‘Choose Hindi or English’: Woman asks where is Tamil on IRCTC portal

‘Choose Hindi or English’: Woman asks where is Tamil on IRCTC portal

Southern Railway officials said that while the matter does not come under their purview, it has, however, been 'flagged' with IRCTC, the authorised e-ticketing agency.

Published: 04th October 2020 03:58 PM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Rail passengers and several politicians in Tamil Nadu have urged the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Indian Railways to introduce a Tamil language option for the passengers within the State to receive text alerts in their language while booking tickets.

At present, the passengers can choose whether to receive text alerts regarding bookings in English or Hindi. On October 2, L Muthulakshmi booked a ticket for Madurai to Chennai journey, and received all alerts in Hindi.

“I neither understand Hindi or English. There should be an option to receive text alerts in Tamil,” she demanded. Subsequently, DMK MPs Kanimozhi and Thamizhachi Thangapandian, and PMK founder S Ramadoss condemned the Indian Railways for allegedly imposing Hindi in the State.

Thangapandian urged the railways to upgrade the system to send text alerts in local languages of the respective States. Kanimozhi pointed out that most people in the State could not read Hindi, and she also warned of serious consequences if such incidents repeated. 

PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, whose party is an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre, alleged that SMSes for e- tickets in Tamil Nadu are "being sent in Hindi for the last two days."

"This is a planned imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking people. The Railways should stop this," he said in a tweet.

He demanded action against those behind this and urged that all Central government related announcements in Tamil Nadu must be released only in Tamil and English.

Southern Railway officials said that while the matter does not come under their purview, it has, however, been 'flagged' with IRCTC, the authorised e-ticketing agency.

Clarifying on the issue, Southern Railway said that the passenger had chosen ‘Hindi’ language option while registering in IRCTC portal on September 30. “She received system generated messages in Hindi as the passenger’s preferred language was indicated as Hindi,” it added.

(With PTI inputs)

Government doctors in Tamil Nadu revive pay hike demand

Government doctors in Tamil Nadu revive pay hike demand

Government doctors in the State have revived their demand for a pay hike on par with that of Central government doctors.

Published: 05th October 2020 04:07 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Government doctors in the State have revived their demand for a pay hike on par with that of Central government doctors. The doctors under Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) had last year staged a massive protest with several demands including the implementation of Government Order (G.O.) 354, which envisages pay hike.

They withdrew the strike following the intervention of Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and Chief Minister Palaniswami. Now, they have revived the demand after the government recently entitled all retired chief secretaries and additional chief secretaries of the State government to employ a servant at home by paying a salary of Rs 10,000 per month.

“The IAS Officers Association requested for such allowance for retired IAS officers after the Karnataka government granted it to the officers there. The Tamil Nadu government immediately accepted their demand and issued a G.O. We request the government to do the same with the request of government doctors here. We have been demanding a pay hike on par with that of Central government doctors for the last three years,” said Dr S Perumal Pillai, DME Secretary, Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association.

Pillai added the special payout of a month’s salary to doctors along with others on Covid duty in government hospitals, announced by the CM, had also not been received. Meanwhile, Dr G Ravindranath, General Secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality said, “Tamil Nadu government doctors are lauded for saving lives and for the best Covid treatment. But they are not being appreciated with fulfilling their long-pending demand.

The government has also not paid Rs 2 lakh for doctors infected with Covid.” The Health Minister had then said the State government doctors could not compare their salary with that of Central government doctors as the latter were not allowed to do private practice. However, the doctors here said that they were ready to stop private practice of their salary was raised.

‘Corona tablet’ costs bus passenger her gold chain in Tamil Nadu

‘Corona tablet’ costs bus passenger her gold chain in Tamil Nadu

Panic spread by coronavirus has become a fertile ground for a few miscreants to prey on unsuspecting people.

Published: 05th October 2020 04:13 AM 

By Vignesh V

Express News Service

MADURAI: Panic spread by coronavirus has become a fertile ground for a few miscreants to prey on unsuspecting people. The plight of this elderly woman, who lost her gold chain weighing 2.5 sovereigns, during a bus journey testifies this.

Rajammal was on the way to her daughter’s house in Austinpatti in a government bus on Friday when a co-passenger allegedly drugged her and robbed her gold chain. The woman was given a tablet by the man claiming that it would help fight off Covid infection.

Police said that the 65-year-old woman, staying with her son in Balan Nagar of Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram, boarded the bus to Puliyankulam in Austinpatti from MGR bus stand on Friday. “While on the way, the co-passenger befriended her and told her to keep the gold chain, she was wearing, in her bag before giving her a tablet,” they said. 

A little while after taking the tablet, the woman started feeling sick. Taking advantage of the situation, the co-passenger asked her to get down at Thirunagar 3rd bus stop, three stops ahead of her destination and bought her a cup tea. Later, he also helped her board another bus to Puliyankulam.

Special Sub Inspector of Police of Austinpatti, Gopalakrishnan, said that the man could have stolen the gold chain when they got down at Thirunagar. “It took the woman more than 12 hours to get back to normal condition,” he said.

The woman lodged a complaint with Austinpatti police on Saturday. Though the incident happened in the city limit, the district police registered a case under Section 420 Indian Penal Code (IPC) in Austinpatti. “The case will be transferred to the city police later,” sources added.

TN law University wins Nani Palkhivala moot court competition

TN law University wins Nani Palkhivala moot court competition

The entire event was organised online involving over 50 judges, and 200 students from 16 teams as participants and organisers.

Published: 05th October 2020 04:15 AM 

Justice M M Sundresh, (top left) on Sunday addressing the session | Express

By Express News Service

THANJAVUR: The team from Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchy won the 16th Nani Palkhivala moot court competition organised by SASTRA Law School through video conference. The team bettered Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.

The entire event was organised online involving over 50 judges, and 200 students from 16 teams as participants and organisers. The moot was watched by over 1,000 people. A five-bench jury headed by Justice M M Sundresh, Judge of Madras High Court and comprising former judge R V Easwar, Additional Solicitor Generals of India N Venkataraman, Vikramjit Banerjee and AAG of Tamil Nadu Arvindh Pandian adjudged the winners and runners.

The winning and runner-up teams were awarded trophies, certificates and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and `Rs 50,000 respectively. Student participants were presented a copy of the book Nani Palkhivala - Courtroom Genius, published by SASTRA which is celebrating Nani Palkhivala Centenary Year.

Ashwani Nag , Sridatta Charan of Symbiosis Law School Pune were presented the best speaker and researcher awards respectively. Justice M M Sundresh in his address said “understanding tax law is akin to understanding economy which is to be understood from a society’s underlying structure.”

COVID-19 spike in Chennai as 12 of 15 corporation zones record positive case growth

COVID-19 spike in Chennai as 12 of 15 corporation zones record positive case growth

Currently, 761 streets in Chennai have active positive cases and in this, there are only ten containment zones.

Published: 04th October 2020 07:30 PM 

A medic collects samples from a woman for COVID-19 test. (File Photo | PTI)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: After slowing down its infectious march through the city for a brief period, the coronavirus seems to be charging ahead once again. The city has been recording more than 1,200 cases daily for over a week, with 12 out of the 15 corporation zones reporting a positive case growth.

It may be noted that the city had reported fewer than 1,000 cases daily for almost three consecutive weeks in September, before the daily count breached the 1,000-mark in the last week of that month. Corporation officials, citing the relaxations in lockdown measures, termed the surge as “natural”. “Now the whole city is almost opened up for economic activities.

People commute by buses and visit places of worship. Restaurants too are functioning. So, cases will naturally go up,’’ an official said. In the last seven days, Thiruvottiyur, which had recorded fewer cases at the end of August, has been witnessing the highest daily case growth of 9.6 per cent among all zones, followed by Tondiarpet with 5.4 per cent growth.

Similarly, Madhavaram and Alandur, too, are recording daily case growth of 5.4 and 5.3 per cent respectively. Incidently, Alandur is the only zone to have percentage of active cases in double digits (10 per cent). After a brief fall in new cases, almost all zones in North Chennai are recording a surge. Against the 80 active cases at the end of August, Manali currently has 250 active cases, while the figure has risen from 500 to 800 in Tondiarpet.

Only 7% of Chennai’s total caseload now active

The corporation official said that from now on, measuring the mortality rate is the key to assess how well the containment strategies and the public health system are working. “We trace symptomatic cases early and send them for treatment. Asymptomatic people too are tested at fever camps. The healthcare intervention is strong,’’ a corporation health department official said.

Allowing inter-district travel and removing e-pass system could have accelerated the infections, suspected the official. “Now, thousands of people are commuting to Chennai for work on a daily basis. It is hard to keep track of the infection in this scenario,’’ added the official. On the bright side, only 7 per cent of city’s total caseload is active while as much as 91 per cent of the patients have been recovered. The mortality rate in the city remains just below 2 per cent.

Six victims had no co-morbid conditions

Among the deceased, six didn’t have co-morbid conditions. A 33-year-old man from Salem was the youngest to die without co-morbidities on the day. The patient was admitted on September 26 in  Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, Salem. He tested positive and died on due to Covid Pneumonia, respiratory failure, the bulletin said. 

Royapuram too now has close to 1,000 cases.

Corporation officials say that the reflection in the positive case growth is natural. “Now, the whole city is almost opened for economic activities. People commute by buses and places of worship, restaurants too are functioning. So, cases may naturally go up," the official said.

The official added that measuring the mortality rate is the key to assess the containment strategies and how the public health system works.

“We trace symptomatic patients early and send them for treatment. Asymptomatics too are tested for COVID in fever camp nowadays. The healthcare intervention is strong," the Corporation health department official said.

Officials also say that the inter-district travel and removal of the pass system may have accelerated positive cases in the city.

“Thousands of people commute to Chennai now for work on a daily basis. It is hard to track the infection spread in such a case. People may have been too cautious," added the official.

While 91 per cent people have recovered in Chennai, the active cases are at seven per cent, as a steady number of people over a thousand are getting discharged every day. Meanwhile, the mortality rate is just below two per cent.

Currently, 761 streets in Chennai have active positive cases and in this, there are only ten containment zones.

Haryana Govt Issues Suspension Order Against Doctor Who Died 5 Months Ago

Haryana Govt Issues Suspension Order Against Doctor Who Died 5 Months Ago

By MD Bureau Published On 4 Oct 2020 2:30 PM | Updated On 4 Oct 2020 2:31 PM

Haryana: In a bizarre incident, a suspension order has been released by the State health department against one of the medical officers who reportedly passed away 5 months ago. The incident has raised several questions on the efficiency of the health department and its activities. While issuing the suspension order the deceased doctor has been instructed to report to a nuh headquarters.

In the order, the civil surgeon office at nuh is also instructed to constitute charges against the doctor under Rule 7 of the Haryana Civil Service (Punishment and Appeal) Rules within 15 days.

However, to the utter shock, the doctor in question has already passed away on April 22nd. Admitting to their mistake, the Director-General Dr. Suraj Bhan Kamboj informed The Tribune that it was a genuine mistake and the suspension order will be withdrawn immediately. He further informed that action was taken against the doctor following the instruction of the Hisar Court but the suspension order could not be issued amidst the pandemic and due to some protocol lapses involving two branches. 

Subsequently, the process of suspension started and by the time it was issued the doctor already passed away. The suspension order was released in connection with a case where the Hisar Court sought a probe against the doctor stating that he allegedly appeared in the court in order to give his testimony under intoxicated condition. The Medical Dialogue team previously reported that the doctor of the Civil Hospital appeared to be intoxicated, prompting the judge to order an immediate medical examination of the concerned doctor. The judge noted that the doctor was in no condition to stand properly and stated "He appears to be in an inebriated condition so the chief medical officer is directed to get him medically examined and to report regarding the consumption of liquor if any." 

HCMSA demands rollback of orders Following the court's order, a medical board was formed and the report was submitted. Soon after considering the report, the judges mentioned that the opinions of the doctors seemed to be biased, and an attempt to save their fellow colleague. Following this, on the 15th of September, the three doctors were suspended. But after the intervention of the Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association that protested against the decision, the suspension was revoked.

https://medicaldialogues.in/state-news/haryana/haryana-govt-issues-suspension-order-against-doctor-who-died-5-months-ago-70058

FCRA law could dry up money for less popular causes, shut small NGOs down

FOR THE RECORD

FCRA law could dry up money for less popular causes, shut small NGOs down

There are fears that the new FCRA amendments that seek to restrict international funding for non-profit organisations will stifle the voluntary sector. In an interview with Himanshi Dhawan, Ingrid Srinath, director of Ashoka University’s Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, discusses the new law and how it will negatively impact the image of the non-profit sector

How do the new FCRA amendments impact Indian NGOs?

The most significant impact is it will further reduce funding for NGOs at a time when demand for the services they provide is at a historic high due to the continuing effects of Covid-19 and consequent disruptions to education, healthcare, livelihoods, and the economy overall. It will hinder collaboration among NGOs and philanthropists which has been the most promising development of recent times. These collaborations address issues ranging from climate change to migrant workers to funding research and innovations in healthcare. They have made it possible to achieve greater scale, more rapidly, at greater levels of efficiency and effectiveness, optimising scarce resources. The amendments do not allow re-grants that are critical to smaller, less well-known NGOs who do not have the wherewithal to access international funding. Intermediary organisations have been able to bridge that gap with about Rs 1,800 crore being re-granted to 4,107 NGOs in 2018-19.

Intermediary organisations are also hugely important to the Indian diaspora who depend on them to identify NGOs in India that they can support and to report on their impact. Historically, donors in India have had a strong preference for causes like education, health, disaster relief and, more recently, livelihoods. Causes that are less popular with Indian donors — human rights, environmental justice, support to marginalised groups including Dalits, tribal communities, LGBT issues and work in research, advocacy, the defence of democratic freedoms and strengthening civil society will all be adversely affected if international donors are deterred from funding NGOs in India. Most significantly, the amendments further negative perceptions of the non-profit sector as somehow being less trustworthy and accountable without providing any evidence of such malfeasance.

But provisions like restricting administrative costs to 20% or making public servants ineligible to receive foreign funds can be seen as measures to ensure accountability and prevent misappropriation of funds. How does this hamper developmental work?

NGOs which provide services like nutrition, education, healthcare would likely have no difficulty complying with the 20% ceiling on administrative costs since the bulk of their expenses are on material, programme staff and logistics. Those that are think tanks or providers of training or legal and financial advice to nonprofits, on the other hand, have costs that are largely personnel and travel. These would be rendered unviable by the cap on administrative expenses. For all NGOs, the ceiling would make it much harder to invest in technology, training and fundraising, for instance, weakening their long term sustainability.

Moreover, it’s not clear what the government’s role is in determining how donors or NGOs invest their funds. There is no equivalent legislation for Foreign Direct Investors constraining their freedom to spend their money as they deem fit.

Why should NGOs be so dependent on foreign funding? Indian companies have CSR budgets and there could be a further effort to encourage philanthropy within the country.

FCRA funds account for less than a quarter of total estimated private funding to the nonprofit sector (Rs 70,000 crore) in India. CSR provides a similar amount. Over half is believed to come from Indian foundations and individuals. Most Indian funders, however, prefer causes like education, health and disaster relief. And CSR funders, in particular, seek more short-term, easy to measure programmes to support in order to meet the annual reporting requirement and the preferences of their employees and leadership teams. Very few are prone to support rights based advocacy, research, capacity building and convening work. Many Indian donors may be fearful of consequences if they extend support to organisations that are perceived to be unfriendly to authorities. They may also wish to gain access to, or favourable consideration by, those in power. International donors are more likely to support some of these less popular causes and organisations, without fear or favour, making them indispensable to the civil society ecosystem.

It’s also important to note that the right to access resources, domestic and foreign, is protected under international law. The International Commission of Jurists has pointed out that the amendments are unconstitutional.

What is the way forward in funding new development projects?

If it proves impossible to repeal these amendments, many donors will either cope with greater transaction loads and costs if they wish to continue supporting programmes in India or move their support to friendlier countries. It may also be feasible for some NGOs to reconfigure their operations to become private sector entities. One may hope that Indian philanthropists, businesses and individual citizens step up their support despite the difficult economic conditions. It seems, however, that many, especially smaller grassroots organisations, will have to shut down or downsize, leaving large numbers of our fellow citizens to fend for themselves as best they can.

The views expressed are Srinath’s and do not reflect those of her employer