Amaravati, November 5. A total 262 students and 160 teachers tested Covid-19 positive during the past three days after schools were reopened statewide for classes IX-X students on November 2, said the commissioner of school education V. Chinna Veerabhadrudu, addressing a press conference.

According to data provided by the state government’s department of school education, 9.75 lakh students registered to attend classes IX-X. Of them, 3.93 lakh attended school, as also 99,000 (out of 1.11 lakh) registered government school teachers.

“It is not correct to say this small number were infected due to their coming to school. We ensure that each classroom has only 15-16 students,” said the commissioner.

Delhi
Ambitious DTH education initiative

New Delhi, November 4. Prasar Bharati, India’s largest public service broadcasting corporation, signed a partnership agreement with the Union ministry of electronics and information technology to launch 51 direct-to-home (DTH) education TV channels.

The objective of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Prasar Bharati and Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (supervised by the ministry) is to beam quality educational programmes into every household, including homes in rural and remote areas, said an official government statement.

Under the MoU, 51 free-of-charge DTH education TV channels including 22 Swayamprabha of the Union education ministry; 12 e-Vidya channels of NCERT for classes I-XII, 16 channels of Vande Gujarat of the government of Gujarat, and DigiShala of the Union ministry of electronics & IT will be broadcast to all DD FreeDish viewers.

Bihar
Abrupt resignation

Patna, November 19. The state’s education minister Mewa Lal Chaudhary, whose recent appointment had triggered a controversy because of a corruption taint, tendered his resignation barely three days after being sworn in as a Cabinet minister of the newly elected JDU-BJP coalition government.

Chaudhary is an accused in a five-year-old case relating to alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers and technicians at the Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur, where he was vice chancellor.

Meghalaya
Selection tests exemption

Shillong, November 18. Education minister Lahkmen Rymbui announced that the Meghalaya Board of School Education has cancelled selection tests for students scheduled to write their class X and XII examinations in March 2021. “Exemption from selection tests is a one-time exception to ensure the safety and health of all stakeholders in view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation,” said the minister.

According to the minister, this one-time exemption is for all candidates willing to write the class X and XII examinations in March 2021.

Uttarakhand
Free broadband gift

Dehradun, November 8. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat recently launched free-of-charge high-speed Internet broadband services for all public colleges and universities in the state.

“Ours is the first state in the country to provide free-of-charge Internet connectivity to all government colleges and universities. It will play a critical role for students enrolled in the state’s higher education institutions,” said the chief minister, speaking on the occasion. “This is a big step towards fulfilment of prime minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative,” he added.

Rajasthan
Samsung’s gift

Jodhpur, November 20. Samsung, the Seoul (South Korea)-based consumer electronics conglomerate, has gifted the Indian Institute of Technology-Jodhpur (IIT-J) a state-of-the-art innovation laboratory. Christened the Samsung Digital Academy, this is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of the company to skill students in tier-I and tier-II cities in managing cutting-edge technology.

“This valuable gift will expose students to new technologies including AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) to enable them to become job-ready,” said Santanu Chaudhury, director of IIT-J.

Tamil Nadu
Anna U under cloud

Chennai, November 13. The state government has ordered an official enquiry against M.K. Surappa, vice chancellor of Anna University, to investigate alleged irregularities and corruption. Surappa denies all charges and welcomed the enquiry.

The enquiry committee chaired by retired high court judge Justice P. Kalaiyarasan will investigate the allegations since “prima facie they (charges) are serious in nature”.

The probe was ordered following complaints of corruption, financial irregularities and graft against Surappa, among others. The Justice Kalaiyarasan Committee’s mandate is to probe all charges and if proven, suggest ways and means to prevent their recurrence in future.