Late for office? Govt staffers will face pay cut

Late for office? Govt staffers will face pay cut

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gandhinagar: 26.06.2021 

If you are a government employee, then make sure to arrive in office on time. Leaving early without intimation is also not an option if you do not want a salary cut or face disciplinary action.

After receiving multiple complaints about employees coming late for work and leaving before scheduled time, the state general administration department has passed an order saying that such employees will face strict action.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, government employees were given exemption from electronically swiping their cards, which register entry and exit time, till June  30. However, many employees took advantage of the concession and either flouted attendance norms or remained absent from office altogether.

GAD issued an order to all secretaries and department heads to watch out for employees bunking office and take necessary action against them by deducting their half day salary. The GAD circular said, “At a high-level meeting held under chairpersonship of additional chief secretary (finance), the issue of employees remaining absent was discussed and it was decided that action would be taken against such people.”

As per the new instruction, any employee who comes to office 10 minutes later than scheduled time or leaves 10 minutes earlier than scheduled time for three days in a month, will lose half a day’s salary. The GAD circular also states that employees will have inform immediate superior and department head in advance and take permission if they happen to be late for office.

GAD has directed the concerned section officer, under and deputy secretaries to ensure that the employees report to work on time and do not leave before 6pm time limit set by the government.

Employees may strike work

The Gujarat State Employee Coordination Committee, in a letter to chief minister Vijay Rupani, demanded that the government must provide all pending benefits under the seventh pay commission. The association has threatened a strike if the government fails to accept their demands. TNN

Covid gains for medicos as avg salary rises by 25%

Covid gains for medicos as avg salary rises by 25%

Parth.Shastri@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:26.06.2021 

When Dhanvantari Covid Hospital started functioning, the advertisement for various positions indicated monthly salary of Rs 2.5-Rs 3 lakh for specialists and Rs 1.25-Rs 1.5 lakh for MBBS graduates with GMC registration. The pay package was about twice what the doctors were drawing at government hospitals. Similar moves across the health sector also resulted in correction in salaries of resident doctors.

Covid pandemic put the healthcare sector in sharp focus, with the first wave marked by fear and second by apprehension. “By mid-April, many were exhausted. There was seemingly non-stop queue of patients. Many were getting serious and needed transfer or midnight assistance. Doctors worked round-the-clock with no other way out,” said a junior doctor at the Civil Hospital on condition of anonymity.

Thus, healthcare workers in both government and private sector gained, even as some of the demands are pending and a few agitations are still going on.

Babu Thomas, CHRO of Shalby Group of Hospitals, said that the rise in incentives is directly linked to the risks that healthcare professionals are exposed to during the pandemic. “In the first wave, 200 of our staff members were infected with Covid-19. This dropped to 13 in the second wave due to factors like vaccination. The salary parity of clinical staff thus rose 20-25% across the sector. Moreover, those working in Covid wards were also provided additional incentives,” he said.

Would the rush for healthcare workers continue? Thomas said that hospitals like his have retained majority of the staff members. “It’s likely that the healthcare workers would be in demand for at least some time. In addition to our existing staff, we have also kept a few fresh nurses on call if we need to scale up the operations at a short notice,” he said.

Dr Bharat Gadhvi, president of Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association , said that from doctors to paramedics, those on Covid duty got 50% incentive of their salary on top of the salary hike. “Not just hospitals, several Covid care centres also opened up, and the state government also launched a major recruitment drive. This increased demand. The salary was also hiked to retain talent,” he said. “I believe that the trend is likely to continue.”

Students’ Canada dreams and Covaxin conundrum

FOREIGN DEGREES OF UNCERTAINTY

Students’ Canada dreams and Covaxin conundrum

Bharat.Yagnik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:26.06.2021 

Rajesh Ashara, a resident of Ankleshwar, had to thrice defer his plans for Toronto, Canada to pursue a masters’ degree in environmental engineering due to air travel restrictions imposed amid Covid-19 pandemic.

He has managed to book his ticket for this weekend by taking a longer route. His troubles however do not seem to end here. The reason being that he has been vaccinated with Covaxin, the anti-Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech which is yet to get approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).

As a result, most countries including Canada treat those administered with Covaxin as ‘non-vaccinated’.

“I have booked hotels in Canada where I will be staying for 14 days as part of my quarantine period. For those who have taken two doses of WHO-approved vaccines, the quarantine rules are not applicable,” said Ashara.

He is more worried about following another rule that may require receiving another vaccine, approved in that country.

“I do not wish to risk my health by taking yet another dose of vaccine and that too of a different make. I am not sure of the health hazards associated with such a decision,” said Ashara.

Ankit Mistry, a visa consultant based out of Ahmedabad, says he has been receiving 40-50 inquiries on a daily basis about students planning to go overseas and their concerns regarding vaccination.

“I am flooded with all sorts of queries about which vaccination to be taken and which should be avoided. We are also asked if a ‘mix and match’ of vaccines can be taken. We tell them to consult doctors and medical experts. A majority of these queries are from students planning to go to Canada,” said Mistry.

The cost of quarantining in Canada can vary from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh depending on the hotel and city.

Earlier there were three connecting flight routes apart from the direct flights. They included via Muscat and Ethiopia and another one via Russia and Siberia for reaching Canada. Presently, students prefer to go Canada via Frankfurt and Mexico as the other two routes are closed for now.

Dhruvi Patel is keeping her fingers crossed for the direct flights connecting Ahmedabad and Toronto to reopen. She has got her student visa to pursue BSc with biology as the main subject at a university in Canada. Patel has taken two doses of Covaxin and hopes that the prevailing confusion about vaccination ends by the time she takes a flight to Canada.

Maha law varsity training India’s 1st batch of grads eligible to be judges

Maha law varsity training India’s 1st batch of grads eligible to be judges

Vaibhav.Ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:26.06.2021 

The Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU-N) here is currently training the country’s first batch of 40 students, who would be eligible to directly become judges after completing their five-year BA LLB (honours) degree in ‘adjudication and justicing’.

The graduates would need to clear the examinations conducted by the public service commissions of respective states, like MPPSC in Maharashtra, to be recruited as judges. “This is the first such course in India. The batch has been selected after a rigorous process. Besides clearing Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), they were subjected to group discussions and then interviewed by a panel of eminent high court judges,” MNLU chancellor Justice Bhushan Gavai told TOI.

The course was the brainchild of former CJI Sharad Bobde, also the first MNLU chancellor, who had proposed a National Judicial Academy (NJA) on the lines of National Defence Academy (NDA) to train law students in the art of judging. TOI was the first to report the proposed NJA on August 19, 2019.

Justice Gavai, also a Supreme Court judge, added these 40 students would be trained in such a way that they are ready to discharge duties of a judicial officer on graduating. “We’re making efforts to get permission from the government to allow them to appear in public service commission exams when they reach their final year. This way they can be directly recruited, after graduating.”

MNLU executive council member Justice Ravindra Chavan, who helped draft the syllabus, said these students could fill the vacuum of good judges in lower judiciary. “They would be trained in all aspects of judiciary, including understanding the case properly, applying relevant provisions of the law, and developing a vision to dispense justice.”

Vice-chancellor Vijender Kumar said due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the admissions were delayed and the course started in October last year. “These students were selected by a panel of HC judges. The teaching methodology for them is different from other students. We are also training our teachers in subjects related to justicing. Since these students hail from 10 states, including the Northeast, we’re training them in a way that they can appear in any judicial exam after their graduation,” he added.

WILD CARD ENTRY

Bride calls off wedding as groom fails to read newspaper without glasses

Bride calls off wedding as groom fails to read newspaper without glasses

Auraiya:26.06.2021 

In a unique incident, a bride in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya called off her wedding because the groom could not read the newspaper without his spectacles. Not only was the wedding called off, a case against the groom and his family was also registered.

Archana, the bride from Jamalpur village of Sadar Kotwali area, was all set to marry Shivam, a resident of Banshi village. Until the day of the marriage, the bride’s family was unaware of the groom’s weak eyesight. It was only when the bride and other women from her family noticed that the groom was wearing spectacles for a good part of the day of the wedding that they felt suspicious about it, and asked him to read a newspaper without the glasses as a test.

The groom, who could not see without his glasses, failed the test. Consequently, through a unanimous decision of the bride’s family, the marriage was called off. The bride’s family then demanded that the groom’s family return the cash and the motorcycle given as dowry, along with all the expenses that they had incurred for the marriage. An FIR was lodged when the groom’s family refused the demand. ANI

Court relief for 4 PG Ayurveda students

Court relief for 4 PG Ayurveda students

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:26.06.2021 

The high court has allowed four post-graduate students of Ayurveda (2017-18 batch) who didn’t appear for the All India AYUSH - Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET-2017) to continue their studies and complete their courses.

Granting relief to Dr Sontakke Kanchan Ramrao and three others, a division bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar said the entrance exam is a must. The students were on a better footing in the light of Supreme Court, as a one-time measure, permitting PG Ayurveda course students admitted before October 31, 2019 without taking the entrance exam, to continue studies in Federation of Self Financed Ayurvedic Colleges case, the bench held.

A direction was issued for announcing the exam results of the four students pursuant to interim orders granted by the court and also issue necessary certificates if they have completed their courses successfully.

The authorities had said petitioners’ admission cannot be approved as they hadn’t appeared for the entrance exam and relief vis-avis entrance examination granted in the Supreme Court’s judgement in Federation of Self Financed Ayurvedic Colleges case was limited to candidates who had the benefit of interim orders.

However, the division bench noted based on the SC decision, students of 2018-19 batch were given relief by coordinate benches of the high court and the petitioners, admitted much earlier, were on a better footing.

ஒரே ஒரு பயணியுடன் பறந்த 'ஏர் இந்தியா' விமானம்

ஒரே ஒரு பயணியுடன் பறந்த 'ஏர் இந்தியா' விமானம்

Added : ஜூன் 25, 2021 21:35

புதுடில்லி:அமிர்தசரசில் இருந்து துபாய் வரை சென்ற 'ஏர் இந்தியா' விமானத்தில் ஒரே ஒரு பயணி மட்டும் முன் பதிவு செய்திருந்ததை அடுத்து, அவருக்காக விமானம் இயக்கப்பட்டது.

பஞ்சாபைச் சேர்ந்தவர்எஸ்.பி.சிங் ஓபராய். இவர், வளைகுடா நாடுகளில் ஒன்றான ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்சின் துபாயில் தொழில் செய்து வருகிறார். இவர் சமீபத்தில் பஞ்சாப் வந்து மீண்டும் துபாய் செல்வதற்காக 'ஏர் இந்தியா' விமானத்தில் சமீபத்தில் டிக்கெட் முன் பதிவு செய்திருந்தார்.அன்று அதிகாலை 3:45க்கு விமானத்தில் ஏறியவருக்கு அதிர்ச்சி காத்திருந்தது. விமானத்தில் அவரை தவிர வேறு பயணியர் இல்லை.

இருந்தாலும் அவர் ஒருவருக்காக விமானம் இயக்கப்பட்டது. மூன்று மணி நேர பயணத்தில், அவர் விமானத்தில் அங்கும் இங்கும் அலைந்தபடி விமான ஊழியர்களுடன் 'செல்பி' எடுத்து மகிழ்ந்தார். கொரோனா இரண்டாம் அலையின் போது ஏப்ரல் - மே மாதங்களில் வெளிநாட்டு பயணியர் விமான சேவை கடும் வீழ்ச்சி அடைந்துள்ளது.

கடந்த ஐந்து வாரங்களில் நம் நாட்டில் இருந்து துபாய் சென்ற மூன்று விமானங்கள், தலா ஒரு பயணியுடன் இயக்கப்பட்டதாக தகவல் வெளியாகி உள்ளது.