Let go of temporary staff hired sans nod, varsities told

Let go of temporary staff hired sans nod, varsities told

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mysuru:05.09.2021

The higher education department has ordered all state-run varsities to relieve temporary employees, outsourced workers and those employed on contract basis without prior government approval.

The registrars of 23 varsities, including University of Mysore (UoM), Mandya Cluster University and Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), have been issued a directive to this effect. According to the government circular, the varsities have to relieve both teaching and non-teaching staff of their duties.

Coincidentally, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha recently levelled allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of 400 daily-wage labourers at UoM. However, its vice-chancellor Prof G Hemantha Kumar had dismissed the allegations. KSOU officials too may have to answer a few difficult questions given the recent recruitment of teachers, who were hired on a contractual basis at the varsity.

The government pointed out that those who have been hired by varsities without its consent may move the court seeking regularisation of their employment, with all the benefits it entails. In a bid to pre-empt such a scenario, the government asked all varsities to relieve those recruited without its permission.

UoM registrar R Shivappa said the varsity is yet to receive any directions from the government in this regard.

“We will take a decision once we receive the order,” Shivappa said. Former UoM syndicate member MSS Kumar blamed the protracted delay in appointment of regular staff to universities for the present problem.

“Nearly 60% of staff at universities are not regularised workers. Such being the case, no state university will be able to follow the government’s direction. The only solution to this is to initiate recruitment to all vacant posts at the earliest,” Kumar said.

The state-run universities have to relieve both teaching and non-teaching staff, hired on contract basis, of their duties

Man to bear wife’s travelling costs for court hearings: HC

Man to bear wife’s travelling costs for court hearings: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:05.09.2021

The Gujarat high court has ordered a man to pay Rs 1,500 travelling and food allowance to his wife for each court hearing that she has to attend in a suit for dissolution of marriage filed by the man.

The petition for transfer of case was filed by the wife, who lives in Porbandar with her daughter.

She shifted to Porbandar from Una town in Gir Somnath district after a matrimonial dispute. In 2019, her husband approached the court in Una and filed a suit for dissolution of marriage.

The woman has to travel 200km from Porbandar to Una to attend court proceedings.

In January 2020, she moved the high court and requested for shifting of the suit proceedings to a court in Porbandar so that she does not have to face the hardships of travelling long distances with her minor daughter. The husband got apprehensive that if the case gets transferred, he would be at the receiving end and the hardship of travelling would fall on him.

The husband opposed the transfer of the case to Porbandar court and made a proposal that he would bear the travelling cost for his wife and daughter, when they have to come to Una for the hearings.

The court accepted this proposal and ordered him to pay Rs 1,500 to his wife towards the cost of their travelling and food for the wife and daughter for every hearing that she attends. The HC did not accept the woman’s request for transfer of the case.

The HC also requested the court in Una to see that the case is heard and completed as expeditiously as possible.

It also set a deadline of March 31, 2022 for the lower court to complete the case.

The petition for transfer of case was filed by the wife, who lives in Porbandar and has to travel 200km to attend court proceedings

Language instructor who built ‘learning apps’

Language instructor who built ‘learning apps’

Nimesh.Khakhariya@timesgroup.com

05.09.2021

When schools were locked due to the Covid pandemic, educators were left with no option but to search for learning tools to overcome the distance barrier.

But many years before the lockdown, Nahid Khan Ligari, a teacher working at a district panchayat-run school in Junagadh district, had tapped on to the benefits of alter native modes of learning and developed ‘learning apps’. What more, he also devised a way to overcome the internet connectivity issue, by developing apps that worked in offline mode too.

What makes his efforts even more praiseworthy is that apart from facing the usual ‘limited or no resources issue’, Ligari also had no ‘technical or software’ background. A language teacher, Ligari teaches Gujarati, Hindi and English. Yet he took the pains of learning the basics of app developing.

The desire to make education accessible to all drove him on, says Ligari. “I was always thinking of making education available to students at their doorsteps,” Ligari said.

Ligari’s work was recognized by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). He was recently conferred the ‘National Information Communication & Technology’ award by NCERT.

Ligari has developed two apps so far — an encyclopedia and a dictionary. Once downloaded on mobile phones, the two apps work in offline mode. The Internet is needed only at the time of app update.

Out of the WhatsApp, video-calling world

Out of the WhatsApp, video-calling world

Parth.Shastri@timesgroup.com

05.09.2021 

The time-table of Nathabhai Chavda, a school teacher from Bhavnagar district, is a bit different. Instead of classes, the timings show the ‘sheri’ (bylane) he will be conducting classes at. Chavda starts off from the lanes of Sipaiwada at Hathiyadhar village near Palitana and proceeds to nearby areas.

“I have about 45 students to teach. While colleagues elsewhere conducted classes through WhatsApp calls, my students didn’t have the facility – their fathers have just one phone and would take it to work. They also did not have TVs. Thus, I started conducting classes at their doorstep,” says Chavda, a teacher at Jhaverchand Meghani Primary School. “We also installed a few TVs in houses so students can catch classes through DD Girnar.” While many teachers toyed virtual classrooms, for many in the state, that was not possible due to the lack of phones or TVs. Thus, these teachers went the conventional way to take education to their students.

The In-Shodh platform of the Ravi J Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation (RJMC) at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) documented several such practices over the past 18 months. In all, the online platform has 800-odd innovations, which are accessed by teachers from Gujarat and beyond.

Another innovation documented is by Gaurav Joshi, a teacher from Pahadbhai ni Muvadi primary school in Gandhinagar district. When Joshi goes to the village to teach, he carries a load worthy of a small carrier. The students get a mini library, a space to conduct science and mathematics experiments, and a ‘performance space’ for kids to sing and dance.

“We call it ‘Bal Melo’ or Children’s Fair, so students are attracted to the space and learn while having fun,” said Joshi.

You may take drones on domestic flights soon

You may take drones on domestic flights soon

Govt Working On New Rules, Say Officials

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:05.09.2021

You may soon be able to take your small drones with you on domestic holidays by air and post envyinducing pictures of chilling out on beaches or hills. After relaxing rules for drone usage, the government is working out ways to ensure that people can take drones with them on domestic flights for recreational purposes.

“Drones can’t be taken on (domestic) flights as of now, but we have to find a way to let people carry it for vacations for use at their destination. Whether they can be taken in handbags or check-in (luggage) and how, these things are being worked out,” said top aviation officials. For international travellers, regulations on carriage of drones at destination countries will have to be complied with.

This clarity of rules is needed to ensure people can at least take nano drones (weighing up to 250 grams), that now come with great cameras, on vacation when flying within the country. A new set of relaxed drone rules were enforced late last month, by junking stringent regulations put in place this March. The carriage of drones by air travellers passengers still remains a grey area that needs to be cleared.

People operating nano and micro (weighing between 251 grams and 2kg) drones for non-commercial or personal uses do not require a remote pilot licence.

The government is working out an airspace map for unmanned aircraft system operations that will have three colour zones. This map is expected to be on Digital Sky drone platform by the month-end. That will clearly show where a drone can be operated or not. Red, like areas in vicinity of airports, will be “no go” areas. In yellow zones, air traffic control clearance will be required.

Education amid Covid-19: Road to recovery

Education amid Covid-19: Road to recovery

The traditional education system will get back on track post mass vaccinations. With the schools reopening for the higher classes in Tamil Nadu, we look at the challenges and examine the benefits of reopening schools

Respedit.Chennai@timesgroup.com

05.09.2021

Science has proved, yet another time that effective research, precaution and execution can prevent the spread of virus. This also allows normalcy to slowly resume, bringing back all sectors, including education, back on track.

As schools reopen after the vaccination drive, they must balance the educational, social and emotional needs of their students, as well as ensure the health and safety of students and staff. “The world that lies ahead of us may look different from the one we’re leaving behind. Slowly, and as the vaccine drive gains momentum, schools are beginning to get back to normal, with students getting back to the classroom, of course, with stringent protocols to ensure the safety of all. Teaching methodologies have changed, and while teachers and students have welcomed digital teaching, it will now be coupled with in-classroom activities and field visits too, ensuring the overall development and learning of a child. This is a welcome move, and the vaccine only ensures extra safety. The new model of learning focussed on classroom as well as digital learning is known as hybrid schooling and is the new normal teaching pedagogy not only in India, but across the globe,” says Siddhi Sankhla, a school principal.

The closure of schools had impacted the daily lives of students. The change was sudden, unexpected and there was no substitute system in place. While the collective efforts of parents, students and teachers did pay off, children do need to interact in person to develop and learn better.

One major benefit that students gain from the opening of schools is equal access to education for all. “In keeping with India’s vast student population, it was discouraging to see only a minority of students from privileged backgrounds access online classes. Students from tier-II and tier-III cities, as well as remote districts of India had little access, either due to the lack of gadgets, internet services or their inability to use them. This led to only a fraction of students receiving online education. Multiple surveys have shared data proving that most students have missed their virtual exams, and have wasted a year in the process. Hence, the move to reopen schools is encouraging for more than one reason,” says Kiran Bhatia, a school teacher and parent of an eight-year-old. “Meanwhile, schools should follow the government’s SOP guidelines and ensure a classroom size of not more than 50 per cent until the virus is eradicated. Classroom teaching, coupled with a vaccine jab and necessary precaution, will bring back normalcy to India’s disturbed education system,” concludes Kiran.

Don’t waste time dwelling on past events: Stalin to his MLAs

Intervenes As MLA Recalls ‘Humiliation’ Of Party Over 10yrs

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:05.09.2021

Chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday sought to send a strong message to his legislators to stop recalling past events in the assembly as it amounted to wasting the time of the House.

More than once in recent days, he had also asked his MLAs not to indulge in sycophancy by showering compliments on him. On Saturday, participating in the debate on demand for grants for various departments, DMK (Kumbakonam) MLA G Anbalagan said his party had suffered humiliation in the assembly in the past one decade, with many AIADMK leaders making acerbic remarks against the DMK and its leadership. “A leader made an outrageous statement that there were no rivals for her to see in the assembly. Another leader said Stalin can never win and never become chief minister. Those faces are not to be found in the House. But others have come,” said Anbalagan pointing to Royapuram MLA Idream R Murthy, seated near him. Murthy, who defeated former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar, rose from his seat with folded hands, evoking laughter among the ruling party MLAs.

Stalin intervened at this stage to say the member had been given only 15 minutes by the speaker and hence, he should confine himself to the issues relating to the demand for grants for the department and should not waste time speaking about “unnecessary” things. Leader of the opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami said the DMK MLA should also talk about the vote on the motion of confidence in 2017 (when the DMK legislators created ruckus). Responding to this, the chief minister said, “I have told my MLA to limit himself to relevant issues to avoid wastage of time. If the Leader of the opposition is ready for a discussion (on the trust vote), then the DMK is also ready.” Palaniswami said the DMK MLA was making unnecessary remarks in the House.

Anbalagan went on to say the DMK was not against any religion and the party remained a fortress for spiritual people. It was portrayed as an anti-Hindu party way back in 1967 elections and in 2021, but people reposed confidence in the Dravidian party. Former CM C N Annadurai deputed his PWD minister M Karunanidhi to oversee the arrangements of mahamagam festival in Kumbakonam, he said. “In 11 seats, known for their spiritual significance, including Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai and Mylapore, the DMK won in the last election,” he said.

Later, DMK (Tirupattur) MLA A Nallathambi said rivals (the BJP) took out Vel Yatra to defeat Dravidam and the DMK, but it was Karunanidhi who took out a yatra for tracing the missing diamond spear of Lord Muruga in Tiruchendur.