Political, cultural events go on without any compunction
The Hindu
Despite Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra restricting social, political, religious and cultural events for a week from August 1 to prevent the surge of COVID-19 in the district, some events went on sm
Despite Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra restricting social, political, religious and cultural events for a week from August 1 to prevent the surge of COVID-19 in the district, some events went on smoothly in Mangaluru and Bantwal on Sunday. The Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee (DKDCC) organised in its auditorium the swearing-in ceremony of Vishwas Das as president of DKDCC’s Backward Classes unit. “This event was planned a fortnight ago and guests came from Bengaluru. As the order (of the Deputy Commissioner) came late last night, we could not do any changes and we went ahead with the event,” DKDCC president and MLC K. Harish Kumar told reporters. He added that the party will not hold any more events till the order is in force.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.