After CAG rap, Rlys plans to stop blankets in AC coaches

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Facing flak for supplying dirty blankets, railways is working on a pilot project to discontinue providing blankets in their air-conditioned (AC) coaches in some trains.

 

Recently , CAG, in its report tabled in Parliament, criticised railways on cleanliness and hygiene. On a trial basis, the railways will maintain the temperature at 24 °C, up from the cur rent 19°C to do away with the practice of providing blankets in AC coaches.

“We are trying to run a pilot on some trains,“ said a senior official. “We are not implementing it across all trains.“

As per the initial estimates, the move was a more economical option, considering that it takes `55 to clean the bedroll while passengers are charged `22 for its use.

According to railway guidelines, the blankets were to be washed every one to two months, which was not followed and the transporter was flooded with complaints.

Last year, the transporter started a scheme under which passengers with a confirmed ticket for travel can book the disposable bedrolls through IRCTC website or purchase from designated counters at the stations. The passenger can take it home after the journey .

Woman, 68, dies on train

Trichy: TNN





A sexagenarian, who was travelling with her husband on a Chennai-bound express from Madurai collapsed following a heart attack near Manapparai and died before the train reached Trichy . According to railway sources, Mani, 75, of Balambigai Nagar in Virugambakkam in Chennai was returning from Madurai with his wife M Hemavathi, 68, on the Pandian Express on Friday night, when she suffered a massive heart attack.

HC orders compensation to kin of 32 people killed in 2009 Diwali fire accident

Chennai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Eight years after a Diwaali-eve blast left 32 people dead at Pallipattu in Thiruvallur district, Madras high court has ordered compensation ranging from `6.5 lakh to `17 lakh to the victims' families.Holding that the shop owner as well as the government had equally contributed to the tragedy , due to their negligence, the court said both should share the total compensation burden equally .

 

“Neither the government machinery , nor the owner of the shop, can escape the re sponsibility of providing secured atmosphere to the public to transact their business, as the commodity being sold in the shop is highly inflammable and vulnerable for any such untoward incident,“ said Justice R Suresh Kumar, passing orders on a batch of writ pleas moved by families of the victims.

The government argued that it was not liable to pay any compensation, as and that the shop owner alone should be made entirely liable for the accident for running the business without proper license and safety measures. The shop owner, on his part, argued that the accident occurred only due to the negligence of the customers who carried inflammable objects inside the cracker shop.

Rejecting both the submissions, Justice Suresh Kumar said both were equally negligent and hence the liability to pay compensation, certainly , would not lie on the shoulders of the state administration alone, as the shop keeper must also shoulder 50% of the compensation for running the shop illegally.

The actual compensation sought by the petitioners was `25 lakh each for the 32 families, but the court granted compensation ranging from `6.5 to `17 lakh adopting multiplier method. It will carry 6% annual interest from the date of filing of the petitions, and the compensation should be paid directly to the petitioners within three months.

Former Anna University VC's suspension revoked after HC orders

Siddharth Prabhakar

Chennai:





Anna University has revoked the suspension of former vice-chancellor Dr P Mannar Jawahar in an order dated June 16 and exonerated him of all charges framed against him. This was based on an enquiry by retd Justice T N Vallinayagam, former judge of the Madras high court. This was after the university's syndicate on June 5 resolved to accept the recommendations of the inquiry officer and drop further action against him.

 

Jawahar will now get his entire pension and other retirement benefits from November 1, 2013. Jawahar was placed under suspension on October 28, 2013 in connection with a case pertaining to largescale discrepancies in reevaluation of exam papers.His superannuation wasthree days later, but he was not allowed to retire and retained in service due to the pending inquiry into the grave charges against him.He joined the Centre for Industry University Collaboration (CUIC) thereafter. Jawahar challenged the suspension in the Madras high court.
It has been a long wait, as noted by Justice M Sathyanarayanan in his order on April 27, which gave a direction to the university to pass final orders in the disciplinary proceedingswithin six weeks of receipt of the order.
On February 25, 2016, Justice T Raja had passed an order directing the university to pass final orders with respect to the disciplinary proceedings within a period of three weeks, stating that there was no impediment. Despite that, Anna University did not pass any final orders. As the authority failed to take a call on the inquiry, he approached the madras high court seeking a direction to the university to pass final orders on the inquiry .

The state higher education department had issued a government order (GO) on April 22 after which the disciplinary proceedings and the inquiry report were to be placed in the syndicate, counsel for the respondents said.
Justice Sathyanarayanan noted that Jawahar lost not only his terminal benefits, but opportunities to serve good academic institutions after his retirement.





5, including 4 MTC officials, held in fake bus pass scam

Chennai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Police on Saturday arrested five people including four MTC staff for forging fake MTC monthly bus passes ­ Travel As You Like Please Ticket ­ valued `1,000 each.

 

The issue came to light when an MTC crew recovered a fake bus pass from Koyambedu in May this year.MTC officials informed their higher ups and they ordered an internal inquiry. Twenty more fake passes were recovered in June.They then lodged a complaint with Chennai city police commissioner.

Their petition was forwarded to forgery wing of the Central Crime Branch.A police team nabbed the suspects Ramesh Babu Sriramulu, 32, who works as a contract EB staff at Nagari in Andhra Pradesh and S Krishnakumar, 41, a resident of Sembakkam. Inquiries revealed that the duo had masterminded the cheating and had been preparing the fake bus passes and selling them at various bus depots in the city.

After inquiries, police arrested three more suspects -M Jagadeesh, 34, D Prakash, 45, and D Suresh Kumar, 43. Four suspects worked as `ticket issuing officials' at various bus depots in the city. They had been forging the bus passes at Adambakkam and at at Poornimangadu near Tiruttani using a photocopier machine.
Police estimate the suspects to have sold fake tickets worth at least `10 lakh to `20 lakh every month and shared the booty .





Docs protest as hostel runs out of water

Chennai: TNN





Postgraduate students of the Madras Medical College sat on a protest on Saturday at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital with empty buckets and mugs demanding regular water supply at their hostel. The students said there was no water at the hostel for the past one week. “ As postgraduate doctors, we are expected to see patients in their wards. It is extremely difficult to walk before a patient without having a bath or feeling clean,“ said a student.

Vice-principal Dr Narayanaswamy said the institute and hospital had seven borewells besides supply from Metrowater.“So far, we have not faced any water shortage. The motor at the PG hostel was not working.We have made alternative arrangements temporarily ,“ he said. The students dispersed after assurances that the college would seek permission to dig two more borewells on campus.

Sathyabama univ conducts convocation

Chennai: TNN





Nearly 3,000 students received their degrees at Sathyabama University's 26th convocation ceremony celebrated on Saturday . Around 2,392 undergraduates, 284 postgraduate and 58 PhD students received their degrees. The chief guest S Christopher, chairman, DRDO, along with VR Lalithambika, deputy director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Isro, and J Ajeeth Pradath Jain, senior principal, Bhavan's Rajan Vidyashram, were awarded honorary degrees.