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Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Jamia Millia Islamia clarifies faculty recruitment details through corrigendum
Jamia Millia Islamia Recruitment 2025: The Registrar's Office of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has released a corrigendum to its earlier advertisement (No. 04/2025-26 dated July 3, 2025) regarding the engagement of contractual assistant professors and guest faculty for the 2025-26 academic session. The corrigendum, dated July 9, 2025, outlines several modifications in faculty requirements across multiple departments. The last date to register for the positions is July 14. For the department of social work, the corrigendum clarifies that the single Assistant Professor (Contractual) post previously advertised will now be specifically for teaching BA (Hons) Social Work and MA (Social Work). Additionally, of the four Guest Faculty positions earlier listed, three will be designated for MA (Social Work) and for teaching Multidisciplinary Courses (MDC) and Value Added Courses (VAC) at the undergraduate level and one guest faculty member will be appointed to teach Financial Management, particularly for students of MA (Human Resource Management), with subject specialisation required. In the department of Persian, the original notice mentioned one Guest Faculty each for Persian and Pashto (both part-time courses). However, the revised notice now consolidates this to only one Guest Faculty member for Persian/Pashto to serve the part-time course. In the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (AJK-MCRC), for the MA Convergent Journalism (Self-Financed Scheme) programme, the corrigendum amends the faculty requirement to two Guest Faculty positions, with specific teaching responsibilities – one for Print Media Software and one for Television and Video Journalism. In the department of hospital management and hospice studies, the revised structure includes two assistant professors (contractual), one for MBA Pharmaceutical Management and one guest faculty. The vacancy in the department of Applied Art is now revised to one assistant professor (Contractual) with specialisation in Computer Software-based design, UI/UX Design, or Web-based applications relevant to modern graphic design. Three guest faculty for illustration, packaging, typography, and design for advertising and product. Applicants must be well-versed in 2D/3D animation, digital media, and contemporary design education. 'Other terms and conditions of the said advertisement will remain same,' JMI added while releasing the corrigendum.
Express Tribune
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Baloch slams closure of language departments
Former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch on Wednesday condemned a University of Balochistan directive to close its Balochi, Brahui and Pashto departments, calling the move "a calculated assault on the province's linguistic and cultural identity." Speaking at a press conference, Dr Baloch said the decision — reportedly taken on financial grounds — would silence languages spoken by millions across Balochistan. "Universities are centres of learning, not profit-making enterprises," he argued. "If deficits become the yardstick, half the public institutions in Pakistan would have to shut their doors." The National Party leader warned that repeated fee hikes had already driven enrolment down, while faculty salaries were chronically delayed. "Inflation is soaring, yet educators are told to tighten their belts while billions are diverted to administrative perks," he said, noting that deputy commissioners continue to head development projects despite a court order barring them from those roles. Dr Baloch pointed out the irony of scrapping Balochi courses at home even as the language is taught at universities overseas, including in Sweden. Brahui, he added, is offered at only one institution worldwide — the very department now facing closure in Quetta. Calling the step "an act of cultural vandalism," he urged the provincial government and university syndicate to reverse the directive immediately. "Marginalising native tongues today will rob future generations of their heritage tomorrow," he warned.
New Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
‘Standing on shifting sand': Afghan refugees in city face business barriers
NEW DELHI: Once a vibrant hub for Afghan refugees rebuilding their lives, the bustling lanes of Lajpat Nagar and Malviya Nagar in the national capital now echo with silence. Familiar Dari and Pashto conversations have almost nearly faded as many Afghan families have left, and those remaining grapple with limited opportunities for livelihood and a sense of security. Mohammad Shakeel, who fled Afghanistan decades ago, recalls a time of cautious optimism. 'All my employees were Afghan. We were friends first, partners later. I ran a supermarket, did currency exchange, and even made handicrafts. We survived together,' he says. For many of the refugees, business partnerships often emerged from necessity and solidarity rather than profit. However, legal and bureaucratic hurdles persist. 'You can run a shop and earn your bread, but you can't buy property with a refugee card. Everything, from property to utilities, must be in an Indian name,' Shakeel says. While some Afghan families have homes, the title deeds are in Indian names, leaving them without permanent security. Shakeel's reflection underscores the broader challenges: 'We live here, but our footing remains temporary.' Despite this, there has been a recent uptick in emergency medical visas for Afghans, offering some hope. 'A few patients have arrived for treatment. At least there's some humanitarian window open again,' he notes, though he has no intention of returning to Kabul. 'My restaurant is still there, but my life is here.' In a conversation with Ashraf, a 17-year-old working at an Afghan restaurant, the uncertainty is palpable. 'Maybe I'll study in the U.S. My uncle said he'll help. But most of my friends are gone—deportations, raids… they vanished overnight,' he says. Small businesses like bakeries, dry fruit shops and tea stalls are common among refugees, but formal business licenses often require Indian citizenship. Refugees operate informally or partner with Indian counterparts to bypass legal restrictions. While the UNHCR offers temporary protection via refugee cards, these do not grant a pathway to permanent residency.
Boston Globe
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Voice of America brings back 75 staffers amid Iran-Israel conflict
'Effective immediately, you are recalled from administrative leave,' Crystal G. Thomas, director of human resources, wrote to staff Friday afternoon in an email, which was obtained by The Washington Post. 'You are expected to report to your duty station immediately.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Voice of America's employees have sued the government to be reinstated at work, restore broadcasting and force the government to uphold the statutory mandate ascribed by Congress. Advertisement Employees told The Post that most of the Persia team was restored to assist with the news out of the Middle East. VOA had already restored 10 Farsi language service journalists previously - along with Dari, Pashto, and Mandarin reporters - to demonstrate to the federal court that it is fulfilling its statutory mandate. The 10 Persian news service reporters have been exclusively publishing on social media and the internet, an employee said, but they are planning to broadcast live on satellite TV into Iran. Related : Advertisement Israel launched attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities late Thursday and killed top military officers, including Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran launched missile strikes on Israel on Friday in retaliation. The conflict has led to new uncertainty for the Trump administration's plan for a nuclear deal with Iran. 'The biggest purpose of the Persian division is to report America's story for Iranian audiences where there's censorship or filtering of the internet there,' one Voice of America journalist told The Post on the condition of anonymity because they fear retaliation from their employer. 'And when something of this magnitude happens like an outright war with Iran's outright nemesis, Israel, we have to have a presence inside Iran.' 'Are they going to bring back a language every time there is a crisis the administration has interest in?' another VOA journalist told The Post. 'This is why you don't smash first and think later.' Steve Herman, chief national correspondent for VOA, called it a welcome but belated move. 'Will all of our Persian Service staff be put back on leave a few weeks from now when hostilities subside? What other crises would compel USAGM to reactivate our other 48 language services?' he said. 'The imagination runs wild.' David Seide, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project, who represents some of the VOA journalists suing the government, said it's a step in the right direction for the government: 'It's a step - and it's a positive step - but it's only one of many steps that need to be taken.'
Kuwait Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Taleban hang up Kalashnikovs to pen war memoirs
KABUL: Since trading the battlefield for Afghanistan's halls of power, some Taleban members have also swapped their weapons for pens to tell their version of the 20-year conflict with Western forces, who they accuse of distorting 'reality'. A flood of books has been written, mostly from a Western perspective, about the war between the US-led forces that invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks until the Taleban's return to power in 2021. But in the years since, a proliferation of writings by Taleban figures - praising their exploits and the achievements of the 'Islamic Emirate' - is now the reigning narrative in Afghanistan. 'No matter what foreigners have written... they have largely ignored the reality of what happened to us and why we were forced to fight,' author Khalid Zadran told AFP. A member of the Haqqani network - long viewed as one of the most dangerous militant factions in Afghanistan - he now serves as the spokesman for the capital's police force. In his 600-page tome in Pashto published in April, he recounts US incursions in his home province of Khost, his childhood steeped in stories of soldiers' 'atrocities', and his desire to join the Taleban in the name of his country's 'freedom'. 'I witnessed horrific stories every day - mangled bodies on the roadside,' he writes in '15 Minutes', a title inspired by a US drone strike he narrowly escaped. Muhajer Farahi, now a deputy information and culture minister, penned his 'Memories of Jihad: 20 Years in Occupation' to 'state the facts', he said. 'America, contrary to its claims, has committed cruel and barbaric acts, destroyed our country with bombs, destroyed infrastructure, and has sown discord and cynicism between nations and tribes,' he told AFP from his office in central Kabul. Little attention is paid in either book to the thousands of civilians killed in Taleban attacks - many of them suicide bombings that entrenched fear across the country for nearly two decades. Farahi insists the Taleban 'were cautious in saving civilians and innocent' lives, while criticizing fellow Afghans who collaborated with the pro-Western police as a 'stain' on the country. Rights groups accuse the current Taleban authorities of widespread abuses - particularly against women and girls, who the United Nations say are victims of what amounts to 'gender apartheid'. In his book published in 2023, Farahi claims the Taleban attempted to negotiate - in vain, he insists - with the United States over the fate of Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death Washington demanded after his plane hijackers killed around 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had been based in Afghanistan, was killed by US forces in Pakistan in 2011. American 'bloodthirsty dragon' 'It was clear... that the Americans had already planned the occupation of Afghanistan,' writes Farahi in the English version of his book, which has been translated into five languages. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Afghans thought it would 'have nothing to do with our country', he continues, but soon realized that Afghanistan would face 'punishment'. For 20 years, the war pitted Taleban militants against a US-led coalition of 38 countries supporting the Afghan Republic and its forces. Tens of thousands of Afghans died in the fighting and in Taleban attacks, as did nearly 6,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,400 Americans. For Farahi, the war reflects the West's desire to 'impose its culture and ideology on other nations'. His disjointed journal mixes battlefield memories with polemical chapters railing against the American 'bloodthirsty dragon'. The book 'reveals the truths that were not told before because the media, especially the Western media, presented a different picture of the war,' he said. According to him, the Mujahideen, or holy warriors, despite being far less equipped, were able to rely on their unity and God's aid to achieve victory. New front Only a few of the new wave of Taleban books have been autobiographies, which appeal to an audience seeking to understand the war 'from the inside', according to Zadran. His book, initially 2,000 copies in Pashto, sold out quickly and another 1,000 are in the works - along with a Dari-language version, he said. Many chapters mention Bowe Bergdahl, the US soldier held hostage for five years by the Haqqani network. He recounts treks through the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to move him between hideouts, efforts to convert him to Islam and conversations about his girlfriend back in the US. Both accounts end in 2021, before the transformation of the fighters who moved from remote mountain hideouts to the carpeted offices of the capital. There, their battle has turned diplomatic: The Taleban are now fighting for international recognition of their government. 'The war is over now,' Farahi said, 'and we want good relations with everyone' - even with the 'bloodthirsty dragon'. — AFP
