Tambaram residents want railway station upgraded

Tambaram residents want railway station upgraded

Residents’ Associations Petition Govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:12.12.2021

In addition to civic work, residents of newly formed Tambaram Corporation have started pushing for development of Tambaram railway station and stoppage of Chennai-Madurai Tejas Express at the station.

The residents who have come together under a federation of more than100 residents’ associations have petitioned the state government and railways to introduce stop for the train and improve the station as it is used by several who travel to southern districts. Tejas express had a stop in its original schedule but was not allotted when the service started.

Southern Railway is developing the railway station into a terminal to ensure that more trains can have stoppage and more trains can be operated from the station like Egmore or MGR central railway station. The yard work has been completed and platform work is going on to develop the station. The station handles around 3.5 lakh passengers per day.

M Govindarajan, president, Federation of Residents Welfare Associations (FORWA) said that more trains need to be operated from the station as there was good patronage for services to the southern towns of the state. "As the area is going to be developed as a corporation like Chennai, we need more trains and passing by trains from Egmore needs stops. We have petitioned railways and the state government to ensure that Tambaram railway station can be developed as a hub in the south."

More than 25,000 people are living in the area and a lot of people travel from Tambaram to Trichy, Madurai, Thanjavur and further south.

People from the area have to travel to Egmore by suburban trains to board express trains that do not stop at Tambaram. As the government has decided to develop the area as a corporation, residents want express trains to have stops at the station.

Railways is considering to operate trains from the station to decongest Egmore railway station. A railway official said that the station was being developed into a third terminal for the city. More express trains would be operated and the number of suburban trains also will increase after the doubled line between Tambaram and Chengalpet is commissioned, he added.

A railway official said that Tambaram railway station is being developed and more amenities will be added.

FOR BETTER FACILITIES: Residents want a halt for the Chennai-Madurai Tejas Express at Tambaram station

5 travellers test +ve on arrival at B’luru airport

5 travellers test +ve on arrival at B’luru airport

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:12.12.2021

In December, five of the 5,873 passengers who landed at Bengaluru from ‘at risk’ countries tested positive for Covid on arrival.

They are all at designated hospitals and their genomic sequencing reports are awaited. These include two girls, 17 and 18 years, who travelled from the United Kingdom and a middle-aged man from the UAE who tested positive on arrival since late Friday.

Prior to this, two men, one each from Germany and Sweden had tested positive on December 8. International passengers coming from ‘at risk’ countries who are on quarantine post arrival have been tracked by BBMP. “Four passengers have shown symptoms of Covid while in home quarantine. They too have been shifted to designated hospitals,” said Dr Balasundar AS, chief health officer, BBMP.

A 32-year-old German is currently being treated in a private hospital. “She travelled to Bengaluru on December 4 and was staying in a hotel. She showed symptoms three days later and tested positive. She is currently in a private hospital and her swab sample has been sent for genomic sequencing” said Dr Balasundar.

In another case, a 34-year old man who returned from South Africa on December 1 developed symptoms later. He tested positive on December 3 and his genomic sequencing report is awaited.

Though they had carried Covid negative certificate during their journey and tested negative in the on-arrival Covid test, they may have incubated the virus which has shown symptoms later, health officers said.

Full report on www.toi.in

PRECAUTIONARY MOVE:

Covid test being held at Vidhana Soudha banquet hall on Saturday for secretariat staff

ICMR focus remains on 2-dose vax, is fine with Covishield gap

ICMR focus remains on 2-dose vax, is fine with Covishield gap

Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

Pune:12.12.2021

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised against suddenly introducing a third Covid vaccine dose or recommending any change in the time gap of Covishield shots in the wake of Omicron cases.

Dr Samiran Panda, head of ICMR’s epidemiology department, told TOI that as of now the apex biomedical research body would underscore the importance of attaining greater coverage with two-dose vaccination. “With Omicron cases being mild not only in India but the world over, there should not be any kneejerk reaction like introducing a third dose or recommending any change in the interval of Covishield doses, as demanded by people from different quarters,” he said.

Many states, including Maharashtra, demanded an additional dose or booster dose, besides seeking shorter gap between two shots of Covishield to speed up immunisation.

“A decision on whether a third dose would be required for immunocompromised individuals would be taken later based on scientific evidence and on case-to-case basis. Nothing has been decided on it so far,” Dr Panda said.

He said scientific evidence of booster dose for the Indian terrain was being evaluated and the technical advisory group would make an announcement regarding it. Dr Panda said public health focus should be on double vaccination and completing the adult immunisation programme now because the two-dose vaccine strategy seemed to be working well in the Indian context.

On the demand from states like Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka to reduce the gap between the two Covishield doses, the ICMR scientist said scientific evidence from in-country reality was showing that the interval was fine.

Full report on www.toi.in

Govt begins process of preparing SOP to determine ‘equivalence’ of scores

Govt begins process of preparing SOP to determine ‘equivalence’ of scores

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:12.12.2021

In order to address the difficulties faced by students related to the ‘equivalence certificates’ issued by their secondary/senior secondary boards for the purpose of admissions in higher education institutions and also for employment, the ministry of education has now entrusted the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for this.

At present, there is no formal mechanism to determine “equivalence” of scores obtained by students of different education boards.

The SOP will ensure that “the applicant school education board is following the Right to Education (RTE) Act, extant National Curriculum Framework (NCF), and is National Education Policy-compliant and that the teachers in schools affiliated to the board possess qualifications as laid down by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)”.

Equivalence will be granted based on fulfilment of the SOP. The AIU has constituted a 10-member committee comprising representatives from the UGC, AICTE, NCERT, CBSE and NIOS, among others. AIU secretary general Pankaj Mittal said, “There are times when during enrolment in institutions or jobs, the institutions are not sure whether this is a valid board, or whether the certificates issued have equivalence with other boards.

Till now, we (AIU) have been doing the equivalence of foreign boards like the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International with Indian boards. For Indian board, there is an informal arrangement with the COBSE (Council of Boards of School Education in India). But there is no formal arrangement so far. So for the first time this formal arrangement has been made by the ministry of education and AIU has been given the responsibility to do the equivalence. It’s a big task for which are going to develop the SOP on how to determine this equivalence.”

There are more than 60 boards in India and the number is growing. Ashok Ganguly, former CBSE chairperson said there is wide disparity in respect to curriculum design, transaction and evaluation.

“There must be some sort of uniformity so that students moving from one board to other or moving vertically for university admissions,” said Ganguly. “After NEP1986, an attempt was made via the Professor Amrik Singh Committee. The 1992 report made certain path recommendations for improving the functioning of the boards and their equivalency but nothing was put into place after that. COBSE came into being after this as the apex suggestive body.

Petrol and tomato are more expensive than beer in Goa

Petrol and tomato are more expensive than beer in Goa

Newton.Sequeira@timesgroup.com

Panaji:12.12.2021

Tomatoes are making many Goans cry into their beer this past week. Unseasonal rain pushed through the roof the price of this vegetable, but alcohol prices in Goa have remained largely stable, allowing tipplers to savour the delicious irony of gold being lighter on the wallet than red.

While the popular Goa Kings pilsner retails at ₹60, a kg of tomatoes is competing with petrol—at around ₹100/ kg. It is true some tomatoes are available for around ₹70/ kg (still costlier than a pint of Kings), but these are, according to an angry shopper, “positively hopeless and not worth buying”.

While tomatoes disappear from chilli fry and omelettes, some families are purchasing the red fruit in lesser quantities, hoping its price will stabilise soon. For those with deeper pockets, shelling out a crisp ₹100 note for a kg of tomatoes is the new normal.

It’s not just the local beers that the tomato has beaten hollow. Even 750ml of Kingfisher or Tuborg, at ₹85 a bottle, is cheaper than a kilo of the kitchen staple. Fuel prices have also been on a high, with petrol and diesel retailing at ₹96 and ₹87 a litre each.

Goa has among the lowest alcohol taxes in the country, resulting in cheap booze. But it depends on its neighbours for vegetables, sourcing around 150 tonne of tomatoes every day from Hubbali and Belagavi in Karnataka.

Guv says Kerala govt pushing political agenda

ROW OVER CHOOSING VCs

Guv says Kerala govt pushing political agenda

Thiruvananthapuram:  12.12.2021

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday reiterated his observations that political interference plagues the higher education sector as the political agenda of the state government outweighs academic merit while choosing vice-chancellors of universities in the state.

Khan who shot a strongly worded letter to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, expressing his willingness to step aside as the chancellor of state universities, told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday that he was forced to write the letter as he had run out of options to ensure autonomy and integrity of universities. He said he tried to best to avoid a confrontation with the government, but the latter refuses to get along. When it comes to the matter of selection of candidates to the post of university vice-chancellors, the government tries to tie the governor’s hands in order to push political agenda, he said.

“The chief minister has nothing to do with universities. While the school education in the state if fine, higher education has gone to the dogs. Even appointments are made against the rules,” Khan said. The governor said he did really mean it when he advised the chief minister to bring in an ordinance to assume the role of chancellor by himself. TNN

Disclose immovable assets by Jan 2022: CS

Disclose immovable assets by Jan 2022: CS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:12.12.2021

Chief secretary V Irai Anbu directed all IAS officers of TN cadre to submit their asset details in the form of immovable property returns (IPR) to the Union government by January 2022.

The Centre had introduced online filing of IPR for IAS officers in January 2017. Officers can submit the IPR either electronically or upload a scanned copy of the manually filled-in IPR. The online filing option for calendar year 2021 closes automatically after the January 31, 2022, deadline.

In a circular to all IAS officer on Thursday, the chief secretary recalled a communication he received a fortnight ago from the establishment officer and additional secretary of the department of personnel and training of the Union ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions. “Failure on the part of the members of service to comply with the requirements constitutes good and sufficient reason for institution of disciplinary proceedings,” Anbu said in the communication.