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Saturday, October 20, 2018

Body Of 18-Year-Old IIT Aspirant Found Floating In Canal In Rajasthan - NDTV


Body Of 18-Year-Old IIT Aspirant Found Floating In Canal In Rajasthan

Sidharth Pal, a class 11 student, had gone missing from his hostel on Saturday, following which the hostel caretaker had lodged a "missing person" report, the police said.
Cities | Press Trust of India | Updated: October 17, 2018 22:37 IST

Sidharth Pal had spoken to his father last on Saturday evening, police said (Representational)

KOTA: The body of an 18-year-old IIT aspirant, missing from his coaching centre's hostel for the last four days, was found floating in a canal at Degod town, the police said on Wednesday.

The body of Sidharth Pal, hailing from Dhanbad district in Jharkhand, was found floating in the canal on Tuesday, said Degod police station in-charge Narayan Singh Hada.
Son of Pawan Chand Pal, a resident of Aamtal police station area in Dhanbad district, Pal had been preparing for the IIT entrance test, said Mr Hada.

He had been taking coaching at an institute in Kota since April this year and stayed at a private hostel in Vigyan Nagar, he said.

Vigyan Nagar police station SHO Neeraj Gupta said Sidharth Pal, a class 11 student, had gone missing from his hostel on Saturday, following which the hostel caretaker had lodged a "missing person" report.

The police had tried to trace his whereabouts, but in vain, Mr Gupta said, adding  Sidharth Pal was said to be "not regular" in attending classes and was "not performing well in tests" either.
Sidharth Pal had spoken to his father last on Saturday evening after which his mobile had gone off, the SHO said, adding the youth's father told him on phone that his son seemed depressed when he spoke to him.
The study stress and peers' pressure appear to have driven the youth to take the extreme step, Mr Gupta said, adding, no suicide note of the deceased was recovered.

He said the youth's body has been placed in the MBS Hospital mortuary for post-mortem, which would be carried out after the arrival of his family members from Jharkhand.

Body of Missing 18-Year-Old IIT Aspirant Found Floating In Canal In Rajasthan

Body of Missing 18-Year-Old IIT Aspirant Found Floating In Canal In Rajasthan

Sidharth Pal, from Dhanbad district in Jharkhand, had been undergoing coaching at an institute in Kota since April this year and stayed at a private hostel.


PTIUpdated:October 17, 2018, 11:37 PM IST

Kota: The body of an 18-year-old IIT aspirant, missing from his coaching centre's hostel for the last four days, was found floating in a canal at Degod town on Tuesday, said Degod police station in-charge Narayan Singh Hada.

Sidharth Pal, from Dhanbad district in Jharkhand, had been undergoing coaching at an institute in Kota since April this year and stayed at a private hostel in Vigyan Nagar. 




Son of Pawan Chand Pal, a resident of Aamtal police station area in Dhanbad district, Pal had been preparing for the IIT entrance test, said Hada.


Vigyan Nagar police station SHO Neeraj Gupta said Pal, a class 11 student, had gone missing from his hostel on Saturday, following which the hostel caretaker had lodged a "missing person" report. The police had tried to trace his whereabouts, but in vain, Gupta said, adding Pal was said to be "not regular" in attending classes and was "not performing well in tests" either.


Pal had spoken to his father last on Saturday evening after which his mobile had gone off, the SHO said, adding the youth's father told him on phone that his son seemed depressed when he spoke to him. 

The study stress and peers' pressure appears to have driven the youth to take the extreme step, Gupta said, adding, no suicide note has been recovered.

He said the youth's body has been placed in the MBS Hospital mortuary for post mortem, which would be carried out after the arrival of his family members from Jharkhand. 

RIP Shankar: Students, colleagues remember IAS academy founder- News Minute



"If I had succeeded, only I would have become an IAS officer. It is because I failed that I am able to create so many IAS and IPS officers," Shankar had famously said eight years ago.


A humble man in a white kurta paired with a ready smile, laidback attitude and unlimited knowledge. That is how students remember Shankar Devarajan, founder and CEO of Shankar IAS Academy, a popular civil services coaching institute in Tamil Nadu.

"He would always walk into class 15 minutes late with a loud 'Friendsss...' everyday! He would then wrap up the session early and tell us to discuss amongst ourselves. But we just wouldn't want him to stop teaching," says 28-year-old Soodhan Kannan, a student from the 2016 batch who is now working in the postal department. "Shankar sir taught us geography and once he starts teaching, you were just completely mesmerised," he adds.  


Thousands of grieving students like Soodhan had gathered outside the Academy's first ever centre in Anna Nagar on Friday, and the crowds were only growing as the shocking news of 45-year-old Shankar’s suicide spread through messages, emails and through social media.

The story of Shankar IAS Academy
Until Thursday, Shankar was training close to 300 students a year to pursue civil services. His academy, according to former IAS and IPS officers, was one of the finest institutions in south India. He began with a small group of 35 students in 2004 in Anna Nagar and in the 14 years that followed, he had expanded to Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Salem and Madurai. People all over India aspiring to become Indian Administrative Services, Indian Police Services and other elite bureaucratic service officers, were making a beeline to his academy for coaching.
But Shankar himself never cracked the IAS examinations. In fact he exhausted all his attempts.

In a column he wrote for Vikatan eight years ago, Shankar explains that he came from an impoverished home in Krishnagiri district. His father worked in a wine shop and while he managed to finish his masters, pressure to earn for the family grew as he attempted the civil services examination. He wrote the exam four times – in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

"I failed every time. And when the situation came to take a job, I decide I will use the experience I got from these failures to teach aspiring students. That is how it began," he wrote.

As the academy grew, word of its students’ success stories were everywhere and he brought in some of the best staff and guest lecturers to teach and motivate aspirants.

"He was more than a teacher to those students. He was a guide whom they could freely approach and talk to," says MLA Natraj, former IPS officer and DGP of prisons. "I used to address students there and have interacted with Shankar. He was a soft spoken and knowledgeable man," he said.

According to Balaji Manohar, Assistant commissioner in the GST department and a former student of the academy, the entire country waited for Shankar to release his answer key after the IAS prelims every year.

"All aspirants will check it to see how much they are likely to score. He would even predict the cut off," says the officer, who says he owes his entire success to Shankar.

Balaji was already 31, when he left America to settle back in India. He went to Shankar in 2012 and requested to be coached by him.

"Perhaps he saw himself in me. I had very few chances left but he always gave me hope. During the prelims, he told me to study the basics and be strong with that and told me to leave the current affairs part for the mains. He was absolutely spot on. The pattern of both papers was just as he predicted," says Balaji.

Former diplomat TP Sreenivasan who took classes at the academy tells TNM, "I have known him for over four years and he was so reserved. I used to teach international relations and I have seen him giving personal attention to every student there. His strength was that he did a lot of research. We used to use his notes to teach students.”

And despite all the work he put in, students say that he never forced them to study all the time.

"In fact, he would tell us that we should have a passion too, one that we follow outside of the IAS preparation," he explains.
And what was Shankar's passion? Cinema. A path he could never follow.

Love for acting
27-year-old Preethi Yogasundaram, an IT employee who is preparing for the civil service examinations, says that Shankar could mimic actors well.

"It was the last day of class for the 2015 batch and sir wanted to keep it light. He began to mimic actors," she recalls with delight. "This quiet man suddenly became so different. He acted out Sivaji Ganesan and other actors. But what I remember the most is his Jim Carrey impression. He acted like him from The Mask. The way he contorted his face, his walk and how he spoke. It was all perfect. I think he really wanted to be an actor," she says.

Preethi's guess is not far off. After completing his masters in Agriculture, Shankar came to Chennai to enter the cinema field. He spent a year and a half attempting to follow his passion but a chance in movies never came.

But Shankar doesn't mention any regrets about his decision in his column in Vikatan. In fact, he talks about his wife (girlfriend then), Vaishnavi, who supported him financially through his struggle.

"At home, the poverty was crushing. My family said, 'At least join a job where you get Rs 1000.' On the other side, Vaishnavi wanted to get married. I couldn't do both. Vaishnavi, who understood my problem, came to Delhi with me, took up a job and helped me study," he says in the column.


Later on, as Shankar's academy grew, it was his turn to support his wife as she pursued a PhD in IIT.

More than a teacher
Aspirants, alumni and officers who have emerged from Shankar's academy term his death a huge loss.

"His patience, how he treated all his students and readiness to clear doubts at any time. Nobody else can be that way,” Soodhan says.

MLA Natraj points out that every batch had a diverse bunch of students. "So many of them were from the backward communities and Shankar really helped them reach their potential," he recalls.

For Balaji, it was the way Shankar bounced out from failures that will remain inspiring.

"He turned his failures into a success story. He struggled a lot to get where he was and nothing could stop him. He never showed or told us about any problems. He was always smiling," he says.

Eight years ago, talking about his own failures, Shankar had said, "So many people who studied with me and studied under me, have become big officials now. When I see them, I feel pride and a tinge of jealousy. But if I had succeeded, I would have just become an IAS officer. It is because I failed that I am able to create so many IAS and IPS officers. It’s on the stairs of my failure, that so many climb to success."



Under Pressure Due to 'Low Attendance', IIT Madras Student Commits Suicide-News18


Shahul Kornath, from Malappuram in Kerala, was pursuing his B Tech-M Tech (dual degree) Naval architecture programme, police said.
PTIUpdated:September 22, 2018, 8:54 PM IST



Chennai: A final year student of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras allegedly committed suicide on Saturday by hanging from the ceiling of his room, police said.

Shahul Kornath (23), from Malappuram in Kerala, was pursuing his B Tech-M Tech (dual degree) Naval architecture programme, police and the institute administration said.

No suicide note was found from his room, police added.

However, they suspected that he could have been under "some kind of pressure due to low attendance", but added that a detailed probe was on.

Meanwhile, the institute mourned the student's death as an "irreparable loss".

"This is indeed an irreparable loss to not just the institute and the family, but society as a whole. May his soul rest in peace," it said in a statement, adding that it was cooperating with the authorities on the matter.

National Institute of Design finds a 'dost' for its students' mental, emotional well being - DNA


National Institute of Design finds a 'dost' for its students' mental, emotional well being


Depression Picture for representational purpose , Thinkstock

WRITTEN BY

Tanushree Bhatia Updated: Oct 11, 2018, 06:05 AM IST

After IIT-Madras, National Institute of Design, becomes the second educational institution to make provisions for its students to deal with stress and anxiety and open up to counsellors.

Four year old start up YourDost, is an emotional online platform that offers counselling services round the clock, while keeping their identity of the users anonymous.

The institute has bought the services of YourDost so that the students can avail it for free.

YourDost was founded by Richa Singh, a graduate of IIT-Guwahati, after one of her batch mates committed suicide due to academic pressure. She had realised then the need to have someone to speak to, which can even help save lives. The platform allows instant access to users to share their problems through an online interface. A team of over 75 experts cater to the needs of the users.

Pradyumna Vyas, Director, NID, said, "While in today's world, technology has made connections easier, loneliness on other hand has also increased. These days, students go through a lot of pressure, career issues, anxiety, burden of expectation, etc. The pressure eventually reaches a level where they need to share and open up, to feel light and be guided on the right track. Hence, we thought of tying up with a professional body to ensure their mental and emotional well being.

While we can appoint counsellors on campus, it becomes difficult to avail their services 24x7. That apart, anonymity helps, as we have seen several times that students are less enthusiastic about turning up in person." This platform will deal with both these issues.

"The facility can be availed by students, faculty and entire NID community across all campuses," added Vyas.

Commenting on the initiative, an ex-student of Strategic Media Design at NID, Gandhinagar, said, "The initiative will be beneficial to students who often grapple with academic pressure and financial troubles. However, I feel that sharing things with a counseller in person helps build trust and hence it becomes easier to pour ones heart out. So I am not very sure about how much a will be willing to student share on an online platform."

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Where is the suicide prevention strategy? - Indian Express


Where is the suicide prevention strategy?


Death by suicide is a complex act driven by multiple factors.





Published: 01st October 2018 04:00 AM


Death by suicide is a complex act driven by multiple factors. Often, reporting on suicide tends to simplify these factors into one single event—exam failure, debt, job loss. Neither can such acts be looked at as purely a mental health issue. The reality is that a combination of issues, which may include mental illness, can trigger one towards the act. The response to this, therefore, must acknowledge complexities and look to prevent such deaths by adopting what experts have called a multi-sectoral approach.

Recently a youth in IIT-Madras allegedly died by suicide. The response from the institution highlighted the gaps in care in what is acknowledged to be a stressful environment. ‘Help is available, but he didn’t seek it,’ was pointed out. 

Also recently, an actress who attempted suicide was booked under Section 309 of the IPC, despite it having been virtually decriminalised by the new Mental Health Act which came into force in July.

This is evidence of the lack of understanding about mental health, distress and suicide. This also shows that merely passing a progressive law does not by itself ensure that society and its institutions fall in line overnight. The new law mandates that the country must frame a suicide prevention strategy. This strategy must tackle the issue from all angles—finding ways to ensure help reaches those who are not in a position to reach it, policy interventions, limiting access to pesticides, creating and supporting national helpline services, producing more professional counsellors and training peer counsellors.

Without these, more youngsters, entering a world fraught with stress, competitiveness and multiple inequalities, are at risk. Suicide is globally seen as a public health issue and deaths by suicide are preventable. Research has shown that even the smallest of changes has saved lives. It is essential that India takes this seriously and approaches the issue with a nuanced understanding, sensitivity and foresight. The first step, of course, would be to bring the suicide prevention strategy to life.