Family of Bengaluru man, who died of Covid-19 eight months ago, gets ‘fully jabbed’ message

Family of Bengaluru man, who died of Covid-19 eight months ago, gets ‘fully jabbed’ message

TNN | Dec 15, 2021, 03.46 AM IST

BENGALURU: The wife of a 77-year-old man from South Bengaluru was in for a shock when she received a message congratulating the latter for being fully vaccinated against Covid-19, eight months after his death. A message from Co-Win stated that he got fully jabbed on December 9.

Sreekantaiah Seetharaman had taken his first dose on March 10. He was due for the second dose in May, as the interdose interval was 4-6 weeks for Covishield at that time. In between, he contracted Covid and died on April 8. “This could be a bogus entry done in my father’s name which is highly questionable,” his son Vishwanath S told TOI.

“This is nothing but the government’s ways to inflate the vaccination coverage. To a man who died due to Covid, the government has sent a message saying he’s fully vaccinated against the disease! If it was a data entry error, how did it match his name and the registered phone number?” the family members questioned.

Incidentally, Seetharaman’s 75-year-old wife had taken the first dose on March 1 and the second dose in August. The couple had used the same phone number for their Co-Win registration. She was not given any certificate during her second dose vaccination at an apartment saying there were technical issues. She also received a message from Co-Win on December 8 that she had taken the second dose on the day. “There is definitely a goof-up. While we hadn’t bothered much about her vaccination certificate when she took it in August, she has now got a message saying she was fully vaccinated on December 8,” the family members said.

As per the vaccination certificates, the couple got their doses at a centre falling under the Kumarswamy Layout urban primary health centre. “There is a code mentioned in the certificate, which we don’t know if it was the same as the vaccination centre in an apartment where they got jabbed,” a family member said.

TOI has a copy of the vaccination certificate and the messages received by Seetharaman’s family.

Dr Arundhathi Chandrasekhar, mission director, National Health Mission, Karnataka, said the matter will be investigated. “We will look into this,” she added.

She said a similar case of a dead person getting a message about being fully vaccinated was reported in Tumakuru recently and when checked, it was found out to be a data entry error. “The error had crept in while typing a phone number. We also checked the number of doses administered by the nurse and it matched with the number of persons vaccinated. There was an error in the data entry, where there was a wrong entry of two digits. It was an entry against a wrong person’s name,” she added.

Dr Chandrasekhar said currently, healthcare workers are visiting houses for vaccination.

“At home or near home vaccination drives are going on. The workers note down the names, contact details of the beneficiaries and enter the details on the Co-Win portal when they return to their offices,” she said.

Missed out on degree? Delhi University offers ‘centenary chance’ to get it now

Missed out on degree? Delhi University offers ‘centenary chance’ to get it now

TNN | Mar 4, 2022, 04.00 AM IST

NEW DELHI: As part of its centenary celebrations, Delhi University is planning a host of activities from May 1 onwards, beginning with the release of a commemorative stamp and coin.

DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh on Thursday said competitions, cultural festivals and seminars will be held throughout the year. Moreover, “unsung heroes” who made significant contributions to the varsity as well as distinguished alumni will be felicitated.

The university will also offer a “centenary chance” to those who were unable to complete their studies. “The statutory bodies approved a proposal to give such people two chances to appear for exams and secure their degrees. There will be no age bar and papers will be set according to the syllabus from the student’s time. Many people had requested for the provision,” Singh said.

A book documenting DU’s history and a coffee table book will also be released. “DU started with 750 students and three colleges. Today, there are over seven lakh students and 90 colleges. We want to document its glorious past, in a documentary as well,” Singh said.

DU also plans to adopt a village for outreach activities like health check-up and blood donation camps. Apart from a proposal to plant 100 trees across 100 locations of DU campuses, the varsity will also organise an exhibition of rare manuscripts, book fairs and revive its community radio.

An initial seed money of Rs 10 crore has been approved by the statutory bodies for the centenary celebrations, Singh said. “Our vision is to feature among the top 200 universities in the world and we will take all necessary steps, including focusing on recruitment, to achieve that. We need the right kind of ecosystem for it,” he added.

Meanwhile, Singh on Thursday released the logo and tagline for the centenary celebrations. Out of 315 entries received, the university selected the logo designed by Gargi College student Kratika Khinchi.

Seeking old pension plan, govt staffers gherao HP assembly

Seeking old pension plan, govt staffers gherao HP assembly

TNN | Mar 4, 2022, 04.05 AM IST

SHIMLA: Thousands of protesting state government employees, covered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), gheraoed the state legislative assembly here on Thursday in support of their demand for the implementation of the old pension scheme. The police tried to stop the protester near 103 Tunnel and the near the assembly complex by using water canons and setting up barricades, but a large number of them managed to gherao the assembly.

Meanwhile, the issue was even raised inside the House and opposition Congress staged a walkout after the speaker turned down an adjournment notice to discuss it.

The protesters have made their intention clear of not leaving the protest site till their demand is met. They said if the chief minister fails to make an announcement regarding the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme in his budget speech on Friday they will devise further strategy after holding the meeting of their core committee.

Facing police batons, tear gas and water cannons, they first clashed with the police in Tutikandi, then at 103 Tunnel and then near the assembly complex. At 103 Tunnel, they broke barricades after a scuffle with cops to reach the assembly complex, where they breached more barricades, to stage a dharna at the main gate.

Shimla deputy commissioner Aditya Negi came with his administrative team to talk to the protesters, but failed to convince them. Later, DGP Sanjay Kundu tried to convince them, but failed. Then urban development minister and Shimla (Urban) MLA Suresh Bhardwaj tried to pacify the protesters but failed to make a headway. The protest was still going on outside the assembly at the time of filing this report.

In the winter session of the assembly held in Dharamsala in December last year, Swaran Samaj had held a massive dharna to demand the formation of Swaran Ayog. A similar situation has been created here now, with employees coming out on the roads for their demand of Old Pension Scheme. NPS Employees Federation is holding a sit-in outside the assembly in Shimla and insisting on talking to the chief minister.

Earlier in the day, the protesters, who had come from all over the state, gathered at Tutikandi, from where they started a foot march towards the assembly but were stopped by the police at the bypass. The administration had given them permission to hold a rally at Chaura Maidan, but no protester headed that way.

NPS Employees Federation leaders were very categoric that either the chief minister announce the restoration of old pension scheme or be prepared for porlonged protests as they will not leave Shimla “without old pension”.

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Unvaccinated account for 92% Covid deaths in 2022: ICMR

Unvaccinated account for 92% Covid deaths in 2022: ICMR

TNN | Mar 4, 2022, 03.17 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Unvaccinated people accounted for nearly 92% of Covid-19 deaths this year, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday citing data from Covid vaccine tracker.

Among fully vaccinated people, only 10.2% succumbed to Covid-19 and 91% of these fully vaccinated who died had co-morbidities. Besides, 21.8% of the people who died were partially vaccinated and 83% had co-morbidities.

Underlining that vaccination aided Covid management in India while many countries are still reeling under the rising number of Omicron infected Covid-19 cases, officials said deaths reduced significantly during the third surge dominated by the Omicron variant.

The case fatality rate (CFR) dropped to 0.35% during third surge (from January 4 to February 14, 2022), against 1.29% during second surge (March 21 to July 14, 2021) led by Delta infection which was highly lethal while vaccination coverage was very low at that time.

At the start of the second surge in 2021, only 10.1% of eligible population were partially vaccinated while 2.1% were fully vaccinated with two doses. On the other hand, during the third surge, 90.83% of adults were partially vaccinated and 65.4% were fully vaccinated against the infection.

“We are in a vaccine-protected low corona stage. That is why it is rational to open schools and businesses and carry on the affairs of society. However, the responsibility is to ensure that surveillance is intact and we are prepared, and to wear masks,” NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul said.

According to government data, the second wave lasted 117 days, from 21 March to 14 July, 2021, in the country with a total of 1.94 crore cases and 2.52 lakh deaths — a case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.29%.

During the third wave, which lasted 41 days — from 4 January to 14 February, 2022 — India reported 77.42 lakh cases and 27,118 deaths, a CFR of 0.35%.

“The relentless efforts of healthcare and frontline workers coupled with vaccination coverage have yielded results for effective containment of the recent surge,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry.

According to government data, it took 49 days to reach the peak of over 4.14 lakh cases during the second surge, whereas it took 18 days to reach the peak during the third surge which was powered by the highly transmissible Omicron strain.

New Delhi: The government has made it mandatory for police to investigate all road accident cases that occur on and after April 1 and ordered that cops will have to intimate about accidents to motor accident claim tribunals (MACTs) and insurance companies within 48 hours. The road transport ministry also made it mandatory to incorporate validated mobile numbers in the insurance certificates.

The rules, aimed at faster disposal of cases and quick disbursal of compensations, have set the mandatory procedure for investigation of road accidents, preparation of detailed accident reports, and fixing timelines for different stakeholders for quick settlement of claims by the MACT.

As per the notification, the police will have to visit the accident spots, collect evidence and intimate to the MACT about the accidents so that the process starts quickly. The investigation officer (IO) will be duty bound to inform the victims or their legal representatives about their rights and claims. The changes have been made following a Delhi HC order which had directed the Centre to adopt the model, which has been successfully done in Delhi. This has drastically cut the time period for getting the compensation.

The rules have specified the responsibility and timeline that all the stakeholders to give the medico-legal and postmortem reports.

Don't push single parent seeking passport for kid to court: Kerala HC to union govt

Don't push single parent seeking passport for kid to court: Kerala HC to union govt

TNN | Mar 3, 2022, 11.54 PM IST

KOCHI: Passport authorities should not reject applications filed by single parents, who have obtained divorce or are undergoing divorce, for passports for their children and push them to court to obtain orders, said the Kerala high court.

The criticism by justice Amit Rawal was in the judgment on a petition (WP-C No. 5284/2022) filed by Shiny S of Kottayam against the union government, the regional passport officer of Kochi, and assistant passport officer of Passport Seva Kendra of Kottayam.

In the judgment, the court said it is a classic case of highhandedness by the assistant passport officer denying the re-issuance of the passport to a single parent facing matrimonial discord and directing to obtain a court order. The single parent had filed a ‘Form C’ undertaking that the entire responsibility would be hers as divorce has already been obtained.

However, the passport authorities had declined to issue a passport by stating that the child’s custody is not mentioned in the divorce order and had insisted on the father’s consent or court order.

In the judgment, the court said it is coming across similar litigations day in and day out in which single parents are forced to approach the high court despite filing a ‘Form C’ declaration. A counsel representing the passport authorities had informed the court that the petitioner’s application has been processed and the passport will be re-issued.

The court said, “The officers at the helm of affairs exercising the powers for issuing the passport are supposed to deal with the application in a pragmatic and reasonable manner, but should not reject the application in the manner and mode as extracted above. Knowing fully well that this Court would have expressed concern with regard to the spate of litigation and may come down heavily on the action of the respondents, in anticipation of that processed the application of the petitioner, but for redressal of the grievance is impelled to shell out litigation expenses.”

Govt exploring ways to help evacuees complete studies

Govt exploring ways to help evacuees complete studies

TNN | Mar 4, 2022, 05.29 AM IST

NEW DELHI: With the future of many Indian students who were pursuing medical education in war-torn Ukraine in limbo, the government along with the National Medical Commission of India is discussing possibilities to accommodate such students in either Indian medical colleges or those abroad so that they can complete their courses. “There is a need to examine this on humanitarian grounds. We will have to see how many such students are affected, how many of them are in third or fourth year and what are the existing provisions. We will do whatever possible to support them,” a senior official said.

The commission, health ministry and member from Niti Aayog is expected to meet soon to deliberate on the issue, sources said.

Another official from the health ministry said the concerned departments are examining it and the government will do whatever possible to support such students.

According to a source, the government is looking at possibilities of whether provisions can be made on humanitarian ground to accommodate such students from Ukraine in either private medical colleges or allow their transfer to colleges in other countries so that they can appear for NEET-FMG.

Some local doctors’ associations have made representations to NMC seeking intervention to introduce special provisions enabling transfer of such students to medical colleges in other countries. This will ensure their eligibility to apply for entrance exam in India as foreign medical graduates (FMG).

Medical students pursuing medicine from foreign universities have to clear the screening test. Once they clear it, they are equal to any other Indian medical graduate for further practice and employment as a medical doctor in India. However, the NMC rule doesn’t allow migration of FMG from one medical college to another.

Uncertainty is looming over the future of thousands of medical students who returned from Ukraine since the beginning of the crisis there. Continuation of education has become a challenge for such students as war has impacted infrastructure, even as many of them are in their final years of medical courses.

Ukraine has been a preferred destination for medical aspirants from India as it provides quality education at low cost, attracting many candidates who failed to secure a seat in government colleges in India.