Online Education a Great Saviour for Higher Education during pendomic COVID-19

Bangalore, 30th March 2020: The nationwide lockdown due to Pendomic Covid-19 has initially thrown higher education in deep crisis but the universities and very many colleges in India have been able to adopt Online teaching from home. It is all the more gratifying that the young students have found Online Classes both interesting and greatly satisfying, says eminent Academician Prof PB Sharma, Vice Chancellor of Amity University Gurugram.

At Amity University, Gurguram the use of technology in education was already well integrated in our education innovations and   almost the entire academic management was on IT savvy Amity Itranet Amizone that is the backbone of Amity academic and administrative e- governance. 

Further, the Amity University has a long experience of online classes that were going on years for great many African Countries live from its e-education studio at Amity University Noida.

The IT team of Amity has made excellent arrangements for conduction online classes in all its Amity Universities across India utilising Microshort Teams, Microsoft LMS, Zoom meetings of HoIs and faculty  and also trained its faculty in all the Amity Universities for use of e-platforms and the LMS system.

This prior preparation came quite handy to smoothly switch over to conduct Online Classes from home, the minute the university was closed ever since March 14th.

As per the online reports being received from various institutions in Amity University Gurugram,  the attendance of students in online classes  is almost 90-95% ,  more so because the attendance of students. The timely conduct of online classes as per schedule is automatically recorded thus and leaves no room for alteration later on.

The Online Classes have become a great saviour for higher education in India during the present Pendomic Covid-19 Crisis and have paved the way for a more effective integration of online and off line teaching learning environment that the UGC and MHRD has been trying to create for some time.

The Online Classes are also providing a great leaning experience both for the students and the faculty.  At Amity University Gurgaon, we have also asked our faculty to record as many classes as possible and thus create and upload online e- resources for further use by students.

As a Vice Chancellor of AUH, I feel so satisfied that despite the threat of disruption of higher education caused by the Pendomic Covid-19 virus crisis our faculty has been able to cover fully even semester syllabi and also conduct Online tests for internal continuous assessment.

The challenge now is to prepare for Online Conduct of End Semester Examinations if the lockdown continues beyond the 21 days ending on April 14th.

I am also very happy to note that my fellow Vice Chancellors across the country have taken up the task of keeping their academic activities going on online systems. For us besides the safety and protection from Pendomic Virus, the protection of academic and professional interests of our students is of paramount importance. 

I express my deep sense of gratitude to my Heads of Institutions and the learned Faculty members for their  excellent cooperation in making online teaching learning environment  so enriching and highly  successful.

In line with the vision of the Founder President of Amity Education Group, Dr Ashok K Chauhan we are fully committed to empower each one of our students of Amity with the world quality education and research and innovation acumen and also to make our faculty deeply engaged in society and Industry relevant R&D, says Kulpati Prof PB Sharma, Vice Chancellor AUH who is also the Founder Vice Chancellor DTU and RGTU Past President of AIU.

City Today News

(citytoday.media)

9341997936

Registration Open for DSAT (Dayananda Sagar Admission Test) 2020, Your Gateway to Success

Bengaluru, 2020: Dayananda Sagar University (DSU) is conducting its All India Entrance Test: DSAT (Dayananda Sagar Admission Test) 2020, your gateway to success, in May.
Higher education campuses across the country are gearing up for the upcoming admission season. To students and parents looking for universities that are backed by good academics, great faculty, industry presence in the campus through intense partnership and strong placement records – the search is getting narrower with more prominent universities announcing the entrance test calendars.Meetingthis criterion, Bengaluru based Dayananda Sagar University (DSU) will be holding the Dayananda Sagar Admission Test (DSAT) – a national level entrance test – in May 2020 in 34 cities, spread across the nation.
Successful candidates can pick choice programmes in Engineering, Pharmacy and Management leading to B. Tech, M. Tech, B. Pharma and MBA. These programmes are ever evolving and enrich career segments offering a wide scope for a bright future.
DSAT, conducted in multiple test centers across India offers flexible date options. The DSAT 2020 dates are: 4th,5th,11th,12th,16th,17th,30th &31st May. There is a nationwide network of DSAT test centersat prominent cities across the states: Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Odisha, Punjab & Haryana, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
To be eligible for admission to B.Tech, a student must have passed the PUC/10+2 examination with at least 45% marks in all specified subjects taken together. For M.Tech, a student must have passed the BE/B.Tech or equivalent examination in any one of the applicable branches with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate. As regards B.Pharma, a student must have passed the 10+2 with minimum of 40% aggregate marks in specified subjects. Candidates who have passed the B.Pharma from an institution recognized by the Pharmacy Council of India with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks can seek admission to M. Pharma.

For online registration and/or further queries visit:https://www.dsu.edu.in/admission

City Today News

(citytoday.media)

9341997936

A new study reveals that golden jackals in India are hunted for a pervasive illegal trade of their illusionary ‘jackal horns’.

A golden jackal in India (© Uday Kiran)
 

Poaching and trade of golden jackals may be widespread in India, yet receives little conservation attention

A new study reveals that golden jackals in India are hunted for a pervasive illegal trade of their illusionary ‘jackal horns’.


India’s efforts in countering wildlife crimes has generally focused on large, iconic species. But lesser-known, less-charismatic and relatively abundant species may form a large part of illegal wildlife trade. Another conservation concern is the use of wildlife in religious and superstitious practices that has given rise to national and international online markets. In a new study, scientists from Wildlife Conservation Society–India, University of Florida (USA), Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment, Wildlife Conservation Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences, James Cook University (Australia) and Conservation Initiatives find that golden jackals in India are threatened by poaching and trade, driven by religious beliefs in sorcery and superstition.

The scientists collected publicly available information from government seizure data, news reports, social media posts, blogs and e-commerce platforms to create a repository of jackal hunting, poaching and trade incidences from 2013 to 2019. The study revealed that 126 skins, 8 tails, more than 370 ‘jackal horns’, 16 skulls and two live jackals were seized by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (Government of India). The analysis brought to light a widespread demand for a talisman that appears to be derived from the jackal skull, known as ‘jackal horn’ in English, ‘siyar singhi’ in Hindi and ‘nari kombu’ in Tamil/Kannada/Telugu. The ‘jackal horn’ trade is fueled by extensive online endorsement and unsubstantiated claims made by religious practitioners. Demand based on superstitious and ritualistic beliefs points to a largely ignored threat to India’s wildlife that similarly targets monitor lizards, pangolins, leopards, musk deer, snakes, owls and other species.

“Our preliminary assessment is an important first step to understanding the type and nature of poaching threats to a relatively common but often overlooked species. The data base of open-source reports could fill knowledge gaps related to the jackal trade in India”. said Malaika Mathew Chawla, the lead author of the study.

Co-author Arjun Srivathsa explains, “many aspects of the trade like demand and supply chains remain unknown and require further investigation and research. The illegal wildlife market driven by sorcery and superstitious practices potentially threatens a wide range of rare as well as and common wildlife species”.

The study titled “Do wildlife crimes against less charismatic species go unnoticed? A case study of Golden Jackal Canis aureus Linnaeus, 1758 poaching and trade in India” was conducted as part of the Wild Canids–India Project (www.wildcanids.net), and published in Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors include Malaika Mathew Chawla (James Cook University), Arjun Srivathsa (Wildlife Conservation Society–India and University of Florida, USA), Priya Singh (National Centre for Biological Sciences), Iravatee Majgaonkar (Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment), Sushma Sharma (Wildlife Conservation Society–India), Girish Punjabi (Wildlife Conservation Trust), and Aditya Banerjee (Conservation Initiatives).

Contact: Arjun Srivathsa (asrivathsa@wcsindia.org)

City Today News

(citytoday.media)

9341997936

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor partners with Taj Group to distribute 250 meal packets per day to Bengaluru hospitals

The initiative follows a week after commencement of a similar service in Mumbai of supplying 5,000 meal packets to government hospitals
To roll out the initiative in Delhi too, in a few days

Bengaluru; 30th March 2020; While India is facing its longest lockdownto defeat COVID19 pandemic; various social achievers are coming ahead with novel initiatives to do their bit for the communities. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is spearheading the mission to feed the medical staff in key government hospitals in the city, in collaboration with Taj Group.

This initiative has taken off in the city, with distribution of250 specially made meal packets for medical staffs in Victoria Hospital and Bangalore Medical College. The meal packets are being made and packed by Taj and delivered as a gesture of gratitude to the white coat warriors of Bengaluru.

“Doctors and medical fraternity are guarding the frontlines in Indias fight against COVID-19. It is time for each of us to do our bit in strengthening their resolve in defeating this invisible enemy, said Sanjeev Kapoor. Taj Group and I have come together to extend this small gesture of thankfulness to the government hospitals in Bengaluru. We are already serving few government hospitals under this initiative in Mumbai and will also be extending the same to Delhi this week”, concluded Sanjeev.

City Today News

(citytoday.media)

9341997936

COVID-19: CII Karnataka Creates a Taskforce to Work with Government

A high level delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Karnataka, led by the Chairman Mr. Sandeep Singh & Vice Chairman Mr. Ramesh Ramudarai, met the Chief Secretary Government of Karnataka Mr. T M Vijay Bhaskar IAS and assured the support of the industry to the government in its fight to contain the spread of COVID 19 in the state.

CII has created a Taskforce to work closely with Government on the reduction in spread of Covid 19 and assured its support on the ground, in form of donations of medicines, personal protective gear, diagnostic test kits, and financial support. The Government along with the industry has been proactively taking the efforts to understand the requirements and the support needed.

A report on industry recommendations which outlines the impact on each sector and possible steps to address the challenges has been shared with Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Karnataka.

A Meeting for E-Commerce companies was conducted with Commissioner Industries to understand their modus operandi and help them operate during the tough times.

CII has been extending help to the companies covered under exempted items to facilitate their movement across the state.

CII has also set up a fund for MSMEs to tackle the situation arising out the COVID-19 outbreak. MSME & Exports has been an area of priority and policy advocacy is being done to help the sectors.

CII has also set up a helpline for assisting the members and connecting them to the right departments for their queries to be handled and closed.

Regular updates are available on the CIIs website in terms assistances provided to their members, which could be a learning platform for other industries with similar issues.

City Today News

(citytoday.media)

9341997936