NEWS TODAY 17 & 18.03.2024

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Bindi, lipstick and handcuffs: Punjab man arrested for impersonating girl at exam

Bindi, lipstick and handcuffs: Punjab man arrested for impersonating girl at exam

The youth, Angrez Singh, was caught after the invigilators at the DAV Public School in Kotkapura verified his details using biometrics.

The youth, Angrez Singh, had come to appear for the exam, on behalf of Paramjit Kaur, wearing a red dress, bangles, bindi and a cap. (File picture)

India Today News Desk

Kotkapura,UPDATED: Jan 14, 2024 22:08 IST

Written By: Ashutosh Acharya

A man was recently arrested in Punjab's Faridkot for attempting to take an examination by impersonating a girl, police said. The youth, identified as Angrez Singh from Fazilka, was appearing for the exam of multi-purpose health workers held by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, in DAV Public School in Kotkapura on January 7.

The university administration, with the help of biometric devices, caught the accused who had forged a fake identity with counterfeit Aadhar and voter cards.

The university administration promptly filed a complaint with the police, suspecting the possibility of involvement in a larger network. This incident follows a similar case reported earlier.

The boy, who had dressed as a girl for the examination was adorned with red bangles, a bindi, lipstick, and was seated wearing a ladies' suit.

A fake voter ID card and a fake Aadhar card was seized from Angrez Singh, who had come to appear for the exam in disguise. (Image: India Today)

Dr Rajeev Sud, Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences told India Today TV that Angrez was appearing for the exam on behalf of a girl, identified as Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Fazilka.

The man was immediately taken into custody by police and the real candidate's form has also been rejected by the administration. A case has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway.

"We received a complaint from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, and we are currently investigating the matter. We will take appropriate action after completing our inquiry," Faroidkot SP Jasmeet Singh said.

(With inputs by Prem Passi)

KERALA UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Allow Dr Ruwise to rejoin course’

TNN | Mar 15, 2024, 05.39 AM IST

Kochi: The high court has issued a directive to the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) and others to permit Dr E A Ruwise, a medical postgraduate student at Thiruvananthapuram Govt Medical College, who was accused in a case related to the suicide of a fellow medical postgraduate student, to rejoin the course.

While considering Ruwise’s petition to revoke the suspension order, Justice C P Mohammed Niyas stayed the suspension order and its further proceedings, directing the respondents to pass an order within a week to permit him to continue his studies. The bench also instructed them to take necessary steps to prevent any untoward incident in the college upon his rejoining.

It was alleged that Ruwise had a relationship with Dr Shahana, who was also a postgraduate student at the same medical college.

Shahana committed suicide on Dec 4, 2023. Following a complaint from her family, Dr Ruwise was accused of demanding a large dowry for finalizing the marriage, leading to his arrest by the police. He was later released on bail by the HC’s order. Subsequently, the medical college authorities suspended Ruwise from the course, prompting him to approach the court.

Previously, the bench had directed the health university to consider the petitioner’s representation and decide the matter. However, the authorities rejected it on March 2.

The court emphasized that the petitioner was merely an accused in a crime, albeit with serious charges. Dr Ruwise had gained admission to PG course on merit. Keeping him away from studies pending the inquiry or trial would potentially place him in a situation where irreparable damage might occur if the charges are not proven, the bench added.

RGUHS to file cases against 4 nursing colleges

Fake receipt scam: RGUHS to file cases against 4 nursing colleges 

Four private nursing colleges were accused of faking receipts to the tune of over Rs 10 lakh. On August 24, DH had published a report on the fake receipt scam at RGUHS. Rashmi Belur DH...

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/fake-receipt-scam-rguhs-to-file-cases-against-4-nursing-colleges-2748884

No more booklets: RGUHS looks to trial writing exams on special tablets

 No more booklets: RGUHS looks to trial writing exams on special tablets

TNN | Feb 27, 2024, 06.54 AM IST

No more booklets: RGUHS looks to trial writing exams on special tablets

BENGALURU: RGUHS is planning to introduce paperless exams for its students. A pilot will be run for about 2,000 students of physiotherapy and fellowship programmes this March where answers will be written into the tablet and uploaded on the server immediately after the exam, leaving very little space for malpractice.

No more booklets: RGUHS looks to trial writing exams on spl tablets

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) is planning to introduce paperless exams for its students. With this, the students won't write the exams on paper, but on customized tablets.

As per the university's plans, a pilot will be run for about 2,000 students of physiotherapy and fellowship programmes this March. The initiative will be extended to other programmes soon. The answers written into the tablet will be uploaded on the server immediately after the exam, leaving very little space for malpractice. There will be no change in the question paper pattern. "The issue we foresee is a mind block on whether students will be able to use the pen with ease. But we're sure it will ease once the students try it out. We saw similar resistance when we introduced peripheral screening and digital evaluation. But now, these methods are being adopted by other states and have been appreciated by the National Medical Commission," said Dr MK Ramesh, vice-chancellor of RGUHS.

The move, he said, would help not just curb malpractice in exams and retain its sanctity, but also help the environmental cause. The university is certain the process will be cost effective. "There are tabs costing Rs 8,000-10,000 that will serve no other purpose but to write exams. One tab will be used for four years by a student. We'll decide whether the same tab can be handed over to another student, depending on how much technology has advanced then," he said.

The tab will replace the cost of buying paper and transporting it, among others. The amount the varsity spends on answer booklets alone every year is Rs 7-8 crore, considering that about 17 lakh booklets are used.

RGUHS has already added a face recognition system and other AI tools to curb exam malpractice.

Medical colleges in Telangana allot ineligible examiners for MBBS practicals

Medical colleges in Telangana allot ineligible examiners for MBBS practicals

Many MSc faculty allotted for MBBS practical exams owing to lack of qualified members

Express News Service

Updated on: 

14 Mar 2024, 8:55 am

HYDERABAD : In contravention of norms of the National Medical Commission (NMC), many government medical colleges (GMC) in the state have allotted MSc and MSc PhD faculty as internal and external examiners for the MBBS practical examinations conducted in the colleges under the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS).

As per the NMC norms, the examiners for the internal and external practical MBBS examinations must have at least four years of teaching experience after a postgraduate degree following MBBS. Therefore, faculty members who have only completed an MSc or MSc PhD are not eligible. The university had also issued the same directions in this regard to the colleges. However, owing to a lack of qualified members in various colleges across the state, many MSc faculty have been allotted for the MBBS practical exams, according to sources.

An assistant professor at the Suryapet Government Medical College told TNIE, “The norms, changed a few years ago, disallow MSc faculty from being examiners. However, the practice continues in government medical colleges.”

Irregular recruitment

While every GMC in the state has been reeling from a shortage in staff, the issue is more deep-rooted than that. Doctors said that most of the recruitment in the GMCs was on a contract basis for a year, while the recruitment of regular teaching staff was not done regularly.

Elaborating on the issue, a doctor from Nalgonda GMC said, “New government medical colleges are coming up in the state without the required infrastructure and teaching faculty. Some colleges have only one or two teaching staff. Meanwhile, the government is reluctant to fill vacancies regularly due to lack of funds. Contractual hiring fails to address understaffed GMCs, as these staff members serve for a year and many are hesitant to join due to limitations on private practice and lack of travel allowances for remote postings.”

He pointed out that while a faculty member under contract gets Rs 1.25 lakh per month, the regular faculty gets `85,000 for the same designation.

Regularise services: Doctors

Doctors and professors are advocating for the regularisation of contractual hiring as the most viable solution to address the understaffed GMCs and prevent ineligible faculty from being deployed as examiners.

Speaking to TNIE, Telangana State Medical Council vice-chairman Dr Gundagani Srinivas said, “We have been demanding the government to make all the faculty positions permanent. We also want them to be paid on par with the doctors at NIMS and AIIMS. Low salary is a major issue behind doctors preferring to join private hospitals. We also want the government to allow the doctors to carry on private practice outside the official working hours of 9 am to 4 pm.”

He said that the government’s latest decision to hire 4,356 new teaching faculty in the colleges was a temporary fix and that only by making these staff permanent can the issue of under-staffed colleges be resolved permanently.

NEET UG tie-breaking rules demand clarity and transparency

 NEET UG tie-breaking rules demand clarity and transparency

 Sonal.Srivastava@timesgroup.com 

18.03.2024

The NMC introduced new tie-breaking rules for the NEET UG 2024, which were published in the NEET UG information bulletin. However, the NMC will be following the tie-breaking rules that were applicable in 2023. Tie-breaking rules are crucial in the MBBS counselling rounds as they resolve the tie between students who score the same percentile and come in handy while deciding the medical college seat. Clarity and transparency in tie-breaking rules are crucial during counselling rounds since the rules determine how the tie will be broken. 

According to experts, at times, there may be 500- 1000 students who score the same percentile and the rules determine their chances of getting a government medical college seat. The NEET UG 2024 information bulletin suggested the following tie-breaking criteria:In case two or more candidates obtain equal marks/percentile scores in the NEET (UG) 2024, the interse-merit shall be determined as follows: 

● Candidate obtaining higher marks in Biology (Botany &Zoology) in the NEET, followed by, 

● Candidate obtaining higher marks in Chemistry in the Test, followed by, ● Candidate obtaining higher marks in Physics in the Test, followed by,

 ● Draw of lots by using the computer or IT with no human intervention. The following tie-breaking criteria were used in NEET 2023 (which is relevant in 2024): Candidates’ marks in Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the same order; the proportion of accurate responses in each of the subjects. Proportion of the number of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in all the subjects in NEET. 

In 2022, the tie-breaking criteria included the candidate’s age, followed by the application number in ascending order besides the candidates’ marks and the proportion of right to wrong answers in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. “The tie-breaking rules should be slowly and gradually changed. This, being an election year, the Health Ministry does not want to introduce any fresh changes. Al so, it remains to be seen what the reactions to the new rules could be. Before anything new is implemented there should be a mock drill to understand its implications. Clear and transparent tie-breaking rules are important because there may be 1000-1500 candidates who get the same percentile, sometimes even the same marks,” says a health ministry official, on the condition of anonymity.

NMC caps MBBS batch size to 150 for new medical colleges Fully functional hospitals with 220 beds can now start a 50-seats medical college

NMC caps MBBS batch size to 150 for new medical colleges Fully functional hospitals with 220 beds can now start a 50-seats medical college 

Ayushi.Gupta1@timesgroup.com 

The National Medical Commission (NMC) is focusing on improving the quality of medical education by increasing the number of medical colleges and reducing the batch size for a better teacher-student ratio. In the new medical colleges, the seats can be from 50 to 150 in an MBBS batch. The revised Under Graduate Minimum Standards Regulations (UG-MSR) issued on August 16, 2023, will not be implemented in the old medical colleges that have a batch size of more than 150 to 250 students.

 Talking to Education Times, Dr Aruna V Vanikar, president, Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), NMC, says, “We have received various inputs from students, faculty and other medical fraternities across the country requesting to cut down the strength of MBBS batches at the medical colleges. The Ministry of Health approved the proposal considering the increasing burden on hospitals and medical faculty. After a wide consultation, NMC has decided to cut down the strength of MBBS batches to only 150 per college.”

 Earlier, the MBBS batches would have as many as 250 students and the classes were crowded. The students were largely impacted during practical sessions in the laboratories. This has been revised to a maximum of 150 seats in the newly set up medical colleges. Dr Vanikar says, “Colleges can start with only 50 seats if they have a functional hospital along with faculty in all the clinical departments. Hospitals must at least have a capacity of 200 beds and 20 ICU beds. The hospitals require a basic setup to conduct classes in the MBBS phase I and phase II. With this, we have made the process of establishing medical colleges simpler for the working hospitals.” 

The UGMSR-2023 focuses on establishing medical colleges with the availability of basic amenities for the students, where they can study and practice during the degree course. The UGMSR-2023 mentioned that medical colleges shall follow the ratio of 100 MBBS seats for 10 lakh population in the states/UTs. By limiting the MBBS seat count in the medical colleges to just 150 and only allowing 100 seats for one million population (10 lakh), NMC wants to avoid the overcrowding of hospitals in the same area. The existing establishment of multiple colleges in the same location ultimately harms the exposure, skills, and clinical knowledge of students due to less or zero footfall.

 “While visiting the colleges, we have come across many students who hold MBBS degrees without any clinical exposure. Clinical training is hampered due to the non availability of medical/clinical equipment,” adds Dr Vanikar. Problem of plenty Earlier in 2020, the Family Adoption Programme (FAP) was made mandatory for the MBBS training curriculum, as it is intended to improve the clinical exposure of the students. Under this programme, each student is assigned at least five families to monitor their health, provide advice on health issues, and accompany them to hospitals for treatment. 

“Some students from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have reported to NMC that they have not received any FAP due to which, their training has suffered. Similarly, in less populated places such as Puducherry, which has seven medical colleges, the students have to fight over the adoption of villages for medical training,” she says. The NMC wants every district to have one medical college. “After the government announced the plan, several states divided a single district into multiple districts only to establish medical colleges without bothering about their maintenance and educational standards.

 The formula of 100 seats for one million population has been drafted to counter such problems,” says Dr Vanikar. Ensuring equal distribution For the population of 140 crore, there are only 1 lakh seats, 40,000 seats can still be established but the NMC is focusing on creating equitable distribution of medical colleges across the country. 

The MSR-2023 guidelines issued by the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) have introduced the policy of annual renewal of recognition for the medical colleges. Dr Vanikar says, “According to the MSR-2020, any society/ organisation/party was permitted to start the college and at the end of five years, colleges were eligible to get recognition from the NMC. The colleges followed a format of annual increase of beds, faculty, and other requirements, which is not in line with the international standards and the Competency Based Medical Education (CBME). The MSR 2023 has replaced the five-year performance-based recognition with an annual renewal system, focusing on equating the quality of education across all medical colleges.

Doctors go beyond the call of duty

 Doctors go beyond the call of duty

Urging people to come forward to donate organs after the death of their dear ones, Nirmala said that she did so because she wanted her husband’s organs to keep functioning in someone else’s body.

Doctors from RGGGH celebrate the birthday of the two-year-old daughter of an organ donor.(Photo | Express)

Sinduja Jane

Updated on: 

16 Mar 2024, 9:11 am

CHENNAI : In a heart-warming gesture, a group of doctors from the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital celebrated the second birthday of the daughter of an organ donor. The 26-year-old man’s organs were donated by his young wife recently after he was declared brain dead. According to doctors at the RGGGH, the youngster met with a road accident on March 4 and was brought to the hospital the next day after treatment at two different hospitals. He was declared brain dead on March 6. Keeping her grief aside, his wife came forward to donate his organs. Then doctors retrieved his organs on March 7 and the body was handed over to the family after an honour walk led by Dr E Theranirajan, Dean, RGGGH.

Speaking to TNIE, S Nirmala, wife of the deceased, said, “I felt so emotional when I saw them. Around 20 doctors came to our house with so many gifts and cake. I felt as if my husband sent them to celebrate our daughter’s birthday.”

Recounting the day she was completing formalities after her husband’s death, Nirmala said that she had told Dr Gomathi Karmegam, associate professor, Emergency Medicine, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, that her daughter would turn two on March 12 and her father would not be there to celebrate her birthday. “Then the doctor asked if they could come home. They came as a group all the way to Tiruttani. I have no words to express my joy; they came at a time when we were in so much pain,” said Nirmala.

Urging people to come forward to donate organs after the death of their dear ones, Nirmala said that she did so because she wanted her husband’s organs to keep functioning in someone else’s body. “His eyes and heart should be functioning. I feel happy to realise it. Organs are going to go to waste if not donated, so why not gift someone. I wanted my husband to live longer in someone’s body, that is the only reason I immediately agreed to organ donation,” said the MBA graduate who is on a job hunt. “My husband was the only breadwinner of his family, now I have to search for a job and take care of my in-laws and my daughter,” added Nirmala.