Asymptomatic Covid patients can now stay in home isolation

Asymptomatic Covid patients can now stay in home isolation

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  04.06.2020

With a large number of asymptomatic cases found testing positive for Covid-19, the health ministry has revised the home isolation guidelines to allow such patients to stay in home isolation along with very mild and pre-symptomatic cases.

However, patients with immune-compromised status (like HIV, transplant recipients, cancer therapy) are not eligible for home isolation, the revised guidelines said.

Also, patients over 60 years and those with co-morbid conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung/liver/kidney disease and cerebro-vascular disease among others shall only be allowed home isolation after proper evaluation by the treating medical officer, the guidelines said.

As per the new guidelines, patients under home isolation will stand discharged after 10 days of onset of symptoms and no fever for three days. However, after that, the patient will be advised to isolate at home and self-monitor their health for a further seven days.

There is no need for testing after the home isolation period is over, the guidelines said.

Eligible cases can opt for home isolation if they have the requisite self-isolation facility at their residence so as to avoid contact with family members.

The guidelines come against India’s Covid-19 tally rising to 6.25 lakh on Friday.

Avg marks of best 3 subjects to decide your CISCE result

Avg marks of best 3 subjects to decide your CISCE result

Shradha.Chettri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  04.06.2020

Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Friday finally ended the anxiety of students and parents by releasing the formula for calculating the results of ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) exams.

The formula was arrived at after consulting statisticians of premier institutions in the country and analysing the results of the board examinations from 2015 to 2019, as well as the unfinished 2020 session.

The remaining examinations scheduled from July 1 were cancelled by CISCE after parents moved court. The exams couldn’t be conducted owing to the Covid-induced lockdown.

Emulating the formula followed by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the average marks of the best three subjects for which the students have appeared in the board exams would be taken to compute the final score. While practical project marks would be taken for ISC students, which varies from 20 to 30 marks, for Class X internal assessment marks would be taken.

A three-step algorithm would be used to arrive at the final marks, which would include the sum of the subject’s board results and the practical/project marks. The subject’s result would be the sum of the board marks percentage and their weightage (for example, 0.7 whose theory is 70 marks and 0.8 for 80 marks). The final score would include the average of the best three marks, subject marks and project practical marks.

“The components used to arrive at the formula to award the marks in the subjects that have project and practical work component is limited to the project and practical work and the performance of the candidates in the board examination of the subjects for which they have already appeared measured through average marks obtained in the best three subjects. While the former measures the subject proficiency of the candidates, the latter is a measure of their general academic ability,” said a CISCE circular.

However, for Elective English and Art in Class X, a separate formula has been followed.

While the parents and students were a relieved lot, they said internal assessment marks, at least for Class X, might vary according to the schools. “The internal marks are subjective and not really known on how the school computes it. But considering the situation, anything is better than uncertainty and having to send the children to write the exams,” said a parent.

JEE, NEET postponed to September

JEE, NEET postponed to September

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi  04.06.2020

The JEE (Main and Advanced) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG) for admission to engineering and medical courses have been postponed to September in view of the surge in Covid-19 infections across the the country. The decision was taken on Friday on a recommendation of the expert committee set up by the HRD ministry.

Computer-based multi-session JEE (Main) will be conducted from September 1-6 while JEE (Advanced) —for admission to IITs—will be held on September 27. The pen-paper mode NEET-UG will be held on September 13.

“Safety of the students is paramount and keeping that in view and to ensure quality education, we have decided to postpone the exams,” said HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, soon after the panel, headed by IIT-Delhi director Prof V Ramgopal Rao, gave the report.

After the initial postponement, JEE (Main) was earlier scheduled from July18-23 while NEET-UG was slated for July 26 and JEE (Advanced) for August

23. Around nine lakh aspirants have registered for the JEE (Main) exam, while 16 lakh have registered for NEET-UG exams. Concerned over the pandemic situation, candidates from across the country had been demanding postponement of the exams.

According to a senior HRD ministry official, “The committee in its report recommended postponing the exam after reviewing the prevailing situation. There are a large number of centres which fall under containment zones and large areas in Assam and Bihar are facing floods. Therefore, it would not be possible to conduct the exams in the present scenario.”

The delay in the entrance exams will have a cascading effect on the new academic session. The new session for the first year students, as per the present planning, is expected to commence from November.

Full report on www.toi.in

Owing to lockdown, CISCE announces 25% reduction in syllabus for 2021 board exams

New Delhi:

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Friday announced a reduction of up to 25% in syllabus for Classes X and XII board exams in 2021taking into account the learning disruption due to closure of schools during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

“...Schools across the country have been shut for the past three months due to the lockdown. While a number of CISCE-affiliated schools have tried to adapt to this changed scenario and have tried to keep alive the teaching learning process through online classes, there has been a significant shortening of the academic year and loss of the instructional hours,” CISCE chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon said. PTI

SRM hosp chosen for human trials of Covid-19 vaccine

SRM hosp chosen for human trials of Covid-19 vaccine

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 04.06.2020

SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre in Kattankulathur, around 40km from the city, will be one of the 12 institutions and the only site in Tamil Nadu chosen by ICMR to conduct the human clinical trials of the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine (BBV152 Covid Vaccine), where volunteers will be immunised with the vaccine.

The Drug Controller General of India recently gave its nod for human clinical trials for the vaccine called Covaxin. According to ICMR, the vaccine is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad, are jointly working for the preclinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine.

A release from SRM said Dr Satyajit Mohapatra, associate professor from the department of pharmacology, has been chosen as the principal investigator for the clinical trials at SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre. SRM research centre was earlier involved in clinical trials for Rotavirus vaccine administered for protection against rotavirus infections, which causes severe diarrhea, and Pentavalent vaccine administered to protect children from five diseases including Hepatitis B and Dipertheria, Pertussis and Tetanus.

A senior doctor involved in clinical trials at the SRM hospital said they are awaiting the detailed protocol to be followed for the trials from the sponsor and ICMR, but the trial will begin only after approval from the ethics committee, approval from the site administrator and the availability of the faculty.

According to ICMR, the vaccine is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad, are jointly working for the preclinical and clinical development of this vaccine

Colleges to go online with dedicated Youtube channel

Colleges to go online with dedicated Youtube channel

Gauree.Malkarnekar@timesgroup.com

Panaji   03.07.2020

Covid-19 cases in Goa are on the rise, and the state administration seems to have realised that classroom teaching may not be possible for the new academic year 2020-21. The directorate of higher education (DHE) has already begun work to convert at least 40% of the syllabus to e-content before colleges reopen.

The directorate has already carried out a survey in general stream colleges to determine the availability of internet connectivity among students.

Sources said that the survey found that many students do not have good internet connectivity at home. The government is in the process of setting up hotspots in such areas, but, in the meantime, the DHE is training teachers to prepare e-content and start off the academic year by delivering this content to students through WhatsApp and email.

Already 300 government college teachers have been trained on how to prepare and deliver the e-content to students. Master trainers are being presently trained for aided colleges, who will then train their colleagues in the respective colleges.

DHE is also launching its own YouTube channel where lectures will be uploaded for students to access at their convenience.

‘GU studio will be used to record videos’

The directorate will launch its own Youtube channel, where any number of lectures can be uploaded and students can access what is relevant to them. The responsibility for creation of the lecture videos is being distributed amongst teachers of different colleges to share the burden. The studio at Goa University will be used to record and develop the videos,” a source said.

If the Covid-19 situation does not improve, live teaching is planned via webcast.

Colleges have also been told to pair students with poor internet connectivity with a ‘friend’ living in an area with good network and encourage them to partner on accessing the online learning content, officials said.

Officials said that government college teachers have been provided licensed Microsoft 365 packages, which they will use to create PowerPoint presentations of chapters. If live lectures have to be held eventually, Microsoft Teams will be used by the teachers. Similarly, teachers of aided college are expected to use Google Meet.

“Presently, once teachers complete the training, each one will start creating separate e-content for their own students during their college working hours and begin the academic year by making PPTs, etc, available to students through platforms like WhatsApp, etc,” a source said.

UoH forms task force to plan reopening of classes

UoH forms task force to plan reopening of classes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:  03.07.2020

The University of Hyderabad has constituted a task force to outline a road map for the resumption of teaching-learning activities that were suspended after March 15 due to Covid-19 outbreak.

The 12-member task force will be chaired by Prof Vinod Pavarala, the former dean of the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, and consult various stakeholders of the university.

“This includes practical steps for starting classes for ongoing students as well as for those who will be joining the university this academic year. The task force will examine and recommend a range of teaching methods incorporating face-to-face, online and blended modes of delivery of course content,” reads a press release issued by the university.

The group will recommend appropriate measures to upgrade the institution’s ICT infrastructure, so that it is able to address the challenges of online education. It will also examine the scheduling and mode of the university’s annual entrance examination that is held across the country for admission to its various post-graduate and research programmes. The last date for submitting applications for this year’s admissions was June 30. Further, the group has been asked to monitor the implementation of the decisions taken by the university on the abovementioned matters and will remain in operation up to December 31.

The group will recommend appropriate measures to upgrade the institution’s ICT infrastructure, so that it is able to address the challenges of online education. It will also examine the scheduling of the university’s entrance examination

Best past scores to assess all UG & PG students of CU

Best past scores to assess all UG & PG students of CU

Internal Marks To Be Sent To Univ By July 10

Somdatta.Basu@timesgroup.com

Kolkata: 03.07.2020

The best aggregate marks secured by a Calcutta University undergraduate student in Part I and Part II examinations, along with his or her best score in the past three years’ internal assessment, will make up the final scores.

At the meeting of the Calcutta University Syndicate, the institute’s highest administrative decision-making body, members decided that 80% of a students’ final marks will be from the best score of the previous two years (Part I and Part II), while the best internal assessment score would make up the rest 20%. CU-affiliated colleges have been asked to send internal assessment scores of previous three years of each student appearing for Part III to the university by July 10. “The internal assessment marks will be posted on the CU website after the result is published. The answerscripts will have to be preserved by colleges, which might need to send those to the university if required. Regarding ‘back’ papers, the marks will be awarded, based on the best score obtained in the remaining qualified papers of that year,” said CU vicechancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee. The decision to put the internal scores on public domain was taken to ensure transparency.

This is the last year, when BA and BSc students at CU are being assessed on the old 1+1+1 system. Students up to the UG second year in both humanities and science faculties are assessed on choice-based credit system (CBCS). The semester system was introduced to the commerce section ahead of the Arts and science faculties. “For end-semester BCom students, 80% of their marks will be based on the best aggregate percentage of the last five semesters and 20% from their best performance in internal assessments” the VC said.

For fourth- or end-semester PG students, 80% marks will be based on the best aggregate percentage of previous three semesters and the rest 20% on internal assessment to be decided by their departments through individual department councils and faculty councils. The internal assessment scores will have to be sent to heads of departments by July 10.

In professional courses, such as engineering and technology, management and law, 80% of a candidate’s final score will be on internal assessment or mid-semester exams or the best of the aggregates of previous semesters and 20% on assignments. “This is only for the 2019-20 academic session,” said Chakravarti Banerjee.

The CU’s announcements came five days after the government on Saturday stated endsemester UG as well as PG students will be evaluated, based on 80% weightage to their best aggregate percentage in any of the previous semesters’ results (five semesters in UG and three in PG) and 20% on internal assessment of the current semester. For those in the 1+1+1 system, the best aggregate secured in the past two exams will be considered. Unhappy with these assessments, if some students wish to appear for a formal exam as and when it is held, they will have to apply through a process to be notified by the university concerned. Its results will be published within a month of the tests being held. The final scores will be revised, according to the special exam marks.