Baby born without arm, doc booked

Baby born without arm, doc booked

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:  26.06.2020

A woman lodged a complaint against a doctor in Vanasthalipuram after she gave birth to a baby girl with a physical defect. The doctor was booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

According to Vanasthalipuram police, Goshika Uma, 22, a resident of LB Nagar had given birth to a boy in 2019, the boy died soon after delivery. Since then, she has been consulting doctors in Vanasthalipuram regularly after her second pregnancy.

“The doctor had told her there were no complication. On Monday when she went to the hospital for a check-up, two days before the due date, the doctor insisted that she undergo C-section. However, the baby’s left arm was missing,” said a police officer.

When the family questioned the doctor, he allegedly threatened them.

Following this, a case was registered at the police station and police have begun an investigation.

NTA, MCI say NO to foreign NEET centres, online conduction of NEET 2020 in one shift

NTA, MCI say NO to foreign NEET centres, online conduction of NEET 2020 in one shift: Kerala: The national testing agency (NTA) and the Medical Council of India (MCI) have informed the Kerala High Court that arranging examination centres for National eligibility cum entrance test...

Lightning claims 107 lives in Bihar & UP in one day

Lightning claims 107 lives in Bihar & UP in one day

Piyush.Tripathi@timesgroup.com

Patna/Lucknow:  26.06.2020

A fusillade of lightning strikes spread across 31 districts of two states killed 107 people on Thursday — 83 in Bihar and 24 in UP — amid warnings from meteorologists for people in both states to stay indoors as more thunderstorms are on the radar over the next 72 hours.

In Bihar, a total of 23 districts reported fatalities, with Gopalganj in the northern part of the state accounting for the highest number of 13 deaths, followed by Madhubani with eight. Siwan and Bhagalpur had six deaths each while East Champaran, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur and Banka reported five each.

In UP, bolts of lightning killed nine in Deoria, followed by six in Prayagraj, three in Ambedkarnagar and two in Barabanki.

Many victims were in their fields

Bihar’s Nawada, Khagaria, Aurangabad, West Champaran, Kishanganj, Jehanabad, Buxar, Kaimur, Jamui, Purnia, Supaul, Samastipur, Sheohar, Saran, Sitamarhi and Madhepura had fewer deaths.

Many of the victims in Gopalganj and some other districts were at work in their fields when they were struck by lightning, a perennial threat during the monsoon months. The UP relief commissioner’s office said 24 people were injured in the state.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath announced ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of those killed. Nitish appealed to people to take all necessary precautions as more turbulent weather had been forecast for the next two days. “Follow all advisories and stay indoors and safe during bad weather,” he said.

Full report on www.toi.in

Parents cheer scrapping of exams

Parents cheer scrapping of exams

CONFUSION: But Ask What Next; CBSE Says It Will Assess Last Three School Exams

Shradha.Chettri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:26.06.2020

Days of uncertainty for lakhs of students finally ended on Thursday with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stating that the pending board exams would not be held. Students would be evaluated on the basis of the last three school exams, the board added.

However, there was no clarity yet on the marking plan. When contacted, the board stated that the matter was sub judice. “The matter has been listed for Friday at 10.30am. Details will be sent out only after the board receives an order.”

From July 1to 15, the board was to conduct exams for 29 main subjects of Classes X and XII after they were deferred due to the northeast riots and the corona crisis.

Coomar Arunodya, a parent whose son was to appear for the Class XII exam from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, said, “The cancellation of the exam was important, as safety of kids was at stake. I think students will be evaluated on the basis of average marks of the given board exams. We have to wait for what CBSE states tomorrow.” His son has just one Business Studies paper remaining.

Another parent added, “It is such a relief, but everyone has a different interpretation of the last three internal exams. Somebody has told me it will be the average of the marks students have scored in their Class XII. In that case, even pre-boards will be included and the marks will come down. Lack of clarity is adding to our stress.” Her daughter has just Computer Science paper remaining.

Teachers and principals told TOI that they were flooded with queries from students on Thursday. “There is so much confusion right now. If the board is saying last exams, I am assuming it is the pre-boards. I doubt it can be the last three subject exams a student has already appeared for. How can marks be given on this basis?” asked Tania Joshi, principal of The Indian School.

Officials at Delhi University’s admission department were also trying to get more clarity as the CBSE results determine the DU’s cutoff and the admission process. Even the students in northeast Delhi were anxious on how they will be evaluated.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s deputy chief minister and education minister, Manish Sisodia, tweeted, “Few days ago, I had written a letter to the HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal asking him to cancel the class X and XII exams and students should be promoted on the basis of internal assessment.I am glad that decision was taken today for the welfare of large number of students across the country.”

Class XII students can opt for exams to be conducted later, the CBSE told the apex court on Thursday. “The details of the same will be released later.”

From July 1 to 15, the board was to conduct exams for 29 main subjects of Classes X and XII after they were deferred due to the riots and the pandemic

A PRINCIPAL SAYS

There is so much confusion right now. If the board is saying last exams, I am assuming it is the pre-boards

Long wait for test report irks many

Long wait for test report irks many

Sidhartha.Roy@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 26.06.2020

On Thursday, a north Delhi resident and her two-and-ahalf-year-old daughter, both Covidpositive patients, spent the entire day at the Narela care centre waiting anxiously for a report from the district surveillance officer (DSO). The report was to be the deciding factor whether they could go back to the comfort of their home or be lodged at the health facility.

“The woman said she had adequate facilities for home isolation, but we didn’t get the report today. We couldn’t discharge them,” said Dr Ishrat Kafeel, the chief minister’s representative at the Narela centre, the capital’s first and one of the biggest facilities. “Such occurrences are a huge problem as testing centres have been sending positive patients to the centres directly for screening. The patients don’t want to stay at the centre and prefer to go home, but we have to abide with the orders,” he added.

A new set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) from lieutenant governor Anil Baijal passed earlier this week had made it mandatory for all Covid-positive people, even those who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, to visit the care centres for screening.

The order, which was finally reversed on Thursday, had been criticised by Delhi government. The assessment of a person as symptomatic, asymptomatic, mild, moderate or severe will now be done at the testing centres and all patients won’t be directed to Covid care centres.

The footfall at care centres was abysmally low since the new SOPs came into place. Though figures for Wednesday and Thursday were not available, the total number of patients who had come for screening was 294 on Monday and 144 the next day. The highest combined footfall of Monday and Tuesday was 81 at the Dwarka Sector 16 care centre, followed by Narela, which screened 79 patients in these two days.

The Mandoli centre catered to 62 patients, Terapanth Bhavan 61and Saket 59. In fact, eight centres didn’t see a single patient in these two days, including the ones at Tughlaqabad, Pusa Road, Rouse Avenue and two in Okhla.

“The turnout of patients was very low on Thursday compared with the previous few days,” Kafeel said, adding that the reversal of the order comes as a big relief for doctors, healthcare personnel and government employees involved in the process. “The report by the team that visited a patient’s house to check for home isolation facilities took six hours or more to reach the care centre. The patients had no option but to wait in the heat. The long procedure was a huge burden on us,” he added.

An official at a south Delhi care centre said, “When patients were informed that they would have to stay back, they protested vehemently. Most prefer home isolation.”

NO TAKERS? The footfall at Covid care centres was abysmally low since the new SOPs came into place

HUL to drop ‘fair’ from ‘Fair & Lovely’

HUL to drop ‘fair’ from ‘Fair & Lovely’

Namrata.Singh@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: 26.06.2020

‘Fair & Lovely’, India’s popular skin complexion cream, is rebranding itself. Even as parent Unilever’s presence in the skin lightening space came under intense pressure, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Thursday said it would stop using the word ‘Fair’ in the 40-year-old brand name.

The move marks the culmination of HUL’s effort to move the brand’s proposition from ‘fairness’ to ‘radiance’. It puts to rest a controversial chapter, as the brand that was seen to propagate a stereotypical viewpoint of beauty. Fair & Lovely has annual sales of over Rs 2,000 crore and is one of HUL’s top 5 brands, apart from being India’s top face cream brand.

Rivals may be looking at similar move

HUL’s move may force other players to fall in line, say industry experts. While Emami, the maker of Fair and Handsome, said it was deciding its next course of action, CavinKare, which makes ‘Fairever’ fairness creams, said that it was evaluating the situation. P 15

Move not a knee-jerk reaction, says HUL

As against what Fair & Lovely’s advertisements communicated a few decades back—equating fair skin with beauty—it was only last year that HUL removed the cameo with two faces as well as the shade guides from the packaging of Fair & Lovely as the brand communication progressed from fairness to glow. While the new brand name—which has not been revealed—awaits regulatory approvals, the company said the brand is committed to celebrate all skin tones. The move thus removes the last reference to “fairness” in Fair & Lovely as a description for skin tone.

The move was lauded by many, with actor Nandita Das, who has actively spoken out against discrimination based on colour, tweeting: “Words impact notions & they, the mindset. I want to believe that the campaign Dark is Beautiful & India’s Got Colour played a tiny role. Many of you have too. Long way to go before things are truly ‘fair’, but we are on our way!”

The old proposition, however, is responsible for propelling Fair & Lovely to deliver good growths over the years. It became the leading face cream brand in the country with sales now exceeding Rs 2,000 crore. Sanjiv Mehta, CMD of HUL, told TOI: “Seven out of ten Indian women use Fair & Lovely. The move to drop ‘fair’ from the brand name is not a knee-jerk reaction. We changed the communication to ‘HD Glow’. The formulation of brand has evolved. We believe it’s more to do with the migration of consumers. We have conducted research on the new brand name and indications are that consumers would welcome these changes.”

Iruttu kadai halwa’ owner, 80, ends life after testing +ve

‘Iruttu kadai halwa’ owner, 80, ends life after testing +ve

Ananth.MK@timesgroup.com

Tirunelveli:  26.06.2020

Unable to come to terms with the fact that he had been diagnosed Covid-19 positive, Hari Singh, 80, owner of the famous “Iruttu kadai halwa” in Tirunelveli, hanged himself to death from the bathroom window of his room at a private hospital here around Thursday noon. The tragedy happened hardly an hour after the result of his swab sample test was conveyed to him and when he was about to be moved to an isolation facility.

Police said Singh was admitted to the hospital at Perumalpuram with urinary tract infection two days ago. In keeping with the norms, swab samples were collected from him and his relatives for Covid-19 test. He and his son-in-law tested positive and the results arrived at 11am. Perumalpuram police are probing it as unnatural death.

‘He served halwa with a warm smile’

Police suspect depression may have driven the octogenarian to the extreme step as he was found hanging from a towel in the bathroom. The Perumalpuram police registered a caseof unnatural death and is probing, said deputy commissioner of police(law andorder)Tirunelveli city S Saravanan. Investigation officer M Chezhian said the body was sent to theTirunelveliMCH andwas handed over to his relatives after postmortem in the evening. The ground floor of the hospital was disinfected and doctor and hospital staff quarantined.

Customers recall Hari Singh as a simple man clad in a white shirt and dhoti seen huddled near the wooden cash box of his small shop next to the Arulmigu Nellaiappar temple car. With a warm smile he served hot mouth-watering halwa which has come to be known for its unique taste. The nearly century-old ‘Iruttu Kadai’, established by his Rajput family and consolidated by his father Bijli Singh, got its name for its ambience. Unlike the well-illuminated modern-day sweet shops, this shop was lit by a single bulb, which earlier used to be an oil lamp in the dark (iruttu), earning its name. The shop has a foldable wooden door, wooden table and shelf. Many others have tried to establish halwa business by indirectly identifying themselves with the little shop which didn’t have a name board. A few other brands opened multiple branches but their halwa failed to match Iruttu Kadai’s taste and its strong fan base across India and abroad.

“The shop is open till 9 pm on regular days.During Sabarimala season and Deepavali, the stock hardly lasted 45 minutes,” says K Balaji, a resident of Bharathiyar Street. The halwa is prepared in a traditional stove fuelled by cashewnut husk that helps maintain texture and quality, from 6am to noon.

Priced at₹220 a kilogram,it also remains the costliest halwa in the city while others sell it for ₹200 or lesser. Customers queue in front of the shop well ahead of the opening time of around 5.15pm. Singh also enjoyed serving 50g of halwa on a banana leaf at ₹10 by scooping it out of the metal vessel. “He sold it with a smile and this has a strong customer base for its direct connect,” says P Perumal, a local. He also used to hand over a handful of mixture free of cost when customers extended their hand after relishing his halwa. Not many know that the same halwa is sold in a sweet shop run by his relative ten shops away.