Foreign colleges: MCI moves HC

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 20, 2018 00:00 IST

A single judge banned students with less than 80% marks from joining these colleges

The Medical Council of India on Monday preferred a writ appeal against a single judge’s September 28 order prohibiting the Centre as well as the council from permitting students who had scored less than 80% in core science subjects in their Plus Two examinations from joining undergraduate medical courses in foreign institutions. Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee ordered notices to the Centre and the State before adjourning the hearing to December 17.

Release of convicts shocks kin of girls charred to death

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 20, 2018 00:00 IST


Say the move to free them amounts to denial of justice

Family members and acquaintances of Kokilavani, Hemalatha and Gayathri — students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) who were charred to death when their bus was set ablaze in February 2000 — were on Monday shattered by the release of the three AIADMK functionaries responsible for the tragedy.

“This is a mockery and a murder of democracy. The rulers are misusing democracy to suit their whims and fancies,” said an emotionally charged Veerasamy, father of Kokilavani at his home in A.S. Pettai in Namakkal. “Kokila went to TNAU with lots of hopes but only her charred body returned home. Her mother could not bear the tragedy and was bedridden for 14 years till she died a year-and-half ago. The premature release of the convicts only shows there is no rule of law in the country,” he said.

‘Shattered my family’

Gayathri’s father T. Venkatesan, who resides in Poovanur near Virudhachalam in Cuddalore, said the release of the convicts has “shattered” his family and amounted to denial of justice.

“Already by commuting their death warrants, justice was rendered ineffective. Now with their release, the loss of our daughter has been belittled,” he lamented.

K. Umamaheshwari, an Associate Professor in Biotechnology at the University of Madras, whose sister Hemalatha died in the incident, said, “This is going to set a bad precedent. Any partyman can now do anything and get away with it. I feel there is not going to be any security for anyone in the country.”

‘Can never be forgiven’

“We can never forgive them. We lost our parents because of this incident and they (accused) are doing well. If there is a possibility, I will appeal against this (release),” she added.

In Coimbatore, TNAU Professor K R Latha, who was a witness to the girls being charred, said the release of the convicts “is inhuman, unpardonable and unacceptable”.

( With inputs from Syed Muthahar Saqaf in Salem, R. Sujatha in Chennai, Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore and S. Prasad in Cuddalore )

The rulers are misusing democracy to suit their whims and fancies

Engineering Engg graduates graduates more more employable employable than than MBAs MBAs : Study

Surojit.Gupta@timesgroup.com 20.11.2018

Andhra Pradesh has topped the list of states with the highest employability followed by West Bengal and Delhi while engineers continued to be the most employable, according to a nationwide skills survey.

More than 3 lakh students from 29 states and 7 UTs appeared for the work, employability and skills test conducted between July 15 and Ocober 30. The subjects on which the students were tested included English, critical thinking skill, numerical aptitude, domain knowledge, behavioural competence.

The survey showed that MBA courses have lost some of their appeal with employability dropping 3 percentage points over the last year, according to the India Skill report 2019 prepared by People Strong, Wheebox and CII in partnership with the All India Council for Technical Education, UNDP and the Association of Universities.

Rajasthan and Haryana have made it to the top 10 for states with the highest employability while Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab dropped out of the top 10 in 2019. Among cities, Bengaluru topped the list followed by Chennai, Guntur, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi, Nashik, Pune and Visakhaptanam.

Guntur and Visakhapatnam entered the top 10 cities’ list after a gap of two years. The list also features Thane and Nashik, which gained entry for the first time. “The presence of these tier 2 and tier 3 cities makes it clear that the employable talent pool is not limited to metro cities,” the report said. Female employability increased this year compared with last year, rising from 38% to 46% while male employability rose from 47% to 48%. The survey showed almost 70% of freshers expect an annual Rs 2 lakh or more as their first salary and 47% of candidates expect Rs 2.6 lakh or above as their first pay check.

The survey showed that almost 64% of employers have a positive outlook on hiring and it is expected to be 15% higher compared to last year across nine major sectors. Demand for those with skills in artificial intelligence is seen robust. The key jobs in terms of hiring potential are: artificial intelligence, design analytics, research and development. About 23% of employers plan to hire for design jobs.

The survey showed that most of the hiring would happen for lateral positions but 15% to 20% hiring would be for freshers. “Almost 40% to 50% of existing jobs which are transaction heavy would get automated. The key sectors are IT, financial services, manufacturing, transportation, packaging and shipping,” it said.

File FCRA returns, Infosys Foundation & MCC told, or else!

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi:20.11.2018

The home ministry has issued a show-cause notice to 1,775 organizations, including Infosys Foundation, Madras Christian College, Skoda Auto India and University of Rajasthan, for failing to submit their annual income and expenditure statement on foreign funds for six years despite repeater reminders.

The MHA warned that if they failed to submit the returns by December 1, “appropriate action” would be taken against them under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Other organizations include Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust, Mumbai; Loyola College Society, Vijayawada; Guru Harkrishan Education Society, Chandigarh; Allahabad Agricultural Institute; National Association for the Blind, Gujarat; Vivekananda Seva Sadan, West Bengal; Bombay Memons’ Education Society and Rajiv Gandhi Social Service Centre, Madurai, among others.

FCRA provides that associations registered under the Act shall submit online annual report with scanned copies of income and expenditure statement, receipts and payment account, balance sheet, etc. for every financial year within nine months of the closure of the financial year.

Such associations which do not receive foreign contribution during a particular year are also required to furnish a ‘Nil’ return for that financial year within the aforesaid period.

The home ministry said after scrutiny of records for the years 2011-12 to 2016-17, it was observed that the annual report/accounts for some of the financial years in the aforesaid period have not been found uploaded on the FCRA portal by the said associations despite the fact that one final opportunity of one month was provided to all such associations to submit the missing annual reports on May 12, 2017.

Another notice was served on April 24, 2018, to these associations. However, the associations failed to submit annual reports of the missing year(s) till date, the ministry said.

“Therefore, the said associations are directed to explain within 15 days from the date of issue of this showcause notice as to why appropriate action under the FCRA may not be initiated against them,” it said.

Contempt plea against GRH dean, health secy for delay in opening cancer centre
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:20.11.2018

A contempt petition has been filed before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court against the state health secretary and the dean of Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for failing to implement court directions to set up the regional cancer centre in Madurai for patients from the Southern districts.

According to the petitioner, R Rajaselvan, an advocate, the authorities concerned have been stalling on the works, which began in 2013. Since the Adyar Cancer Institute is the only premier institute run by the state to treat cancer patients, in 2013, late chief minister J Jayalalithaa sanctioned Rs 3 crore to construct new buildings and set up highlyequipped modernized treatment facilities to treat cancer patients at Balarangapuram in Madurai.

The petitioner stated that the works which began in 2013 have not been completed till date despite court directions.

The petitioner pointed out that the government pleader had submitted before the court in September 2016 that the centre at Balarangapuram would be inaugurated shortly and almost 75% of the work has been completed in response to a petition moved before the court.

Since the works were not completed by six months, another petition was moved before the high court bench and when the petition came up for hearing in February last year, the dean of GRH informed the high court that the building meant for the regional cancer centre would take six months to complete.

“The time is required for the on-going work in relation to the electrical appliances. Similarly, permission has to be obtained from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,” the dean had submitted to the high court and sought another six months time.

However, in violation of the court directions, the works have not been completed so far, the petitioner stated and sought contempt action against the authorities concerned. The petitioner pointed out statistics which showed that the footfall of cancer patients at the GRH has increased over the years (31,726 in 2008 to 44,777 in 2015) and said that it is imperative that the centre is opened at the earliest.

It will take 15 days to restore power in the affected areas

Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.11.2018

Power minister P Thangamani on Monday said it will take not less than 15 days to restore power in villages of districts hit by Cyclone Gaja. While power has been restored in some towns in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts, it will take more time to do that in other areas, the minister said.

“We have restored power supply to government hospitals in the town areas of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Pudukottai districts. Similarly in municipal and corporation areas, we have restored power supply from 50% to 90%. Over the next few days, power will be restored fully in all town and urban limits,” assured Thangamani.

In the case of rural areas, the minister said it will take at least 10 to 15 days. “The damage is more in rural areas. We have enough workers to carry out restoration works. In addition, we are also getting workers from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. These workers are on their way and will be allocated to Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts,” said the minister.

The minister reassured that there is no shortage of any material. “We have enough power poles, lines and transformers. If needed, we will also get more materials and work will not stop due to shortage of materials. We are working on a war footing,” said Thangamani.

In many rural areas, people are not able to get water as there is no power. People are using the power lines to dry their clothes. “We are sure power will not be restored any soon. We used the lines to dry the clothes as there is one yet to visit our village,” said M Ramasamy of Kannukudi village in Thanjavur district.

“We need generators immediately to draw water. There is big shortage of water and we all know restoring power will take a few days,” said Mannargudi MLA T R B Raja. He said people are ready to help in clearing the roads, but they need water for drinking and cooking. Since Sunday, we are able to get fuel as fuel pumps have started working in town areas. The main demand is for generators, he said.

Meanwhile, Tangedco has allowed consumers in 9 districts to pay their bills till November 30 instead of November

25. The original deadline was November 25. Tangedco extended the deadline by five days for consumers in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Theni and Sivaganga districts.

UPROOTED: Electric poles damaged between Nagapattinam-Vedaranyam road in Madurai

HC order on 80% marks for foreign med course stayed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2018

In a reprieve to students who want to pursue MBBS abroad, the Madras high court stayed a single judge order prohibiting the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Centre from issuing eligibility certificate to those students who score less than 80% marks in Class XII.

A division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee passed the interim order on the appeal moved by the MCI’s board of governors. The bench also ordered notice to the Union and state health ministries, returnable by December 17.

On September 28, a single judge of the court, passing orders on a petition filed by Thamarai Selvan, held that at least 80% should be cut off for joining a medical course in a foreign country. The petitioner, who is a foreign medical degree holder, sought direction to the MCI to issue certificate of provisional registration to enable him to undergo the Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) in an approved medical college-hospital in the state and subsequently issue permanent registration certificate.

The single judge had pointed out that in the past 10 years, just 15%-25% of doctors with foreign medical degrees managed to clear the mandatory Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE) to practise in India. When students with more than 95% in the qualifying examinations are unable to get a medical college seat in India, how can candidates with 50% marks can be allowed to get admission in a foreign college, the judge wondered.

Assailing the order, the MCI moved the present appeal. When the plea came up for hearing, the council contended that the single judge passed the order without any basis, and contrary to the statute. It further submitted that without there being a challenge to the rules of the eligibility requirement for taking admission in a foreign institution, the single judge has re-legislated provisions of regulation.