NEWS TODAY 04.10.2024

 

Health minister walks 14 km inspecting hospitals

Health minister walks 14 km inspecting hospitals 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 05.10.2024

 Coimbatore : Health minister Ma Subramanian ordered action against two doctors who were found absent without authorisation while he conducted a surprise inspection in a govt hospital in Sulur on the outskirts of Coimbatore on Friday. The minister, who walked nearly 14 km through Neelambur, Mudalipalayam, Muthukavundanpudur, Arasur, Thennampalayam, Somanur and Kurumbapalayam villages, arrived at the hospital around 7am. He checked staff attend ance and spoke to patients about the quality of treatment they were receiving. He inquired with a senior doctor about the total number of doctors in the hospital. The senior doctor informed him that of the six doctors employed, only four were currently working, while two had been absent without authorisation for the past 10 months.

The minister called up joint director of health services N N Rajasekaran and questioned him about the lack of action against the absentees and asked about the personnel who were covering their duties in the meantime. The joint director explained that a memo had been issued, charges had been framed against the doctors and their positions had been declared vacant. He assured the minister that an inquiry would be conducted, and ac tion would be taken.The minister instructed the joint director to keep him informed of the actions taken against the absentee doctors. 

Later, he inaugurated an additional building for an urban primary health care centre in Singanallur, which was constructed at an estimated cost of ₹1.50 crore, and a public health unit building at the upgraded government primary health centre in Dhaliyur, built at a cost of ₹58.10 lakh. The minister also inaugurated the newly expanded 24-hour emergency department at G Kuppusamy Naidu Memorial Hospital (GKNM).

TN, five states pause PG medical admission Delay In Releasing Scores

TN, five states pause PG medical admission Delay In Releasing Scores

Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com  05.10.2024

Chennai : At least six states including Tamil Nadu have put post-graduate medical admissions on hold. This is because the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, which conducted NEET PG on Aug 11 and declared results on Aug 23, is yet to release individual scores of students. The NEET PG 2024 was held on Aug 11 in two batches. The NBE, an autonomous body under the Union ministry of health and family welfare, normalised scores of candidates and declared percentile and ranks of students. “We have written to NBE seeking students' scores. Without scores, it will be difficult for us to conduct counselling, particularly for in-service candidates,” said director of medical education Dr J Sangumani. 

The state offers up to 30 marks as incentive to in-service candidates working in hilly regions and difficult terrains. Officials tried reverse calculations using percentile scores to calculate marks; however, they found it was not reliable. “We need students’ scores; else we cannot add incentive marks. We need the normalised scores,” he said. 

Some candidates have approached Supreme Court, seeking transparency in NEET-PG results. “We are expecting to start counselling based on the verdict,” officials in the directorate said. At Centre, the medical counselling committee under DGHS started the NEET PG counselling registration process for round 1 but is yet to release the information bulletin that details the process, including the schedule. However, officials from NBE said they have discussed the issue in detail with National Medical Commission.

 “The normalisation process has been conducted. It is a very complicated process, based on which percentile and scores were arrived at. We will not be able to declare scores. Percentile and ranks are enough for admissions. Ranks show the order of merit,” the official from New Delhi said. NMC officials said they have already announced the new guidelines for admissions. The post graduate medical education regulations-2023 do not permit states to offer incentives for inservice candidates. “Instead, they must create a quota within the in-service quota to incentivise candidates from rural, hilly, or difficult terrains,” a senior official said.

 “Doing this will ensure merit in NEET is not compromised,” he said. While it is yet to be ascertained whether it would benefit or affect candidates in rural areas, government doctors’ associations say NMC must not dictate terms on how admission should be conducted for state quota seats. “These matters were settled in court. It is unfair to bring it up again and change rules now. Many candidates have been working in hilly and difficult terrains expecting incentives. Seats in some specialities are so small that you can’t give quotas,” he said.

Visa delays cast a shadow on Diwali travel plans

Visa delays cast a shadow on Diwali travel plans 

CANADA VISA NOW HAS WAITING OF FOUR MONTHS; US, EUROPE HOPEFULS TOO FACE DELAYS 

Bharat Yagnik, Niyati Parikh & Nimesh Khakhariya TNN 

Rajkot/Ahmedabad : Four months. That’s the current processing time for a Canadian visa. Usually, tourists holding a US visa would get a Canadian visa within a fortnight, but that’s no longer the case, travel agents say, adding that tourists’ dreams of exploring foreign lands during Diwali are being overshadowed by anxiety and the prospect of having to cancel plans.

 “After completion of the biometric process, the embassy would, within seven to eight days, ask for passport for visa stamping. Now, there is no communication for four five months,” said Dilip Masaani, a travel agent in Rajkot. He added, “Many travellers going on a US tour also wish to visit Canada. Getting a Canadian visa was earlier easier if the applicant had a US visa. Now, the word from the embassy on visa stamping arrives quite late, many a times after the applicant has left for the US.”

Ronak Shah, Gujarat chapter chairman of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said, “Canada recently stated that they have 2 million pending visa applications. The process is very slow. Those who had applied in the first week of June are getting visas now.” The delays are affecting other preferred international visas as well. Hiral Rathod (name changed), a senior citizen who applied for a Schengen visa to visit her friend in Europe, faced rejection. “I had applied for the visa and my friend, who was to host me at her residence, had sent all the necessary documentation. However, my visa application was rejected,” she said. This not only led to disappointment but also significant financial losses for Rathod.

Lalit Advani, a visa consultant, said, “Diwali is a time when people love to travel, and bookings are not always made in advance. Despite providing all necessary documents, including return tickets, hotel reservations and travel insurance, many applicants are facing rejection. “One of my clients had applied for a travel visa to Switzerland. Even 15 days after his visa interview, the embassy did not clarify if the application had been approved or rejected. Tired, the applicant wrote to the embassy to retrieve his passport. He will now apply for a visa to another  destination for his Diwali break.” The situation is also dire for those planning to travel to Europe during Diwali. 

According to travel company owners, family appointments for Schengen visa interviews are not available. Every member is required to apply individually, further complicating the process and increasing the likelihood of delays and rejections. The wait for US visas is nearly a year-long. “The backlog of applications, particularly for the US, leads to fresh appointments, which has resulted in wait times stretching for a year. This has significantly impacted students, professionals and tourists alike, who are unable to plan their future travels with certainty,” said Ankit Bajaj, a travel company owner from Ahmedabad. Visa consultant Parthesh Thakkar said, “One of my clients – an IIM Kolkata student – was scheduled to travel to Italy for academic purposes. However, he was refused a visa. Lastminute rush, lack of adequate staff at visa facilitation centres as well as embassy offices, is a key reason for rejections as well as delay in appointment availability.” 

He also attributed the higher rejection rates to incomplete documentation, particularly by first-time applicants

‘High cholesterol, BP signal deeper issues’

‘High cholesterol, BP signal deeper issues’ 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  04.10.2024 

Ahmedabad : Lalit Kapoor, founder and director of the US-based PBW Foundation, conducted a session on holistic health and well-being at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on Thursday. Kapoor, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is now spearheading a movement to promote plantbased nutrition and holistic well-being. “We are consuming what we should not, while harmful toxins that need to be expelled from the body are staying within, leading to health concerns like high cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The real issue is not sugar or cholesterol as these are only indicators of the problem,” Kapoor told participants. 

He said medications often only suppress symptoms without addressing the root cause. Kapoor stressed the importance of diet and lifestyle changes to attain well-being goals. His philosophy is based on five pillars: Food, detox, circadian rhythm, physical activity and emotional and spiritual balance. His sessions at AMA are aimed at preventing and reversing chronic illnesses while promoting vitality and well-being. The organisers said the strategies include using whole foods to avoid health issues and reverse chronic conditions, as well as understanding the science behind plantbased diet and health transformation. “Some of the topics to be covered over the sessions include epigenetics, the physiology of diseases, and causes and solutions for issues such as cancer, kidney diseases, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and others,” an organiser said.

No relief for govt official accused in toilet scam

No relief for govt official accused in toilet scam 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 04.10.2024 

Ahmedabad : The Gujarat high court has refused to drop corruption charges against a govt officer who approved bills without physically verifying construction work in an alleged toilet construction scam. The scam is said to have taken place under the Nirmal Gujarat Sauchalay Yojana in Okha town of Devbhumi Dwarka district. While rejecting the quashing petition by the then incharge chief officer of Okha municipality, the HC stated in its order, “Being the head of the department and a responsible officer, it is his duty to verify the actual status of the toilets and he should not have blindly trusted the reports submitted by the person concerned.” In this case, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed an FIR against various people in 2018, including the then in-charge chief officer of Okha municipality, Jayesh Patel, charging them with criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, forgery and corruption. 

The FIR was filed regarding an alleged fraud involving a govt scheme aimed at building toilets for the poor. According to the complaint, substantial funds were misappropriated through the approval of fraudulent bills, despite the promised toilets not being constructed in several locations. 

The chief officer approached the HC for quashing of the FIR, claiming innocence. He said he had merely signed the bills and reports submitted by the local voluntary organisations (LVOs) and his subordinates, relying on their trustworthiness, and that his signature was intended only to grant clearance. It was not his duty to physically verify the place, he said. However, the HC said that it was the officer’s duty to con duct the process of physical verification and then only sign the reports. “Not only that, the said report was without any photograph, which clearly goes on to show dereliction in discharge of his duty and/or his involvement in the commission of crime,” the HC order said. The chief officer also cited the delay in investigation as a ground for dropping the charges against him, stating that the chargesheet could not be filed after so many years.  The state govt argued that the investigator has been able to visit and draw panchnamas for only 334 of 4,032 toilets. Out of these, 27 toilets have not been constructed, and in some cases, only walls were erected, or partitions were fixed. The construction was not in accordance with the scheme. Refusing to interfere with the ongoing investigation, the HC said in its order, “Whole reading of FIR discloses ingredients of offence. The applicant has failed to point out that FIR is mala fide, frivolous or vexatious.”

UGC Regulation On Selection Committee For Appointment Of Assistant Professor Not Applicable To Minority Institutions: Madras High Court

UGC Regulation On Selection Committee For Appointment Of Assistant Professor Not Applicable To Minority Institutions: Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

30 Sept 2024 1:05 PM

The Madras High Court recently held that the UGC regulations prescribing setting up of a selection committee for the appointment of assistant professor was not applicable to minority institutions.

Justice RN Manjula noted that since the selection committee includes outsiders, giving them the power to select the appointees for the post of Assistant Professors would amount to interfering with the administration of the minority institution. The court added that the administration of the affairs of the institution cannot be given in the hands of outsiders.

“The members of the selection committee includes the outsiders. By inducting them and giving them the power to select the appointees for the minority institution would amount to allowing them to interfere with the administration of the minority institutions. As the appointment of teachers is an administrative function over which the minority institutions have got their own autonomy, it can not be given in the hands of the outsiders in the name of a selection committee. What cannot be done directly cannot be allowed to be done indirectly as well,” the court observed.

The court also observed that mandating the UGC regulation of selection committees to these institutions would interfere with their autonomous status. The court thus noted that the selection of faculties in minority institutions could not be compelled to be made through the selection committee contemplated in the UGC regulations.

“When one regulation of U.G.C. prescribes certain standards and autonomous status is conferred due to the compliance of the same, the other U.G.C regulation can not stultify the same. The regulation concerning selection committee can not be mandated against the minority institution as that will go counter-productive and self-contradictive to their well approved autonomous status,” the court said.

The court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by colleges in Madurai challenging the proceedings issued by Madurai Kamaraj University and directing the university to give qualification approval to the appointment of individuals as Assistant Professor in the respective colleges. The University had refused to grant approval stating that the appointments were made without forming a Selection Committee as per the UGC regulation 2018.

The petitioner colleges submitted that the University could not compel minority institutions to form a Selection Committee and the law in this regard has already been laid down in the case of The Forum of Minority Institutions and Associations Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu and other. The petitioner submitted that in the above case, the court had already held that the UGC regulations were not applicable to minority institutions. Thus, the petitioners argued that the similar UGC 2018 regulation would also not be applicable to the institutions.

The court noted that the State's regulatory power over minority colleges is restricted to the prescription of qualification and the State could not have power over the prescription of methodoly of recruitment, constitution of selection committee, etc.

While the court noted that the quality of teachers appointed to these institutions had to be maintained, the court also noted that in the present case, it was not claimed that the persons appointed by the colleges lacked qualifications. The court noted that in the present case, the colleges themselves have come forward to seek qualification approval.

The court also noted that in the present case, the standard of the colleges was subjected to periodical scrutiny by members of the standing committee and only upon their recommendations, the conferment for extension of autonomy would be granted. The court thus noted that the conferment of autonomous status upon the colleges would give an implied approval for their quality and merit in the selection of the teachers and students of the institutions.

The court thus allowed the petitions filed by the colleges and directed the University to reconsider the applications of the colleges to grant qualification approval for the appointments made by the colleges without insisting on the selection committee procedure contemplated under UGC Regulation 2018.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Issac Mohanlal, Senior Advocate for M/s. Issac Chambers, M/s A. Amala

Counsel for the Respondents: Mr.T.Amjad Khan, Government Advocate, Mr.M.Siddharthan, AGP, Mr.T.Sakthi Kumaran, Standing counsel, Mr.Mahaboob Athiff, Mr.T.Amjadahan, GA

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 368

Case Title: The Principal & Secretary v The State of Tamil Nadu and Others

Case No: W.P.(MD) No.20228 of 2023 batch