Edu official nabbed for issuing fake job letters

Edu official nabbed for issuing fake job letters

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:25.10.2021

The UP STF on Sunday arrested a suspended accounts officer in the education department who was accused of issuing fake appointment letters to teachers. The accused, Jagdish Prasad Srivastava, was on the run and carried a bounty of Rs 25,000.

STF said three FIRs were lodged against Jagdish in Deoria since 2018. Till now, 30 fake teachers have been arrested.

The STF took up the case on July 19, after senior block education officer, Birbal Ram, lodged an FIR regarding missing record books of 1987-1989 and 2010-11. He claimed that pages were missing from the record books of 2015-16. Ram had claimed in the FIR that he had lodged a complaint about the appointment of teachers through fraudulent means in two aided government schools in the district.

Inspector (STF) Satya Prakash Singh, who led the operation, said Jagdish was arrested from traffic trisection in Gorakhpur in the wee hours of Sunday.

Jagdish accused of tampering with record books, says STF

Inspector (STF) Satya Prakash Singh said Jagdish was employed in the BSA office in Deoria since 2010.

“Jagdish is accused of tampering with the record books. He used to tear the pages of records and then fed wrong entries on those missing pages,” said Singh. Soon after Jagdish’s name surfaced in internal probe, he was suspended. The record books contain details of all teachers deployed in a district. Sources in the STF said Jagdish made Rs 4 crore by issuing fake appointment letters.

Both divorced parents equally responsible for child’s education: Bombay high court

Both divorced parents equally responsible for child’s education: Bombay high court

Vaibhav.Ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:25.10.2021

Both parents should be equally responsible for taking care of their children’s education expenses, ruled the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court after an18-year-old approached it, as he was finding it difficult to pay fees at IIT Dhanbad, where he has secured admission in the mechanical branch.

Dismissing the father’s contention that he is unable to raise the maintenance amount, as he has to look after his old mother, divorced sister and her daughter, the bench also held that “children must be the first priority of a parent in the matter of maintenance”. “Before the petitioner’s birth in 2001, his parents had separated and he has been residing with mother. Both of his parents are serving as teachers, each earning a salary of over Rs 48,000. It is, therefore, apparent that both are equally responsible to share maintenance as well as education expenses of their son,” a division bench comprising Justice Atul Chandurkar and Justice GN Sanap said.

“Even if it is assumed, for the sake of argument, that there are some other persons dependent on the father, the child must be his first priority in the matter of maintenance. If he fails to share the maintenance and expenses, then the mother would be required to bear the unnecessary burden,” the bench added, while asking the father to enhance the monthly maintenance to Rs 7,500 from Rs 5,000, with effect from October 27, 2015, the date on which the student had filed the petition.

The youngster, scoring 93% in Class X exam, had moved the HC after he was finding it difficult to pay the fees of the course at IIT Dhanbad. Till now, his education and other expenses were shouldered by his mother, while his father used to pay him Rs 5,000 a month, as fixed by a court. The petitioner had prayed for enhancing the maintenance to Rs 15,000, so that he could pay the college fees.

“It is seen that the petitioner, who happens to be a meritorious child, has been made to face this unfortunate situation. Considering his plight and needs, he was constrained to knock the judiciary’s doors,” the judges observed. The parents were granted divorce on July 21, 2009, through mutual consent. The petitioner contended that his father, teacher at a zilla parishad school, did not bother to maintain him nor took care of his well-being, after his birth. On the other hand, his mother faced difficulties while bringing him up with her meagre salary, the petition said.

Dismissing the father’s contention that he is unable to raise the maintenance amount, the bench also held that ‘children must be the first priority of a parent in the matter of maintenance’

HC directs AIIMS to pay ₹50 lakh to illegally terminated employee

HC directs AIIMS to pay ₹50 lakh to illegally terminated employee

New Delhi:25.10.2021

Delhi High Court has directed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to pay over Rs 50 lakh to a former employee, who was illegally terminated from service, noting that the man has been running from pillar to post for the last several years.

Raj Singh, who was appointed as a driver by AIIMS sometime in the 1980s, will also be paid Rs 19,900 as pension every month.

According to the petitioner, he was illegally terminated after which he approached the labour court. The labour court in December 1998 held that the termination of service was an unfair practice, Singh said in his petition.

The labour court’s order was challenged before various forums and finally the special leave petition (SLP), filed by AIIMS, was dismissed by the Supreme Court on June 3, 2016.

Singh, represented through advocate B T Kaul, served a legal notice to AIIMS authorities seeking compliance of the award and payment of the amount, but it was not paid. Thereafter, he approached the high court.

Justice Prathiba M Singh directed that the man be paid Rs 50,49,079 towards salary for the period from December 4, 1998, which is the date of award, and the date of superannuation, which is October 31, 2016, his leave encashment and his gratuity.

This amount was calculated by the authorities and the court was informed about it. However, the basis for the computation has still not been explained.

“However, considering that the petitioner has been running from pillar to post since 2016 when the Supreme Court dismissed the SLP till date, the respondents (authorities) are directed to pay the amounts in terms of order dated March 9, 2021, on or before October 30, 2021, to the petitioner,” the high court said in its October 12 order.

The court was also told by advocate Sonali Malhotra, representing AIIMS, that Singh was also required to deposit Rs 30,000 as a lifetime validation amount for being enrolled under the employees health scheme.

To this, the court said that in view of the long duration for which Singh has been fighting the present litigation, the amount of Rs 30,000 shall now be deposited on his behalf by AIIMS itself, in lieu of costs for the long-drawn litigation. PTI

Several hospitals reopen Covid-19 wards after uptick in number of cases

Several hospitals reopen Covid-19 wards after uptick in number of cases

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.10.2021

Even as the overall Covid situation remains stable, after the onset of the ongoing festival season, some hospitals have already started reporting an uptick in the number of cases.

While the absolute number of patients still remains low, many hospitals have reopened their Covid wards with some seeing even 20-25% more patients this week, as against a week ago. A doctor reported that while there were five cases in his hospital in the past two months, the previous week saw the same number. Some rise in infections is expected as mobility increases and a slackness creeps in, but cases are being watched carefully, the doctor said.

Most doctors maintain that vaccination has helped to keep the situation remain under control and serious cases are few. However, the next two-three weeks will be crucial and actual manifestation of the infection will begin after that, they say. “We are seeing a sudden increase in cases and have reopened the Covid ward this week, which we had to shut down earlier as there were hardly any cases and instead we were witnessing a rush of dengue cases,” says Dr Charu Dutt Arora, consultant physician and Covid-care expert at Asian Institute of Medical Sciences. Doctors also recommend increase in testing to assess the exact situation and keep a watch on any possible mutation. “Delhi is still largely stable but in last one week it has begun to trickle as there is a slight increase in number of cases,” says Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant (internal medicine) at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals.

Pilots land flight on ‘wrong’ end of runway, get de-rostered

Pilots land flight on ‘wrong’ end of runway, get de-rostered

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.10.2021

Two SpiceJet pilots have been de-rostered after they landed a Hyderabad-Belgaum flight on the wrong end of the runway at the destination on Sunday. Aviation authorities have taken a stern view of this lapse as the crew allegedly did not report this and operated the DASH8 Q400 back to Hyderabad.

It was only when Airports Authority of India (AAI) reported this “serious incident” that SpiceJet informed the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) about the same, investigators probing the matter said. However, by then crucial cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recording at the time of this incident was gone as CVR records in a loop, keeping only the last two hours of conversation in the flight deck, they added. “Air traffic control had cleared SpiceJet DASH8 Q400 aircraft (VT-SQC) operating SG-3733 to land on runway 26 at Belgaum. However, the pilots landed on runway 08 (meaning, it touched down on the other end of the runway instead of the designated end),” said a senior official.

The aircraft landed at 11.30am on the unassigned runway. “While this was serious enough, the pilots committed an even bigger mistake by not informing about the same. They flew back to Hyderabad and went home. Only after AAI informed about this, did SpiceJet inform AAIB at 3.37pm (four hours after the wrong landing),” said a senior investigator. Belgaum-Hyderabad journey time is 1 hour and 40 minutes. Operating the return flight meant that the CVR recording at the time of wrong landing may have “washed out as the tape can record up to two hours only”.

The incident has been categorised as a serious one and AAIB will probe this. “Spice-Jet chief pilot spoke to AAIB officials and the latter have asked the crew of this flight to appear for investigation on Monday,” said a source.

Full report on www.toi.in

Engineering Colleges

 

‘Exercise of sexual choices does not give partner right to exploit woman’

‘Exercise of sexual choices does not give partner right to exploit woman’

New Delhi:25.10.2021

A woman exercising sexual autonomy through consent cannot be presumed to have also given consent to violate her reproductive rights, a Delhi court has said while denying bail to a man. The man was accused of raping a woman several times and forcing her to abort her pregnancy.

The court further said that the exercise of sexual choices does not vest any corresponding right in the partner to exploit a woman sexually, and she does not forsake her other rights, including reproductive rights, when she enters into a sexual relationship with a partner.

“While parties in a consensual relationship may be on an even keel when sexual relations are of a consistent and long duration, the act of contravening reproductive autonomy through multiple pregnancies and abortions takes away the element of consent, which may have been given for the sexual act itself,” said additional sessions judge Vishal Gogne in the order.

The court said that this was a “flawed construction” of the concept of bodily/sexual autonomy of a person/female. “The exercise of sexual choices by a woman does not vest any corresponding right in the partner to sexually exploit her. The woman does not forsake her other rights, including reproductive rights either, when she enters into a sexual relationship with a partner,” it added. TNN

‘EWS income criteria linked to Sinho panel’

QUOTA ISSUE

‘EWS income criteria linked to Sinho panel’

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.10.2021

Amid strong criticism by the Supreme Court over the manner in which income eligibility criteria for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservations was fixed, the government is linking the decision to peg it at Rs 8 lakh, just as for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), to the Sinho Commission report which had examined welfare measures for the general classes.

A senior official said the Sinho Commission report indicates the eligibility ceiling to qualify for EWS for any reservation measures be linked to the ‘creamy layer’ for the OBCs who avail 27% Mandal reservations.

The income bar for OBCs to qualify for the Mandal quotas is Rs 8 lakh, while the nonreserved classes (mostly forward castes) are dubbed EWS if their annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh. The parity between OBCs and EWS has raised the hackles of the Supreme Court, which has in a case questioned the government if it was not making “unequals, equals” and has asked it to submit the exercise done to arrive at Rs 8 lakh for the EWS.

A social justice ministry official said the ministry will file an affidavit in the apex court for the next hearing. The failure to file the affidavit on the issue at the hearing last week drew negative reaction from the bench seized of the case. “The affidavit is being processed by the law ministry,” the official said.

According to sources, the social justice ministry is relying on the Commission report to substantiate its decision to lay down the income criteria for the EWS, and is confident that its argument will find favour. Backing the decision, the ministry sources said the Sinho Commission held detailed discussions with states on the issue and came up with its recommendations. Thus, an official said, its views have been given the due weightage in arriving at the decision on the EWS qualifying criteria.

The 27% Mandal quotas in central jobs and educational institutions were instituted in 1993, while the Centre made a constitutional amendment to create 10% EWS quota in 2019. A legal challenge questioning the constitutionality of the EWS reservations is also pending before the Supreme Court.

HC notice to MCI, med edu director

HC notice to MCI, med edu director

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal/Jabalpur:25.10.2021

A division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to director, medical education and Medical Council of India (MCI) in response to a petition by a handicapped girl, who was denied admission in the MBBS course at Shahdol medical college on the ground of her physical disability.

The petitioner, Priyanshi Meena, said that one of her hands was rendered partially disabled due to a rare disease and later at the age of 14, her second hand also had to be severed after she suffered a major electric shock.

Priyanshi had appeared in the NEET for admission into a medical college and was also selected. She was assigned Shahdol medical college for admission into MBBS course.

But Priyanshi was denied admission on the ground that both her hands are crippled. She contended that according to MCI guidelines, admission in the MBBS course can only be denied if a candidate has more than 80% disability but she suffers from only 65% disability.

Besides, India is a signatory to the UK conclave following which the law dealing with rights of a disabled person was enacted in the year 2016.

Still, petitioner Priyanshi was denied admission in the MBBS course, which was also in clear violation to Articles 14 and 19 of the Indian Constitution.

Following preliminary arguments, the division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Ravi Vijay Kumar Malimath and Justice V K Shukla issued notices to the respondents, seeking a detailed response to the petition.

Advocate Aditya Sanghi appeared in the case on behalf of the petitioner.

IAS, state officers may run med colleges in MP

IAS, state officers may run med colleges in MP

Antriksh.Singh@timesgroup.com

Indore:25.10.2021

The state medical education department plans to appoint the officers of the Indian Administrative Services and those of the state services as administrators to run daily business of 13 medical colleges, sources said.

The senior officials of the state government, however, warded off any comments on it saying they had no information about such a proposal. Medical education minister Vishwash Sarang allayed any doubts saying that there had been a proposal to appoint administrative officers for 13 medical colleges to boost health services.

Sarang further said, “Any decision to appoint administrators in hospitals and medical colleges will be only taken only after weighing all aspects of the proposal.”

There is a post of administrator in each associated hospital, said Sarang. The Medical Teachers’ Association is against the move. General secretary of the association Dr Rakesh Malviya said that rather than improving the condition of medical colleges such appointments would spoil the system.

“There is no need to do that, because there are already many IAS and SAS officers including divisional commissioners and additional chief secretaries to oversee the health services,” Dr Malviya said.

“There is only one hospital- AIIMS Delhi in the country where a deputy director, who is an IAS officer, looks after administrative work, but that IAS officer works under the director of the hospital,” Dr Malviya said.

Sources said the proposal came up on the heels of the Central Government’s decision to appoint engineers from private sectors to meet the need for technical experts in different departments. Besides the IAS and SAS cadres, the IPS officers are also keen on getting posted to various departments, sources further said.

Medical education minister Vishwash Sarang allayed any doubts saying that there had been a proposal to appoint administrative officers for 13 medical colleges to boost health service

HC stays official’s transfer for daughter’s exam

HC stays official’s transfer for daughter’s exam

Bhopal:  25.10.2021

Madhya Pradesh high court has stayed the transfer of a food safety officer on the ground that her daughter has to appear in her Class X board exam. The court allowed her to join her new posting after the session ended.

The petitioner, Sandhya Marco, was transferred from Balaghat to Dindori, over 200km apart, on August 23, 2021. She moved HC, pleading that her transfer be stayed as her daughter’s studies would be affected ahead of her board exams. She said she had applied to the higher authorities of her department for a stay on her transfer, but no decision had been taken yet. She also pointed out that no one has been posted in her place at Balaghat, and pleaded to be allowed to continue in the post till her daughter’s exams. Justice Vishal Mishra granted her prayer and asked Marco to give an undertaking that she would join her new posting after the end of this academic session. TNN

HC: Divorced parents equally responsible for child’s edu expenses

HC: Divorced parents equally responsible for child’s edu expenses

Vaibhav.Ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:25.10.2021

Both parents should be equally responsible for taking care of their children’s education expenses, ruled the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court after an 18-year-old approached it, as he was finding it difficult to pay fees at IIT Dhanbad, where he secured admission in the mechanical branch.

Dismissing the father’s contention that he is unable to raise the maintenance amount, as he has to look after his old mother, divorced sister and her daughter, the bench also held that “children must be the first priority of a parent in the matter of maintenance”.

“Before the petitioner’s birth in 2001, his parents had separated and he has been residing with mother. Both of his parents are serving as teachers, each earning a salary of over ₹48,000. It is, therefore, apparent that both are equally responsible to share maintenance as well as education expenses of their son,” a division bench comprising Justice Atul Chandurkar and Justice GN Sanap said.

“Even if it is assumed that there are some other persons dependent on the father, the child must be his first priority in the matter of maintenance. If he fails to share the maintenance and expenses, then the mother would be required to bear the unnecessary burden,” the bench added, while asking the father to enhance the monthly maintenance to ₹7,500 from ₹5,000, with effect from October 27, 2015, the date on which the student had filed the petition.

The youngster, a meritorious student scoring 93% in Class X examination, had moved the HC after he was finding it difficult to pay the fees at IIT Dhanbad. Till now, his expenses were shouldered by his mother, while his father used to pay him ₹5,000 a month. The petitioner had prayed for enhancing the maintenance to ₹15,000, so he could pay the college fees.

“Considering the fact that both parents are in service and having their own maintenance and responsibilities, the reasonable amount of maintenance is required to be quantified. As far as the education expenses are concerned, both parents shall share it equally. Both must devise a mechanism to obtain the statement of the education expenses and share the same,” the bench said.

Full report on www.toi.in

1st yr engineering classes from today

1st yr engineering classes from today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.10.2021

More than 400 engineering colleges in the state will begin classes for more than 95,000 students, who have joined through engineering counselling, from Monday.

Anna University's College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras Institute of Technology and Alagappa College of Technology have released the time slots for enrolling the students from Monday. These campuses will conduct campus tours, counselling and games during the induction programme this year.

As per the academic schedule, the induction programme will be conducted in physical mode at the university while the theory classes will be conducted in online mode. The semester for university departments will begin with an induction programme on November 1 and end on March 1.

Most of the colleges have planned physical induction programmes for the students.

DME to issue applications from today

DME to issue applications from today

25/10/2021

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) will start issuing applications for 21 allied sciences undergraduate programmes from 10 a.m. on Monday.

They include nursing, pharmacy, speech and learning programme, ophthalmology, physiotherapy, critical care technology, clinical nutrition, accident and emergency technology, cardiac technology and respiratory therapy among others, a release said.

Candidates may download the applications from www.tnhealth.tn.gov,in and tnmedicalselection.org.

The last date to download the applications is November 8 and the last date to submit the filled application forms is November 10.

KMCH opens 750-bed Medical College General Hospital

KMCH opens 750-bed Medical College General Hospital

25/10/2021

Staff ReporterCoimbatore

Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) on Sunday opened a 750-bed facility which has been named ‘KMCH Medical College General Hospital’, located adjacent to the main campus on Avinashi Road, Coimbatore.

Thel Hospital will function as a stand-alone hospital, apart from the existing KMCH Main Centre, said a release.

Chairman and Managing Director of KMCH Nalla G. Palaniswami inaugurated the hospital.

The release said KMCH had established a medical college in the name of ‘KMCH Institute of Health Sciences and Research’ in 2019. Affiliated to Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, the college has the capacity to accommodate 150 students a year. The 750-bed hospital has been inaugurated on the campus of the medical college.

The infrastructure facilities include 750 general beds, 50 ICU beds, 30 emergency beds, 11 operation theatres and medical equipment such as CT scan, MRI, catheterisation laboratory, ultra sound scan and digital X-ray.

The hospital will offer round-the-clock healthcare services and it has a separate entrance accessible from Avanashi Road, said the release.

37-foot tall Hanuman statue installed at Melur

37-foot tall Hanuman statue installed at Melur

25/10/2021

Special Correspondent Tiruchi

A 37-foot statue of Hanuman, one of the tallest statues for the deity in the State, was installed on the banks of the Kollidam river at Melur in Srirangam on Sunday.

The statue has been installed on a two-acre premises owned by the Srirangam-based Sanjeevana Anjaneyar Swamy Trust. A large number of devotees from across the State witnessed the installation ceremony.

The statue was sculpted at Thirumurugan Poondi near Tirupur. A team of sculptors led by Muthu and Ilayaraja worked for more than two years to chisel the 120 tonne statue out of a single rock.

R. Vasudevan, Managing Trusty of the Sanjeevana Anjaneyar Swamy Trust, said that it had cost ₹40 lakh to erect it. A strong pedestal had been built in commensurate with the weight of the statue. The statue was brought on a customised trailer having 46 wheels about a few weeks ago. Though there were no major hurdles in transporting it till Srirangam, it took a few days to reach Melur due to the narrow approach road.

Plea in HC to allow use of first letter of mother’s name as initial

Plea in HC to allow use of first letter of mother’s name as initial

School insists on first letter of father’s name as initial

25/10/2021

The petitioner says her daughter preferred the first letter of her mother’s name as the initial.

Staff Reporter MADURAI

A woman from Karur district moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday seeking relief after the authorities of the government school where her daughter was studying had insisted that they should provide the first letter of the father’s name as initial of the girl, despite the fact that all government records carried the first letter of the mother’s name as initial.

The petitioner, M. Pothumponnu of Kadavur taluk in Karur district, said her daughter P. Kaviya was studying in class IX in Kadavur Government High School.

The petitioner said her husband had deserted the family and she was living with her parents. She was taking care of the family and the educational expenses of her daughter.

She said at the time of school admission itself she had provided the first letter of her name as the initial to her daughter and all government records, including Aadhaar card, carried the same.

She said her daughter preferred the first letter of her mother’s name as the initial and not that of her father’s name.

Under these circumstances, her daughter applied for a scholarship examination. But, the school authorities advised her to provide the first letter of her father’s name as initial. She said the authorities had told her that the issue would be raised at the time of class X public examination too.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy sought a response from the State. The court adjourned the hearing till October

Over 10,000 health insurance claims of govt. staff rejected

Over 10,000 health insurance claims of govt. staff rejected

Collectors asked to constitute district-level audit teams

25/10/2021

Dennis S. Jesudasan CHENNAI

Over 10,000 claims made by Tamil Nadu government employees and pensioners under the New Health Insurance Scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially between July 2020 and August this year, have been rejected. Since the number of claims rejected is huge, district-level teams have been constituted to audit the claims.

At a meeting to review the cashless treatment provided under the NHIS between July 1, 2020, and August 31 this year, “it was found that around 10,929 claims had been denied for various reasons,” the Commissioner of Treasuries and Accounts informed the Collectors.

The Commissioner asked the Collectors to constitute district-level teams to conduct sample studies of such cases and submit a detailed report before this month-end. The teams will each consist of the chief/senior medical officer, a treasury officer and a staff member of the insurance company. They will also undertake periodical sample studies (every two months) at major hospitals, and send reports to the office of the Commissioner of Treasuries and Accounts.

“Almost every employee has had to fight to get the insurance claims. There are also some inherent flaws in the scheme,” said P. Frederic Engels, State coordinator of the Contributory Pension Scheme Abolition Movement.

He highlighted a specific issue in the implementation of the scheme. Though the scheme was awarded to one company, there are two third-party administrators, he said. While one company had been earmarked for a few districts, the remaining districts had been allocated to another.

“It has been effected with a mere circular. When a government employee is admitted to a hospital in another district while travelling or after an accident, the third-party administrator says the other third-party administrator manages the affairs of that district. This causes an unnecessary burden on the patient. The cashless treatment is never cashless. Reimbursement should not be allowed at all, since it dilutes the very concept,” he said.

There are over 9.33 lakh State government employees and about 7.31 lakh pensioners in the State.

More lockdown relaxations in TN, theatres can function with 100% occupancy from November 1

More lockdown relaxations in TN, theatres can function with 100% occupancy from November 1

So far, all kinds of shops, restaurants and bakeries were allowed to function till 11 pm. This restriction has been removed.

Published: 23rd October 2021 08:00 PM |

By T Muruganandham

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Extending the lockdown for 15 more days from November 1, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday announced more relaxations. However, the ban on festivals and political events will continue.

The following relaxations come into force with immediate effect:

So far, all kinds of shops, restaurants and bakeries were allowed to function till 11 pm. This restriction has been removed.

Similarly, at all stadia, both contact and non-contact sports will be allowed.

Swimming pools can be used for therapeutic purposes.

From November 1, the following relaxations come into force:

In all schools, Classes 1 to 8 will be allowed on a rotation basis.

Theatres can function with 100 percent occupancy.

All indoor cultural programmes are allowed. Individual liquor bars can function.

Intra-district and inter-district public transport (ordinary and air-conditioned buses) will be allowed with 100 percent seat occupancy. However, this will not be applicable on buses to Kerala.

All film shootings can take place with a sufficient number of workers. All those engaged in shooting should have been vaccinated.

Anna Management Training Institute, SIRD, Bhavanisagar Officers Training Institute and other government training institutes and centres can function with 100 percent trainees.

Stop 'Fraudulent' Practice Of Recovering Late Fee Imposed On Colleges By Universities From Students: Allahabad HC Directs UP Govt

Stop 'Fraudulent' Practice Of Recovering Late Fee Imposed On Colleges By Universities From Students: Allahabad HC Directs UP Govt: The Allahabad High Court recently directed the Uttar Prad

Foreign Medical Graduates Who Interned In Country Of Study Not Required To Undergo Another Internship In State: Kerala High Court

Foreign Medical Graduates Who Interned In Country Of Study Not Required To Undergo Another Internship In State: Kerala High Court

Hannah M Varghese

23 Oct 2021 3:30 PM

The Kerala High Court has held that a medical graduate from a foreign university who has fulfilled all requisite qualifications as per the norms prevailing in that country to become eligible to be enrolled as a medical practitioner therein, need not undergo another internship in the State to be registered with the State Medical Council to practice Medicine in terms of the Travancore Cochin Medical Practitioners Act, 1953.

Justice P.B. Suresh Kumar directed the State Medical Council to grant permanent registration to the petitioner within two months without insisting her to undergo a compulsory internship when she applies for the same.

However, it was clarified that the Council may persuade foreign medical graduates to undergo internship for diseases and treatments peculiar to the State. It added,

"It is made clear that this judgment will not preclude the State Medical Council from bringing to the notice of the National Medical Commission the requirement, if any, for the foreign medical graduates to undergo internship afresh to get acclimatized with the diseases and requirements of treatment peculiar to the State in order to bring in force appropriate statutory amendments."

Brief Facts:

The plea was filed by Sadhiya Siyad, an Indian citizen who was admitted to the Dubai Medical College for Girls in 2014 and had graduated 2019. She had obtained the Eligibility Certificate as mandated by the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 to pursue medicine from a foreign institution in the year 2017.

Pursuant to completing her course, the petitioner underwent a one-year internship at various hospitals under the Dubai Health Authority till September 2020. Following this, she cleared the licensing examination conducted by the Dubai Health Authority.

Accordingly, she became eligible to be enrolled as a medical practitioner in the country and was registered as one in November 2020.

The petitioner also cleared the Screening Test under Section 13(4A) of the IMC Act to become eligible to be enrolled in a State Medical Register in India as well.

According to the petitioner, she is entitled to practice medicine in India and thereby preferred an application in the State for provisional registration.

However, the State Medical Council directed the petitioner to file an affidavit to the effect that the provisional registration will only be used for completing Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) in any institution approved by the Medical Council of India.

The petitioner's case was that since she has already undergone an internship in the country of education as part of the medical course undertaken by her, she is entitled to permanent registration straightaway in the State.

On that note, as soon as she received her provisional registration, the petitioner instituted a writ before the Court seeking a direction to the State Medical Council to grant permanent registration to her.

Observations of the Court:

The questions before the Court were:

Is a person who has not undertaken an internship as part of the medical course undertaken by her abroad eligible to appear in the Screening Test provided for under Section 13(4A) of the IMC Act?

Regulation 11 provides that candidates who qualify the Screening Test may apply to any State Medical Council for provisional or permanent registration and the State Medical Councils shall issue provisional registration to such candidates, who are yet to undergo one-year internship in an approved institution and issue permanent registration to such eligible candidates who have already undergone one-year internship, as the case may be.

The Court found that this shows that internship is not insisted for appearing in the Screening Test and that the only requirement for appearing in the Screening Test is that the candidates should possess a primary medical qualification as defined in the Regulations.

Since the State Medical Council did not have a case that the petitioner did not possess a primary medical qualification, it was held that the stand of the Council that only students who have completed an internship as part of the medical course undertaken by them in the medical institution abroad are entitled to appear for the Screening Test is unsustainable.

Can a person who obtains an Eligibility Certificate in terms of Section 13(4B) of the IMC Act after taking admission in a medical institution abroad, be denied enrolment on a State Medical Register if she satisfies all other eligibility criteria for the same?

The State Medical Council has no case that the petitioner would not have been issued the Eligibility Certificate, had she applied for the same before taking admission for the medical course in the medical institution abroad.

In the circumstances, it was found that the stand of the State Medical Council that the qualification obtained by the petitioner cannot be regarded as one in accordance with the provisions of the IMC Act as she has not obtained Eligibility Certificate before taking admission, so as to become eligible to be enrolled as a medical practitioner in the State Medical Register, is unsustainable.

The petitioner had satisfied all the eligibility criteria for registration under the provisions of the IMC Act and the regulations made thereunder. As such, the Court held that she cannot be denied registration on the said ground.

Whether a person who obtains a medical qualification from a medical institution abroad and undertakes one-year internship thereafter in the country of education and satisfies all other eligibility criteria for enrolment on a State Medical Register be insisted to undergo CRRI for the said purpose?

The Court noted that a person who obtains medical qualification granted by medical institutions outside India, is recognised for enrolment as a medical practitioner in that country and who clears the Screening Test in terms of Section 13(4A) of the IMC Act, is entitled to be enrolled as a medical practitioner on any State Medical Register if he has already undergone one-year internship.

The petitioner had satisfied all the said conditions. Therefore the bench ruled:

"...according to me, the State Medical Council is obliged to grant permanent registration to the petitioner and they cannot insist that the petitioner shall undergo CRRI for the said purpose."

Accordingly, the petition was allowed directing the State Medical Council to permit the petitioner to apply for the permanent registration, and if applied, grant permanent registration to the petitioner without insisting her to undergo CRRI, if the application of the petitioner is otherwise in order.

Advocates Santhosh Mathew and Elza Joe appeared for the petitioners while Standing CounselsTitus Mani and N Raghuraj appeared for the respondents in the matter.

Case Title: Sadhiya Siyad v. State of Kerala & Ors.

No. of 2nd dose recipients dips at KMC vax clinics

AWARENESS DRIVE PLANNED

No. of 2nd dose recipients dips at KMC vax clinics

Saikat.Ray@timesgroup.com

Kolkata:23.10.2021

Witnessing a sharp drop in the number of second dose recipients at the civic vaccination clinics, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to launch an awareness drive particularly in areas where the second dose recipients are yet to turn up.

According to an internal vaccine data recorded by the KMC clinics across Kolkata, the civic body is in search of 21% of the recipients who had taken their first shot from the civic vaccination clinics but didn’t turn up for their second dose. When the KMC medical officers at the clinics first noticed such mismatch, they formed a team of honorary health workers in August and sent them from door-to-door of select neighbourhoods to woo the recipients of second dose to be present at the civic clinics. The initiative yielded results as 1.5 lakh recipients finally took their second dose from over 50 vaccination clinics.

According to a KMC health department official, the allocation of Covishield vaccine for each civic clinic was sufficient for inoculation of second dose recipients across 144 wards and the recipients should take the opportunity at the earliest. “The supply of vaccines has been steady and sufficient for the past two months. This is the right time the recipients should respond to our appeal and queue up at our clinics to get inoculated till the stocks last,” said a KMC medical officer.

Records with some KMC clinics in areas like Tollygunge, Jadavpur, Behala, Kidderpore, Metiabruz and EM Bypass reveal a poor attendance of second dose recipients in the past few weeks. For instance, several clinics in Tollygunge recorded a 50% attendance of second dose recipients. “We were given 200 doses today. At the end of vaccination hours we recorded presence of 90 second dose recipients and 10 first dose recipients,” said a medical officer at a KMC clinic in Tollygunge.

Atin Ghosh, a member in KMC Board of Administrators overseeing the health department, said: “Now, even senior citizens can take the opportunity of avoiding crowd and take second shot at our clinics.”

HC: Just taking cash illegally inadequate for graft charge

HC: Just taking cash illegally inadequate for graft charge

Lalmohan Patnaik TNN

Cuttack:23.10.2021

The Orissa HC has ruled that mere acceptance of any amount by way of illegal gratification or its recovery is outside the scope of the proof of demand and is not sufficient to bring home the charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The single-judge bench of Justice S K Sahoo said, “The proof of demand of illegal gratification is the essence of accusation of the offences under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and in the absence thereof, the charge would fail.” The complainant cannot be placed on any better footing than that of an accomplice and corroboration in material particulars connecting him with the crime has to be insisted upon, Justice Sahoo ruled.

The ruling by the vacation bench came on Thursday, while allowing the criminal appeal of Sanatan Dash, who was convicted for taking a bribe of Rs 500 and sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment by the special judge vigilance in Bhubaneswar nearly 18 years ago.

“The prosecution evidence with regard to the demand and acceptance of a bribe amount of Rs 500 by the appellant from the complainant for passing his house rent bill appears to be shaky in nature... the impugned judgment suffers from perversity, the same cannot be sustained in the eye of law and accordingly, I am constrained to give benefit of doubt to the appellant,” Justice Sahoo said in his 37-page judgment.

IAS officers have no right to claim cadre of choice: SC

IAS officers have no right to claim cadre of choice: SC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:23.10.2021

The Supreme Court has said a candidate cannot claim allocation of cadre of his/her choice as a matter of right after qualifying civil services examination as he/she opts for serving anywhere in the country with “eyes wide open”.

A bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian passed the order while adjudicating a 14-year legal battle of a IAS officer to get Kerala cadre as it was her home state. Kerala High Court had passed the order in favour of A Shainamol and directed the Centre in 2017 to change her cadre from Himachal Pradesh to Kerala.

The apex court, however, quashed the HC order and said that issue of allocation of cadres was well settled by the apex court in various judgments and the consistent view of the Court has been that even if the name of the candidate appears in the merit list, such candidate has no right to claim appointment.

“In the light of Rajiv Yadav (case), the allocation of cadre is not a matter of right. It was held that a selected candidate has a right to be considered for appointment to the IAS, but he has no such right to be allocated to a cadre of his choice or to his home state... Allotment of cadre is an incidence of service. The applicant as a candidate for the All-India Service with eyes wide open has opted to serve anywhere in the country. The State has no discretion of allocation of a cadre at its whims and fancies,” it said.

ISC exams to begin on Nov 22, ICSE on Nov 29; will be offline

ISC exams to begin on Nov 22, ICSE on Nov 29; will be offline

Jhimli.Mukherjeepandey@timesgroup.com

Kolkata:23.10.2021

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations late on Friday announced fresh dates for the ISC and ICSE first semester exams. ISC exams will begin on November 22 and end on December 20, while ICSE will be held from November 29 to December 16.

A circular, signed by council chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon, was sent to school heads with the new schedule. It also stated that the exams would be conducted in offline mode at the candidates’ respective schools.

The ISC exam will be oneand-a-half hours long. Most ICSE papers will be an hour long, though some like Hindi and mathematics will be for an hour and a half. ISC exams will start at 2pm while ICSE will start at 11am. This has been done to sanitise the school premises between the two exams, school heads said.

While ISC will start with the English literature paper on November 22, ICSE will start with the English language paper on November 29. The circular also said that in addition to the scheduled time for each exam, an additional 10 minutes will be given to read the paper. The question paper-cum-answer booklet will be given 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.

Earlier, the council had planned to hold online exams for the first semester from November 15 for both ISC and ICSE.

School heads happy with move

On October 22, the council had sent a circular postponing the exam for “reasons beyond (their) control”. Friday’s circular clarified that the council had received a large number of mails from school heads, students and parents saying that non-availability of devices, irregular power supply and network and bandwidth problems would make it difficult to take the test online. Hence, the decision was made to switch over to offline mode.

School heads sounded happy with the move. “At least this gives an even platform for all children to write the test,” said Rupkatha Sarkar, principal of La Martiniere for Girls.

“When the exams were postponed, students were highly disappointed. We, too, had done a lot of preparation for the online test and were a bit bewildered, but we knew that the council was working out something better,” said John Bagul, South City International School principal.

“We will now wait for the council to hold a meeting and give us the details of the modalities of the offline exam,” said Richard Gasper, principal of St Augustine’s Day School, Kolkata.

School heads wondered whether the question paper-cum-answer booklet would contain OMR sheets that would be automatically corrected and make declaration of results faster. Some felt that there were chances of normal sheets where students would have to tick right answers.

Create portal for students’ grievances: Guv to univs

Create portal for students’ grievances: Guv to univs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:23.10.2021

Governor Anandiben Patel on Friday directed the vice-chancellors of state universities to launch a single-window system for addressing students’ grievances.

The portal, said Patel, should resolve issues in a time-bound manner. She also said students should be involved in various committees instituted for functioning of universities.

Patel, who was viewing the NAAC presentation prepared by Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, said universities should adopt 30% syllabus under the NEP based on local needs. The universities, said Patel, should create their research policy and upload it on their websites. The document should provide details of all facilities to be provided to students undertaking research.

Patel advised universities to undertake research on feedback on various government (Centre and state) schemes. Patel said that around 30% of the beneficiaries are not eligible for government schemes. To combat this, we need to know the reasons and provide solutions, she said. She added that for transparent and quality research work, universities should make optimum use of the Shodhganga portal.

The governor also stressed upon development of smart class and conduct of online classes. She said universities should address the drawbacks pointed out by the NAAC committees in past.

She also asked universities to keep track of outdoor activities, hold alumni meets and sign agreements with industries for generating employment. She added that universities should make their students visit jails, old age homes, child care homes and hospitals under extra-curricular activities for their personal growth.

The governor also batted for transparency in appointments.