Ashok Lahiri, scientist Gobardhan Das from Bengal to join Niti Aayog as vice-chairman, member
New Delhi (PTI): Renowned economist Ashok Lahiri and scientist Gobardhan Das, two illustrious personalities from West Bengal, were on Friday named as the Niti Aayog vice-chairman and member, respectively, government sources said.
Lahiri, currently a BJP MLA in West Bengal, is a former chief economic advisor to the government of India and a member of the 15th Finance Commission. He is not contesting the ongoing assembly elections in the state.
Das is the director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal. Prior to assuming this position, he was working as a professor and chair of the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Lahiri will become the number two in the Niti Aayog after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the government think tank.
Formal appointments of Lahiri and Das as the Niti Aayog vice chairman and member, respectively, are expected soon, the sources said.
With this, West Bengal once again finds two of its prodigal sons in the top echelons of Indian policymaking circles, marking another milestone in the state's rich legacy of seminal contributions to scholarship and nation-building, they said.
The announcement of the appointment of Lahiri and Das to the key posts comes in the midst of the elections in West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are fighting a bitter battle.
Lahiri is amongst India's most experienced and senior economists with a career spanning over four decades.
He has served multiple important roles across the policy spectrum, from chief economic advisor to Finance Commission member. He has also worked with Asian Development Bank, World Bank and IMF.
An alumnus of Delhi School of Economics and Presidency University, Lahiri has been a proud Kolkatan, and a leading Bengali 'Bhodrolok' (gentleman) championing the cause of West Bengal's development and progress.
Scientist Das is a celebrated molecular science professor, specialising in immunology, infectious diseases and cell biology, with a career spanning nearly three decades.
He is recognised internationally for his research on the pathogenesis of tuberculosis.
Having led cutting-edge research across the world, including at Yale University and Houston Methodist Hospital in the US, and KwaZulu-Natal University and National Research Foundation in South Africa, he chose to return home to serve his motherland, the sources said.
An alumnus of Viswa-Bharati University, Das went on to become a professor at JNU, and is presently leading IISER Bhopal as its director.
Das' professional excellence and global achievements are even more inspiring when seen in the context of his inspirational personal life story of overcoming unimaginable odds as a true son of the soil.
Born to Hindu Dalit refugees from Bangladesh who had to leave everything behind to escape persecution, Das grew up in very challenging conditions in West Bengal.
With his father a poor farmer, he had to study under street lamps as a student. He also went through the horror of losing 17 members of his family in riots in West Bengal.
His steadfast commitment to nation-building through all of this will now serve as a ray of hope and inspiration for countless people across West Bengal and the nation at large, the sources said.
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Choose faith or future: BJP alleges 'second-class treatment' of Hindus in K'natka CET row
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused the Karnataka Congress government of being "anti-Hindu" and following double standards after students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) were allegedly asked to remove their 'janeu'.
A political row erupted after five Brahmin students were allegedly forced to remove the thread, considered sacred and worn across the torsos, at a city college in during the CET on Friday.
Students alleged that the invigilators at Madivala asked them to remove their janeu/yajnopaveetha if they wanted to write the exam.
In a video post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lambasted the act.
"Is it a crime to be a Hindu in Karnataka? In Karnataka, students were stopped from entering the examination hall for wearing a janeu and were given a brutal option -- choose your faith or your future. This happened last year as well," Poonawalla alleged.
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He accused the Karnataka government of practising double standards and engaging in appeasement politics.
"In Karnataka, we have seen the politics of appeasement. Muslim reservation, a Muslim-only budget, and quotas and contractual work for Muslims. But Hindus have to remove their sacred thread if they want to take an exam, which even the courts have, by the way, allowed," he alleged.
He accused the Congress government of adopting a similar approach in other states where it is in power, while allowing hijab and burka in classrooms.
"It has happened in various Congress-ruled states. We have seen that the Congress party advocates the right to hijab and burkha within the classroom. They say this should be allowed. Even the courts have overruled it.
"But in the case of janeu, they want it to be removed. This is not the first time this has happened. In Telangana and other states, the tilak and mangalsutra were removed. But hijab is fine. This is the kind of second-class treatment being given to Hindus," he added.
Poonawalla said the Congress should rename itself from INC to "MMC -- Muslim League Maowadi Congress" or the "Islamic National Caliphate Party".
As the controversy took a political turn, the college suspended the invigilator pending inquiry. The government also ordered a probe.
The police registered a case and detained three staff members of Krupanidhi College who were in charge of examination checking for questioning, officials said.
A similar incident took place last year in Karnataka, following which the government directed that the candidates would not be asked to remove the janeu while appearing for the CET.
