Nurses hired for Covid-19 duty angry over being denied food, lodging

Nurses hired for Covid-19 duty angry over being denied food, lodging

The staff nurses alleged 198 staff nurses were posted on Covid-19 duty at the KMCH during the peak of the pandemic.

Published: 14th September 2021 06:53 AM 

Nurses recruited for Covid-19 duty at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital protest on the Directorate of Medical Education campus on Monday | R Satish Babu

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Over 100 staff nurses who were recruited for Covid-19 duty on a six-month contract and posted at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital protested at the Directorate of Medical Education campus on Monday after allegedly being denied accommodation and food by the hospital management.

The staff nurses alleged 198 staff nurses were posted on Covid-19 duty at the KMCH during the peak of the pandemic. They were provided accommodation and food in a hotel. But the management suddenly asked them to vacate the hotel from Monday.

They assembled in front of the matron office and demanded that they be provided accommodation and food as they have nowhere to go since the instructions were given suddenly and they hail from other districts. Later, they moved to the DME campus and demanded that the higher officials intervene.

Speaking to TNIE, S Rajesh, State General Secretary, MRB Covid-19 Nurses Association, alleged that the hospital has been doing this repeatedly. “All other hospitals are giving accommodation and food. Since the number of Covid-19 cases came down, the nurses are being treated as unwanted.” Rajesh also said the government should give them job security.

They are repeatedly given six-month extensions, and are not sure when this will be stopped. A senior doctor at the hospital said, “We can give accommodation only to staff nurses on Covid-19 duty. Now, only 25 per cent of the staff are utilised and the rest should arrange their own accommodation and food. We are acting on instructions from higher officials.”The nurses dispersed after officials at the DME promised them accommodation and food for now.

Multiple litigations against spouse is cruelty, says SC

Multiple litigations against spouse is cruelty, says SC

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.09.2021

It took two decades for a marriage, which could not take off and was never consummated with spouses’ starting litigations just a fortnight after marrying, to be legally dissolved with the Supreme Court on Monday allowing the divorce plea of a husband holding that multiple litigations initiated by the wife against him amounts to cruelty.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy invoked special power under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage and also on account of cruelty in light of conduct of the wife for filing multiple cases in courts against him including a plea in the HC for disciplinary action against her husband who was working as an assistant professor in a government college.

The court noted that law has not been amended despite recommendations of the Law Commission to recognise irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground of divorce and the matter is also pending in the apex court. It, however, said that it would not serve any purpose to keep the matter pending and dissolved the marriage by invoking its special power to do justice.

The bench said that the trial court and the high court did not find adequate material to come to the conclusion that the husband was entitled to divorce on grounds of cruelty and the wife’s conduct during the pendency of the case had to be examined. The court noted that the wife had taken recourse to not just litigations but also publicly threatened him in his office. It said that the HC wrongly brushed aside these incidents as “wear and tear of marriage”.

“These continuing acts of the respondent would amount to cruelty even if the same had not arisen as a cause prior to the institution of the petition, as was found by the trial court. This conduct shows disintegration of marital unity and thus disintegration of the marriage. In fact, there was no initial integration itself which would allow disintegration afterwards. ,” the bench said.

Times View: In principle, this seems to be the right step. However, courts must take great care in determining exactly what amounts to unnecessary litigation.

INVOKING SPECIAL POWER

TTD trust receives ₹4.2cr donation from devotee

TTD trust receives ₹4.2cr donation from devotee

Sandeep.Raghavan@timesgroup.com

Tirupati:14.09.2021

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD) Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel trust received a hefty donation of ₹4.2 crore from a devotee. Ravi Ika, president and founder of RxAdvance, handed over the donation (cheque) to additional EO and SVBC MD AV Dharma Reddy on Monday.

The money will be utilised for purchasing high-end video cameras and state-ofthe-art broadcast equipment required for the 24-hour devotional channel managed by the TTD. Ravi Ika also promised to extend another ₹Rs.2.4 crore to SVBC trust, soon. This is highest of donations the TTD has received from a single donor during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Union ministry of information and broadcasting on Monday accorded uplinking and downlinking permission for two new TTD channels coming up in Kannada and Hindi languages.

49 TTD staffers issued show cause notice

Tirupati:

TTD has served show cause notices to 49 staffers over diverting house building loans. The temple body provides the loans to its employees to help them realise their dream of owing their own homes.

The rules mandate the employees to utilise the loans for house building purpose only. But a recent enquiry found that 49 employees, who availed loans under the house building scheme, had diverted the money for other purposes.

The temple administration has made it clear that stringent action will be initiated against the employees irrespective of their cadres if they are found guilty. TNN

Students and faculty of DU medical college oppose Covid care facility

Students and faculty of DU medical college oppose Covid care facility

Shradha.Chettri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.09.2021

Students and faculty members of University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), a medical college under Delhi University, have written to the President of India and the Delhi government against the building of a proposed Covid care facility on the campus. They say the area is a designated space for a playground for the medical students of the college. It is also a designated bird diversity hotspot, they claimed and urged the government to relocate the facility.

On Monday, the students and faculty members along with several staff of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital protested against the proposed facility and held placards with slogans like “Save Central Field”, “Don’t leave the campus peeled” and others.

In a letter sent to different authorities, the teacher’s association stated, “We appreciate and support this initiative of developing Covid-dedicated infrastructure in east Delhi. However, we find that the proposed site of the building will damage the rich biodiverse green area of the complex, when in fact there is availability of land (under Delhi govt) in the nearby areas. The proposed site is already a playground, which is an essential feature of a medical educational institution.”

Satendra Singh, vice-president of the association, said, “UCMS is the only medical college, which has a playground for the students. It is an important guideline of the medical council so we don’t want the students to be deprived of it. The area also houses a nursery, which has some rare cacti. We are worried that building the facility will also compromise on the safety of women nursing students.”

Ramansh Bandhu Gupta, the students’ union president, said, “We support the making of a Covid-dedicated hospital in the area, but request the government to consider the biodiversity loss and medical recognition of the college. We urge them to relocate the hospital.”

The protesters said a Covid management facility near Ramlila Ground is under-utilised.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s office has forwarded the letter to the directorate of higher education for appropriate action.

HEAR US OUT: The site is a designated bird diversity hotspot, they claimed and urged the government to relocate the proposed facility

Fake marksheet racket busted, kingpin arrested

Fake marksheet racket busted, kingpin arrested

Indore:14.09.2021

Crime branch and Tilak Nagar police arrested prime accused of a gang involved in making fake marksheets and certificates.

The accused had made Rs1.5crore by making fake 554 marksheets.

Acting on a tip off, Satish Goswami, 32, a resident of Juni Indore, was arrested during a search.

A case under section 420, 467, 468 of IPC for fraud, and forgery of documents was registered against him, the police said. The police also recovered seven monitors, two computers along with two printers, 14 fake marksheets, blank papers and one mobile phone from him.

Police said that a special crime branch team got input of a man involved in making fake marksheet and certificates in Tilak Nagar area. Based on it, the police raided the spot and arrested Goswami. Police also recovered two registers with 554 names of people, whose fake certificates were made by the accused. The accused, during inquiry, said that he had been involved in making fake marksheet and certificates for the last five years and made certificates of standard tenth, twelfth, and graduation.

The marksheets were of Maharashtra board of higher secondary education, Rajasthan board, William Kerry University, Mewar University, Sunrise University, Shanghai university, DRCB Raman University, police said. TNN

Put up details of nursing colleges on website: HC

Put up details of nursing colleges on website: HC

Bengaluru:14.09.2021

To clear the position vis-a-vis nursing institutions, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) has to WebHost the full order of the Supreme Court in Civil Appeals No.12759-12761/2017 and the link to the website hosted by the state government, containing the list of recognized institutions.

The high court passed this order recently while disposing of a petition filed by Karnataka State Association of the Management of Nursing and Allied Health Science Institutions and four nursing colleges.

Justice PS Dinesh Kumar said in the Civil Appeals the SC held INC has no authority to grant recognition to institutions imparting nursing courses and it has been restrained from publishing the material indicated therein on its website. The judge, however, added that in view of the admitted position that inspection can be conducted by INC, its right, to be placed in public domain, the institutions inspected by it, can’t be curtailed.

“It would be appropriate for the INC to web-host the clear position emerging from the order passed by the Supreme Court. This can be achieved by directing the INC to first show the entire list of institutions recognised by the government on its website,” the judge added. The petitioners had moved court seeking removal of a list from INC website depicting as ‘recognised Institutions by the Karnataka State Nursing Council’ for 2019-20 and 2020-21. TNN

Pay via UPI in 10 more countries

Pay via UPI in 10 more countries

Mumbai:14.09.2021

The international arm of National Payments Corporation of India has partnered with Liquid Group to enable QR-based UPI payments’ acceptance in 10 countries across north and southeast Asia. Singapore-headquartered Liquid Group brings together payments companies that enrol merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. Its technology will allow merchants who accept QR payments to accept UPI payments as well. TNN