Zydus Cadila vax may cost ₹265/dose

Zydus Cadila vax may cost ₹265/dose

New Delhi:01.11.2021

Zydus Cadila has agreed to bring down the price of its Covid-19 vaccine to ₹265 a dose following persistent negotiations by the government but a final deal is yet to be reached, sources said on Sunday.

Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D is the first vaccine cleared by India’s drug regulator for inoculation of those aged 12 years and above.

To administer the needlefree vaccine, a disposable painless jet applicator costing ₹93 is required for each dose, which would take the price to ₹358 per dose.

The Ahmedabad-based pharma company earlier had proposed a price of ₹1,900 for its three-dose regimen, sources said.

“The company has brought down the price to ₹358 for each dose which includes ₹93, the cost of a disposable jet applicator, following repeated negotiations by the government.... A final decision in the matter is likely to be taken this week,” a source in the know of developments said.

The three doses are to be administered 28 days apart, with each dose comprising a shot in both arms.

The indigenously developed world’s first DNAbased needle-free Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D received emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator on August 20.

Meanwhile, the government is still waiting for the recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) for introducing Zy-CoV-D in the inoculation drive for adults and children with co-morbities.

NTAGI will provide the protocol and framework for the introduction of this vaccine in the Covid-19 immunisation drive. PTI

Travel curbs may be lifted by mid-Nov: Tourism ministry

Travel curbs may be lifted by mid-Nov: Tourism ministry

Swati.Mathur@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:01.11.2021

The government is expected to lift all Covid-related travel restrictions by mid-November, the tourism ministry said during the first Conference of Tourism and Culture Ministers of Southern States.

“All flight restrictions should be lifted by November

15. However, complete restoration of international flight operations will take a little longer since airlines will gradually ramp up operations to pre-pandemic levels. Covid restrictions imposed by other countries may also continue for a little longer,” director general (tourism) Kamala Vardhan Rao recently told TOI.

Union culture and tourism minister G Kishen Reddy said there is no bigger confidencebooster for reviving tourism than vaccination. Vaccination and tourism will go hand-inhand, Reddy said, adding “we should use these challenging times as an opportunity to rethink, regenerate and reinvent the tourism sector”.

He also said the tourism ministry has identified 20 countries (Australia, Canada, USA, France, Germany and the Gulf Countries, among others) that send the highest number of foreign tourists to India and is working closely with the ministries of external affairs and home to appoint senior tourism officers in Indian missions in these countries to promote and publicise Indian tourism products.

Tourism ministers and officials of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, host state Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry addressed the event.

While Tamil Nadu called for state participation in a national homestay policy, Kerala and Pudducherry backed greater syngergies between southern states to maximise their tourism potential.

Full report on www.toi.in

4L pilgrims at Char Dham shrines in over a month

Dehradun:

Over 4 lakh pilgrims have visited the Char Dham shrines in the Garhwal Himalayas between September 18 and October 31, with the maximum footfall of over 2 lakh in Kedarnath, according to the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board, reports Gaurav Talwar. The yatra underwent a four-month delay because the Uttarakhand high court had refused to allow it until it was satisfied with government’s preparations.

As per current restrictions, only fully vaccinated people, or those with a Covid-negative report, are allowed to visit the shrines. Almost 2.22 lakh pilgrims visited the Kedarnath shrine, while 1.26 lakh came to Badrinath. Over 32,000 pilgrims visited Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines, each, according to the Devasthanam Board.

Dead man vaccinated now, says SMS

Dead man vaccinated now, says SMS

Deepak.Karthik@timesgroup.com

Trichy:01.11.2021

The family of a deceased man in Trichy was surprised when they received acknowledgement for the second dose of vaccination on his mobile phone which was being used by his family. Suspecting misuse of the man’s credentials for vaccination, the family urged the district administration and health department to inquire into the incident. 

The deceased, Selvaraj Govindhachettiyar, hailing from Beschi street in Woraiyur, had taken his first dose at MGMGH on April 28. Two weeks later, he contracted Covid-19 and succumbed to the infection on May 15. However, on Saturday the family received the acknowledgement message of his second dose Covishield vaccination on his mobile phone. According to the vaccination certificate, Selvaraj, five months after his death, has taken the second dose at a mini-clinic in Trichy during the seventh mass vaccination camp. “We wonder whether his personal information was misused further for the vaccination programme,” N S Karthi, son-in-law of Selvaraj, told TOI. He called for accountability in the vaccination drive.

Deputy director of health services A Subramani said a clerical mistake in updating the mobile number on CoWin platform had caused the gaffe and there was no intention to show high vaccination numbers. “We are using volunteers and animators to upload personal details of beneficiaries. As they are handling thousands of people at the mass vaccination camps, the error happened unknowingly and we will rectify it,” the official said. A section of medical officers involved in vaccination duty blamed the mess on the targets set for them at the mass drives on consecutive weeks, which caused fatigue and stress.

Five years on, 1,200m flyover at Velachery to open today

Five years on, 1,200m flyover at Velachery to open today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:01.11.2021

The long-delayed flyover at Vijayanagar junction connecting the road from Taramani with the Velacherry by-pass will be opened to the public by chief minister M K Stalin on Monday.

Work on the 1,200m flyover began in 2016 and it took five years and cost ₹186 crore to complete. State highways department officials said various factors contributed to the delay. To begin with the project got stuck over land acquisition. A section of people moved court and only in June last year, during the lockdown period, did the highways department get the go-ahead from the court, said an official.

The flyover has a two-lane carriage way with a width of 7.5 metres. This means only one-way traffic can be allowed. Similar is the size of the second arm, connecting Velacherry with Pallikaranai. This is also planned as flyover with one way traffic, said the official.

A local resident S Kumara Raja said about 11,500 sqft of land was needed to take up the flyover construction. With the court issuing a stay on the work, the original plan to complete it by within 24 months fell through.

Then the giant sewer line from the nearby residential areas to the Perungudi treatment plant became another hurdle, which needed to be realigned. This work took nearly a year. When these works were completed, the lockdown halted work.

The second arm of the flyover, connecting Velacherry to Pallikaranai, measuring 640 metres is expected to be ready by this yearend.

Kumara Raja said both arms could only handle oneway traffic and rued that they had not been better planned.

LONG DUE: Work on the 1,200-metre-long flyover began in 2016

Flying to Madurai, Trichy costlier than to Delhi, Mumbai on Diwali

Flying to Madurai, Trichy costlier than to Delhi, Mumbai on Diwali

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:01.11.2021

Air fares to Trichy, Madurai and Tuticorin are higher than Mumbai and Delhi as demand for tickets has shot up for travel on Diwali eve.

The one-way fare is ₹9,500 to Trichy, ₹10,000 to Madurai and ₹9,200 to ₹11,000 to Tuticorin though these destinations could be covered in almost an hour's flight. The fare is also high for the coming days as people are travelling before the festival.

The one-way fare to Madurai has touched ₹14,000 for 24hours advance booking for travel on Monday.

In contrast, fares to Mumbai and Delhi are in the range of ₹6,000 to ₹7,000. Though fares are high to other inter state destinations, it has not crossed ₹10,000.

Airport officials show that the hike in fare shows an increased demand, hinting that festive travel has resumed to the pre-Covid-19 level.

Arul Lazaran of United Travels said that "the air fares are likely to increase further in the coming days. It can also touch ₹15,000 to ₹20,000. This used to happen in the pre-Covid days because a lot of people would want to travel a day before the festival and return."

The return fare from these three cities to Chennai is also high for travel on Sunday. The air fare has already shot up above₹8,000. There is also good traffic to Chennai for the festival.

Though there have been calls by passenger associations and travel agents that the ministry or the regulatory body should control the fare from increasing beyond ₹10,000, the DGCA is not able to curb it.

Trains too are on waitlist to most of the towns in the south as several people travel home for Diwali. Reservation status has touched the waitlist for air conditioned class and sleeper class on the 15 trains including day trains to Madurai.

Trains to most of the towns in the south are also on waitlist as several people are travelling home for Diwali. Reservation status has touched waitlist for AC class

Cars headed for Chengalpet told to avoid Perungalathur

FESTIVE RUSH

Cars headed for Chengalpet told to avoid Perungalathur

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:01.11.2021

In order to avoid traffic congestion during the Diwali festival eve, the state transport department has advised private cars and taxis to avoid the Tambaram-Perungalathur route to reach Chengalpet.

Instead, vehicles have been asked to take either the Thirukazhukundram or Sriperumbudur routes to reach Chengalpet so that they can proceed towards Salem or Trichy.

“If they take this detour, motorists will be driving 25 km to 50 km extra. But the travel time will be more or less the same as Perungalathur will be congested due to movement of government special buses,” said a senior transport department official.

To avoid delays at Perungalathur, government buses (Diwali specials), which depart from Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) in Koyambedu, will not take the Maduravoyal Bypass Road to reach Perungalathur.

All these buses, which will carry reserved passengers from Chennai to other Tamil Nadu districts for the next four days (November 1 to 4), will travel along the Outer Ring Road (via Nazarathpet) to reach Urapakkam.

A temporary bus stand has been set up at Urapakkam to pick up passengers, who have booked their bus tickets from Perungulathur. Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai has arranged special buses to pick up passengers from Perungulathur and drop them at Urapakkam.

Besides this, MTC has arranged special buses round the clock from CMBT to four other temporary (special) bus stands setup in the city at Madhavaram (buses to Gummidipoondi), KK Nagar (Puducherry, Chidambaram), Tambaram (Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Tindivanam and Thiruvannamalai) and Poonamalle (Arani, Krishnagiri and Hosur).

According to official data, 9,808 government buses are expected to leave the city during the next four days.

“Trucks and heavy containers will be stopped at checkposts on national highway stretches in the city's suburbs if buses and cars need more time to leave Chennai. Or else it will result in a congestion at Sriperumbudur," said a Chennai City Traffic Police (CCTP) official.

Police have requested highway authorities on Chennai-Trichy and Chennai-Bengaluru highways to earmark one lane in each toll plaza for buses so that the waiting time gets reduced.

TN schools open doors to students after 19 months

TN schools open doors to students after 19 months

Parents, Kids Excited As Classes Begin

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:01.11.2021

After studying online for the last 19 months, younger students of the state, studying in Class I to VIII, will return to schools on Monday. With this, all one crore students studying from Class I to XII in Tamil Nadu are being allowed to return to schools for the first time since March 2020.

The elementary education department has asked the schools to conduct storytelling, drawing and other creative sessions for the first two weeks to ease children back into the academic environment. Schools have devised their own ways to split students' strength into two and conduct physical classes on alternate days.

Parents whom TOI spoke to said their kids are excited to return to school after 19 months from Monday. Leeba, a parent from Tambaram, said her son Andrew Thomas, a class VIII student, was excited to return to school and had kept his school bag and shoes ready a day in advance.

Sripriya Raj, another parent from Kolathur, said her daughter is looking forward to her friends and teachers after a long gap. “Though our daughter is excited to return to school, I still have doubts about sending her to physical classes as she may get the infection,” she said.

Some teachers are planning to welcome students with sweets, chocolates and balloons to physical classes. “Our teachers will greet students with flowers, sweets, biscuits and pencil pouches,” said MM Ramalakshmi, headmistress of Presidency Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Egmore. The school is planning to reopen for Classes III, IV, V and VII on Monday and Classes I, II and VIII on Tuesday to maintain distance.

CBSE schools are also planning to restart physical classes for younger classes on November 1. "We want to reopen in a phased manner," said K Manoharan, principal of SBOA School and Junior College in Anna Nagar.

Many schools have divided their student strength into two in order to prevent over-crowding on their premises