Masks allowed during exams


05/03/2020 , Special Correspondent, NEW DELHI


Students appearing for their Class X and XII Board Examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education will be allowed to carry face masks and hand sanitizers into the examination hall to contain the spread of the COVID-19 infection, said a notification. The examinations will conclude by March-end.

President rejects mercy plea of Nirbhaya convict 

 

Delhi govt. seeks fresh date for hanging 

05/03/2020 , Special Correspondent , New Delhi

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four men on death row in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

Gupta was the last to file the mercy plea. The petitions of the other three convicts had been rejected earlier by the President.

Later, the Delhi government moved a city court seeking a fresh date for the execution of the four convicts.

According to the Delhi Prison Rules, a 14-day period has to be given to a death row convict after the dismissal of a clemency plea before the prisoner can be hanged. All the four men are to be hanged together.

The Delhi government told additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana that “all legal remedies of the convicts have been exhausted”.

The judge then directed the convicts to file their response by Thursday even as the lawyer for the prosecution said no notice was required. While issuing the notice, the court said principles of natural justice are part of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

The hanging of Mukesh Kumar Singh, 32, Vinay Sharma, 26, and Akshay Kumar Singh, 31, besides Gupta, 25, was scheduled for March 3. It was deferred for the third time in six weeks by the court on Monday.

11 surgical needles found on the lower body of boy in Telangana 

His aunt inserted them to kill him and grab his father’s land

05/03/2020 , Staff Reporter, Hyderabad

Eleven surgical needles were found on the lower body of a three-year-old child in Veepangandla village of Wanaparthy district in Telangana. When the boy’s parents noticed needles poking out of his back, they rushed him to a hospital, where doctors took an X-ray and found needles in his body, which were later removed.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior police officer said the boy’s aunt Aliveluamma inserted the needles on his buttocks and thighs to kill him, with an ulterior motive of grabbing the 1.5-acre agricultural land belonging to the boy’s father.

“Initially, doctors of a private hospital managed to take out some needles, which could be seen protruding from his backside. Later, he was shifted to the government hospital in Wanaparthy, where doctors performed surgery and removed a few needles. They are yet to remove two more,” the officer said.

Police said the boy was unwell for the past five to six months, and every time he cried, the parents used to take him to a local hospital. But on Sunday, his mother found a needle poking out of his buttocks and rushed him to a private hospital.

The victim’s parents are farm labourers and whenever they go out for work, Aliveluamma used to take care of him.

“Our investigation revealed that Aliveluamma hatched a conspiracy to kill the boy so that she can grab the agricultural land of her brother,” police said.

Police are likely to arrest Aliveluamma on Thursday.

College officials told to work till 7 p.m. during House session

05/03/2020 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

The Directorate of College Education (DCE) has instructed college officials to remain in the college premises till 7 p.m. during the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly session in the coming days.

According to a circular issued by the DCE, the principals of government and aided institutions and regional joint directors would have to work till 7 p.m. as they would be required to provide details to the department as and when information is sought.

The director also instructed the officials to provide details in a clear format as soon as it is sought and not to take leave during the session.

According to some college officials, this is the first time such a circular has been issued. The Assembly will be in session to discuss the demand for grants for various departments from March 9 to April 9.

Varsity’s decision worries guest faculty 

Anna University’s Syndicate had resolved to retrench 135 persons

05/03/2020 , R. Sujatha, CHENNAI

A decision taken by Anna University’s Syndicate has worried the faculty and employees of constituent colleges.

Last month, the Syndicate resolved to retrench 135 persons employed in the constituent colleges as both faculty and administrative staff, without following the due process of appointment.

Over a period of time, the university had appointed these people as and when vacancies arose. Some of them were appointed as guest lecturers without following the rule of recruitment or roster. The appointees continued to function as guest faculty in their respective positions, the last decade.

On its part, the university has constituted five committees in the last decade to review the appointments and each committee has given its recommendations, all of which have remained just on paper. The appointees, fearing loss of jobs, have been filing petitions in the High Court. For the university, it has been an unending series of court cases.

The last Syndicate had taken a decision to retrench the appointees, and the affected persons have been seeking reprieve.

A senior faculty at the Anna University said that the recruitment of these people should be regularised since they had contributed to building institutions.

“During vice-chancellor Mannar Jawahar’s period, services of 98 contract lecturers in Chennai were regularised, although they were also appointed without any recruitment advertisement, selection committee or roster,” the faculty said, adding that since there was a precedent, the university could consider the same route this time as well.

Vice-chancellor M.K. Surappa said that the government would have to resolve the issue, as successive administrations had taken decisions on the appointments.

The university’s Syndicate, whose strength should be 15, presently has nine members, of whom five are bureaucrats. The five vacancies in the Syndicate have not been filled for over two years. The university’s representation is considerably weak, owing to these vacancies.

Mr. Surappa said that university representatives were sympathetic to the faculty, but the government thought otherwise. “

Delhi govt seeks fresh date for execution of 4 convicts in Nirbhaya case; court issues notice

PTI | Mar 4, 2020, 04.39 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government moved a court here on Wednesday seeking fresh date for the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana directed the convicts to file their response by Thursday.

The Delhi government told the court that all legal remedies of the convicts have been exhausted and nothing survives now.

The lawyer for the prosecution said no notice was required.

While issuing the notice, the court said that principles of natural justice are part of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and the sacrosanct principle of "Audi alteram partem" (listen to the other side) cannot be ignored.

President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four men facing the gallows in the case, a Home Ministry official said earlier in the day.

The court had on Monday deferred till further order the hanging the convicts that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The trial court had on February 17 issued a fresh date, March 3 at 6 am, for the execution of death warrants for the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) - in the case.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies. All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together.

The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. She had died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

Medical negligence case: Madras high court directs Ramanathapuram collector to take decision on interim compensation to woman

TNN | Mar 4, 2020, 04.58 PM IST

MADURAI: The Madras high court on Wednesday directed the Ramanathapuram district collector to examine the facts and take a decision on dispersal of a Rs 3lakh interim compensation in a medical negligence case where a broken needle was left in the body of a woman after childbirth in a primary health centre (PHC).

Justice C V Karthikeyan passed the interim order while hearing a plea moved by Ramya, 22, from Ramanathapuram district. The judge directed the collector to file a counter in this regard and adjourned the case to March 20.

In her petition, Ramya stated that she gave birth to a baby girl in Uchipuli PHC on November 19, 2019. It was a normal delivery. She stated that the delivery had been performed by nurses. The doctors were not present.

The woman said since she had suffered from a minor complication called episiotomy (surgical incision through vaginal wall during child birth) due to which she was bleeding even after she had been shifted to a ward.

She was referred to Government Hospital in Ramanathapuram where doctors asked her to take an x-ray. The x-ray showed a broken needle inside her body. She stated that the needle had been left inside her body by nurses after stitching her incision. Ther woman stated that she had been referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai where doctors removed the needle through a surgery on November 21.

Due to medical negligence in Uchipuli PHC, she was put to great hardship physically and mentally, according to her.

Hence, the petitioner moved the high court seeking a compensation. She also sought action against the staff of the PHC for their negligence.