EMIs, no full cash for accident victims: HC
Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:15.08.2019

Victims of motor vehicle accidents in Tamil Nadu will no longer get lump-sum compensation from insurance companies as the Madras high court has ordered implementation of Motor Accident Claims Annuity Deposit Scheme (MACAD) from October 1. As per the scheme, compensation awarded to victims will be deposited in banks and disbursed to them in Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs) for a fixed term. No loan, advance or full withdrawal will be allowed on the deposits made out of award amounts without the permission of the court.

Justice P N Prakash, referring to the scheme proposed by the Supreme Court through an order issued on March 5, said it would ensure that the victims would have total control over the compensation and that they would not have to suffer any ‘leakage’.

As per the scheme, a savings bank account would be opened in the names of the victims in a nationalized bank near their houses and the compensation would be deposited for a fixed term. Every month, the victims would get a fixed sum of the principal and interest.

Ex-judge to check duplicate claims

The bank will not permit any joint names to be added in the savings bank account of the victims, nor cheque book or debit card facility will be provided. Justice Prakash was passing the order on a plea moved by Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited to check double claims made in different tribunals for the same accident, in collusion with police and advocates. Winding up the hearing, the judge said: “The implementation of MACAD Scheme shall be on and from October 1 for practical and realistic reasons. There shall be no exception made to this MACAD Scheme compliance, even in claims which are settled by way of compromise by Alternate Dispute Resolution mode, be it in Lok Adalat or Mediation dispensations, except as may be provided for in the Scheme itself, for reasons to be recorded in writing by the Claims Tribunals.”

During the course of hearing, the court appointed former judge of the high court, Justice K Chandru, to examine if duplicate claims in respect of the same accident were a widespread phenomenon in the state and, if so, to ascertain whether such case briefs were sold to counsel for monetary consideration.

After steps taken by the expert committee, 276 motor accident claim petitions worth ₹48.22 crore stood withdrawn across the state.

TOI gets even bigger, adds 1.4 lakh readers
Increases Lead To 14,000 Over The Hindu In Chennai

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
15.08.2019

The world’s biggest English newspaper just keeps getting bigger. On the back of a huge increase in readership in the first quarter of 2019, The Times of India has grown again in Q2 — at a time when almost all other newspapers outside the Times Group have shrunk.

The Times of India has a readership larger than the combined readership of the next three general English dailies from outside the group, the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) has revealed. What’s more, TOI’s main paper added 1.4 lakh readers over the last quarter at a time when all the non-group papers in this category put together lost 1.8 lakh readers. The IRS for the second quarter of 2019 shows that TOI has an average issue readership (AIR) of 60.4 lakh, way larger than the 36.1 lakh readers that its closest competitor, Hindustan Times has. The Hindu with 18.8 lakh readers and The Telegraph with 4.9 lakh are far behind.

In Chennai, where Q1 had seen TOI and The Hindu in a close race, TOI has now pulled clear and leads by about 14,000 readers. Now TOI has an average issue readership of 2.65 lakh against The Hindu’s 2.51lakh.

In Delhi, the gap between HT and TOI in average readership has narrowed significantly.

Growth in TOI’s total readership about 6% from 15.2m to 16.1m

A quarter ago, HT led by about 5 lakh readers. That has now been reduced to 3.5 lakh with TOI adding about 10,000 readers while HT has dropped 1.4 lakh. In total readership, TOI with 20.58 lakh readers has overtaken HT

(20.54 lakh) in Delhi.

TOI’s main paper has gained 1.4 lakh readers across India over the first quarter of the year while HT’s has lost 1.2 lakh. Even compared to Hindu, TOI’s gain in readership over this quarter has been more than twice as much, while Telegraph has seen its readership go down albeit slightly.

In terms of total readership, TOI has grown about 6% from 15.2 million to 16.1 million – again larger than HT, Hindu and Telegraph put together. The Economic Times, a Times Group publication, is in fourth position among English dailies with 10.1 lakh readers, an increase of 27,000 readers vs the last quarter while Mint lost 32,000 readers and now has less than a third the readership of Economic Times.

Mumbai Mirror, a Times Group publication, is in fifth spot in the AIR pecking order with 8.2 lakh readers. Like TOI, it has added readers at a time when its competitor has declined. While Mumbai Mirror’s readership rose from 8 lakh in the first quarter, Mid-Day saw readership drop from 3.7 lakh to 3.6 lakh. Bangalore Mirror also gained about 35,000 readers going from 1.5 lakh to 1.9 lakh, an impressive gain in just one quarter.

TOI’s leadership cuts across the country, with the newspaper widening its lead in markets where it was already the leader and closing the gap with the competition in the few cities where it is not yet numero uno. In Pune and Ahmedabad, such rivals as there are were not part of the IRS. In Mumbai, TOI’s main paper has 13.2 lakh readers to HT’s 8.7.

For full report, www.toi.in

உச்சத்திலும் உச்சம் தொட்டது தங்கம்; பவுன் ரூ.29 ஆயிரத்தை தாண்டியது

Updated : ஆக 14, 2019 00:40 | Added : ஆக 14, 2019 00:38

சென்னை: தமிழகத்தில் தங்கம் விற்பனையில் முதல் முறையாக 22 காரட் ஆபரண தங்கம் பவுன் விலை 29 ஆயிரம் ரூபாயை தாண்டி புதிய சாதனை படைத்துள்ளது.

அமெரிக்கா- சீனா இடையிலான வர்த்தக போர் உள்ளிட்ட சர்வதேச நிலவரங்களால் அமெரிக்க டாலர் மதிப்பு குறைந்து வருகிறது. இதனால் டாலரில் அதிகளவில் முதலீடு செய்திருந்த முதலீட்டாளர்கள் தங்கத்தில் முதலீடு செய்து வருகின்றனர். இதையடுத்து சர்வதேச சந்தையில் ஜூலை இறுதியில் இருந்து தங்கம் விலை உயர்ந்து வருகிறது. இந்தியாவிலும் தங்கம் விலை எப்போதும் இல்லாத வகையில் அதிகரித்து வருகிறது.

கடந்த 1ம் தேதி கிராம் தங்கம் 3,310 ரூபாய்க்கும் பவுன் 26 ஆயிரத்து 480 ரூபாய்க்கும் விற்றது. அதற்கு அடுத்த நாளே கிராம் 3,383 ரூபாயாகவும் பவுன் 27 ஆயிரத்து 64 ரூபாயாகவும் அதிகரித்து புதிய சாதனை படைத்தது. பின் ஐந்து நாட்களில் அதாவது 7ம் தேதி கிராம் தங்கம் 3,547 ரூபாய்; பவுன் 28 ஆயிரத்து 376 ரூபாய் என்ற புதிய உச்சத்தை எட்டியது. நேற்று முன்தினம் கிராம் தங்கம் 3,603 ரூபாய்க்கும் பவுன் 28 ஆயிரத்து 824 ரூபாய்க்கும் விற்பனை செய்யப்பட்டது. கிராம் வெள்ளி 49 ரூபாய்க்கு விற்பனையானது.

இந்நிலையில் நேற்று தங்கம் கிராமுக்கு 24 ரூபாய் அதிகரித்து 3627 ரூபாய்க்கு விற்பனையானது. பவுன் 192 ரூபாய் அதிகரித்து 29 ஆயிரத்து 16 ரூபாய்க்கு விற்பனை செய்யப்பட்டது. இதையடுத்து முதல் முறையாக பவுன் விலை 29 ஆயிரம் ரூபாயை தாண்டியுள்ளது. இரு வாரத்தில் மட்டும் தங்கத்தின் விலை பவுனுக்கு 2,536 ரூபாய் உயர்ந்துள்ளது. மாத இறுதிக்குள் 30 ஆயிரம் ரூபாயை தாண்டும் என எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

500 புதிய பஸ்கள் சேவை இன்று துவக்கம்

Added : ஆக 13, 2019 22:18

சென்னை : தமிழக அரசு போக்குவரத்து கழகத்தில், 70 சதவீத பஸ்கள் பழைய, பயன்படுத்த முடியாத நிலையில் இருந்தன.

இதனால், விபத்துக்கள் அதிகரித்ததுடன், பயணியரும், அரசு பஸ் பயணத்தை தவிர்த்து வந்தனர்.இந்நிலையில், படிப்படியாக, அரசு போக்குவரத்து கழகத்தில், புதிய பஸ்கள் இணைக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றன.இன்று, தலைமை செயலகத்தில் நடக்கும் நிகழ்ச்சியில், 500 புதிய பஸ்களின் சேவையை, முதல்வர், இ.பி.எஸ்., துவக்கி வைக்கிறார்.

Gold seen at Rs 40,000 before Diwali

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | SANGEETHA G

Published Aug 14, 2019, 4:04 am IST

However, analysts still believe gold will resume the bull-run and touch Rs 40,000 in the Indian market before Diwali.

Comex gold too gained $28 initially and lost $55 per ounce during the course of the session.

Chennai: Gold prices remained highly volatile on Tuesday as they touched all-time high levels during the early part of the session, only to fall Rs 1,300 per 10 gm later in the evening. Comex gold too gained $28 initially and lost $55 per ounce during the course of the session. However, analysts still believe gold will resume the bull-run and touch Rs 40,000 in the Indian market before Diwali.

In the Comex futures market, near-month contract of gold initially moved up to $1,546 per ounce during the intraday on Tuesday from the previous close of $1,519. With strong fundamentals supporting safe haven demand for gold, the Hong Kong protests acted as a geo-political trigger for increased purchases by investors, said Jateen Trivedi, Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

The protests in Hong Kong against the Chinese government continued on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s stock markets fell 35 per cent and the currency by 25 per cent after the president was trounced in the primary election. The currency’s fall was viewed by the markets in the back-drop of the ongoing currency war between the US and China. The trade war has been a pushing up gold prices in the past few days.

However, later in the evening on Tuesday US Trade Representative updated that additional tariffs on some Chinese goods, including cell phones and laptops, will be delayed till December 15. This saw a sharp rise in equity markets and sell-off in bullion.

From $1,546, gold prices came down to $1,490. Silver too fell from a high of $17.48 an ounce to $16.51.

In the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold had moved up to Rs 38,660, a new all-time high, from the previous day’s close of Rs 38,240. Silver had gained close to 2 per cent in the MCX to touch Rs 44,585. The rupee had added to the glitter of the gold when it further depreciated to six-month low of 71.4 on Tuesday.

However, after the trade update from the US, gold in the MCX too fell to a low of Rs 37,344, losing more than Rs 1,300 in a session. Silver too fell from Rs 44,585 per kg to Rs 43,250.

“Trade update has led to a knee-jerk reaction in the market. However, the broader fundamentals, which have been triggering the bull-run in bullion, are still intact. Hence we still expect that gold can move up further in the medium-term,’ said Trivedi.

“With gold coming closer to Rs 39,000 levels, it won’t take much longer to touch Rs 40,000. We might probably see those levels before Diwali if the fundamentals remain strong. In the international market, we can look forward for $1,600 - $1,650 levels,” he said.

“We expect gold to remain firm on various economic issues across the globe, although mild profit booking may keep prices under pressure near key resistance levels,’ said Abhishek Bansal, Chair-man, Abans Group.

Jet Airways directed to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation for preponing flight without informing

The apex consumer commission held the Jet was deficient in rendering services by not intimating of the change in schedule of the flight which left more than 10 hrs before scheduled departure.

Published: 13th August 2019 08:05 PM 

Jet Airways aircraft (File Photo | PTI)

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The apex consumer commission has directed Jet Airways to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh along with interest to a Chhattisgarh resident for preponing a flight without informing him in June 2012 due to which he could not appear in an examination scheduled for the next day.

The commission held that Jet Airways India Limited was deficient in rendering services by not intimating to Dr Akash Lalwani the change in schedule of the flight, which left more than 10 hours before the scheduled departure.

Lalwani had booked his flight ticket through an online portal, Yahoo Tour and Travels, booking tickets on behalf of Jet Airways.

The commission said that it was for Jet Airways to ascertain the details of Lalwani and intimate him of the change in flight schedule.


"Though the case of Yahoo Tour and Travels is that it had provided all the details of the complainant to Jet Airways assuming that the details were not provided, it was for Jet Airways to ascertain the details of the passenger from the travel agent and intimate the change of time to him.

"That admittedly was not done. Therefore, Jet Airways India Ltd. was clearly deficient in rendering services to the complainant it having not intimated the change in the schedule time of the flight to him," Presiding of the commission V K Jain said.

According to Lalwani's complaint, he had booked a flight to from Raipur to Kolkata on June 9, 2012.

The flight which was to depart at 9.25 pm was combined with another flight which left at 10.40 am, more than 10 hours before the scheduled departure.

The early departure led to Lalwani missing the flight due to which he could not appear in an examination scheduled for 9 am on June 10, the next day at Kolkata.

He filed a complaint with the district forum, which had directed Jet Airways and Yahoo Tour and Travels to refund Rs 38,432, comprising expenditure incurred on appearing for the examination including air ticket, taxi fare, and cost of books.

The district forum also awarded Rs 11 lakh as compensation to Lalwani, which was challenged in the state commission by both Jet Airways and Yahoo Tour and Travels.

The state consumer commission modified the compensation amount to Rs 1 lakh while maintaining the direction for payment of Rs 38,432 with interest.

The state commission's order was challenged by both, the airlines and the online travel booking site, in the NCDRC.

No takers for Tamil medium engineering courses in Anna University's constituent colleges

Since most companies prefer to recruit students fluent in English, meagre number of students join the Tamil medium courses.

Published: 14th August 2019 01:21 AM |

A file photo of Anna University | Express

By Binita Jaiswal

Express News Service

CHENNAI: There are no takers for Tamil medium engineering courses provided by Anna University’s constituent colleges.

The records of the University reveals that only Tiruchirappalli campus has managed to fill 36 % of its seats in Tamil medium engineering courses while the remaining 11 constituent colleges, which offer Civil engineering and Mechanical engineering courses in Tamil medium, are able to attract only single digit students. The enrollment percentage in Tamil medium courses in these 11 constituent colleges ranges in
between 1.6% to 6% .

The data provided by the university to Express shows that Tiruchirappalli has 120 seats in Tamil medium while this year only 44 students have taken admission. The constituent colleges at Villupuram and Tindivanam have 60 seats each but this year they have received only 3 and 4 students respectively. Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram campuses have 120 seats each while they have 8 and 7 students enrolled respectively for this year. Dindigul, Nagercoil and Thirukkuvalai colleges have a sanctioned strength of 120 seats each in Tamil medium but the colleges have received only 3 students each. Panruti and Pattukkottai campuses, which also have strength of 120 seats, have got only 2 and 1 students respectively this year. However, the scenario is worse in Arani and Ariyalur campuses as not a single student has opted for these colleges. Arani has 60 seats in Tamil medium while Ariyalur has 120 seats.

The Anna University officials are worried over the scenario. According to sources in the university, the Tamil medium engineering courses were started 2010 in Anna University and since inception the response
was not that good. But this year things have gone from bad to worse.

“Except one, all other colleges have negligible admissions in Tamil medium. It will be really difficult for colleges to manage the courses with such handful of students,” said a faculty of Anna University.

The officials of Anna University also expressed that Tamil medium engineering courses are not able to attract students as the job opportunities are not much. “Even if a student chooses to study Tamil  medium engineering course they do not find appropriate jobs as the companies focus mainly on recruiting students who are good at English communication,” said a professor of the university.

Sources in the university said they have plans to propose in the upcoming Syndicate meeting for curtailment of seats in Tamil medium in the constituent colleges.