Notice to State, UGC, MKU

 Notice to State, UGC, MKU

22/09/2020

Staff Reporter Madurai

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the State government, UGC and Madurai Kamaraj University in a PIL petition that challenged the conduct of final semester examinations.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam ordered notices in the PIL petition filed by R. Murali, former Principal of Madura College, who also served as the Academic Council, Senate and Syndicate member of the university. He challenged the mode of conduct of the examinations.

The petitioner said the State had passed an order to conduct final semester examinations to various colleges through online, offline or by blending both online and offline modes. Permission was granted to the university to conduct the exam only through online mode. Under these circumstances, the university issued a notification for the conduct of the examination by adopting the online mode. The students after writing the test in an A4 size paper were asked to take a photo of the same and send it to the university through WhatsApp. This was not online mode and credibility of the exam was at stake. Parents were asked by the university to act as supervisors. This was a mockery of the system.

The case was adjourned to October 15.

UGC approves academic calendar guidelines for first-year UG and PG

UGC approves academic calendar guidelines for first-year UG and PG

As per the guidelines, academic session 2020-21 may commence from November1 for first year students.

Published: 22nd September 2020 04:55 AM 

 By Pearl Maria Dsouza

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The University Grants Commission on Monday approved the academic calendar guidelines for first year undergraduate (UG) and post graduate (PG) students for the academic session 2020-21, in view of the pandemic. Based on the recommendation of the expert committee, the officials have come out with an academic calendar for admissions and examinations for the first year PG and UG students.

As per the guidelines, academic session 2020-21 may commence from November1 for first year students. However, if there is a delay in the declaration of results in the qualifying examination, the universities may plan and start the academic session by November 18, the commission said.There is no hard and fast rule on holding online and offline classes, Bhushan Patwardhan, vice president of UGC, told The New Indian Express.

Merit or entrance-based admissions for these students should complete by October end and the remaining vacant seats should be filled up by November 30, the UGC has suggested. “Institutes that complete their admission process sooner can start their academic year earlier and need not have to wait until November 18. The leeway was given considering the situation in Maharashtra, where examinations will end by October,” Patwardhan said.

The commission said that a full refund will be made on account 

of cancellation of admissions/ migration of students up to November 30. This means that the entire fees including all charges will be refunded to the students (Zero cancellation charge). Thereafter, on cancellation or withdrawal of admissions up to December 31, the deduction of not more than Rs 1,000 can be made as processing fee.Universities have been advised to curtail their vacations for the timely awarding of degrees to the students.

SSLC supplementary exams start with maths 

The SSLC board on Monday started the supplementary examinations for more than 2.1 lakh students across the state. The exam began with the Mathematics paper. Students, who are Covid-19 positive, are being allocated room in the Covid Care Centre. However, the board did not give out any figures of number of students who attended the exam on Monday.

Teachers oppose English in UG courses

 Teachers oppose English in UG courses

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.09.2020

The joint action council of college teachers (JAC) of Tamil Nadu has opposed the move to introduce professional English, a specialised course to improve command over the language, across all undergraduate degrees from 2020-21.

“It is surprising that the higher education   department wants to teach professional English with subject teachers instead of language teachers. Only language teachers can improve the command over the language,” M Krishnaraj, convener of JAC, said in a release. The JAC criticized the vice-chancellors of state universities for not properly advising the government on standard procedures for introducing a course. The move is facing much criticism as subject teachers have been asked to teach professional English and allotment of academic hours is becoming difficult as universities have to remove a core subject that would alter the course combination.

Int’l flights on but response remains sluggish -

Int’l flights on but response remains sluggish -

The Times Of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:

International flights may have resumed under the ‘air bubble’ concept early this month but passenger response is sluggish. Most of the flights have hardly 100 passengers or less as only those who have emergencies or those who are returning to rejoin families are flying.

On Sunday and Monday, the airport handled only 1,500 passengers including arrivals and departures though there were 16 flights. Most of the flights are to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

An airport official said, “Passenger numbers are erratic. Some of the flights have good load factor while others have only around 100 passengers which is quite low for international flights. We expect the passenger numbers to pick up gradually.”

Quarantine restrictions is a major stumbling block, he added. Though rules have been relaxed in such a way that people who have a Covid-19 negative test certificate can get exemption from a full institutional quarantine, people hesitate.

“It is not easy to get a test done abroad and the tests are expensive too. So many people are deferring their trip till rules will be relaxed further. More people will travel if the need for quarantine is scrapped,” he added.

Many flights from Europe and the US are allowed under the ‘air bubble’ scheme via Delhi but in spite of the demand for people to return to Chennai only 40 to 50 passengers are there on a flight from the US to Chennai via Delhi. A majority of the passengers on these flights get down in Delhi.

Nevertheless, airlines have approached the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to start more services under the ‘air bubble’ concept.

An official said that more airlines are eager to resume international operations. “British Airways has already started their service from Heathrow while Lufthansa is waiting to resume services to Frankfurt these are the two popular European destinations the airport used to have in the pre-shutdown days.” However, frequency is less. This is also considered as a factor that has impacted the passenger flow.

Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said, “Students have started to travel to Europe and the UK. We have bookings to Dublin while many people have started to fly to Dubai and Muscat to join duty and also to rejoin families. Air fares are competitive in private airlines which is supposed to encourage more travellers. But still the passenger numbers are not that high.”

More international flights may start in October or November. Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Singapore, Colombo and Dubai were some of the popular routes from Chennai in the pre-shutdown days.

Airline officials hope that IPL may trigger the habit of leisure travel.

Server error forces students to courier answer sheets -

Server error forces students to courier answer sheets -

The Times Of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.09.2020

A majority of students who took the online exam conducted by the University of Madras on Monday struggled to download question papers and upload answer scripts due to server-related problems.

Many post offices in and around the city were crowded with students sending answer sheets to their colleges by speed post. Some students also rushed to the colleges to submit answer scripts.

As per guidelines, students have to download the question paper using a login id and password, and upload written answer scripts.

B Siva, a final year BCom student, said he wrote the advanced cost and accounting exam on Monday. “But I was not able to download the question paper. With the help from our department, we got the question paper.I was also not able to upload the answer scripts and couriered those to my college,” he said.

Dinesh, a final year student from the visual communication department of a city college, said he went to his college to submit answer scripts.

A professor from a city college said they have formed WhatsApp groups for final year students to distribute question papers. “Out of 100 students, around 20 were able to upload answer scripts,” he said.

There were crowds outside college campuses as students gathered to submit answer scripts. “Students had to post their answer scripts within three hours. There were huge crowds at post offices. Fearing they may not be able to send their answer scripts and acknowledgement on time, many went to the colleges,” principal of a city college said.

A University of Madras official said students were not able to upload answer scripts due to lack of bandwidth at their homes. “The university allowed the students to courier their answer scripts to their colleges or submit in person wherever possible. Server issues were addressed by a team of experts,” he said.

SBI offers up to 2 yrs more for repaying home & retail loans

 SBI offers up to 2 yrs more for repaying home & retail loans 

- The Times Of India

Borrowers Will Have To Show Loss Of Income

Mayur.Shetty@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:

State Bank of India will provide relief to home and retail loan borrowers impacted by Covid-19 in the form of either a moratorium of up to 24 months or by rescheduling instalments and extending the tenure by a period equivalent to the moratorium granted.

The moratorium period can be extended by a maximum of two years, India’s largest lender said Monday, setting the tone for other banks, specially PSU players.

In line with RBI’s onetime relief, the scheme is available to borrowers who had availed of a home loan before March 1, 2020, and were regular in repayments until the Covid-19 lockdown. But the borrowers will have to demonstrate that their income has been hit because of the pandemic.

“For the purpose of restructuring, the bank will depend entirely on the customer’s assessment of when they expect their income to be normalised or to get employed,” said SBI managing director C S Setty said while announcing the scheme.

HDFC, ICICI may follow SBI’s lead by end of Sept

The country’s largest lender has been the first to roll out a protocol for restructuring loans of retail borrowers who were affected by Covid-19. Other lenders including HDFC and ICICI Bank are expected to follow suit before the end of the month. To facilitate borrowers to understand their eligibility for restructuring, SBI has launched an online portal to enable borrowers check their eligibility for all retail loans. This includes home, education, auto, and other personal loans. The restructuring will give breathing space for a borrower until their income is normalised or they get re-employed. Also, they will not be classified as defaulters or non-performing assets. The downside is that the bank will charge 35 basis points extra as interest since the RBI needs them to set aside additional provisions for these loans. This means that despite initial relief over the tenure of the loan, the borrower will end up paying more than on a regular loan without restructuring.

“We have put in place a scheme for restructuring and it is available to borrowers through our internal portal. We have also intimated borrowers but don’t expect much of traction for restructuring given the inquiries,” said Rajkiran Rai, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India.

HDFC Bank has put in place a facility to submit online applications. The bank has said that it will report the loan to the credit bureau as ‘restructured’ and as per norms, all loans availed will be classified as restructured even if only one loan is being restructured. “The dues for the moratorium period can be capitalised. Or else it will be very strenuous for the borrower to repay. Capitalising the dues will reduce the pressure on the borrower and we are also working on this by elongating the term of the loan,” said Siddhartha Mohanty, MD & CEO, LIC Housing Finance. He added that even if the loan term is extended, typically home loan borrowers end up pre-paying their loans by seven to ten years.

Retired govt doctor in Ariyalur claims nationalised bank refused to give loan as he didn't know Hindi

Retired govt doctor in Ariyalur claims nationalised bank refused to give loan as he didn't know Hindi

Hurt by the treatment allegedly meted out to him at the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of a nationalised bank, 76-year-old C Balasubramanian served a legal notice to the bank’s manager.

Last Updated: 21st September 2020 10:29 PM 

C Balasubramanian had an account at the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of the nationalised bank since 2002. C Balasubramanian had an account at the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of the nationalised bank since 2002. By P Thiruselvam

Express News Service

ARIYALUR: Can a bank loan be refused simply because the applicant does not know Hindi? That is the allegation put forward by a retired government doctor in Ariyalur district. 

Hurt by the treatment allegedly meted out to him at the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of a nationalised bank, 76-year-old C Balasubramanian served a legal notice to the bank’s manager through an advocate. 

Balasubramanian alleged that the manager refused him a loan after he told him he does not know Hindi. He is seeking Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the mental stress he has undergone.

The notice, sent via registered post and received at the bank, stated that denial of loan for not knowing Hindi could be termed as deficiency in service. The notice said that if the compensation is not paid, the Ariyalur district consumer court would be moved. A copy of the notice has been sent to the chief grievance redressal officer of the bank.

Balasubramanian, lives in Jayankondam in Ariyalur district, having retired from the Jayakondam Government Hospital in 2001. He has had an account at the Gangaikondacholapuram branch of the nationalised bank since 2002.

76-year-old C Balasubramanian

Ten days ago he went to the bank branch seeking a loan to build a commercial complex on a piece of land he owned.

Balasubramanian said he met with bank manager Vishal Kamble. The doctor said that Kamble asked if he knew Hindi as the manager was from Maharashtra and did not understand what Balasubramian was saying.

According to Balasubramanian, he replied that he only knew Tamil and English. This allegedly resulted in a heated argument over the language in which the duo should converse. The doctor claims that the manager denied him the loan due to the language issue, without even considering his application.

"The manager also told me that my land documents were in Tamil, and he could not check them. I was very hurt by this treatment. I am a senior citizen and a 15-year account holder, I don’t deserve to be treated this way; being denied a loan without even checking my bank documents,” he lamented.

Local residents said that this was not an isolated incident. According to locals, Kamble rarely interacted with customers and it was the assistant bank manager who handled most of the customers there.

When The New Indian Express reached out to Kamble for his version of events, he said, “my higher-ups have asked me not to talk to the media about this.”

“Had he said that the bank could not give a loan for some other reason, I could have reached out to other banks. However, effectively saying that loans will be given only to customers who know Hindi is not right. Does that mean that the bank will not give loan to anyone who doesn’t know Hindi?" Balasubramanian asked.