No FASTags, govt buses stuck in tolls

Till a decision is taken, Pallikonda, Krishnagiri, and Athur toll gates are diverting buses through cash lanes. 

Published: 21st January 2020 04:59 AM 


 
The Union government last year made it mandatory for all vehicles using toll plazas to be fixed with FASTag cards. (Photo | EPS)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The travel time of buses plying from Chennai to neighbouring districts including Hosur, Vaniyambadi and Tirupattur, has gone up by 30-45 minutes, thanks to the implementation of FASTag at toll plazas on National Highways from January 15. Villupuram division buses are yet to be fitted with FASTag devices. So, while plying on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway, they get to use FASTag lanes at Vangagaram (Sriperumbudur) and Chennasamudram (Walajah) toll gates but have to take the last lane earmarked for cash at the Pallikonda toll gate.

Sources say this is because the road transport ministry has not agreed to the demands of transport corporations, to allow mofussil government buses unlimited passage through toll gates with monthly passes as was the case earlier. Till a decision is taken, Pallikonda, Krishnagiri, and Athur toll gates are diverting buses through cash lanes.

On Sunday, there was a jam at the Pallikonda toll gate, at the cash lanes, that stretched for up to 2km, say commuters. “It took up to 45 minutes to cross the toll gate. FASTag lanes were empty but buses were not allowed there,” said S Gajendran of Vellore. Bus crew claims the delay has affected their timings, and reduced trips. A senior official from Villupuram division (TNSTC) said, the State government have written to Centre. “We expect the issue will be sorted out within a week.”

At loggerheads

Centre has not agreed to the demands of the Transport Corporations to give buses unlimited passage with monthly passes
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MTC earns `3.46 crore during Pongal

Chennai: The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has registered a revenue of `3.46 crore through operation of special buses during Pongal. According to a statement, over 1,500 special buses operated to various destinations including Vandalur, Tambaram, Guindy, Mamallapuram and Koavalam. In addition 30 small buses also put into operation.

Leopard strays into town in Telangana, captured 

The animal was found napping on the terrace of a house

21/01/2020 , Swathi Vadlamudi, HYDERABAD 


 
Caught napping: Forest staff shifting the leopard from Shadnagar, about 50 km from Hyderabad, on Monday.Nagara Gopal

A leopard that is believed to have strayed from the Kammadanam forest block and created a scare in the surrounding villages with its cattle-killing spree was captured on Monday in Shadnagar town in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district.

The family members of Manne Vijay Kumar got frightened when the leopard was found napping behind planter bins on their terrace, where a family stayed in a penthouse with two children.

“In fact, the two children spotted the animal first. They noticed the tail and approached it to explore. Upon finding the animal, they ran to their parents, who called the police control room,” said District Forest Officer, Rangareddy, Bheema Naik. The police, after verifying the claim from a neighbouring terrace, alerted the Forest Department.

A rescue team headed by Deputy Director (Veterinary) M.A. Hakim soon arrived from Hyderabad.

Crowd of spectators

Hundreds of people had by then thronged the surroundings. “By the time we reached, the leopard had woken up, climbed down the terrace and hidden beneath the stair case. Rescue operation proved to be very difficult, with curious crowds trailing us wherever we went,” said Dr. Hakim.

The team managed to enter the kitchen, from where they shot a tranquilliser dart through the window. The feline then ran for some distance and collapsed on the premises of an under-construction house, from where it was captured using nets.

Arrangements for Thaipoosam reviewed

21/01/2020 , Staff Reporter, PALANI

A meeting was chaired by Collector M. Vijayalakshmi in the presence of Joint Commissioner of Palani Temple V. Jayachandra Banu Reddy at the Collectorate here on Monday, regarding the preparatory works to be undertaken for Thaipoosam festival, scheduled from February 2 to 11.

The Collector said that more than two lakh devotees are expected to visit the Dhandayuthapani Swami Temple during the festival and most of them will be padayatris. The district administration has set up 11 permanent kavadi mandapams, 12 staying centres, 48 free toilet and bathroom facilities, 28 purified drinking water points, etc.

For Nadda, a steady rise to the top 

He cut his teeth in the ABVP and in Himachal Pradesh before shifting to Delhi

21/01/2020 , Nistula Hebbar, NEW DELHI 


 
At the helm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah. Sushil Kumar Verma

For J.P. Nadda, 59, being elected as the 11th president of the BJP tops off a steady rise from student politics in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, to State politics in Himachal Pradesh and then an important stint in national politics since 2010.

Mr. Nadda, born to Krishna and Narain Lall Nadda, on December 2, 1960, did his schooling at St. Xavier’s, Patna, and graduated from Patna College, Patna University.

He joined the ABVP in Patna and continued the association when he and his family moved back to their native Himachal Pradesh after his father retired from Patna University.

Student union chief

Here, Mr. Nadda joined Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, for a law degree and remained active in student politics, becoming the first ABVP president of the students’ union there.

His organisational skills were recognised, and he was made the ABVP’s organisational general secretary in Delhi between 1985 and 1989.

Those were heady days for not just the student movement but also for the BJP, which was coming out of its bad performance in the 1985 Lok Sabha election and raising the pitch for a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Mr. Nadda’s stint in Delhi helped him fight his first Assembly election in 1993. In all, he has won in three Assembly elections, and has been a Minister twice in the Himachal Pradesh government.

However, it was in 2010, when Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was the BJP president, that he got his big break in the organisation. Mr. Gadkari first made him national general secretary and then got him elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012.

He was made a Minister in the first Narendra Modi government, but returned to organisational work in the second. His role as Uttar Pradesh in-charge for the 2019 election was much appreciated, and he managed to carve out a valued, trustworthy space for himself in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah equation soon.

This resulted in his being made the BJP’s first working president in June 2019, the understanding being that he would be made president once Mr. Shah’s tenure ended.

For Mr. Nadda, not only is the role of the third wheel in the Modi-Shah equation going to be a tightrope walk but will also be tough to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Shah, whose control over the organisation and meticulous electoral planning have acquired legendary proportions. The fact that he faces two tough elections immediately after taking over, in Delhi and Bihar, is significant. The BJP hopes his tenure will be as smooth as his rise to the top post.

SC throws out Nirbhaya convict’s plea 

‘Juvenility claim cannot be reagitated once the courts have rejected it’

 21/01/2020 , Legal Correspondent, NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea of Nirbhaya gang rape convict Pawan Kumar Gupta against the Delhi High Court's rejection of his claim that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime in 2012.

A three-judge Bench led by Justice R. Banumathi said that though the plea of juvenility could be made by an accused at any stage of the case, it cannot be reagitated time and again once successive courts have rejected the claim.

During the two-hour long hearing that continued through the lunch break, advocate A.P. Singh, for Gupta, said there was a “big conspiracy” afoot to conceal his client’s real age.

Reading out the order in open court, Justice Banumathi, for the Bench also comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna, said the claim of juvenility and materials produced were considered and decided unfavourably to Gupta by the magistrate in 2013 and later on by the Delhi High Court and finally the Supreme Court in July 2018 in review.

“Your issue that Pawan Gupta is a juvenile was argued and decided against you in the review on July 9 by the Supreme Court. This issue was heard and dismissed on the same material. Can this be repeatedly agitated, this will be never-ending...” Justice Bhushan addressed Mr. Singh.

“The magistrate had considered your juvenility plea and rejected it in 2013. The High Court also rejected. The Supreme Court rejected in review. How many times, Sir... How many times, Sir, will you raise this plea?” Justice Banumathi remarked.

The special leave petition filed against the December 19 dismissal came after a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice N.V. Ramana last week rejected the curative petitions of two other Nirbhaya death row convicts, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh.

The President has also rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh.

The Supreme Court recently dismissed a review petition filed by another one of the four condemned men, Akshay Singh, to review its May 5, 2017 judgment confirming the death penalty in the case.

Akshay, Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay had brutally gang-raped a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012. She died of her injuries a few days later. An accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar jail. A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

Senior IAS officer seeks retirement

21/01/2020 , Sangeetha Kandavel, CHENNAI

Senior IAS officer Santhosh Babu, serving as Principal Secretary in the Information Technology Department, has applied for voluntary retirement from service. He is also the Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Fibrenet Corporation (TANFINET).

“Yes, he has applied for VRS,” said a source on Monday. In a letter to the Chief Secretary, he cited “personal reasons” for his decision. He is learnt to be toying with the idea of launching a startup.

He is credited with launching India’s first rural BPO FOSTeRA.

VAOs challenge High Court order on grievance cells 

‘With advancement in technology, the presence of VAOs at their village has become obsolete’
 
21/01/2020 , B. Tilak Chandar, MADURAI

A group of seven Village Administrative Officers (VAOs) filed an appeal before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday, challenging a single bench order that directed the State to constitute grievance cells to hear complaints against the VAOs.

Challenging the order, the VAOs said that the single bench order was passed on a writ petition that sought a direction to the State to instruct the VAO of Melaiyur revenue village in Thanjavur district to reside in the village for grievance redressal.

However, the scope of the petition was expanded and an order was passed directing the State to constitute grievance cells to hear complaints against the VAOs and give appropriate directions that action would be initiated against those not following the order.

In their appeal, they said that VAOs were entrusted with a plethora of duties which includes preparation and maintenance of village revenue and land records, collection of various taxes, issuance of certificates and other important functions.

They have dedicated a major portion of their efforts and energy towards the upkeep and well-being of the villages where they have been stationed. But, VAOs are often left struggling to find decent accommodation.

Sometimes, the area of posting may be an isolated village with no road connectivity or accommodation available.

Some areas lack infrastructure facilities as the area of posting may be nothing but plantations or agricultural lands with few houses.

In several cases, women VAOs struggle to find decent accommodation and even an office with proper sanitation facilities.

The VAOs pointed out that they were constantly present in their offices throughout the day during office hours and beyond and it was only during the night they they went to their residences. The necessity of VAOs to reside in their village was when communication was largely possible only through word of mouth. With advancement in technology and the availability of mobile phones, the continued presence of VAOs at the village of their posting had become obsolete, they added.

The position of law must change in accordance with changing times, they said. They sought a stay on the single bench order.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and T. Ravindran sought a response from the State government and adjourned the hearing of the case till February 7.