Couple murder daughter, 5, commit suicide in Salem dist

Couple murder daughter, 5, commit suicide in Salem dist

Salem:  16.05.2021 

A couple hanged to death after murdering their daughter at their house near Annadhanapatty here on Saturday. Police are yet to ascertain the reason that forced them to take the extreme step.

The Annadhanapatty police identified the deceased as K Gopinath, 31, of Maankuttai area, his wife G Pavithra, 29, and daughter G Nanditha, 5.

A police officer said Gopinath was working with a bakery in the city, while his wife was a homemaker.

He said it was Gopinath's mother K Sengamalam, 60, who first saw the couple hanging from the ceiling of their house. “She went to visit them on Saturday evening. She knocked on the door several times, but there was no response from inside. She waited for around 30 minutes and peeped through the window gap only to see her son and daughter-in-law hanging from the ceiling.”

She immediately alerted the Salem city police. Subsequently, Annadhanapatty police inspector Ramesh and team rushed to the spot and broke into the house. “We found Nanditha dead on the floor. The couple seemed to have strangulated her after feeding her food laced with poison,” the officer said.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that Gopinath was suffering from breathlessness since May 9. “He was taking treatment at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital. Gopinath was looking upset after his health deteriorated,” the officer said.

The Annadhanapatty police have registered a case and initiated inquiry. TNN

People crowd PDS counters for ₹2,000 dole

People crowd PDS counters for ₹2,000 dole

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

16.05.2021 

Long queues and crowds were the highlights of the government’s distribution of ₹2,000 Covid-19 relief to family card holders in the state which kicked off on Saturday, raising questions about the method chosen for handing over the dole when the pandemic is raging. However finance minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan said the government wanted to hand over the relief as early as possible.

In Kannankurichi town panchayat in Salem district, hundreds of DMK cadres surrounded Salem MP S R Parthiban, Salem (north) MLA R Rajendran and district collector S A Raman when they handed over the money to beneficiaries. “Was this an event to distribute the dole or spread Covid-19,” asked BJP state treasurer S R Sekhar who also pointed out that at several places card holders gathered without maintaining social distance.

Questions have been asked whether the government couldn’t have deposited the amount in the card holder’s bank account as in the case of central government schemes. Finance minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan said in Madurai there had been suggestions about giving the assistance in some other way. ``But it would have taken time, and we know there are problems with the Aadhaar system. This was the way in which it could be done in the fastest mode,’’ he said.

Citing macro economic theory, the minister, who is Madurai central MLA, said people’s money should rightfully reach them when there is a need. ``Tamil Nadu has seen many outstanding chief ministers, and chief minister M K Stalin is proving that he is as good and even better by swinging into action as soon as he assumed office,’’ he said President of Tamil Nadu Makkal Urimai Katchi (TNMUK) Poomozhi appealed to the chief minister not to resort to such a blunder while distributing grocery kits to card holders, supposed to start on June 3.

Meanwhile, an official release said the distribution of Covid relief from PDS outlets will be held on Sunday too. Cardholders who received tokens could collect the amount between 8am and 12noon.

Minister for Commercial Taxes P Moorthy distributed the dole in Chettikulam and said that as many as 8.99 lakh people will benefit from the scheme in Madurai district. Food and civil supplies minister R Sakkarapani launched the distribution in Coimbatore. He said there were as many as 10.18 lakh card holders in the district out of which about 2.17 lakh received it. As many as 1.78 lakh of the 8.1 lakh card holders in Trichy district were given the aid on the first day.

INVITING DANGER: DMK workers surround MP S R Parthiban in Salem on Saturday to collect the ₹2,000 dole

15-day lockdown to cost state nearly ₹2,900 crore

15-day lockdown to cost state nearly ₹2,900 crore

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.05.2021

The 15-day complete lockdown, which was intensified from Saturday, will cost the state government at least ₹2,900 crore in revenue. It may have a partial impact on the government's expenditure in the event if the intensified lockdown is extended beyond May 24. To compensate the revenue loss, the government could effect a revision in liquor prices, which has not been hiked for the past one year, say financial experts.

Usually, Tasmac liquor shops and registration offices would have collectively contributed revenue of nearly ₹2,500 crore in 15 days. Of this, property registrations account for an average of ₹500 crore.

The loss of the registration department is based on the three months’ revenue through land registrations. Since February, property registrations brought in an income exceeding ₹1,000 crore every month. Losses through royalty from mines is estimated to be another ₹25 crore for a fortnight, according to official sources with the mines department.

Fuel stations are said to be witnessing a drop in sale of petrol and diesel by about 70% to 75%. The corresponding VAT and other service taxes loss for the state is at least ₹386 crore in 15 days. The losses on VAT and service taxes is for approximately 3,675 fuel stations of the 4,900 fuel stations functioning in Tamil Nadu, which records an average sale of about1.5 lakh litres of petrol and diesel per month.

City-based fuel station dealer Suresh said the volume of sale in petrol and diesel now was just 25% to 30% of the normal sale.

Former state chief internal auditor and ex-treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Government Employees Union A Mohan said about 60% of government revenue receipts is spent towards salary, pensions and those relating to government’s administrative expenditure. The remaining 40% goes to various welfare measures.

Noting that the major spending for the present government will be for public health and sanitation, he said, “The immediate partial impact will be on public health because there could be no major expenditure during this period in the other sectors.”

Tasmac is the only source of revenue post lockdown. “After lifting the lockdown, there could be an increase in liquor because that will not lead to a public outcry. If the government is going to increase taxes on fuel that will become an issue,” he said. Liquor prices were revised twice in 2020 including increasing15% on excise revenue.

SRM institute donates ₹1.1 crore to CM for Covid relief

SRM institute donates ₹1.1 crore to CM for Covid relief

Chennai:16.05.2021 

SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) has donated ₹1.1 crore to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (TNCMPRF) to support the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the second wave of the Covid-19 virus.

The institute’s pro-chancellor (academics) P Sathyanarayanan, chairman of the Ramapuram campus R Shivakumar and cochairman S Niranjan met chief minister M K Stalin and handed over the contribution. Founder-chancellor of the SRM Group of Institutions, and Member of Parliament T R Paarivendhar said the amount donated was a generous contribution from all employees working on the Kattankulathur, Vadapalani, Ramapuram, Trichy campuses, and all other institutions under Valliammai Society to curb the spread of coronavirus. TNN

Crowding by food delivery agents a cause of concern

Crowding by food delivery agents a cause of concern

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:16.05.2021 

Crowding outside restaurants by food delivery agents has become a cause of concern as in many places, the agents wait without any physical distancing and some of them do not wear masks properly increasing the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

With food delivery agents being allowed to function through the day and some coming in touch with customers while delivery, it is pertinent for authorities to issue strict guidelines for them, say residents.

Last year, food delivery agents were allowed to deliver groceries and meat. This year, they have not been delivering groceries, but deliver from meat stalls. “There are several photographs in newspapers and on social media of food delivery agents flouting physical distancing norms outside restaurants. There is a chance of them becoming asymptomatic carriers and infect their friends and family and also their customers too,” said P Gokul, a resident of Velachery.

A food delivery agent acknowledged the crowding at some small restaurants as there are not enough facilities for them to wait, especially during afternoon when it becomes difficult to wait under the sun. “Some restaurants keep water outside. But, we cannot expect the same everywhere and also we get incentives based on good ratings, so we try and deliver as quickly as possible,” he said.

Residents said the civic body should hold a meeting with restaurants to ensure that food delivery agents follow Covid protocols. “We need everybody’s co-operation in fighting the pandemic including the public. The eatery owners should take onus to ensure that such crowding does not happen outside their restaurants. We will instruct our zonal teams to regulate the issue,” said a senior civic body official.

AT RISK

59-year-old dodges 2nd jab of wrong vax after staff points out cert mix-up

59-year-old dodges 2nd jab of wrong vax after staff points out cert mix-up

—Umesh K Parida

15.05.2021 

A 59-year-old resident from Navi Mumbai managed to avoid getting inoculated by two different vaccines after an alert health centre staff pointed out the mix-up in the certificate.

Shirishkumar Salunkhe, a Kamothe resident, got his first dose at the primary health centre in Kalamboli, where he was given a certificate which stated that he had received a jab of Covishield. The goof-up came to light when Salunkhe’s son, Vijay, approached the Kamothe health centre for his father’s second dose.

The Kamothe centre staff told him that the batch number mentioned in the first dose was that of Covaxin and asked him to go back to the Kalamboli centre. The Kalamboli centre staff admitted the mistake and the retired Army havildar was eventually administered the second dose of Covaxin at the NMMC hospital in Vashi on May 13, as the primary health centres had run out of stock by then.

“The Kalamboli health centre’s staff did not tell me the name of the vaccine,” said Salunkhe.

“The certificate downloaded from the app for the first dose on March 18 at Kalamboli centre mentions Covishield. I had to stand in the queue for eight hours at the Kamothe centre on May 6 for the second dose only to be told that I needed to take Covaxin. After the Kalamboli staff checked out the batch numbers and confirmed, they updated the information on the app,” said Vijay.

“When Salunkhe was administered the first dose, Covaxin stock had just arrived for the first time. Therefore, there was confusion. No one consulted me about the app updates,” said Dr Ravi Kumar, who was at the Kalamboli health centre during the mix-up.

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