Private Univs Use AI To Kick-Start Admissions In A Changed World

Private Univs Use AI To Kick-Start Admissions In A Changed World

Brace For August Classes, But Yet To Take A Call On Mode Of Instruction

Shradha Chettri & Mohammad Ibrar TNN

New Delhi: 11.07.2020

While the central and state universities are waiting for the University Grants Commission guidelines for vital decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic, most private universities have already worked out the academic calendar and the admission procedure.

The admission process has fully shifted online, mostly through AI-proctored entrance tests and live interviews. While classes are likely to start from August, the universities will decide on online or offline mode on the basis of the Covid-19 situation.

Shiv Nadar University announced in May itself its decision to conduct online admission tests “using an AI mechanism that is secure and ensures anti-cheating surveillance”. The university has also accepted existing SAT scores. In the absence of Class XII board marks, provisional admissions are being granted on the basis of school grades and entrance tests.

Rupamanjari Ghosh, vicechancellor of Shiv Nadar, said, “We are committed to ensuring that students continue their education without interruption during these difficult times.”

OP Jindal Global University is also taking the online route. The university’s law entrance test, a written examination since its inception in 2009, will be conducted entirely online on July 19. “It will become India’s first and only law entrance exam to be entirely online, AI-enabled remote-proctored,” said an official.

The system ensures recording of the candidates’ examinations for review to protect the integrity of the examination process, he added. The university has also conducted its admissions for all degree programmes through the online Jindal Scholastic Aptitude Test.

The admission process is also on at Amity University, which has live online interview sessions for some programmes. “For this year, we have made the admission process fully online. After filling up application forms, students have to upload three videos of randomised questions asked to them,” said Atul Chauhan, its chancellor. After a panel of interviewers evaluates the form and the videos, a selected student will get the admission letter on the admission microsite, he added.

At Amity, classes for senior students are starting on July 13 in remote teaching mode. For freshers, classes may begin before September.

Ashoka University has already decided August 24 as the orientation day and will begin classes on August 31. “Classes will be online till the mid-semester break, which begins on October  10. The decision on holding online or physical classes will be taken closer to that time,” said the university spokesperson.

Bennett University has provided a flexible online admission procedure. While the university will continue its engineering admission process till the JEE exams are conducted, it is admitting students who appeared for the JEE mains exams in January.

“If they have Class XII scores, they can secure admissions with their PCM (physics, chemistry and mathematics) scores. Even if there are students with no board exam results and they come to us with pre-board exam scores, we will provide them provisional admissions with our 60% eligibility criteria,” said Nandkumar Dhake, vice-president for sales and marketing, Bennett University. The university will cross-check their Class XII scores once the board results are out and complete the admissions.

Govt withdraws order granting honorarium to govt staff

REGION DIGEST

11.07.2020

Govt withdraws order granting honorarium to govt staff

Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn an order that granted honorarium to government officials and employees, who have been nominated by virtue of their official capacity as chairperson or members to committees, boards, panels or commissions set up by the government. In an order issued on Wednesday, the government pointed to the financial crisis arising out of Covid-19 and said honorarium should not be paid to serving government employees nominated to various committees, boards, panels and commissions. “The payment of honorarium already made need not be recovered wherever it was paid under a valid government order,” the order said.

Police conclude 14-year-old girl had committed suicide: Four days after the partially burnt body of a 14-year-old girl was found behind a saw mill near Adhavathurpalayam on the outskirts of Trichy, the Trichy rural police has concluded the case by stating that the girl had committed suicide. Police also said that Senthil, 24, of Othakadai was arrested on Friday, for abetting her suicide. Police sources said Senthil and the girl were in a relationship. Since their families had opposed their relationship, he distanced himself from her. Upset over his move, the girl committed suicide. The body was found on July 7. Police had formed six special teams to crack the case as there were speculations whether the girl was subjected to sexual assault and was murdered by anyone. Police had already ruled out sexual assault on the girl.

Stalin donates Rs 1 lakh to tribal girl: Appreciating the 16-year-old tribal girl C Sreedevi who secured 95% in Class X Kerala board of examinations, DMK president MK Stalin on Friday donated ₹1 lakh to her. On behalf of Stalin, former minister MP Saminathan, Madathukulam MLA R Jayaramakrishnan, district secretary (Tirupur South) of DMK Ela Padmanaban and other DMK functionaries handed over the cash to the girl at her settlement Poochukottamparai tribal settlement in Udumalpet range of ATR in Tirupur district. The settlement has no power supply, transportation facilities or mobile network coverage.

Senior lawyer VT Gopalan dead

Senior lawyer VT Gopalan dead

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  11.07.2020

Ace senior lawyer and former additional solicitor-general of India V T Gopalan died of cardiac arrest in the wee hours of Friday. He was 78.

The Queen Mary’s College on the Marina promenade and a vast open area of Anna University would thank the designated senior, as he successfully defended central move stalling the Jayalalaithaa regime’s move to build a new secretariat complex after demolishing them, said senior counsel and DMK MP P Wilson, who was assistant solicitor-general during the period. It was T R Baalu, who as the then Union minister for environment and forests, made central clearance a must for taking up a project of such size.

Identified by DMK leader Murasoli Maran for additional solicitor-general of India post, VTG represented the Centre in the high courts of Madras, undivided Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala for eight years from 2000. He also had the distinction of having served under both Congress and BJP-led central governments.

A lawyer with 54 years of practice, VTG was associated with such doyens of the Bar as N G Krishna Iyengar, R Kesava Iyengar, V K T Chari, M K Nambiar, S Mohan Kumaramangalam, K Parasaran, K K Venugopal and G Ramasamy. VTG defended the revenue of the Centre as ASGI in many cases, including constitutional law, customs, central excise, TRIPs, FERA and FEMA. He had also appeared before several other high courts on special assignments for the GoI. He had the privilege of appearing in all high courts and the Supreme Court during his practice.

Workers unpaid, waste piles up in Chitlapakkam

Workers unpaid, waste piles up in Chitlapakkam

Rotting Muck Added Threat In Covid Times, Say Residents

Oppili.P@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.07.2020

Residents of Chitlappakkam now live amid a constant stink as garbage collection in 18 wards in the suburb has come to a standstill. The conservancy workers have not been paid salaries and this was the reason for the civic chaos, an official from the panchayat said.

President of Chitlapakkam Muthulakshmi Nagar Welfare Association, L Sundararajan said members of ‘Kizahdi Women Self Help Group’ were engaged in door-to-door garbage collection in the area. “They collected waste from every street with tricycles and minivans. But the garbage collection was stopped as the panchayat had not paid salaries of the workers,” said Sundararajan.

When a petition to this effect was sent to the chief minister’s cell last month, workers collecting garbage on tricycles were paid but not those who collected waste in minivans.

An official from the panchayat, on condition of anonymity, confirmed to TOI that there were salary dues. “Due to nonpayment of charges, garbage collection from 60% of the streets in Chitlappakkam and door-to-door garbage collection have been affected,” the official added.

With fear of Covid-19 all around, residents fear the uncleared, rotting garbage will be an added threat to their health, Sundararajan said.

Chitlappakkam has 365 streets with more than 50,000 people living in nearly 10,000 houses. Garbage is currently being collected from only 11 of the 365 streets and garbage is piling up in front of every household in the remaining streets, he added.

When contacted, executive officer of Madambakkam town panchayat, Ganesan, who is also in charge of Chitlappakkam, said while issues over payment of salaries were being sorted out. “Those collecting garbage on tricycles have been paid. Soon, the issue with minivans will be put in order”.

Chitlapakkam has 365 streets and a population of more than 50,000 people. Garbage is being collected from only 11 streets now since the panchayat has not paid the conservancy workers

Students want PG med exams cancelled

Students want PG med exams cancelled

Chennai:  11.07.2020

Service Doctors and Postgraduates Association (SDPGA) has requested Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University not to conduct university exams when they are engaged in Covid-19 prevention.

The exams scheduled for May were postponed due to the lockdown.A revised schedule released on Friday said the exams will begin in August. With many colleges converted into Covid hospitals and professors posted in Covid wards, it is hard to engage them for exam duty. Postgraduates on Covid duty since March were physically and mentally exhausted, SDPGA said.

Dr Sudha Seshayyan, university vice-chancellor said, “We have not cancelled final examination every before. request will be placed before the governing council and the MCI”. TNN

Litmus test: Next 15 days will chart path of city’s Covid curve

FIGHTING COVID-19

Litmus test: Next 15 days will chart path of city’s Covid curve

Numbers Falling, But Experts Caution Against Premature Celebration

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

11.07.2020

The effects of the relaxation in lockdown norms since Monday – an increase in crowds in public places – may have its effect from Saturday. If in the next 15 days the number of cases and deaths do not increase, Chennai can say it has flattened the curve, say epidemiologists.

All the virus needs is a host, says infectious diseases expert Dr V Ramasubramanian. “We are giving it lots of hosts when we crowd shops and fail to wear masks,” he said.

Covid-19 symptoms – fever, cough, cold, breathlessness, loss or smell/ taste and diarrhoea – usually start between the 5th and 10th day of exposure. “It takes another 2-3 days for them to get to the doctor and receive the test results. This would mean we are likely to see an uptick in the number of cases over the next two weeks,” he said. The incubation period – the period between exposure to an infection and the appearance of the first symptoms – is 14 days.

It’s still unclear if the virus is spread via tiny droplets, or aerosols, or through larger droplets expelled when an infected person sneezes or coughs. “We know the virus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air and infect people as they inhale. This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation. So, if we have a symptomatic or presymptomatic person they can trigger outbreaks. The chance of it happening is bigger when rules of pandemic are not followed,” says infectious diseases expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan.

Fresh cases in Chennai have been steadily dropping – from 2,206 on July 1 to 1205 on Friday – although adjoining districts such as Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur have been seeing an up and down variation. On July 1, the three districts together had 4,67 cases, 629 on July 3, and 410 on June 7. But for the next two days, they together had 600 new cases and on Friday had 522.

Many ministers and officials have been tweeting that the city has flattened the curve, but public health experts warn it may be too early to say. Senior virologist Dr T Jacob John of Christian Medical College said the state is climbing towards the peak – when the same number of cases is seen for at least a week. “This week, if there is no increase Chennai can rejoice. This may happen if the surveillance during lockdown is good. If fever clinics are doing their jobs and testing numbers are high we will still be able to isolate positive cases and stop the spread,” he said.

National Institute of Epidemiology deputy director Dr Prabhdeep Kaur said flattening the curve will depend on doubling time, daily cases and deaths and positivity rate. “Each one of these factors shows the infection is down. During this time, the number of tests being done should not decrease,” she said.

We are giving Covid-19 lots of hosts when we crowd shops and fail to wear masks

Dr V Ramasubramanian | INFECTIOUS DISEASES EXPERT

No tests for SRMIST, VIT; Class XII marks admission criterion

No tests for SRMIST, VIT; Class XII marks admission criterion

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:11.07.2020

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) have decided to cancel their entrance exams due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic. The admissions in these institutions will be conducted based on Class XII board exam marks for 2020-21.

While VIT announced its decision on Friday, SRMIST may announce its decision in a day or two after finalising the modalities of admissions.

Around two lakh engineering aspirants were to take VIT Engineering Entrance Examination (VITEEE) in various cities. "Conducting VITEEE-2020 in various cities with rising infections has become risky and dangerous. To keep the student and parent community safe, VITEEE-2020 stands cancelled. The admission will be based on Class XII / pre-university marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics/ biology," VIT said in a statement.

Those who scored in JEE (Main) will be given weightage in admissions. The forms for providing the marks and JEE (Main) scores have already been provided on the VIT's website www.vit.ac.in.

"We have also decided to cancel our entrance examination SRM Joint Engineering Entrance Examination (SRMJEEE) and working on modalities like normalising marks among various boards. We will make an announcement in next few days," said Sandeep Sancheti, vice-chancellor of SRMIST.

He said conducting any competitive exam in the present situation would be very challenging. The university also will admit students based on JEE (Main) exam scores.

Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology has convened its board of studies meeting next week to take a decision on conducting the entrance exam.

Meanwhile, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) conducted the Vels Scholarship Admission Test (V-SAT) on July 1. "More than 10,000 students took the online test and we are in the process of releasing the results. We will offer scholarships to top 500 students," said Ishari K Ganesh, chancellor of VISTAS.

While VIT announced its decision on Friday, SRMIST may do so in a day or two after finalising modalities of admissions