Outdated cheque: Bank returns funds

Outdated cheque: Bank returns funds

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 30.12.2021

A nationalized bank returned Rs 50,000 to a depositor that had been withdrawn using a 15-year old cheque.

Mayur Vayeda, a businessman from the Law Garden area on Sunday approached Ellisbridge police with the complaint that someone had withdrawn Rs 50,000 from his account using a 15year-old cheque.

The case seemed to sho- wed negligence on the part of the bank,which allowed the mo- ney transfer with a cheque from 2006. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines of 2012, the validity of a cheque is three months from the date of issuance.

Vayeda, a resident of Thakorbhai Tower in Law Garden, had gone to his bank in Nehrunagar to withdraw Rs 40,000. The banker checked his account and told Vayeda that he did not have sufficient money in the account. Vayeda inquired further and got a bank state- ment, which showed the irregularity.

After the complaint was lodged, the bank in a letter to the complainant, stated that on December 21, due to a technical error, Rs 50,000 had wrongly been debited from his account.

The bank stated that the rectification was made on Monday.

Air India Express’ shuttle bus drops 13 int’l passengers at domestic arrival

Air India Express’ shuttle bus drops 13 int’l passengers at domestic arrival

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 30.12.2021

In an unusual incident, around 13 passengers, who had arrived by a Sharjah-Chennai Air India Express (IX 636) flight, were dropped at the domestic arrival terminal at the city airport by a shuttle bus of the airline close to midnight on Tuesday. The flight arrived around 11. 30pm.

The passengers found that they were at the wrong terminal after they could not find the immigration counters. Meanwhile, the airline staff who were present at the terminal found something amiss and alerted their coun- terparts who take care of international arrivals. The passengers were taken to the international terminal to process immigration procedures and other arrival formalities.

An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said that the driving permit of the driver of the shuttle bus has been seized and action would be taken for the error.

Sources said that international passengers need to undergo immigration and customs clearance before entering the city and the error must have resulted in people walking out of the airport without any such checks. There are no checks at the domestic terminal.

An Air India Express official said, "The shuttle coach driver made a mistake and brought the passengers to the domestic terminal. A few shuttle buses were used to move the passengers to the terminal. Only one bus went to the wrong terminal. There were only a few passengers in it and the airline staff at the terminal contacted the immigration and also arranged for their transport to reach the international terminal to clear the arrival formalities. We have contacted the ground handling agency about the error. "

The AAI official said that the shuttle buses are operated by drivers who are trained for airside driving. "They have a permit after completing the training. This could be a mistake due to a communication error. The incident will be checked and corrective measures will be taken. "

Lengthy waits, despair for scores of patients as cries go unheard

Lengthy waits, despair for scores of patients as cries go unheard

Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:29.12.2021

For 14-year-old Aradhya Yadav, Tuesday proved a long day as she waited on a stretcher with a plastered leg for a doctor to attend to her at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. But even after almost six hours of waiting, no doctor was available to see her.

Reema Yadav, the teen’s mother, said that they reached the hospital from Badarpur around 6am but hadn’t seen a doctor till past noon. “Aradhya had surgery around a fortnight ago and we were scheduled to visit the hospital today for a follow-up. In 15 days, proper dressing hasn’t been done even once,” the mother said. “When I called our doctor from the hospital, I was told to come back later because nobody was available. He simply asked us to continue with whatever medicines Aradhya was having despite the course being over.”

From a hassled father running anxious about his son’s treatment to a pregnant woman waiting on the pavement, patients and their caregivers found themselves helpless with hundreds of doctors at government hospitals on strike.

At Dwarka, Markandey Sharma reached the hospital around 9am with his wife. They were asked to go elsewhere as the emergency ward was closed due to the strike.

“My wife has been having intestinal problems and is finding it difficult to move. But at the hospital, we were asked to go somewhere else. We will probably head to the ESI Hospital because she needs immediate attention,” the desperate construction worker said.

Many others similarly complained of travelling long distances only to be turned back at the hospitals. Kishandevi was there with her injured 24-yearold son. “We cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, but this is what we face in government hospitals. They asked us to come once the strike was over,” she grumbled. The Rohini resident at Safdarjung Hospital added, “A bus takes us two hours and using the motorcycle means spending for petrol. It is almost a 45km journey to and fro.”

Mohammad Irfan of Shiv Vihar was pushed on his wheelchair from one area to another, his child on his lap, at the hospital for two hours before his mother and wife saw the futility of hanging around. “I can’t walk after an operation went wrong two years ago,” said Irfan. “I need regular check-ups, but today we found no one available here.”

Attendants of in-hospital patients said there were announcements on Monday about the strike. Flustered Badarpur resident Mohit said, “My father is admitted here after a recent stroke. Last evening, doctors said that we could take the patient home because of the strike. How can we just take him home? He is in a poor condition. We don’t know what to do.”

Call off stir, engaged with SC to solve EWS quota issue: Centre

Call off stir, engaged with SC to solve EWS quota issue: Centre

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:29.12.2021

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday urged resident doctors to call off their strike over the delay in NEET-PG counselling in the larger interest of the public and said the Centre is engaged with the Supreme Court to quickly resolve the issue regarding the EWS quota.

In a meeting with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (Forda), Mandaviya assured all requisite steps are being taken by the government and a suitable reply with respect to the EWS report will be submitted to the SC before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. “We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. The Government of India will submit a reply to the apex court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. We request the court to expedite the issue so that the counselling can be started at the earliest,” he said.

The apex court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the government and a medical counselling committee (MCC) notice issued in July, providing 10% quota for the EWS (economically weaker sections) category and reservation for OBC (Other Backward Classes) in the All India Quota (AIQ) in medical admission through NEET. It has raised questions on the EWS income limit criteria and in the process the counselling process for NEET-PG has been stalled.

As per the legislation ratified by Parliament in January 2019, a general category student or candidate whose family income is less than Rs 8 lakh per year is eligible for EWS reservation.

While a set of petitions have challenged the income limit criterion of EWS at Rs 8 lakh per annum, the government told the SC in November that it will re-examine the limit with a committee headed by former finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey going into it. However, that would mean the counselling for the NEET post-graduate medical courses will be further postponed by four weeks.

The legal deadlock has in turn resulted in uncertainties for MBBS aspirants as well as resident doctors seeking admission to PG degrees. A large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of the Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital.

MANDAVIYA SAYS

We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court

Testing Times For All, Here’s Why Docs Are Protesting

Testing Times For All, Here’s Why Docs Are Protesting

As Third Wave Looms, Nearly 45,000 Doctors Waiting To Join Workforce Due To Delay In NEET-PG Counselling

Priyangi.Agarwal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:29.12.2021

Nearly 45,000 doctors are waiting to join the workforce but the counselling for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG 2021), which is a process to allot medical colleges to qualified postgraduate candidates, has been delayed, leading to a shortage in hospitals and adding to the workload of the resident doctors. With the third wave of Covid-19 looming large, the residents are asking the government to expedite the counselling process and have struck work to press their demand.

The normal schedule for NEET PG exam is January and the counselling takes place in March-April with the new batches joining the medical colleges in May. The exam was delayed by the pandemic and was conducted only in September, with results declared by the end of that month.

Meanwhile, the government issued a notification on July 29 providing 27% reservation for other backward classes and 10% for economically weaker sections in the all India quota for NEET-PG. The counselling, which was to begin from October 25, was put on hold after some students moved the Supreme Court on the new reservation norms. When the matter was last heard in the apex court on November 25, the Centre sought four weeks to revise the eligibility for the EWS quota from the current limit of Rs 8 lakh annually. The matter will now be heard on January 6.

The residents want the counselling to be conducted quickly. They began the protest on November 27 but called it off later. However, they went back on protest in the second week of December. Dr Manish, president, Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), said, “We have suffered a loss of one year due to the delay in counselling.”

The resident doctors, who are in the second and third year of their postgraduate courses, are managing the workload of three batches. A resident doctor who wished not to be named cautioned, “With a third Covid wave threatening life, the public will face much inconvenience if there is a shortage of doctors.”

Holding up a picture of police dragging him while protesting on Monday at ITO, Dr Shankar Kudari, who claimed to have sustained a foot injury, said, “I am a second-year postgraduate student. My seniors passed in June while my juniors haven’t begun their studies. This means the workforce has been reduced by 33%.” Due to the increased workload in the hospitals, residents were, he said, unable to focus on studies and their theses.

Doctors claimed their duty hours at times stretch up to 48 hours without a break. Dr Deepika Acharya, in his second year of PG, said, “We are on hospital duty for 96-100 hours a week. Recently, I worked without a break for 36 hours. This causes mental and physical exhaustion. We are unable to even give proper time to patients.”

Dr Pulkit Gupta too claimed to have toiled continuously for nearly 48 hours. He said, “Treating patients requires us to take bold decisions. But we are exhausted. A human body needs eight hours of sleep per day, and for six months now, we sometimes work for 48 hours without a break. I take a15-minute nap to function normally during such durations.”

Even if counselling is concluded at the earliest, doctors said it would take at least a month for the new batch to join hospitals. “When doctors in the first year of PG join the institutions, we train them for specialisation for six months. Without proper training, they can’t shoulder the workload,” said Dr Basava Kiran, who is in his third year of PG in anaesthesia at Safdarjung Hospital.

Kiran added, “On top of everything, the candidates who are waiting for counselling are on tenterhooks because they don’t know if they will get a college of their choice.”

SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL

It has been nearly eight months and our junior batch is yet to join medical college. Due to an increase in workload, I am unable to focus on my thesis

Dr Neha Yadav 27

The counselling for NEET PG 2021 has been delayed, hampering admissions for the current academic year. We want the government to conduct the counselling soon

Dr Puja Yadav 28

We are working with a third of the manpower at a time when Covid cases are on the rise. Around 45,000 doctors are sitting at home and waiting to join hospitals

Dr Jaskaran Singh 26

We are working 70-80 hours a week. At times, we don’t get a break for 36 hours

Dr Mohammed Ameen 27

Our demand is not unethical. We are not here to do politics. Hospitals are running at a capacity of 66% doctors and, hence, we want the counselling to be conducted soon

Dr Ajit Singh 28

Jabalpur collector orders to withhold his own salary

Jabalpur collector orders to withhold his own salary

Jabalpur:29.12.2021

Irked by the delay in disposing of a large number of pending complaints of citizens on the chief minister's helpline, the collector of Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district has ordered to withhold his own salary along with that of a few other officers for the month of December, an official said on Tuesday.

As per a release issued on Monday, district collector Karamveer Sharma directed the district treasury officer to carry out the order to this effect.

The collector also directed to withhold the salaries of officers for this month for keeping complaints pending for over 100 days, it was stated.

Sharma issued the directives while conducting a department-wise review of pending complaints made on the chief minister's helpline during a meeting held at the district panchayat office on Monday, the official said. The collector instructed officers to be sensitive and dispose of the complaints within the time limit. Not a single complaint should be left unattended, he had stated.

Sharma further instructed to withhold the salaries of deputy municipal commissioners for negligence in dealing with matters related to cleanliness and the helpline.

The collector instructed to withhold the increment of some tehsildars for negligence in disposal of revenue cases and the executive engineer PIU (Project Implementation Unit) for lethargy in dealing various cases, the release said.

A show cause notice was also issued to a district marketing officer for not attending the meeting, it was stated.

Sharma directed officials to dispose of all complaints, either related to the CM Helpline or Samadhan, within the time limit. PTI

Bank heist in city, intruders escape with DVR

Bank heist in city, intruders escape with DVR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:29.12.2021

In a high security zone during corona night curfew a major theft was reported at a private bank of Arera Hills locality during the two days of bank holiday. The time of the theft and appearance of the thieves remained unclear as the accused sprayed black paint on CCTV cameras and escaped with a DVR (digital video recorder) fitted in the bank.

The case was reported at Arera Hills police station on Monday after the bank manager reached the branch to open the bank. Arera Hills SHO, RK Singh, said that complainant, Nitish (43), branch manager of a private bank which is located in Malviya Nagar stated in his complaint that on Friday evening he locked the bank and left home. As Saturday and Sunday were holidays, he came to open the bank on Monday and was shocked to find that the main shutter locks broken.When he entered inside, he spotted that the entire bank was ransacked and the accused had tried to break the roon where cash was kept.