Information Bulleting MDS counselling 2021

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NEET 2021: Demand for exam deferment escalates, Over 15,000 candidates sign online petition

NEET 2021: Demand for exam deferment escalates, Over 15,000 candidates sign online petition: New Delhi: Seeking the postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), students have started signing an online petition urging the Education Minister to reschedule the exam to...

HC dismisses appeal seeking refund of discontinuation fees

HC dismisses appeal seeking refund of discontinuation fees

Sep 2, 2021, 04.59 AM IST

Madurai: Upholding the order of a single bench, the Madras high court has dismissed an appeal by a woman seeking to refund the discontinuation fees collected from her while she discontinued the super specialty course at Thanjavur Medical College.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by Priya Sreeraj. The appellant had completed MBBS in 2009 and subsequently completed her postgraduation in medicine in 2015. Following a notification published by the state government for admission as a non-service candidate for the super specialty course for the year 2016-17, the appellant applied for the same and was allotted the course at Thanjavur Medical College in 2016. A condition was incorporated in the prospectus to the effect that in case of discontinuance of any candidature in respect of the course, a fee of Rs 5 lakh should be paid. The appellant in August 2016 discontinued the course by paying the discontinuation fee.

The appellant filed a writ petition before HC Madurai bench in 2021 challenging the portion of the prospectus with respect to the discontinuation fee and also consequently sought to refund the fee paid by her. The single bench on March 21, dismissed her petition. A division bench of justices M Duraiswamy and K Murali Shankar observed that on a perusal of the materials available on record, it could be seen that the request for refund was rejected by the authorities in 2017, however, the appellant chose to file the writ petition only in 2021. 

It is a settled position that if a person is aggrieved over any order, the same should be challenged at the earliest point of time. 

The judges further observed that the appellant had knowledge about the condition imposed in the prospectus while joining the super speciality course. Having accepted the conditions, the appellant cannot turn around and subsequently, contend that the same cannot be applied to her case. The judges observed that the single bench, by taking into consideration all these aspects, has rightly dismissed the writ petition. “We do not find any ground to interfere with the order passed by the single bench,” said the judges while dismissing the appeal.

Doctor seeks refund of Discontinuation Fee paid for SS course: HC rejects plea

Doctor seeks refund of Discontinuation Fee paid for SS course: HC rejects plea: Madurai: The Chennai High Court recently dismissed an appeal of a doctor for reimbursement of discontinuation fee which she had paid when she discontinued from a super-speciality course at...

Madras HC seeks report from NMC, IPS over Queerphobia in MBBS course, directs curriculum update

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Techie’s check-in baggage cut in flight from Kolkata

Techie’s check-in baggage cut in flight from Kolkata

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:04.09.2021

A Bengaluru techie’s check-in luggage was cut open in a suspected theft attempt during his flight from Kolkata to Bengaluru last month. He lodged a complaint with the airline and Kolkata airport authority and a probe is under way.

Chandan Prakash, 35, employee of an American multinational retail chain in Bengaluru, flew to Kolkata on August 20 to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with his sister. He returned by IndiGo flight 6E 875 on August 22 and went to his HSR Layout residence from KIA.

“I landed on Sunday, collected my trolley bag and went home. When I opened it the next morning, I spotted an unusual tear inside the bag. Someone had cut the fabric from inside to access contents after opening the outer compartment,” Prakash said.

He emailed a complaint to the airline about a possible theft post check-in. He also shared his experience on social media with photographs and videos of his black bag.

IndiGo airlines replied that it couldn’t initiate action like compensation as he hadn’t lodged a complaint at the baggage delivering area on arrival. Prakash said: “The reply was ridiculous as there was no visible damage to my bag. Someone had opened the top pouch and cut through the inner fabric to access stuff inside. I didn’t lose anything valuable and I don’t need compensation but this must be probed and culprits brought to book.”

Some airlines have discontinued sealing outer compartments of check-in bags with plastic wire locks.

Theft bid may have occurred at Kolkata airport: Airline

Airline representatives investigated the matter and said the theft attempt may have taken place at Kolkata airport. Airport officials confirmed a probe is under way as some other passengers had complained of similar problems.

After Prakash’s complaints gained traction on social media, IndiGo approached him. “It sent me a new trolley bag and urged me to take down my social media post but I refused. I said I didn’t need compensation but closure. I’m glad an investigation is on,” he added.

IndiGo airlines told TOI Prakash has been suitably compensated and the incident is being probed.

Chandan Prakash, an HSR Layout resident, said when he opened the trolley bag the day after he landed in the city, he spotted an unusual tear inside. The airlines said he has been suitably compensated and the incident is being investigated

Pandemic Lesson for Scientists, Students: Be Honest

Pandemic Lesson for Scientists, Students: Be Honest

Research fraud, exam cheating are two worrying outcomes of science & education in Covid times

SK Sarin

04.09.2021

The Covid pandemic generated unprecedented scientific urgency to search for new treatments and vaccines, resulting in over 100,000 scientific publications in 2020, purportedly for rapid dissemination of knowledge and for abating human suffering.

In the race to be faster, scientific journals diluted their multilayer peer review criteria and slashed average turnaround time from 60 days, to sometimes less than a week. Inevitably, scientific misconduct and fraud happened.

HCQ, mask, ivermectin papers

Many such papers were retracted after publication. The most painful flameout was the Surgisphere scandal: Twin articles published in two of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine, related to hydroxychloroquine and its cardiovascular side-effects.

In another instance, Annals of Internal Medicine backtracked on a highly-cited paper it published in April 2020, that asserted face masks were ineffective in preventing the spread of Covid. The article had included just four study subjects, but the misinformation led to careless exposure and infection in millions. Such publications demean the very foundations of science.

A flawed ivermectin preprint paper showed that this anti-parasite drug reduced Covid death rates by more than 90%. However, this July 14, the paper was withdrawn from the preprint server, ‘Research Square’, due to scientific dishonesty.

Revenues of pharma companies making ivermectin had swelled over months, and unsuspecting patients had paid for scientific misinformation.

Even Nobel-winners cheat

Frauds and misconduct have been common in the history of science. ‘Nobel prize winners’ are no exception. Frances Arnold of Caltech announced a retraction from Science last December and nearly half a dozen ‘Nobels’ had in the past accepted misconducts.

Scientific integrity is perhaps declining. But ethics are more essential than ever now. In pandemic times, we rapidly need new information, which should be unbiased and trustworthy. Moreover, there should be honest and prompt public admission of errors by the scientific community.

Covid is going to be with us. So science must regain its ethical centre. The pressure of incomplete enrolment of patients in clinical trials, lack of adequate consumables and kits for carrying out basic science experiments, research workers being away for months due to lockdown and above all, no money with funding agencies to support ongoing scientific projects, are reasons given for altering ‘facts and findings’.

Sponsors and funding agencies should help. Research funding and human resources need to be increased several fold without political meddling.US scientists recently requested President Joe Biden not to politicise research.

Dishonest students

There’s ‘academic dishonesty’, too. Unethical behaviour to gain an unfair academic advantage during online learning and assessments are common now – nearly 50% students in different parts of the world accept indulging in such dishonesty, with excuses such as: It’s not such a big deal, it’s not really cheating, it’s my teacher’s fault or everyone cheats.

Even good students get tempted due to the unstructured assessment system in a pandemic. Besides producing semi-educated and inappropriatelyskilled students, such conduct will have long-term ramifications. A generation of ‘ethically compromised’ children will soon populate India.

Solutions have to come from parents and society. The Academic Integrity Office of the University of UC San Diego found 1,042 students guilty of integrity violations last year. We need such offices of academic integrity in our colleges too. Maybe an independent National Agency for Scientific and Academic Integrity as well.

The meaning of ‘education’ and ‘learning’ rather than ‘passing out’ needs to be drilled in our systems. We need to initiate dialogues on values and build ethics in teachings and curricula in school and college education.

We do not want our physicians and scientists to be corrupt. Tomorrow is Teachers’ Day. An appropriate occasion to remind ourselves of why education and research must be ethical.

The writer is Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences