Around 3.49 lakh students from Karnataka to attempt CET exams on April 18,19
Bengaluru: The Common Entrance Test Examinations (CET), crucial for admissions to several professional courses including engineering, agricultural science, veterinary, will be held across the state on April 18 and 19. The examination is set to be held across 737 centers in the state, with Bengaluru having the highest of 167 exam centers.
This year around 3,49,637 students will attempt the CET exam. Among them, 648 specially-abled candidates have registered for the CET exam.
In addition, a total of 20,300 personnel have been deployed to ensure that no irregularities happen in the examination. Consequently, there will be CCTV surveillance in all the examination centers. Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of respective districts will be in charge of tight security.
On April 18, Thursday, Biology examination will be held from 10.30 am to 11.50 am, followed by Mathematics from 2.30 pm to 3.50 pm. On April 19, Friday, Physics exams will take place from 10.30 am to 11.50 am, followed by Chemistry exam from 2.30 pm to 3.50 pm. Candidates are advised to arrive well in advance as those arriving after the third ringing of the bell at 10.40 am and 2.40 pm will not be allowed to enter the exam hall.
Each exam room will have 16 sets of question papers, and measures have been taken to avoid duplication. The question paper will be available in both English and Kannada, with the English version considered final in case of any confusion. No queries will be entertained at the examination center regarding this matter. Additionally, drinking water has been arranged at all examination centers due to the summer heat. Asha workers, NCC, and NSS cadets will assist in conducting the examination smoothly.
Meanwhile examinations for Gadinadu (border district) Kannadiga students will be held in Kannada language on April 20 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at centers in Mangaluru, Belagavi and Bengaluru. Approximately, 1,545 border Kannadiga students will attempt the exam.
It has been instructed to students to mandatorily bring the identity cards along with the admit card for the examination. Other instructions include, only blue or black pens are allowed. Full-sleeved shirts, masks, and jewelry are not permitted. Additionally, mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, tablets, watches, calculators, notepads, iPods, and earphones are prohibited.
Once an answer is marked, it cannot be erased or rewritten. It is mandatory to enter the admit card number and question paper version code in the OMR sheet. Candidates must sign at the bottom of the OMR sheet without fail. It has been instructed that nothing should be written or scratched on the timing mark on the OMR sheet.
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Why not detect sex of foetus, then protect girl child: Indian Medical Association chief Asokan
New Delhi, Apr 30: A ban on sex determination tests through a law may stop female foeticide but female infanticide will happen, Indian Medical Association chief Dr R V Asokan has said, arguing that a social evil cannot have a medical solution.
In an interaction with PTI editors, Asokan said IMA is working on a document to revamp the existing Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, which prohibits pre-natal diagnostic techniques for determination of the sex of the foetus and holds doctors accountable. “And one suggestion would be why not detect the sex of the foetus and then protect the girl child," he said.
"For a social evil you cannot have a medical solution. Is it workable or practical? Let us discuss that. What will happen is that if you don't correct the social evil, female foeticide will disappear, female infanticide will happen," he explained.
In Asokan’s view, the PC-PNDT Act is completely warped, short sighted and NGO driven.
"We have a stake in preventing female foeticide but we don’t agree with the methodology PC-PNDT Act has taken. The methodology has caused so much difficulty for doctors," Asokan, who is IMA’s national president, said.
"If there is one law we want to be taken out of the statute that is PC-PNDT. It doesn't deserve its place," he said.
The doctors’ body has been demanding re-envisioning of the PC-PNDT Act for quite some time.
According to Asokan, there are no differences of opinion about saving the girl child. "The common objective is one... presuming all the doctors to be culpable and anti-life is very wrong," he stressed.
The IMA, Asokan added, is aggrieved over certain rules in the act and with doctors being pulled up for technical lapses and incorrect filling of forms.
The regulations that have come up on the matter are very unfair, he said.
For instance, the regulation states that machines cannot even be moved from one room to another room. “Moreover, not filling up ‘Form F’ is considered to be equal to female foeticide,” he elaborated.
Form F under the PC-PNDT Act records the medical history of a pregnant woman and why the ultrasound is being done.
Under the present law, doctors not filling up Form F properly are given the same punishment as someone who does a sex determination test.
"An institution like the Honourable Supreme Court has said if you do not fill up Form F you are committing female foeticide. How is this acceptable?" he asked.
The IMA chief cited an instance from Coimbatore 15 days ago when a gynaecologist was convicted and sentenced for three years for not filling up Form F properly.
"The law is NGO driven, initiated by the Supreme Court of India. There is a layman perspective in the law...
"So we have been having brainstorming sessions and thinking why not detect the sex, detect the female child and then protect that child. It is possible... tag that child, see what happens to her, follow the mother and see that the girl child is delivered normally.”
Asokan lamented the fact that the entire medical profession is in the dock because of a few black sheep.
"Now I want the profession to be out of it. We are not saying that it (sex determination) should be allowed. If this is acceptable you accept it. Otherwise remove those harassment points.”
Asokan said the document they are working on will come up in the central working committee of the IMA and the idea is to “provoke a discussion even in the Supreme Court" if necessary.
