Govt staff demand DA revision, stage protest

Govt staff demand DA revision, stage protest

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:17.08.2021

Seeking revision of their dearness allowance (DA) that has been frozen at 17% and will not be revised till April 2022, thousands of staff and officials from state government departments staged protests and wore black badges on Monday to grab the attention of the Tamil Nadu government. The Tamil Nadu government employees association (TNGEA) carried out demonstrations at various government offices in Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore regions. The state government is supposed to increase DA whenever the Union government does, according to an agreement between the TNGEA and Tamil Nadu government when M G Ramachandran was chief minister.

State general secretary of Tamil Nadu revenue officials association, M P Murugaian said that the Union government that froze DA from January 2019 has announced revised DA at 28% from last month. But the state government has postponed it by eight months, due to which employees are losing around 10% of their salary for this period.

TNGEA Trichy district vice-president V Mohan said that this agreement has not been honoured this time by delaying the increase of DA. “Our association will decide on our next move in the executive committee meeting to be held in Erode on August 21,” he added.

The protesters also sought scrapping of the contributory pension scheme that is in effect from 2004 and introduce the old pension scheme. Their other demand included releasing the Rs 25 lakh compensation for the kin of frontline workers who died in the second wave of Covid-19.

Guru Tamilarasu district president of Tamil Nadu government all department pensioners association said that nearly 7.5 lakh pensioners across the state are affected by the frozen DA.

In Coimbatore, the protests took place at 15 places including district collector office, Thudiyalur ITI, HR and CE office, PF office in Kavundampalam and in front of Sulur taluk office. The association's district secretary B Senthil Kumar and president Balraj led the protest in front of the district administration.

The Tamil Nadu government employees association (TNGEA) carried out demonstrations at various government offices in Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore regions

Medico hits four people on Ring Road

Medico hits four people on Ring Road

Chennai:17.08.2021

Police in Poonamallee have booked an MBBS student after her car ran amok on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) leaving four people injured and damaging at least five bikes parked on the road on Sunday evening.

The accident took place when the student tried to take the service lane, but her the car plunged onto the main road.

Police said Kavya of Alwar Thirunagar, a fourthyear medical student of a private college, was driving the car with one of her friend. She was on her way to Poonamallee. She lost her grip on the car and instead of applying brakes, she pressed the accelerator.

In the impact, the car rammed the vehicles. The car is said to have hit a group of people standing there, including a 12-yearold girl, who escaped with minor injuries. TNN

Universities should be our oasis in producing Olympians: Thakur

Universities should be our oasis in producing Olympians: Thakur

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

16.08.2021

Sports minister Anurag Thakur has said that Indian universities should give us Olympians if the country has to improve upon its Tokyo Games performance in future Olympic Games. “We need to involve the varsities.

“University should be our oasis of Olympians. If you look globally, look at Stanford, they won 26 medals this time… In the last Olympics in Rio, they won about 27 medals. So we need to learn from them. And that is why Prime Minister Modi started university sports games that are under the Khelo India programme,” Thakur told Times Now’s Rahul Shivshankar.

“One state-one sport, one corporate-one sport. Why not one district-one sport also? We really need to work in that fashion. You look at the small countries and even universities.

They’re working on specific sports and they put their energies, money and infrastructure to win medals in those respective areas. So India also needs to understand which are the games they can do well in,” Thakur added.

Thakur said corporate houses should come forward and adopt Olympic sports. “We need to involve more corporates into this. We need to hold sports federations more accountable and make sport federations more professional in their working and in their approach as well.

“So, the moment we ask the corporate sector to get involved, each corporation should adopt one Olympic discipline and support it with the best of their capabilities at district, state, whatever level they can… We need corporations and business leaders to think sport, if we want our nation to take sports and sportspersons a lot more seriously."

Giving the example of the cricket board (BCCI) Thakur said: “We created a lot of infrastructure in cricket, where we now have a lot of academies, stadiums. Not a single rupee has been spent by any government, it has been created by the BCCI. We can do the same by involving more corporates into this, they can create infrastructure. Globally, you have seen that stadiums are built by many corporations.

“They build them, they own them and give it to the various federations to run them. That can be done here. City corporations can also do it, like the BMC can step forward for instance.”

Thakur said India should look to be among the top 25 countries in the 2028 Olympics.

“When we are celebrating the 75th year of Independence, let us also target for the next 25 years where we want to reach.

“We should have shortterm, mid-term, and longterm goals. As far as the 2028 Olympics is concerned, India should look to be among the top 25 countries and for the next few years we should target being among the top 10 countries in the world.”

PM giving same speech for 7 yrs, but no impact on ground: Cong

PM giving same speech for 7 yrs, but no impact on ground: Cong

New Delhi:  16.08.2021

Congress on Sunday accused PM Narendra Modi of using his Independence Day speech to make announcements without ever following through on them.

Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said for seven years India has listened to the “same speeches” by the PM with nothing being done for any aggrieved section, including small farmers.

“He announces new schemes, but these are never implemented or seen on the ground. And now, by bringing the three new farm laws, he has spelled doom for the farmers,” he said.

Kharge also took exception to the PM targeting previous regimes on the issues of small farmers and development, saying the country will not progress by criticising Congress from the ramparts of the Red Fort again and again.

“Congress has done a lot of work like providing irrigation systems for the farmers. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi waived farmers’ debt when the UPA was in power,” he said.

CPM chief Sitaram Yechury said the PM failed to offer an assurance on the Covid situation or the shortage of vaccines.

Congress’s communication chief Randeep Surjewala also took a swipe at the PM over his announcement of Rs 100 lakh crore investment in the infrastructure sector, saying this was merely a repeat of what was announced in 2019. TNN

Govt doc, nurse jailed for taking bribe

Govt doc, nurse jailed for taking bribe

Rajiv.Kalkod@timesgroup.com

Tumakuru:  16.08.2021

A special court in Tumakuru on Friday sentenced a government doctor to seven- year simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 for accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a patient and refusing to discharge her until the amount was paid.

The court also sentenced a nurse, who acted on behalf of the doctor and accepted money from the family members of the patient, to threeyear simple imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000. The orders were passed by VIIth Additional District and Sessions Court and Special Court for Prevention of Corruption Act Judge S Sudindranath. Dr K Mamata and HS Gangamma, the nurse, have been sent to Tumakuru district prison.

Lokayukta police had trapped the duo on September 8, 2014 inside Kunigal government hospital while accepting the bribe. The patient’s family members had already paid Rs 6,000, but Mamata demanded Rs 4,000 more while refusing to discharge Jayamma. Mamata had demanded Rs 10,000 to operate Jayamma, a widow and farmer from Kunigal, for uterus-related issues in the first week of September 2014. Jayamma’s daughter Nandini had sold their cow to arrange the amount.

Public prosecutor N Basavaraj said the recorded conversation between Nandini and Mamata played a vital role in establishing the allegations. “Nandini had recorded the conversation with Dr Mamata. In one such call, Mamata shouted at her for the delay in paying the balance amount. She also warned Nandini that she would not discharge her mother until they pay the whole amount,” Basavaraj said.

The doctor had taken Rs 4,000 from a poor patient and refused to discharge her after surgery for failing to pay more

Madras in memories serve a different image to city

Madras in memories serve a different image to city

Being the political and cultural hub, Chennai is the epicentre of development and transformation in Tamil Nadu.

Published: 16th August 2021 12:24 AM 

A tram in Chennai and a movie ticket shared by R Bhaskarendra Rao, Madanapalle. (Photo| EPS)

By Sahana Iyer

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Being a political and cultural hub, Chennai is the epicentre of development and transformation in Tamil Nadu. And while we recognise the city in all its metropolitan, technologically advanced glory, there are many whose memories serve a very different image of Madras.

On Saturday, in a talk hosted by The Grey Connect called 'Chennai to Madras' with architect Thirupurasundari Sevvel and SS Sriram as part of their Kadhai Connect series, we rewound the clock on the Chennai of today to reminisce the Madras of the past through experiences and various elements of the city.

The Grey Connect is a community that aims to create fun, eventful and lively experiences for the senior citizen community. The session was based on the social history trails and documentation of the city by Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai.

The evolution

There are several aspects of the city, as Sevvel elaborated through the talk, which induce a sense of nostalgia in these long-term dwellers of the city. Take transportation, which has seen many phases from hand and cycle rickshaws to trains and short-lived trams to buses and autorickshaws.

There was a time when long bus rides cost merely 10 paise, according to a participant, an amount of no value today. Another recounted their unforgettable experience of being one of the first passengers of the electric trains in 1981.

The roads of the city were also frequented by half-decker buses for a short period in 1953, mentioned Sevvel.

Then there are the PCO, ISD booths that were deemed redundant in the 1990s and 2000s with the advent of landlines and mobile phones. These booths were once imperative to communication within and beyond the city but now have been converted to Xerox and other small stores.

"Many have memories of collecting coins and looking for the nearest booth. Now, everyone can connect within seconds on the Internet but there was a time when you had to wait a long time for a trunk call. A lot of people now don’t know what that is like," said Sevvel. Then, last-minute cancellations were rare due to lack of communication and thus, time-keeping was valued.

How we consume content has changed radically in the past years. While everything is now available on mobile devices, many remember a time when going to the theatre with family was a rather celebrated outing.

Displaying a movie stub, Sevvel said that the film tickets that are online now were earlier presented as yellow or pink slips that had little markings regarding seat, air-conditioning and reservation status.

The Blue Diamond Theatre once played continuous movies 24X7, said one of the members of the audience. Arts and theatrics have always been important to Madras, said Sevvel, showcasing an image representing the banner or poster culture of the city.

Building joys

Several other buildings and elements of Chennai's culture the beaches, theatres and halls, banners and posters, and food establishments inspired many memories that we saw bubble to the surface during the talk.

Sevvel shared stories of jannal kadai and mor thatha. An audience member added, "I miss drive-in hotels where we could go and eat and chat as a family. They were popular family outings in the city."

Throughout the talk, the group Sevvel and the audience members shared the smaller joys of the olden days of Madras, from the once-popular rose milk and milk sweets to the masala dosa at Woodlands drive-in; from the outdoor study sessions under trees to the 1 rupee adventures at the Marina Beach; from Buhari's ice cream and falooda to screenings at Prarthana theatre.

The discussion was summarised by Thirupurasundari aptly, when she thanked the participants and said, "These stories are what Madras is; the people's stories, not what you learn in schools and colleges. This is what the actual history of Madras is."

Late COVID warrior Dr P Shanmugapriya bestowed with Kalpana Chawla award

Late COVID warrior Dr P Shanmugapriya bestowed with Kalpana Chawla award

Dr P Shanmugapriya of Anuppanadi Urban Primary Health Centre was eight months pregnant when she succumbed to COVID-19.

Published: 16th August 2021 07:10 AM |

Dr P Shanmugapriya, who posthumously received Kalpana Chawla Award. (Photo| EPS)

By Lalitha Ranjani

Express News Service

MADURAI: Recognition has come calling to Dr P Shanmugapriya (32) who was at the forefront in the battle against the pandemic as she has been posthumously honoured with Kalpana Chawla Award for courage and daring enterprise.

The Medical Officer at Anuppanadi Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) was eight-months pregnant when she succumbed to COVID-19 on May 8. Her husband, S Shanmugaperumal, received the award from the Chief Minister MK Stalin during the 75th Independence Day celebrations held at Chennai on Sunday.

Taking a trip down the memory lane about the love of his life, Shanmugaperumal who runs a pet store told The New Indian Express, "She was born at Odaipatti village in Theni district. We both were classmates from classes VI to X at a school in Chinnamanur. I dropped out of school after class X while she went on to study MBBS at Madurai Medical College. We were in touch occasionally through mutual friends. When we reconnected two years ago, we fell in love and got married in April 2019."

A resident of S Alangulam, Shanmugaperumal, was quick to add that Shanmugapriya was admired by all for her humility. "There was never an instance in which she would make one feel less worthy. She was kind to all," he said.

P Sakkammal (31), the Urban Health Nurse (UHN) at Anuppanadi UPHC who worked closely with Dr Shanmugapriya recalled, "Her joy knew no bounds when she became pregnant. She told us all that her posting at the UPHC turned out to be a lucky charm. She kept saying that as she desired to spend more time with her newborn, she wanted to work until the later stage of her pregnancy."

A stubborn person she was, Shanmugapriya refused to stay away from COVID-19 duty and did not heed to the request of the family to stay indoors by availing medical leave or maternity leave, said the husband.

"She would never listen. To her, duty comes first. She persuaded us by telling us that she would be careful while on duty, by avoiding direct contact with patients. She made us believe that she did," Shanmugaperumal added.

After working at the UPHC until April 30, Dr Shanmugapriya went on maternity leave from May 1. “However, she was hospitalised at a private medical college hospital on May 1 after she developed severe cough,” the husband said.

She was tested positive for COVID and was later diagnosed with 70% lung infection. The doctor was later shifted to Government Rajaji Hospital where she continued to be in critical condition until she breathed her last on May 8.

Sakkammal said that on her last working day at the UPHC, Shanmugapriya bid us good bye saying that the next time they all would meet her with her newborn. "It came as a shock that she was severely infected. We could not meet her at the hospital due to COVID restrictions and also because we had to be at work as the second wave peaked by then. She kept in touch through messages and calls. She was optimistic that she would recover soon," she said, adding that her demise is an irreplaceable loss.

"We should have cared more for her," a guilt-ridden Sakkammal said. The husband said that patient care was her top priority. "Today, I stand with the award in my hand, aloof, without her, who meant the world to me," he signed off choking with grief.

A happy married life cut short by pandemic

Taking a trip down the memory lane about the love of his life, Shanmugaperumal who runs a pet store told The New Indian Express, "She was born at Odaipatti village in Theni district. We both were classmates from classes VI to X at a school in Chinnamanur. I dropped out of school after class X while she went on to study MBBS at Madurai Medical College. We were in touch occasionally through mutual friends. When we reconnected two years ago, we fell in love and got married in April 2019."

Shanmugaperumal, was quick to add that Shanmugapriya was admired by all for her humility