Madras High Court rejects Director of Government Examinations’s plea, levies fine of Rs 5000

The court also directed officials concerned, including DGE, to issue a fresh marksheet to her and to re-admit her for the second year course.

Published: 23rd September 2018 02:57 AM |

Madras High Court. (File photo | EPS)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: While upholding the 2010 orders of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Salem imposing a fine of Rs 5,000 on the Director of Government Examinations, Justice S S Sundar of the Madras High Court has imposed another Rs 5,000 cost on him for not complying with the earlier orders of the High Court.

Originally, one A Rajeswari studied Plus Two in Government Higher Secondary School in Jalakandapuram in Salem district and she was issued a marksheet as if she had secured 998 out of 1,200 marks in the higher secondary examination in 2005. Thereafter, she joined DTE course in the Ravindranath Tagore Teacher Training Institute for Girls at Veerachipalayam in December 2005 under the government quota. She completed the first year course and secured 369 marks out of 450. When she was studying second year, the institute passed an order in June 2007 terminating her on the charge that she had altered the marks in Plus Two exams.

Challenging the termination order, she filed a writ petition before the High Court, which accepting her submissions, set aside the order. The court also directed officials concerned, including DGE, to issue a fresh marksheet to her and to re-admit her for the second year course.

As per the orders, she completed the second year course. However, results were not published by the Directorate of Public Examination. Hence, she lodged a complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, which in 2010 directed the authorities to publish the results and issue the documents - Plus Two marksheet, first and second year diploma marksheets along with diploma certificate -- and to pay Rs 5,000 to her for causing mental agony. The DGE then preferred the present plea.

Observing that the DGE had not published Plus Two exam results even after the orders of the Court and continued the litigation for the second time, the court dismissed the plea with another Rs 5,000 towards costs.

'Lack of attendance' forces final year IIT Madras student to commit suicide

A final year student of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras allegedly committed suicide Saturday by hanging from the ceiling of his room.

Published: 22nd September 2018 06:14 PM

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By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A 23-year-old student of IIT Madras committed suicide by hanging himself in his hostel room late Friday night. His body was recovered in the morning after police broke open his door.

According to the police, Shahal Kormath, a resident of Malappuram district in Kerala, committed suicide because of an attendance lack and fears of not being allowed to take up final examinations. However, Kormath, has not left behind a suicide note.

Preliminary investigations revealed that IIT Madras had intimated Kormath's parents about the attendance lack, which resulted in Kormath being chided by family members. It is learnt that Kormath's brother, Fazil has told police that Kormath did not answer his calls on Friday.

Kormath, a post graduate student, pursuing Ocean Engineering was staying in a single occupancy room in one of IIT Madras' hostels. Fellow hostelites became suspicious after Kormath did not open his door on Saturday morning and informed the hostel warden. When Kotturpuram police broke open Kormath's door, they found him hanging from a noose fastened to the ceiling fan.

Kormath's body was taken to the Royapettah Government Hospital for autopsy and police have registered a case under section 174 of CrPC (Unnatural death).

Doctor bags national awards

Special Correspondent V.S. Palaniappan

COIMBATORE, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST



Award for city doctor

KG Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam, and KG Hospital, Postgraduate Medical Institute, has bagged “Emeritus Teacher Award” and “Award for Excellence in Teaching for DNB Programme” respectively.

Dr. Bakthavathsalam received the awards from Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi recently.

These awards were given by the National Board of Examinations in recognition of the contributions of Dr. Bakthavathsalam and KG Hospital, Postgraduate Medical Institute, for successfully running the various diploma in National Board Programmes.

Petition moved against college chairman

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST

The Private Educational Institutions Employees’ Association represented by its president K.M. Karthik has moved the Madras High Court seeking a suo moto inquiry against the chairman of the Coimbatore-based group of institutions who was caught on camera misbehaving with women employees. He said that he had learnt about the chairman’s sexual misconduct and also seen the video footages. Students of the colleges, the chairman runs, had also staged a protest.

Given the fact that a number of girl students study there, the court should order a suo-motto inquiry and also direct the police to register a case.

Doctors booked for forgery: DME to send report to Health Secretary

STAFF REPORTER

COIMBATORE, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST

The Directorate of Medical Education will report to the Health Secretary on the case registered against two doctors of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on charges of forging documents for the bail plea of accused in a drug case.

S. Usha, senior civil surgeon, and Mansoor were booked for offences including cheating and forgery.Another doctor named T.C.R. Ramakrishnan is also among the list of accused.

Director of Medical Education A. Edwin Joe said that the dean of CMCH had sent him news reports on the case registered against the two Government doctors.

“No disciplinary action has been initiated against the doctors as of now as they were not arrested for the charges. If arrested, they will naturally be suspended from service on completion of 48 hours.

Reports on the case will be sent to the Health Secretary,” said Dr. Joe.

The two doctors, M. Zakaria, counsel of the accused, and Mohammed Shahib, brother of the accused, were booked based on an order issued by C. Sanjai Baba, judge for Essential Commodities Act Court. The order was made after the court found that Zakaria produced forged documents before it along with the bail plea of Muhammed Shikas (22) of Saibaba Colony, an accused in an opioid drug case.

Shikas was arrested along with Joy Immanuel (28) of Begaluru, Sulfikar Ali (24) of Kuniyamuthur and Mohammed Anas (24) of Ukkadam in July this year.

Prisoners may soon get leave for conjugal visits

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST



Initiative expected to ease stress, help in reformation

The State could soon see the rollout of a novel initiative to ease the tension and frustration among prisoners who are languishing in various correctional facilities if the government approves a proposal sent by Additional Director General of Police and Inspector General of Prisons Ashuthosh Shukla.

Nudged by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Mr. Shukla has suggested that they be granted leave so that they can undertake conjugal visits.

Said Mr. Shukla: “Recently, the court observed conjugal visits may lead to strong family bonding, and a few countries have already recognised this as the right of the prisoners. As part of reformation and correctional behaviour, we also suggested amendment of Rule 20 of the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules, 1982, so that conjugal visits can be treated as one of the grounds for leave.”

Authorities believe that conjugal visits may not only inculcate good behaviour among prisoners but also help fight cases of HIV and sexual offences which are quite rampant in prison campuses.

At present, prisoners get ordinary leave on the following grounds: to make arrangements for the livelihood of his/her family; for settlement of life after release; for admission of children in school or college; for construction or repairing the homestead; to make arrangements or to participate in the marriages of sons, daughters, full brothers or full sisters; for settling family disputes like partition and for undertaking agricultural operations like sowing and harvesting. They can also avail leave for other extraordinary reasons.

“We will add conjugal visit as a ground for leave in the Tamilnadu Prison Manual. We are also planning to introduce a video-conference facility for the interview of prisoners [by the family]. Such facilities will connect the prisons with the taluk office,” said Mr. Shukla.


We are also planning to introduce a video-conference facility for the interview of prisoners

Ashuthosh ShuklaInspector General of Prisons

From next year, commerce students can study sociology

Tanu Kulkarni

BENGALURU, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST



The idea is that sociology could give students insights into how the market functions, among other things.File Photo
Move welcomed by PU students and teachers alike

At first glance, commerce and sociology make strange bedfellows. One deals with economics, business studies and accountancy, the other, with human social relationships and institutions.

But sociology could give commerce students insights into how markets function and the importance of family structure in businesses. It is with this in mind that the Education Department has decided to offer pre-university commerce students the option of studying sociology from the next academic year. The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) had received a representation from sociology lecturers on the matter. C. Shikha, director of the department, said the decision was taken based on the suggestions of an expert committee formed to look into the representation.

Starting next year, those taking commerce, besides studying accountancy and business studies, can choose sociology as one of two other subjects. Students in this stream have four core subjects and two languages.

The option of studying sociology will be useful as the commerce stream has the most strength when compared to other streams, said Ms. Shikha. “The demand also came from the sociology lecturers who said they did not have sufficient workload and had to teach only 10 hours a week,” she added.

The move has been welcomed by both lecturers and students. Several colleges — both government and private — have decided to introduce the subject for commerce combinations for the 2019-20 academic year.

“Concepts such as industrial relations, how the family structure is linked to business enterprises, and learning about markets from a sociological perspective, are important in the commerce stream. Commerce students must have a background in social science in order to grasp concepts in a more nuanced fashion,” said Purushothama G.S., coordinator, II PU textbook committee and sociology lecturer.