On holiday plans, domestic flyers wait and watch for now

On holiday plans, domestic flyers wait and watch for now

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:02.12.2021

Demand for domestic travel had peaked in the past two months during the festive season and the year was supposed to end with a bang, what with travellers making advance bookings for the year-end holiday. But the Maharashtra government directive that made RT-PCR reports mandatory for all inter-state arrivals has left many year-end travel plans in a limbo, say travel industry insiders.

“The major concern is about spending January 1 queueing up at Goa’s testing centres and hospitals to undergo an RT-PCR test. The next day is a Sunday, most testing places in Goa would be closed. Most passengers are booked to return to Mumbai on Sunday evening and Monday morning,” said a travel agent. He added that passengers booked on the domestic sector have adopted a wait-and-watch policy. “We’re expecting some air ticket cancellations in the coming weeks, but people might not entirely abandon their year-end plans. We expect inter-state road travel to pick up. The past two peaks have shown that RT-PCR reports aren’t checked diligently on roads,” he added.

Currently, the cheapest return ticket for year-end travel on non-stop flights between Mumbai and Goa — the most popular year-end route — starts at Rs 11,000. Prashant Pitti, co-foundrf EaseMyTrip, said they had witnessed more than 400% jump in advance air ticket bookings for Decmber. “About 65-75% of travellers have opted for the full-refund booking options since the second wave, and with the new variant, this number is expected to grow in the coming weeks,” he added.

The major concern is about spending January 1 queueing up at Goa’s testing centres and hospitals to undergo an RT-PCR test. The next day is a Sunday, most testing places in Goa would be closed

SC: Doctors can’t be always blamed for negligence in deaths

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:02.12.2021

The Supreme Court has said that a hospital cannot be held liable for negligence if operation of a patient is delayed because of nonavailability of operation theatres and ruled that doctors also cannot be always blamed if a patient did not favourably respond to treatment or a surgery failed.

Setting aside the order National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which held Bombay Hospital & Medical Research Centre and its doctors liable for medical negligence for death of a patient, a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian said that the fault cannot always be fastened on the doctors and hospital if a patient did not survive. It said that delay in conducting some medical test due to fault in machine can also not be said to be negligence on the part of the doctor or the hospital, saying “Any machine can become non-functional because of innumerable factors beyond the human control as the machines involve various mechanical, electrical and electronic components”

“No fault can be attached to the hospital if the operation theatres were occupied when the patient was taken for surgery. Operation theatres cannot be presumed to be available at all times. Therefore, non-availability of an emergency operation theatre during the period when surgeries were being performed on other patients is not a valid ground to hold the Hospital negligent in any manner,” the bench said...

Exam controller held for role in rigging TET

Exam controller held for role in rigging TET

‘Gave Contract To Firm That Had No Infra’

Pathikrit Chakraborty@timesgroup.com

Lucknow:02.12.2021

The exam regulatory authority (ERA) secretary, Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay, who was on Tuesday suspended for his role in the UPTET question paper leak, was arrested in Lucknow after a protracted interrogation that stretched well past midnight. The UP special task force (UPSTF) formally arrested him at 3am on Wednesday and sent him to prison by noon.

A 1995 batch Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officer, Upadhyay’s complicity in the paper leak was exposed during questioning of the director of RSM Finserv Ltd, the Delhi-based firm contracted to print Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question papers. The director, Rai Anup Prasad, who was arrested in Noida late Tuesday, had told interrogators that Upadhyay was instrumental in handing over the contract to his company on October 26.

Confirming Upadhyay’s arrest, additional director general of police, law and order, Prashant Kumar told TOI that no accused would be spared and the gang’s network would be dismantled.

Senior superintendent of police, STF, Hemraj Meena said, “RSM Finserv Ltd based in Delhi’s Greater Kailash-II neither had infrastructure nor resources to print question papers on such a large scale. And the firm’s laxity led to a comprise in secrecy protocols enabling infiltration by the solver’s mafia. The government has instituted an inquiry against Upadhyay, who handed out work order without checking the Delhi fir m’s antecedents.”

On November 28, Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) was cancelled after a question paper was leaked on social media, triggering arrests of 37 accused till late Wednesday. At least 20lakh lakh students were scheduled to write the exam at 2,736 centres in two shifts.

Another TET conduit arrested in Aligarh

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:02.12.2021

Continuing its crackdown on those who rigged UPTET exams, UP special task force (UPSTF) on Wednesday arrested another accused, Gaurav Kumar, from Aligarh. Gaurav, who was picked from the city’s Malroz intersection, had bought question papers from the solver’s syndicate just hours before the exam and circulated them among TET aspirants for Rs 2 lakh each.

Senior superintendent of police, STF, Hemraj Meena, said, during interrogation Gaurav claimed to have bought the question papers from two other conduits, Nirdosh Singh and Vishnu for Rs 5 lakh. “He passed it on to his friends, Dharmendra Malik, Ravi Pawar, Manish Malik and Ajay for distribution in Mathura for big kickbacks. Gaurav got hold of the leaked papers just before the exam and sold them for Rs 2lakh,” said Meena.

Gaurav confessed he met Nirdosh through his brother, Updesh, who was his batchmate in AMU during 2011-12. “Updesh had told him that any online and offline examination could be easily cracked with Nirdosh’s expertise,” Gaurav told police. STF sources said Gaurav’s other aides will be tracked down and arrested soon.

IIT-BHU student bags ₹2cr package from US company in placement

IIT-BHU student bags ₹2cr package from US company in placement

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Varanasi:02.12.2021

On the first day of campus placement, a student of IIT (BHU) was offered a maximum package of Rs 2.05 crores ($274,250) by a United States company. According to the IIT (BHU) spokesperson, the campus placement started on Tuesday midnight at the IIT (BHU). Till the end of the first phase, 55 companies had given 232 offer letters to students having an average package of Rs 32.89 lakh per annum and a minimum of Rs 12 lakh.

The total number of registered students is 1,243. “Last year by this time we had 91 companies offering 324 jobs. Earlier, 66 companies had offered pre-placement to a total of 241 students of B Tech IIIrd year and IDD IVth year during their internship,” he said.

The campus selection process is being done in Aryabhatta Hostel of the institute.

Train runs over man, he remains safe

Train runs over man, he remains safe

Harveer Dabas TNN

Bijnor:02.12.2021

Umesh Jain, 60, escaped unscathed after he was run over by a goods train. Jain had fallen on a railway track at Dhampur railway station in Bijnor. He was unable to muster enough strength to get up because of a prolonged illness.

He was later rescued by the government railway police.

“I was trying to cross when I lost balance and fell on the track. I couldn’t get up even when I saw the train approaching. I laid down on the tracks remembering god. The last thing I heard was a loud rattling sound,” Jain, who is a hawker, said.

Dhampur’s GRP chowki in-charge, Ranveer Singh, said, “The train driver sent a message to the control room and informed them about a body on the track. When we reached, Jain was lying straight with his face down. We overturned him and found him in a semi-conscious state with a rapid heartbeat.”

Singh said the goods train comprised 48 wagons. “We informed Jain’s family members and they rushed to the railway station and took him to a private hospital. They said his condition is normal,” he added.

Sources said the train ran over him for roughly 45 seconds.

LU students learn to spot ‘fake news’

‘VERIFY FACTS, PIXES’

LU students learn to spot ‘fake news’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:02.12.2021

Students of Lucknow University were on Wednesday taught various techniques to identify fake news. They were told by teachers to forward only authentic news and information on social media platforms.

The techniques were taught to students during a workshop on ‘fake news’ held as part of cyber awareness campaign in the zoology department.

Head of journalism and

mass communication department Prof Mukul Srivastava informed students how they can identify fake news and morphed photographs on social media. Apart from fact checking, people should also use their ‘common sense’ to identify fake news and verify facts before forwarding anything on social media, he said.

Head of the zoology department Prof Sudhir Kumar, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said that the virtual world is as important as the real world.

After politics and history, the target of fake news and trolls are science subjects in which pseudosciences are projected as science and perception as history, he added.

Forms to be submitted at Collectorate

Forms to be submitted at Collectorate

Lucknow: 02.12.2021

According to the district administration, the official figure of coronavirus victims in Lucknow is 2,651. The state government has released funds for all these. An applicant needs to submit the form at room number 54 on the second floor at Collectorate along with Covid and death certificates. If there is no Covid certificate, the claims will be verified by an expert team. “If a family is denied a form at room number 54, they can visit my office. As many families don’t have Covid certificates, the directive says that a medical summary or note of symptomatic treatment will be acceptable for ex gratia sans Covid report. We will also allow submission of applications where there is no medical record. Such applications will be verified by an expert team,” said additional district magistrate (finance) Bipin Mishra. TNN