DVAC justifies non-registration of FIR against Minister Velumani

‘Investigating officer enjoys the prerogative of deciding the depth of inquiry’

24/01/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Thursday justified its act of having conducted a detailed preliminary inquiry, by recording statements of several witnesses and collecting various other materials, without registering a first information report against Municipal Administration Minister S. P. Velumani on two complaints of corrupt practices lodged against him regarding award of contracts by Chennai and Coimbatore corporations.

Appearing before Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha, who were seized of cases filed by R.S. Bharathi of DMK and Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam seeking registration of FIR against the Minister, State Public Prosecutor A. Natarajan submitted a bulky preliminary inquiry report of the DVAC in a sealed cover. When the judges asked for statements of witnesses, he submitted yet another heavy sealed cover containing the statements.

Verdicts of SC

After opening the sealed covers in the court hall and glancing through their contents, the senior judge in the Bench said it prima facie appeared as if the police had conducted a regular investigation in the guise of conducting a preliminary inquiry. To this, SPP referred to several Supreme Court verdicts on the issue and contended that it was permissible for the police to conduct a detailed preliminary inquiry without registering a FIR.

Case-by-case basis

He cited a latest decision of the apex court delivered in December last in State of Telangana versus Managipet alias Mangipet Sarveshwar and claimed that it had clearly laid down the law that there could not be a set format for conducting preliminary inquiry. He also said, the manner and depth of the inquiry could be decided only on case-by-case basis. There was nothing wrong in conducting a preliminary inquiry like a full fledged investigation, he said. Mr. Natarajan also stated that the investigating officer would have the prerogative to decide how a preliminary inquiry should be conducted.

He also doubted the credentials of Mr. Venkatesan, Managing Trustee of the NGO Arappor Iyakkam, who had lodged the complaint against the minister and said, the complaint appeared to be motivated and made with the intention of maligning the reputation of the Minister.

After hearing him at length, the judges adjourned the cases to February 17 for hearing the arguments of Advocate General Vijay Narayan for the Chief Secretary, senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan for the Greater Chennai Corporation and senior counsel AR.L. Sundaresan for Mr. Velumani in his personal capacity.

Now, on-the-go entertainment on Tejas Express
24/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

Passengers of the Tejas Express will now be able to enjoy entertainment during their long travels.

Southern Railway has introduced a WiFi entertainment system in the Tejas Express, operated between Chennai Egmore and Madurai, through Magicbox Entertainment.

A senior official said Tejas Express had gained a premium status among railway passengers, and they wanted to enhance the joy of travelling. Therefore, the facility, on the lines of inflight entertainment, has been introduced, with 500 hours of entertainment available for passengers on their mobile phones.

Earlier, entertainment was provided through its seat-mounted WiFi infotainment systems. As there were several technical issues, the railways removed it.

Passengers can browse various entertainment programmes on their mobiles by connecting to Magicbox WiFi after switching off their mobile data. It offers a bouquet of movies, kids content and music, in different regional languages.

M-sand units come under the scanner

PWD to take action against manufacturers who do not have quality certification

24/01/2020, K. LAKSHMI,CHENNAI

The Public Works Department is considering severe action against m-sand manufacturers who are yet to get approval for quality of material.

With the availability of river sand becoming limited, more consumers are turning to m-sand in the State. It is emerging as an alternative to river sand, and contributes to nearly 70-80% of the supply, according to sources in the PWD.

Though the number of m-sand manufacturing units have proliferated in the past few years, complaints about the sale of substandard quality of sand continues in several places. In a bid to curb the production of poor quality sand, PWD had asked the manufacturers to register themselves for approval.

The State has a demand for about 32,000 truckloads of sand. At present, m-sand is bridging the gap in the shortage of river sand, and nearly 28,000 truckloads of m-sand are being supplied.

So far, PWD’s assessment committee has certified 216 m-sand manufacturing units for the quality of material produced. Manufacturing units must apply for quality approval to the PWD within 30 days of operation. PWD had insisted that m-sand be sold only after certification is obtained. It had announced a few weeks ago that action would be initiated against those manufacturing m-sand without quality approval. However, it has received just 70 fresh applications from the manufacturing units.

The m-sand policy, which aims to promote sales and put in place regulations against production of poor quality m-sand, is under scrutiny by the State government, the officials added.

Crazy Mohan’s Chocolate Krishna has a new hero
24/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The play has Lord Krishna taking a new avatar, with actor K.K. Ravishankar donning the role. S.R. Raghunathan

Actor Crazy Mohan’s play Chocolate Krishna is back to cast its spell on its target audience — children — for the first time after the demise of its writer, director and central character.

Only, this time, the play will have Lord Krishna taking a new avatar, with actor K.K. Ravishankar donning the role that was originally played by Crazy Mohan. The actor, who has been part of Crazy Creations for 40 years, acted as Cheenu from 1979-82.

Actor Madhu Balaji said that Chocolate Krishna (Fresh Innings) was back due to public demand.

“We got hundreds of emails from fans, asking that we continue to stage the play. Ravishankar has practised the dialogues, studied Mohan’s body language and watched videos of the play,” he said.

The play was created in 2008, after Crazy Mohan wanted to write something for children, with humour and stuff, including magic, chocolate and Lord Krishna, that they love.

Director S.B. Khanthan said the troupe was planning to go to the U.S. to perform at the first Crazy Mohan Drama Anniversary Festival.

“We have had more plays because he is blessing us. Ravishankar obviously cannot match Mohan. But his lines will make anyone laugh. They are immortal, it does not matter who delivers them. I went to the rehearsal last week to direct Ravi, but instead, I just happily watched the play and laughed,” Mr. Khanthan said.

Their 1009th show is on Friday for Karthik Fine Arts. This will be followed by three shows on Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (4 p.m. and 7 p.m.), all at the Narada Gana Sabha. They have included an extra scene that was edited out earlier.

CB-CID to probe scam in Group-IV examination

24/01/2020,CHENNAI

The Crime Branch-CID of  the Tamil Nadu police has launched an investigation into allegations that at least 40 candidates indulged in fraud to clear the Group-IV examination conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public  Service Commission.

T.N. rolls out ration card portability

24/01/2020, DENNIS S. JESUDASAN,CHENNAI

Ahead of the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme expected to be rolled out by the BJP government at the Centre in June, the Tamil Nadu government has accorded administrative approval for the implementation of intra-State portability of ration cards.

The scheme enables ration cardholders to purchase foodgrain from any fair price shop in the State. The intra-State portability would be introduced in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts on a pilot basis and then be rolled out across the State, a G.O. issued by the Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department said.

Presently, there are 35,233 fair price shops run by various agencies such as cooperatives, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation and women’s self-help groups, among others. A total of 9,635 of them are part-time shops. In all, 2,05,03,379 families have been provided with smart ration cards.

For effective portability of ration cards, the State government has instructed authorities to make a 5% additional allotment of essential commodities than the usual.

“For availing the facility, there should be a minimum distance between the existing shop and the commodity lifting shop. Hence, the existing shop to which the family card is attached and the shop from which the commodity is lifted should not be in the same revenue village in rural areas and not in the same ward in urban areas,” the order specified.

According to the Commissioner of Civil Supplies, the portability will be helpful to migrant labourers.

46 govt colleges get full-time principals

TNN | Jan 24, 2020, 04.56 AM IST

Trichy: The higher education department has appointed principals for 46 government arts colleges and colleges of education across the state.

This includes 14 constituent arts and science colleges functioning under various state universities that were recently converted into government colleges.

So far, the principals of nearby government colleges held additional charge of these colleges. With full additional charge given in July last year, there was a demand to appoint full-time principals to ensure effective administration.

An order issued on January 23 said that a total of 46 associate professors in various colleges have been promoted as principal grade – II in government arts colleges and colleges of education.

Associate professor, Government Arts College, Kumbakonam K Duraiarasan who is presently the controller of examination at Bharathidasan University has been appointed principal of Government Arts and Science College, Manalmedu.

With his appointment, the post of controller of examination has fallen vacant. Similarly, P S Vijayalakshmi, controller of examination, Periyar EVR College, Trichy has now been appointed as principal of Government Arts and Science College, Avinasi.