Builder asked to pay ₹5 lakh compensation to senior citizen

21/01/2020 , Special Correspondent, Chennai

The Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai has directed Ramaniyam Real Estates Pvt Ltd to pay ₹5 lakh compensation and refund amount paid by a senior citizen for buying a flat along with interest.

According to complaint filed by K.R. Parthasarathy, 69, he had booked a flat in the project developed for senior citizens at Sholinganallur by Appudhi Real Estates Pvt Ltd in 2013. The firm subsequently got merged with Ramaniyam. The builder had promised to provide access control system to the building and buzzer alarm in each room of the flat, he said. He had paid about ₹44.27 lakh towards purchase of UDS, cost of construction and other services.

In his complaint, he claimed that the builder lured him to enter into an agreement to a flat meant for senior citizens by promising to provide special security facilities such as access control system to the building, but has not kept their promise. In its response, the builder said it never promised or undertook to provide the security facilities. The Commission rejected the builder’s argument. It told the builder to refund ₹44.27 lakh along with interest of ₹11.29 lakh accrued till December 31, 2016 and thereafter with interest at 9% per annum for ₹44.27 lakh till payment and ₹10,000 litigation cost to the buyer.

Coronavirus outbreak: doctors to look out for flu-like symptoms
Directorate of Public Health on alert for respiratory infections
 
21/01/2020 , Serena Josephine M., Chennai

No entry: Tamil Nadu already has a screening mechanism for influenza-like illnesses, according to K. Kolandaswamy, Director of Public Health.

With China reporting a novel coronavirus outbreak, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has instructed doctors to look out for symptoms of influenza-like illnesses, regardless of patient travel history to the affected country.

Tamil Nadu already has in place a screening mechanism for influenza-like illnesses, and doctors have been told to stay alert, look out for symptoms of respiratory infections, fever and cough and ask for the travel history of patients, according to K. Kolandaswamy, director of public health.

“Influenza-like illness is under watch in Tamil Nadu, and we have a history-taking system in place for any infectious disease. Now, we have told doctors to focus on symptoms of influenza-like illness, whether or not a patient has travel history and provide prompt treatment. People with such symptoms should report to the nearest health facility,” he added.

Airports to screen fliers

Health officials said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has instructed airports that have direct connecting flights to China such as Delhi to have thermal scanners to screen travellers from China as a precautionary measure. “The international airport in Chennai is already screening passengers for influenza-like illness, and has a self-reporting system too,” he added.

The Union Health Ministry, in a travel advisory issued earlier, said that travellers to China should follow simple public health measures at all times such as observe good personal hygiene, practice frequent hand-washing with soap, cover mouth when coughing or sneezing, avoid close contact with persons who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness, and to wear a mask in case of respiratory symptoms of cough and runny nose.

The advisory asked all travellers to China, in particular to Wuhan, to monitor their health closely. If a person felt sick on the flight while returning to India, he/she should inform the airline crew about the illness, seek masks from the crew and follow their directions while disembarking.

They should report to airport health authorities/immigration and follow the direction of the airport health officer.

If a person feels sick in a span of one month after their return from China, he/she should report the illness to the nearest health facility and inform doctors of the travel history, the advisory said.

NEET 2020 Application Form Correction Window Opens 

Correction in particulars of NEET application form will be allowed on the official website (ntaneet.nic.in) only. 

Correction in NEET application form will be allowed on the official website, ntaneet.nic.in.

New Delhi:

NEET 2020 application form edit window is open now. The National Testing Agency or NTA will allow applicants to make corrections, if required, in NEET UG application forms from January 15 till January 31, 2020, according to the official National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) notificiation. Correction in particulars of NEET application form will be allowed on the official website (ntaneet.nic.in) only. The NEET application form correction option has been provided within the candidate login page.

NEET correction option: How to do it

The candidates who want to update their NEET 2020 application form may follow these steps:

Step 1 : Visit the NTA NEET website, www.ntaneet.ac.in

Step 2 : Click on candidates login link provided on the homepage

Step 3 : Enter application number and password on next page

Step 4 : Login

Step 5 : On next page open, click on the correction link

Step 6: You will be provided the form and make necessary edits there.

Step 6 : Pay the fee and submit the details

More than 21 candidates will compete for one MBBS seat in the upcoming medical entrance exam, NEET. As per a report shared by the NTA a total of 15,93,452 candidates have registered for the NEET 2020.

NEET UG exam is held for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in institutes and colleges recognized by MCI. NEET UG, this year onward, has assumed greater significance since it is now the only medical entrance exam conducted for admission to an undergraduate medical or dental programme.

Earlier, AIIMS and JIPMER conducted a separate entrance examination for MBBS and BDS admission. The entrance exam for these institutes has been scraped under the provisions prescribed in the National Medical Commission Act 2019.

NEET PG 2020 Result Expected This Month 

The National Board of Examination (NBE) is expected to announce result for NEET PG 2020 exam soon. 

NEET PG 2020 result is expected by the end of this month

New Delhi:

The National Board of Examination (NBE) is expected to announce result for NEET PG 2020 examsoon. NEET PG exam is held for admission to postgraduate medical courses. For the academic session beginning in 2020, the entrance exam was held on January 5, 2020. As per the schedule announced for NEET PG, the result should be available by January 31, 2020.

NEET PG 2020 result will be released on the official website for NBE. Students who appeared for the exam will have to login to their account to view their marks and qualification status.

The minimum eligibility criterion for General categories is 50th percentile. For SC, ST, and OBC categories, the minimum qualifying criteria is 40th percentile and for PwD (general) category candidates the eligibility criteria is 45th percentile.

In case the number of qualifying candidates in the respective categories on the basis of the above mentioned percentile are less than three times the number of vacancies, the cut-off percentile will be automatically lowered in such a manner that the number of eligible candidates shall be minimum three times the number of seats in each respective category.

The NEET PG counselling will be held separately by the Directorate General of Health Services for 50 per cent All India Quota (AIQ) seats and by the state medical education boards for the state quota seats. The counselling schedule will be announced later.

67 in fray for 12 Karnataka Medical Council posts

TNN | Jan 16, 2020, 12.54 PM IST 

BENGALURU: Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) elections on January 23 will see 67 candidates fighting for 12 posts.

The state is divided into four zones - Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Belagavi - and 71,000 doctors have voting rights. In Bengaluru zone, well-known gynaecologist Dr Kamini Rao is among the 19 candidates.

Pandurang Garg, joint registrar of co-operative societies who has been appointed returning officer for the polls, said the nomination of one doctor from Bengaluru was rejected as his/her name was missing from the voters' list. "There are complaints against three contestants. The notification on the final list of valid candidates will be published on January 17," he told TOI .

Contestants have come up with several promises through their manifestos, ranging from retirement policy, accident relief for doctors and making the council youth-friendly.

Rao said: "Firstly, the aim will be to keep science and law progressive. While science has gone ahead, the laws we have are archaic. Secondly, the KMC board needs a representative from all specialties so that cases are understood properly. And finally, speedy disposal of cases is required."

She feels it's demeaning for young doctors to get embroiled in legal cases for long and there's a need to settle cases through arbitration.

Dr Vinay Kumar, assistant professor, department of radiation oncology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, is another contestant from Bengaluru. His priority is to streamline the promotion process for doctors in both private and government sectors.

"An assessment-based promotion scheme is needed. A first promotion after four years and the second after three years must be considered for all doctors," he said. Vinay feels the current rulebook of Karnataka Private Medical Establishments, which makes it compulsory for small clinics to renew licences every year, can be done away with. "I will fight for exemption of small clinics from the licence rule," he said.

Kolkata: IPGMER to set up skill lab for MBBS students

TNN | Jan 20, 2020, 08.01 AM IST 

KOLKATA: Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER) on SSKM Hospital campus, is going to develop a skill laboratory where undergraduate medical students will learn to handle patients by practising mannequins on intravenous injections, catheter insertion and skin suturing.

The students will also learn the skills of child delivery, tracheal intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) process. Following the directives of Medical Council of India (MCI), the hospital authority is going to install around 60 mannequins for training of the first-year MBBS students. Manimoy Bandyopadhyay, director of IPGMER, said that the laboratory, where different dummies will be available for training, will start functioning by March. "We had planned the laboratory for the 2019 batch of MBBS students," said Bandopadhyay. Swasthya Bhavan sources said similar laboratories would also come up at RG Kar Medical College and NRS Medical College. Earlier, MBBS students used to be trained by handling patients. As per the MCI's direction, it is compulsory for every medical college to come up with the laboratory for developing clinical, motor and communications skills among the students.

Pritam Pramanik, a first-year student of IPGMER, said, "We hope that the laboratory will help us enhance our skills in handling patients." Ankush Ghosh, a first-year student of Medical College said, "Now, we don't have any such laboratory. that is necessary for medical students."

Some Universities Are Awarding Non-Recognised Degrees: UGC 

The UGC, the higher education regulator, has also asked the universities to abide by the regulations laid by it "to award only such degrees as have been specified by the UGC".
Education

 Edited by Shihabudeen Kunju SUpdated: January 20, 2020 21:30 IST

UGC requested the universities to abide by the provision of Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956.

New Delhi:

The University Grants Commission (UGC) said that some universities are awarding 'unspecified degrees' which is leading to litigations and different problems for the students conferred with such degrees. The UGC, the higher education regulator, has also asked the universities to abide by the regulations laid by it "to award only such degrees as have been specified by the UGC".

The UGC circular comes after the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), apex consumer commission, directed a Karnataka college recently to refund Rs 1.12 lakh to its 11 students who were awarded degree different from the one that they had enrolled for.

The consumer body had asked St Aloysius Institute of Computer Science, Mangalore to refund the amount within four weeks along with litigation cost to the 11 students who were awarded a degree in M.Sc. Software Technology instead of MS.



UGC circular on awarding 'unspecified degrees'.

"The Commission has been, time and again, requesting the Universities to award degrees only within the framework of Section 22 of the UGC Act. The consolidated list of UGC approved nomenclature of degree(s) for the purpose of Section 22(3) of the University Grant Commission Act, 1956 is available on the UGC website," the circular said.

"It has been observed that some universities or institutions are awarding unspecified degrees leading to litigations and different problems for the students conferred with such degrees. The Universities are once again, requested to abide by the provision of Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956 and award only such degrees as have been specified by the UGC," it said.

If a university wishes to award a degree other than the one specified by the UGC, the Commission has asked educational institutions to approach the UGC for its approval six months prior to starting the degree programme with full justification on the course to be started.