High Court dismisses architecture course aspirant’s petition

High Court dismisses architecture course aspirant’s petition

He wanted National Testing Agency to display answer key for drawing paper

24/10/2020

Staff Reporter MADURAI

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed the plea of an architecture course aspirant who sought a direction to the National Testing Agency (NTA) to display the provisional answer key for Drawing Part III paper of B. Arch admission conducted for JEE (Main) examination, April 2020.

The petitioner, T. Kavinraj, said Drawing Part III paper examination was conducted in ‘pen and paper’ offline mode to be attempted on a drawing sheet to test the drawing aptitude of candidates, for which there was no answer key.

He sought display of the answer key so that if candidates were not satisfied with it, they could challenge it.

The NTA submitted that for the subjective paper no answer key was provided and there could not be allotment of partial marks for every stage of drawing.

The answer sheets were assessed by two independent subject experts and if their assessment differed by more than 25 % it was placed for scrutiny before a head expert.then   If the difference between the marks given by the two experts was less than 25%, then the average was taken. The process of dual verification was followed in order to curb the possibility of incorrect assessment and prepare the result in a fair and transparent manner. The petitioner was aware of this system of conduct of the examination, it was submitted.

Justice S. Vaidyanathan observed that the common test was conducted throughout India and for Drawing Part III, which was a subjective paper, there was no need to award marks in stages and to upload the key answers in the website.

Except wishing the candidate ‘All the Best’ to come out with flying colours in the forthcoming examinations, the court said, it could not grant relief to him.

Anna varsity seeks PhD for asst prof jobs, faces opposition

Anna varsity seeks PhD for asst prof jobs, faces opposition

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  24.10.2020 

Citing University Grants Commission’s (UGC) guidelines, candidates who qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET), State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) have opposed Anna University changing the minimum qualification for assistant professors from postgraduation to PhD. They said as per the UGC guidelines, the minimum qualification for arts and science subjects is 55% in postgraduate course and NET qualification.

Anna University has notified 312 vacancies including 139 assistant professors, 106 associate professors and 67 professors in four campuses after a gap of six years. The notification said candidates applying for science and humanities teaching posts in the university should have one year experience after getting their PhDs and that all candidates should have secured first class in UG and PG. If the classification is not available, they should have a minimum 70% score in their programmes. Earlier, the candidates needed a first class in either UG or PG.

“There is no NET for engineering subjects. But fixing PhD as a minimum qualification for arts and science subjects, assistant librarian posts is against UGC guidelines,” said R Thangamuniyandi, secretary, NET SLET Association. He sought a new notification making 55% marks in PG as qualified for arts, science and humanity subjects.

Deemed univs hike MBBS fee by ₹2L/yr

Deemed univs hike MBBS fee by ₹2L/yr

No Cap On Fee; 5-Year Course Costs At Least ₹20L Per Year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.10.2020 

Deemed universities in the state have jacked up tuition fees for undergraduate medical course by up to ₹2.75 lakh a year. The fee for 5.5 years of MBBS could now cost up to ₹13.75 lakh more, excluding caution deposits, hostel, laptop and uniform fee.

Chennai-based deemed universities — Chettinad Academy of Research and Education and Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute will charge ₹24 lakh as annual tuition fee compared to ₹22 lakh in 2019. The revised fee was published on the medical counselling committee website of the Directorate General of Health Services. Annual tuition fee at the Saveetha Medical University has gone up to ₹24.75 lakh from ₹22 lakh in 2019.

“I was hopeful that the government will come up with some regulation to cap the fee for all deemed universities. It’s sad that it did not happen,” said Saravana Kumar R, whose son is aspiring to pursue MBBS this year.

In February 2019, the UGC Regulations 2019 said no deemed university can charge more than the fee prescribed by the committee constituted under the new rules. Nine months later, on November 27, 2019, UGC placed the draft regulations for observation and suggestions of stakeholders. The regulations said, “the institution shall charge from the students only the fee approved and communicated by the fee committee and no other fee shall be demanded or collected by the institution, either directly or indirectly under any other head of account or guise.” It even proposed to impose a fine of ₹10 lakh along with refund of excess fee and penal action.

On Friday, most deemed universities told TOI they did not hear further from the commission and that there have been no circulars asking colleges to cap the fee. Most colleges in Tamil Nadu charge at least ₹20 lakh per year.

Student counsellors say the fee for lab, library, hostel and other services can cost an additional ₹2 lakh. “Students and parents should not just go by the announcement on the webpage. They should read the college prospectus carefully,” said student counsellor Sathish K. In the first round of online counselling, students can choose to join or exit colleges allotted to them, but if they don’t take the seat in the second round, they have to pay a fine of ₹2 lakh, he said.

Many meritorious students do not join deemed university in the centralised counselling. In several colleges, seats are filled only during the “stray seats vacancy counselling” done by the college.

I was hopeful that the government will come up with some regulation to cap the fee for all deemed universities. It’s sad that it did not happen

SARAVANA KUMAR R

Father of an MBBS aspirant

IIT-M to conduct 57th convocation using virtual reality

IIT-M to conduct 57th convocation using virtual reality

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.10.2020 

The 57th convocaion of IIT Madras on Sunday will be held in a ‘mixed reality’ mode with the help of virtual reality technology where animated avatars of students would receive medals and degrees from dignitaries. For the first time, the institute released a teaser of the new mode of the ceremony scheduled to begin at 6pm.

“For the first time in the history of the institute, convocation will be held virtually in aunique ‘mixed reality’ mode, ensuring the safety of all amidst the global pandemic and at the same time enabling our graduating students to have a memorable convocation,” IIT Madras said in an announcement. The unique mode combines the aspects of both real world as well as the virtual world to create a new environment. It will see the interaction of physical and digital objects, it further said.

"In every convocation since 1964, everyone looked forward eagerly to the award of the President of India gold medal. It would indeed be very disappointing if the awardee is not present here with us for the first time," institute director Bhaskar Ramamurthi says in the teaser video released on Friday. The video concludes with an animated avatar of a gold medalist appearing on stage indicating that such avatars of students would receive medals and awards.

Nobel laureate David J Gross from University of California will be the chief guest.

In a communication to students, the institute announced that it had dispatched degree certificates. It also said the convocation would be a short event with only the major prizes being awarded. The department degree distribution programmes will showcase all graduates receiving their degrees and provide a conferencing platform to greet each other and the teachers.

IIT-M asked students to take videos of them receiving degrees from parents or grandparents or spouse or persons of choice. The video will be broadcast when the students name announced in the department degree distribution programme.

Navsari nurse ends life, alleges harassment by seniors

Navsari nurse ends life, alleges harassment by seniors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Surat:23 10.2020 

A 28-year-old nurse ended life by hanging herself at her residence at Vejalpore town in Navsari district early on Thursday morning allegedly due to harassment by her seniors.

The deceased, Megha Acharya alias Megha Amit Khambhati, a resident of Moonlight apartment at Jalaram society was working as a staff nurse with the civil hospital in Navsari. Police said that Acharya had used her dupatta to hang herself with the ceiling fan at about 3 am.

Sources said that Megha had got married one-and-ahalf-year-ago with Amit Khambhati, a resident of Nanapondha village in Valsad’s Dharampur taluka.

Khambhati is working in a private company and stays with his parents in the village, while Megha was living in a rented apartment in Vejalpore along with her mother.

Police have recovered a four-and-a-half-page note from Acharya’s room. In the note, the deceased has levelled serious charges of harassment against her seniors at Navsari civil hospital. She has also named some of the staff in the note said police.

Sources said that Acharya had rendered exemplary service as a corona warrior during the ongoing pandemic at the civil hospital.

On Thursday, her family members refused to accept her body demanding justice and action against those responsible for forcing their daughter to take such an extreme step.

Talking with media persons, mother of the deceased, Minaxi Acharya said, “For a long time now, my daughter would come home and cry a lot. She would complain about her seniors harassing her in the name of work at the hospital. She was getting calls and messages from her senior at night. She was posted at the Covid ward for a few months and then shifted to the general ward.”

Deputy Superintendent of Police H K Rana told TOI, “We have recovered a suicide note from Acharya’s room. Prima facie it seems that the deceased was harassed at the workplace by her seniors. She has named few nurses in the note. Though her family life was disturbed, but there was no harassment from her in-laws.”

Woman files FIR after hubby sends intimate videos to others

Woman files FIR after hubby sends intimate videos to others

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 23.10.2020

A 32-yearold woman from Sector 3 in Gandhinagar on Wednesday filed a complaint against her husband at Sector 7 police station, alleging that he had defamed her by sending videos of them to her relatives.

The complainant, a deputy mamlatdar, stated that she married with the accused, Sapnaswaroop Kharadi (33) in May 2018. She said her husband works for a private firm whereas she is a government employee, which gave him a complex, and he is harassing her because of it. She said he often demands money from her. When she refused, he threatened her.

To take revenge on his wife after she stopped giving him money, Kharadi, who had shot videos of their intimate moments earlier, threatened to malign her. As she did not heed the threat, he allegedly sent the videos, which he had shot on his mobile phone without her knowledge, to her friends and relatives last week. When one of her friends told her about her videos doing the rounds on social media, she asked her husband about it. He told her that he had not only sent the videos to her friends and relatives, but also to others, to malign her.

Physiotherapist booked

Physiotherapist booked

She Allegedly Sold Secrets of Doc’s Firm

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:  23.10.2020

A doctor who runs an institute in Anandnagar area on Wednesday filed a complaint of cheating against his former colleague, a physiotherapist, alleging that she sold his firm’s trade secrets for financial gain.

In his FIR , Dr Het Desai stated that he set up an institute and research centre focussed on rehabilitation of pelvic floor muscles in women in 2018. Before that he had set up another institute for women’s wellness. In his FIR he said he recruited a woman physiotherapist, Sunita Patel, in 2016 and made her the CEO of his company, named International Institute of Pelvic Floor Research, Rehab and Education (IIPRE) as she gained his trust.

Desai states that Patel had assured him that she would not disclose the company’s strategy and trade secrets. She became the face of Desai’s company at seminars and webinars after being trained by him, he stated.

Desai stated that Patel’s behaviour changed suddenly in October 2019 as she began complaining that she was not getting due credit in the company. When Desai asked about her changed behaviour, he learned that Patel was also working for another company, where she had been using his trade secrets.

He asked Patel about this but she allegedly threatened to frame him in a police case. In January, Patel resigned from Desai’s’ company and started practising at another firm, allegedly using procedures developed by Desai’s company. She also told some of his clients to approach her and succeeded in luring them away to some extent, Desai stated.