Technical snag forces SpiceJet carrying Edapaddi K Palaniswamy to return to Chennai

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedMar 2, 2019, 2:47 am IST

All passengers and cabin crew members deplaned safely.

Chennai: Following a technical snag mid-air, the Thoothukudi-bound Spicejet flight carrying 78 passengers, including the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswamy and other officials, landed in the city airport a few minutes after taking off from here. All passengers and cabin crew members deplaned safely.

The chief minister was scheduled to travel to Kanyakumari from Thoothukudi to attend a government function where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to unveil a series of development projects for Kanyakumari and Tamil Nadu.

According to an ATCofficial , the SpiceJet flight took off for Thoothukudi from Chennai International Airport at 7.50 am before returning. The flight to Thoothkudi, with 78 passengers and 5 cabin crew, suffered high cabin pressure and the pilot was holding for five minutes above Kancheepuram airspace.

Since the aircraft was not flying at high altitude due to the cabin pressure issue, the captain alerted the ATC and the flight made an emergency landing in Chennai at 8.30 am.

The CM took an Indigo flight to Madurai at 9:10 am and reached Kanyakumari by road, sources added.

Chennai: 40 metallic objects removed from patient’s stomach at RGGH

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedMar 2, 2019, 3:17 am IST

The Dean also said that 40 objects, including keys, razors, coins and magnets were removed from the patient's stomach.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, R. Jayanti, Dean, RGGGH said that the surgery was a very difficult one. “A team headed by doctor A R Venkateshwaran did the gastroscopy for Jayakumar. It was a complicated one as we had to ensure he does not choke or the metal objects do not go down the wrong passage in the throat,” she said.

Chennai: In a remarkably complex surgery conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital on Friday, over 40 items were removed from a patients stomach after he had swallowed them over a period of a few months.

The man, identified as Jayakumar, 52, was undergoing treatment at the Institute of Medical Health in Ayanavaram when during a routine MRI for his disease was being conducted, he developed severe abdominal pain. Suspecting some health condition, a CT scan was taken during which multiple metallic objects in his stomach were revealed. Jayakumar was immediately rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where he was admitted at the Institute of Gastroenterology.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, R. Jayanti, Dean, RGGGH said that the surgery was a very difficult one. “A team headed by doctor A R Venkateshwaran did the gastroscopy for Jayakumar. It was a complicated one as we had to ensure he does not choke or the metal objects do not go down the wrong passage in the throat,” she said.

The Dean also said that 40 objects, including keys, razors, coins and magnets were removed from the patient's stomach. “An endoscopy was performed and the medical gastroenterology team avoided a major surgery for the patient,” she said.

If the objects were not removed, the patient could have developed complications like perforation of the intestines, bleeding and sepsis, doctors say. “We screened the patient with fluoroscopy and ensured complete clearance of all foreign bodies from his digestive tract,” doctors said.

Meanwhile, Jayakumar who appeared hale and healthy after the surgery promised that he would not resort to swallowing metal objects again. He has been given counselling at the government hospital and will be sent back to the IMH.

Palaniswami inaugurates cycle-sharing system in Chennai

According to officials in the Chennai Corporation, residents can use these cycles for free for the first month as an inaugural offer.

Published: 28th February 2019 06:59 AM 

Chennai Smart City’s cycle-sharing system. (Photo | Debadatta Mallick)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated the Chennai Smart City’s cycle-sharing system in the city via video-conferencing on Wednesday. The system has been launched in 15 locations in the city at Anna Nagar and Marina Beach and will be extended to 25 locations in the coming days.


According to officials in the Chennai Corporation, residents can use these cycles for free for the first month as an inaugural offer. Then users will be charged Rs 5 for the first one hour and Rs 9 for every half hour after that. “The idea behind this is to ensure users return the cycles on time,” said a Chennai Smart City official.

This move is also welcomed by non-motorised transport experts. “The launch of the system is a laudable move to encourage this almost invisible transport mode and give the cyclists their due. This pilot is a great start to an important form of last-mile connectivity.

In response to the piqued interests of the citizens and demand for cycles in more areas, expanding the system to achieve the targeted 5,000 cycles in 380 stations across the city would ensure even greater usage and success,” said Nashwa Naushad, an associate for the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy.

Tejas Express flagged off

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MADURAI, MARCH 02, 2019 00:00 IST

Good to go:Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off the Tejas Express on Friday.A. Shaikmohideen

The luxury train will ply the Madurai-Chennai Egmore route

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the first Tejas Express to be operated by the Southern Railway. The train will ply between Chennai Egmore and Madurai.

The inaugural train with 68 passengers on board that chugged out of Madurai railway station is the first rail service to be introduced after completion of work on the doubling of chord line railway tracks between Chennai and Madurai. Mr. Modi flagged it off from Kanniyakumari through video conference.

The rakes, with 15 swanky air-conditioned coaches, have several new features which promise a new travel experience. The train comprises one executive chair car coach with 56 seats and 12 chair car coaches with 78 seats each, and two power cars.

The seats in both the executive chair car (2+2 seating arrangement) and the chair car (2+3 seating) have plenty of boot space with reclining facility. Passengers can also use thigh support in the executive class at the push of a button. A foot rest and a dining table embedded in the arm rest are some of the luxuries on offer. Another important passenger-friendly feature is a flight-like audio-visual entertainment display system. Bottle holders, book holders and plug points for charging mobile phones are among the added features.

Smart windows with motor-operated venetian blinds sandwiched between glasses add to the aesthetics of the coaches. The coaches have a bio-vacuum system, sensor-based soap dispensers and hand driers.

Safety and security

The coaches have sliding doors which would be operated by a guard. As soon as the signal for the train to move out of the station is received, the guard will close the sliding doors of all the coaches. This would ensure safety and security of passengers. However, passengers who have the habit of getting down from the trains at platforms as soon as they halt at stations should be wary about this safety feature.

“Many tend to board trains as they start chugging out. But in this case, the doors will close before the train leaves. If there is no one to manually open them, people may end up missing the train,” said a Travelling Ticket Examiner.

The coaches are equipped with CCTVs. “The data of each camera would be stored for 30 days,” said a Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer. The coaches also have smoke detectors. “If smoke is detected, the system will raise an alarm. If the smoke is not put out, the system will shut down the train,” he added.

Passengers happy

S. Lakshmi, 71, a frequent traveller, made use of the inaugural run of Tejas Express. A retired official from the Department of Post, Ms. Lakshmi chose to travel alone from Madurai to Tiruchi, only to get a feel of the new train. “I will come back by Vaigai Express to Madurai,” she said.

Maya Suresh, 53, a music teacher at a city college, was also part of the inaugural run of the train. “My aunt used to often recall her experience travelling as part of the inaugural run of Vaigai Express decades ago. I too thought of making use of the first journey of Tejas Express. It was really comfortable,” she said after travelling up to Kodaikanal Road.

The train comprises one executive chair car coach with 56 seats, 12 chair car coaches with 78 seats each and two power cars

MKU restores flagship course after two years

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, MARCH 02, 2019 00:00 IST

The M. Sc. (Biotechnology) course was started in 1985

Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) has restored the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)-funded M. Sc. (Biotechnology) course, its flagship programme, after two years.

The funding was stopped by Union government’s DBT in December 2016, mainly due to irregularities and delays in submitting mandatory utilisation certificates for the funds received for the previous three years. The university has since been trying to restore the funding.

Students for this course are admitted through an all-India entrance examination conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru University. While the DBT-funded programme is now available in 33 universities across the country, MKU was one of the first universities to be funded by the department way back in 1985.

The cancellation of funding, which was first reported by The Hindu , attracted disappointment from alumni of the programme, many of whom are now spread across the globe and involved in cutting-edge research.

D. Ganesh, the present coordinator of the course, said that the DBT team visited the university thrice in the meanwhile to ensure that it had adequate infrastructure and other facilities.

“It was impressed with the facilities. Other shortfalls were also rectified, following which DBT Expert Committee decided to restore funding for the course,” he said. Pointing that JNU had already initiated the process for conducting entrance examination for 2019-10, he said that students would be allocated to MKU after the examination. Thirty seats that existed before the cancellation had been retained, he added.

Highlighting that the flagship programme brought laurels to the university through the distinguished alumni spread across the world, Vice-Chancellor M. Krishnan appreciated all the faculty members who played a crucial role in restoring the funding.

“The programme will help in producing quality research scholars in the area of biotechnology and also make the School of Biological Sciences self-supportive through continuous support from DBT,” he said.

HC comes down hard on Collector for not obeying orders

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH 02, 2019 00:00 IST

She did not evict encroachers from public land

The Madras High Court on Friday came down heavily on Namakkal Collector M. Asia Mariam for not having evicted encroachers from a public land despite a specific direction issued by the court and instead having passed an order deciding to regularise the encroachments in accordance with a government order.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Venugopal and S. Vaidyanathan said: “This court is really shocked to observe as to how such an order can be passed by the District Collector, despite issuance of specific direction to the respondents for removal of encroachments by this Court and the act of the 1st respondent / District Collector is highly condemnable.”

“She must be taught about court proceedings as she is smart enough to act as an appellate authority of this court. Moreover, this contempt petition has been mainly filed pursuant to an utterly and palpable incorrect statement made before this court on March 1 by A.N. Thambidurai, learned Special Government Pleader, who appeared for the respondents on that date,” the Bench added.

‘True in letter and spirit’

“Similarly, the proceedings of the Collector are nothing but not obeying the orders of this court in true letter and spirit,” the Bench said.

The judges were highly disturbed over a specific line in the Collector’s order where she had said: “It is ordered that at present there is no necessity to remove the encroachments since it had been decided to regularise them.”

However, after a Government counsel informed the court that he would instruct the Collector to withdraw her order and file an affidavit to that effect in the court, the judges adjourned the hearing on the contempt of court petition to March 4.

They adjourned the hearing with a rider that the Collector should be present in court on that day if her order was not withdrawn by then.

The court is really shocked to observe as to how such an order can be passed by the District Collector

Vandalur flyover by April-end

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 02, 2019 00:00 IST

Construction work on the flyover in progress.M. KarunakaranM_Karunakaran

New traffic signal planned to facilitate completion of project

A new traffic signal will be installed at the junction of Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road and GST Road. This is to facilitate completion of work on the two deck slabs of the Rs. 55-crore flyover at Vandalur.

The Highways Department has fixed April end as target for the completion of this work that began in September 2016. On completion, the six-lane flyover — 711m long — would allow vehicles to drive over the Vandalur junction.

“The contractor has time till June-end. But we have planned it in such a manner that the work will be over before that. Though the earlier plan was to finish it by the end of last year, the work has taken more time due to labour issues, non-availability of sand, and an increase in cement prices. Labourers are from north and had gone home for over a month, delaying the work. But we are compensating for that delay,” explained an official source in the department.

The new traffic signal would allow vehicles towards Chennai from Kelambakkam to take a right turn beneath the flyover. At present, motorists are taking a left and then a ‘U’ turn to travel towards Chennai.

Traffic diversion

“When we get this traffic diversion in place, we would take up work on construction of the flyover’s ramp, the panels on the sides and retaining wall. We have arranged flyash from the Ennore thermal power station for the filling,” explained an engineer associated with the project.

Vandalur resident R. Pandian said that each time motorists had to wait for a minimum of 10 minutes during rush hour at the signal. “The work has been going on at a snail’s pace. If the project is expedited and is completed on time, it would come as a relief to motorists,” he said.

The work has taken more time due to labour issues, non-availability of sand, and an increase in cement prices

Official