Friday, November 10, 2017

HC acquits teacher in molestation case

CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Judge holds that Tiruvallur man had been erroneously found guilty

The Madras High Court has set aside the conviction as well as two years of rigorous imprisonment imposed by a lower court on the teacher of a school run by Sevalaya Trust in Tiruvallur district. The court held that physics teacher Palanichamy had been convicted erroneously for molesting a Class IX girl in August 2006.

Allowing a revision petition, Justice V. Bharathidasan said even though the prosecution had failed to prove its case, a judicial magistrate in Tiruvallur had convicted the petitioner and an additional sessions judge had upheld it.

The judge pointed out that the victim’s mother who had lodged a private complaint, about 22 months after the alleged incident, had admitted in her cross examination that the entire legal expenses for the case were borne by an individual named Rajesh who was a close relative of Sreenivasa Rajagopal, a former donor turned foe of Sevalaya Trust.

Unbelievable accounts

“This would clearly reveal the active involvement of Prosecution Witness 11 (Rajesh) against the school management,” the judge said. He went on to state that the evidence adduced by the victim’s classmate, who had supposedly witnessed the molestation at the physics laboratory in the school, was “highly artificial” and unbelievable.

The judge pointed out that initially, the Tiruvallur Collector had ordered an inquiry into the incident following a representation by the victim’s mother. Accordingly, the Chief Educational Officer inquired into the matter and submitted a report to the Collector stating that no such incident had taken place in the school.

Subsequently, the Vengal police registered an FIR in 2008, on the basis of a direction issued by a judicial magistrate and closed the case after finding that there was no truth in the complaint. It was thereafter, the complainant obtained an order for a CB-CID investigation and got the teacher convicted in 2012.

“In the above circumstances, the delay in filing the complaint cannot be lightly viewed. Besides, the complaint is also bereft of details of the alleged sexual harassment. Even though the complaint stated that two persons, including the petitioner, had allegedly misbehaved with PW2 (victim), no evidence was let in respect of the other person.

“The conviction and sentence imposed on the petitioner are hereby set aside and the petitioner is acquitted from both the charges. Fine amount, already paid, if any, shall be refunded to the petitioner,” the judge ordered.

Anna varsity to give students a last chance to finish course

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Examination schedule to be published after candidates register online

The Anna University has decided to permit students who have arrears and have exhausted the maximum duration as per regulations, one last chance to complete the course.

In August, the Higher Education Department had issued a circular that candidates from the University’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, who had arrears, would not be allowed to take exams any longer.

The circular said that in order to accommodate just a handful of students with arrears, the University had to allocate nearly two months for semester exams.

This not only ate into the vacation time of students but those who wished to take up internships could not do so either, the officials had said.

However, the affected students had repeatedly made representations that they be given one more chance to complete the course.

The Office of the Controller of Examination, in a release on Thursday, said the University had decided to accommodate students of university departments admitted in the academic year 2000 onwards (both UG and PG under full time and part-time mode) and students of affiliated colleges and those admitted during the academic year 2001, (third semester onwards) and 2002 (first semester onwards) and currently in autonomous colleges including distance education, a final chance. “No further extension of time will be given to the students from this category on any account,” the release added.

A notification would be displayed on the university website www.annauniv.edu and coe1.annauniv.edu.

Students must register their names in the latter website. After the registration process, the schedule of examination would be published in aucoeannauniv.edu, the release added.

No further extension of time will be allowed on any account

Office of the Controller of Examination,

Anna University

Odd-even rule back in Delhi from Monday

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Motorists will have to pay Rs. 2,000 if they violate provisions of the scheme.File photo

The odd-even vehicle rationing scheme will be enforced in the capital for a five-day period, beginning Monday, as part of a graded response plan to tackle pollution in Delhi, the government announced on Thursday.

The scheme, which will come into effect on November 13 and continue till November 17, both days included, will be in place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Women drivers, two-wheelers and vehicles carrying children in school uniform, in addition to VVIPs, would be exempted from its provisions, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said.

The policy mandates that private vehicles ply on the basis of the last number of their licence plates — odd numbered cars on odd dates and even-numbered ones on even dates — and has been enforced in Delhi twice earlier: from January 1 to 15 and April 15 to 30.

Motorists will have to pay Rs. 2,000 if they violate provisions of the scheme, which will be enforced by teams of the Delhi police, the transport department and SDMs. Around 5,000 civil defence volunteers will be deployed to manage the vehicles in addition to around 400 ex-servicemen.

“The exemptions will be similar to last year,” he told reporters, adding that CNG vehicles having valid stickers would be exempt. Mr. Gahlot also added that the government would not allow cab aggregators such as Uber and Ola to resort to surge pricing during the period in Delhi.

Student facing rape at knifepoint dials friend

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

BENGALURU, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Group helps overpower assailant

A 19-year-old engineering student had the presence of mind to call her friend, who was on speed dial, even as she was being sexually assaulted in her house at knife-point in the wee hours of Monday. Her friend arrived at her home with some friends and overpowered her assailant.

Lauding the victim’s presence of mind, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division) Chethan Singh Rathore said the womanhandled the situationcalmly. “She dialled her friend’s number and kept the phone on speaker mode so that he could get an idea of her predicament,” he said.

Biryani’ lands four JNU students in a soup

Press Trust of India

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Slapped with fines for cooking and eating it near the administrative block in June

The Jawaharlal Nehru University authorities have slapped fines on four students for flouting rules of the institution by preparing ‘biryani’ near the administrative block.

According to a notice issued by Chief Proctor Kaushal Kumar, fines between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 10,000 have been slapped on the four students who allegedly prepared ‘biryani’ near the building in June.

“In a proctorial inquiry you have been found guilty of cooking food (biryani) near the stairs in front of the admin block and eating it thereafter along with other students,” the order said, adding that the act was serious in nature and calls for strict disciplinary action.

Warning the students to not involve in such activities in future, the order also set a deadline of 10 days for paying the fine, failing which more stringent action would be taken.

The Chief Proctor of the varsity was not available for comments.

To penalise the students, the order invoked a clause in JNU rules that deals with any act that may be considered by the Vice-Chancellor or any other competent authority to be violation of discipline and conduct.

One of the students, former students’ union general secretary Satarupa Chakraborty, who was slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000, was also found guilty of holding a protest demonstration and shouting slogans in the V-C’s office on the same day before cooking ‘biryani’.

On June 27, the then students’ union president Mohit Kumar Pandey and general secretary Ms. Chakraborty went to the V-C’s office to discuss some student-related issues and refused to leave till he heard them out. “Does a university proctor office run to monitor who cooks and eats biryani in a residential campus like JNU where such activities are a well-cherished practice, part of the culture and help build up community bonding among students coming from across the country,” Ms. Chakraborty asked.

Delhi-Mumbai air fares touch the sky

Aditya Anand

MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 00:00 IST

Delhi-Mumbai route is among the busiest .

Price surge seen as direct result of a three-day maintenance at Delhi airport

Air fares on the Delhi-Mumbai route soared for the second day on Thursday, with last minute economy class tickets selling for Rs. 15,000 each way. The price surge is seen as a direct result of a three-day maintenance leading to the closure of one runway at Delhi airport, and rising air pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR) which have resulted in cancellation of several non-stop flights.

Prices for Delhi-Mumbai flights for Friday, on online ticketing portal Cleartrip, showed that an the cost of a ticket on the 8 a.m. Jet Airways flight was Rs. 28,490 (economy) and Rs. 42,698 (business). An 8.30 a.m. Indigo flight ticket was priced at Rs. 25,093, while tickets on a 4 a.m. Air India flight — considered to be a red-eye flight — were selling for Rs. 19,717. Fares on Indigo’s flights between 9.30 a.m. and 10.35 a.m. were available for slightly lesser at Rs. 16,000.

Makemytrip, another online booking portal, showed early Friday morning tickets (before 6 a.m.) starting from Rs. 12,971 tapering down to Rs. 9,832 (6 a.m. to 12 noon) and Rs. 8,587 (after 6 p.m.).

In a statement, Balu Ramachandran, head, air and distribution, Cleartrip, said: “Delhi-Mumbai is among the busiest air routes in the country from both leisure and corporate travel perspectives. The runway closure in Delhi resulted in reduced flights and hence operating flights have high load factor. The last-minute fares skyrocketed as a result of this supply crunch.”

Mr. Ramachandran added that there was a drop in the bookings from Delhi compared to the daily average. “We have seen a 4.9% drop in bookings for air travel originating in Delhi between November 7 and 10. There is also a 5% increase in cancellations,” he added.

The GMR-led Delhi International Aviation Limited in an official statement announcing the closure of the runway had said, “IGI Airport’s runway 11/29 will remain closed from 12 a.m. on November 7 to 7 a.m. on November 10.”

From failing Class X to a distinction. How this Bihar girl challenged the board by approaching the Patna HC

DNA WEB TEAM | Updated: Oct 21, 2017, 06:02 PM IST, DNA webdesk

When the class 10 results were declared earlier this year, the board had failed Priyanka in the two subjects with 29 in science and 4 in Sanskrit.

In another case that highlights the ineptitude of the Bihar board, a Class X girl who had been failed by the board in two subjects - science and Sanskrit - has won a case against the board after the Patna High Court intervened. The board has also been ordered to pay the girl Rs 5 lakh as compensation.

According to an NDTV report, Priyanka Singh scored 29 in science and 4 in Sanskrit. Singh, however, knew she had fared better in the examinations and had even applied for a revaluation. However, in her revised scores, her Sanskrit scores rose from 4 to 9 and science dropped from 29 to 7.

The girl then approached the Patna High Court, which ordered her answer sheet to be produced. However, the court also noticed that her handwriting was different from the handwriting in the sheets. Officials then tried pass off her answer sheet as someone elses, but the court ordered them to revaluate the papers.

The board then conceded that she should have scored 80% in science and 61% in Sanskrit.

Bihar made international headlines in 2015 when parents and friends were seen scaling the walls of examination centres to pass cheat sheets to students taking their board exam. Then, last year, the state was reduced to splotchy blushes after it turned out that toppers in Class 12 had in fact hired others to impersonate them

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