Chennai: CCB arrests two more in TRB scam 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Jan 14, 2018, 1:30 am IST

The duo, I. Raghupathy(34) from Kolathur and J. Sureshpaul (34) from Ayanavaram, are employees of a private firm.


They are arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Chennai: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the city police on Saturday arrested two more men in connection with the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) scam wherein data were manipulated in the OMR sheets before releasing the list of selected candidates for the post of lecturer in government polytechnics in the state.

The duo, I. Raghupathy(34) from Kolathur and J. Sureshpaul (34) from Ayanavaram, are employees of a private firm. They are arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

The city police registered an FIR against more than 150 persons after the details of the scam broke out. Last month, a call taxi driver, Ganesh (28) was arrested for collecting Rs 16 lakh from a candidate. Another man, Sheik Dawood, a software professional surrendered at the court in Tiruvallur. Both of them were involved in manipulating the data, according to a complaint by a member-secretary of TRB. More than 200 aspirants had their mark sheets fudged for which cash was paid in lakhs by each candidate. The majority of the aspirants who paid to fudge data were from Salem, Erode and Namakkal district, police sources said.

Festival mood grips Andhra Pradesh capital 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Jan 14, 2018, 7:14 am IST



Sankaranti has given relief to bureaucrats and politicians in the Capital region.

Vijayawada: Sankaranti has given relief to bureaucrats and politicians in the Capital region. Nearly 30 bureaucrats have already left for Hyderabad due to Sankranti holidays while politicos have left for Bengaluru, Chennai and Coorg to spend holidays in their estates. Since followers also left, party offices in the capital wore a deserted look.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu left for his native place in Naravari Palle, Chittoor district, on Saturday afternoon. He will be spending his Sankranti holidays with family members. District collector B. Lakshmikantham is also on a vacation and will be back on January 16. Following the Chief Minister 14 ministers have already left for their native villages.

Politicians are planning their Sankranti holidays at Araku, Maredumilli, Ooty and Coorg. Many Telugu Desam leaders also left for their native places. “Apart from spending the Sankranti holidays with friends and relatives, we have been advised to concentrate on building health profiles of the villages to create a healthy AP,” a TD leader said, and added that cleaning tanks is also another mission they are taking up in villages.

University of Hyderabad student issued notice for abusing professor on social media

By Express News Service | Published: 13th January 2018 03:46 AM |



HYDERABAD: Days after the students of the University of Hyderabad had raked up the issue of an abusive social media post by a student against Prof K Laxminarayana of the School of Economics, the administration announced on Friday that the student concerned was issued a show-cause notice. Accordingly, the student, Karan Palsaniya, will appear before the University’s Proctorial Board on January 17.

University spokesman Prof Vinod Pavarala said in a statement that the complaint given by the professor to the vice-chancellor was taken seriously and, after eliciting the opinion of the dean of school, referred it to the Proctorial Board, the authorised disciplinary body.

“The University of Hyderabad would like to state unequivocally that it has zero tolerance for physical or verbal abuse of faculty members or administrative staff in the course of discharging their duties. We fully expect all interactions among various sections of the university community to be conducted with mutual respect, dignity and decorum,” Clarifying the university’s stand after students alleged that it was going soft on the student concerned, who is also an ABVP leader, Pavarala explained, “The complaint came at the end of the last semester and because of the intervening winter break, the board took up the matter immediately after reopening in early January.”

Chennai: Strike over, it’s Pongal time

By Express News Service | Published: 13th January 2018 02:24 AM |

  Bus service in full swing near Marina Beach on Friday | D SAMPATH KUMAR

CHENNAI: Around 4,000 buses were operated by the State government from five bus stands in Chennai, bringing the much needed festive cheer to passengers late on Friday evening as they flocked the terminus to reach their native places to celebrate Pongal.

Long-distance passengers were struggling till noon as only 40 per cent of scheduled buses were operated from the CMBT, Saidapet, Tambaram, Poonamallee and Anna Nagar West though the strike was called off on Thursday evening. The five bus terminuses were flooded with passengers. It was only around 9.30 pm that all regular buses operated from the temporary bus stands. In addition to this, reservation counters for special buses opened at the CMBT and Tambaram. In addition to the 2,275 regular bus services, more than 1,750 special buses operated on Friday, according to official sources.

As the bus operation was restored only at the eleventh hour, many commuters who did not get government buses in the morning booked tickets for omnibuses at exorbitant fares. “I purchased a ticket for an omnibus for ` 2500 to Tirunelveli. As the strike was withdrawn, I sold it to one of my friends and came to Koyambedu. But, to my shock, not many buses operated,” said Chellappa, a commuter at the CMBT.

SETC and TNSTC official sources said the buses underwent periodic maintenance at depots, due to which special buses did not operate in the morning. However, since evening almost the entire fleet of the SETC and the TNSTC were put into operation,” said an SETC official.

The uncertainty over the operation of bus services had forced many passengers to book tickets at higher prices for omnibuses. “Had I known that government buses would ply, I would not have purchased omnibus tickets, spending ` 7500 for four tickets to Madurai,” said another passenger Nachimuthu.

Each and every bit of space in south-bound trains, particularly Pandiyan Express, Nellai Express, Kanniyakumari Express, Podhigai Express and Rock Fort Express were occupied by passengers. The Egmore and Central railway stations were thronged by thousands of passengers throughout the day.

Over 50% students in four Anna university departments flunk semester examRam Sundaram | TNN | Updated: Jan 13, 2018, 08:56 IST



CHENNAI: Here's a shocker. Nearly half the students in four Anna University departments, a majority of them having scored more than 90% in the Class XII board exams, failed the semester test in November-December 2017.

The students are from College of Engineering, Alagappa College of Technology and School of Architecture & Planning, all on the Guindy campus, and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chromepet.

Several students, requesting anonymity, cited the change in examination and evaluation patterns among the reasons for such a high failure rate.

In 2014-15, the university introduced a Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and relative grading, dispensing with minimum pass mark. Under the system, the highest score in a class was taken as the baseline and grades awarded to others based on this.

'22 credits are consumed by current sem courses'

The overall pass percentage increased, but standards came down as even those with single-digit scores of 100 managed to secure top grades.

In one instance, sources said, students discussed among themselves the night before an exam and came to an understanding that none would score above 10. As a result, even those with scores less than five got top grades.

In the 2017-18 academic year, the university reverted to the old practice and set 50 % as the minimum pass mark for all university departments. Unable to adapt to this change quickly, many failed in the semester exams.

The overall pass percentage came down drastically, from 80% in 2016-17 to nearly 60%. Among them, students of the Schoolof Architecture and Planning fell behind terribly, with less than 20% of the second and third year managing to pass. Besides, some students said, limiting the number of courses a student can reappear for in a particular year has left many sceptical about finishing the course on time.

Each student takes on five or six lecture (maximum four credit (score) points) courses and a lab course (maximum two credit points) a semester and can . register for a maximum of 32 credits.

"Of this, nearly 22 credits are consumed by current semester courses and we have only 10 points for reappearance (formerly called arrears). This means we can reappear for a maximum of three papers at a time," a student from MIT told TOI, requesting anonymity.

"With many students failing in four or more papers this year, how can the university expect us to clear all backlogs on time so that we can attend campus placements," he said.

Delhi dentist bites, burns minor maid; held

New Delhi: A 14-year-old girl employed as a domestic worker has been rescued with injuries allegedly inflicted by her employer, a dentist, who lives in Model Town’s Kalyan Vihar in north-west Delhi. A tribal from Jharkhand, the child was allegedly bitten, beaten and burnt in the past four months after she was placed there by an agency, according to Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

Police have registered an FIR invoking sections pertaining to “causing hurt” and under Bonded Labour Act, said DCP, north-west, Aslam Khan. She said the employer, Nidhi Chaudhary, has been arrested. The office of the placement agency was raided on Friday night after the girl was rescued. It is suspected that the girl may have been bought by an agent from Jharkhand.

The child has been put under the care and protection of the child welfare committee and DCW counsellors. The commission is now trying to trace the family of the girl. The case came to light because of an alert neighbour who called up the 181helpline of DCW. Swati Jaihind, commission chief, shared details of the case on Twitter. TNN

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