Rajasthan govt cancels undergraduate & postgraduate exams in wake of Coronavirus crisis

Rajasthan Government on Saturday cancelled all undergraduate and postgraduate exams for all the universities, colleges, technical institutes in view of coronavirus outbreak in the state. Following a meeting with the concerned authorities, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot declared the cancellation of all UP and PG exams for the current academic year.

All the students will be promoted to the next class without examinations. The scores of students will be assessed on the basis of guidelines that will be issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). The Rajasthan government is yet to release an official statement along with guidelines.

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As per the official website of the university, the post-graduate final-year exams were expected to be conducted on July 15 to August 18, 2020, while exams for under-graduate programs were about to commence on July 15 and conclude on September 7, 2020.

Earlier, the Supreme Court refused a petition filed by parents seeking to cancel pending exams of class 10 and 12, saying that states have managed to conduct other exams quite well while maintaining safety protocols.

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Coronavirus crisis in Rajasthan

Rajasthan reported 480 infections, its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases so far, on Saturday, taking the virus count to 19,532 in the state, according to an official report. Seven more people died due to the infection in the state, raising the death toll to 447, the report said. 

While three new deaths were reported from Dholpur, one each were reported from Bharatpur, Jhunjhunu and Sikar. A novel coronavirus patient from another state also died. With this, the number of fatalities due to the coronavirus in the state has reached to 447. A maximum of 54 coronavirus cases were reported from Alwar on Saturday, followed by 46 in Bikaner, 43 in Barmer, 42 in Jalore, 40 in Jaipur, 39 in Dholpur and 30 in Bharatpur.

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Jodhpur reported 29 fresh cases, Nagaur (26), Pali (22), Udaipur (20), Sikar (16), Kota (14), Dungarpur (13), Jhunjhunu (11), Sirohi (8), Ajmer (7), Dausa (4), Karauli (3), Rajsamand and Tonk (2 each), and one each in Bhilwara, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Sawaimadhopur. Four patients from other states and one BSF personnel were also tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the report.

Of the total COVID-19 cases, 15,640 have recovered and 15,325 of them have been discharged from hospitals. The number of active coronavirus cases in the state now stands at 3,445.

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