High Court quashes case against Ph.D degree holder

25/03/2020, STAFF REPORTER ,MADURAI

Bringing relief to a Ph.D degree holder, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court quashed a criminal case pending against him for his remarks against Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli.

He had posted certain remarks on the social media against his alma mater, pointing out irregularities in the administration of the university. The petitioner sought to quash the criminal case pending against him after a complaint was lodged by the Registrar of the university with Pettai police.

Justice G.R. Swaminathan observed that the petitioner’s relationship with the university was not all that smooth. It was the comment on the management of the university that triggered the institution to lodge a complaint against him, the court said.

Taking into account the fact that the petitioner, J. Mohammed Khan, had a bedridden mother dependent on him and he was eking out a livelihood by working as a parotta master, the court quashed the criminal case against him.

The petitioner appeared before the court to clarify and give an undertaking that he would be careful and measured while posting comments on the social media. The court said that the petitioner ought not be entangled in a criminal prosecution merely because he made an offending social media post.

Act against those who hide travel history: HC

J&K court calls for strict measures

25/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,SRINAGAR

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed the authorities of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to enforce their orders regarding disclosure on travel history in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hearing a public interest litigation appeal through video conferencing from Srinagar, Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sindhu Sharma in an order said that judicial notice can be taken of several cases being reported in the electronic and the print media with regard to persons who were concealing their foreign travel history, to escape the mandatory quarantine. “Some of such persons have been found to be infected and huge public resources have been expended on tracking, not only these persons, but their several contacts during the period up to their detection,” the order read.

The High Court has also directed BSNL to ensure that every effort is made to operationalise the video-conferencing facilities in all the courts within the two Union Territories at the earliest.

The court directed the Secretary of Public Health Engineering to look into the water supply roster and ensure equitable distribution to all residents.

ED officials to attend office on rotation basis

Probes into important cases continue

25/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate has directed its officials to attend office on a rotation basis to avoid crowding in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Necessary instructions have been given to ensure skeleton staff in offices across the country. However, officials required for urgent court proceedings have to be present,” said a senior official, adding that the agency had taken all precautionary measures, as directed by the government.

The ED’s probe into all important cases is continuing as before. Although there is no written order pertaining to the issuance of summons to witnesses and suspects, sources said the agency may not mandate anyone’s presence during the lockdown period. Statements of those turning up may be recorded as per procedure.

Last week, the Department of Personnel and Training had issued a directive to the heads of Ministries and Departments to ensure that 50% of Group B and C employees attended office every day, and the remaining worked from home. They were also told to draft a weekly roster of duty for Group B and C staff, and ask them to attend office on alternate weeks. Working hours of officials have also been staggered.

Amid lockdown, foreign embassies worry about stranded tourists

Diplomatic missions are dealing with twin challenges of keeping staff safe while ensuring their nationals are able to return, given the ban on commercial flights

25/03/2020, SUHASINI HAIDAR,NEW DELHI

Nowhere to go: Planes stationed on the runway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai after all domestic and international flights were cancelled. Vijay BatePTI

Germany is hoping to fly out the first batch of an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 tourists who have been stuck in India since the government banned commercial flights a week ago to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The special flights, starting on Wednesday and expected to operate all week, are being coordinated by an “embassy crisis centre” being run 24/7 at the Embassy in Delhi, which is registering all German tourists and travellers in India so as to evacuate them.

“As an act of solidarity in these difficult times, we are also taking some European Union citizens with us. We will keep on working to facilitate for all who want to fly back,” Germany’s Ambassador to India Walter Lindner told The Hindu.

Close to airports

In a video broadcast in German on social media on Tuesday, Mr. Lindner also told citizens that they should try and move to hotels near the Delhi airport in preparation for the flights.

Apart from the challenge of dealing with the large numbers of Germans in India, is the fact that many are individual travellers, including some who are travelling in remote mountains, embassy officials explained.

As the lockdown in Delhi over the pandemic continues, several embassies say they are dealing with the twin worries of keeping their own staff safe while ensuring their nationals are able to return.

The government announced on March 17 that it would not allow any nationals from 37 countries to come to India, and has banned all commercial flight operations from March 22. However, the External Affairs Ministry says it will “facilitate requests for special flights by resident missions on a case by case basis.”

The government has also been coordinating with missions so that flights coming in to evacuate foreigners can bring in Indians stranded in their home countries as in the case of a KLM flight from Amsterdam and an Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur. The Home Ministry announced last week that it would extend all visas for foreign nationals until April 15.

Another worry a number of embassies say they are facing is the harassment of, and discrimination against, foreign nationals. One European diplomat said their citizens had been denied rooms at hotels when they arrived in Delhi, over fears they might carry the virus. Among the first major cases of the novel coronavirus in India were 16 Italian tourists in Rajasthan, who came into contact with an estimated over 200 Indians during their stay here. Most of them have now been discharged from hospitals in Gurugram.

The Spanish Embassy in Delhi says it estimates more than 400 of their tourists are still in India, and have been negotiating with local hotels to help accommodate them until they are able to get a special flight, or when commercial operations resume.

“While no hotel is throwing guests out, we are having a hard time securing new hotel reservations, as tourists are returning from places such as Pushkar and Rishikesh, and need to stay in Delhi,” said a Spanish Embassy official.

Face stigma

“Many of them say that Europeans are being identified and targeted particularly, taunted by bystanders who call them “corona”. It is very unusual for them, when this is normally such a friendly country,” he added.

The U.S. Embassy in Delhi, which has among the largest citizen populations in India, is also working on ways for Americans to be transported back. “We are working with airline companies and Indian authorities to identify transportation options for U.S. citizens to return,” an embassy spokesperson said.

Ensure tight surveillance, Centre tells States

25/03/2020

With the lockdown hitting the Indian industry hard and causing job losses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters an economic package to help tide over the crisis will be announced very soon.

In a letter to Chief Secretaries on Tuesday, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba asked them to ensure that no suspected or high-risk person was left out of surveillance efforts to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

He also called upon chief secretaries to make sure that hospitals are earmarked for treating COVID-19 cases and in a state of “full readiness” to deal with the situation in the event of a “further spike in the number of confirmed cases.”

Meanwhile complaints of discrimination against healthcare workers, airline staff and people who have been quarantined have also emerged.

As journalists and workers associated with the media faced police action amid the lockdown in some parts of the country, the Centre advised States to facilitate functioning of all print and electronic media outlets.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) said in an advisory, “false and fake news need to be avoided and good practices need to be promoted and these networks play a pivotal role in ensuring the same.”

HC asks ICMR to give no discharge instructions

25/03/2020,JAIPUR

The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to consider the issue of discharge of coronavirus-infected persons from hospitals without proper testing and instruct all agencies not to send patients back home unless they were found virus-free. The court said cases had been noticed where the infected persons were hospitalised again after their discharge with a declaration that they were infection-free.

How safe are newspapers: WHO clarifies

Likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low, it says

25/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

How safe is the newspaper that you get at your doorstep every day? As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.

This was WHO’s answer to a question on whether it was safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported. Precautions at a personal level are a must, according to K.K. Aggarwal, past national president of the Indian Medical Association.

“Newspapers are like any other item or material. Take clothes for instance or books. Viruses can stay on any surfaces. So what can you do? Wash your hands before and after reading newspapers or books,” he said.

The WHO stresses on cleaning hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or washing with soap and water, and avoid touching eyes, mouth or nose.

Besides this, there is the recommendation for personal distancing as well.