‘Won’t allow unilateral action by PLA at LAC’
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh has said that India will not allow China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to take any unilateral action at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the government has given full freedom to its armed forces to challenge, with all their might, any attempt to change the situation along the LAC in any manner.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Thursday, in the backdrop of the persisting stalemate at LAC and deadlocked talks, Singh said: “It is true that there are perceptional differences on the border with China... The problem arises when agreed protocols are ignored. We will not, under any circumstances, permit PLA to take any unilateral action at the LAC. Our government has given full freedom to the armed forces to oppose any kind of change at LAC.”
This, he added, was what the forces had done in Galwan. “They fought the PLA personnel with utmost bravery and forced them to go back.” He also added that while India is peace-loving and doesn’t want war, in order to prevent war, it has to be ready for war.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s sen
NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for postgraduate studies in medicine and surgery is likely to be delayed by at least a month, and could be held in February because of the Covthere id-19 pandemic that has hindered classroom teaching, tutorials, practical classes and laboratory and clinical training of undergraduate medical students, according to government officials familiar with the situation .
The exam used to be held in January. Since March, medical colleges, like other educational institutions, have been shut and classes are being conducted online, leaving no scope for hands-on training during internship that is important for award of undergraduate degrees and students’ eligibility to apply for postgraduate studies.
The National Medical Commission (NMC), the country’s medical education regulator, had written to the ministry of health and family welfare about the need for reopening of medical colleges, especially for the undergraduate medical courses, to ensure students didn’t lose precious time and
HE CENTRE IS LIKELY TO BEGIN THE NEW MBBS BATCH FROM FEBRUARY 2021, AND BEGIN THE PG SESSION BY JULY 1
were no more delays in the coming academic sessions.
“Delay in completing internship of MBBS students would eventually affect the PG entrance exam and also the start of next academic session. As it is, undergraduate courses are delayed by at least four months and we need to look at compensating for the lost time. Experts are deliberating over how best to solve the problem,” said a senior official in the health ministry, requesting not to be identified.
About 160,000 candidates take the NEET each year, competing for around 40,000 postgraduate medical seats that also includes courses in dental science.
The government is planning to re-open medical colleges on December 1 so that undergraduate medical students get time to finish clinical training necessary to apply for the PG entrance exam.
In its advisory to the health ministry, NMC said: “Delay in reopening of medical colleges has the potential of a null year for the academic year 2021-22, which could result in nonavailability of 80,000 doctors five years later… Delay in resuming the training would have a cascading effect on training of next PG and superspeciality courses in the coming years…”
According to the tentative timeline, apart from reopening medical colleges on December 1, the Centre is likely to begin the new MBBS batch from February 2021, and begin the PG session by July 1.
The government directive is applicable to both government and private medical colleges and deemed universities, and the states have been asked to make necessary arrangements. “The government directive has to be followed, and we will be making adequate arrangements ,” said a senior administrative official,from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, requesting anonymity.