Accepting any amount illegally not enough for graft charges: HC

Accepting any amount illegally not enough for graft charges: HC

Court Observes While Acquitting Man Given 2-yr RI For ₹500 Bribe

Lalmohan Patnaik TNN

Cuttack:23.10.2021

The Orissa HC has ruled that mere acceptance of any amount by way of illegal gratification or its recovery is outside the scope of the proof of demand and is not sufficient to bring home the charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The single-judge bench of Justice S K Sahoo said, “The proof of demand of illegal gratification is the essence of accusation of the offences under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and in the absence thereof, the charge would fail.”

The complainant cannot be placed on any better footing than that of an accomplice and corroboration in material particulars connecting the accused with the crime has to be insisted upon, Justice Sahoo ruled.

The ruling by the vacation bench came on Thursday, while allowing the criminal appeal of Sanatan Dash, who was convicted for taking a bribe of Rs 500 and sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment by the special judge vigilance in Bhubaneswar nearly 18 years ago.

“The prosecution evidence with regard to the demand and acceptance of a bribe amount of Rs 500 by the appellant from the complainant for passing his house rent bill appears to be shaky in nature. When there is absence of sufficient, cogent and reliable evidence on record to establish the guilt of the appellant beyond all reasonable doubt and the impugned judgment suffers from perversity, the same cannot be sustained in the eye of law and accordingly, I am constrained to give benefit of doubt to the appellant,” Justice Sahoo said in his 37-page judgment, a copy of which is in possession of TOI.

The impugned judgment and order of conviction of the appellant under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the sentence passed on December 3, 2003 are hereby set aside and the appellant is acquitted of all the charges, Justice Sahoo’s order read.

The ruling by the vacation bench came on Thursday, while allowing the criminal appeal of Sanatan Dash, who was convicted for taking a bribe of Rs 500 and sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment nearly 18 years ago

500g hairball removed from girl’s stomach for second time

500g hairball removed from girl’s stomach for second time

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Surat:23.10.2021

A hairball weighing around 500 gram was removed from the stomach of a girl studying in Class XI. The surgery was performed at New Civil Hospital (NCH).

Doctors found that the girl had developed the issue for the second time. Around four years ago a hairball almost the same size was removed from her stomach.

The 16-year-old girl, a resident of Ghod Dod Road area, had stopped eating properly which led to her losing weight. Noticing a change in her food intake, her family got the girl examined at a private clinic. Medical examinations revealed a hairball in her stomach.

The girl’s mother works as housemaid and was unable to pay for the surgery at the private clinic. Later, the girl was brought to NCH where the doctors performed surgery and removed the hairball.

“It is a rare case in which the girl had developed the same problem twice due to her habit of eating hairs. After the previous surgery the family did not get her treated for depression hence she continued eating hair,” said Dr Nimesh Verma of NCH.

Doctors noticed that the girl is suffering from depression. She plucks hair from or head and also eats those collected in a comb. The exact reason behind her depression will be known only after her psychiatric treatment, the doctors said

Bombay HC orders special NEET exam for 2 students after invigilators goofed up

Bombay HC orders special NEET exam for 2 students after invigilators goofed up

Two Solapur students who were given the wrong answer sheet for the NEET exam on 12 September will get a second chance. The Bombay high court ordered NTA to conduct the examination again for these two studentsTwo medical aspirants approached the Bombay high court on September 24 to request that the NTA be ordered to hold a special NEET exam for them since invigilators did not give them a matching set of question and answer sheets on September 12. 

Updated on Oct 21, 2021 09:47 PM IST

By Kanchan Chaudhari

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) afresh for two medical aspirants – Vaishnavi Bhopale and Abhishek Kapse – from Solapur district as they had received mismatching test booklets and answer sheets due to inadvertence of the invigilators.

The division bench of justice RD Dhanuka and justice Abhay Ahuja directed NTA to give the aspirants an advance notice of 48 hours about the date of the retest and the exam centre and to declare the petitioners results in two weeks.

Bhopale and Kapse had moved HC on September 24 through advocate Pooja Thorat, seeking directions to NTA to re-examine them by holding a separate test. They stated that when they had appeared for NEET at Shree Swami Narayan Gurukul International School at Solapur on September 12, their invigilators started giving test booklets and answer sheets to the 12 students in their class five minutes late. They added that the invigilators mixed up the booklets and sheets. While Bhopale received a test booklet of Code 04 and answer sheet of Code P4, Kapse got test booklet of Code P4 and answer sheet of Code 04. They immediately pointed it out, but the invigilators harshly silenced them by threatening them with dire consequences for causing nuisance and disturbance in the examination hall, said their petition.

Even thereafter, the petitioners said, they tried to reason out with the examiners to provide them matching booklets and sheets by pointing out that it would result in complete non-evaluation of their answer papers. They added that the invigilators checked codes appearing on all the booklets given to all the students, but did not rectify the mistake.

Their counsel, advocate Pooja Thorat, pointed out that clause 7 of the Test Booklet Code for NEET mandates the invigilator to rectify the mistake and provide correct test booklet and answer sheet to the student concerned in such a situation. She also pointed out that subsequently, the school and its principal admitted the mix-up in his communication with NTA officials, stating that it was an inadvertent mistake and called upon the testing agency to help the two students.

NTA, however, informed HC through its counsel advocate Rui Rodrigues that it was unable to find a solution to the petitioner’s problem, prompting HC to order a re-examination of the petitioners.

Tamil Nadu: Government order relaxing age-limit bring cheer to PG Teacher aspirants

Tamil Nadu: Government order relaxing age-limit bring cheer to PG Teacher aspirants

As per the new G.O. issued on October 18, general category aspirants will be able to apply till 45 years of age.

Published: 21st October 2021 11:07 AM 

By Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam

Express News Service

The teacher aspirants are all upbeat as the State government, on Monday, issued a G.O. relaxing age-limit criteria for the aspirants of Post Graduate-Teachers Recruitment Board (PG-TRB) examination. As per the new G.O. issued on October 18, general category aspirants will be able to apply till 45 years of age.

That's not all. Adding to the teacher aspirants' joy is TRB's move to change the eligible criteria in its software. The board is now asking the candidates whether they studied in Tamil Medium from class I to X.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, an aspirant, Davamani, said TRB's eligibility criteria change will help her avail certain percentage of reservation under Persons Studied in Tamil Medium (PSTM). "Though I have 20 years of experience in private schools, I was not eligible to apply for PG-TRB according to the earlier G.O. The change in eleigibility criteria will help more than 500 aspirants land job," she said.

It was on September 9 that TRB issued notification to fill 2,207 PG teacher vacancies. At that time, the upper age-limit for the aspirants was fixed as 40.

CM announces 3% DA hike, Diwali bonus for employees

CM announces 3% DA hike, Diwali bonus for employees

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jaipur:22.10.2021

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced a 3 per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) and ad-hoc bonuses for the state government employees ahead of Diwali. This decision was taken after the Centre approved a 3 per cent hike in DA and dearness relief (DR) for central government employees and pensioners.

“The chief minister has approved a 3% increase in DA for state government employees and dearness relief (DR) payable to pensioners on the lines of central government employees. Now, DA and DR will be payable to the state employees and pensioners at 31% from July 1, 2021. Earlier, the DA rate was 28% for state employees and pensioners,” an official statement read.

About 8 lakh employees, who are drawing salaries on the basis of Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Salary) Rules-2017, and 4.40 lakh pensioners will get the benefit of this decision. Apart from state employees, the employees of panchayat samitis and zila parishads will also benefit from this decision.

The increased amount of DA - from July 1 to September 30 - will be deposited in their general provident fund accounts. It will be paid in cash in October salary.

The state government will bear a financial burden of nearly Rs1,230 crore annually for the hike. Similarly, Gehlot has also approved ad-hoc Diwali bonuses for about 6 lakh employees in the state. This benefit will be provided to state employees drawing pay in the Pay Matrix Level-12 or Grade Pay-4800 and below. State Service Officers (Gazetted) will not get this benefit. The bonus will also be paid to panchayat samiti, zila parishad and work-charged employees.

The ad-hoc bonus will be calculated for the year 2020-21 on the basis of maximum emoluments of Rs 7,000 and a month of 31 days. It will be payable for a period of 30 days. In this way, each employee will get a maximum ad-hoc bonus of Rs 6,774.

This time, 50 per cent of the bonus amount will be paid in cash and the remaining 50 per cent will be deposited in their general provident fund accounts. The state government will bear an additional financial burden of Rs 500 crore on this.

Forgery of degrees to be non-bailable

Forgery of degrees to be non-bailable

Jaipur:22.10.2021

The state government is mulling to make forging degrees or certificates a non-bailable offence.

The decision was taken during the first round of talks held between a sixmember delegation of Rajasthan Berozgar Ekikrit Mahasangh and principal secretary to the chief minister Kuldeep Ranka to discuss the demands of the unemployed youth in the state on Thursday. TNN

T starts process to set up eight medical colleges

T starts process to set up eight medical colleges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:22.10.2021

The government has set the ball rolling for establishment of eight new government medical colleges (teaching hospitals) in Telangana ahead of National Medical Commission (NMC) inspection, which is likely in December.

The government had submitted applications to establish teaching hospitals in Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool, Mahabubabad, Bhadadri-Kothagudem, Jagtial, Sangareddy, Mancherial and Ramagundam. Ahead of the NMC inspection, the director of medical education (DME) has begun the recruitment process to fill up professor, assistant professor and associate professor posts in these colleges.

“We completed the application process for the eight colleges in September. We are expecting the NMC visit, tentatively, by Novemberend or December. As per guidelines, we have started the recruitment process in the way of absorptions, promotions and contractual basis,” DME, Telangana, Dr K Ramesh Reddy said.

The last date for submitting applications by qualified candidates is October 28 following which the final selection list would be released by the DME on October 31 and selected candidates have to join by November 7. Considering the NMC team might visit these colleges in December, the DME has made it clear that selected candidates should not have appeared for NMC assessment on and after July 31, 2021, since the assessment is for the academic year 2021-22.

Establishment of these colleges would add another 1,200 medical seats in the state. The DME officials were also focusing on establishing 12 departments, including cardiology, neurology and gastroenterology, in these new institutions. “We are also modifying the buildings as per NMC guidelines wherever required. The roads and buildings department is taking care of the college buildings,” Reddy added.

The last date for submitting applications by qualified candidates is October 28 following which the final selection list will be released by DME on October 31 and selected candidates have to join by November 7