Now, watch movies aboard Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi

TNN | Updated: Feb 10, 2018, 00:06 IST

Chennai: Passengers on the Chennai - Bengaluru - Mysuru Shatabdi Express will be able to access more than 100 movies in various languages during travel from Saturday. 

The mechanical department at the Basin Bridge coach care centre in Chennai has started modifying the regular air-conditioned chair car coaches.

One such coach, which will be attached to the Chennai - Bengaluru - Mysuru Shatabdi (12007 ), was showcased on Friday.

Officials said Rs 10 lakh has been allocated for modifying each coach under Project Swarn. Around 15 to 17 coaches of the Bengaluru Shatabdi and Coimbatore Shatabdi will be modified one-by-one by May this year.

The infotainment system is being provided by Magic box, a Delhi-based company, said a senior official. There are no changes in the ticket prices for though.

"To watch the content, a passenger has to connect his phone or laptop to a local Wi-Fi which will be password-protected. The content will be available on magicbox.com. There will be chat and comedy shows apart from films," the official said. However, the Wi-Fi will not connect the passenger to the internet. "There is more demand for infotainment than internet," said the official.

Besides infotainment, the coaches are being equipped with LED lights for reading, coach indication board and CCTV cameras at the entrance. The interiors would sport a fresh look due to a vinyl wrapping at the entrance and above the luggage rack. There will be provisions for fragrance dispensers inside the toilets and compartments. Braille signage to denote coach numbers will also be installed for the benefit of visually-impaired passengers.

"It takes five days to modify a coach at the depot," said a senior official of the mechanical department. "We are waiting for feedback from the passengers and would be willing to make more changes to suit their taste," the official said. Already, the train has been equipped with an Anubhuti coach where a separate screen has been attached at the back of each seat for infotainment.

HC banishes cell phones at fire-hit temple in Madurai

L Saravanan | TNN | Updated: Feb 10, 2018, 07:49 IST

 MADURAI: God is supposed to protect mankind, but an individual has come to safeguard the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, observed the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Friday, imposing a ban on bringing mobile phones into the temple by visitors and devotees. 

A division bench of justices N Kirubakaran and R Tharani, which also suggested handing over the temple's security to central forces, passed the order on a petition filed by advocate S Muthukumar who sought the court's intervention to safeguard the temple following a recent fire that damaged a mandapam. A minor fire in the CCTV control room on the temple premises was also reported on Thursday.

The court said visitors were carrying cell phones which could be used as fuse for unlawful activities including as detonator endangering the temple campus.

If need arises, TN can ask for CISF: Court

Hence, like Thirumala Tirupathi temple, Mathura temple, Kasi Viswanatha temple, Sri Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram and Taj Mahal, steps should be taken to prohibit the pilgrims, visitors and devotees from carrying cell phones. "In this regard, cell phone wallet could be opened by the authority to deposit the cell phones," while the devotees entered the temple, the bench said.

The bench said that despite enhanced security by frisking of visitors, something more needed to be done by the agencies or by the local police.

"If need arises, the state government may also ask for the deployment of the central security forces. Time has come to enhance the safety and security of these monuments as many idols are being stolen merely by the thieves, " it said. The judges further said that despite inflammable as well as plastic materials being prohibited, these were very easily available inside the precincts of the temple.

Safety of the temple was at stake as it was stated that due to short circuit a fire accident had happened in the CCTV control room. "It has to be seen how the fire is taking place when the electric wire is intact," the bench said adding that if necessary, the entire wiring of the temple be replaced.

The bench also directed that fire engine with sufficient water be stationed near the temple and officials as well as staff given sufficient training for handling fire extinguisher.

The court was informed that even at the time of the fire accident there was no water available in the fire engine. It took one-and-a-half hours for the fire engine to collect water to put off fire which resulted in spreading of the flames to other areas. The court directed to enhance the capacity of CCTV cameras and the storage capacity of the hard disk to store the recordings for many days.

TN to get third siddha college in Palani by June

Manisha B

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government will start its third siddha medical college at Palani in Dindigul by June, health minister C Vijaya Baskar said here on Friday. With this, the number of bachelor of siddha medicine and surgery (BSMS) seats in the state will go up by 60.

Tamil Nadu has two siddha colleges — in Chennai (60 undergraduate seats) and Palayamkottai (100 seats) — besides four other colleges in homeopathy (Tirumangalam, Madurai), ayurveda (Kottar, Nagercoil), unani (Chennai) and yoga and naturopathy (Chennai). Besides this, the state has 23 self-financing Ayush colleges, including seven in siddha, four in ayurveda and nine in homeopathy.

“We will be starting 50-bed integrated Ayush hospitals in Tiruvanamalai and Theni at a cost of ₹7.33 crore,” the minister said at World Congress on Holistic Health organised by the Tamil Nadu Dr M G R Medical University. Quoting a story on how Mahatma Gandhi started believing in allopathic medicine after an appendectomy, TN governor Banwarilal Purohit, also the chancellor of the university, said it was necessary to create a new model for health and healing keeping the patients at the core of treatment without being fixated on a single system of medicine.

CBSE BLAMES IT ON WEBSITE TRAFFIC

NEET regn: Students face glitches over Aadhaar

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Several medical aspirants who tried to log in to NEET’s website to register for entrance exams faced technical glitches over Aadhaar details. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) mapped Aadhaar details of aspirants with UIDAI’s site, which many could not manage.

Sudha Shenoy, a parent, said last year the registration process required students to only fill the Aadhaar number but this year they were mapping details with name, date of birth and gender. Many students were unable to register if even a minor detail was not matching with what was on the Aadhaar card, she added. Some others were facing technical glitches, said Shenoy.

One parent could not complete the process as the date of birth in the school was not

matching with that given in the card. “It was the parent’s fault but there is enough time to get the mistake rectified online,” said a parent.

Another parent said after the security pin was generated, the registration page was not leading anywhere. A student said after filling details, they did not get any confirmation on the site. Another student said the page disappeared after the one-time password was entered. Most got a message saying details filled in by them did not match with Aadhaar details. “I am trying to register but the system is saying my gender and date of birth do not match. I have verified it thrice,” said a parent.

A CBSE spokesman said the technical glitches were due to heavy traffic on the site.

“Students need not panic if they are unable to complete the registration process. It is not on first-come, first-serve basis. Students have a lot time to register, they should try again in a day or two,” he said. Aadhaar details are sought for a unified process for registration.

NEET for admission to MBBS and BDS courses will be held on May 6. The process for registration will go on till March 10. Students need not panic as they have a month, the spokesman said. Aadhaar number is mandatory for all, except for those from Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya, and applicants must give their consent to CBSE to validate it.

In case of mismatch in Aadhaar number with name, date of birth and gender, candidates will not be able to fill up the form. Students have to get Aadhaar details verified online to ensure they match with school records.

Insurance claims valid even if one dies within 90 days of purchase

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: An insurance company can’t deny paying the assured amount even if the policy holder dies within 90 days from taking a policy. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ordered an insurance company to pay ₹2.5 lakh with 9% interest to the kin of a deceased who had died on the 90th day of the purchase of a policy.

The case refers to one Kulwinder Singh of Fazilka in Punjab, who had paid ₹45,999 to HDFC Standard Life Insurance on May 26, 2010. He passed away due to a heart attack on August 25 in that year. When the family sought the full assured amount, the insurance firm paid them only the premium that Singh had paid.

While directing the insurance firm to pay the full assured amount, the single member bench of M Shreesha also referred to an order from the insurance regulator IRDA on June 27, 2012 involving the same insurance company. Based on the order, NCDRC upheld that the insurance companies cannot apply the 90-day waiting period and reject claims. The IRDA had ordered ₹1 crore penalty on the same insurance company for rejecting 21 claims citing the same 90 days waiting period.

The NCDRC also observed, “Even in the instant case, the deferred period was 90 days and it is not as if the time of death was planned only to take advantage under the policy expecting that the insured may not live beyond the period of 90 days.”

Singh’s family submitted how the deceased had made the premium payment in cash on May 26, 2010 but the policy became effective from May 29. Singh’s family had pleaded that since the premium was paid in cash, so the risk cover begins from that date. The NCDRC also took into consideration of other policies held by the deceased from other companies. In those cases, the risk of coverage invariably begins from the date of proposal.

Singh’s family had moved the NCDRC in 2014 after the state consumer commission had turned down the order of district forum to pay ₹2.5 lakh to Singh’s kin. 

Salaries of Pondy govt staff delayed by a month

Puducherry: After the employees of various corporations, public sector undertakings and civic bodies, it is the turn of a section of government employees to feel the pinch of the financial crisis of the Union territory of Puducherry. A section of government employees working in the sub-offices of a few departments, including directorate of health and family welfare services, received the salary for the month of January only on February 9. Generally, the government employees receive their salary on the last working day of the month.

An official of the directorate of accounts and treasury said the government did not face any fund crunch, and the delay in disbursement of salary was because of the fault of the budget sections of the sub-offices. TNN

Whistle blowers hounded at BU

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore: Bharathiar University not only has a history of controversies in appointments but also a track record of harassing and silencing dissenters. Over the years, several teaching and non-teaching staff members have been systematically victimised by the administration for raising their voice against irregularities.

A junior engineer, attached to the Bharathiar University SC/ST Teachers and Staff Welfare Association, got his promotion order withdrawn since he was actively opposing irregularities in appointments.

“I was supposed to get promoted in 2011 as an assistant executive engineer. After several efforts, I was given a promotion in 2015. But vice-chancellor A Ganapathi revoked the promotion order in December last year. While I remained a junior engineer, my colleagues were elevated to the next position,” he said.

This is not a recent trend, said an assistant professor, who is also a member of the association. “In 2012, when Swaminathan extended the temporary faculty positions of the 11th plan period to 12th plan period till 2017, we questioned him and asked him to revert the decision. But he sent me a notice asking me to vacate my quarters within two days,” he said. “I got a stay order on that decision from the Madras HC. I have been staying in the quarters till now only because of the court order,” he added.

In 2016, when he filed a case against overall roster and quota violations, his wife’s PhD viva was delayed by almost a year, he said. “My wife’s PhD viva must have been held in January 2017. But I was asked to meet another professor, who said it would beheldonly if I withdrewthe case,” he said. The viva was held after he took up the issue with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, he said.

In another incident, a teaching faculty member was asked to vacate his room for questioning irregularities in appointments.

In November 2016, amid allegations of irregularities in teaching faculty recruitment, registrar P S Mohan was unceremoniously relieved from his post. He had then told TOI that he was kept in the dark about a communication from the higher education department asking the VC to stop the appointments. He had then said he refused to accept the relieving order, “because I had not erred to be sacked. Instead, I resigned stating I cannotcontinue as the registrarin-charge.”

In November last year, when there was a row over the allegeddiscrimination of assistant-professor aspirant N Srilakshmi Prabha, she alleged that Ganapathi had removed her husband, who was working on contract basis as a driver in theuniversity. “He was removed from the job by the university and he was insulted in the name of caste,” she had said.

Jailed VC seeks ‘A’ class amenities, hot water

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) on Friday instructed the Coimbatore Central Prison authorities to provide hot water to suspended Bharathiar University vice-chancellor A Ganapathi, who complained of poor amenities. The court also directed prison authorities to lodge Ganapathi along with senior prisoners as requested by him and adjourned a petition seeking police custody of Ganapathi to February 12.

He was produced before CJM K R Madhurasekaran for the hearing of the petition filed by the DVAC seeking five days police custody. Before entering the court, Ganapathi told reporters he was a victim of media hype. “Media is blowing out of proportion news about me. I am also a human being. Show some compassion,’’ he said. TNN