Fee at 25 toll plazas to be hiked from September 1

Fee at 25 toll plazas to be hiked from September 1




INBRIEF

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will revise the fee at 25 toll plazas in Tamil Nadu from September 1. The hike will range from 5% to 7%, sources said. An NHAI official said that the utilisation fee for the highways was collected at 67 toll plazas, and a revision was done for 36 toll plazas from June 1. Normally, the toll fee is revised in two tranches in April and September every year. However, in view of the Lok Sabha election, the first tranche of the revision was done in June. Now, it has been proposed to revise the fee at 25 toll plazas in areas covering Sriperumbudur, Wallajabad, Villupuram, Vikravandi, Ullundurpet, Tiruchi, Madurai, and Samayapuram. The hike will be in the range of ₹5 to ₹150 for various vehicle categories.

HC imposes costs on T.N. govt. for filing frivolous appeals

HC imposes costs on T.N. govt. for filing frivolous appeals

From Page One

27.08.2024 

However, the approval was recalled the next day, which was challenged in court in 2020.

While the petitions were pending, the Director of Collegiate Education, Chennai, cancelled the orders passed by the Joint Director of Collegiate Education, and the orders of approval were reaffirmed. Recording it, the petitions were disposed of by the court with directions in 2021. However, the writ petitioners were granted a monthly salary only from July 2022.

These petitioners approached the court seeking the disbursement of salary from 2009 to July 2022. The government had told the Single Bench of the court that the funds they were receiving were sufficient only to satisfy the salary of professors. Therefore, they were unable to pay the arrears, and were awaiting a special grant. As and when it was received, the arrears would be disbursed. The Single Bench directed the payment of salary for the period during which the writ petitioners had worked in the approved posts of assistant professors. The court observed that an attempt was made to cancel the approval and put up a stage-managed show to deny salary.

At the intervention of the court, the cancellation of approvals was recalled. Even after that, the Department did not pay the salary of the writ petitioners. The court directed that in each appeal, ₹25,000 should be paid to the writ petitioner, and the remaining ₹25,000 to the Cancare Foundation, Chennai.

Demand for pay parity with Central govt. doctors

Demand for pay parity with Central govt. doctors

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI 27.08.2024 

The Legal Coordination Committee (LCC) for Government Doctors has urged the National Medical Commission (NMC) to insist that the Tamil Nadu government pay government doctors in the State on a par with Central government doctors, in keeping with the principle of “equal pay for equal work”.

In a statement, the LCC said that the NMC had instructed that government doctors across the country be paid salaries equivalent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) level. In the light of this, the State government should immediately fulfil the salary demands of government doctors.

MBBS, speciality and super-speciality doctors in Tamil Nadu are paid ₹40,000 less than MBBS doctors in other States. The association demanded that government doctors in Tamil Nadu be paid salaries equivalent to Central government doctors. Alternatively, as per G.O. 354, pay band-4 should be given in 12 years of service.

HC imposes costs on T.N. govt. for appeals

HC imposes costs on T.N. govt. for appeals




The order was passed in a case involving the non-payment of salary for assistant professors.

The Hindu Bureau

MADURAI 27.08.2024

Dismissing a batch of appeals preferred by the State, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court imposed a cost of ₹50,000 on each appeal. A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri observed, “All these 10 writ appeals are frivolous appeals arising out of the atrocious game played by the State of Tamil Nadu on its citizens.”

The court said, “We hope that this order will at least serve as a deterrent, and the government will avoid filing such writ appeals at least in the future. It is open to the government to recover the cost from the officers responsible for filing them.”

The petitioners were appointed as assistant professors. Though the appointments were made as early as 2009, the Joint Director of Collegiate Education, Tirunelveli Region, approved them only in 2020, with effect from 2009.

Posters in med colleges target ‘north Bengal’ lobby for WB healthcare mess Docs Involved Deny Such Claims, Say People With Vested Interest Misleading Case

Posters in med colleges target ‘north Bengal’ lobby for WB healthcare mess Docs Involved Deny Such Claims, Say People With Vested Interest Misleading Case 

Sumati.Yengkhom@timesofindia.com 

Kolkata : Posters alleging the existence of a “health syndicate” were seen on the walls of several medical colleges in Kolkata this weekend, accusing a group that has come to be known as the “north Bengal lobby”. The syndicate allegedly includes RG Kar Medical College’s former principal Sandip Ghosh, who is under court and CBI scrutiny following the rape-murder of a postgraduate resident doctor at RG Kar hospital on Aug 9. The posters claim that the syndicate comprises a few doctors exerting control over the Bengal health department, manipulating transfers, promotions, and recruitment. Sources said the main figures in “lobby” are alumni of North Bengal Medical College. 

This syndicate has allegedly embraced Ghosh. TOI reached out to four doctors named in the posters. While one did not re spond, others did. “Some people with vested interest are misleading about a syndicate or a lobby which does not exist. I deny being part of such a lobby. I am more concerned about justice for the child who has been murdered,” said Sudipto Roy, MLA and president of West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC). WBMC vice president Sushanta Roy responded: “I don’t know about any health syndicate.

 It is a democratic country where people might say anything but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.” According to Birupaksha Biswas, member of WBMC’s ethics committee, the posters were circulated by organisations of doctors who lost in the previous council elections. “A few doctors from IMA Bengal, apprehending defeat in the upcoming elections, are desperately trying to spread such rumours. All of this is a collective effort to politicise entire case. I am just another doctor demanding justice,” Biswas said. “The health department is completely under the control of this syndicate, run by a group of doctors. Not a single file in the health department moves without their nod. They control transfers, promotions, and recruitment. And there is aprice to everything,” alleged Sajal Biswas of Service Doctors’ Forum. 

The doctors’ unions alleged that the lobby interfered in students’ affairs as well. Some members were reportedly seen at a meeting with Ghosh on Aug 9 after the trainee doctor’s body was found even though none are officially associated with the college. “This is the lobby that has been trying to save Ghosh from all his misdeeds in connivance with a few officials in the health department,” alleged a senior govt doctor, who wished not to be named. 

NEW SPECULATIONS: The posters claim that the syndicate comprises a few doctors exerting control over the Bengal health department, manipulating transfers, promotions and recruitment. The syndicate allegedly includes Sandip Ghosh

Snake remains hidden inside victim’s clothes until cremation

 Snake remains hidden inside victim’s clothes until cremation 

‘THE LURKER’ Manoj.Chaurasia@timesofindia.com 

Patna : In a bizarre case, a deadly snake, believed to be a Russell’s Viper, remained hidden inside the clothes of a man in Bihar’s Begusarai for nearly 16 hours after biting him, eventually leading to his death. The snake was only discovered when the body was laid on the funeral pyre and lit by the man’s 10-year-old son.

 Dharmveer Yadav was collecting fodder Thursday in Cheria-Bariyarpur’s Kumbhi village when he was bitten and collapsed. Noticing telltale signs of snakebite like frothing at the mouth of the 41-year-old, his relatives initially rushed him to local exorcists for venom removal. When Yadav’s condition worsened, he was rushed to a local hospital when he died on the way. All this while, the snake lay coiled beneath his clothes. On Friday, as Yadav’s body was being cremated, the snake finally emerged when the pyre was lit by his son Shiv Shankar.

 The villagers then beat the snake to death. Russell’s Viper, named after Scottish herpetologist Patrick Russell (1726-1805), is known for its tendency to stay hidden, a trait reflected in its genus name derived from a Hindi word meaning “the lurker”.

Anna univ’s exam fee hike put on hold: Ponmudy

Anna univ’s exam fee hike put on hold: Ponmudy 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 Chennai : A day after Anna University’s announcement of the exam fee hike for engineering students by 50%, higher education minister K Ponmudy on Sunday said that the fee hike has been put on hold following requests from students. After a long gap, the university has increased the semester exam fees per paper from ₹150 to ₹225, project work thesis from ₹300 to ₹450 and postgraduate theory paper from ₹450 to ₹675. It also increased the consolidated statement of marks fee, degree certificate fee from ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 “The exam fees for engineering students increased up to ₹600 per semester. 

Students from rural areas and from poor backgrounds requested to withdraw the fee hike. So, we are permanently putting the fee hike decision by Anna University on hold,” Ponmudy told reporters here. The university postponed its decision to hike exam fees based on the higher education department’s direction last year. On students paying hig her exam fees in autonomous colleges, Ponmudy said, “Exam fees should be uniform in affiliated and autonomous colleges. W e will issue a circular on this issue to all colleges.” Sources in the university said exam fees had not been hiked since 2014 and the cost including paper and other materials increased by 200% during the period. 

Following the increase in more autonomous colleges, the university’s revenue also has been on the decline for the last few years. “This fee hike could have helped the university generate a substantial revenue,” the source added. The university may come up with a plan to hike the exam fees marginally in a periodic manner to reduce burden on students and parents. When asked about the action taken against the engineering colleges which had shown fake faculty members, the minister said the three member committee has been preparing a report on this issue. “We will not spare any college which had indulged in wrongdoing,” Ponmudy added. The university had sent notices to 295 engineering colleges over the duplication of faculty members.