Pvt bus from Chennai plying sans e-pass stopped at Madurai

Pvt bus from Chennai plying sans e-pass stopped at Madurai

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:

A private bus, which left Tambaram in Chennai on Friday night with 38 passengers, was stopped at Kottampatti check post in Madurai on Saturday morning as it was plying without a pass, a police officer said.

 Inquiries revealed that the operator collected ₹2,500 from each passengers to drop them at Madurai. All the passengers and the crew were shifted to an isolation facility at Kottakudi village.

With more vehicles from Chennai and neighbouring districts entering Madurai, the district administration has increased vigilance at borders. Teams of police personnel and officials from the district administration have been formed to carry out intense vehicle checks along the border of Madurai district.

A police officer said the teams take turns and monitor vehicle movement round the clock. Apart from main roads, more than 12 smaller roads are also being watched for interzone movement.

 While most of vehicles enter the city with a valid pass, there are still some people who try to enter Madurai from northern districts without e-pass.

“Strict measures are enforced on passengers in vehicles originating from Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur. Those without pass are made to return. Otherwise, they are given institutional quarantine option,” he said.

P T Subash, deputy superintendent of police, Melur, said that 90% of vehicles entering Madurai district carry a valid e-pass.

Passengers are allowed to enter the district after medical teams deployed at the border collect swab samples. The rest are sent to isolation facility and will be allowed to leave only after ensuring that they are not infected with Covid-19.

Engg colleges force faculty members to quit to cut costs

Engg colleges force faculty members to quit to cut costs

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:

After getting approval and affiliation for the upcoming academic year, several engineering colleges in the state have started to force their faculty members to quit their jobs to cut costs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anna University has received complaints against 10 engineering colleges from faculty members in the past few weeks.

A city college which got its autonomous status recently is forcing 60 senior faculty members to resign. “Our college had near 100% admissions last year. It has got AICTE approval and NIRF ranking showing our qualifications and research work. But after getting the extension of affiliation, the management is forcing senior faculty members out,” an affected faculty member said.

Ten of the 60 have resigned so far. “The college says admissions are poor even before Class XII exam results are out. But they are preparing to recruit freshers,” the faculty member added.

A deemed university in the city is forcing 50 faculty members out without prior notice and has told the faculty about it orally.

“In the middle of the pandemic, the management says we will be sacked. Where will we go?” a faculty member asked.

Private Educational Institutions Employees Association president K M Karthik says there are widespread complaints of terminations throughout the state and that some colleges were terminating satff in small numbers to avoid trouble. Many colleges have not paid salaries since the lockdown began.

“Poor admissions, Covid have put colleges under financial stress. It is to cut cost, there is no word on when colleges will reopen. Colleges think they faculty can be hired any time,” principal of a prominent city college said.

“We have received complaints about a few colleges. We may conduct surprise checks to prevent colleges retrenching faculty after getting affiliation,” said M K Surappa, vice-chancellor of Anna University.

AU to release research admission schedule next week

AU to release research admission schedule next week

Candidates have to upload certificates, pay fee online: V-C

14/06/2020

The Hindu

Visakapattinam

Andhra University has decided to release admission schedule for research scholars by next week. Speaking to The Hindu, Vice-Chancellor P.V.G.D. Prasada Reddy said the admissions will be made online.

The selected candidates have to upload their certificates and also pay the fee through online, he said. The admission has been delayed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown.

“After the admission process is completed, the research work also can start online and physical presence will be called for only after things become normal,” he said.

APRCET, the examination for admission into research across various universities and colleges in the State, was conducted by the AU from November 8 to 11, 2019.

A total of 13,574 candidates had attended the test out of 16,885 who had registered.

The interview part was also completed by February 20, but the admission has been delayed due to the lockdown.

NIRF rankings reflect neglect of tech research

NIRF rankings reflect neglect of tech research

Experts call for drastic change, as just five engineering colleges under State universities figure in top 300 on list

14/06/2020

The Hindu

Kochi

The dismal show by engineering colleges in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings has come as a grim reminder of the stagnancy in the field of technical education in the State.

Only five engineering colleges under State universities could make it to the list with two figuring between 201 and 300. While many argue that the ranking system did not take into account factors that vary from State to State, there is consensus within the academia and the industry that the scant importance reserved for research in Kerala’s academic system.

“We struggle to transform our examination-oriented education system to one hinged on research and innovations,” says Saji Gopinath, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission and Director, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala.

Echoing the view, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Vice Chancellor Rajasree M.S. emphasised the need to create interdisciplinary research ecosystems that nurture start-ups on campuses before enabling them to set up base in IT parks.

The failure of higher education institutions in collaborating with research institutions and industrial organisations has also been a dampener.

Anoop P. Ambika, CEO of Technopark-based CLAP Research and executive committee member of Group of Technology Companies (GTech), a consortium of Information Technology (IT) companies in the State, said colleges must include industry experts among the faculty in various disciplines.

“The initiative will motivate students and encourage teachers to reshape the way knowledge is imparted. We need to clearly redefine our higher education system if we are serious about promoting Research and Development (R&D),” he said.

In sync with times

Educationist R.V.G. Menon said the teaching community should remain in sync with the changing times. For this, quality, rather than seniority, should be made the criterion for appointments and promotions. Dr. Rajasree also advocated governance practices that incentivised research and merit on campuses.

The poor show by the engineering colleges in the NIRF rankings is bound to renew clamour for granting academic autonomy to colleges.

It also comes at a time when five self-financing colleges have applied for academic autonomy. The University Grants Commission is conducting inspections in three of them.

Proposing an alternative for autonomy Dr. Gopinath called for creating a multi-tiered system that would enable greater freedom for the best-performing institutions. Now, rules framed to accommodate poor performers prevented the better ones from raising their standards, he said.

Positive student writes to Governor

Positive student writes to Governor

14/06/2020

A PG medical student from Osmania Medical College, who tested positive for coronavirus, has requested Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan not to hold the third year PG exams till the pandemic subsides. The student, who requested anonymity, is now recovering. In a letter, he said OMC had become a hotspot for virus and that there was high risk to others going to take the exams. Many PGs from here tested positive.

“I fear I may not perform well in the exams and risk losing an academic year because of an unfortunate incident. It is simply not possible to face everything simultaneously: health problem, studies, exam anxiety and social stigma.”

KNRUHS V-C against postponing exams

KNRUHS V-C against postponing exams

14/06/2020

The Hindu

Hyderabad

Officials of the Telangana Health department said that medical post-graduate students might miss appearing for entrance exam for super-specialty courses if the final year exams were not conducted now. They have been postponed twice till now.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS), Dr B Karunakar Reddy, said that if the examinations were not conducted now, they might not be able to conduct them in coming months with virus cases expected to rise.

There are over 1,200 PG students at medical colleges affiliated to the KNRUHS. They are from clinical, para-clinical and non-clinical courses. Only PG students from General Medicine, Pulmonology and Anaesthesia courses (clinical courses) attend COVID-19 cases. Officials said that students from other courses were keen on completing the exams.

“Many students took loans, or are dependent on their parents for finances. They want to go ahead with their financial plans.” Dr Reddy said.

On precautions at exam halls, the V-C said that measures would be taken and students with symptoms would be allowed to take exams in a separate hall. The same would be implemented for those who contracted COVID-19 and were cured.

Medicos want exams put off

Medicos want exams put off

What if there is an asymptomatic carrier of virus in exam hall, they ask

14/06/2020

The Hindu 

Hyderabad

The fear of contracting coronavirus has gripped final year post-graduate (PG) students in the State who have requested postponement of the final examinations scheduled from June 20 and giving them Senior Residency like in other States. The PGs said that if all of them convened in one hall to take the exams, the virus might spread among them if any of them was an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.

Their fears became pronounced after two PG students at Nizam’s Institute of Medial Sciences (NIMS), who took exams from June first week, tested positive for coronavirus. The two resident doctors were sitting one after the other in the hall. However, it is not yet established whether the two students had contracted the infectious disease from the examination hall.

The PG students attend duties as part of their course. If any of them aspires to get a job in government hospitals in the future, they have to work for one year in the hospitals. This is called Senior Residency. The third year PGs who are set to take exams are allowed not to attend duties from May.

“The virus might spread when all of us sit in the same hall for the exams. We have been off duty for the past one month to prepare for the exams. Rather, the exams can be postponed and our services can be used in the current situation to attend patients at hospital. A few States have opted to grant Senior Residency to the final year PG students and will conduct exams on a later date. This will help students and the government," said a final year student from Osmania Medical College (OMC). Another PG student from Gandhi Medical College (GMC) said they wear Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) while attending COVID-19 patients, which keeps them relatively safe from the virus.

“A few of us are day scholars. So we will have to go to our homes after taking exams. Our families could get exposed to the virus,” the GMC PG said.

If the authorities were to go ahead with their plans to conduct the exams, the medicals students sought clarity on measures taken to prevent spread of the virus if anyone had it. “Physical distance will be maintained. But what if one among us in the exam hall is an asymptomatic carrier?” the student asked.

Meanwhile, four PG students from OMC and GMC, who tested positive for coronavirus and have been under isolation and treatment, are not clear if they will be allowed to take the final exams which are six days away. Even if they complete 14-day isolation at hospital or home, they should be under quarantine for 14 more days.

The medical students also want to know the measures to be taken, if they are allowed to take exams, to ensure that they do not spread the virus to others in the examination hall.