‘Even PM can’t stop DMK’s grama sabhas’

‘Even PM can’t stop DMK’s grama sabhas’

People Keen To Send AIADMK Govt Home: Stalin

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 26.12.2020

DMK president M K Stalin on Friday said not just chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot prevent his party from holding grama sabha meetings. Chief minister Palaniswami is terrified by the response that DMK is getting from people and hence issued an order to ban holding of grama sabha meetings, Stalin said.

“People are participating in large numbers in our grama sabha meetings. It is a clear signal that people are keen to send the AIADMK government home and bring the DMK to power. With elections just four months away, chief minister Palaniswami knows that his days in power are already numbered.

Hence he is trying to ban the grama sabha meetings being organized by us,” Stalin said, while participating in a people’s grama sabha meeting at Marakkanam in Villupuram district.

“We did not want to create confusion and hence decided to rename the grama sabha meetings as people’s grama sabha. These are being organized by the DMK to send out a clear message to reject the AIADMK government and the response for ‘We Reject ADMK’ campaign has been tremendous,” Stalin said.

DMK has planned to hold 16,500 grama sabha meetings in 10 days from December 23. In the first two days, more than 3,000 such meetings were held in which over one crore people participated, Stalin said.

“It is not just the people who have realized that the DMK will return to power after the forthcoming assembly elections.

“Even governor (Banwarilal Purohit) has realized it. Hence, when we met him to present a 97-page detailed complaint against chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and six other ministers, governor promised us to take action. If he fails to do so, we will initiate action once we come to power,” Stalin said.

He said, chief minister Palaniswami was branding the DMK as a family party and one that indulged in corruption.

“Has any corruption charges against the DMK been proved so far? In the 2G case too, DMK deputy general secretary A Raja proved his innocence and came out of prison. If chief minister Palaniswami is confident, let him face the charges and prove his innocence. But, he fears that investigations will lead to his conviction and he will lose power,” Stalin said

Don’t burden court with marriage statuses: HC

Don’t burden court with marriage statuses: HC

Madurai:  26.12.2020

Directing the authorities to register the marriage of a man with a Sri Lankan citizen, Madras high court has observed that authorities are expected to apply their mind and pass orders according to statutes without burdening courts. A petition was filed by U Kalatheeswaran who sought to register his marriage under the Special Marriage Act 1954 with Parimala Devi, a Sri Lankan citizen who came to India on a tourist visa in 2018. The special government pleader submitted that according to section 7A of the Citizenship Act 1955, unless a person is not continuously living for two years in India, he/she cannot claim citizenship. Justice S Vaidyanathan observed that the preamble of the Special Marriage Act prescribes no condition that the spouse should be an Indian citizen and that he or she cannot marry a foreigner. TNN

NEWS DIGEST Timings of special trains changed

NEWS DIGEST

Timings of special trains changed

26.12.2020

Southern Railway has revised timings of special trains. As a result of this change, train No. 06012 (Hazrat Nizamuddin – Kanyakumari special ) will reach Villupuram five minutes ahead of the existing schedule. The same train will reach Vriddhachalam three-minutes ahead from December 28. Similarly train No.02658 (KSR Bengaluru- Dr. MGR Chennai Central Special train) will reach Jolarpettai, Katpadi and Arakkonam at least 70 minutes ahead of the current schedule.

B.Ed course in special education: Vidya Sagar, a 35-year-old organization based in Chennai, working with persons with disability has announced that it will be offering a B.Ed course in special education, multiple disabilities and inclusive education. The 2-year course is affiliated to the Tamilnadu Teachers Education University and recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India. Contact 9840035203 /9444412388 or mail hrd@vidyasagar.co.in

Self-sealed containers to be cleared at Madhavaram & Tondiarpet: Customs has permitted selfsealed containers meant for exports from Chennai Port Terminals, to be cleared at Central Warehousing Corporation, Madhavaram, and Inland Container Depot, Tondiarpet, upto January 31. This is in addition to existing facility at CWC Tiruvottiyur.

Power shutdown: In order to facilitate maintenance work, power supply will be suspended in parts of Chennai between 9 am and 2 pm on December 28 and

29. Supply will be restored by 2 pm if the work is completed, Tangedco said in a statement. On Monday, areas in and around Rajakilpakkam like Shantha Avenue, Thirumal Nagar, Umar Nagar, Balaji avenue, Mahalakshmi Nagar and Mosque colony will face power cuts.

City labour court sets aside dismissal of IT professional

City labour court sets aside dismissal of IT professional

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 26.12.2020

A labour court here has set aside the dismissal of an experienced IT professional employed with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for more than two decades and directed the company to reinstate the staff and pay 50% back wages.

The employee, a resident of Velachery, moved the labour court against her termination stating that she was dismissed despite her stating that she could not report to work due to health reasons.

According to her petition, she joined the company in 1995 as an associate consultant and rendered service for more than 22 years. She stated that she fell ill in May 2017 and communicated about her illness to the human resources team of TCS over phone. She also submitted her medical records subsequently.

However, she was dismissed from employment through a communication dated June 2, 2017, without accepting her valid explanations on health grounds, the petitioner stated.

Her counsel submitted that she was dismissed without following the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act.

In response, the company submitted that the employee could not be allocated to any project owing to her inability to upgrade subject knowledge and requisite skill sets. She remained unallocated (benched) for 727 days from March 7, 2015, until the date of discharge from her services, the company’s counsel submitted, and argued that the employee availed salary benefits, without having worked for over two years.

After perusing the submissions from either side, N Venkatavaradhan, presiding officer, first additional labour court, observed that there is no evidence to prove the allegations of TCS that the petitioner has not improved her standards as required by the management. “Therefore, this court can see that it is a tactic adopted by the management to find reasons for her termination,” the court said and directed the management to reinstate the petitioner within three months and pay 50 % backwages and other benefits from the date of termination.

TCS did not respond to queries from TOI.

The court held there is no evidence to prove her employer’s allegations that the petitioner didn’t improve her standards as required by the firm

Prof moves court for direction on bifurcating varsity

Prof moves court for direction on bifurcating varsity

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.12.2020

A physics professor has moved the Madras high court seeking direction to the office of the governor to take a decision on an ordinance forwarded by the Tamil Nadu government for bifurcating Thiruvalluvar university and establishing a university in Villupuram.

Considering the demands from the residents of Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore and other neighbouring districts for better access to higher education, the Tamil Nadu government passed the ordinance on September 16 and sent it to the governor for his assent.

Since the ordinance was pending with the office of the governor for over three months, the petitioner R Muthulakshmi, an associate professor, moved high court.

She claimed that the very purpose of the ordinance would be defeated due to the delay caused by the governor in either promulgating the ordinance or returning the same.

“This would give rise to questions regarding dereliction of a constitutional duty by the highest constitutional authority of the state,” she alleged.

The chief minister as the highest executive authority of the state has announced the creation of a new varsity by bifurcating the Thiruvalluvar University where it was specifically stated that the new university would start functioning in this year itself, the petitioner said.

“As clearly stated in the press release of the chief minister, the decision to create the new university was taken after due consideration of the long term requests of the residents in Villupuram. Therefore, the delay in making a decision on the ordinance is detrimental to public and aspiring students, particularly the residents of Villupuram,” she added.

Delay in granting assent is now putting the future of many students in jeopardy as they were under the legitimate expectation of securing admission in the said university, its affiliates and constituents, she said.

‘Strip IAS officers who ignore HC orders of posts’

‘Strip IAS officers who ignore HC orders of posts’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.12.2020

Expressing dismay over constant disobedience of court orders by bureaucrats, particularly IAS officers, the Madras high court on Friday said such officers must be stripped of their posts.

“…ignoring the orders of this court would definitely amount to dishonesty in their duty, besides disobedience,” Justice S Vaidyanathan said.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by TV Pallanee, then commissioner of Tambaram municipality, challenging action against him for executing emergency work worth ₹83,920 without calling for tenders.

Though charges against Pallanee were not proved during the departmental inquiry, the then secretary to the department of municipal administration deferred the findings of the inquiry officer without disclosing any reasons. Pallanee’s pension was cut by ₹200 a month.

Pallanee moved the high court saying the deferment of the probe findings by the municipal administration secretary was unlawful. Counsel for the government argued that the investigation was conducted in a transparent and independent manner.

Recording the submission, Justice Vaidyanathan said Pallanee had executed the work that was needed under emergency provisions. "The officers who are in charge of the fulfilment of a public need, removal of encroachment, should be appreciated and encouraged, instead of punishing them for their good actions," the judge added.

The judge said there are several IAS officers who deal with applications under the Town and Country Planning Act and do not comply with the orders of this court. This is in spite of specific directions issued every now and then, fixing the outer time limit for disposal of the matters, the court said.

"Such officers, who are least bothered about the orders of this court and are not doing their duty, must be sent out and their IAS posts must be stripped off,” the judge observed.

The court then allowed the plea and quashed the punishment order against Pallanee.

UNDER FIRE: The judge said there are some IAS officers who do not comply with orders of the Madras high court

Local trains are running, but closed ticket counters a pain

Local trains are running, but closed ticket counters a pain

Commuters on City-Tiruvallur Route Left To Make Detours

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  26.12.2020

Suburban train services may be returning to pre-Covid times, but commuters face a peculiar problem — locked ticket counters — at six stations on the Chennai-Tiruvallur route.

Commuters from Tirumullaivoil, Annanur, Hindu College, Nemilicherry, Putlur and Egattur stations are not able to get on to the trains despite them halting there as ticket counters are not functioning.

With no prior intimation about the counters being unavailable, commuters learn about it only after reaching the station and many choose not to board trains as they could be penalised if caught travelling without tickets.

The counters are run by private agents on contract as these stations are classified as ‘halt’ stations and railways was yet to allow the agents to start selling tickets.

K Baskar, a frequent commuter and former member of divisional rail users consultative committee, said, “This did not affect the commuters till now because only railway staff were using the trains. They should have told the agents to start selling tickets when it was decided to allow the general public take the trains.” From December 23, members of the public have been allowed to take the trains during non-peak hours. Patronage in suburban services have grown to be close to a lakh since.

Since the counters are closed, people at the stations are either forced to make a detour and board trains at stations located a few kilometres away or take buses to reach the city.

“People are forced to travel an additional 2-3km to reach another station to buy tickets. People from Egattur have to go to Tiruvallur to board trains while those from Nemilicherry go to Tiruninravur or Pattabiram stations. Many are inconvenienced because they find out about lack of ticket counters only after reaching the station,” said Raghavendra Bhat, a resident of Putlur. “My wife wanted to take the train home after visiting a relative at Nemilichery since it was convineient and safer, considering Covid-19. But that wasn’t possible,” he added. People are forced to spend ₹30 and use buses to reach places such as Avadi.

A majority of the people are travelling during peak hours. “We have been demanding the railways to scrap the concept of halt stations and appoint their staff to run the counters,” Baskar said. He also said railways was yet to understand commuter requirements. “On Friday, several people who worked in private companies suffered because railways operated just seven trains in the morning peak hours as it’s a public holiday,” he added.

A railway official said there wasn’t much patronage and that agents will have to keep running the counters. “This may not be an ideal situation as they operate on the basis of a commission for selling tickets. The counters will be opened soon as the number of commuters has increased,” he added.

Ticketing counters in six stations on the route classified by Southern Railway as ‘halt stations’ are yet to open