‘Courts can resume work via video-conferencing’

Pradeep.Thakur@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:04.04.2020

With video-conference facilities, courts can reopen and resume functioning in the midst of the lockdown due to Covid-19 spread, former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur has said.

Speaking to TOI, Justice Lokur, who spearheaded the project for countrywide computerisation of courts as the judge-incharge of the e-committee of the apex court, said, “Under the e-courts project, all district courts were made video-conference compatible many years ago. Many district courts utilised the facility for routine remand and other related activities. Family courts used it for hearings, including in cases where a party was abroad and couldn’t come to India for financial reasons.”

It’s not very difficult for the Supreme Court and high courts in the country to start full court operations, learning from the “valuable experience” of district courts where video-conferencing has been used somewhat extensively, Justice Lokur said.

“The SC must strengthen the base for the average district court litigant if it wants to make a difference and must learn lessons from the use of technology by these courts,” he said. Cosmetic and knee-jerk methods and photo-ops will attract attention for a few weeks and then die down, he noted, adding that the solution lies in courts recognising that before further ad hoc experimentation.

Under the present circumstances, the SC can curb rising pendency of cases by maximising operation of courts across India. Almost all of the 18,000 subordinate and district courts, HCs and the SC have been computerised and judges have been connected to the National Judicial Data Grid with availability of other facilities such as electronic filing of cases and examining of witnesses through video-conferencing.

Full report on www.toi.in

Centre releases ₹17K cr to states to combat crisis

04.04.2020

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday released ₹17,287 crore to different states to augment their financial resources to combat the coronavirus crisis.

While the home ministry approved advance release of ₹11,092 crore to all states under the state disaster risk management fund (SDRMF), in line with the assurance given by PM Narendra Modi to chief ministers on Thursday, the finance ministry said ₹6,195 crore was transferred on account of “revenue deficit grants”, which were part of the 15th Finance Commission recommendations for 14 states, including Andhra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

“The central government released in advance its share of first instalment of SDRMF for the year 2020-21, amounting to ₹11,092 crore, with a view to augment funds available with the state governments,” the home ministry said in a release. TNN

Air India ‘temporarily suspends’ contracts of 61 senior pilots

Saurabh Sinha@timesgroup.com

04.04.2020

New Delhi: As part of costsaving measures to minimise the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that brutally hit the country’s aviation sector, Air India earlier this week “temporarily suspended” the post-retirement contracts of 61 senior pilots. The retirement age in Air India is 58, but many pilots beyond that age are re-hired on contract. Pilots can operate commercial flights till they turn 65.

The 61 pilots include Sharan Devi, who had operated the Indian Airlines’ flight IC 814 in December 1999 that was hijacked from Kathmandu in Nepal on its way to New Delhi. Even Captain S H Reza, one of the four pilots who operated the first of the two special jumbo jets sent to Wuhan on January 31 and February 1 to fly out stranded Indians from the coronavirus hotspot in China. He also received a formal appreciation letter from the government for this.

Two years ago, AI retained on contract the IC 814 commander, who for the past eight years has been flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Sharan refused to comment on the issue as he is “not authorised to speak to the media.”

A senior pilot who has flown with him said: “At 60, we have five years of flying left. Hopefully things will get resolved and there will be a full recovery that will see us back in the flight deck.”

A large number of airlines are on the verge of closure with their fleets grounded. All airlines are taking similar steps to cut costs and somehow survive the Covid-19 crisis.

Other pilots on AI’s list of 61re-hired-on-retirement, too, are understandably upset.

COST-CUTTING: The retirement age in Air India is 58, but many pilots beyond that age are re-hired on contract. Pilots can operate commercial flights till they turn 65

Govt launches mega cash transfer to fight Covid-19

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

04.04.2020

New Delhi/ Mumbai: The government on Friday launched one of the largestever cash transfer schemes, including the deposit of over ₹30,000 crore into the account of woman Jan Dhan account holders as well as ₹5,000 crore into the linked accounts of eight crore poor households with LPG connections provided under ‘Ujjwala’.

On Day One of the PM Jan Dhan transfer scheme ₹500 was deposited into the accounts of four crore women, with the government ordering banks to ensure that the dormant accounts were reactivated to ensure that no beneficiary was left out. The mega exercise, which will see deposits based on the last digit of the account number, saw several thousand account holders visit their bank branches and nearest ATMs, although business correspondents have been pressed into service to ensure door-step delivery of benefits. All accounts are to get the funds by April 9.

While banks said that they had made all the arrangements for orderly withdrawal, there were instances of overcrowding. Some branches also faced pressure because it coincided with pensioners coming to collect their monthly pension.

Similarly, the transfer of funds for purchase of three free cooking gas cylinders for April has begun. Staterun fuel retailers will transfer funds by the fourth of May and June as advance so that beneficiaries can buy LPG cylinders under a ₹1.7 lakhcrore relief package for the poor, which includes free cooking gas cylinder for three months. The Ujjwala consumers will have the option of getting three regular refills of 14.2kg or up to eight cylinders of 5kg, commonly known as ‘Chhotua’.

Full report on www.toi.in

GOVT AID: The mega exercise, which will see deposits based on the last digit of the account number, saw thousands of account holders visit their bank branches and nearest ATMs

College students help people suffering from loneliness

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

A group of students pursuing social work course in Ambedkar Arts College has launched counselling service to people in need of help.

Confinement to homes during the lockdown period is causing psychological problems to many. With every passing day, the severity of the situation is sinking in and both government and non-state agencies are stepping up efforts to mitigate stress of the lockdown on people in distress. Denial of freedom to move around and socialise with friends, and in some cases complete isolation from even the rest of the family members, are posing social tensions for many. For alcoholics, denial of their daily dose of liquor is posing problems. Tamil Nadu has already had instances of people under house quarantine showing suicidal symptoms. In one case, a youth under house quarantine ran out to the street naked and killed an elderly person by biting her on neck. In another case, a woman killed her alcoholic husband when he threw tantrums owing to nonavailability of liquor.

Sensing a need to provide counselling to many people on the verge of nervous breakdown, four final-year students have decided to reach out to them said Rajesh, one of them. It would also prove to be a new learning experience, they feel.

Many would drift into past unpleasant memories, caused by a range of reasons like failed relationship and poor academic performance. They would face depression, stress and anxiety once they experience loneliness. Such people need immediate counselling, said Ajith Kumar, one of the students.

Govt staff told to contribute voluntarily

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

Tamil Nadu government on Thursday issued an order seeking voluntary contributions of one day salary, or more in the case of whoever is willing to do so, from its employees and teachers towards chief minister’s public relief fund for fighting Covid-19 outbreak.

The order, issued by chief secretary K Shanmugam, said, money would be deducted from the salary of those who give their willingness to the salary disbursing officers concerned. It would be deducted from the salary for April and May.

The contributions would get 100% tax exemption under 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act. Those who make separate contributions to the relief fund – other than salary deduction – would be given separate receipts to avail of tax exemption, the order said.

The order is applicable to all employees of local bodies, universities, boards and corporations, aided educational institutions and other institutions receiving grants from the government and to the employees drawing consolidated pay from the government.

Shanmugam said the contributions would be purely voluntary in nature. The order was issued based on a request from various government employees’ and teachers’ associations to facilitate contributions to the relief fund.

In another order to secretaries to government, the chief secretary said all officials should carry identity cards with them to produce before police at check posts, put up to strictly enforce prohibitory orders.

The heads of departments have been instructed to authorise services of skeleton staff for Covid-19 related duty, through duty roaster.

They would be issued authorisation to travel.

The chief secretary also said all officials should carry identity cards with them to produce before police at check posts

Doctor shows symptoms, tests still inconclusive

Pratiksha.Ramkumar@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:04.04.2020

The public health department had a scare on Thursday after another doctor developed symptoms of Covid-19. The Mettupalayam based doctor, who is pursuing masters in pediatrics and practising in Chidambaram, had returned during the lockdown.

After she developed symptoms, the doctor was isolated in a private hospital and tested for the virus. Her results from the lab in the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital was inconclusive, prompting officials to send a fresh sample to the Covid testing centre in Theni. “We heard that her sample tested negative in Theni. But we are awaiting an official declaration,” said deputy director of public health Dr G Ramesh Kumar.

The department is now working on to find out where she could have been exposed. “She was seeing patients in Chidambaram till she returned to the district five days ago. Here, she had no exposure to anybody in the Tablighi Jamaat group,” said Coimbatore collector K Rajamani. “So, we believe that exposure could have occurred while she was in Chidambaram. We are awaiting her final result,” he said.

The department is also awaiting the results of 25 people from the district, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet and also their close contacts. “This includes people from the corporation limits and Annur,” said Rajamani. “We have begun tracing their contacts before waiting for their results. Even if they test negative, they will not be discharged and allowed to go home. They will be moved to their quarantine location.”

Two private hospitals have submitted four samples for testing.

Seven people got admitted into ESI showing symptoms of the virus on Friday, taking the total number of admitted people to 109. The spurt in cases and fears of exposure has led to the calls to the 108 ambulance spiking from 17,000 a day to more than 21,000. Despite the district administration allocating six ambulances just to ferry symptomatic patients from homes to hospitals and in between hospitals, a group of four migrant labourers from Kerala who developed symptoms of the virus could not get an ambulance to reach the ESI hospital for four hours on Friday.