Clarification sought on validity of distance education degrees 

DH News Service, New Delhi, Dec 29 2017, 23:00 IST



Several employers and students have sought clarification from the HRD Ministry on the validity of the degrees in technical education granted by Indira Gandhi National Open University and others in distance education mode since 2001. File photo for representation

Several employers and students have sought clarification from the HRD Ministry on the validity of the degrees in technical education granted by Indira Gandhi National Open University and others in distance education mode since 2001.

The requests for clarification comes in wake of a recent Supreme Court verdict which suspended B tech degrees obtained by students from four deemed-to-be universities through various distance education programmes between 2001-2005.

In its verdict on a bunch of petitions, the apex court noted that the JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur, Rajasthan; Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan; Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation and Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Uttar Pradesh had not taken prior approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to offer technical courses.

The court had held that the ex post facto approval granted to these four deemed-to-be-universities for their correspondence courses in engineering by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the recommendation of the erstwhile Distance Education Council was "incorrect and illegal".

It cancelled all engineering degrees granted by the four deemed-to-be-universities beyond 2005, directing the AICTE to conduct a test for students who obtained their degrees from the four universities between 2001-2005.

"The HRD ministry has received request from several employers and the students groups for clarification on the apex court's verdict," official sources said.

While the employers have requested for a clarification on the validity of the engineering degrees obtained by their employees through distance education programmes of Ingnou and other institutions, students have sought clarification on the impact of the Supreme Court verdict on their engineering degrees that they obtained through open and distance education.

"The employers who have sought clarification includes some government organisations from various states," sources said.

A top HRD ministry official said the department concerned was going through the apex court's judgement to understand its larger implication.

"There are suggestions to seek the opinion of the Attorney General on the issue, besides seeking details from the UGC and other regulatory bodies. A final decision, however, is yet to be taken by the ministry in this regard," another official said.

சாங்கி விமான நிலையத்தில் புதிய துணைப் பேருந்துச் சேவை

28/12/2017 14:43

 

சிங்கப்பூர்: கிழக்கு மேற்கு ரயில் பாதையின் கிழக்குப் பகுதியில் அடுத்த மாதம் ரயில் சேவைகளின் குறைவான செயல்பாட்டு நேரம் காரணமாக சாங்கி விமான நிலையப் பயணிகளுக்குப் புதிய துணைப் பேருந்துச் சேவை அறிமுகம் காணும்.

மூன்றாவது முனையத்தின் நுழைவாயில் 8-இலிருந்து பேருந்துச் சேவை புறப்படும் என்று நிலப் போக்குவரத்து ஆணையத்தின் பேச்சாளர் சேனல் நியூஸ்ஏஷியாவிடம் தெரிவித்தார்.

வழக்கமான பொதுப் பேருந்துச் சேவைகளின் பேருந்துகள் பயன்படுத்தப்படுவதால், அவற்றில் பயணப்பெட்டிகளை வைப்பதற்குத் தனி இடங்கள் இல்லை. அதற்குப் பதிலாக, சக்கர நாற்காலி அல்லது குழந்தைகளுக்கான தள்ளுவண்டிகளுக்கு ஒதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ள இடத்தில் பயணப் பெட்டிகளை வைக்கலாம் என்று ஆணையத்தின் பேச்சாளர் கூறினார்.

இன்று தொடக்கம்: ரயில் பயணச் சலுகைக் கட்டணம்

29/12/2017 18:33

 

 SINGAPORE 

இன்று முதல் வார நாட்களில் காலை 7.45 மணிக்கு முன்னர் பயணம் செய்யத் தொடங்கும்போது கட்டணங்கள் 50 காசு வரை குறையும்.

காலை உச்ச நேரத்துக்கு முந்திய இலவசப் பயணத் திட்டத்திற்குப் பதிலாக இந்தப் புதிய திட்டம் நடப்புக்கு வந்துள்ளது.

முந்திய திட்டத்தில் காலை 7.45 மணிக்கு முன்னர், குறிப்பிட்ட 18 ரயில் நிலையங்களைச் சென்றடையும் பயணிகள் மட்டுமே இலவசப் பயணத்தை மேற்கொள்ள முடிந்தது.

புதிய திட்டம் எல்லா ரயில் நிலையங்களுக்கும் பொருந்துமென பொதுப் போக்குவரத்து மன்றம் தெரிவித்தது.

அதன்மூலம் சுமார் 300,000 பயணிகள் பயனடைவர். ஒப்புநோக்க, முந்திய திட்டத்தின்மூலம் சுமார் 65 ஆயிரம் பயணிகள் பயனடைந்தனர்.

Fall only at the feet of God and parents, not mine, Rajini says

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Actor Rajinikanth praisedthe peopleof Madurai on Thursday in his address to a large gathering of his fans from the politically crucial constituency.

It was the movie ‘Murattu Kaalai’ (1980), set in a village near Madurai, which catapultedthe actor tosuperstardom and paved the way for his political ambitions.

Rajinikanth said that the people of Madurai are known for their valour, in a possible referencetohisearlier speech asking fans to “be ready for war (election)”.

The ‘Kaala’ actor’s fans continued to fall at his feet on Thursday, the third day of the six-day photoshoot event. He pleaded with his fans to not do so, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Fall only at the feet of God, mother and father. Do not fall at the feet of someone just because he has got wealth, fame and power,” said Rajinikanth before the photoshoot started on Thursday morning.

During his five-minute address to fans, Rajinikanth said, “When I was about 16 years old, I went to the 100th day celebration event of a Rajkumar-starrer in Bangalore. When I saw Rajkumar for the first time, I was filled with awe and I could not even see him as he was. Only scenes from his films were playing in my mind. I went and touched him in admiration. So, I can understand your enthusiasm.”

Rajinikanth told the weary fans, who had spent the night travelling to the city, “I wish to treat you to a mutton feast, but here at Raghavendra marriage hall, weonly serve vegetarian food. We will have a feast somesday at some other place.”

The actor met close to a thousand fans from Madurai, Virudhunagar, Salem and Namakkal districts on Thursday. He is scheduled to meet fans from Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Vellore districts on Friday.


HERO WORSHIP? The ‘Kaala’ actor’s fans continue to fall at his feet, like this man on Thursday, despite him asking them not to do so

Bill tabled in LS to replace medical council of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Amid protests by opposition members, health minister J P Nadda on Friday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the apex medical education regulator-—Medical Council of India (MCI) — with a new body to bring in more transparency in its functioning.

Congress members protested the introduction of the National Medical Commission Bill, demanding that it be sent to the standing committee for a thorough scrutiny. However, Nadda clarified that the committee’s suggestions have already been incorporated.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told the opposition members that they should follow parliamentary procedures and give prior notice to air their disagreement with the bill’s introduction. The bill provides for constitution of four autonomous boards entrusted with conducting undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, assessment and accreditation of medical institutions and registration of practitioners under the national medical commission.

The bill states that the commission will have government-nominated chairman and members, and the board members will be selected by a search committee under the cabinet secretary.

There will be five elected and 12 ex-officio members in the panel. It also proposes a common entrance exam and licentiate exams which all medical graduates will have to clear to get practising licence. No permission would be needed to add new seats or start post-graduate courses, it says.

Sources said the bill is aimed at bringing reforms in medical education which has been under scrutiny for corruption and unethical practices.

The MCI has been in the news in the recent past for all the wrong reasons including allegations of corruption in allotment of medical seats in private colleges.

Former income tax DG gets clean chit in corruption case

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: A former director general of income tax has been acquitted in a corruption case registered 12 years ago. Charged with helping a company escape withtax evasion tothetune of several lakhs, a special court for CBI cases here gave him a clean chit as the investigating agency could not master enough evidence.

N P Tripathy, who faced the charges when he was the commissioner of I-T, Chennai, recently retired as the director general of the department.

In September 2002, after conducting raids in the office and official residence of Tripathy, the CBI registered a case against him and five others associated with a private hospitality company for offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption under IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The central agency alleged that when Tripathy was commissioner of I-T during 2000-01, he issued a certificate to the company enabling it tosellits properties attached by the department for pending tax dues to the tune of ₹73 lakh.

Originally, when the firm approached the department to provide a certificate to enable disposal of its properties, then joint commissioner concerned had recommended that such a certificate should not be granted as the company had to pay huge dues to the department.

Subsequently, the official concerned went on leave and Tripathy, given additional charge of theformer’s office, issued the certificate.

Special judge G Vijayalakshmi noted that the prosecution had failed to prove the guilt of the officer beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted him from all the charges.

After the state board, Anna univ sends out results through SMS es

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: In an attempt to make semester scores easily accessible to students, Anna University for the first time has sent exam results through text messages.

More than five lakh students from nearly 530 colleges affiliated to the university took their semester exams during November and December. Nearly 15,000 examiners were involved in evaluating 42 lakh answer scripts.

Besides uploading the results on the official website, the controller of examination GV Uma in an official release said that subject-wise results were sent to registered cellphone numbers of students on Friday evening.

A similar attempt was made by the state school education department while releasing Class X and XII board exam results this year and the procedure was extended to Anna University.

Also, more than 1,400 students were caught for resorting to malpractice during the semester exam, the release added.