WHEN CHENNAI GROOVED TO GARBA BEATS

Times of India 06.10.2019

Just like how kolu is synonymous with Navaratri, dandiya raas and garba are also an integral part of the celebration for many. And Chennaiites made sure they went all out to ring in the festivities by swaying to some groovy dandiya beats. Many associations, building societies and even malls in the city organised garba celebrations, and men and women, youngsters and elders, and even kids alike made the most of the dandiya night. The evening was also a lesson in style — from colourful headgear and frilled saris to heavily embroidered and embellished lehengas and dupattas, and even half-dhoti-half-lehengas, women put their best fashion foot forward. For some, the occasion was not just to make merry; a dance group from Sowcarpet performed garba with helmets on their heads because they wanted to encourage people to use helmets for their safety. Talk about having fun while spreading awareness!

MORE THE MERRIER: Youngsters and elders alike thronged a mall to play dandiya raas


SAY YES TO HELMET: A group of dancers on a mission to create awareness about helmet usage




Count me in, too: A tiny tot having fun with dandiya sticks

Guj woman jumps to death, falls on man, killing him too

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:06.10.2019

A 30-year-old woman from Surat jumped to her death from the 13th floor of a building in Khokhra at 7am on Thursday, killing a 69-year-old retired teacher who was returning to the building complex from a morning walk. The woman fell on the man and injured him, sources said.

Police said Mamta Hansraj Rathi had been battling severe insomnia and had not been able to get any sleep for the last fortnight. She had come from Surat to the house of her brother from Surat for treatment in the city. She is believed to have been suffering other illnesses too.

“Rathi was reportedly fed up of her illnesses. She is understood to have been battling severe insomnia and could not sleep for the past fortnight. Driven to the edge, she committed suicide by jumping from the 13th floor of the building,” said Amraiwadi police Inspector R T Udavat.

The man, identified as Balu Gamit, lived on the second floor of the same building. He suffered severe head injuries after coming in the fall of the woman. According to sources both died on the spot. Police said an accidental death case has been lodged and the bodies have been sent for autopsy.

Mamta Rathi had been suffering from insomnia and other illnesses. When she jumped from the 13th floor of a building, Balu Gamit came in the way and suffered serious injuries

Saudi allows foreign men & women to share hotel rooms

Riyadh:06.10.2019

Saudi Arabia is allowing foreign men and women to rent hotel rooms together without proving they are related, after the conservative Muslim kingdom launched a new tourist visa regime to attract holidaymakers. Women, including Saudis, are also permitted to rent hotel rooms by themselves, in a break with previous regulations.

The moves appear to pave the way for unaccompanied women to travel more easily and for unmarried foreign visitors to stay together in the Gulf state, where sex outside of marriage is banned.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage confirmed a report on Friday by Arabic-language newspaper Okaz, adding: “All Saudi nationals are asked to show family ID or proof of relationship on checking into hotels. This is not required of foreign tourists. All women, including Saudis, can book and stay in hotels alone, providing ID on check-in.”

Saudi Arabia threw open its doors last week to foreign tourists from 49 countries as it tries to grow that sector and diversify its economy away from oil exports. As part of the move, it decreed that visitors need not wear all-covering black robes but should dress modestly. Alcohol remains banned.

Saudi Arabia has been relatively closed off for decades and until recently unrelated men and women, including foreigners, could be severely punished for mixing in public. Strict social codes have been relaxed in recent years and previously banned entertainment has flourished. The kingdom ended a heavily criticised ban on women driving last year and in August granted women new rights to travel abroad.

The changes are part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic and social reform agenda. His plans have received international praise, but his image has been tarnished by the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and a devastating war in Yemen. REUTERS

The changes are part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic and social reform agenda

US suspends visas for migrants who can’t pay for healthcare

Michael D Shear & Miriam Jordan

Washington:06.10.2019

The Trump administration will deny visas to immigrants who cannot prove they will have health insurance or the ability to pay for medical costs once they become permanent residents of the US, the White House announced on Friday in the latest move by President Donald Trump to undermine legal immigration.

Trump issued a proclamation, effective November 3, ordering consular officers to bar immigrants seeking to live in the US unless they “will be covered by approved health insurance” or can prove that they have “the financial resources to pay for reasonably foreseeable medical costs.”

Trump justified the move by saying that legal immigrants are three times as likely as US citizens to lack health insurance, making them a burden on hospitals and taxpayers in the US. Officials cited a Kaiser Family Foundation study that said that among the nonelderly population, 23% of legal immigrants were likely to be uninsured, compared with about 8% of US citizens.

“The US government is making the problem worse by admitting thousands of aliens who have not demonstrated any ability to pay for their health care costs,” Trump wrote, adding, “immigrants who enter this country should not further saddle our health care system, and subsequently American taxpayers, with higher costs.”

According to a White House official , the policy does not affect refugees, asylumseekers or students seeking to attend college in the US, according to the White House.

Once the policy is in place, people seeking immigrant visas would be asked by consular officers to show how they intend to be covered by health insurance within 30 days of arriving in the US. That could include proof they will have health care through a job or will be covered under a relative’s insurance. If they cannot show that to the satisfaction of the consular office, their visa will be denied, the White House official said. NYT

ACTING TOUGH

Aadhaar likely to be must for NEET

Move To Check Impersonation, Says NTA Chief

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.10.2019

Bombarded with complaints of impersonation and fraud in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Tests in 2019, the National Testing Agency has sought permission from the Centre to use Aadhaar data for its 2020 exam, its director general Vineet Joshi said. If the Centre agrees, fingerprints and iris scans of students taken at different stages – application, examination, counselling and admission -- will be verified with details stored in the national registry.

Students will be asked to submit their Aadhaar number and their biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans will be used for verification with data in the unique identity card, he told The Times of India. “At present, we collect students’ fingerprints twice in the examination hall, once before the start of the exam and another at the end. But these are not digital records. They are taken on paper,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu government has now written to the NTA asking for these documents so it can verify the veracity of every medical student. “We will be sharing the data with the state and help them carry out a fair investigation,” he said. The NTA did not expect such malpractices to happen this year. “We were careful about what they should bring into exam hall because we did not want them to copy. We will make rules stringent the next year, but we will also ensure it’s not difficult for the students,” he said.

Nevertheless, the NTA will not advice or suggest to other states to match fingerprints with first year MBBS students in their state because the agency’s job ends with conducting examination and declaring results. “Tamil Nadu busted the scam only because admission agency and colleges checked the records,” he said. MCI board of governors chairman V K Paul told TOI last week that it will wait for the law enforcing agency and investigating agency to carry out complete investigation.

In the last one month, the Tamil Nadu police have arrested at least four students who used different methods to cheat the system to get into medical colleges. Inquiries by the Directorate of Medical Education and police revealed that while K V Udit Surya admitted to Theni Government Medical College never took NEET, Mohammed Irfan from Dharmapuri Government Medical College had changed his scores from 207 to

407. Two students, Praveen S and Raghul Davis, wrote the NEET from Tamil Nadu while their imposters took the test in their name from centres in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. As their imposters scored better than them, they used their imposters score cards to join deemed universities – SRM Medical College and Hospital and Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital.

While admission to government colleges were done by the state selection committee attached to the Directorate of Medical Education in Tamil Nadu, the admission to the deemed universities was through centralised online counselling by the medical counselling committee, Directorate General of Health Services. As per Supreme Court directions, all selection committees use merit in NEET criteria for admissions. Neither the NTA nor the selection committees was aware of the scam until a whistleblower in Tamil Nadu blew the lid off by sending details of one first-year medical student to the Theni Government Medical College.

Inquiries conducted by the CBCID police with students and parents led to arrest of one agent. The police are still tracking a couple of more agents in cities including Bangalore. “This seems to be a well-oiled network functioningfor some time now across the country. Agents identify imposters who can pose as students and write NEET. Parents have paid up to ₹20 lakh for this,” said a senior investigating officer.

If the Centre agrees, fingerprints and iris scans of students taken at different stages will be verified with details stored in the national registry

VINEET JOSHI

NTA director general

MTC bus driver, 36, suffers heart attack behind wheels, dies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.10.2019

An MTC bus driver died after he suffered a heart attack while behind the wheels in Velachery on Saturday afternoon. As the driver lost control of the vehicle, it rammed about eight cars at a traffic signal though none was hurt in the accident.

The deceased was identified as Rajeshkanna, 36, a resident of Theni, and the incident happened when the bus (route 576S) was on its way to Koyambedu from Siruseri.

While there were about 15 commuters in the bus, Rajeshkanna suddenly suffered chest pain on the 100ft road in Velachery. Though he continued to drive the vehicle, Rajeshkanna soon lost consciousness and collapsed on the steering wheel.

The bus ran amok and rammed cars waiting at the traffic signal.

While pedestrians and motorists ran for their life, a man identified as Vijay, 25, a resident of Maduravoyal, boarded the bus and brought it to a halt.

The passengers and conductor Venkatesan, 52, managed to escape with minor injuries. Rajeshkanna was rushed to a nearby private hospital, but he was declared brought dead.

On information, the Guindy traffic investigation wing police and law and order personnel rushed to the spot and removed the bus and the damaged cars from the road to normalise traffic. “Five cars were damaged, while the other cars suffered scratches,” said a traffic policeman. A case has been registered.

As the driver lost control of the bus, it rammed eight cars at a Velachery traffic signal, though none was hurt in the accident

Verbal and physical assault on factory executive: Dismissal of worker upheld

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.10.2019

A labour union leader who used foul language to a company executive and also assaulted him during work hours does not deserve any leniency, and his dismissal from service is a fair and proportionate punishment, the Madras high court has ruled.

Justice S M Subramaniam, overturning a Puducherry labour court order to reinstate a dismissed employee, said: “This court is able to find that filthy language used by workman S Raja is intolerable and he has showed a sort of heroism by using such filthy language inside the premises against superior officials. Usage of such languages inside the work place is certainly impermissible and such an indiscipline ended with an assault against the officer, which can never be tolerated.”

Raja, an employee of Hindustan Unilever Ltd in Puducherry and general secretary of the labour union, barged into a company meeting on July 29, 2009, disrupted the proceedings, abused officials in filthy language and also grabbed an executive by his shirt collar and created an atmosphere of panic. First he was suspended from service, and then dismissed after domestic inquiry.

However, the Puducherry labour court directed his reinstatement with back wages, and imposed one increment cut alone as punishment. Challenging the award, Hindustan Unilever filed the present writ petition.

Justice Subramaniam, underlining the importance of organisational discipline, said: “Discipline, decorum, honesty and integrity are the vital characters to be maintained in industrial/public institutions, factories and trade activities, so as to take our Nation forward on a par with global standards. Compromising discipline will lead to destruction of industrial/public institutions. An indisciplined industry or organization can never see growth. Most of the industries/public institutions collapsed on account of indiscipline, maladministration or corruption.”

The labour court categorically found that the fairness of the domestic enquiry was just and proper. And yet came to a conclusion that there was no scope for recording further evidence regarding the guilt of the workman, the judge pointed out.

Ticking off the labour court, Justice Subramaniam said exercise of discretionary power under Section 11-A of the Industrial Disputes Act for the purpose of extending misplaced sympathy or leniency in respect of proved grave misconduct, can never be upheld by high courts.

Earlier, the company argued that the abused and assaulted executive also has a family and is a breadwinner and has come to the factory to earn his livelihood and not to be abused or beaten. Punishments are imposed as a penalty upon a wrong-doer and to enforce discipline, so that others can understand that the discipline is of paramount importance inside factory premises, it said. Raja’s counsel said inquiry was not conducted in a free and fair manner. An improper inquiry was conducted and based on the improper inquiry, the worker was dismissed from service, he said.

Raja, an employee of Hindustan Unilever Ltd in Puducherry barged into a company meeting in 2009, abused officials in filthy language and grabbed an executive by his shirt collar