Why programme managers are so valuable in today’s digital era

Why programme managers are so valuable in today’s digital era

Diverse sets of people need to be brought together. That requires orchestrators

Sujit John & Shilpa Phadnis | TNN

22.12.2021

As we move towards autonomous driving, almost everything about a car is changing. RK Shenoy, senior VP of mobility solutions at automotive tech company Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, says the company is having to combine electronics, including high compute platforms, with algorithms to identify objects, with software to autonomously run the vehicle, and with the mechanical aspects of the car.

To run such a programme, he says, they need people who are tech savvy, and also have large teams that are working on multiple functional areas – mechanical engineering, hardware, software, AI, cloud, connectivity. This is where programme managers are becoming vital.

“Programme managers need to manage functional areas that are different. They need to handle teams that are distributed across the world, because in no location are we able to have all the competencies required. We may have mechanical engineering and video analytics in Germany, while India does many of the sensors, and the systems to test, and then we do field trials in China, North America,” he says.

Autonomous cars are no exception. As digitisation seeps into every aspect of a business, it’s opening up a host of new opportunities for companies. While the first steps may involve digitising certain functions, the real value comes from combining many of these small projects to deliver an altogether new business offering to customers. Like the way Swiggy and Zomato, for instance, combined our smartphones with restaurant digitisation, and delivery network digitisation to offer us a delightful new food experience.

Srini Srinivasan, regional MD for South Asia at PMI, one of the world’s leading project management institutes, says the digital transformation journey of an enterprise consists of a lot of smaller projects that provide specific chunks of outcomes, which then roll into an overall umbrella that provides a much larger business outcome. “There are a few common threads to most of these programmes. Number one is the amount of complexity. It’s enormous. There is also the need for speed, agility, innovation,” he says.

So, he says, while programme management is about technology, it’s also about people, change management, cultural change, and about cross-functionality – “because everything that happens in a programme cuts across horizontally.” Kirti Seth, CEO of the IT-ITES sector skills council of Nasscom, and the head of Nasscom’s FutureSkills Prime programme, describes a programme manager as a “conductor of conductors.” Each project team, she says, is like a mini orchestra, and the programme manager has to conduct a bunch of these bands to play in harmony.

The programme manager, she says, must be first a business owner, because you need to understand the value you are driving. The tools and techniques must follow. And that needs to include digital fluency. “The programme manager does not necessarily know how to write an AI programme or a machine learning algorithm, but should definitely know what they can do,” she says.

Since the role requires dealing with a variety of people, the ability to collaborate and communicate are also vital. Seth says programme managers should be able to speak the language of their stakeholders, and not get lost in jargon.

SKILLING TO MANAGE

PMI has been working with organisations like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and Nasa, to understand the future of programme management. Srinivasan says what they are learning is, historically, companies have chosen their most senior project managers to manage programmes. But those project managers grew up in a particular domain. But the breadth and scope of a programme is more than one domain.

So, today, at the centre of PMI’s skilling platform is a course called Programme Management Professional (PgMP), a global certification that is transferable across industries. It takes care of understanding the technical programme management requirements, and is augmented with other skills around collaboration, design thinking, critical thinking, and business agility. PMI has also created courses for junior and midlevel employees who would be involved in transformation projects. “We are looking at a completely new audience, which we call changemakers,” Srinivasan says.

Shenoy says the number of programme managers in Bosch is rising. About 10% of his 20,000 engineers in India are project and programme managers. Bosch has a tieup with PMI, and Shenoy says certification courses help a great deal. “We also have a reverse mentorship initiative for Bosch leadership and programme managers, where graduates who have recently come into the company become mentors to give us inputs on new technologies. At my age I cannot become an AI expert, but it was important for me to know what its capabilities are,” he says.

No proof to suggest that existing vaccines don’t work on Omicron: Govt

No proof to suggest that existing vaccines don’t work on Omicron: Govt

New Delhi:  22.12.2021

There is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on Omicron variant of coronavirus, though some of the mutations reported on spike gene may decrease the efficacy of existing vaccines, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

"There are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron," Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply. He was responding to a question on whether the vaccinations that are given in the country are effective to develop immunity for this variant.

"However, vaccine protection is also by antibodies as well as by cellular immunity, which is expected to be relatively better preserved. Hence vaccines are expected to still offer protection against severe disease and, vaccination with the available vaccines remains crucial," he added.

Listing the steps taken by the government after the news of the spread of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in various countries, Mandaviya said his ministry on the basis of risk assessment reviewed the existing travel guidelines and revised rules for international arrivals were issued on November 28 which were further amended two days later.

According to the guidelines, regions or countries have been re-classified as 'atrisk' based on epidemiological situation of COVID-19 there and reporting of Omicron variant from these countries. PTI

Third wave inevitable, but no cause for panic yet: Experts

Third wave inevitable, but no cause for panic yet: Experts

‘Omicron Has Raised Chances Of Cluster Outbreak’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:22.12.2021

Even as the Centers for Diseases Control announced 73% of the new coronavirus cases in the US are caused by the Omicron variant as against 3% last week, the Covid statistics at home too are slowly rising and experts believe the third wave — even if less severe than the previous one — is inevitable.

The Rt value or the effective reproduction value of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has gone up in a few states, including Maharashtra. An Rt value of 1 means one patient can spread the disease to one other person. In a tweet, epidemiologist Dr Giridhar Babu on Tuesday said states with an increase in Rt values on December 19 as compared to December 13 are Bihar, MP, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odisha, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur and Nagaland. India’s effective Rt is 0.89 as on December 19, he added.

In the week ending November 2, the Rt value in Maharashtra was 0.7 and kept steadily increasing — 0.82 (November 14), 0.96 (November 22) — before falling — 0.92 (November 29) and 0.85 (December 6). In the last two weeks, the Rt value in the state has again started rising: 1.08 (December 19).

The rising weekly caseload and Rt value are, as per doctors, an indicator of how the Covid graph will turn out in the next month. Rahul Pandit, a member of the state government’s task force on Covid-19, said there is no cause for panic yet. “Any rise in R value is a cause for concern and means the public health machinery should strengthen its surveillance and contact tracing,” he further stated. Shashank Joshi, also a task force member, said: “The third wave seemed remote a few months ago, but the emergence of the Omicron variant that spreads five times more rapidly than Delta has raised the possibility of cluster outbreak and the third wave.” Internal medicine specialist Swapneil Parikh said a third wave is inevitable. “Based on developments in other countries, cases in India too will increase. What remains to be seen is what… sort of load the third wave would put on hospital infrastructure,” he said. However, most doctors said immunity due to vaccine, past infection will blunt the severity of the possible Omicron wave.

Candidate in tears after getting one vote

Candidate in tears after getting one vote

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Surat:22.12.2021

Santosh Halpati, candidate of ward 5 in Chharwada village in Vapi taluka of Valsad district was in tears on Tuesday as results of the village panchayat polls were announced. Halpati got only one vote, most probably his own, despite having 12 members from his family as voters in the same ward.

“I live with my wife and son. My uncle’s family also lives in the same area, but I got only one vote,” a teary-eyed Halpati told media persons.

“My wife did vote, but I am not sure she voted for me. People are independent to vote for the candidate of their choice in a democracy,” he added.

Meanwhile, in Nagoi village of Olpad taluka in Surat district, Geeta Patel won the sarpanch election by eight votes against Karishma Patel. The results came as a surprise for many as Nagoi is the village of Mukesh Patel, minister of state for agriculture, energy and petrochemicals. The sarpanch candidate supported by the minister lost.

“My mother Geetaben won against Karishmaben who had the support of minister Mukesh Patel. It is not about any political party, but one man’s rule cannot be allowed in the village,” Geeta’s son Hemal Patel told TOI. Hemal too won from ward 3 of Nagoi village by 35 votes. Hemal is a leader of Khedut Samaj Gujarat.

“I went to (minister) Mukeshbhai earlier to seek his support, but he refused and supported Karishmaben,” Hemal added.

Yearend trips: Airfares shoot up

Yearend trips: Airfares shoot up

Hotel Tariffs Surge 40% In Hotspots

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:22.12.2021

Airfares to key destinations including Goa, Delhi, Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Dehradun, and Bengaluru have skyrocketed about ten days ahead of the New Year’s Eve. With the eve falling on Friday, it will be a long weekend and people have planned their break accordingly to their favourite watering holes and party destinations. Despite the worries about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, plans for long weekend getaways are intact and consequently airfares have surged by a whopping 120% to certain destinations.

Anuj Pathak, the president of Tour Operators & Travel Agents Association of Gujarat (TAG), said: “Bookings are good this time despite concerns over the Omicron variant.” He added: “Those looking for driveable destinations are headed to Udaipur, Mount Abu, Kumbhalgarh, and Jodhpur.” He went on to say: “Whereas many other travellers are booking tickets to Goa, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, and even Jammu & Kashmir, owing to which airfares have surged.” In fact, some travellers have picked international destinations. “Places such as Dubai and Maldives are hot favourites and people are booking a three-night-four-day package to these destinations,” said Manish Sharma, chairman, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Gujarat. “Travellers are more confident this time around and are shelling out Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh per person.” With more professionals working from home and the long weekend in perfect sync, people from across the city have chosen to travel out. Airfares have spiked 50-120% depending on the destination, even when booked about ten days in advance.

“With the dynamic pricing policy in place and limited connectivity to certain destinations, airfares have shot up,” Pathak said.

In fact, even hotel tariffs have surged across all these destinations. Ankit Bajaj, secretary, TAFI Gujarat, said: “People want to travel as many could not due to the Covid-19 outbreak last year.” Bajaj added: “With more demand, hotel tariffs across popular resorts as well as four-star and five-star properties have increased by at least 40%.” Industry sources said that road trips are increasingly being preferred for travel. “Road trips are usually a hit for the New Year eve getaways. However, this year, there is a dearth of cars,” said Virendra Shah, chairman, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Gujarat. “With the wedding season kicking in and the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit around the corner, the availability of cars is a concern and cab fares have surged.”

Madras HC laughs at ‘absurd’ case

Madras HC laughs at ‘absurd’ case

Kaushik.Kannan@timesgroup.com

Madurai:22.12.2021

A joke is a joke, a Madras high court judge said while quashing an FIR against CPI(ML) functionary Mathivanan for writing in jest on Facebook that he’s “Going for Shooting Practice” when announcing his recent trip to hill station Sirumalai.

“Jug Suraiya, Bachi Karkaria, EP Unny and G Sampath ... if any one of them, or for that matter any satirist or cartoonist, had authored this judgment, the hypothetical author would have added one more fundamental duty—duty to laugh—to the list of fundamental duties mentioned in…Constitution,” wrote Justice GR Swaminathan in his judgment that has now gone viral.

HC says cops failed to see humour in post

He wrote that “Laugh at what? is a serious question. This is because we have holy cows grazing all over from Varanasi to Vadipatti. One dare not poke fun at them…In West Bengal, Tagore is such an iconic figure that Khushwant Singh learnt the lesson at some cost. Coming to my own Tamil Desh, the all-time iconoclast ‘Periyar’ Shri EV Ramasamy is a superholy cow. In today's Kerala, Marx and Lenin are beyond the bounds of criticism or satire. Chhatrapati Shivaji and Veer Savarkar enjoy a similar immunity in Maharashtra. But all over India, there is one ultimate holy cow and that is ‘national security’.” The FIR against Mathivanan was filed after cops mistook his post for an armed training plan. Justice Swaminathan said the police failed to read the fun. He said a case can be made of such posts if the person conceals his identity.

80-yr-old dead man booked for accident that claimed his life

HELMETLESS MAN WAS DRIVING ON WRONG SIDE

80-yr-old dead man booked for accident that claimed his life

Soumitra.Bose@timesgroup.com

Nagpur: 22.12.2021

Police here have booked a dead man for causing the scooter accident that killed him. Jagdish Dewulkar (80), riding without a helmet with his 70-year-old wife Sewantabai as pillion on their scooter, met with an accident and succumbed to his injuries on August 7. Four months later, on December 20, the police have registered an offence against him.

The Dewulkar couple were driving on the road between Kanji House Chowk and Rani Durgawati Chowk while returning from a birthday party at Ramai Nagar, in Jaripatka, on August 3. The accident occurred around 10pm. Jagdish, who was driving on the wrong side, failed to maintain the balance of his scooter while taking a turn and it crashed.

Though Sewantabai escaped unhurt, Jagdish suffered substantial injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital but later shifted to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital. Doctors declared him dead on August 7. The police booth at the hospital then alerted Yashodhara Nagar police about Jagdish’s death.

The Yashodhara Nagar police then registered a case of accidental death under CrPC Sec

174. The post-mortem was conducted at IGGMCH. After prolonged investigations, the cops wanted to file a summary of the death case before ACP Roshan Pandit (Jaripatka division). However, the ACP decided that as per norms a case needed to be registered against the senior citizen holding him responsible for negligent driving leading to the accident.

Senior inspector Sanjay Jadhav of Yashodhara Nagar police station said the senior citizen was technically held responsible because he had driven the two-wheeler on the wrong side and taken a turn that caused him to lose balance and sustain an injury from the fall. “We will now send an abated summary of the case to the court informing it about the death of the accused in the case,” he said.

J’khand to issue caste certs from all schools

J’khand to issue caste certs from all schools

Dhritiman.Ray@timesgroup.com

Ranchi:22.12.2021

Jharkhand is set to become the first state to issue caste certificates from the campus of every governmentrun and private school to ensure each child has one within the next six months, CM Hemant Soren announced in the assembly on Tuesday.

“We will conduct a special drive in all government and private schools after December 29. Every student will be issued a caste certificate,” Soren said. Odisha started the practice of schools issuing SC, ST and OBC certificates to children in November 2017, but restricted it to government-run institutions. The process was suspended during the pandemic and has yet to resume, although many schools have reopened. In all other states, caste certificates are issued by the offices of district magistrates, block development offficers, tehsildars, mamlatdars and other revenue officials.

Soren revealed the JMMled government’s plan to take issuance of caste certificates to all schools in response to a notice brought by BJP MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda.

J’khand third state to pass anti-lynching bill

Ranchi:

Jharkhand became on Tuesday the third state, after West Bengal and Rajasthan, to pass a bill to prevent mob lynchings.

The state assembly passed the Jharkhand (Prevention of Violence and Mob Lynching) Bill of 2021, introduced on the penultimate day of the ongoing winter session.

It was passed within an hour and without any major amendment or debate, reports Dhritiman Ray.

‘Marriage law won’t make child marriage ab initio void’

‘Marriage law won’t make child marriage ab initio void’

Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi  22.12.2021

Soon after the government introduced a bill in Parliament to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, some of those who were at the forefront of supporting the decision, however, lamented that the proposed legislation does not bring amendments to make child marriage void.

They pointed out that the proposed law will not make child marriage, in its present form, void at the outset and it will continue to remain voidable at the option of the contracting party who was a child at the time of the marriage.

After the bill was introduced in Lok Sabha, Vikram Srivastava, founder “Independent Thought” and Convenor, Campaign against Child Marriage, said, “The special and secular character of PCMA having an overriding application is a welcome step. The consequential amendments to other laws will end the otherwise ambiguity and provide the much needed protection to girls through a uniform law.”

“The 2021 amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, however leaves the most controversial and complicating gap of ‘void ab-initio’ clause unresolved. It is unclear how this increase in age would resolve or restrict solemnisation of marriage, if it remains to be valid,” Srivastava said. In the ‘Independent Thought’ case judgment of 2017, the Supreme Court had declared sex with minor wife as rape.

Dr Renu Singh Country Director, Young Lives India, said that bill sets forth the rationale for increasing the age of marriage for girls to 21 years based on the principle of equality (same age for men and women) and the need to increase the age so as to ensure that the “physical, mental and reproductive health” of women is protected.

Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board came out to reject the bill and said they would request the government to not go ahead with it. In a statement, the board argued that “Islam doesn’t prescribe any age for marriage. This is left to the persons who have attained the age of adolescence or to their guardians”.

Move to raise girl’s marriage age causing pain to some: PM

Move to raise girl’s marriage age causing pain to some: PM

‘UP Women Were Biggest Sufferers Of Lawlessness Under SP’

Rajeev.Mani@timesgroup.com

Prayagraj:  22.12.2021

“Everybody is seeing who is having problem with the move to raise the marriage age of girls from 18 to 21,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking a swipe at the opposition parties at an event at Prayagraj for women empowerment on Tuesday.

“We are trying to increase the age of marriage of girls to 21 years, so that they can have time to study and progress. The country is taking this decision for its daughters. Everyone is seeing who is having problems with this,” he said, adding that “women are happy with the government’s decision”.

Samajwadi Party MPs Shafiqur Rehman Barq and ST Hasan have recently made adverse comments on the Centre’s move to increase the legal age of girls’ marriage though party president Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from their statements.

“Prayagraj has been an iconic city to show the strength of women empowerment. Now, it is witness to a Kumbh of empowered women who have turned up at this event,” he said at the well-attended event.

Lauding the state government on the law and order front, especially the steps taken for women’s security, Modi said that five years back, roads of UP had mafiaraj and criminals held sway in the government.

“The women of UP were the biggest sufferers of this state of affairs. However, the government of Yogi Adityanath has sent these criminals to their rightful place (jails),” the PM said.

“Out of the 30 lakh houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in the state, 25 lakh have been registered in the name of women beneficiaries,” he said.

“In families where there was no property in the name of women for generations, they now have a house in their name. This is true women empowerment. In the village ‘swamitva scheme’ is underway in which property papers were given to house owners and women are being given priority,” he said.

“This is our bid to provide equal rights to women just the way we did through schemes like Ujjwala and Swachh Bharat to construct toilets,” the PM said, highlighting the measures of the Centre and UP governments like triple talaq law, Kanya Sumangla Yojana and crackdown on criminals to help women. The PM transferred ₹Rs 1,000 crore to bank accounts of self-help groups (SHGs) to benefit around 16 lakh women.

Court dismisses plea challenging PM photo on vaccine certificates

IMPOSES ₹1L FINE ON PETITIONER

Court dismisses plea challenging PM photo on vaccine certificates

Kochi: 22.12.2021

Kerala high court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi affixed on the Covid-19 vaccination certificates. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on the petitioner which is to be paid to the Kerala Legal Services Authority within six weeks.

“The petition seems to be filed with political motives and a publicity motivated petition. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed with a heavy cost,” the high court observed.

The court further observed that while thousands of convicted persons are in Indian jails for criminal cases and are waiting for their appeal hearings, thousands for matrimonial disputes...so this court must consider this petition quickly. “In such a situation, such frivolous petitions must be dismissed with a heavy cost,” the court said. The court criticised the petitioner for wasting judicial time, and asked: “Why are you ashamed of our Prime Minister?”

Single Bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan further remarked: “There is a general trend to a section of the citizens of our country that the political leaders are all corrupt people and they cannot be believed. I think, from this concept, these types of arguments are coming into the mind of the petitioner. But can anyone generalise like that? Since there is a small percentage of politicians are having a bad history, the entire politicians need not be ignored.”

He further said, “The people elect the eligible persons among them and send them to the Parliament and the majority party will select their leader and he will be our Prime Minister for five years. Till the next general election, he will be the Prime Minister of India. Therefore, according to me, it is the duty of the citizens to respect the Prime Minister of India, and of course, they can differ on the policies of the government and even the political stand of the Prime Minister.”

“The Prime Minister of India is not a person who entered the parliament house by breaking the roof of the parliament building. He came to power because of the mandate of the people,” he added. ANI

Merit list for paramedical courses released

Merit list for paramedical courses released

Madurai:  22.12.2021

Health minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday released the merit list for 19 paramedical degree courses for the academic year 2021-2022 for filling the seats under government quota. Addressing mediapersons at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), he said that a total of 64,900 candidates had applied. “There are 2,276 seats to be filled in government medical colleges whereas 13,832 seats are under government quota in self-financed colleges. The counselling will begin on Wednesday for special category, including differently-abled and army quota,” said Subramanian. TNN

Challenge on Instagram leads to murder

Challenge on Instagram leads to murder

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore: 22.12.2021

A 22-year-old gangster, who dared his rivals via a post on Instagram to bump him off when he visits Anjugam Nagam near Chinnavedampatti in the city, was murdered by a four-member gang in full public view at the same spot around 8.30pm on Monday.

V Sriram, of Sampath Street, posted a video on his Instagram page a few days ago challenging the rival gang members from Kannappa Nagar to try to finish him off when he visits Anjugam Nagar on Monday night. Sriram is a member of Rathinapuri gang.

Weekend holidayers ditch costly Dubai for Colombo

Weekend holidayers ditch costly Dubai for Colombo

Low Airfare Makes Lanka Attractive

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.12.2021

As Dubai continues to be expensive, people who want to experience an international holiday are heading to Sri Lanka from Chennai for the Christmas, New Year and Pongal weekends. The restrictions on revelry imposed by the state government in Chennai are also encouraging those who can afford a holiday abroad to try out Colombo. The island nation is the cheapest destination from Chennai with return airfare in the range of ₹20,000 to ₹26,000 in the current season.

In comparison, a return ticket to Dubai is in the range of ₹40,000 to ₹2 lakh for holiday weekends due to the high demand from transit travellers headed to Europe and the US. Though Singapore has begun issuing tourist visas, people do not prefer to travel for leisure if they do not have a friend or a relative in that south-east Asian country. The testing for Covid-19 and requirement to stay in a hotel till results are ready is a hassle. Flights to Singapore are also full and are expensive because a large number of people who have permanent residency and those headed for work are travelling there.

Southeast Asia and the Middle East have traditionally been among the most popular destinations for tourists from Chennai but these destinations are now ruled out due to restrictions and high cost.

Sriharan Balan of Madura Travels said several people had started exploring Sri Lanka for this holiday season as Dubai is expensive. “The fares are affordable compared to other foreign destinations,” he said.

In pre-Covid times too, people used to travel to Sri Lanka instead of domestic destinations in Jammu and Kashmir or other places in the north. “The return fare to Colombo used to be ₹10,000 while the fare to Srinagar was as much as ₹20,000,” he said. Now, J&K is less expensive, but Colombo is nearer and there are direct flights from Chennai.

Basheer Ahemed of Chennai Metro Travels said the UAE was a hassle-free destination to travel but is expensive. “People are booking tickets to Colombo because its nearby and is cheaper and we are getting many enquiries for New Year weekend too,” he said. This gives some hope though airfare and hotel tariff are higher for international travel amidst the restricted number of flights, he added.

“People have the option of travelling to Malaysia for the Pongal holidays as Malaysia Tourism is planning to open Langkawi in January,” said Ahmed.

14m-wide pedestrian subway linking central station and GH to open soon

14m-wide pedestrian subway linking central station and GH to open soon

Old Subway Too Will Be Ready By Jan

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.12.2021

A 14-metre-wide pedestrian subway linking MGR central railway station with Rajiv Gandhi government general Hospital(RGGGH) is nearing completion. Work on repairing the old subway will also be completed in January 2022. More than 70,000 people cross the road in front of the railway station during peak hours.

Passengers with luggage and senior citizens can take advantage of the escalators and elevators of the new subway. As one end of the subway will be closer to RGGGH, those visiting the hospital and taking the train or an MTC bus could also have easy access to the facilities. The old subway linking Central Railway station and the MTC bus stop near RGGGH, which is partly open, will also further help pedestrians cross the road easily when it is fully ready.

“The new subway is ready without elevators. Escalators on both sides have been installed. Refurbishment of the old subway is in progress. It will be ready by the end of January 2022,” a metro rail official said.

At present, except for a few who use the pedestrian subway opened in 2018 linking Park Station with Moore Market complex and the underground Central metro, an average 300 people cross the Poonamallee High Road every hour in front of Central Railway station. This is causing traffic congestion.

According to CMRL, in the pre-covid times, more than 70,000 people used to cross Poonamallee High Road around central railway station during peak hours. More than four lakh commuters take suburban, MRTS and long-distance trains from the surrounding stations. In addition, metro rail estimates that nearly 15,000 passengers will board trains at central metro by 2026, so the number of pedestrians will only rise.

To take the pedestrians completely underground and ensure smooth traffic flow on Poonamallee High Road, CMRL planned four pedestrian subways on the stretch between Evening Bazaar Road and Moore Market Complex. They include a nine-metre-wide subway linking Evening Bazaar Road and RGGGH, a nine-metre-wide subway linking southern railway building with RGGGH, a 14-metre-wide subway linking central railway station with RGGGH and a nine-metre-wide subway to link Park station with Moore Market Complex.

EASY PASSAGE: Passengers with luggage can take advantage of the escalators and elevators of the new subway

Kits Miss Omicron In US, Show False Negatives Docs urge ICMR to check testing kits

Docs urge ICMR to check testing kits

Kits Miss Omicron In US, Show False Negatives

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.12.2021

Days after the USFDA warned that some testing kits in their country were throwing “false” negatives, particularly among those carrying the omicron variant, infectious diseases experts here have asked the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to review all testing kits, including indigenously manufactured products for its accuracy.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has mutated over time, resulting in genetic variations. “We don’t know much about the new variant Omicron, except that it spreads rapidly, increases hospitalisations and deaths. Now, we are learning that tests including gold standard ones are affected by viral mutations,” said infectious disease expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan of Gleneagles Global Hospitals. “The ICMR should check all the testing kits and permit only the ones that are accurate. With false negatives, isolation norms will be relaxed, and risk of transmission will increase,” he said.

The new variant is already straining the testing capacity of several countries. With people queuing up for pre-travel tests, the spike in Covid-19 cases in several European countries has increased the number of daily tests. States like Tamil Nadu haven’t allowed home tests or antigen tests too. The strain here will be much more when cases increase. The state conducts around one lakh RTPCR tests a day acros 317 labs.

“Molecular tests that use multiple genetic targets to determine a result are less likely to be impacted by increased prevalence of genetic variants,” said virologist Dr T Jacob John. “The ICMR and The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium should check kits, antigen, PCR and home tests used across India. Until then clinicians should consider results in combination with clinical observations, patient history, and epidemiological information,” he said.

The state public health laboratory says it uses the True-Nat system, which is now a comprehensive assay for screening and confirmation of COVID-19 cases. The RT-PCR tests are conducted in whole for all the genes - N’, ‘S’, ‘E’ and ‘ORF'. The S gene is absent in Omicron. "Since S-gene is not detected during the test, it is called S-gene dropout,” said state DPH laboratory head Dr S Raju. S-dropout is considered as a proxy indicator for the new variant. “And it also shows that the tests are effective,” he said. Nevertheless, public health officials admit not all labs in the state use the same kind of kits.

DISCOMFORT: Healthcare official collecting a nasal swab for Covid testing in Madurai

Omicron: States told to bring back curbs

Omicron: States told to bring back curbs

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.12.2021

Amid initial signs of a rise in Omicron infections and concerns over its high transmissibility, the Centre on Tuesday asked states to activate war rooms and bring back curbs, including night curfews, strict restrictions on large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals, restricting attendance in offices and public transport.

District administrations have been asked to keep a close watch on numbers and proactively analyse trends and surges. Highlighting that Omicron variant is at least three times more transmissible than the Delta strain, the Centre underlined the need for prompt and focused decisions at the local level as cases can spread rapidly in the absence of timely identification and containment.

‘Hospitalisation, deaths can impact a nascent economic recovery’

This is considered necessary even though cases of Omicron have been seen to be mostly mild so far.

“Based on current scientific evidence, the VOC (Variant of Concern) Omicron is at least 3 times more transmissible than the Delta VOC. Besides, the Delta VOC is still present in different parts of the country. Hence, even greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making and strict & prompt containment action is required at the local and district level. The decision making at the State/UT and district level must be very prompt and focussed,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter on Tuesday.

While the infection might prove to be mild, a large number of cases can increase hospitalisation and deaths and also impact a nascent economic recovery. Till Tuesday morning, 200 cases infected with Omicron variant of SARSCoV2 were detected through genome sequencing of Covid-19 positive samples from across 12 states and UTs. Of these 77 cases have recovered or migrated, health ministry said. The Centre has directed “all cluster samples must be sent to INSACOG Labs for genome sequencing without delay.”

The Centre is worried over the rising detection of Omicron cases even as the overall numbers continue to be under control. Officials raised concerns as the detected Omicron cases are only a factor of the size of samples and the real numbers are likely to be much higher, particularly because of the transmissibility.

Overall, a total of 5,326 new Covid-19 cases — which includes Delta and other variants — were recorded from across the country on Monday. The active caseload of Covid-19 stood at 79,097. Maharashtra and Delhi have recorded 54 cases of Omicron variant each, while Telangana registered 20 cases, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 18, Kerala 15 and Gujarat 14 cases.

Shanmuganathan, MK’s ‘shadow’ for 50 yrs, dies

Shanmuganathan, MK’s ‘shadow’ for 50 yrs, dies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.12.2021

K Shanmuganathan, former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s personal secretary for close to 50 years, died in a Chennai hospital due to age-related ailments on Tuesday afternoon. He was 80.

Having joined Karunanidhi as his personal secretary in 1969, the two became inseparable, irrespective of whether the late DMK leader was in power or in the opposition. After Karunanidhi’s death on August 7, 2018, Shanmuganathan continued to visit his office room in the former’s Gopalapuram residence in Chennai for a few months, before withdrawing himself from political limelight.

Chief minister M K Stalin, who was away in Coimbatore on a personal visit to attend to a bereavement in his brother’s family, rushed back to the city and paid homage.

“Having worked with Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi) for 50 years, he spent most of his time – from dawn to midnight – at our Gopalapuram residence. We considered Shanmuganathan as an elder brother and he literally functioned as one hand of Kalaignar as well as his shadow,” Stalin said in his condolence message, while recalling his visit to the hospital on Monday. "I did not imagine we would lose him so soon," Stalin added.

Shanmughanathan accompanied Karunanidhi everywhere, be it official, political or personal.

Karunanidhi praised his personal secretary several times in public for his accuracy in taking notes of his speeches – both at public meetings and press conferences. Karunanidhi spotted Shanmuganathan diligently taking notes of whatever he spoke at public meetings on behalf of the state’s police intelligence, when the DMK was still in the opposition and yet to capture power in Tamil Nadu. Impressed by the latter’s work, Karunanidhi appointed him as his personal secretary.

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Shanmuganathan with M Karunanidhi

Madras university busts 117 ghost grads

Madras university busts 117 ghost grads

‘Students’ Exploit Institute’s Online Arrear Exam Option

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.12.2021

At least 117 students have been caught out while trying to get degrees from the University of Madras though they had never enrolled for any course under it. Most of them were eyeing BCom and BBA degrees.

The unfolding scam, which involves university insiders, has exploited loopholes in the institute of distance education’s decision to allow people who had enrolled for degree programmes to write exams online to clear arrears from 1980-81.

The scamsters uploaded the applications of these students to write the exams by faking course completion certificates. They paid the exam fees and were given serial numbers that followed genuine candidates in each batch. The 117 students wrote and cleared the exams in December 2020. “Insiders in the university must have given the students the serial numbers that followed the genuine cases,” said an official of the institute.

‘Students paid racketeers ₹3l each for fake degrees’

Their game was up when some of the students who had cleared the December 2020 exam asked the university to release their degree certificates. Following protocol, the university checked whether they had paid the tuition fees for the courses they claimed to have attended. There was no record of their having paid tuition fees or their admission details.

Sources close to the developments, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said these students each paid around ₹3 lakh (tuition fees is around ₹20,000 per candidate) to those behind the racket.

An internal communication of the university – TOI has a copy – has a list of 117 candidates who wrote the exams without studying at the institute. The number could be more.

The internal communication said: “While verifying the Permanent Pass Register (PPR), some of the candidates’ names were not found in the tuition fee-cum-DCB register, and admission applications were missing from the admission section.” It sought permission from the university authorities to cancel the 117 candidates’ provisional/ convocation certificates and remove their names from the permanent pass register (PPR) of December 2020.

A senior professor of the university said agents for the university’s study centres that were shut down may have lured their old students to take advantage of pandemic relaxations for writing the exams. Students were allowed to write the exams from their homes without any supervision and to post or deposit the answer sheets hours later.

Professors said this could be a package deal where the touts might have employed third parties to write the exams as all the 117 candidates cleared their papers. They have asked the university to expand the scope of inquiry into the possible malpractices in the exam.

Madras university vice-chancellor S Gowri said the university will form an inquiry panel to probe the racket. “Some tried to take advantage of the online exam process. But, an internal verification process stopped this racket at the right time. The university will take strict action against those involved in the racket,” the vice-chancellor said.

Even 12 days after inauguration, Thanjavur bus stand fails to become operational

 Even 12 days after inauguration, Thanjavur bus stand fails to become operational

The smart city bus stand has 39 bus bays, five waiting halls for passengers, a mother feeding centre, four toilet blocks each two for men and women, six drinking water kiosks, a clock room and a time

 Published: 21st December 2021 09:27 AM  

By N Ramesh

Express News Service

THANJAVUR: The Thanjavur old bus stand, which has been redeveloped under the Smart City scheme and inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin through video conference on December 8, is yet to become operational. Passengers are still seen going to the temporary bus stand at Karanthai area. To carry out the construction work, the terminus was closed on September 8, 2019.

Passengers who take the buses from the old bus stand area can be seen standing in the open braving the sun and rain owing to the delay in beginning operations at the bus stand. Two of the 20 components of the Smart City scheme pertain to the redevelopment of the Thanjavur old bus stand and converting the nearby terminus for Tiruvaiyaru route buses into a multi-purpose parking area.

According to sources, a sum of Rs 14.88 crores was spent for the redevelopment of the old bus stand and Rs 13.85 crores for converting the Tiruvaiyaru route bus stand into a mixed-use, multi-level parking area.

Though  works had to be completed by October 2020, even after adjusting the schedule due to the pandemic, the construction work ended only a few months ago.

According to sources, shopkeepers who took shops inside the terminus on lease had sought time from the City Corporation to furnish their shops and the administration had also given a week's time. However, even after the lapse of 12 days, the bus stand has not become operational.

"We have been demanding the early opening of the bus stand. Now, even after the inauguration ceremony, passengers and bus crew are suffering as operations are yet to begin," rued D Mathivanan, State vice-president of Tamil Nadu State Transport corporation (TNSTC) workers federation (AITUC).

"To reach the temporary bus stand at Karanthai, TNSTC has to spend extra fuel. Passengers also have to suffer standing outside the old bus stand in the open. The redeveloped bus stand, now called the smart city bus stand, must be made operational without delay," he said.

The smart city bus stand has 39 bus bays, five waiting halls for passengers, a mother feeding centre, four toilet blocks each two for men and women, six drinking water kiosks, a clock room and a time office. Besides, there are 40 shops and a separate restaurant block. The multi-purpose parking area, developed at the erstwhile Tiruvaiyaru route bus terminus, has a parking area with space for 434 two-wheelers and 61 four-wheelers. Besides, there are 31 shops and eight restaurants on this complex.

When contacted K Saravanakumar, Commissioner of City Corporation, told TNIE that he would take immediate action to begin the operations at the bus stand.

'Only safe in mother's womb or grave': Chennai teen's suicide note after sexual harassment

'Only safe in mother's womb or grave': Chennai teen's suicide note after sexual harassment

According to reports, a 21-year-old boy has confessed to the police that he was sexually harassing her

Published: 20th December 2021 06:03 PM 

By Online Desk

Three days after a 17-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide for being sexually harassed, the Mangadu police arrested a 21-year-old college student on Monday in connection with the case.

In a suicide note found from her room, the teen has mentioned that “a girl is safe only in the mother's womb or grave.”

The accused, Vicky alias Vignesh of Karayanchavadi, was a senior of the deceased at the same school. Police claimed that the two became friends on Instagram and the accused posted pictures of him working out in the gym on social media which gained the girl's attention and eventually developed into a relationship.

Currently, Vignesh is pursuing electronics and communications engineering at a private engineering college.

According to reports, the 21-year-old boy has confessed to the police that he was sexually harassing her.

"The boy has confessed to a physical relationship with the minor girl. In the last two weeks, he had been harassing and torturing her. We have located filthy messages and the exchange of photographs. They had a good friendly relationship for eight months before all this," a police official was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The accused has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

It is to be noted that the suicide note which had 'Stop Sexual Harassment' on top and ended with the words 'Justice for me' did not specify who had harassed her, mentioning 'relative, teacher, everyone'. Based on this, the police are probing if she was harassed by anyone else too.

In the suicide note, she also mentioned that the school was not safe and teachers could not be trusted, adding that she could not even study or sleep because of "mental torture even in her dreams".

"Every parent should teach their kids and sons (to treat) girls with respect," wrote the 17-year-old.

The girl's mother had stepped out for an hour and upon returning, she found that the teen had allegedly died by suicide.

(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu's health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)

Illegal OU hostellers told to vacate by Friday

Illegal OU hostellers told to vacate by Friday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:21.12.2021

Osmania University (OU) has warned all the unauthorised persons staying in hostels to vacate the rooms before 12 pm on December 24 (Friday) following conclusion of the semesters.

“The bonafide students are demanding the OU authorities for evacuating unauthorised persons from hostels to control undue incidence and inconvenience in hostels,” stated the university spokesperson in a press statement.

The authorities further warned that those who do not vacate will be evacuated forcibly and be liable for legal action for trespassing on the university premises. “The exit of the unauthorized persons who occupied rooms during the lockdown will facilitate the admission of bonafide students of campus and constituent colleges seeking admission into university hostels,” the authorities added.

Meanwhile, OU along with Telangana State Council of Higher Education is holding a seminar on December 22 and 23 on national education policy to strategise its implementation in a phased manner.

Break the chain of fake news, try Times Verified

Break the chain of fake news, try Times Verified

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

21.12.2021

Social media, which connects and catalyses change, can also be a minefield of fake news and falsehoods. A steady, constant stream of misinformation is spread through platforms and networks that link families, friends and associates. The undercurrent of anxiety and panic is palpable.

As changing dynamics pit media against emerging forms of communication, TOI has tried to meet the challenge by putting even greater emphasis on news verification. We don’t claim to have all the answers, but we do have rigorous systems in place to check information before we publish it. In case an error still slips through, we acknowledge it and are quick to set the record straight.

In keeping with the same spirit, Times Verified seeks to provide clarity and accuracy on vital issues through a collaborative effort with readers. We see this as a service that we wish to provide to our readers with a sense of utmost humility and responsibility. We will not declare that something is true or fake unless we are fully satisfied with our due diligence. And if we are not in a position to reach a definitive conclusion, we will not shy away from saying so.

Since beginning a trial run in some cities a few months ago, we have scrutinised close to 25,000 messages sent by our readers on a dedicated line. They ranged from forwards about the demise of a decorated war veteran, to a cell phone number for sourcing drugs for Covid patients, and a purported announcement on another impending lockdown.

Our panel, comprising editors and reporters who cover various agencies and sectors, submitted the data, reports, statements and other details that came in for corroboration to experts and relevant authorities. Their inputs helped us get back to the reader with as clear a picture as possible.

Some of the messages analysed were downright absurd—“all citizens are entitled to Rs 7,000 per week to stay at home to combat the virus”—but there were several that seemed to carry a ring of authenticity, providing information on apps offering vaccination slots or quoting statements attributed to people in important positions (“Mike Yeadon, former chief scientist at Pfizer, declares vaccine a threat to human life”).

This is clearly the more insidious side of social media; half-truths dressed up to appear real. The challenge is to analyse such viral fakes and separate fact from fabrication. This is important because fake news can quite literally be lethal.

“The rapid spread of false information during a pandemic can cost people their lives,” says US-based physician Dr Seema Yasmin, whose recent book speaks about how misinformation spreads faster than microbes in times of crisis. “In the last year we’ve seen people write Facebook posts from their hospital beds saying they didn’t believe the pandemic was real because of what they’d read on social media and now they were infected,” adds Yasmin, stressing on the need to identify red flags in information packaged to be “very certain”.

With truth being the best, most effective vaccination to counter the epidemic of fake news, we urge you to forward all dubious, anxiety-causing messages to our expert panel. Let the green tick in the Times Verified logo counter the tyranny of the grey curved arrow of forwards.

HP staff to get revised pay scales from 2016

CABINET MEETING

HP staff to get revised pay scales from 2016

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Shimla:21.12.2021

The Himachal Pradesh cabinet on Monday decided to provide revised pay scales to about 2 lakh employees of the state government from January 1, 2016. The employees would get salary of January 2022 payable in February 2022 in revised pay scale. This would put an additional burden of about Rs 4,000 crore annually on the state exchequer. The state government has already provided an interim relief of about Rs 5,000 crore to the employees as part of the arrears.

After the revised pay scales due to higher fixation for about 1.05 lakh NPS employees, Rs 260 crore would be spent as government contribution as 6-year arrear under NPS. Decision was also taken to increase the salary of contractual employees.

The cabinet also decided to promulgate Himachal Pradesh Swarn Jayanti (Legacy Cases Resolution) Scheme, 2021 for settlement of arrears of tax, fee, interest, penalty etc which are pending for recovery or are pending in the appellate forums or may accrue in future as a result of disposal of pending tax assessment under the various enactments. This would also address tax dues which are trapped in cases that have not been assessed so far as well as those cases where arrears have been declared under the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954.

The cabinet also accorded its approval for creation of new sub-division (civil) at Kupvi in Chopal assembly constituency of Shimla district. It gave its approval for filling up of three posts of inspector in food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department on a contractual basis through direct recruitment.

It approved FOR science classes in government senior secondary schools, Mahog in Karsog area, Kamad, Sianji, Baggi, Nagwain, Seri Kothi and Talyar in Mandi district, and Gushaini in Banjar area of Kullu district and commerce classes in government senior secondary school, Bathalang in Arki area of Solan district.