RTI Query Seeking Date Of Deposit Of Rs. 15L In Citizens’ Accounts, Not ‘Information’, PMO Tells CIC [Read Order] | Live Law

RTI Query Seeking Date Of Deposit Of Rs. 15L In Citizens’ Accounts, Not ‘Information’, PMO Tells CIC [Read Order] | Live Law: When will Rs. 15 Lakhs be deposited in the account of each citizen as promised by PM Narendra Modi, was one of the query by Mohan Kumar Sharma in an RTI application preferred before Prime Minister’s Office. He also sought to know how print media houses came to know before the announcement of PM Narendra …

HC shocked over retired officials retaining govt. accommodation 

Mohamed Imranullah S. 

  CHENNAI, April 26, 2018 00:00 IST


Directs State government to frame regulations on allotment, surrender of govt. bungalows, flats

Expressing shock over IAS officers, police officers and other officials continuing to retain government accommodation even after transfer or retirement, the Madras High Court has directed the State government to frame regulations on allotment and surrender of government accommodation.

A Division Bench of justices K.K. Sasidharan and P. Velmurugan said, “Since there are very many officers still occupying government bungalows and apartments even after retirement and transfer, every effort should be made by the government to issue the guidelines as expeditiously as possible, and in any case, within a period of three months.”

The issue came to light when the judges began hearing a writ appeal preferred in 2010 by R. Manimegalai, who has been occupying a Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) flat at Nandanam colony, even after her father S. Rathinam, who was allotted the flat in 1966 in his capacity as an employee of the Accountant General’s Office, died in November 2003.

Selective eviction

During the course of the arguments, the appellant brought to the notice of the court that the TNHB officials were selective in issuing eviction notices, and that only the meek and the weak were being forced to vacate government accommodations. She also gave a list of bureaucrats occupying government accommodation at Taylor’s Road here, despite having been transferred to other districts.

Immediately, the judges directed the managing director of TNHB to file an affidavit on the issue. The affidavit revealed that Kancheepuram Collector P. Ponniah, the managing director of SAGOSERVE in Salem, R. Gajalakshmi, and Tiruvallur Assistant Collector (Training) K. Megaraj were occupying accommodations at Taylor’s Road even after their transfer.

The court was also told that R. Duraisami, former Deputy Inspector General of the Prison department, was in unauthorised occupation of a TNHB flat even after his retirement. The names of a few other retired and serving officials were also placed before the court, which was told that some of them vacated the flats after the judges sought details.

Observing that government officials as well as judicial officers must vacate government accommodation immediately after their transfer or retirement, the Bench recalled that the Supreme Court had, in S.D. Bandi’s case (2013), ordered that judges, Ministers, legislators and public servants must vacate official residences within a month of the date of superannuation.

Authoring the judgment, Justice Sasidharan said, “The failure on the part of the Government of Tamil Nadu to frame appropriate guidelines in tune with the directions given by the Supreme Court is being taken advantage of by the allottees and their legal heirs to continue to occupy the official accommodation even after the date of retirement.”

“The officers are well aware of their date of retirement. They should plan for their retirement life, including accommodation, well in advance. A retired employee cannot be heard to say that even after retirement, he should be permitted to occupy the government bungalow or apartment. This attitude must undergo a sea change,” the judge said.

Insofar as the present appellant was concerned, the judges gave her time till July 31 to vacate the TNHB flat.

HC to hear Iranian Embassy in BDS admissions case 

Special Correspondent 
 
CHENNAI, April 26, 2018 00:00 IST

The Madras High Court on Tuesday decided to hear officials of the Embassy of Iran as well as the Union Ministry of External Affairs in a case related to the admission of about 15 Iranian nationals in dental courses in a private college without clearing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Justice P.N. Prakash suo motu impleaded the Union Ministry as a party to a petition filed by the management of Asan Dental College at Keerapakkam. The college had sought to quash a case registered against it by Tirukalukundram police on the basis of a complaint lodged by an Iranian student Nasser Hamidavi Zegheiri.

Stating that the officials from the Embassy had agreed to appear before the court within two days, the judge adjourned further hearing on the case to Thursday. In the meantime, a demand draft for Rs. 5.5 lakh was handed over to Mr. Zegheiri in the open court towards refund of the tuition fees paid by him.

Though the student’s counsel R.C. Paul Kanagaraj contended that his client had paid a capitation fee of Rs. 25 lakh and that should also be returned by the college management, Senior Counsel P.R. Raman, representing the latter, stoutly denied any such payment and wondered who would pay such huge amounts for a dental seat. Referring to “a piece of paper” produced in the court to show that $40,000 had been paid to one Mohammed, the Senior Counsel said: “It is beyond one’s imagination to believe that someone would pay such a huge amount for a BDS seat.”

TO OPERATE TILL MAY 7

Jugnoo eyes Singapore as Uber readies to leave

Singapore: 26.04.2018  times of india

Indian ride-hailing firm Jugnoo plans to enter the Singapore market next month, its chief executive said on Wednesday, joining other companies eyeing the city state as Uber Technologies prepares to leave. Uber’s app will continue to operate in Singapore until May 7, although the US company has shut down in the rest of Southeast Asia after selling its regional operations to local competitor Grab. Jugnoo and other ride-hailing companies are looking to fill the gap left by Uber, which analysts say may help ease regulatory concerns about the sale to Grab.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) outlined this month a set of measures to ensure an open market, while it examined their merger. Jugnoo, which uses autorickshaws in India, will offer a private car-based service in Singapore with an app that will allow riders to choose from drivers’ competing bids on fares. Drivers will not have to pay commission to Jugnoo for the first six months, the company has said. After that, Jugnoo will take a 10% commission, which it hopes will lure drivers when compared to Grab’s commission of up to 20%. “We are hoping that even if we are able to get a 10% market share in a year, we will be a profitable company (in Singapore),” Samar Singla, Jugnoo’sCEO said. Last month, Singapore-based Ryde Technologies said it would launch an app offering a private-hire car service and charge drivers a commission rate of 10%. The barriers to entry in the ride-hailing sector are relatively low in Southeast Asia, but new entrants will need to scale up quickly to compete with Grab, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank. REUTERS

INDUSTRY FIRST

Jet allows flyers to bid for upgrade

New Delhi: 26.04.2018

Jet Airways passengers will now be be able to bidfor an upgradeto a higher class of travel. Jet says the bidding, which it claims is “an industry first” for airlines in India, will open at least seven days prior to the flight’s departure date and closes 24 hours before scheduled departure time.

In the interim, guests can modify, or even cancel their bids. However, they will not be able to withdraw their bid, once the bid is accepted as per the defined timelines.

“The innovation allows all guests holding confirmed economy or premiere bookings of the airline to bid for an upgrade to premiere or first class, respectively. To avail an upgrade, interested guests can place a bid on the Jet Airways’ website under the ‘manage mybooking’ section, stating the amount they’re willing to bid for the upgrade,”the airlinesaidin a statement. While all bidders will need to submit their credit card details during the bidding process, only the card of the winning bidder will be charged.

Jet’s senior VP Raj Sivakumar said: “JetUpgrade illustrates yet another first in the airline’s history of undertaking continuous innovations for over two decades, in order to offer guests an exceptional flying experience. JetUpgrade raises the industry benchmark of customer experience, offering more value to those guests who appreciate our superior inflight services.” TNN

MKU scandal: Santhanam to question Nirmala today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai: 26.04.2018

R Santhanam, the one-man inquiry panel set up by governor Banwarilal Purohit to probe the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) sex scandal, will meet Nirmala Devi, assistant professor of Devanga Arts College, Arupukottai, at the Madurai central prison on Thursday morning.

Santhanam who began his second phase of inquiry on Wednesday, told mediapersons late in the evening that he had received permission from the prison authorities to meet Devi who was arrested on April 16 for allegedly trying to lure some girl students to do sexual favours for higher officials. Meanwhile, MKU assistant professor V Murugan, who was arrested by CB-CID in connection with the sex scandal, was sent to five days’ police custody on Wednesday. In another development, a former research scholar at the university, Karuppasamy, who was wanted by the CB-CID, surrendered before the Judicial Magistrate V, K S Shabeena, in Madurai who remanded him in prison.

Murugan, who worked in the department of management studies, was arrested on Tuesday and produced before the Sattur judicial magistrate II. He was lodged in the Virudhunagar prison at night and produced by CBCID again in court on Wednesday to seek his custody. Murugan was arrested as his name cropped up in the interrogation of Nirmala Devi during her five day CBCID custody which ended on Wednesday. She too was produced before the court and lodged in central prison as the court ordered her judicial remand for 15 days.

On Wednesday, Santhanam took statements from various higher officials of the university including vice-chancellor P P Chellathurai and registrar V Chinniah. Additional controller of examination M Rajarajan and director of UGC Human Resource Development in MKU, V Kalaiselvan, also appeared before the committee.

Joint director of collegiate education, Madurai, K Koodalingam, told mediapersons that he was not informed by Devanga Arts College about the complaint of the girls.

Scrap Santhanam panel, says forum

Madurai: “Save MKU Coalition”, a forum comprising retired professors, lawyers and social activists, has demanded the scrapping of the one-man Santhanam commission inquiring into the Madurai Kamaraj University sex scandal. Instead, it has demanded a probe by a panel formed with distinguished educationalists and a retired high court judge as members. It claimed that there was no provision in the rules governing MKU for the governor to form an inquiry commission. The outfit said that the Nirmala Devi incident, where she allegedly tried to lure a group of girls to do sexual favours for higher officials in the university, was just the tip of the iceberg. The scandal was an extension of the deteriorating environment in the university in the last few years, the members said. The coalition while expressing confidence in the CB-CID inquiry felt that the probe could have been conducted under the supervision of the high court. TNN

TN seeks relief in distance edu norms
Only 3 Univs In TN Meet All Criterion

Sambath.Kumar@timesgroup.com 26.04.2018

Trichy:

Universities offering distance education courses are left in a fix after the recent announcement from University Grants Commission (UGC) that a minimum CGPA of 3.26, on a four point scale, in National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) is necessary to run the courses.

The higher education department has now asked UGC to relax its norms facilitating all state universities to run distance education courses. It has also directed the seven state universities that are left out to make individual representation to UGC in this regard.

Of the 119 dual mode universities in the country that offer distance education courses, less than 40 are eligible as per the new UGC rule. This has left 80 universities in a fix. In Tamil Nadu only three universities out of the total 10 that offer distance courses under the higher education department are eligible and the rest have to close down.

“While Anna, Madras and Alagappa University are safe, universities like Annamalai in Chidambaram which began offering distance education much before Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) are on the verge of closure,” said senior officials from the higher education department.

Bharathiar University which has been ranked 12th in the country in the NIRF ranking, cannot offer courses in distance mode as it has a CGPA of 3.11 on the four point scale under NAAC. “We have decided to approach UGC seeking relaxation of up to 3.0 in the Category 2 from the existing 3.26, so that all state universities are eligible to run courses,” said vice chancellor of Bharathidasan University P Manisankar.

Wishing to be anonymous, another state university V-C said that the UGC should have stability in its policies. “It is wrong to come out with such decisions without consulting the universities. The UGC did not bother about what will happen to the students currently enrolled in these distance education courses,” the V-C said.

Former vice-chancellor of Bharathiar University S Sivasubramanian who holds experience in heading various NAAC committees said that he stands for quality and that whenever there is relaxation in norms, people tend to misuse it. However, he added that time bound relaxation can be considered for students who are currently enrolled. He also said that the universities should prove to be competent and eligible to run such courses.

Former president of association of university teachers (AUT) K Pandiyan claimed that the move was to cut down on the number of universities offering distance education.