Anna University won’t fall under Centre’s control, says TN higher education secretary

TNN | Jan 22, 2020, 06.44 PM IST

COIMBATORE: Anna University would remain a state university even after bifurcation, said principal secretary to the department of higher education Mangat Ram Sharma on Wednesday. He said there were unfounded fears that the university would fall under the control of the Centre after bifurcation.

The state in December decided to bifurcate Anna University with one section getting the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status and the other giving affiliation to engineering colleges across the state.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the 33rd Biennial Conference of Home Science Association of India held at Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women here, Sharma said an impression had been created that by getting the IoE status, the university would fall under the control of the Centre.

“These are unnecessary fears. Anna University would remain a state university and all state university laws would be applicable for it,” he said.

Decision on bifurcating Anna University would be finalised after at least two more meetings by the committee of ministers formed for the purpose and after discussions with academicians, he said.

The state formed a team of five ministers to deliberate and decide on the bifurcation. This created apprehensions that there were no academicians in the team.

Sharma said state was doing the process carefully as a bifurcation earlier had created problems. “The team has met once. The next meeting would be held next week. In one or two meetings, they would decide on the bifurcation process. They would discuss the matter with academicians before deciding,” he said.

These two A R Rahman hits were the most listened songs by Ola riders in Chennai in 2019

TNN | Jan 23, 2020, 06.49 PM IST

CHENNAI: Cab aggregator Ola recently did a study in Chennai and other metros to find out travel trends in 2019. As part of this, several parameters like most preferred travel time, mode and payment options were analysed.

Interestingly, the team also studied music preferences of commuters while travelling in their cabs with 'Ola Play' option. The study, titled “Ola Hyperdrive 2019,” has listed the top three most-played songs by Chennaiites.

To the surprise, it was not “Kannana Kanne” from Viswasam or “Single Pasanga” from Natpe Thunai or any other 2019 chartbusters which were heard the most.

Instead, it was “Romeo Attam Pottal” (from Mr Romeo), an A R Rahman song, which was a favourite for many '90s kids. They seemed to have not lost their love for this Prabhudeva-starrer even 23 years after the movie was released

Next in the list was “Hosanna” from Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya. This too was composed by ARR for a movie directed by Gautam Vasudev Menon, starring Simbu.

Dhanush's “Don'u Don'u Don'u” (from Maari), composed by Anirudh, was next on the list.

Commuters can listen to songs of their choice when they book an 'Ola Prime' cab.

As far as genres are concerned, Chennai people preferred romance and soft music over others and that it was mostly in the evening, between 5pm and 8pm.

SRM Institute of Science and Technology signs MoU with Kansas State University

TNN | Jan 23, 2020, 05.23 PM IST

CHENNAI: SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in Chennai has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kansas State University (KSU) in the US.

This MoU will facilitate the exchange of students, professors and scientists to conduct research of mutual interest, short-term visits, participation in conferences, symposia and exchange of academic materials between two universities. This can be at undergraduate/ masters/Ph.D.

Ramasamy Perumal and Krishna Jagadish from KSU visited SRMIST for the purpose.

“With the facilities that SRMIST offers, we are also contemplating bringing our own PhD scholars here for research,” said Perumal.

SRMIST vice-chancellor Dr Sandeep Sancheti said this MoU would not just benefit the genetics department but also the clusters around it like agriculture, biotechnology and others.

Departure of three trains delayed as man climbs railway gantry at Chennai Central

TNN | Jan 23, 2020, 07.45 PM IST

CHENNAI: Tension prevailed at the MGR Chennai Central and at least three trains had a delayed departure on Thursday morning as a 30-year-old man climbed the gantry that holds the high-tension overhead power cables and threatened to jump from there.
However, alert railway staff turned off the power supply and alerted the fire and rescue services.

Fire personnel from Kondithope station rushed to the spot, climbed the gantry and rescued the man around 8am.

Shatabdi Express to Coimbatore, the double-decker to Bengaluru and Shatabdi Express to Vijayawada were delayed due to the incident

The man, identified as L Mynathuni, 30 of Assam, appeared to be mentally disturbed, police said.

"He climbed the gantry at the end of the first platform near the parcel office," said a police officer. It was not clear why he came to Chennai, police said. A few people had seen him loitering around in Choolai, police said.

Police admitted him to a home for people with learning difficulties.

Chennai: Anna University faculty to get 280 per cent pay hike

TNN | Jan 24, 2020, 04.15 AM IST

CHENNAI: The state government has increased the monthly salaries of faculty of Anna University, its constituent colleges, government and aided engineering institutes by up to 280% as recommended by the seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC).

An order issued on January 14 by the state higher education department announcing the hike was made public on Thursday.

As per the order, the revised payscale will take notional effect from January 1, 2016, and monetary benefit from October 1, 2017, making the staff eligible for a lump-sum amount as salary arrears soon.

Designations, mode of appointments and pay structure were also revised as per CPC recommendations for all institutions controlled by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Accordingly, there will be only three designations in engineering colleges — assistant professor, associate professor and professor. The existing pay structure involving pay band (PB) and average grade pay (AGP) has been replaced with a pay matrix involving levels and cells.

AGP of Rs 6,000, Rs 7,000, Rs 8,000, Rs 9,000, Rs 10,0000 and Rs 12,000 has been replaced with academic levels numbered 10, 11, 12, 13A1, 14 and 15 respectively. Each academic level consists of several cells (numbered 1-40) and salaries increase when teachers move to next cell.

For example, let us consider an assistant professor, who is receiving Rs 8,000 as AGP now. His pay band was Rs 15,600-Rs 39,100. The AGP of Rs 8,000 corresponds to academic level 12 in the new pay matrix, with Rs 79,800 fixed as entry pay (cell number 1). Once he moves to the next cell (number 2) within the same academic level, he becomes eligible for an annual increment of 3%. So he will earn Rs 82,200 (rounded off to nearest 100). As he progresses through the matrix, the pay will increase and once he reaches cell 40 (last) of academic level 12, he will receive Rs 2,11,500 as salary.

A formally constituted selection committee will decide on promotions to the next academic level and designations.

Besides, teachers are eligible to get Rs 75,000 professional development grant (on reimbursement basis), research promotion grant from their institutes/universities and engage in consultancy services to generate revenue.

As far as pension, gratuity, leave encashment, health insurance and other terminal benefits are concerned, the present state government rules will continue to be applied.

Genetic analysis of virus suggest role of bats and snakes: Report

Beijing:24.01,2020

A new strain of coronavirus that emerged in China may have originated in bats or snakes, according to genetic analysis of the virus. The theories are based on examination of the genome sequence of the virus released by authorities in the wake of the outbreak.

One study, published on Tuesday in the journal Science China Life Sciences, which is sponsored by Beijing’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, looked at the relations between the new strain and other viruses. It found the virus was closely related to a strain that exists in bats. “Bats being the native host of the Wuhan CoV (coronavirus) would be the logical and convenient reasoning, though it remains likely there was intermediate host(s) in the transmission cascade from bats to humans,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

That study did not speculate about which animal could have been an “intermediate host”, but a second study published on Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology identifies snakes as the possible culprit. “Results from our analysis suggest that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir,” the paper says.

Neither study explained how the virus may have been transmitted from animals to humans. But they could offer clues for the source of the outbreak. The food market where the virus surfaced offered a range of exotic wildlife for sale, including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes, rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat and other game. AFP

They’re asleep, don’t wake them up, kid told about dead parents

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kozhikode:24.01.2020

They all have inhaled a gas which made them go to a deep sleep. They will not wake up again and have gone to be with God. You should not try to wake them up when you see them tomorrow and should give them a parting kiss — two days after the death of his parents and younger brother in the Nepal resort tragedy, seven-year-old Madhav, the lone surviving member of his family, was told about his grievous loss by the teachers and a counsellor from his school on Thursday.

Young Madhav stared at them listless for some time and broke down in tears later.

The four-member team from Silver Hills School, including the principal and the class teacher of Madhav, broke the news to the child at his relative’s house next to Madhav’s maternal house at Mukavoor in the afternoon. Madhav had arrived at his home in the early hours of Thursday and was expecting his parents and brother to arrive on Friday.

“It was a heart-wrenching moment for all of us and we were all moved to tears. Madhav stood silent for some time and later he cried. He seemed to have somewhat understood that he has lost his parents for ever. We all consoled him and made him feel that we are all with him and later brought him a new bicycle to cheer him up,” Nikhil M C, cousin of Madhav’s mother Indu Lakshmi said.

Full report on www.toi.in

TRAGIC: Seven-year-old Madhav, who doesn’t yet understand the concept of death, was upbeat after receiving a bicycle. His parents died in the Nepal gas-leak tragedy