Namwar Singh appointed Chancellor of International Hindi University

New Delhi, Jun 26 (UNI) Famed Hindi critic and thinker Dr. Namwar Singh has been appointed Chancellor of the Wardha-based Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University in Gujarat.

The post had fallen vacant following the death of Dr Nirmal Verma.

Dr Singh, who was recently honoured with the "Bharat Bharati'' award, said, "I was telephonically informed from the University Vice-Chancellor that I have been appointed its Chancellor by President A P J Abdul Kalam.'' The President is the ex-officio Visitor of this university.

Asked what steps he would take to streamline the functioning of the University, which had been at the centre of a controversy during the past two years, Dr Singh, a former Professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University here, said the new Executive Council had already been set up and it included noted figures like Vishnu Nagar, Kamla Prasad, Ashgar Wajahat, Vinod Kumar Shukla and A Arvindasan.

''This is the responsbility of the Executive Council to put things in order,'' he said.

Recently, students of the University had demanded the removal of its Vice Chancellor Dr Gopinathan.

Dr Singh, however, said he would try to improve the teaching standards of the University and impart a new direction to its activities to maintain its uniqueness.

The government had set up a committee, headed by renowned historian and National Book Trust Chairman Prof Bipan Chandra, to inquire into the activities of the University.

The committee had submitted its report to Dr Kalam two months ago, but the government is yet to take any action on it.

UNI SKS VD VV1607