Battle-weary OGH medicos boycott duties over workload

Battle-weary OGH medicos boycott duties over workload

Amrita.Didyala@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad: 22.06.2020

Health services at the state-run Osmania general hospital (OGH) was hit on Sunday after a large section of junior doctors at the forefront of the coronavirus fightback boycotted duties over poor strength at the Covid-19 wards leading to burnout.

Nearly two weeks after a strike badly affected operation at the state’s exclusive Covid-19 facility, Gandhi Hospital, 30 PG medicos from OGH boycotted duties for the second day in a row.

They sent a letter to their department head on Sunday morning, saying they will boycott duties indefinitely until more doctors were deployed.

A worried hospital superintendent B Nagender has now sent an SOS to other departments heads saying, “we cannot leave the battle midway,” and urged all hands to manage the isolation wards.

Requests to PG doctors from the general medicine department who are feeling ‘burnt out’ due to increasing Covid-19 suspects and confirmed cases coming to the hospital, have all fallen on deaf ears.

‘Every dept has docs hit by coronavirus’

The hospital handles 2,000 patients daily, and while the general medicine and pulmonology department usually handles suspected and positive cases of Covid-19 in every hospital, at OGH, the general medicine PGs are the only ones at the forefront as the hospital does not have a department of pulmonology.

There are 15-16 PG doctors, house surgeons (1st year medical students) usually taking care of isolation ward for suspected Covid-19 patients, there are 40-50 patients at the ward at any given time. The junior doctors had asked for additional doctors on Friday, following which a circular was sent to all departments seeking help but most of them are short-staffed currently.

“Every department in the hospital currently has 4-5 doctors who tested positive for Covid-19. Also, 50% of the strength remains on quarantine as per orders. With a steady patient flow, many departments are struggling to meet their requirements. While they are working out how to help us, PGs and house surgeons from dermatology department have been deputed at the isolation ward,” said Dr B Nagender, hospital superintendent. “We are pressing senior doctors in service and making alternative arrangements, but my request to the PG doctors is to allow us time to work out the modalities. This is not the time to crumble under pressure,” Nagender added, admitting that doctors are indeed overburdened and all efforts are being made to get more staff.

MEA tells missions to resume visa services

MEA tells missions to resume visa services

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 22.06.2020

The foreign ministry has requested diplomatic missions in India to resume visa processing services “in view of lifting of the Covid lockdown”.

This comes at a time when the Centre is considering a calibrated resumption of international flights from next month depending on the pandemic situation. Highlighting issues being faced by Indians due to suspension of visa services, the MEA wrote to foreign missions on June 9.

“The ministry is receiving requests from Indian nationals/trade bodies over difficulties being faced by Indians in obtaining visas due to suspension of such services by some diplomatic missions in India,” the letter stated.

‘Resuming visa process a sign of return of normalcy’

Several of them intend to travel to foreign countries for various reasons including emergency/compelling reasons, to rejoin family members residing abroad, resumption of education,” the letter stated.

Some Indians who live and work abroad were stranded when international flights were suspended on March 22. “In some cases, their visas have expired and they need to re-apply at foreign diplomatic missions in India to travel back to their country of residence. In few cases, Indian citizens who had submitted their original passports to foreign diplomatic missions in India for processing of their visa applications before lockdown have not yet received their passports back,” the letter added.

Senior officials of foreign airlines welcomed the move and said resuming visa processing could be seen as a sign of new normalcy returning post-pandemic.

India had suspended most existing visas to foreigners on March 10 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In past few weeks, India has begun lifting restrictions on entry of foreigners in a calibrated manner. Schedule commercial international flights are suspended till the month-end.

Aviation minister H S Puri had said on June 20: “We can start international flights when our domestic traffic reaches about 50-60% & other countries open up to international traffic without present conditionalities. Once the situation evolves in that direction we will consider a calibrated opening.”

Indians stranded in Kyrgyzstan arrived at Devi Ahiliya Airport in Indore on Sunday

•Dubai opens to tourists from July 7, P 10

From July 7, Dubai to reopen its doors for tourists

From July 7, Dubai to reopen its doors for tourists

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  22.06.2020

Dubai will conditionally reopen its doors for tourists from July 7 and also allow foreign nationals holding residency visas to return to the emirate from June 22.

Dubai government’s media office on Sunday tweeted that the UAE emirate will “welcome tourists from July 7. Tourists required to present recent Covid-19 negative certificate or undergo testing at Dubai airports.”

It also announced new air travel protocols for Dubai citizens, residents and visitors. “… taken a decision to allow foreign nationals holding residency visas issued in Dubai to return to the emirate, starting Monday (June 22)… will also allow citizens and residents to travel to any foreign country starting Tuesday (June 23) provided the destination countries agree to receive them. Furthermore, they should commit to observing precautionary measures outlined by the countries they are visiting… have also decided to start welcoming visitors and tourists from overseas beginning July 7, 2020,” the Dubai’s government’s media office said on its website.

When prisoners get likes on Instagram & Facebook

When prisoners get likes on Instagram & Facebook

Himanshi.Dhawan@timesgroup.com

22.06.2020

A man sips morning tea as he reads the newspaper; another starts his mornings with surya namaskar; yet another strikes a pose with his dog. Just the routine stuff of social media, right?

Except that the people telling their stories on Facebook and Instagram pages @openprisonvoices are prisoners serving life sentences, most of them for murder, at Rajasthan’s Sanganer open prison.

Run by Rajasthan government, this is a jail where inmates are allowed to work, live and commute within city limits for 12 hours a day, leaving campus at 6am after the roll call and returning by 6pm for the evening attendance. NGO Prison Aid and Action Research (PAAR) that works on prison reforms started the social media initiative in April this year.

PAAR founder Smita Chakraburtti says there is a need to break taboos around criminals and spread awareness about the open prison system. “You can cage a man and break him, but you can’t reform him. The basis of an open prison is reformative justice, which is the way ahead,” she says. Yet when the Insta and Facebook pages were started, Chakraburtti was sceptical. Not anymore.

Among the most active on the Insta page is 34-year-old Manish Agarwal. A real-estate agent before he was convicted in 2008, he was moved from Jaipur Central Prison to Sanganer in 2018. When he got out, it was the first time in 10 years that he saw a smartphone. “I had not used one before. My family was initially reluctant thinking I might fall under bad influence again but after a couple of months they relented,” he says.

Since then Agarwal, who runs the family business of selling textiles, has been hooked to WhatsApp and Instagram. He hopes that their stories on social media will change people’s mind about prisoners.

The prison is run by a ‘bandi panchayat’ or council of prisoners and has a school, temple and an anganwadi. Some prisoners’ children go to private English-medium schools outside while those from outside come to the Sanganer school.

Full report on www.toi.in

NEW INITIATIVE: PAAR founder Smita Chakraburtti says there’s a need to break taboos around criminals and spread awareness about the open prison system

Man who rocked Tamil pop, YODELLING INTO HEARTS

Man who rocked Tamil pop, YODELLING INTO HEARTS

Singer A L Raghavan Had Ushered In A New Genre Of Light Film Music

R Rangaraj  22.06.2020

When people first heard “Pombala Oruthi Irundhalam” from the 1967 hit ‘Athey Kangal’ there were a few words that sounded gibberish. Those turned out to be Sourashtrian words meaning “Let me go, I am afraid”. The idea of infusing a different language into a Tamil song was the brainchild of two legendary Tamil playback singers from the Sourashtrian community — A L Raghavan and T M Sounderarajan.

In the passing of Raghavan on June 19 in Chennai at the age of 86, the Tamil film music industry lost a singer, who was always ready to explore new territories while specialising in pop, yodelling and comedy songs with a verve of his own. He came to represent a new generation of Tamil singers who could sing Western pop. His voice with comedian Nagesh on screen was one of the perfect pairings aimed at wooing the youth.

As Tamil pop began to be hummed in every household, Raghavan maintained a versatility in his Western-comedy songs from “Once a papa met a mama” in ‘Anbe Vaa’ (1966) to “Jigubugu Jigubugu Naan Engine” of ‘Motor Sundaram Pillai’ (1966) and “Poda Chonnal Pottukiren” in ‘Poova Thalaiya’ (1969), there was an amalgamation of rhythm and melody with comedy. His songs would be interspersed with effortless yodeling. A style that Raghavan developed over the years and a contrast from his early years in theatre and classical music.

Ayyampettai Lakshmanan Raghavan born in April 1934 was son of stage actor A R Lakshmana Bhagavathar. His father could sing, learned to play the violin and mridangam, and made a name for himself in Thanjavur. He had acted along with Kali N Rathnam in films like ‘Punjab Kesari’ (1938) and ‘Chandragupta Chanakya’ (1940). Bhagavathar died early due to cholera, and Raghavan had to take over the family responsibility at the age of eight.

Raghavan joined OAAR Arunachalam Chettiar’s Baala Gaana Vinodha Sabha and began playing small roles, mainly in mythological plays where he had to act and sing. In 1945-46, the company staged ‘Thirumazhisai Alwaar’ in Chennai. The company resorted to a novel promotional campaign by drawing the ‘naamam’ (tilaka worn by Vaishnavites) with the letters Thirumazhisai Aalwaar on the sides of trams plying on Anna Salai. Huge crowds attended the play and among them was Somu Chettiar, owner of Jupiter Pictures. He was so impressed by Raghavan’s acting and singing that he decided to cast him as Bala Krishnan in his film ‘Krishna Vijayam’ (1950). So keen was Chettiar, that he handed over ₹5,000 to the owner of the theatre troupe, with whom Raghavan had a contract, to end the agreement.

Starting at the bottom, Raghavan’s vocal journey in films began with singing as chorus. It was in 1950, that music director C S Jayaraman gave him a song along with K R Ramaswami and T R Rajakumari, who sang for their own parts, while Raghavan had to render playback for Kamala. Young Raghavan had to stand on a table between Ramaswami and Rajakumari to reach the microphone.

After his four-year stint with Jupiter Pictures, Raghavan moved to Chennai to work in the plays of S V Sahasranamam and Sivaji Ganesan. Once, while singing for a play in the city, music composers M S Viswanathan and G K Venkatesh heard him. MSV hired him to sing “Hello My Dear Raami” (‘Pudhaiyal’, 1957), alongside J P Chandrababu. In the next few films, Raghavan managed to yodle ff and on, which was new to Chennai in those days.

Raghavan’s career had set off to a good start with K V Mahadevan’s “Oru Murai Paarthale Podhum” in ‘Panchali’ (1962). Among his biggest hits were “Andru Oomaip Pennaallo’ for Gemini Ganesan in ‘Parthal Pasi Theerum’ (1962), but it was “Enginrundhaalam Vaazhga” (Nenjil Oar Aalayam) that turned out to be an all-time classic. The lyrics by Kannadasan succinctly portrayed the dilemma of a doctor when confronted with his long lost love who seeks his help to save her husband’s life. Despite these evergreen emotional songs, Raghavan could never shake off the image of being the voice of a comedian. Raghavan was never really considered as the voice of the hero. Once, he did sing for Sivaji in ‘Naan Vanangum Deivam’ (1963), but the film distributors felt his voice wasn’t suitable for Sivaji. The duet had to be used for comedian T R Ramachandran, instead of Sivaji Ganesan.

A duet composed for Idhayathil Nee, ‘Thingalukku’ by Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy was left out as singer S Janaki found that the tune was similar to Azhagukkum Malarukkum recorded for Nenjam Marapathillai a few days ago. This song could have boosted his career. For Raghavan, it was a case of missed opportunities that continued to dog his life.

As musical assignments dwindled, Raghavan turned to production. Partnering with TMS, he launched Soundar Raghavan Movies to make ‘Kallum Kaniyaagum’. Though its songs were popular, the film didn’t do well at the box-office and TMS wanted to end the adventure. But Raghavan produced one more film, ‘Kannil Theriyum Kadhaigal (1980) (against the wishes of his wife, former actress M N Rajam), employing five music directors — K V Mahadevan, T R Pappa, M S Viswanathan, Shankar Ganesh and Ilayaraja. The songs were hits but the film flopped, creating more financial problems for Raghavan. But for all his ups and downs, Tamil film music lovers would probably pay their tribute to him with his song “Engirundhaalum Vaazhga” (May you live well, wherever you are).

(The writer is president, Chennai 2000 Plus Trust)

Email your feedback with name and address to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com



A L RAGHAVAN (1934-2020)

Arriving passengers continue to walk out without screening at city airport

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.06.2020

Around 1,000 people walked out of the airport unmonitored even when a complete lockdown has been announced to prevent spread of Covid-19 on Sunday.

Around 1,000 to 1,300 passengers who landed from different cities boarded cabs and reached their homes with just a thermal screening and stamping of a home quarantine stamp on them. Though the airport has flights from hotspots like Delhi and also passengers arriving from Mumbai via connecting flights, the state government is yet to take samples for RTPCR tests. However, the state government’s health bulletin released daily shows the number of domestic air travellers that test positive, which gives the impression that all arriving passengers are tested. But only those with symptoms are isolated and tested.

Hence, 51passengers tested positive even though 44, 023 passengers have arrived at the airport since May 25 when domestic flights resumed. The details of the domestic flights in which the infected passenger arrived is also not mentioned in the bulletin. On Sunday, one passenger each from Delhi, Maharashtra and Telangana tested positive. On Saturday, five passengers from Delhi and one from Assam tested positive. Airline staffers, who work in the high risk environment using protective gear, say that several asymptomatic patients must be slipping by.

On Sunday, there were fewer passengers because many cancelled their trips fearing that cabs will not be available to travel into the city from the airport. However, the airlines saw a good number of people flying out. An airline official said that departures are going full, especially to Delhi, while the number of people arriving into Chennai has become fewer because of the shutdown that started on June 19. The airlines have cut the no. of flights from 66 flights on Sunday to 60 flights on Monday.

Complaints rise over inadequate facilities at Covid-19 care centre

Complaints rise over inadequate facilities at Covid-19 care centre

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.06.2020

The amenities at the Covid care centre at Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam are inadequate, patients have complained after the death of a 49-year-old woman on June 18. On May 7, too, when 250-odd patients were shifted, there were similar complaints.

On Thursday (June 18), the woman patient who was admitted on June 13 suddenly began sinking and was sent to the RGGGH in an ambulance. She died within half an hour.

Patients at the centre, whioch currently houses 450 patients, said she had been complaining of breathlessness since evening and no proper treatment was provided. One patient said a nurse or a doctor came only once in four hours. “We have mild symptoms, but shouldn’t there be people available 24x7 for any medical situation? This patient may have been saved if that was provided,” he said.

As news of her death spread, all patients began a protest, demanding medicines, sanitizers and water. “There is no water for bathing,” said one.

On Friday, a team of corporation officials came visiting. “Nearly 40-50 patients staged a protest. We provided sanitizers and water. We also provided them with an emergency call button facility,” said a sanitary officer.

Doctors at the centre told TOI it was not a treatment facility and high risk patients and those with co-morbidities weren’t admitted. “The 49-year-old patient did not have any comorbid condition and was stable. We check on vitals such as blood pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation every four hours. In the afternoon her oxygen saturation was 98. However in the evening, she became breathless and began sinking,” said a doctor. As pert the GH report, she died of covid pneumonia. But at the covid care centre, they said she did not have any symptoms of pneumonia.

As per the corporation, a covid care centre houses patients who require regular monitoring. “Most of them are patients from other districts or those who have returned from other countries,” said a doctor.

When contacted, senior corporation officials were contacted said all care centres were provided with emergency drugs, oxygen cylinders, two 108 ambulances and doctors. “The trade centre issue is resolved,” said an official.