Vyapam scam: CBI seeks action against over 200 med students

Agencies
November 26, 2017

New Delhi, Nov 26: The future of over 200 students, who took admission in four private medical colleges of Madhya Pradesh through management quota on a hefty payment, might hang in the balance after a CBI probe into a Vyapam case claimed irregularities in their selection, officials said.

The probe agency had written to the Madhya Pradesh government, seeking necessary action against these candidates, who did not appear in any entrance exam for admission in the medical colleges, they added.

The move was based on a probe conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Pre-Medical Test (PMT), conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (Vyapam in Hindi) in 2012, the officials said.

On Thursday, the agency filed a charge sheet in a special CBI court in Bhopal against 592 accused, including the chairmen of the four private medical colleges, for their alleged involvement in the recruitment scam.

The promoters were -- J N Choksey, chairman of the L N Medical College; S N Vijaywargiya of the People's Medical College; Ajay Goenka of the Chirayu Medical College (all in Bhopal) and Suresh Singh Bhadoriya of the Index Medical College, Indore, the officials said.

While three promoters did not comment when contacted by PTI, Bhadoriya claimed that neither his nor his college's name was mentioned on the CBI charge sheet.

A total of 229 admissions were made by these four colleges under the management quota, by charging an amount between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore per seat, allegedly in violation of norms, the CBI officials said.

What was worrying was that the students who got admission through the management quota did not appear in any entrance exam, they added.

Of the 229 of such admissions, 88 were in the Index Medical College, 54 in the Chirayu Medical College, 46 in the People's Medical College and 41 in the L N Medical College, the officials said.

These admissions were done allegedly in connivance with the officials of the Vyapam, which has since been renamed as the Professional Examination Board, officials of the medical education department of the Madhya Pradesh government and some middlemen, they added.

Explaining the modus operandi, the officials said the middlemen followed an "engine-bogey" system for the pairing of candidates.
Under this arrangement, a bright candidate (who had already taken coaching classes to prepare for the entrance test and was well-versed with the examination pattern) would be alloted a roll number just ahead of a not-so-bright aspirant, so that the latter could cheat from him, they added.

The bright candidate would act as the "engine" and the other student as the "bogey", the officials said.

The middlemen charged anything between Rs 15 and 20 lakh for this pairing, they added.

Elaborating further, the officials said on the basis of successful selection, the bright students would then take admission only in the four medical colleges named in the charge sheet, despite their names featuring in the merit list and hence, they were eligible for admission in government institutions.

These successful candidates, in connivance with the middlemen and office-bearers of private medical colleges, would later withdraw their admission, they said.

Instead of reporting these vacancies to the state government department concerned, the college authorities would fill these seats through the management quota, charging a hefty amount, the officials said.

Among those named in the charge sheet, 334 were "engine- bogey" candidates, 155 were the guardians of these candidates, 46 invigilators of the examination, 26 officials of the four private medical colleges, 22 middlemen, four former Vyapam officials and two officers of the department of medical education, Madhya Pradesh, they added.

The state government officials named in the charge sheet were S C Tiwari, the then director, and N M Srivastava, the then joint director in the medical education department, the officials said.

The four former Vyapam officials named in the charge sheet were the then director Pankaj Trivedi, then senior system analyst Nitin Mohindra, then deputy analyst Ajay Kumar Sen and the then programmer C K Mishra, they added.

In the CBI charge sheet, 245 people have been named as accused of the first time. The others were named in different charge sheets filed earlier by the central probe agency.

The CBI is looking into the several cases of alleged massive irregularities in various examinations conducted by the Vyapam to select candidates for medical colleges and also for state government jobs.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday described British premier Boris Johnson as a "fighter" and hoped he recovers from coronavirus infection.

"Dear PM @BorisJohnson, you're a fighter and you will overcome this challenge as well," Modi tweeted.

He said he prays for his good health and extends best wishes in ensuring a healthy UK.

Johnson said on Friday that he has tested positive for coronavirus after experiencing mild symptoms and is now self-isolating at 10 Downing Street in line with the medical advice.

"I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government's response via video-conference as we fight this virus," he said.

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Kannadiga
 - 
Friday, 27 Mar 2020

Fit for only bogus comments and not  for countrymens welfare. A present we all can see Kerala CMs action and program. Each and every one has to salute him i/o  Taal Bajao foolinesh.

 

 

 

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News Network
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said everyone is unhappy in the society and constantly agitating notwithstanding a "many-fold rise" in materialistic comforts and pleasures.

Addressing a gathering of Sangh workers and intellectuals here in Gujarat, Mr Bhagwat also said that even political parties who are not in power are also agitating.

"Inspite of increase in comforts and materialistic pleasures, everyone is unhappy and is staging agitations. Be it owner or servant, a party in opposition, the common man students, teachers, everyone is unhappy and dissatisfied," the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief said.

He was speaking on the topic "India's Role in the Present World Context".

Mr Bhagwat further said that bigotry, violence and terrorism are on the rise in the present world.

"India has to give 'dharma'  (wisdom) to the world so that knowledge spreads but humans do not become robotic. We have always talked about the concept of global family but not global market," he said.

The lecture was organised by "Madhav Smruti Nyas", an organisation backed by the RSS.

"To think that we are living in a better world is a half truth. Facilities are not evenly distributed. Rule of Jungle is prevailing. A capable person is crushing the weak to climb up. Knowledge is used more for the destruction of the world," the Sangh chief said.

Mr Bhagwat said people are also misusing social media by spreading "false information" to create controversies.

He also stated that trying to put "everyone into one uniform" is also a form of bigotry.

"US and Russia are super powers. China would become a super power too. Now, what super power nations did to others? They just took control of other countries for their own selfish agenda. These super powers gave it back only when they were asked to do so. Otherwise, they never gave anything to others," said Mr Bhagwat.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Washington, Apr 23: Air pollution over northern India has plummeted to a 20-year-low for this time of the year, according to satellite data published by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The US space agency's satellite sensors observed aerosol levels at a 20-year low post the countrywide lockdown, implemented to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We knew we would see changes in atmospheric composition in many places during the lockdown," said Pawan Gupta, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at NASA''s Marshall Space Flight Center. "But I have never seen aerosol values so low in the Indo-Gangetic Plain at this time of year," added Mr Gupta.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells tweeted, "These images from NASA were taken each spring starting in 2016 and show a 20-year low in airborne particle levels over India. When India and the world are ready to work and travel again, let's not forget that collaborative action can result in cleaner air."

The data published with maps show aerosol optical depth (AOD) in 2020 compared to the average for 2016-2019. Aerosol optical depth is a measure of how light is absorbed or reflected by airborne particles as it travels through the atmosphere.

If aerosols are concentrated near the surface, an optical depth of 1 or above indicates very hazy conditions. An optical depth, or thickness, of less than 0.1 over the entire atmospheric vertical column is considered "clean." The data were retrieved by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.

In the first few days of the lockdown, it was difficult to observe a change in the pollution signature. "We saw an aerosol decrease in the first week of the shutdown, but that was due to a combination of rain and the lockdown," said Mr Gupta.

Around March 27, heavy rain poured over vast areas of northern India and helped clear the air of aerosols. Aerosol concentrations usually increase again after such heavy precipitation.

"After the rainfall, I was really impressed that aerosol levels did not go up and return to normal. We saw a gradual decrease and things have been staying at the level we might expect without anthropogenic emissions," Mr Gupta said.

On March 25, the Indian government placed its 1.3 billion citizens under a strict lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The countrywide mandate decreased activity at factories and severely reduced car, bus, truck and airplane traffic. Every year, aerosols from anthropogenic (human-made) sources contribute to unhealthy levels of air pollution in many Indian cities.

Aerosols are tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that reduce visibility and can damage the human lungs and heart.

In southern India though, the story is a little hazier. Satellite data show aerosol levels have not yet decreased to the same extent. In fact, levels seem to be slightly higher than in the past four years. The reasons are unclear but could be related to recent weather patterns, agricultural fires, winds or other factors.

"This a model scientific experiment," Robert Levy, program leader for NASA's MODIS aerosol products, said about the lockdown and its effects on pollution.

"We have a unique opportunity to learn how the atmosphere reacts to sharp and sudden reductions in emissions from certain sectors. This can help us separate how natural and human sources of aerosols affect the atmosphere," Mr Levy added.

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