Former TNPSC official booked for cheating

22/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

When Mathuruban, son of a local resident, Shanmugasundaram, received mail from Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) in January 2016, stating that he was selected in Group II.

Within a few days, he was approached by three persons, who demanded payment of ₹27 lakh to get the job. He was told that if he failed to honour the demand, all further communication would be suspended and his name blocked from the selection list. So, his father arranged for the money and the payment was made. However, when he neither got the job nor the money back, he approached the police and lodged a complaint a week ago. On Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar’s directive, police registered a case against Siva, a retired TNPSC officer in the rank of deputy secretary, Nagendra Rao, a broker, and Ramani alias Rajendran, a retired TNPSC office assistant.

Police said no arrests had been made so far.

DAE issues advisory to residents

22/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

The Department of Atomic Eenergy Department (DAE) has issued an advisory to all the employees and residents of DAE townships in Kalpakkam.

In the advisory, it has requested people to avoid social gatherings and functions where large numbers of people assemble unless it is absolutely necessary. The residents should avoid non-essential travel out of the township. All non-residents will be allowed inside the township only after thermal scanning.

Meetings, as far as feasible will be conducted through video conferencing. Thermal scanning will be carried out at all vehicle entry gates and DAE hospital, it said.

54 Indian tourists stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport

Over 30 are from T.N.; they were to return on March 18

22/03/2020, KATHELENE ANTONY ,TIRUCHI

An official of the Indian Embassy in Malaysia has met the tourists. LIM HUEY TENG/REUTERS

Indian tourists, stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for the fourth day, have appealed for intervention from the Union Government, to facilitate their travel back home.

A total of 54 tourists, with over 30 from Tamil Nadu, were scheduled to return to India on March 18, but they have been stuck with no means to return, as all flights from the country to India have been cancelled.

The travellers, who were to return home by a SriLankan Airlines flight via Colombo, had completed emigration and security checks and were seated at the waiting hall of the airport, when the Centre announced the cancellation of flights, said the passengers.

When an Indian flight, which arrived at the airport to airlift Indian students stuck in Malaysia on March 19, refused to board them, their hopes were shattered.

An official of the Indian Embassy in Malaysia met the passengers and said that measures to take them home were under way.

S. Sivarasu, Tiruchi District Collector, who received a copy of the letter from the Indian Embassy in Malaysia to the Indian Government, said that efforts to bring them back were on.

Judge donates ₹2.25-lakh salary towards unorganised workers’ welfare

Justice S.M. Subramaniam says it is the duty of every citizen of the country to pool resources and help the hapless

22/03/2020, MOHAMED IMRANULLAH S.,CHENNAI

Justice S.M. Subramaniam of the Madras High Court on Saturday donated a month’s salary — ₹2.25 lakh — towards the welfare of labourers in the unorganised sector, whose earnings have taken a substantial hit as a result of the COVID-19 threat.

According to High Court officials, the judge handed over a cheque for the amount to Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam at the Secretariat, with the hope that it would serve as an impetus for further donations towards the cause.

When contacted, the judge confirmed that he had made the donation. He expressed deep concern over domestic helps, construction labourers, sanitary workers and many others having lost their livelihood due to the pandemic.

“People are willing to grant leave to domestic workers to avoid the spread of COVID-19, but not many are willing to pay the wages for the period of leave. How will those poor men and women run their families without any pay? That is why I thought of kickstarting a movement,” he said.

“We cannot depend upon the government for everything. Provisions supplied through ration shops will be hardly enough for the unorganised labourers. It is the duty of every citizen of the country to pool resources and help the hapless,” he said.

The judge went on to state: “I could have chosen to call the Health Secretary to my residence or even to my chambers in the High Court and handed over the cheque to her, but this is a time when we should not disturb government officials who are burning the midnight oil.”

The judge was also the first in the High Court to discourage lawyers, litigants, court staff and others from entering his court hall if they were suffering from a cough, cold or fever. He had announced that no case shall be posted under the caption ‘For Dismissal’ till March 31.

He had taken the decision even before the Administrative Committee of the High Court met and decided to restrict hearings to only urgent and admission cases in all courts, till March 31. .

Three more test positive, take total of COVID-19 patients to six

Number under home surveillance jumps from 4,253 on Friday to 8,950; app launched for medical advice

22/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Three more persons — two of them Thai nationals — have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu. This takes the total number of persons who have tested positive in the State to six.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, in a tweet, said: “The three patients were already quarantined and on the radar. They were admitted to isolation wards in government hospitals.”

He added that, so far, all six COVID-19 patients in the State were “imported cases”, with a travel history, and did not involve community transmission.

Screening had been intensified at railway stations, at domestic and international terminals of airports and on the borders with States, he informed.

The Minister later told reporters that two of the new cases were tourists from Thailand, while the third person had arrived from New Zealand. The Health Department had begun tracing the contacts of all three persons. However, he refused to divulge details on where the three patients were admitted, citing “medical ethics”.

However, late on Saturday, officials said that the two Thai nationals were lodged at the isolation ward of Government IRT Perundurai Medical College. The third patient has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai.

Home quarantine

The number of persons under home surveillance for COVID-19 in the State has doubled. From 4,253 persons on Friday, the number has gone up to 8,950. Chennai accounts for the highest number of persons in home quarantine, at 2,904.

Currently, 221 asymptomatic passengers from highly-affected countries are being quarantined in centres near the airport, according to a bulletin released by the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine.

The number of persons admitted to isolation wards increased from 32 to 54. The number of persons screened at airports crossed the two lakh mark. A total of 2,01,672 persons have been screened so far. The total number of samples taken for testing also went up to 412 from 333. Of this, 67 samples were under process.

The Minister urged people to stay at home and cooperate to prevent community spread of COVID-19. He added that they were following the guidelines issued for testing.

The number of beds in isolation wards in government medical college hospitals is all set to increase. Presently, there are a total of 1,120 beds in isolation wards in government medical college hospitals, headquarters hospitals and private hospitals.

As of now, government medical college hospitals have 20-bedded isolation wards. Now, all hospitals have been instructed to increase the number of beds for isolation wards up to 100 along with ventilators, step-down wards and observation wards. Private hospitals empanelled under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme have been roped in, he said.

The Minister held a meeting with deans and chiefs of medicine of private medical college hospitals and asked them to ready 100-bed isolation ward facilities in their institutions. The Minister said that the 24-hour control room of the DPH, which is manned in three shifts by 50 persons each, was also involved in contact tracing of COVID-19 patients.

Those under home quarantine — those with a travel history from affected countries or other States — were usually contacted on their phones to check on their health status every day, he said.

App launched

“Now, we have launched an app through which our doctors can provide medical advice to those under home quarantine through video calls. This app has a capacity to connect one lakh persons,” he said. Officials said that a video call facility would be provided on the portal.

The Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association, in a press release, advised its members to cancel all elective procedures. The association advised members to cut down regular outpatient department appointments, attend only to emergences and request patients to get back after a couple of weeks or till further communication.

If patients need hospital visits, members must ensure that all necessary precautions were in place, the association said.

T.N. plans reservation for govt. schoolchildren in medical colleges

Panel headed by an ex-judge to make recommendations

22/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Edappadi K. Palaniswami

22.03.2020

The Tamil Nadu government plans to enact a law to grant special reservation to students of government schools in medical colleges even as it wages a battle in the Supreme Court against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said that quota would be for students who had studied from Class 1 to 12 in government, corporation or municipal schools. It would also cover Kallar reclamation schools and institutions run by the Forest Department.

“Entry of government school students into medical colleges has come down drastically after the introduction of NEET. The government is keen to stop the trend,” Mr. Palaniswami said.

The CM said that the government would constitute a commission under the chairmanship of a retired High Court judge to collect details and make recommendations. It would get a month’s time to hand in its recommendations.

The secretaries of health and law and two educationists would be its members. The Director of Medical Education would be its member-secretary.

Big rush at vegetable markets, Uzhavar Santhai ahead of Janata Curfew

TNN | Mar 22, 2020, 04.44 AM IST

Trichy: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for observing a ‘Janata curfew’ on Sunday, residents in city flocked the vegetable markets including the Uzhavar Santhai, Gandhi Market to buy vegetables and essentials. Meanwhile, most of the eateries in Trichy have declared holiday till March 31.

Except for essentials, the government has ordered to close down all commercial establishments. Traders and vegetable vendors have promised to observe the curfew on Sunday. Agriculture marketing officials also announced that Uzhavar Santhai would down shutters on Sunday.

In order to avert scarcity of essentials, people thronged all the Uzhavar Santhai located in seven places in the district, Gandhi Market as well as various local vegetable markets to stock vegetables, greens and fruits.

To cater to the needs of customers, all the Uzhavar Santhai in the city were kept open till afternoon, skipping evening sales. A large number of people gathered at the markets in Tennur Anna Nagar, KK Nagar, Lalgudi to purchase things.

According to Gandhi Market vendors, around 2,000 wholesale mandis are there exclusively for vegetables, onion, potato, fruits and banana. As per the call made by the PM, they have decided to close down all the mandis and retail shops in the market. Several customers from the city and from the outskirts of the city arrived at the market till late in the evening.

“I have never seen such a huge crowd even during festivals in the recent past,” S Ramesh, a vegetable vendor in Gandhi Market, said.

Railways relaxes reservation refund rules

TNN | Mar 22, 2020, 04.45 AM IST

Trichy: As per the government advisory in the wake of Covid-19 to avoid crowding and practice social distancing, Railways has relaxed refund rules for tickets generated through passenger reservation system (PRS) counters.

All rules for e-ticket are remaining the same, as a passenger does not need to come to the station for a refund of the ticket. The relaxation is for journey period between March 21 and April 15.

In case, trains were cancelled by Railways during the journey period, refund across the counter can be taken on submission of the ticket up to 45 days from date of journey, instead of extant rule of 3 hours or 72 hours, a release from Trichy Railway Division said.

If the train is not cancelled and the passenger does not want to travel, ticket deposit receipt can be filed within 30 days from date of the journey at the station, instead of the extant rule of 3 days.

Ticket deposit receipt can be submitted to claims office for getting the refund with 60 days of the filing of ticket deposit receipt subject to verification from train chart, (instead of the extant rule of 10 days). For passengers who want to cancel ticket through 139 can get refund across the counter within 30 days from the date of journey. (Instead of the extant rule of up to scheduled departure of the train), the release said.

Railway authorities have asked passenger to avail the facility by avoiding coming to the railway station during the spread of the virus, the release added.

58 inmates given bail to decongest Madurai jail

TNN | Mar 22, 2020, 04.41 AM IST

Madurai: As many as 58 inmates of Madurai Central Prison were released on bail on Saturday in order to bring down congestion in the jail in the wake of Covid-19 scare. These inmates include two women, who were lodged in special prison for women, where 105 have been lodged.

The decision was taken at a special camp that took place on the prison premises, which was chaired by justice P N Prakash from Madurai bench of Madras high court. Madurai city police commissioner S Davidson Devasirvatham, south zone IG K P Shanmuga Rajeswaran, and Madurai district superintendent of police N Manivannan took part in the camp. A panel of judges from Madurai district court and officials from prison department also took part.

The 35-acre Madurai Central Prison, located in the heart of the city, has a capacity to accommodate around 1,300 inmates, but more than 1,550 inmates were lodged in the prison.

Deputy inspector-general of prisons D Pazhani told TOI that it was an initiative by the prison department and the judicial department. The inmates considered for release on bail was based on a report prepared by the police department. It was held in order to bring down the strength in the prison in the wake of Covid-19, he said.

There are around 960 convict prisoners and 630 remand prisoners in Madurai Central Prison. Out of the 630, the authorities released 58 inmates, DIG said.

Sources from the prisons department said that a camp will be held on Monday too in order to further bring down the numbers. The list of prisoners to be released was carefully selected based on the eligibility norms laid down under the law. It was scrutinized in such a way that these people will not create any unrest in society.

Meanwhile, various measures are being taken in the prisons department in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among inmates and one such measure was suspension of interview with their family members and lawyers for two weeks.

Rush for vegetables causes price rise in city markets

TNN | Mar 22, 2020, 04.49 AM IST

Anticipating uncertain times, all vegetable markets in the city witnessed a huge turnout of customers on Saturday as they made bulk purchases. The increase in the crowd also saw vegetable prices rising by at least 30%.

Central vegetable market, Paravai market, farmers market at Anna Nagar and Bibikulam, K Pudur market, Thayir market as well as roadside markets on Bypass Road witnessed a sudden throng of men and women. Most of them purchased vegetables to stock up to 15 days instead of their usual one week. “Janata curfew has been called on Sunday. But we do not know what lies ahead and if it all it is a pandemic, how long will it last. What if markets are also shut like parks and large commercial establishments. I have purchased double the quantity of vegetables than my usual weekly quota,” said K Vijayalakshmi from Surya Nagar.

J Velavan from Ponmeni said there is panic among the public because of rumours that markets too will be closed as a preventive measure. With the public transport system also curtailed, the price of vegetables may increase further, he said. “The increased demand for vegetables has resulted in price rise. It is only 9 am, but more than half of the vegetables I purchased today has been sold out. Though it is only a one-day voluntary curfew, panic among the public is quite evident through the way they purchase,” R Selvam, a vegetable seller said.

Prices of all vegetables including onion, tomato, carrot, beans, coconut, brinjal, ladies finger and cabbage have gone up. While already they have witnessed an increase of up to 30%, it may rise further depending on how people react to the situation, he added.

Many residents said they have already purchased essentials required for the next one month from grocery stores and medical stores. It has resulted in the increased crowd in grocery stores, be it at the ones next door or wholesale grocery stores.

MKU to hold online classes

TNN | Mar 22, 2020, 04.50 AM IST

Madurai: The Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) has urged its students to make use of the digital education platform being provided by the consortium for educational communication (CEC) to study university course subjects from their homes. The university, following the government’s orders for COVID-19 prevention, has been shut down from March 16 till March 31.

In a formal notification issued on Friday, the university said that e-content courseware for 87 under graduate subjects are available on the CEC website (http://cec.nic.in/). “Two weeks is a long time, so we, of course, want to keep students engaged. We told our students to consider as if still they were at the university and spend at least a minimum of four to five hours studying or doing assignments,” said Dr R Sudha, director, educational multimedia research centre (EMMRC) at MKU. The EMMRC, Madurai has so far hosted 1,570 e-contents in CEC website.

The notification further mentioned that students can make use of study webs of active learning for young aspiring minds (SWAYAM) platform, a programme by the Ministry of human resource development that enables professors and faculties of centrally funded institutions like IITs, IIMs, etc., to offer massive open online courses (MOOCs). In the current semester, CEC is also delivering more than 150 SWAYAM MOOCs for under graduate and post graduate courses. Students can also study from CEC-UGC YouTube channel and make use of the educational curriculum-based lectures for free. Some MKU departments have also prepared timetables for online seminars and assignments and sent them via email for students to follow and learn from home.`

Meanwhile, on the TV platform, 11-subject based SWAYAM Prabha DTH channels are available on DD free dish, Dish TV and Reliance Jio mobile App.

‘Identifying and isolating contagion is key in battle against coronavirus’

22.03.2020

South Korea has set an example in tackling the coronavirus. How did they do it and what was behind some of the steps the country took. Talking to TOI’s Indrani Bagchi, South Korea’s ambassador Shin Bong-Kil spelt out the steps taken by his country and how democracies have to do things differently. Excerpts:

• Korea tackled the coronavirus issue very aggressively, resulting in fewer deaths. Tell us what was the thinking behind these moves.

We thought that identifying and isolating the contagion in the early stages was the easiest way to fight coronavirus. We were successful. Also, we could treat patients well, which lowered the death rate. We developed the drive through test kit in early stages. Our bio companies worked at top speed to make both reagent and equipment. We could identify the geographical area of the infection and group early. It is an opaque religious group (Shincheonji) in the Daegu area, which has a church in Wuhan. They were heavily contaminated. We got a list of the group members and we made a comprehensive test of them. 60% of all Korea’s infected individuals cases were from this group. This province had almost 90% of all of Korea’s contamination.

• What is Korea doing to prevent the outflow of Covid-19?

The Korean government is strictly controlling outbound travellers who could be described as “close contact”, i.e. one who has been within 2 meters of an infected person. These people are prohibited from leaving Korea. Until March12, we had identified 22,000 of such “contacts”. They are not infected but they could be vectors. Our main airport is Incheon International Airport. We made it into a Covid-19-free zone. We have made mandatory, multi-step fever checks on all outbound passengers. We are screening strictly — three times in airport — departure hall, security checkpoint and boarding gate.

• What innovative steps did you take to fight this virus?

Our drive-through test centre has been popular and is very effective. Now we have developed a walk-through test centre. You get the results by text message on your phone. Korea is a heavily wired country, so this is possible. We have six firms already manufacturing testing kits. If India has an interest, we can connect them. We have developed an app for fighting the virus. When you move, the GPS on your phone detects where you are and where you have travelled. That helps us quarantine areas where infected persons have visited. The app also helps us monitor the ‘self-quarantined’. If you break quarantine, you are detected. Yes, there are privacy issues, but we feel safety and health are more important. We are now producing a health certificate for travellers. Korea is the first to make this health certificate. Now India is asking for a similar certificate. We proposed that our authorised medical institutions produce this health certificate. Indians have called it a “ very good idea”.

• China says they have a model to deal with pandemics like coronavirus. Do you think democracies have a different model?

The principles that governed our response are important — openness and transparency. At every stage, we were open to what was going on, numbers etc. That way we earned the trust of the people. They believed the government and are more open about obeying government instructions. In a democracy, we believe, this is most important. If you are an authoritarian government, you can control this information. But people don’t believe it. Like in North Korea — they say there is no coronavirus infection. But they have shut down the capital Pyongyang, even shut down embassies. India, the world’s largest democracy, should be open and transparent so that a nation of 1.3 billion could believe in the government to follow decisions.

Full interview on www.toi.in

We’ve developed an app for fighting the virus. When you move, the GPS on your phone detects where you are and where you have travelled. That helps us quarantine areas where infected persons have visited. The app also helps us monitor the ‘self-quarantined’

40% of cases in India recorded in last 2 days

New 1-Day High Of 77 Takes Total To 332

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.03.2020

The Covid-19 count continued to surge across the country with at least 77 new cases reported from states on Saturday, surpassing Friday’s figure of 57 as the highest for a single day and taking total number of cases to 332.

Kerala (12), Maharashtra (10) and Punjab (10) reported new cases in double digits even as the national count in the past two days alone stood at 133, accounting for 40% of all cases since the first one was confirmed on January 30. While Maharashtra and Kerala together account for more than a third of all cases, government data shows new hotspots are emerging.

Govt sending spl flight to bring in 262 Indians stuck in Rome

In Rajasthan’s Bhilwara, 11 new cases have been reported in the past 48 hours. Punjab and Gujarat have also witnessed significant spike in Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, Assam may become the 22nd state in the country to report a Covid-19 case. A four-and-a-half-yearold girl, who had recently travelled from Bihar, tested positive for the infection in Jorhat. Her sample has been sent for re-confirmation to an ICMR lab in Dibrugarh.

In all, fresh cases were reported from 13 states, indicating the spread of the infection across the country. The Union health ministry confirmed 283 cases, including 23 who have recovered. The ministry’s count of Covid-19 cases includes 39 foreign nationals, one who has migrated and four persons who have died.

The government admitted that Covid-19 infections were spreading but said there was no evidence yet of community transmission, which happens in stage three of an outbreak. Joint secretary (health) Lav Aggarwal said on Saturday that more cases have been found in some locations.

“Yesterday (Friday), there were 6,700 contacts (of Covid-19 positive cases) and now it is 7,000. This number is going up and if factual information shows there is community transmission we will tell the nation about it,” he said.

Also, the government is sending a special flight to bring in 262 Indians stuck in Rome in Italy where the Covid-19 outbreak has claimed over 4.000 lives. On Sunday, PM Narendra Modi’s has appealed to people to observe a “janata curfew”.

All cops using police vehicles in Delhi will blow siren at 5 pm for a minute and the PM has urged people to express their appreciation for the work being done by those in hospitals, airports, by banging utensils, or by clapping for five minutes. Meanwhile, the central government on Saturday held a video conference for training of hospital staff across states for critical care management in case of need for more hospitalisation with surging Covid-19 cases.

Gujarat seems to emerging as a new hotspot for the virus. Between March 19 and March 21, the number of Covid-19 cases in the state has risen from two to 14. While 13 positives had a history of foreign travel, the state also recorded its first Covid-19 patient, a 67-year-old Surat man, who had no international travel history but had visited Delhi and Jaipur recently for work.

Bhilwara, meanwhile, could be sitting on a ticking bomb as 11 cases have been reported in the past two days. All of those infected are doctors and nursing staff with no recent travel history abroad.

In Odisha, where two Covid-19 cases have been confirmed, CM Naveen Patnaik announced complete lockdown of five districts and eight major towns, including Bhubaneshwar and Puri for a week to control disease spread.

Full report on www.toi.in

Scared migrant workers ‘quit Maharashtra’ amid shutdown

Mumbai:22.03.2020

Amid a near-total shutdown in the country’s commercial capital, several thousands of panicky migrant labour from different parts of India are bolting the city daily to escape the clutches of coronavirus pandemic as the state led with 63 cases on Saturday.

Since the past four-five days, various railway termini in the city, particularly the Central Railway (CR), have witnessed hordes of migrant workers jostling to catch trains bound for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other locations.

Migrant labour from different parts of India forms a significant chunk of the state’s workforce with many working in Mumbai, Raigad, Thane, Palghar districts, besides Pune and Nagpur.

Many apprehend that they would face pay-cuts or job losses, but a Maharashtra government order has decreed all public-private sector not to cut wages or terminate casual, temporary or contractual workers.

“The termination of employee from the job or reduction in wages in this scenario would further deepen the crisis and will not only deepen the financial condition of the employee but also hamper their morale to combat their fight with this epidemic,” Maharashtra commissioner of labour Mahendra Kalyankar said.

Kalyankar added that if any worker takes leave, he/she should be deemed to be on duty without consequential deduction in wages of this period with the coronavirus pandemic, in tune with the appeals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The problems of the migrants hopeful of returning to the safe havens of their native homes were compounded with the Central Railway (CR), Western Railway WR) and Konkan Railway (KR) together cancelling around 275 long-distance trains till March 31. IANS

LAST-MINUTE PANIC: Migrant workers try to board an overcrowded passenger train on Saturday after government imposed restrictions on gatherings in Mumbai

KLM flight with 100 Indians asked to return

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:22.03.2020

A KLM flight was asked to return to Amsterdam after it took off for Delhi on Friday with about 100 Indians transiting back home from US and Canada. Since India has barred entry of anyone from Europe, UK and Turkey — including transit passengers from there — aviation authorities here asked the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operating as KLM 871, to return to Amsterdam. On humanitarian grounds, sources say, this flight is likely to be allowed to operate on Sunday.

Air India also sent its 342-seater Boeing 777 on Saturday to bring Indians back from Rome. The flight is expected to return to Delhi by 7.30am on Sunday. “The number of passengers will be known when boarding is completed in Rome,” an AI official said.

Quarantine-stamped caught on public transport in Maha

Many Arrived From Dubai Or Been To Qatar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:22.03.2020

The city witnessed many cases of people with ‘home quarantine stamps’ on hands being caught during travel at railway stations, in trains and on buses from where they were sent to hospitals or handed over to the police or BMC. At CSMT, 16 persons with a home quarantine stamp were found by railway security agencies while they were preparing to board trains to travel to their respective homes.

“On enquiry, it was learnt they had landed from Dubai and had directly come to CSMT from the airport to go home to Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and other states,” said senior inspector Hemant Bavdhankar, CSMT GRP. Medical teams were informed and the 16 were taken away.

In another incident, Railway Protection Force personnel (RPF) at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus did not allow eight Dubai-returned people to board a train to Allahabad. They were instead sent to Andheri’s SevenHills Hospital quarantine centre.

At Kalyan station, RPF constable S N Mundey noticed a 30-year-old man with the home quarantine stamp. He told Mundey that he had a Dubai travel history and had come to the city from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh on March 17. He was sent to a nearby hospital.

In another incident, two passengers, aged 27 and 42 years, who had arrived from Dubai, were forced to get off the Bandra-Surat intercity train at Virar station.

On noticing their ‘home quarantine stamps, fellow passengers pulled the train chain and complained to Western Railway officials. Railway cops told the two passengers to get off the train. The two later left for their destinations in Vadodara and Jamnagar by road.

A man who had returned from Qatar a couple of days ago and had boarded a train from Mumbai to Kalaburagi in Karnataka in Udayan Express was deboarded at Daund station after passengers raised an alarm about his constant sneezing and coughing.

A similar scene panned out in a BEST bus. A foreign national with a home quarantine stamp was found travelling in a BEST bus on route number 309 from Goregaon to Kurla on Staurday. The conductor and driver handed him over to the police near Jari Mari in Kurla.

Full report on www.toi.in

PM: Listen to docs, don’t violate home quarantine

Govt Collaborates With WhatsApp For Credible Info

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:22.03.2020

With reports of people leaving cities in droves by taking crowded trains because of the coronavirus scare, PM Narendra Modi on Saturday took to Twitter to put out a strong “ stay put” appeal saying that it would increase the risk of infections.

Modi also exhorted quarantined people to heed doctor’s advice not to venture out. He said: “I pray that the city you are in, please stay there for a few days. With this, all of us can stop the disease from spreading. We are playing with our health by crowding railway stations, bus stands. Please worry about yourself and your family, do not leave your house if it is not necessary.

He also asked those quarrantined to abide by the advice of doctors. Using the hashtag #IndiaFightsCorona and sharing videos on precautions that can be taken against the infection, he said on Twitter: “This is the time we should all listen to the advise given by doctors and authorities. All those who have been told to stay in home quarantine, I urge you to please follow the instructions. This will protect you as well as your friends and family.”

In line with his address to the nation on Thursday where he announced a voluntary 14-hour citizens’ “curfew”, the PM sought cooperation of people in staying home and avoiding unnecessary travel.

Also in a move to provide correct information and bust myths around the coronavirus, the PM announced the launch of a Government of India collaboration with messaging service WhatsApp for a ‘Corona Helpdesk’ which would help disseminate authentic information on Covid-19.

“Sharing correct information, avoiding incorrect panic. Here is an effort by WhatsApp and @mygovindia to ensure you receive accurate and verified information on Coronavirus. Please click on this link https://wa.me/919013151515?text=Hi…or send Hi on +919013151515,” the PM said on Twitter on Saturday.

Full report on www.toi.in

Establishments advised to blow sirens at 5pm

New Delhi: In view of Prime Minister’s appeal to countrymen to observe a14-hour ‘janata curfew’ on Sunday and applaud all those in the forefront of fighting Covid-19 at 5pm, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to chief secretaries and administrators of all states/Union Territories asking them to widely disseminate the PM’s message to the community at large. He also asked the state governments and UT administrations to advise urban local bodies, panchayati raj institutions, fire services, police services, civil defence and industrial establishments, etc. to ring a siren at 5pm for intimation of all citizens. TNN

Large crowd at ‘Panguni’ fest despite Covid-19 warning

Procession Takes Place, Prasadam Distributed

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:22.03.2020

Large temples across the state have been closed as a precautionary measure against Covid-19, smaller temples managed by the HR & CE department and those in villages where thousands gather at a time are continuing to conduct the annual ‘Panguni’ festival, showing that people are still unaware of the lurking danger.

On Friday night, more than 1,000 people participated in the Panguni festival of Veerakaliamman temple near Melur. The people took out a procession to the temple carrying idols in decorated palanquins. “We are doing it for the good of the world and the health of the community,’’ said Selvam, a participant, saying that this was an annual festival that no family usually wanted to miss.

Pongal was also cooked on the premises and distributed to the people who came there. While the government’s directive to bar devotees is in place for bigger temples, the festivals in smaller temples are going to draw larger crowds. While the district administration and local body administrations are taking many steps to create awareness of hand hygiene in markets, bus stands, stations and other public places, no awareness was created at this specific temple festival.

Meanwhile, a small temple at Maravar Chavadi in Madurai conducted a ‘yaga’ seeking protection against the fastspreading Covid-19 virus. ``A large number of people also gathered there and it was clear that they did not give much thought to social distancing while participating in this puja,’’ said Krishnan of Arapalayam. The Thayamangalam festival in Sivaganga is another temple that draws lakhs of people from various parts of the state for the Panguni festival and the culminating event is to be held on Sunday. Sivaganga district collector J Jayakanthan said that he would look into the issue. Thousands gathered there on Saturday when a large number of goats and chickens were sacrificed. As there is a water scarcity in the temple, thousands entered the village tank simultaneously for bathing after tonsuring their heads.

DEFYING GUIDELINES: At least 1,000 people gathered at Veerakaliamman temple near Melur on Friday

2 docs offer med to cure Covid, flee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Salem:22.03.2020

Two homoeopathy doctors are likely to face legal action for misleading the public stating they had preventive medicine for Covid-19. The two deployed a man at Uzhavar Shandy in Hasthampatty area on Saturday to distribute pamphlets to the public. When TOI tried to talk to him, he fled. The pamphlet had contact details of Dr P Elango and Dr E Indrakumar, who were practice at a clinic on Gandhi Road. TOI alerted deputy director of health services Dr J Nirmalson, who tried to reach the two on their mobile phones. “No one picked up the calls. They managed to escape and the clinic was found closed when our team went there,” Nirmalson said. He has lodged a complaint with the Hasthampatty police, seeking action against the errant homoeopathic consultants for trying to cheat people.

Gold worth ₹17L stolen from house of collector

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thanjavur:22.03.2020

Unidentified miscreants broke into the house of Cuddalore collector V Anbuselvan at his native village near Peravurani taluk in Thanjavur district and decamped with gold jewellery worth about ₹17 lakh on Friday. The incident came to light only on Saturday and police are investigating.

According to police, Anbuselvan is a native of Nadiyam village and has been residing at the collector's camp office in Cuddalore along with his family. He had hired Selvam, 62, a native of the village, to guard his house during the night. On Friday night, Selvam was near the front gate when some miscreants managed to break open the back door and get inside. They looted gold jewellery weighing about 55 sovereigns from a bureau in the bedroom. Before stealing the valuables, the burglars damaged five CCTV cameras fixed in and around the house as well as the recorder and dumped them in the water tub in the backyard, police said. Selvam noticed the robbery on Saturday morning and subsequently informed the police. Pattukottai deputy superintendent of police Subramanian and Sethubavachathiram inspector V Annathurai along with their police team rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.

Govt school students may get reservation in med colleges

Eligibility: Class I-XII In Govt School

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.03.2020

The Tamil Nadu government is set to pass a new law to create special reservation for students of government schools in medical college admission, said chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, making a suo motu statement in the assembly on Saturday.

“The state is still fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Neet). The reservation will be for students who study from Class I to XII in government, corporation, municipal or adi-dravida schools as well as those run by the forest department,” said Palaniswami.

“The number of government school students entering medical colleges has come down drastically after the introduction of Neet. The government wants to stop this trend. A committee under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge will study the issue and make recommendations to the government. The commission will have secretaries of the health and law departments as members. Besides, two educationists named by the school education department will be included in the commission. The director of medical education will be the membersecretary of the commission,” said the chief minister.

The commission will study the reason for the poor entry of government school students into medical colleges and assess their social conditions before making recommendations to rectify the trend, Palaniswami said. The commission will submit its recommendations in a month.

Though NEET was introduced in 2016-17, late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had obtained an exemption for a year. “We have been opposing NEET. We adopted a resolution in the assembly and sent it to the Centre. We have also approached the Supreme Court and explained how the examination had severely affected the poor and students from rural areas,” he said.

A commission will study the reason for the poor entry of government school students into medical colleges and assess their social conditions before making recommendations to rectify the trend

FIGHTING COVID-19

Soon, private labs to be allowed to test samples

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

22.03.2020

In an effort to ensure maximum testing facilities, private labs in Tamil Nadu will soon be allowed to draw samples and test for Covid-19, health minster C Vijayabaskar told the assembly on Saturday. Permission to each of these labs will be given by the Union government.

To address the issue of cost, senior health officials said the state will fix a cap on the amount these labs can charge every patient, similar to the price cap for testing of H1N1 for all labs.

The five government labs including the King Institute for Preventive Medicine and the virology lab in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital will continue testing free of cost for all patients.

Now, all 24 government medical college hospitals in the state are allowed to draw samples from patients suspected to have Covid-19. In the past one week the state has rapidly increased the number of samples it sends to the labs for testing. Between Friday and Saturday afternoon Tamil Nadu took at least 70 more samples taking the total number of samples drawn from 333 to 412. “The strategy for testing is dynamic as the disease is new. We are now drawing more samples,” said a senior public health official.

The revised testing strategy of Covid-19, released by the ICMR on March 20, says people who show symptoms of the disease – cough, fever and breathlessness – within 14 days of international travel must be tested. Family living with patients tested positive should be tested if they show contacts. Besides this healthcare workers who are showing symptoms of the disease, all patients showing severe acute respiratory illness and asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed case (those who live in the same household as a positive patient and healthcare worker who examined a patient without adequate precaution) should be tested between day five and 14.

Beaches shut down; corpn sets up hand wash facilities

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

22.03.2020

All beaches in Greater Chennai Corporation limits have been closed to the public until further instruction. The civic body implemented the restriction from 3pm on Saturday.

The move is expected to help prevent crowds or revellers from gathering in the city as the state government has asked people to stay indoors and practice social distancing amid the Covid-19 scare.

Corporation commissioner G Prakash said that the Marina, Elliot’s Beach in Besant Nagar, Palavakkam and other beaches would stay shut. The beaches have also been barricaded to dissuade anyone from getting in. Beaches were the only place for people to gather in the city or take a walk or jog after parks were closed from Wednesday.

The civic body has also launched hand-washing facilities across the city from Saturday. Wash basins with tap water have been introduced in areas like Besant Nagar and Shollinganallur, said regional deputy commissioner (south) Alby John.

Liquid soap is given to people and they have been encouraged to follow the guidelines on washing hands regularly to avoid the spread of Covid-19 infection.

Awareness campaigns have also started in public places, bus stands and railway stations. Major public gathering places are being disinfected with the help of tractor-mounted cleaning machines as well as jet-rodding machines from Metrowater.

These machines have a capacity of around 9,000 litres and apart from disinfectants like Lysol, bleaching powder is also being used, a senior corporation official said.

Prakash also said that all Amma canteens, urban community health centres (UCHC) and maternity homes run by the civic body would keep functioning as usual on Sunday when a ‘janata curfew’ has been called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Conservancy operations would also continue as usual since it is an essential service, Prakash said.

It means the urban poor would get two square meals a day from Amma canteens, while garbage would also be collected from dustbins on roads and streets. Residents need not worry about garbage lying uncleared in the bins.

The corporation also announced a new helpline number for anyone residing in the civic body limits. They may call the number at any time for clarifications regarding Covid-19 and measures to be taken to prevent it. The toll free number 044-25384520 was launched on Saturday. The civic body is also running round-the-clock medical helpdesks at Dr MGR Central and Egmore railway stations.

OFF LIMITS: Marina Beach was deserted on Saturday as people stayed away to safeguard against Covid-19 infection

HC: Prolonged suspension of govt employees unfair

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.03.2020

The Madras high court has observed that the government should avoid ordering prolonged suspension of its employees, even in cases of corruption. Such suspensions would constitute a grave prejudice to the right of the citizens to have speedy trial and justice, the court said.

Unless the administration feels that an exceptionally hard and incorrigible case wherein reinstatement pending criminal/disciplinary proceeding would put the public interest completely at peril and would shake the confidence and faith of the society in public administration prolonged suspension must be avoided, Justice V Parthiban said.

The judge passed the order while allowing a plea moved by N Annapurani, who was working as an overseer with the Morappur block development office, Dharmapuri. She was placed under suspicion since November 9, 2012 in view of a pending corruption case against her.

Claiming that her suspension from service for over seven years is unjustifiable, she contended that though the complaint against her was filed in 2012 the trial commenced only in 2014, but still, it has not come to an end. Therefore, she wanted the court to direct the authorities concerned to reinstate her to service.

Allowing her plea, the court said: "When the period of suspension is more than seven years, enormous and severe anguish is experienced by the delinquent impinging upon the right of the delinquent to live with dignity and earn her livelihood."

The prolonged suspension even in matters of corruption like the present one, by itself, constitutes a grave prejudice to the right of the citizens to have speedy trial and justice, the judge said.

Justice Parthiban added that such prolonged suspension would by itself cast stigma on the delinquent concerned and the stigma would prolong as long as the suspension order operates without any finality to the allegation being enquired into against the delinquent concerned.

Such delay in judicial proceedings casts a shadow on the government servants' character and integrity on one hand and on the other, the subsistence allowance which is required under law to be paid to the suspended employee would be a loss to the public exchequer, as the suspended government servants draw their subsistence allowance without any corresponding duty to work and earn their livelihood, the court concluded.

The prolonged suspension even in matters of corruption constitutes a grave prejudice to the right of the citizens to have speedy trial and justice, the judge observed

HC judge donates month’s salary for unorganised sector

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.03.2020

In a bid to help the government take care of the marginalised sections of society, particularly those in unorganised sectors who would lose income due to Covid-19 outbreak, Justice S M Subramaniam of the Madras high court has donated one month’s salary to the government.

On Saturday, Justice Subramaniam met the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu at the secretariat and handed over the cheque for Rs 2.25 lakh in person.

Speaking to TOI, Justice Subramaniam said: "People in unorganised sector would be affected more if the lockdowns to contain Covid-19 is prolonged. We don't know for how many days or months the situation will be dragged. In such circumstances, only the government must feed the marginalised. I don't think government alone could do this. Therefore, people who are employed in organised sectors, who draw monthly salary and rich should contribute to help the poor."

The judge said,"Since, so far, no one has come forward to begin the initiative, I decided to take the first step and donate my one-month salary. I thought this would be a message to encourage people like actors, politicians and rich to contribute," Justice Subramaniam added.

Though his take home salary would be lesser after deductions, Justice Subramaniam has decided to donate his gross monthly salary.

SOCIAL DISTANCING, virtual togetherness

From Virtual Birthday Parties To Online Multiplayer Games — During The Pandemic, Technology Is Helping People To Remain Together Even When They Are Apart

Priya.Menon@timesgroup.com  22.03.2020

On Friday night, Ramya Cotah got ready to meet friends. But instead of heading to the nearest pub, she logged on to Zoom to join an ‘Online Covid-19 quarantine party’, where she and 15 of her former schoolmates partied the night away.

“My friend Sathya Xavier had just become a doctor, and another, Adithya Gopi, had released a music album.we wanted to celebrate it,” says Ramya, adding that all of them were dressed for a night out and had their food and drinks with them. After days of being cooped up at home, I had a really good evening.”

With social distancing being seen as the biggest factor, which can help prevent the spread of Covid-19, many people in the city have ceased to have a social life. Eating out, shopping, and having a drink with friends — things which people took for granted, are no longer the norm, which in turn is creating a sense of social isolation. But with technology available at fingertips, people are coming up with ways to remain together, though they are apart.

The party to celebrate self-isolation, for instance, was the idea of Denmarkbased Karan Rajan. “He is a professional shuttle player but can’t step out of his house. So he decided to organise an online party for schoolmates, who are all confined to home in different places?” says Mishal Ahamed, 24, who helped Karan organise it. “We had a quiz about embarrassing things that had happened in school and played games like Taboo.”

In another part of Chennai, Akhila Krishnamurthy’s son Aryan Varadvangal turned six a few days ago. Unlike the previous birthdays, this time there were no elaborate decorations, or friends milling around. But the day was still full of cheer, as friends sent audio and video messages, and relatives joined in the celebrations virtually.

“We had planned to have a party but I called it off 10 days ago,” says Akhila. “Usually, on the birthday eve we start celebrations, but this time even my father, who wasn’t keeping too well, chose to dial in.” She also baked a cake for her son for the first time. “My husband got balloons and my son pumped them up a day before so he woke up to a room filled with them. And we realised it takes so little to make a child happy.”

Assistant director Richard Anthony and his friends have been catching up on music, making and sharing playlists with each other as they can’t gather for a show or meet in clubs. “My friend Pranathi has made a playlist ‘Love in the time of corona’,” says Richard, who is working on his playlist, ‘We are in this together ’. Richard, who was not really into making video calls, has been using it more now to stay connected with his former schoolmates and to jam with his cinematographer friend. “We use each other as sounding boards whenever we come up with a story we want to work on. Usually we meet for a drink but this time we discussed it over a video chat and it was as engaging.”

With schools closed and parents restricting outdoor activity, online multiplayer games are the answer for bored teens. “I like badminton but now, I use the PS4 to play with friends. If it’s three or four of us, we play ‘Fortnite’, which is a shooting game, but instead of playing individually I prefer to play the ‘Creative’ version of the game where all my friends join in. Then we are in a virtual world together, playing the same game,” says 14-year-old Tanveer Singh Sethi.

In these difficult times, it’s good to spread cheer, and Sakthivel Pannerselvam, who runs surprise planning company the6.in has come up with a way to do that, virtually. “We are now offering virtual surprises,” he says. For instance, many of his clients want to surprise the women in their lives by getting a guitarist and a singer to show up at her door and perform just for her. “We are still offering the same service but now, the musicians perform virtually,” says Sakthivel.

FAR BUT NEAR:

Aryan’s friends sent video messages on his birthday

I LIKE BADMINTON BUT NOW, I USE THE PS4 TO PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS. IF IT’S THREE OR FOUR OF US, WE PLAY ‘FORTNITE’, AN ONLINE GAME – Tanveer Singh Sethi | TEENAGER