MISSING FOR 40 YRS

Man’s body found after tree grows from seed in his stomach

Times of India 26.09.2018

The body of a man who was murdered more than 40 years ago has been found after a seed from a fig in his stomach grew into a tree. Ahmet Hergune was killed during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in 1974, but his body remained undiscovered for decades. It was eventually discovered because the tree which grew from him was unusual for the area.

The man had been taken into a cave with two others and both of them had been killed by dynamite that was thrown in after them. The dynamite also blew a hole in the side of the cave, allowing light to flood into the darkened interior which in turn allowed the fig seed to grow into a tree from his body.

Up to 200,000 people were displaced during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

Ahmet Hergune’s sister Munur, 87, said: “We used to live in a village with a population of 4,000, half Greek, half Turkish. In 1974, the disturbances began. My brother Ahmet joined the Turkish Resistance Organization. On June 10, the Greeks took him away.” She added: “For years we searched for him in vain.” But she said that unknown to her, the grave had ended up being marked by the fig tree.

The tree was spotted in 2011 by a researcher who was curious as to how the tree had ended up in the cave and especially in a mountainous area where it was not usually found. While carrying out his research and digging around the tree, he was horrified to find a human body underneath and raised alarm. On digging further, police recovered a total of three bodies.

Munur added that her brother was believed to have been the one who had eaten the fig, and blood samples from her family matched DNA fragments which confirmed it was her brother’s final resting place. Ahmet had apparently eaten the fig shortly before he died. “They found my brother thanks to that tree,” she said. DAILY MIRROR

Appointment of Vice Chancellor times of India 26.09.2018

Rlys closes gate after staffer is assaulted
Commuters Forced To Take Another Route

Vincent.Arockiaraj@timesgroup.com

Trichy: 26.09.2018

After the gate keeper at a level crossing gate keeper was attacked by unidentified people, the Trichy railway division authorities have closed the gate near Cuddalore permanently to teach the locals a lesson.

A notice board hanging on the gate read, “On 23.09.2018 Shri Ashraf Ali on duty GK was assaulted by the public while doing duty, this LC gate (LC - 151) is permanently closed.”

Following the closure of the gate, people are forced to take an alternative route.

According to sources, gate keeper Ashraf Ali was beaten up by some motorists for not opening the gatewhich had been closed as a train was to pass through the section. They also said such incidences were common at the crossing.

Trichy divisional railway manager (DRM), P Uday Kumar Reddy said he had ordered the gate closed following many such incidents. “The people in that area are very aggressive. When I was there at the gate on September 22 midnight, two men on a two-wheeler approached the gate and ordered the staff to open the gate. When he refused, they started abusing him. Subsequently, I intervened and informed the RPF. After seeing the RPF, they fled from the spot,” he said.

The railway administration has lodged a complaint with Government Railway Police (GRP) about the incident, he said.

When asked about the inconvenience for the general public, DRM said there was no hindrance for vehicular movement as another gate 15 metres away.

DRASTIC MEASURES

High court bench orders man to pay ₹20L for divorce

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai 26.09.2018

Setting aside a lower court’s order, which dismissed a divorce petition, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court said that the divorce proceedings will be initiated on condition that the man compensate his wife with ₹20 lakh for the suffering she underwent. Alleging that his wife suffered from mental illness, A Amuldoss moved the lower court in Thanjavur in 2013 seeking divorce from her. In his petition, Amuldoss stated that he got married to the woman in 2008 at a church and cited incidents to claim that she suffered from mental illness. The woman’s counsel denied all allegations against her.

However, the lower court dismissed the petition after observing that it was based only on the versions of his mother and sister as he was staying abroad. It took into consideration the woman’s version that her in-laws quarrelled with her as she did not have a child.

When he went on an appeal in the high court, justice J Nisha Banu issued the directions after noting that the couple are living separately for the past seven years and the effort made by the court to mediate for a possible reunion went futile. “While the wife wanted to live with the husband, the husband was not willing to live with her. There has also been a long delay of continuous separation and therefore, while mediating, the court found that matrimonial bond is beyond repair,” the court said stressing that while it understands the woman’s anxiety to reunite with her husband, it has no other option except to deal with the matter in the circumstances of the case as the man does not want to live with her. While allowing the appeal petition, the judge said the lower court’s order shall be set aside only when the man pays compensation to his wife.

2 in 5 teachers in city have problems with their voices
Most Not Worried As Long As They Are Heard, Finds Study

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com 26.09.2018

We’ve all heard stories about how singers go to extremes to nurse their voices, avoiding the sun, cold water and what have you. But another set of professionals who depend on their voices to make themselves heard — teachers who often have to speak loudly for 6-8 hours a day — rarely bother with the health of their larynges.

A recent study in the Journal of Voice concluded that nearly two in five school teachers in Chennai had problems with their voices, but reported them only when they had real trouble delivering lectures.

With more than 1500 schools, Chennai has more than 1.5 lakh teachers who often have to raise their voices to be heard above the din – even when students are quiet, which often they are not, there is noise from the playgrounds or the streets and buildings nearby. And there’s chalk dust, which can clog noses and throats.

“We talk for 6-8 hours. There are now more students per classroom and many are naughty. Besides there is too much background noise in the classroom and we are forced to raise our voice,” said Sharada S, a primary math teacher at a private matriculation school.

“At least three of the five classes I handled today were close to the playground and I had to be loud for students to hear me. I often return home with a hoarse voice and a strained throat,” she said.

A team of voice therapists from Sri Ramachandra University surveyed 384 teachers and found that most first use home remedies. While doctors and voice experts see adequate water intake and steam inhalation as positive habits, 36% of teachers said they had less than six glasses of water and 37.5% did not do steam inhalation.

The study’s corresponding author Prakash Boominathan, who heads the university’s speech language and hearing department, said what was really counterproductive was that more than a quarter of the teachers took more than two cups of coffee a day, although a majority said they don’t smoke or drink. Another commonly abused remedy is throat lozenges, he said.

“Most teachers were not worried about voice quality as long as they were heard clearly and their throats did not hurt,” said Aishwarya Nallamuthu, who was part of the study.

They had very little idea about what having a healthy voice meant. Some 23% thought they were fine if their voice were “flexible” – if they could speak for long in different tones and decibels. Another 22% thought it was OK if they had could speak for long. Many dismissed their problems as minor – as a dry throat or throat irritation.

Nallamuthu said it was important to educate teachers on vocal health so that problems could be treated early. “For this we must inculcate tailor-made vocal hygiene programmes,” she said.

Cyclonic circulation in bay may bring rain to Chennai

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.09.2018

The city is expected to get more rain in the coming days because of a cyclonic circulation over the South Andaman Sea and southeast Bay of Bengal.

Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said the sky condition was likely to be partly cloudy. Light rain or thundershowers is likely to occur in some areas in the next two days.

A cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal and a north-south trough from north Karnataka to the Gulf of Mannar will have an impact on the city’s weather. Already, this has led to a general dip in the maximum temperature since Friday, when the mercury level peaked to 35°C. The city recorded 33.2°C on Tuesday, a stable figure for the past three days.

However, the day between 8.30am and 3.30pm was hotter than it was on Monday. The temperature was well over 33°C till 2.30pm while it peaked to 33°C at 12.45pm and then started to dip on Monday.

The low pressure formed in the Arabian Sea had its impact across the peninsula. However, officials said the chances of a heavy rainfall were remote while the sky might remain cloudy through the day like it was a week ago.

The water stock available for the city has come down considerably when compared to last year.

Water level at Poondi and Cholavaram is at 13mcft (million cubic feet) and 8mcft respectively. Last year, Poondi had 28mcft and Cholavaram had 26mcft.

However, Redhills and Chembarambakkam have good storage compared to the previous year. While Redhills has 525mcft water, Chembarambakkam has 366mcft.

Man bludgeons beagle to spite wife after tiff

A.Selvaraj @timesgroup.com

Chennai:26.09.2018

A 41-year-old resident of Velachery, incensed at his wife after an argument, fatally bludgeoned her pet beagle with the metal handle of a mop in their house on Saturday night.

Police arrested S Jagannathan, a Sri Lankan national, on a complaint by his wife J Selvi, 35, after the dog died of multiple neck injuries in a pet clinic near the couple’s house on Monday morning.

Investigators said Jagannathan admitted, during interrogation, to the attack on the dog, saying he intended to kill the animal to spite his wife. He used a strip of cloth to muzzle the dog before clubbing it repeatedly with the handle of a toilet mop, they said.

“Jagannathan attacked the dog when Selvi left for her sister’s house in Thiruvanmiyur after the couple had a spat on Saturday evening,” an investigating officer said.


SOFT TARGET: S Jagannathan used a strip of cloth to muzzle the dog before clubbing it with the steel handle of a mop

‘My husband didn’t like dogs, would often beat it’

Selvi, who runs a beauty parlour out of the ground floor of the couple’s house on 2nd Main Road in Sarathi Nagar, Velachery, returned home on Sunday morning to find the battered six-year-old beagle she called Burmi whimpering softly in a bloodstained passageway.

“I knew right away that my husband had tried to kill the dog,” the officer quoted Selvi as saying. “So without saying a word to him, I picked up Burmi and rushed her to a pet clinic nearby.”

A veterinarian at the clinic called her on Monday to say the dog was dead, Selvi said. She lodged a complaint against with the Velachery police station. Police picked up Jagannathan, who runs a shop that irons clothes next to his wife’s beauty parlour, from the couple’s house.

“Selvi married Jagannathan a couple of years ago after divorcing her first husband, with whom she had two children. The children live in Trichy with Selvi’s parents,” the officer said. “Jagannathan came to TN from Jaffna around 25 years ago, during the civil war in Sri Lanka, and settled in Chennai.”

Jagannathan did not like dogs and would often lash out at his wife’s beagle, a small scent hound bred to hunt hare, after the couple had a fight, the officer said.