India could get vaccine by year-end

 India could get vaccine by year-end

24/08/2020

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said if everything goes well, India will get a vaccine against the novel coronavirus by the end of this year.

Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including two indigenous ones, are in different phases of development. The phase I human clinical trials of the two vaccines — one developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR, and the other by Zydus Cadila Ltd — have been completed and the trials have moved to phase II, ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava said recently.

In a tweet, Dr. Vardhan said, “...if everything goes well, India will get a vaccine by end of this year.”

 Tamil Nadu sticks with e-passes; Puducherry abolishes system

‘Centre’s move poses a challenge to COVID-19 management’

24/08/2020

Police patrols were removed from border points in Puducherry. 

T. Singaravelou

T. Ramakrishnan M. Dinesh VarmaChennai/Puducherry

A day after Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla wrote to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, asking them not to impose restrictions on inter- and intra-State movement, Puducherry removed all travel restrictions on Sunday.

However, Tamil Nadu continued to enforce the e-pass system.

In Coimbatore, State Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said the Centre’s decision would pose a challenge to COVID-19 management work.

He, however, added, “At the same time [if the e-pass system is…

 Admit students after getting NOC, deemed universities told

The move was made keeping in mind the interest of students, says State govt.

24/08/2020

Special Correspondent Coimbatore

The State government has directed deemed universities offering agriculture or allied courses to get its no-objection certificate and then admit students.

In an order issued around a fortnight ago, the government said the move was made keeping in mind the interest of students who had enrolled in agriculture or allied courses and the validity of the degree of those who had obtained degree in those subjects from such institutes.

Other than the 28 private colleges that were affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, there were eight deemed universities in the State that offered agriculture or allied courses – horticulture, agricultural engineering, forestry, food technology, biotechnology and sericulture.

Those deemed universities could apply to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research for accreditation only after the first batch of students had graduated. This meant that the institutes would apply in the fourth year.

And, considering that the accreditation process took eight to 12 months, the institutes could get accredited only in the fifth year. Thereafter, they would have to apply to the State government for no-objection certificate, as mentioned in Government Order 171 of 2018.

The order said, “By the time they [deemed universities] apply for No Objection Certificate to State government after five years of starting agriculture and allied courses, further student batches will be admitted and with this, considerable number of students would undergo the agriculture and allied degree programmes with uncertainty of outcome of accreditation proposal submitted to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.”

Therefore, in the students’ interest, the government said all deemed to be universities intending to offer agriculture or allied programmes should first obtain no-objection certificate before offering the courses. And, then they would have to get accredited as well as per the Council norms.

Those deemed universities that offered the courses, should furnish proof of having obtained its approval for offering the courses. If they have not, they should do so within six months and admit students after complying with the University Grants Commission’s 2016 regulations.

The order also asked the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University registrar to follow up on its order with the eight deemed universities that offered agriculture or allied courses – SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Kalasalingam University, Karunya University, Prist University, Bharath University, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya Institute of Agri. and Rural Development, Amirtha Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Saveetha University.

The University registrar was not available for his comment.