No plan for complete lockdown in parts of Chennai, govt. tells HC

No plan for complete lockdown in parts of Chennai, govt. tells HC

13/06/2020

Vehicles bearing Chennai registration numbers being stopped at the Chengalpattu toll plaza.

S.R. Raghunathan

He said that e-passes were issued only by Collectors of destinations to which residents of Chennai wished to travel.

Those Collectors had to issue e-passes after taking into consideration various circumstances, including the need to quarantine visitors after letting them into their districts, he told the bench.

The AAG said that the intensity of the virus had changed and many asymptomatic people were testing positive for the disease. The government was working hard to contain its spread and the success of those efforts would depend on the cooperation of the people, he said.

Appreciating the efforts taken by the government, Justice Kumar said: “We see that the government is taking good steps. Even Ministers are on the streets, but you will have to be very careful because Chennai is continuing to be a hotspot.”

Meanwhile, advocate V. Vasanthakumar urged the court to take up a case filed by him seeking complete lockdown in the city.

Since the case papers were not before them, the judges posted the matter to Monday, subject to the roster to be decided by Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi. The judges clarified that they only wanted to know, in public interest, whether the government had plans to impose a complete lockdown in Chennai.

J. Radhakrishnan replaces Beela Rajesh as Health Secy.

J. Radhakrishnan replaces Beela Rajesh as Health Secy.

He was co-ordinating COVID-19-related work in Chennai

13/06/2020

J. Radhakrishnan shot into prominence for effectively handling tsunami relief and rebuilding works in 2004-05.

Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the State, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday replaced Health Secretary Beela Rajesh, bringing in senior IAS officer J. Radhakrishnan in her place. Ms. Rajesh was posted as Secretary, Commercial Taxes and Registration Department.

Mr. Radhakrishnan is no stranger to the Health Department. Incidentally, he was Ms. Rajesh’s predecessor in the department, serving as Secretary between 2012 and February 2019. He will continue to hold additional charge as Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Revenue Administration.

Managing disaster

He shot into prominence for effectively handling tsunami relief and rebuilding works in coastal Nagapattinam during 2004-05.

Early last month, as Chennai turned a hotspot for COVID-19, the government appointed him as a Special Nodal Officer to co-ordinate COVID-19-related issues with the Commissioner of GCC and other teams formed to tackle the spread of the disease.

The bureaucratic reshuffle came on a day Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 tally breached the 40,000-mark and against the backdrop of consistently rising cases in Chennai.

The capital city has been registering new cases of COVID-19 in four-figure numbers, on a daily basis, for the past many days.

Sources contended that the government put Mr. Radhakrishnan at the helm so that his experience in disaster management could come in handy to device micro strategies to arrest the spread of COVID-19.

Four Madurai colleges in NIRF’s top 100

Four Madurai colleges in NIRF’s top 100

13/06/2020

Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) slipped in its National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking from 45 in 2019 to 60 in 2020, according to the list released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on June 11.

This year, Tamil Nadu managed to get 18 universities in the top 100 university list.

MKU managed to come in the 14th position among universities in Tamil Nadu that had applied for the ranking.

The Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Higher Education, Krishnankoil, - a new entrant into the top 100 list, was ranked 15th in the State and 72nd in the country. Gandhigram Rural University in Dindigul came in at the 17th place in TN and 91st nation-wide.

Vice-Chancellor of MKU M. Krishnan said that although the ranking has dropped by 15 places since 2019, the scores that they have procured remain the same. “There has been a huge increase in competition over the last year and several other universities have taken part in the ranking this year,” he said.

He added that the university had not been able to make progress in ensuring more diversity among the students and increasing the number of collaborations with industries nearby for furthering research and hands-on training.

Other colleges in Madurai which found a place in the top 100 rankings included Thiagarajar College of Engineering was at 64 among engineering colleges; Thiagarajar College, Teppakulam (22), Lady Doak College (52) and Fatima College (74) found a place among arts and science colleges; and Thiagarajar College of Engineering was ranked 17 for architecture.

Visa curbs eased in more categories

Visa curbs eased in more categories

13/06/2020

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday exempted additional categories of foreigners from the existing visa restrictions, allowing them to travel to India.

The fresh categories include “foreign national who are minor children where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or OCI card holder; foreign national married to Indian citizens; foreign nationals who are single parents of minor children holding Indian passports or OCI cards; students who are foreign nationals where at least one of their parents is an Indian citizen or OCI card holder; and dependent family member of foreign diplomats/ official service passport holding service staff accredited to foreign diplomatic missions, counselor offices of accredited international organizations in India.”

The foreigners will have to seek fresh visas.

On May 22, MHA had allowed a limited category of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders, stranded abroad, to come to India.

The life-long visa to OCIs was temporarily suspended in March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SC raps govt. on pay cuts for medical staff

SC raps govt. on pay cuts for medical staff

You don’t want dissatisfied soldiers in the war against COVID-19, court says, urging Centre to do more

13/06/2020

Battle front: Healthcare workers checking temperature in this file photo. Vijay BateVijayBate

The Supreme Court on Friday took strong exception to salary cuts for government and private medical staff and lack of infrastructure, warning the government that “you do not want dissatisfied soldiers in the war” against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You need to do more for them... Concerns of citizens will be addressed if their [doctors and medical workers] grievances are addressed,” Justice S.K. Kaul, on a three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

Senior advocate K.V. Vishwanathan, appearing for Dr. Arushi Jain, said doctors in both government and private hospitals were on the front line and should be spared salary cuts. They put their lives on the line, often facing threats not only from the rampaging virus but also mobs.

“What is this? Doctors not being paid. You [government] need to do more. This should not require the court’s intervention”, Justice Kaul said.

SOP questioned

Dr. Jain has questioned the Centre’s Standard Operating Procedure of May 15 for front line COVID-19 Health Care Workers (HCWs) by which it ended the 14-day mandatory quarantine for them.

Mr. Vishwanathan, speaking for his client, said separate accommodation facilities should be made available for doctors. By going home, they exposed their families to greater risk. “Here the panacea is worse than the disease”, he submitted.

The Bench, also comprising Justice M.R. Shah, reacted that doctors should be given an opportunity to address their grievances and suggestions before a relevant body. Their opinions should be taken into consideration before protocols were announced. Their plea for accommodation should be looked into.

The court listed the case for next week.

In the previous hearing, the government told the court that hospitals were responsible for implementing the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) activities. The final responsibility lay with the health care workers to protect themselves.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the top court that it was the responsibility of health care workers to adequately train themselves and take possible measures to prevent infection.

Onus of safety on HCWs

The government had said while the Hospital Infection Control Committee (HICC) in the health facility was responsible for implementing the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) activities and for organising regular training on IPC for HCWs, the final responsibility lay with the HCWs to protect themselves.

It said the current pandemic was unprecedented. There was no time-tested and universally acceptable protocol pertaining to COVID-19 preparedness.

Govt. committed to quota, says Nadda

Govt. committed to quota, says Nadda

Paswan says it’s a constitutional right

13/06/2020

J.P. Nadda

A day after the Supreme Court said reservation is not a fundamental right, BJP president J.P. Nadda clarified on Friday that his party and the Narendra Modi government were committed to it.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan demanded that all political parties come together and put all laws related to reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so as to prevent any legal challenge to them.

In a statement, Mr. Nadda said some people were trying to create confusion. “The government under Narendra Modi and the BJP are committed to reservation. Our commitment to social justice is unbreakable. We stand committed to reservation. The Prime Minister has repeated it again and again. Our endeavour is always towards social harmony and equal opportunity for everyone,” he said.

‘Constitutional right’

Mr. Paswan said reservation in government jobs and education for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and the economically backward members of the general castes might not be a fundamental right, but it is very much a constitutional right.

He expressed disappointment that some controversy was often raised over the issue, though the reservation for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes owed its genesis to the Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar.

“The LJP appeals to all political parties, who have joined hands over the issue earlier as well, that they come together to put all laws regarding reservation in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to lay all controversies to rest,” he said in a statement.

The Supreme Court refused to entertain petitions of various political parties challenging the Centre’s decision not to grant 50% reservation to OBCs as per the Tamil Nadu law in the medical seats surrendered by the State in the all India quota for undergraduate, postgraduate and dental courses in 2020-21. It asked the DMK, the AIADMK, the CPI(M), the MDMK, the PMK, the Congress and the CPI to approach the Madras High Court with their pleas.

‘Aarogya Setu not a must for air, train travel’

‘Aarogya Setu not a must for air, train travel’

13/06/2020

The Union government on Friday told the Karnataka High Court that using the Aarogya Setu application was only an option and not mandatory for travelling by air and train; instead, travellers could submit a self-declaration form.

The statement was made on behalf of the Centre before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice E.S. Indiresh at the hearing of a PIL petition, filed by Anivar A. Aravind, a software engineer working for a non-profit organisation to protect people’s rights in the digital space.

The Centre’s latest guidelines have made the use of Aarogya Setu one of the options to travel by air or train; there is the other option of filling a self -declaration form, Additional Solicitor-General (Karnataka High Court) M.B. Naragund told the Bench.

He said the option to use Aarogya Setu was only advisory and not mandatory, and a passenger not having this application could travel by furnishing the details in the self-declaration form.

Following this, the Bench said it was not necessary to consider the petitioner’s contention that the application was made mandatory for air and train travel.

But it asked the Centre to file its objections to the other contentions — the application is mandatory for accessing any government service, its use has been enforced without the backing of law and it interferes with the right to privacy of users.

Further hearing has been adjourned till July 10.