NEET applications from Tamil Nadu record 17% increase

TNN | Dec 14, 2018, 07.37 AM IST

CHENNAI: There has been a 17% rise in the number of candidates applying for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions from Tamil Nadu, from 1.2 lakh in 2017-18 to 1.4 lakh in 2018-19, official data shows.

Copping heavy criticism for not allocating an adequate number of exam centre in Tamil Nadu last year, the Centre has increased the number of cities in which the test will be conducted in May 2019.

Last year, the test was held in only 10 cities including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy, forcing many from rural and interior areas of Tamil Nadu to travel to other states. Some latecomers were denied entry and missed writing the test. This time, centres will also be set up in Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Nagercoil and Karur.




Of the total registrations, more than 26,000 preferred centres in and around Chennai and 19,000 preferred centres in the four newly added cities.

The Tamil Nadu government had repeatedly promised to pressure the Centre to clear the Bills passed in the state assembly seeking a permanent exemption from NEET and opposition parties and activists have been calling to scrap it altogether saying it would affect rural students.

But little progress has been made on this front, and the state government set up 413 coaching centres to train students from government-funded schools. While the Rs 20 crore allocated by the government towards this lies idle, private colleges funded the training programme.

A total of 26,000 students are being trained in these centres, syas school education minister K A Sengottiayan, expressing the hope that at least 500 among them will join MBBS/BDS courses by clearing NEET-UG 2019. Last year, only government school students managed to secure medical admissions, shows official data.

MTC bus collides head-on with car, 1 dead, 2 injured

TNN | Dec 15, 2018, 12.56 AM IST

CHENNAI: A 70-year-old woman was killed and two others, including her granddaughter and car driver, suffered grievous injuries in a fatal accident on Kamarajar Salai, Marina, on Friday morning.

Police said, the accident happened around 10.30am when a speeding MTC bus (route no.109), headed towards Broadway, collided head-on with a car approaching from the opposite lane, while trying to overtake another MTC bus.

The deceased was identified as Hemavathy, of Kilpauk. Her granddaughter Anandhavalli, 29, and car driver Venkatesan suffered injuries in the accident.

Heamavathy’s son booked a cab for her and Anandhavalli from Kilpauk and the two were on their way to meet a dentist in Mylapore when the accident took place.

“Since the cab was booked from an app installed on her son’s phone, he got a message that they had completed the trip. When he tried to call them, there was no response,” said an investigating officer. One of the police personnel attending to the accident picked up the call and informed him about the accident.

The MTC bus driver, who fled the scene, has been identified as Rajendran. Witnesses on the spot blamed the MTC driver for rash driving. Anna Square Traffic investigation team arrived at the scene and moved the mangled remains of the vehicle to the station.

All three were taken to the Royapettah government hospital. While doctors declared Hemavathy dead on arrival, the other two were admitted to the hospital and are undergoing treatment.

The accident led to a huge traffic pile-up on the stretch and the ambulance was one of the vehicles that got struck in the traffic. Police cleared all other vehicles and paved way for the ambulance.Anna Square traffic investigation team registered a case of causing death due to negligence against the driver.

Now, you can book seats on SETC buses on private apps

TNN | Dec 15, 2018, 09.00 AM IST

CHENNAI: Booking a seat on long-haul government buses has become easier with their being listed on Red Bus and other private booking apps since the second week of December in a bid to check the drop in patronage.



In the first phase, the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), one of eight state-owned transport corporations, has linked its online bus booking services to Red Bus and Bus India. Soon, Paytm will be added to this list.

SETC operates over 1,100 long-distance buses in Tamil Nadu. Its buses also ply on 250 routes in neighbouring Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

Patronage has been declining for SETC despite introduction of air-conditioned sleeper buses and ultra deluxe buses fitted with toilets.

In July, SETC had adopting a flexi-fare model — reducing fares during weekdays. Later, boarding points were shifted to Egmore and Adyar from Koyambedu as a part of its efforts to attract more passengers. Continuing that drive, SETC has now listed its services on private bus booking apps.

A senior SETC official said, “Passengers will now get to compare fares of government and private buses. In most cases, we charge less than half what private operators do. So we hope more passengers will choose us.”

Except for special buses, there is no surge pricing for SETC buses during the festival. SETC is optimistic that the move will help techies, who frequently visit their native places during weekends and depend on apps to book seats on buses. The apps are easy to use compared to the present Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) website and have a better server backup, the official added.

Also, the contact details of the bus conductor will be available to the passengers when they book and this will assist them in tracking the pick-up points and expected time of arrival.

Once the Global Positioning System (GPS) fitted in the buses is linked with the apps, passengers can even track the vehicles' movement live.

“This initiative is based on the success reported by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation after tying up with private firms and moffusil services will be added to the apps based on the response to the trial,” the SETC official added.

Phethai may skip Chennai, city to miss heavy rain

TNN | Dec 15, 2018, 12.01 AM IST

Chennai: With the probable cyclonic storm Phethai expected to skip Chennai, the city may not get much rain as weathermen have forecast a moderate spell against the earlier prediction of a heavy rain over the weekend.

The IMD said the system which will intensify from a deep depression to cyclonic storm and into a severe cyclonic storm thereafter, is likely to make a landfall between Ongole and Kakinada in Andhara Pradesh on Monday afternoon.

IMD’s regional weather inference said the deep depression over southeast Bay of Bengal was about 930km southeast of Chennai and 1,090km southeast of Machilipatnam Friday afternoon. “It is very likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm during next 24 hours and into a severe cyclonic storm in subsequent 24 hours,” the official forecaster said.

S Balachandran said it may bring light rain to Chennai on Sunday afternoon and the intensity may increase slightly by Monday. “The current scenario shows the intensity of rainfall to be moderate in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, as the outer bands of the system is over that region. It may change depending on the movement and the size of the storm,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, meteorologists predicted a heavy spell over the city even as the storm was gathering strength over the Bay of Bengal. But, as the system moves closer to the land, meteorologists are observing further changes in its strength and the amount of rainfall it may bring.

Weather experts said there still may be a few heavy showers over some areas of north coastal Tamil Nadu as models show that the system may travel close to Chennai before shifting up north. “But, much of the heavy and very heavy spell would be over southern coastal Andhra Pradesh,” said Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet.

With sky condition likely to be generally cloudy in the city on Saturday, there may be squally winds reaching speeds of 45-55kmph gusting to 65 kmph over north Tamil Nadu as rains begin.

UGC head to be chief guest at SPU convocation

TNN | Dec 15, 2018, 04.06 AM IST

Vadodara/ Anand: Professor D P Singh, chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) will be the chief guest at Vallabh Vidyanagar based Sardar Patel University’s (SPU) 61st convocation on Monday.

Singh will deliver the convocation address. The convocation ceremony will witness presence of Gujarat governor OP Kohli, who is also chancellor of the publicly-funded state university and education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.

During the convocation, a total of 117 gold medals will be conferred to the meritorious students. This year, the university will confer degrees to 12,427 students of 11 streams. Of these, a total of 2,675 students are from arts stream, 4,458 students from science stream, 142 students from technology and engineering stream, 2,205 students are from commerce stream, 743 students from management and 475 students from law. This apart 1,064 students of education, 147 students of home science, 215 students of homoeopathy and 483 students of medicine stream will also receive their degrees during the convocation.

மல்லையாவை திருடன் என்பதா?: கட்கரி ஆவேசம்

Added : டிச 14, 2018 01:48  dinamalar



  புதுடில்லி: மத்திய அமைச்சர் நிதின் கட்கரி கூறியது, தொழிலதிபர் விஜய் மல்லையா, இதற்கு முன், அனைத்து கடன்களையும் முறையாக செலுத்தி உள்ளார். விமான துறையில், அவருக்கு நஷ்டம் ஏற்பட்டதால், கடனை செலுத்தவில்லை. இதனால், அவரை திருடன் என்றும், மரியாதை இல்லாமலும் விமர்சிப்பதையும் ஏற்க முடியாது என்றார்.

மாவட்ட செய்திகள்

பயணிக்கு திடீர் நெஞ்சு வலி: இந்தோனேசியா விமானம் சென்னையில் அவசரமாக தரை இறக்கப்பட்டது





கத்தாரில் இருந்து இந்தோனேசியாவுக்கு சென்ற விமானத்தில் பயணிக்கு திடீரென நெஞ்சு வலி ஏற்பட்டதால், அந்த விமானம் சென்னை விமான நிலையத்தில் அவசரமாக தரை இறக்கப்பட்டது.

பதிவு: டிசம்பர் 14, 2018 03:45 AM
ஆலந்தூர்,

கத்தார் தலைநகர் தோகாவில் இருந்து இந்தோனேசியா தலைநகர் ஜகார்த்தாவுக்கு நேற்று அதிகாலை 247 பயணிகளுடன் விமானம் புறப்பட்டு சென்றது. நடுவானில் விமானம் பறந்து கொண்டு இருந்தபோது அதில் பயணம் செய்த இந்தோனேசியா நாட்டை சேர்ந்த உத்தம் சியாம் லால் (வயது 50) என்பவருக்கு திடீரென நெஞ்சு வலி ஏற்பட்டது.

இதுபற்றி அவர், விமான பணிப்பெண்களிடம் தெரிவித்தார். அவர்கள், விமானிக்கு தகவல் தெரிவித்தனர். அப்போது அந்த விமானம், சென்னை வான் எல்லையில் பறந்து கொண்டு இருந்தது.

உடனடியாக சென்னை விமான நிலைய கட்டுப்பாட்டு அறைக்கு தொடர்பு கொண்ட விமானி, விமானத்தில் பயணி ஒருவர் நெஞ்சு வலியால் துடிப்பதால் அவருக்கு உடனே மருத்துவ சிகிச்சை அளிக்கவேண்டும். இதற்காக சென்னையில் அவசரமாக விமானத்தை தரை இறக்க அனுமதிக்க வேண்டும் என்றார்.

இதையடுத்து சென்னை விமான நிலையத்தில் அந்த விமானம் தரை இறங்க அனுமதி அளிக்கப்பட்டது. அதைதொடர்ந்து அந்த விமானம், அவசரமாக தரை இறக்கப்பட்டது. உடனே விமான நிலையத்தில் தயாராக இருந்த மருத்துவ குழுவினர், விமானத்தில் ஏறி நெஞ்சு வலியால் துடிதுடித்த பயணிக்கு முதலுதவி அளித்தனர்.

பின்னர் பயணி உத்தம் சியாம் லாலுக்கு மருத்துவமனையில் வைத்து சிகிச்சை அளிக்க வேண்டியது இருப்பதாக டாக்டர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர். இதையடுத்து விமான நிலைய குடியுரிமை அதிகாரிகள், மருத்துவ கால விசாவை மனிதாபிமானத்துடன் வழங்கினார்கள்.

இதையடுத்து உத்தம் சியாம் லால், அந்த விமானத்தில் இருந்து கீழே இறக்கப்பட்டு மேல் சிகிச்சைக்காக சென்னையில் உள்ள தனியார் மருத்துவமனைக்கு அழைத்து செல்லப்பட்டார். அதன்பிறகு மற்ற பயணிகளுடன் அந்த விமானம் மீண்டும் இந்தோனேசியாவுக்கு புறப்பட்டு சென்றது.