HC grants status quo on govt order for recruiting Indian medicine practitioners

HC grants status quo on govt order for recruiting Indian medicine practitioners

Madurai:  12.12.2020

Granting status quo on the GO passed for recruiting Indian medicine practitioners through a manpower agency, the Madras high court on Friday sought a response from the government on the reasons for passing such a GO.

A division bench of justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi passed the order on a PIL filed by G V Vairam Santhosh, an advocate from Madurai district. The additional government pleader submitted these practitioners are appointed on contract basis for one year.

The petitioner said while hospitals are flooded with Covid-19 patients, it is the duty of the government to provide quality treatment with qualified doctors, adding the authorities have put the lives of people at risk for want of qualified medical practitioners.

TNPCB orders closure of Chitlapakkam incinerator

TNPCB orders closure of Chitlapakkam incinerator

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 12/12/2020

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has directed the Chitlapakkam town panchayat to cease operations of the incinerator set up by the local body on the fringes of Chitlapakkam lake.

The panchayat comes under Chengalpet and consists of 18 wards. The local body has not obtained the necessary permissions from the pollution control board and other agencies to begin operation of the plant.

According to TNPCB, the local body had requested for an NoC from the district environmental engineer (DEE) in September 2020 without furnishing any required details.

Meanwhile, NGT too took suo motu cognizance of news reports about waste management in the local body and asked a joint committee to submit a report.

Accordingly, three weeks ago, a TNPCB official had visited the premises. The incinerator, which handles 5 tonnes a day is provided with air pollution control measures such as venture tank arrangements, quencher and wet scrubber attached to the stack.

However, since the incineratior is set up on the fringes of the lake maintained by the PWD, an NoC from the PWD is yet to be submitted to the pollution control board.

“The local body has installed the facility for handling the solid waste without obtaiining the authorization of the board under the provisions of solid waste management rules, 2016,” said a letter from TNPCB chairman and directed the local body to stop the operation of incineration facility.

MBBS: 149 government seats left

MBBS: 149 government seats left

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  12.12.2020

After allotting 328 MBBS seats on Friday, there were 90 seats (SCA/ST) left in government medical colleges and 59 government quota seats (SC/SCA/ST) in self-financing medical colleges. In the dental category, there were 38 BDS seats, including three in Madras Dental College, left for students who will walk in for counselling on Saturday.

Selection committee secretary Dr G Selvarajan said the scheduled counselling sessions at 11am and 2pm on Saturday have been cancelled as these seats are likely to be exhausted in the morning session. “Therefore candidates called for counselling at 11am and 2pm for SC category will be automatically waitlisted,” he said.

On Thursday, 452 aspirants were called for counselling of whom 436 turned up. While 185 people were allotted seats in government medical colleges, 143 of them were allotted seats in selffinancing colleges. In addition, 13 students were allotted seats in government dental colleges. While noneof thestudentsopted out, 85 of them were waitlisted.

Medicos who did online internship may face action

Medicos who did online internship may face action

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  12.12.2020

At least 20 students from medical schools in China, who applied to the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council for registration after doing their MBBS internship or medical courses and exams online, have been asked to explain why legal action should not be initiated against them for not telling the council that they did their course/internship online.

Registration with the state medicalcouncilis mandatory to practice medicine or do internship in Tamil Nadu. “But medical education cannot be done online. Internships have to be hands-on,” said Tamil Nadu state Medical Council president Dr K Senthil.

Between March and May, many foreign medical students left campuses during the Covid-19 pandemic. While some returned to their colleges, some universities, particularly in China, let final year students to complete the last leg of the course and examinations online. Students who were doing internships were allowed to do it online. “We did not have a choice. My daughter has cleared the foreign medical graduate examination andhascompleted her internship online. Many of her classmates from other states have got their permanent registration,” said Sharadha S, whose daughter has studied at a medical college in China.

But the council has said foreign medical graduates, who have completed an MBBS degree or internship online, are not eligible for applying for provisional or final registration. A notice published by the council on the official website said: “If candidates apply, hiding the fact of an online course … it will be considered as misconduct and appropriate action will be taken.” Show-cause notices have been issued seeking explanation for this. “We are aware this is an extraordinary situation. So we have decided to give provisional registration to students who have not completed their internships so that they can do it at both government and private medical colleges here. We will not permit online internships,” Dr Senthil said.

103kg gold kept in CBI custody goes ‘missing’ in city

103kg gold kept in CBI custody goes ‘missing’ in city

Court Orders CBCID Probe

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  12.12.2020

More than 103kg gold worth at least ₹45 crore seized in a raid by the CBI and kept in its ‘safe custody’ has gone missing. This came to public knowledge on Friday when the Madras high court ordered a probe by Tamil Nadu’s CB-CID.

The missing gold is part of 400.5kg in bullion and ornaments seized by the CBI in 2012 when it raided the office of Surana Corporation Ltd in Chennai. The gold was kept in the safes and vaults of Surana under the CBI’s lock and seal. The central agency said it had handed over the 72 keys of the safes and vaults to the Chennai principal special court for CBI cases.

The CBI claimed that during the seizure the gold bars were weighed all-together but while handing over to the liquidator, appointed for a settlement of debts between Surana and SBI, it was weighed individually and that was the reason for the discrepancy.

Refusing to accept the submission, Justice Prakash directed a CB-CID probe by an officer in the rank of superintendent of police to be completed in six months.

The CBI told Justice Prakash that its prestige would “go down” if the investigation is done by local police. To which Justice Prakash said: “…law does not sanction such an inference. All policemen must be trusted, and it does not lie in the mouth of one to say that CBI have special horns, whereas, local police have only a tail.”

While prosecuting the case, the CBI accused officials of Minerals & Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) of showing undue favour to Surana in importing gold and silver. Subsequently, the CBI came to the conclusion that the gold did not have a bearing on a corruption case, and that it had, however, been imported in violation of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). Therefore, a separate case was registered in 2013, and the seized gold was transferred to the file of the new case.

Gold missing was noticed in December last year

Later, the CBI concluded the probe and filed a closure report, holding that the accused had not committed any offence, but, by issuing the nominated agency certificate to Surana, had violated certain circulars, for which departmental action was recommended against some officials.

The agency also requested the special court to transfer the gold to the office of the director-general of foreign trade (DGFT) as the ownership of the gold is subject to the outcome of the departmental inquiry. Aggrieved, Surana challenged the transfer of gold to DGFT.

Meanwhile, insolvency proceedings were initiated by SBI against Surana for pending dues of ₹1,160 crore. SBI moved the court asking for the gold. On December 12, 2017, SBI and Surana filed a compromise memo in court and sought a direction to handover the gold to SBI, which was opposed by the CBI.

On July 16, 2019, the court directed the parties to approach the NCLT before which the insolvency proceedings are pending to decide ownership of the gold. However, CBI was directed to hand over the possession of the gold to SBI.

On December 27, 2019, the NCLT ordered handing over of the gold to the official liquidator in the presence of SBI. To the shock and surprise of all, the total gold that was found weighed only 296.606kg. There was a shortage of 103.864kg, which the CBI was not able to properly account for. The liquidator then moved the high court, which passed the order on Friday.

State govt gives its staff formal dress code now

State govt gives its staff formal dress code now

Sujit.Mahamulkar@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:  12.12.2020

They can do a policy flip-flop, but wearing them to work is a no-no.

The state government has issued a dress code banning informal wear for its staff. The code, aimed at encouraging good conduct and discipline, will apply to officers and employees, both men and women, in all government establishments.

The order spells out the details of what construes “appropriate” clothing by urging staff to wear “formal” shirts and trousers or churidaar kurtas. Clearly, critics said, there’s no room for government staff to sport a ‘smart casual’ or ‘semi-formal look’.

However, G D Kulthe, chief convenor of Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers Federation, said the union will not oppose the move.

‘Dress code gives a feeling of responsibility’

Kulthe said, “We are okay with the decision. We will not raise any objection.”

The general administration department has issued a government resolution (GR) explaining the rationale for the move. It said many employees do not wear suitable attire to work and that this affects government’s image in general.

To promote the use of khadi, every employee, including IAS officers, is expected to wear khadi clothes at least on Friday.

Principal secretary Shrikant Deshpande, who issued the GR, told TOI that many staffers are often seen dressed in inappropriate attire, especially the newly recruited ones and those doing outsourced work. “Though it has nothing to do with the work directly, it does have a psychological effect. The dress code gives you a sense of work and feeling of responsibility,” said Deshpande. He said those who fail to comply with the guidelines will be issued a warning initially.

However, a senior HR professional, Bindu Vyankatesh, said such diktats do not necessarily work. “I don’t think government should mandate any kind of dress code, it has nothing to do with the official nature of their work,” said Vyankatesh. “Shouldn’t they (government employees) be friendly and accessible? When we go to the government or municipal office to pay bills or other work, we want them to look like ourselves.”

But another official, while reacting to the decision, said government should have gone a step ahead and imposed a uniform on employees. “Many can be seen roaming around during working hours on the pretext of having a tea break or going out after lunch. In such cases, they would be identified by their dress,” he said.

I-T case against Karti, wife over non-disclosure premature: HC

I-T case against Karti, wife over non-disclosure premature: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  12.12.2020

In a reprieve to Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram, the Madras high court quashed the criminal prosecution initiated by the income tax department against him and his wife for alleged non-disclosure of income saying it is not maintainable and premature.

However, Justice N Sathish Kumar granted liberty to the department to initiate penal action as per the law, if it chooses to. The issue pertains to criminal prosecution initiated by the department for alleged non-disclosure of income by Karti and his wife Srinidhi to the tune of 7.73 crore in the financial year 2015-16.

Opposing the same, the duo contended that the prosecution is liable to be quashed for procedural lapse.

They argued that the prosecution has been initiated for filing of false return which amounts to offence of giving false evidence before a court under the IPC. Concurring with the arguments, the court declared the prosecution as non-maintainable.