Applications invited for MKU VC post

Applications invited for MKU VC post

11/12/2021

Staff ReporterCHENNAI

The Search Committee constituted for recommending three names to the Governor for the post of Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University has invited applications from interested academicians.

Those interested in applying can download the application from https://mkuniversity.ac.in. The duly filled-in form in the prescribed format should be sent via email (mkuvcsc@gmail.com) or by post to J. Prakash, Nodal Officer of the Search Committee, who is at the Department of Instrumentation Engineering on Anna University’s MIT Campus.

A release by E. Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University and the Convenor of the Search Committee, said the application should not be sent directly to the members of the committee.

The release said that canvassing in any form for the post would result in disqualification of the candidate.

The application should be submitted before 5 p.m. on December 27, the release added.

VIT team wins ₹20 lakh in MEITY contest

VIT team wins ₹20 lakh in MEITY contest

11/12/2021

Staff ReporterCHENNAI

Quinproc, a team from Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, finished fourth and received ₹20 lakh in the Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge organised by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) in Delhi earlier this month.

The scope of the challenge, according to a release by VIT Chennai, was to create innovative solutions around home-grown processors like SAKTHI of IIT Madras, and VEGA of the the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.

The team proposed a wireless maternal health monitoring system, which can enable personnel to remotely monitor vital parameters of pregnant women. The team comprised A.R. Mirunalini, S. Shwetha, S. Varsha Sri and A. Annis Fathima from the School of Electronics Engineering and was led by John Sahaya Rani Alex from the Centre for Healthcare Advancement, Innovation and Research. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, was present during the finals of the event.

Staff Reporter CHENNAI

Staff Reporter  CHENNAI

11.12.2021

The Hindu

The traditional systems of medicine practised in India had merit and they need not be dismissed as pseudoscience, Governor R.N. Ravi said here on Friday.

Delivering the convocation address at the 33rd convocation of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), he said that there was a tendency among a section of doctors and people from other disciplines as well to reject anything that was not scientifically established.

He laid stress on the need to be open minded and acknowledged that there were serious illnesses and problems such as high infant mortality rates (IMR) and maternal mortality rates (MMR) that required the intervention of modern medicine.

The Governor acknowledged the need for validating traditional systems of medicine.

Mr. Ravi pointed out that the National Education Policy (NEP) tried to integrate modern and traditional medicines and added that one should be cognisant of the other and not be dismissive.

Appealing to the graduating doctors to be ethical, he said ethics was an area that did not get adequate attention.

The Governor stressed on the need for doctors to guard against commercialisation. He urged the doctors to listen to the patients more.

Lauding SRIHER for its vision towards 2040, he said that it was in line with the Prime Minister’s long-term vision.

While the Governor awarded the medals to top performers, Chancellor of SRIHER, V.R. Venkatachalam, conferred degrees to the students. Vice-Chancellor P.V. Vijayaraghavan presented the annual report.

‘Do not play recorded invocation song’

‘Do not play recorded invocation song’

11/12/2021

Special Correspondent CHENNAI

The Tamil Development Department had, a few weeks ago, communicated to the Public Department to avoid using a recording of the Tamil Thai Vazhthu and the national anthem in government functions and instead, employ trained singers.

The unofficial note from the Tamil Development Department issued in September this year noted that in the recent times it was observed that only recording of the song and anthem were being played in government functions. It said those in the audience were mechanically standing for the invocation song and the national anthem without realising the national or Tamil fervour, and the very intention of singing the Tamil Thai Vazhthu and the national anthem was being defeated, a senior official told The Hindu. The organizers were told to arrange for trained singers.

'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' is prayer song, not National Anthem: Madras High Court

'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' is prayer song, not National Anthem: Madras High Court

When the invocation song to Mother Tamil, 'Tamil Thai Vaazhthu' was played, the seer remained seated and this triggered considerable outrage and debate.

Published: 10th December 2021 01:03 PM |

By PTI

MADURAI: The 'Tamil Thai Vaazhthu', an invocation, is only a prayer song and not a National Anthem and hence, there is no need for every one to remain in standing posture when it is rendered, the Madras High Court bench here has ruled.

Justice G R Swaminathan gave the ruling recently while quashing an FIR registered against "Nam Tamilar Katchi" (NTK) functionaries by the Remeswaram police in Ramanathapuram district, in 2018.

The then Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit released a Tamil-Sanskrit dictionary at a function held in Music Academy, Chennai in the presence of the Pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi on January 24, 2018.

When the invocation song to Mother Tamil, "Tamil Thai Vaazhthu" was played, the seer remained seated and this triggered considerable outrage and debate.

Kan Ilango, now associated with NTK and then part of "Tamilar Desiya Munnani", and his men entered the branch of the Kanchi Mutt in Rameswaram, shouting slogans, condemning the Shankaracharya.

They allegedly entered the Mutt premises wearing footwear. When the Mutt manager protested, he was criminally intimidated. Hence, a case was registered against them for offences under various sections of the IPC including rioting and criminal intimidation.

Hence, the present criminal original petition from Ilango, challenging the FIR. Justice Swaminathan noted that Sec. 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 states whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Article 51A(a) of the Constitution mandates it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to respect the National Flag and the National Anthem.

When three school children who were adherents of Jehovah's Witnesses, a Christian denomination, refused to sing the National Anthem, they were expelled from the school, in Kerala.

The matter reached the Supreme Court, which struck down the expulsion and directed their re-admission in the school.

The Supreme Court had held that the children while refusing to sing had stood up respectfully, the judge said. It was noted there is no provision of law that obliges anyone to sing the National Anthem.

The Supreme Court judges did not think it is disrespectful to the National Anthem if a person who stands up respectfully when the National Anthem is sung, does not join the singing.

After a discussion regarding the right to freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion the court concluded "our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practices tolerance; let us not dilute it."

Allowing the petition, the Madras HC also pointed out that there is no statutory or executive order requiring the attendees to stand up when Tamil Thai Vazhthu is sung. It was not a National Anthem.

But highest reverence and respect ought to be shown to Tamil Thai Vaazhthu. It is true that the members of the audience conventionally stand up whenever Tamil Thai Vaazhthu is sung.

But the question is whether this is the only mode in which respect can be shown. When we celebrate pluralism and diversity, insisting there can be only one way of showing respect, it reeks of hypocrisy.

One should not forget that a Sanyasi occupies a special place in social and cultural life. Emperors and Kings have prostrated before Sanyasis and Fakirs.

In the epics whenever a Sanyasi entered the royal court, the King will step down from his throne and pay his respects. On becoming a Sanyasi, the person suffers a civil death.

He must be taken to have a re-birth. A Sanyasi primarily leads a life of piety. When in prayer, he is invariably found in a meditative posture. Since Tamil invocation is a prayer song, a Sanyasi is certainly justified in sitting in a state of meditation.

In the instant case, the pontiff is seen sitting in a Dhyana (meditative) posture with his eyes closed. It was his way of expressing his reverence and respect for Mother Tamil, the judge said and also set aside the case pending before the Rameswaram police station.

Faulty answer key in CBSE Hindi paper, rectified after complaint

Faulty answer key in CBSE Hindi paper, rectified after complaint

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  10.11.2021

A wrong answer key was sent to schools by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday for Term 1 Hindi test of Class X. As teachers found the results of a particular question paper set unusual during evaluation, they complained to the board, following which a revised key was sent.

According to a principal, the board had to send the revised key for one set. “Such a thing has never happened. The keys are sent when evaluation start. Obviously, teachers had to re-evaluate and upload the papers, so it was extra work,” said another principal.

With the Term 1 examination being multiple-choice questions, the students fill in the answers in an OMR sheet, and the evaluation takes place on the day of a test itself.

“As we were doing the evaluation, the performance of students was below average. Not a single student scored above 15 in the bundle I had. We kept insisting that the answer key is problematic, it needs to be rechecked,” said a teacher who is part of the evaluation at a private school. “Once we had finished, the coordinators came running and asked us to stop the evaluation. This was because the answer key issued by CBSE was wrong.”

The teacher added that CBSE then uploaded a new answer key. “We did the evaluation all over again. The student who got 11/40 earlier now scored 39/40. Just imagine if there was no human intervention in between!”

CBSE did not respond to the query on the matter.

Some principals also claimed there was a delay in sending the code for downloading and printing the question papers. “In my school, it was not a problem because just around 150 students took the exam. But in schools with over 300 students, it is a time-consuming process, adding to the stress,” said a principal.

Clean sweep: All AKTU gold medals bagged by girls from IET

CONVOCATION ON DECEMBER 16

Clean sweep: All AKTU gold medals bagged by girls from IET

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:  10.11.2021

Four girls, all from the same college, have won the four gold medals at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU).

The winners, students of Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), will be conferred the medals during the convocation ceremony on December 16.

In all, 92 medals will be awarded at the event.

Aatmika Rai of BTech (chemical engineering) and Aditi Gupta of BTech (electronics and communication engineering) have won at the undergraduate level while Ajita Bhadouria of master’s in business administration and Bhawna of master’s in computer application have won at postgraduate level.

AKTU declared the names of all 92 medal winners from private and government colleges on Thursday.

The gold winners have one common wish: to see IET among the top 10 institutes of the country in the National Institutional Framework Ranking (NIRF). The institute will aim for NIRF ranking for the first time in the session 2021-22.

“It is believed that IET is the best engineering college in the state but it is one of the best in the country, be it in terms of faculty or placements. We had the best faculty, who taught us to develop practical knowledge of everything. Rote learning doesn’t work if one wants to score well,” said Aatmika, who wants to make a career in research.

Aditi said, “IET has good infrastructure and is upgrading itself with industry needs. I wish to see my college among top rankers.”

Ajita, who is a government teacher, said, “I was regular with classes and made my own notes. IET has the best faculty and it deserves to be top-ranked,” she said.