Saturday, August 26, 2017

When a neighbour returned after 26 years

VELLORE,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

To catch a glimpse:Visitors wait outside the house of A.G. Perarivalan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, after he was granted parole on Thursday. The visitors were allowed to meet him only after they registered their contact details with the police.C. Venkatachalapathy

Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, gets rousing reception in his hometown

It is 10.30 in the morning, and number 11/9 on K.K. Thangavel Street in Jolarpet is witnessing endless visitors. Mangamma, a tenant in this house for the last 17 years, is excited on seeing the sudden flurry of activity. “It looks like a festival,” she remarked.

The neighbourhood, in fact, is glad that one of its residents has arrived after more than two decades. Years after his arrest, A.G. Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, stepped into his home on a rainy night on Thursday after the State government decided to grant him a 30-day parole. He was arrested at the age of 19 for his alleged role in the assassination.

“Perarivalan Illam” is witnessing a steady stream of visitors since Friday morning. Friends, relatives and neighbours, many of whom are meeting Perarivalan after 26 years and some for the first time, waited for their turn to be let inside the house after registering their names, address and phone numbers with the police.

Mangamma has only heard about Perarivalan from his mother Arputhammal. “I have heard her talk about him all these years, and last night, I saw him for the first time. I asked her if I could take ‘aarthi’ as he is returning home after so many years as that is our tradition,” she said.

As police personnel guarded the house, and the street, residents including Gowri and Fathima have been observing how this usually quiet neighbourhood has changed overnight. “I know Arivu (Perarivalan) since his childhood. He hardly spoke to anybody and was very quiet. I saw him last night after so many years, and I am glad he is here,” said Gowri.

“He should be released from prison. He has already spent so many years in jail,” added Fathima. Neighbours felt that he should be released so that he could live with his parents in their old age.

Samundi, a resident of Chinnamottur, said, “He was my junior at the Government High School in Jolarpet. I asked him if he recognised me, but he could not. I wanted to see him as he was a good friend,” he said.

STAFF REPORTER

SC ruling on MBBS fee structure on Monday

G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

The last date for admissions mandated by the Supreme Court is to close on August 31

Final and binding picture yet to emerge for Kerala students

All eyes in Kerala are on the Supreme Court as it prepares to give a ruling on the fee structure to be followed for MBBS admissions in the State on Monday.

The allotment itself has proved to be a cliffhanger as a final and binding picture about the fee structure is yet to be had by the thousands of students who have submitted course-college options to the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE).

CEE M.T. Reju told The Hindu that the next round of allotment to MBBS would be done on Sunday and students would have to join colleges on Tuesday and Wednesday. But what if the Supreme Court strikes down the fee structure — Rs. 5 lakh for 85% seats and Rs. 20 lakh for the NRI quota — first put in place by the R. Rajendra Babu Fee Regulatory Committee?

SC deadline

Since the SC-mandated last date for admissions to close is August 31, the CEE will be left with virtually no time to call for fresh submission of options.

For the students it will be a last-minute dash to the finish line of an allotment process pock-marked with uncertainties.

Moreover, if there is a SC-mandated fee hike, the students will be left with precious little time to mobilise additional funds.

Students’ fears

“The situation of the students is pitiable. For days on end now the question of a final fee structure has dangled like sword of Damocles over their heads. They don’t know what the fee is, they don’t know who will clarify it for them. With each court verdict things have only become more confusing for the students for no fault of theirs. Each notification of the CEE says the fee will be subject to a final verdict of the courts. It is getting dangerously close to the SC-mandated deadline for admissions to close,” a senior official associated with the allotment process said here.

Of course it is also possible that the SC okays the fee structure of the Rajendra Babu committee.

Then it will be smooth sailing for the students who will finally get an idea as to how much they should cough up to become a doctor.

Meanwhile, the government has directed the Director of Medical Education that all institutions under it should function on August 28. The DME has also been directed to instruct all institution heads to provide transfer certificate and other legal/ necessary documents to students and that neither the students nor parents are put through any inconvenience.

HC nod for admissions

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Friday allowed three self-financing medical colleges to conduct admission to the MBBS course.

The court issued the order on a petition filed by the DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Al-Azhar Medical College and Superspecialty Hospital, Thodupuzha, and Mount Zion Medical College, Pathanamthitta.

According to the petitioners, the Medical Council of India had granted them permission after rectification of certain deficiencies pointed out by the council.

Power shutdown today

NAGERCOIL,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

Power supply to the following areas will be suspended between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday (August 26) in view of the maintenance work to be conducted in Thuckalay area: Manali, Mettukadai, Thuckalay old and new bus-stands, Market Road, Kollanvilai and surrounding areas.

Power shutdown in Madurai today

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MADURAI,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

There will be power shutdown in the following areas between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday as the TANGEDCO plans to undertake maintenance work at its Vandiyur, K. Pudur and Tiruppalai sub-stations:

Vandiyur, PKM Nagar, Managiri, Sourashtrapuram, Yagappa Nagar, Sadasivam Nagar, Karuppayoorani, Kalikappan, Seeman Nagar, Pandian Kottai, Pandikoil, Mastanpatti, Anna Nagar, Veerapanjan, Poolankulam, Andar Kottaram, Othaveedu, Ilamanur, Pudur, LKT Nagar and Kalmedu. Bharathi Ula Road, Vallabhai Road, Jawahar Road, Besant Road, Chinna Chokkikulam, Pattaraikkara Street, DRO Colony, New Natham Road, Pudur Vandipathai, V. P. Rathinasamy Nadar Road, Visalakshipuram, Athikulam, BB Kulam, Narimedu, Kattabomman Nagar, Bose Street, Meenambalpuram and Alagarkoil Road (Tamukkam to ITI Bus Stop). Tiruppalai, Narayanapuram, Iyer Bungalow, Valluvar Nagar, Viswanathapuram, Mahatma Gandhi Nagar, Mullai Nagar, Sivakkadu, Kulamangalam, Krishnapuram Colony, Kannanendal, Surya Nagar, Oomachikulam, Alanganallur National Sugar Mill, Valayapatti, Kadachanendal, Mettupatti, Achampatti, Vavidamarudur, Senthamangalam, Manmalaimedu, Moondrumavadi, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Boothakudi, Sikkandar Chavadi and Pasingapuram.

Medical counselling for general category begins

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

Candidates who took admission in deemed universities upset that they weren’t allowed to participate

The first day of general counselling began on Friday with quite a few upset parents demanding that their children be allowed to participate. These candidates had already obtained seats through counselling conducted by the Director General of Health Services, for seats in deemed universities and those under all India quotas.

The candidates and their parents blamed the State for delaying the counselling which forced them to take seats in deemed medical colleges. A parent said, “My son is a topper, yet he has not been allowed to participate in the counselling.” Another parent said, “It was the State government that delayed the counselling. So it should ensure our children are permitted to participate now.”

‘Following court verdict’

Parents waved a notification from the Central government demanding the State review its decision. Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan, who distributed the allotment order to the top 10 candidates admitted to the government medical colleges in the State, said, “We are following the court verdict in the Dar-us-Salaam case. We went back to the DGHS and sought clarification after several parents approached us. They said the State cannot overturn the Centre’s rules.”

But disappointed parents and students remained rooted in the counselling hall in the hope of persuading the officials to change their mind. Counselling was considerably slow for the first three hours, with just a few hundreds of the 1,209 candidates called for the counselling turned up. Quite a few of the students who got seats on Friday had passed Plus II either in 2015 or 2016.

The candidate who managed to bag the first seat at Madras Medical College, Ashfaq Sulaiman A, is ranked 27th in the State NEET merit list with a score of 594. The candidate from Tirunelveli, who passed Class XII two years ago opted out of engineering counselling and prepared for NEET, said his father.

Arushi Agarwal, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and among the top 10 to secure a seat in MMC, said she had studied from Class VIII to XII in Tamil Nadu, making her eligible for a seat under the State quota.

Adithya M, who had a cut-off of 192, had chosen ceramic technology in Anna University. “I attended classes for two weeks before medical counselling happened,” said Adithya, who had scored 577 in NEET.

The State delayed the counselling. So our children should be allowed to participate

A parent

Probe into ‘double’ nativity certificates

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI,AUGUST 26, 2017 00:00 IST

9 medical candidates have submitted them in T.N. & Kerala

A complaint has been lodged with the Chennai Commissioner of Police A.K. Viswanathan that nine candidates featuring in the MBBS and BDS merit list have submitted nativity certificates for counselling in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

According to the police, Y. Amjad Ali of Tindivanam, a Deputy Director of Health, has lodged the complaint, saying this made them eligible for medical seats in both States, which is illegal.

One of the candidates is ranked in the top 30 in the Tamil Nadu merit list and received the allotment order on Friday.

Medical Education officials acknowledged that they had received a complaint against the nine candidates and that details were being sent to the police for scrutiny.

After the complaint was received on Thursday, the legal wing of the Directorate of Medical Education has drafted an undertaking to be signed by students who claim nativity in Tamil Nadu.

Undertaking drafted

The undertaking says the candidates take full responsibility for their action and that they are aware that they would have to forego their allotted seat if they were found guilty of malpractice, sources said.

Director of Medical Education A. Edwin Joe said the candidates named in the complaint, who had appeared for counselling on Friday, had maintained that they had not applied for nativity elsewhere. “Those who appeared for counselling today provided proof of their nativity in Tamil Nadu. However, we are sending their details to the police for verification,” he said.

Dr. Radhakrishnan told reporters that a thorough scrutiny of credentials of the candidates would be done to ascertain their genuineness.

He also said annexure 3A of the prospectus provided the details and format for obtaining the nativity certificate.

A complaint has been received. Details are being sent to police for scrutiny

Ex-armyman caught redhanded in job racket

By M Sathish | Express News Service | Published: 26th August 2017 01:08 AM |

Last Updated: 26th August 2017 06:54 AM |

CHENNAI: A retired army officer was caught red-handed by the Army Intelligence on Friday as he was allegedly accepting money from three youth who are aspiring to join the Army. S Jayakumar, 52, who retired from the Army as a Subedar-major in 2015, was surrounded by the Army Intelligence Officers at the Tiruvananthapuram railway station as he was accepting the money.

“He retired from the medical department and had served for nearly 30 years. He had demanded `3 lakh from each of the candiates to get them recruited as jawans,” an Army officer privy to the case told Express.

A resident of Peyad, a suburb of the Kerala’s capital city, Jayakumar is said to have contacted four youths, who hail from the Alleppey district, through an auto driver.S Jar“The driver noticed the youths regularly taking physical training on a ground and approached him. He had told them that he knew Jayakumyakumaar, who has much influence in the Army and can get them selected if they are willing to pay `5 lakh,” said the officer. On meeting them, Jayakumar offered to reduce the amount to `3 lakh.

“He advised them to put special symbols like ‘om’ in the answer sheets,” the officer said. The Army Intelligence found out something amiss when these four youths took the written test in July.

On questioning, they found out about Jayakumar involved in cheating such aspirants who are trying to join the army.

Out of the four candidates, three had themselves qualified in the exams. But to catch Jayakumar, the Army Intelligence officers decided to set a trap and asked the three selected candidates to contact Jayakumar, offering to pay him `9 lakh.

When Jayakumar reached the Thiruvananthapuram railway station at around 3 pm on Friday, he was caught red-handed by the sleuths who were waiting, according to the source. Jayakumar is being questioned in the Thampanoor police station and further investigations are on.

Good Morning