21 05 2012 MONDAY LESSON
615 FREE ONLINE eNālāndā Research And Practice UNIVERSITY And THE BUDDHISTONLINEGOOD NEWS LETTER by ABHIDHAMMA RAKKHITA throughhttp://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
Dhammapada: Verses
and Stories
Dhammapada Verse
173
Evil Is Overcome By Good
Verse 173. Evil Is
Overcome By Good
Who by
wholesome kamma
covers up the evil done
illumines the world
as moon when free from clouds.
Explanation: If the evil habits of behaviour of an individual get replaced by
his good behaviour, he will illuminate the world.
Verse 173: He who overwhelms with good the evil that he has done
lights up this world (with the light of Magga Insight), as does the moon freed
from clouds.
1.
kusalena: with good deed; the good in this context means Arahatta Magga, the
fourth and final Path knowledge. (The Commentary)
The
Story of Thera Angulimala
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse
(173) of this book, with reference to Thera Angulimala.
Angulimala was the son of the Head Priest in the court of King
Pasenadi of Kosala. His original name was Ahimsaka. When he was of age, he was
sent to Taxila, a renowned university town. Ahimsaka was intelligent and was
also obedient to his teacher. So he was liked by the teacher and his wife; as a
result, other pupils were jealous of him. So they went to the teacher and
falsely reported that Ahimsaka was having an affair with the teacher’s wife. At
first, the teacher did not believe them, but after being told a number of times
he believed them; and so he vowed to have revenge on the boy. To kill the boy
would reflect badly on him; so he thought of a plan which was worse than
murder. He told Ahimsaka to kill one thousand men or women and in return he
promised to give the boy priceless knowledge. The boy wanted to have this
knowledge, but was very reluctant to take life. However, he agreed to do as he
was told.
Thus, he kept on killing people, and not to lose count, he
threaded a finger each of everyone he killed and wore them like a garland round
his neck. In this way, he was known as Angulimala, and became the terror of the
countryside. The king himself heard about the exploits of Angulimala, and he
made preparations to capture him. When Mantani, the mother of Angulimala, heard
about the king’s intention, out of love for her son, she went into the forest
in a desperate bid to save her son. By this time, the chain round the neck of
Angulimala had nine hundred and ninety-nine fingers in it, just one finger
short of one thousand.
Early in the morning on that day, the Buddha saw Angulimala in his
vision, and reflected that if he did not intervene, Angulimala who was on the
look out for the last person to make up the one thousand would see his mother
and might kill her. In that case, Angulimala would have to suffer in niraya
endlessly. So out of compassion, the Buddha left for the forest where
Angulimala was.
Angulimala, after many sleepless days and nights, was very tired
and near exhaustion. At the same time, he was very anxious to kill the last
person to make up his full quota of one thousand and so complete his task. He
made up his mind to kill the first person he met. Suddenly, as he looked out he
saw the Buddha and ran after him with his knife raised. But the Buddha could not
be reached while he himself was completely exhausted. Then, looking at the
Buddha, he cried out, “O bhikkhu, stop! stop!” and the Buddha
replied, “I have stopped, only you have not stopped.”
Angulimala did not get the significance of the words of the Buddha, so he
asked, “O Bhikkhu! Why do you say that you have stopped and I have not
stopped?”
The Buddha then said to him, “I say that I have stopped,
because I have given up killing all beings, I have given up ill-treating all
beings, and because I have established myself in universal love, patience, and
knowledge through reflection. But, you have not given up killing or
ill-treating others and you are not yet established in universal love and
patience. Hence, you are the one who has not stopped.” On hearing
these words from the mouth of the Buddha, Angulimala reflected, “These are
the words of a wise man. This bhikkhu is so very wise and so very brave ; he
must be the ruler of the bhikkhus. Indeed, he must be the Buddha himself! He
must have come here specially to make me see the light.” So thinking, he
threw away his weapon and asked the Buddha to admit him to the Order of the
bhikkhus. Then and there, the Buddha made him a bhikkhu.
Angulimala’s mother looked for her son everywhere in the forest
shouting out his name, but failing to find him she returned home. When the king
and his men came to capture Angulimala, they found him at the monastery of the
Buddha. Finding that Angulimala had given up his evil ways and had become a
bhikkhu, the king and his men went home. During his stay at the monastery,
Angulimala ardently and diligently practised meditation, and within a short
time he attained arahatship.
Then, one day, while he was on an alms-round, he came to a place
where some people were quarrelling among themselves. As they were throwing
stones at one another, some stray stones hit Thera Angulimala on the head and
he was seriously injured. Yet, he managed to come back to the Buddha, and the
Buddha said to him, “My son Angulimala! You have done away with evil.
Have patience. You are paying in this existence for the deeds you have done.
These deeds would have made you suffer for innumerable years in niraya.” Soon
afterwards, Angulimala passed away peacefully; he had realized parinibbana.
Other bhikkhus asked the Buddha where Angulimala was reborn, and
when the Buddha replied “My son has realized parinibbana”,
they could hardly believe it. So they asked him whether it was possible that a
man who had killed so many people could have realized parinibbana. To this question,
the Buddha replied, “Bhikkhus! Angulimala had done much evil because he
did not have good friends. But later, he found good friends and through their
help and good advice he had been steadfast and mindful in his practice of the
dhamma. Therefore, his evil deeds have been overwhelmed by good (i e., Arahatta
Magga).
Then
the Buddha spoke in verse as follows Verse freed from clouds.
The ancient
seat of knowledge, Nalanda University had sparkled as a priceless jewel in
the Jambudvipan subcontinent for over five centuries (427-1197 CE).
Patronised by the reigning Kings since the time of Ashoka, it was among the
world’s finest centres of learning and attracted students from all over the
world.
Nalanda University Site
Today, the
site at which the great centre of knowledge once stood stands earmarked as a
World Heritage Site by the UN. The excavated remains of the university forms
a major tourist attraction in the otherwise nondescript district of Nalanda,
nestled in the state of Bihar. The huge gates of the refreshingly green
campus hold an inviting look to the unsuspecting tourist, who is inevitably
taken by surprise at the grandeur of the ancient remains According to archeologists, less than a tenth of the area of the
original university has so far been excavated. There are small villages and
settlements over the rest of the area. The excavated part itself is huge. It
consists of maze like corridors bordered by low red brick walls, the numerous
study centres, the huge kitchens where one can still see the ancient chulhas beneath the ground, the
living quarters of the students that comprise of stiff platforms that served
as beds, etc. The most delightful part is however, the library. The numerous
small rooms once contained thousands of books on every discipline. Folklore
has it that the destructive fire started by the Turk, Bakhtiyar Khilji had
raged within the walls of the library for nearly three months, destroying the
vast treasure trove of knowledge. The beautiful arched ceilings of the
library retain a sooty feel. Made of interlocking bricks, that appear to hang
loose without any mortar support, some of them have remained strong for
centuries. There’s a courtyard in the campus that houses rows of small,
richly carved stupas,
enshrining remains of exceptional teachers and prodigious disciples. The
university had housed over two thousand teachers and ten thousand students.
Though now only ruins remain, the entire area retains a pristine aura, with
the religious symbols and figures reminding how knowledge was associated with
sanctity in the olden times. The campus reverberates with the essence of its
glorious past, the grandeur of which is hard to be missed.
Recently,
the Lok Sabha adopted the Nalanda University Bill, that seeks the
establishment of an international university on the lines of the ancient
centre of learning. This is a welcome step, especially in the face of less
than satisfactory performance of existing universities in the country, and
continuous migration of students to universities abroad at higher levels of
education. The establishment of a modern university close to the site of the
original Nalanda, is a joint effort initiated at the East Asian Summit
comprising fifteen countries, aimed at promoting regional peace and
understanding. The Nalanda Mentor Group is chaired by Nobel prize winning
economist Dr. Amartya Sen. The proposed disciplines to be taught and
researched at the university include Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and
Comparative Religions, Historical Studies, International Relations and Peace
Studies, Business Management in relation to Public Policy and Development
Studies, Languages and Literature, Ecology and Environmental Studies. The
Nalanda University Bill outlines its objectives as:
“to impart
education and to enable research towards capacity building of the Member
States in the domain of ancient science (in particular, practiced in the
Nalanda several centuries ago),philosophy, language, history and other areas
of higher learning vital for improving the quality of life.”
“to
understand Buddha’s teachings in the contemporary context without excluding
any other thought and practice from any other parts of the world”
“to enhance
research for greater interaction between East Asia, bound by strong
historical commonalities in areas like trade, science, mathematics,
astronomy, religion, philosophy and cross-cultural current.”
“to
contribute to the improvement of the educational system of the Member states
in view of the teaching in Nalanda several centuries ago.”
With this
wonderful initiative, India stands poised not just to make its presence felt
on the world stage in the field of higher education and research, but to
reclaim its position as a world leader in knowledge and excellence.
Business Management in relation to Public
Policy and Development Studies
New Delhi: As
the historic Nalanda University is set to be rebuilt, Vice Chancellor Gopa
Sabharwal said on Monday that a global design competition for the building’s
architecture will be announced in three to four months.
Talking to reporters in Delhi at a press
conference, the newly appointed vice chancellor said that the new university
will be built on an area of 446 acres, 10 km from the site of the ancient
university of Nalanda in Bihar.
“The university will be built in
Rajgir, which is 10 km from the site of the historic Nalanda University. A
global designing competition will be announced in coming three or four months
for finalizing the architecture,” Sabharwal said.
The Nalanda University Bill was passed by
the parliament during the monsoon session in August 2010 and a notification
for its creation was issued in November.
While the work for creation of
infrastructure has already begun, the construction of the building and other
details will start once the designs are finalized.
“The design must get ready by next
year. We will try to built it as soon as possible but it is difficult to give
a time frame,” she said.
The university, which will be an
international state-of-the-art institution, will have post graduate courses
in six disciplines.
The course include Buddhist studies,
philosophy and comparative religions, historical studies, international
relations and peace studies, business management in relation to public policy
and development studies, languages and literature and ecology and environmental
studies.
Talking about the courses, Nalanda mentor
group chairman and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said that the courses like
Buddhist philosophy and religious studies aimed at connecting the modern
university to its historic past when Nalanda was the centre of learning that
attracted students from all over the world.
“Courses like Buddhist studies,
comparative religion, literature and history will connect it to its past. I
hope some day we can also include astronomy in the courses as it was taught in
the ancient Nalanda University,” Sen said.
Asked about the absence of science related
courses, Sen said that creation of infrastructure was one of the main reasons
for this.
“You cannot teach science without a
lab, so infrastructure was one of the main reasons why we have stressed on
humanities. In the course of time, science courses will get included,”
he said.
While the government of India has created
an endowment fund for the creation of the university, the project has also
attracted contributions from many other countries including Singapore, Australia and China.
“We got $7 million from Singapore, $1 million from China, Australia is funding a chair, while Laos has given $50,000,”
Sabharwal said.
Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister
of Singapore George Yeo said that the aim was to create a university
to facilitate exchange of ideas.
“It will be a place where human beings gather and each contribute to
development of others,” Yeo said. IANS
Nalanda
University: How the Mentor Group degraded the idea
New Delhi,(BiharTimes): On July 6 Patna hosted two
meetings related to Nalanda. But these were utterly unconnected with one
another. The first was the interim Governing Board meeting of the budding
Nalanda University. The other was the meeting of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara
Society held at Raj Bhawan under the chairmanship of Governor Devanand
Konwar, the Chancellor of the Mahavihara.
The Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, an autonomous institution under the Union
Ministry of Culture, has been thoroughly overlooked by the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) in formulating the Nalanda University project. The
Nava Nalanda meeting was attended by Buddhist scholars including Suniti Kumar
Pathak, the well-known Tibetologist from Visva-Bharati University,
Shantiniketan.
The meeting resolved to organize exhibitions and seminars on Buddhist
literature in order to popularize Buddhist literature.
The Nalanda University Governing Board, however, struck a different note. The
chairman Prof Amartya Sen announced that Nalanda University would start with
School of Historical Studies and Environment & Ecology Studies. But he
was not sure when the University would start functioning.
This implied that Buddhist Studies, on which the concept of Nalanda rested,
would not be part of inaugural curriculum. There are reasons to suspect that.
Nalanda will actually have no place for Buddhism, Indology, Tibetology and
Allied Studies. He is merely exploiting the title of Nalanda or a project
that has nothing to do with Nalanda tradition.
All the goodwill the Nalanda University project received at home and abroad
was on account of ancient Nalanda. The identity of ancient Nalanda University
was due to primarily due to Buddhism. Even Amartya Sen himself could not
factually attribute much else to ancient Nalanda than Tantric Buddhism at
98th Indian Science Congress Lecture at Chennai in January. But when it came
to designing the Nalanda University project, he deliberately kept all
exponents of Nalanda traditions, that is, the Tibetans and Himalayan Buddhists
of India out of it. There are numerous Buddhist scholars as well as
recognized Buddhist institutions in India. This includes Nava Nalanda
Mahavihara in Nalanda (Bihar), Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in Leh,
Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi that run under the
Ministry of Culture. Bihar, the epicenter of Buddhist studies in ancient
past, can boast of several top-ranking Buddhist scholars today. They were
never consulted.
Ironically, Mentor Group meetings took place in places like Singapore, Tokyo
and New York. Even the Dalai Lama, no less a Nobel Laureate and commanding
greater following than Amartya Sen was shunned. The Tibetan culture is deeply
imbued with legacy of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara. But they were completely ignored
to propitiate China.
In his June 28, 2007 letter to Amartya Sen, then Foreign Minister Pranab
Mukherjee had said that the Government of India had decided to revive Nalanda
University as a Centre for Buddhist and Secular Learning.
But the Nalanda Mentor Group––crammed with Oxbridge-Harvard people––shunned
Secular Learning and Buddhist Learning.
According to Clause 24 (2) of the Nalanda University Act, the proposed
University would have six schools to begin with: a) Buddhist Studies,
Philosophy and Comparative Religions b) Historical Studies c) International
Relations and Peace Studies d) Business Management in relation to Public
Policy and Development Studies e) Languages and Literature f) Ecology and
Environment Studies.
But it has come to light that the MEA propagated a different version of
Nalanda University abroad even after the enactment of the Nalanda University
Act, 2010. The brochure Nalanda University prepared by Indian Public
Diplomacy, an arm of the MEA, is a case in point. There the School of
Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions has been listed as
No-5 below the School of Information Sciences and Technology, which otherwise
finds no mention in the Act.
The attempt seems to cast Nalanda University in the mould of modern western
universities. If one were to build modern university one wonders what at the
need for a Mentor Group. It could easily have been done through HRD Ministry,
ensuring greater compliance with rules. Bihar would have got a genuine
Central University, a long standing demand. Foreign students already come to
study in various universities of India.
The Oxbridge-Harvard Mentor Group, led by Prof Amartya Sen, appears diffident
about Nalanda’s Buddhist connection. They are working to manipulate the idea of
Nalanda University. Dr Gopa Sabharwal & Co seems to be diffident about
backward Nalanda district. Thus they want to run Nalanda University from New
Delhi.
NALANDA : Construction activity has begun here at the Nalanda International
University and the first pillars were clearly visible when this correspondent
visited the site on January 9.
A signboard at the construction site said that Rs 10.19 crore has been
sanctioned for the boundary wall of the proposed university, which would come
up on a 450-acre plot located on the eastern Rajgir-Chhabilapur Road in the
district.
The boundary wall is
being erected by a private construction company called Allied Infrastructure
Pvt Ltd which, in turn has been assigned the job by Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman
Nigam Ltd, an undertaking of the state road construction department. The
construction work began on December 22, 2011, following the finalisation of
the agreement on December 20.
The vice-chancellor designate Gopa Sabharwal says that the architectural
design of the new
institution would be finalised by the end of this year.
Construction company sources said the boundary wall of the university would
be constructed in seven months, while the process to prepare the master plan
would begin in three months. The master plan will take care of land usage for
construction of academic and residential buildings as well as landscaping of
the entire campus.
“The boundary wall
would stretch over 8.5 km. About 90 men are at present working at the
site” the source said.
Nalanda sub-divisional officer Seema Tripathi said more labourers would start
work by the end of January. “The work will pick up pace once the temperature
rises a little. Work would continue even at night. Since the temperature is
very low now, the labourers are working only during the day,” she said.
Though Sabharwal was non-committal on the date when academic activities would
begin at the proposed university, she was specific about the schools that
would
be built in the first phase.
“A school of
historical studies and another of environment and ecology would be the first
two institutions to be built in the first phase of academic activities of the
university. The nature and structure of the schools, including course
structure, specialisation, methodology of faculty selection and constitution
of an advisory committee, are being worked out at present. Moreover, the
process of faculty selection would be undertaken simultaneously with building
construction process. The aim is to make the faculty ready for the schools by
the time the building construction work was finalised,” Sabharwal said.
Nalanda varsity Bill gets Lok Sabha approval
NEW DELHI : On August
26 the Lok Sabha adopted the Nalanda University Bill, 2010, which has already
been approved by the Rajya Sabha, to set up a Rs 1,005 crore international
university at Nalanda in Bihar, where a varsity for Buddhist learning existed
over 800 years ago.
Replying to the debate, Minister of State for
External Affairs Preneet Kaur said the Ministry had taken upon itself to
establish the university because it was an international effort by the East
Asian Summit comprising 15 countries. The Union government would provide land
for the university, which would be established through voluntary funding from
the East
Asian Summit members.
Singapore had
announced funding of $ 4 million - $5 million for the Nalanda university’s
library through private donations .
Ms. Kaur said the Bill provided only a framework and structure for the
university and that further constitution of the institution and its rules and
regulations would be done later.
In the beginning, the
university would have six schools for different studies, but the Board of
governors had envisaged opening another school for information technology. The Nalanda Mentor Group, chaired by Professor
Amartya Sen, will draft the statutes for the university. It will have schools
of Buddhist Studies; Philosophy and Comparative Religions; Historical
Studies; International Relations and Peace Studies; Business Management in
relation to Public Policy and Development Studies; Languages and Literature;
and Ecology and
Environmental Studies.
Till
such time the varsity becomes sustainable on its own, it will function as a
public-private partnership. The Bihar government has acquired 500 acres of
land in Rajgir, near the original Nalanda University site.
INDIA: Ancient university resurrection a step closer
India’s dream of resurrecting one of the
world’s oldest seats of learning, Nalanda University, came a step closer on
Tuesday with the first meeting of the board of governors. The governing body
announced that the university, which has lain in ruins for 800 years since
being razed by foreign invaders, will be functional (tentatively) by 2013.
Five countries - Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand and India - have
undertaken to build the new Nalanda, which will start with a strong focus on
postgraduate education and research in the humanities.
Other departments will include information sciences and technology, business
management in relation to public policy and development, and ecology and
environment, in addition to languages and literature, religion and philosophy,
historical studies, international relations and peace studies, and Buddhist
studies.
“There has been immense interest from the international community.
Scholars not just from East Asia, but from the West have expressed interest
in collaborating with the project,” said newly-appointed Vice-chancellor
Gopa Sabharwal.
A global design competition for the university’s architecture will soon be
launched, Sabharwal announced.
“The idea is too big and we need the best brains in the world right from
the design to the teaching. A lot of thought has gone into the resurrection
of the university and I don’t think attracting the best will be a
challenge,” she said.
Sabharwal said the immediate challenge would be turning Nalanda into the
natural choice for students and teachers.
“The past glory is there. But as a university we have to build the
reputation of our courses, teaching and research so that it is the preferred
choice for everyone. A lot of thought has gone into planning. A world-class
university is not built in a few years.
“We will also have to coordinate with our international partners as
Nalanda is an Asian project and not an India one,” Sabhrawal said.
The Nalanda Mentor Group was set up in 2007 and has spent three years
brainstorming and debating the vision of the university.
Speaking to local media in New Delhi, Amartya Sen, the renowned economist and
Nobel laureate and chair of the governing board, said Nalanda was not a
diplomatic exercise but an academic venture.
As the project recaptures its past glory and élan, it will boost Asia’s
confidence in its intellectual and academic capacities and dent the heavy
reliance that exists today on Western universities like Oxford, Cambridge and
Harvard for Asian scholars’ professional credibility and recognition, Sen
said.
Historians believe that the university, in Bihar, once catered for 10,000
students and scholars from across the Asia, studying subjects ranging from
science and philosophy to literature and mathematics. Founded in the third
century, it gained an international reputation before being destroyed and its
vast library burnt down in 1193, when Oxford was only just coming into
existence.
Piles of red bricks and some marble carvings are all that remain at the site,
90 kilometres from Bihar’s capital Patna.
“Nalanda was one of the highest intellectual achievements in the history
of the world and we are committed to revive it,” Sen said.
News about world’s
first university of higher learning(5th to 12th century) and newly reviving
world class “Nalanda University”. That had eight separate
department compounds,classrooms,it accommodated over 10,000 students and
2,000 professors. Nalanda’s great library was located in a nine storied building
where meticulous copies of research papers were stored.”Contemporary
global intellectuals are ‘Crazy’ about Nalanda University”.Let’s
contribute to re-build that 1st amazing world university.
The revived Nalanda University plans to start its first session at a new campus
by 2013.
The tentative timetable was announced here today after a meeting of the
Nalanda Mentor Group, the Amartya Sen-headed panel tasked with the revival
plan, for the first time since the university’s act came into force.
Sen said he was delighted the ancient university could be revived in his
lifetime. “Excellence and fairness in educating people in courses which are
intellectually challenging and practically useful would be the guiding
principles of the university,” the Nobel laureate said.
Vice-chancellor Gopa Sabharwal said in the first stage, the courses would
include Buddhist studies, philosophy and comparative religion, historical
studies and international relations and peace studies.
Some of the other programmes that could be offered in the initial phase
include business management in relation to public policy and development
studies, language and literature, ecology and environment studies and
information technology.
The vice-chancellor said infrastructure work had started at the 446-acre plot
that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar had given for the campus, which is
around 10km from the site of the ancient varsity.
Sabharwal said they were getting “fantastic” support and co-operation from
the Bihar government for the project. An international competition has been
announced to select an architect to design the new campus.
Sen’s group is working on a plan to ensure that villagers around the site
benefit from the new varsity. The efforts follow recent protests by some 200
villagers who had objected to the land acquisition. Officials said the
problem has since been sorted out.
Sabharwal recalled that villagers supported the ancient varsity by giving
donations and food to the students — most of them Buddhist monks.
Now, the plan being prepared by Sen and his team will propose ways to develop
the area by, for instance, sending the students to teach in schools and
helping set up cottage industries.
Sen himself dwelt on the theme, saying the university would not only generate
skills and technical knowledge in Bihar but also throw up employment
opportunities while the state got a “world-class university in the process”.
Today’s meeting of the mentor group was attended by Singapore foreign
minister George Yeo.
Nalanda’s revival is being carried out under an international initiative
spearheaded by the East Asia Summit, a bloc of which India is a member along
with China, Singapore and 13 other nations. India is contributing over Rs
1,000 crore.
Sen expressed confidence that the university would be “recognised for its
achievements 20 years down the line”.
Nalanda International University to be operational by 2013
New Delhi, Feb. 21:
The revived Nalanda University plans to start its first session at a new
campus by 2013.
The tentative
timetable was announced here today after a meeting of the Nalanda Mentor
Group, the Amartya Sen-headed panel tasked with the revival plan, for the
first time since the university’s act came into force.
Sen said he was
delighted the ancient university could be revived in his lifetime.
“Excellence and fairness in educating people in courses which are
intellectually challenging and practically useful would be the guiding
principles of the university,” the Nobel laureate said.
Vice-chancellor Gopa
Sabharwal said in the first stage, the courses would include Buddhist
studies, philosophy and comparative religion, historical studies and
international relations and peace studies.
Some of the other
programmes that could be offered in the initial phase include business
management in relation to public policy and development studies, language and
literature, ecology and environment studies and information technology.
The vice-chancellor
said infrastructure work had started at the 446-acre plot that the Nitish
Kumar government in Bihar had given for the campus, which is around 10km from
the site of the ancient varsity.
Sabharwal said they
were getting “fantastic” support and co-operation from the Bihar government
for the project. An international competition has been announced to select an
architect to design the new campus.
Sen’s group is
working on a plan to ensure that villagers around the site benefit from the
new varsity. The efforts follow recent protests by some 200 villagers who had
objected to the land acquisition. Officials said the problem has since been
sorted out.
Sabharwal recalled
that villagers supported the ancient varsity by giving donations and food to
the students — most of them Buddhist monks.
Now, the plan being
prepared by Sen and his team will propose ways to develop the area by, for
instance, sending the students to teach in schools and helping set up cottage
industries.
Sen himself dwelt on
the theme, saying the university would not only generate skills and technical
knowledge in Bihar but also throw up employment opportunities while the state
got a “world-class university in the process”.
Today’s meeting of
the mentor group was attended by Singapore foreign minister George Yeo.
Nalanda’s revival is
being carried out under an international initiative spearheaded by the East
Asia Summit, a bloc of which India is a member along with China, Singapore
and 13 other nations. India is contributing over Rs 1,000 crore.
Sen expressed
confidence that the university would be “recognised for its achievements 20
years down the line”.
The Lok Sabha
on Thursday adopted the Nalanda University Bill, 2010, which has already been
approved by the Rajya Sabha, to set up a Rs.1,005-crore international
university at Nalanda in Bihar, where a varsity for Buddhist learning existed
over 800 years ago.
Replying to
the debate, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said the
Ministry had taken upon itself to establishing the university because it was
an international effort by the East Asian Summit comprising 15 countries. The
Union government would provide land for the university, which would be
established through voluntary funding from the East Asian Summit members.
Singapore had
announced funding of $ 4 million - $5 million for the Nalanda university’s
library through private donations .
Ms. Kaur said
the Bill provided only a framework and structure for the university and that
further constitution of the institution and its rules and regulations would
be done later. In the beginning, the university would have six schools for
different studies, but the Board of governors had envisaged opening another
school for information technology.
According to
the Bill, the university aimed at contributing to the promotion of regional
peace and vision by bringing together the future leaders of East Asia who by
relating to their past could enhance their understanding of each other’s
perspectives and share that understanding globally.
The Nalanda Mentor Group, chaired by Professor Amartya Sen, will draft
the statutes for the university. It will have schools of Buddhist Studies;
Philosophy and Comparative Religions; Historical Studies; International
Relations and Peace Studies; Business Management in relation to Public Policy
and Development Studies; Languages and Literature; and Ecology and
Environmental Studies. Till such time the varsity becomes sustainable on its
own, it will function as a public-private partnership. The Bihar government
has acquired 500 acres of land in Rajgir, near the original Nalanda
University site.
NEW DELHI:
After a well-informed debate over three hours, erudite in parts, Rajya Sabha
on Saturday passed the Bill to establish the transnational university at
Nalanda in Bihar with the hope that it will become “an icon of Asian
renaissance”, much like the famous seat of learning in ancient India.
Junior
external affairs Preneet Kaur, who introduced the Bill in Rajya Sabha, said
the Nalanda University would be established as a non-State, non-profit,
secular and self-governing international institute with a continental focus.
With the
support of 16 countries in East Asia, India aims to resurrect the ancient
seat of Buddhist learning at its original site in Rajgir to attract students
and faculty from across South and South-East Asia. The Bihar government, on
its part, has already acquired 446 acres of land for the new Nalanda
University.
Noting the
ancient Nalanda university was an international symbol of India’s eminence in
the field of knowledge, senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh said,
“Now, 800 years later, we are re-establishing another Nalanda. Let it be
a genuinely transnational university. Let us re-establish the links between
India and South and South-East Asia that were shattered by centuries of
colonial rule.”
Sitaram
Yechury (CPI-M), in turn, said he was “very excited” at the
prospect of the new university, not in terms of correcting wrongs of history,
but in terms of building the future. “It’s towards the adventure of
ideas that we must move,” he said.
N K Singh
(JD-U), a member of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen-led Nalanda Mentor Group,
said, “The new university will become an icon of Asian
renaissance.” It, like the older one, could reflect “the confluence
of East and South Asia“, as also
become a trendsetter “for the power of soft diplomacy”.
Making his
maiden speech, Pramod Kureel of BSP said, “For me, Nalanda is not just a
university. To me, it encapsulates, epitomises the universal values of global
peace, brotherhood, fraternity and equality.”
Apart from
making Buddhist religion, philosophy, art and values the “focus” of
the academia curricula to establish continuity with the ancient Nalanda, the
proposed university should have chairs in the name of “great
exponents” of Buddhism like Ashoka, Kanishka, Ambedkar and others.
Kureel also demanded that Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama should be made
a member of the university’s governing body.
Balavant Apte
of BJP, on his part, said, “We are, again, going towards the idea of
this country being the hub of knowledge and learning. This is very relevant
in the 21st Century, where we are talking about knowledge societies.”
The new
university will have schools of education for Buddhist studies, philosophy
and comparative religions; historical studies; international relations and
peace studies; business management in relation to public policy and
development studies; languages and literature; and ecology and environmental
studies.
“The
Nalanda Mentor Group has proposed that an additional school of information
sciences and technology should also be set up,” said Kaur.
Reviving Ancient Glory : Nalanda International University – Satyen
Mohapatra
Students
and scholars from all over the world will soon be converging again at ancient
capital
of Magadha kings - Rajgir, Bihar to
study at the new Nalanda International University.
The name “Nalanda” in Sanskrit means “giver of knowledge”: a
combination of “nalam” (lotus, representing knowledge) and “da” (“to
give”). Nalanda University of yore was founded
according to historians in the fifth century (427 A.D.) as a place of
learning for Buddhist monks and is known to have been one of the first great
residential universities in recorded history.
Today Nalanda is a World Heritage site. The ruins of the monastery
are located about 55 miles south east of the modern Indian city of
Patna
The University taught a wide range of subjects besides Buddhism
including fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, war tactics, and
politics. Over ten thousand students were taught by a faculty of 2000
in the idyllic forested green surroundings. The ruins
at Nalanda even today attracts a large number of tourists .
As part of an international effort the world renowned
ancient Nalanda university is nowbeing revived with
the setting up of a modern university as an international centre of
excellence .
The Nalanda International University is
scheduled to begin academic activities from the 2013-14 session from rented
premises with two subjects – Historical studies and Environment and
Ecological studies – till the construction of its own campus is
completed work on which is continuing.
Way back in 2006 former President APJ
Abdul Kalam while addressing the Bihar Legislature on March
28,2006 stressed the need for establishing a
new Nalanda University that would be a place for meeting of minds
from the national and international arenas, to carry out research that would
link philosophy to science, to technology, economy and spirituality and
integrate both ancient and modern thinking.
As Bihar Government was also
toying with the idea it unanimously passed
the Universityof Nalanda Bill in March
2007. In the mid-March 2006 Singapore showed interest in
the development ofNalanda as part of Buddhist circuit for the growth of
tourism and as a site for a twenty first century learning institution linking
South and East Asia.
It was in the East Asia Summit held
in Thailand in Oct 2009 that a decision was finally taken by the
member countries which included the ten ASEAN countries
and Australia, China, India, Japan,Korea,
and New Zealand, to set up the university. Later several other countries
including the US too hasgiven its support to the move.
The Nalanda University Bill was cleared by the Indian
Parliament in 2010 to set up the University with a cost
of Rs.1005 crore.
The University is initially going to have schools
for Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions;
Historical Studies; International Relations and Peace Studies; Business
Management in relation to Public Policy and Development Studies; Languages
and Literature; Ecology and Environmental Studies.
There are also plans to add one on Information
Technology.
Initially the Planning Commission has allocated Rs.
50 crore as endowment fund in the form of a special grant for the
commencement of activities and till such time
the Nalanda University becomes sustainable on its own.
Both the External Affairs Ministry
which is acting as the nodal Ministry for this project
andBihar government are closely monitoring the development of this
prestigious international project. Thegovernment
. of Bihar has already acquired about 500 acres of
land in Rajgir close to the originalNalanda. An international
architecture competition is to be held to finalise the design
of NalandaInternational University.
It is envisaged that the revival of the
University will lead to the growth of Buddhist circuit giving a
boost to the tourism industry.
Harking back to the time when Nalanda University was
the biggest centre of learning in theMagadha empire the modern
university too would like to associate and build linkages with
the people living in the 200 odd villages
surrounding Nalanda since ancient times. Setting up cottage
industries and teaching students of the villages is
being undertaken.
The University shall function as a public-private partnership
and the funds shall be provided on voluntary basis by the Government of
Member States of East Asia Summit.
The Nalanda International University planned
to be a seat of learning, scholarship, philosophy and
statecraft will be a non-state, non-profit, secular and
self-governing international institution with a focus to attract the
brightest and the most dedicated students from all countries ofAsia. The
objective of the university is “aimed at advancing the concept of an Asian
community…and rediscovering old relationships.”
Several countries
like Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Japan ,China,
have shown interest in funding the University. Singapore has
pledged US$4-5 million for building a library at NalandaUniversity. The
huge library of ancient Nalanda University had been burned
down. On December 16, 2010, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao contributed
US$ 1 million dollars for the Nalanda University during his
visit to India.
Eminent Sociologist Gopa Sabharwal has been
appointed the first Vice Chancellor ofNalanda International
University. Professor of Sociology
at Lady Shri Ram College, Dr Gopa Sabharwalis an alumnus of
Delhi School of Economics and had set up the Department of
Sociology in Lady ShriRam College of Delhi University in 1993.
The Nobel laureate Amartya Sen who is the
Chairman of the Governing Board says, “Excellence and
fairness in educating people in courses which are intellectually challenging
and practically useful would be the guiding principles of the university.”
The University aims at contributing to the promotion of regional
peace and understanding by bringing together future leaders of the
region and reminding them of their shared history. (PIB
Features)
law and order breakdown in Uttar Pradesh:
Mayawati
New Delhi, May 19 —
After a studied silence of two months, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president
Mayawati Saturday came down heavily on the Samajwadi Party government in
Uttar Pradesh, claiming a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.
At a press conference
here, she attacked the two-month-old government of Akhilesh Yadav and said
loot, arson, murder, kidnapping, extortion and dacoity had become routine and
people were regretting having voted for the Samajwadi Party.
True to her style,
she read out from a written text and dished out statistics to strengthen her
case.
She said in the past
two months, 800 murders, 270 rapes, 256 kidnappings and 720 cases of loot had
take place, and criminals who were behind bars when she was in office had
been released.
“We always knew
that people of UP would within one year repent voting SP to power. But now
within two months, the disappointment is writ large on their faces,” the
former chief minister said.
Accusing Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav of toeing his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s line,
Mayawati said people were scared in the state to venture out in the evening.
Charging the
government with political vendetta, she said a Samajwadi Party flag on a car
amounted to “a licence to kill”.
She accused Akhilesh
Yadav of managing the media to highlight the government’s so-called achievements.
“This government
is working on paper and through loud pronouncements only,” she said,
adding the new government had ended 26 welfare schemes run by her government
in 13 departments.
Asked why she was
still supporting the United Progressive Alliance when Congress had campaigned
against her in the state, Mayawati said that for her, “personal welfare
comes later and national interest first”.
Who will the BSP
support as the next presidentIJ Mayawati said her party would reveal its
cards at an “appropriate time.”
“We are waiting
for the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and the UPA to announce their
candidates. We will according decide whom to support,” she said.
Mayawati accuses SP
govt of indulging in political vendetta
NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party government
over alleged “anti-SC/ST” activities, BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday said it
was ordering probes into the works done during her tenure in Uttar Pradesh
due to “political vendetta”.
The former UP chief minister also made it clear
she herself takes the policy decisions in her party and not her close
advisors or officers as being publicised outside.
Mayawati said that P L Punia, the former chief
secretary to her when she was chief minister, after leaving BSP and joining
Congress had spread rumours that it was he who used to discharge all
responsibilities when she was chief minister thrice from 1995 to 2002.
She noted that her opponents had created a similar
opinion about her cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh during her fourth
stint as chief minister.
“Now I am having apprehensions that after I
have become a member of Rajya Sabha, my opponents may start spreading
misinformation.
Mayawati added that in reality it is she, who
mostly prepares the key points for her party leaders to speak in Parliament
or at press conferences.
Insisting that her rise in the BSP is from the
grassroots and she is in the command of party decisions, she said,
“Unlike in some other parties, I have not been imposed as party’s
national leader or president on the basis of any inheritance or lineage. I
have been always connected with the ground and the party movement.”
On the Samajwadi Party rule in Uttar Pradesh,
Mayawati claimed that people are now repenting bringing this government in
power and blamed the “wrong” political stand of Congress and BJP
for ensuring Samajwadi Party’s win in Uttar Pradesh.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo said law
and order situation has deteriorated in the state in the past few months
since Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav-led SP came into power. “If this government manages to
stay in power for the next five years then during this period Uttar Pradesh
will move back by several years in every sector,” Mayawati said while
addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
Speaking about the Presidential election, Mayawati said:
“We are keeping an eye on the movements of other parties. We are waiting
to see the candidates fielded by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and
United Progressive Alliance (UPA).”
“After they reveal their candidates then we will also
clarify whom we will support in the election,” she said.
The Presidential election has dragged a lot of attention
in recent times with names like Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and
Vice President Hamid Ansari making rounds for the top post.
Coming out in full support of PA Sangma, Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday appealed to all political parties to ‘rise
above political considerations’ and back the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker as candidate for the Presidential
election.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday said they will back Sangma as
candidate for the Presidential election.
New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Saturday refused
to disclose her party’s choice for the upcoming Presidential Polls
candidates, preferring to wait for the other parties to declare their
candidates first.
“It will not be right to comment of the issue right now. We will disclose our
candidates for the Presidential Elections only after the UPA and NDA declare
their candidates,” Mayawati said at a press conference held here today.
When asked whether the UPA government will be able to complete its 5-year
term, Mayawati said that the question should be asked from the government and
their alliance partners.
Calling the situation in Uttar Pradesh as pitiable, she lashed out at the SP
describing them anti-SC/ST. She further said that the present situation in UP
is that of lawlessness with crimes like murder, rape and extortions on the
rise.
She said in the past two months, 800 murders, 270 rapes, 256 kidnappings and
720 cases of loot had take place, and criminals who were behind bars when she
was in office had been released.
Commenting on the recent move of the SP government changing names of various
schemes, Mayawati said that the move is a result of petty thinking. “The SP
government is trying to close down all the welfare schemes that were started
by my government.”
She accused Akhilesh Yadav of managing the media to highlight the
government’s so-called achievements. “This government is working on
paper and through loud pronouncements only,” she said, adding the new
government had ended 26 welfare schemes run by her government in 13
departments.
Asked why she was still supporting the United Progressive Alliance when
Congress had campaigned against her in the state, Mayawati said that for her,
“personal welfare comes later and national interest first”.
Mayawati also said that PL Punia was appointed as chief
secretary so that he could work for SC/STs, but he hardly did anything for
them. “But the reality was otherwise as he belonged to the Gandhi school of
thought instead of Ambedkar’s.”
Mayawati
also termed the various probe committees against her as “baseless”.
New Delhi, May 19: Mayawati today said she would reveal her choice for
President after the UPA and the NDA named their candidates, and indicated she
would steer clear of “third front” politics.
The
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president hinted that her presidential candidate
would be someone committed to the SC/ST cause. “Whoever the candidate is, I
will first assess his credentials on the Bahujan movement,” she said.
The former
Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s comments came at her first news conference in
Delhi.
“I am
waiting to see who the UPA and the NDA field. Only after that shall I reveal my
plans,” she told a questioner.
Asked to
comment on Pranab Mukherjee, who is being mentioned as a possible consensus
candidate, she said: “It is inappropriate to jump the gun and respond to mere
speculation.”
On P.A.
Sangma, sponsored by the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal, she said: “I learnt of
it from the newspapers but the scenario is unclear.”
Mayawati
made it clear that her priority was to fight the Samajwadi Party government in
Uttar Pradesh, and not to get entangled in “third front” politics at the
Centre.
A
political aide said Mayawati would focus on the BSP’s “high growth” states in
the heartland and Maharashtra and try to maximise her gains in the next Lok
Sabha polls on her own.
“No third
front for me,” Mayawati said today. Her previous experiment with such a front —
when the Left tried to bring her onto the national centre-stage in 2009 — had
ended with the bitter taste of defeat.
The BSP
chief arrived at the venue. A security retinue and confidant Satish Mishra were
in tow. She occupied the lone seat placed on the dais and read out a long
opening statement.
She
answered the queries patiently.
Asked how
her successor Akhilesh Yadav compared with his father Mulayam Singh, Mayawati
said: “You may draw your inferences from the reports filtering out of the state
every day. Father and son share the same mindset and adhere to the same party
line on policies and issues, so there is no change in their style of thinking
and functioning.”
She
accused the Samajwadi government of allowing law and order to spin out of
control and alleged that in the two months of its existence, nearly 800 murders,
270 rapes, 245 armed robberies and 256 kidnappings had been reported.
“These
are crimes that have come to light because FIRs were filed. Because of
political pressure, many crimes go unrecorded. You can imagine what a
disastrous condition the state will be in by the time this government completes
its term,” Mayawati said.
“Businessmen
and traders feel insecure. Nobody wants to step out of their homes after
sunset. If a family’s male member does so, the women cannot sleep peacefully
till he returns.”
Most
people, especially women, had lauded Mayawati for restoring the rule of law in
Uttar Pradesh.
Mayawati
accused Akhilesh of targeting the SC/STs. “Police stations are out of bounds
for SC/STs. Samajwadi musclemen are grabbing land that was allotted to SC/STs.
At least 2,000 SC/ST officials were shunted out to the boondocks,” she said.
On the
probe Akhilesh has initiated into the various “scams” associated with her rule,
Mayawati said: “If an investigation is unbiased and transparent, I have no
problems.”
She added: “When my party
came to power, we inherited the corrupt legacies bequeathed by previous
governments. We tried to clean the rot; I took action against errant ministers,
MLAs and officials. The Samajwadi dispensation has stooped to an unprecedented
low and is doing cheap politics in the guise of cleaning the system up.”
Mayawati slams Akhilesh Yadav government
over breakdown of law and order in Uttar Pradesh
The
Mayawati juggernaut has arrived in Delhi.The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief
has assumed centrestage in the national Capital.
On Saturday, she held a press conference at a five-star hotel,
her first in Delhi in the past three years, and launched a blistering attack on
the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) government in UP for “complete
breakdown of law and order”.
Mayawati, who she shifted base to the Capital after becoming a
Rajya Sabha member last month, also lashed out at the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But it was the SP that was her main target.
Her ‘chargesheet’
Mayawati brought out a long list of charges against the Akhilesh
government: People are scared in the state to venture out in the evening; a SP
flag on a car amounts to the licence to kill; Akhilesh is managing the media to
highlight his government’s non-xistent achievements and to malign her rule; the
government is ordering probes into her decisions with an anti- SC/ST agenda.
True to her style, she dished out statistics - reading out from
a seven-page text written in Hindi - to claim that “loot, arson, murder,
kidnapping, extortion and dacoity” had become routine since the SP came to
power.
Mayawati alleged that in the past two months, 800 murders, 270
rapes, 256 kidnappings and 720 cases of loot had taken place in Uttar Pradesh
and the criminals who were behind bars when she was in office had been
released.
Accusing the SP of carrying out the politics of vendetta, she
alleged that the Akhilesh government was ordering probes into her government’s
policies and decisions to deflect attention from these issues. She said the SP
had scrapped 26 welfare schemes run by her government in 13 departments.
Mayawati said the Congress and the BJP shared the blame for this
state of affairs because their “false propaganda” against her party
and government ensured the SP’s win.
“We always knew that the people of UP would, within one
year, repent voting the SP to power. But within two months, disappointment is
writ large on their faces,” the former CM said.
Eye on 2014
Analysts said the sinking law and order situation in UP within
two months of the SP’s comeback appeared to have emboldened Mayawati. The BSP
chief’s eyes are set on the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Her goal, they said, would be
to stop Mualayam Singh from winning enough seats to try his luck as the next
Prime Minister.
Indicating her plans to consolidate the BSPcontinuing with
’sarvajan’ politics, Mayawati said: “I am not going to move even an inch
from the line of party’s movement.”
On the presidential polls, Mayawati was dismissive of the
candidatures of P. A. Sangma and Pranab Mukherjee and indicated that the BSP
would prefer a Dalit or minority. “We will support a candidate who is
suitable to us in the line of our party’s movement. We’ll support whoever fits
in our party line of movement,” she said.
Party leaders not spared
When these two leaders S. C. Mishra and Dara Singh Chauhan.or any
MP of my party speaks… the main points are mostly prepared by me.
“When I was the CM, I used to send briefs to my MPs. The
situation sometimes was that the MPs could not speak on the correct party line
and I had to call a press meet in Lucknow to specify the correct party
line,” she said
Mayawati said that P. L. Punia, her former chief secretary who
later joined the Congress, had spread rumours that it was he who used to
discharge all responsibilities.
