In view of Parliamentary elections the BHU PMT-2009 Screening Test has been POSTPONED and will now be held on Thursday, May 28, 2009 between 2.30 PM and 5.30 PM at Varanasi, Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad Centres. Further, PMT-2009 Main Test for MBBS course will be held on Sunday, June 28, 2009 between 9.30 AM and 12.30 PM at Varanasi Centre only. The distribution of seats in B.Pharm., Institute of Technology, selected through BHU PMT-2009 Screening Test has been revised and would be as follows : General – 17; OBC – 5; SC – 4; and ST – 2.

Dr MK Agrawal, head of department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Banaras Hindu University has been recently awarded ‘Agra Bibhushan’ by Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari in New Delhi.
It may be mentioned here that the award constituted by All India Agrawal Sammelan, New Delhi has been given to only six persons in the country so far.

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is first such university in the country that introduces environmental calendar to sensitise its students and faculties towards a safer environment.

The environmental calendar is a part of BHU’s proposed institute of environment and sustainable development for which the University Grants Commission (UGC) has allocated Rs 7.50 crore. The IESD will be the fourth institute of BHU that already has Institute of Technology (IT), Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS).
“The mission of the proposed institute is to carry out teaching, research and extension relevant to India’s sustainable development,” said vice-chancellor Prof DP Singh. This educational effort will encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society for the present and future generations.
According to the V-C, the institute will work for a better understanding of critical scientific and social issues related to sustainable development goals. By doing so, the BHU is taking a lead in teaching and research in the field of environment and sustainability science. It will provide a common platform where faculty from different departments will work in interface areas leading to sustainable development.
The main research priorities set for the institute include global change and atmospheric pollution, natural resource management, sustainable agriculture, alternate energy resources and socio-economic and legal dimensions of sustainable development. The institute will contribute to inter-disciplinary education and research offering PhD, MSc, diploma and certificate programmes.

The department of Geography, organised a seminar on ‘urban governance and need for information system’ on  16th March 2009.

B Bhattacharjee member of National Disaster Management Authority, spoke about the problems of urbanisation. In his inaugural speech he said, urban structure was highly diversified due to which variety of problems have cropped up. In order to ensure good governance we need to employ information and communication technology especially in urban centres, he added. Bhattacharjee also highlighted the importance of geographical information system (GIS).

The two-day national conference on sports, physical education and yogic sciences in the present millennium would be organized at the faculty of arts, Banaras Hindu University, from 16th March.
Giving details of the programme during a press conference, organising secretary BC Kapri said the youth-centric program would focus on different aspects of physical education, including yogic sciences in promotion of sports. Some of the new research areas such as impact of junk food on physical activity would be also discussed during the programme, he added.
Over 150 experts and delegates from over a dozen universities of the country are likely to participate. Dronacharya awardee Shyam Sunder Rao and former international hockey player Prof Avinash Siddhu would also participate in the event.

Department of geology would organise a three-day national symposium on planet Earth - its finite resources and human civilization- on 17th of this month.
According to convener and head of department Geology Prof Jai Krishna, the programme would witness half-a-dozen interactive sessions from various fields including philosophy, politics, ayurveda, economics, music, arts and history besides physics, chemistry and biology for making a peaceful and pollution free planet to live.
Dr Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences, Government of India would be the chief guest and dean, faculty of Science, BHU, Prof SC Lakhotia would preside over the inaugural function.

The centre for population education, research and extension (CPERE), department of Community Medicine, Banaras Hindu University, is going to organize two-day National PEER, a workshop on maternal anaemia control through convergence.
According to Prof RK Srivastava, head, department of community medicine, BHU, and organising secretary of the programme, the two-day event would focus on ways to control maternal anaemia in the Varanasi district.
Joint organising secretary of the programme and coordinator, CPERE, Prof SC Mohapatra said the programme would also witness discussions on grass root networking for healthcare delivery in the region and issues like anaemia in adolescent girls would be also raised by experts.
Additional director, health, Varanasi, Dr MN Yadav would be the chief guest while director, Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), BHU, Prof Gajendra Singh would preside over the inaugural function.

President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil launched the environment calendar of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
BHU vice-chancellor Prof DP Singh briefed the President about the aims and objectives of the environment calendar saying it would sensitise the university fraternity regarding important environmental issues and motivate students to work towards a safe environment. The calendar contains a list of national and international environmental issues. It is expected that identified departments of BHU will would programmes on the listed days.

The head of department, Telugu, Banaras Hindu University, Prof B Vishwanath was awarded D Lit degree during the 91st convocation function  in the faculty of Arts.
Vice Chancellor, Amarkantak University and member of BHU executive council, Prof CD Singh gave him the degree. Dean, faculty of Arts, BHU, Prof SN Pandey and other senior faculty members were also present on the occasion.

As many as 369 medals, including 28 BHU medals, were awarded during the 91st convocation function of Banaras Hindu University.
Vinita Lal, topper of MSc (environmental science) examinations received the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal for coming first in all the examinations in post-graduate level in the university.
As many as 6,372 students of BHU and its affiliated colleges, including Arya Mahila Degree College, Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Vasanta College for Women and DAV PG College, were conferred their degrees on the occasion.
Chancellor (BHU) Dr Karn Singh conferred the degrees upon students. Vice-chancellor Prof DP Singh welcomed the dignitaries on the occasion. Devi Singh Shekhawat attended the convocation as the guest of honour.

While President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil was on a two-day visit to the city to take part in the 91st convocation of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), the varsity in its centennial decade was all set to move forward to materialise its future goals.
At the time of the inception of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916 by the illustrious founder Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya, the university adopted a set of objectives that guided its functioning and growth for over nine decades. Now, in this decade of centennial year of BHU, it is time to reflect its strength and plan for future challenges.
The university has prepared a vision document ‘Challenges and Opportunities 2016′. This document has been prepared with a view to focus and concentrate on important challenges the university is facing. BHU, the largest residential university in Asia, is spread over an area of over 15 square km with majestic buildings of great architectural delight. It enshrines within its precincts a phenomenal range of faculties incorporating diverse disciplines of science, humanities, social science, commerce, law, education, visual and performing arts, management, medicines- both modern and ayurveda, engineering and technology, agriculture, library science, and many Indian and foreign languages.

As per the document, it its last decade of the centennial year, BHU resolves to take all necessary steps to propel it into a world-class institution. As a first step towards realising the university identified some areas to address on priority infrastructure strengthening, attracting and retaining talented faculty, university governance, academic reforms, and development of south campus.

“While other Asian countries are upgrading higher education with the aim of building world class universities, in India BHU is among the front runners for achieving excellence in higher education,” said V-C BHU Prof DP Singh. According to him, in the XI Five Year Plan, high priority has been assigned to science and technology, ethics and peace, equity in education, improvement of medical education and hospital services and development of Rajiv Gandhi South Campus. The BHU is going to establish its fourth institute Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development with financial support from University Grant Commission (UGC) under the XI Plan. A special grant of Rs 7.50 crore for the institute has been allocated. The UGC has also raised its planned funding from Rs 32 crore in the X Plan by almost 10 times to Rs 283.76 crore in addition to OBC budget of Rs 561.25 crore.