Admissions Notification

In six months, 10 bikers dead after hitting dogs in Madurai
Devanathan.Veerappan@timesgroup.com

Madurai:4.11.2019

Stray dogs have claimed the lives of at least 10 bikers in Madurai district in the last six months, which include three deaths on a single day on October 27. Though accidents due to dog hits are rampant in the city and rural areas of Madurai, deaths mostly happen in rural areas. This is because the vehicles involved in the accidents were at high speed as roads are comparatively traffic free in the rural areas.

The number of people injured in the accidents caused by dogs is also high. However, only a few non-fatal accidents were recorded by police as people don’t lodge complaints. A police officer said that only a few people tend to lodge complaints in case of accidents caused by dogs, since there was no opponent involved. Complaints are received only when the injuries are serious or the two-wheelers are severely damaged.

As per police records, at least 15 non-fatal accidents have taken place in Madurai district police limits in the last six months. But police officials said that there could be around 100 accidents on an average caused by dogs in a year.

Additional deputy superintendent of police V P Ganesan said that accidents turn fatal only when riders involve in rash driving. Three were three fatal accidents on Diwali day due to dog hits. In all the cases, victims were young and were driving at high speed.

CANINE TROUBLE

HC upholds conviction of murder accused

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:4.11.2019

The Madras high court has upheld the conviction and sentence awarded by a lower court to an accused who had murdered his wife at Tuticorin in 2008.

According to the prosecution, the appellant Manthiramoorthy was married in 2007 and used to frequently pick fights with his wife (the deceased) after getting drunk. On April 5, 2008, he strangulated his wife with her saree and attacked her with a kitchen knife, causing her death.

Following this, police registered a murder case and arrested him. The Tuticorin additional sessions court/ fast track court I in an order on May 7, 2009, convicted the appellant and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment.

The appellant then moved the Madurai bench of Madras high court in 2017, seeking relief from the order of the lower court.

His counsel submitted that the prosecution’s case is based on circumstantial evidence and the chain of circumstances has not been proved.

While confirming and upholding the order of the lower court, a division bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and N Anand Venkatesh observed,“The appellant attacked the deceased in a grotesque manner. The conduct of the appellant... does not give any ground to modify his sentence.”

HC: FIR no bar for grant of passport

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:4.11.2019

Observing that pendency of FIR is not a bar for grant of passport, Madras high court directed the authorities concerned to consider the application submitted by a person and pass appropriate orders.

Madurai resident Prabakaran, the petitioner, had applied for a passport from the regional passport officer (RPO) at Madurai. After police verification, the regional passport officer sought clarification with regard to pendency of a case registered against him under IPC section 379 and section 21(1) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, at Kottampatti police station.

The petitioner appeared before the RPO in person and submitted his explanation on September  27. However, the passport officer did not issue a passport to the petitioner on the ground that a criminal case was pending against him.

The petitioner then moved the Madurai bench of Madras high court seeking a direction to the RPO, Madurai to issue him a passport.

According to the petitioner, the case is still in the FIR stage and a charge sheet has not been filed.

The special government pleader submitted that the case is still pending at the FIR stage and no further action has been taken.

Taking note of the submission, Justice M Govindaraj observed that pendency of FIR is not a bar for grant of passport. Hence, the judge directed the authorities concerned to consider the application submitted by the petitioner and pass appropriate orders within two months.

TN scraps edu qualification for DL

Move Aimed At Boosting Employment Opportunities For Drivers

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:4.11.2019

The Tamil Nadu government has removed the minimum educational qualification required for drivers while signing up for driving licences. The move, officials said, is meant to boost employment opportunities.

The change, effected on October 29, was made based on an order issued by the Union road transport ministry last month.

Earlier, a pass in Class VIII was deemed as the minimum education qualification needed for operating commercial vehicles like trucks, buses and taxis in Tamil Nadu. The rule was made a part of the original TN Motor Vehicles Rule, 1989, to ensure that drivers, travelling to other states on long routes, were able to read the names of places and warning messages on route/sign boards and record details on consignments or travel log sheets.

However, transport and commercial vehicle operators wanted this rule to be scrapped because of a shortage of drivers. Several members of lorry and bus owners' associations have submitted petitions in this regard.

There are over 6 lakh goods carriages and buses in Tamil Nadu but only 4 lakh regular drivers for these vehicles are available, according to official data.

“We hope the new rule will bridge this huge gap,” said C Dhanraj, secretary of TN Lorry Owners' Federation.

Seconding him, Ganesh from the All India Inter State Lorry Owners’ Association said that there was no need to look at the issue from the literacy angle as ability to read road signs and understand safe driving practices was more than enough to drive across the country.

Transport experts told TOI that there is no evidence to prove that people who have had a formal education drive safer.

Official data actually states that less than 11% accidents in TN (7,700) were caused by drivers with educational qualification up to Class VIII, while the accidents caused by those who were educated stood at 60,000.

Transport activist K Kathirmathiyon said drivers were misusing the shortage in their numbers as private bus operators do not take penal action against drivers if they are at fault.

However, the shortage of drivers didn’t translate into a rise in the salaries drawn by drivers. At present, their average pay is around ₹10,000-12,000 a month.

With better paying options like app-based cab aggregators available, there have been several instances where many truck drivers have presented fake stories about police demanding bribes on highways. The stigma around the job doesn’t attract many and shortage will be there, Ganesh added.

Responding to this, an official from the state transport department said that it was important to train drivers in not only basic driving and repair skills, but also on dealing with their irregular work conditions in order to retain quality drivers for a longer duration.

Anna Univ can follow 69% reservation even as Institute of Eminence: Centre

Ragu.Raman @timesgroup.com

Chennai:4.11.2019

Clearing a major road block in Anna University getting the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status, the Union HRD ministry has clarified that there won’t be any change in the reservation policy. This would mean the premier engineering university can follow 69% reservation in admissions even after getting the IoE tag. After a notification issued by the Centre said public institutions with IoE status would be allowed to follow 49.5% reservation, the state sought a clarification from the Centre whether the university would be allowed to continue with its 69% admission quota.

The MHRD letter, received last week, came in response to the state government’s query.

“With this letter, all doubts of the state government with regards to IoE status to Anna University have been clarified. The state government has to give its letter of commitment to provide the grant required under IoE,” a source from Anna University said.

The university has submitted all the financial requirement to the government. As per the proposal, the university would need ₹2,570 crore for the next five years to attain the Institute of Eminence status.

“It is high time the government gave its commitment to move forward. If we don’t move, we will fall behind,” the source added.

The higher education department made a presentation to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami six weeks ago about the status.

When asked about whether the largest technical university in the country can affiliate engineering colleges after getting the IoE status, a university official said, “MHRD doesn’t speak about the affiliation under IoE. If the university and government want, they can continue with it.”

“Though an IoE institute would receive up to ₹1,000 crore funding and greater autonomy, it would remain a state university,” the official added.

“Reservation is the major political issue. If this is sorted out, then the government should not hesitate to approve it. All other issues can be sorted out,” said E Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor, Anna University.

“Any further delay would cause loss to Tamil Nadu and the university. The coveted position of IoE should not be lost,” he said.

Reservation is the major political issue. If this is sorted out, then the government should not hesitate to approve it. All other issues can be sorted out

E BALAGURUSAMY

former vice-chancellor, Anna University

Boarding from Tambaram? Keep two hours in hand

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  4.11.2019

With railways considering moving more trains to Tambaram railway station to decongest Egmore, people who live in the northern and western suburbs may have start from home several hours before departure time and brave traffic to reach the station in the far south.

It will take more than an hour for passengers to reach Tambaram from Ambattur or Ennore in peak-hour traffic cutting across core areas of the city to reach the southern suburb 37km away.

Southern Railways is already operating Chennai-Tirunelveli Nellai Express and Chennai-Madurai Pothigai Express from Tambaram. And passengers from the northern and western ends need almost two hours to reach the station.

S Murugaiyyan, general secretary of Rail Passengers Welfare Association of Thiruninravur, said, “If railways is looking at shifting more trains to Tambaram, it should increase the number of direct suburban trains from Tiruvallur via Beach to Tambaram. This will help passengers to reach the station.”

Railways wants to start trains to eastern destinations and northern destinations from Tambaram. The authorities have tried out special trains from Central via Beach and Egmore to the southern towns, and also from Egmore via Beach to the northern destinations. Though this may inconvenience passengers and lead to some resistance if made regular, this is the only way to decongest major stations and start more trains from Chennai as expansion is not possible at Egmore, said a railway official. “Many major stations in other cities have a second smaller station identified to decongest the main stations,” he said.