Mayande's appointment as Mafsu VC raises eyebrows

 The appointment of VM Mayande (vicechancellor of Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth) as the acting vicechancellor of the Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (Mafsu) has raised eyebrows among academic circles of both the universities. Mayande replaces DS Zagde, acting VC of Mafsu and commissioner of animal husbandry of Maharashtra, who is learnt to be not keeping well for over a fortnight.

"It is disheartening to see that the reins of a university, whose VC was suspended on charges of financial irregularities in appointments, are being given to another tainted man who is facing a number of inquiries," said R S Bonde, exresearch director of PDKV. A former VC of PDKV, who did not want to identified, said Mayande deserved the post only because agriculture university and veterinary university once were one identity. Another former VC, however, was totally against the new appointment. Some senior professors at PDKV as well as Mafsu too felt the same way. MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who had raised the issue of corruption at the helm of Mafsu, said that instead of a tainted person, someone of divisional commissioner level should have been appointed to officiate Mafsu.

Mayande's appointment as Mafsu VC raises eyebrows Snehlata Shrivastav TNN VM Mayande NAGPUR: A United Statesbased court has awarded arbitration of Rs 40 crore (approximately) against city industrialist Arun Upadhyay. The Hong Kong-based company that filed it has moved to the Nagpur District and Sessions Court for its execution where it is pending since three months. Integrated Sales Services (ISS) has claimed that the US Federal Court upheld a roughly $8 million award in the arbitral dispute against city industrialist that will be enforced through Nagpur court.

Upadhyay admitted that the ISS had approached the local court for decree but asserted that the charges leveled by the company are biased. "It's basically a dispute between two companies where my name was unnecessarily being dragged. I was the director of those companies, but it shouldn't mean that I should be made respondent in the personal capacity," he told TOI. He stated that the case was originally filed in the US and he can't afford the lawyers' fees there. "I'll welcome whatever verdict the court will give, but will fight till last if it is against me," he said. Upadhyay however alleged that the ISS representative is in fact inviting the contempt of court action by visiting the commerce ministry and spreading the propaganda through the media regarding the case.

"The company is in fact cheating the US government by opening their office in Hong Kong, as rules in the US are strict," he said. The applicant alleged that India is signatory to the United Nations convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards ( UNCITRAL), which commits courts of contracting states to recognise and enforce arbitration awards made in foreign jurisdictions of member states. Moreover, Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 recognised this convention.

Citing the US Federal Court ruling, the applicant alleged that Upadhyay and his four companies — DMC Management and Gemini Bay Transcription based in the city, Gemini Bay Consulting in the British Virgin Islands and the DMC Global in Mauritius — had wrongfully breached their representation contract with ISS. Besides Upadhyay, the applicant also accused managing director Rattan Pathak of creating Gemini Bay Corporations two years back to get out of the deal that has been in place since 2000. The ISS used to earn between 10-20% of sales from prospective customers it secured for DMC medical transcription business.