Rumours disrupt routine death audit video conference
Senior doctor has not resigned, says Health Secretary
 
28/01/2020 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

Rumours about a government doctor from Tiruchi threatening to step down marred a regular maternal death audit video conference held in the State on Monday. While the resignation itself could not be confirmed, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh, who conducted the meeting, denied that the doctor, an obstetrician, had resigned.

The audit was being done at the K.A.P.V. Government Medical College and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, Tiruchi. As per sources the doctor was a senior staffer and was upset at the meeting, where upon she proceeded to say she would step down from service.

The case being discussed was the death of a patient, who had a caesarean, and was a chronic hypertensive. Dr. Beela Rajesh and Mission Director of National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu K. Senthil Raj, chaired the meeting. The doctor apparently believed that the officials were about to issue a show cause notice to her, and this caused the outburst, sources said. This created a flutter among doctors, and several doctor-groups on WhatsApp began circulating messages. A senior doctor of the K.A.P.V. Government Medical College, said senior government officials intervened and convinced the doctor not to resign.

Ms. Rajesh said all maternal deaths are reviewed every week. “During this, we review all gaps and causes of maternal deaths. The aim of the exercise is course correction. This doctor is one of the best performers and we have not issued any charges against her. She has not resigned,” she said. The doctor was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to reach her.

SC to hear Nirbhaya convict’s plea today 

Mukesh Singh has challenged President’s rejection of his mercy petition on January 17
 
28/01/2020 , Krishnadas Rajagopal , NEW DELHI 

Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma, two of the four convicts in the gang rape case, in New Delhi in 2013. S. SubramaniumS. Subramanium

A three-judge Bench led by Justice R. Banumathi is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a plea by Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh challenging the President’s rejection of his mercy petition on January 17.

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde on Monday asked Mukesh’s counsel to approach the apex court registry for urgent listing of the condemned man’s plea.

Chief Justice Bobde orally observed that the plea of a man, whose execution is scheduled for February 1, ought to be given top priority.

The Bench, also comprising Justices Ashol Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna would hear the plea at 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution has sought a stay of the execution of the death warrant. The Sessions Court had ordered that the death sentence be carried out on February 1.

Mukesh has asked the court to call for his medical records, dating back to the time of his arrest and incarceration, which were placed before the President for a decision on his mercy plea.

Mukesh has also sought for the jail records of his solitary confinement. Death row convicts are placed in solitary confinement.

Juvenility plea

This development comes shortly after the Supreme Court rejected a juvenility plea made by another Nirbhaya convict Pawan Kumar Gupta. He had claimed he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.

The Supreme Court also recently dismissed a review petition filed by another one of the four condemned men, Akshay Singh, to review its May 5, 2017 judgment confirming the death penalty.

Akshay, Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay had brutally gang-raped a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 and she died of her injuries a few days later. An accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar jail. A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

The Centre recently moved an application for fixing strict guidelines for carrying out death sentences.

Judge concerned over ‘purchase’ of law degrees, sanctity of profession
 
28/01/2020 , Legal Correspondent, CHENNAI

Justice N. Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court on Monday said courts were crowded by way of too many “lawyers” only because of activities of people like a law college principal who was arrested recently for having created fake attendance records and issuing bona fide certificates to students in a fraudulent manner to get them enrolled as lawyers in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Presiding over a Division Bench along with Justice V. Parthiban, the senior judge said those who “purchase” law degrees without attending college, end up conducting kangaroo courts. The infusion of such individuals affected genuine lawyers who had undergone three-year and five-year full-time law courses with the fond hope of making it big in the profession, and end up spoiling the sanctity of the profession, he said.

The judge made the observations during the hearing of a batch of cases related to those who had reportedly obtained degrees from Andhra Pradesh from where the law college principal Himavantha Kumar was arrested, and were serving as guest lecturers in law colleges here. The judges ordered that all relevant details regarding such people should be submitted in the court by the next date of hearing so that necessary action could be taken.

Later, taking up another case related to alleged lack of infrastructure facilities at the government law college campuses, the judges directed AAG to file a detailed report by next month.

Govt. effects reshuffle of IAS officers

28/01/2020 , Staff Reporter, CHENNAI

In a reshuffle of IAS officers, the State government has transferred Apoorva, presently serving as Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research, and posted her as Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department.

She will replace Mangat Ram Sharma, who will be the new Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research. Ms. Apoorva had a stint as Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department.

Santhosh Babu, Principal Secretary, Information Technology (IT) Department, and Chairman and Managing Director (in-charge), Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (TNHDCL), has been relieved from his post in the IT Department and posted as Chairman and Managing Director of TNHDCL.

He was recently in the news for seeking voluntary retirement from service.

M.S. Shanmugam, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited, has been transferred and posted as Commissioner of Museums, which was being held as additional charge by T. Udhayachandran. D. Ravichandran, who is presently a Deputy Secretary at the Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, will replace Mr. Shanmugam.

S. Aneesh Sekhar, Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), has been transferred as Executive Director of GUIDANCE Bureau. He will replace K.P. Karthikeyan.

Mr. Karthikeyan will be the new Executive Director, TIDCO.

D. Manikandan, who is on inter-cadre deputation, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department.

Nirbhaya case: Tihar conducts another mock hanging, asks for new ropes

TNN | Jan 28, 2020, 04.49 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Tihar Jail authorities on Sunday conducted another mock hanging of the four Nirbhaya case convicts as they are likely to be hanged on February 1. Sources said the hangman, Pawan Jallad, has been asked to report to Tihar on January 30.

The authorities have asked for a dozen new manila ropes from Buxar prison, which would be lubricated and left to dry for two days. Sources said a mock drill is a mandatory procedure before every hanging since the body weight of the convicts tends to change. The dummy hanging was conducted using four sacks filled with sand and gravel that had similar weights as the convicts to check the strength of the ropes that would be used for the actual execution. The sacks were left suspended for three hours after which an expert checked the condition of the ropes.

Jail sources said the wardens and doctors of Tihar have been asked to ensure that the body weight of the four convicts remains constant till they are hanged. The authorities have taken the measurements of the necks and heads of the four convicts. The hangman will prepare the noose according to the measurements.

On Monday, the family members of convict Akshay Kumar Singh were allowed to meet him. In the emotional meeting, he discussed about the legal recourse with his parents. He, Pawan and Vinay have the option of filing a mercy plea before the President.


The families of the other inmates will be allowed to meet them twice a week as per their schedule. During the meeting, the family members will be allowed to take the personal belongings of the convicts and record a will in the presence of a superintendent. The convicts have refused to give the last date of their meeting to the jail authorities despite several reminders. They have also refused to prepare a will. A red notice will be sent to the families about the execution so that they can make preparations to take back the bodies.

19 scholars under him, ex-VC broke Anna University rules

TNN | Jan 28, 2020, 04.48 AM IST

CHENNAI: Anna University regulations in 2013 allowed a professor to guide up to 12 research scholars at a time (the number is 11 now). But M Rajaram guided 19 research scholars simultaneously from 2013 to 2016 when he was holding office as vice-chancellor, according to a reply to an RTI query.

Anna University’s PhD regulations do not bar a vice-chancellor from guiding research students, but there is conflict of interest, say academicians. The vice-chancellor chooses the examiners to evaluate thesis and conduct viva-voce for doctoral candidates.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, say professors, asking how it’s possible to guide 19 research scholars while holding a top academic post in a university?

“It is unethical to guide research scholars after becoming a vice-chancellor. Besides, he wouldn’t have time to guide so many research scholars while heading a large technical university,” said E Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor, Anna University.

Professor Rajaram denied all allegations. “There is no bar on a vice-chancellor guiding researchers. I have not taken any student after becoming vice-chancellor. All my PhD students completed research after proper publication,” Rajaram told TOI. He said some of his students had published papers in top journals like IEEE.

On allegations that he guided scholars in other streams such as computer science engineering and held a closed viva-voce for his students, Rajaram said, “As a professor in electrical and electronics engineering, I can guide students from all circuit branches. My students have defended their thesis in public viva voce and university has records for attendance of public.”

But his critics are not convinced. They say even a full-time research guide cannot supervise more than 10 scholars. According to UGC’s shodhganga website, Rajaram conducted viva voce for 43 students as guide between 2013 and 2019. The data shows Rajaram had more than 12 Anna University research scholars, which is a violation of university rules.

Raising doubts about the research data and originality of the theses, several professors demanded a committee be set up to investigate the issue.

“If there is sufficient proof and evidence of plagiarism, fake data in theses submitted by his research scholars, the university will initiate action,” said M K Surappa, vice-chancellor of Anna University.

TN’s PHD factories

TNN | Jan 28, 2020, 04.47 AM IST

CHENNAI: Who says you need critical thinking and academic acumen to earn a PhD? You can order a doctorate with just a phone call. The cartels that employ ghost writers no more operate on the sly. They’ve set it up like restaurants – there’s a menu and what you pay depends on what you order.

Tamil Nadu produced the maximum number of PhDs in the country, 5,844, in 2018, according to All India Survey for Higher Education 2019. There is a renewed interest among faculty members to publish research papers and complete doctorates due to the Union HRD ministry’s decision to make PhD mandatory for the entry-level post of assistant professor from July 2021, and give more weightage for research work in National Institute Ranking Framework rankings and National Assessment and Accreditation Council ratings.

The spike in research interest has made the ground fertile for ghost writers and agents who have branded themselves consultancy services. Scholars and research guides TOI spoke to said they received calls from unknown people offering ‘help’ in doing research. TOI picked the trail of one such message to uncover how a racket has been functioning in a sophisticated but brazen manner.

Posing as a faculty member from a private engineering college, this correspondent called the agent. He promptly asked about the area of research and topic before quoting a price. He offered to do engineering research, analyse data and publish a paper in an annexure-1 journal for

`1.2 lakh. For converting research into an article and publishing it in the journal he quoted `80,000.

“If you can do research and only need help in publication, it will cost `45,000. But, your research should be complete research with analysis, data and graphics. You should take responsibility if the paper is rejected or needs clarification from journal editors,” he said.

Asked about outsourcing thesis work, the agent said, “If you have the literature review, research work, article, output and analysis, we will charge `65,000 to write the thesis. If you have nothing, then it would cost around

`3 lakh. We will do the research, get the article published and write the thesis.”

The agent said a team of professors does the research for money. His ‘agency’ is helping scholars across universities. “The rate will be finalised after seeing the university guidelines. We collect the highest rate for Anna University PhDs,” he said.

The payment is in installments. “We will collect registration fee initially and take full payment after the acceptance by the research journal. For example, we will take `10,000 as initial payment for publication and update you about the research. You can make corrections. We will take the next installment after your corrections,” he said.

Faculty members TOI spoke to confirmed that outsourcing research work is a trend thriving in arts and science colleges, and technical colleges.

“It has become mandatory to publish research papers for increments. Journals take up to a year to accept an article or even to respond. So faculty members opt to publish research papers by paying money. When we pay money, even some of the listed journals respond within a day confirming publication without any proper peer review,” said a faculty member from an arts and science college in the city.

Professors from University of Madras said one of the reasons why such rackets flourish is because students without research aptitude enrolled for PhDs.

Professor M K Surappa, vice-chancellor of Anna University, said the practice was “unethical and devoid of all morality”. “Research is a passion and not a routine degree. This is perhaps one of the reasons why our country is not able to produce high quality research publications in sufficient numbers,” he said. To deter such PhDs, Anna University has introduced minimum eligibility marks in entrance exam for aspirants. This brought down the number of PhD candidates from 2,527 in 2018 to 908 in 2019.

University of Madras has introduced measures to enhance the quality of PhD thesis in the past two years. “All theses have to pass through a plagiarism detecting software. There is a new online system to trace the progress of research work very closely. A first year candidate has to present a paper in at least one national-level conference and in the second year one conference and one publication, and it continues for the third year also. If the candidate meets these requirements then he or she can prepare the thesis,” said P Duraisamy, vice-chancellor.