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Friday, October 23, 2026

NEWS TODAY 23.10.2026

FMG interns detained after protest for equal stipends

23.10.2026

Sakshat.Tornekar@timesofindia.com TIMES HYDERABAD

Hyderabad: Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) interning at govt general hospitals in Telangana were allegedly detained by Hyderabad police during a protest outside the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) office in Koti on Thursday. The protesters were demanding stipend parity with Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs). A Sultan Bazaar police officer said around 91 protesters were taken into preventive custody at 3 pm and released at around 7 pm.

Police said the protesters were taken to the Malakpet, Dabeerpura and Chikkadpally police stations. The action was taken because “protests were not permitted outside the DME office,” the officer said. “We have been asking for equal pay for equal work, but nobody is willing to meet us. The DME is avoiding us, and neither the health secretary nor the health minister has agreed to meet us. We have not received any written assurance so far,” said Suhas Mareedu, 27, an FMG intern who studied medicine in Jamaica.

The protesting doctors cited a National Medical Commission (NMC) public notice dated Nov 22, 2023, in support of their demand for stipend parity. The notice provides for stipends on a par with those of IMGs for specified categories of FMGs, including students who completed their medical education in Ukraine. However, the applicability of these provisions to the protesting doctors, including those who graduated from other countries, remains to be clarified.

The FMGs said they had been raising the issue for nearly a month after informing the DME of their proposed protest on Sept 23. They had earlier staged demonstrations at Dharna Chowk, People’s Plaza and the Telangana State Medical Council office before gathering outside the DME office on Thursday

WhatsApp ‘OK’ does not prove leave sanction: CAT

Rajesh Kumar Pandeytnn 23.10.2026

Prayagraj: Dismissing a railway employee’s petition challenging his transfer from Prayagraj to Fatehpur, the Allahabad bench of Central Administrative Tribunal has held that an officer’s response of “OK” to a leave request on WhatsApp “cannot by itself be treated as conclusive proof of sanction of leave”. CAT judicial member Rajnish Kumar Rai dismissed the application filed by Priya Ranjan Kumar, an employee of North Central Railway, by an order dated Oct 7.

Kumar had got leave from July 14 to July 16 last year to visit his native village. He subsequently sought an extension of two days via WhatsApp. He claimed senior divisional commercial manager Himanshu Shukla approved his request by replying “OK”. However, when Kumar returned on July 21, he was suspended. Four days later, he was transferred to Fatehpur.

A disciplinary chargesheet was issued on July 31. Kumar’s counsel argued that his transfer was a punitive measure connected to the dispute over his leave. The railways submitted the transfer was necessitated by the development of a new entry and booking office at Fatehpur station. The tribunal accepted the railways’ explanation and concluded that Kumar had failed to establish mala fide or punitive intent behind the transfer.

Denotification of rules won’t dilute med edu standards: NMC

23.10.2026

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has said that the denotification of the 2023 medical standards regulations was done only as a “measure of regulatory rationalisation intended to remove overlapping procedures” and that it would not “in any manner, dilute the prescribed standards of medical education or the regulatory oversight exercised by NMC”.

It said that under the NMC Act, undergraduate and post-graduate medical education boards were primarily entrusted with prescribing academic standards, while the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) was empowered to initiate “appropriate regulatory measures against institutions found deficient”.

The 2023 regulations created a “parallel mechanism” and the NMC decided after “judicial observations and a detailed examination of the statutory framework” to “remove this duplication”. “NMC remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of medical education while ensuring that regulation is transparent, effective and free from unnecessary duplication,” it said. tnn

State’s local bodies get expanded powers to approve building plans Move Aimed At Decentralizing Decision-Making

23.10.2026

Julie.Mariappan @timesofindia.com

Chennai: All corporations and municipalities in Tamil Nadu can approve residential building plans with a total floor space index (FSI) area of up to 1,500sqm (16,140sqft) and a maximum of 16 dwelling units, said an order issued by the housing and urban development department.

FSI area is calculated by multiplying the plot area by the permissible FSI value. The earlier limit was 10,000sqft. “We have simplified the process. Under the previous regime, people faced unnecessary hassles,” housing and urban development minister B Rajkumar told TOI.

The state govt has enhanced the powers of urban and rural local bodies to grant planning permission for residential and commercial buildings. The move is aimed at expediting approvals and decentralising decision-making.

Town panchayats and rural development and panchayat raj bodies can now approve residential buildings with an FSI area of up to 1,200sqm (12,912sqft) with a maximum of 12 dwelling units, up from the earlier limit of eight. Under the revised delegation of powers, all rural and urban local bodies can approve residential and commercial buildings as tall as 14m, subject to a maximum of stilt-plus-three floors or ground-plus-two floors.

The earlier height limit for residential buildings was 12m tall. For commercial buildings, all three categories of local bodies can grant permission for structures with an FSI area of up to 500sqm (5,380sqft). “This is a welcome move. The Greater Chennai Corporation earlier granted permission only for buildings of up to 3,280sqft, while other local bodies were limited to 2,000sqft. The latest decision will help prevent violations arising from misuse of buildings,” said S Ramaprabhu of the Builders Association of India-Southern Centre.

The decision follows a recommendation by the commissioner of town and country planning to enhance the delegation of powers to local bodies. In 2020, AIADMK govt delegated planning permission powers to local bodies, excluding Chennai, allowing them to approve buildings with a built-up area of up to 10,000sqft and a maximum of eight dwelling units.

The limit for commercial buildings was 2,000sqft. Following representations from the Builders Association of India and CREDAI, the subsequent DMK govt amended the criterion for residential approvals, replacing built-up area with FSI area.