Friday, October 30, 2020

Repeat students, an easy question paper up top scorers in NEET 2020

Repeat students, an easy question paper up top scorers in NEET 2020

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.10.2020

Several repeat students, an easy question paper and more time due to the lockdown have all resulted in a huge surge in top scorers in NEET-2020 from Tamil Nadu this year, with the number of students with above 400 marks rising by 100% over 2019.

A total of 11,978 scored above 400 marks against 5,634 students last year. This year, for the first time, seven students scored above 700 of 720 marks. About 205 students scored above 650 marks and 1,029 students above 600 marks; last year, 135 students got above 600 marks. This year, 4,211 got between 500 and 599 against 1,194 in 2019.

“The lockdown gave more time for students to prepare and the question paper was also simple,” said Chandan Chand, regional director of Aakash Institute. In the past few years, coaching centres have come up even in tier-2, tier-3 cities like Salem and Namakkal.

B Pavan Kumar, deputy director, FIITJEE, Chennai, said earlier, only students in northern states used to drop one year and prepare for entrance tests. “In Tamil Nadu, the number of students dropping one year and trying for NEET again has increased in the last 2-3 years.”

Of 4,202 students who joined MBBS last year, 2,916 were old students — two from the 2010 batch and 2,371 from the 2018 batch. “The old students were able to prepare better. By the time the lockdown was announced, they had already moved to mock tests,” said career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi.

The revised textbooks for Classes XI and XII covered 97% of the questions. However, even after syllabus revision, TN state board students still need quality coaching to score high marks, say experts. “Our staff are not able to train students for NEET. We hired faculty members from Andhra Pradesh and this year more than 100 students from our school scored above 500 marks,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV Schools in Trichy and Namakkal.

Some schools were also hiring faculty members from Kerala and those who worked in coaching institutes in Kota, Rajasthan, Chaitanya and Allen coaching institutes, he said.

UGC, TN spar over axing arrear exams

UGC, TN spar over axing arrear exams

Commission Opposes Blanket Pass For Students With Arrears

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.10.2020

The Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to grant blanket pass in all arrear papers of college students citing the pandemic has run into rough weather with University Grants Commission (UGC) opposing the decision.

The UGC told the Madras high court on Thursday that it is not in tune with the decision of the Tamil Nadu government in cancelling arrear exams for college students.

The submission was made amidst chaos and confusion caused by students who thronged the virtual court of a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice R Hemalatha. The bench had to warn students, who kept disrupting the proceedings, of dire consequences. Some, who logged into the virtual court through random IDs, repeatedly asked the court to cancel the exams.

On its part, the UGC initially desisted from expressing its stand clearly, but chose to go on record against the state government’s order after the court upong the central agency.

The issue pertains to a batch of pleas, including one moved by former vice-chancellor of Anna University E Balagurusamy, challenging the GO cancelling arrear exams. When the plea came up for hearing, the judges pulled up the UGC for filing a counter-affidavit and explaining its stand on final semester examinations, while the issue before the court was about cancelling arrear exams and not about final semester examinations.

At one point during the hearing, the bench wondered as to whether the UGC really went through the GO passed by the state government before finalising the counter.

As counsel for UGC V Sudha sought time to clarify its stand, the court asked, “Why cost should not be imposed on the Commission for failing to appropriately assist the court?”

This apart, pointing out the stand of the state government that the GO has been passed considering the welfare of the students, the bench asked special government pleader E Manoharan as to why the state has not considered the welfare of others.

“Is it not the state duty bound to consider everyone’s welfare? If you were able to conduct final exams to college students through online mode, why not for arrear exams too,” the judges wondered.

In its counter-affidavit, the UGC submitted that it has insisted upon all the Universities to complete final year examinations alone before September 30 and that the Supreme Court too had ruled in favour of its decision.

“Our guideline dated June 7 issued to the universities was challenged before the Supreme Court on the ground that it discriminates against final year students and others. However, the apex court rejected the contention,” the UGC said.

The submissions were made amid chaos as students thronged the virtual court, leading the bench to warn those who kept disrupting the proceedings of dire consequences

More rain likely after November 3

More rain likely after November 3

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

30.10.2020

After the record breaking downpour early on Thursday, IMD has forecast more intermittent thunderstorms with heavy rainfall over some areas in the city on Friday. But weather enthusiasts said Chennai is likely to see a brief neardry spell, with a few isolated showers, till November 3 after which the monsoon would pick up pace and bring widespread rainfall to the city, coastal belt and interior districts without long breaks.

On Thursday morning, Nungambakkam received 13.34cm of rain, the highest 24-hour rainfall in October since the 16.19cm recorded on October 18, 2014.

For the next 24 hours, IMD has forecast intermittent thunderstorms, with moderate rain and heavy rainfall in some areas.

The cyclonic circulation over southwest the Bay of Bengal off the north Tamil Nadu coast, which brought the intense spells of rain on Thursday, lies over north Tamil Nadu¬ and south Andhra Pradesh coast and neighbourhood.

After Thursday’s downpour, the Nungambakkam station has recorded 6.5cm excess rain in October. It has registered 31.1cm of rain since October 1 while Meenambakkam has a 96.2% deficit with only 15.5cm rainfall recorded this month.

Weather enthusiasts said November could bring more rain records. Weather blogger Pradeep John said an easterly wave or an elongated area of low air pressure moving from east to west could bring regular early morning rain to the city. “The present cyclonic circulation could fizzle out. Around November 3 or 4, we could expect easterly waves or a circulation bringing us rain almost daily,” he said.

Weather watchers said MJO or Madden Julian Oscillation, a climate phenomenon, likely entering phase 2-3 could act in favour of the monsoon and help bring stronger weather systems possibly in the second half of November. MJO is an eastward moving disturbance of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure that travels across the tropics and returns to its starting point in 30 to 60 days. “For the next four or five days, the intensity of rainfall is going to become light,” said Skymet Weather in its online post.

CHENNAI IS LIKELY TO SEE A BRIEF DRY SPELL BEFORE RESUMPTION OF RAINFALL

Chennai goes under water, again


Chennai goes under water, again

Inlets Of Stormwater Drains Clogged; High Tide Results In Blocked Waterways; Several Roads Inundated

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

30.10.2020

This is one prediction that can seldom go wrong -- heavy rain inundating Chennai.

Till about noon on Thursday, motorists on major bus route roads and arterial roads had to wade through up to two feet of water. However, by 4pm, Greater Chennai Corporation’s command and control centre recorded water stagnation of two feet or more at only nine spots, an official said Residents complained that even stretches of Anna Salai and Poonamallee High Road were left flooded, while places like Wall Tax Road near Chennai Central, Cenotaph Road, Gemini flyover, Conron Smith Road in Gopalapuram had water logging.

According to a corporation analysis, there was 150mm-200mm of rain in four hours in a city’s whose storm water drain network can drain a maximum of 32mm per hour. “If we have to build for higher capacity, it would take up the road space,” said an official.

Since the rain came during the high tide period, waterways like Buckingham Canal and Otteri Nullah — final exit points for these drains — were running full and in areas like GP Road and PS Sivaswamy Salai in Mylapore, there were waves of water when a bus passed. After noon, when the high tide receded, water drained off in many places.

In some locations, chute pipes of drains were choked and officials were seen unclogging them. Many corporation playgrounds were under water.

GP Road, off Anna Salai, had three feet of water as drain work is in progress on the arterial stretch, officials said. In areas like Manali, Perungudi and Ram Nagar in Velachery, drain work has just begun.

Many residents found their electrical appliances damaged, while some said adaptors of internet modem and cordless phones stopped working. Experts suggested installing mini-circuit breakers, which automatically trip power, and lightning arresters.

Rakesh Ohri, president of The Central Park South Owners Association at Sholinganallur, a complex of 172 apartments said every (apartment) unit in their complex is equipped with mini-circuit breaker. “But, many small apartments and individual houses do not understand the importance of the device that prevents damage to electrical and electronic equipment as it trips power immediately after voltage fluctuates. But, several prefer sub-standard devices and regret when expensive electrical devices gets damaged later,” he said.

Installing lightning arresters is the need of the hour to prevent any damage to buildings, said experts. K V Pari, president of Sivagami Nagar Public Welfare Association at Medavakkam said that high rises have lightning arresters, but not all individual homes installed them. Pari, a civil engineer, said one could install the equipment that comes for ₹1 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh including installation charges.



USUAL SIGHT: Arterial roads and streets were submerged as the monsoon’s first heavy rainfall tested the city’s drainage infrastructure



PERIAMET


ROYAPETTAH


NANDANAM

MBBS cut-off may go up by 70-100 marks

MBBS cut-off may go up by 70-100 marks

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.10.2020

The cut-off marks for MBBS admission in TN may go up by 70 to 100 for most categories due to a surge in top scorers in National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test 2020. The number of students with 500 and above NEET score is up almost four-fold compared to last year. While 5,240 students have scored more than 500 marks this year, 1,329 students had scored above 500 marks in 2019. The number of students who had scored 600 marks and above, too, has increased 10 times — from 135 last year to 1,029 this year. Students who have scored above 400 to 499 marks increased by more than 50% as 6,738 students had scored in this range, compared to 4,305 students last year.

Poor kids can switch to govt schools, avail benefit

The GO issued by health secretary J Radhakrishnan read, “Since the NEET-UG results have now been declared and the admission process has started, there is an urgency to decide on this issue and since the power to issue executive directions under Article 162 of the Constitution is coextensive with legislative powers, pending decision of the governor, the government has taken the decision.” The horizontal reservation of 7.5% shall be provided in each category of vertical reservation followed in Tamil Nadu within 69% reservation from 2020, the order said.

Students from government schools, including schools run by panchayats, municipalities and corporations, welfare schools for adi dravidar, tribals, kallar reclamation, BC/MBC/ differently-abled welfare, forest, social defence (borstal) and residential, will be eligible for the quota.

The GO said children belonging to weaker sections who have studied in private schools up to Class VIII under Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2008 too will benefit, if they study in government schools from Class IX.

Students in government schools would also be entitled to compete for seats, other than those set apart on a preferential basis, along with students of private schools, the order said. It directed the director of medical education, additional director of medical education and the directorate of Indian medicine and homeopathy to take action.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Riding at night, engineer clocks 10k km to deliver food on time

Riding at night, engineer clocks 10k km to deliver food on time

Charan.Sadu@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:29.10.2020 

How can a hardcore cyclist strike the perfect balance between his profession and passion? By mixing them! That’s what engineer Rajesh Nayak did when he was feeling low about not being able to cycle as much as he wanted during his stint at a consultancy company.

After working for over three years, Nayak’s 10am-5pm “sedentary work” made him think of a part-time job that would allow him to pedal to the maximum. So he joined Zomato in May last year to deliver food after his office hours. He cycled till midnight daily -- and till early hours on weekends --satiating his hunger for cycling, and that of customers by delivering them food.

Rajesh has been a cyclist for a decade. “I got to taste long-distance cycling when I was studying engineering in Mysuru during 2012-16. I enjoyed taking part in Dasara races too,” he said. But it’s the Hollywood flick ‘Premium Rush’, which he’d watched three years ago, made him to shift gears. “The bike-messenger theme (where the protagonist cycles in New York to deliver parcels) had always been on my mind. So I thought of living the character in Bengaluru by working for Zomato in night hours,” he said, adding he took the part-time work seriously after the pandemic ate up his job at the consultancy firm.

As the cycle ID restricts the boundary of food delivery partners to 5km, he chose the two-wheeler ID as it permitted him to go longer distances. “ I cycled thousands of kilometres which not only made me earn, but also helped me prepare for high-endurance rides,” he said.

Till his birthday on October 12, the 26-year-old clocked 10,000 km by criss-crossing JP Nagar, Jayanagar and BTM Layout which together marked his boundary. The distance, recorded on an activity app, includes 25 century rides (each of more than 100km) and 68 half-century rides. In 155 days that he worked for Zomato (he didn’t work during lockdown and when it rained), he made over 1,500 deliveries.

On one particular day, he rode 183km in 20 hours, by which time he had made 29 deliveries. “I did this as part of preparations for tough rides,” he said, listing some of them: Goa-1,200 and Jog-1,000. Rajesh has not made any customers wait for their food. Revealing the secret of delivering in under 30 minutes, he said: “It’s easy for a cyclist to manoeuvre traffic. I walk the cycle to avoid being stuck in red signals.”

Summing up his 10,000km food-delivery journey, the native of Chikkamagaluru said he feels gratified over not leaving a carbon footprint. “I’m also trying to drive home the anti-pollution message,” he said.

“We’ve been working towards bringing more cyclists in our delivery fleet and Rajesh is an inspiration for all. He strengthens our objective of a sustainable future and he is great with customers also,” a Zomato spokesperson said.



Rajesh Nayak (in pic), who is working as a food delivery executive to keep his passion for cycling alive, made over 1,500 deliveries in 155 days. By riding a cycle, he is trying to drive home the anti-pollution message as well
TOI IMPACT

Nursing student gets offer of help from RGUHS registrar

Mangaluru: 29.10.2020 

Help came pouring in for 21-year-old Buddana Gowda, a nursing student from Badami taluk in Bagalkot, within hours of a report being published in The Times of India under the headline ‘Nursing student tuns mason to save for fees’ on Wednesday. Many readers have volunteered to lend financial assistance to the young man to help realise his dream.

To fulfil his dream of practising medicine, Gowda is working as a mason in Udupi to save money to pay the fees for his course. Shivanand Kapashi, registrar of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) said: “RGUHS is offering a scholarship for students from this academic year. Though the last date is past, the varsity will consider Gowda’s case as a special one.”

Many TOI readers have reached out to Gowda via email, expressing their wish to help him. TNN

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