Order restraining admission of students to engg college quashed

According to senior advocate P Wilson, the Trust had availed credit facilities from Central Bank of India and Bank of India and mortgaged its properties as security for that borrowing.

Published: 31st May 2019 05:12 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A vacation bench of the Madras High Court has set aside the orders dated May 10 last of a vacation judge who had restrained Sri Devi Karumariamman Educational Trust at Valasaravakkam here from admitting students in its engineering college for 2019-20.A bench of Justices RMT Teekaa Raman and P D Audikesavalu quashed Justice S Vaidyanathan’s order, while allowing a writ appeal from the Trust, by its trustee J Kumaran, on May 22.

According to senior advocate P Wilson, the Trust had availed credit facilities from Central Bank of India and Bank of India and mortgaged its properties as security for that borrowing. Bank of India assigned the debt owed to it by the Trust to Maximus Arc Limited, invoking Sec. 5 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act.

Contending that the Trust had defaulted in paying dues under credit facilities availed from the Bank of India and it became inevitable to enforce such securities for realising the dues, Maximus Arc moved the Court with a writ petition for a direction to the Anna University to disaffiliate the engineering college of the Trust and restrain it from admitting students from 2019-2020.

When the matter came up on May 10 last, Justice Vaidyanathan restrained the Trust from admitting the students from 2019-2020 onwards, directed the university to disaffiliate the engineering college and posted the matter for further hearing on June 7. Aggrieved, the Trust preferred the present appeal.Trust senior counsel urged that Maximus Arc, who is merely an assignee of the debt from Bank of India, cannot seek any order for preventing his client from admitting students in its college. Properties given as mortgage security for borrowing by the Trust from the bank, does not include the college.


Accepting his arguments, the bench observed that on a perusal of the order impugned in this appeal, it was seen there had not been any discussion or finding on the rival contentions which had material bearing to decide whether the petitioner (Maximus Arc) was entitled to the relief.

That apart, the interim order passed was having the effect of granting the relief sought for in the writ petition itself without giving adequate opportunity to the Trust. “In that view of the matter, we set aside the order dated May 10.” the bench said and remitted the matter back to the writ court for fresh decision after affording opportunity to all parties to place their respective contentions.

Direction

Justice Vaidyanathan restrained the Trust from admitting the students from 2019-2020 and directed Anna university to disaffiliate the college

SRM founder sets aside 300 free seats for poor and deserving students from Perambalur
Students from the Perambalur Lok Sabha segment, who want to pursue Engineering, Arts and Science, Horticulture, Management, Health Sciences and Diploma in Engineering can apply.

Published: 31st May 2019 04:22 AM

By Express News Service

TIRUCHY: Making good on a poll promise, Perambalur MP TR Parivendar has announced 300 students belonging to economically weaker sections in his constituency would be given free education at his SRM group of institutions from this academic year.

He appealed to those eligible in his constituency to submit applications on or before June 15. IJK chief Parivendar won by a huge margin of 4.03 lakh votes as part of the DMK alliance and made many promises during his campaigns. One of them was to arrange for free higher education to 300 students in his institutions and job opportunities for 300 youth every year.

Addressing the media here on Thursday, he thanked the voters of Perambalur. “The first poll promise that I am going to fulfil is providing free education for students from poor families. There are six assembly constituencies for Perambalur Lok Sabha constituency. Fifty students from each assembly constituency will be offered free education in SRM institutions.”

He appealed for applications to be sent to Director (Admissions), SRM Nagar, Potheri, Kancheepuram District - 603203. Application forms can be downloaded from www.ijkparty.org. Students from the Perambalur Lok Sabha segment, who want to pursue Engineering, Arts and Science, Horticulture, Management, Health Sciences and Diploma in Engineering can apply.


The courses are listed in the application forms. He said a committee comprising one representative from each party in the coalition would be formed to select eligible students to avail this benefit. “The entire process would be transparent. There would not be any caste or religious discrimination in the selection process,” he assured.

Speaking on the drinking water shortage in the constituency, Parivendar said, “I would be arranging 15 tanker lorries to supply drinking water to all places reeling under water scarcity. This will be done in a week or two.” He also announced the promise of jobs to 300 youth for this year would be implemented in the next few months. “Perambalur is called an underdeveloped constituency.

I assure of turning it into a developed one by bringing companies here to provide jobs and boosting agriculture. I would definitely strive to make the long-awaited Ariyalur-Perambalur-Namakkal railway line a reality,” he said. Parivendar also said that agricultural produce like grains and vegetables of farmers in Perambalur Lok Sabha constituency would be procured by his institutions from their fields itself.

BJP man sells tea for Rs 1 on Modi’s swearing-in

Thanjavur: A BJP functionary running a tea stall in Peravurani on Thursday sold tea at a subsidised rate of `1 per cup to celebrate the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for the second time. G Rajasekar (55) has been running the tea stall on Pattukkottai road in Peravrani for several years. As Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister on Thursday for his second term, Rajasekar decided to sell tea at the rate of Rs 1 per cup instead of the usual rate of Rs 7. Around 1,000 cups of tea were sold, Rajasekar said.

Engineering courses going out of fashion?

Only 1.32 lakh have applied this year for the TN Engineering Admissions, much less than the 1.59 lakh applications received in 2018

Published: 01st June 2019 03:52 AM 

By Binita Jaiswal

Express News Service

CHENNAI: There is a significant drop in the number of engineering aspirants in Tamil Nadu. Only 1.32 lakh students have applied this year for the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA), much less than the 1.59 lakh applications in 2018. While the deadline to send the application is May 31 midnight, only 1,32,442 applications had been received till 7 pm Friday. Officials are hoping the numbers will go up by a few hundred by midnight.



A total of 1.76 lakh seats, spread across 500 engineering colleges in the State, will be offered during the counselling. The reduction in demand compared to the last year, and the surplus of seats despite quality control measures taken by regulatory bodies display the declining interest in engineering courses among students.


This is surprising because since 2016, there has been a steady increase in admissions. The numbers grew from 1.38 lakh in 2016 to 1.45 lakh in 2017 and a substantial 1.59 lakh last year. “With the number of applicants decreasing, the number of students who turn up for counselling and, subsequently, enrol into colleges will reduce further,” says the principal of a private engineering college.

Experts claim the lack of interest is primarily due to dearth of appropriate opportunities and poor quality of education. “Students prefer commerce and arts these days rather than enrol in a below-average engineering college,” says an Anna University faculty member on the condition of anonymity.

After two decades, the counselling is being conducted again by the Directorate of Technical Education this year. For the last 22 years, it was the Anna University that was conducting the process. This year, the university’s vice-chancellor resigned from the TNEA committee as he was upset with the untimely restructuring of the panel.

Admissions to Ayush UG courses likely to be based on NEET marks
Admission to Ayush undergraduate courses in the State for this academic year is likely to be based on National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) marks.

Published: 01st June 2019 03:57 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Admission to Ayush undergraduate courses in the State for this academic year is likely to be based on National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) marks. Last year, the State sought exemption from NEET for Ayush UG courses as an amendment to Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 to conduct admission for the courses based on NEET marks, had not been made.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore, Health minister C Vijay Baskar said, “Last year, the State could get NEET exemption for Ayush UG courses because the central government did not make amendment to Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970. But, this year the Central government has amended the Act. We have sought opinion of the Attorney General, and a decision will be taken based on that”.

However, NEET for UG courses was over and results are likely to be declared on June 5. Only those who appeared for NEET can now apply for Ayush courses, if the test is to be made compulsory for Ayush UG courses this year. This is likely to cause confusion among students.

Last year, the State conducted admission to Ayush UG courses based on Plus Two marks. It had said that NEET cannot be made mandatory for admission to Ayush courses by going against Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Education Institutions Act, 2006.

Chennai hostels in deep water as crisis looms

Empty tanks and dry taps push hostel owners out of business. Unhygienic conditions force female

hostellers to shift to PG accommodation; operators float drastic plans as crisis compounds

Published: 01st June 2019 06:51 AM 

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Propreitors say more women have been vacating the hostels 

Smriti Baskar

By Madhumitha Viswanath

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Asma wakes up at 3 am every day to offer prayers before starting her fast for Ramzan. Prior to this, she needs to wash her hands and legs. But due to acute water shortage, sometimes she has to forgo fasting as there is no water even to clean herself.

“On some days, I brush my teeth at work. At times, I have to carry three to four buckets to my room on the second floor when I’m fasting. It is difficult but I cannot afford to rent a house,” said Asma, who has been staying at a ladies hostel at Adambakkam for the past five years.

Similar stories tumbled out of 5,000-odd hostels across Chennai, a majority of which are closing down because of the water crisis. Many men’s and ladies hostels especially in Ekkaduthangal, Saidapet, Alandur, Adambakkam, Kolathur, Ramapuram, Porur and OMR are struggling to provide water for basic activities.


At a loss

Ten days back, two hostels at Saidapet and one at Adambakkam closed down because their borewells — some at even 300 ft — had gone dry. With taps running dry and private tanker water becoming a thing of luxury, hostel residents are moving out. Hostel association members said close to 10-15 hostels had closed down since March.Many hostel members have shifted to paying guest accommodations, in the hope of at least one bath a day. “Hostel owners are already running around to get a permit from the authorities. We are struggling to get water from private tankers. Because of such obstacles, many owners are leaving the business altogether. Some of the workers at these hostels come from neighbouring districts, but now their headcount has also come down by 30 per cent,” said Shobhana Madhavan, president of Tamil Nadu Hostel

Owners Welfare Association.

The deepening crisis and no permission from the state government to tap groundwater has spiked the price of water from private tankers. Due to this, hostel owners are paying close to `2,000 more for every load of water and, in turn, charging every member an extra `500-`1,000 for the past two months. “Ten days ago, when the water tanker arrived at the hostel around 2 am, the driver demanded `5,000 and refused to give us water otherwise. I had no other choice but to pay him. In such dire situations, we are forced to reduce the supply drastically,” said Sivakumar V, manager of a hostel in Saidapet, who is planning to shut down.

Hygiene compromised

In many other hostels, drastic measures are being taken to keep water usage at a bare minimum. This includes shutting off supply for western toilets, using only a few taps, washing clothes in the washing machine only twice a week and providing supply for one hour in the morning and evening. This has raised serious hygiene concerns for women. Proprietors of many working women’s hostels said that more women members have been vacating hostels to stay on rent in areas where the issue is less severe.“During periods, we find it hard to manage with a few buckets of water for a whole day. Also, the quality is very poor. Some of my friends from OMR are staying for a few days in a week with their relatives in the city. Many haven’t told their parents about the situation as they ask them to quit their job and come back home,” said Bhargavi Ramesh, an IT employee who stays at a hostel in T Nagar.

Building approval papers to be uploaded online in 48 hours

The BRAP mandates that the checklist must not be open-ended.

Published: 01st June 2019 04:20 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: To ensure that the State gains its ranking in ease of doing business, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has directed its officials to upload inspection reports of building plans as part of approval process within 48 hours after completing the exercise.

This comes after CMDA ordered that for all planning permission applications received by it the inspection report should be limited to the checklist published and should be uploaded online within 48 hours.

The Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2019 has mandated that the State should have a detailed procedure covering all applicable steps and the comprehensive inspection checklist or form be published online.

The BRAP mandates that the checklist must not be open-ended and avoid use of phrases like “any other statutory clearances or licences”, “any other document”, “others”, “such as” and “etc.”


“A provision must be made by the State/ UT Administration that inspection reports must be submitted within 48 hours. Inspection reports filed beyond 48 hours should be considered as invalid,” the BRAP said.

Now all your orthopaedic needs just a tap away

Also, 3D animation videos in the app will provide directions for particular unit or labs in the hospital.

Published: 01st June 2019 04:34 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative to make government hospitals more patients’ friendly, Orthopaedic Surgery Department of Government Stanley Medical College Hospital launched a free mobile application ‘Stan Ortho’ on Thursday to enable the public to know about the treatment services provided by it.


The app is available on Google Play store, doctors said. Speaking to Express, T Tholgapiyan, Head of the hospital’s Orthopaedic Surgery Department, said, “The app will provide all information about treatment options for a particular condition and its description. Also, 3D animation videos in the app will provide directions for particular unit or labs in the hospital.