Covid-19 victims’ kin to get ₹50k ex gratia

Covid-19 victims’ kin to get ₹50k ex gratia

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:23.09.2021

Months after states took the lead in announcing financial assistance for the families of Covid victims, and after being prodded by the Supreme Court, the Centre on Wednesday informed the SC that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has fixed an ex gratia of ₹50,000 to be paid by the states from the State Disaster Response Fund.

On June 30, the SC had ruled that the Centre cannot shy away from its responsibility under the Disaster Management Act to fix a compensation amount payable to the kin of those who succumbed to Covid.

TN providing ₹5L ex gratia to Covid-orphaned children

Covid was declared a national disaster under the Act. While rejecting petitioners’ demand for ₹4 lakh ex gratia, it had asked the NDMA to determine the quantum within six weeks and said that the amounts to be paid from the national disaster response fund (NDRF) and SDRF would be over and above the ex gratia paid by states.

The six-week deadline got extended to months and after seeking time several times, the Centre on Wednesday informed that the NDMA has fixed ₹50,000 ex gratia. Claimants have to submit an application to receive the relief, it said, adding that those eligible would get the amount through the district disaster management authority (DDMA). With the country recording nearly 4.5 lakh Covid deaths, the financial burden of this will add up to ₹2,250 crore for states, though funds for the SDRF are largely released by the Centre.

The top 10 states reporting the most Covid deaths are Maharashtra (1.38 lakh), Karnataka (37,000), Tamil Nadu (35,000), Delhi (25,000), UP (23,000), Kerala (22,500), West Bengal (19,000), Punjab (16,000), Andhra Pradesh (14,000) and Chhattisgarh (13,500).

Those providing ex gratia are Andhra Pradesh (₹10 lakh to orphaned children, ₹5 lakh in case of death of one parent), Bihar (₹4 lakh), Haryana (₹2 lakh only to BPL families), Karnataka and Assam (₹1 lakh), Tamil Nadu (₹5 lakh to orphaned children and ₹3 lakh in case of death of single parent), Tripura (₹10 lakh in three instalments) and Nagaland (₹10 lakh only to the kin of working journalists).

NMC says no plan to allow MBBS course in Hindi, regional language

NMC says no plan to allow MBBS course in Hindi, regional language

The medical education regulator clarified that there is no plan to amend norms to allow medicine courses in languages other than English.

Published: 21st September 2021 07:45 AM 

By Sumi Sukanya Dutta

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Amid a major announcement by the Madhya Pradesh government to offer MBBS courses in Hindi and an intent declared by neighbouring Uttar Pradesh to do the same, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has said that it will not recognise it under the rules.The medical education regulator clarified that there is no plan to amend norms to allow medicine courses in languages other than English.

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas on September 14, MP’s medical education minister Vishwas Sarang had said a committee was being formed to decide on how to introduce MBBS courses, apart from paramedical courses, in Hindi in the state. In UP, too, a proposal to introduce the medicine course in Hindi is actively being considered.

Talking to this newspaper, Aruna V Vanikar, president of the undergraduate medical education board at NMC, said no state government had so far approached the commission with such a proposal, neither was that feasible.“The rules do not approve teaching-learning MBBS in any other language other than English and there is no plan to change the existing norms,” she said. “If any state government goes ahead and introduces such a course, it will not be recognised by the NMC.”

Sources in Union education ministry, meanwhile, pointed out that the National Education Policy adopted by the Centre last year had a component of promoting technical education — including medicine, law and engineering courses — in mother tongue. A high-level committee under higher education secretary Amit Khare was set up last year to make suggestions and subsequently 14 engineering institutions, beginning this year, started offering the BTech course in 5 regional languages.

Experts, however, said offering medicine in mother tongue might be trickier and the experiment is unlikely to work. In 2016, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University in MP had announced engineering and medical education in Hindi. But it could never start the MBBS course in Hindi as it didn’t get the permission from the Medical Council of India, the medical education regulator then.

Rtd bank manager loses ₹5.8 L to cyber fraud

Rtd bank manager loses ₹5.8 L to cyber fraud

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:22.09.2021

Cyber fraudsters have duped a 79-yearold retired bank employee of ₹5.8 lakh by posing as customer service executives.

Two days ago, Shiva Rama Krishna Sastri of Saidabad, a retired SBI manager, had received an SMS on his phone stating that the electricity bill was not paid.

Shiva ignored the message as the bill had already been paid.

A few minuter after the SMS, unknown offenders, posing as customer care executives of Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd (TSSPDCL) called the victim saying that the paid bill amount was not updated in the database. The fraudsters asked Shiva to install TSSPDCL app and also TeamViewer QuickSupport app to remotely access the phone, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Cyber Crime, KVM Prasad said.

“After the apps were installed, the accused made the victim enter his debit card details in TSSPDCL app to make a small payment. They noticed all the details of the card and within a span of few minutes, siphoned off ₹5.8 lakh from the victim’s bank account through multiple transactions as they can see OTPs delivered to the mobile phone,” the ACP said.

On Monday, the victim lodged a police complaint and a case was registered under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

Two days ago, Shiva Rama Krishna Sastri of Saidabad, a retired SBI manager, had received an SMS on his phone stating that the electricity bill was not paid

Click To Submit PhD Thesis As DU Makes Process Online

Click To Submit PhD Thesis As DU Makes Process Online

Faculty To Give List Of Examiners Before Or On Submission Day

Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.09.2021

To smoothen the PhD thesis submission and the evaluation process that follows, Delhi University aims to go fully online. The online portal, which is likely to be launched within the next two months, will contain details of each student enrolled for doctorate courses, including the six-month progress reports of each scholar.

DU has also amended an existing ordinance by which faculty members or supervisors will be required to submit the list of viva-voce examiners before or on the day of the thesis submission. According to senior university officials, this change will come into effect from next week.

Under current norms, the examiners’ list for the viva process can be submitted within a month of the thesis submission. In several instances, this has led to delays and increased pendency of the results, DU officials said. D S Rawat, DU’s dean of examination, told TOI, “While the viva examiners’ list is expected to be submitted within a month of students submitting their thesis, what often happens is that the lists are not sent to the examination branch. The process of getting the examiners’ list cleared is also a lengthy one. If the names are not sent in time, then it becomes difficult to follow up the long-pending cases and students are left in a lurch about when their vivas will be conducted.”

Rawat added, “The new PhD thesis submission form will have space for the examiners’ list and it means that the examination branch will be able to forward the thesis as soon as it is submitted because the examiners’ list will have to be submitted at the same time. Once the online portal is launched, the scholars will also be able to track the progressive stages of their course work.”

Officials also pointed out that the entire exercise would be made paperless, which would greatly reduce the cost incurred by students for printing copies of their thesis at the time of submission. Providing an estimate of the volume of printing that is involved, Garvit Rai of Daljeet Photocopy Service in North Campus revealed for TOI, “For each student, we usually print eight or nine copies of their thesis. Each copy has a minimum of 300 pages and sometimes even 500 pages.”

Once the online portal is implemented, progress reports and recommendations given by the advisory committees to students will also be available on the platform. “Everything will be automated and human intervention will come down,” claimed Rawat. “Once the final examiners’ list is approved by the vice-chancellor, the panel will receive emails, to which they have to respond within nine days, failing which new mails will be sent to the standby examiners.”

THE GREEN WAY: Thesis submission will also be paperless, greatly reducing the cost incurred by students for printing its copies

0 9  COPIES OF THESIS PRINTED FOR EACH STUDENT

Students in limbo over new UK jab rules

Students in limbo over new UK jab rules

Preeti.Biswas@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:22.09.2021

The new United Kingdom international travel rules, which do not recognise Indians who have got both shots of Covid-19 vaccine as ‘fully vaccinated’ has come as a big blow to the students.

On September 17, the UK had announced new rules for international travel to replace the current system of red, amber and green. As per the new rules, the UK government only considers fully vaccinated to be those who have been vaccinated under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe or the US, or who were vaccinated in 17 other countries, including Australia, Israel, Japan and Singapore. Thus, even fully-vaccinated Indians have to undergo a 10-day quarantine and Covid-19 test predeparture and on day 2 and day 8 on arrival in the UK.

Terming it as a biased rule, many local students admit that they are in a limbo over the rule imposed by the UK government. “It is extremely demeaning to know that while vaccinated students from other countries are freely moving around and engaging in various induction programmes, Indian students have to undergo a 10-day quarantine period. There is no clarity if we would be asked to re-vaccinate ourselves or if we’d be allowed to visit various public places even after our quarantine period concludes,” said Anita V (name changed), a master’s student at University College, London.

Many others are worried over the accommodation and Covid-19 test costs. “I have to spend almost ₹1.10 lakh towards accommodation for 10 days. Each test costs almost ₹14,000 and has to be taken twice during the 10-day period. All this is an additional cost,” said a master’s student of University of Westminster.

Experts are hopeful that the governments of both countries will discuss this soon. “It is disappointing that as of now, people vaccinated in India are being tagged under the ‘unvaccinated’ category. So, essentially it means a status quo for Indian students as even now, they have to quarantine at home in the UK or at the university campus for 10 days. But, the students can still travel without any restrictions, which is a welcome development,” said Piyush Kumar, regional director (South Asia), IDP Education, an overseas education consultancy.

BIASED FOREIGN POLICY?

HC: Horoscope mismatch no reason to back out of marriage

COURT DENIES RELIEF IN RAPE & CHEATING CASE

HC: Horoscope mismatch no reason to back out of marriage

Rosy.Sequeira@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:22.09.2021

The Bombay high court has refused relief for a Badlapur resident who took the pretext of incompatible horoscopes to resile from his promise to marry the woman he was in a relationship with.

“It is apparent that applicant under the guise of astrological incompatibility of horoscopes avoided the promise. Thus I am convinced that the material on record suggests it is a case of false promise to marry which apparently vitiates the complainant’s consent,” Justice Sandeep Shinde said on Monday. He rejected the plea for discharge by the man who was booked in January 2013 for rape and cheating. Earlier, the Dindoshi court too had rejected his plea.

In the FIR, the woman said that they got close in 2012 while working in a hotel. She said the man exploited her physically and mentally and when she conceived, he convinced her to abort and promised to marry her after two years. Later he avoided her.

On her December 28, 2012, complaint, the police suggested counselling. The man assured he would marry her. On January 6, 2013, she withdrew her complaint. On January 18, 2013, he told the counsellor he cannot marry her. The woman then renewed her complaint.

In the HC, the accused’s advocate Raja Thakare argued that it was a case of breach of promise and not false promise of marriage. He said since the horoscopes did not match and being a case of astrological incompatibility, relations could not be furthered.

But Justice Shinde said, “There is sufficient material to suggest that since inception, the applicant had no intention of upholding his promise to marry the complainant.”

It is apparent that applicant under the guise of astrological incompatibility of horoscopes avoided the promise

JUSTICE SANDEEP SHINDE

Bombay high court

No change in DoB at fag end of service: SC

No change in DoB at fag end of service: SC

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.09.2021

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that a person cannot claim as a matter of right to get his or her date of birth changed if the application is made after inordinate delay and more particularly when it is made at the fag end of service or when the employee is about to retire on attaining the age of superannuation.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna said the plea for change in date of birth by an employee can be rejected in such cases even if there is “cogent evidence” as allowing such plea could result in a chain reaction and others below him, waiting for years for their promotion, would get affected.

Referring to various judgements delivered by the apex court on the issue of change in date of birth, the bench said, “The law on change of date of birth can be summarised as under: (i) application for change of date of birth can only be as per the relevant provisions/ regulations applicable; (ii) even if there is cogent evidence, the same cannot be claimed as a matter of right;

(iii) application can be rejected on the ground of delay and more particularly when it is made at the fag end of service and/or when the employee is about to retire on attaining the age of superannuation.”

The court set aside the order of the Karnataka HC which had allowed the plea of a government employee for change in date of birth which he had sought 24 years after joining the service. The employee had sought change of date of birth from January 04, 1960 to January 24,1961.