Calicut varsity picks member for KAU general council

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P.A. Ahammed Shareef, Assistant Professor, Zoology, PSMO College, Tirurangadi, Malappuram, has been chosen as the member representing the University of Calicut in the general council of the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).

The election to the post was held at a senate meeting of the university held on the main campus at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district on Saturday (October 17, 2026). Mr. Shareef’s name was proposed by the ruling pro-United Democratic Front group. P.K. Dinesh, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, C.H.M.K.M. Government Arts and Science College, Koduvally, Kozhikode, was the candidate of the pro-Left group, and A.V. Hareesh, school teacher from Malappuram, was proposed by the pro-BJP group. Mr. Shareef got 33 votes, Mr. Dinesh 21 votes, and Mr. Hareesh got five votes.

Meanwhile, V.S. Nikhil, a pro-Left member, raised the issue of “lack of approval of the senate” for the recently held presentation of honourary doctorate degrees to filmmaker Sathyan Anthikad, industrialist P.K. Ahammed, and scientist E.D. Jemmis. The pro-Left members also alleged that tender norms were not adhered to while granting contract for erecting a ‘pandal’ for the event held on October 6, 2026. The meeting was disrupted after they entered the well of the house carrying posters, and shouting slogans. Vice-Chancellor P. Raveendran declared all agenda passed, except two items. Amid the slogan shouting, the meeting was dissolved too.

The meeting approved the amendments to the University Act and Statutes for setting up branch campuses in foreign countries. The modified regulations and syllabus for the postgraduate diploma course in data science and analytics (2024 and 2025 batches) were also approved. The departments of law, development studies, and disaster management would be made part of the School of Legal Studies, School of Social Sciences, and the School of Earth Sciences, respectively. The audit report for the 2023-24 financial year, and the amendments to the Calicut University Four-Year Under Graduate Programme too were approved.

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