Medicos with PG diplomas oppose promotion of govt resident docs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  10.04.2018

Chennai: The Madras high court on Monday ordered notice to the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the state government on a plea assailing MCI’s notification bringing doctors with MD/MS degrees eligible for the post of senior residents in the broad speciality as well as super speciality categories in government service.
The first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose ordered a notice returnable by April 13 on the PIL moved by Dr G Jaysiya of Kalappa Naicken Patti village in Namakkal.

Jaysiya had completed a diploma in Medical Radiology Diagnosis and is presently working as Senior Resident in Radio Diagnosis in Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital.

According to the petitioner, there are three major departments in government service. DMS primarily consists of services in rural taluks, district headquarters and ESI. DPH, consists of primary health centres including urban and rural. The last one is DME, which consists of purely academic service attached to medical colleges and hospitals. Doctors with MBBS and PG diploma specialisation are initially posted in DPH and then placed in DME as tutor subsequently promoted as senior resident, the petitioner said.

Similarly, doctors with MD and MS are posted in other departments except DME. While so the MCI on June 5, 2017 issued a notification modifying the Rules and paving way for MD/MS doctors to be appointed in DME as well.

Claiming that the move would affect the prospects of PG diploma doctors, the petitioner said, “There are about 5000 doctors across the state working in government service. In that about 700 are PG diploma holder along with MBBS and are exclusively posted in vacancies in directorate of medical education as tutors and promoted as senior residents.’ When the state government attempted to appoint such MD doctors in DME, diploma doctors approached the high court in 2017 in which the government allegedly assured that such appointments would be made only in unfilled vacancies and currently serving diploma doctors would not be disturbed.

But now, apprehending that the government would once again try to disturb their peaceful service armed with the MCI notification, the petitioner has approach the high court to quash the same.

Blood tie: Clue from wife jails priest 

CCTV Cams Belied Claim Of Violent Robbery

Sindhu.Kannan@timesgroup.com 10.04.2018

Chennai: The police played a waiting game during the past three days hoping that Vadapalani temple priest Prabhu alias Balaganesh would crack under the strain of questioning.

Investigators denied Prabhu access to television or newspapers in hospital as police sought to keep him in the dark over the death of his wife Gnanapriya.

Prabhu subsequently panicked, fearing that his wife would disclose the truth if she were alive, said an investigating officer.

As soon as police arrived at 6.30am on Thursday, he began to tremble, claiming to have been possessed by a spirit to avoid being questioned, said the officer, adding that he pretended to be unconscious at the hospital where doctors gave him only a 50% chance of survival.

Prabhu was told by police that his wife was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kancheepuram. Asking to see his wife, he was discharged from the hospital and escorted by a police team. Seeing the van cross the hospital, Prabhu questioned why they were not halting there. Police then disclosed his wife’s death, following which he pretended to cry for ten minutes, said the officer.

Investigators discovered in the course of the investigation that the evidence at the crime scene did not corroborate the sequence of events narrated by him.

The hammer left behind at the scene was washed, while the injury on Prabhu’s head appeared to have been self-inflicted. He also could not satisfactorily explain the presence of his wife’s blood on his person since, according to him, he was attacked first before his wife was targeted.

It was also not clear why the intruders chose that particular house when they had easy access to other houses if it was a murder for gain, said a police officer. Though Prabhu told police that the unidentified men entered the house at 1.30am, police found that CCTV footage only showed his friend Manoj Kumar arriving at around 2.15am. Police recovered the stolen gold jewellery from Manoj’s puja room underneath the deity.

During questioning, Prabhu told officers that he devised a plan to eliminate his wife three days before the murder but stopped when she awoke in the middle of the night.

MURDER IN COLD BLOOD: Priest Prabhu and his wife Gnanapriya in the days after their marriage; a neighbour found Prabhu tied up in a bathroom and his wife battered to death in their single-room house

Here, there’s a rush to enrol unborn kids for LKG classes

Vinayashree.J@timesgroup.com 10.04.2018

Unborn children can now obtain admission to school. Mulling over school admissions even before planning a family may sound like a joke cracked by a stand-up comedian, but for some young couples in the city it is a reality.

The father of a six-month-old child was stumped when he was told that he was “too late” for planning admission, not for the current batch, but for the 2022 batch at a reputed school. Sishya School, Adyar (ICSE) is known to carry out registrations for batches much in advance, but some parents found it absurd when the school told them they had missed the deadline for a batch that would start classes four years later. Aditya N, the surprised father, said: “The school told me that I was late as only those born in January 2018 or born in the coming months would be considered for admissions. As all other batches were full, I was told that as a special request I could approach the school later,” he said.

When TOI contacted the school, it said all admissions for batches before 2022 were closed due to high demand while a notification on the school website called for appointments for registrations for LKG for 2022.

But Malathi K of Aurro Educational Services said it ultimately came down to parents who pay for this system of prior admission. “It is better to carry out admissions for the present batch. These processes also affect RTE admissions due to high demand for filling the seats,” she said, adding that the “absurd” pattern should not be replicated by other institutions.

Meanwhile, most CBSE schools are following the board’s early admission deadlines keeping parents on their toes. The window for applications which opened in February has closed for many institutions.

Many schools are already in the process of verifying applications and admitting students for the coming academic year.

Docs: Prolonged use of antacids harms kidneys

Rupalil.Mukherjee@timesgroup.com 10.04.2018

Mumbai: Recent global studies suggesting that prolonged use of widely prescribed antiacidity pills to treat “gas” and heartburn may be linked to long-term kidney damage, acute renal disease and chronic kidney disease have sparked fresh debate amongst the medical community here.

Though a few initial reports about the association of these drugs — also called PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) — with kidney disease have been published in reputed medical journals over the last couple of years, it is only now that there are studies suggesting that it’s more serious and linked to both acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, doctors told TOI.

Also, since these reports are mostly restricted to nephrology journals and limited to only specialists, many physicians may not be really aware of these adverse effects.


Acidity pills should be prescribed for less than 8 weeks

Increasing concerns about these drugs could be the reason why their safety profile was discussed at the Annual Conference of Nephrologists and a conference of the Association of Physicians of India.

PPIs rank among the top 10 prescribed classes of drugs and are commonly used to treat acid reflux, indigestion, and peptic ulcers. They are prescribed across specialities, from orthopaedics and cardiology to internal medicine and surgery.

A US-based nephrologist, Dr Pradeep Arora, spoke about the drug’s risks at the annual conference of the Indian Society of Nephrology in Delhi recently. He told TOI: “PPIs should be ideally prescribed in the approved indications, if possible for less than eight weeks. Beyond this, if a patient is on PPIs, kidney function and magnesium levels need monitoring.”

Most patients do not know about side-effects like CKD (chronic kidney disease) as in the early stages CKD from any cause usually shows no symptom. Therefore, it is essential to use PPIs only for specific indications, and not for a prolonged time, as well as monitor kidney function during its usage, said Vijay Kher, chairman, nephrology, at Delhibased Fortis Escorts.

When PPIs for tacking acidity first hit the market nearly 20 years ago, they were perceived as very safe. This perception perhaps still lingers amongst a large section of gastroenterologists, physicians and other specialists and has percolated down to patients as well.

Since these drugs suppress acids, they could be responsible for adverse effects like iron absorption, vitamin D3 and B12 deficiencies, electrolyte imbalances (low magnesium), infections in the GI tract, etc. Studies indicate that the risks for the elderly could include heart problems and dementia.

“Recent studies say indefinite use of these medicines leads to kidney problems — like among the young there is a small increased risk of acute kidney injury, and among elderly, chronic kidney disease. There should not be indefinite use of these drugs,” said Dr Gourdas Choudhuri, director & HoD, department of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary sciences at Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

“It is important to be careful when prescribing PPIs, especially in those at risk of kidney dysfunction (for instance, a patient with diabetes). In these patients, kidney function should be carefully monitored,” said Delhi-based diabetologist Dr Anoop Misra.

Though no advisory has been issued against the medicine, Dr Kher said drug regulatory authorities will be informed.

இத்தனை நோய்களுக்கும் ஒரே தீர்வு நெல்லிக்காய்....!


நெல்லிக்காயில் உள்ள ஆன்டி-ஆக்ஸிடன்ட் புற்றுநோய் ஏற்படுவதைத் தடுக்கும். இவை புற்றுநோய் செல்களின் வளர்ச்சியை தடுப்பதாகவும் ஆய்வில் தெரிய வந்துள்ளது. வெல்லத்தில் மிகுந்துள்ள இரும்பு சத்தும், நெல்லிக்காயில் உள்ள கால்சியம் சத்தும் நம் ஆரோக்கியத்தை மேம்படுத்தும்.

ரத்த சோகை உள்ளவர்கள் இதைதொடர்ந்து பயன்படுத்தினால் ரத்தத்தில் ஹீமோகுளோபின் அளவு கூடி இரத்த சிவப்பு அணுக்கள் அதிகரிக்கும். இட்லி, தோசை, சப்பாத்தி போன்ற உணவு வகைகளுடன் சேர்த்து சாப்பிடலாம்.
உடல் எடையை குறைக்க வேண்டும் என்றால் தினமும் நெல்லிக்காய் சாப்பிடலாம். இவை உடலில் உள்ள தீங்கு விளைவிக்கும் டாக்ஸின்களை வெளியேற்றி உடல் எடையைக் குறைக்க உதவும்.
நெல்லிக்காயில் நார்ச்சத்து அதிகமாக இருப்பதால் மலச்சிக்கல் உள்ளவர்களுக்கு இது தீர்வாக அமைகிறது.

நெல்லிகாயை தினமும் ஒன்று சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால், உயர் இரத்த அழுத்தம் கட்டுப்பாட்டுடன் இருக்கும். நெல்லி பொடியை தேனுடன் கலந்து தினமும் சாப்பிட்டு வர நல்ல பலன் கிடைக்கும்.

நெல்லிகாயில் வைட்டமின் சி வளமாக இருப்பதால் கண் பார்வை மேம்படும். இதில் உள்ள ஆன்டி-ஆக்ஸிடன்ட் கண் ரெட்டினாவை பாதுகாக்கிறது.
1 டேபிள் ஸ்பூன் நெல்லிக்காய் சாற்றுடன் சிறிது பாகற்காய் சாற்றினை சேர்த்து கலந்து குடித்து வந்தால் உடலின் இன்சுலின் சுரப்பை அதிகரிக்கும். இதனால் இரத்த சர்க்கரை அளவை கட்டுப்பாட்டுடன் வைத்துக் கொள்ள முடியும்.

நெல்லிக்காயில் உள்ள இரும்புச்சத்து புதிய இரத்த செல்களை உருவாக்கி மறைமுக மாரடைப்பு மற்றும் பக்கவாதம் ஏற்படும் வாய்ப்பைத் தடுக்கும்.

 Unmarried daughter who is above 18 can claim maintenance from father: Bombay High Court

Unmarried daughter who is above 18 can claim maintenance from father: Bombay High Court

Press Trust of India, Mumbai, Apr 7 2018, 18:10 IST

PTI File photo.

An unmarried daughter is entitled to claim maintenance from her father even after attaining the age of 18 if her parents are divorced or estranged, the Bombay High Court has ruled.

Also, a woman can file an application on behalf of her major daughter to seek maintenance, Justice Bharti Dangre ruled yesterday.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by a city-based woman challenging the family court's order dismissing her application seeking maintenance from her estranged husband for the couple's 19-year-old daughter.

The couple, which got married in 1988, got separated in 1997. Their three children -- two boys and one girl -- lived with the mother.

Till the time the children were minors, their father paid a monthly maintenance for each child to their mother.

However, after the daughter crossed 18 years of age, the father refused to pay maintenance for her.

Her mother, in her petition in the high court, claimed that though her daughter had attained majority, she was still financially dependent on her as she was pursuing higher education.

The woman also said that her two sons were not in a position to help out, as one of them was repaying his education loan and the other was yet to get a job.

The woman, who is getting a monthly maintenance of Rs 25,000 from her husband, sought additional Rs 15,000 for the daughter.

The family court rejected her plea, saying that under section 125 (1) (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), maintenance is to be paid only for minor children.

Justice Dangre said in her ruling that as per the CrPC a major child is entitled to maintenance only if he or she is not able to maintain herself or himself due to any physical or mental problem.

But past judgements of Supreme Court and high courts have held that an unmarried major daughter can also seek maintenance if she is not financially independent (even if she doesn't suffer from any disability), the judge noted.

She directed the Principal Judge of the family court to consider the petitioner's claim afresh.

Prof denied service benefits after serving 3 decades, gets relief

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published

Apr 8, 2018, 6:05 am IST

The petitioner was appointed as assistant professor and served in various colleges since 1981.

Madras High Court

Chennai: Quite often, this court is confronted with situations where justice and law do not come to terms and such situations may impose judicial dilemma on the institutions.

However, such dicey situation is to be surmounted by this institution by ultimately adopting a justice-oriented approach in order to reach out and uphold the fundamental rights of the citizen, observed the Madras High Court while setting aside an order of the state government, which declared the appointment of a woman Assistant Professor as invalid.

Allowing a petition from Annie D. Ambrose alias J. Rukmani, Justice V. Parthiban directed the government to regularise the service of the petitioner and grant her all service benefits including retirement and pensionary benefits.

The petitioner was appointed as assistant professor and served in various colleges since 1981. While so, in 1995, the government discharged her from service on the ground that her M.Sc degree in Human Genetics and Anthropology in Zoology as an ancillary subject was not found to be equivalent to M.Sc. Zoology. However, by an interim order, she continued to serve as Assistant Professor and retired on June 30, 2010. Since she could not get her service benefits she has filed the present petition.

The judge said the petitioner had a basic degree in B.Sc., Zoology and Zoology as taught as one of the ancillary subjects in the postgraduate course. Moreover, she had obtained M. Phil degree in Zoology and subsequently, obtained a Doctorate in Zoology. Once the petitioner obtains higher degree viz., in the same subject in which she was considered for appointment, this court does not see what was the justification for the government to consider her qualification as non-equivalent to M.Sc Zoology.

The government, while considering the claim of the petitioner, has misdirected itself in comparing only the postgraduate degree obtained by her without considering the M.Phil degree obtained by her in Zoology. “The government clearly fell into error in adopting an approach that the postgraduate obtained by her was not equivalent to M.Sc Zoology. Such narrow approach by the government without considering her higher qualification in the same subject did not subserve good administration, particularly in view of the fact that she was appointed and continued in service for nearly three decades as Assistant Professor/Lecturer without any complaint against her in regard to her capacity and capability to work as Lecturer,” the judge added.

The judge said at the time when the petitioner originally came to be regularised, the government itself has provided for the grant of relaxation in age and educational qualification if a need arises. Once such contingency stipulated in the G.O, it was a fit case that the government ought to have taken follow up action in getting necessary relaxation in favour of the petitioner, the judge pointed out.

The judge said the authorities have utilised the service of the petitioner for nearly three decades and there were no complaints against the capability of the petitioner to teach the Zoology subject and several hundreds of students in the subject had been benefited by the teaching of the petitioner, cannot abandon the petitioner high and dry at the end of her service career on the ground that her postgraduate qualification was not equivalent to M.Sc Zoology. Such insensitive, wooden approach by the government was rather deplorable and cannot be countenanced both in law and facts, the judge added.