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Ashoka University
The India Meteorological Department has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ashoka University to strengthen research and data sharing in climate science and weather forecasting. The MoU was formalised during the second annual workshop on "AI/ML Methods in Weather and Climate Modelling" hosted by Ashoka University's Safexpress Centre for Data, Learning and Decision Sciences. The collaboration will focus on developing advanced models for predicting extreme weather events, assessing climate risks and supporting disaster preparedness. The partnership will combine IMD's vast datasets with Ashoka University's analytical and machine learning expertise, a statement said. It will also promote joint research in meteorology, hydrology, agro-meteorology and environmental sustainability, along with training programmes and internships for students. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, "This partnership is set to benefit both the institutions, as the university will get IMD's va
The Supreme Court on Monday restrained the trial court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by Haryana SIT in the FIR against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked for social media posts on Operation Sindoor. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also restrained the trial court from framing any charges in the case. The SIT, constituted by the top court to investigate the two FIRs registered against Mahmudabad over his contentious social media posts, informed the bench that in one of them it has filed a closure report while in one a chargesheet was filed on August 22 after it was found that some offences were made out. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mahmudabad, termed the filing of the chargesheet as "most unfortunate" and said they have booked him under section 152 of BNS (sedition), whose validity is under challenge. The bench asked Sibal to go through the chargesheet and prepare a chart of the alleged offences, saying
An academic's arrest for a "thoughtful" post against violence and BJP ministers facing no action for "demeaning" the armed forces has brought to the fore the Narendra Modi government's "double standards", the Congress said on Sunday. The opposition party's scathing remarks came after the Haryana Police arrested Ashoka University's head of the political science department Ali Khan Mahmudabad over his Operation Sindoor remarks. "His only mistake is that he wrote this post. His other mistake is his name," Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said. "This is the state of New India under the Modi government". Mahmudabad was arrested on Sunday after two FIRs were lodged on stringent charges, including endangering sovereignty and integrity, for his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor. One of his lawyers, Kapil Balyan, said the associate professor was produced before a court on Sunday evening and was remanded in police custody for two days in a case register
Ashoka Univeristy associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been arrested for his social media post on Operation Sindoor, police said here on Sunday. The action was taken on a complaint by a BJP Yuva Morcha leader. "Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been arrested from Delhi," Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Rai, Ajeet Singh said over phone. He has been arrested in connection with some comments connected with Operation Sindoor, he said. The arrest comes days after the Haryana State Commission for Women sent a notice to the associate professor over his Operation Sindoor remarks. The May 12 notice mentioned that the panel has taken suo motu cognisance of the "public statements/remarks" made "on or about May 7" by Mahmudabad, the head of the political science department of the Ashoka University in Sonipat. "We salute the country's daughters -- Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. But the kind of words the professor who teaches political science has used for them..
Joining the debate on Indian startups' focus on online deliveries and betting apps instead of deep tech, tech founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani on Monday said building deep tech isn't the responsibility of startups because funds required for it are too large, and the government as well as deep-pocketed groups such as Reliance and Adani will need to step in. In a longish post on X, Bikhchandani, a serial entrepreneur whose ventures include job portal Naukri.com, and matrimony site Jeevansathi.com and co-founding Ashoka University, said unlike startup funding, deep tech investing needs funds with a longer time horizon of more than 20-25 years. Investors such as venture firms and individual entrepreneurs will do what according to them makes commercial sense and "sometimes out of passion, romance and foolishness". "But even so if you can't make commercial sense out of it, they can't carry on indefinitely without financial support," he said. "And therefore, there is this gap between it being
About a million and a half deaths every year from 2009 to 2019 is potentially linked with a long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Researchers, including those at Ashoka University, Haryana, and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, said that the entire 1.4 billion population of India live in areas having PM2.5 levels higher than World Health Organization-recommended five micrograms per cubic metre yearly average. The team also found that nearly 82 per cent of India's population, or 1.1 billion, lived in areas with yearly average PM2.5 levels exceeding those recommended by the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 microns per cubic metre). Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, pollution is caused by particles sized under 2.5 microns in diameter. A yearly increase in PM2.5 pollution of 10 microns per cubic metre was associated with 8.6 per cent higher annual mortality, the researchers found. Fo
Students at Ashoka University have joined the chorus of protests against the ongoing war in Gaza and have urged the vice-chancellor to end all academic and research collaborations with Israel-based Tel Aviv University. Ashoka University student government, an elected student body, said in a letter to the vice chancellor that the university's collaboration with institutions involved in human rights violations undermines its commitment to justice and human rights. "We are deeply concerned about the ongoing genocide in Palestine in which at least 34,596 Palestinians have lost their lives and 77,816 have been injured due to the Israeli war on Gaza. As the Israeli military's brutality persists...students across universities are now actively calling on their institutions to boycott Israeli universities and exchange programmes, to have open dialogue about the war on Gaza. "The spirit and the results of ongoing protests in the universities in the form of encampments -- embarked on by the ..