HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MIND TO INNOVATE

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MIND TO INNOVATE

Pursue higher degrees, but make them useful

Avik.Das1@timesgroup.com

From his days in school in Guwahati, Mrinal Bhattacharjee wanted to be an engineer. He loved doing his science class experiments. “Going to college, it felt like computer science would be a cool subject to study. I thought it allowed problems to be solved quicker, allowed you to see your solutions at work,” he says. And that’s what he did at NIT Karnataka.

Bhattacharjee, who is today a principal engineer with US data management company NetApp’s India centre, has seven patents to his name. He joined NetApp in 2004, and filed his first patent three years later. It was on file systems, around how to take a snapshot of the data at any given time. “A snapshot is a point-intime copy of your data. That is the core building block of data protection,” he says.

While the snapshot was the end result, a lot of background work was automatically done in the system to preserve the file. Bhattacharjee found a way to minimise the background process so that it reduced the system load.

Just like for other patent holders featured in this column, the maiden patent was a lesson for Bhattacharjee in understanding how to write a patent application, talk to patent lawyers and patent committees to figure out whether an idea is patentable.

His next patents were again in data storage management. “When data comes in, we need to decide where we will place data, which is essential to be able to retrieve it quickly. Data placement algorithms are an essential part of the data storage system. We redesigned the system, rewrote the whole thing to work on solid state drives which could have 100 processors. That enabled NetApp to have hybrid systems (combining flash memory and hard disk drives).”

He says a patenting mindset requires first to have a desire to solve problems in interesting ways. “And then, when you have a company culture that fosters innovation, a set of people you can brainstorm with, things become relatively easy,” he says.

While he did not pursue higher education, he advises others to take it up. “It is not impossible to innovate without a higher degree, but if one goes for it, one must take it seriously, make sure it is helpful in the innovation journey,” he says.

A patent he has most recently filed is related to data protection against ransomware, a malware which has become a raging cyber security threat. Bhattacharjee’s innovation identifies a potential virus quickly and immediately cuts off the storage system so that the virus cannot encrypt the data. “It feels great to be solving real world customer problems,” he says.

When you have a company culture that fosters innovation, a set of people you can brainstorm with, things become relatively easy.

Mrinal Bhattacharjee PRINCIPAL ENGINEER, NETAPP

KGMU strike hits patient care, many forced to return

KGMU strike hits patient care, many forced to return

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:  17.11.2021

Patient care services in the out patient department (OPD) were impacted at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) on Tuesday after the university employees went on an indefinite strike demanding higher pay scale. After holding talks, the strike has been put on hold for a month.

While several patients had to return without consultation even after taking an appointment weeks in advance, the university claimed no surgeries were affected and patients were taken care of in the OPD.

After the day-long strike, the employees and KGMU administration held a meeting on Tuesday evening following which the employees decided to hold off their protest for the next one month based on assurances made on the day.

KGMU employees, under the leadership of their association president Pradeep Gangwar, have been demanding pay scales at par with their counterparts in SGPGI.

In a letter by the directorate of medical education (DGME) to KGMU registrar on the day it was conveyed that cadre restructure of KGMU employees is in process at the government level.

“Against the university’s list of 42 cadres, government order has been received for two cadres. The status of restructuring 14 other cadres is in the final stages which will be completed in the next one month. The process to expedite decisions on the remaining cadres is also being tried,” the DGME’s letter read.

The day’s protest became a huge problem for several patients who had come to KGMU from far and wide, many of whom had to return without getting any consultation.

Jitendra Pratap Singh, who came from Rae Bareli to get a consultation in the neurology department OPD, said, “I made an appointment two weeks ago. Now I am being told that OPD is not functional. I am at a crossroad now not knowing what to do,” he rued.

Similarly, Keshav Chandra from Gorakhpur said, “I had to wait for three hours to get my registration done to consult with doctors, but there was nobody at the counter to start the process. I had traveled with great difficulty on Tuesday and had to return without any respite with an aggravated abdominal pain. No one heard my requests.”

MD, MS exam delay: Probe sought in letter to CJI, nat’l rights panel

MD, MS exam delay: Probe sought in letter to CJI, nat’l rights panel

Neel.Kamal@timesgroup.com

Bathinda:17.11.2021

Twelve postgraduate (MD/MS) students of the 2018 batch of Adesh Medical University, Bathinda, have their careers hanging in a balance for five months now. They have written to National Medical Commission to direct the university to conduct their final exams, but to no avail.

The 12 students had completed their three-year course in May 2021. The final exams should have been held in May-June. However, the students are embroilled in a court case with the university over the fee structure for the course. Upon their representation, a health and human rights activist on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Justice of India, chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court, and the chairman of National Human Rights Commission to order an immediate inquiry into the circumstances of the exam and to order that they be conducted to save the career of students.

The problem about the structure of tuition fee of these MD/MS students started from their admission in 2018. The state government had fixed tuition fee at Rs 19.5 lakh for the full courses ofall medical institutes in the state, but the Adesh University had fixed its fee at Rs 49.32 lakh after challenging the state government-fixed tuition fee in the high court. The students paid Rs 19.5 lakh each, but the issue of close to Rs 30 lakh remained unresolved. The students claimed that they were being forced to pay remaining the Rs 29.81 lakh and told that the final exam will be conducted only after the balance was paid. Students, not wanting to be named, said they had written to National Medical Commission, but to no avail.

Upon getting a representation from students, Dr Vitull K Gupta, who is the chairman of Association of Physicians of India (Malwa Branch), sent representations to the CJI. He said in the past also, he had sent representations to the Union health minister and National Medical Commission, but no action was taken.

National Medical Commission had issued an advisory to all medical colleges vide a letter dated June 22 to hold exams for final-year postgraduate students at the earliest convenient time, depending on the Covid-19 situation. Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, and SGRD University of Health Sciences, Amritsar, have conducted the exams.

University registrar Jagdev Singh did not respond. Its deputy registrar, Kulwant Singh, said as per NMC guidelines, the process is on to conduct the exams as early as possible. As there was a delay in new admissions in the MD/MS courses, there is a delay in exams for the outgoing batch, he added. Denying that students were being harassed for fee, he said the matter was sub-judice. “We have never demanded fee from students. Even the application has been filed twice in the court for early hearing of the case,” he added.

No nod for four new colleges to start MBBS admissions this year

No nod for four new colleges to start MBBS admissions this year

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 17.11.2021 

In a blow to the state, the new medical colleges in Chikkamagaluru, Haveri, Yadgir and Chikkaballapur are unlikely to begin academic operations this year as the National Medical Commission (NMC) has turned down requisitions for 150 undergraduate seats each from 2021-22, official sources said.

An NMC team recently inspected these colleges and objected to the lack of buildings. Staff recruitment was also still ongoing.

“If not for the pandemic, we would have completed the process of appointing staff in all four colleges,” a source in the medical education department said. “Construction work also took a beating because of the pandemic. However, it’s now taking place at a fast pace in Chikkaballapur and Chikkamagaluru.”

Sources said the NMC objected to the plan to begin operations from a private building. A team from Delhi inspected the colleges in August 2021. In October, a video conference was held with the heads of the medical colleges to review progress.

However, in the first week of this month, NMC, in official communication, shot down approval to start the first MBBS batch in all four colleges. Medical education minister K Sudhakar was unavailable for comment.

“However, in the past, some colleges that received communication denying approval were given the goahead by the end of the mopup round of UG medical counselling,” the source said. “The recruitment process is likely to be over by December, and we will once again approach the NMC. If staff recruitment is complete and the required equipment, hostel and other infrastructure are in place, the NMC may approve two of the four colleges this year.”

Currently there are 8,900 UG medical seats in Karnataka and it would have gone up to 9,500 if the 600 seats were approved. Of the available UG medical sets, 2,900 are in government colleges.

“We are confident the seats in Chikkamagaluru and Chikkaballapur will be approved since most staff have been recruited,” said Dr Jayakara SM, vice chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Should that happen, the state will get 300 more seats for 2021-22.

In 2019, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute (Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute) was granted approval and the first batch began from 2019-20.

While seeking approval for the fresh batch in 2020, the government had written to the Centre saying the new medical college was needed to reduce the doctor-patient ratio of 1:10260 in Karnataka. As per the World Health Organisation, there must be one doctor for every 1,000 population.

“NMC looks at three primary factors while considering approval: The college must have the required infrastructure, faculty and a medical college hospital. In all the four new medical colleges, these factors are in the preliminary stage as all work was halted during the pandemic,” said sources.

In four new medical colleges, the government had made alternative arrangements to begin the course near district hospitals. “In Chikkamagaluru, the land allocated for the college was in a forest area and it required clearances from the forest department. In Yadgir, construction began in January and that may take some more time,” said officials.

Foreigners can now submit registration requests online

Foreigners can now submit registration requests online

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:17.11.2021

The home ministry has allowed all applications and information related to registration of foreigners in India to be submitted to the registration officer through the electronic mode.

A new rule has been added to the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992, providing registration reports of foreigners to be submitted electronically. Any application or information under the rules can be filed online , after which the registration officer will verify its genuineness.

Only if necessary will the applicant or informant be called for a personal appearance for the purpose of this rule.

“The purpose of the amended rules is to ease travel and stay by foreigners in India by eliminating the outdated procedures and replacing them with digitised formats. The initiative fits in with the ‘ease of living’ and ‘ease of doing business’ theme of the Modi government,” said a spokesperson for the ministry.

The latest amendments in the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992, according to a gazette notification dated November 12, omits Rule 7(1) specifying the procedure of registration and to whom the registration report must be presented.

Bank misplaces FD records of senior citizen, told to pay

Bank misplaces FD records of senior citizen, told to pay

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vadodara: 17.11.2021

He had invested his hard-earned Rs 7,000 as two fixed deposits (FD) in Bank of Baroda in June 1998 for 20 years thinking that the money would help him during his retirement years. But in 2018 and 2019 when the two FDs were to mature Pravinchandra Shah, who lives in Makarpura, was shocked to know that the bank did not have any records of it.

Shah pursued the issue with the bank since 2018, but the money was never paid out to him.

However, the consumer court came to his rescue recently. The court ordered the bank to pay the matured amount of Rs 65,342 along with interest and compensation of Rs 2,000.

As Shah did not get any positive response from the bank, he had filed a complaint at the consumer forum in November 2019. He told the court that the bank did not have records of his FDs. When he approached senior officials of the bank, he was told that as the bank’s system had changed, his FDs’ account numbers had changed and he was assured of the payment. But Shah never got the money and instead learnt that the bank had deducted tax at source even as he had filled forms 15H and 15G and the rate of interest was reduced without informing him.

The bank was sent notice to appear before the forum and respond to Shah’s complaint, but the bank’s representatives never remained present. Since Shah had submitted all documentary evidence and they were not opposed by the bank, the court upheld the evidence. The court ordered the bank to pay the promised sum of Rs 65,342 to Shah within two months.

Admissions for dental and MBBS courses to begin today

Admissions for dental and MBBS courses to begin today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:17.11.2021

The online registrations for medical, dental, homeopathic and ayurveda seats will begin from November 17. Presently, there are 30 medical colleges in the state with 5,550 MBBS seats, 12 dental colleges with 1,255 seats, 33 Ayurveda colleges with 2,242 seats and 36 colleges with a total capacity of 3,710 seats.

In all, there are 12,707 seats for which the Admission Committee for Professional Under Graduate Medical Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC) will undertake the admission process this year.

Gujarat government is working on a plan to ensure that there is one medical college in every district of the state. For this, the department will have to set up about seven additional medical colleges in districts that do not have a single college, said sources.

The proposal is in lines with the Centre’s vision to have one college in every district of the country over the next five years.

The state government is also planning to set up eight new medical colleges in the state in the next two years. They will add 1,200 MBBS seats, representing about 21% of the total number of prevailing seats in Gujarat, said sources in the state’ health department.

The new medical colleges in Morbi, Godhra and Porbander are expected to start in the 2021-22 academic year. The inspection process by National Medical Commission (NMC) has been completed.

In the next academic year, the state health department aims to start new medical colleges in Rajpipala, Navsari, Jam Khambhaliya, Botad and Veraval.