Cap on flights, rush during admission season see UK airfares soar two-fold

Cap on flights, rush during admission season see UK airfares soar two-fold

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.08.2021

Airfares on the India-UK sector have more than doubled for travel starting August 8, when India stops being on the UK’s red list and visitors from here will again be allowed with no need for a mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine.

The reason is a combination of three factors — a cap of 30 weekly scheduled flights between the two countries; pent-up demand for travel for almost 3.5 months since April 23, when restrictions were imposed on visitors from here during the second Covid wave; and the ongoing peak student travel season.

According to travel portal ixigo, average one-way economy fares from Mumbai and Delhi to London between March 8 and 22, 2021, were Rs 35,871 and Rs 40,273, respectively. Now, fares for travel between August 8 and 22 from Mumbai are up 115% at Rs 77,187, and by 51% from Delhi at Rs 60,932, ixigo data shows. This “is because of pent-up demand and increase in search queries for travel to UK”, it says. Return London fares are well in excess of Rs 1 lakh from most Indian cities.

“This is the peak student season and a large number of Indian students are headed to universities in the UK. Now, with relaxed rules, many parents are also seeking to go and drop their children there for studies,” a travel industry source said.

TICKET TO A COSTLY RIDE

Kaloji health university promotes BPT students

Kaloji health university promotes BPT students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:06.08.2021

Kaloji Narayana University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) has decided to promote physiotherapy students without conducting the final examination.

Thousands of students, pursuing Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), had approached the university seeking unconditional promotion, citing delay in the academic session by almost nine months.

The KNRUHS had scheduled the final exams in the October, 2020 which were later postponed to April, 2021. Subsequently, due to Covid-19 second wave, the exams were rescheduled to August, 2021, resulting in a year long delay in the academics.

“Considering the present Covid-19 pandemic prevailing in the country and Telangana, students are stuck in the same academic year since 2019. Promoting the physiotherapy students to next year without exams will help prevent the lag in their academics,” read a representation submitted by All India Medical Students Association to the Telangana governor on July 29.

The decision was taken by the university recently during its executive council meeting following multiple representations by the students. “Physiotherapy students may be promoted to next year but they have to compulsorily appear for final examination of that year before final examination of the next year (promoted year),” the university said in a notification issued recently.

The executive council observed that physiotherapy was an important branch of health sciences dealing with patients. “Physiotherapy graduates will be treating the patients, so it is not proper to expose society to physiotherapists with inadequate knowledge,” the council observed.

Students had sought a one-time promotion through Twitter storms, protests and representations to governor. A few students also moved the high court seeking relief

Parents knock VC’s door over fee row

Parents knock VC’s door over fee row

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:  06.08.2021

A group of parents from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (MGIT) met the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH), vice-chancellor prof Katta Narasimha Reddy and complained against the management for not allowing students for lab work and internals over fee issues.

“The All India Council for Technical Education has also instructed all institutions to seek tuition fee instalments in view of Covid-19. MGIT is insisting that parents pay the fee dues upfront,” read the representation by the MGIT Parents’ Association. JNTUH registrar Manzoor Hussain said that the university would issue instructions to the MGIT management to allow the students who have paid the total fee fixed by the government and not to insist for any additional fee.

No change in retirement age for Government staff

 

India off UK red list but no relief as vaccines used here not cleared

India off UK red list but no relief as vaccines used here not cleared

Naomi Canton

London: 06.08.2021

India will be moved off the UK’s red list this Sunday, bringing relief to tens of thousands of Indian students and opening the door for Indian nationals without UK residence rights to travel to Britain for the first time since April 23.

On Thursday, UK announced that India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE will be moved from the red to the amber list on August 8 “as the situation in these countries has improved”. But whilst those who have been double vaccinated with vaccines in the UK, Europe and the US will be exempt from home quarantine upon arrival from an amber list country, those who have received vaccines in India — Covaxin, Sputnik V and Covishield — will still have to self-isolate for 10 days, sparking claims of discrimination against India’s vaccines.

Welcome news for Indian students planning UK visit

The UK government says that anyone fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, or vaccinated with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency for Europe, Swissmedic for Switzerland, or FDA for the US, who arrives from an amber country, is exempt from home quarantine.

No doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has been authorised by the FDA and approved by the Indian government, have arrived in India yet. From 8.30 am IST on August 8, when India moves to the amber list, travellers from India must now quarantine at home or the place they are staying for 10 days, as well as take a pre-departure Covid-test and two tests after arrival. This replaces the system under the red list when they were required by law to quarantine in a managed hotel for 10 days — at a cost per adult of £1,750 that is set to rise to £2,285 (Rs 2.3 lakh) on August 12.

The move follows a trip by foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to London on July 24 when he asked the UK to review its travel ban on visitors from India, stating that “Mumbai, Delhi, big cities are practically free of Covid”.

It is welcome news for the 65,000 Indian students who are expected to arrive in the UK in the next few weeks. “This will really help Indian students who cannot afford these exorbitant hotel quarantine fees,” said Indian National Students Association UK president Amit Tiwari. “Indians will have a big cost saving and it is better for their mental well-being to quarantine on campus rather than in a hotel,” said Sanam Arora, chairperson of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK.

“If someone is vaccinated in India, they should be treated the same as someone vaccinated in Europe. Or else that is discrimination,” pointed out Sunil Amar, a private banker in London. “It is amazing news and very sensible to take India off the red list because numbers are down and this means travel will be back so it will help airlines,” he said. The Joint Biosecurity Centre released data to back up the decision showing that of 5,263 travellers tested upon arrival from India between July 1 and July 21, 49 (0.9%) tested positive for Covid-19.

21 nursing students from Kerala test +ve

21 nursing students from Kerala test +ve

Darshan BH TNN

06.08.2021

Fears of travellers from Kerala triggering an outbreak in the state hit home on Thursday when 21 students enrolled in a private nursing college in Hassan city tested positive for Covid-19.

The students, who arr ived a fortnight ago from their hometowns in Kerala, were staying in a paying guest facility. They have since been moved to another lodge where they have been isolated. Some two dozen other students who are primary contacts have also been isolated in the same facility.

The students are pursuing degree courses in the college located near Katihalli industrial area. A total of 45 students were staying in the PG facility located in KR Puram. All the infected students had arrived in Hassan sometime before July 26 to attend exams. They had furnished negative Covid-19 reports on arrival. Since none were inoculated, health department officials took the initiative and gave them all their first dose of Covishield.

“On Tuesday, a student who showed Covid symptoms was subjected to RT-PCR test. It confirmed the infection and tests were then conducted on the remaining students in the PG. Most of those infected are asymptomatic,” an official said.

The PG has been sealed and those infected and their primary contacts were moved to a private lodge near the centre of the city. Tests will be conducted on the primary contacts on Friday and Saturday.

“Our team visited all the 10 nursing colleges in the city on Thursday,” a health department official said.

Officials also said two students from Hassan city’s Home Science College also tested positive on Thursday. “We are thinking of testing all students and staff in all colleges,” said Dr KM Sathish, district health officer.

Arappor Iyakkam alleges irregularities in PWD tenders

Arappor Iyakkam alleges irregularities in PWD tenders

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 06.08.2021 

The anti-corruption NGO, Arappor Iyakkam on Thursday alleged that tenders floated by the Tamirabarani circle of the state public works department were showing favouritism to a section and demanded that four tenders be cancelled. The NGO had been carrying out a series of anti-corruption campaigns against the previous AIADMK government. It has now targeted the DMK government also for alleged irregularities.

In a press release, Arappor Iyakkam convenor Jayaram Venkatesan said the department had floated tenders valued at ₹30.98 crore and the bids were to be submitted in boxes kept in the office of the superintending engineer of Tamirabarani basin circle. “We reliably learn that all these physical points of contact are currently being used to eliminate other contractors and favour a particular person in the tenders”. He said the conditions in the tender were tweaked to restrict competition rather than promoting competition.

The department floated tenders for extension of groyne at Kovalam, laying groynes at Azhikkal, a groyne at Periyanayaki Street, and check dam across Pazhayaar in Thamaraikulam village.

The tender document mandates the contractors to approach the office of the superintending engineer, Tamirabarani basin circle, to buy the pre-qualification application and the price tender schedule. The application and price tender must be submitted separately, besides earnest money deposit. The annual turnover requirement had been set at 75% of the tender value and 150% of the annual work value. “The Central Vigilance Commission says the above pattern is a common irregularity. It says the average annual financial turnover during the last three years ending March 31 of the previous financial year should be at least 30% of the estimated cost,” Venkatesan said.

The PWD officials said submission of online tenders had not picked up in the department and the documents could be submitted either in boxes or through post. “As regards the tender conditions, we have set the criteria due to the quality mandated for antisea erosion work. If anyone had any objection, they could have brought it to our notice in the last one month and we could have held a pre-bid meeting and sorted it out. But no one objected to it,” said a senior official. While the last date for submission of bids for the first three contracts ended on Thursday, the deadline for the last one is August 17.