₹2,000 notes not printed in last 2 yrs: Govt in Lok Sabha

₹2,000 notes not printed in last 2 yrs: Govt in Lok Sabha

New Delhi:16.03.2021 

Currency notes of ₹2,000 denomination have not been printed in the last two years even as the quantum of India’s highest denomination currency note has come down, the Lok Sabha was informed Monday.

In a written reply, junior finance minister Anurag Singh Thakur said 3,362 million currency notes of ₹2,000 denomination were in circulation on March 30, 2018, constituting 3.27% and 37.26% of the currency in terms of volume and trade respectively. As of February 26, 2021, 2,499 million pieces of ₹2,000 notes were in circulation, constituting 2% and 17.8% of banknotes in terms of volume and value. “During the years 2019-20 and 2020-21, no indent has been placed with the presses for printing of ₹2000 notes,” he said. RBI in 2019 stated that 3,543 million notes of ₹2,000 were printed during the financial year 2016-17 (April 2016 to March 2017). However, in 2017-18, only 111.5 million notes were printed, which further reduced to 46.7 million notes in the year 2018-19. PTI

NEET to be held only once this year: Pokhriyal

NEET to be held only once this year: Pokhriyal

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:16.03.2021 

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of holding the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) twice this year and told Parliament that the exam will be conducted only once as always.

The National Testing Agency (NTA last week announced that NEET, for admission to undergraduate medical courses, will be held on August 1 this year in the usual pen and paper mode. Registration for the exam is likely to commence from March18.

“The NTA under the ministry of education conducts NEET-UG for undergraduate programmes in medical sciences, in consultation with the ministry of health and family welfare. In 2021, NEET (UG) will be conducted by NTA only one time,” Pokhriyal told Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

He, however, did not comment whether it will be conducted twice a year later.

Demand for conducting NEET-UG twice a year began after the MoE decided to hold engineering entrance exam— JEE (Main)— four times a year from this year.

Rise in Covid-19 cases drives corpn vaccination campaign

Rise in Covid-19 cases drives corpn vaccination campaign

Field Staff Will Now Urge More To Get Shots

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.03.2021 

The swift hike in the number of Covid-19 cases has given Greater Chennai Corporation an opportunity to ramp up its vaccine coverage.

A senior official said field staff would now urge more people to get vaccinated and that the current situation was conducive to convince fencesitters. “A number of corporation staff have been deputed for poll duty and spreading awareness to increase polling. They will be going from door to door as well as visiting public places like parks to persuade people to get the shots,” he added. Several teams have started vigorous campaigns to increase the vaccination figures.

This comes at a time when the number of active cases in the city crossed 2,000 on Monday evening. The corresponding zone-wise will be released on Tuesday morning.

The corporation has so far vaccinated 2.82 lakh people, with more than 20,000 getting the first dose on Saturday. People above the age of 60 and those between 45 and 60 with co-morbidities have been getting the vaccine free of cost at all corporation Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs) as well as at some Amma miniclinics. Many citizens have given notes of appreciation for the clean interiors of government premises as well as the cordial behaviour of the health staff.

An official from a zone in central Chennai said the civic body had started increasing surveillance in marriage halls, theatres and other places where more number of people were crowding. “Spot fines are being issued if masking is not adequate. We also ask people to distribute masks,” he said.

The corporation has also started cross-checking samples tested in private laboratories to ensure there are no false positives.

Zonal level staff have been asked to avoid putting up barricades outside homes or streets where three or more cases are found, but a few banners are being stuck outside houses where more than one case is detected. “This is a precautionary measure,” he said.

Colleges to move court against AICTE’s norm to begin new courses

Colleges to move court against AICTE’s norm to begin new courses

Ragu.Rama@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.03.2021 

As engineering colleges battle poor admission trend and the pandemic, the new rule introduced by the All India India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) which mandates 50% overall admissions last year to be eligible to apply for new courses for 2021-22 has faced strong opposition from engineering colleges. They have decided to challenge the rule.

The council in its approval process handbook for 2021-22, said it would allow new courses only in engineering colleges which had more than 50% overall enrollment last year. In 2020, colleges without NBA accreditation were allowed to start new courses in emerging areas such as AI and data science, by closing a course or reducing their existing intake.

The core committee of Federation of Self-Financed Technical Institutions which met in Chennai on Sunday has decided to challenge the norm in the Supreme Court. "When the overall admissions in engineering colleges is 37% at all-India level, fixing 50% admissions would render 80% of colleges ineligible to apply for new courses. Without new courses, these colleges will have natural death as they cannot survive with poor admissions," said R S Munirathinam, chief patron of the federation.

T D Easwaramoorthy, secretary of the federation, said there were no migration of students from neighbouring states in view of the pandemic this year. "Our engineering college is situated near Kerala border in Coimbatore district. Before Covid-19, we had 65% of admissions. In 2020-21, we were able to fill only 37% seats as our college did not have any students from Kerala. Due to the new rule, we cannot apply for new courses," he said.

KVK Rao, general secretary of the federationsaid, "The deemed universities which are admitting students over and above the sanctioned strength, collecting higher fees have not been properly regulated by agencies including AICTE and UGC. We will challenge the inaction of the regulatory authorities in the court."

College closed after principal, prof test ve+

College closed after principal, prof test ve+

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:16.03.2021 

Dhanraj Baid Jain College in Thoraippakkam has suspended physical classes after the principal and a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.

The college has around 120 faculty members and 3,500 students across three years.

Following the permission from the state government it reopened for all years from February 8.

"The principal and a professor who went around to ensure the mask compliance of students have tested positive on Friday. Both of them are having mild symptoms. They have quarantined themselves within the campus. The college also temporarily suspended all physical classes for at least a week following the concerns from faculty members," a faculty member from the college said.

Another professor from the college said the faculty members will continue to take classes online.

Pay victim’s kin, recover sum from bike owner, insurer told

Pay victim’s kin, recover sum from bike owner, insurer told

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:16.03.2021

A city accident claims tribunal has directed an insurance firm to compensate an accident victim, who was killed after he was hit by a vehicle driven by a minor without driving licence, and has directed the insurer to recover the same from the vehicle owner. The tribunal after perusing the submissions directed the insurer to pay ₹18 lakh to the victim’s family.

B Mallika of Sivaganga had moved the tribunal in 2018 seeking a compensation for the death of her husband Babu. According to her petition, Babu was walking along Ambattur Estate road when a rashly driven two-wheeler hit him, leading to his death on the spot.

The accident happened around 7 pm on April 4, 2018. The insurer contended that the two wheeler was driven by a minor at the time of the accident and it cannot be held liable to compensate the victim’s family and also argued that the accident happened due to the negligence of the pedestrian.

After perusing the submissions, the tribunal noted that the insurance firm did not contest that the offending vehicle was insured with them at the time of the accident. The tribunal took note of the investigation report which stated that the bike was driven by a 16-year-old boy without a valid driving licence. Noting that it is a violation of insurance policy, the tribunal stated that the owner is liable to pay the compensation. The tribunal, citing Supreme Court guidelines, directed the insurer to compensate the victim’s family, with liberty to recover it from the vehicle owner.

The deceased was 42 years old at the time of the accident and was working as a mason. Considering the loss to the family and other expenses, the tribunal arrived at a sum of ₹19.7 lakh as compensation within two months.

The insurer contended that the two-wheeler was driven by a minor at the time of the accident and it can’t be held liable to compensate the victim’s family

New system to solve glitches at ticket counters

New system to solve glitches at ticket counters

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:16.03.2021 

Have you had to wait while staff at railway ticket counters struggled to restart computers and printers, only to find that berth you wanted has been taken?

Expect fewer such delays derailing you travel plans now as the railways has upgraded its ticketing system to a browser-based application called ticketing peripherals management system (TPMS). This will cut time taken to report and repair faults as everything moves online.

With traffic returning to normal, railways wants to improve the working of its booking counters, though more than half of long-distance tickets get booked online.

Railway officials say delays and disruptions are rare for suburban tickets but reservation counter in small railway stations that sell tickets for express trains have faced delays.

Officials say that under the earlier system, the supervisor of a ticketing centre had to contact the controller who, in turn, informed the people or contractors concerned when a printer or a computer or any other equipment went out of order. Now, this can be done online. It can be seen online by anyone. Repairs will also be faster as information about the computer or printer including its date of installation and its lifecycle will also be available online.

“We will be able to avoid situations like closing of one or two counters when printers or computers become faulty," said a railway official.

The system would also help the railways carry out timely maintenance of its equipment.

With traffic returning to normal, railways wants to improve Sworking of its booking counters