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Tuesday, September 10, 2024

NEWS TODAY 10.09.2024

Nearly 75% govt MBBS seats vacant after first round of counselling

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai : Nearly three of every four all-India quota MBBS seats in govt colleges across the country are vacant after the first round of counselling conducted by the directorate general of health services. These students have exercised the option of “free exit” and can apply again in the subsequent rounds of counselling under the state or central quota. Counselling for admission to undergraduate medical seats is conducted online by a medical counselling committee.

Every year, states surrender 15% of MBBS seats from state-run medical colleges for admission through the India quota. In Tamil Nadu, 597 (77%) of the 771 seats surrendered are vacant. Seats in premium govt medical colleges in Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore are vacant. Among the 174 students who have joined medical colleges, only 38 have retained their seats. The remaining 136 have asked for an upgrade to another college of their choice. These students will be moved to the college of their choice in R2 if they are placed.

Across the country, 5,768 out of 7,918 seats in govt colleges are vacant. Among the 2,150 candidates who have joined seats allotted to them, 1,530 have opted for an upgrade. Along with AIQ, the committee conducts counselling for admission to central institutions, central and deemed universities. In deemed universities, where the fee for the entire course is anywhere between ₹80 lakh and ₹1.5 crore, nearly 67% of seats were taken. Data showed 14% of MBBS seats in central institutes/universities, including AIIMS and JIPMER, and 11% in ESIC medical colleges were vacant. “A large percentage of people who have joined deemed universities haven’t opted for other universities.

This may be because students who know they may not get seats in govt or self-financing colleges have decided to stay in deemed universities. Also, cut-off has increased in all colleges, including deemed universities,” said Manickavel Arumugam, who counsels students on admissions. Students who didn’t take AIQ seats can apply for the second round in both state and central quotas. “It is unfair to let students drop the seats. They get allotted to a college only if they opt for it,” said Pradeep Kumar, whose nephew is awaiting MBBS admission. “Just because they scored high, doesn’t mean they can block seats like this. This doesn’t happen in any other counselling. During admissions for IITs or IISCR after JEE, students must take the seat they are given and apply for an upgrade in further rounds. If they don’t, they must exit counselling.”

Man kidnapped, forced to make UPI transfer of ₹40k

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.09.2024

Ahmedabad : A 23-yearold man from the Thaltej area of the city on Monday filed a complaint with Bodakdev police, alleging that three men kidnapped him near a cafe close to his house on Sunday morning and extorted Rs 40,000 from him before releasing him. Pujan Vasoya, a resident of Radhe Apartments near Bhaikakanagar in Thaltej, is a native of Visavadar in Junagadh and works as an apprentice with a pharmaceutical firm in Matoda. Vasoya said that he, along with his friend Khush Radadia, went to a cafe in Thaltej where he spotted a black car near the café. When he went closer to that car, a man held Vasoya’s hand, pulled him inside the car, and the driver sped off.

Vasoya said that all three were aged around 25 and 27 and took him towards Shilaj bridge. One of them began slapping him and took him to a secluded place. They took Vasoya’s cellphone and opened his UPI account. When they forced Vasoya to transfer the funds, he intentionally typed wrong passcodes, after which the three men beat him badly. One of them told Vasoya that if he gave the correct passcode, they would let him go. This time, Vasoya gave them the correct passcode, and they transferred Rs 40,000 to the account of one Ayush Rabari. After that, they dropped Vasoya near Baghban Crossroads and drove towards Zydus hospital, stated the FIR.

On Vasoya’s complaint, Bodakdev police charged the four accused persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for abduction, voluntarily causing hurt, robbery, and abetment, and began an investigation. Cops have been scouring CCTV footage to identify the registration number of the car which was used in the kidnapping. Vasoya suffered an injury to his left eye and was admitted to Sola Civil hospital.

Vijay’s maiden political show gets conditional nod Police Lay Down 33 Conditions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.09.2024

Villupuram : The Villupuram district police on Sunday granted permission, but with several conditions, for the maiden public meeting of actor Vijay’s political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Sept 23 at Vikravandi in Villupuram district. Police have laid down 33 conditions that include a blueprint of the meeting venue, stage, and parking arenas on the national highway. They demanded, among other things, details of the number of people from other districts who would be attending the meeting and pro- viding details on arrangements of food and water for people congregating for the meeting.

The party must obtain a certificate from competent authorities ascertaining the stability of the stage and must not use cone speakers or fireworks. It must furnish details of entry passes issued to party functionaries accompanying Vijay for the meet and install adequate lighting facilities and CCTV cameras at prominent locations at the venue. Police directed the party to level the roads with potholes that lead to the meeting venue and to barricade both sides of the entire route to be taken by Vijay to reach the meeting venue. The party must allocate separate enclosures for pregnant women, women, and senior citizens at the venue. There are six wells located in the meeting venue and a railway track nearby. The organisers must barricade the wells and the road leading to the railway track to prevent any eventualities.

The meeting venue is near the national highway, and the organisers must ensure that the meeting does not obstruct the free traffic flow. The organisers must refrain from erecting banners that might lead to accidents. The firmness of the platform should be certified by the Public Works Engineer, and safety certificate should be obtained from electrical engineers. The party expects about 50,000 people would be gathering for the meet

The GOAT Box Office Collections: Scores third highest first day in India for Thalapathy Vijay

This marks the third-highest first day ever for a Thalapathy Vijay starrer, behind Leo and Beast, and the fifth-highest for a Kollywood film.

By Jatinder Singh

Updated on Sep 06, 2024 | 05:49 PM IST | 99.6K

Vijay in The GOAT (image courtesy of AGS Productions)

The Greatest of All Time had an excellent start at the Indian box office, raking in Rs. 54 crore approx on its first day. This marks the third-highest first day ever for a Thalapathy Vijay starrer, behind Leo and Beast, and the fifth-highest for a Kollywood film. The film had a near-record start in Tamil Nadu and a strong debut in Karnataka and Kerala.

In Tamil Nadu, the film grossed Rs. 31-32 crore approx on Thursday, which is the fourth-highest first day for any film in the state. It stands behind three other Vijay films; Beast, Leo and Sarkar. In the new norms of shows starting from 9 AM, no other star film has crossed Rs. 25 crore in daily collections in Tamil Nadu. Whereas Vijay has not only crossed Rs. 25 crore but also Rs. 30 crore, twice, first with Leo last year and now with The GOAT. This shows the sort of domination Vijay holds at the Tamil Nadu box office.

Elsewhere, Karnataka recorded third highest opening day for a Tamil film just shy of Rs. 10 crore. Kerala had the fifth biggest start with Rs. 5.80 crore. The Hindi dubbed version of the film put in Rs. 2.25 crore approx, which is a decent start.

The disappointment came from the Telugu states where it collected just Rs. 3.50 crore approx, well short of Rs. 8 crore of Beast. Vijay made huge inroads into this territory with his recent films but here since the music and promos didn’t click, the start wasn’t up to the mark. Having said that, the Telugu states are a bonus market and the core Tamil markets of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bengaluru have all delivered for the film.

The territorial breakdown for the

first-day box collections of The GOAT

is as follows:

Area Gross

Tamil Nadu Rs. 31.50 cr.

Karnataka Rs. 9.75 cr.

Kerala Rs. 5.80 cr.

APTS Rs. 3.50 cr.

Hindi Belt Rs. 3.50 cr.

Total Rs. 54.00 cr.

The Greatest of All Time Box Office Collections: Thalapathy Vijay starrer amass 280cr worldwide in 4 days

The GOAT took the third greatest start of all time for a Kollywood film internationally, just behind Leo (USD 17.90 million) and Jailer (USD 14.90 million).

By JATINDER SINGH

Published on Sep 09, 2024 | 03:39 PM IST | 37.1K

Vijay in The GOAT

The Greatest of All Time posted USD 14.25 million (Rs. 120 crore) overseas in its four-day extended weekend. This marks the third greatest start of all time for a Kollywood film internationally, just behind Leo (USD 17.90 million) and Jailer (USD 14.90 million). Combined with Rs. 162 crore approx in India, the worldwide gross amounted to Rs. 282 crore after four days.

After its opening day, it seemed like the weekend may settle around USD 13 million but the film showed a strong hold on Friday and then the weekend played very well to take it over USD 14 million. The film started USD 2.50 million lower than Leo on its opening day but on Sunday the shortfall was just USD 100K, all of which was from the Middle East, whereas in almost all other markets the film moved ahead of Leo. Leo added USD 6 million to its total after the first weekend, The GOAT will be expected to replicate that if not more as the trend has been stronger so far.

The opening was strong across the board. Among the best, Sri Lanka and France set a record for an Indian film. Malaysia will be a close call with early estimates putting it just ahead of Leo. Canada and other European markets performed similarly to Leo, while the United States managed to match Leo for the Friday-Sunday frame despite Thursday being less than half.

The territorial breakdown for overseas box office

collections of The GOAT is as follows:

AreaGrossUnited States USD 2,350,000

Canada USD 975,000

Australia USD 645,000

Middle East USD 3,000,000

Malaysia USD 2,275,000

Singapore USD 1,150,000

Sri Lanka USD 675,000

Rest of Asia/Pacific USD 175,000

United Kingdom USD 1,075,000

France USD 575,000

Rest of Europe USD 1,250,000

Rest of World USD 100,000

Total USD 14,250,000

(Rs. 120.00 cr.)

Namakkal-Kannanur Road widening may reduce travel time to Chennai

Crucial link: Already, some stretches of Namakkal-Kannanur-Thuraiyur-Perambalur Road have been developed bringing relief to the regular commuters.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

In the first phase, a stretch of 9.2 km in Senthamangalam Assembly constituency in Namakkal district will be developed as a two-lane road with paved shoulders at an estimated cost of ₹40 crore and the road is the main route for those travelling between Namakkal and Perambalur

S. Ganesan

TIRUCHI

The State Highways Department has decided to widen and strengthen a section of the Namakkal-Kannanur-Thuraiyur Road in a phased manner.

In the first phase, a stretch of 9.2 km in Senthamangalam Assembly constituency in Namakkal district will be developed as a two-lane road with paved shoulders at an estimated cost of ₹40 crore, sources in the Highways Department told The Hindu.

Phased development

The remaining section of the road in the constituency will be developed in a phased manner.

The 56-km-long Namakkal-Thuraiyur Road runs for a length of about 26 km in Namakkal district and of this, about 4.6 km has been widened, according to sources.

A Government Order for widening and strengthening the road has been issued and administrative sanction granted. The department would soon seek technical sanction for the project after drawing up the estimates.

According to official sources, the Namakkal-Kannanur-Thuraiyur Road will offer a shorter route for people travelling from Namakkal to Chennai via Thuraiyur and Perambalur in comparison to the Namakkal-Salem-Ulundurpet-Chennai route.

Going via Thuraiyur will help reduce the travel time significantly and bring in attendant benefits such as less fuel consumption and vehicle emissions, the official said.

The road is the main route for those travelling between Namakkal and Perambalur.

It caters to a large number of “working population” who commute by the road and accidents, especially those involving two-wheelers, are frequent. Widening the road is expected to help check accidents.

Move welcomed

Welcoming the move, N. Saravanan, a road safety of Thuraiyur, said once the road was strengthened passenger and goods vehicles would get a shorter route to Chennai via Thuraiyur and Perambalur from Namakkal.

Already some stretches of the Namakkal-Kannanur-Thuraiyur-Perambalur road have been developed and only the remaining portion needed to be strengthened, he observed.