Airlines can resume food on flights of less than 2-hr duration

Airlines can resume food on flights of less than 2-hr duration

14.11.2021

Serving food on flights with a duration of less than two hours can be resumed, the Union health ministry is learned to have informed the civil aviation ministry after the latter sought inputs from it for amending the existing regulations.

The health ministry has also said that the crew members on a flight need not wear coveralls but should continue to wear gloves, masks and face shields, according to sources.

Under the existing guidelines, airlines are not allowed to serve meals in flights that have a duration of less than two hours. The ban came into effect from April 15.

When the scheduled domestic flight services were resumed on May 25 last year after the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the ministry had allowed the airlines to serve in-flight meals under certain conditions.

“The civil aviation ministry is reviewing the on-board meal services in domestic flights in view of a decline in the number of daily COVID-19 cases and has sought inputs from the health ministry for amending the existing guidelines.

“The health ministry has now informed that serving food on flights of less than two hours can be resumed and that the crew members need not wear coveralls but should continue to wear gloves, masks and face shields,” a source said.

With 11,850 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has shot up to 3,44,26,036, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 1,36,308, the lowest in 274 days, according to the health ministry's data updated at 8 am on Saturday. PTI

Two arrested, minor detained for MBBS student’s murder

Two arrested, minor detained for MBBS student’s murder

Yavatmal:14.11.2021 

Yavatmal Police on Saturday arrested two youths and detained a juvenile for the murder of Ashok Pal, a final-year MBBS student of Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College, earlier this week. A cash reward of Rs 1 lakh cash has been declared for officers involved in arresting the trio.

“The three accused were on a motorbike which hit Pal who was returning to his hostel from the college library on the campus November 10 night. This led to an argument which ended up in the accused stabbing Pal to death,” Yavatmal SP Dilip Patil-Bhujbal said.

Cops claimed that the trio has confessed to the crime during questioning. TNN

Krishna loses mother hours before ceremony

Krishna loses mother hours before ceremony

Neeraj, Others Receive Top Sports Awards

Sabi.Hussain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.11.2021

In a cruel turn of events, Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist badminton player Krishna Nagar lost his mother in an unfortunate incident, hours before he was to receive his Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Saturday. Krishna, who had won the gold in the men’s singles SH6 final in Tokyo, was in Delhi to receive the award along with 11 other Khel Ratna recipients when the tragic news reached him.

Initially, Krishna wasn’t told about his mother’s passing away over phone by his physiotherapist father Sunil Nagar. It was only when the 22-year-old reached his home in Jaipur that the devastating news was shared with him. She was 49. Narrating the sequence of events, Krishna told TOI from Jaipur: “It was November 10 (Wednesday) and I was about to leave for the awards ceremony. It was 12-12:30pm and I had told my mother to cook food for me. My father had also come home around that time from his work and three of us were having a fun time. I didn’t notice when she headed to the roof. I had taken a shower and was drying my towel when I heard a loud thump. Upon checking, I realised that my mother had fallen to the first floor of our house from the terrace.” “We immediately rushed her to the hospital and the doctors admitted her to the ICU ward. The doctors assured me that she was showing signs of improvement and I left for Delhi on Thursday. But she died in the hospital last night. She never regained consciousness after the fall,” Krishna said, in a choked voice.

Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Tokyo Paralympics stars were among an unprecedented 12 sportspersons who were presented with the country’s highest sporting honour, Khel Ratna, in a glittering national sports awards ceremony here. The President also bestowed 35 sportspersons with the Arjuna as the country celebrated its best-ever show at the Olympics and Paralympics.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS DOING DUTIES WITH FIRST-YEAR SEATS NOT FILLED

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS DOING DUTIES WITH FIRST-YEAR SEATS NOT FILLED

NEET SS delay: Senior residents bear juniors’ load

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 14.11.2021 

Senior resident doctors pursuing super specialty courses at medical colleges in Gujarat are forced to handle duties assigned to first-year resident doctors for six more months due to delays in the admission process.

“Students who joined the first year of super-specialty courses last year and are now in their second year, have to continue the medical duties of their juniors as the firstyear resident doctors are yet to enroll for their courses,” said an MD doctor who has completed his PG medical studies this year and is waiting for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Super Specialty (NEET SS) 2021 exams to be held. The first-year students have to carry ward duties as part of their studies.

There are about 100 seats for super-specialty courses in the state. The exam was earlier to be held on November 11 but it has been postponed to January 10, 2022.

The MD doctor quoted earlier said he was offered a job at a corporate hospital in Ahmedabad but he could not join due to repeated delays in NEET SS exam.

“The term for first-year students starts in September-October, but this time it is not likely to start before March next year. So, the second-year students will have handle duties of junior doctors for another six months,” he said.

Another aspirant who wants to join the three-year super specialty course said his studies for a PG medical programme ended in July and he is waiting for the NEET SS exams.

“For the last ten years there has been some issue or the other during exams,” said the PG qualified doctor.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences had originally planned to conduct the NEET SS 2021 in a new pattern. Forty-one PGqualified doctors moved the Supreme Court of India, stating that the last-minute changes will have an adverse effect on the candidates.

The Supreme Court came down heavily stating that it cannot make last-minute changes to such an important exam.

Death of schoolgirl: Police book principal

Death of schoolgirl: Police book principal

Coimbatore: 14.11.2021

The RS Puram all-women police on Saturday booked the principal of a private matriculation school under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for her failure to report a sexual harassment complaint that a Class XII girl student, who committed suicide at her house by hanging on Thursday, raised against her teacher. Police are on the lookout for principal.

The principal, Meera Jackson, was booked under Section 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case) of the Pocso Act, after parents, students and members of various associations staged protests at the victim’s house and the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, stating they would receive the girl’s body only after arrest of the principal. The protesters said the principal had failed to take action against the teacher based on the girl’s complaint and demanded the school management to issue a compensation of ₹50 lakh to the victim’s family. The school transferred Meera to another school a few months ago.

Police arrested the teacher, K Mithun Chakravarthy, on Friday night. TNN

‘Extended dose-gap of Covishield showed better immune response’

‘Extended dose-gap of Covishield showed better immune response’

Puts To Rest Any Immediate Need For Booster Shots: Study

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.11.2021

The extended gap of at least 12 weeks between the two doses of Covishield has resulted in better immune response among majority of vaccinated Indians, subsiding any immediate requirement for booster shots, an official assessment of real-life data from sero prevalence studies has shown. Citing the findings, experts have also ruled out any possibility of reducing the gap between two shots of Covishield.

The findings will soon be submitted to the health ministry for further consideration for policy making, an official source said. “We have been reviewing the data on a regular basis and now since large scale data of vaccinated people is available, we have studied that too. Any decision will be driven by these scientific facts,” the source said.

According to the source, there is “no question of reducing the gap because the data shows that the immune response has improved with a gap of three months between two doses of Covishield”.

Of the total more than 112 crore doses of Covid vaccine administered in the country so far, 88% are Covishield, a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZencea. The vaccine is manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India.

India is currently administering the second dose of Covishield at 12-16 weeks gap.

While more than 79% of the eligible adult population has received at least the first dose of a Covid vaccine, around 39% are fully vaccinated with two doses. While there are around 12 crore people overdue for a second dose, a major reason for the slow progress of second-dose coverage is also the long gap between two jabs of Covishield, which constitutes the majority of vaccination.

As the majority of eligible population is now covered with the first dose of the vaccines and there is also adequate stock, some states, as well as public health experts, have written to the Centre asking it to reduce the gap so that people have increased protection with two doses of Covishield.

Full report on www.toi.in

Doctor ADVERTORIAL