‘It’s Of No Help, Cripples Intuition Of Students’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  02.02.2019

Intelligent guessing is an art. One cannot be sure about all things at all times. In other words, negative marking does not allow a student to develop an element of guessing, Justice R Mahadevan of the Madras high court said while directing the National Testing Agency to consider doing away with the concept of negative marks in competitive exams.

“By awarding negative marks, the intuition of a student is crippled. Everyone comes across a situation in life where decisions are taken purely out of intuition. It may work or may not, but, an element of boldness comes along, while making a decision through intuition. The threat of negative marks will never allow intuition to grow in a student,” Justice Mahadevan said.

Wild guessing is another type of guessing. While intelligent guessing requires an amount of prior knowledge on the subject, wild guessing is the decision taken just like that.

In a competitive examination, the students come with varied degrees of preparation. As such, when a student is not sure about the answer, he or she attempts intelligent guessing. This type of guessing should be permitted and encouraged, as it would help the students in the future, the court added.

Multiple-choice tests are meant to assess the knowledge and not supposed to be concerned about behavioural/attitude related aspects of the examinee, the judge said. “Therefore, this court is of the considered opinion that the system of negative marking in no way helps the examiner to analyse the intelligence, aptitude or knowledge of the students in any manner. As such, this court has no hesitation to hold that the system of negative marking has to be done away with, inasmuch as, in the considered opinion of this court, the same perforce requires reconsideration.”

Justice Mahadevan passed the order on a plea moved by S Nelson Prabhakar, a JEE (Main) 2013 candidate, seeking revaluation of his exam. Eventually, he was disqualified and was not allowed to appear for JEE (Advance) 2013. The main reason for his low marks was found to be negative marking awarded for every wrong answer.

Submitting that the facts of the present case has brought to light the tyranny of awarding negative marks, advocate A Arulmozhi said, “It is time for a judicious scrutiny of awarding negative marks by agencies which conduct competitive examinations.”

Drawing the attention of the court to the admission process in countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia and Russia, Arulmozhi contended that the most advanced countries do not follow the system of negative marking.

Law varsity scam: HC asks staff to file affidavits over appt

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:02.02.2019

To weed out unqualified professors and lecturers at Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, the Madras high court on Friday directed all teaching staff at the varsity to furnish sworn affidavits explaining the terms of their appointment, including their qualifications.

Justice S M Subramaniam said the court would scrutinise each affidavit independently to check if the appointment was as per norms laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC), warning that those appointed due to favouritism would face consequences.

The judge passed the order on a plea moved by D Sankar, a professor at the varsity. The petitioner sought the court to remove unqualified people from service. “Thereis a general allegation that students do not respect teachers. If the teachers are unqualified and can’t take classes properly, how would they (students) respect (teachers)? One should command respect, notdemandit,” hesaid.

The judge added that the court could see there had been irregular appointments made outof favouritism.After two years of such appointments on contractual basis, proposals would be sent on the sly to the government and such person’s service would be regularised, the court said.

Expressing its disappointment,thecourtsaiditisconcerned aboutthewelfareof thestudents and the institution.

The judge noted that former vice-chancellor of the university PVanangamudi,whois a party respondent to the plea, disputed the qualification of the current VC Tamma Suryanarayana Sastry and directed the UGC to file a report on the educational and other qualifications required for the post.

The court then impleaded all serving teaching staff as party respondents and directed them to file the affidavits by February 20.

HC asks for new plan to help MBBS students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:02.02.2019

The Madras high court on Friday passed an interim order directing the government to submit a fresh proposal for accommodating 108 students of the now defunct Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Medical College in 22 government medical colleges in the state.

A division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice P Rajamanickam passed the interim order on the appeal moved by the state against the order of a single judge directing to accommodate the 108 students in government colleges.

The board of governors shall consider the proposal in accordance with the rules of the Indian Medical Council Act and forward the same to the Union ministry of health and family welfare within two weeks, the bench said.

The ministry shall pass orders on merit and produce the same in a sealed cover before the court by March  28. The entire process should be concluded within six weeks, the court said.

Opposing the appeal, senior counsels for the students P Wilson and Silambannan submitted that since the state has given an undertaking to the Centre that it takes the responsibility of the students in case private medical colleges close down, it should accommodate the students.

DECODING THE BUDGET

20,19...MODI GOES FULL STEAM

Ahead Of Polls, NDA Woos Both Urban & Rural India—Middle Class, Unorganised Workers, And Farmers

TEAM TOI  02.02.2019

Finance minister Piyush Goyal on Friday served out sops to large sections of the population with a sense of purpose you normally witness at railway station tea stalls. With Lok Sabha elections due to be announced in a few weeks, the urgency was understandable, particularly after the Congress fired an opening salvo with its farm loan waivers in three states and the promise of a minimum income guarantee scheme across the country.

The Modi government responded with a budget that was interim only in name. It had a Rs 6,000 per annum direct income transfer for small and marginal farmers – those with holdings below 2 hectares or about 5 acres – drawing largely from a scheme in Telangana. The tax liability on those with incomes up to Rs 5 lakh was cut to zero. And there was plenty more for other segments that matter when it counts, in the big daddy of elections come April-May.

Prominent among these was the promise of a Rs 3,000 per month pension for those working in the unorganised sector when they reach 60 in return for a monthly contribution of Rs 55 to Rs 100 depending on their age when they join the scheme. Coming after three large medical, life and accident insurance schemes, these represent a conscious approach to leverage Aadhaar and Jan Dhan to widen the social security net.

In a departure from the past, the government decided to immediately roll out the schemes. While the pension plan will be launched on February 15, the income support for farmers is effective December 2018. The break from the tradition of outgoing governments not making major tax changes was justified by Goyal who argued that relief for certain sections could not wait. Besides, he maintained, this was no more than a continuation of the NDA government’s policies.

The interest subvention scheme currently available to farmers has been extended to fisheries, poultry and dairies. That means they can get up to 5% off on their interest rate if they repay loans on time. The coastal regions and eastern India, many of which have not been BJP strongholds but are very much on the party’s radar for 2019, were clearly the focus of this measure.



No word on unemployment

Unsurprisingly, the cow figured, too, with the promise of a Kamdhenu (the mythical cow that never ran out of milk) board to deal with everything to do with cattle from productivity to their welfare. Later, at a press conference, Goyal invoked the directive principles in the Constitution to deflect any possible criticism that this was part of a saffron agenda.

The relatively well-off middle class wasn’t entirely overlooked either with standard deduction on income tax being hiked from ₹40,000 to ₹50,000. Within the middle class, there was something for senior citizens – by raising the TDS limit on bank and post office deposits as well as rental income, the FM hoped to make their life easier by reducing paperwork. The budget also gave homeowners much to be happy about.

The budget speech, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, saw the treasury benches led by Modi repeatedly thumping their tables while the opposition, Rahul Gandhi in particular, wore a sullen look.

It wasn’t just about goodies for specific constituencies. Much of it was a showcasing of five years of the Modi government – from low inflation rates and high growth rates to toilets, gas connections and bijli for the masses.

The farm crisis was implicitly acknowledged and sought to be addressed in the form of the income support scheme for farmers. Interestingly, for the other big problem that many consider the Achilles heel of the government – lack of jobs – the approach was to assert that new sectors were creating jobs.

Like Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant a day earlier, Goyal said it simply wasn’t possible that the world’s fastest growing large economy wasn’t creating enough new jobs.

The budget speech also contained an enumeration of the government’s 10-point vision for the next decade. Whether this was meant to convey the confidence that the NDA would be back in office come May or to use the occasion to highlight its manifesto is anybody’s guess.

What’s clear is that the government believes it has moved a step closer to securing sabka saath for its reelection bid.

Tirupattur railway police arrest ‘fake ticket examiner’

T. Madhavan

VELLORE, JANUARY 31, 2019 00:00 IST

He demanded money from passengers by claiming compartment was reserved for the physically challenged

A man, who claimed to be a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) of the railways and collected money from passengers on a moving train, was arrested by the Tirupattur railway police in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to the railway police, the Salem divisional office received a call saying that a man, pretending to be a TTE, was checking the tickets of the passengers on Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express (13352).

The accused was asking passengers who did not carry original identity proof to pay fine.

The man reportedly boarded the train at Bomidi station and was checking tickets of passengers travelling in a compartment reserved for the people with disabilities. He went on demanding money from several passengers with valid tickets, by claiming that that the compartment was reserved for people with disabilities.

On receiving information, the Tirupattur railway police reached the compartment and the man was on ticket checking duty with all bill books and identity card.

Krishnan, special sub-inspector of the Tirupattur Railway Police Station, questioned the impostor, who was identified as Aljioni, 31, of Gengavalli near Salem.

Alijjoni was found in possession of a bogus TTE identity card. He was arrested under Section 170 (personating a public servant) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code.

HC directs State to convene meeting on doctors’ demands

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, JANUARY 31, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State to convene a meeting of all stakeholders to resolve the demands put forth by government doctors.

A Division Bench of Justices K. K. Sasidharan and P. D. Audikesavalu directed the State to convene a meeting of Health and Family Welfare department and the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association to resolve the issues of pay parity and time-bound promotions. The court sought an action taken report on the meeting on February 18.

The State had informed the court that it was looking into the recommendations of the working committee that had earlier convened a meeting to discuss the demands of State government doctors.

They have demanded pay parity with Central government doctors and other State doctors. The doctors also demanded that the process for time-bound promotions for doctors be expedited.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Mohamed Yunnis Raja of Madurai, who sought a direction to restrain the TNGDA from going ahead with its strike.

Convicted ex-Minister takes part in government function

P.V. Srividya

HOSUR, JANUARY 31, 2019 00:00 IST



Convicted ex-Minister Balakrishna Reddy along with Krishnagiri MP Ashok Kumar at the flower marketing building stone-laying ceremony in Hosur on Wednesday.

Balakrishna Reddy was sentenced to jail in a case of rioting

The prominence accorded to a convicted former minister at a government department’s event has raised questions of propriety. Former Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Balakrishna Reddy, who was recently convicted and sentenced to three years’ jail in a case of rioting and destruction of government property, was accorded the centre-stage, to co-preside over an event by the Agriculture Department here on Wednesday.

The sentence has been suspended as he had gone on an appeal. But, that he had been stripped of his ministerial berth, and had to even vacate his MLA seat (Hosur) in view of the conviction, seemed to have been lost on those who organised the event.

On Wednesday, the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business organised a bhoomi puja for a flower marketing complex here.

Mr. Reddy was given the pride of centre-stage at the event, with the district officials also present.

Sporting a garland and in the company of Krishnagiri MP K. Ashok Kumar, District Revenue Officer S. Shanti and Hosur Sub Collector K.Vimal Raj, Mr. Reddy held a digging bar, symbolic of the stone laying ceremony.

“Why does this surprise us, when straightforward questions of propriety over the continuance of Jayalalithaa’s portrait or a mausoleum for her were raised in view of her conviction, they were normalised and received sanctions from the courts themselves?”asked Hosur-based writer Aadhavan Deetchanya.

When The Hindu contacted the DRO she was in a meeting and said she would revert. But, she did not.

“We had invited the MLAs, and maybe the local MP invited him (Mr. Reddy). This is political, and we do not know anything,” said Ramamurthy, Deputy Director of Agricultural Marketing, who was in Chennai and did not attend the event.