7 students expelled for ‘stealing noodles’

05/09/2019,GUWAHATI

A sports academy in Arunachal Pradesh has rusticated seven students for stealing two packets of noodles from the hostel’s canteen, the mother of one of the students has alleged, adding that the academy claimed to have a video evidence and did not get in touch with the parents before taking the extreme action. However, the SLSA defended the move, saying the students were “found smoking, indulging in unruly activities and stealing a mobile phone of a Class 10 student”.

Sathyabama institute’s part-time M. Tech degrees deemed invalid
Persons working in A.P. varsity lose jobs; information panel seeks documents
05/09/2019, S. VIJAY KUMAR ,CHENNAI

Several persons working in the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in Anantapur have lost their jobs as the university has held “invalid” their postgraduate engineering degrees obtained from the Chennai-based Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University).

The students had obtained M. Tech degrees by undergoing a part-time course. The JNTU in November last year communicated to the postgraduates that “all weekend M.Tech programmes offered by Sathyabama University” are not considered valid.

Acting on petitions filed by four such affected persons, the Tamil Nadu Information Commission directed the Sathyabama University to furnish documents explaining the validity of “weekend” (part-time) M.E/M.Tech courses offered by it. The documents must be sent to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the JNTU.

The case pertains to a batch of petitions filed by former students, some of them employed in JNTU and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, seeking copies of approval/permission obtained by the university to offer M.E/M.Tech courses to working professionals in part-time mode during 2003-12. They said their salary was stopped with effect from January 2019 by the JNTU authorities on the ground that the M.E/M.Tech course offered by Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University) could not be considered as a valid course.

Terminated from service

The petitioners also claimed that many candidates who obtained the postgraduate degree in part-time mode and were employed in Andhra Pradesh were terminated from service for the same reason. The Public Information Officer did not furnish the information sought under the Right to Information Act. Since the appellate authority in the university also failed to provide any information, the petitioners moved the commission under Section 19(3) of the Act.

The contention of the university authorities was that no approval was required from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to conduct the course and also submitted certain documents in support of their claim.

After hearing both sides, State Information Commissioner S. Muthuraj said the petitioners as well as other students who studied in the university were severely affected by the decision of JNTU, Anantapur. This would definitely result in the loss of their livelihood.

“In the facts and circumstances of the case, the Commission directs the Registrar of Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University) to send valid documents regarding the equivalence of the course M.E/M.Tech (PG) programmes (Part time) to the Government of Andhra Pradesh as well as to the JNTU, Anantapur, in order to set-right the issue,” he said.

Mr. Muthuraj said the students if the university failed to take legally valid steps, a lot of students along with the petitioners who studied the course would definitely lose their livelihood. Moreover, they had a legal right to know whether their M.Tech (part time) PG programme was legally acceptable degree of not.

The Commission directed the Registrar to inform all the petitioners about the action/decision taken within a period of two months and report compliance.

Vengaivasal up in arms against groundwater extraction
Residents say the water table in the locality has dipped over the past decade to an alarming level

05/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Residents of Vengaivasal near Tambaram want a stop to the indiscriminate drawal of groundwater in their locality.

Though the sale of groundwater from private wells has been happening for a decade now, it has become rampant this year. Lorries draw groundwater through the day and this has hastened groundwater depletion, they complain.

Various residents’ welfare associations have joined hands to desilt waterbodies, such as Chitteri, in the area to improve groundwater recharge. T. Senthil Kumar, a resident of Vengaivasal, said the water table plummeted in the area.

“Many of us had to sink borewells up to 500 ft. to get water, as panchayat supply was not adequate. But nearly 20-30 lorries continue to draw water from our area daily. There are about 40 private agricultural wells in the area. Borewells are sunk close to agricultural wells and water is being drawn for sale through lorries,” he charged.

‘Forced to buy water’

Residents noted that they were forced to purchase water as the water table had dipped this year. The Vengaivasal Panchayat provides water supply for one hour on alternate days.

S. Nandakrishnan, secretary, Anbu Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, said the water table was at a depth of 15 ft, until a decade ago. Now, borewells have to be sunk deep to meet daily needs.

Several residents have to buy a tanker load of water for ₹2,000, owing to the indiscriminate drawal of groundwater.

“We are trying to desilt Chitteri at a cost of ₹10 lakh in the locality and save rainwater. The groundwater drawal and sale through lorries must be stopped for residents to reap the benefits of groundwater recharge,” he said.

Residents’ welfare associations have represented to the Kancheepuram Collector, seeking action against overextraction of groundwater from the locality.

MKU Convocation 2019

Power shutdown on Friday
Chennai:5.09.2019

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas from 9am to 4pm on Friday for maintenance work. Supply will be resumed before 4pm if the works are completed.

Kottivakkam: VGP Layout, Anna Salai, Palavakkamkuppam, Sankarapuram, Seashell Avenue, Radio Colony, Chari Avenue, Ram Garden, Jaisankar Nagar, ECR Road, Poonga Street and Ambedkar Street.

Selaiyur: Madambakkam, Palayakara Street, Maruthi Nagar, ALS Nagar, Ramana Nagar, Madambakkam Main Road, North Side, North Mada Street, East Mada Street, Manicakam Avenue, Alamelupuram, Esther Garden, Padmavathy Nagar, Selaiyur of Agaram Main Road, Vedachalam Nagar, Janakiraman Street, Indira Nagar West, Ex-Servicemen Enclave, Avvai Nagar, New Balaji Nagar, Bharathi Nagar, Bajanai Koil Street, Madha Koil Street, Palayathan Street, Ranganathan Nagar, Harrington Road, Burma Colony, Ranganathan Street, Karnam Street, Ramasamy Street and Eswaran Koil Street.

Telangana to raise retirement age of staff

04/09/2019 , HYDERABAD

In a significant announcement, Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the retirement age of State government employees will be increased to 60 or 61 years in line with the election promise. He also directed officials to prepare promotion charts of employees. The unhealthy practice of lobbying for promotions should go, he said.

Guest lecturers in govt. colleges demand reservation in recruitment 

They have highlighted the assurances made by former CM Jayalalithaa and the Higher Education Department

04/09/2019 , Pon Vasanth B.A, CHENNAI

With the Teachers’ Recruitment Board issuing a notification for filling 2,340 vacancies for the Assistant Professor post in government arts and science colleges in Tamil Nadu, the guest lecturers who have been working on a temporary basis in these colleges for the past many years have appealed for special reservation for them in the recruitment process.

They have highlighted the assurances made by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the Higher Education Department in the past on giving priority to guest lecturers during recruitment.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 guest lecturers are engaged by the Higher Education Department on a consolidated pay of ₹15,000. Their contracts are renewed every year to technically mean they are recruited only for one academic year. Different associations representing guest lecturers said there were people working on a temporary basis in government colleges for the past 15 years.

“Provided they possess necessary qualifications, it is only fair that they are given preference during the recruitment,” said V. Thangaraj of the Tamil Nadu All Government College UGC Qualified Guest Lecturers’ Association. “Let the government reserve a percentage of seats for the guest lecturers,” he added.

Echoing his view, A. Kathali Narasinga Perumal, State president, Tamil Nadu Constituent Colleges Guest Lecturers' Association, said injustice was meted out to guest lecturers for the past several years.

“In recent times, there has been an emphasis on qualifications prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). However, UGC regulations are never followed in our salary,” he said.

Another guest lecturer from a Chennai-based college, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that while UGC prescribed ₹50,000 as salary per month, the guest lecturers received only ₹15,000. “This is after the revision in 2016. Until then, we were getting only ₹10,000.” he added.

Process postponed

Mr. Thangaraj said the government must either implement reservation for guest lecturers in the recruitment or compensate them for not paying UGC-prescribed salary for the past many years.

The Teachers’ Recruitment Board has postponed the commencement of the process of receiving applications for recruitment to fill 2,340 vacancies in Assistant Professor posts in government arts and science colleges. The receiving of applications, to be submitted online, was scheduled to commence on Wednesday (September 4).

An announcement by the TRB on its website said the online registration had been postponed due to “technical reasons”. The new date will be announced later, it said.