Univs told to hold all exams in offline mode

Univs told to hold all exams in offline mode

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:

17.11.2021

Citing the decline in Covid-19 cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu higher education department on Tuesday directed all state universities to conduct all exams only in offline mode.

A section of students in Madurai and engineering college managements asked the department to continue with unsupervised online exams for upcoming exams.

"The offline examinations may be held by following the standard operating procedures and guidelines issued by the government. It applies to all polytechnic, arts and science, engineering, colleges of education and university departments," higher education secretary D Karthikeyan said in a circular to all universities.

Professors from Anna University said the quality of graduates will improve only if exams are held offline. The university also decided to postpone the semester exams by two weeks to give time for colleges to prepare students for offline mode exams.

"The exams were originally scheduled to start from December 13. Now, the university decided to start the semester exams for students studying in third, fifth and seventh semesters from December 27," an official from Anna University said.

Madras University is also planning to conduct physical mode exams from the last week of December.

Anna University former vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy, said the state government's decision to conduct physical mode exams is a welcome move.

"The state government should not yield to the pressure from students and college management. In the interest of quality of education, the government should stick to their decision as the unsupervised online exams led to copying and other malpractices," he said.

Caught in quota tussle, MBBS, BDS admissions delayed

Caught in quota tussle, MBBS, BDS admissions delayed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:

17.11.2021

Even two weeks after the declaration of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) results, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to call for applications for MBBS and BDS admissions, increasing anxiety and stress among medical aspirants. The delay also would affect students who may not get a medical seat as admissions would be closed to other professional courses by the time medical counselling ends.

Officials said the state has decided to wait for clarity over cases related to special quota for vanniyars and economically weaker sections (EWS) which are pending before the Supreme Court.

Dharani, a medical aspirant who has scored above 450 marks in NEET, said, the anxiety increases everyday as there was no information about admissions. "It has been two weeks since the NEET results were declared. The government is yet to call for applications. I want to know which college I would get admission to for my score," she said.

Another aspirant from the city who has scored 500, said she was stressed over the delay in admissions. "This year, the conduct of the NEET and declaration of results were delayed. There is no update about all-India quota admissions and state quota admissions so far. My friends who have selected engineering and other courses have started going to colleges. Even if the selection committee starts admission now, we will be able to go to medical college only in January 2022," she said.

After the 10.5% special quota for vanniyars was struck down by the Madras high court, the state government filed an appeal against the HC's order. A decision also expected in a few days on the petitions challenging the centre's decision to implement a 27% quota to OBCs and 10% reservation to EWS within all-India quota (AIQ) seats.

“We normally don’t start counselling here until at least one round of counselling is completed by the Medical Counselling Committee under the directorate general of health services,” said a senior official from the directorate of medical education. “This will give toppers an opportunity to choose seats from AIQ. Once they pay their fees and join a college, they are not allowed for counselling here. If we hold counselling before them there will be unnecessary movements,” the official said.

Meanwhile, health minister Ma Subramanian said the state would start counselling only after two rounds of counselling for all-India quota seats.

Mistaking for ex-wife, man hacks 32-year-old inside bank

Mistaking for ex-wife, man hacks 32-year-old inside bank

According to a police officer, the man attacked the woman mistaking her for his former wife, Susmitha, who is also an employee at the same bank.

Published: 16th November 2021 06:33 AM 

By Express News Service

KOZHIKODE: In a case of mistaken identity, a man hacked a 32-year-old woman inside a bank thinking her to be his former wife. Sreeshma suffered injuries when a drunk Biju, 47, attacked her inside the Cooperative Rural Bank in Nanmanda at 2pm. Police said the Nanmanda native is under treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital and her condition is stable.

According to a police officer, the man attacked the woman mistaking her for his former wife, Susmitha, who is also an employee at the same bank. “Biju came to the bank to confront his ex-wife. He entered the cashier’s cabin where Sreeshma was sitting and hacked her from behind with a knife. She managed to escape from attack with minor injuries on hand. Other bank staff, who rushed to her rescue, soon caught him and handed over him to the police,” said the officer.

Susmitha, who is the regular cashier at the bank was on leave on Monday and Sreeshma was in her seat. Biju did not know that his former wife was on leave. Since Sreeshma was wearing a mask, the man may not have identified her, the officer said. Biju and Susmitha had divorced recently. However, exact motive behind the attack could be ascertained only after a detailed interrogation, the police said. The accused was charged under Section 324 (for stabbing) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.

HC reserves order on medicine exams

HC reserves order on medicine exams

SagarKumar.Mutha@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad: 16.11.2021

Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana high court on Monday reserved his orders in a batch of petitions filed by MBBS students and their parents challenging the alleged faulty pattern of their first year annual examinations and seeking a second supplementary examination to save them from losing another year.

The students have already lost almost a year due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The students have been complaining about the missing multiple choice questions (MCQs) section in their exams. National Medical Commission (NMC) regulations and guidelines say that 20 per cent of the question paper must contain MCQs whereas the Kaloji health university has completely eliminated this section, they said.

When the court questioned the varsity whether it was willing to conduct a second supplementary exam as a one-time measure because the pandemic crippled all spheres of life, the university said it had to obtain NMC permission. However, the NMC counsel said that it was for the university to explain whether it deviated from the pattern fixed by the NMC. The judge reserved his orders.

Rlys looking to turn general coaches into AC compartments

Rlys looking to turn general coaches into AC compartments

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 16.11.2021

The railways is exploring the option to convert general coaches in long distance trains into AC compartments in its bid to provide a comfortable ride to the passengers who can’t pay high fare.

Sources said these coaches will have seating arrangements for 100-120 passengers and hence the fares would be much less so that common people can travel in these coaches. These compartments would be fully reserved and would have automatic closing doors. TOI has learnt that the brainstorming sessions on this plan have started in the railway ministry. The first AC General Class coach is likely to be manufactured in the Railway Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab.

Though all long distance trains except premier ones such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat had unreserved general compartments before the Covid-19 pandemic, now all such coaches run as reserved compartments. Officials said if common passengers can get comfortable ride in AC coaches at affordable fare, then this should become a priority of the railways. Recently, railways introduced AC economy class coaches with lower fare than AC-3 tier as an option for passengers who opt for travel in sleeper class coaches. It also started the maiden service of an all-AC economy train.

India opens doors for vaxxed travellers from 99 countries

India opens doors for vaxxed travellers from 99 countries

But High Int’l Airfares Play Party Pooper

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:16.11.2021

India on Monday reopened its doors for fullyvaccinated foreign tourists from across the world. Now, travellers who have got approved jabs are allowed in quarantine-free from as many as 99 countries, including the US, UK, UAE, Qatar, France and Germany. However, skyhigh international airfares due to limited air bubble flights are playing party pooper for both those who wish to come to India and those who wish to fly abroad for visiting friends and relatives or for just good old tourism.

A return economy class air ticket on Delhi-San Francisco or Delhi-Toronto for travel around Christmas and New Year is upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh, Mumbai-New York starts at Rs 1.2 lakh and Bengaluru-London is upwards of Rs 80,000. On peak travel days, a one-way ticket can cost more than prepandemic return fares.

A senior aviation ministry official had recently said flights under air bubbles will be increased as per demand. But a delay in doing so means a large number of people are forced to book at exorbitant rates and subsequent drop in fares due to more flights being allowed does not benefit them.

Travel Agent Federation of India joint secretary Anil Kalsi said, “The limited international flights have reduced capacity and led to manifold increase in fares. For example, Delhi-Dubai economy return is currently more than double of pre-pandemic level of under Rs 20,000. The government should consider resumption of scheduled international flights with countries where Covid is in control and which mutually accept our vaccines and certification.” German ambassador to India Walter J Lindner Tweeted Monday, “Incredible India opens its doors again, tourists now can fly to India. Happy that Covid19 situation in India has improved lots in last months. Hope soon regular commercial flights will fly again.”

Consumers and the diplomatic and travel community have requested the government to allow more international flights to allow airfares to return to saner levels. High airfares are hurting more due to “new” costs for travellers during Covid worldwide. A majority of countries require negative report of a Covid test taken within one to three days to allow travellers in.

Fake papers: 12 PCR constables dismissed after 13 yrs of service

New Delhi:  16.11.2021

As many as 12 Delhi Police constables posted in the PCR (Police Control Room) unit as drivers were dismissed from their duty, after almost 13 years of service, following a departmental inquiry over allegations of having submitted fake driving licences and documents during their recruitment in 2007.

A senior police officer said that a case was registered against the constables at Model Town police station for forging driving licences to get the job in Delhi Police by “deceitful means”. The dismissal order stated that the 12 constables are unfit for service.

According to the police, more than 81 candidates had applied for the job in 2007 and several tests were conducted before the selected individuals received their appointment letter.

An order issued by Delhi Police, signed by DCP Pankaj Kumar (operations and PCR), stated: “It has clearly been proven that the delinquent constables (drivers) deliberately and knowingly submitted a forged/fake driving licence by adopting deceitful means to seek recruitment. They all gave their residential address of Mathura in their licence, there’s no record of their residence in Mathura. It shows that the constables procured licences by adopting forged mean.” TNN