Saturday, May 2, 2020

Government issues new guidelines for e-passes

Mandatory quarantine for ‘outsiders’

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu government has come out with fresh guidelines for issuing e-passes to move within districts, between districts and outside the State.

The government has mandated that any person arriving in Tamil Nadu from other States will have to be under home quarantine for 14 days.

The government has set up a website https://tnepass.tnega.org, where those seeking passes can apply. The portal will be accessible through mobile phones as well.

The website enables individuals and organisations to apply for e-passes for movement of people or employees.

The government will be issuing three types of passes — intra-district (within a district), inter-district (outside a district) and inter-State (outside Tamil Nadu).

‘Inform about arrival’

Passes will be issued only for marriages (only for close relatives), funerals and medical emergencies. Those arriving from outside Tamil Nadu should call and inform 1070 about their arrival. They will have to confirm that they have not come into contact with any COVID-19 patient for the past 15 days.

Passes will also be issued to self-employed skilled service providers like plumbers, electricians, carpenters and others.

Movement of employees

For industries and companies, passes can be applied for movement of their employees.

Organisations will need to upload their GST/RoC registration certificate/Udyog Aadhaar as proof, must follow the standard operating procedure as detailed along with any other orders issued by the government, and details of vehicles permitted for transporting employees.

All passes will have a QR code. The State has also set up a State e-pass control room in Chennai and can be contacted on the toll free number 1-800-425-1333, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days.
Exit strategy to be in tune with Centre’s plan

Expert panel hands in recommendations to State govt.

02/05/2020, T.K. ROHIT, SANJAY VIJAYAKUMAR ,CHENNAI


On a day when the Union government announced extension of the COVID-19 lockdown for two more weeks, the State government received a set of recommendations from its 17-member panel on the “exit strategy” from the lockdown.

The panel’s chief and Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) S. Krishnan met Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and reportedly briefed him on the broad contours of the findings of the team’s study.

Earlier, the team held consultations with experts and other stakeholders. Mr. Palaniswami held consultations with industrialists on April 23 and assured them that he would consider their concerns and requests.

A source in the State government said that there won’t be any contradictions between what the Government of India says and the State government does with regard to relaxations. “Even in the April 15 Government of India order, they said that except in containment zones, in hotspot districts too industries can operate,” the source said.

“It (T.N. decision) will be within the overall scope (of the GoI’s guidelines). All of GoI’s orders so far have been — this is the outside limit of how far you can go but you need not give as much freedom as we are asking to (but) you cannot go beyond those orders,” he said.

States have been empowered to make the conditions more stringent than what they are. Industry sources expect the government to allow industrial activity in a staggered manner even in the red zone, outside of the containment area.

In the containment zone, no movement or activity will be allowed, an industry representative in the know of the development said. However, the government source made it clear that lockdown conditions would continue for certain districts such as Chennai and its neighbouring districts.

S. Vasudevan, joint secretary, Tamilnadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, suggested that a whole district could not be classified as a red zone. “You have to further divide it ward-wise and only in the containment area the industrial activities should not be allowed. We had suggested that industrial estates which are located outside the city should be allowed to operate.”
Chennai remains hotspot with 176 new cases

To focus efforts on city, govt. appoints J. Radhakrishnan as Special Nodal Officer

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

A worker sprinkles bleaching powder at a containment zone in Chennai.K. Pichumani

With Chennai remaining Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 epicentre, registering 176 of the 203 fresh cases on Friday, the State government chose to pay focused attention to the capital city, appointing senior IAS officer J. Radhakrishnan as Special Nodal Officer to coordinate issues relating to the pandemic. Five senior IPS officers will support him.

With the 176 fresh cases, the city’s tally of COVID-19 cases surpassed the 1,000-mark.

The State’s COVID-19 case count stands at 2,526* (1,670 men and 856 women), of which 1,183 are active cases.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said the maximum number of samples were lifted in Chennai. “We lifted 3,200 samples in the city, of which 176 returned positive for COVID-19,” he added.

A 98-year-old man, who was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate, died due to COVID-19 at 10.20 a.m. on Friday despite receiving intensive care at the hospital. This took the COVID-19 toll in the State to 28, he said.

Among the 203 new cases (117 men and 86 women), Chengalpattu accounted for eight cases, while Tiruvallur had six.

There were three patients in Madurai, two each in Kancheepuram and Thanjavur, and one each in Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Karur, Nagapattinam and Villupuram.

Mr. Radhakrishnan, who is currently Principal Secretary and Commissioner for Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation, told The Hindu:“We will try our best to work hard to ensure that we are able to get to a COVID-19-free Chennai. We will work with the entire team and the common people and work on how to address this.”

He said suggestions and inputs from officers will be considered to tackle the spread of COVID-19. A former Health Secretary, he will be supported by senior IPS officers Mahesh Kumar Agarwal (in charge of Chennai North Zone), Abash Kumar (East Zone), Amaresh Pujari (South Zone), Abhay Kumar Singh (West Zone) and K. Bhavaneeswari (Chennai suburbs).

As on Friday, Chennai’s cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 1,082, while Chengalpattu accounted for 86 cases
Health Ministry identifies 130 districts as red zones

Bulk of areas in Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat fall in list

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI


The Union Health Ministry on Friday listed 130 districts in the country in the red zone, 284 in the orange zone and 319 in the green zone for a week after May 3, ahead of the extension of the second phase of the nationwide lockdown.

Under this classification, a district will be considered under green zone if there has been no confirmed case of COVID-19 so far or if there is no reported case since last 21 days in the district. Red zones are identified based on total active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases, extent of testing and district feedback.

Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat are among the States with a heavy COVID-19 load as per the list.

The new classification of districts was announced following a video-conference chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on April 30 with the Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of the States.

The classification of districts comes as the country recorded 1,993 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total to 35,365 with a recovery rate of 25.37%.

Since Thursday, 77 deaths were reported, taking the total number of deaths to 1,152, the Ministry said.

The State Health Departments reported 1,182 deaths with 25,074 active cases out of a total of 35,555 cases. Kerala did not report any new case on Friday.

Identifying pockets

In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said, “It is important to ensure that we identify pockets of critical interventions for a focused management of COVID -19 at the field level”.

The list will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier and communicated to the States for follow-up action, the letter said.
Lockdown extended till May 17; curbs stay on public transport

Private cars, cabs to be allowed with fewer riders; buses with 50% commuters

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Long wait ends: Migrant workers waiting on the IIT-Hyderabad campus to board a special train early on Friday to return to their home State of Jharkhand. Mohd Arif

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday issued new guidelines allowing considerable relaxations across red, orange and green zones, based on the evidence of COVID-19 infection, even though it extended the countrywide lockdown till May 17.

The lockdown, imposed first on March 24 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, was to end on May 3.

The MHA asked local authorities to ensure 100% coverage of the Aarogya Setu app among the residents in the containment zones. The National Directive for COVID-19 management said use of the Aarogya Setu application is to be mandatory for all employees, both private and public and “it should be the responsibility of the head of organisation to ensure 100% coverage of this App among the employees”.

In green zones, buses can operate with up to 50% seating capacity and bus depots can operate with up to 50% capacity, the MHA said.

In orange zones, taxis and cab aggregators will be permitted to ply with only one passenger. Inter-district movement of vehicles will be allowed in orange zones for permitted activities and cars could have maximum two passengers besides the driver, and pillion riding will be allowed on two-wheelers.

In red zones, other than the containment zones, private cars will be allowed only for permitted activities with a maximum of two persons other than the driver but no pillion riders in two-wheelers. Irrespective of zones, however, all forms of other public transport — air, rail, metro and inter-State movement by road — will remain suspended except those allowed in select cases.
Delhi HC allows candidate to participate in 2nd, subsequent rounds of NEET-PG 2020 counselling

The court directed that the petitioner be allowed to participate in any future rounds of counselling organised by the respondents for NEET-PG 2020, notwithstanding his non-participation in the first round.

EDUCATION Updated: May 01, 2020 15:08 IST
Asian News International

 Delhi

Delhi High Court has directed authorities concerned to allow a candidate to participate in the second round and other subsequent rounds, if any, of all-India counselling for NEET-PG 2020 as per his eligibility.

However, Justice Rekha Palli did not allow candidate Abhishek V to get accommodated in the first round of counselling of NEET-PG 20 observing that he has approached this court after the expiry of an entire fortnight from the date of the first round of counselling.

“Keeping in view the amount of preparation and hard work which goes into qualifying for examinations of such nature, the respondent’s willingness to accommodate the petitioner in this regard and the sheer effort invested by the petitioner in securing a meritorious position on an all-India basis, the interest of justice requires the petitioner to be permitted to participate in the 2nd round and other subsequent rounds,” the court in its order on Thursday.

The court directed that the petitioner be allowed to participate in any future rounds of counselling organised by the respondents for NEET-PG 2020, notwithstanding his non-participation in the first round.

“It is also directed that his nonparticipation in the first round of counselling shall not be held as a ground to prejudice his chances to secure admission to a college of his preference, in these subsequent rounds,” the court said.

“It is further directed that the petitioner will also be entitled to participate in any state counselling, as per his eligibility conditions and domicile,” it added.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Abhishek V, a participant in the National Entrance Eligibility Test 2020 for admissions to post-graduate medical courses (NEET-PG 2020), who sought directions to the Medical Counselling Committee to permit him to submit his medical college preferences within the first round of counselling of NEET-PG 2020.

Abhishek, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, had appeared in the NEET-PG 2020 on January 5 and the results were declared on January 30. The petitioner claimed that he had registered on the concerned website on March 10 for the first round of all-India counselling but the results of the first round declared by NEET on April 9 did not include his name.

Subsequently, he received an e-mail on April 11 about the refund of the amount.

Additional solicitor general advocate Maninder Acharya, appearing for the Central government, told the court that all-India counselling has already concluded on April 11 and that the petitioner is at fault for approaching the court after a substantial delay.

She submitted that granting any relief to the petitioner as prayed for would cause grave prejudice to the other candidates, however, assured the court that the respondent has no objection to the petitioner participating in the second or any other subsequent rounds based on eligibility.


Friday, May 1, 2020

தஞ்சை மருத்துவமனையில் பிடிபட்ட 12 விஷ பாம்புகள்

Added : மே 01, 2020 01:54

தஞ்சாவூர்:தஞ்சாவூர் ராசா மிராசுதார் அரசு மருத்துவமனையில், விஷத் தன்மைஉடைய, 12க்கும் மேற்பட்ட பாம்புகள் பிடிக்கப்பட்டன.

தஞ்சாவூர் ராசா மிராசுதார் அரசு மருத்துவமனை வளாகத்தில், மகப்பேறு பிரிவு, பெண்களுக் கான சிகிச்சை பிரிவு, கண் சிகிச்சை பிரிவுகள் உள்ளன.மருத்துவமனை வளாகத்தில், பல இடங்களில் புதர்கள் மண்டி இருந்ததால், விஷத்தன்மையுடைய பாம்புகள் வருவதாக புகார்கள் எழுந்தது. சில நாட்களுக்கு முன், மருத்துவமனை துாய்மைப் பணியாளர் செல்வி, 45, என்பவரை பாம்பு கடித்து, அவர் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வருகிறார்.

மருத்துவமனை வளாகத்தில் செவிலியர்கள் தங்கும் விடுதி, துாய்மை பணியாளர் ஓய்வு அறை உள்ளிட்ட பகுதிகளில், ஜே.சி.பி., இயந்திரம் மூலம் சுத்தம் செய்யும் பணி, நேற்று முன்தினம் துவங்கியது.அங்குள்ள பாம்புகளை பிடிக்க, அருகானுயிர் காப்பு மற்றும் சுற்றுச்சூழல் அறக்கட்டளையினருக்கு அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டது.

அறக்கட்டளையைச் சேர்ந்த சதீஷ்குமார் தலைமையிலான, எட்டு பேர் குழுவினர், ஐந்து கண்ணாடி விரியன் பாம்புகள், இரண்டு சாரைப் பாம்புகள், மூன்று சிறு வகை பாம்புகள் என, 10 பாம்புகளைப் பிடித்தனர்.தொடர்ந்து, இரண்டாவது நாளாக நேற்று, சாரை, நல்ல பாம்பு என, இரண்டு பாம்புகள் பிடிபட்டன. இதனால், நோயாளிகள் மற்றும் மருத்துவ பணியாளர்கள் நிம்மதி அடைந்து உள்ளனர்.
ஆதார்' திருத்தம் இனி எளிது!

Updated : மே 01, 2020 03:45 | Added : மே 01, 2020 03:42

திருப்பூர் : பொது சேவை மையங்களில், 'ஆதார்' திருத்தம் மேற்கொள்ள முடியும் என்பதால், விவசாயிகள் உட்பட கிராமப்புற மக்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியடைந்துள்ளனர்.

மத்திய தகவல் தொழில்நுட்பம் மற்றும் மின்னணுத்துறை சார்பில், நாடு முழுதும் 20 ஆயிரம் பொது சேவை மையங்கள் (சி.எஸ்.சி.,) அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. 'ஆதார்' அட்டையில் திருத்தம் மற்றும் புதிய தகவல்களைச் சேர்க்க இந்த மையங்களைப் பயன்படுத்த, அனுமதி வழங்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது. பொதுமக்கள் கூறுகையில், 'ஊரடங்கையொட்டி, மத்திய அரசு,விவசாயிகளுக்கு இந்த நிதியாண்டுக்கான முதல் கட்ட ஊக்கத்தொகையான, 2,000 ரூபாயை முன்கூட்டியே வழங்கியுள்ளது. விவசாயிகளின்'ஆதார்' தகவல்களுடன், நிலம் உள்ளிட்ட ஆவணத் தகவல்கள் முரண்பட்டிருந்தால், இத்தொகை கிடைப்பதில்லை. இதற்கு 'ஆதார்' அட்டையில் திருத்தம் அவசியமாகிறது.

இனி, பொது சேவை மையங்களிலேயே இது சாத்தியமாகும். ஊரடங்கு மட்டுமின்றி, அரசின் சலுகை மற்றும் நிவாரணம் பெற, 'ஆதார்'தான் முக்கிய ஆவணமாக உள்ளது. எனவே, கிராமப் புற மக்கள் பலரும், பொது சேவை மையங்களால், பயன்பெறுவர். இன்னும், கூடுதலாக மையங்களை ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும்' என்றனர்.
Medicos seek re-evaluation of final exams results


KOZHIKODE, APRIL 29, 2020 20:05 IST

Several fail to clear the exams by as less than 10 marks

Around 400 medical undergraduate students who could not clear their final-year exams this year by less than 10 marks have accused the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) of ignoring their demand for a re-evaluation of results.

One of them told The Hindu on Wednesday that the results were published on March 24, a day before the country went into a lockdown to contain COVID-19. “So far, there has been no reply to the emails we sent to the Chief Minister, Health Minister, and the Vice Chancellor regarding re-evaluation,” he alleged.
Exams in March

The exams were held in the first week of March and the results were published within less than three weeks. The students said the evaluation was held only for six days. In one self-financing medical college in Kozhikode district, 11 students in a batch of 57 failed by just one mark. Twenty five students in that batch reportedly failed in only one paper. One student reportedly scored good marks in the theory exams, but fell short of one mark in the practicals.

According to the students, 31 of them failed in the exams in Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, 24 in Kozhikode, 20 in Palakkad, 15 in Thrissur, Kottayam and Pariyaram, and 12 in Alappuzha. Thirty eight students failed in a self-financing medical college in Ernakulam. The number of those who failed in similar colleges in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Malappuram were 30 and above. The students claimed the number might be more, as many were not forthcoming to express their views fearing reprisal.

Promise to students

The students were promised recalculation of marks, called re-totalling, and provision of mark list by April second week. But the authorities were yet to do so. According to the university’s rules, those who did not clear the exams could appear for the supplementary exams only after six months. But the students said they were not sure if they would be able to do as academic activities were delayed due to the COVID-19 scenario. They were also concerned about losing an year.

University authorities, however, claimed that the results were not announced in haste. “The university has a two-layer system of evaluation where the average of the two marks is taken as final. If there is a 15% difference between the two, it will go to a third evaluator and the average of the highest two is taken as the final. Despite this, if the students have any complaint, they can approach the grievance cell headed by the Pro Vice-Chancellor. Re-evaluation is rare,” said an official.

Pension distribution from May 4

Thiruvananthapuram:

State finance department has announced arrangements for distribution of pension for beneficiaries from the government treasuries from May 4 to 8, said a statement issued here on Wednesday.

Pension will be disbursed from 10am to 1pm on May 4 to pensioners with the PTSB account number ending with digit zero, and from 2pm to 4pm on the same day to accounts ending with digit one. On May 5, the treasuries will cater to accounts ending with digit ‘two’ during the morning hours and accounts ending with ‘three’ during the afternoon.

On May 6, pensioners with account number ending in ‘four’ will get the pension from 10am to 1pm and those with account number ending in ‘five’ will get it from 2pm to 4pm. Pension will be disbursed to those with the PTSB account number ending with digit ‘six and ‘seven’ on May 7 and accounts ending with ‘eight and ‘nine’ on May 8 in a similar fashion. TNN
WBUHS Plans To Hold University Exams 

By Medical Dialogues BureauPublished On 30 April 2020 7:15 PM  

Kolkata: Through a recent notice, the West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) has informed about that the authorities are planning to hold University examinations for students at all medical, dental, homeopathy and other colleges. Due to the spread of COVID-l9 pandemic, certain Examinations were held up midway and a number of Examinations planned to be held up during March 2020 onwards as per the Examination Calendar for 2020 as published in the website of the University could not yet be planned. 

During the present LockDown period it is very difficult to draw-up definite Schedules for holding the Examinations. 

Considering the current situation and other related aspects, the Authority of the University is considering following Planning for holding the University Examinations:

 1. Examinations of which both the Theory and Practical Examinations held up (either partially), or full),) le.g.. Post-Graduate Degree in Modern Medicine/Dental Sciences etc.l:
 i. Theory Examination may start not before 15 (fifteen) days after lifting the present ban of train bus services (either partial or fully) by the Government. 

 ii. Practical Examination may start not before 10 (ten) days after the end of the Theory Examination. 

2. Examinations of which the Theory Examination was completed but the Practical Examinations have been held up (either partially or fully) [e.g." BHMS 3'd Prof (New & Old Regulations etc.l: Practical Examination may start not before l5 (fifteen) days after lifting the present ban of train/bus services (either partial or fully) by the Government. 

No Special Treatment For Lawyers During Lockdown; Can't Issue Directions To Waive Rent For Lawyers' Offices: SC


30 April 2020 1:19 PM


The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a petition which sought exemption to advocates from payment of rent for their offices/chambers during lockdown.

Observing that lawyers cannot be given "special treatment", a bench comprising Justices N.V. Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul & B.R. Gavai refused to entertain the plea for an appropriate scheme to support advocates to pay rent of their professional premises during lockdown.

Mr. Kailash Vasdev, appearing for the Supreme Court Bar Association stated that the Court must consider the prayer that non-payment of rent shall not lead to eviction for lawyers as "they were high density areas".

"We are not saying rent should not be charged. We are only saying that non payment of rent should not be made a grounds for eviction during the lockdown. Lawyers will lose office space" added Petitioner(s)

After the Court expressed its disinclination, the petition was withdrawn by the Petitioner.

"We will withdraw it and send the same to the Government" the petitioner stated.

Senior Advocate Rana Mukherjee appeared for the petitioner.

A Delhi based lawyer, Advocate Aljo K. Joseph had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Government to formulate an appropriate scheme to support advocates from paying their rent, exclusively for the professional premises.

The plea pointed out that many lawyers pay "exorbitant rents" for their professional spaces for the sake of remaining close to Courts of law. However, since lockdown, many lawyers who depend on regular incomes are suffering due to loss of work and as such it has become difficult for them to pay the rent for their office premises.

The plea contended that the inaction of the government in supporting lawyers has ultimately affected their right to livelihood protected under Article 19 of the Constitution, in so far as they are being forced to vacate their office premises.

"As stated in part III of constitution of India right to life and practice any profession is a fundamental right And such a situation if it arose due to the pandemic and continuing lock down if the professionals are forced to vacate the professional premises and or pay the rent during this pandemic continuing lock down, it would also affect the constitutional guarantee under part III of the constitution of India," the plea contended

Inter alia, the Petitioner submitted that they cannot even invoke the clause of "non-payment due to a Force Majeure event" since they do not provide blanket waiver from payment of lease rentals on occurrence of every Force Majeure event.

The petition is drawn and filed by Advocates Sachin Sharma.
Managements At Liberty To Deduct Wages Of Workers Who Remain Absent In Areas Where Lockdown Has Been Lifted 

Bombay HC


1 May 2020 12:12 AM

The Bombay High Court(Aurangabad bench) on Thursday allowed employers to deduct wages of workers who remain absent from work in areas, where the lockdown has been lifted.

While refusing to interfere with the direction issued by Ministry of Home Affairs on March 29 regarding full payment of wages to employees during lockdown, Justice R V Ghuge clarified as follows 

"It is clarified that since the State of Maharashtra has partially lifted the lock down recently in certain industrial areas in the State of Maharashtra, the workers would be expected to report for duties as per the shift schedules subject to adequate protection, from Corona Virus infections, by the employer. In the event such workers voluntarily remain absent, the Management would be at liberty to deduct their wages for their absence subject to the procedure laid down in Law while initiating such action. This would apply even to areas where there may not have been a lock down".

Justice RV Ghuge heard multiple petitions of similar nature via video conferencing in the case Align Components Pvt Ltd vs Union of India.

Petitioners had contended that though the Managements are willing to offer work to the workers and though the workers would be willing to perform the work, restrictions have been imposed on the continuance of the manufacturing activities so as to restrict the spread of Covid-19 and as a consequence of which, the Managements have been mandated to shut down their manufacturing activities.

In this backdrop, petitioners pray for exemption from paying monthly wages for as long the restriction of manufacturing activities continues.

Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate TK Prabhakaran submitted on instructions that petitioners are willing to pay 50% of the gross wages or the minimum rates of wages prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, whichever is higher.

Advocate DG Nagode appeared on behalf of the Union of India and GP DR Kale for the State. Both sought time to take instructions.

Justice Ghuge noted-

"I find that the Hon'ble Apex Court has passed an order on 27/04/2020 in a group of matters, in Ficus Pax Private Ltd., Vs. Union of India and others wherein a similar request by the employers /Management of Industries, has been put forth. The Hon'ble Apex Court has directed that the group of petitions be listed after two weeks. No interim relief is granted.

I also find that the Kerala High Court has stayed an order issued by the Finance Department of the Govt. of Kerala dated 23/04/2020, by which the payment of 50% salary has been permitted and the remainder payment of 50% salary was deferred."

Thus, Court concluded that since the Supreme Court is dealing with a similar cause of action, it would not interfere with the said notification.

"I would expect the petitioners to pay the gross monthly wages to the employees, save and except conveyance allowance and food allowance, if being paid on a month to month basis in the cases of those workers who are not required to report for duties." Justice Ghuge said.

Court also granted liberty to Advocate Prabhakaran to add the workers' representatives to come forward with an intervention.

The payment of gross wages by these petitioners to the workers, save and except conveyance/food allowance, shall be subject to the result of this petition, Court said. The next date of hearing is May 18.
Section 4(5) Of Gratuity Act Applies Only When There Are Options For The Employee Under The Act & Under Contract With Employer : SC


1 May 2020 11:04 AM

In a notable judgment in the field of gratuity law, the Supreme Court held that Section 4(5) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 will apply only when there are alternative options for the employee under the Act and under the terms of contract with the employee.

The Court also held that the employee must taken either of the packages completely, and there cannot be any "combination" of terms under both the alternatives.

This was in the case BCH Electric Limited vs Pradeep Mehra, where a bench comprising Justices U U Lalit and Sanjiv Khanna set aside the findings of the Claim Commissioner under the Act, which were approved by the Appellate Authority and also both the Single Bench and the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court.

The issue was whether the employee, Pradeep Mehra, was covered under the gratuity scheme formulated by the company in 1979, or under the terms of the Act.

In 1979, the company had framed a gratuity scheme for those employees who were not covered under the Act.

In 2012, the employee resigned from the company after 12 years of service. He raised a gratuity claim of Rs.1,83,75000/.

The company took the stand that he was entitled to gratuity amount of Rs 10 lakhs only, as per the upper limit fixed by Section 4(3) of the Act.

Contending that the gratuity scheme of the company had no upper limit, the employee approached the Claims Commissioner. The Claims Commissioner referred to Section 4(5) of the Gratuity Act, which states :

"Nothing in this section shall affect the right of an employee to receive better terms of gratuity under any award or agreement or contract with the employer".

Based on this, the Claim Commissioner ruled that the employee was entitled to the more beneficial terms of the scheme of the company, which had no upper-limit.

Though Company took the matter to the Appellate Authority, and later to the High Court, the ruling of the Claims Commissioner was not disturbed.

In the appeal before SC, C U Singh, Senior Advocate, submitted that the gratuity scheme of the company were meant for those employees who did not come under the ambit of the Act as per their wage-bracket as existed in 1979. Since the respondent was covered under the Act, there was no scope for applying the company's scheme with respect to him. It was therefore submitted that the upper-limit under Section 4(3) of the Act will apply.

It was further submitted that in terms of law laid down by the SC in Beed District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd vs State of Maharashtra (2006) 8 SCC 514 and Union Bank of India and others vs. C.G. Ajay Babu and Another (2018) 9 SCC 529 either the statutory provisions or the contractual scheme can be followed and not a combination of both the elements.

In response, J.P. Cama, Senior Advocate for the respondent submitted that since Section 4(5) of the Act has been given overriding effect over other provisions of the Act, and as such, all that the respondent needed to show was that the appellant had a scheme for its employees (contract) and that it did not prescribe any ceiling and that such a scheme would be protected by Section 4(5) of the Act.

At the outset, the Court noted that the scheme was not meant to apply to the employees who were in the wage bracket of the respondent.

"The Trust Deed and the Scheme were executed and formulated in the year 1979 when the wage-bracket was a definite parameter for an employee to be covered under the Act. The intent of the Trust Deed and the Scheme has to be understood in that perspective. The idea was not to afford to the employees who are covered by the provisions of the Act, a package better than what was made available by the Act, but it was to extend similar benefit to those who would not be covered by the Act", the bench noted.

Therefore, it was not a case where the employee had the alternative options of the contractual scheme and the statutory scheme, as the respondent was not at all covered under the company's scheme.

"...for Section 4(5) to apply there must be two alternatives, one in terms of the Act and one as per the award or agreement or contract with the employer", the bench observed.

Further, referring to Beed District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd, the bench stated that an employee cannot choose a combination of the scheme of the employer and the scheme under the Act.

"This Court laid down that an employee must take complete package as offered by the employer or that which is available under the Act and he could not have synthesis or combination of some of the terms under the scheme provided by the employer while retaining the other terms offered by the Act", the judgment authored by Justice Lalit observed.

On these grounds, the SC ruled that the HC was in error in upholding the directions of the Claims Commissioner. The company was held entitled to apply the upper-limit under Section 4(3) against the respondent.
PG medical fees in pvt colleges hiked 20-30%

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:1.5.2020

At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many into a financial crisis, the state government has increased fees for postgraduate medical seats in private colleges by 20-30%. The new seat matrix was published on the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) website on Thursday.

The fees in government colleges have been untouched. The hike impacts both government and private quota students in private colleges. The new fees mentioned on the website include RGUHS admission fee, while last year’s fee cited in this report excludes that component.

A clinical seat in a government college will cost Rs 1.1 lakh, a government seat in a private college Rs 7.1 lakh and a private seat in a private college Rs 11.5 lakh a year. Last year, the figures were Rs 1 lakh, Rs 5.8 lakh and Rs 8.7 lakh, respectively.

The lowest fee is for anatomy, physiology and biochemistry: Rs 38,900 in a government college, Rs 1.02 lakh for a government seat in a private college and Rs 1.6 lakh for a private one in a private college. Subjects like pharmacology, pathology, microbiology, community medicine and forensic medicine cost Rs 63,900, Rs 1.9 lakh and Rs 2.9 lakh, respectively, in these quotas. Last year in private colleges, para-clinical courses under government quota cost Rs 1.5 lakh and private quota Rs 2.2 lakh. The fee was Rs 72,738 and Rs 1.09 lakh for pre-clinical courses.

‘Panel suggested 30-40% rise’

There was an increase of 15% in 2019-20 and 2018-19. “A committee headed by the additional chief secretary had recommended a rise of 30-40%. However, considering the current situation, it was decided that we keep the increase at 20%,” said PG Girish, director of medical education. There are 3,164 PG seats up for grabs.

According to the collegewise and course-wise fee structure uploaded on the KEA website, the highest fee in NRI quota is around Rs 1.3 crore for dermatology and radiodiagnosis at Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru. Paediatrics, general medicine, gynaecology and respiratory medicine courses in the college have a fee of Rs 1.26 crore each.

No cut in salary, pension of govt employees: Nitin Patel

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gandhinagar:1.5.2020

Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said on Thursday that despite a major fall in the state government’s income from VAT, GST and other taxes, the government will not deduct any amount from the salaries and pensions of government employees.

Patel in a statement said that industrial and commercial activity has come to a standstill because of the lockdown and this has badly impacted government income from GST, VAT and other sources. “Despite this constraint, the government has planned to pay salary and pension to all government employees according to the monthly salary schedule. A total of 5.38 lakh employees will get around Rs 2,600 crore in the form of salary while 4.57 lakh pensioners will get Rs 1,400 crore as pension. A sum of Rs 4,000 crore will be paid in a week,” Patel said.

Although the state government has cancelled all events to mark the Gujarat Foundation Day, chief minister Vijay Rupani wished all citizens on the 60th Foundation Day.
Guj crosses 200 Covid-19 deaths, mortality rate higher than Maha

Nearly 70% Deaths Recorded In A’bad, Cases Tally 4,395

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:1.5.2020

In Gujarat, the Covid-19 death toll reached 214 as 17 more deaths were recorded in 24 hours on Thursday. While it took 39 days for the state to record over 200 deaths, the 100 deaths were recorded in a matter of just one week.

Except April 25 when the state recorded six deaths in 24 hours, Gujarat has recorded over 14 deaths daily in past one week. Of the 214 deaths, majority 149 or 70% deaths were recorded in Covid-19 hostpot Ahmedabad.

Three states – Maharashtra (432), Gujarat (214) and Madhya Pradesh (130) — have recorded more than 100 deaths of Covid-19 patients. Analysis of the death rate reveals that MP has a rate of 4.95% compared to Gujarat’s 4.87% and Maharashtra’s 4.35%.


Patient who fled hospital found dead

A 50-year-old Covid-19 positive patient, who mysteriously vanished from New Civil Hospital in Surat on April 28, was found dead on the campus of the hospital on Thursday. TNN

42% of Covid deaths among patients aged 60-75

More than half of the total Covid-19 deaths in India are among those aged above 60 years, while those between 60-75 years of age are most vulnerable, accounting for 42% of total fatalities, the latest data from the health ministry showed. Though less at risk, those between 45 and 60 years accounted for 34% deaths due to the disease. The death rate was even higher among people with co-morbidities like diabetes, heart disorders and chronic kidney ailments and patients with such conditions accounted for 78% of total deaths.

313 cases in state in 24 hours

Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary (health & family welfare), on Thursday said that Gujarat recorded 313 Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours, taking state’s total tally to 4,395. “The cases included 249 from Ahmedabad, 19 from Vadodara, 13 from Surat and 10 each from Gandhinagar and Panchmahal,” she said. With the new cases, Ahmedabad district crossed 3,000 cases-mark with 3026 and now consists of 68.8%.

“The deaths were recorded from Ahmedabad (12), Surat (3), Anand (1) and Vadodara (1),” said Ravi.
Maha’s 1st plasma recipient dies in city, but govt to continue trials

Sumitra.DebRoy@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:1.5.2020

The first patient in the state to be treated with the plasma therapy to beat Covid-19 succumbed late on Wednesday at Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital, where he was on ventilator for 10 days. Doctors said the 53-year-old didn’t test negative for the infection or show any improvement since the therapy was administered four days ago. The state, however, said the setback wouldn’t change its decision to allow more hospitals to carry out plasma therapy trials.

The man was transfused with one dose (200ml) of plasma from a recovered patient on compassionate grounds on Saturday with the belief that the antibodies in the blood component would help him fight the infection. Sources said while his oxygen levels got marginally better over the next few hours, he again became critical within 24 hours. The patient tested positive for the infection thrice in the last 10 days.

Dr V Ravishankar, COO of the hospital, said the patient had developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and ultimately died of septicaemia around 11.30pm. Medical records showed that the patient had developed sore throat and fever around April 8-9, but didn’t seek treatment or testing for at least 10 days. Dr Ravishankar said, “We had to put him on ventilator the same day he got admitted to the hospital (April 20). We tried treating him with the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab and also prone positioning (placing him face down), but nothing worked.” The patient didn’t have any underlying conditions.

Dr Om Srivastava, principal investigator of the plasma trial at Kasturba Hospital, declined to comment on the development. A civic official said a second recipient was being prepped, but the transfusion didn’t go through. “We are lining up more recipients,” he added. Dr Anupkumar Yadav of Directorate of Health Services said plasma trials would continue in the state with appropriate selection of patients as it’s an emerging treatment.
Faster Exit Needed

Restoration of transport and fiscal package to kickstart the economy are essential

1.5.2020

The initial 21-day lockdown was extended by another 19 days, and major relief was expected by May 3. Government has now promised some guidelines to dilute the current lockdown architecture. In this context, it would be wise to heed the observation of technology entrepreneur NR Narayana Murthy, that India could see more deaths due to hunger than to the pandemic if it persists with the lockdown. It’s time to accept the virus as the new normal, while realising that the Covid situation confronting India has two legs: a health crisis and an economic crisis. Dealing with the former alone is not enough.

The need of the hour is to move on from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s older “lakshman rekha” exhortation to his more recent one of “do gaj doori hai bahut zaroori”. Thus, it’s necessary to deal with overreactions by states and the executive in their containment strategy. States sometimes barricade themselves through the construction of walls and arbitrary blocks to interstate movement, including of essential services personnel. Their approach has to change to facilitate economic activity. Cities and states must begin to restore public transport. Trains and flights must start up. Economic activity cannot revive without mobility.

The lockdown began with a fiscal package to cushion the immediate fallout on vulnerable sections. But the cost of one of the most stringent lockdowns anywhere has encompassed every section. It is precisely this aspect which catalysed a call from the government to private firms to avoid job cuts or salary reductions. If firms have to actualise the government’s wish, they need fiscal support. The support so far has come through monetary packages. But that has barely moved the needle because of the inherent limitations of that tool. India needs a large fiscal package to supplement the monetary measures.

Banks are frozen as they don’t have a clear idea when activity will resume. The longer the restrictions on activity, the greater the adverse impact on economic growth. UBS forecast that output will shrink by 3.1% this year if mobility restrictions stay till end-June. This will be catastrophic as it will push back millions of Indians below the poverty line and also prevent firms from taking advantage of the changes in global supply chains anticipated by government. The need now is for a clear and comprehensive road map for easing of restrictions accompanied by a big fiscal package.
SpiceJet flight brings over 14 tonnes med supplies from China

New Delhi:1.5.2020

SpiceJet said on Thursday that it has brought 14 tonnes of medical supplies here from China.

The airline said it operated its maiden freighter flight carrying medical supplies from Guangzhou in China to Delhi on Wednesday.

The cargo plane had left Kolkata at 10:30 am on Wednesday for Guangzhou. After loading all the items, the plane came back to Kolkata at 8:20 pm, the airline said in a release. The B737 plane then left Kolkata at 9 pm and came to Delhi at 11:15 pm on Wednesday, it said.

The airline said the plane brought 14 tonnes of medical supplies including medicines and protective gear. India has been under lockdown since March 24 midnight to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has infected more than 33,000 people and killed around 1,070 people in the country till now.

All commercial passenger flights have been suspended for the lockdown period. SpiceJet has till date transported over 4,750 tons of cargo on more than 651 flights since the nation-wide lockdown began. Of these, 233 were international cargo flights. PTI
There’s no confirmed treatment for Covid yet: Health ministry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:1.5.2020

The health ministry on Thursday said there was, so far, no confirmed treatment protocol for Covid-19 and nothing conclusive had come up as far as vaccines were concerned.

“Multiple organisations in the government are engaged in multiple vaccine trials for Covid-19. Besides, we are also part of solidarity trials with the WHO. Some candidate vaccines have been identified. But, nothing conclusive has come up,” said the health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal.

Briefing the media on the current Covid-19 situation in the country, he said, “Multiple stages have to be passed to conclude safe and efficacious use of a vaccine by human beings. As far as India is concerned, we have identified Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to begin with as a prophylaxis (preventive treatment).”

The ministry had in March issued a detailed advisory on the use of HCQ as prophylaxis for SARSCoV-2 infection.

Responding to a question on US study on Remdesivir antiviral, Agarwal said, “As of now, there is no confirmed treatment protocol for Covid-19. Remdesivir is one protocol which is being examined world over. Even the study on Remdesivir by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has not conclusively proved its effectiveness. We are waiting for larger evidence to be generated for us to take meaningful action at the field level.”

NEWS TODAY 21.12.2024