Mangaluru: A fee payment issue faced by a section of students using the Unified University College Management System (UUCMS) has been resolved, according to the authorities of P.A. First Grade College. The matter, which affected 27 out of 768 students from the institution, had caused confusion and allegations, prompting the college to issue a clarification.
The UUCMS, introduced in 2021 by the Government of Karnataka, requires students to pay their examination fees directly through the portal. Previously, students paid fees to their respective colleges, which then transferred the amount to the university. While most students successfully processed their fees through UUCMS, the payment status for 27 students showed as "INITIATED," even though the amount was deducted from their bank accounts. The issue, however, was not isolated, reportedly impacting around 3,000 students across various institutions affiliated with Mangalore University, read the release.
It further stated that following complaints, the university circulated a Google form to gather details of affected students. Subsequently, during an online meeting on November 28, 2024, the university directed colleges to ask students to pay their fees again to ensure their data would be reflected in the portal for hall ticket generation. Failure to do so would prevent them from appearing in the exam. The directive, communicated to the students, led to dissatisfaction among them, with some expressing resistance to paying the fees twice. A few parents and students sought clarification from the college, which explained that the issue was from the UUCMS system by the Government of Karnataka and not the college.
However, one second-year B.Sc. student, Ayisha Afna, filed a police complaint at Konaje station, alleging illegal fee demands by the college. Following the complaint, students and parents met with the Vice Chancellor of Mangalore University, seeking resolution. The college, meanwhile, continued to engage with university authorities and the UUCMS team to address the issue.
According to the statement, on December 7, 2024, the university authorities informed the college that the issue had been resolved. College staff were directed to submit the necessary student details to the university, ensuring that all students, including those who had filed complaints, would receive their hall tickets. The college principal contacted the complainant's father to inform them of the resolution and reiterated the same during a meeting at the university premises.
Despite the resolution, a press conference held by Aysha Afna, Reshna Misiriya, Parent Abdul Khader and advocate Saheed Badduron December 9, 2024, reportedly alleged that the college and university authorities were pressuring students to withdraw the complaint and denying hall tickets.
The college principal has categorically denied these allegations, asserting that the matter was resolved by the university on December 7, 2024. It was clarified that hall tickets could only be generated from December 9, 2024, as per the university's update.
The college has assured students that their hall tickets will be distributed on the day of the examination to save them unnecessary travel.
Additionally, the college authorities have urged the public to disregard baseless allegations.
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Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).