Owners should buy insurance cover for vehicle’s lifetime: HC
Court Says Comprehensive Policy Should Be The Only Option

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  06.07.2018

A bench of the Madras high court has observed that the Centre should amend the Motor Vehicles Act to make it mandatory for every vehicle to purchase comprehensive insurance policy rather than just third party ones so that each occupant is eligible for compensation in case of death or injury.

It has also observed that the owners should make upfront payment of the premium for vehicle’s lifetime (say for 15 years) to avoid the practice of people often not renewing their policies and risking all road users.

The two-member bench has suggested the government to establish a mechanism so that whenever the insurance policy expires, this should be informed to the regional transport office (RTO) and the police department to enable them to seize the vehicle immediately.

The court’s observation came while including the transport and finance ministries and the insurance regulator IRDA suo motu as parties while hearing a case relating to the compensation awarded to the kin of a former police constable who had died in November 2010. The constable was travelling in the car when it met with the fatal accident.

Sources said the ministries will submit their views on all the issues flagged by the court and these will be placed before the court. Currently, only third party insurance cover is mandatory for every vehicle plying on the road and it’s optional for the owners to go for comprehensive policy, which includes self damage as well.

The car that had met with the fatal accident had only third party insurance cover. Challenging the compensation awarded for constable’s death, the insurance company had submitted that the compensation could not be awarded for the death of the occupant since it had only third party insurance cover.

The court observed, “No one is sure about being safe when going out in vehicles. When that is the position, having different types of policies would not help. The ideal position is that if there is a twowheeler it should have coverage for two persons, as per the seating capacity... Once a car is purchased, according to the seating capacity, the insurance should be made compulsory and no option should be given to the owner of the vehicle to choose between different types of policies.”

It further said people choosing to go for only third party insurance goes against the public.

The court also said it had been getting cases wherein the insurance of vehicles has expired and the road accident victims are helpless in getting compensation in the absence of any valid insurance cover during accident.

Paying compensation not enough, probe fatal road accidents, say experts

New Delhi:

With state governments prone to closing most cases of fatal road accidents simply by paying compensation of either ₹2 lakh or ₹5 lakh to each victim, the country’s road safety experts have raised the question of whether this is the price for a life.

Citing the recent cases of two major bus accidents in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the experts have demanded the need to have a mandatory investigation of all fatal road accidents to establish the reason so corrective action can be taken. Though section 135 of Motor Vehicles Act speaks about the need for state governments to frame schemes for the investigation of accident cases, it completely leaves to their discretion to make one or more schemes for “an in-depth study on causes and analysis of motor vehicle accidents.”.

But hardly any state has such a system in place and in almost all cases low level police officers investigate the cases and close them, largely blaming the driver for rash and negligent driving.

International Road Federation (IRF) chairman K K Kapila said robust crash investigation should be the focus of the law that is being reworked. TNN

SUMANDEEP VIDYAPEETH ADMISSION NOTIFICATION 2018-19

Day 4 of med counselling sees heated argument

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.07.2018

The fourth day of MBBS counselling saw a heated argument between students and parents on one side and state selection committee on the other after the authorities said OC and BC category students should either choose the remaining seats in self-financing dental colleges or opt for a second round of counselling. Further they will not be able to avail self-financing dental college seats in round


By afternoon the selection committee announced that all MBBS for OC, BC category in government and self-financing colleges and BDS seats in Government Dental College were exhausted. The committee said students in the category can either opt for BDS seats in dental category or they will be eligible to attend counselling in the second round.

Parents said they didn’t want their children to lose a chance of getting government seats. “We don’t know how many of them will be eligible or how many seats will be returned to the state. It is unfair to change the rules now for us,” said a parent. No updated was out till 10.30pm.

Will help MBBS aspirant if approached: TN to HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.07.2018

A day after the Madras high court came to the rescue of G Boopathi Raj, who lost his original certificates at Egmore railway station and failed to secure an MBBS seat, the government informed the court that it would help the boy if he approached it.

“So far the boy has not approached us, if he does we are ready to do the needful,” the government told Justice S Vaidhyanathan on Thursday.

After learning of Raj’s plight through media reports, the judge on Wednesday orally directed the authorities to consider Raj’s case as a special category.

Raj, a resident of Virudhunagar district, had obtained a score of 1,114 in the Class XII public exam and 235 in NEET.

He was called to participate in the counselling session but, he lost his bag containing all the original certificates when he was resting in Egmore railway station early on Sunday morning.

Now, Reliance Jio set to disrupt home entertainment business

Reeba.Zachariah@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:06.07.2018

Reliance Jio plans to launch fixed-line broadband services in the country as the two-year-old telecom company steps up its push on digital services, boosting its revenues and subscriber base.

The company is running beta trials of the service—to be called Jio Gigafiber—in “tens of thousands of homes” and will launch it on August 15.

Jio Gigafiber’s simultaneous introduction in 1,100 cities will make it the largest greenfield fixed-line broadband rollout anywhere in the world, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), Jio’s parent. Ambani’s aggressive intent, which is expected to disrupt the home entertainment industry, led to a fall in the shares of cable TV operators. Hathway Cable, Den Networks, GTPL Hathway and Siti Networks declined 15.4%, 10.7%, 7.5% and 2.8% , respectively. Dish TV closed with a marginal 0.6% gain.

However, RIL investors were not enthused. The company’s stock closed 2.5% lower at ₹965 in Thursday’s flat market.

India lags behind in fixed-line broadband, says Ambani

Jio’s stormy entry into the mobile telephony and data market — where it has mopped up 215 million subscribers in less than two years — has already roiled the telecom sector, driving rivals into desperate consolidation moves.

“While India has pole-vaulted into global leadership in the mobile broadband space, the country lags behind significantly in the fixed-line broadband,” Ambani said. “Poor fixed-line infrastructure has been a key reason for this. We (Jio) want to take India to be among the top five in fixed-line broadband connectivity,” Ambani added. Currently, India is placed 134th in the global ranking for fixed broadband. “In countries with better developed communication infrastructure, more than 80% of data consumption happens indoors through fixed-line connectivity in home, offices and other premises,” said Ambani, addressing RIL’s annual general shareholders meet.

Jio’s broadband service will include a router, a set top box and a landline phone, among other things. Though Ambani didn’t reveal the tariff for Jio Gigafiber, he said that the service will enhance home entertainment experience, allow multi-party video conferencing, voice-activated virtual assistant and home surveillance solutions. His elder two children, Akash and Isha, also directors at Jio, demonstrated the wireline broadband service to the packed auditorium of shareholders, journalists, RIL executives and Ambani family members. Akash’s fianceé Shloka Mehta too was present among the audience, her first appearance at the oils-to-telecoms enterprise’s shareholder meet.

“The launch of Jio Gigafiber will open new revenue stream for RIL’s digital services business although we await a price plan for the broadband services,” said Abhijeet Bora, analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

School of Nursing in Ramnad gets ‘model status’

D. J. Walter Scott

RAMANATHAPURAM, JULY 05, 2018 00:00 IST



A view of School of Nursing in Ramanathapuram.L.

 

BalachandarL_Balachandar 

The facility gets Rs. 52.50 lakh from Union Ministry

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has declared the School of Nursing at the Government headquarters hospital here as a ‘Model School of Nursing’ and sanctioned a sum of Rs. 52.50 lakh for developing the quality of nursing education.

Acting on the recommendations of the National Health Mission of Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu State Health Society, the Ministry has declared the General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) – the School of Nursing at the headquarters hospital – as the Model School of Nursing in the State.

The GNM had won the acclaim for meeting various norms of the Indian Nursing Council (INC), officials said. In all, 23 GNMs in the State, including 11 attached to the Government medical college hospitals in various districts vied for the coveted status, and the district headquarters hospital won the race, they said.

After making a humble beginning as an Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery (ANM), it became GNM in 2004 but continued to function in the 35-year-old dilapidated building in the hospital complex. Recently, the GNM, with the total strength of 300 nursing students, moved to a new building built by the Public Works Department (Health) at a total cost of Rs. 8.17 crore.

“We are happy and proud that the Union Ministry has accorded the prestigious status to us. We will improve the quality of nursing education and live up to the expectations of the Ministry,” R. Parthipan, Vice Principal, said. A sum of Rs. 52.50 lakh would be utilised for upgrading the library, creating smart class rooms, and setting up an advanced computer laboratory and skill laboratory, he said. The Ministry had declared the ANM training school at the Community Health Centre, Poovanthi, in the neighbouring Sivaganga district as a ‘Model ANM School’ in the State, officials said.

HC lauds law student for writing exams in Tamil

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, JULY 05, 2018 00:00 IST




While appreciating a girl for opting to write her law examinations in Tamil, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that such students should be duly recognised by issuing them ‘Person Studied in Tamil Medium’ Certificate.

Justice M. S. Ramesh observed that the noble object of the government is to encourage the person who studied in Tamil medium. Persons who had studied their course material in Tamil and written their examinations in Tamil could only be deemed to have undergone the course in Tamil medium.

The court directed the Government Law College to issue the certificate.

The petitioner, D. Dhivya of Madurai, who had completed her degree in law (three years) sought the ‘Person Studied in Tamil Medium’ certificate stating that she had written her examinations in Tamil. In her petition filed before the High Court Bench, she said that 20% of vacancies to the post of Civil Judge in Tamil State Judicial Services were reserved for persons who studied in Tamil medium. As she had written her examinations in Tamil, she should be considered as a Tamil medium student. However, the State contended that there was no intake of Tamil medium students during 2012-15 and no Tamil medium classes were held during the period. The petitioner was not entitled for the certificate, it said.

The court observed that the government had not passed any order discontinuing the Tamil medium of instruction in the Government Law College, Madurai. Tamil medium of instruction was introduced in the college in 1978-1979 and it was not cancelled through a separate Government Order. It can only be assumed that the Tamil medium of instruction was always available in the college.

The High Court Bench had earlier, hearing a similar petition, directed the grant of ‘Person Studied in Tamil Medium’ Certificate to A. Aathiyan who had completed his five years integrated law course in the college.