Vidyapith looking for new VC

Vidyapith looking for new VC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:  04.10.2020

The World’s only university set up by Mahatma Gandhi is now in search for a new vice-chancellor with the term of the current vice-chancellor, Anamik Shah, coming to an end in December.

For the first time, the call for applications, for the coveted post, has most of qualifying conditions set, according to the University Grants Commission (UGC). A threemember search committee, which includes members like Arvind Desai and professor Indira Hirve has been appointed. The Vidyapith officials were tight-lipped about the chancellor Ela Bhatt’s recommendation for the third member of selection committee.

Shah may not get the third extension as per the UGC norms. Bapu was the first chancellor (kulpati) of the Vidyapith and he had held the office between 1920 and 1948.

This time because of the university has adopted UGC qualifying conditions, the race for the post will be narrower. The vice-chancellor should have both academic and administrative experience, should have been on the faculty or board of studies and should have been a member of an academic council or part of professional bodies.

“The candidate, according to the UGC criteria, should also be involved in academic action and research programmes, should have international academic exposure, should have publications in academic journals of international repute and authored books, and even published articles in popular magazines over the past five years, and should also have consulting experience apart from having read books on Gandhi,” says a senior official at the Gujarat Vidyapith.

A house within the premises of Gujarat Vidyapith

Rahul, Priyanka meet Hathras family

Rahul, Priyanka meet Hathras family

We Will Stand By You, No One Can Silence Us, Says Rahul After Interaction

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesgroup.com

Hathras: 04.10.2020

On their second attempt, after a standoff with cops along the state border, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and her brother Rahul Gandhi were finally allowed to pass and meet the Hathras girl’s family on Saturday evening.

“I am a mother, I know your pain. I have nothing else to say,” Priyanka told the mother of the 19-year-old who had been allegedly gang-raped by four upper caste men in her village a fortnight before she died in a Delhi hospital. The mother broke down. Then, the doors were shut as Priyanka, Rahul and three other Congress members spoke to the family for about an hour. After stepping out, Congress MP Rahul said, “If anyone thinks they can stop us from standing for justice and truth, they are wrong. We will stand by you, no one can silence us.”

The last time they had attempted to visit the family, on Thursday, they had been detained, released and later booked for breach of Covid control measures. On Saturday, when news reached the village that the two had been allowed to cross the Delhi-UP border after police lathicharged Congress workers who had gathered on the DND Flyway, there was a flurry of activity in Hathras. Instructions were shot across to control the crowds expected.

In Mathura, where the Congress representatives had taken a break on their way to Hathras, Priyanka told the media, “I don’t understand why the government is not supporting the family. It is their duty … I have spoken to her father over the phone. I feel his pain.” When they reached Hathras, however, it was only a small group that was allowed up to the girl’s house.

When they left, the girl’s brother told the media that they had spoken about the behaviour of the local administration. “We told them about the attitude of the DM,” he said, referring to a thinly veiled “threat” reminding the family that the media would leave at some point in a video that went viral. After that, the SIT probing the case visited the family to record the statement of the victim’s father.

Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, said it will also make a second attempt to meet the family — the first had been cut short on Thursday — with party chief Akhilesh Yadav expected to visit on Sunday. RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary has planned to do the same.

Workers aligned with the upper caste community to which the accused belong, meanwhile, staged a counterprotest near the point of entry to the village. They complained they were not being allowed to meet the families of the accused. “A panchayat was held in favour of the four accused who are in police custody,” a worker said. “We demand an unbiased probe.”

Rahul and Priyanka with the victim’s family in Hathras on Saturday

Varsity Admissions Start, But How To Handle Hostels? Nobody Is Sure

Varsity Admissions Start, But How To Handle Hostels? Nobody Is Sure

Won’t Open Now, Rules May Change

Mohammad Ibrar & Shradha Chettri TNN

New Delhi:  04.10.2020

As universities brace for admission season, what happens to hostels is a question of concern. In Delhi University, hostel admission will not take place alongside college admissions this year. Many college principals don’t see the hostels opening before January next year, but they are certain about having to restrict facilities to meet Covid-19 norms.

Poonam Verma, principal of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, which has hostels for both male and female students, described the reopening of hostels as a “challenge”. She said, “Till the time classes continue online, we will not provide hostel facilities. But once the hostels have to open, we may consider converting the triplesharing rooms to two seaters. It will not be possible to give a single room to all students.”

Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava hoped for guidance on reopening hostels from the university authorities. The first disinfection effort will be hampered because of the belongings left behind by the earlier hostellers who had to exit in haste, she said. “For the health and safety of students, we will have to reduce the intake, but increasing hostel fees might not be feasible because of the financial hardship faced by many students,” Srivastava added.

Despite Srivastava’s observation, many believe that the Covid restrictions, especially the reduction in the number of students who can stay in hostels, will lead to an increase in hostel fees. Some college hostels run on self-financing mode and do not receive funds from UGC.

One of those who portends a hike in fees is Venkat Kumar, principal of Sri Venkateswara College, which offers boarding facility for 75 boys and 75 girls. “It is clear that the number of students admitted to hostels will come down. But the full expenses have to be recouped because we have to pay the staff on contract working in the hostel,” he argued.

Many principals are already working out modalities for the reopening of hostels. SGTB Khalsa College has 49 rooms that can accommodate 147 women students, with three sharing each room. Principal Jaswinder Singh said, “Though our hostel rooms are spacious, we may only put two girls in one room. We know the hostel won’t open before January, but we have already identified four rooms to keep inmates in isolation should they exhibit Covid symptoms.”

Shri Ram College of Commerce, which has both men’s and women’s hostels, will receive feedback from students through Google forms. “We want to know whether they want the college to reopen with or without hostel facility,” said principal Simrit Kaur.

Jamia Millia Islamia’s precedent could be followed by DU hostels. It accommodated BDS and physiotherapy students from outside Delhi in the AM Khwaja Hostel, after advising them to reach the hostel six in advance of the exams so they could remain in isolation for the mandated period. “Bona-fide hostel residents were required to carry a recent Covid-negative certificate, and on arrival they underwent the usual checks plus had their baggage disinfected,” revealed Ahmed Azeem, Jamia PRO. "They aren't allowed to leave the hostel except for their exams.”

DU also has a model, having already opened its hostels for research scholars. A 14-day quarantine was made mandatory and hostellers were also asked to limit their time outside of their rooms. The university also asked hostels with fewer residents not to run the messes, but to arrange food from nearby hostels.

Dr KVT, veteran medical trainer, dies of Covid at 92

Dr KVT, veteran medical trainer, dies of Covid at 92

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  04.10.2020

Veteran physician and teacher Dr K V Thiruvengadam, 92, who was hospitalized with Covid-19, passed away on Saturday, two weeks after his wife Dr Malathi died of the infection. The doctor helped establish the first allergy clinic in a government hospital and played a key role in streamlining medical programmes in Madras Medical College.

Known as ‘Prof Dr KVT’ among his students and peers, Dr Thiruvengadam was revered for his dedication in serving the poor while also passing on his knowledge on the nuances involved in clinical diagnosis to his students. KVT, who graduated from Stanley Medical College in 1950, began his medical service at the hospital and later transferred to Madras Medical College where he served as the director of general medicine between 1976 and 1984 before he retired. Many doctors who have carved a name for themselves in the field of medicine were his students.

Diabetologist Dr V Mohan called KVT the ‘teacher of teachers’ who taught his students the art of clinical medicine. “He was an out-and-out clinician. For him, it is a cardinal sin if you don’t examine a patient properly. How to feel, how to palpate, how to observe right from the time a person walks in, the amount of time he would take to examine from the head to the legs, he taught us that art,” he said. “Though primarily his interest was chest disease, he was an all rounder and a walking encyclopedia, there’s nothing he did not know.”

Dr C Rajendran, retired director and professor of medicine, Madras Medical College, recalled how he groomed his students as good clinicians when there were no advanced investigational tools and also inspired them to follow a methodical patient-centric approach. “Those days, we had only a stethoscope, ECG, x-ray and blood test and with that we learnt from him how to make rare diagnosis as well as common diagnosis, which we otherwise could miss. He was teaching till his last day at work,” he recalled.

Dr M Arulpitchai Narayanan, chairman of Arma Medical Foundation, recalled his free classes, always a full house, in the Railway Hospital auditorium for nearly 25 years after his retirement. “The class would have around 150 students, who would attend just to listen to him. He would explain exactly what you see in the textbook and also what happened in John Hopkins in Washington or in Harvard yesterday. He was upto-date with the latest in the field. He was a role model for a doctor and would always talk about the health of people below the poverty line,” he said.

According to Dr H V Hande, he would only take patients referred to him by other doctors at his clinic, where he practised till March before he had to close due to the lockdown. “When we refer patients, he would send back a long letter explaining what the disease is and what should be done. He could spot the disease with precision and with minimum inexpensive diagnostic tools,” said Hande.

KVT received many accolades for his contribution to the field including the Padma Shri in 1981. “He was not only a great teacher and a doctor, but also a loving husband and a father. He was admitted on September 20, a few hours after his wife. His wife passed away four days later, and he didn’t even know. He was initially responding well to treatment, but passed away on Saturday morning,” physician Dr Rawlin Augustine said. KVT is survived by three children.

‘TEACHER OF TEACHERS’: KVT began his medical service at Stanley Medical College, his alma mater

Petition against hospital for overcharging

Petition against hospital for overcharging

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.10.2020

A resident has moved the Madras high court alleging that MGM hospital is charging exorbitant fees much higher than the rates fixed by the government for Covid-19 treatment.

K Ganesh, who lost his father to the viral infection, wanted the court to direct the authorities to consider his representation made against the hospital and take appropriate action against the hospital management.

According to the petitioner, his father was hospitalised for eight days for Covid-19 treatment in MGM hospital for which the hospital charged Rs 7 lakhs.

He alleged that even after his father’s demise he was asked to settle remaining bills to the tune of Ra 2.44 lakhs.

Therefore, the petitioner wanted the court to direct the authorities concerned to consider his complaint against the hospital dated September 11 and take appropriate action against the hospital management for not following government order dated June 6 in connection with Covid-19 treatment fee.

This apart, Ganesh also wanted the court to direct the hospital to refund the excess amount collected from him in violation of the government order.

The plea filed as a PIL is likely to be taken up for hearing in the second week of October.

India becomes third country to cross 1 lakh Covid deaths

India becomes third country to cross 1 lakh Covid deaths

CFR Lower Than Most But Festive Season A Worry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

03.10.2020

India has become the third country in the world after the US and Brazil to record 1 lakh deaths due to Covid-19. On Friday, nearly 1,076 fresh fatalities took the nationwide toll to over 1,00,800.

The toll in the US is more than double that of India at over 2.1 lakh while Brazil, with far fewer cases, has recorded over 1.4 lakh deaths. However, in the past two months, India has reported the highest number of fatalities in the world, with nearly 63% of all deaths in the country coming during this period.

India reported 33,255 Covid-19 deaths in September, at a daily average of more than 1,100. While the toll has been mounting, India is still far below the world’s worst-hit countries in terms of deaths per lakh population and case fatality rates (CFRs). At 7.5 deaths per lakh population, India is in the 18th position among the 20 worst-hit countries. India’s CFR, at 1.6, compares well with most countries, notably the US (2.8), Brazil (3), Mexico (10.4), the UK (9.2) and even Pakistan (2.1). What will worry health authorities is the upcoming festive season, especially since active cases still remain high at 9.5 lakh.

80K+ fresh cases for 4th day, active cases dip to 9.5L

Other countries in India’s neighbourhood have better case fatality rates than India — Bangladesh

(1.4), Nepal (0.6) and Sri Lanka (0.4). In balance, while India has the second highest Covid caseload in the world after the US, infections have been staggered over several months. This, and the fact that cases started rising late in India, seems to have kept mortalities relatively low so far.

On Friday, India recorded over 80,000 fresh cases for the fourth day running. However, the day’s case count, at 80,446, was below the numbers reported over the last two days, as per data collated by TOI from state governments.

India’s total Covid-19 caseload stood at 64,71,244. Active dropped marginally on Friday to a little over 9.5 lakh after rising over the past two days.

The pandemic continued to rage in Kerala, which reported 9,258 fresh cases on Friday. This is the first time the daily tally has topped 9,000 in the state. Maharashtra continued to add fewer than 20,000 cases for the sixth day in a row, but on Friday, it reported an increase in fatalities. A total of 15,591 new cases were reported, taking the total to 14,16,513 in the state, and with 424 fatalities, the total toll climbed to 37,480.

Mumbai stepped up the number of tests to almost 15,000 a day and recorded 2,440 new cases, which is its second-highest single-day tally so far. The city’s tally has now climbed to 1.7 lakh.

The maximum Covid-19 deaths in Odisha are in the age group of 41 to 60 years, an analysis of the deaths by Odisha health department has revealed. Sixteen more died of the viral infection pushing the death toll to 875 on Friday. Altogether 3,600 more people tested positive for the virus.

›Sept high: 1L new cases, 15L tests in Delhi ›Why viral load is tough to detect

Advocate Who Acted Professionally As Per Client's Instruction Cannot Be Made Criminally Liable For Defamation: Madras HC [Read Order]

Advocate Who Acted Professionally As Per Client's Instruction Cannot Be Made Criminally Liable For Defamation: Madras HC [Read Order]: An advocate who acted professionally as per the instruction of his or her client cannot be made criminally liable for offence of defamation under Section 500 unless contrary is alleged and...