Memories strengthen when you’re asleep

Memories strengthen when you’re asleep

18.07.2021 

While we sleep, the brain produces activation patterns. When two of these patterns gear into each other, previous experiences are reactivated. The stronger the reactivation, the clearer will be our recall of past events, a new study published in Nature Communications has revealed.

Scientists have long known that slow oscillations (SOs) and sleep spindles — sudden half-second to two-second bursts of oscillatory brain activity — play an important role in the formation and retention of new memories. But recently, researchers from the University of Birmingham and Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich discovered that a precise combination of SOs and sleep spindles is vital for opening windows during which memories are reactivated.

“Memory reactivation is specifically bound to the presence of SO-spindle complexes. These results shed new light on the memory function of sleep in humans and emphasise the importance of orchestrated sleep rhythms in strengthening recall,” said study co-author Dr Thomas Schreiner.

Study participants were shown information before taking a nap and the research team closely monitored brain activity during non-rapid eye movement sleep using EEG recordings. Participants were then tested on their memory recall after waking up, allowing the researchers to link the extent of memory reactivation during sleep to memory performance.

— ANI

1st dose must to get salary in Nagaland

1st dose must to get salary in Nagaland

18.07.2021

State government employees in Nagaland must get vaccinated with the first dose and procure a Covid negative report every 15 days to be eligible for their salaries, reports Kangkan Kalita.

Nagaland chief secretary J Alam in an order on Saturday said that the salary of those employees, who fail to abide by the directive, will be stopped from July 31.

“All employees and staff in the Nagaland Civil Secretariat and Directorates will be required to be vaccinated to attend office, or to produce Covid-19 negative test report by getting tested every 15 days through either RT-PCR/True-Nat/CBNAAT on self-payment basis as per Government approved rates,” read the order.

8 foreign universities keen to set up campuses in India

8 foreign universities keen to set up campuses in India

5 Of Them From US & 1 Each From UK, Australia & Canada: Survey

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:18.07.2021 

Eight foreign universities, including one each in the top 50 and 100 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021, said that they would be interested in setting up their international campuses in India. Five of these are US universities and one each from the UK, Australia and Canada.

In a survey, where 43 internationally ranked universities participated, 16 said they are not considering a campus here, and another 16 are undecided. The eight which expressed interest claimed they would prefer Indian students to begin with to ensure sufficient enrolments and sustainability of their venture.

The survey “Establishing International Branch Campuses in India,” by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), a central government funded deemed to be university, was conducted between December 21, 2020 to February 12, 2021 to elicit responses from the top 200 universities of the THE World University Rankings 2021 on their views on setting up their international campuses in India. The respondents include three from the ‘top 10’.

As per the report, all the eight respondents that indicated ‘definitely consider’ India as a potential destination for establishing international branch campuses said that there is a need for liberal regulatory framework for improving the attractiveness of India. This is of particular significance because the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 had recommended to allow only universities from the ‘top 100 category’ in the world university rankings to operate in India.

According to Eldho Mathews, deputy adviser, Unit for International Cooperation, NIEPA, “Contrary to popular view, foreign universities in the top category are also interested in establishing their campuses in India. But most of them are adopting a wait and watch approach as the government rules and regulations are yet to be framed.”

Of the 43 universities which participated in the survey, 14 are from the UK, 13 from the US and 6 are from Canada. Nine of these universities are in the top 50 of the Times Higher Education World Rankings and 30 are in top 150 rankings.

The survey also sought the views on preferred campus model and the report suggested that the number of universities preferring some kind of tie-up with government-run institutions or assistance directly from the government is higher than setting up with private assistance or no external assistance.

“Promoting various models of branch campuses would be helpful in attracting more universities. Similarly, universities that are willing to offer programs that are relevant for the skill needs of the country should be given priority,” said Mathews.

Some of the models suggested in the report are the US-based Webster University in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom’s University of Nottingham in Ningbo, China and Singapore Institute of Management’s partnership with the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Management, located at the State University of New York at Buffalo for its Bachelor of Science degree program in business administration offered in Singapore, among others.

Full report on www.toi.in

In a survey, where 43 internationally ranked universities participated, 16 said they are not considering a campus here, and another 16 are undecided. The eight which expressed interest claimed they would prefer Indian students to begin with to ensure sufficient enrolments and sustainability of their venture

50 students to get into Madurai AIIMS this year

50 students to get into Madurai AIIMS this year

Madurai:18.07.2021

Preliminary work on the AIIMS facility for Madurai will begin this year and 50 students are to be enrolled from this academic year. However, construction work on the project will begin only in 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2026, Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore has said. The MP, who attended the first virtual meeting of Madurai AIIMS held on Friday and presided by the president of JIPMER Dr V M Katoch and president of the AIIMS institute committee, said one of the takeaways of the meeting was the handing over of 220 acres to the Union government. The Centre has allowed the appointment of 180 faculty members and 120 non-faculty staff for the AIIMS facility, he said. TNN

First year admissions to start after July 31 & end by Sept 30: UGC

First year admissions to start after July 31 & end by Sept 30: UGC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.07.2021 

University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday directed all colleges and higher educational institutions to commence the admission process only after July 31 by when all boards are expected to declare Class XII results.

Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations (TNDGE) said Class XII results would be declared on July 19. Though UG admissions would commence after Class XII results for state board students are released, the TN higher education department asked all colleges to commence admissions for 2021-22 on August 1 after the declaration of CBSE Class XII results.

As per UGC’s academic calendar for 2021-22, colleges must wind up admissions before September 30 and the academic session must commence latest by October 1.

However, the UGC left the planning of semester exams, break, commencement of next semester and exams with concerned universities and autonomous colleges. The next academic year for the 2021-22 batch will begin on August 1, 2022.

“In view of the financial hardships faced by parents due to lockdowns and related factors, the commission asked all colleges to refund full fees for cancellations of admissions or migrations up to October 31 as a special case. It said there should be zero cancellation charges till October 31 and thereafter, the college should refund full fee after deducting process fee not more than ₹1,000,” the UGC said in its guidelines.

Loyola College principal Thomas Amirtham said arts and science colleges may not need two months for the admission process and online classes for first year students may commence much earlier. “In the present academic schedule, it is not possible to have a long summer break. The schedule also allows each state to adapt according to their local Covid-19 situation,” he said, adding that the online classes are likely to continue for a few more months.

D G Vaishnav College principal S Santhosh Baboo said colleges may be looking to wind up the admission process quickly. “Even if colleges are allowed to reopen, science students will be called to do practicals in person while theory classes will be online,” he said.

As per UGC’s academic calendar for 2021-22, colleges must commence the academic session latest by October 1

All FIRs of CB-CID, CCB uploaded online, police inform HC

All FIRs of CB-CID, CCB uploaded online, police inform HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.07.2021 

Nudged by the Madras high court, the Chennai city police have uploaded all FIRs registered by the central crime branch (CCB) and the CB-CID on the crime and criminal tracking network system (CCTNS).

Filing a status report, the Chennai city commissioner of police informed the court that it had now complied with the order passed by the Supreme Court in 2016 making it mandatory to upload FIRs to the tracking system.

Recording the submission, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, “in the light of such a report, it appears that the local authorities are alive to their obligation in terms of the order of the Supreme Court.”

The issue pertains to a PIL moved by advocate M Balaji alleging that the 2016 order of the apex court had not yet been complied by the state government.

On April 2, the court directed the Tamil Nadu government to indicate measures taken to upload all the FIRs registered in the state online in the website of the police or any other official website as directed by the Supreme Court in 2016.

“If appropriate measures have not been taken already, such measures should be devised expeditiously…” the court had said.

The petitioner alleged that FIRs once registered have to be uploaded to the website within 24 hours, however, the department fails to do so.

Replying to an RTI application seeking details of such FIRs, the police said FIRs had not been uploaded due to sensitivity of cases. Facilities to view the FIR of CCB in the official website are not programmed right from the beginning, the petitioner said.

The commissioner of police informed the court that the department had complied with the order passed by the SC in 2016

Record rain for a July day floods roads, hits traffic

Record rain for a July day floods roads, hits traffic

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.07.2021

Rain buffeted the city for the second consecutive evening, breaking the record of highest 24-hour rain for July since 2018 and leaving many streets waterlogged. Nungambakkam recorded 69.5mm, highest since the 84mm recorded on July 10, 2017. While both Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded excess rain since June 1, weathermen have forecast thunderstorms with light to moderate rain in the next two days.

“There is an upper-air circulation between 3.1km and 4.6km altitude and south-westerly winds are pushing moisture below which brought the rain. The circulation supported the convective activity and brought thunder along with rain,” said N Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, IMD, Chennai. Nungambakkam station recorded more rain on Friday (60.5mm) and Saturday (69.5mm) than Meenambakkam’s 14.4mm and 23mm. Between June1 and July 16, Nungambakkam recorded 176.2mm and Meenambakkam 171.7mm, which are 51.7mm and 32.4mm excess for the period. Chennai subdivision registered with 171.6mm against a normal 130.6mm, an excess of 31%.

West Tambaram recorded 24mm, Villivakkam 57mm, Taramani 15mm and Chembarambakkam 16mm as of 7.30pm on Saturday. The downpour left many roads in north Chennai and a few in the south like Velachery inundated forcing motorists to tread slowly. Joint commissioner of police Lalitha Lakshmi and her team monitored waterlogging on streets and field staff cleared them with the help of corporation staff. “We are taking action based on posts on social media by road users,” said Pradip Kumar, additional commissioner of police (traffic).

On Friday evening, heavy rain had caused waterlogging and kept policemen and corporation staff on their toes. Two uprooted trees were cleared within 20 minutes. On Saturday, the corporation operated pumps to push out water from subways like Ganesapuram in Royapuram and the one opposite Loyola College in Nungambakkam. A senior corporation official said Saturday's spell was one of the biggest this season, but in most areas, stagnant water cleared off soon.

DELUGED: Bazzar Road near Madipakkam on Saturday