HC extends interim orders till April 30

Move Due To Closure Of Courts

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:27.03.2020

Those facing eviction and those on bail or anticipatory bail due to interim orders of courts can breathe easy as the Madras high court has extended them relief till April 30 across the board. A division bench granted a blanket extension for its interim orders owing to closure of courts due to Covid-19 outbreak.

All orders of eviction, dispossession or demolition which have not been executed till date on the orders of the high court, district courts or the civil courts, shall remain in abeyance till April 30, unless vacated or modified earlier by any judicial order passed by the appropriate forum by which it was issued, said a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice Abdul Quddhose on Thursday.

“All interim orders passed by the high court at Madras – principal bench that were subsisting as on March 20, may stand extended till April 30, unless vacated or modified earlier or until further orders of the court unless specifically dealt with by any judicial order to the contrary,” the bench said.

The order was passed in a suo motu plea initiated based on a letter of the Chief Justice AP Sahi dated March 26.

“Keeping in view the extraordinary situation which has arisen, it appears appropriate to undertake extraordinary remedies by issuing certain directions in order to ensure the smooth administration of justice and prevent any form of obstruction or miscarriage of justice,” the bench said.

Adding that all orders passed by the courts exercising criminal jurisdiction having granted bail, anticipatory bail or parole for a limited period which are likely to expire on or before April 30 shall stand extended till April 30, the court said that it is subject to any orders passed by the said forums even before the said expiry date or thereafter to enable the respective courts to deal with any abuse of the orders of the concerned party.

This apart, general encroachment drives, state revenue recovery measures, proceedings relating to demolition and eviction and other actions that are likely to give rise to an immediate litigation in the high court may be kept temporarily in abeyance subject to any measures for which advise may be sought from the advocate-general, the judges said.

The order has been passed in view of complete lockdown across the country.

People mistake stickers as mark of Covid cases

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 27.03.2020

Health workers of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) have started pasting stickers outside houses and apartments of people who have been home-quarantined.

However, many people have started mistaking the stickers as an indication of Covid positive patients living in the homes. Such messages along with the photo of the sticker have started circulating in WhatsApp groups in the local area, adding to panic among residents.

For instance, one message read that one person had tested positive for corona in RA Puram and exhorted the WhatsApp group members to be careful. Similar messages of corona having reached T Nagar or Madipakkam were also doing the rounds. This led to panic, especially among senior citizens.

On Thursday, GCC, on its official twitter handle, reassured people that there was nothing to be scared of, as these were residents who had been home quarantined for 28 days after returning from a foreign country.

“Please do not spread such fake messages that would hurt them and their noble cause,” GCC said in tweets. To debunk such rumours, GCC has asked people to tweet their queries with the hashtag #GCCmythbusters.

People returning from foreign countries have been asked to home quarantine for 28 days. GCC started pasting stickers only from early this week and in some cases, they have backdated the date to match with the start of the patient’s home quarantine.

A reader pointed out that the stickers printed in Tamil had words which would scare people about corona positive patients staying there. GCC clarified that they would be replacing such stickers with new ones.

SIGN OF SAFETY: An official pasting a home-quarantine sticker outside a house in the cit

TAMIL NADU COVID-19 TRACKER

Nurses to advise pregnant women on hospital visits

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.03.2020

In the next two months, at least 1.5 lakh pregnant women in the state are expected to give birth. Nearly 11,000 women have been tagged as “high-risk” by doctors in the state registry Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME).

The state health department charted out a series of micro and macro level plans for these women. “All pregnant women will have calls and visits from our nurses. They will be advising them not to visit government hospitals or primary health centres in the morning,” said health secretary Beela Rajesh. Those visiting private hospitals will have to work with their doctors and ensure they don’t wait in crowded OPs. “All fever and Covid-19 out-patient clinics in government will close in the morning and space will be used for pregnant women in the afternoon. Scans will be scheduled for them in the afternoon,” she said.

Pharmacies will dispense medications for a month so they don’t have to return to the hospital just to pick up their pills, she said. Similar protocols will be followed by post-transplant patients.

Pregnant women visiting state-run antenatal clinics will now be categorised as red (high risk), yellow (moderate risk) and green (safe). Since a woman can continue to remain in green or move to yellow and red any time during the pregnancy, village and urban health nurses will keep a keen watch. All high risk cases will be monitored by a senior gynaecologist and delivery will be at a tertiary care centre. “Government will pick up women who go into labour in special vehicles or ambulances,” Beela said.

Only women tagged green will be allowed to deliver at primary health centres, where staff will be mentored by gynaecologists. Obstetricians-gynaecologists from sub-district, district and medical college hospitals will be allotted health blocks based on the geographic location of the hospital they are posted for the training. Each doctor will have a group of clinics and staff. All mothers will be seen by a doctor at least once.

“The plan is to continue monitoring the women and have access to case sheets of all pregnant women. We are putting everything on a dashboard to make monitoring easy,” Beela said.

With no bus, food, jobs, migrants make long march to village home

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  27.03.2020

A new humanitarian crisis may be unfolding in the country. Tens of thousands of desperate people, mainly migrant labour reduced to joblessness by the lockdown and with little or no money or food, have been streaming out of major cities for the past few days, attempting foot marches of hundreds of kilometres to reach their homes in India’s small towns and villages. Some were barefoot, and one had handkerchiefs wrapped around his feet and broken slippers stuffed into his pockets in the hope of repair.

These tides of men, and women and children, driven by the uncompromising arithmetic of survival and fear of contracting the novel coronavirus, pose a new challenge to the government’s all-out attempts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“Some 26,000 people have reached Ratanpur, on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, in the past two-three days. Our teams are listing them, they are being screened by medical teams. Those who have been advised quarantine are stamped and being transported to their villages on buses arranged by the administration,” Dungarpur collector Kanaram told TOI.

Migrant workers walk back to their villages in New Delhi on Thursday

‘A few organisations have arranged for food and water for migrating workers’

There were thousands leaving the Delhi National Capital Region, trudging down the Yamuna Expressway and the expressway to Meerut. Raj Kumar was one; he had set out for home with just 1,000 in hand. But home was Chhapra in Bihar, 1,050 km away. And he had a toddler in his arms while his wife walked beside him. He was hoping he could hitch a ride home.

Police checkposts on the outskirts of Jaipur, especially along the Jaipur-Agra, Jaipur-Sikar and Jaipur-Ajmer highways, are coming across people walking back to their villages; they had been asked by their families to return home. TOI visited the Jaipur-Agra highway near the Goner road and found many walking on the road, carrying bags and luggage. “My village is nearly 110 km from Jaipur. I have no option but to go back. The police stopped us at a few places but, when convinced that we had no other choice, they let us carry on,” said Kishan Mahawar a daily-wage labourer.

“On Wednesday night we have stopped a truck carrying vegetables and asked the driver to drop five workers to Kishangarh,” said Sultan Singh, a cop posted at Poorani Chungi. The scale of movement is so large that it frightened senior officers at the Jaipur police commissionerate when they were told by subordinates that hundreds of workers were walking towards Transport Nagar.

“A migration is on… We have spoken to many of them who are left without any money. Yesterday we helped some of them reach their villages,” said Jaipur commissioner Anand Srivastav. A few voluntary organisations have arranged for food and water for these migrating workers.

On the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, patwaris were preparing lists of the arriving population according to the areas to which they belong and medical teams have been working day and night screening them. Most of them do not have money and had not eaten properly, Kanaram, the collector, said.

Full report on www.toi.in

Final-year medicos may join virus war

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.03.2020

In urgent measures to ramp up medical capacity to tackle any sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, the government is considering facilitating fifth-year MBBS students and retired but practising doctors to help in managing patients if necessary.

The ministry and the Board of Governors in Supersession of Medical Council of India (BoG-MCI) is looking at senior medical students being given a provisional permit to practise and manage Covid-19 cases, sources said.

The suggestions include allowing specialist doctors in vital specialities like anaesthesiology, pulmonology, cardiology and radiology who are waiting to appear for the final exam with a “Board Eligible” degree so that they assist in medical management. They could be “Board Certified”. Estimates show there are around 50,000 such specialist doctors who can play a significant role in critical care management if the number of hospitalization cases of Covid-19 increases in coming weeks. The proposal also includes relaxing norms and giving temporary licence to those who have pursued medical education from foreign universities in Russia and China and are waiting to clear MCI’s eligibility test. Such doctors can be allowed to work in hospitals under senior doctors to tackle the current situation.

‘Rate of increase relatively stable’

Stressing on the need to maintain strict vigil during the lockdown, the government on Thursday said the rate of increase in Covid-19 positive cases has “relatively stabilised” in the last few days. The health ministry reported 88 new cases, taking the total to 694. Though the number of cases is increasing, there is a relatively stable trend in the rate of increase, health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.

Govt augmenting testing facilities and labs despite focus on isolation

Health minister Harsh Vardhan is understood to have asked NITI Aayog member V K Paul — who also heads the BoG-MCI — to review the proposal, sources in the ministry said.

The proposal is crucial as it has the potential to address the shortage of doctors, mainly specialists in the country. Such doctors along with nurses and paramedics are absolutely essential to tackle any community spread of the disease.

Though India’s strategy against Covid-19 is focused on breaking the chain of transmission, there are concerns over a rise in mortality and critical care infrastructure to tackle the menace.

The government and the BoG has already legalized telemedicine and issued guidelines for the same in order to make healthcare accessible in remote areas as well as decongest hospitals from other consultations.

Around 17 states have started working at dedicated Covid-19 hospitals. Besides, the government has also earmarked beds for isolation and treatment of Covid-19 patients in both public and private hospitals.

Despite a focus on isolation to break the chain of transmission, the government is simultaneously augmenting its testing facilities and laboratories.

Currently, there are 119 public laboratories under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) capable of conducting 12,000 Covid-19 tests every day.

Besides, the council has also approved 25 private labs with over 20,000 collection centres to test Covid-19 suspected patients across the country.

1-yr jail for Sec 144 breach in TN, goods may reach homes

₹1,000 Dole To PDS Households From April 2

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:27.03.2020

The state is doing everything to ensure that people are not denied essentials during the nationwide lockdown, a top government official has said.

After a videoconference lasting nearly four hours with district collectors on Thursday, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami instructed them to ensure that from April 2 government staff hand over ₹1,000 to each rice cardholder at their doorstep, the official told TOI. Grocery shops and cooperative stores will also door-deliver essentials, he said.

“CM has directed the collectors to provide cash assistance at the doorstep. Some said they could deliver PDS goods for the month of April too at people’s homes and they were told to do so. If it is not possible, a token system should be followed with due precaution on social distancing without allowing crowding. If necessary, they should take police help. The PDS relief will be provided from April 2,” the official said.

The government also warned private banks, small financial institutions and self-help groups of legal action if they don’t suspend, until further orders, the daily/weekly/monthly collection of interest and principal towards loan dues.

The state invoked provisions of the Disaster Management Act superseding its previous notification under the Epidemic Act, and issued a notification for the on-going 21-day lockdown called by the Centre. As per the DM Act, anyone refusing to comply with any government direction will get a jail term of one year or fine, or both.

Firefighters spray disinfectant over a TNHB quarters in Chennai

9 panels to ensure nonstop supply of essential commodities

If refusal to comply with directions leads to loss of life, violators can get two-year jail term. Sources say the state may still include additional regulations, if any, under Epidemic Act.

A government release said the government provided officials with the names of 54,000 people who arrived from foreign countries and ensure they remained in quarantine for active monitoring. Since those in contact with Covid-19 patients are under isolation and prohibited from coming out, district collectors were told to ensure supply of essentials with adequate protection. Those who violate orders will be fined and criminal action initiated against them.

District administrators have swung into action by putting out on social media the names and numbers of shops that can door deliver essentials. Dindigul collector M Vijayalakshmi said vegetable markets in four places, including Palani Road truck terminal, will function from Friday. Tuticorin and Tirunelveli administrations made similar arrangements. In Tirunelveli, orders can be placed from selective shops between 9am and 4pm on payment of ₹25 towards delivery.

Earlier, the chief minister ordered setting up of nine committees led by senior bureaucrats to ensure uninterrupted supply of essentials and resolve disruptions. District administration officials should disinfect periodically densely populated slum clearance board tenements, religious places, markets and large streets. Adequate awareness should be created about the infectious disease through loud speakers and by issuing pamphlets. Senior citizens, sick, pregnant women and isolated families, those who wish to do dialysis can reach helpline 108 for any emergency. The 108 ambulance service will work in tandem.

(With inputs from Padmini Sivarajah)

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami holds a review meeting with district collectors via video conferencing on the preventive measures taken against the spread of coronavirus. Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, ministers C Vijayabaskar, RB Udayakumar, chief secretary K Shanmugam, director general of police JK Tripathy were among those present

370 stranded passengers in Trichy airlifted to Malaysia

TNN | Mar 26, 2020, 04.29 AM IST

TRICHY: Around 370 passengers, who had been stranded in Trichy following the cancellation of international flights from India in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, were airlifted by two special rescue flights to Kuala Lumpur early on Wednesday. Earlier, as many as 186 stranded Malaysian passengers were flown to Kuala Lumpur on a special flight on Saturday.

A group of Malaysian tourists arrived at Tamil Nadu two weeks ago and had planned to return to Kuala Lumpur on March 18 via Trichy international airport. On arrival, they were told that all flights to Kuala Lumpur have been cancelled.

On information, an official from the Malaysian consulate in Chennai arrived at Trichy airport on March 18 and assured them to do the needful to send them back safely after arranging a special flight

Air Asia operated two rescue flights from Trichy to Kuala Lumpur to ferry the stranded Malaysian nationals on Tuesday night.