CoE sacked for printing failed students’ degrees

Jul 24, 2018, 11.15 AM IST 

AURANGABAD: The controller of examination (CoE) of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) was sacked on Monday over the recent printing of degrees of failed students which had caused a stir.

“Digambar Netke, the CoE, along with computer operator Ishtiyak Khan, who were found responsible for the lapse by a committee constituted to probe the matter, have been removed from their posts,” a senior university official said.

“The blunder could have been avoided if both CoE and computer programmer had paid proper attention towards their duties. We found them guilty and therefore relieved from the posts,” Walmik Sarwade a senior faculty member who headed the committe said.

The printing and subsequent distribution of colleges degrees of failed students had triggered a couple of protests. While the vice-chancellor B A Chopade was targeted, he pleaded ignorance about the procedure followed by the examination department in printing degrees and said, “The CoE is at the helm of entire affairs being head of the department.”

Faculty Cannot Pursue Full Time Course While Teaching: Madras High Court

Justice S Vaidyanathan stated this in his recent order while upholding the decision of the Controller of Examinations, who nullified all exams in which a woman faculty member of S A Polytechnic College appeared. 

Education | Press Trust of India | Updated: August 19, 2018 10:54 IST



Faculty Cannot Pursue Full Time Course While Teaching: Madras High Court

Chennai:

Deprecating the practice of a teacher or professor pursuing a full time course while simultaneously working as a faculty member, the Madras High Court has made it clear that it cannot be permitted without prior permission from the university or college concerned. "The university/institution and the recognition authorities must ensure that no teacher/professor is permitted to do the full time course without obtaining prior permission from the University/College."

"Otherwise, that will give a wrong signal and that for the sake of convenience, the student may be asked to be a Professor for the purpose of showing the strength and the institution may get the approval/recognition from AICTE and simultaneously allow them to study full time course. This practise is deprecated," the court said

Justice S Vaidyanathan stated this in his recent order while upholding the decision of the Controller of Examinations, who nullified all exams in which a woman faculty member of S A Polytechnic College appeared.

Petitioner P Shanmughavalli submitted that she got admission for a two-year Mechanical Engineering course in Anna University for the 2014-16 academic year and got employed as a lecturer in the College, during which she applied for leave to appear for four semester examinations.

She was relieved from the post by in 2015 and issued a show cause notice for alleged violation of rules on the grounds that she was working as a teaching faculty on a full-time basis while at the same time pursuing the course.

The petitioner, in her reply, said she had to take the semester examinations.

The Controller of Examinations in an April 2017 order nullified all the examinations taken by the petitioner.

Shanmughavalli then moved the High Court, which dismissed her petition, noting that she had joined the course in 2014 and applied for leave in the midst of the course.

Even thereafter, without any sanction/permission, she continued the course, the court said.

Moreover, she has pursued the full time M.E. course while simultaneously working as a full time faculty member,which the relevant rules of Anna University do not permit and was not valid in the eye of law, the court said.
COMMENT

The degree, if any obtained, is void, the judge said and directed the petitioner to re-do the course afresh.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Allow Inspection Of Answer-Sheets Under RTI, High Court Tells Delhi University

The order, in effect, paves the way for a number of such students who may have chosen the RTI route for checking their copies instead of paying a fee to the university.

 Delhi | Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: October 01, 2018 22:24 IST



The high court order allowed the inspection of the answer-sheet. (Representational)New Delhi:

In what could be a big relief to students seeking inspection of their answer-sheets through RTI, the Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi University to allow the inspection of answer-sheet to a former student under RTI by refusing to stay the CIC order against which the varsity had approached the court.

The high court in an order issued on September 24 refused to grant the stay asked for by the university against a Central Information Commission (CIC) order, according to which it was to allow the inspection of the answer-sheet to a student who had sought it under an RTI provision.

The order, in effect, paves the way for a number of such students who may have chosen the RTI route for checking their copies instead of paying a fee to the university.

"It is clarified that this court has not stayed the impugned order dated June 18, 2018 (the CIC order) and inspection of the evaluated answer-sheet shall be provided... as directed.

"The question whether a student has any right to seek inspection of his/her answer-sheets will be considered on the next date," the court said in its order.

A former law student of the university had sought the inspection of his answer-sheets through an RTI in 2016, but the matter dragged on for two years, forcing him to approach the intervention of the CIC.

The CIC adjudicated in favour of the student, ordering the Delhi University to allow him the inspection of his answer copy -- as prescribed under Section 2(j) of the Right to Information Act -- in "larger public interest" .

The Delhi University, which under the current system charges a fee -- Rs. 1,000 for revaluation of a single copy and Rs. 750 for its rechecking -- from the students, challenged the CIC order in the court and asked for a stay on it, contending that allowing the inspection under RTI "would render their existing mechanism of providing hard copies...redundant".

The final hearing on the matter is reserved for January 30 next year.

IANS had earlier reported that the Delhi University earned over Rs. 3 crore in fees paid by students for either revaluation or rechecking their answer-sheets and for providing photocopies of answer-sheets to them between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

According to the information provided by the university under RTI, it earned Rs. 2,89,12,310 for revaluation alone between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

During the same period, it earned Rs. 23,29,500 for rechecking and Rs. 6,49,500 for providing students copies of answer-scripts evaluated.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

MBBS graduates from abroad face a hard road to licence, respect

TNN | Oct 1, 2018, 02.02 AM IST

 

NEW DELHI: It is unusual for medical graduates in India to be embarrassed around their relatives. But Kumar Gaurav, who completed his MBBS in March 2016, has not visited his Bihar hometown in two years. His relatives had once made fun of him because he couldn’t practice despite having a medical degree. And that had stabbed him right in his heart.

Gaurav went to a medical college in Nepal, but graduates from that country can’t practice in India unless they clear the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), a screening test conducted by the Medical Council of India twice a year. This applies to graduates from institutions in other countries as well, such as China, Ukraine, Russia, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Fresh graduates return to India and join the ranks of those who have been trying to pass the test. It’s a tough life.

Chhattarpal Vasisth, who did his MBBS from Ukraine, is now enrolled in a coaching institute in South Delhi to crack the screening test. The 26-year-old comes from a small village in Haryana’s Bhiwani, and the first to be a doctor from there. “I could not get admission in government medical colleges. Private colleges charged over Rs 50 lakh. In Ukraine, it cost me less than Rs 20 lakh, including hostel fees,” he says.

Like Gaurav and Vasisth, more than 5,000 young men and women opt for medical degrees abroad every year because of low cost and ease of admission, among other reasons. China is the most popular destination, followed by Russia, Ukraine, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh. Some even go to Pakistan.






The life that follows their return to India is different from what most anticipate. They also have to deal with the realisation that, hierarchically, they are considered less meritorious than home-grown medical graduates.

Gautam Nagar, a residential area near AIIMS in Delhi, is known for the large number of medical graduates and aspiring students who live there. Just behind AIIMS are the winding lanes of Gurjar Dairy, an unauthorised colony where hundreds of medical graduates from abroad live in dingy accommodations on a shoestring budget, while enrolled in coaching classes and dreaming of cracking FMGE.

“When I went to study in Ukraine, I assumed I would be more sought-after here on my return. Life was tough there. I lived on a tight budget and worked at restaurants,” says Dr Saurav Awasthi, an MBBS now employed at a government hospital in Delhi.

“People think we did not have the merit to study medicine but partied and came back with easy degrees. This is not true. Education standards there are better than most private medical colleges in India and even some government ones,” Awasthi adds. He is now a leading member of All India Foreign Medical Graduates Association, which works for the rights of students like him.

Their image is not enhanced by the fact that graduates from abroad perform poorly in FMGE. Between 2012 and 2014, graduates from Bangladesh performed the best, with 31% clearing the test. Then there are countries like Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, from where only 18% graduates make the cut. Each year, more than 10,000 appear for FMGE. In the June 2014 exam, only 5% passed. In June this year, the figure was slightly more encouraging: 26%.

Awasthi and others say the government should make the test compulsory for all graduates, including those from Indian colleges. Dr Yatish Aggarwal, an advisor to the National Board of Examination that conducts FMGE, points out, “A few years ago, following protests by foreign graduates over low pass percentage in FMGE, we asked some final-year students from Maulana Azad Medical College and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College to take the test without prior notice. Nearly 80% of them qualified. Less than 20% of the foreign graduates made it.”

Recently, the health ministry issued directions that any Indian candidate wishing to pursue medical education from any foreign destination will have to pass the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test from now on.

Foreign medical graduates say there is a deep vein of prejudice against them even after acing FMGE. “We get paid lower salaries than domestic graduates. We are deployed on emergency, night shifts or as assistants to senior doctors. To earn respect, we have to get a PG degree. It's a constant struggle," says a doctor on condition of anonymity.

Power supply to be cut tomorrow to carry out maintenance work

For carrying out maintenance work, power supply will be suspended by TANGEDCO on Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm in these following areas.
 
Published: 02nd October 2018 01:32 AM | Last Updated: 02nd October 2018 01:32 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: For carrying out maintenance work, power supply will be suspended by TANGEDCO on Wednesday from 9 am to 4 pm in these following areas.

Perambur: Bricklin Road, SS Puram, A and B block, Thideer Nagar, Venkatammal Samadhi, Chellappa Mudhali Street, Padavattamman Street, Part of Purasaiwakkam, Streetarahans Road and 1st-5th street, Pensionsers lane, Mangapathy Street, Parasuraman Street, Appasamay Street, New Ferrance Road, Darga Street, SMS Street, Belvidar village, Old Valaima Nagar, Yacoob Garden Street and Lane, Alexander village, Police Quarters, B and C Mill Quarters., Ashtapujam Street, Kalathiyappa Road, Dharmaraja koil Street, Jamaliya Nagar, SBOA colony 1st 2nd Street, Perambur High Road 1st, 2nd Street, Arunthathi Nagar, Mettupalayam, Perambur Barracks Road, Vichur Mutiyappan Street, KM Garden, Narasinga Perumal Street, Angalamman Kovil Street, PH Road, 1st, 2nd Street-Desai colony, Mangalapuram, Adhisesha Nagar, Semthamman colony, C.Y.S. Road, Krishnadoss 1st to 5th Street, IFT lane, Shaik Bedi lane and Haji Abdul Sahib Street, North Town Estate Tower.

Koyambedu: SAF Games Village, Jai Nagar, Panchali Amman Kovil Street, Jagannathan Nagar, J.N Salai partly, Harihant and Triump apartments, Amaravathi Nagar, SVP Nagar, PH Road partly, Valluvar Salai, Vinayagapuram, Thirukumarapuram, Chinmaya Nagar, Sakthi Nagar, Arumbakkam, Thiruveethi Amman Kovil Street, Alagiri Nagar.

Injambakkam: KK Salai (ECR link Road), Ezhil Nagar, Devaraj Nagar, Boopathy Nagar, Village High Road, KTK town, New Kamaraj Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Salai.Manali: Kamaraj Salai, Chinnasekkadu, Balji Palayam, Parthasarathy Street, Avarikolimedu

Chennai: Madambakkam residents to stage protest demanding withdrawal of Chitlapakkam water scheme

Residents of Madambakkam have planned to stage a sit-in protest at the Madambakkam Shiva temple on the day of Gandhi Jayanthi, demanding withdrawal of the Chitlapakkam water scheme.

  Published: 01st October 2018 02:08 AM |

 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Residents of Madambakkam have planned to stage a sit-in protest at the Madambakkam Shiva temple on the day of Gandhi Jayanthi, demanding withdrawal of the Chitlapakkam water scheme.

The 3-crore project will draw more than 18 lakh litres of water from wells built in the Madambakkam lake and send it via underground pipelines to the nearby Chitlapakkam town. Residents have expressed concerns that the project would deplete the groundwater levels in Madambakkam. Ever since work on the project was announced, the project has been opposed and initially stopped by locals. After police intervention, the project resumed in September.

It is learnt that WhatsApp groups for all 15 wards are being prepared to mobilise people for the protest scheduled for Tuesday. “Mahatma Gandhi used peaceful methods to achieve his goals. We will follow his example and ensure the project is stopped,” said CR Sundar, a resident coordinating the protests. A PIL plea has also been filed in the Madras High Court.

Aviation

10 mins after takeoff, Goa-B’luru AirAsia flight makes emergency landing
 
AirAsia confirmed that all the passengers were safe, but people on the flight have slammed the airline for its poor policies while handling passengers.

Soumya Chatterjee
Monday, October 01, 2018 - 17:20


A Bengaluru-bound AirAsia flight from Goa’s Dabolim airport suffered a “technical snag” just 10 minutes after taking off on Monday morning. The flight performed an emergency landing safely, and none of the passengers or crew was hurt. However, the spokesperson of the airline refused to divulge details about the number of passengers on board.

AirAsia, in a statement, said, “AirAsia India Flight i5 1325 from Goa to Bengaluru returned to Goa shortly after takeoff due to a technical fault. The aircraft landed safely at Goa Airport, and all affected guests are being attended to by our ground staff as the aircraft undergoes recovery. We regret the service disruption and apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

Speaking to TNM, Vishnu Priya Ramesh, a passenger said, “The flight was about to depart from Goa airport at around 7.45 am and it left on time, but it returned around 8am. They (the airline) said there was some technical issues regarding the hydraulic plates. We were told to wait for one hour.”

“We waited up to 9 am without any information from the airline. Then when we approached the counter we were told that the flight will depart only at 5:30 pm in the evening. We were told that we can take the boarding pass for the 5:30 pm flight or cancel the booking and take alternative flights and get the refund within 14 days. But at around 3:30 pm we got an SMS saying that the flight is further delayed and will only depart at 12:30 am on October 2. When we checked, we saw that all the flights to Bengaluru were booked,” she added.

Few of the passengers are now taking a 6 pm flight (via Hyderabad) to reach Bengaluru.

Apart from the delay due to the technical fault, she alleged that passengers have been left without food.

“Now there are many 60-70 people waiting without any food at the Goa airport. Till now, we have not got any meal. There are only four eateries in the Goa airport and all of them are shut due to some reason. Since, the morning we have been waiting for food, they provided some biscuits and chocolates at around 11 am,” she said.

Earlier in June, the airline was in news for wrong reasons when some passengers complained of rude and unprofessional behaviour from its staff on board the Kolkata to Bagdogra flight, which was delayed by four hours.

Passengers complained that the crew turned on the air-conditioning in full blast, so much so that there was heavy fog inside the cabin, forcing passengers to deboard the aircraft even though it was raining heavily outside.