Student battles for provisional certificate after completing course

 Student battles for provisional certificate after completing course

TNIC asks petitioner to pay fee again, seeks explanation from MKU

12/01/2021

 S.Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI

For more than a year, a student who completed M.A (Economics) from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) was not issued course completion certificate and provisional certificate by varsity authorities despite finishing all formalities.

After repeated attempts to get the certificates failed, the student, Pawan Kumar of Kaithal district in Haryana, filed a petition under the Right to Information Act, 2005, seeking copies of the course completion certificate and the provisional certificate. Not satisfied with the replies of the Public Information Officer/Assistant Registrar and the First Appellate Authority, the petitioner filed an appeal with the Tamil Nadu Information Commission.

While the contention of the PIO was that the certificates were not issued since the applicant had not paid the prescribed fee, the student said he paid the fee through Demand Draft.

Though the DD was accepted by the authorities, the amount was not credited to the account of the university. This was not communicated to the petitioner despite his petitions under the RTI Act. When the appeal was taken up via telephonic enquiry, in view of the COVID-19 safety protocol, the PIO said he had sent a letter to the petitioner regarding the issue and asked him to send the credit details of the DD.

“It is impossible for the petitioner to get the details because the said transaction was made from one bank to another bank. Hence, the letter sent to the petitioner, after one year of RTI petition, by the Public Authority is irrelevant,” State Information Commissioner S. Muthuraj said.

Directing the student to pay the fee once again to get his certificate immediately, the SIC said the Commission had the power to direct the university to award compensation to the petitioner under section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005 for the loss suffered by him in the process.

Mr. Muthuraj also directed the PIO of the Directorate of Distance Education, MKU, to send an explanation within 15 days as to why disciplinary action should not be recommended under section 20(2) of the RTI Act, 2005 against him for not providing information to the petitioner.

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ரேஷனில் பொங்கல் பரிசு பெற 25 வரை அவகாசம் நீட்டிப்பு

ரேஷனில் பொங்கல் பரிசு பெற 25 வரை அவகாசம் நீட்டிப்பு

Added : ஜன 11, 2021 23:38

சென்னை : ரேஷன் கடைகளில், பொங்கல் பரிசு தொகுப்பு வாங்குவதற்கான அவகாசம், வரும், 25ம் தேதி வரை நீட்டிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

தமிழக அரசு, பொங்கலை முன்னிட்டு, 2.10 கோடி அரிசி கார்டுதாரர்களுக்கு, தலா, 2,500 ரூபாய் ரொக்கத்துடன், பொங்கல் பொருட்கள் அடங்கிய பரிசு தொகுப்பை வழங்குகிறது. அவற்றை, ரேஷன் கடைகளில் வழங்கும் பணி, 4ம் தேதி துவங்கியது.பரிசு தொகுப்பு வழங்கும் பணியை, 12ம் தேதிக்குள் முடிக்கும்படியும், விடுபட்ட கார்டு தாரர்களுக்கு, 13ம் தேதி வழங்க வேண்டும் என்றும், ரேஷன் கடைகளை நடத்தும், கூட்டுறவு சங்கங்கள் மற்றும் நுகர்பொருள் வாணிப கழகத்திற்கு, உணவு துறை உத்தரவிட்டது.நேற்று வரை, 2 கோடி கார்டுதாரர்களுக்கு, பொங்கல் பரிசு வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இன்னும், 10 லட்சம் பேருக்கு மட்டுமே வழங்க வேண்டியுள்ளது. இதற்கான அவகாசம், நாளை முடிவதாக இருந்தது.இந்நிலையில், விடுபட்டவர்கள், பொங்கல் பரிசு தொகுப்பை, வரும், 18ம் தேதி முதல், 25ம் தேதி பெற்றுக் கொள்ளலாம் என, அரசு அறிவித்துள்ளது. இதனால், பொங்கலுக்கு சொந்த ஊர் சென்றவர்கள், திரும்பி வந்து, பொங்கல் பரிசு தொகுப்பை வாங்கிக் கொள்ள முடியும்.

No sashtang, only namaskar in Guj temples

No sashtang, only namaskar in Guj temples

Paying Obeisance By Prostrating Prohibited To Curb Covid Spread

Bharat.Yagnik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:12.01.2021

All through the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reiterated that `namaste' with folded hands was a safer way to greet people. It turns out it is the recommended way to pay obeisance to gods too as most temples across Gujarat have banned doing `sashtang pranam' citing Covid-19.

Accordingly, the common sight of devotees lying fully prostrated on the ground, their hands stretched out to the Lord, is not common place anymore.

In Ahmedabad and elsewhere, almost all major temples have Covid guidelines specifying devotees not to do sashtang pranam at the temple premises. This along with not ringing the temple bell leaves devotees to offer prayers by merely folding their hands.

“Lying prostrate on the ground offering `dandwat pranam' is prohibited inside the temple to avoid people from picking infection from the floor. In fact, devotees are not allowed to stand inside the temple during the aarti too. During Covid-19, all efforts are to ensure devotees pray to the Lord and leave the temple with minimum contact and exposure to any contagion,” said Vijay Chavda, manager of the Shree Somnath Temple, first among the 12 aadi jyotirlingas of India.

S J Chavda, deputy collector and administrator of the Shri Arasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthan Trust (SAAMDT), said sashtang pranam is prohibited for three reasons. “One, it is part of Covid-19 guidelines post unlock of temple, secondly to prevent devotees from catching any infection and thirdly and most importantly to ensure devotees keep moving and have limited exposure to others in the crowds,” said Chavda.

It needs mention that sashtang pranam has much significance including being an expression of complete surrender to the Almighty.

Ravindra Upadhyay of Dakor temple said that the `sashtang pranam' is not allowed as the temple authorities want to ensure minimum exposure in Covid-19 times.

17-HOUR JOURNEY

17-HOUR JOURNEY

2 land at KIA in first flight from SFO, return after 11 hrs

All-Women Crew, Passengers Get Warm Welcome

220 Boarded Evening Flight To US

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:12.01.2021

The all-women crew on Air India’s longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru was welcomed by an elated crowd at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in the early hours of Monday.

Two passengers who arrived in flight AI 176 in the morning grabbed eyeballs as they returned in the connecting flight — the first linking South India directly to the United States — 11 hours after landing here.

The return flight departed at 2.30pm with a different crew and 220 passengers who embarked on a 17-hour direct journey to the US.

In the afternoon, KIA’s gate number 44 was buzzing with activity as the excited passengers and crew of the first flight from Bengaluru to San Francisco gathered for a felicitation.

Businessmen Karunakar Abbireddy and Gopal Srinivasan boarded the flight to Silicon Valley after attending the event along with other flyers.

“Abbireddy had travelled to and fro in first-class. Srinivasan had flown in economy class to Bengaluru and returned in business class on AI 175. These passengers are businessmen who came to Bengaluru for their work and returned to San Francisco after spending 11 hours here,” said an Air India official.

The return flight was sent off with much fanfare after a cake-cutting ceremony attended by the four pilots and cabin crew. A total of 220 passengers with 179 in economy class, 33 in business and eight in first-class were part of the Bengaluru flight which also carried garments and computer hardware to the US, officials added.

Holding breath near Covid patients ups infection risk

Holding breath near Covid patients ups infection risk

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:12.01.2021

If you thought holding your breath or breathing slower could protect you from Covid infection when you pass by an individual with or without a mask, think again. A study by IIT Madras has found holding your breath or breathing slower in front of a Covid positive person may only increase the risk of contracting the infection.

A team from the department of applied mechanics modelled the breathing frequency in a laboratory and found that the slower and deeper a person breathes, the greater the chance of the virus depositing deep in the lung.

When you breathe slower, the aerosol particles stay longer inside the lungs and the changes are greater that they will reach and deposit deep in the lung, said Prof Mahesh Panchagnula, who led the research team of Arnab Kumar Mallik and Soumalya Mukherjee.

“The morphometry and bronchioles of lungs as well as breathing pattern varies with individuals. So, it is hard to control that. But it affects the deposition rates,” he added.

Researchs globally found coronavirus spreads mostly through tiny droplets released when an infected person sneezes or coughs. The IITM team replicated the droplet dynamics in the lung by studying the movement of droplets in the small capillaries or blood vessels which were similar in size to bronchioles or air passages in the lungs.

For the study, they mixed fluorescent particles in water and generated aerosols from it using a nebulizer. The aerosols were then tracked for movement and deposition in the capillaries with a diameter of 0.3mm to 2mm.

The scientists found that when the aerosol movement is steady, the particles deposit in the lung by chance, but when movement is turbulent they deposit upon impact.

In an earlier work, the group also studied the variability in aerosol uptake from individual to individual, suggesting a reason why some people are more susceptible to airborne diseases than others. “The core motivation of this work is to understand why some people are more susceptible to airborne disease than others. There’s a biological immunity aspect to it but there is also a lung morphometry which could be different in some people, causing one person to be slightly more susceptible to infection than others,” Prof Panchagnula said.

“In some other related work, we found that the efficacy of wearing a mask is very good. If a Covid positive person wearing a mask coughs or sneezes, the aerosol production rate goes down by almost a factor of 1000. The mask also protects you from the large droplets produced when a person sneezes or coughs. It cuts both ways,” he said.

Indian Medical Assn asks docs to get vaccinated first to show it’s safe

Chennai: The Indian Medical Association has urged its 3.5 lakh members from 1,800 local branches to get vaccinated first to show to the world that Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective. The health ministry has announced that the country’s vaccination drive against Covid-19 will begin on January 16. Three crore health and frontline workers will be inoculated in the first phase. In a statement on Monday, IMA national president Dr J A Jayalal said the association had decided to actively take part in Covid-19 vaccination programme after extensive review of scientific data, indexed articles, expert panel reports and in consultation experts. “Good protective levels of antibodies have been found to develop with our Indian vaccines against current and new mutated strains. The IMA believes getting vaccination is not only to protect individuals but also to bring herd immunity to the community, raising the hope to control the corona pandemic,” he added. The association headquarters in New Delhi has constituted a pharmacovigilance centre for monitoring post vaccination reactions and rendering appropriate support. TNN