Online study not enough, design students move HC

 Online study not enough, design students move HC

---

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court issued notice to Karnavati University and the University Grants Commission (UGC) after two students filed petitions demanding refund of fees on the grounds of the deficiency of online education in teaching the subject of designing and that their parents’ income fell in Covid-19 times, resulting in them opting to cancel their admissions.

According to the case details, two students from Indore – Anushka Jain and Ashree Neema – took the entrance test in January 2020 for designing courses offered by United world Institue of Design of Karnavati University in Gandhinagar.

In April, they were told that they had succeeded and would be granted a dmission. They chose a four-year degree course in designing. They paid Rs 1 lakh fees in May 2020.

On July 23, 2020, the university informed them that  their education programme would begin two weeks later. These students were not comfortable with the online  mode of education. It was the only mode of teaching permitted by the governments due to the prevailing Covid situation in 2020.

They decided to cancel their admission and their parents sought a refund of the fees from the university in August 2020, which the university apparently refu-sed.

They also cited their weakened financial conditions due to the pandemic and restrictions imposed to control the spread of the virus.

When they did not receive the refund for over a year, both students moved the high court in December 2021 through advocate Anvesh Vyas, who argued that the design course opted for by the students cannot be taught properly online as it requires a practical approach. Besides, the parents of these students also struggled like many others in their businesses and suffered drastic reductions in their incomes.

The lawyer cited a circular issued by the UGC on December 17, 2020, directing all universities, including private ones, to refund the entire fees if students opt to cancel or migrate up to December 31, 2020. Provisions for refund of fees were made especially for that academic year due to the Covid pandemic.

The HC is to hear this case further on January 12.

84-yr-old Bihar man ‘who got jabbed 11 times’ named in FIR

 84-yr-old Bihar man ‘who got jabbed 11 times’ named in FIR

---

Deo Narayan Saha TNN

09.01.2022

Madhepura: The 84-year-oldformer postmaster from Bihar’s Madhepura, who claimed to have recieved 11shots of Covid vaccine, has been named in an FIR filed by a health care centre from where he received two of these doses. Brahmdeo Mandal had boasted about getting multiple shots of the vaccine on nine occasions, using the same Aadhaar card and mobile number. 

The octogenarian was caught last Tuesdayattempting to get his 12th doseat a centre in Madhepur. Mandal said the jabs were was notonly protecting him from Covid but also “curing me of mymany ailments”. SHO Deepak Chandra Dasof Puraini police station said Mandal would be charged with various offences. Mandalhas a diary containing the details of places from where he got the shots. 

He first got jabbed at Puraini PHC on February 13 followed by a legalsecond dose at the same centre on March 13. He visited Orai village subhealth centre for his third shot on May 19 and got a fourth oneduring a camp organised outside local PDS dealer’s premises on June 16. He then went toPuraini Badi-Hat camp on July 24 and got his fifth jab. Thesixth was at a camp at the Nath Baba shrine on August 31. His seventh and eighth shots were administered at the Bari Hat school camp on September 11and 22 respectively.

 

KU VC’s letter says syndicate members rejected DLitt to Prez

---

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Thiruvananthapuram: A week after senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala raised a set of questions regarding Kerala University’s alleged refusal to confer honorary DLitt on President Ram Nath Kovind as suggested by governor Arif Mohammed Khan, a handwritten letter by Kerala University vice-chancellor V P Mahadevan Pillai to the governor in this regard has come out.

In the letter dated December 7, the VC recalled an earlier meeting he had with the chancellor and stated that several members in the KU syndicate had turned down the chancellor’s suggestion that honorary DLitt be conferred on the President.

“I met His Excellency last week. After the meeting I have discussed with several members of the syndicate about the matter of conferring DLit degree to His excellency the President of India. The members of the syndicate turn it down (sic),” the letter said.

It was on the very next day the governor wrote an elaborate letter to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the unacceptable level of political interventions in the higher education sector and expressed his desire to relinquish the chancellorship of state universities at the earliest. However, the governor in his letter did not specifically mention about the reply he received from the KU VC. Meanwhile, Chennithala said the VC crossed all limits and flouted procedural norms.

Full report on www. toi. in

Rs 1,600cr graft in Kerala health dept’s Covid kit purchases, says oppn

 Rs 1,600cr graft in Kerala health dept’s Covid kit purchases, says oppn

---

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Kochi: Congress on Saturday alleged that the disappearance of numerous files from the health department clearly indicates that massive corruption took place during purchases made for tackling Covid.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan demanded a detailed probe into “corruption worth ₹1,600 crore in irregular purchases made by health department during the pandemic”. Satheesan said lowquality PPE kits worth ₹550 each were purchased by the health department for a three-fold inflated price of ₹1,600. He also alleged irregularities in the purchase of 1 crore gloves. “More than 3,000 computer files and more than 500 paper files

have been destroyed to cover up the irregularities in the purchases made by health authorities. These purchases were made with the support of the political leadership of the ruling party,” the opposition leader said. ’

The government should be ready to launch a detailed probe into the entire deal to unearth facts,” Satheesan said.

‘Peak of wave soon, but it may also ebb fast’ Global Data & Our Experience Reveal Omicron Is Mostly Asymptomatic Or Mild: NTAGI Chief

 

‘Peak of wave soon, but it may also ebb fast’

Global Data & Our Experience Reveal Omicron Is Mostly Asymptomatic Or Mild: NTAGI Chief

---

Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

09.01.2022

Pune: National health experts feel that though Covid cases may peak in India very soon, the current wave driven by the Omicron variant of the virus may ebb equally fast.

“Global data and our own experience during the past five weeks reveal the infection caused by Omicron is mostly asymptomatic or mild. A few seriously ill hospitalized patients either had other co-morbidities and are over 60 years of age. The overall hospitalization rate for people affected by Omicron is 1-2%, which is much less to the rate of people requiring care in hospitals during the wave caused by Delta,” Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization told TOI on Saturday.

“Over 80% of people in the country have been naturally infected by the virus. Over 91% adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 66% people aged above 18 years have received both doses. Keeping all this in mind, the overall impact of the current surge is likely to be much less. There’s no need to panic. But we should remain vigilant and follow Covid protocols,” he said.

With India reporting 1. 41 lakh infections in 24 hours and active cases hovering around 4. 8 lakh, the expert said the surge was indicative of the third wave. “But just like the rise, a fall can also be expected in the areas reporting Omicron cases,” Dr Arora said.

More than 50% of the fresh Omicron cases are being reported from major Indian cities. Maharashtra is leading the tally, closely followed by West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala and Gujarat. Dr Arora said most of the cases were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, just as it was observed in South Africa.

Indian Council of Medi- cal Research (ICMR) additional director general Dr Samiran Panda told TOI that the active Covid curve would begin to flatten within three months in the areas recently registering the surge. “For this, people have to abide by Covid protocols and act appropriately. The projection we have generated through the modelling exercise shows that if Omicron is the dominant variant in an area, the surge will sharply go upwards and fall in three months,” he said.

“The metropolitan areas have Omicron as the major variant. But in areas such as the north-east, it is more the Delta variant that is causing stress on the health system. The country does not have a homogenous representation of the epidemic,” Dr Panda said.

Full report on www. toi. in

 

Govt employee tries to bribe pleader, HC orders inquiry

---

Madurai: The Madras high court has ordered a DVAC inquiry after it was informed that a government employee attempted to bribe an additional government pleader to act in his favour in a case.

The court was hearing the petition filed by S Kumaravel, who is working as an assistant in the panchayat union office at Alanganallur in Madurai. He had filed a petition before the HC Madurai bench in 2021, seeking a direction to reduce the punishment of stopping increment, which was im- posed by the collector in 2013. When the petition was taken up for hearing recently, the additional government pleader A Kannan informed the court that the petitioner who posed as an officer had approached his juniors and offered to pay money if the government pleader acted in his favour in this case.

Justice B Pugalendhi referred the matter to the DVAC. The judge directed the officials of the Madurai district DVAC to file a report before the court on January19.

TNN

‘NEET strikes at state’s autonomy’

TN Parties To Explore Legal Steps To Nix It

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Chennai: A meeting of all legislature parties chaired by chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday resolved to take necessary legal steps to abolish NEET. The meeting also decided to take other state governments into confidence and put up a collective fight against NEET. The MLAs said the common entrance test had destroyed the dreams of the poor and rural students and affected the autonomy of the state.

The meeting saw 12 parties endorsing the resolution, including the DMK and the main opposition, the AIADMK. BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan walked out of the meeting, protesting against the resolutions. “Tamil Nadu is a model to other states in medical education, but NEET and National Medical Commission Act introduced by the Union government have affected the students. The Union government has snatched the rights of the states in deciding admission to medical colleges set up with their own funds,” the resolution said. The parties alleged that the governor’s act of sitting on the Bill, which was passed unanimously by the assembly in September, without forwarding it to the President, questioned the sovereignty of the legislature. NEET benefited only those students who had access to specialized training. It created an impression that 12 years of schooling was of no use in medical admissions and made the educational system meaningless, they said.

The chief minister himself visited the governor and urged him to send the Bill to the President, while a delegation of MPs representing all parties could not meet the President and submitted a representation to his office, which was later forwarded to the Union home minister. The meeting decided that an all-party delegation could meet the Union minister if there was an invite

Earlier, addressing the meeting, Stalin said , “The principle of democracy is that when a legislature passes a Bill, the governor should respect and give assent to it. ”

Former health minister C Vijayabaskar told TOI that the AIADMK would support the state government in the legal battle against NEET.

Health minister Ma Subramanian said that Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan himself had admitted to him that there was opposition to NEET in his home state Odisha as well, but he could not do anything. “Legal experts will be consulted as to what kind of legal action can be initiated against the governor who has been delaying the reference of the Bill to the President, besides abolishing NEET,” Subramanian told TOI.

‘Revise school curriculum, don’t fault NEET’

Chennai: Senior BJP leader and MLA Vanathi Srinivasan on Saturday denied the  contention of the Dravidian parties that NEET for medical admissions was against the principles of social justice and the reservation policy followed in Tamil Nadu.

She walked out of a meeting of legislature party leaders, chaired by chief minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat, protesting against the anti-Centre resolution passed at the meeting. “The common entrance test is being conducted based on the orders of the Supreme Court and the initiatives taken by the erst- while Congress-led UPA regime, in which the DMK was very much a constituent. It was neither the BJP’s agenda nor was it introduced after the BJP government assumed office,” she told reporters. “There was no change in the school education curriculum for 12 years in the state, but people blame students for poor results.

TNN