TN gets award for services to senior citizens

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.10.2019

The state government won the Union government’s best state award for implementing Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and providing services and facilities to help senior citizens.

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred “Vayoshreshtha Samman 2019” the annual national award of the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment, upon Tamil Nadu government in recognition of its programmes to senior citizens through various programmes. Social welfare minister V Saroja received it at a function in Delhi. The state introduced social security pension schemes way back in 1962, before Union government. Separate geriatric wards are functioning in all district hospitals and medical officers visit old age homes every month.

Chennaiites, can you hear this? Air horns are banned

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.102.109

Honking is an obsessive compulsive disorder for many motorists on Indian roads; and many of them on Chennai roads are making a loud statement of this using banned air horns.

Penal action by government enforcement agencies doesn’t seem to be a deterrent from motorists retrofitting their vehicles with these banned noise makers. Last year, 23,800 cases were booked against vehicle users for using illegal air horns, according to official data.

Most of the violation was committed by trucks (11,000) and omni buses (9,700). A large number of private cars and two-wheelers were also culprits. Many among these horns were multi-toned and pressure-triggered, emanating noise levels up to 110-120 decibels (dB), said a state transport department official. Norms suggest horns have to be of less than 80dB. Long exposure to noise levels above this can cause hearing loss.

“If the government is really interested in reducing noise pollution, then it should ban manufacturing of these horns and book shops that sell them. Without this, mass inspections and destroying air horns will not fetch any result,” said K Kathirmathiyon, an activist working on roads and transport.

These horns are available from ₹300to₹2,500in thelocal market,Pudupet being oneof the favourite places where motorists go to purchase them. Instead of removing air horns and destroying them, enforcement agencies should book violators under the Pollution Control Act and not under the Motor Vehicle Act, under which only ₹300-₹1,000 is collected as fine, Kathirmathiyon said.

“Pedestrians are the worst affected because of such horns. Impatient motorists keep honking until other road users clear the way for them. Nowadays, people use musical horns which are deafening,” said R Vasanthi, a retired government school teacher from Nanganallur. Some motorists fond of fruquent honking said road conditions in our cities force them to change default (low-decibel) horns and honk at every road junction to avoid accidents.

Fake news more dangerous than paid news: Javadekar

New Delhi:04.10.2019

Fake news is more dangerous than paid news and there is need for the government and the media to combat it jointly, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday.

The government will not take any step that may curb media freedom, the minister said and suggested there should be some kind of regulation on over-the-top platforms (OTT), as there is for the print and electronic media as well as films.

OTT platforms include news portals and also ‘streamers’ such as Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which are accessible over the internet or ride on an operator’s network.

In an interaction with PTI journalists at the news agency’s headquarters here, Javadekar said several mainstream media outlets have conveyed to the government that that there was no levelplaying field with OTT platforms being completely unregulated.

“I have sought suggestions on how to deal with this because there are regular feature films coming on OTT — good, bad and ugly. So how to deal with this, who should monitor, who should regulate. There is no certification body for OTT platforms and likewise news portals also,” he said.

At the same time, he said the government has not taken any decision on the matter.

The Press Council of India takes care of the print media, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) monitors news channels, the Advertising Standards Council of India is for advertising while the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) takes care of films, he said.

“However, there is nothing for the OTT platforms,” the I&B minister said.

There has been a spurt in news portals in India with several of them seeing a rise in the number of online subscribers.

Javadekar also expressed concern over fake news, saying it is “more dangerous than paid news”.

“Fake news has to be stopped and that is our joint work. It is not just the government’s job, it is everybody’s job. Those who are in the business of genuine news, they all must strive hard (to combat it),” the minister said.

He said several media channels are tackling the menace by showing the truth with programmes such as “Viral Sach”, and added that the print media should also carry columns on similar lines uncovering the truth of fake news.

“We have seen in the last few months that fake news on social media and gossip, rumours on child lifting have resulted in the deaths of more than 20-30 people in mob violence,” he said.

Javadekar said the government is doing its bit to combat the menace and has run programmes on Doordarshan News such as ‘Kashmir ka Sach’ to tackle fake news about Kashmir, where Article 370 provisions were abrogated on August 5. PTI

Fake news has to be stopped and that is our joint work. It is not just the government’s job, it is everybody’s job. Those who are in the business of genuine news, they all must strive hard (to combat it)

PRAKASH JAVADEKAR

Information & Broadcasting Minister

PC’s judicial custody extended till Oct 17

Former Union Minister Loses 4Kg; Court Allows Home-Cooked Food In Jail

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:04.10.2019

On a day when a Delhi court extended his judicial custody until October 17, former finance minister P Chidambaram moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the INX Media case, alleging that the CBI was trying to prolong his judicial custody to humiliate him and urged that the principle ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ be followed in his case.

The Congress veteran also said the Delhi high court had erred in denying him bail on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations.

Appearing for Chidambaram, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi urged a bench of Justices N V Ramana, Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari to list the plea for urgent hearing as the former FM had been in custody for 42 days and the apex court would be heading for Durga Puja vacation from next week.

The matter has been listed for hearing before an SC bench of Justices R Banumathi and Hrishikesh Roy on Friday. On September 5, a bench headed by Justice Banumathi had denied anticipatory bail to Chidambaram in the INX Media money-laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.

On Thursday, a Delhi court extended the former Union minister’s incarceration in Tihar Jail until October 17, while accepting his plea to allow him home-cooked food in jail. The former FM’s lawyers, Sibal and Singhvi, listed out a series of ailments that required him to consumer home-cooked food.

“He is 74 years of age... is suffering from inflammation of his digestive tract. In these circumstances, it may be conducive to his health condition that he is provided homecooked food once a day to avoid any further deterioration in his health condition,” special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar said.

The court, however, clarified that the order could not to be taken as a precedent as the concession for home food was given in the specific facts and circumstances and keeping Chidambaram’s medical condition in mind.

In the SC, Sibal and Singhvi argued that Delhi HC had erred by relying upon “anonymous and unverified allegations” while rejecting Chidambaram’s bail plea on September 30. The HC had dismissed his bail plea saying investigation was at an advanced stage and the possibility of his influencing witnesses could not be ruled out.

“Bail is the rule, jail is the exception. Arrest and custody are a humiliation and social stigma. The prosecution seems to think that prolonged judicial custody is a punishment they can impose on the petitioner. Court should frown upon the attempt of the prosecution to use judicial custody as kind of pre-trial punishment,” Chidambaram said.

He also cited his frail health and said he was agreeable to any condition imposed by the court for granting him bail. “The petitioner is 74 years old. His health is frail. He has been kept in a cell and given food that he is not accustomed to. He has already lost four kg weight in the period of his judicial custody,” the petition said.

NOT FEELING AT HOME: Former finance minister P Chidambaram

D K Suresh quizzed by ED for three hours

Bengaluru: Congress leader and Bengaluru rural MP D K Suresh was questioned for over three hours on Thursday by Enforcement Directorate sleuths in connection with his brother DK Shivakumar’s money laundering case.

Sources say Suresh was grilled on the alleged meteoric rise of the family’s wealth. This is second time he is being questioned by ED officials.

In his affidavit prior to this year’s Lok Sabha elections, Suresh had declared his assets had grown close to four times in the last five years. While his assets were valued at over Rs 85 crore in 2014, his affidavit for the elections stated his wealth had increased to ₹338 crore.

Meanwhile, the special court which denied Shivakumar bail on October 1, extending his stay in Tihar jail to October 15, also granted the ED permission to interrogate him across Thursday and Friday. TNN

Ola in trouble, driver arrested for offloading woman at night

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru  04.10.2019

Police on Thursday arrested the Ola driver who allegedly abandoned a woman passenger on an isolated stretch of Begur Road on Monday after she insisted he take the tolled Ballari Road on her way back from Kempegowda International Airport.

The swift action comes hours after TOI reported the incident in its Thursday’s edition. Police will book the cab aggregator on charges of endangering the life of a passenger, said DCP (northeast) Bheemashankar S Guled.

Earlier in the day, Bengaluru city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao warned cab aggregators against ignoring commuter safety. He told reporters, “We will initiate action against Ola for ignoring passengers’ security despite repeated directives. The aggregator has been told to ensure its vehicles don’t take Begur Road from Kempegowda International Airport at night as the stretch lacks streetlights. Despite sensitisation, Ola authorities haven’t taken any measures.”

Full report on www.toi.in

INDIA NOT ODF YET

18-month-old killed in fight over urinating in the open

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:04.10.2019

Just 10 days after two dalit children were beaten to death for open defecation in Shivpuri district, an 18-month-old baby was killed in a fight between two families over a child urinating in the open in a Sagar village.

Thursday’s fight began after the seven-year-old child of Umesh Singh, a resident of Bhangarh village, urinated in a common pathway of the locality. Mohar Singh, one of

Umesh’s neighbours, objected and asked him to ensure that his son never defecates in the open. This enraged Umesh and his father Ram Singh, say police. Ram and Umesh returned after a while, armed with sticks, and started attacking Mohar. During the violence, Mohar’s 18- month-old baby Bhagwan toddled out of the house and was hit on the head by a lathi blow, police said. The baby died on the spot.

Villagers informed police and Ram and Umesh were arrested and booked for murder and causing grievous hurt (as Mohar is injured), Sagar SP Amit Sanghi said. Both families are tribals. “It’s not a case of open defecation, as mentioned by a section of the media, but a dispute between two families,” the SP added.

NEET SCAM

‘3 students, impersonators wrote NEET in different cities’
They Used Same Names With Minor Changes
A.Selvaraj@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.10.2019

The police team investigating the NEET impersonation scam has found that at least three students suspected of being involved in the scam appeared for NEET 2019 in Tamil Nadu on May 5, while their impersonators wrote the test on the same day in different cities.

One of the three students, a woman, was let off after it was found that she scored higher marks than her impersonator, who appeared for the test in Mumbai, and that she had submitted her original marksheet to obtain admission in a private deemed university.

Preliminary inquiries revealed another of the students, who has been detained and is being questioned, and the man who also appeared for the exam in a different city, had used the same names, but with minor changes in parents’ names and address details.

The CB-CID police have taken into custody the student and his father

for engaging an impersonator to write the examination.

While the TN resident appeared for the examination at the centre at the Tamil Nadu College of Engineering in Karumathampatti near Coimbatore, his impersonator appeared for the test at the centre in Swarim Public School in Lucknow.

For both candidates, the father’s initials were used as suffix in one application and prefix in the other.

The third student, police say, appeared for the exam at a Chennai centre, while his impersonator wrote it in New Delhi. CBCID chief Jaffer Sait said the investigating team had asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to provide details of NEET candidates who had given similar names and addresses for verification.