Forest squad arrests three sandalwood smugglers
The Hindu
Vehicles impounded with 50 kg of wood
A Forest Department squad from the Thamarassery range office on Sunday arrested three persons who were allegedly involved in a series of sandalwood smuggling cases.
The suspects, K. Abdurahiman, 35, T. Basheer, 43, and K. Abdulla, 67, were nabbed while they were trying to cart off the illegally purchased sandalwood in two separate vehicles. The vehicles were impounded along with 50 kg of sandalwood.
According to Forest officials, the three were suspected of involvement in a series of sandalwood theft cases under investigation in the Malabar region. They mainly targeted ripened trees nurtured by local landholders in private plantations.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.