Govt. cautions against travel to Singapore

23/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Indians have been advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Singapore after the country registered a rise in the number of coronavirus cases recently.

The decision was announced after the Cabinet Secretary chaired a high-level meeting to review the action taken and preparedness of the States and the Union Territories to handle novel coronavirus (COVID19) on Saturday.

“...in addition to the universal screening as per earlier advisories, universal screening at airports is now being planned for flights from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia,” a release said.

Errant students make amends by cleaning hospital in Tiruchi

High Court ordered corrective measure following violence on campus

23/02/2020, KATHELENE ANTONY ,TIRUCHI

Cleaning up their act: College students clearing garbage on the premises of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi. M. Moorthy

Students of a private college in the city took to cleaning the premises of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital on Saturday following a Madras High Court directive.

Twenty-eight students were ordered to clean the hospital premises as a corrective measure after they were arrested in connection with a case of campus violence involving beer bottles and wooden logs on July 28, 2019. At least five students sustained injuries in the incident. The order was issued by Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court after the students submitted a plea to quash the FIR registered against them.

K. Vanitha, dean, MGMGH, said the students, belonging to Oxford Engineering College, had undergone an hour of counselling at the Department of Psychiatry before undertaking the cleaning work.

“They have understood their mistakes and have shown regret. To show them the uncertainty of life, I also took them to meet some patients of road accidents admitted to the ICU,” she said.

The students began cleaning the campus of dried leaves and garbage and will also clean the general ward later in the day, Dr. Vanitha said.

“They have also shown interest in donating blood. We will make arrangements to do that at the blood bank in the evening,” she said.

Your plane seat not a sleeper berth, says aviation ministry

New Delhi:23.02.2020

The debate on reclining seats in aircraft, sparked by a viral video of a passenger punching a reclined seat in front of him on a domestic flight in the US recently, has been picked on Indian shores with the aviation ministry adding its two cents.

“A little bit of basic good manners and respect are always worth a thumbs-up. Your seat is not a sleeper berth. Don’t be inconsiderate of other people’s space,” the aviation ministry tweeted on Saturday. It advised: “With the limited space you have, if you must recline, do it carefully. Always think about the people around you because no one wants your head in their laps.”

“It is a good initiative by the ministry to tweet this. While reclining economy seats are an issue globally, authorities must tackle a very common practice in India — passengers standing up as soon as aircraft come to a halt after landing. Our crew has to keep announcing during taxi to terminal, asking passengers to remain seated and not to open overhead bins to take out their bags as that could hurt other flyers,” a senior pilot said. TNN

Court junks Nirbhaya convict’s ‘illness’ plea

Aamir.Khan2@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:23.02.2020

A court on Saturday dismissed a plea filed by a Nirbhaya convict seeking better psychological treatment. The CCTV footage submitted by the Tihar Jail authorities was not suggestive of any anomaly in his behaviour, the court observed, adding that general anxiety and depression were obvious in case of a death-row convict.

Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana was hearing a plea by Vinay Sharma, one of the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. Sharma had sought better treatment owing to his mental condition, including schizophrenia, and head and arm injuries.

After the hearing, the judge ordered, “I do not have any plausible reason to disbelieve the report of two responsible medical experts. I have also seen the CD provided by the jail authorities where the convict is seen conversing with his counsel and family members.” Sharma’s “apparent” tone and tenor was not suggestive of any abnormal behaviour; rather it convincingly corroborated the opinion of the medical experts, he added.

Sharma’s counsel, advocate A P Singh, had claimed his client couldn’t recognise people, including his mother. While visiting Sharma on the request of his family, Singh told the court, he had found that the convict had a grievous head injury, a plaster in his right arm due to a fracture, and was suffering from “insanity”, “mental illness” and “schizophrenia”.

Handing over the CCTV footage to the court, special prosecutor Irfan Ahmed, however, said Sharma had “self-inflicted superficial” injuries and was not suffering from any psychological disorder. Refuting the claim of him being unable to recognise people, Ahmed said, “Sharma had already spoken to his mother and his counsel over the phone. So that submission is wrong.”

Psychiatrist Dr Vivek Rustagi, who was present in the court, said he was meeting all convicts every day. A report by Dr Rustagi and Dr Akash Narade showed that the convict had occasionally shown anxiety, agitated behaviour and restlessness. The court was also informed that Sharma’s conduct was suggestive of deliberate disruptive behaviour.

The medical opinion also highlighted that the convict was asking for the specialist psychiatry for legally favouring himself to get the death sentence commuted.

Dismissing Sharma’s plea, the court directed the Tihar Jail superintendent to ensure adequate care of all convicts as per rules.

The court had on February 17, for the third time, issued fresh death warrants for March 3 to hang the four deathrow convicts — Mukesh Singh

(32), Pawan Gupta (25), Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) — in the Nirbhaya case.

11 engg colleges seek to shut down over poor admissions

7 Institutes Seek to Stop New Intake

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:23.02.2020

After enduring poor admissions over the last few years, 11 engineering colleges in the state have applied to Anna University to close down from the 2020-21 academic year, while seven others have sought to stop new admissions.

The total number of engineering colleges under Anna University including standalone institutions offering architecture, MBA and MCA courses is now down to 537 from 557 in 2019-20. The fate of two colleges is not known as they are yet to communicate their decision to the authorities.

College principals in the city said more than 60 institutions with less than 10% new admissions were also in danger of closure. “A college without at leat 50% admissions cannot break even. Those with fewer admissions cannot hire good faculty and provide facilities like labs. The trend of colleges closing down will continue for at least the next two years,” said one.

Last year, after the end of engineering counselling, more than 80 colleges had recorded less than 10% admissions. Several others decided to trim intake in core courses like civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. “They surrendered around 8,000 seats in these branches including 1,400 in civil engineering,” said an official. Many also sought permission to start new courses in artificial intelligence and data science with an intake of around 6,000 seats.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said admission in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering streams was poor last year. “While reducing the intake in these courses, colleges also will reduce faculty strength in these streams.” Production engineering and automobile engineering are also likely to be closed in a few colleges following industry automation and lack of jobs.

Anna University vicechancellor M K Surappa said reducing intake in core courses is not a happy situation. “We need engineers to build smart cities and smart homes. The curriculum needs to be redesigned to train non-computer science graduates in areas such as artificial intelligence and robotics.” Specialised courses like BTech (artificial intelligence) should be offered only after ascertaining the demand and future workforce details, he added.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has allowed universities to offer courses in areas such as cyber security, data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. With around 50% of seats vacant, the council said it would not accept applications for setting up new colleges for next two years.

Underground sewage work disrupted in Mannady locality

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2020

Last week’s protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Mannady Street in George Town have disrupted underground sewage work being carried out by the Chennai Metro Water and Sewerage Supply Board (CMWSSB), leading to sewage overflow on a few streets, say residents.

Protests against CAA intensified after February 14, spread to other parts of the city including Mannady, Pudupet and Alandur. “Work for the underground drainage had begun last Wednesday. But, because of the protest the contractors are not visiting and there is sewage stagnation on nearby Nainiappan Street, Sembudoss Street and Jones Street,” said a resident.

A junior engineer said pumping vehicles could not be pressed into service last week due to the protests. “We are laying sewer lines in Mannady. One stretch is complete. By tonight, all stagnated sewage will be pumped out. After ensuring that there will be no more protests, we will begin work on the other stretches to ensure the work is completed without any hindrance,” he said.

But another Metrowater officialsaidtherewasonly minor inconvenience because of the protests and admitted that it was not the only reason for the sewerage stagnation. “Work can happen only during the night and we have to wait until evening to begin pumping. That is why there is stagnation. We have the machinery in place and the pumping work has begun,” the engineer told TOI.

Some other residents said the protests were being used as an excuse. “We know how government machinery works.Itis unfortunate that protesters are being tainted,” said Ramiz Raja, who runs a shop in Mannady.



MUCK ON THE ROADS

MCI yet to amend rules, interns still wait for stipends

On February 5, 2019, the MCI board of governors issued a public notice proposing to make it compulsory for private colleges to pay stipends on par with the state or central governments’ remuneration.

Published: 19th February 2020 06:53 AM |

By Chetana Belagere

Express News Service

BENGALURU: It has been a year, and the Medical Council of India (MCI) is still ‘waiting’ for suggestions and comments on the amendment to the regulations of ‘Graduate Medical Education, 1997’, which would make MBBS interns of private colleges eligible for stipends like postgraduate medical students. Interns at most private medical colleges are forced to work for free or paid very little, while they do equal amount of work as their PG counterparts.

“We were quite hopeful when the MCI put out a public notice way back in 2019 stating that it is considering an amendment to the regulations. However, nothing has come through. Why is MCI sitting on this proposal,” asked Priyadarshini B K, an MBBS student from one of the private colleges in Bengaluru.
This is an issue not only in Karnataka, but also in several states, including Kerala and Odisha. Medical experts feel that it can be sorted out only if MCI makes it mandatory and passes a rule.

On February 5, 2019, the MCI board of governors issued a public notice proposing to make it compulsory for private colleges to pay stipends on par with the state or central governments’ remuneration. The board said that it was considering amending the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997 to include a provision to this effect. It had sought comments and suggestions within 15 days.

Dr Babu K V, a Kerala-based activist and founder-member of the Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH), told TNIE that it has been a long wait and he had, in fact, appreciated the MCI move when it was announced last year. “The plight of MBBS interns was brought to the notice of MCI way back in 2016, but we were very disappointed with their answer. This is a burning issue in many states and it was brought to the attention of the Travancore Kochin Medical Council, which transferred it to MCI in 2016,” he said.

But the MCI at its executive meeting in 2017 washed its hands of the issue, even in cases concerning Karnataka interns, he explained. “The Executive Committee did not approve the recommendations of the Academic Committee as GME Regulations do not provide for payment of stipend to interns and said the issue is beyond the purview of MCI,” he said. Dr Veerabhadraiah T A of KMC said, “In the coming meeting, we will discuss this issue with our chairman. It can be sorted out if MCI makes it compulsory.”

Stipend amount ranges from Rs 20,000-25,000 in various states

PG students are paid anywhere between
Rs 30,000 and
Rs 40,000
Central government PG students are paid above Rs 25,000