HC: Sculpture grads must get priority for sthapathi posts

TNN | Jan 14, 2020, 04.26 AM IST

Chennai: Right to employment is a fundamental right and when a special institution is created for a specific purpose, it is the duty of the state to make way for adequate employment opportunities for graduates of such institutions, the Madras high court observed on Monday and directed the government to give ‘first priority’ to graduates from Government College of Architecture and Sculpture while filling the posts of engineers, draftsman and sthapathis.
The posts are for the newly constituted renovation and conservation wing under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.

Justice R Mahadevan passed the order on a plea moved by D V Murugan seeking direction to the authorities to appoint the sthapathi degree holders from Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Mamallapuram, in the post meant for assistant engineer in every zonal office or alternately make provisions for appointment of such graduates as sthapathis as done in Andhra Pradesh in each division taking into consideration the number of temples in a particular division under the HR&CE department.

Allowing the plea, the judge said: “The knowledge in civil engineering alone is not sufficient to cater to the needs of renovation of temples including sculpting. Whereas, the students from the sculpting college or any other institution covering the field, who are also taught architecture and design with thorough knowledge in sculpting, would be eligible to be appointed in the HR&CE department.”

The appointment of such successful candidates as sthapathis would lessen the financial burden on the exchequer as they would be in a position to carry out minor repair work on their own with less role from third parties and they could perform twin functions of an engineer and that of sthapathi, Justice Mahadevan added. The court also directed the state to finalise and bring to life the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments engineering and subordinate service rules in three months.

NCW notice to TN college for expelling four girl students who consumed liquor

TNN | Jan 14, 2020, 04.32 AM IST

Chennai: In the wake of a complaint against expelling four girl students of a college for consuming beer during a house party in Nagapattinam district, National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued a notice to the college asking it “to look into the matter and take appropriate action as per law”.

In a letter to the principal of Dharmapuram Adhinam Arts College in Mayiladuthurai, Shyamala S Kundar, member of the commission, citing the complaint by All India Private Colleges Employees Union (AIPCEU) which alleged harassment/indecent representation of women, said, “The action taken in the matter may please be communicated within 30 days from the date of receipt of the letter.”

The students in college uniform were seen celebrating the birthday of one of the girls at her house in Sitharkadu village. The incident came to light when a clip of the celebration was circulated on social media. After disciplinary enquiry, the college administration expelled all four students.

“The punishment is severe and it could end their education. Instead of reforming the students with lighter punishment, the college has taken an extreme step which has jeopardised their future. It amounts to harassment of women,” said K M Karthik, founder of AIPCEU and the complainant. He said the commission is considerate of the fate of the girls and sought a reply within 30 days.

“The entire matter was blown out of proportion. If boys drink and socialise it wouldn’t be an issue at all. It only became an issue as girl students consumed drinks. It was not done on the premises of college for it to take action,” said Sudha Ramalingam, senior advocate and social activist. “This is not the way to treat the students. The college could have reformed and educated them on the evils of drinking. But, to expel them is too harsh a punishment and it’s not for any educational institution to handle students like this. Students should be handled with compassion, caution and care. The intervention of national commission for women is good enough,” she said.

TN cuts road accidents, gets Centre award

TNN | Jan 14, 2020, 04.33 AM IST

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has received an award from the Centre for ‘Best Performance in Road Safety’. Defence minister Rajnath Singh presented the award to state transport minister M R Vijayabaskar on Monday.

The state witnessed a 32% drop in road accident deaths in 2018, compared to the previous year, according to official data. This was after topping India’s state-wise accident chart twice in a row in 2016 and 2017.

The government attributed the decrease to coordinated efforts by various departments and regular reviews by State Road Safety Council headed by Nithin Gadkari, Union road transport and highways minister (MoRTH).

Besides strict enforcement by police in terms of wearing helmets, seatbelts and monitoring patrol vehicles, strengthening emergency care by establishing more trauma care centres, ambulances and responder bikes helped in bringing down deaths.

“Phenomenal levels of commitment by the health team and the introduction of emergency mobile app capturing GPS & GIS for reaching the accident spot faster have also helped in reducing response time,” said a MoRTH official.

Speaking to the media after the award ceremony, Vijayabaskar said it’s impossible to reduce accidents overnight and efforts will continue to cut fatalities further in 2019-20. Nearly one-third of road accidents are reported on national highways.

“Identifying and eliminating black-spots, installing speed-breakers and signage at such accident-prone stretches have drastically reduced the fatalities in the last three years,” said a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official.

Plans are underway to install automated number plate recognition systems and speed monitoring cameras along highway stretches for better compliance with road safety rules. A pilot project is expected to come up on Chennai-Trichy highway.

As far as Chennai was concerned, a major change introduced in 2017-18 was the e-challan system. Fines collected digitally were linked to the government database ‘VAHAN’ and it helped in nabbing repeat offenders, said traffic police.

SpiceJet flight from Varanasi makes emergency landing at Chennai airport

TNN | Jan 13, 2020, 09.48 PM IST

CHENNAI: A SpiceJet flight from Varanasi made an emergency landing at the Chennai airport on Monday evening. 

According to airport sources, the flight was scheduled to land at Chennai airport around 6.45pm. However, soon after the flight came in the range of Chennai air traffic control, the pilot informed that there was a problem in one of the flaps of the aircraft. So the airports authority gave priority for the landing of this aircraft.

Pongal: TTDC to operate 'hop on and hop off' service in Chennai on Thursday

TNN | Jan 13, 2020, 08.34 PM IST 

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) will operate a 'hop on and hop off' service on Thursday, on the occasion of Maatu Pongal. 

People can board 'hop on and hop off' vehicles and travel to eight tourist attractions in Chennai for Rs 10.

A press release here on Monday said that the 'hop on and hop off' would be operated between 9am and 6pm on Thursday, where people can travel to various places including tourist fair at Island Grounds, tourist spots spread across Kamarajar Salai, Annai Velankanni Church, Arupadai Veedu Murugan and Children’s Park. They can board and alight at any of these places using the same ticket.

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