Madras HC sets aside transfer order to differently-abled 
headmistress 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Nov 30, 2018, 6:18 am IST

Updated Nov 30, 2018, 6:18 am IST 

The judge directed the authorities to post the petitioner within a week, as headmistress in the Thazhancheri HC, which is situated near her residence. 


Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madras high court has set aside an order of the authorities transferring a differently-abled headmistress to a far away school.

“When the law is so concerned for the disabled persons and makes provision, it is the obligation of the law executing authorities to ensure implementation in quite promptitude”, said Justice S. Vimala while disposing of a petition from R.Thamaraiselvi, a differently-abled woman.

The judge directed the authorities to post the petitioner within a week, as headmistress in the Thazhancheri high court, which is situated near her residence.

According to Thamaraiselvi, she was appointed as a teacher and posted in a high school in Korkai in 1997. Subsequent to her promotion as headmistress in 2018, despite her 50 percent disability and request to post her in a high school in Thazhancheri, which was just 10 km away from her residence, she was offered the high school in Periathumbur, which was 104 km away, during counseling. Therefore, she filed the present petition, she added. The judge said the transport system and the population using it were alarming and accidents were escalating each day. The population traveling over the top of the bus cannot be forgotten while considering the transfer request of a disabled person. Normally, place of posting was left to the discretion of the administrators, but in this case, this court did not have the hope that the administrators would take care of the interest of the differently abled person namely the petitioner, the judge added and gave the above directive.

Faulty medical devices cause for deaths and injuries 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Dec 1, 2018, 2:47 am IST

The researchers said that eight percent of all implants had no evaluated evidence due to the lack of a proper regulation process.

The high failure rate of implants highlighted the need for an adequate evidence base for medical implants.

Chennai: A report led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its partner news organizations. The British Medical Journal and BBC Panorama revealed that 83,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries were associated with faulty medical devices. The safety regulations do not keep up with the advancements in med tech, raising the need of a better regulatory system on the medical devices.

One of the earlier reports by the BMJ revealed that hip replacement surgeries use implants with no readily available evidence related to their safety and effectiveness. The researchers said that eight percent of all implants had no  evaluated evidence due to the lack of a proper regulation process.

The high failure rate of implants highlighted the need for an adequate evidence base for medical implants. Many implants are available to surgeons without an evidence of clinical effectiveness to support their use.

The report highlighted that governmental authorities do not review medical devices before they reach the market. Instead, medical device companies seek approval from notified bodies for approval. Though the scenario was based on the European market and med tech industry mainly, various countries such as India are main consumers of the same.

The report said that safety and efficacy of medical devices are not subject to the same transparency rules as medicines; so much so that surgeons performing these procedures don’t always see the evidence related to the devices.

Responding to the report, UK’s Royal College Of Surgeons demanded drastic  regulatory changes in the way medical devices are evaluated. Medicos say that all implant devices should be registered and tracked to monitor efficacy and patient safety in the long term.

ID cards: Stick to SC fiat on Aadhaar, citizens tell MTC

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Dec 2, 2018, 1:51 am IST

Senior citizens have demanded that MTC officials do not ask for copy of Aadhaar. 


MTC should make do with a copy of ration card alone, from this time onwards. Officials should instruct all depots in this regard accordingly, they added.

Chennai: As free travel coupons for senior citizens for the period January, February and March 2019, comes up for renewal sometime during the middle of this month, senior citizens have demanded that MTC officials do not ask for copy of Aadhaar.

In line with the apex court verdict on use of Aadhaar, which stated that banks, telecom units and private entities, should not demand Aadhaar number of customers, the MTC also should strictly comply with the order, and refrain from asking for Aadhaar numbers, the citizens noted.

MTC should make do with a copy of ration card alone, from this time onwards. Officials should instruct all depots in this regard accordingly, they added.

President of T. Nagar Welfare Association, Jayaram Sivaram, said, "MTC issues identity cards affixing the photograph of the beneficiary every year. Details of the coupons are also properly recorded to ensure travel only by the beneficiary to whom the coupons are issued."

"Such IDs will become invalid by December 2018 and has to be re-issued. In December 2017, while issuing the new cards for 2018, MTC had asked senior citizens to surrender their old identity cards. When questioned, the counter staff said that old ID cards were asked to be surrendered as per orders from top officials," the civic activist said, adding that one does not understand the logic behind such an order.

Retention of the old ID of a beneficiary by the MTC defies all logic, and the corporation should therefore, instruct all depots not to retain the old IDs, said another citizen. A senior MTC official said that the MTC has instructed all branch managers not to ask for Aadhaar when applying for coupons. "Action would be taken against officials who ask for unnecessary documents and we will look into the issue of retention of the old IDs," the official added.

Offer college seat to child prodigy: Madras High Court 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

Published Dec 2, 2018, 2:11 am IST

16-year-old had recited 1,330 Tirukkural couplets in LKG. 


Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the Directorate of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy to permit a 16-year-old meritorious girl student, who recited all 1,330 Tirukkural couplets while studying in LKG itself, to take part in the counselling for the B.A.M.S course and, if she is found eligible in the counselling, admit her in Maria Ayurveda Medical College in Kanyakumari district.

Justice T.Raja gave the directive while disposing of a petition from the girl student Yazhesy Tha, who was not considered for selection on the ground that she has not completed 17 years as on December 31, 2018, as per clause 45 of the prospectus issued by the Director, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy Department.

According to Yazhesy Tha, after passing plus-2, she applied for BSMS/ BAMS/ BNYS/BUMS/BHMS courses for the year 2018-19. Though she has scored 157.25 cut off marks and her rank falls in between 1648 and 1666, she was not considered for selection on the ground that she has not completed 17 years as on December 31, 2018, as per clause 3 of the prospectus, she added.

The judge said it was an admitted fact that the petitioner is a meritorious student who evidently proved her memory and intelligentsia as she started reciting all 1,330 Tirukkural couplets, even from LKG itself and she was awarded a certificate by Deiveeka Sidhantha Ilakiya Mandram on August 2, 2006. She was also conferred title “Tirukkural Maamani by Thalainagar Tamizhasangam on July 24, 2011.

Further, the World Tamil Research Centre, Thramani also awarded certificate on the 66th birth anniversary of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, certifying that she had participated in Tirukkural recitation competition while studying 8th standard.

Besides several other awards conferred on her clearly show that the petitioner is a highly talented student and also a child prodigy. The difficulty faced by her at the hands of the authorities shows that as she has applied for the said courses and she also secured 157.25 marks, for the simple reason that she is below 17 years as on December 31, 2018, the authorities have denied permission, the judge added.

Pointing out the eligibility criteria as per the amended notification, the judge said when the petitioner has admittedly complied with the admission qualifications, as per the amended notification dated November 7, 2016, the authorities cannot rely upon the old notification dated October 13, 2006 issued for Siddha by citing the age factor that she has not completed 17 years of age as on December 31. This court finds no impediment on the basis of the latest amended notification to allow the petitioner to take part in the counseling. Additional advocate general A.Kumar submitted that on the basis of her cut off marks, she may not be able to get admission in government colleges for Siddha but she can be considered for admission in private colleges and since counseling was presently going on and there was vacancy in Maria Ayurveda Medical College, she will be considered in the said college, the judge added and gave the directive.

Microsoft gives 25 offers to IIT-M students on day 1 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Dec 2, 2018, 3:07 am IST


Apple and Goldman Sachs are other major recruiters with eight and seven offers respectively on the first session. 


IIT Madras

Chennai: Software giant Microsoft has offered as many as 25 offers to students from IIT Madras on day 1 of the placement season.

Apple and Goldman Sachs are other major recruiters with eight and seven offers respectively on the first session.

The placement season at IITs began on Saturday. During the first session, 19 top companies including Apple and Google gave 85 offers including 6 international offers to the students from top engineering institute in the country.

The top three global consulting majors McKinsey, The Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co. have participated in the first session and accounted for 13 offers.

Isro and ONGC have already recruited 7 candidates from IIT Madras taking the total offers to 92 in the first session which was held from 7 am to 2 pm on Saturday.

Professor Manu Santhanam, advisor, Training and Placement, IIT Madras said that finance and analytics sector also gave a high number of offers on the first session with 29 offers received from these companies.

More than 1,300 students are registered for placement this year from IIT Madras and over 326 companies have expressed interest to recruit the students.

Alekhya Reddy from Computer Science and Engineering Department got selected for Redmond campus of Microsoft in the US. She expressed a sense of satisfaction after attending interviews of software giants and answering nerve-wracking coding questions.

Health cover from Tamil Nadu government raised from Rs 2 Lakh to Rs 5 Lakh

The new insurance cover will come into effect from December 1, he said in an official release.
 
Published: 01st December 2018 01:27 AM |

 
Image for representational purpose only.

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has hiked the health insurance cover, under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced on Friday.

The new insurance cover will come into effect from December 1, he said in an official release.

Under the CMCHIS, 1.58 crore families are covered for 1,027 procedures for Rs 1 lakh per annum and for 154 procedures for up to Rs 2 lakh per annum, P Uma Maheswari, Project Director, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, explained.

However, under the Pradhan Mandri Jan Arogya Yojana Scheme, which the TN scheme is linked from September, beneficiaries selected based on level of deprivation in rural regions and on occupation in urban regions get a cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per annum.


“People who don’t fall into those categories are not eligible for the central scheme,” she said.

“The State decided to raise the cover under CMCHIS to Rs 5 lakh to ensure that all benefit equally, regardless of whether they are covered under the central health insurance scheme or not,” she added.

Families covered under the scheme can utilise it without paying any fee, the CM said.

I-T dept asked to keep mum on noon meal scheme probe

Justice T Raja granted the injunction while passing interim orders on a petition from Christy Friedgram industry, by its proprietor T S Kumaraswamy in Andypalayam in Namakkal district on Tuesday.

  Published: 30th November 2018 02:16 AM 

 
Madras High Court (File photo | EPS)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Income-Tax officials at various levels, including its Director-General at Nungambakkam, have been restrained by the Madras High Court from divulging anything to the print and visual media on the ongoing investigation into the allegations against a private firm in Namakkal district, which supplied food materials for the State government’s noon meal scheme.

Justice T Raja granted the injunction while passing interim orders on a petition from Christy Friedgram industry, by its proprietor T S Kumaraswamy in Andypalayam in Namakkal district on Tuesday.

“In the light of the observations of the Supreme Court, as well as Rule 11 of the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules, since the IT department cannot directly or indirectly communicate and provide any information on the pending inquiry of any government servant or any person, more particularly any sub judice matters, the respondents (IT officials) are directed not to divulge any information or undertake media trial with regard to the investigation of the inquiry being conducted against the petitioner company till further orders,” the judge said and posted the main petition for further hearing after three weeks. Petitioner alleged that IT officials had purposely leaked out incorrect information with regard to his company’s dealings with the government.