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The death of a first-year student at the university has once again raised questions about the culture of violence at the institution. The death of a first-year student from Jadavpur University (JU), allegedly subjected to extreme ragging by seniors in the main university hostel, has not only exposed the longstanding practice of brutal ragging, seemingly ignored by the authorities, but has also triggered protests from various student bodies in Kolkata. The incident, sending shockwaves across the State, rapidly evolved into a political issue, with the primary political parties blaming each other for the tragedy. In the early hours of August 10, a 17-year-old first-year student majoring in Bengali Literature fell from the second floor of JU’s main hostel. According to reports, he had supposedly been subjected to severe ragging by senior hostel mates before falling from the balcony. Reports also suggested that his body was found unclothed, with sources indicating the possibility of prior sexual harassment. The victim had joined the hostel on August 6 and had quickly appealed to his father to take him away. “My son had told me that they were scaring him. I had decided to bring him back on Friday (August 11), but they ended his life before that,” the victim’s father said. As of August 15, three individuals had been arrested in connection with the incident, including two second-year students, Deepshekhar Dutta and Manotosh Ghosh, and Sourabh Chowdhury, a former student who continued to reside in the hostel. Just hours before the victim’s fall, Rajat Ray, the Dean of Students, received a call from a student in the hostel, who reported that “a certain student was facing problems”. The student “was being told not to stay in the hostel, and that he would have to take a leap if he continued to stay,” said Ray. The Dean claimed to have contacted the hostel superintendent to investigate the situation. A few hours later, the superintendent reported finding a body lying in a pool of blood. A source within JU pointed out that superintendents lacked authority in the boys’ hostels at the university. This tragedy opened a Pandora’s box, as horrifying accounts of ragging and bullying taking place right under the authorities’ noses emerged. Students, teachers, and staff members in the hostels came forward to confirm widespread ragging allegations. Apart from forcing junior students to perform chores, senior students were also reportedly physically abusing them, mentally torturing them, and even subjecting them to punitive acts such as walking on railings on higher floor verandas. According to several JU students, the main hostel accommodated students who had already graduated, and these individuals typically exerted dominance over the junior students. “We had heard from our classmates who stayed in the hostels that these people who had graduated but were still residing here had established a reign of terror. Appeals for help from the authorities fell on deaf ears,” a recent JU graduate informed Frontline. In 2016, another student’s body was found hanging in the hostel. The student’s parents alleged that the death was portrayed as a suicide to cover up the ragging that had transpired. Political blame game ensues As various student bodies within Jadavpur and other colleges in Kolkata took to the streets in protest, the major State parties—the ruling Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Congress—engaged in a mudslinging contest, assigning blame to each other for the situation at JU. Referring to Jadavpur as “Atankapur” (terror house), Mamata Banerjee squarely placed the blame on the Left. “They don’t allow the police inside; they don’t allow CCTV cameras to be installed... The boy’s father had told me when I had called up, that he used to cry and tell him that he was being tortured... Who are these people? They are Marxists. They sometimes ally themselves with the BJP, and sometimes with the Congress. They are still Trinamool’s number one enemy. They have no shame, no conscience,” she stated. JU is one of the few educational institutions where the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, the student wing of Trinamool, has never won student elections. For years, JU students have consistently voted for the Left. CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty refuted Mamata’s assertions, saying, “The unfortunate events at Jadavpur are regrettable. Stringent measures should be taken against ragging. Why hasn’t her (Mamata Banerjee’s) government taken any action against it? During the Left’s tenure, anti-ragging laws were in place. Why has she destroyed all those laws?” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, commented, “There is a lack of law and order and administration in West Bengal, allowing such an incident to occur at Jadavpur University.” Union Minister of State for Education and BJP member Subhas Sarkar blamed both the State government and the university administration. “All the closed-circuit cameras are lying unused, and UGC guidelines are consistently overlooked. The State government should apologise to the people of Bengal for this incident, and the JU administration should take necessary action to restore the university’s standing,” Sarkar asserted. The incident highlighted significant lapses within JU that appear to have gone unchecked by the administration. A senior faculty member noted that certain individuals, connected to those in power, have illicitly maintained control over the hostel for years. “They’ve established a kind of gang culture there. Though they claim to be apolitical, they’re nothing more than thugs supported by certain right-wing parties. Whenever the University authorities attempted to confront them, they responded with violence on the campus... Currently, JU is unable to function effectively. The ongoing conflict between the Governor and the State government has left us without a permanent Vice Chancellor, and this tragedy underscores the limitations of the Dean of Students and the Registrar in managing the University,” a highly placed source within JU told Frontline.

The students have been issued blank mark sheets for their class X examinations. Now they are unable to enroll in colleges or apply for scholarships. “I’m at a loss about what to do next,” said Radha Gola. “College admission remains elusive until our marks are in hand. My parents are asking me to marry; they say that my academic journey need not continue.” Radha, a 17-year-old student from Agra’s Smt. Baijanti Devi Inter College, a private school affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Board, is one among the thousands of class X students in Uttar Pradesh grappling with a curious crisis that emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: they were issued blank mark sheets. After a long struggle, the students finally went to court, which ordered the Uttar Pradesh Board to compute, assess, and allocate marks for all the petitioners before November 15, 2023. As students wait for the board to comply, their lives are on hold. While the COVID-19 pandemic has already taken a devastating toll on education in India’s most populous State, it took a turn for the worse when the Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education distributed blank mark sheets to over 30,000 students, including Radha, who completed class X in the 2020-21 academic year. When board examinations were cancelled due to the pandemic, schools were asked to promote students and assign marks based on their performance in pre-board examinations and class IX. However, thousands of students such as Radha got mark sheets that simply stated they had been promoted and did not contain marks. These students are now unable to enrol in colleges, which demand marks to give them seats. With colleges refusing to admit them, a distressing chain of reactions has been set off—many male students are forced to take on daily wage work to meet household expenses while female students like Radha are being nudged into marriage and compelled to abandon their education. Passing the buck Nobody wants to take responsibility for the situation. Authorities are pointing fingers at schools, alleging that they failed to upload the students’ marks, while school officials maintain that they did submit the required information but that the Uttar Pradesh Board website did not accept the details, possibly due to technical issues. The frustrated and anxious students made repeated visits to the offices of the Secondary Education Department, but their efforts yielded no results. District Inspector of schools in Agra, Manoj Kumar, told Frontline that the Uttar Pradesh Board had stipulated that if previous performance details were not found, students would be promoted without marks. But college administrations are still insisting on seeing marks. In November 2022, 89 students filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, where they submitted that the mark sheets issued to them did not have any percentages or marks and contained only the word “promoted”. The petition stated: “The submission, therefore, is that on account of non-award of marks to the petitioners, they are being deprived of taking admission in further courses where they always come across the requirement of disclosing their marks and percentage obtained in High School examinations.” On August 2 this year, the court observed: “Having heard learned counsel for the parties, I find that the issue involved is quite simple in nature. Whereas the Government has taken care by promoting the students without actually appearing in the examinations or on account of some misconception, if any, the institutions did not upload the marks of the students in consonance with the directions and consequently, the mechanism of award of marks, as prescribed in a government order failed and ultimately resulted into non-award of marks or its non-disclosure in the concerned marksheets.” The court included a directive to the Uttar Pradesh Board to ensure that correct marks were given to all the petitioners before November 15. Last year, Ankit took up a job at a petrol pump for a salary of about Rs.8,000 a month. The fallout of the situation is particularly bad for female students. Statistics show they are already under-represented in higher secondary education. Once colleges close their doors to them, their families push them into early marriage. Male students suffer differently. Ankit Singh, 18, a student of Smt. Baijanti Devi Inter College, said: “My ambition was to join the National Defence Academy [NDA], but when I tried to fill the entrance form in 2021, it was declined because of my blank mark sheet. I was told I would be blacklisted if I submitted the form without my class X marks.” Last year, Ankit took up a job at a petrol pump for a salary of about Rs.8,000 a month. He was diagnosed with depression. “I have had to leave my studies. My dreams of entering the NDA are crushed as the age limit is 19.” His father, a gas cylinder vendor, cannot afford a private college education. The blank mark sheet seems to have ended Ankit’s future. India’s vanishing schools The pandemic has had another worrying fallout: data from the Ministry of Education show that over 20,000 schools across the nation shut down between 2020 and 2021. The dropout rate among young children at the upper primary level experienced a twofold escalation. The teaching workforce dropped by nearly 2 per cent compared with the previous academic year, predominantly due to private schools trimming their workforce during the lockdown. According to a survey by UNICEF, one-­third of girls discontinue schooling due to domestic responsibilities with another quarter dropping out due to early marriage. The chances of this are much higher among students from lower castes and in rural areas. Other students lost out on scholarships and free coaching opportunities. Muskan Baghel told Frontline: “I was unable to get the Uttar Pradesh government scholarship for class XI because of the blank marksheet. I contacted school authorities, the District Magistrate, and even the Chief Minister’s Jansuwai portal [integrated grievance redressal system], but no action was taken.” She could not apply for free coaching either as they do not take in students without mark sheets. Her father, a milk vendor, cannot afford paid coaching. Thankfully, on the basis of the Allahabad High Court order, Muskan has now got admission into Agra College. But there is still fear. “I worry that my admission might get cancelled if the Uttar Pradesh Board fails to follow the court’s guidelines and release our mark sheets by November,” she said. Highlights The Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education distributed blank mark sheets to over 30,000 students who completed class X in the 2020-21 academic year. In November 2022, 89 students filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, where they submitted that the mark sheets issued to them did not have any percentages or marks and contained only the word “promoted” The court ordered the Uttar Pradesh Board to compute, assess, and allocate marks for all the petitioners before November 15, 2023. Confusion between schools and UP Board Naresh Paras, an Agra-based child rights activist, said that over 2,000 students are affected in Agra district alone. “Because of the confusion between the schools and the Uttar Pradesh Board, these students are suffering. Neither the board cares nor have the schools tried to fix it,” he said. According to Paras, the students wrote letters to local MLAs, the Mayor, Baby Rani Maurya (Minister of Child Development and Nutrition of Uttar Pradesh), and Satya Pal Singh Baghel (Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare). The students also staged a dharna near the Taj Mahal. “Over 2022 and 2023, they even sent letters to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister, the President, and the Union and State Ministers of Education. They tried talking to Chief Minister Adityanath when he was in Agra for an inaugural ceremony but to no avail,” added Paras. A mark sheet of a class X student with just the word “promoted” printed on it. Paras said the students turned to the courts after every other route was exhausted. “Nine months after the case was filed, the order has finally come in the students’ favour. But many students have already left studies by now. They may never be able go back. Whether this can be truly deemed justice is the question,” he said. Cheeni Vimal is one such student. She could not get admission in a public college and had to opt for a private one, but her father, Anil Vimal, who works at a shoe factory, is worried about the fees. He told Frontline that he is unsure if he will be able to pay for the full course with his meagre income. Every year, tens of lakhs of students appear for the Uttar Pradesh Board exams for classes X and XII. During the pandemic, for up to 19 months when educational institutions were closed, schools and colleges went online, but a large majority of students fell through the gap because they could not attend online classes. They had no device at home. For the 2023 examinations, which were conducted after a gap of three years, more than 58 lakh students registered for the two board examinations. Formidable hurdle The government sees dropout rates as a formidable hurdle in reaching the ambitious target set by the new National Education Policy: to attain a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio at the school level by 2030. In Uttar Pradesh, the average dropout rate is already categorised as alarmingly high, particularly in the eastern districts of Basti, Badaun, Etawah, Ghazipur, Etah, Mahoba, Hardoi, and Azamgarh. According to the Annual Status of Education Report 2022, while the enrolment of girls in schools improved in 2022, the considerable drop at the higher secondary level is worrisome. Against a national average of 2 per cent, the percentage of girls in the age group of 11-14 years who are not enrolled in schools in Uttar Pradesh is 4 per cent. In the 15-16 age group, Uttar Pradesh has the second highest number of girls not enrolled in schools; Madhya Pradesh has the highest. Only three states—Madhya Pradesh (17 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (15 per cent), and Chhattisgarh (11.2 per cent)—have more than 10 per cent of girls in this age group who are out of school; the national average is 7.9 per cent. The survey was conducted in 2,096 villages across 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh and included 91,158 children in the age group of 3-16 from 41,910 households. When getting girls into the education system is such a major issue, the government and authorities should take greater care to ensure that those who are already in do not suffer because of such administrative negligence.

Accommodation options in UK universities have not risen in line with the increase in the number of students flocking to the country for education. UK universities are working towards solving the problem of accommodation, Steve Smith, former vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter and one of the leaders of the UK delegation visiting India to explore educational partnerships, told The Indian Express in New Delhi on Monday. “There is pressure of accommodation. There is a lot of work going on in the universities to increase the stock of accommodation, and they’re going in partnerships with private providers to increase accommodation. There are some issues, but the vast majority of the international students have their accommodation sorted out,” he said. Accommodation options in UK universities have not risen in line with the increase in the number of students flocking to the country for education. Many Indian students have, as a result, had to put up in cities close to their universities, as per reports. This option tends to be unaffordable for many too, given the rising inflation and room rents. Construction challenges during lockdown have been cited as one of the reasons behind the accommodation shortage in the universities. Experts have suggested students contact other Indian aspirants before moving in, to avoid facing any trouble after landing in the UK. In its week-long visit to India, the UK delegation is expected to visit three more cities — Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad — to explore the possibilities of a joint degree programme, industry-academia partnership and other modes of collaboration between Indian and UK higher educational institutions. These discussions will be held as a part of the Going Global Programme of the British Council. “The delegation from the UK is the largest to have visited India for these purposes,” Smith said. The participating bodies from India include the University Grants Commission, the Department of Science and Technology, the Association of Indian Universities, the Department of Biotechnology, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, and several public and private higher educational institutions. Asked about the aims of the visit and the scope of the delegation, Smith said the delegation focused on “developing partnerships with Indian educational institutions to offer high-quality degrees in India itself”. He did not say anything about UK universities setting up campuses in India. “The focus of this delegation is on developing partnerships. Whereas some delegations come to recruit students, this isn’t. This is about developing partnerships with organisations in India so that we can think about offering high-quality degrees here, with Indian partners responsive to the needs and skills gaps of students here, without necessarily the expense of travelling to the UK,” he said. Rittika Chanda Parruck, director of education (India) at the British Council, told The Indian Express that sustainability has emerged as one of the top areas of interest where the universities seek to join hands. “The other areas include computer science and AI,” she said. The delegation will also visit several institutions across the country, including IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, TISS, Anna University, Ashoka University and Gujarat BioTech University — besides engaging with the stakeholders from other public and private universities via discussions and roundtable conferences. “You can expect frequent announcements from universities throughout the next year,” Smith said.

A 16-year-old girl from Mau, UP, who was preparing for NEET in Kota, committed suicide by consuming pesticide. This is the 24th suicide by a coaching student in Kota this year and the second this month. KOTA: Another student suicide rocked Kota on Monday as a 16-year-old girl from Mau in UP, preparing for NEET at a coaching institute in the city, died after consuming pesticide. Priyas Singh, a Class 12 student, was staying at a PG in the city's Vigyan Nagar area. DSP Dharmveer Singh said she consumed pesticide in her room at noon and started vomiting. Other students rushed her to hospital, but she succumbed in the evening. This is the 24th suicide by a coaching student in Kota this year and the second this month. In August, six students had ended their lives. As suicides mount, govt under pressure DSP Dharmveer Singh said no suicide note was recovered from Priyas's room. Police are conducting a probe to ascertain the reason behind the extreme step taken by the girl. The mounting cases have put the government under pressure, as the administration has been unable to find a solution despite issuing guidelines for coaching institutes as well as hostels and PG accommodations for implementing a slew of suicide prevention measures. Last week, the state's UHD minister Shanti Dhariwal faced flak when he claimed that a Jharkhand girl, who had hanged herself from the ceiling fan in her hostel room, had stated in her letter that she was taking her life because of a "love affair". Police had denied recovering any suicide note from the teen's room or finding any clue of an affair. Earlier, chief minister Ashok Gehlot had appealed to parents not to put pressure on their children to crack medical or engineering entrance exams.

Topping entrance exams requires the mindset of an Olympic Athlete. But success in University education needs the mindset of an Explorer. This is the time of the year when scores of students enter the hallowed portals of universities after cracking the toughest exams. Walking in with a sense of pride, the euphoria often dissipates, leading to dejection, disappointment or a feeling of being lost. Students who were stars in their own schools feel their stardom crumble. To some extent, this is understandable and inevitable as the bar is set several notches higher with so many bright minds around. Some revel in this new setting and do well. Most find a way to stay afloat, sail through, clutching at dreams of “getting placed” and ending this academic drudgery. A few are unable to adjust and fall into the trap of hopelessness. However, the vast majority of survivors go through the motions, fumbling from course to course, semester to semester, and internship to placement. This could account for up to eighty per cent of the student population. Many of them go through their entire graduation without an idea why they struggle or feel lost. To understand one of the major reasons why this happens, let us look at two examples — an athlete preparing for the Olympics and an explorer in the forest. The athlete has a clear task in front. Reach the finish line in the shortest amount of time possible. The team of coaches and support staff take care of every aspect of the athletes’ preparation, via training, strength endurance, strategy, competitor analysis, schedule, mental toughness, diet, shoes, dress and equipment. While the athlete’s success depends on talent, the quality of the training team, hard work, dedication and following the prescribed regimen of the coaches are paramount. However, this is a passive process where the athlete must submit to the system and the system shapes and powers the worthy ones to glory. Now, consider an explorer in a forest or a mountain. The end goal is not always clear and variable. Some want to scale the mountain peak, others explore the cave, yet others look to spot tigers and elephants. Even if the goal is known, there are no clear set of steps or regimen to achieve the goal. The coaches can teach the explorers skills to survive in a forest or snowy mountains, climb rocks, swim, read maps, navigate and hunt. They prepare the explorer to respond well to a variety of situations, However, in the forest, explorers must use the skills learnt to create their own maps, strategies or maps, handle uncertainties, make contingency plans and navigate by themselves. The life of a student preparing for the entrance exams is like that of the athlete. The coaching centres prepare the student for the photo finish and the student needs to follow the regimen with a lot of hard work and dedication. After clearing the exams, these champion athletes enter universities. They subconsciously believe that this is one more race and look around for the new set of coaches, instruction manual and a regimented environment. However, universities, industries and life in the real world are more like forests; students and faculty alike are explorers. Every new course gives students a perspective about one part of the dense forest or teaches them an essential skill. But the students are still hoping to be given a memo on “what they are supposed to do next”. That question can never be answered. Now the students turn to seniors, hostel mates and assorted friends for “a tip”; to figure out “how to ace this course ?”, “Which courses are better for getting a high CGPA?”, “Which courses are helpful in internship or placement interviews.” They hope against hope for the old regimen and an imaginary finish line. Most importantly they are in a tearing hurry to reach there. A more effective way to deal with this sojourn could be to think of every lesson or concept as one piece of a jigsaw puzzle. This piece must be put together with the other pieces that have come and will continue to come through the years. As time goes by, you now have more and more pieces of the jigsaw fall in place and you have your own map of the forest. Now you know how to get to where you like. You now make your own plans, routes, regimens, and explorations and make it back safe too. You now have an instinctive understanding of the subject which once seemed like a forest. Those who continue to look for regimented instruction manuals tend to store every single piece of jigsaw very safely in a cupboard. They have all the pieces, but they only have information and no knowledge. When the first few pieces of the jigsaw are given, naturally, one cannot find any pieces that mate. This is the main reason many people feel lost in the early years. Many give up too fast on matching the pieces and just start accumulating the pieces. The ones who are curious keep wondering how the pieces are connected. Once they find a pair of matching pieces, they know it is possible. They start looking for more connections and are become engaged. They enjoy their study and are also naturally successful. You’ve cleared the toughest exams to reach where you are. Obviously, you are the cream. Overnight you will not turn into dunces. If you feel lost, it only means that you are approaching it wrong. Waiting for the good old days to come back magically can be fatal. Higher education cannot be run like a hundred-meter dash. Seeking help and changing strategy early can make you the resounding success that you were always meant to be!

Housing and jobs continue to be a struggle for Indian students in Canada. With depleting savings, Indian students turn to each other for help, as universities offer limited and expensive solutions. Like many others in Punjab, I also grew up with the dream of settling in Canada. As I didn’t want to waste my parents’ hard-earned money by taking a random degree abroad, I worked hard to get a masters degree and then relevant work experience so that I could pursue a second masters from a reputed Canadian university. But when I reached my college in North Bay, Ontario, things were very different from what I had been told. Lack of housing and jobs, broken promises by local universities and what not. We have been deceived and sold a false dream, but we are still fighting and coming out stronger. Even before the India-Canada diplomatic row escalated, Indian students flying to Canada in the past few months have been facing the reality check of “broken promises of a brighter future.” Nearly 2,26,450 Indian students went to Canada in 2022, as per data released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The number of Indian students heading abroad has been increasing every year, making India the largest cohort of international students in the country. This, however, may have been a reason behind depleting resources for students in the country. Accommodation issues Some students such as Riya* (name changed on request) in North Bay, Ontario — a small town in the northern part of the province — had to recently set up tents outside their new varsity as their university claimed it did not have enough space to house the new students. When students reached out to the university, they did not receive any assistance. The varsity offered solutions only when the students started organising protests at the university, which drew the attention of the local media. “When I was searching for housing options from India, I was warned that there are a lot of scams going around North Bay. So I decided to not book any accommodation from India, however, when I landed in Canada on August 21, it was a shocking situation. I arrived in Brampton and searched for affordable housing in North Bay for nearly 10 days, but in vain. Then when I had to shift to North Bay for my college, I had to book a hotel for the first three days which cost me CAD 120 per day,” she said. Riya’s savings were depleting and thus she decided to start sharing the motel room with three other girls. “This helped me a bit as the rent decreased to nearly CAD 30 every day. I reached out to my college for support, but they said that since they have limited resources, they will not be able to help us, at least for the time being,” she added. International students currently in Canada are facing issues of lack of available rooms and increased rent. Students of Canadore College and Nipissing University of North Bay had demanded the varsities to provide permanent accommodation to all students at affordable rates ($250 per student per month). However, students are claiming that they have to pay inflated rent, which is nearly 650 to 750 dollars per month — something that they are paying off-campus in expensive cities. Since students had to stay in a motel for several days, they had to cut costs on other things, such as food. Riya shared with indianexpress.com that when she was staying in a motel for nearly a week, she did not have enough money to buy hot meals every day. “We used to get complimentary breakfast from the hotel we were staying at, but that was usually an omelette and since I am a vegetarian, I was stuck with bread. In the mornings, I used to eat bread with butter or jam and then keep some bread slices aside for the day. After attending college the whole day, I used to eat those bread slices in the evening. For nearly a week, I survived just on that,” she said. Currently, Riya is staying in a rented flat with another Indian girl where they are paying CAD 1200 per month. However, since North Bay is a small city and the number of job opportunities is limited, students are finding it extremely difficult to find a job that can help them with their daily expenses. Students like Riya are still surviving on bread, cereals and dal as vegetables are more expensive there. Refund our fees Riya is not alone in this struggle, there are several other Indian students like her who are facing this situation. Chiranjeet* (name changed on request) went to Canada in August with the hopes of studying and settling there, but due to “mismanagement of resources by the Canadian universities”, they are in a refund battle with their colleges. Some students in North Bay are currently waiting for a full fee refund from their university for lack of resources. Students have urged the varsities to provide affordable housing to international students or transfer them to another campus of this university. They further demanded permission to attend online classes or/and should be exempted from the 50 per cent classroom attendance condition laid by IRCC for a work permit. Moreover, some students like Chiranjeet had also requested a full refund of the tuition fee without any deduction, so that they can take admission in another college on time. They also asked that open work permits should be issued to the students during the time they do not get admission to any college. While the university has issued refund notices for a few students, Indian students are now complaining that these educational institutes have asked for a month’s time for this refund, which is coming out as a financial burden for those who are stuck without a job. Chiranjeet completed his masters degree in Geography from a Ludhiana-based college and then worked in a bank for a couple of years. Later, when his mother passed away, he decided to migrate to Canada to earn a good life for his father. To do so, he got admission to a PG certificate course in project management in Canada. “After my masters in India, I was preparing for UPSC but my mother passed away. To help my father in earning a living, I started working at a private bank. While I worked there for a couple of years, I observed that the value of human life, education and hard work is more in Canada, and I decided to come to Canada to build a life here,” he told indianexpress.com. He shifted to Canada with the help of an agent but he advises aspirants not to get trapped in their money-making business. Chiranjeet is one of those students who is currently waiting for a full refund from his university, and meanwhile, he is trying to find another university in the country which can give him an affordable education. “I live with a friend in Brampton right now who is helping me in every possible way. After my initial bad experience, I reached out to my Indian agent. They tried hard to make me keep waiting for the university’s offer for some other alternative. Their intention was not to help me, but simply that they didn’t want to lose their commission from the university,” he said. Like many others, Chiranjeet has now been searching on his own to get admission to some other Canadian university. “I have reached out to some agents in Canada too, and they also give me solutions that will cost me more and be profitable for them. If you don’t do your own research, they will keep taking money from you in the name of help,” he warned future aspirants. Meanwhile, Chiranjeet has missed the September intake too, but is still hopeful of getting admission somewhere in the next intake. While he is still hopeful, some students are now regretting going to Canada for higher studies. Let’s look for other countries Indian students like Manjot (name changed on request) think opting for other immigration-friendly countries would be a better option right now. “Given the current political environment between the two countries and the depleting resources in Canada, I think it would be better to head to other countries such as New Zealand or maybe even some European nations where Indians are welcomed and not duped in the name of a better life. I have told my younger brother to apply for New Zealand rather than coming to Canada, and I will also try to look for jobs there after my masters degree from Toronto,” she said. Khushi (name changed on request) who has recently completed her diploma course in Business Administration from a Montreal-based university is also not sure about staying in Canada in the distance. While she is currently in India for vacation, she will be returning to Canada in mid-October and will soon start the process for a Canadian Permanent Residency (PR) permit. However, once she gets her PR permit, Khushi will try to shift to Australia, when possible. “There are certain rules on how much time the applicant needs to stay in the same city/ province after getting the PR. I will fulfil that criteria and then try to find a job in Australia,” she said. In addition to the job crisis, Khushi also wants to shift out of Canada as the weather conditions are too harsh for her which can “make it difficult to go out for the job if you are lucky enough to find one. We cannot afford pay cuts or health issues there, so it is better to shift to somewhere else,” she added.

Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement last evening. New Delhi: The United States on Tuesday said it is closely monitoring the situation after a San Francisco-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing in Russia. Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement last evening. The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely. "We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and are continuing to monitor that situation closely. I'm not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference. "It was a flight that was bound for the United States. So, it is, of course, likely that there are American citizens on board. There's public reporting from Air India that they are sending - what my understanding is - a replacement aircraft to the destination to have the passengers carry on for their route, but I would defer to the air carrier to speak to anything further on this," Mr Patel said in response to a question. Departure of a replacement Air India flight bound for Magadan in order to fly out the stranded passengers has been delayed with Air India officials working through regulatory issues in order to operate the flight. The exact time of departure of the replacement aircraft is yet to be confirmed. NDTV has learned that several stranded Air India passengers in Magadan are being accommodated in dormitories with hotel infrastructure in the area unable to cope with the number of passengers on the flight.

BJP leader said that over 800 derailments had taken place and 1,400 people died when she was the railway minister. Kolkata: The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's visit to Odisha to meet injured people of the Balasore triple train crash was to "get political dividend". The saffron camp also claimed that many train mishaps had taken place during Ms Banerjee's tenure as the railway minister. The ruling TMC slammed the BJP over such allegations, asserting that the saffron camp was trying to "malign the image of its chairperson to divert attention from the Centre's all-round failure". Claiming that over 500 train mishaps had taken place during the stint of Banerjee in railways, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh told reporters, "Didi's (as Banerjee is called in Bengal) visits to Odisha, two days back and on Tuesday, are to get political dividend only." "We all know that over 800 derailments had taken place and 1,400 people died when she was the railway minister. What prevented her from adopting the anti-collision device? Why didn't she go for the modernisation drive then?" Mr Ghosh said. During the day, Ms Banerjee visited injured passengers of the ill-fated Coromandel Express, who are currently undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Cuttack. She visited the eye and surgery department of SCB Medical College and Hospital and interacted with the patients and assured them of all possible help. "We think the biggest scam happened in the railways during the tenure of Mamata Banerjee," Mr Ghosh, the former state BJP president, said. Accusing the BJP of trying to malign the image of Ms Banerjee to divert attention from the all-around failure of the Centre, TMC spokesperson Santanu Sen said, "Whenever the saffron party finds itself in a spot, it resorts to the blame game." "The chief minister has been monitoring the situation in Balasore after the triple train accident on June 2 evening. She rushed to the disaster site the next day to be on the side of the people and again today to hospitals in Odisha. This has made the BJP despondent and they are levelling all kinds of charges against her and the TMC," Mr Sen said. The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 pm on June 2. In all, 288 people died in the accident and more than 1,200 were injured. A few coaches of Coromandel toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time. Investigators are looking into possible human error, signal failure and other possible causes behind the three-train crash.

Two people were killed in a shooting incident at a graduation ceremony in Virginia. One of the arrested accused is a 19-year-old and will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, the Richmond police said. Two people were killed in a shooting on Tuesday outside a downtown theater in Richmond, Virginia, where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, police told Reuters. A suspect was arrested after the shooting near Virginia Commonwealth University, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference. At least 12 others were injured or treated for anxiety due to the mayhem. Police also said a 19-year-old who was in custody will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder. A total of seven people were wounded in the shooting. The city’s chief said the two who died were both male, ages 18 and 36. Their names were not released, but police believe the suspect knew at least one of the victims. Police also recovered multiple handguns from the arrested. Officers inside the theater said they heard gunfire around 5:15 pm and radioed to police stationed outside, who found multiple victims. The identities of those in custody and those injured were not immediately released, the Associated Press reported. “We’re going to do everything we can to bring the individuals who were involved in this to justice. ... This should not be happening anywhere,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said at a news conference. Richmond Public School said in a message on its website that the shooting took place in Monroe Park, which is across the street from the theater and adjacent to the college campus, after a graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School. School board member Jonathan Young told Richmond TV station WWBT that graduates and other attendees were exiting the theater when they heard about 20 gunshots in rapid succession. “That prompted, as you would expect, hundreds of persons in an effort to flee the gunfire to return to the building,” Young said. “It materialized in a stampede,” he added.

The body of a student was found at her hostel room in Mumbai. Police said rape was suspected, however, it would only be ascertained after an autopsy report was available. The suspect, who was untraceable shortly after the victim's body was found in the hostel room, died by suicide hours later. Mumbai Police registered a case of rape and murder after the body of a 19-year-old college girl was found in a hostel room of a government-run facility in the posh Marine Drive area. The 30-year-old suspect, identified as Om Prakash Kanaujia, was absconding from the hostel premises and was later found dead, police said. The suspect had been working as a guard for 15 years at Savitri Phule Women's Hostel, located near the Police Gymkhana in south Mumbai. The FIR in connection with the case was registered under the jurisdiction of the Marine Drive police station. It was suspected that the deceased college student had been sexually assaulted. However, an official said a clear picture will be available only after the autopsy report. The victim was a student of a government polytechnic in suburban Bandra. MUMBAI HOSTEL HORROR The 19-year-old, who hailed from Vidarbha in Maharashtra, was missing and the police were informed accordingly. She had been untraceable since Tuesday afternoon with her hostel room on the fourth floor locked from the outside. A police team that entered the room found the victim lying dead with a dupatta (stole) wrapped around her neck. "We got information that at Savitri Bai Hostel, a girl was missing and her room was locked from the outside. She was found dead inside with a dupatta around her neck. Police suspect that she was murdered after rape. A man working at the hostel had been absconding ever since the incident. We are investigating the matter," said Additional Commissioner Abhinav Deshmukh. Following this, the suspect who worked at the hostel was also untraceable and police launched a hunt to nab the hostel worker. SUSPECT JUMPS IN FRONT OF TRAIN A team under Additional Commissioner Deshmukh and Marine Drive Senior Inspector Nilesh Bagul, comprising other officials, was formed to nab the accused. However, around 5:30 pm on Tuesday, the suspect was reported dead at a nearby railway station. It is said that Prakash Kanaujia went to Charni Road station, behind the hostel on Netaji Subhash Road and lay on tracks near platform no. 1. He died after being run over by a train coming from Churchgate station, as per the initial probe. His body was later sent to GT Hospital for postmortem.

Beneficiaries can obtain the fresh water from the plant for free using the electronic cards provided to them. KOCHI: Actor Mohanlal has donated a drinking water plant to a ward in the Kuttanad region, which is facing water scarcity. The ViswaSanthi Foundation, headed by Mohanlal, established the automated drinking water plant of international standards to alleviate the water shortage faced by residents of Ward 1 of Edathua grama panchayat in the Kuttanad region. This initiative aims to provide clean and safe drinking water to about 1,000 individuals, a few schools and places of worship in the area. Set up following collaborative efforts of ViswaSanthi and EYGDS, the plant can deliver nine lakh litres of drinking water, which meets quality standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), per month. It is fully solar-powered. Beneficiaries can obtain fresh water from the plant for free using the electronic cards provided to them. ViswaSanthi’s managing director Major Ravi inaugurated the plant while the foundation’s director Sajeev Soman distributed the electronic cards to beneficiaries at a function held on World Environment Day-June 5.

An order issued by the joint secretary, General Administration, said that the staff who have been serving as the personal assistant and driver for Rahul Gandhi have been relieved from their duties. KOZHIKODE: Kerala government has withdrawn the personal staff allotted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he was the Member of Parliament representing the Wayanad constituency. An order issued by the joint secretary, General Administration, said that the staff who have been serving as the personal assistant and driver for Rahul Gandhi have been relieved from their duties. Ratheesh Kumar K R, the personal assistant and Muhammad Rafi, the driver, have been asked to return their identity cards issued by the home department. Ratheesh Kumar is directed to re-join his mother department at the office of the superintendent of resurvey, Sultan Bathery. Rahul Gandhi, who was elected from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, was disqualified by the Speaker after he was convicted and sentenced for two years imprisonment by a Gujarat court in a case related to a speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.