Retd prof sues firm for faulty car, wins ₹12 lakh refund

Retd prof sues firm for faulty car, wins ₹12 lakh refund 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 25.11.2024

Bengaluru : An automaker and its dealer in Yelahanka have been told to refund a retired professor more than Rs 12 lakh he had paid to purchase a car which was found to have a manufacturing defect. The 3rd Additional Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also ordered them to pay the buyer a further Rs 50,000 for causing him mental agony and Rs 10,000 in litigation costs.

 Prof N Ravikantha purchased a Kia Sonet HTX 1.5 D car from Epitome Automo biles in Nov 2020. However, in Aug 2021, the Attur Layout resident noticed a problem in the car and it was found that the engine oil was contaminated due to a manufacturing defect. Though the issue was fixed immediately at the Epitome service centre, the engine oil contamination kept recurring. As the dealer failed to rectify the defects, the retired political science professor filed a complaint against Kia Motors India and Epitome at the consumer court. 

The automaker and the dealer argued that the defect stemmed from improper vehicle use, including failure to follow driving guidelines. They maintained that the car was found roadworthy after routine inspections and replacements, including the catalytic converter. The court concluded that the vehicle had a manufacturing defect that the manufacturer and dealer had failed to address adequately. The court also rejected their claims that the defect stemmed from the vehicle use, noting that the user manual did not clearly outline the driving conditions required to prevent the defect from surfacing. Email correspondence between the parties revealed issues with the vehicle that the dealer failed to resolve adequately. 

In its order passed on Sept 10, 2024, the commission emphasised that engine oil contamination is a critical defect affecting the vehicle’s functionality and safety. Given that the car remained under warranty and was largely unusable, the court determined that a full refund was appropriate. The commission ordered the automaker and dealer must jointly and severally refund Ravikantha Rs 12.36 lakh with an interest rate of 9% per annum with effect from Nov 24, 2021, and pay him another Rs 50,000 for causing him men tal agony, and Rs 10,000 in litigation costs. The commission has given 45 days to the automaker and the dealer to comply with the order. “I have not received the money till now. Upon consulting the service manager, they shifted responsibility to KIA, citing that the order was meant to comply with jointly and severally.

I plan to initiate crime execution proceedings next week in this matter. The company’s behaviour demonstrates its disregard for customer satisfaction. This issue has affected my health as well,” Ravikantha told TOI.

99% charge in EVM battery doesn’t impact counting: EC

99% charge in EVM battery doesn’t impact counting: EC

Nisha.Nambiar@timesofindia.com 25.11.2024 

Pune : Election commission (EC) has dismissed opposition’s claims in Maharashtra about EVM battery levels impacting counting of votes polled in assembly elections. They said EVM battery charge remaining at 99% — one of the charges levelled by opposition after results were declared on Saturday — had no bearing on the counting process. Senior EC officials told TOI that battery percentage displays are for technical monitoring and cannot influence vote recording or counting accuracy: 

“Battery voltage and capacity have no connection to counting operations or EVM integrity.” Actor Swara Bhaskar on Saturday had alleged EVM manipulation, following her husband Fahad Ahmed’s electoral loss, claiming that battery levels of EVMs remained at 99% the entire day. She was among many from opposition who raised issues with EVMs. EC said such allegations lack technical basis and that EVMs use alkaline batteries providing a stable power source for the machines to work even in remote areas without electricity

‘Appointments in architecture dept violate UGC, COA rules’

‘Appointments in architecture dept violate UGC, COA rules’ 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 25.11.2024 

Vadodara : Prof Satish Pathak of M S University has filed a complaint with chief minister Bhupendra Patel against university vicechancellor Prof Vijay Kumar Srivastava. Pathak has alleged that Srivastava appointed five persons as “professors of practice” in the architecture department by violating statutory provisions. Pathak stated that the appointments violate the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Council of Architecture (COA). 

The architecture department is part of MSU’s Faculty of Technology and Engineering (FTE). The department of architecture, like architecture colleges in the country, is regulated by COA. “Like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the regulatory body when it comes to technology and engineering colleges, COA is the regulatory body for architecture colleges. Currently, COA has no provision on the appointment of professors of practice,” he stated in his complaint.

The complaint also states that according to the UGC norms, the number of professors of practice in a higher education institute, at any point in time, should not exceed 10% of the posts sanctioned in the institute. “When it comes to the department of architecture, there are 17 sanctioned posts. These include three posts of professors, six posts of associate professors, and eight posts of assistant professors. Against this sanctioned strength, only one in the form of the current head of department is filled while another teacher retired two years ago. This leaves 16 posts vacant,” he said. “So, appointing five ‘professors of practice’ is not just a violation of the COA provisions but also a violation of UGC guidelines.” Pathak alleged that these appointments were done while cutting short the number of temporary  teaching positions, some of whom were teaching in the department for a long time. He demanded a thorough inquiry into the appointments.

262 oncologists, Tata Memorial come out against Sidhu’s claim

262 oncologists, Tata Memorial come out against Sidhu’s claim 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  25.11.2024

Mumbai/Delhi : In an effort to help a loved one, families of cancer patients often turn to alternative products, adopting dietary changes with an emphasis on haldi or neem in tandem with conventional treatment. A recent video featuring former cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has now sparked controversy, with Sidhu claiming that such home remedies helped his wife recover from breast cancer, purportedly playing down the role of scientific treatment. The sheer vitality of the video on social media has now prompted the Tata Memorial Hospital to issue an unprecedented rebuttal signed by hundreds of oncologists. 

In the video, Sidhu says, “She started her day with nimbu pani along with ‘kacchi haldi’, garlic, and then neem leaves ... then nuts, beetroot, carrot, and amla. After her operation, there was not a single cell of cancer (cyst) detected. These remedies do not require any money.” Tata Memorial Hospital’s statement is signed by 262 present and past oncologists fromTMH. It said, “These statements have no high-quality evidence to support them. While research is ongoing for some of these products, there is no clinical data currently to recommend their use as anticancer agents.” 

The statement further said, “We urge the public to not delay their treatment by following unproven remedies, but rather to consult a doctor, preferably a cancer specialist, if they have any symptoms of cancer. Cancer is curable if detected early.” Only a day prior to the statement, TMH director Dr C SPramesh took note of the vi-ral video and said in an X (formerly known as Twitter) post, “Please don’t believe and get fooled by these statements regardless of who it comes from. 

These are unscientific and baseless recommendations. She got surgery and chemotherapy that were evidence based, which is what made her cancer-free. Not the haldi, neem, etc.” Dr P K Julka, vice-chairman Max oncology, said cancer treatment should follow scientific norms. “New claims, if any, need to be proved by scientific means,” he said.

Taxi guided by Google Maps falls of bridge, 3 people killed

Taxi guided by Google Maps falls of bridge, 3 people killed

 Kanwardeep.Singh@timesofindia.com 25.11.2024

Bareilly : Three men from Uttar Pradesh died when their taxi plunged off an incomplete bridge in Faridpur on Saturday night while travelling from Gurugram to Bareilly. Police said they were using navigation app, Google Maps, to navigate from Dataganj (Budaun) to Faridpur via Khallpur but were unaware the bridge over the Ramganga river was incomplete. 

On Sunday morning, Khallpur villagers spotted the car under the incomplete bridge and informed the police. Faridpur SHO Rahul Singh checked the victims’ mobile phones and found that they were navigating with Google Maps. He said, “We recovered the identity card of a Gurugrambased security company in the car. The victims were then identified as Nitin Kumar, 30, his cousins Ajit Kumar, 35, and Amit Kumar, 30. Nitin and Ajit, residents of Farrukhabad, worked as drivers for a Gurugram-based security company, while Amit, from Mainpuri, was their distant relative.” The CO also said the bodies have been sent for an autopsy

Stalin directs govt offices to read Preamble on Nov 26

Stalin directs govt offices to read Preamble on Nov 26 

TIMES OF INDIA 25.11.2024 

Chennai : Chief minister M K Stalin has directed all govt offices, courts and educational institutions to read the Preamble of the Indian Constitution on Nov 26, marking the 75th year of the Constitution’s adoption. In a release, state govt said that based on the instructions from Stalin, arrangements have been made in secretariat, high court, district collectorates, all the govt offices, local body offices, schools and colleges to read the Preamble at 11 am on Nov 26. Stalin also urged education institutes to conduct speech competitions, seminars and quiz competitions on the fundamentals of Indian Constitution. The move comes in the backdrop of opposition parties accusing the BJP-led Union govt of not giving due respect to the Indian Constitution. The INDIA bloc had carried out the "Save Our Constitution" campaign against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Govt doctors plan protest against senior officials

Govt doctors plan protest against senior officials 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  25.11.2024 

Chennai : Govt doctors have threatened to stop all medical camps and boycott meetings held at the district level from Monday to protest against “the harassment meted out to doctors” by senior officials of the directorate of public health (DPH), national health mission (NHM), directorate of medical health and rural services (DMS), and district collectors. The Tamil Nadu Govt Doctors Association has said doctors will not perform elective surgeries in the obstetrics and gynaecology departments from Tuesday if their demands, including filling up of about 5,000 vacancies, are not met. 

They will exit all official WhatsApp groups and not update govt portals including those that monitor maternal health, and quality of care in labour rooms. After holding an executive meeting on Sunday, the association listed a number of incidents in which the doctors were “treated like criminals in districts including Trichy, Virudhunagar, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai and Dharmapuri”. There were assaults on doctors in Chennai and Trichy. The association also condemned the NHM director Arun Thamburaj for his remarks about hospital heads and department heads for maternal deaths. Requesting chief minister M K Stalin to intervene in the matter at the earliest, the association has also passed resolutions seeking anonymous maternal death audit, monthly review meetings by district collectors during office hours, stopping the ranking of doctors and hospitals, and allowing voluntary retirement of doctors like other govt departments. . Meanwhile, the Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association (SDPGA) too has condemned the attitude of IAS officers and senior officials towards govt doctors. “We demand that our professionals be treated with dignity,” it said.