SC: States can’t appoint acting DGPs

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  04.07.2018

The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned the appointment of acting director general of police by state governments, insisting that state police chiefs must be chosen from a panel of three officers prepared by the Union Public Service Commission.

Referring to the scheme for appointment of DGPs outlined in its 2006 landmark judgment in Prakash Singh case, a bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud took exception to certain states saying they had already enacted laws for a different scheme for DGP appointments. It said, “You (states) are trying to destroy the Prakash Singh judgment.” ‘Persons on the verge of retirement shouldn’t be appointed as DGP’

In 2006, the SC had said states must give a fixed tenure of at least two years to DGPs after selecting them from a panel prepared by the UPSC. Attorney general K K Venugopal said majority of states had devised a system by which they appointed a senior police officer as acting DGP and confirmed him just before his retirement — a device to enable the officer to function as head of the police for two more years under the SC’s fixed tenure mandate.

He said only Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan had approached UPSC for preparation of a panel of police officers suitable for appointment as DGP.

The bench said “no state shall appoint anyone as acting DGP” and ordered that the panel of officers prepared by UPSC should have a reasonable tenure left for superannuation so that they benefit from a fixed tenure of two more years. Persons on the verge of retirement should generally not be appointed as DGP, the bench observed without making it part of its order.

In the Prakash Singh case, a three-judge bench headed by then CJI Y K Sabharwal had ordered, “The director general of police of the state shall be selected by the state government from the three senior-most officers of the department who have been empanelled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience for heading the police force. And once he has been selected for the job, he should have a minimum tenure of at least two years irrespective of his date of superannuation.

“The DGP may, however, be relieved of his responsibilities by the state government acting in consultation with the State Security Commission consequent upon any action taken against him under the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules or following his conviction in a court of law in a criminal offence or in a case of corruption, or if he is otherwise incapacitated from discharging his duties.”

Mumbai rly bridge collapses, 5 injured

Last Year’s Safety Audit Failed To Find Defect

ManthanK.Mehta@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:  04.07.2018

Barely nine months after the Elphinstone Road stampede that killed 23 people, a portion of the 40-year-old Gokhale Road over-bridge in Andheri crashed on to railway platforms No. 8 and 9 at 7.30am on Tuesday amid heavy rain across the city. Five persons were injured, three of whom — including a woman — were on the bridge and two on the platform below.

While the woman, Asmita Katkar (35), mother of a sixyear-old, was critical and battling for life at Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle at the time of going to press, a chartered accountant, Manoj Mehta (52) suffered injuries to his spine and had to undergo a surgery at Nanavati Hospital. The other three injured were at Cooper Hospital and were out of danger.

It was sheer luck that prevented loss of life despite Western Railway being a very busy suburban corridor with a lessthan-four-minute train frequency. No train was passing underneath, the crowd on the bridge as well as platform wasn’t too sizeable, and motorman Chandrashekhar Sawant, on spotting the debris, applied emergency brakes and halted a local in time to avert a bigger disaster.

The platforms on which the bridge’s southern arm fell, handle suburban trains originating from and terminating at Andheri, as well as a few long-distance trains.

Calling the incident unfortunate, railway minister Piyush Goyal said, “I saw the design of the bridge and studied the drawings and saw it was a 40-year-old bridge, a cantilever bridge, and because of it being on cantilever it collapsed.”

He has ordered an inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety, who will submit a report in 15 days. A joint safety audit of 445 over-bridges will also be conducted with the help of IIT Mumbai experts. These include foot over-bridges, where only pedestrians are allowed, and road over-bridges like the one affected on Tuesday, where vehicles too are allowed to ply. “If the findings reveal a flaw in design or construction problem, it will be rectified,” he said.

About the Andheri bridge, he said an audit was done in November 2017. But nothing abnormal was found. “Hence we have decided to involve a third party which will identify fault in structure or design,” he said.

After the Elphinstone Road tragedy on September 29 last year, a multi-disciplinary audit team was formed by the railways to study foot over-bridges and identify solutions to issues of congestion at stations.

“Motorman Chandrashekar Sawant acted quickly and halted the train. We have decided to award him ₹5 lakh. The injured will be given ₹1lakh each,” Goyal said, adding that around 500 railway staffers were working on restoring services.



CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE: A major disaster was averted as the driver of a packed train that was to pass the Andheri station applied emergency brakes

Nurses vacancy toi 4.7.2018

SURPRISE MOVE

Emirates withdraws ‘Hindu meal’ option

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  4.7.2018

Dubai-based mega carrier Emirates is withdrawing “Hindu meal” — a popular option given by several international airlines for travellers to prebook meals based on their religious beliefs — from its flights.

The airline says its “Hindu customers can order in advance from a wide variety of regionally-inspired vegetarian and special meals catering to specific dietary requirements, in all classes of travel… (including) options of religious meals like Vegetarian Jain Meal, Indian Vegetarian Meal, Kosher meals and Non-Beef non-vegetarian options as well.”

Most big airlines give this option, among several others, for the sake of clarity for non-vegetarians who do not eat beef or pork and also to give choices to vegetarians as part of an elaborate menu that keeps sensitivities in mind of different religions.

The decision of Emirates, the the largest foreign airline in India in terms of flying

people to and from the country to withdraw the Hindu non-veg meal as an option has come as a surprise to many.

“Not everyone is a seasoned traveller knowing the subtle differences between meal options given by airlines. Hindu non-veg meant no beef and was safely chosen by Indian travellers. There may be confusion by people booking tickets in initial days,” said a Delhi-based travel agent.

RUNNING A RAT RACE

At 429 marks, open MBBS seats in govt colleges taken
Students With Lower Scores Have To Settle For Vet Or Agri Courses

Team TOI

Many open category MBBS aspirants who walked into the government multi-specialty hospital with the hope of getting admitted to a government college looked disappointed by around 1pm on Tuesday as seats in the category in all 22 staterun colleges were taken. The cut-off for open category in the first round was 55 marks higher than the cut-off at the end of 2017 admissions.

The selection committee awarded the last open category seat to Dhaiyanitha G, who scored 429 marks in NEET and was ranked 784. She got a seat in ESIC College. The next OC candidate, Monisha V G had to opt for self-financing colleges although three other students below her with the same score managed government seats using their community rank.

“You can opt for government seats in selffinancing colleges now. If the Directorate General of Health Services returns all-India quota seats that are not taken, you will have a chance to upgrade,” counsellors told students who were not eligible for reservation.

At the end of the day, there were 1,118 seats in government medical colleges including 250 seats in BC, 58 in BCM, 370 in MBC. The cut-off across categories will be at least 50 marks more.

This means that for than 25,000 students with mediocre NEET scores options will be veterinary sciences, agriculture and pharmacy courses. But are roughly 10,000 seats available for these candidates.

Cut-throat competition in vet

Although the cut-off for open category in veterinary colleges is likely to be at least 1.5 marks lower compared to 198.75 in 2017, competition will be cut throat. University vice-chancellor C Balachandran said 9,647 students will compete for 288 BVSc (academic) seats this year. There are 13 candidates between 199.67 and

199. Students ranked between 14 and 51 have scored between 198.75 and 198 and the student in the 288th rank has a score of 195.50. “The score is unlikely to be below 187,” said a senior official at the university.

Agri courses gain traction

The state has no plans to add more seats to the existing colleges, build new colleges or allow private ones, but agriculture-related courses have gained the maximum attention as there are additional seats. In 2013, four private colleges affiliated to state agricultural university offered these courses and seats were filled through government counselling. Now, 26 private colleges offer these courses. Besides, eight deemed universities have started offering these courses as the demand shot up post-NEET.

In the past two years, there has been a 20% increase in the number of applications for BSc agriculture, horticulture, forestry, bio-technology, food, nutrition and dietetics courses.

Unlike self-financing colleges which offer 60-120 UG seats per batch, deemed varsities offer 400-600 seats every year. “The issue with increasing the number of seats at such a high rate is that it shouldn’t lose its sheen three or four years down the line like engineering,” said TNAU dean S Mahimairaja.

Even now, the employment scenario has not improved on par with the demand or the number of seats offered. “Many end up clearing Union or Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Exams as they don’t find a courserelated job on completion,” said Moorthy Selvakumaran, an educational consultant.

On a railway platform, his doctor dream was stolen

A.Selvaraj@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 4.07.2018

: Called for MBBS counselling under the quota for ex-servicemen’s children, G Bhoopathi Raja boarded Mangalore Express from Virudhunagar on Saturday. The 17-year-old thought his dream was coming true with every passing station. On reaching Egmore around 4.20am on Sunday, tired of the journey in an unreserved compartment, he and his uncle fell asleep on the platform. When they woke up, Raja’s bag was gone. With that went his dream becoming a doctor. The bag had all his original documents including his Class X and Class XII mark sheets, transfer certificate, Aadhaar card, ration card, community certificate, NEET report card and his father’s pension book and service records.

“We were to be at the counselling venue (Omandurar Government Multispeciality Hospital) at 9am, but by the time we filed a police complaint and reached the place around 11.15, it was all over,” said Raja. Asked if his would be considered a special case and given an exemption, director of medical education A Edwin Joe said all seats under the quota had been taken. “Now we can act only if a court and the MCI gives directions,” he said.



BOY APPEALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Elderly man caught on CCTV cam taking bag

With his NEET mark of 236 and a state rank of 9252, Raja’s getting a seat wasn’t a certainty, but with a community rank of 629 (he belongs to a scheduled caste) he was hopeful. He has no idea on the legal options; all he has done is to post appeals on social media asking anyone getting his bag to return it.

Footage from surveillance cameras in the vicinity showed an elderly man taking his bag and  moving toward a suburban platform at 5.13am. Raja said the policemen at the railway station were helpful, but they couldn’t find the man who took the bag .

The student of SRV Boys Higher Secondary School in Rasipuram, Namakkal scored 1,114 marks in Class XII. At the age of four, he lost his father, Ganesan, a CRPF constable. His mother Rajalakshmi, a homemaker, brought up the boy and his elder sister Poongodi, who has applied for a masters course in an arts and science college in Virudhunagar.

Taking a Karnataka bus? Don't forget tickets for your pets
02 Jul 2018 | By Pallabi Chatterjee



We always learn rules the hard way, and a Karnataka farmer is a case-in-point: he was charged half-tickets apiece for two hens he was carrying aboard a KSRTC bus on Sunday.

Though he raised a hue and cry, it's well within the confines of the rulebook, that pets like rabbits, pups, cats and birds are charged children's fare, which is exactly half-fare.

In context: Karnataka farmer fuming after being charged for hens

02 Jul 2018Taking a Karnataka bus? Don't forget tickets for your pets

Details  He gave Rs.50 to conductor, and got back Rs.2

Srinivas was traveling from Gauribidanur to Peddanahalli, both in Chikkaballapura district, some 58kms from Bengaluru.

He had bought two hens from the market in Gauribidanur paying Rs. 150 for each and had boarded the bus from the town bus-stand around 7.10AM.

As the conductor approached him, he handed over one Rs. 50 note for the 30-min journey and expected Rs. 26 in return.



Got the shockHe asked the conductor why he was 'overcharged'

Instead he was given Rs. 2 in return and three tickets.

Perplexed, he checked the tickets and realized that the conductor has issued two half-tickets of Rs. 12 each, which are basically for children between 6-12 years of age, weighing between 23kg and 30kg, while occupying a seat.

He clarified to the conductor that he didn't have any children with him.

ReactionSrinivas picked up a fight with conductor

The conductor told him the half-tickets were for the two fowls he was carrying.

Angry at the 'overcharging,' he picked up a verbal fight with the conductor demanding the correct refund.

However, the latter stood his ground, saying he did as per the rules enlisted.

The argument could not continue as the bus reached Peddanahalli, forcing Srinivas to get down.

Complaint'It was just two hens...didn't even occupy a seat'

"It was just two (hens) which together weighed 2.5kg and didn't occupy a seat. They were in a plastic bag and on my lap," rued Srinivas.

Meanwhile, AU Shariff, Guaribidanur Depot Manager, KSRTC, defended the conductor, saying he followed the transport corporation's regulations.

"A circular issued by the department states that we must levy a charge if passengers are carrying pets," Shariff said.

'Wrote on the ticket it was charged for the hens' 

"The electronic ticket generating machines which conductors use nowadays do not have such a facility (to charge for pets), so the conductor issued tickets for children and also wrote on the back of the ticket that it was charged for the two hens," he added.