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Sunday, September 15, 2024

NEWS TODAY 15.09.2024

Court quashes FIR for no number plate

SagarKumar.Mutha@timesofindia.com 15.09.2024

Hyderabad : Stating that slapping a cheating case against a rider for driving a bike without a number plate cannot be sustained, Justice K Sujana of Telangana high court has quashed a criminal case booked against R Vasundhara Chary of Lal Darwaza.

The judge heard the petition filed by Chary and quashed an FIR booked against him. A sub-inspector of the Charminar police station, while conducting vehicle check at Gulzar Houz, stopped Chary’s bike and questioned him as to why his bike did not have a number plate. The SI registered an FIR against him under IPC Section 420 (cheating) and Section 80(a) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Chary challenged the FIR. His counsel Akash Kumar Baglekar said:

“If the petitioner cheats anyone, then a cheating case can be booked. Hence, the charge under IPC 420 cannot be sustained. Similarly Section 80-a of the MV Act only mandates that the vehicle must display its number. There is no punishment for those who fail to display the number. Hence, this section too cannot be retained,” the counsel argued.

The judge found force in the petitioner's argument and quashed the FIR.

Doc accused of misbehaviour by female senior missing for over 24 hrs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 15.09.2024

Indore : There is still no trace of first-year PG resident Dr Hemant Girwal, who went missing on Friday afternoon after appearing before a committee that probed allegations levelled against him by a senior female doctor at Indore’s MY Hospital. Junior doctors staged a noisy protest on Saturday, demanding action against the senior doctor if her allegations turned out to be false.

During the protest, a group of junior doctors created a ruckus outside an operation theatre and got into a heated argument with some senior doctors. Scuffles broke out. “Around 25 junior doctors of the orthopaedics department remained absent from duty today. Their protest outside the OT halted planned surgeries for about two hours,” MYH superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav said. Later, the protesting raised slogans against the fema le doctor, who had accused Dr Girwal of misbehaving with her.

According to JDA chief Harendra Pratap Singh Tomar, the allegations led to severe mental distress for Girwal. After the MYH superintendent wrote to Sanyogitaganj police, a case was registered on Friday night. “We have contacted Dr Girwal’s wife, who is posted in Rewa, and his father, who lives in their native place in Dhar. They are unaware of his whereabouts. His mobile phone is still switched off. Our search is on,” ACP Tushar Singh said.

NEWS TO DAY 15.09.2024

Arrival can’t wait: Baby boy born inside ambulance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 15.09.2024

In a heartwarming turn of events, a pregnant woman delivered her baby boy inside an ambulance while on the way to hospital in Gudibande taluk, 90km away from Bengaluru, on Friday. The incident unfolded when the 108 ambulance service received a call around 8:30am requesting assistance to transport a woman in labour from Doddanancherlu village to the nearest hospital. Nurse Shanthi, who was part of the ambulance crew, along with driver Maruthi, pro mptly responded to the call. As they reached the village, the woman was already experiencing intense labour pains, and the team quickly took steps to transport her to the hospital. However, as the ambulance navigated the rural roads, the baby’s arrival could not wait. Without wasting any time, Shanthi swung into action and assisted in delivering the baby inside the ambulance. The baby was healthy and weighed around 2kg. Following this, the mother and the infant were shifted to the hospital.

KIC slaps record ₹3.2 crore as penalties on govt officials

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 15.09.2024

Bengaluru : The Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) has set a record by imposing the highest penalties in the country while efficiently disposing of Right to Information (RTI) appeals: In the last two-and-a-half years, the commission’s 10 benches have concluded 1,273 cases and imposed a total penalty of Rs 3.2 crore!

According to the RTI Act, the commission can punish any public official who denies information or provides misleading information with a penalty of Rs 250 per day (not exceeding Rs 25,000). Many RTI applicants, dissatisfied with delays or lack of information file appeals with the KIC for review. Unlike other states where the commission has either become defunct or runs a low-key operation, KIC has chosen not to allow accumulation of appeals.

Speaking to STOI, incharge state chief information commissioner HC Sathyan said: “We prioritized the swift resolution of pen ding appeals and the imposition of penalties on erring parties. The motive is to ensure that officials provide information to public, thereby ensuring transparency and accountability in administration.” Interestingly, Sathyan tops the list of information commissioners regarding disposal of cases and imposition of penalties. He handled 805 cases (46.7% of the total) and imposed Rs 2.1 crore in penalties, amounting to 68.1% of the total fines. State information commissioner KP Manjunatha, who presides over three benches, resolved 215 cases and imposed penalties totalling Rs 23.7 lakh. Ravindra Gurunath Dhakappa, the state information commissioner for the Kalaburagi bench, imposed penalties of Rs 21.3 lakh and resolved 100 cases, making him the third highest in terms of fines levied.

Public officials have also been punished for destroying files when sought by applicants. Sathyan himself has ordered inquiry against more than 25 such officials under the Record Keeping Act, 2010. Not just penalising officials, the commission has cracked down applicants who file frivolous petitions or threaten govt officials

Students with lower NEET scores may get preference in R2

Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com 15.09.2024

Chennai : The state committee for medical admission’s bid to keep the counselling process simple and quick may end up giving medical college seats to candidates with lower NEET scores. While authorities say this is the only way to address the multiple upgradation requests from those allotted seats in the first round, and the system getting bogged down in an infinite loop, experts say it will undermine inter-se merit and be in violation of Supreme Court orders.

The state committee, which conducts counselling for the state quota of seats in govt medical colleges and all seats in self-financing medical colleges, has completed admission for round 1 based on NEET and the rule of reservation. As more than 1,000 seats are vacant because students have opted to take “free exit,” some students opted for an upgrade in the second round. If seats in colleges of choice are available, students who opted to upgrade will be accommodated.

This, in turn, will leave a vacancy in their previously chosen institutions. For instance, if a student allotted to Govt Stanley Medical College opts to upgrade to Madras Medical College, the seat in Stanley will be vacant. That’s when the problems arise. The selection committee has told participants that the allotment to this seat will be made in “descending order, not in ascending order.” That is, the next available student who asks for the seat will get it, even if there are students with higher marks waiting for the same seat. “If a student with rank 100 is moved to MMC from Stanley and a student with rank 101 is asking for a seat in Stanley, he or she will get it even if a student with rank 97 or 98 is waiting for the seat,” said a senior official in the state selection committee.

“I have said it in a simple way; usually, there are multiple requests for an upgrade. The system goes into a loop and reaches a point of an infinite loop. When this happens, the system does not work. There is no allocation of seats. So, we decided to keep programming less complicated,” said a senior official. Students and parents, however, argue that they must look at options to prevent looping. “The infinite loop is because of infinite options. Students must not be allowed a free exit.

A student who is allowed to exit must not be allowed to participate in the counselling process. If this happens, upgrades will come down and reduce the risk of infinite looping,” said Raguram R, whose son is awaiting medical admissions this year. Student counsellors such as Manikavel Arumugam point out that allotments based on descending order will violate the Supreme Court mandate. “This will lead to needless litigation again,” he said. “The counselling process must be simple and transparent,” he said.