Univs to increase seats by 25% to provide 10% quota: Javadekar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:17.01.2019

Government colleges, universities and technical institutions will increase seats by 25% to accommodate the 10% reservation for students from economically weaker sections (EWS) of the general category from this year. Delhi University could see the maximum jump in the number of seats considering that it has 70 affiliated colleges, sources said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar said, “All poor students will get 10% reservation in getting admission in higher educational institutions. We have started the process for implementation and in one week all circulars will be out. Starting from this year in all colleges and universities and other IIT, IIIT, NIT and central universities, 10% reservation will be there. There will be no impact on students coming from other categories. There will be an overall increase of around 25% admission.”

Though the minister on Tuesday had said the reservation norm will be applicable for all institutes, including the private ones, officials remained tight-lipped how this will be implement in private unaided institutions. Sources said the norms and procedures for this will be out soon.

On Tuesday, Javadekar had said the 10% EWS quota will be implemented in the academic year 2019-20 itself in 40,000 colleges and 900 universities, without impacting the existing quotas for SCs,STs and OBCs and general seats.

“While University Grants Commission (UGC) will issue an office memorandum for implementation of the decision to institutions under its jurisdiction, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) will circulars for the technical institutions affiliated to it,” said an official.

Sources said there are about four crore seats for higher education in the country and increasing the additional intake would depend on how many students the institutes admit and not just based on their total strength. The minister had said the modalities were being worked out and within a week’s time, they would have the exact number of seats that would be added. He had also said the colleges and universities would be asked to mention the quota in their prospectus as well and make infrastructural arrangements accordingly.

Kodanad case: AIADMK ‘presents facts’ to guv
Purohit Likely To Send Petitions To Union Home Min

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.01.2019

An AIADMK delegation led by deputy coordinators K P Munusamy and R Vaithilingam called on governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Tuesday and “presented facts” on allegations levelled against chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in connection with a burglary and murder linked to former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s hillside retreat Kodanad estate in the Nilgiris.

The AIADMK team presented the governor a seven-page ‘clarificatory’ petition, along with a CD containing the report of a journalist.

“The governor took time to read out the petition. Munusamy told the governor that the DMK was creating unnecessary political turbulence in the state by levelling baseless allegations against the chief minister, who is innocent. He demanded that the DMK’s petition be rejected in toto,” said a source. Purohit is likely to forward the petition, along with DMK’s representation, to the Union home ministry, the source added. The DMK had urged governor to direct EPS to step down to pave way for a fair trial.

The AIADMK alleged that the DMK was apprehensive about its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, and hence Stalin submitted a petition to discredit the AIADMK’s good governance and the growing popularity of the chief minister. “The allegations against the CM were to seek political mileage. What is the link between CM and Kodanad estate when the property is owned by someone? V K Sasikala maintains it. It is our duty to respond to the governor, not that he (governor) invited us. Giving false information is a punishable offence that attracts imprisonment of seven years,” Munusamy told TOI.

He was accompanied by MPs R Vaithilingam, P Venugopal, and organizing secretary P H Manoj Pandian, the signatories of the petition. MP D Jayavardan was also present. Munusamy said Stalin would be proved wrong and face disappointment and humiliation in the case.

Accused Kanagaraj died in accident, it wasn’t premeditated: Salem DIG

Salem: Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Salem range) T Senthil Kumar said there was no mystery surrounding the death of the late chief minister J Jayalalilthaa’s driver C Kanagaraj, who died in a road accident last April. “It was not a planned accident,” he said. Kodanad burglary suspects K V Sayan and Valayar Manoj had recently released a video through journalist Mathew Samuel a few days ago, showing the latter saying that five people involved in the burglary had been murdered and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had a role in the same. Following this, Kanagaraj’s brother Dhanapal said police had not carried out the investigation properly. The DIG also wanted to know why Dhanapal hadn’t raised any doubts over his brother’s earlier. TNN

102 not out: MGR magic IN THE TIME OF POLLS

On The AIADMK Founder’s Birth Anniversary, A Look At His Inimitable Legacy

Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com  17.01.2019

As cadres celebrate his 102nd birth anniversary on January 17, is M G Ramachandran’s legacy still alive? Do ageing voters in TN’s southern hinterland still feel his presence in Dravidian politics? Has their adoration rubbed off on young voters? MGR films continue to be watched across Tamil Nadu and his contemporaries in politics and women fans are still bewitched by his celluloid aura. And, when it is time to make that ritualistic visit to polling booths, many in the state’s rural constituencies swear by MGR’s ‘retta ilai’ (two-leaves).

But, with TN parties gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections — sans political giants M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — observers say party symbols, the two-leaves and the rising sun, are likely to be the real heroes. Many AIADMK old timers believe that a good 25% of voters, aged 70 and above, would still vote for the two leaves symbol, despite the party’s performance — all for the sake of MGR. “It’s not just the old. Young AIADMK cadres have been fed stories of his warmth and generosity by their fathers and grandfathers, who take the name of MGR every day,” said 36-year-old Raj Satyan, AIADMK’s IT wing secretary.

MGR, particularly, has die-hard fans in a dalit sub-sect called Arunthathiyar, the daily wagers and the downtrodden. “The two leaves symbol is still identified with MGR and is perhaps the most potent factor in elections here and the biggest danger for the DMK,” said a former AIADMK leader, not willing to be named.

But, within the AIADMK, the struggle is to keep alive the aura of Jayalalithaa, ‘MGR’s true heir’. On January 17, 2008, when she sensed trouble from actor and DMDK leader Vijayakanth, Jayalalithaa made a quick visit to “Thottam” (MGR’s Ramavaram Gardens residence in Chennai). “We are MGR’s true political heirs”, she said, after she was given a warm reception by MGR’s adopted children for the first time. A few days later, she reinstated MGR acolyte C Ponnaiyan in the party and made him her political adviser. She had dropped him from the party in 2006 without giving any reason. Ponnaiyan, now the AIADMK spokesman, told TOI, “MGR is eternal.”

In the AIADMK’s pocket boroughs, MGR remained an icon. Fourteen years after his death, in the 2001 assembly election, old men and women in hamlets of Theni believed MGR was still alive. So strong was his allure that villagers were ready to bet on the two leaves symbol unconditionally. “The fan frenzy you see now is nothing compared to the adulation his fans had for MGR. They did not pour milk on his posters, they helped control crowds. He was warm, generous. He is in everyone’s heart even today,” said Abirami S Ramanathan, who pioneered the business of movie theatres in Chennai.

The adulation for MGR notwithstanding, some observers point out the emerging young, non-committed voters would eventually push to decide the outcome of polls based on real-time issues. “Even in the 1989 assembly election, the first after MGR’s death (in December 1987), the Jayalalithaa and Janaki factions of the AIADMK failed to capitalize on his legacy. The DMK won,” said N Sathiya Moorthy of Observer Research Foundation. But, as Jayalalithaa took over the reins and projected herself as MGR’s heir, the AIADMK’s fortunes soared.

MGR’s biographer R Kannan feels the former chief minister is now a distant memory for the generations of voters who have since come of age. Jayalalithaa and her memory could still be a potent force for her followers to exploit. But, with no one as charismatic as she was to exploit it as she did MGR’s, her legacy might be forgotten sooner with a sizeable number of first-time voters joining the political process, said Kannan.

The fight for the AIADMK will intensify. But, the magic that made MGR a phenomenon in TN politics may well be on the wane.


Much like Caliph Harun al Rashid, MGR’s renown came from his huge heart, his charisma, his parent DMK and his carefully cultivated screen image as a do-gooder and a man who fought the mighty for the suppressed and oppressed, the weak and the poor — R Kannan AUTHOR OF ‘MGR: A LIFE’

MTC to operate 480 spl buses for Kaanum Pongal

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.01.2019

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation will operate 480 special buses in the city to accommodate the additional rush of people on Kaanum Pongal day, Thursday.

These buses will connect various bus termini with popular tourist spots, according to an official release.

As per official data, 7.17 lakh passengers used special buses operated from Chennai to different districts in the state over the last five days. The transport department earned ₹9.01 crore through the 1.8 lakh commuters who had reserved tickets in advance, data showed. Between January 17 and 20, 11,000 buses will be operated from other districts to the city.

STATE MAY ADD 100 MORE

1.3k PG med seats up for grabs this year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.01.2019

This year, at least 56 extra postgraduate medicine seats in streams including community medicine, respiratory medicine and anaesthesia, have been added, taking the total number to 1,306. In addition, the directorate of medical education is expecting at least 100 more seats within a fortnight.

Results for PG NEET 2019 will be declared by end of January and the first round of counselling for the All India quota is expected to begin in March before which the Medical Council of India will announce the number of colleges and seats approved for postgraduate education.

In addition, the state is expecting at least 240 more seats in super speciality courses including nephrology and cardiology by May. “We may no longer be able to encourage super specialists in just tier 1 and tier 2 cities. The demand in increasing everywhere and so we need specialists everywhere,” said director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe.

With statistics showing a steep rise in demand for dialysis and treatment of kidney diseases, the state wing of the national health mission is planning dialysis centres in several places.

Meanwhile, the state has also announced that by 2020 all colleges, wherein at least one batch of MBBS students pass out, will start PG courses.

Once grand Valluvar Kottam now a fading attraction

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.01.2019

While the city celebrated Thiruvalluvar Day with pomp and gaiety, a local landmark, bearing the name of the poet-saint, in the city has become a dump yard for construction debris. The sprawling premises of Valluvar Kottam engraved with 1,330 couplets of ‘Thirukkural’ has turned into an eyesore for visitors because of neglect and poor maintenance.

A visit by TOI on Wednesday revealed cracks and broken walls at the entrance of Valluvar Kottam. The corners of the lawns have turned into dump yards for construction debris with thick vegetation covering the trash-filled spots. Ponds in three locations inside Valluvar Kottam have dried up with no sign of restoration. The interiors and exteriors of the grand 30-feet tall chariot, which houses an idol of Thiruvalluvar, has lost its sheen and the eye-catching paintings have faded away.

R Mani, a resident of Aminjikarai who visits Valluvar Kottam every ‘Thiruvalluvar Day’, rues the apathy towards maintaining the popular attraction. “I have not seen the chariot being re-painted at least in the last one decade. It is sad to notice the poor maintenance of one of the important attractions in the city that is often visited by foreigners,” he added.

The two-storey structure has an auditorium on the ground floor, ‘Kural Manimandam’ with 1,330 couplets of Thirukkural engraved on the first floor and entry to the sanctum of seven-foot tall Thiruvalluvar idol placed inside the chariot on the second floor. Of late, the dingy auditorium with a capacity to accommodate 3,500 people has started housing lifestyle exhibitions.

A woman tourist guide spotted at Valluvar Kottam on Wednesday expressed her concern over its maintenance. “It used to be on the tourist map of Chennai after it was inaugurated in the late 1970’s. Several government functions used to happen and now it has been reduced to an exhibition hall,” said the tourist guide requesting anonymity. The roofs of four corridors are broken sans any tubelight.

A project close to the heart of late CM M Karunanidhi, Valluvar Kottam was inaugurated in 1976. About 700 people visit Valluvar Kottam during weekdays and the numbers jump to 1,000 on weekends.

C Dhandapani, from Kodambakkam, wondered what the authorities were doing with the entry fee. “On Thursday, the entire premises will be full of people because of Kaanum Pongal. Can’t the officials even whitewash the walls and keep it clean?” he asked. Official sources said that ₹10 is being collected as entry fee.

When contacted, official sources with the memorial section of the information and public relations department that maintains Valluvar Kottam, said renovation works have commenced. “Renovation works are being carried out with a financial outlay of ₹85 lakh and 10% of the work is over. We expect the premises to be refurbished by March,” the official said.



NEGLECTED HERITAGE: The walls of Valluvar Kottam have cracks and poor lighting with the paintings fading away. The lawns have turned into dump yards for construction debris

Disconnect water supply to all unauthorised bldgs, says court

HC: Act Within 15 Days, Don’t Cite Case Pendency

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.01.2019

Water connections should be cut off to buildings that are constructed in violation of rules, the Madras high court has said. This will help supply water to law-abiding citizens as Chennai might face severe water scarcity this year, the court said.

A division bench of Justice M Venugopal and Justice S Vaidyanathan made the observation while dismissing a plea moved by N Ravikumar seeking a direction to the Thiruvallur district administration to grant him patta for a piece of land he had encroached on.

The court said the authorities should not waste time cracking down on encroachments and illegal construction. “We are of the view that the authority, whether it be officials of corporation/ government/ municipality, is expected to decide such matters pending before them on a day to-day basis without adjourning the same beyond 15 days,” the bench said.

Unless there was a stay of the proceedings by the high court, the officials cannot close complaints or appeals on the ground of pendency of writ petition or writ appeal, the court said. “If they do so, it would amount to dereliction of duty. Officials shall be removed and posted in a nonsensitive post, if any complaint is made that they are not discharging their duties to the fullest satisfaction,” the court added.