Indian thatha returns to fight the corrupt

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, JANUARY 18, 2019 00:00 IST

The recently released poster.

Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2 starts filming today in Chennai

Kamal Haasan will face the cameras for director Shankar’s big budget film, Indian 2 , from Friday in Chennai. Actor Kamal Haasan is expected to juggle his film commitments with his new role as a politician.

With the film likely to be the actor’s swansong on the silver screen, it is sure to be one of the most awaited films of Mr. Haasan’s career as fans are going to see ‘Indian Thaatha’, an idealistic freedom fighter taking on the corrupt, at a time when corruption has become normalised in the society.

Social message

The fans on social media have already been curious about what kind of social issues the film will highlight.

The first film that released in 1996 was a blockbuster, fetching Kamal Haasan yet another National Film Award for Best Actor.

Sources in Lyca Productions say that the three day schedule will begin at the Memorial Hall in Chennai this week and the filming is likely to continue for seven days on the sets erected in Gokulam studios.

Origin story

Indian 2 will reportedly delve into the origin story of Senapathy, which was one of the characters played by Kamal Haasan in the prequel.

The film is expected to be shot in several locations across India, before eventually going to foreign locations.

Music director Anirudh Ravichander will score the music for this film.

Cinematographer Ravi Varman will wield the camera.

CBI raids SAI, arrests 6 officials for allegedly accepting bribes

Sabi Hussain & Neeraj Chauhan TNN

New Delhi:18.01.2019

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths carried out a surprise raid at the official premises of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) outside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Thursday, following allegations of bribery against some officials of the sports body, including an officer-bearer at the director-level rank.

This is probably the first time that the SAI headquarter has been raided by the country’s premier investigative agency, even though CBI has probed cases against SAI officials in the past and some cases are still being investigated.

According to CBI sources, the agency has arrested six persons including S K Sharma, a director in the general administration wing, and accounts officer Lalit Jolly. Others SAI employees who have been taken into custody, are junior accountant Harendra Prasad, upper divisional clerk V K Sharma and two private persons, Mandeep Ahuja and his accomplice Yunus.

The allegations are that these officials demanded a three percent bribe while clearing a transport bill of Rs 19 lakh of a private contractor.

At the time of going to the press, the CBI sleuths were still interrogating the arrested individuals at the SAI office.

The raid happened after the investigating agency received a complaint that some officers were allegedly taking bribes for approving the work in the administration wing of the SAI, concerning the transport department.

The officials arrested were also allegedly handling the transport in the Khelo India division of the SAI.

Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore tweeted on the CBI arrests:”We as a govt are committed to a corruption-free India. That’s why when we found out corrupt practices by a few officers in @IndiaSports, we gave thier info to relevant agencies, who arrested them today. We will continue to have zero tolerance approach towards corruption@PMOIndia.”

SAI director general Neelam Kapoor also commented on the raid: “We had received some complaints about corruption within SAI. We therefore approached CBI and asked them to investigate the matter. There is zero tolerance for corruption in SAI. We will support any action against corruption.”

This is probably the first time that the SAI headquarter has been raided by the country’s premier investigative agency, even though CBI has probed cases against SAI officials in the past and some cases are still being investi

Scoot to operate flights to Singapore from October 27

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore:18.01.2019

Scoot, the lowcost arm of Singapore Airlines, will replace SilkAir’s operations by operating flights between Coimbatore and Singapore five days a week from October 27. The flight will be operated on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “It will take off from the Coimbatore airport at 11pm and reach Singapore at 6am. It will leave Singapore at 8.20 pm and land in Coimbatore at 10.10pm,” a release said. As a promotional offer, the airline has announced a limited-time sale on flights booked till January 28, offering tickets as low as ₹4,500 for a one-way ticket.

While this would mean cheaper flights to the popular south-east Asian country, travel agents fear of business travellers shunning it due to the lack of a business class.

“While SilkAir’s tickets to Singapore cost around ₹20,000 to ₹22,000, a ticket on Scoot could be bought for about ₹15,000 to₹16,000, making it much cheaper for frequent travellers and tourists in the region,” said C Vishnu Vasanth Kumar, executive director of Emperor Traveline.

“However, a lot of businessmen from the city, Tirupur and Erode, frequently fly to Singapore, United States, Australia and Europe via this flight. They are used to flying only business class. They do not want to travel with cramped leg space, buy on flight meals and collect their luggage in Singapore and recheck it for the next leg. These flyers will choose to fly out of Kochi or Chennai instead,” he told TOI. The Travel Agents Association of Coimbatore had recently submitted a petition to Singapore Airlines to not completely replace SilkAir with Scoot along with letters from industrial bodies such as the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Tirupur Exporters Association and CODISSIA.

Besides Coimbatore, Scoot has announced new flights to Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam from May.

Duronto passengers looted, coin used to tamper with signal

Somreet Bhattacharya & Jasjeev Gandhiok TNN

New Delhi:18.01.2019

A group of masked men stopped the Jammu Duronto train by tampering with the signalling system with a coin, entered two coaches and robbed at least a dozen passengers at knifepoint near Samaipur Badli on Thursday morning. The incident occurred a few metres from the Badli railway station that also has a Railway Protection Force post.

So far, police have registered two FIRs and are trying to trace the other passengers who were robbed. The role of coach attendants and pantry staff present in the coaches is being probed as well. The passengers told police that the criminals may have boarded the train by colluding with them for unlocking the doors.

The robbery was reported around 4.30am. The loco pilot claimed that he found the signals red and stopped the train. The robbers, who were hiding in the JJ colony along the tracks, boarded the three-tier coach number B3 and drew the curtains to look for passengers who were awake. Basant Bahrdari, who was travelling to Delhi, said that he woke up to a cold knife pressed to his throat. “The man, whose face was covered with a cloth, asked me to hand over my belongings. I complied as his associates had gathered around by then. I don’t want to recall my trauma,” he added. He lost ₹6,100 in cash, a gold chain, mobile phone, sunglasses and ATM cards. Ashok Kumar, who was travelling with his wife, said that there were at least a dozen robbers who held knives against the throats of the passengers. “The ordeal went on for 15-20 minutes,” he added.

“Some of the passengers tried to look for a RPF constable or a (TTE), but none was in sight,” a passenger said in a tweet.

Drone found hovering over Taj Mahal, 2nd time in 24 hrs

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesgroup.com

Agra:18.01.2019

The airspace of Taj Mahal was breached on Thursday morning when a drone was sighted hovering over the monument twice at 7:40am and then again half an hour later. This was the second such incident in the past 24 hours.

On Wednesday, a drone was spotted by security personnel around 11 am and then again at 4:30pm. Before the security agencies could track it, the drone flew away. It was flying at a height of over a kilometre.

Ankit Namdev, conservation assistant of ASI at Taj Mahal, informed the circle officer (Taj security) about the incident, following which, a case was registered against unidentified persons under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of IPC. The owner of the drone has not been identified so far.

Security agency officials admitted that this was a challenge for them as it happened four times within 24 hours, but expressed confidence that they’ll track down the drone’s owner soon. The use of drones is strictly prohibited in and around the Taj.

Students to benefit via UGC credit bank system

Move Gives Freedom To Finish Courses At Own Pace

Chandan.Chatterjee@timesgroup.com

Pune:18.01.2019

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has set the ball rolling for the introduction of an academic credit bank, similar to that in some foreign countries, where students can accumulate points and graduate with a degree before the stipulated time.

The credit bank system will also enable students from non-science courses like arts and commerce to take up science degrees after completing a bridge programme.

The proposed National Academic Credit Bank (NACBank) will help students plan their learning objectives and the pace at which they would like to learn, said Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman of the UGC.

Explaining the system, Patwardhan said, “Let’s suppose a BSc (Physics) student needs 100 credit points — 80 of which are mandatory from the core subject(s) — to finish the course. During the vacations, the student can accrue 20 points from a non-conventional or massive open online or hobby course (maybe sports, music and dance) from another institution. The student can get the required 80 credits in the core subject(s) before time and move on to the next level without spending the stipulated time in the course by redeeming the 20 points earned.”

Patwardhan, who had floated the idea of the NACBank earlier this month at the 3rd National Teachers’ Congress at the MIT World Peace University in Pune, said, “If this concept is accepted, it may take a few months for the NACBank to become a reality.”

The academic credit system is prevalent abroad. In South Korea, it enables students to earn a degree by combining credits from different systems. UGC chairman D P Singh has constituted a sixmember expert committee to explore the innovative concept. The panel’s maiden meeting is slated in the last week of this month.

The committee comprises R P Tiwari, chairman (member commission) and vicechancellor of Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh; Indu Shahani, retired principal of H R College in Mumbai; Raj Kumar, vicechancellor of O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat; Sandeep Sancheti, president of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and vice-chancellor of SRM University; C M Chitale, emeritus professor, Savitribai Phule Pune University; and, Ameeta Chatterjee, former vice-chancellor of Presidency University in Kolkata.

The main objective of the NAC-Bank would be to facilitate student mobility across the higher education system.

“The NAC-Bank is proposed to be linked with the National Academic Depository and other students’ services,” Patwardhan said.


CREDIT FOR ALL: The credit bank system will also enable students from non-science courses like arts and commerce to take up science degrees after completing a bridge programme

D.Y.Patil University Appointments 18.01.2019