‘Trainer’ of disaster drill that killed girl faked credentials

Subburaj. A @timesgroup.com

Coimbatore: 14.07.2018

A day after the accident that claimed the life of a19-year-old girl during a disaster management drill at a private college in Coimbatore on Thursday, the Coimbatore rural police arrested G Arumugam, 31, of Vandalur in Chennai, who claimed to be a trainer from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

N Logeswari, a secondyear BBA student of the Kovai Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science at Vellimalaipattinam near Narasipuram, died after hitting a sunshade on the first floor of the building when she was forced by the trainer to jump off the second floor.

Additional superintendent of police G S Anitha has been questioning Arumugam at the Alandurai police station.

It has come to light that the half-a-dozen degrees, including a PhD, that Arumugam claimed to have possessed were non-existent and that he was not authorised by the NDMA to conduct such training programmes.

With fake degrees and fictitious certificates, Arumugam has been conning colleges since 2011by sending letters soliciting permission to train students.

‘Trainer’ booked for culpable homicide

The Coimbatore rural police on Friday arrested ‘trainer’ G Arumugam for culpable homicide under Section 304 of the IPC for pushing Logeswari resulting in her death during a disaster management drill on Thursday. Meanwhile, CM has announced ₹5 lakh to the girl’s family. P 11

DEADLY CON

Speaker’s wife part of college trustee

The PhD before his name, Arumugam claimed, was given by Tokyo University. He claimed to have conducted 1,275 disaster awareness programmes across the state in colleges. A native of Manavalakurichi in

Kanyakumari, Arumugam, strangely did not charge any fee from the colleges for the training offered. The NDMA has clarified that he was neither its member nor was he trained by any of its officials.

Arumugam would introduce himself as training officer (Tamil Nadu), disaster management and first aid, NDMA. “He would say college managements need not pay him. Instead the students could pay ₹50 each if they needed a certificate on completion of the disaster management exercise, he would tell and get the managements to agree to his proposal,” ASP Anitha said.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday said he had directed police officers and higher education department officials to take stringent action against those who organised the drill “without due approval.”

The college authorities declared a holiday on Friday and were evasive. Lok Sabha deputy speaker M Thambithurai’s wife is a member of the college trust, according to his election affidavit.

This is nothing but murder: Girl’s father

Parents Were Not Informed About The Drill

Subburaj.A@timesgroup.com

Coimbatore:14.07.2018

Family members of N Logeshwari, who died on Thursday after being made to jump from the second floor of her college building during a disaster management drill, have blamed the college authorities, saying there was no intimation to parents about the drill.

The grief-stricken parents said the college did not inform them about the accident. It was through parents of other students that they got to know about it.

“Only after she was taken to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital we got to know about the fall,” her elder brother N Selvakumar said. Logeswari is the first graduate student from the family.

The family rushed to the hospital where doctors declared Logeswari brought dead.

“We have lodged a complaint against the trainer and the college management,” Selvakumar said “Safety of students on the campus is responsibility of the institution. We don’t know whether any faculty member was supervising the drill,’’ said Logeshwari’s father A Nallagounder, a 63-year-old farmer of Nathegounden Pudur.

Nallagounder told reporters that this was nothing but murder. “When my daughter refused to jump, she should not have been forced to jump. The college authorities should have supervised the exercise and warned the trainer not to force my daughter to jump,’’ he said.

Her mother N Sivakami told reporters that the college management should take the responsibility for the incident.

Logeshwari’s classmates said she was a studious and sincere student.

“Since she hailed from a lower middle-class family, Logeshwari would always say she wanted to work hard and lift her family up,” said a student of the college.

The body of the student was handed over to the family on Friday afternoon, after which the cremation was performed.

Tests confirm no formalin in Chennai fish: Minister

‘Don’t Be Swayed By Rumours; Offenders To Face Stern Action For Using Chemical’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK  14.07.2018

Fisheries minister D Jayakumar on Friday refuted reports that fish sold in Chennai contain the cancer-causing chemical formalin.

The minister told reporters that tests by Tamil Nadu Fisheries University and the food safety department had ruled out the presence of formalin — illegally used as a preservative — in fish samples collected at random from landing centres, fish markets and harbours in Chennai and surrounding areas.

Jayakumar was attempting to counter a public scare over accounts of fish laced with the chemical showing up in markets in Chennai and elsewhere in the state.

“People can test samples in private institutes if they are not confident of the tests by officials,” he said, adding that the government was taking measures to ensure that only chemical-free fish is available for sale in the state.

“Middlemen transporting fish from neighbouring states may have engaged in such practices,” the minister said in response to a question on traces of formalin in samples from Chintadripet. State food safety officials have been conducting tests of fish samples over the past fortnight on an alert from Kerala on seizure of a consignment of formalin-laced fish.

Jayakumar said the use of illegal preservatives like formalin would attract stern action. Noting that the formalin scare had caused fish sales to plunge, directly affecting fishermen, he appealed to people not to allow rumours to sway them. “Why would fishermen want to risk their livelihood by adopting such practices?” he said.

“Fishermen have mechanized boats with cold storage facilities to keep fish fresh for 10 to 15 days and transporters use refrigerated trucks,” he said. “There is no need to use formalin because the demand for fish is high.”

Mortuaries use formalin, derived from formaldehyde, to preserve bodies. Fish wholesalers sometimes illegally use it as a preservative, especially while transporting it to other states.

Formalin is commonly used to preserve bodies and prevent its decay in. Fish traders sometimes illegally use it as a preservative.

Officials of the food safety and fisheries departments had earlier in the week conducted checks in fish markets in Kasimedu, Chintadripet and Saidapet. None of 24 samples they tested with rapid-detection kits were chemically contaminated.

Racket gets ‘original’ passports to Lankans to fly abroad as Indians

DECADE-OLD RACKET BUSTED IN CITY AFTER ARRESTS OF CONSTABLE AND POSTMAN

A Selvaraj & Sindhu Kannan | TNN  14.07.2018

Armed with knowledge of the loopholes, thanks to the latest technology, and in cahoots with government officials, fraudsters in the city can now ‘issue’ original passports. Only the person carrying it is fake.

Sleuths of the central crime branch of police recently busted a deep-rooted passport racket that has been operating for more than three decades. Police have detained 10 people under the Goondas Act. They picked up four more on Friday.

The racket, mostly catering to Sri Lankan Tamils seeking to fly abroad, had the involvement of travel agents, personnel from the intelligence wing and postal department. The racket helped foreign nationals procure an original passport for ₹3 lakh to ₹5lakh.

The collusion of officials surfaced following apprehension of constable K Murugan, 49, from the intelligence wing on July 10 and postman Dhanasekaran, 56, who worked for almost three decades in the postal department, a day later. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the two along with a few travel agents had helped more than 15 people, who didn’t possess any valid address and identity proof, get original passports. They took ₹1,000 each to get passports to random people.

This has blown the lid off a bigger network based in Chennai.

An investigation officer said, “Racketeers helped many Sri Lankan Tamils, who failed to go to Australia through illegal routes, get passports.”

Besides exploiting loopholes in the systems, racketeers also grease the palms of officials responsible for verifying documents.

Police arrested CRPF constable R Christopher, 40, and S Manivannan,41, on May 8 in connection with the racket. Christopher was posted as a counter officer at the Chennai airport on deputation for six months while Manivannan was a temporary peon at the administrative office in the airport.

Another police officer said, “Racketeers use their network to bribe the immigration officials, police intelligence officials and postal officials to get a new passport. They don’t need to tamper with the security features of the passport.”

A police officer who is part of the the case said, “The disturbing trend is found not only in Chennai. Racketeers are targeting places wherever they can use the officials, even on the outskirts of the city.”

Once passport is secured, a person, assisted by racketeers, approaches embassies and consulates of countries like Australia, The UK and Canada to get visa by submitting fake documents.

Strong winds bring down trees; light rain likely over weekend

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14,07.2018

Winds gusting up to 45kmph brought down several trees before fast-moving clouds brought the city and its southern suburbs a sharp spell of rain on Friday evening. The city is likely to get light rain or thundershowers over the weekend towards the evening or night, met office has said.

The evening showers that lasted 40 minutes threw traffic out of gear around 6.30pm. The downpour was spread across southern parts of the city including Adyar, Ashok Nagar and Tambaram. Northern and central parts including Nungambakkam, however, did not get much rain. The weather station at Nungambakkam recorded only 1mm rain.

The intense winds on Friday entered the city from the coast under the influence of a low pressure area near north Odisha. The rainfall in the city however occurred as a result of convective activity, according to weathermen.

Western districts of Tamil Nadu that fall in the path of the southwest monsoon are likely to get rainfall over the next few days.

“The southwest monsoon is growing in strength again. As a result, rainfall in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Tirunelveli, Dindigul and surrounding parts of the state is set to intensify,” a met official said.

In the 24 hours until 8.30am on Friday, Devala (Nilgiris) received 8cm, Valparai PTO (Coimbatore) 7cm, Chinnakalar (Coimbatore) 6cm, G Bazar (Nilgiris), Papanasam (Tirunelveli) and Periyar (Theni) 5cm each and Pollachi (Coimbatore) 4 cm. Chennai recorded only 0.5cm rain.

Since June, the city has received nearly 17cm rainfall at Nungambakkam and 12cm at Meenambakkam. Weather blogger Pradeep John said, “The weather pattern has not changed since rainfall began early this week. Just as on Friday, there will be fastmoving clouds pre-empted by fast winds.” On Thursday, winds gusted up to 35kmph, while on Friday they gusted to a maximum of 45kmph.

The maximum temperature on Friday was 35.7°C, which is a degree above normal. Weathermen have predicted a dip in temperature on Saturday. As per the met forecast, the maximum and minimum temperatures on Saturday are likely to be around 34°C and 26°C.

In July, the city records an average maximum temperature of 35.3°C. Climatological data (1981-2010) shows that the city is likely to get 6-7 days of rainfall during the month.



GONE WITH THE WIND: A tree was uprooted on Srinivasapuram Main Road, Thiruvanmiyur

New rule allows deportation if H-1B extension is rejected
Visa Holder Must Appear In Immig Court
Lubna.Kably@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: 14.07.2018  TIMES OF INDIA

Many H-1B visa holders could find themselves facing deportation proceedings if their application for a visa extension or change of status is rejected and the tenure of stay granted originally by the US authorities (as reflected in Form 1-94) has expired.

To make matters worse, despite being without a job, they would have to stay on in the US for several months, waiting to be heard by an immigration judge. A policy memorandum, dated June 28, which came into the public domain last week, permits the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to issue ‘notices to appear’ (NTA) in cases “where upon denial of an application or petition, the applicant is ‘unlawfully present’ in the US” ( see case study inside). Such a notice is the starting point for removal or deportation proceedings.

According to an immigration counsel in an IT company, “It appears that all cases where an application for visa extension is denied, post expiry of the original tenure of stay that was granted, an NTA will be issued.” Notices for commencement of deportation proceedings that were restricted to cases relating to fraud, criminal charges or denial of asylum or refugee status, now stands widened.



Majority of H-1B holders are on extended visas

Snehal Batra, managing attorney, NPZ Law Group, says “Once an NTA (notice to appear) has been served, the individual must remain in the US and appear before an immigration judge. A failure to appear for removal proceedings carries a five-year ban on re-entry to the US.”

Earlier on being denied an H-1B extension, the concerned employee could immediately return to India without the NTA related hassles. His employers could reapply for a fresh H-1B in the next season.

“Even international students are not immune to deportation proceedings. Unauthorised employment, failure to enrol in classes or failure on part of the educational institute to update a student’s records, could result in an unlawful status for students and issue of a NTA,” adds Batra.

Benjamin Johnson, executive director, American Immigration Lawyers Association, points out that the immigration court backlog, as of May 31, exceeded 7 lakh cases.

Typically, majority of the H-1B holders are not those on initial visas but on extended visas. Statistics show that during the 12-month period ended September 30, 2017, US authorities approved 3.65 lakh H-1B visa applications, of which only 1.08 lakh or 29.5% were for initial employment. Nearly 2 lakh Indians got visas for continued employment.

“The revised policy could result in a horrendous situation. As the H-1B extension has been denied, the employee can’t work, but he has to linger on in the US for several months to appear before the immigration court,” says the corporate counsel.

“Once removal proceedings have commenced, the concerned individual can leave only after an immigration judge grants voluntary departure. As the dockets of these judges are backlogged, it can take a few months to get a first hearing and then qualify for a voluntary departure,” says Cyrus D Mehta, managing partner of Cyrus D Mehta and Partners, an immigration law firm.

In case of H-1B workers, the trigger for denial of visa extension, would typically result in an NTA being served. The two are intricately linked in more ways than one.

Mehta explains: “After denial, the erstwhile H-1B worker starts accruing unlawful presence. If the grant of voluntary departure is issued more than one year from the date of denial, there will be a ten-year bar to re-entry.” The denial of extension of the visa by the USCIS can be appealed against, but this itself is time consuming. Assuming that, the denial is reversed, the immigration judge may drop the deportation hearing, or the individual can move court for termination of the deportation process.

Case study: An H-1B holder, can continue to live and work in the US for up to 240 days while the application for extension of his visa is pending, as long as the extension application was filed prior to expiry of the tenure in his original H-1B visa.

For full story, www.toi.in



THE BIG HURDLE

காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாள்; ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை பள்ளிகளுக்கு வேலை நாள்: பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை உத்தரவால் குழப்பம்

Published : 13 Jul 2018 20:31 IST

மு. அப்துல் முத்தலீஃப் சென்னை

 

கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாள் - கோப்புப் படம்

வரும் ஜூலை 15 காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாளை கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளாகக் கொண்டாட உள்ளதால் அன்று ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமையாக இருந்தாலும் பள்ளிகள் செயல்படும் என பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை அறிவித்துள்ளதால் பெற்றோரிடையே குழப்பம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாளை கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளாக அரசு அறிவித்து அரசாணை பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாளில் பள்ளி மாணவர்களிடையே போட்டிகள் உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு நிகழ்வுகளை நடத்தி விழாவாகக் கொண்டாட பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை முடிவெடுத்துள்ளது.

காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாளான ஜூலை 15 ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமையாக உள்ளதால் வேறொரு நாளில் கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளைக் கொண்டாடுவார்கள் என்று பெற்றோர்களும், மாணவர்களும் நினைத்திருந்த வேளையில் திடீரென ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை அன்றே காமராஜர் பிறந்த நாள் தமிழகம் முழுவதும் பள்ளிகளில் கொண்டாட வேண்டும் என பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை கட்டாய உத்தரவு இடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

பள்ளிகளுக்கு விடுமுறை தினமான ஞாயிறு அன்றும் பள்ளிகளைத் திறந்தே ஆக வேண்டும் என்ற அறிவிப்பு பெற்றோரைக் குழப்பத்தில் ஆழ்த்தியுள்ளது.

இதுகுறித்து பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை உயர் அதிகாரி வாசுவிடம் கேட்டபோது, ''கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளைக் கொண்டாட வேண்டும் என்றுதான் சர்க்குலர் அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதை அன்றுதான் கொண்டாட வேண்டும் என்றில்லை, வேறொரு நாளிலும் கொண்டாடலாம்'' என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

ஆனால், சென்னை உட்பட பல மாவட்டங்களில் கட்டாயம் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை பள்ளிகள் செயல்படும். அன்று அனைவரும் பள்ளிக்கு வருவதை உறுதி செய்து விழா நடத்திட வேண்டும் என சர்க்குலர் அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இதுகுறித்து மாவட்ட முதன்மைக் கல்வி அலுவலர் திருவளர்செல்வியிடம் இதுகுறித்து கேட்டபோது, ''கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளை ஆண்டுதோறும் கொண்டாடுகிறோம். மேலிட உத்தரவு என்பதால் அதை அப்படியே அனைத்துப் பள்ளிகளுக்கும் அனுப்பிவிட்டோம்'' என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை அல்லாமல் மற்ற நாட்களில் இதைக் கடைப்பிடிக்கலாமே, மேலதிகாரிகள் அன்றுதான் கொண்டாட வேண்டும் என்று சர்க்குலர் அனுப்பவில்லை என்று தெரிவிக்கிறார்களே என்று கேட்டபோது, ''எங்களுக்கு தெளிவாக சர்க்குலர் வந்துள்ளது. ஜூலை 15 அன்று கல்வி வளர்ச்சி நாளாக கொண்டாடவேண்டும் என்று குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளனர். அந்த அடிப்படையில் நான் சர்க்குலர் அனுப்பியுள்ளேன்'' என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

விடுமுறை நாள் அன்று ஓய்வெடுக்கும் மனநிலையில் உள்ள பெற்றோர் பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறையின் அறிவிப்பால் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை அன்றும் பிள்ளைகளை பள்ளிக்கு அனுப்ப வேண்டிய நிலைக்கு தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

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