First of 2-part CBSE exam from mid-Nov

First of 2-part CBSE exam from mid-Nov

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:20.09.2021

The first of the two-part CBSE board exams for Classes X and XII will begin from mid-November. The dates of the Term 1 exams will be announced by mid-October.

The 90-minute Term 1 exam papers will be conducted with multiple-choice optical mark recognition (MCQOMR) question sheets. For Term 1 exams, CBSE officials have so far ruled out any option of online tests.

The CBSE had earlier decided to split the board exams into two parts — Term 1 and Term 2. It had said a student’s final score would be calculated on the basis of his/her performance in both terms. As per the new scheme, Term1 will be an objective type exam while Term 2 will be subjective and have practical components.

Sanyam Bhardwaj, controller of examinations, CBSE said: “The Board will wait and watch the situation before deciding on the weightage. In case there is any disruption of the Term 2 exams, then the Term 1 exams will be given more weightage. Can’t predict anything as there could emerge a situation where we will have only the Term 1 exams to depend on for the final assessment.”

CBSE to issue marksheets of Term 1 exams

Bhardwaj added, “Therefore, a decision will be taken only towards the Term 2 exams.” In July, the Board had announced an overhaul of the assessment system and issued detailed guidelines for the pandemichit 2021-22 academic session.

The Term 1 exams in normal times are scheduled between October and November. Similarly, the Term 2 exams are normally held between February and March. However, due to the pandemic situation, they will be conducted between March and April 2022.

CBSE recently wrote to schools to submit their lists of candidates with relevant information by September 30, 2021, for it to start the examination process. There will be no window for correction in the uploaded data this year and therefore uploading of correct data is the school’s responsibility. Bhardwaj said, “Schools are asked to submit the lists of their candidates with correct details by the end of this month without late fee and by October 9, 2021, with late fee.”

Stating that no updation of data will be permitted after the final submission, Bhardwaj added, “Earlier, schools used to send the copies of list of candidates to the regional offices. From 2021 onwards, the lists will be uploaded on the system with the e-signature linked with the Aadhaar of the principal of the schools and it is the schools’ responsibility to ensure that the information provided is correct.”

Though final results will be made available to students after their Term 2 exams, CBSE will issue marksheets of Term 1 exams as well. “This will help the candidates in understanding where they stand. However, the final results will be based on both the exams,” Bhardwaj.

‘Will stick to guv’s Constitutional limits’

‘Will stick to guv’s Constitutional limits’

Humbled To Be In Land Of Most Ancient Civilisation, Says Ravi After Taking Oath

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.09.2021

Soon after being sworn in as the 26th governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravindra Narayan Ravi on Saturday said he would function within the parameters of the Constitution. The former IB officer and Nagaland governor succeeded Banwarilal Purohit who was appointed as the governor of Punjab and the administrator of the Union territory of Chandigarh.

“This place has a popular government mandated by the people. Governance is the responsibility of the government. Governor is to function within the parameters of the Constitution. I will try my best to keep that in mind,” he said, replying to a query from reporters as to whether he too would break away from convention like his predecessor and tour the state to hold review meetings with the district administrators.

On the performance of the DMK government, the governor said it was too premature to say anything. “I believe it should be doing well. The way it has handled Covid… It (case) has come down.” He said a pandemic such as Covid was above party, politics, above differences, if at all, between a state and the Union. Reminded of the opposition from certain political parties to his appointment given his IB background, Ravi said, “The slate of our relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in the days to come.”

The swearing-in event that lasted 10 minutes saw chief secretary V Irai Anbu reading out ‘Warrant of Appointment’ signed by President Ram Nath Kovind on September 9. Chief justice of the Madras HC Sandeep Banerjee administered the oath of office to Ravi on the lawns of Raj Bhavan. “I, Ravindra Narayana Ravi, do swear in the name of God…,” Ravi said, evoking loud claps from the gathering. CM M K Stalin, Union minister L Murugan, ministers, judges, MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats and others were present. Former governors M M Rajendran (Odisha) E S L Narasimhan (Telangana), P Sathasivam (Kerala), M K Narayanan (West Bengal) and RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy were among the special invitees. PMK president G K Mani was present.

FRESH START: This is a new slate, governor Ravi said about reservations about his IB background

Covid: 20 districts report marginal increase in cases

Covid: 20 districts report marginal increase in cases

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

Fresh cases in Tamil Nadu continued to decline on Saturday, when the state added 1,653 new cases compared to 1,669 on Friday. Twenty of the 38 districts in the state including Chennai and Kallakurichi reported a marginal increase in cases. After reporting 22 deaths and 1,581 discharges, there were 16,893 people on the active list.

Chennai, which reported the sharpest increase in cases in the last 24 hours, recorded 204 new cases compared to 196. The city reported the highest number of cases in the state followed by Coimbatore, which reported 201 new cases – a drop from 205 cases reported on Friday. Chennai and Coimbatore were the only two districts to report more than 200 cases each. Erode (139) and Chengalpet (101) were the only two other districts to report cases in two digits. While cases in Erode had increased from 132 cases on Friday, Chengalpet saw a decline from 115.

The sharpest decline was seen in Thanjavur, where cases dropped from 110 on Friday to 91 on Saturday. While Villupuram reported 20 new cases, at least 15 other districts recorded less than 20 cases. Among these Perambalur(9), Ramanathapuram(7), Virudhunagar(7) and Tenkasi(5) reported cases in single digits.

Active cases were highest in Coimbatore (2201) and Chennai (1941) on Saturday and nearly 46% of the active cases were reported from five districts – Coimbatore, Chennai, Erode, Chengalpattu and Thanjavur. However, more than 85% of hospital beds in almost all districts were vacant.

Of the 22 deaths, there were five from Coimbatore, four from Thanjavur, two each from Salem, Cuddalore and Kancheepuram. While seven districts reported one death each, 26 other districts reported zero deaths.

Meanwhile, two lakh people took vaccines on Saturday taking the total dosage tally to 3.9crore at the government vaccination centres. The number of vaccinations in private hospitals since May 1 has touched 23.7lakh.

Pondy reports 128 cases, one death

Puducherry on Saturday recorded 128 fresh Covid-19 cases that were identified at the end of examination of 5,004 samples. The new cases were spread over Puducherry 88, Karaikal 32 and Mahe eight. The overall case load was 1,25,384. However, Yanam did not report any new case. One more person aged 75 years succumbed to the viral infection raising the cumulative fatalities to 1,829. Director of health and family welfare services G Sriramulu said 17.32 lakh samples were tested and out of them 14.69 lakh were found to be negative. In all, 8.97 lakh people including those who received the second jab have been vaccinated in the Union Territory. AGENCIES

Active cases in city increase by 97 to 1,895 within a week

Active cases in city increase by 97 to 1,895 within a week

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

In a week, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the city has increased by 97, official data released by Greater Chennai Corporation shows.

As on September10, the city had1,798 active cases, which increased to 1,895 on September 17. Data released by the health department in Covid19 bulletins everyday shows that the test positivity rate in the city continues to remain under control at 1% and a little less.

At present, six of the fifteen zones have less than 100 active cases. These are Tiruvottiyur (50), Manali (15), Madhavaram (61), Royapuram (82), Alandur (97) and Shollinganallur (93).

A week ago, eight of the fifteen zones had less than 100 active cases. In addition to the above mentioned six, Tondiarpet and Thiru-vi-ka Nagar also had less than 100 cases. The maximum cases currently is in Anna Nagar (203) followed by Kodambakkam (201). These are the only two zones to report more than 200 active cases.

Despite this increase, official data from the street wise containment of the corporation shows that the number of streets reporting active cases has reduced over the past one week. A week ago, there were 872 such streets in the city with at least one case; this has now come down to 834.

The number of streets reporting more than five cases has also reduced from 25 to 20 during the same period, official information shows.

The civic body officials said they have stepped up vigil in places with huge crowds as well as events behind closed doors. For instance, the corpoation inspected around 5,700 events at marriage halls so far. They have found 455 violations based on which a fine of ₹8.6 lakh was collected for violations of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).

City may get intense rain starting next week, say meteorologists

LIGHT SPELLS LIKELY OVER NEXT 48 HOURS

City may get intense rain starting next week, say meteorologists

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

The 8.6mm rain recorded at Meenambakkam weather station on Friday may be the start of another round of showers as meteorologists have forecast thunderstorms with light rain for the next two days. Bloggers said the intensity and frequency of rain may increase after September 20 and many parts of the state, including coastal areas like Chennai and neighbouring districts, are likely to receive good spells.

For the next 48 hours, the IMD has forecast thunderstorms with light rain over some areas in the city and the neighbourhood, while the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 36°C and 26°C.

While a few places in south Tamil Nadu and delta districts are expected to receive thunderstorm with rain of varying intensity between September 19 and 21, the IMD has forecast thunderstorms with heavy rain over northern Tamil Nadu districts like Tiruvannnamalai, Vellore, Ranipet and Tiruvallur on September 22.

“This is due to the weak westerlies which will allow the entry of easterlies that may lead to wind convergence and convective spells,” a meteorologist said.

Since June 1, Nungambakkam has recorded 503.4mm of rain and Meenambakkam 436.9mm, which are 118.1mm and 13.5mm in excess. Chennai subdivision has recorded 431mm so far in the June-September season against a normal 397.4mm, an 8% excess.

Blogger Pradeep John said there is a possibility of rain in the city and neighbouring districts as well as interior districts during the last 10 days of September due to favourable wind conditions. “In Chennai, day temperatures may be around 34°C or 35°C but the relative humidity may be high. There are chances of rain almost daily in the evening or late nights if convergence shifts from interior parts of the state,” he said.

CS writes to govt depts on 12-month maternity break

ALSO FOR GOVT STAFF ALREADY ON LEAVE

CS writes to govt depts on 12-month maternity break

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.09.2021

The Tamil Nadu government has issued a letter to all secretaries and heads of departments, confirming the government order increasing the period of maternity leave for government employees to 12 months from the existing nine months.

The letter was issued from the office of the chief secretary on Friday, making official the announcement made by state finance minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan during the assembly session last month and the subsequent government order passed on August 23. “The maternity leave admissible to married women government servants with less than two surviving children, which is nine months (270 days) at present, be enhanced to 12 months with effect from July 1, with full pay, which may be spread over from the pre-confinement rest to post confinement recuperation, at the option of the women government servants,” the letter stated.

Government employees who proceeded on maternity leave prior to July 1 and continue to be on that leave shall also be eligible for maternity leave for a period not exceeding 365 days in total. Women employees who rejoined duty between July 1 and August 28 (date of GO) after 270 days of maternity break may also be given leave for three more months, the letter added.

The announcement was one of the DMK’s poll promises. The policy will help the state’s target of increasing the number of infants who are breastfed in the first six months of life. It will also help mothers get back to good health, said officials from the social welfare department. “Tamil Nadu provides cash benefits, free vaccination and nutrition supplement for mothers and babies. But several mothers are not able to take care of themselves and their babies because they don’t have enough time,” said a senior social welfare official. The longer maternity leave will change this, the official said

Doc chokes to death in car stuck in flooded underpass

Doc chokes to death in car stuck in flooded underpass

She Couldn’t Unfasten Her Seatbelt: Cops

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:20/09/2021

A 32-year-old government doctor choked to death after the car she was driving got submerged in stagnant rainwater in a flooded railway underpass at Thudaiyur in Pudukkottai district on Friday night. The deceased, C Sathiya, an assistant surgeon at the government hospital in Hosur, was travelling along with her mother-in-law Jayam Ammal, 67, who was rescued.

The Keeranur police said the underpass was flooded after a heavy downpour in the area since evening. “Unaware that the stagnant water was deep enough to submerge the car, Dr Sathiya drove on,” said sub-inspector of police B Abdul Razzak. He said the car got stuck when it neared the middle of the underpass where the water was deep. “As the car stopped, she tried to escape but could not unfasten the seatbelt. She got suffocated and died,” the officer told TOI. A truck coming in the opposite direction was also grounded in the flooded underpass. Razak said the driver of the truck who saw the doctor struggling to get out sought help from local people who managed to rescue Jayam Ammal.

While the SI said Jayam was in the front seat, deputy superintendent of police Sivasubramanian and revenue divisional officer (RDO) of Iluppur M S Balathandayudhapani said the woman was in the back seat.

Local people managed to pull out Sathiya from the car and rush her to hospital but their efforts went in vain. Government medical college hospital dean Dr M Poovathi said Sathiya was brought dead. DSP Sivasubramanian said the woman died due to suffocation inside the car. She is survived by her husband Sivakumar, 40, a native of Thudaiyur, and two children.

FLOOD OF WOES: The railway underpass at Thudaiyur in Pudukkottai was flooded after a heavy downpour on Friday

Irate people protest lack of safety measures

Though postmortem was performed on the body, it has been kept at the mortuary for a close relative to return from abroad.

Meanwhile, irate local residents blocked the road in the night protesting against the lack of safety measure from the railways to keep the underpass, which comes under Madurai railway division, risk-free. The police managed to convince the people to abandon the protest.

On Saturday, a peace committee meeting headed by RDO Balathandayudhapani was convened.

“Railways should have undertaken safety measures to drain out the water whenever it rained but they failed to do so. As demanded by the people, the unmanned railway gate has been reopened and the underpass closed,” the RDO said.