Ramakrishna Mission cancels annual event due to pandemic
The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission has cancelled its foundation day programme at Belur Math on April 30 because of the COVID pandemic. Monks of the order said it was the first time in the 123-year-old history of the Math and Mission that the foundation day event had to be called off. Hundreds of devotees assemble on the Math premises on the foundation day. “The foundation day used to be celebrated at Balaram Mandir in Bagbazar. The venue was later shifted to Belur Math,” said Swami Suvirananda, general secretary of Ramakrishna Math.
IIM-Kolkata launches new course
IIM-Kolkata launched a one-year full-time residential MBA for its 14th batch on April 20, 2020, as per its schedule which was planned several months in advance. IIM-Kolkata director Anju Seth flagged off the programme followed by an address by institute chairperson Manju Jaiswal. The institute demonstrated acute planning to ensure that learning of students is not compromised. The institute has shown resilience and adaptability by switching to the digital delivery of the course content. The professors are using ‘beyond-the-backboard’ methods to ensure students do not miss out on active class participation.
HS answer scripts to be checked finally
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education will start the process of evaluation of answer scripts of the school-leaving examinations from May 4. The answer scripts are kept at various police stations, railway stations and treasury offices. The Council will start relocating the scripts its regional offices from May 4 and hand them to head examiners by June 10. The head examiners will distribute them to examiners from their homes in small batches. Each batch will consist of not more than five examiners.
Seeking help of universities
The West Bengal government requested state-aided universities and a central research of institute in Bengal to lend equipment for setting up more testing laboratories. The vice-chancellors of Calcutta, Jadavpur and Burdwan universities were contacted to inquire about Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines, along with other equipment. The state government enquired, if it would be possible for the universities to provide RT-PCR machines “on loan”.
pranab mondal
Our correspondent in West Bengal
pranabm@newindianexpress.com