Guv accuses Kerala govt of political agenda in choice of VCs

Guv accuses Kerala govt of political agenda in choice of VCs

Thiruvananthapuram: 12.12.2021

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan reiterated on Saturday his observations that political interference plagues the higher education sector as the state government’s political agenda outweighs academic merit when vice chancellors were chosen.

Khan wrote to CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, expressing his willingness to withdraw as chancellor of state universities. He told reporters in New Delhi that he was forced to write the letter as he had run out of options to ensure autonomy and integrity of universities. “The governor was made chancellor with an objective to ensure transparency,” he said.

Khan said he tried to avoid a confrontation, but the state government refused to get along. The governor alleged that the government tried to tie his hands during selection of VCs. Citing the instance of the government giving him a single candidate for the VC’s post in Sanskrit University, Kalady, he said he “could have selected the person best suited for the job” had there been more names.

The governor has advised the CM to lawfully assume the role of chancellor. TNN

Man fined for filing 11 bail pleas in 1 year

Man fined for filing 11 bail pleas in 1 year

New Delhi:  12.12.2021

A Delhi court has imposed a fine on a man for filing 11 bail applications in one year, noting that the pendency of such “frivolous” pleas floods the dockets of the courts and wastes the precious judicial time.

Additional sessions judge Ravinder Bedi slapped the accused with a fine of Rs 25,000 in a cheating and conspiracy case after noting that he filed the bail plea for the eleventh time without there being any change in circumstances.

The judge noted that the tenth bail plea of the accused was dismissed on November 29, 2021. The sixth plea, seeking interim bail, was junked with a cost of Rs 10,000, ASJ Bedi said. The accused is in judicial custody since November 27, 2020. PTI

Keep close watch on dist-level Covid clusters: Govt to states

Keep close watch on dist-level Covid clusters: Govt to states

‘Check Areas With 10% Positivity Rate, 60% Bed Occupancy On O2 Support’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  12.12.2021

The Centre has asked states and UTs to strictly monitor and implement measures at district level clusters of new Covid-19 cases, with a particular focus on areas reporting over 10% positivity rate or over 60% bed occupancy on either oxygen support or ICU.

The health ministry has also raised concern over districts with high positivity rate in three states — Mizoram, Kerala and Sikkim. The three states have eight districts reporting more than 10% positivity.

Besides,19 districts in Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur, West Bengal and Nagaland have been reporting positivity rates between five and10% in the last two weeks. “Thus, these 27 districts need to be monitored very closely,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs on Saturday.

“In case of any district reporting a surge in cases, or rise in positivity rates, intensive action and local containment as per the containment framework must be initiated,” Bhushan said.

The Centre suggested specific containment measures to ensure there is no sudden surge in cases and healthcare systems are not burdened.

The government maintains that at present the health systems are not burdened due to Omicron. However, there are clusters where cases are increasing rapidly. While Delta continues to be the dominant variant, the Centre has stressed on states to continue genome sequencing of positive samples.

“The strategic containment interventions in identified areas with test positivity rate of over10 per cent or over 60 per cent bed occupancy on either two oxygen-supported or ICU beds, include night curfews, restricting intermingling of people, prohibition of congregations (social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, festival-related), curtailment of attendees in marriages and funerals or last rites, etc,” Bhushan said.

Testing and surveillance interventions include ramping up testing and active case search, testing of influenzalike illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases through rapid antigen tests (RAT) and retesting by RT-PCR of symptomatic RAT negative tests.

Delhi HC: Teacher’s conduct to be blemish free

Delhi HC: Teacher’s conduct to be blemish free

New Delhi:12.12.2021

The conduct of a teacher as a Head of the Department, who is required to be involved in various activities including interacting with students, needs to be “blemish-free”, the Delhi High Court has observed while dismissing a DU professor’s plea aggrieved over nonappointment as the HoD following a sexual harassment complaint. The high court said Ordinance XXIII of the Delhi University makes it very clear that it gives discretion to the vice-chancellor to appoint a Head of the Department (HoD). PTI

ICMR focus on two-dose vax, is fine with current Covishield gap

ICMR focus on two-dose vax, is fine with current Covishield gap

Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

Pune:  12.12.2021

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised against suddenly introducing a third Covid vaccine dose or recommending any change in the time gap of Covishield shots in the wake of Omicron cases.

Dr Samiran Panda, head of ICMR’s epidemiology department, told TOI that as of now the apex biomedical research body would underscore the importance of attaining greater coverage with two-dose vaccination. “With Omicron cases being mild not only in India but the world over, there should not be any knee-jerk reaction like introducing a third dose or recommending any change in the interval of Covishield doses,” he said.

“A decision on whether a third dose would be required for immunocompromised individuals would be taken later,” Dr Panda said.

He said scientific evidence of booster dose for the Indian terrain was being evaluated and the technical advisory group would make an announcement regarding it. Dr Panda said public health focus should be on double vaccination and completing the adult immunisation programme now because the two-dose vaccine strategy seemed to be working well in the Indian context.

On the demand from states like Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka to reduce the gap between the two Covishield doses, the ICMR scientist said scientific evidence from incountry reality was showing that the interval was fine.

Virologist Dr Shahid Jameel said a booster shot would increase the number of circulating antibodies and it had shown to increase the protection against symptomatic infection with Omicron. “We don’t know how well two doses continue to protect against severe disease. In the UK, those who got the AstraZeneca vaccine are getting a booster of the mRNA Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. A third dose of AstraZeneca will not be very effective because of its nature,” he said.

SAFETY PRICK

Fit to fly? Check your passports first, says RPO

Fit to fly? Check your passports first, says RPO

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:12.12.2021

If you are planning to travel abroad, it would be prudent to check that your passport is valid and in order, the Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, said in an advisory issued on Friday.

“Many international travellers may not realise that having an unexpired passport is sometimes not enough to obtain visas or to enter certain foreign countries. Indian citizens travelling on passports which may expire in less than six months should renew their passports before any upcoming international travel,” said RPO (Hyderabad) Dasari Balaiah.

The RPO also urged parents to check passports of their minor children too as it is of a shorter validity period of 5 years unlike 10 years for adults.

Regarding booklets, RPO said that some countries did not accept passports which may have fewer than two pages remaining.

As a result, the passport holder should check if there are enough pages. As there is no provision of additional booklets/visa sheets, such applicants will be required to apply for re-issuance of passport. To avoid such hassles, frequent flyers can opt for jumbo passport containing 64 pages.

In case of applicants exhausting maximum number of appointments, they can approach the RPO for rescheduling their appointment, the advisory said. Applicants can also visit public enquiry counters (PECs) in Regional Passport Office between 9.30 am and 4 pm on all working days with all relevant documents for redressal of their grievances or any passport-related assistance, the RPO advisory said.

MBBS student dies by suicide

MBBS student dies by suicide

Bhopal: 12.12.2021

A 22-year-old MBBS student allegedly died by suicide at his friend’s home in Gandhi Nagar on Saturday afternoon. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, said cops.

SHO Gandhi Nagar SI Arun Sharma said that Kunal Sahu, who hailed from Sagar, was a student of MBBS 2nd year at a private medical college in Kolar and stayed in the boy’s hostel.

SHO Sharma said that on Saturday afternoon Kunal reached his friend’s home in Sumit Vihar Colony in Gandhi Nagar. She also hails from Sagar district and is a student of BDS first year. Kunal met the girl and then went to use the washroom. When he did not come out for long, his friend knocked on the door. When he did not respond, she called the neighbours and broke open the door. She was shocked to find him hanging. Subsequently, they rushed him to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

In another incident, a 22-year-old youth allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself at his home in Chhola locality on Friday night. Cops registered a case and started investigations.

Police said that the deceased Golu Sen, hailed from Berasia and resided here at Satyagyan Colony in Chhola with his family. He worked as a barber. He had gone to a marriage function with his family members on Thursday from where he returned home early. Later, he was found hanging in the room. No suicide note was recovered . TNN