Covid Spectre Back In Europe

Covid Spectre Back In Europe

Austria Reimposes Full Lockdown And Germany May Follow; Markets Spooked

20.11.2021

Austria will go into a nationwide lockdown on Monday and impose a coronavirus vaccination mandate in February, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Friday. It is the second such lockdown in a European nation since the spring after Latvia imposed similar restrictions last month, and the first national vaccine mandate to be announced in a Western democracy. Austria has one of Europe’s highest national coronavirus infection rates, with 14,212 new cases registered in 24 hours on Thursday. And the Alpine country has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe, with just 66% of the population fully inoculated. The lockdown, reminiscent of those imposed across Europe last winter, before coronavirus vaccines were available, will last for at least 10 days and affect both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Neighbouring Germany warned it may follow suit, sending shivers through financial markets worried about the economic fallout. A fourth wave of infections has plunged Germany, Europe’s largest economy, into a national emergency, health minister Jens Spahn said. He urged people to reduce their social contacts, warning that vaccinations alone would not reduce case numbers. Asked if Germany could rule out an Austrian-style full lockdown, Spahn said: “We are now in a situation where we can’t rule anything out. We are in a national emergency.” European stocks retreated from record highs, while government bond yields, oil prices and the euro tumbled as the spectre of a fresh Covid-linked lockdown in Germany and other parts of Europe cast a fresh shadow over global economy.

As cases rise again across Europe, a number of governments have started to reimpose limits on activity, ranging from Austria’s full lockdown, to a partial lockdown in the Netherlands, to restrictions on the unvaccinated in parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Hungary reported 11,289 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, its highest daily tally, and will make booster shots mandatory for all healthcare workers and require mask wearing in most indoor places from Saturday. While the new measures across Europe are not seen hitting the economy as much as the all-out lockdowns of last year, analysts say they could weigh on the recovery in the last quarter of the year, especially if they hit the retail and hospitality sectors. AGENCIES

Austria will introduce Europe’s first vaccination mandate in February

Brochure For NEET Must Carry A Segment On Candidates With Disabilities Enumerating The Benefits Available To Them: Supreme Court Tells NTA

Brochure For NEET Must Carry A Segment On Candidates With Disabilities Enumerating The Benefits Available To Them: Supreme Court Tells NTA

Mehal Jain18 Nov 2021 7:41 PM

"Brochure for NEET must have a segment on candidates with disabilities, enumerating the specific benefits available for visually-challenged, hearing-impaired candidates or candidates with dysgraphia. There should be disclosure in advance. Secondly, there should be proper training for invigilators. It is very crucial that they are aware".

The Supreme Court on Thursday orally told the NTA that its brochure for NEET must carry a segment on candidates with disabilities, enumerating the specific benefits available for them by way of an advance disclosure, and that there must be proper training to the invigilators to ensure these benefits are implemented on the ground.

The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was hearing the plea by a female NEET-2021 candidate suffering from dysgraphia whose grievance was that she was refused an additional one hour's time for attempting the paper by the examination centre. Her prayers were that either she may be allowed a re-examination, or be appropriately compensated by way of grace marks or no negative marking or otherwise.

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The advocate for the NTA told the bench, "The NTA has already declared the results. It is now difficult to conduct a re-test for 1 student...also, it was in the middle of the examination that she had said that she would need an additional one hour. At such time, it becomes difficult for the invigilator to cross-check such information."

"There are 16 lakh students who took this exam. It is difficult for us to correct one student's result subsequently now. At this stage, she may supersede some other students and it will be harsh on the others",he submitted.

The bench also agreed that re-conducting the exam for one student may not be a viable option. At this, the advocate for the petitioner abandoned his prayer for re-examination and instead urged for compensation by way of marks- "I have secured more than 90 percent in 10th and 12th despite my disability...Your Lordships have been bestowed with such power by the Providence that with one stroke of your pen, my entire future may change."

"No, no, that is your right. But these powers also come with such great responsibilities...even when we rise for lunch, the matters don't leave us and we were discussing this all the way on the staircase...we were wondering that if we ask them to give you some benefit, it may immediately affect some unseen student who is not before us", observed Justice Chandrachud.

The advocate for the NTA told the bench,

"My instructions are that the cut-off this year also is 137-142 and the petitioner has secured 166. So she will definitely get admission and she will not be losing this year."

The petitioner's advocate expressed doubt about the cut-off for this year having been set, stating that the aforesaid is the cut-off for the last year. "If the NTA could give me a guarantee that I will definitely be admitted to a college this year...there are 4000-5000 seats which are reserved for PWD, a lot of which remain vacant as is evident from the trend of the previous years...", he prayed.

"If she is not placed in any college and there are seats reserved for PWD left vacant, could you consider accommodating her? You could discuss with your Director-General", Justice Chandrachud put to the advocate for the NTA.

The bench granted time until 5 PM on Friday to both the advocates to submit written submissions, after which the bench would pass its order.

Justice Chandrachud also observed that the NTA must come up with clear-cut guidelines so that this situation is never repeated in the future-"This child may now lose a year. She could have made it otherwise. It is very heart-breaking. I myself had written the Vikash Kumar judgment (the Supreme Court held that facility of scribe can be provided for persons with disabilities other than those having benchmark disabilities)...the brochure for NEET must have a segment on candidates with disabilities, enumerating the specific benefits available for visually-challenged, hearing-impaired candidates or candidates with dysgraphia. There should be disclosure in advance. Secondly, there should be proper training for invigilators. It is very crucial that they are aware. You as the NTA have bona-fides, but very often, the invigilators on the ground are not aware. Like in this case, her paper was snatched. It is heart-rending...instructions must be given down the line so that these benefits are implemented."

"We had held 5-6 webinars and there was counseling for the invigilators. But we will ensure that this never happens in the future", replied the advocate for the NTA.

Continuing, Justice Chandrachud noted, "Also, there has to be a policy for where the candidate is not at fault. How do you set it right where a candidate is losing out at the last minute when they did not even do anything? Medical education today is so competitive..."

Case Title: AVNI PRAKASH v. NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY (NTA) AND ORS

Dead woman and daughter were in city for yoga course

KIA ACCIDENT

Dead woman and daughter were in city for yoga course

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:20.11.2021

A 57-year-old woman from Kolkata and her London-based daughter, 38, were among three persons killed on Thursday night when an SUV jumped the median on KIA expressway and crashed into their cab.

Poornima Ravindra, a school teacher, and her daughter Lakshmi Ravindra, an advocate, were on their way to Kempegowda International Airport in the cab. The two women and the driver, Raghavendra Ural, 45, of Bannerghatta, died on the spot.

Police said Poornima and Lakshmi were from Kerala and their family had settled down in Kolkata. Lakshmi went to Kolkata on a holiday and the motherdaughter duo left for Bengaluru to attend a week-long yoga course. The course was supposed to end on Saturday, but the women decided to leave two days earlier and took Ural’s cab to the airport to return to Kolkata.

Around 9pm, an SUV driven by MBA student Bharath BR, 22, jumped the median near Chikkajala, flipped in the air, and landed on Ural’s cab that was coming from the opposite direction. Police had to cut open the vehicles to remove the bodies.

Bharath and his friend Vikas, 25, who was also in the SUV, sustained severe injuries.

According to police, there was heavy rain at the time of the accident.

TRAGIC JOURNEY: The mangled remains of the vehicle in which the mother and daughter were travelling to KIA on Thursday

In a first, IITs to hire quota-based faculty

In a first, IITs to hire quota-based faculty

Hemali.Chhapia@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:20.11.2021

For the first time since they were set up, IITs have placed advertisements for quota-based hiring of faculty members. The recruitment process, for which IITs had autonomy, has been changed at the behest of the Centre and new deadlines set.

Since 2019, the education ministry (then called HRD ministry) has been pushing centrally funded higher education institutions to apply the reservation policy in hiring. This time around, the IITs have deferred to the ministry. Advertisements are out for hiring SC/ST/OBC/ EWS faculty members at all institutes, including the IITs.

A letter issued by the education ministry in Augustend insists that reservation rules be adhered to and vacancies “especially in the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and other backward classes” be filled by September 4, 2022.

Deadline being sent to IITs for first time

I ITs follow a year-long rolling recruitment process and never before has a deadline been sent by the ministry. The time limit poses difficulties due to the paucity of engineering doctoral candidates, more so from the SC/ST/OBC categories—a PhD is the minimum eligibility criterion. Usually in a year, the IITs in the metros manage to hire about 35 faculty members, 40 in a good year. “Filling up hundreds of vacancies will be impossible,” said a director.

While some institutes have advertised vacancies for a number of specific positions, others have enlisted all the departments where there is at least one unfilled post.

“Each IIT has followed its own process. We are all recruiting under the mission mode. But while IIT Bombay has advertised for 50 positions, IIT Madras has for 49. Others like IIT Delhi, Roorkee, Hyderabad, Kharagpur have enlisted departments where there are vacancies,” said a dean (faculty). All the advertisements encourage women from the disadvantaged background to also apply.

In June 2020, a committee set up to suggest implementation of reservation in central education institutes had said that the IITs are institutes of national importance and ought to be exempted from reservation. It said the matter of reservation be left to each IIT’s board and if quota in hiring was to be implemented, the posts of professor and assistant professor be exempted. The committee also suggested a programme at all IITs to attract quality candidates from the disadvantaged sections to boost PhD numbers.

Usually in a year, the IITs in the metros manage to hire about 35 faculty members

IndiGo largest airline in APAC by capacity: Report

IndiGo largest airline in APAC by capacity: Report

New Delhi:20.11.2021

IndiGo has emerged as the tenth largest airline globally and the largest in the Asia-Pacific region by seat volume, according to UKbased air consultancy firm OAG. The low-cost carrier has 280 aircraft currently in its fleet and operates over 1,400 daily flights. TNN

For a bride, man loses ₹1 lakh to blackmailers

For a bride, man loses ₹1 lakh to blackmailers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Rajkot:20.11.2021

The desperation to get a match for his marriage resulted in a 34-year-old man from Jamnagar falling into a trap of blackmailers who extorted Rs 1.5 lakh from him.

The victim Harshad Aghara, who lives in Jodiya taluka, was lured with the promise of finding him a bride by three persons who later clicked his nude photos and threatened to lodge a rape complaint against him.

According to a complaint lodged with Kuvadva Road police station, Aghara said he had received a video call from a woman who identified herself as Zeenat alias Bebi Makwana. She, however, told Aghara that she had dialled his number inadvertently and apologized too. However, she continued to lure him and Aghara told her that he was searching for a woman to get married. Zeenat promised to find a match for him.

On November 15, she called him to meet a prospective bride at a flat in Rangila Society in Navagam Anandpar outside Rajkot city. Zeenat started talking with him and made him strip nude.

As Aghara got nude, two other accused, Viha Katariya and Hansa Aghola, suddenly came there and identified themselves as uncle and aunty of Zeenat. They accused of Aghara of trying to seduce and rape Zeenat and threatened to lodge a complaint. He was also beaten up and the trio demanded Rs four lakh. They finally settled in Rs 1.5 lakh and made Aghara to arrange money through a courier. Aghara was released after he paid them Rs 1.5 lakh.

Man gets teacher’s job, ₹80 lakh 30 years after topping merit list

Man gets teacher’s job, ₹80 lakh 30 years after topping merit list

Mohammad.Anab@timesgroup.com

Dehradun: 20.11.2021

In 1989, following an advertisement in a newspaper, then 24-year-old Gerald John applied for the post of commerce teacher at CNI Boys’ Inter College, a government-aided minority educational institute in Dehradun. However, despite clearing the interview and topping the merit list, he didn’t get the job.

In 1990, the Farrukhabad resident moved the Allahabad HC. After Uttarakhand was carved out of UP in 2000, the case was transferred to the HC in Nainital. When he turned 55, theUttarakhand HC ruled in his favour in December 2020 — ordering him to be appointed in the school as well as a release of Rs 80 lakh as compensation. Of this, John was paid Rs 73 lakh by the Uttarakhand government a few months back but the remaining Rs 7 lakh, which is to be paid by the UP government, is still due. Being the senior-most teacher, John is also the acting principal of the school now.

Reminiscing about his long fight, he told TOI that he was quite taken aback when despite clearing the interview and topping the merit list, he didn’t get the job. “When I asked authorities why I was rejected, I was told the candidate needed to have stenography skills to be selected. Stenography was not mentioned as one of the required criteria in the job listing. I suspected that the candidate who got the job had connived with authorities. That’s when I took the matter to court.” In 2007, a single bench of the Uttarakhand HC ruled against John. He challenged the verdict in Supreme Court. Ex-Union minister and lawyer Salman Khurshid took up his case and fought it for free. “He saw it as a genuine case and since both of us are from Farrukhabad, he didn’t take any fee. The case stayed in SC from 2007 to 2010. The court said the case had merit and asked us to appeal for it in front of a double bench of the HC instead of a single bench.

Ten years after the case moved back to Uttarakhand HC, a double bench ruled in John’s favour in December 2020. In January this year, John was appointed the Commerce teacher for classes 11 and 12 at the CNI Boys’ Inter College. In April, after the principal retired, he was also made the acting principal.

AFTER A LONG WAIT: In January this year, Gerald John was appointed as the Commerce teacher for classes 11 and 12 at the CNI Boys’ Inter College in Dehradun. After the principal retired in April, he was made acting principal