Medical internship to be extended

DME instructs deans to extend CRRI by a month

25/03/2020, , SERENA JOSEPHINE M.,CHENNAI

Nursing staff helping colleagues don protective gear at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. R. Ragu

Medical interns, whose one-year Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) comes to an end on March 28, will now have to work for another month in the wake of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) has instructed deans of all medical colleges to extend the internship by one month for all CRRIs.

In a circular issued on Tuesday, the DME has instructed all deans to give an extension of one month for all CRRIs completing their posting this month, and also arrange for immediate posting of the new batch of CRRIs. The existing batch comprises nearly 3,000 interns.

An official said the interns were doctors entering the service, and it was important for them to continue to be in service at a crucial time like this. “This is an epidemic. So, they will continue to be in service. They will help the doctors and be involved in patient care services. We will provide all protective equipment for them,” he said.

The new batch of interns, also known as house surgeons, have been asked to join on March 26. “The existing batch has been trained for a year. But the new students will need training. We will train them in the meantime and get them ready,” he added.

However, this has raised many doubts among the CRRIs. CRRIs of the Tamil Nadu Medical Students Association said as of now, there is no clarity on what basis the internship period is being extended. “We understand this is for COVID-19 management. As per our bond, CRRI is for 365 days. With this extension, we do not know if we will be junior residents, what our salary will be, and our accommodation,” an intern in one of the government medical college hospitals said.

Government extends tax deadlines to June 30

ATM withdrawal charges waived

25/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Deadlines for filing income tax and GST returns have been extended to June 30, as part of a slew of relaxations of financial year-end compliance announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

The changes were prompted by the shutdown of large parts of the country in a bid to control the spread of the COVID-19 viral infection, so that taxpayers were not forced to endanger their health in a bid to meet compliance requirements, she said.

Bank account holders would not be charged extra for using a debit card to withdraw money from the ATMs of other banks for the next three months, and charges for not meeting minimum balance requirements would also be waived. Bank charges for digital transactions were also being reduced.

Income tax returns for the financial year 2018-19 can now be filed until June 30, with the interest rate on delayed payments reduced to 9% from 12%. The last date for linking Aadhaar with PAN has also been extended from March 31 to June 30. Other taxpayer compliance deadlines, including for investment in savings instruments or for roll-over benefit of capital gains, under the Income Tax Act and other laws have also been extended.

The deadline for filing GST returns for March, April and May, as well as for opting for the composition scheme, has been extended to June 30 for smaller companies — with less than ₹5 crore aggregate annual turnover — without any interest, late fee or penalty being charged.

As COVID-19 toll touches 10, PM announces 21-day lockdown

Govt. allots ₹15,000 crore to beef up infrastructure for treatment of patients

25/03/2020, NISTULA HEBBAR,NEW DELHI

As the death toll from COVID-19 rose to 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown for the entire country, stating that it was the only way to break the chain of infection. The lockdown will be in effect till April 14.

In a nationwide television broadcast, Mr. Modi said the pandemic was a huge challenge to every country and even countries like the U.S. and Italy, considered to have good health infrastructure, were struggling to control the situation.

“In such a situation we have learnt from the experience of the countries that have managed to get some control over the surge in cases, and these show that a lockdown for a sustained period of time is the only way to break the chain of infection,” he said.

India on Tuesday recorded 564 positive cases, with the number of positive patients in Kerala and Maharahstra crossing 100.

Stating that it was the priority of both the Centre and the State governments to set up health infrastructure as fast as possible to deal with the pandemic, Mr. Modi said the government had allotted ₹15,000 crore for the purchase of personal protection equipment for healthcare workers, setting up testing laboratories and quarantine centres.

“Draw a Laxman Rekha outside your house door and do not step outside of it. Stay where you are. This will be the decisive battle against coronavirus,” he said.

Sounding a note of caution, he said: “If we are not able to adhere to this lockdown sincerely for 21 days, believe me, India will go back 21 years.”

Education sector in state comes to a grinding halt

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 05.35 AM IST

Vijayawada: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the education sector in the state to a grinding halt. The impact of the epidemic has forced the state government to shut all educational institutions till March 31.

Even coaching centres have shut operations. Nearly one crore students are limited to their homes for almost a week now, and there’s every possibility of the lockdown being extended. Several busy academic centres in the state, including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Guntur and Anantapur have been witnessing muted activity due to the closure of colleges, schools, universities and hostels.

Other than international students, most universities have vacated students from hostels. Some varsities have also postponed practical examinations. Meanwhile, thousands of teachers and faculty members have also been voluntarily observing self isolation due to the ‘lockdown holidays’.

Prof M Jagannadha Rao, vice-chancellor of Adikavi Nannaya University, has asked students to limit themselves to their homes and refrain from going to crowded places during the lockdown period. “We have already postponed the exams. We have conducted various awareness programmes for students on the prevention of the pandemic,” he told TOI.

Andhra University registrar Prof V Krishnamohan, dean (international affairs) Prof Dhanamjaya Rao and Dr Paul Douglas (chief warden of AU international hostels) have been visiting the hostels housing international students and reviewing measures being taken there in view of the prevalence of the pandemic.

Prof Dhanamjaya Rao said they interacted with international students residing in the hostels. “All students expressed satisfaction regarding the sanitary and hygienic conditions there. We have requested them to follow the self-imposed curfew for a few more days,” said professor Rao.

M Ravikrishna Kumar, a maths lecturer at a corporate college in the city, said his college has asked faculty members too to remain at their homes. “Students attended college even during cyclones and heavy rains. But for the first time, all faculty members have got holidays for an extended period due to Covid-19,” he said.

Many flyers stranded at airport

Mar 24, 2020, 04.07 AM IST

New Delhi: On the last day of domestic flight operations out of Indira Gandhi International Airport before suspension of flights, many passengers succeeded in their last-ditch effort to leave the capital, though some weren’t so lucky when their flights were cancelled owing to crew or pilot unavailability. There were numerous complaints about unexpected cancellations of connecting flights that left flyers stranded at the airport.

From Tuesday midnight, a major chunk of the airport staff will cease working. The cargo terminal operations and special flights bringing Indians stranded abroad will continue, and two runways have also been kept operational for chartered planes and special flights. At 1.30am on Tuesday, 270 passengers landed at IGIA from Iran on a Mahan Airways flight and were sent into quarantine.

“The airport staff requirement will be toned down, and only those essential to operations will be retained for duty. Even their numbers will be reduced because reaching the airport during the lockdown will not be easy,” an airport official informed. “Along with cargo and special flights, we are also prepared to manage chartered planes because a large number of MPs and politicians are in Delhi.”

On Monday, the central government had announced the cessation of domestic flight for a week, starting from 11.59 pm on Tuesday, to combat the spread of Covid-19 cases. An airport source said several flights were cancelled in the last 24 hours. Some had very low occupancy. Among those cancelled was an IndiGo flight to Jammu. Yash Naruka, a Twitter user, posted: “My female friend is at Delhi airport terminal 1D, she's from Jammu. She works in jaipur, she was travelling to Jammu. now in Delhi all the connecting flights have been cancelled and she have no place to go, please look into it (sic)”.

Gunjan Chawla, a passenger scheduled to come to Delhi from Mumbai, was unable to travel after her Vistara flight UK 960 was cancelled in the early hours of Tuesday. “I simply received a message at night about my flight being cancelled and when I called the helpline numbers to ask them to accommodate me on another flight, I had to wait for over an hour without luck,” said Chawla.

Another Twitter user, Aadeep Singh, said his brother and over 50 others from Raipur were struck at IGIA. “@IndiGo6E took the bookings of a connected flight from Coimbatore to Raipur, and now cancelled the flight at Delhi.(sic)”, complained his tweet.

‘Staying home is religious duty’

Mar 24, 2020, 04.10 AM IST

New Delhi: Following announcement of the lockdown in Delhi due to novel coronavirus, mosques across the city have appealed to people to pray from home and follow social distancing. Staying at home was nothing short of a religious duty, they said through loudspeakers.

Jama Masjid’s imam could be heard asking people to pray from home and not step out for any non-essential activity. Earlier, there were rumours of a few positive cases being found in Old Delhi.

Defence Colony mosque appealed all to pray from home as a precaution, while Friday prayers were not held at the mosque at Green Park.

Shahi imam of Fatehpuri mosque, Dr Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, shared a video message with imams in Delhi and across the country, explaining that Islam has options for praying at home in such times.

“It is the need of the hour to fight coronavirus through social distancing. We have requested people to pray in homes and take care of their health. It is as per the options Islam provides in rare circumstances such as present times,” he said.

Mufti Mukarram added that ever since LG Anil Baijal and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have asked for a lockdown, he has been requesting Muslims across Delhi to follow the advisory and ensure no handshakes and mingling. Even for Friday, he has requested people to not travel far to attend prayers and offer it as zuhr namaaz at home.

He also urged people to maintain hygiene and wash hands regularly. Regarding concerns over hand sanitisers having alcohol content, he said cleaning hands with sanitisers does not mean consuming alcohol. If the need arises, people should use masks and sanitisers and wash hands regularly before eating, he added.

“There should be no fear that mosques are getting closed or religious practices are being affected. Prayers are being held by the staff. We are only taking temporary precautions which is the need of the hour. We should follow advisory and pray from home for health of our country and the world.”

DTC makes ID card must for passengers

TNN | Mar 25, 2020, 05.11 AM IST

NEW DELHI: With nearly 2,000 buses of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on the city roads on the second day of lockdown, there was less crowding inside the buses compared with Monday. However, to ensure only those involved in essential services are allowed to travel, DTC has now made it mandatory for all passengers to show identity cards. An order in this regard was issued by DTC managing director on Tuesday.

“This was necessary as even those who were not involved in essential services were roaming around in buses, putting other passengers and our staff in danger,” an official from DTC said.

“Our buses are being thoroughly sanitised, but with unnecessary crowding, maintaining social distancing becomes difficult,” he added.

“With more DTC buses in place, vehicles were comparatively less crowded today. The situation will improve on Wednesday with only those with official identity cards allowed to board buses,” he asserted.

While barring all types of public transport from operating on Sunday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had allowed only 25% buses of the DTC fleet to operate from Monday. Due to the overcrowding witnessed on the first day of the lockdown, DTC was asked to operate 50% of its fleet. With the number of buses in DTC’s fleet being 3,756, around 2,000 buses operated on Tuesday.

“The frequency of buses was significantly better on Tuesday and all passengers were able to maintain a comfortable distance,” said a central government employee who didn’t wish to be identified.