Highest NAAC grade for Tonk university

14/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,JAIPUR

Banasthali Vidyapith, a residential university for women situated in Rajasthan's Tonk district, has become the State's first varsity to be accorded the highest grade, A++, by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which is an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission.

Banasthali Vidyapith scored 90% and above in each of the seven criteria on the basis of which the NAAC carried out its assessment. The criteria included the factors such as curricular aspects, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, innovation, infrastructure, governance, leadership, management and institutional values.

Universities limit face-to-face interaction, give online tasks

IIT asks students to vacate hostels, JNU suspends exams

14/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, NEW DELHI

From limiting face-to-face interaction, sending online assignments to completely shutting down campuses, universities and institutes in the city have announced measures to deal with COVID-19, which has been declared an epidemic by the State government.

While the Indian Institute of Technology has directed students to leave hostels by Sunday as part of preventive measure and announced suspension of classes and all events till March 31, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has ordered suspension of classes with immediate effect till March 31.

“In view of the current situation, it is hereby notified that all lectures, class presentations and examinations at JNU are suspended till March 31 with immediate effect,” JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said. “Basic mess facilities will be available to the hostel residents during this period,” he said.

Jamia Millia Islamia also suspended classes with immediate effect till March 31 and advised students to avoid large gatherings.

“Teachers should make available to students the study material online in case they need any assistance. The respective teacher should contact the students via email for reference of study material available online. Face-to-face group interaction or gathering of students should be avoided,” the university said.

It added that internal assessment should be given online and that seminars/conferences would be postponed. The university said it would, however, continue to conduct examinations as per schedule.

The central library, it said will provide customised services by way of downloading research and teaching material required for onward circulation to students.

Delhi University had on Thursday said that any internal exam for undergraduate or postgraduate programmes had been postponed and it had also suspended classes and cancelled all functions.

“To maintain continuity in the teaching-learning process in all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, study material shall be made available on a weekly basis on the website by the respective teachers of all departments/colleges/centres,” the university had said.

A spokesperson from Ashoka University said that the university had extended the spring break and as of now, on-campus classes are scheduled to resume on March 30. “Online classes will be conducted to ensure minimum disruption,” a statement from Ashoka University read.

Conversion to a different faith is an individual’s choice: HC

High Court Bench said this while asking petitioner to withdraw his plea as it did not want to reject it

14/03/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court on Friday said that religion is a personal belief and whether to convert to a different faith or not is an individual’s choice while declining to entertain a plea for stopping or regulating religious conversions.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar asked the petitioner, BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, to withdraw the petition as it did not want to reject it.

Following this, Mr. Upadhyay sought permission to withdraw the matter and the Bench allowed him to do so.

When the petition came up for hearing, the Bench said, “Tell us how can we regulate it? What will we regulate? If someone is threatening someone or intimidating someone, it is an offence under the Indian Penal Code.”

The Bench added that there was no reason for an individual to succumb to threats, intimidation or allurement to convert to a different faith.

Mr. Upadhyay, in his plea, had contended that many individuals, NGOs and institutions are converting downtrodden persons, particularly of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community, by “intimidating, threatening, luring by monetary benefits and by other acts, including miracle healing, black magic and more”.

It also claimed that as per the 2011 census, Hindus constitute 79% of the population down from 86 per cent in 2001 and if no action is taken “Hindus will become minority in India”.

PG medical rank list to be out on March 30

14/03/2020,CHENNAI

The Directorate of Medical Education will release the merit list for post-graduate admission to medical and dental colleges on March 30. The online portal opened on Thursday for sale and submission of application forms. The last date for online submission of application forms is March 20 and the last date for receipt of submission of online applications is March 23, according to authorities.

90 flights from Chennai cancelled in the first 11 days of this month

The busy airport now looks nearly empty

14/03/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR ,CHENNAI

Chennai airport has seen a huge decrease in passenger traffic.

 B. VELANKANNI RAJ

Owing to a drastic reduction in flight occupancy and passenger traffic due to the spread of COVID-19, 90 flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport, in the first 11 days of the month.

According to officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), several airlines, including Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, Sri Lankan Airlines, Air India, Cathay Pacific, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa and Batik Air, cancelled flights to different destinations. Dubai, Colombo, Singapore and Kuwait are among places to which the airlines cancelled their flights.

While some airlines informed the AAI that the cancellations were due to the COVID-19 situation, many of them told the AAI that the cancellations were due to ‘operational reasons’. But officials said that an airline could suddenly cancel its flight if flight occupancy is low.

Operational reasons

“For instance, if less than half the seats remain unbooked, airlines would not want to waste money on operating the flight, and would decide to cancel it, citing operational reasons for the cancellation,” an official said. Across the country, nearly 500 flights have been cancelled to several destinations, by both domestic and international carriers.

The Chennai airport, which usually has about 33,000 passengers travelling a day, now looks almost empty.

Last month, the airport’s passenger traffic had decreased by 10%, but the reduction is likely to be much higher this month.

Six varsities to get ₹210 cr. for research

CM announces ₹150 crore for infrastructure in arts and science colleges

14/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The University of Madras will get ₹35 crore for research in the field of bio medicine.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced in the State Assembly on Friday that ₹210 crore would be allocated to six State-run universities to boost research.

In a suo motu statement, the Chief Minister said ₹35 crore each would be allocated to Anna University (for research on e-vehicles), Annamalai University (health and environment), Bharathidasan University (health), Bharathiar University (cancer research) and Madurai Kamaraj University (bio medicine) and University of Madras (applications of bio medicine).

He announced allocation of ₹150 crore for creating additional infrastructure such as classrooms, laboratories, computer and other equipment in government arts and science colleges. About ₹16.60 crore would be allocated to help 10,000 technical students visit factories as part of training at ₹16,600 each. Another ₹25 crore would be allocated for renovating and carrying out maintenance work in 10 government engineering colleges and 45 government polytechnics, he said.

CCTVs in schools

As for School Education Department, he said that 30 high schools would be upgraded into higher secondary schools by spending ₹55 crore.

While CCTVs were being installed in 1,890 high and higher secondary schools, another 4,282 high and higher secondary schools would be provided the CCTVs at a cost of ₹48.73 crore, he said.

The Chief Minister creased the allocation for maintenance and renovation work in schools from ₹38.50 crore to ₹100 crore in 2020-21. He said 25 government primary schools would be opened at a cost of ₹5.72 crore while 10 primary schools and 15 middle schools would be upgraded to middle and high schools at a cost of ₹3.90 crore and ₹26.25 crore respectively.

Mr. Palaniswami announced that six academies for excellence for athletics, volleyball, football and basketball would be set up at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. He said such academies would be set up for swimming in Velachery Aquatic Complex.

A five-floor building would be built at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to provide training in carrom, taekwondo, judo and bridge at a cost of ₹12.30 crore. A sports stadium would be constructed in Tiruppur at a cost of ₹18 crore.

Heritage structures

The Chief Minister announced that the heritage building on Presidency College campus in Chennai would be renovated at a cost of ₹10 crore. The college was established in 1840.

He announced that the historic Institute of Advanced Study in Education at Saidapet in Chennai — the premier teacher training institution and the first-of-its-kind in Asia would be renovated at a cost of ₹10 crore.

With new facility in Tiruvarur, T.N. now has three testing labs

Senior health official advises against non-essential visits to crowded spaces

14/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami chairing a meeting to review COVID-19 preparedness on Friday. B. Jothi Ramalingam

With the addition of the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu now has three testing facilities for SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19.

The King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy, has tested a majority of samples till date. The facility at Government Medical College, Theni, is the second.

A senior health official said that four additional testing facilities were ready to be operationalised in the State. “In fact, we can increase our diagnostic facilities to 10,” he said.

The Public Health Department is involved in tracing people in the State who had come in contact with persons who tested positive for COVID-19 in neighbouring Kerala and Karnataka.

According to a bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public and Preventive Medicine, six persons are under hospital quarantine in the State, and 1,406 persons under home quarantine for 28 days.

Till now, 76 samples have tested negative for COVID-19 in the State. The sole patient who had tested positive last week, and his contact, have been moved to a step-down ward from the isolation ward at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. This, after results of two consecutive samples — that were taken 24 hours apart — tested negative. The health status of his contacts under home quarantine are stable.

K. Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, who has been urging the public to avoid mass gatherings, said it was advisable to avoid non-essential visits to places.

Social distancing

“Do your work over the phone or through video-conferencing. The State government has now declared leave for kindergarten classes in all districts, and up to primary classes in the border districts. If you are sick, avoid going out,” he said.

“Drop all tour plans. It is better to avoid visiting malls and theatres. We have asked malls and theatres to disinfect surfaces regularly. In fact, theatres have been told to increase the time gap between shows for the purpose of cleaning,” he said.