Two dozen faculty members for Palakkad medical college 





K.A. Shaji 
 
Palakkad, May 14, 2018 00:00 IST

Minister says 30 objections raised by MCI to be addressed

Faced with the directive of the Medical Council of India (MCI) preventing MBBS admissions for the 2018-19 academic year to Government Medical College in Palakkad citing faculty shortage, the State government has initiated remedial measures.

Two dozen faculty members would be appointed with immediate effect and the 30 objections raised by the inspection wing of the MCI related to hospital facilities at the college would be addressed with top priority, said Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) A.K. Balan.

After completing the process, the government would approach the MCI seeking to vacate the stay on admissions.

Run by the SC/ST Department, the college has 100 seats for MBBS and 70 among them will go to candidates of Scheduled Castes. Two seats will be allotted to Scheduled Tribes candidates and the rest will belong to the general quota. If the MCI refuses to vacate the stay, it will hit hard the MBBS aspirations of eligible SC/ST candidates.

This is the second time that the Palakkad medical college is inviting the wrath of the MCI. The Central agency had cancelled the admissions in 2017-18 academic year as well.

Ineligible for post

According to the MCI, there was a 40% faculty deficiency and a 52% shortage of resident doctors at the medical college.

The current medical superintendent is not eligible for the post since he lacks the mandatory administrative experience of 10 years, it has observed.

The government is yet to decide on the matter. The MCI was also critical about affiliating the district hospital to the Directorate of Health Services for the setting up of the medical college.

“The college was started by the previous government in haste without meeting the necessities prescribed by the MCI. The government is now in the process of removing the legal hurdles in appointing 253 staff members. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has allocated Rs. 325 crore to the college,” said the Minister, adding that the construction of buildings was fast progressing.

Karnataka’s 72% turnout is a record 

Special Correspondent 
 
Bengaluru, May 14, 2018 00:00 IST


All major parties trash exit polls, claim voter support; not averse to a Dalit CM, says Siddaramaiah

The 72.36% turnout in Saturday’s Karnataka Assembly election is a new record for the State, surpassing the 71.90% polling in 1978. The 2013 Assembly election recorded a turnout of 71.45%.

However, the low voter turnout in the 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru city has caused concern in the Election Commission. The turnout in different constituencies remained in the range of 48% to 60%.

Reading the numbers

The high voter turnout has triggered a political debate, even as both the ruling Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that it was an indication of the voters’ mood in their favour.

While the Congress is interpreting the high turnout as demonstration of support for its administration, the BJP reads the numbers as an urge for a change.

Though several exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly, the three major parties — the Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) — have rubbished them. While the Congress and the BJP vociferously claim that they would form the government on their own, the JD(S) has maintained that it would get many more seats than forecast by the exit polls.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah even tweeted, asking party supporters not to worry about exit polls. “So, Dear party workers, supporters & well wishers, don’t worry about exit polls. Relax & enjoy your weekend. Exit opinion polls are entertainment for the next 2 days,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in the Chamundeshwari constituency, one of the two seats from where he contested, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “This will be my last election.”

A Dalit CM?

To a question on the possibility of a Dalit Chief Minister, he said, “It is fine if the party decides to have a Dalit Chief Minister.” However, he made a strong pitch for retaining the top post, emphasising the absence of dissidence in the party during his five-year tenure at the helm.

“There is no dissatisfaction among the party MLAs,” he said, recalling that dissidence had affected the regimes of his predecessors like D. Devaraj Urs, Veerendra Patil, S. Bangarappa, and M. Veerappa Moily.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also ruled out the possibility of shifting to national politics. Responding to a question on a possible move if the party high command wanted him to play a larger role ahead of the next year’s Lok Sabha election, he said, “I will not go to national politics. I will restrict myself to Karnataka politics.”

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara, meanwhile, said there were a dozen of aspirants for the top post, including himself, and ultimately the Congress Legislature Party would elect its leader and the party high command would take a final decision.

BSY heads to Delhi

BJP State president and chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa maintained that the party was bound to form the government on its own and he would visit New Delhi on Monday, ahead of the counting on May 15, to consult central leaders on the process of government formation.

JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy left for Singapore, along with his son Nikhil, on Sunday morning.

He is expected to return to Bengaluru on Tuesday morning.

MCI PUBLIC NOTICE ...TOI 13.05.2018

Only 36 foreign students register for JEE (A)

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:
13.05.2018

Despite holding a good ground in global rankings, IITs have failed to catch the fancy of international aspirants this year. Only 36 candidates have registered for JEE (Advanced) — the entry level test for admission to IITs — this year as against 69 last year. Eventually, only 31appeared for the test last year and seven qualified.

Not just the rankings, IITs, on their own, have been taking mindful efforts in the last few years to increase students’ diversity on campus. Only last year, the premier institutes decided to reach out to international students in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the UAE, and have been holding exams at these centres. “We have been releasing admission details from time to time on our website and are also taking all measures to promote the institutes in these countries. We approach the Indian embassies in the selected countries with all the admission data required to ensure a smooth conduct of the test,” said an official from the JEE (advanced) organising committee.

Most JEE candidates from IIT-M zone

This year too, the highest number of candidates to qualify for JEE (Advanced) is from the IIT-Madras zone, which means that students from south India comprise a lion’s share of the total IIT aspirants. IIT-Delhi zone moved one rank up this year to the second place, replacing IIT-Bombay zone that draws students from the western region. Officials attribute the change to reshuffling of centres in two cities. A professor from IIT-Bombay said that Jaipur, which was with IIT-Bombay zone, has been allocated to IIT-Delhi. Also, Bangalore which was earlier under IIT-Madras has come to IIT-Bombay. TNN

International Nurses Day

State govt nurses to junk all-white uniforms for trendy, colourful scrubs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 13.05.2018
The all-white ensemble — short pinafore, long stockings, stiff cap and belle shoes – that has been the uniform of nurses in the state for a long time is set to become history. Government nurses in Tamil Nadu have petitioned the health department seeking a change.

On Friday, during a function on theeveof InternationalDayfor Nurses,health minister C Vijay Baskar said a committee under Tamil Nadu Health Systems project director P Uma Maheswari would ensure that nurses have smart scrubs and sneakers that will help them stay comfortable during their long hours of work.

“They wanted an outfit that will keep them at ease while they are working with modernequipment.Thecommittee will come out with their options soon,” he said after presenting awards to 251 nurses.

Long after the minister made the announcement, many nurses couldn’t stop smiling. “Almost all private hospitals have moved on to more colourful scrubs. It’s not just about being in vogue, but about staying at ease. Many nurses are so conscious that they keep pulling their dress down even when they are assisting in emergencies. Comfortable dress and shoes will better patient outcomes,” said 34-year-old R Selvi, who works as a senior nurse.

But what made most nurses happier was the government’s promise to bring in a long bridge course, promotions and morejobopportunities. The state health departmentis now working withthe Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University on the procedure for introducing a bridge course – diploma to degree.

“Diploma holders study for three years while degree holders study for four years. The bridge course will offer a one-year intensive training for diploma holders covering all the subjects they haven't studied so that they can be awarded degrees,” he said amid thunderous applause. The course material prepared by the state medical university would be sent to the national nursing council for approval, the minister said.

The government is in the process of preparing a list of nurses for promotion and recruitment of freshers, he said. The state medical recruitment board has so far appointed 9,533 nurses to various government hospitals. 



THEN AND NOW

Book rly ticket on phone, get 5% on R-wallet recharge

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 13.05.2018

Rail commuters in Chennai and Tamil Nadu who use the R-wallet to book tickets on mobile phones would soon get ₹5 extra when they recharge the R-wallet for ₹100.

The directive came from the Railway Board (RB) on May 3 to promote unreserved ticket booking through mobile phones. The scheme will be on trial for three months after which it will be reviewed.

Sources said this followed Southern Railway, covering Tamil Nadu and Kerala, writing to RB with some ideas buoyed by the tremendous response to m-ticketing in the zone. Since April 14, people in Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been booking unreserved tickets through the ‘utsonmobile’ application, skipping long queues. On the Chennai suburban railway network, this facility has been available since 2015.

Statistics accessed from Southern Railway show that within four weeks of the launch of the facility, at least 10 lakh passengers had booked unreserved m-tickets. This is 2% of the total unreserved tickets sold. On an average, anywhere between 40,000 and 80,000 m-tickets are booked everyday, sometimes touching the magic mark of 3%.

Apart from this, 30,000-40,000 m-tickets are being booked on a daily basis on the Chennai suburban railway network. This means that around one lakh mobile-tickets are being booked across Southern Railway on most days, say railway officials. “Our next target is to have a 5% penetration in the mobileticketing market,” said a senior official.

This is part of ‘mission five minutes’ of the railway ministry, which envisages a passenger being able to buy a ticket within five minutes of arriving at a station.

Around 93% of passengers in Southern Railway are in the unreserved segement and this has only gone up after the recent bus fare hike across Tamil Nadu, statistics show.

The Railway Board directive also stated that the maximum recharge limit on R-wallet had been increased from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000. 

TRB scam: HC upholds govt’s decision to cancel examination
‘No Leniency For Corrupt Activities’

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 13.05.2018

The Madras high court upheld a government decision to scrap the 2017 recruitment exam conducted by Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) for 1,058 posts of lecturers in government polytechnics in view of large scale malpractice in selection process.

Justice S M Subramaniam, on his trademark hard-hitting order, said the fast development of the nation had been paralysed by corrupt activities in public services.

After perusing a report submitted by the government, Subramaniam said: “It is pertinent to note that several money transactions were found, and the outsourcing company has tampered with the hard disks and original OMR sheets. Thus, it is very difficult to segregate the tainted from the nontainted.”

It is found that even before the commencement of the examination, there were conspiracies to commit such malpractice, Subramaniam added.

“Constitutional courts across the country, time and again emphasised that there cannot be any leniency or misplaced sympathy in respect of the corrupt activities. In the event of showing any such misplaced sympathy in such cases, the same will cause not only larger implications, the young minds of this great nation will result in frustration. Thus, in the event of identifying certain large scale corrupt activities in the process of selection, then the courts have no option, but to take a decision that fresh selection alone will be the best solution," the judge said.

The issue pertains to a batch of petitions moved by persons who appeared for the exam seeking direction to the government not to cancel the entire exam, but to segregate, only the candidates who are found to be involved in the malpractices. On February 22, the Madurai bench while partly allowing a batch of similar petitions set aside the government’s decision to cancel the entire exam and ordered the segregation.

When the present batch of petitions came up for hearing, the additional advocate general submitted that the government could not provide a clear picture of the magnitude of the scam before the Madurai bench since the inquiry was then in the preliminary stage. However, as of now, there has been considerable progress and police officials have also given inputs in respect of the corrupt activities. Thus, we are filing a confidential report in respect of the preliminary investigations done by the authorities, the additional advocate general said.