Inspect varsity for courses run as commercial venture, says Madras High Court

The judge directed the high court registrar to communicate the court order to UGC for further action.

Published: 30th August 2019 08:23 PM


Madras High Court

By PTI

MADURAI The Madras High Court on Friday directed the University Grants Commission to hold an inspection at the state-run Madurai Kamaraj University for distance education degrees being offered as a commercial venture in violation of norms and prosecute the officials responsible for it.

Justice S M Subramanian said the university officials should be made accountable for misguiding and cheating students by offering courses on the basis of commercial venture with the only purpose of making money.

He dismissed a petition by S Vani, who was allowed by the university to join B.A (History) correspondence course in the third year after she had studied B.Sc (Chemistry) for two years, seeking appointment as a government teacher.

"This is against law and unknown to common sense," the judge said, referring to the student being awarded B.


A (History) degree based on which she applied for the teacher's post.

Coming down on the university officials, he said one cannot expect students to know various UGC guidelines to get appointment as teachers and innocent students should not be cheated.

The judge directed the high court registrar to communicate the court order to UGC for further action.

The UGC should find out the irregularities in conducting such courses and prosecute the officials responsible for it, he said, noting the government rightly rejected the candidature of the petitioner.

"As per UGC regulation, only regular pattern students who had classroom experience should be considered for the appointment of teachers and public appointments," he said.

It was unfortunate that even established universities were offering courses under commercial venture and cheating students, he said, asking them to stop such irregularities and take the matter seriously.

Before dying, lover gives final gift of blood in beer bottle to girlfriend in Chennai

The man, who worked as a carpenter, got drunk, slit his wrist and collected the blood in bottle before asking his friend to give it to woman and succumbing later.

Published: 30th August 2019 04:37 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: In a bizarre incident, a lover, slashed his wrist and collected the blood in an empty beer bottle and asked his friend to hand it over to his girlfriend as his final gift. The man later died in the hospital.

The man worked as a carpenter, said the police. He was said to be in a relationship over the last few years. They had decided to settle down after the man was doing well in his profession, said the police. But all was not well. “A few weeks ago, the woman stopped picking his calls and blocked him on social media. He tried to contact her and meet her many times, but in vain. Following this, he was dejected and did not talk to anyone properly,” a police officer said.

On Tuesday night, he met his friends at Pallavaram to consume alcohol and lamented that his girlfriend was avoiding him. Suddenly, he broke a beer bottle and slit his left wrist and started collecting the blood in the empty bottle.

His friends tried to stop him, but he placed the broken beer bottle to his throat and asked them to step back. His friends, however, managed to overpower him and rushed him to a hospital at Chromepet, the officer said.


Police said that the man did not even allow doctors to treat him. He then gave the blood he collected to a friend and asked him to hand it over to the woman he loved. After he fell unconscious, doctors tried to treat him, but he died around 1.30am. Shankar Nagar police registered a case and are investigating.

(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)

Rs 40 crore for improvement of infrastructure in Anna University’s constituent colleges
The money will be spent on improving laboratories, constructing hostels and procuring equipment.

Published: 30th August 2019 04:29 AM 

Anna University (File Photo | EPS)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Anna University has received Rs 40 crore from the State government for development of infrastructure in its 16 constituent colleges and regional campuses. University officials said the university had sought Rs 100 crore for the purpose, but received only Rs 40 crore recently.

The money will be spent on improving laboratories, constructing hostels and procuring equipment. Officials said there was a lack of adequate infrastructure in constituent colleges which need to be addressed immediately.

In a few constituent colleges, there is an urgent necessity of hostels, especially women’s. “Laboratories in our constituent colleges are not in proper shape. We need to procure equipment and upgrade infrastructure on a priority basis,” said a senior official.

It is important to mention that in this year’s engineering counselling only six constituent colleges had managed to fill over 90 per cent of seats. Anna University officials are trying their best to resolve the issues to draw more students.


Vice-Chancellor MK Surappa had earlier asked officials of constituent colleges to submit a detailed proposal on condition of hostels and other infrastructural needs. “We have already prepared a detailed list as to where we need to spend the money. We required more funds, but still `40 crore will help us,” the official said.

Notably, the enrolment figures this year in constituent colleges was worrisome. Colleges at Ariyalur, Thirukkuvalai and Ramanathapuram have a sanctioned strength of 300 each. But, this year only 85 seats have been filled in Ariyalur while in Thirukkuvalai and Ramanathapuram it is 73 and 76 respectively.

CBI raids govt offices in Chennai and Madurai
Searches were part of nation-wide anti-corruption drive

Published: 31st August 2019 06:04 AM | Last Updated: 31st August 2019 06:04 AM

CHENNAI: The CBI on Friday carried out joint surprise checks (JSCs) along with the Vigilance department, on government offices across the country, including those in Chennai and Madurai, to weed out corruption.

A CBI spokesman said that as part of the special drive, more than 150 joint surprise checks(JSCs) were conducted at the offices of government departments, ministries and organisations.

The JSCs were primarily conducted at places where common citizens or small business persons feel maximum pinch of corruption in government machinery. This special drive will sensitise all stake-holders to possible avenues of corruption a common citizen faces while seeking services from such departments. It also strives to identify and highlight points and places vulnerable to corruption, the spokesman said.
The departments covered include Railways, coal mines & coalfields, medical and healthcare orgainisations, Customs, Food Corporation of India.

Other departments such as power, municipal corporations, ESIC, transport, Central Public Works Department, Directorate of Estates, Fire Services, Sub-Registrar office, GST Department, Port Trust, National Highways, DAVP, Airport Authority of India, public sector oil companies, Director General of Foreign Trade, public sector banks, Archaeological Survey of India, Shipping Corporation, BSNL, public sector steel units, mines and minerals.


These JSCs will be followed by an extensive campaign by the CBI branches all over India to make common citizens aware of how they can reach out to government departments and redress their complaints.

The cities where the drive was conducted include Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Guwahati, Shillong, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Chennai, Madurai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Patna, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Dehradun, Ranchi, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Vijaywada, Cochin, Kollam, Hanamakonda, Karimnagar, Chirmiri, Secunderabad, Katni–Bina, Vadodara, Himmat Nagar, Dhanbad, Kasauli, Samastipur, Danapur and Mokama.
In Puducherry

Similar searches were also held at Jipmer hospital and a registrar office at Saram, Puducherry. The hospital was searched after complaints over alleged irregularities in equipment purchase

Principal Secretary to Modi quits PMO

Misra is likely to be appointed Delhi L-G

31/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,AHMEDABAD

Nripendra Misra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top bureaucratic aide and Principal Secretary (PS) since 2014, Nripendra Misra, quit on Friday, prompting a rejig in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He, however, will continue for two more weeks on Mr. Modi’s request.

Mr. Modi has appointed outgoing Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the PMO.

Top sources told The Hindu that P.K. Mishra, currently Additional PS to the Prime Minister, is set to replace Mr. Misra, and Mr. Sinha will become the Additional PS. The sources indicated that Mr. Misra is likely to be appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi.

“Shri Nripendra Misra is among the most outstanding officers, who has a great grasp of public policy and administration. When I was new to Delhi in 2014, he taught me a lot and his guidance remains extremely valuable,” Mr. Modi tweeted.

According to Mr. Modi, Mr. Misra had helped him not just on a personal capacity but had been an important aide in the past five years in the PMO. He added that Mr. Misra, 74, had expressed his wish to quit after the election, but had continued on his request.

In a press statement, Mr. Misra, a U.P.-cadre IAS officer who served as Secretary, Telecom, and Secretary, Fertilizers, and also as chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, thanked Mr. Modi for the opportunity to work in the PMO and for placing complete faith in him. “I am deeply grateful to him for this opportunity and the complete confidence he has placed in me,” he said.

A number of appointments were made in the PMO on Friday. Arvind Shrivastava, Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry, has been shifted to the PMO. Four Deputy Secretaries were also appointed — Gujarat-cadre IAS officer Hardik Shah, currently Private Secretary to the Union Environment Minister; two Indian Foreign Service officers, Abhishek Shukla of the 2006 batch and Pratik Mathur of the 2007 batch; and Saurabh Shukla of the Indian Audit & Accounts Service.

V-P to flag off Intercity Express tomorrow

31/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NELLORE

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu will flag off the Intercity Express between Gudur and Vijayawada at Gudur Railway Station on Sunday.

On the inaugural day, the special train will depart from Gudur at 9:30 a.m. and reach Vijayawada at 3 p.m. on the same day. En-route, the train will stop at Nellore, Kavali, Singarayakonda, Ongole, Chirala, Bapatla and Tenali stations.

From September 2, the train will leave Gudur at 6:10 a.m. and reach Vijayawada at 10:40 a.m. on the same day. It will depart from Vijayawada at 6 p.m. every day and arrive in Gudur at 10:30 p.m. on the same day.

New GGH superintendent ‘irked’ by floral welcome

31/08/2019, STAFF REPORTER,KURNOOL

G.S. Ram Prasad taking charge as GGH superintendent, while Dr. P. Chandrasekhar is taking charge as principal of Kurnool Medical College on Friday.U. SUBRAMANYAM

Offering bouquets is a traditional way of welcoming a new incumbent, but this has become passé for employees of Government General Hospital, who took great pains to welcome the new superintendent of the hospital.

Dr. G.S. Ram Prasad, who took charge as the new superintendent of Kurnool GGH, entered his chambers to find his table covered in flowers. On his part, Dr. Ram Prasad was taken aback and was also reportedly irked by the unusual gesture.

“It is an attempt to get into the superintendent’s good books,” a senior official said.