Over 75k take NEET in Gujarat

Over 75k take NEET in Gujarat

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:13.09.2021

Over 75,000 students took the NEET that was conducted on Sunday across Gujarat. According to the students, the paper was easy and this may be a high-scoring year.

The students said that the facilities were good at centres with all Covid safety protocols in place. “Social distancing was followed, with each classroom having only a few students. Masks were also provided,” said Dhruv Darji, an aspirant.

The paper level was moderate, said students, with easy chemistry and concept-based botany sections. The physics section focused primarily on direct formulas, they added. “Overall, the cut-off is expected to be high, given the level of the paper,” said Navya Shukla, a student.

The examination was delayed by at least four months. In Gujarat, the centres were at Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Patan, Gandhinagar, Godhra and Bhavnagar among others. The exam was conducted in Gujarati, Hindi and English languages.

The students said that the facilities were good at centres with all Covid safety protocols in place

EPS blames DMK govt for NEET aspirant’s suicide

EPS blames DMK govt for NEET aspirant’s suicide

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Salem:13.09.2021 

Leader of the opposition and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday slammed the DMK-led state government for not taking steps to abolish the NEET examination in Tamil Nadu and blamed the government for the young NEET aspirant’s suicide. “Only because of Stalin's false promises, now, the family lost Dhanush,” he said.

Palaniswami in his statement on Sunday stated that Stalin had won the assembly election by giving the false assurance of placing his first signature to abolish the NEET examination in the state.

When questioning the steps for abolishing the examination in the assembly in June, the chief minister did not give a straight answer. “Stalin stated that steps would be taken based on the retired Justice A K Rajan committee’s recommendation,” Palaniswami said.

A petition was filed with the Madras high court that the Rajan’s committee was against the apex court’s guidelines. When answering to that case, the state government said in the high court that the committee would inquire about the NEET examination’s impact. The state government also said the committee was not formed against the apex court’s guidelines. The high court dismissed the petition after hearing the state government’s reply.

Stalin in his media statement stated that a bill would be passed in the assembly on Monday in connection with the NEET examination abolition. He conveyed his condolences to the family members for losing Dhanush and appealed to students not to take such an extreme decision out of fear for the NEET examination.

PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss appealed to the student community not to take such an extreme decision as suicide is not a solution. Head of the Tamil Manila Congress GK Vasan too expressed his grief to the family.

A service organisation founded by DMK MLA Dr Ezhilan Naganathan has moved the Madras high court seeking to get higher education transferred from concurrent to state list so as to do away with NEET and the new education policy. The PIL is likely to be taken up for hearing by the first bench.

State health minister Ma Subramaniam, who was in Tirunelveli, said the state government was making all attempts to get NEET exemption, legally and politically. "The state government will safeguard the doctor-dream of students, as promised in the DMK’s election manifesto," he said.

MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin visited Koolaiyur village on Sunday and handed over a cheque of ₹10 lakh to Dhanush’s family.

Former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami too visited the village and consoled the family members.

TRAGIC END: Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday handed over a cheque for ₹10 lakh to Dhanush’s family at Koolaiyur in Salem district

CITYLIGHTS

CITYLIGHTS

13.09.2021

From the mouth of babes

Keeping junk food away from children can be a tough task. While I was munching a packet of potato chips, the little one asked if she could have just one. After a quick thought, I showed her a couple of words on the packet, saying, "It is written, 'This is not for children'. That means no." It slipped my mind that she has begun reading and learning new words. She immediately said, “There is no N-O-T (spelling the word), there is no T-H-I-S and no I-S. Is there a spelling mistake on the packet?" Her disapproving nod told the rest, and I was left speechless! — Shanmughasundaram J

Translation woes

A transportation activist from Chennai who filed an RTI application for details on action taken against fake driving licences in Chennai Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) misunderstood a response and created confusion among reporters. One RTO, replying in English, said in the response that 1,000-odd ‘duplicate’ licences were issued. The activist thought ‘duplicate’ was the same as ‘fake’ and issued a press release to all media houses saying RTOs were issuing thousands of fake licences every year. While many reporters did not carry the news report, a few social media and TV channels carried it. The RTO had to send out explanations to his seniors — Ram Sundaram

Seating problems

Visitors to a recent function at Kalaivanar Arangam had a tough time as many plastic chairs collapsed on the slippery floor tiles. The organisers stacked one chair against the other to ensure stability, but a middle aged man pulled out a chair and sat before others could warn him. As he was speaking to a friend seated next to him, his chair gave way and he fell. As one organiser rushed in to help, people said it was the fifth or sixth such incident — Raghu Raman

Courtroom quips

A lawyer was arguing an appeal in a commercial litigation before the first bench of Madras HC headed by the Chief Justice.

Advocate: My lords, 7/11 provides for...

CJ: Please don’t mention it as 7/11 as it reminds me of the grocery store.

Advocate: Sorry, my lord. Under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code... By the way, the grocery brand is out of the country now, my lord.

In another courtroom exchange

Advocate: My lords, I hope I can build a bridge over the troubled waters through my arguments and it would end like 'The Bridge On The River Kwai'.

CJ: That wasn't a very happy ending.

Advocate: Sorry, my lord. I was about to say that it doesn't end like like 'The Bridge On The River Kwai' — Sureshkumar

Ex-revenue officials jailed for 4 years

Ex-revenue officials jailed for 4 years

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.09.2021

A former deputy tahsildar and his subordinate were found guilty of graft charges by a special court in Chengelpet district. The two of them were sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment by the special court after it held that the prosecution proved all charges against them. The revenue official had demanded a bribe of Rs5,000 from a person for carrying out his duty and the subordinate had received the amount on the official's instruction.

The accused officials J Selvam and M Kuppusamy were working as deputy tahsildar and record clerk at Taluk officer in Uthiramerur between January 2012 and January 2013.

According to the prosecution, in the second week of December 2012, a person had approached Selvam to issue Adangal -- a type of revenue record which contains details of land, area, ownership, liabilities and other details -- for which the revenue official had demanded a bribe other than the legal remuneration.

Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the vigilance and anti-corruption police in Kancheepuram who laid a trap and caught the clerk while collecting the chemical-soaked currency notes meant for the deputy tahsildar.

Unending queues at suburban rly stns as many counters shut

Unending queues at suburban rly stns as many counters shut

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.09.2021

Suburban commuters suffer long queues to buy tickets as most of the counters are still closed, although the railways have allowed people to travel by trains. Railways have also not made additional counters for people to avoid crowding while buying suburban tickets.

People have to wait for close to15 minutes at Tambaram to buy tickets during non-peak hours on weekdays. There is also a delay because railways accept only cash and are yet to offer digital options like in metro trains. This is forcing people to crowd ignoring Covid protocols. The situation is the same on the three suburban routes.

Karthik N, a commuter, said "Only a few counters are open, and no Covid protocols are being followed. All the ticketing counters are not open, although there is a crowd even in non-peak hours. The counters accept only cash. This is also making it slow."

He said, "It took me15 minutes to buy tickets at 10.30am on Wednesday and had to stand in a jampacked crowd and that too in a wellequipped station like Tambaram."

Similar is the situation at major stations where crowding has increased. T Sadagopan, a consumer activist, said, "Halt stations continue to have non-computerised counters where return tickets are not issued. The railways could have computerised these counters at these stations on the Tiruvallur route. There used to be separate counters for season tickets and for regular tickets. These are now issued from the same counters." The UTI app is not efficient all the time as there are restrictions to book tickets on it, he added.

K Baskar, a frequent commuter, said, "In Tiruvallur, the counter at south side of the station is not operated during morning peak hours. It is open from 9am to 2pm. A large number of people come into the station from this entry. It has to be open from 6am."

Villagers around Tambaram upset with new order

Villagers around Tambaram upset with new order

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.09.2021

The state government’s decision formally announcing the formation of Tambaram corporation by merging five municipalities and an equal number of town panchayats has found many takers.

However, several residents from15 village panchayats in the area are a disappointed lot as the government has not formally included their villages in the new corporation limits. The government order mentions that their inclusion would be done at a later stage.

Residents in these village panchayats said the decision to postpone their inclusion is a needless delay. This is so because despite being just a few kilometres from corporation limits, facilities in these village panchayats are several years behind those in the city. A Sathik of Medavakkam village panchayat said that the decision was a setback, as they had been waiting for 10 years for the new corporation.

J Shankar of Kovilambakkam village panchayat said there are some indications that the merger of village panchayats will be announced later. “But if elections are held to the village panchayats, then it is as good as postponing the merger by another five years,” he said.

A Varadhan of Moovarasampet village panchayat said they live just near the airport, but have only one official to handle their grievances and issues, which is not enough.

According to the new order, Tambaram, Pallavaram, Pammal, Sembakkam and Anakaputhur are the municipalites to be merged in the new corporation, while Chitalapakkam, Madambakkam, Perungalathur, Peerkankarai and Tiruneermalai are the town panchayats which will be merged.

The government order states that the revenue potential is increasing from these areas are increasing, while facilities like schools and colleges have also come up, which has necessitated the formation of a new corporation.

The projected population of the new corporation will be 9.6 lakh, up from 7.2 lakh in 2011

Gym owner, 47, writes NEET to coach daughter

Gym owner, 47, writes NEET to coach daughter

A Ragu Raman & A Prathap TNN

Chennai:13.09.2021

Parents choose different methods to help their children crack competitive exams, but K Mohan went a step ahead on Sunday. The 47-year-old gym owner from Vadapalani appeared for NEET at an Anna Nagar centre not because he wants to become a doctor, but because he wants to help his daughter turn one.

When he entered the examination centre, the police personnel and invigilation staff thought he was a parent, but allowed him in after double checking the hall ticket. “I was nervous thinking whether familiar questions would appear. When I entered, young students looked at me differently. But, I was focused on the exam," he told TOI.

Mohan, who is also customs consultant for those in the export-import business, has an MA and a law degree, but doesn’t practise. He completed his Class XII three decades ago and wanted to join medicine but couldn’t. “I got the interest when I was helping my sister’s daughter prepare last year. After learning that there is no age limit for professional courses, I decided to give it a try to help my daughter’s preparation and slogged for six months,” he said.

The physics questions were tough, but those in chemistry and biology were relatively easy, he said. “I am expecting more than 550 out of 720. As of now, I am not planning to join the medicine course.”

The other family members did not welcome the idea, but his daughter and son were supportive and helped in the preparations, said Mohan, adding that he used his niece’s coaching material.

According to the National Testing Agency’s information bulletin for NEET 2021, the upper age is 25 years as on the date of examination with a relaxation of five years for those in to the SC/ST/OBC-NC category and PwBD candidates.

However, the Supreme Court, hearing petitions challenging the age limit, provisionally allowed candidates who are above 25 years in its interim order and said it is subject to the final outcome of the case. So, the NTA provisionally allowed candidates above 25 years to appear.

AGE NO BAR: K Mohan at the entrance of his test centre on Sunday