Chennai: Three held for harassing girl in MRTS station lift

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedJan 7, 2019, 1:29 am IST

According to the police, the girl, a native of Kerala, is a second-year student of an arts college in the city.

Taramani MRTS station at night. (File photo)

Chennai: Railway police arrested three persons after they tried to sexually harass a 19-year-old girl at Taramani mass rapid transport system station on Saturday night.

According to the police, the girl, a native of Kerala, is a second-year student of an arts college in the city. She reportedly stays at a private hostel in Mylapore.

Around 10 pm on Saturday night, the girl was on platform 2 of Taramani MTRS station with a male classmate. The two soon attracted undue attention.

Three men approached them and on establishing that they were not related, forcibly took them to the ticket issuing office on the pretext of conducting an “inquiry”. The college students did not realise that they were being taken to the workroom on the first floor and not the ticket counter on the ground floor.

The three men reportedly told the two they were station staff. They allegedly made snide remarks about the relationship between the two and demanded R 5,000, failing which they threatened to call their families and tell them about their affair.

The two told the “officers” they had no money and could not arrange Rs 5,000 at such a short notice. Losing their patience, the three men asked the girl to step out, saying they needed to talk to the boy alone. But they beat up the boy and then stepped out looking for the girl, the police quoted her as saying.

On finding her, they pushed her into a lift at the railway station and tried to misbehave with her. The girl, however, managed to break free and found a police patrol car near the station. The patrol car informed the Tiruvanmiyur railway police and waited with the girl till the railway protection force arrived.

Following a complaint by the girl, the Tiruvanmiyur railway police arrested two men, identified as Lokesh and Lucas, from the station. On the basis of their statements, the police later picked up their accomplice, Sriram. Lokesh was identified as the ticketing clerk at Taramani, while the other two are lift operators. Further investigations are on.

AICTE to conduct inquiry into suicide of engineering faculty in Chennai college

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | A RAGU RAMAN

PublishedJan 7, 2019, 1:43 am IST

His relatives alleged that he was even thrashed by hirelings of the college management for going to the police.

The council has summoned the relatives of Mr Vasantha Vanan to the inquiry,” sources said.

Chennai: The suicide of a member of the engineering faculty of a city engineering college two months ago, after the college refused to hand him his original certificates, has been taken seriously by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) which is planning to conduct an inquiry on January 8 at the college premises.

The 30-year-old T Vasantha Vanan joined the faculty at Sree Sastha Institute of Engineering and Technology in Chembarambakkam, in August last year. He quit the job within a month after getting a job as temporary teaching faculty in the production engineering department of Madras Institute of Technology (MIT).

Though he repeatedly asked Sree Sastha Institute to give him back his original certificates, the college management reportedly refused to do so and harassed him. His relatives alleged that he was even thrashed by hirelings of the college management for going to the police.

It is alleged that the humiliation caused by the treatment meted out to him, pushed the gold medallist from the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy, to take the decision to end his life on November 12, 2018.

“AICTE’s regional office will hold the inquiry in the college premises on Tuesday. The council has summoned the relatives of Mr Vasantha Vanan to the inquiry,” sources said.

During his interview prior to joining Sree Sastha, Vasantha Vanan had reportedly informed the management that he had applied for the temporary position at MIT, one of the four university departments of Anna University, and would take up the job if it was offered to him.

But when he received the offer letter from MIT, the management of Sree Sastha Institute allegedly refused to hand him back his certificates though he had not received even a month’s salary from the college.

Since AICTE has received several complaints regarding the withholding of certificates of faculty members, it introduced penal action for such an act in its approval process handbook for 2019-20.

‘The Institution should not demand the original degree certificates from the faculty members at the time of joining the Institution,’ says the AICTE handbook.

‘Institutions demanding the original degree certificates from faculty members at the time of joining the institution shall be liable for no admission for one  academic year or withdrawal of approval of the institutions,’ the council warned the engineering colleges. The punitive section has been newly added to the handbook to empower universities to take action against erring colleges.

The Private Educational Institutions Employees’ Association has
welcomed the move by AICTE and suggested to Anna University that it should not ask for original certificates.

“Instead of asking for original certificates, the university officials should ask for certificate numbers and copies of original certificates. They can later verify the genuineness of the certificates with the certificate numbers,” said KM Karthik, president of the Association. He said only around 15 per cent of colleges have returned the certificates.

Decision to allow arts and science courses in engineering colleges slammed

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | A.RAGU RAMAN

PublishedJan 7, 2019, 6:02 am IST

Some professors accused the AICTE of talking in the language of private engineering colleges.

All India Council for Technical Education

Chennai: Educationists and academicians have slammed the move of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to allow engineering colleges to run arts and science courses in parallel on the same campus.

AICTE's chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe's comment that engineering colleges would be allowed to start B.Sc. or BA courses on their premises in view of a huge vacancy in engineering seats has sparked a row.

He further said a separate approval is needed for arts and science courses from concerned universities and state higher education directorates.

In the approval handbook for 2019-20, the council said that it would not insist on separate boundary walls for institutions in the same campus by the same trust or society or company provided that the land and built-up area norms are fulfilled.

“It would further deteriorate engineering education. The dual mode courses in the same campus will lead to misuse of resources and confusion,” said E.Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor, Anna University.

He further said the AICTE's concern should be on improving the quality of engineering education.

“The move will only allow the engineering colleges to make money and will not improve the quality of engineering education,” Mr. Balagurusamy said. He urged the council to roll back its decision.

Some professors accused the AICTE of talking in the language of private engineering colleges.

“Unless the focus is in engineering, an engineering institution cannot flourish. Engineering deserves a special calibre and mindset, and so do arts and science courses,” said I. Arul Aram, president of Tamil Nadu Federation of University Faculty Associations (TANFUFA) and president of Anna University Teachers' Association.

“To fill the coffers of engineering colleges, we should not stoop too low to change the very engineering identity of the colleges. Engineering colleges should remain engineering colleges,” he added.

Many professors argued that it was the poor quality of engineers produced by engineering colleges that is one of the main reasons for engineers being  unemployed leading to poor enrolment.

K.M. Karthik, president of Private Educational Institutions Employees Association said the AICTE has powers only to regulate technical education.

“The move would affect the faculty members in engineering colleges and the fee for arts and science courses might go up,” he warned.

Kilpauk medical college student attempts suicide after alleged ragging on campus

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedJan 7, 2019, 1:35 am IST

A case of attempted suicide was, however, was registered with Kilpauk police and further investigations are on.

Her parents said that she used to complain about ragging in the hostel, but gave them the impression that she could manage it. (Representational Images)

Chennai: Alleged ragging by students in the Kilpauk medical college forced a girl student from Ramanathapuram to attempt to commit suicide, but timely medical intervention saved her life, police said. The survivor is a first-year nursing student at KMC.

She stays at the Women’s hostel in Kilpauk hospital campus. Sources said two girls from the same hostel allegedly offended her by taking the name of her caste. The girl alleges that constant ragging by the two students had troubled her and as she was unable to bear the torture, she decided to end her life. She allegedly consumed sleeping tablets and fell unconscious. Immediately she was taken to the hospital, after which she regained consciousness.

Her parents said that she used to complain about ragging in the hostel, but gave them the impression that she could manage it.

However, KMC Dean P. Vanitha Mani on Sunday said that the girl consumed only two tablets of Diazepam 5 mg which were prescribed for hypertension sleeping dose. After treatment, she was stable and was discharged and sent with her parents on Sunday afternoon. She feels sorry for the incident and the two girls had also pleaded guilty, she added.

A case of attempted suicide was, however, was registered with Kilpauk police and further investigations are on.

Chennai: Chided by senior, nursing student bids suicide

College officials ruled out it to be a case of ragging, but said that a senior student merely scolded her for handling a syringe, which is not part of the curriculum for the first-year students.

Published: 07th January 2019 07:03 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A first-year nursing student in a government medical college in the city on Saturday allegedly attempted to kill self after she was chided by her senior. 

College officials ruled out it to be a case of ragging, but said that a senior student merely scolded her for handling a syringe, which is not part of the curriculum for the first-year students.

“The student was posted on clinical duty as part of her curriculum on Saturday. First-year students are usually trained in patient care. In the second year only, they will handle injections. But, on the day, she allegedly was assisting a doctor in the ward and was seen handling injection. A second-year student, who saw injection in her hand, shouted at her, saying that as a first-year student, she was not supposed to handle injection,” said the vice-principal of the college.

After returning to her hostel room, she reportedly consumed tablets prescribed for her father and in a few minutes, she herself informed one of her classmates about her action. The hostel warden alerted the college management and the girl was hospitalised. The vice-principal said the girl’s condition was stable and discharged on Sunday and her parents took her home.

It was said the 17-year old student was staying away from home for the first time in her life. “The student was already feeling home sick as this is her first experience of staying away from home. Her senior’s outburst added to her sickness,” the vice-principal claimed.
If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call 104 the State Health department helpline that offers counselling or 044-24640050 for Sneha suicide helpline.


CISF personnel goes missing

Chennai: A missing complaint has been filed concerning a 27-year-old CISF personnel at New Washermanpet station on Saturday. Police said, Naresh, attached with the Central Industrial Security Force, was deployed at the High Court campus for duty. On Saturday, he had to report for duty at 8 am and never turned up.

Christian Medical College doctors find ‘dangerous’ drug-resistant bacteria

Doctors fear that the multiple drug-resistant strain of this bacteria is the result of increased and poorly regulated usage of antibiotics.

Published: 07th January 2019 06:52 AM |

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: ABbuse of antibiotics has resulted in the rise of yet another super-bug. Doctors from the Christian Medical College in Vellore have documented an “exceedingly dangerous” version of a common bacteria that can cause death or lead to severe health complications. Doctors fear that the multiple drug-resistant strain of this bacteria is the result of increased and poorly regulated usage of antibiotics.

The hypervirulent strain of Klebsiella pneumonia causes an “extremely high” mortality rate of 84.2 per cent. This was found by CMC doctors who studied 86 patients (also from CMC, Vellore) infected by this specific strain, for a period of two years. The findings were published in a recent issue of Journal of the Association of Physicians of India.

Klebsiella pneumonia is a common pathogen. It causes a wide range of infections including pneumonia, urinary tract infection, intra-abdominal infection and wound infection. But this particular strain that has been documented is far more dangerous, says the study. It has a layer of mucous around it, which prevents the entry of drugs, making it resistant to multiple types of medicines.

“We have called this problem a ‘double whammy’,” says Dr Balaji Veeraraghavan, a senior clinical microbiologist and one of the authors of the study. That is because the “increased virulence” of the pathogen and its “decreased susceptibility” to medicines is challenging to treat those affected by it.
Klebsiella pneumonia is found across the globe but such multiple drug-resistant strains have been documented only rarely, in isolated communities.

The CMC study, however, found that 92 per cent of the infections they documented were “healthcare associated” — in other words, acquired from a hospital.

The presence of such virulent strains in hospitals can increase the risk associated with it. This is because in a hospital, the bug will be in the proximity of people with a compromised immunity. Further, the bug will be exposed to more drugs in a hospital environment, increasing its possibility of becoming resistant to newer antibiotics and medicines.

“We published the study as we wanted more hospitals to come forward and report the incidence of such strains. The only way to retard the problem is by ensuring impeccable hygiene, particularly hand hygiene, at hospitals,” says Dr Balaji Veeraraghavan. “Patients, doctors and paramedics must be thoroughly sensitised to wash their hands before and after doing any activity in hospitals.”

AIIMS Bhopal convocation 2019