The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), Tamil Nadu Monday sent a notice to the director of Medical and Rural Health Services after an incident of a government hospital employee dragging a patient out of his wheel-chair came into light. A video of the assault, which was purportedly recorded by another patient, went viral on social media.
READ | Hospital employee drags patient out of wheel-chair in TN, viral video leads to suspension
The incident took place at the in-patient ward in Krishnagiri Government Hospital. In the video, hospital employee Baskaran, 40, is seen losing his cool after he was asked by the patient to help him reach his bed. Baskaran was also heard mouthing expletives at the patient before leaving him on the floor.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced last week that e-passes for inter-district and inter-state travel during the lockdown will be made available from August 17 within 24 hours of applying.
READ | Tamil Nadu E-pass: How to apply for inter-district and inter-state travel
In a statement, EPS had said that the decision to ease restriction on e-pass was taken in public interest. “I request people to utilize this e-pass only for important work. To prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, co-operate with the government by following all the guidelines,” he said.
Actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth and other celebrities have appealed to fans and the general public to join a mass prayer scheduled to be held at 6 pm on Thursday to pray for the speedy recovery of veteran playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam. As the 74-year old star singer battles COVID-19 at a hospital here with the support of ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (ECMO), a heart-lung assistance machine, Rajinikanth said: '...let us pray together for SPB's recovery from 6 to 6.05 pm."
Veteran Tamil film director Bharathirajaa who had appealed to people to observe a one-minute silent prayer at 6 pm today and then play a song sung by Balasubrahmanyam praying for his speedy recovery urged television channels to join the prayer by broadcasting a song of the star singer at 6 pm. "My friend Padum Nila should recover and that is the idea behind the mass prayer," Bharathirajaa said.
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Cine Musicians Union president Dhina said SPB is a senior member of the body and appealed to everyone to pray from their respective places for the singer's quick recovery.
Actors Radhakrishnan Parthiban, Vivek, Silambarasan, Manobala and veteran actress Saroja Devi were among the others who appealed to people to join the prayers. Vivek said: "Prayer is very powerful and when crores of fans come together and pray it has a special force. For our SPB sir, let us pray for a minute."
Bharathirajaa had said music directors Ilayaraja, A R Rahman, actors Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and others,lyricist Vairamuthu, directors, musicians, members of Film Employees Federation of South India, producers, theatre owners, distributors besides billions of SPB fans across the globe would sing SPB songs at their respective places and pray for his recovery.
More than 69,000 new cases were detected across the country on Wednesday, a new high. The total number of people who have so far been infected has risen to 28.36 lakh, nearly three quarters of which, almost 21 lakh, have already recovered from the disease. The death count is close to 54,000 now.
The testing numbers also recorded a new high on Wednesday, crossing the 9-lakh figure for the first time. More than 9.18 lakh samples were tested, which takes the total number of tests, carried out since the beginning of the outbreak, to 3.26 crore.
Within the country, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the state that has tested the largest number of samples now, overtaking Tamil Nadu which had been in the lead for more than two months.Tamil Nadu continues to deploy the more robust RT-PCR tests, and it has so far tested more than 39 lakh samples.
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Veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who is undergoing treatment for coronavirus at MGM Healthcare in Chennai, continues to be critical, the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday.
The health update reads, “Thiru SP Balasubrahmanyam who had been admitted at MGM Healthcare due to COVID-19 continues to be critical and is on ventilator and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The expert medical team treating him is closely monitoring his vital parameters which are satisfactory at this point of time.”
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The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday reiterated its earlier stand on Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations across the state and has prohibited installation of idols in public and procession of the idols, owing to the rising cases in the state.
The government has urged citizens to celebrate the festival at home this year.
Rahman Khan, former DMK minister who served in the Tamil Nadu cabinet during the late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's tenure passed away on Thursday following a cardiac arrest. Khan had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Chennai after testing positive for COVID-19.
DMK chief M K Stalin said that party flags will be flown half mast as a mark of respect to Khan.
A 19-year-old woman in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore city died by suicide Tuesday, the police said, adding that she wanted to pursue a medical course and her entrance examination was coming up shortly.
An officer at R S Puram police station near Coimbatore said R Subhshri locked herself in her room before noon and did not come out for hours. Her parents broke open the door and found her hanging. “Her parents said she was preparing for NEET for the past two years and was also attending classes at a private coaching centre. She was depressed and had severe anxiety about the upcoming exam,” the officer said. He added this was this was her second attempt at the medical entrance.
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Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 73 flights will fly between Chennai and major cities today, with 36 departures and 37 arrivals scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported 5,795 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the overall state tally to 3,55,449.
In Chennai, 1,186 cases were reported that pushed the city’s overall tally to 12,256. Other neighboring districts of Thiruvallur (393), Chengalpattu (315) and Kancheepuram (257) reported 965 Covid-19 cases.
There has been a surge in the number of cases in In Salem (295), Theni (288) and Cuddalore (238).
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Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported 5,795 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the overall state tally to 3,55,449.
With 116 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the death toll reached 6,123. A total of 67,720 samples tests were done by RT-PCR yesterday. So far, 39,13,523 samples have been tested in Tamil Nadu.
On Wednesday, as many as 6,384 persons were discharged, taking the number of recovered patients to 2,96,171. There are currently 53,155 active cases in the state.
Of the 6,21,641 passengers who entered Tamil Nadu through various modes of transport, 6,017 have tested positive.
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Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu and more in the state throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.
The heirs of each of the poeple who died in a landslide in Kerala and living in Tamil Nadu will be provided an assistance of Rs 3 lakh, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced on Wednesday. Direct successors of every person killed in the landslide and residing in Tamil Nadu would be given Rs three lakh financial aid, he said.
Those who sustained serious injuries will get Rs one lakh, he said, adding that the assistance would be provided from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.
Palaniswami said the tea estate labourers killed at Munnar in Idukki district of Kerala were natives of Tamil Nadu and were living and working in the neighbouring state for a long time. On his directive, a team of personnel from Theni district joined the rescue efforts in Kerala, he said, adding that 12 workers have been rescued and admitted in a hospital for treatment.
He condoled the deaths and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.
Chennai has a total of 12,103 active cases, with Ambattur (Zone 7) leading the tally with 1446 active cases.
Here are the active cases in the top 10 zones in Chennai:
Join Express Explained live in conversation with Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor, CMC Vellore over the development of a vaccine for COVID-19 and its effectiveness over Zoom on August 20 at 7 pm.
A total of 31 legislators in Tamil Nadu have tested positive for COVID-19 till date. Among them, one has succumbed to COVID-19.
Here is the full list:
AIADMK - 12 legislators
DMK - 15 legislators
AICC - Two legislators
CPI - One legislator
Mukkulathor Pulipadai - One legislator
Two more legislators in the state have tested positive for COVID-19. Tamil Nadu Transport Minister M R Vijayabaskar tested positive on Tuesday. His wife and daughter also tested positive. They are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chennai.
Aravakurichi DMK MLA Senthil Balaji also tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. He has been admitted to a private hospital in Trichy for treatment.
With this, 31 legislators in the state have tested positive.
Even as TASMAC outlets in Chennai reopened after nearly five months of lockdown, the turnout was quite low as most tipplers remained indoors. While the outlets normally attract huge crowds during evenings, there was no so rush owing to the pandemic. Despite the low turnout, the outlets in the city had a collection of Rs. 33 crores on Day 1.
To ensure social distancing, the Greater Chennai Police had erected barricades at a distance of five feet, while outlets were equipped with sanitisers which were to be provided to the customers. A total of 500 tokens will be issued to customers to make their purchases.
Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 77 flights will fly between Chennai and major cities today, with 39 departures and 38 arrivals scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed Vedanta’s plea challenging the closure of its Sterlite Copper smelter plant in Tuticorin and refused to allow its reopening.
The company, in response, said it would look into available legal remedies “in the pursuit of justice”.
A special bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan observed that the chain of events will “clearly reveal that the petitioner has been a chronic defaulter, taking advantage of the slackness on the part of the regulator they have been carrying thus far”.
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The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), Tamil Nadu Monday sent a notice to the director of Medical and Rural Health Services after an incident of a government hospital employee dragging a patient out of his wheel-chair came into light. A video of the assault, which was purportedly recorded by another patient, went viral on social media.
The incident took place at the in-patient ward in Krishnagiri Government Hospital. In the video, hospital employee Baskaran, 40, is seen losing his cool after he was asked by the patient to help him reach his bed. Baskaran was also heard mouthing expletives at the patient before leaving him on the floor.
On Monday, the SHRC took suo motu cognisance of a news report published in Tamil Daily Dinamalar and asked the commission for a detailed report on the incident within three weeks. “Now, therefore, take notice that the matter will be listed for further consideration before this commission after three weeks. You are required to submit the report by post without fail,” the notice read.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 5709 positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 3,49,654. Among these, Chennai reported 1182 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 1,19,059.
Tamil Nadu recorded 121 deaths on Tuesday, putting the state toll at 6007. 108 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities.
As of Tuesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 53,860. According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 37,12,657 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 65,075 samples having been sent today.
The state discharged 5950 patients following treatment yesterday, putting the total number of recoveries at 2,89,757.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu and more in the state throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.