Issue provisional certificates to law grads, HC orders BCG

Issue provisional certificates to law grads, HC orders BCG 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  22.10.2024 

Ahmedabad : In a huge relief for law graduates, whose requests for provisional enrolment were not being considered by the Bar Council of Gujarat (BCG), the Gujarat high court on Monday directed the BCG to grant provisional certificates to them and other such students from the state so they could practise law. A provisional certificate will enable them to take the All-India Bar (AIB) examination, which is mandatory for permanent enrolment with the Bar Council. Lawyers involved in the litigation said that around 5,000 law graduates would benefit from the HC’s interim order. More than 2,600 applications for provisional enrolment, submitted by law graduates from govt law colleges and grant-in-aid law colleges, are yet to be processed by the BCG. Students from 19-20 such institutions, awaiting provisional enrolment, had approached the high court as Bar Council of India (BCI) had not renewed the recognition of their colleges. 

This was due to their failure to meet certain criteria, including the appointment of adequate faculty members and failure to pay inspection fees to the BCI. The students submitted before the HC that they took admission through a common admission process after applying to the respective universities. The colleges, whether they had BCI approval or not, were featured on the websites of the universities which had given the students admission to those colleges. However, since the colleges did not have approvals from the BCI, the BCG had not been processing their applications. Justice Aniruddha Mayee ordered the BCG to process the applications and issue provisional certificates, subject to the verification of forms and other documents later, so the students could practise law. 

The HC extended the deadline for submitting the applications from Oct 24 to Oct 31 in the interest of the law graduates. The HC made it clear that “the present direction is passed in peculiar circumstances in the state of Gujarat and should not be treated as a precedent.” 

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NUS, Indian univs to explore joint degree courses: Edu min

NUS, Indian univs to explore joint degree courses: Edu min 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  22.10.2024

New Delhi : National University of Singapore (NUS) will explore collaborations with Indian higher education institutions in areas such as joint and dual degree programmes as well as academic and research initiatives, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said during his visit to the country on Monday. He also met Singapore PM Lawrence Wong. 

According to senior education ministry officials, discussions at the meeting were centred around enhancing cooperation in school education, vocational training, and research between India and Singapore. The focus was on advancing partnership through the key pillars of “talent, resource, and market”. Pradhan also met his counterpart Chan Chun Sing to explore ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various education sectors, and Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan to discuss enhancing the India-Singapore Knowledge Partnership. In his meeting with Wong, Pradhan emphasised India’s view of Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner, particularly in the realms of deep tech, startups, and innovation ecosystems.

TN for 50 more med seats in each of11 colleges

TN for 50 more med seats in each of11 colleges 

Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com  22.10.2024

Chennai : The state health department has sought National Medical Commission (NMC) approval to increase 50 undergraduate seats in each of the 11 medical colleges started in 2021. If this happens, Tamil Nadu will increase its seats in 36 govt medical colleges by 550 MBBS seats to 5,600 for admissions in 2025-26. On Monday, director of medical education Dr JSangumani said increase in seats would enable more students to study medicine at a nominal cost.

 “TN is among the states with the maximum number of medical colleges. With a policy to have one new medical college in every district, we have ensured govt colleges are equal to private and self-financing medical colleges.” Of the 76 medical colleges in the state, the health department runs 36, while ESIC Medical College in KK Nagar and AIIMS in Madurai together offer 200 seats. The remaining 38 are self-financing colleges, private universities and deemed universities. 

An order asking six collectors to identify land parcels in their districts for the new colleges. “The process is on. Once land is identified and transferred to the health department, we can apply to NMC for permission,” said a senior health department official. This means admissions to the new colleges will not start by 2025. TN has also sought permission to start 70 postgraduate medical seats in 13 medical colleges for 23 different courses. While the seats cover almost all specialities, the highest demand is for anaesthesia and gynaecology, followed by four seats in paediatrics. “We have asked for six seats in each of these streams. The decision to increase these seats was based on demand within medical colleges,” Dr Sangumani said.

Navarasu murder: HC grants bail to John David

Navarasu murder: HC grants bail to John David 

Sureshkumar.k@timesofindia.com 22.10.2024

Chennai : More than 26 years after a medical student, John David, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing and chopping off his junior Pon Navarasu at Annamalai University, Madras high court granted bail to him till his plea for premature release is decided by the state govt. It was in 1996 that Navarasu was murdered on the university campus. On March 11, 1998, a trial court convicted John David and awarded him imprisonment for life. However, the high court acquitted him in 2001. 

On a state appeal, Supreme Court reversed the high court order and confirmed life imprisonment for him in 2011. His mother T Esther filed the present plea in the high court after Tamil Nadu govt on May 8, rejected his plea for premature release from jail. A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice V Sivagnanam quashed a govt order rejecting his premature release application and ordered its reconsideration. In the meanwhile, he shall be released on bail, said the bench.

According to Esther, her son John David was convicted and sentenced to life im prisonment for the murder of Navarasu in 1998 by a trial court order dated Mar 11, 1998. After completing over 21 years of imprisonment, he applied for premature release under a GO order dated Aug 11, 2023, proposed by the state for lifers who completed 14 years in jail. However, prison department rejected his application. She then moved the court saying the rejection order was unjust and untenable before the law. The authorities did not take into consideration that the petitioner completed 16 years of imprisonment as of Sep 15, 2023, and was eligible for premature release. “The authorities, without considering the long years of incarceration, simply rejected the application for premature release and stated a tailor-made reason without application of mind,” she said. 

The authorities failed to consider that during the period between his acquittal and conviction by the Supreme Court, he was working in a software company with four promotions. There was not even a single bad remark, and hence there is no purpose in keeping him in prison any longer, she said.

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Newborn with twin foetuses in abdomen dies after surgery

Newborn with twin foetuses in abdomen dies after surgery

Sumati.Yengkhom@timesofindia.com 

TIMES OF INDIA  KOLKATA 201.10.2024

21.10.2024 

Kolkata : In a rare case, a three-day-old baby with foetuses of twins in its abdomen, died a day after undergoing a surgery to remove the foetuses at NRS Medical College & Hospital (NRSMCH) on Sunday. The condition called foetus-in-fetu (FIF) is extremely rare and only around 200 such cases have been reported around the globe, said doctors at NRS. It is a congenital disorder that makes a malformed foetus develop inside another during pregnancy. The foetuses inside the baby’s abdomen had formed partially. While in most cases only one foetus is found, in this case doctors found twin foetuses inside the newborn.

The baby was referred from a hospital in Malda with issues of the abdomen and breathing difficulty. After admission at the Kolkata hospital, doctors conducted extensive diagnosis that confirmed the presence of the twin foetuses inside the newborn's abdomen. “The twins were not fully formed and had developed only a few features like limbs and part of the skull in one. But each foetus had developed fingers and toes adding to the complexity of the surgical procedure,” said a doctor at the paediatric surgery department. Doctors said that in such a situation the only treatment was to surgically remove the malformed foetuses to save the newborn. Since the condition calls for an emergency surgery, the medical team decided to go ahead without delay to save the newborn. While the procedure was done on Saturday, the newborn died on Sunday. 

“During the surgery we removed both the foetuses successfully, but the newborn died a day later. While I have seen a few such cases, this is the first time we came across a twin foetus in the newborn. This made the procedure a lot more challenging,” said a doctor of the department. Doctors said that while FIF often remain asymptomatic during the pregnancy the disorder can be detected during antenatal USG. And if the detection is within 24 weeks of gestation the  pregnancy can be terminated. In this case the condition was detected only when brought to NRSMCH.

Geoinformatics students struggle due to lack of well-defined job roles

Geoinformatics students struggle due to lack of well-defined job roles 

The emerging subject is relevant across sectors, but job opportunities have not been identified to support students who prefer to look westward 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK EDUCATION TIMES 21.10.2024

Geoinformatics, a branch of engineering that combines disciplines such as Earth Sciences, Geospatial Sciences, and Information Technology, is an emerging subject in India. Several technical institutes offer MTech and PhD programmes in Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing. Pursuing a course in the subject equips students with skills and knowledge that include geoinformation science and earth observation technology to generate, integrate, analyse, visualise, and disseminate spatial data for various applications such as the development of online maps, disaster mitigation plans, urban planning, and forest planning, among others. Restricted opportunities 

However, the lack of regulations, structured syllabus, and well-defined job roles after completion of the course, especially after PhDs, pose a challenge for students in securing employment. Kailash Chandra Tiwari, professor, Multidisciplinary Centre for Geoinformatics, Delhi Technological Uni versity (DTU), says, “Students in India choose their majors in higher studies based on the job opportunities after the completion of the course. However, with Geoinformatics, there is a need for government initiatives to establish cadres in government roles and introduce Geoinformatics in the NET exam to encourage students to pursue the course. 

There are no welldefined job roles like other disciplines – such as lecturer, associate professor, or assistant professor – making it difficult for students to secure employment in colleges after pursuing research.” “National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) promotes multidisciplinary education but it does not have any guidelines to protect the interests of the students who study a multidisciplinary subject such as Geoinformatics. For example, many students with BTech in Computer Science/In formation Technology (IT)/Electronics and Communication Engineering opted to do PhD in Geoinformatics but when they applied for a job in the department of their parent degree, they were not even shortlisted. 

Those who were in service and opted for this subject have been denied promotion,” says Tiwari. In 2022, Geomatics (which focuses on obtaining geospatial data) was introduced in GATE as a separate subject, which allowed students from Geoinformatics (an IT-oriented subject to analyse geospatial data) backgrounds to appear for the test. Highlighting its importance, Tiwari says, “The move helped aspirants to stick to a specific syllabus provided by GATE for admission in courses related to Geoinformatics. It also helped them to be more confident about their choice.” Not enough lucrative options in India Due to the lack of job opportunities in the geoinformatics sector, many students who complete the course often choose sectors such as Information Technology, Finance, and Data Analytics for bet ter career opportunities. “Indian corporates have recently started investing in geoinformatics technology. But, there is still a lack of lucrative job opportunities, and the salary structures do not meet global standards. This is the reason that many of geoinformatics graduates choose sectors such as information technology, finance, or data analytics due to more lucrative opportunities,” says Bharat Lohani, professor, Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur. 

Students who opt for nongeoinformatics industries are not able to use their specific skill set. IIT Kanpur offers courses such as MTech, DualDegree Programme, and PhD in Geoinformatics. Promising future India has geared up to embrace geoinformatics technology, which will enhance job opportunities and streamline regulations in the coming years. It is a part of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), and has introduced laws and policies in the field.