Two-day bank strike deferred

Two-day bank strike deferred 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 23.03.2025

Ahmedabad : In a significant relief to people, the banking associations have decided to postpone the two day nationwide nationalised banks strike on March 24 and 25 after discussions with the central govt over their demands. Janak Rawal, general secretary of the Mahagujarat Bank Employees Association, said, “The conciliation meeting between the United Forum of Banks Union, Central Labour Commissioner (CLC), Indian Bank Association (IBA), and Department of Finance Secretariat (DFS) took place on March 21 in Delhi. It was a positive meeting, and another meeting will be held in the third week of April. In view of this positive development, it was felt necessary to postpone the strike for a month or two. Thus, our strike is postponed.” 

The strike was planned for Monday and Tuesday, and it would have resulted in a four-day bank closure. The unions are demanding adequate recruitment in all cadres, regularisation of temporary employees, implementation of a fiveday work week, and job security. They have also sought the withdrawal of recent govt directives on performance-linked incentives, amendments to gratuity limits, and a halt to outsourcing permanent banking jobs.

Students demand safety after medical intern is left injured in clash

Students demand safety after medical intern is left injured in clash 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 23.03.2025

Chennai : Two days after a medical intern at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital in KK Nagar was injured in a clash with the housekeeping and security staff, students —undergraduates and postgraduates — went on a protest on Saturday, demanding safety on campus. The protest, which began at 8am, lasted more than four hours. Students ended it after the management issued a four-page circular promising further inquiry into the incident and enhanced security for students. On Friday, the MGR Nagar police registered a case and arrested housekeeping staff member A P Balajeevagan, who was produced before a magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody. Hospital sources said the security and housekeeping staff stopped a food delivery agent from entering the campus at 11:30pm on Thursday as it was beyond “permitted hours”.

Following this, the intern who had ordered the food, Alfred, argued with Balajeevagan and five other security staff as one of the students recorded them. In the video sent to media, Alfred is seen asking who ordered them to prevent students from ordering food late at night. The arguments turned into a fistfight, and Balajeevagan was seen beating Alfred. Alfred was not available for comment. “Alfred has blunt injuries on his shoulder. He is being treated at the hospital,” hospital dean Dr Kalidas Chavan said. “Preliminary enquiries revealed the intern was beaten. We terminated the housekeeping and security staff. The agencies that employed them gave us a copy of the termination letters. We also filed a police complaint and initiated an internal enquiry into the incident. 

A three-member committee headed by the medical superintendent will inquire into the incident,” he said. The college had asked the security to not permit outsiders, including food delivery agents, on campus after 10:30pm for security reasons, he said. Senior professors said they counselled students and promised legal action against those who hurt Alfred. Meanwhile, students said the management gave them a copy of the letters from two agencies — Urekha Security Agency Private Limited, which terminated H Anwer Basha, R Durai Raj, S Uthirapathy, N Ramamoorthy, and S Durai from services, and from Alert Security Services, which relieved Balajeevagan due to “administrative reasons.”

 

No maintenance to wife if her earning is at par with that of husband: Apex court

No maintenance to wife if her earning is at par with that of husband: Apex court 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  22.03.2025

New Delhi : Noting that a woman who is employed and holding the same post as that of husband and can take care of herself independently, Supreme Court has turned down her plea seeking maintenance from her estranged husband. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan refused to grant relief to the woman who is working as an assistant professor and sought maintenance from her husband. “Both the first petitioner and respondent (husband and wife) are holding the same post of an assistant professor. No case for interference is made out in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. 

The special leave petition is accordingly dismissed,” the court said in its brief order. The bench was hearing a plea of the wife seeking maintenance but her plea was opposed by her estranged husband who alleged that she did not need maintenance as she was earning herself. Opposing her plea, advocate Shashank Singh, appearing for the husband, told the court that she was earning around ₹60,000 per month and both of them were holding the post of the same grade. But the wife pleaded that she was entitled for maintenance and the wife’s earning capacity and qualification cannot automatically absolve the husband of his obligation to provide maintenance. She told the bench that her husband was earning around ₹1 lakh per month. As there was dispute over their monthly salaries, the court directed both of them to place before it the salary slip of the last one year. Before passing the order, the bench took into account their monthly income after examining their salary slips of last year.

Madras High Court restrains authorities from publishing NIRF ranking for 2025

Madras High Court restrains authorities from publishing NIRF ranking for 2025

A PIL petition has claimed the ranking is without any basis and is misleading students

Published - March 21, 2025 08:47 pm IST - MADURAI

The Hindu Bureau

The Hindu

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday restrained the Ministry of Education and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) from publishing the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking for 2025.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by C. Chellamuthu of Oddanchatram in Dindigul district. The petitioner claimed the NIRF ranking was totally without any basis and it was misleading students.

NIRF was launched by the NBA on the direction of the Ministry of Education for evaluating higher education institutions in the country. The NBA publishes the NIRF rankings of colleges every year. The NIRF ranking framework evaluates institutions in five broad categories: Teaching, Learning and Resources; Research and Professional Practice; Graduation Outcomes; Outreach and Inclusivity; and Perception, the petition said.

The NBA directs the institutions to upload the data such as student and staff strength, staff salaries, graduation index, placement details and funds received for research and development on its web portal. Based on the data entered by the institutions, rankings were awarded without any further verification or auditing, the petitioner said.

Comparing it with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) Annual Quality Assurance Report (AQAR), the petitioner said the NAAC AQAR documents were audited and checked by expert committees sent by the NAAC to the institutions.

‘Data manipulated’

According to him, in all the ranking parameters, the data provided by the institutions that got NIRF ranking was manipulated and completely false. There was no transparency or accountability of the data submitted by the institutions. Instead of collecting data from the available official government records, institutions were invited to submit the data online. Without verifying the information entered, top rankings were awarded, he said.

It could negatively impact the quality of education in India. Reputed academicians and educationalists had criticised the system followed by the NIRF, the petitioner said, and sought the grant of an order of interim stay restraining the authorities from publishing the NIRF ranking for 2025.

The petitioner sought a direction to the NBA to publish the NIRF ranking after comparing and verifying the data submitted by the institutions with the data in the government records and disclose the calculation method.

A Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and S. Srimathy restrained the authorities from publishing the ranking for 2025. The court sought a counter affidavit and posted the matter to April 24.

Published - March 21, 2025 08:47 pm IST

Students struggle to get tatkal passport appointments in Hyd

Students struggle to get tatkal passport appointments in Hyd

Ashresh.Marupaka@timesofindia.com 21.03.2025

Hyderabad : The ongoing delay in tatkal passport appointments at Hyderabad’s Ameerpet and Begumpet passport seva kendras (PSKs) has raised concerns among those planning to pursue higher education or work abroad. With over three weeks of waiting already in effect, prospective students and educational consultancies are worried about missing the August intake window to foreign universities if they do not have their passports in time. 

Currently, the earliest tatkal appointments are available only in the second week of April. “Students, especially for the upcoming August intake, are going to decide now after the global scenario stabilises. For them, the first step is to go for a passport. If passport processing is delayed, they might miss this window,” says Arvind Manduva, a educational consultant. The situation has forced many applicants to explore alternatives, including travelling to smaller cities for appointments. “In Hyderabad centre, we do not have enough slots. They are taking up some other slots to places like Nizamabad and Karimnagar, and people have to travel there to get it done,” explained Sahas Yuvraj, another consultant. 

He shared a recent case highlighting the impact of these delays: “A UK-based NRI got married, but his wife does not have a passport. They are trying to apply with their marriage certificate, but no slots are available. They have been waiting for 3-4 days. Now they are forced to go for a change of plans.” 

‘Running at 75% capacity’ 

However, the Regional Passport Office has issued a clarification regarding the reduced appointment availability. Hyderabad’s Regional Passport Officer, Snehaja Jonnalagadda, explained, “We are in the process of system migration, because of which we have reduced the number of appointments. We are running at 75% capacity.” She assured that the situation is temporary and should improve soon. “We are rescheduling appointments and hope it will be solved in a week or two,” Snehaja added.

Key GOs missing on govt site, concerns over lack of access

Key GOs missing on govt site, concerns over lack of access 

GOs On Phone Bills & Leaves Uploaded Fast 

Koride.Mahesh@timesofindia.com 21.03.2025

Hyderabad : The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) department on March 12 issued two important Government Orders (GOs). One concerning the creation of Future City Development Authority, and the other pertaining to expansion of HMDA jurisdiction. These decisions were made by the Telangana cabinet earlier. However, these two significant GOs could not be found on the state govt’s website, ‘goir.telangana.gov.in’. Similarly, hundreds of GOs issued by various govt departments, such as the guidelines for Indiramma Illu, are also missing from the govt portal. 

However, officials promptly upload GOs relating to the payment of telephone bills, sanctioning of leaves, promotions, and sometimes, GOs involving central schemes and budget allocations. AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had raised this issue of GOs and Budget Releasing Orders (BROs) in the state assembly a few days ago. 

He questioned how many GOs issued by various govt departments over the past year had been uploaded to the govt website. He even remarked in the assembly, “Don’t run the assembly as Gandhi Bhavan,” after his question was not addressed and was changed. Previously, public interest litigations (PILs) were filed in the Telangana High Court regarding the failure to upload important GOs on the govt website. 

Officials claimed that the practice of not making important GOs publicly available was initiated by the previous BRS govt, and the current Congress govt is continuing it. Now, departments classify the GOs as confidential and internal, before sending them to the officers or departments concerned. Sometimes, the GOs only come to light after several days or weeks when they are eventually reported by media. 

“The central govt uploads all GOs and orders immediately. Even the HC previously commented that when HC orders are uploaded to the website within 24 hours, why is the govt not uploading its orders? This attitude of the govt leads to a lack of transparency in the administration and fosters corruption,” said M Padmanabha Reddy, Secretary of Forum For Good Governance, who filed a PIL on GOs in the HC several years ago. 

He added that the state govt has not even filed a counter in this case. When the BRS was in power, the Dalit Bandhu scheme guidelines and the sanctioning of units to Vasalamarri were not made publicly available, which led to a case being filed in the HC. Interestingly, BRS MLC Dasoju Sravan, who was formerly with Congress, had also filed a PIL concerning the absence of GOs on the govt website, alleging that portal had been shut down a few years ago.