Vistara set to merge with AI as Cabinet to decide on FDI

Vistara set to merge with AI as Cabinet to decide on FDI

 Saurabh.Sinha@timesofindia.com 

New Delhi : The final nod for Vistara’s merger into Air India could come on Saturday when the Cabinet clears the foreign direct investment (FDI) by Singapore Airlines (SIA) into AI. SIA, which is 49% shareholder in Vistara, will get 25.1% stake in the merged airline by investing Rs 2,059 crore in it, a move that requires govt nod. FDI approval is the last remaining clearance for the merger as all other approvals from agencies ranging from DGCA to Competition Commission of India are already in place. 

Tatas will have remaining 74.9% stake in AI. After govt FDI nod, AI-Vistara will shortly communicate timelines of the merger to passengers. People who have booked tickets on Vistara flights post the date of merger will be informed that they will fly Air India, along with the changed flight number of AI and its time. Sources said the date of merger is likely to be after Diwali as the airline will avoid taking any chances during the peak festive travel season

Governor calls for timely convocation, wants to promote research in varsities

Governor calls for timely convocation, wants to promote research in varsities

 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 Chennai : Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi R N Ravi has called for timely convocations in universities and promote research and academic excellence across state universities. According to a statement, the governor has been insisting that all convocations be held on time. Between April 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024, convocations have been conducted for 18 of 20 state universities. Wherever the Vice Chancellor position is vacant, the Convenor of the Vice-Chancellor Convenor Committee has been formally advised to initiate the process for conduct of convocation. 

By 31st October, 2024, it has been proposed to conduct convocations for ten Universities, thereby ensuring that students receive their degree certificates promptly and without delay. Besides, the Governor has directed Vice-Chancellors to provide guidance, motivation, and mentorship to research scholars and postgraduate students for taking up NET/JRF Fellowships. This is intended to elevate the quality of research work and support scholars through enhanced stipends and ensuring that they also get wide opportunities to take up a career in teaching in reputed colleges and universities. 

Vice Chancellors have been instructed to support researchers in increasing the filing of patent applications, particularly in STEM fields. They have also been asked to collaborate with Central and Private universities. Governor, while speaking at the grand finale of the 10th edition of ‘Young Scientist India’ event held at Raj Bhavan in Chennai, hailed the privatisation of space technology in India by the BJP govt at the centre, saying that privatisation had resulted in wide access. After his speech, he saw the science exhibits of students. There were a total of 103 exhibits and of them 39 were from Tamil Nadu.

Two hospitals shut down One for ‘inadequate medical care’

Two hospitals shut down One for ‘inadequate medical care’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  23.08.2024 

Chennai : Directorate of medical services on Wednesday suspended the registration of Mount Multispecialty Hospital in Adambakkam after “inadequate medical care” led to a 11-year-old boy losing a limb. The management has been asked to shift in-patients to another hospital and suspend consultations at out-patient clinics immediately.

Police forwarded a directorate complaint, stating that negligence led to the loss of a limb in the boy. A four-member expert committee was appointed to investigate the case on Aug 22. The medical team reported that the patient, a Class VII student named Harikrishnan, was admitted with severe pain in the legs. Doctors diagnosed clots in a blood vessel on his left leg. Doctors failed to do systemic lysis —use of medicines (thrombolytic agents) to dissolve blood clots. These medications activate enzymes that break down the fibrin in the blood clots. “Since the clot in the vessel was not removed in time, blood flow to his limbs was cut off and they developed gangrene. So, to save his life, the boy’s legs were amputated in a surgery in April,” said DMS Dr J Rajamurthy. The team found that the hospital had compromised on several patient safety measures.

Another,  for illegal kidney transplant 

Chennai : Pride Super Speciality Hospital’s registration was cancelled Thursday on charges of illegal kidney transplant and sale of organs. Officials banned the hospital from doing any more transplant surgeries and suspended out-patient services. In-patients there were sent to another hospital for further care. Investigations have also revealed connections to kidney racket in Kerala hospitals. “We have intimated the police, but they haven’t acted yet. We now have the option of moving the court directly,” DMS Dr J Rajamurthy said on Thursday. “As of now, we know there is a violation in one transplant surgery. 

Further investigations will be conducted,” he said. The directorate received a complaint from Namakkal superintendent of police, stating that the hospital had violated organ transplant rules. On Oct 29, 2023, it had done a kidney transplant for a businessman in Sowcarpet. For all organ transplant surgeries involving a non-blood relative or spouse as the donor, approval from the authorization committee is required. The committee’s experts permit the surgery only after confirming that the donor was voluntarily offering the organ and was aware of potential side effects. “This surgery was not approved. And we also found that the donor was paid for the organ,” he said. The donor Sundaram, who lives in Pallipayalam in Namakkal, later told police that he was not paid the promised sum. The hospital registration under Clinical Establishment Act was cancelled following a series of violations, Dr Rajamurthy said.

Chief edu officers grilled during review meeting

Chief edu officers grilled during review meeting

 Chennai Performs The Worst 

Preetika.P@timesofindia.com 

Chennai : Chief education officers are struggling to meet targets, citing lack of personnel to conduct inspections in schools. Of all districts, Chennai emerged as the worst-performing, struggling to link bank accounts for scholarships, utilise hi-tech and language labs, and set up internet services in schools. On Thursday, chief education officers were grilled during a special meeting to review the status of initiatives and improve education in govt and govt-ai ded schools across the state.

Chennai chief education officer S Mars was not present during this meeting. The school education department wants to link all students to Aadhaar and bank accounts, and enhance the use of internet and hi-tech labs. These bank accounts are critical for ensuring direct benefit transfers (DBT) under various schemes aimed at preventing student dropouts. The department, which had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India Post to open savings accounts for govt school students, had instructed chief education officers to fast-track this process back in June.

In Chennai, 90,000 out of one lakh students are still not linked to bank accounts. While districts such as Namakkal, Kanyakumari, and Erode are leading in these efforts, most chief education officers are struggling to carry out regular inspections. 

Chief minister M K Stalin recently inaugurated hi-tech labs in govt schools. Data shows many schools have yet to fully optimize hi-tech labs. In Chennai’s primary scho ols, only 6% students use the hi-tech lab for language upskilling, 7% for emotionalwellbeing, 29% for career guidance. Meanwhile, average use of these facilities is more than 50% in Namakkal, Perambalur, Kanyakumari, Dharmapuri, and Thanjavur. Some chief education officers were clueless about vacancies and the implementation of these projects, blaming a lack of operators to handle the groundwork. School education secretary S Madhumathi said “I had instructed chief education officers to inspect schools and prepare reports. I have not received a report from anyone yet.” Now, the department plans to install smart classrooms in middle schools by Nov. “Progress has been slow. We have to speed up,” she added.

State selection committee applies for more medical seats

State selection committee applies for more medical seats 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 23.08.2024 

Chennai : The Tamil Nadu selection committee has sent proposals to National Medical Commission, the apex body regulating medical education in the country, seeking permission to increase MBBS seats in at least eight govt-run medical colleges that have 100 seats each. The state has proposed to add at least 50 seats each in these colleges. If NMC permits, the state will get 400 more MBBS seats in govt colleges in 2025.

At least a dozen of the 36 govt medical colleges in the state have 100 undergraduate medical seats each. “We have asked for more seats in eight medical colleges. If they are approved, we can start admissions with an improved seat matrix from 2025,” said health minister Ma Subramanian.

Competition is making it increasingly tougher for students to get into medical colleges as cutoffs go up every year. So, more seats will ease the situation for students. Some of the govt colleges, such as Chengalpet Medical College, are nearly 60 years old, said director of medical education Dr J Sangumani. “We have the infrastructure, including hospital beds, patients, and teaching staff (to add more seats),” he said. 

Most new medical colleges have 150 seats, but at least a dozen old colleges are stuckwith just 100 seats for several years now, he said. Apart from this, the state has sought funding from Centre to start new medical colleges in six districts. “We wanted to start new medical colleges under a centrally sponsored scheme in which 60% of funds come from Union govt,” Subramanian said. The state has a policy to establish one new medical college in every district. These will provide specialty care to patients in rural areas, the minister said.

Woman passenger gives birth mid-air

Woman passenger gives birth mid-air 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  23.08.2024 

Chennai : A woman from Andhra Pradesh, travelling aboard IndiGo Airlines from Singapore to Chennai, gave birth to a baby boy mid-flight. When Deepti Sarasu Veera Venkataraman, a 28 year-old pregnant woman from Vijayawada started experiencing labour pains when she was en route to Chennai from Singapore, flight attendants and a doctor on board sprung into action.

 Flight attendants relocated male passengers from Deepti’s area and set up a privacy screen. The captain notified Chennai airport control room. The flight attendants, along with a female doctor and senior female passengers on board, assisted in the delivery. The IndiGo Airlines flight landed at Chennai International Airport at 4:30am on Thursday. 

Since the pilot had already informed the airport control room, a medical team was ready on the runway. Upon landing, the medical team boarded the plane to examine the mother and baby. They were then transported by ambulance to a hospital in Ayyappanthangal. Deepti’s family distributed chocolates to fellow passengers

HC: Words, gestures in email can insult woman’s modesty Court Keeps Pace With Tech, Addresses New Challenges

HC: Words, gestures in email can insult woman’s modesty Court Keeps Pace With Tech, Addresses New Challenges

Swati.Deshpande@timesofindia.com 

Mumbai : An email would amount to an utterance, “gesture” and “exhibit” — words used in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to define what constitutes an act intended to offend a woman’s privacy and dignity — held Bombay HC in a judgment pronounced Wednesday. 

Words and gestures communicated via email would fall under the ambit of offence under IPC Section 509 that deals with words, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman, ruled the HC bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Neela Gokhale.

 The ruling came as HC granted partial relief to a Mumbai resident and quashed part of a 2009 FIR against him registered with the cyber call for alleged sexual assault and criminal intimidation of a woman, who is now over 70 years old. HC, though, did not quash the part of the FIR that invoked prosecution for offence intended to invade a woman’s privacy and outrage her modesty under Section 509 and Section 67 of Information Technology Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form), based on emails to third persons. 

The emails, HC said, “are a personal attack on her dignity, poise and self-esteem”. Interpreting Section 509, HC said, “Insult can man ifest as an intrusion upon the woman’s privacy... encroaching upon her personal space or violating her sense of privacy intentionally, in a manner that affronts her modesty.” “The purpose of law is not to allow the offender to sneak out of the meshes of law,” ruled HC. It said “intent” is the linchpin of the offence and opined the emails intr uded on the woman’s privacy and “demonstrate his intent”. There were allegations of emails containing the woman’s personal details being shared. HC, invoking SC’s constitutional bench judgment on privacy, said, “Sharing such details... especially  the residents of the same Society who she is likely to see frequently and without her consent is an affront to her personal dignity.

” Words used in the email about the woman may tend to deprave and corrupt persons who read it, said HC, as it said some could “conjure” an image of her. In 2011, the man petitioned HC to have the FIR and case quashed, arguing it was out of “vengeance” over animosity between the two. HC did not accept his arguments, stating, “If such narrow interpretation is accepted, many a man will walk away, unhindered by consequences merely by shooting emails or using social media to malign a woman and outrage her modesty... Modern technology makes such manner of perpetrating the offence verily real.”