Churidar on idol sparks row in Tamil Nadu 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.
Published Feb 6, 2018, 5:42 am IST

This ancient temple is among the six shrines on Cauvery river bank which are regarded equivalent to Kasi. 


The presiding deity of the temple is a Suyambhu Lingam and is known as Mayuranathar as He was worshipped by His Consort Goddess Parvathy at that place in the form of Mayura (peahen).

Chennai: Though there are numerous alankarams for Goddess, which all bring out the divinity and evoke a sense of spontaneous veneration and appreciation among devotees, the one alankaram (decoration) that had shocked devotees is depicting Goddess Abhayambikai of the renowned Sri Mayuranathaswamy temple in Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district in the state, in ‘churidar.’

Devotees who visited the temple for darshan of the Goddess who is also by numerous names: Abhayapradhambikai, Abhayambikai, Anjalanayaki and Anjalai, on the auspicious ‘Thai’ Friday found to their disbelief that She was decorated in a churidar.

The temple priests Kalyanasundaram gurukal and his son Raja gurukal who had portrayed the goddess which did not appear to be traditional, had evoked the ire of the devotees. They had even taken photos of the goddess and uploaded them on WhatsApp, it was said.

The furious devotees complained to the temple administration and following enquiry Aadheenam Ambalavana Pandara Sannidhi removed the two priests from service.

The presiding deity of the temple is a Suyambhu Lingam and is known as Mayuranathar as He was worshipped by His Consort Goddess Parvathy at that place in the form of Mayura (peahen). This ancient temple is among the six shrines on Cauvery river bank which are regarded equivalent to Kasi.

On the new moon falling in the Tamil month of Aippasi (November–December), the Hindus take a ceremonial bath in the temple tank as it is believed that this would cleanse them from the sins.

Singapore telecom invests Rs 2,650 crore in Bharti Airtel 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Feb 6, 2018, 1:24 am IST

With this investment, Singtel’s total stake (along with its affiliates) in Bharti Telecom will increase to 48.90 per cent.


Bharti Airtel

New Delhi: Singapore-based telecom operator Singtel will invest Rs 2,649 crore in Bharti Telecom, raising its stake in the promoter company of Bharti Airtel by 1.7 per cent.

With this investment, Singtel’s total stake (along with its affiliates) in Bharti Telecom will increase to 48.90 per cent. Singtel currently holds 47.17 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom. This will lead to an increase of Singtel economic interest in Bharti Airtel by 0.9 percentage points to 39.5 per cent.

The Mittal family’s Bharti Enterprises continues to hold over 50 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom, which owns 50.1 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel at the end of 2017.

“While there are currently headwinds in India, we take a long-term view of our investment in Airtel which continues to be a strong market leader in a region with rapidly increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data adoption,” Arthur Lang, CEO International at Singtel, said in a statement.

The funds raised will be used towards debt reduction. As on December 31, 2017, the company’s consolidated net debt stood at Rs 91,714 crore higher than Rs 91,480 crore in the previous quarter.

Bharti Airtel shares rose by over four per cent on Monday after the announ-cement. “The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the incre-ased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation,” said Deven Khanna, MD, Bharti Telecom. Bharti Airtel had over 394 million customers across its operations at the end of December 2017. The company is currently has operations in 16 countries across Asia and Africa.

Singtel has assembled a portfolio of stakes in regional mobile firms outside its small home market, and overseas businesses now account for 75 per cent of its earnings. The investment comes within 23 months of Singtel’s participation in the rights issue.

Vellore student smuggles red sanders to pay debts 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | KIRAN REDDY ALTHURU

Published Feb 6, 2018, 5:51 am IST
Arrested 22-year-old paramedic student can’t write exams. 

On Wednesday, Ajith got an assignment from Prabhu to drop some people near Tirupati.

Tirupati: A paramedic student from Vellore in Tamil Nadu will miss his final exams slated for the end of this month as he has landed in police custody for alleged involvement in red sanders smuggling near here. S.Ajith Kumar (22), doing second year optometry at the Tiruvannamalai government medical college, was caught driving a Qualis SUV with six logs of red sanders at nearby Karakambadi road late Sunday night, police said.

A source in the special task force handling the scourge of red sanders smuggling in the Chittoor-Tirupati forests said one more man was nabbed along with Ajith Kumar and they offered no resistance when caught.

They said a smuggling kingpin named Prabhu had approached Ajith Kumar through a common friend and took him as an ‘acting driver’. Ajith had been working as a part-time driver to support the family as his father passed away and his mother was just a homemaker. His younger brother worked as a mechanic at Vellore.

On Wednesday, Ajith got an assignment from Prabhu to drop some people near Tirupati. He completed the task and returned to Vellore, when Prabhu paid him Rs 20,000 just for that single trip. “At that time, I was not aware I was being drafted into the red sanders smuggling gang.

The damage was done before I could realise the seriousness of the episode. Being in debt, I just thought that I could use the money earned to clear all my dues”, Ajith told Deccan Chronicle while being taken to the office of the red sanders task force at Kapila Theertham here.

“I paid that Rs 20,000 to a friend who had helped me with funds to pursue the optometry course after I got the seat. I still have another Rs 30,000 in debt. I was one of the 75 students selected in one of the three government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, so you can see I was a very serious student. But now I am shattered, uncertain about my future as my final exams are due end of this month”, he said fighting back tears.

After the easy money earned on his maiden drive, Ajith got a call again from ‘friend’ Prabhu on Sunday asking him to bring back the men he had dropped in Tirupati. After reaching Renigunta, he was told about the red sanders load to be collected. The Andhra Pradesh anti-red sanders smuggling task force police nabbed Ajith just after he completed loading the wood into the vehicle, while the smuggling kingpins fled on a motorcycle.

No Way Out

It would now take Ajith at least 60 days to come out on bail as the anti-smuggling laws are pretty stringent, the courts are firm and the task force cops are tough. By the time the ‘seasoned’ lawyers work out the bail, the lad’s final exams would be over.

Don’t reduce court to ‘fish market,’ says Supreme Court justice 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J VENKATESAN

Published Feb 6, 2018, 1:27 am IST

After V. Giri made his submissions, Mr. Sisodia advanced his arguments on behalf of another petitioner, Bandhuraj Lone. 


Supreme Court of India

New Delhi: Heated exchanges among senior advocates Dushyant Dave, Pallav Sisodia and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud marred the day’s proceedings on Monday in the Supreme Court hearing the petitions seeking an SIT probe into the death of Judge B.H. Loya.

Even as Mr. Dave objected to Mr. Sisodia’s submissions, Justice Chandrachud intervened and told Mr. Dave, “Let us not reduce the dialogue in this court to the level of fish market; at least not before the two portraits (in the court hall) of the first CJI H.L. Kania and his successor B.K. Mukherhjea. You should not shout down the judge. You have to listen to me Mr. Dave.”

“No, I will not. Your Lordship should have stopped them from appearing in this court. You will have to answer your conscience,” Mr. Dave retorted.

“Don’t teach us about our conscience,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The hearing before the Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra commenced with senior counsels V. Giri appearing for petitioner, Tehseen Poonawalla.

After V. Giri made his submissions, Mr. Sisodia advanced his arguments on behalf of another petitioner, Bandhuraj Lone, journalists.

He took exception to the insinuations made against judiciary and said that an independent probe cannot be a one-way traffic when people make allegations of ‘hit and run’.

Senior counsel Indira Jaising appearing for vice-admiral Ramdas said, “if Mr. Sisodia does not want an enquiry then why has he come here.”

Ex-VC’s nephew drew ₹16K extra salary 

Madras Univ To Recover Extra Cash Paid To Prof

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai: The University of Madras syndicate says it has discovered that former vicechancellor R Thandavan violated rules to enable his nephew, appointed as a professor at the varsity, to draw a salary inflated by ₹16,000 per month over and above what he should have received. the nephew, went on to become the head of the university’s education department. He also received an increment nine months earlier than he should have, documents show.

The university, at a syndicate meeting last month, decided to correct the professor’s pay to ₹43,000/month from the date of his joining in 2015. It also passed a resolution to recover the excess pay that he received, a copy of the syndicate agenda and minutes that TOI obtained shows.

Before his appointment to University of Madras in October 2015, Chandrasekaran was an associate professor at Institute of Advanced Studies, Saidapet, and received a basic pay of ₹59,050.

When the university appointed Chandrasekaran as a professor, Thandavan approved a request he made for “pay protection” (to receive the salary he earned at his previous job, documents show. This was contrary to the terms and conditions that an appointment order dated August 3, 2015 had stipulated. He also received an increment from January 2016, despite his work order stating that he would be eligible to receive a raise only from October 2016.

Thandavan was University of Madras vicechancellor from 2013 to 2016. Syndicate documents show that none of the other faculty members the university appointed as assistant professors or professors between 2014 and 2015 received kind of “pay protection”. An audit of funds had noted these points and raised objections, based on which members of the syndicate took the decision to dock the extra pay that Chandrasekaran received from the time of his appointment.

Thandavan was not available for comment. But Chandrasekaran told TOI that it was mandatory for a university to provide a professor with pay protection.

“I was not starting my career [at the time]. Pay protection was mandatory,” he said. “I am well qualified.”

Chandrasekaran said he had not received any communication from the university regarding the decisions that the syndicate had made. He declined to answer a question on whether he received the benefits he did because he was Thandavan’s nephew.

College principal steps down after plagiarism charge

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 
6.2.2018

Chennai: The principal of city-based DG Vaishnav College, professor T Santhanam, stepped down from his post after the University of Madras disapproved of his appointment as principal due to a plagiarism charge.

“Santhanam resigned soon after the university sent us the letter. He has gone back to his computer science department. We will act according to the university’s instructions. We don’t compromise on anything,” the college secretary Ashok Mundhra told TOI on Monday.

R Thanigavel, the head of department for BCom CS has been appointed as the in-charge principal.

The decision to revoke his appointment was taken during the syndicate meeting held on December 15, 2017. Santhanam was found to have plagiarised a significant portion of his 2001 thesis ‘The validation of a computer simulation model using spectral analysis’ from a 1974 research publication of a scholar from Arizona State University in the United States. University of Madras had awarded him a Phd then. He had done the PhD under the guideship of S P Rajagopalan, who was the then dean, college development council at the university.

Santhanam was appointed as principal on September 28 last year. Following this, Regina Vincent, a resident of Korattur, had filed a complaint with the university, attaching copies of Santhanam’s thesis and the original one. University sources said that an opinion was sought from a subject expert committee from IITMadras which found that three chapters had been copied verbatim from the American scholar’s thesis.

The university has not yet decided on the course of action regarding the withdrawal of the PhD thesis or guideship of the professor.

Nobody has right to interfere if two adults get married: SC 
 
‘Courts Will Rule If A Marriage Is Illegal, Not Caste Groups’

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com 
6.02.2018

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday tore into khap panchayats, asking them not to assume the role of conscience keepers of society. It said courts will go by the law and not tradition and ‘gotra’ considerations to determine the legality of a marriage.

The SC sharply censored khaps for attempting to wear the mask of “society’s conscience keeper” to legitimise support for violent action against couples marrying within what the clan groups see as prohibited degrees of relationships.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda, appearing for some khap panchayats from Haryana, said khaps encouraged inter-caste and inter-faith marriages as they had permitted Haryanvi men to marry women from other states given the skewed sex ratio in the state. More than 2.5 lakh women from other states were married to men in Haryana, he said in a bid to argue that khaps were not regressive.

“What the khaps oppose is ‘sapinda’ or ‘sagotra’ marriage between men and women or when they are within the prohibited degrees of relationship, a bar which is supported by genetic science. Marriage between close relatives or siblings has been described as a disaster genetically. Khaps try to uphold centuries of tradition and act as conscience keepers of society,” he said.

A bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra was unimpressed by the claims. It asked, “Who has appointed you as guardians of society or its conscience keeper? Do not assume that role. We are not concerned about tradition, gotra, sapinda or prohibited degrees of relationship. If a marriage is not permissible under law, then there are courts to annul it. Khaps have no business determining the legality of a marriage.”

The SC again said the Centre was not taking the issue seriously when additional solicitor general Pinky Anand sought two more weeks to submit suggestions on crimes against inter-caste, inter-faith or ‘sagotra’ marriages. Constituents of gotras are broadly defined as having descended from a common male ancestor with khaps often ruling that marriage within this community is unacceptable. 



‘We will constitute a high-level committee to protect couples’

Social activist Madhu Kishwar intervened and told the court that brutal killing of couples in inter-caste or inter-faith marriages should not be referred respectably as ‘honour’ killing’. “Strong action is needed to stop these hate crimes. Only 3% of these crimes are because of ‘sagotra’ marriage. Rest 97% is triggered by religion, caste and other issues. Take for example the Ankit Saxena killing in Delhi,” she said.

But the court said it was not concerned with individual crimes. “We think we will constitute a high-level police officers’ committee to deal with all these law and order issues and devise a mechanism to protect couples in distress,” the bench said.

“We are not concerned with khaps. But we want to make it clear that no one, either individually or collectively, can interfere in a marriage between two consenting adults,” it added. This drew support from Anand, who said the Centre was in favour of protecting civil and fundamental rights of every individual.

The SC repeatedly reminded all about its ruling in the Nitish Katara murder case. On October 3, 2016, the SC had upheld life sentence to murder convict Vikas Singh and said, “One may feel ‘my honour is my life’ but that does not mean sustaining one’s honour at the cost of another. Freedom, independence, constitutional identity, individual choice and thought of a woman, be a wife or sister or daughter or mother, cannot be allowed to be curtailed.”

“That apart, neither family members nor members of the collective has any right to assault the boy chosen by the girl. Her individual choice is her self-respect and creating dent in it is destroying her honour. And to impose so called brotherly or fatherly honour or class honour by eliminating her choice is a crime of extreme brutality, more so, when it is done under a guise.”