11 surgical needles found on the lower body of boy in Telangana 

His aunt inserted them to kill him and grab his father’s land

05/03/2020 , Staff Reporter, Hyderabad

Eleven surgical needles were found on the lower body of a three-year-old child in Veepangandla village of Wanaparthy district in Telangana. When the boy’s parents noticed needles poking out of his back, they rushed him to a hospital, where doctors took an X-ray and found needles in his body, which were later removed.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior police officer said the boy’s aunt Aliveluamma inserted the needles on his buttocks and thighs to kill him, with an ulterior motive of grabbing the 1.5-acre agricultural land belonging to the boy’s father.

“Initially, doctors of a private hospital managed to take out some needles, which could be seen protruding from his backside. Later, he was shifted to the government hospital in Wanaparthy, where doctors performed surgery and removed a few needles. They are yet to remove two more,” the officer said.

Police said the boy was unwell for the past five to six months, and every time he cried, the parents used to take him to a local hospital. But on Sunday, his mother found a needle poking out of his buttocks and rushed him to a private hospital.

The victim’s parents are farm labourers and whenever they go out for work, Aliveluamma used to take care of him.

“Our investigation revealed that Aliveluamma hatched a conspiracy to kill the boy so that she can grab the agricultural land of her brother,” police said.

Police are likely to arrest Aliveluamma on Thursday.

College officials told to work till 7 p.m. during House session

05/03/2020 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

The Directorate of College Education (DCE) has instructed college officials to remain in the college premises till 7 p.m. during the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly session in the coming days.

According to a circular issued by the DCE, the principals of government and aided institutions and regional joint directors would have to work till 7 p.m. as they would be required to provide details to the department as and when information is sought.

The director also instructed the officials to provide details in a clear format as soon as it is sought and not to take leave during the session.

According to some college officials, this is the first time such a circular has been issued. The Assembly will be in session to discuss the demand for grants for various departments from March 9 to April 9.

Varsity’s decision worries guest faculty 

Anna University’s Syndicate had resolved to retrench 135 persons

05/03/2020 , R. Sujatha, CHENNAI

A decision taken by Anna University’s Syndicate has worried the faculty and employees of constituent colleges.

Last month, the Syndicate resolved to retrench 135 persons employed in the constituent colleges as both faculty and administrative staff, without following the due process of appointment.

Over a period of time, the university had appointed these people as and when vacancies arose. Some of them were appointed as guest lecturers without following the rule of recruitment or roster. The appointees continued to function as guest faculty in their respective positions, the last decade.

On its part, the university has constituted five committees in the last decade to review the appointments and each committee has given its recommendations, all of which have remained just on paper. The appointees, fearing loss of jobs, have been filing petitions in the High Court. For the university, it has been an unending series of court cases.

The last Syndicate had taken a decision to retrench the appointees, and the affected persons have been seeking reprieve.

A senior faculty at the Anna University said that the recruitment of these people should be regularised since they had contributed to building institutions.

“During vice-chancellor Mannar Jawahar’s period, services of 98 contract lecturers in Chennai were regularised, although they were also appointed without any recruitment advertisement, selection committee or roster,” the faculty said, adding that since there was a precedent, the university could consider the same route this time as well.

Vice-chancellor M.K. Surappa said that the government would have to resolve the issue, as successive administrations had taken decisions on the appointments.

The university’s Syndicate, whose strength should be 15, presently has nine members, of whom five are bureaucrats. The five vacancies in the Syndicate have not been filled for over two years. The university’s representation is considerably weak, owing to these vacancies.

Mr. Surappa said that university representatives were sympathetic to the faculty, but the government thought otherwise. “

Delhi govt seeks fresh date for execution of 4 convicts in Nirbhaya case; court issues notice

PTI | Mar 4, 2020, 04.39 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government moved a court here on Wednesday seeking fresh date for the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana directed the convicts to file their response by Thursday.

The Delhi government told the court that all legal remedies of the convicts have been exhausted and nothing survives now.

The lawyer for the prosecution said no notice was required.

While issuing the notice, the court said that principles of natural justice are part of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and the sacrosanct principle of "Audi alteram partem" (listen to the other side) cannot be ignored.

President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four men facing the gallows in the case, a Home Ministry official said earlier in the day.

The court had on Monday deferred till further order the hanging the convicts that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The trial court had on February 17 issued a fresh date, March 3 at 6 am, for the execution of death warrants for the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) - in the case.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies. All the convicts in the case are to be hanged together.

The President has already rejected the mercy petitions of Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. She had died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

Medical negligence case: Madras high court directs Ramanathapuram collector to take decision on interim compensation to woman

TNN | Mar 4, 2020, 04.58 PM IST

MADURAI: The Madras high court on Wednesday directed the Ramanathapuram district collector to examine the facts and take a decision on dispersal of a Rs 3lakh interim compensation in a medical negligence case where a broken needle was left in the body of a woman after childbirth in a primary health centre (PHC).

Justice C V Karthikeyan passed the interim order while hearing a plea moved by Ramya, 22, from Ramanathapuram district. The judge directed the collector to file a counter in this regard and adjourned the case to March 20.

In her petition, Ramya stated that she gave birth to a baby girl in Uchipuli PHC on November 19, 2019. It was a normal delivery. She stated that the delivery had been performed by nurses. The doctors were not present.

The woman said since she had suffered from a minor complication called episiotomy (surgical incision through vaginal wall during child birth) due to which she was bleeding even after she had been shifted to a ward.

She was referred to Government Hospital in Ramanathapuram where doctors asked her to take an x-ray. The x-ray showed a broken needle inside her body. She stated that the needle had been left inside her body by nurses after stitching her incision. Ther woman stated that she had been referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai where doctors removed the needle through a surgery on November 21.

Due to medical negligence in Uchipuli PHC, she was put to great hardship physically and mentally, according to her.

Hence, the petitioner moved the high court seeking a compensation. She also sought action against the staff of the PHC for their negligence.

Madras high court asks Tamil Nadu to ensure HR & CE staff are following Hindu religion as per law

TNN | Mar 4, 2020, 12.10 PM IST

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Tuesday directed the state government to ensure that all officials including the commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Board (HR & CE) undertake a pledge professing Hindu religion as mandated by law.

A division bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy passed the order on a plea moved by S Sridharan seeking to remove the commissioner and other officials of the department who failed to make such pledge as mandated under the HR & CE Act.

"It is not the fault on part of the officials in not making the pledge. There is nothing legal otherwise in functioning and the decision-making process. In such view of the matter we direct the authorities to see that all officers up to the cadre of commissioner are to be made to undergo the process of taking pledge a fresh within 8 weeks," the bench said.

Referring to the relevant provision in the Act, the bench said what is applicable to the lower grade employee will have to be made applicable to officials with more rigour. Secondly such a pledge is required at the time of appointment.

According to the petitioner, section 10 of the act mandates every officer to take such oath as a service condition and if they fail to do so they would be liable to be disqualified from service.

"As per the provisions every person appointed under the act shall sign a pledge in the prescribed format and shall take the pledge in the immediate presence of the executive officer or chairman, of the board of trustees of the religious institution before the presiding deity in the nearest temple," the petitioner said.

Virus scare: Saudi halts pilgrimages to Mecca, Iran cancels Friday prayers

Italy Toll 107, All Schools Shut

Bangkok:05.03.2020

Saudi Arabia banned citizens from performing the Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca, Italy ordered schools to close nationwide and Iran cancelled Friday prayers for a second week as nations scrambled on Wednesday to control the coronavirus outbreak.

From religion to sports, countries were taking drastic and increasingly visible measures to curb the new coronavirus that first emerged in China and was spreading quickly through Europe, the Mideast and the Americas. In the US, frustration mounted over US officials’ delays and missteps in testing people for the virus.

Deaths spiked in Iran and Italy, which along with South Korea account for 80% of the new virus cases outside China, according to the World Health Organization. In all, more than 94,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, with more than 3,200 deaths.

“People are afraid and uncertain. Fear is a natural human response to any threat,'' said WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But as we get more data, we are understanding this virus and the disease it causes more and more.” WHO said about 3.4% of people infected with the Covid-19 virus globally have died, making it deadlier than the common flu.

In Daegu, the South Korean city at the center of that country’s outbreak, a shortage of hospital space meant about 2,300 patients were being cared for in other facilities while they awaited a hospital bed. South Korea reported 435 new infections on Wednesday, far smaller than its high of 851 a day earlier. A total of 5,621 people in S Korea have contracted the virus and 32 have died.

Italy’s virus deaths rose to 107, the most of any country outside of China. Its outbreak has been concentrated in the northern region of Lombardy, but fears over how the virus is spreading inside and outside the country prompted the government to order all schools to close nationwide till March15.

Iran reported 92 deaths among its 2,922 confirmed cases. The country on Wednesday cancelled Friday prayers for the second week in a row.

The UN health chief has warned sharply against hoarding medical supplies, saying they are needed to protect health care workers. Accordingly, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany announced bans on exporting protective gear like masks. That followed a similar move by France, where major hospitals have seen their masks stolen by the boxful.

In the US, more than 120 cases have been reported. Nine people have died, all in and around Seattle, Washington.

China reported 119 new cases on Wednesday, all but five in the outbreak’s epicenter of Wuhan. Beijing’s health commissioner said two new cases in the Chinese capital were apparently infected abroad, in Iran and Italy. AP

LOUVRE BANS CASH OVER VIRUS FEARS: The Louvre Museum in Paris reopened on Wednesday after staff ended coronavirus walkout. The museum has shifted to card-only payments as part of new measures that helped persuade employees worried about getting sick to return to work. WHO has urged people to avoid using banknotes, fearing they could be vectors of disease