Jawaharlal Nehru University: a brief overview जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय की स्थापना जेएनयू अधिनियम 1966 (1966 का 53) के अन्तर्गत भारतीय संसद् द्वारा 22 दिसंबर 1966 में की गई थी। पं. जवाहरलाल नेहरू को और अधिक सम्मान देने की दॄष्टि से विश्वविद्यालय का औपचारिक उद्घाटन भारत के तत्कालीन राष्ट्रपति स्व. श्री वी.वी. गिरी द्वारा उनके जन्म दिवस के अवसर पर 14 नवम्बर 1969 को किया गया था। संयोगवश यह वर्ष महात्मा गाँधी का जन्मशती वर्ष भी था। It has excellent teacher-student ratio at 1:10, a mode of instruction which encouraged students to explore their own creativity instead of reproducing received knowledge, and an exclusively internal evaluation were a new experiment on the Indian academic landscape; these have stood the test of time. The very Nehruvian objectives embedded in the founding of the University, national integration, social justice, secularism, the democratic way of life, international understanding and scientific approach to the problems of society had built into it constant and energetic endeavour to renew knowledge through self-questioning. The once rugged terrain of the Aravali hill range, where the 1000 -acre campus is housed is now lush green. Parts of it host dense forests, sustaining a birdwatcher's paradise and some forms of wild life. The JNU campus is a microcosm of the Indian nation, drawing students from every nook and corner of the country and from every group and stratum of society. To make sure that this is so, annual admission tests are simultaneously held at 37 centres spread across the length and breadth of the country, and special care is taken to draw students from the underprivileged castes and ethic groups by reserving 22.5 per cent of seats for them. Overseas students form some 10 percent of the annual intake. Students' hostels and blocks of faculty residences are interspersed with one another, underlining the vision of a large Indian family. The Centre for the Study of Regional Development was established in 1971 with a mandate to focus on interdisciplinary programme of studies for teaching and research, placed in an overall framework of regional development in India. Over the years, an interdisciplinary team of scholars is engaged in realizing this dream. The Centre offers M. A. (Geography) and M. Phil/Ph.D. programmes in three major fields: Economics, Geography and Population Studies. In keeping with the interdisciplinary tenor and focus of the Centre, these programmes interface socio- economic, human, institutional, technological, infrastructural and environmental factors with issues of regional development in multi-various and pluralistic manner. In doing so, research and teaching in the Centre over the years have evolved appropriate paradigms and tools of analyses including remote sensing and GIS. The Centre for the Study of Regional Development was granted the status of 'Centre of Advanced Studies' (CAS) under the Special Assistance Program (SAP) of the UGC in April 2003. With this, the Centre became the first department in Geography in India to get this status. In view of the Centre having successfully completed the first phase, the support as CAS was renewed in April 2009 for a period of five years (2009-March 2014). The CAS has enabled us to enhance our teaching and research activities in continuing as well as new research areas including building up of infrastructural facilities. The thrust areas identified for the Second Phase are: Advanced Remote Sensing and GIS, Climate Change and Disaster Management, Natural Resource Management, Globalization/Urbanization/Population, and Regional Disparities and Social Exclusion.
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