Competition will be tougher for MBBS and BDS seats

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, JUNE 07, 2019 00:00 IST

3,350 seats available in govt. colleges, 1,600 in private colleges

Candidates can apply online for MBBS/BDS seats in the State government’s medical colleges from June 7 to 20, the Directorate of Medical Education has said.

Aspirants will be able to download application forms from Friday, said G. Selvarajan, medical education selection secretary. Candidates can approach the medical colleges, e-seva centres or engineering colleges in the case of 11 districts that do not have a medical college, he said.

The competition for medical seats will be tougher this year since 82,480 more students have qualified when compared to last year, across the country.

The cut off has gone up by 15 marks in the general category and by 11 marks for the physically handicapped students.

The good news is that the Medical Council of India had given approval to several government colleges in various States to increase seats.

Tamil Nadu will have 3,350 seats in government medical colleges besides around 1,600 seats in self-financing colleges. This year, the State has planned to commission a new government medical college at Karur and is awaiting approval for 150 seats. The Madurai and Tirunelveli medical colleges have each added 100 seats.

Among self-financing medical colleges, the Kovai Medical Centre Hospital is expected to get the nod to admit 150 students.

While 15% of the seats will be surrendered to the central pool for which counselling will be done by the Directorate of Health Services the rest of the seats will be allocated to the State’s candidates based on a merit list derived by the State. It is anticipated that the cut off in government medical colleges would also go up significantly.

Compensation sought

The Doctors’ Association for Social Equality has called for 50% allocation of seats in medical colleges for students of government schools.

It has demanded that the government seek exemption from admitting students to colleges offering Indian medicine systems of education through NEET.

G.R. Ravindranath, general secretary, has urged the Chief Minister to provide Rs. 50 lakh to the family of students who committed suicide following their failure to qualify in NEET.

The Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions 2019 committee, under the aegis of the Directorate of Technical Education, will start the certificate verification process on Friday at the 45 TNEA facilitation centres (TFCs) in the State.

Candidates would have an opportunity to watch a video presentation on the online counselling process. Higher Education Minister K.P. Anbalagan said the video would be screened at all TFCs for the benefit of aspirants.

“Every aspirant can apply for all the colleges listed in the prospectus if they so wish. Last time, the students had lost an opportunity by not choosing more colleges. We found that most students had chosen only five or six colleges. In some cases only 10 colleges,” he added.

Jagan cancels Naidu’s order, gives CBI ‘general consent’ to enter AP
Ujwal.Bommakanti@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada:07.06.2019

The CBI can now enter Andhra Pradesh without seeking general consent from the state government. Chief minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday cancelled the previous government’s order that barred the central investigating agency’s entry into the state, and issued a GO to that effect.

Former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had withdrawn the general consent to CBI in November last year through GO Ms 109, alleging that the central government was misusing it to target TDP leaders with malicious intent. “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the government hereby withdraws the general consent accorded (in GO Ms 109) to all members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh,” the earlier GO read.

The fresh GO Ms 81, cancelling the earlier order, was issued on Thursday by Manmohan Singh, in-charge principal secretary to the government. The CBI now gets back its powers to investigate all corruption and other cases in AP. The order also relieves the state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) from looking into complaints against central government employees.

Ever since he snapped ties with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in March last year, Naidu had been alleging that the Centre was misusing central agencies to target political opponents. CBI and Income Tax raids on some business establishments, run by those close to the TDP in the state, had left Naidu red-faced. Subsequently, he also announced that his government will not provide police cover to I-T officials while conducting the raids.

The CBI functions under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. Under Section 6 of the Act, a state government ‘routinely’ grants consent to the CBI for exercising its authority in the state and the AP government, too, had issued relevant orders periodically. YSRC MP Vijayasai Reddy previously tweeted that with Jagan issuing orders allowing CBI into the state, the ‘thieves’ will not be spared.

REVERSES MOVE

Will lose affiliation, MKU warns colleges with ‘unqualified’ staff
Difficult To Hire Qualified Staff This Year, Say Institutions
TIMES NEWS NETWORK 07.06.2019

Madurai:

Several colleges affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) received yet another circular a few days ago that if they were found to have unqualified faculty falling short of norms prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), they would be at the risk of disaffiliation.

TOI had earlier reported that a circular regarding the same was sent to the affiliated colleges of MKU in March, but the university has sent another warning since many institutions were found to still have unqualified teachers on their roll.

Highly placed sources from MKU said after the first circular was issued, very few colleges ensured they had no or very minimal number of unqualified staff and that many continue to have large number of “unqualified teaching staff ” on their pay roll.

The recent circular, which was sent by the MKU registrar V Chinniah read, “It has been informed to all the affiliated colleges that the engagement of teachers, who do not possess the qualification as per UGC norms, will lead to disaffiliation of the (respective) courses. It is known from the letters received from the colleges that these teachers are still on the roll, which is against the UGC norms and the orders of the high court.”

The second circular, according to some colleges, has put them in a spot as they claimed they were not sure as to how to relieve all the “unqualified staff ” and get replacements for this academic year itself. “In certain colleges, at least more than 40 staff members are unqualified. We are not sure how the relieving and replacement process is going to be done before classes start of this year,” a senior teaching staff in one of the colleges said. Meanwhile, university sources said finding a replacement could, in fact, be difficult for many colleges as qualified candidates could demand more salary. The unqualified teaching staff though said this move would hugely affect their livelihood.

It may be recalled that earlier, college administrations and the temporary faculty requested to MKU administration for a five-year grace period to satisfy the UGC criteria.

In certain colleges, at least more than 40 staff members are unqualified. We are not sure how the relieving and replacement process is going to be done before classes start of this year

Senior teaching staff |

AFFILIATED COLLEGE

Ayush: Docs’ assn seeks exemption from NEET

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.06.2019

As admission to medical colleges gets tougher, doctors’ associations are demanding exemption from NEET for admission to Ayush courses in Tamil Nadu.

On Thursday, Doctors Association for Social Equality general secretary Dr G R Ravindranath said the state has failed to get an exemption from NEET for MBBS despite having good relationship with the the Centre. “The state should have pressed for a presidential nod for the resolution it passed in the state assembly exempting itself from NEET. This year they must get exemption at least for Ayush,” he said.

The Union health ministry has made amendments to the existing legislation that has made NEET mandatory for admission to all Indian medicine and homepathy courses. State health minister C Vijaya Baskar had earlier told reporters that seeking exemption from NEET is a policy decision that has to be made after detailed deliberation and debate. The center, he alleged, was not transparent while they declare the NEET results. They don’t put scores of students and common rank list community details or state-wise details openly.

“As students don’t know the number of students who have scored high, they will not be able to plan for counselling,” he said.

“Neither the centre nor the state have been able to fix fee for deemed universities. Most colleges charges nearly ₹1crore as MBBS fee,” he said. The state must provide compensation of at least ₹50 lakh to students who committed suicide for not scoring well, Dr Ravindranath said.

Disability no stop as Karur student conquers NEET

Sambath.Kumar@timesgroup.com  07.06.2019

Scoring 572 of 720 in the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET), K K Karvanna Prabu from Karur district has become the state topper and all-India fifth in the differently-abled category this year. Prabu was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition which has made both his legs weak.

However, the 17-year-old boy never let his disability to come in the way of his resolve to excel in studies. Studying in a state board school till Class X,he was one among the three top rank holders scoring 491/ 500 while in Class XII he notched up 476/500. Unmindful of his physical difficulties, Prabu also tries to do most of his activities without help. “I have never considered physical disability as an obstacle and do my activities independently. With 60% disability, I can manage to walk slowly,” said the boy, who had expected good marks but never thought he would figure high in the all India ranking too.

With both his parents being doctors and elder sister pursuing medicine at Madras Medical College in Chennai, Prabu too is on course to become a doctor now. However, his father K Kannan, 47, wanted him to become a civil servant as he thought he might face practical issues as a medical practitioner because of his disability. “Though he is 60% disabled, he is intelligent enough to understand his problem and overcome it with hard work. Therefore, we left it to him to decide his future,” his proud father said..

He too wants to study at Madras Medical College. Prabu didn’t take any specific coaching to clear NEET in his first attempt. He said that he just followed instructions from his teachers during preparations.

More high scorers in NEET make med seats tough to get
From 81 To 1.3k: This Year, More Cross 550-Mark

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.06.2019

The cut-off for a medical college seat in the state this time is likely to go up by more than 60 points as more students have scored high marks in NEET. Last year, the cut-off in open category was 424 and 199 for ST.

According to National Testing Agency data, 1,329 students scored more than 550 marks in NEET, compared to 81 in 2018. There are 1,647 students who scored between 451 and 500. The state has added at least 350 more MBBS seats in government colleges and the number of open category seats in the state quota is around 855. “With more students at the top, the cut-off will be high,” said a senior medical education department official.

DGHS is yet to announce the schedule for counselling. Director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe said the state will release applications for MBBS/BDS admission online by Friday. The last day for downloading applications is June 20. Students can use kiosks in medical colleges and TNEA facilitation centres to download applications in case they don’t have access to internet. The first round of counselling in the state will begin as soon as DGHS completes first round of all India quota online counselling. Last year, most students with scores below 250 opted deemed universities during the first round.

This year, experts feel students with 300 and 390 are likely opt for deemed university. “Rules in DGHS first round are less stringent when compared to the other rounds. Last year students with the lowest marks joined many deemed universities in the first round because they knew they would not get admission in less expensive government colleges or self-financing colleges,” said Manikavel Arumugam, who has been following medical admissions every year.

Student counsellors have been advising students to look for options such as BDS, Ayush and veterinary sciences for which NEET is mandatory. “Students keen on MBBS can take a break year to prepare for NEET. We have students who have written NEET for the second and third time with very high scores,” said S Saravana Kumar, a NEET coach.

Admission agents are asking parents to book seats in self-financing colleges and deemed universities in TN, Karnataka, AP and Telangana. They are happy to take photocopies of demand drafts as advanced booking.

06.06.2019 DGHS web portal

எம்.பி.பி.எஸ்., படிப்புக்கு விண்ணப்பம்

Added : ஜூன் 05, 2019 23:51

சென்னை : 'எம்.பி.பி.எஸ்., - பி.டி.எஸ்., படிப்புகளுக்கான விண்ணப்பங்களை, இன்று முதல், ஆன்லைன் வழியாக பதிவிறக்கம் செய்து கொள்ளலாம்' என, மருத்துவ கல்வி இயக்ககம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள, அரசு மருத்துவ கல்லுாரிகளில், எம்.பி.பி.எஸ், - பி.டி.எஸ்., படிப்புகளுக்கு, 3,650 இடங்கள் உள்ளன. இந்த இடங்களுக்கான மாணவர் சேர்க்கை, 'நீட்' தேர்வு மதிப்பெண் அடிப்படையில், நடைபெற உள்ளது.நீட் தேர்வு முடிவுகள், நேற்று வெளியானது. இதையடுத்து, மருத்துவ படிப்புகளுக்கான விண்ணப்பங்களை, www.tnhealth.org மற்றும், www.tnmedicalselection.net என்ற, இணைய தளங்களில், இன்று முதல் பதிவிறக்கம் செய்து கொள்ளலாம் என, மருத்துவ கல்வி இயக்ககம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.

தேக்கடியில் சுற்றுலா பயணிகள் வருகை அதிகரிப்பு

Added : ஜூன் 05, 2019 22:07

கூடலுார் : தென்மேற்கு பருவமழை துவங்க உள்ள நிலையில் குளுமையான சீதோஷ்ண நிலை நிலவுவதால், தேக்கடிக்கு சுற்றுலா பயணிகள் வருகை அதிகரித்து உள்ளது. சுற்றுலா தலமான தேக்கடியில் அடர்ந்த வனப்பகுதிக்கு நடுவேயிருக்கும் ஏரியில் படகு சவாரி செய்து கொண்டே வனவிலங்குகளை பார்த்து ரசிப்பது இதன் தனிச்சிறப்பாகும். கடந்த ஒரு மாதத்திற்கும் மேலாக கோடை விடுமுறை இருந்த போதிலும் கடுமையான வெப்பம் நிலவியதாலும், நீர்மட்டம் குறைந்து இருந்ததாலும் சுற்றுலா பயணிகள் வருகை மிகக் குறைவாகவே இருந்தது.

இந்நிலையில் கேரளாவில் தென்மேற்கு பருவமழை துவங்க உள்ள நிலையில் தற்போது தேக்கடி பகுதியில் குளுமையான சீதோஷ்ணநிலை நிலவி வருகிறது. இதனால் சுற்றுலா பயணிகள் வருகை அதிகரித்துள்ளது.மேலும் நீர்மட்டம் குறைவாக இருப்பதால் ஏரியில் தண்ணீர் குடிக்க யானைகள், மான்கள், காட்டுமாடுகள் அதிகமாக கரைப்பகுதிக்கு வருவதால் அவற்றை பார்த்து பயணிகள் மகிழ்கின்றனர்.

கிரிஜா வைத்தியநாதன் இம்மாதம் ஓய்வு

Added : ஜூன் 06, 2019 01:36




சென்னை,:தமிழக அரசின் தலைமைச் செயலர் உட்பட, மூன்று ஐ.ஏ.எஸ்., அதிகாரிகள், இம்மாதம் ஓய்வு பெற உள்ளனர்.தமிழக அரசின் தலைமைச் செயலர் கிரிஜா வைத்தியநாதன், தமிழ்நாடு நீர்வள மேம்பாட்டு முகமை நிர்வாக இயக்குனர் சந்திரசேகரன், கலை மற்றும் கலாசார துறை ஆணையர் ராமலிங்கம் ஆகியோர், இம்மாதம் ஓய்வு பெறுகின்றனர்.இவர்களில், தலைமைச் செயலருக்கு, பதவி நீட்டிப்பு வழங்க வாய்ப்பு உள்ளதாக, தகவல் வௌியாகி உள்ளது.

NEET 2019: Nothing much to celebrate, say Experts

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | YAMUNA. R

Published  Jun 6, 2019, 3:47 am IST

Tamil Nadu performances still far behind Delhi.

Neet was first imposed on the state in 2016, amid vehement opposition from the people.

Chennai: The significant improvement in the state's pass percentage in Neet 2019 may come as a ray of hope to thousands of medical aspirants in the state but experts believe they are missing the bigger picture. These numbers, though a huge leap from the state's past performances, are still a far behind northern regions like Delhi and Rajasthan which boasts of more than 70 per cent pass percentage. Furthermore, the number of government school students clearing the exam this year remains unknown. It might be noted that only 2 students from government schools secured admission into medical colleges in 2017, through the Neet. In 2018, it was just 4 students. Activists say these are the numbers to be discussed.

Talking to this paper, Dr.G. R.Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctor's Association for Social Equality, says,” Though the state's performance has significantly improved, it should be noted that there are no Tamil students in the top 50 merit list. North Indian states are far ahead of us. As of now, we have no information on the number of government students clearing the exam. This has to be the main focus before we talk about the success of Neet in our state”.

Neet is based on the syllabus of CBSE as opposed to the state's syllabus. This has been a major talking point in the past and many activists have argued that it is unfair to pit Tamil students (studying the syllabus prescribed by the state) against students who study the Central board syllabus.

Dr.G. R.Ravindranath says,” The government has to implement timely crash courses and Neet coaching classes. Many students from economically challenged backgrounds either do not have access to coaching centres or cannot afford them. The state has to address these issues immediately”.

Prince Gajendra Babu, an educationalist, terms Neet as “a social injustice” and says, “A better pass percentage does not make any difference to the medical aspirants in the state. The number of medical seats is still the same. Majority of students who cleared the exam are from the north meaning they will get more medical seats in our state.”

He says,” With the huge emphasis placed on Neet these days, the board examination performance of the students has come down drastically. What happens to students who pinned their hopes on Neet and didn't clear the test? Even if they wish to pursue other courses, they cannot secure admissions into any decent colleges because of their board scores. The current education system only puts students under a lot of stress.”

Neet was first imposed on the state in 2016, amid vehement opposition from the people. Various political parties too expressed their opposition and called out the Centre for not taking into consideration the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu.. And three years later, not much has changed with Neet still being a controversial exam and TN political parties still promising to ban Neet in their election manifestos.

Mosaic tiles with Tami Nadu emblem found in UP public toilets

DECCAN CHRONICLE

.
Published Jun 6, 2019, 4:27 am IST

The Tamil Nadu emblem consists of the Lion Capital of Ashoka without the bell lotus foundation and flanked on either side by an Indian flag.

Mahatma Gandhi (Photo: File)

Chennai: Mosaic tiles sporting the Tamil Nadu government’s official emblem, which is the Srivilliputhur temple gopuram, and some other tiles with the picture of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, were found to have been used in public toilets in a small town of Uttar Pradesh, causing a furore.

The district administration in Bulandsar quickly had those tiles removed and explained that the concerned builder had procured the tiles from the local mundi. The administration constructed 13 toilets in Ichhawari village under Swatch Bharath Scheme recently. People noticed the tiles with the Tamil Nadu Government’s emblem were fixed in the public toilets.

They also noticed tiles with images of Mahatma Gandhi fixed in the toilets. On information these tiles were removed from the toilet by the authorities.

While a minor official there has been placed under suspension, this incident raises the question if there is illegal diversion of government building materials from Tamil Nadu to other states. Social activists have raised questions whether the tiles meant for use by the state government in Tamil Nadu were sold to traders in Uttar Pradesh and whether authorities have committed irregularities in diversion of tiles from Tamil Nadu.

They have sought of the authorities the conduct of a probe as to how these tiles, most of them with the official state emblem of Tamil Nadu, reached UP. In any case, private individuals cannot use such images. Suspecting irregularities in the incident, Ramaswamy, a social activist, has demanded that the government conduct an enquiry into the incident. He also suspected involvement of individuals and officials in sending the tiles from the Tamil Nadu to UP. Probe also must be conducted into whether such material sent to other states as well.

The Tamil Nadu emblem consists of the Lion Capital of Ashoka without the bell lotus foundation and flanked on either side by an Indian flag. Behind the capital, is the image of a gopuram or temple tower based on the West Tower of Srivilliputhur temple gopuram. Artist R. Krishna Rao of Madurai designed the emblem in 1949. TN is the only state that has the Indian Flag on its seal. Around the rim of the seal runs an inscription in Tamil, one at the top saying "Tamil Nadu Arasu" and the other at the bottom which reads "Vaimaye Vellum" - "Truth Alone Triumphs".

Chennai: Man on bike crushed to death by water tanker

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedJun 6, 2019, 5:14 am IST

On Tuesday, police released the CCTV footage of the accident and this went viral on social media.

Video clip of the horrific incident captured on CCTV.

Chennai: A 35-year-old man riding a bike was crushed to death by a fully-loaded water tanker on Monday morning. Police collected CCTV camera footage showing the man coming under the tanker's wheels after his two-wheeler skidded. The shocking CCTV footage had gone viral on the social media.

Police said that the deceased has been identified as Prabhu (35) and a case of causing death due to negligence and dangerous driving has been registered against the truck driver who absconded after the accident. Prabhu, a resident of Kanagapattu, Thiruporur, and a government bus driver was on his way to Thiruvanmiyur bus terminus on his two-wheeler on Monday morning. At around 6 am, when he was riding on OMR near Padur, a man on a bicycle came onto his path, after which his bike skidded and he fell on the road. A water tanker going by crushed his body.

The driver of the tanker, which was carrying water to OMR failed to notice his fall. After hearing other motorists raise an alarm, he fled the spot without stopping the vehicle. Passersby who witnessed the accident informed police.

Personnel from the Kelambakkam station took Prabu's body to Chengalpattu government hospital for post-mortem. Based on CCTV footage, a launch has been initiated by police.

On Tuesday, police released the CCTV footage of the accident and this went viral on social media.

Overall TN performs NEET-er, but none makes it to the top 50

Of the 1,23,078 candidates who took the exam, 59,785 cleared it. In 2018, around 1.14 lakh candidates took the exam and 45,336 cleared it.

Published: 06th June 2019 03:37 AM 

K Shruthi with her parents

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan & Binita Jaiswal

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Despite an improvement of 9.01 per cent in the number of students from Tamil Nadu clearing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate examinations this year, none has secured a rank in the top 50.

According to results of the test, conducted on May 5 and announced on Wednesday, 48.57 per cent of students from TN who took the exam qualified this year compared to 39.56 per cent in 2018. TN has bitterly opposed the test since its introduction.

K Shruthi, a student at a private school in Tiruvallur district, secured the 57th All India Rank (AIR) by scoring 685 out of 720. She secured a percentile of 99.9949672. She came 10th among all female candidates. KK Karvanna Prabu, another candidate from the State, secured the fifth rank in the physically handicapped category. His NEET AIR is 15,623.


Among all States and Union Territories, Tamil Nadu is 23rd in terms of percentage of students qualifying in NEET, an improvement from last year when it was in the bottom five.

A total of 1,38,997 students registered for the test from the State this year but 15,919 students did not appear for the exam, leaving TN with the highest number of absentees in the country. Of the 1,23,078 candidates who took the exam, 59,785 cleared it. In 2018, around 1.14 lakh candidates took the exam and 45,336 cleared it.

Teachers lacking UGC qualification can’t work from this academic year
On Thursday contempt petition on this case will be heard by the court. Before that MKU has to comply with the order of the court.

Published: 06th June 2019 04:40 AM 

Madurai Kamaraj University

By Express News Service

MADURAI: Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) Vice Chancellor M Krishnan said teachers who do not have the qualification as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms would not be able to continue their work from this academic year (2019-20) itself.

Registrar of the university V Chinniah, on Thursday, had sent a circular to all its affiliated colleges stating, “It has been informed to all the affiliated colleges that the engagement of teachers who do not possess the qualifications as per UGC norms will lead to disaffiliation of the courses. It is known from the letters received from the colleges that these teachers are still on the roll which is against the UGC norms and the orders of the High Court in the WP.No.2652 of 2-14 dated 11.08.2014.”

“Hence, it is informed that if colleges continue the courses with teachers who do not possess qualifications as per UGC norms they will be held responsible for the legal action by informing the same before the HC in the contempt petition.”

Krishnan told Express it was MKU’s duty to oblige by the HC order and the “university has to ensure that all the affiliated colleges follow the court’s order. Regarding this, MKU has sent many circulars to the affiliated colleges. On Thursday contempt petition on this case will be heard by the court. Before that MKU has to comply with the order of the court.”


He said at present 10 per cent of teaching staff from MKU constituent colleges did not have qualification as per the UGC norms. “Following the court order they will be terminated,” he added.

This Karur snack seller is an internet sensation

An engineering graduate followed the oft-repeated phase follow your dreams and has now become an Internet sensation.

Published: 06th June 2019 04:50 AM 

By Aravind Raj

Express News Service

KARUR: An engineering graduate followed the oft-repeated phase follow your dreams and has now become an internet sensation. If you are wondering how? He quit his job and turned a snack seller. Yes, you read that right!

Jai Sundar (28) completed B Tech in ECE in 2011 and joined a telecom company in Chennai for Rs 8,000. He then joined an automobile company in Coimbatore before settling down in Karur, where he joined TNPL for a monthly pay of Rs 13,000. After six years Sundar decided to become an entrepreneur.

In February 2018, Sundar began a food venture with the help of his friends and Madhu, a pushcart owner, who helped him set up shop in Velayuthampalayam. Impressed by his efforts, Gopi, another friend allowed him to set up Karuvur Garam Stall, his pushcart, near his shop.

Sundar’s success spread like wildfire with the help of netizens. Social media was flooded with memes on him. Sundar’s mother was initially worried that her son gave up regular employment but eventually supported him. “My journey is filled with ups and downs. I decided to follow my heart and do what I felt was right. At the end of the day, having peace of mind is the most important thing. Many don’t follow their dreams by thinking what others would say. One should not care about what others think,” said Sundar.


“Initially earning Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 was a mammoth task. Then, the situation improved and now I am earning between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 per month. Along with Indian snacks, I introduced a Burmese item, which became a hit. He is planning to expand to Chennai and Coimbatore soon.

Old attitudes hold back NEET show: Experts

TN’s efforts to better equip students have helped but experts say more needs to be done

Published: 06th June 2019 06:25 AM |

For representational purposes. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A hangover of the ‘old State board syllabus attitude’ is the reason behind lack of top rankers from Tamil Nadu in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) despite an overall improvement in performance, say experts.

“The government over the last two years launched weekend coaching centres, video preparatory courses and a residential programme for bright students from government schools,” said a senior official from the School Education Department.
While the State had opposed NEET, it adapted and revamped the syllabus to better equip students. Now there appears to be an acceptance of NEET, evidenced by fewer protests and a rise in number of students taking the test.

However, this does not mean students have developed the skills required to clear the exam, said Jayaprakash Gandhi, a career consultant.

“The old State syllabus pushed students to learn by rote. The government revamped the syllabus to combat this and we have seen a significant improvement. However, this is not enough,” he said.
The rise in qualification rate means that competition to clear NEET is increasing, said educationalist Prince Gajendra Babu adding that the high qualification rate would lead to more rejections as the number of medical seats in the State is limited.

“Students who can afford better coaching will keep performing better, while students with less access will have to work harder to contest,” he said, pointing out that this pressure is what leads to suicides.

Indeed there has been a general feeling in the State that the competitive exam model of NEET has pushed students towards private coaching, which is out of the reach of government school students. 

Earlier in the State, the board exam score alone was used for medical counselling, thereby giving students from government school a fair chance. Last year, only 1,337 government school students in the State cleared NEET. However, this was a significant increase compared to 2017 when less than 10 government school students cleared the test. Given the pressures this puts on government school students, former Anna University Vice-Chancellor D Anandakrishnan said the State should nip the problem in the bud by coupling the State coaching programmes with counselling for the students.

31,239 took test in Tamil

Meanwhile, although 79.31 per cent of the candidates in the country wrote the NEET in English and 11.84 per cent took it in Hindi, 8.86 per cent of the students took it in regional languages, of which nearly a fourth (2.06 per cent) – 31,239 – took the exam in Tamil.

TN NEET topper’s mantra: Work hard & shun all distractions

While her father is a pediatrician, her mother is a gynaecologist and they run their own hospital in the district.

Published: 06th June 2019 06:33 AM 

Shruthi celebrating with friends

By OMJASVIN M D

Express News Service

CHENNAI: “If you work hard and overcome all the distractions, you can achieve heights,’’ says Shruthi K, the 17-year-old girl, who became the Tamil Nadu State topper in the 2019 NEET exam for Undergraduate medical course, getting an all India rank of 57.

A student of Velammal Bodhi Campus CBSE school in Ponneri, Shruthi never attended coaching elsewhere, except for the rigorous coaching the school gave her for the past two years. Speaking to Express, she said, “I never used to go home during holidays, but stayed in school hostel to prepare for the exams. But I ensured that I had six hours of sleep.’’

A resident of Tiruvallur, Shruthi says she was at sea two years ago, as she did not have the exposure to such competitive exams. “I studied in a local school in Tiruvallur back then. However, after joining Velammal for 11th standard, I was able to channel myself to prepare for the NEET exam,’’ she said.

Having studied Biology and Mathematics group in high school, she scored 484 out of 500 in her 12th board exams and 685 out of 720 in the NEET exams. She says Biology, in which she has scored 98 out of 100 in 12th standard, was her favourite subject. “I had experienced and dedicated teachers who guided me. Chemistry, Physics and English teachers played a big role in my success,’’ she said.

With NEET being a national-level exam with 14,000 lakh students taking it, it is natural for a young student to be nervous. It was no different for Shruthi.

“I have always heard people from the other states start coaching from standard 9 itself. I had this feeling that, being in TN, how could I score high marks in NEET, which is a national exam?’’ she said. ‘’I just told myself that ‘I can do it’ and now I can’t believe myself that I made it!’’

With all modesty, she said, “I haven’t decided what I am going to specialize in. I just want to pursue MBBS and find out what specialty interests me.’’ Coming from a family of doctors, Shruthi never had the dearth of guidance. “My parents, friends, and especially my elder brother, played a huge role in my success. My parents always told me to follow my passion,” she added.

While her father is a paediatrician, her mother is a gynaecologist and they run their own hospital in the district.

Medical, dental colleges to approach govt. for fee hike

STAFF REPORTER

BENGALURU, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Fees for the medical and dental seats for 2019-2020 academic year are yet to be fixed. However, students hoping to pursue medicine or dentistry may have to shell out more money as colleges are planning to urge the State government to hike the fees.

M.R. Jayaram, president of Karnataka Professional Colleges’ Foundation under whose ambit medical and dental colleges come, said: “The government is yet to convene a meeting on fees. We will demand a hike but do not know the quantum.”

Sources said the foundation is likely to press for 15% hike. However, senior officials in the Medical Education Department said the State government will “negotiate” with college managements as fees had been hiked last year. As per an earlier agreement with the State government, colleges have already increased fees by 10% for 2019-2020.

The first round of seat allotment is likely to take place on June 25 and counselling is expected to be completed by August 18. The department is waiting for the National Testing Agency to provide a State rank list, which will be published on the KEA website, and conduct document verification.

Heavy rain in Salem; building collapses

STAFF REPORTER

SALEM, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The debris of a building that collapsed near the Old Bus Stand in Salem on Wednesday.E. Lakshmi NarayananE_LakshmiNarayanan

Parts of Yercaud - Kuppanur ghat road, interior roads damaged

Heavy rain lashed Salem till the early hours of Wednesday. A building collapsed and roads got damaged due to the rains here.

A three-storey building near Old Bus Stand here collapsed during the early hours of Wednesday due to heavy rains. Fortunately, none was residing in the building and no casualties were reported.

Average rainfall of 27.1 mm was recorded here. Maximum rainfall was recorded in Yercaud, 70 mm, 68 mm in Salem, 60 mm in Edappadi, 49.6 mm in Omalur, 37.2 mm in Omalur, 28.2 mm in Kadaiyampatti, 26.8 mm in Thammampatti, 20 mm in Vazhapadi, 20 mm in Kariyakovil, 16 mm in Anaimedu and 12 mm in Sankari.

Due to heavy rains, power supply was disrupted to various parts of Salem and Yercaud. In Yercaud, parts of Yercaud-Kuppanur ghat road got damaged and a few other interior roads got damaged in the heavy rains.

NAMAKKAL

Heavy rains lashed Namakkal and an average rainfall of 13.92 mm was recorded here.

Maximum rainfall of 45 mm was recorded in Namakkal, 32 mm was recorded in Kumarapalayam, 15 mm in Erumapatti, 9 mm in Mohanur,, 25 mm in Paramathi Vellur, 8 mm in Sendamangalam and 5 mm in Thiruchengode.

Qatarflight touches down at Chennai airport

MURALI N. KRISHNASWAMYCHENNAI

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Qatar Amiri flight touches down at airport

Two days after a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft left Meenambakkam after refuelling and crew rest halt, a Qatar Amiri flight from Doha touched down around 3 a.m on Wednesday. According to a Chennai airport source, the Airbus A319CJ was on a refuelling halt.

‘Students must take failure in their stride’

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

SRM VC advises student to accept failures

Students must learn to take failure in their stride, Sandeep Sancheti, Vice Chancellor of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, said here on Wednesday.

While speaking at the valedictory of the decennial year summer programme of research in science organised by the Research Science Initiative — founded by Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan group of schools and Centre for Excellence in Education, U.S. — he said, students should stop worrying about marks in life.

The six-week science enrichment programme saw applications sent out to 300 schools and after rounds of shortlisting and final interview, 35 students were chosen. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director of IIT Madras, said the programme will expose students to lectures and give them a chance to work with faculty on projects.

Sydney Skov, Vice Consul, U.S. Consulate, Chennai and Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy, Dean and Director of PSBB group of schools, spoke at the event.

Centre must grant T.N. exemption from NEET, says Stalin

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

M.K. Stalin

DMK MPs will raise students suicide in Parliament

The DMK MPs will raise NEET-related suicides in Tamil Nadu in Parliament to find a solution to the vexed issue, party president M.K. Stalin said.

In a statement, he accused the Modi-led Central government, elected for the second successive time, of watching in silence and arrogance the continuing suicides in the State due to the introduction of NEET.

Expressing shock over the deaths of Tirupur student Rithusri and Pattukottai student Vaishiya after the announcement of NEET results on Wednesday, he said over 75,000 (51%) T.N. students had not cleared the exams to be eligible for medical admissions this year.

Two students had taken their life in frustration which reflects how the NEET has shattered the medical dreams of thousands of T.N. students, he said. While the Centre refused to even look into the issue, the State government has not taken any effort to obtain exemption from NEET for T.N.

Already a Supreme Court judge had told in the NEET verdict that the poor students from rural as well as urban areas would be affected. At least now, the BJP-led Centre should get the Presidential consent for the resolution passed by the T.N. Legislative Assembly demanding exemption from NEET.

In a federal set up, the Centre should respect the sentiments of the State and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must understand that it was his Constitutional obligation.

The continuing suicides was not good for the country or Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin said.

Over 75,000 T.N. students have not

cleared the exam to be eligible for medical admissions this year

Topper aims for AIIMS

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Shruthi K.

Shruthi K., with a score of 685 marks, has topped the State and is ranked 10th among the top 20 women students in the country in this year’s NEET UG. Her All India Rank is 57.

Shruthi’s parents are both doctors and run a private hospital in Tiruvallur.

Her father is a radiologist and a paediatrician who has studied in Madras Medical College and her mother is a gynaecologist and alumna of Madurai Medical College.

A student of CBSE stream, Shruthi joined Velammal’s Bodhi Campus, Ponneri, in class 11 with the aim of taking up competitive exams for medicine. She said she had attended the special NEET coaching offered by the school. “I want to get into the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. I have also written Jipmer test. If I don’t get into either, then I will consider Madras Medical College,” she said.

Karvannan Prabhu K.K., who falls under Unreserved category, has been placed fifth, with 572 marks. He could not be reached for comment.

State puts up better show this time around

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Shruthi K. tops with 685 marks; Karvanna Prabhu first among physically challenged

The performance of the State in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, the results of which were released on Wednesday, has brought some cheer to students and State authorities.

The significant 9.01 percentage point jump was possible because of intensive coaching and students being better prepared for this year’s test, educationists said.

The State has had a history of strong objection to medical admissions on the basis of NEET marks, but this year, it seemed to have overcome it’s recent history to score a qualifying percentage of 48.57, bettering last year’s performance of 39.56% — among the lowest in the country. The test was held in 14 centres in the State on May 5, and was conducted by the National Testing Agency for the first time. Students had the option of taking the test in Tamil too.

Shruthi K, of Ponneri, emerged the topper and figured among the top 20 women candidates in the country, scoring 685 out of 720 marks. Karvanna Prabhu K.K. was listed among the toppers in the physically handicapped category.

This year, as many as 59,785 of the 1,23,078 candidates who appeared have qualified. As many as 31,239 candidates took the test in Tamil, which is 2.06% of the total number of candidates who took NEET in the country.

The qualifying score for the general category is 134 and as many as 7,04,335 candidates have been placed in the 50th percentile.

The Directorate of Medical Education will upload the prospectus online on Thursday, and from Friday onwards, application forms can be downloaded, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.

Topper’s plans

Shruthi K., with a score of 685 marks, has topped the State and is ranked 10th among the top 20 women students in the country in this year’s NEET UG. Her All India Rank is 57.

Shruthi’s parents are both doctors and run a private hospital in Tiruvallur. Her father is a radiologist and a paediatrician who has studied in Madras Medical College and her mother is a gynaecologist and alumna of Madurai Medical College.

A student of CBSE stream, Shruthi joined Velammal’s Bodhi Campus, Ponneri, in class 11 with the aim of taking up competitive exams for medicine. She said she had attended the special NEET coaching classes offered by the school.

“I want to get into the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. I have also written JIPMER entrance test. If I don’t get in either then I will consider Madras Medical College,” she said.

Karvannan Prabhu K.K., who falls under Unreserved category, has been placed fifth, with 572 marks. He could not be reached for comment.

T.N. records drastic fall in corruption cases, thanks to amended Act

S. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

DVAC in a fix as authorities sit on proposals to launch probes

The total number of corruption cases/inquiries against government officials has come down 77% in Tamil Nadu in 2018-19, thanks to the amended Prevention of Corruption Act, that makes it mandatory for anti-corruption agencies to obtain the sanction of the competent authority to initiate an inquiry or register a case.

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Tamil Nadu’s anti-corruption force, initiated 505 preliminary/detailed inquiries against government officials on charges of corruption and registered 189 regular cases in 2017-18.

The Department of Rural Development topped the list of officials facing corruption charges with 260 cases, including traps, followed by the Revenue and Police Departments with 146 and 94 cases respectively.

The number dropped to 231 inquiries and 161 cases in 2018-19. Reason? An amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act last year has become a stumbling block to investigators who cannot straight away launch an investigation or register a case against a public servant even if there is a specific complaint.

As a follow-up to the amendment, the Government of Tamil Nadu issued an order introducing a new Section 17 (A)(1), restraining police officers from initiating any inquiry or investigation into any offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act without the written consent of the competent or appointing authority of the department concerned.

Though the order said that the “concerned authority [sic] shall convey its decision under this section within a period of three months, which may, for reasons to be recorded in writing by such authority, be extended by a further period of one month.” However, there is no mention about what happens if the competent authority does not take a decision even after 120 days.

Traps remain

However, there would be no change in laying traps based on specific written complaints and also registering cases relating to disproportionate assets after prima facie evidence is established. Police will continue to accept complaints from the public against government officials who demand bribes for discharging their duties and lay traps to arrest them.

Explaining the difference that Section 17 (A)(1) makes, a DVAC officer said that investigators would not be able to proceed on intelligence or source information on irregularities, abuse of power by public servants, loss to exchequer, corruption, etc. involving any government official or organisation.

The amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act was made to protect honest public servants from being harassed. But it was only going in favour of officials facing serious charges of corruption.

“For instance, the cases we registered against Anna University officials for the sensational revaluation marks scandal, irregularities in admissions under NRI quota in the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, scam in the purchase of medicines in the ESI Hospitals etc. were all based on source information. The cases exposed serious violations in established procedures,” the officer, who preferred not to be named, told The Hindu on Wednesday.

Coordinator of anti-corruption body Arappor Iyakkam Jayaram Venkatesan, who is the complainant in many corruption cases against State Ministers and officials, said the Centre, that promised to fight corruption, amended existing laws which was only helping the corrupt public servants.

‘Retrograde step’

“This is a huge retrograde step in the fight against corruption. In many cases, the entire chain of officials in a department are involved in corruption and seeking permission for the Head of the Department would not only delay the process of launching probe but also expose the plan, thereby alerting the suspects to tamper with evidence,” he said.

While the timeline for according sanction to initiate inquiry has been mentioned as three months with one-month grace period, it has been left open as to what happens if the competent authority fails to give permission in four months.

"Therefore, we are forced to move the court every time to force the competent authority to decide. This has resulted in huge delay in investigations and also given opportunity to competent authorities to reject permission in cases they are directly or indirectly involved in,” Mr. Venkatesan said.

Sources in the DVAC said that inquiries and cases were initiated against 4,429 officials in various departments, particularly the Department of Rural Development, in the last three years ending 2017-18.

NEET-UG results: 4 from Maharashtra in top 50

Suyash Karangutkar

MUMBAI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Four students from Maharashtra made it to the list of top 50 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), results of which were announced by the National Testing Agency on Wednesday. Sarthak Bhat (17) from Nashik stood first in Maharashtra, and sixth nationally, with a score of 695 and 99.99 percentile.

Of the 7,97,042 students, who cleared the exam, 81,171 are from Maharashtra. The State is second to Uttar Pradesh, where 84,982 students have qualified for the undergraduate medical studies. The national qualifying percentage among those appeared for the exam increased to 56.5% this year, as compared to 56.27% in 2018. However, the qualifying percentage in the State recorded a dip with 39.26% qualifying this year as against 39.57% last year.

No one from Mumbai made it to the list of State toppers.

T.N students crack NEET code, 49% of the candidates qualify

Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI, JUNE 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Nalin Khandelwal of Rajasthan emerges the all-India topper with 701 out of 720

After fighting tooth and nail against the introduction of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical and dental courses, Tamil Nadu has seen a quantum jump in the performance of its students in 2019.

Almost half the applicants (48.57%) from the State have qualified, up from just 39.56% last year. However, this was still lower than the national qualifying percentage of 56.5%.

Overall, almost eight lakh students have qualified for counselling, said the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the examination and released the results on Wednesday.

Delhi tops numbers

The highest qualifying percentage was recorded in Delhi, where almost 80% of the applicants qualified.

The Tamil Nadu government had objected to the introduction of NEET from 2012 and fought an extended but unsuccessful legal battle to keep the State out of the purview of the all-India exam. Concerns about State autonomy and the ability of rural students to match NEET standards fuelled its opposition.

The death of S. Anitha, the daughter of a Scheduled Caste daily wage labourer from Ariyalur district, in 2017 after she failed to qualify in NEET, focussed public anger against the examination.

Anitha, who scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in her State Board examinations, only managed 86 out of 720 marks in the NEET as she could not afford the expensive coaching required.

Dashed hopes

With the Supreme Court turning down her plea that her State Board marks be considered for medical admission, she took her own life, her dreams of becoming a doctor dashed.

Over the last year, the State government has conducted free special coaching classes to help State board students, especially from the rural areas, to meet the standards of NEET. Out of 1.2 lakh students from the State who attempted the exam this year, almost 60,000 have qualified.

Puducherry also saw a similar improvement in its qualifying rates this year.

The only large State that saw a major drop in performance was Rajasthan. Its qualifying percentage dropped from 74.3% to 69.6%. However, the all-India topper Nalin Khandelwal hails from the Sikar district of the State and studied at a coaching centre in Jaipur.

Raj boy tops NEET with score of 701/720

Topper Nalin Khandelwal Says AIIMS Delhi Is His First Choice

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Nalin Khandelwal  06.06.2019

of Rajasthan has topped this year’s National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses, scoring 701 out of 720 marks in the examination in which over 14 lakh candidates appeared across the country. Madhuri G Reddy from Telangana topped among girls and secured the all India rank of seven with a score of 695.

Delhi’s Bhavik Bansal and Akshat Kaushik from Uttar Pradesh secured the second and third positions respectively. Both scored 700, but Bansal was ranked second because he secured more marks in biology than Kaushik.

This year nearly 5,000 candidates with disabilities appeared for the test with Sabhyata Singh Kushwaha of Uttar Pradesh topping among them with a score of 610 marks and all India rank of 5,739.

In the test, conducted for the first time by National Testing Agency, close to 8 lakh candidates qualified (scoring 50 percentile or more). The highlight of this year’s NEET, which has been facing opposition from states like Tamil Nadu, has been conducted without controversy and witnessed an improvement in overall marks range as compared to 2018.

A total of 14,10,755 candidates appeared for the test of which 2,86,245 were from unreserved category. In all, 7,97,042 candidates qualified for around 60,000 MBBS/ BDS seats in various government and private-run institutions across the country. A total of 4,45,761 girls qualified, nearly a lakh more than male candidates (3,51,278).

Hailing from a family of doctors, Khandelwal from Sikar (Rajasthan) said he would wait for the results of AIIMS entrance test before taking a call on the choice of institution. “AIIMS Delhi is definitely my first choice and I am waiting for the results,” he said adding NEET was “easy this time”. “Focus on NCERT books, multiple reading of study materials and seven to hours of selfstudy,” advised Khandelwal who scored 95.8% in his Class XII board exams.

The test was conducted at 2,546 centres across 154 cities. The qualifying marks (for general category) this year was 134 as against 119 in 2018. The lowest qualifying mark was 107 as against 96 in 2018.

Commute sentence, say 2 on death row for rape

Shibu.Thomas@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:06.06.2019

Two death row convicts in the 2007 Pune BPO employee gangrape and murder case have approached the Bombay high court to halt their execution scheduled for June 24.

The two have exhausted their appeals, and their mercy petition was turned down by the President in 2017. Purushottam Borate, 38, and Pradeep Kokade, 32, have claimed the “inordinate delay” in executing them violated their fundamental rights and urged the HC to commute their death sentence to life imprisonment.

A division bench of Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Justice Swapna Joshi have scheduled the petitions for hearing on Thursday.

The convicts are lodged in Pune’s Yerwada prison. On April 10 this year, a Pune sessions court issued warrants setting June 24 as the date of execution. The hanging of the convicts would be the first in Maharashtra after Yakub Memon, accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was executed on July 30, 2015.

The incident dates back to November 1, 2007, when the 22-year-old woman employee of a BPO firm in Pune was picked up by Borate, the driver of the car provided by the firm, and his friend Kokade. They drove the victim to a secluded spot near Gahunje village, where they raped and murdered her. A Pune sessions court convicted them and sentenced them to death in March 2012. The Bombay high court confirmed the death sentence in September 2012, and the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2015. The Governor of Maharashtra rejected their mercy petitions in April 2016 and the President of India in May 2017.

“Excessive and unexplained delay of over four years (1,509 days) in execution of sentence of death causes unnecessary and avoidable pain, suffering and mental torment that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment violating Article 21 (right to life). The pain, suffering and mental torment caused by the delay is an additional punishment not authorised by law, exceeds constitutionally permissible limits and breaches the petitioner’s fundamental rights,” the petitions said.

Nurse severed baby’s thumb while cutting bandage in Guj

Ahmedabad:06.06.2019

A case has been registered against an unnamed nurse at a civic hospital here for injuring the thumb of a baby girl while removing bandage. While the girl’s mother alleged that the nurse “cut off” the thumb, the hospital said it was only injured and a corrective surgery was performed.

The incident took place at civic-run V S Hospital on June 2 where the five-month baby had been admitted for pneumonia. A nurse accidentally severed the thumb of the left- hand while cutting through the baby’s bandage with scissors, her mother Farhan Banu alleged on Wednesday.

The thumb was reattached through a surgery on the same day but doctors said they were not sure it the surgery would be successful, she claimed.

Hospital’s resident medical officer said an inquiry will be conducted. He, however, maintained that the thumb was not severed but only injured. It was stitched up, and such wounds heal quickly in babies, he said. PTI

BABY ON VENTILATOR

WhatsApp delivery care: Doc accused of negligence

Nivedha.Selvam@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:06.06.2019

A private hospital doctor’s negligence has left a newborn on life support,with life at risk, the infant’s mother and relatives claimed on Wednesday. They staged a protest in front of the hospital on Puliyakulam Road in Coimbatore and later lodged a complaint against the doctor with the Ramanathapuram police, accusing her of providing instructions to nurses over WhatsApp after the woman was admitted for delivery.

According to police, Nithya Rangaraj, 26, was admitted to the Genesis Royal Infirmary on May 31, when she went for a regular prenatal check-up with Dr Chandrakala, who runs the hospital. Quoting Nithya, a police officer said the doctor forced her to get admitted to the newly constructed hospital, citing amniotic fluid

leak though the delivery date given to her was June 15.

Nithya’s advocate K Kannan said, “For the next two days since her admission, she was taken care of only by the nurses, who would WhatsApp the doctor pictures of fetus’ position, based on which Chandrakala would prescribe care. The doctor did not see the patient in person at all.” As Nithya didn’t develop labour pain even two days after her admission to the hospital, the doctor asked the nurses to break water (amniotic sac) on Sunday morning. The situation worsened after that and the doctor finally met the patient at 11pm on Sunday and delivered the infant that night. The blood supply to the infant’s brain was slow.

After the delivery, the doctor called for an ambulance to take the mother and newborn to the Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital (KMCH) without informing Nithya’s husband or relatives. “They say the infant will not survive off ventilation,” the advocate said. “The child’s life is at risk only because of the doctor’s negligence.”

When contacted, the doctor said, “We constantly monitored the heart beat and blood flow of the infant. Unfortunately, umbilical cord got disconnected from the mother even before the delivery and as a result blood supply to the infant’s brain was slow. We were preparing for C-section, but she delivered naturally.” Chandrakala said she had done more than 30 deliveries in the past few months alone and all of them was successful.

When asked about the treatment provided to the patient based on WhatsApp communication, Chandrakala refused to comment.

NEET: Two TN med aspirants commit suicide

Tirupur/ Thanjavur: 06.06.2019

Hours after NEET 2019 results were declared on Wednesday, two MBBS aspirants from Pattukottai and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu committed suicide dejected over their performance.

Ridhushree, 18, of Tirupur was found hanging in her house at Velliangadu. She scored 68 out of 720 in NEET while she had scored 490 out of 500 in Class XII board exams. Her father V P Selvaraj told police that he and his wife were at work when the results were declared and tried calling Ridhushree to know her score. After repeated calls went unanswered, they called their neighbours, who broke into the house and found her hanging.

N Vaishya, 17, from Srinivasan Nagar in Pattukkottai set herself ablaze on learning her NEET score was 230 out of 720. Her parents, who were away, returned home to find her with burn injuries. They took her to the government hospital in Pattukottai where doctors declared her brought dead. TNN

MTC directed to pay ₹21.3 lakh to sacked employee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.06.2019

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation will have to pay ₹21.34 lakh to a driver it sacked in 2012 for poor attendance.

A city labour court has held the driver is eligible for back wages with revised pay structure as the Madras high court in 2016 set aside the termination and ordered his reinstatement.

N Thirupathi joined MTC in 1989 and due to irregular attendance was issued termination order on January 17, 2012.

The state labour commissioner, however, refused to approve of the order and the Madras high court in a February 2, 2016, order directed it to award lesser punishment.

In the intervening period, there were two wage revisions. The management insisted that Thirupathi forego back wages to reinstate him.

The driver moved the labour court, saying the management neither awarded minor punishment nor reinstated him in service despite the high court directions.

While Thirupathi contended he was eligible to ₹21.34 lakh in salary arrears, the corporation objected saying he was not a regular employee.

After perusing both submissions, labour court presiding officer N Venkatavaradan held that the driver was entitled to back wages of ₹21.34 lakh but rejected his claim for ₹1.5 lakh in allowances and incentive, accepting MTC’s contention that he cannot claim allowances without working.

The court directed MTC to pay the sum within six months and said it was free to withhold any portion of the pending wages after passing a suitable order of punishment.

GREEN SIGNAL

TN students come up with a better NEET show, still behind other states

48.57% Clear Exam, 135 Get Above 600, Five-Fold Jump In No. Of Students Scoring More Than 550

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com  06.06.2019

Tamil Nadu students have spoken. Even as politicians bicker over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), those writing it have sent a silent message. Burying the ghosts of NEET for now, 59,785 students from the state cleared the examination this year, taking up the qualifying percentage from 39.56% to 48.57%.

Also, from just two students who got above 600 in last NEET, the number soared to 135 this year. NEET is a 720-mark exam. Likewise, the number of students scoring above between 500 and 600 went up five-fold from just 213 last year to 1,194 this year.

“Overall, 14,297 students from Tamil Nadu have scored 300 and above,” an official from National Testing Agency told TOI.

Tamil Nadu topper Shruthi K (below right) scored 685 and secured an all-India rank of 57; she is the 10th among girls. Karvanna Prabu K K, a differently-abled candidate from TN, scored 572 marks and was among top five candidates to clear NEET in the differently-abled category.

“I expected good marks, but this has surprised me. I prepared for the exam for two years. Any student with hard work and dedication can crack NEET,” said Shruti, who also wrote entrances for AIIMS and JIPMER. “My first preference is JIPMER,” she said.

Many students from state board schools have scored above 600 this year.

“In our school, two students secured more than 600 and 18 students have scored above 500,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV schools in Namakkal and Trichy.

Asked about the reasons for the improved performance, Swaminathan said many state board schools hired experts from other states to train students and introduced NEET coaching for old students.

“Tamil Nadu is already competing with other states in terms of performance. This year, from our institute alone, 30 students scored above 600. Due to availability of more seats, students with above 450 marks will get into good colleges,” said Chandan Chand, deputy director, Aakash Institute, Chennai.

At 1.23 lakh, TN had the third highest applicants for NEET this year and it has the sixth highest number of students who qualified the exam.

But educationist Prince Gajendrababu said though the performance of Tamil Nadu students improved, a vast majority still missed the bus. “Only students from affluent background were able to perform well. It does not represent the entire state as students from government schools and rural areas could not perform well in the entrance exam,” he said. This year, around 20,000 students from government schools wrote NEET.

Officials from the school education department said they could not see the full results since the server was down.

TIMES VIEW

It is a clear thumbs-down for anti-NEET politics in Tamil Nadu. The higher number of applicants, qualifiers and high-scorers than previous years indicates that MBBS-aspirants were oblivious to the debate over NEET and just aimed to ace the national-level test. But while the nearly four-fold jump in candidates figuring in different high mark-brackets is to be celebrated, a comparison with other states would dampen the spirits. Though it has third highest number of applicants, TN is ranked sixth in the number of qualifiers. There is not a single TN candidate in the top 50; the state’s topper is ranked 57 nationally. All these indicate the need to beef up the school syllabus, teaching and coaching of MBBS-aspirants. The uncertainty over NEET, at least in political discourses, must go and government must engage professionals to offer intense coaching to students of rural government schools.

TN makes peace with NEET; 59,000 students clear test

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.06.2019

Exorcising the NEET ghost, MBBS-aspirants from Tamil Nadu cleared the national test in big numbers on Wednesday, notching up scores much higher than the last two years. Nearly 1.2 lakh TN students wrote NEET and 59,785 cleared the test. As a result, the cut-offs for admission under all categories in government as well as self-financing medical colleges are bound to go up by more than 30 marks this year.

There are 5,499 students in the 400-500 mark bracket this year, while just 1,573 students made it to the category last year. The 22 government medical colleges and 13 self-financing colleges in the state together have about 4,130 MBBS seats on offer this year. There are nearly 2,000 more seats in the 10 deemed universities, but centralised online admission is done by the director-general of health services in Delhi.

Even as feeble political noise calling for abolition of NEET for MBBS admissions in the state persists, the student community has sent a strong signal by applying as well as qualifying in larger numbers than last year, and also performing better. The state’s pass rate, however, is low compared to other NEET-active states such as Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra.

Raj boy tops test scoring 701/720

Nalin Khandelwal of Rajasthan topped the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test, scoring 701out of 720 marks. More than 14 lakh candidates took the exam across the country, conducted for the first time by National Testing Agency. Nearly 8 lakh candidates qualified for around 60,000 MBBS/BDS seats.

Madras HC stays transfer of senior government doctors

TNN | Jun 5, 2019, 09.41 AM IST

CHENNAI: Admitting a batch of pleas moved by government medical officers including professors and associate professors of government medical colleges challenging the transfer counselling conducted by the state government, the Madras high court on Wednesday directed the authorities not to disturb their existing posts till June 19.

"There shall be an order of interim injunction restraining the authorities from disturbing the petitioners from the post which they are holding. Notice ordered to the authorities returnable by June 19," said Justice V Parthiban. He passed the interim order while hearing a batch of pleas moved by doctors, including B Saravanapriya and R Siva, seeking interim stay against counselling to transfer 860 government medical officers.

When the pleas came up for hearing, senior counsel for petitioners P Wilson contended that the government was conducting the counselling without guidelines or objective criteria. "As a result, senior qualified doctors are being compulsorily transferred whereas junior, unqualified persons including diploma holders are being retained in the posts contrary to MCI regulations," Wilson added.

Such an irregular process leads to hardships not only for the doctors but also the patients, he said. In Madurai Medical college which is multi-super-speciality hospital, five of nine cardiologists were transferred out labelled as excess, he said.

The petitioners further submitted that the government without completing the process of promoting the assistant professors to associate professor by counselling and filling up the post of principal, medical superintendent and resident medical officers has issued a circular dated May 24 to conduct specialty transfer counselling of medical officers in the cadre of assistant professor/ tutor/ senior resident/ junior resident.

Declaring some of the petitioners as working in excess post is arbitrary and illegal as there cannot be any transfer offending the condition of service of the petitioner as provided under the service rules without following the procedure established by law, the petitioners said.

NEET: Tamil Nadu students fare better this year

TNN | Jun 5, 2019, 03.36 PM IST

CHENNAI: The performance of Tamil Nadu students in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) increased remarkably this year as nearly 49% of the students who appeared for the entrance test qualified to study medicine.

Out of 1,23,078 candidates appeared for the exam, 59,785 students qualified (48.57%), which is an increase of 10% compared to last year. Last year, out of 1,14,602 students who appeared for the test, 45,336 of them cleared it (39.55%).

At all India level, Nalin Khadelwal secured the top rank by score 701 out of 720 marks.

No student from the state featured among the top 50 candidates. Tamil Nadu student Shruthi K secured the 57th rank by scoring 685.

Among the differently abled candidates, Karvanna Prabu KK from Tamil Nadu scored 572.

Apart from Hindi, 1.34 lakh candidates took the test in regional languages including Tamil this year. Of them 8.86% qualified in the exam. Of 31,239 candidates who appeared for the exam in Tamil language only 2% have qualified. In Hindi and Gujarati languages, 11.84% and 3.91% of students have qualified in the exam.

Cutoffs for government medical colleges may increase by 25 marks this year

TNN | Jun 6, 2019, 04.43 AM IST

CHENNAI: With Tamil Nadu students faring well in NEET, the cutoff for MBBS courses at government medical colleges might increase by more than 25 marks this year.

Last year, the cut-off for government medical colleges in OC category was 424. For BC and BCM it was 369 and 343. The cut-off for MBC was 323 and SC it was 264 and SC (A) 221. The ST category had lowest cut-off marks and students with 199 marks were able to secure an MBBS seat.

“We expect an increase of 40 marks for BC category this year. At our school alone more than 100 students have scored above 400,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV Schools.

Overall, the 23 government medical colleges have 3,250 seats this year. But, 5,634 students have scored more than 400 in NEET from Tamil Nadu this year; 3,705 have scored between 351 and 400.

“We felt that NEET 2019 is one of the easiest exams for medical aspirants. With the candidates performing well this year, the cutoffs are expected to increase significantly,” Manickavel Arumugam, a blogger who follows medical admissions, said.

The cut-off is expected to increase around 25 marks for all category this year.

The state has around 1,600 seats in 13 self-financing medical colleges. Officials from the directorate of medical education said according to last year’s data, 862 seats were available under government quota and 730 seats were available for management quota.

“We will have around 4,100 seats this year for MBBS counselling. Due to the high scores we can expect increase in the cutoff marks,” an official said.

TN students come up with a better NEET show, still behind other states

TNN | Jun 6, 2019, 04.41 AM IST

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu students have spoken. Even as politicians bicker over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), those writing it have given it the green signal. Burying the ghosts of NEET for now, 59,785 students from the state cleared the examination this year, taking up the qualifying percentage from 39.56% to 48.57%.

Also, from just two students who got above 600 in last NEET, the number soared to 135 this year. NEET is a 720-mark exam. Likewise, the number of students scoring above between 500 and 600 went up five-fold from just 213 last year to 1,194 this year.

“Overall, 14,297 students from Tamil Nadu have scored 300 and above this year,” an official from National Testing Agency told TOI.

Tamil Nadu topper Shruthi K scored 685 and secured an all-India rank of 57; she is the 10th among female candidates.

“I expected good marks, but this has surprised me. I prepared for the exam for two years. Any student with hard work and dedication can crack NEET,” she said. Shruti also wrote entrances for AIIMS and JIPMER. “My first preference is JIPMER,” she said.

Many students from state board schools have scored above 600 this year.

“In our school, two students secured more than 600 and 18 students have scored above 500,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV schools in Namakkal and Trichy.

Asked about the reasons for the improved performance, Swaminathan said many state board schools hired experts from other states to train students and introduced NEET coaching for old students.

“Tamil Nadu is already competing with other states in terms of performance. This year, from our institute alone, 30 students scored above 600. Due to availability of more seats, students with above 450 marks will get admission in good colleges,” said Chandan Chand, deputy director, Aakash Institute, Chennai.

At 1.23 lakh, Tamil Nadu had the third highest applicants for NEET this year and it has the sixth highest number of students who qualified the exam.

But educationist Prince Gajendrababu said though the performance of Tamil Nadu students has improved, a vast majority of students still missed the bus. “Only students from affluent background were able to perform well. It does not represent the entire state as students from government schools and rural areas could not perform well in the entrance exam,” he said.

This year, around 20,000 students from government schools wrote NEET. Officials from the school education department said they could not see the full results since the server was down.

Medicos help labourer’s daughter clear NEET

TNN | Jun 6, 2019, 04.46 AM IST

CHENNAI: A daily labourer’s daughter who studied in a government school has cleared NEET, thanks to Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Alumni Association. SM Surya Lakshmi’s score of 368 out of 720 marks may not be enough to win her an MBBS seat, but that she could achieve it with just two months’ preparation gives hope to many.

Lakshmi had never seen an NCERT book till she attended mentoring by KMC students. The alumni association funded the 40-day residential programme for 86 government school students from across Tamil Nadu. “I wanted to pursue MBBS. With that in mind, I prepared with whatever resources available to me,” she said. Her father Murali Krishnan is a casual labourer in a flour mill in Porur. Her mother is a homemaker.

Each of the students was assigned a medico-mentor (first year or second year MBBS student. “The mentoring gave me the confidence to face the exam. The MBBS students were helpful and they spent whatever free time they got to clarify our doubts,” Surya Lakshmi said.

She studied at Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Porur and scored 511 out of 600 marks in the Class XII board exams. After appearing for NEET, she said she could have done better had she studied the NCERT syllabus. “The questions were exactly how they are in NCERT books. The residential coaching programme has helped me. With better preparation, I would have scored better,” she said.

Due to server issues, many from the batch could not access the NEET results; there could be more students who cleared the entrance.

மணப்பெண் அட்ராசிட்டீஸ்! இந்தக்காலத்துல பொண்ணுங்க இப்படியும் ரவிக்கை தச்சுப் போட்டுக்கறாங்கப்பா!
By மாடர்ன் மங்கம்மா | Published on : 03rd June 2019 03:31 PM 

திருமணம்... அன்னைக்கு யார் ஹீரோ, ஹீரோயின்ஸ்? கண்டிப்பா பொண்ணும், மாப்பிள்ளையும் தான். அப்போ அந்த முழு நாளும் அவங்களுக்கே, அவங்களுக்கு தானே சொந்தம்! ஸோ, தன்னை எப்படி எல்லாம் அழகு படுத்திக்கலாம்கறதை இப்போ மொத்தமும் பெண்களே முடிவு செய்திடறாங்க. முன்னாடி மாதிரி அப்பா, அம்மா, சித்தி, அத்தை, பாட்டி, மாமான்னு யாரையும் நம்பி எந்தப் பொறுப்பையும் அவங்க விடறதா இல்லை. இன்விடேஷன் டிசைன் பண்றதுல தொடங்கி, திருமண டிரஸ் டிசைன், மணவறை அலங்காரம், அன்றைய மேக் அப், ஃபோட்டோகிராபி (இதுல போஸ்ட் வெட்டிங், ப்ரி வெட்டிங்னு எல்லாம் வந்தாச்சு இப்போ), ரிஷப்சன் கச்சேரி களை கட்ட டிஜே செலக்‌ஷன், திருமணத்துக்குப் பிறகான ஹனிமூன் டெஸ்டினேஷன் செலக்‌ஷன்னு எல்லாப் பொறுப்பையும் தன்னோட பொறுப்பிலேயே எடுத்துக்கிட்டு ஜமாய்க்கிறாங்க இந்த தலைமுறை மணப்பெண்களும், மணமகன்களும். இதில் மணமகன்களின் பொறுப்பு பர்ஸை மணப்பெண்ணிடம் அடமானம் வைப்பதோட முடிஞ்சிடறதுன்னு யாராவது கலய்ச்சீங்கன்னா அதுக்கு நான் பொறுப்பில்லை. சும்மா ஒரு அளவுக்குத்தான் சொல்ல முடியும். மீதியெல்லாம் நீங்களா கற்பனை பண்ணிக்க வேண்டியது தான்.


சரி இப்போ அதில்லை பிரச்னை...

ஃபேஷன் அட்டேட்ஸ்க்காக தேடும் போது இந்த ஃபோட்டோ கண்ல சிக்குச்சு. இது நிச்சயம் வருங்கால மணப்பெண்கள் தெரிந்து கொண்டே ஆக வேண்டிய விஷயமாச்சேன்னு தான் உடனே அப்டேட் பண்ண வேண்டியதாயிடுச்சு :))

இன்றைய தலைமுறை மணப்பெண்களின் ரவிக்கை டிசைன்கள் நம்ம கற்பனை எல்லைகளையும் தாண்டி சிறகு விரித்துப் பறந்துருக்கு பாருங்க.

டிசைன் நம்பர் 1



இந்த மணப்பெண் அணிந்திருக்கும் ரவிக்கையின் முதுக்குப்புறம் இது. ஐய்யோ... இதென்ன திறந்த முதுகுல இப்படிப் பேரை எழுதி வச்சுருக்காளேன்னு யாரும் திட்டிடாதீங்க. அது திறந்த முதுகு இல்லை. இதுக்கு பேர் Sheer Blouse Design, அதாவது, பழைய படங்கள்ள நடிகைகள் அரசிளங்குமரியா வேஷம் கட்டும் போது உடலின் திறந்த பகுதிகள் வெளியே தெரியா வண்ணம் ஏதோ ஒரு மெட்டீரியலில் ஸ்கின் மாதிரி ஒரு அங்கி மாட்டி இருப்பாங்க. நம்ம கண்ணுக்கு அது தோல் மாதிரி தெரிஞ்சாலும், அங்கே தோலை விட மெல்லிய சல்லாத்துணியால் சருமம் மூடப்பட்டிருக்கும். பார்க்க திறந்த முதுகு போலத் தெரிந்தாலும் அங்கே துணி மூடியிருக்குன்னு தான் அர்த்தம், அந்த மாதிரி சல்லாத்துணியில் டிசைன் செய்யப்பட்டது தான் இந்த ரவிக்கை. அட, எதுக்கு இந்த கர்மம்?! பேசாம அழகா ரவிக்கை தச்சு போட்டுக்கலாமேன்னு நீங்க சொல்றது எனக்கு கேட்குது! ஆனாலும், பாருங்க. இதுக்குப் பேர் தான் ஃபேஷன் படுத்தும் பாடு. அதனால தான் மணப்பெண்கள் வித்யாசம்க்ற பேர்ல இப்படியெல்லாம் யோசிக்கிறாங்க.

ஒன்னும் மட்டும் போதுமா? இன்னும் சில சாம்பிளையும் பாருங்களேன்.



ரவிக்கையில் வேடிக்கையான டிசைன்கள்...



ரவிக்கையில் மட்டுமா? லெஹங்காவிலும் கூட இதை ட்ரை பண்ணலாம் வாங்க...



லெஹங்கா மட்டுமா? இதோ மெஹந்தி அன்னைக்கு கூட இப்படி டிசைன் பண்ணிப்பேன்.



மணப்பெண்களின் இத்தகைய முயற்சிகள் ரசனையின் எல்லைக்குள் இருக்கும் வரை யாருக்கும் எந்த ஒரு பிரச்னையும் இருக்கப் போவதில்லை. ரசனை என்பது எல்லை மீறாததாக இருந்தால் எல்லோராலும் அது நிச்சயம் ரசிக்கப்படும் என்பதற்கு இந்த முயற்சிகள் உதாரணங்கள் ஆகின்றன.

நாளை, 'நீட்' தேர்வு, 'ரிசல்ட்' அரசு பள்ளிகள் சாதிக்குமா?

Added : ஜூன் 04, 2019 01:47

சென்னை : 'நீட்' தேர்வு முடிவு நாளை வெளியாகும் நிலையில், தமிழக அரசு பள்ளி மாணவர்கள் சாதிப்பார்களா என்ற, எதிர்பார்ப்பு எழுந்துள்ளது.

பிளஸ் 2 முடித்த மாணவர்கள், மருத்துவ படிப்பில் சேர, நீட் நுழைவு தேர்வில் தேர்ச்சி பெற வேண்டும். இந்த ஆண்டுக்கான நீட் தேர்வு, மே, 5ல், நாடு முழுவதும் நடந்தது. இந்த தேர்வுக்கு, 15 லட்சம் பேர் பதிவு செய்து, 14 லட்சம் பேர் பங்கேற்றனர். இந்நிலையில், நீட் தேர்வு முடிவு, நாளை வெளியிடப்படுகிறது. நீட் தேர்வை நடத்திய தேசிய தேர்வு முகமையின், www.ntaneet.nic.in என்ற, இணையதளத்திலும், இந்திய மருத்துவ கவுன்சிலின், www.mcc.nic.in என்ற, இணையதளத்திலும் முடிவுகளை பார்க்கலாம்.

'பெர்சன்டைல்' என்ற சதமானத்தின் அடிப்படையில், தகுதி பெறும் மாணவர்களின் எண்களும், மதிப்பெண்களும் அறிவிக்கப்படும் என, தேசிய தேர்வு முகமை தெரிவித்துள்ளது. இந்த தேர்வு முடிவில், தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள, 85 சதவீத மாநில அரசின் இடங்களுக்கு, தமிழகத்தை சேர்ந்த பள்ளிக்கல்வி மற்றும் சி.பி.எஸ்.இ., மாணவர்கள் தகுதி பெறுவர்.

இதில், பெரும்பாலும், தனியார் பள்ளி மாணவர்கள், அதிக மதிப்பெண் பெறுவது வழக்கம். இந்த முறையாவது, அரசு பள்ளிகளில், மாவட்டத்துக்கு குறைந்த பட்சம், மூன்று பேர் வீதம், 100 பேராவது தேர்ச்சி பெறுவார்களா என்ற, எதிர்பார்ப்பு எழுந்துள்ளது.

ரயில் டிக்கெட் முன்பதிவு: நாளை எப்படி?

Added : ஜூன் 04, 2019 01:46

சென்னை : ரம்ஜான் பண்டிகையான நாளை, ரயில் டிக்கெட் முன்பதிவு மையங்கள், மதியம் வரை மட்டுமே இயங்கும்.ரம்ஜான் பண்டிகையை ஒட்டி, ரயில் டிக்கெட் முன்பதிவு மையங்கள், நாளை காலை, 8:00 முதல், மதியம், 2:00 மணி வரை மட்டுமே இயங்கும் என, தெற்கு ரயில்வே தெரிவித்துள்ளது.