Anna Univ: 536 colleges seek affiliation extension

Anna Univ: 536 colleges seek affiliation extension

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 29.07.2020

Anna University on Tuesday uploaded the list of affiliated colleges, number of courses and seats for each course for 2020-21 on www.annauniv.edu/cai/Options.php As many as 536 institutions sought extension of affiliation with Anna University for 2020-21. Of them, around 30 colleges are yet to submit the documents including AICTE approval, sources said. “Few institutions have not submitted statutory documents like AICTE approval for grant of affiliation. Those institutions list will be updated on the website as and when the documents are received,” the university said in a release.

As per the AICTE’s announcement, the last date for grant of affiliation by the university is August 15. Earlier, some fake messages were doing the rounds that the university released a list of colleges with poor facilities. The university has denied releasing any such list. Due to Covid-19, the university is granting affiliation based on AICTE approval and online scrutiny of documents submitted by colleges. Physical inspection could not take place due to the pandemic.

Food delivery apps levy ‘bad weather charge’

Food delivery apps levy ‘bad weather charge’

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

29.07.2020

The rain in the city over the past month has led to food delivery rates rising, with online food aggregators collecting, alongside regular delivery and distance charges, ‘bad weather’ fees from users.

For instance, a customer ordering food for Rs 400 from a restaurant 5km from his/ her residence has to pay close to Rs 50 in such ‘fee’ that increases based on distance and weather conditions as well as traffic conditions and seasonal demand..

“I don’t remember paying any additional fee during rain in the past. On Tuesday, I was charged Rs 20 extra,” said Madipakkam resident R Veera, who uses Swiggy for ordering food.

Sources in Swiggy said bad weather fee had always been collected from users across the country and that surge pricings can be avoided on attaining ‘super customer’ status that customers can buy for a minimum of Rs Rs 149 for a month. The scheme, temporarily withdrawn a few months ago because of the lockdown, was revived recently, sources said.

Zomato, which too collects distance fee, was unavailable for comment.

Food aggregators claim additional fee collected is transferred to delivery executives’ accounts to compensate for travelling in tough conditions.

Delivery executives admit getting this incentive but say it is delayed at times. “However, more customers tip us than usual. They understand the risk associated with our work and give 10- 20 extra and sometimes even more,” said Dinesh, a delivery man from Velachery. This comes in handy while refilling vehicles’ fuel tanks as petrol price increased more than Rs 10 in two months.

Meanwhile, layoffs continue with 350 employees being sacked this week. Earlier, Swiggy, Zomato and other firms together let go off nearly 1,500 employees. Firms claim the industry has recovered only by 50% and this was the final round of restructuring but employees’ salaries have been restored.

ALWAYS ON CALL: A food delivery agent braves heavy rain in the city on Tuesday to ferry a parcel

AGGREGATORS SAID EXTRA CHARGES ARE ALWAYS CREDITED TO THE DELIVERY EXECUTIVE’S ACCOUNT

University Notification

Doctors remove 20cm-long knife stuck in a man’s liver

Doctors remove 20cm-long knife stuck in a man’s liver

Patient Has History Of Psychosis

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:28.07.2020

In a bizarre incident, a 28-year-old man with a history of psychosis had ingested a kitchen knife. Luckily, the 20cm-long knife didn’t damage any of his vital organs like the heart and lungs, and got stuck in the liver without causing any immediate problem.

It was only a month later that the daily wage labourer from Palwal in Haryana developed issues like difficulty in eating, weight loss, fever, and then abdominal pain that soon became unbearable.

Local hospitals referred him to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where an ultrasound test and an X-ray of the abdomen revealed the blade of the kitchen knife stuck in the liver. The patient was then referred to AIIMS for surgery.

The man told doctors that one and a half months ago during the lockdown, when “he was in the kitchen, he felt like eating the knife. He tried to chew it and finally gulped it down with water”. Doctors at AIIMS needed nearly three hours to remove the knife with the help of ultrasound guidance on July 19.

A doctor said the blade was entirely inside the liver and the handle inside the duodenum, the first part of small intestine. The knife had perforated the duodenum and gone into the liver, and led to bleeding, infection and abscess formation in the liver and sepsis. The patient’s haemoglobin level was very low and water had accumulated in his right chest.

According to Dr N R Dash, professor of GI surgery and liver transplantation at AIIMS, they first controlled the sepsis and gave him blood transfusion. A tube was put inside the liver under X-ray guidance to drain the pus out. It sucked around 100ml of pus every day for four-five days. Another tube was inserted to take out the water from the chest, Dr Dash explained.

After seven days, when the patient’s condition improved to a certain extent, the surgery was carried out by opening the intestine.“The patient was in the ICU for seven days. He is now out of danger and out of ICU,” Dr Dash added.

Luckily, the ingested knife did not damage any of the victim’s vital organs and got stuck in his liver without causing him any immediate problem

HC: Low revenue no reason for not giving funds for salaries

HC: Low revenue no reason for not giving funds for salaries

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 28.07.2020

Delhi high court on Monday told the AAP government that its depleting revenue could not be given as the reason to not release funds to the municipal corporations to pay their staff salaries.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan told the state government to find a solution and come prepared with a roadmap on August 10.

The court’s comments came after the government submitted that during Covid-19, its revenues had gone down.

“That (revenue depletion) cannot be an answer. Solution has to be found. Figure it out and give us a solution,” the bench said, underlining that sanitation workers and doctors could not be made to wait on this ground.

The court was hearing an application moved by North Delhi Municipal Corporation seeking Rs 90.6 crore payable as grant-in-aid under the sanitation/urban development head for the first quarter ending on June 30. It added that Rs 181 crore under the same head for the second quarter was also due.

In its application filed through advocate Mini Pushkarna, the municipal corporation informed the court that the funding would enable it to pay salaries to safai karamcharis and related sanitation activities.

The application had been filed in a pending writ petition seeking directions to Delhi government and the municipal corporations to pay the salaries with arrears to sanitation workers employed by them.

In its plea, the north corporation said that expenditure towards the salary till May 2020, sanitation services and providing PPE kits, including gloves, masks and sanitisers, to the workers had been incurred by it from its internal resources.

It added that Delhi government had not been releasing grant-in-aid payments timely under the category of health, and it released around Rs 27.6 crore under the health plan only on July 9.

THE COURT SAYS

That (revenue depletion) cannot be an answer. Solution has to be found. Figure it out and give us a solution

Central staff retiring during Covid to get interim pension

Central staff retiring during Covid to get interim pension

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

28.07.2020

New Delhi: Central government employees retiring during Covid-19 pandemic will receive provisional pension till their regular pension payment order (PPO) is issued and other official formalities completed, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

Conceding that some employees who retired during this period may have not been provided with PPO due to disruption in official work during lockdown, Singh said the government, sensitive to their concerns regarding delay in start of pension, had allowed relaxation of CCS (Pension Rules) 1972, to enable seamless payment of “provisional pension” and “provisional gratuity” till the regular PPO is issued.

As per the office memorandum issued by department of pensions on July 17, payment of “provisional pension” will initially continue for a period of six months from the date of retirement and this period may be further extended up to one year in exceptional cases. These instructions shall also be applicable in cases where a government employee retires otherwise than on superannuation i.e. voluntary retirement, retirement under FR 56 etc.

The minister said this decision has been taken considering the constraints of the pandemic-triggered lockdown, due to which a government employee may face difficulty in submitting his pension forms to the head of office or may not be able to forward the claim form in hard copy along with service book to the pay & accounts office concerned in time, particularly when both the offices are located in different cities. This is very pertinent to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who are constantly on the move, he added.

SC seeks UGC’s response on plea for cancellation of final year exams

SC seeks UGC’s response on plea for cancellation of final year exams

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi;  28.07.2020 

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the University Grants Commission’s (UGS) response to a clutchof petitionsseeking cancellation of final year examinations,orderedtobecompleted by September 30,citing the pandemic situation, lack of transport and lodging facilities as well as flood situation in many states.

Appearing for UGC, solicitor generalTushar Mehta said of the 818 universities governed by the commission, 209 had already completed final examinations, 394 were in the process of holding the final exams and 35 did not have any final year students. Thus, nearly 80% of universities under UGC were out of the purview of the relief sought by the petitioners,hesaid.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah asked the UGC to file its response within two days and posted it for hearing on Friday. Mehta said the UGC has also taken into account difficulties faced by students and has suggested three modes for conducting examinations — completely online or offline, or a mixture of the two. He said therewas a further direction to universities to keep a window open for those students who miss the final examination because of one or the other reason.

The petitioners have challenged the July 6 decision of the HRD ministry followed by thedirectiveissuedby theUGC the next day asking universities to complete final examinations by September 30. They argued that given the rising number of Covid-19 cases across the country, with many students’ relatives suffering from thedisease,itwouldbeinhuman to ask them to appear in final examinations disregarding their anxious state of mind, which was not conducive for one to appear in a final exam.

The petition by 31 students also cited the plight of lakhs of students in Bihar, Assam and north-easternstates,which are ravaged by floods and communication linkshavebeen cutoff in many places. How will they appear in the final examination either online or offline, they asked, andurgedthecourt tohelp suchstudents.

Appearing for a student,senior advocateAM Singhvisaid since the number of Covid-19 cases was rising daily, it would beimprudentto askstudentsto appear in final examinations and pleadedthatthey shouldbe evaluated on the basis of their past performance or it should belefttoindividualstatestodecide as per thestatusof the pandemic. “Many states like Maharashtra and WestBengalhave objected to holding of final examinations,” hesaid.

Mehta said the UGC will file its response by Wednesday and said many petitions on the same issue were pending before high courts. “The Supreme Court should stay proceedings before HCs to avoid multiplicity of orders,” he requested.Butthe SC,whichwas earlier posting the matter for hearing on August 10, advancedittoJuly 31.