Only 500 allowed for Mys Dasara finale; -ve cert must

Only 500 allowed for Mys Dasara finale; -ve cert must

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru/Mysuru:06.10.2021

With the Dasara festival beginning on Thursday, the Karnataka government on Tuesday said only a maximum of 500 people will be allowed to attend Jumboo Savari (elephant procession) on Vijaya Dashami that marks the culmination of the nine-day festival at Mysuru Palace on October 15.

Guidelines issued by the government mandate a negative RT-PCR test report and at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine for officers and staff on duty and artists who perform at the festival.

Other attendees must wear facemask, maintain distance and ensure hand hygiene, the guidelines said.

Experts agree with WHO on booster shots

Are booster shots necessary after the two-jab course? Top scientists and virologists have concurred with the WHO view that Covid-19 vaccine booster doses may be needed only if there is evidence of insufficient protection against the virus over time. P 2

MYSURU DASARA

One vax dose a must for all participants, say guidelines

The local administration led by the district minister was urging the chief minister to allow at least 1,000 participants for the Dasara finale. But the CM turned down the request on the advice of the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee. Last year, 50 participants and 300 viewers were allowed for cultural events in the festival.

Senior BJP functionary and former Congress chief minister SM Krishna will inaugurate the state’s flagship event atop Chamundi Hills on Thursday morning. Number of attendees for this event is restricted to 100.

According to guidelines, all participants, including government officials, will be asked to possess a negative RTPCR report (from a test done after October 4) to be allowed into the venues. They should have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and carry proof of the same, the order read.

The order said that “strict compliance with the guidelines” was necessary to “prevent the spread of Covid-19” and added that the events which cannot be held with proper social distancing will remain cancelled.

Though a low-key Dasara due to Covid-19 restrictions, all events, including the inauguration, Jumboo Savari, cultural events and the Vijayadashami procession, will be livestreamed so that people are not deprived of the annual cultural events. “Arrangements have been made to use social-media platforms to telecast the events real time,” Mysuru district minister ST Somashekar said.

Heavy police security will be ensured at important venues where cultural events will take place.

How depression & anxiety affect the body

How depression & anxiety affect the body

Mental Stress Can Aid Disease, Hit Fightback

Jane E. Brody

06.10.2021

It’s no surprise that when a person gets a diagnosis of heart disease, cancer or some other life-limiting or life-threatening physical ailment, they become anxious or depressed. But the reverse can also be true: Undue anxiety or depression can foster the development of a serious physical disease, and even impede the ability to withstand or recover from one.

The human organism does not recognise the medical profession’s artificial separation of mental and physical ills. Rather, mind and body form a two-way street. What happens inside a person’s head can have damaging effects throughout the body, as well as the other way around. An untreated mental illness can significantly increase the risk of becoming physically ill, and physical disorders may result in behaviours that make mental conditions worse.

In studies that tracked how patients with breast cancer fared, for example, Dr David Spiegel and his colleagues at Stanford University School of Medicine showed decades ago that women whose depression was easing lived longer than those whose depression was getting worse. His research and other studies have clearly shown that “the brain is intimately connected to the body and the body to the brain,” Spiegel said in an interview. “The body tends to react to mental stress as if it was a physical stress.”

Many people are reluctant to seek treatment for emotional ills. Some people with anxiety or depression may fear being stigmatized, even if they recognize they have a serious psychological problem. Many attempt to self-treat their emotional distress by adopting behaviours like drinking too much or abusing drugs, which only adds insult to their preexisting injury. And sometimes, family members and friends inadvertently reinforce a person’s denial of mental distress by labeling it as “that’s just the way he is” and do nothing to encourage them to seek professional help.

Anxiety disorders affect nearly 20% of US adults. That means millions are beset by an overabundance of the fightor-flight response that primes the body for action. When you’re stressed, the brain responds by prompting the release of cortisol, nature’s builtin alarm system. It evolved to help animals facing physical threats by increasing respiration, raising the heart rate and redirecting blood flow from abdominal organs to muscles that assist in confronting or escaping danger.

These actions stem from the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine, which stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and put the body on high alert. But when they are invoked too often and indiscriminately, the chronic overstimulation can result in all manner of physical ills, including indigestion, cramps, diarrhea or constipation, and an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

“Depression diminishes a person’s capacity to analyze and respond rationally to stress,” Spiegel said. “They end up in a vicious cycle with limited capacity to get out of a negative mental state.” Potentially making matters worse, undue anxiety and depression often coexist, leaving people vulnerable to a panoply of physical ailments and an inability to adopt with needed therapy.

According to Dr John Frownfelter, treatment for any condition works better when doctors understand “the pressures patients face that affect their behavior and result in clinical harm.” NYT NEWS SERVICE

EMOTIONAL ILLS

WHO may take call on Covaxin this month

WHO may take call on Covaxin this month

New Delhi:06.10.2021

The WHO’s approval for emergency use listing of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is expected to take a few more weeks to arrive. The decision, however, will be taken in October itself.

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization is holding its meetings from October 4 to 8, during which it will examine the latest evidences to prepare policy recommendations for the best use of Covaxin. The policy guidelines will be issued once the EUL process is completed. TNN

WHO: EUL decision on Covaxin still pending

Though Covaxin was on the agenda of SAGE’s meeting on Tuesday, officials said the decision on EUL approval is still pending.

The WHO said in response to an email query from TOI: “The EUL decision on Covaxin is still pending. Bharat has been submitting data to WHO on a rolling basis and submitted additional information at WHO’s request on 27 September. WHO experts are currently reviewing this information and if it addresses all questions raised, WHO and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will carry out the risk/benefit assessment and come to a final decision whether to grant Emergency Use Listing to the vaccine.”

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) related to EUL is expected to convene its meeting next week. A final call will be taken based on the recommendations of both TAG and SAGE.

According to WHO, the EUL process is centred on determining if a manufactured product is qualityassured, safe and effective.

The WHO SAGE is responsible for issuing evidence-based policy recommendations for the best use of vaccines against Covid-19. “Such product-specific recommendations are issued once a vaccine is authorised through a regulatory process, including the assessment of safety and efficacy from phase III clinical trials,” it said.

Last student picked for AIIMS scored just 6% less than topper

Last student picked for AIIMS scored just 6% less than topper

06.10.2021

The actual scores in the entrance exam of those who got admission to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi differed very little, no matter which category they came from, reports Rema Nagarajan. While the ranks give an impression of huge differences between admitted students from various categories, their percentile scores vary by less than one and even the absolute marks differ by less than six percentage points between the topper and the last student selected.

In fact, not only were there no candidates with scores below 99th percentile among those who got admission, even their final percentage scores were well above 90% no matter which category they belonged to, an analysis done by TOIshows.

‘National SC/ST panel should demand data on admission’

For instance, in 2018 while over 3.74 lakh appeared for the exam, the lowest selected rank, which was from the scheduled tribe (ST) category, was 2,090 with a percentile score of 99.45 though the qualifying percentile level was 93.65 for tribals.

The competition is so close that several tie breaker scores have to be used to assign ranks. Ties — those with equal overall percentiles — were resolved using percentiles in the biology section of the paper followed by chemistry, physics and finally the candidate’s date of birth, with older candidates getting ranked higher.

The lowest selected rank from the SC category was 655 with a percentile score of 99.83, again well over the qualifying level of 40% marks equivalent to 93.65 percentile. The lowest selected rank from the OBC category was 188 equivalent to 99.95 percentile, against a qualifying level of 45%, equivalent to 97.01 percentile. For the general category, the qualifying level was 50% equivalent to 98.83 percentile.

In 2019 too, calculations show, there was a difference of less than six percentage points in the overall scores of the first rank and the last rank (3,000) that got admitted. The marks are not publicly announced. To understand how we arrived at them, see the accompanying box.

Anthropologist Dr Anna Ruddock notes in her book on AIIMS-Delhi called ‘Special Treatment’ that the ranking system acts as a management tool, suggesting a legitimate differentiation in achievement that actually disguises the homogeneity of marks among top-ranked students and ends up implying that OBC, SC, and ST candidates who score lower than the GC cut-off lack the necessary aptitude to study at AIIMS.

“Among those admitted in AIIMS-Delhi, there is hardly any difference between those from different categories because the OBC, SC and ST candidates selected represent a small proportion that has access to facilities and resources to be able to get in. The National SC/ST commission should demand anonymised data on admission into all such institutes and analyse it so that informed policies could be made on how to ensure inclusion of the most deprived within categories and across geographies,” said an AIIMS faculty member.

WIDE VARIATION

Restore old NEET-SS pattern: SC warns govt, NMC & NBE

Restore old NEET-SS pattern: SC warns govt, NMC & NBE

‘Med Studies, Profession Has Become A Biz’

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.10.2021

Accusing authorities of playing with the careers of aspiring super speciality doctors to benefit private medical colleges, Supreme Court on Tuesday gave 24 hours to the Centre, the National Medical Commission and the National Board of Examination in medical sciences to revert to the old question pattern for the NEETSuper Speciality Exams for the 2021-22 academic session.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and B V Nagarathna sent out a loud warning: “You cannot be causing prejudice to the students. If there is a sense of obduracy (on the part of the authorities in not reverting to the old pattern of examination), the arms of law are long enough to deal with the obduracy. We have given you time till tomorrow [Wednesday] to reform. NMC and NBE are not doing any favour to the students. We are giving you an opportunity to correct yourself.”

Pointing out NEET-SS is unlike other examinations, Justice Chandrachud said, “The students prepare for years, right from their postgraduation in medicine days to get admission into super speciality courses after doing their masters. We know the private sector has invested money in offering the super speciality courses and their interest too has to be factored in while doing the balancing act. However, the interest of the students, who will be the torch bearers of advanced healthcare in India in future, cannot be sidelined.”

The bench said, “Our education system is so botched up. We do not have either a plan or vision. What is the great hurry in bringing into force the new pattern of examination? Heavens would not have fallen except for a few seats in private medical colleges going vacant. Why not postpone the new examination pattern to the next year to give sufficient time to the doctors?”

Repeatedly expressing doubts whether the change of exam pattern was meant to benefit only private medical colleges which demand a high capitation fee, the bench said, “The medical education, profession and the regulatory mechanism has become a business.”

The bench tore into the decision terming it as an attempt only aimed at filling seats in private colleges. There are a total of 414 medical colleges that offer super speciality courses of which 118 were run by the governments while 296 are private institutions.

A group of 41 doctors, preparing for NEET-SS examination scheduled for November 10-11, had complained that the authorities had arbitrarily changed the earlier pattern of examination (40% questions from general medicine and 60% from the super speciality course applied for) to a new pattern (100% questions from general medicine) more than a month after notifying the exam dates.

The Centre and NBE had filed an affidavit stating that the change of pattern was necessitated as many super speciality course seats have been going vacant because of the earlier pattern of exam and also offered to postpone the November 10-11 examination to January 10-11 to give sufficient time to the students to prepare for the new pattern of NEET-SS.

The Centre and NBE had filed an affidavit stating that the change of pattern was necessitated as many super speciality course seats have been going vacant because of the earlier pattern of examination

Colleges told to give student caste data

Colleges told to give student caste data

Shrinivasa.M@timesgroup.com

06.10.2021

Even as the caste census exercise is caught in a fierce debate, the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes has asked the Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE) to furnish collegewise caste, sub-caste, category and gender details of final-year students in the state who have completed courses between 2011-12 and 2020-21.

Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes Commission chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde said that they have taken up the exercise to “compare educational and employment status” of people from different castes and categories and added that the process will take “some time” for completion.

Sources said that the DCE has asked college principals to update details of students on the Education Management Information System (EMIS) by October 12.

The commission has sought data through two separate forms: Caste and other details of students through proforma III; and caste-category details of employees and officials through employment proforma A. Authorities said that details of only those students who have cleared the final year have been sought. “Year-wise details have been sought,” said a college principal, confirming that the controversial exercise has already been set in motion.

Reprimanding student for indiscipline does not amount to abetment of suicide, says SC

Reprimanding student for indiscipline does not amount to abetment of suicide, says SC

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.05.2021

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a teacher reprimanding students for indiscipline or bunking of classes would not amount to abetment of suicide if an emotional and sentimental student takes the extreme step after being admonished as it is a solemn duty of a teacher to instil discipline in the pupils.

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari quashed the criminal proceedings against a teacher of a private school who was booked for abetment after a class IX student committed suicide after being caught for bunking classes. FIR was filed against the teacher as he had reprimanded the student who also named him in the suicide note.

The bench, however, after examining the note, said a reading of it suggests the hypersensitive temperament of the deceased which led him to take such an extraordinary step and which would not ordinarily induce a similarly circumstanced student to commit suicide.

“It is a solemn duty of a teacher to instil discipline in the students. It is not uncommon that teachers reprimand a student for not being attentive or not being up to the mark in studies or for bunking classes or not attending the school. The disciplinary measures adopted by a teacher or other authorities of a school, reprimanding a student for his indiscipline, in our considered opinion, would not tantamount to provoking a student to commit suicide, unless there are repeated specific allegations of harassment and insult deliberately without any justifiable cause or reason,” Justice Murari, who penned the judgement, said.

The court said a simple act of reprimand of a student for his behaviour or indiscipline by a teacher, who is under moral obligations to inculcate the good qualities of a human being in a student would definitely not amount to instigation or intentionally aid to the commission of a suicide by a student.

“If a student is simply reprimanded by a teacher for an act of indiscipline and bringing the continued act of indiscipline to the notice of principal of the institution, who conveyed to the parents of the student for the purposes of school discipline and correcting a child, any student who is very emotional or sentimental commits suicide; can the said teacher be held liable for the same and charged and tried for the offence of abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC. Our answer to the said question is ‘No’,” the bench said.

“‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ an old saying may have lost its relevance in present days and corporal punishment to the child is not recognised by law but that does not mean that a teacher or school authorities have to shut their eyes to any indiscipline act of a student. It is not only a moral duty of a teacher but one of the legally assigned duty under Section 24 (e) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 to hold regular meetings with the parents and guardians and apprise them about the regularity in attendance...,” the court said.