Ask states to pay salaries to docs on time, SC tells Centre

Ask states to pay salaries to docs on time, SC tells Centre

New Delhi:  01.08.2020

The Supreme Court on Friday took a serious view of Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tripura and Karnataka defying the Centre’s directions for timely payment of salaries to doctors and health workers on Covid-19 duty and said the Centre should know its powers to force states to obey its orders, Dhananjay Mahapatra.

Responding to allegations made by petitioner Arushi Jain and doctors associations about non-payment of salaries despite the court’s June 17 order, solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah that the Centre had written to states on June 18 for timely payment of salaries to doctors and healthcare staff.

He said the government had sent reminders to all states on July 20. But till date, Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Tripura have not filed reports indicating compliance of the Centre’s June 17 direction and July 20 reminder.

Full report on www.toi.in

No scheduled flights abroad till Aug 31; more travel bubbles likely

No scheduled flights abroad till Aug 31; more travel bubbles likely

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi/Mumbai:  1.8.2020

The government has extended the suspension of scheduled international flights from July-end to August 31.

However, travel will take place within the air bubbles India has created with the US, Germany and France. In coming days more countries — like the UK, Canada and Israel — could have bubbles with India, allowing people, as per government norms, to travel to and from there. The most recent transport bubble agreement is the one with Kuwait “to uplift stranded passenger both to/ from India”, the DGCA said on Friday. More such arrangements are likely to fructify and ease passenger movements from different nations, it said. The continued suspension of scheduled international flights, however, does not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the regulator.

India had suspended scheduled international passenger flights on March 22. Since then, the DGCA note of Friday says, over “2,500 repatriation flights by foreign carriers to uplift stranded passengers to/from India have been approved. Under Vande Bharat Mission, Air India and AI Express have uplifted 2,67,436 stranded passengers and other charters have uplifted 4,86,811 stranded passengers between May 6 to July 30, 2020.”

The aviation ministry says resumption of schedule international flights will be considered once domestic flights reach the 50% mark of the originally approved summer schedule. Schedule domestic flights were allowed to resume on May 25 and so far airlines are operating at about 30% of the summer schedule. They have been allowed to raise the capacity to 45% by November 24, but this may be relaxed depending on how the pandemic situation develops.

Full report on www.toi.in

The aviation ministry said resumption of scheduled international flights will be considered once domestic flights reach the 50% mark of the originally approved summer schedule

Kin of 33 govt workers, who died of Covid, to get ₹50L each

Kin of 33 govt workers, who died of Covid, to get ₹50L each

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com

Chennai:1.8.2020

Thirty-three government employees, including 16 frontline workers, have died of Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu. The deceased were 11 employees of the Chennai Corporation, eight personnel of the police department, a doctor and two other health department staff, three revenue department employees, an assistant commissioner of civil supplies, a senior private secretary at CM’s office, two town panchayat staff members and one employee each from the commissionerate of revenue administration, the Tiruvallur corporation, the energy department and the rural development department.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on April 22 had issued an order increasing the solatium from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh for the families of frontline workers, who died due to Covid-19. The CM had also stated that a family member of each deceased frontline worker would be provided with a government job based on qualification.

Citing the CM’s announcement, director of social security scheme, commissioner of revenue administration, N Venkatachalam has sought medical and death certificates of the frontline workers to extend a financial assistance of ₹50 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. Venkatachalam sought the details from director of public health and preventive medicine Dr T S Selvavinayagam.

The authority sought the details and supporting documents such as certificates of the employee deployed in Covid-19 duty, his or her medical reports of being tested positive for the virus, death certificate, photocopy of the ration card and certificate of his/her legal heir.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on April 22 had issued an order increasing the solatium from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh for the families of frontline government workers, who died due to Covid-19. infection

Sastra university releases 2020-21 admissions rank list

Sastra university releases 2020-21 admissions rank list

01.08.2020

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The rank lists for admission to various engineering & law programmes for 2020-21 offered by Sastra Deemed University were released on Friday.

In stream 1 (70% of seats based on 1st JEE Main & Class XII marks) Narasimhan Srikanth of Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Chennai, came first in the all-India category with a combined score of 99.2 and in stream 2 (30% seats based on Class XII marks) Dyuthi Thampan of Palakkad scored 1,191 out of 1,200 to secure the top spot. Mainam Harshini from NTR Junior College, Telangana, came first in the School of Law rank list after scoring 98.1% in Class XII, said a press release.

Sastra is the only deemed university which uses JEEMain scores and Class XII aggregate together for its admission process without conducting its own entrance exams. For law programmes, rank list is released based on Class XII aggregate score.

The detailed rank lists are available at www.sastra.edu.The merit-based online counselling for admissions will be held from August 1-29. Students across the country have registered for admission.

Students from Jammu & Kashmir, north-eastern and Himalayan states and Andaman will be admitted under a special category and 30% of seats are allotted for students from Trichy & Thanjavur districts. Freshers’ online orientation for engineering and law programmes will begin from August 30.

Only 12% of engg colleges got above l failed in 11

POOR SHOW

Only 12% of engg colleges got above l failed in 11

Absence Of Quality Faculty, Tough Maths Paper Cited As Reasons

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

01.08.2020

Just 12% of affiliated engineering colleges in the state had more than 50% of students passing theNovember 2019 semester exams, while 11 got nil results. Of 443 engineering colleges, 220 had less than 25% students passing, raising serious questions about the quality of education.

While colleges cite a tough math question paper and stricter evaluation as main reasons, senior professors say it is because several senior faculty members were laid off following the relaxation in teacher-student ratio by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) from 1:15 to 1:20.

The academic performance chart for the April and November 2019 semester exams released by Anna University shows that in April 100 colleges had more than 50% students passing compared to 57 colleges in November. The number of colleges with less than 25% students passing rose from 155 in April to 220 in November.

“The math exam in November was one of the toughest and many students were not able to clear it,” a principal of a city college said.

Even otherwise, Valliammai Engineering College principal B Chidambararajan said, students struggle to clear engineering math. “These include some top rankers from prominent institutions.” There is bound to be a difference in pass percentage compared to April and November, he said. “Many take exams in odd semesters (November) lightly and clear them in even semesters.”

M A Maluk Mohammed, director and correspondent of MAM College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy, said this showed the standard of students. “So far, the university used to give moderation and increase results of colleges. In an effort to standardize engineering education, the vice-chancellor of Anna University has done away with the moderation process. These marks are a true reflection of students. From here, the standard of engineering colleges will only improve.”

Some colleges said the pass percentage was fluctuating due to stricter evaluation and the lack of uniform answer keys across the state. “Anna University debarred 1,000 faculty members for deviation in marks after revaluation two years ago. It has affected the morale of faculty members and evaluation has become stricter,” an official of a college said.

A professor from another college said the quality of faculty members had come down after the relaxation of faculty-student ratio. “Many colleges sent their experienced faculty members away and it has now started to reflect on the performance of students,” he said.

Sources in Anna University said many top-performing affiliated colleges had become autonomous colleges and this was being reflected in the results. “In 2019 alone, 17 affiliated colleges got autonomous status. The university is making efforts to reduce the difficulty level in maths that is affecting the pass percentage of colleges.”

NEW APPROACH: )

Beds vacant but pvt hospitals turn away Covid-19 patients

Beds vacant but pvt hospitals turn away Covid-19 patients

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:01.08.2020

The state government’s Covid-19 dashboard shows more than half the number of beds in private hospitals meant for infected patients are vacant, but hospitals turn away patients.

Tamil Nadu has 52,427 beds for Covid-19 patients. Of this, 39,104 are in government hospitals controlled which report 40% occupancy. The remaining 23,568 beds were vacant on Thursday. Private hospitals have 13,323 Covid beds and 47% (6210 beds) were occupied, according to the dashboard.

A 61-year-old man from Royapettah told TOI that soon after he developed breathing difficulties, he reached out to a private hospital on Mount Poonamalle High Road. The hospital stabilised his oxygen level, but refused further treatment saying they did not have oxygen-supported beds. “The same happened at another hospital on the same stretch. Later I got admitted to the Omandurar government hospital,” he added.

TN Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital dean R Jayanthi said the hospital gets last minute referral.

5,881 new cases, 97 deaths in TN

TN’s fresh Covid-19 infections dipped for the second day on Friday with 5,881new cases and 97 deaths. The number of actives cases in the state is now 57,968. Hotspot Chennai had 1,013 cases, marginally lower than Thursday’s 1,175, and 21deaths. Its three adjoining districts together added 1,192 cases —Kancheepuram 485, Tiruvallur 395 and Chengalpet 334. The remaining seven northern districts added 995 cases and 19 deaths, taking the tally for the 11districts to 3,200 and toll to 53. P 14

‘Not all hosps can handle severe cases’

Chennai: “Things are much better than they were last month, but we continue to get critical cases from private hospitals,” she said. A doctor at Stanley Medical College Hospital said such patients coming in at the last minute are at high risk and such deaths increase the mortality rate.

The situation has been worse in districts like Tirunelveli and Theni, which have limited number of hospitals. Theni has only three empanelled Covid-19 hospitals which can handle moderate to severe cases, and patients have been on waitlist. Eventually, they arrive at Theni General Hospital, said a postgraduate assistant working there.

Indian Medical Association state secretary A K Ravikumar said non-availability of oxygen beds or ICU beds was the main reason why private hospitals send away patients.

People should understand that not all Covid-designated hospitals can treat people with moderate and severe symptoms. There are three categories of Covid hospitals. Only category-I (dedicated hospitals) can handle them. The other two categories (health centres and care centres) can’t admit such cases.

TN has 134 such hospitals in category-II and category-III and most of them are in tier-II cities or smaller towns. Tamil Nadu Health Development Association president Rex Sargunam said the government should ensure that all patients get enough care. “If it cannot take over private hospitals, it should at least ensure they treat at insurance council-prescribed rates,” he said.

Full fee demand: Court warns schools, colleges

Full fee demand: Court warns schools, colleges

Seeks Report By August 17

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:01.08.2020

Private schools and colleges demanding payment of full annual fee from parents in violation of an earlier order by the Madras high court will face contempt of court proceedings, the court said on Friday.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh issued the warning after additional government pleader V Annalakshmi made an urgent mention about the state receiving several complaints from parents about schools and colleges insisting on paying the entire fee in violation of the interim order. She said parents are hesitant to give a written complaint fearing adverse consequences.

Taking a serious note of the issue, the judge directed authorities to conduct an inquiry and file a report by August 17.

Making it clear that persons incharge of such private educational institutions will be hauled up for contempt, the judge said, “This court is taking a very serious note of the violation brought to its notice. Based on the oral complaint, the education department shall conduct an immediate enquiry and if it is found that the institutions are collecting fees in violation of the interim orders passed by this court, immediate action shall be taken against them.”

Only 40% advance fee permitted

The issue pertains to challenges made by associations of educational institutions against the government order prohibiting them from demanding fee during lockdown. On July 17, the court allowed them to collect an ‘advance’ fee of 40% before August 31. This apart, since fee fixed for some institutions had expired and fee fixation committees were yet to frame the new structure, it was agreed to fix 75% of the last year’s fee as this year’s annual fee provisionally. The remaining 35% (minus 40% advance) shall be collected within two months of reopening of institutions, the court had said.