DDU College hostellers stage protest
20/09/2019, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

Hostellers at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College in Dwarka staged a protest on Wednesday night that continued till Thursday afternoon over poor living conditions. The protest was dispersed, without getting any assurance, after alleged threats from the administration.

Students who wished to remain anonymous said that the outburst was a consequence of months of complaints that had gone unheeded. Their major issues include, problems with the quality of food and water, strict curfew timings and unavailability of Wi-Fi. Students were not given basic facilities. These problems allegedly led to health problems among students, they alleged.

Transport strike leaves commuters stranded

20/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Commuters were left stranded on Thursday as several transport unions organised a day-long strike in the Capital. Several schools remained shut and transportation hubs like the New Delhi railway station and ISBT at Kashmere Gate bore a deserted look as autorickshaws, private buses, app-based cabs and other taxis stayed off the roads.

The strike was called to protest the “hefty” fines being levied under the amended Motor Vehicles Act.

Need to raise awareness about silent aortic diseases: expert
Exclusive centre inaugurated at SIMS Hospital

20/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Dr. V.V. Bashi, director, ICAD, with N. Ram, chairman, THG Publishing Private Ltd, at the event. S.R. Raghunathan

A year ago, B. Elankumaran, now 31, experienced severe chest pain. Earlier, he had shortness of breath and mild pain, but had not given it a second thought. This time, he was hospitalised. Doctors told him his condition was serious — he had an aortic dissection and a genetic condition, Marfan syndrome. Referred to Chennai, he was told that he would require surgery within 24 hours. The surgery was done, and now, he says he is fine.

Mr. Elankumaran was one of the few patients who spoke at the inauguration of an exclusive centre for aortic diseases, set up by the Institute of Cardiac & Aortic Disorders (ICAD), SIMS Hospital, on Thursday.

V.V. Bashi, director, ICAD, said September 19 is observed as World Aortic Disease Awareness Day and stressed the need for more awareness about aortic conditions. Since these were generally silent diseases, they came without warning, and could be fatal if untreated, he said. He also spoke of challenges in the Indian sector, such as transportation to centres of treatment, expense and availability of care. N. Ram, chairman, THG Publishing Private Ltd, who inaugurated the Centre, highlighted the need for awareness, and the media’s role in this. “Media has a credible information function,” he said.

The centre will treat a range of aortic diseases and also create awareness. A website on the diseases was also launched. Vice-president of the hospital Raju Sivasamy, and interventional radiologist K. Murali participated.

Class 11 students can opt for five or six subjects

Children allowed to leave out math or biology

20/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Higher secondary course programmes will offer students a choice of taking either five subjects or six subjects.

Students who join Class 11 will be allowed to choose a cluster of core subjects from the 2020-2021 academic year.

In an order, the School Education Department said that students could either choose to study only five subjects from the next academic year in class 11 and 12 or opt for six subjects, if they wish to study an extra subject.

The subjects are divided into three parts — Part I - language; Part II - English; are mandatory. In Part III - students must select three core subjects, in tune with the combinations that the department has listed.

The students who wish to study medicine or allied health courses if they wish, can leave out mathematics and study only five subjects. Students aspiring for engineering can omit biology. Those who opt for five subjects will take exams for 500 marks and those taking four core subjects will appear for six exams each for 100 marks. Similar combinations have been specified for arts and vocational streams.

If students want to keep their engineering and medicine options open, they can chose six subjects. The department has given a list of groups — comprising three core subjects and four core subjects in different combinations — the students can choose from.

A senior official from the department said that the decision to offer students the option of taking up five subjects was taken to reduce their stress and enable them to concentrate better on subjects of their choices. There has been speculation since early this year that the department was planning to introduce this option.

Teachers welcome move

The Tamil Nadu Teachers Association welcomed this move. “While the move is a well thought out, there also needs to be focus on teacher training and the content that students will be studying. The syllabus was revamped for a majority of the classes this year and more attention needs to be given to implementing teacher training programmes before changes are brought in for assessment and examination methods,” said K.R. Nandhakumar, State general secretary, T.N. Nursery Primary Higher Secondary Matriculation and CBSE Schools Association.

Learn entrepreneurial skills while studying, says expert

20/09/2019, STAFF REPORTER, MADURAI

Business sense: M. Krishnan, Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University, speaking at the launch of EDII Hub in Madurai on Thursday. S. James

During the course of study, one must learn skills to become entrepreneurs as the service sector alone could not provide jobs to the 7.5 lakh students who pass out of colleges in the State every year, said S. Nagarajan, Director, Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute (EDII) of the State government here on Thursday.

Speaking at the inauguration of EDII Hub at Madurai Kamaraj University, the first non-engineering university in the State to have such a project, he said, “The purpose of the programme will not be fulfilled unless the students run their own enterprises during the course of the project. The students can explore possibilities, set up businesses on the college campus and get trained to understand the market,” said Mr. Nagarajan.

Professors and heads of more than 70 autonomous and affiliated institutions of the university participated in the event. Through this programme, colleges affiliated to MKU will have to form an entrepreneurship development cell (e-cell), upload their activities on a common portal and the best performing colleges will be rewarded. The programme also offers faculty development workshops and intense training classes for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“Many colleges have e-cells and incubators, but they are not utilised optimally,” said R.V. Shajeevana, Additional Director, EDII. “Tamil Nadu has 60 incubation centres, but most of them are not functional. They undertake awareness campaigns once a year, but there is no follow-up,” she said. Calling for optimal utilisation of the project, Ms. Shajeevana said the programme would enhance the brand name of the institution and help in better placements.

In addition to the programme, the college would also support the research scholars through funds sanctioned under Phase II of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme, said M. Krishnan, Vice-Chancellor. “The initiative will be successful if at least 50% of institutions affiliated to MKU operate their own e-cells,” he said. V. Vidya Chellam, Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, MKU, was present.

HC says ‘no’ to liquor shop near college

20/09/2019,MADURAI

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday restrained the authorities concerned from putting up a Tasmac-run liquor outlet near a college and a de-addiction centre in Alagarkoil here.

A Division Bench of Justices T.S. Sivagnanam and R. Tharani allowed the petition filed by B. Saravanan, Principal of GMS MAVMM Polytechnic College, who sought a direction to restrain the authorities from putting up the shop.

The petitioner complained that the proposed liquor shop was being set up near a polytechnic college at Naickanpatti near Alagarkoil. There was de-addiction centre also nearby, he said.

Though a liquor shop was shifted from the area in 2017 following agitation from students and residents, steps were being taken to bring back the shop, he said.

IRCTC offers tour package to Nepal

20/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,MADURAI

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited offers an AC tourist train package - ‘Mukthinath Darshan’ and ‘The Glory Kingdom - Nepal’ from Tiruchi from October 19 to November 1.

According to a press release, passengers will be provided First AC, Second AC and Third AC accommodation on the train and hotel accommodation at places of halt. During train travel, south Indian vegetarian meals, snacks with tea or coffee, tour escort and security on train would be provided. The exclusive tourist train would have a pantry car, dining car and generator car for uninterrupted power supply. The package cost for the 13-day-tour starts at ₹53,330 per person.

The composition of the train is - one first AC coach, three second AC coaches, three third AC coaches, one pantry car, one dining car and two power generator cars.

The tour covers Naimisaranyam, Ayodya, Mukthinath, Pokhara and Kathmandu.

‘The Glory Kingdom - Nepal’ package includes Lucknow- Lumbini- Pokhara- Kurintar-Kathmandu. It costs ₹50,600 per person. For more details and facilitation, passengers can contact 82879 31977 or 0452 2345757. Details are also available on the website www.irctctourism.com.