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Wednesday, October 23, 2024

NEWS TODAY 23.10.2024

Doc ordered to pay ₹6L to patient for removing kidney Surgery Was For Kidney Stones

U.Sudhakarreddy@timesofindia.com 23.10.2024

Hyderabad : The Telangana State Consumer Redressal Commission has dismissed the appeal of a doctor at a hospital in Karimnagar accused of removing a patient’s kidney during surgery for kidney stones. The commission upheld the earlier ruling of the Karimnagar District Consumer Disputes Forum which had imposed a compensation of ₹6 lakh for medical negligence. The complainant, Boosa Mallaiah of Kalvasrirampur village in Karimnagar district, was operated upon by Dr S Ram Gopal at Seva Sankalp Kidney Hospital in Nov 2004.

Mallaiah had approached the hospital with severe stomach pain and after medical tests he was told he had kidney stones which needed to be removed. Mallaiah deposited ₹6,000 for the surgery which was conducted the following day. However, post-surgery, his wife was informed that there were complications and Mallaiah’s condition required him to be transferred to Hyderabad. He was subsequently shifted to NIMS, Hyderabad, where he underwent another operation. Later, Mallaiah developed stomach pain again and visited doctor Dr R Yakaiah at Venkateshwara Kidney Center who informed him that his right kidney was missing.

Mallaiah filed a police complaint, leading to an FIR and chargesheet. Dr Gopal claimed the patient had a large 29 mm kidney stone and due to excessive bleeding during the operation there was a life-threatening situation which required removal of right kidney. However, the commission, after reviewing both sides, found several lapses in the doctor’s handling of the case. It questioned why nephrectomy (kidney removal) was performed when the surgery was for kidney stone removal. Citing these points, the commission confirmed the earlier order of the Karimnagar District Consumer Commission

T’gana govt suspends 100 agri officers, move stirs row, AEOs cry foul

Sribala.Vadlapatla@timesofindia.com 23.10.2024

Hyderabad : The agriculture department Tuesday suspended over 100 agriculture extension officers (AEOs) of grade II, triggering a huge controversy. In the suspension orders, the department mentioned that disciplinary action was initiated against the officers for allegedly failing to record farmer deaths as per Rythu Bima scheme guidelines. However, the suspended AEOs argued that the state govt took the action for their reluctance to do the firstever digital crop survey — launched by the Centre — contending that the survey work would put undue burden on them.

One of the suspended AEOs said agriculture officers in 18 districts received the suspension orders. “Many others are also likely to get the suspension orders. We were supposed to update the Rythu Bima information within six months, but we managed to do it in a very short period,” he told TOI. He further said: “The digital crop survey is set to start soon and for every 20 guntas of land, we have to take photographs and upload crop information.”

Just 2k AEOs can’t cover entire state

With only 2,000 AEOs across the state, it is impossible for us to cover lakhs of land parcels. We have been telling the govt to consider outsourcing the work. Some states have already done it,” the suspended AEO added. Sources said the AEOs were already feeling the heat and openly expressed their reluctance to conduct the survey, but the govt insisted on proceeding with the survey.

In traditional crop surveys, field officers are not required to visit every land parcel and instead, gather information from farmers and record the de tails. “Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have successfully utilised outsourcing agencies for this task and we are also pressing for this so that it won’t burden us much,” a senior officer said. A group of AEOs tried to meet top officials in the agriculture department, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, agriculture department director B Gopi said the digital crop survey was successfully conducted on a pilot basis in 16 mandals in 2023 and added that some AEOs are resisting the survey now. “A few crops from the rainy season are ready for the harvest and this is the right time to do the survey,” he said.

PGP summer internship at IIM-A from Nov 12

23.10.2024

Ahmedabad : The summer internship recruitment process for 2024-25 for the PGP programme of IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will start on Nov 12. IIM-A officials said on Monday that the Bschool will follow a cluster-cohort-based placement process, wherein companies offering similar profiles are grouped into cohorts, and several cohorts are invited to the campus in a particular cluster.

This year, the institute will have a hybrid mode of placement with both online and on-campus processes, they added. For the two clusters, the process will take place on Nov 12, 15, and 18, mentioned a note from the institute. The same process for PGPFABM will take place on Nov 12.

Vadodara man, 79, gets divorce, ₹47 lakh as alimony from wife

Couple Had Conflicting Views On Morality

Tushar.Tere@timesofindia.com 23.10.2024

Vadodara : Capping years of informal separation, a septuagenarian woman from a Vadodara business family and her 79-year-old husband settled for mutual divorce, with the latter receiving Rs 47 lakh from her towards alimony and lifetime maintenance. The family court in Vadodara recently approved the joint petition for divorce, filed by Parul and Darshan (both names changed). TOI has a copy of the petition. One of the reasons for the strained relationship was their conflicting views on “morality/ethics”.

“The petitioners have vast differences and disagreements, and both have diametrically opposite views on matters, including boundaries and standards of morality/ ethics,” the petition stated. Darshan initially filed for divorce three years ago, citing desertion as they were living apart since 2009. Parul consented, on the condition that he also separate from their business, where he was a partner.

Case records reveal that Parul claimed it was Darshan who chose to live separately and did not take responsibility for their daughters’ weddings. The petition also highlights that their family members attempted to reconcile the couple but failed. Parul paid Rs 47 lakh to Darshan as alimony, maintenance, and in exchange for relinquishing his rights to all movable and immovable assets. While Parul continues to reside in Vadodara, Darshan is now settled in Karnataka.

Man ‘loses’ ₹0.5 to India Post, gets back ₹15,000.5

Ram.Sundaram@timesofindia.com 23.10.2024

Chennai : A mere ₹0.5 — a coin many haven’t seen in years — sparked a consumer lawsuit in the city. The local post office responsible for the extra charge was ordered to pay a ₹15,000 fine and return the ₹0.5. On Dec 3, 2023, Manasha of Gerugambakkam visited the Pozhichalur post office to send a registered letter. Although the total fee was ₹29.5, the employees demanded ₹30. When Manasha requested the balance, he was informed that the system automatically rounded the amount to ₹30.

He offered to pay the exact amount through UPI, but staff at the post office declined it due to a technical issue. Frustrated, Manasha filed a complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. He said India Post’s practice of rounding off millions of daily transactions could lead to signifi cant amounts being siphoned off, potentially resulting in black money and a loss of GST revenue to the govt. The post office retaliated by saying that amounts involving less than ₹0.5 were ignored, but when the total was ₹0.5 or more, it was rounded off to the nearest rupee by the software. Regarding rejection of digital payments, the post office said that the ‘Pay U’ QR digital payment mode was malfunctioning since Nov 2023 and was discontinued in May this year.

After hearing both sides, the commission found that the post office admitted to overcharging due to a software glitch, which amounted to unfair trade practice under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The post office was ordered to pay ₹10,000 as compensation for Manasha’s mental agony, ₹5,000 towards legal expenses and told to return the ₹0.5 that was overcharged.

Women staffers on contract can’t be denied maternity benefits: HC

Sureshkumar.k@timesofindia.com 23.10.2024

Chennai : Contractual conditions cannot deny or offer less favourable maternity benefits to woman employees, Madras high court has ruled, pointing out that the Maternity Benefit Act would prevail over such conditions. The first bench of Chief Justice K R Shriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order on Tuesday on a plea moved by the MRB Nurses Empowerment Association, seeking direction to the Tamil Nadu govt to extend maternity benefits, including 270 days of paid maternity leave to all staff nurses working under the National Rural Health Mission Scheme (NRHM) in the state.

The benefits of the Maternity Benefits Act will be available to all woman employees who have completed 80 days of work in the establishment from which they claim the maternity benefit. Opposing the plea, advocate general P S Raman contended that the nurses are not eligible for any kind of leave applicable to regular govt servants, except for casual leave of one day per month and a day off. “In any other untoward exceptional circumstances, any individual is permitted to avail of leave other than the leave specified above, which will be treated as leave on loss of pay,” he said. ›

‘Maternity benefits not coterminous with employment tenure’

However, the bench relied on Supreme Court’s Dr Kavita Yadav case which held that once a lady employee fulfils the entitlement criteria specified in the Act, she would be eligible for full maternity benefits, even if such benefits exceed the duration of her contract. The court also held that maternity benefits are not coterminous with employment tenure, the bench added. In the Deepika Singh case, Supreme Court held that the Act was enacted to secure women’s right to pregnancy and maternity leave and to afford women as much flexibility as possible to live an autonomous life, both as amother and as a worker, if they so desire, the bench said. Therefore, the reliance by the state govt on conditions of the ap pointment and posting order to deny maternity benefits is untenable, the judges stated. The court then directed the state to consider and dispose of all pending and fresh applications for maternity benefits from NRHM nurses employed on a contractual basis within three months or three months from date of receipt of fresh applications, as the case may be, after making adjustments, if any, towards payments made earlier.