Devoting Saturday mornings for clean-up

Avadi Corpn. engages residents in plogging drive

26/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Participants are given tools and gloves to collect trash by the Corporation.

Residents of Avadi have added one more activity to their Saturday morning routines. Elders and students alike are seen plogging at various places during the morning hours.

To create awareness about a clean neighbourhood, the Avadi Corporation started a plogging drive a few weeks ago, in its 48 wards.

Avadi Corporation officials said participants are given tools and gloves to collect trash from road corners and vacant spaces during the two-and-a-half-hour-long programme in the morning. The aim is to spread awareness about discarding waste in bins and avoiding littering in public spaces.

On Saturday, college students joined residents in the plogging event, and collected trash at 24 locations, including Ashok Niranjan Nagar, Paruthipattu and Kannigapuram. Residents of Saraswathy Nagar, Thirumullaivoyal, said several elderly persons who go for morning walks also joined the event.

On an average, the Avadi Corporation generates 90 tonnes of garbage every day. It has achieved 85-90% source segregation so far, said officials.

Avadi Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran said one official is deputed for two wards. A minimum of three tonnes of garbage is collected through the initiative every week.

Garbage collected is taken to 17 micro-compost centres, and 50% recyclable waste is sold and revenue shared among the workers. “The remaining non-saleable plastic will be transported to cement industries. This exercise has also helped in the elimination of dengue-breeding sources,” he said.

Conference for nurses conducted

26/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Gleneagles Global Health City hosted the National Nursing Liver Conference 2020 on Saturday. Over 250 delegates from across the country attended the conference.

According to a press release, the conference focused on the theme “Basic and Advanced Liver Intensive Care- Newer Opportunities for Nurses”. T. Dileep Kumar, president of Indian Nursing Council, inaugurated the conference.

Girdhar Gyani, director general, Association of Healthcare Providers India, said nurses have an important role to play in complex surgeries in general, and those of liver in particular.

Participants were oriented on basic and advanced liver intensive care and refreshed on care concepts and competencies in the care of patients with liver diseases and peri-transplant care, the release said. Among others, K. Ravindranath, founder and chairman of Gleneagles Global Hospitals Group, spoke.

College principal held in ‘law degree scam’

The accused forged attendance records; police warn of strict action

26/01/2020, R. SIVARAMAN,CHENNAI

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has claimed that it has unearthed a major scam, where degrees were bought and sold with forged attendance records.

“The principal of a private law college in Kadapa was arrested on Wednesday. He created records stating that the students had necessary attendance, even though they didn’t attend regular classes. He also issued bona fide certificates to several, with the intention to cheat the Bar Council, investigation has revealed,” said sources.

Following a complaint from the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP), the Esplanade police, two months ago, arrested B. Vipin, a railway guard who obtained a bona fide certificate from a private law college principal, showing that he had 80% attendance, although he did not attend classes at all.

The application of Vipin, 59, of Villivakkam, to enrol in the Bar was rejected by the council, since he had studied law between 2015-2018 in Andhra Pradesh, while serving in the Southern Railway as a guard. The case was transferred to the CCB later.

On investigation, the CCB arrested Himavantha Kumar, 54, principal of Smt. Basava Rama Tarakam Memorial Law College, Kadapa. The arrest is seen as the tip of the iceberg.

“We have credible evidence that over 20 persons were given certificates by the principal, showing that they had over 70% attendance, even without attending regular classes. Many from Tamil Nadu joined law courses in private colleges in Andhra Pradesh. They obtained degrees without attending regular classes, simply by making a payment ₹40,000-60,000. We are collecting details about persons who obtained law degrees in a fraudulent manner from other States,” police sources said.

Over 1,000 advocates who obtained their degrees from Andhra Pradesh and other States, have, in a similar manner, enrolled with the Bar Council.

P.S. Amalraj, chairman of the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council, said preliminary reports suggested that advocates serving with the State and Central governments, or private firms, had obtained degrees in a fradulent manner. “We are deterimined to take action against those who have enrolled with the Bar Council with fake records. However, we have given them a chance — such persons have been advised to come forward, on their own, to withdraw their enrolment and surrender their identity cards.”

He said criminal action would be initiated against those who continued with their enrolment, with degrees and certificates obtained in a fraudulent manner. The Bar Council has also written to authorities in other States to warn them of the scam, to prevent such a fraud from recurring.

‘More orders in Nirbhaya case not required’

TNN | Jan 26, 2020, 04.48 AM IST

NEW DELHI: As Tihar Jail authorities supplied the documents sought by the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case, a Delhi court on Saturday said “no further directions” were required. The jail authorities had also brought paintings and a notebook belonging to one of the convicts.

The jail authorities, meanwhile, dismissed the claims of the convicts’ lawyer, who had asked for a 170-page diary belonging to a convict. “The authorities have already complied with the request made by the convicts by supplying the documents lying with them... no further directions for supply of any document is required,” said additional sessions judge Ajay Kumar Jain.

About 10 paintings and sketches made by convict Vinay Sharma and his 19-page note book titled ‘Darinda’ and other documents were brought to the courtroom by the authority. The court, consequently, said, “The jail authority is directed to hand over copy of paintings and the note book to the counsel for convicts today in court itself.”

The public prosecutor, appearing for Tihar Jail authorities, earlier submitted that they had supplied all the relevant documents sought by the lawyer of the death row convicts in the case. He also claimed that the convicts were adopting “delaying tactics”.

The prosecutor submitted that the defence’s motive was to defeat the law. “We have already supplied all the documents. We procured all the documents from all the jails where they went,” he said.

The convicts’ lawyer, A P Singh, on the other hand, alleged that though Sharma was being “slow poisoned” and was hospitalised, his medical reports were not made available. The counsel also claimed that Pawan Gupta was beaten and his head was “split open” in Mandoli jail, but his medical documents were not supplied.

Singh had, on Friday, moved a plea on behalf of the death row convicts, seeking their documents from Tihar Jail authorities.

The plea urged the court to direct the authority concerned to provide all required information so that the curative petitions of convicts Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur could be filed. The plea also stated that another convict Sharma’s mercy plea could not be filed as his personal diary was not provided. “Sharma wanted to attach his personal original diary containing 170 pages to the mercy petition,” it added.

The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed the curative petitions of Sharma and Mukesh Singh.

Search warrant for data? Google wants you to pay

26.01.2020 TOI

Facing an increasing number of requests for its users’ information, Google began charging law enforcement and other government agencies this month for legal demands seeking data such as emails, location-tracking data and search queries.

The fees range from $45 for a subpoena and $60 for a wiretap to $245 for a search warrant, according to a Google notice. A Google spokesman said the fees, which go into effect mid-January, were intended in part to help offset the costs of complying with warrants and subpoenas. Federal law allows firms to charge the government reimbursement fees of this type, but Google’s decision is a change in how it deals with legal requests. Law enforcement agencies routinely submit requests to Google seeking users’ data. In the first half of 2019, the firm got over 75,000 requests on nearly 1,65,000 accounts worldwide.

A lawyer for Google said the fees might result in fewer legal requests to the firm and deter the government from excessive surveillance. NYT

Google’s fees range from $45 (₹3,209) for a subpoena and $60 (₹4,279) for a wiretap to $245 (₹17,474) for a search warrant

Coronavirus: Specialist says there is a need for caution

‘Too Early To say Whether 2019-nCoV Will Become Endemic In India’

Malathy.Iyer@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:26.01.2020

The2019 novelcoronavirus—the newest virus spreading from China to the rest of the world—appears to have begun its infectious journey from the Hunan seafood market in Wuhan and there are indications that it is similar to the SARS virus that caused a pandemic in 2002-2003. This means it can spread from person to person and from one city to another, showsthefirst reviewof the2019 novel coronavirus—abbreviated as 2019-nCoV—infection among 41patientsfrom Wuhan.

Both the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus and 2019-nCoV belong to the large family of coronaviruses that was mostly associated with benign common cold until SARS changed the perception by infecting over 8,000 and killing 774in a few months.Another coronavirus, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and was responsible for 850 deathsworldwide.

The review, published in ‘The Lancet’ on Friday, showed that all 41 patients with the 2019-nCoV infection had “pneumonia with abnormal findings”. A third of these earliest patients infected in December 2019 needed to be admitted in intensive care andsix of them died.

Infectiousdiseasesspecialist Dr Om Srivastava said, “It is too early to say whether the novel coronavirus2019willbecomeendemicin India.”There are no reportedcasesin India atthistime, buthesaidthereis a needfor caution. “One should be aware and alert, but not alarmed. Use hand sanitization/sterilization as it is the best way to break the cycle of transmission,”he added.

The WHO released pamphlets to show that the best way to reduce the risk of a coronavirus infection is to clean hands with soap and water or alcoholbasedhand rub.

Full reporton www.toi.in

India seeks China help for students’ return

As the coronavirus turned virulent, the Centre is understood to have requested China to permit over 250 Indian students stuck in Wuhan, the epicentre of the new epidemic, to leave the city, sources said on Saturday. About 700 Indian students, mostly medical students, are believed to be studying in different universities in Wuhan and its surrounding areas. Authorities have prevented anyone from leaving Wuhan. While majority of the Indian students left for home on Chinese New Year holidays, over 250 to 300 students are said to be still in the city and its surrounding areas. PTI

PMO reviews preparedness to tackle ‘outbreak’

New Delhi: Amid a mounting scare over the spread of coronavirus in China, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Saturday reviewed the preparedness and the country’s preventive management system to tackle any possible outbreak here. At a high level meeting, chaired by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, health ministry officials apprised him of the recent developments, preparedness and response measures associated with the spread of the virus. TNN

MOVES TOP COURT

Nirbhaya convict seeks review of rejection of mercy plea by Prez

New Delhi:26.01.2020

One of the death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya murder and gang rape case on Saturday moved the Supreme Court seeking judicial review of the rejection of mercy petition by the President.

The petition has been filed by convict Mukesh Kumar Singh, 32, whose mercy plea was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January

17. “A petition has been filed under Article 32 for judicial review of the manner of rejection of the mercy petition in terms of the judgement of Supreme Court in Shatrughan Chauhan case,” advocate Vrinda Grover, who is representing Mukesh, told PTI.

The warrant for execution of death sentence for the four convicts has been fixed on February 1at 6 am.

Mukesh had moved the mercy petition after the Supreme Court had dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence.

Along with his, the apex court had also rejected the curative petition of another death row convict Akshay Kumar, 31. Other two convicts Pawan Gupta, 25 and Vinay Kumar Sharma are yet to file curative petitions before the Supreme Court.

The 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six people before she was thrown out on the road. She was flown to a hospital in Singapore where she died.

Earlier in the day, A Delhi court said no further directions were required on a plea by the lawyer of the death row convicts in the case alleging the prison authorities were not handing over certain documents required to file mercy and curative petitions, and disposed of the petition.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain said the convicts’ lawyer can take pictures of the relevant documents, notebook and paintings or sketches from the Tihar jail authorities.

The court noted that the jail authorities had already complied with the request made by the convicts by supplying the documents whatever was lying with them. PTI