India’s UGC has released a list of fake universities: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=142023 Janko will be pleased to see that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University has been declared fake.
I think this is a bored journo trying for a story. The list has remained relatively stagnant for over the last year, and is not really new news. The last update was University of Honoloulu, that's it. Cheers, George
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University George , It isn't the list of schools' names but rather the stories behind those names. Take Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University, for example. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was a controversial Indian leadwer who allied himself with the Nazis and later the Imperial Japanese, all to supposedly advance the cause of Indian independence from Great Britain. He organized an Indian Legion composed of Indian POWs who were attached to the Waffen SS during WW II. I would suspect that a degree from a school with Bose's name on it may carry some baggage on the Indian subcontinent. On the other hand, this may be the start of a new trend among mill operators ... name your "university" after a famous Nazi collaborator. Doesn't Vidkun Quisling University just roll off your tongue? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling
Netaji Subhas Indeed, Subhas Chandra Bose ("Netaji" means "honored leader") is considered a hero of the Independance movement in India. He is not a hero for his collaboration with the Germans and especially the Japanese, but more because a lot of people prefer the idea of having fought for Independance on some level. Still, I remain appalled at the fact that someone would be so honored who was willing to collaborate even with European and Asian Fascists. British rule in India was in many (though by no means all) respects very negative, but someone as apparently brilliant as Bose ought to have had the foresight to recognise that those whose help he was seeking were far worse than the British ever were, and in the event of a Nazi/Imperial Japanese victory would have sought to subjugate rather than liberate India. At any rate, the airport in Kolkata (Calcutta) is named after him, as are numerous other things, perhaps most germaine to this topic the Netaji Subhas Open University (http://www.wbnsou.com/) based in Kolkata, with centers all over the state of West Bengal. It is government run and recognized. Matt
