Maha & Telangana set to extend curbs, Manipur does it till July15

Maha & Telangana set to extend curbs, Manipur does it till July15

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

29.06.2020

Maharashtra is all set to extend the lockdown for a month while Telangana may do so for 15 more days with stricter norms in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation region even as the Manipur government announced on Sunday that restrictions will continue till July15.. The present lockdown in the three states, which have seen an exponential surge in Covid cases in the last few days, was scheduled to end on June 30.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray made it clear on Sunday that lockdown in the state will not be lifted post June 30, but more relaxations will be given to speed up economic activities. He said even if relaxations are being given, it does not mean that the danger or the crisis has ended. “We are walking on the edge, we have to walk slowly. Just because relaxations are being given, people shouldn’t think that the battle is over. It is not.”

Thackeray’s comments came on a day when Mumbai Police issued directives asking people not to venture out more than 2km from home unless it was for office or for essentials. Police said that all trips - whether for shopping or for exercising or visiting salons - should be made within a 2km-radius “else action will be initiated”. Nakabandis were conducted throughout the city on Sunday to enforce the new directives and nearly 7000 vehicles were impounded by police.

With Covid cases increasing by nearly a thousand every day in Telangana, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said his government will go for a stricter and total lockdown in greater Hyderabad – which is the worst affected region - for at least 15 days. He said the decision on dates will be taken in the next three to four days.

“There should be a daylong curfew with one or twohour relaxation to buy essentials. Flights and train services have to be stopped,” the CM said. Currently, there is only night curfew in the state from 9pm to 5am.

Health minister Eatala Rajender informed a review meeting chaired by the CM that several health officials and medical experts have suggested another 15-day lockdown in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Limits to bring the situation under control.

Manipur CM N Biren Singh said the government has decided to extend the ongoing lockdown in the state till July 15 with some relaxations. “The government will open inter-district bus services from Wednesday by maintaining SOPs and guidelines,” he said. Manipur has 1,094 Covid cases and 660 of these are active.

First to recover, MBBS student helps patients battle stress

First to recover, MBBS student helps patients battle stress

Sajimon.PS@timesgroup.com

Alappuzha:  29.06.2020

On a rainy monsoon day in Alappuzha, he is busy at his home answering distress calls from strangers who are struggling to cope with the invisible threat of an unrelenting pandemic.

The 23-year-old MBBS student of Wuhan University was the second case of coronavirus reported in the country and the first to recover from the deadly disease. “I have just completed the sixth semester examination. Now, it is vacation time for us. I have been getting several calls from people who tested positive for Covid-19. They call me to get mental support and to clear their doubts,” said the youth.

He was admitted to hospital on January 30 on his arrival from China and tested positive for the disease on February 2. After about a two weeks’ battle with Covid-19, he was discharged on February 13. “If anyone who I know tests positive for the virus, I call them up to make them comfortable. I share my experience to provide psychological support to them. There are many who have called me up after getting my number. I try to give them confidence,” he says.

No fee revision at IIMs this year

No fee revision at IIMs this year

Shivangi.Mishra@timesgroup.com

29.06.2020

Owing to the COVID crisis, most IIMs may not revise the course fee for the MBA programmes, this year. Each year, the IIMs enhanced the annual fee for students, which will not be done in academic session 2020.

“Every year there is a relative increase of 2-3% in fee but IIM Ahmedabad will not revise the fee for the upcoming batches due to the ongoing situation,” said an institute spokesperson. While IIMs may not increase the fee, but many are reluctant to offer fee waiver that several students are demanding. Janat Shah, director, IIM Udaipur, says, “the classes for the one-year programme have already resumed online in May. Fee waiver is not possible as institutes are bearing the operational costs of the campuses." Students will soon return to the campuses as soon as they receive MHRD guidelines for the same, he adds.

Himanshu Rai, director, IIM Indore, agrees that the operational cost of the campuses has not reduced due to the lockdown. “The primary costs incurred are the payments to faculty and staff members. To prepare for a seamless online education, institutes have also invested a good sum in building sound IT infrastructure from buying webcams, or online proctoring software for remote assessments to opting for Learning Management Systems (LMS). So, fee waivers are not justified,” he adds.

Pitfalls of moving education online

Pitfalls of moving education online

Academic Edamana Prasad on the need to re-design online education so that students can have a better learning process

29.06.2020 TOI Education times 

Education, a process of unfolding human potential, has been given significant importance and several steps have been taken to improve the quality of mass education in our country. However, compromise on several aspects is unavoidable due to the diverse socio-cultural-economic background of learners. To overcome various shortcomings, higher education sector in India has recently started implementing outcome-based education (OBE). One of the primary goals of OBE is to generate learners with specific expectations in knowledge, skill, and attitude. During the global pandemic, when education is getting pushed to online mode, teachers must think aloud whether this would end up in a scenario where OBE goals are compromised beyond limits.

As per the accepted classification of learning, there are three domains: thinking (cognitive), skill (psychomotor) and attitude/feeling (affective). OBE expects specific learner centered performances in each of these domains, to be attained through various educational programmes. The major issue with online teaching is that only the first domain (cognitive) can be focused, since physical presence is a desirable requirement for the other two domains. Even in the first domain, there are several issues to be addressed in the context of online teaching. Research has already established beyond reasonable doubt that higher cognitive performance (viz. critical thinking and creative thinking) are less likely to be achieved by large numbers of learners if the class is based on a nonstop lecture.

(The author is professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras)

Full report at www.

educationtimes.com

Traders close shops in Tiruvarur dist

Traders close shops in Tiruvarur dist

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Tiruvarur: 29.06.2020

Following the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the district, more than 1,000 traders from Thiruvarur and Thiruthuraipoondi downed their shutters on their own to combat the spread of the virus. The district recorded a new high of 87 new cases on Sunday and 46 cases on Saturday. With this, the total number of cases in the district climbed to 428 on Sunday.

Of the 87 cases, majority of them were returnees from other districts and states, officials said. A number of their contacts have been infected by the virus too, they added.

Traders said that they decided to close their shops as the general public continued to gather in markets and shops without adhering precautions and in a negligent manner, despite the spike in Covid-19 positive cases in the last two weeks in Thiruvarur district. As more people converge markets and shops during the weekends, traders of Vijayapuram traders’ association called for a total lockdown on Sunday.

Covid 19 Testing

Govt bulletin on Covid check at city’s airport misleading

Govt bulletin on Covid check at city’s airport misleading

Data Creates Illusion That All Passengers Are Tested

Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.08.2020

The city airport does not test all arriving domestic passengers for Covid-19 infection, but the data in daily health bulletin released by the health department gives an impression that it does.

The bulletin lists air passengers tested positive under two categories — domestic air passengers tested positive daily without specifying the airport and total domestic passengers tested positive so far.

This gives an impression that all domestic passengers arriving are being tested at Chennai airport while only thermal scanning is done.

The column “Passengers returned from other states by domestic airport tested positive today” on page two of Sunday’s bulletin says the number of passengers and place of origin as Karnataka 13, Delhi nine, Telangana eight, Maharashtra four, and Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh ,and West Bengal one each. However, there is no breakup of the airports these passengers landed at.

On the bulletin’s page 15, a table says 80,903 passengers had arrived by domestic flights from May 26 to June 27 in Tamil Nadu and 306 have tested positive. Here too there is no airportwise break-up. On the same page, a table for “air surveillance up to June 27 (domestic flights) says 895flights brought 53,709 passengers and 127 had tested positive at Chennai airport. But there is no mention of whether all 53,709 passengers have been tested or not.

An official at the Covid-19 control room which prepares the bulletin said “the numbers shown on page two are gathered from all airports and show the origin of passengers, but there is no move as yet to mention which airport they have landed in Tamil Nadu.”

The state government is yet to start testing all passengers arriving at Chennai airport; they are screened and only those with symptoms are tested. An airline official said, “People get a wrong impression looking at the bulletin that all are being tested. Many call up the airport and airline counters and ask whether samples will be taken from them on arrival.”