Can’t move to next level of MBBS without exam: MCI

Can’t move to next level of MBBS without exam: MCI

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:  05.08.2020

Medical Council of India has advised universities not to permit any batch of students to move to the next level of MBBS without an exam in a circular on Tuesday. It was meant to clear the air over queries and representations from stakeholders on re-opening of medical colleges and conduct of university exams. The council also indicated that final year MBBS students can join internships after passing final exams.

State medical education minister Amit Deshmukh had earlier directed Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to start classes for first, second and third year undergraduate students. He also told them to allow final year students to start internships and to conduct exams whenever the situation improves. Following this advisory from the council, though colleges affiliated to MUHS can commence lectures, they may not be able to allow students to start internships without exams.

The council has told universities to conduct pending supplementary exams for final year MBBS students, scheduled in the first half of 2020, at the earliest “...as the students have completed the course once and need not wait for the formal reopening of colleges. Such students will be joining college/hospitals for internships after passing final exams”.

Colleges were directed to complete first year MBBS course for 2019 batch within two months of reopening of colleges and then conduct the exam, preferably within a month. MCI had revised syllabus for first year MBBS batch of 2019 and directed holding of the exam by September, an MUHS official said. But after Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, their course was disrupted midway. MCI also advised universities to complete the course for other classes in two months and then conduct the exams.

The council also suggested alternatives to get external examiners for conduct of the exam.

For practicals and clinical examination, MCI recommended alternative methods of skill evaluation that can include simulations, case scenarios, objectives structured clinical or practical examinations. The advisory is a one-time measure in view of Covid-19, it stated.

MUHS exam controller Ajit Pathak said their priority will be to hold certifying exams first in compliance with MCI and state government directives. But he did not elaborate as the matter is sub judice and is scheduled for hearing later this month.

A parent representative, Sudha Shenoy, said the MCI directive was fair as students cannot be sent for internships without clinical exposure, which is a vital part of their final year curriculum.

No need to panic over cases spike, detection is key: Govt

No need to panic over cases spike, detection is key: Govt

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 05.08.2020

Even as daily cases of Covid-19 infection are increasing rapidly, the Centre on Tuesday said there is no need to be “overawed” by the numbers so long as timely detection, isolation and treatment happens to prevent deaths.

“There is no need to be overawed from rising positive cases because in every country with large population bases, cases are bound to increase. It is important to find them in time, isolate and treat them,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

The government plans to bring up daily testing to 10 lakh tests, even as India’s daily positivity rate has come down to 8.89% though the weekly average remains at 11% with some states still reporting high positivity. Testing will be ramped up in such areas, Bhushan said.

“We have adopted a policy of intelligent and calibrated testing depending on which area needs more testing...We are trying to reach 10 lakh tests per day,” said Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR. At present, 28 states and UTs have less than 10% positivity rate, while India is conducting 15,119 tests per million of population.

On the issue of vaccines, Bhargava said while there is no drug or vaccine available yet, but it is not just the development but prioritisation and distribution such as logistics, cold chain, stockpiling and training of people to administer the vaccine which are also important.

Those above 60 account for 50% of Covid deaths, shows govt data Centre Says No Under-Reporting Of Mortalities

Those above 60 account for 50% of Covid deaths, shows govt data

Centre Says No Under-Reporting Of Mortalities

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi  05.08.2020

: Even as deaths due to Covid-19 continue to be higher in the elderly with those above 60 accounting for 50% of total mortalities, those in the relatively younger age band of 45-60 years are also appearing increasingly vulnerable — accounting for 37% of fatalities. The percentage for this group is up from 32% a month ago, official data showed.

While releasing data regarding age profiles in mortalities, the government refuted concerns related to under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths as “mere conjecture” not backed by evidence, saying that there were clear protocols on how fatalities due to the disease are to be recorded.

Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the health ministry, at a very early stage, had issued clear guidelines as some states were not clear initially whether Covid-19 deaths of patients with co-morbidities should be reported as such. “In the guidelines, we made it clear that all such deaths of people with co-morbidity and who were Covid-positive should be counted as Covid-19 deaths,” Bhushan said.

He said specific states and urban areas like Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, with high case loads and a large number of deaths, had better death registration averages than the the national figure even in a non-Covid scenario indicating a robust system of reporting deaths.

The death registration average in Maharashtra is 93%, whereas it is 100% in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, against a national average of 80%. Besides, while the proportion of medically certified deaths at the national level to all registered deaths is 22%, it is 67% in Maharashtra, 69% in Delhi and 85% in Tamil Nadu.

“In such a scenario, to say that deaths are not reported is baseless,” Bhushan said. India’s Covid-19 fatality rate is progressively declining. At present, the death rate is 2.10% with 38,938 deaths recorded so far.

While half of the deaths have taken place among people aged 60 years and above, those in the younger age band of 26-44 years and 45-60 years accounted for 11% and 37%, respectively.

While the government has made slight changes to the age matrix as was reported on July 9, a comparison shows the percentage of deaths in the younger age groups remains largely the same with those below 17 years and people aged 18-25 years reporting 1% deaths in each category. In July, these age groups were classified as less than 14 years accounting for 1% and those between 15 to 29 years accounting for 3% deaths.

The latest data showed 68% of Covid-19 deaths were in male patients, whereas 32% were among females, broadly in line with the global scenario.

The number of recovered Covid-19 patients in India is increasing daily and is now over double the number of active cases.

Top court verdict today if 5-judge bench should decide validity of 10% EWS quota

Top court verdict today if 5-judge bench should decide validity of 10% EWS quota

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:05.08.2020

The Supreme Court will decide on Wednesday whether the validity of 10% quota for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions should be referred to a five-judge bench.

The court had reserved its verdict on this question on July 31 last year and the decision will be pronounced after more than a year by CJI S A Bobde, who had heard arguments along with Justices R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai. While the Centre is opposed to referring the issue to a larger bench, nearly three dozen petitioners want the validity of EWS quota to be adjudicated by a constitution bench. The petitioners had challenged the 103rd constitutional amendment to provide 10% EWS quota in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions on the ground that it breached the 50% ceiling on reservation put by the SC in its 1992 judgment in Indra Sawhney case (Mandal case). However, the Centre had said the 50% cap on reservation was “fallacious” and not binding and the constitutional amendment to provide quotas in jobs and education was meant to socially uplift nearly 200 million poor people.

Attorney general K K Venugopal had said Parliament had unanimously passed the EWS quota, which was not violative of the apex court’s earlier verdicts on reservation. He said the SC had never ruled on a 50% cap on reservation and its verdicts allowed breaching the 50% ceiling if there were sufficient reasons to justify it. He said reservation up to 68% was prevalent in Tamil Nadu and the decision was upheld by the HC and not stayed by the SC.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the petitioners, had argued that the amendment was unconstitutional as it breached the 50% ceiling and said the concept of backwardness on the basis of economic status was not recognised under the Constitution. He had pleaded for reference of the issue to a larger bench.

Gold stolen from dead Covid patient

Gold stolen from dead Covid patient

Coimbatore: 05.08.2020

An unidentified person stole a gold bangle weighing three sovereigns from the body of a Covid-19 patient, who died in the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on Monday evening.

The Race Course police identified the deceased as a 60-year-old woman from Ukkadam.Adiabetic,shewastaken to a private hospital with breathing difficulty on Monday morning. As hospital authorities askedthefamily members to pay an advance of ₹40,000 to hospitalise her, the woman’s kin rushed her to CMCH, where she was admitted to the Covid-19 ward.

A police officer said, “Her daughter stayed back in the hospital. The woman’s condition was steady till 3pm. Her breathing difficulties aggravated and she died around 4pm. When her daughter came out of the ward, an unidentified person stole the gold bangle from the body.”

The woman’s daughter informed doctors about the theft and the latter advised her to lodge a police complaint.

“A similar incident had taken place in CMCH earlier and we have collected details of suspects. We will register a first information report and arrest the culprit,” the officer said. TNN

Tamils in Kuwait wait for rescue flight to Trichy

Tamils in Kuwait wait for rescue flight to Trichy

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:05.08.2020

Despite hundreds of Tamils still stranded in Kuwait following the Covid-19 lockdown, not a single service has been operated so far by Air India Express under Vande Bharat mission to Trichy. Though rescue flights were expected in the fifth phase of the mission which began on August 2, it came as a dampener when Trichy didn’t figure in it.

In all, 49 services were operated from other countries to Trichy under Vande Bharat mission. Sources said about 20,000 Indians, mostly Tamils, stuck in Kuwait have been waiting for four months to return. The Kuwait government had arranged eight services to Trichy, bringing 909 people via Kuwait Airlines. Jazeera Air and Indi-Go Air brought back 1,810 passengers in 11 services. “However, the ticket fare and other expenses like Covid-19 test in Trichy, isolation at private hotels and food make it charter flights unaffordable. In the case of Vande Bharat except for flight fare, the others are taken care of,” Nowshath Ali, president of Association of Overseas Tamils in Kuwait, said.

A total of 2,719 Tamils had so far been brought to Trichy on 19 foreign charter flights including Kuwait Airways. Yet, hundreds still await Vande Bharat rescue flights.

Some services were operated to Chennai, said AB Khaleel Ahmed Baaqavee, general secretary of Kuwait Tamil Islamic Committee (K-Tic). “We filed a petition before Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Union government to operate Vande Bharat rescue flights to Trichy. We hope we will get a favourable order from the court,” he told TOI.

A total of 49 services were operated to Trichy from other countries as part of Vande Bharat mission. But not one flight was scheduled from Kuwait to Trichy

VAO accused of taking ₹15,000 bribe to issue caste certificates

VAO accused of taking ₹15,000 bribe to issue caste certificates

Karal.Marx@timesgroup.com

Villupuram:  05.08.2020

A 17-year-old girl from the irula community, accompanied by fellow villagers and relatives from Koralur, lodged a petition at Villupuram collector office on Tuesday, requesting the authorities to give students of the village Scheduled Tribe caste certificates and demanded stringent action against the VAO, who, she alleged, had collected a bribe of ₹15,000 to provide them community certificates.

R Ramya, in her petition, said, “Koralur, a remote village located near Kanjanur, houses 45 irula families. All though we are living at the village for more than five decades, only seven families have community certificates. In the absence of community certificate, none of us can pursue higher education and are forced to stop our education after HSC.”

Ramya’s mother R Sumathi, 35, said “The Koralur village VAO Vasudevan, promising people of providing community certificates, had collected ₹750 each from parents of 20 irula children two months ago. However the VAO is now trying to avoid the issue, claiming all the applications have been forwarded to Villupuram RDO office.”

K Rajendran, revenue divisional officer of Villupuram, said, “The district administration is yet to receive any application for irula caste certificates from Koralur village. We will take stringent action against the VAO if he is found guilty.”

RDO of Villupuram K Rajendran said the district administration is yet to receive any application for irula caste certificates from Koralur village