Tamil Nadu Covid-19 unlock news live: Evaluation criteria for Class XII in two weeks

Madurai Central MLA and finance minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan on Wednesday inaugurated three borewells with water tanks in his assembly constituency. The borewells and the plastic tanks were installed in Gopal Iyer Street and Bharathiyar Street in S S Colony and in Ellis Nagar in M Block area. They were set up at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. READ FULL STORY

The Tamil Nadu school education department formed a ten-member panel to prepare the evaluation criteria for state board Class XII students whose exams have been cancelled due to the pandemic. Sources in the school education department said the panel will submit its recommendations within two weeks. The panel headed by school education secretary Kakarla Usha has nine other members. The other members include higher education secretary D Karthikeyan, school education commissioner K Nanthakumar, Madras University vicechancellor S Gowri, director of government examinations C Usharani, SCERT (State Council for Education Research and Training) director N Latha and director of matriculation schools S Karupasamy and three headmasters (one each from govt, govt-aided and private school) A Stella Amalorpava Mary from Tiruppur, U Ganesan from Tirunelveli and H James Sathyaraj from Chennai.

The state’s decision to exclude people aged 55 and above working under the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme came as a big blow, especially to the ones who are solely dependent on these wages. The workers have now appealed to authorities to revoke the ban as it has pushed them further into poverty. “It’s been around months since I’ve had a decent meal. This was my only income. I pledged my chain to pay the house rent. I don’t know how I’ll manage in the coming days. I have nothing left,” said S Minnala, a 57-year-old worker from Thirukazhukundram. Kausamma, a widow, has been living alone since a decade after her son moved to another state with his wife and family. She enrolled under the scheme with her husband nearly 30 years ago. Dhanam K, a 60-year-old worker from Thiruporur was involved in building channels. “I went to work one day only to be turned away. But they agreed to give a job card to my husband who has locomotor disability and is ten years older than me. I was left confused,” she said. READ FULL STORY

G S Sameeran, who assumed office as Coimbatore district collector on Wednesday morning, said he would focus on reducing the Covid-19 caseload and on vaccinating people, especially rural people. Sameeran, who was earlier working as Tenkasi district collector, has replaced S Nagarajan, who has been posted as commissioner of land administration in Chennai. READ FULL STORY

The department for welfare of differently abled persons has taken steps to administer Covid-19 vaccine doses for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), who are unable to travel from one place to another, at their homes or in a location close to their residence. The Greater Chennai Corporation has received one vehicle for each of the 15 zones in the city from Rotary Club for the purpose. In a press release here on Tuesday, Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said that the civic body is giving priority for PwDs in the vaccination centres. They need not wait in the queue and vaccinated at the earliest. He said PwDs can register through helpline numbers 18004250111 and 97007 99993 for vaccination.

The number of deaths in April and May in just six government hospitals in Tamil Nadu was 13.5 times that of their reported Covid-19 deaths, says a study by NGO Arappor Iyakkam. According to the Tamil Nadu government’s daily pandemic bulletins, the six hospitals recorded 863 Covid-19 deaths in April and May this year. But the death data of the state government showed that 11,699 people had died in these hospitals in these two months.

With a quarter of oxygen beds in most districts lying vacant, the state has asked private and government hospitals to consider resuming speciality out-patient services and elective surgeries in a phased manner. On Monday, more than a quarter of ICU beds and nearly 60% of total beds were vacant across the state including those in state-run medical college hospitals. In Chennai and Chengalpet districts, more than 75% of oxygen beds are vacant. READ FULL STORY

In the last 24 hours, 23,207 Covid-19 patients in Tamil Nadu got discharged after treatment, more than double the number of people infected during the period. A total of 11,805 people tested positive on Tuesday. The state’s discharge rate is nearing 94% and there is a considerable fall in the number of active cases. There are currently 1,25,215 patients undergoing treatment in TN, 43% less than last week. READ FULL STORY

Several relaxations in lockdown norms including availing services at government offices and banks have been announced, but residents of Chennai and its suburbs have been unable to apply for e-registration on the official portal to be able to make use of these services. Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) began accepting driving licence and learner’s licence applications, but that option is not available on the list of reasons allowed to commute within Chennai city or from neighbouring districts.

The 60-day east coast fishing ban ended at midnight on Monday and coastal fishing from Chennai has resumed, albeit on a small scale, but boat repairers, among the worst affected by the pandemic, hope the tide will turn in their favour. All vehicles require maintenance and fishing boats are no exception. However, unlike a car or a truck which can be driven to a service centre for mechanics to take over, getting a fishing boat to the repair yard at Kasimedu involves at least 20 people struggling for more than three hours before specific mending work can be taken up. READ FULL STORY