Honoured to have our house as trust office, says Parasaran

Rohan.Dua@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.02.2020

K Parasaran, the 93-year-old Supreme Court lawyer who represented Hindu parties in the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid dispute, and his family could hardly contain their emotions on Wednesday as their three-storey house in Delhi's Greater Kailash-1 was declared the office of the newly formed trust that would oversee the mandir's construction on a 67-acre land in Ayodhya.

"I am just one of the trustees. There are others," he smiled. There are 15 trustees in all for the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khsetra Trust.

Parasaran's lawyer son Mohan told TOI, "We are of course happy. But at the same time, it is a very onerous responsibility. Parasaran senior, my father, has been involved in the Ayodhya matter since 1991. He, after deep thought, accepted this offer. The offer was made by the home ministry. With his experience, he will be able to manage the Trust aided by very able and distinguished trustees."

Their house, R 20 in Greater Kailash 1, an upscale locality in the capital city, buzzed with activity as his personal aide for 33 years, Muthuswami, answered the phone that rang relentlessly.

Inside the house, framed photographs of Lord Ventakeshwara, Ram and Ganesha adorned the walls lined below by an extensive collection of law books and small plaques. Among them hung the Padma Bhushan citation that he received from then President A PJ Abdul Kalam in 2003.

Woman seeks divorce after husband objects to her TikTok videos

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

06.02.2020

Bengaluru: A woman with a few lakh followers on videosharing app TikTok chose to part ways with her husband of 12 years after he vehemently objected to her posting videos that he termed were ‘damaging to family values.’ Faris and Najma (names changed) married in 2008 and had a son in 2014. A sales representative, Faris landed a job in Saudi Arabia and left his wife with her parents. “Three years ago, the woman’s neighbour introduced her to Tik-Tok and she got hooked. With a pseudo handle, she started making videos and enjoying the online attention,” said Ekbal Ahmed, a senior counsellor at Parihar family counselling centre at the police commissionerate. He handled the couple’s case after they approached the centre.

Earlier in 2019, Faris received a shocker when a friend sent him a TikTok video of his wife allegedly performing an obscene dance. “He confronted his wife, who accused the friend of morphing her images,” Ahmed added. Unconvinced, Faris quit his job in October and returned to his wife and confronted her. But she accused him of of doubting her. “Finally, she admitted to having made and posted numerous videos on TikTok. The husband then approached police, who referred the matter to us. We tried to reconcile the couple through counselling,” said the senior counsellor.

But the woman was determined to continue being on TikTok. The couple is headed for divorce and is set to battle it out over their son’s custody.

Thousands witness Big Temple consecration, done after 23 yrs

Vincent.Arockiaraj@timesgroup.com

Thanjavur:06.02.2020

Thousands on Wednesday witnessed the grand consecration at the Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple) in Thanjavur, conducted after a gap of 23 years. As per court order, the ceremony was performed in both Tamil and Sanskrit. A group of Odhuvars recited Thirgnanasambandhar’s Thirumurai before pouring holy water on the ‘Kalasam’ erected atop the Vimanam (temple tower) of the Big Temple at 9.21am after vedic hymns were recited in Sanskrit by priests.

The events had begun on January 27. Poorvanga puja and eight Kala Yaga pujas were held on February 1, and the event concluded with the final phase of eight Kala puja on Wednesday morning. Later, holy water from Ýaga Salai was taken to the temple tower in a procession.

P Maniarasan, coordinator of the Big Temple Rights Retrieval Committee who had initially demanded that the ritual be conducted in Tamil, said, “Our efforts to bring Tamil in the forefront during the consecration have succeeded. Not only the Big Temple but all the temples, whether owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) or private parties, Tamil should be the main language during rituals. We want to conduct ‘kumbabishekam’ (consecration) in all the temples in Tamil.” Meanwhile, several departments of the state government along with the HR&CE made elaborate arrangements for devotees to have a hasslefree darshan. Collector M Govinda Rao participated in the event. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed at the temple. Inspector general of police (central zone) A Amalraj supervised the security arrangements.


GRAND FEST: The Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur all decked up for the grand occasion on Wednesday evening

ASI officials keep close watch on devotees

Thanjavur: Over 70 officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were deputed to check if any structure, inscription, sculpture in the Big Temple was being damaged during the consecration ceremony on Wednesday. The ASI is currently working on renovation of the temple, the total being worth ₹50 lakh. ASI has so far done chemical cleaning of sculptures, inscriptions and structures, including all gopurams and Vimanam inside the temple. ASI conservation assistant S Shankar said, “We had deputed around 70 officials to take care of the monument. Their job was to prevent any damage to the structures during the ceremony. They also kept an eye on devotees and prevented them from causing any damage to the structures.” He said garbage accumulated inside the temple premises during the ceremony would be cleared during night hours. TNN

17 years on, 2 IPS officers get clean chit

Chennai:06.02.2020

Two criminal appeals filed by two IPS officers and pending in the Madras high court for 17 years, were finally disposed of on Wednesday, when the court trashed a sessions court order convicting the officers under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Justice M Dhandapani, acquitting E Hariharane (since deceased) and G Veeraraghavan, who had both served as directorsgeneral of police, fire services department, between May 1989 and July 1992, said: “The trial court totally got carried away by the figures portrayed than by the materials, in black and white, available before it to come to a reasonable and justifiable conclusion. Therefore, left with no alternative, this court is inclined to set aside the conviction and sentence recorded by the trial court as being devoid of any merit.”

The prosecution had alleged that the two officers had incurred a pecuniary loss of ₹1.77 crore and ₹31.56 lakh to the exchequer in the purchase of pumps, construction of emergency rescue tender and purchase of high capacity portable pumps. It said the officers floated and finalised tenders and awarded the contract in breach of not only the tender conditions, but also giving a go-by to specifications, thereby facilitating pecuniary advantage to the supplier. It said the conspiracy was hatched by the officers between May 1989 and July 1992. TNN

Chennai’s 2nd airport likely at Parandur
Govt To Float Global Bids For Consultancy

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.02.2020

After years of scouring areas around the city for a second airport, the government is set to float global bids in a week for a consultant to do a detailed master plan for a site – likely to be Parandur near Sunguvarchatram. The selected consultant will, among other things, prepare a financial model and recommend development model under a public-private-partnership (PPP) framework, sources said.

The proposed airport will require about 4,500 acres including for future development. “In an attempt to speed up the process of finalizing the plan, senior bureaucrats had a meeting with chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami a few days ago. The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (Tidco) will float a Request for Proposal to zero in on a consultant,” said a source. The selected firm is expected to conduct a technoeconomic feasibility study and prepare a project report, assist the government in obtaining statutory clearances and conduct bid process for selection of the developer.

The government is expected to make known, by March or April, the location of the site alongside the identification of the consultant. Incidentally, Tidco had dumped its previous bid in July last year after extending the tender call thrice, since it faced a series of issues beginning with prospective consultants demanding that the government identify the site first. This was reflected in a pre-bid meeting the agency had convened to get the project going. Later, Tidco roped in a retired Airports Authority of India (AAI) official to help identify the site, given that the proximity of the Tambaram and Arakkonam air force stations could pose problems. The AAI authorities visited recently the proposed site at Parandur as well as at Mamandur near Cheyyar Sipcot industrial park, suggested by the state government. The Vision 2023 plan of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa had spelt out development of a greenfield airport in Sriperumbudur on a PPP basis.

Once the site is officially identified, Sipcot will freeze the land. “After confirmation from the government and AAI is received, Sipcot will take up the further proceedings. There is no problem as of now, given that very few families live around the Parandur site,” said another official.

The state has international airports at Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai and domestic airports at Tuticorin and Salem. Chennai remains one of the four busiest airports in the country, with 20.36 million passengers recorded in 2017-18. It also constituted 6.7% share in the country’s total aircraft movement during the year. The rise in demand prompted the state government to look out for sites for a second airport and sites such as Manallur near Gummidipoondi and Thiruporur were considered as possible locations.

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With no signal on cell, Kavalan app comes to rescue of trapped techie

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:06.02.2020

For Mallika, the 20 minutes she spent trapped inside a restroom at a star hotel in Nungambakkam appeared like a lifetime. Unable to open the door and stuck inside with no cellphone reception, the techie had no idea of how to reach the hotel authorities. Only then did she realize she had the Kavalan SoS app on her mobile phone. A click on the red button and she was connected to the city police control room. A police team reached the hotel within two minutes to assist her, she narrates.

“It was 11am, and it was a small room. I tried to keep my cool for two minutes. But I panicked the moment I realised something was wrong with the lock,” said Mallika, the victim.

The lock on the door was jammed and the hotel management had no clue of her ordeal until a sub-inspector from Nungambakkam approached them. After a 10-minute struggle to try to open the door, they had to break open the lock to rescue the woman.

“I tried calling out for help, but realized the hotel staff wouldn’t be able to hear it as the restroom was a isolated corner,” says Mallika. “That I had the Kavalan app struck me suddenly, and I used the SOS feature. I was surprised by the superquick response.” This was the first time she used the app in the six months she had it on her phone. “It is nice that cops help you even in such emergency situations,” she said.

More than 1 million users in Tamil Nadu have downloaded the Kavalan app. As per data provided by police, Chennai tops with about 1.60 lakh users, followed by Coimbatore district.

I-T sleuths pick up Vijay from film shooting spot

Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.02.2020

Income tax officials on Wednesday descended on the sets of actor Vijay’s latest film ‘Master’ at Neyvli and interrupted shooting to whisk him away for questioning as part of the investigation into production company AGS Entertainment.

“They came to the shooting spot around 3pm in three vehicles and took Vijay along with them. We have no idea where they took him and when he will return. The production crew is waiting at the spot,” said the actor’s publicist. The development raised eyebrows as the usual practice is for I-T authorities to send notices summoning people to their office for questioning.

I-T officials are conducting searches at the residences of the actor, the offices and residences of a film financier in Madurai, who is known to be close to several politicians, and the premises of AGS Entertainment, which produced Vijay’s latest release, the Tamil film ‘Bigil’.

AGS Entertainment spent ₹180 crore on ‘Bigil’ that released last Diwali.

For second time in five years, Vijay has come under I-T lens

“What began as questioning of the actor resulted in searches of his residences. We commenced searches of the actor’s residences at two places in and around Chennai. As of now we are not able to reveal much, but a formal statement will be released in the coming days,” a senior I-T official told TOI.

Searches at more than 20 premises of AGS Entertainment and AGS Cinemas, which own and operate a chain of multiplexes, began in the morning. The company’s offices as well as the residences of its directors came under the I-T scanner. I-T sources said the department was investigating if there was any tax evasion or use of unaccounted money.

AGS Entertainment spent ₹180 crore on ‘Bigil’, which released last Diwali. The film’s various rights were sold for around ₹200 crore. The actor’s remuneration was reported to be ₹50 crore. “We have information about tax evasion by the film company and it is in this regard we wanted to question the actor too,” said an I-T official.

This is second time in five years, the actor has come under the I-T scanner. “In 2015, soon after release of the movie ‘Puli’, we conducted searches and summoned the actor and others for questioning,” said the official. Earlier, AGS too had come under the I-T scanner couple of years ago, but it was more to do with its accounting of a loan taken against a deposit from a bank.

AGS Entertainment spent ₹180 crore on ‘Bigil’, which released last Diwali. The film’s various rights were sold for around ₹200 crore. The actor’s remuneration was reported to be ₹50 crore