HC again denies bail to paper leak accused

14/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,BENGALURU

The Karnataka High Court has declined to grant bail to prime accused in the 2016 second-year pre-university question paper leak case saying it would send a wrong signal to society as allegations, if proved, would result in jeopardising the credibility of the educational system of the State.

Justice B.A. Patil passed the order while rejecting, for the second time, a petition filed by Kumaraswamy seeking bail.

It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that the court had granted bail to all other accused persons, and he had spent more than three years, which is almost half of the maximum sentence that could be imposed for the alleged offences, in prison and the trial of the case is yet to begin.

However, prosecution contended that Kumaraswamy has been booked under Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act that prescribe life imprisonment for the offences alleged against him. It was alleged in the chargesheet that Kumaraswamy gained entry into the sub-treasury with the help of Santhosh Agasimani (accused number-4), a second division assistant in charge of the sub-treasury in Hanagal, and opened a bundle of question papers, and had taken photographs of the same.

Meanwhile, the court has directed the trial court to expedite the trial and complete it within a year.

Rajasthan launches information portal

Citizens can access 13 departments

14/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,JAIPUR

In a pioneering step, the first-ever public information portal was launched in Rajasthan on Friday promising to provide information about government authorities and departments suo motu to the public in the true spirit of the Right To Information Act. The portal has brought yet another distinction to Rajasthan, where the RTI movement had started in 1990s.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the portal at B.M. Birla Auditorium here in the presence of former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former Law Commission chairman Justice A.P. Shah and a galaxy of RTI activists, including Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy.

The State government collaborated with the civil society groups to develop the portal, the first of its kind in the country, initially giving information pertaining to 13 departments on a single platform.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Gehlot said the new web portal, named the Jan Soochna Portal-2019, would ensure compliance with Section 4(2) of the RTI Act mandating the public authorities to disclose information in the public domain, so that the people need not file applications under the law to obtain information. “I have a sentimental attachment with the RTI Act... I attended the first dharna seeking this right 20 years ago,” he said.

In a veiled reference to the RTI Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament recently, Mr. Gehlot said attempts to weaken the statute would only erode the resolve to bring transparency and accountability in administration. “We will not let this happen and will never allow this path-breaking law to lose its teeth. This portal displays our government's resolve for strict enforcement of RTI Act.”

Ms. Roy said the portal would eventually turn out to be an effective medium for “digital dialogue” with the people as well as a strong instrument for ensuring transparency in governance. She applauded the State government's action to combine technology, justice and information and said the civil society would take the RTI movement to the masses.

The State government will set up information kiosks in village panchayats and self-service e-mitra centres in the towns to enable the people to access the information useful for them. A message of Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi praising the initiative and expressing the hope that it would strengthen the spirit of the RTI Act, was also telecast.

Celebrating the return of Athi Varadar at Kanchi

The Hindu’svolume honours the iconic idol and temple

14/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

The cover of the book brought out by The Hindu Group. The book traces the history of the Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple.

The celebrations of the once-in-40 years Athi Varadar festival held at the Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple in Kancheepuram have been chronicled in book form by The Hindu Group for devotees to cherish for a lifetime.

The comprehensive book traces the 1,300-year history of the Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple and the devotees’ tryst with the Athi Varadar idol, which is made of fig wood, during the 48-day celebrations held from July 1 to August 17 this year. More than a crore of devotees from various parts of Tamil Nadu and the rest of the country are said to have attended.

Embellished with details

The book, The Awakening: Athi Varadar 2019 is a rich cornucopia of historical details embellished by several colour photos of the Athi Varadar idol, in both lying and standing postures. For devotees, this will be a collector's item. The book not only has details of Athi Varadar but also valuable historical information, including the temple's origin during the Pallava period, its development in the Chola era and its pinnacle during the Vijayanagara period.

Comprising a compilation of articles by several writers, the book takes the reader on a tour of the various shrines, mantapas, sculptures, inscriptions, murals, and carvings in the famous temple.

While the book is priced at ₹250, it is available at a launch offer of 20% discount till September 15. The copies of the book are available at the offices of The Hindu and can be ordered online at the The Hindu publications website: https://publications.thehindugroup.com/bookstore.

Boy tries to sexually assault teacher in Pachamalai

14/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUCHI

A 16-year-old boy allegedly attempted to sexually assault a teacher, aged around 30 years and working in a residential school run by Tribal Welfare department at Marudhai, when she was walking towards a bus stop on Pachamalai hills a few days ago.

The boy, who was drunk and armed with a knife, snatched some money from her, and tried to assault her sexually, said the police. She screamed and the boy fled from the spot. He was picked up and the District Tribal Welfare Officer conducted an inquiry. On Thursday, the teacher lodged a police complaint.

High Court slams officials for not cracking down on flex boards

‘How much more human blood do bureaucrats expect roads to be painted with’

14/09/2019, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Appalled over the menace of illegal flex boards having claimed many lives and caused injuries to several others over the years, the Madras High Court on Friday asked how many more litres of human blood do the bureaucrats expect the roads to be painted with before they pull up their socks and begin taking stringent action against the ubiquitous illegality.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee came down heavily on the local body as well as police officials for having failed to implement in letter and spirit multiple orders passed by the court directing them to prevent erection of flex boards put up in public places without authorisation from officials concerned, including the traffic police.

Taking serious note of the death of 22-year-old R. Subasri at Pallikaranai here on Thursday, Justice Seshasayee asked: “Is this the value that the life of a citizen has in this country? Why are bureaucrats so insensitive?”

‘Bureaucratic apathy’

Impressing upon the need to think of the significant contribution that the youngster could have made in the development of the country had she not died due to the freak accident, the judge said: “There is zero respect for lives in this country. It’s sheer bureaucratic apathy. Sorry to say that we, or at least I, have lost faith in the government.”

The judges also questioned as to how anyone could console the victim’s parents who had lost their only child. Pointing out that a youngster was killed in a similar accident in Coimbatore in December 2017, Justice Sathyanarayanan questioned why the officials did not implement orders passed by the then Chief Justice Indira Banerjee against illegal flex boards.

“You allow the crime to be committed and then run after the criminals. Where were the officials doing when huge number of flex boards were erected (on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam radial road in Pallikaranai) without permission? A precious life has been lost merely because of sheer irresponsibility of the bureaucrats,” Justice Seshasayee added.

Blaming the politicians for erecting a majority of the illegal flex boards across the State, the judge said, the party leaders should instruct their cadres not to indulge in such practices. “It must be the State’s resolve to prevent illegal flex boards. Will the Chief Minister issue a statement against flex boards?” the judge asked and passed over the hearing.

Later, in the post lunch session, they were informed that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin as well as the AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami had issued statements asking their party cadres not to erect flex boards in the future.

After recording the submission made in the court, the judges insisted that parties should also file affidavits to that effect. In the meantime, A.K. Viswanathan, Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai Police and Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash rushed to the court to give instructions to Advocate General (A-G) Vijay Narayan.

Making his submissions on instructions, the A-G told the court that the Chennai city police as well as the corporation have decided to collaborate to keep a check on illegal flex boards and that traffic policemen in the city would be given the responsibility of preventing and reporting erection of flex boards without any authorisation.

Justice Seshasayee asked the government to also ascertain ways and means to sensitise the general public and make them give up such practices.

Medico found dead

His room-mate spotted him lying unconscious

14/09/2019, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

A postgraduate student pursuing first year in the Department of Anaesthesiology at Government Rajaji Hospital here was found dead in his room late on Thursday night.

Police identified the student as U. Udhayaraj, 29, of Virudhachalam.

He was staying in Mathichiyam. A senior police officer monitoring the case said the student’s room-mate spotted Udhayaraj lying unconscious.

The body was handed over to the relatives after postmortem.

A case under Section 174 of Cr.Pc has been registered.

Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact State’s health helpline 104 or Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.

Thoothukudi flight diverted to Madurai
14/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

Sharp showers in Thoothukudi airport for about 30 minutes forced officials to divert Chennai–Thoothukudi flight to Madurai on Friday afternoon.

When Chennai–Thoothukudi Spicejet flight that left Chennai at 1.15 p.m. was about to land at Thoothukudi at 2.30 p.m. with 57 passengers, showers lashed the area. Hence, it was diverted to Madurai owing to poor visibility.

As rain stopped shortly after 3.15 p.m., the flight took off from Madurai and landed at Thoothukudi at 4.20 p.m. The flight which used to leave Thoothukudi at 3.10 p.m. on its return journey, left for Chennai at 4.40 p.m. with 66 passengers.