Regional/District News
IMPHAL, SATURDAY 21 MARCH, 2015
Two more test positive in Mizoram
AIZAWL, Mar 20 : The number of swine flu-affected people in
Mizoram stands at four after two persons tested positive for the
disease on Thursday, a senior official of the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) said.
The official termed the situation in the state 'alarming' after
two patients from Kolasib district, along the Mizoram-Assam
border, tested positive for swine flu on Thursday. The two
claimed they have never gone outside the state.
The situation was discussed at an emergency meeting at the
office of health minister Lal Thanzara on Thursday. The principal director of the state health and family welfare department
said, of the 10 samples sent to the National Institute of Cholera
and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, four have tested positive.
A committee on hospital response to emerging and reemerging diseases and district-level rapid response teams have
been formed to prevent the spread of swine flu.
Mizoram's first swine flu patient, who reportedly got infected in Delhi, has been completely cured, Pachuau
Lalmalsawma, nodal officer of the IDSP, said.
TNN
16 infants dead in 6 days in
BC Roy Hospital
KOLKATA, Mar 20 : Sixteen infants have died over six days in
Kolkata's BC Roy Hospital, senior health officials in the city confirmed. The cause of the deaths is yet to be ascertained.
Last year, in June and July, as many as 33 infants died in
Malda Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal. Doctors
then said the deaths were due to low birth weight, malnutrition
and respiratory problems.
Pictures of cheating don't reflect reality, says Nitish, DISTRICT DIGEST
Patna HC criticises Shahi's comments
PATNA, Mar 20
Pictures carried by the media
showing mass copying and
cheating
in
school
examinations don't reflect the
reality in Bihar, Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar said on Friday.
The pictures "do not show
the entire story of the state”,
Nitish said in a Facebook
post.
“Students of Bihar are brilliant and have set an example
in the country. A student
progresses in life with his
capability, not because of certificates,” he said.
Nitish Kumar said the authorities had been told to be
responsible so that there was
no cheating in examinations.
He also urged parents to tell
their children not to cheat.
"I urge parents, relatives
and friends who help the stu-
Nun gang rape case
Women's right panel team to visit Bengal
KOLKATA, Mar 20
Taking cognizance of the gang
rape of a 71-year-old nun in
West Bengal's Nadia district,
the National Commission for
Women on Friday said it will
send a fact-finding team to the
place of the crime.
The sister superior of the
Convent of Jesus and Mary
in Ranaghat, some 80 km
from Kolkata, was brutalised by a gang of bandits
on March 14.
Admitted to Ranaghat
sub-divisional hospital on
the same day, she was
discharged earlier in the day
and has been taken to an
undisclosed location by
police.
"We have taken cognizance of the incident. A
commission team will visit
Ranaghat tomorrow
(Saturday)," NCW chairperson Lalitha
Kumaramangalam told
media.
Facing backlash over
police failure to arrest any
of the culprits, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
on March 18 announced
entrusting the probe to the
CBI. However, the central
agency is yet to formally
take over.
The Prime Minister's
Office as well as the
National Human Rights
Commission have already
taken cognizance of the
matter and sought a detailed
report from the Mamata
Banerjee-led TMC Government in the State.
dents in cheating that you are
ruining the future of the students as well as Bihar,"
Nitish Kumar said.
Taking a strong view on
Bihar HRD Minister PK
Shahi's statement that the government cannot stop cheating
in exams, the Patna High
Court on Friday criticised the
comments as "irresponsible".
Shahi had put the onus on
parents to stop cheating saying the administration alone
cannot ensure 100 per cent
cheating-free examinations of
this huge magnitude.
Shahi admitted that cheating in exams was prevalent,
particularly in the rural areas.
"It's not the only responsibility of the state to hold
cheating-free examination.
This cannot be achieved without help from society
particularly parents of the ex-
aminees," Shahi told reporters when asked about mass
cheating.
"Over 14 lakh examinees
are appearing in the examination and with each of them,
4-5 persons including parents
are going. Is it possible to
keep an eye on over 60 to 70
lakh people?" Shahi asked.
#bihar #patna #patna high
court #pk shahi
He also said that it is not
only happening in Bihar.
"Any examination of this
scale in any part of the country has similar complaints."
He appealed to parents to
ponder, asking, "Will scoring
marks by this way shape the
future of their wards?"
Shahi said the state government has asked Chief
Secretary Anjani Kumar
Singh and police chief PK
Thakur to further tighten ar-
rangements at examination
centres.
Bihar School Examination
Board Secretary Sriniwas
Tiwari said that a total of 515
students have been expelled
after being caught using unfair means in the matriculation
exams in the past two days.
While 272 students were
rusticated for cheating on the
opening day of the exams on
March 17 across the state,
another 243 met the same fate
on March 18, he added.
The Board's Special Examination Cell also said seven
parents have been arrested for
supplying chits to their wards
at Rohtas and Siwan in the
past two days.
A total of 14.26 lakh students were appearing for the
exams at 1,217 centres in the
state.
-IANS
8 Home Guards arrested for helping
PATNA, March 20
Eight Home Guard personnel
were arrested on Friday on
charges of helping students to
copy in the Class 10 board
examination in Bihar's
Saharsa district, officials
said.
It was the first such
action amid widespread
reports of mass copying
and cheating across the
state.
The Bihar School
Examination Board
(BSEB), which is conducting the exercise, has
cancelled examinations at
four centres where cases of
cheating were reported on
on large scale.
"The arrested Home
Guards were deployed at
different examination
centres to ensure free and
fair exam but they were
found helping the students
in copying and cheating,"
an official said in Saharsa,
210 km from here.
According to officials,
the arrested men allegedly
took money from students
to let them copy.
In the last three days,
TV news channels have
shown police officials
accepting money from
students to let them cheat
in examination centres.
Meanwhile, Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar said
on Friday that action would
be taken against all those
who allowed mass copying.
More than 1.4 million
students are appearing in
the Class 10 board
examination. Some students
caught cheating have been
expelled, said Lalkeshwar
Prasad, chairman of the
BSEB.
600 contractual teachers try to Mamata seeks PM's intervention
enter ECL Hqs, 8 detained
WEST BENGAL Mar 20
Eight contractual teachers
were detained by police on
Friday when about 600 of
them demonstrated out the
Eastern Coalfields Ltd
headquarters here and sought
to enter the office without
prior appointment.
Trouble broke out when
the contractual teachers of
about 165 schools run by
ECL went to the company's
headquarters office, 20 km
from Asansol to submit
their nine-point charter of
demands this morning.
The demands included
hike in salary and pension
after 60 years of age.
They were stopped at
the gates by security
PM Modi appointed
Chancellor of VBU
WEST BENGAL, Mar 20:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has been appointed as the new
chancellor of Visva Bharati
University for the next three
years.
He replaces former prime
minister Manmohan Singh
who stepped down recently.
"The President in his capacity as the Visitor of Visa
Bharati (Acharya) has been
pleased to appoint Prime
Minister Narendra Modi as
the Chancellor of Viswa
Bharati for a term of three
years," said a University notification.
The executive council of
the university had passed a
resolution in July last year to
make Modi as the chancellor
and had sent the resolution to
the HRD Ministry.
Modi's appointment comes
at a time when the varsity's
Vice Chancellor is facing
probe of financial and administrative irregularities.
Visva-Bharati was declared a central university and
an institution of national importance by an Act of
Parliament in 1951. It is the
only central varsity which has
the PM as its chancellor.
While President of India is
the Paridarsaka (Visitor) of
the University, the West Bengal Governor is the Pradhana
(Rector), and the Prime Minister
the
Acharya
(Chancellor). The President of
India appoints the Upacharya
(Vice-Chancellor) of the University.
guards for not having prior
appointment which led to a
scuffle between the two
sides.
Police said it was called
in at this point by the ECL
authorities.
The teachers alleged that
the police lathicharged them
and injured several among
them, including an octoge-
narian. Women teachers
were also lathicharged
though there were no
women police.
The police, however,
denied having made the
baton charge and said it
only pushed back the
demonstrators and detained
the eight.
-PTI
KOLKATA, Mar 20: In the
wake of the collapse of a gate of
the Farakka barrage, West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee has written to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
seeking
his
immediate
intervention for phase wise
replacement of the gates. Gate
number 49 was washed away on
March 15, leading to free flow
of water down the barrage.
Constructed in 1975, the
barrage on the Ganga river in
Murshidabad district is nearly
17 km from the India-Bangladesh border.
"We have been seeking the
Centre’s intervention in replacing all the 109 gates of
the barrage as most of them
are damaged and need replacement," state Irrigation
Minister Rajib Banerjee told a
news agency. "So far, only
22 of them have been replaced. So, the CM has
written to the PM seeking his
immediate intervention”. "In
her letter, the CM has urged
the Centre to initiate phase
wise replacements of the
gates. The collapse of gate
number 49 has led to free flow
water to Bangladesh. The
situation may worsen if other
gates too collapse,” added
Rajib Banerjee. IANS
Chandel, Mar 20
School selection peevesAnal students
The Anal Naga Students' Union has expressed strong resentment against the alleged biased selection of schools for
upgradation from primary to upper primary (junior high
school) under the Autonomous District Council, Chandel. The
five selected schools are Nungkanching primary school under
Chandel block, Khuthum primary school under Chakpikarong
block, Phalbung primary school under Tengnoupal block, T
Bongmoi primary school under Moreh and Karangthel primary
school under Machi block.
On the other hand, Unopat primary school under Chandel
block which was initially in the proposed list was overlooked and removed on the ground that it does not fulfil
the criteria, alleged Anal Naga Students' Union.
Giving details, the student body in a statement said that
Unopat is one of the 11 villages in the western valley area
under Chandel block and added that there are seven primary
schools with nearly 400 students.
Due to absence of upper primary schools in the area,
young students are now being compelled to trek 4-5 km
daily to Sugnu to attend upper primary schools.
Repeated appeals to the Government have not been
heeded. It has therefore decided to close down the office
of the ADC, Chandel unless Unopat primary school is
included for upgradation.
Churachandpur, Mar 20
KSO, Henglep backs strict Edn policy
KSO, Henglep would be conducting surprise visits to Government institutions located within Henglep sub-division to
ensure that the education policy initiated in 2010 by the organisation is strictly adhered to, our correspondent reports.
The education policy, a statement issued by the student
body informed, was formulated to reform the system of
education in the area.
Any institution, teaching or non-teaching staff who are
found flouting the policy would meet serious consequences,
the statement warned.
Ukhrul, Mar 20
Three-day eye camp
Comprehensive Health Services and Research Centre
(CHRSC) in collaboration with Mercy Eye Centre, Dimapur
conducted a three-day eye camp from March 19 to 21 at CHRSC
hospital, Hamleikhong, Ukhrul, Mungchan Zimik reports.
A team of doctors from CHRSC and Mercy Eye Centre
led by ENT Specialist Dr Chingkup Kongyak and Dr
Sharon extended medical services during the three day
camp. Free registration and free consultations were given
to senior citizens and BPL card holders. About 10 cataract
cases were operated upon the end of the second day.