Sidda’s office spends ₹54L/mth on social media, reveals RTI reply

Sidda’s office spends ₹54L/mth on social media, reveals RTI reply

Sandeep.Moudgal@timesofindia.com 

Bengaluru : Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s office spends nearly Rs 54 lakh per month to maintain his social media accounts, both official and personal, according to an RTI reply. RTI activist Marlinga Gowda Mali Patil said he had filed his plea after he heard the costs were “hefty” at a time “development work had come to a standstill” due to alleged lack of funds and the Congress govt struggled to pay contractors for work in various departments. CMO officials confirmed Siddaramaiah’s social media expenditure while pointing out that the sum was far less than the over Rs 2 crore per month previous CMs had spent on this head. According to the reply to Patil from Karnataka State Marketing Communication and Advertising Ltd (MCA) — a wholly owned govt entity — the CMO spent close to Rs 3 crore from Oct 25 last year to March 2024. 

The details showed the CMO paid around Rs 53.9 lakh every month, including 18% GST. The payments were made to The Policy Front, a company which handles Siddaramaiah’s accounts with a dedicated team of around 35.

Let the young lead, let the old guide Let the young lead, let the old guide

Let the young lead, let the old guide  Let the young lead, let the old guide 

STORYBOARD ARUN RAM 2.9.24 

What happens when a 73-year-old makes fun of an 86-year-old over his age? Mostly laughter, but when actor Rajinikanth took a swipe at Tamil Nadu water resources minister Duraimurugan, it triggered a spat. Speaking as the chief guest at the release of the book ‘Kalaignar Ennum Thaai’ by Tamil Nadu PWD minister E V Velu, Rajini likened Stalin to a class teacher handling old students who refuse to leave the class even after getting high ranks. What could’ve ended as a playful jibe turned serious when the actor took Duraimurugan’s name. Prodded by reporters later, Duraimurugan hit back, saying some old actors with falling teeth are refusing to leave the profession, denying youngsters better opportunities. 

The two have since patched up saying they are good friends, but what Rajini said about super seniors refusing to make way for the next generation is a topic of an old debate that remains young in not just politics and movies. So, should old people move out to give space to the young?

 Well, yes and no. Seniors should indeed let younger people rise to leadership roles, but it isn’t necessary that the older ones stop working. Spain and Italy have retirement ages fixed at 66 and 67. In the US, the number of 65-plus workers doubled between 1988 and 2023. India has one of the lowest retirement ages in the world. Here, govt employees retire between the age of 56 (for the old pension scheme) and 60 (for the new pension scheme). It isn’t very different in the private sector, though ‘critical resources’ remain at work as consultants for long (a policy that the govt, too, has of high courts demit office at 62, and Supreme Court judges at 65. 

In the US, it’s the other way around: Judges of the appellate courts in 32 states (and the district of Columbia) retire at 70, but trial courts have a much higher retirement age; some of them have none. 

Cameroon president Paul Biya at 91 isn’t the best example of geriatric excellence, but at least 10 heads of state in the world are in their late 80s, probably the youngest among them being 83-year-old Italian president Sergio Mattarella. Being young or old hasn’t proved to be an asset in Indian politics. The oldest person to be elected President of India was K R Narayanan at 77; Droupadi Murmu was the youngest to be elected President in 2022 when she was 64. Morarji Desai, who became Prime Minister at 81, was not the best for the job; neither was Rajiv Gandhi, who was 40 when he took over after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. 

We need to get used to the idea of youngsters with new ideas leading seniors with experience. Elders can remain advisors without veto powers (there will be exceptions such as Warren Buffett, who remains the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at 94). In Indian politics, the older one gets the more difficult it becomes to remove the veteran from positions of power. In movies, if an older actor such as Rajini still keeps the box office ringing – and fans cheering – why not let the septuagenarian knight in shining armour rescue the damsel in distress? 

And when a younger hero emerges, let the market decide the fate of the older. History shows how those who play age-suitable roles don’t just age gracefully but also shine in the twilight. What we need in all fields is a judicious mix of experience and enterprise, erudition and energy, young and old. As the 2015 Hollywood movie ‘The Intern’ (Robert De Niro plays the 70-year-old protagonist) drives home, experience never gets old. But senility does._ arun.ram @timesofindia.com

Ayurvedic practitioner poses as doc, arrested

Ayurvedic practitioner poses as doc, arrested 

Chennai : Police on Sunday arrested an ayurvedic practitioner who posed as an MBBS doctor and prescribed allopathic medicines to patients. Health department officials received a tip-off about an illegal clinic in Krishna Nagar 1st street, Ponniammanmedu, after which a team checked the ‘doctor’s’ credentials and found them to be fake. Police said the accused, Manimaran, was a Class VIII dropout. 

He was trained in ayurveda but prescribed allopathic medicines, posing as an MBBS doctor. Health department officials sealed the clinic and filed a complaint with Madhavaram police station three days ago. Learning that police were onto him, Manimaran hid at a friend’s house in Poonamallee, from where he was arrested on Sunday. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.tnn

Brief spells of rain hit city BRACE FOR MORE RAIN

Brief spells of rain hit city  BRACE FOR MORE RAIN 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  02.09.2024 

Chennai : After a hot and dry Aug, parts of the city and suburbs, including OMR, ECR, Tambaram, Nanmangalam, and Chengalpet, experienced brief rain spells on Sunday. As the city enters Sept, more rain is expected, according to Regional Meteorological Centre. Rainfall on Sunday included 6.1mm at Pallikaranai (NIOT), 6mm at Sairam Institution in Chengalpet, and 4mm at Sathyabama University in Kanchipuram. Strong surface winds of 30 kmph-40 kmph were also observed. Regional Meteorological Centre predicts that over the next 48 hours, Chennai will have partly cloudy skies with light to moderate rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in some areas. 

The maximum temperature is expected to range between 35°C and 36°C, with the minimum likely 27°C to 28°C. On Sunday, Nungambakkam recorded a maximum temperature of 35°C. For the upcoming week, light to moderate rain is forecast at isolated locations across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal. This pattern is expected to continue from Sept 1 through 7, with the first two days of the month likely to see thunderstorms and lightning in isolated areas, said N Senthamarai Kannan, director of the regional weather forecasting centre at IMD. 

Rain activity in Chennai remained below average for Aug, with the Nungambakkam observatory recording only 7cm of rainfall, compared to the average of 13cm. However, since June 1, Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam observatories have recorded 48cm and 57cm of rainfall, respectively, which is 18cm and 25cm above normal.

College dropouts fuel student narcotics network

College dropouts fuel student narcotics network 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai : College dropouts have been key players in drawing younger students into narcotics use and trade near SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in Tambaram, say investigators after Saturday’s drug bust. These dropouts targeted students, luring them with cheaper prices for ganja and connecting them to peddlers in states such as Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. Students would bring ganja back by train whenever they returned from their hometowns, discreetly distributing small quantities among peers. 

An investigating officer from Tambaram police said the influence of these dropouts normalised drug use among students. Police found hookah pipes and related equipment in 90% of the flats raided on Satuday. Acting on a tip-off, Tambaram city police commissioner Abhin Dinesh Modak ordered the raid on flats predominantly occupied by students. More than 1,000 police per sonnel conducted searches across 500 flats, seizing ganja and other narcotic substances. 

The operation led to the registration of 20 cases and the arrest of 21 individuals, including 11 students from SRMIST and Selvamani, a 29-year-old history-sheeter. Of the 21 arrested, 11 students were released on bail, while the others, including Selvamani, were remanded in judicial custody. Police have urged college authorities to monitor student activities closely and report any suspicious behaviour. They stressed the need for stricter oversight to protect vulnerable students from addiction and criminal influences.

New MBBS curriculum fails to protect rights of disabled, LGBTQ+, says activists

New MBBS curriculum fails to protect rights of disabled, LGBTQ+, says activists

The revised MBBS curriculum proposed by the National Medical Council (NMC) has sparked controversy.

Kavita Bajeli-Datt

Updated on:01 Sep 2024, 11:06 p

NEW DELHI: The MBBS students in the 2024 course will be taught that sodomy and lesbianism are unnatural sexual offences and transvestism is a sexual perversion along with fetishism, voyeurism, sadism, necrophagia, masochism, exhibitionism, frotteurism and necrophilia.

The revised MBBS curriculum proposed by the National Medical Council (NMC) has sparked controversy, with activists arguing that it does not adequately safeguard the rights of individuals with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.

Dr Satendra Singh, a prominent disability activist, has expressed his dismay with the revised guidelines, arguing that they have regressed the progress made in recent years towards the inclusion of people with disabilities and LGBTQ rights.

Speaking with this paper, Dr Singh, who is also a Director Professor of the Department of Physiology, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, said, “The MBBS curriculum for 2024 is a significant letdown in social responsibility."

"With great difficulty and judicial advocacy, we succeeded in including disability and LGBTQ rights in the new competency-based medical education curriculum.”

However, the current revision has undone all of our hard work and the statutory provisions of disability and transgender legislation, he said, adding that the NMC has violated the Transgender Persons Protection Act 2019.

“The future Indian medical graduate must be socially accountable, not someone trained in outdated and archaic concepts,” Dr Singh said and highlighted the absence of healthcare professionals from the LGBTQIA+ community in the NMC committee addressing queer issues.

He also added that the NMC has suddenly removed the seven hours of disability competencies from the foundation course, which was heralded as best practice globally. This violates Section 39 (2)(f) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandating the inclusion of the rights of disabled in the curriculum of universities, colleges and schools.

The NMC took note of LGBTQ rights only after reprimands from the Madras and Kerala high courts. Following the rap, NMC issued directives to all medical universities to refrain from endorsing materials containing unscientific, derogatory, or discriminatory content regarding the LGBTQ community.

However, activists said, the updated guidelines have failed to incorporate earlier suggestions to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and supports LGBTQ individuals.

Dr Singh has now submitted requests for information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, highlighting the need for transparency in the discussions and decision-making process behind the new guidelines.

Despite submitting multiple recommendations to the NMC to incorporate best practices, the latest revisions could be much better, argued activists.

Dr Prof (Dr) Aqsa Shaikh, Professor of Community Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, said, “NMC had itself issued the new curriculum for forensic medicine and weeded out queerphobic content from the medical curriculum after being directed by Madras High Court.”

“But in the latest edition of its guidelines, it still seems to be frozen in time in pre- 377 abrogation era and calling sexual acts like anal sex, oral sex as unnatural sexual offences, and adultery as crime and transvestism as a sexual fetish,” Dr Shaikh, who identified herself as a transgender woman, told this paper.

“This is ridiculous and the only way to undo harm is for NMC to issue an urgent corrigendum to correct this blunder. This is highly insulting to the marginalised LGBTQIA+ Indian community and contempt of court,” she said.

What’s needed is a collaborative review of the curriculum to weed out all the queerphobic content and make the curriculum more inclusive for queer people so that future medicos are competent to care for the health of LGBTQIA+ patients, she said.

“The 470-page document defeats the purpose and adds insult to the injury done by the queerphobic medical education system and healthcare system,” Dr Shaikh added.

NMC CBME Guidelines 2024: Clinical training will follow the learner-doctor method throughout all phases.

NMC CBME Guidelines 2024: Clinical training will follow the learner-doctor method throughout all phases.

NDTV  2.9.24

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum Guidelines 2024. These guidelines mark a significant update to the Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER), initially introduced in 1997 and revised in 2023.

The new guidelines aim to enhance medical education by incorporating feedback from five years of CBME implementation. They focus on making education more learner-centric, patient-oriented, and aligned with global standards. The curriculum emphasizes integrating subjects both horizontally and vertically, shifting from broad competencies to specific end-of-phase subject competencies.

Key features of the updated guidelines include:

Ethical and Communication Skills: The introduction of a dedicated longitudinal program, 'AETCOM' (Attitude, Ethics, and Communication), aims to enhance ethical values, responsiveness to patient needs, and communication skills.

Holistic Education: The curriculum seeks to produce graduates proficient in preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative care, addressing emerging healthcare issues and adapting to advancements in science and technology.

National and Institutional Goals: The guidelines outline national goals for Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs), including fulfilling social obligations, understanding health policies, and developing a scientific temper. Institutional goals focus on creating competent professionals capable of managing various health problems and working effectively in healthcare teams.

The revised curriculum also addresses:

Competency-Based Training: Graduates are expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of human health, ethical principles, and national health policies. They must be skilled in patient history taking, physical examination, and clinical problem-solving.

Leadership and Teamwork: Emphasis is placed on working effectively within healthcare teams and leading efforts to improve healthcare delivery and patient safety.

Communication: The curriculum underscores the importance of clear, compassionate communication with patients, families, and colleagues.

Eligibility Criteria for Professional Examinations

To qualify for professional examinations, students must meet the following requirements:

Attendance:Theory: A minimum of 75% attendance is required in theory classes.

Practical/Clinical: At least 80% attendance is necessary in practical and clinical sessions.

For subjects taught across multiple phases, students must achieve 75% attendance in theory and 80% in practicals for each phase.

AETCOM: Students must maintain 75% attendance in AETCOM and 80% attendance in family visits as part of the Family Adoption Program, with each student required to adopt at least three, preferably five, families.

In cases where an exam covers multiple subjects (e.g., General Surgery and its allied branches), a minimum of 75% attendance is required for each subject and its related branches, with 80% attendance needed for each clinical posting.

Students lacking at least 75% attendance in electives will not be eligible for the Third Professional - Part II examination or NExT.

Internal Assessment (IA):

Internal assessment is based on daily performance, including assignments, seminar preparation, clinical case presentations, problem-solving exercises, and community health projects.

Format: Both subjective and objective evaluations are included. IA scores are reported separately from summative assessments and are listed in a distinct column on the marks card.

Marks Distribution:

General Medicine: IA is divided across phases: Phase II (50 marks), Phase III Part I (50 marks), and Phase III Part II (100 marks) with subdivisions in Medicine (75 marks), Psychiatry (13 marks), and Dermatology (12 marks).

General Surgery: IA is divided into Phase II (25 marks), Phase III Part I (25 marks), and Phase III Part II (150 marks) with subdivisions in General Surgery (75 marks), Orthopedics (50 marks), Anesthesia (13 marks), and Radiodiagnosis (12 marks).

Forensic Medicine and Toxicology: IA consists of 25 marks in Phase II and 75 marks in Phase III Part I, totaling 100 marks for theory and practical.

Community Medicine: IA is distributed as 25 marks in Phase I, 25 marks in Phase II, and 50 marks in Phase III Part I, totaling 100 marks for theory and practical.

Ophthalmology and ENT: IA is divided into 25 marks in Phase II and 75 marks in Phase III Part I, totaling 100 marks for theory and practical for each subject.

Passing Criteria:

Overall: Candidates must achieve a cumulative score of 50% in university-conducted exams, including both theory and practicals.

Separate Sections: A minimum of 40% must be obtained in both theory and practical sections individually. For subjects with two papers, students must secure at least 40% in aggregate across both papers.