HC extends interim orders till June 30

HC extends interim orders till June 30

02/06/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday extended the various interim orders till June 30. However, orders relating to grant of parole/leave have been extended only till June 8.

Following similar directions issued by the Principal seat in Chennai, a Division Bench of Justices P.N. Prakash and B. Pugalendhi suo motu extended the interim orders and clarified that the High Court Bench had not become completely operational and what had been permitted was staggered opening of the court for physical appearance.

The judges said that with regard to the extension of remand, only nine district courts had become functional from June 1.

It would be difficult for production of remand prisoners for extension of remand either under Section 167 Cr.P.C or Section 309 Cr.P.C., before various Courts in the State,either in person or via video conferencing.

Therefore, the court directed that all remands under Section 167 Cr.P.C. and Section 309 Cr.P.C., would stand extended till June 30 without prejudice to the right of the prisoner to be released on bail in the meanwhile.

The court said that with regard to the extension of limitation period, it was bound by the orders passed by the Supreme Court. The case was adjourned till June 8 for deciding the issue relating to the extension of parole/leave of convicts.

Locusts fly into Chhattisgarh from M.P.

Locusts fly into Chhattisgarh from M.P.

Minimal damage done to crop so far by the swarms as alert is maintained, say government officials

02/06/2020, SIDHARTH YADAV,BHOPAL

Note of caution: Locust swarms can be killed by pesticides but some move away to nearby districts. PTI

Swarms of desert locusts flew into two villages of Korea district of Chhattisgarh from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh but caused minimal damage, State government officials said on Monday.

“The swarms descended on three villages on Saturday night, but one of them flew away from a village the next morning,” District Collector Satyanarayan Rathore said.

On Sunday, a swarm remained between Punji and Jwaratola villages of Bharatpur block of the district. “We sprayed pesticide, which killed most of them. All panchayats are on alert and fire tenders have been put on standby,” he added.

A further advance inside Chhattisgarh depended on Madhya Pradesh’s handling of swarms and the wind direction, Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, Principal Secretary of the Chhattisgarh Agriculture Department, told The Hindu.

No standing crops

“If they don’t manage to kill them all, they are likely to come here. There is a nationwide alert already. As there are no standing crops at the moment, there was no damage in Korea,” Ms. Dwivedi added.

On May 29, State Director of Agriculture Taman Singh Sonwani alerted district officials to possible invasions and asked them to tour villages to apprise villagers of it.

Mr. Singh had informed agriculture officials that swarms could invade Chhattisgarh from neighbouring Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

He directed officials to spread awareness among farmers and teach them natural remedies, traditional alternatives and chemical methods to prevent any crop damage.

Illegal construction on temple land stopped

Illegal construction on temple land stopped

02/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, CHENNAI

As part of its efforts to retrieve temple properties, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) department has stopped illegal construction work on land belonging to the Dhenupureeswarar temple in Madambakkam by a private party.

Officials said that the owner of the building was trying to convert his house into a commercial establishment since it is located on Madambakkam Main Road and is worth several crores of rupees. “We are in the process of vacating over 290 encroachers from the seven streets that came up on nearly 20 acres of land belonging to the temple. We have already written to the Revenue Department to not entertain any sale of property or registration in the specified pattas so that people will not further misuse the lands,” an official of the HR and CE said.

Going for a haircut? don’t forget your Aadhaar

Going for a haircut? don’t forget your Aadhaar

SOP issued for establishments to help in contact tracing

02/06/2020, DENNIS S. JESUDASAN, CHENNAI

Back in business: Salons and parlours allowed to operate in Chennai from Monday. B. JOTHI RAMALINGAMB_JOTHI RAMALINGAM

The next time you go for a haircut or grooming in Tamil Nadu, remember your Aadhaar number and your mobile phone number. According to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued for salons, beauty parlours and spas, they must collect the name, address, mobile phone numbers and Aadhaar of their customers to help in contact tracing for COVID-19.

The seven-page SOP for owners and workers of these establishments issued by the Commissioner of Revenue Administration to Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation and all District Collectors, hand sanitisers are to be provided near the entrance of beauty parlours and spas, if not, facilities to wash hands with soap and water. A senior officer said the details are collected as a precaution and would help in case someone in a salon tested positive.

“With details in hand, it would be easy for contact-tracing, which is taking a long time. We are taking various steps but public cooperation is essential.”

“To the extent possible” customers could be allowed for “service by appointment” to avoid crowding and to ensure physical distancing norms.

Only 50% of the seats are to be occupied at a time and markings for queues are necessary to ensure there is no crowding.

Additional Commissioner, 49 personnel return to work

Additional Commissioner, 49 personnel return to work

02/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Warm welcome: Commissioner of Police A.K. Viswanathan welcoming Additional Commissioner of Police (North) R. Dhinakaran back to duty on Monday.SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Commissioner of Police A.K. Viswanathan and other officers welcomed Additional Commissioner of Police (North) R. Dhinakaran and 49 police personnel who joined duty on Monday after being cured of COVID-19.

At the office of the Commissioner of Police, Vepery, Mr. Viswanathan received them and appreciated them for rejoining duty. “As many as 50 police personnel, including the Additional Commissioner, are joining duty on the advice of doctors after they were discharged. The police personnel have been discharging their duties effectively in COVID-19 prevention. While they were discharging duties on field, some of them contracted COVID-19. I appreciate them for coming back to duty,” he said. He said the police should work hard to ensure that public moved freely.

Along with Additional Commissioner of Police (North), two Assistant Commissioners of Police, four police inspectors, 12 sub-inspectors, and 31 others joined duty.

ATM robbery solved, bank employee held

ATM robbery solved, bank employee held

02/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Maduravoyal police on Monday solved the Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank ATM theft case with the arrest of a bank employee.

Over a dozen persons, including bank staff, were interrogated as part of the investigation into the theft of ₹8 lakh from the ATM on Sunday.

The police said the masked suspect arrived in an autorickshaw at the ATM around 12.30 p.m. Sunday and entered the kiosk on the pretext of spraying disinfectant. The suspect opened the machine and was taking out cash.

A customer, who came to deposit cash, grew suspicious and alerted the security guard. By then, the suspect had left the spot with the booty.

Following a complaint filed by bank manager Rajkumar, Maduravoyal police inspector T. Radhakrishnan took up investigation. Mr. Radhakrishan said: “The CCTV footage and good coordination of our team helped solve the case quickly.”

The police gave the name of the suspect as M. Sivanandan, 39, an employee working with another branch of the bank. The accused knew the password as he regularly loaded cash into the machine. He allegedly stole the money to settle a loan taken to build his house at his native place in Thoothukudi district.

Within days after flights resume, all safety norms go for a toss

Within days after flights resume, all safety norms go for a toss

Long queues seen at airport, with no physical distancing

02/06/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI

A long wait: Though only a limited number of flights were operated on Monday, passengers had to wait in serpentine queues to get in. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Long queues without any physical distancing. Chennai airport seems to have gone back to a pre-COVID-19 era.

Though only a limited number of flights operate every day, the airport is witnessing serpentine queues in two areas — the entry to the terminal and at the security check.

There are only about 40-45 flights that the airport currently handles after airlines resumed domestic operations early last week. But, passengers do not follow physical distancing norms, rendering them vulnerable to contracting the infection from co-passengers.

S. Janaki (name changed), a passenger who recently travelled from Chennai to Bengaluru, said, “It was scary to see people so close to each other. Both passengers and authorities need to be aware of the seriousness of this situation. The responsibility lies on both sides equally. But the authorities could have a volunteer wearing PPE or mask and gloves constantly reminding passengers to maintain distance between one another. Passengers should also realise that their life is at risk and behave responsibly.”

She added that with many passengers coming to the airport hours before their flight, those with earlier flights had to jostle with others in queues.

Airports Authority of India officials insist that they keep urging passengers to stand apart but admit that many disregard their pleas. “We have seen a lot of first-time flyers in the last one week and they are not quite aware of the rules. We keep telling them but the staff are also scared to go very close to passengers,” an official said.