Report for work, Minister tells striking doctors Strike enters fifth day 

Government will take necessary measures to protect the welfare of the people, says Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar 

 30/10/2019 , Special CorrespondentCHENNAI , Special 
Correspondent, CHENNAI 


 
CPI(M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan addressing the doctors on strike at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai on Tuesday. B. Jothi Ramalingam

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Tuesday urged the striking doctors to return to work immediately. If the strike continues, the government will take necessary measures to protect the welfare of the people.

The Minister said that though the Federation of Government Doctors Association was not recognised by the government, the Health Secretary held talks with its representatives on October 25, assuring them that their demands were under consideration and it was not an appropriate time to strike when the monsoon was active.

Higher pay

He pointed out that the Dynamic Assured Career Progression that guaranteed higher pay and time-bound promotions was implemented only for government doctors. It was unfair to demand and compare it with the pay scale of Central government doctors. They were not allowed to practice in private hospitals or run their own hospitals, whereas government doctors in the State were permitted to take up private practice, he said.

However, the government was considering grant of special pay on the basis of seniority, and for doctors working in tough environment, he added.

On their demand to maintain doctor posts in accordance with the number of patients, he said posts should be created as per Medical Council of India norms. The government was looking into the need to create additional posts.

The Minister clarified that the present practice of posting postgraduates to vacant posts in district and taluk government hospitals on priority basis would continue instead of conducting counselling. He said that the government spent ₹1.24 crore of public tax money to create a doctor.

He gave details of the monthly salary of government doctors: first year – ₹80,247, 8th year – ₹97,900, 15th year – ₹1,22,919, 17th year – ₹1,35,365 and 20th year – ₹1,53,027.

Police protection

On Monday, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh wrote to the Director-General of Police seeking police protection to government hospitals and government medical college hospitals to enable medical officers to render their services to the public without any untoward incident. She also requested a police picket to be posted where necessary.

The Director of Medical Education in a circular directed all deans of medical colleges and heads of institutions not to allow any unauthorised/unorganised ‘pandal’ on the premises and to evict them if they were put up.

They were instructed to lodge complaints with the outpost/nearby police station to prevent any unauthorised gathering or protest against the government.

Outpatient services took a hit in a few government hospitals as doctors affiliated to the Federation of Government Doctors Association boycotted work for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday.

With many doctors in the cadre of assistant professors taking part in the indefinite strike, chiefs of units and doctors from the non-clinical departments were roped in to run outpatient departments.

After talks with the Minister, the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association postponed its plan to go on strike on October 30 and 31.

Doctor complains of dowry harassment

30/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, Chennai

A 30-year-old woman doctor has lodged a complaint against an IT official, alleging that he and his father, a retired DSP, had harassed her for dowry even before their marriage.

The police said the doctor alleged that the groom’s family demanded that she register a ₹3.5-crore worth property in their name, and hand over ₹50 lakh in cash, even before marriage.

She claimed that her family had given ₹10 lakh to the boy’s family to buy a car. However, they started demanding the remaining ₹40 lakh.

The Thirumangalam All-Women police took her complaint, and has issued a CSR receipt. The police have summoned the groom’s family for interrogation.

Boy has surgery after nurse leaves injection needle in hip

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolar Gold Fields (KGF):30.10.2019
A five-year-old boy suffering from fever was left with a pin in his hip after a nurse at General Hospital, KGF, negligently administered an injection to the child and left the broken needle inside his body. Later, he was rushed with a swollen hip to Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru, where he had to undergo surgery.

According to Dr Shivakumar, district surgeon, KGF General Hospital, the boy was brought to the facility around 4.30pm on Saturday with fever. A nurse on duty administered an injection to him on directions of the duty doctor. However, she noticed the needle was missing from the syringe.

While the nurse began to search for the needle, the boy’s mother kept rubbing the hip to reduce his pain. The nurse thought the needle may have been lost. Meanwhile, the boy and his parents left the hospital.

Around 8pm, the parents approached the district surgeon with the boy, whose hip was swollen. The parents got an X-ray of the hips, which clearly showed the needle was stuck inside.

Full report on www.toi.in

After IndiGo, GoAir asked to replace its Neo engines

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.10.2019
India’s aviation regulator on Tuesday directed GoAir to replace an engine each on 13 of its Airbus A320 Neos within a fortnight. While a similar order was issued Monday for 16 IndiGo A320 Neos due to four engine snags the airline saw last week, the directorate general of civil aviation says the instruction for GoAir is on “precautionary” grounds.

Now Pratt & Whitney (PW) needs to supply 29 replacement engines in 15 days — almost two per day — to avoid grounding of these 29 planes in peak travel season.

The regulator has said beyond 15 days, these 29 planes will fly only when they get a replacement engine. PW did not say how many replacement engines it will be able to give in that timeframe for the 29 affected Neos.

A GoAir spokesman said the airline “has not received any communication from DGCA in this respect. Whenever we receive any communication, at that point in time, we will evaluate and respond accordingly. We will continue to work on all directives/policies as stipulated by the DGCA.”

PW said in a statement it is “working in coordination with airline customers to incorporate upgrades improving the durability of the low pressure turbine in the PW1100G-JM fleet to address a known issue.”

Passengers stranded in Hong Kong as IndiGo changes B’luru flight number
Bengaluru:

Passengers on a Bengaluru-bound flight were stranded in Hong Kong overnight on Tuesday, after the flight was denied permission to fly and grounded due to a last-minute change in flight number by the airline.

IndiGo 6E 1774 was scheduled to depart from Hong Kong for Bengaluru at 8.50am. The flight number was then changed to IndiGo 6E 1771 and the flight took off at the scheduled time. However, a few minutes after taking off, the pilot announced that the aircraft did not have clearance to fly over Chinese airspace. The aircraft then returned to Hong Kong. Passengers remained seated on the flight for some time, but were later deboarded and the flight was cancelled.

Bengalurean Yajnesh, whose relatives were on board the flight, said, “The passengers were told by crew that the aircraft had to return to Hong Kong because the flight number was changed at the last minute. The airline has promised to fly all passengers to Bengaluru on Wednesday.”

IndiGo did not reply to TOI’s request seeking its version of the development. TNN

How a mill turns thousands of women workers graduates

Pratiksha.Ramkumar@timesgroup.com  30.10.2019

Fifty-eight full-time teachers on the rolls of a textile mill is unheard of. KPR Mills, one of the country’s largest apparel manufacturing firms, is using these teachers to educate its employees, many of them now graduates and postgraduates.

When Sujith Kumar, head of human resources at Infosys, was invited for a convocation in Coimbatore, he thought it was yet another customary event where graduates would be awarded degree certificates. But he was pleasantly surprised when he learned it was meant for its employees, all women mill workers, who had turned graduates.

“We keep reading about brilliant case studies across the globe but nothing comes close to what KPR Mills is doing for its employees,” he later wrote in a social media post.

Several others who have attended the convocation over the years go back with stories of the grit and determination displayed by women mill workers.

KPR Mills has for more than a decade helped nearly 24,000 women complete Class X, Class XII and graduation, apart from helping them take up job-oriented courses on teacher training and yoga. With a full-fledged teaching faculty, it has tied up with Tamil Nadu Open University and Alagappa University.

Executive director C R Anandakumar says 3,357 of his employees are now studying for various exams ranging from Class X, Class XII boards and computer diploma courses to post graduate degrees. The group, which had a sales turnover of ₹4,000 crore last year, has 22,000 employees.

The story of how it decided to educate its women employees is now an urban legend. “One day, my brother K P Ramasamy was interacting with employees when a woman employee expressed regret for not being able to continue studies because of financial constraints,” recalls managing director P Nataraj. “Since almost 80% of our employees live with us, we realised they have eight hours to spare. Why not arrange classes for them for 2-4 hours a day?”

The initiative, which began 14 years ago with 15-20 students from districts such as Ooty, Trichy and Vellore, has so far educated 24,356 girls. Till this year, as many as 4,848 girls have completed their graduation degrees.

The company does not insist on workers staying with it forever. “We encourage them to take up better jobs after finishing their education, because that’s what will uplift them and their families,” said Anandakumar.

Ashwini Sethumadhavan, a constable with the Chennai battalion from Tirupathur, joined the garment section of KPR Mills in 2009. She signed up for BCom the next academic year and simultaneously prepared for the police exam.

“The teachers and wardens helped me get books and other study materials for government exams, and helped me with coaching… if not for KPR Mills, I would have remained a mill worker for life,” says the 27-year-old. 


SOCIAL UPLIFT: Women workers of KPR Mills at a stitching facility in Coimbatore. Most of these workers are studying simultaneously

Expired drugs dumped on Kanchi lake bed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

Bundles of expired medicines dumped on a lake bed in Kancheepuram and torched have caused the colour of the water to change. Medical officials are examining the water.

The Vaira Mohan lake, also called Uthiramerur Big Lake, provides water for residents of Vedapayam, Andi Thangal, Kaliyampoondi, Kattupakkam, Uthiramerur, Thriupulivanam, Pennalur and other areas.

On Monday, residents were shocked to see bundles of expired tablets and medicines dumped on the lake bed and in the water. Most of the medicines were antibiotics which had expired a year ago.

With the drugs getting mixed up in the water, the colour had changed. Residents said even cattle were avoiding the lake as a result of the colour change.

Villagers too are avoiding using the lake, spread across about 5,000 acres, for washing and cleaning, fearing that the contaminated water would lead to side-effects and invite diseases.

Some of the drugs dumped on the lake bund were also half burned.

While residents have registered complaints, local panchayat officials are yet to show any interest in strengthening the lake bunds. This prevents rainwater from reaching the lake and instead flows out into the sea.

The bunds were artificially formed by dumping gravel across the lake, allowing the trucks and lorries to travel through, said Lakshmi Nathan of Kaliyampoondi. As these artificial bunds were not removed, water from the catchment areas don’t reach the lake and the water takes a detour to the sea. 



RESOURCE UNDER THREAT: Residents said they found bundles of expired medicines dumped on the lake bed and in the water. Some packets were found half burned

SRM students get over 6,000 offers in just three months
Period Sees 30% Jump Compared To Last Year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

The students of SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) have received 6,514 offers from more than 200 companies in this placement season so far.

The placement season for the university started on July

22. “In three months time, we have received more than 6,000 offers. The offers have increased by 30% when compared to the same period last year,” said Sriram S Padmanabhan, director of Career Centre at SRMIST. The placement season will continue till April 2020.

IT majors TCS, Infosys, Cognizant and Wipro made 4,749 offers combined at the end of day-one process, which is more than 50% compared to the previous year day-one offers.

At the conclusion of dayone, TCS made 1,437 offers (‘ninja track’), Infosys 1,315, Cognizant 1,175, and Wipro

822. Apart from this, TCS has made 183 offers under ‘digital track’.

“There is a big push towards going digital. Tech companies are recruiting more freshers who have skills so they can be trained and deployed,” he said.

Along with IT companies, the deemed university also witnessed a spike in hiring by IT product companies, startups and e-commerce companies this year.

“There is a strong demand from information technology product companies. E-commerce companies like Aamazon and tech startups also increased their hiring,” Sriram Padmanabhan said.

“In 2018-19, the university had a record of 600 companies visiting the campus. This year in three months, we have more than 200 companies. If the trend continues, we hope to get around 650 companies before April,” he added.

“Totally, 1,210 students have received super dream offers (₹10 lakh per annum) and dream offers (₹5 lakh per annum) so far. Besides, many students are also recruited by companies from the core engineering sector,” SRMIST said in a release.

The centralised placement process conducted at its Kattankulathur campus brings students from other campuses, including Ramapuram and Vadapalani.

This year, engineering colleges and Anna University also witnessed more than 30% hike in campus placements due to increased hiring by IT services companies.