Denied medical seat, aspirant to get Rs 20 lakh

Mohammed Akhef | TNN | Updated: Mar 31, 2018, 06:04 IST




AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court has directed the state government to withdraw the recognition and affiliation to the Godavari Foundation’s Dr Ulhas Patil Medical College in Jalgaon for flouting admission norms. 

The bench ordered the college to pay Rs 20 lakh as compensation to the petitioner in the case, Tejaswini Phad, who had claimed she was denied an admission against vacant seats after the centralised admission process (CAP) rounds in 2012 even as 19 other students with lesser merit were admitted.

Phad, from Parbhani, had filed her petition in February 2013. The HC, in its ruling on Tuesday, termed the procedure adopted by the college for admitting the 19 students as illegal.

Incidentally, the 19 students have completed their course and got their degrees this year. “We will have to examine the HC’s judgment and other relevant aspects, including past rulings by the Supreme Court in such cases, before taking a call on whether to withhold or recall these degrees,” Sandeep Kulkarni, law officer of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, told TOI on Friday.

The HC bench of Justice T V Nalawade and Justice Sunil K Kotwal also ordered a suo motu contempt proceeding against the college authorities.

The college said it would move an appeal against the HC’s decision in the SC.

Phad had contended that the college admitted the 19 students in violation of the revised admission schedule issued by Pravesh Niyantran Samiti (PNS), the state’s admissions regulatory panel. The list of these admissions was released two days before the counselling round and this had deprived many students their right to secure admission, she had stated. Among other things, she had sought cancellation of these admissions. The bench, however, said that the PNS had already taken a decision to cancel the admissions of the 19 students.

On January 11, 2013, before Phad filed her petition, the PNS had held the admissions illegal and recommended that the state government cancel them. The students continued to pursue their studies after the college filed a petition in the Aurangabad bench of HC against the PNS decision. In 2016, the college also secured an interim relief from the HC bench in Mumbai.

College registrar Pramod Bhirud claimed, “In 2015, the PNS regularised our admissions with a condition that the college deposit Rs 20 lakh per student with the state. We made the deposit and challenged the PNS’ directives before the HC bench in Mumbai and the matter is still pending . ”

Phad’s lawyer Siddheshwar Thombre said, “The state government and other authorities, including the health sciences university, had turned a blind eye to the PNS’ report seeking cancellation of these admissions. The bench has now partly allowed our petition and has dismissed the college petition against the PNS decision.

7 Indians among 15 killed in Kuwait bus collision

AFP, Kuwait City, Apr 1 2018, 22:41 IST 


Seven of those killed were Indian nationals, five were Egyptians and the other three from Pakistan, said Mohammed al-Basri of the state-owned Kuwait Oil Company. Representation image

Seven Indians were among 15 oil workers killed today in a head-on collision between two buses in southern Kuwait, officials said.

Seven of those killed were Indian nationals, five were Egyptians and the other three from Pakistan, said Mohammed al-Basri of the state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

Two Indian citizens -- one in critical condition -- and a Kuwaiti were also injured in the accident, Basri told AFP.

Fire department spokesman Colonel Khalil al-Amir said the victims were employees of Burgan Drilling, a private subcontractor for KOC.

Like the other Arab states of the oil-rich Gulf, Kuwait has drawn international condemnation for its track record on migrant workers' rights and labour conditions.

Odisha: Sleeping infant snatched from parents by monkey, found dead in well 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Apr 2, 2018, 1:36 am IST

The police and forest department officials could not trace the 16-day-old boy during their day-long searches on Saturday. 


Missing infant’s father prays for his return.

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack: A newborn, who had been snatched away by a monkey from its mother’s side on Saturday at Talabasta village of Banki in Cuttack district, was found dead on Sunday inside a well near the house, the police said.

The police and forest department officials could not trace the 16-day-old boy during their day-long searches on Saturday.

The family members of the new born first spotted the body floating in the 15-feet-deep well and retrieved it with the help of villagers, police said.

The eyewitnesses said the body bore an injury mark and was probably inside the well for over 24 hours, although it had not bloated.

We are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of death of the baby, which had a premature birth under Cesarean section, said investigating officer Priyabrat Rout.

It appeared the newborn might have slipped from the clutches of the monkey and subsequently died after falling into the well, but the investigation is in progress and is taking all possibilities into consideration, the police said.

Karur Collector comes calling with food for elderly woman in Tamil Nadu

By Express News Service | Published: 02nd April 2018 02:43 AM |

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Karur Collector T Anbazhagan shares food with 80-year-old Raakkammal of Chinnamanaikkenpatti in Karur district | Express

KARUR: Eighty-year-old Raakammal, who is living alone in her small house at Chinnamanaikkenpatti, had a surprise high-profile guest for lunch two days ago when Karur Collector T Anbazhagan, who came calling with home-cooked meal for her. After serving on a banana leaf for her, the Collector sat on the floor besides her and had his food.

Raakammal, who poured her heart during the lunch was delighted to know that the Collector later ordered a monthly old-age pension of Rs 1,000 for her. It was at a grievance redress meeting two days before that Anbazhagan was told about the woman living alone in extreme poverty by people who requested him to arrange financial aid for her.

“Due to age-related problems, she could not do any work and earn a living. The old-age pension scheme is meant to help such people. The district administration will take steps to cover all such persons under the scheme,” the Collector said.

No delays, successors get promotion orders from retiring employees in Chennai

By Express News Service | Published: 02nd April 2018 02:57 AM |

CHENNAI: To ensure that no employee with required qualification waits even for a single day to get promotion when a post is vacant, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur has introduced a novel method of filling posts.

On their last working day, retiring employees presented the promotion orders to their successors.

For instance, when a junior engineer of production unit retires, a grade III technician, who is qualified for the post, will get the promotion letter from the retiring staff.

“We wanted to boost the morale of our technicians for better productivity. We initiate the paperwork exactly a month before the retirement date. We ensure that every deserving staff in the unit receive promotion as soon as the post gets vacant,” said R Mohanraja, Principal Chief Personnel Officer, ICF.
He added that the practice was introduced in April 2017 and more than 150 staff members had so far received promotion orders from their predecessors.

On Saturday, 28 technicians retired from the ICF. On an average, 20 technicians retire every month.
At the felicitation function, retired employees gave the promotion orders to 14 of their qualified colleagues.

The promotion orders issued for the posts include chief office superintendent, technician grade III and junior engineer.

Alexander George, an office superintendent of the ICF, received promotion order to become chief office superintendent from Raju Balaji, who retired from the post.

Employees categorised under technicians are backbone of the Integral Coach Factory The production unit has 8,000 workers, including helpers and technicians. In addition, 2,000 administrative staff are also working in the unit.

Posts of technician are categorised as technician grades I, II and III and non-gazetted posts such as senior section engineer and junior engineer.

“We ensure that on the last working day itself employees get all the benefits to boost confidence in the management,” an ICF official said.

Why eggs are hard outside and soft inside

Jennifer Cockerell 02.04.2018

Scientists believe they have cracked the conundrum of how chicken eggs are strong enough to resist being fractured from the outside, but weak enough to be broken from the inside when the chick hatches.

A Canadian study found that eggshells develop to be strong, but also not too weak because of changes in their nanostructure that occur during the egg’s incubation.

Researchers believe that a better understanding of events that drive eggshell hardening and strength could have important implications for food safety.

The team from McGill University in Montreal used new techniques to expose the interior of the eggshells to study their molecular nanostructure and mechanical properties. They said birds have benefited from millions of years of evolution to make the perfect eggshell — a thin, protective biomineralised chamber for embryonic growth that contains all the nutrients required for the growth of a baby chick.

Eggs are sufficiently hard when laid and during brooding to protect them from breaking. As the chick grows inside the eggshell, it needs calcium to form its bones. During egg incubation, the inner portion of the shell dissolves to provide this mineral ion supply, while at the same time weakening the shell enough to be broken by the hatching chick.

Using atomic force microscopy, and electron and X-ray imaging methods, the team found that this dual-function relationship is possible thanks to minute changes in the shell’s nanostructure that occurs during egg incubation.

In parallel experiments, the researchers were also able to recreate a similar nanostructure by adding osteopontin to mineral crystals grown in the lab. They found that a factor determining shell strength is the presence of nanostructured mineral associated with osteopontin, an eggshell protein also found in composite biological materials such as bone.

Professor Marc McKee said: “Eggshells are notoriously difficult to study by traditional means, because they easily break when we try to make a thin slice for imaging by electron microscopy. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances. THE INDEPENDENT

INNER STRENGTH

‘Fell in love, couldn’t study’, writes student in answer sheet

Mohd Dilshad@timesgroup.com 02.04.2018

Muzaffarnagar: From blaming romance for lack of preparedness to hinting at the absence of a parent in life, messages UP students have left behind with their answer sheets, not to mention currency notes, are getting more imaginative and dramatic.

“I love my Pooja,” writes a student of UP board’s intermediate exam in bold as he begins answering his chemistry paper. “Yeh mohabbat bhi kya cheez hai, na jeene deti hai aur na marne… Sir, iss love story ne padhai se duur kar diya warna… (This love is a strange thing. It doesn’t let you live nor does it allow you to die; Sir, this love story didn’t let me study for the exam, or else…),” the examinee goes on to explain in detail. Rest of the answer sheet is blank except for a beautifully drawn heart pierced by an arrow.

Well, he is not the only one who chose to describe in great detail the chemistry of his own relationship, rather than care for some poor John Dalton or Dmitri Mendeleev.

Muzaffarnagar district inspector of schools Munesh Kumar said, “Yes, we are getting currency notes stapled with answer sheets and some weird messages.”

“Guruji ko copy kholne se pehle namaskar. Guruji, pass kar dein. Chitthi tu ja sir ke pass, sir ki marzi fail karein ya pass (Accept my greetings before you begin to check this answer sheet. Please pass me. O, my letter, you fly to the teacher, it’s up to him if he fails me or not),” wrote another examinee.

One student made an emotional appeal. “I have got no mother and my father will kill me you fail me.” Another student threatened to commit suicide if he gets failed.

EVERYTHING’S FAIR IN LOVE...