Sathyam’s charm and memories will stay on

AVIS Vishwanathan, happiness curator talks on Sathyam cinemas and memories..
Published: 14th August 2018 03:38 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI : My earliest memory of Sathyam Cinemas is from 1976. I was barely nine and we were visiting Chennai (Madras then) from New Delhi. My uncle took us to watch ‘Chitchor’ (directed by Basu Chatterjee) at Sathyam. That was a movie with many firsts for me — my first time at Sathyam, my first Amol Palekar film and the first time I heard a song by KJ Yesudas!

The following summer we moved to Chennai. And I distinctly remember, as an adolescent, being drawn to the posters of this movie by J Mahendran called ‘Uthiripookkal’ (1979). I think it was A-rated. So, I bunked school and went to watch this movie with an older friend at one of the screens in the Sree-Sathyam-Santham-Subham complex. I have no idea how my friend got us admitted into the hall. But I remember being whacked by my grandmother when she discovered what I had been up to! Another first here — the first time I bunked classes and went to the movies was at Sathyam! And my first Telugu movie, ‘Sankarabharanam’(K Viswanath), too happened here — in 1980.

Getting tickets back then was such a hassle. I remember often having to squeeze through a narrow queue ‘tunnel’, with ugly iron bars, at the rear of the Sathyam building, to buy tickets. During our eventful courtship in 1988, and in the first couple of years of our marriage (before we moved out of Chennai), my wife Vaani and I have watched several movies here.

Some years later, when we came back to live in the city, Sathyam was again a first choice for us as a family. I can never forget a night show of ‘Air Force One’ (1997) featuring Harrison Ford, which we watched here. We went home past midnight to find that our place had been burgled! Another interesting experience I recall is when ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ was released in 2000, we were in the front row of the balcony.

And our daughter Aanchal, who was just five years old then, was seated on my lap. The moment Hrithik Roshan came on screen, she leaped out of my lap, ran up to the balcony railing and screamed, “I love him! I love him!” The audience cracked up! Sathyam’s charm is like AR Rahman’s music — it has grown on you and so it will stay with you. Over time, brand Sathyam and SPI Cinemas may fade away. But the memories will stay on.

(AVIS Viswanathan is the happynesswala; He is a big fan of Big B and of Sathyam Cinemas — in that order!)

New Chennai railway time-table disappoints many

According to the new time-table, the Cuddalore-Vriddhachalam passenger train is extended to Tiruppadirippuliyur, while the Nagore-Tiruchchirappalli passenger trains will run upto Karaikkal.

Published: 14th August 2018 03:21 AM |


For representational purposes (File | EPS)



By B Anbuselvan

Express News Service

CHENNAI : The new railway time-table, which comes into effect from August 15, has disappointed passengers as the Southern Railway has neither introduced any new trains nor reduced the travel time of trains. The travel time in the 495-km Chennai Egmore and Madurai section, which became a fully electrified double line six months ago, remains above eight hours and ten minutes for all trains except Vaigai Express. The Villupuram-Madurai section double lines have been developed at the cost of `1200 crore. Besides reducing the travel time of weekly trains including Nagercoil- Mumbai CSMT biweekly express by 60 minutes, the Tambaram-Tirunelveli Antyodaya Express is speeded up by 60 minutes.

According to the new time-table, the Cuddalore-Vriddhachalam passenger train is extended to Tiruppadirippuliyur, while the Nagore-Tiruchchirappalli passenger trains will run upto Karaikkal. Similarly, the Palakkad-Punalur Palaruvi Express is extended to Tirunelveli, while the Kollam-Edamann passenger train will run upto Shengottai.


Travel time of 10 daily express trains including the Chennai Central-Coimbatore Shatabdi Express, Chennai Central-Alleppey Express and Pandiyan Express is reduced by 5 to 15 minutes. The departure time of about 25 trains from Chennai Egmore and Central stations has changed by 5 to 30 minutes. 

While the Southern Railways officials have repeatedly informed that new trains from Tambaram to Nagercoil and Tambaram to Kollam are being proposed, the time-table having no such trains has disappointed the rail passengers J Soosairaj, president, Tamil Nadu Southern Districts Train Passengers Association termed the time-table as a testimony to the step-motherly treatment meted out to Kanniyakumari district. “We have been assured that a triweekly Express is proposed to Nagercoil. However nothing has happened. We have to rely on bus services to travel for about 700 km,” he said.

K Baskar, member, Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), Chennai, said the reduction of travel time by five minutes is negligible. “The Southern Railway operates trains at the same travel time as that of single lines in double tracks between Chennai and Madurai. It only exhibits Railways’ poor efficiency and lack of planning,” he charged. Railway sources said the travel time of trains was not reduced mainly due to the proposed 4- hour corridor block a day for track maintenance. “We are planning a few changes in the time-table in a few months,” said an officer.

Relief pours in from Chennai for Kerala

Right from the beginning, materials have been pouring in. From homemakers to businessmen, everybody made it a point to donate something.

Published: 14th August 2018 03:42 AM |

The first set of materials from Path , an NGO, was sent on Sunday

Express News Service

CHENNAI : To aid Kerala in battling one of the worst floods it has witnessed in nearly a century, Chennaiites have stepped up in large numbers to mobilise relief material to help flood-affected victims in the neighbouring state. “When half of Chennai city was submerged in water in 2015, we received nearly nine tonnes of relief material from Kerala. Now, it is our turn to reciprocate,” said Vikaash Srivatsav, managing trustee of Path, a city-based NGO that has set up collection points in different places, including Naturals Lounge in T Nagar, C2 Mallika Ceebros in Pycrofts Road, Nungambakkam, Sunnyvale Apartments at Konnur High Road in Aynavaram, and Spectrum mall at Perambur.

Talking about the tremendous response from locals, he said, “Right from the beginning, materials have been pouring in. From homemakers to businessmen, everybody made it a point to donate something. The first consignment including medicines, baby food, sanitary items, water bottles (1,100 kg) and ready-to-eat food was sent on Sunday night.”

The volunteers said they are in constant touch with the Collectorate in Wayanad who is diverting the materials to different parts of the state. Priyanka Krishna, a volunteer with the Chennai rescue team said the Collectorate informed that they are currently not in need of clothes, but in need of footwear, carpets, mats, and provisions. Kalpana Ramakrishnan, one of the donors at Spectrum mall, said, “We have collected relief materials from eight apartments in our area. Likewise, people are gathering in all the areas.”



While materials are being collected quickly, transportation has become one of the major issues as most of the drivers are hesitant to drive to the flood-hit state. Addressing this, Fahd Khaleel Wallajah and Mohamed Asif from the city have started a crowd-funding campaign on GiveAway India that uses online and mobile interface to connect donors to beneficiaries and anyone from across the globe will be able to donate a range of products. “Willing donors can visit giveawayindia.org and can pay for water bottles, biscuits, rice, flour, milk powder, and other essentials. Once the crowdsourcing is done, our corporate partners from Kerala will directly provide the material to the relief areas.

This will save a lot of time,” said Fahd, adding that the model was useful in the 2015 Chennai floods as well.Bindu Satyajit from Do For Others foundation, who has been receiving the relief material at Kerala, said, while the essentials for the public is almost taken care of, the cattle are starving. She urged Chennaiites to also provide cattle feed, hay and mineral mixture.

Rajini questions CM’s absence at Kalaignar’s funeral

STAFF REPORTER

AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST

The film star said that had the State government challenged the decision to give a burial space for the former Chief Minister at the Marina, he himself would have participated in protests.
Says there is no clash of great leaders in politics any more

Actor Rajinikanth questioned the absence of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the final rites for former Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi at Marina, at a memorial event organised by the Tamil Film Industry on Monday evening.

“I was very proud to see that several Chief Ministers as well as leaders from the Centre were present at the final rites of Mr Karunanidhi, where he was given a state funeral. With all of these dignitaries present, shouldn't the Tamil Nadu CM too have been there to pay his last respects? What will people think of this,” Mr. Rajinikanth asked.

“Are you all MGR or Jayalalithaa? There was previously a clash of great leaders in politics, but not any more,” he said, questioning the ruling party over their absence at the State funeral.

He also said that had the Tamil Nadu government challenged the decision to give a burial space for the former Chief Minister at the Marina, he would have participated in protests himself. “I got very emotional seeing Mr. Stalin shed tears and I want to tell him that he has his family and his party for support. His father’s path and achievements will show him the way,” he said. Stating that it was tough for him to imagine a Tamil Nadu without Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Mr. Rajinikanth said that the leader had been instrumental in inspiring lakhs of people to come into politics and had always said that either people like him or oppose him in the political sphere.

“I don’t want anyone to mistake me, but I feel that Kalaignar’s photo should be kept next to M.G.Ramachandran’s photo when the AIADMK annual celebrations are held,” he said.

“If a movie like Parasakthi hadn't been made, Tamil cinema would have lagged by at least 20 years. Kalaignar was someone who showed us that cinema with good dialogues and heroes who spoke on screen and not just sang on screen were important,” said actor Nassar, president of the Nadigar Sangam.

Government offices asked to ensure TDS every month

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST



On tax deduction:K. Raviramachandran, Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS), speaking at an awareness programme in Madurai on Monday.G. MoorthyG_Moorthy 

‘Penalty will be recovered from salary of Drawing and Disbursal Officer’


Tax deductors in government offices have been reminded of penalty provision in Income Tax Act, if they fail to deduct tax from their employees and make the payment on time or to file the returns on time.

Addressing an awareness programme for tax deductors organised by the Income Tax Department here on Monday, Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS) K. Ravi Ramachandran said the department was soft-pedalling against defaulting tax deductors of government departments.

“However, a day will come when we’ll be compelled to slap Rs. 200 fine a day on deductors for not complying with provisions of Income Tax Act,” he said.

He said that the penalty would be recovered from the salary of Drawing and Disbursal Officer (DDO) and not from the government departments.

Mr. Ramachandran also asked the tax deductors to directly file their returns to the Income Tax Department using TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax D. Albert Manohar said that the DDOs should understand that tax deduction at source should be done from employees every month from April to March and not during the last few months of the financial year.

Tax deduction should be done in 12 equal instalments through the financial year based on the annual salary projection of each government employee, he said. Failure to deduct correct amount of tax and not making prompt payment to Income Tax Department would make the DDOs liable to pay penalty, he cautioned.

The DDOs should understand that a major portion of the income tax collected from individuals was ploughed back through the State government for developmental works. Hence, it was imperative for them to collect the dues on time, he said.

Joint Commissioner of Income Tax Ben Mathew Varkey said that 40% of the total tax collected or Rs. 4 lakh crore across the nation was through TDS. He assured that the Income Tax Department was ready to help the DDOs in solving various issues in processing TDS on time.

CUTN Tiruvarur closes admissions for 2018-19

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUVARUR, AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST

The Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Tiruvarur, has closed admissions for this academic year for UG Integrated and PG programmes. The admissions were closed on August 10.

Students were admitted for the various programs offered through 22 departments based on the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET).

The applications were received online from February 19 to March 26, and the admit cards were issued on April 13, for the entrance exams conducted on April 28 and 29.

The CUTN had introduced 13 new programmes for this academic year.

There was a significant rise in the number of applicants.

This year, there were 40,816 applicants compared to 27,299 last year, according to information provided to the media.

There are 22 departments offering UG, PG, M.Phil and doctorate programs under schools of Basic and Applied Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Social Sciences and Humanities, Behavioural Sciences, Commerce and Business Management, Communication, Education and Training, Technology, Performing Arts and Fine Arts, and Earth Sciences.

In all, the Central University of Tamil Nadu offers 46 courses for 1,689 students with 100 regular teachers on rolls, the CUTN website states.

Besides students from all over the country, the CUTN has also been admitting those from other countries under Direct Admission of Students Abroad scheme.

Students with adequate knowledge of English are admitted.

In case English is not the first language or language of medium of instruction during secondary and tertiary education, a pass in the Test of English as a foreign language administered by the Educational Testing Service in the US, or the International English Language Testing Service test administered by the British Council, is required.

Kiran Bedi returns CM’s ‘rude’ letter

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PUDUCHERRY, AUGUST 14, 2018 00:00 IST




Kiran Bedi

Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi has returned a letter from Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy charging her with violating “the spirit of the oath of secrecy” as it was “impolite” in tone.

Mr. Narayanasamy had, while addressing the media the other day, shared copies of his letter in which he took exception to the fact that although as an administrator Ms. Bedi had taken oath of office and secrecy, she had been issuing, on a daily basis, official “secret communications violating the oath of secrecy which was unbecoming of a constitutional authority.”

A miffed Lt. Governor conveyed to the media that she was returning the letter in original as it was found to be “highly impolite”, especially considering that it was addressed to a Constitutional office.

“If it (referred by the CM at the press meet) is the same one written to the Lt. Governor, I wish to inform that it was returned in original as it was considered highly impolite written to a Constitutional office,” Ms. Bedi said.

She charged the Chief Minister with being “rude even earlier in several of his letters.” “However, it has now become a pattern,” she added.