Thiruvananthapuram Mar 23 PTI Private buses in Kerala would not run indefinitely from March 24 as operators have decided to go on a strike to demand increase in ticket fare in the wake of rising fuel prices The president of Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation Sathyan told PTI that a notice regarding the proposed strike was given to the government over two weeks ago and till date no one has engaged in discussions on the issue Regarding State Transport Minister Antony Rajus statement that he hoped the bus owners would not go on strike keeping in view the interest of the students whose exams are coming and classes on Sathyan said such a statement should not have been made He said the Transport Minister and the State government were informed in November last year about the demands of the bus owners but no steps were taken since He further said State government must ensure no hardship to the students and the onus was not on the bus owners The owners have demanded a hike in the fare for the public and also in the concessional fare for students Besides the operators have sought an increase in the kilometre charge from the present 90 paise to Rs 110 per km and waiver of road tax for the COVID-19 pandemic period PTI HMP NVG NVG

New Delhi Feb 21 PTI Private schools in Delhi on Monday released the second list for admission to entry-level classes -- nursery KG and class-1 The process for nursery admissions in over 1800 schools in the national capital began on December 15 last year bringing respite for anxious parents who have been waiting for the notification for over two months The schools had put out their first list on February 4 using the point-based criteria announced by them earlier The students who have been shortlisted in the second list have to take admission between February 22 to 28 a senior official of the Directorate of Education DoE said All private unaided recognised schools were directed that they shall develop and adopt criteria for admission which shall be fair reasonable well-defined equitable non-discriminatory unambiguous and transparent he said The official said The subsequent list for admission if any will be released on March 15 The entire admission process will conclude on March 31 The DoE has also directed that the number of seats at the entry-level shall not be less than the highest number of seats in entry-level classes during the last three academic years -- 2019-20 2020-21 and 2021-22 According to norms all private unaided recognised schools admitting children in pre-school pre-primary and class-l level shall reserve 25 per cent seats for EWS or DG category students and children with disability A monitoring committee has been constituted in each district under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director District concerned regarding the admission process The deputy director has been asked to ensure that each private school uploads the criteria and its points on the online module and further ensure that the school shall not adopt those criteria which were abolished by the department and upheld by the Delhi High Court PTI GJS GJS AQS AQS

Jaipur Sep 29 PTI Private sector AU Small Finance Bank on Wednesday signed a pact with the National Bank for Rural and Development NABARD to boost ongoing rural development initiatives in Rajasthan According to a statement issued by the bank here the Memorandum of Understanding MoU was signed in the presence of NABARD Chairman G R Chintala Jaideep Srivastava Chief General Manager Rajasthan and Sanjay Agarwal Managing Director AU Small Finance Bank The memorandum envisages a joint initiative to benefit farmers Farmer Producer Organisations FPOs Self Help Groups SHGs rural artisans agri-entrepreneurs and agri-startups in the state This MoU between NABARD and AU Bank will provide institutional credit support to the ongoing development schemes in the state which will lead to further prosperity in the rural areas This tie-up will give a boost to the process of lending in the state especially in areas related to agriculture and rural development Agarwal said PTI AG ABM ABM