Recover ₹20K from suspended official: SHRC to govt

Recover ₹20K from suspended official: SHRC to govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:08.06.2021

The state human rights commission (SHRC) has recommended to recover ₹20,000 from a suspended panchayat secretary in Tenkasi district who had cheated two women of their money after assuring them to get a job as a sweeper and for granting building permission respectively.

SHRC made these recommendations in the petitions filed by P Sundarammal and V Mariammal, residents of Kuvalaikkanni village complaining about Murugan, secretary of the panchayat.

According to Sundarammal, she had paid ₹11,000 to Murugan for appointment to the post of sweeper. Though she was appointed as a sweeper and worked for more than a year, salary was not paid to her. Since no steps were taken on her representation to the district administration officials, she had filed the petition before the SHRC.

Similarly, Mariammal had paid ₹20,000 and ₹1.2 lakh on two occasions to Murugan for getting building permission and for allotment of a group house. Since Murugan did not take steps and failed to return the money, she moved the SHRC.

In his counter affidavit, Murugan denied all the allegations by both women. However, the Tenkasi district collector had submitted a report stating that an inquiry was conducted and Murugan was placed under suspension. During the pendency of the inquiry, Murugan had returned the money to both the women.

Taking into account the submissions, SHRC member A Chittaranjan Mohandoss said that based on the report of the collector, it is clear that Sundarammal was appointed as a sweeper by Murugan in his personal capacity without any appointment order. Salary of ₹45,000 was also paid to her without any records after she had made a complaint to the commission.

The commission said that it indicates that Murugan, by abusing his position as a public servant, had obtained money from both the women.

RTOs to accept licence applications from Thursday

RTOs to accept licence applications from Thursday

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:08.06.2021

Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in Chennai are likely to accept applications for fresh driving licence (DL) and learner's licence from Thursday.

The state transport department has issued orders extending the validity of all motor vehicle documents till September 30. This order is based on Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) guidelines.

There are 13 RTOs in the city and its suburbs. In order to avoid crowds, they were accepting a limited number of applications. Everyday, a few license applicants were allowed to visit these RTOs for tests or submitting photos/ biometric details. But their operations came to halt from May 24.

Now that the government has relaxed lockdown norms in Chennai, motorists have started applying for DLs, LLRs and RCs through the government's online portal (https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/).

“Despite so many attempts, I was not able to book a slot online as the portal said services were shut indefinitely,” said Vijayakannan, whose licence is due for expiry in two weeks. “I'm worried if traffic police might fine me for driving with an expired licence,” he said.

In response, a senior transport department official said that there was no need to panic as validity of all motor vehicle documents, which expired since February 1, has been extended till September end.

“We have opened up only today (Monday) with limited staff. So we have not enabled online booking of slots for fresh DL/LLR applications. But we are planning to accept applications for fresh DL and LLR in the next two days” he said, requesting anonymity.

The transport department is waiting for National Informatics Centre (NIC), an union government entity which manages parivahan portal, to depute adequate staff from their end to restart operations in Chennai RTOs.

E-registration portal crashes on heavy demand, restored

TRAFFIC: 60 LAKH

E-registration portal crashes on heavy demand, restored

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:08.06.2021

The government’s e-registration portal crashed on Monday after lakhs of users logged on to register and facilitate their movement for work. A select category of skilled workers including electricians, plumbers and those engaged in housing keeping and security agencies was allowed to function in the current lockdown period after acquiring e-passes.

While the process was a breeze on Sunday night, it soon became difficult as tens of thousands of people began logging in. With individuals making multiple attempts, the portal crashed and could be restored only in the afternoon.

K Ramesh, vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Air-condition, Refrigeration Engineers & Technicians Union, which is affiliated to the CITU, said he had registered on the portal on Sunday night but that it went blank since Monday morning. “Thousands of self-employed workers were desperate to avail themselves of the facility since their livelihood had been affected for about one month,” he said. Several people who did not come under the category permitted to apply also logged on and that would have increased the pressure on the system, he added.

Minister for information technology T Mano Thangaraj later told reporters that the number of hits for the portal had increased by 10-fold. “The traffic was about 60 lakh users when we expected only six lakh applicants. As soon as the crash became evident, steps were taken to restore the website,” he said. The website, https://eregister.tnega.org/, was made accessible to members of the public by 3pm, he said.

Officials in the state information technology department said that the number of hits on the portal shot up as the same individuals attempted to login multiple times affecting the server. “We were expecting only a few lakh registrations on day one, but the number overshot it,” the official added.

City goes back to old ways as govt eases lockdown norms

City goes back to old ways as govt eases lockdown norms

Arterial Roads Choked With Vehicles

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:08.06.2021

The city crept back to its old ways on the first day of partial lockdown as shops, markets and offices opened up. Anna Salai, GST road and other arterial roads which wore a deserted look for two weeks had bumper to bumper traffic on Monday.

At places such as Kasimedu fishing harbour and vegetable markets, Covid appropriate behaviour was, as usual, not followed. There were hardly any cops to control crowds at Kasimedu.

At Koyambedu, at least 10,000 people commuted by 3,600 vehicles that were meant for ferrying vegetables and fruits for retail shops from the wholesale market, a Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority official said.

Chennai city police conducted vehicle checks at strategic locations in the city. The city cops have booked cases against 4,098 people in the 24 hours which ended at 6 am on Monday and they seized 2,154 vehicles including 2,074 bikes for violating the pandemic lockdown norms. Traders, shopkeepers however welcomed the relaxations. “Our business runs on credit. The situation has been bleak for more than a year and a half now and with two weeks of total lockdown, things became very difficult,” said M Kannabiran, who runs a provision store in Keelkattalai.

CM announces high-level panel to study impact of NEET

CM announces high-level panel to study impact of NEET

It will suggest corrective measures if exam has caused harm

06/06/2021

Assessing the situation: The panel will look at whether NEET has affected students on the fringes of society. File photo VEDHAN M

Special Correspondent CHENNAI

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday announced the constitution of a high-level committee, headed by former judge of the Madras High Court Justice A.K. Rajan, to study the impact of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on medical college admissions in Tamil Nadu.

“The committee will study whether NEET has affected students on the fringes of society, suggest corrective measures if NEET has caused any harm and alternative ways and legal means for medical college admissions for all, and its possible implementation,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

Noted educationists and officials will be members of the high-level committee. “Tamil Nadu has a historical duty to uphold social justice, and the State government is committed to taking measures to remove the effects of NEET,” Mr. Stalin said.

Affecting some students

He said educationists were of the opinion that NEET had severely affected students of rural areas, those from poor families in urban areas, government schoolchildren and those who had studied in Tamil-medium schools.

“The [erstwhile] DMK government led by Kalaignar [M. Karunanidhi] enacted a law for admission to medical colleges based on the marks scored in the Class 12 examinations, and the State government has launched many legal battles [on this front],” he recalled.

Bombay HC refuses to stay MUHS exams

Bombay HC refuses to stay MUHS exams

06/06/2021

Special Correspondent Mumbai

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Saturday refused to grant interim relief to approximately 44,000 medical students across the country who are to appear physically on June 10 for exams held by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS).

A single judge Bench of Justice Avinash Gharote said, “Every examinee should have himself tested for COVID-19 and produce a negative report along with his hall ticket. As a safety measure, it would be advisable for each examinee to have conducted an RT-PCR test upon himself and only in case, he finds such a test is negative, he may sit for the exams.”

“The MUHS, therefore, is directed to issue an advisory to the principals of various colleges and also to publish on its website indicating that it would be desirable that each examinee should have himself tested for COVID-19 and should produce a negative report along with his hall ticket on June 10,” the court said.

How to recover from a spinal cord injury

How to recover from a spinal cord injury

06/06/2021

Spotlight on recovery: A high-resolution image of the treated spinal cord.

Aswathi Pacha

A violent fall, a vehicular accident, or a sports injury can sometimes damage the spinal cord and brain leading to paralysis and other life-threatening health problems. The nerve fibres that carry important information are unable to regrow, leading to irreversible damage. Using novel bioinformatics frameworks and screening platforms, researchers have now identified a new gene combination that can help enhance the growth of nerve fibres after an injury.

It is well known that mammals including humans show a high capacity for brain and spinal cord regeneration but only during young ages. The researchers set out to decode why and how young neurons respond so well to injury. They studied a class of genes called transcription factors. They identified a particular combination of genes KLF6/Nr5a2 that when expressed lead to enhanced growth of nerve fibres following injury. The results were published last month in Nature Communications.

Ishwariya Venkatesh, the first and co-corresponding author of the paper explains: “If you think about growth after an injury, it is very similar to developmental growth that happens during the early embryonic stages. Inside the neuron, when you want an axon or nerve fiber to grow, there are networks of genes that work together. Between embryonic day 18 to about a week after birth, these genes are still on because they're helping the axons grow. So, if an injury occurs during this period, the genes quickly deploy these networks to repair. But a week after birth, these genes are no longer active because active developmental axon growth has ended and they are no longer needed.” She was a Research Assistant Professor at Marquette University when the paper was published.

Rebooting networks

“So, if we are able to turn back these gene networks in response to an injury, then we have a chance for high regenerative success. We're trying to artificially reboot those gene programs and trying to coax an older neuron to switch back to a younger, growth-competent state. And we do that by manipulating transcription factors that simultaneously regulate the expression of hundreds of growth-relevant genes because we can't go in and tweak the expression of individual genes,” she adds.

When asked if there is any evolutionary basis for these genes losing their program when we are adults she explains: “There could be a couple of reasons. One is we gave up or traded the ability to regenerate because even if these axons do regenerate, the chances of them reintegrating into a functional circuit in a complex system like the mammalian system is trickier. I also speculate that the longer the distance the axons have to grow, the more guidance errors can happen, and they can synapse onto the wrong targets leading to unintended behavioral outcomes.”

The team adds that these findings can open up avenues to discover additional groups of transcription factors with stronger reprogramming abilities to ultimately allow us to fully revert an older neuron into a younger growth-competent state following injury. These findings also hold promise as a novel molecular strategy for the treatment of human spinal cord injuries in the future.

“We are continuing with pre-clinical tests of Klf6/Nr5a2, for example confirming the genes are still effective when delivered in the chronic injury state, many months after the initial damage. This information is critical for individuals now living with spinal injury,” adds Murray G. Blackmore, Associate Professor at Marquette University and co-corresponding author in an email to The Hindu.