No, you cannot choose your Covid vaccine brand

No, you cannot choose your Covid vaccine brand

Covaxin or Covishield, a person can only get what is available during the time at the site

Published: 14th January 2021 03:45 AM 

For representational purposes (Photo| AFP)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: “Beneficiaries cannot chose between Covaxin and Covishield. They can only get what is available during the time of vaccination at the site,” TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health, said on Wednesday.

He added, “Getting vaccine is voluntary. If they don’t want the vaccine, it’s fine. If they want only particular vaccine and if that is not available at the site, then the beneficiary will not receive the vaccine.” Tamil Nadu on Wednesday received 20,000 doses of Covaxin from the Central government, in addition to the 5,36,500 doses of Covishield received on Tuesday. Though the health department has begun distribution of Covishield to districts, they are yet to decide on the dispatch of Covaxin to the sites.

The much anticipated Covid-19 vaccination drive will begin from Saturday across the State as part of the nationwide immunisation programme. First, healthcare workers will be vaccinated. In Tamil Nadu, over 4.39 lakh healthcare workers have registered for the dose, said health officials.

The State is planning to administer vaccines in over 300 sites. “We are still working on the list of sites. Preference will be given to government sites and then it will be extended to other sites, if needed,” Selvavinayagam added.

So far, as many as 5,12,200 doses of Covishield have been distributed, and the remaining 24,300 doses have been saved as buffer stock at the State Vaccine Centre (SVC). On dispatching Covaxin, Selvavinayagam said, it would be dispatched after finalising on the sites. TN has a total of 2,704 cold storage chain points. The Chennai Regional Vaccine Store (RVS) received the highest doses of Covishield (1.18 lakh) among five district vaccine stores. 

State reports fewer than 700 new cases 

673: Covid-positive cases were reported in the State on Wednesday

6: Deaths

8,28,287: Tally 

12,242: Toll

6,653: Active cases, after 821 were discharged on the day

4: Four passengers who tested positive for the new UK variant were discharged from the hospital after treatment and sent for home quarantine. They were among 16 UK returnees and 16 of their contacts who tested positive and were discharged from hospital after testing negative

District-wise breakdown

Chennai: 192

Chengalpattu: 55

Kancheepuram: 18

Tiruvallur: 32

Zero cases in Perambalur Perambalur district reported zero cases and 19 districts reported less than 10 cases

Samples to single out

State tested 62,683 samples and 62,409 people on the day

6: Six passengers from other States tested positive on Wednesday (one person from West Bengal by flight, four from WB by road and one from Karnataka by road)

Professor circulates fake marriage proof, held

Professor circulates fake marriage proof, held

A 24-year-old assistant professor was arrested for allegedly spreading false rumours about his wedding with a female student and circulating a fake marriage certificate to back his claim.

Published: 14th January 2021 03:46 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A 24-year-old assistant professor was arrested for allegedly spreading false rumours about his wedding with a female student and circulating a fake marriage certificate to back his claim. Ashok Nagar All-women Police arrested the man, an assistant professor of a private institution and resident of Iyyappanthangal, based on a complaint by a second year undergraduate student. He was remanded in judicial custody.

இது உங்கள் இடம்: வாழ்த்துக்கள் ஜெயலட்சுமி

இது உங்கள் இடம்: வாழ்த்துக்கள் ஜெயலட்சுமி

Updated : ஜன 16, 2021 03:28 | Added : ஜன 16, 2021 03:26 

உலக, நாடு, தமிழக நடப்புகள் பற்றி, வாசகர்கள் தினமலர் நாளிதழில் எழுதிய கடிதம்:

வெ.தனசேகரன், மதுராந்தகம், செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டத்திலிருந்து அனுப்பிய, 'இ - மெயில்' கடிதம்:

தன் கிராமத்தில், 126 வீடுகளுக்கு கழிப்பறை கட்ட காரணமாக இருந்த மாணவி ஜெயலட்சுமியை, எவ்வளவு பாராட்டினாலும் தகும்.புதுக்கோட்டை மாவட்டம், ஆதனக்கோட்டையைச் சேர்ந்தவர் ஜெயலட்சுமி. அரசு பள்ளியில், பிளஸ் 2 படிக்கிறார். கடந்த ஆண்டு, தனியார் நிறுவனம் ஒன்று நடத்திய போட்டியில் வெற்றி பெற்று, அமெரிக்காவின் விண்வெளி ஆய்வு மையமான, நாசாவிற்கு செல்ல தேர்வானார். சிதைந்த ஓட்டு வீடு, சிறு வயதிலே கைவிட்டுச் சென்ற தந்தை, மனநலம் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட தாய் என, வறுமையில் வாடிய ஜெயலட்சுமியால், நாசா செல்வதற்கான கட்டணத்தை செலுத்த முடியவில்லை.அப்போது மாவட்ட நிர்வாகமும், பல தனியார் நிறுவனங்களும், அவருக்கு நிதியுதவி அளித்தன.

இந்நிலையில், 'கிராமாலயா' என்ற தொண்டு நிறுவனம், ஜெயலட்சுமி நாசாவுக்கு செல்ல உதவுவதாக கூறியுள்ளது. ஆனால் ஜெயலட்சுமி, 'போதிய நிதி சேர்ந்து விட்டதால், எனக்கு எந்த உதவியும் வேண்டாம். என் கிராமத்தில் கழிப்பறை இல்லாமல், பெண்கள் மிகவும் கஷ்டப்படுகின்றனர். முடிந்தால், கழிப்பறை கட்டித் தாருங்கள்' என, கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளார்.இதனால் வியந்த தொண்டு நிறுவனம், ஆதனங்கோட்டையில் கழிப்பறை இல்லாத வீடுகளை கணக்கெடுத்தது. அதன்படி, 126 வீடுகளில், தலா, 20 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் செலவில், கழிப்பறை கட்டிக்கொடுத்துள்ளது. இதுவரை இயற்கை உபாதைக்காக, 2 கி.மீ., காட்டு பகுதியை கடந்து சென்று வந்த பெண்கள், தற்போது வீட்டருகில் கட்டிய கழிப்பறையை பயன்படுத்தி வருகின்றனர்.

ஜெயலட்சுமி வறுமையில் தான் வாடுகிறார். வீட்டில் சமையல் உட்பட அனைத்து வேலைகளையும், அவர் தான் செய்கிறார். கூலி வேலைக்குச் சென்றபடியே, கல்வியும் கற்றுக்கொள்கிறார். ஒற்றை ஆளாய் தன் குடும்பத்தையும் காப்பாற்றி வருகிறார் ஜெயலட்சுமி.இந்நிலையில் தான், தனக்கென ஏதும் கேட்காமல், ஊரின் சுகாதாரத்திற்காக உதவி கோரியுள்ளார்.ஜெயலட்சுமிக்கு பாராட்டுகள். அவரின், ஐ.ஏ.எஸ்., கனவு நிறைவேறவும் வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Tasmac earns 417.8 crore in Pongal sales

 

HC judge retires without hearing case physically

HC judge retires without hearing case physically

Justice Satyanarayana Had Joined HC In May 2020

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

16.01.2021

Chandigarh: Justice S N Satyanarayana, who had joined the Punjab and Haryana high court in May 2020, retired on Thursday without holding any physical court or hearing any cases physically in court during his entire tenure as the judge in Chandigarh. However, he had held court proceedings via video conferencing after joining the HC till his superannuation on January 14. It would be a record of sorts in the Punjab and Haryana high court where a high court judge completed his entire tenure without holding court physically. This happened due to the Covid-19 pandemic because of which the HC has not been holding physical court since March 2020.

Justice S N Satyanarayana had joined as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court on May 28 after his transfer from Karnataka high court, where he was serving as HC judge since his elevation on June 9, 2008.

A total of eight judges of the Punjab and Haryana high court were scheduled to retire in 2021. Of these, two judges - Justice Daya Chaudhary retired on January 9 and Justice S N Satyanarayana retired on January 14. Six other judges, who are due to retire this year include Justice Rekha Mittal on Saturday (January 16), Justice Nirmaljit Kaur on January 27, Justice Hari Pal Verma on April 5, Justice Jitendra Kumar Chauhan on June 5, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi on August 31 and Justice Sudip Ahluwalia on December 30.

With the retirement of four judges this month, the current strength of the judges of the Punjab and Haryana HC would drop to 48 against the sanctioned strength of 85 judges. The Punjab and Haryana high court is one of the largest high courts of the country having jurisdiction over the states of Punjab and Haryana and UT Chandigarh.

The limited hearing of cases via video conferencing at the high court and shortage of judges has also increased the pendency of cases at the high court. As per data procured by TOI from the National Judicial Data Grid on Friday, a total of 641,722 cases are currently pending before the high court.

Release degree to SC students in 3 days, institutes told

Release degree to SC students in 3 days, institutes told

Chandigarh:  16.01.2021

Taking note of withholding of degrees of SC students by private colleges/institutions owing to non-payment of fees after the closure of post-matric scheme for SC students by the central government in 2017, the Punjab Government on Friday directed all the institutions to release degrees to such students within three days.

The decision was taken during the meeting of the high-powered committee of the group of ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal to decide on the pending issues of 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 as a result of closure of the scheme.

After the meeting, Manpreet said that the GoM has extended an invitation to all the colleges and institutions for comprehensive discussions on the pending issues and explore ways for their redressal on January 19. The minister further said the colleges and institutions have been given three days to release degrees to the students. “The meeting would also brainstorm about the ways and means to settle the pending liabilities of three years,” Manpreet said, adding that releasing of degrees within the stipulated three days’ period would be a pre-requisite for the institutions to attend the meeting. TNN

Action against election officials only after its approval, says EC

Action against election officials only after its approval, says EC

Move To Protect Officers From ‘Motivated Harassment’

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  16.01.2021

Keen to protect chief electoral officers (CEOs) of states and Union Territories from “motivated harassment” stemming from political vendetta for having acted in a free, fair, impartial and fearless manner during polls, the Election Commission on Friday said any disciplinary action against the officials would require clearance.

An EC order said states and UTs should “invariably” obtain its approval before initiating any disciplinary action against CEOs and senior officers during their tenure and also up to one year after they have completed their terms as poll officials.

The EC has drawn on the Supreme Court order of September 21, 2000, upholding that neither can any action be initiated by a state government against officers on election duty nor can the government refuse to act on the EC’s advice to act against errant officials, and a subsequent DoPT order in line with this position.

The EC, in a communication to the cabinet secretary, state chief secretaries, personnel secretary and state CEOs also directed that state and UT governments shall not reduce facilities like vehicle, security and other amenities provided to the office of CEO for proper discharge of his/her duties.

Even though the EC did not specify that it was issuing the direction by virtue of its powers under Article 324 (power of direction and control of elections), it did state that “the commission is sanguine in the expectation that all concerned shall strictly adhere to this regimen in letter as well as in spirit”.

“The EC’s initiative for their protection is timely and appropriate advice,” former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami told TOI.

The EC direction comes in the wake of instances of “victimisation” of CEOs, including one where then Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had barged into the then state CEO G K Dwivedi’s office during Lok Sabha poll 2019 and reportedly abused and pushed him for ordering transfers of senior IAS and IPS officers. Dwivedi maintained a stoic silence and stood his ground without getting provoked. He was later rewarded by the EC on National Voters’ Day.

The EC, in its letter on Friday, recalled how CEOs — an extension of the commission in states/UTs and who are on deputation to the EC under Section 13CC of the RP Act, 1950, and Section 13A of the RP Act, 1951 — were targeted “many a times” by slapping disciplinary cases on flimsy grounds for their earlier tenures in the state government after completion of their term.

Full report on www.toi.in

‘NEED STAMP OF APPROVAL’

EC outlines timeline for publishing criminal antecedents thrice by candidates for RS

New Delhi: The Election Commission has outlined the three occasions on which candidates for polls to the Rajya Sabha and state legislative councils shall need to publish details of criminal cases, in accordance with an earlier direction of the Supreme Court. The timeline, as indicated in a letter sent to the president, general secretary or chairperson of all recognised national and state political parties on January 11, requires the criminal antecedents to be published thrice— first within the first two days of withdrawal of nomination, second between the third and fourth days, and third from the fifth to sixth day, prior to the date of poll. TNN