VC to raise issue with Syndicate

26/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University M. Krishnan said that the administration will raise the issue of an unauthorised personnel accessing the university’s consolidated marksheets at the Controller of Examination’s room at the Syndicate meeting scheduled on January 29.

The VC entered confronted the Controller of Examination O. Ravi after an individual owning a distance education centre in Periyakulam in Theni district was found handling the marksheets on Thursday evening.

The VC told The Hindu, “The case has already been presented to all members of the Syndicate. I will formally raise it at the meeting.”

TNPSC scam: three candidates, middleman arrested by CB-CID

Sleuths seize answer scripts, pens with evaporating ink

26/01/2020, S. VIJAY KUMAR ,CHENNAI

Three candidates who scored high marks by fraudulent means and figured in the top 100 in the rank list of the TNPSC Group-IV Services examination and a middleman who provided logistics were arrested by the Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police on Saturday.

According to agency sources, the candidates, M. Thiruvelmurugan, 31, of Thiruvadanai, R. Rajasekhar, 26, of Panruti and M. Kalosha, 29, of Avadi, and the middleman, T. Venkatraman, 38, of Avadi, were arrested after prima facie offence was established.

Pens seized

Investigators seized pens with evaporating ink that were used by the candidates to write the examination. A few answer scripts were also obtained from the TNPSC.

"We are referring the pens and answer scripts to the cyber forensic laboratory for analysis. It appears that the ink was procured locally," a CB-CID official said.

Review meeting

At a review meeting with the investigating team, Director-General of Police M.S. Jaffar Sait directed that the photograph of the prime suspect, Jayaraj of Anna Nagar in Chennai, be sent to all CB-CID units in the State.

Special teams launched a manhunt to apprehend Jayaraj and a few other brokers who helped in transacting money, preparing answer keys etc.

99 candidates

Police were in the process of collecting the names of all the 99 candidates who paid agents to pass the Group-IV Services examination.

Not ruling out the possibility of more arrests in a day or two, the official said inquiries were still on with the two tahsildars who played a key role in the scam.

Parrying questions on a similar modus operandi in earlier examinations conducted by the TNPSC, he said police had gone in search of a tout who was allegedly involved in fixing candidates for an examination held in 2017, and any further action would be based on his statement.

The Group-IV examination to fill 6,491 vacancies was conducted on September 1, 2019.

As many as 16,29,865 candidates appeared for the exam in 5,575 centres across the State.

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