Eknath Shinde elected as Sena's house leader, Aaditya Thackeray proposes name
Mumbai: The newly-elected Shiv Sena MLAs on Thursday elected senior leader Eknath Shinde as leader of the party's legislative wing. Sunil Prabhu was elected as chief whip of the party in the Maharashtra legislature.
Shinde, MLA from neighbouring Thane, was the leader of house in the previous term as well, besides being a cabinet minister in the BJP-Sena government.
First-time MLA and Thackeray family scion Aaditya tabled the motion to elect Shinde as the leader of house. Pratap Sarnaik seconded the motion.
Sena sources said party chief and Aaditya's father Uddhav Thackeray was not keen to appoint his son as the head of the Sena's legislative unit. Uddhav Thackeray was present at the meeting held at the Sena headquarters in Dadar.
It was also attended by some of the independents who have extended support to the party which is locked in a tussle with the ally BJP post- October 21 Maharashtra elections, seeking equal sharing of the power.
The Sena has won 56 seats against the BJP's 105. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has claimed that seven independents are supporting it.
Meanwhile, senior Sena leaders will meet governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari this afternoon, party sources said.
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DU panel calls for removal of sexuality, caste, religion topics from psychology syllabus: Report
New Delhi: Delhi University’s Standing Committee on Academic Affairs has sparked controversy by sending the psychology department’s syllabus back for revisions, recommending the removal of topics such as sexual orientation, caste, religious identity, and the elective paper “Psychology of Sexuality.”
The move is part of DU’s broader curriculum overhaul in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) framework, as reported by Hindustan Times on Tuesday. The psychology department has been asked to reconsider its syllabus and submit a revised version following deliberations on the committee’s recommendations.
One of the committee's primary suggestions is to completely rewrite the elective paper titled “Psychology of Peace” to incorporate examples from Indian epics such as the Mahabharata.
The standing committee has also expressed objections to the inclusion of discussions on contemporary conflict zones like the Israel-Palestine issue, Kashmir, and India’s North-East. Instead, it suggested that students focus on teachings from the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita to understand concepts of peace and conflict resolution.
A person familiar with the standing committee’s recommendations said another paper, “Relationship Science,” has also been flagged for revision. “We’ve been asked to replace content on nuclear and alternative families with discussions of joint families, and to include more Indian family system literature. The section on dating apps and modern love must be re-examined,” HT quoted the person as saying.
A faculty member from the psychology department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed concerns about the proposed changes, particularly the removal of topics related to discrimination and minority issues, noting, “We are being asked to eliminate topics on discrimination and minorities, even though these are pressing realities for many students and communities. How can psychology ignore negative experiences when it is fundamentally the study of human behaviour?”
Several faculty members have raised questions regarding the rationale behind the recommendations, and discussions are expected to continue in the upcoming academic council meeting scheduled for May 10.
