New rule: Police get 4 days off in a month

WORK WILL NOT BE AFFECTED

New rule: Police get 4 days off in a month

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.11.2020

The Tiruvallur police have granted leave to their personnel on a rotation basis from Friday .

“We had been giving two days a month to the police personnel in Tiruvallur district. Now we are giving four days leave,” said superintendent of police (SP) Aravindhan.

The state has a system of weekly offs for all police personnel exists, but many volunteer to work on these days to get extratime remuneration (ETR). This leave is granted to all the police personnel once a week, however, routine work will not be affected. Aravindhan said, “We have decided to give leave to all the police personnel without affecting the ETR for them.”

There are1,400 police personnel in the district with five subdivisions headed by the deputy superintendent of police. Each police station has a strength ranging from 20 to 80 police personnel.For instance, a policestation has 35 police personnel, at least five policemen, will get leave on each working day covering all seven days.

Special DGP (law and order) Rajesh Das said, “We have issued a circular to all police district heads and commissioners through the DGP, J K Tripathy.” Though it’s on record, and a few police heads in the ranks of superintendents andcommissionersfollow it, others did not. Almost all district heads and commissioners are following this process now across the state.

CBSE raises weightage for MCQs in Class XII

CBSE raises weightage for MCQs in Class XII

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.11.2020

After reducing 30% of the syllabus for Class XII, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has now changed the question paper pattern, giving more weightage to multiplechoice based questions and those based on case studies.

After sample question papers for Classes X and XII were released, schools said the weightage for MCQs had increased by nearly 10%. For subjects like physics, questions based on thinking skills such as ascertaining and reasoning have been introduced. In biology, MCQs have been replaced with short-answer type questions.

Geetha Govindarajan, principal of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, K K Nagar said the new pattern was aimed at testing children’s comprehension. “Earlier, the question paper would focus on knowledge based questions. Now, they are shifting to understanding and application oriented questions. But, the paper appears to be lengthy and we are giving practices to students,” she said.

N Vijayan, chairman of Zion and Alwin group of schools, said the quality of questions had improved and a paradigm shift in teaching and learning process was required. “Now, teachers and students have to focus more,” he said, pointing out that the number of questions in mathematics had gone up from 36 to 38.

Welcoming the reduction of syllabus, Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidhyashram principal P G Subramanian said the question papers had been made simpler without compromising on the standard.

Many city schools expect to complete the portions by the first week of December after beginning online classes in April, but, principals feel it may not be enough. “We need to give them revision and orientation before the exams,” Subramanian added.

Students have not been writing full three-hour tests. “Writing practice is limited as the tests are only for 90 minutes. We are worried about it,” said Sunitha Vipinchandran, principal of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School.

Vijayan said the productivity of online classes was only 50% compared to onschool classes and wanted CBSE to consider postponing board exams to July to give more time for students to prepare.

Another principal said students needed to be given more training in the new question paper pattern.

Amit Shah steps out of airport, brings life to halt

Amit Shah steps out of airport, brings life to halt

Long Traffic Snarls Choke GST Road

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.11.2020 

Traffic on Grand South Trunk (GST) Road outside Chennai airport was thrown out of gear on Saturday afternoon after Union home minister Amit Shah arrived on a two-day visit.

Shah, who is set to inaugurate state and central government-funded projects during his visit, landed at the old terminal around 1.50 pm. He was welcomed by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam and other ministers, apart from BJP state president L Murugan and other party functionaries.

As Shah’s car began to move out, BJP workers along the entire length of the exit route began waving party flags and placards. The home minister then got out and walked for about 100 metres, acknowledging the cheers.

By the time Shah got back into his car and left the airport it was 2.10pm. Police stopped traffic near Pallavaram and vehicles proceeding towards Alandur were diverted on different routes.

Traffic on the busy stretch was affected for nearly two hours later, with stranded vehicles stretching for a long distance on both sides of the road.

The traffic police, however, said they did not stop the movement of vehicles on the stretch from Alandur to Tambaram. “However, vehicles were stopped as the ‘U’ turn spot on the road and vehicles piled up opposite Officers Training Academy (OTA) and near Trident Hotel on GST Road,” said an officer.

AFTER-EFFECT: Union home minister Amit Shah waves at supporters outside the airport on Saturday. (Right) Heavy traffic on GST Road near airport following the visit

230 cadets graduate from OTA as parents watch from home

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.11.2020

An II Tian who left a well-paying job in Dubai, an army widow out to fulfil her husband’s dreams, a young girl from a poor family in rural Bihar — they were among the 181 gentlemen cadets and 49 women cadets who got their commissions at a passing out parade (POP) held at Officers Training Academy in Chennai on Saturday.

Parents, however, couldn’t pin the shining stars onto the cadets’ uniforms during the pipping ceremony as they were not invited due to Covid-19 restrictions. They watched the livestreamed ceremony virtually.

Amar Simha, an IIT graduate, said, “Before coming here, I was in Dubai, getting paid well. But I was sitting at a desk, working on a computer the whole day. I was gaining weight and losing my eyesight. The Army is the only organisation where you get paid to stay fit, and you get respected.” OTA has been seeing a trend of techies joining them in the past few years.

Meena, from Bhagalpur in Bihar, was happy to fulfill her father’s dream. “Hailing from a humble family in a small village, it was not easy to come up to this level. But my parents, teachers, friends all stood by me.”

Fifteen gentlemen cadets and five women cadets from foreign countries were among the graduates. Five gentlemen cadets and three women cadets hailed from Bhutan, two women cadets were from the Maldives while 10 gentlemen cadets were from Afghanistan.

Lieutenant General R P Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief of Western Command, reviewed the parade. In his address, he stressed on the relationship between emerging technologies and changing face of soldiering. “There have been sweeping technological advancements in the form of sophisticated weapon systems, electronic warfare devices and force multipliers which have changed the face of conflicts. It is necessary for you to know the changes and reorient your mind,” he said. He presented the sword of honour and gold medal to Varun Ganapathy, silver medal to Mahadev Singh Rathore and bronze medal to Patil Dhiraj Patangrao.

Kerala CM’s pvt secretary likely to get fresh ED summons in gold case

Kerala CM’s pvt secretary likely to get fresh ED summons in gold case

Kochi:22.11.2020

The enforcement directorate (ED), probing the money trail behind the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case, will soon question CM Raveendran, additional private secretary to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The agency is likely to send a notice and fresh summons to him. Ravindran was asked to appear before the agency on November 6. But, he had informed ED that he tested positive for Covid-19. Sources said ED has received a communication from him that he was recovering from the disease. ED had earlier sought details of major projects of the state government from the state’s former IT secretary M Sivasankar. It had said that it suspects government officials received kickbacks in connection with the projects. TNN

Shah lauds TN govt; EPS, OPS say BJP will be ally in 2021 poll

Shah lauds TN govt; EPS, OPS say BJP will be ally in 2021 poll

HM: CM & Dy Providing Good Governance

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  22.11.2020

The ruling AIADMK on Saturday made it clear that its alliance with the BJP would continue for the forthcoming assembly elections. In the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami vowed to continue the “victorious AIADMK-BJP alliance” in the next polls. They were speaking at a government function organised to lay foundation stones and inaugurate projects worth more than ₹67,000 crore in the city.

The two leaders later called on Amit Shah at a hotel in MRC Nagar, where he will be staying for the night.

Amit Shah, on his part, lauded the AIADMK government and its initiatives, especially in managing Covid-19, and assured the Central government’s support to the state government and to the people of Tamil Nadu. Both the chief minister and deputy chief minister were providing good governance, said Shah.

Extending a grand welcome at the airport and all along the route as Shah travelled into the city, the AIADMK leadership showered encomiums on PM Narendra Modi, and his trusted-aide. Panneerselvam said the state government would be able to ensure peace, progress and prosperity with the support of the Union home minister.

Palaniswami said the AIADMK government had provided best governance in the last 10 years and had been receiving several awards for various departments. “I wish to state that our alliance will win majority of the seats in 2021 polls and the AIADMK will form the government,” the CM said. He congratulated the Central government for kick starting the national economic recovery through multiple stimulus packages. Tamil Nadu benefitted immensely from the steps taken by the Centre for post-Covid economic recovery, he said.

BJP general secretary C T Ravi, state BJP president L Murugan, L K Sudheesh (DMDK), A K Moorthy (PMK) and A C Shanmugam (ACJ) were special invitees at the function.

Raj, Guj & HP post highest count of daily Covid cases

Raj, Guj & HP post highest count of daily Covid cases

India Numbers Show Slight Dip After Four Days Of Rise

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  22.11.2020

After having risen for four straight days, India’s daily case count dropped marginally on Saturday even as three states reported their highest singleday tallies so far and the virus continued to surge in several other states.

India reported 45,397 new cases on Saturday, down slightly from the previous day’s count of 46,328, as per data collated by TOI from state governments. The day’s death toll, at 500, had also reduced from the previous three days’ numbers, all above 560. With this, the country’s total caseload rose to 90,95,398 while the overall toll stood at1,33,211.

Rajasthan, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh posted their highest daily addition of cases, with the tally crossing 3,000 in Rajasthan for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. The state recorded 3,007 infections while Gujarat logged1,515 cases. Himachal Pradesh, too, was in the midst of a huge Covid-19 surge with 915 cases reported from the hill state in the past 24 hours.

Cases were spiking in Madhya Pradesh as well, with the state reporting 1,700 fresh infections, the highest daily count since October 14. In Chhattisgarh, 2,284 new cases were recorded, the highest in the state since October 23. Haryana reported 2,666 cases, a slight drop from the record 3,104 recorded on Friday.

Active cases in the country rose by nearly 500 on Saturday. This was just the second time since October 1 that the count had registered a net rise in a day.

In Maharashtra, a gentle surge in the daily number of Covid-19 cases was apparent across the state as well as in capital Mumbai for the fourth day in a row. A total of 5,760 cases and 62 deaths were reported on Saturday, taking the state’s total caseload to 17,74,455 and fatalities to 46,573. The fatalities dropped by 60% from 155 on Friday to

62. The drop in fatalities was due to delay in uploading data by many districts, senior officials said.

While the average number of cases in Mumbai was between 500 and 800 last week, cases have shot past 1,000 in the last two days.

Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, reported 1,160 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths, the lowest single-day fatality count in the last140 days.