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IIT-Bombay scraps physical lectures for this year

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), File photo

New Delhi (NVI): Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) will go completely online in the next semester, for the rest of the year, as students will not be called for face to face lectures in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this move, IIT-B has become the first major educational institution in the country to scrap face to face lectures. An announcement in this regard was made by the Director of IIT Bombay, Subhasis Chaudhuri who said the decision was made after long deliberations that went on till late night yesterday. This is for the first time ever in the institute’s history that a new academic year will start with no students on the campus.

“After a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students,” Chaudhuri said in a Facebook post.

He further said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has made us rethink the way we impart education to our students. To ensure that our students begin the academic year without further delay, we are planning on extensive online classes details of which will be informed to all students in due course of time.”

In his FB post, Chaudhuri has also appealed for donation for students from economically less privileged families.

“A large section of our students come from economically less privileged families and would require a helping hand to equip them with the IT hardware (i.e. laptops and broadband connectivity ) to take these online classes,” the post read.

“We have estimated that we need about Rs 5 crores to help those needy students. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds to continue their learning without any further hindrances or delays,” he wrote.

Notably, other IITs are also likely to follow the suit on holding virtual lectures. However, no final decision has been taken yet.

Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states by Covid-19 in the country, with its capital Mumbai having the maximum density of cases.

-RJV/ARK

Pending class 10, 12 Board exams cancelled: CBSE tells SC

New Delhi (NVI): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today informed the Supreme Court that it will not conduct class 10th Board examination while the students of Class 12th will be given an option of appearing in exams after conditions are conducive.

Class 12 students will be evaluated on their performance in the last three school exams. They can also appear for the board exam at a later date to improve performance, in case they are not satisfied with the marks given by the board.

Meanwhile, CISCE too will not conduct ICSE, ISC exams this year. However, ICSE doesn’t agree to give option to students to write exam later.

SC had last week asked CBSE to consider scrapping the class 10 and Class 12 board exams in view of the growing cases of coronavirus infections in the country.

The court made this suggestion responding to a plea from a group of parents, who have asked for cancellation of the remaining board exams citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to this, the announcement by CBSE is also going to impact the admission process of all central universities as well as the national entrance exams including JEE Main and NEET 2020.

-CHK

NASA shares pics of Lonar Lake in Maharashtra that turned pink mysteriously

(Image credits: Instagram/NASAEarth)

New Delhi (NVI): The oval-shaped Lonar lake in Maharashtra’s Bidhana district turned pink recently during the early days of this month. This unusual and mysterious phenomenon was observed by NASA Earth which was detected via its Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.

The Lonar lake was formed after a meteorite hit the Earth around 50,000 years ago, and is a popular tourist hub and also attracts scientists from across the world. The mean diameter of the lake is around 1.2 km.

Located in India’s west-central state of Maharashtra, the lake sits in the volcanic basalt of the Deccan Plateau and is the only “fresh” impact structure in basalt on Earth.

After the colour of the lake turned pink, not only the locals were surprised, but it also intrigued nature enthusiasts and scientists as well.

According to a statement by NASA’s Earth Observatory, scientists speculated that the change in colour could be a result of microscopic life that thrives in water with high salt concentrations like Lake Hillier in Australia. Lonar Lake’s color shift occurred over the span of a few days.

However, as of yet, the scientists could not claim that with certainty and are awaiting lab results of the samples collected from the mysterious lake to ascertain the cause of colour change.

-CHK/ARK

Monsoon arrives in Delhi 2 days in advance: IMD

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi-NCR region today received the first monsoon rainfall as it arrived in the national capital two days ahead of its usual onset, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.

According to the normal onset date, monsoon makes arrival in Delhi around June 27. The weather department has also predicted heavy rains at some places in the national capital and NCR areas.

IMD said the rains will also cover parts of Haryana, entire Uttar Pradesh, most parts of Punjab and parts of Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, the national capital is expected to experience rainfall for the next 2-3 days and the temperature in Delhi is expected to hover around 36 degrees Celsius.

Apart from that, there will be fairly widespread rainfall in eastern UP in the next 4-5 days. Heavy rainfall has also been predicted in parts of the Western Himalayan region on June 25 and 26, the MeT department said.

According to weather experts, the earlier than usual arrival of the monsoon in Delhi is due to a cyclonic circulation, which moved towards southwest Uttar Pradesh on June 19 and June 20, creating favourable conditions.

However, monsoon is active in the southern states. Heavy rainfall is forecast for the next five days in the southern states and extremely heavy rainfall is likely to hit in Kerala on June 26 and 27.

-RJV/ARK

WHO says Covid tally will reach 1 crore mark in the next week

New Delhi (NVI): Total coronavirus cases in the world will touch the one crore mark within the next week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

Many countries in North, South, and Central America, are still struggling with unprecedented community transmission, said Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergency programme, at a WHO press briefing. He said the pandemic has not yet reached its peak in many countries in the Americas.

Meanwhile, more than 9.4 million cases (over 90 lakh) have been confirmed worldwide, while more than 4,80,000 people have died due to the deadly contagion, according to John Hopkins University tally.

More than a third of these cases came from Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, and the US.

The US remains the worst-affected country in the world, where more than 2.3 million coronavirus cases have been recorded. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will require travelers from states with high cases to quarantine for two weeks. At least 26 US states are seeing rising infections.

WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also said that the global tally is expected to reach 10 million (1 crore) next week while calling for urgent steps to suppress transmission and save lives.

The coronavirus cases in India have reached 4,73,105, with highest single-day rise of 16,922 cases in the last 24 hours.

Two LeT terrorists killed in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, encounter on

2 LeT militants surrender after gunfight in J&K's Kulgam
(Representational/file image)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists have been killed in an ongoing encounter at Hardshiva village of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said.

Kashmir Zone Police tweeted that the two militants whose identity is yet to be ascertained were killed while the search operation was on.

A police official said that two militants have been killed in the Hardshiva operation and both seem to be locals. “Search operation is on to rule out the presence of any other militant,” he said, adding that both the slain terrorists belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit.

In the wee hours, the cordon was launched by joint teams of Army’s 22 RR, Police and the CRPF at Hardshiva village of apple town of Sopore. The police official said that the militants were given a chance to surrender but they refused and fired, triggering a gun-battle.

The authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the entire police district of Sopore as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order situation. Police have requested the locals of the area not to go closer to the encounter spot till the area is properly sanitized.

Pertinently, today’s operation is first against militants in north Kashmir after a long gap as security forces had been conducting operations in southern districts of the Valley so far where 108 militants have been killed since January this year. Kashmir range police chief Vijay Kumar had recently said that after wiping out militancy from the South, security agencies will shift their focus on north Kashmir.

-ARK

Diesel price crosses Rs 80 in Delhi after hike for 19th day in a row

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Diesel prices in Delhi have now crossed Rs 80 per litre and surpassed the petrol price for the second day straight as fuel rates were hiked for the 19th consecutive day as part of daily revision by oil marketing companies (OMCs).

Petrol price rose by 16 paise a litre while diesel price was hiked by 14 paise a litre today. Petrol is currently retailing at Rs 79.92 per litre in Delhi, according to the data by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

Notably in other states also, the prices will rise but diesel will continue to be cheaper than petrol due to lower taxes levied by the states, though the gap between the prices will shrink further.

At present, the petrol costs Rs 86.70 a litre in Mumbai and diesel is priced at Rs 78.34 and in Chennai, a litre of petrol comes for Rs 83.18 and diesel for Rs 77.29.

Likewise in Bengaluru, petrol is priced at Rs 82.52 per litre and diesel at Rs 76.09 and in Hyderabad, petrol is priced at Rs 82.96 a litre and diesel at Rs 78.09, as per IOC data.

On June 7, state-owned oil companies restarted revising petrol and diesel prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day break in rate revision, amid Covid-19 pandemic.

However, diesel is costlier than petrol only in the national capital wherein the state government has raised local sales tax or VAT on fuel last month. It costs less than petrol in other cities.

-RJV/CHK

J&K: LeT module busted in Budgam, 5 held; arms, ammo recovered

Budgam (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir police today busted a Lashkar-e-Toiba module and arrested five militant associates in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, police said.

On its official Twitter handle, Kashmir Zone Police said that a joint team of police and other security forces arrested five militant associates who were affiliated with the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba from Narbal area of Budgam district. “Incriminating material, arms and ammunition was also recovered from the arrested persons. Case has been registered and a probe launched,” the tweet read.

Those arrested have been identified as Imran Rashid, Ifshan Ahmad Ganie, Owais Ahmad, Mohsin Qadir and Aabid Rather, all from Budgam.

Police said that all the five arrested were involved in providing logistic support and shelter to active militants of Lashkar. “They have been active in the area for the last few months,” a police official said.

An FIR under relevant sections of UAPA has been registered in police station Magam (Budgam) and further investigation has been taken up, police said.

-ARK

Indian Oil’s Product Application & Development Centre inaugurated at Paradip

Indian Oil Refinery at Paradip (File)

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): A Product Application and Development Centre (PADC) set up by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at Paradip in Odisha, was today inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Petroleum Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, via video conference.

PADC will be the sixth centre in the country and second in eastern India built on 5 acres of land with a capital expenditure of Rs 43 crore. It has been built near IOCL’s refinery and pharmaceutical complex of Paradip.

The centre will be working on the development of newer grades from Paradip and curtail polymer imports through substitution.

The development centre will also act as a supporting technical centre for polyester yarns and fabrics for the proposed textile unit at Dhamra of Bhadrak. It will work closely in application and development of polymers in collaboration with other reputed institutes.

-CHK/ARK

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

New Delhi (NVI): India saw the highest ever single-day rise in coronavirus cases after 16,922 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 4,73,105, according to Health Ministry data.

Meanwhile, the total number of fatalities due to the deadly contagion rose to 14,894 in the country after 418 new fatalities were reported during this period.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 1,42,900, followed by Delhi with 70,390 cases, and Tamil Nadu with 67,468 cases.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 56

Andhra Pradesh- 10,331

Arunachal Pradesh- 158

Assam- 6,198

Bihar- 8,209

Chandigarh- 420

Chhattisgarh- 2,419

Dadar Nagar Haveli- 26

Delhi- 70,390

Gujarat- 28,943

Goa- 951

Haryana– 12,010

Himachal Pradesh- 806

Jammu and Kashmir- 6,422

Jharkhand- 2,207

Karnataka- 10,118

Kerala- 3,603

Ladakh- 941

Madhya Pradesh- 12,448

Maharashtra- 1,42,900

Manipur- 970

Meghalaya- 46

Mizoram- 142

Nagaland- 347

Odisha- 5,752

Puducherry- 461

Punjab- 4,627

Rajasthan- 16,009

Sikkim- 84

Tamil Nadu- 67,468

Telangana- 10,444

Tripura- 1,259

Uttarakhand- 2,623

Uttar Pradesh- 19,557

West Bengal – 15,173

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andhra Pradesh- 124

Assam- 9

Bihar- 57

Chandigarh- 6

Chhattisgarh- 12

Delhi- 2,365

Goa- 2

Gujarat- 1,735

Haryana- 188

Himachal Pradesh- 8

Jammu and Kashmir- 88

Jharkhand- 11

Karnataka- 164

Kerala- 22

Ladakh- 1

Madhya Pradesh- 534

Maharashtra- 6,739

Meghalaya- 1

Odisha- 17

Puducherry- 9

Punjab- 113

Rajasthan- 375

Tamil Nadu- 866

Telangana- 225

Tripura- 1

Uttar Pradesh- 596

Uttarakhand- 35

West Bengal- 591

A total of 2,71,697 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals in India. There are around 1,86,514 active cases currently, according to the Health Ministry.

-CHK

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