To stay or leave? Questions, memes on WhatsApp flood social media

To stay or leave? Questions, memes on WhatsApp flood social media

Farheen.Hussain@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:11.01.2021

From opinion polls to pick the best alternative for WhatsApp to memes depicting mass migration of people to messaging platform Signal, social media hubs have been abuzz since WhatsApp introduced a new privacy policy last week.

Terms of the policy give more details on WhatsApp’s integration with its parent company Facebook, and how data is managed when a user interacts with a business on the platform. Users have time till February 8 to accept the new policy or they will have to leave the platform.

The development has sent Twitterati into overdrive. Some widely shared memes show a train full of people migrating to Signal, while others depict people rejoicing after being assured of privacy in other apps.

With a reported increase in the number of Signal users, netizens are also debating leaving WhatsApp. “To be on WhatsApp or not? Last few days we have seen a lot of activity in all the WhatsApp groups from family, school, college, office, local community...A lot of discussion on an alternative to WhatsApp. What’s ur views (sic)?” Namma Bangaluroo tweeted.

Several users asked the question and many said they will leave WhatsApp on February 1. “Quick question, but how many of you all are actually going to make the push to migrate off WhatsApp to Signal or Telegram etc? My entire life, conversations with friends and family and colleagues are all on it. It would be difficult for me to walk away from that (sic),” tweeted Chandra.

TOI also spoke to Bengalureans, who have ironically been sharing messages on WhatsApp about alternative platforms and how they should migrate. Mughdha Ramesh, a homemaker, said she had deleted her Facebook account a few months ago and plans to delete her WhatsApp account by February 1. However, she said going off Instagram will be slightly difficult. “I have taken several breaks from the platform, but always return for the latest food, fashion trends and parenting tips. I guess I will have to make a choice,” she says.

Some users don’t think the policy is anything new. Rafida Asmia, an interior designer, says the concept of privacy on social media is an illusion. “Data has always been shared. I can’t migrate to a new platform unless all my contacts do so. Till then, WhatsApp will remain a major communication channel,” she says.

60% of dental seats vacant in K’taka

60% of dental seats vacant in K’taka

Deepthi.Sanjiv@timesgroup.com

Mangaluru:11.01.2021

With nearly 60% of over 2,800 seats in Karnataka not filled after the second round of counselling by the Karnataka Examinations Authority, a member of the Dental Council of India (DCI) has suggested relaxing the eligibility criteria.

DCI member Dr Shivasharan told TOI that 1,678 of the 2,834 seats are vacant and he met medical education minister K Sudhakar in this regard with a request that the NEET eligibility be lowered by 20 percentile points as per the DCI recommendation.

The member has said, in a letter to the minister, that BDS seats were vacant in Karnataka and other states in the past too. “To tide over the situation of vacant seats, the ministry of health and family welfare had lowered the eligibility of NEET percentile in the previous years and extended the last date of BDS admission 15 days beyond the last date of medical admission.”

The ministry promptly extended the last date for the 2020-21BDS admissions from January 15 to January 30. “We hope that the government will look into the percentile issue,” he added.

Dr Shivasharan said a key reason for seat vacancy is that many colleges have upgraded their infrastructure and increased student intake. For instance, the colleges which used to offer 150 medical seats have increased the intake to 250.

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences will start a regional centre in Mangaluru and the DCI will set up a dental research lab at Maryhill. The country has 313 dental institutes and Karnataka has 44.

“A dental research lab will be a boon, especially to postgraduate students dependent on medical research labs or NITK labs for their thesis. It will have full-time dedicated staff for dental research. The tendering process is expected to commence soon,” said Shivasharan.

Fee row: Parents protest in B’luru

Seeking reduction in school fees for the current academic year, parents in Bengaluru hit the streets again on Sunday. Refusing to intervene, the state had urged the school managements to resolve the issue. P 4

Schools, colleges ready to open from Monday

Schools, colleges ready to open from Monday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:  11.01.2021

Schools and colleges all across the state have begun preparations in full swing ahead of the reopening of classroom studies from Monday, after being shut down for more than nine months due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has decided to reopen educational institutions in the state in a staggered manner. In the case of schools, only Class X and Class XII students will resume in the initial phase, for colleges only final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students will be allowed on the campus.

Colleges are likely to see greater participation of students in comparison to schools.

All necessary precautions including social distancing norms, thermal screening and other safety measures are being put in place by colleges and schools since the announcement of their re-opening earlier this month.

The state government has decided to welcome students when schools reopen from January 11 across the state. The government has assigned the responsibility of organizing the programmes in as many as 21 districts to various ministers.

The government could not hold Praveshotsav due to the Covid crisis in 2020-21 academic year, and thus decided to do so on Monday. Students are welcomed under the programme to encourage them to study.

Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and energy minister Saurabh Patel will welcome students in Gandhinagar district. State home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja and revenue minister Kaushik Patel will participate in a welcome programme in Ahmedabad.

More than 17 lakh students are enrolled in Class X and Class XII courses and a large number of them will be going back to schools from Monday. While attendance is not compulsory, the state government said recently that online studies will continue according to Centre’s guidelines.

The state government had earlier announced resuming classroom studies from November 23, but later rolled back its decision following a spike in Covid-19 cases. As a result, many schools and colleges had already begun the work of reopening including sanitization of premises and social distancing measures in classrooms.

In all, there are about 20,000 schools in the state that are expected to reopen from Monday.

Parents who agreed to send their wards for physical classes need to send the signed consent form along with their ward. These are to be shown at school gate and subsequently to be submitted to class teacher on the first day of the school.

AI ‘maiden’ all-women pilot flight heading home from San Francisco

AI ‘maiden’ all-women pilot flight heading home from San Francisco

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:11.01.20201

Four of Air India’s most experienced women pilots took off from San Francisco (SFO) on Sunday morning (India time) for Bengaluru to operate the first-ever scheduled service between south India and the US.

It is also the first time that an all-women cockpit crew of an Indian carrier flew over the North Pole. TOI reported about this flight on Wednesday.

The four record-setting pilots operating the almost 18-hour AI 176 that is expected to reach Bengaluru (BLR) early Monday morning are captains Zoya Aggarwal, Papagari Thanmai, Akansha Sonaware and Shivani Manhas. They are flying a Boeing 777 200 (long range or LR) VT-ALG that is named ‘Kerala’. The SFO airport wore the Indian flag colours to celebrate this occasion. The airline’s executive director (flight safety) Captain Nivedita Bhasin is also onboard.

Bengaluru-SFO shortest flight distance is over 14,000km, about 1,000km more than Delhi-SFO. Very often airlines take longer routes to get tail winds and avoid headwinds.

Kerala, for instance, took the longer Pacific route from Delhi to SFO on Wednesday with the same set of four pilots. The inaugural to Bengaluru is coming back via over the North Pole — getting tail winds on both sectors.

AI’s Delhi-SFO is very often an around-the-world trip as it circumnavigates the globe on the way out and back.

The longer Pacific route means flying a distance of 16,234km from Delhi to SFO but due to tail winds all the way, both flight time and fuel burn are less than what that will be on the shorter Atlantic route.

MANY FIRSTS: Apart from being the first-ever scheduled service between south India and the US, it is also the first time that an allwomen cockpit crew of an Indian carrier flew over the North Pole

No need for visa to get int’l driving permit, can be renewed online

No need for visa to get int’l driving permit, can be renewed online

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:11.01.2021

The government has done away with the condition of submitting a valid visa and medical certificate while applying for International Driving Permit (IDP). Moreover, from February 15, the IDP holders can also get the permit renewed online though the Indian embassies, if these expire when they are still abroad.

These changes have been made in the Motor Vehicle Rules by the road transport ministry through a notification on Saturday. The IDPs issued in India are accepted across 15 countries including the UK, USA, Germany, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Bhutan. The validity of IDP is one year from the date of its issue or the validity of the domestic license whichever is earlier.

This new norm will bring relief to many who face problems in getting this key driving document renewed during their stay in foreign countries. Such persons will need to apply through websites of the Indian embassies or missions abroad and the applications would then be transferred to the Parivahan portal for the respective RTOs to process them. Parivahan portal is the national register of all DLs and RCs.

The applicants will be required to pay ₹2,000 as fee for renewal of their IPD. They need to submit the proof of valid driving licence, three copies of passport photographs, proof of nationality and proof of valid passport. They will also need to give the address at which the renewed IDP can be delivered where the person is staying.

An official said the conditions of a medical certificate while applying for an IPD has also been done away with since the citizen who has a valid driving licence doesn’t need one more medical certificate.

Students from commerce stream make a mark while only 181 medicine graduates pass the test

Engineers continue to bell the CAT

Students from commerce stream make a mark while only 181 medicine graduates pass the test

Jainarayan.Ram@timesgroup.com

11.01.2021

Engineers have been dominating in the list of successful candidates in the Common Admission Test (CAT) every year and the trend has been the same this year too.

Speaking to Education Times, Harshal Lowalekar, convener of CAT 2020, and an associate professor at IIM Indore says, “Of the total candidates appeared this year, 2,928 candidates were from IITs and 61,187 were from an engineering background. Nine candidates have scored 100 percentile out of whom five candidates are from IITs, and the remaining two are from other engineering institutes.”

Engineers have always performed well in the management admission test. In 2019, all ten toppers were from engineering background. “As many as 19 candidates have scored an overall 99.99 percentile in CAT 2020, of which, 16 are from engineering/technology. 18 are male candidates with only one female candidate,” says Lowalekar.

Arpit Singh, who scored 100 percentile in CAT 2016, and a 2nd year PGP Student at IIM-Ahmedabad says, “Engineers, in their initial years, prepare for JEE, which better prepares them mentally to tackle a difficult exam such as CAT.

Secondly, a lot of people who choose engineering are comfortable with numbers, and that gives them an advantage in two sections, Quant and LR/DI.” Arpit is an IIT Delhi p graduate.

A total of 1,90,144 candidates took CAT 2020. The number of male candidates was 1,23,388 and the number of female candidates was 66,755, while only one transgender candidate took the test. Besides the engineers, candidates from the Commerce stream have emerged as the second best to qualify CAT 2020.

“Of the total candidates, 30,233 are from the Commerce stream followed by 19,483 from the Management and 3,769 from the Economics background,” says Lowalekar.

Lowalekar says, 5,026 candidates have appeared from the arts, humanities, law and languages background.

Participation from the Medicine field is not much though. “Only 181 candidates appeared from Medicine,” says Lowalekar.

Among the states, Maharashtra leads the way from where maximum candidates have taken the admission test. “31,189 candidates have appeared from Maharashtra followed by 24,476 from Uttar Pradesh and 15,696 candidates from Delhi,” says Lowalekar.

UGC allows IoEs to establish campuses outside India

UGC allows IoEs to establish campuses outside India

The institutes will have to get no-objection certificates from MEA, MHA to set up campuses abroad

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

11.01.2021

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has allowed Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) to set up off-shore campuses as part of the UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) (Amendments) Regulation 2021. The institutes will now be able to establish campuses outside India.

The institutes will have to receive noobjection certificates from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to set up campuses abroad. The institutes will have to enrol a minimum of five hundred students on its rolls under the regular classroom, offer atleast five PG programmes and research programmes to be able to set up the offshore campuses.

“The Institutions of Eminence deemed to be universities shall submit their application to the ministry by way of an affidavit in the prescribed proforma along with the Detailed Project Report (DPR) containing its 10-year strategic vision plan and a fiveyear rolling implementation plan viz. academic plan, faculty recruitment plan, student admission plan, research plan, infrastructure development plan, financial plan, administrative plan and governance plan,” read the official statement by UGC.

The amendments permit the IOEs to start new off-campus centres, with a maximum of three in five years and not more than one in an academic year.