CBSE topper leads high-scorer club with 1 mark short of 500

CBSE topper leads high-scorer club with 1 mark short of 500

Arts Rubs Shoulders With Science, Comm In Top Bracket

Jhimli.Mukherjeepandey@timesgroup.com

Kolkata:31.07.2021 

One mark short of 500, Archisman Bandyopadhyay from South Point High School is perhaps the highest scorer of CBSE XII this year in the country. This is the second time this year that Bengal witnessed such an achievement; the first was a few days ago when the Higher Secondary results were declared and Rumana Sultana from Kandi in Murshidabad stopped short of the perfect score by just a mark.

South Point, celebrating Archisman’s achievement, will soon see him off as he leaves for the US to study mathematics as his intended major at the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He bagged admission to six reputable US universities but chose this campus because of its high global rank.

“I want to remain in the academics and pursue mathematics in higher studies,” he said.

Not too far behind was Megha Abedin, who topped DPS Ruby Park with 99.2%. It was an especially proud moment for her because she is from the humanities stream and scored much higher than the rest of the neartop scores from the science stream. “I want to stay back in Kolkata and study history in either Presidency or JU and then prepare for my civil services exams,” she said.

Nearly 47% candidates from DPS Ruby Park have scored above 90%. Abedin’s high score was shared by Lokesh Somani from the commerce stream at Birla High School and Sanchit Mukherjee from the science stream at BDM International School. Commerce students have reportedly fared better than those from the two other streams at Birla High School. “I am looking forward to studying economics honours at Delhi University, if I get a seat there. The experience of studying in Delhi will give me added confidence. The application process will start from August 2,” Lokesh said. With 56 boys placed above 95%, the school is overjoyed.

Ritu Kulshreshtha has topped her school, Shri Shikshayatan, scoring 99% in science. “My dream is to study computer science engineering at IIT Kharagpur. I have written the JEE Mains and I hope to be able to sit for the JEE Advanced, too,” she said.

Many schools are happy that while it is traditionally believed the toppers are mostly from science or commerce, several from humanities this year have bagged the top slot. Ronjinee Chattopadhyay from the humanities stream at BDM International has scored 99%. “I want to study sociology and will apply at Jadavpur University, Presidency and St Xavier’s College. I don’t want to leave the city just yet. I am not sure about what I wish to do after graduation and I hope the next three years will help me firm up my plans,” she said.

At Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, too, humanities pipped commerce and science this time, as Sakshi Singhania topped the school with 98.4%. The school has 49 students in the 95-plus category.

Delhi HC gives FB, WhatsApp till Aug 27 to respond to CCI

Delhi HC gives FB, WhatsApp till Aug 27 to respond to CCI

New Delhi:31.07.2021 

The Delhi high court said on Friday it will hear on August 27 the appeals filed by Facebook and WhatsApp against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI's) probe into the instant messaging app’s new privacy policy.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh listed the matter for August after additional solicitor general Balbir Singh, representing CCI, sought some time to respond to the pleas. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing WhatsApp, contended that if the CCI wants time, the petitioners have no objection as long as the commission does not insist on filing a reply to its June 4 notice by August 5 asking it to furnish certain information in relation to the probe.

WhatsApp and Facebook, also represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, have challenged the CCI’s June 4 and 8 notices, respectively. TNN

Door-to-door vax drive for aged starts, 37 get the shots at home

Door-to-door vax drive for aged starts, 37 get the shots at home

Sumitra.DebRoy@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:31.07.2021 

An 83-year-old Meera Barve broke into a smile when the nurse injected her with the vaccine on Friday. Since the pandemic broke out in 2020, the octogenarian has met her daughter, who lives 200kms away in Dapoli, just twice. The last time a few months ago, she sat at arm’s length wearing a mask. “I was eager to get vaccinated,” said Barve, hoping to meet her daughter more often now.

Barve was among 14 bedridden inmates at the Home for the Aged in Jogeshwari (east) to be inoculated on day 1 of the door-to-door immunisation drive. A total of 37 people from K east ward, including slums in Chakala and Sakinaka, were vaccinated by members from NGO Project Mumbai and civic teams who criss-crossed the city’s second most populated ward in an ambulance. All recipients had to produce a fitness certificate and a consent letter.

The drive started with Daya Joshi (79), a resident of Vijay Nagar in Andheri E, who has been rendered immobile by her heart condition, diabetes and weakness. Her son, Dr Nitin Joshi, said everyone in their house was fully vaccinated except her. “It’s a great initiative and people should sign up without fear,” he said.

Friday’s drive will be reviewed to start it across Maharashtra. For now, producing a fitness certificate and ensuring the presence of a doctor for the 30-minute observation period appear to be the biggest hindrances, said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner. While over 200 requests for home vaccination have come from K east, barely 25-30 were able to arrange a fitness certificate, said Dr Urmila Patil, ward’s medical officer of health.

Under the guidelines, those interested in home vaccination must also provide a consent letter. Dr Niranjan Wagh, who runs the Jogeshwari home along with wife Sumangala, a nurse, said barring a few inmates, almost all families have given their consent for vaccination. “Since the pandemic started, we have cut down physical visits from relatives. We hope with vaccination things will be closer to normalcy,” he said.

At least a dozen vaccinations were carried out in slum colonies inside Sakinaka, Chakala and MIDC, said Shishir Joshi, founder of Project Mumbai. Of the four vials opened, barely a few doses were wasted, said Joshi, as they had micro-mapped the ward to save travel time. “We are calling people beforehand and asking them to keep documents ready. From Monday, we intend to vaccinate 50-75 people daily,” he said.

TIMES VIEW: Door-todoor vaccination is a great initiative to take immunisation to the last person in the community. However, some of the requirements such as a fitness certificate or a physician's letter endorsing the health condition of a bed-ridden person may be challenging to obtain. The state and the BMC must be open to tweak the norms based on feedback and experiences emerging from the real world.

Upset over scaling down of marks to reference year: CBSE XII high scorers

Upset over scaling down of marks to reference year: CBSE XII high scorers

Sandhya Nair & Hemali Chhapia TNN

Mumbai:31.07.2021  

CBSE on Friday announced Class XII results of close to 13 lakh students, much to the disappointment of high scorers who said their marks were scaled down. The all-India success rate was 99.37% and Maharashtra’s 99.41%. Despite their disappointment, there was an 81% jump in 95%-plus scorers to 70,004 students across the country from 38,686 last year, which itself was a 55% increase from 2019.

A labourer’s daughter, Ansuiya, a Humanities student of Vidya Gyan Bulandshahr, a free residential school by the Shiv Nadar Foundation for economically underprivileged meritorious students from rural Uttar Pradesh, emerged the topper with the perfect 100%. Ansuiya aspires to be an IAS officer.

The results of 65,184 students, including from around 1,050 new schools, are under process and will be declared by August 5. A number of schools in Mumbai, too, did not get their results on Friday. In all, 58 Kendriya Vidyalaya schools of Mumbai had a total of 4,234 candidates in Class XII—their success rate was 99.98%, up from the previous year’s 94.9%.

While girls did better than boys by 0.5%, transgender students had a 100% success rate this year compared with 66.7% last year and 83.3% in 2019.

Thiruvananthapuram region continued to top among the 16 regions in the country with 99.89%. Pune region carved out last year maintained its 10th position this year too. Till 2019, Maharashtra was in the Chennai region.

Principals told TOI about having to scale down marks of high scorers. “High scorers felt they could have done better in a written exam. Above-average students benefited the most with the marking system adopted by the board,” said one.

CBSE examination head Sanyam Bharadwaj told TOI, “I know a lot of heads of schools had to scale down their results to be in line with their best reference year. I also feel schools have done a lot of hard work. But our decision was appropriate and the performance of schools across India has improved.”

Schools were given a reference year— 2018, 2019 or 2020—to evaluate students. “We had an extremely bright student in the subject ‘entrepreneurship’. Last year, our reference year, there was no top scorer for entrepreneurship, so this year’s student lost marks,” said a principal.

Nikita Bajaj, principal of R N Podar School, said, “Scaling down the results to bring them on par with the reference year was tough for teachers as we had some exceptionally bright students. For instance, while our reference year was 2018, it was when we also shifted from elective English to core English. So, we felt students would have done better if we had our own reference year for that subject.” Her school had 207 candidates or 44% students with over 90%.

Across Ryan Group of Schools,144 students or 28% of the total strength across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai scored over 90%.

Some said it was the best solution considering the pandemic. “If continued performance of a child over three academic sessions is brought into the mainstream, students will give a more focused and improved performance instead of waiting for one exam,” said Madhu Singh, principal, Billabong High International School, Malad. In Mumbai, eight schools’ results were not declared, including four new ones. Schools awaiting results include Kendriya Vidyalaya in Powai, Somaiya School, New Bombay City School, Radcliffe School, Kharghar, and Datta Meghe World Academy.

(With inputs by B B Nayak)

Cancelled, rescheduled flights put US-bound students in a fix

Cancelled, rescheduled flights put US-bound students in a fix

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:31.07.2021 

Indian students with a valid visa can fly to the US to join their universities in August, but in the past few weeks, many have found their flights either cancelled or rescheduled. Air India sources said it’s collateral damage brought on by the continued restrictions on other categories of US-bound travellers from India.

On May 4, the US banned entry to some categories of non-immigrant travellers from India. “The flyers expected the US to relax these restrictions as Covid cases have gone down. So, they booked US flight tickets. But the restrictions haven’t been lifted yet, so this category of flyers have been cancelling their tickets,’’ said an Air India source. “A number of our fully-booked US flights now have many empty seats and so we were forced to cancel, reschedule. The students booked on these flights took the collateral damage,” the source added.

Two weeks ago, Ajay Anand (name changed on request), bought a Rs 70,000 return ticket from the Air India website for travel on the August 10 Delhi-NewYork flight. This week, the airline website said his booking had changed and directed him to their call centre. “I made multiple calls to the AI call centre, was put on hold for over three hours, but still couldn’t get my ticket rescheduled. So I cancelled the AI ticket and bought a return ticket to New York on a United flight for Rs 1.50 lakh, which transits through Frankfurt,’’ he said.

With transit hubs like Dubai and London shut for Indians, the options for US travel have narrowed down and fares have jumped. An AI spokesperson said after the May 4 US Presidential Proclamation restricting air traffic from India, some AI flights to the US had to be curtailed or rescheduled. “These were effected well in advance.” He said flight frequency will be more from 7 August. Efforts are being made to accommodate as many flyers as possible, he added.

TESTING TIMES

Air India sources said it’s collateral damage brought on by the continued restrictions on other categories of US-bound travellers from India

Got your Covid jab? Now convince others to do so

A SHOT OF HOPE

Got your Covid jab? Now convince others to do so

Experts say people refusing to get vaccinated are a risk to those who have taken their shots, and to economic recovery

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

31.07.2021 

How can we stop another Covid wave if people refuse to get vaccinated? America faces this question now as its weekly cases have increased fourfold since June. Most Americans who wanted to get vaccinated are vaccinated, but the rest are proving hard to convince. America is facing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”.

India could find itself in the same spot a few months down. That’s why Prime Minister Modi spoke about vaccine hesitancy in his Mann ki Baat on June 27. “Trust science, not rumours, and trust our scientists who have worked day and night to develop these vaccines,” he told the nation.

The good news is that vaccine hesitancy is not a very big problem in India. The Economist says it has declined from about 35% in December to just over 20% now. It’s a lot better than the US, where 30% still answer “no” or “don’t know” to the question, “Would you get a Covid-19 vaccine?”

But even 20% hesitancy could be too much with a variant like Delta that hops from one person to six, on average. Last year, with a slower virus, scientists thought vaccinating 60% of the population could get us to herd immunity. Now nobody knows.

“The unvaccinated will set the country on fire over and over again… And they will not be the only ones who are singed,” Apoorva Mandavilli writes in The New York Times. She’s talking about America, but the warning applies everywhere.

The problem with Delta is that it can “break through” the protection vaccines provide. Such breakthrough infections are mostly mild “but some may prompt illness in vaccinated people serious enough to lay them up in bed, miss work – and put their children or older relatives at risk,” Mandavilli says. Some might end up with ‘long Covid’.

So, as long as we have “hardline refuseniks” – as the Economist calls them – getting back to normal will be difficult. And that means businesses will suffer and there will be costs for the economy.

Reasons for vaccine hesitancy

A recent IMF paper says people mostly refuse to take vaccines believing they are unsafe. The second main reason is faith (or lack of it) in the government. Those who “strongly believe the government will provide them with an effective vaccine are almost 50 percentage points more likely to take the vaccine than those who do not.”

But there are other reasons too. For example, do you regard Covid as a dangerous new disease or, like Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, “a little flu”? If people around you – your friends and family – say vaccines are unsafe, their belief will rub off on you. Then, you will start sharing negative information about vaccines yourself.

David Robson, author of ‘The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things,’ writes in a BBC article it’s wrong to assume every vaccine-hesitant person is an anti-vaxxer. “They are simply undecided about their choice to take the injection.”

For example, the hesitation may arise from difficulty in getting an appointment or the distance to a vaccination centre, or the waiting time at the centre. Robson says this might have been the problem in Germany, “which has a very complicated system to identify who is eligible to receive the vaccine at any one time.”

The IMF paper also says, “Having easy access to a vaccination site increases the chances that a person gets the vaccine by 4 to 12 percentage points.”

Don’t insult the hesitant

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a London-based public health expert and epidemiologist, tells CNN the main thing for overcoming vaccine hesitancy is “to actually understand the reasons and address them rather than dismissing people as either ignorant or selfish.”

Gretchen Chapman, a professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon, tells The Washington Post: “Don’t make assumptions about what the barrier is. Listen to them and hear where they are. There could be a reason that surprises you.”

If people are hesitant because they see vaccines as an inconvenience, incentives might work. If they have doubts about a vaccine’s efficacy and safety, you could remind them of the greater risk from Covid. But opposition rooted in ideology or politics can be hard to overcome.

Visit ToiShotofHope.com to learn more

TN cluster infections up, a cause for worry

TN cluster infections up, a cause for worry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.07.2021 

Fresh cases that were declining across Tamil Nadu for more than two months have started to rise marginally over the last two days. They rose by 100 cases to 1,859 on Thursday. On Friday, the state reported 1,947 new cases. Coimbatore, where industries are back to working at full strength, and Chennai are seeing small clusters that are contributing to the rise in cases.

This has not come as a surprise to the state health department, which expected the decline in cases to slow two weeks after lockdown relaxations. A week after every phase of unlocking, the rate of fall declined. “Any spike in cases is a cause of concern, particularly with neighbouring Kerala reporting high numbers,” said health minister Ma Subramanian. In February 2021, when the epidemic wave was receding, similar clusters — hostels, hotels, and family reunions — marked the beginning of the deadly wave.

On Friday, Coimbatore crossed the 200-mark. “We have now identified two areas — Sulur and Karamadai — which are beginning to see an increase in cases,” Coimbatore deputy director of public health Dr Senthil Kumar said. The challenge now is to ensure the curve does not go up again.

Union Health Minister, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya chairs a review meeting with National Medical Commission (NMC)

Union Health Minister, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya chairs a review meeting with National Medical Commission (NMC): New Delhi: The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a revi

15 நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு 10,500 டோஸ் வரத்து; கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி செலுத்த குவிந்த மக்கள்: 6 மணி நேரத்துக்கு மேல் காத்திருக்க நேரிட்டதால் பாதிப்பு

15 நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு 10,500 டோஸ் வரத்து; கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி செலுத்த குவிந்த மக்கள்: 6 மணி நேரத்துக்கு மேல் காத்திருக்க நேரிட்டதால் பாதிப்பு

30.07.2021 

திருநெல்வேலி/ தென்காசி/ தூத்துக்குடி

திருநெல்வேலி, தூத்துக்குடி மற்றும் தென்காசி மாவட்டங்களுக்கு 15 நாட்களுக்குப் பின் நேற்று கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி 10,500 டோஸ் வந்தது. மக்கள் போட்டிபோட்டு தடுப்பூசி போட்டுக்கொண்டனர்.

திருநெல்வேலி மாவட்டத்தில் இதுவரை 3.68 லட்சம் பேருக்கு கரோனா தடுப்பூசி போடப்பட்டுள்ளது. 3.10 லட்சம் பேர் முதல் தவணை தடுப்பூசி போட்டுள்ளனர். இதில் 46 ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி போடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்நிலையில் கடந்த 15 நாட்களாக கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி வரத்து இல்லை. இதனால் 2-வது தவணை செலுத்த வேண்டிய தேதி கடந்து 10 நாட்களுக்கு மேலாகியும் ஏராளமானோருக்கு தடுப்பூசி போடப்படவில்லை. நாள்தோறும் தடுப்பூசி மையங்களுக்கு அவர்கள் அலைந்து, ஏமாற்றத்துடன் திரும்பி சென்று கொண்டிருந்தனர்.

இந்நிலையில் 15 நாட்களுக்குப்பின் திருநெல்வேலி மாவட்டத்துக்கு 3,360 கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசிகள் கொண்டு வரப்பட்டிருந்தன. இதில் 1,500 தடுப்பூசிகள் அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மருத்துவமனைக்கும், மீதமுள்ள தடுப்பூசிகள் முக்கூடல், ரெட்டியார்பட்டி, திருக்குறுங்குடி, பத்தமடை, முனைஞ்சிப்பட்டி உள்ளிட்ட 13 மையங்களுக்கும் பிரித்து வழங்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.

கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசி வரத்து குறித்து அறிந்ததும் தடுப்பூசி மையங்களுக்கு ஏராளமானோர் திரண்டனர்.

திருநெல்வேலி அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மருத்துவமனையில் நேற்று காலை 6 மணி முதலே மக்கள் குவியத் தொடங்கினர். பெரும்பாலானோர் காலை உணவு கூட சாப்பிடாமல் சுட்டெரிக்கும் வெயிலில் நீண்ட வரிசையில் கால் கடுக்க காத்திருந்த நிலையில் 11 மணியை தாண்டிய பின்னரும் தடுப்பூசி வந்து சேரவில்லை.

இதையடுத்து அனைவருக்கும் பெயர் பதிவு செய்து டோக்கன் வழங்கப்பட்டது. உணவு சாப்பிட்டு விட்டு வரிசையில் நிற்குமாறு தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

ஒருவழியாக நண்பகல் 12 மணிக்கு மேல் தடுப்பூசி வந்து சேர்ந்ததை தொடர்ந்து அனைவருக்கும் செலுத்தப்பட்டது. 2-வது தவணை செலுத்த வேண்டியவர்களுக்கு மட்டுமே போடப்பட்டது.

திருநெல்வேலியில் 76 மையங்களில் நேற்று கோவிஷீல்டு தடுப்பூசி போடப்பட்டது. தென்காசி மாவட்டத்துக்கு ஒதுக்கீடு செய்யப்பட்ட 3 ஆயிரம் கோவாக்சின் தடுப்பூசிகள் பல்வேறு மையங்களுக்கு பிரித்து அனுப்பப்பட்டு நேற்று போடப்பட்டது.

குடியரசுத் தலைவர் வருகையால் ஆக.2-ம் தேதி தலைமைச் செயலக ஊழியர்கள் 1 மணிக்கு பணியை முடிக்க உத்தரவு

குடியரசுத் தலைவர் வருகையால் ஆக.2-ம் தேதி தலைமைச் செயலக ஊழியர்கள் 1 மணிக்கு பணியை முடிக்க உத்தரவு

secretariat-staff

தமிழக சட்டப்பேரவை நூற்றாண்டுவிழாவில் பங்கேற்க குடியரசுத் தலைவர் ராம்நாத் கோவிந்த் ஆகஸ்ட் 2-ம் தேதி வருவதால், அன்றைய தினம் தலைமைச் செயலக ஊழியர்கள் பகல் 1 மணிக்கு பணி முடித்து வீட்டுக்குசெல்லுமாறு உத்தரவிடப்பட்டுஉள்ளது.

ஆகஸ்ட் 2-ம் தேதி (திங்கள்கிழமை) மாலை 5 மணிக்கு சென்னை தலைமைச் செயலகவளாகத்தில் உள்ள சட்டப்பேரவை மண்டபத்தில் தமிழக சட்டப்பேரவை நூற்றாண்டு விழா,முன்னாள் முதல்வர் கருணாநிதியின் படத்திறப்பு விழா ஆகியவை நடைபெற உள்ளன.

இதில் குடியரசுத் தலைவர் ராம்நாத் கோவிந்த், ஆளுநர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித், முதல்வர்மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் உள்ளிட்டோர்பங்கேற்கின்றனர். குடியரசுத் தலைவர் வருகை தருவதால் தலைமைச் செயலக ஊழியர்கள் அனைவரும் பகல் ஒரு மணிக்கு பணிமுடித்து வீட்டுக்கு திரும்புமாறு தலைமைச் செயலாளர் இறையன்பு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

டாக்டர்கள் சங்கத்தினர் முதல்வருடன் சந்திப்பு

டாக்டர்கள் சங்கத்தினர் முதல்வருடன் சந்திப்பு

Added : ஜூலை 31, 2021 01:00

சென்னை:அரசு டாக்டர்கள் சங்க கூட்டமைப்பு உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு அமைப்புகளின் நிர்வாகிகள், முதல்வர் ஸ்டாலினை சந்தித்து, அகில இந்திய ஒதுக்கீட்டு மருத்துவ இடங்களில், இதர பிற்படுத்தப்பட்டோருக்கு 27 சதவீத இட ஒதுக்கீடு பெற்றுத் தந்ததற்காக நன்றி தெரிவித்தனர்.

சந்திப்பு குறித்து, அரசு டாக்டர்கள் சங்க கூட்டமைப்பின் ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர் பாலகிருஷ்ணன் கூறுகையில், ''மருத்துவ கல்வி மாணவர் சேர்க்கையில் 27 சதவீத இட ஒதுக்கீட்டை பெற்று தந்த, தமிழக முதல்வருக்கு நன்றி தெரிவித்தோம். ''அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் சம்பள உயர்வில் உள்ள ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகளை களைய வேண்டும் என்றும் தெரிவித்துள்ளோம்,'' என்றார்.

சமூக சமத்துவத்திற்கான டாக்டர்கள் சங்கம் பொதுச் செயலர் ரவீந்திரநாத் கூறுகையில், ''அரசு மருத்துவர்களுக்கு, முதுநிலை கல்வியில் 50 சதவீதம் இட ஒதுக்கீட்டை அமல்படுத்த வேண்டும். ''தமிழ் வழியில் படித்த மாணவர்களுக்கு, தனி இட ஒதுக்கீடு வழங்க வேண்டும் என, முதல்வரிடம் வலியுறுத்தினோம்,'' என்றார்.

67 லட்சம் கொரோனா தடுப்பூசிகள் தமிழகம் வந்ததடைந்தது

67 லட்சம் கொரோனா தடுப்பூசிகள் தமிழகம் வந்ததடைந்தது

Updated : ஜூலை 31, 2021 03:49 | Added : ஜூலை 31, 2021 03:47

சென்னை : தமிழகத்திற்கு மத்திய அரசு அறிவித்த 53 லட்சம் தடுப்பூசியை விட 14 லட்சம் தடுப்பூசிகள் கூடுதலாக கிடைத்துள்ளன.

மத்திய அரசு கோவாக்சின் கோவிஷீல்டு தடுப்பூசிகளை கொள்முதல் செய்து மாநிலங்களுக்கு இலவசமாக வழங்கி வருகிறது. மஹாராஷ்டிரா மாநிலம் புனே நகரில் இருந்து நேற்று 2.70 லட்சம் கோவிஷீல்டு தடுப்பூசிகள் தமிழகம் வந்தன. தமிழக அரசிற்கு ஜூலையில் மத்திய தொகுப்பில் 53 லட்சம் தடுப்பூசிகள் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டன.

அந்த ஒதுக்கீட்டை விட கூடுதலாக 14 லட்சம் தடுப்பூசிகள் சேர்த்து மொத்தமாக 67 லட்சம் தடுப்பூசிகள் வந்துள்ளன. வரும் மாதங்களில் இந்த எண்ணிக்கை விட கூடுதலான தடுப்பூசிகள் வரும் என மக்கள் நல்வாழ்வு துறை அதிகாரிகள் நம்பிக்கை தெரிவித்தனர்.

Issue income, community certificates to students without delay: Minister

Issue income, community certificates to students without delay: Minister

According to a press statement, Ramachandran has instructed the Tahsildar and Deputy Tahsildar to take steps to issue the certificates without any delay after scrutinising their applications.

Published: 30th July 2021 03:14 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Minister For Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran has instructed authorities to issue income and community certificates to students at the earliest to enable them to apply for admission in educational institutions.

According to a press statement, Ramachandran has instructed the Tahsildar and Deputy Tahsildar to take steps to issue the certificates without any delay after scrutinising their applications. “Besides, separate dates should be allocated at e-Service Centres for issuing students certificates, and this way crowds can be avoided,” the Minister said.

Stipend for house surgeons and non-service PG doctors hiked

Stipend for house surgeons and non-service PG doctors hiked

Heeding the long-pending demand of doctors, the Health Department has hiked the stipend for house surgeons and non-service post graduate and higher specialty courses doctors.

Published: 31st July 2021 07:08 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Heeding the long-pending demand of doctors, the Health Department has hiked the stipend for house surgeons and non-service post graduate and higher specialty courses doctors. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan issued the G.O. after representatives of the Residential Doctors Association and other associations petitioned Health Minister Ma Subramanian recently.

The Association had said that non-service post graduate students of government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu were being paid lower wages as stipend when compared to medical colleges in certain other States, and Central government medical colleges.

Along with the stipend hike, the government has also ordered for an annual increase of Rs 600 in stipend for house surgeons and Rs 1,000 in stipend for non-service PG degree, diploma and high specialty doctors. An automatic annual increase of 3 per cent to the previous year stipend shall also be allowed. The order has already come into effect.

Appreciating the government for this hike, Dr M Keerthy Varma, board member of Residential Doctors Association, said, “We are happy that the hike was allowed even at a time when the State is in an economical crisis induced by the pandemic. We had just met the Health Minister and given our representation. We didn’t expect action to be taken this quickly. However, the increased amount is still lower than stipends provided in certain other States. Some States even pay around Rs 80,000 for first-year PG degree students. But we are satisfied with this hike and it gives us confidence that the government will fulfil all our valid demands in the future too.”

தமிழகத்தில் அரசு ஊழியர் ஓய்வு வயது மீண்டும் 58 ஆக குறைப்பு?- பணப் பயன்களுக்கு பதிலாக பத்திரம் தருவதற்கு எதிர்ப்பு

Published : 30 Jul 2021 03:14 am

Updated : 30 Jul 2021 07:03 am

தமிழகத்தில் அரசு ஊழியர் ஓய்வு வயது மீண்டும் 58 ஆக குறைப்பு?- பணப் பயன்களுக்கு பதிலாக பத்திரம் தருவதற்கு எதிர்ப்பு

அரசு ஊழியர்கள், ஆசிரியர்களுக்கான ஓய்வு பெறும் வயதை மீண்டும் 58 ஆக குறைப்பது, பணப்பயன்களை பத்திரமாக தற்போதுவழங்குவது என அரசு முடிவெடுத்துள்ளதாக தகவல் வெளியாகியுள்ளது.

தமிழக அரசில் 12 லட்சத்துக்கும் அதிகமான அரசு ஊழியர்கள், ஆசிரியர்கள், அரசு சார்ந்த பொதுத்துறை ஊழியர்கள், அரசு உதவி பெறும் கல்வி நிறுவனங்களின் ஊழியர்கள் உள்ளனர். இவர்களுக்கான ஓய்வு பெறும் வயது 58 ஆக இருந்தது.

கடந்த ஆண்டு கரோனா பாதிப்பால் நிதிச் சிக்கல்களை சந்தித்து வந்த நிலையில், அப்போதைய முதல்வர் பழனிசாமி, அரசு ஊழியர்களின் ஓய்வு பெறும் வயதை 59 ஆக உயர்த்தி அறிவித்தார். இதுகுறித்த அரசாணையில், 2020 மே 31-ம் தேதி பணி ஓய்வு பெறும் அனைவருக்கும் இது பொருந்தும் என்று தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது. இதன்மூலம் 2020-ல் ஓய்வு பெறுபவர்களுக்கு ஓய்வுக்கால பணப் பயன்களை வழங்குவதை தவிர்த்தது.

கடந்த பிப்ரவரியில் கரோனா இரண்டாம் அலை தீவிரமடைந்தது. அப்போது, முதல்வராக இருந்தபழனிசாமி, அரசுப் பணியாளர்களின் ஓய்வு பெறும் வயது 60 ஆக உயர்த்தப்படும். 2021 மே 31-ம் தேதி பணியில் இருந்து ஓய்வு பெறும் பணியாளர்களுக்கும் பொருந்தும் என்று சட்டப்பேரவையில் 110-வது விதியின்கீழ் அறிவித்தார். இந்த அறிவிப்புக்கு அரசு ஊழியர், ஆசிரியர் சங்கங்களிடையே ஆதரவும், எதிர்ப்பும் எழுந்தது. ஓய்வு வயது நீட்டிப்புக்கு எதிராக நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்கும் தொடரப்பட்டது.

தற்போது திமுக அரசு பொறுப்பேற்ற நிலையில், முதல்வர் தனிப்பிரிவுக்கு வந்த மனு அடிப்படையில், அரசு ஊழியர் ஓய்வு பெறும் வயதைமீண்டும் 58 ஆக குறைக்க முடிவு எடுத்திருப்பதாகவும், அதற்கான கோப்பு தயாரிக்கப்பட்டு முதல்வர் ஒப்புதலுக்காக காத்திருப்பதாகவும் தகவல் வெளியானது. இதன்மூலம், உடனடியாக 40 ஆயிரம் பேருக்குமேல் ஓய்வு பெறுவார்கள் என்று கூறப்படுகிறது.

தற்போதைய நிதி நெருக்கடி சூழலில் ஓய்வு பெறுவோருக்கு உடனடியாக பணப்பயன்கள் வழங்கப்படாது என்றும் அதற்கு பதில் ‘அரசு பத்திரம்’ வழங்கப்பட்டு, குறிப்பிட்ட காலத்துக்கு பிறகு அதை செலுத்தி பணம் பெற்றுக்கொள்ள அறிவுறுத்தலாம் என அரசு முடிவுஎடுத்துள்ளதாகவும் தகவல் வெளியாகியுள்ளது. இதுகுறித்து இத்துறையினர் கூறியதாவது:

தமிழ்நாடு அரசு ஊழியர் சங்க தலைவர் மு.அன்பரசு: கடந்த ஆட்சியில் ஓய்வு வயதை உயர்த்தியபோதே எதிர்த்தோம். தற்போதுஓய்வு வயதை குறைப்பது வரவேற்கத்தக்கதுதான். ஆனால், ஓய்வூதிய பணப் பயன்களை அரசுபத்திரமாக தருவது ஏற்கக்கூடியதுஅல்ல. பல ஆண்டுகளாக இந்தபணப் பயன்களை நம்பி குழந்தைகளின் படிப்பு, திருமணம்போன்றவற்றை நடத்த காத்திருப்போருக்கு அதிர்ச்சியாக உள்ளது.

தலைமைச் செயலக சங்கமுன்னாள் செயலாளர் கு.வெங்கடேசன்: ஜாக்டோ ஜியோ சார்பில்,ஓய்வு வயது உயர்த்தப்பட்டதற்கு எதிர்ப்பு தெரிவித்திருந்தோம். தற்போது ஓய்வு பெறும் வயதுகுறைப்பு வரவேற்கத்தக்கது என்றாலும், பணப் பயன்களை பத்திரமாக வழங்குவதை ஏற்க முடியாது.

அரசு அலுவலர்கள் ஒன்றியத்தின் தலைவர் ஆர்.சண்முக ராஜ்: ஓய்வு வயதைக் குறைப்பதற்குத் அரசுக்கு திட்டம் எதுவுமிருந்தால், அதை கைவிட வேண்டும். இதனால், பணி நீட்டிப்பு பெற்ற ஏராளமான அரசு ஊழியர்கள் பாதிக்கப்படுவார்கள். மத்திய அரசு ஊழியர்களுக்கு இணையாக மாநில அரசுஊழியர்களுக்கு சலுகை வழங்கப்படும் என்று 1989-ல் அப்போதைய முதல்வர் கருணாநிதி அறிவித்தார். அவரின் வழி வந்த ஆட்சி அரசு ஊழியர்களை வஞ்சிக்காது என்று நம்புகிறோம். இவ்வாறு அவர்கள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை இறுதி செய்ய பல்கலைக்கு தடை விதிக்க மறுப்பு Added : ஜூலை 29, 2021 23:04 சென்னை:சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்கறிஞர் ராம்குமார் ஆதித்தன் தாக்கல் செய்த மனு:கொரோனா ஊரடங்கால் பள்ளிகள் மூடப்பட்டன. பிளஸ் 2 தேர்வு ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டு, 10, 11ம் வகுப்புகளில் பெற்ற மதிப்பெண் அடிப்படையில், மதிப்பெண் கணக்கிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. கூடுதல் மதிப்பெண் பெற விரும்பும் மாணவர்கள், அதற்காக நடத்தப்படும் தேர்வுகளை எழுதவும் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டது. எனவே, இந்த தேர்வு முடிவுகளை பரிசீலிக்காமல், கல்லுாரிகளில் மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை இறுதி செய்ய, பல்கலைகளுக்கு தடை விதிக்க வேண்டும்.மதிப்பீடு செய்த மதிப்பெண் மற்றும் கூடுதல் மதிப்பெண் பெற எழுதிய தேர்வில் பெற்ற மதிப்பெண், இதில் இறுதி மதிப்பெண் எது என்பதையும் அறிவிக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது. மனு, நீதிபதிகள் கிருபாகரன், தமிழ்செல்வி அடங்கிய அமர்வில் விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. மாணவர்கள் யாரும் ஆட்சேபனை தெரிவித்துள்ளனரா என, கேள்வி எழுப்பிய நீதிபதிகள், யூகம், அனுமானத்தின் அடிப்படையில் வழக்கு தொடர முடியாது என்றனர்.இதையடுத்து, இந்தப்பிரச்னையை எழுப்ப தகுதி இல்லை எனக்கூறி, மனுவை தள்ளுபடி செய்து, நீதிபதிகள் உத்தரவிட்டனர். பாதிக்கப்படும் மாணவர்கள், நீதிமன்றத்தை அணுக தடையில்லை என்றும், நீதிபதிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை இறுதி செய்ய பல்கலைக்கு தடை விதிக்க மறுப்பு

Added : ஜூலை 29, 2021 23:04

சென்னை:சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் வழக்கறிஞர் ராம்குமார் ஆதித்தன் தாக்கல் செய்த மனு:கொரோனா ஊரடங்கால் பள்ளிகள் மூடப்பட்டன. பிளஸ் 2 தேர்வு ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டு, 10, 11ம் வகுப்புகளில் பெற்ற மதிப்பெண் அடிப்படையில், மதிப்பெண் கணக்கிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

கூடுதல் மதிப்பெண் பெற விரும்பும் மாணவர்கள், அதற்காக நடத்தப்படும் தேர்வுகளை எழுதவும் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டது. எனவே, இந்த தேர்வு முடிவுகளை பரிசீலிக்காமல், கல்லுாரிகளில் மாணவர் சேர்க்கையை இறுதி செய்ய, பல்கலைகளுக்கு தடை விதிக்க வேண்டும்.மதிப்பீடு செய்த மதிப்பெண் மற்றும் கூடுதல் மதிப்பெண் பெற எழுதிய தேர்வில் பெற்ற மதிப்பெண், இதில் இறுதி மதிப்பெண் எது என்பதையும் அறிவிக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

மனு, நீதிபதிகள் கிருபாகரன், தமிழ்செல்வி அடங்கிய அமர்வில் விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. மாணவர்கள் யாரும் ஆட்சேபனை தெரிவித்துள்ளனரா என, கேள்வி எழுப்பிய நீதிபதிகள், யூகம், அனுமானத்தின் அடிப்படையில் வழக்கு தொடர முடியாது என்றனர்.இதையடுத்து, இந்தப்பிரச்னையை எழுப்ப தகுதி இல்லை எனக்கூறி, மனுவை தள்ளுபடி செய்து, நீதிபதிகள் உத்தரவிட்டனர். பாதிக்கப்படும் மாணவர்கள், நீதிமன்றத்தை அணுக தடையில்லை என்றும், நீதிபதிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

அமெரிக்காவுக்கு படிக்க செல்லும் வெளிநாட்டு மாணவர்களுக்கு சிக்கல்?

அமெரிக்காவுக்கு படிக்க செல்லும் வெளிநாட்டு மாணவர்களுக்கு சிக்கல்?

Updated : ஜூலை 30, 2021 05:41 | Added : ஜூலை 30, 2021 05:38

வாஷிங்டன்: அமெரிக்காவுக்கு படிக்க வரும் வெளிநாட்டு மாணவர்கள், படித்து முடித்த பின், சில நிபந்தனைகளுடன் அமெரிக்காவில் வேலை பார்க்க அனுமதி அளிக்கும் திட்டத்தை நீக்க, அந்நாட்டு பார்லி.,யில் மசோதா தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

அமெரிக்காவில் படிக்க செல்லும் வெளிநாட்டு மாணவர்கள், படிப்பு முடிந்த பின், மூன்றாண்டுகள் வரை அந்நாட்டிலேயே தங்கியிருந்து வேலை பார்க்க, அந்நாட்டின் குடியுரிமை மற்றும் தேசிய சட்டம் இடம் அளிக்கிறது. இது, ஓ.பி.டி., எனப்படும், விருப்ப பயிற்சி திட்டம் என, அழைக்கப்படுகிறது.

இந்த திட்டத்தின் கீழ், 80 ஆயிரம் இந்திய மாணவர்கள் அமெரிக்காவில் வேலை பார்க்கின்றனர். இந்த திட்டத்தால், அமெரிக்க குடிமக்களின் வாழ்வாதாரம் பாதிக்கப் படுவதாக குடியரசு கட்சி எம்.பி.,க்கள் குரல் கொடுத்து வந்தனர்.இந்நிலையில் குடியுரிமை மற்றும் தேசிய சட்டத்தில் திருத்தம் கொண்டு வந்து இந்த வேலை வாய்ப்பு திட்டத்தை நீக்க வலியுறுத்தி, குடியரசு கட்சி எம்.பி.,க்கள், பிரதிநிதிகள் சபையில் மசோதா தாக்கல் செய்தனர்.

இந்த மசோதா செனட் சபையில் நிறைவேற்றப்பட்ட பின், அதிபரின் ஒப்புதலுக்கு செல்லும். 'ஆனால், இரு சபைகளிலுமே ஜனநாயக கட்சி எம்.பி.,க்கள் அதிக எண்ணிக்கையில் இருப்பதால், மசோதா நிறைவேறுவது கடினம்' என கூறப்படுகிறது.ஒருவேளை நிறைவேறினால் ஆயிரக்கணக்கான இந்திய மாணவர்கள் பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளாவர்.

‘Act against those who did not stand for national song’

‘Act against those who did not stand for national song’

New Delhi:30.07.2021

The assembly session on Thursday began with the national song being played and condolence messages read for the various departed former members. Witnessing that few bureaucrats in the officer’s gallery were not standing up during the two minute silence, speaker Ram Niwas Goel directed the chief secretary, Vijay Dev, to take cognisance of their behaviour. “It is unfortunate the officers in the gallery did not stand up and the chief secretary should take cognisance,” Goel said.

Later, a communication was sent by his secretary to the CS to take necessary action. TNN

Medical seats quota upsets open category students

Medical seats quota upsets open category students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:30.07.2021

The Centre’s announcement to set aside OBC and EWS quota in the all-India post-graduate medical seats has upset open category students in Maharashtra, who termed the decision as “politically fuelled”. Several students asked how the quota at the postgraduate level would be “legal” as all MBBS graduates would go on to earn a monthly stipend of Rs 60,000-75,000. Parents and activists said the government ought to think of alternatives, such as freeships or scholarships.

“Students from the general merit across India will suffer and those from the reserved category will benefit because of this decision,” said former head of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research Dr Praveen Shingare.

“In case of students from Maharashtra, they will suffer largely at the post-graduate level where many from the state take the post-graduate exam for admissions to colleges across India. The state ranks third or fourth in cornering the maximum all-India quota seats,” he said.

Doctor seeks internet connection, loses ₹74,000

Doctor seeks internet connection, loses ₹74,000

Bengaluru:30.07.2021

An ophthalmologist, who was trying to get internet connection, was cheated of Rs 74,420 by a person who claimed to be an employee of a service providing firm.

Dr Nagarathna Bailey from Hanumantanagar stated in her complaint that she was trying to get a connection for her son who is pursuing an engineering course. She had sent an online request to a service provider on April 29 this year and received a call from the customer care services of the firm the same day. The doctor was told that an executive would be sent to explain the tariff and other plan details.

The next day, a person identified as Bhanuchandra M met her at the workplace. While she enquired him about the six-month plan, he suggested she choose another plan where a router would be offered free of cost. She agreed and paid him Rs 74,420, including Rs 33,560 in cash.

But the man neither provided any internet connection nor returned her money. She found his mobile phone was switched off and the service provider did not respond to her complaint. Shankarapura police have registered a case of cheating. TNN

17-yr-old girl dies as mobile explodes while charging

17-yr-old girl dies as mobile explodes while charging

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Palanpur:30.07.2021

A 17-year-old girl from Chhetasan village of Becharaji taluka in Mehsana died on Wednesday due to severe injuries that she allegedly suffered when the mobile phone on which she was talking exploded. The deceased Shradhha Desai was talking over the phone while it was being charged.

The body was cremated by the family and post mortem was not done. “We came to know about the incident after reports appeared in media. When we reached the village the body was already cremated. The family is busy in completing the final rites. We will question the family members to find out exactly what happened,” said M J Barot, police sub inspector at Becharaji police station. Preliminary police investigation revealed that Desai, a class XII student was talking with her relative over the phone when the incident took place. Family members told police that the mobile battery could have exploded.

The deceased was on the upper floor of the house and the door of the room turned black due to the explosion. Dried grass stored in the room also caught fire. The damage is visible in a video shot following the incident. “The mobile battery was draining and she plugged it in for charging. At the same time she was over the phone which exploded. She fell unconscious before we could know exactly what happened,” said her father Shambhu.

Preliminary police investigation revealed that Shradhha Desai, a class XII student was talking with her relative over the phone when the incident took place

Covid cases rise in Kerala, Centre sends team

Covid cases rise in Kerala, Centre sends team

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.07.2021

In the wake of a sharp and persistent increase in daily new cases of Covid-19 in Kerala, the Centre has sent a high -evel team to the southern state to support in the effective public health interventions in order to contain the infection spread.

Kerala recorded on Thursday more than 22,000 new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day. The state with an active case load of 1.54 lakh is contributing 37.1% of the total active cases, with a growth rate of 1.41 (percent/ nos??) in the last seven days. The state is also reporting a high positivity of 12.93%, while six of its districts have more than 10% weekly positivity.

Central sources said Kerala, in mid-May 2021 was reporting a high of more than 43,000 new cases a day and this began to decline there on to the first week of June. But from June third week to date, daily new cases are rising in a gradual and consistent manner with Kerala recently reporting more than 22,000 new cases in a day. This is more than 50% of the peak witnessed by Kerala in mid-May.

The health ministry is concerned that since June first week, Kerala is also reporting a high number of daily Covid deaths. In the first week, daily new Covid deaths were 227 and remain more than 150 deaths a day. Of the 4,00,000-odd active cases in India, 1.5 lakh are in Kerala alone. There is a 13% increase In average daily new cases in the last eight weeks. There is also concern over a dip in testing in the July 22-28 week.

The Centre has also warned the state of rising number of cases and advised stringent containment measures along with compliance to physical distancing and other Covid-appropriate norms, an official said.

The team sent to the state is headed by Dr S K Singh, director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), one of the country's top experts in monitoring public health.

“The team shall work closely with the state health departments, take stock of the on ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the large number of cases being reported,” the health ministry said.

The Centre is also concerned as the latest national sero-prevalence survey shows only 44% of Kerala’s population above the age of six years had so far been infected by Covid-19. This implies that majority of the population is susceptible to the infection and in the absence of effective containment measure, the spread can be wider.

Student rush: AI doubling flights to US from Aug 7

Student rush: AI doubling flights to US from Aug 7

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:30.07.2021

Air India is doubling its non-stop flights to the US from August 7 as a large number of Indians head to universities there this fall.

It had reduced the number of weekly flights from about 40 to under 10 when the catastrophic second wave of Covid-19 here saw the US imposing restrictions on travellers from India starting May 4.

Now the airline will operate at least 21 flights per week to the US, with the maximum increase in flights to New York (JFK and Newark or EWR), followed by those to Chicago and San Francisco, say people in the know. United, the only other airline with nonstops between the two countries, is not altering India flight frequencies for now.

“Flights to the US had to be curtailed after the US presidential proclamation restricting air traffic from India. Flights were combined and rescheduled, affecting travel itineraries for some. Frequency to US has now been enhanced from August and all-out efforts to accommodate passengers are on,” Air India said on social media.

Before May 4, the air bubble requirement for a majority of travellers between India and the US to fly direct saw AI operating almost as many flights to America as it did in pre-pandemic times. The May 4 restrictions meant there were very few eligible to fly from here to the US and the reduced demand led to AI slashing flights.

Centre sanctions new Karaikal-Peralam line part of ₹177cr project

Centre sanctions new Karaikal-Peralam line part of ₹177cr project

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

30.07.2021

The Union railway ministry has sanctioned a 23km-long line to provide direct connectivity from Karaikal to Peralam as a part of the Trichy-Thanjavur-Nagore-Karaikal gauge conversion project at ₹177.69 crore, said Union railwaysminister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Karaikal is Puducherry’s enclave 150km south of its headquarters while Peralam is in Tiruvarur district.

In a written response to queries raised by Puducherry Lok Sabha MP V Vaithilingam in Parliament on Wednesday, Vaishnaw said the ministry submitted land acquisition proposals for 3.2 hectares to the Tamil Nadu government in September 2019 for the project.

He added that the ministry requested the government to expedite land acquisition and work is underway on available land.

To a query on expected time of completion of the project, the minister maintained that it cannot be ascertained at this stage of the project.

“Completion of a railway project depends on various factors like expeditious land acquisition by the state government, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for a particular project etc. and all these factors affect the completion time of project. As such, confirm completion time of the project cannot be ascertained at this stage,” the Vaishnaw said.

The Union railway ministry submitted land acquisition proposals for 3.2 hectares to the TN government in September 2019 for the project

Eminent doctor honoured

Eminent doctor honoured

30.07.2021  Times of India 

30.07.2021

Dr T S Chandrasekar, founder chairman and chief interventional gastroenterologist, MedIndia Hospitals, was appointed as honorarydistinguished professor of The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University in recognition of his contribution to medical education. TNN

‘TN can reopen colleges for vaccinated kids’

‘TN can reopen colleges for vaccinated kids’

Online Classes Ineffective, Say Educationists

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.07.2021

Saying online classes were ineffective, educationists and academicians urged the state to consider reopening colleges for vaccinated students. They sought staggered reopening of colleges, vaccinating students and reopening schools for higher classes.

This follows higher education minister Ponmudi’s announcement on Wednesday that online classes for engineering, arts and science students, except for first year students, would commence on August 9.

Anna University former vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy said no learning takes place in online classes. “A majority of rural students cannot attend online classes as they have connectivity issues. Those who attend cannot fully understand the classes and use mobiles for other purposes. While the state government opened everything including Tasmac, hotels, markets and malls, why not colleges? Colleges should be allowed to conduct face-to-face classes from August while following all safety protocols,” he said.

Madras University former vice-chancellor S P Thyagarajan said a survey conducted across 30 countries found a 40% gap in learning in online mode. “The quality of material used also contributed to the deficit in learning. It is good to allow students 18 years and above to come to colleges. On campus vaccination camps should be allowed and classes can resume by following guidelines,” he said.

He added that students were facing psychological issues due to the pandemic and the institutions need to make them feel comfortable. "Parents also need counselling so they will not get in the way of children’s education,” he said.

Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers Association (TNGCTA) president T Veeramani said the decision should be based on scientific data. “There is a question of who will take responsibility if a Covid cluster emerge after reopening. If the government is ready to take that responsibility, they can reopen,” he said.

Dr P Kuganantham, former city health officer, said, vaccinated students should be allowed to attend classes. “Colleges can follow a shift system to maintain physical distance. The seropositivity rate is 84% for the city and 64% for the state. If we vaccinate more people by September, we can be hopeful for herd immunity for third wave,” he said.

6 months after N Chennai metro line opened, Theradi stn not ready

6 months after N Chennai metro line opened, Theradi stn not ready

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.07.2021

It has been nearly six months since seven of the eight metro stations commenced service in north Chennai, but Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is yet to ready Thiruvottiyur Theradi, a station that is expected to boost footfalls.

The elevated station links the bazaar area in Thiruvottiyur and an ancient temple frequented by people from many of the city and the suburbs.

The station was initially expected to be ready in June and later by August, but on Thursday, workers were still busy on the platform level as both the interior and the exterior of the station looked unfinished. The station is one of the eight stations on the 9km Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar line. The station connects the road directly to the platform level through a staircase and does not have a concourse or ticketing level.

“Most likely, the station will be ready by the end of this year,” a worker at the site said. “By the time we get to the finishing work and the exterior, monsoon might start. That may affect our work,” the worker added. At present, metro trains skip past the station.

Officials said the delay in acquiring land for the station, change in alignment of the elevated corridor and back-to-back pandemic induced lockdowns resulted in the failure to meet the deadline.

The elevated viaduct leading to the station is at its highest level on the 9km phase-1 extension corridor at 17m from the road level. The elevation was made to allow movement of the temple chariot during the annual festival of a Pallava period temple in the area.

In June and July, the average footfalls in the seven north Chennai stations were 9,177, which is 21% of the average daily ridership of 44,852 across all 39 stations. When Theradi station opens, commuters said it could significantly boost the patronage.

Metro work near Porur slows traffic to crawl in peak hours

Metro work near Porur slows traffic to crawl in peak hours

Barricades in Middle Of The Road Create Bottleneck

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.07.2021

Traffic on the Mount-Poonamallee Road has slowed to a crawl as work has begun on the Poonamallee-Porur elevated corridor of the Chennai Metro’s phase-2.

Barricades have come up in the middle of the road at various points causing a traffic jam during the morning and evening peak hours. At least 1.75 lakh vehicles use the Mount-Poonamallee road every day.

Even vehicles going to places such as Maduravoyal, Red Hills, and Ambattur take this stretch. And with the road width being reduced for Metro piling work, traffic flow is hit. The worst stretch is between Porur and Iyyappanthangal.

“The Porur flyover brought some respite to the traffic woes and people were travelling hassle free for a couple of months. The traffic jam is worse between Porur junction and Kattupakkam during peak hours. Immediate measures have to be implemented to streamline the traffic,” said K Baskar, Tiruvallur resident-activist.

“Luckily many IT companies are still working from home and schools remain closed. The situation will not remain the same. The traffic congestion will turn worse when more vehicles start to flow in. Now I think the work will take at least five years to get completed,” says Palani, an employee of a private hospital in Iyyappanthangal.

“We will try to make it hassle-free for the public as much as possible. We are holding talks with the officials concerned. As of now there are no diversion plans as it is a wide road between Porur and Poonamallee. We will also get feedback from the public and bring in changes,” said a traffic police officer.

The Chennai Metro’s 118.9km phase 2 has three corridors and is expected to be completed by 2026. The three corridors are Poonamallee-Light House, Madhavaram-Sholinganallur, and Madhavaram-SIPCOT.

NEWS DIGEST

NEWS DIGEST

3 of 4-member gang with bomb, machetes, held

Three of a four-member gang that was moving around with a country-made bomb and machetes were nabbed during a vehicle check in Kancheepuram. One gang member managed to escaped. Police suspect them to have been targeting someone. The arrested are Kishore, 20, of Thirukachur, Alagesan, 26, of Anna Nagar, and Sivakumar, 19, of Kolathur. Police frisked them and recovered two machetes and one country-made bomb. Police have launched a hunt for the absconding suspect and are questioning the three.

2 robbed of gold chains:

Two women were robbed of their gold chains by two bikeborne men in different incidents at Maraimalai Nagar and Guduvancherry on Wednesday. At Guduvancherry, Susila, 58, was walking down the road at NGO Colony when a bike-borne duo snatched her 3.5sovereign gold chain and sped away. In the other incident, Amulya, 24, was walking home after buying groceries when two people on a bike snatched her five-sovereign gold chain and escaped. Police have registered two separate cases.

Govt teachers told to come to schools from Aug 2: The school education department has asked all the three lakh teachers working in government schools to report to work from August 2. A circular from the department said all teachers and headmasters from government primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools need to come to schools for admissions, preparing time-table, cleaning school campuses, to give assignments based on Kalvi TV lessons and to assess students. However, differently-abled, cancer survivors and those with kidney and heart ailments and teachers taking Covid-19 treatmentwill be exempted from coming to schools by respective CEO provided they submit relevant documents.

Murder of elderly solved:

Police have solved the murder of Anthony Mary, 60, with the arrest of a Alex, 42 who allegedly murdered her to steal her six-sovereign gold jewellery at Kasimedu.

Gods don’t ask us to encroach public land, build temples: HC

Gods don’t ask us to encroach public land, build temples: HC

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.07.2021 

Neither Jesus nor Lord Ayyappa nor Lord Ganesha comes and asks us to build temples, but it has become common among all religions to encroach upon public land and pedestrian spaces to construct temples, the Madras high court said on Thursday.

“Did they (gods) come knocking on our doors to build temples encroaching public land?” a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice T V Thamilselvi asked.

The court made the observations while hearing a plea moved by G Devarajan, a resident of Sembium, alleging that temples had been illegally constructed on pedestrian platforms and public roads in Otteri.

Admitting the plea, the bench directed Greater Chennai Corporation to inspect and ascertain the extent of encroachment made by such structures. The corporation has also been directed to file a report on action taken to remove the encroachment.

According to the petitioner, a 30-feet public road in Chellappa Street in Otteri has been encroached upon on both the sides by illegally constructing three temples – Shri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, Manimudi Maamari Aalayam, and Shri Ayyappan Sannithanam. Due to the encroachments, only 14 feet of the road is accessible to the public, he said.

The encroachment is hindering free flow of traffic on the busy road and emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks cannot pass through the road, he added.

Despite repeated representations, the corporation has failed to take any action to remove the illegalities. It appears that they have no intention to take any step for removal of any encroachment from the road or road margins, he said. The petitioner added that this is the situation despite the fact that the corporation has constituted a special task force to remove such encroachment and a monitoring committee has been established to monitor the same.

All-India med seats: 27% OBC, 10% EWS reservation gets nod

All-India med seats: 27% OBC, 10% EWS reservation gets nod

Overall Seats In Institutions To Go Up

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  30.07.2021 

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the health and education ministries to take steps to implement OBC and EWS quotas in medical and dental colleges, the Centre on Thursday announced the reservations expected to benefit nearly 5,550 students every year.

Medical and dental courses will now have a 27% reservation for other backward classes and 10% for economically weaker sections (which covers forwards) under the all-India quota for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, the government said on Thursday. The reservation will be implemented from the current academic year of 2021-22.

It will benefit nearly 1,500 OBC students in MBBS and 2,500 OBC students in post-graduation and around 550 EWS students in MBBS and 1,000 in post-graduation. The decision can be seen in the context of “pro-OBC” initiatives such as the inclusion of a significant number of OBCs in the recent ministerial reshuffle and the moves to undo an unfavourable Supreme Court order on designating of state backward lists.

While the issue of reservation in the all-India quota was pending for a long time, Modi, at a meeting on Monday, directed the ministries concerned to facilitate an effective solution.

The introduction of the OBC reservation would significantly increase the overall seats as well. As was the case when OBC reservation was introduced in 2009, the number of non-reserved seats too were increased proportionately so as to ensure that the percentage of general seats remains the same. Therefore, higher education institutions which introduced the OBC reservation increased their total intake by around 50%. In a similar exercise, to introduce EWS reservation, the institutions had to increase their total intake by 20%.

The AIQ was introduced in 1986 under the Supreme Court’s directions to provide merit-based opportunities to students from any state aspiring to study in a good medical college in another state.

AIQ comprises 15% of available UG med seats

The all-India quota consists of 15% of the total available UG seats and 50% of the total available PG seats in government medical colleges. In 2007, the SC introduced 15% reservation for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes in the all-India quota scheme.

While the reservation was implemented in all central government institutions through the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, it was not extended to AIQ seats in state medical and dental colleges.

In order to provide benefits to students belonging to the EWS category in admission to higher educational institutions, a constitutional amendment was brought about in 2019, which enabled the provision of 10% reservation for “forwards”.

ஆர்டிஐ கேள்விக்கு இந்தியில் பதிலளித்ததை எதிர்த்து தொடரப்பட்ட வழக்கு; தனக்கும் இந்தி தெரியாது எனக்கூறிய நீதிபதி: மத்திய அரசு பதிலளிக்க உத்தரவுசென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றம்

ஆர்டிஐ கேள்விக்கு இந்தியில் பதிலளித்ததை எதிர்த்து தொடரப்பட்ட வழக்கு; தனக்கும் இந்தி தெரியாது எனக்கூறிய நீதிபதி: மத்திய அரசு பதிலளிக்க உத்தரவுசென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றம்

The Hindu Tamil 

தகவல் அறியும் உரிமைச் சட்டத்தில் கேட்ட கேள்விக்கு இந்தியில் பதிலளித்ததை எதிர்த்து தொடரப்பட்ட வழக்கில், தனக்கும் இந்தி தெரியாது என தெரிவித்த நீதிபதி, இது குறித்து மத்திய அரசு பதிலளிக்குமாறு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

சென்னையைச் சேர்ந்த வழக்கறிஞர் எம்.ஞானசேகரன் என்பவர், சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் தொடர்ந்துள்ள வழக்கில், தகவல் அறியும் உரிமைச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ், புதுவையில் நியமன எம்எல்ஏக்கள் தொடர்பான தகவல்களை மத்திய அரசின் உள்துறை அமைச்சகத்திடம் கேட்டதாக குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

ஆனால், மத்திய உள்துறை அமைச்சகம், தான் அனுப்பிய கேள்வி மனுவை திருப்பி அனுப்பியதுடன், இந்தியில் பதிலளித்ததாகவும் தெரிவித்திருந்தார். தனக்கு அந்த மொழி தெரியாது என்றும், தனக்கு தமிழ் மற்றும் ஆங்கில மொழிகள் மட்டுமே தெரியும் என்றும், எனவே, இந்தியில் வழங்கிய உத்தரவை ரத்து செய்ய வேண்டும் என்றும் அவர் கேட்டுக் கொண்டுள்ளார்.

தனக்கு தெரிந்த மொழியில் மட்டுமே பதில் அளிக்க உத்தரவிட வேண்டும் என்று, சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் அவர் கேட்டுக் கொண்டிருந்தார்.

இந்த வழக்கு சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதி வைத்தியநாதன் முன்பு இன்று (ஜூலை 28) விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. அப்போது, வழக்கு ஆவணங்களை பார்த்த நீதிபதி வைத்தியநாதன், தனக்கும் இந்தி தெரியாது என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

இது குறித்து, மத்திய அரசு வருகிற 16-ம் தேதிக்குள் பதில் அளிக்குமாறு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.