2015, മാർച്ച് 24, ചൊവ്വാഴ്ച

Now 'ghost' teachers haunt MCs!

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Chandigarh: Medical science may not believe in the ghost stories but unethical practices adopted by private medical colleges and unscrupulous doctors in the region have put a big question mark on the standard of education being imparted and the kind of doctors being churned out by these institutions.

With 436 'ghost' teachers being discovered by the Punjab Medical Council (PMC) during its recent inspection of four private medical colleges in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, a major controversy has erupted about the unethical practices adopted by these colleges and doctors.

The PMC team found that the 436 doctors, most of whom were practising in Punjab, were simultaneously serving four medical colleges: MM (Maharishi Markandeshwar) Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana (Ambala-Haryana/240 doctors); MM Medical College and Hospital, Kumarhatti (Himachal Pradesh/84 doctors), Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Banur (Punjab/64 doctors) and Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences, Bathinda (Punjab/48 doctors).

The doctors were shown on records of these institutions as faculty members on well-paid jobs even without taking any classes. The PMC inspection revealed that one of the doctors who was heading an institution's own ethics committee figured in the list of ghost teachers.

Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines clearly stipulate that part-time and guest faculty cannot be engaged for regular classes in medical colleges.

Faced with this embarrassing revelation, the PMC has initiated the process to suspend or cancel the registration of the doctors.

'We are issuing show-cause notices to the concerned doctors. Action will follow, based on their replies. If they are actually teaching in these institutes in other states, they will have to be de-listed from the PMC,' PMC president G.S. Grewal told IANS.

The PMC has received complaints that the doctors who were shown as faculty members in colleges in three states were running their private health clinics, hair therapy clinics, cosmetic therapy clinics and even offering treatment for heart ailments.

The department of medical education and research in Punjab has initiated an investigation into the findings of the PMC team.

'There is a tendency among some medical colleges, which are mere teaching shops, to show doctors as their regular faculty whereas these people may have never even visited these institutions. Everyone is making a fast buck in all this mess. The kind of doctors that these medical colleges produce is anyone's guess,' a senior faculty member at Patiala's Government Medical College told IANS.

Students pay hefty amounts, running in lakhs of rupees, to get admission to these medical colleges.

IANS

British parliament warns IS could enter Europe through Libya

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London: The House of Commons of the British Parliament warned on Tuesday that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group could take advantage of the chaos in Libya to smuggle terrorists into Europe as would-be refugees fleeing the Arab country.

The Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee underlined that IS was carrying out operations aimed at ensuring its presence in North Africa, filling a regional power vacuum left when the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya was overthrown in 2011, Efe news agency reported.

'Illegal migration from Libya is a major concern, because of a potential security threat from terrorists who could use this means to travel to Europe to conduct attacks,' explained MPs from the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

The committee stressed that prolonged, embedded violence in a country like Libya, so close to Europe, raised concerns in areas such as security.

The Foreign Affairs Committee said there was a 'particular responsibility' on Britain to help Libya 'repair itself' and restore a stable government.

According to the committee, the fact that the jihadi organisation appears to have taken advantage of the chaos in Libya to establish itself there is a security concern that extends beyond Libya, and is further motivation for the international community to provide assistance.

Libya has been suffering from chaos and civil war since 2011, after the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime.

IANS

62nd National Film Awards: Court best film, Kangana best actress

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New Delhi: As the 62nd National Film Awards were announced here on Tuesday, the Malayalam films fetched six recognitions, including two jury mentions.

Actress Kangana Ranaut has been named best actress for her film Queen while Sanchari Vijay bagged the award for best actor for his performance in Kannada movie 'Naanu Avanalla Avalu'.

Kangana portrayed a simple girl named Rani who goes on a honeymoon alone and experiences a journey of self-discovery. The film was lauded by audiences and critics alike.

Chaitanya Tamhane's Marathi film 'Court' was named the National Film Award winner in the best feature film category

Sanchari Vijay

'I didn't know National Award was getting announced today. It came as a big surprise for me and my entire team,' Tamhane told IANS.

Featuring Usha Bane, Vivek Gomber and Pradeep Joshi, the film is about a trial which unfolds in a lower court, where the hopes and dreams of the city's ordinary people play out. Forging these fates are the lawyers and judge, who are observed in their personal lives beyond the theatre of the courtroom.

Sreejith Mukherjee, who directed Bengali movie 'Chathushkon', was named the best director.
The screenplay for Jayaraj's 'Ottal' fetched Joshy Mangalam the award in this category. 'Ottal' also won the award for best film on environment conservation.

Omung Kumar's 'Mary Kom' with actress Priyanka Chopra in lead was named the most popular film providing wholesome entertainment. The biopic on boxer and five-time World Champion M.C. Mary Kom won appreciation from all quarters.

'Ain' directed by Sidharth Siva bagged award for the best Malayalam film while actor Musthafah got special jury mention for his role.

Uthara Unnikrishnan, daughter of playback singer P Unnikrishnan, was chosen the best female playback singer for her song in the movie 'Seivam.' Sukhwinder Singh won the award in male category for 'Haider.'

Gopi Sunder bagged the award for the best background score for the film '1983.'

Vivek Harshan was chosen the best editor for the film 'Jigarthanda.'

Jet crashes in Alps, 148 on board; 'no survivors' expected

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File photo an Airbus 320 of Germanwings

PARIS: A passenger jet carrying 148 people crashed Tuesday in the French Alps. France's president said no survivors were likely as search-and-rescue teams raced to the remote region.

The Germanwings Airbus passenger jet crashed as it traveled from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, French officials said. Eric Ciotti, the head of the regional council in southeast France, said search-and-rescue teams were headed to the crash site at Meolans-Revels.

In a live briefing Tuesday, Hollande said it was probable that a number of the victims are German. He said the area of the crash was remote and it was not clear whether anyone on the ground had been injured by the crash.

'It's a tragedy on our soil,' he said, adding he would be speaking shortly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germanwings is a lower-cost unit of Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, that has been operating since 2002 â€” part of traditional national carriers' response from rising European budget carriers. It serves mainly European destinations.

The area where the plane went down is near a popular ski resort.

The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation is sending three people to France to join the investigation, spokesman Germout Freitag said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, the country's top security official, was headed to the crash site.

SC strikes down sec 66A of IT Act, says it's unconstitutional

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NEW DELHI: In a landmark judgment upholding freedom of expression, the Supreme Court Tuesday struck down a provision in the cyber law which provides power to arrest a person for posting allegedly "offensive" content on websites.
Terming liberty of thought and expression as "cardinal", a bench of justices J Chelameswar and R F Nariman said, "The public's right to know is directly affected by section 66A of the Information Technology Act."
Justice Nariman, who pronounced the verdict in a packed court room, also said that the provision "clearly affects" the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under the Constitution.
Elaborating the grounds for holding the provision as "unconstitutional", it said terms like "annoying", "inconvenient" and "grossly offensive", used in the provision are vague as it is difficult for the law enforcement agency and the offender to know the ingredients of the offence.
The bench also referred to two judgements of separate UK courts which reached different conclusions as to whether the material in question was offensive or grossly offensive.
"When judicially trained minds can reach on different conclusions" while going through the same content, then how is it possible for law enforcement agency and others to decide as to what is offensive and what is grossly offensive, the bench said, adding, "What may be offensive to a person may not be offensive to the other".
The bench also rejected the assurance given by NDA government during the hearing that certain procedures may be laid down to ensure that the law in question is not abused.
The government had also said that it will not misuse the provision.
"Governments come and go but section 66A will remain forever," the bench said, adding the present government cannot give an undertaking about its successor that they will not abuse the same.
The bench, however, did not strike down two other provisions- sections 69A and 79 of the IT Act- and said that they can remain enforced with certain restrictions.
Section 69A provides power to issue directions to block public access of any information through any computer resource and 79 provides for exemption from liability of intermediary in certain cases.
The apex court pronounced its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of certain sections of the cyber law.
The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by law student Shreya Singhal, who sought amendment in Section 66A of the Act, after two girls -- Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan -- were arrested in Palghar in Thane district as one of them posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death and the other 'liked' it.
In the wake of numerous complaints of harassment and arrests, the apex court had on May 16, 2013, come out with an advisory that a person, accused of posting objectionable comments on social networking sites, cannot be arrested without police getting permission from senior officers like IG or DCP.
After the apex court had reserved its judgement in the matter on February 26 this year, another controversial case hogged the limelight for alleged misuse of section 66A, in which a boy was arrested on March 18 for allegedly posting on Facebook objectionable comments against senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.
A petition was filed before the Supreme Court in this regard alleging that its advisory was violated after which the apex court had asked UP police to explain the circumstances leading to the arrest of the boy.

2015, മാർച്ച് 12, വ്യാഴാഴ്‌ച

KERALA BUDGET

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