PM to open 11 med colleges in Jan

PM to open 11 med colleges in Jan

To Share Stage With CM During His First TN Visit Amid DMK Rule

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  19.12.2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister M K Stalin will share the stage in Virudhunagar on January 12 for the opening of 11 new medical colleges in the state. Union health and family welfare minister Mansukh Mandaviya will also take part in the event, sources said.

This is the PM’s first visit to Tamil Nadu after the Stalin-led DMK government assumed office. “The state government is ready to open the colleges as approval has been obtained for admission of 1,450 seats in these colleges. The PM (is keen on) attending the event,” said a source. The erstwhile AIADMK government managed to get the colleges allotted for Tamil Nadu under the Modi government’s scheme to establish medical colleges attached to existing district and referral hospitals. The Union and state governments shared the cost of ₹325 crore in a 60:40 ratio to set up each medical college.

Ariyalur, Dindigul, Nagapattinam, Krishnagiri, Virudhunagar, Kallakurichi and Ooty colleges have been sanctioned 150 seats each, while Namakkal, Tiruvallur, Tiruppur and Ramanathapuram colleges have been allotted 100 seats each. The AIADMK had proposed colleges in Cuddalore and Kancheepuram too but owing to the presence of Annamalai University in Chidambaram and a private medical college in Kancheepuram, the state government could not get central approval.

Former health minister C Vijayabaskar said the health department took up the implementation of the scheme on a war-footing and completed land acquisition and got approvals from government agencies quickly. “It was historic that TN got sanction for 11 medical colleges at one stroke. Even the newly created Kallakurichi district was included,” Vijayabaskar said, recalling how appointment of doctors was a big challenge earlier in Nagapattinam, Ooty and aspirational districts like Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar.

NEXT STOP VIRUDHUNAGAR:

PM Narendra Modi greets M K Stalin while visiting his father and former CM M Karunanidhi in Chennai in 2017

Headmistress forces SC students to clean toilets, suspended

Headmistress forces SC students to clean toilets, suspended

Tirupur:19.12.2021

The headmistress of a government high school here was suspended on Saturday for forcing students belonging to scheduled castes (SC) clean toilets and using degrading caste names to refer to them.

Chief educational officer R Ramesh said he received a complaint from some Class IX and X students of the school, in Iduvai village, on Friday against Geetha, 45, working in the school for the last three years. “They said she abused them using their caste name and made them clean toilets. I visited the school and conducted an inquiry to gather prima facie information and subsequently placed her under suspension. A complaint was lodged with the Mangalam police based on the inquiry,” he told TOI. Departmental action will be taken against Geetha and she is likely to be booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a school education department official said.

There are 14 teachers in the school, which imparts education to 400 students. TNN

Footboard travel: MTC bus crew resort to flash strike, traffic hit

Footboard travel: MTC bus crew resort to flash strike, traffic hit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:19.12.2021

Traffic was affected for about one and a half hour at Otteri in north Chennai after crew of 12 MTC buses parked the vehicles across Strahan's Road in protest over being manhandled by a group of schoolstudents who were travelling on the footboard of an MTC bus.

The flash protest impacted vehicular movements on many other arterial roads connecting Purasawalkam with north Chennai.

Otteri police inspector Krishna Murthy detained two of the students and launched a search for those absconding.

A team of police went to to the spot and talked to the crew after which the protest was lifted. The incident happened around 3.30pm and the students reportedly boarded the bus (29-A plying between Anna Square and Perambur) at Doveton bus stop. Since they were travelling on the footboard and also tried to climb atop the bus, conductor Karthik warned them.

However, the students allegedly did not get in and instead made fun of the conductor. On Strahan's Road, Karthik shouted at the students again and in return, the students got down from the bus and hurled stones at the windshield.

The crew immediately stopped the bus and staged a protest, who were soon joined by the other members of MTC.

Of late, videos of students travelling footboard of MTC buses and EMU trains have gone viral on social media. In a recent incident in Gummidipoondi, a girl and a boy were summoned by police and and let off with an warning for footboard travel on an EMU train.

SEEKING ACTION: MTC bus crew of protest at Otteri on Saturday

TN govt teachers can work in schools for 8 years, say new rules

TN govt teachers can work in schools for 8 years, say new rules

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:19.12.2021

As per the new guidelines issued by the school education department for transfer counselling, a teacher can work in a school for maximum eight years. However, the guidelines said, it will be applicable prospectively which means the rule will be implemented for new teachers appointed after this notification. “The teachers who have completed eight years of service in a particular school will be transferred compulsorily. These teachers will be given priority and allowed to participate in the counselling before general counselling takes place,” guidelines issued by school education secretary Kakarla Usha on Saturday said.

“If it is applied to existing teachers, then more than 80% of teachers may have to be transferred. So, it is being introduced only for new recruits," an official said.

To address the vacancy issues in northern districts, the policy has mandated five years of service in priority blocks for new recruits. These priority blocks will be identified based on vacancies.

Existing teachers working in non-priority blocks and willing to work in priority blocks through general counselling need to serve at least three years. Teachers who serve in priority blocks will get preference over others during the general counselling. The counselling will be done during May or at the end of first or second term and no transfer counselling will be done during the academic sessions.

P Patric Raymond, general secretary of TN Graduate Teachers Federation, said the objective for introducing the maximum eight-year service rule in schools was unclear. "The department should give priority to teachers who were transferred for taking part in the strikes held during the AIADMK regime," he said.

Govt to receive applications for MBBS, BDS courses from today

Govt to receive applications for MBBS, BDS courses from today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:19.12.2021

The Tamil Nadu government will be receiving applications for MBBS and BDS courses from Sunday 10am on its online portal, said health minister Ma Subramanian.

Addressing reporters on Saturday, the health minister said the government will be receiving applications for 6958 MBBS seats and 1925 BDS seats under the government quota in both government and private colleges.

“The chief minister has also taken all measures to improve infrastructure in government colleges by evening meeting the Union minister,” he said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating 11 new colleges in Tamil Nadu on January 12 when admissions are over for the additional 1450 seats. “CM Stalin and PM Modi will participate in the event,” he added.

Omicron cases doubling in just 1.5-3 days: WHO

Omicron cases doubling in just 1.5-3 days: WHO

‘Surge In Areas With Community Transmission’

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:19.12.2021

The Omicron variant is spreading with a doubling time of 1.5 to 3 days in countries with documented community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update about the new strain which is also affecting countries with high levels of population immunity.

“There is consistent evidence that Omicron has a substantial growth advantage over Delta. It is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant with a doubling time of 1.5-3 days,” said WHO’s technical brief. The saving grace so far has been Omicron’s lower virulence even though its spread underlines the need for masks, sanitisation and vaccination.

The UN health agency said it remains uncertain to what extent the rapid growth rate can be attributed to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility or a combination of both. Preliminary data also suggest there is a reduction in neutralising titres against Omicron in those who have received a primary vaccination series or who have had prior SARSCoV-2 infection, which may suggest a level of humoral immune evasion.

India’s active caseload currently at 84,565 cases

Humoral immunity is the process of adaptive immunity manifested by the production of antibodies that develops in bone marrow.

The number of people infected with the Delta variant in UK were found to be doubling every 11 days, according to a study conducted by the Imperial College of London based on analysis of swab tests taken between May 20 and June 7. “Given current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace Delta where community transmission occurs,” the latest WHO update said.

In India, while overall Covid-19 cases continue to be below 10,000 for around 20 days, health authorities have cautioned against complacency highlighting examples of countries like UK and France that are witnessing a surge powered by Omicron despite high vaccination rate and exposure to the Delta variant.

A total of 7,145 new Covid-19 cases were recorded from across the country on Friday. Active caseload currently stands at 84,565 cases. This includes Omicron-infected cases but Delta continues to be the dominant variant so far, according to officials.

While some studies from UK show that the risk of reinfection from Omicron is higher than Delta and there are no signs of the infection being milder than Delta, the UN health agency maintained there are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron.

Only 18% of doctors pass orthopaedics PG exam, 66% fail to make cut in ENT

Only 18% of doctors pass orthopaedics PG exam, 66% fail to make cut in ENT

Rema.Nagarajan@timesgroup.com

19.12.2021

Less than one in five doctors doing post-graduation in orthopaedics passed the final theory exam conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE). In ENT, almost two-thirds failed the exam. Similarly, just over 36% passed the exam in paediatrics. The results announced by the NBE on November 24 were a shock to many doctors doing diplomate of national board (DNB).

DNB is a post-graduate course considered equivalent to MD/ MS, but is conducted in private hospitals and institutions and administered by NBE.

Doctors had been assured that the hardship and disruption in studies due to Covid would be taken into consideration when conducting the exams and in marking them. However, students claimed that the pass percentages show that along with an unreasonably difficult paper, the evaluation must have been harsh.

Poor preparation by docs during Covid ‘blamed for poor results’

Senior officials in NBE blamed the poor results on poor preparation by doctors during Covid. Those specialising in orthopaedics pointed out that if Covid was the reason, the results ought to have been uniformly poor across all specialties. However, among specialities in which over 50 students appeared, the pass percentage was almost 90% in obstetrics and gynaecology, and in dermatology and well over 60% in several others including general surgery, ophthalmology, radio diagnosis and psychiatry.

“DNB orthopaedics is quite high up in preference and so only people with a decent rank in the NEET PG exam get the specialty. Hence, it can’t be that more than 80% of doctors specialising in orthopaedics are poor students. If the poor result is attributed to substandard training at the institute, NBE is to be held responsible for giving accreditation to poor quality institutions. However, this cannot be true because some of the institutes which have seen zero candidates passing are among the best,” said a resident doctor in orthopaedics.

According to data that NBE shared with TOI, the pass percentage of DNB pediatrics has been consistently low over the last three exams, the highest being 43.4% in the June 2020 session.

The president of the Association of National Board Accredited Institutions (ANBAI) and the head of the department of orthopaedics and spine surgery in Ganga Hospital, Dr S Rajasekaran, said that ANBAI has written to the NBE to consider reevaluation before publication of results if there is an abnormally low pass percentage in any specialty. “We have also made a strong plea that at least 50% of the examiners must be from NBE institutions,” he added.

“Only those clearing the theory exam can appear for the practicals. So the final result of those who pass the practical exam could be even lower,” said an orthopaedic resident who had failed and is appearing for the next DNB exam being held from December 16 to 19. Many resident doctors pointed out that there was not even a month between the results of the last exam being announced and the next one being held. “It ensures that students have no time to challenge the results as they would immediately get busy preparing for the next chance to clear the exam,” said a resident doctor specialising in paediatrics.