Varsities to launch new courses

 Varsities to launch new courses

State panel recommends inclusion of four- and five-year programmes

20/09/2020

 G. Krishnakumar KOCHI

The Higher Education Department has asked universities in the State to initiate steps to launch new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in innovative areas by November 1 this year.

These include four- and five-year programmes recommended by an expert committee set up by the government. The universities have been told to receive applications from accredited government and aided colleges and unaccredited aided colleges managed by Scheduled Tribe trusts.

Each college could apply for short-listed courses in the order of priority. As these courses are suggestive, any other course recommended by the universities concerned may also be included, according to a directive issued to the Registrars of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi, Calicut, Kannur and APJ Abdul Kalam Technological Universities. All varsities need to seek the permission of the Chancellor expeditiously to start the programmes by November 1.

The four- and five-year courses may be launched this year only in colleges with adequate facilities and having a National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) score of 3.26 or ranking under 100 in the National Institute Ranking Framework, 2020. The universities should recommend the courses considering the syllabus and evaluation. The assistance of faculty from outside higher educational institutions offering similar courses can be sought while preparing the syllabus and credit requirements.

The universities should consider and implement changes in the examinations proposed by the committee headed by Sabu Thomas, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, this year itself. It should shift from memory-based testing to creative learning expressed through assignments, presentations and academic writings and earning of substantial credits through online courses from the prescribed list of global online courses. The government order said the target of increasing the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 48% from the present 37% by 2030 can be achieved only by a collective effort by all stakeholders. This called for timely changes in the exam system as well to ensure qualitative improvement of the learning outcomes.

Some of the innovative programmes suggested by the expert committee included four-year courses in Epidemiology, Nanoscience and triple-main programmes in Modern Biology, Astrophysics and Disaster Management.

Salary cut may be limited to five days instead of six

 Salary cut may be limited to five days instead of six

20/09/2020

Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Amidst opposition from many quarters, the government has commenced the groundwork to deduct the salary of employees for six months to raise funds to overcome the financial crisis in the wake of COVID-19.

To give relief to employees, the government is considering deducting salary for five days instead of six days every month till February 2021. Relief from the salary cut for those who have availed themselves of the refundable loan from the provident fund and those who have taken the Onam advance and to exempt those having salary up to ₹30,000 is also under consideration.

Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has already held talks with the recognised unions. Most of the union representatives have opposed the move. Dr. Isaac has asked the union leaders to give their views in writing.

Prof-Left unions such as the Joint Council, Federation of State Employees and Teachers Organisation, NGO Union, and the Secretariat Employees Association came out with statements on Saturday opposing the salary cut.

As per rule, the government has to issue a Government Order for all Cabinet decisions within 24 hours. The delay in issuing the salary cut order was reportedly due to the consultations with the recognised unions as announced by the Chief Minister. Following opposition from the Left unions, Dr. Isaac has convened a meeting of employees unions on Tuesday. With three consecutive holidays from Saturday, the department is trying to issue the Government Order on Tuesday itself. The proposed salary cut from September, to be known as COVID-19 Income Support Scheme, will also attract 9% annual interest till it is deposited in the PF on April 1, 2021.

Students face problems in uploading answer scripts

Students face problems in uploading answer scripts

20/09/2020

P.A. NarayaniMADURAI

A section of final year students from various institutions affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University, including autonomous colleges, have flagged several issues while scanning and uploading their answer scripts in PDF format after the completion of the examinations.

G. Balamurugan, a final year undergraduate student from an autonomous institution, said there were several technical snags with the college server, when many students tried to upload their scanned answer sheets after completion of the exam. “They have set a deadline of one hour after the completion of the exam to upload the answer scripts. Students often get apprehensive as they are unable to upload them within the deadline,” he said.

Also, there are difficulties in scanning and uploading all the pages of the answer script in PDF formats from mobile phones as it consumes a large quantum of data, he added.

For many students, especially those from interior pockets, the options of sending the answer scripts by courier or submitting them in person at the educational institutions are not viable, said Students Federation of India district secretary S. Veldeva.

G. Senthil, another student of an autonomous college, said they were instructed to submit the scripts in person at the college, in addition to uploading them. “Many students from rural pockets cannot reach the college on time,” he said.

Karthik of District Youth Federation of India said many students from underprivileged families do not have access to the necessary digital infrastructure to complete the online exams. “There are a few cases where two students from a family have to upload the answer scripts within an hour by using a single smartphone,” he said.

Mr. Veldeva said many students were unable to attend the online classes that were held for the last semester during the pandemic. “Hence, the online exams must be scrapped. Instead, they can evaluate the students based on an assignment,” he said.

Civil hospital ‘forgets’ to do postmortem

 Civil hospital ‘forgets’ to do postmortem

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Rajkot: 19.09.2020

A 70-year-old accident victim’s grieving family in Gondal were subjected to more trauma after they were asked to bring his body to the Rajkot Civil Hospital allegedly because doctors there forgot to conduct his postmortem.

The furious family members of Batuk Kandoria, who died in a road accident on September 12 in Gondal town, had a heated altercation with the staff at the hospital on Friday. After Kandoria succumbed at the civil hospital at around 5am on Friday, his body was handed over to the family who took it to Gondal, 40 km from Rajkot.

Babu Kandoria, younger brother of the deceased told TOI: “We completed all the post-death rituals at home. Just as we were about to start for the crematorium, I got a call from hospital saying that we are required to take my brother’s body back Rajkot civil hospital.”

“The person who called me said they had forgotten to perform the mandatory postmortem,” Babu said.

At around 10:30am, the deceased’s kin again travelled to Rajkot with his body for the procedure. Finally, it was handed over to them again at 2:30pm.

Dr. Pankaj Buch, medical superintendent of the civil hospital, could not be contacted for comments despite several attempts.

“Had there been even half an hour’s delay in calling us, how would they have conducted the postmortem?” Babu asked.

Relatives of accident victim forced to bring back his body from Gondal to Rajkot Civil Hospital just 30 minutes before the cremation

45% engineering seats likely to go vacant in Gujarat’s colleges

 45% engineering seats likely to go vacant in Gujarat’s colleges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:19.09.2020

The Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) today announced the provisional merit list for engineering courses according to which 27,261 candidates have been chosen. This will leave about 45% seats or about 22,791 seats vacant for the admission committee.

In all there are 64,782 seats this year of which ACPC is given the task to fill 50,051 seats. The remaining seats are to be filled by the self-financed colleges. In the provisional merit list, 23,483 candidates are from Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board, 3,390 are from CBSE, 256 are from ICSE, NIOS 87 and 45 are domicile candidates. This year, the total number of seats for engineering has reduced as compared to 73,345 engineering seats last year. As many as 6,000 seats have been reduced after closure of five self-financed colleges. In the case of government colleges, there is a reduction of 2,130 seats in faculties like EC, IC, power electronics, mining and production engineering.

Earlier this week, 900 new candidates were registered after ACPC extended the deadline for online registration for the third time. The final merit list is expected to be announced next week. The deadline was first extended from August 8 to August

28. It was later revisited and a new deadline of September 5 was given for registration. By then, as many as 29,000 students had registered online. The admission committee however decided to extend the deadline given the large number of vacant seats in engineering colleges. But only 900 fresh candidates have registered, leaving about half of the total engineering seats empty.

There are currently 66,128 seats available in degree engineering colleges.

Of these, 9,086 seats are of 16 government run colleges, 1,622 seats of four grantin aid colleges, 543 are of 2 engineering institutes run on PPP model, 29,134 are of 72 self-financed institutes (SFIs) affiliated with Gujarat Technological University and 24,013 are of 38 SFIs associated with private universities in the state. The remaining 204 seats are of an autonomous college.

The admission process for engineering and medical courses is expected to be completed only by November following which students will start attending college from December, according to sources. As a result, students are likely to be behind schedule by at least one semester in the new academic year, sources added.

Sex workers use tech to beat pandemic blues

Sex workers use tech to beat pandemic blues

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 19.09.2020

Mallika (31), who also has the street name Rani, has had a regular spot near the Majestic bus terminal for the past six years. She would ply her trade with travellers and locals and used her earnings to feed her two children. But the Covid crisis and lockdown left her out of work and penniless. She’s one of the many commercial sex workers who lost their livelihood due to the pandemic after social distancing and avoiding physical contact became a norm.

Well-paid, English-speaking sex workers made the shift to remote technology early during the lockdown. Conventional workers, those on the streets, have not been so lucky and almost driven into starvation. Now, they too are taking the tech route to make ends meet and some NGOs in the city are training them to handle smartphones for sex work, not just to attract clients but also stay vigilant with its safety features and tracking technology.

With Covid-19 keeping away clients, sex workers in city have started using online options and host one-on-ones through apps

Most women cover faces during sessions; recording not allowed

Kurian George is a Kochi-based spice trader who used to frequent Bengaluru with his friends. He usually stays at a posh hotel in the CBD. They are friends with a courtesan who goes by the name Laila and her friends who meet George and his friends at his hotel suite for parties often. “It was monthly entertainment for me and my friends but the pandemic nixed all our travel plans,” he said.

He and his friends started engaging with Laila via with video-telephony app Zoom. She said: “This is my business and I need to hold on to my regulars or they’ll look for other options. During the lockdown, I began a Zoom session and sent invites to clients for single and group sessions.”

According to Laila, many co-workers also started online options and oneon-ones are often through Whatspp, Telegram or Kik Messenger while group meets are hosted on Zoom, Skype and Google Teams. The steamy sessions unfold often with women covering their faces with strict no-no to recording by the receiver. She accepts payment in advance through e-wallet options.

Elsewhere, a transgender person from Ulsoor (street name Saroja) is an active member on gay dating apps. “I used to stand on MG Road but Covid completely killed my livelihood. Then, one of my regulars introduced me to video chatting and helped me open an account on Paytm,” says the 36-year-old who has been meeting clients online through Whatsapp video. Saroja introduced three friends to online interactions and receiving payments through e-wallets in advance.

Survey among workers

Solidarity foundation, a Bengalurubased NGO, conducted a survey among women sex workers on cellphones they own and their knowledge on smartphone usage. “We did among 100 workers, mostly from the lower sections of the society, and found many aren’t very savvy with smartphones but most received demands from clients to use it for online interactions,” said executive director Shubha Chacko. Her team has been training them to use smartphones not just for work but also safety through apps to send location information to peers. “They’re often secretive about their profession and use of smartphones is a double-edged sword. We teach them pros and cons and to remain vigilant and not fall for recordings or photography,” she adds. Nisha Gulur, coordinator, Karnataka Sex Workers Union, an initiative to tutor workers on smartphone usage to protect their livelihood has been planned.

Row erupts as Google drops Paytm from app store, then brings it back

Row erupts as Google drops Paytm from app store, then brings it back

Digbijay.Mishra@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:19.09.2020

High drama unfolded on Friday afternoon as Google removed mobile payment app Paytm from its Play Store, citing breach of its gambling restrictions, before bringing it back again by evening. Paytm’s fantasy gaming application was also removed ahead of the start of the IPL on Saturday, and was not back till the filing of this report.

The removal of Paytm, which takes away the ability to get new users, elicited widespread disapproval among India’s startup ecosystem as the tech giant’s unit Google Pay competes with it in India.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who said Google was acting like “judge, jury and executioner”, told TOI it was notified in the morning that app was being taken down due to a cricket sticker promo on payments it was running. In the promo, a user who collects five stickers gets a cashback.

‘Google misusing its influence on internet eco’

Many such schemes run across other payment platforms as well. It had also received warnings for promoting Paytm First Games, a sports fantasy platform, on its main application thrice. As Paytm’s app was taken down, Google, without naming Paytm, said in a blog post that it doesn’t allow online casinos or support any unregulated gambling apps that facilitate sports betting. “This includes if an app leads consumers to an external website that allows them to participate in paid tournaments to win real money or cash prizes, it is a violation of our policies,” the US-based internet search giant said. Other online fantasy platforms like Dream11, MPL and My11Circle have also not been available on Google’s Play Store for the last couple of years due to its policy.

Sources said Google’s action was led by Paytm promoting its fantasy gaming unit though its main app. “They (Paytm) were promoting links of Paytm First Games within the main Paytm app. If you click on it, it will take you to the fantasy gaming platform of Paytm, which includes betting. That’s not allowed as per Play Store policy. That's why the app had to be taken down," a person close to the development said. While betting is not allowed in India, various state high courts have called fantasy sports a game of “skill” and not of “chance”, making it legal as of now.

But even as Google does not allow fantasy gaming apps on its app store, these platforms are allowed to advertise on its search engine, which several experts have pointed out as contradictory policy.

The development for Paytm First Games came at a critical time as it has outlined a Rs 300-crore marketing and advertising budget for the next 12 months, starting with IPL. Removal from Google Play Store blocks its main channel to acquire new customers.

Many in the startup ecosystem have questioned if Google’s moves are indicative of misusing its influence on India’s internet economy. Unlike markets like the US where Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS have equal market share, in India the former rules with 90-95% share of smartphones.