78 additional special trains to be run

78 additional special trains to be run

They are separate from about 200 planned for festive season: spokesperson

08/10/2020

New rides: The trains will mainly include AC Express, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Rajdhani and Shatabdis.File PhotoShanker Chakravarty

Yuthika BhargavaNEW DELHI

The Railways have decided to run 78 additional trains, taking the total number of special passenger services operational in the country to 388.

In a notification to all the zones, the Railways have asked that 39 pairs of trains, mainly AC Express, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Rajdhani and the Shatabdi services, “should be introduced as special trains from an early convenient date”.

A Railways spokesperson clarified that these trains were separate from the 200 festive passenger trains that they planned to run between October 15 and November 30 to cater to the festive season demand.

Tejas services to resume

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) announced plans to restart two corporate-run trains — the Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express from October 17, nearly seven months after the operations were suspended owing to the pandemic.

The IRCTC said this was being done to cater to the growing passenger demand due to the festive season.

Every alternate seat would be kept vacant to ensure the social distancing norm and passengers would not be allowed to exchange their seats once seated.

Additionally, use of face covers/masks would be mandatory for passengers and staff.

“All travellers will install the ‘Arogya Setu’ app and the same will be shown as and when demanded. Detailed instructions will be given to the passengers at the time of booking of tickets,” the IRCTC said.

Protection kit for all

All passengers would be provided a ‘COVID-19 protection kit’ that would comprise a hand sanitiser, a mask, a face shield and a pair of gloves. All would go through thermal screening and hand sanitisation before entering the coach.

“On getting approval from the Ministry of Railways to restart the operation of the two popular corporate trains, IRCTC is making all-round preparations to ensure that the trains, once started, match the expectation of people in terms of levels of services and safety and health protocols amidst the ongoing pandemic,” the IRCTC stated.

The coaches, including the pantry areas and lavatories, would be thoroughly disinfected at regular intervals, along with luggage and baggage of the passengers, frequently touched surfaces inside the coach and the service trays and trolleys.

The IRCTC said it had conducted an extensive training programme to educate and train the employees of Tejas trains to manage the operations and provide services according to the ‘new normal’ amid the pandemic.

Former CBI Director found dead

Former CBI Director found dead

08/10/2020

Press Trust of IndiaShimla/New Delhi

Former CBI Director and Nagaland Governor Ashwani Kumar was found hanging at his residence in Shimla on Wednesday evening, officials said.

Kumar, a 1973-batch IPS officer, became CBI Director in 2008, succeeding Vijay Shanker in the middle of the investigation into the Aarushi Talwar murder case. He was later appointed Governor of Nagaland. He was serving as the Vice-Chancellor of a private university in Shimla.

Those with suicidal thoughts can seek help and counselling by calling Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health at 011-4076 9002.

HC poser on arrear exams’ cancellation

HC poser on arrear exams’ cancellation

08/10/2020

Legal Correspondent CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Wednesday wondered how students of arts, science, engineering and postgraduate computer application courses could be expected to clear their arrears without writing examinations, when an expert body such as the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) had opposed such a move by the State government.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha said they would not hesitate to call for details such as the number of arrears that each student had in their course of study.

The judges were surprised over a government order (G.O.) issued on August 26, cancelling all arrear examinations citing the COVID-19 situation.

The observations were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by E. Balagurusamy, 75, former vice-chancellor of Anna University, through his counsel E. Vijay Anand, as well as another PIL petition filed by advocate B. Ramkumar Adityan to declare the August 26 G.O. illegal and arbitrary.

In his affidavit, Mr. Balagurusamy had said that he had chosen to file the PIL petition to save the quality of education, the future of students and the reputation of various universities in the State.

The AICTE has already filed its response to the PIL petition and told the court that the government’s decision to cancel arrears was not in accordance with its guidelines.

On Wednesday, advocate V. Sudha, representing the UGC, sought two weeks’ time to file a counter affidavit.

Accepting her plea, the judges adjourned the cases to November 20.

Admission of 65 doctors in PG degree, diploma courses illegal, says HC

Admission of 65 doctors in PG degree, diploma courses illegal, says HC

‘It’s high time courts stopped showing sympathy for ineligible candidates’

08/10/2020

Mohamed Imranullah S.CHENNAI

It is high time that courts stop showing misplaced sympathy for ineligible candidates admitted to medical courses, the Madras High Court said on Wednesday while declaring as invalid the admission of 65 doctors in various postgraduate degree and diploma courses in May 2017. These candidates had now almost completed the courses and even written their final examinations on the basis of interim orders passed by the court.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh said a stern message must be sent to medical institutions which admit ineligible students through dubious methods, year after year, by taking advantage of the delay in the commencement of the counselling process and the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court for completing admissions.

“Every year, this court is able to see that there is a huge delay even to start the first round of counselling... It is not known as to whether such a confusion is created for any valid reasons or it is intentionally done to help the self-financing institutions to take advantage of the last minute chaos and admit candidates on their own,” the judge said.

He also imposed a total cost of ₹30 lakh on Arupadai Veedu Medical College, Vinayaka Mission Medical College, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Manakula Vinayakar Medical College and Hospital, Venkateswara Medical College and Hospital, and Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, all in Puducherry, for having admitted the 65 doctors in the PG courses in violation of the norms. The Medical Council of India (MCI) itself had directed the six institutions to discharge all 65 candidates.

However, they had approached the High Court and obtained an interim stay. While granting the stay, the court had obtained an undertaking from the students that they would not claim any equity if the writ petitions were taken up for final disposal after they complete their studies.

“Therefore, even though the dismissal of these writ petitions is going to cause great damage to their careers, it is something which is not totally unexpected,” the judge said.

HC seeks status report on AIIMS Madurai

HC seeks status report on AIIMS Madurai

08/10/2020

Staff Reporter Madurai

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to submit status report on the progress made in setting up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Thoppur in Madurai.

A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi directed the Central government to submit the status report on November 5 on a public interest litigation petition filed by K.K. Ramesh of Madurai, who sought a direction to the Centre to expedite construction of the institute.

The petitioner complained that apart from building a compound wall at the site, not much progress was made in the project.

The Central government had held out assurance that the construction would be completed in 45 months, the PIL petition said

Want To Cross Verify A Doctor's Credentials? Sorry, You Cannot

Want To Cross Verify A Doctor's Credentials? Sorry, You Cannot

The MCI website, the only reference point to cross verify doctors' credentials, has been off-limit since the Medical Council of India was taken over by the National Medical Commission.

Jeevan Prakash Sharma07 October 2020

Follow Outlook India On News

The National Medical Commission (NMC) formally replaced the Medical Council of India on September 25 as the new regulator for medical education in the country.

Since then the MCI website has been off-limit with a message that it is undergoing changes. There is no news when the new website will become live.

“All the doctors in the country used to get registered with MCI for their practice and it is the only reference point to cross verifies their credentials,” Dr (Major) Gulshan Garg (retd) said.

Chairman of Sankalp Charitable Trust, Garg has played a crucial role in getting National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) implemented in the country through the Supreme Court order.

“Today, I cannot find out whether a person is an approved medical practitioner,” Garg said.

He added, “The NMC hasn’t come all of sudden. When the government was aware that it is going for a transformation, it should have made prior preparation. It has been 12 days and there is no update how long it will take.”

Many corporate who are in the process of taking on board fresh medical practitioners have to put the process on the hold as they cannot verify the applicants claim if they wish to.

Besides, medical experts say that the declaration of NEET result is also round the corner and the website is the only source of information for the colleges.

“How many approved medical colleges are there in India? How many seats are approved to each college to admit candidates for MBBS and PG courses? Which are the colleges that are refused permission to admit the new batch in the current academic year? These are basic information that every student wants to know,” Head of private medical college, who doesn’t want to be quoted, said.

He said that besides all these issues the website used to serve many useful purposes for candidates who either seek education in foreign medical colleges or passed out from there.

He added, “It is a primary source to disseminate credible information. Recently, NMC clarified about the validity of online medical education in India but many people are still clueless because the message was circulated through social media and WhatsApp but not through the NMC’s website.”

Outlook wrote to Dr Suresh Sharma, newly-appointed Chairman and Dr RK Vats, secretary of NMC but they didn’t respond.

சேலத்தில் உரிய அனுமதியின்றி போதைக்காக இதய வலி மாத்திரைகளை இளைஞர்களுக்கு விற்ற மொத்த வியாபாரி: குடோனில் பதுக்கிய 7 லட்சம் மருந்துகள் பறிமுதல்

சேலத்தில் உரிய அனுமதியின்றி போதைக்காக இதய வலி மாத்திரைகளை இளைஞர்களுக்கு விற்ற மொத்த வியாபாரி: குடோனில் பதுக்கிய 7 லட்சம் மருந்துகள் பறிமுதல்

2020-10-07@ 14:27:35

சேலம்: சேலத்தில் உரிய அனுமதியின்றி மருந்து, மாத்திரைகளை பதுக்கி வைத்து விற்ற கம்பெனிக்கு சீல் வைக்கப்பட்டது. மேலும், அந்த கம்பெனி உரிமையாளர் மீது வழக்கு பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டது. இளைஞர்களுக்கு போதைக்காக அதிகவிலைக்கு மருந்து,மாத்திரை விற்றதும் அம்பலமாகியுள்ளது. டாஸ்மாக் விற்பனையில் களை கட்டும் சேலம் மண்டலம் சமீப காலமாக பான்பராக், குட்கா, கஞ்சா போன்ற போதைப் பொருட்களின் கடத்தல் மையமாகவும் மாறி வருகிறது. இதே போல் மாத்திரைகள், டின்னர், சொலுசன் என்று நூதன போதைக்கு இளைஞர்கள் அடிமையாகும் அவலமும் தொடர்ந்து அரங்கேறி வருகிறது. இந்நிலையில் சேலத்தில் போதையை நாடும் இளைஞர்களை குறிவைத்து இதய வலி மாத்திரைகளை டாக்டரின் பரிந்துரை சீட்டு இல்லாமல் ஒரு சில மருந்து கடைகளில் அதிக விலைக்கு விற்பதாக திடுக்கிடும் புகார் எழுந்தது. இது தொடர்பாக மருந்து கட்டுப்பாட்டு துறையினர் அவ்வப்போது மருந்து கடைகளில் சோதனை செய்து வருகின்றனர்.

கடந்த சில வாரத்திற்கு முன்பு சேலத்தில் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட இடத்தில் உரிய அனுமதியின்றி மருந்து, மாத்திரைகளை மொத்தமாக பில் இல்லாமல் விற்பதாக மருந்து கட்டுப்பாட்டு துறைக்கு ரகசிய தகவல் கிடைத்தது. இதையடுத்து, விசாரணை நடத்திய அதிகாரிகள், சம்பவ இடத்துக்கு சென்று சோதனை செய்தனர். அப்போது, அங்கு உரிய அனுமதியில்லாமல் ₹7 லட்சம் மதிப்புள்ள மருந்து, மாத்திரைகள் பதுக்கி வைத்திருந்தது கண்டறியப்பட்டது. இங்கிருந்து பில் இல்லாமல் அதிக விலைக்கு விற்றது கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. மேலும், வலி மாத்திரைகள் போதைக்காக இளைஞர்களுக்கு விற்கப்பட்டதும் தெரிய வந்தது. இதையடுத்து அந்த குடோனில் இருந்த மாத்திரைகள், மருந்துகள் ஆகியவற்றை பறிமுதல் செய்த அதிகாரிகள், அந்த மொத்த வியாபாரி மீது வழக்கு பதிவு செய்தனர். பின்னர் பறிமுதல் செய்த மாத்திரைகள், மருந்துகளை சேலம் கோர்ட்டில் ஒப்படைத்தனர். அந்த குடோனுக்கும் சீல் வைக்கப்பட்டது.

கடந்த 2 மாதத்திற்கு முன்பு சேலம் தாதகாப்பட்டியில் ஒரு வாலிபர் தனது நண்பர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து போதை ஊசி போட்டு கொண்டதில், உயிரிழந்தார். அந்த இளைஞர்களுக்கு தாதகாப்பட்டி, கொண்டலாம்பட்டியில் உள்ள 2 மருந்து கடைகளில் இதய வலி மாத்திரைகளை போதைக்காக அதிக விலைக்கு விற்கப்பட்டது கண்டறியப்பட்டு, அந்த கடைகளுக்கு சீல் வைக்கப்பட்டது. மேலும், அந்த கடை உரிடையாளர்கள் மீதும் வழக்கு பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.தொடர்ந்து, இளைஞர்களுக்கு போதைக்காக, வலி மாத்திரைகள்,மருந்துகளை அதிக விலைக்கு ஒரு சில மருந்து கடைகள் மூலம் விற்பது தொடர்ந்து மருந்து கட்டுப்பாட்டு துறைக்கும், போலீசாருக்கும் புகார் வருகிறது. அப்புகாரின் அதிகாரிகள் மருந்து கடைகளை தொடர்ந்து கண்காணிப்பு பணியில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர்.