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Saturday, September 7, 2024

NEWS CLIPPINGS 7.9.24

Probe DoIT tenders of past 5 yrs: HC to ACB

Jaipur : Rajasthan High Court on Friday asked the director general of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to investigate all the tenders issued by the department of information and technology (DoIT) in the last five years and submit a report in four weeks.

A singlejudge bench of Justice Ashok Kumar Jain issued the directions to ACB DG Ravi Prakash Meharda, who personally appeared in the court on Friday in a case related to the approval of the final report filed by ACB in a special court in a disproportionate assets case involving a then officer of DoIT.

While hearing a revision petition filed by one TN Sharma against the ACB’s final report, Justice Jain asked why ACB cannot see corruption in the DoIT. “There is so much corruption there that people do not have space to keep gold in their homes. So they keep gold in the office,” commented Justice Jain in presence Meharda, who had appeared before him at 3.15pm in compliance with the court order.

The HC asked Meharda why ACB filed the final report in the case without probing the case properly.

142 GTU students punished for cheating

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad : The Gujarat Technological University (GTU) on Friday announced punishment for 142 students caught cheating in this year’s diploma, engineering, and pharmacy summer exams. These students will be called to appear before the university on Sep 13 for a hearing, after which the final penalties will be imposed. Sources said that a third semester diploma engineering student threatened the examiner in the answer sheet and wrote abuses, asking the examiner to pass him. This threat was taken seriously, and strict punishment has been decided for the student. The proposed penalties for the 142 students range from level 1 to level 7, with level 7 being the most severe.

The university has punished 52 students with level 1 punishment, 23 students face level 2, 60 students face level 3, one student faces level 4, and six students face level 7 punishment. Level 7 punishment includes cancelling the student’s thesis or project work and imposing a threeyear ban from taking exams. After appearing before the ethics committee, the final penalties will be announced, and students will be informed about the level of punishment they are receiving. Depending on the students’ versions, if the committee feels the student is being wrongly punished, the penalties may be reduced.

Night is long: Why working this shift may raise the risk of cardiac diseases

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesofindia.com 7.9.2024

New Delhi : Working in night shifts can disrupt the body’s ability to regulate heart rhythm and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care (JFMPC) has found. The study was carried out on 38 nurses working at a govt hospital in Greater Noida who worked in day (9 am to 2 pm) and night shifts (9 pm to 9 am) for at least one year.

The nurses underwent sleep quality tests and electrocardiogram (ECG) to measure heart-rate variability. It revealed that the sleep latency time it takes to fall asleep after turning off the lights and entering the first stage of sleep – was longer in the night shift workers compared to the morning shift workers. Also, the night shift worker group exhibited longer total sleep time and greater use of sleeping medication as compared to the day shift workers.

Inadequate sleep, the research led by Dr Aprajita Panwar from Govt Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida states, can dis rupt the body’s ability to regulate heart rhythm and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The JFMPC study calls for providing adequate breaks, offering support services like counselling and wellness programs, and implementing flexible scheduling options where possible by healthcare institutions to mitigate the negative impacts of shift work on nurses.

“By implementing such strategies, healthcare institutions can enhance job satisfaction and improve patient care by ensuring that nurses are psychologically prepared to deliver high-quality care to patients,” the study says. Dr Pujan Parikh, consultant pulmonary medicine and sleep medicine expert at H N Reliance Foundation hospital, Mumbai said continuous night shift affects the circadian rhythm i.e. our biological clock. “It leads to a change in our eating habits as well as psychological stress. All these things additionally increase the risk of cardiac diseases in the night shift workers,” he said. “Nurses who are on night shift barely get to take a break because their job involves constant monitoring of the patients and attending to their emergency needs. It is a very taxing job. Once they go back home in the daytime, even then it is difficult to get sound sleep as there are household responsibilities to attend to. It, of course, affects the health,” Anita Panwar, president of the All-India Govt Nurses Federation said.

HC relief for IIT grad in Rlys’ case against Tatkal app

Bengaluru : Karnataka HC recently quashed proceedings against entrepreneur Gaurav Dahake in a case registered against him by Indian Railways, for charging Rs 30 per ticket on his software tool speeding up Tatkal bookings on the official IRCTC website. Dahake, an IIT Kharagpur graduate and native of Maharashtra, had previously founded ‘buyhatke.com’, a product price comparison online browser extension.

In Aug 2017, he developed a software tool, ‘Tatkalforsure’, to help travellers secure Tatkal tickets by auto filling traveller details on the IRCTC website. While the Railways’ website took 5-7 minutes to generate a Tatkal ticket, Dahake’s tool could do it in just 45 seconds. The service was initially free, but in Feb 2020, Dahake limited bookings through his extension to 10 and began charging Rs 30 per booking. HC observed that the ingredients of Section 143 of the Railways Act, under which Dahake was booked, weren’t present in this case as he had neither procured nor distributed railway tickets, which is necessary for an offence here.

Friday, September 6, 2024

NEWS TODAY 6.9.24

Doctors oppose appointment of juniors as HoDs in Tiruvannamalai medical college

The association also sought the intervention of the health minister, health secretary and the director of medical education in the issue.

Express News Service

Updated on:

05 Sep 2024, 12:26 pm

CHENNAI: Government doctors opposed the decision of the Tiruvannamalai Medical College dean to appoint four professors, who are juniors to them in service, as the heads of departments (HoD).

They said it was against the rule and requested immediate cancellation of the appointment. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Democratic Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (Democratic TNGDA) said the order created unwanted restlessness among senior professors.

The association also sought the intervention of the health minister, health secretary and the director of medical education in the issue. Dr K Senthil, a member of the PG Board of the National Medical Commission (NMC) who is also the President of the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) said the order is against the rules of NMC and should be cancelled. Only the senior doctors should be appointed as heads of departments, he added.

K’taka panel to study report on ₹7kcr Covid spend scam To Probe Missing Files When BJP Helmed Govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru : The Karnataka cabinet Thursday decided to refer a report on the alleged irregularities in the management of ₹7,000-crore Covid-19 funds to a committee headed by the chief secretary to analyse and suggest follow-up action to be taken on the findings of the report. Law and parliamentary affairs minister H K Patil said the report, submitted by retired judge John Michael Cunha, has made serious observations that “hundreds of crores” were misappropriated in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, besides speaking specifically about the missing files.

The BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP was in office at the time of the pandemic. The Cunha commission submitted its first report to chief minister Siddaramaiah last week, covering the expenditure of over ₹7,000 crore. The govt has extended the term of the commission by six months to facilitate submission of the final report. “After a thorough discus sion, the cabinet decided to ask a committee of officials led by chief secretary Shalini Rajaneesh and additional chief secretary L K Atheeq to review the inquiry report and submit its opinion within a month,” Patil said. The submission of the first report has led to a political slugfest with BJP leaders, including state president B Y Vijayendra and Chikkaballapur MP K Sudhakar, who was the health minister then, terming the move a political revenge by state govt, which is under pressure over the alleged Muda irregularities. While much of the report content is not known, Patil said the cabinet was briefed by Siddaramaiah that the report “highlighted that hundreds of crores were misappropriated”.

The CM also told the cabinet that Justice Cunha was not given files he sought despite repeated requests. “The officials’ committee has been asked to find out the officers who did not give files to the commission of inquiry,” Patil said. Asked to give more details about the findings of the inquiry commission, Patil said he knew only what was briefed by the CM to the cabinet. To a question on why police have not been asked to review the report given by Cunha, Patil said all reports need not be given to police. “It is the decision of the govt,” he added.

NMC withdraws updated syllabus rules on ‘sodomy & lesbianism’

New Delhi : National Medical Commission has withdrawn the Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Guidelines, 2024, the updated curriculum for medical graduates published last week. The action follows an uproar over the reintroduction of ‘sodomy and lesbianism’ as unnatural sexual offences in the forensic medicine and toxicology curriculum for undergraduate medical students. The CBME guidelines, 2024, also brought back topics such as the hymen and its type, and its medico-legal importance besides defining virginity and defloration, legitimacy and its medicolegal importance. Some of these subjects were done away with in 2022 in accordance with a Madras high court directive.

NMC on Thursday notified that the circular issuing guidelines under CBME 2024 stands “withdrawn and cancelled” with immediate effect. “The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course,” it said. CBME was introduced in 2019. After five years, NMC amended it to include latest updates. However, many academics pointed out that some of the changes were not only controversial but regressive and that it required a rethink

HC: OCI cardholders can’t avail Hyd-K’taka reservation benefits

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru : Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders are not be eligible for HyderabadKarnataka reservation benefits provided under Article 371J of the Constitution, the Karnataka high court ruled. A division bench consisting of Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by Meghana Kuruvalli, an 18-year-old student residing in Bengaluru. Meghana, a UK citizen, sought a direction to the authorities to consider her case for admission to the MBBS and BDS courses for academic year 2024-25 in Karnataka, under the Hyderabad-Karnataka region quota, also known as the Kalyana-Karnataka quota. She claimed eligibility based on her birth in Secunderabad, and having studied for the last six years in Ballari, which falls under the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

However, she was instructed to register as a foreign national/OCI, which she argued is contrary to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Anushka Rengunthwar case. The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), though, submitted that according to the Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Govt Seats in Professional Educational Institutions Rules-2006, OCI cardholders are treated as foreign nationals and only eligible for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) seats in private medical, dental colleges.

GOOD, BUT NOT THE GREAT-EST!

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

GOOD, BUT NOT THE GREAT-EST!

The Greatest Of All Time (Action/Thriller) ★★★ Cast: Vijay, Prashanth, Prabhudeva, Mohan, Sneha, Laila, Jayaram, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Vaibhav Direction: Venkat Prabhu Duration: 3 hour 3 minutes Language: Tamil (U/A)

M S Gandhi (Vijay) a former Special Anti-Terrorist Squad (SATS) officer, embarks on a mission that squares back to his blood, threatening his family life. In the 2007 film ‘Azhagiya Tamil Magan’, Vijay was pitted against his look-alike. Seventeen years later, it’s the same, but now it’s Thalapathy vs Ilaya Thalapathy. A new version for his fans.

M S Gandhi (Vijay), a highly skilled agent of the Special AntiTerrorist Squad (SATS) is the typical ‘family man’, who hides his occupation from his wife (Sneha). The couple, parents to a boy (Jeevan), are expecting their second child. Gandhi’s SATS team consists of Sunil Thiagarajan (Prashanth), Kalyan Sundaram (Prabhudeva), Ajay (Ajmal Ameer) and their boss Nazeer (Jayaram). On a workcation to Thailand, an unpleasant incident changes his life. Seventeen years on, Gandhi is now an immigration officer, taking care of his daughter who lives with his estranged wife. On a work trip to Russia, he accidentally meets his longlost son Jeevan (a de-aged Vijay). And thus begins a cat-and-mouse game.

With action and emotional sequences, the first half sets the stage for an interesting interval block, which supposedly packs a punch. The second half has plenty of twists, but the climax— a fanpleaser set during the CSK live match — is a bit of a drag. The story line follows a familiar template, and the narrative, unfortunately, is very easy to foresee. The overall length is a concern, too. The action sequences are just about average, though the face-offs between young and old Vijay are engaging. With a conventional story, the director capitalises on Vijay’s trademark charm. With de-aging technology, he gets to do it twice as well! Vijay pulls off both roles with ease.

His villainous side is compelling. With Vijaykant as a front, Vijay also sends a ‘political message.’ Mohan as Rajiv Menon, a former SATS officer gone rogue, does a great job as a bad boy, but between the two Vijays, his character gets lost. Prashanth, Prabhudeva, Sneha, Jayram, Meenakshi Chowdary add to Vijay’s charm. Yo gi Babu and Premji bring comic relief, with the former scoring big in the Gandhi-Nehru bit. The de-aging technology has been crafted well, contrary to the comments after the release of the trailer. A few throwback gestures and dialogues from a few of Vijay and Venkat Prabhu’s films are blended naturally without going overboard.

Yuvan Shankar Raja scores well in action and elevation sequences, but the songs, including the special number with Trisha, are a big letdown. Siddharth Nuni’s cinematography, too, is just about average. Endless fan moments, all mass and no solid substance makes it an average watch. — Ronak Kotecha To review any movie and check show timings visit etimes.in

Thursday, September 5, 2024

At RG Kar, CBI probes ‘diversion’ of college fund

Rohit.Khanna@timesofindia.com

Kolkata : CBI started probing alleged money laundering through academic funds diversion and disposal of bio-medical waste in RG Kar Hospital during arrested ex-principal Sandip Ghosh’stenure. The agency has come across allegations of the hospital’s funds being drained in counselling sessions for UG and PG students.

In a 20-day counselling session, the hospital allegedly spent Rs 14 lakh on hiring CCTV cameras, sound systems, tables, chairs and computer accessories, and a few other expense heads. Expenses for backing up data on a pen drive was between Rs 4,000 and Rs 12,000 per day. Huge amounts were also spent in the name of procuring hybrid Wi-Fi connection, printer toners and other accessories.

The agency is also examining documents related to work orders for biomedical waste management companies without any treatment facility in Bengal.

The agency has stumbled upon a complaint in which bio-medical waste was found at dump sites at Barrackpore Municipality and Budge Budge Municipality, several kilometres from the hospital. It was alleged the companies dumped hazardous waste in plastic bags and left them open at these sites. Some other offences may surface during the probe, the agency has told a CBI court that remanded Ghosh earlier this week.