Girls worst hit in access to eduduring pandemic: Parl panel

 Girls worst hit in access to eduduring pandemic: Parl panel

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Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

27.01.2022

New Delhi: As the surging third wave puts the focus back on the pandemic’s impact on children’s education, the findings of a parliamentary committee highlights how the Covid crisis has disproportionately affected girls, especially their education.

The committee on women empowerment, in its report presented during the winter session of Parliament in December, called for urgent measures to prevent girls from poor families, impacted by closure of schools and lack of digital access, from dropping out of school.

On a specific question about the effect of the pandemic on enrolment and retention of girls in schools, especially from among the sociallyand economically-backward groups in  schools, the education ministry submitted before the panel that “school closure in India affected 320 million children enrolled from pre-primary to tertiary levels of education. It has been estimated that of these, about 158 million are female students”.

The submissions and recommendations are part of the report on ‘Empowerment of Women Through Education with Special Reference to Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Scheme’. The committee has observed that in the post pandemic scenario, the probability of more adolescent girls dropping out of school permanently to help with household tasks and childcare due to economic hardships of their families is very high.

The panel has recommended incentivising participation that can help more girls continue their schooling with measures like targeted scholarships, conditional cash transfers, provision of bicycles, access to smart phones and hostel facilities.

The panel observed that as per the ‘unified district infor mation system for fducation (UDISE )’ data for 2018-19, the gross enrolment ratio of girls decreased from 96. 72 in elementary classes to 76. 93 in secondary classes and to 50. 84 in higher secondary classes. It also pointed out that the dropout ratio of girls during 2019-20 was 15. 1. Times View:

This is another worrying example of the socially disastrous fall-outs of the pandemic. Authorities must take suitable steps to ensure that girls aren’t forced to drop out. In the long term, it would gravely hurt the nation’s interests.

Why medical PG aspirants are fretting at entrance tests

 Why medical PG aspirants are fretting at entrance tests

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.01.2022

New Delhi: The MBBS students who were to appear for the medical masters’ entrance exam this year in March have been thrown into an undesired circumstance.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, the apex body to hold the NEET PGentrance exam,announced it will be held on March 12. The eligibility criteria require candidates who have completed a year of internship or are likely to finish it before May 31.

This has raised concern among students aspiring to sit for the exam as many of them couldn’t complete the internship due to compulsory Covid duties from April last year.

The resident doctor's association of the Centre-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has written to the NBE requesting to revise the eligibility criteria for students undergoing internships. The RDA also mentioned that many of the students had delayed joining of internship due to personal health as well as issues like loss of family members during the wave.

“Due to these reasons, it is impossible that many candidates will complete the internship by May 31, thus making them ineligible to sit for the NEET PG 2022 and eventually leading to wastage of entire year. Thus as per the existing criteria, thousands of students across the nation will be deprived of the opportunity without any fault on their part,” read the letter.

 

Tirupati to become Sri Balaji, Vijayawada gets NTR’s name

Devotees Abroad Happy, Appreciate AP Govt’s Decision

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Samdani.MN@timesgroup.com

27.01.2022

Amaravati: The temple town of Tirupati is becoming a new district and will be named after the presiding deity Lord Sri Balaji.

Devotees of Lord Sri Venkateswara overseas are happy about the proposal an d appreciated the state government’s decision,onsocialm edia. However, devotees in AP, particularly in Tirupati, seemed to have been not convinced with the proposal as the name Sri Balaji is p opular onlyin north India.

“It will be better to keep the name simply as Tirupati or name it after Sri Venkateswara or Sri Srinivas instead of Sri Balaji,” said Srikanth Reddy, a resident of Tirupati.

The r elease of draft n otification proposing names for a few otherdistricts has m ostly  gone down well with the locals. In a significant political move, the YSRCP g overnment decided to name Vi j ayawada district after the founding president of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former chief m inisterNT Rama Rao. The TDP, which was in power for almost 14 years afte r the death of NTR, did n ot a ttempt to name a district after the legendary actor and party founder.

Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy promised to name a district after NTR during the last election campaign.

“This is the difference between Jagan and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu. While Jagan is a man of deeds, Naidu had always tried to deceive people,” alleged civil supplies minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani).

However, the birth place of NTR, Nimmakuru in Krishna district, is now part of Pamarru assembly consti- tuency and went to the newly proposed Krishna district by retaining M achilipatnam as district headquarters.

Sources said that the state government has decided to name Vijayawada district after NTR in order to protect the historical significance of Krishna distr ict named after the river Krishna and also port town of Machilipatnam.

Saint, legendary musician and p oet Annamayya’s name has been proposed for Rajampet district. Tallapaka Annamacharya (Annamayya) wa s born in Kadapa district and scripted and composed hundreds of keerthanas praising Lord Sri Ve nkateswara and Lord Vishnu. Rajampet district lost both the name and the district headqu arter status. Rayachoti townis g oing to be the district headquarters for Annamayya district covering Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency.

Araku Lok Sabha constituency will be named a fter revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri S itaramaraju.

Full report on www. toi. in

Covishield, Covaxin dose price may be capped at ₹425 after market nod

 Covishield, Covaxin dose price may be capped at ₹425 after market nod

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27.01.2022

New Delhi: The price of Covishield and Covaxin, the Covid vaccines which are expected to soon get regular market approval from India’s drug regulator, is likely to be capped at ₹275 per dose plus an additional service charge of ₹150, official sources said.

According to them, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has been directed to start working towards capping the  price to make the vaccines affordable.

As of now, Covaxin is priced at ₹ 1,200 per dose while Covishield costs ₹ 780 in private facilities. The prices include ₹150 service charge. Both the vaccines are only authorised for emergency use in the country.

An Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation on January 19 recommended granting regular market approval to Covid vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in the adult population subject to certain conditions.

“The NPPA has been asked to work towards capping the price of the vaccines. The price is likely to be capped at ₹275 per dose along with an additional service charge of ₹150,” an official source said.

PTI

Madurai AIIMS a non-starter even after 3 yrs

 Madurai AIIMS a non-starter even after 3 yrs

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.01.2022

Madurai: Thursday marks three years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Madurai with much fanfare, but no construction has taken place at the site yet. Though it was stipulated to be completed in 45 months, work is expected to start only next year.

When the announcement for the premier medical institution was made about seven years ago, it was seen as a flagship scheme that would bring in votes for BJP and its allies in the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for 2019. It was the then finance minister Arun Jaitley who announced the project in February 2015 bringing much joy to the people of Tamil Nadu. However, delays had bogged down the project ever since.

It was announced in August 2020 that construction would start after the agreement was signed with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in December that year. But the agreement dragged on till March 2021. Then arose the controversy of  the then AIADMK government not handing over the land required for the construction to the Union government.

A case in this regard was filed in the Madurai bench of Madras high court and the state government informed that it had handed over the land on November 3.

However, nine months after signing the agreement with JICA, the project continues to be on paper. The shocker came after the administrative meeting of Madurai AIIMS in June when it was announced that construction would begin only in 2023 and be completed in 2026, four years beyond its initially scheduled completion in September 2022.

New system for train detection on key routes

New system for train detection on key routes

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.01.2022

Chennai: The railways is installing a new train detection system on all the main routes — Central-Gudur, Central-Jolarpet and Egmore-Tambaram — and will be able to run services even if tracks are flooded and signals malfunction.

The multi-section digital axle counter (MSDAC) that uses electromagnetic sensors to count wheels and detect trains, their direction and speed on a track has already been installed on some sections that are prone to flooding and will be extended to the entire Chennai division in two years.

The state-of the-art system has been installed on Guduvancheri-Chengalpet third line, Egmore-Kodambakkam, Avadi-Pattabiram stretches and at stations like Chennai Egmore, Chennai Central, Omalur, Salem Town, Erode, Virapandy Road, Tirupur, Ernakulam Town, Kayamkulam, Quilon, Irumpanam in 2021-22, said Southern Railway additional general manager B G Mallya during the Republic Day celebrations on Wednesday.

Sources said sections like Egmore-Kodambakkam and Avadi-Pattabiram are prone to water logging and the new system would come in handy when signals don’t work. Work to install sensors and allied equipment on Avadi-Ambattur section is on and will be completed soon. All main routes from the city have been divided into small sections where installation will be taken up.

Chief public relations officer B Guganesan said the new system is more reliable for detecting trains not affected by the condition of tracks like water logging and traction currents. “It also helps in easy integration and implementation of a centralized traffic control and train protection system (KAVACH). The new system is being provided as a replacement to the existing systems which have completed their service life,” he added.

Other safety measures being carried out include complete track renewal of 182km along with deep screening of 788 track km till December 2021, installing 19 hot axle box detectors and online monitoring of rolling stock to detect defective wheels, bearings of coaches and locomotives.

FCRA licence: SC denies relief to 6k NGOs

 FCRA licence: SC denies relief to 6k NGOs

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

26.01.2022

New Delhi: In a setback to 6000 NGOs whose FCRA licence could not be renewed because of their failure to apply within the stipulated time period, the Supreme Court declined their pleas forcontinuationof their l icence and asked them to make representation to the government.

Abench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and C T Ravikumar turned down the plea for interim relief after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the NGOs were at fault themselves for not applyingfor renewal of licence. He submitted that the government extended FCRA licence for 11,594 NGOs, which had applied for renewal, till their applications were decided and the same relief could not be given to those which failed to apply.

Taking note of the Centre's submission, the court said the aggrieved NGOs can make representation to the Centre which will take the decision as per l aw.

The court was hearing a petition fi led by US-based NGO Global Peace Initiative which has been founded by an Indian and working closely with many NGOs, including the Missionaries of Charity. The NGO, founded by Kilari Anand, pleaded the apex court that NGOs played a very crucial and important role in reaching out to people and helped the country during the Covid pandemic which had been duly acknowledged by the government, and the Prime Minister’s Office itself. Cancellation of licences of close to 6000 NGOs at this juncture will hamper relief efforts and lea d to denial of aid to citizens in need, it said. "The work done by these NGOs helped millions of Indians. The sudden and arbitrary cancellation of FCRA registration of thousands of these NGOs violates the rights of the organisations, their workers as well as the millions of Indians who they serve. This is especially relevant at a t ime when the country is facing the third wave of the Covid-19 virus," it said.