Rain lets up, but woes of Chennai continue

Rain lets up, but woes of Chennai continue

HC cracks the whip over inundation

10/11/2021

Bounteous yield: Residents fishing in Korattur Lake that overflowed on Tuesday.M. VEDHANThe Hindu

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

Chennai had some respite from the rain on Tuesday when inundation cleared up in a few areas. But people were stranded and in need of help at other places where the stagnant water was yet to be drained. Residents are approaching the next couple of days with fear as heavy rain has been forecast.

The Madras High Court warned the Chennai Corporation that it would take up a suo motu public interest litigation petition on the travails of residents due to waterlogging, if the situation did not improve by Friday. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said action would be taken against the contractors implementing Smart City.

In the 24 hours till 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Chennai recorded 3.2 cm of rain. The weather office has issued a red alert in Chennai for Wednesday and Thursday as the low-pressure area that had formed on Monday is likely to turn into a depression.

The government announced a holiday for schools and colleges in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, and Mayiladuthurai on November 10 and 11. A holiday has been declared for schools and colleges in Pudukottai, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Madurai, Dindigul and Virudhunagar districts on November 10. Schools in Tiruchi and Ramanathapuram will be closed on November 10. The toll in the rain has risen to five and over 500 huts have been damaged.

Public transport operated in reduced numbers due to poor patronage

Public transport operated in reduced numbers due to poor patronage

10/11/2021

Special Correspondent CHENNAI

Public transport in the city was operated with limited strength taking into consideration the reduced footfalls due to heavy rain. However commuters reaching the city from far flung western localities of Tiruttani and Arakkonam, had a tough time, because of the fewer train services.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has been operating reduced number of buses for the past two days. The MTC, which would normally operate nearly 3,250 buses on regular days, has been operating 2,200 to 2,500 buses in the past two days.

A senior official said since Sunday around 2,200 to 2,500 buses are being operated because of the announcement of holidays for schools and colleges and poor commuter population on several routes.

Buses are operated only based on the needs of particular routes.

Similarly, Chennai division of the Southern Railway, which started truncated operation of train services from Monday evening, operated Sunday schedule of train services on Tuesday also citing water stagnation and poor patronage.

The operation of reduced number of train services caused severe hardship to the working population travelling from the neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur and Vellore, as a large number of commuters depended on train services from Tiruttani and Arakkonam.

Social activist A. Roy Rozario, in a representation sent to the Chennai Divisional Railway Manager, highlighted the hardships faced by hundreds of commuters from Arakkonam, Tiruttani and Tiruvallur.

The Southern Railway on Tuesday has announced more stoppages for the fast line proceeding towards Arakkonam and Tiruttani effective from Friday.

Pvt edu institutions get property tax relief

Pvt edu institutions get property tax relief

Chandigarh: 09.11.2021

The Haryana government has decided to give exemption in property tax for one year to private educational institutions. Haryana urban local bodies minister Anil Vij said the state government had decided to give exemption to private educational institutions on the account of losses suffered by them during the Covid-19 period.

Vij said the private educational institutions in the state would get a relief of Rs 23.50 crore from the relaxation of one year. He said chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had given his approval to the decision.

The government educational had already been given similar exemption in property tax and the state would foot bill of Rs 10.35 crore for this. Thus, 8,986 educational institutions in 88 civic bodies of the state would get a relief of Rs 33.85 crore.

Haryana private schools association president Kulbhushan Sharma thanked the ULB minister. He, however, said that the schools should be given more exemptions. TNN

Sharma makes temple run to Tirupati

Sharma makes temple run to Tirupati

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad: 09.11.2021

On a day the Rs 18,300-crore IPO by Paytm made its debut, its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma made a temple run to Tirupati on Monday to seek the blessings of Lord Balaji.

The Paytm boss landed in Tirupati on Monday afternoon for a darshan of the lord of the seven hills. “Just met Sh Jawahar Reddy Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (#TTD) in Tirupati as I have come here to seek blessing of God for all of @Paytm family,” Sharma tweeted after his visit to the abode of one of the richest gods in the world.

The Paytm IPO, which opened on Monday (November 8) and will close on November 10, aims to raise Rs 18,300 crore through a fresh issue of Rs 8,300 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 10,000 crore.

Special trains cost more, but amenities missing

Special trains cost more, but amenities missing

No Blankets Or Pillows, Curtains Removed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 09.11.2021

More than 90% of trains may have resumed with full patronage, but railways continue to run them as specials, unreserved express specials and festival specials, charging high and varying fares without offering onboard amenities.

Concessions for senior citizens have been suspended, blankets and pillows are not given and curtains removed from all AC classes but charges have not been reduced. Passengers say it is unfair to keep fares high under different classifications when reservation status is at waitlist and RAC for weekends and holidays.

On Friday, Southern Railway announced around 11 unreserved specials with fares equivalent to express trains. This means people will have to spend double the money they had been spending for tickets on passenger trains to travel by these unreserved express specials between interior towns.

S Vijayaraghavan, who used to travel by passenger trains, said a passenger had to pay ₹30 or more to travel by one of these trains from one station to another while it used to cost only ₹7 on a passenger train. “Railways should introduce passenger trains instead of running trains that charge more money from the people. It is of no help.”

The railways is also introducing festival specials which have fares that will cost ₹300-₹500 more than regular AC III tier class on scheduled trains on the route. However, these trains do not offer any additional facilities.

Suresh Seshadri, a Kolkata resident who works in Chennai, said that on Coromandel Special and Howrah Mail special, the last few 2nd AC and 3rd AC tickets under premium tatkal category cost ₹4,000 and ₹2,500. “The actual fare is ₹2,500 and ₹1,750. A flight to Kolkata booked in advance will be cheaper than a 2nd AC seat.”

This, said consumer activist T Sadagopan, was fleecing in the name of pandemic. “There is no point in running the same express and mail trains by calling them specials and then cancelling all concessions for senior citizens and others. Curtains are removed, pillows and blankets are not given. Railways should be charging less from passengers who travel by AC class because half of the amenities are not provided on board. There is no justification to continue to charge the same fare.” However, railways maintain that all passenger trains are not being operated because the pandemic is still on. The Railway Board has said that a decision on running of passenger trains and running scheduled trains will be taken only after the pandemic reduces considerably.

Hospitals try to sell unsold vax stocks at discount, no takers

Hospitals try to sell unsold vax stocks at discount, no takers

Sumitra.Debroy@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:09.11.2021

Stuck with unsold Covid vaccine doses worth crores, private hospitals have started offering their stocks at 10-30% discounted rates to bulk purchasers. Many have even approached the manufacturers hoping to return unsold inventory.

Far from the situation in May-June when private players faced a crisis of shortage, they were sitting on more than 47lakh doses in October last week. Hospitals in Mumbai may have more than 85% of the unsold doses. Vaccinations in the city’s private sector nosedived in October with less than 3lakh paid jabs administered.

Sanjeevani Hospital in Malad has 7,000 doses of Covishield worth Rs 44lakh and hardly any takers. “I’ve approached both the manufacturer and BMC, but nobody is willing to take the vaccines,” said Dr Sunil Agarwal, the hospital’s director. “We are willing to liquidate it at a discount of 30%...it is better than doses going to waste altogether,” he said. The hospital’s daily footfall for vaccination has dropped to 20-25 people, far below the crowd of 1,000 they had previously.

In a similar dilemma is Oscar Hospital in the western suburbs with around 25,000 doses. Dr Nitin Pawar said, “We have all threes-—Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik, but hardly any people are coming forward,” Dr Pawar said. Oscar, like many others, is pinning hopes on the government approving a booster shot. “The other way we may see a surge in demand is if the interval between doses is reduced,” he said. The corporation had said more than 22 lakh people would be eligible for vaccination immediately if the 84-day interval is shortened.

Dr Prince Surana, CEO of Surana Group of Hospitals said many hospitals are trying to sell stocks at discounts, but few have found buyers. CoWin allows private hospitals to transfer doses to each other. “That option is used mainly when someone is in urgent need of 100-200 doses. If anybody wants more doses, they usually place orders directly with manufacturers,” he said. Another hospital head said he spoke to the Serum Institute of India to ask them to take some doses back.

“They turned it down saying they cannot be sure how the vaccines were stored,” he said. The extension of expiry period of Covaxin from 6 month to 12 months has brought some relief though, he said. A state official said private hospitals have offered vaccines to the government. “But we cannot buy from private sector when there is abundant supply from the Centre,” the official said. Interestingly, no hospital has slashed rates despite the oversupply.

Doctor among two held for making fake death certificate

Doctor among two held for making fake death certificate

Indore: 09.11.2021

Dewas police have arrested two persons including a doctor for allegedly making a fake death certificate for claiming an insurance sum of Rs 1 crore.

Two others involved in the scam are absconding. The matter came to light after an insurance firm lodged a complaint with Kotwali police after suspicions over the documents, police said.

The police during investigation found the certificate to be fake, police said. The accused Abdul Haneef purchased an insurance claim of rupees one crore from SBI life insurance in May 2019 on Rs 40,000 annual deposit. The accused deposited two instalments of Rs 4,000 each, police said.

In September 2019, his son Iqbal applied for a death certificate with the municipal corporation declaring his father as dead based on a fake document issued by Dr Shakir Mansoori, police said. TNN