64-yr-old Medical Council of India abolished; National Medical Commission comes into existence

Agencies
September 25, 2020

MCI-rep-1200.jpg

New Delhi, Sept 25: The National Medical Commission (NMC), in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI), as the country's apex regulator of medical education and profession has come into existence from Friday.

With the NMC coming into being, the Board of Governors (BoG) which superseded the MCI on September 26, 2018, to perform its functions, has been dissolved and the nearly 64-year-old Indian Medical Council Act abolished.

Former head of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ENT department, Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma has been appointed as chairman for a period of three years with effect from Friday, while Rakesh Kumar Vats, who was Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI, is the secretary of the commission.

The NMC Act, which seeks to usher in mega reforms in the medical education sector, received the assent of the president on August 8, 2019 and was published the same day.

The Act provided for setting up of an NMC in place of the scam-tainted Medical Council of India.

The four autonomous boards under the NMC Act -- the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Medical Assessment and Rating Board and the Ethics and Medical Registration Board -- have also been constituted and comes into existence from Friday, according to the notifications issued by Nipun Vinayak, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

"In pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) of the section 60 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 is hereby repealed with effect from the 25th day of September, 2020.

"The Board of Governors appointed under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 in supersession of the Medical Council of India constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the said Act shall stand dissolved," one of the notifications read.

The NMC comprises a chairman, 10 ex-officio members and 22 part-time members.

The ex-officio members include presidents of the four autonomous boards.

"In pursuance of the provisions...of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 , the central government hereby constitutes the National Medical Commission," another notification read.

"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers...the central government hereby notifies that all the remaining provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, shall come into force with effect from the 25th day of September, 2020," another one read.

Dr Sharma, was on January 2, appointed the chairman of the NMC after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his appointment for a period of three years.

"Under sub-section (2) of section 4, the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma) is appointed for a period of three years with effect from September 25," according to a notification said.

Vats, the Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI,was appointed as the secretary of the commission for a similar term on January 2

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 16,2025

jordan.jpg

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, during which the two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral relations, with the Prime Minister outlining an eight-point vision covering key areas of cooperation.

Describing the meeting as “productive”, PM Modi said he shared a roadmap focused on trade and economy, fertilisers and agriculture, information technology, healthcare, infrastructure, critical and strategic minerals, civil nuclear cooperation, and people-to-people ties.

In a post on social media platform X, the Prime Minister praised King Abdullah II’s personal commitment to advancing India–Jordan relations, particularly as both countries mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.

“Held productive discussions with His Majesty King Abdullah II in Amman. His personal commitment towards vibrant India-Jordan relations is noteworthy. This year, we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our bilateral diplomatic relations,” PM Modi said.

The meeting took place at the Al Husseiniya Palace, where the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both sides agreed to further deepen cooperation in areas including trade and investment, defence and security, counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation, fertilisers and agriculture, infrastructure, renewable energy, tourism, and heritage.

The MEA said both leaders reaffirmed their united stand against terrorism.

PM Modi arrived in Amman earlier on Monday and was received by Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, who accorded him a formal welcome. Following the talks, King Abdullah II hosted a banquet dinner in honour of the Prime Minister, reflecting the warmth of bilateral ties.

Jordan is the first leg of PM Modi’s three-nation tour. From Amman, the Prime Minister will travel to Ethiopia at the invitation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, marking his first official visit to the African nation. The tour will conclude with a visit to Oman.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 5,2025

indigoCEO.jpg

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.