From Aug 21, city to get first radio station run by senior citizens

From Aug 21, city to get first radio station run by senior citizens

Komal Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:3.8.2021 

The city’s first online community radio station for the elderly is set to be launched on August 21, World Senior Citizens Day. Annai Anbalaya Trust, which is launching the station, to be run by senior citizens, on its premises on TTK Road is modelling it on a similar facility begun in Coimbatore.

It will be among the 10 community radio stations approved by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment and to be implemented by New Delhi-based National Institute of Social Defence. A letter communication has been received and the financial aspects yet to be discussed.

There will be least four programmes every week, in the form of podcasts, aimed at creating awareness about science and technology and health related issues. There will be cultural programmes as well. The senior citizens will be provided with laptops, microphones and trained in editing software.

N K Rajamani, committee member of Vigyan Prasar living in Chennai, said he conducted research in a few old age homes in the city. “There is a lot of talent in these homes. Of the nearly 50 orphaned women in the home at TTK Road, many sing well and a few have immense knowledge about several current topics,” he said. Another such radio will be set up in Athipattu, on Chennai’s outskirts, later.

B Sreedhar Ramamurthy, the brain behind the country’s first community radio station at Anna University in 2004, said, “We have been allocated —24 lakh to produce 624 podcasts by senior citizens from seven locations this year. These programmes will be exclusively for senior citizens and we will use existing community radio stations at Alagappa University in Karaikudi, Tapovan in Coimbatore, MV EC in Puducherry, Aashiana senior society in Bhiwadi, Radio Sarathi Jhalak in Bengaluru and two in New Delhi at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication to produce them,” he said. The government should set up one such station in each old age home as the cost is minimal —about ₹3,600 per month to use Iradiolive.com, a national podcasting portal run by an NGO.

Rajamani said, “If this pilot at TTK Road becomes successful, we will try to implement it across all 50 senior citizen homes in Chennai with the help of the state government.”

Watch your speed. That’s a highway, not a runway to fly

Watch your speed. That’s a highway, not a runway to fly

90% Of Accidents On ECR Stretch Caused By Overspeeding, But No Follow-Up Action On Violators

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

3.8.2021 

In February, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated an advanced traffic management system along East Coast Road to reduce accidents.

The ₹8.6-crore project set up by the state government included an Automatic Speed Enforcement System (ASES), an Automatic Video Incident Detection System (AVIDS) and a Vehicle-Activated Speed Signs (VASS) —all meant to detect any speeding vehicle or an accident along the 33-km stretch between Akkarai and Mamallapuram and alert the control room at Uthandi toll gate for police to reach the spot soon.

Around a dozen poles with high definition (HD) cameras were installed by Ador, a private firm chosen by the government. But the control centre in Uthandi was shut, when TOI visited the spot last week.

As per the rules, no vehicle can travel more than 80 km per hour (kmph) on ECR. VASS boards, installed on roadsides and medians, warn drivers about excess speed and pick up 8-10 violations every hour.

But there is no follow-up action on speed violations as no alerts are passed on to police through the control room and violators continue to go scot-free. Official data shows that 90% of the nearly 50 accidents reported on ECR between Mamallapuram and Akkarai every year are caused by speeding.

Multiple government sources confirmed that the control centre is yet to become completely functional as some of the components are yet to be installed. They attributed the delay to restricted travel movement of workers from industries in the north due to the lockdown. As of now, the control room is only recording video clips and challans are yet to be generated.

S Kamal Soi, member of the National Road Safety Council, said that enforcement works only when there is fear of being caught and punished. “Having display boards for speed alone will not act as a deterrent. The state government should start feeding this white elephant by starting operations at the control and command centre.”

CCTV surveillance cameras, installed by police, can help, at the most, in investigation and help in finding who was at fault or what went wrong after the accident takes place. Only an effective ASES can save lives, he added. Even civil work (to prevent accidents) has remained incomplete along ECR for years. In some areas, there are no signages along approach roads to alert motorists of incoming vehicles. Some stretches don’t have adequate lighting and there is stray cattle menace too.

Also, the 66-km stretch between the heritage town of Mamallapuram and Marakkanam is only a two-way road. A tender for a project to expand this into a four-way road was floated in 2018. Work has just begun on the stretch between Mamallapuram and Vayalur.

HC’s warning to TN on student admissions in Thiruvalluvar univ

HC’s warning to TN on student admissions in Thiruvalluvar univ

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:3.8.2021 

The Madras high court has threatened to stay admissions to post-graduate courses in Thiruvalluvar University, if they are made without amending or repealing a law brought in by the former AIADMK government creating Dr J Jayalalithaa University at Villupuram.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu made the observations while hearing a plea moved by former law minister C Ve Shanmugam. He alleged that the present government was neglecting the varsity in district due to political reasons.

When the plea came up for hearing, advocate-general R Shunmugasundaram submitted that except for passing a law for establishment of the university, the previous AIADMK government had not created any infrastructure for the varsity to function.

“Except appointment of a vice-chancellor and a car driver for him, nothing has been allotted for the establishment of the university. Currently, the university functions from an old tahsildar office,” the AG said.

The present government has decided not to waste money on the new university as the Annamalai University, which is spread across 2,000 acres of land, has become a state university now, he added.

The court, however, made it clear that it had to stay the operation of the notification for the admissions if the legislation for establishment of the varsity is operational. The bench then directed the advocate-general to get appropriate instruction from the government on August 4.

Earlier, representing the petitioner, former advocategeneral and senior advocate Vijay Narayan wanted the court to direct the state government to provide necessary funds for the smooth functioning and upkeep of the university.

“Tiruvalluvar University must be restrained from operating post-graduate extension centres in Villupuram in violation of the provisions of the Dr J Jayalalithaa University Act of 2021,” he said.

According to Shanmugam, the university was established in Villupuram by bifurcating the Tiruvalluvar University, following a request from him last year in his capacity as an MLA representing the constituency.

The object of the act was to bifurcate the jurisdiction of Tiruvalluvar University and bring Villupuram, Kallakurichi and Cuddalore districts within the ambit of the new institution.

However, after a change of regime in the state, the new university was being neglected, he alleged.

A litre of petrol for buying fish worth ₹500

A litre of petrol for buying fish worth ₹500

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:  02.08.2021 

A fish stall in Madurai made brisk sales on Sunday after it advertised an Aadi offer promising a litre of petrol for every purchase of fish worth ₹500. The offer was advertised by PSA fish stall, which has a chain of shops throughout the city, at its Bibikulam branch, on social media. “I bought my fish from Anna Nagar, but could not resist the offer. So I came all the way to buy some crabs,’’ said K John Philip, who was one of the first customers.

Jaffer, owner of the shop, said they did not witness any surge in customers but raked in better sales as most of their regular customers, who usually bought fish for less than ₹500, bought fish for ₹500 or more to avail the offer.

“People who usually purchase for less than ₹500 purchased more this Sunday, so the fish also sold faster,” he said.

The customers who availed themselves of the offer were given tokens to fuel up from a local l bunk. “It was a very good move as distributing fuel in cans or bottles could have led to problems of safety,” said K Chandran who purchased fish for ₹600.“Fuel has become as expensive, so this was an offer which was irresistible,” said Sivaranjani who came to the shop early on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Dindigul, a meat stall gave away silverware to customers on Sunday as Aadi offer. Ananth mutton stall in Chinnalapatti gave away a vessel worth ₹100 for a kilogram of mutton which was given at a discounted rate of ₹690 and a smaller one for halfa-kg. Boneless mutton was sold at ₹800 per kg. Virumaraj, owner of Anand Mutton stall, said that the offers brought good revenue, as more people came forward to buy meat.

FUEL FOR FISH: The offer was advertised by PSA fish stall, which has a chain of shops throughout Madurai, at its Bibikulam branch

13,000 nurses, docs trained in paediatric Covid-19 care

PREP FOR 3RD WAVE

13,000 nurses, docs trained in paediatric Covid-19 care

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:02.08.2021 

Ahead of an expected third wave, the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), in coordination with the state health department, is training nurses and doctors online to manage Covid-19 in children. Nearly 10,000 staff nurses and 3,800 paediatricians in government and private hospitals across the state have received the training so far.

IAP, a body of paediatricians, aims at preparing close to 50,000 healthcare workers in the state before the onset of a third wave. The training programme has four modules — triaging, clinical management, prevention and overview of paediatric Covid. The program is being conducted free of cost.

K Rajendran, state secretary of IAP, said a majority of the nurses are hesitant to handle paediatric Covid cases as they are uncertain about the patient’s response to medicines. So, one main aspect of the programme is to train them on how to manage children and when to raise a red flag so that mortality will remain low.

"Another aspect is post-Covid complications. We are witnessing more Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) cases of late. For every 100 MIS-C cases, at least 60 need treatment in ICUs. So we need more paediatric ICUs with trained nurses," Rajendran said.

The IAP has formed a paediatric task force which will assist healthcare workers across the state in treating such cases. They are creating an online app which can provide data on the number of oxygen beds, ICU and doctors available in paediatric wards across the state. A MIS-C registry is also being prepared.

Welcoming this, Dr Balasubramanian, senior paediatrician from Kanchi Kamakoti Child Trust Hospital in Chennai, said with many Indian states planning to reopen schools, more children might become susceptible to infection. "We hope that this publicprivate initiative will ensure quality healthcare in not just tertiary, but primary and secondary levels too," he said.

The state government claimed that they have adequate ICU beds to handle a third wave and they have procured adequate quantities of drugs of choice such as Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) to treat MIS-C and paediatric Covid.

Active Covid infections rise slightly in 12 of 15 city zones

Active Covid infections rise slightly in 12 of 15 city zones

Corpn Steps Up Random Testing

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  02.08.2021

In the past four days, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the city has increased in 12 of the 15 zones, according to the Greater Chennai Corporation. Across Chennai, active cases increased from 1,480 on July 27 to 1,627 on July 31.

While there was no change in the number of active cases in Royapuram, there was a decrease in Ambattur and Anna Nagar.

The sharpest increase was seen in Teynampet zone, where cases increased from 124 to 149 between July 27 and 31. This was because one of the family clusters was in Mandaveli, which falls in this zone. In Kodambakkam, active cases increased by 11. Both these zones cover extremely crowded areas in central Chennai with many shopping districts, including T Nagar.

The increase in other zones is by less than 10. Civic officials say there is nothing to worry as they have intensified random testing and will be isolating all positive cases in Covid care centres.

A senior civic official said the corporation has now started collecting vaccination information about people who test positive. This would be a good dataset and could provide valuable insights.

A study of two clusters last week showed that one index case is likely to have gotten the infection from the market on Medavakkam Tank Road and then infected 10 other contacts. The other index case was of a woman who visited the Nammalwarpet market frequently and is likely to have caught it from there. Five extended contacts were traced from that index case.

Health minister Ma Subramaniam said the corporation had been asked to intensify surveillance in crowded market places. To a question, he said there was a plan to probably space out the Kasimedu and Chintadripet fish market to ease crowding by customers.

After 11 weeks of decline, Covid cases see 7.5% surge

After 11 weeks of decline, Covid cases see 7.5% surge

Amit.Bhattacharya@timesgroup.com

2.8.2021

Fresh Covid-19 cases in India registered a week-onweek rise for the first time in 12 weeks since the peak of the second wave in early May, in what could be an early sign of another pandemic spike in the country. Currently, however, the surge is mainly restricted to Kerala and, to a much lesser degree, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

India recorded just over 2.86 lakh new cases in the current week ended Sunday (July 26-August 1), a 7.5% rise from the previous week’s tally of 2.66 lakh. Weekly cases in the country have registered a rise for the first time since May 3-9, when the second wave peaked. The fall in cases had continued till last week, even though the decline had slowed to 1.4%.

Kerala, the current epicentre of the pandemic in India, logged close to 1.4 lakh cases in the present week, a 26.5% increase from the previous week’s tally of 1.1 lakh. The state accounted for nearly half (49%) of all new cases in the country in the last seven days, with a daily average of 20,000 new cases. Kerala posted 20,728 cases on Sunday, the sixth straight day that the daily count had stayed over 20,000.

Worryingly, there were signs that Kerala’s Covid surge was spilling out to its neighbouring states.

92L jabs/day must to reach vax target

India must administer an average of 92 lakh doses a day to meet target of inoculating all above18 by year-end . Though this level was achieved on June 21, it would mean maintaining a daily average that is1.6 times the jabs of the best week so far. P20

Govt may use NDMA in badly hit states

Worried by the rise in Covid infections in Kerala and parts of the North-East, the Centre is considering issuing directives under the National Disaster Management Act to these states unless the situation changes for the better. P20

Active Covid cases rose by over 14k in past 6 days

Karnataka recorded a 17.3% increase in new cases as compared to the previous week, although the rise hasn’t been much in absolute numbers. Karnataka reported 12,442 cases in the current week as opposed to 10,610 in the previous seven days.

On the positive side, Maharashtra’s weekly numbers declined by 6.2%, following a 10% dip in the previous week. The state recorded 45,272 new cases this week as compared with 48,253 in the previous one. Numbers in the northeast, another region that has seen a spike in cases, appeared to have declined this week.In keeping with the rise in infections, active cases in the country have risen by over 14,000 in the past six days. The number of active had dipped below 4 lakh around a week ago, but had again climbed close to 4.15 lakh by Sunday. For the sixth day running, India recorded over 40,000 fresh cases on Sunday. The day’s tally stood at 40,800. There were 418 deaths reported on the day. In the past week, India recorded 3,805 new deaths, a sharp drop of 44% over the previous week’s toll of 6,848.