Beware, snakes don’t have any lockdown

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kannur: 06.05.2020

A few days ago when a jewellery shop in Payyannur was opened for cleaning, after relaxation in Covid-19 lockdown, the owner spotted a python in a corner. Wildlife rescuers were called in to catch the snake, and they found that it had laid eggs and was hatching it.

“The python was hatching 27 eggs, so we rescued it and shifted to a safe place where it could continue hatching,” said rescuer Pavithran Annukkaran. It had entered via the tiled roof, he said.

In the last one month, he caught around 37 snakes from different parts of the district, and most of them were cobras, he said. “The lockdown has brought down people’s movements and so the presence of snakes is visible even in urban areas,” he said.

“Snakes come out in search of cool places during summer. This year, people are frequently spotting them near their houses, mainly because they are at home. Besides, the environment around is calm and so the reptiles come out,” said Nisheesh Chalode, another snake rescuer. He rescued around 100 snakes in the last one month or so. In a single day he got calls to rescue 16 snakes, he added.

“Ensure that you do not stock unwanted things and gunny bags outside your houses. Also, snakes prefer to enter toilets due to the dampness,” Chalode added.

However, there doesn’t seem to be an increase in snake population. According to Chandran Kuttikkol, another wildlife rescuer, the sighting of snakes has come down in recent times. “I got very few calls recently and I don’t think that more snakes are coming out because of the calm in the lockdown,” he said. He advises people not to release the snakes in faraway places because they are territorial creatures. “Normally snakes live within a 3km surrounding. If you catch and release them in faraway places they would not be able to survive,” he added.

Though we cannot assertively say more snakes are being spotted in human habitats now, the lockdown has provided them the freedom of movement, said Riyaz Mangad, an expert associated with Parassinikkadavu Snake Park. At least 300 snakes have been rescued in the recent days in the district, he said.

This means the humansnake encounter rate has increased, said Roshnath Ramesh, a wildlife biologist and researcher. “I feel the sightings have increased since people are at home and they observe the surroundings more closely. Since the surroundings are calm, there is possibility of natural foraging going high. However, it does not mean their population has gone up,” he said. We should study the environmental impact on the living organism during lockdown, he added.

A python hatching 27 eggs was rescued from a jewellery shop in an old building in Payyannur

Isaac: HC order on expected lines

Thiruvananthapuram:06.05.2020

Finance minister T M Thomas Isaac on Tuesday expressed contentment over the high court order that ratified the legal validity of the ordinance notified by the state government that allows it to defer a portion of government employees’ salary for five months.

Opposition service organisations had challenged the legal validity of the ordinance in the high court. “We never expected the court order to be anything different than what has now been pronounced,” Isaac told media here.

Meanwhile, State Employees and Teachers Organisation (SETO) leaders said they were still hopeful about a favourable decision from the court. “We are not against contributing a portion of our salary to the government. The protest is against the arbitrary ways of the government. What the court announced today is an interim order. Let the court pronounce the final order in the second week of June. We would not shy away from the fight for justice,” said SETO state chairman Chavara Jayakumar. SETO general convenor M Salahudeen also expressed similar views.

“We have no reasons to get unsettled by the interim order passed by the court. We do sincerely believe that the final order would vindicate our stand. The ordinance is against the Indian Constitution and orders by the Supreme Court,” said NGO Association general secretary S Mathew. TNN

High court declines to stay salary deferment ordinance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kochi:6.5.2020

The high court on Tuesday declined to stay an ordinance brought in by the state government to defer payment of salaries of government employees.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas said the constitutional provisions granting powers to the state government should be liberally and widely interpreted. When the government submits that the ordinance is issued under the powers issued under such constitutional provisions, it is not justifiable on the part of the court at this stage to hold otherwise that there is no authority on the government to enact a law, the court held.

“I find that there is legislative competence for the State. I find, prima facie, that there is legislative competence on the part of the Legislature to enact the ordinance,” the court’s order stated. The government was represented by advocate general CP Sudhakara Prasad and special government pleader N Manoj Kumar.

The court further said in the order, “As was mentioned by the learned advocate general, the state is reeling through a very difficult situation… and extraordinary measures are required… to overcome the situation, and this legislation is intended to overcome the present position the state has fallen into. This court cannot question the wisdom of the legislature in bringing out an ordinance, especially when the ordinance does not partake of character of appropriating the salary but deferring it for the time being, that too under authority of law. Article 300A, which grants authority to the State to deprive a person, has a condition that the same must be in accordance with law. The law has now been promulgated. This Court cannot find that the law now promulgated is unjustified at the moment.”

During the admission hearing on Tuesday, the court considered petitions filed by various government employees’ and teachers’ unions.

Under challenge was the Kerala Disaster and Public Health Emergency (Special Provisions) Ordinance 2020. The ordinance was issued on April 30 after the high court had on April 28 issued a stay on the government’s order of April 23 to defer payment of six days’ salary for five months. It gave the government the power to defer payment of salaries in the event of disaster and public health emergency.

The petitioners alleged that the ordinance allows the government to defer their pay in part or in full and it is vitiated with mala fides and is aimed at circumventing the HC order.

They also argued that the deferment of salary can only be done through an amendment of the Kerala Service Rules.

The period of deferment is not specified and the decision was taken without their consent and without giving them an opportunity to raise their objections.

The ordinance amounts to oppression and dictation and such a power cannot be exercised by the government, particularly against the employees, the petitions said.

The union representing government nurses contented that the ordinance is “clearly thanklessness” to the health workers who are the frontline soldiers in the fight against Covid-19.

I find, prima facie, that there is legislative competence on the part of the Legislature to enact the ordinance, said the high court in its order

JEE to be conducted from July 18-23, NEET to be held on July 26

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:6.5.2020

Engineering entrance examination, JEE (Main), will be conducted from July 18-23 and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for admission to medical colleges will be held on July 26, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Tuesday. The two crucial exams were postponedduetothe nationwide lockdown to combat Covid-19.

Responding to queries during a webinar with students, Pokhriyal said: “JEE (Main) will be held on July 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23 and NEET will be held on July 26.” The minister said JEE (Advanced) may be held in August and dates for UGC NET –2020 and pending CBSE Board examinations will be announced soon.

A senior HRD official said CBSE is finalising the schedule for pending Class X and XII Board exams and dates are likely to be announced on Thursday. “The exams are likely to be conducted in the first and second week of July, ahead of the JEE and NEET-UG,” he said.

More than 15 lakh students across the country have registered for NEET this year, whereas more than nine lakh have registeredfor JEE(Main)whichis a qualifying exam for JEE (Advanced) for admission to IITs.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has also given students an option to change their opted centres for the two tests as many of them have moved to different places since the lockdown.

During the one-hour interaction, Pokhriyal responded to the various concerns and queries of the students relating to school examinations, entrance tests, academic calendar, online education, fees and mental health issues among other things.

To a query relating to fee hike for NITs, IITs and IIITs for academic year 2020-21,the minister reiterated the decision announced last week that there would be no increase in fees during the next session.

He alsoinformedthat migration of students of Navodaya Vidyalayas to their respective states is being pursued and it has got momentum with a communication from the ministry to the state chief secretaries. He informedthatoutof 173 Schools, more than 62 schools have initiated the process and all schools which have migrated students are being monitored.

It’s not safe to run centralised ACs in offices, I-T dept told

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:6.5.2020

On a query from income tax authorities whether it is safe to open its offices with centralised air-conditioning, the Indian Medical Association has suggested that the available evidence indicates that a closed space, especially a centrally airconditioned building is unsafe in the current stage of the coronavirus epidemic.

“Working in such buildings may be avoided until suitable alternative evidence emerges. The other option will be to modify them for suitable adequate ventilation,” the IMA advisory said. However, it further adds that the risk can be minimised with higher ventilation rate (opening the windows), superior filtration, UV treatment of air and using a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifier.

Asking the department to avoid offices with centralised ACs, the advisory cited two examples: one from Guangzhou in China where the outbreak in an air-conditioned restaurant involved three family clusters, and in the second case the airconditioning system in the Diamond Princess cruise ship spread Covid particles and infected almost half of the 3,700 passengers on board the ship.

The size of coronavirus is about 120 nanometres in diameter and even if one infected person releases the virus in the air through sneezing, the air conditioning system would carry the virus to every cabin, the note said.

However, individual AC units in offices and homes are safe if inside occupants are non-infected. It is recommended to keep windows slightly open or introduce a fresh air source to ensure dilution of pollutants, the IMA advisory said.

The Indian Medical Association has suggested the available evidence indicates that a closed space, especially a centrally air-conditioned building is unsafe in the current stage of the coronavirus epidemic

Phased lockdown exit will delay peak in TN by 4 mths, cut cases

Count Would Have Hit 3.5cr Sans Lockdown

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:6.5.2020

A staggered exit from the lockdown — with strict enforcement of social distancing — will help Tamil Nadu delay the peak by at least four months and pull down the number of cases by nearly half, says a study by researchers at the governmentrun Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

The study said Tamil Nadu would have had at least 15,500 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday compared to the 4,058 cases it registered if the state had not introduced threephases of the lockdown, along with social distancing, mandatory use of masks and hand hygiene.

In a scenario without interventions, the reproductive number (R0) — or the number of people one person will infect — would have been 3.69. That is, every positive person would have infected more than 3 other people. The R0 now is 1.09.

The study has some interesting projections. Without a lockdown, the epidemic would peak in mid-July when there would be 3.5 crore cases at the same time, putting public health facilities under great stress.

A lockdown till the end of June, will delay the peak by four months to October when there would be 1.5 crore cases, which is less than half the non-lockdown peak. And though there would be more cases from mid-September with a lockdown than if there hadn’t been one, the epidemic would have been less devastating.

Overall, there will be far fewer cases with a lockdown and the incidence will also be spread out, with a much lower peak, giving public health authorities the time needed to cope. The lockdown, the study found, brought the R0 to 1.09.

Ideal medical solution to crisis is to extend lockdown: V-C Seshayyan

While the ideal medical solution to this problem will be to extend the lockdown till June, so we can keep the number of people infected at 1.3 lakh. We understand it may not be possible as it can cause huge socio-economic crisis,” said university vicechancellor Dr Sudha Seshayyan, who had sent a note on the analysis to the state health department. In March, the state university was asked to study the effects of the lockdown to help the state formulate strategies based on scientific evidence. It submitted its findings to the state health department on Tuesday.

The lockdown, the study found, brought the R0 to 1.09. “Lifting of lockdown completely will push the R0 to 3.69 once again. This means we will see the number of cases increases once again. This study forecasts when that will happen,” she said.

For instance, if the state decides to exit the third phase of the lockdown on May 17, when researchers forecast 8,437 cases, TN will have 6.2 lakh cases by end of June. “Without the lockdown there could have been 85,718 cases on May 17. But if the state introduces a staggered exist preventing mass gatherings and ensuring stringent public health norms, it is likely to touch 6.2 lakh by June-end” said Dr N Srinivasan, a senior professor, who was also a part of the study.

Even in that case, the university estimates that the state should be able to handle the crisis. So far, 85% of the cases in the state are asymptomatic, while many of the remaining patients rarely report symptoms when they turn up at hospitals. Director of medical education Dr Narayanababu R said while 15% needed intensive monitoring due to age or comorbidities, less than 5% of patients needed interventions such as oxygen. The recovery rate has been nearly 50% and mortality is below 1.1%. “If we keep hospitalisations to the minimum, we should be able to treat most people successfully,” he said.

Fear of poor grades, lack of faculty make instts shy away from NAAC

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  05.05.2020

Possibility of poor grades is the reason behind non-participation of 22% of higher education institutions in the accreditation process of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) while 26% of institutions don’t apply as they lack permanent faculty and 5.5% for not having a permanent head of the institution.

These are some of the findings of the accreditation survey conducted by NAAC, under the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) in March. It said 72% of institutionsare currently in the process of improving their quality and resources to apply for NAAC accreditation.

The government rolled out the revised accreditation framework (RAF) in 2017, which came into effect in 2018 and has so far accredited 74 universities and1,485 colleges. According to HRD ministry sources, at present there are 600 unaccredited universities and 25,000 unaccredited colleges in the country.

Speaking to TOI, NAAC Director, Prof S C Sharma, said though the government has made accreditation mandatory, unless it is enforced it will take time for some institutions to come forward. “NAAC accreditation is a diagnostic tool. It helps institutions to understand themselves and improve. A total of 13,399 institutions have been accredited since its inception in 1994, including 1,559 under the RAF, 2017. A little bit of enforcement will act as a catalyst. The government had taken a good step by putting up State -Level Quality Assurance Cell (SLQAC). State-level incentive for accreditation will go a long way.”

On the importance of accreditation, he said it not only guides students in their decision on pursuance of higher education, “top universities abroad ask for the institute’s accreditation details”.

While launching RAF, NAAC had assured transparency and objectivity. NAAC has set the tone for digitised era of assessment and accreditation, wherein 70% weightage will be evaluated through ICT and 30% through peer team visits. Now it is planning to enhance its accreditation numbers to an average 2,500 HEIs in a year, from the existing 1,500. A big number of non-accredited colleges are government-run institutions or are in rural areas, which is now the thrust area for NAAC.

Less than 1% of the colleges managed the top grade of A++, while 66.4% of colleges were graded in between B++ and B. Among the universities, 6.5% were accorded A++ grade under the RAF, while 51.4% were graded between B++ and B grades.

“Under the RAF, grades are more objective and dataoriented unlike before. Earlier it was 100% peer team verification. It was not 100% objective .... If it is not mathematical, it becomes subjective. Now 70% is objective and 30% is subjective. If you don’t find the evidence as claimed by the institutions one cannot record it for assessment,” said Sharma.

“Now we want to adopt machine learning and artificial intelligence in accreditation to make things faster and take it to the next level. Also now NAAC’s mission is to handhold rural and government colleges,” he said.

The government rolled out the revised accreditation framework (RAF) in 2017 and has so far accredited 74 universities and 1,485 colleges. At present there are 600 unaccredited universities and 25,000 unaccredited colleges in the country