Sankarankoil blast could be heard several km away
Govt To Give ₹1 Lakh To Kin Of Victims

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:23.02.2019

It was a series of explosions that shattered the fancy fireworks manufacturing unit at Varaganur village near Sankarankovil in Tirunelveli district on Friday afternoon killing four people and seriously injuring six others. The blasts could be heard several kilometres away and a thick white cloud of smoke that rose into the sky from the accident spot could be seen from far.

Two women and a man, identified as K Kasthuri, 45, of Elaayirampannai; A Krishnammal, 55, of Varaganur; and C Neethiraj, 50, of Thiruthangal died on the spot. G Mariammal, 45, of Varaganur, who was rushed to the Kovilpatti district headquarters hospital, died while undergoing treatment. “The condition of two others is critical,” superintendent of police (SP) of Tirunelveli district PVe Arunsakthikumar said.

Thiruvenkatam police registered a case under sections 304(ii), 286, 337 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code, read with section 9 of the Explosive Substances Act. The SP said inquiries were under way to find out the cause of the accident, where it began and if there were any violations or irregularities in permissions obtained by the person running the unit. People associated with the unit were picked up for questioning but no arrests were made till late in the evening. The licence issued to the firm was suspended.

Tirunelveli collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, inspector general of police for South Zone K P Shanmuga Rajeswaran, deputy inspector general of police for Tirunelveli range Kapil Kumar Saratkar and SPs Arunsakthikumar (Tirunelveli) and M Rajarajan (Virudhunagar) visited the spot.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the blast and announced a relief of ₹1 lakh each to the families of the victims from the Chief Minister's general relief fund. He announced ₹50,000 to those who were seriously injured in the incident and ₹25,000 to those who suffered minor injuries.


DEAFENING: The series of explosions near Sankarankovil in Tirunelveli district on Friday left four people dead

Forced to buy paper rolls for ticketing: MTC conductors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2019

MTC bus conductors have alleged that they are forced to spend from their own pockets to buy paper rolls for electronic ticketing machines (ETMs). While conductors claimed they were provided with only one roll a week, branch managers said rolls were distributed on a daily basis.

ETMs were introduced in 2014 as part of the modernization process. Though supply of ETMs to all buses was completed in 2017, complaints often came in about their functioning. Some resorted to manual ticketing. Against this backdrop, allegations are levelled against depot branch managers for not supplying adequate number of paper rolls.

Official data showed, 150 tickets can be printed using a roll. On an average, conductors issue 300 tickets to 500 tickets a day. A conductor at Avadi, requesting anonymity, said, “Our manager issues one roll and we run out of paper after two trips. So, I spend ₹40 daily to buy rolls from a private shop near Avadi railway station.” A roll costs ₹20 – ₹25 depending on the size.

The manager instructed conductors to use manually printed tickets if enough rolls were not available, he added. “Unlike earlier years, MTC routes are extended now and a single trip involves 25 stages and holding them in hand has become increasingly difficult in crowded buses.”

Responding to it, Avadi branch manager Sekar said there was no shortage.

M V Ramamurthy of Nethaji Transport Workers Union said the condition was no different in the other 33 MTC depots which are equipped with 400 ETMs each. “MTC has stopped paying the paper roll suppliers,” he alleged. MTC was unavailable for comment.

Foundation stone laid for Kilambakkam bus terminus

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2019

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday laid the foundation stone for a new bus terminus at Kilambakkam near Vandalur on GST Road. The new facility will decongest the existing Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) at Koyambedu.

A press release said the foundation stone for the project was laid at a cost of ₹393.74 crore is set to come up on 44.74 acres.. The new terminus can cater to about 1.5 lakh passengers with parking space for 250 buses, 270 cars and 3,500 two-wheelers at any given time. After the completion of the project, all buses bound for southern disticts would depart from Kilambakkam instead of Koyambedu.

Official sources with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that the National Monuments Authority (NMA) gave its consent for the project, a few days ago. The nod from NMA was necessary as the new infrastructure project fell in the vicinity of a notified archaeological site of the ASI. Though the CMDA earmarked the land parcel for constructing the terminus for southern district bound buses in September 2016, it was delayed due to the objections from ASI over the presence of a notified archaeological site near the proposed terminus.

Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and senior officials from the housing and urban development department were also present on the occasion.

Govt doctors may get 30% over NEET score as incentive

Proposal Given To State Govt Awaits Nod

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:23.02.2019

Doctors in government service are likely to get up to 30% over their NEET scores as incentive for admission to postgraduate medical courses if the recommendations of the seven-member committee chaired by Justice A Selvam are accepted. The committee, set up on the Madras high court’s orders, submitted them to the state government earlier this week.

The committee, said a member, put doctors into four broad categories — those working in hilly regions, in difficult areas in the plains, in remote areas and in rural areas.

It recommends that doctors working in hilly areas get 10% over their NEET score for each year with a maximum of 30%. There are 119 primary health centres under the directorate of public health in hilly areas such as Ooty, Javadu hills and Kothagiri and about 20 district headquarters and taluk hospitals under the directorate of medical services (DMS).

Those working in difficult areas in the plains will get 9% each year for a maximum of 27% over their NEET score. There are 660 PHCs and about 85 DMS-run hospitals in this category. Those working in remote areas will get 8% over their NEET score with a maximum of 24%. About 23 PHCs and three DMS hospitals are in this category. The largest is the rural category, where PG aspirants in 1,201 PHCs and 119 DMS hospitals will get 5% over their NEET score each year with a maximum of 15%. There will be no quota for students applying for postgraduate degrees. However, 50% of seats in diploma courses will be reserved for in-service candidates.

Unlike last year, no doctor working in medical college hospitals that come under the directorate of medical education or urban primary health centres – including those serving in casualty centres or Ce-Monc centres -- will get any incentive.

In 2018, a six-member committee used “hybrid” methods to work out difficult and remote areas based on terrain, doctor-patient ratio and vacancies in hospitals. The court had asked the Selvam committee to come up with fresh recommendations by 2019.

This year, students appeared for the PG 2019 NEET examination on January 6. Of the 79,633 who qualified, 11,121 were from TN, which also had the most candidates appearing. “Most of our students have performed well. We have more than 100 additional seats taking the total number of degree seats to 1,357. We have also urged the centre to convert 396 diploma seats to degree. So even if we share 50% of the seats with the Centre for all-India quota, students in our state will have more than 800 seats,” said director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe.

“The prospectus will be issued once the government releases a GO based on the Selvam committee report. Counselling will begin after DGHS completes first round for all-India quota,” said selection committee secretary Dr G Selvarajan.

Selvam committee has classified doctors into four broad categories based on their location and recommended up to 30% over their NEET scores as incentive for admission to postgraduate medical courses

TN man sparks panic at hospital by bringing live snake in plastic bag

Patients and staff at the hospital ran helter-skelter when they saw the snake move inside the bag.

Published: 21st February 2019 05:53 PM 

Image used for representational purpose only
By Online Desk

There's an old belief that snakebite victims need to find the snake that bit them to remove the poison from their bodies. A man from Cuddalore not only found the snake but also brought it with him to the hospital sparking panic.

According to a report by Puthiya Thalaimurai, Ranganathan was bitten by a two-metre-long cobra, when he was farming on a piece of land near Cuddalore's Viruthachalam. He immediately captured the snake and brought it in a plastic bag to the hospital.

Patients and staff at the hospital panicked when they saw a live snake move inside the plastic cover and ran helter-skelter, leading to chaos.

Doctors later identified the snake and gave the farmer appropriate treatment in the hospital.



The snake was later released into the wild. Ranganathan is said to be out of danger.

Medical college for Ramnad

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

RAMANATHAPURAM, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 00:00 IST

Project sanctioned under ‘aspirational district’ category

The Centre has agreed to establish a medical college at Ramanathapuram District Headquarters Hospital here, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the people, Minister for Information Technology M. Manikandan has said.

The move comes after Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to establish the college under a Centrally sponsored scheme. The Centre would soon make the announcement, which would go a long way in addressing the need for tertiary medical care in the district, he pointed.

The Minister said the State government, which was to establish the college, approached the Centre and citing financial onstraints requested it to sanction the project under the ‘aspirational district’ category. Ramanathapuram is one of the aspirational districts in the State.

Mr. Palaniswami took up the issue with Mr. Modi when he visited Delhi in October 2018 and again recently when the Prime Minister visited Madurai to lay the foundation for All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The Chief Minister told him that Ramanathapuram was a historically backward district and geographically remote with a long coastline.

Rameswaram island, an internationally acclaimed tourist centre, attracted pilgrims from all over the world, but the district lacked tertiary medical care facility, he had pointed out. Hence, there was urgent need to establish a medical college as people of the district were forced to travel about 110 km to Madurai for any emergency.

Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said the district administration would make available the required lands for the medical college. The 623-bedded headquarters hospital received about 1,500 outpatients every day. About 15,000 people were admitted as inpatients and 450 major surgeries were conducted in the hospital in a month.

Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa accorded medical college status to the hospital in December 2012 and since then expectations ran high.

HC stays governing body resolution of college

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday granted interim injunction against a resolution passed by the governing body of MSS Wakf Board College here. It is said that N. Jamal Mohaideen, the then secretary (in charge), had himself taken part in a resolution concerning his removal and passed an order in his favour.

A public interest litigation petition filed before the High Court Bench here by A. Mahaboob Batcha said that in 2003, Jamal Mohaideen, the then secretary and correspondent, had indulged in “large-scale misappropriation of funds, mismanagement of grants given to the college and its property” and was also involved in a case of sexual harassment.

Following the allegations, he was removed from the post. However, on the recommendation of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board Chairman A. Anwar Raja, he was nominated as correspondent and secretary (in charge) until reconstitution of the college board in 2017. He participated in a resolution concerning his removal and settled the issue in his favour.

It is a settled principle of law that a person who has a direct interest in the subject matter cannot be a part of the decision making process and any involvement of such person would vitiate the decision, the petitioner said and sought an injunction.

A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar granted the interim injunction and adjourned the hearing. The High Court Bench had already granted an injunction against Jamal Mohaideen from discharging his duties as secretary (in charge)

. Following allegations of a multi-crore recruitment scam at the college that allegedly involved Jamal Mohaideen, Anwar Raja and Labour and Employment Minister Nilofer Kafeel, the court ordered a CBI probe.