HC quashes FIR against PhD holder for post on university

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 04.05 AM IST

Madurai: The Madras high court has quashed an FIR registered against a PhD holder for posting certain remarks on social media about the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) in Tirunelveli district, after he gave an undertaking that he will be careful and measured while using social media.

The petitioner, J Mohammed Khan who had completed PhD at MSU had posted about the irregularities in the university. Based on the complaint lodged by the registrar of the university, a case was registered against him by the Pettai police station in 2018. The petitioner moved the high court Madurai bench seeking to quash the FIR registered against him.

Hearing the plea, justice G R Swaminathan observed that the relationship between the petitioner and the university was not all that smooth. The petitioner was an active user of social media and it was a remark which had triggered the university to lodge a complaint against him.

The judge observed that a perusal of the FIR reveals that the petitioner had condemned the management of the university in caustic language. The judge noted that the petitioner who appeared before the court gave a clarification.

The judge also took cognizance of the fact that the petitioner has got a bedridden dependent mother and the petitioner is eking his livelihood as parotta master. The petitioner underwent his college education on a part time basis and he was a full time research scholar.

“A person coming from such a disadvantaged section ought not be entangled in a criminal prosecution merely because he made some offending posting in social media,” observed the judge.

Since the petitioner undertakes that he will be careful and measured in his conduct while using social media, the judge quashed the FIR which was registered against him.

Families bond over boards, cards to kill time

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 04.21 AM IST

Madurai: As people are being urged to stay indoors to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the demand for board and card games has gone up. Enterprising shops too have seized the opportunity to cash in on the situation by keeping ready enough stocks in the last few days.

``When we were kids, we would sit down for a game of cards after dad came back from work, mostly after dinner every day,’’ said T Kumar of Anna Nagar. But he rues that such habits had become forgotten today as children rarely find time to leave their phones and get family time.

Parents say they are thinking of ways to ensure the participation of everybody at home. Poornima of Anna Nagar said they had bought board games such as scrabble, ludo and monopoly. ``This is the first time we are actually buying games which we can play together and not just gift them to others. Besides, these games are great stress-busters,’’ she said. Many young parents have found that they did not know the rules of several of these board games as well as their parents did. Hence, these games end up as contests between children and grandparents in many homes.

Some small shops which opened on Tuesday saw people enquiring about cards such as UNO and the regular as well as ordinary cards. ``We don’t keep more than five packs at a time but they were all sold out last week,’’ said Thirupathy, a shopkeeper in K K Nagar. ``I didn’t know my grandfather could play games so well. He is a master at carrom and beat all of us on all the days we played,’’ said 16-year-old Sudhesh for whom his 80-year-old grandfather’s finger strength came as a revelation.

Class XII students relieved as exams end before curfew

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 04.39 AM IST

Madurai: The more than 36,000 Class XII students in Madurai district who had appeared for the state board exams this year breathed a sigh of relief as they completed their final exam on Tuesday just before Section 144 was imposed across the state.

A total of 34,869 students sit the final exam in Madurai on Tuesday. Amid the Covid-19 scare, the exams began half an hour late at 10:30 am and ended by 1:30 pm. All the 120 centres here were disinfected and students had to sanitise their hands before entering the exam hall. However, after the exams, students were seen celebrating and running out of the exam halls in groups, prompting police and teachers to discipline them.

Instead of the usual cheers and tears, all students were immediately sent home with many not even returning to their schools to say a farewell. “During our Class X board exam, the whole class celebrated in school with teachers. Today, we were just relived that exams are over instead of getting postponed,” said Sruthi R, a Class XII student of a private school.

Meanwhile, teachers and students said that the new syllabus, introduced for the first time across all subjects, was challenging but not too daunting. “The questions were asked from all chapters for all subjects. Students were quite happy since they did not feel cornered by one or two difficult topics. It may be difficult to get high scores because of everything being new but students can easily get pass marks. We are all hoping for the best,” said the headmaster of a government school.

The evaluation of Class XII board exam answer sheets, in view of the curfews imposed in the state has been tentatively postponed to April 7.

HC Madurai bench restricts functioning

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 04.45 AM IST

Madurai: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has begun restricting its functioning from Tuesday for three weeks as per guidelines issued by the Madras high court Chief Justice A P Sahi, in an attempt to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

A notification issued by the registrar (judicial), said that in view of the emergent situation which has arisen on account of Covid-19 pandemic, it has become imperative to adopt the guidelines issued by the Chief Justice at the principal seat, with slight modifications, for the restricted functioning of the Madurai bench. The lawyers are requested not to operate from their chambers and they are requested not to invite the litigants inside unless it is absolutely imperative either for their personal presence that may be required on orders of the court or for such personal verification as per the directions of the registry. Lawyers are requested to limit filing of cases as far as possible except only in extremely urgent matters. As per the notification, changes have been made to the sitting arrangement in Madurai bench as follows.

A division bench of justice P N Prakash and justice S S Sundar will hear urgent motions and admissions in writ petitions, writ appeals and habeas corpus petitions.After the division bench sitting, justice P N Prakash will hear urgent motions and admissions in criminal original petitions (under Section 482 of Cr.PC) and justice S S Sundar will hear all single bench appellate side matters. Justice G Jayachandran will hear criminal original petitions - bail and anticipatory bail petitions.tnn

People throng shops in panic to fill their larder

TNN | Mar 24, 2020, 04.21 AM IST

Chennai: As the curfew lifted on Monday, people fearing a lockdown thronged grocery and vegetable shops as well as markets. Zam Bazaar market was crowded with people eager to stock up on supplies. While many went to the chicken and fish shops, several others were busy buying sacks of rice.

"I usually don’t get people asking for sacks of rice but today we have had many customers," says Mohan, a trader. "People are stocking up because they fear a shutdown." Though social distancing is the need of the hour, none of the shoppers seemed aware of the gravity of the situation.

It was a different scenario at Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam (KPN) on North Boag Road, T Nagar. By noon, there was a small queue of customers lining up before the entrance as the store is particular about the numbers allowed in at a time. A female employee, wearing a mask, took down names and numbers of customers, while another sprayed sanitiser onto the palms of those entering. "We have been insisting that customers use sanitiser before they enter our stores for more than a week now," says Senthil Natarajan, managing director, KPN. "We have also put in place a policy wherein only 20 people can be present in the store at a time," he says, adding that the protocol has been put in place across all 34 stores in Chennai.

While the store has been trying to ensure social distancing, customers do not seem to be sticking to it. Once inside, people often do not maintain distance as they rush to grab supplies. "There has been a rush in all our stores. We have tried reassuring people that there is no need to hoard," says Natarajan.

At More supermarket in Thiruvanmiyur, only up to 10 customers are allowed inside at a time. "People from our apartment complex are constantly sharing messages not to hoard supplies as the store is well stocked now," says Anuradha Balasubramanian, a resident of Ramaniyam Abhishek apartment complex located above the supermarket.

At Nilgiris supermarket in Madipakkam, residents poured in to stock up on essential supplies. "We have been given orders to limit the number of customers inside the store. So far we’ve had no shortage of milk, fruits and vegetables," says the store manager S Alagappan.

(With inputs from V Ayyappan and

Saranya Chakrapani)

3 city GHs to pay up for illegal dumping of biomedical waste

Mar 24, 2020, 04.24 AM IST

Chennai: Following private healthcare facilities (HCFs), government hospitals are now facing action for violating biomedical waste disposal rules and dumping untreated waste into sewers.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has penalised at least 11 government hospitals across the state hefty amounts, ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 80 lakh, for flouting the rules. This includes Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMC), Institute of Child Health and Welfare in Chennai. Tirupur GH stood first among violators and has been fined Rs 83 lakh.

“Many of these hospitals didn’t have an effluent treatment plant (ETP) and disposed biomedical waste into underground sewers without pre-treatment. This included waste from operation theaters, testing labs and laundry rooms,” said a senior TNPCB official.

Delhi faced a public health and environmental concern last December stemmed from similar waste disposal. With many sewer lines criss-crossing with drinking water pipes, leaks led to liquid waste from hospitals mixing with the potable water.

Earlier six private hospitals in Tamil Nadu were also fined. Without an efficient ETP, the HCFs become ineligible for the mandatory environmental clearance (EC) from TNPCB. Sixty three such HCFs were shut down for illegal biomedical waste dumping after a NGT order.

TNPCB has issued a final warning to other HCFs, some of which continue to dump blood samples without disinfecting or fail to use bar-coded bags for the disposal flouting NGT and Central Pollution Control Board guidelines.

Coronavirus scare: Chennai hospital to deploy robots to deliver food, medicines in wards

TNN | Mar 24, 2020, 04.25 AM IST

CHENNAI: Soon, robots will deliver food, beverages, and tablets to Covid-19 positive patients in the isolation ward of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here. They will carry monitors and cameras to aid video conferencing between patients and care givers.

A private university that developed the technology will organise a demo for doctors and paramedical staff after which they will deploy the robots. “The aim is to reduce frequent exposure for health staff and limit the number of people entering the ward,” said dean Dr J Jayanthi.

While doctors and nurses will continue their rounds and duties in the wards, the robots will be sent in for nonmedical needs. Studies show that the virus can stay alive on steel for three days and cardboard for up to 24 hours. Such machines are being used in several countries as frontline workers. For instance, in China a machine that has a robotic arm on wheels performs ultrasound scans, takes mouth swabs and listens to sounds made by a patient’s organs. Some others clean surfaces with disinfectants and hand over hand sanitisers.

Last week, the hospital, which sees 80,000 footfalls a day, shut all private canteens and eateries, restricted visitors and outpatients, and advised doctors to postpone elective surgeries. The pharmacy will also give 30 days supply of drugs, instead of the usual one week, to patients with chronic ailments.

The GH has also opened the ground floor Tower 3 block as a Covid-19 outpatient ward. “We decided not to wait for the inauguration. Having a separate unit will prevent people with symptoms entering the main hospital,” said health minster C Vijayabaskar. At least 150 beds have been set aside in six of the eight floors in the rheumatology block.

Meanwhile, a pulmonology block is now getting converted into 30-bed isolation unit that will satisfy international standards.