KLM flight with 100 Indians asked to return

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:22.03.2020

A KLM flight was asked to return to Amsterdam after it took off for Delhi on Friday with about 100 Indians transiting back home from US and Canada. Since India has barred entry of anyone from Europe, UK and Turkey — including transit passengers from there — aviation authorities here asked the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operating as KLM 871, to return to Amsterdam. On humanitarian grounds, sources say, this flight is likely to be allowed to operate on Sunday.

Air India also sent its 342-seater Boeing 777 on Saturday to bring Indians back from Rome. The flight is expected to return to Delhi by 7.30am on Sunday. “The number of passengers will be known when boarding is completed in Rome,” an AI official said.

Quarantine-stamped caught on public transport in Maha

Many Arrived From Dubai Or Been To Qatar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:22.03.2020

The city witnessed many cases of people with ‘home quarantine stamps’ on hands being caught during travel at railway stations, in trains and on buses from where they were sent to hospitals or handed over to the police or BMC. At CSMT, 16 persons with a home quarantine stamp were found by railway security agencies while they were preparing to board trains to travel to their respective homes.

“On enquiry, it was learnt they had landed from Dubai and had directly come to CSMT from the airport to go home to Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and other states,” said senior inspector Hemant Bavdhankar, CSMT GRP. Medical teams were informed and the 16 were taken away.

In another incident, Railway Protection Force personnel (RPF) at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus did not allow eight Dubai-returned people to board a train to Allahabad. They were instead sent to Andheri’s SevenHills Hospital quarantine centre.

At Kalyan station, RPF constable S N Mundey noticed a 30-year-old man with the home quarantine stamp. He told Mundey that he had a Dubai travel history and had come to the city from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh on March 17. He was sent to a nearby hospital.

In another incident, two passengers, aged 27 and 42 years, who had arrived from Dubai, were forced to get off the Bandra-Surat intercity train at Virar station.

On noticing their ‘home quarantine stamps, fellow passengers pulled the train chain and complained to Western Railway officials. Railway cops told the two passengers to get off the train. The two later left for their destinations in Vadodara and Jamnagar by road.

A man who had returned from Qatar a couple of days ago and had boarded a train from Mumbai to Kalaburagi in Karnataka in Udayan Express was deboarded at Daund station after passengers raised an alarm about his constant sneezing and coughing.

A similar scene panned out in a BEST bus. A foreign national with a home quarantine stamp was found travelling in a BEST bus on route number 309 from Goregaon to Kurla on Staurday. The conductor and driver handed him over to the police near Jari Mari in Kurla.

Full report on www.toi.in

PM: Listen to docs, don’t violate home quarantine

Govt Collaborates With WhatsApp For Credible Info

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:22.03.2020

With reports of people leaving cities in droves by taking crowded trains because of the coronavirus scare, PM Narendra Modi on Saturday took to Twitter to put out a strong “ stay put” appeal saying that it would increase the risk of infections.

Modi also exhorted quarantined people to heed doctor’s advice not to venture out. He said: “I pray that the city you are in, please stay there for a few days. With this, all of us can stop the disease from spreading. We are playing with our health by crowding railway stations, bus stands. Please worry about yourself and your family, do not leave your house if it is not necessary.

He also asked those quarrantined to abide by the advice of doctors. Using the hashtag #IndiaFightsCorona and sharing videos on precautions that can be taken against the infection, he said on Twitter: “This is the time we should all listen to the advise given by doctors and authorities. All those who have been told to stay in home quarantine, I urge you to please follow the instructions. This will protect you as well as your friends and family.”

In line with his address to the nation on Thursday where he announced a voluntary 14-hour citizens’ “curfew”, the PM sought cooperation of people in staying home and avoiding unnecessary travel.

Also in a move to provide correct information and bust myths around the coronavirus, the PM announced the launch of a Government of India collaboration with messaging service WhatsApp for a ‘Corona Helpdesk’ which would help disseminate authentic information on Covid-19.

“Sharing correct information, avoiding incorrect panic. Here is an effort by WhatsApp and @mygovindia to ensure you receive accurate and verified information on Coronavirus. Please click on this link https://wa.me/919013151515?text=Hi…or send Hi on +919013151515,” the PM said on Twitter on Saturday.

Full report on www.toi.in

Establishments advised to blow sirens at 5pm

New Delhi: In view of Prime Minister’s appeal to countrymen to observe a14-hour ‘janata curfew’ on Sunday and applaud all those in the forefront of fighting Covid-19 at 5pm, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to chief secretaries and administrators of all states/Union Territories asking them to widely disseminate the PM’s message to the community at large. He also asked the state governments and UT administrations to advise urban local bodies, panchayati raj institutions, fire services, police services, civil defence and industrial establishments, etc. to ring a siren at 5pm for intimation of all citizens. TNN

Large crowd at ‘Panguni’ fest despite Covid-19 warning

Procession Takes Place, Prasadam Distributed

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:22.03.2020

Large temples across the state have been closed as a precautionary measure against Covid-19, smaller temples managed by the HR & CE department and those in villages where thousands gather at a time are continuing to conduct the annual ‘Panguni’ festival, showing that people are still unaware of the lurking danger.

On Friday night, more than 1,000 people participated in the Panguni festival of Veerakaliamman temple near Melur. The people took out a procession to the temple carrying idols in decorated palanquins. “We are doing it for the good of the world and the health of the community,’’ said Selvam, a participant, saying that this was an annual festival that no family usually wanted to miss.

Pongal was also cooked on the premises and distributed to the people who came there. While the government’s directive to bar devotees is in place for bigger temples, the festivals in smaller temples are going to draw larger crowds. While the district administration and local body administrations are taking many steps to create awareness of hand hygiene in markets, bus stands, stations and other public places, no awareness was created at this specific temple festival.

Meanwhile, a small temple at Maravar Chavadi in Madurai conducted a ‘yaga’ seeking protection against the fastspreading Covid-19 virus. ``A large number of people also gathered there and it was clear that they did not give much thought to social distancing while participating in this puja,’’ said Krishnan of Arapalayam. The Thayamangalam festival in Sivaganga is another temple that draws lakhs of people from various parts of the state for the Panguni festival and the culminating event is to be held on Sunday. Sivaganga district collector J Jayakanthan said that he would look into the issue. Thousands gathered there on Saturday when a large number of goats and chickens were sacrificed. As there is a water scarcity in the temple, thousands entered the village tank simultaneously for bathing after tonsuring their heads.

DEFYING GUIDELINES: At least 1,000 people gathered at Veerakaliamman temple near Melur on Friday

2 docs offer med to cure Covid, flee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Salem:22.03.2020

Two homoeopathy doctors are likely to face legal action for misleading the public stating they had preventive medicine for Covid-19. The two deployed a man at Uzhavar Shandy in Hasthampatty area on Saturday to distribute pamphlets to the public. When TOI tried to talk to him, he fled. The pamphlet had contact details of Dr P Elango and Dr E Indrakumar, who were practice at a clinic on Gandhi Road. TOI alerted deputy director of health services Dr J Nirmalson, who tried to reach the two on their mobile phones. “No one picked up the calls. They managed to escape and the clinic was found closed when our team went there,” Nirmalson said. He has lodged a complaint with the Hasthampatty police, seeking action against the errant homoeopathic consultants for trying to cheat people.

Gold worth ₹17L stolen from house of collector

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thanjavur:22.03.2020

Unidentified miscreants broke into the house of Cuddalore collector V Anbuselvan at his native village near Peravurani taluk in Thanjavur district and decamped with gold jewellery worth about ₹17 lakh on Friday. The incident came to light only on Saturday and police are investigating.

According to police, Anbuselvan is a native of Nadiyam village and has been residing at the collector's camp office in Cuddalore along with his family. He had hired Selvam, 62, a native of the village, to guard his house during the night. On Friday night, Selvam was near the front gate when some miscreants managed to break open the back door and get inside. They looted gold jewellery weighing about 55 sovereigns from a bureau in the bedroom. Before stealing the valuables, the burglars damaged five CCTV cameras fixed in and around the house as well as the recorder and dumped them in the water tub in the backyard, police said. Selvam noticed the robbery on Saturday morning and subsequently informed the police. Pattukottai deputy superintendent of police Subramanian and Sethubavachathiram inspector V Annathurai along with their police team rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.

Govt school students may get reservation in med colleges

Eligibility: Class I-XII In Govt School

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.03.2020

The Tamil Nadu government is set to pass a new law to create special reservation for students of government schools in medical college admission, said chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, making a suo motu statement in the assembly on Saturday.

“The state is still fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Neet). The reservation will be for students who study from Class I to XII in government, corporation, municipal or adi-dravida schools as well as those run by the forest department,” said Palaniswami.

“The number of government school students entering medical colleges has come down drastically after the introduction of Neet. The government wants to stop this trend. A committee under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge will study the issue and make recommendations to the government. The commission will have secretaries of the health and law departments as members. Besides, two educationists named by the school education department will be included in the commission. The director of medical education will be the membersecretary of the commission,” said the chief minister.

The commission will study the reason for the poor entry of government school students into medical colleges and assess their social conditions before making recommendations to rectify the trend, Palaniswami said. The commission will submit its recommendations in a month.

Though NEET was introduced in 2016-17, late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had obtained an exemption for a year. “We have been opposing NEET. We adopted a resolution in the assembly and sent it to the Centre. We have also approached the Supreme Court and explained how the examination had severely affected the poor and students from rural areas,” he said.

A commission will study the reason for the poor entry of government school students into medical colleges and assess their social conditions before making recommendations to rectify the trend