A theatre chain that’s a huge hit

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST

Fans tweet emotionally as the brand has been close to everyone’s heart

We are losing another pride of Chennai, this is really heartbreaking, will miss the popcorn and cold coffee – this is what patrons of SPI Cinemas posted on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook after news of PVR taking over the multiplex went viral.

Some even flooded their walls and pages with memes on the multiplexes famous popcorn and cold coffee and said — “Don’t change the popcorn” and “Will miss the popcorn.”

The iconic theatre has been close to everyone’s heart including actors, directors and producers who saw their audio and teaser launches happen here.

Ashwin, a college student said, “For me group outing means going to Sathyam cinemas with friends. Their technology and ambience is outstanding,” he said.

Kanchana Krishnan, Director, Chennai, Knight Frank, on her Facebook page said, “The city of Chennai is a hit for movie buffs and when we think of movies, we are unwaveringly faithful to Sathyam cinemas.”

Dharaneetharan G. D., Director, Social Eagle, a city-based startup firm, who frequents SPI Cinemas, said, “According to me SPI Cinemas is a symbol of innovation and a brand that stands for customer satisfaction. I will definitely miss SPI. May be PVR can treat SPI as Zappos so that the culture is unaffected.”

“SPI Cinemas is a word (rather, two words). Sathyam theatre is an emotion,” said actor Vinodhini Vaidynathan, on her Facebook page. On a chat message she said that she loved the theatre from the time in the 80s when it was “just” Sathyam Theatre.

“I've always loved their popcorn (with butter and without flavouring),” she added.

Director P.S. Mithran of Irumbu Thirai fame, said, “I still remember telling my friends that this is how theatres would be abroad.”

Crowd funding

Some patrons also put out messages requesting SPI Cinemas not to sell the theatre and withdraw its plans.

A few even said that they would crowd fund and get the theatre back to the original promoters.

One of the tweets by@Kbaasubramani, said, “Though u see this as a next milestone!! As a huge fan of#SathyamCinemaswe don't really like this collaboration!! To be frank we have experienced both screens. Service and nothing can be matched with your standard!!”

Another tweet by@jayykrishh, said, “The name@sathyam_cinemasitself gives us a pride moments to watch movies. And getting tickets from the same is our greatest task on FDFS. Such a feel we get from@SPICinemasExpecting thesame from the new venture.”

As a huge fan of#SathyamCinemaswe don't really like this collaboration!! Service and nothing can be matched with your standard

Metro Rail Phase II to be extended till Poonamallee

Sunitha Sekar

CHENNAI, AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST



The 13-km stretch will benefit thousands in western part of the city

The Chennai Metro Rail plans to extend one of its corridors in the phase II project — from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee — that will cover a distance of nearly 13 km with 10 stations. This extension from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee will benefit thousands of people living in the western part of the city.

The areas which will get stations (in this extension) include Karambakkam, Porur Junction, Sri Ramachandra Hospital, Iyyapanthangal Bus Depot, Kaatupakkam, Kumananchavadi, Karayanchavadi, Mullai Thottam, Poonamallee Bus Terminus and Poonamalle Bypass, officials said. This extension will cost nearly Rs. 3,850 crore.

Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II project covers 108 km of the city touching upon 116 stations and it will comprise three corridors — Madhavaram to Shollinganallur, Light House to CMBT and Madhavaram to Siruseri. Of these three, the corridor from Light House, instead of touching its original destination of CMBT, will take a detour and go all the way up to Poonamallee via Valasarawakkam.

This extension till Poonamallee was originally not part of the phase II project and was added only recently for the benefit of commuters living in the western city of the city.

DPR being prepared

According to Chennai Metro Rail Limited officials, the detailed project report (DPR) is currently being prepared and once it is ready, more information regarding this stretch such as the expected number of people who will travel, the exact route through which the train will travel and various other technical information for construction will be available.

Whether this stretch from Valasarawakkam to Poonamallee will be underground or elevated will also be known only after the DPR is ready.

“Then, we will subsequently see how much land is required and the other issues involved. But work on this project can begin only after we know from where to get the funding from. We are looking at a lot of options such as approaching a few banks for funding this stretch,” an official said.

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited has approached Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding a part of the other two stretches — Madhavaram to CMBT and Madhavaram to Shollinganallur alone.

CMRL has begun acquiring land for these two stretches and also conducting soil tests in various locations across the city.

Once the DPR is ready, more information such as the expected number of people who will travel and the exact route will be available

CMRL official

Probe against college for sexual assault

STAFF REPORTER

BENGALURU, AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST


Doctor accused of sexual assault; college says no complaint lodged

The Indian Nursing Council (INC) is conducting an inquiry into a case of an alleged sexual assault of a nursing student of a city-based college.

Members of the INC spoke to several students as part of the inquiry on Monday.

While students of the School of Nursing, CSI Hospital, have alleged that a doctor of the hospital sexually assaulted a student, the management says that no formal complaint has been lodged by the students with the Internal Complaints Committee of the college.

The students also alleged that there have been other types of harassment by the college where a female student was suspended for speaking to a male hospital staff.

The students, however, stated that they had brought up the issue with the principal as well as the college management who did not look at their request.

A student of the college said that the students were asked to pay Rs. 10,000 for books and uniforms and were not given any receipts. She also said the condition of the hostel was deplorable.

The services of a senior nursing tutor who helped students voice out their concern was terminated on Monday, they said.

The Karnataka Nursing Council too visited the college last week to submit a fact finding report.

Google tracks your movements, like it or not

Tech Giant Claims It Gives Clear Description About Its Tools And How To Turn Them Off
San Francisco:  TOI 14.08.2018

Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so. Computer-science researchers at Princeton confirmed these findings at AP’s request.

For the most part, Google is upfront about asking permission to use your location information. An app like Google Maps will remind you to allow access to location if you use it for navigating. If you agree to let it record your location over time, Google Maps will display that history for you in a “timeline” that maps out your daily movements.

Storing your minute-byminute travels carries privacy risks and has been used by police to determine the location of suspects — such as a warrant that police in Raleigh, North Carolina, served on Google last year to find devices near a murder scene. So the company will let you “pause” a setting called Location History.

Google says that will prevent the company from remembering where you’ve been. Google’s support page on the subject states: “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.” That isn’t true. Even with Location History paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking.

For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like “chocolate chip cookies”, or “kids science kits”, pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude and save it to your Google account.

The AP learned of the issue from K Shankari, a graduate researcher at UC Berkeley who studies the commuting patterns of volunteers in order to help urban planners. She noticed that her Android phone prompted her to rate a shopping trip to Kohl’s, even though she had turned Location History off. “So how did Google Maps know where I was?” she asked in a blog post .

The privacy issue affects some two billion users of devices that run Google’s Android operating software and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users who rely on Google for maps or search.

Storing location data in violation of a user’s preferences is wrong, said Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist and former chief technologist for the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement bureau. “If you’re going to allow users to turn off something called ‘Location History’, then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off,” Mayer said.

Google says it is being perfectly clear. “There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people’s experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

“We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.” To stop Google from saving these location markers, the company says, users can turn off another setting, one that does not specifically reference location information. Called “Web and App Activity” and enabled by default, that setting stores a variety of information from Google apps and websites to your Google account.

While disabling “Web & App Activity” will stop Google from storing location markers, it also prevents Google from storing information generated by searches and other activity. That can limit the effectiveness of the Google Assistant, the firm’s digital concierge.

Critics say Google’s insistence on tracking its users’ locations stems from its drive to boost advertising revenue. “They build advertising information out of data,” said Peter Lenz, the senior geospatial analyst at Dstillery, a rival advertising technology company. “More data for them presumably means more profit.” Since 2014, Google has let advertisers track the effectiveness of online ads at driving foot traffic , a feature that Google has said relies on user location histories. The company is pushing further into such location-aware tracking to drive ad revenue, which rose 20% last year to $95.4 billion. AP



K Shankari (inset), a graduate researcher at UC Berkeley, noticed that her Android phone prompted her to rate a shopping trip to a department store even though she had turned Location History off

Rude coworkers can affect your parenting style

Toronto:14.08.2018

Children could be unintended victims of workplace incivility, say scientists who found that women who encounter rude coworkers are more likely to engage in stricter parenting practices, negatively affecting their kids. Workplace incivility is any behaviour that is rude, disrespectful, impolite or otherwise violates workplace norms of respect. This behaviour shows a lack of concern for others, said Kathryne Dupre, of Carleton University in Canada.

Some examples of workplace incivility include ignoring or making derogatory remarks about someone, taking credit for the work of others, passing blame for your own mistakes, avoiding someone or shutting people out of a network or team.

To better understand the effects of workplace incivility spill-over at home, the researchers conducted an online survey of 146 working mothers and their spouses. Mothers were asked about their experience with incivility in the workplace as well as feelings of effectiveness as a parent. Their spouses were asked to report on the mothers’ negative parenting behaviours, both authoritarian (strict and controlling) and permissive.

They found a significant association between experiencing rude behaviour at work and authoritarian parenting by working mothers at home. There was no association found with permissive parenting. Survey results also showed that incivility in the workplace was associated with mothers feeling less effective as parents, which could help explain the increased need to engage in strict, controlling parenting behaviours, said Dupre.

Authoritarian parents have high expectations of their children, with rules that they expect their children to follow unconditionally. At the same time, though, they provide very little in the way of feedback and nurturance and harshly punish any mistakes, said Dupre. They tend to have lots of regulations and micromanage almost every aspect of their children's lives, valuing discipline over fun. “These findings reveal some previously undocumented ways that women, in particular, suffer as a result of workplace aggression,” said Angela Dionisi, from Carleton University. PTI



The study found a significant link between experiencing rude behaviour at work and authoritarian parenting by working mothers at home

U’khand HC is legal guardian of cows in state

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

Nainital:14.08.2018

In the first ruling of its kind in the country, the Uttarakhand high court invoked the ‘parens patriae’ clause (becoming a legal protector) for “the welfare of cows and other stray cattle in Uttarakhand.” By invoking this provision, the court declared itself a legal guardian of members of the bovine family across the state. The court’s order was delivered on August 10 but a certified copy was available on Monday.

A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari in a detailed 41-page order spelled out steps for the protection of cows in the state. Citing various references in its order, including Supreme Court rulings, excerpts from upanishads and arthashastra as well as teachings of Jainism and Buddhism and quotes of Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama to stress the importance of caring for animals, the judges gave a series of directions to the state government.

These included “ensuring the banning of slaughter of cow, bull, bullock, heifer or calf, prohibition on selling of beef or beef products in any form throughout the state, providing medical treatment to all the stray cattle, appointing infirmaries within a period of three weeks in order to treat and take care of animals, evicting all unauthorised occupants/encroachers from gaushalas within a period of three months and ensuring adequate patrolling by state police in rural areas once in 24 hours to ensure that no cow is slaughtered.”

“A special squad is ordered to be headed by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police in both commissionaries that is Kumaon and Garhwal with one veterinarian to protect cows,” the judges said.

The court ordered cases to be registered under sections 289, 428 and 429 of the IPC as well as various provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Act, 1960 and Section 7 of the Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Act, 2007, against the owners of any cattle which are found on the streets. The court further directed chief engineers of all national and state highways to ensure that no stray cattle comes on roads.

New CJ gave Ganga living status
Nainital:

Justice Rajiv Sharma, who delivered landmark orders such as granting living entity status to Ganga and the animal kingdom, was appointed the acting chief justice of the Uttarakhand high court. Justice Sharma was appointed the acting CJ last week. Born in October 1958, Justice Sharma has so far heard more than 75,000 cases. After joining the Himachal Pradesh high court in 2002, he was appointed additional judge of the high court in April 2007 and became a permanent judge in March 2013. He was then transferred to Uttarakhand HC where he assumed office in September 2016. TNN

Linking of UID & social media accounts violates privacy, says Madras HC
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  14.08.2018

The Madras high court on Monday termed the relief sought through a PIL ‘dangerous’ as it wanted the Union government to declare the linking of Aadhaar compulsory for authentication while creating email and social media accounts.

“There is a pressing need for administration, regulation and supervision of social media, specially, on abusive and derogatory posts, comments and memes which further promotes misinformation and propaganda. Taking note of these factors, particularly their unhealthy effects thereof, mandating Aadhaar is considered to be the most practical way of addressing the menace and imposing stringent penalties, as it paves way for tracking individual identities uploading multiple posts and memes,” petitioner Antony Clement Rubia said.

When the PIL came up for admission before a division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad, the bench wondered under what constitutional right the petitioner was seeking such relief.

“This a dangerous relief. It would affect the right to privacy of every individual. If the petitioner faces any such issue he can very well file a complaint with the police concerned and definitely they can track such people and penalize under appropriate law,” the bench said.

The court then directed the Centre to file a reply and directed the appearance of deputy superintendent of police incharge of the cybercrime wing to explain the manner in which such complaints are dealt with and the cooperation provided by social media companies. The court then posted the PIL to August 20 for further hearing.

According to the petitioner, the recent unforgettable misery which took lives of many young children was a game circulated through the social media named ‘Blue Whale Challenge’. “It was a time when the administrators of the game as well as the targets were difficult to locate, because there was no record of the true identity of users of social media accounts,” he added.