Maintain status quo in DME appointment, says High Court

B. Tilak Chandar

B. TILAK CHANDAR, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 05:31 IST

Direction passed on govt.’s appeal against single judge’s order

The State government filed an appeal before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday against the order of the Single Bench which directed Health and Family Welfare Department to appoint Revwathy Kailairajan, Dean, Karur Medical College, as Director of Medical Education (DME).

The Division Bench of Justices K. Kalyanasundaram and S.S. Sundar, sitting as vacation Judges, ordered status quo in the case till further hearing.

In its appeal, the government had stated that the appointment of Edwin Joe, Dean, Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, as the DME was in accordance with rules and regulations. There was no violation of rules in his appointment and Dr. Edwin Joe was appointed as Dean in 2010 and Dr. Revwathy in 2013.

This point proved that Dr. Edwin Joe was qualified and had seniority in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Rules for appointment as the DME, the government claimed.

The Single Bench of Justice R. Mahadevan had earlier quashed the appointment of Dr. Edwin Joe as the DME and directed Health and Family Welfare Department to appoint Dr. Revwathy Kailairajan in the post after she had filed a petition stating that her eligibility was not considered for the appointment. The appeal was posted for further hearing to October 6.

Newborn dies as incubator ‘overheats’

Shoumojit Banerjee

PUNE, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 04:49 IST

Vastalya Hospital in Pune where a newborn baby died.Special Arrangement  

Pune child suffers over 80% burns; parents accuse hospital staff of negligence

A newborn burnt to death after an incubator in a hospital reportedly caught fire due to overheating in Pune on Wednesday, police said.

The baby was placed in the incubator on Tuesday morning as it developed breathing difficulty after its mother suffered seizure, police said.

The child suffered more than 80% burns and succumbed to the injuries despite treatment.

The incident occurred at the Vatsalya Hospital in Budhwar Peth area.

According to preliminary investigation, a short circuit may have caused the incubator to overheat.

A case was lodged at the Visrambaug Wada police station under sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) against the hospital’s gynaecologist Dr. Gaurav Chopade and his staff.

No arrests have been made in this regard so far.

‘Technical problems’

“This is the first time such an unfortunate incident has occurred. The warmer overheated owing to technical problems. However, there was no negligence whatsoever from the side of the hospital staff,” said Dr. Chopade.

The newborn’s parents, Vijayendra Kadam and his wife, Swati, accused the hospital staff of negligence.

The family alleged that the incubator was “faulty” and that they saw smoke coming out after it overheated followed by “a minor explosion-like sound.”

SAVEETHA UNIVERSITY DECCAN CHRONICLE

Father prays to court to bring back dead son’s body from Iran

tnn | Sep 28, 2017, 00:58 IST

Madurai: The family of a 22-year-old man, who died under mysterious circumstances in Iran, has filed a habeas corpus petition before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court, seeking a direction to the government to bring his body back. On this, the court ordered notice to the external affairs secretary and Tirunelveli superintendent of police and adjourned the case by a week.

When the case came up for hearing before a division bench of justices K Kalyanasundaram and S S Sundar on Wednesday, the petitioner B Sankarapandi from Tirunelveli told the court that his son, Ponraj was a marine engineer. He was sent to Lian Ocean Star Shipping Company, Port of Bushehr, Iran for a job through agent Narayanasami of Karaikal on November 14 last year.

On August 20 morning, the agent informed the petitioner over phone that Ponraj along with eight workers were admitted in a hospital for kidney ailments as they were under the influence of alcohol. By noon, he communicated to Sankarapandi that Ponraj and four workers were dead.

Suspecting something amiss in his son's death, the petitioner knocked on the doors of the district collector immediately. In his petition to the collector, he said Ponraj was a teetotaller and was in contact with him till August 19 night. His son used to complain about the food served in the company and a dispute between Indian workers and the chef of the company. It resulted in the dismissal of the chef. Later, the said chef rejoined duty on August 19.

The petitioner received a response from the government secretary with a delay of two weeks and thereafter received response from the collector on September 20. Their communications with Indian embassy in Tehran revealed a lot of discrepancies over Ponraj's death. The embassy had said that the death was unnatural. Since the time the news of the death came, the petitioner's wife had fallen sick. Now, the petitioner has been left in the lurch for the past one month. He did not know the exact status of his son, he said.

Govt forces RGUHS to transfer Rs 580cr without syndicate's nod

Chethan Kumar| TNN | Sep 28, 2017, 06:13 IST



BENGALURU: The state government, which has been pushing for shifting of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) campus to Ramanagara, has asked its acting vice-chancellor to transfer Rs 580 crore from its corpus fund for the construction of a new campus and hospital without the approval of the syndicate council.

The government has in structed the varsity to transfer Rs 200 crore to the public works department and the remaining into an escrow account. This, members from the syndicate pointed out, was in violation of the high court order.

On June 7, 2017, the Karnataka HC said that the university must bear the cost of only the administrative block (which according to RGUHS costs about Rs 60 crore) and that if there is need for more funds for the proposed campus in Ramanagara, the government should discuss the issue with the varsity. The medical education de partment then wrote a let ter to the university on July 31, asking the vice-chancellor to transfer Rs 580 crore. RGUHS, however, did not take any decision and a meeting under the chairmanship of chief minister Siddaramaiah was held on July 12, where the university was instructed to transfer the money .

However, on August 9, acting V-C M K Ramesh wrote to the department, saying it couldn't be done without the syndicate's approval. Notwithstanding this letter, the government convened a meeting under the chairmanship of additional chief secretary (medical education) on September 7 and again instructed the university to transfer the money .

Documents with TOI show sity hasn't yet transferred the money as the V-C is going by the book," sources said.

With repeated phone calls and other communication not having the desired response from the V-C, the department wrote to him on September 9, directing the university to transfer money at the earliest.


RGUHS registrar Noor Mansoor said: "The RGUHS is an autonomous institution and does not receive funds from the government. However, in 2014 the government brought an amendment to the RGUHS Act which now allows the government to give directions about how to use the university's funds." Sources, however, argue that the amendment does not take away statutory powers given to the syndicate and government directions cannot overrule the syndicate. that the government has been forcing the university to transfer the money . Following this, sources in the know of the issue, said there have been several phone calls between the V-C and the government, but no decision was taken. "There has been a lot of communication but the univer

Meeting held

The RGUHS finance panel held a meeting on Wednesday to decide whether the university should transfer the money as demanded by the government.RGUHS registrar Noor Mansoor confirmed to TOI the meeting was held on Wednesday. He, however, did not reveal if the panel decided to transfer the money. The acting V-C could not be contacted after the meeting.

Tamil Nadu govt issues GOs on Jayalalithaa death probe, terms of reference

Meera Vankipuram| TNN | Sep 27, 2017, 22:58 IST

Supporters of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa pay tribute at the memorial where she was laid t... Read More

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday released a copy of the government order, defining the terms of reference for the one-man commission led by retired judge of Madras high court Justice A Arumughaswamy probing former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death. The order said the commission will "inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation on September 22, 2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her unfortunate demise on December 5, 2016."

Another order, dated September 25, said the commission will complete its inquiry and submit its report (both English and Tamil) to the government within three months from the date of publication of the order notification in the TN government gazette. The Palaniswami government had, on Monday, made the brief announcement appointing the retired judge to probe Jayalalithaa's death, without releasing the details of the orders.

The first order, dated September 25, stated that the government had decided "that there should be an independent inquiry into the unfortunate demise" of the former chief minister. It stated that the commission of inquiry will be headed by a retired judge of the Madras high court.

TOP COMMENT  The circumstances leading to admission of Jayalalithaa and the 75 days treatments in Apollo Hospital and her death as revealed all will remains as suspense thriller for generation to come. Jayalalith... Read MoreRajaram Venkatram

The second order, dated September 27, stipulated the terms of reference for the probe "into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalization".

A month ago, CM Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that his government would set up an inquiry panel headed by a retired judge to probe the circumstances leading to the demise of Jayalalithaa.

Pondy med scam: Will not arrest accused till Oct 9, CBI tells court

TNN | Sep 28, 2017, 00:05 IST

Chennai: A week after registering cases against five top officials of the Puducherry government under Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged irregularities in the recent admissions to postgraduate medical courses, the CBI on Wednesday gave an undertaking to the Madras high court that the accused will not be arrested till October 9.

Special public prosecutor for CBI cases made the submission on an anticipatory bail plea moved by former Puducherry health secretary Dr B R Babu, director of health and family welfare services Dr K V Raman and three others fearing arrest by the CBI. All the five are members of the Central Admissions Committee (CENTAC) through which the admission were made based on NEET marks.

When the plea came up for hearing before vacation judge Justice G R Swaminathan, the special prosecutor sought adjournment till October 9 to get instructions from the investigating agency.

The judge adjourned the bail pleas. According to the petitioners, A case has been registered against them for the alleged irregularities in medical admission under Section 120-B read with 420 of IPC and Section 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Denying the allegations, the petitioners said, "The case is registered on the basis of source information, which alleges that we conspired with the private medical institutions and facilitated admission of students not sponsored by CENTAC in the PG medical courses.

CENTAC allots students as per merit/reservation. This year, some of the allotted students complained that they were not being admitted and demanded higher fees.