Post Diwali return by govt buses hell: Passengers

 Post Diwali return by govt buses hell: Passengers

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 17.11.2020

Returning to the city from their native places after Diwali on government mofussil buses was risky and tough, complain passengers.

Windshields of several new blue/sandal-coloured buses turned foggy in the interior side more frequently than usual during heavy rains.

Some passengers were told to leave the side windows open to avoid fogging. But this led to window seats getting completely wet.

Drivers, who halted at least once in 30 minutes, eventually had to travel much slower due to poor visibility from inside.

T R Pandian, who travelled in a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Villupuram (TNSTC) bus from Kancheepuram to Chennai on Sunday evening, said that it took almost three hours to reach Koyambedu in a point-to-point (PP) service. For most parts of the journey, the driver couldn’t accelerate beyond 10-15 km an hour.

“This could happen when glasses meant for A/C buses were fit in these non A/C buses. Visible Light Transmission (VLT) of each glass is different and TNSTC needs to relook into whether appropriate ones were used while manufacturing windshields,” said Pandian, who is also an industry expert.

TNSTC drivers, who fear facing repercussions from higher-ups in case they complain against this, agree that it was an extra risk because their resting time will be cut if they travelled very slow.

Managing director of TNSTC Villupuram Muthukrishnan rejected these allegations and said such phenomenon was possible during the rainy season in one or two buses but not a common issue which is applicable to all new buses.

A senior technical staff at TNSTC said usually temperature outside the bus is less compared to inside during rains. Therefore, air inside the bus (with windows shut) carries moisture, which condenses when it comes in contact with the cold windshield.

“Foggy glasses can be cleaned easily using cloth. By opening the window for a few minutes, the dryer outside air can enter inside and set it right. There was no need to panic,” he added. However, official data suggests that at least 2,700 road accidents happen every year in the state during rains. Over 450 get killed in it and more than 3,500 get injured.

Besides the issue of foggy windshields, roofs of some of the new buses turned leaky forcing many passengers to cancel trips.

HC unseals Kilpauk school that owes ₹13cr rent to Kanchi temple

HC unseals Kilpauk school that owes ₹13cr rent to Kanchi temple

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 17.11.2020

Coming to the rescue of a 40-year-old school sealed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department for nonpayment of rent to a temple, the Madras high court has ordered the department to remove the seal and permit functioning of the school.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order while directing the Dharmapuri Rao Bahadur, Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Charities which runs Seetha Kingston Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kilpauk to pay ₹20 lakh as monthly rent for occupying the land owned by Kanchipuram Arulmigu Ekambaranathar Thirukkoil. The school owed an accumulated rent to the tune of ₹13 crore to the temple. The trust challenged the lock and seal of its premises on July 23, and requested the court to fix the rent as ₹15 lakh per month.

When the plea came up for hearing, the trust submitted that it is not in a financially healthy position and it will not be able to pay ₹25 lakh as rent per month demanded by the department. On its part, the temple wanted the court to consider its loss in revenue due to non-payment of rental arrears to the tune of ₹13 crore by the school.

Recording the submissions, the court said, “this court, while fixing the tentative rent payable by the trust, must come up with some practical solution since if it ultimately becomes impossible of performance, from the point of view of the trust, a situation may arise where the trust will not be able to pay the monthly rent as fixed by this court.”

Again, the parties will come back to this court and there will be more uncertainty in running the school during this academic year, the judge said.

Fixing ₹20 lakh as the tentative monthly payable by the trust, the court added: “In case the trust is not able to come to a settlement with the temple and resolve the dispute, the students and the staff belonging shall be informed latest by March 2021 to look for an alternative school to continue their studies/employment.”

TN State Counselling

 

Good NEET show pushes up cut-offs Many Might Miss Out On Dream Seat As Cut-Offs Jump By At Least 80, Some Play Smart And Wait As NEET 2021 Just 6 Months Away

Good NEET show pushes up cut-offs

Many Might Miss Out On Dream Seat As Cut-Offs Jump By At Least 80, Some Play Smart And Wait As NEET 2021 Just 6 Months Away

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

17.11.2020

High scores, fewer seats and new government policies may crush hopes of several medical aspirants this academic year as cut-offs for MBBS is likely to go up by at least 80 marks in most categories during the state counselling.

This year, the state is likely to offer 4,179 seats – 3,032 in government colleges – under the state quota when it opens the seat matrix on Wednesday. While 227 of the 3,032 seats will be taken for government school students, the state will be able to add just 50 more seats this year after the government college in Kanyakumari got the National Medical Commission nod for 50 additional seats.

In 2020, there are 5,119 students with scores above 500 compared to 1,359 students in 2019.

Experts say when the 69% rule of reservation is applied to the state quota seats after reserving seats for special category – quotas for people with disability, sportsmen, children of ex-servicemen and government school students – any students, including those in the scheduled groups, who score below 350 marks may not get a seat in state-run colleges. In 2019, the cut-off for SC, SCA and ST were 360, 301 and 267 respectively. This year, the cut-off for government school students is likely to be around 180 marks.

“We are top heavy this time,” said student counsellor Manickam Arumugam, who has been closely following medical admissions for several years now. This year, there were 968 students with scores above 600 compared to 139 students last year. The open category cut-off in government colleges may be around 600 in government colleges this year compared to 520 last year.

The biggest gap is likely to be among MBC candidates with a difference in cut-off of at least 90 marks. The cut-off for MBC students could be 526 in 2020. While the cut-off for BC is expected to be above 560, for BCM it is likely to touch 528.

Like last year, the seats for general category are likely to be over in the first two days. The schedule may not even call for BC category because by then all BC seats may be exhausted. “It is not a surprise to many students,” said Sundar R, a NEET tutor and counsellor. “This year, many students did not apply because they know the 2021 exams are just six months away. Also, the state has promised 1,600 more additional seats from 11 new medical colleges. Some students with scores as low as 183 have already opted for seats in deemed universities,” he said.

More candidates have scored better in NEET 2020, and will fight each other for the 5,750 MBBS seats TN has to offer

INTAKE BEGINS: Health minister C Vijayabaskar released rank list on Monday

SOME PROFILES

R SRIJAN, 710/720 | Srijan, who topped NEET this year, was offered a seat at any college of choice, including AIIMS Delhi. He chose Jipmer. “New Delhi was too far off and I wanted a central institute. People said Jipmer lecturers are very good,” he said. A native of Vellakoil, he took private coaching and this was his 2nd attempt. He plans to be a cardiologist.

R MOHANAPRABHA, 705/720 | She was second on the TN medical ranklist. She underwent NEET training in Namakkal and was ranked 52nd nationally. She said she wants to become a neurologist and cited the state having relatively fewer neurologists as one of the reasons for it.

N JEEVITHKUMAR, 664/720 | Topper among government school students, he studied in Tamil medium in Theni and secured 1823rd rank nationally. His father K Narayanamoorthi rears goats & mother Parameswari is a daily wager. He was coached in Namakkal, this was his second attempt.

This year, many students did not apply because they know the 2021 exams are just six months away. Also, the state has promised 1,600 more additional seats from 11 new medical colleges. Some students with scores as low as 183 have already opted for seats in deemed universities Sundar R | A NEET TUTOR AND COUNSELLOR

Cut-off score for MBBS admission in TN up by 80 marks

Cut-off score for MBBS admission in TN up by 80 marks

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.11.2020

Be it open or reserved category, the cut-off mark for MBBS/BDS admission for all students this year has gone up by 80 marks, compared to last year. This became clear when health minister C Vijayabaskar unveiled the official NEET rank list for Tamil Nadu on Monday.

About 940 Open Category (OC) candidates with scores of 601 upwards will be in the reckoning for MBBS admission, whereas it will be 560-plus marks for about 1,430 backward community (BC) candidates. Most Backward Community candidates numbering about 750 with scores above 526 too will be in the zone of consideration. For SCs, the cut off will be 453 and for STs it is  348.

This year’s list has several exceptional features. There is nearly a 20% fall in the overall number of applications from eligible candidates from 57,004 last year to 37,983 this year. And at least 313 seats, including 227 in government run colleges, will go to students from government schools.

“The 7.5% seats meant for government school students will be allotted after counselling for people with disability, sports quota candidates and children of ex-servicemen,” said the minister, adding: “Many students from government schools have managed to secure high marks in NEET.”

The face-to-face counselling, delayed by nearly four months this year, will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from Wednesday, Vijayabaskar said.

Tirupur-based Srijan R (left) was the state NEET 2020 topper with 710 marks and Jeevithkumar N of Theni scored 664, the highest among government school students

57,215 CLEARED TEST FROM TN 

Counselling to be held with pandemic protocols in place

Counselling will be held in strict adherence to all pandemic protocols, Vijayabaskar said, adding that parents and students must wear masks and maintain distancing at all times.

This year, a total of 57,215 students from Tamil Nadu cleared the test. Of the 24,712 applications received for government quota seats, the selection committee of the Directorate of Medical Education has accepted 23,707 forms. For management quota, applications of 14,276 students, out of 14,511, were cleared. This is more than 19,000 applications fewer than last year.

The selection committee confirmed Tirupur-based Srijan R from the Indian Public School in Erode topped the list with 710 marks in NEET 2020, followed by Namakkal-based Mohanaprabha Ravichandran of Alpine Public School. He had scored 705 marks. Chennai’s G Swetha from Velammal Vidyalaya, Ayanambakkam, who got 701 marks, stood third.

Among government school students, Jeevithkumar N from the Government Model Higher Secondary School in Silvarpatti in Theni district topped the list with 664 marks, followed by Kallakurichibased Anbarasan S from Government Boys Higher Secondary Schools. He has scored 646 marks. Chennai’s Dhivaydharshini S from Government Higher Secondary School in Arumbakkam scored 620 marks. At least 14 government students have scored above 500 marks. The cut-off for the government school students is estimated to be around180 marks.

The state has 26 government medical colleges with 3,650 seats of which 3,031are state quota seats. Among the 15 self-financing colleges affiliated to the state TN Dr MGR Medical University 1,147 of the 2,100 seats will be under the state quota, according to the tentative list released by the selection committee.

Tamil Nadu will add 875 MBBS seats to its medical colleges, including deemed universities this year. Admission for deemed universities and all India quota seats are conducted by the directorate general of health Services. Of additional seats two government Kanyakumari Medical College and ESIC college in KK Nagar have got 50 and 25 additional seats respectively. Two self-financing colleges Indira Medical College and Hospitals in Tiruvallur and permitted Panimalar Medical College Hospital and Research Institute will add150 seats each. With this, the state will have 52 medical colleges with 8,000 seats.

Merit List

 

Medical dental counselling