Ignored by docs, bitten by ants, man dies in hosp
Rashmi.Drolia @timesgroup.com

Raipur:10.07.2018

A middle-aged man died at Koriya district hospital, 350km north of Raipur, on Monday evening after allegedly being denied medical care even as ants fed on his wounds and bed sores for two days.

He is yet to be identified. Doctors denied allegations of negligence, but admitted that ants had “climbed into his bed sores” because the hospital sweeper was not available.

The victim was found lying unconscious, bleeding from a head wound, outside Manendragarh primary health centre 10 days ago. No one bothered to take him inside for a couple of days until local MLA Shyambihari Jaiswal got wind of it and a week ago pulled up the health staff. The victim was taken into the health centre, and referred to Baikunthpur at the district hospital. A government ambulance dropped him off at the hospital.

There was more horror in store for him. With no family or friend to look after him or chase doctors, no one took note of him as he lay unconscious in a hospital bed. Local reporters got a tipoff and went to check on Sunday. They were horrified to find ants swarming all over on the man. According to local mediapersons, some health employees told them that there was “no special provision for abandoned patients”.

They deserve only death: Nirbhaya’s mom

Parents Say Families Must Provide Adequate Support To Survivors In Getting Justice

Somreet.Bhattacharya@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:10.07.2018

It has taken six years for the judicial system to endorse the desire of Asha Devi and Badrinath Singh to see the men who raped their daughter, Nirbhaya, sentenced to death. “We want to see the end of it all now,” said Devi on Monday.

“We are happy that the judges heard the arguments and then decided to uphold the death penalty,” said Devi outside the courtroom where a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice R Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan rejected the pleas of three of the men against the death sentence handed down to them by the trial court and upheld by Delhi high court. “The type of crime they committed does not require anything less than death, ”she said.

The father had stronger words. “How can this be called a punishment?” Singh said. “How can a brutal rape and murder of a girl whose body was horribly mutilated ever be justified? We all know how the system works. These men will manage to come out of the prison on some excuse.”

Having suffered for so many years, Nirbhaya’s parents have also been asking all along for stricter laws so that rape-cum-murder trials can be sped up in order to provide closure and relief from trauma to the parents. Devi said that she has learned a lot about the way the courts function and is now helping victims of sexual assault. “My biggest advice to the family members of a sexual assault survivor is to give them full support,” she said. “Don’t question them. Instead help them to get a police case registered. Many families choose to stay quiet due to shame, and this only emboldens the rapists.”

The family shared its anxieties about another rapist, a juvenile, who had been released after three years in a correction centre. “He is free and roaming among us. I don’t know if the time in the correction home has changed him and we still have our fears,” Devi said.

Grandpa wants to see convicts hanged

The grandfather of Nirbhaya on Monday lauded the Supreme Court for upholding the death verdict of the four gang rape and murder convicts in the case and said his only wish was to see them hanged before he died.

“It is a matter of satisfaction that the Supreme Court has upheld capital punishment for them. There should be speedy trials to punish such people,” Lalji Singh, a resident of Medaura Kalan village in Ballia, told TOI. “I will die in peace if they are executed in my lifetime,” he added. TNN

SC says only Agra residents can offer prayers in Taj

New Delhi:

Only residents of Agra will be allowed to offer Juma Namaz (Friday prayers) at Mumtazi Masjid inside the premises of Taj Mahal with the Supreme Court on Monday refusing to open its doors for outsiders saying that the world heritage monument, facing threat due to pollution, has to be protected at any cost.

“This (Taj Mahal) is one of the seven wonders of the world and we do not want this to decimate,” a bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said while dismissing a plea for allowing outsiders to perform prayers at the site.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by Syed Ibrahim Hussain Zaidi challenging Agra additional district magistrate’s decision barring non-residents from offering prayers inside the Taj premises on grounds of security. TNN

School bus falls into canal in Tiruvarur, 19 children injured

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:10.07.2018

Nineteen schoolchildren suffered injuries after their bus plunged into a roadside canal near Nannilam in Tiruvarur district on Monday.

The accident occurred when the van was on its way to Sri Lalithambigai Matriculation High School at Poonthottam near Tiruvarur town, carrying children in the 5-10 age group. As it approached Achuthamangalam village, the driver allegedly lost control and the vehicle plunged into Alangudi Vaickal.

Since there was no water in the canal, all students onboard escaped with minor injuries. On being informed, a team of the Nannilam police arrived at the spot, rescued the students and sent them to the Nannilam government hospital for treatment. Two girls have been shifted to a private hospital in Tiruvarur, as they sustained minor fractures on the leg. Police said that brake failure could have been the reason for the accident. A case has been registered and investigations are on.

Stalin says edu trust misused 7 acres of land worth ₹370cr

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:10.07.2018

Leader of opposition M K Stalin wanted the government to take action against Sri Ramachandra Educational and Health Trust for using 7.44 acres of government land to construct a marriage hall and earning revenue, instead of a school or college. Though the land was given to the trust when DMK was in power in 1998, the trust has not used the land for the purpose it was allotted for, Stalin stated.

He said the land was worth ₹370 crore, but the government had given it at ₹33 crore. “Will the government take any action against the trust as it has violated the purpose for which the land must have been used for. We accept that the land was given to the trust when DMK was in power,” said Stalin.

Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam said action will be taken against the trust if there is any violation.

INSTIL CONFIDENCE’

Tuticorin firing fit case for CBI probe: Madras HC
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai  10.07.2018

: “I do not understand why the Tamil Nadu government is opposing a CBI probe into the May 22 Tuticorin police shooting. We suggest it only to instil confidence in people. We are not saying that the probe by state police is biased or shabby,” the Madras high court has said.

“Even in the gutka scam we did not order a CBI probe based on the allegations of involvement of a minister and DGP. We did so only to instil confidence in people about fairness of the probe. We had also recorded the same in the order. Similarly, in the present case, when the state police are also involved, a probe by an independent agency would get people’s confidence,” the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha said on Monday.

This apart, rejecting the claim made by the petitioners’ counsel that the police firing, in which 13 anti-Sterlite protestors were killed was a one-sided attack, the chief justice said: “I seldom watch television. On that day, I was in Kodaikanal and coincidentally I watched the incident being telecast in Time Now news channel. From what was telecast, I am sure it was not one-sided but twosided attack. A section of protestors could be seen attacking police vehicles and setting them on fire.”

This apart, pointing out the submissions of the advocate-general Vijay Narayan that the government had video proof that some of the protestors carried petrol bombs during the ‘peaceful’ rally, the bench said, if such allegations are true such persons cannot be allowed to get away. Moreover, it would be wrong to say that police cannot act in self-defence, the bench added.

CAG REPORT

Rajiv Gandhi hospital wasted life-saving, other drugs worth ₹16cr: Audit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  10.07.2018

One of the largest organ transplant centres in the public sector, Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, has wasted ₹9.34 crore worth of life-saving immune suppressants by placing orders in excess, the comptroller and auditor general of India has alleged.

In addition, they also ordered another drug Bromociptine used to treat gynaecological problems and Parkinson’s disease in excess.

The inflated requirement by the hospital and “failure to exercise control by director of medical education (DME) and Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation resulted in excess procurement of medicines and consequent loss of ₹16.17 crore due to expiration of medicines,” the report concluded.

In December 2013, the DME submitted requirement of 45 medicines in the essential drug list for 37 hospitals under its control. “Every hospital’s requirement is listed out by the pharmacist after collecting information from the doctors,” said a senior official at the directorate of drugs control.

In this case, the requirement did not have signature of either the MSO or the hospital dean before submission to the DME. Hospital dean has told the comptroller’s office the medical stores officer placed orders for the immune suppressant, Tacrolimus and Bromociptine “far in excess” by oversight because he

did not calculate the number of tablets in each unit he ordered.

Against the overall consumption of 5.46 lakh capsules of Tacrolimus and 7,000 tablets of Bromociptine, the hospital ordered 1.8 crore capsules and 96 lakh tablets respectively.

A two member committee recommended a detailed inquiry, but no further action was taken. Though, the requisition from the hospital came without signature, the DME passed it without any inquiry. TNMSC too did not restrict the procurement, it said.

To prevent future lapses, the DME has created a section headed by technical officers and made it mandatory for hospital heads to furnish authenticated copy based on requirements. The auditor also rapped the government for wasting money on a stem cell research centre at Stanley Medical College Hospital.