Over 75% of fresh cases in state are from Chennai

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

07.01.2022

Chennai:At least three fourths of the 6,983 new Covid-19 cases reported by the state on Thursday came from Chennai (3,759) and it three adjacent district – Chengalpet (816), Tiruvallur (444) and Kancheepuram (185). The eleven deaths took the cumulative toll to 36,825. At the end of the day, the number of active patients in the state soared to 22,828.

The state reported a 43% increase in cases in the last 24 hours from 4,863 new cases on Wednesday, and its hotspot city, Chennai, reported a 55% increase from 2,489. “We are seeing a cascading effect of the infection into the adjacent districts,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

After Chennai, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur, Coimbatore (309) and Vellore (223) reported the highest number of cases in the state. Among central districts, Trichy reported the sharpest increase from 51 cases on Wednesday to 123 on Thursday, while Thanjavur reported 68 new cases compared to 26 a day ago. In the south, Tuticorin reported 132 new cases on Thursday, when Madurai had 60.

Of the 11 deaths, there were five in Chennai and one each in Chengalpet, Coimbatore, Salem, Thanjavur, Madurai and Namakkal. Meanwhile 6. 9 lakh, including 5. 3 lakh teens, took the jab on Thursday.

 

Govt plans to extend validity of planning permissions

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

07.01.2022

Chennai: The government has decided to amend the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, to extend the validity of planning permissions from five years to eight years,

A bill to this effect was tabled in the Assembly by housing and urban development minister S Muthusamy on Thursday. According to the bill, developers find it difficult to obtain fresh permission on expiry of the five-year period, in cases where construction projects are yet to be completed.

Further, Covid-19 had impacted activity in the real estate sector in the state. The interdependence of supply chains, migration of labour, cost overturns and liquidity constraints are some of the challenges the sector faced. So it would be difficult to complete projects within five years.

 

PMK backs state govt on VC issue

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Ponmudi said, “Our PM is aware of it. Yo u (BJP MLAs) can take this to the notice of the PM.” He pointed out that the Maharashtra government introduced an amendment (the Maharashtra Public University Act 2016) to empower itself to appoint VCs.

After a tussle between West Bengal government and the state’s governor, the government appointed a vice-chancellor recently. Similar tussle is going on in neighbouring Kerala too. “To resolve such i ssues, state governments should have powers to appoint VCs. Our CM feels so. Before the next assembly session, a decision will be taken,” he said.

Intervening at this stage, Stalin said the government would pass a resolution in the assembly in this regard.

The PMK and MNM welcomed the CM’s announcement. Actor-turned-political Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiyam welcomed CM’s announcement.The party had issued a statement saying the government should appoint VCs instead of governor.

PMK youth wing leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss welcomed CM’s announcement. He tweeted that the PMK would support the government’s initiative.

 

‘EWS income criteria different from income criteria of ₹8L’

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Meeting head on a fusillade of charges from counsel for petitioners questioning the rationality of extending OBC and EWS quota to medical admission, Mehta said that providing reservation to socially and economically backward classes — OBC and EWS — is constitutionally imperative and the SC in a string of judgments more than a decade ago has upheld this view.

He said the government respects the SC’s consistent rulings against reservation in super-speciality courses and that NEET-PG is not a superspeciality course. The focus of the arguments by petitioners was against inclusion of 10% EWS quota and the ₹8 lakh annual income criteria for the purpose. Extricating the government from a difficult situation, Mehta said the EWS income criteria is very different from the income criteria of ₹8 lakh fixed for weeding out creamy layer from cornering benefits of the OBC quota.

30 months on, no salary for institute staff

 30 months on, no salary for institute staff

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06.01.2022

Sangrur: Waiting for their salaries for the last 30 months, the faculty members of Baba Hira Singh Bhathal Institute of Engineering &Technolo gy (BHSBIET), Lehragaga, Sangrur, have been sitting on a protest round the clock near the gate of the college.

Kamal Garg, one of the protesters, said, “Earlier there were five government established engineering colleges in Punjab namely SBS, Ferozpur; BCET, Gurdaspur; GZS, Bathinda; MIMIT, Malout; BHSBIET, Lehragaga. The GZS, Bathinda was merged into Maharaja Ranjit Singh StateTechnical University, Bathinda during the Akali regime while the institutes of Fero zepurand Gurdaspur were recently made state technical universities. 

Now as due to drastic fall of admissions, all these institutes are facing severe financial crisis and not able to pay salaries to its staff ranging from 3-4 months to 30 months (as in case of BHSBIET, Lehragaga, who have not got their salary from the last 30 months). The staff of Lehragaga had held dharnas numerous times but all promises to release salaries by providing financial assistance have not been met. ”

“Channi had remained the minister of technical education and the decision to shut the institute was taken under his tenure,” said a protester.
TNN

All doctors are fully vaxxed, asymptomatic

 All doctors are fully vaxxed, asymptomatic06.01.2022 

Bhopal  06.01.2022

Doctors and paramedical staff, who have been assigned duty in Covid wards, are following the same protocol as in the first and second waves, Dr Dixit said. “They wear PPE kits and are following all other norms. There’s no instance of any health staff getting infected while working in Covid wards,”he said.

A faculty member of the microbiology department was infected a fortnight ago and a repeat sampletested positive a week ago. Two doctors of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) have also tested positive in the past week after returning from other cities.

“While people are advised not to lower their guard and follow all Covid guidelines, doctors and paramedical staff have been asked to take all the precautions, have a good sleep and home-made food to avoid falling ill due to the virus,” pulmonologist Dr Ravi Dosi said.

“Most of the doctors, who have tested positive to the disease, have their recent travel history during last week of 2021” Dr Sanjay Londhe said, adding that almost all the doc- tors are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. “Among those detected in the recent past, the disease is not causing major health problems, including breathlessness, which was seen in the second wave in April and May when Covid claimed so many lives,” he said.

The 64th All India Congress of Obstetrics & Gynecology to be organized by the Indore wing from January 9-13 has been postponed due to Covid. Over 500 doctors were expected to attend.

The next dates haven’t been decided yet, informed our sources.

 

Banks restrict staff attendance

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Mayur.Shetty@timesgroup.com

06.01.2022

Mumbai: Banks are drawing up preventive measures to deal with the third wave of Covid. This comes close on the heels of the Central government curtailing office attendance to 50% of workforce in the wake of the surge in infections.

For banks, the protocol will vary according to the district and a decision will be taken by State-Level Bankers’ Committees. Bank of India has said that physical attendance will be restricted to 50% in administrative offices, including head offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

In branches, physical attendance shall be restricted to 75% in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. The remaining staff will work from home. The bank has also decided to increase availability of collaborative platforms like Citrix to facilita- te WFH. Pregnant women and those with disabilities are also being allowed to work from home in these three cities. 

Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance has postponed the exams scheduled on January 8-9. Bankers in Mumbai said that the situation is dynamic and they are awaiting the local administration’s response to the rising numbers to draw up a strategy. In the financial capital, bank staff are dependant on local trains and any move to curtail them would impact operations.

The head offices of private banks have continued with a hybrid model even after the ebbing of the second wave. Officials said that work-from-home policy would continue for those in administrative offices, while branches would continue to have attendance.