Govt. doctors to decide on indefinite strike on October 9

Six weeks’ time sought by Health Dept. to address demands drawing to a close

04/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

In August, six doctors launched an indefinite fast to draw the attention of the State govt. to their demands. File Photo

Five weeks have gone by since the Health department assured hundreds of protesting doctors of a review of their long-pending demand for pay-band 4 at the end of 13 years of service, and its consideration in six weeks.

But the Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) is unhappy as they say that the department has made little or no headway till now.

On Wednesday, members of FOGDA met Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar and Health Secretary along with department directors to discuss the progress made to address their demands. However, they felt that nothing has been done since the last round of talks on August 27.

In August, six government doctors launched an indefinite fast to draw the attention of the State government to their demands — implementation of Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) with pay band-4 at the end of 13 years of service instead of the present 20 years, modify a government order to post doctors as per patient load and not to reduce existing number of doctors as per MCI norms. The other demands were to conduct counselling for service post graduates postings and 50% service quota in PG and super specialty programmes.

On August 27, the Health department assured the doctors to look into their demands following which the doctors ended their protests. It was agreed to review government order 354 along with the prospective clause for DACP and take it forward for consideration in six weeks.

“There seems to be no progression. We hope that the government will fulfil our demands. On October 9, a day after the six week time-frame comes to an end, our executive committee meeting will be held to decide on indefinite strike if the government does not come up with any announcement,” A. Ramalingam, convenor of FOGDA, said. Health Minister Dr. Vijayabaskar said it was a “routine” meeting with a team of two government doctors’ associations. “We are planning what best we can do for them, and this was discussed,” he said.

North Chennai in the grip of dengue

Cases on the rise in areas like Tondiarpet, Royapuram; expected to peak this month

04/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

Safety first: Sources in the Corporation said 80% of the 200 city wards have reported dengue cases.File Photo

North Chennai is awash with fever cases, with areas like Tondiarpet and Royapuram reporting many cases of dengue.

“This year, over 350 dengue cases have been reported in September. Initially, dengue cases were reported in south Chennai but now there are more cases in north Chennai,” a civic official said.

“In fact, over 70% of the cases have been reported in wards of north Chennai. We are studying the reasons and are expecting the number to peak in October,” he said, sounding caution.

Harbour MLA P.K. Sekar Babu said the inadequate garbage clearance and faulty civic infrastructure have led to a rise in mosquito breeding sources in many areas of north Chennai.

“There are around 600 people with fever in the government hospital. But the government claims that more than 500 cases are of unknown origin. This is a disgrace for the government to say that they are unable to diagnose a fever. The government machinery has failed in this key aspect of public health,” said Mr. Sekar Babu.

‘Feigning ignorance’

“The government refuses to admit that the poor civic conditions have led to the rise in the number of fever cases. The officials continue to under report dengue cases. They are not certifying dengue cases as dengue. This is affecting dengue prevention and mosquito control operations,” he added.

According to Corporation sources, the official number of dengue cases in Tondiarpet was 25, the highest in the city in September. They said 80% of the 200 wards in the city have reported dengue cases.

“The intermittent rain in thickly populated areas of north Chennai has led to an increase in the incidence of dengue,” an official said.

Proactive steps

“We will take proactive steps. We have mapped suspected hotspots, collecting 25 female mosquitoes for checking the virus load. We will start fogging and source reduction this week. Any ward with more than two cases will get fogging operations in the morning, especially in the vicinity of schools, orphanages and hostels,” an official said.

Expecting the dengue cases to peak in October, the civic body is studying the trends. In previous years, southern zones such as Adyar reported many cases but not this year.

“Adyar did not report any dengue case this September,” an official said.

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Tech Institute to hold ninth convocation  04.10.2019

The BS Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology will have its ninth convocation ceremony on Saturday at 2pm at its convention centre on GST Road in Vandalur. Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be the chief guest for the occasion.

DVAC conducts raids at govt offices, seizes ₹7.7lakh: The directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption on Thursday conducted raids on five different government offices across the state, an official release said. In all, ₹7.7lakh of unaccounted money was seized. The raids were conducted in the offices of the jount transport commissioner, Chennai North, where ₹1.26 lakh was seized, the sub-registrar’s office Purasaiwalkam, Otteri, where ₹3.95 lakh was seized, the BDO office in Chinnasalem, Villupuram, where ₹90,000 was seized, the fire and rescue office in Dindigul, where ₹72,640 was seized and the RTO office in Karur where ₹86,540 was seized.

International peace festival organized: The Gandhi World Foundation celebrated '150 years of Mahatma Gandhi' by organizing an ‘International Peace Festival’ in Chennai on Wednesday. The festival included a number of events, especially aimed at the students' welfare and various competitions amongst the youth.

Coast Guard IG visits edu minister: Inspector general S Paramesh, commander Coast Guard Region (East) paid a courtesy call to TN education minister KA Sengottaiyan on Thursday. The inspector general shared several facets of the Indian Coast Guard and services being rendered to this coastal state. Sengottaiyan admired Coast Guard’s humanitarian role in the Tamil Nadu coastal districts during natural calamities and extended all support from the government. Discussions were focused to improve the education system in the coastal villages and mutual cooperation towards further enhancement. Sengottaiyan assured all support from the government with respect to various education related activities and events.

ALARM BELLS

City railway stations fail cleanliness test  04.10.2019

Officials Promise Action After None Of Them Figure In Top 50 Of Sanitation Survey

V Ayyappan & Siddharth Prabhakar TNN

Three of the biggest railway stations in the city — MGR Central, Egmore and Tambaram — have plunged new depths in the ‘Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat 2019’ report on cleanliness released on Wednesday.

None of them figures in the top 50 in the rankings. Central is ranked at 58 (36 in 2018), Egmore is at 149 (27) and Tambaram 321 (62). Southern Railway zone has slipped to 12 in overall cleanliness ratings from its position of seven last year.

This is despite the fact that crores of money have been spent on sanitation contracts to keep these stations clean.

Official estimates suggest Southern Railway spent ₹80lakh a month at Central and ₹35 to 40 lakh a month at Egmore for cleanliness. A good part of the cleaning has been mechanised.

“The Railways clean these stations efficiently only during Swachh campaigns done annually,” said a passenger. The three railway stations look spick and span at present as the Swachh campaign is on, he said.

The 2019 report studied 720 railway stations across India. While Jaipur emerged as the overall leader in the category, the three stations of Chennai are laggards when compared to stations such as Yeshwanthpur, Pune, Secunderabad, Dadar and Surat, all of which were classified in the same category in terms passenger footfall.

Railway officials said these three stations were compared last year with A1 category stations, while this year, they have been clubbed together with big and small stations based on passenger footfall and revenue.

“It is unfair to compare rankings of small and big stations together. Chennai is doing better than other metros in the country. This is an achievement considering that the cleanliness expectation in Tamil Nadu and Chennai is higher than other states,” said a senior official.

DRM P Mahesh claimed that MGR Central has done better than last year if rankings of only the big stations are compared. Another senior railway official said all departments have been advised to study the rankings and its parameters and act on it.

Southern Railway general manager John Thomas said, “The feedback on perception of cleanliness is a reason for the low rating. The general cleanliness is better here. Once a place is already clean, the improvement level can be less. If it’s not clean, the improvement level will be high. In the north in the last one year, there was a significant improvement in cleanliness. We will look at station-level to find out where it has come down and will improve”

There, however, is a saving grace. Railway stations in southern zone have fared better in terms of Green initiatives. MGR Central has been ranked at 66, while Egmore is at 61.

You can be 80 & still be naughty

Men & Women In 50-60 Age-Group Have Sex 10 Times Per Month: Study

Priya.Menon@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.10.2019

Age is just a number, at least when it comes to sex. And now, there is data to prove it too. According to sexologist Dr Narayana Reddy’s latest study, ‘Sexual Behaviour of the Ageing Population’, in Chennai, men and women aged 50 to 59 have sex more than 10 times a month. About 71% men and 48% women also said they were turned on by exposure to explicit sexual material.

“People tend to think that once you cross 50 you become asexual but that it not true. I decided to do the study as I wanted to tell people that age has got nothing to do with sexual functioning, only the pace slows down,” says Dr Reddy, who did the study from 2005 to 2015, interviewing people aged 50 to 91. The study covered 2,071 individuals — 72.91% men and 27.09% women — all from Chennai though from different linguistic groups. “Since all the interviews were done faceto-face, the sample population is small,” says Dr Reddy, who presented the findings of his study recently at the mid-term conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society.

It’s important to address the sexual needs and behaviour of the elderly in India, believes Dr Reddy. “With increasing lifespan and better healthcare, more elderly people are healthy and sexually active,” he says.

30% men and 17% women admit having had extra marital sex

The life expectancy of Indians was 40 for men and 38 for women in 1950. In 2018, according to WHO, it became 67.4 for men and 70.3 for women. As per the 2011 Population Census, there are 51 million men and 53 million women who are aged 60 and above in India.

The study also throws light on the sexual behavioural pattern among the elderly. For instance, 22.65% husbands and 24.06% wives said they had initiated sex. More than 68% men and 87% women said their spouses actively participated in sex. “In the initial days of marriage, especially if it is an arranged one, the woman may be shy and not very responsive as she doesn’t know her husband. But once she has lived with him for years, she loses her inhibition and participates actively.”

In men, the main reasons for reduced or lack of coital frequency was erectile dysfunction (29.47%), followed by associated illnesses (16.63%), and lack of privacy (12.59%). In women, the reasons for it was sexual problems of the husband (23.52%), followed by associated illnesses (18.89%) and lack of partner (18.18%).

Interestingly, 29.87% men and 16.76% women admitted to having had extra marital sex. And, 45.01% men said it was due to a lack of privacy, while 23.95% said it was due to nonavailability of wife. About 4% women said they had affairs to get even while 6.38% did it for sexual satisfaction.

“The sexual needs of the elderly are often not taken into consideration. Children should also understand that their parents are not asexual,” says Dr Reddy. “In our society, once the daughter is of marriageable age, usually the parents don’t even sleep in the same room. And once grandchildren arrive, the grandparents are separated as they are roped in for babysitting. Situations like these are now being shown in movies such as the Amitabh Bachan-Hema Malini starrer ‘Bhagban’.”

Ageing does have an impact on the way the body responds. “As you age, your body responds slowly and it may take longer to get aroused. But elderly people who approach me for help often don’t understand that,” says Dr Reddy. The study shows that geriatric sexual problems in men include erectile dysfunction (41.52%), decreased libido (12.38%), and dyspareunia or painful sexual intercourse (10.53%). In women, it includes orgasmic dysfunction (34.76%), reduced/ lack of desire (16.22%) and dyspareunia (11.05%).

However, these problems can be addressed. “Management of geriatric sexuality can be done through periodic medical check-ups, attention to physical illness, treatment of associated illness, hormone replacement therapy, pharmaco therapy, and surgical management,” says Dr Reddy. “You also need to change negative attitudes, have sex, marital counselling, and/ or family counselling, supportive psychotherapy, and sex therapy.”

Flying to Europe next year? Be ready to pay 20%-30% more

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.10.2019

Flying to Europe on a holiday in New Year or during one of those extended holidays next year may cost 20% to 30 % more as hundreds of travellers are forced to rebook after Cox & Kings cancelled its ‘enchanting Europe tour’ after the company has run into financial trouble.

Travel and tour operators said though Cox & Kings is offering refunds, it might be tough to rebook as flight tickets and hotels rooms would be expensive. Closer to the holiday season, international trips are often booked at least six months in advance. Hospitality sector is going through a crisis in major tourist destinations abroad after Thomas Cook hit a crisis abroad.

Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said air fare was already high on most of the routes. “It will be tough to rebook. But many people are looking to rebook because they want to go on vacations. But several people may not travel this time.”

In a letter to customers, Cox & Kings says “unavoidable banking constraints” as the reason for cancellation of enchanting Europe tour.

The firm’s offices in Chennai have already stopped taking bookings. Inquiries with its main office and franchise offices in the city revealed that they were not taking bookings for international tours for about a month. “We are told by Cox and Kings that booking amount would be refunded to customers in 90 days. No more bookings are entertained for any trip,” a company franchise representative said. While Cox and Kings city office on Spur Tank Road in Chetpet remained open, bookings were not taken.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Cox and Kings has opened a window of opportunity for local tour operators.

Sriharan Balan, chairman, tourism sub-committee of Travel Agents Association of India, southern region, said trusted neighbourhood tour operators, who have sustained in the business for more than two decades, are witnessing conversions from multinational operators. “For instance, we have operated premium group tour for 300 passengers to Hong Kong recently. This group was traditional customers of leading international tour operators including Cox and Kings,” he said. According to him, protection for money has become a vital issue for travellers after international tour operators went bankrupt. “Trust has become a selling point in the tourism sector during such crisis. Local operators are all set for windfall gains as people have started approaching us for long destinations such as Australia, New Zealand and US,” he added.

It’s logically unsound to allow govt hoardings alone: Jurists
‘Govt, Parties Don’t Stand On Different Footing’

A.Subramani@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.10.2019

Public safety-wise, are hoardings erected by government any different from those put up by political parties? While jurists insist both are as bad and it would be ‘logically unsound’ to try and distinguish between political party and government, the Madras high court has a different take.

On Thursday, the court did not stop Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to install hoardings and, instead, said curbs on hoardings were for political parties alone.

So here it is: With court ‘nod’, even as public outrage over the death of techie R Subashree simmers, the Tamil Nadu government will erect hoardings and digital banners at specified locations for more than 40km, between Chennai airport and Mamallapuram, from October 9 to 13 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“The state government filing an application for putting up hoardings is an ingenious method to make an illegality into a legality. Government and political parties do not stand on a different footing, and what we here have is a political government,” said Justice K Chandru, former judge, Madras high court.

When it comes to regulation, government and a private person are equal, he said, adding, “in a no-parking zone, can they park government vehicles alone?”

“Isn’t law equal to all? If there could be a blanket ban on hoardings by political parties, why should a government be allowed to erect political party, he asked. This round of litigation has set a bad precedent, said senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member P Wilson, who also argued the case before the division bench of the Madras high court on Thursday.

When a foreign dignitary is on visit, the protocol is a matter of convention and tradition, said Justice Chandru, adding, “only if they want to go on public procession would barricades be put up and public line up. There is nothing like erecting hoardings.”

Anyway government or anyone cannot put up hoardings on Kathipara-Pallavaram as there is a Supreme Court order upholding a ban, and digging up or erecting something in Mamallapuram itself is prohibited as it is a heritage site, he said.

In China there is no cutout or hoarding culture, Vijayan said, adding, “Xi Jinping will neither be impressed by hoardings, nor be disappointed in case he does not find them along the route.” them,” asked social activist Traffic Ramaswamy. It is Ramaswamy’s pending contempt petition against bureaucrats that gave life to the illegal hoardings issue, when it came up for hearing a day after Subashree’s death.

“I will go to the Supreme Court against the order, if it dilutes the hoardings law in any manner,” he said.

Senior advocate K M Vijayan said when probability of an accident is the basis for ban, it is immaterial who puts up the banner.

When it comes to public safety, public health and sovereignty of the State, courts could be assertive and impose blanket ban. Also, noting that as per the Constitution, individuals cannot form the government and that only political parties can do that, he said, “There is no dichotomy between party and government.” If the ban is only for political parties, can an individual or an actor tomorrow seek permission to erect hoardings saying he is not part of any