Don’t insist on fee, first admit medical students under 7.5% quota: DME - The Times Of India

 Don’t insist on fee, first admit medical students under 7.5% quota: DME - The Times Of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy/Chennai: 21.11.2020 

The directorate of medical education on Friday asked government and self-financing medical colleges in the state to admit students who were allotted seats under the 7.5% NEET quota for governmnet school students without insisting on their paying up their fees first. A total 405 seats were reserved for government school students under the 7.5% NEET quota in 71 medical and dental colleges in the state.

“Students allotted seats under the NEET quota should not be denied admission for payment of fee at any cost. Post-matric and other financial aid will be appropriately taken care of,” director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu said in a letter to deans of medical colleges.

“Any student denied admission should be called back and given admission as per the notification,” he said. The direction came as a huge relief for many students and parents, especially those allotted government quota seats in private medical colleges who were running from pillar to post to arrange for money for the fees. Most of the parents of these students are daily wage earners.

By the time the directions came in the afternoon, M Thangavel one of three students from Trichy, who were allotted seats in private colleges, had paid the fee. Thangavel had approached the private medical college in Perambalur on Friday to confirm his seat when he was asked to pay the fee by evening. “My ailing parents had to borrow to pay ₹3.75 lakh by afternoon as they feared I would lose the seat,” said Thangavel.

At least 405 seats were reserved for government school students under the 7.5% NEET quota

Parents of govt school students worry about affording tuition later

Trichy/Chennai: “My ailing parents had to borrow to pay ₹3.75 lakh by afternoon as they feared I would lose the seat,” said Thangavel. “I was happy to be allotted a MBBS seat on Thursday, but my happiness evaporated seeing my parents become debtors to help me realise my dream of becoming a doctor,” he said.

M Joan of Arc, coordinator for free NEET coaching in Trichy, said sponsors could be arranged for a couple of students who got MBBS seats in government colleges. “But this was not possible for those who got seats in private colleges as the fee was too high,” he said.

Another student in Velliangadu in Coimbatore P Bistis Prisca was asked to pay ₹4 lakh of ₹6.5 lakh, the fee for one year, within a week. Her father SPrabhakaran said, “We don’t know what to do. But we cannot afford to pay such a huge amount without help.”

R Deepika is one among eight students from Madurai to get MBBS seat in self-financing medical colleges under the NEET quota. Her father R Ravichandran on Friday submitted a petition to district collector T Anbalagan seeking financial aid.

“We were relieved that the government has said we can get admission without paying now. But, even if eventually we have to pay, we will not be able to manage with our meagre income. We need the help of the government or some sponsor,” he said.

Min to fund Karur student’s dream

Trichy:

Transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar has stepped in to pay fees for all five years of MBBS for S Marimuthu of Vaangal in Karur district, a government school student who scored 227 in NEET and got an MBBS seat under 7.5% reservation. He was alloted seat in the government medical college in Karur district. His father M Subramani, 57, lost his job as an ice cream seller, due to the lockdown. TNN

Sasikala’s release will be as per norms’

Sasikala’s release will be as per norms’

21/11/2020

PTI  Bengaluru

The release of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s aide V.K. Sasikala, who is serving a prison term in a disproportionate assets case, will happen as per court judgment and prison norms, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Friday.

“Whatever judgment is there... conditions in the judgment, as well as regarding fine and punishment, and the prison norms will decide (the release),” he said in response to a question from reporters here on Sasikala’s release.

“Everything will be as per law only, nothing else,” he said.

A fine of over ₹10 crore imposed on Sasikala was remitted to the 34th City Civil Court, Bengaluru, by way of demand drafts, her counsel N. Raja Senthoor Pandian had said on Wednesday, as he expected her to be set free soon, earlier than the scheduled release date of January 27, 2021.

Govt. to help students pay college fees

Govt. to help students pay college fees

21/11/2020

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

Director of Medical Education R. Narayana Babu has issued instructions to all medical and dental colleges in the State to admit candidates who were allotted seats under the new 7.5% horizontal reservation for government school students.

In separate letters written on Thursday to government colleges and self-financing colleges, the DME said all self-financing medical and dental colleges coming under the single window selection of the DME are instructed to admit all the candidates of government schools selected under 7.5% reservation category immediately without insisting on fees after verifying their certificates and identity as per norms.

“They should not be denied admission for inability to pay fees at any cost. Post-matric and other financial aid will be appropriately taken care of as already announced by the government. Any student denied admission should be called back and given admission as per the instructions,” the letter signed by the DME read.

 similar letter has been issued to the deans of government medical and dental colleges as well.

MBBS student hangs self in hostel room

MBBS student hangs self in hostel room

Nov 20, 2020, 04.34 AM IST

Coimbatore: A final year MBBS student of the Karpagam Medical College at Othakkalmandapam here committed suicide by hanging at the boys hostel on Thursday evening.

Police identified the deceased as Naveenkumar, 22, from Thiruvannamalai.

“He had come to the college hostel five days ago to attend the arrear examination. He had failed in a subject in the second year and was depressed. He was undergoing treatment for the last two years. He had met with an accident two weeks ago and had fractured his left hand. He became more depressed after the accident. His mother had visited the hostel on Thursday morning to meet him. She left in the afternoon. When she phoned him later, there was no response. She contacted the hostel warden and asked him to check her son. The warden rushed to the hostel room to find Naveenkumar dead,” a police officer said.

Tejas Express halts after demand drops off

Tejas Express halts after demand drops off

Himanshu.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad: 20.11.2020

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, has decided to cancel the operation of Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express from November  24.

The train was cancelled as the number of passengers opting for Tejas was very less. Not just Tejas, but the traffic towards Mumbai was minimal. The railways officials said that even for the train leaving in the morning at 6.40 am from Ahmedabad there were 318 seats available, while the same for Saturday had 252 seats.

“The occupancy in the train was even less than 30% from Ahmedabad, while from Mumbai it was around 35%. Tejas Express had resumed operations from October 17 after a seven-month gap due to the Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March,” said a railway official.

The officials said that the the situation would be reviewed after observing the occupancy in other trains that ran on the route. However, not just Tejas but the occupancy in other trains to Mumbai was at its minimal.

For example, in the Shatabdi Train from Friday there were 21 seats which were available, while the same train had over 500 seats available since Tuesday. The IRCTC reservation reveals that even for the double decker and Karnavati Express there was a scarcity in seat occupancy.

The officials said that usually these three trains are the first to be booked and there is a waiting list for nearly fortnight of the train leaving Ahmedabad for Mumbai. The officials said that situation was same for most of the trains heading for Mumbai.

“One could find people coming to Gujarat from Mumbai despite the festive season. However, there was no movement from Ahmedabad towards Mumbai. Earlier Tejas was getting passengers as Shatabdi was not operational, but now since the outbreak of Covid-19, there has been a decline in the passenger traffic,” informed the official.

Schools, colleges won’t reopen on Nov 23

Raging Covid Puts Govt On Back Foot

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:20.11.2020

The state government has decided to revoke its decision to reopen schools and colleges across the state starting November  23. The decision comes at a time when parents and school owners are pressing for their demand to delay reopening of schools till the Covid-19 crisis got under control.

Gujarat joins the list of many other states including Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan that had revoked similar decisions and shut down educational institutions after facing a rising number of Covid-19 cases in school students.

The government’s decision came late on Thursday evening after holding series of discussions with various stakeholders including college authorities and schools.

“I have decided to keep my earlier decision on hold regarding reopening of schools and colleges. They will not reopen on November 23 as announced earlier,” said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, state education minister.

The decision has been taken keeping in view the rising number of Covid-19 cases and a second wave that is being anticipated shortly. The new date for reopening educational institutions in the state will be announced later on.

The owners of self-financed schools and the parents of school children urged the state government to reconsider the decision of physically reopening schools at a time when the state was witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The state government, in a cabinet meeting held last week, had decided to re-open schools and colleges across the state from November 23. They were shut down in March due to the pandemic, and they have remained closed ever since.

The colleges offering undergraduate courses were to remain physically shut for a little longer time till the first week of December despite the government decision for re-opening.

The reason for this being that the government has allowed re-opening only for the final year candidates.

“Presently, term-end exams are under way for the fifth and seventh semester students. They will end around December 7. Only then will the new semester for the last year students begin,” said an official close to the development.

“We want the government to hold their decision on reopening by at least a fortnight by when the picture will become much clearer,” said Bhasker Patel, president of Gujarat Rajya Shala Sanchalak Mahamandal. Jatin Bharad, vice-president of Self-Financed School Management Association, said that it would be better if the government waited a little longer and delayed the re-opening of schools at least by 10 to 15 days.

According to the SOP guidelines issued earlier, schools were to take consent letter from the parents before allowing their wards to attend physical classroom studies.

At least 40% parents to whom different school authorities have reached out to in urban centres are reluctant in sending their children to schools, according to Bhasker Patel.

In a recent letter to chief minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday, the All Gujarat Vali Mandal has pressed for their demand to keep schools closed for at least two months more or till a Covid-19 vaccine is made available in the market. The association had also called for a state wide shutdown of schools on November 23.

A worker sanitizes a classroom at a school in Ghatlodia on Thursday

Friends who learned how to rob online held for robberies

Friends who learned how to rob online held for robberies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2020

Two friends who came upon success stories of chain snatching on the internet and learned the trade through YouTube tutorials were arrested for a series of burglaries at Pattabiram.

The accused were Jenuson, 25, a Sri Lankan, and Pradeep, 26, of Padappai. Police said the duo were stopped during a vehicle check on Tuesday night and during questioning, police learned that the two were behind a series of robberies reported in Avadi and Tirunindravur and a few house break-ins as well. A two-wheeler and 15 sovereigns of gold jewellery were seized from them. “The two watched You-Tube videos on how to carry out burglaries and trained themselves to commite the crime,” a police officer said.

During questioning, police came to know that Jenuson was a Sri Lanka national. On information, Q branch police also reached the Pattabiram police station and conducted inquiries with Jenuson. Police said all of Jenuson’s were valid and he was handed over to the Pattabiram police. The friends were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.