Celebrating 50 years of Pandiyan Superfast Express 

From metre gauge to broad gauge, the train now runs on electrified track with latest LBH coaches
 
02/10/2019 , S. Sundar 


 
(From left) Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan cutting a cake along with Divisional Railway Manager V.R. Lenin at Madurai railway junction on Tuesday; a mother-daughter duo posing for a photograph at a ‘selfie’ booth put up by The Hindu.R. Ashok

Platform no 1 of Madurai railway station was teeming with people on Tuesday evening. Celebratory mood had set in as the empty rakes of Pandiyan Superfast Express was brought into the platform. Colourful festoons pasted on the coaches added to the celebrations.

All this happened to rejoice the golden jubilee year of the prestigious train of Southern Railway. Members of Rail Fans Association gathered in large numbers. Closer to the engine on the northern end of the platform, cakes were cut by Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan in the presence of Madurai Railway Divisional Manager V.R. Lenin and Paul Victor, fireman who had worked in the steam engine of the train.

Revelry caught up with railway staff too, as even travelling ticket examiners joined the passengers to take selfies and photographs standing in front of the rakes and engine to freeze their happiness for posterity.

As part of the low-key celebration, winners of essay competition organised by Southern Railway were honoured with prizes.

One of the most sought-after man at the events was D. Devaraj (76), who was the second fireman of the steam engines that hauled the good old rakes of Pandiyan Express during the black and white cinema era. He reminisced his youthful days working in the first train to run between Madurai and Chennai.

“In the pre-Independence era, we had trains than ran through Madurai from Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Quilon (Kollam). But, it was only in 1969 that the long-felt demand for a train for Madurai was realised with the introduction of Pandiyan Express,” he recalled.

From single steam engine pulling nine coaches to double engine hauling 18 coaches, Mr. Devaraj recalled the transformation Pandiyan Express went through to become one of the most prestigious trains of the zone. It was in 1974, the train got diesel engines. The metre gauge train then ran on broad gauge and the number of coaches of increased to 22.

Now, with electrified track, Pandiyan Superfast Express has the latest LBH coaches.

The train that used to run at a maximum speed of 75 km with steam engines and took nearly 13 hours to cross nearly 500 km now has maximum speed of 120 kmph and takes just in seven hours to reach the same destination.

“While steam engines warranted physical fitness for the engine crew, diesel engines demanded alertness with increased speed,” Mr. Devaraj recalls.

If we delay, we will pay, IRCTC promises Tejas passengers
Travel insurance and local food among slew of incentives

02/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, NEW DELHI 


 
New offer: In case of delay, a passenger can fill up a claim form online or file a claim on a toll-free number.

In a first, passengers travelling on the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express, which will not be operated directly by the Railways, will get compensation for delays.

While ₹100 will be paid if the delay is for over an hour, travellers will be given ₹250 for delays of over two hours, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which will operate the train, said on Tuesday.

Baggage collection

The IRCTC has announced a slew of offers, including free travel insurance worth ₹25 lakh and on-board infotainment services, doorstep baggage collection, local food and no tatkal quota, to make the travel on its first train attractive ahead of its first commercial run on October 5.

In case of delay, a passenger will need to fill up a claim form with the insurance company in the link provided online or file a claim on its toll-free number.

Kerala council gets tough with foreign medical degrees

C. Maya

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCTOBER 02, 2019 00:00 IST

It has doubted genuineness of the course, citing visa details

The Travancore Cochin Council of Modern Medicine (TCMC) has refused to give registration to a bunch of medical undergraduate students holding certificates from universities abroad, despite them having cleared the Foreign Medical Graduates’ Examination (FMGE), after the students’ passports revealed that they have not actually spent the course period abroad.

Normal course

In the normal course, a foreign medical graduate who has cleared the screening test (FMGE, conducted by the National Board of Examinations), is eligible to seek registration from the State Medical Council.

However, the TCMC took the conscious decision not to give registration to some of these students as it doubted the veracity of the certificates they produced.

Veracity of certificates

“We have no idea whether this is another racket. Every year, the number of foreign medical graduates from Kerala has been going up and because we have no means of ensuring the genuineness of these certificates, we began checking their passports. The visa stamping clearly showed that many of the students have not spent more than two weeks in the country where they chose to study,” says V.G. Pradeepkumar, TCMC vice president.

TCMC stance

“We cannot allow those who attained medical education through off-campus means or distance education to practise in Kerala. Their documentation might be all fine, but ‘long distance medical education’ is not something we can overlook. The students might challenge our decision in court but as the State Medical Council, it is our responsibility to ensure that only well-qualified and trained doctors enter the profession,” TCMC Registrar, A. Muhammed Hussain, told The Hindu.

The students are free to seek the registration to practise in some other State.

In January last year, the TCMC took the decision that no foreign medical graduate will be allowed to practise in Kerala unless they underwent an year’s internship in a government hospital here.

Though many students even produced certificates stating that they had completed internship abroad, the TCMC stood firm that the students will not be allowed to practise till they were familiar with Kerala’s health system.

Though 14 students challenged this, Kerala High Court recently upheld the TCMC’s decision.

The visa stamping shows many of the students have not spent more than two weeks in the country where they chose to study

V.G. Pradeepkumar

TCMC vice president

NEET impersonation case: student surrenders before Salem court

STAFF REPORTER

SALEM, OCTOBER 02, 2019 00:00 IST

Mohammed Irfan being taken to Salem central prison after being remanded in judicial custody.E. LAKSHMINARAYANAN

He never studied in Dharmapuri, had been pursuing medicine in Mauritius: advocate

Mohammed Irfan, a first-year MBBS student who is alleged to have secured admission into the Dharmapuri Government Medical College through an act of impersonation in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, surrendered at a court in Salem on Tuesday.

He surrendered before Judicial Magistrate II K.S.S. Siva. The court remanded him in judicial custody till October 9, following which he was lodged in the Salem central prison.

The CB-CID had recently quizzed his father, Mohamed Shafi, a practising doctor, in connection with the case.

Advocate P. Srinivasan, who represented Irfan, claimed the student had told him that he had never studied at the Dharmapuri Medical College, and that he had turned himself in for his own protection. “The student is studying medicine at a college in Mauritius, and according to information given by him, he never studied at the Dharmapuri Medical College. He surrendered after he came to know about the investigation and for [his] protection,” Mr. Srinivasan said.

According to him, Irfan had been studying in Mauritius since November and came to Salem on Tuesday morning.

The advocate claimed that the student surrendered after his family was tortured by police as part of the investigation.

“The student was neither hiding nor did he flee to Mauritius. He has been studying medicine there and surrendered today (Tuesday),” he claimed.

Broker held

According toPTI, the CB-CID wing of the police on Tuesday arrested a broker, Govindaraj, in connection with a case of impersonation in NEET. He hails from Tirupattur.

The advocate claimed that the student surrendered after his family was tortured by the police as part of the investigation

HC agrees to hear Udit Surya’s plea for release

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MADURAI/THENI, OCTOBER 02, 2019 00:00 IST

Dharmapuri college dean appears before CB-CID in Theni

Considering the age of Udit Surya, a medical student who was arrested in the NEET impersonation case, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday agreed to hear his anticipatory bail plea as his bail application. The CB-CID had secured Surya and his family during the pendency of the petition.

With the plea for anticipatory bail becoming infructuous, Justice G.R. Swaminathan said he will dismiss the petition. However, the petitioner’s counsel requested the judge to treat the plea as a bail petition, as it was during the pendency of the plea that the accused in the case were secured.

Justice Swaminathan observed that he felt pity for Surya, given the situation in which he was embroiled. With the petitioner in custody, the State shall submit before the court during the next hearing whether his continued detention was warranted, the judge said, and posted the case to October 14 for hearing.

During an earlier hearing, the court had taken a serious view of the impersonation case. It had asked if Surya was willing to surrender before the investigating officer for an inquiry. However, the case was adjourned as the petitioner’s counsel was unable to ascertain the same.

Surya had claimed that he had decided to discontinue the MBBS course in the Theni Government Medical College due to health reasons. He denied the charge that another person had taken NEET and attended the counselling for medical admissions on his behalf.

He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code following a complaint from the dean of the Theni Government Medical College. Meanwhile, his father V.K. Venkatesan filed a bail application before the Judicial Magistrate, Theni.

Dean’s admission

The Dharmapuri Government Medical College dean, Srinivasaraj, appeared before CB-CID officers in Theni on Tuesday. According to sources, the dean explained the steps taken by the College administration to verify the certificates of all first-year MBBS students. He admitted that Mohammed Irfan, a medical student, did not turn up for verification and had reportedly vacated the hostel. The officials at the Directorate of Medical Education were informed about the missing student, Dr. Srinivasaraj said.

Irfan’s father Mohammed Shafi, of Vaniyambadi in Vellore district, who was summoned for examination in connection with the NEET impersonation case, appeared before the authorities on Monday. After recording his statements, a senior official of the CB-CID said it will take steps to send Shafi, a practising doctor, to judicial custody.

Man commits suicide, ‘7 of his wives’ claim body

MS Nawaz TNN

Haridwar:02.10.2019

At least five women came forward to claim the body of a 40-year-old man who committed suicide on Sunday. All of them claimed to be his wife and told the cops they had no idea about any other woman in his life. After an intense drama, the man was cremated. Subsequently, two more women, also claiming to be his wife, came forward. The local police have now decided to wait for a few more days to see if any more women turn up.

The deceased, Pawan Kumar, worked as a driver. According to the police, the man consumed poison on Sunday night and although his wife rushed him to a nearby hospital after seeing him in an unconscious state, he succumbed during treatment in the hospital. According to the police, Kumar was facing severe financial crisis. Praveen Singh Koshiyari, SHO city police station, told TOI, “We are probing as to why he took the extreme step. We have sent the body for autopsy.”

Recruitment Notification TOI 2.10.2019