Petition dismissed as petitioner has no required qualification: HC

Petition dismissed as petitioner has no required qualification: HC

01/02/2021

Staff Reporter Madurai

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed a petition filed by a man who had sought a direction to the authorities to register his clinic under the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act. He obtained a Diploma Certificate in Community Medical Services in 2005. He had set up the establishment and wanted the recognition.

The court was hearing the petition filed by K. Thangavelu who had completed a Diploma, the certificate for which was issued by the Indian Council of Medico Technicals and Health Care. The application to recognise his establishment was rejected by the Joint Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, Karur district.

The rejection was challenged.

During the course of the hearing, the Standing counsel for the Tamil Nadu Medical Council C. Karthik submitted that a registered medical practitioner is a person who possesses any of the government recognised medical qualification and was enrolled in the register of Council or Board or any other body recognised by the State.

Rule 2 (1) (i) of the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Rules defines a doctor as a registered medical practitioner offering consultation or treatment under Allopathy or AYUSH, it was submitted. Justice G. R. Swaminathan dismissed the petition taking note of the fact that the petitioner had not acquired the required qualification in any of the mentioned systems of medicine

டாக்டர்கள் கோரிக்கை: அரசுக்கு உத்தரவு

டாக்டர்கள் கோரிக்கை: அரசுக்கு உத்தரவு

Added : பிப் 01, 2021 00:21

சென்னை: மத்திய அரசு டாக்டர்களுக்கு இணையான சம்பளம் வழங்கக் கோரிய மனுவுக்கு, தமிழக அரசு பதில் அளிக்க, சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

செங்கல்பட்டு அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரி டாக்டர் பெருமாள் பிள்ளை, மதுரை மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரி டாக்டர் தாஹிர், தேனி மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரி டாக்டர் நளினி உள்ளிட்ட எட்டு டாக்டர்கள், தனித்தனியாக உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் மனுக்கள் தாக்கல் செய்தனர். மனுக்களில் கூறியிருப்பதாவது:மத்திய அரசு பணியில் உள்ள இளநிலை மருத்துவர்களுக்கும், தமிழகத்தில் பணியாற்றும் முதுநிலை மருத்துவர்களுக்கும் இடையே, 40 ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் வரை சம்பள வேறுபாடு உள்ளது.அரசு மருத்துவர்களுக்கான சம்பள மறு ஆய்வு குறித்து, 2009ம் ஆண்டில் பிறப்பித்த உத்தரவை அமல்படுத்தவில்லை.

இதனால், எங்களுக்கு பெரிய அளவில் இழப்பு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. எங்கள் கோரிக்கைகளை நிறைவேற்ற, அரசுக்கு உத்தரவிட வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு, மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.இம்மனுக்கள், நீதிபதி மகாதேவன் முன், விசாரணைக்கு வந்தன. மனுக்களுக்கு பதில் அளிக்கும்படி, அரசுக்கு உத்தரவிட்டு, விசாரணையை பிப்., 3க்கு, நீதிபதி தள்ளி வைத்தார்.

STORY BOARD Queen’s aide, never the queen, Sasikala PARAKH, PARAKH!

STORYBOARD

Queen’s aide, never the queen, Sasikala PARAKH, PARAKH!

ARUN RAM

01.02.2021

For those who waited for the scene of V K Sasikala walking out of jail on January 27, fire in her eyes and fury in her steps, it was an anticlimax. The former aide of J Jayalalithaa was wheeled into a Bengaluru hospital with Covid-19 days before her prison term was to end. Now that she is out of the hospital, the next big scene would be a cavalcade screeching to a halt at House No. 179, Habibullah Road, T Nagar coming Sunday, and Sasikala stepping out of one of the cars. Will she wave at the gathering or will she greet them with folded hands? Will there be fire in her eyes?

Optics aside, what matters will be how she makes her second shot at politics. It’s not just the last additional ‘a’ from her name that Sasikala shed to come on her own after Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016. She took charge of Veda Nilayam and the party, but not for long. The Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate wealth case soon took her away from the remaining comforts and sent her to the confines of the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, where she served a four-year sentence.

Sasikala wasn’t righteous, but she was wronged. People she handpicked to be the chief minister and ministers backstabbed her. Those who fell at her feet till four years ago now treat her as an untouchable. Those who ate out of her hands are now baying for her blood. If the prison term hasn’t done something magical to her psyche, Sasikala isn’t going to be silent or subservient. The first clear indication to this effect came in the form of a full-page article in Namadhu MGR, now the mouthpiece of the AMMK led by Sasikala’s nephew T T V Dhinakaran that averred that Sasikala would reclaim the leadership of the AIADMK. Not many would have missed that when she left the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru on Sunday, the flag on her car wasn’t that of the AMMK — it was of the AIADMK.

That, however, appears to be a tall order now. But for a lone former minister (Gokula Indira) and a few functionaries, nobody from the ruling party has expressed sympathies, leave alone support, for Sasikala. CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and several ministers have said she would have nothing to do with the party. But then, there are feelers that can’t be dismissed as blabber, though they come from people like K P Munusamy who on Sunday said the party may consider an apology from TTV for readmission.

Politics is a drama of surprises, but if Sasikala decides to be her old self, she has the potential to spoil the AIADMK’s plans. Besides having money power — which, however, may not match that of the resurgent AIADMK — Sasikala continues to hold considerable sway over sections of the thevar caste which has traditionally stood by the AIADMK. Today, the balance of power in the ruling party has shifted from the thevar community to the gounder community from which the chief minister hails. Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, a thevar, has not been able to expand his base beyond some Theni villages.

While EPS & Co, which runs the government in the name of Amma, has opened a Jayalalithaa memorial and a temple for her and MGR, it can never claim the proximity Sasikala had to the former AIADMK prima donna. Sasikala will silently project her incarceration as a penance, a punishment Jayalalithaa should also have undergone had she been alive. But what could ultimately fuel Sasikala’s revenge is her politically weak position.

Albert Einstein said weak people revenge, strong people forget, intelligent people ignore. If the father of the theory of relativity doesn’t make sense to Sasikala, American author Jodi Picoult, whose protagonists are mostly women, should. Picoult said, “When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves.”

arun.ram@timesgroup.com

‘If TTV apologises, we may reinduct him, Sasi’

 ‘If TTV apologises, we may reinduct him, Sasi’

01.02.2021

News of V K Sasikala’s impending return to Chennai caused a churn in Tamil Nadu politics with AIADMK leaders letting loose a fusillade of pungent statements. AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy caused quite a stir when he told reporters in Krishnagiri on Sunday that the AIADMK may consider taking back Sasikala’s nephew and AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran if he wrote a letter of apology to the party and expressed regret for “whatever he did''. When reporters asked him if a merger of the AIADMK and AMMK was possible, Munusamy said, “It is not possible under any circumstance. Dhinakaran had tried to oust the current regime and destroy the AIADMK. How can we accept such a person?” It was the norm for the party to take back anyone who realised their mistake and tendered an apology, he said. TNN

Sasikala discharged from hospital

Sasikala discharged from hospital

To Return To Chennai After Feb 7

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

01.02.2021

Former AIADMK leader V K Sasikala was on Sunday discharged from Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru where she was treated for Covid-19. On January 27, while she was in hospital for Covid treatment, Sasikala, was released from the Bengaluru prison where she completed four years of imprisonment following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

An AIADMK flag fluttered on the bonnet of the car in which Sasikala left the hospital. She headed to a resort near Nandi Hills, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where she’s expected to recuperate for a week.

Around 11.30am, she walked out of the hospital to cheers and slogans from about 300 supporters. They showered flower petals as she got into the front seat of her car, a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, which was part of an eight-car convoy.

Sasikala’s release turned on the heat in Tamil Nadu politics, coming as it does ahead of the April-May assembly election in Tamil Nadu. Among the supporters waiting to welcome her was her nephew and AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran. “She will return to Chennai after February 7,” he said. The plan, as of now, is that she’ll go by road to Tamil Nadu in a massive show of strength and support.

Dr Ramesh Krishna K, medical superintendent, Victoria Hospital, said, “Sasikala Natarajan is asymptomatic, is stable in all vital parameters and blood sugar is under control."

FREE TO GO: V K Sasikala walks out of Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru on Sunday after being discharged

AIADMK flag on Sasikala car creates flutter

The AIADMK flag on the car carrying V K Sasikala to a farmhouse in Bengaluru outskirts drew sharp reactions from party leaders in Tamil Nadu. Law minister C Ve Shanmugham warned legal action would be taken against anyone, who is not a member of the party, misusing the flag. Minister D Jayakumar said, “She is not associated with the party in any way. She is not even a primary member of the AIADMK. How can she use the party flag?” AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy said, “I strongly condemned Sasikala for using our party’s flag in her car." TNN

Lax enforcement: Not many takers for masks in trains

Lax enforcement: Not many takers for masks in trains

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:01.02.2021

Train passengers do not wear masks at railway stations and inside express trains, including air-conditioned coaches, putting at risk the lives of fellow travells in trains.

Many do not carry a mask with them while a few others who board trains with masks remove it soon after they are seated. Though experts have stressed that wearing a mask is important and crucial in overcoming the pandemic, railway officials are lax in enforcing norms.

A railway official said that people were cautious at least in AC coaches soon after services resumed after the lockdown but now behave as if the situation is back to normal.

“On Sunday, many people who travelled by Kollam-Chennai train in its AC coaches were not wearing masks. Peoplewhowerewaiting atthestations were without masks. A few who had masks removed as soon as they settled down on their seats or berths.

The railway staff were wearing masks but they were not enforcing the mask rule on passengers."

Chennai resident Rakesh Kumar*, who was on the train, said, “It looks like people are lowering their guard. People were spotted without masks at most of the stations and the few who had the masks removed them as soon as they boarded the train. I got scared when people sneezed and coughed, that too without masks.”

Kumar saidthattherewere RPF personnel on the train who did not bother to check if people were following the rule.

A senior railway official said that they are taking action when there is a complaint. “We insist that there should be masks. All railway staff wear masks. If people complain that those who are in the nearby berth are not wearing masks, we crackdown on such elements.”

COSTLY ERROR: Passengers, many of them without masks, waiting to board their train at Chennai Egmore railway station

Colleges, offline classes for IX, XI students to start from Feb 8

Colleges, offline classes for IX, XI students to start from Feb 8

Ragu Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:01.02.2021

The state government on Sunday allowed colleges to reopen and conduct classes for all undergraduate and postgraduate students on February 8. Offline teaching for Classes IX and XI in schools can also start from that date, a statement issued by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday said.

The state, which allowed reopening of colleges for final year students from December 7, 2020, and schools for Classes X and XII from January 19, 2021, has now allowed hostels in educational institutions to function.

Movie theatres, including multiplexes and screens in malls, will be allowed to operate at 100% seating capacity from February 1, the CM said, announcing fresh relaxations from curbs initiated to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the state.

TN has recorded less than 550 fresh cases per day in the past 10 days. “The total number of active cases has come down from more than 50,000 cases to 4,629 cases,” the CM said.

While swimming pools and exhibition halls can be opened by adhering to standard operating procedures, petrol pumps will be allowed to function 24 hours from February 1. Public grievances redressal meetings can also be held.

FULL HOUSE: The state govt allowed cinema theatres to operate with 100% seating capacity. TN theatres reopened in November 2020 with 50% seating capacity

Religious gatherings allowed at 50% capacity

The state has also allowed indoor meetings, including religious gatherings, cultural events, college festivals and entertainment events at either 50% capacity or up to a maximum of 600 people. Devotees will be allowed to take holy dip at Rameswaram temple.

The ban on international flights, except for those allowed by the Union home ministry, will continue.

Officials from colleges and universities said they would conduct practical experiments for all students on rotational basis using the relaxation. “The state government has already said attendance was not mandatory for this semester. So online classes would continue for all students and physical classes will be made optional,” an official from the Madras University said.

Colleges like Loyola are planning to conduct a survey among students to plan the reopening from February 8, while some colleges have convened meetings with their staff members.