One-way traffic on RBI subway from tomorrow

13/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

The traffic police are set to implement one-way traffic flow on the subway near the Reserve Bank of India from Saturday.

The existing steel girders on the railway tracks over the RBI subway have to be replaced due to safety concerns. The work is proposed to be done in two phases by the Southern Railway. During the execution of the work, there is a need for maintenance of one-way traffic under the RBI subway, said a press release from the Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic.

Hence, the following traffic arrangements will come into operation from Saturday, till the completion of work. There is no change in the route of vehicles coming from Kamarajar Salai towards Parrys Corner via Rajaji Salai-Secretariat-RBI subway.

Diversions

Vehicles coming from the Royapuram Bridge, Rajaji Salai towards Kamarajar Salai will not be allowed towards the RBI subway (towards War Memorial). Instead, they will be diverted at the Rajaji Salai and Parrys Corner to RBI subway service road- NFS road- R.A Mandram- Muthuswamy Salai- Muthuswamy Point- Muthuswamy Bridge- Wallajah Point- Flagstaff Road- War Memorial- Kamarajar Salai, to reach their destinations.

Uber adds safety features to app for women commuters

The taxi aggregator earns positive reviews after conducting gender sensitisation workshops

13/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

To give a push to commuter safety in the city, Uber has brought in several features in the application software in recent times. It has also been organising awareness workshops for its drivers.

A team from Uber, during an interaction with mediapersons in the city on Thursday, highlighted the measures the taxi aggregator has developed in the application software to help commuters have a safe ride.

Uber, which has a stringent driver verification programme, has been earning a lot of positive reviews from women commuters through gender sensitisation workshops conducted for drivers in several cities, including Chennai. The workshops are organised by Manas, a non-governmental organisation.

Pavan Vaish, head of operations, India and South Asia, Uber, said, “Uber is committed to providing safer transport, particularly for women, and to train drivers to handle women passengers gently.”

More than 6,900 drivers have participated in the workshops across the country. As a result, the drivers have pasted the sticker ‘We respect women’ in their cars, he added.

A representative of Uber said as drivers come from diverse backgrounds and different regions, gender sensitisation helps in making them treat women passengers with more respect. She said the technical team has been adding several new safety buttons to applications to enable women passengers have a safe journey.

Any passenger wanting to make an emergency call can tap the safety shield icon on the map for immediate contact with the Uber representative and also the law enforcement official.

Centralised number

To keep the passenger contact information secret to prevent drivers from making abusive calls for any reason including rating-related issues, Uber has started routing calls and messages of drivers and passengers through a centralised phone number.

The representative said this two-way call anonymisation does not reveal the contact numbers of the drivers as well as passengers until they themselves share the contact details.

For snakes, city is not an alien habitat

The reptiles are found in commodes, two-wheelers and septic tanks

13/09/2019, VIVEK NARAYANAN,CHENNAI

The notion that snakes, especially cobras and vipers, are mostly found in villages and forests far away from the city has been shattered by the number of rescues the Chennai Wildlife Division has carried out recently. They have been rescuing reptiles from different places, including commodes, bikes and septic tanks.

While close to 6,300 reptiles, animals and birds have been rescued from the city in the financial year 2018-2019, a large number of them, close to 2,700, are snakes.

“Apart from the non-poisonous rat snakes that are found commonly, we were surprised to find cobras, saw-scaled vipers, Russell vipers and kraits inside the city,” said C.H. Padma, Chennai Wildlife Warden.

100 calls a day

The wildlife helpline number (044-22200335) receives around 100 calls per day, and the majority of them concern snakes. Most often, reptiles are rescued from areas such as Adyar, Mylapore, Mandaveli, Sholinganallur, Muttukadu, Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Koyambedu, Valasaravakkam, Vadapalani, Moolakadai, Manali, Ennore and Tiruvottiyur.

Snakes crawl out of holes mostly during peak summer, or are washed out during the monsoon, officials said.

“In the last one month, when the city experienced some rain, we rescued close to 100 snakes. Some of the reptiles were hiding in bathrooms,” said a wildlife personnel.

Wildlife officials have been preparing themselves for the monsoon from October. As they only have a 15-member rescue team for the entire city, they are planning to rope in members from the Irula tribe to rescue snakes. “Considering the number of animals rescued from the city, we need more volunteers and manpower for the Department,” said a staff member.

Shravan Krishnan, an animal activist, said snakes have always been living in the city. “The city is expanding and, as more construction is taking place in the outskirts, snakes are coming in conflict with human beings,” he said.

He added that after rat snakes, cobras were rescued the most. Russel vipers, kraits and green vine snakes are also saved, but not very commonly. “Cobras have a habitat similar to rat snakes. They are found inside the city. Vipers are most often found in the fringes of the city, like Ambattur and Madhavaram,” he added.

Hospital needed

Staff from the Wildlife Department, and animal activists, said there was a need to set up an exclusive hospital for the rescued animals.

“The animals, birds and reptiles rescued from the city are taken to the rehabilitation centre attached to the Aringnar Anna Zoological Park. But most often, they die, as it is located far away. Hence, there is an urgent need to set up such a facility for animals inside the city,” added an official.

IRCTC plans a slew of goodies for Tejas Express

It will pay Railways lease, haulage fees

13/09/2019, YUTHIKA BHARGAVA,NEW DELHI

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Expess is likely to start operations this December.

The Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be the first train that will not be operated by the Railways, perhaps as early as the first week of October.

The Ministry of Railways plans to allow private players to operate certain trains, and as part of its 100-day agenda, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been asked to run two trains. The second, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Expess, is likely to start operations this December.

To make the travel attractive, on offer are: free travel insurance worth ₹25 lakh, on-board infotainment services, doorstep baggage collection, local food and no tatkal quota. IRCTC, a public sector undertaking, will pay the Railways lease and haulage charges for running these trains. However, the loco-pilots, guards and station masters will be from the Railways.

RAJIV KILLING CASE

HC refuses to extend Nalini’s parole further

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.09.2019

The Madras high court on Thursday refused to further extend the parole granted to Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

She has been out of prison on ordinary leave since July 25 to make arrangements for her daughter’s marriage. Nalini was initially granted leave only for a month which was later extended to one more month on her request. Since her leave was going to expire on September 19, she had moved the present plea seeking further extension.

Refusing to accept her application, a division bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice R M T Teekaa Raman said, “We have already granted enough leave. It cannot be extended any further. We cannot go beyond the rule and keep extending the leave. We have already used our discretion and granted leave twice. But this time we cannot consider the request.”

The state government had also opposed the plea contending that Nalini is coming up with some reason or the other for extension every time the parole expires.

Recording the same, the court said everyone has some problem, but we cannot help anymore and suggested the petitioner’s counsel M Radhakrishnan withdraw the plea. Accepting the suggestion, the advocate agreed to take back the petition.

In the plea, Nalini stated that her mother-in-law was arriving from Sri Lanka since her presence was essential to complete the marriage arrangements and requested the court to extend the parole till then so that she can handover her responsibilities.

Bizwoman, 50, hangs self at her Nungambakkam house

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.09.2019

Reeta Lankalingam, joint chairman of Lanson Toyota, a car dealership firm, committed suicide at her residence in Nungambakkam on Thursday, police said. She was 50.

Reeta’s husband Lankalingam Murugesu is the chairman of the firm. He was not at home when she ended her life. There were four maids and a security guard at the residence. Reeta was in a bedroom on the first floor. Since she didn’t turn up for breakfast at 7am, her usual time, the maids knocked on her door.

Reeta’s childhood friend Mekala, who lives on Sterling Road, tried to reach her mobile. As she didn’t answer, Mekala became suspicious and visited the house. The maids informed her that Reeta didn’t turn up for breakfast. Mekala, accompanied by the maids and a security guard, went to Reeta’s bedroom. They found her hanging from the ceiling.

Later, they informed her husband and police. A team from the Nungambakkam police station rushed to the house. Meanwhile, residents took Reeta to a hospital on Greams Road where she was declared dead on arrival. She used a sari to commit suicide, police said. Police registered a case of unnatural death under Section 174 of CrPC.

Nungambakkam assistant commissioner of police Muthuvel Pandi, who visited Reeta’s residence, said, “We didn’t find any suicide note. We will inquire with the family members to identify the reason for the suicide.”

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the couple attended a board meeting at their firm’s corporate office in Teynampet on Wednesday.

Some of those who attended the meeting told the investigation officers that the couple had a spat during the meeting when Reeta demanded that an employee in the administration section be sacked, though it was rejected by Lankalingam.

The couple apparently continued their fight after they returned home and in a fit of anger Lankalingam stormed out of the house on Wednesday evening and never returned. During questioning, he told police that he stayed at a hotel and added that he tried to contact his wife on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning.

Police said they seized Reeta’s cellphone, which will be examined to check her activity before she took the extreme step.

The couple’s son Sivanka and his family reside elsewhere in the city, while their daughter Malavika lives abroad with her family. Apart from the car dealership, the family is into other businesses, as well as into exports.

TRAGIC END: Residence of Reeta Lankalingam (below), joint chairman of Lanson Group, in Nungambakkam

FAILING SYSTEM

NO ONE KILLED SUBASHREE

No Permission Given In Past One Year To Erect Hoardings, Say Corpn & Cops. But How Did One Crop Up And Kill Techie?

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com  13.09.2019

There has been public anger, petitions from social activists and a Madras high court order banning them, but hoardings continue to be everywhere. Hailing politicians, announcing a wedding, celebrating a first birthday or mourning a death, they are ubiquitous. No enforcement agency takes them off the road, nor are officials pulled up for their chronic inaction.

At times the government sends out press releases and threatens to slap fines and take action, but matters do not proceed further. In reports filed by corporation officials, violators are seldom named.

On Thursday, 24-year-old techie R Subashree died after an illegal hoarding erected on the median along the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road by AIADMK functionary S Jayagopal fell on her. The woman was on her way home from work. Almost two years ago, a software engineer died in Coimbatore after his bike rammed a wooden structure set up by the ruling party.

While Jayagopal refused to take multiple calls from TOI, officials from Greater Chennai Corporation said no permission had been issued for erection of banners since December 2018 when a blanket ban was imposed by the Madras high court. The police too said they had not issued NOCs in the past one year. Yet the authorities were not able to say how these hoarding crop up. All eyes now will be on the high court that will hear on Friday a pending contempt petition moved before it by activist ‘Traffic’ K R Ramaswamy against the TN chief secretary for failing to implement the court direction on unauthorised digital banners.

K Kathirmathiyon, an activist who has filed several public interest litigations with the Madras high court regarding illegal hoardings, said while the civic body might conduct random drives and remove these banners, it should be held accountable.

“Unless cases are filed against officials for not enforcing rules, there will be no change. Pulling up the public for non-compliance won’t solve the problem, both are responsible. Not a single bureaucrat is ever punished whenever such an incident takes place. We have suggested to the government to slap 304(A) on bureaucrats and officials when such accidents take place and illegal hoardings are set up,” he said.

R Lalitha, joint commissioner, revenue, corporation, said since December last year, the civic body has booked 471 cases online against people who have erected illegal banners. “We had held a meeting in March where we told political parties not to set up hoardings,” she said.

But corporation officials at the zonal level said such exercises were futile as whenever they try to remove banners and hoardings, they face departmental action. “One officer was transferred last year because he wanted to implement the high court order and remove illegal political banners in T Nagar,” said an engineer. He said police also refuse to file FIRs.

The drive against hoardings is not new. “In 2012, the Supreme Court and Madras high court had said that hoardings should not be set up on medians. Earlier, the medians were constructed by private parties and they placed advertisements for revenue generation. But due to this order, it was stopped immediately. A government order was issued to remove all advertisement boards and hoardings,” said Kathirmathiyon. But the government is yet to do that.

UP IN ARMS: Motorists protest against illegal hoardings erected by an AIADMK functionary in Pallikaranai. One of the hoardings fell on a techie and led to her death

WHAT BAN?

Hoardings and banners are a common sight in Chennai despite a blanket ban. Most of the offenders are from political parties against whom authorities don’t act