‘Victim-blaming’ news reports upset family of murdered Madras Christian College student

‘Victim-blaming’ news reports upset family of murdered Madras Christian College student

Police officials said the family was disappointed with the media coverage of the crime as they felt some sections of the media blamed the victim.

Published: 25th September 2021 07:03 AM 

A shamiana put up outside the house of Swetha on Friday, a day after she was murdered near the Tambaram Railway Station | R Satish Babu

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A day after a 25-year-old man murdered a student of the Madras Christian College (MCC) near the Tambaram Railway Station, grief filled the locality where the family of the victim, Swetha, resides. Police officials said the family was disappointed with the media coverage of the crime as they felt some sections of the media blamed the victim.

Meanwhile, the accused Ramachandran’s father allegedly attempted to beat his son at the hospital as he was agitated by the youngster’s act, police sources said. In his statement to the police, Ramachandran said he bought a knife to kill himself in front of Swetha as a sign of protest since she broke up with him, but ended up murdering her in a fit of rage after an argument. On realising the people around would nab him and hand him to the police, he inflicted an injury on his throat, but the attempt to commit suicide was stopped by the public, the police said.

On Friday morning, the police handed over Swetha’s body to her family after an autopsy. Their neighbourhood in Chromepet was filled with grief as several people visited the house to express condolences. Ramachandran was on Friday remanded in judicial custody after being discharged from hospital. Quoting him, the police said he had asked Swetha to meet him in front of the Tambaram Railway Station, and Ramachandran bought the knife before boarding the train at Maraimalai Nagar.

One of Swetha’s friends told the police the victim had said her troubles would end after meeting Ramachandran and she would be able to carry on with her life. Ramachandran, a native of Nagapattinam, was working in Maraimalai Nagar, and is said to have known the victim for three years.

Pilot study in RGGGH on chronic kidney disease

Pilot study in RGGGH on chronic kidney disease

The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) has started a pilot study to identify chronic kidney disease among the rural population.

Published: 26th September 2021 06:39 AM 

By Omjasvin MD

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) has started a pilot study to identify chronic kidney disease among the rural population. Doctors said the drive began on Saturday and would cover up to 1,500 people.

“We have had eight patients with kidney diseases from Sengadu in Kancheepuram in the past and some were from the same street. So we wanted to know why the prevalence of kidney issues is high in this village,” Dr N Gopalakrishnan, Director of Institute of Nephrology told TNIE.

In the project, 40 doctors and more than 20 technicians are involved. Gopalakrishnan said the pilot study primarily focuses on identifying the illness early and providing treatment. “The village has 387 families and 1,500 people,” he said, adding most patients were in their 20s and 30s.

Hospital Dean, Dr E Theranirajan, said unknown factors could have caused the illness but after early detection and treatment, they would study the cause as well. “Early detection can save these lives and prevent the illness from going critical,” he said.

Doctors believe water salinity and contamination can contribute to early kidney disease. “The community medicine department had been assigned for outreach but this is the first time the nephrology department is doing an outreach programme,” the dean said.

Aadhaar authentication of taxpayers must for GST refund

Aadhaar authentication of taxpayers must for GST refund

New Delhi:26.09.2021

The government has made Aadhaar authentication of taxpayers mandatory for claiming Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has amended GST rules bringing in various anti-evasion measures, including disbursal of refunds only in the bank account which is linked with the same PAN on which GST registration has been obtained.

The notification also states that from January 1, 2022 businesses that have defaulted in filing summary return and paying monthly GST will not be able to file GSTR-1 sales return of the succeeding month.

The notification follows the decisions taken at the GST Council meeting on September 17. PTI

Now, Aadhaar of taxpayers must for GST refund

Now, Aadhaar of taxpayers must for GST refund

26.09.2021

New Delhi:

The government has made Aadhaar authentication of taxpayers mandatory for claiming Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has amended GST rules bringing in various anti-evasion measures, including disbursal of refunds only in the bank account which is linked with the same PAN on which GST registration has been obtained. The notification also states that from January 1, 2022 businesses that have defaulted in filing summary return and paying monthly GST will not be able to file GSTR-1 sales return of the succeeding month. PTI

No change in Covishield dose gap: NTAGI

No change in Covishield dose gap: NTAGI

Nisha.Nambiar@timesgroup.com

Pune:26.09.2021

Dr NK Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), on Saturday ruled out any change in the gap between two doses of Covishield, saying scientific studies suggest higher efficacy when the interval is longer.

“Any further changes would be based only on scientific evidence and not on random demands,” Arora said. Several states, including Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, are keen to reduce the interval, which is currently 84 days.

Arora said data from the vaccine tracker platform indicated that the way the Covishield doses are being administered is fine.

‘Consider cutting Covishield gap for some’

Therefore, there was no need to change it as of now, he said, adding that the vaccine’s effectiveness in the current interval is being monitored constanty. Virologist T Jacob John differed a little, saying the Covishield dose gap could be reduced to four weeks for senior citizens and individuals at high risk. “They (authorities) should at least think about it,” he said.

Explaining his thought, the retired professor and the head department of clinical virology and microbiology of Christian Medical College (Vellore) said, “If someone wants early immunity, give the second dose at four weeks. But if you want the maximum possible immunity, wait for 84 days. Two doses save lives. So, for individuals at high risk of severe disease and death, four weeks’ interval is the best. For them, protection delayed could mean protection denied. For all others aged between 18 and 60, the 84-day interval is logical.”

Dr MK Sudarshan, chairman of the Karnataka government’s Covid-19 technical advisory committee, said they had recommended the Karnataka health minister to reduce the time gap of Covishield doses to about six weeks because there were sufficient vaccines but not enough second dose takers. “There is enough scientific evidence that one to two months’ gap is effective,” he said.

Theatres & auditoriums to reopen in Maha from Oct 22

A day after the Maharashtra government announced reopening of schools and religious places, CM Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday approved the reopening of cinema halls and auditoriums in the state from October 22. A detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) is still being compiled and will be issued by the government in the next few days. The decision was taken following a meeting of Thackeray with filmmakers, members of the state Covid task force and senior state officials. Cinema and theatre professionals welcomed the CM’s announcement to restart halls on October 22. Stage artistes were especially pleased that their reopening was advanced from the earlier appointed date of November 5.

No need to vaccinate children for reopening schools, says Dr Arora

There was no need to vaccinate children for reopening schools, said NTAGI task force chairman Dr NK Arora. “What is important is to vaccinate parents, teachers and school staffers before the resumption of physical classes,” he said.

The vaccination of healthy children would commence next year, but the immunization of children with comorbidities would start next month, Dr Arora said. He said they were finalising the list of comorbidities in this age group and it would be ready in the next 8-10 days. Virologist Dr T Jacob John said the priority of vaccination for children was not high and schools should reopen before the immunization programme was rolled out.

Third wave: 2,900 doctors hired, 2,000 more to join

EYE ON THE NEXT WAVE

Third wave: 2,900 doctors hired, 2,000 more to join

TAKING NO CHANCES Govt Adds Medical Staff and Ramps Up Infra To Tackle Next Outbreak

Downward Trend In Infections Continues

Chethan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:26.09.2021

In line with experts’ recommendations and the overall strategy to face a possible third wave of Covid-19, the state government has been hiring doctors and installing critical medical infrastructure.

According to the department of health and family welfare, nearly 3,000 doctors, including specialists, have been roped in to manage the third wave and another 2,000 are expected to join the service in the coming weeks. The additional personnel are being onboarded through both direct recruitment and compulsory ruralservice deputations.

“Direct recruitment of 850 GDMOs [general duty medical officers] was completed by the department two months ago, while another 800 have joined as part of the mandatory rural service. Aside from this, around 950 doctors have come in through the medical education department for the rural service,” health commissioner Dr KV Trilok Chandra told STOI.

Apart from these 2,550 doctors, the health department has also completed the direct recruitment of 350 specialist doctors. “Another 2,000 specialists will join under the rural service programme soon,” Chandra added.

With this, the total number of new recruitments will touch 4,900. The health department, however, did not immediately share details of what the total number of doctors in the state would be with these additions.

Medical infra & supply

In terms of medical infrastructure, the government has set up 500 paediatric HDU/ICU beds across districts, which takes the total number of such beds to 800.

“...As on date, we have enhanced the number to 800 from 300 earlier. Work is underway to add another 1,200 such beds, which will be available in the coming weeks. This will take the total number of such beds to 2,000,” he said.

The government has 5 lakh vials of Remdesivir in stock and adequate quantities of other essential supplies needed for treatment, according to the health commissioner. Also, 8,000 oxygen concentrators have been distributed to supplement the HDU/ICU beds in the districts.

“Hopefully, we will never need to use all of these. But we are not compromising on preparations,” Chandra said, adding the government would also enhance the number of liquid medical oxygen tanks.

As reported by STOI earlier, the government had completed special health screening of 35 lakh children and teenagers by mid-September. Only 0.3 per cent of them had Covid-19.

Separate data from the Covid-19 war room shows that there have been more than 3.2 lakh cases, including 158 deaths, in the 0-19 age group. Overall, Karnataka has recorded nearly 29.7 lakh cases so far. The highest number of infections — over 6.8 lakh — have occurred in the 30-39 age group. The second-most affected group is 40-49 with 5.2 lakh cases.

The highest number of Covid-19 deaths — 10,798 — has been reported in the 60-69 age category, followed by more than 8,000 fatalities in the 50-59 group.

TN plans to take schools to students of Classes I to VIII

TN plans to take schools to students of Classes I to VIII

No Call Yet On Reopening, New Plan Will Allay Learning Loss

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:26.09.2021

The uncertainty over reopening schools for younger classes remains and the government plans to take schools to places near students and involve local volunteers to ensure everyone has foundational numeracy and literacy skills.

Schools reopened for Classes IX to XII on September 1, but no decision has been taken on reopening for Classes I to VIII.

To address concern among parents, the school education department plans a statewide campaign to mitigate the learning loss and to ensure basic literacy among children of Classes I to VIII, sources said.

Teachers and educational volunteers will go to areas where students live and engage them in activities and conduct classes for one to two hours a day till schools reopen. It will be modelled on the ‘Veethi Vagupparai’ (Classes on the Streets) method followed by a NGO.

The campaign is likely to be linked with the government’s ‘Ennum Ezhuthum’ mission to ensure children are able to comprehend and possess basic arithmetic skills by the time they are eight years old.

The school education department on Saturday held the second meeting with 10 non-governmental organisations including Tamil Nadu Science Forum (TNSF), Palli Kalvi Pathukappu Iyakkam, Forum for Child Friendly Schools and Aid India. “The department plans to standardize resource material used by various NGOs. It is studying the pros and cons of taking classes to nearby hamlets till the reopening of schools,” one participant said.

Aruna Rathnam, a former education specialist with Unicef, said it was good the government was aware of parents’ anxiety about learning loss and wants to address it. Involving volunteers would help as teachers may not be able cover the multiple hamlets, she addded.

N Madhavan, state executive committee member of TNSF, said the learning loss cannot be compensated only by teachers and schools. “The community needs to take part in the process of compensating the loss, and giving emotional, psychological support to the children. The Tamil Nadu government understood it and has initiated discussions,” he said.

TNSF possesses the expertise of successfully running “Arivoli Iyakkam”, a total literacy campaign launched in the early 1990s across the state. “If it is finalized, it can set an example for the rest of the country.”

The representatives of NGOs also suggested that the government make the campaign an agenda for the Grama Sabha meetings scheduled to be held on October 2.

Teachers and volunteers will go to areas where students live and engage them in activities and conduct classes for an hour or two a day till schools reopen