No negative marking in competitive exams, says Madras high court

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedFeb 2, 2019, 3:01 am IST

Justice R.Mahadevan gave the ruling while disposing of the petition filed by S.Nelson Prabhakar, a student.

Madras high court

Chennai: The Madras high court has held that the system of negative marking in the competitive examination has to be done away with, in as much as the same perforce requires reconsideration.

Justice R.Mahadevan gave the ruling while disposing of the petition filed by S.Nelson Prabhakar, a student.

The judge said the very system of awarding negative marks is improper and against principles of fairness, equality and equity. Students, who take part in competitive examinations, come from different strata of society. Those hailing from affluent families can afford to take private coaching and enhance their knowledge and techniques and the same cannot be expected from meritorious students coming from economically weaker background.

There has to be a level playing field in examination in general, especially in competitive examination. Negative marking acts a weight behind the mental strength of a student and the student approaches every question with an element of fear, the judge added.

The judge said he/she has to be doubly cautious, while choosing the answer for the question. In other words, a student has to be confident about the answer. Such confidence of knowing each and every answer cannot be expected from the students, meritorious or otherwise. If there was no negative mark, the students were given an opportunity to take a wide thinking and apply intelligent guessing.

This practice of taking an intelligent guess indeed, develops the brain of a student and builds his/her confidence to tackle any situation in future, the judge added.

Tamil Nadu to submit proposal to accomodate 108 Ponnaiyah students

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

PublishedFeb 2, 2019, 3:15 am IST

The Board of Governors also decided to permit the state government to relocate all these students to self financing medical colleges.

Madras high court

Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the state government to submit a fresh proposal within two weeks, to the Board of Governors in Supersession of Medical Council of India for accommodating 108 students of defunct Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute of Medical Sciences (PRIMS) in 22 government medical colleges in the state.

A division bench comprising Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam gave the directive while passing interim orders on an appeal filed by the state government, challenging an order of a single judge, directing the state government to accommodate the students of Ponnaiyah medical college in government medical colleges.

The bench said on receipt of such proposal from the state government, the Board of Governors in supersession of MCI, shall consider the said proposal on merits and in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations of the Indian Medical Council Act and forward the same to the ministry of health and family welfare department, Government of India within a further period of two weeks thereafter.

The ministry of health and family welfare of Government of India, on receipt of the said proposal from the Board of Governors, shall consider the same on merits and in accordance with law and pass appropriate orders within a further period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the proposal from the Board of Governors and the decision taken in that regard by the said ministry, shall be kept in a sealed cover and to be produced before this court on March 28, 2019, the bench added.

Additional advocate general Narmada Sampath, appearing for the state submitted that pursuant to an interim order of this court, the state government addressed a communication to the Union government stating that in so far as government medical colleges were concerned, seats were already been filled up and therefore, the government was not in a position to accommodate the students of Ponnaiyah medical college in the second year and 12 self financing medical colleges were willing to accommodate these students and also furnished their feasibility report to accommodate 10 to 15 students in each of the colleges and sought necessary permission for the same.

The Board of Governors also decided to permit the state government to relocate all these students to self financing medical colleges. However, despite such an accommodation, the students moved this court and a single judge passed an order directing the government to accommodate the students in government colleges. Therefore, the present appeal has been filed, she added.

Senior counsels P.Wilson and S.Silambanan submitted that as per the essentiality certificate, in the event of medical colleges fail to provide infrastructure facilities as per MCI norms and fresh admissions were stopped or the college was closed, the state government shall take over the responsibility of the students already admitted in the college and accommodate them in government medical colleges.

The private colleges referred to in the proposal sent by the state government also lack same infrastructural facilities in the event of increase in accommodation to accommodate the students and the correct and true facts have not been brought to the knowledge of MCI as well as the Union government. 108 students were on the street for no fault on their part. Therefore, the directions given by the single judge may not be stayed, they added.

In its order, the bench said on going through the directions given in the impugned order, this court was of the view that a positive direction has been given to the Union government to pass necessary orders increasing the number of seats in government medical colleges and approve the accommodation of students based on the decision of the Board of Governors. The Indian Medical Council Act and rules and regulations framed therein, clog the Medical Council of India as well as ministry concerned to act on the proposal in terms of such statutory provisions and therefore, this court was of the prima facie view that there cannot be any positive direction, directing the said authorities to act in a particular manner.

However, taking into consideration the plight of the students of PRIMS and for no fault on their part as to the misery being undergone by them on account of the fact that PRIMS was no longer functioning on account of lack of infrastructural facilities, this court was of the view that issuance of the above directions would meet the ends of justice, the bench added.

Give guest faculty Rs 50,000 instead of Rs 9,000: UGC to Karnataka government

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked the state government to fix a minimum salary for guest faculty working in government degree colleges and various universities in the state.

Published: 30th January 2019 04:30 AM 

UGC head office (File photo | PTI)
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked the state government to fix a minimum salary for guest faculty working in government degree colleges and various universities in the state.

As per the order issued by the UGC, the state has to fix Rs 1,500 per day or Rs 50,000 per month as remuneration for guest faculty. They are currently getting an honorarium of Rs 9,000-12,000 a month, which is paid once in three months.

Over 12,000 teachers work as guest faculties at government degree colleges and at universities in the state. They had been demanding an increase in the honorarium and fixing it on par with UGC teachers, for which they approached authorities at all levels in the government.

The decision for the UGC order, issued on the basis of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, was taken in the recently-held 537th meeting. The educational qualifications would be the same as prescribed for the recruitment of assistant professors.

The government and universities have to set up a separate committee comprising four experts for recruitment. However, guest faculties will not be eligible to claim gratuity or provident fund.

These guidelines and the order should be implemented from the 2019-20 academic year, which begins in June.

Thug monkey bites 20, Nagapattinam villagers flee homes and hide in temple

In a real-life episode of man versus wild, at a village in Nagapattinam, 400 people have accepted defeat at the hands of a lone monkey. 

Published: 01st February 2019 01:32 AM 

Monkey photo used for representational purpose only. (Photo | PTI)

By Antony Fernando

Express News Service

NAGAPATTINAM: In a real-life episode of man versus wild, at a village in Nagapattinam, 400 people have accepted defeat at the hands of a lone monkey.

Many residents of the Thennalakudi village in Sirkazhi were forced to leave their homes on Thursday and find shelter elsewhere, thanks to a rogue monkey, which has bitten over 20 villagers and injured dozens of cattle in the last 20 days.

“My 65-year-old grandmother was bitten by the monkey a few days ago,” says S Revathi, one of the villagers.


“The wound, on her right hand, was so deep that her veins had been severed. We took her to Puducherry government hospital but the doctors there suggested that we take her to a private facility,” says Revathi.

On Thursday, a third of the village locked up their houses and took shelter inside a Kaliamman temple on the outskirts of the village. The rest remained inside their houses.

“People are scared of even taking their cattle out for grazing,” says village head TV Kaliyamurthy. While forest officials tried to capture the simian thrice, with nets and traps, it managed to give them all a miss. They have now set up a camp in Thennalakudi to catch the monkey.

“Judging by its worn appearance and intense dislike of humans, the monkey has probably escaped from captivity after suffering abuse,” says ranger Karuppasamy.

Do away with negative marks in IIT entrance exams: Madras HC

The Judge directed the CBSE to communicate this order to the National Testing Agency, Department of Higher Education.

Published: 02nd February 2019 02:51 AM 

Madras High Court (File | EPS)

By Harish Murali

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In what definitely comes as a huge relief to a number of students who lose their entry to prestigious institutions as the IITs due to negative marking, the Madras High Court on Friday ruled against negative marks and said the same should be done away with, immediately.

Justice R Mahadevan, while hearing a petition of a student, S Nelson Prabakaran, said, “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.”

S Nelson applied in IIT and appeared for mains and was not selected for Advanced Test. The petitioner stated in his petition that he lost in Mains by scoring 47 marks and the cut-off marks were 50.


The counsel for the petitioner, submitted the answer sheet in the court, where Nelson has actually scored 72 and 25 marks were reduced for wrong answers by awarding negative marks.

The petitioner also submitted that the Medical Council of Canada Evaluation Examination, CMC Vellore, The Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test, Canada, and MCI Rules and Regulations for MBBS in Russia, do carry out entrance examinations but not the negative marking system.

The counsel for CBSE said that multiple options are being given to each of the candidates to choose from and it was also brought to the notice of this Court that the CBSE is no longer the authority concerned and it is the National Testing Agency, Department of Higher Education controlled by the Human Resources department.

Judge R Mahadevan observed that, “Negative marking introduces concern about students’ risk taking, the attitude which is unrelated to the skill or knowledge level of the student. Furthermore, there is no method available with the CBSE or with any other agency to distinguish from guessed correct answer and a known correct answer. It is compounded by their inability to distinguish between an omission deriving from ignorance and deriving from risk aversion. Whenever proven knowledge is considered important, creativity and innovations are equally considered important.”

The Judge directed the CBSE to communicate this order to the National Testing Agency, Department of Higher Education.

US fake univ racket: Tracking devices fitted on desi youths

Sudipta.Sengupta@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:02.02.2019

In a move termed “grossly deplorable” by local attorneys and residents, the United States police on Thursday strapped tracking devices on several Indian students caught in the ‘University of Farmington’ fiasco. This has been done to restrict the movement of the students, while federal agents probe their immigration status, sources said.

Speaking to TOI from Atlanta, legal consultant Phani Bobba said: “A student reached out to me from Fremont, California saying that they tied a tracker around her ankle and instructed her to stay within a certain radius. She was given a map and asked not to cross the defined boundaries. They also gave her batteries to ensure that the device is charged.” Prior to this, this student from Telangana was detained for over 14 hours.

Reacting to this development, members of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) said the move was “ridiculous” and “grossly unjust.” A similar step was taken in 2011 when dozens of Indian students were detained for being enrolled in the sham ‘Tri-Valley University’ in Pleasanton, California. The move had led to a massive outcry both at home and in the US, with Indian authorities demanding that the radio tags be removed immediately. The National Human Rights Commission had even submitted a representation to the external affairs ministry, pointing out how it amounted to violation of the students’ human rights.

TANA members have met Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Indian ambassador to the US who was on his maiden trip to Atlanta, along with consul general of India (Atlanta), Swati Vijay Kulkarni. “They promised that they were working closely with the concerned authorities and will resolve the issue in a fast and amicable manner,” said TANA secretary Anjaiah Chowdary Lavu.

Telangana NRI Parents Association has condemned the setting up a fake varsity. Parents claim that it may cause collateral damage to students and their families. “Majority students who sought admission in University of Farmington belong to middle class families. Students detained by the US authorities are innocent as they are purposely trapped in the sting operation. When the government itself touts the university to be registered and recognized, how is it the students’ fault?” questioned Hima Bindu, working president of Telangana NRI Parents Association.

The parents are now planning a protest and a meeting in the city during the weekend against department of homeland security in the US.



IN THE DOCK

Half of all engg colleges may face seat cuts from AICTE

Many Colleges Fail To Meet Guidelines

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
02.02.2019

If the All India Council for Technical Education goes ahead with its warning of reducing seats in government technical institutions for faculty shortage and lapses in infrastructure, about half of the institutes in Tamil Nadu would face the cut.

While the state-run institutes meet the infrastructural standards set by AICTE, the government polytechnics as well as engineering colleges terribly fall short of faculty. In November last year AICTE had conducted inspections and issued notices to 18 out of 46 polytechnics and six out of ten engineering colleges for shortcomings. While AICTE might do a second round of fact checking, these institutions might be the first to face the music. In addition to these 24 institutions, there are about ten more polytechnic colleges that run the show with temporary staff.

Against this backdrop, AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe had said the body would reduce 40,000 seats in government technical institutions across the country as penalty for the lapses. Though the exact number of seats that would be cut short in Tamil Nadu is yet to be worked out, sources in AICTE said that there would be a 10 to 20 % seat cut in institutions that fall short of norms.

“Based on the issues such as faculty shortage and absence of laboratories, we reduce 10% or 20% seats. This is to make the institutions recruit faculty members or invest in improving infrastructure. If the institutions comply, we will give them the seats back,” Anil Sahasrabudhe told TOI. He said AICTE was yet to work out number of seats to be cut short in Tamil Nadu.

In Coimbatore, of three government technical institutions, two have acute shortage of staff. Out of 127 faculty posts in government polytechnic college in Coimbatore, 60% of posts are managed with temporary faculty members who work in a consolidated pay scale of Rs15,000 per month, said sources. The scenario was worse in polytechnic in other parts of the state with temporary faculty constituting up to 80% of the total faculty strength. ``More than 1,050 polytechnic lecturer posts were in the state vacant. Currently among the 46 government polytechnic colleges in the state, after the recent retirements, around 1,300 lecturer posts would be vacant,’’ a college principal said.

Recruitments have been put on hold by Teachers Recruitment Board since 2017, allegedly after a complaints of irregularities in exams in the past, sources said.

Principal of GCE Bodinayakanur S Jayanthi, about 70% of the full-time positions for teaching faculty was only filled in the college. “But compared to the initial years, the number of faculty is better now,” she said. Jayanthi added that there was a shortage especially in the senior positions.

Inspite of the shortcomings, the government colleges are most sought after by students and almost all seats get filled due to infrastructure and affordable fee. “The seats are totally filled during the admissions, every year. For rural students, government colleges are the most sought-after because the fees is very less. In our college, per annum tuition fee is only around ₹7,000,” Jayanthi said.

However, some colleges do not get filled completely. For instance none of the six government institutions in Trichy region could get all the seats filled. There are less takers for engineering offered through Tamil medium, so such seats do not get filled fully, said a college principal.

Institution authorities said that they have sought the state government to fill all the vacant permanent posts. ``For now, AICTE should consider the fact that temporary staff we have roped in are as good as permanent staff and put on hold decision to cut seats,’’ said a principal.

With inputs from filed by Vishnu Swaroop, C R Balajee and Gokul R