Rs 311 crore: Onam bonus for Kerala govt employees

Rs 311 crore: Onam bonus for Kerala govt employees

In April, weeks before the assembly elections, the government had allotted Rs 4,850 crore for implementing pay revision.

Published: 12th August 2021 04:40 AM 

By M S Vidyanandan

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as lakhs of people are struggling to cope with the economic crisis induced by long spells of lockdown and a few of them resorting to suicide, the LDF regime in the state has decided to give government employees more and turn a blind eye to the growing demand for providing social security allowance to those who had lost their jobs.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister K N Balagopal announced Onam bonus and festival advance to 5.2 lakh state government employees who were granted a hefty pay hike only four months ago. The cash-strapped government has set apart Rs 311 crore for the purpose.

In April, weeks before the assembly elections, the government had allotted Rs 4,850 crore for implementing pay revision. It may be recalled that the state has witnessed 28 suicides owing to job loss and debt burden in the last seven weeks and there has been no word so far from the government on any assistance to struggling private sector employees and traders.

Of the 5.2 lakh government employees, around one lakh will get Rs 4,000 each as Onam bonus while the rest will get Rs 2,750 each as festival allowance. In addition, 5.3 lakh service pensioners will get Rs 1,000 each. All employees are also eligible to avail a festival advance of Rs 15,000, which should be repaid in five monthly instalments.

Kerala’s total workforce is 1.27 crore as per the estimate of the state planning board. During the first lockdown, 73 lakh of them were rendered jobless, according to a study by the board. That means Rs 260 crore of the tax payers’ money is being spent for the welfare of 4% of workforce who haven’t lost a single day’s wage owing to lockdown.

“This is atrocious. The government’s indifference to what is happening around is writ large on this decision. How graceful a gesture it would have been had the government used this money to pay Rs 500 each at least to those who have lost jobs?” asked Jose Sebastian, economist and former director of Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation.

FM urges staff to donate generously to relief fund

“In fact, this magnanimity is a gesture of appreciation for the organised class of government employees who had stood with the government loyally,” he said.Though the Opposition did not protest against the decision, Balagopal urged the employees to generously contribute to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF). When the government had appealed for donation to CMDRF during the 2018 floods, a section of employees had questioned it. Only 17% of aided college teachers — one of the highly paid employees — joined the 2018 contribution drive. As in the previous years, employees on contract basis and those working in various government schemes will also be eligible for the festival allowance, said Balagopal.

About Rs 150 crore will be spent for these people, most of them falling in the low-income category. They will also be eligible for a festival advance of Rs 5,000. As per the revised budget estimates for 2020-21, the state had spent 30% of its revenue receipts for salary payment and 21% for pension payments.

As on January 1, 2021, the number of state government employees was 5,22,223 who draw salaries in the range of Rs 23,000 to Rs 1.66 lakh.

5.2 lakh is the total strength of government employees in Kerala

Latest ‘attraction’ in Madurai-Chennai Tejas Express leaves commuters drenched

Latest ‘attraction’ in Madurai-Chennai Tejas Express leaves commuters drenched

As the passengers began to move about frantically, panic spread among a section of passengers that they could get electrocuted as the rainwater passed through electric cables in the roof.

Published: 12th August 2021 03:35 AM 

Tejas Express 

By B Anbuselvan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Rainwater leaking through the roofs of two coaches during travel left passengers in shock and outrage in the Madurai-Chennai Egmore Tejas Special Express on Tuesday. Water began dripping from the roof of an AC chair coach when the Chennai-bound train was running between Virudhachalam and Villupuram, while it was heavily raining outside, said passengers.

“Initially many of us did not notice that water was seeping through the coach floor. Suddenly, water began leaking through the roof causing panic inside the coach. A few women passengers were frightened and screamed upon seeing the water. Immediately we all moved our luggage,” said a traveller who did not wish to be named.

As the passengers began to move about frantically, panic spread among a section of passengers that they could get electrocuted as the rainwater passed through electric cables in the roof. This led to chaos in the coach for some time. Travel ticket examiners pacified the passengers and shifted them to other coaches.

“The Railway charges Rs 900 to Rs 1,300 per ticket for Tejas Express. Shoddy maintenance of coaches is unacceptable for whatever reasons. The railway should refund our ticket fare,” demanded another passenger.

As the rainwater leakage was also reported in another AC chair coach, the Chennai division of Southern Railway has sent both the coaches to the Integral Coach Factory for repair works. Tejas rake was manufactured by the ICF and handed over to Southern Railway in November 2018.The coaches were provided with advanced features such as talk back facility, which enable the passengers to call loco pilots through microphone, vacuum toilets, personalised infotainment system, GPS LED destination board and electronic reservation chart.

“Both the coaches are being examined. They were produced using advanced electrical technology and it has to be maintained by a team comprising both electrical and mechanical engineers,” said an ICF official.

Sasikala bribery case: ACB raids residence of Hindalga prison SP

Sasikala bribery case: ACB raids residence of Hindalga prison SP

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Belagavi:12.08.2021

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths raided the official residence of Krishna Kumar, superintendent of police, Hindalga prison, in pursuance of the 2018 bribery case related to V K Sasikala, close aide of late J Jayalalithaa, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

In 2018 ACB filed an FIR after the then deputy inspector general of prisons D Roopa had filed a complaint alleging corruption against the then director general of prisons H N Satyanarayana Rao.

Roopa had alleged that Rao has received money in exchange for offering VIP treatment for Sasikala in Parappana Agrahara prison. Krishna Kumar was in charge of Bengaluru prison when Sasikala was serving the jail term.

The ACB on Wednesday raided the house of Krishna Kumar and searched the premises for several hours. However, they could not find anything and left saying the officer should cooperate in further investigations. According to sources in the ACB, there are suspicions that Krishna Kumar benefitted in the deal to ensure VIP treatment to Sasikala in prison.

Sources further said they have received information about Krishna Kumar having bought assets with the same money and hence the search was conducted. Kumar is also a witness in the case as he was reporting to Satyanarayana Rao.

When contacted, Krishna Kumar told TOI that the raid was a routine legal procedure as a case was filed against the former DGP. “I am a very honest man and so the ACB could not find anything in my house even after a detailed search,” he said.

He further said the raid was related to a 2018 case filed against former prison DGP and he is one of the witnesses.

According to sources in the ACB, there are suspicions that superintendent of police Krishna Kumar benefitted in the deal to ensure VIP treatment to Sasikala in prison

IAS topper couple officially divorced

IAS topper couple officially divorced

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jaipur:12.08.2021

Popular IAS couple, Tina Dabi and Athar Amin Khan, whose romance and wedding had taken social media by storm in 2018, was granted divorce by a Rajasthan court on Tuesday.

Dabi, a graduate of Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College, shot to limelight after she became the first Dalit to top the prestigious civil services examination in 2015 in her first attempt. Khan ranked second that same year. The duo met in Mussoorie during training and fell in love. Their wedding in 2018 drew much public attention.

They were both allotted Rajasthan cadre. Dabi is now posted as joint secretary in the finance department in Jaipur while Khan is on deputation in his home state of Jammu & Kashmir.

The couple had petitioned the family court in Jaipur for divorce in November last year. The couple said there were irreconcilable differences and the divorce petition be disposed of early.

Chennai again has most new Covid cases at 243

Chennai again has most new Covid cases at 243

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:12.08.2021

Tamil Nadu reported 1,964 new cases on Wednesday when Chennai grabbed the slot of district with the highest number of cases for the first time since May 25. The city reported 243 new cases, 34 more than 209 cases it logged on Tuesday. Its neighbours - Chengalpet reported 140 cases compared to 105 cases on Tuesday and Tiruvallur reported a rise from 79 to 98 new cases.

Overall, the state added 71 more cases than its fresh cases tally on Tuesday. Coimbatore, which reported the second highest number of cases in the state, recorded 229 new cases compared to 224 on Tuesday. A total of 24 districts reported an increase in cases.

Increase in cases in Chennai came from clusters identified by the Greater Chennai Corporation over the last three or four days. For instance, there were 23 cases identified from the Varadhammal Garden Street at the Secretariat Colony in Kilpauk. Officials said the source of the cluster was religious festivals organised in the area. “A 43-year-old woman with diabetes died two days after she tested positive. She had not taken the vaccine so far,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan, who inspected the area with senior officials from GCC. “We found that many people in the area have not taken the vaccine,” he said. The woman showed symptoms of Covid on August 2 and was tested for the viral infection three days later. When her results returned positive on August 7, she was admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. She died on August 9.

While the civic agency announced that it will organise special drives in low vaccination areas, officials say that people must continue to follow covid appropriate behaviour. “Mask and social distancing must be followed at all times. There are breakthrough infections despite vaccination. While people vaccinated may not have severe disease, they can pass on the infection to those who are not vaccinated,” he said.

INSPECTION TIME: Health secretary J Radhakrishnan visited Varadammal Garden Main road and side streets along with Greater Chennai Corporation officials

Cobra swallows rat snake, gets stuck in drain

Cobra swallows rat snake, gets stuck in drain

Cuddalore:12.08.2021

A cobra, which could not move after swallowing its prey - a rat snake - and got stuck in a four-inch hole in a drain, was rescued by a selftaught snake catcher in Cuddalore district. The cobra spat out its prey while being rescued.

V Selvam alias Chellaa, 36, who has been rescuing snakes that venture into human habitation, received a call from security personnel at Cuddalore Sipcot Industrial Estate on Tuesday that a cobra was found swallowing a snake in a drain on the estate premises. “I reached the industrial estate in 30 minutes and found a six-foot-long cobra struck in a four-inch drain. The security guards said they saw the cobra swallowing a snake. The mobility of a snake will be affected after swallowing its prey. The bigger the prey, the tougher the mobility,” said Chellaa.

Chellaa caught the cobra using a simple hook and stick. “When I rescued the cobra, it started spitting out its dead prey. Cobra had swallowed a four-and-half-foot rat snake. I will release the cobra along with a dozen snakes caught in the past two days in a nearby forest,” he said. TNN

AIIMS still a non-starter as Centre clueless about work

AIIMS still a non-starter as Centre clueless about work

Madurai:12.08.2021

More than 135 days after the governments of India and Japan inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for sanctioning 22.9 billion yen (around ₹1,537 crore) in March 2021 as a loan for the construction of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai, the date of commencement of construction is not available with the Union government.

This was stated by the ministry of health and family welfare in replies to RTI questions raised by activist A Pandiaraja, who has been tracing the status of the major healthcare project that would benefit the southern and central districts of TN. “The date of start of construction work is not available,” it said and added that “The revised date for completion of AIIMS Madurai has not been approved yet.”

Only the Expression of interest for engaging the project management consultant for AIIMS Madurai has been floated, the reply stated. TNN