Muslims of Mangaluru condemn offensive Facebook post against Ananth Kumar

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Eminent theatre personality and renowned vocalist Dr Subhadramma Mansur who had won many awards including the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava award died on Wednesday night, according to her family.

She was 81 and is survived by two sons and a daughter.

The family said she developed severe respiratory problems last night following which she was rushed to hospital, but died on the way.

Condoling her death, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said Dr Mansur had contributed to the theatre world for five decades. He also recalled her devotion to music as an eminent vocalist.

"I pray for her soul to rest in peace and strength to the family to bear the irreparable loss," the Chief Minister said in his message posted on Twitter.

The veteran theatre personality from Ballari earned recognition for her roles in mythology-based dramas.

Connoisseurs of stage performances recall her memorable portrayal of Draupadi, a character from the Mahabharata.

Her depiction of Hemareddy Mallamma left a deep imprint on the audience.

Many awards were bestowed on her including the Rajyotsava Award, Nataka Akademi and Gubbi Veeranna Award and an honorary doctorate by the Srikrishna Devaraya University

New Delhi, Jun 16: The class 10 and 12 students of the CICSE board can choose not to appear for pending board exams and be marked as per their performance in pre-board exams or internal assessment, according to top officials.

The board had also submitted the proposal before the Bombay High Court on Monday in response to a petition filed by a parent seeking directions to the authorities to cancel exams in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases.

According to Gerry Arathoon, Chief Executive and Secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the students will have to communicate their option to their respective schools by June 22.

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The exams which were postponed due to the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, are now scheduled to be conducted from July 1 to 14. However, several parents have been demanding the exams be scrapped.

"The students will be given two options---they either appear for the rescheduled exams or choose to have their results based on their performance in the pre-board exams or internal assessment. The option will be available only for the pending exams, the result of the subjects for which exams were already conducted, will be calculated as per performance in the exam only," Arathoon said.

The board also clarified that the students will not be entitled to make a subject-wise choice between the two options for pending exams.

Unlike the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which will only be conducting exams in 29 subjects crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions, the CISCE will be conducting all pending exams.

The pending CBSE exams are scheduled from July 1 to 15. The schedule for the board exams has been decided in order to ensure that they are completed before competitive examinations. While the engineering entrance exam JEE-Mains is scheduled to be held from July 18 to 23, the medical entrance exam NEET is scheduled for July 26.

While the CBSE has given the option to not appear for pending board exams for differently-abled students, it has canceled the examinations for its around 250 schools situated abroad and has adopted the criteria of awarding marks on the basis of either practical exams conducted or the internal assessment marks.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on June 16

A group of parents has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the CBSE to declare results on the basis of tests already conducted, and calculate the total on an average basis with internal assessment marks of the remaining subjects.

Universities and schools across the country have been shut since March 16, when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shut down as part of measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. A nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day.

While the government has eased several restrictions, schools and colleges continue to remain closed.

According to Home Ministry guidelines, there will be no exam centres in containment zones.

"Wearing of face masks by teachers, staff and students will be mandatory. There shall be provisions of thermal screening and sanitiser at the centres and social distancing rules will have to be followed at exam centres. Special buses may be arranged by states and UTs for transportation of students to exam centres," the Home Ministry has said.

Bengaluru, Mar 28: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar on Saturday appealed to the authorities to arrange transport for migrant workers, stating that it is appalling to see their plight as they are walking hundreds of kilometres to their villages amid COVID-19 lockdown.
"Appalling to see the plight of poor migrant workers who are walking hundreds of kms to their villages. We cannot abandon our citizens, especially children, and put them at risk. Appealing to the authorities to arrange transport. Please take sufficient safety precautions as well," Shivakumar tweeted.
Hundreds of people, comprising mostly of migrant workers and their families, gathered at the Lal Kua in Uttar Pradesh from Delhi, Gurugram and other places, to take buses to their respective destinations amid the lockdown.
While the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had imposed a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Uttar Pradesh administration had decided to ply these buses to help thousands of migrant workers who were stuck in the national capital and had started returning on foot to their native places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, among others.