7 flights diverted as fog hits air traffic

For the second day on Saturday flights were diverted from Chennai International Airport due to poor visibility caused by extreme fog.

Published: 05th January 2020 06:39 AM 

Sunish P Surendran, EPS)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI : For the second day on Saturday flights were diverted from Chennai International Airport due to poor visibility caused by extreme fog. Seven flights, both international and domestic, which were to land in Chennai, were diverted to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Coimbatore due to poor visibility. Similarly, 40 flights were delayed due to poor visiblity which lasted till 10 am. The schedule of air passengers went haywire.

Air India’s flight from Muscat and British Airways flight from Heathrow, were diverted to Hyderabad. The other flights that were diverted to Hyderabad include Air Australia flight from St Denis Rolland Garos Airport in Australia, Indigo flight from Delhi and Oman Air flight from Muscat. Indigo flight from Pune was diverted to Coimbatore and Ethihad flight from Shanghai to Chennai was diverted to Bengaluru.

Over 100 infants died in two Jodhpur hospitals: report

The report was prepared by S.N. Medical College

06/01/2020, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,JODHPUR

Over 100 infants died in two government hospitals in in December last year, a report has found amid growing outrage over infant deaths in a Kota hospital.

While a total of 146 children died in Umaid and MDM hospitals in Jodhpur in December, 102 deaths were reported in the neo-natal intensive care unit.

The figures of infant deaths in Jodhpur were given in a report prepared by the S.N. Medical College in the light of casualties in Kota’s J.K. Lon Hospital.

Over 100 infants have died in the government-run hospital in Kota.

S.N. Medical College principal S.S. Rathore, however, said the figure is in the range of international standards of infant mortality.

“A total of 47,815 children had been admitted to the hospitals in 2019 and of this, 754 children died,” said Dr. Rathore.

In December, 4,689 children had been admitted to the hospitals of which 3,002 had been admitted to NICU and ICU and 146 of them died. Dr. Rathore said most of the children who died were those referred from other surrounding districts in a critical condition.

The hospitals here have to bear the load of patients from entire western Rajasthan and children were also referred from hospitals like AIIMS, he said.

He added the critical care unit of the hospitals have been adjudged best in the State for two consecutive years and attributed it to their best practices and care. Though Dr. Rathore denied any shortage of resources at the hospitals, there have been reports that many senior doctors have been running their own private hospitals.

Doctors attacked by mob outside university campus

‘They surrounded ambulance, threw stones’

06/01/2020, SOIBAM ROCKY SINGH,NEW DELHI

A group of nine doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and other hospitals was attacked by a mob outside Jawaharlal Nehru University’s main entrance gate on Sunday night.

The doctors, who had come in an ambulance with medical supplies to help the injured students, were not allowed to enter the campus.

“Around 100 masked goons attacked our ambulance with stones and lathis when we tried to enter the campus,” said Praveen, a general surgeon at Maharishi Valmiki Hospital.

Another doctor, who had come on his own as a volunteer to treat the students, said: “The police remained a mute spectator while our ambulance was being surrounded and attacked by the mob.”

Dr. Praveen added that the mob broke a window of the ambulance. “The mob even tried to drag and pull one of the doctors out of the ambulance’s window,” he said, pointing towards the doctor, who had received injuries.

A visibly rattled woman doctor in the group said, “The goons were wearing masks and helmets. I could smell that they were drunk. They even tried to take our mobile phones as we were taking videos.”

“There is no safety even for ambulance and doctors,” another doctor.

After some policemen intervened, the ambulance was allowed to leave the premises after half-an-hour, the doctors said.

I-T Dept. notifies new forms for filing income tax returns

Joint owner of house cannot avail ITR-1, ITR-4 forms

06/01/2020, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,NEW DELHI

The forms for filing returns are usually notified in April every year.

The government, which usually notifies forms for filing returns by individuals in April every year, on January 3 notified tax return forms for assessment year 2020-21 (income earning year April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020).

As per the notification, returns in ITR-1 Sahaj can be filed by an ordinary resident individual whose total income does not exceed ₹50 lakh, while form ITR-4 Sugam is meant for resident individuals, HUFs and firms (other than LLP) having a total income of up to ₹50 lakh and having presumptive income from business and profession.

According to the notification, in two significant changes, an individual taxpayer cannot file return either in ITR-1 or ITR-4 if he is a joint-owner in house property, and the ITR-1 form is not valid for those individuals who have deposited more than ₹1 crore in bank account or have incurred ₹2 lakh or ₹1 lakh on foreign travel or electricity respectively.

Such taxpayers will have to use different forms, which will be notified in due course.

An individual who “owns a house property in joint ownership with two or more persons” is required to furnish a return of income, the notification said.

“... A taxpayer, who is required to file the return before the previous year ends, cannot do so until the return filing facility is activated on the e-filing portal,” said Naveen Wadhwa of Taxmann.

‘Govt. cannot interfere in movie jobs’

06/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,KOVILPATTI

The State government could not interfere in the issue of employment of local workers in any movie as it was under the purview of the producer of the movie, said Information and Publicity Minister Kadambur C. Raju when asked about the recent complaint against music director Anirudh Ravichandran on Sunday.

A controversy arose earlier when the Cine Musicians’ Union complained that Anirudh Ravichandran, music director of Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar, had not opted for its members while recording the music of the film. Instead, foreign musicians were engaged by him, it said.

Officials help ill-treated elderly man regain bequeathed property
After signing a will, Nallasami faced abuse from his son

06/01/2020, , VIGNESH VIJAYAKUMAR,NAMAKKAL

An official returning land documents to Nallasami in Namakkal.

A 71-year-old man in Namakkal has regained a property he had bequeathed to his grandson, thanks to the efforts put in by officials of the district administration.

V. Nallasami had a house in Natarajapuram, where he stayed with Vasudevan, one of his three sons. Recently, Mr. Nallasami petitioned the District Collector, requesting that a will, providing for the transfer of ownership of the property to his grandson, be nullified. In the petition, Mr. Nallasami alleged that Mr. Vasudevan used to ill-treat and attack him in an inebriated condition.

The petition, submitted to the district administration in October, was referred to Namakkal Revenue Divisional Officer M. Kottai Kumar. Following inquiries, the official found the petitioner’s claims to be true. The authorities then took steps to invalidate the will under the provisions of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

According to revenue officials, after Mr. Nallasami transferred the property to his grandson's name, Mr. Vasudevan's attitude towards him changed. Mr. Nallasami’s son attacked him in an inebriated state and asked him to leave the house. “Mr. Vasudevan also asked his siblings not to visit the house. Based on the complaint, we have now issued orders to declare the will void, and had returned the documents to Mr. Nallasami on Saturday,” Mr. Kumar said.

The official added that the property was worth ₹2 crore. Mr. Nallasami was living in the ground floor, while Mr. Vasudevan and his family were living in the first floor. “We have now instructed Mr. Vasudevan and his family to vacate the house within a certain period. We have issued an order to the local inspector to ensure Mr. Nallasami’s safety. We have asked the police to check up on him regularly,” he added.

Florist files case against Raj Bhavan for non-settlement of dues

06/01/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

A florist has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court alleging that the secretariat in the Raj Bhavan was yet to settle his dues to the tune of ₹1.82 lakh for having supplied flowers between December 2014 and June 2015 when Konijeti Rosaiah was in office as the Governor of the State.

Justice C.V. Karthikeyan has granted time till January 28 for the government counsel to get instructions from the Deputy Secretary to the Governor and the comptroller of Governor’s household on the issue.

Sterling Flowers, represented by its manager Basheer Ahmed, of Pammal, filed the case.

Regular supplier

In his affidavit, Mr. Ahmed said that he had been a regular supplier of flowers, hybrid flowers and decoration articles to the Raj Bhavan for over 15 years. He reportedly supplied flowers on many occasions on credit despite the accumulation of dues, which ran to a few lakh rupees.

According to the petitioner, as many as eight invoices raised by him between December 2014 and June 2015 for a total amount of ₹2.82 lakh remained unsettled for long. Subsequently, the Raj Bhavan paid him ₹1 lakh, but did not settle the rest despite sending several reminders till September 2019, he claimed.