Docs may be wrongly tagging patients as diabetics

Docs may be wrongly tagging patients as diabetics

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.10.2021

Several senior citizens may be wrongly tagged diabetic and pre-diabetic based on the elevated levels of blood sugar seen in the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) – a standard test for diabetes, senior diabetologists say. They have now called for age-specific cut-offs for the test to minimise risks of needless treatment and its side effects.

Results from a pan India study, published in Acta Dibetologica, shows the HbA1c levels increase with age in nondiabetic individuals. “This means, we cannot have the same normal for all adults. Laboratories should report age adjusted normal values for all their lab tests,” said senior diabetologist Dr V Mohan from the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation. “Else, we will be initiating needless treatment in elderly people and increase risk of serious side effects of the medicines,” he said.

The test is done to find the average level of blood sugar over three months and is hence considered robust and reliable. When glucose builds up in the blood, it binds to the haemoglobin —a protein found in red blood cells. Since these cells live for three months, the test shows the average level of glucose in blood for the three months. If the level is below 5 and 5.6%, its considered normal and those who have values between 5.7 and 6.4% are considered prediabetic. The value for diabetics is above 6.5%.

Scientists used data collected from the Indian Council of Medical Research – INdia DIABetes (ICMR–INDIAB) study in people above 20 years from across India. The age-wise distribution of HbA1c from 14,222 people showed in this group. Scientists used data from 1,077 others from the CURES study conducted in Chennai for validation. Analysis showed HbA1c levels increased gradually with age from about 5.16 in the 20–29 years group to 5.49% in those above 70 years. The validation study (CURES) showed HbA1c was 5.35% in 20–29 years and 5.74% in above

70.

“The pan India data showed a 0.08% increase in HbA1c for every decadal increase in age. This increase was more significant in women and urbanites. “Many elderly people may have physiological changes in their ability to regulate blood glucose. This means marginally elevated HbA1c levels need not always be indicative of pathology,” said diabetologist Dr R M Anjana, who was a part of the study.

International passenger traffic at city airport spikes

International passenger traffic at city airport spikes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:09.10.2021

As travel has resumed, international passenger traffic has recorded a steady spike at the Chennai airport.

The airport handled 83,000 passengers in August as against 53,000 passengers in July. It is ranked third after Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Bengaluru handled 80,000 international passengers in August, as per statistics from Airports Authority of India (AAI). Sources said that the numbers for Chennai are projected to touch close to a lakh for September and October. In the pre-Covid days, the airport used to handle around 5lakh international passengers.

Though scheduled international flights are yet to resume, there is a huge demand from people travelling for education, business and leisure.

AAI and airlines officials said that the pent up demand for travel will help the airport touch pre-Covid level patronage by end of the year if scheduled flights are resumed in November.

Sri Lanka and Thailand opening up for vaccinated travellers following European countries, the ongoing Dubai expo and the IPL in the UAE are set to boost demand for travel for leisure and business in the coming weeks from the city. The government of India's decision to resume issuing visas for tourists arriving by charter flights from October 15 will also boost inbound travel.

Sri Lanka, Thailand, countries in the Middle East are the most popular destinations from Chennai. S Baskar, managing committee member of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said, “International travel is bound to increase in the coming months."

A sample survey by Thomas Cook and SOTC among their customers across metros showed that around 77% of the respondents wanted to fly abroad for leisure in October-November-December period.

Rajeev Kale, president & country head, Thomas Cook (India) Limited said, “Our survey highlights strong travel demand for the last quarter 2021."

Let HC Judges Retire When SC Judges Do, At 65

Let HC Judges Retire When SC Judges Do, At 65

This will cut pendency, plus historical reasons for different retirement ages no longer hold

Arunav Kaul

08.10.2021

“How is this irrational? There has to be some reason for it,” said the Supreme Court in April in response to a petition which sought to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65, to bring it at par with SC judges. The petition contended that the difference in the retirement ages between the two constitutional courts of the country is irrational and arbitrary and hence these must be made uniform.

The case was finally withdrawn by the petitioner but it has raised an important issue: Are the retirement ages different to show that SC judges are more important than HC judges or are there deeper historical reasons? Do the reasons still subsist and or is the time ripe to make the retirement ages uniform?

The divide has pre-independence roots

The Government of India Act 1935 was one of the first formal documents that categorically laid down the retirement age for judges. It formally established the Federal Court of India, the predecessor of the present Supreme Court of India, and laid down the retirement age at 65 years for judges of the Federal Court and 60 years for judges of HCs.

Why such a gap? The answer lies in the report of the Joint Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform set up before the passing of the 1935 Act. It opined that having a different retirement age would be necessary to secure the services of the judges from HCs.

Abhinav Chandrachud has further explained how it was contended that senior judges from HCs who were already in an established position in various prestigious courts would not be willing to relinquish the rest of their tenure for a junior position with an uncertain future at the newly established Federal Court. Hence, the additional five years were added as an incentive.

The different ages concretised in the coming years. Although the initial draft of the Constitution stated that judges of HC would retire at 60 or a higher age not exceeding 65 years based on the law fixed by state legislatures, this was eventually amended. Given past practices of retirement and health concerns at an old age, retirement age for HC judges was fixed at 60.

But SC-HC equation has changed since then

Having an age gap in retirement certainly made sense in the earlier days of SC. For instance, George H Gadbois Jr notes in his book that Justice KC Das Gupta was one of the first chief justices from a presidency HC to accept the nomination to SC in 1959 nearly a decade after the establishment of the latter court. Other chief justices showed a “reluctance to leave the glamour of a prestigious post to become the most junior SCI judge”.

However, today SC is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, elevation to which is also seen as a matter of great prestige. Moreover the 14th Law Commission recommended even way back in 1958 that rules could be established to make it a duty for judges of HCs to accept the offer to serve at SC. Subsequently, a constitutional amendment in 1963 increased the retirement age of HC judges to 62. This was done soon after an increase in the retirement age of central government employees from 55 to 58 based on the recommendations of the Second Pay Commission which looked at health and life expectancy.

Give HC judges more time on the job

Years later in 2010, another constitutional amendment bill was introduced in Parliament to increase the retirement age of HC judges from 62 to 65. The standing committee on the bill pointed out that increasing the retirement age would impact both the vacancies and the high pendency of cases. This bill eventually lapsed but increasing the retirement age of HC judges would indeed reduce pendency, as well as provide judges ample time to spend on the bench.

On average, as of September 1, HC judges are being appointed at the age of 51. This provides them with a little over a decade before retiring. Increased retirement age will allow them to adjust to the rigmaroles of the new position and discharge their duties for a longer duration.

The bottomline is that when historical reasons are no longer relevant, it is best to amend policies so they reflect contemporary needs. So government should seriously look into the possibility of making the retirement age uniform for judges of HCs and SC. This would be the prudent approach.

The writer is a human rights lawyer

‘Can’t throw out candidates for smudging answer sheets’

‘Can’t throw out candidates for smudging answer sheets’

Highly Inequitable To Dismiss Efforts Over Scratches: HC

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh:08.10.2021

The Punjab and Haryana high court has made it clear that it would be highly inequitable to throw the candidates for competitive examinations out at the threshold on account of having smudged a particular answer and the fact that there were vacancies as such. The HC has passed these orders while directing the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) to evaluate the OMR sheet of a woman candidate, who had appeared for the post of Physical Training Instructor (PTI) examination but her answer sheet, was not evaluated because one of the answers was smudged/scratched by her on the sheet.

Justice G S Sandhawalia passed these orders while allowing a petition filed by Suman Devi, who was a candidate for the post of PTI teacher in Haryana. She had appeared for the written examination held on August 23, 2020, but her answer sheet was not evaluated by the HSSC as one of the answers was found to be smudged and there was a cutting as such.

The petitioner has stated in her writ petition that she was an earlier appointee against the initial advertisement and got selected on April 30, 2010, and had worked in the department for around 10 years. However, her previous selection was set aside by the HC as well as the apex court. Thereafter, the entire selection process was to be redone while giving a chance to the earlier appointees.

The petitioner was a candidate under BCB category, for which 216 posts had been advertised and, required 45% marks to secure minimum qualifying prescribed marks in the written test. It was pointed out by the petitioner, who appeared in person, that on account of scratching and smudging of one of the questions on the OMR sheet, her question paper has not been evaluated.

The HC was informed that the commission has given certain benefits, as such, to candidates for certain questions and if the said benefit is given, the petitioner would make the grade of 90 marks. “Resultantly, the HSSC, is directed to ensure that if the petitioner has made the qualifying cut after deleting the benefit which is to be awarded against the smudged questions, result be declared and the same benefits be given,” the HC has ordered while allowing her plea.

The HC passed these orders while directing the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) to evaluate the OMR sheet of a woman candidate

DU refutes prof ’s claims that Kerala students are being given preference

DU refutes prof ’s claims that Kerala students are being given preference

Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:08.10.2021

Following a row over comments on students from a particular state board being given preference by Delhi University during admissions, a statement was issued by the varsity on Thursday refuting the same.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta said over 60,000 students had applied to the university under the first cutoff list out of which over 46,000 were from CBSE. At the end of the last day of approvals from college principals, applications of over 31,000 students from CBSE and 2,365 of students from Kerala Board of Higher Secondary Education were accepted, he added.

There were 1,540 students from Board of School Education, Haryana and 1,429 from Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

The remarks by DU professor Rakesh Kumar Pandey on the “inexplicable rush” of students from Kerala had drawn flak from several quarters. Students’ Federation of India and National Students Union of India announced that they would hold demonstrations at DU’s Arts Faculty and Kirori Mal College, respectively, on Friday.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had staged a sit-in protest on Wednesday stating that the high cutoffs had led to students from “only few state boards” being admitted to the varsity.

In the statement, Gupta said, “Being a central university, University of Delhi equally and uniformly values the academic credentials of all candidates irrespective of their states and school boards. This year, too, equal opportunity was maintained by accepting applications based on merit only.”

Refuting the claim of students from a particular state board being “favoured”, Gupta added, “Being a prestigious central university with a long legacy of quality teaching and research, candidates across the country aspire to study in our colleges, departments and centres. It is our utmost responsibility to maintain justice and equity to all meritorious candidates coming not only from Indian states, but also from abroad.”

Nuthan Kiron Raj, a former student of Hindu College and a member of Telangana Students’ Association, said, “Such a statement is derogatory and condemnable. It was a very biased and prejudiced statement. There can be faults in the grading system, but singling out a particular state is unjust. As we don’t have a common grading system throughout the country, there can be differentiated grades. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to give a distorted statement against a particular state.”

Pens-only and extra blank circle: CBSE’s plan for Boards in Nov

Pens-only and extra blank circle: CBSE’s plan for Boards in Nov

Datesheet, Detailed Guidelines For Term-1 MCQ Exams Next Week

Manash.Gohain @timesgroup.com

New Delhi:08.10.2021

Candidates appearing for the MCQ-type Term 1 CBSE Board Exams this November will be allowed to use only pens to mark answers. The OMR answer sheets will, however, have an additional blank space/circle for the students to use if they decide to change their response to a question.

“If four options to answer a particular question are provided, there will also be an additional blank space. If the students, during revising or for any other reason, realise that they have marked the wrong choice, they can strike it off, darken the correct circle and write the same (like1, 2, 3 or 4 or a, b, c or d) in the additional blank space. A combination of intelligent character recognition (ICR) and optical mark recognition (OMR) techniques will be used to evaluate such responses,” CBSE controller of examinations Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj told exclusively to TOI.

He also said the practical exams will be conducted by own schools of the candidates.

He said, “Marks scored in the practical exams have always been questioned and very often we have seen significant variations in marks obtained by the same student in theroretical and practical exams. CBSE wants the school to be responsible and assess students on actual performance. The Term 1 practicals are to be conducted by schools themselves. Based on the present Covid situation and the vaccination drive underway, we are expecting that Term 2 practicals would be conducted by the CBSE”.

With around 40 days for the exams to begin, schools and candidates are eagerly waiting for the schedule and guidelines of the exams. To that, Bhardwaj said, “CBSE will issue the instructions after it finalises the complete scheme (of the exam) and we will apprise all the stakeholders with all aspects of the exam.”

TOI has learnt that students can expect the announcement of exam dates and guidelines in another four to five days once the Board gets the complete list of candidates (the last date is October 9, 2021).

The CBSE has split the board exams into two parts — Term 1 and Term 2. A candidate’s final score will be calculated on the basis of his/her performance in both Terms. As per the new scheme, Term 1 will be a 90-minute objectivetype exams, while Term 2 will be a 120-minute subjective tests. Both will have practicals.

On the marking system, Bhardwaj said each question will carry equal marks and candidates will get options as well.

IN FOR A REVAMPED SYSTEM

Take 2nd dose or get barred from public places in Indore

Take 2nd dose or get barred from public places in Indore

Indore:08.10.2021

Health authorities have asked district administration to take strict measures for completing second dose of Covid-19 doses among people resisting it.

The authorities seek deterrent measures to disallow overdue/due people from entry to public places to complete vaccination.

The district has around seven lakh overdue/ due people eligible for second dose administration but not turning out as drive lost momentum in the last one month or so. District Immunisation in-charge Dr Tarun Gupta said, “Because of lower turn out of people for taking their second dose despite becoming eligible is a cause of concern. The vaccine gives maximum protection after two dose inoculations.”

“Those who have taken the first dose and not come for the second dose are resisting it because of fake confidence of protection, vaccine apprehensiveness, complacency”, said Dr Gupta.

An adult person become due after completing a gap of 84 days after first dose in case of Covishield and for covaxin it is 28 days. The overdue people are those, who aren’t taking their second doses after 14 days of prescribed gap in Covishield and seven days in Covaxin. TOI on October 6 reported how the mass vaccination drive lost momentum.

Following it, the district administration in the last week wrote to secretaries, presidents of all associations to ensure full immunization of their members. TNN

Indoreans get jab at a mobile vaccination centre