Verify UGNEET-2021 papers at KEA office

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:

02.02.2022

Karnataka Examinations Authority released documents’ verification schedule for UGNEET-2021 (National Eligibility-cumEntrance Test), which is for admission to medical, dental and ayush courses for 2021.

The documents will be verified at the KEA office in Malleswaram, 18th Cross.

Candidates must download the verification slip and read the instructions given in the information bulletin between 11am on January 12 and 8pm on January15.

Karnataka candidates who are required to appear for document verification should produce the KEA UGNEET-2021 application printout, verification slip, UGNEET-2021 score card and other required original documents along with any valid identity card.

In a release, KEA directed all candidates to be personally present for the document verification as per schedule; no one can represent them.

Candidates who have been assigned ranks in UGCET-2021 and completed their document verification and those not claiming any addi- tional reservation need not appear for the verification again. However, those claiming reservation as per government norms (linguistics, religious minority or NRI) or those claiming seats under category-2 and category-8 in St John’s Medical College, have to appear for document verification with relevant certificates and documents.

Verification for such candidates is from January 6 to11 (from NEET all-India rank 1 to last eligible rank). The verification will be conducted in four sessions, between 9. 15am and 6. 15pm.

Verification for NRI/ PIO/OCI and foreign nationals will be on January13.

Non-Karnataka candidates who have qualified in UGNEET-2021 and registered with KEA need not appear for verification of documents. However, those who are eligible to claim NRI ward, religious minority or seat under category-2 and category-8 in St John’s Medical College, must appear for verification on January 12 and 13 based on their schedule.

For more details on schedule and slots, visit KEA website kea. kar. nic. in

Show us certificate confirming Omicron infection, patients tell private hospitals

 Show us certificate confirming Omicron infection, patients tell private hospitals

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Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:

02.02.2022

Those who tested positive for Omicron in the state face a peculiar problem: They haven’t been given any official document stating they have been infected with the new variant.

As many as 66 cases (42 still in hospitals, 24 discharged) have been reported in the state since December 2. Lack of documentation has caused friction between patients and the hospitals where they are being treated. At present, district authorities inform the hospitals through phone calls.

“Private hospitals do not receive a copy of the reports. BBMP informs us through phone calls and we communicate the same to the patients. All those have been are detected with the variant now are international travellers who demand reports, which we don’t have,” said the authorities of a private hospital. That’s one of the six private hospitals designated for admitting international passengers testing positive for Covid on arrival. The hospital has also taken up the matter with the Covid Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

Another hospital has been counselling patients as and when they get information from BBMP about genomic sequencing detecting the Omicron variant.

Most of them have come to Bengaluru for a purpose, either personal or professional.

“They are already in a state of ‘why me’ during admission and they suspect the RTPCR positive report itself. They wait for a minimum 5-6 days to know the genomic sequencing reports. When it turns out to be the variant of concern, they feel a sense of anxiety and denial owing to stigma and isolation. We need to tackle this with scientific evidence like genomic sequencing reports shown to them,” said the head of a hospital in west Bengaluru.

In another case, a young woman tested positive for Covid on arrival and got admitted to a private hospital in the third week of December. The hospital authorities said her father was upset with the new regulations for international travellers which pushed her for institutional isolation despite having no symptoms. “The father kept calling demanding her discharge from hospital, and would yell at us. But suddenly he went silent after the 6th day. We checked with the family and learnt they had received a call from BBMP stating that the woman was infected with the new variant. But we don’t get the same information from the Palike at all,” they added.

“Omicron detection through genomic sequencing does not come in the form of an RTPCR certificate. But the state surveillance wing gets the report which has details of the patients,” said BBMP officials, admitting that there has been a communication gap.

A TAC member said it’s a tricky situation where patients older than 18 years must be explained about why they are in hospital and the family also has to be communicated. “Having proper communication channels along with maintaining patient’s confidentiality is the need of the hour. We suggested to the government to have one dedicated officer for communicating between the labs, hospitals and patients,” said the member.

 

Confusion over Covaxin shelf life: Some pvt hospitals won’t start drive tomorrow

Company Has Taken Back A Few Stocks For Relabelling

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Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:

02.02.2022

With confusion over the shelf life of Covaxin vaccine continuing, some private hospitals in Bengaluru are unlikely to start the drive for children from January 3.

While the manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, had claimed the doses could be used up to one year from the time of production, the Union health ministry has clarified that the expiry date on the vaccine vials is final. Karnataka has nearly 6 lakh Covaxin doses in private hospitals.

In November, Bharat Biotech had said Covaxin vials have proven their stability beyond six months and could be used for up to 12 months from the time of manufacturing. The company had also issued a communication to private hospitals that new dates of the doses — which were earlier slated to expire between September 2021 and June 2022 — would now be between March 2022 and September 2022.

However, replying to Karnataka’s queries pertaining to the shelf-life extension of the drug for six more months, the Union health ministry on December 23 stated: “All vaccines should not be utilised beyond the expiry date as mentioned on the label of each vial. ” This has led to confusion among private hospitals.

Dr R Ravindra, former president of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), said the company picked up the vials for relabelling from a few hospitals in Bengaluru on December 31. “It is likely to take two more weeks for the company to relabel the vials and return them,” he said.

Dr Ravindra, who heads Suguna hospital, which also sent vials for relabelling, said they won’t be able to provide Covaxin doses for children from Monday. Sparsh Hospital has 12,000 doses of Covax- in. “The company is yet to take the stock from us to replace or relabel it. As we are waiting for that, we’ll not be able to administer the doses from January 3,” said Guruprasad BR, chief marketing officer, Sparsh Hospital. Doses available at Apollo Apollo Hospitals, which has more than 4 lakh of Covaxin doses, has returned the stocks and is expecting either relabelled or fresh 10,000 dosesones on Sunday. “We’ll conduct vaccination drive for children from Monday at three branches in Bengaluru and one in Mysuru. CoWin slots will be made open for online booking. For the first three days, we’ll have only 10,000 doses and we’re expecting further supply,” said Dr Yatheesh Govindaiah, unit head of Apollo Hospitals, Jayanagar.

At Manipal Hospitals, vaccination for children with special needs will begin from Monday. The hospital will use its unexpired doses.

According to Dr Arundhathi Chandrasekhar, director, National Health Mission, Karnataka, not all Covaxin doses with private hospitals have expired. There are nearly 12,000-14,000 doses that have longer shelf life and they can be used, she said.

“We won’t be monitoring vaccination in private hospitals. They have been instructed not to use the expired doses, as per the government of India communication. Now, it is their responsibility and obligation,” she said. When asked about the labelling of Covaxin vials with extended expiry, she said it should be clarified by the Drugs Controller General of India. Members of Covid Technical Advisory committee in Karnataka said the manufacturer has to take back the expired doses and provide fresh ones. “It’s a tricky issue involving children, parents, private hospitals, manufacturers and the government. The company should now play a responsible role by taking up confidence-building measures,” a member said.

PHANA members said most schools have tied up with the government for the free vaccination programme.

Omicron may peak in mid-Jan in US but still may strain hosps: Scientists

 Omicron may peak in mid-Jan in US but still may strain hosps: Scientists

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Azeen Ghorayshi

02.02.2022

With the news that South Africa has passed the peak of its cases caused by the Omicron variant, scientists are projecting that the United States’ sharp increase in cases will crest as soon as the middle of January.

Over the past month, the Omicron variant has spread around the world with astonishing speed. On Thursday, the US surpassed 5,80,000 cases, beating the record set only a day before. New estimates from researchers at Columbia University suggest that the US could peak by January 9 at around 2. 5 million cases per week, although that number may go as high as 5. 4 million. In New York City, the first US metropolis to see a major surge, the researchers estimated that cases would peak by the first week of the new year. “It’s shocking. It’s disturbing,” said Jeffrey Shaman, a public health researcher who led the Columbia modeling work. “We’re seeing unprecedented numbers of Covid-19 cases. ”

The variant is significantly milder than Delta and other strains and is far less likely to lead to hospitalizations, ac- cording to data from South Africa and preliminary data from Britain. Still, the enormous numbers of people getting simultaneously infected could greatly strain hospitals, experts said, especially in places with lower vaccination rates or in places where hospitals are already overburdened. Just how much of a burden the variant will be, however, depends on how quickly it will burn out in particular communities, especially in big cities.

Another model, released University of Washington last week, estimated that the US would reach a peak in cases by the end of January. But even those researchers are now rethinking their projections based on Omicron’s rapid spread. “We are realizing right now monitoring the data that the peak is going to come much faster,” said Ali Mokdad, a public health researcher at the University of Washington. “My guess is it will happen before mid-January. ”

NYT

 

UAE to ban foreign travel for unvaxxed citizens from Jan 10

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02.02.2022

The United Arab Emirates will ban non-vaccinated citizens from traveling abroad from Jan. 10, the state news agency WAM reported on Saturday, citing the foreign ministry and the national emergency crisis and disaster management authority. The report said that fully vaccinated citizens would also require a booster shot to be eligible to travel. The ban would not apply to those with medical or humanitarian exemptions.

REUTERS

Several pilgrims fell, people walked over them to escape

 ‘Several pilgrims fell, people walked over them to escape’

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02.02.2022

The deceased were identified as Dheeraj Kumar, 26, of Nowsherain J&K’s Rajouri; Sheweta Singh, 35, of Ghaziabad, UP; Delhi residents Vinay Kumar and Sonu Pandey, both 24; Mamta, 38, of Jhajjar, Haryana; Dharamvir Singh, 35, of Saharanpur, UP; Vaneet Singh, 38, also of Saharanpur; and Arun Pratap of Gorakhpur, UP," a spokesperson of shrine’s board said.

Two  bodies were sent by air and nine by road to their native places, while one will be airlifted on Sunday morning from Jammu.  The treatment cost of the injured will be borne by the shrine board.  The Lt Governor, who chairs the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, ordered a high-level inquiry into the stampede that officials said  occurred after a rush of devotees entering and exiting the temple converged near the narrow gate, leading to a suffocating crush as people tried to get away from the spot. According to eyewitnesses, several men and women fell and people walked over them to escape the m elee. 

Most of the pilgrims have walked1 2km through a steep, winding mountain trek from the base camp of Katra, a small town 50km from Jammu, early on Saturday to pray at the shrine. Officials said there was a heavy rush since it was New Year’s Day and more so as the train  service to Katra resumed lately following its suspension because of the farmers’ protests in Punjab. A shrine board official said 35,000 pilgrims were allowed to proceed for the yatra on December 31 and January 1 as against the National Green Tribunal’s cap of 50,000 a day, keeping in view the pandemic.

Pilgrims are allowed in a file inside the cave and there’s a constant flow to avoid overcrowding. "But people probably stayed a bit too long at the temple, crowding the space. As more pilgrims entered, the place got congested and there was a rush to get out. That chaos soon turned into tragedy," an eyewitness said.

President Ram Nath Kovind and PM Narendra Modi led a shocked nation in offering condolences to the families of the dead and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. "Extremely saddened by the loss of lives…" Modi wrote on Twitter and announced a compensation package. Junior minister in the PMO, Jitendra Singh, dashed to Katra to take  stock of the situation. UP CM Yo gi Adityanath and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal a lso expressed grief over the tragedy.

12 pilgrims die as New Yr rush sparks Vaishno Devi stampede

Scuffle Between Two Groups Led To Chaos: Board

Jammu: At least 12 pilgrims were crushed to death and 16 injured on New Year’s Day in the biggest tragedy at Mata Vaishno Devi temple as a crowd surge led to a stampede around 2.15am near gate No. 3 outside the sanctum sanctorum of the popular cave shrine in the Trikuta hills of Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

The tragedy happened “due to a scuffle between two groups of pilgrims”, the shrine’s board said in a statement without giving more details.

Officials said authorities responded quickly, order within the crowd was restored and the pilgrimage resumed after nearly four hours of the early morning tragedy.

Rescue teams evacuated the injured to various hospitals. Nine of them at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi NarayanaSuper- specialty Hospital, Kakryal, were discharged during the day, while the rest are undergoing treatment and their condition is said to be stable.

Of the 12 dead, the identity of four people were not known till the filing of this report. “The deceased were identified as Dheeraj Kumar, 26; Sheweta Singh, 35; Vinay Kumar and Sonu Pandey, both 24; Mamta, 38; Dharamvir Singh, 35; Vaneet Singh, 38; and Arun Pratap,” a spokesperson of shrine’s board said.

 

Bus driver gets 190 yrs in jail for crash that killed 22 in MP

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:

02.02.2022

Six years after a bus accident in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna killed 22 people, many of them migrant labourers, a local court sentenced the driver to190 years of imprisonment — 10 years each on 19 counts. The sentences will run separately, said the court order. This is perhaps the first time that a driver in a fatal accident has got such a prison sentence.

Driver Shamshuddin, 47, was convicted for culpable homicide and rash driving. The bus owner was also punished with 10 years’ imprisonment, said assistant public prosecutor officer Kapil Vyas. On May 4, 2015, a passenger bus carrying 65 people plunged into a dry canal near Madla hill and caught fire, killing 22 people and injuring a dozen.

During the investigation, it was found that the emergency exit was blocked by iron rods and an addi- tional seat was mounted in its place. Passengers were trapped in the inferno and those killed were burnt beyond recognition.

Shamshuddin was accused of driving recklessly despite passengers’ requests to slow down. He and the bus owner Gyandendra Pandey are residents of Satna, where the bus was headed. The accused were booked under IPC sections 304 (a) (death due to negligence), 304 (culpable homicide), 279 and 337 (both for rash driving), and under section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. After the investigation was over, the trial started in the court of special judge R P Sonkar.