Tag Archives: Shahid Jameel

Shahid Jameel quits as head of virus genome sequencing group

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Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

Virologist Shahid Jameel. File   | Photo Credit: Eswarraj R

The eminent virologist did not give any reasons for his departure

Shahid Jameel, eminent virologist and head of the advisory group to the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (Insacog), resigned from his post on Friday.

Dr. Jameel confirmed to The Hindu that he’d quit but did not give any reasons for his departure.

Multiple scientists who are part of Insacog — a group of 10 laboratories across the country, tasked with tracking evolving variants of the coronavirus — told The Hindu that Dr. Jameel’s decision appeared to be sudden as he hadn’t communicated reasons for his resignation to consortium members but one of them cited “government pressure” as a potential reason.

Dr. Jameel, who is Director, Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University has been critical of aspects of the government’s handling of the pandemic.

On May 13, in an invited opinion piece for the New York Times, Dr. Jameel summarised India’s response to the multiple waves and the uneven vaccination rollout and concluded by saying “scientists were facing stubborn resistance to evidence-based policy-making. On April 30, over 800 Indian scientists appealed to the Prime Minister, demanding access to the data that could help them further study, predict and curb this virus. Decision-making based on data is yet another casualty, as the pandemic in India has spun out of control. The human cost we are enduring will leave a permanent scar.”

The Insacog, setup in December, faced initial challenges with funds and equipment but since March has considerably accelerated sequencing samples from all over the country for variants. It has been tracking international variants of concern as well as discovered the so called ‘Indian variant ‘ (B.1.617) that is believed to be instrumental in India’s devastating second wave.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Jacob Kohsy / New Delhi – May 16th, 2021

Newly appointed AMU VC bats for discipline, promises crackdown on lumpen elements

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Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

Prof Tariq Mansoor, newly appointed vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.
Prof Tariq Mansoor, newly appointed vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

Aligarh :

The newly appointed vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Prof Tariq Mansoor, has said that his priority would be to maintain discipline in the university and get rid of all the criminal elements who are giving a bad name to the institution.

Talking to TOI, soon after the notification of his appointment, Mansoor said the responsibility to head the institute is “huge” and he would ensure that students get a secure environment for their studies. Maintaining that there are only a handful of students who create problems on the campus, Mansoor, who would take charge after the end of the term of the present VC, Lt Gen (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah, on May 17 said his priority would be to get rid of such elements.

Responding to a question on the impeding audit of the AMU regarding academic, research, financial, and infrastructural ordered by the UGC, the newly appointed VC said he would ensure that all help is extended to the probe team and everything is done in a transparent manner. Mansoor said such audit can prove beneficial to the university also.

“Whatever deficiencies the audit points out would be taken care of”, he said. In response to a question on resistance by students organization against allowing leaders of right wing Hindu organizations for organizing debates in the university, Mansoor said, “Ideologies can differ but exchange of ideas should be welcomed in any academic institution”.

Maintaining that he was as it looking after 1/3 of the university in his present capacity as the principal of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, he said he would ensure total transparency in AMUs working.

Incidentally Mansoor is the first “local” vice chancellor of the university in the past five decades. Mansoor secured the highest number of votes (94) in AMU court. Out of three candidates, Prof Mansoor was the only candidate who was a professor in the university and having academic and administrative experience in a university system.

Rahat Abrar, director of Urdu Academy and former public relation officer of AMU said that the last local VC, Prof Abdul Aleem, was appointed 49 years back in 1968.

Three candidates including Mansoor were in the fray for the post of VC of the AMU. The other two candidates were: Abusaleh Shariff, executive director and chief scholar, US-India Policy Institute, Washington and Shahid Jameel, CEO, Welcome Trust and DBT India Alliance. The three names were sent to the Union human resource development ministry two months ago by the AMU Court.

Mansoor, born on September 20, 1956, completed his MBBS from the JN Medical College in 1978 and MS (Surgery) in 1982. In 1994, Mansoor completed FICS from the International College of Surgeons. Mansoor became the principal and chief medical officer of AMU’s JN Medical College in September 2013. He had first started working at the college’s department of general surgery as a clinical registrar in 1983 and taught MBBS classes.

Mansoor’s father late Prof Hafeezul Rahman was founder dean, Faculty of Law at AMU and his elder brother late Prof Rasheeduz Zafar was professor of Civil Engineering at IIT, Delhi, and professor and head of the department of Civil Engineering in AMU and vice-chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi from 1992-1994. He has published 90 research papers and works in national and international journals.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Agra News / by Anuja Jaiswal / TNN / May 04th, 2017