Man fined for filing 11 bail pleas in 1 year

Man fined for filing 11 bail pleas in 1 year

New Delhi:  12.12.2021

A Delhi court has imposed a fine on a man for filing 11 bail applications in one year, noting that the pendency of such “frivolous” pleas floods the dockets of the courts and wastes the precious judicial time.

Additional sessions judge Ravinder Bedi slapped the accused with a fine of Rs 25,000 in a cheating and conspiracy case after noting that he filed the bail plea for the eleventh time without there being any change in circumstances.

The judge noted that the tenth bail plea of the accused was dismissed on November 29, 2021. The sixth plea, seeking interim bail, was junked with a cost of Rs 10,000, ASJ Bedi said. The accused is in judicial custody since November 27, 2020. PTI

Keep close watch on dist-level Covid clusters: Govt to states

Keep close watch on dist-level Covid clusters: Govt to states

‘Check Areas With 10% Positivity Rate, 60% Bed Occupancy On O2 Support’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  12.12.2021

The Centre has asked states and UTs to strictly monitor and implement measures at district level clusters of new Covid-19 cases, with a particular focus on areas reporting over 10% positivity rate or over 60% bed occupancy on either oxygen support or ICU.

The health ministry has also raised concern over districts with high positivity rate in three states — Mizoram, Kerala and Sikkim. The three states have eight districts reporting more than 10% positivity.

Besides,19 districts in Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur, West Bengal and Nagaland have been reporting positivity rates between five and10% in the last two weeks. “Thus, these 27 districts need to be monitored very closely,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs on Saturday.

“In case of any district reporting a surge in cases, or rise in positivity rates, intensive action and local containment as per the containment framework must be initiated,” Bhushan said.

The Centre suggested specific containment measures to ensure there is no sudden surge in cases and healthcare systems are not burdened.

The government maintains that at present the health systems are not burdened due to Omicron. However, there are clusters where cases are increasing rapidly. While Delta continues to be the dominant variant, the Centre has stressed on states to continue genome sequencing of positive samples.

“The strategic containment interventions in identified areas with test positivity rate of over10 per cent or over 60 per cent bed occupancy on either two oxygen-supported or ICU beds, include night curfews, restricting intermingling of people, prohibition of congregations (social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, festival-related), curtailment of attendees in marriages and funerals or last rites, etc,” Bhushan said.

Testing and surveillance interventions include ramping up testing and active case search, testing of influenzalike illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases through rapid antigen tests (RAT) and retesting by RT-PCR of symptomatic RAT negative tests.

Delhi HC: Teacher’s conduct to be blemish free

Delhi HC: Teacher’s conduct to be blemish free

New Delhi:12.12.2021

The conduct of a teacher as a Head of the Department, who is required to be involved in various activities including interacting with students, needs to be “blemish-free”, the Delhi High Court has observed while dismissing a DU professor’s plea aggrieved over nonappointment as the HoD following a sexual harassment complaint. The high court said Ordinance XXIII of the Delhi University makes it very clear that it gives discretion to the vice-chancellor to appoint a Head of the Department (HoD). PTI

ICMR focus on two-dose vax, is fine with current Covishield gap

ICMR focus on two-dose vax, is fine with current Covishield gap

Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

Pune:  12.12.2021

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised against suddenly introducing a third Covid vaccine dose or recommending any change in the time gap of Covishield shots in the wake of Omicron cases.

Dr Samiran Panda, head of ICMR’s epidemiology department, told TOI that as of now the apex biomedical research body would underscore the importance of attaining greater coverage with two-dose vaccination. “With Omicron cases being mild not only in India but the world over, there should not be any knee-jerk reaction like introducing a third dose or recommending any change in the interval of Covishield doses,” he said.

“A decision on whether a third dose would be required for immunocompromised individuals would be taken later,” Dr Panda said.

He said scientific evidence of booster dose for the Indian terrain was being evaluated and the technical advisory group would make an announcement regarding it. Dr Panda said public health focus should be on double vaccination and completing the adult immunisation programme now because the two-dose vaccine strategy seemed to be working well in the Indian context.

On the demand from states like Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka to reduce the gap between the two Covishield doses, the ICMR scientist said scientific evidence from incountry reality was showing that the interval was fine.

Virologist Dr Shahid Jameel said a booster shot would increase the number of circulating antibodies and it had shown to increase the protection against symptomatic infection with Omicron. “We don’t know how well two doses continue to protect against severe disease. In the UK, those who got the AstraZeneca vaccine are getting a booster of the mRNA Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. A third dose of AstraZeneca will not be very effective because of its nature,” he said.

SAFETY PRICK

Fit to fly? Check your passports first, says RPO

Fit to fly? Check your passports first, says RPO

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:12.12.2021

If you are planning to travel abroad, it would be prudent to check that your passport is valid and in order, the Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, said in an advisory issued on Friday.

“Many international travellers may not realise that having an unexpired passport is sometimes not enough to obtain visas or to enter certain foreign countries. Indian citizens travelling on passports which may expire in less than six months should renew their passports before any upcoming international travel,” said RPO (Hyderabad) Dasari Balaiah.

The RPO also urged parents to check passports of their minor children too as it is of a shorter validity period of 5 years unlike 10 years for adults.

Regarding booklets, RPO said that some countries did not accept passports which may have fewer than two pages remaining.

As a result, the passport holder should check if there are enough pages. As there is no provision of additional booklets/visa sheets, such applicants will be required to apply for re-issuance of passport. To avoid such hassles, frequent flyers can opt for jumbo passport containing 64 pages.

In case of applicants exhausting maximum number of appointments, they can approach the RPO for rescheduling their appointment, the advisory said. Applicants can also visit public enquiry counters (PECs) in Regional Passport Office between 9.30 am and 4 pm on all working days with all relevant documents for redressal of their grievances or any passport-related assistance, the RPO advisory said.

MBBS student dies by suicide

MBBS student dies by suicide

Bhopal: 12.12.2021

A 22-year-old MBBS student allegedly died by suicide at his friend’s home in Gandhi Nagar on Saturday afternoon. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, said cops.

SHO Gandhi Nagar SI Arun Sharma said that Kunal Sahu, who hailed from Sagar, was a student of MBBS 2nd year at a private medical college in Kolar and stayed in the boy’s hostel.

SHO Sharma said that on Saturday afternoon Kunal reached his friend’s home in Sumit Vihar Colony in Gandhi Nagar. She also hails from Sagar district and is a student of BDS first year. Kunal met the girl and then went to use the washroom. When he did not come out for long, his friend knocked on the door. When he did not respond, she called the neighbours and broke open the door. She was shocked to find him hanging. Subsequently, they rushed him to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

In another incident, a 22-year-old youth allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself at his home in Chhola locality on Friday night. Cops registered a case and started investigations.

Police said that the deceased Golu Sen, hailed from Berasia and resided here at Satyagyan Colony in Chhola with his family. He worked as a barber. He had gone to a marriage function with his family members on Thursday from where he returned home early. Later, he was found hanging in the room. No suicide note was recovered . TNN

Woman gifts liver, then kidney to her ailing son

Woman gifts liver, then kidney to her ailing son

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:12.12.2021

In what doctors term a rare case, a 40-yearold woman has donated vital organs twice to her ailing son in Bengaluru in the past 13 years.

The first transplant was in 2008 when her son, then seven years old, was diagnosed with chronic liver disease. His mother Swapna (name changed) was found to be a matching donor and she donated a portion of her liver. She became an organ donor for the second time recently when her son, now 20, had no choice but to undergo a kidney transplant and she donated a kidney.

The kidney transplant was done on September 11, 2021 and the mother-son duo is doing fine, said Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, senior consultant nephrology and renal transplant physician, Narayana Health. Both transplants were done in the same hospital.

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed said retrieving more than one organ from a single living donor and transplanting it to a single recipient is rare phenomena.

Dad wanted to donate kidney but wasn’t fit: Doc

Swapna, who runs a tea shop near Basaveshwara Nagar in Bengaluru, told STOI the boy had suffered through his childhood and her decision to donate was only her duty. “My son suddenly started having swelling in the stomach and vomiting blood when he was seven. He was diagnosed with jaundice, but later it was found he had chronic liver disease and liver transplant was the only solution,” she said.

The mother was a matching donor and volunteered to donate a portion of her liver. Doctors retrieved 300gms of her liver and transplanted it in an 18-hour surgery on August 23, 2008.

Even as the family was recouping from it, the boy’s health issues surfaced again. In 2017, there was swelling in his legs as well as weakness and he was rushed to the hospital. A detailed examination revealed he was suffering from End Stage Kidney Disease, a progressive condition. Though initially his condition was managed with medicines, he had to be gradually shifted to dialysis.

“He was required to undergo dialysis thrice a week. It was quite expensive and he was not doing well. Once again, organ transplant was the only option. His father was willing to donate but was medically unfit. This time too, the mother came forward again,” said Dr Ahmed.

The transplant, planned for early 2021 had to be postponed due to the pandemic and was done in September 2021. “Initially, we were a little hesitant, as the case was immunologically high risk given that the mother was already an organ donor. But there was no other option and she was very keen,” said Dr Ahmed.

The kidney transplant cost was over Rs 6 lakh. “We sought help from the Prime Minister’s relief fund and got Rs 3 lakh. The rest was borne by the hospital,” said Swapna. She added she was not on any medication at present and is happy to see her son recovering.

Her son, an undergraduate commerce student in a city college, had missed classes due to to health issues, will resume classes over the next few months.