CITY BOY GETS LETTER FROM AMITABH BACHCHAN

Ashish.Joseph1@timesgroup.com 19.05.2018

When Class 10 student Subhashish Dey returned home after a short post-board exam vacation with his family, there was a letter waiting for him — from Amitabh Bachchan! The veteran actor had written to the 15-year-old Chennai boy, appreciating him for penning a book at such a young age.

A visibly excited Subhashish says, “It was my mom’s idea to send the book to Mr Bachchan because he’s a really influential person and actually responds to people who send him gifts, books, etc. I sent him my book almost two months ago, and he did reply to me.”

His father, Subhendu Dey, interrupts, “Initially, he didn’t have the courage to send it to Mr Bachchan. We also didn’t push him. But one day, he told us that he should be sending it to Mr Bachchan. So, he wrote a letter, a poem, and sent them along with the book. I think this was in February, and we received the letter from Mr Bachchan in April.”

It was in December 2015 that Subhashish started writing and he says that it took him two years to come out with the book. “I started writing during the 2015 flood. My school was closed for a long time and I had nothing to do. It was during that time that I had this conversation with a friend of mine about a girl who got bullied. One day, when I woke up, I had this story running in my head about a little girl whose mother is a pop star. The girl gets bullied and that’s how the story starts; later, the mother takes the spotlight. I soon started writing the first draft, and titled the book Fate’s Design,” says Subhashish, a self-confessed fan of American novelist George RR Martin.

So, what was the poem that he wrote to Sr Bachchan? “I’d actually written that poem for a friend. It’s about how people sometimes forget to live for themselves. I thought it was apt for Mr Bachchan, who barely has time for himself,” he shares.

Quiz him if the letter of appreciation has encouraged him to write another book, and he says, “Yes, I already had ideas for this second book even while was I writing the first. This one is going to be a fantasy novel, unlike the first one, which was a family drama.”


Subhashish Dey and (left) the letter that he received from Amitabh Bachchan


Amitabh Bachchan

1st underground metro trains get ready to roll 
 
More Checks Today On Line Below Anna Salai

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 19.05.2018
The commissioner of metro rail safety (CMRS) on Friday morning started a final round of inspections required for the official opening of underground metro stations below Anna Salai.

The CMRS and his team conducted checks on the 4.5km line from Little Mount to AG-DMS. They will on Saturday inspect metro trains and the stretch from AGDMS to Little Mount.

Commissioner K A Manohar began the exercise by visiting the ramp that links the elevated station at Little Mount with the underground station at Saidapet before heading to the stations to check safety facilities for passengers.

Metro rail officials demonstrated a fire hydrant installed in the ramp area. Sump and pumps installed were also inspected.

“Trains will be operated at a maximum speed of 80kmph on Saturday when the line from AG-DMS is inspected,” an official said.

Once the line is thrown open to the public, a part of Anna Salai will link stations up to the airport via the elevated transit hub at Alandur. Commuters who board trains at Koyambedu will be able to travel to points along the underground Anna Salai line by switching corridors at Alandur.

Earlier this week, the commissioner completed inspection from Shenoy Nagar to Central Metro. He said the authorisation to open the line would be given in a week’s time.

On Friday, electrical systems to operate trains and stations were also inspected. The safety team checked operational readiness of the stations.

The team then visited Saidapet, Nandanam, Teynampet and AG-DMS stations to inspect facilities installed for passenger safety like emergency telephone, public announcement system and information displays, lifts and escalators. These electronic systems were also demonstrated.

Other critical systems required for the functioning of the station and the trains, including signalling systems and room at stations, tunnel ventilation systems and airconditioning, were also inspected.

While the line between AG-DMS and Little Mount will be opened once metro rail gets a nod from the safety commissioner, the rest of the stretch linking Anna Salai from AG-DMS up to Central Metro is expected to be ready by the end of this year. 



ON TRACK: Commissioner of metro rail safety K A Manohar and his team inspect a 4.5km line from Little Mount to AG-DMS on Friday

WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? 

Guv Had Given BSY Till Month-End To Prove Majority, SC Orders Him To Do It Today

Floor Set For 4PM, BJP Goes All Out To Break Cong-JDS Dance

Dhananjay Mahapatra, Manu Aiyappa & Sandeep Moudgal TNN

New Delhi/Bengaluru   19.05.2018

: The Supreme Court on Friday toughened the challenge for Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the House by slashing to 28 hours the 15-day window provided to him by governor Vajubhai Vala.

Instead of going into the legalities of the governor’s decision, the bench of Justices A K

Sikri, S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan decided that asking for an early floor test would be a better option.

The order came despite a plea by Yeddyurappa’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi for a “little more time” — at least until Monday — and that the time given was “too short”. But the bench stuck to its Saturday 4pm deadline for the floor test. To ensure its realisation, the bench ordered that the trial of strength be conducted by the pro tem speaker rather than a regular speaker, electing whom would have cut into the tight timeframe. It compounds Yeddyurappa’s task to manage the numbers and win over at least seven MLAs to add to his 104, to reach the majority number of 111in the House with an effective strength of 221, and redoubled his campaign managers’ efforts in the remaining hours.
Yeddyurappa was told by court not to announce any major policy decisions

The Congress, which had lately been critical of the apex court and even suggested that the institution was being bullied by the government, was jubilant over the development and lavished it with praise for its “historic verdict”.

The SC secured an assurance from Yeddyurappa that he would not announce major policy decisions, including nominating a member of the Anglo-Indian community as an MLA, and ordered Karnataka police to make “adequate and sufficient arrangements” for the security of MLAs. It asked the director general of police to personally supervise the arrangements “so that there is no lapse on this count whatsoever”.

While BJP was reconciled to the prospect of the 15-day window being pruned to a week, having to lure away seven MLAs of the rival combine by 4pm on Saturday in the immediate aftermath of a bitterly contested election could prove to be like suddenly doubling the asking rate for a team batting second in a T20 game.

Yeddyurappa, who will be only the second Karnataka CM after Ramakrishna Hegde to face a trial of strength thrice, remained upbeat. The BJP camp appeared to have recovered from its shock when governor Vajubhai Vala appointed K G Bopaiah the pro tem speaker. 

SC confirms CBI probe into gutka scam
Says Senior Govt Officials Were Involved

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 19.05.2018
The Supreme Court has entrusted the ‘gutka scam’ probe with the CBI, saying its tentacles were not limited to just Tamil Nadu but transcended beyond to other states -- and may be overseas -- besides involving high ranking officials of the state as well as the central government.

Concurring with the submissions of senior counsel for former additional solicitorgeneral of India P Wilson, and confirming Madras high court’s April 26 verdict, the apex court said on Friday: “For instilling confidence in the minds of the victims as well as public at large, the high court predicated that it was but necessary to entrust the investigation of such a crime to CBI. Viewed thus, there is no infirmity in the conclusion.”

In the process the apex court reiterated two crucial views – one, merely because an opposition leader has filed the petition, it should not be taken lightly, as opposition plays the role of a watchdog; two, a person named in an FIR had no right to be heard at the investigation stage.

The three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud was passing orders on a special leave petition filed by a food safety officer, accused in the scam. Among other issues, the officer had assailed the high court order saying the PIL had originally been filed by DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, and hence it was nothing but political vendetta.

Trashing the argument, the apex court referred to its own judgment in a disproportionate assets case involving former chief minister Jayalalithaa, holding that the opposition had the role of a watchdog and that merely because proceedings had been initiated by an opposition party it could not be viewed lightly.

“Political opponents play an important role both inside and outside the House and are the watchdogs of the government in power. They are the mouthpiece to ventilate the grievances of the public at large, if genuinely and unbiasedly projected,” pointed out the bench, referring to apex court verdict in the K Anbazhagan case.

As for the petitioner’s claim that no opportunity of being heard was given to him, the judges said, “a person, who is named as an accused in the FIR, who otherwise has no right to be heard at the stage of investigation or to have an opportunity of hearing as a matter of course, cannot be heard to say that the direction issued to transfer the investigation to CBI is a nullity. This ground, in our opinion, is an argument of desperation and deserves to be rejected.”

The bench also made it clear that transfer of investigation of the crime to CBI was no reflection on the efficiency or efficacy of the investigation done by the State Vigilance Commission. 

Thiruvalluvar univ staffers want probe into corruption

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vellore:   19.05.2018
In the wake of an audit report finding financial irregularities of morethan ₹100crorein Thiruvalluvar University, members of the Thiruvalluvar University Employees’ Union (TUEU) and Zone III of the Association of Thiruvalluvar University Teachers (ATUT) have demanded that the state government appoint an officer of the rank of deputy secretary to conduct a detailed inquiry into the apparently rampant and largescale corruption in the university.

The union has decided to approach the Madras high court, seeking its intervention and direction to the authorities concerned to initiate civil and criminal proceedings if the government failed to act upon their complaints, honorary president of the union Prof I Elangovan said at a press conference here on Friday.

They have sent a petition along with documents availed of under the Right to Information Act, which unravelled rampant corruption in the university, to governor Banwarilal Purohit, state principal secretaries S S Poovalingam, Sunil Paliwal and K Shanmugam demanding necessary action to removethecorruptofficials.

Recollecting the appointment of Ashok Vardhan Shetty as registrar of the University of Madras, he urged the state government to appoint an IAS officer as registrar of the16-yearold Thiruvalluvar University to weed out the corrupt officials and put the institution back on track.

Citing the audit report of the university for the 2015-16 fiscal year that unearthed discrepancies in more than ₹104 crore in expenditure since 2002-03, he said that the management of the university did not submit records for the expenditure of ₹67.59 crore in the last13 years.

Similarly, the audit had raised as many as 574 objections to improper accounting to the tune of ₹36.62 crore between 2002-03 and 2015-16. “We strongly suspect that the authorities have resorted to misappropriation of the funds of more than ₹200 crore sincetheestablishmentof theuniversity.

The audit report had shed light on only half of the scam.

The report on auditing of 35 other documentsisstill awaited.Butthe authorities are not forthcoming to hand over the documents in order to cover up their corrupt practices,” he charged.

21 govt seats in PG med courses vacant

Puducherry:

Twenty-one government seats and 24 management seats in postgraduate medical courses in three private colleges and hospitals in Puducherry remained vacant after the mop-up counselling of the Centralised admission committee (Centac).

There are 84 government seats and 81 management seats in a government medical college and three private medical colleges in Puducherry. All the seats in the government medical college including the all-India seats surrenderedtothestate quota had been filled.

The committee had earlier reserved a government seat (general medicine) in a private college following a direction from the Madras High Court. It furnished the merit lists of students in the ratio of 1:10 to the three private colleges to enable them to fill the vacant government and management seats. TNN

சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவில் யானை கால் புண்ணால் அவதி

Added : மே 19, 2018 06:16

பவானி: பவானி, சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவில், பெண் யானை, வேதநாயகி, கால் புண்ணால் அவதிப்படுகிறது.ஈரோடு மாவட்டம், பவானியில், பிரசித்தி பெற்ற சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவில் உள்ளது. நாமக்கல் மாவட்டம், குமாரபாளையத்தை சேர்ந்த, முனிராஜ் செட்டியார் மற்றும் முருக பக்தர்கள், 1977 ஏப்., 27ல், பிறந்த பெண் யானை குட்டியை, அதன் ௪ வயதில், கோவிலுக்கு தானமாக வழங்கினர்.அதற்கு, வேதநாயகி என, பெயரிட்டு, சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவில் நிர்வாக பராமரிப்பில் உள்ளது. தற்போது, அதன் வயது, ௪௧.சில ஆண்டுகளாக, யானைக்கு, தோள்பட்டையில் ஏற்பட்ட புண்ணால் அவதிப்பட்டு வந்தது. பின், சரிசெய்யப்பட்டது.தற்போது காலில் ஏற்பட்ட நகசுத்தி காரணமாக அவதிப்படுகிறது. இதனால், தமிழக அரசு ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த, யானைகள் புத்துணர்வு முகாமுக்கு அழைத்து செல்லவில்லை.இதுகுறித்து, பக்தர்கள் கூறுகையில், 'சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவிலில் நடக்கும் விழாக்களில், வேதநாயகி முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கிறது. காலில் ஏற்பட்ட நகசுத்தியால், காலின் மையப்பகுதியில் புண் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால், படுத்து தூங்க முடியாமல், பல மணிநேரம் கால் உயர்த்திய படி, நின்று கொண்டே இருப்பது வேதனையளிக்கிறது. உயர் மருத்துவ சிகிச்சையளிக்க, கோவில் நிர்வாகத்தினர் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்' என்றனர்.இதுகுறித்து, சங்கமேஸ்வரர் கோவில் உதவி ஆணையர், சபர்மதி கூறியதாவது: பொதுவாக, யானைக்கு புண் ஏற்பட்டால், குணமாக சற்று காலதாமதமாகும். டாக்டர்,உதவியாளர் மூலம் மருந்து, மாத்திரைகள் தினமும் வழங்கி, புண் சுத்தம் செய்யப்படுகிறது. டயட் முறையை பின்பற்றி,சத்தான உணவு வழங்கப்படுகிறது.தினமும், கோவில் உள்பகுதியில், நடைப்பயிற்சிக்கு அழைத்து செல்லப்படுகிறது. தற்போது, ஆரோக்கியத்துடன் உள்ளது. புண்ணால் அவதிப்படுவதாக வீண் வதந்தியை, சிலர் பரப்புகின்றனர். இதை நம்ப வேண்டாம்.இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.