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Saturday, September 28, 2024

NEWS TODAY 28.09.2024

HC to UP: Any rule to add ‘honourable’ to officials’ names?

Rajesh Kumar Pandey TNN 28.09.2024

Prayagraj : The Allahabad high court has asked the Uttar Pradesh govt to apprise the court if there is any protocol that entitles officials of the state to prefix the word “honourable” along with their designations or names. The bench of Justice JJ Munir has sought an affidavit from principal secretary, department of revenue, in this regard. The directions came while the bench was dealing with a writ petition moved by one Krishna Gopal Rathore, in which it noted that the Etawah collector had referred to the divisional commissioner of Kanpur as “honourable commissioner” in an official letter. The court noted that the term “honourable” is regularly mentioned alongside names of state officials of various ranks in govt correspondence but it was not clear if any protocol existed. In its order, the court a lso observed that while the word “honourable” is to be prefixed in the case of ministers and other sovereign functionaries, it was not known if the same could be suitable for secretaries serv ing the state govt. The court, in its order of Sept 23, p osted the matter for further hearing on Oct 1.

Court fines woman ₹1k for filing fake rape case, frees 2 Observing that fair investigation is a ‘fundamental’ right of the accused, the court of additional district judge Ravi Diwakar here acquitted two men, booked for allegedly gang-raping and blackmailing a35-yr-old married woman, due to lack of evidence and after finding they were framed in a fake case, reports Kanwardeep Singh. The men have already spent more than a year in jail. A compensation of Rs 500 should be paid to each of the accused by the complainant, the court said. It also ordered the Bareilly SSP to take departmental action against the investigating officer and Bahedi circle officer for filing a chargesheet against the two men without carrying out a proper investigation. “The police officials concerned misused their powers to carry out a shoddy investigation and framed both the men,” the court said.

Jagan calls off temple visit as war of words with Naidu intensifies

Samdani.MN & Srikanth.Aluri 28.09.2024

Vijayawada : Former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called off a planned visit to Tirupati temple Friday amid heightened tension and protests by several religious organisations which joined governing TDP in demanding that he sign a declaration form for nonHindus. Jagan also claimed a police notice denying him permission for the visit, something CM N Chandrababu Naidu dismissed as a “blatantlie”. The events unfolded against the backdrop of the controversy over supply of ghee allegedly adulterated with animal fat in making the sacred laddu prasadam at the temple when Jagan was CM.

The YSRCP chief was to reach Tirumala, where the hill shrine to Lord Venkateswara is located, Friday evening and offer prayers early Saturday. Jagan lashed out at Naidu and his allies for turning his temple visit into a “big controversy”. If Naidu-led “vested interests” could create hurdles for a former CM who visited the temple about 10 times in the past for darshan, what would be the fate of the poor and Dalits when they visit the temple, Jagan wondered. Jagan also wanted to know why TDP and its allies did not seek any declaration from him when he accompanied the PM, President and the Chief Justice of India to the temple as CM. “Humanity is my religion. I am ready to give a declaration in this format. I read the Bible within the four walls of my residence. I practise and respect other religions, including Hinduism, once I come out. What else do they want?” he asked. Jagan pointed out that his father, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, ex-CM, was blessed to present silk robes to Lord Venkateswara for five years.

Jagan claimed local police had issued notices to several former legislators and YSRCP leaders in the wake of his planned visit, saying he did not have permission to visit Tirumala. Naidu challenged Jagan to show the notice and alleged the YSRCP chief cancelled his visit as he was not willing to sign the declaration form for devotees of other faiths.

Naidu said that law enforcement agencies had invoked laws restricting some activities in the area “in view of recent developments” but clarified that no specific notice was issued to Jagan

NMC running with boards handicapped by vacancies Board On New Colleges, Courses Has Just A Part-Time Member

Rema.Nagarajan@timesofindia.com 28.09.2024

Four years after the National Medical Commission (NMC) was constituted, the posts of several members of its four autonomous boards are lying vacant. While the health minister talked of creating 75,000 MBBS seats in the next five years, the board responsible for regulating this process now has just one part-time member whose tenure ends in Dec. The five-member Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), which includes the president of the board, has only Dr Urmila Singh, a parttime member appointed for a two-year term in Dec 2022. In fact, if one goes by the information on the commission’s website, MARB has no members at all as of now. However, the NMC issued a notice last week inviting applications for starting new post graduate medical courses and for establishing new standalone post graduate institutes. The board gives permission to start new medical colleges, new PG courses or increase the number of seats.

According to the NMC Act, “Each autonomous board shall consist of a president and two wholetime members and two part-time members”. The tenure of the president and the wholetime members is four years and that of part-time members is two years. While the website shows MARB as being empty and other fivemember boards as having just two members each, the tenure of most members came to an end on Tuesday (Sept 24). However, the website does not reflect the appointment of one part-time member for each board made in Dec 2022.

According to the website, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board has no president but has two whole-time members. Their tenure has ended, and the part-time member appointed in Dec 2022, Dr Shahjanand Prasad, does not figure on the website. In the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, there is just the president, Dr Vijay Oza, who was appointed as a member in Sept 2020 and later made president, and one parttime member Dr K Senthil, appointed in Dec 2022.

The Under Graduate Medical Education Board has the president, Dr Aruna V Vanikar, and a whole-time member Dr Vijayendra Kumar, both appointed on September 25, 2020, which means their tenure has ended and one part-time member Dr Pallavi Saple. According to the NMC Act, three months before the end of a member’s tenure, the matter must be referred to the Search Committee for filling up the vacancy. TOI’s queries to the health ministry and the NMC regarding these vacancies in the autonomous boards did not receive any response.