Trains rescheduled

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER , SALEM

The Southern Railway has partially cancelled and diverted a few trains due to engineering works in Erode-Karur section on November 19 (Tuesday).

According to a release, Train no. 56110 Erode – Tiruchchirappalli Passenger will be fully cancelled and Train no. 56841 Tiruchchirappalli – Erode Passenger will be partially cancelled between Karur and Erode, Train no. 56825 Erode-Tirunelveli Passenger will be partially cancelled between Erode and Karur, Train no. 56320 Coimbatore - Nagercoil Passenger and Train no. 56712 Palakkad Town - Tiruchchirappalli Passenger will be diverted via Salem, Namakkal, partially cancelling and skipping stoppages between Erode and Karur.

Train no. 56826 Tirunelveli - Erode Passenger will be partially cancelled between Karur and Erode, Train no. 56846 Erode - Jolarpettai Passenger will be partially cancelled between Erode and Salem, Train no. 16340 Nagercoil - Mumbai Central will be regulated for 75 minutes at Karur, Train no. 56713 Tiruchchirappalli - Palakkad Town Passenger will be regulated for 50 minutes at Karur, a release said.

Man sentenced to 7 years for wife’s suicide

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER ,COIMBATORE

The Mahila Court here on Monday sentenced a 36-year-old man to seven years imprisonment for abetting wife’s suicide in 2014.

Sessions judge J. Radhika sentenced Walter Vincent of Karunya Nagar to undergo three years of imprisonment for subjecting wife to cruelty under Section 498 A and seven years of imprisonment for abetting her suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. The sentences will run concurrently. As per the charge sheet filed by police, Vincent’s wife committed suicide on June 27, 2014, following physical and mental torture by him. The couple had married in September 2011 and the woman gave birth to a daughter in 2012. Though Vincent had agreed to stay at the house of his wife at Perumpazhuthoor in Thiruvananthapuram, he later moved to Coimbatore and joined as faculty in a university.



The woman was forced to come to Coimbatore along with daughter. The charge sheet said Vincent did not take care of the child and sold 30 sovereigns of jewellery of his wife without her knowledge. Public prosecutor R. Sarojini said the judge imposed a fine of ₹ 2,500 each for the two sentences.

Man arrested

Sulur police on Monday arrested a Madurai native who is believed to have stolen around 150 cars from different States. A. Parameshwaran (39) was arrested by a special team of police from Kangeyampalayam.

Police said the accused had stolen around 150 cars, mainly from Kerala, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. In Tamil Nadu, he had stolen cars from Chennai, Erode, Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Karur.

The man landed in police custody when police were investigating the theft of a van from Sulur 10 days ago.

Police managed to get a surveillance camera visual of the man and identified him. He was traced to Kangeyampalayam along with the van on Monday.

Mechanical failure delays train in A.P.

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER,GUNTUR

A mechanical failure in Prasanthi Express delayed the train for more than two hours on Sunday causing a commotion in the railway station.

Railway sources said that a failure in the airconditioning in the A-1 coach of the train was noticed when the train chugged into the Guntur Railway Station. When the passengers brought the issue to the notice of the railway authorities, the railway personnel shunted out the coach and attached another coach. Tense moments were witnessed when the irate passengers entered into a verbal duel with the railway personnel.

Finally, the train moved on after two hours.

Petition writing is free at Madurai Collectorate

Nehru Yuva Kendra volunteers come to the help of needy

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Grievance redressal meetings at Madurai Collectorate usually teems with people waiting to meet officials and submit their petitions.

These people come from all places across the district. After spending on bus fare, they cough up ₹30 to ₹100 with a ‘petition writer’ to ensure that their letters are written in the right format. The cost varies depending on one’s haggling techniques and the size of the petition.

But on this Monday, however, there was an unusual sight at the Collectorate. A group of 20 volunteers from Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) sat behind a long table and started writing the petitions for the public for free.

Collector T. G. Vinay said, “Many people travel long distances to submit their petition but end up seeking the help of writers who sometimes charge exorbitantly. To stop this practice, we approached a voluntary organisation which redirected us to this group of 20 people from NYK,” he said.

The Collector said the volunteers had been taught to just write the basic gist of each petition. “Most of the time, petitions are very long. We have told volunteers to write the gist and provide certain sub-heads so that it is easy for filing,” he said. He added that when the petitions are redirected to the officials concerned, they will file detailed reports.

M. Meenakshi, a volunteer, said they would be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday. Apart from volunteering to write petitions, people can also approach them for other basic help. "We are also interested in cleaning the campus. Differently abled people can come to us for other help as well,” she said.

Ms. Meenakshi said the volunteers would come in a batch of 20 on rotation. “This service is fulfilling. We also get to understand the working of the government machinery in a better way. People need not fall prey to petition writers any more,” she said.

Another volunteer P. S. Vaishnavi said the volunteers needed more training to write petition in a better way. The Collector said he would arrange a two-day workshop for the same.

S. Rajapushpam, a petitioner who has been coming to the Collectorate for three years, seeking a government job for herself, appreciated the novel service. “I come from Kallikudi and spend ₹75 for bus fare. Until today, I paid ₹40 for my petition. Now, I can save it. The volunteers are kind too,” she said.

Tenkasi district inauguration on Nov. 22

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will formally inaugurate Tenkasi district, which was recently bifurcated from Tirunelveli district, on November 22.

The Chief Minister, who is expected to reach Thoothukudi on Thursday evening and drive down to Tenkasi on the next morning, will preside over the 90-minute-long function and distribute welfare measures to beneficiaries.

He is likely to lay the foundation for an integrated collectorate complex, housing the district police office, which is expected to come up on a 50-acre government land at Aayiraperi. Although a formal puja was performed on Government Higher Secondary School ground near Tenkasi new bus stand on Monday for erection of pandal for the event, the venue is likely to be shifted to a school premises near Azad Nagar bridge where Mr. Palaniswami attended a function earlier.

Revenue officials caught on the wrong foot

Unable to explain eligibility for ‘destitute widow certificate’

19/11/2019, D.J. WALTER SCOTT,RAMANATHAPURAM

Several Revenue department officials were caught on the wrong foot at the public grievances redressal meeting here on Monday when Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao asked them to explain the eligibility for a widow to get ‘destitute widow certificate’ and conducted an on-the-spot ‘written test’ on the subject.

When a middle-aged woman, carrying a child, presented a petition to the Collector, stating that she could not get destitute widow certificate despite several attempts, Mr. Rao asked a revenue official from the block concerned to explain the eligibility mentioned in the Government Order for issuing the certificate.

When the woman official fumbled, the Collector asked officials from other blocks to spell out the eligibility criteria only to be surprised by wrong answers and a host of conditions put forth by them.

While one official said the annual income of the applicant should not exceed ₹24,000, another official said it should not exceed ₹21,000 and another official said the income limit was ₹48,000. They also said the applicant should live in a thatched roof house, should own no property and have no dependent.

As the officials gave varied and incorrect answers, Mr. Rao lost his cool and criticised them for being unaware of the Government Order. At one stage, he asked the officials to write down the eligibility and in the ‘written test’ too, they contradicted one another.

Later, Mr. Rao said a widow could be issued the destitute widow certificate if her total monthly income from all sources did not exceed ₹4,000.

She could live in a concrete house and even own a couple of acres of land, but the point to be considered was the income limit.

Pointing out that the officials fixed their own rules and guidelines, he said, “You would do gross injustice to petitioners if you denied them the certificate due to your ignorance of the Government Order.”

Release of Melavalavu convicts irks HC

Government told to produce orders today

19/11/2019, B. TILAK CHANDAR,MADURAI

Expressing displeasure over the release of the 13 convicts in the Melavalavu massacre case, the Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the State government to produce the orders passed in this regard.

A Division Bench of Justices S. Vaidyanathan and N. Anand Venkatesh directed the government to produce the relevant documents on November 19.

The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Rathinam, who challenged the release of the convicts.

‘Why the hurry?’

The court wondered how the 13, convicted of a heinous crime, had been released.

With six people killed and two courts, including the Supreme Court, confirming the convictions, what was the hurry to release the convicts, the Bench asked.

Stating that there were limits to government orders, it pointed out that even in the Dharmapuri bus burning case, the convicts had been released.

The 13 convicts were freed in connection with the MGR centenary celebrations, on grounds of good conduct.