விஜயிடம் இருந்து நிறைய விஷயங்கள் கற்றுக் கொண்டேன் : சங்கர்

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தமிழ் சினிமாவை திரும்பி பார்க்க வைத்த இயக்குநர்களில் டைரக்டர் ஷங்கரும் ஒருவர். தமிழ் சினிமாவை ஹாலிவுட் ரேஞ்சுக்கு உயர்த்தியவர். ஷங்கர் ஒரு சிறந்த இயக்குநர் மட்டுமல்ல, சிறந்த பேச்சாளரும் கூட.

விஜய்யின் அப்பாவும், டைரக்டருமான எஸ்.ஏ.சந்திரசேகரிடம் உதவியாளராக இருந்தபோது அவரிடம் கற்ற விஷயங்கள் விலைமதிக்க முடியாதவை என்று எஸ்.ஏ.சி.,க்கு புகழாரம் சூட்டியுள்ளார்.

இதுகுறித்து ஷங்கர் கூறியதாவது,

என்னுடைய 23வது வயதில் டைரக்டர் எஸ்.ஏ.சந்திரசேகரிடம் உதவியாளராக சேர்ந்தேன். அப்போதெல்லாம் பொறுப்பில்லாமல் செயல்பட்டேன். ஒருநாள் ஏஸ்.ஏ.சி., என்னை கூப்பிட்டு சத்தம் போட்டார்.

கஷ்டப்பட்டு உழைக்கவில்லையென்றால் வாழ்க்கையில் எதையுமே உன்னால் சாதிக்க முடியாது என்று அறிவுறுத்தினார். அவருடைய இந்த வார்த்தை என்னை முற்றிலுமாக மாற்றியது. அன்றுமுதல் கடுமையாக உழைக்க ஆரம்பித்தேன், இன்று வாழ்க்கையில் நல்ல நிலையை எட்டியிருக்கிறேன்.

நான் இந்தநிலைக்கு வருவதற்கு அவர்தான் காரணம். அதேபோல் விஜய்யும், அவரது அப்பாவை போல பிறருக்கு மரியாதை கொடுப்பது, சூட்டிங்கில் ஒரு ஈடுபாடோடு நடிப்பது கடுமையாக உழைப்பது என்று அசத்துகிறார்.

விஜய்யுடன் இ‌ணைந்து படம் பண்ணும்போது அவரிடமிருந்து நிறைய விஷயங்கள் கற்றுக்கொண்டேன் என்று புகழ்ந்து கூறுகிறார். தற்போது விஜய், ஜீவா, ஸ்ரீகாந்த் ஆகியோரை வைத்து நண்பன் என்ற படத்தை எடுத்து வருகிறார் ஷங்கர். இப்படம் இந்தியில் வெளிவந்த 3-இடியட்ஸ் படத்தின் ரீ-மேக் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

INDIA SURVEYED BY LEADING HONG KONG-BASED BUSINESS CONSULTANCY FIRM PERC

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India finds itself bracketed with countries like Philippines and Cambodia, rated as the fourth most corrupt nation among 16 countries of the Asia Pacific region surveyed by leading Hong Kong-based business consultancy firm PERC.
The Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd (PERC) rated India at 8.67 on a scale of zero to 10 with the high end being the worst case of corruption scenario and ahead of the Philippines (8.9 points), Indonesia (9.25 points) and Cambodia (9.27 points).
Among the 16 countries reviewed in its latest report, Thailand was rated at 11 with a scale of 7.55, followed by China (7.93) and Vietnam (8.3).
Comparatively, Singapore was given a clean sheet with a score of 0.37, followed by Hong Kong (1.10), Australia (1.39), Japan (1.90) and USA (2.39), putting them in the top five.
In India, according to the report, civil and other local-level political leaders were found more corrupt than the national-level political leaders, with the former given a score of 9.25 and the latter slightly better at 8.97.
Indian civil servants at the city level too were rated at 8.18, worst than the civil servants at the national level (7.76).
“The issue of corruption has grown and overshadowed the second term in office of the Congress-led coalition headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” said PERC in its Asian Intelligence report on Asian business and politics.
The government has been wracked by a series of scandals involving the sale of telecom licenses, preparations for the Commonwealth Games, a land scam involving high level military officers, and improper property loans made by State-owned financial institutions, it pointed out.
Though investigations were underway to be followed by court trials, Indians were still questioning whether or not the prime minister has the political muscle to fight graft and whether the actions now being taken were more for show than proof that the government was really cracking down on business practices that were common but corrupt, it said.
Prime Minister Singh has been put in such a defensive position that most of his recent statements have been to stress how he has not personally been involved with corruption, even though it appears that almost everyone around him was, observed PERC.
“This point is underscored by a recent WikiLeaks report that the ruling Congress Party paid off parliamentarians back in 2008 to pass the US-India civil nuclear deal,” it said.
The report also noted that the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry was worried that the problem of corruption and the way it was being treated in the media could seriously hurt India’s international image and scare away potential investors.
It takes two to tango and the level of corruption in the public sector would not be possible if there were not plenty of private businessmen willing to pay bribes and work the political system, said PERC.

IIT-JEE TO PUT KEY ON NET

IIT-JEE TO PUT KEY ON NET!

The IIT-JEE for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), which has been criticised for not being transparent, will be more open from this year. For the first time students appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) will get an opportunity to verify their evaluated answer scripts on the JEE website. The scanned answer sheets will be posted on the website immediately after the results are announced.
Moreover, the ‘key’ containing correct answers to all the questions will be placed on the website within 48 hours of the examination. Students can lodge objections, if any, on the ‘key’. IIT-JEE officials will verify the objections and make changes accordingly if found to be genuine and release the ‘final key’, which will also be posted online. This year, IIT-Kanpur is conducting the examination on April 10, across the country, and the results are expected to be announced in the last week of May. Till last year, the results were declared online, but candidates were not shown their answer sheets. Now a student will have access to see his/her answer sheets. A password will be given to each student for the purpose, said Mr S.G. Dhande, director, IIT-Kanpur. There has been intense pressure on the IITs to make the JEE transparent after there were several irregularities during evaluation of answer scripts in 2006.

“MULTIDISCIPLINARY, HOLISTIC APPROACH” TO EDUCATION

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The higher education system in the country has become “extremely compartmentalised” over the past few decades. Though the system as a whole should not isolate disciplines from one another and result in things falling apart, the need of the hour was a “multidisciplinary, holistic approach” to education, according to S. Mohan, Director, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai.
He was delivering the graduation day address at the Pondicherry Engineering College (PEC) here on Friday. Mr. Mohan said that world over it has been found that four to five years of higher education beyond 12 years of schooling resulted in higher incomes. However, only 11 per cent of eligible youth get higher education in the country. This figure has to be improved and the Gross Enrolment Ratio should be brought to about 50 percent. “Universal education and imparting skills are crucial for Indians to get out of poverty and its resultant problems,” he said.
Pointing out that some of the institutes have begun innovating and have introduced concepts such as “choice-based credit system,” he said that more efforts were needed on this front.
Principal of PEC V. Prithviraj said that 470 undergraduate and 150 postgraduate engineering students, who passed out of the college in 2009, received the graduation certificate on Friday. He said that the college would offer a Bachelors of Engineering degree in architecture from 2012 onwards and it had come to an understanding with Auroville for this purpose.

COMET-HUNTING SPACECRAFT SHUTS DOWN AFTER 12 YEARS CAREER: NASA

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DENVER: NASA ordered its comet-hunting Stardust probe to burn its remaining fuel on Thursday, setting off a sequence that shut down the spacecraft after a 12-year career.
Stardust had finished its main mission in 2006, sending particles from a comet to Earth. It took on another job last month, photographing a crater on an asteroid.
It accomplished one last experiment on Thursday, firing its thrusters until its last hydrazine fuel was gone. The length of that burn, a little under 2 1/2 minutes, will tell engineers exactly how much fuel was left so they can see how accurate their calculations were.
That in turn will help with the design and operation of future probes.
Spacecraft don’t carry fuel gauges because they don’t work in zero gravity.
It will take a few days to analyze the fuel data, said Jim Neuman, a mission operations manager for Lockheed Martin, which built and operated the probe at its complex south of Denver.
Engineers gave Stardust the order to begin its final burn at 4-41 p.m. local time. Once the fuel was gone, the probe lost its ability to keep its antennas pointed toward Earth, and the control room lost radio contact at 5-33 p.m. local time.
“Like saying goodbye to a friend,” said Allan Cheuvront, the Stardust program manager for Lockheed Martin, who has worked on the probe since 1996, when it was in the detailed design stage.
He paused, fighting back tears.
“It’s been an amazing spacecraft. It’s done everything we asked, it’s done it perfectly.”
Since launching in 1999, Stardust has travelled 3.5 billion miles (5.63 billion kilometres). In 2004, it flew through a cloud of dust and gas enveloping the Wild 2 comet, capturing tiny samples. Those were sent back to Earth for study in 2006, via a parachute-equipped canister.
NASA then recycled Stardust, sending it past the Tempel 1 comet last month to photograph a crater left by a projectile launched by another space probe, Deep Impact.
If Stardust executed all of its final orders as expected, it put itself in “safe mode,” turning most of its systems off, about 1 1/2 hours after the last command was sent.
With no fuel, Stardust can’t keep its solar panels aimed at the sun, and once its batteries are drained it will shut down for good.
Stardust will be left in an orbit around the sun. Engineers project that in the next 100 years, Stardust won’t get any closer than 1.7 million miles (2.74 million kilometres) of Earth’s orbit or 13 million miles (20.9 million kilometres) of Mars’ orbit.

UK STUDENT VISA SYSTEM CHANGED

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   Tougher entry criteria, limits on work entitlements and the closure of the post-study route are among the latest changes to the UK student visa system announced on Tuesday.
UK Border Agency regional director Chris Dix on Wednesday said students going to the UK for a degree will no longer be allowed a two-year timeline to look for job opportunities after their course ends. This is one of the major changes to the UK immigration policy. The Tier-I (post-study work) route will be closed from April 2012.
Dix said so far students had free access to the labour market for two years after their course ended and it allowed them to do low-skilled jobs.
According to the new rules, only graduates with offers of skilled jobs from sponsoring employers will be able to stay on for work, provided the jobs match their skill-levels. Further, the salary offered by a company would have to be a minimum of £20,000/year. Dix added, “The firm has to be registered to accept overseas workers in the Tier-II point system.”
Overseas study specialist Amrit Sujan said, “The new rules are not likely to affect Indian students who go for the academic experience.” But a foreign university representative in India said the new rules may have a negative impact.
Also, the English language requirement has been changed to a higher level (from B1 to B2). This change will come into effect from April 6.

பயங்கர நிலநடுக்கம் - சுனாமி தாக்கியது : ஜப்பானில் பெரும் நாசம்.

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டோக்கியோ : ஜப்பானில் இன்று பயங்கர நில நடுக்கம் ஏற்பட்டது. தொடர்ந்து ஏற்பட்ட சுனாமி அலைகள் ஜப்பானில் பெரும் சேதத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியிருக்கிறது. இத‌னையடுத்து பசிபிக் கடலோர பகுதிகளில் சுனாமி எச்சரிக்கை விடப்பட்டுள்ளது. நிலநடுக்கம் காரணமாக டோக்கியோவை (250 கி.மீட்டர் தொலைவில் ) ஒட்டிய பகுதிகளில் பலர் வீடுகளை இழந்து வீதிகளில் தஞ்சம் புகுந்துள்ளனர்.


ஜப்பானின் வட கிழக்கு கடலோர பகுதிகளில் ஏற்பட்ட இந்த நிலநடுக்கம் இன்று ( ஜப்பான் நேரப்படி மதியம் 2. 48 மணி அளவில்) 8. 8 ரிக்டர் அளவாக பதிவாகியிருக்கிறது. இந்த நடுக்கம் காரணமாக நூற்றுக்கணக்கான வீடுகள் குலுங்கி தரைமட்டமாகின. சில இடங்களில் இடிந்த கட்டடங்கள் தீப்பற்றியும் எரிகிறது. எண்ணெய் கிணறுகள் தீப்பிடித்து எரிந்தன. மியாகி தீவு பகுதியில் ராட்சத அலை ( 13 அடி உயரத்தில் ) காரணமாக தண்ணீர் வீடுகளில் புகுந்து மூழ்கின. இதனால் விமான நிலையங்கள் மூடப்பட்டன. அணுசக்தி மையங்களில் எந்த வித கசிவும் இல்லை என அதிகாரிகள் கூறியுள்ளனர். புகுசிமா அணு மின் நிலையத்தில் குளிருட்டும் சாதனம் பழுதடைந்துள்ளதாகவும் அதிகாரிகள் கூறினார். இதனையடுத்து அங்கு அவசர நிலை பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும் கூறினார்.


இந்த நிலநடுக்கத்தை அடுத்து பசிபிக் கடலோர பகுதிகளில் சுனாமி எச்சரிக்கை விடப்பட்டுள்ளது. உயர்ந்த பட்ச எச்சரிக்கையுடன் இருக்குமாறு கேட்டுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.


சுமார் 6 மீட்டர் ( 20 அடி உயரத்திற்கு) ராட்சத அலை இருக்கும் என்றும் இதன் காரணமாக ஜப்பானில் மியாகி தீவின் கடலோர பகுதிகள் கடும் பாதிப்பை சந்திக்கும் என்றும் முன்னதாக விடப்பட்ட எச்சரிக்கையில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.


ஜப்பானில் இந்த ஒரு வார காலத்திற்குள் இது 2 வது பெரிய நிலநடுக்கம் ஆகும். இன்றைய நடுக்கம் - சுனாமியால் ஏற்பட்ட உயிர்ச்சேதம் குறித்த முழு விவரங்கள் இன்னும் வரப்படவில்லை. 30 பேர் இறந்து விட்டனர் என உறுதி செய்யப்பட்ட தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கிறது உயிர்ப்பலி அதிகம் இருக்கும் என அஞ்சப்படுகிறது.


ஜப்பானில் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள இந்த நிலநடுக்கம் காரணமாக போன், மின்சாரம் அனைத்தும் தடை பட்டு விட்டன. கடலோர பகுதிகளில் நூற்றுக்கணக்கான கார்கள் , வீடுகள் மிதந்து சென்ற வண்ணம் உள்ளது. 1923 டோக்கியோ அருகே காண்டோ பகுதியில் ஏற்பட்ட நில நடுக்கத்தில் ஒரு லட்சத்து 40 ஆயிரம் பேர் கொல்லப்பட்டனர் . கடந்த 13 ஆண்டு காலத்தில் இன்று நடந்த ‌பூகம்பம் பெரும் தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியிருக்கிறது.


ஜப்பான் பார்லி., யில்இருந்து அனைவரும் வெளியேறுமாறு கேட்டு கொள்ளப்பட்டு அப்புறப்படுத்தப்பட்டனர். அணு உலைகள் எவ்வித பாதிப்பும் ஏற்படவி்ல்‌லை.


அழிவை சந்திக்க அனைத்து மக்களும் இணைந்து செயலாற்ற வேண்டும் என ஜப்பான் பிரதமர் நாட்டுமக்களுக்கு வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்துள்ளார்.


இந்த பூகம்பத்தை அடுத்து ரஷ்யா, சிலி, பிஜூ , இந்தோனேசியா , தைவான், மெக்சிகோ, பெரு, ஆஸ்திரேலியா, நியூஸிலாந்து மற்றும் பிலிப்பைன்ஸ், அமெரிக்காவில் ஹூவாய் தீவு உள்பட 10 நாடுகளில் , கடலோர பகுதிகளில் சுனாமி எச்சரிக்கை விடப்பட்டுள்ளது.


இந்தியாவிற்கு சுனாமி எச்சரிக்கை இதுவரை எதுவும் விடுக்கப்படவில்லை. ஜப்பான் நடுக்க எதிரொலி இந்தியாவிற்கு இருக்காது என புவியியல் வல்லுனர்கள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

AUSTRALIA HOPES TO BEGIN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT TALKS WITH INDIA

AUSTRALIA HOPES TO BEGIN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT TALKS WITH INDIA!

CHENNAI: Australia is hopeful of commencing negotiations this year on a free trade agreement with India, according to Peter N. Varghese, Australian High Commissioner. Pointing out that the FTA proposal was based on a feasibility study carried out by both the governments, the High Commissioner told The Hindu on Monday that the report of the study was “very positive of the potential benefits of FTA.” The study envisaged benefits of the order of $40 billion to the gross domestic products of the two countries on the assumption of full liberalisation.
He said he was confident that India would go through the report before taking a decision. The issue was raised during the visit of External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to Australia in January this year. It was covered in detail when Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Crean visited India in May last year. His successor, Craig Emerson, discussed the topic with his Indian counterpart, Anand Sharma, in Mumbai in January this year, Mr Varghese recalled.
At present, Australia has entered into FTAs with Singapore, Thailand, the United States and New Zealand besides the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is holding negotiations with Japan, China and Indonesia.
On the scope for partnership between the two countries in developing an agenda for the East Asia Summit (EAS), Mr. Varghese referred to the visit of his country’s Ambassador for the ASEAN to New Delhi this week and said Australia would like to see an agenda which had components, covering economic and political cooperation and strategic issues. With the expanded EAS, an opportunity had come to build some substance in the regional agenda.
Talking of the Australian business community’s assessment of India, Mr. Varghese said the community had got a “positive view” of the potential of the Asian country and “India’s growth story is well understood.”
Even though he acknowledged that the detailed knowledge of India in his country’s corporate sector was “not profound,” he said the “convergence of economic interests is something that attracts a lot more attention.”
As for the Indian investment in Australia, the size of stock of the investment was $5 billion. A couple of Indian companies, including Adani, had made big investments in the coal sector.
Referring to plans for increasing diplomatic presence in India, the High Commissioner said that soon it would go up by 50 per cent compared to what it was about one and a half years ago. In Chennai, there used to be only one Australian official. “[By September] we will have five Australians, as part of the expansion plans. [At present, the Consulate-General has three Australians David Holly, Australia's Consul-General for South India, Michael James Carter, Consul (Commercial) and Michael Long, Consul]. In addition, we have opened 11 small trade offices across India.”
Pointing out that Chennai would be responsible for the south, he said the size of trade offices in Bangalore and Hyderabad was increased. A new office in Kochi was opened. “We see a lot of prospects of doing more in the south,” he said.
On the policy of Australia of not supplying uranium to non-NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty) signatories, he explained that this was not India-specific. Asked whether the issue of non-payment of dues to Australian firms for the Delhi Commonwealth Games was sorted out, his reply was: “not yet.”

விஜய் வந்ததும் கேக் வெட்டிக் கொண்டாட்டம்!

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ஷங்கர் இயக்கத்தில் விஜய் நடிக்கும் நண்பன் படத்தின் ஷூட்டிங் பரபரப்பாக நடந்து வருகிறது. ஆல்ரெடி படத்தின் முதல் கட்டப் படபிடிப்பை ஊட்டியில் முடித்துவிட்டார் ஷங்கர். விஜய் இல்லாத காட்சிகள் ஊட்டியில் படமாக்கப்பட்டது. இரண்டாவது கட்டப் படபிடிப்பு தேஹ்ராடடூனில் தொடங்கி உள்ளது.

வேலாயுதம் படத்தின் ஷுட்டிங்கை நிறுத்திவிட்டு நண்பன் படத்தின் ஷூட்டிங்கில் கலந்துக் கொண்டார் விஜய். விஜய் வந்த நாளே செட்டில் செம பார்ட்டியாம், ஏனென்றால் அன்றுதான் படத்தில் நடிக்கும் இன்னொரு நாயகன் ஸ்ரீகாந்துக்கு பிறந்தநாளாம். விஜய், ஜீவா, ஷங்கர் எல்லோரும் ஸ்ரீகாந்தை ஆர்ச்சரியப்படுத்தும் வகையில் கேக்வெட்டி கொண்டாடி உள்ளனர்.

தேஹ்ராடூனில் ஒரு கல்லூரியில் படபிடிப்பு நடந்து வருகிறது. இதில் படத்தின் முக்கியமான காட்சிகளை படமாக்கி வருகிறார் ஷங்கர். விஜய், ஜீவா, ஸ்ரீகாந்த் உட்பட நாயகி இலியானா, இலியானாவின் சகோதரியாக வரும் இன்னொரு நாயகி அனுயா, படத்தில் முக்கிய காத்தாப் பாத்திரத்தில் நடிக்கும் இயக்குனர் எஸ்.ஜே.சூர்யா, நடன இயக்குனர் ராகவா லாரன்ஸ் என ஸ்டார் கொண்டாட்டத்தை நடத்தி வருகிறார் ஷங்கர்.

ஹாரிஸ் ஜெயராஜின் இசையில் நான்கு பாடல்கள் மெட்டமைக்கப் பட்டுவிட்டதாம். கம்போசிங் வேலைகளை லண்டனில் முடித்து விட்டு சென்னை திரும்பியிருக்கிறார் ஹாரிஸ். இந்தி ’3 இடியட்ஸ்’சில் ’ஆள் இஸ் வேல்’ என்ற பாடல் ரொம்ப பிரபலம். அந்தப் பாடலை அப்படியே வைத்துக் கொள்ளலாம் என ஷங்கர் முடிவு செய்தார்.

ஆனால் எல்லா பாடல்களுமே புதுசாக இருந்தால் நன்றாக இருக்குமே என்று ஹாரிஸும் ஷங்கரும் பேசி முடிவெடுத்தார்களாம். ஹாரிஸின் மெலோடிக்கு நான் ரசிகன் என்று அடிக்கடி மேடைகளில் சொல்லும் விஜய் அவரின் இசையில் நடிப்பது இதுவே முதல் முறை.

Real Hero – Coimbatore City Police Commissioner

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City Police Commissioner C. Sylendra Babu has always spoken in various fora about the need to help and save road accident victims.

On Saturday, he led by example by rescuing R. Banumathy, a first year management student, who met with an accident in front of the PSG Public School on Avanashi Road at 10.15 a.m.

The girl, on her way to the PSG Institute of Technology on a two-wheeler, was hit by a motorcycle from behind. In the impact, she was thrown off the vehicle.

“As I was returning after attending a function at a school, I found a group of people on the middle of the road. I stopped the vehicle, moved forward and found that they were discussing what to do with the girl lying on the road with injuries,” he said.

Mr. Babu called up the 108 EMRI service and after waiting for a while, rushed the girl in his official vehicle to a nearby private hospital. He also informed the girl’s parents.

“I did not want to waste time as I realised she had had an epileptic attack. Blood was oozing out of her ears too.”

Ms. Banumathy’s father R. Ramasamy said he got a call around 10.30 a.m. from the Commissioner. “I was told that my eldest daughter had met with an accident and that she had been admitted to the PSG Hospitals.”

The hospital sources said that the girl had suffered minor bleeding in the brain and a fracture on her left shoulder. She was under intensive care and further course of action would be taken after a 24-hour observation, the sources added.

When contacted, Mr. Babu said none of the three involved in the accident – the girl as well as the rider and pillion rider of the motorcycle – had worn helmets. And those who were at the accident site were only talking among themselves and did not call for an ambulance.

Act immediately

He said people at accident sites should immediately call emergency services and not waste time since every minute would prove crucial to the accident victims.

The police have registered a case against the motorists on charges of rash and negligent driving.

Educational institutions reopens in Kashmir Valley today

Educational institutions reopens in Kashmir Valley today!

Kashmir: Despite severe cold, thousands of students today attended their classes in the Kashmir Valley, where the educational institutions reopened after winter vacations. However, a number of private institutions, including missionary schools, have announced to reopen from March 3 in view of holiday tomorrow on account of Maha Shivratri.

Holding school bags and water bottles in their hands, students from class nursery to 10th were seen marching towards their respective schools despite severe cold following fresh snowfall on upper reaches and rains in plains.

Parents alleged that school management, particularly private institutions, has failed to make any heating arrangment despite charging high fees from the students. Similar scenes were also witnessed in government institutions where there was also no heating arrangement.

The educational institutions from class 8th to 12th were closed from January 1 following heavy snowfall in the Valley. Earlier, the government had decided to keep these institutions open during winter months to cover the time lost during about four month summer turmoil in the Valley.

The government had sanctioned additional funds to schools for making heating and other arrangements for the students during winter months. The decision was hailed by the students belonging to lower and middle classes who could not afford to pay fees of private coaching centres.

But the government’s decision to keep the schools open was criticised by the students of private institutions, particularly missionary schools, that took to streets demanding winter vacation.

Finally government succumbed to pressure and announced winter vacation from January 1 till today. However, schools up to middle classes were closed from December 15 last year.

Bangl team: UDRS can make batsmen nervous

Bangl team: UDRS can make batsmen nervous!

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni might loathe it but Bangladesh players feel the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) comes in handy to at least make batsmen nervous even if the appeal is turned down.

“You can always make the batsman nervous. In the Ireland game, I had an unsuccessful review against Kevin O’Brien. But I am sure it made him nervous,” seamer Shafiul Islam said.

Opener Tamim Iqbal said batsmen should be careful while appealing.

“These reviews are very important for us. You have only two reviews in an innings, you can’t afford to waste them,” Tamim said.

“Batsmen should first discuss with the non-striker before asking for a review. Only if they are sure the ball has touched the bat should they review a leg-before on their own,” he added.

Dhoni has been a staunch critic of the system insisting that it is not foolproof. His skepticism for the system gained further ground when the UDRS led to Ian Bell escaping a certain LBW dismissal in the thrilling tie against England in in the ongoing World Cup.

“The adulteration of technology with human thinking meant we didn’t get that (Bell’s) wicket. If Hawk-Eye says it’s good and going to hit middle stump, I see no reason why the distance matters,” Dhoni had stated.