Rahul Gandhi not against freeing of Rajiv case convicts
Congress chief conveys his opinion to Pa Ranjith, director of Rajinikanth’s ‘Kaala’

Published: 12th July 2018 04:30 AM | 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: AICC president Rahul Gandhi has conveyed to Pa Ranjith, director of actor Rajinikanth’s latest movie Kaala, that his (Rahul Gandhi’s) family has no objection to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

In a significant development, Rahul Gandhi invited Pa Ranjith to have an interaction with him on varied subjects including politics. The film director was accompanied by actor Kalaiyarasan. The discussions went on for around two hours on Tuesday in New Delhi.

Just after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “I met film director P A Ranjith the man behind blockbuster films like Madras, Kabali and Kaala and actor Kalaiyarasan, in Delhi yesterday. We talked about politics, films and society. I enjoyed the interaction and look forward to continuing our dialogue.”

Responding, Ranjith too tweeted: “Important meeting with Rahul Gandhi about politics and art. Discussed caste and religious bias threatening the core of our secular Constitution. Thanks for having me over Sir. Looking forward for our discussion taking shape. A national leader engaging with people from all ideologies is very encouraging!”

Following this, Ranjith had told a television channel that during the discussions the release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts also came up and Rahul Gandhi had conveyed that his family had no objection for the release of the seven convicts, including Perarivalan.

The meeting between Ranjith, who is considered close to actor Rajinikanth, assumes significance as Congress and BJP are vying with each other to rope in well known personalities ahead of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Very recently, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan met Rahul Gandhi sparking speculations about future alliance.

Anna University, IIT-M were among institutes listed for IOE tag

UGC appointed an EEC headed by former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to select the 20 institutions.

Published: 12th July 2018 04:25 AM | 

Anna University (File | EPS)

By S Mannar Mannan

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Selection of Reliance Foundation’s Jio Institution -- which is yet to come into existence -- for the coveted Institute of Eminence status by the Ministry of Human Resource Development has created a furore among the academic community and the ministry had to issue a clarification saying the institute was selected under the greenfield category.

Now, it has come to the light that the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) that was constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to shortlist 20 institutions (10 each in public and private category) had in fact shortlisted IIT Madras and Anna University, both from Chennai, for the prestigious Institute of Eminence status. The expert committee had shortlisted eight public institutions and three private institutions. However, out those 11 institutions, the UGC and MHRD decided to award the status to only six institutions (three each in private and public category).

Apart from these two TN institutions, status of five other shortlisted institutes is to be decided by UGC at later stage.Last year, UGC had come up with UGC (Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017 and UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017, to provide an enabling regulatory architecture to 10 public and 10 private higher educational institutions to emerge as world-class teaching and research institutions.

UGC appointed an EEC headed by former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to select the 20 institutions. A total of 114 applications were received, of which 113 met all the eligibility conditions.

As many as 74 public institutions -- 11 Central Universities (CU), 27 Institutes of National Importance (INI), six Deemed to be Universities (DTBU), 27 State Universities and three standalone institutions -- had applied to be recognised as Institutions of Excellence. Out of this 74 institutions, the committee shortlisted eight institutions -- IISC Bangalore, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, Delhi University, Jadavpur University in West Bengal and Anna University in Chennai, Tamil Nadu -- for the IOE status.

In the private institutions category, 40 institutions have applied for IoE recognition, a small number considering the large body of private institutions. Of the 40, 11 applications belonged to proposed institutions in Green Field Institutions category and 29 existing institutions under Brown Field Institutions category, the expert committee said in its report.

After scrutiny, the expert committee shortlisted BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka and Jio Institute (Reliance Foundation, Maharashtra) for the IOE status.
But the UGC, which considered the expert committee report at its meeting on July 9, had decided to recommend only six institutions for the IOE status.

The commission also decided that the remaining five public institutions recommended by the EEC for granting IOE status shall be considered by the commission at a later stage. We have made a presentation before the committee and are waiting for the government’s decision, said MK Surappa, the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University.

The move to award the IoE status to only six institutions has drawn flak from educationists in Tamil Nadu. “Originally, the government had decided to select 10 public and 10 private institutions for the Institute of Eminence status. We do not know why the remaining five institutions were dropped from the list in the first phase,” said M Anandhakrishnan, the former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University.

“This is total bias and indifference, there is no doubt about it. The centre has neglected and sidelined two institutions shortlisted from Tamil Nadu. The Government of India should rethink the entire process,” said C Pichandy, the former general secretary of the Association of University Teachers.

Institute of Eminence status

An Empowered Expert Committee was constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC)

Set up to shortlist 20 institutions (10 each in public and private)

As many as 74 public institutions applied to be recognised as the Institute of Eminence status

The committee shortlisted only 11 (8 public institutions and 3 private institutions)

IIT Madras and Anna University, both from Chennai, among the list of shortlisted institutes

UGC and MHRD decided to award the status to only six (3 each in private, public)

Apart from Anna University and IIT-M, the status of 5 others to be decided later

RGUHS declares results in record 15 mins after exams

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) declared the results for master of dental surgery and diploma in dentistry in a record 15 minutes after the completion of exams on Thursday.

Published: 13th July 2018 03:28 AM | Last Updated: 

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) declared the results for master of dental surgery and diploma in dentistry in a record 15 minutes after the completion of exams on Thursday.

University Vice Chancellor Dr S Sacchidanand said digital evaluation has revolutionised how results are processed. He said coordinated effort made this possible. The university has been following digital evaluation since May 2015.

Dr M K Ramesh, Registrar (Evaluation), said the examinations were conducted in June and July in nine specialities of MDS and five specialities of dental diploma courses.The results of 833 students were readied by 5.15pm on Thursday and uploaded on the university website at 5.30pm.

The practical exam which started on July 3 was conducted in a staggered manner across 30 centres in the state and it ended on Thursday.The theory exams were between June 14 and June 22. Results of both theory and practical exams were subjected to four evaluations that included two internal evaluations and two external evaluations from outside the state.

Gastroenterology conference to be held at CMC from today

STAFF REPORTER
VELLORE, JULY 13, 2018 00:00 IST

CMC will celebrate the centenary of medical education this year.C. VenkatachalapathyC_VENKATACHALAPATHY 

To focus on cutting-edge imaging modalities in the field of advanced endoscopy


The Department of Gastroenterology, Christian Medical College, is organising a national conference on “Gastroenterology Update 2018” on July 13 and 14.

It will focus on cutting edge imaging modalities in the field of advanced endoscopy - endoscopic ultrasonography and cholangiopancreaticoscopy.

Endoscopic ultrasound

According to a press release, endoscopic ultrasound was the fusion of two technologies — endoscopy and ultrasonography.

It helps in performing a more detailed examination and is useful in assessing the nature of a particular lesion — whether cancerous or innocuous, the degree of spread in certain gastrointestinal cancers and in evaluating disorders of the gall bladder, bile duct and pancreas when reports from other imaging modalities such as CT or MRI scans are inconclusive. Apart from being a diagnostic modality, endoscopic ultrasound, of late, has been valuable in treatment of some conditions.

Cholangiopancreaticoscopy refers to the direct visualisation of the bile and pancreatic ducts. This could help in the diagnosis of early cancers in these regions.

There would be live demonstrations, video sessions and lecture during the conference.

Interventional endoscopists from abroad would be sharing their expertise along with national faculty. More than 100 delegates are expected to take part.

With CMC celebrating the centenary of medical education this year, the department has invited D. Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, and past president of World Endoscopy Organisation to deliver an oration, the release said.

Engineering colleges to be opened on August 1

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUNELVELI, JULY 13, 2018 00:00 IST

Minister says 1,04,453 students to participate in single window counselling

As Higher Education department has planned to start the first year engineering classes on August 1, the single window counselling for joining the courses being offered by government and private engineering colleges will be completed accordingly, Minister for Higher Education K.P. Anbazhagan has said.

The Minister was here to inaugurate Manonmaniam Sundaranar University’s entrance lawn, 100-foot-tall national flag mast and renovated administrative block, created at a total cost of Rs. 3.50 crore, on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on the occasion, Mr. Anbazhagan said 509 engineering colleges had submitted 1,78,139 seats to the government for single window counselling, which would commence shortly. Of the 1,59,631 students who had registered their names for joining engineering streams, 1,09,850 turned up for certificate verification. Since only 1,04,453 of them had submitted relevant documents, they would be allowed to participate in the single window counselling.

He said there was no proposal to start new government arts and science colleges during the academic year. “After late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa started 61 government arts and science colleges and four government engineering colleges between 2011 and 2016, 11 more colleges, including three university constituent colleges, were started during 2017–2018.

Since 41 university constituent colleges had been converted into government arts and science colleges this year, there is no proposal to start new colleges,” Mr. Anbazhagan said. Students would have to pay lesser tuition fee in government colleges while it would be a bit higher in constituent colleges.

As many as 360 new courses had been started in government arts and science colleges last year. “The State government is introducing new courses in government colleges to enable poor rural students to get higher education in a course of their choice at affordable cost. Since we’re starting more number of arts and science colleges with new courses, the Gross Enrolment Ratio of Tamil Nadu stands at 46.90% while the national average is just over 25%,” Mr. Anbazhagan said.

Asked about the allegations by teachers’ association of irregularities in teacher appointments in the MSU, the Minister said: “If there is any wrongdoing in any of the universities, we’re taking stringent action… At the same time, attempts are being made by a few teachers to malign the universities’ name by levelling baseless allegations.”

Physiotherapist murder case: four detained

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
TIRUCHI, JULY 13, 2018 00:00 IST


This includes a 21-year-old girl pursuing CA course


The Srirangam police have detained four persons, including a 21-year-old girl pursuing Chartered Accountancy course, in connection with the murder of a physiotherapist here a few days ago.

The victim Vijayakumar, 36, who hailed from Sendurai in Ariyalur district was employed as a physiotherapist in a private hospital at Chennai.

The partially decomposed body of Vijayakumar with multiple injuries was found along the Kallanai road beside the dry Cauvery riverbed on Wednesday. Police sources said the murder was committed on Sunday evening.

After booking a case of murder, the Srirangam police launched a probe and detained the girl S. Eswari, and three others – Marimuthu, 33, Kumar, 28, and Ganesan, 23. Eswari, whose parents reside in Tiruchi, was working and pursuing the Chartered Accountancy course in Chennai.

Sources said Vijayakumar, who was married, had become friendly with Eswari while travelling in a train. Thereafter, both are said to have remained in contact on various occasions.

Vijayakumar allegedly forced the girl to marry him but she was not inclined as he was already married. He is also said to have threatened the girl. Both had come to Tiruchi a few days ago.

She allegedly engaged Marimuthu, Kumar and Ganesan to eliminate Vijayakumar.

The girl reportedly asked Vijayakumar to come to Kallanai road on Sunday where he was murdered, said the sources. The girl is said to have hired the trio by giving them Rs. 50,000 to commit the murder.

25,000 Plus Two students to be trained to take CA exams: Sengottaiyan

STAFF REPORTER

ERODE, JULY 13, 2018 00:00 IST




Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan addressing Plus Two students after inaugurating the training programme for Chartered Accountancy course at Gobichettipalayam in Erode on Thursday. 

Classes will be conducted by 500 CAs once a week


Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan said here on Thursday that 25,000 Plus Two students in government schools will be trained over the next five years to take up entry level examination for Chartered Accountancy course.

Inaugurating the training programme and career counselling drive here on Thursday, jointly organised by the School Education Department and The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), at Gobi Arts and Science College at Gobichettipalayam, the minister said classes would be conducted by 500 CAs once a week.

“It is the first time in the country that classes are conducted for the course free of cost,” he added.

The minister said that after Plus Two, students will be provided a 15-day training at the colleges in their respective areas to enable them to take the foundation examination. Many questioned whether the government can train Plus Two students for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). A total of 3,019 students were trained in nine colleges in the State, of whom 1,412 students cleared the examinations, he said.

CA. K. Jalapathi, chairman, Career Counselling Committee, Southern India Regional Council of ICAI, said that it was for the first the institute had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the government for training the students.

After four hours of discussion with the minister, the programme to train students was finalised in five days. The State would have the maximum number of CAs in another 10 years.

Pradeep Yadav, Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, said initiatives taken by the department would improve employability among students. Minister for Environment K.C. Karuppannan, Collector S. Prabhakar, MLAs, MP and Chief Educational Officer R. Balamurali were present.

The Hindu Tamil was the media partner for the event.

At another function in Coimbatore, the minister said the demands for auditors had increased multi-fold among the trade after the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1 last year. The government was also planning to buy 100 toilet cleaning equipment for the schools, from Germany.

One toilet cleaning equipment would be given to every 20 schools. It had been ordered to see proper functioning of Parent-Teachers Associations (PTA) in all the schools, the minister said.