Omicron pushes US hospital cases to record high

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11.01.2022

Covid-19 hospitalisations in the US reached a fresh high of 1,32,646, according to a Reuters tally on Monday, surpassing the record of 1,32,051 set in January last year, amid a surge of the Omicron variant. 

Hospitalisations have increased steadily since late December, doubling in the last three weeks. Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, and Wisconsin have reported record levels of hospitalized Covid-19 patients recently, according to the Reuters analysis. While potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections caused by the Omicron variant could strain the hospitals’ systems.

REUTERS

Doctors request staff-friendly rules as third peak nears

 Doctors request staff-friendly rules as third peak nears

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

11.01.2022

Chennai: In view of an imminent Covid-19 third wave, doctors associations in the state have urged the government to set up staff-friendly measures.

About 100 healthcare staff have tested positive in just four tertiary hospitals in the city. The service doctors and postgraduates association have written to the state health secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan, to suspend elective surgeries and procedures, special clinics, health camps, classes and other official meetings.

In their letter, the association has requested that one third of healthcare staff be allowed to avail compulsory leave on rotation basis, and to exempt pregnant and immuno-compromised healthcare professionals from duties, apart from a provision for special casual leave.

“Exempt healthcare staff with comorbidities from Covid related work and allow them to avail all leaves without any restrictions,” the statement said.

The doctors have also asked to provide quarantine leave after Covid-19 duties and accommodation during Covid duty.

A Ramalingam, State General Secretary of SDPGA, said the government must ensure that there is no shortage of manpower.

Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctors' Association for Social Equality (DASE), said nurses are asked to come to duty just three days after quarantine time.

“They must be given leave. Their duty times are erratic and it must be only for fixed hours,” he said.

The government must release the salaries which are due for house surgeons and mini-clinic doctors, added Dr GR Ravindranath.

In a first, both judges of a bench in SC recuse

 In a first, both judges of a bench in SC recuse

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Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

11.01.2022

New Delhi: Fearing invectives, both judges on a Supreme Court bench — Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna — created a record of sort by recusing from hearing the Krishna case just because they hailed from Maharashtra and in the case apart from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Though the judges take oath to render justice without “fear or favour”, apprehensions over insulting or abusive criticism forced their recusal from the Krishna water dispute case.

“We do not want to be targets of invectives,” Justice Chandrachud of the Supreme Court said after consulting Justice Bopanview that similarly placed judges had recused from hearing the sensitive river water disputes case.

SC judges recuse from river dispute hearing fearing public backlash  hat may be one of the reasons for recusal to avoid getting accused of parent state bias while hearing the case as the judges hailed from Maharashtra and Kar nataka, respectively. But, the real and immediate reason behind the recusal was something else. A few days before the scheduled hearing, the two judges were inundated with emails, which a judge described to TOI as “horrible”, and letters accusing them of bias given the fact that they belonged to states which were in litigation over their share in Krishna waters.

Upset with the tone and tenor of the emails and letters, the judges decided not to proceed with the hearing of the dispute fearing a severe public backlash later whatever be the merits of their verdict. Justice Chandrachud is from Maharashtra and Justice Bopanna from Karnataka.

Both Justice Chandrachud and Justice Bopanna on a daily basis hear cases that have roots in their parent states. But, in India, the river water disputes evoke high emotions, which often run high to breach the legal embankments to become a Kilkenny cat fight, both inside and outside the courtrooms. Krishna river water dispute has a checkered history for the last 14 years.

Telangana accuses Karnataka of using more than its share and diverting water to various projects. Karnataka on the other handsays that instead of water getting wasted by draining into the sea, it is better to harness it for use in irrigation and replenishing dry regions. In November 16, 2011, the SC had restrained Centre from publishing the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal Award dividing the water between Karnataka, erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Full report on www.toi.in

Woman accuses husband of denying sex, beating her

 Woman accuses husband of denying sex, beating her

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

10.01.2022

Ahmedabad: A 24-year-old woman from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, filed a complaint with Sabarmati police alleging that her husband deprived her of sex and thrashed her often. He also allegedly pressurised her to seek money from her parents.

The complainant got married to the accused, a Sabarmati resident, in 2018.

Shortly thereafter, he allegedly began fighting with her over petty issues and abandoned her in January 2020. Shethen moved to her parents’ house in Kanpur.

After community leaders and her family members intervened, the accused took her back in February 2020, assuring them that he would not harass her again.

However, the fights between the couple refused to cease. The FIR stated that he would thrash her often and ask her to seek money from her parents.

 “Once when he asked my parents for money, I told him he should have done so before marriage. Enraged, he thrashed me and it was my  mother-in-law who came to my rescue,” she said in the complaint. “We have not had a physical relationship since February 2020. Every time I expressed a desire to get intimate , he would thrash me,” the complaint further stated. 

She said that she had been living with him only to save their marriage.

On Saturday, when her parents came over , the accused allegedly misbehaved with them and thrashed her again . So, she called up the police control room and filed a domestic violence complaint .

 

JAMMU TO MUMBAI

Fight on the flight! Two flyers trade blows mid-air

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Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

10.01.2022

New Delhi: On numerous flights you might have hated the passenger just in front or right behind in economy class for reasons like a seat getting reclined when you’re having a meal or tapping of seat by knees. This usually leads to a heated argument or complaint to the crew. But an IndiGo Jammu-Mumbai flight on the penultimate day of last year saw two passengers — seated on 3A and 4A — getting into fisticuffs over some issue.

“These two passengers on 6E-356 of December 30, 2021, got into a heated argument. The cabin crew unsuccessfully tried to diffuse the situation. The passenger on 3A pushed the co-passenger on 4A and things went out of control. They soon started fighting and hitting each oth- er,” said people in the know.

The crew then informed the pilot-in-command and the seat of 4A passenger was shifted to 12C. Seated safely apart, the two did not fight till the aircraft reached Mumbai and were handed over to security agencies on arrival. It could not be ascertained why the two got into a fight. An IndiGo spokesperson said: “Flight 6E-356 from Jammu to Mumbai witnessed a physical altercation between two passengers onboard. The flight crew intervened by separating them and providing first aid to both for minor injuries. Both passengers were cooperating and disciplined after the settlement. The matter is under investigation. ” It remains to be seen if IndiGo begins action under unruly passenger rules on these two.

Under these rules they can be barred from flying for some time. The first level of disruptive behaviour includes physical gestures and verbal harassment. The next level has “physically abusive behaviour” and the highest grade is for “life-threatening behaviour and attempted or actual breach of cockpit”.

A passenger charged under the first level can be grounded for up to three months; up to six months under the second level and for third level, grounding can be upwards of two years with no maximum limit (meaning up to a lifetime). For repeat offenders in the same level, the period of grounding can be doubled.

 

IIT Madras launches interdisciplinary dual degree course in Electric Vehicles

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c-Jagriti.Kumari@timesgroup.com

10.10.2022

To create a skilled workforce needed to serve the growing electric vehicles (EV) sector, IIT Madras has started an interdisciplinary dual degree programme in Electric Vehicles. Currently, the programme is open to students of the Institute and enrolment to the course is expected to start soon. “Students who are already enrolled in the BTech, except Bio-Science, and dual degree programmes at IIT Madras are eligible to apply for the programme in the third year of their course. Shortlisted candidates will pursue a five-year dual degree course and after the completion of the programme they will be awarded BTech in their core Engineering discipline and MTech in Electric Vehicles,” says CS Shankar Ram, professor, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras.

“As part of the course students will get an opportunity to learn the foundation for EV engineering and gradually will pursue electives in specific areas of their choice. They would also do a project in this domain,” says Ram.

Why CAT is dominated by male Engg grads

 Why CAT is dominated by male Engg grads

Comparatively fewer women appear for the exam, which results in less representation of successful female candidates in the CAT

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c-Puniti.Pandey@timesgroup.com

10.01.2022

The recently announced CAT 2021 results have yet again highlighted that the exams continue to be dominated by male candidates. All the nine top scorers who have secured 100 percentile are male. Also, all the 19 candidates scoring 99. 99 percentile are male. Around 19 candidates have achieved 99. 98 percentile of which only one is female. Among the top scorers, most candidates are from an Engineering background.

“If you look at the CAT registration data, the number of male candidates is substantially larger than the number of female candidates. It is quite natural that on account of the larger pool of male candidates applying, there is a continued consistency in male candidates performing better in large numbers,” says MP Ram Mohan, professor and CAT 2021 Convenor, IIM Ahmedabad.

Traditionally, Engineering students write CAT in large numbers, he adds. Moreover, the exam pattern of CAT comprising of VARC, QA and DILR is designed to test a candidate’s ability to solve problems. The kind of skill-based education an Engineering student or a student in a similar discipline gets could be giving them the edge and an innate ability to solve problems.

“There is less representation of successful female candidates in the CAT results as fewer females appear for the exam as compared to male candidates”, explains Arks Srinivas, head faculty, Career Launcher. Around 35% of female candidates write the CAT as against 65% of males. Most of the top positions are again occupied by male candidates from Engineering background as they have an edge over candidates from other non-engineering backgrounds. After BTech, the second most dominating degree in CAT is BCom, BSc and then BBA.

To improve the male-female ratio in the business colleges, the IIMs and the top MBA institutes are encouraging female candidates to ap-