NEWS TO Day 24.02.2025

 

Kanchi Shankaracharya wants temples freed from govt control

Kanchi Shankaracharya wants temples freed from govt control

Rajeev.Mani@timesofindia.com  24.02.2025

Prayagraj : Kanchi Shankaracharya on Sunday advocated for handing over temples and their properties across India to temple authorities, freeing them from govt control. “Every Kumbh in Prayagraj has raised a demand, which was fulfilled in due course — such as the demand for Ram temple raised in 2013. Now, the call to free all temples from govt control has echoed from Maha Kumbh 2025,” said Shri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi, the 70th Jagadguru Peethadipathi of Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.

 He was in Prayagraj to take a holy dip at Sangam and to attend an event at his camp in Maha Kumbh. “I demand that, firstly, all temples should be restored. Secondly, proper puja should be conducted in these temples; and thirdly, all the offerings (income) received by the temples should belong to the temples. Temples, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, along with their land, assets, and other holdings, should be the sole property of the temple concerned,” he said. 

He added that income from these temples should be used to promote Sanatan Dharma, train pupils well versed in Vedas, establish gurukuls, open gaushalas, and support classical music. “There should be a system of PPP — ‘Praja’ (devotees),‘Purohit’ (priest), and ‘Pujari’ (priest). This ‘Triveni’ will surely uplift not only the temples but also Sanatan Dharma,” he said in an exclusive conversation with TOI.

“There should be a pujari in every panchayat and a temple like Tirupati in every village,” he added. On whether youth are moving away from religious practices, he responded, “It is not true that young people are not inclined toward ‘Aastha’ (faith). I have seen many young boys and girls at Maha Kumbh, arriving in large numbers, applying tilak with full devotion. There is still ‘Aastha’ in the country; what we lack is ‘Sanstha’ (organisation) and ‘Vyavastha’ (rules and regulations).” 

He acknowledged problems faced by the country and families but emphasised the need to begin within families.

“By preserving Sanatan Dharma, we can save our democracy... when the country is safe, only then will there be peace in the world,” he said

84 drug batches fail quality test, commonly used antacids, diabetes meds among them

84 drug batches fail quality test, commonly used antacids, diabetes meds among them 

24.02.2025

New Delhi : As many as 84 batches of drugs, including some commonly-prescribed steroids and cholesterol-lowering drugs, were found to be ‘not-of-standard quality’ in the latest round of inspections carried out by the drug control authorities across country. CDSCO, which is the apex body responsible for approval of new drugs & clinical trials, has issued an alert regarding this.

 It issues alerts about nonstandard quality drugs being sold in the market monthly. According to its latest data, for Dec 2024, they found 84 batches of drugs manufactured by various firms to be of ‘not-of-standard quality’ (NSQ). This includes some of the drugs prescribed for common conditions such as acidity, high levels of cholesterol, diabetes and bacterial infections among others. Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done based on failure of the drug sample in one or the other specified quality parameters. 

The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by govt, officials said. “This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified & removed from the market,” they added. Recently, CDSCO introduced new guidelines for inspections. It stated all drug inspectors in the country should collect at least 10 samples in a month; nine samples of drugs and one sample of cosmetics/ medical device. TNN

‘New pilot duty norms with more rest hours from July’

‘New pilot duty norms with more rest hours from July’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  24.02.2025

New Delhi : Directorate General of Civil Aviation has informed Delhi High Court that airlines will implement revised norms on duty and rest hours for pilots in a phased manner beginning July 1. The aviation watchdog also told the court recently that the remaining revised regulations will be implemented from Nov 1. 

Among other aspects, airlines will ensure that there are not more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the start of the next under the revised norms. The directorate’s revised civil aviation requirement (CAR) relates to flight duty time limitation and seeks to provide more rest time for pilots amid concerns over pilot fatigue and was originally to be implemented from June 1, 2024. 

In an affidavit, it disclosed the phased implementation of the roadmap after considering the outcome of the minutes of the meetings among the representatives from the airlines, pilot groups and the civil aviation ministry. The court is hearing petitions filed by Indian Commercial Pilots Associ- ation, Indian Pilots Guild and Federation of Indian Pilots relating to DGCA's revised flight duty time limitations. Several significant changes were brought to the existing norms to tackle fatigue among pilots, the affidavit said, including that the weekly rest periods will be increased from the current 36 hours to 48 hours. “An operator shall ensure that the minimum weekly rest of continuous 48 hours, including two local nights, is provided such that there shall never be more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the start of the next,” it said. 

The affidavit went on to add, “The operator shall provide weekly rest at home base/temporary home base. The 168 hours shall be calculated from the end of the preceding weekly rest period.” As per CAR, the maximum flight time and maximum flight duty period for flight operations at night were to be restricted to eight hours and 10 hours, respectively. The number of landings at night was to be confined to two landings compared to the present six. The high court had earlier asked DGCA to have a meeting with the associations, airlines, and the ministry.

HC notices to govt over lack of quality for patho tests, labs

HC notices to govt over lack of quality for patho tests, labs 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 24.02.2025

Bhopal/Jabalpur : A division bench of the MP high court issued notices to the central and state govt in response to a petition seeking quality standards for chemicals used in pathological tests. The petitioner stated that there are no standards fixed regarding the chemicals used in pathological tests, and the test results could be erratic if the quality of chemicals used is not proper. 

The petitioner in the case, Advocate Amitabh Gupta, said that different chemicals are used in various pathological tests to obtain results, and if the quality of chemicals is not good, the test results would not be accurate. 

In 2009, a commission formed in this connection was asked to fix standards for chemicals to be used to obtain pathological test results, but after a lapse of so many years, the standards have not yet been deci- ded and practised. This makes the credibility of the tests results suspect.

 Besides, only a few pathological labs have affiliation with NABL. Gupta, arguing the case himself, said that he filed the petition in 2015 and requested the court to find out from NABL regarding steps it has taken to make pathological test reports more credible, fix standards for chemicals to be used, and ensure pathology labs obtain NABL affiliation. After preliminary arguments, the bench of Chief Justice S K Kait and Justice Vivek Jain issued notices to the state and central govt.

Panel to hear govt staff demands

Panel to hear govt staff demands 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 24.01.2025

Chennai : CM M K Stalin has constituted a committee to listen to the grievances of various govt employees’ associations and resolve them. A govt statement said on Sunday that the panel consists of public works department minister E V Velu, finance minister Thangam Thennarasu, school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and human resource development minister Kayalvizhi Selvaraj. 

They would meet representatives from govt associations and discuss their demands on Monday at the secretariat. The move comes after a state-wide protest announced by the joint action council of TN teachers organisations and govt employees organisation (Jacto-Geo) pressing its charter of demands on Feb 25.

Boy, 17, driving dad’s minivan mows down 53-yr-old woman Older

Boy, 17, driving dad’s minivan mows down 53-yr-old woman Older 

Man Arrested For Letting Minor Drive

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 24.02.2025

Chennai : A 17-year-old boy trying to move his father’s minivan parked outside their house in Kancheepuram on Sunday morning accidentally killed a 53-year-old woman. The older man was later arrested for allowing a minor to drive the vehicle. Police said the boy, whose father Rasa prepares snacks at home and delivers them to shops in his minivan, was trying to move the vehicle in front of their house on Gangai Amman Temple Street at 6.30 am when he lost control. The vehicle hit Saraswathi, who was drawing a kolam in front of her house, then collided with a pushcart and a scooter before stopping. 

A few of their neighbours rushed to help when the minivan trapped Saraswathi underneath. They lifted the vehicle off her, but she died on the spot. A team of the Sivakanchi police arrived, took the boy into custody for questioning and sent Saraswathi’s body to the Kancheepuram Govt Hospital for a postmortem examination. Investigations revealed that neither Rasa nor his son knew how to drive and hired a driver to deliver snacks. 

“The son occasionally tried operating the vehicle to learn driving,” said a police officer. Police suspect that in panic, the boy accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. They registered a case against Rasa for negligence and for allowing his minor son to operate the vehicle. Investigations continue. “We have been creating awareness about dangers involved in underage driving. But people continue to flout norms,” said the officer.