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Sunday, January 23, 2022

Back to unsupervised online tests for university students

Back to unsupervised online tests for university students

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

23.01.2022

Chennai: Universities in Tamil Nadu will return to unsupervised online exams from February1, the higher education department decided on on Friday.

This also shows that state universities are yet to come out with credible online tests despite the pandemic being on for nearly two years. The online exams can only be called written assignments as there is no monitoring or supervision, say academicians.

They want proctored online exams where each student would receive a different set of questions to prevent malpractices such as mass copying.

Professors want the government to come out with a mechanism for monitoring exams through apps such as Google Meet or MS Teams. They also want centralised evaluation to make it neutral. Some suggest conducting viva along with theory exams to help distinguish hard working students from others.

“Downloading question papers and writing answers in pen and paper mode at home and sending photos or posting answer sheets is not an online exam. Online exams should be conducted without pen and paper,” said E Balagurusamy, former vicechancellor of Anna University.

Only Anna University conducted a proctored online exam last year. Citing withholding of results for a large number of students, the state government ordered a re-exam for engineering students.

“The engineering colleges which had less than 10% pass percentage also have 95% pass in unsupervised online exam. The overall pass percentage is 98%. The uni- versities should conduct proctored tests,” he said.

In Madras University, more than 99% of students cleared exams in the previous semester, against 70% during the offline mode.

Autonomous colleges like Loyola are monitoring exams through apps such as Google Meet with three layers of supervision.

Universities say proctored online tests are not possible due to poor internet connectivity.

Madras University vice chancellor S Gowri said students from rural areas may not be able to attend proctored online tests due to poor network connectivity.

“The proctored objective exam could have been modified with a descriptive type exam. However, we have to follow the government's decision,” Anna University vice chancellor R Velraj said.

Firm told to pay ₹8 lakh to kin of ex-employee

Firm told to pay ₹8 lakh to kin of ex-employee

23.01.2022

Chennai: A labour court in Kancheepuram has directed a manufacturing firm in SIPCOT, Sriperumbudur, to compensate a sum of ₹8 lakh to the family of an employee, after the court ruled in favour of the company in the case as the employee died while the case was underway.

The petitioner, R Rajkumar who was working as a machine operator in the steel manufacturing company was dismissed in November2011 for continued absenteeism, against which he moved the labour court and sought salary arrears.

The court noted that the petitioner could not prove that the management ha d acted out of vendetta. Further, it was established by the management that there was continued absenteeism by the petitioner without providing valid reasons, and being a manufacturing company, the absenteeism of the employee affected production, the court noted. However, while the case was underway, the petitioner died due to ill health after which his wife was arrayed in the case.

The court noted that on compassionate grounds, the family be a warded compensation and since the management too agreed, the court arrived at an amount of ₹8 lakh. TNN

Relaxing is a learned skill. Here’s how to correctly master the art

Relaxing is a learned skill. Here’s how to correctly master the art

Deliberate muscle relaxation immediately reduces stress, fatigue and anxiety. And the best part: The more you do it, the more effective it is

23.01.2022

Most of us go through life not knowing that there is a particular technique to relaxing — deliberate muscle relaxation — that immediately reduces fatigue, anxiety and and creates a kind of all-over refreshed feeling that can be attained nearly anywhere.

Loosen up

One of the most widely used methods is progressive muscle relaxation, which was developed by Edmund Jacobson, a medical doctor who pioneered research into the connection between physical tension and mental well-being.

Jacobson’s insight was that a moderately tense muscle is indistinct — that is, one often does not notice, in ordinary life, that certain muscles are in a state of tension. His method for relaxation is thus a two-step process. First, learn to recognise what a particular muscle feels like when it is flexed. Then, focusing on that muscle in the f lexed state, do the o pposit e o f f le xi ng : Re l a x.

When you’re starting out wit h muscle r el a xa t io n , i t c an be helpful to set aside time and s p ac e t o d o i t . F i n d 1 0 t o 1 5 m i n utes in the day when you’re unlikely to be disturbed. Look for a quiet spot where you can lie down on a bed or sit on a couch. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths.

Now begin: Start at your extremities — say, your hands. Clench them and focus on what that feels like. What is the physical sensation of a clenched fist? Which muscles are activated, and what does their activation feel like? After you have spent a few seconds focusing on the clench, do the opposite. As you exhale, gently unclench your fist. Let go of the tension. Feel your hand loosening, becoming heavy, falling into relaxation.

Repeat this with other parts. Your arms: Flex your biceps, feel the f lex and then let go. Your shoulders: Shrug, then unshrug. Your mouth: Smile wide and feel the pull of your smile muscles, then let your smile go limp.

Quieten the body

Muscle relaxation is related to meditation — quieting thebody is an important part of quieting the mind — but it is much easier to get into and a lot more portable. With practice, you’ll learn to achieve mastery over your tension, to sense how you’re unconsciously tightening parts of your body during the course of a day. Once you begin to recognise that feeling, muscle relaxation can become an all-over, all-the-time activity.

— THE NEW YORK TIMES

What is ‘white coat hypertension’?

23.01.2022

White coat hypertension’ is characterized by shooting up of blood pressure and/or heart rate when in a hospital, because of the nervousness of being in front of a doctor.

For a recent experiment, 18 people with hypertension were monitored using blood pressure measurements, in the presence and absence of a doctor. It came as no surprise that when a doctor was present, the blood pressure and heart rates were higher.

Experts recommend measuring BP thrice and taking an average of those readings.

— DAILY MIRROR

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Docs not willing to join govt hospitals’

Docs not willing to join govt hospitals’

22.01.2022

Asenior health officer said that the state government has on the floor of the state assembly announced that they are not getting any super specialist doctors. He said thatthe formerhe alth m inister Nitin Patel had made it clear that not many were willing to join the government sector and were not willing to serve in rural areas. The officersaidthat it is a lso a factthat lack of adequate remuneration is also a factor for doctors and super specialists not opting to work in the government sector.

Another officer said that it has also been obse rved that two or three super speciality doctors join hands and open their own hospital which turns out to be more benefici- al. The government has also started r ecruitingsuperspecialists on a part-time basis, but desp ite this it has failed to attract m uch talent.

Asuperintendent of a civil hospital in Saurashtra said, “In the absence of such super specialists, especially gynaecologists, the hospital has a committee which empowers the hospital to acquire the services of the specialists by pay- ing a fixed amount. Such a committee,known as Rogi Kalyan Samiti, is headed by the respective collectors and hence in a majority of the district hospitals, such practice is widespread as no doctor is willing to joinfull time. ”

Moreover these super specialist doctors prefe r to stay more in urban cities than the rural areas away from the district headquarters.

Guj stares at 99% shortage of super specialists in govt hosps

Of Required 1,392, Shortfall Put At 1,379

Ahmedabad:At a time when the state is battling a massive surge in Covid-19 cases, it is faced with an alarming deficit of super specialists in government hospitals.

Going by government data itself, Gujarat is faced with a 99% shortfall in super specialist doctors like surgeons, paediatricians, obstetricians-gynaecologists and the like.

This deficit of specialist doctors is the highest among all major states of the country. If Gujarat was compared to all states, it is ranked second from bottom with only Mizoram faring worse than Gujarat.

According to data released in the Handbook of Statistics of India States (20202021) by the Reserve Bank of India, Gujarat has a requirement of 1,392 super specialists, and its shortfall is 99% at1,379. Among all states, only Mizoram fares worse with a 100% shortfall against the requirement of 36 super specialists. All other states fare better than Gujarat in terms of the deficit of super specialists in government healthcare systems.

Maharashtra (64%), Mad- hya Pradesh (96%), Rajasthan (80%), Bihar (46%), Uttar Pradesh (71%) West Bengal (54%) and several other states have a lesserpercentage of deficit of super specialists as compared to Gujarat.

The data reveals that against the required 1,392 surgeons, physicians, paediatricians and obstetrician-gynaecologists, Gujarat has only sanctioned 268 posts and of these there are only 13 posts that are filled.

However, when it comes to appointing doctors in primary health centres, the state has sanctioned 1,869 posts of which1,490 are filled. The state has a shortage of 379 doctors in PHCs against the sanction posts.

5G won’t pose threat to flights in India: Trai

5G won’t pose threat to flights in India: Trai

22.01.2022

New Delhi: Aircraft flying over India will not face any safety issues because of the upcoming 5G mobile services, telecom regulator Trai has said, emphasising that the new-age technology is “prima facie safe” for planes in the country.

The assurance comes at a time when there are growing concerns over the safety of aircraft flying in the US over fears of interference with navigation systems as 5G network starts rolling out across the country.

Several flights to the US have been cancelled or rescheduled as airlines fear that the 5G phone service could pose a risk to aircraft instruments, impacting some popular jets. TNN

Now, domestic fliers can carry only one handbag

Now, domestic fliers can carry only one handbag

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

22.01.2022

Ahmedabad: Domestic fliers will now have to rework their travel checklist to pack light. According to the latest circular issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), domestic passengers will be allowed to carry only one hand baggage.

The ‘one handbag rule’ has been imposed across airports. The decision has been taken with a view to ease out congestion and other security concerns on ground and reduce burden at the airport screening points.

In a communication to the BCAS on January19, a senior CISF official wrote, “As per BCAS ‘AVSEC’ circular, no passenger should be permitted to carry more than one handbag other than those items already listed in the circular including a lady’s bag. ”

“However, it has been seen that the passengers, on an average, carry two to three handbags till the screening point. This has led to increased clearance time as well as delays and congestion,” the letter mentioned.

Sources at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad confirmed that all airlines have been instructed to take necessary steps to enforce the‘one handbag’ rule to ease congestion. Sources also said that airlines have been asked to depute staff to guide passengers as and when necessary and verify their hand bag- gage status.

Frequent travellers have welcomed the move stating it will ease swifter movement through the security checkpoints, but some are confused too. “I usually carry a laptop bag and an overnighter trolley bag when on business trips. It is convenient to web check-in and head straight to the security checkpoint. I prefer not having check-in luggage as I have to travel to Delhi every now and then and the queue at the baggage belt is very long. However, I am wondering how it will pan out with the new rules,” said Shantanu D, a professional.

Airlines have been directed to display the ‘one handbag’ rule on their tickets as well as boarding passes.

Five flights cancelled

Five flights were cancelled from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport on Friday. These include flights to Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, which were delayed due to operational constraints. Meanwhile, four more flights to Jaipur, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai were delayed for departure due to fog early in the morning in Ahmedabad and rotational issues.

TNN

Bride calls off wedding after dance goes awry Woman Marries Relative; Spurned Man Demands ₹7L

Bride calls off wedding after dance goes awry

Woman Marries Relative; Spurned Man Demands ₹7L

Bosco.Dominique@timesgroup.com

22.01.2022

Cuddalore: A betrothal, a reception, a shoving match and a wedding with another groom. It had all the elements of romance, pomp and drama.

Just hours before they could say ‘I do’, the couple broke up — over an alleged slap in the face. Within hours of being ‘publicly humiliated’ by her husband-to-be, the bride called off the wedding and married a relative at the scheduled date and time, but a venue seven kilometres away. The spurned groom has now lodged a complaint with the Panruti all-women police station seeking compensation of ₹7 lakh, which his family spent for the reception and wedding arrangements.

Police said a youth from Periyakattupalayam near Panruti employed as a senior engineer in a private firm in Chennai and a postgraduate woman from Panruti were formally engaged with the blessings of their parents and elders of both families on November 6.

The elders decided to hold the reception on January 19 in Panruti and the wedding the following day in Kadampuliyur village. The organisers had even arranged a DJ for the reception, held the day before the wedding as is the custom in some communities. The groom and bride were happily dancing to the tunes of the DJ and everything went smooth until the bride's cousin joined them on the floor. Her cousin initially held the hands of the couple and danced with them. Soon, he came in between them, placed his arms around the shoulders of the couple and started dancing with them, irking the groom.

The groom pushed away the cousin and the bride. What happened next was a blur. The bride's family insists that the groom slapped her in front of all the guests in the hall when she joined him on the decked up stage after the dance

Bride’s family managed to find groom within hrs

Shocked and humiliated, the tearful bride called off the wedding. Her parents approved her decision. They walked out in a huff, managed to find a suitable groom among their relatives within hours and the following morning, the bride married the new groom at the scheduled time and date and a new venue.

The rejected groom said in his complaint that the bride's parents and relatives charged him with ill-treating her and added they physically assaulted him and verbally abused him.

"When she reached the stage after dancing, I asked her why she danced with others. For which, she replied that it was her decision to dance. Soon her parents and relatives accused me of threatening her even before tying the knot and abused and assaulted me. They said they will teach me a lesson by stopping the marriage and marrying their daughter off to another man,” the groom said in his complaint. “We have spent more than ₹7 lakh for the reception and the wedding. We request you to help us in getting the compensation," he a dded in the complaint.

Panruti all-women police inspector S Valli said the groom was accused of slapping the bride for dancing with her cousin following which the bride rejected the groom and her parents got her married to another man. “We have received complaints from both sides. We have instructed the parties of the two sides to come for inquiries tomorrow (Saturday),” said Valli.

Builders cannot sell a dream to flat buyers and not fulfil it: SC

Builders cannot sell a dream to flat buyers and not fulfil it: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

22.0.2022

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a builder, IREO Pvt Ltd, to refund crores of rupees to flat buyers who wanted refund of their investment as the realtor sold a dream home with Italian marble floor, golf course view and other luxurious amenities to them in the brochure but failed to provide for the promised facilities.

The project ‘Skyon’ on golf course extension road in Gurugram was delayed by years and when the flat buyers, each of whom had invested in excess of ₹2 crore, demanded re-fund, IREO Pvt Ltd threatened to deduct 20% of their invested money. They moved consumer court and were granted refund of the principal money with interest of 10. 5% as provided under Haryana RERA.

IREO through Ankur Seh- gal appealed against the decision of the NCDRC before the SC. Sehgal said that there is a green belt provided by the builder but there was no golf course. The bench said, “You (builder) sell a dream to the home buyers but do not provide the promised amenities. When the promised amenities are not provided, they are entitled to a refund of their investments with interest. ” The SC agreed that such deviations entitled the flat buyers to demand refund and upheld the NCDRC order. IREO now has to pay back ₹2. 2 crore to one flat buyer and another ₹ 4. 68 crore, both with interest of 10. 5%.

‘Blacklist contractors who pack poor quality Pongal’

‘Blacklist contractors who pack poor quality Pongal’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

22.01.2022

Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin has instructed officials to blacklist contractors, who were found to have supplied substandard items given in Pongal gift hamper.

Stalin, who held a review meeting on distribution of Pongal gift hampers in the wake of complaints from opposition parties that the items given were of poor quality, told officials to take action against staff who were responsible for bringing disrepute to the government. A statement from the government said Stalin had warned of strict action against those behind the irregularities. “He instructed that only quality products should be given to the public and that officials should not allow anyone to bring disrepute to the government,” the statement said.

Government officials should ensure that all the commodities given in the gift hamper at ration shops are of good quality and of prescribed quantity. “Stern action should be taken on erring staff,” he said.

The statement said that though the gift hamper distribution had received an overwhelming response from the public, there were complaints in few places about the commodities. These complaints were inquired into and action was taken on agencies that supplied the substandard items, the statement added.

Though only six items were given as part of Pongal gift hamper by the previous government, the present government was giving 21 items. The government had taken concerted efforts to procure quality products, the statement said.

Madras varsity forms 5-member panel to probe ‘ghost grad’ scam

Madras varsity forms 5-member panel to probe ‘ghost grad’ scam

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

22.01.2022

Chennai: University of Madras has formed a five-memberinquiry panel to probe the ghost graduates scam where 117 students were caught trying to get degrees without enrolling in any programme at the Institute of Distance Education. TOIr eported the scam on December 22, 2021.

The panel is headed by director of legal studies C Chokkalingam. The other members are B Venugopal, head, department of legal studies, Chitti Annapurna, head, department of Hindi, D Sathiyavan, head (in-charge), department of econometrics, and Elangovan, dean (academic) and head, departme nt of biochemistry.

Except Elangovan, other four members are syndicate members. “The panel commenced its probe on Thurs-day. It will inquire into how the racket happened, who were res ponsible and recommend action,” an official said. Based on the committee report, the university will decide whether to file a police complaint."At present, the committee will look only into the

December 2020 semester exams for distance mode students," vice-chancellor S Gowri said.

Institute of Distance Education had decided to allow people to write exams who had enrolled for degrees since1980-81, but didn’t g et degrees due to arrears. The racketeers uploaded fake course completion certificates for new students to enable them to write as old students. They paid exam fees and were given se rial numbers that followed genuine candidates.

As many as 117 students cleared the exams in December 2020. When they sought degree certificates, the university checked if they paid tuition fees and found no record of this or admission details. Provisional/convocation certificates for 117 candidates were cancelled and their names removed from the permanent pass register.

Sources said each student could have paid up to ₹3 lakh to the racketeers. The tuition fees is ₹20,000.

Two-way traffic on Pallavaram flyover likely

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

22.01.2022

Chennai: The state highways department and the traffic police are in talks to discuss the possibilities of introducing a two-way traffic system along the Pallavaram flyover.IKarunanithi, MLA for Pallavaram, said that an inter-departmental inspection would be held soon to ensure that the new traffic pattern does not cause any traffic congestion or accidents.

Ever since the 1. 5-kilometre-long flyover w as thrown open for the public in September 2020, residents in areas along Grand Southern Trunk (GST) have been demanding that twoway traffic be allowed on the stretch. Currently, motorists are allowed to travel only in one direction, from Tambaram towards Chennai International Airport. “It is wide enough to support twoway traffic. But for some unexplained re ason, the government has restricted it to unidirectional flyover. This has defeated the very purpose of constructing a flyover at this location,” said V Santhanam, a resident-a

ctivist from Chromepet.

During the evening peak hours, thousands of vehicles leave the city. But they

are forced to use the road below the flyover. As a result, the entire str etch becomes congested, and vehicles move at a snail’s pace. Traffic gets worse on Fridays when the weekly market is organised.

Therefore, it will be good if the government can allow at least cars, minivans and two-wheelers to use the flyover while leaving Chennai. This will reduce the burden on the road underneath the flyover, Santhanam said.

Karunanithi, the MLA for Pallavaram, said that he had already initiated talks among various state g overnment agencies. “Soon, it will be converted into a bi-directional flyover,” he said.

Besides this, efforts are on to widen the roads underneath the flyover and install another traffic signal so that vehicles to and fro Pammal and Kundrathur need not take a detour. This signal will make pedestrian movement also easie r, he said. The state highways department, which constructed the flyover at ₹82 crore, will remove encroachments along the stretch in order to widen it. “It will be converted into a three-lane road (11 metres wide) so that there are no traffic jams,” said Jayanthi, a divisional engineer.

Corona may not die soon, but it’s time to kill fear, say experts Could Turn Endemic And Continue For A Few Years: Doctors

Corona may not die soon, but it’s time to kill fear, say experts

Could Turn Endemic And Continue For A Few Years: Doctors

Sumitra Deb Roy & Malathy Iyer

TNN

22.01.2022

Is the end of the Covid pandemic fear near? The Covid-causing coronavirus has stumped experts so often that only a few are willing to give an affirmative reply, but the overwhelming consensus is that “it is time to stop living in fear”.

The pandemic could continue for a “few months more” before transforming into an endemic disease with localised outbreaks for the next few years, said a doctor from a civic hospital. Physician Gautam Bhansali believes cities such as Mumbai should consider Covid-19 as a seasonal flu. “We dealt with the Omicron wave without any stress on health infrastructure, oxygen shortage or crisis of beds. We cannot ignore the fact that 95% of the people who are testing positive are asymptomatic,” he said.

Epidemiologist Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, who came under fire for equating Omi- cron with the flu, told TOI the fact remains that the new variant spreads like cold and causes a mild disease. In the UK, 70% of people with cold tested positive for Omicron. “In Washington, they looked at 3,340 Omicron positive cases where mortality was zero. Similarly, in California, 53,000 Omicron infections were studied and negligible mortality was found. The third wave has shown that India’s health system can also handle the load,” said Dr Muliyil.Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra government’s task force on Covid-19, has a different take on the new liberal Covid policies. “The policies adopted by some foreign countries merely mark a shift in policies (rather than the end of Covid),” he said.

Three factors, said Joshi, have brought about these changes: the new wave is relatively mild, large pockets of the world are vaccinated realisation that continued restrictions would be detrimental to the economy and education.

Daily Covid deaths at third-wave high

India reported a slight drop in fresh cases on Friday, with the day's tally likely to stay below 3.4 lakh, but deaths from the virus rose to 407, the highest single-day toll during the present wave, with data from one state yet to come in. Maharashtra posted the highest tally of cases on Friday at 48,270. Fatalities remained high in Delhi (38), Bengal (35), Tamil Nadu and Kerala (33 each).

‘Reinfection a possibility’

Amid the Omicron wave, health experts have not ruled out the possibility of reinfection of the variant among patients, bringing back the focus on Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination to check spread and deaths. Meanwhile, the Karnataka government on Friday lifted the weekend curfew with immediate effect.

Too much emphasis on wife’s consent: HC

Too much emphasis on wife’s consent: HC

Abhinav.Garg@timesgroup.com

22.01.2022

New Delhi: There is a “qualitative difference” in sexual equation between people who are married to each other and between those who are not, the Delhi HC observed Friday, adding one can’t “equate chalk and cheese”.

Justice C Hari Shankar reminded Rebecca John, appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court on the petitions seeking to criminalise marital rape, that while “there is a right to expect sexual relations from both sides in a marriage, there is no such right when the parties are not married”.

Explaining why he remains sceptical of “too much emphasis” on wife’s consent made by the amicus, Shankar said Parliament did provide “some kind of rational basis” to justify the exception in IPC 375 to protect husbands. “We are obfuscating this entire argument, this entire rationale (provided by legislature) by concentrating on consent, consent, consent. We can’t deny that there is a presumption of constitutionality in the law made by Parliament. Specially in a criminal case we don’t lightly quash a provision that is not deemed an offence,” Shankar said. He wondered if the court can “substitute our sensitivities or sensibilities” and “step into the legislature’s shoes” to overturn a legal provision when there is a “prima facie rational basis” for it given by Parliament.

John however maintained that there is no “right” but only an “expectation” of conjugal relations with wife in a marriage and the same also cannot lead to the husband having forced relations with her. “ In a given situation, the husband may be right and the right may be unreasonable. . . (but) there is no right. There can be an expectation. The expectation cannot lead to forcible sex on your wife,” the senior lawyer noted.

Friday, January 21, 2022

NEET PG 2021

Students from state fare better in NEET-UG

21.01.2022

Mumbai: Performances of state students in NEET-UG 2021 has improved over the previous year. The provisional merit list for state students was released late Wednesday night, almost three months after the NEET-UG results were announced. The 100th state rank was bagged by a student with an all-India rank of 1,165 this year. Last year, the corresponding rank was 1,874, indicating students’ performance in terms of rank is better than last year.

On the state merit list,12 from the state bagged all-India ranks within 100, as opposed to only two last year. A few top-ranking students, however, directly apply to central universities such as AIIMS, so may have not featured on the state list. The number of girls qualifying in the top100 state ranks in NEET-UG, however, dropped to 30, from last year’s 41. In all, 59,437 students registered for admissions to health science courses this year, as opposed to last year’s 64,645.

TNN

Borivli ‘edu consultants’ arrested for selling fake univ certs, scores

Borivli ‘edu consultants’ arrested for selling fake univ certs, scores

Ahmed.Ali@timesgroup.com

21.01.2022

Mumbai:Two persons running an educational consultancy were arrested when the city crime branch busted a major racket in supplying fake certificates of various accredited institutes for Rs 1-2 lakh. The accused have so far sold more than 80 fake certificates, said the police. Ravindra Morya and Pritesh Jain, proprietors of Prime Sapphire Education in Borivli, were arrested by crime branch unit 11, which recovered around 200 fake certificates and mark sheets of various private institutes approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, UP, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The accused have been booked under various IPC sections for che-ating, forgery and breach of trust. Four mobile phones, a laptop, two hard disks, pen drives and cash of Rs 1. 1 lakh were recovered. Based on a tip-off, the crime branch send a decoy customer with Rs 1. 3 lakh to the Sapphire Education office opposite Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli, said deputy commissioner of police (crime-1) Sangramsingh Nishandar. The decoy told them that he needed a passing certificate from Sabarmati University in Gujarat. “The student also asked for a mark sheet of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam University, Madhya Pradesh. The accused said though he had never attended any lecture, he would get good marks and pass in the mark sheet they would give. No sooner did the accused accept the money, our team raided the place and detained the two accused. Search of their office resulted in recovery of 200 fake certificates of various private institutions and other electronic goods,” said Nishandar.

Man held after fake stamp paper haul

Wasim Ansari, 43, was arrested after police raided his place in Chembur on suspicion of running an online gambling racket and stumbled on to huge quantities of government documents such as PAN card, Aadhar card, fake stamp paper of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 10 face value, election cards and rubber stamps of various government offices.

Police said Ansari had opened 15 bank accounts by submitting bogus documents. He has been booked for cheating, forgery, and gambling. The hunt is on for his accomplice Rahul Katiyar.

TNN

SC to hear plea against govt’s FCRA move

SC to hear plea against govt’s FCRA move

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

21.01.2022

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea for quashing of the Centre’s decisionsby which it has refused to renew or cancelled FCRA registration for close to 6,000 NGOs and listed the case for hearing on January 24. A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar agreed to the plea for early hearing on a petition filed by US-based NGO Global Peace Initiative which was founded by an Indian and has branches across the world and works closely with many NGOs, including the Missionaries of Charity. It passed the order after Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde and lawyer Pranjal Kishore, appearing for the petitioner, mentioned the matter. The organisation, founded by Kilari Anand, submitted in the apex court that NGOs played a crucial and important role in reaching out to people and helped the country during the Covid pandemic which had been duly acknowledged by the government and the Prime Minister’s Office and cancellation of the licenses of close to 6000 NGOs at this juncture will hamper relief efforts.

To honour KGMU doc who died of Covid, US assn declares award

To honour KGMU doc who died of Covid, US assn declares award

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

21.01.2022

Lucknow: The American Association of Endodontists (AAE) has announced to honour late Dr Anil Chandra on the occasion of his birthday on January 27 through “Dr Anil Chandra Memorial FTEDG (Full Time Educator Development Grant) award” to be given annually in his name. It is the first memorial award in the world by AAE which is named after an educator.

Dr Anil Chandra, a Fellow of the American Academy of Dentistry, and a Covid warrior succumbed to Covid-19 in April 2021while serving his patients during the pandemic outbreak in Lucknow. He was the Dean of Dental Faculty and a senior professor in the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics at King George’s Medical Uni-versity in Lucknow at the time of his death. Dr Chandra’s illustrious career as a dental educator and endodontic includes a global network of clinicians he mentored during teaching of dentistry and graduate training; numerous publications and awards; and appointments at North American universities. He held four patents, edited three Indian dental journals, and served extensively in leadership roles in addition to giving presentations at dental conferences around the world. He was a passionate academician for advancing access to specialty training and endodontic education.

Dr Chandra is remembered by his students as a soft spoken, kind hearted teacher, ever willing to help and guide them selflessly and remains an inspiration to the dental fraternity to advance their professional and personal lives.

SC extends women’s right to parents’ property to before ’56 2020 Order Gave Daughters Same Rights As Sons

SC extends women’s right to parents’ property to before ’56

2020 Order Gave Daughters Same Rights As Sons

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

21.01.2022

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari gave the judgment and said self-acquired properties of a person, who died intestate in 1949, would devolve on his sole daughter, despite the man admittedly living in a joint family, and could not have passed on to the deceased person’sbrother on the basis of the survivorship law in force prior to 1956 and upon his death to his children. Justice Murari said, “Since the property in question was admittedly the self-acquired property of Marappa Gounder, despite the family being in state of jointness upon his death intestate, his sole surviving daughter Kupayee Ammal will inherit the same by inhe- ritance and the property shall not devolve by survivorship. ”

The SC had in August 2020 ruled that daughters will have inheritance rights equal to those of sons in the properties of fathers, grandfathers and greatgrandfathers right from the codification of the Hindu laws in1956.

Air India to resume US ops from today

Air India to resume US ops from today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

211.01.2022

Mumbai: The troubles for passengers booked on US bound Air India flights seems to be over, at least for now.

On Thursday evening, AirIndia tweeted that its India-US operations will follow the normal schedule from Friday. Air India had cancelled eight return flights on Wednesday and six on Thursday due to air safety concerns over the deployment of 5G communications in North America. On Thursday, the airline operated three relief flights out of India carrying the stranded passengers.

Later in the day, Air India tweeted: “Flight operations to/from destinations in USA were affected during the last two days. We would like to inform our passengers travelling to/ from destinations in the USA that effective 0001 ho-urs of 21st January 2022 normal flight operations will recommence to/from USA. ”

The impasse was resolved after Air India received clearance from aircraft manufacturer Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US, said an Air India spokesperson. The first Boeing 777 flight from Delhi to New Yo rk departed at 7. 45am, followed by Chicago flight AI-127 at 2. 25pm and San Francisco flight AI-17 at 3. 36pm. “The flights would have departed in the morning itself, but passengers had to undergo Covid tests as their earlier tests expired,” said the airline official. But passengers, especially those based in the US booked to fly to India, continue to battle rescheduling problems.

Aggrieved passengers unable to reach the airline customer service took to social media to ai r their woes.