Probe ordered into Kerala medical college scam

29/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,KOCHI

The Kerala High Court has ordered a Crime Branch probe into complaints that the management of the Dr. Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College, Karakkonam, cheated several people and collected huge sums by offering admissions.

It was on a batch of petitions from the parents of some students that the court ordered the probe.

Though the police had registered cases against college director Bennett Abraham and CSI moderator Bishop A. Dharmmaraj Rasalam in three police stations, the investigation did not progress as the accused were very influential people, according to the petitioners.

‘Huge amounts taken’

They submitted that the accused, who are the college authorities, took huge amounts from them and others promising to give MBBS admission to their wards in the medical college and cheated them.

When the college authorities failed to give admission, the petitioners demanded their money back. However, it was not returned, they submitted.

The court directed that the cases registered in different police stations be transferred to the agency.

Plus Two results on April 24, says Minister

29/02/2020, STAFF REPORTER

Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan said on Friday that 3,012 examination centres will be set up across the State for Class X, XI and XII public examinations.

Speaking to mediapersons, he said that the number of centres are more than the previous academic year.

A total of 8,16,359 Class XII students, 9,45,006 Class X students and 8,26,119 Class XI students will appear for the public examinations this year, Mr. Sengottaiyan said.

The results of Class XII public examinations will be announced on April 24, Class X examination results on May 4 and Class XI results on May 14, the Minister said.

Class XII State board exams are scheduled from March 2 to 21, Class XI from March 4 to 26 and Class X examinations from March 27 to April 13.

Mr. Sengottaiyan along with Animal Husbandry Minister Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan inaugurated new facilities in two schools here.

Coimbatore-Trivandrum flight from March 3

29/02/2020,COIMBATORE

Air India Express will launch flight services to  Thiruvananthapuram from Coimbatore from March 3. Flight no. IX 014 will depart from Coimbatore at 10.50 p.m. and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 11.50 p.m. These services will be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Software glitch delays salaries for several government employees

Finance Department official says the problem will be resolved soon

29/02/2020, DENNIS S. JESUDASAN, CHENNAI

Several employees working for the Tamil Nadu government were in for a rude shock on Friday, as their salaries were not credited on the last working day of the month due to glitches in migration to a new software.

According to informed sources, glitches in migrating to Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System (IFHRMS) were the primary reason behind the non-payment of salaries to several hundred employees across the State.

Many of them turned anxious and kept checking their balance in their salary accounts through the day.

Some claimed that the server located in Tiruchi was not capable of handling the load and that the migration to new software was problematic in several districts, except Karur.

But, one source claimed that the delay could also be due to non-submission of documents following investment declaration.

A source indicated that the delay in payment might last at least four days for Secretariat staff in Chennai.

“We have EMIs and house rent to pay. This hasn’t happened in so many years, except during the end of a fiscal year due to closing of accounts.

“This could have been avoided if the government planned well,” a government servant rued.

Threat of penalty

Another employee pointed out that the delay in payment of salaries would only lead to paying penalty for not paying EMIs on time.

“The government has paid a huge sum to a private software company and this is what we get to witness,” he said. Salaries of State government employees are paid on the last working day of the month.

When contacted, a senior official in the Finance Department said the delay was only due to the migration to the new software and it would be “resolved soon.” However, he didn’t commit himself to a date.

High Court quashes transfer of government doctors

Judge also rules that doctors do not have the right to go on strike

29/02/2020, MOHAMED IMRANULLAH S.,CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Friday made it clear that doctors have no right whatsoever to go on strike. Yet, it quashed charge memos and transfer orders issued to select government doctors who had spearheaded a strike last year and held that the government’s action smacked of mala fide intention of exhibiting its might over the employees.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh said that out of 18,000-odd government doctors, the Health Department had chosen to issue charge memos and transfer orders only to 135.

Squarely blaming the government for not having handled the issue properly, the judge said the government should have given top priority to some of the demands, which included pay hike and taken a firm decision.

Pointing out that the doctors were on strike between October 25 and November 1, the judge said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on October 30 requested the doctors to resume work with a promise that their demands would be considered and an appropriate decision would be taken.

“Immediately, the agitation was called off and the doctors resumed duty on November 1.

“As a model employer, the government ought to have followed up and come out with solutions for the demands made by the government doctors. Instead of resorting to such a positive step, the government decided to show its might against the office-bearers,” he added.

Agreeing with the submissions of advocates C. Kanagaraj, M.R. Jothimanian, K.C. Karl Marx and C.S.K. Satish, who represented a huge batch of government doctors who had challenged their charge memos and transfer orders, Mr. Justice Venkatesh said: “There are not many government servants who will willingly spearhead any agitation.

“They are merely the representatives of the entire body of the government doctors.

They should not be assigned the role of a villain and singled out and dealt with in such a harsh manner,” the judge said and quashed all the charge memos and transfer orders. He directed to post the doctors in their original place of work during the next transfer counselling.

‘Settled issue’

In the same breath, the judge reminded the doctors that no government employee had a right to strike and that the law had been settled well by the Supreme Court in T.K. Rangarajan versus Government of Tamil Nadu (2003) case.

The Supreme Court had gone a step further and held that a strike could not be justified even on moral and equitable grounds.

‘Health must not take a back seat during exams’

Students can be a little anxious, not stressed: expert

29/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The board examinations are here. At a time when academics gain top priority, food and sleep should not take the back seat. Healthy eating and adequate sleep are must to sail through the board exams, say doctors and nutritionists.

Exam time could be strenuous for many, but it is important to be stress-free. If a student or parent needs help, the State Health Department’s round-the-clock helpline — 104 — can be contacted. Counsellors will help with information on how to prepare for exams, manage fear and anxiety, and parental support, officials said.

“Students should realise that examinations are only a step in one’s life and not the entire life. You can be a little anxious but do not be stressed,” said Lakshmi Vijayakumar, psychiatrist and founder of Sneha. Ensure sleep for six to seven hours, and do not try to study anything new at the last moment.

Parents, she said, should understand that children are already anxious.

Eating healthy is crucial. “The brain needs fuel. So, never skip breakfast or go to the exam hall in an empty stomach,” said Meenakshi Bajaj, dietician, Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital.

With viral infectious causing fever, cold and cough this season, she said that students could choose anti-oxidants and immunonutrients, food rich in vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids and zinc to build immunity during exams.

Eating out is also a complete no during exams.

Another Nirbhaya convict moves apex court for relief

TNN | Feb 29, 2020, 04.59 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Less than five days before the scheduled hanging of the Nirbhaya convicts, Pawan Gupta, the sole death-row inmate yet to exhaust all legal remedies, filed a curative plea in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking commutation of his capital punishment to a life imprisonment.

Gupta, against whom a fresh death warrant has already been issued for his execution along with the three other convicts, filed the curative plea through lawyer A P Singh seeking setting aside of the apex court’s earlier verdicts on the appeals and review petitions in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. After the curative plea, he is entitled to file a mercy plea to the President though the Delhi high court-fixed deadline to avail these options has expired on February 11.

In the past two months, the Supreme Court and subsequently the President of India have rejected the curative and mercy petitions of the three other convicts — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.

The trial court on February 17 fixed March 3, 6am as the fresh date and time for the execution of the death warrants after it had to be postponed twice as the convicts — after a delay of more than two years — began availing curative and mercy plea options one by one.

The prison rules lay down that in cases of multiple death-row convicts, all have to be executed together and that too after giving a convict a window of 14 days following the rejection of a mercy plea. This forced the Tihar Jail authorities, where the convicts are lodged, to approach the trial court to postpone the hanging date and give a fresh one.

In his plea, Gupta has argued that his age on the day of offence was 16 years and two months as per the records of the school last attended by him and “the age has not been determined in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act”. This information was suppressed by the state throughout the proceedings, he has alleged, seeking an immediate stay on the execution of the black warrant issued by the trial court.

“The birth certificate from the school shows that the petitioner was a juvenile on the date of the incident. Such a procedure for age determination was also present under JJ Act, 2000 and the petitioner was entitled to the appreciation of his juvenility under the earlier Act,” the plea further argued.

Two other convicts, Singh and Sharma, had challenged the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President, but both have been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Dismissing their pleas, the apex court said there was no illegality in the decision of the President. The court also rejected their contention that the President was not supplied with all relevant documents pertaining to the case and that their mercy plea was decided with a “pre-determined mind” and without any application of mind.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)