Citing UGC norms, SC says 2 year BA invalid

All courses offered by Open Universities in India will have to conform to University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, while declaring a two-year bachelors’ degree invalid. The judgment will affect lakhs of students in Open Universities and distance education programmes across India.
A Bench headed by Justice S.B. Sinha declared as invalid the Masters’ degree of a Tamil Nadu man who completed his course 27 years ago. The Bench said N. Ramesh’s M.A. obtained through the Open University system from Annamalai University was not valid because his B.A. was not a three year course, as per UGC norms.
“The distinction between a formal system and informal system is in the mode and manner in which education is imparted ... The provisions of the UGC Act are binding on all Universities, whether conventional or open,” the court said.
With this judgment, all Open Universities would not have to meet the standard equivalent to a regular university. It would now mean a graduate course cannot be less than three years and the appointment of faculty has to be as per the UGC norms.
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Flight operations disrupted in Mangaluru due to heavy rains. Details here
MIA sources here said both the flights landed in Bengaluru and took off for Mangaluru later. The flight from Dubai was scheduled to land in Mangaluru at 4.40 am, but was diverted to Bengaluru and landed in Mangaluru only at 8.49 am. The flight from Dammam was scheduled to land in Mangaluru at 5.05 am. The Bahrain-Kannur-Mangaluru plane will also be delayed, the sources said. The Mangaluru to Dubai flight was also delayed.
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Cops wade through knee-deep water inside police station
Mumbai: The men in uniform, who are expected to come to the rescue of people stuck in rain, are themselves struggling to get work done at this police station. The officers attached to the Nehru Nagar police station in Kurla are wading through knee-deep water which has entered the premises on Tuesday. Another constable echoed a similar opinion. Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station in Kurla also witnessed waterlogging on Tuesday.
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Six-year-old boy dead after falling in lift shaft filled with water in Dombivli
A six-year-old boy died after falling into a six-foot deep lift shaft filled with water at an under-construction building in Dombivli on Tuesday afternoon. The boy, Vedant Jadhav, was seen playing near the accident site and the boy's family began looking for him when he did not return. Vedant was a resident of Vighnaharta building in Sangarli village of Dombivli. His grandparents took care of him while his father worked as a sanitation worker.
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Uttarakhand: Irregularities in Mahakumbh food bills, transport corp orders probe
The Uttarakhand Transport Corporation has ordered a probe after finding irregularities in the food bills of bus drivers and conductors at a temporary bus station set up during the Mahakumbh, officials said on Tuesday. The managing director of the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, Rohit Meena has taken cognizance of the matter directing subordinate officials to look into the matter. Later a payment was done for 1,164 people for an amount of ₹1.09 lakh.
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BJP could sense growing discontent among Sena MLAs: Fadnavis
NAGPUR The newly-inducted deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis said that Fadnavis joined the Eknath Shinde-led government as the 'number two' to honour the wishes of his party (Bharatiya Janata Party). Fadnavis claimed that it was BJP national chief JP Nadda who first tried to convince him to join the ministry. When prime minister Narendra Modi himself called him, as a “party loyalist, I accepted the offer.”