HC dismisses PIL challenging validity of TN’s panel on NEET

HC dismisses PIL challenging validity of TN’s panel on NEET

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14.07.2021

The Madras high court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation moved by the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP challenging the validity of a committee constituted by the state government to study the impact of NEET on students from socially and economically backward classes.

“The setting up of the commission can, by no stretch of imagination, be seen to be contrary to any Supreme Court order, whether in letter or spirit, or as a counter to any legislative action taken by the Union or process put in place,” the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said.

“For all we know, the commission may come up with some material that the state government may use to persuade the Union to search for an alternative or modify the process to make it more inclusive for students belonging to the socially backward and economically weaker sections to participate therein with a better chance of success,” the court added.

The setting up of the commission does not amount to subverting any process of admission, far less an act of defiance to any order passed by the Supreme Court or even the remotest challenge to the exclusive authority of the Union to enact a law and conduct a procedure in a field which is constitutionally designated to be undertaken only by the Union, the judges asserted.

Noting that a section of citizens may feel that it is a waste to appoint a commission; that the costs incurred in maintaining such commission may be better used to provide relief to those who suffered in course of the pandemic, the court said, “But these are choices that an elected government has to take.” Indeed, in the constitutional scheme, the elected government has the freedom to take. Courts cannot rush in and interdict notifications or steps taken pertaining to policy or for garnering public opinion or the like, the judges said.

The court added that the constitution of the commission does not call for any interference as long as the state does not do anything to upset the procedure for admission to medical institutions as established by law.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by BJP Tamil Nadu secretary K Nagarajan. He wanted the court to quash the order issued by the Tamil Nadu government on June10 constituting the committee headed by Justice A K Rajan.

HC order a significant step: Stalin

Chief Minister M K Stalin hailed the Madras high court order dismissing the plea against A K Rajan committee as a significant step in the struggle against Neet. Noting that the court has dealt a blow to BJP as well as AIADMK, Stalin said in a statement on Tuesday that the order has not only upheld the student’s rights, but also the state’s rights. “The judgement was a significant step in our battle against Neet,’’ he said. TNN

43-year-old woman dies after swallowing artificial tooth while drinking water

43-year-old woman dies after swallowing artificial tooth while drinking water

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:14.07.2021

A 43-year-old city resident died a day after swallowing her artificial tooth accidentally while drinking water, police said.

S Rajalakshmi of Valasaravakkam had replaced three front teeth with artificial ones nearly seven years ago at a private hospital in Porur. On July 4, she suffered from dizziness and felt nauseous soon after swallowed one of the three artificial teeth by mistake. She was taken to a private hospital.

After going through her test reports, doctors felt there was nothing alarming and discharged her. But she fainted the next day and died on the way to hospital, said a police officer from Royala Nagar station, who is investigating the case.

She is survived by her husband Suresh, 48, a private advertising firm employee, and their two sons. Police have sent the body for autopsy.

Police suspect Rajalakshmi’s artificial tooth could have become loose as it was fixed seven years ago and she could have avoided a hospital visit now due to Covid tests. A case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been registered.

Oral pathologists say the chance of death due to swallowing of dentures is rare unless it reaches the air pipe instead of the food pipe. Delicate tissues in the air pipe might get damaged and subsequent bleeding or asphyxiation may cause death at times, they said.

Dr SM Balaji, an oral surgeon from Balaji Dental & Craniofacial Hospital in Teynampet, said the type of denture had be assessed. “Usually, acrylic removable dentures are liable to cause more damage when swallowed as they have metal clasp. This aspect is very crucial and can be identified only on autopsy or radiological imaging or previous dental records or from patient's care providers.”

Any patient wearing dentures should regularly check with dentists. Any loose denture or tooth should be promptly attended to and the person concerned not wait for an occasion to change it. In case of such swallowing, early identification of swallowed dentures and immediate medical attention can help avoid catastrophic outcomes, he said.

Dentists caution that any loose denture or tooth should be promptly attended to and the person concerned should not wait for long to change it

STATE VACCINATES 3.35L ON TUESDAY

STATE VACCINATES 3.35L ON TUESDAY

7 districts report 100+ new Covid infections

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14.07.2021

Fresh cases continued to decline with TN recording 2,505 new cases on Tuesday compared to 2,652 new cases on Monday. The state registered 48 deaths and 3,058 recoveries, leaving 31,218 people still under treatment for the viral infection. On Tuesday, seven districts reported cases in three digits and 24 reported fewer than 50 cases.

Coimbatore topped the table with 282 cases followed Erode (187) and Thanjavur (185). Chennai reported 160 cases while Salem had 162 cases, Trichy 98 and Madurai 30.

Ramanathapuram recorded just 13 cases, the lowest in the state. Cases went up in Tirunelveli from 16 on Monday to 25 on Tuesday.

“While cases are coming down, there is still no evidence on how the third wave could be. Countries like the UK are reporting a sudden spurt, but their hospitalisation and deaths are fewer compared to previous waves,” said health minister Ma Subramanian.

It is sad that TN does not receive adequate vaccines, he added.

“We require more than 11 crore doses to completely vaccinate adults, but we have received just 1.67 crore. On Tuesday, after we received 1 lakh doses of Covaxin and 1.5 lakh doses of Covishield, we had about 6.5 lakh doses. We will use them for a couple of days,” he said.

Subramanian said he will meet Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on Thursday. At the end of the day, TN vaccinated 3.35 lakh people.

Of the 48 deaths in the state, Salem reported six followed by five each in Chennai, Tiruppur and Dindigul. At least 19 districts did not report any deaths.

HC dismisses PIL against TN panel on NEET

HC dismisses PIL against TN panel on NEET

14.07.2021

The Madras high court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL field by the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP challenging the validity of a committee constituted by the state to study the impact of NEET on students from socially and economically backward classes, saying that it was not contrary to SC orders. Chief minister M K Stalin hailed it as a significant step in the struggle against NEET and said the court has dealt a blow to the BJP and the AIADMK. He said the order upheld students’ and the state’s rights

TN ups pensioners’ contributory share to family fund scheme

TN ups pensioners’ contributory share to family fund scheme

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:13.07.2021 

The state finance department has increased pensioners' contribution to the Family Security Fund Scheme and has sanctioned ₹25 crore to clear pending settlements.

According to the scheme guidelines, pensioners make a monthly contribution till the date of death and in return, family members get ₹50,000 on the death of the pensioner.

When the scheme was launched in 1996, each pensioner contributed ₹20 and ₹25,000 was paid on their death. The contribution and settlement amount was increased at regular time intervals to run the scheme.

But in August 2020, the state government stopped paying the settlements to family members of deceased pensioners, citing fund crunch as the reason.

The Director of Pension, the state agency implementing the scheme, said that on an average they received around 15,500 claims every year and they required ₹77.50 crore to settle these claims. But the annual receipt from pensioners is around ₹43 crore. This indicates that annual deficit of accural to the fund is about ₹35 crore.

As of May 2021, there are about 13,746 pending claims for settlement and the director requested the government to sanction ₹57 crore to settle these claims.

Considering the fact that it is an optional and self-supporting scheme, the state finance department on July 7 issued orders increasing the pensioners' monthly contribution from ₹80 to ₹150.

In addition to this, the state has sanctioned ₹25 crore to settle these backlog claims. This amount has been sanctioned as an advance from the government account to the sheme recoverable over 5 years period without interest.

Welcoming this, SA Vetrirajan, a retired commercial taxes officer, said that the previous government left the scheme in the lurch. "Though it is a small amout, it becomes handy for the bereaved family members to settle hospital bills or to take care of the cremation expenses," he said.

Ramasamy from Tamil Nadu Pensioners' Association said that present state government employees also pay the same contribution (₹150 per month) but they get ₹3 lakh as settlement. "The government should at least provide half of this amount for pensioners," he said.

The association has decided to take this request to the government after their state executive committee meeting in Trichy next month. There are seven lakh pensioners in the state and roughly 96,000 among them reside in Chennai.

NEET-UG on Sept 12, regn opens today

NEET-UG on Sept 12, regn opens today

13.07.2021 

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) will be conducted on September 12, online registration for which will commence at 5pm on Tuesday, Union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday. The exam was scheduled for August 1 but was postponed due to rising Covid cases. “...To ensure social distancing norms, the number of cities where examinations will be conducted has been increased to 198,” he tweeted. More than 16 lakh candidates are likely to take the test. P10

வரும் 21-ம் தேதி பக்ரீத் பண்டிகை

வரும் 21-ம் தேதி பக்ரீத் பண்டிகை

சென்னை

தமிழகத்தில் வரும் 21-ம் தேதிபக்ரீத் பண்டிகை கொண்டாடப்படும் என்று அரசு தலைமை காஜி அறிவித்துள்ளார்.

பக்ரீத் எனப்படும் ஈகைத் திருநாள் முஸ்லிம்களால் கொண்டாடப்படும் மிக முக்கியமான பண்டிகையாகும். இறைத் தூதரான நபியின் தியாகத்தை நினைவுகூரும் வகையில், 12-வது மாதமான துல்ஹஜில் இது ண்டாடப்படுகிறது.