Sunday, April 7, 2024
LG approves suspension of assistant professor in Delhi govt-run medical college
LG approves suspension of assistant professor in Delhi govt-run medical college
06 April, 2024 10:46 pm IST
New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved a proposal for the immediate suspension of an assistant professor in a Delhi government-run medical college over sexual harassment charges against him, Raj Niwas officials said on Saturday.
In a statement, the Delhi government said it “is very disheartening” to see that even though it was considered to be a services matter falling in the LG’s domain, it took him more than two months to take the action.
“And, it was only when the matter was constantly raised by the Health Minister, the LG had to take this action,” it said.
A case was lodged against the assistant professor of the Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital and a chargesheet filed subsequently by police after a 22-year-old MBBS student submitted a complaint against him last month.
In a note, Saxena said he has considered the proposal to suspend the assistant professor and initiate major disciplinary proceedings against him.
He said the “shocking incident of sexual harassment” took place in a medical college, so a mere transfer of the accused, as recommended by the internal complaints committee of the college, will not mitigate the “intimidating atmosphere” for the students.
“I approve the proposal of placing the officer under suspension with immediate effect, under Rule 10 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965,” the LG said while stressing that the alleged act of the accused involved “moral turpitude”.
He also advised the department concerned to resubmit the proposal for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the accused, with due recommendations from the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is the chairman of the panel, is currently in judicial custody.
The NCCSA deals with transfers and postings of officers. It is headed by the chief minister and comprises the chief secretary and a member secretary.
Kejriwal, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, is in judicial custody till April 15.
The Delhi government said “the unfortunate incident involving molestation of MBBS students happened on January 31 and it was immediately reported by the brave girls to the college authorities. However, the matter was intentionally put under the wraps and the complainants were being forced to take back their complaints”.
The matter came to the knowledge of Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj through social media after almost a month and a half, it said.
“That very day, the minister met the complainants along with their warden. After speaking to them, he had assured that strictest action will be ensured.
“When asked about this incident, the Health Secretary and the Chief Secretary maintained that this matter being a services comes directly under the domain of LG, therefore minister or elected government was not required to be informed,” the government’s statement said.
The matter was vigorously taken up by Bharadwaj, though initially, there was visible reluctance on the part of the chief secretary, it added. PTI VIT SLB RC
ICU sexual assault case: survivor joins protest staged by nursing officer
ICU sexual assault case: survivor joins protest staged by nursing officer
Nursing Officer P.B. Anitha, a key witness in the assault case, has been protesting in front of the administrative block of the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, since April 1, demanding her reinstatement there. She has procured an order from the High Court against her transfer to Idukki. The Kerala govt. will move a review petition in the HC
April 05, 2024 09:00 pm | Updated April 06, 2024 07:48 am IST - Kozhikode
The survivor in the ICU sexual assault case, on Friday, joined the cause of Senior Nursing Officer P.B. Anitha, who has been protesting in front of the administrative block of the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, since April 1, demanding her reinstatement there.
Ms. Anitha, a key witness in the ICU sexual assault case, had procured an order from the High Court against her transfer to Idukki, demanding that the Director of Medical Education give her back her former position. However, the Administrative Officer of the Medical College did not heed the order following which Ms. Anitha launched a protest, which has since then garnered support from various human rights and political organisations.
Three transferred
The incident occurred on March 18, 2023. A woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by an attender in the intensive care unit of the hospital while she was still under sedation following a thyroid surgery. Ms. Anitha, along with the Chief Nursing Officer and Nursing Superintendent, gave statements in her favour to the police as well as the investigation panel set up by the Directorate of Medical Education. The three nursing officers were transferred to Idukki on November 28 following which the trio appealed before the administrative tribunal. While the tribunal offered an injunction order on the transfer of two of them, it did not support Ms. Anitha. Hence she moved the High Court.
“The government is yet to cite a reason for punishing me. I was just doing my duty by offering my protection to the survivor. I would have done the same had it been anyone,” Ms. Anitha said.
Survivor’s stance
“Ms. Anitha only did what the Hospital Superintendent or the Head of the Department should have done. She is being punished for supporting me,” said the survivor, while questioning the ‘double standards’ of the administrative tribunal in granting injunction order on the transfer of two of the three nursing officers.
Meanwhile, the State government has decided to file a review petition at the Kerala High Court against the order in favour of Ms. Anitha. Health Minister Veena George has maintained that Ms. Anitha was punished for her supervisory lapse, as the untoward incident took place while under her watch. “We were only trying to ensure justice to the survivor and did not care who was on the other side,” she told reporters on Friday.
The District Congress Committee has offered support to Ms. Anitha and decided to take over the protest if it continues for long. “Five workers of the Mahila Congress will be part of the protest,” DCC president K. Praveen Kumar said.
Bringing the latest capabilities to Copilot for Microsoft 365 customers
Bringing the latest capabilities to Copilot for Microsoft 365 customers
By Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, AI at Work
April 2, 2024
With Microsoft Copilot, we are bringing the power of generative AI to everyone across work and life. And with Copilot for Microsoft 365, we are committed to making sure our commercial customers have access to the very best generative AI models and capabilities from Microsoft.
Today we are announcing two important updates for users of Copilot for Microsoft 365. First, we are bringing priority access to the GPT-4 Turbo model to work with both web and work data. We will also be removing limits on the number and length of conversations while increasing file uploads. Second, later this month we are bringing expanded image generation capabilities in Microsoft Designer to users of Copilot for Microsoft 365, including priority access during peak times.
Copilot for Microsoft 365
Discover Copilot features that work alongside you
Priority access to GPT-4 Turbo and unlimited conversations
Starting today, all licensed commercial customers will have priority access to GPT-4 Turbo in Copilot for Microsoft 365. As part of this change, we are removing the limits on the total number of chats per day and the number of turns per conversation, along with additional updates.
Together, these changes mean that customers will receive faster, more comprehensive responses whether they are using Copilot in the web context or in the work context.
In the web context, Copilot users get the power of the latest foundation models grounded in the latest public information from the web. The web context includes commercial data protection, meaning Microsoft doesn’t retain your prompts or responses, doesn’t have eyes on your prompts or responses, and doesn’t use your chat data to train the underlying foundation models—ensuring a more secure alternative to using other
public generative AI services.
The work context lets you go even further by grounding in your work data––that’s your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, contacts, and more––so you get contextually accurate responses. Copilot can help you quickly scan your email for important messages to prioritize, help you get ready for key meetings by pulling information from across your work, and help you ideate on the best path forward. The work context also benefits from enterprise-grade data protection, going further to ensure that your data remains within the Microsoft 365 service boundary.
Expanded image generation capabilities in Microsoft Designer
Starting next month, we’ll increase the number of image generation boosts per day from 15 to 100. Powered by the DALL-E 3 model, Microsoft Designer image generation allows users to create custom images from text descriptions, transforming written ideas into visual art. Users will be able to initiate up to 100 rapid image generation requests daily, significantly reducing waiting times for image creation and unlocking new productivity.
Harnessing the full power of Copilot
We are learning alongside our customers that AI is so much more than a new technology. It is a new way of work that gives organizations the opportunity to completely reinvent their business—rewiring everything from core processes and workflows to hiring and training the workforce of the future.
These new capabilities will be initially available in copilot.microsoft.com, followed by the Copilot mobile app, in Windows, and in Edge, as well as the places where users can access the work context directly, like in Microsoft 365. Additional details about these changes are available on the Copilot for Microsoft 365 documentation page.
Next steps
Learn more about Microsoft Copilot and visit the Copilot for work site for actionable guidance on how you can start transforming work with Copilot today. For the latest research insights on the future of work and generative AI, visit WorkLab.
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is getting ‘latest’ GPT language AI model: What it means for users
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is getting ‘latest’ GPT language AI model: What it means for users
TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Apr 4, 2024, 06.51 AM IST
Microsoft has announced that it is bringing two updates for users of Copilot for Microsoft 365. These include the ability to access the latest generation of language models for generative AI and capabilities.
GPT-4 Turbo comes to Copilot for Microsoft 365Microsoft is bringing priority access to the GPT-4 Turbo model on the web and work data. This means that all licensed commercial customers will have priority access to GPT-4 Turbo in Copilot for Microsoft 365. Additionally, as a part of this change, the Windows maker is also removing the limits on the total number of chats per day and the number of turns per conversation.
“Together, these changes mean that customers will receive faster, more comprehensive responses whether they are using Copilot in the web context or in the work context,” the company said.
Copilot users will get access to the latest foundation models grounded in the latest public information from the web. The web context includes commercial data protection, which means that Microsoft won’t retain user/ business prompts or responses to train the underlying foundation models.
When it comes to work context, the model will ground the work data – calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, contacts and more – to provide contextually accurate responses.
Expanded image generation capabilities in Microsoft DesignerStarting next month, Microsoft will also increase the number of image generation boosts per day from 15 to 100. Microsoft Designer image generation is powered by the DALL-E 3 model and enables users to create custom images from text descriptions. Users will be able to initiate up to 100 rapid image generation requests daily.
Availability
These new capabilities will be initially available in copilot.microsoft.com, followed by the Copilot mobile app, in Windows, and in Edge, as well as the places where users can access the work context directly, like in Microsoft 365.
7 ways Microsoft’s Copilot AI can help meet changing productivity needs Microsoft's new Copilot AI can handle everything from creative writing to coding to image editing.
7 ways Microsoft’s Copilot AI can help meet changing productivity needs
Microsoft's new Copilot AI can handle everything from creative writing to coding to image editing.
By: Tech Desk
New Delhi | Updated: April 7, 2024 08:16 IST
Windows Copilot simplifies your workload with a prompt. (Express image)
Microsoft’s new Copilot AI assistant is built right into Windows 11, Microsoft Edge, and Office apps. This handy AI helper can tackle all kinds of tasks, from creative writing to coding to image generation. Let’s explore seven cool things you can do with Copilot.
Generate all kinds of text content
One of Copilot’s core capabilities is generating written content based on your prompts and instructions. If you need a short bio for a website, a draft of a blog post, or help rephrasing an email, just type out what you need, and Copilot will whip up some text for you to work with. Sure, other chatbots can do this too but where Copilot stands out is its creative, balanced, or precise tones you can pick.
Ask questions and get web-sourced answers
Copilot doesn’t just generate content – it can also answer your questions by scouring the web. That’s because it’s connected to the web and can therefore get you real-time answers grounded in current events. You can ask it questions like “How do I see the upcoming total solar eclipse,” and watch it produce highly relevant answers.
Document assistance
One of its unsung capabilities is summarising lengthy documents and reports. Whether you need to condense meeting minutes, extract key points from a contract, or get the high-level overview of a research paper, Copilot can analyse the text and provide a concise, focused summary in seconds. Just upload the file and use a prompt like “Summarise the main points from this document.”
You can get as specific as you’d like, asking Copilot to reframe summaries for certain audiences, extract particular data points, or even rewrite in your own voice and writing style. The free version allows summarising files up to 1MB, but upgrading to Copilot Pro unlocks 10MB file limits along with other premium features.
Get coding assistance
As a developer-friendly AI, Copilot really shines when it comes to coding tasks. You can ask it to write functions, explain code errors, or even translate code into different programming languages. Like for example, if you ask it to “Write a Python script to fetch and print the latest GitHub activity for a user,” it will generate a fully-functional multi-line script complete with comments. Just don’t expect it to write code for entire apps. Think of it as more of an assistant that can produce code for smaller modules in your program.
Thanks to integration with the Dall-E model, Copilot can create stunning AI-generated images from text prompts. You can describe things like “A magical forest woodland scene with glowing mushrooms and fantasy creatures, digital art style” and Copilot will provide you 4 whimsical image options to choose from. You can then make edits and tweaks by adding or removing elements with the Designer tool.
What’s really neat is you can also upload your own images, and Copilot will analyse them and let you create remixed variations.
Compare products with auto-generated tables
If you need to quickly compare tech specs or features across multiple products, just ask Copilot to create a comparison table. For example, “Create a table comparing the iPhone 15 Pro Max with the Galaxy S24 Ultra” and it will generate a neat table laying out the key details side-by-side. The comparisons pull data from webpages, though you’ll want to verify accuracy.
You can get creative here too – for example if you type in a prompt like “Compare a t-rex and a hamster” you’ll be given a hilarious table pitting their sizes, diets, and habitats against each other.
Plan travel itineraries
Copilot makes a surprisingly solid travel assistant. If you use a prompt like “I’m visiting Hong Kong for 5 days in August. Create an itinerary combining major attractions – prioritise walkable areas,” Copilot will browse the web to find the spots you’ll love and prepare just what you asked for.
Supreme Court Comes to Rescue of UP Born Panipuri Seller’s Son, Upholds Medical Admission in Gujarat
Supreme Court Comes to Rescue of UP Born Panipuri Seller’s Son, Upholds Medical Admission in Gujarat By Law Trend April 5, 2024 12:38 PM
Read more: https://lawtrend.in/supreme-court-comes-to-rescue-of-up-born-panipuri-sellers-son-upholds-medical-admission-in-gujarat/
How mushrooming of medical colleges across the country have led to faculty crunch
How mushrooming of medical colleges across the country have led to faculty crunch
TNN | Apr 6, 2024, 12.55 PM IST
After the Parliamentary Standing Committee report published in February 2024 that highlighted severe faculty shortages in medical colleges across the country, several medical associations have highlighted the problems arising in medical colleges due to a lack of faculty. As per the Ministry of Health, the recommended teacher-student ratio must be 1:2 or 1:3, but the situation is said to be far worse.
Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) have recently complained to the higher authorities regarding the deteriorating quality of medical education due to the lack of quality teachers in colleges. The Parliamentary report also invoked concerns about the overall quality of education, pointing to the criticality of the shortage of teachers, demanding immediate attention and reforms by the government.
The faculty shortage in medical colleges in India is due to several reasons, including lack of appointment of teachers, inadequate infrastructure, the appointment of ghost faculty, lack of senior residents, and the reluctance of professors to meet the mandated attendance requirement.
Speaking to Education Times, a Health Ministry official says, “There is a huge faculty shortage in medical colleges across the country. The case is worse in district hospitals and the major problem is the lack of qualified and eligible teachers. MD/MS is the minimum eligibility for these positions, which means it would take at least 9-10 years to get to that level, but the salaries are much less for that post. A candidate must have at least eight years of experience after MD/MS to become a professor, including one year as a Senior Resident (SR), four years as an assistant professor, and three years as an associate professor. “ The government is keen to deal with multiple problems in all the medical colleges, which is a never-ending backlog. Considering the number of posts lying vacant, the government will require a minimum of three years to fill these posts,” adds the official.
"NMC is assessing the medical colleges across the country. It will revoke the licence of medical colleges not adhering to the standards and guidelines regarding the appointment of faculty in a particular department," says the official.
Need for speedy appointments
The problem of lack of faculty in medical colleges in rural areas. Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), recently pointed towards the shortage of postgraduate (PG) guides within the state medical education system. There is reportedly, a shortage of around 1000 assistant, associate professors and professors in Maharashtra government medical colleges.
In a recent letter to Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Maharashtra, MARD wrote, “The faculty shortage has led to significant challenges for medical students pursuing MD/MS, adversely impacting their academic progress. As per our knowledge, there is a shortage of around 1000 assistant, associate professors and senior professors in all the Government Medical Colleges.”
“The role of PG guides is indispensable in shaping the academic and professional development of medical students pursuing MD/MS. These guides provide crucial mentorship, supervision, and support throughout postgraduate studies. However, the current shortage of qualified and available PG guides has resulted in several problems faced by students and has impacted their synopsis, thesis and research activities,” adds MARD.
Abhijit Rajesh Helge, president, MARD says, “The commissioner and director of DMER confirmed to speed up the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) recruitment.”
The medical colleges in Telangana are reportedly facing a 50% faculty deficit, while in West Bengal as many as 5000 medical professors are missing. To ensure attendance, the Parliamentary Committee has recommended regular inspection of medical colleges and introducing systems where students can report low attendance or ghost faculty. To improve quality, the Committee has also asked the NMC to focus on upskilling teachers by introducing relevant programmes and establishing a dedicated national institute for their training.
Major setback
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) wrote to the union health minister regarding the UPSC doctor enrolment in December 2023. “ As per the FORDA survey, about 3000-5000 faculty vacancies in medical colleges across the country. In Delhi itself, there are about 200 vacant seats. The government is not advertising for the vacant posts and reservation in the medical profession is a major roadblock behind filling up the vacancies. Often there are no reserved category candidates in the job posting. As a result, the seat has been vacant for years. Apart from this, the government is mostly hiring contractual medical staff. Eligible candidates are not showing interest as there is no job security and they are looking for permanent employment,” said Dr Aviral Mathur, president, FORDA.
Dr Partha Pratim Mandal, RMO, Anaesthesiology department, Calcutta Medical College said, “The super speciality and speciality departments in medical colleges across the state are worst hit due to faculty deficiency. Departments such as Radiology, Anaesthesiology, Paediatric Surgery, and Nephrology lack faculty staff.”
Most doctors in Bengal are not satisfied with their jobs due to random rural posting, bureaucratic lobbying and political syndicates. “The rural hospitals are worst hit due to this. If the government is planning to increase the number of medical colleges in the country with the existing infrastructure, it will just hamper the quality of medical education which has already degraded in recent years. The lack of quality professors has led to a drop in student attendance by 30% as the existing faculties are unable to retain the students,” says Dr Mandal. The situation is worse in district hospitals where the faculties are leaving their jobs disgruntled with their rural posting. Despite repeated requests to get posting in the vicinity of their hometowns, their pleas are unheard by the state health department,” adds Dr Mandal.
Dr Rohan Krishnan, national chairman, FAIMA, says, “Random opening of medical colleges without proper planning of hiring faculty is a major reason behind the shortage. There is about 50% deficiency of medical staff across the country. The government has changed the teacher-student ratio criteria several times to cater medical education to more students but that also did not help. Post-pandemic, the NMC has stopped doing physical inspections of medical colleges encouraging malpractices. Several private colleges have severe staff crises as they are not hiring. The staff shortage has affected the quality of doctors who are not hired anymore by foreign countries, which earlier was not the case. Medical streams such as Cardiology, Medicine where the doctors earn more out of private practice tend to enrol less in medical colleges as faculty, creating a shortage.” More doctors are needed in rural areas where the salary is dismal. The issue of pay parity is yet another reason for problems in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” adds Dr Krishnan.
Vistara asserts ‘over 98%’ pilots signed new contracts after sizeable number said to have rejected pay terms
Vistara asserts ‘over 98%’ pilots signed new contracts after sizeable number said to have rejected pay terms
Industry sources, however, contend that the number of Vistara pilots who had not accepted the new pay structure announced in mid-February were far more in number than the airline was publicly admitting.
April 06, 2024 03:16 pm | Updated 09:58 pm IST
JAGRITI CHANDRA
Vistara airline has more than 1,100 pilots on its rolls | Photo Credit: Reuters
Vistara’s CEO Vinod Kannan on Saturday asserted that “over 98% of pilots” had signed new contracts entailing a new pay structure, which has been cited by industry sources as a key issue that had led to a spate of recent flight cancellations and delays at the full service airline that is set to merge with the Tata Group’s Air India. The industry sources, however, contended that the number of Vistara pilots who had not accepted the new pay structure announced in mid-February were far more in number than the airline was publicly admitting.
“Over 98% of pilots have signed the new contract,” Mr. Kannan said in an e-mailed statement to The Hindu. “Having said that, we are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same,” he stated, adding that this had, however, ‘not caused any visible spike in attrition’ among pilots.
The CEO, who had held a town hall with pilots on April 4 to address their concerns after the airline was forced to cancel 150 flights and suffer delays to more than 200 other flights in the preceding three to four days, is reported to have told participants at that event that 270 pilots had not signed the contract, according to multiple people who had participated at the online meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.
This would imply that almost a fourth of Vistara’s total cockpit crew were opposed to the terms of the new contract, which cuts the guaranteed minimum flying allowance from 70 hours to 40 hours resulting in a monthly pay cut of ₹80,000 to ₹1.4 lakh for First Officers (FOs or junior pilots). The airline has more than 1,100 pilots on its rolls.
Acknowledging the gravity of the recent disruptions to the airline’s flight schedules and its impact on customers, Mr. Kannan said in the statement, “In the light of the recent disruptions in our network owing to various operational reasons, we acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to our customers”.
“We are addressing this on a war footing... we are continuing to hire more pilots and are also carefully scaling back our operations slightly to provide the much needed resilience, and a buffer in the rosters. We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo aircraft on select domestic routes to accommodate more customers, wherever possible,” he observed, adding that the airline hoped to stabilise operations “by this weekend”.
Industry sources said discontentment among pilots over various issues, including taxing flight schedules, delay in upgrades for FOs to the post of Pilot-in-Command had been brewing for a while, resulting in resignations that had precipitated the disruptions and coincided with the announcement of the new pay structure two months ago. This had particularly angered the FOs, they added.
“As opposed to Commanders who have been on the job for several years, First Officers have the sword of repayment of loans incurred for training hanging over their head,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a veteran former Boeing 737 flying instructor with Air India. “They have agreed to pay EMIs based on their projected income, which will change post the new salary structure. Trainings costs have also escalated sharply in the recent past and the current batch of First Officers across airlines have spent ₹80 lakh to ₹1 crore to complete their training.”
Mr. Kannan is said to have told pilots at the town hall that notwithstanding the refusal of a section of pilots to accept the new pay structure under the revised contract, the airline’s stand remained the same as communicated by the HR department. HR officials had informed pilots that failure to sign the new contract by March 15 would result in consequences that would include their losing a one-time pay out linked to the merger as well as forfeiting their place in the sequence for upgrade.
The CEO is said to have admitted at the town hall that there was a failure to align network expansion with pilot strength leading to them working longer hours and flights being stretched too thin, which had caused the large number of cancellations and delays.
However, it is reliably learnt that Air India is likely to send 15-20 First Officers (FOs) on deputation to Vistara from next week as an equal number of pilots have left the airline to join IndiGo and Qatar.
Further, to improve the ratio of pilots and aircraft, six planes are expected to be shifted from Vistara and another 14 from Air India to the low-cost international subsidiary in the Tata Group, Air India Express. The planes being moved are all-economy aircraft.
The CEO has already said that the airline will continue to cancel flights till the end of April in order to create a buffer of pilots.
A mismanagement of pilot training has also raised eyebrows within the airline on the alleged impact on safety, as well as resulted in a show-cause notice from the DGCA earlier this month, said the industry sources.
“We are in receipt of a show-cause notice from DGCA and are in discussion with the regulator on this subject,” Mr. Kannan acknowledged in the statement on Saturday.
“The situation is so dire, that the last two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, including the one that joined the fleet last week on March 29, were ferried from Boeing’s aircraft assembly facility in Charleston [in the U.S.] to New Delhi by the manufacturer’s pilots as the airline didn’t have enough of its own. The Dreamliner delivery was also delayed because of the same issue,” said a person in the know.
“Had Air India not sent its widebody pilots to Vistara, the latter would have to ground as many as three of its widebodies,” said another source.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
WhatsApp working on new features, here are top 5 features to look forward to
WhatsApp working on new features, here are top 5 features to look forward to
WhatsApp has been working on multiple new features and they are expected to be rolled out soon. Here are the top five WhatsApp features that are worth looking forward to.
New Delhi,
UPDATED: Apr 4, 2024 15:27 IST
In Short WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is planning to introduce several new features.
These features are aimed at enhancing user experience and interaction.
The new features include an AI chatbot, international payments feature for Indian users and more.
Meta-owned WhatsApp is gearing up to roll out various new features designed to enhance user experience and interaction. These features, expected to launch soon, promise to make conversations, sharing updates, and managing chats even more convenient and enjoyable for users worldwide. The features are reportedly under development and have been revealed by WA Beta Info, a reliable source. However, since WhatsApp hasn't officially unveiled all of these features, the information must be taken with a pinch of salt. Now, without wasting any more time, let's dive straight to the features that are worth looking forward to.
1. AI-powered features
First up is the introduction of an AI chatbot, set to revolutionise the way users access information within the app. Powered by Meta's own AI model, this chatbot, dubbed Meta AI, is expected to be accessible directly within WhatsApp. Users will be able to ask questions and retrieve information without leaving the app, making it easier than ever to get quick answers or translations in real-time. Additionally, a new generative AI-powered photo editor will also enable users to creatively edit and manipulate their photos directly within WhatsApp, adding artistic effects and enhancing their images with ease.
2. International payments
In a bid to streamline international transactions, WhatsApp is also introducing a feature that will allow Indian users to make international payments directly from the app. Leveraging the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), this feature will enable Indian bank account holders to transfer funds abroad seamlessly. Users will have the option to manually enable the international payments feature and choose the duration for which they wish to keep it active, providing greater flexibility and convenience.
3. Suggested chat section
WhatsApp is also expected to introduce a dedicated "Suggested Chat" section within the app, aimed at simplifying new connections and fostering communication between users. Positioned at the bottom of the chats list, this section will recommend contacts from users' address books with whom they have not previously interacted, making it easier to broaden social networks and initiate conversations with suggested contacts. Users will have control over their messaging experience, with the ability to dismiss the "Suggested Chat" section at any time.
4. Private mention of contacts
In addition to enhancing privacy and security, WhatsApp is also reported to be working on a feature that will allow users to privately tag contacts in their Status updates. Similar to Instagram's Stories feature, this new functionality will enable users to mention specific contacts in their Status updates, ensuring that the tagged contacts receive discreet notifications while keeping the mentions private from other viewers. This feature is expected to increase user engagement and make WhatsApp Statuses a more interactive space for sharing updates and moments with selected individuals.
5. Chat lock feature
Lastly, WhatsApp is looking forward to expand its privacy features by introducing the ability to lock chats not only on primary devices but also on linked devices. Users will be able to create a secret code on their primary phone to access locked chats on linked devices, ensuring that sensitive conversations remain hidden from prying eyes across all platforms. This feature is expected to provide added security and peace of mind to users who rely on WhatsApp for secure communication.
Published By:
Divyanshi Sharma
Published On:
Apr 4, 2024
MBBS Internship : Supreme Court Directs NMC To Submit Details Of Stipend Paid To Interns By Medical Colleges In All States
MBBS Internship : Supreme Court Directs NMC To Submit Details Of Stipend Paid To Interns By Medical Colleges In All States
4 Apr 2024 4:12 PM
In a pivotal matter regarding the payment of stipends for doctors undergoing their MBBS internships, the Supreme Court (April 01) issued a clear directive to the National Medical Commission (NMC) to submit details regarding the stipend status of medical colleges across all States.
The Court noted that the NMC has not given the details of the entire medical colleges in all States and hence, the earlier direction given on September 15, 2023, has not been complied with.
In the direction passed on September 15 last year, the Court had asked the NMC to file a tabulated chart and explain (i) whether it is true that 70% of the medical colleges in the country do not pay any stipend to interns or pay an amount that is less than the minimum set stipend (ii) what steps the NMC is taking to ensure compliance with the norm of paying internship stipend.
Taking note of the fact that the NMC has not given the complete details, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prasanna B Varale directed it to do so within four weeks.
During the previous hearing, the Division Bench expressed concerns that medical colleges are not adequately paying the stipend. Justice Dhulia lamented that medical colleges are unprepared to pay stipends despite charging such hefty fees.
“What kind of medical colleges are they? They are charging one crore, I do not know how much they are charging for postgraduate students and they are not prepared to give the stipend also. Either you pay them, or you don't have the internship.,” Justice Dhulia had stated on the previous date.
During the hearing on April 1, Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that even Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) are not paid a stipend. The Court voiced its discontent and orally observed that FMGs cannot be treated distinctly.
After hearing the submissions, the Court has now posted the matter for a final hearing on May 6, 2024.
Case Title: Abhishek Yadav and others v. Army College of Medical Sciences | W.P.(C) No. 730/2022
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கொலுசு அணிந்த சரஸ்வதி * நாகப்பட்டினம் மாவட்டம் கடலங்குடியில் உள்ள சிவன் கோவிலில் வளையல், கொலுசு அணிந்தபடி சரஸ்வதிதேவி காட்சியளிக்கிறாள். ச...
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கட்சியிலிருந்து நேற்றே ஒதுங்கிவிட்டேன்! டி.டி.வி.தினகரன் தடாலடி பேட்டி vikatan news ராகினி ஆத்ம வெண்டி மு. படம்: ஸ்ரீநிவாசலு 'அ.த...
