Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Friday sanctioned a contingency fluid of 6100 crore for emergency purchases to fight against the Coronavirus. He also directed the recruitment of 1,200 PG doctors and Filling up of 200 vacancies of doctors in primary health care centres. The 6100 crore will be in addition to the Budget allocations for the health department, to take up urgent measures to contain the virus. He asked the finance department to keep the amount at the disposal of the health minister and Chief Secretary.
The CM was speaking at a highlevel meeting at Pragathi Bhavan to review the situation. It was also decided to implement UGC scales for teachers working in medical colleges. Newly appointed nurses will get pay on par with their senior counterparts.
The retirement age for those working in the Ayush department was enhanced to 65 years. All staff, including those on contract, will get an additional 10 per cent pay as Covid19 incentive. The incentive being given to police personnel and sanitary workers will be continued.
He wanted officials to ensure that there was no shortage of remdesivir, tocilizumab and fayilav Ir.
Rao warned private hospitals of stern action against those who are creating an artificial scarcity for beds.
He said every hospital should display for the public the number of beds and their availability, besides informing the state government at regular intervals. The CM urged people not to get treatment at private hospitals by paying hefty fees and instead get quality treatment at government hospitals five.
SC clears decks for TS Secretariat
In a major relief to the state government, the Supreme Court on Friday relined to hear a Public Interest Litigation questioning the decision of the Cabinet to build a new Secretariat complex.
In the city, the Telangana High Court dismissed petitions against the demolition of the Secretariat.
A threemember Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M.R. Shah while dismissing the PIL by senior Congress leader T. Jeevan Reddy upheld the decision of the Telangana High Court on June 29 to dismiss the PILs against the decision of the state government to demolish the Secretariat.
BLACK DAY FOR RAZING OF MOSQUES
Muslims observed FridAy as a black day against the reported demolition of two mosques during the dismantling of the Secretariat. Mushtaq Malik, convener of the Secretariat Mosques Reinstatement Joint Action Committee, said the protest will be continued until the reconstruction of mosques at the same location. A few leaders and workers were kept under house arrest to prevent them from participating in the protests.
LAWYER HELD FOR RAPING COLLEAGUE
A 50•year•old advocate was arrested by the Saroornagar police for alleged rape and blackmail of a female advocate. Police said that the accused B. Subash of Lingojiguda was earlier booked in cases of outraging the modesty of other victims. Saroornagar police said Subash became acquainted with the woman who was pursuing her graduation in law in 2011. In 2015, Subash reportedly took her to his office where he offered her biryani spiked by sedatives and raped her when she fell unconscious. Later, he blackmailed her with the pictures taken at that time and cohabited with her until 2019, promising marriage. He abandoned her later, police said. A week ago, he again started harassing her by sending messages and she lodged a complaint. Two cases were earlier registered against Subash for allegedly misbehaving with the woman. Saroornagar detective inspector D. Venkatesham said.
DGP REVIEWS MAOISTS' ACTIVITIES
DirectorGeneral of Police M. Mahendar Reddy on Thursday said that Maoists who have entered the state at Asifabad will be caught and produced before the court.
The DGP along with the senior police officials reviewed the condition at KomarambheemAsifabad district in connection with the recent Maoist activity.
In the first week of July, intelligence agencies received information about the movement of Maoists movement in Asifabad and Kothagudem forests and antiMaoist operation teams were pressed into action. On July 14, an exchange of fire took place between the police and the Maoists at Terni in Asifabad, where the latter had a narrow escape. A day later, another exchange of fire took place at Bhadradi Kothagudem district, in which a head constable suffered a bullet injury.
Following the incident, Mahendar Reddy and North Zone inspectorgeneral Y. Nagi Reddy visited Asifabad on Thursday and reviewed the antiMaoist operations.
Speaking to the media, the DGP said that at a time when the erstwhile Ad ilabad district is witnessing development, the return of Maoists is creating panic among the people, especially Adivasis. "Maoist state committee member Bhaskar along with four others entered Asifabad. Over 500 personnel from Grey Hounds, TSSP, Armed Reserve and the local police are in search of the Maoists. We will catch them soon and produce before the courts of law," said the DGP.
Midday meals for college students
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Friday announced extension of the midday meals scheme to students of all government junior and degree colleges.
According to the Chief Minister's Office, Rao took the decision to reduce the dropout rate among students and to provide them with nutritious food.
The CMO said Rao was inspired by Raghuram, a lecturer of the government junior college in Jedcherla, who had been paying from his pocket to provide midday meals to students.
When former minister Dr C. Lakshma Reddy mentioned the initiative of the lecturer,
THE CHIEF Minister also sanctioned a new building for the college following a request made by Raghuram.
Minister spoke with Raghuram on the phone and lauded him. The Chief Minister also sanctioned a new building for the college following a request made by Raghuram. Elsewhere, the Chief Minister instructed officials to take the Jedcherla Degree College as an inspiration and set up botanical gardens in all government degree colleges. The botanical garden had been set up by assistant professor Sadashiviah, whom the Chief Minister congratulated at Pragathi Bhavan on Friday.
NIMS' contract nurses on strike
All 450 contract nurses at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences are on strike. They are demanding their longpending salary hike, that the salary be given as consolidated pay instead of as stipend and maternity leave benefits for women nurses.
On Friday the nurses boycotted work and staged a protest in front of the administration block. The nurses have been working for 10 years but are considered interns. The management has threatened them that their services will be terminated if they do not call off the strike, nurses said.
Bonam Manjula Rani. Contract nurse with NIMS from 2013, said: "All government doctors and medical staff have been treated at NIMS for Covid19. We put our lives at stake to treat them. But we are underpaid and we given a stipend." She said more than 15 contract nurses had been infected by Covldl9 while treating patients.
D. Rosy, contract nurse with NIMS since 2011, is paid 117,000. "There is no salary slip and the money is deposited in the bank as stipend. We have been asking for a consolidated salary, but the management has not shown any interest. Apart from this, there is no Covid19 incentive."
1,418 NEW COVID CASES IN TS, 806 IN GHt1( AREA
The Telangana state recorded 1,478 new cases on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 42,496. Seven deaths took the toll to 403.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area has registered as many as 806 cases, Ranga Reddy 91, Medchal 82, Karimnagar 77 and Peddapalli 35 Coronavirus cases.
There are 13.389 active cases and a total of 27,295 patients have been discharged till July 16, the health department said in its daily bulletin.
The government has stated that there are sufficient beds for people and they do not need to panic.
NIA SUMMONS JOURNO IN ELGAR PARISHAD CASE
The National Investigation Agency has summoned a former Journalist from the city, Kranthi Tekula, to appear before it for questioning in the Elgar Parishad case on July 24. The NIA has arrested revolutionary poet Varavara Rao in the same case.
Tekula had been asked to appear before the NIA at its Hyderabad office on July 13. After questioning him, he was served notices against to appear before the NIA at Mumbai on July 24.
In August 2018, the Pune police had raided the house of Tekula and seized his laptop and other material.
HC clears decks for Sectt demolition
The Telangana High Court on Friday cleared the decks for the state government to go ahead with demolition of the Secretariat buildings at Salfabad, which had been put on hold on July 10.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy dismissed a PIL, which had complained of violation of rules and provisions.
After hearing the contentions of the govern. ment and getting clarificadon from the Centre on approval of the prior environmental clearance as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, the bench said that the petitioners' contentions were untenable and unsustainable. Petitioners Prof. RI.. Vishveshwar Rao and Cheruku Sudhakar had stated that the government had not taken GHMC permission to demolish the buildings and said that an environment clearance certificate was necessary from the Centre. Dismissing the arguments of Chikkudu Prabhakar, counsel for the petitioners, who argued that prior environmental clearance was needed for "preparation of the land", the bench said that this has not been defined either in the Environmental Protection Act or in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.
On being directed, the Union ministry of environment furnished a letter stating that "a logical reading in interpretation of the provisions indicate that standalone demolition activity does not require prior environmental clearance as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006."
NO CAMEL SLAUGHTER IN BAKRID: HC
The Telangana High Court on Friday said it would like to hear that no camel was slaughtered in the GHMC during the Bakrid festival. The bench sought a report next week on protecting camels.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was dealing with the PIL by Dr Shashikala Kopanti, who said officials were not preventing the illegal slaughtering of camels in the GHMC area and the rest of the state.
Petitioner's counsel said that against the backdrop of Bakrid on August 1, there were high chances of slaughter of camels.
The bench observed that some people might be under the wrong impree sion that it is good to eat camel meat on Bakrid, but it is illegal.
The court asked government counsel whether any scheme had been formulated by the government for the protection of the camels from slaughter.
Bizman booked for violating SC order on Banjara Hills land
Banjara Hills police has booked a case against M.L. Agarwal, a businessman in the city, and his followers for allegedly encroaching on a piece of land in Road No. 12 of Banjara Hills in violation of Supreme Court orders.
The complainant, Sukumar Reddy, a businessman, alleged that Agarwal had trespassed on the land owned by him despite Supreme Court orders to maintain status quo. He alleged that Agrawal had taken advantage of the Covid19 situation wherein the courts have been dealing only with urgent matters. Agarwal allegedly entered the disputed land with his henchmen and machinery to start construction.
According to Sukumar Reddy. Agarwal was claiming title over the land, claiming that it was a part of Survey No 129/68 (Paiki) which is a fake survey number. He said the land was situated in Survey No 129/52 situated in Road No. 12, Banjara Hills. The erstwhile AP government had issued a clarification earlier by way of a notification making it clear that land claimed to be
Survey No. 129/68 (Paiki) is fake and it had warned that those who enter into a sale agreement for that parcel of land would do so at his own risk.
Sukumar Reddy said that in 2019, the deputy inspector of survey had conducted a survey and declared that there was no Survey No. 129/68 (Paiki). Survey No. 129/68 exists but is 1.5 km from Survey No. Iniso. There is no question of overlapping of both land parcels. When the matter went to the Supreme Court, it had granted status quo till further orders, he added.
Sukumar Reddy said after the Supreme Court order, principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development, had directed the GHMC commissioner to ensure there are no violations of the 'status quo order' of the Supreme Court and to keep unauthorised construction at bay till the apex court orders. Despite the legal position, Agarwal ventured to trespass on the disputed land and illegally tried to level it and raise a compound wall, Sukumar Reddy stated in his complaint to the police.
Following the complaint, Banjara Hills police booked a case under Section 447 IPC (punishment for criminal trespass) and other IPC sections.
Partygoer sweet shop chain owner dies of Covid19
The owner of a famous chain of sweet shops across Hyderabad, who was among those who attended a glitzy social event at a city hotel last month which left hundreds of members of a business community infected with Covid19, died on Thursday night, leading to Wilber scare in the community. Over 300 members of this community have got infected by the killer virus after attending lavish weddings, engagement and birthday parties that were organised last month at different places in the city. Though another Old Citybased jeweller died while undergoing treatment in a private hospital on Thursday, it remained unclear if he too died of Covid19 and whether he had attended any social events recently.
According to sources, the owner of the chain of sweet shops had attended the engagement ceremony held at a fourstar hotel in Abids last month. The business. man, who was in his late 60s, was closely related to the family that had organised the event. He too played his part in making the event a grand affair.
Social distancing norms were thrown to the wind at this lavish event, which had over 300 guests. A majority of the guests turned up without face masks. Several of those who attended the event are undergoing treatment in different hospitals or are in home quarantine.
Having a strong foothold in Hyderabad, the first sweet shop set up by the family is in Gulzar Houz, after which they opened another store on the Banjara HillsMasab Tank road. They now have shops at nine locations while their close relatives run a chain of supermarkets.
Five jewellers have lost their lives over the last few days after having contracted the killer virus after many of them attended social events. The business community has ended up as one of the biggest Covid•19 spreaders in Hyderabad and many families are claiming that the deaths in their families were due to other reasons than Covid 19, just to avoid embarrassment.
CM's order irks BE students Students say travel is risky, lecturers say not paid, working under threat
The Chief Minister's announcement to begin the academic year for engineering courses from August 17 has not gone down well with students and teachers alike. who are concerned about the safety of the Cov id19 spread.
Teachers have raised concerns over colleges not following Cov id19 safety guidelines specified by the University Grants Commission (UGC). They allege that teaching and nonteaching staff is being forced to work without precautions in place.
Complaints have been raised with the JNTUH, Telangana CMO and the Governor's office.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a faculty member of St. Peter's Engineering College said, "Despite a teacher testing positive in our chemistry department, other teachers are not being allowed to take leave. Heads of departments force junior teachers to attend duty with threats of deduction of salaries. How do they plan to accommodate students and teachers at one place with the kind of situation we have in front of us?" D. Srinivas Varma, general secretary of the Telangana Technical
COLLEGES ARE not following Covid19 safety guidelines specified by the UGC, say teachers.
Institution Employees Association (TTIEA), said that out of the 320 engineering. pharma, MBA, MCA, and polytechnic colleges, only 1012 were equipped to hold exams or conduct physical classes.
The Telangana Schools Technical College Employees Association, another teachers' body, has demanded the release of salaries and fee reimbursement to students before starting the aca demic session. They demanded that transportation be provided to all students and faculty, as well as the provision of a wellequipped hostel for students with hospitalization facilities.
Students, mostly from other states or rural areas studying in Hyderabad, are unsure of resuming classes. Shall( Man Uddin, a resident of Andhra Pradesh studying in VNR Vigyan Jyothi Institute of Engineering.
And Technology, Secunderabad, said, "Covid19 cases are rising. There are restrictions at the Telangana•AP border, and no one is sure about public transport starting. It is lifethreatening to travel in such a situation." Similar is the case with Hari Teja, a student of Gitam College in Hyderabad, currently residing in Vishakhapatnam.
Speaking on the modalities that will be put in place, Prof. It Limbadri, Vice Chairman, TSCHE, said, "The Chief Minister has instructed all officials to strictly follow ICMR and UGC/AICTE guidelines. As per AICTE guidelines, universities and autonomous colleges will decide on whether they would want to approach it in a regular, online, or blended format."
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