Exit visa granted - Canadian mother flies home with baby

 FRRO hadreportedly refused to grant exit visa to her child citing 1% discrepancybetween the DNA reports of the child and the parents

Sumita Singh, a 52-year old Canadian citizen of Indian origin, had come to Ahmedabad in February to take home her surrogate daughter.But Indian bureaucracy blocked her way to Canada.

On November 8, Mirror highlighted Sumita's plight through the article `Blessed by tech, blocked by babu' that caught the attention of the state government.

Transfers cripple BJ Medical College

Govt transferred 125 doctors to otherdistricts just before annual MCI inspection; this has led to a massive manpowercrunch at the college

The recent transfer of 125 doctors in two batches has left several departments at Civil Hospital struggling to attend to patients.

The sudden shuffling came just before the annual inspection of Medical Council of India (MCI) but it is BJ Medical College which has to feel the pinch. Departments like paediatric, gynaecology, surgery, medicine and orthopaedic are left with just about half the staff required to function at optimum level.

The health department had transferred 45 doctors in October and on November 25, another branch of 80 doctors were shifted to newly started medical colleges in Patan, Himmatnagar, Valsad and Gotri.

Civil is serviced by BJ Medical College professors. In paediatric department, all senior professors along with the head of the department have been transferred. According to the transfer circular, a copy of which is with Mirror, six staff members have been shifted.

“A department has a head followed by associate professors. But now, as we all have been transferred, this department has become an orphan. There is no one to take adequate action in case of any serious development,“ said a doctor from the department.

INADEQUATE STAFF RATIO

According to MCI guidelines, all medical colleges are supposed to maintain adequate staff-student ratio. But as the newly formed colleges lack in staff, doctors are transferred from BJ Medical College, claims doctors.“They think that this college is the hub of doctors, so anytime they can transfer doctors to fulfil requirements of other hospitals. But what about this hospital?“ asked a doctor from surgical department where 50 per cent of the staff have been removed.Previously, the state government used to transfer staff to colleges where in spection was to take place. After the inspection, they were sent back to their parent institutes. But this time, according to transfer order, these staffers will not be transferred back until the vacancies are filled. This order has already started giving them nightmares.

Even those senior doctors who are to retire in two to three years have been transferred to rural areas which is against government policy.

BENEFITS AFFECTED

Transferred staff members are also upset because their years of service will not be counted as they will be serving at GMERS hospitals. “All the doctors who are shifted are highly qualified and have years of experience. But as now they are shifted to trust hospitals, these years of their service will not be counted while calculating their retirement benefits,“ said a doctor who will retire in 2016.As Mirror pointed out on November 27 (`Health dept acts, only selectively'), in the name of punishment transfer only seven doctors who were practising in both government and private hospitals had been transferred out.

DOCS' CONSENT NOT TAKEN

The transfer circular states that the doctors wanted the transfer and they were shifter after consultation with them. But when Mirror spoke to some of the doctors, they denied giving their consent or being consulted and said the circular was giving out wrong information.

“We have students here and have been practising here for years. So, why would we want to shift to any remote college where there is no facility?“ asked a doctor who has been transferred.

HEALTH MINISTER PAYS SURPRISE VISIT TO CIVIL

Health Minister Nitin Patel sent authorities at Civil Hospital in to a tizzy on Thursday night when he decided to conduct a surprise check. Patel, who had gone to meet an acquaintance at UN Mehta Heart Hospital, went straight to Civil Hospital's trauma centre from there, sources said. Besides checking hospital's registers, he visited the blood bank, MRI centre and spoke to the staff. Two cops stationed at the trauma centre complained to the minister about overflowing drainage line at the hospital, sources said. “They told the minister that they had been putting up with the issue of overflowing drainage line for three months. Despite complaining to their higher-ups there was no respite from the problems as the place had not been cleaned up even once, they said. They also told Patel that the stagnant water was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The minister assured them that the premises will be cleaned up at the earliest and directed the authorities to ensure clean surroundings,” said sources.

Earlier Patel had ordered a probe into the theft of injections from Civil after the expensive injections were found at a private medical store.

Woman's nude pics stolen, posted on FB

Family in Ranipis living in shame after camera containing intimate photos clicked by husbandgot lost, found their way to two FB pages in a gap of 3 yrs

He has it all: a successful business, a gorgeous house, two smart kids and a beautiful wife. But Harshid Mehta, a 40 year-old who resides in Ranip, cannot step out of his house fearing embarrassment. A moment of careless fun five years ago has turned his family's life into a hell. Nude photographs that he took of his wife are circulating on the internet and there's little he can do to stop it.

RTI to the rescue of Amdavadis

Mirror highlights fewsuccess stories that may not be of public interest but cases of injustice,personal vendetta or simple lacuna in govt functioning

The Right to Information has be come an effective tool for citizens to bring to light the inade quacies in the government functioning and seek justice.

There are Amdavadis who have got justice after getting information under RTI, but there are many others whose cases have been disposed of or they have been made to run from department to department for information but to no avail.

City tops human rights violation list

Ahmedabad city registered 890 complaintsand Ahmedabad rural accounted for 130 complaints, the highest in Gujarat

Ahmedabad alone accounts for 27 per cent of total human rights violation s in the state. Of over 3,700 cases reported from the state, 1,000 were from the city, according to figures provided by Gujarat State Human Rights Commission.

The panel deals with cases related to child marriage and atrocities against kids, public health hazards, exploitation of differently abled people, irregularities in jail, victimization of labourers, human trafficking, environmental pollution, racecolour castereligious discrimination, employment disputes, and atrocities against women.

Travel agents lose 50 per cent profit to online bookings

 With more and more Amdavadi travellers preferring to book their tickets through mobile apps, offline travel agents are struggling to keep up their profit margins

Dr Anita Mehta, a professor who works at a city college has to travel across the country frequently, and at times at a short notice. She used to book her tickets through travel agents until she discovered a mobile app that helped her book her tickets hasslefree and saved her a whole lot of `commission' money. Anita is one of the several Amdavadis who have turned to travel apps to plan their travels including booking tickets and hotels.

According to the recent report published by Cleartrip.com, Ahmedabad accounts for 47 per cent of the total customers nationwide who book their tickets using a mobile app.The data also reveals that the city ranks fourth in India in mobile booking after Lucknow, Jaipur and Delhi.MakeMyTrip and Yatra.com have also seen a similar trend among Amdavadis who rely on their cellphones to book tickets and reserve hotels.

An industry expert said, “Mobile apps are convenient as they fit into your pocket and are accessible to you at all hours of the day. You can book the ticket at a moment's notice and all available options are visible on you cellphone screen. It gives you complete control over your travel plans.“

Income-Tax opens six new offices in state

Under the restructuring plan, the taxdept has rehauled its cadre and created a post of principal chief commissioner

Income-tax department has restructured its cadre in Gujarat, cre ating new posts and offices. For more efficient functioning of the department, it has opened six new centers at the remotest places in the state.

“So far we have had four officesAhmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. During any problem, people had to go to these centers for redressal. With the new centres coming up it will become easier for people,“ said an official in the department.

“The plan has been approved by the Union government and these offices will be opening very soon,“ he added.

RAY IS PCC

Moreover, new post of principal chief commissioner (PCC) has been added to the list, who will be the chief commissioner's superior.

Incumbent Chief Commissioner S K Ray has been promoted to the post of PCC. Since now taxpayers will be filing their returns of income to their new jurisdictions, the pending proceedings shall also be completed by the officers posted in the new offices.