Tiruchy railway junction goes digital

By Harish Murali  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 27th August 2017 07:42 AM  |  

The Quick Response Code badge that is stuck to the uniforms of vendors at the Tiruchy Junction | EXPRESS

TIRUCHY:  The Tiruchy railway junction has aimed to go completely cashless by providing all the catering staff, vendors at the junction and all the shops with Quick Response Codes. A passenger can just take out his smartphone and scan the QR code placed on the vendors’ uniforms to carry out the transaction. All staff at the junction are currently made to wear badges of Paytm with QR codes, allowing passengers to make transactions even for as low as `10.

According to railway officials, the system was mooted by Tiruchy Divisional authorities after Railways decided to go completely digital. A total of 90 catering vendors attached to the cell kitchens and other eateries are now walking with Quick Response Codes attached to their uniforms. A senior railway official attached to the Catering Department of Tiruchy railways says, “All the caterers and vending staff in the division were briefed about the technology, who in turn are making the passengers know the advantages of the payment through the QR code.

After the success of the QR codes during demonetisation by various small kirana shops, the use of the same even for small payments was mooted during a meeting by the railway authorities and is now being implemented across the division.”

As a first, the railway authorities have brought it to the places of Mayiladuthurai, T h a n j av u r a n d Tiruchy, where a total of 90 cell kitchen staff attached to the eateries have adapted to the technology. The railway officials also said the vendors are also made to look into the customers’ transactions till they become successful as the messages are received directly by the parent company.

On an average, at least 20 transactions are made daily through the Paytm QR codes, say railway officials. The officials brought the exclusively-made tags from a Bengaluru-based company involved in manufacturing such tags.

400 relatives & friends flock to meet Perarivalan: Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

By Express News Service  |   Published: 27th August 2017 07:51 AM  |  

Arputham Ammal, mother of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict A G Perarivalan, visits Justice V R Krishna Iyer at his house in Kochi | Express

VELLORE: The narrow K K Thangavelu Street behind Jolarpettai railway station has been buzzing with activity since Friday night as A G Perarivalan (47), a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, returned home after 26 years, for 30 days of leave from prison.

About 400 people, mostly relatives and friends, flocked to Perarivalan’s residence on Saturday, celebrating his leave with renewed hopes of him getting released permanently. Many relatives admitted it was the first time they were visiting the house in a decade, and added that until 2002, they were reluctant to help Perarivalan’s mother Arputhammal in her legal battle.

“When Arivu (Perarivalan) was arrested in 1991, almost all relatives and family friends distanced themselves from his family. Arputhammal was invited for family functions at that time, but it wasn’t until late 2002 that many of us were convinced that Arivu would not have been involved in the assassination, said Thachananthan, a 33-year-old army man and relative of Perarivalan.

On returning home on Friday, Perarivalan reportedly told his mother he could not recognise the street or locality. “He said he couldn’t recognise any of the places beyond the bypass road, except the school and railway track,” said another relative.

On Arputhammal saying she wanted to see her son married, Perarivalan reportedly replied that he would think about marriage only after getting released from jail permanently.

Qatar Airways flight makes emergency landing at Shamshabad airport in Hyderabad

By Express News Service  |   Published: 26th August 2017 04:06 PM  |    

A Qatar Airways aircraft. (File photo | Reuters)

HYDERABAD: A Qatar Airways flight carrying 240 passengers made an emergency landing at Shamshabad airport here after the co-pilot suffered pain in his chest.

The flight landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here at 12.05 am, and the pilot Andrei Dinu was rushed to Jubilee Hills Apollo hospital for treatment. The flight was on the way from Doha to Denpasar, Indonesia.

According to sources, the Qatar airways flight (QR 964) was diverted to RGIA, when the co-pilot Andrei Dinu (Staff no. 84362) suffered severe pain in his heart and lungs. 

"The 34-year-old Romanian national was immediately rushed to Apollo hospital in the airport at 1.20 am. The doctors said the crew member was suffering from severe pain in the heart and lungs, but it was not confirmed by the doctor what the actual medical condition was. Later, the doctor decided to shift him to Jubilee Hills Apollo Hospital where he is being treated now," said a source at the airport. 

Qatar airlines made alternative arrangements for the flight and ensured it reached its destination, Denpasar, on time at 8 am, sources said.

Reliance Jio suspends pre-booking of JioPhone 

By PTI  |   Published: 27th August 2017 10:12 PM  |  

A woman checks her mobile phone as she walks past a mobile store of Reliance Industries' Jio unit in Mumbai.(Photo | Reuters)

NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio has suspended the pre-booking of its much awaited "effectively free" 4G feature phone following overbooking of initial lot which is expected to be delivered in September.

"Millions have pre-booked the JioPhone. We will inform you when pre-booking resumes," a message on Reliance Jio website said.

A company official said pre-booking has been suspended after receiving overwhelming response. However, Jio didn't respond to queries on whether the pre-booking was stopped across all Jio stores and retailers.

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Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani in his last annual general meeting speech had said the company plans to sell 5 million JioPhone every week.

The pre-booking of JioPhones started on August 24 against payment of refundable deposit of Rs 500 and rest of the refundable deposit of Rs 1,000 has to be paid by customer when company starts delivering them in September.

Ambani had announced that total amount will be refunded after 36 months when the customer returns the phone.

According to sources, the delivery of the JioPhone is expected to start around second week of September.

He said that voice calling for customers of the "effectively free" JioPhone would always be free and they would get unlimited data for a month against a payment of Rs 153.

JioPhone, which can be operated by speaking out instructions to dial, type messages and the like will come with pre-loaded Jio apps for messaging and entertainment. The phone can be connected with television sets for watching live TV using the Jio TV app.

The phone will also include some of the popular instant messaging and social networking apps. 

Hardly any respect for the departed souls here

By Sahaya Novinsto NLobo  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 27th August 2017 08:13 AM  |  

The place where dead bodies are burnt in the open after the chimney of Thiruvottriyur Electric Crematorium got damaged | ASHWIN PRASATH

CHENNAI: “MODERN crematorium” – Reads the entrance arch of the crematorium at Tiruvottriyur. But, inside, the bodies are still being burnt in open pyres and clearly, there is nothing modern about it. The reason is that even eight months after cyclone ‘Vardah’ damaged the chimney of this biogas crematorium, the city corporation is yet to repair it. So the NGO staff who are running the crematorium have returned to old ways of burning bodies. But, the real problem is that the shed in the crematorium can at best accommodate three pyres at a time.

As people always want the cremation only during the fixed hours, they are forced to wait in the queue. Even then they can pay their last rites to their loved ones amidst two other families in the same situation. Many times, to manage the crowd, the staff cremate the bodies outside the shed. “All that we want is a respectable burial for my grandfather, but burning a person’s body outside the shed when three other bodies are kept in the shed does not seem to pay a good sign of burial,” said M Karthick (name changed on request), who had come to cremate his grandfather’s body.

Karthik's father, in fact, picked an argument with the staff at the crematorium as he felt, like many, his father deserved more respect during the last rites. “Anyone else too would feel the same. Either the electric crematorium should be opened or the shed for burning the pyre should be expanded.” “The problem with open pyres is that it takes much time (to burn the bodies) and the relatives have to wait,” said the person in-charg e of the crematorium.

The Tiruvottriyur biogas crematorium was built in 2011 with a 100-feet tall chimney to avoid smoke reaching the nearby Tiruvottriyur Kuppam. On December, 12, 2016, when the city was hit by cyclone ‘Vardah’, the chimney was broken and now only 30 feet of the chimney is left. In January, the staff of Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO), the NGO that is running the crematorium, stopped using the biogas crematorium since the low height of the chimney resulted in dense smoke spreading in the nearby residential area.

But the bodies were burnt in pyres in a nearby shed. “It has been eight months now and the corporation has not repaired the chimney, said one of the staff at the crematorium. “In spite of writing to officers there is still no response and they are delaying.” Residents of nearby areas are the ones who have to deal with smoke and smell that the pyres emit every day.

“We wish they set up the chimney and start burning the bodies so that there would be less smoke around the area” said Kumari Muthu of Tiruvottriyur Kuppam. When contacted, Corporation officials told Express that the needful will be done. “The chimney would be ready within a week and the biogas crematorium will start functioning soon,” said a zonal corporation officer in charge of the functioning of the crematorium.

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Read more at Medical Dialogues: Open school candidates INELIGIBLE for MBBS abroad: Medical Council Of India http://education.medicaldialogues.in/open-school-candidates-ineligible-for-mbbs-abroad-medical-council-of-india/

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Read more at Medical Dialogues: MBBS may be soon allowed to operate, give anaesthesia http://medicaldialogues.in/mbbs-may-be-soon-allowed-to-operate-give-anaesthesia/
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