‘Justice clock’ starts ticking at Madurai bench of HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:2.11.2019

The Administrative Judge of high court Madurai bench, Justice T S Sivagnanam, inaugurated the ‘justice clock’ on the court premises here on Friday. Justice clock is an LED display board which displays information such as the ranking of all the courts across the country based on the filing of cases, their pendency and disposal by the courts.

It was in 2017 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the installation of justice clocks at all courts in the country. They are to be installed in 3,350 courts across the country at a cost of Rs 436 crore. In the first phase, the clocks are being installed in all the 24 high courts and subsequently in the other courts.

Addressing the gathering at the inaugural function, Justice Sivagnanam said that the display board would help create awareness about the legal sector among the public.


INFO SCREEN: Justice clock is an LED board that displays information such as the ranking of all courts across the country based on the filing of cases, their pendency and disposal

NEET fraud: Another student gets bail from HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:2.11.2019

The Madras high court has granted bail to yet another student who was arrested in connection with the NEET impersonation case.

In his petition, the student, a resident of Tirupattur in Vellore district, stated that he was pursuing MBBS in a college in Mauritius and has been falsely implicated in this case and not involved in any such offence. He added that that he had voluntarily surrendered before the police and is in remand till now. He filed a bail petition at the sessions court in Theni, however it was dismissed. Hence, he moved the high court Madurai bench seeking to grant bail. Citing that the court has granted bail to four other students, the judge said the same relief shall be extended to the petitioner and granted bail to the student. The judge directed that the student should appear before the CB-CID deputy superintendent of police at Madurai everyday at10.30am.

Commuters can smile: TN govt to buy 2,000 more buses

MTC To Get 330 Vehicles With Better Seating Capacity

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:2.11.2019

The Tamil Nadu government seems to be on a bus-buying spree. Even before the last batch of 5,000 new buses, ordered last year, could be inaugurated, bids have been floated for procuring 2,000 more bus chassis for town and long-distance operations at ₹616crore.

Once these new buses hit the roads, the government could replace more than one third of the old vehicles deemed unfit.

Unlike old buses, which had an average life of 6lakh kilometers, the new buses can be run for a longer period – 9lakh km or 10 years. Of the 2,000 buses, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai, will get 330 buses, all of which are likely to be red in colour.

The seating capacity is 41 and 30 more passengers can easily stand in the gangway. Also, the minimum leg space of a seated passenger has been fixed at 300mm so that tall people don’t feel uncomfortable. One disabled-friendly seat has been made available near the front entrance.

Footboards will have LEDmoulded strip lights for better visibility and automatic doors (jack-knife type) with sensors have been provided.

The hand brake would be released only if the door sensor detects no obstacle. It means the vehicle won’t move if passengers travel on footboard or the door is open.

To make entry and exit easy for all, particularly senior citizens and children, height of the first step from the ground has been reduced from 600mm to 550mm and height between two steps has been fixed at 350mm. There will be a maximum of four steps.

LED route board will be fixed inside at the front and rear so that those not from the city can get ready as they near their destination. A mike and two speakers will be made available for announcements on stops and duration.

Meanwhile, the State Express Transport Corporation will get 100-seater (ultra deluxe) and100-seater-cum-sleeper (AC) buses. The latter will have 10 rows of seats and 15 berths above them.

Tenders are open and will be closed on November 9. After chassis are procured from the successful bidder, bodies will be built in 50 days, said a transport department official.

Woman forgets ₹6L gold in auto, driver returns it

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:2.11.2019

An autorickshaw driver returned a handbag containing 25 sovereigns of gold jewellery worth around ₹6 lakh left behind by a woman passenger at Saligramam on Thursday night.

Police said Vijayalakshmi, 46, of Kamarajar Street, Teynampet, was to attend a wedding at Saligramam. Since she felt that it was not safe to wear gold jewels while travelling, she kept them in a bag.

At 6pm, she got into the auto of Udayakumar, 46, of Ramanathan Street, T Nagar. While getting down from the vehicle, she forgot to take the bag. Vijayalakshmi called up the police control room and reported the issue. Since she did not book the autorickshaw through any app, she did not have a phone number or the vehicle’s number.

Udayakumar, who took another passenger to Pondy Bazaar, saw the bag on the back seat.

He reached the marriage hall where he had dropped Vijayalakshmi and returned the bag. Since Vijayalakshmi had lodged a complaint, they went to the Virugambakkam police station and the bag was ‘formally’ handed over to the woman.

Udayakumar told police he usually checked his auto after passengers left but since Vijayalakshmi had kept the bag in a corner, it was not visible.

Government talks tough, forces striking docs to return to work

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:2.11.2019

A week after boycotting work, barring emergencies, across government hospitals, doctors were forced to return to duty on Friday. The government had flexed its muscles, transferred some doctors who spearheaded the strike, and vowed disciplinary action including dismissal. Although doctors did all they could, including staging a fast unto death, the government refused to engage them in talks until they withdrew the strike.

The Federation of Government Doctors Association – a group of five associations – began the strike on October 25 demanding increase in salaries, recruitment of more doctors and 50% quota for service candidate in PG medical admission. When health minister C Vijayabaskar and health secretary Beela Rajesh refused to meet them until they withdrew the strike, five doctors went on a hunger strike demanding an appointment with the chief minister.

On Wednesday, after several warnings, 70 doctors were transferred to districts including remote and hilly regions. The health department issued showcause notices for initiating disciplinary action against some doctors for violating service rules and preventing colleagues from discharging duties. Police were posted on campuses to discourage protesters from gathering in more members.

On Thursday, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Vijayabaskar said they would replace the posts of doctors abstaining from work with internal transfers or new recruits. The government said week-long absence would be considered break in service. At 8pm on Thursday, the association told reporters it would not yield to government threats and would continue to protest until demands were met, but support dwindled.

On Friday, when the deadline given by the government was to about end, the federation withdrew the strike. “Directors of health spoke to us. They assured us that the government was looking into our demands seriously. We have withdrawn our strike with the hope that our demands will be met. We want the government to call us for talks and withdraw all disciplinary action taken against us,” FOGDA convenor Dr P Balakrishnan told reporters. He was one of those transferred out of Chennai’s Stanley Medical College and Hospital. Several association leaders and district heads were also transferred.

Vijayabaskar said no action would be taken against doctors back at work.

While senior advocate R Vaigai said most protesters should consolidate themselves better to face challenges thrown by an indifferent government, other legal experts said it was time to acknowledge that strikes no longer worked. “Teachers, transport employees or doctors, all of them were asked to withdraw the strike before talks. Courts too have been supportive of the government strategy,” said senior advocate S Prabakaran.

HC on doctor stir: Why wasn’t TESMA invoked?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:2.11.2019

The Madras high court has wondered why the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TESMA) was not invoked against the striking government doctors and asked the state government whether the law was still in force.

“Nature of a person’s work determines whether they can go on strike or not. What would happen if the army, police or the conservancy workers go on such strike?” asked a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee on Friday. The bench made the observations while hearing a batch of pleas against government doctors resorting to strike.

Advocate general Vijay Narayan submitted that the TESMA was brought in only as an ordinance a few years ago and said he would verify its present status and inform the court. He further said the protesting doctors had informed the state government that they were withdrawing their strike and resuming work.

Dad, 82, kills 44-yr-old mentally ill son

City Pensioner Feared Nobody Will Care For Son After His Death

Sindhu.Kannan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:2.11.2019

An 82-year-old Alwarpet resident killed his mentally challenged son by giving him an overdose of sleeping pills and stayed with the body for four days after his attempt to end his own life proved futile on Monday, police said.

The incident came to light on Friday morning after neighbours complained of foul smell from the flat in Triveni Apartments. Police barged in to find the elderly man lying beside the decomposed body. Police said Viswanathan, who retired as a stenographer from a central government office, was taking care of his 44-yearold son Venkatraman all alone. Viswanathan's wife had died 15 years ago. “He decided to kill his ailing son fearing that no one would take care of him after his death,” a police officer said.

Police have booked Viswanathan, who is undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit. Viswanathan has been suffering from age-related health issues, and got no help. Venkatraman, who was also physically challenged, was dependent on his father for all his needs. “He was not able to see his son suffering during the days he fell sick,” said an investigating officer. “They lived on his pension, and he thought there would be none to attend to his son once he was gone.”

Police said Viswanathan on Monday gave his son food laced with a heavy dose of sleeping pills. He, too popped in a few of the tablets. While his son died, Viswanathan fell unconscious, but survived. He was lying on the same bed, where his son’s body was found.

The neighbours too did not find anything unusual as the father and son mostly remained indoors. When the foul smell came on Friday, some neighbours went to check. When nobody answered the door, they called police. The Teynampet police sent a team that recovered the body and took Venkatesan to a hospital. Police said they have contacted Viswanathan’s brother and are awaiting his arrival.