‘Fleeing abroad after MBBS without serving deplorable’

‘Fleeing abroad after MBBS without serving deplorable’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:21.09.2021

The Gujarat high court on Monday deprecated the practice adopted by some medical students who move abroad after completion of studies in India and do not intend to serve in rural areas.

While disposing of a petition filed by an MBBS graduate, whose documents were withheld by the government for not submitting Rs 2 lakh bond in lieu of one-year rural service after internship, Justice Bhargav Karia said, “It was a pious duty on part of the student to render service to the government, to pay back the obligation he has undertaken by paying back to the society or to pay the money for not rendering his services in order to pursue his education abroad. By taking advantage of education facility available in the country and then fleeing abroad without rendering any service to this country is deprecated.” Justice Karia ordered the government to return the documents that the student had submitted at the time of his admission in the medical college run by GMERS at Himmatnagar in 2015. The documents were not returned because the student had not submitted bonds, which was the admission condition. However, the student insisted on the certificates regarding completion of his MBBS and internship.

The court said that it would not interfere on the government’s decision over bond. The court said that the state government is entitled to recover Rs 2 lakh towards the bond condition. Upon the government’s insistence on recovering Rs 2 lakh from the student, his father, who too was a petitioner, said, “Asking for money for provisional certificate amounts to extortion on part of the government.” The court cited a Supreme Court order and said that rendering services to the government after completion of MBBS is not unreasonable. The petitioner’s argument that the college was self-financed is not ground to escape the condition of rural service. It is also not believable that the student was not aware of the bond condition even after completion of five years of study.

‘Racist & biased’: Indians slam new UK travel curbs

‘Racist & biased’: Indians slam new UK travel curbs

Naomi Canton

London:21.09.2021

The UK government’s new international travel rules, which do not recognise people vaccinated in India as being “fully vaccinated”, have been blasted as “offensive”, “bizarre” and “racist”. The new rules mean people vaccinated in India will still have to home quarantine for 10 days in the UK when those vaccinated in scores of other countries will not.

Aware of the backlash on social media after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor pulled out of a Cambridge Union debate and his own book launch events in Britain to protest against the latest curbs, the UK announced it was willing to engage with the Indian government to resolve the matter. Tharoor tweeted: “It is offensive to ask fully vaccinated Indians to quarantine.” On September 17, the UK had announced new rules for international travel to replace the current system of red, amber and green.

US to allow jabbed travellers from Nov

The US in November will re-open air travellers from China, India, Britain and many other European nations who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said on Monday, rolling back pandemic-related travel curbs imposed early last year. P 14

‘Fully vaccinated’ don’t require home quarantine

A British high commission spokesperson in New Delhi told TOI: “We are engaging with the government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India.” On September 17, the UK had announced new rules for international travel to replace the current system of red, amber and green. The new rules divide countries into red and the rest of the world and come into effect at 4 am (UK time) on October 4. Whilst the red list rules will remain the same regardless of vaccination status, the rules for people arriving in the UK from the “rest of the world” – which includes India – will differ depending on whether the traveller is “fully vaccinated” or not.

Those deemed as “fully vaccinated” will no longer have to home quarantine for 10 days, no longer need to take a pre-departure test nor take a day 8 Covid-19 test. They just need to take a Covid-19 test on day 2 after they arrive.

CITY BUS DEPOTS IN TOTAL DISARRAY

CITY BUS DEPOTS IN TOTAL DISARRAY

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

21.09.2021

They are frequented by millions of people daily, but most government bus terminals in the city are in terrible shape, with hardly any passenger facilities.

The bay at the Ayanavaram terminus in central Chennai, used by at least 200 MTC buses daily, is almost entirely used as a parking lot by private vehicles, mainly belonging to people coming for driving licence tests and vehicle registrations at the adjacent Regional Transport Office building.

Some of these vehicles are parked at the entrance of the terminus, forcing drivers of buses to park on the roadside. The two rows of seats for waiting passengers are damaged. “Usually bus frequency is poor after the lunch hour and we stand in the sun and rain for 15-20 minutes,” said B Satish, a regular commuter.

T Sadagopan, a resident-activist from Avadi, said that almost all bus terminuses in the western suburbs lack urinals and toilets and those that are available are unclean. At Avadi, the urinal is located inside the branch manager’s office and kept under lock and key. Passengers, mostly senior citizens who are diabetic, are at the mercy of officials to use it, he said.

Another basic facility that is lacking is access to clean drinking water. The Amma Water Scheme, welcomed by all sections, has been given a silent burial and even MTC staff are forced to buy water from private shops in the vicinity, say workers’ unions.

The terminus at Broadway, where more than 650 buses on 70 different routes arrive and depart daily and which attracts more than 1 lakh footfalls daily, has been neglected for long. A Greater Chennai Corporation official said a detailed proposal was submitted to the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board (TNIDB) for a 900-crore project to transform the facility with demarcated space for bus bays, a multi-storey parking complex, commercial space and rail connectivity.

V Rama Rao of the Traffic and Transportation Forum commuters had been waiting for the past 20 years but the corporation has not moved to mitigate their woes.

A senior MTC official said transport minister R S Rajakannapan recently visited the Amma water bottling plant in Gummidipoondi and promised to expand production.

The Union urban affairs ministry, in its manual for city bus depots, mandates installation of Public Address Systems with alarms, but none of the terminals visited by TOI Ayanavaram, Broadway, Foreshore Estate, Velachery and Ambattur had them. “Signages and PA systems play an important role in regulating pedestrian movement. Commuting can be easier for passengers, particularly those from other districts or states who are unfamiliar with city bus routes, if relevant information of bus arrival/departure timings and directions are provided through PA systems in multiple languages,” said T Rengachari, a transportation activist.

Kilambakkam bus terminus to open by March

EASING CONGESTION

Kilambakkam bus terminus to open by March

Broken Chairs, Illegal Parking And Ramshackle Facilities Are Common At Most MTC Bus Depots

Ram Sundaram TNN

21.09.2021

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is likely to throw open a new bus terminus at Kilambakkam for public use by March 2022.

The terminus, which is being constructed for ₹397 crore, has more than a dozen toilet blocks, a waiting area with seats, escalators and can accommodate 245 government and private omni buses at a time. Around 3,000 private vehicles can be parked at in the complex.

Besides mofussil buses, CMDA has created separate bays and a depot for city buses. The MTC has already started operating buses from Kilambakkam and has partially shifted the base from Perungalathur to the new location.

The State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), which operates long-distance government buses, will no longer use CMBT, Koyambedu, from next year. Buses to southern districts like Madurai, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari will leave from Kilambakkam.

However, several commuters have said the project has its own pitfalls. People living within the city have to spend more to reach the terminal. The nearest suburban station from Kilambakkam is at least 2 km away. If passengers choose a cab or auto, they will have to pay more.

A senior SETC official said getting down at Kilambakkam, which is 30 km from Koyambedu, and boarding another MTC bus in the wee hours is going to be tedious for many passengers.

The other problem is the delay in expanding Tambaram-Chengalpet highway (NH-45) along which the terminus is located. The NHAI is converting the existing four-lane into six-lane roads.

G Ganesh, a resident-activist from Singaperumalkoil, said, “If they (NHAI) don’t complete it before next March, it is going to chaos here. Already private buses and vans of industries in Oragadam are using NH-45 instead of Bengaluru highway in order to avoid the toll gate at Sriperumbudur. This coupled with more government buses on incomplete roads will make traffic congestion worst”.

Hi-tech tools help cops nab cyber crooks

Hi-tech tools help cops nab cyber crooks

City Digital Forensic Lab Got Busier Since First Lockdown

Ram Sundaram & Sindhu Kannan TNN

Chennai:21.09.2021

Last year, Kirthika* continuously received sleazy messages and nude photographs on her mobile phone from a stalker for nearly two months. The 16-year-old Chennai resident lodged a police complaint. The stalker deleted the messages and broke his mobile phone, believing he could go scot-free. But, using a highend data extraction tool procured by the Tamil Nadu Forensic Department, police managed to retrieve all the messages and media files. The stalker is now in jail.

Retrieving such deleted files from damaged electronic devices is possible due to Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED), a mobile tool available at Chennai Forensic House, Mylapore. The lab has other globally-accepted software tools such as EnCase, XRY and Magnet Axiom, which extract crucial evidence from not only mobile phones (Android and iOS) but also from storage devices (laptops, hard disks, pen drives and memory cards) and CCTV cameras.

Ever since the Covid-triggered lockdown, there has been a three-fold rise in the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and women harassment cases dealt by Chennai Forensic House. On an average, every month, the lab deals with at least 50 such cases a month. Earlier, it was less than 15, according to police data. In almost all these cases, the lab reports have helped police get the perpetrators convicted by courts.

“Though there are hundreds of open-source data extraction tools available in the market, only National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-standard tools such as these are admissible in a court of law. Such tools are sold only to state enforcement agencies and we procured them three years ago using Tamil Nadu Innovative Initiative (TANII) funds,” said a senior forensic department official.

A senior scientist from the Chennai lab said data from a cell phone can be extracted using two methods: logical and physical. In the first method, the extraction tool interacts with the phone using its own programming language to retrieve calls and text logs, passwords to social media accounts, saved photos and videos. But it has limitations since deleted and password-protected files can’t be accessed. In the other method, deleted files can be extracted as the tools create a bit-by-bit replica of all the files in the phone, including hidden files in subfolders. Currently, UFED is the most preferred tool by the Chennai lab as it presents the extracted data in a searchable and user-friendly format.

“Despite using such highend tools, extracting and analysing data is becoming increasingly difficult as mobile manufacturers keep updating their products. The type of smartphone, OS and security features determine the amount of access to data. There is no guarantee that all data can be retrieved. But the forensic tool firms also keep updating their products at regular intervals to meet the challenge,” the scientist told TOI.

(*name changed)

Law student armed with shotgun kills 6 on Russian campus, 19 hurt

Law student armed with shotgun kills 6 on Russian campus, 19 hurt

It Is Second School Shooting This year

Moscow:21.09.2021

An 18-year-old law student wielding a pump-action shotgun went on a shooting spree on a Russian university campus on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding 19, according to state media, government officials and a university spokeswoman.

Students described scenes of chaos, saying they barricaded themselves in classrooms and waited in terror while hearing shots and screams in their building, Russian media reported. Others escaped by jumping from second-story windows and running away. Police published a video showing hallways and a stairway covered in broken glass, spent shotgun shells and blood. The gunman resisted arrest but was later wounded and taken into custody, law enforcement officials told local media. Ivan Pechishchev, a lecturer at the university, said that when he saw students jumping out of windows he thought there had been a fire. Pechishchev said he hid with students in an auditorium for more than an hour before they were told they could leave the building. “The city is shocked. I walked home because it was impossible to get a taxi,” he said.

RIA Novosti, a state news agency, posted videos showing a slender man dressed in black clothing, a black helmet and carrying a gun. He was identified as a student at Perm State University, where the shooting took place, about 1,046 km east of Moscow. The man had obtained the shotgun legally in May, the Investigative Committee law enforcement agency said, according to state media reports. A traffic police unit was the first to reach the scene, and the suspect opened fire on them, according to the interior ministry. He was wounded when police returned fire and then was disarmed, the ministry said. The gunman also was armed with a knife, it said. A member of parliament, Alexander Khinshtein, identified the gunman as an 18-year-old student in the university’s law faculty. The university said about 3,000 people were on the campus at the time of the shooting.

A lengthy social media post attributed to the gunman went up shortly before the attack on Monday, and local media published it. It was a misanthropic screed stretching to several pages, suggesting a lifelong fascination with violence. He did not hint at a political motive. Social media company Vkontakte blocked his account on Monday.

While still rare, school shootings have become more common in Russia in recent years. This was the second mass shooting at a Russian school this year. In May, an attacker killed seven students and two school employees in the Russian city of Kazan. That was Russia’s deadliest school shooting since 2018, when a student at a college in Russian-annexed Crimea killed 20 people before turning his gun on himself. Russia raised the minimum age for buying firearms from18 to 21 after the Kazan shooting, but the new law has yet to come into force. AGENCIES

Shocked students speak on their phones near the university in Perm on Monday. Russia has strict restrictions on civilian firearm ownership, but some categories of guns are available for purchase for hunting, self-defence or sport to those who meet specific requirements

All Indian students safe, says embassy

All Indian students studying at Russia’s Perm medical university are safe, the Indian embassy in Moscow said on Monday. “Shocked at horrific attack at Perm State University in Russia; our deep condolences for the loss of life and best wishes for early recovery of those injured,” the Indian embassy tweeted. “Embassy is in touch with local authorities and representatives of Indian students. All Indian students at Perm State Medical University are safe,” it said. PTI

Racist, bizarre: Indians slam UK travel rules

Racist, bizarre: Indians slam UK travel rules

21.09.2021

The UK’s new international travel rules came under fire in India with many terming the rules, which don’t recognise people vaccinated in India as being “fully vaccinated” and mandates a 10-day quarantine, “offensive”, “bizarre” and “racist”, reports Naomi Canton. Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Absolutely bizarre considering Covishield was originally developed in the UK and the Serum Institute, Pune has supplied to that country too! This smacks of racism.” A representative told TOI that the British high commission is in discussions with the Centre