Udupi: Collision of motorbikes claims life of 16-year-old PU student

Bengaluru, May 3: Undergraduate and postgraduate students skipping online classes held by their universities run the risk of being debarred from writing their exams. 

State universities, which are monitoring the attendance of online classes, are asking their affiliate colleges to send the monthly online attendance details and this would reflect in their regular attendance. This would apply to those studying professional courses like medicine and engineering. 

State medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar has asked all medical colleges to regularly send attendance details to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

RGUHS vice-chancellor Dr Sachidanand confirmed to DH that the varsity is indeed monitoring the attendance of students. “Online classes are equal to classroom teaching. (Such method of conducting classes) are necessary during the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown,” he said.

According to the Supreme Court directions, students should have 75% attendance to be eligible to appear for the final exams. There could be relaxations if they have health issues. If students are bunking online classes, it would reflect on their minimum attendance necessary to appear for the exams, the vice-chancellors of state-run varsities said.

Bangalore University vice-chancellor Prof K R Venugopal said most of the students are attending online classes and teachers are messaging the parents of those who are irregular. “(Of course) if they fall short of the minimum attendance, they won’t be allowed to appear for the exams,” he said.

Bengaluru North University vice-chancellor Prof T D Kemparaju said the administration has asked its teachers to record details of students attending online classes and update the university.

Mixed signals 

Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday issued guidelines directing all universities to treat the lockdown period as “deemed as attended” for students and research scholars. Experts pointed out that the order would prompt students not to take the online classes seriously.

“Arrangements have been made at the state varsities to make students attend online classes compulsorily and students are also serious about it. Now, because of the UGC guidelines, they may bunk classes,” said the vice-chancellor of a state-run university.

Bengaluru, Mar 1: Bengaluru Police has rescued six women and arrested two people after a raid on a spa, allegedly operating illegally, in the city's HSR layout area.

"Of the women rescued three are from Thailand and the other three are from North-Eastern states," said a statement from the Central Crime Branch's (CCB) Women Protection Wing.

The raid was carried out on Saturday night and the police have arrested two people, while the owner of the spa is absconding.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Peter Sunawar and Rajkumar Radhakrishna Mishra. Further investigation is underway in the case.

Bengaluru, Mar 15: The week-long ban imposed by the Karnataka Government from Saturday is yet to get a total response in the State to fight against the spread of killer disease Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The ban has witnessed a considerable reduction in the travelling public by Bus and train. Bus terminal and Railway stations wore desert look or only a very few public travelling. KSRTC, which was maintaining service for every 10 minutes once between the State Capital and to City of Palaces, was forced to cancel most of the service due to very little patronage. 

"We were left with no option but to cancel the fleet since there are no passengers," sources at the KSRTC Bus terminal told media persons.