Case filed against polytechnic college faculty, students quashed

25/02/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed a criminal case filed against 18 people, faculty members and students of a polytechnic college near here, who had protested against opening of a Tasmac shop near their college and a de-addiction centre.

Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira quashed the case pending before the Judicial Magistrate V, Madurai. The faculty members and students of GMS MAVMM Polytechnic College in Nayakkanpatti had agitated against the opening of the liquor shop within 100 metres of the college.

The protesters, who stopped the authorities from opening the shop, were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Last year, in a connected case, the High Court had allowed the public interest litigation petition filed by the faculty of the college, who had sought a direction to close the Tasmac shop.

Taking into account the proximity of the Tasmac shop to the college and the de-addiction centre, the High Court had directed the authorities concerned to close the liquor shop immediately.

Orders reserved on govt. doctors’ petitions

Issue relates to transfers in wake of stir

25/02/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Madras High Court has reserved its orders on a batch of writ petitions filed by government doctors who were subjected to inter-district transfers after members of Federation of Government Doctors’ Association (FOGDA) resorted to a strike between October 25 and November 1, last year, pressing various demands including pay hike.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh deferred his verdict after the government filed an additional affidavit claiming that there was no bar in law to shift the doctors between the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH), Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMRHS) and Directorate of Medical Education (DME).

In the additional affidavit filed through Advocate General Vijay Narayan, the government assured the court the pay structure of the government doctors would be well protected despite being subjected to transfer from one Directorate to another and that their Civil Medical List (CML) seniority would also be maintained without any change.

‘A case of victimisation’

However, advocates C. Kanagaraj and M. Jothimani, representing the doctors, argued that the transfer orders must be quashed on the solitary ground that the en masse transfers were nothing but victimisation and that the action of the government smacked of arbitrariness and mala fide intention couched in the garb of an administrative decision.

They pointed out that the government had not spared even specialist doctors from being transferred to remote stations. The court was told that a cardiothoracic surgeon in the rank of a professor and who was heading the relevant department at a government hospital in Salem, had been transferred to Udhagamanadalam.

Panel probing Jaya’s death gets extension

25/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Justice A. Arumughaswamy (retd.) Commission, which is probing the circumstances surrounding former CM Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation and subsequent death, has received yet another extension, for a period of four months.

This is the seventh extension provided to the Commission.

KMC to get new block under healthcare project

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 25, 2020 01:15 IST

Building will have emergency ward, ICUs

The city’s health infrastructure is all set to get a new addition under the Tamil Nadu Urban Healthcare Project (TNUHP).

The Government Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital will get a six-storey building that will have an emergency ward, intensive care units (ICU), including units for burns and neurology/stroke, and two floors exclusively for operation theatres.

The objective of the project is to upgrade tertiary-care hospitals such as the KMC. Two more government medical college hospitals in Madurai and Coimbatore are also being upgraded. Under the TNUHP, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, funds to the tune of ₹275.59 crore were allotted for KMC — ₹141.41 crore for the building and ₹134.18 crore for equipment.

The ground floor of the proposed building will have emergency and triage, while a poison ICU and an endoscopy unit have been planned on the first floor. “We will have burns ICU along with a ward on the second floor. This will be in addition to the existing burns ward at KMC. Through an additional facility, we want to improve the infrastructure and treatment component,” said a senior doctor.

The surgical ICU will be located on the third floor, followed by an IMCU, a dialysis unit and nephrology and urology surgical wards on the fourth floor. Authorities said the fifth and sixth floors would have 12 operation theatres with six on each floor.

Officials said that the present Guruswamy Mudaliar Block would give way for the proposed building

Twelve programmes offered by Sastra University get global accreditation

TNN | Feb 24, 2020, 04.45 AM IST

Trichy: Twelve engineering programmes offered by Sastra University (deemed-to-be university) have received Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) accreditation - an internationally recognised benchmark awarded to quality engineering and technology programmes.

The university said it was a recognition to its progressive approach to higher education and will allow better international mobility, job prospects and acceptance of students in foreign universities and opportunities for interdisciplinary research. This accreditation has been awarded for a term of five years and apply to 12 graduating batches from 2016 to 2024. In addition to validating the quality of programmes offered, IET accreditation also provides direct benefits to students graduating from Sastra University. “It allows better international mobility, job prospects and acceptance of graduate students in foreign universities and opportunities for interdisciplinary research as well as exchanges,” said a staff.

Richard Morling, IET accreditor and panel chair for the accreditation visit to Sastra, said that the accreditation panel was impressed with the way in which the university team approached IET accreditation. Sastra started preparation in 2014, applied in 2016 and completed the process in 2019.

“I am happy to see that the leadership team is committed to continue improving the quality of their student experience as per international standards,” he said “Nine years for twelve engineering programmes is a massive global recognition for Sastra,” said S Swaminathan, IET coordinator at Sastra University.

Trichy rly junction gets clean & green campus award

TNN | Feb 25, 2020, 04.35 AM IST

Trichy: Tiruchirapalli district Exnora celebrated their silver jubilee celebration (1994-2019) here on Monday evening. On the occasion, offices and educational institutes were recognised for their contribution in promoting awareness on sustainable growth.
Trichy railway junction had received the clean and green union government campus award while RSK higher secondary school in Bhel township received clean and green school award, Jamal Mohamed college receive clean and green college award.

Trichy city police commissioner V Varadharaju, who was the chief guest of the event, urged the public and representatives of NGOs present to take up corrective measures for tackling the threats of global warming.

“Service provided by Exnora has played a pivotal role in Trichy becoming and sustaining the cleanest city status. The ownership attitude induced by Exnora among people should continue,” Varadharaju said.

The commissioner launched the silver jubilee souvenir of Trichy district Exnora highlighting the environmental-friendly activities of Exnora such as solid waste management, plastic awareness and promoting rainwater harvesting structures since 1994.

Later the award of excellence was awarded to A P Sivakumar, district library officer, Trichy, recognising the efforts of in promoting reading habit among youngsters,. The best innovator award was handed over to T Francis Xavier, assistant professor in St Joseph’s college for developing eco-friendly sanitary napkin.

Environmental development award was handed over Bhel township for planting more number of trees and banning the usage of single-use plastic products in their campus a few years back. “Trichy people are known to be cooperative and civilised people which helped Exnora to achieve on cleanliness front. Past records are fine, more youngsters should come forward to continue such initiatives,” M B Nirmal Kumar, founder, Exnora said.

HC says no to announcing Jaya’s b’day as govt function

TNN | Feb 25, 2020, 04.42 AM IST

Madurai: The Madras high court has dismissed a plea which sought to declare the birth anniversary of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa as a government function.

M Manimaran, an AIADMK functionary, and resident of Sivaganga district, in his petition stated that Jayalalithaa served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than 14 years. Because of schemes implemented for the welfare of the people, she became a renowned political leader. Following her demise, the state government had announced that February 24, her birth anniversary would be declared as a government function, however, nothing has been done so far. He said that he had submitted a representation in this regard to the government, but no steps were taken.

Hence, the petitioner moved the high court Madurai bench. When the petition was taken up for hearing on Monday, a division bench of justice M Duraiswamy and justice T Ravindran observed that since the petitioner had stated that he had filed this petition only on the ground that her birth anniversary is celebrated on Monday, the court is not inclined to entertain this petition.