Tamil Nadu posts sharp increase in fresh COVID-19 infections

Tamil Nadu posts sharp increase in fresh COVID-19 infections

05/01/2022

Kancheepuram and Tiruppur reported 54 fresh cases each, while there were 49 persons tested positive in Salem and 43 in Kanniyakumari. Thoothukudi recorded 42 cases, while there were 41 cases in Erode. Mayiladuthurai was the only district with no fresh case and 14 districts reported fewer than 10 cases each.

Chennai, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Tiruvallur, Tiruppur, Erode, Kancheepuram, Salem, Thoothukudi and Vellore were the districts of concern, based on the high caseload, officials said.

As many as 48 persons who returned from abroad and other States were among those who tested positive. The fresh cases took the State’s overall tally to 27,55,587.

The State recorded nine deaths, taking the toll to 36,805. There were no COVID-19 deaths in 31 districts. Chennai recorded no fatalities, while there were two deaths each in Tiruvallur and Tiruchi and one death each in Kanniyakumari, Karur, Mayiladuthurai, the Nilgiris and Vellore.

The surge pushed the State’s active caseload to 12,412, with Chennai’s count crossing 5,000. There were 5,593 active cases in the city, followed by 1,175 active cases in Chengalpattu. The bed occupancy was quickly rising at Chennai’s COVID-19 health centres and hospitals. A total of 1,015 oxygen beds and 818 non-oxygen beds were occupied.

A total of 674 persons were discharged. This took the total number of recovered patients to 27,06,370. The number of confirmed Omicron cases remained at 121. Of them, 108 persons were discharged.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday chaired a meeting at the Secretariat to review the COVID-19 situation in the State. The rising number of cases was discussed in detail.

The meeting discussed whether the existing restrictions were sufficient, or if more curbs were necessary, official sources said. An official word on what transpired at the meeting is likely to be issued on Wednesday, the sources added.

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, Director-General of Police C. Sylendra Babu and senior officials were present at the meeting.

Madras HC flags University of Madras' waning stature, issues warning

Madras HC flags University of Madras' waning stature, issues warning

A bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and AA Nakkiran made the observation while passing orders on writ appeal over promotion of technical staff to assistant librarian posts.

Published: 05th January 2022 04:54 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday deplored the waning reputation of the University of Madras (UoM) and said disciplinary proceedings for ‘capital punishment’ must be initiated against university officials who are devoid of integrity and devotion to duty.

A bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and AA Nakkiran made the observation while passing orders on writ appeal over promotion of technical staff to assistant librarian posts. The court said a degree from the university was once considered precious, but it is a million dollar question now whether the institute still enjoys that reputation.

The court said, “... appropriate disciplinary proceedings for capital punishment shall be initiated against officials for not maintaining absolute integrity and devotion to duty which is unbecoming of a member of the service and such irresponsible officials should be dismissed from service....”

The bench said the court’s remarks on dereliction of duty should be entered into their service register so that they could be deprived of promotions and other benefits and wanted the umbrella of moral turpitude to be widened to deprive them gratuity too.

The judges said there was no other option but to interfere with the single judge’s order, which has no legs to stand, as the court does not want to continue the illegality forever and two wrongs cannot make a right.

The issue came up after S Baskaran, an assistant technical officer, moved the court saying that he was not considered for promotion while his juniors were promoted to the post of assistant librarian. A single judge had ordered that Baskaran’s name be considered for promotion.

NEET-PG admissions: Union govt seeks urgent hearing of EWS quota case

 NEET-PG admissions: Union govt seeks urgent hearing of EWS quota case

Large-scale protests have been held by resident doctors over a delay in the NEET-PG counselling, which has been postponed due to the government deciding to revisit the criteria for the determination of the EWS quota.

NEWS COURT MONDAY, JANUARY 03, 2022 - 12:10

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The Union government has requested the Supreme Court on Monday, January 3, to schedule a hearing in a matter related to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in connection with the NEET-PG admissions on Tuesday, citing "some urgency." A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter before the court on behalf of the Union government, that the EWS quota matter is being heard by a three-judge bench of the top court.

"The moment today's work gets over, I would make a request to CJI NV Ramana for the listing of the case," Justice Chandrachud said. Mehta said if it is not possible to list the matter on Tuesday, then it could be listed on Wednesday. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing in court on behalf of the doctors who have challenged a government notification for the implementation of the quota, said he has no objection if the matter is listed on Tuesday or Wednesday. The matter at present is listed for hearing on January 6.

Large-scale protests have been held by resident doctors of various hospitals under the banner of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) in Delhi and other parts of the country over a delay in the NEET-PG counselling, which has been postponed due to the Union government deciding to revisit the criteria for the determination of the EWS quota.Featured Videos from TNM

In its affidavit filed in the apex court, the Union government has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of a three-member panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) at Rs 8 lakh or less.

The government has also told the court that according to the panel, family income is a "feasible criterion" for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh of annual family income seems reasonable for determining EWS.

In its affidavit filed in a matter related to admissions for NEET-PG, the Union government has said the panel has recommended that "only those families whose annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh would be eligible to get the benefit of the EWS reservation."

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

TNN | Jan 3, 2022, 09.41 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the government on Monday re-introduced restrictions across all Central government offices, including cutting physical attendance of employees below the level of under-secretary to 50% with the other 50% working from home.

Biometric attendance, which was resumed in November 2021 after nearly one-and-a-half years, has also been discontinued in all Central government offices with immediate effect and until further notice, as per an order issued by the department of personnel and training on Monday.

Officers of the level of under-secretary and above, however, must attend office on a regular basis.

The fresh DoPT order exempts persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees from attending office, though they shall be required to work from home.

Staggered timings – from 9 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 6.30 pm -- have been introduced once again in the Central government offices to avoid over-crowding. Government employees working from home must be available at all times on the telephone and email.

Officers and staff residing in areas marked as containment zones shall be exempted from coming to offices till such zones are de-notified.

Meetings, as per DoPT order, must be conducted via video-conferencing as far as possible and personal meetings and visitors, unless absolutely necessary, avoided.

Frequent sanitisation of workplace and wearing of masks, regular washing and sanitisation of hands and maintenance of social distancing by staff across all Central government offices has also been sought.

Centre Allows 50% Staff Below Under Secretary-Level To Work From Home

Centre Allows 50% Staff Below Under Secretary-Level To Work From Home

Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have been exempted from attending offices, said a Personnel Ministry order.

Updated: January 03, 2022 9:43 pm IST

New Delhi:

The Centre has allowed 50 per cent of its employees below the level of Under Secretary to work from home amid rising coronavirus cases, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued on Monday.

Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have been exempted from attending the offices, it said.

Central government officers/staff will have to follow staggered timing - 9 am to 5.30 pm and 10 am to 6.30 pm - to avoid overcrowding in the offices, the order said.

All the officers/staff residing in Covid containment zones have also been exempted from coming to office till containment zones are de-notified, it said in the order issued to all central government departments.

"Physical attendance of government servants below the level of Under Secretary shall be restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent shall work from home. A roster may be prepared accordingly by all the departments concerned," the order said.

All officers of the level of under secretary and above are to attend office on a regular basis, it said.

"Meeting, as far as possible, shall be conducted on video-conferencing and personal meetings with visitors, unless absolutely necessary in public interest, are to be avoided," the order said.

All officers/staff have to ensure strict compliance with Covid-appropriate behaviour viz. frequent washing of hands/sanitisation, wearing a mask/face cover, observing social distancing at all times, it said.

"Proper cleaning and frequent sanitisation of the workplace, particularly of the frequently touched surfaces may be ensured. HoDs may also ensure non-crowding in corridors, canteens, etc.," the order said.

Comments(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prime accused held in fraud case involving Rs 70 lakhs worth government funds of Vellore BDO

Prime accused held in fraud case involving Rs 70 lakhs worth government funds of Vellore BDO

The beneficiaries, who went by the name of Vijayan and Jayakumar, were found to be receiving Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs respectively to their current accounts.

Published: 03rd January 2022 12:19 PM |

By Shyamsundar N

Express News Service

VELLORE: After almost seven weeks of investigation, Vellore Cyber Crime police arrested the prime accused in a financial fraud case involving government funds. The accused allegedly siphoned off Rs 70 lakh from the Block Development Office (BDO) in Katpadi by illegally accessing its portal.

On November 15, a BDO staff noticed something 'fishy' where two transactions under the 'noon-meal' salary category were made to two beneficiaries, successfully clearing the verification process without officials' knowledge.

The incident was reported to the police the same day and on November 17, Katpadi BDO Raghu lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime police unit.

A preliminary probe launched by investigation officer J Abarna and the team found that the transactions were made by some fraudsters.

The beneficiaries, who went by the name of Vijayan and Jayakumar, were found to be receiving Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs respectively to their current accounts.

"We checked with the banks and found that there was a name mismatch in both the accounts. Due to the mismatch, the amount processed to Jayakumar account was frozen. However, Vijayan received it and before the bank froze his account, he managed to withdraw Rs 35,000, " investigation officer, Abarna, told TNIE

Real names come to light

The cybercrime unit formed a 12-member team including computer experts. During the investigation, the real names of the account holders were identified as Prabu and Poovarasan.

A police officer, who was part of the investigation team, said Prabu was running an e-service centre opposite Tirupattur bus stand. "Firstly, we identified three people to be involved in the crime. Prabu and Jeeva, who works at Prabu's centre and Poovarasan who is Jeeva's friend. Till that point, we didn't know another man existed and that he would turn out to be the prime accused. He was the main reason behind the whole fraudulent transaction," Abarna said.

Before the crime, he introduced himself as government staff and first approached Jeeva who was at the centre at that time. He said he can get them government funds and to do that he needed some 30% commission. To prove his words, he accessed the government portals with a unique ID and password, the investigation officer said.

Jeeva took this to Prabu who agreed to it and so did his friend Poovarasan. Further probe revealed the identity of the fourth person as Sampath Kumar. Using Call Detail Record (CDR), CCTV footage, and other intelligence, we tracked him from Vellore to Tirupattur, Pochampalli, and Erode, Abarna said.

During the investigation, we found that Sampath Kumar was not his real name and that he used it to deliberately hide his identity. He was identified as Mohan (24), a computer operator and a temporary staff at the BDO, Mecheri in Salem district.

There, he learned the unique ID and password of government staff and used this ID to commit the financial fraud after the staff was transferred to Katpadi BDO, the investigation officer said. He was arrested on December 31.

Over 10 litres of pus removed from cow after quack botches up treatment in Dharmapuri

 Over 10 litres of pus removed from cow after quack botches up treatment in Dharmapuri

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra scientists allege that wrong medication coupled with a contaminated needle resulted in a massive infection that had a paralysing effect on the cow.

Published: 03rd January 2022 04:20 PM |

By Express News Service

DHARMAPURI: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) veterinary researchers conducted a complicated surgery and removed over 10 litres of pus from a cow.

The KVK scientists allege that wrong medication coupled with a contaminated needle resulted in a massive infection that had a paralysing effect on the cow.

Sources said an affected farmer arrived at KVK on Thursday seeking treatment for his cattle. The animal, which was administered the wrong treatment, suffered from a severe infection. KVK researchers immediately decided to conduct a massive surgery and removed over 10 kg of infected tissues.

Sankaraiah, the farmer whose cow was treated, said, "Almost 15 days ago, my cow had not been eating properly and the milk production had also drastically reduced. I sought advice from a doctor, who turned out to be a quack. He administered some injection and in the days that followed, the condition of the cow went down. Shortly after, the animal's hind leg started swelling abnormally and the animal became paralysed. I approached the KVK centre in Papparapatti for treatment."

Animal Husbandry researcher Dr Thangadurai said, "I had inspected the animal and found that the cow had been immobile and it had stopped feeding because of a severe infection. The farmers had sought treatment from a quack doctor. Not only had this quack provided the wrong treatment, but he has also injected the cow with a contaminated needle which led to a small cyst leading to a massive infection."

He added that after a nearly 12-hour effort, the pus was removed from the body of the cow and the infected areas was treated. Dr Thagadurai said he had witnessed a surge in such cases for the past few months. If farmers are not vigilant, they may lose their cow which are easily worth between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000 to quack doctors, he pointed out.

When contacted, KVK Project Director Dr Vijayakumar, said, "Most of the farmers are cheated by an inseminator, who poses as a doctor. They offer medical advice without checking the doctor’s background. During the recent FMD outbreak, many animals died at the hands of quack doctors."

Farmers need to investigate the doctors before seeking treatment from them, he advised.

Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, the Animal Husbandry Department officials and the KVK have been spreading awareness among the farmers on the need to be on guard from quack veterinarians to prevent wrong treatment that could permanently incapacitate or kill animals.