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Protests, national recognition: GADVASU saw it all in 2020
After starting the year on a controversial note, for shifting some students to other campuses, the vet varsity was in news for all the right reasons by the end of the year
At the dawn of 2020, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) grabbed headlines after reshuffling of students to Khalsa College, Amritsar, triggered protests. However, as the year came to an end, the vet varsity was in the news for all the right reasons after the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) ranked it the best vet varsity in India.
A ‘controversial counselling’ held at the eleventh hour on September 30 was challenged by students who said they did not get sufficient notice. The Punjab and Haryana high court asked the university to counsel the remaining students and reshuffle seats according to merit.
On January 20, GADVASU issued a notice on its website saying counselling for reshuffling students will be held on January 23. As per the reshuffling list, nearly 24 students were to be shifted. The move triggered protests on the GADVASU campus with nearly 68 students camping on the university premises for a day.
Students already enrolled at Government Veterinary College, Rampura Phul, Bathinda, staged a protest, saying they did not want to join the trust-run college in Amritsar, which charged ‘₹5 lakh as annual fee and ₹50,00 as hostel charges’ as opposed to ‘₹2 lakh and hostel fee and ₹10,000’ being charged by the government-run institution in Bathinda.
The strike was finally called off after the vice-chancellor intervened and told them that the university was merely following the court’s orders.
The university was in for another shock when renowned veterinarian Dr Kirti Dua passed away on July 1 after suffering a cardiac arrest. The 59-year-old author of ‘Veterinary Ethics And Jurisprudence’ was known across the state for his humanitarian work and at the time of his death was working on dispelling rumours about the spread of Covid among animals and to humans via animals.
‘Murrah man takes varsity’s reins’
On June 11, Dr Inderjeet Singh — popularly known as ‘Murrah Man’, for his research and expertise in breeding and management of the Murrah buffalo which is widely reared by farmers in Punjab and Haryana — replaced Dr AS Nanda as the vice-chancellor. The four-year tenure of V-C Dr AS Nanda had ended on February 15, 2019. However, he continued to remain on the position on ad-hoc basis as the government had not been able to decide on his successor. Inderjeet , who was chosen for the post on June 4, had been working as Punjab Animal Husbandry Department director since November, 2018.
Top ranking
GADVASU ranked first among veterinary universities of India as per the ranking of the agricultural universities and research institutes, taken out by the education division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, for the year 2019. GADVASU ranked seventh among all 67 agricultural universities,veterinary universities and research institutes of India.
First blood bank for dogs in north India
Punjab governer VP Singh Badnore congratulated GADVASU officials on Twitter for setting up the first dog blood bank in north India where dogs’ blood, platelets, plasma will be stored and used to treat ailing or injured dogs. The university and veterinary hospital treats approximately 30,000 animals every year, including 20,000 pets.
Covid relief
With pandemic sweeping across the state, top scientists from the university offered their services to the government. Ten scientists from GADVASU were deputed to different medical colleges in the state to help with diagnosing Covid. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended two diagnostic tests — Genesig Real-Time PCR Coronavirus’ and ‘Cobas SARS-CoV-2 Qualitative’ for diagnosing the disease. The advanced tests could not be conducted in most medical laboratories in Punjab. In these circumstances, GADVASU provided two Real-Time PCR testing machines, and trained medical support staff for conducting the tests. GADVASU is already equipped with well-established research labs in the field of animal viotechnology, virology, cell culture and disease epidemiology. A Covid viral testing laboratory was also inaugurated at GADVASU in August. Medical education and research minister OP Soni and food, civil supplies and consumers affairs minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu inaugurated the lab.
New officers appointed
The board of management appointed deans of different colleges. Dr HS Banga was appointed registrar, Dr Sarvpreet Singh Ghuman as dean of the College of Veterinary Science, GADVASU; Dr Manish Kumar Chatli as dean, College of Veterinary Science, Rampur Phul (Bathinda); Dr Meera D Ansal as dean, college of Fisheries and Dr YPS Malik as dean, College of Animal Biotechnology. Dr JPS Gill became the new director of research, Dr Parkash Singh Brar the director of extension education and Dr Satyavan Rampal as director student’s welfare-cum-estate officer.
Union minister inaugurates Aquaponics unit
Union minster of state for education (communication and electronics and information technology) Sanjay Dhotre virtually inaugurated an ‘Aquaponics Vertical Farming System’ that had been developed at the varsity in September. The system had been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali, under a collaborative project funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
Vet varsity signs pact with ICAR-CIPHET
GADVASU signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Institute of Post-Harvest and Engineering Technology, (CIPHET) for collaboration in teaching, research and extension activities for the welfare of livestock in Punjab. GADVASU director research Dr JPS Gill and CIPHET director Dr RK Singh signed the memorandum in the presence of V-C) Inderjeet Singhand other officers of the university and scientists of CIPHET.
Varsity board member becomes V-P of Canadian varsity
GADVASU alumnus and member of the board of management Dr Baljit Singh became the vice-president (research) of the University of Saskatchewan (USask), Canada. Dr Baljit is an accomplished researcher, educator and administrator in veterinary medicine with expertise on cell and molecular biology of lung inflammation. He pursued his bachelors of veterinary science and masters in veterinary science from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in 1989. He studied for his doctorate from the University of Guelph in Ontario and had post-doctorate training from Texas University and Columbia University, New York (USA).
Alum named research leader in Australia
The Australian special research report (2020) named Dr Navneet Dhand, an alumnus of the College of Veterinary Science, GADVASU, as a research leader in the field of veterinary medicine.
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