‘NEET strikes at state’s autonomy’

TN Parties To Explore Legal Steps To Nix It

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Chennai: A meeting of all legislature parties chaired by chief minister M K Stalin on Saturday resolved to take necessary legal steps to abolish NEET. The meeting also decided to take other state governments into confidence and put up a collective fight against NEET. The MLAs said the common entrance test had destroyed the dreams of the poor and rural students and affected the autonomy of the state.

The meeting saw 12 parties endorsing the resolution, including the DMK and the main opposition, the AIADMK. BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan walked out of the meeting, protesting against the resolutions. “Tamil Nadu is a model to other states in medical education, but NEET and National Medical Commission Act introduced by the Union government have affected the students. The Union government has snatched the rights of the states in deciding admission to medical colleges set up with their own funds,” the resolution said. The parties alleged that the governor’s act of sitting on the Bill, which was passed unanimously by the assembly in September, without forwarding it to the President, questioned the sovereignty of the legislature. NEET benefited only those students who had access to specialized training. It created an impression that 12 years of schooling was of no use in medical admissions and made the educational system meaningless, they said.

The chief minister himself visited the governor and urged him to send the Bill to the President, while a delegation of MPs representing all parties could not meet the President and submitted a representation to his office, which was later forwarded to the Union home minister. The meeting decided that an all-party delegation could meet the Union minister if there was an invite

Earlier, addressing the meeting, Stalin said , “The principle of democracy is that when a legislature passes a Bill, the governor should respect and give assent to it. ”

Former health minister C Vijayabaskar told TOI that the AIADMK would support the state government in the legal battle against NEET.

Health minister Ma Subramanian said that Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan himself had admitted to him that there was opposition to NEET in his home state Odisha as well, but he could not do anything. “Legal experts will be consulted as to what kind of legal action can be initiated against the governor who has been delaying the reference of the Bill to the President, besides abolishing NEET,” Subramanian told TOI.

‘Revise school curriculum, don’t fault NEET’

Chennai: Senior BJP leader and MLA Vanathi Srinivasan on Saturday denied the  contention of the Dravidian parties that NEET for medical admissions was against the principles of social justice and the reservation policy followed in Tamil Nadu.

She walked out of a meeting of legislature party leaders, chaired by chief minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat, protesting against the anti-Centre resolution passed at the meeting. “The common entrance test is being conducted based on the orders of the Supreme Court and the initiatives taken by the erst- while Congress-led UPA regime, in which the DMK was very much a constituent. It was neither the BJP’s agenda nor was it introduced after the BJP government assumed office,” she told reporters. “There was no change in the school education curriculum for 12 years in the state, but people blame students for poor results.

TNN

Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

09.01.2022

Chennai: Though the city’s active cases are shooting up, only14 % of the hospital beds at the tertiary hospitals are occupied.

In case of ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals in the city, only 6% (58 beds) of the 1,090 available ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals are occupied. Of the 3,747 available oxygen oxygen beds,18% (699 beds) are occupied.

Doctors say this shows majority of the patients have not required oxygen support or ICU admission. Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital Dr E Theranirajan said, 231 patients were seen with an S-Gene drop, but none of them required ICU admission. “Most of the ICU admissions still seem to be from the Delta variant,” he said.

The doctors have found the majority of the patients who needed hospitalisation and ICU admissions, were the unvaccinated. “Of the 17 patients in the RGGGH ICU, 11 are unvaccinated. We have put some in C-PAP ventilators, treating them with Rem- desivir. These patients are also aged above 60 and have comorbidities,” said Dr Theranirajan.

Similarly, Dean of Omandurar GH Dr R Jayanthi said out of the 10 patients in the hospital’s ICU, eight were unvaccinated.

With 92% of the city's population vaccinated for the first dose, and 72%for the second dose, the corporation urges the unvaccinated and those due for second dose, to get their shots early.

“In the discussions we had with doctors in the city, it is seen that people vaccinated with both doses and are 50 days beyond second dose date, are having much milder symptoms, as compared to patients, who are either unvaccinated or with single dose,” corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi told TOI. He said people must get both doses so that they preferably get immune to Covid and in case they contact the virus, the symptoms are milder. “More than 8 lakh people are due for a second dose in the city. They must take it as soon as possible,” he said .

 

Covid protocols back at gated communities

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Chennai: The spike in cases has prompted Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) of gated communities in the city and suburbs to revert to Covid protocols that were in place during the peak of past two waves. Restricting deliveries at gates, intensified monitoring of guests and mandatory mask use are among the measures put in place over the past week to curb the spread of the virus.

Those employed in apartments in these communities have been asked to complete two doses of the vaccine. Entry is allowed only after thermal checking. Messaging apps used by RWAs are flooded with posts urging residents to inform if any individual has tested positive so their neighbours are aware of it.

Colonel C M Unnithan (retired), former executive member of Dinesh Vihar, a gated community at Thazambur, sa- id there was no bar on visitors completed two doses of vaccine. “Also, delivery of food and other products is not allowed at doorsteps. (It is) restricted to gates of each tower,” he said. While the complex is occupied by more than 400 families, about 30% of the occupants were senior citizens, he added.

Third Covid wave peaking three times faster than second: Experts

New Cases Up From 1,000 To 10,000 In 8 Days

New Cases Up From 1,000 To 10,000 In 8  Days

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

09.01.2022

Chennai: The third wave is peaking at least three times faster than the second wave, health experts said here on Saturday as fresh cases in Tamil Nadu crossed the 10,000 mark.

It took just eight days for new cases to rise from about 1,000 on December 31 to 10,978 on Saturday. A similar jump took nearly a month during the second wave — from 1,087 new cases on March19, 2021, to 10,723 on April18, 2021. The peak during the first wave was 6,993 new cases on July 27, 2020, which was 57 days after fresh cases breached the fourdigit mark for the first time on May 31, 2020. “At the peak of the second wave in May 2021, we touched nearly 36,000cases a day. Experts estimate that daily cases are likely to be triple that number at the peak this time,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

This means, Chennai alone, which reported 7,564 new cases at its peak on May 12, 2021, will report at least 21,000 new cases a day at the third wave peak, expected at the end of January or early February, experts said. Epidemiologists say the city is likely to touch its peak ahead of the state as its infection transmission rate is much higher than the state’s. “The city is densely populated and the virus has a higher chance of finding a new host. So it spreads faster here compared to rural areas,” said National Institute of Epidemiology deputy director Dr Prabhdeep Kaur.

Four days ago, the city reported 1,489 new cases and on Saturday it had 5,098. During the second wave, it took 28 days for daily fresh cases to go from 1,083 on April 1, 2021 to 5,445 on April 29, 2021. “This week when people from the city travel to their home districts for Pongal holidays, they are likely to take the infection back into the rural areas,” said infectious disease expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan. “We saw it happen in March 2020 when people travelled from the city to their homes in the districts when the state imposed a lockdown,” he said.

Earlier, health secretary J Radhakrishnan said if Covid rules are violated and cases rise, the state will have no option but to go for a complete lockdown.

Health minister Ma Subramanian said the state has directed all district collectors to enforce pandemic protocols, enhance fever surveillance and testing, and ensure all close contacts are tracked. “While health workers will be working to prevent the spread, we may not see results unless people wear masks, maintain social distance, avoid going out and vaccinate,” he said. The state has capacity to increase testing to 3 lakh a day.

Chennai crosses 5,000 cases on Saturday

Fresh cases of Covid-19, fueled by the Omicron variant, pushed the active cases in the state by nearly four times in five days on Saturday, when Tamil Nadu added 10,978 cases to it registry. The state now has 40,260 patients in isolation compared to 10,364 on January 3.

At the infection epicentreChennai, 5,098 new cases were reported. Nearly five times more people are under treatment for the viral infection (20,369) compared to 4,259 five days ago. Nevertheless, the overall percentage of people admitted to hospital patients from the active registry has dropped both in the state and city. On Saturday, 14% of the active patients (5,529) of them and 11% of active patients in the city (2,324) were in hospitals. “In absolute numbers this is higher than what we had three days ago. Experts have warned us that as numbers increase exponentially hospitals will be overcrowded,” said director of public health Dr TS Selvavinayagam. The state, he said, has been encouraging most people – who have completed two doses of the vaccine, are healthy patients with no symptoms to remain in home isolation after consulting their doctors. They can come out of isolation if they do not have symptoms for three days. “We reserve hospital beds only for those with complications and severe disease,” he said.

On Saturday, all districts reported new cases and 34 out of 38 districts reported an increase in their daily tally compared to Friday. The sharpest increase was reported from Chennai, which reported 4,531 new cases on Friday, followed by Chengalpet and Coimbatore. After Chennai, Chengalpet (1,332) reported the highest number of cases followed by Tiruvallur (591) and Coimbatore (585). At least 15 districts reported cases in three digits and an equal number of districts reported cases below 50.

Of the 10 deaths in the state, Chennai reported six followed by two each in Chengalpet and Kancheepuram.

TNN

 

Madras univ defers semester examinations

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Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

09.01.2022

Chennai: In view of the rising Covid-19 cases , University of Madras has postponed all semester exams scheduled to begin on January 21. Regular November 2021 practical exams that began on January 3 also stand postponed, a circular issued on Friday said. “We will issue a new schedule,” vice-chancellor S Gowri said.

Autonomous colleges in the city are also likely to postpone semester exams scheduled to begin on January 21. “We have to accommodate 1,500-3,000 students a day during the exams. If Covid-19 cases continue to rise, it may not be possible to hold exams in January,” said S Santhosh Baboo, principal of DG Vaishnav College. He said colleges can try for exams in February and finish the next semester in June. The State government had declared study holidays for all college students, except for medical students, till January 20.

 

Nearly half of TN’s 1 1,000 fresh Covid cases from Chennai

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

09.01.2022

Chennai: Fresh Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu crossed the five-digit mark and reached 10,978 on Saturday, with Chennai reporting 5,098 cases – 46% of the state tally. The new cases in the state have risen by nearly 22% pushing the active cases tally to 40,260, including 20,269 from Chennai. The 10 deaths on the day took the overall toll to 36,843 since March 2020. Despite a steep rise in new cases, the fatality rate — number of people dead over total number of people testedpositive so far (27. 8 lakh) – is stable around 1. 3%.

Of the 10,978 cases, 10,932 patients were from within the state. Five people from Bangladesh (who travelled by road) and one each from Sri Lanka and UAE, who flew to TN, tested positive for the infection. There is also an increase in infection among those who travelled from other states. One patient who came from Delhi by air and at least 38 others who travelled by road from different states tested positive. Tamil Nadu has 185 confirmed Omicron cases so far, of which 179 were isolated in hospitals or houses. All 179 patients have been discharged, the public health department said.

Shortage of Pongal gift hampers irks cardholders

Shortage of Pongal gift hampers irks cardholders

‘It shows poor planning by the State government’

09/01/2022

Ration card holders return as they did not get Pongal gift hamper firom a ration shop in Thoothukudi on Saturday.N. RajeshRAJESH N

Special Correspondent Thoothukudi

The shortage of ‘Pongal’ gift hampers has irked the cardholders and the ration shop workers face verbal abuse from the cardholders.

As the distribution of ‘Pongal’ gift hampers with 21 items started recently, the ration shop workers were giving the freebies to the cardholders in phased manner in a bid to restrict the crowd. However, the short supply has irked the cardholders and has left the ration shop workers in an unpleasant situation. The ration shop at Tooveypuram has received only 950 gift hampers against the 1,400 cards the shop has. The ration shop on the Second Street of Anna Nagar in Thoothukudi has received only 700 gift hampers against the total number of 920 rice cards attached to this shop.

“Of this 700 gift hampers, only 684 bags had all 21 items while the remaining bags did not have ghee, cumin and a few more items. The cardholders, suspecting the workers of having taken these items, abuse us verbally,” said a ration shop worker. The disappointed cardholders say that they had visited the shops at least twice and every time they were told that they would be given the gift hamper once it was received.

“After my two unsuccessful visits to the ration shop, I came to the shop today (Saturday). I have been told to come again on Tuesday to check if the fresh stocks of gift hampers have arrived. It shows poor planning by the State government,” said a cardholder, a retired private firm worker.

Another major grievance of the cardholders is that the sugarcanes being given along with the gift hamper was of very “inferior quality”. “The sugarcane being given in the ration shop is like a thin cane being used by the school teachers… Why should I receive it as my children will just throw it away,” said a woman who received the gift hamper from a ration shop in Bryant Nagar.

Admitting that there was ‘Pongal’ gift hamper short supply, the officials said the issue would be sorted out during next week.