NEET admission test for MBBS/BDS on May 6

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG) for admission to MBBS/ BDS courses in medical and dental colleges will be conducted on May 6, the Central Board of Secondary Education, which will conduct the test, announced on Thursday. The online submission of application forms too commenced from Thursday.

According to the admission notice, the online registration process will end on March 9, 2018 at 11.50 pm. The last date for successful payment of online fee is March 10, 2018 till 11.50pm.

For Indian citizens from all states, except Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya, Aadhaar number is mandatory and the applicants must give their consent to CBSE to validate the same. In case of any mismatch in Aadhaar number, name, date of birth and gender, the candidates will not be able to fill up the form.

According to CBSE, the NEET (UG) shall consist of one paper containing 180 objective type questions (four options with single correct answer) from physics, chemistry and biology (botany and zoology). The duration of the paper would be three hours from 10 am to 1pm.

Among the eligibility criteria listed in the notification, a candidate must have completed the age of 17 years at the time of admission or will complete the age on or before December 31, 2018, that is the year of his/ her admission to first year of MBBS/ BDS course. The upper age limit for candidates seeking admission to these courses shall be 25 years as on the date of the examination with a relaxation of five years for candidates belonging to SC/ ST and OBC categories and persons entitled for reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.

The candidates must have also passed in the subjects of physics, chemistry, biology/ biotechnology and English individually and must have obtained a minimum of 50% marks taken together in physics, chemistry and biology/ biotechnology.

In respect of candidates belonging to SC/ ST and OBC, the marks obtained in physics, chemistry and biology/ biotechnology taken together in qualifying examination be 40% instead of 50% for general category candidates. For candidates in the PwD category the same shall be 45% in aggregate.

BSNL cuts UP FinMin’s landline for not paying bill

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Bareilly: In a surprising development, thelandline phone services of Uttar Pradesh finance minister Rajesh Agrawal were disconnected by BSNL over non-payment of bill pending since April last year.

As soon as the phone line was disconnected, an undersecretary in UP government deposited the outstanding bill of ₹8,702.

A BSNL official said that the services were disconnected by computerised auto-generated call detail records office in Chandigarh where the server for north India was set up.

According to BSNL officials, the phone number in question was allottedtoAgarwal when hewas an MLA during the previous state assembly.

“Asitis a government number withVIPflag, the bill generated on this number is paid by the undersecretary in UP government. The last bill was paid of around ₹7,000 in March 2017. Since then, no bill was paid and theoutstanding amount had mounted to₹8,702,” a BSNL official said.

The general manager of BSNL Bareilly office, Charan Singh, told TOI that the services had been resumed on the said number soon after the matter came to his knowledge.

“ We have set up an inquiry to probe why the undersecretary concerned had not deposited the outstanding bill,” Singh said.

The GM told TOI that several other numbers of government officials were also disconnected.

HALL OF SHAME

3-man panel formed to run Bharathiar varsity

Vishnu.Swaroop@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore: A special syndicate meeting held at the Bharathiar University (BU) on Thursday formed a convener committee headed by the secretary to the department of higher education, Sunil Paliwal, to run the varsity.

N Jeyakumar of BU’s department of Bioinformatics and P Thirunavukkarasu, associate professor of Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore, have been selected as the members of the committee, which will have all the powers bestowed upon a vice-chancellor. It will discharge the duties until a new VC takes charge.

Paliwal said a search committee will be formed to select the next VC. “We are analysing the legal aspects on when and how to form the search committee to choose a new VC. We have also asked the suggestion of the secretary to the law department,” he said.

Paliwal said the syndicate also suspended professor N Dharmaraj of BU’s Chemistry department, who was also arrested by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) for his involvement in the alleged graft.

Speaking to reporters, Paliwal said, “The DVAC will conduct a detailed inquiry into the appointment of faculty members made by Ganpathi in November 2016. The higher education department has sent the files regarding the appointments to DVAC. There is a prima facie case and there might be corruption in the appointments.”

Regarding the dismissal of Ganapathi, Paliwal said once the DVAC gives an investigation report, disciplinary action will be initiated against him, after which procedures to dismiss him will be initiated.

“The State will explore legal options to constitute a recruitment board to conduct examinations and select faculty for state universities. The issue of corruption can be solved if right candidates are chosen for the top posts in the university administration. The search committee constituted to select VCs should have able and honest members for selection of the right candidates for top posts,” he said.

Paliwal said this was the first time that a sitting VC has been trapped and arrested. “The action has been taken only after information from the highlevel authorities. This makes it clear that there is initiative from the highest level to clean up the education system,” he said.

Since DVAC has been probing the case well, there was no need for a CBI inquiry as demanded by some sections, Paliwal added.

DVAC probe sought against Thiruvalluvar varsity VC, registrar

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Vellore: Nearly 100 members of Zone III of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) and Thiruvalluvar University Employees Union (TUEU) staged a hunger protest on Thursday, demanding action against vice-chancellor K Murugan and his juniors for malpractice.

The government college professors and members of the AUT and TN Government College Teachers Association, said the VC, registrar (in-charge) V Peruvalluthi and controller of examination (in-charge) B Senthil Kumar were involved in corruption in the appointment of teaching and non-teaching faculty in the university and six constituent colleges.

For the past 15 years, the officials of the varsity had not called in for tenders in accordance with the provisions of the Tender Transparency Act, said honorary president of TUEU prof I Elangovan. “Since the inception of the university in 2002, the Act had been violated and we demand that the purchase of materials so far be probed into by the DVAC,” he continued.

“The university is paying ₹2.50 crore per semester to Chennai-based ABACUS Logistics Pvt Ltd since November 2013, for the work done by the university staff for around ₹15 lakh,” he added. They demanded the government to order a probe by the DVAC into the alleged corruption.

IndiGo plane aborts take-off on spotting another on runway

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: A Chennai to Pune IndiGo airlines flight which began its take-off run had to abort it midway after its pilot spotted an Indian Coast Guard’s Dornier 228 aircrafttaxiing on the same runway at 11.40am on Thursday. The planes were facing each other on the second runway.

Sources said that the small Dornier plane was taxiing to its hangar and was coming from Manapakkam end of the second runway, when the Indi-Go plane was ready for takeoff on the Trident-end of the same runway. The IndiGo plane had received the go ahead for take-off though the small plane was on the same runway.

“Fortunately, the IndiGo pilot spotted the plane on the runway before the aircraft picked up speed. He turned the plane to the left, on to the main runway, and informed the air traffic control about the runway incursion by the Dornier plane,” said an official.

He also said that both the planes were given permission to proceed on their paths by the air traffic control room. The planes happened to be on the same runway as the airport is doing cross runway operations or simultaneous useof the main and thesecond runways.

A statement from IndiGo said: “6E-311 (Chennai-Pune) aborted take-off at low speed due to runway incursion by naval Dornier 228. IndiGo pilot observed and immediately took precautionary measure. At no point safety was compromised. IndiGo safety team is investigating the matter along with the DGCA flight safety office. Matter has been brought to the notice of the regulator as per requirement.”

Students from 130 schools inspired to pursue dreams


TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Students from more than 130 schools attended the Times NIE Newsmakers meet at SBOA School in Anna Nagar on Thursday. In his special address, Dr S Jagathrakshagan, founder chairman, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, said, “Nothing is impossible for students of this generation. One needs to have selfconfidence and courage to climb higher and achieve success in life.” He added that students should make use of all the facilities provided by their parents and teachers and handle situations with self-confidence. Dr D R Gunasekaran, dean, Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, was also present at the event.

In the next session, the key speaker, Dr C Sylendra Babu, additional director general of police, railways, provided the students with careeroriented ideas and encouraged them to follow their dreams and ambitions. He said they had to be clear about what they wanted to achieve in life and start working on it from a young age, adding that they must be passionate about it.

During the interactive session, he also asked the audience about their aspirations. Students responded with goals like eradicating illiteracy, being responsible citizens, achieving world peace, making the world a better place to live in, respecting women, improving the education system and enabling equal opportunities for all.

The students gained insights about various career options and how to pursue them. "You must let go of your fears and boldly follow your goals," added Sylendra Babu. He later showed the students inspiring videos on Malala Yousafzai, Indra Nooyi and Beno Zephine, the only blind person to be recruited to the Indian Foreign Service.

Like assets, even liabilities of dead father fall on son, rules Madras HC

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Chennai: Just as assets, even the liabilities of a man will pass on to his son after his death, said the Madras high court, directing a man to pay the unpaid compensation that ought to have been given by his deceased father to kin of a worker who died while cleaning the drain of his father’s residence. The order comes17 years after the death of the worker in Saidapet.

“The concept of pious (moral) obligation originatedin Dharma Sastras, according to which, non-payment of debt is a sin, which results in unbearable suffering in the next world. Just as Lord Ram was obligated to fulfil his deceased father’s promise to his stepmother, the petitioner is obligated to pay compensation to the deceased worker’s family, which is imposed on his father,” Justice S Vaidyanathan said.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by A Ravichandran, assailing the order of Puzhithivakkam zonal officer of the Chennai Corporation on August 21, 2017 directing him to pay ₹10 lakh as liability to Adhilakshmi, legal heir of late Narasimhan who died on August 26, 2001, while cleaning the drain in the house, where his father lived.

According to the petitioner, the compensation had already been paid by his father to the family of the deceased. “Adhilakshmi had kept quiet for more than 15 years and only in the 2016, the corporation is claiming compensation amount on her behalf and it is only an afterthought,” the petitioner said and sought the court to quash the order.

Refusing to accept the contention, the judge said, “As the petitioner has come forward challenging the order and that the petitioner and the official are jointly, severally and vicariously responsible to pay compensation to the dependent of the deceased, this court interferes with the order and modifies the same to the extent that ₹7.5 lakh will have to be paid to the victim’s family, of which, ₹5 lakh shall be paid by the petitioner and ₹2.5 lakh shall be paid by the corporation. However, this will not preclude Adhilakshmi and other legal heirs to claim the balance ₹2.5 lakh, if they are able to establish that there is no delay on their part in claiming the amount.”

The court further made it clear that the compensation must be remitted to the accounts of legal heirs of the deceased, within two months by RTGS/NEFT, to avoid payment of any commission that may be said to have been taken by the officials, on realisation of the amount.