IMA plans struggle against surgeries for AYUSH grads

IMA plans struggle against surgeries for AYUSH grads

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 25.11.2020

The Indian Medical Association is preparing for a “long-drawn” struggle including boycott of work to protest against the central government notification authorising surgical procedures for AYUSH post-graduates, IMA state president Dr C N Raja has said.

The Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), a statutory body under the AYUSH ministry, on November 20 issued a notification listing 39 general surgery procedures and around 19 procedures involving the eye, ear, nose and throat by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016. “All these procedures fall under the ambit, authority and jurisdiction of modern medicine. They have been prescribed as the competencies ascribable to the postgraduate course titled MS (general surgery). A doctor performing these procedures needs specific modern medical skills and training,” Dr Raja said.

On Tuesday, members of the association gave a representation to the health department of Tamil Nadu urging it not to allow “mixopathy” in the state. Similar orders were passed in Tamil Nadu more than a decade ago. On June 29, 2010, a circular of the government, citing section 17(3)B of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970, said institutionally qualified practitioners of siddha, ayurveda, unani and homeopathy are eligible to practise the respective system with modern scientific medicine “including surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology, anaesthesiology, ENT, based on training and teaching.”

On August 8, 2010, a government order (#248) allowed AYUSH practitioners to prescribe allopathic drugs. The issue was debated in detail in academic circles and dragged to court before the state made a policy decision against “mixopathy”. “Now, Tamil Nadu books AYUSH doctors for quackery if they prescribe allopathic medicines. Permitting doctors from other streams of medicine to practise surgery will be state-sponsored quackery that will be a serious public health hazard,” he said.

Health secretary J Radhakrishnan told TOI Tamil Nadu has opposed any mix-up of disciplines. “We have over 1 lakh doctors registered in the medical council. There is no shortage of doctors. We will continue to encourage all streams of medicines in their purest forms. Doctors can prescribe medicines and treatment as per their texts to willing patients. We encourage evidenced-based practices in respective streams,” he said.

Senior members of the IMA’s executive committee, who met in Chennai, later said it had been resolved that all associations of the fraternity and students are determined to resist this ill-advised adventure. “Health of generations of Indians is at stake. We are planning the agenda for the protest,” said state secretary Dr A K Ravikumar.

The state medical body, he said, has rejected AYUSH ministry’s clarification that the technical terms and the modern developments are a common heritage of mankind, a release from the association said. “The object and purpose of mixing the systems is perhaps borne out of a false claim on heritage. The medical colleges in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai were established in the 19th century and remain the heritage of man,” he said.

We have over 1 lakh doctors registered in the medical council. There is no shortage of doctors. We will continue to encourage all streams of medicines in their purest forms

J Radhakrishnan | HEALTH SECY

MU gives three more chances to clear arrears

MU gives three more chances to clear arrears

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:25.11.2020

Madras University on Tuesday gave three more chances for students who have arrears for beyond five years to clear them.

"The candidates of UG/ PG degree courses of arts, science, commerce, management etc admitted in April 2015 and earlier and still have arrears beyond transitory be permitted to appear for next three examinations - November 2020, April 2021 and November 2021," a release from the university said.

It further requested the candidates to contact the relevant examination section of the university to get equivalent papers under current regulations. It also asked the students to refer to the university's website for further details.

In Tuesday’s trailer, rain leaves most of city flooded

In Tuesday’s trailer, rain leaves most of city flooded

One Woman Electrocuted, More Than 100 Trees Fall

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:25.11.2020

As a precursor of what could come before Cyclone Nivar makes landfall, incessant rain battered the city throughout Tuesday. Several areas were inundated. One woman was electrocuted and more than 100 trees fell since Monday night.

Kousalya, a widow earning a living as a tailor, was electrocuted as she leaned on the compound wall of her house in Peerkankaranai near Tambaram. Hearing her cries, neighbours rushed to her aid and moved her to a hospital where she was declared brought dead. Police investigations revealed that an electrical short circuit in the junction box near the wet compound wall caused the electrocution.

While nearly 100 trees fell in several areas of the city, Greater Chennai Corporation officials said they attended to all complaints immediately and cleared the entire mess. Despite assurances by the civic body that it is well prepared, several areas remained inundated throughout the day, exposing the below average storm water drainage facilities. Even arterial stretches like Poonamallee High Road came under water that reaced up to the shin, making life difficult for motorists and pedestrians. “We did not expect rain to be this heavy today. It is good that the government has declared a public holiday on Wednesday,” said P Vimal, a bank employee.

The corporation was able to pump out water from the subways and other low lying areas, but the rain spells made things tough.

Traffic was halted in places like Meenambakkam, Guindy, Nungambakkam and a few neighbourhoods in Egmore. With most inner lanes water logged, motorists took main roads leading to severe traffic snarls, said a police officer.

As many as 200 personnel from the Armed Reserve have been deployed in 12 police districts and will be kept on standby for any emergencies. They have been equipped with special appliances including life buoys, life jackets, power saws, nylon ropes, searchlights, Aska lights and boats for rescue work. Fishermen in Kasimedu were seen shifting their boats using cranes to a safer location to avoid damage when storm draws nearer to the city.

The situation is expected to become worse over the next couple of days, according to the forecast by weathermen.

As on noon on Tuesday, the cyclone lay centred over the Bay of Bengal, 420 km southeast of Chennai, and is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours and a very severe cyclonic storm in the subsequent 12 hours, said the meterological department. The wind is expected to reach speeds in the range of 120kmph-130 kmph.

GET READY TO RIDE THE NIVAR STORM

GET READY TO RIDE THE NIVAR STORM

Public Holiday Today; Bus, Train Services Suspended; 50 NDRF Teams Deployed

Team TOI

Chennai:25.11.2020

As cyclone Nivar hurtling towards the Tamil Nadu coast on Tuesday is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours and is likely to make landfall between Karaikal and Mamallapuram on Wednesday evening with wind speed of 110-120kmph gusting to 145kmph, the state government has put in place measures to evacuate people from inundated areas, declared a public holiday on Wednesday and temporarily halted train and bus services.

Cyclone Nivar (named by Iran), which means light in Persian, is likely to be stronger than Vardah that made landfall closer to Chennai in December 2016.

“People living in regions vulnerable to the storm and in houses deemed unsafe should be immediately shifted to relief centres,” chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami told officials on Tuesday.

“All government offices including offices of local bodies, government undertakings/corporations, boards, banks, financial institutions etc will be closed on Wednesday. However, all essential services shall function as usual,” chief secretary K Shanmugam said in an order.

IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Chennai, Chengalpet, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupathur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Trichy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Karaikal. Extremely heavy rainfall is likely over districts closer to the landfall location like Thiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Ariyalur and Perumbalur.

Warning signals have been hoisted across 11 ports in the state.

All the major reservoirs in the state have been getting steady inflow, and 1,519 irrigation tanks maintained by the PWD have reached their full capacity by Tuesday.

“The storage of Chembarambakkam reservoir is at 21feet as against its full capacity of 24 feet. Orders have been issued to release surplus water when the storage touches 22 feet. Surplus will be released depending on rainfall,” the CM said.

Instructions have been given to collectors to take precautionary measures and give special attention to 4,133 vulnerable locations that could possibly be inundated. At least 4,713 relief centres were identified in Tamil Nadu, and 254 people had been accommodated in nine centres in districts like Cuddalore, Vridhachalam, Chidambaram and Ariyalur so far. Instructions had been given to provide adequate food, drinking water, mat, blankets and milk to children, Palaniswami said.

The CM said administration was ready to remove uprooted trees and rescue people from affected areas with the help of multi-disciplinary teams. There are 43,409 first responders to rescue people, including 14,232 women responders.

Nearly 8,871 responders are ready to rescue cattle and 9,909 responders enrolled to remove uprooted trees..

The state has positioned 5,505 policemen trained by the NDRF and the SDRF across the state. There are 691 home guards and 4,699 fire and rescue services personnel trained for disaster management. Mock drills had taken place in 3,094 educational institutions, 2,561 industries and in areas where the public gathered in large numbers.

Most of the fishermen from Nagapattinam, who ventured into the sea in 540 mechanised boats, before the cyclone alert, have returned to the shore.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and assured all support. “I pray for the safety and well-being of those living in the affected areas,” Modi tweeted later.

Wind speed may be 100kmph in city

According to IMD, the cyclone over southwest Bay of Bengal moved westwards at a speed of 5kmph during past six hours and lay centred at 5.30pm about 320 km east-southeast of Cuddalore, about 350 km southeast of Puducherry and 410 km east southeast of Chennai. When the cyclone makes landfall, wind speed will be at 110-120kmph gusting to 145kmph in Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Puducherry, Villupuram and Chengalpet while it will be 80kmph-90kmph gusting to 100kmph in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Tiruvarur districts. With the system moving slow, weather blogger Pradeep John said, “There are chances of the cyclone making landfall on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.”

FULL COVERAGE:

P 2 & 3

No rollback of MBBS fee hike, new policy beneficial to students: Khattar

No rollback of MBBS fee hike, new policy beneficial to students: Khattar

Chandigarh:  24.11.2020

Even as authorities involved in MBBS admissions in Haryana are yet to compile data of new students, the state government on Monday announced that the new policy — which entails a hiked Rs 40-lakh fee during the four-year course — had been implemented to incentivise students to opt for government service while retaining the option to work anywhere, instead of imposing compulsory government service.

A spokesperson ruled out the possibility of withdrawal of policy. He insisted that the policy had provision for relief to candidates even if they do not get employment despite sincere efforts. The move had been implemented to meet growing need for doctors in public healthcare in Haryana.

On Saturday, the department had allocated of seats of Haryana quota in government and private colleges, after completing first round of counselling. Second round of counselling is likely to be held on Wednesday or Thursday.

The new policy has triggered resentment among students as well as their parents, on the account of inception of furnishing of bonds of Rs 10 lakh per annum.

Accordign to the policy, a candidate selected for MBBS degree course, at the time of admission, shall have to pay an annual bond amount of Rs.10 lakh minus annual fee paid. The candidate will have the option of either obtaining an education loan from a bank duly facilitated by the state government or pay the entire bond amount without recourse to the loan.

No candidate will be refused the education loan if he or she so desires, said the official. The state government will provide a credit guarantee to the extent of 100% of the loan amount to every student availing education loan. TNN

Orissa HC brings up right to be forgotten

Orissa HC brings up right to be forgotten

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  24.11.2020

For the first time, a constitutional court talked about social media users’ right to be forgotten and said that at present, the law was silent on the remedy for victims of sexually explicit videos/pictures often posted on social media platforms by spurned lovers to intimidate and harass women.

“No person, much less a woman, would want to create and display grey shades of her character. In most of the cases, like the present one, women are the victims. It is their right to enforce the right to be forgotten as a right ‘in rem’,” said Justice S K Panigrahi of Orissa High Court on Monday.

HC: Victim can’t keep looking for fresh links

A victim of objectionable online content cannot be expected to keep on looking for fresh links, Delhi HC said while hearing a plea that a woman’s photograph was being wrongly shown on social media as the Hathras rape victim.

HC: No law that recognises right to be forgotten

Capturing images and videos with consent of the woman cannot justify the misuse of such content once the relation between the victim and the accused gets strained as it happened in the present case, Justice Panigrahi said, underscoring the need for a legal bulwark against the growing menace of “revenge porn”.

The man, who had stealthily recorded sexual acts with his partner and posted them on social media after she spurned him, was seeking bail. Denying him bail, Justice Panigrahi said, “If the right to be forgotten is not recognised in matters like the present one, any accused will surreptitiously outrage the modesty of a woman and misuse the same in cyber space unhindered.”

Justice Panigrahi added, “Undoubtedly, such an act will be contrary to the larger interest of protection of the woman against exploitation and blackmailing, as has happened in the present case. The sloganeering of ‘beti bachao’ and women’s safety concerns will be trampled.”

The ‘right to be forgotten’, requiring erasure of data when it is not needed or following revocation of consent by the subject, is recognised under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Europe’s digital privacy law. However, the concept is yet to be recognised under Indian law.

The high court said given the nature of the beast, posts on social media got shared by numerous users and even after offensive videos/ pictures on the handle from which it was uploaded was disabled, the objectionable content continued to circulate in social media much to the chagrin and harassment of women.

Justice Panigrahi said there was no law which recognised the right to be forgotten even though it was in sync with the right to privacy, which the Supreme Court in the K Puttaswamy case had ruled to be intrinsic to right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Full report on www.toi.in

Times View: Most of us inhabit the digital world to a greater or lesser degree. It is a reality we can neither run nor hide from. The “right to be forgotten” online has been part of a raging debate for years. It is good news that the judiciary is engaging with the subject. Legislatures also need to grapple with it. We need new laws to face these new challenges that concern all of us.

If the right to be forgotten is not recognised...

any accused will surreptitiously outrage the modesty of a woman and misuse the same in cyber space unhindered

—Justice S K Panigrahi

Orissa High Court

Anxious wait for architecture students as rank list delayed

Anxious wait for architecture students as rank list delayed

Farheen.Hussain@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 24.11.2020

A delay in announcing the architecture rank list by the Karnataka Examinations Authority is giving the students and parents the jitters.

As per the KEA’s website, the list was to be announced after 8pm on November 21, however no updates were available till Monday night.

A parent told TOI that a group of parents had visited the KEA office to get some clarity on the issue, but in vain. “Colleges outside Karnataka have even wrapped up their admission process. We’ll neither be here nor there if a decision is not taken soon,” a parent said.

A student said architecture colleges outside the state have completed two to three rounds of counselling. “For many of us, it’s a childhood dream to become architects and now there’s so much uncertainty around it,” she rued.

Parents also took to social media platforms to voice their concerns.

A parent tweeted on Sunday: “CET architecture rank list was supposed to be published yesterday (Saturday) by 8pm. More than 24 hrs since the deadline, neither the list is published, nor there is any update. Irresponsible KEA.” (sic) Another parent tweeted, seeking the intervention of Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

JEE yet to provide data: KEA official

As per the rules, 50% of either the highest score of the NATA (National Aptitude Test in Architecture) or the highest score of the JEE and the class 12 marks will be considered for the NATA ranking for admissions to bachelor of architecture course in Karnataka colleges.

Candidates must secure a valid rank in the NATA exam and appear for the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) counselling process to be allocated seats. JEE Main qualified candidates can also apply for BArch admissions in Karnataka through the KCET counselling process. KEA then releases a rank list based on the NATA scores or JEE scores secured by applicants.

A KEA official said they are waiting for some data from JEE and that is causing the delay. “We had asked the JEE for marks of students which they provided in percentile. Their database also has some details missing like marks of some students. We will send a query again and try to publish the list in the next two days,” he said, adding that though KEA understands the anxiety that parents and students are undergoing, they cannot publish the list without complete data.