Court orders govt to return medico’s papers

Court orders govt to return medico’s papers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:20.09.2021

The Gujarat high court ordered the state government to return original documents to a medical student after completion of his MBBS studies. The documents were withheld over him not submitting a bond of Rs 2 lakh during his studies in lieu of one-year service in rural areas.

While directing the authorities to return the documents to Neil Ramesh Patel, who was admitted to a GMERS college in 2015, Justice Bhargav Karia told the government lawyer, “You cannot retain original documents for any fault committed by the student.” The judge was of the view that there is no rule that empowers the government to withhold original documents, and the rules stipulate that the government has to return documents as soon as the admission process gets over.

The student was against executing the bond since the beginning, and his medical studies were completed without having tendered the bond.

The government did not return his documents including marksheets and certificates. The student’s father moved the high court complaining that the government’s withholding of his son’s original documents and not issuing him a certificate for his medical studies would adversely affect his son’s career immediately, particularly his plans to go abroad.

The state government tried to defend its withholding of the documents and argued that returning them would set a bad example. To this, Justice Karia said, “This will rather set a correct example for all institutes, that they cannot withhold students’ documents.” After the high court assumed this strict posture, the government conceded and told the court that the district collector would initiate proceedings against the student for recovery of the bond amount.

This did not go down well with the court, and the judge said that the authority can do anything permissible under law for recovery, but it has no right to retain the student’s documents. It cannot ruin the student’s career without any reason, particularly for its own fault to execute the bond at the beginning of the course.

11-year-old becomes collector for a day

FIGHTING TUMOUR

11-year-old becomes collector for a day

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:20.09.2021

She is 11 years old and is battling brain tumour. But Flora Asodiya has let neither her age nor her condition pull back her ambition. Flora’s wish to become a collector came true on Saturday as she held the position of the Ahmedabad district collector for a day.

Flora rode from her house at Sargasan on the outskirts of Gandhinagar to the collectorate in the official car of the district collector. She was given the ceremonial guard of honour at the entrance. She was taken to the collector’s chamber, where district collector Sandip Sagale himself made her sit in the chair of power.

Assuming the role of the district collector, Flora distributed certificates to beneficiaries under ‘Vhaali Dikri’ and ‘Vidhva Sahay’ schemes. For her contribution to the bureaucracy, she was gifted a doll set and a tablet. Earlier, all the collectorate employees had got together to cut a cake to celebrate her arrival. “My daughter studies in Class 7 and has always dreamt of becoming a collector,” said her mother Sonal Asodiya. Apurva Asodiya, Flora’s father, said: “We had become very distressed after discovering her ailment. We thank the collectorate for helping her fulfill her aspiration.” Sagale got to know of Flora through Make a Wish Foundation.

‘Online Mode Means Results Not Reflection Of Quality’

332 engg colleges bag 84% pass in ’20

‘Online Mode Means Results Not Reflection Of Quality’

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.09.2021

As many as 332 engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University got a pass percentage above 84% in the November/December 2020 exams. This is in contrast to the November/December 2019 exam when PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research in Coimbatore secured a pass of 83.8%, the highest that year.

While a mere 57 colleges got above 50% pass in 2019, 400 of 411 colleges got above 50% pass in 2020, according to the academic performance released by Anna University on Saturday.

Experts say the results are not a true reflection of the quality of students and colleges and that they were boosted due to the unsupervised online exams conducted in July. After Anna University conducted a proctored online test in February, the higher education department ordered it to conduct a re-exam following complaints from students.

The results of the exam in the April/May 2020 semester were even higher as the government declared students of the first three years all-pass in view of Covid-19. As many as 30 colleges got 100% results and 412 of 441 got above 90% pass and only two colleges registered less than 70%.

Principals said the high pass percentage in 2020 will make more students eligible for campus placements in 2021-22. “Usually, we will have 60%-70% of final year students with all pass and be eligible for the screening process for campus placements. This year, we have around 90% of final year students eligible for campus placements due to inflated results,” a principal from a city college said.

R M Kishore, vice-chairman of RMK Engineering College, said the absence of an exam-like environment and unsupervised tests resulted in the surge in pass percentage, but added that that it will not impact campus recruitment. “Recruiters have their own screening process and will not consider semester exam marks while selecting candidates. They have their own recruitment tests,” he said.

Former vice-chancellor of Anna University E Balagurusamy said the results are not a true reflection of the performance of students and colleges. “Anna University should have avoided publishing these results on the website as it will mislead the engineering aspirants and public. The exams were not conducted in a proper form and it was mass copying. The 100% results shows the process of examination and evaluation is wrong. They should return to normal physical mode exams for next semester and if it is unavoidable, they should go for proctored online tests,” he added.

First of 2-part CBSE exam from mid-Nov

First of 2-part CBSE exam from mid-Nov

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:20.09.2021

The first of the two-part CBSE board exams for Classes X and XII will begin from mid-November. The dates of the Term 1 exams will be announced by mid-October.

The 90-minute Term 1 exam papers will be conducted with multiple-choice optical mark recognition (MCQOMR) question sheets. For Term 1 exams, CBSE officials have so far ruled out any option of online tests.

The CBSE had earlier decided to split the board exams into two parts — Term 1 and Term 2. It had said a student’s final score would be calculated on the basis of his/her performance in both terms. As per the new scheme, Term1 will be an objective type exam while Term 2 will be subjective and have practical components.

Sanyam Bhardwaj, controller of examinations, CBSE said: “The Board will wait and watch the situation before deciding on the weightage. In case there is any disruption of the Term 2 exams, then the Term 1 exams will be given more weightage. Can’t predict anything as there could emerge a situation where we will have only the Term 1 exams to depend on for the final assessment.”

CBSE to issue marksheets of Term 1 exams

Bhardwaj added, “Therefore, a decision will be taken only towards the Term 2 exams.” In July, the Board had announced an overhaul of the assessment system and issued detailed guidelines for the pandemichit 2021-22 academic session.

The Term 1 exams in normal times are scheduled between October and November. Similarly, the Term 2 exams are normally held between February and March. However, due to the pandemic situation, they will be conducted between March and April 2022.

CBSE recently wrote to schools to submit their lists of candidates with relevant information by September 30, 2021, for it to start the examination process. There will be no window for correction in the uploaded data this year and therefore uploading of correct data is the school’s responsibility. Bhardwaj said, “Schools are asked to submit the lists of their candidates with correct details by the end of this month without late fee and by October 9, 2021, with late fee.”

Stating that no updation of data will be permitted after the final submission, Bhardwaj added, “Earlier, schools used to send the copies of list of candidates to the regional offices. From 2021 onwards, the lists will be uploaded on the system with the e-signature linked with the Aadhaar of the principal of the schools and it is the schools’ responsibility to ensure that the information provided is correct.”

Though final results will be made available to students after their Term 2 exams, CBSE will issue marksheets of Term 1 exams as well. “This will help the candidates in understanding where they stand. However, the final results will be based on both the exams,” Bhardwaj.

‘Will stick to guv’s Constitutional limits’

‘Will stick to guv’s Constitutional limits’

Humbled To Be In Land Of Most Ancient Civilisation, Says Ravi After Taking Oath

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.09.2021

Soon after being sworn in as the 26th governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravindra Narayan Ravi on Saturday said he would function within the parameters of the Constitution. The former IB officer and Nagaland governor succeeded Banwarilal Purohit who was appointed as the governor of Punjab and the administrator of the Union territory of Chandigarh.

“This place has a popular government mandated by the people. Governance is the responsibility of the government. Governor is to function within the parameters of the Constitution. I will try my best to keep that in mind,” he said, replying to a query from reporters as to whether he too would break away from convention like his predecessor and tour the state to hold review meetings with the district administrators.

On the performance of the DMK government, the governor said it was too premature to say anything. “I believe it should be doing well. The way it has handled Covid… It (case) has come down.” He said a pandemic such as Covid was above party, politics, above differences, if at all, between a state and the Union. Reminded of the opposition from certain political parties to his appointment given his IB background, Ravi said, “The slate of our relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in the days to come.”

The swearing-in event that lasted 10 minutes saw chief secretary V Irai Anbu reading out ‘Warrant of Appointment’ signed by President Ram Nath Kovind on September 9. Chief justice of the Madras HC Sandeep Banerjee administered the oath of office to Ravi on the lawns of Raj Bhavan. “I, Ravindra Narayana Ravi, do swear in the name of God…,” Ravi said, evoking loud claps from the gathering. CM M K Stalin, Union minister L Murugan, ministers, judges, MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats and others were present. Former governors M M Rajendran (Odisha) E S L Narasimhan (Telangana), P Sathasivam (Kerala), M K Narayanan (West Bengal) and RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy were among the special invitees. PMK president G K Mani was present.

FRESH START: This is a new slate, governor Ravi said about reservations about his IB background

Covid: 20 districts report marginal increase in cases

Covid: 20 districts report marginal increase in cases

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

Fresh cases in Tamil Nadu continued to decline on Saturday, when the state added 1,653 new cases compared to 1,669 on Friday. Twenty of the 38 districts in the state including Chennai and Kallakurichi reported a marginal increase in cases. After reporting 22 deaths and 1,581 discharges, there were 16,893 people on the active list.

Chennai, which reported the sharpest increase in cases in the last 24 hours, recorded 204 new cases compared to 196. The city reported the highest number of cases in the state followed by Coimbatore, which reported 201 new cases – a drop from 205 cases reported on Friday. Chennai and Coimbatore were the only two districts to report more than 200 cases each. Erode (139) and Chengalpet (101) were the only two other districts to report cases in two digits. While cases in Erode had increased from 132 cases on Friday, Chengalpet saw a decline from 115.

The sharpest decline was seen in Thanjavur, where cases dropped from 110 on Friday to 91 on Saturday. While Villupuram reported 20 new cases, at least 15 other districts recorded less than 20 cases. Among these Perambalur(9), Ramanathapuram(7), Virudhunagar(7) and Tenkasi(5) reported cases in single digits.

Active cases were highest in Coimbatore (2201) and Chennai (1941) on Saturday and nearly 46% of the active cases were reported from five districts – Coimbatore, Chennai, Erode, Chengalpattu and Thanjavur. However, more than 85% of hospital beds in almost all districts were vacant.

Of the 22 deaths, there were five from Coimbatore, four from Thanjavur, two each from Salem, Cuddalore and Kancheepuram. While seven districts reported one death each, 26 other districts reported zero deaths.

Meanwhile, two lakh people took vaccines on Saturday taking the total dosage tally to 3.9crore at the government vaccination centres. The number of vaccinations in private hospitals since May 1 has touched 23.7lakh.

Pondy reports 128 cases, one death

Puducherry on Saturday recorded 128 fresh Covid-19 cases that were identified at the end of examination of 5,004 samples. The new cases were spread over Puducherry 88, Karaikal 32 and Mahe eight. The overall case load was 1,25,384. However, Yanam did not report any new case. One more person aged 75 years succumbed to the viral infection raising the cumulative fatalities to 1,829. Director of health and family welfare services G Sriramulu said 17.32 lakh samples were tested and out of them 14.69 lakh were found to be negative. In all, 8.97 lakh people including those who received the second jab have been vaccinated in the Union Territory. AGENCIES

Active cases in city increase by 97 to 1,895 within a week

Active cases in city increase by 97 to 1,895 within a week

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

In a week, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the city has increased by 97, official data released by Greater Chennai Corporation shows.

As on September10, the city had1,798 active cases, which increased to 1,895 on September 17. Data released by the health department in Covid19 bulletins everyday shows that the test positivity rate in the city continues to remain under control at 1% and a little less.

At present, six of the fifteen zones have less than 100 active cases. These are Tiruvottiyur (50), Manali (15), Madhavaram (61), Royapuram (82), Alandur (97) and Shollinganallur (93).

A week ago, eight of the fifteen zones had less than 100 active cases. In addition to the above mentioned six, Tondiarpet and Thiru-vi-ka Nagar also had less than 100 cases. The maximum cases currently is in Anna Nagar (203) followed by Kodambakkam (201). These are the only two zones to report more than 200 active cases.

Despite this increase, official data from the street wise containment of the corporation shows that the number of streets reporting active cases has reduced over the past one week. A week ago, there were 872 such streets in the city with at least one case; this has now come down to 834.

The number of streets reporting more than five cases has also reduced from 25 to 20 during the same period, official information shows.

The civic body officials said they have stepped up vigil in places with huge crowds as well as events behind closed doors. For instance, the corpoation inspected around 5,700 events at marriage halls so far. They have found 455 violations based on which a fine of ₹8.6 lakh was collected for violations of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).