19 killed, 25 injured after truck jumps median, rams bus in TN
‘Driver Dozed Off At Wheel, Lost Control’
Subburaj.A@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:21.02.2020

Nineteen people, including a bus driver and five women, were killed and 25 other injured when a container truck rammed a Kerala Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus near Tirupur in Tamil Nadu early on Thursday.

Police said the bus with 48 passengers collided with the truck at 3.40am near Avinashi in Tirupur district on Avinashi-Salem bypass road. The Garuda Volvo bus was on its way to Ernakulam from Bengaluru. The container truck carrying 25 tonnes of floor tiles was going to Bengaluru from Kochi. According to police, truck driver K A Hemaraj, 37, from Kollathumkundil at Ottapalam near Palakkad, dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. The truck hit the 30-cm-high median and crossed over to the other side of the lane. In the impact the container got detached and tore down the right side of the bus, killing most people seated on the side.

Survivors were trapped as the front portion of the bus was completely mangled in the collision. Passing motorists informed the Tirupur city police who rushed to the spot. Fire and rescue services personnel started rescue work with the public joining them in breaking open the glass panes of the bus and helping passengers come out.


DEADLY CRASH: The container got detached after the truck hit the median, crossed to the other lane and ripped the right side of the bus | P 7

Kerala to give ₹10 lakh each to families of dead

Tirupur collector K Vijayakarthikeyan said a regional transport officer inquiry has been ordered as two reasons were given for the accident — the driver was asleep and burst of truck tyres. The Kerala government, meanwhile, has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the bereaved families, and ₹30 lakh each to KSRTC employees under staff insurance scheme. Condition of 25 injured passengers admitted to various hospitals is set to be stable. P7

Truck driver lost control of vehicle after dozing off

The bodies were sent to the Avinashi Government Hospital and then to the Tirupur Government Hospital for postmortem. Rescue work was completed around 8.30 am. Police had blocked the stretch on the Avinashi-Salem NHAI road and diverted vehicles.

With the help of two earth movers, the bus was taken to a spot and 3 km away. The public were seen at the spot clicking photographs.

Tirupur city police commissioner Sanjay Kumar said the truck driver who was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police said he had dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. The rear tyres were damaged after they hit the centre median.

The container truck driver was booked under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

V K Sreekandan, Palakkad MP, D Balamurali, Palakkad collector, G Shiva Vikaram, Palakkad superintendent of police, and other police officials were at the accident spot coordinating the rescue work.

Kerala transport minister A K Saseendran and agriculture minister V S Sunilkumar visited the spot and consoled relatives of the deceased. The transport minister announced a solatium of ₹10 lakh to the family of each passenger and ₹30 lakh each to the drivers.

Officials from the regional transport office visited the accident spot and checked the KSRTC bus and the container truck.

Following the postmortem, the bodies were handed over to the family members.

In major change, govt may include salary to decide OBC ‘creamy layer’

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:21.02.2020

Proposing a major change in the concept of ‘creamy layer’ for OBCs, the government may rule that ‘salary’ be considered a part of ‘gross income’ to decide if a backward class individual is eligible to avail of Mandal reservations in public employment and education.

Top sources in the ministry of social justice and empowerment said inclusion of salary in calculating the creamy layer for OBCs was decided as per the recommendations of an expert committee. A proposal to this effect is likely to be moved for the government’s consideration.

If the move goes through, it will significantly raise the bar to qualify for the 27% quota benefits as more are likely to be excluded as ‘creamy layer’ — the cut-off that rules an OBC as affluent.

As per the guiding 1993 Office Memorandum on creamy layer, ‘salary’ and ‘agricultural income’ are not included in ‘gross income’ which only comprises ‘income from other sources’. In contrast, factoring in salary would make it much easier to qualify an OBC as affluent. Observers believe the decision will be controversial with the backward castes.

While the 1993 OM is clear on the subject, confusion arose after the Centre, over the last six years, started including salary in case of OBCs from PSU backgrounds while continuing to exclude it for those working in state and Union governments.

Social justice min to review income ceiling for creamy layer

It lowered the bar for disqualification from quota in case of the first category and triggered court battles. Madras and Delhi high courts termed the practice “discriminatory” and asked the Centre to remedy the situation in favour of OBCs from PSU backgrounds.

An expert committee was appointed in March 2019 to resolve the situation. As reported by TOI, the panel suggested that the Income Tax Act be made the benchmark to calculate the creamy layer cut-off for all OBCs across the board. The I-T Act includes ‘salary’ and ‘other sources’ but leaves out ‘agri income’.

According to sources, the social justice ministry has also decided to review the income ceiling for creamy layer, as is mandatorily done every three years and was last effected in 2017.

The expert panel is learned to have recommended that income ceiling should be ‘indexed’ to a fixed parameter to decide the quantum of raise, as against the subjective revision done till now.

Sources said the income ceiling could be increased from the present ₹8 lakh per annum to above ₹11lakh.

NEXT After BDS For License To Practice, PG Dental Admissions Proposed By Govt
By Meghna A Singhania  Published On 30 Jan 2020 2:27 PM | Updated On 30 Jan 2020 2:27 PM

After MCI takeover, Govt moves to set up National Dental commission,invites comments on Bill

New Delhi: After successfully moving to replace the scam-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI), with the proposed more transparent body of National Medical Commission (NMC), the government is now moving to do the same thing for the dentistry profession, by abolishing the Dental Council of India (DCI) and setting up a National Dental commission (NDC).

For the same, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has put in the public domain and invited comments on the draft National Dental commission Bill that calls for setting up a National Dental commission and repealing the Dentists Act, 1948. Comments by stakeholders and public may be furnished via e-mail at v.ihal972@gov.in on or before 20.02.2020

The bill seeks to replace the existing Dental Council of India with a body National Dental commission that would regulate dental education as well as the dentistry profession throughout India. Salient features of the bill include

1) The Bill envisages the National Dental Commission that would contain both ex-officio and elected members and would be the apex regulatory body for the dentistry profession and education

2) The bill calls for setting up of a Dental Advisory Council that would advise the commission, help in shaping the overall agenda, policy and action relating to dental education and training in India

3) NEET- The Bill calls for uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to the undergraduate and postgraduate dental education in all Dental institution. The bill, however, adds the uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to the postgraduate dental education shall continue till the National Exit Test comes into force

4) NEXT- The bill envisages a common final year undergraduate dental examination to be known as the National Exit Test (Dental) shall be held for granting licence to practice dentistry as dentists and for enrolment in the State Register or the National Register, as the case may be. The bill states that NEXT would be brought in within three years of the commencement of the bill. The National Exit Test (Dental) shall be the basis for to the postgraduate dental education in dental institutions

5) Four Boards- The Bill envisages, setting up of 4 autonomous boards constituted to perform various functions under the Act

a) the Under- Graduate Dental Education Board- The said board would be responsible for UG dental education determine standards of dental education at the undergraduate level and oversee all aspects relating thereto. It functions would range from setting up the curriculum, framing guidelines for dental institutions imparting education, determine the minimum requirements and standards for conducting courses and examinations for undergraduates in dental institutions, determine standards and norms for infrastructure. faculty and quality of education in dental institutions providing undergraduate dental education, grant recognition Io a dental qualification at the undergraduate course and much more

(b) the Post-Graduate Dental Education Board- Similar to the UG Dental Education Board, this board would be responsible for PG dental education and determine the standards of dental education at the postgraduate level, develop competency-based dynamic curriculum at postgraduate level, frame guidelines for setting up of dental institutions for imparting postgraduate courses, determine the minimum requirements and standards for conducting postgraduate courses and examinations in dental institution, ) determine standards and norms for infrastructure, faculty and quality of education and much more

(c) the Dental Assessment and Rating Board- The bill envisages a Dental Assessment and Rating Board that would determine the Procedure for assessing and rating the dental institutions for their compliance to the standards laid down by Under-Graduate Dental Education Board or the Post-Graduate Dental Education Board. This is the board that would grant permission for the establishment or to start any postgraduate course or to increase seats and would carry out the necessary inspections for the same.

(d) the Ethics and Dental Registration Board- This board would be in charge of governing the standards of the dental profession, maintain the National Register National Register of all licensed dentists and regulate professional conduct accordance and promote dental ethics as per the regulations of the act

The bill also lays the down the setup and functions of the state dental councils and the coordination of the state units with the National Dental Commission

The bill has now been laid down in the public domain for comments.

Comments by stakeholders and public may be furnished via e-mail at v.ihal972@gov.in on or before 20.02.2020

You can check out the full bill by clicking on the following link

Draft National Dental Commission Bill

Individual Scorecard Of NEET PG 2020, NEET MDS All India 50% Quota Seats; NBE Issues Notice

Garima By Garima Published On 19 Feb 2020 1:18 PM | Updated On 19 Feb 2020 1:18 PM

Individual scorecard of NEET PG 2020, NEET MDS All India 50% Quota Seats; NBE issues notice

Individual score card All India 50% quota seats for both the PG entrance exams NEET PG 2020 and NEET MDS 2020 will be available for download at NBE website by 20th and 21st February 2020 respectively.

New Delhi: With the results of All India 50% Quota Seats announced for NEET PG 2020 and NEET MDS 2020, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) has notified about the release of individual Result cum scorecard for the candidates to download.

The result of NEET MDS 2020 and NEET PG 2020 were declared on 15th and 30th January respectively and the results for All India 50% Quota Seats were announced recently.

Individual score card All India 50% quota seats for both the PG entrance exams NEET PG 2020 and NEET MDS 2020 will be available for download at NBE website by 20th and 21st February 2020 respectively.

Candidates who have studied/passed MBBS, BDS from Jammu & Kashmir are not eligible for All India 50% quota seats. However, the candidates who were nominated by the Government of India (under central pool seats) to do MBBS and BDS from Medical and dental Colleges in erstwhile state Jammu & Kashmir are eligible for admission to All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma, MDS Courses

Cut-off scores for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma Courses (2020 admission session) is as follows:

UR / EWS (50th percentile): 366

OBC/SC/ST (Including PWD) (40th percentile): 319

UR-PWD (45th percentile): 342

Cut-off scores (out of 960) for All India 50% quota Post Graduate MDS Courses (2020 admission session) is as follows:

UR / EWS (50th Percentile): 286

OBC/SC/ST (40th Percentile): 250

UR-PWD (45th Percentile): 268

NEET-PG and NEET MDS 2020 candidates with scores at or above cut-off scores mentioned above in their respective categories are eligible for participating in the counseling for All India 50% quota MD/MS/PG Diploma/ MDS seats to be conducted by DGHS, MoHFW.

The All India 50% Quota Score card of candidates who are eligible for online counseling for All India 50% quota seats can be seen and downloaded from NEET-PG website https://nbe.edu.in.

Copy of score card will not to be sent to individual candidates. Candidature is purely provisional subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria as mentioned in the Information Bulletin for the entrance exams.

The All India 50% Quota Score card mentions:

a) All India 50% quota rank: This is the overall merit position of the candidate amongst all the candidates who have appeared in NEET-PG 2020 and NEET MDS 2020 after applying tie-breaker criteria and are eligible for All India 50% quota seats, and is valid for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma/ MDS Courses of 2020 admission session only.

b) All India 50% quota category rank: This is the overall merit position of the candidate in the category (OBC/SC/ST) as opted by the candidate in NEET-PG 2020 and NEET MDS 2020 for All India 50% quota seats, and is valid for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma/ MDS Courses of 2020 admission session only.

Please visit website of Medical Counseling Committee www.mcc.nic.in for details of seats available and schedule of counseling.

Qualification to participate in online counseling for All India 50% quota seats does not confer any automatic rights upon the candidates for admission to All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma/MDS Courses.

All qualified candidates are advised to remain in touch with MCC website (www.mcc.nic.in) and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare website (www.mohfw.nic.in) for information regarding Post Graduate admission process, counseling schedule, instructions etc.

The selected candidates are advised to send their queries regarding counseling, if any, to email id: aiqpg-mcc@nic.in

For more details about the results as well as the NEET PG 2020, check out the official websites of NBE https://nbe.edu.in / https://natboard.edu.in

NEET PG 2020 Results For 50 Per Cent All India Quota Seats OUT

 By Garima  Published On 18 Feb 2020 12:07 PM | Updated On 18 Feb 2020 12:07 PM

NEET PG 2020 results for 50 per cent All India Quota seats OUT;

New Delhi: With the counselling for this year's PG medical admissions to start soon, the National Board of Examinations has released the NEET PG 2020 results for 50% All India Quota (AIQ) seats as per Minimum qualifying criteria.

The result of only those candidates who will be eligible to participate in the All India PG counseling 2020 based on eligibility criteria provided by Medical Counseling Committee and Directorate General of Health Services / MoHFW has been declared under the All India 50% Quota list.

NEET PG result 2020 for 50% AIQ seats includes roll number, All India Rank (AIR), category rank, 50% AIR and category rank along with PwD status. Candidates who have appeared for the examination under quota can check their result and rank here

All India 50% quota rank: This is the overall merit position of the candidate amongst all the candidates who have appeared in the NEET- PG 2020 for All India 50% quota and is valid only for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma Courses (2020 admission session).

All India 50% quota Category Rank: This is the overall merit position of the candidate in the category (OBC/SC/ST) as opted by the candidate in the NEET–PG 2020 for All India 50% quota and is valid only for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Graduate Diploma Courses (2020 admission session).

A candidate may be eligible for admission to PG Medical Courses as per criteria mentioned below but is not in the list of candidates eligible for counseling for All India 50% quota seats based on eligibility criteria provided by MCC/DGHS/MoHFW. Such candidate is however eligible to be considered for counseling for State quota seats in accordance with applicable regulations, qualifying criteria, applicable guidelines and state reservation policies.

Category

Minimum Eligibility
Criteria

Cut-off score
(out of 1200)

General Category (UR/EWS)

50th Percentile

366

SC/ST/OBC (Including PWD of
SC/ST/OBC)

40th Percentile

319

UR-PWD

45th Percentile

342

For more details about the results as well as the NEET PG 2020, check out the official websites of NBE https://nbe.edu.in / https://natboard.edu.in

NEET PG 2020 results for 50 per cent All India Quota seats OUT; View here

NEET PG 2020 results for 50 per cent All India Quota seats OUT; View here: New Delhi: With the counselling for this year's PG medical admissions to start soon, the National Board of Examinations has released the NEET PG 2020 results for 50% All India Quota (AIQ) seats as per...

எஸ்பிஐ-யின் 'சம்பள பேக்கேஜ்' திட்டம் தெரியுமா?- அரசு ஊழியர்கள் போல் கார்ப்ரேட் நிறுவன ஊழியர்களும் பயன்பெறலாம்

மதுரை 19.02.2020

பாரத ஸ்டேட் வங்கியின் 'சம்பள பேக்கேஜ்' திட்டத்தால் அரசு ஊழியர்கள் பெருமளவில் பயன்பெறுவதாகவும் அதேபோல் இத்திட்டம் கார்ப்ரேட் நிறுவனங்களுக்கும் பொருந்தும் என வங்கித் துறையினர் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர்.

பாரத ஸ்டேட் வங்கி உட்பட பிற தேசிய வங்கிகளில் சம்பளக் கணக்கு வைத்துள்ள அரசுத் துறையினர், ஆசிரியர்கள் எதிர்பாராதவிதமாக விபத்தில் சிக்கி உயிரிழந்தால் அவர்களின் குடும்பத்தினருக்கு பல லட்ச ரூபாய் கிடைக்க, சம்பள ‘பேக்கேஜ்’ திட்டம் உதவிகரமாக இருக்கிறது.

பொதுவாக அரசு ஊழியர்கள், அதிகாரிகள், ஆசிரியர்கள், சீருடைப் பணியாளர்களான காவல்துறை, தீயணைப்பு, வனத்துறை ராணுவத்தினர் எனப் பெரும்பாலான அரசுத்துறைகளில் பணிபுரிவோரின் சம்பளக் கணக்கு பாரத ஸ்டேட் வங்கியில் தான் பராமரிக்கப்படுகிறது.

இது தவிர, பிற தேசிய வங்கிகளிலும் அரசு சார்ந்த பொதுத் துறை நிறுவனங்களின் ஊழியர்கள் சம்பளக் கணக்கு உள்ளது. இவற்றின் வழியாகவே மாதந் தோறும் சம்பளம் வரவு வைக்கப்படுகிறது.

கார்ப்பரேட் நிறுவன ஊழியர்களின் சம்பளக் கணக்கு எச்டிஎப்சி போன்ற தனியார் வங்கிகளில் பராமரிக்கப்படுகிறது.

இந்நிலையில், தேசிய வங்கிகளில் சம்பளக் கணக்கு வைத்து இருக்கும் அரசுத்துறை, சீருடைப் பணியாளர்களுக்கு சம்பளக் ‘பேக்கேஜ் ’ என்ற திட்டம் சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இத்திட்டத்தின் கீழ், பணியின்போது, எதிர்பாராத விதமாக விபத்து, இயற்கைச் சீற்றம், போர் நிகழ்வு போன்ற சம்பவங்களில் உயிரிழக்க நேரிடும் அரசுத் துறையினர், சீருடை பணியாளர்களின் சம்பள விகிதாச்சார அடிப்படையில் வழக்கமான தொகையைவிட கூடுதல் தொகை பாதிக்கப்படும் குடும்ப வாரிசுகளுக்கு கிடைக்க , சம்பந்தப்பட்ட வங்கி நிர்வாகங்கள் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கின்றன.

காவல்துறை உட்பட பாதுகாப்பு துறையினருக்கு மட்டும் எவ்வளவு சம்பள விகிதமாக இருந்தாலும் ரூ.30 லட்சம் வரை வழங்கப்படுகிறது. இது பயனாளிகளின் மத்தியில் மிகுந்த வரவேற்பை பெற்றுள்ளது.

சம்பந்தப்பட்ட துறை ரீதியாக பணப்பலன் கிடைக்க, தாமதம் ஏற்பட்டாலும், சம்பள ‘பேக்கேஜ்’ திட்டம் மூலம் குறிப்பிட்ட தொகைக்கான பணப்பலன் உடனடியாக வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

இது குறித்து எஸ்பிஐ வங்கி அதிகாரி ஒருவர், "இத்திட்டம் சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு இருந்தே நடைமுறையில் இருந்தாலும், பலருக்கும் தெரியவில்லை. சம்பள ‘பேக்கேஜ்’ திட்டம் பிற தேசிய வங்கியிலும், ஆக்சிஸ் உள்ளிட்ட சில தனியார் வங்கிகளிலும் உள்ளன. அந்தந்த வங்கி வலைதளத்தில் விவரம் அறியலாம்.

குறிப்பாக எஸ்பிஐயில் அரசுத்துறை, நிறுவனம் அடிப்படையில் கார்ப்பரேட் நிறுவனம், மத்திய, மாநில அரசு, பாதுகாப்பு துறை, ரயில்வே, நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள், காவல்துறை, இந்திய கடற்கரை மற்றும் பாதுகாப்புத்துறை பென்ஷனர்களுக்கான சம்பள ‘பேக்கேஜ்’ திட்டங்கள் வகைப்படுத்தப்பட்டு நடைமுறையில் உள்ளது.

பாதுகாப்பு, காவல், தீயணைப்பு உள்ளிட்ட சீருடைய பணியாளர்கள் எவ்வளவு சம்பளம் வாங்கினாலும், விபத்து, போர் , துப்பாக்கிச் சூட்டு போன்ற சம்பவங்களில் உயிரிழந்தால் ரூ.30 லட்சம் வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

பிற அரசுத் துறையில் ரூ.25 ஆயிரம் வரை சம்பளம் வாங்கினால் ரூ.1 லட்சமும், ரூ. 50 ஆயிரம் சம்பளத்திற்கு ரூ.5 லட்சமும், ரூ. 50 ஆயிரம் முதல் 1 லட்சம் சமபளம் பெற்றால் ரூ. 15 லட்சமும் ரூ.1 லட்சத்திற்கு மேல் சம்பளம் பெற்றவர்களுக்கு ரூ. 20 லட்சமும் ‘பேக்கேஜ்’ திட்டத்தில் பணப்பலன் கிடைக்கும்.

வாரிசுதாரர்களுக்கு உடனடியாகக் கிடைக்கும். வாரிசுதாரர்கள் இல்லாத சூழலில் தாமதம் ஏற்படலாம். எங்களை பொறுத்தவரை துரிதமாக வழங்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கிறோம்" என்றார்.