Browsing: India

Prayagraj: Uttar Pradesh’s push to digitise govt school classrooms has faced sharp scrutiny after an official review found that most smart classroom devices and ICT laboratories installed over the past three academic years remained underutilised.The assessment, conducted by state project director Monica Rani, showed that out of 33,531 smart classroom devices provided to 25,954 council-run primary, upper primary, composite and PM SHRI schools, only 9,982 were active. As many as 23,549 devices were found unused, pulling the statewide utilisation rate down to 38%.The review attributed the low uptake largely to teachers’ reluctance or indifference towards using digital teaching tools, undermining…

Koraput: An aspiring model was allegedly gang-raped by three persons while she was busy in a photo shoot at a pine jungle in the district, police said on Monday.Koraput SP Rohit Verma said the incident took place on the afternoon of Aug 6 when the alleged gang-rape survivor had gone to the pine forest located along the Jeypore-Koraput road. She was with a male companion.The survivor in her complaint before Sadar Police Station claimed three masked persons overpowered her male companion and extorted money from him. Later, the trio raped her and left the place, the police said, quoting the…

CHENNAI: Free Wi-Fi facilities in 44 locations across Marina Beach, Besant Nagar Beach and Secretariat Park were restored on Monday, making them available for public use after remaining non-functional for some time.Greater Chennai Corporation restored the facilities following instructions from the Tamil Nadu govt as part of efforts to expand access to digital services and improve connectivity at popular public spaces.Of the 44 locations, 27 are along Marina Beach, between the Labour Statue and Lighthouse, five are at Besant Nagar Beach and 12 are at Secretariat Park.To access the service, users can switch on Wi-Fi on their mobile phones, select…

Cleaning work at a flood-hit school in Sivasagar Guwahati/Dibrugarh: Classes resumed on Monday in four flood-hit Upper Assam districts, but muddy campuses and health risks persisted at several schools.Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat and Jorhat reopened schools 10 days after classes resumed elsewhere. Floodwaters left campuses covered in mud and potentially toxic silt, while many students remained traumatised after witnessing deaths.In Sivasagar, 140 schools remained closed — 110 were submerged and 30 housed relief camps. At the flood’s peak, 982 schools and over 81,000 students were affected, with Nazira, Khelua, Amguri and Demow among the worst-hit blocks.Officials authorised school heads to assess…

Kanpur: Residents continued to reel under sultry conditions on Monday despite the mercury remaining almost stagnant. Very light drizzle was reported from the Meston Road area in the morning, followed by intermittent sunshine and cloud cover, which pushed up humidity levels.The city recorded a maximum temperature of 34.3°C, 0.3°C lower than Sunday’s maximum, while the minimum temperature stood at 26.8°C. The maximum relative humidity was recorded at 84%, resulting in uncomfortable and sultry weather conditions.Southeasterly winds blew at a speed of 5.1 to 9.8 kmph, providing some relief from the oppressive humidity.Kanpur and several other districts of Uttar Pradesh, including…

Mangaluru: Govt First Grade College at Jidekallu in Puttur has managed to reverse its admission fortunes, but inadequate KSRTC bus services threaten to undermine its success. A free-admission campaign, conducted for the second consecutive year, has helped increase the college’s student strength to 150. The institution recorded 48 fresh admissions this year.Before launching the initiative last year, the college had only 36 students across BA and BCom. To boost enrolment, it offered free admission to the first 100 students. Encouraged by the response, college continued the campaign this year. However, commuting has become a daily challenge for many students, particularly…

Madikeri: Two people lost their lives after falling into a toilet pit as a concrete slab over it collapsed at Garagandur B village in Somwarpet on Monday.Nithya, 50, a daily wage labourer from Hosathota village, and Janardhan, 45, a resident of Garagandur, are the deceased, police said. The accident occurred around 4.30pm when Nithya, wife of Dharmappa, was returning after picking ginger from her brother-in-law Vasu’s house. As she walked across the toilet pit behind the house, the slab collapsed and she fell into the pit.Janardhan and his wife rushed to the spot as Nithya raised an alarm. However, while…

Pune: A long-pending proposal to upgrade the Baramati airstrip, the site of multiple aviation accidents over the last few years, has finally been sanctioned, with work on runway recarpeting and installation of night lights set to start soon, senior officials from Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) told TOI on Monday.“First phase of the works will cost around Rs 70 crore,” said Deepak Kapoor, MADC’s vice-chairperson-cum-managing director. “This phase includes runway recarpeting, improved lighting and the construction of a boundary wall, among other works,” he said.News of the upgrade comes six months after the Jan 28 plane crash at the…

Girish Chodankar said the chief minister is trying to ensure that political parties do not support the Karapur villagers Panaji: State Congress president Girish Chodankar said that the party will not be coerced into silence by veiled threats from govt and the House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL). Chodankar claimed that chief minister Pramod Sawant is trying to ensure that political parties do not support the Karapur Sarvan villagers in their protest against the mega residential project by the House of Abhinandan Lodha.“It is the opposition’s job to question govt. We have to raise issues and the House of Abhinandan Lodha…

Bathinda: NGO 5 Rivers Heart Association (5RHA) has submitted a proposal to the Punjab govt offering to establish a medical college and teaching hospital in Nawanshahr under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.The project is envisioned as the first phase of the proposed Panjab University Hospital and Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, which aims to become Punjab’s first comprehensive university hospital and academic medical centre.The proposal outlines a long-term vision that integrates advanced patient care, medical education, research, innovation and workforce development within a single academic health system. According to the NGO, the initiative would expand access to specialised healthcare services…