Medical Admissions

Medical admission more competitive as scores & cut-off rise

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:

If admission to government medical colleges was competitive, entry to general category MBBS seats at expensive deemed universities was equally tough this academic year.

The allotment list released by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) after the mop-up round shows that the lowest score of a candidate entering a deemed university is 165 marks in NEET 2018 – 69 marks over the qualifying score — after emptying nearly all seats in the general category.

Last year, students with just-pass score of 107 managed to get general category seats in such universities. “Many factors played a role. While students performed better this year, new rules introduced by the DGHS prevented students from needlessly blocking seats,” said Sri Ramachandra University dean Dr S Anandan.

In some colleges like Varanasi-based Institute of Medical Science the cut-off was 603 and at least six colleges in the country had a cut-off of above 450 marks. The lowest score of 165 was recorded at Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences in Puducherry. With 1,350 seats in eight universities, Tamil Nadu’s lowest entry score was 180 at Sree Balaji Medical College, Chennai and VMKV Medical College, Salem. The DGHS may return 145 NRI seats to the colleges, which may be converted into general category seats and filled.

Education counsellors said that in more than 50% of the 41 colleges the cut-off increased in the second and mop-up rounds. At least 21 colleges, including four in the state, recorded their lowest cut-off during the first round. In the mop-up round, barring three colleges, almost all the universities recorded a higher cut-off compared to round 2.

“After the DGHS tweaked rules, students who were unsure of getting seats in state quota or private colleges picked up seats in round 1. If students drop out too there was no problem. So students with a cut-off as low as 187 were allotted seats in the first round,” said S Chandrasekar, a counsellor at a private coaching centre.

But students were asked to take a “calculated decision” about continuing with round 2. If they register afresh or continue with round 2, they would have to take the seats allotted or forfeit a ₹2 lakh fee. They would have to register afresh and again pay the fee for the mop-up round for deemed universities. If candidates refuse seats at the mop-up round, they would lose the money and chances of joining other counselling. “The fear of losing ₹2 lakh allowed only serious students into the counselling arena,” said dean of VMKV Medical College, Salem, Dr K Prakasam.

PIL petition to curb practice of ‘ghost’ lecturers in medical colleges

A division bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the direction, while disposing of a PIL petition from Change India, by its director A Narayanan, of Virugambakkam, on Thursday.
 
Published: 17th August 2018 02:24 AM 

 
 
By Express News Service

CHENNAI : The State Medical Education department has been directed by the Madras High Court to submit its comments on a letter, dated May 12 last, of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and take necessary action within eight weeks, on a PIL petition seeking to curb the practice of engaging ‘ghost’ lecturers, assistant professors and associate professors to impart education to the students of medical colleges in the State.

A division bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the direction, while disposing of a PIL petition from Change India, by its director A Narayanan, of Virugambakkam, on Thursday.

The bench noted that the MCI had, while acting on a representation from the Tamil Nadu Doctors Association, sought his comments from the secretary, Medical Education Department, to take further necessary action on May 12 last.

In the above said circumstances, the bench said that it can only direct the Medical Education secretary to furnish his comments to the MCI to enable it to take further necessary action, within eight weeks. On receipt of comments, the MCI should proceed in accordance with law, the bench added.Narayanan had filed the petition for a direction to the MCI to curb the practice.

‘Consider the work pressure of policemen’

Chennai: The Director General of Police has been directed by the Madras High Court to consider and pass orders within six weeks on a representation from a woman advocate to minimise the arduous duties of the police personnel. This will help in stopping policemen from committing suicide under the work pressure. A division bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the direction when a PIL from Rajalakshmi of Tiruvallur came up for hearing on Thursday. The petitioner submitted that policemen’s suicide incidents were on the rise. The causes are stress, work load, and non-availability of leave, she said.

Notice to Centre, State govts

Chennai: A division bench of the Madras High Court has ordered notice to the State and the Centre on a PIL petition praying for a direction to initiate punitive action against the police personnel responsible for the alleged lapse in providing security to AICC president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Chennai to pay homage to former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who died at Kauvery Hospital in the city on August 8 after prolonged illness.

Rly told to submit report on safety

Chennai:A division bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Southern Railway general manager to submit by September 17 a comparative study report relating to provision of safety doors in all coaches of suburban and MRTS trains originating from Chennai. The bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the direction when the PIL petition came up for further hearing on Thursday.

‘Digilocker’ can be used instead of driving licence: Director General of Police

The app was launched in July, 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 
Published: 17th August 2018 02:27 AM |

 
Image used for representational purposes.

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Clearing the doubt whether motor vehicle riders will be exempted from prosecution if they use the national digital locker system called ‘Digilocker’ instead of carrying their original licence, the Director General of Police issued a statement that this facility was valid.The app was launched in July, 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Centre-certified app can be downloaded onto the mobile phone which would help store documents, including licence, on DigiLocker which, when shown on demand to the department, is considered as the original.

This is mainly aimed at helping one consolidate all important papers at one place and avoid carrying hard copies of the documents.However, previously the state police were confused because under the Motor Vehicle Act, every motorist is to carry original driving licence and according to section 130 of the Act, the driver of the motor vehicle in any public place shall, on demand by any police officer in uniform, produce his/her licence for examination by any police official.

After complaints were filed from across the state seeking clarification on the issues, the statement said the Digilocker app is also valid. Explaining the app, a senior police officer said one has to link his or her Aadhaar car and the cell number, provided the inspecting officer is also registered as a requester on the app to cross-check the documents.

The system provides 1GB of storage space in which users can store identification cards issued by multiple authorities, education certificates, PAN cards, driving licence as well as vehicle ownership documents and is part of the NDA government’s Digital India push to curtail the use of physical documents.
However, in certain cases including impounding, the original licence has to be produced, the statement added.

Sections available

My Certificates: Which enables users to update the URI’s of the documents issued to the user by government departments or other agencies. The other lists of documents which are uploaded by the user which are within 10MB in size. Only pdf, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp and gif file types can be uploaded.

My Profile: The user profiled as available in the UIDAI database.
My Issuer: Details of the issuers’ names and the number of documents issued to the user by the issuer.

My Requester: Details of the requesters’ names and the number of documents requested from the user by the requesters.

Directories: The complete list of registered issuers and requesters along with their URLs.

When Vajpayee touched her feet

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MADURAI, AUGUST 17, 2018 00:00 IST



Vajpayee paying obeisance to Chinnapillai at a function in New Delhi in 2001.Special arrangementHandout 

Chinnapillai was presented the Stree Shakti Puraskar by the former PM in 2001


For Chinnapillai, leader of Kalanjiyam — a women’s self-help group (SHG) of the Madurai-based Dhan Foundation — what happened on January 4, 2001, in New Delhi is still the stuff of dreams.

She had gone to the national capital at the invitation of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, draped in her best cotton sari and wearing her worn-out rubber slippers, to receive the Stree Shakti Puraskar from the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Her name was called out.

After presenting her the award, the Prime Minister looked into her eyes and then the unthinkable happened. He quickly bent to touch her feet. She tried to hold his hands, but he completed his obeisance. She reciprocated the gesture.

Fond memories

Ms. Chinnapillai melted in the applause that filled Vigyan Bhavan. Her eyes welled up with tears. Later, in his speech, Mr. Vajpayee said that he saw ‘shakti’ in Ms. Chinnapillai’s face.

She is shocked that the man who touched her feet as Prime Minister has died. She made a vain attempt six months ago to meet him on a visit to New Delhi. “I would have gone to New Delhi to pay my respects to the departed leader, but I am not well now,” she said.

Ms. Chinnapillai, a resident of Mathur village in Madurai district, owes her global fame to Mr. Vajpayee. And the moment which makes her shudder, remains frozen in her memory.

Now, robots greet passengers at Chennai airport

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, AUGUST 17, 2018 00:00 IST




Tech friend:Humanoid robots interacting with visitors at the Chennai airport on Wednesday.Special Arrangement 

‘Mitra’ deputed on a trial basis at the domestic terminal

The Chennai airport has two new staff to assist passengers.

Named Mitra, the humanoid robots, were deputed on Wednesday to guide passengers inside the terminals.

The two robots — one each at the departure and arrival halls of the domestic terminal — greeted passengers on Independence Day and interacted with them.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said they would soon introduce the robots in the international terminal too after seeing the response from passengers.

“These are on trial basis for now. They can walk around the terminal, wish passengers and talk to them. In a few days, we will programme them to assist passengers on various queries and guiding them to security checks and respective boarding gates,” an official said.

A bunch of children who came to the airport to see the robots were thrilled to communicate with it.

T.N. gave him the numbers to become PM

B. Kolappan

CHENNAI, AUGUST 17, 2018 00:00 IST



Vajpayee with Jayalalithaa. 

First the AIADMK and then the DMK proved ideal allies of the BJP

The BJP may be struggling to find its feet in Tamil Nadu, but it was this State that offered the required numbers to A.B. Vajpayee to become the Prime Minister in 1998 and again in 1999.

The shifting sands of politics both in the State and the national level saw the DMK, the AIADMK and the MDMK abandoning their Dravidian moorings and joining hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the late 1990s.

In 1998, AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, smarting under the rout in the 1996 election, knit together an alliance that included the BJP. The front secured 30 Lok Sabha seats in that election.

The series of bomb blasts that rocked Coimbatore on February 14, 1998, just ahead of an election campaign meeting of the then BJP president L.K. Advani also played a major role in the victory of the AIADMK-BJP combine.

Besides the AIADMK, other constituents of the alliance — the PMK, MDMK and Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy, who won the Salem constituency — were accommodated in the Union Council of Ministers. However, the relationship between the BJP and the AIADMK proved to be a roller-coaster ride from the beginning. Jayalalithaa turned sharply critical of the Vajpayee regime after some time. Jayalalithaa also sought to take credit for the formation of the Vajpayee government when she declared that it was the AIADMK that introduced the party to the people of Tamil Nadu. Her remark that Mr. Advani suffered from “selective amnesia” further strained their ties.

Political storm

Subsequently, a ‘tea party’ hosted by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy brought together Jayalalithaa and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and caused a political storm. Though she withdrew the support of her party MPs, her allies, including the MDMK and the PMK, stayed with the BJP alliance.

Soon after the Vajpayee government fell, losing the trust motion by one vote, the DMK stepped in to fill the gap created by the AIADMK. It was Murasoli Maran who said “No party is untouchable” and cleared the path for an alliance between the BJP and the DMK for the 1999 election. The alliance won 26 seats.

Mop-up round for MBBS, BDS vacancies begins

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, AUGUST 17, 2018 00:00 IST



One more chance:The results of mop-up round of the counselling will be announced on August 20. Candidates will have to report to their respective colleges between August 21 and 26.

FILE PHOTOG_SRIBHARATH 

3,042 seats available; candidates have to lock their choices by August 19

The medical counselling committee of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has called for a mop-up round for the 3,042 vacancies for MBBS and BDS seats in deemed universities and ESIC medical colleges.

Registration for the mop-up round began on Thursday and will end at 5 p.m. on August 18. Candidates will have to lock their choices by August 19 and the results would be announced on August 20. Candidates will get five days’ time from August 21 to 26 to report to their respective colleges.

After the mop-up round, the DGHS will provide the vacant seats to the respective colleges and will also provide a merit list of candidates who can be called for counselling.

Among the deemed universities in the State, the most number of seats vacant in the management/paid category are in Chennai-based Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital with 116 seats, followed by ACS Medical College and Hospital, which has 81 vacancies.

The colleges are banking on the final mop-up round that would permit them to call students based on the merit list handed to them by the DGHS.

A smooth affair

Medical college officials, however, said seat filling had been smooth though two court cases had eaten into the time allotted for the admission process.

A source in Sri Ramachandra Medical College said it was among the first to fill all the seats last year also and it expected to do well this year too.

T. Gunasagaran, Dean of Saveetha Medical College, said in the mop-up round, they would fill 15 to 20 seats.

“The process has gone smoothly and people have understood the process well. The candidates know they will have to make a firm choice,” he said.