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Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Major steps taken by CBSE to ensure successful conduct of NEET Examination for the benefit of candidates

1. Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in 1987 suo moto decided to award the work of holding the Medical entrance examination for 15% All India Quota seats to the CBSE. Since then CBSE has been holding medical entrance examination for 15% All India Quota seats and later on as per the directives of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and as per All India Medical Council Act, 1956 and the Dentist Act, 1948 as amended in 2017, CBSE is holding National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (UG) for 100% seats of MBBS/BDS in the country.
2. Through this examination, Govt. of India has taken an initiative to curb malpractices in the admission of MBBS & BDS.
3. The increase in number of candidates who apply for these entrance examinations in past 05 years is as follows:

EXAM	NO. OF CANDIDATES
AIPMT - 2015	6,32,625
NEET 2016 (PHASE – I)	6,67,637
NEET 2016 (PHASE – II)	4,38,867
NEET- 2017	11,38,888
NEET - 2018	13,26,725

4. These examinations are conducted by CBSE in a highly controlled and sanitized environment, to ensure that the benefit of the examination is passed on only to the genuine and ethical candidates. Therfore, the Board selects its centers very carefully and lays down strict norms for the candidates.
5. As per directives of the Hon’ble Court to ensure free and fair conduct of AIPMT, CBSE framed Dress Code and Barred electronic items, communication devices and other such items in the exam centers. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India also decided one PIL on dress code in favour of CBSE’s guidelines.

6. Efforts are also made to provide the best suitable environment to the candidates for appearing in the examination and therefore, not only the cities but the examination centres are also being increased to accommodate more and more candidates near to their home places. Some of the vital statistics in this regard is as follows:

Year	No. of Cities	No. of Centres
2015	53	971
2016 (Phase – I)	52	1040
2016 (Phase- II)	56	739
2017	103	1921
2018	136	2255
% increase from 2015	156%	132%

7. In the year 2018, CBSE has taken following measures to conduct the NEET (UG) successfully:
● Pen was provided by CBSE to all the candidates
● More than 4000 observers were deputed across the country at centres to oversee the examination.
● About 700 Board’s officials were deputed in all 136 cities to control the examination at local level.
● It is not out of place to mention here that the entire work of evaluation of Class X &XII was slowed down as all the officials of the CBSE were sent to conduct the NEET (UG) examination.
● For this examination, nearly 56000 rooms were arranged in 2255 centres.
● Nearly 2,00,000 persons were deputed by the schools for the conduct of NEET (UG).
● 153 City Coordinators were appointed in the cities of examination to coordinate with the centres in the city.
● Nearly 15000 police persons were deputed at examination centres with the help of State Police Department.
● Candidates were informed about the rules and regulations, conduct in examination etc everyday by sending SMS to individual candidate. Accordingly, nearly 1.33 crore SMS were sent to the candidates. Further, their parents were also communicated through various modes requesting them to ensure that their ward is following the instructions issued by CBSE.
● More than 1,00,000 SMS and 30,000 mails were sent to centres on different issues, so that they can hold the examination successfully.
● A Radio Programme was also organized to make the candidates aware about the last minute preparations and action to be taken by the candidates, so that they are reaching the centre on time.
● A capacity building program through Web Radio was organized for all 2255 centres informing them about the preparations to be made at the centre.

● Nearly 12000 metal detectors were used to frisk candidates.
● Communication Jammers were installed at the centres across the country to ensure that communication devices are not being used.
● The entire examination was videographed by deputing about 3700 videographers.

8. NEET (UG) is the only professional examination in which the question paper for Physics, Chemistry and Biology is administered in 09 regional languages other than Hindi & English. The details of language wise candidates in 2018 are as given:

LANGUAGE	NO. OF CANDIDATES
HINDI	146542
ENGLISH	1060923
GUJARATI	57299
MARATHI	1169
ORIYA	279
BENGALI	27437
ASSAMESE	3,848
TELUGU	1979
TAMIL	24720
KANNADA	818
URDU	1711
TOTAL	13,26,725

9. To ensure that candidates are accommodated near to their home, not only schools affiliated to CBSE but the other institutions were also fixed as the centre as per following details:-details:-

Affiliated To CBSE	1605
Kendriya Vidyalaya	234
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya	01
Eng College	75
ICSC	02
Higher Education Colleges	150
Pharmacy Colleges	02
State Board	186
TOTAL	2255

10. The news about ,a case where a child from Tamil Nadu claimed that he had been forced to go to Udaipur center by CBSE was wrong, because his online application records show that the child had himself opted for Udaipur as an option for exam center. Similarly, news about depriving Tamil Nadu candidates of attempting question paper in Tamil. was also wrong. In fact, all candidates, who had opted Tamil as medium were given centres within Tamil Nadu, and were given question papers in Tamil.
In 4 out of 2255 centers in India, during the conduct of examination, when it came to notice that the medium of Question paper was not correct for the candidates, CBSE immediately responded by providing them question paper in the language of their choice.
11. CBSE has been successful in conducting these high stakes exams largely due to the cooperation of the student and parent community through the years.
12. The media has also unconditionally supported the Board’s initiatives to curb the menace of adoption of unfair means by candidates.
13. CBSE shall continue to endeavor to strengthen these exams further every year and bring in as much facilitation for the students as possible for taking these exams, and also for ensuring fairness, transparency, authenticity and sanctity of NEET exams.

*****

NB/AKJ/YP/AK/CBSE

(Release ID :179165)

Tamil Nadu medical council to issue notice to 48 doctors for misleading it

Pushpa Narayan | TNN | Updated: May 1, 2018, 10:27 IST

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CHENNAI: The state medical council will issue show-cause notices to 48 doctors asking why action including cancellation of medical licence cannot be initiated against them for misleading the council. These doctors registered themselves as postgraduates in emergency medicine although their degrees weren’t recognised by the Medical Council of India.

“The state council will also initiate an internal inquiry to find out if there was any official nexus involved,” its president Dr K Senthil said. “The council was being administered by a retired judge as there were no elected members. We will find out if anyone within the council helped them,” he said.

If the disciplinary committee finds the doctors guilty, the council may cancel their PG registration or even ban them from practice and council staff may be suspended or dismissed. In addition, the council has put at least 15 more applications for registration on hold until it completes the inquiry.

The doctors hold postgraduate degrees from two deemed universities -- Sree Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute and Vinayaka Mission Medical College – which got letters of permission to start the postgraduate course in emergency medicine with two seats each in 2013 and 2012 respectively.

But 48 postgraduates in accident and emergency medicine registered their degree as just emergency medicine. State medical council officials said the doctors included 40 from Sri Ramachandra University who registered themselves between October and December last year.

“They have all completed their course between 2004-2011. We shouldn’t have registered them but we were misled,” said a senior official in the council. At least 20 of them passed out in 2009, the year when emergency medicine was first recognised as a postgraduate specialty in India.

கிரைய பத்திரம் பதியும் போது கவனிக்க வேண்டிய 16 விஷயங்கள்! கிரைய பத்திரம் பதியும் போது கவனிக்க வேண்டிய 16 விஷயங்கள்!

1. ஒரு நிலத்தை ஒரு நபரிடமிருந்து விலை கொடுத்து வாங்கி உங்கள் பெயருக்கு மாற்றி கொள்வதற்கு போடப்படும் ஆவணம் தான் கிரயப் பத்திரம் ஆகும்.

2. மேற்படி கிரயப்பத்திரம் முத்திரை தாள்களில் எழுதப்பட்டு சார்பதிவகத்தில் சாட்சிகள் முன்னிலையில் பதியப்படுவது தான் கிரயப் பத்திர பதிவு ஆகும்.

3. எழுதி கொடுப்பவரின் பெயரும் & இன்சியலும், அவரின் அடையாள அட்டை, பட்டா . மின் இணைப்பு, முன் பத்திரம் மற்றும் இதர ஆவணங்களில் உள்ளது போலவே பத்திரத்தில் எழுதப்பட்டுள்ளதா என பார்க்க வேண்டும்.

4. எழுதி கொடுப்பவர், ஏற்கனவே முன் வாங்கிய கிரயப்பத்திரத்தில் உள்ள அவரின் முகவரியும், தற்போது இருக்கும் முகவரியும் ஒன்றா என்று பார்க்க வேண்டும். இரண்டும் வேறு வேறு முகவரி என்றால் இரண்டு முகவரியும் இப்போது எழுதுகிற கிரைய பத்திரத்தில் காட்ட வேண்டும்.

5. கிரயம் எழுதி வாங்குபவரும் தன்னுடைய பெயர் , இன்சியல், முகவரி ஆகியவை அடையாள அட்டையுடன் பொருந்தும்படி பிழையில்லாமல் இருக்கிறதா என்று பார்க்க வேண்டும்.

6. கிரயம் எழுதி கொடுப்பவருக்கு சொத்து எப்படி வந்தது,

• அவர் வேறு நபரிடம் கிரயம் வாங்கி இருக்கலாம்.

• அவருடைய பெற்றோர்கள் மற்றும் குடும்பத்தாரிடம், இருந்து செட்டில்மெண்ட், பாகபிரிவினை, விடுதலைப் பத்திரம் மூலம் அடைந்து இருக்கலாம்.

• உயில் , தானம் மூலம் கிடைத்து இருக்கலாம்.

• பொது ஏலம், நீதிமன்ற தீர்வுகள் மூலம் கிடைத்து இருக்கலாம்.

• பூர்வீகமாக பட்டா படி பாத்தியப்பட்டு வந்து இருக்கலாம். அதனை கிரயம் எழுதி கொடுப்பவர் தெளிவாக ஆவண எண் விவரத்துடன் மேற்படி சொத்து எனக்கு கிடைத்தது என்று சொல்லி இருக்க வேண்டும்.

7. கிரயம் எழுதி கொடுப்பவருக்கு, யார் மூலம் சொத்து வந்தது என எழுதுவது மட்டும் இல்லாமல் அவருக்கு முன் கிரயம் பெற்றவருக்கு யார் மூலம் சொத்து வந்தது என்று நதிமூலம் ரிஷிமூலம், பார்த்து அணைத்து லிங்க் டாகுமென்ட்யையும் வாரலாறாக தற்போதைய கிரைய பத்திரத்தில் எழுதுவது மிக சிறப்பானது ஆகும்.

8. கிரயம் நிச்சயித்த உண்மை தொகை எழுத வாய்ப்பு இருந்தால் தெளிவாக எழுதுங்கள் (அல்லது) வழிகாட்டி மதிப்பு தொகை எழுதினாலும் எழுதுங்கள். எவ்வளவு பணம் அக்ரிமெண்ட் போடும்போது கொடுக்கப்பட்டது, எவ்வளவு பணம் காசோலையாக கொடுக்கப்பட்டது, எவ்வளவு பணம் வங்கி கணக்கில் கட்டப்பட்டது, எவ்வளவு பணம் ரொக்கமாக கொடுக்கப்படுகிறது, என தெளிவாக குறிப்பிட வேண்டும்.

9. கிரயம் எழுதி கொடுப்பவர், எழுதி வாங்குபவருக்கு கீழ்க்கண்ட உறுதி மொழிகளை கட்டாயம் கொடுத்து இருக்க வேண்டும்.

1.தானம்
2. அடமானம்
3. முன் கிரயம்
4. முன் அக்ரிமெண்ட்,
5. உயில்
6. செட்டில்மெண்ட்,
7. கோர்ட் அல்லது கொலாட்ரல் செக்யூரிட்டி,
8. ரெவின்யூ அட்டாச்மெண்ட்
9. வாரிசு பின் தொடர்ச்சி,
1௦. மைனர் வியாஜ்ஜியங்கள்.
11. பதிவு பெறாத பத்திரங்கள் மூலம் எழுதும் பாத்திய கோரல்கள்,
12.சொத்து ஜப்தி,
13.சொத்து ஜாமீன்,
14.பைசலுக்காக சர்க்கார் கடன்கள்,
15.வங்கி கடன்கள்,
16.தனியார் கடன்கள்,
17.சொத்து சம்மந்தமான வாரிசு உரிமை ,
18.சிவில், கிரிமினல் வழக்குகள்,
19.சர்க்கார் நில ஆர்ஜிதம்,
20.நிலகட்டுப்பாடு ,
21.அரசு நில எடுப்பு முன் மொழிவு நோட்டீஸ்,
22.நில உச்ச வரம்பு கட்டுப்பாடு,
23.பத்திரப்பதிவு சட்டம் 47(a) சட்டத்தின் கீழ் சொத்து இல்லை
24. இதில் சொல்லாத பிற வில்லங்கங்கள் இல்லை

போன்ற உறுதி மொழிகளை வில்லங்கம் இல்லை என்று கண்டிப்பாக உறுதி அளித்து இருக்க வேண்டும்.

1௦. சர்க்கார் வரி வகைகள் முழுவதும் கட்டியாயிற்று, சொத்து சம்மந்தமான அசல் நகல் ஆவணங்களை ஒப்படைத்து விட்டேன். எதிர்காலத்தில் பிழை இருந்தால் அல்லது வேறு ஏதாவது பத்திரம் இந்த சொத்து பற்றி எழுதி கொடுக்க சொன்னால் கைமாறு எதிர்பார்க்காமல் எழுதி கொடுக்கின்றேன் என்று கிரைய பத்திரத்தில் உறுதி அளித்து இருக்க வேண்டும்.

11. சொத்து விவரத்தில் மிக தெளிவாக மாவட்டம், வட்டம், கிராமம் புல எண், உட்பட அனைத்தையும் தெளிவாக குறிப்பிட்டு இருக்க வேண்டும். தெருவோ, கதவு எண்ணோ இருந்தால் நிச்சயம் குறிப்பிட்டு இருக்க வேண்டும். மின் இணைப்பு இருந்தால் மின் இணைப்பு எண், நிலத்தின் பட்டா எண், புதிய சர்வே எண், பழைய சர்வே எண், பட்டா படி சர்வே எண். தெளிவாக எழுதிருக்க வேண்டும்.

12. இடத்தின் அளவு நாட்டு வழக்கு முறையிலும் , பிரிட்டிஸ் அளவு முறையிலும், மெட்ரிக் அளவு முறையிலும் தெளிவுடன் எழுதி இருக்க வேண்டும். மெட்ரிக் அளவு முறையில் எழுதி இருந்தால் பட்டா மாற்றத்திற்கு உதவியாக இருக்கும் .

13. கிரைய சொத்தை சுற்றி இருக்கும் நான்கு பக்கங்களில் இருக்கின்ற சொத்துக்களை சிறு அளவு பிழை இல்லாமல் அடையாள படுத்த வேண்டும். நான்கு பக்கங்களில் இருக்கின்ற நீள அகல அளவுகளை தெளிவுடன் குறிப்பிட்டு இருக்க வேண்டும்.

14. பத்திரத்தின் எல்லா பக்கங்களிலும் எழுதி கொடுப்பவர் கையொப்பம் இட்டு இருக்கிறார்களா என்று சோதனையிட வேண்டும். எழுதி கொடுப்பவர் தரப்பின் சாட்சிகள், பெயர் & முகவரியுடன் கையொப்பம் இட்டு இருக்கிறார்களா என்று சரிபார்க்க வேண்டும்.

15. தேவையான பட்டா, வரைபடம், அடையாள அட்டை நகல்கள் பத்திரத்துடன் இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதா , அதில் எழுதி கொடுப்பவர் கையொப்பம் இட்டு இருக்கிறார்களா என்று பார்க்க வேண்டும்.

16. முத்திரைத்தாள்கள் சரியாக வாங்கி இருக்கிறோமோ, பதிவுக்கட்டணம் DD சரியாக எடுத்துள்ளதா, ஆவண எழுத்தர் அல்லது வக்கீல் , ஆவணம் தயாரித்தவர் என்று கையொப்பம் இட்டு இருக்கிறார்களா என்று பார்க்க வேண்டும்.

WhatsApp-பை திறக்காமல் வேண்டியவருக்கு மட்டும் மெசேஜ் செய்யலாம் - அசத்தும் அப்டேட்

வாட்ஸ் அப் செயலியைத் திறக்காமலேயே வேண்டியவருக்கு மட்டும் மெசேஜ் செய்யும் புதிய வசதியை அந்நிறுவனம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.

வாட்ஸ் அப் மற்றும் ஃபேஸ்புக் நிறுவனம் தங்களது பயனாளர்களுக்கு ஏற்ற பல புதிய வசதிகளைத் தொடர்ந்து வெளியிட்டு வருகிறது. ஃபேஸ்புக் F8 கான்ஃபிரன்ஸிங்கில் அந்நிறுவனத்துக்குச் சொந்தமான ஃபேஸ்புக், வாட்ஸ் அப், இன்ஸ்டாகிராம் போன்ற செயலிகளில் பயனர்களை ஈர்க்கும் பல புதிய வசதிகள் அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்பட்டன.

அதில் ஃபேஸ்புக் மற்றும் வாட்ஸ் அப்பில் சாட் செய்யும் முறையில் புதிய வசதிகள், வாட்ஸ் அப் குரூப் வீடியோ கால், ஸ்டிக்கர்ஸ், அனுப்பிய மெசேஜை டெலிட் செய்யும் நேரத்தை அதிகமாக்கியது, ஸ்மார்ட் ஃபோனில் டெலீட் செய்யப்பட்ட புகைப்படங்கள், வீடியோக்களை மீண்டும் பதிவிறக்கம் செய்வது போன்ற பல அம்சங்களைத் தொடர்ந்து வெளியிட்டு வருகிறது.
தற்போது வாட்ஸ் அப் செயலியைத் திறக்காமலேயே வேண்டியவருக்கு மெசேஜ் செய்யும் புதிய வசதியை வாட்ஸ் அப் நிறுவனம் அறிமுகம் செய்துள்ளதாக W beta- வில் செய்தி வெளியிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதன் படி அவர்கள் உருவாக்கியுள்ள 'wa.me' என்ற டொமைன்-யை பதிவு செய்து அதில் பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ளலாம். இந்த வசதிக்குப் பயனர்கள் தங்களின் வாட்ஸ் அப்-பை 2.18.138 க்கு மேம்படுத்த வேண்டும். இந்த வசதி ஆன்ராய்டு பீட்டாவில் மட்டும் தற்போது நடைமுறைக்கு வந்துள்ளது.

பயனர்கள் முதலில் https://wa.me/91 (phone number) என்ற தளத்தில் தாங்கள் மெசேஜ் செய்ய விரும்புவரின் ஃபோன் நம்பரை டைப் செய்ய வேண்டும். அதன் பின் URL தானாக வாட்ஸ் அப் பகுதிக்குப் பயனர்களைக் கொண்டு செல்லும். அங்கு நீங்கள் நம்பர் பதிவிட்டவருடன் மட்டும் மெசேஜ் செய்யலாம். நீங்கள் பதிவிட்ட நம்பர் தவறானதாக இருந்தால் அதுவே தவறு எனச் சுட்டிக்காட்டி விடும்.

Forced marriage: SC lets neta’s daughter cut ties

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 08.05.2018

Giving primacy to free will, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed an influential Karnataka politician’s daughter to break free from matrimonial and parental ties and live her life the way she chose to. The 26-year-old woman had fled home complaining that she was forced into marriage against her wish.

In a dramatic act, the politician’s daughter, referred in SC records as ‘X’, had left her parents’ home in Gulbarga for Delhi 20 days after being tortured into marrying a man instead of her lover. Within hours of moving the SC while under care of the Delhi Commission for Women, she was given Delhi Police protection.

When the woman, through her counsel Indira Jaising, said she wanted to return to Bengaluru and pursue her masters in engineering, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said, “You are an adult. You can go wherever you want and pursue whatever you wish to.”

But Jaising said the woman feared reprisals from her parents and husband. “Her brother, supported by her mother, had threatened to rape her,” the counsel said and sought protection against any tyrannical action from the parents or in-laws. The bench ordered, “She can go to any place she desires to. Parents or any family member of X, the husband or his family members, cannot create any obstacle in the path of the woman.”

Appearing for the parents, senior advocate Basava Patil told the court that there would be no coercive action against the woman from the parents or other family members and that all her belongings, including educational certificates and documents, would be handed over to her. “She need not apprehend anything. There will be no interference with her life from the parents. All things she desires will be given back to her,” Patil assured. The SC asked the parents to hand over documents to her through advocate-on-record Sunil Fernandes.

RELIEF GRANTED

Few takers for pricey PG medical NRI seats

Hemali.Chhapia@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:

08.05.2018

Prohibitively expensive NRI quota seats for postgraduate medical courses are not finding many takers across India. Fees being the highest in Maharashtra and Karnataka, just about 3%-5% of such seats have been filled up in the two states.

Data from several states shows that despite setting a flat rate or in some cases, lowering the fee to the same level as for management quota candidates, colleges are finding it difficult to fill their 15% NRI quota. Barring Kerala—where most NRI seats have been snapped up — states have been wooing candidates to join their colleges, sometimes even negotiating tuition rates for NRI seats.

“Most colleges across India, including deemed universities, are finding it difficult to get NRI candidates for their seats,” said head of the Directorate of Medical Education, Dr Praveen Shingare. “So they are looking for Indian candidates who can be sponsored by NRI relatives,” he added.

In most states, private colleges are allowed to follow a three-tier system in which seats are divided into merit, management, and NRI categories. Candidates are charged more for NRI seats in a bid to cross-subsidise education for the meritorious. And until 2016-17, the demand for NRI seats was so high they would be secretly auctioned off in many cases.

Now with the line of claimants thinning, in most states, colleges use their liberty to convert NRI seats to management quota (where fees are less) or surrender them to the agency in charge of regulating admissions, to enrol students at the same rate as merit seats.

In Bihar, not a single NRI seat has seen takers despite the fact that fees are same as those for management quota. Odisha has only one college and it has no NRI quota, merely merit seats and management seats. In Kerala, vacant NRI seats are being converted to merit seats and filled up by the commissioner of entrance exam. And in Karnataka, of 350 NRI seats in PG medical in 2017-18, only130 seats were filled. The rest were later shifted to the management category.

“In Karnataka, the fee structure of PG medical seats has gone up by 15% in 2018-19, compared to the previous year,” said Dr S Sacchidananda, director of Medical Education, government of Karnataka. So, an NRI PG seat in orthopaedics goes for ₹50 lakh, 10 times more compared to the ₹5 lakh charged for a merit seat in private colleges.

7K med college docs to be redesignated

After 5-Yr Halt, List Sent For Health Dept Nod

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 08.05.2018

At least 7,000 doctors in state-run medical colleges will be re-designated or promoted as per Medical Council India rules and nomenclature by month-end, director of medical education A Edwin Joe announced on Monday.

The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association had told health secretary J Radhakrishnan and Dr Joe that associate professors would not pose as professors during MCI inspections for renewal of permission. For five years, associate doctors were misrepresented as professors to renew ‘permission’ for continuing MBBS courses in many colleges despite 50% vacancies in professor posts, they said. More than 500 of the 1,020 professor posts are vacant.

A team of doctors officially handed over the representation to officials and told reporters the fraud won’t recur even if it means state medical colleges losing recognition.

Dr Joe said they had been working on redesignating teaching faculty for nearly a month. “We found that even at entry level there were many variations in designations. While some MBBS doctors were called tutors, some were called demonstrators,” he said. At the senior level associate professors were also called readers.

Promotions were also time bound. After a year, tutors/demonstrators were redesignated junior residents and three years later were made assistant professors if in non-clinical stream or senior residents if in clinical stream. The MCI has now said that doctors with a PG degree can get promotions.

The process for promotions was halted five years ago when anomalies were found in several promotions.

“We have prepared a revised list and sent it to the health department for approval,” he said.

AIADMK gradually losing support within

Mayilvaganan.V@timesgroup.com 08.05.2018

Never in the recent past had the AIADMK been so isolated, and it is more apparent since leaders of various political parties like Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekar Rao are flocking to the Gopalapuram residence of M Karunanidhi and calling upon the DMK working president M K Stalin, while all is quiet on the other side.

The AIADMK, which boasts of being the third largest party in the Lok Sabha, has been virtually left alone with none of the national or state parties willing to have any truck with it. With just a year to go for the parliamentary elections, there is little indication of any party expressing interest to join hands with the beleaguered AIADMK. “The present plight of the AIADMK is because of the leadership crisis. There is a clear anti-BJP mood across the state but the AIADMK is seen as a proxy of BJP. Other parties don’t want to be associated with it,’’ says political analyst M Kasinathan.

It is not that the AIADMK has not gone through such a lull before. After the 1996 debacle, the party turned out to be a virtual untouchable in the political arena, but J Jayalalithaa managed to do a reversal and stitched a grand alliance in two years when she roped in the BJP and other parties for the Lok Sabha elections.

For that matter, even DMK was isolated politically, especially during the Sri Lankan war when it was seen toeing the line of the Congress, though not to the extent of AIADMK’s present situation. “This situation will not change and the likelihood of parties aligning with the AIADMK in future is nil,’’ says journalist and political analyst Tharasu Shayam. “While Jayalalithaa was known to be a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she maintained an identity of her own. But neither EPS nor OPS command such a standing,’’ Shayam said.

The feeling has percolated to the grassroots, leaving the party workers more demoralised than ever. What has irked them is that the dual leadership of EPS and OPS was doing little to reverse the trend.

If the poor enrolment of members is an indication of the low morale of the cadres, yet another indication is the poor patronage of the newly launched party organ Puratchi Thalaivi Namadhu Amma. AIADMK party members admit that the BJP, which appeared to be the saviour, has now become a political obstacle. “Our leaders do not want to make any overtures to other parties for alliance for fear of antagonising the BJP,’’ said a district party member from the western region.

The series of protests — against Tasmac, NEET, Sterlite and on the Cauvery issue — has also battered the image of AIADMK, demoralising the workers’ morale further. “EPS is taking efforts to keep the party and government running. Much of the credit for the split in the Sasikala family should go to him,’’ said a party member. But for AIADMK, there was no gain from the rift between TTV Dhinakaran and V K Dhivaharan.

Email your feedback to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com

Centre issues wrong hall ticket, aspirant lodges complaint

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Salem:

08.05.2018
Father of a NEET aspirant who was turned away from the exam centre on Sunday after her admit card was found to be fake, has lodged a police complaint against an eseva centre for issuing wrong admitcard.

Navaratnaraj,father of Jeevitha,whowas refused permission by CBSE authorities, said in the complaint that the e–seva centre had issued ‘fake’ admit card. Jeevitha from Rasipuram had one hall ticket with an exam centre allotted at Kondalampattiin Salem and another hall ticket of a centre at Kottayam in Kerala.Jeevitha went to the Salem exam centre from where she was sent away. Authorities said the exam centre number given in the hall ticket was not that of Kondlampatti centre.

Navaratnaraj told the police that he had approached the e-seva centre on Anna Salai in Rasipuram and registered for NEET. After the admit card was uploaded on the CBSE website, he visited the centre where an employee of the centre downloaded the card and gavehim.

“It had Kondalampatti as the exam centre. The next day I got a call from the person from the centre stating that they have received another card which had Kottayam as the exam centre. We were confused andhencewentto Salem centre since as it was closer,” he told reporters. He has blamed the esevacentrefor theconfusion.

NEWS DIGEST

Docs urge TN to block dates for UG med counselling
08.05.2018

Doctors’ associations have asked the directorate of medical education to announce dates for undergraduate medical counselling. Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association president K Senthil said Anna University has declared dates for engineering counselling and delay in medical counselling will only leave students more confused. State officials said that the counselling can’t be scheduled without a schedule from the Directorate General for Health Services releasing dates for all India quota. “Only when the All India quota seats are filled at least in round 1, we can start our counselling. 6Otherwise it will cause more confusion,” said director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe. The association has also urged the government to rework offer incentives for doctors working in all government hospitals in rural areas.

Blood bank urges students to donate: The blood bank in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital has urged college students to volunteer and donate blood at the bank. Last year, the bank supplied one lakh blood components in 2017, and 96,000 in 2016 free of cost. The bank also conducted around 360 blood donation camps every year. More than 39,000 people have donated blood voluntarily at the bank or in camps. The collected blood units are separated into blood components using a separator and are stored in a freezer.

Docs urge transparency in transfers: Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE) has urged the government to ensure transparency in counselling for transfers of government doctors. In a statement, Dr G R Ravindranath said complaints had come up, during the ongoing counselling for transfers being held at the Directorate of Medical Services, regarding vacancies not being disclosed to participants in a proper manner. “The government should take steps to disclose all vacant posts to participants at the counselling session,” he added.

Strike threat by transport unions: A group of transport workers’ unions have threatened to go on strike again if the government does not clear their pending dues soon. The Madras high court directed the state to clear dues and increase pay scale of government transport corporation workers after the unions went on strike in January. The government is yet to release funds.

திருமலையில் நாகப்பாம்பு: பக்தர்கள் ஓட்டம்

By திருப்பதி, | Published on : 08th May 2018 12:44 AM

திருமலையில் நாகப்பாம்பைக் கண்ட பக்தர்கள் அலறி அடித்துக் கொண்டு ஓட்டம் பிடித்தனர்.

திருமலையில் கல்யாண மண்டபம் பகுதியில் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை இரவு பக்தர்கள் தங்கள் வாடகை அறைக்கு திரும்பிக் கொண்டிருந்தனர். அப்போது அங்கு சீறிப் படமெடுத்தபடி ஒரு நாகப்பாம்பு சென்று கொண்டிருந்தது. அதை கண்ட பக்தர்கள் அலறி அடித்துக் கொண்டு ஓட்டம் பிடித்தனர்.
இதுகுறித்து தகவல் அறிந்த தேவஸ்தான ஊழியர்கள் பாம்பு பிடிக்கும் ஊழியரான பாஸ்கர் நாயுடுவிற்கு தகவல் அனுப்பினர். ஆனால் அவர் திருமலையில் இல்லை.

எனவே வனத்துறை ஊழியர்கள் கல்யாண மண்டபம் பகுதியில் பக்தர்கள் செல்வதற்கு அனுமதி மறுத்து பாம்பைப் பிடிக்கும் பணியில் ஈடுபட்டனர். சில மணிநேரம் போராடி அந்தப் பாம்பைப் பிடித்து பெரிய பிளாஸ்டிக் கூடையில் போட்டு மூடி அடர்ந்த வனப்பகுதிக்குள் கொண்டு சென்று விட்டனர். அதன்பின் அவ்வழியாக பக்தர்கள் செல்ல அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டனர்.

ஜூலை 15 முதல் புதுச்சேரியில் இருந்து சென்னை, சேலத்துக்கு விமான சேவை

By DIN | Published on : 08th May 2018 01:19 AM |

புதுச்சேரியில் இருந்து சென்னை, சேலத்துக்கு ஜூலை 15 -ஆம் தேதி முதல் புதிய விமான சேவை தொடங்கப்பட உள்ளது. இதற்கான கட்டணம் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டு, தற்போது முன்பதிவு தொடங்கியுள்ளது.
நாட்டில் விமான சேவையை அதிகரிக்கும் நோக்கில் புதிய விமான கொள்கையை மத்திய அரசு அறிவித்தது. அதன்படி, சிறிய நகரங்களை வான் வழியாக இணைக்கும் உதான் திட்டத்தில் சேர்ந்து, புதுச்சேரியில் இருந்து தடைபட்டிருந்த விமான சேவையை மீண்டும் தொடங்க மாநில அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுத்தது.

இதையடுத்து, கடந்த 2017 -ஆம் ஆண்டு ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் ஸ்பைஸ் ஜெட் நிறுவனம் ஹைதராபாத்துக்கு விமான சேவையை தொடங்கியது. இதற்கு பயணிகளிடம் வரவேற்பு கிடைத்ததைத் தொடர்ந்து, மீண்டும் பெங்களூருக்கு விமான சேவையைத் தொடங்க அந்த நிறுவனம் முடிவு செய்தது. அதன்படி, கடந்த பிப்ரவரி 15 -ஆம் தேதி முதல் விமான சேவை தொடங்கியது.
இந்த நிலையில், ஏர் ஒடிஸா என்ற நிறுவனம் ஜூலை 15 -ஆம் தேதி முதல் புதுச்சேரியிலிருந்து சென்னை, சேலத்துக்கு புதிய விமான சேவையை தொடங்க உள்ளது. பயணத்துக்கான முன்பதிவு இணையதளத்தில் தொடங்கியுள்ளது.

சென்னையில் இருந்து காலை 8.10 மணிக்கு புறப்படும் விமானம் காலை 8.55 மணிக்கு புதுச்சேரி வந்தடையும். மீண்டும் பிற்பகல் 1.15 மணிக்கு புதுச்சேரியில் இருந்து புறப்படும் விமானம் பிற்பகல் 2 மணிக்கு சென்னையை சென்றடையும்.

அதேபோல, காலை 9.10 மணிக்கு புதுச்சேரியில் இருந்து புறப்படும் விமானம் 10 மணிக்கு சேலம் சென்றடையும். மீண்டும் மதியம் 12.15 மணிக்கு சேலத்தில் இருந்து புறப்பட்டு பிற்பகல் ஒரு மணிக்கு புதுச்சேரி வந்தடையும். பயண நேரம் 45 நிமிடங்கள்.

கட்டண விவரம்: சென்னை - புதுச்சேரி ரூ.1,940, புதுச்சேரி - சென்னை ரூ.1,470, புதுச்சேரி - சேலம் ரூ.1,550, சேலம் - புதுச்சேரி ரூ. 1,550.

துன்பியல் மகிழ்வு!

By ஆசிரியர் | Published on : 07th May 2018 02:27 AM

கடந்த ஆண்டு மருத்துவ மற்றும் பல் மருத்துவ மாணவர் சேர்க்கைக்கான "நீட்' எனப்படும் தகுதிகாண் நுழைவுத் தேர்வு வேண்டுமா, வேண்டாமா என்பது குறித்து மிகப்பெரிய சர்ச்சை தமிழகத்தில் எழுந்தது என்றால், இந்த ஆண்டு, "நீட்' தேர்வு நடத்தப்படும் விதம் கடுமையான விமர்சனத்துக்கும் கண்டனத்துக்கும் உள்ளாகியிருக்கிறது. குறிப்பாக, தமிழகத்திலிருந்து "நீட்' தேர்வு எழுதும் மாணவர்களில் சிலர் பிற மாநிலங்களில் அலைக்கழிக்கப்பட்ட விதம், "நீட்' தேர்வுக்கு ஆதரவு அளித்தவர்களையேகூட கோபப்படவும், எரிச்சலடையவும் வைத்திருக்கிறது.

தமிழகத்தில் 170 தேர்வு மையங்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தன. தேர்வு மையங்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த பல மாவட்டங்களிலும்கூட மாணவ, மாணவியர் வெளிமாநிலத் தேர்வு மையங்களில் தேர்வு எழுத பணிக்கப்பட்டது ஏன் என்பது புரியவில்லை. தமிழகத்திலிருந்து இந்த ஆண்டு தேர்வு எழுத விண்ணப்பித்த 1,07,288 மாணவர்களில் ஏறத்தாழ 5,500}க்கும் மேற்பட்ட மாணவர்களுக்கு கேரளம், ஆந்திரம், கர்நாடகம் ஆகிய அண்டை மாநில தேர்வு மையங்கள் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டதை கூட ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளலாம். ஆனால், 1,000 கி.மீ.க்கு அப்பால் உள்ள ராஜஸ்தான், சிக்கிம் உள்ளிட்ட தொலைதூர மாநிலங்களில் சிலருக்கு தேர்வு மையங்கள் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது, மாணவர்களின் மீது கொஞ்சம்கூட கருணையே இல்லாத துன்பியல் உணர்வுள்ள மத்திய இடைநிலை கல்வி வாரியத்தின் மனப்போக்கைத்தான் வெளிப்படுத்துகிறது. தமிழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்த சுமார் 5,000 மாணவர்கள் தேர்வு எழுத வரவில்லை எனத் தெரிகிறது.
தமிழகத்தில் தேர்வு மையங்களை ஒதுக்கும்படி சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டும்கூட, மாற்ற முடியாது என்று, அதனை எதிர்த்து உச்சநீதிமன்றத்தில் மேல்முறையீடு செய்யப்பட்டது. உச்சநீதிமன்றம் அந்த மேல்முறையீட்டை ஏற்றுக்கொண்டு சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றத்தின் உத்தரவை ரத்து செய்தது. உச்சநீதிமன்றத்திற்கும் கூடவா "நீட்' தேர்வு எழுதும் மாணவ, மாணவியரின் சிரமங்களும், மனஉளைச்சலும் தெரியவில்லை?
வெளிமாநிலங்களில் தேர்வு எழுதச் சென்றவர்கள் அங்கே அனுபவித்த பிரச்னைகளைச் சொல்லி மாளாது. போக்குவரத்துக் குறைபாடு, தங்கும் வசதி குறைபாடு, தேர்வு மையத்திற்கு சரியான நேரத்தில் செல்ல இயலாமை, மொழி தெரியாமல் பட்ட அவஸ்தை, முற்றிலும் புதிய இடம் என்பதால் தேர்வு எழுதும் மாணவர்கள் மத்தியில் காணப்பட்ட அச்சம், மன அழுத்தம், எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் மேலாக தொலைதூரப் பயணத்துக்கு பெற்றோருடன் சென்று வருவதற்கு நேர்ந்த செலவு என்று என்னென்னவோ பிரச்னைகளை அவர்கள் எதிர்கொள்ள வேண்டிவந்தது. இதுகுறித்தெல்லாம் நீதித்துறையோ, இந்திய மருத்துவ கவுன்சிலோ, மத்திய இடைநிலைக் கல்வி வாரியமோ கொஞ்சம்கூட கவலைப்படாமல் நடந்துகொண்டதை என்னதான் காரணம் கூறினாலும், நியாயப்படுத்திவிட முடியாது.

திருத்துறைப்பூண்டி அருகே பெருகவாழ்ந்தான் கிராமத்தில் நூலகராகப் பணியாற்றி வந்த 47 வயது கிருஷ்ணசாமியின் கனவு, தனது மகன் மருத்துவராக வேண்டும் என்பது. "நீட்' தேர்வு எழுதுவதற்காக கேரள மாநிலம், எர்ணாகுளத்தில் உள்ள நாலந்தா பள்ளியில் அவரது மகன் கஸ்தூரி மகாலிங்கத்துக்கு மையம் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. மிகுந்த சிரமத்துடன் தேர்வு மையத்தைக் கண்டறிந்து, தேர்வு மையத்தில் மகனை விட்டுவிட்டு விடுதிக்குத் திரும்பிய கிருஷ்ணசாமி, அந்த மனஉளைச்சலால் மாரடைப்பு ஏற்பட்டு இறந்துவிட்டிருக்கிறார். தந்தை இறந்ததுகூட தெரியாமல் கஸ்தூரி மகாலிங்கம் "நீட்' தேர்வு எழுதியிருக்கிறார். இது எத்தனையோ நிகழ்வுகளில் ஒன்று மட்டுமே.

சில மையங்களில் முதலில் இந்தி, ஆங்கில மொழிகளில் வினாத்தாள்கள் தரப்பட்டு, பிறகு தாமதமாக தமிழில் வினாத்தாள் தரப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. தாங்கள் எந்தவிதமான மனஉளைச்சலுக்கும் ஆளாகவில்லை என்று அதிகாரிகள் அந்த மாணவர்களிடம் கடிதம் எழுதி வாங்கியிருக்கிறார்கள். இஸ்லாமிய மாணவிகள் பர்தா அணிந்து வருவதற்கு தடைவிதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது உண்மை. ஆனால், அவர்கள் அணிந்திருந்த கம்மல், மூக்குத்தி, கைகளில் அணிந்திருந்த கயிறு ஆகியவற்றை அகற்றிவிட்டுத்தான் உள்ளே செல்ல வேண்டும் என்று வற்புறுத்தப்பட்டது. மாணவிகளின் தலைமுடியை அவிழ்த்து அதிகாரிகள் சோதனைக்கு உள்படுத்தியதால், சில மாணவிகள் தலைவிரி கோலத்துடன் தேர்வு எழுதினர். அவர்களது மனஉளைச்சல் எப்படிப்பட்டதாக இருந்திருக்கும்.
சில மையங்களில் பிராமண மாணவர்களின் பூணூல் அறுத்து எறியப்பட்டது.
தமிழகத்தில் எத்தனை எத்தனையோ பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் தேர்வு மையம் அமைப்பதாகக் கூறினால் தங்களது கல்லூரியை இலவசமாகத் தரத் தயாராக இருக்கும் நிலையில், வேற்று மாநிலங்களுக்கு இங்கிருந்து மாணவர்களை அனுப்பித் தேர்வு எழுதச் சொல்ல வேண்டிய அவசியம் என்ன இருந்தது என்பது புரியவில்லை.

தகுதிகாண் தேர்வுக்காக இரவு பகலாக உழைத்துப் படித்த மாணவர்களை, தங்கள் திறமையைத் தேர்வில் வெளிப்படுத்த வசதி செய்து கொடுக்காமல் அச்சுறுத்தி, மனஉளைச்சலுக்கு ஆளாக்கியிருக்கும் மத்திய இடைநிலைக் கல்வி வாரியத்தின் அத்துமீறல்களை யாரும் தட்டிக்கேட்கக்கூட முடியாது. காரணம், உச்சநீதிமன்றத்தின் வழிகாட்டுதலுடனும் உத்தரவின்படியும் அவர்கள் மருத்துவ மற்றும் பல் மருத்துவ படிப்பு மாணவர் சேர்க்கைக்கான தகுதிகாண் தேர்வை நடத்துகிறார்கள். இவர்கள் செய்த தவறுக்காக பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடியின் உருவ பொம்மையை சிலர் எரிக்க முற்பட்டிருக்கிறார்களே, அதற்குப் பெயர் மாணவர்கள் மீதான அக்கறையல்ல, அரசியல்! கடந்த ஆண்டும் அத்துமீறல்கள் நடந்தன. இந்த ஆண்டு அதிகரித்திருக்கிறது.

இதற்குப் பொறுப்பேற்க வேண்டியது யார்?

மேலும் செய்திகளை உடனுக்குடன் படிக்க, தினமணி மொபைல் ஆப்-ஐ இங்கே கிளிக் செய்து தரவிறக்கம் செய்துகொள்ளுங்கள்!

பணி புறக்கணிப்பு : டாக்டர்கள் முடிவு

Added : மே 08, 2018 00:47

சென்னை: சென்னை, தலைமை செயலகத்தில், சுகாதாரத் துறை செயலர், ராதாகிருஷ்ணனை சந்தித்து பேசிய, அரசு டாக்டர்கள் சங்க தலைவர் செந்தில் கூறியதாவது:மத்திய அரசுக்கு இணையாக, ஊதிய உயர்வு கோரியும், ஐந்தாண்டுகளாக பதவி உயர்வு வழங்காத, 500 பேராசிரியர்களுக்கு, பதவி உயர்வு வழங்கக் கோரியும் போராடி வருகிறோம். எங்கள் கோரிக்கைகளை நிறைவேற்றுவதாக, சுகாதாரத்துறை செயலர் உறுதி அளித்துள்ளார்.மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரிகளில், எம்.சி.ஐ., அதிகாரிகள் ஆய்வுக்கு வரும் போது, எங்கள் கோரிக்கைகளை முன் வைத்து, பணி புறக்கணிப்பு செய்வோம். இதனால், அரசு மருத்துவ கல்லுாரிகளில், மருத்துவக் இடங்கள் ரத்தாகும் நிலை ஏற்படும்.இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.

இன்று தமிழகத்தில் கனமழைக்கு வாய்ப்பு

Updated : மே 08, 2018 02:05 | Added : மே 07, 2018 14:24

சென்னை : தமிழகத்தின் உட்புற மாவட்டங்களில், இன்று(மே 8) பரவலாகக் கனமழை பெய்ய வாய்ப்பு உள்ளதாகச் சென்னை வானிலை ஆய்வு மையம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

வெப்பச் சலனம் காரணமாகத் தமிழகம் மற்றும் புதுச்சேரியில் ஓரிரு இடங்களில் இடியுடன் கூடிய மழை பெய்ய வாய்ப்புள்ளதாகவும், இன்று தமிழகத்தின் உட்புற மாவட்டங்களில் பரவலாகக் கன மழை பெய்ய வாய்ப்பு உள்ளதாகவும் சென்னை வானிலை ஆய்வு மையம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

நேற்று காலை 8.30 மணியுடன் முடிந்த 24 மணி நேரத்தில் அதிகஅளவாகக் கன்னியாகுமரி மாவட்டம் பேச்சிப்பாறையில் 5 செ.மீ., மழை பதிவாகி உள்ளது. சேலம் மாவட்டம் ஏற்காடு, விருதுநகர் மாவட்டம் சாத்தூர் ஆகிய இடங்களில் 4 செ.மீ., மழை பதிவாகி உள்ளது.

Monday, May 7, 2018

கடந்த ஆண்டை விட இந்தாண்டு நீட் தேர்வு எளிதாக இருந்தது: மாணவர்கள் கருத்து

கடந்த ஆண்டை விட இந்தாண்டு நீட் தேர்வு எளிதாக இருந்ததாக மாணவர்கள் கருத்து தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

இயற்பியல், வேதியல் பாட வினாக்கள் மட்டும் சிறிது கடினமாக இருந்ததாகவும் கூறியுள்ளனர்.

பரட்டை தலையுடன் நீட் தேர்வு எழுதச்சென்ற மாணவிகள்! -பெற்றோர் வேதனை

விகடன்

நீட் தேர்வு எழுதவரும் மாணவிகளின் தலையை கோதிவிட்டுக் காண்பிக்க சொன்னதால் மாணவிகள் மதுரையில் பரட்டைதலையுடன் தேர்வு எழுதச் சென்ற சம்பவம் பொதுமக்களிடம் பெரும் கோபத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

நீட் தேர்வு நாடு முழுவதும் இன்று காலை 10 மணிக்குத் தொடங்கியது. 10 மணிக்குத் தொடங்கிய தேர்வு 1.30 மணி வரை நடைபெற்றது. பல்வேறு கட்டுப்பாடுகளுடன் தேர்வு அறைக்குச் சென்ற மாணவர்கள் தேர்வு எழுதினர். நாடு முழுவதும் 13.26 லட்சம் பேர் எழுதுகின்றனர். தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள 170 மையங்களில் மொத்தம் 1,07,288 பேர் எழுதுகின்றனர். இந்நிலையில் மதுரையில் 20 மையங்களில் 11,800 நபர்களுக்குத் தேர்வு எழுத நுழைவு சீட்டு வழங்கப்பட்டது . கண்காணிப்பாளர்களுக்கு மட்டும் 500 அறைகள் ஒதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 6 பறக்கும் படை குழுக்களும், 20 தலைமை அதிகாரிகளும் மதுரை மாவட்டத்திற்கு நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன . இந்நிலையில் தேர்வுக்கு நுழையும் மாணவிகளின் தோடு, வளையல், வாட்ச், ஹேர்பின், ஜடைமாட்டி உள்ளிட்டவற்றை வெளியே வைக்கச் சொல்லி அதிகாரிகள் அறிவுறுத்தினர். இதனால் தலையை கலைத்தபடி பரட்டைதலையுடன் மாணவிகள் தேர்வு சென்றதாகப் பெற்றோர்கள் வேதனைத் தெரிவித்தனர்.

Till June 13, don’t charge Rs 14 lakh fees, HC tells private medical collegeTNN | Updated: May 3, 2018, 04:24 IST

100

Bombay high court

MUMBAI: In a significant interim relief for students fighting against “high fees”, the Bombay high court on Wednesday stayed till June 13 a state government decision allowing a medical college in Palghar run by a private company to charge Rs 14 lakh as fees.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by 74 first-year MBBS students of Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Vedantaa Hospital and Research Centre, a unit of Vedantaa Institute of Academic Excellence Pvt Ltd.

The students’ lawyer Aparna Devkar argued that though the brochure said that the collection of fees would be subject to the decision of the fee regulatory authority, which had capped the fees at Rs 6 lakh, the institute was not refunding the fees. The students had challenged a government resolution (GR) of April 10 which essentially said that since the college was being run by a private company, it would not be governed by the fee regulatory authority.

The private medical college has been allowed to charge Rs 14 lakh as fees on the grounds that it is run by a private company and hence, entitled to “profiteering”.

A division bench of Justices B R Gavai and Bharti Dangre heard the matter on Wednesday.

V M Thorat, counsel for the medical college, argued that since the Medical Council of India has brought in changes to its rules, the fees being charged are legitimate. He sought time to file a reply.

The high court granted the private medical college time to file an affidavit by June 13. The bench was of the prima facie view that the impugned government resolution was in contravention of various Supreme Court judgments, the latest being Modern Dental College versus State of Madhya Pradesh in 2016. The high court stayed the government resolution till June 13. The institute has been directed to file a reply by the next date.

Two NEET aspirants lose fathers; CBSE goofs question papers again
Sunday was a day of tragedy for Kasturi Mahalingam of Vilakkudi in Tiruvarur district and Devi Ishwarya of Singampunari in Sivagangai district.

Published: 07th May 2018 04:11 AM

An official reading out the list of students who are yet to write the NEET at Noyes MHS School exam centre in Madurai on Sunday | k k sundar

By Express News Service

Sunday was a day of tragedy for Kasturi Mahalingam of Vilakkudi in Tiruvarur district and Devi Ishwarya of Singampunari in Sivagangai district. Kasturi was among the 1500 students from Tamil Nadu who took the NEET outside the State. While he was writing his exam, his father Krishnasamy Srinivasan, who had accompanied him to Ernakulam for the test, took ill.

By the time Kasturi exited the exam centre at Thammanam, 47-year-old Srinivasan, a government librarian, had died of cardiac arrest. Later, it was learnt that J Kannan, father of Devi Ishwarya, who wrote the NEET exam in Madurai, also died. Kannan, 49, a lorry driver, had accompanied his daughter to Madurai. After the exam, he developed chest pain. He was brought dead at Government Rajaji Hospital.

Meanwhile, question paper goof ups in Madurai and Salem caused stress. In Madurai, 112 students who were to take the test at Noyes Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Narimedu started the exam late as the centre received 100 question papers in Hindi. E Georgina Jacquline, school’s principal said, “We opened the three boxes of the Tamil/English question papers minutes before the exam as per CBSE instructions and while distributing them discovered that the third box contained 100 question papers in Hindi/English.”

While 22 students started the exam at 12.30 pm, 90 students started the test at 3pm. In Salem, students at three centres were left to stew as the question papers for 195 Tamil medium students reached only at noon forcing the students to start the exam at 1pm. Tension prevailed at a Salem centre after a student was not allowed to write the exam as she produced two hall tickets.

Over a lakh students take test in TN
The NEET exam for admission to MBBS and BDS course saw around 1.07 lakh students taking the examination in Tamil Nadu. Around 24,720 opted to write the exam in Tamil.

Ex gratia for Krishnasamy family
TN announced ex gratia of D3L and funding for Kasturi Mahalingam’s future studies.

‘Little support from KL or TN’
Parents of students who took the test in Kerala complained of lack of support from both governments.

‘Physics section tough’
State board students found the Physics section of the question paper very tough.

Student with chicken pox sits for exam

Pon Vasanth B.A

MADURAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

With blisters all over body, boy reaches centre from Dindigul village

Despite suffering from chickenpox, a government school student from Puliyurnatham near Oddanchathiram in Dindigul district managed to sit for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test at his designated centre, Noyes Matriculation Higher Secondary School, here on Sunday.

M. Tamilarasan, a student of Government Higher Secondary School in Muthunaickenpatti near his village, who could not wear proper clothes to cover his upper part of the body because of the blisters, came to the centre by covering his body with a dhoti.

The authorities, who were initially unsure of allowing him to take the exam, consulted senior officials and allowed him to sit for the exam in a separate classroom.

“The officials helped me well. They gave me water at regular intervals to keep myself hydrated,” he said. Tamilarasan was given some extra time to complete the exam due to the delayed permission to start answering questions.

His father S. Muniyandi said Tamilarasan attended a month-long residential NEET coaching at a centre in Thrissur and returned home only on Saturday. “In the evening, he developed symptoms of chickenpox, but they were not severe. However, later in the night, his body was full of blisters,” he said.

“He insisted on taking the exam since he had put in a lot of efforts. We had also spent a good amount of money for the coaching,” he added. Mr. Muniyandi arranged a car to bring his son to the exam centre.

“Except for Physics, I have done relatively well. I hope I will clear it,” Tamilarasan said.

Testing times for NEET candidates, parents

Pon Vasanth B.A. and Sanjana Ganesh

MADURAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Long journey from far away places, minimum facilities provided at examination centres create difficulties

Sunday started with a bundle of nerves for many as 11,341 students from various districts took National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 20 centres across Madurai. With 459 students absent, 96.11% of the registered candidates took the test.

Police personnel and Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) officials frisked students at two points prior to their entry into the examination hall. The students were asked to remove jewellery, clips, dupattas and even socks before entering the hall. The girls experienced some discomfort when they were asked to remove duppattas. Some had bought new clothes to comply with the dress code.

Longer sleeves were cut off from a girl student’s kurta top at M.S.S. Wakf Board College, because it went against the CBSE dress code guidelines. The student’s sister said they had arrived from Manamadurai at 6 a.m. Despite reaching the exam centre on time, her sister did not have a proper place to change her kurta. Several parents registered their protest against this move.

G. Jayaprakash, a parent, said the centres should have been equipped with emergency facility such as a changing room. Many students were unaware that they should have brought additional passport size photograph apart from the one affixed on hall ticket. Hence, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Noyes Matriculation Higher Secondary School and some other centres had arranged photographers to shoot pictures. They charged Rs. 100 for 8 copies. Students in Wakf Board College, however, had to travel all the way to Anna bus stand or Goripalayam to the studios.

Parents who travelled long distances to accompany their children, particularly from districts such as Theni, Ramanathapuram, Vellore and Dindigul, said that the travel and lack of proper arrangements left them exhausted. M. Veni from Ramanathapuram said most centres did not provide proper bathroom facilities for girls and seating arrangement for parents. “After catching a bus early in the morning, we directly came to the centre. We did not book any hotel room. Where are we expected to wait for our children? Can’t they provide water or bathrooms at least?” she asked.

N. Kannan, a parent from an interior village in Theni district, said the government should have started bus services very early in the day so that students could make it to the centres on time. “I started my journey to Madurai from my village at 2 a.m. but could arrive in Theni only at 5 a.m. We were lucky to make it on time but some students could not,” he said. The students should have been allotted centres closer home so that they would not experience fatigue during the test, he said.

After the test, some of the the students said the Biology component was easy for both State Board and CBSE students but Physics was difficult. E. Ranjith from Abiramam in Ramanathapuram district said he attended coaching classes arranged by the State government. Though it helped, he could not complete the paper on time, he said.

Sharon, a student from C.S. Ramachary Matriculation School in Tirunagar, Madurai, said the paper was not very difficult but challenging. Several others echoed her opinion.

Over 100 take the test in Rajasthan

Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Over 100 candidates from Tamil Nadu appeared for NEET in Rajasthan on Sunday after travelling more than 2,000 km to reach their exam centres. The exam was conducted in six cities, including Jaipur, in the State.

The NEET aspirants, mostly accompanied by their parents, arrived here by train, road and air. The Rajasthan Tamil Sangam, an association of people from the southern State who are settled in Rajasthan, had made arrangements for the students’ stay, food and transport.

However, very few candidates contacted the Sangam though it had tried to reach out to them through social media platforms, Sangam member S. Muruganandam told The Hindu .

Mr. Muruganandam said the Sangam had posted its volunteers at the railway station and bus stand to help provide food and local transport, especially to those who don’t speak Hindi.

The Sangam had earlier received calls from about 30 NEET aspirants.

Temple burgled at Madambakkam

CHENNAI:, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Burglars broke into Sri Devi Karumari Amman Temple in Sudharsan Nagar, Madambakkam on Saturday night and escaped with temple jewellery.

Over 130 g of silver ornaments and 3 g of gold jewels were stolen.

The burglary was noticed by temple cleaning staff at 6 a.m. on Sunday.

The physics hurdle in the medical entrance race

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Playing it safe:Some attempted lesser number of questions in physics and more in other sections like chemistry, fearing negative marks for wrong answers.T. Singaravelou

‘Many would’ve found section tough’; qualifying marks could be around 150

This year’s NEET was slightly easier than the one last year. But for admission to a government medical college, a score of over 500 would be needed, experts said. They expected the qualifying score to be around 140-150 marks for the general category.

Though most questions were not time-consuming, there were similarities between the weightage of marks in this paper and the Class 12 syllabus. Though there were almost an equal number of questions from Class 11 and Class 12 chemistry and physics, the chemistry questions were said to have been easier, while physics had calculation-based questions.

“Only those who understand the concept well would have been able to attempt the questions confidently,” said S. Sree Rangapriya of Coimbatore. Violet Priscilla of Chennai said she attempted only eight questions in physics and 35 in chemistry, fearing negative marks for wrong answers. She hopes to score 400 marks. D. Srivarshini of Sirumugai, who took the test in Coimbatore, said she also followed a similar approach.

However, Franklin Jacob from Nagercoil, who took the test in Chennai, said he did better in the physics section.

Biology, a breeze

“A majority of students would have found the physics section a tad difficult as there were some good conceptual questions thrown in. Any score in excess of 525 should get the students admission in top colleges through the State quota,” said Anand Nagarajan, academic head for school division, T.I.M.E. Chennai.

The physics section was the toughest and was lengthy, with 24 questions from Class 12 and 21 from Class 11 syllabus. “The section had two difficult questions, nine moderately tough questions and 34 easy questions,” said Rajshekhar Ratrey, vice president, educational content, Toppr.com.

Most questions in chemistry were based on simple concepts. With an equal number of questions from Class 11 and Class 12 syllabi, students had to answer one difficult question, 20 moderately difficult questions and 24 easy questions.

Students found biology easier than physics and chemistry as unlike last year, it had very few application-oriented questions. There were 46 questions from Class 12 and 44 from Class 11 syllabi. The section had 9 difficult questions, 33 moderately difficult questions and 18 easy questions.

“As many as 170 questions were based on the NCERT syllabus and only 10 were tricky, interlinking two topics,” said Uday Nath Mishra, chief academic officer, BasicFirst. Of these, 110 were easy and 25 fell under the highly difficult level.

He anticipated the minimum qualifying mark to be 130-140 and 505-515 marks for admission to government colleges.

( With inputs from Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore)

Officials play by the book; students and parents cry foul

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Taking no chances:NEET aspirants being frisked outside an examination centre in Chennai on Sunday.M. Vedhan
Heavy frisking and strict adherence to rules mark conduct of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test; arrangements could have been better, feel many

Heavy frisking and strict adherence to the rules marked the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the qualifying exam for admission to medical colleges that was conducted on Sunday.

A total of 1,07,480 candidates had registered for NEET from the State, including 24,720 aspirants who took the test in Tamil. As many as 3,685 candidates from Madurai, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli were allocated centres in Ernakulam.

With NEET made compulsory for admission to courses under the Indian systems of medicine from this year, a total of 25,206 more candidates had registered for the test.

Though the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducts NEET, had posted instructions on its website, scores of students and parents had a tough time complying with them. In some schools, parents had to snip the sleeves of their children (only short sleeves were allowed); girls also had to remove jewellery, hair clips and duppatas. In some centres, students who arrived a few minutes late were not allowed inside the centre. Flash protests staged by a few parents were of no avail.

At Kendraiya Vidyalaya, Sowripalayam, a candidate fainted in the school towards the end of the examination and was rushed to a hospital.

At a centre in West Mambalam, a group of girls from a government girls higher secondary school in Chidambaram had come in whites. “We wore white after reading the instructions on the internet,” said M. Madhumathi. The group had attended the government-sponsored coaching at Bhuvanagiri.

Heat adds to woes

K. Sugapriya, who also took the test from the same centre, is a student of St. Philomena Higher Secondary School in Ariyalur of which Anita – who committed suicide last year to protest against NEET – was a student. Anita had approached the Supreme Court against NEET. Ms. Sugapriya said five other students from the school took the test in Chennai.

While the students took the three-hour test, parents waited outside the venue, sometimes with no shade to protect them from the scorching sun.

R. Murugan, a welder from Thirukovilur, came with his daughter to the venue at 4 a.m. as train services to Chennai had been hit.

R. Kalyanasundaram of Pudukottai, a parent who was waiting outside a test venue in Coimbatore, said the examination centres could have opened a few classrooms for parents who were forced to wait on the streets.

But D. Rajkumar, who had flown from Singapore as his daughter A. Merlin was taking the test in Coimbatore, said the arrangements were good and the instructions had been clear.

Indians among favoured migrants in UK: Survey

London: Times of India 07.05.2018

Indian migrants have a more positive image in the UK as compared to other South Asian communities, according to a recent opinion poll. In comparison, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were in the negative territory. The YouGov poll, conducted last month among 1,668 British citizens, asked a series of questions about the kind of contribution immigrants from various parts of the world make to British life.

Immigrants from India received a strong figure of +25 on the question about making a positive contribution to British life. In comparison, other South Asian counterparts were in negative territory. Pakistanis scored a negative figure of -4 and Bangladeshis -3. Net figures are calculated by taking away the figure for “negative contribution” from the figure for “positive contribution”.

The figures come against the backdrop of a growing debate around the atmosphere for migrants in the UK.

In a House of Commons debate earlier this week, the Opposition Labour party had warned that the recent Windrush scandal engulfs immigrants from many Commonwealth countries, including “those who came from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh”.

The scandal relates to thousands of Commonwealth citizens who came to Britain many decades ago when there was little need for formal paperwork and are now legally resident in Britain but may not have all the documents to prove it. The YouGov survey concluded that overall public opinion in the UK towards immigration remains negative.

Around 63%t of people believe that immigration into Britain in the last 10 years has been too high and around 32% thinking it has been mostly bad for Britain. PTI

4TH DENIED ENTRY

3 NEET aspirants jump gates in B’luru, barred

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: 07.05.2018
Four students were barred from taking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam at the Army Public School, Kamraj Road centre on Sunday, when they arrived after gates closed at 9.30am.

While one student was turned back at the gate, three students who scaled the gate were shooed away by police on security duty at the centre.

Drama erupted when a girl from Hassan district, who arrived three minutes past the

reporting deadline, climbed over the gate with her parents’ assistance. She was caught by police and sent out of the centre.

However, that did not deter two others — a boy from Hassan district and a girl aspirant from Anekal — who were also late by three minutes, from vaulting the gate. They too were helped over by anxious parents, but both were barred from taking the exam. The fourth candidate — a girl from Bengaluru — was not allowed to enter after they arrived late.

The CBSE had set a reporting time between 7.30am and 9.30am, a schedule that was communicated to students and displayed on the website.

The parents said that they had gotten caught up in traffic from the railway station to the centre. Other parents, who were locals, also complained of dense traffic around Shivajinagar and Commercial Street.

TAKING A LEAP
Kerala NEET candid

Question papers in Hindi rattle 110 students in Madurai

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:

07.05.2018
In a major gaffe by the CBSE, around 110 candidates from various districts who appeared for NEET here were issued the Hindi version of the question paper. They were made to wait till afternoon and given photocopies of the Tamil question paper but asked to answer in the OMR sheet of the Hindi question paper. Many students said their MBBS dreams were over.

The goof-up happened at Noyes Matriculation School at Narimedu which had a total of 568 students sitting for the examination. When the first batch of students came out after the exam around 1 pm, many parents couldn’t spot their wards. C Shanmugam of Theni found that his son Mahendran had come out, but not his elder son. After waiting for about half an hour, the parents gheraoed the school principal who told them that their children had been given Hindi question papers. They were waiting for the Tamil question papers to be sent from New Delhi.

“That was such a mockery as it was clear that it was impossible for question papers to be brought from Delhi today. Later we came to know that the students were given photocopies of the question paper,” said Thirumurugan of Theni. Fourteen students were made to write the examination from 12.30pm to 3.30pm and another 96 students from 3.30pm to 6pm.

A R Olivia of Rameswaram said that she was shocked to see that she was given a photocopied question paper. The invigilators took back the paper after asking them to give an undertaking that they had handed back the question paper on their own and not been forced to do so.

HUGE MESS

TN boy’s dad dies as he gives NEET in Kerala

Suffers Heart Attack After Escorting Son

Vikram Vinod & Sambath Kumar TNN

Kochi/Trichy/Madurai: 07.05.2018
As Thiruvarur native Kasthuri Mahalingam left the hotel to appear for the national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET), he never expected it to be the last time he would see his father Krishnaswamy Srinivasan, 46, alive.

A few minutes later, as Mahalingam took the test, his father passed away after possibly suffering a cardiac arrest at a Kochi hospital where his friend V P Murugaiyan took him. Mahalingam was left undisturbed to complete his exam. It had been his father’s dream to see him become a doctor “Krishnaswamy had complained of chest pain on Saturday night but said he would be fine today. But it worsened and I had to drop his son at the examination centre," said Murugaiyan, the receptionist at Hotel Airlines where the father and son were staying. Murugaiyan was also a close friend of Srinivasan from his native town.

Murugaiyan dropped Mahalingam at the examination centre, Nalanda Public School, at 7am. When he returned, Srinivasan said he wanted to go to a hospital. “We first went to Krishna Hospital but there was no doctor there. Then I rushed him to City Hospital, where medical care was given immediately; but they couldn’t save his life,” he said. The body was shifted to the Ernakulam government hospital’s mortuary.

Meanwhile, unaware of his father’s death, Mahalingam finished the test and came out only to be greeted by officials from the Ernakulam collector’s office who took him to the government hospital. Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla, who joined midway, told the boy that his father had been admitted to the ICU. It was only after Srinivasan’s relatives reached around 3.30 pm that Mahalingam was informed of his father’s death. The boy was inconsolable as the body was taken in an ambulance arranged by the district authorities after 4pm. Hospital staff said that Srinivasan had hypertension and diabetes and that he had not taken his medication for the past couple of days as he forgot to bring them to Ernakulam and this had probably worsened his condition.

Murugaiyan said Krishnasamy had to sit near the toilet all through his night journey on the train to Ernakulam and he said he had to face such ordeals to see his son become a doctor one day. In fact, Krishnasamy never had second thoughts when it came to helping his son realise his dreams, according to his friends in Tiruvarur.

His son Mahalingam had a similar wish to learn chess a few years ago. Krishnasamy not only encouraged him to pursue his dream but also appointed a dedicated coach for him. Tiruvarur collector L Nirmal Raj who was in constant touch with his counterpart in Ernakulam said that all arrangements had been made to escort Krishnasamy’s body to Thiruvarur at the earliest.

In another incident, a man who accompanied his daughter to the NEET venue at Pasumalai centre in Madurai fainted on the campus and was declared dead at the Government Rajaji Hospital. Police said Kannan,45, of Singampunari in Sivaganga district, ran a lorry service in his hometown.

Kasthuri Mahalingam’s uncle Mani Varnnan consoles him after the NEET exam in Ernakulam on Sunday

CBI court convicts railway engineer over graft charges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:

07.05.2018

A CBI court convicted a Southern Railways senior section engineer on graft charges and sentenced him to two years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him ₹15, 000.

A special CBI team arrested Thota T Shivakumar for demanding ₹15,000 from a railway contractor to record data of projects the contractor executed in 2014.

The railways in December 2012 awarded L G Ravi a tender, estimated at ₹97 lakh, for work on the Chennai-Gudur section. The project involved the laying of points and crossings between Ennore and Athipattu Pudhunagar.

Under the agreement, the railways would provide raw material and Ravi would hire and pay the workers for the project, which was to be completed by February 2013. But the railways extended the contract till May 2014 due to delays in procuring raw material. Ravi approached the deputy chief engineer requesting to release the payment for work done and to close the agreement. Ravi met officials, including T Shivakumar, at Athipattu station on March 4, 2014.

The CBI said the deputy chief engineer directed Shivakumar to record the measurements of work Ravi had done. When Ravi met Shivakumar at his office two days later, the engineer demanded a bribe of ₹15,000. Ravi filed a complaint and the CBI set a trap to catch the engineer.

On March 7, Ravi met Shivakumar at My Lady Park near Park Town and handed over the bribe. A CBI team caught Shivakumar in the act and booked him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Principal special judge for CBI cases A Thiruneelaprasad pronounced Shivakumar guilty after hearing the arguments and going through the evidence. He sentenced the engineer to two years of rigorous imprisonment.

NEET 2018

State handed a raw deal by CBSE again

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 07.05.2018
Tamil Nadu has always been given a raw deal by the CBSE as far as the NEET examinations are concerned. The board has only accentuated its callousness by allotting exam centres at other states for examinees from Tamil Nadu.

NEET-PG 2015 scheduled from December 1 to 6 was affected due to the Chennai floods. Those who were supposed to take the exam on December 2 were asked to take it at Nagpur, Pune and other cities outside the state even before the candidates could recover from the damage caused by the floods.

Many candidates, particularly those working in government hospitals, were unable to attend the exam as leave was not granted to them post floods.

Only six centres were set up in Chennai for candidates across the state and despite protests to create additional centres at Madurai, Trichy and Tirunelveli, there was no response from the government.

In 2016, candidates from the state wanted CBSE to postpone NEET-PG as there was a cyclone alert. However, CBSE refused and when applicants managed to reach the exam centre despite difficulties caused by Cyclone Vardah, the board cancelled the exams at the last moment. The exam was postponed to the very next day and that too got cancelled due to power failure.

Candidates again were asked to write the tests at centres set up outside the state.

G R Ravindran from Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE) said it is not incidental but intentional. “This (NEET-UG 2018) is a written test and not a computer-based exam. So, CBSE did not create additional centres despite knowing that there has been an increase in enrolment from the state,” he said

Woman falls asleep with headphones, electrocuted

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 07.05.2018

A 46-year-old woman, hooked up to headphones, was electrocuted in Kanathur on Sunday after falling asleep while listening to music.

The police identified the woman as Fathima.

“Fathima’s husband Abdul Kalam saw her in bed and tried to wake her up but in vain,” a police officer said. “He was alarmed when she showed no sign of life and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.”

Hospital officials informed the Kanathur police, who sent the body to Government Royapettah Hospital for autopsy.

The Kanathur police registered a case under CrPC Section 174 (unnatural death).

Doctors at the hospital confirmed that electrocution was the cause of death .

“The woman had gone to sleep while wearing the headphones on Saturday night,” the officer said, adding that a short-circuit may have caused the electrocution.