National

Railways to seek CCEA nod for doubling New Bongaigaon-Guwahati line: Goyal

Piyush Global

Guwahati | Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday his ministry would soon approach the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for clearance of the doubling of the railway line from New Bongaigaon-Guwahati via Rangiya in Assam.

Addressing a review meeting of senior railway officials at Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters here on Saturday evening, Goyal said following the inauguration of Bogibeel Bridge, all efforts should now be towards doubling of railway lines in the region for capacity enhancement. He asked the officials to prepare a plan of action within one week.

The minister spoke to state Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya for ensuring quick permission for soil procurement, which is presently hampering the progress of the project.

Goyal asked for Vistadome coaches in Lumding-Badarpur hill section and other tourist routes. He was apprised that Tetelia-Byrnihat new railway line, doubling of Lumding-Hojai section, Agartala-Sabroom new railway line and the international line from Jogbani-Viratnagar would be ready very soon.

Before the review meeting with the senior officials, the minister went to Kamakhya temple. He promised to name one premium passenger train after Goddess Kamakhya as a mark of obeisance and respect.

While elaborating on the developmental initiatives of the railways for the northeastern region, he said timely completion of projects had “always been the topmost priority” of the present government and “the added thrust for this had resulted” in timely completion of Bogibeel project.

Goyal said the use of the sound of honey bee for chasing away elephants from railway tracks was an example of rural innovation that can bring in real transformation.

NFR’s Rangiya division had successfully installed a mechanism where the sound of bee is amplified whenever elephants are spotted near a railway track to chase them away, thereby saving wild elephants from being hit by trains.

The minister said such a mechanism would be considered for replication elsewhere in the country.

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Politics

Jaya panel counsel files plea flagging serious medical issues in her treatment

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Chennai | A petition has been filed before a Commission of Inquiry probing the death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa by its counsel, raising serious medical issues regarding her treatment at the Apollo Hospital.

The hospital has, however, strongly refuted the allegations against it raised in the petition.

Commission sources told PTI that the plea filed by the standing counsel for the commission seeks to implead Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and former chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao over their statements and depositions.

A statement issued on Saturday night by Apollo Hospital said it was served a copy of the petition dated December 27.

“It is surprising that the commission is itself filing this petition against other parties,” the hospital said, adding that the proceedings before the inquiry panel cannot be “accusatorial” in nature.

The hospital said the plea before the panel referred to three senior doctors advising an angiogram on Jayalalithaa.

“This is incorrect. It was only a single external doctor who on November 25, 2016 visited the late CM for a few minutes and suggested immediate angiogram without going into all the other co-morbidities, including her compromised respiratory condition, which could have potentially inhibited the desired outcome,” it said.

The hospital said its team of doctors and Richard Beale, a UK-based specialist, did not think it was wise to do angiogram based on the medical opinion of that doctor who wanted to “perform the procedure and leave immediately out of the country with no commitment to her follow-up care.”

Citing medical evidence in the form of depositions of multiple doctors, and related medical reports including echocardiogram and blood tests, the hospital asked why was the “commission choosing to ignore the material evidence in this regard”.

Also, the hospital said the petition wrongly spelled ‘sternotomy’ as “stenotomy”.

Complicated medical terminologies in English have been incorrectly translated into Tamil and the context and meaning of medical facts have been lost in interpretation and translation, the hospital alleged.

“This petition only strengthens our case for the immediate appointment of a medical board who will understand the complexities of the late CM’s treatment,” he said.

The hospital argued that without a medical board no finding of the panel would be “complete” or based on medical science. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that a judge cannot substitute a medical specialist’s opinion with his own,” it said.

Jayalalitha had died on December 5, 2016.

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