West Bengal CM may become Chancellor

West Bengal CM may become Chancellor

Govt. to strip Governor of the responsibilities

25/12/2021

special correspondent Kolkata

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Friday said the government was considering a proposal to nominate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as Chancellor of all State universities.

He cited differences with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is the Chancellor now, as the reason. “There is no cooperation and only hostility,” Mr. Basu said indicating that the government was studying the legal feasibility of constitutional amendments for the change.

Kerala Governor’s move

“If files are kept pending for an indefinite time and there is not even a little cooperation, we can think of what the Governor of Kerala has done, for an interim period, we can have the Chief Minister as the Chancellor,” the Minister stated. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take over as the Chancellor of universities.

‘Shocking unionism’

Earlier in the day, Mr. Dhankhar tweeted that no Vice Chancellor or representatives of private universities had turned up for a meeting with him and described the development as “shocking unionism”.

He had called a meeting of Vice Chancellors of private universities on Friday. He tweeted it being worrisome, tagging videos and photograph of empty chairs and Raj Bhavan.

The developments on Friday mark a new low in the relations between Raj Bhavan and the government.

While the Kerala Governor has voluntarily decided to give up the post of Chancellor, the West Bengal government is considering to strip the Governor of the responsibilities as Chancellor.

All pass for Class 11 in Telangana

All pass for Class 11 in Telangana

25/12/2021

Special Correspondent HYDERABAD

The much-awaited trouble shooting following poor pass percentage in the results of Intermediate first year exams happened on Friday with the Telangana government deciding to pass all the 4 lakh students who took the exams and presently pursuing their second year.

All those failed would be awarded minimum qualifying marks of 35, Minister for Education P. Sabitha Indra Reddy said.

The results led to a huge uproar in the State as the pass percentage was just 49% and four students took their life allegedly due to the poor scores.

Half of tested Omicron cases had 2 doses: ICMR

Half of tested Omicron cases had 2 doses: ICMR

Several States announce night curfew

25/12/2021

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI

With India identifying nearly 358 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, an analysis of 183 of them by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found that nearly half of them were fully vaccinated. A little over a quarter had no international travel history but had likely come into contact with those infected. None of those evaluated had severe symptoms, with close to 73% being asymptomatic. Of them, 60% were men.

This was disclosed by the Health Ministry on Friday.

Of the 17 States where the variant has been confirmed, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have announced night curfews.

‘Vaccination certificate or RT-PCR must for darshan’

‘Vaccination certificate or RT-PCR must for darshan’

25/12/2021

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on Friday reiterated that only those with vaccination certificate, or negative report of RT-PCR test done 48 hours in advance will be allowed to visit Tirumala.

Lufthansa to axe 33k flights in winter

Lufthansa to axe 33k flights in winter

24.12.2021

Lufthansa plans to cut 33,000 flights from its winter schedule due to the spread of Omicron related travel restrictions, CEO Carsten Spohr said. “From mid-January to February, we see a sharp downturn in bookings,” he said on Thursday, adding that 33,000 flights was equivalent to about 10% of the flight plan. Lufthansa was feeling the absence of passengers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, which are being hit particularly hard by the pandemic, said Spohr. He said the German airline would have cut even more flights if it didn’t have to comply with EU rules on slot usage. REUTERS

After 400 hearings in 35 yrs, man acquitted for lack of evidence

After 400 hearings in 35 yrs, man acquitted for lack of evidence

Mohd Dilshad TNN

Muzaffarnagar:24.12.2021

After 400 court hearings and 35 years of legal battle, 85-year-old Dharampal Singh – booked in 1986 for allegedly making pesticide illegally in his house -- has been acquitted for want of evidence by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-2 Mukeem Ahmed. “It feels like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulder,” said Dharmpal, a farmer of Haran village in Shamli district.

His brother, Kunwarpal, was a co-accused but he died five years ago without getting justice. Another person, Liyakat Ali, booked in the case was earlier declared an absconder by court. “I have lost my reputation, money and mental peace during the long legal battle. It took long to get justice, but now I am happy that truth has prevailed. I would like to thank the honourable court for giving me relief. I have lost a lot of money and time making rounds to court for appearing in nearly 400 hearings in the case.”

On November 11, 1986, Thana Bhawan police booked two brothers, Dharampal and Kunwarpal, and one Liyakat Ali for allegedly making pesticide without licence. Police had also claimed to have recovered 26 bags of pesticide while they were being loaded into a truck.

KIC slaps ₹10K penalty on BU vice-chancellor

KIC slaps ₹10K penalty on BU vice-chancellor

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:24.12.2021

Karnataka Information Commission imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on KR Venugopal, vice-chancellor of Bangalore University, payable to social activist Veeraiah Hiremath.

The penalty is over the VC’s failure to provide information, despite being the public information officer, and for not appearing before the commission despite being directed to do so.

A bench headed by State Information Commissioner HP Sudham Das directed Venugopal to appear before the commission on January 20 with relevant records pertaining to compliance of directions issued by the commission.

Hiremath had filed RTI applications in October 2017, seeking information on various issues, including cutting of sandalwood trees in the biological park, parking chaos, sound pollution and alleged illegal activities on the university campus.

He told TOI that on July 29, 2021, the commission had directed the VC to submit in 15 days details regarding implementation of the 11-point resolution at a July 24, 2018 meeting over protecting BU’s property. But it was not done despite several opportunities provided by the commission to the VC, he added.