Over 180 flights cancelled at Chennai airport

17/03/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI

Over 180 flights have been cancelled at Chennai airport this month and there may be a nearly 50% dip in the international passenger traffic.

Airport sources said that nearly 100 flights have been cancelled this week alone. On Monday too, several flights to destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were cancelled by several airlines. Sources said, the international air passenger traffic that was around 8,000-9,000 till last week has fallen further.

“Though we are yet to get an exact estimate of the passenger traffic, from the initial estimates, only 4,000-5,000 are travelling now. This may even fall further in the coming days as more and more number of flights are being cancelled,” a source said. In the first 11 days, about 90 flights were cancelled.

While all airlines that cancel don’t necessarily say it is because of COVID-19, sources said, majority of the cancellations were due to the impact of this pandemic.

The screening of passengers has been on and 1,80,062 passengers have been screened at Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore till date.

Some of the airlines like Singapore Airlines has been offering fee waiver and flexible rebooking for all customers.

In a statement, Singapore Airlines has said: “Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before March 15, 2020, for travel up to May 31, 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans.”

Health checkpost at Rajapalayam

17/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,VIRUDHUNAGAR

A new health checkpost will start functioning at Rajapalayam for taking up fumigation of vehicles and checking health condition of passengers who enter the district, in the wake of COVID-19 scare.

The check-post will have a medical team and health workers round-the-clock.

“Though Virudhunagar district does not share a territorial border with Kerala, Rajapalayam being a big town, we have planned to spray disinfectant on vehicles. Passengers would be screened by medical teams as a precautionary measure,” said Virudhunagar Collector R. Kannan. All muffosil and town buses would be disinfected after every single trip. A big team of sanitary workers from town panchayats, municipalities and rural areas have been kept ready to take up fumigation, he added.

Isolation wards

The district administration has already geared up to create isolation wards in all the 10 Government hospitals across district. “At least 100 persons could be kept in isolation in the district,” he added.

The Collector, who chaired a meeting with health officials in the evening, said that the Block Medical Officers have been asked to provide right treatment to people complaining of fever. They should be properly screened, he added.

Medical officers and paramedical staff have been advised to take all precautions to avoid bodily contact with patients. They have been asked to wear safety gears like masks and gloves. “The hospitals have adequate stocks of sanitiser, drugs and disinfectant,” Mr. Kannan said.

Medical teams would create awareness on how COVID-19 could spread and the measures to prevent its spreading, he added.

Meanwhile, the first patient with fever has been admitted to the Government hospital at Srivilliputtur. “Since the patient had come from Kerala, she has been kept in isolation and under observation. There is no need for any panic,” the Collector said.

The Collector’s instructions on declaring holidays for schools and colleges would be intimated to all educational institutions.

“We have already closed the anganwadis, along with the primary schools, in the district,” he added.

While the hotels in the district have been asked to stop fresh bookings, the Collector said that local health officials should be intimated if any guests are being provided accommodation.

The district police have been asked to not give permission for any procession or public meetings as a precautionary measure. The Collector also appealed to the people to avoid unnecessary gatherings as a precautionary measure.

Nirbhaya convict’s plea quashed

Mukesh had sought restoration of legal remedies against the death sentence

17/03/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Mukesh Singh

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by one of the Nirbhaya case convicts, Mukesh, for restoration of his legal remedies, including a curative petition, against his death sentence.

The four convicts in the case are scheduled to be hanged to death on March 20. Mukesh, through his counsel M.L. Sharma, said his earlier lawyer had coerced him to sign documents for vested political interests hatched in a joint criminal conspiracy.

The petition said: “Petitioner (Mukesh) is victim of criminal conspiracy and fraud played and hatched jointly by the R-1 (Ministry of Home Affairs), R-2 (Delhi government) and R-3 (Vrinda Grover) and other advocate who appeared in the Sessions Court, High Court and the Supreme Court in the petitioner’s death warrant case.”

The petition claimed the limitation period to file a curative petition was three years from the date of dismissal of the review plea. He sought to “restore” the rights available to him and allow him to file curative and mercy petitions till July 2021.

A Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra refused to entertain the plea, saying it was not maintainable. Mr. Sharma was finally allowed to withdraw with the court dismissing the case.

As of now, all four — Pawan, Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay — have exhausted their available remedies.

In Mukesh’s case, the top court had on July 9, 2018 dismissed his review plea. His curative and mercy pleas were rejected by it and President Ram Nath Kovind, respectively.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped in a moving bus in South Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died after a fortnight from the massive injuries she suffered. 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.

Karnataka medical colleges to act as COVID-19 ‘war rooms’

An entire floor will be converted into an isolation zone

17/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,BENGALURU

Safety first: A health official conducting a thermal screening test in Bengaluru on Monday. PTIPTI

All government medical colleges in the districts will henceforth act as COVID-19 ‘war rooms’ in Karnataka. An entire floor in these colleges will be converted into a full-fledged isolation zone with 150-250 beds, ICUs and the required number of ventilators, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said on Monday.

Private colleges

Briefing presspersons after an emergency meeting with the directors of different government medical colleges, the Minister said private medical colleges would be roped in districts where there were no government medical colleges.

Only 17 districts have government medical colleges in the State.

“In Bengaluru, we are holding talks with various medical colleges such as East Point Medical College, Akash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research and MVJ Medical College. In private hospitals, too, we want to convert one floor into an isolation zone. We want to make sure that we have at least 3,000 beds for isolating patients in Bengaluru,” he asserted.

Pondicherry varsity suspends classes

17/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,PUDUCHERRY

Pondicherry University has suspended classes, examinations and common facilities, including hostels and library till March 31, or until further notice as a pre-emptive measure against spread of the novel coronavirus.

While academic activities remain suspended with immediate effect, hostels and mess facilities will shut down on Wednesday.

In a circular, the university advised students to return home and stay safe. They will be allowed to return to the university only after academic activities resume. Hostel residents need to intimate the warden while leaving premises, the circular said.

“Teaching and administrative staff will continue to function in this period,” a university official said.

The university has also postponed the group discussion and interview for MBA (CAT) admissions for 2020-21 in the wake of the threat of novel coronavirus.

In a notification, S. Chitra Sivasubramanian, Head of the Department of Management Studies, said the revised date will be notified later.

The GD/interview could be held in the first or second week of May. As a consequence, the last date to apply has also been extended to April 15.

The proposed national conference (NCRTGET-2020) hosted by the Centre for Green Energy Technology has also been postponed.

Madras Medical College to get testing lab

Checkposts set up in 16 districts to screen people

17/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Madras Medical College (MMC) will soon have a testing facility for COVID-19.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Monday said that after Tiruvarur, testing facilities for COVID-19 have been set up in Tirunelveli as well. Laboratories are also functioning at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy and at the Government Medical College, Theni. “A testing facility is being set up at MMC and it will be ready in a day or two,” he said after holding a review meeting with officials.

Noting that the number of cases was increasing at the national level, the Minister said, “From 60, the number has crossed to more than 100 positive cases. As the number of positive patients keeps increasing, there is fear. So, we are further intensifying our measures in the State. The number of cases has also increased in Kerala. We need to be more cautious.” The sole patient who tested positive for COVID-19 in the State would be discharged from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in the evening, he added.

Checkposts in 16 districts

In 16 identified districts, the Health department, along with police personnel, had set up checkposts to screen people travelling from Kerala. “The Kerala government is screening people travelling from Tamil Nadu. Similarly, we are screening people coming from Kerala at the entry points. We are activating all checkposts, and our doctors and nurses along with police personnel are conducting checks,” he said. On behalf of the public health department, the Minister appealed to the public to avoid all non-essential travel to neighbouring States or neighbouring countries for the next 15 days. “This is the biggest help that the public can give us,” he said.

The Minister reiterated that the situation was under control. As of now, 1,975 persons are under the direct surveillance, while 11 persons are under observation in hospitals, he said. “We have taken 88 samples. We are awaitingresults of two,” he added.

Nirbhaya case: 3 death row convicts move International Court of Justice seeking stay on execution, says lawyer

PTI | Mar 16, 2020, 09.30 PM IST

NEW DELHI: As the day of hanging of the four death row convicts in Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case nears, three of them have moved the International Court of Justice at Hague seeking a stay on their "unlawful execution", alleging the probe leading to their conviction was "flawed" and they have been treated as "guinea pigs".

The petition, filed through the convicts' lawyer AP Singh, also said that the four -- Vinay Sharma, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Akshay Singh and Mukesh Singh -- have not yet exhausted all their legal remedies.

It is very important to state that "legal remedies/ cases are already pending for disposal before different courts/constitutional bodies in India on behalf of these death row convicts, but very unfortunately and surprisingly in India, Central Jail Tihar has planned and is going to hang them on March 20," the petition said.

The plea alleged that in the Nirbhaya case, the convicts at different points during the investigation, had pleaded to undergo tests such as polygraph, lie detector and brain mapping, but all such pleas were declined without any justification.

It urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to launch an "urgent investigation" into the possibility of false testimony by the sole eyewitness, the friend of the victim, in the case.

The petition claimed that the convicts have been treated as "guinea pigs" and have been falsely implicated in the case and it urged the ICJ to order urgent probe into the matter.

"The fact whether the convicts are guilty of culpability or there has been public and media pressure to falsely implicate the convicts or to treat them as guinea pigs to save others and accept the hypothesis that the prosecution has booked them at the instance of some political executives or to save a situation which disturb society perceives as a collective catastrophe on the paradigm of social stability and to sustain its faith in the investigation to keep the precept of rule of law alive," said the petition.

"In essence, the submission is that the whole exercise, namely, investigation and trial has been carried out with the sole purpose for the survival of the prosecuting agency in India, which is a big miscarriage of justice in India," said the petition.

On March 5, a trial court had issued fresh warrants with March 20, 5.30am, as the date for the execution of the convicts — Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

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 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.