MUMBAI, July 31 -- Nearly 22 months after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) was left without a full-time head, Professor Badri Narayan Tiwari took charge as the university's new Vice Chancellor (VC) on Wednesday. He is the first VC appointed at TISS under the University Grants Commission's (UGC) latest selection rules introduced in 2023. After Professor Shalini Bharat, the previous VC, completed her five-year term in September 2023. Since then, Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari, the director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai, was assigned the additional charge at TISS. The appointment process began with a nationwide advertisement that attracted 127 applications. A confidential search panel shortlisted 10 candidates and interviewed them in December last year. Based on the interviews, three names were forwarded to the Union Ministry of Education for final approval. The appointment order for Professor Badri Tiwari, who is also the director of the GB Pant Social Sciences Institute in Prayagraj, was issued on July 30, and he took charge on the same day. "I am very glad to have this position. It comes with both responsibility and challenges," he said after assuming office. Known for his deep research and writings on democracy, development, popular culture, and the intersection of power and culture, Professor Badri Tiwari has a strong academic and literary background. He has written extensively in both English and Hindi. Apart from his academic contributions, he is also a respected Hindi poet and received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2022 for his poetry collection Tumdi ke Shabd....