BU puts off 2nd round of PhD counselling after students protest admission norms

BU puts off 2nd round of PhD counselling after students protest admission norms

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:16.03.2021 

Bangalore University decided to put off the second round of PhD counselling after students protested against various norms followed for admission to PhD.

Hundreds of students staged a protest at Jnana Bharathi campus, seeking varied eligibility criteria for SCs, STs and OBCs. “The minimum marks eligibility should be 55% for general candidates, 50% for OBCs and 45% for SCs and STs. It’s 50% for everyone now,” said a student.

The students also demanded an increase in guideship — the number of students who could be guided by professors, assistant professors and associate professors. Currently, the ratio is 8, 6 and 4, respectively. The university should also allow senior professors to guide new PhD students, they said.

The students want the university to cancel the fourth semester PG students’ eligibility to apply for PhD. “In 2018, BU conducted an entrance test that allowed then fourth semester students to write the PhD eligibility entrance exam. No other university allows this,” they alleged. The students have also sought a hike in fellowship money from Rs 22,000 to Rs 25,000.

Vice-chancellor KR Venugopal said the norms followed by the university are as per the statute and any change would require an amendment. “We have called for a meeting with teachers, guides and deans on April 9 to discuss the issue. Once it is approved by them, it has to be sent to the government as it calls for an amendment of the statute...,” he said.

“According to UGC Regulations 2016, sections 2.1 and 2.2 give relaxation of 5% marks from 55% to 50% or an equivalent relaxation of grade for those belonging to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer) / differently abled categories. The same has been adopted in BU PhD Regulations 2016,” he said. BU had called for PhD admissions in July 2019. As many as 3,737 candidates had applied for 764 seats. The second round of counselling is expected to see 1,400 students vie for 400 vacancies.

SEEKING CHANGE OF CRITERIA:

Bangalore University students hold placards spelling out their demands during a protest at Jnana Bharathi campus on Monday

BWSSB PROPOSES STP ON VARSITY CAMPUS

BWSSB has proposed to BU to set up a sewage treatment plant on its campus to treat water from Vrishabhavathi river flowing through its premises. The university is expected to discuss the matter at the upcoming syndicate meeting on March 24.

BWSSB has sought 12 acres of land for the project. “We have written to the vice-chancellor proposing the project. The treated water will be provided to the university,” said BC Gangadhar, chief engineer, BWSSB.

“It will be a Rs 150-200 crore project and will be extremely helpful for the university as we hope to get water and power from it, apart from having the river cleaned up,” said the BU VC.

₹25 lakh fine for giving up seat in MBBS admissions

₹25 lakh fine for giving up seat in MBBS admissions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:16.03.2021 

The state government has decided to increase the fine from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh for MBBS course students who surrender their seats during counselling. This will come into effect from the next academic year.

Medical education minister K Sudhakar on Monday told the council the government is doing this to crack down on the seat blocking scam that crops up every year.

He was replying to a question by ruling BJP member N Ravikumar. Explaining the modus operandi, the minister said private medical college managements get meritorious candidates clear the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and block seats by paying the fee to the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA). They surrender them after the final mopup round of counselling. The surrendered seats are later added to the management quota of private medical colleges which sell them for huge sums of money.

‘Blacklist colleges blocking seats’

There have been reports that several medical colleges collude with high-ranking candidates in this scam so that seats are made available to less deserving candidates.

An expert committee of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences recently submitted a report to the medical education department recommending fivefold rise in penalty. “We accepted the report and decided to implement it to curb this menace,” the minister said.

Earlier, Ravikumar alleged that private colleges have been indulging in seat blocking and cited raids by CBI on 12 such colleges last year. “Blacklist colleges which indulge in such illegal practices,” he urged.

Without taking jab, three certified as vaccine takers

Without taking jab, three certified as vaccine takers

Surat:16.03.2021 

At least three persons in Gujarat's Surat city have received Covid-19 inoculation certificates without getting the actual vaccine dose. A senior civic official put it down to “technical glitch”.

Anup Singh, resident of Pandesara locality, said the vaccination certificate of his father Harbhan Singh   (62) was issued though he was yet to receive a vaccine dose.

“Last Wednesday I got an appointment for my father's vaccination on March13 at Barmoli urban health centre. But he could not get his shot as he was out of town. Despite that he received a certificate on that date,” Anup Singh said. Two more persons from another family who were scheduled to get the jab on March 13 received their certificates before getting vaccinated, civic sources said.

“We are discussing the matter with the IT department and trying to sort it out,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Health) Dr Ashish Naik.

“As per our official record, these beneficiaries have not been vaccinated but still received certificates. It means there is some technical glitch which we are trying to fix,” he said. PTI

Med colleges go online after 4 students test Covid positive

Med colleges go online after 4 students test Covid positive

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:16.03.2021 

The authorities of BJ Medical College have decided to close down on-campus classes for first year MBBS students after four students tested positive for Covid-19. Other medical colleges in the city have also decided to follow suit and switch to online classes for first-year MBBS students.

“The medical college authorities have decided to go back to online studies from Monday for first-year students as a precautionary measure,” said a senior college official while confirming that four first-year students had been infected with Covid-19.

Following the decision by BJ Medical College, other colleges in Ahmedabad including NHL Municipal Medical College, LG Medical College and AMC Dental College have also decided to close down on campus studies for first-year medical students, said sources close to the development.

Also, a medical college in Saurashtra has decided to close down on-campus classroom studies for its students, according to sources.

A first-year MBBS student who spoke on condition of anonymity said despite being frontline workers there are a large number of medical students who have not been vaccinated for Covid-19.

The decision comes on a day when Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation ordered the closure of shops after 10pm in eight municipal wards of the capital city given the rising cases of coronavirus in Gujarat.

As many as 890 new cases of Covid-19 were detected in Gujarat on Monday. Surat led the count with 262 cases, followed by Ahmedabad with a total of 209 cases.

The state’s only fatality was also reported from Surat. The total tally of coronavirus cases in Gujarat now stands at 2,79,097.

Colleges and schools in the state started reopening partially in a phase-wise manner from the second week of January after remaining shut for over nine months as a precautionary measure to check the spread of Covid-19.

BJ Medical, NHL, LG, and AMC Dental will stop on-campus studies for first year students

Asst prof candidates hit verification hurdle

Asst prof candidates hit verification hurdle

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:16.03.2021 

A large number of candidates applying for the post of assistant professors are facing a tough time during the document verification process. Candidates who have a degree in M Com (statistics) and have cleared NET (National Eligibility TEst) or SLET (State-level Eligibility Test) in Commerce, are faced with disqualification.

These candidates are of the view that there is no provision to do NET or SLET with statistics as the main subject so they have no choice but to take the entrance exam required to qualify for job as assistant professor, with commerce as the chosen subject. “The people who are involved in the document verification process lack such basic understanding,” said a candidate who has applied for the post.

After a hiatus of over two decades, Gujarat government had announced a recruitment drive to enlist 927 assistant professors in grant-in aid colleges this January. These professors will be recruited across 44 different programmes in grant-in aid colleges in the state. Besides, the government has also announced recruitment process for 5,700 assistant teachers in schools. The recruitment has been on hold in grant-in-aid schools for about 15 years now.

Doc couple tests Covid positive despite taking both doses of vax

Doc couple tests Covid positive despite taking both doses of vax

Cases At 69-Day High; Shops In A’bad Areas To Be Shut After 10pm

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:16.03.2021 

A city-based doctor couple – Dr Bela Dave, a professor at AMC-run dental college in Khokhra, and Dr Dilip Dave, a pathologist running a lab in Bapunagar area – tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. The duo had completed both the vaccination doses as healthcare workers (HCWs).

The couple told the media on Monday that they had no major symptoms, and have home quarantined themselves. The duo had got tested as part of their duty and had no apparent symptoms associated with the viral infection.

It is the second instance in the past three days where the doctors who have completed both the shots have got infected with the virus. P 5

890 new cases in 24 hours

Dr Mukesh Maheshwari, a city-based pathologist and a committee member in Gujarat chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), said that the incidents should not be seen as detrimental to the ongoing vaccination drive.

“None of the vaccinations can claim 100% efficacy – while some have claimed 70% effectiveness, others have claimed 81%. But vaccination is required to ensure that even when a person is infected, the morbidity and mortality remain low,” he said. Surge in Covid-19 cases in Gujarat continued with 890 cases in 24 hours, the highest in 69 days. While Surat city recorded alltime daily high cases at 240, Ahmedabad recorded 75-day high at 205. In wake of the surge in cases, AMC on Monday announced restriction in commercial establishments’ timings from March16 in eight wards with highest surge.

74% faculty posts vacant at IIMs; 35% at IITs, NITs

74% faculty posts vacant at IIMs; 35% at IITs, NITs

Chethan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:16.03.2021 

As another academic year is set to start, premier institutions in India — IITs, NITs, IIMs and IISERs — are staring at a collective faculty shortage of 38%, with cumulative vacancies as high as at 74% at the IIMs. It is 38.4% and 36.5% among IITs and NITs, respectively.

According to the HRD ministry, of the 39,822 sanctioned posts across IITs, NITs, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs, central universities and other institutes funded by the Centre, 14,372 (or 36.1%) are vacant.

The vacancies are caused by retirement, resignation and due to demands brought on by increased student strength, according to the ministry. A director of one of the institutions said: “Compared to the first 50 years, the number of these institutions have more than doubled in the past two decades. However, there has not been a matching growth in our PhDs. The institutions do not always get the promised funds.”

Data specific to IITs, NITs, IIMs and IISERs shows that of the 20,122 sanctioned faculty posts, 7,683 (or 38%) are vacant, while it is 34% for central universities, IIITs, NITTRs (National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research) and other centrally funded institutions together.

Pai: Centre must consider Anil Kakodkar panel suggestions

TV Mohandas Pai, chairman, Board of Manipal Global, says: “The primary problem is that of money. The Centre must seriously consider Anil Kakodkar committee recommendations. Despite knowing in advance retirement dates and timeline of expansion, there is no proper planning. The Centre must reimagine the way institutions function and revisit the rigid norms that set facultystudent ratios.”

While IIMs have the highest percentage of vacant posts (74%), they need to collectively fill up only 934 positions. Comparatively, IITs together need to fill up 3,876 positions, while it is 2,736 for NITs. The IISERs, with 137 vacant positions, are the best among the elite institutions have just 10.6% shortage.

Prof S Sadagopan, director, IIIT-B, said: “Hiring, growing and retaining faculty is a challenge for every institution in the world. It is no different at MIT or Harvard as high-quality people are in short supply. That said, institutions deliberately don’t aim to fill up 100% posts as there needs to be room to infuse young blood periodically and have positions for the best when they are available.”

The central universities, with 34% shortage, need to collectively fill up 6,210 posts.