States can’t use criminal law as a tool to harass citizens: SC

States can’t use criminal law as a tool to harass citizens: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:28.11.2020

The Supreme Court on Friday spoke firmly about the sanctity of personal liberty and said it was the sacred duty of courts to ensure that the state did not use criminal laws as a weapon to selectively harass citizens while considering the case relating to an FIR registered by Maharashtra government against TV anchor Arnab Goswami.

“Courts must be alive to the need to safeguard public interest in ensuring that the due enforcement of criminal law is not obstructed. The fair investigation of crime is an aid to it. Equally, it is the duty of courts across the spectrum—the district judiciary, the high courts and the Supreme Court— to ensure that criminal law does not become a weapon for the selective harassment of citizens,” a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee said.

The bench came down on the Bombay HC for not seeing the context of the case and said it had abdicated its constitutional duty as a protector of liberty. The SC said Goswami would be protected from arrest for four weeks even if the high court did not quash the FIR against him. The SC’s observations came in the case relating to the FIR for abetment to suicide against Goswami. The bench reiterated its November 11 decision granting interim bail to Goswami and said prima facie there was no connect between the complaint leading to the FIR and the suicide charge abetment against Goswami.

“Prima facie, on the application of the test which has been laid down by this court in a consistent line of judgments, it cannot be said that Goswami was guilty of having abetted the suicide,” the bench said.

Prima facie no abetment to suicide charge against TV anchor Arnab Goswami, rules Supreme Court

No Diwali spike, cases continue to drop

No Diwali spike, cases continue to drop

Positivity Rate & Hospitalisation Down; Doubling Period Up

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:28.11.2020

Nearly a fortnight after Diwali, Covid-19 cases and deaths in Tamil Nadu continue to drop, with epidemiologists saying positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy and doubling period were also declining.

On Friday, the state added 1,422 cases and 12 deaths, taking the case tally to 7,77,616 and cumulative death toll to 11,682. The active cases dropped to 11,109 against 18,966 on November 7. “We have nearly completed one incubation period since the festival day and more than 14 days if we count the days when people crowded shops. But during this period, we continued to see a decline in fresh and active cases,” said director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam.

The 11 northern districts together reported 726 cases, including 576 in Chennai region. Chennai had 392 fresh cases and two deaths. The zone had 6,059 active cases.

While the west had 412 fresh cases, including 145 in Coimbatore, south and central districts had 179 and 125 cases. Deaths were highest in the west (4) after north. Central districts together had 1death and southern districts together 2. With 1,011 people in central districts still under treatment, the zone had the least active cases, followed by south (1,044).

The rate at which cases are being added has also come down. The chance of a person who has acquired antibodies being infected is low.

The number of cases in November dropped to 53,094 compared to 1.2 lakh in October and 1.6 lakh in September. The state also reported an increase in recoveries and decline in daily deaths. In May, to reduce infection rate, the National Institute of Epidemiology set targets — decline in positivity rate, increase in doubling time for cases and deaths, fewer active cases, decrease in bed occupancy in hospitals.

The positivity rate and hospital occupancy rate went down while the doubling period for cases and deaths went up.

“We have fewer people on oxygen support or ventilators because most people come in early. So deaths have come down too,” said director of medical education Dr Narayanababu R.

CM to meet collectors, health experts today

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will hold a video conference with district collectors on Saturday morning to review Covid-19 management. He is scheduled to hold a meeting with health experts in the afternoon to decide on lockdown measures and relaxations. The meetings assume significance as the state government had put on hold decision to reopen schools and colleges, following a consultative meeting with the parents, college and university administrations. TNN

IIT Madras to run e-bus on campus for students, staff

IIT Madras to run e-bus on campus for students, staff

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:28.11.2020

IIT-Madras will run an electric bus with an innovative charging technology on the campus for students and staff.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ashok Leyland and Indian Institute of Technology Madras for the e-mobility pilot project. The electric bus will incorporate Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ flash-charging technology — Grid eMotionTM Flash — that will be provided by Ashok Leyland. IIT-Madras will host the infrastructure to operate the flash charging system for the bus. Smart e-mobility is at a nascent stage in India. While the government is striving to scale up EV adoption to 30% by 2030, the mass public transport segment is largely untouched.

“For bus operators, the switch to electric has previously presented challenges. That is because with battery operated buses it is difficult to maximize passenger load carrying capacity and running time while making the whole operation economically viable. An e-bus with flash charging technology can solve that problem while improving the quality of life through reducing pollution in densely populated urban areas," a release from IIT-Madras said.

"We need to have all hands on deck – industry, academia and policymakers to develop a strong and reliable local ecosystem to support the Indian electric vehicle revolution,” said N Venu, MD of Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India.

Ashok Leyland said it was proud to partner on yet another innovative solution in the e-bus segment.

“Combination of our robust buses with electric propulsion technology and flash charging from Hitachi ABB Power Grids can be the answer to the need for sustainable public transportation across the country,” said N Saravanan, chief technology officer, Ashok Leyland.

“The development of India's e-mobility charging infrastructure and increased deployment of e-buses is key to meeting the demand for sustainable transport solutions across India's rural and urban areas,” Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director of IIT-M said in the release.

New weather system may develop by Nov 29

New weather system may develop by Nov 29

Likely To Bring Widespread Rain To South Tamil Nadu

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:28.11.2020

After Cyclone Nivar brought heavy rain to the city and most parts of north Tamil Nadu, it could be time for south Tamil Nadu to get drenched, with two more systems brewing over the Bay of Bengal.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that a low-pressure area is expected to form over southeast Bay of Bengal in the next 48 hours. By November 30, the system may intensify into a depression and is likely to strengthen and move westwards on December 2. “Under the influence of this system, there may be widespread rain in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry from December 1 to 3,” said S Balachandran, DDG, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.

By December 1, the IMD said, there may be light to moderate rain in most places and isolated heavy to very heavy rain. There may be heavy to very heavy rain with isolated extremely heavy spells at a few places in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal on December 2 and 3.

For the next 24 hours, Chennai and its suburbs may receive light rain over some areas, while the sky would be generally cloudy with temperatures of a maximum 30 degrees C and a minimum 26 degrees C. A dry spell may prevail over the city in the subsequent 24 hours with temperatures hovering around a maximum of 31 degrees C and a minimum of 26 degrees C.

Private weather forecasters said the system may move towards the Arabian Sea passing across Comorin Area and the Gulf of Mannar. This movement may bring heavy spells across the rain-deficit southern districts of Tamil Nadu as well as parts of Kerala. “Regions like Pamban, Kanyakumari and south Kerala may receive rain. From the Arabian Sea, the system may move towards Somalia or Oman. As of now, it looks like the system may develop into a depression or at the most, a deep depression. We have to wait and see if it further intensifies,” said Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet Weather.

The system may also bring rain to the northern districts of Tamil Nadu including Chennai by pulling the easterlies towards the land leading to convergence that could result in convective rainfall. “There will be widespread rainfall and entire Tamil Nadu may receive spells of varying intensity. The southern districts may get heavy rainfall, but it is not going to be severe enough for people to worry,” said Pradeep John, weather blogger.

Weathermen have also forecast that another system may form over the Bay by the second week of December and is likely to move towards Chennai-Puducherry coast. However, experts said it was too early to know how the system would evolve.

Meanwhile, Cyclone Nivar which dumped heavy rain over parts of Andhra Pradesh while losing its intensity weakened into a low pressure and by Friday evening lay over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal. “Rainfall intensity will reduce over Andhra Pradesh and the system may further weaken,” Palawat said.

The storm left excess rainfall over many districts of north Tamil Nadu including Chennai with 36%. Among its neighbouring districts, Tiruvallur got an excess of 2%, Kancheepuram 20%, Chengalpet 12%, Ranipet 14%, Tirupathur 46% and Villupuram 4% so far this season starting October 1. While Virudhunagar had an excess of 23%, the rest of the districts continue to be rain deficit. Tamil Nadu has a deficit of 15% so far this season.

STORM GONE, STAGNATION REMAINS

AFTER-EFFECTS

STORM GONE, STAGNATION REMAINS

Two Days After Nivar, Low-lying Areas In City Inundated; Stagnation A Yearly Problem, Civic Authorities Callous, Say Residents

Srikkanth D & Komal Gautham TNN

28.11.2020

Two days after cyclone Nivar made landfall near the city, several streets struggle with stagnation even as the main roads and many neighbourhoods are back to normal. In many places, residents are wading through 1ft-2ft of water.

More than 50 houses at CRR Puram in Virugambakkam are marooned as water is yet to drain off the streets. Many residents have been using buckets to drain water onto the streets and say this is the situation every year. Until noon on Friday, the corporation had not pumped out water, said V Mahesh. “The drain water is seeping inside our houses and we are getting skin infections. Despite being near the main bus terminus in the city, we have been facing this situation.”

The neighbourhood is a low-lying area and water from nearby Ilango Nagar is drained here, say residents, pointing to the callous response from the civic authorities.

In Kilpauk, V Narsimhan is forced to walk through knee-deep water every time he has to step out. “It has been two days since the civic agency or the highways department cleared stagnated water. We approached all departments. Poonamallee High Road is in the heart of the city and major hospitals are located here. Sewage is getting mixed with rainwater and can become a major health hazard,” he said.

Residents of neighbourhoods in many other areas including Velachery, Choolaimedu, Adyar, Vadapalani, KK Nagar, Choolai and Arumbakkam were also struggling on Friday.

Senthil Kumar from Choolai said that apart from water stagnation residents of the area were also without power. “There is no action from any department,” he said.

Greater Chennai Corporation officials, however, continued to maintain that only 58 locations had water stagnation issues. “Of them, we have cleared 54 so far,” said deputy commissioner (works) Meghanath Reddy. He added that each area had a specific problem. “Once we clear all the complaints, we will do a detailed analysis on the reasons for water stagnation in these neighbourhoods and resolve them permanently,” he said.

Roads at Dharan Singh Colony in Vadapalani and Jai Nagar in Arumbakkam had up to one feet of water, leading to traffic snarls. “While all main roads are inundation free, these interior roads are in very bad shape,” said Senthil Kumar, a resident of Choolai.

Residents of areas on the outskirts too faced the same problem. In places like Iyyapanthangal, Zamin Pallavaram and neighbourhoods in the western suburbs, water had not drained off.

At Kaatupakkam in Tiruvallur district, volunteers had to wade through knee-deep water to supply food and groceries to residents.

“In Mudichur too, residents preferred staying indoors and wanted us to provide them with rations and other supplies,” said an official with Tambaram municipality.

Suspension of int’l flights till Dec to hit Christmas and New Year travel plans

Suspension of int’l flights till Dec to hit Christmas and New Year travel plans

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:28.11.2020

The Centre’s decision to extend suspension of scheduled international flights to the end of December has hit international holidays during the Christmas and New Year season.

Travel and tour operators had got many inquiries and a few bookings for short holidays in December this year and January 2021. However, plans for January too are uncertain as the suspension of scheduled international flights could be extended further. Maldives and Dubai continue to be the only expensive options for Chennaiites. Those who wanted to travel abroad but can’t are now looking at premium tours to Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Sriharan Balan, of Madura Travels, said: “The government has extended suspension of scheduled international flights. Travellers will miss Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia this season. Maldives and Dubai are the only options that are available.”

There are no new ‘air bubble’ routes too. So, people who want to have an international holiday are left with few choices, he added. However, travel and tour operators are working to find out if UAE and Europe can be clubbed so that travellers flying from Chennai or other cities can stay for a few days in Dubai and then fly to Europe from there.

Currently, only point-to-point tickets are allowed from India on ‘air bubble’ routes. This is stopping people from exploring more foreign countries by travelling via transit hubs like Dubai. Basheer Ahmed, of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said: “At least 50% of the travel would have resumed if scheduled international flights were allowed during Christmas and New Year holidays. A lot of people are ready to fly to Malaysia and Singapore if allowed. There is interest for inbound trips too especially from southeast Asian countries.”

As Maldives and UAE are expensive destinations, only those who have high net worth are mostly travelling for leisure. “Only the rich are able to afford the trips as it costs at least Rs 1 lakh per person,” he added.

With international tours ruled out, travellers and tour operators are looking at promoting domestic destinations for Christmas and New Year holidays.

Domestic destinations like Goa draw a lot of people during the Christmas & New Year

DMK petitions Madras HC against central govt officials

FILES CONTEMPT OF COURT CASE

DMK petitions Madras HC against central govt officials

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 28.11.2020 

The DMK has filed a contempt of court petition in the Madras high court to punish secretaries of the Union health and human resource development ministries for wilful disobedience of court order in implementing 50% OBC reservation in All India Quota (AIQ) for MBBS/BDS admissions.

Citing the high court’s July 27 order that there is no legal or constitutional impediment to extend benefit of 69% reservation followed in Tamil Nadu in the state-contributed seats to the AIQ, the party said the court also directed the Centre to constitute a committee to finalise the manner in which such OBC reservation is to be applied to AIQ seats within three months, it said. The authorities have failed to make the health secretary of Tamil Nadu and the director-general of health services (DGHS) as members of the committee which is blatantly in violation, the petitioner said.