Father of deceased teen seeks justice

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:03.06.2019

“I will never be the same. He was my pride. I cannot believe he is gone,” said KR Ravi as he left the morgue at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Omandurar Estate where the body of his 19-yearold son was kept.

Ravi’s son, R Shanthakumar, died in an accident on Sunday. According to police, an MTC bus was involved in the accident. “We have to check the CCTV camera footage to find out who is at fault, the MTC bus driver or the biker,“ said a senior police officer.

Ravi blamed the police for not catching the bus driver. “My son was being blamed for bike racing, but that’s untrue. He goes to the Marina Beach every Sunday morning to play cricket with his friends. He did the same thing today. Police needs to probe further,” he alleged.

Shanthakumar was the second of three sons of Ravi, a conservancy worker with the Greater Chennai Corporation and Kondamma, a domestic worker. The family lives in Thattankulam, Choolai. Shanthakumar was studying B.Com at Sir Theagaraya College in Old Washermenpet, and wanted to become a chartered accountant. He had scored 72% in his first year and was quite popular in his group. “He was also very good at sports. He used to love cricket and football, if not a CA, he wanted to become a cricketer,” said his mother Kondamma, holding back her tears.

“But we need justice. The bus driver involved must be detained. The police did not even bother stopping him and he fled. If the police don’t help us, I will go to court,” said Ravi.

After 2 hot days, thunderclouds may bring respite

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:03.06.2019

After two days of scorching heat, the city may experience a pleasant day on Monday. The meteorological department forecast say that “the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy. Development of thunderclouds is possible towards evening.”

The city recorded 40°C on Saturday and 39°C on Sunday. The suburbs were hotter than the core areas of the city. Meenambakkam recorded 41°C on Sunday. The heat conditions in the southern and western suburbs caused convective heavy rain on Sunday in areas like Vellore. The rain, which extended close to the far suburbs of the city, is expected to cool down the day temperature in the coming days, said a met official. The maximum temperature which was hovering in the range of 36°C to 38°C for most part of last month has started to climb above 39°C this month.

However, the city may not get an immediate respite from the heat as the met department has hinted that the “maximum temperature is expected to be around be around 39°C and minimum temperature is likely to be 30°C respectively”

As the heat is trapped with less sea breeze, nights are expected to be warmer in the coming days. The forecast for the first time says that minimum temperature in the core areas of the city will be 30°C on Monday.

A met in an advisory applicable across the state said that “public are advised not to expose themselves to direct sunlight between 11am and 4pm to avoid sunstroke.”

A look at the day’s temperature variation shows that it was at its peak between 11.15am and 1pm. It dipped below 36°C after 2.30pm. However, the radiation and humidity level kept the inconvenience level high.

Online live weather tracking sites show that there was dense cloud in areas surrounding Chennai but the sky was clear over the city on Sunday.

Met officials said conditions for the onset of southwest monsoon are becoming favourable and the rains in Kerala will help in reducing the day temperature in Chennai in the coming weeks. However, many parts of the state are expected to get rain on Monday, as met department forecast says that “thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds reaching 30kmph to 40kmph and lightning is likely to occur at Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Virudhunagar, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai districts.”

Met officials said conditions for the onset of southwest monsoon are becoming favourable and the rains in Kerala will help in reducing the day temperature in Chennai in the coming weeks

RPF man saves 10-yr-old girl who fell trying to board moving train

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:03.06.2019

The presence of mind and timely action of a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable at Chennai Egmore railway station saved the life of a young girl who had fallen into the space between the train and the platform.

The 10-year-old girl and her father had tickets in a ‘third AC’ compartment of Chennai- Tiruchirapalli Uzhavan Express. They reached station late, around 10.40pm, as the train was leaving. The train had not gathered speed, and the girl and her father ran towards the coach.

RPF constable S V Jose, who was on platform number 4, sensed danger and ran towards the girl. The girl tried to jump into the coach, missed her step and fell, with her legs between the platform and the moving train. By now the constable, holding a torch in his left hand, leaped towards the girl and, using his right hand, caught the girl and pulled her out of harm’s way.

A CCTV camera on the platform caught the gripping visuals that soon went viral online. “The train had not picked up speed, but it was moving,” said an eyewitness. Had the train gathered speed, it would’ve been tragic.” Police identified the girl as Anmol Sharma and her father Aswani Kumar. They had tickets in a third AC coach.

The train was stopped for a few minutes after the guard noticed the commotion. Later, after ensuring that the girl was fine, the duo boarded the train. RPF officials reviewed the CCTV footage and appreciated Jose’s action. He may be recommended for an award, an official said.

RPF has asked its personnel to be always on the watch for such incidents. “Such accidents happen more often when passengers try to get into overcrowded unreserved compartments,” said an official. “Some others do it as a stunt.” Railway officials have advised passengers to reach the platform and board the train well in advance to avoid such accidents.

RPF constable S V Jose, who was on platform number 4, sensed danger and ran towards the girl who tried to jump into the coach, missed her step and fell, with her legs between the platform and the moving train

Fewer state board students may enter top engg colleges

Their Poor Show In Class XII Gives CBSE Applicants An Edge This Year

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com  03.06.2019


Poor performance in the Class XII examination may cost state board students seats in top engineering colleges this year. Only one-fifth of students have scored more than 95% in Class XII compared to last year, an analysis of class XII exam results shows. This puts CBSE students, who secured higher marks, at an advantage and the top colleges may admit fewer students from the state board.

Out of 8 lakh students, 931 got above 575 marks (95%) compared to 5,178 students in the previous year. While 231 students scored above 98% in 2018, only 31 got 590-plus out of 600 this year, results data obtained through RTI showed.

Compared to 2017, the number of centum scorers fell sharply in 2019 with no student getting full marks in biology. In Physics, 14 got full marks while in maths 65 scored a centum. The number of centum in chemistry came down from 1,123 in 2017 to just 80 this year.

Teachers said a new question paper pattern in the Class XII exam led to the poor performance. “Questions resembled those asked by CBSE board exams with many of them application-oriented. The question paper pattern made it difficult for the students to score high marks in the exams,” a teacher said.

Also, in a reversal of sorts, the CBSE and ISC boards called for a ‘liberal evaluation’ of answer scripts owing to which many students scored higher marks and the number of centum was more compared to previous years.

Out of the 1,33,166 students who have applied for engineering counselling this year, 12,000 are from CBSE, up by 60% from last year, and 500 are from other boards. Last year, the number of applicants from CBSE was 7,500.

Career consultants said this would affect the state board students in getting admission to top engineering colleges and other professional courses such as veterinary science and agriculture.

“We can expect 10% to 15% more students from other boards joining top engineering colleges this year,” said Jayaprakash A Gandhi, career consultant. The collective poor performance may bring down the engineering cut-off this year. “It will come down by five marks to 15 marks at different levels,” Gandhi said.

The performance of state board students was a direct result of the directorate of government examinations’ sudden move to change the question paper pattern putting scores of students at a disadvantage. “The pattern was not introduced in the quarterly or half-yearly exams. The students were in for a surprise,” educational consultant D Nedunchezhiyan told TOI.

Schools said due to the new question paper pattern, the CBSE students are better placed for admission this year. “Following the CBSE, state board introduced higher order thinking skills (HOTS) based questions in Class XII exams. But CBSE and ISC had adopted moderation and liberal evaluation which have put state board students at a disadvantage,” a principal of a matriculation school said.

Professor Rita John from department of theoretical physics at University of Madras said even the so-called bright students were not able to answer application-oriented questions due to lack of understanding of the concepts. “Blueprint method has made way for rote learning at schools. The revised textbooks will give students concept-based learning and if properly practised, students would be able to answer all the questions,” she said.

In New Delhi

WATER WOES

Water-starved Chennaiites shift houses, visit kin in other cities

Kamini.Mathai@timesgroup.com 3.06.2019

As the water crisis worsens in Chennai, residents seem to be either getting out of the city on short breaks, or postponing their return after a holiday, or shifting homes from one part of the city to another in the hope of getting better water supply.

Ashok Kumar, a long-time resident of Kodambakkam, had to move to KK Nagar looking for ‘greener pastures’. “We were getting water for just three hours a day. We couldn’t handle it because we would sometimes not be home at the time,” says the 50-year-old who runs a catering unit.

Deficit rainfall in 2017 and a failed monsoon in 2018 have resulted in depleted groundwater levels, leaving the city grappling with chronic water shortage. Earlier this month, the state government declared 17 districts, including Chennai and Kancheepuram, droughthit. These districts recorded deficit rainfall ranging between 19% and 59% last year.

Seventeen districts, including Chennai, declared drought-hit

Water crisis: Tenants leave houses

The four reservoirs that supply drinking water to Chennai are nearly empty. Perungudi resident M S Srikanth moved into a relative’s house for two days. Then he took a train out to his sister’s home in Bengaluru for the weekend. “It wasn’t a holiday,” says a distraught Srikanth, a project scientist at Anna University. “I had to take my family and leave the city because we did not have water for 10 days.” Although back from his visits just last week, Srikanth is already thinking of where he can go next as he has just been informed his building is still not getting water.

K Gopal from Peungudi is another who left the city for a relative’s home in Kerala to get away from the crisis. But, says Gopal, despite the brief respite, he is back again in the throes of the crisis. “Some of the tenants in our building have moved out,” he says.

20 ரூபாய் கட்டணத்தில் 'டூப்ளிகேட்' ரேஷன் கார்டு

Added : ஜூன் 02, 2019 01:04

ரேஷன் கார்டை தொலைத்தவர்களுக்கு, மாற்று கார்டுகள், தலா, 20 ரூபாய் கட்டணத்தில், ஜூலை முதல் வழங்க, உணவுத்துறை முடிவு செய்துள்ளது.

ரேஷன் கார்டை தொலைத்தவர்களுக்கும், ஏற்கனவே உள்ள கார்டில், பிழை திருத்தங்கள் செய்தவர்களுக்கும், 'டூப்ளிகேட்' எனப்படும், மாற்று கார்டுகள், அரசு, 'இ - சேவை' மையங்களில் வழங்கப்பட்டன.ஒரு கார்டுக்கு, 30 ரூபாய் என, கட்டணம் நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்டது. ஆனால், சேவை மைய ஊழியர்கள், அதிக கட்டணம் வசூலித்தனர். இதனால், அந்த மையங்களில், மாற்று கார்டு வழங்குவதை, 2018ல், உணவுத்துறை நிறுத்தியது. ரேஷன் கார்டை தொலைத்தவர்கள், மாற்று கார்டுகள் வழங்கும்படி, அரசுக்கு கோரிக்கை விடுத்து வருகின்றனர்.இதையடுத்து, ஒவ்வொரு மாவட்டத்திலும், மாற்று கார்டுகளை அச்சிட்டு வழங்கக் கூடிய கருவிகள் வாங்குவது உள்ளிட்ட பணிகளை, உணவுத் துறை மேற்கொண்டு வருகிறது.இவை, இறுதி கட்டத்தை எட்டியுள்ளன. ஜூலை முதல், 20 ரூபாய் கட்டணத்தில், மாற்று ரேஷன் கார்டுகள் வழங்கப்பட உள்ளன.

- நமது நிருபர் -