Stalin: TN Day to be celebrated on July 18, not Nov 1

Stalin: TN Day to be celebrated on July 18, not Nov 1

31.10.2021

Reversing a decision of the previous AIADMK government, the ruling DMK on Saturday said the state’s Formation Day will now be celebrated on July 18, in lines with rechristening of its name to Tamil Nadu from Madras Presidency and not on November 1 as announced by former CM K Palaniswami. Chief minister M K Stalin’s announcement drew strong rebuke from the AIADMK, which called it political vendetta

TN not to suspend staff on day they retire

TN not to suspend staff on day they retire

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.10.2021

The state government has issued orders to its departments to take a decision on the departmental action against erring staff three months prior to the date of their superannuation to avoid suspension on the date of their retirement.

In cases, where charges have been framed and disciplinary authority is of the view that withholding pension under the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978, would suffice for the delinquency committed, the authority may allow the staff to retire, said an order. It will not be however applicable in cases where employees are facing criminal cases or probe by the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption.

Any failure on the part of the disciplinary authority to issue final orders three months before the date of retirement of a delinquent officer will be viewed seriously and it will entail severe action against the officials responsible for dragging on the case to the date of retirement of the staff.

It will not be applicable in cases where employees are facing criminal cases or probe by the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption

Give children returning to school warm welcome: CM

Give children returning to school warm welcome: CM

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.10.2021

Tamil Nadu Chief minister M K Stalin has urged teachers and schools to create a welcoming atmosphere for students who will be returning on Monday after a gap of almost one and a half years. Schools in Tamil Nadu will reopen for Classes 1 to 8 on November 1.

In a statement, Stalin urged teachers tospend The first two weeks should be spent in activities and games including storytelling, music, memory enhancing tasks in classrooms, he said.

As the children are returning to school after a huge crisis, the chief minister has urged MLAs, MPs, local body representatives, members of parent teacher associations, principals, teachers to welcome schoolchildren as "we have a responsibility to ensure that children return to schools without fear of a pandemic."

Diwali special buses to ply from Nov 1-3

Diwali special buses to ply from Nov 1-3

State-run, Pvt Buses To Start From 6 Places

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.10.2021

In view of Diwali, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) and private operators are set to operate extra buses from Chennai to various destinations. To ease congestion and confusion at the boarding points, the State has decided to operate services from six terminuses namely Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), Madhavaram Mofussil Bus Terminus (MMBT), Poonamallee bus stand, Tambaram Sanitorium bus stand, Tambaram railway station bus stand and KK Nagar bus depot. The special services will be from November 1 to 3 and November 5 to 8.

CMBT: Buses to Velankanni, Trichy, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Sengottai, Nagercoil, Thiruchendur, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Virudhunagar, Pudukkottai, Karaikudi, Erode, Salem, Pollachi and Bangalore

Madhavaram: Buses to Andhra Pradesh and all the APSRTC buses via Red Hills, Gummidipoondi and Uthukottai.

Poonamallee: Buses to Kancheepuram, Arcot, Arani, Vellore, Dharmapuri, Thirupattur and Hosur.

Tambaram Sanitorium: Buses to Tindivanam, Thanjavur, Panruti, Kumbakonam and Vikravandi

Tambaram railway station: Buses from Chennai via Tindivanam to Tiruvannamalai, Gingee, Katumanarkoil, Polur, Vandavasi, Neyveli, Vadalur and beyond.

KK Nagar bus depot: Buses going through East Coast Road to Puducherry, Cuddalore and Chidambaram.

MTC is arranging special connecting buses for passengers to reach the special bus stations. Passengers are requested to follow all Covid norms and wear a mask throughout their journey. TNSTC, SETC and omni buses will take the following routes:-All reserved TNSTC, SETC buses from Koyambedu CMBT will take outer ring road to reach Urapakkam temporary bus station to board passengers who reserved from Tambaram and Perungalathur. As usual SETC buses will ply via Poonamallee high road, Vanagaram, Nazarathpet, outer ring road and reach Vandalur. These buses will not pass through Tambaram and Perungulathur.

Similarly, omni buses operating from Koyambedu bound for other districts should take Poonamallee high road, Vanagaram, Nazarathpet, outer ring road and reach Vandalur. These buses will not pass through Tambaram and Perungulathur. Omni buses towards ECR will be permitted via 100 feet road, Kathipara, Guindy, Sardar Patel road (OMR, ECR) subject to the approval of traffic police. Omni buses should avoid boarding points on 100 feet road, Poonamallee high road in front of CMRL, Alandur Metro, KK Nagar. Instead those passengers can be asked to board from Koyambedu or Urapakkam. All passengers are requested to take note of the above arrangements, plan their travel accordingly, the authorities said.

Passengers have been requested to follow all Covid norms and wear a mask throughout their journey

Indian Bank loses papers, fined ₹3lakh

Indian Bank loses papers, fined ₹3lakh

Chennai:31.10.2021

The Madras high court has imposed Rs 3 lakh cost on Indian Bank for losing title deeds of an immovable property mortgaged by a private company which is currently under liquidation.

Appalled over the bank’s refusal to fix accountability on its officials for the loss of title deeds, Justice R Subramanian said, “this is the most demeaning act that a bank can do.”

“After having lost the documents, which were in its custody, it is unwilling to act against their officers also. I find all is not well with the conduct of the bank in at least attempting to take corrective measures and stop recurrence of loss of documents in future,” the judge added.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by N Shanmugasundaram seeking to direct an appropriate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the bank becoming unable to trace the title deeds and other related documents of the property owned by Sree Visalakshi Mills Pvt Ltd, which is under liquidation.

Since the bank failed to provide a satisfactory answer as to how a title deed deposited with the bank could not be traced and no official of the bank was made liable for the loss, the court said: “It is only after the directions of this court that the bank came forward to make advertisements in newspapers and also lodge a police complaint regarding loss of the documents.”

The fact that no police complaint was lodged upon the loss of the documents itself would demonstrate that the bank was reluctant to fix the responsibility on any of its officers, the court added.

The judge then directed the bank to obtain a certificate of non-traceability from the police concerned and handover the same to the petitioner. tnn

The judge directed the bank to obtain a certificate of non-traceability from the police concerned and handover the same to the petitioner

Vaccination slows, 17.1 lakh get jabs in 7th mega camp

Vaccination slows, 17.1 lakh get jabs in 7th mega camp

Rain Plays Spoilsport In Many Parts Of The State

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.10.2021

Two lakh staff, thousands of volunteers, 50,000 vaccination camps, more than 8,000 vehicles in addition to public campaigns and door-to-door canvassing by nurses could bring less than 20 lakh people to the seventh mega vaccination camp on Saturday.

By 8.15pm, the immunization division attached to the directorate of preventive medicine announced 17.1 lakh people visited vaccination camps. Among these 10.8 lakh people have taken the first dose. The slowdown in vaccinations across the state has often been attributed to a combination of misinformation and mistrust, branded by public health workers in the state as vaccine hesitancy. On Saturday, officials said, rain in many parts of the state brought down attendance in camps.

As a result, more than 1.7crore adults in the state haven’t taken even one dose of the vaccine and nearly 50 lakh are due for their second dose – some of them are due since May. “Most people who haven't been vaccinated are either reluctant, anxious or procrastinating,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

Many people who took vaccines over the last one week told TOI that they were forced to roll up their sleeves because of unavoidable reasons. “I am not averse to vaccination. I just didn’t think it was required,” said a senior citizen S Rajeshwari, who took the vaccine at a primary health center in Chennai on Thursday. For months, she and her husband were not willing to take the vaccine, until her son insisted. “He works for a corporate company. His office has made it mandatory for members of the house to get vaccinated. If we don’t take it, he will not be able to go back to work,” she said.

People had different ways to reach the vaccination centers on Saturday, but most of them said they made the decision abruptly, after months of inaction. “I got sick of wearing the mask all day at college. I wear them even when I step out with friends for coffee. They keep reminding me to wear it properly as I am not vaccinated. I came here today because I am sick of it,” said a 19-year-old college student, Sakshi A.

Vellore-based senior virologist Dr T Jacob John said many people should be encouraged to take this path quickly. “Fresh cases are down; hospitals are empty and there are no longer stringent lockdowns. So, people are probably assuming we are safe,” he said. “Vaccines can stop the new surge. We must get all our vulnerable people covered,” he said.

11 districts report increase in cases

Chennai:31.10.2021

Eleven districts reported an increase in cases on Saturday when the fresh cases in the state dropped to 1,021 from 1,039 on Friday.

The state reported14 deaths and discharged 1,172 people from the registry. At the end of the day, there were 11,685 active cases and the cumulative toll tally reached 36,097. On Friday Chennai reported 126 new cases and Coimbatore recorded 118.

At least 25 districts reported fewer than 20 cases each on Saturday. With two new cases Ramanathapuram reported the least number of cases followed by three each in Tenkasi and Mayiladuthurai.

Of the 14 deaths reported on Saturday, there were three in Coimbatore and two each in Erode, Trichy and Nagapattinam. Chengalpattu, Salem, Kancheepuram, Thiruvarur and Ranipet reported one death each. Twenty nine districts reported zero deaths. TNN

Over 4L get 2 doses of vax in Puducherry

More than four lakh people have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine while more than seven lakh people have taken one dose of the vaccine so far in the Union territory of Puducherry. Healthcare authorities have so far administered 11.26 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine. They have tested 19.13 lakh swab samples of which 16.16 lakh samples returned negative.

The territory reported 39 fresh cases even as 48 patients recovered in the last 24 hours ending at 10am on Saturday bringing down the active cases to 437.

The territory did not report any Covid-19 death for the sixth consecutive day. The death toll remained at 1,857. Puducherry headquarters reported the maximum fatalities with 1,453 followed by Karikal (250), Yanam (107) and Mahe (47). TNN

33 OFFICES RAIDED

Diwali ‘gifts’: DVAC seizes over ₹18L cash, liquor worth ₹6.5L

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31,10,2021

Directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) officials recovered ₹18.2 lakh unaccounted cash, liquor worth ₹6.5 lakh and 36 boxes of crackers as Diwali gifts during surprise raids at 33 government offices in the state on Friday evening.

The raids conducted simultaneously were held in 14 departments — TNEB, transport, registration, fire and rescue, commercial tax, police, land reforms, taluk supply office, Tasmac, rural development, drug control, industrial safety and health, municipality and DTCP.

DVAC officials are planning for a mega raid in other places on Monday and Tuesday to prevent the last round of Diwali gifts being given to government officials.

Earlier, DVAC director and director-general of police P Kandaswamy had conducted meetings with subordinate officers to gather details of the corrupt officials in all the departments.

They scrutinised the officials based on their rapport with businessmen and politicians. The officers monitored the officials call log details and finalised the list of 60 officials as per the priority and the raid was kickstarted.

In a similar raid conducted in 2020, anti-corruption officials had seized ₹4.30 crore and 519 sovereigns of gold jewellery in the guise of festival gifts from government officials .