The Telangana State Election Commission Thursday announced the schedule for elections to two municipal corporations and five municipalities in the state apart from elections to fill casual vacancies in municipalities. Polls will be held between 7 am and 5 pm on April 30 and results will be announced after counting of votes on May 3.
READ | Telangana: Election schedule announced for two municipal corporations, five municipalities
With the Centre cancelling CBSE Class 10 board exams due to an alarming surge in coronavirus cases, DMK chief M K Stalin on Thursday wondered if it was the ‘right’ time to conduct the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for Post Graduate courses. NEET-PG 2021 is scheduled on April 18. In a tweet, Stalin, whose party is a vocal critic of NEET, pointed out at the cancellation of CBSE class X exams “due to the second wave” of covid-19.
READ | ‘Is this the right time to hold NEET PG?’ Stalin questions Health Minister
For assistance on COVID-19-related queries and mental health support in Chennai, citizens can contact the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) COVID-19 helpline 044 46122300 | Citizens can find the nearest GCC-facilitated COVID-19 fever clinic here | For lodging rain-related complaints and assistance during the monsoon, citizens can contact the GCC's monsoon helplines 044 25384530 or 044 25384540 or the control room 1913 (available 24x7)
Two men allegedly attacked a waiter and cut his ear with a knief at a hotel for delay in serving food. The incident took place at Velippalayam town in Nagapattinam district.
The two, identified as Arunkumar (24) and Siva (23), have been arrested and sent in judicial custody. Police said the men have a history of crime.
The waiter was taken to the Nagapattinam government hospital for treatment.
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Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai on Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
The Tamil Nadu government has been on the receiving end from bus operators since it introduced curbs that make it mandatory for private and public buses to only take passengers corresponding to its seating capacity.
The restrictions have been imposed on busses plying between districts, Metropolitan bus transport in Chennai and the ones plying from Tamil Nadu to other states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka.
Although the decision comes at a time when the state has been witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases, operators say they have been incurring heavy losses owing to the restrictions.
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As many as 4,000 police personnel, including central forces, are being deployed for the Nagarjuna Sagar bypoll to be held on Saturday, a top police official said on Friday.
A V Ranganath, Superintendent of Police, Nalgonda, said of the total 346 polling stations, police identified 108 as 'critical'.
"We are deploying 4,000 police personnel including state armed police and central forces. We expect smooth polling tomorrow (April 17) and do not anticipate any problem," the official told PTI.
He said polling will be held from 7 am to 7 pm. (PTI)
Popular Tamil actor Vivek has been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Chennai after he suffered a heart attack on Friday morning. According to the sources, his condition is said to be critical.
The 59-year-old actor made headlines on Thursday for his efforts to remove the fear of vaccination among the public. Instead of going to a private hospital, he chose to get vaccinated at a government hospital to spread awareness.
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The surge in COVID-19 cases in Telangana continued with 3,840 fresh infections reported on Thursday, pushing the tally to 3,41,885, the government said on Friday. The toll rose to 1,797 with nine more fatalities, a bulletin said.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 505, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (407) and Nizamabad (303).
The total recoveries were at 3,09,594 with 1198 patients being cured and there were 30,494 active cases. Over 1.21 lakh samples were tested on Thursday and cumulatively more than 1.14 crore samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was over 3.08 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality and recovery rates in the state stood at 0.52 per cent and 90.55 per cent respectively. According to a separate release, over 22.90 lakh people in the state have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while over 3.36 lakh got their second shot also as of April 15. (PTI)
A total of 85,111 people above the age of 60 and 1,15,970 above 45 years with co-morbidities were administered the vaccines. So far, 43,90,629 individuals have been vaccinated in the state.
The inoculation drive has been ramped up owing to a surge in Covid-19 cases. Hospitals and primary healthcare centres witnessed long queues as people waited to get their shots. Social distancing went for a toss in most of these centres as there were no officials to regulate the crowd.
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A total of 10,64,546 people have been inoculated in Chennai till date, according to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), with 40,656 people having been vaccinated on Thursday alone.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 314 fever clinics in Chennai on Thursday. A total of 21,612 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 420 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Thiru.Vi.Ka Nagar (Zone 6) where 43 camps had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2) and Anna Nagar (Zone 8) had the least with seven camps each.
The city police on Thursday foiled attempts by Y S Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, to take out a procession without prior permission after holding a day long fast at Indira Park in Hyderabad, police said.
After undertaking the fast demanding issuance of notification for government jobs for unemployed youths by the Telangana government, Sharmila along with her followers decided to take out a procession. They assured the police that they would disperse after marching a certain distance but they did not do so and as they continued with their march, police prevented them from further taking out the procession.
According to a senior police official, Sharmila had sought permission for a three-day fast, but she was granted permission for only one day from 10 am to 5 pm. They again gave an application for extension of permission for two more days which was rejected, he said.
"After the day long fast, they tried to take out a procession and assured us of dispersing after marching a certain distance but they did not do so and hence police intervened and told them it (procession) was illegal and dispersed the crowd," the official told PTI.
No arrests have been made, the official added. Konda Raghava Reddy, close aide of Sharmila, told PTI she would continue her fast for two more days at her residence in the city. (PTI)
Two people including the driver were charred to death after the container lorry caught fire in Hyderabad in the early hours of Thursday, police said.
The incident occurred at about 4 AM on Outer Ring Road at Himayathsagar, when the container lorry hit another unknown vehicle, engulfing the front portion (drivers cabin) of the container vehicle resulting in the death of driver and co- driver, they said.
The duo had started from Narasapur in West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh in the container vehicle on Wednesday evening with a load of prawns and were proceeding to Mumbai and the vehicle was driven by one driver and the co-driver slept in the cabin, police said.
A video showed the vehicle's front portion going up in flames. On receipt of information, a police team attached to Rajendranagar police station rushed to the spot and put out the fire with the help of the fire brigade. A case was registered and further investigations were on. (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it would hold online examinations for students with arrear papers, making a u-turn from the earlier cancellation of such exams. In a volte face from its earlier order passed in August last year, cancelling the arrear exams in view of the pandemic prevailing then, state Advocate General Vijay Narayan told the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy that no student would be declared pass without writing the online exams.
"We have decided to abide by the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and it would be mandatory for all the students, who have arrears, to attend the online exams," the AG said.
Recording this submission, the bench directed the government to hold the exam, declare the results and issue the certificates within eight weeks. The matter stands adjourned till the second week of July, by which time all the Universities shall file reports after conducting the exams online.
The bench was passing further interim orders on two PIL petitions-- one from advocate Ramkumar Adityan and the other from Anna University former Vice Chancellor E Balagurusamy. The PILs sought to quash the GO.
On April 7, the judges had observed that the August 2020 government order was nothing but an uninformed political decision, which had led to chaos. It had directed the state government and the UGC to put their heads together to suggest any ameliorative measure that could be taken for holding the online exam or some other method. (PTI)
The Madras High Court on Thursday stayed the operation of an order of a single judge, which directed exhuming the body of a doctor, who succumbed to COVID-19, from a burial ground in Chennai and rebury it at a city cemetery.
Dr Simon Hercules, who had been treating COVID-19 patients, had fallen victim to the dreaded virus in April last.
A division bench headed by Justice M M Sundresh on Thursday granted the injunction while passing interim orders on an appeal from the Greater Chennai Corporation. Contending that the single judge order was not enforceable in view of the emergence of the COVID-19 second wave, the civic body moved the bench to quash it and to stay its operation.
Justice Abdul Quddhose had given the directive to the Corporation while allowing a petition from Anandi Simon, widow of Dr Hercules, on March 31. He was allowing the plea seeking quashing of a Corporation order dated April 24, 2020, rejecting her plea to exhume her husband's body and rebury it at the Kilpauk cemetery.
The judge had then allowed exhumation of the body from the Velangadu burial ground and rebury the remains at the Kilpauk cemetery in the city. (PTI)
‘Jagan Seva versus Jana Seva’ (service to Jagan versus service to people) has been the war cry in the campaign for the by-election to Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, where the stakes have become high for all the main parties.
What triggered this was the choice, of the ruling YSR Congress, of a political novice M Gurumurthy as its candidate, whose only credentials were that he accompanied the party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in his 3,600-km-long padayatra (foot march) in 2017-19 an tended to the latter as a physiotherapist.
“If you elect Gurumurthy, he will be only in the service of Jagan and not raise voice in Parliament for you,” the opposition BJP and TDP have been telling people in the run-up to the April 17 by-election, referring to his role as Jagan Mohan Reddy’s personal physio.
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Amid a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, especially in Chennai, hearing of cases in the Madras High Court would be through video-conferencing only until further orders, its Registrar-General announced on Thursday.
"Even though the situation in Tamil Nadu may be better than other places in the country, so as to ensure that immediate preventive measures are taken to arrest the further spread of the pandemic, the state government has requested the High Court of Madras to take appropriate immediate measures so that the footfall in the court buildings is reduced considerably," a release from the office of the Registrar
General said.
The decision follows an observation from the Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee that the second wave of the virus was spreading fast and his subsequent discussions with Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan Thursday.
The hearing of cases in the High Court shall be only on virtual mode to the extent possible, except the appearance of the government lawyers in respect of bail and other urgent motions, it said. All lawyers chambers shall remain closed from April 17. The libraries in all the Bar Associations shall also remain closed until further orders.
The above restrictions will apply to the Madurai Bench as well, until further orders, the release said. This arrangement will continue till April 23 and the situation will be reviewed on April 22, the release added. (PTI)
In the poll-bound Nagarjuna Sagar assembly constituency in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, campaigning is on at full strength ahead of the polling scheduled for April 17. Meanwhile, the district is also surging ahead in terms of a sudden spike in the number of fresh Covid-19 infections.
According to the Directorate of Public Health, Nalgonda district has recorded 570 new infections in the last 7 days, much more than its adjoining districts – Nagarkurnool, Yadadri, and Suryapet, which have recorded 261, 278, and 332 fresh infections in the same period. Rangareddy, the neighbouring district of Nalgonda (as well as of Hyderabad), has during the same period recorded 1,619 cases.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Dr. A Kondal Rao, Nalgonda’s district medical and health officer (DM & HO), said Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in the district from the last week of March and the test positivity ratio has risen from 0.2 percent then to 5 to 6 percent now.
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A local court on Thursday sentenced a 39-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in October last year.
First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Suneetha Kunchala found the man, a labourer, guilty under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC and sentenced him to undergo 20 years RI. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000, a release from Hyderabad Police Commissionerate said.
According to the prosecution, the accused, a neighbour of the girl,called her to his room on the pretext of giving chocolate on October 7, 2020 and sexually assaulted her.
The girl informed her mother who filed a complaint with police. A case was registered and the accused was subsequently arrested. (PTI)
Telangana government Thursday decided to cancel SSC exams scheduled to be held from May 17. A memo from the School Education Department, referring to a note from the Chief Minister’s Office, said that the decision comes in the wake of the pandemic situation prevailing in the state as well as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) notification of April 14 that dropped class 10 exams and postponed exams for students of class 12.
The results of class 10 students are to be prepared on the basis of an objective criteria to be developed by the SSC Board, Telangana at a later date. Any candidate who is not satisfied with marks allotted will be given an opportunity to sit in an exam as and when the conditions are conducive, said the memo from Special Chief Secretary Chitra Ramachandran.
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The Madras High Court on Thursday warned that it would not hesitate to order the demolition of Semmancherry police station, allegedly being constructed on a city lake, and said the building shall not be put into use until further orders.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy gave a direction to this effect when a PIL from an NGO, Arappor Iyakkam, filed by its managing trustee Jayaram Venkatesan, came up.
The petition sought quashing of re-classification of land use of the Tamaraikkeni lake on Old Mahabalipuram Road to that of 'institutional use zone' and restore the water body in its original form. The interim prayer is to restrain the authorities concerned from continuing the construction of the police station.
The bench also directed the IIT-Madras to constitute a committee to find out the nature of the land on which the police station was being constructed and submit a report. (PTI)
Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai from 9 am to 2 pm today to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
The Telangana State Election Commission Thursday announced the schedule for elections to two municipal corporations and five municipalities in the state apart from elections to fill casual vacancies in municipalities.
Polls will be held between 7 am and 5 pm on April 30 and results will be announced after counting of votes on May 3.
Elections are due in Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation, Khammam Municipal Corporation, and also in the municipalities of Siddipet in Siddipet district, Atchampet in Nagarkurnool district, Nakrekal in Nalgonda district, Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district, and Kothur in Rangareddy district. Elections will be held for 263 wards in the above municipalities and Municipal Corporations.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 7987 positive cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the state tally to 9,62,935. Among these, Chennai reported 2558 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,74,734. The state recorded 29 deaths on Thursday, putting the state toll at 12,999. Twenty two of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 4176 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,91,839.
As of Thursday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 58,097. Till date, 5,81,247 males, 3,81,652 females and 36 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 2,08,79,495 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 95,387 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 262 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 193 are private facilities.
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