Latest news with #P.Rammohan
The Hindu
08-08-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
SFI demands rollback of campus entry restrictions
Leaders of the Student Federation of India (SFI) on Friday demanded that the State government revoke the recent orders of the School Education Department and the Board of Intermediate Education restricting entry into schools and junior colleges to only parents and members of School Management Committees (SMCs). Addressing a protest at Lenin Centre, SFI national president Adarsh M. Saji said the orders violated students' freedom and democratic rights. State president P. Rammohan and secretary K. Prasanna Kumar alleged that barring leaders of student organisations from campuses was an attempt by officials to conceal existing problems in educational institutions, calling the move unacceptable. They pointed out that HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, when in the Opposition, had interacted with student leaders to learn about issues in educational institutions, but was now trying to keep them away. The SFI leaders warned that they would launch a State-wide agitation if their demand was ignored. State vice-presidents C.H. Venkateswara Rao, L.J. Naidu and C.H. Venkatesh, assistant secretaries Bhagat Rai, and State committee members Jyothi, Pavithra and others took part in the protest.
The Hindu
31-07-2025
- The Hindu
Wild cat, wilder rumours: Leopard out of sight, but social media keeps panic alive
The elusive leopard on the fringes of Hyderabad has become a source of several rumours and unfounded reports. The reports are viral on social media, creating additional problems for the forest officials who are already worked up over the presence of the feline amid populated areas. Fictional narratives about the animal, which was first spotted around Chilukur, are doing rounds at a frenzied pace, confounding the residents around Gandipet and leading to fear-mongering. Photographs and video clips of leopards elsewhere are being circulated in WhatsApp groups, veracity of which is doubtful. Though there were reports of two leopards being spotted at the Research Centre Imarat, a Defence facility in Balapur, around the same time that the animal was spotted at Chilkur, the forest authorities could not find any evidence that supported the claim. Photograph of a leopard perched on a rocky outcropping was posted on social media a while ago, passing it off as a picture of the same animal which has made Gandipet surroundings its haunt, taken by a villa owner. Upon verification, the villa owner denied that any leopard had been spotted from his building. One more video clip of a leopard caught in a cage with live bait too has gone viral, with the claim that the animal was finally caught. This too turned out to be an old video clip, with the forest officials refuting any such capture. The leopard was first spotted at the nursery managed by the Telangana State Medicinal Plants Board close to the Himayatsagar reservoir. The visiting foresters found pug marks and other traces of the animal, confirming its presence there. Disappearance of stray dogs from Manchirevula village added to the signs, spreading fear and panic among the residents of the several gated communities which have come up in the surrounding areas such as Kokapet and Narsingi. 'I am checking the news every now & then to see if the animal has been caught yet. I can exercise caution, but cannot do that with my teenage son, who insists on going out during nights,' said a resident of the locality. The feline's image was later caught on the CC camera footage of Greyhounds, where pug marks too were found, confirming its movement. Forest Trek Park in Chilkur too had traces of its presence. Later, video clips of the animal crossing over to the Artillery Centre in Golconda emerged, spreading panic in the campus. 'We have reason to believe that the leopard has returned to the Forest Trek Park, because it has abundant prey such as wild boar,' a forest official informed under the condition of anonymity. Trap cages with live bait have been set up at multiple locations, but so far, the feline has not tried to enter one. 'It would risk going for the live bait only when prey in the natural environs is scarce. Meanwhile I urge people not to believe any report unless confirmed by the Forest department. The leopard cannot be caught without out knowledge,' said the officer.
The Hindu
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
SFI urges govt. to drop plans to privatise medical colleges
Student Federation of India's (SFI) State committee leaders have slammed the State government for its reported plans to privatise 17 newly-established government medical colleges. In a statement on Friday (May 30), the federation's State president P. Rammohan and secretary K. Prasanna Kumar said reports appearing in a section of media suggested that these medical institutions were being leased out to private entities for up to 66 years at throwaway prices. They said the government decision would deprive students from marginalised communities of medical education and affordable healthcare services to the public would become a thing of the past. They pointed out that the Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) and IT Nara Lokesh, during his 'Yuvagalam' padayatra, had promised to repeal G.O.s 107 and 108 introduced by the previous government to sell medical seats, and had assured that all seats would be filled under government quota. They demanded that the Minister keep his promise and persuade the government to drop its privatisation proposal. They warned of State-wide protests should the government overlook their demand. They also found fault with the practice of engaging private individuals and agencies to conduct exams in the SC, ST and BC residential schools across the State. They said the residential set-ups lacked basic amenities subjecting the inmates to serious hardship. Many of these residential hostels did not have wardens, cooks, helpers, watchmen and even basic health care support. Calling for immediate reforms, they said it was important to focus on revamping the teaching practices in residential schools, recruitment of adequate non-teaching staff, construction of permanent buildings for all residential schools and a ban on the practice of outsourcing the process of conducting exams to private agencies.
