Suspension of MKU exam official stayed

02/11/2019, B. TILAK CHANDAR,MADURAI

The Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday stayed the suspension order of M. Rajarajan, Additional Controller of Examinations, Directorate of Distance Education of the Kamaraj University (MKU). He was allegedly involved in a certificate scam.

Taking up the petition filed by Mr. Rajarajan, Justice V.M. Velumani granted a stay on the order passed by the MKU Syndicate and adjourned the hearing by four weeks.

In his petition, Mr. Rajarajan said the allegations against him were false, claiming that he was not given an opportunity by the Syndicate to respond to the allegations.

He sought copies of complaints against him, but they were not provided.

Without even ascertaining the genuineness of the complaints and before seeking an explanation, he was suspended from the post. He sought a stay on the order.

The Syndicate suspended three officials including, Mr. Rajarajan, for their alleged involvement in the certificate scam that involved issuance of fake mark sheets and provisional certificates to at least 500 candidates through the Directorate of Distance Education.

Maternity leave norms relaxed for govt. staff

Decision in response to representations from new recruits

02/11/2019, DENNIS S. JESUDASAN,CHENNAI


Women employees of the Tamil Nadu government will be eligible for maternity leave even if they joined service after delivery recently, thanks to the government relaxing certain rules.

So far, married women among government servants (appointed in a regular capacity and yet to become permanent pending probation) were allowed to avail only their earned leave for maternity purposes.

With the government’s decision, women employees who are in service at the time of issue of the Government Order by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms will be sanctioned 270 days maternity leave without deducting earned leave from their account.

As for those women who joined service after the delivery, the days between their day of delivery and the day they joined government service would be calculated for maternity leave.

Formula for calculation

For instance, if a woman was delivered her child on January 1 and joins the government service on January 10 the same year, the calculation on how many days’ maternity leave she will get will factor in this 10-day period. The exact details of calculation were not available on the GO.

An official explained that usually government servants would become permanent only after completing their regularisation and probation, which takes about two years since their joining service.

The State government’s recent decision followed representations from some of the newly-appointed government servants (non-permanent married women government servants appointed in a regular capacity), who joined the government service after delivery, seeking sanction of maternity leave.

As per the Rule 101(a) of the Tamil Nadu Fundamental Rules, maternity leave on full pay can be granted to permanent married women government servants (with less than two surviving children) not exceeding 270 days, which may spread over from the pre-confinement rest to post confinement recuperation.

As per the earlier rule, non-permanent married women government servants employed under the emergency provisions should have completed one year of continuous service including leave periods, if any, to become eligible for the grant of maternity leave.

HC judges say right to strike depends upon nature of work

‘Doctors cannot afford to go on strike in interest of patients’

02/11/2019, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Friday refrained from passing any orders on the issue of government doctors’ strike after it was informed that the protesters had decided to return to work.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee said the doctors were certainly entitled to claim their rights through protests but strike was something which they cannot afford to go on in the interest of poor patients.

“The nature of a service will determine whether someone can strike work or not. What will happen if the armymen, police personnel or sanitary workers begin to strike work? Even judiciary cannot,” Justice Seshasayee said.

Justice Sathyanarayanan said, it was not proper on the part of the striking doctors to squat near the entrances to hospitals and prevent free ingress and egress of patients even if the protesters try to justify the strike as having been their last resort.

Later, the judges recorded the submission of Advocate General Vijay Narayan that the striking doctors had given statements to the media that they shall return to work unconditionally and then resume talks with the government on various demands including an increase in their monthly wages.

During the course of hearing, Justice Sathyanarayanan wanted to know about the status of Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act which had been styled after the Centre’s Essential Services Maintenance Act.

The A-G sought time to get instructions on that but stated that it appeared to have been enacted in 2002 to handle the enmasse strike by govt employees but was later repealed.

Big gamble pays off as Bigil makes ₹100 crore in first week
‘Film has been profitable for everyone in the value chain’

02/11/2019, UDHAV NAIG,CHENNAI

There is a belief in the industry that you have arrived as a producer or a distributor only if you are involved with a Rajinikanth or, more recently, actor Vijay’s film.

When actor Vijay’s Bigil was getting ready for release on the Deepavali weekend, real estate entrepreneur-turned-film producer Sundar Arumugam’s Screen Scene Media Entertainment jumped into the ring and unexpectedly bagged the theatrical rights for Bigil in Tamil Nadu for a huge sum. The film released in close to 650 screens in Tamil Nadu alone.

It was a show of intent in more ways than one. “The fact that it was a Vijay film was enough for us. At the same time, I was clear that I only wanted to buy it outright, and paid a premium,” he said.

He added that outright purchase and sale sidesteps the whole issue of keeping track of box-office collections. “I sold the film to distributors across the State. So, even though profit-margins are not huge, what the distributors make will be theirs entirely. So far, the film has comfortably crossed ₹100 crore in Tamil Nadu in the first week and it has been profitable for every one in the value chain,” he said.

Contrary to the perception that the film business is unpredictable and volatile, Mr. Sundar underlines that no other industry can return sizeable profits in such a short period of time.

“Movies are a passion and cinema pulls you in. It is also quick money, sometimes. When your movie becomes a hit in six months or a year, the happiness and excitement you get is not measurable. People often mess up when they go ahead and sign up two or three films after such a success,” he adds.

While Bigil is Screen Scene Media Entertainment’s first big step, the company has already signed actor Jayam Ravi in a three-film deal, and is also doing the remake of Bollywood superhit Vicky Donor.

Ask him if he would use the experience to produce big-budget films, Mr. Sundar says he would rather take it slow.

‘Content wins’

“Gone are the days when you can put together combinations of actors and the film will succeed. Content always wins. We don’t want to go all out and sign many movies. Ideally, we don’t want to do more than 2 movies at a time,” he said.

On a question about reports of Bigil shows in certain theatres getting cancelled, Mr. Sundar said, “Out of a 100% audience, 70% has already seen the film in the first week. Obviously, some shows may be removed. This is only normal, and happens with all films.”

Panic at Delhi airport over unattended bag
New Delhi:2.11.2019

An unattended bag triggered panic on Friday at the Delhi airport on the suspicion of containing RDX, but officials later said it has been claimed by a passenger who had forgotten it outside Terminal-3.

It is almost certain that the bag does not have the explosive and it will be opened in the presence of the claimant, they said.

Shahid Hussain contacted airport authorities after over 16 hours of allegedly losing his bag. He said he had forgotten it outside the Indira Gandhi International airport’s Terminal-3 after he arrived from Mumbai on a SpiceJet plane, sources said.

The man told a joint investigation team of security officials that the bag contained a laptop, among other items. He has been taken to the isolated area where the black coloured trolley bag has been kept inside a total containment vessel (TCV) or a thick metal sheeted bomb defusing container.

The entire security paraphernalia at the sensitive airport went into a tizzy after initial inputs suggested that the bag could be holding RDX.

What added to the suspicion was that the place where the bag was spotted was in a “dark zone” outside the arrival terminal, where there is little CCTV coverage. The bag was detected around 1am by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) staffer and has been since kept in an isolated zone with a joint team of CISF, the bomb experts of the National Security Guard and forensics keeping it under observation. PTI

TAKING NO CHANCES: Security guards with sniffer dogs at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi after a suspicious bag was spotted on Friday

PC to remain in jail after AIIMS medical board says he’s fine

New Delhi:2.11.2019

The Delhi high court was informed on Friday that according to AIIMS medical board the health condition of former finance minister P Chidambaram, who is suffering from Crohn’s disease and lodged in Tihar jail in the INX Media money laundering case, is fine and does not require hospitalisation.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta read out the report of the medical board, set up on the court’s order to examine Chidambaram’s health condition, and told Justice Suresh Kait that the Congress leader was physically examined by the doctors in the morning and does not require a sterile environment.

The court was hearing 74-year old Chidambaram’s plea for interim bail in the case, filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), on medical grounds saying his condition is deteriorating and he needs to be in a sterile environment.

After going through the report, the court directed the Tihar jail superintendent that the surroundings of Chidambaram should be clean and hygienic and he should be provided homecooked food, mineral water, mosquito protection net and repellant and that his dwelling area be cleaned twice a day. The court added that he should be provided face mask which he can wear, if the need arises.

Besides, the judge directed that Chidambaram’s regular blood pressure monitoring, sugar test and other medical tests should be done and periodical follow up as an out patient be done once a week.

The court disposed of the plea after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Chidambaram, said they do not require any further direction. Crohn’s disease refers to the inflammation of the digestive tract leading to abdominal pain, diarrhoea and also weight loss. AGENCIES

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT

‘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