NAAC accreditation helps streamline higher education

 NAAC accreditation helps streamline higher education

Several colleges and universities throughout the country have recently received accreditation from NAAC

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c-Aditya.Wadhawan@timesgroup.com

03.01.2022

National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) approved 21 institutions as a recommendation for accreditation this month. Since NAAC accreditation ensures the qualitative analysis of teachinglearning outcomes at the higher educational institutions (HEIs) and helps them evolve systematically, academics foresee a brighter growth.

Speaking to Education Times, Debabrata Das, director, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore that received NAAC A+ accreditation in the second cycle, says, “For achieving A+ accreditation, we focussed on upgrading the teaching-learning processes. Accreditation validates an institution’s programmes and courses of study. In the absence of accreditation, there would be no way to determine if the institution meets or exceeds minimum quality standards and also no means would be available to help students determine as to which institution to choose for enrolment. ”

The accreditations are also useful for employers to gauge the talent of the students. “The potential employers in the industry will have evidence regarding the quality of education received by their applicants,” says Das, underlining A+ Accreditation has compelled them to maintain a high-quality of teaching, research, industry and government partnership. “With an A+ grading, opportunities for research funding increase and that helps in building and facilitating better international partnerships in research and student exchange programmes. It increases enrolment, faculty recruitment and better placement opportunity. ”

Payal Mago, principal, Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences, DU, which received A+ grade from NAAC, says, “The quality of teaching-learning outcomes in the college becomes systematic. To opt for NAAC, one needs to statistically evaluate the education under well-defined seven criteria of NAAC.

 These seven criteria are the moot points upon which the academic excellence of our colleges hinges. We also do our academic audit during NAAC accreditation, which is globally valid. ” “Educational institutions have to improve in the areas where they lag behind because NAAC accreditation cycle takes place every five years. For instance, in the first cycle of accreditation five years back, NAAC told us that our institution lagged behind in sports and the infrastructure was under-utilised on which we worked to improve,” she adds.

Najma Akhtar, vice-chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), that got A++ grade from NAAC, says, “We have improved our NAAC accreditation from A in the first cycle to A++ in the second cycle recently. NAAC accreditation streamlines the education system. ”

India’s Omicron count crosses 1,700-mark after 123 fresh cases

 India’s Omicron count crosses 1,700-mark after 123 fresh cases

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03.01.2022

India reported 123 Omicron cases on Sunday, the lowest in the last five days. India’s cumulative Omicron tally, after adding old unaccounted cases, stood at 1,711. Maharashtra recorded 50 fresh cases, taking the state’s total past the 500-mark to 510. Of the total cases in Maharashtra, 328 are from Mumbai alone, followed by Pune that has seen nearly 110 cases.

Kerala recorded the highest number of cases after Maharashtra on Sunday with 45 patients testing positive for the coronavirus variant, taking the southern state’s tally to152. State health minister Veena George said nine of the 45 patients came from high-risk countries while 32 came from low-risk countrie. Four persons contracted the new variant through their contacts.

Odisha recorded 23 new infections, its biggest singleday jump so far, taking the total tally to 37. Of the 23 fresh cases,10 have no recent history of foreign travel while 11 have returned from countries like Finland, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Syria and UK. Two are contacts of the person who has returned from Finland.

Telangana recorded five cases, taking the state tally to 84. Significantly, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, which had added big numbers to their Omicron tally in the last few days, did not report any case on Sunday.

TNN

School turns radio station to rid children of stage fright

 School turns radio station to rid children of stage fright

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Kevin.Mendonsa@timesgroup.com

Mangaluru:

03.01.2022

At lunchtime, a rural school in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district becomes a radio station so that students can overcome stage fright while singing, reciting, mimicking or cracking jokes.

At Mariambika EnglishMedium School at Bebdrabettu, 16km from Belthangady town, Radio Station, as it is called, started four years ago. The microphone went silent because of the pandemic when schools were shut, but when classes resumed on the campus, the students returned to sing and recite with more confidence.

Sister Leena, who heads the institution, said the brief was simple when they launched the station.

Every child would get an opportunity to perform and no one would be judged. “It started four years ago with an intention to help students from rural areas. The children had stage fear and we decided to dedicate 15 minutes every day so that they would come out of it. It is going good since then and the students have seen positive changes in them,” she said. The school has about 500 children from classes1to10.

She said the children are free to do anything they are good at. “Some sing, others crack jokes, do mimicry, talk on current affairs, conduct quiz, recite poems or enact skits. The teachers assign slots to the children according to class. On that day, those kids finish their lunch early and run to grab the microphone set up in the school corridor. Other children listen to them with speakers connected to each classroom.

Sister Leena said there was a change when the students returned to school after the lockdown. “We noticed they were bolder and more forthright after the pandemic. The participation is more active compared to pre-Covid days,” she said.

The initiative has grabbed the attention of the department of public instruction.

Shambhu Shankar, coordinator of the block resource centre in Belthangady taluk, visited the school.

“This activity improves the listening and speaking skills of students in their free time,” Shankar said, adding: “It helps to overcome stage fear too and it is 100% usage of their free time. I was overwhelmed while listening to a student talking about environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka in English. ”

 

Schools to observe situation, take a call

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Bangalore 

03.01.2022

GEAR Innovative International that had planned to restart offline classes by January 19 said it “will calibrate their action by January10”. “We believe attendance for offline classes will be affected because of the rising cases. Some trend might emerge by January 10,” said M Srinivasan, founder.

“We had plans of reopening after January 9. We will now watch the situation and make a decision next week,” said Shanthi Menon, principal, Deens Academy.

Some schools that were expected to reopen on Monday have deferred starting offline classes. A school in east Bengaluru informed parents that students will continue online class till January 7 and a decision on offline classes will be taken based on the situation.

A school in north Bengaluru postponed the physical reopening of campuses citing vaccination drive on campus for children of 15to 18year-olds by BBMP.

It plans to resume offline school- ing by January 10. Many campuses have tied up with private hospitals and BBMP for vaccination on the premises.

Several schools in the city have sought RT-PCR test reports of students returning from other states for physical classes. They said teachers will also be tested before they resume classes.

“We are unsure how the increase in cases will affect attend- ance. While we hope our section of parents will continue to send their children for offline classes, we request the government that schools should be the last to close if any situation arose. There has been no significant increase in cases from campuses. Schools cannot take the brunt for others’ fault,” said D Shashi Kumar, secretary, Association of Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka.

Educationists are worried that another round of closure would turn disastrous for kids, who have already lost one and a half years of offline classes.

Some schools postpone reopening, stick to e-class

Bengaluru:With Covid cases in Bengaluru on the rise, many private schools are worried that the attendance for in-person lear ning will again be af fected. Some of them have deferred reopening of physical classes after Christmas vacation.

Many schools said parents have started raising concerns over sending their children to campuses when classes resume after Christmas vacation. “We will continue both online and offline classes so as to not force parents to send children to campuses. We’ve received letters from many parents expressing their concerns as cases have started rising again,” said Mansoor Ali Khan, member, board of management, Delhi Public Schools.

Address update scam: Denim trousers cost ₹94k

 Address update scam: Denim trousers cost ₹94k

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:

03.01.2022

A pair of branded denim trousers cost a Vastrapur interior designer Rs 94,000, with cybercrooks siphoning off her money with a malicious link. She had clicked the link to get delivery updates, mentioned an FIR filed with the Vastrapur police station on Saturday.

The victim is Apurva Munet, 25, a resident of Samruddhi Apartments, who hails from Madhya Pradesh. She has been working as a senior interior designer with a private firm in Thaltej for the past two years.

She stated in her FIR that she had ordered one pair of denim trousers on November 28 and another on November 29 from a shopping portal of a leading denim company.

Munet said in her FIR that the pair she had ordered on November 28 was delivered on December 3. But there was no sign of the November 29 order. On December14, she searched for the customer care number of the delivery firm concerned. She called the number and a person asked her for the tracking ID and confirmed that her package was with the delivery firm.

She asked him if she could collect her package personally. But the man insisted that their courier would make the delivery.

The man told her to update her address by paying Rs 3 using a link sent to her. Following his instruction, she paid the money after which she received a confirmation message. Later, the man called and asked  for her preferred delivery time.

On December 14, at around 8. 30pm, she began receiving messages about money being deducted from her two bank accounts linked to a UPI payment app. In all, she ended up losing Rs 94,000. Having realized that she had been cheated, she approached Vastrapur police and filed a complaint. The Information Technology Act has been invoked as well.

Omicron test lure: Bank accounts emptied Cybercrooks Use Isolation Threat

 

Omicron test lure: Bank accounts emptied

Cybercrooks Use Isolation Threat

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:

03.01.2022

If you respond to an email promising a free Omicron test, you may let cybercrooks infect your device and empty your bank

account.

A senior police officer said that cybercrooks send emails with attached malicious links and files. If people open such a link or a file, their system —cellphone or computer — is compromised and criminals gain access tovital information.

Recently, the cyber cellof the state police issued an advisory on cybercrooks using the Omicron test lure.

In some instances, when someone hoping to get a free test clicks a link, bank account information is sought innocuously. Those gullible enough to divulge private information find their accounts emptied, according to the advisory issued by the cyber cell on December 30.

In many cases, people ended up sharing their details with fraudsters and lost their money in this time of crisis, said a poli- ce officer. The officer said that a formal complaint is yet to be filed in relation to such cheating cases.

“In most cases, people receive an email which is ostensibly from the National Health Service (NHS) of the UK,” the officer said. “The message offers the Omicron test. ”

The email senders also instill fear by saying that if the test is not taken, the recipient will be placedin isolationto prevent the spread of the infection, said the officer. “So people are lured with a free test and threatened by the prospect of isolation,” said another senior police officer. “Some people fall into the trap and are cheated. ” Sources in the state police said that cybercrooks also trawl the browsing history of a target and reach out if information on the Omicron test has been looked up.

Moreover, cybercrooks use addresses that appearto be from private and government hospitals. Police advise people to scrutinize domain names to checkthe authenticity of websites and report any suspicious activity on the cybercrime portal.

Officials use corona to mask RTI queries

 Officials use corona to mask RTI queries

Govt Bodies Cite Sec 4 of Epidemic Diseases Act To Decline Information

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Meghdoot.Sharon@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:

03.01.2022

What is cost incurred on treating patients at designated private Covid-19 hospitals in Ahmedabad? What is sanctioned strength, and vacancies of doctors and nurses at the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad? What are the names of persons whom SVP hospital has administered Remdesivir injections? How many Covid-19 deaths have taken place at AMC-run hospitals?

In all the above instances, information was not provided to applicants who filed queries under Right to Information (RTI) Act citing confidentiality clause as the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 is in force. Ever since the outbreak of Covid-19 almost two years ago, public authorities, especially those in the health sector, have been denying information by citing section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, allege activists.

RTI activist Alpesh Bhavsar says earlier this year he sought information on patients treated by private designated Covid-19 hospitals and the expenses incurred. Six of the seven Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) zones said information was confidential under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, one zone provided it.

“The authorities cite section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, but all we are seeking is information. There is no intention of initiating legal proceedings. When we appeal, authorities are then forced to provide information,” he said.

Section 4 of the said act has no mention of not providing information. It in fact grants protection to persons against legal proceedings for anything done in good faith, say activists. Section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 reads – “Protection to persons acting under Act. No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything done or in good faith intended to be done under this Act. ”

In almost all such cases, RTI activists have had to go for appeals, with the respective public authority or the commission when a majority of the information should ideally be part of voluntary disclosure.

RTI activist Pankaj Bhatt sought information on th number of Covid-19 deaths in AMCrun hospitals since the outbreak. “The AMC cities confidentiality clauses, but the law regarding birth and deaths says these figures should be updated on the government website periodically,” Bhatt said.

‘Covid’ most searched on Google by Gujaratis

The ‘Year in Searches,’ annual analysis of the searches by Google for Gujarat region revealed that Covid-19 remained on top of the overall searches in 2021. The Gujaratis searched for symptoms of Covid-19, hospital bed availability near them, what is black fungus and optimum oxygen levels among others.