Former IIMC DG is new VC of Makhanlal varsity

New Delhi: 08.09.2020

Senior journalist and former IIMC Director General Professor K G Suresh was on Monday appointed Vice-Chancellor of Bhopal's Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, an institution funded by the MP government. Professor Suresh was appointed to the post for four years by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in his capacity as the chairman of the General Council of the University, a state government order said.

Suresh is currently serving as the Dean of the School of Modern Media, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun. Earlier, he has served as the Director General of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) -- the country's premier media training institution; and also as a senior consulting editor with the public broadcaster Doordarshan News. Suresh is a Member of the Academic Council of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University; Society of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata and Research Committee of Indian Council of Social Science Research. PTI

Karnataka HC says Gandhi statue not place of worship

Karnataka HC says Gandhi statue not place of worship

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:08.09.2020

By no stretch of imagination can a statue of Mahatma Gandhi be called ‘a place of worship’, the Karnataka high court observed on Monday, turning down a PIL questioning the grant of licence to Tonique, a liquor boutique on MG Road.

Bengaluru-based advocate AV Amarnathan had filed the PIL, saying the liquor vend is 30 metres from the Gandhi statue. Stating that Rule 3(3) of under Karnataka Excise Licences (General Conditions) Rules, 1967, prohibits liquor vends near places of worship and similar places, he had said the Gandhi statue falls in that category as citizens visit his statue every year to pay respects to the father of the nation.

Rejecting the plea, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka said even Gandhi would not have reconciled to the thought of him being worshipped.

Though the petitioner orally mentioned about rule 5 (2)(a) of the said rules of 1967 wherein the authority can reject a licence if there is a likelihood of peace, tranquility and morality getting breached or affected, the bench noted that though the rules provide for that, he had not pleaded it in his petition.

The court perused the report submitted by the local tahsildar, who undertook a spot inspection on July 23, following a July 9 order of the court. The inspection was carried out in the presence of the petitioner and representative of Tonique liquor vend.

As per the tahsildar’s report, St Mark’s Cathedral is 144 metres from the vend and the deputy commissioner of police office 126.5 metres away — well beyond the 100-metre minimum distance prescribed for granting of licence.

Though Amarnathan claimed the tahsildar did not properly conduct the inspection and he had submitted a protest regarding the report, the bench said the petitioner has not shown any material to indicate the church and DCP’s office are within the prohibited distance of 100 metres.

The petitioner had pointed about the existence of Bal Bhavan, a children’s play centre, within 50 metres. The petitioner had sought withdrawal of licence granted to the vend and action against officials responsible for granting it.

In the earlier proceedings, the challenge on that ground was given up after he could not show Bal Bhavan was in the category of institutions notified under the excise rules.

An advocate had filed a PIL against the grant of licence to a liquor boutique, just 30 metres from the Gandhi statue

4,000 more to take NEET this year

4,000 more to take NEET this year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 08.09.2020

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam to be held on September 13 will see participation from at least 80,000 candidates from Gujarat. This year higher number of students have registered amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

In 2019, about 76,000 students had taken NEET exams. The NEET score is taken into account for candidates seeking admission in medical colleges across the country.

The district collectors have been asked to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) laid down by the Centre for conducting these exams. Every student will be checked using a thermal gun at the time of entry to the examination centre and every exam centre will be completely sanitized before and after the test. District authorities have been instructed to avoid crowding at test centres and to implement social distancing during the test.

There are at present about 5,400 medical seats, 1,200 dental seats, 3,600 in ayurveda programme and about 3,300 in homeopathy course in Gujarat. It has been quite some time now that a proposal for setting up a brownfield medical college is pending. It is unlikely that any new medical college proposal will be cleared this year, said sources.

The deadline for inspection of medical colleges ends in October. The Medical Council of India cannot approve any new colleges after the inspection period as it will be too late, said sources. Registration and formal admission process is expected to be carried out by the admission committee next month.

The lockdown gave an opportunity for candidates as they could take more time in preparation for the test. Many students had also started taking online coaching classes during the lockdown period.

Gandhi statue not place of worship: K’taka HC on PIL

Gandhi statue not place of worship: K’taka HC on PIL

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:08.09.2020

By no stretch of imagination can a statue of Mahatma Gandhi be called ‘a place of worship’, the Karnataka high court observed on Monday, turning down a PIL questioning the grant of licence to Tonique, a liquor boutique on MG Road.

Bengaluru-based advocate AV Amarnathan had filed the PIL, saying the liquor vend is 30 metres from the Gandhi statue. Stating that Rule 3(3) of under Karnataka Excise Licences (General Conditions) Rules, 1967, prohibits liquor vends near places of worship and similar places, he had said the Gandhi statue falls in that category as citizens visit his statue every year to pay respects to the father of the nation.

Rejecting the plea, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka said even Gandhi would not have reconciled to the thought of him being worshipped.

No material submitted to prove liquor vend within prohibited distance: HC

Though the petitioner orally mentioned about rule 5 (2)(a) of the said rules of 1967 wherein the authority can reject a licence if there is a likelihood of peace, tranquility and morality getting breached, the bench noted that though the rules provide for that, he had not pleaded it in his petition.

The court perused the report submitted by the local tahsildar, who undertook a spot inspection on July 23, following a July 9 order of the court. The inspection was carried out in the presence of the petitioner and representative of Tonique liquor vend. As per the tahsildar’s report, St Mark’s Cathedral is 144 metres from the vend and the deputy commissioner of police office 126.5 metres away — well beyond the 100-metre minimum distance prescribed for granting of licence.

The bench said the petitioner has not shown any material to indicate they are within the prohibited distance. The petitioner had sought withdrawal of the vend’s licence.

KPSC told to give info on visually impaired

Bengaluru:

The high court on Monday directed Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) to furnish information as to how many visually impaired candidates had appeared for the gazetted probationers preliminary exam held on August 24.

A division bench headed by chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka also sought details of visually impaired candidates who were provided with scribes and their qualifications.

Earlier, the petitioners’ counsel claimed though 20-minute grace time per hour was provided as per the court’s direction, the scribes provided were not conforming to guidelines issued by the Centre. TNN

JNU convocation in Nov, virtually

JNU convocation in Nov, virtually

08.09.2020

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University on Monday announced that it would hold its convocation ceremony virtually this year in view of the Covid-19 situation. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the varsity has decided to hold the convocation to make it a memorable event for the students, said JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar. “A convocation is a special moment in the life of a student. It is all about celebrating the scholarly achievement of a student after years of hard work by the university, family members and friends,” he added. TNN

Issue digital degrees in 7 days to students with urgent need: HC to DU

Issue digital degrees in 7 days to students with urgent need: HC to DU

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:08.09.2020

Delhi High Court on Monday gave DU seven working days to issue digital degree certificates to students who have already graduated and urgently require the document for taking admission in a foreign university or for employment.

“Getting a degree is an event for a student but it has really become a torture,” Justice Prathiba M Singh remarked, after being informed that 30,000 students have applied for digital documents but DU has been unable to comply with the court’s earlier order and was instead demanding physical copy of proofs.

The high court noted that there appeared to be a lack of coordination between Delhi University and its lawyers. It asked the university to place before it separately the timeline by when digital degrees will be issued on urgent and non-urgent requests. It said the students, who have already made urgent requests for a digital degree on DU’s website, shall again send an email to the varsity and attach any document stating the urgency, including admission in foreign university or employment purpose.

“For such students, digital degree certificates be issued within seven working days. Requirement for physical copy of the documents be removed with immediate effect,” Justice Singh said, pointing out that earlier it was informed by the Dean (Examinations) and Joint Director of Delhi University Computer Centre that all the data of students up till November 2019 was available with DU.

However, on Monday, DU submitted it had data of students only till 2017, which can be matched. “This is a completely messed up situation. There is no data of 2018 and 2019,” a surprised HC remarked.

30k  STUDENTS HAVE APPLIED FOR DIGITAL DOCUMENTS, COURT WAS TOLD

DU colleges to send seating plans to students in advance

DU colleges to send seating plans to students in advance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  08.09.2020

Delhi University has issued guidelines to its colleges for holding the second phase of open book exams, which will start from September 14. The colleges have been told to adhere to strict social distancing norms and maintain a standard of hygiene as per government guidelines.

The colleges will also mandatorily ask students to fill a self-declaration form before allowing them entry to the exam centres. Staff members at the centres have been told to wear masks, carry thermo guns and ensure a gap between students’ seats during the exam.

“The college or department will have to manually take attendance from students with a signature, unique paper code of the paper, date and session of the exam; all while maintaining distance,” the varsity stated.

DU has also asked the colleges to send seating arrangements or plans to the students beforehand on their email IDs or WhatsApp numbers. Advisory notices about social distancing are to be displayed all around the campus.

For students, it is important to fill the mandatory selfdeclaration form, bring their own answer sheets and reach the exam centre on time. Students will also have to maintain social distancing and wear masks at all times.

The second phase of OBE will be held in a blended online/offline mode for those final-year students of UG/PG courses (regular and ex-students), including SOL and NCWEB, who either did not appear, or failed to submit their answer scripts in the first phase of the examination.