Allahabad HC Dismisses Plea Demanding Complete Waiver Of School & College Fees

Allahabad HC Dismisses Plea Demanding Complete Waiver Of School & College Fees

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

26 Jun 2020 11:21 AM 

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismisses a public interest litigation seeking a direction on all the schools and colleges in the state to completely waive off fees, including tution fees. 

The Petitioner, Ashutosh Kumar Pandey had submitted before the court that the period of closure of schools and colleges during the Covid crisis should be treated as a "holiday" and the institutions should be restrained from demanding fees for such period. 

Discarding this argument at the "outset", the bench comprised by Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh observed, 

"Most of the schools and colleges are taking up on-line classes for the students and teachers are taking either live classes or sending videos to the students. Even students are being given homework and the same is being checked by the teachers." 

In these circumstances, the court said, the submission of the petitioner that the schools are observing holidays during Covid-19 epidemic is absolutely false/ wrong. 

Terming the petition to be a "misconceived" one, the bench observed that the Petitioner did not have the locus to approach the court. 

"The petitioner herein has no locus to raise the issue, that too, in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents i.e. the State Government to issue a Government Order in this respect," the court said and dismissed the PIL. 

Recently, the Delhi High Court had also held that the charging of tuition fee is justified as schools are organising online classes, providing study materials, and paying staff salaries. 

Inter alia, another petition relating to payment of school fees is pending before the Lucknow Bench of the High Court. In the said case, the Petitioners have prayed that all private schools in the State be directed to charge only tuition fee and desist from levying other ancillary charges, until the lockdown prevails. 

Plea In Gujarat HC Against Conducting Of Physical Examinations/ Admission Process By Various Universities During Covid-19

Plea In Gujarat HC Against Conducting Of Physical Examinations/ Admission Process By Various Universities During Covid-19 

[Read Petition] 

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

26 Jun 2020 10:43 AM 

A PIL has been filed before the Gujarat High Court, challenging the action of various Universities conducting physical examination and admission process in the present situation of Covid-19. 

"Adverse, arbitrary and unlawful decisions by authorities have put the student fraternity in serious dilemma and thereby anxiety and panic which has created a Havoc among student bodies and therefore the same needs to be considered as it not only affecting the students health but also posing a threat on their life and the life of public at large in the given health crisis of COVID-19 as the same can boost the spread of the deadly virus," the plea states. 

The petition has been filed by practicing Advocates of the high court, Priyank Pandya and Harsh Patadia, alleging that Universities are planning to conduct examinations in conventional/ physical manner and are therefore acting contrary to the orders of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. 

The Petitioners have pointed out that no clarification on this subject has been given by the UGC since April 29, 2020, and due to such "inaction", various Universities have issued notifications/ orders/ circulars to conduct examinations in conventional/ physical manner or by alternative methods, based on their interpretation of the UGC Guidelines. 

It is averred that the MHA guidelines clearly prohibit educational activities, except for Online Learning. However, the same is being overlooked by the UGC, in turn providing an opportunity to the Universities to "misinterpret" the guidelines. 

The Petitioners have drawn the court's attention towards MHA guidelines dated May 30, 2020, vis-à-vis 'Unlock-1' whereby it has been stipulated that the decision as to re-opening of schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutes, etc., will be taken in Phase-II in consultation with the States, UTs, educational institutions, parents and other stakeholders, in July 2020. 

It is further stated that if after such consultation, MHA is of the view that educational institutions need to be re-opened then the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will prepare a SOP for these institutions. 

"Hence, no such institute can commence any educational activity except online learning before decision is taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs and a SOP is created in this regards by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)," the plea states. 

The Petitioners have sought for a direction on the Respondents to take an expeditious decision on how to conduct the Examination and Admission of students in a uniform manner in the present situation, and to formulate an SOP for the institutes. 

In the interregnum, they have sought for an interim stay order, restricting the Universities from proceeding with examinations/ admission process. 

The petition has been filed through Advocate Mohammed K. Vohra.

Revenue Divisional Office in Chennai suburb selling e-passes?

Revenue Divisional Office in Chennai suburb selling e-passes?

We contacted a driver from Tambaram to take us to Madurai.

Published: 26th June 2020 05:56 AM 

Police stop vechicles without e-passes at Vandalur Check post | Ashwin Prasath

By Sahaya Novinston Lobo

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Following the recent arrest of five persons, including two government staff, on charges of selling e-passes in Chennai, sources are now pointing fingers at a particular Revenue Divisional Office (RDO) for being involved in a similar racket.

At least three people told Express that they had bought e-passes from the particular RDO. Interacting with some people who had recently travelled out of the city, it was learnt that the racket worked through drivers and travel agencies who have a direct ‘link’ to the RDO functioning from the city’s suburb. The RDO has been allegedly selling e-passes from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000, a source in a suburban government office said.

Giving details, a 35-year-old man who had travelled to Madurai on June 20, said, “We are a family of 12.

We contacted a driver from Tambaram to take us to Madurai. We told him that we had applied for e-pass and would let him know once we received it. However, the man said he would get us the passes and we just had to pay Rs 5,000 per person for travel and the e-pass.” Explaining the checking procedure, a police officer posted at a checkpost near Paranur said, “Whenever police personnel stop a vehicle at the checkpost, they check if the pass is original and not the signature on the bottom corner.

Maybe, that’s how such persons were able to get away. But, we do not have any such cases recorded.” A week ago, the city police at Selaiyur identified a person during vehicle check who had worn a card for pandemic frontline workers signed by the particular RDO while he worked in a shop in Tambaram.

“During inquiry, he said his brother owned a medical shop and the association’s head office in suburban district bordering the city, had arranged for special pass for 30 such medical shop owners to be produced during vehicle-check,” the officer said. The police, he added, let off the youth with a warning as he was a college student. “If the brother of a medical shop owner can get a pass to roam freely, such bulk orders can be misused,” police officer said. Attempts to reach officials from the particular RDO and senior district officials went in vain.

Lockdown woes: This former college HoD now sells murukku

Lockdown woes: This former college HoD now sells murukku

...and he is not alone. Hit hard by poor enrollment rate and Covid, while also having to double-up as salesmen, many college teachers have gone back to their traditional trades

Published: 26th June 2020 07:06 AM 

When the Covid pandemic struck, Maheshwaran was sent on “admission leave”.

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In a nondescript little house in Neyveli sits T Maheshwaran, overseeing his murukku business. Like the convoluted twists and turns in the greasy snack being packed for sales, Maheshwaran’s professional life too has taken drastic turns down a slippery slope. Till February this year, Maheshwaran was the head of the computer science department of an engineering college in Coimbatore -- for all of six years. When the Covid pandemic struck, Maheshwaran was sent on “admission leave”.Illustration : Amit Bandre

What is admission leave? “If I bring five admissions, I can have my job back. Else, it’s considered I have been fired,” he says. “I received my last salary in February. For the last 3-4 months, I am struggling to pay my loans and dues.” Maheshwaran applied to other colleges. He got a few offers too, but with riders. “I could have the job if I brought 3-4 new admissions, I was told. The basic salary they promised was Rs 10,000. The rest would depend on the number of admissions I can make.” Maheshwaran decided enough was enough. “I am not going to go scout for students. I am quitting teaching good.

Now, I think I will focus on the murukku business. Even if the going gets tough, I will not go back.” Maheshwaran is not alone in this crisis. Many private engineering college teachers --- especially those coming from rural backgrounds, who spent 15-16 years of their life preparing for a career in academics to make a difference in the lives of students --- have gone back to traditional businesses such as rearing cattle and making choir ropes. 

The gradual decay in the once-booming low-cost private technical education model in Tamil Nadu --- where teachers had to double up as marketing executives and salespersons --- has been accelerated by the virus. Express spoke with three teachers from engineering colleges across the State, who claim technical knowledge and academic skills are no more the primary requirement for a lecturer’s job. In Maheshwaran’s case, it was his wife’s unexplored skill-set that helped him find an alternative career path. 

“Stuck at home during the lockdown, she made a variety of murukku as they do it in her hometown Tiruchendur. I realised this kind of snack is not available in Neyveli. Also, shops were not getting stock of fresh snacks due to the lockdown. I saw space in the market, and decided to explore it.” Today, Maheshwaran sells four kilograms of the snack every day to shops in his neighbourhood. He makes Rs 800 per day. An expansion is on the cards soon, hints Maheshwaran. 

Greener Pastures

In the quaint coastal hamlet of Colachel in Kanniyakumari, Vincent* now spends his days with seven bulls and 24 goats. In between, he finds time to log on to Facebook, to answer doubts of his students -- rather, former students. After teaching mechanical engineering for 14 years, Vincent is now rearing cattle for a living. “My students still reach out to me when they have doubts,” he says with a sense of pride. “I miss them. I wish I would go back to teaching again.” Vincent was tired of working in a college, but not of teaching.

His college management and he shared very different ideas about academics. “They were only concerned about money. I wanted my students to understand engineering in the practical sense. This profession needs committed teachers. Those who are passionate about it.” Vincent says he quit because he was focussing on practical learning while the college insisted that he helps his students score more. “In mechanical engineering, practical skills are as important as theory. So, my classes were very hands-on. But, the management insisted I focus on theory to help students score more.

Last June, I decided I cannot continue like this and quit my job.” He was hoping to find a job elsewhere, in a college that was practical about its learning outcomes. “Such a college does not exist. I realised that,” he says with a defeated smile. “Still, I don’t want to give up on teaching.” Cattle rearing is his father’s trade. Now, with no other income coming, he depends on it to feed his family. “My wife is a junior research fellow. Even she has not received her stipend since beginning of the lockdown.” Vincent’s colleague and friend David* is also going through a similar change in career. David has restarted a trade that his family had been at for decades, till his 102-year-old grandfather passed away five years back. 

Learning the ropes 

The coconut fibre stacked up around the shed keeps the summer heat at bay inside David’s workplace. Unsure if he would get his teaching job back after the pandemic abates, David has taken up his grandfather’s coir business. “I taught for over six years, and all of a sudden my salary stopped coming in February,” says David. The business had been leased out to a third party after David’s grandfather died. “Getting back into business during the lockdown was not easy. But, it was the only means of income I could think of,” he says. 

David’s father leased out the business as his son wanted to take up teaching. Now, the choice is between pursuing his passion and feeding his family. “We decided to clean up the equipment and get going. We are making ropes, brooms, and ornamental coconut shells. David too wants to return to teaching, but he fears it may not be possible in the near future. India has ambitious plans for its ‘near future’ --- which includes a technological boost to business, education, and healthcare. At the southern tip of this future India is an ironic contradiction in the form of these teachers -- who after fighting against social odds to escape the drudgery of ancestral trade are now slipping back into the quagmire. (* names changed) 

‘Show me the money’

Many colleges have allegedly been forcing faculty to double up as marketing executives and salespersons. Maheshwaran, who was HoD of computer science department of an engineering college, was told to bring in five students or consider himself fired

'கொரோனா'மருந்துகள் வினியோகம்: 5 மாநிலங்களுக்கு வரப்பிரசாதம்

'கொரோனா'மருந்துகள் வினியோகம்: 5 மாநிலங்களுக்கு வரப்பிரசாதம்

Updated : ஜூன் 26, 2020 00:14 | Added : ஜூன் 25, 2020 21:35 |

புதுடில்லி : 'கொரோனா' வைரஸ் தொற்றால் கடுமையாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டோருக்கு சிகிச்சை அளிப்பதற்காக, மத்திய அரசால் ஒப்புதல் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ள, 'ரெம்டெசிவிர்' என்ற மருந்தை, தெலுங்கானா மாநிலம், ஐதராபாதைச் சேர்ந்த, 'ஹெடர்ரோ' என்ற நிறுவனம் தயாரித்துள்ளது.

முதல்கட்டமாக, 20 ஆயிரம் குப்பிகள், தமிழகம் உட்பட, ஐந்து மாநிலங்களுக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது.கொரோனா வைரஸ் பாதிப்பு, உலகெங்கும் மிகத் தீவிரமாக உள்ளது. நம் நாட்டில், வைரஸ் பாதிக்கப்பட்டோர் எண்ணிக்கை, 4.73 லட்சத்தை தாண்டியுள்ளது. அதில், 14 ஆயிரத்து, 894 பேர் உயிரிழந்தனர். மஹாராஷ்டிரா, டில்லி, குஜராத், தமிழ்நாடு மற்றும் உத்தர பிரதேசத்தில் மட்டும், மொத்த பாதிப்பில், 80 சதவீதம் பதிவாகியுள்ளது.

கொரோனாவுக்கு சிகிச்சை அளிப்பதற்காக, அமெரிக்காவைச் சேர்ந்த, 'கிலீட் சயின்ஸ் இன்கார்ப்பரேஷன்' என்ற நிறுவனம் தயாரிக்கும், ரெம்டெசிவிர் என்ற மருந்து பலன் அளிப்பதாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது. குறிப்பாக வைரஸ் பாதிப்பு தீவிரமாக உள்ளவர்களுக்கு, அவசர காலத்தில் பயன்படுத்துவதால், நல்ல பலன் கிடைப்பதாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது.

'லைசென்ஸ்'

அமெரிக்கா, தென்கொரியா, ஜப்பானில், கொரோனா நோயாளிகளுக்கு இந்த மருந்தை அளிப்பதற்கு அனுமதி வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.இந்த மருந்தை இந்தியாவில் தயாரிக்க, ஐதராபாதைச் சேர்ந்த, ஹெடர்ரோ என்ற நிறுவனமும், 'சிப்லா' என்ற நிறுவனமும், 'லைசென்ஸ்' பெற்றுள்ளன.'கோவிபோர்' என்ற பெயரிலான இந்த மருந்து, தற்போது சோதனை முறையில் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டு வருகிறது. இந்த மருந்தை, குறிப்பிட்ட நிபந்தனைகளுடன், டாக்டர்களின் கண்காணிப்பில் நோயாளிகளுக்கு அளிப்பதற்கு, இந்திய மருந்து கட்டுப்பாட்டு அமைப்பு ஒப்புதல் அளித்துள்ளது.அதன்படி, ஹெடர்ரோ நிறுவனம், ஐதராபாத்தில் உள்ள தன் ஆலையில், இந்த மருந்தை தயாரித்து உள்ளது. முதல்கட்டமாக, 20 ஆயிரம் குப்பிகள், தமிழகம், மஹாராஷ்டிரா, டில்லி, குஜராத் மற்றும் தெலுங்கானாவுக்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது. அடுத்த சில வாரங்களில், ஒரு லட்சம் குப்பிகள் தயாரிக்க, இந்த நிறுவனம் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது.

யாருக்கு அளிக்கலாம்?

வைரஸ் தொற்று பாதிப்பு தீவிரமாக உள்ளவர்களுக்கு மட்டுமே, இந்த மருந்து தரப்படும். நரம்புகள் வழியாக, ஊசி மூலம் இந்த மருந்து செலுத்தப்படும்.தற்போதைக்கு, 100 மில்லி கிராம் மருந்துள்ள குப்பியின் விலை, 5,400 ரூபாயாக நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.வைரஸ் பாதிப்பு தீவிரமாக உள்ளவர்களுக்கு, முதல் நாளில், 200 மி.கி., ஒரு முறை செலுத்தப்படும். அதற்கடுத்த ஐந்து நாட்களில், நாௌான்றுக்கு, 100 மி.கி., மருந்து செலுத்தப்படும்.இந்த மருந்து அடுத்தக்கட்டமாக, கோல்கட்டா, இந்துார், போபால், லக்னோ, பாட்னா, புவனேஸ்வர், ராஞ்சி, விஜயவாடா, கொச்சி, திருவனந்தபுரம், கோவாவுக்கு அனுப்ப, இந்நிறுவனம் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது.

'இந்த மருந்து, மருத்துவ மனைகள் மற்றும் அரசின் மூலமாக மட்டுமே கிடைக்கும். கடைகளில் விற்பனை செய்யப்படாது' என, இந்நிறுவனம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.'கல்லீரல் பிரச்னை, சிறுநீரகக் கோளாறு உள்ளவர்கள், கர்ப்பிணிகள், பாலுாட்டும் பெண்கள், 12 வயதுக்குட்பட்ட

குழந்தைகளுக்கு, இந்த மருந்து செலுத்தக்கூடாது' என, நிபுணர்கள் தெரிவித்து உள்ளனர்.இந்த மருந்தை தயாரிக்க, லைசென்ஸ் பெற்றுள்ள சிப்லா நிறுவனம், விரைவில் சந்தைப்படுத்த உள்ளதாக கூறியுள்ளது. 'ஒரு குப்பியின் விலை, 5,000 ரூபாய்க்கும் குறைவாக இருக்கும்' என, அந்தநிறுவனம் கூறியுள்ளது.

ரத்தம் பெற, 'மொபைல் ஆப்'

கொரோனா வைரஸ் அச்சம் இல்லாமல், பாதுகாப்பான ரத்தத்தை பெறுவதற்காக, புதிய, 'மொபைல் ஆப்' அறிமுகம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.இது குறித்து, மத்திய சுகாதார அமைச்சர், ஹர்ஷ் வர்தன் கூறியதாவது:சிலருக்கு, குறிப்பிட்ட இடைவெளியில் ரத்தம் செலுத்த வேண்டிய நிலை இருக்கலாம்.

மேலும், அவசர காலத்தில், சிலருக்கு ரத்தம் தேவைப்படலாம். தற்போது கொரோனா பரவல் உள்ளதால், பாதுகாப்பான முறையில் ரத்தம் கிடைக்குமா என்ற அச்சம் மக்களுக்கு உள்ளது. அதை நிவர்த்தி செய்யவே, இந்த ஆப் அறிமுகம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்திய செஞ்சிலுவை சங்கத்தின் மூலம், நாடு முழுதும் உள்ள அதன் ரத்த வங்கிகளில் இருந்து ரத்தத்தை பெறலாம். இந்த, 'ஆப்'பில், பதிவு செய்தால், ரத்தம் எங்கு கிடைக்கும் என்ற தகவல் அனுப்பப்படும். அதுபோல், தன்னார்வலர்களும், ரத்த தானம் செய்வதற்கு இந்த, 'ஆப்'பில் பதிவு செய்யலாம்.இவ்வாறு, அவர் கூறினார்.

Campus chorus for LU to cancel exams gets louder

Campus chorus for LU to cancel exams gets louder

Profs Testing Corona +ve Spurs Protest

Mohita.Tewari@timesgroup.com

Lucknow:  26.06.2020

With the spike in Covid-19 cases in the city and experts predicting infection rate to peak in July, the opposition to Lucknow University’s decision to hold examinations from next month is getting louder. After protests by students and teachers went unheard, a group of LU students on Thursday approached the high court for redressal of their grievances.

Protests started soon after LU’s recent announcement that examinations of over 1.60 lakh students enrolled in its 170 associated colleges will be held in July and August.

The exams are being opposed on the grounds that three LU teachers and several students have tested positive for Covid-19 and the number of cases in the city has crossed 900-mark. The city now has 69 containment zones and experts have predicted further rise in coronavirus cases in the coming days.

LU Teachers’ Association has written to chief minister and deputy CM demanding postponement of examinations. LU Associated Colleges Teachers’ Association has also registered a strong protest and even threatened to boycott the exams. Students’ bodies are holding protest on the streets daily. Students have also been running online campaigns. The common refrain is that assembly of students for examination is an open invitation to virus.

Besides, students are also citing practical problems such as how those living in containment zones will appear for exams and what will happen if their residential area is declared a containment zone during exams, many students told TOI during a rapid telephonic survey.

Similarly, some pointed out, if a college is located a containment zone, then how will students go there and will exams be abandon midway, if the area where college is located is converted into a containment zone. They also said thermal scanning and social distancing of lakhs of students is impossible.

Another big question raised by students is: What will happen if there is an Covid outbreak on the campus during examinations as it happened in the government helpline office or PAC barracks? In such a scenario, not only students and teachers, but their families too will be at risk, they said.

Ankit, a resident of Habibullah hostel who had gone home in Gorakhpur after the outbreak, said “Travelling itself is risky in the times of corona. Even if I reach Lucknow, where would I quarantine myself before exams. Also, with hostellers using common washrooms and mess, how will social distancing will be ensured?”

Rahul Mishra, another student who shared a rented room with other students, said “My landlord is not willing to have us back during pandemic.”

BCom student Divya Malhotra raised question how will answer sheets and question papers, which go through several hands, will be sanitized?

NTA, MCI Say NO To Foreign NEET Centres, Online Conduction Of NEET 2020 In One Shift

NTA, MCI Say NO To Foreign NEET Centres, Online Conduction Of NEET 2020 In One Shift 

By MD Bureau

Published On 25 Jun 2020 11:39 AM | Updated On 25 Jun 2020 11:39 AM 

Kerala: The national testing agency (NTA) and the Medical Council of India (MCI) have informed the Kerala High Court that arranging examination centres for National eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) in abroad is not practical since it is not feasible to conduct NEET online in a single shift for all candidates. The authorities also told the court that allotting exam centres for this upcoming MBBS entrance test, is not possible as it takes meticulous planning and the exam is about to be held next month; which evidently gives them not enough time. 

This response came after the petition was submitted before the High Court seeking the direction of the Central government to allot examination centres in Gulf countries and Qatar. Previously, the medical dialogues team reported that Kerala Chief Minister sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in allotting entrance examination centre in the UAE and other gulf countries where a large number of expatriate Indian students live. 

CM stated that because of the travel ban from abroad, it won't be possible for those students to come to India to write these exams.: 

However, the NEET is scheduled for July 26th and NTA and MCI informed the court that within this short amount of time allotment of examination centres outside the country is not possible. While giving reasons for their inability to arrange new examination centres in UAE or Gulf countries, they stated that NEET, unlike joint entrance examination (JEE) is not held online and it is an offline examination. 

Hence arranging new centres requires sending examination materials including question papers outside the country. Those materials and questions papers have to be transported from the India NEET headquarters to a large number of examination centres and it requires a great deal of planning and strategic advancement, they submitted; reports TNIE. Moreover, they needed extreme security as question papers are highly confidential which is not possible to arrange within this short amount of time. 

NTA and MCI also informed the HC that conducting the NEET examination in online mode is also not possible as organizing the test online in a single shift for all candidates is not feasible at all, adds the daily. However, several students are not happy with the decision of the government and are urging them to think of the students of Gulf countries and the UAE.

https://medicaldialogues.in/news/education/nta-mci-say-no-to-foreign-neet-centres-online-conduction-of-neet-2020-in-one-shift-67018