EPS inaugurates Naruvi Hospitals

EPS inaugurates Naruvi Hospitals

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated Naruvi Hospitals at Vellore on Friday through videoconferencing.

Published: 06th February 2021 06:59 AM |

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurating the Naruvi Hospitals in Vellore via videoconference on Friday.

By Express News Service

VELLORE: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated Naruvi Hospitals at Vellore on Friday through videoconferencing. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, Minister for Registration and Commercial Taxes KC Veeramani, Naruvi Hospitals Chairman GV Sampath, MGR University Chancellor and former MP C Shanmugam were present on the occasion.

Vice Chairman of Naruvi Hospitals Anitha Sampath, senior doctors, paramedic staff and nurses were present here in Vellore. The state-of-the-art multi-speciality hospital has been equipped with 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners, which enable doctors to see images of internal organs and structures in great detail and from many angles, and 128-Slice CT (Computerised Tomography)

Scanner to provide clear, three-dimensional images, and a dedicated Cardiac Cath Lab, and Special department for Interventional Pulmonology, a key discipline that has emerged to cure Covid-19, and 15 Modular Operation Theatres, all from ‘HT Labor’, Germany, and ‘Rosa Robot’ for Epilepsy Surgery, a sophisticated equipment from France. This is the third such installation in India as on date.

60 staff test positive, Kerala Secretariat becomes hotbed

60 staff test positive, Kerala Secretariat becomes hotbed

The Secretariat, the state administrative headquarters, is turning into a Covid-19 hotbed as more employees of various departments have been testing positive everyday of late.

Published: 06th February 2021 03:50 AM 

The Kerala Secretariat building in Thiruvananthapuram 

By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Secretariat, the state administrative headquarters, is turning into a Covid-19 hotbed as more employees of various departments have been testing positive everyday of late. The employee associations have asked the government to increase the number of Covid tests in the Secretariat and limit the attendance of staff in various departments to 50% . So far, over 60 employees of various departments have tested Covid positive.

In the wake of the spread, the development hall of the finance department and housing co-operative society centre have been closed. Most of the affected staff are from the law and general administration departments as employees from both these departments had participated in the canteen administrative committee elections conducted recently violating all Covid-19 protocol norms.

Nearly 3,000 staff participated in the elections and this was the key reason for the quick spread of the virus. T Sreekumar, general secretary, Kerala Secretariat Employees Association, said the association has sent petitions to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta to do the needful for preventing the Covid spread in the Secretariat.

“We have filed petitions so as to address the issue at the earliest. The finance department is completely closed. We are afraid that the virus would spread to employees in other departments and it will cause a crisis. We hope the government will take a positive stand. We have also urged the government to postpone the housing cooperative society’s elections due on March 10,” he said. The Left union which rules the society had earlier said the elections would be held following the Covid-19 protocol.

According to them, the election is overdue and a new panel needs to take charge. The tenure of the existing panel will end on April 24. Hence, the society has decided to hold the elections on March 10, adhering to the protocol and social distancing norms.

The society sought the approval from the State Election Commission to hold the elections under the supervision of the electoral officer and returning officer. Last week, a video of the employees making a beeline to cast their votes in the Secretariat canteen board elections presented an egg-on-the-face moment for the government that has been grappling with an unusually high number of active Covid-19 cases.

The video, apparently shot using a mobile camera, depicted employees swarming the Durbar Hall of the Secretariat flouting restrictions to cast their votes. Many were seen without masks or misplaced ones, while physical distancing was totally overlooked. The state has been witnessing a surge in Covid cases prompting the government to adopt tough measures once again.

REGION DIGEST

REGION DIGEST

06.02.2021

Man held for impersonating govt officer

The Salem city police on Thursday arrested a 40-year-old man who impersonated as a district revenue officer of Erode district. The arrested has been identified as N Moorthy, 40, from P Nattamangalam near Kondalampatti in Salem city. Moorthy came to Kondalampatti police station on Thursday and introduced himself as district revenue officer (DRO) in Erode.

He lodged a complaint saying that his motorcycle went missing from his house and suspected the involvement of a staff member of a private finance company for the theft. During the inquiry, the Kondalampatti police found that the vehicle was taken away by a private finance company as Moorthy failed to pay monthly installment for the vehicle.

Declare cairn circles protected sites, says PIL: The Madras high court on Friday directed the ASI and state archaeology department to inspect and submit a report on a plea which sought to declare the areas where cairn circles are situated at Sivaganga and Karur districts, as protected sites.

Voter ID card through speed post: The state elections department has entered into an agreement with India Post to send electors' photo identity card through speed post to the applicant. Chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo said the initiative would be completely free of cost and applicable to the first time voters. "We have got the orders of the Election Commission to send the ID cards to first time voters through speed post. The tie up with India Posts is for five years," Sahoo said.

Govt reduces fees at Rajah Muthiah medical college

Govt reduces fees at Rajah Muthiah medical college

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Cuddalore:06.02.2021

The Tamil Nadu government has reduced the fees for UG and PG medical, dental and nursing programmes in Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital (RMMCH) and its allied institutions -- Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Hospital and Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing at Chidambaram in Cuddalore district — at par with other government medical colleges and institutions in the state.

The move came after the government handed over RMMCH and its allied institutions, affiliated to Annamalai University, to the health and family welfare department from the administrative control of the higher education department on January 27. The government also announced that RMMCH will be treated as a government medical college for Cuddalore district. The government reduced the fees for MBBS programme to ₹13,610, BDS to ₹11,610, MD, MS and MDS to ₹30,000, postgraduate diploma courses to ₹20,000, BSc (nursing), BPT (physiotherapy) and BOT (occupational therapy) to ₹3,000 and MSc (nursing) ₹5,000 per annum at RMMCH and its allied institutions. "The fee structure will be given prospective effect from the date of taking over of the colleges as government colleges. The earlier existing fees prior to taking over, already paid by the students will not be returned or adjusted against future payment," said an order issued by principal secretary (health and family welfare) J Radhakrishnan.

Oppn alleges ‘drama’ over release of Rajiv convicts

Oppn alleges ‘drama’ over release of Rajiv convicts

We Hope Prez Will Take Good Decision: Min

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.02.2021

Political wrangling over demand for premature release of seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has been revived in Tamil Nadu due to two recent events.

One, the January 29 meeting of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami with governor Banwarlilal Purohit and the Tamil Nadu ministers’ assertion that the governor would take a positive decision on the issue. Two, the governor’s office’s affidavit in court disclosing that the Raj Bhavan had ‘referred’ the whole issue to the President on January 25 itself.

DMK chief and leader of opposition M K Stalin was quick to question the dates. “When the governor had already washed his hands off the issue in a letter to the Centre on January 25, what really did the chief minister discuss in his meeting with the governor of January 29?” Stalin asked. He charged the chief minister with lying to the state assembly about urging the governor to consider the early release of the seven convicts. There was no clear response from either the Raj Bhavan or the state ministers to this query. When asked for the governor’s reaction to the questions, the Raj Bhavan told TOI: “The matter is subjudice. Therefore, the Raj Bhavan is not in a position to talk about it.”

Deputy CM O Panneerselvam said: "We will seek the legal advice for the release of the seven convicts, including Perarivalan, as aspired by the entire Tamil community. The government is firm on that." State Law Minsiter C Ve Shanmugam said: "We will discuss about the Governor's stand and decide on the further course of action."

Minister D Jayakumar, who had on January 29 asserted that the governor would take an “appropriate decision”, on Friday said, "We hope the President of India will take a good decision."

Stalin, in the meanwhile, accused the government of enacting a drama, and said: “Instead of enacting a drama, keeping the assembly election in mind, the CM should take steps with a clean heart. If he plans to meet the President (Ramnath Kovind) to urge for the immediate release of the seven, who have undergone imprisonment for over 30 years now, DMK MPs are willing to join him.”

PMK founder S Ramadoss said: “At a time when everyone thought the seven convicts will be released, especially after Supreme Court directed the governor to decide on it, the governor’s move to write a letter to the Centre citing only President has the powers for releasing the convicts has to be condemned.”

MDMK general secretary Vaiko condemned the Centre, Tamil Nadu government and Governor Banwarilal Purohit for enacting a political drama over the release of the seven convicts.

It was on September 9, 2018 that the state cabinet decided to adopt the Article 161 route and adopted a resolution recommending the premature release of all the seven life convicts, serving their terms since 1991. It was formally communicated to the governor the same day. Governor Banwarilal Purohit kept the file pending till January 25, 2021, when he chose to refer it to the President, saying the latter alone was competent to take a decision on the issue.

ON THE ATTACK: DMK president M K Stalin said: “Instead of enacting a drama, keeping the assembly election in mind, the CM should take steps with a clean heart”

Permission to shower petals on Sasi sought

Permission to shower petals on Sasi sought

Vellore:06.02.2021

Disqualified AIADMK MLA from Gudiyatham in Vellore district, C Jayanthi Padmanabhan, has planned to welcome V K Sasikala, former aide of Jayalalithaa, on her return to Tamil Nadu from Bengaluru by showering flowers on her convoy using a helicopter.

Jayanthi has decided to hire a private chopper for this purpose and has sought permission from the district authorities to shower flowers at Koothampakkam near Mathanur. The former MLA submitted a petition to Vellore district collector A Shanmuga Sundram seeking permission to use the helicopter for three hours from 11am to 1pm on February 8.

Jayanthi, elected on AIADMK ticket in 2016, was one of the 18 MLAs disqualified by speaker P Dhanapal for withdrawing support to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. TNN

Will take a month for local trains to be opened to all: S Rly

Will take a month for local trains to be opened to all: S Rly

Chennai:06.02.2021

It may be a month or two before the general public can travel on suburban trains during peak hour, said Southern Railway general manager John Thomas. Speaking at a virtual conference about the Budget, Thomas said, “We are step by step with suburban train services. The next step will be to allow all categories of commuters, but only after a month or two depending on the Covid-19 situation.” However, commuter associations have been demanding that railways should allow all to travel round the clock because schools and colleges are going to resume more classes. TNN