SC extends parole of Perarivalan by one week

SC extends parole of Perarivalan by one week

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

24.11.2020

The Supreme Court on Monday extended parole of A G Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, by one week to enable him to undergo a medical check-up and asked the Tamil Nadu government to provide police escort to him.

A bench, headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao, passed the order after Perarivalan's lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan informed the court that the parole granted by the Madras high court was to expire on Monday but he could not undergo medical check-up as the state did not provide him police escort. He pleaded the court to extend the parole by a week.

Allowing the plea, the court said, "As prayed for, we further extend the parole of the petitioner by one week from today and direct the respondent – state of Tamil Nadu — to provide the necessary police escort to the petitioner to enable him to visit the hospital for treatment."

On the last hearing on November 3, the apex court had said the MDMA investigation into the “larger conspiracy” in Rajiv Gandhi assassination should not deter the Tamil Nadu governor from deciding Perarivalan's plea for remission of his life sentence.

Actor Thavasi dies battling cancer

Madurai: 24.11.2020 

Tamil actor and comedian Thavasi, who was undergoing treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Madurai, passed away on Monday at the age of 60. He is survived by wife, son and daughter. According to Thiruppurankundram MLA Dr P Saravanan, at whose hospital Thavasi was undergoing treatment, the actor suffered breathing difficulties and had to be shifted to an ICU, but he breathed his last around 8 pm. “For the past two days, he was critically-ill and we provided him the best treatment we could. By Monday afternoon, his condition was worsening and became extremely critical. His death is a huge loss to the film fraternity,” said Dr Saravanan. The MLA said that his family had wished to take him back to his native place during the last days of his life but he had expired before they could make any arrangements. TNN

HC reserves order on exam fee collection by Anna varsity

HC reserves order on exam fee collection by Anna varsity

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  24.11.2020 

The Madras high court on Monday reserved its order on a batch of pleas challenging the decision of Anna University to collect fees for exams that were cancelled in view of the pandemic.

After concluding the final hearing of the cases, Justice N Anand Venkatesh reserved his orders. On August 21, the court while admitting the pleas, directed the university to publish the results of students irrespective of the fact whether they have paid the fee or not.

The court directed the university to explain the actual expenditure incurred for conducting such exams and declaring results. The university said it would suffer major financial setbacks if it is not permitted to collect fees for cancelled exams.

“Nearly 4 lakh students appear for the exams for which the university would incur ₹s37.11 crore towards conducting the exams and declaring results. The entire process for the examination has been started much earlier to the cancelation order issued by the state,” registrar of the university L Karunamoorthy said through an affidavit.

The amount was spent for all aspects except certain terms of expenditure like valuation of answer scripts.

Admin on toes, from Mahabs to Karaikal

Admin on toes, from Mahabs to Karaikal

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

24.11.2020

Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments have made arrangements to face the fury of Cyclone ‘Nivar’.

Cuddalore district administration has set up four control rooms with a toll-free number (1077) to enable people to seek assistance. The control rooms are set up at the district collectorate (04142 220700 / 233933 / 221383 / 221113), Cuddalore revenue divisional office (04142 - 231284), Chidambaram sub-collector office (04144 – 222256 / 290037) and Vridhachalam sub-collector office (04143 -260248).

Cuddalore collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri, who reviewed the facilities at the cyclone shelters located in various parts of the district on Monday, told reporters that the administration had formed 19 teams led by zonal officers to identify thatched houses located in low-lying regions and shift people to safer regions.

The administration has appointed 3,240 ‘first responders’, who are expected to be the first to report on rain-flood related eventualities and reach the spot and undertake relief and rehabilitation work. The administration has nominated 1,360 officials to launch efforts to prevent any loss of human lives and properties.

The administration has kept ready 164 generators and one lakh sandbags to restore power supply in case of disruption and strengthen bunds of waterbodies. Additional 70,000 sandbags would be kept ready for use shortly, the collector said.

Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy chaired a meeting on Monday evening at the state emergency operation centre to review the preparedness of the territorial administration.

EARLY SIGNS: High waves pound the beach in Puducherry on Monday

High court imposes ₹1lakh as cost on Madras Race Club

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 24.11.2020 

The Madras high court has imposed ₹1 lakh as cost on Madras Race Club for passing a resolution to circumvent a court order and thereby disqualifying Dr M A M Ramaswamy Chettiar of Chettinad Charitable Trust from owning any horse.

“The order of the stewards committee of the club is bad because they have been encouraged to usurp judicial power,” Justice C V Karthikeyan said. “A kangaroo congregation had apparently been convened with the sole aim to circumvent the letter and spirit of the order passed by the court…” the judge added.

The court passed the order while allowing an application moved by the trust seeking direction to the club to register new horses acquired by the trust and grant them permission for entering club premises to undertake training.

“Let the club at least participate in the noble cause of extending their hand to provide relief to unfortunate patients undergoing treatment in government hospital and thereby, to a small extent purge themselves of the act of disregarding the orders of this court,” the judge said while directing the club to pay the cost to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The issue pertains to refusal of permission by the club management for the trust to participate in horse races citing a dispute over ownership and registration of horses bequeathed from late M A M Ramaswamy.

In January, a single judge of the court passed an interim order directing the club to permit the trust to participate in the races. Subsequently, on February 13, the trust sent a letter to the club seeking permission for four of its newly acquired horses and their trainers to enter the race club. However, the plea was rejected on the ground that the stewards committee of the club has passed a resolution on March 7 amending the definition of owner under the rules of the club.

MBBS open category counselling: Toppers skip session, leave other aspirants smiling

MBBS open category counselling: Toppers skip session, leave other aspirants smiling

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  24.11.2020 

MBBS/BDS admissions for the open category in the state, where more than 5,000 students have scored above 500 marks in NEET, began on Monday amid Covid protocols.

There were cheers when the top 15 performers, with NEET 2020 scores between 710 and 688 skipped counselling, possibly because most had got seats in the all India quota. “We don’t know the complete details about where they are yet, but we are hoping they opted for all India quota seats in Tamil Nadu or central institutions such as AIIMS and JIPMER,” health minister C Vijaybaskar said after handing over the admit cards to 10 students.

Even students with ranks below 57 were celebrating as they would get an opportunity to get seats in premier Madras Medical College. “It will be a gain if students take seats in any college during all India counselling. Every year, 15% of seats from government colleges are surrendered to AIQ. If students from TN take these, it would mean we are retaining seats for our students. If they go to central universities or AIQ seats in other states, our meritorious students are opting for seats in colleges outside the state,” said S Vasanth, a NEET tutor helping students make smart choices during counselling.

Parents and students watching the display screen from the waiting hall cheered each time, they found a candidate had skipped counselling. “This also shows students from our state are cracking NEET and scoring better each year,” said student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam.

The selection committee called 361 students with scores from 710 to 631 for counselling under open category. The state opened 2,747 seats in 26 government colleges, of which 864 were in open category. At the end of the day, all open category and BC seats in MMC and Stanley Medical College were taken. BCM seats in Madras Medical College were also filled.

Of the 307 allotted seats, 143 joined MMC where the cut-off was 631 marks. At Stanley Medical College, where 21 got admission, it was also 631. Admit cards were handed over to three government school students who could not collect them earlier.

Seven girls from city govt school clear NEET, step closer to dream

Seven girls from city govt school clear NEET, step closer to dream

6 Got MBBS Seats, 1 Chose To Study BDS

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  24.11.2020 

“She’s the first from our entire family to finish schooling and now, go to college. I couldn’t be prouder,” said N Rajan, whose daughter Vishnupriya cleared NEET and will soon be joining Tagore Medical College at Vandalur.

An autorickshaw driver by profession, Rajan couldn’t afford to send his daughter to private NEET coaching centres like many fellow aspirants. “But it didn’t matter to me. I worked harder and cleared the exam in my first attempt,” said Vishnupriya, who finished Class XII this year.

Vishnupriya and six other girl students from the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Ashok Nagar cleared the test this year. One of them will be studying dentistry, while others will be pursuing MBBS. All seven secured seats under the 7.5% reservation for government school students.

N Keerthana, who passed Class XII this year and cleared NEET in the first attempt, will be joining the Ragas Dental College and Hospital. “I have always been fascinated with dentistry, but given my family’s economic situation, I was slightly doubtful of my prospects. I have to thank my mother for encouraging me,” Keerthana said.

She lost her father to a heart attack 12 years ago. Since then, her mother Arockiamary has been working as a sweeper and raising Keerthana and her brother single-handedly. “I used to borrow books for her to study and she worked with what she had, without any coaching. I am so proud of her,” said Arockiamary.

B M Govarthini, S Padmapriya, P Prema, K Bhavadharani and J Afrin Sifaya are the five from the school to bag seats. They too hail from economic weak backgrounds.

M Palanivel, the father of Prema, recalled how he was dissuaded from allowing Prema to study further by friends and relatives. “They said I shouldn’t be wasting any more money on her education since she will get married and leave us.” A daily wager at the Koyambedu market, Palanivel said he took their words as a challenge. “I told my daughter she can study whatever she wants and marry whenever she wants. I want her to become independent and successful first.”

Bhavadharini recalled how it became difficult for her to prepare for NEET during the Covid-19 lockdown. “Our school teachers reached out to us, encouraged us and cleared all our doubts. I have to thank them for their support,” she said.

Saying how proud she was of the girls, the school’s principal R C Saraswathi wished them the best. “We want all our girls to pursue their dreams and attain success. We are there to guide them anytime.”

ODDS WERE NEVER IN THEIR FAVOUR: The successful seven from Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Ashok Nagar are from economically weaker section. From left — B M Govarthini, S Padmapriya, J