Chennai one of the cheapest places to live, Singapore costliest

The three top cities are tied at the top spot, CNN quoted the annual survey as saying. It evaluated the cost of over 150 items in 133 cities around the world.

Published: 20th March 2019 12:30 PM |

By IANS

NEW YORK: Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong are most expensive cities in the world while Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru are among the cheapest places to live, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

The three top cities are tied at the top spot, CNN quoted the annual survey as saying. It evaluated the cost of over 150 items in 133 cities around the world.

Zurich, Switzerland, was placed at fourth position. Japan's Osaka shared the fifth place with Geneva, also in Switzerland.


Seoul (South Korea) and Copenhagen (Denmark) and New York (US) were jointly placed at the seventh spot. Los Angeles (US) was named the 10th most expensive city in the world, along with Israel's Tel Aviv.


The world's cheapest cities include Caracas (Venezuela), Damascus (Syria), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Karachi (Pakistan), Lagos (Nigeria), Buenos Aires (Argentina) as well as the three Indian cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi.

‘Learn something about everything and everything about something’

We all keep on learning something from the time we are born till the day we die.

Published: 20th March 2019 03:24 AM |

By Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji

Express News Service

We all keep on learning something from the time we are born till the day we die. Irrespective of whether we want it or not, we can’t stop learning because there is no existence of life without the process of learning. Our whole life is a bundle of experience and in turn an education, where we all are in ever-learning mode, every moment and everywhere. Throughout our lives, under all circumstances, something is being added to the stock of our previous attainments.

Our mind is always at work - in observation, analysis and storage - from the time it started functioning. As conscious beings, having sense-organs, also known as the five doors of knowledge, we, by virtue of our very nature, cannot remain without creating perception. Our ears are always open, so we are constantly listening. The words that go through our ears to our brain are like lessons which we receive constantly. Similarly we see the whole world through our eyes which also results in learning good things as well as bad things.

The electrical impulses which we receive through our skin or taste-buds, reach our brain which is also a kind of learning for us. However, one must understand that all the above mentioned processes of learning takes place by virtue of the awareness or consciousness present in our brain, without which learning is next to impossible.


The majority of us spend a bulk of our time in classrooms acquiring new knowledge and ideas. However, once we finish our studies, we feel that the educational phase of our life is finally over and now it’s time for us to go out in the world and attain the highest level of success.

But doesn’t this sound odd? That only a quarter of our lives should be devoted to learning, and then we should simply rest on our laurels for the remaining part of our life? It is said that learning never exhausts the mind, then why do we restrict the process of learning until we are pursuing formal education? Just because you’ve finished your formal education, doesn’t mean that your education is over. It’s quite an erroneous idea, but unfortunately majority of us have absorbed it subconsciously. It is only a dead body that ceases to participate in the process of learning and not the ones who resonate with life.

Our life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us enlightened, even though many a times it is hard to realise this. We must always remember that the setbacks and grievances which we endure help us march onward. Hence, we must always make it a point to learn something about everything and everything about something. Throughout our journey of life, we constantly learn some lessons that result in the formation of sanskaras according to our karma.

Hence, if we know that learning is unavoidable and that we are always learning good or bad things, resulting in good or bad sanskaras, which in turn leads to happiness or sorrow, then we will never say that we have no time or no interest in learning. Likewise, if we know that our sanskaras go along with us life after life, then we will be more careful in learning good things and giving up bad things because education is be an elixir that can bring us a healthy mind and body along with a lasting, fruitful life.

In present day life, nobody is perfect so far as goodness and virtues are concerned. Hence, it cannot be denied that we all need to be enlightened and we urgently need to improve the quality of our thoughts, speech and action. Since we cannot avoid learning, even if we wish, why don’t we then learn to inculcate in us, moral values, virtues or good qualities so that we may make progress towards perfection? Why do we wish to carry a heavy load of rubbish on our heads? Why do we want to delay our march towards our goal? What do we gain by making lame excuses, saying that we have no time or that we are not interested?

What is it that we are really interested in? Are we interested in our downfall, decay or doom? In sinking and drowning deep down in the quagmire of vices, evils and mud? The more we delay, the worse will be our condition and more difficult would it be to rectify our ways. The process of learning, as was said earlier, is ceaseless and continuous and hence someone has rightly said “We learn everyday and shed the ego and the perception that I know everything.” Hence, we cannot stop even if we try our best. So why not why not remain alert and follow the right path that saves us from the tragedies, traumas, tensions and turmoil of life? The answer lies within us.

Concern over UGC move to cut funding for Women’s Studies Centre

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUCHI, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST

The Women’s Studies department in Bharathidasan University and centres in other universities are keeping their fingers crossed as the latest guidelines of University Grants Commission(UGC) has envisaged a major cut in funding.

In a memorandum submitted to UGC, president of Indian Association of Women’s Studies (IAWS) Meera Velayudhan and general secretary Anagha Tambe said the new guidelines issued earlier this month ran counter to the public notice issued by Secretary, UGC, on August 24, 2017, saying there was no proposal to cut funding/support to WSCs funded by UGC.

As per the new guidelines, allocation for university centres had been fixed at Rs. 35 lakh per annum. Such an amount would mean a drastic cut in annual fund allocation by Rs. 12.5 lakh for Phase II Centres, by Rs. 29 lakhs for Phase III Centres, and by Rs. 40 lakhs for Advanced Centres for Women’s Studies in universities.

The budget breakup for the university centres in the new guidelines further specified that only 45% of Rs. 35 lakh allocated for WSCs could be used for staff salaries. From the budget breakup, it would appear that two project officers, four non-teaching staff, and a professor director were all to be paid out of a monthly budget of Rs. 1.3 lakh.

“It is quite inexplicable that after stipulating the appointment of a full-time professor director with no additional charge, the budget provides for only a monthly allowance of Rs. 5,000 for the director, which is apparently meant for additional charge,” the memorandum said.

There was a natural and urgent concern that the major cut in allocation would also mean that all appointments in university WSCs that had been made during the past 10 years according to previous UGC guidelines would now face summary dismissal and without any explanation.

The new guidelines would lead to complete disruption of teaching and research functions across a very large number of Women’s Studies Centres in universities, according to N. Manimekalai, Joint Director of IAWS, and Head, Department of Women's Studies, Bharathidasan University.

Important role

WSCs have played an important role in building the discipline of Women’s Studies in India. They have also had more responsibilities than other disciplines in the university system since they are routinely called upon to conduct gender sensitisation activities beyond the confines of their centres, to engage with several disciplines and departments in order to mainstream gender in other disciplines, to serve on sexual harassment committees, and to actively engage in advising and implementing the host of legal and policy measures related to gender that have proliferated in recent times.

If the WSCs could play an important role in the university system and its outreach into society at large, it was because of the support of UGC.

While welcoming the enhanced support to college centres, IAWS urged UGC to reconsider the lack of emphasis on teaching and research in the recently announced guidelines, and to ensure that the budgetary provisions were revised in the interest of the women’s studies community, the memorandum said.

College founder arrested

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NAGERCOIL, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST

Two other women office-bearers also arrested for assisting him

Police have arrested the founder of a paramedical college for allegedly sexually harassing a few faculty members and students.

Bhoothapandi police also arrested two women, joint directors of the college, for allegedly assisting him in the crime.

The police said Ravi, 35, founder of Jacob Paramedical College at Irachchakulam near here, had been sexually harassing some of the faculty members and students of his college for quite sometime. When one of the victims, a faculty member, ran out of his room in tears during working hours as Ravi sexually harassed her, the girl students consoled her and informed her parents about the trauma she was undergoing.

Following a compliant from the victim, a police team from Bhoothapandi station inquired the girl students and teachers on Wednesday, who gave an elaborate account of the sexual harassment going on unabatedly in the college with the help of joint directors Nalini, 30, and Kala, 28.

“The investigation has proved that some of the teachers and students had been sexually harassed by Ravi with the help of Nalini and Kala. Those who resisted his attempts were either sacked or forced to leave the job. Hence the trio have been arrested,” a police officer privy to the investigation said.

Nirmala Devi out on bail after 11 months in jail

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MADURAI, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST

The suspended assistant professor of Devanga Arts College in Aruppukottai was arrested in April last.

After 11 months of imprisonment, the prime accused in the audiotape scandal case, Nirmala Devi, came out of Central Prison here on bail on Wednesday.

The suspended professor of Devanga Arts College was arrested in April 2018 following a complaint from four college girls who accused her of attempting to induce them to do some favours for higher officials of Madurai Kamaraj University in return for higher marks and money.

An audio clip on the conversation between the accused and the girls went viral on the social media.

Her advocate, S. Pasumpon Pandian, who received her outside the Central jail said that Ms. Nirmala Devi had come out of the jail after a prolonged legal battle.

“The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court wondered why she was jailed without bail for so long even as murder case accused get bail within 60 or 90 days,” the advocate told press persons.

Despite the humanitarian approach of the court that led her to get bail, she could not come out of the jail for a week (after bail was granted) as she faced hurdles even in following the procedures to comply with court order, he charged.

Despite the humanitarian approach of the court that led her to get bail, she could not come out of the jail for a week
lawyer for the accused

Doctors perform rare surgeries at city hospital

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, MARCH 21, 2019 00:00 IST

On two patients from Manamadurai and Virudhunagar

Doctors at Preethi Hospitals here carried out two rare procedures to rid patients of malignant tumours in a limb and central nervous system.

Addressing a press meet on Wednesday, R. Sivakumar, Chairman of the hospital, said that both cases of paramount importance were treated at the hospital. “An awareness of cure for these diseases needs to be created,” he said.

A 21-year-old patient from Manamadurai, who was admitted to the hospital 10 days back, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a primary bone cancer. Dr. Sivakumar said that the survival rate for people with this form of cancer was bleak as patients died between six months to two years of developing the disease.

“The patient had complained of swelling and pain over the thigh. The lump began to increase in size and this limited her daily activities,” he said. He added that in most cases the limb would have to be amputated as it would rarely present any opportunity for resurrection.

However, the doctors performed a limb salvage surgery with an endoprosthetic reconstruction. After the removal of the tumour mass, prosthetics were fitted to size. “In a few days, the patient can walk,” said the doctor.

Speaking about another rare case, Dr. Sivakumar said that a 50-year-old man from Virudhunagar was bedridden for an entire month because of the presence of multiple extramedullary intradural spinal tumours. They could cause permanent damage to the spinal chord, he said. “He is now able to walk after the rate tumour was removed. The surgery was also cost- effective,” he said.

High Court seeks clear report from GRH Dean on boy’s death

The mother of the 17-year-old boy moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a CB-CID probe, alleging that he was subjected to custodial torture.

Wonders if there is any nexus between authorities concerned

Taking serious note of the shoddy conduct of the authorities concerned in the alleged case of custodial torture and resultant death of a boy, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday asked for further details.

Justice N. Seshasayee, who had ordered a post mortem, questioned why the Government Rajaji Hospital had not conducted the post mortem in the first place, despite injury marks on the boy. Wondering if there was any nexus between the authorities in the case, the court sought a clear report from the GRH Dean and adjourned hearing till March 25.

The court had earlier sought reports from the Commissioner of Police, Madurai, and Juvenile Justice Board. Is it prima facie a case of suspicious death or murder, the court had asked the authorities.

The mother of the 17-year-old boy from Madurai moved the court seeking a CB-CID probe, alleging that he was subjected to custodial torture by S.S. Colony police. She claimed that her son was first picked up by the police on January 7 for an inquiry in a case of jewel theft and subsequently let off.

Illegal custody

However, a week later, the woman said that the police had informed her that they suspected her son’s involvement in the theft and again picked him up for inquiry. She said that her son was kept in illegal custody for three days and subjected to torture.

The boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and a complaint was raised over his alleged torture by the police. Following the complaint, the boy was admitted to the GRH where he succumbed to injuries on January 24.