1. Section 144 Imposed in Tamil Nadu; DMK Walks Out of TN Assembly
Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) will come into effect from 6pm on Tuesday till 31 April, announced Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Monday. Section 144 prohibits the assembly of five people and above in a public place.
Palaniswami announced a slew of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus at the state assembly session today. Essential commodities like milk, groceries, vegetables, meat and fish will be made available in stores. Only important and essential government departments and other related offices will function.
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2. Crime Drops in City as People Stay Home
Fewer crimes were reported to city police stations between Saturday night and Monday morning as residents stayed at home in view of ‘janata curfew’. An inspector of police at St Thomas Mount police district said his station did not receive any petition or complaint of any nature for the past two days as most of the people stayed at home.
“Otherwise, our police station used to receive many complaints of a frivolous nature and petty cases. Since the Tasmac outlets were also closed, there was no complaint or petty quarrel as well,” he added. A similar situation prevailed in more than 134 police stations in the city. Another officer in Adyar police district said, “There was no complaint of chain or mobile snatching too. Normally we receive a couple of such complaints.”
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Jayalalithaa's Residence Veda Nilayam to Be Made Memorial Soon: Kadambur Raju
Information Minister Kadabur S Raju on Monday told the Assembly that Veda Nilayam, the residence of former chief minister Jayalalithaa, would be converted into a memorial very soon. Giving a detailed account of the steps taken in this regard, Raju said a few cases were pending on this matter, and the government would take expeditious steps to settle them.
During a discussion on the demands for grants for his department, the minister said that the memorial for Jayalalithaa being constructed at a cost of Rs 50.80 crore on Marina would be completed soon and that Chief Minister Palaniswami would inaugurate it.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. Passengers Pop Paracetamol Tablets to Bypass Thermal Screening
Fear of being in isolation has pushed the people to an extent where a few passengers arriving at Coimbatore International Airport and railway station were allegedly taking paracetamol tablets to bypass thermal screening conducted by the health department officials. Health department officials claimed the passengers do not want to be isolated at the health department facility, instead, the latter say they would self-isolate themselves at homes.
A senior medical practitioner at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital said a middle-aged man who recently arrived at Coimbatore from Malaysia seemed to have taken the tablet before boarding the flight.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Foreign Medicos Want Licence Soon to Assist Seniors
As the number of positive cases of COVID-19 increased by the hour, many foreign university medical graduates in the state, waiting for their licence, want the State Medical Council to hasten the process, so that they can help out their seniors in the crisis.In January, around 4,000 medicos passed the mandatory Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) conducted by the Indian Medical Council, and in that, close to 500 are from Tamil Nadu.
The provisional certificates are yet to be issued to them by the state medical council. The young doctors said their induction would help increase the testing process in remote districts.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
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