finally picked up Prof Talat today.

After his M Sc in Geology from Aligargh Muslim University in 1977 and M Phil in Ore Petrology from JNU in 1980, Prof Talat completed his Ph D in Igneous Petrology from JNU in 1985. He subsequently did a Post Doctoral Fellowship with University of Leicester in 1988-89, another Post Doctoral Fellowship with University of Cambridge in 1997-98 and yet another Post Doctoral Fellowship with Nagoya University (Japan) 1999-2000.

He joined Geological Survey of India as Geologist in February 1980 and later worked as a Scientist-B withWadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun from 16-7-1984 to 3-9-1989. He held different academic and research positions and fellowships with a number of universities and later worked as a Scientist-C with Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun. He has been functioning as Professor at Department of Geology, University of Delhi, continuously since 31-10-2003.

Prof Talat received the prestigious National Mineral Award, 1994, from the Government of India. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and a Life Member of Mineralogical Society of India.

Prof Riyaz Punjabi’s three-year term as KU’s VC ended on January 7^th, 2011. As required under rules, he continued in chair till the appointment of his successor. He will be now demitting office on May 31^st. The other day only, Prof Punjabi has been appointed as a member of the Working Group on higher education by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development.

Presently there are as many as nine universities in Jammu & Kashmir. VC for the lately established Central University Jammu has not been appointed in the last one year, mainly due to the opposition of a section of Jammu academia to the proposed nomination of Prof Amitabh Matoo---a former VC of the University of Jammu.

Among the remaining eight universities, SKUAST-J, SKUAST-K and now University of Kashmir, have VCs from outside the state. University of Jammu, Mata Veshnu Devi University, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University Rajouri, Islamic University of Science and Technology Awantipore and Central University Kashmir have all local VCs. Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, (SKIMS), headed by its Director, has also the status of a deemed university from Medical Council of India. Consequent upon the retirement of Dr Abdul Hamid Zargar on April 30^th, process is currently underway to select the new Director for SKIMS.

According to well-placed authoritative sources, a search committee, headed by Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, has zeroed in on a panel of three names---Prof and Head of Department of Hospital Administration and Medical Superintendent Dr Syed Amin Tabish, Prof and Head of Department of Gastroenterology Dr Shaukat Ali Zargar and Prof and Head of Department of Cardiology Dr Khursheed Iqbal.

Eight candidates have been interviewed by the committee that also included founder-director of SKIMS, Prof Nagpal, as a member. Sources said that Chief Secretary has recently submitted a panel of three names to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who also happens to be the Chairman of SKIMS Governing Body. He is likely to make the final selection and issue the orders of appointment before May 31.

END