Projectors worth over ₹15 lakh stolen from Anna University

Projectors worth over ₹15 lakh stolen from Anna University

20/11/2020

Special Correspondent CHENNAI

As many as 41 projectors worth more than ₹15 lakh were reportedly stolen from a classroom in Anna University.

The Kotturpuram police began investigation following a complaint from the management.

The police said the projectors went missing from a room in the C.V. Raman Science Park building.

During the lockdown, the building was used as a COVID-19 Care Centre for patients in isolation.

The projectors were removed and stored in a room when the building was handed over to the Corporation. The building was handed back to the Anna University administration in October.

On Tuesday evening, when Muthukumar, a junior civil engineer, opened the room where the projectors were stored away, he noticed that 41 devices were missing.

Based on a complaint from K. Gunasekaran, 55, who is an estate officer for the university, on Thursday, a case was registered and the matter was taken up for investigation.

DME creates panel to deal with ‘false’ nativity claims

DME creates panel to deal with ‘false’ nativity claims

It will look into complaints made by medical aspirants

20/11/2020

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) has created a five-member expert committee to look into complaints of “false nativity claims” made by aspirants to medical seats in the State.

The committee comprises Deputy Directors of Medical Education M. Selvaraj and G. Vimala Devi; P. Parasakthi, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Madras Medical College; K. Rajasekar, professor of Ophthalmology; P. Thirunavukkarasu, head, Physical Medicine; and V. Avudaiappan, Registrar, Tamil Nadu Homoeopathy Council.

Any disputes regarding nativity will be referred to the committee for scrutiny and the committee will give a decision that will be adopted as per the norms listed on the prospectus, said R. Narayana Babu, Director of Medical Education.

The DME said the committee had been constituted on Wednesday, the first day of counselling for medical and dental seats under the State quota.

Soon after the merit list for the State seats was released by the DME, complaints arose that Mohanaprabha Ravichandran, who had been ranked second, featured on the medical merit list in Kerala State.

Concerns were raised that she had claimed nativity in that State as well as in Tamil Nadu.

Another list

On Wednesday, as counselling began for seats reserved for government school students, another list of medical applicants emerged — this time a list of 34 candidates who had applied to colleges in Telangana as well as in Tamil Nadu.

Ms. Mohanaprabha’s father Ravichandran said his daughter had applied for self-financing and private medical colleges in Kerala under a scheme that permits other State candidates to apply. “We are natives of Namakkal and we have not forged nativity for applications in Kerala. We applied under the non-Keralite II scheme in Kerala, in which those who are not natives of the State can apply for seats in private and self-financed medical colleges, and would be considered if seats are not filled through counselling there,” Mr. Ravichandran told The Hindu.

Since his daughter had scored good marks in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), she had appeared for the all-India counselling. Ms. Mohanaprabha had secured All India Rank 62 and is placed second on the State merit list. In the merit list in Kerala, she is ranked fifth among the top 10 candidates. She has since been admitted to JIPMER.

Ever since NEET became the qualifying criteria for medical seats, certain kinds of malpractices have crept in. Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said the DME had put in place “checks and balances”, and candidates were expected to give a signed affidavit that all information provided by them was genuine. Malpractice would be attributed only if a student had claimed nativity in two different States as part of their MBBS application, he said.

(With inputs from Staff Reporter in Salem)

Gone in 2 hrs: Tainted Bihar education minister quits

Gone in 2 hrs: Tainted Bihar education minister quits

Madan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Patna: 20.11.2020

Bihar’s newly appointed education minister Mewalal Choudhary, who is an accused in a recruitment scam during his tenure as vice chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) from 2010 to 2015, resigned within two hours of assuming charge on Thursday, earning the unflattering distinction of being the shortest-serving minister in the state.

His resignation comes just three days after his induction in the cabinet triggered sustained criticism by the opposition led by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s RJD, reminding CM Nitish Kumar of his “zero-tolerance policy” on corruption. Soon after Choudhary resigned, Tejashwi held Nitish responsible for appointing a tainted MLA in his cabinet. “Responsibility lies with you (Nitish). Why did you make him a minister?” he tweeted.

Mewalal-CM meeting lasted 30 min

Governor Phagu Chauhan accepted Choudhary’s resignation with immediate effect, and the building construction department minister Ashok Choudhary was given the additional charge of education.

Earlier in the day, Mewalal reached the new secretariat around 12.30pm and assumed charge of his ministry and held his first meeting with the department’s senior officers. “In the meantime, the minister received a call from the chief minister’s office. He was asked to rush to the CM house and meet Nitish Kumar. Within half an hour, we received information that the new minister has been asked to quit,” a senior official in the education department told TOI.

Stalin is ‘hero of statements’: EPS

Stalin is ‘hero of statements’: EPS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Salem:20.11.2020

Terming DMK president M K Stalin as 'arikkai nayagan' (hero of statements), chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami urged the opposition leader to stop levelling false allegations at AIADMK leaders and ministers. “Instead, Stalin should offer constructive criticisms and try to find a place at least as an opposition party,” EPS said at Vanavasi in Salem district on Thursday.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating several projects worth Rs 123 crore and laying the foundation stone for Rs 118 crore worth projects, EPS said Stalin was levelling false allegations everyday against the ruling party. TN was ahead in agriculture, education, health and industrial growth, EPS said, noting that Stalin was unable to digest this growth. Tamil Nadu had the highest number of students pursuing higher education in the country; paddy procurement from delta region this year has touched a record 32 lakh tonnes as against 23 lakh tonnes in the past; and the state had the highest GDP of 8%. “No other state has such high GDP. Even during the lockdown, industries have come to TN.TN is the only state to open more industries after March this year,” EPS said.

Due to concerted efforts of the state government Covid has also been controlled, said the CM.

Friends build a house for their schoolmate who lost home to Gaja

Friends build a house for their schoolmate who lost home to Gaja

Vincent.Arockiaraj@timesgroup.com

Pudukottai:20.11.2020

A group of friends built a house for a schoolmate, who lost his residence to cyclone Gaja. M Muthukumar, a 44-year-old truck driver of Machuvadi in Pudukottai, had been struggling due to the lockdown.

The 1984-92 batch of TELC Higher Secondary School mobilized ₹1.5 lakh for the project using a WhatsApp group. It was M Nagendran, a businessman, who set the project in motion.

Muthukumar, the sole breadwinner of a family of seven, has been staying in a partially damaged tent since the cyclone struck the area in 2018. “Had my friends not helped me, we could not have slept peacefully during the recent rain that lashed across the district,” Muthukumar told TOI. “Since my earnings were not even enough to feed my family, I could not even think about repairing the house. I thought of applying for a house under PMKisan scheme. But for that too, I should have some cash in my hand.”

Nagendran happened to meet Muthukumar in September and on noticing the damaged hut his friend stayed at, decided to construct a house for him “I left the place without telling anything, formed a WhatsApp group and managed to add 60 batchmates. I expressed my idea and all of them swung into action immediately. Within 50 days, we completed the asbestos house and handed it over to my friend’s family before Diwali,” Nagendran said.

No work, full pay: Union accuses MTC of favouring AIADMK men

No work, full pay: Union accuses MTC of favouring AIADMK men

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.11.2020

Pay without work is what the city’s bus service, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), is accused of giving its drivers affiliated to the ruling AIADMK.

On Wednesday, MTC workers belonging to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a protest over this at Iyyappanthangal bus depot. MTC authorities denied these allegations, attributing them to inter-union rivalry. But documents submitted by the CITU union to buttress their charge tell another story.

The documents included payment receipts printed by higher-ups at the depots based on transport return (TR) documents filled manually by bus conductors at the end of every trip. These TR documents show the number of tickets sold and have a column for the driver’s name.

“We had accessed documents pertaining to bus trips made in the fourth week of January and first week of February. On four different occasions, AIADMK drivers were paid over ₹1,200 as salary even when they did not turn up for work,” said Dayanand from CITU, who led the protest on Wednesday.

For instance, in one case, Thangeswaran, a driver at Iyappanthagal worked on full shift, driving a small bus route number S21 (Porur-Ramapuram) for eight hours. The TR sheets had his name but the payment receipts had the name of another driver named Sivakumar.

In another case, payment receipts showed that driver Saravanan drove an MTC bus along 166 route (Iyyapanthagal-Tambaram), but the TR sheets showed a different name.

After Thangeswaran complained, he was transferred to Aynavaram. His transfer was later put on hold following opposition from workers.

“After this complaint, MTC refused to share documents with us. Four violations in two weeks at one branch indicate that this could be rampant across the city leading to losses in crores. MTC is already facing huge losses due to reduced patronage and Covid-19 travel restrictions. Such corruption amid this will make things worse,” Dayanand added.

In response, Anbarasu, MTC Branch Manager at Iyyapanthangal, said, “The transfers were made three months ago when Thangeswaran tried to physically attack the former branch manager Muthu. Transport unions are trying to cover it up by playing the corruption card. There was no chance for any violation”

HC to AICTE: Can pvt college teachers have min wages?

HC to AICTE: Can pvt college teachers have min wages?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2020

A Trichy-based activist has moved the Madras high court for a direction to Tamil Nadu government to disburse salaries of private school, college teachers from the state treasury.

Petitioner K M Karthik also wanted the court to reduce the fee structures of private schools and colleges as much as possible after a detailed audit by the income tax department.

Admitting the plea, a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice R Hemalatha directed the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to file a detailed report on fixing a minimum wage for teachers in private institutions.

According to the petitioner, though the court has permitted the institutions to collect fees from parents of students for the lockdown period, many institutions have failed to pay salaries of their staff including the teaching staff.

Pointing out that private schools are not governed by any legislation that specifies a salary structure for teaching faculty, the petitioner submitted that in some institutions, teachers are paid as low as ₹5,000 a month. Though private colleges are mandated to follow AICTE guidelines, according to which every teaching staff is entitled to a salary of ₹68,000, most of the colleges do not follow the rules as the monitoring mechanism is poor, the petitioner said.

“In these unprecedented times, teachers do not demand pay as shown in records of the colleges. All they ask for is their salary,” he added.

The petitioner also wanted the court to intervene and direct the state to reduce the fee structure of all private schools and colleges in the state after conducting a thorough income tax audit of the educational institutions. Recording the submissions, the bench adjourned the plea to February 5 for further hearing.

The high court was hearing a petition that sought direction to the government to pay salaries of private school, college staff from the state treasury. The petitioner claimed many institutes denied proper salary to staff during the lockdown