Visva-Bharati evicts student from hostel for recording V-C’s speech

University said video was used to ‘defame’ Vice-Chancellor
29/01/2020, BISHWANATH GHOSH,KOLKATA

Visva-Bharati University has evicted a student from its hostel for recording on his mobile phone the speech of Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty during the Republic Day function.

The university maintained that the video was used to defame the Vice-Chancellor and therefore the student was responsible. The student, Bijju Sarkar, who hails from a village in Bankura district, said he had merely forwarded the clip to a friend and it was never his intention to show the Vice-Chancellor in poor light.

Mr. Chakrabarty, in his speech, can be heard saying that even though anti-CAA protesters were reading out the Preamble of the Constitution, the Constitution itself was “brought into effect by minority votes”, with only 293 members of the Constituent Assembly drafting it. This portion of his speech was circulated on WhatsApp.

Handwritten notice

Late on Monday night, the proctor and the warden arrived at the Purba Palli Senior Boys Hostel (PPSBH) and extracted a confession from Mr. Sarkar that he had shot that video and then served him a handwritten eviction notice. The letter addressed to Mr. Sarkar, a second-year history student, was signed by the proctor, Sankar Majumdar.

When asked by The Hindu whether he had written the notice, Mr. Majumdar declined to reply and asked the reporter to contact the university PRO. The PRO did not answer his phone.

The student, fearing more drastic action, promptly vacated the hostel room and went back to his village. “I come from a very poor family and had bought the mobile phone last month with scholarship money. Many other students too were recording the Vice-Chancellor’s speech, then why was I singled out? I had merely forwarded the clip to a friend. I don’t want any more trouble because it’s the question of my future,” Mr. Sarkar told The Hindu over phone.

Only 13 lakh PAN card holders have filed income tax returns: Chief Commissioner
29/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Rajiv Vijay Nabar addressing an awareness programme in Madurai on Monday.R. Ashok

Although there are 62 lakh Permanent Account Number (PAN) card holders in Madurai region, only 13 lakh out of this population have filed their tax returns, according to Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Rajiv Vijay Nabar.

He was speaking at an awareness programme on Income Tax Compliance and Returns conducted by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Income Tax department, here on Monday.

He added that the Madurai Income Tax Commissionerate with jurisdiction over 10 southern districts, collected ₹ 2,000 crore as Income Tax last year. The target was ₹ 2,300 crore for a population of 1.70 crore.

“For this year, out of the target of ₹ 2,418-crore revenue, the Commissionerate had already collected ₹ 1206 crore. This is 51% of the target,” he said. He added that revenue growth percentage is more than in cities like Chennai.

The Chief Commissioner said that in the past, assessing officers were given the choice for scrutiny. This caused disputes and a lack of transparency. Through the new computer-aided selection of scrutiny, officers do not have a choice in the matter and they call for books of accounts for verification.

Speaking about grievance meetings, he said that the event allowed members from economically weaker sections of society to access a help desk.

He said that Southern India Regional Council of Chartered Accountants would also provide services on the second Tuesday of each month. Chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu, president N. Jagatheesan and senior officials from the IT Department participated.

5 killed, 8 injured in car-van collision in Rajapalayam
The deceased were returning from Courtallam
29/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,RAJAPALAYAM

Alas: The car that was involved in a head-on collision with a van on Tenkasi-Rajapalayam Road on Tuesday.ma29accident

Five persons were killed in an accident involving a car and a van in Rajapalayam in the small hours of Tuesday. Police said the deceased were from Sivakasi, who were returning in the car after visiting Courtallam.

They were identified as M. Muthukumar (27), B. Ayyappan (33), A. Anthonyraj (30), S. Sudalaimani (30) and N. Prabhu (29).

While Prabhu succumbed to head injuries after he was referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, the others were killed on the spot.

The police said the accident took place at a curve on Tenkasi-Rajapalayam Road around 12.45 a.m. In the head-on collision, the front portion of the car was badly damaged and the body of Sudalaimani got stuck in the mangled remains.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel employed a wrecker van and an earthmover to retrieve the body from the car.

“We had to struggle for more than 30 minutes to pull the body out of the car,” said Rajapalayam Station Fire Officer S. Jeyaram. Following the accident, traffic on the busy section was disrupted for more than 30 minutes.

Initial probe suggested that the van, carrying some 17 persons, was driven rashly, Rajapalayam Deputy Superintendent of Police M. Nagasankar said.

Eight persons, including three women, travelling in the van were injured.

They were admitted to Rajapalayam Government Hospital.

The occupants of the van were returning to Shencottah in Tenkasi district after attending a wedding at Melur in Madurai district.

Palaniswami inaugurates radiation oncology units

29/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated the Radiation Oncology Block and Linear Accelerator service in Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the CT simulator.

Mr. Palaniswami inaugurated through video conference the radiation oncology block and new equipment for cancer treatment in Government Royapettah Hospital, installed at a cost of ₹22.21 crore, an official release stated. Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh and other senior officials were present.

State gets two more medical colleges
29/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Union government has sanctioned two more medical colleges to Tamil Nadu in Ariyalur and Kallakurichi districts, taking the number of new medical colleges to the State within a year to 11.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami thanked the Union government for the approvals on behalf of the people of the State.

The Centre had approved six medical colleges to the State in October last year and three more in November the same year.

On Tuesday, the Centre approved two more requests for medical colleges in Ariyalur and Kallakurichi districts.

Rush for birth certificates

29/01/2020

Going only by the names of the applicants for birth certificates in Chennai in January, 80% of the applicants are Muslims. The number of applications for birth certificates started increasing gradually after the announcement of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, and the data show a sudden rise in January 2020.

More than 60% of city residents, who were born before 1990 do not have a birth certificate, it is estimated. The number of residents without a certificate is expected to be over a million. "Most of the residents applying for birth certificate are elderly people. It is a worrying trend," said an official. Corporation officials said the birth certificate of such residents would be issued based on a "field enquiry" by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO).

The Corporation issues a non-availability certificate and the RDO has the powers to pass orders on the citizens’ place of birth. But the procedure takes three months.

The process of verification also involves field verification by Revenue Inspectors of the District Administration, Sanitary Inspectors of the Corporation and the local police.

With inadequate manpower in the Chennai District Administration, the process of issuance of birth certificate for all such residents may even take many years.

As most of the buildings that existed in 1935 in the city are already razed, it is not possible for the police to verify the place of birth, making the process more challenging, officials said.

TNPSC scam: two candidates held

29/01/2020,CHENNAI

Two candidates who allegedly paid touts to help them pass the Group-IV Services examination conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) have been arrested by the Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police. According to an official press release, T. Vignesh alias Vicky, 23, of Ulundurpet and R. Sivaraj, 31, of Panruti were arrested for paying ₹7.5 lakh each to brokers to help them pass the test.