Latest news with #AnnaUniversity
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Policy paralysis in TN led to chaos, confusion in univs'
Chennai: Citing the delay in releasing an alternative education policy by the state govt, former vicechancellor of Anna University E Balagurusamy on Monday said there appears to be a 'policy paralysis' that has led to chaos and confusion in state universities. "Despite the progressive intent of the National Education Policy, there appears to be a visible lack of understanding and clarity on the part of the state govt in implementing the policy across state universities," Balagurusamy said in a letter to chief minister M K Stalin. He further said: "There is an immediate need for a clear roadmap that balances national education goals with the unique socio-economic and linguistic fabric of Tamil Nadu." He also drew attention to the lack of vice-chancellors, regular registrars, and controllers of examinations in state universities. "When a university lacks good leadership, it fails to function effectively, neglects academic excellence, and loses credibility as a place of learning and innovation," he said. "Many universities suffer from an acute faculty shortage due to a lack of recruitment for many years. Temporary and ad-hoc arrangements compromise teaching quality and research output. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Experts Link This Common Food to Memory Loss and Dementia (See story) Brain Health Learn More Undo State universities are also struggling with insufficient funds for salaries, laboratories, libraries, research work, and student hostels," he further said. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai "Existing syllabi in many universities are outdated with limited industry linkage or relevance to employability. Excessive bureaucratic interference and delays in decision-making from govt bodies hinder academic and administrative autonomy," Balagurusamy said. He said the state universities, with a few exceptions, lag in research output, patents, and global collaborations. For revival of higher education, he suggested forming a state higher education reforms task force to assess and recommend action plans and transparent and time-bound faculty recruitment drives. He also asked the CM to enhance the state funding for research, infrastructure, and digital tools and facilitate greater autonomy while ensuring accountability through outcome-based metrics. He further said TN has the potential to emerge as a global hub for knowledge, innovation, and research."This can be realised only by revitalising our universities with bold, timely, and transformative interventions. I urge your office to take decisive steps in this direction," he said.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- New Indian Express
Form internal complaint committees in Anna University, suggests national women's panel
CHENNAI: The National Commission for Women (NCW), which had taken suo motu cognisance of the December 23 sexual assault incident at the Anna University campus last year, visited the university again to review the implementation of its suggested safety measure inside the campus. NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar also recommended a few more measures to improve institutional safeguards. The recommendations include constituting Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) as per UGC POSH Guidelines, mandatory training of ICC members, and conducting POSH awareness programmes for students. The commission also recommended a campus safety audit involving student stakeholders, installation of signage at dark vulnerable spots, formation of WhatsApp groups linking students and police personnel, and creation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to track visitor entry and exit. After Rahatkar chaired a review meeting with senior university officials, the NCW said that it would continue to monitor the situation and extend its full support in fostering safe and inclusive academic environments. Calling the case a wake-up call, the NCW urged universities nationwide to adopt robust safety and gender sensitisation initiatives. The December incident involved a trespasser sexually assaulting a second-year female student after brutally assaulting a senior male student accompanying her. A Gnanasekaran, the accused has since been convicted and sentenced to 30 years without parole.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Over 30,000 candidates allotted seats under TNEA counselling round 1
As many as 30,096 candidates were allotted seats in the first round of counselling under the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA). A total of 41,807 candidates from the general category, including academic and vocational streams, and those under the 7.5% preferential reservation for government school students, were called. The second round of counselling began on Saturday for 98,565 candidates, according to officials. This year 425 colleges participated with a total of 26,719 seats allotted in the general counselling under academic stream out of the 1,72,241 seats available. Private colleges have seen the most number of seats filled at 20,540 in 387 colleges across the State. Computer science and information technology related courses are preferred by the students while mechanical and civil engineering seems to have reduced interest with only 745 seats filled in civil engineering. Further, emerging technology branches such as artificial intelligence and data science are seeing an increased demand. Career guidance expert R. Ashwin's analysis shows that 91% of seats in autonomous colleges have been filled. Colleges in Coimbatore zone have filled over 44% seats with Chennai zone being the second preference. According to education consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi's analysis the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) Karaikudi has filled all of its seats while Anna University's College of Engineering, Guindy, has filled 98.4% of its sanctioned seats. Anna University's departments at Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet, has filled 96.9% of its available seats. Meanwhile, SSN College of Engineering in Kalavakkam had filled 98% of its seats in the first round leaving 10 seats vacant. Students who got provisional allotment through upward movement should join the colleges by August 4. The fee paid by the candidates and their certificates surrendered to the TNEA Facilitation Centres would be sent to the respective colleges, officials said.
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Don't stop at potholes: Chennai residents pitch ideas for the Namma Salai app
As the State government has started exploring the feasibility of building an app for roads of all local bodies across the State, residents of Chennai Corporation have demanded a comprehensive list of civic issues to be addressed in the App instead of merely focusing on potholes. president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents' Welfare Associations, said the Namma Salai app should not merely focus on potholes, and instead resolve all civic issues pertaining to roads, including flood mitigation, street furniture, encroachment, and road traffic accidents caused by road design. 'The residents who intend to use the App for resolving civic issues of roads should be able to access comprehensive information about all the roads. For instance, the residents do not know the actual dimensions of the road, encroachment, or date of relaying of the road. We want to know whether the App will also provide such information for better transparency while residents try to post a photo of civic issues. Many narrow roads in north Chennai have the issue of flooding because the roads follow the undulations without proper design,' he said. Ward 84 councillor said most of the civic issues of roads are not resolved because of lack of transparency about the status of work on a road or the list of work completed in a stretch by various agencies. 'The civic officials launched four different projects on roads last year. The contractors who are supposed to do the work said the work in the package has been done in other roads of Assembly constituencies of important leaders. Will the App address such civic issues?' he said. Former Anna University professor of urban engineering said: 'Namma Salai App may include the following issues for the public to address-road design factors: inadequate width to carry the traffic, unevenness, light reflecting road surface, storm water drain problem, skidding of two wheelers, frequent accidents, footpaths, broken medians, lack of bus bays, sharp curves and consequent poor visibility to drivers, frequent road cuttings.' Pointing to the rise of traffic issues on city roads, he stressed the need for inclusion of complaints about traffic problems, traffic management- one ways, U Turns, restraining right turns, defective signals, invisible road marking, lack of sign boards, lack of pedestrian crossings, non-synchronisaton of signals, unannounced road diversions, poor traffic enforcement- over speeding, overloading, riding on the wrong direction, lack of transparency and coordination, indiscriminate parking, encroachments, and noise and air pollution.
The Hindu
18-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Computer Science, ECE preferred choice during round 1 of engineering college admission counselling in Tamil Nadu
Computer Science and Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) seem to be the streams of choice for candidates this year, as 35,125 candidates were given tentative allotment of seats after the first round of counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) for the academic year 2025-26. Early trends indicated an uptick in demand for the ECE stream when compared to last year. According to R. Ashwin, an education counsellor who has been following the engineering admissions closely, ECE has overtaken IT and AI courses as a preferred choice for candidates this year, as indicated by the first round trends. In the top 10 colleges in the State, almost all seats in core engineering streams – Computer Science and Engineering, ECE, Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering – have been filled after the first round itself, Mr. Ashwin said. What is interesting is that circuit-related courses like Computer Science and ECE were on demand even in colleges lower down the ranking list. Also, Chennai and Coimbatore remained the destinations of choice for candidates, as top colleges in these cities witnessed a spurt in preference during the first round. While the top constituent colleges in Anna University such as College of Engineering Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) remained top on the preference list of candidates, the various university colleges of engineering of Anna University found themselves lower down the pecking order. TNEA officials said 32,663 candidates under the general category and 2,462 candidates from the government schools (7.5% reservation) category were given tentative allotments. They will release provisional allotment order for those candidates who have confirmed their tentative allotment by Friday evening. Candidates who did not get their seat of choice and have opted for the upward option while accepting the allotment would have to wait for the residual seats after the first round of admissions get over on July 23. In the vocational stream, 1,416 candidates were given tentative allotments, including 214 from the government schools (7.5% reservation) category.
