15-day lockdown to cost state nearly ₹2,900 crore

15-day lockdown to cost state nearly ₹2,900 crore

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.05.2021

The 15-day complete lockdown, which was intensified from Saturday, will cost the state government at least ₹2,900 crore in revenue. It may have a partial impact on the government's expenditure in the event if the intensified lockdown is extended beyond May 24. To compensate the revenue loss, the government could effect a revision in liquor prices, which has not been hiked for the past one year, say financial experts.

Usually, Tasmac liquor shops and registration offices would have collectively contributed revenue of nearly ₹2,500 crore in 15 days. Of this, property registrations account for an average of ₹500 crore.

The loss of the registration department is based on the three months’ revenue through land registrations. Since February, property registrations brought in an income exceeding ₹1,000 crore every month. Losses through royalty from mines is estimated to be another ₹25 crore for a fortnight, according to official sources with the mines department.

Fuel stations are said to be witnessing a drop in sale of petrol and diesel by about 70% to 75%. The corresponding VAT and other service taxes loss for the state is at least ₹386 crore in 15 days. The losses on VAT and service taxes is for approximately 3,675 fuel stations of the 4,900 fuel stations functioning in Tamil Nadu, which records an average sale of about1.5 lakh litres of petrol and diesel per month.

City-based fuel station dealer Suresh said the volume of sale in petrol and diesel now was just 25% to 30% of the normal sale.

Former state chief internal auditor and ex-treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Government Employees Union A Mohan said about 60% of government revenue receipts is spent towards salary, pensions and those relating to government’s administrative expenditure. The remaining 40% goes to various welfare measures.

Noting that the major spending for the present government will be for public health and sanitation, he said, “The immediate partial impact will be on public health because there could be no major expenditure during this period in the other sectors.”

Tasmac is the only source of revenue post lockdown. “After lifting the lockdown, there could be an increase in liquor because that will not lead to a public outcry. If the government is going to increase taxes on fuel that will become an issue,” he said. Liquor prices were revised twice in 2020 including increasing15% on excise revenue.

SRM institute donates ₹1.1 crore to CM for Covid relief

SRM institute donates ₹1.1 crore to CM for Covid relief

Chennai:16.05.2021 

SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) has donated ₹1.1 crore to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (TNCMPRF) to support the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the second wave of the Covid-19 virus.

The institute’s pro-chancellor (academics) P Sathyanarayanan, chairman of the Ramapuram campus R Shivakumar and cochairman S Niranjan met chief minister M K Stalin and handed over the contribution. Founder-chancellor of the SRM Group of Institutions, and Member of Parliament T R Paarivendhar said the amount donated was a generous contribution from all employees working on the Kattankulathur, Vadapalani, Ramapuram, Trichy campuses, and all other institutions under Valliammai Society to curb the spread of coronavirus. TNN

Crowding by food delivery agents a cause of concern

Crowding by food delivery agents a cause of concern

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:16.05.2021 

Crowding outside restaurants by food delivery agents has become a cause of concern as in many places, the agents wait without any physical distancing and some of them do not wear masks properly increasing the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

With food delivery agents being allowed to function through the day and some coming in touch with customers while delivery, it is pertinent for authorities to issue strict guidelines for them, say residents.

Last year, food delivery agents were allowed to deliver groceries and meat. This year, they have not been delivering groceries, but deliver from meat stalls. “There are several photographs in newspapers and on social media of food delivery agents flouting physical distancing norms outside restaurants. There is a chance of them becoming asymptomatic carriers and infect their friends and family and also their customers too,” said P Gokul, a resident of Velachery.

A food delivery agent acknowledged the crowding at some small restaurants as there are not enough facilities for them to wait, especially during afternoon when it becomes difficult to wait under the sun. “Some restaurants keep water outside. But, we cannot expect the same everywhere and also we get incentives based on good ratings, so we try and deliver as quickly as possible,” he said.

Residents said the civic body should hold a meeting with restaurants to ensure that food delivery agents follow Covid protocols. “We need everybody’s co-operation in fighting the pandemic including the public. The eatery owners should take onus to ensure that such crowding does not happen outside their restaurants. We will instruct our zonal teams to regulate the issue,” said a senior civic body official.

AT RISK

59-year-old dodges 2nd jab of wrong vax after staff points out cert mix-up

59-year-old dodges 2nd jab of wrong vax after staff points out cert mix-up

—Umesh K Parida

15.05.2021 

A 59-year-old resident from Navi Mumbai managed to avoid getting inoculated by two different vaccines after an alert health centre staff pointed out the mix-up in the certificate.

Shirishkumar Salunkhe, a Kamothe resident, got his first dose at the primary health centre in Kalamboli, where he was given a certificate which stated that he had received a jab of Covishield. The goof-up came to light when Salunkhe’s son, Vijay, approached the Kamothe health centre for his father’s second dose.

The Kamothe centre staff told him that the batch number mentioned in the first dose was that of Covaxin and asked him to go back to the Kalamboli centre. The Kalamboli centre staff admitted the mistake and the retired Army havildar was eventually administered the second dose of Covaxin at the NMMC hospital in Vashi on May 13, as the primary health centres had run out of stock by then.

“The Kalamboli health centre’s staff did not tell me the name of the vaccine,” said Salunkhe.

“The certificate downloaded from the app for the first dose on March 18 at Kalamboli centre mentions Covishield. I had to stand in the queue for eight hours at the Kamothe centre on May 6 for the second dose only to be told that I needed to take Covaxin. After the Kalamboli staff checked out the batch numbers and confirmed, they updated the information on the app,” said Vijay.

“When Salunkhe was administered the first dose, Covaxin stock had just arrived for the first time. Therefore, there was confusion. No one consulted me about the app updates,” said Dr Ravi Kumar, who was at the Kalamboli health centre during the mix-up.

Not Forcing Anyone To Use App, Users Free To Leave; Aarogya Setu, IRCTC Have Similar Privacy Policy: WhatsApp Tells Delhi High Court

Not Forcing Anyone To Use App, Users Free To Leave; Aarogya Setu, IRCTC Have Similar Privacy Policy: WhatsApp Tells Delhi High Court: In an affidavit filed before the Delhi High Court, WhatsApp has submitted that its newly updated privacy policy (of the year 2021) does not affect the privacy of personal messages (of its users)...

NMC revokes order on MBBS graduate' internship

NMC revokes order on MBBS graduate' internship

TNN | May 13, 2021, 12.22 PM IST

MUMBAI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has withdrawn an order passed on May 10 restricting MBBS graduates from private medical colleges to pursue their internship from government colleges and vice-versa, which was contrary to their earlier directive issued on March 31. The advisory dated May 10 had created confusion among graduates who had already started the procedure to register themselves with colleges.

The March 31 advisory issued by the NMC had allowed graduates to intern from any NMC-approved medical college. An official from one of the government colleges said, “In the May 10 order, however, they said internship should be completed in medical colleges where the students graduated. Additionally, they said that mutual transfer of internship is possible under exceptional situations only between government colleges or only between private colleges and that no interns can exchange between private and government colleges or vice-versa.”

An official from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) said that they got a mail withdrawing the May 10 advisory on Wednesday evening.

Simran Kapoor, an MBBS graduate, said that if all the students are graduating from colleges affiliated to MUHS and are taking the same exam, there should not be any discrimination after they graduate, especially when we are in a pandemic and government hospitals need more doctors. Students should be allowed to take up internships closer home, based on the requirement.

Second Covid wave proved to be a massive killer

Second Covid wave proved to be a massive killer

Five-Fold Rise In Deaths During April Compared To Last Year

Nimesh.Khakhariya@timesgroup.com

Rajkot:15.05.2021

The number deaths registered in four cities of Gujarat, especially Rajkot, in April have almost tripled or quadrupled compared to the same month last year, indicating the high mortality caused by the monstrous spike in Covid-19 in the second wave.

The average death figures every month in Rajkot city till March was reported to be between 1,000 and 1500. However, when the second wave hit, the city registered a massive fivefold rise in mortalities in the month of April alone. Official data of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) reveals that 6,600 people died in 30 days. In the first 10 days of May, nearly 3,000 deaths have been reported.

Going by the figures, nearly 220 people died every day in the month of April, which includes death from Covid-19, natural deaths, accidental deaths and suicide. RMC gets the death entries from hospitals and the mortuary vans of the fire department of all those who have died in the city jurisdiction. However, there are large number of people from the rural areas of Rajkot and other districts who take treatment for Covid-19 in the city.

A senior officer of RMC’s birth and death office told TOI: “We got entry of 6,651 deaths on our portal from April 1-30 from various hospitals out of which 3,582 were males and 3,069 females. A total of 4,475 people approached us for registration of their relatives deaths.”

As per rule, a person has to report the death of a relative to the RMC registrar within 30 days. In the first 10 days of May, 2,245 people have registered deaths of their relatives while the civic body got entries of nearly 3,000 deaths from various hospitals. According to RMC data, the highest deaths of 3,025 were registered in September last year followed by 2,301 deaths in December 2020.

A number of doctors whom TOI spoke to said that many people died as they could not get beds in hospitals, medicine and oxygen. In Vadodara too, the average number of deaths registered in the months of March and April this year have increased significantly due to the pandemic. In April, particularly, the numbers are scary with mortalities shooting to over three times as compared to 2020. Officials said that besides the obvious increase due to the pandemic, deaths of patients from outside the city in local hospitals is a major contributor. These include patients from not only Gujarat, but also outside the state. In 2020, despite the pandemic the number of deaths had gone down largely due to the lockdown. Other ailments had also spared the citizens. Surat also registered almost double the average monthly deaths during April compared to past years. According to Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials, the numbers are high due to Covid-19 while deaths were less in April last year due to lockdown.

"Of the total recorded deaths in the city, nearly 25% are of Covid-19 patients who died in the city but they were residents of other places outside city or state," said an official.

The average daily death registrations in Ahmedabad have gone up to175 from124 in April.

(with inputs from Sachin Sharma in Vadodara, Yagnesh Mehta in Surat and Himanshu Kaushik in Ahmedabad)