Stalin will never become CM, I will ensure that: Alagiri

Stalin will never become CM, I will ensure that: Alagiri

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:  04.01.2021

Amidst slogans hailing him ‘anjaa nenjam (brave heart)’, M K Alagiri on Sunday declared war against his estranged brother and DMK chief M K Stalin, saying: “Stalin can never become the chief minister. My supporters and I will ensure it.”

The former Union minister and elder son of M Karunanidhi, who convened a meeting to discuss his future course of action ahead of the assembly election, said he would announce his next move soon and that his supporters should accept his decision. “To this day, I do not know what I did wrong to be dismissed from the DMK. Stalin betrayed me,” said Alagiri.

In what clearly appeared to be a show of strength, Alagiri arrived in a campaign vehicle to a marriage hall in Madurai as supporters from the city and southern districts gathered in large numbers. The gathering of Alagiri supporters that included DMK workers brought traffic to a standstill on the inner ring road in Madurai. People came in hundreds of vehicles, and the marriage hall near Pandikoil, one of the biggest in Madurai, burst at the seams with cadres standing outside to watch the proceedings on a giant screen.

Accusing Stalin of being jealous of his growth, Alagiri said, “I don’t know why I was betrayed.”

M K Alagiri addresses supporters in Madurai on Sunday

We will waive all edu loans: Stalin

The DMK would waive education loans taken by students for higher studies if the party comes to power after the asembly elections, chief M K Stalin said on Sunday.

I have been DMK’s saviour, despite not having a post: Alagiri

Alagiri said, “I only wanted to be a cadre working for the party and had never hankered after party posts. We turned Madurai, which was MGR’s fortress, into a DMK’s fortress.”

“There are always posters calling you (Stalin) future CM but that’s not going to happen. My followers will never let you become future CM,” Alagiri said.

Stalin was being compared with Karunanidhi, said Alagiri. “A DMK district secretary said Stalin had done even better than Kalaignar (Karunanidhi). I feel ashamed to hear this. How can they compare Stalin with Kalaignar?” he asked.

Alagiri said he had never wanted to work for the Thirumangalam byelection as he had been upset with his family. “But Stalin, Dayanidhi Maran and other DMK leaders met me and urged him to take up the responsibility. Kalaiganar kept calling me every hour and I took up the responsibility and helped the party win the byelection by a margin of 40,000 votes as I had predicted,” he said.

Alagiri said he had been DMK’s “saviour” on several occasions even while Stalin used him to get party posts. He said senior DMK leaders had come to his house to recommend Stalin for the party treasurer’s post.

“Another day, when Stalin and his wife visited my house during the Thirumangalam election, my wife and I assured him he would be the leader of the DMK after Kalaignar,” said Alagiri. Whenever he was given a posting, Stalin sought higher postings, he said.

“I was silent for seven years. My supporters want me to float a party. I will take a decision. But whatever decision I take, I want you to accept it,” he said. His supporters, including P M Mannan, M L Raj and P Chinnan, while addressing the gathering, said Alagiri should be re-inducted into the party.

M K Alagiri said he was silent for seven years, but now his supporters want him to float a party. He will take a decision soon

NEWS DIGEST

NEWS DIGEST

Teachers to protest on Feb 12

Tamizhaga Arampapalli Asiriyar Koottani, an association for elementary teachers, on Sunday announced that it would protest at district headquarters on February 12 demanding the cancellation of disciplinary action initiated against 5068 teachers for participating in the strike called by Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teacher Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTTO-GEO) in 2019. They will give representations to chief educational officers on January 11.

The organsiation is also demanding the cancellation of new pension scheme and increase in the 7.5% special reservation for government school students in medical courses to 20%.

Farmers assn wants relief for damaged crops to be hiked: Tamil Nadu Farmers Association on Sunday urged the state government to increase the relief for crops damaged by Nivar cyclone. In a statement, P Shanmugam, president of the association said the relief amount of ₹8000 per acre is not even meeting half of the money spent by the farmers. He further asked the state government to announce relief for damaged huts and livestock.

Power shutdown in some areas tomorrow: Tangedco has announced power shutdown in some of the areas of Chennai suburbs on Tuesday from 9am to 2pm for maintenance work. Power will be cut in areas including Gummidipoondi, Thirumudivakkam, parts of Kundrathur and Puthuthandalam. In Pudhuthangal area, power will be suspended in Mudichur Road, Old Tambaram, Irumbuliyur, Kushkintha Road, Amudham Nagar and Kurinji Nagar. In Thirumudivakkam area, power will be suspended in Somsangalam, Varadharajapuram, Kundrathur Bazzar and Natham.

Rain in city likely for next few days

Rain in city likely for next few days

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 04.01.2021

The city is likely to experience fairly moderate rain or thunder showers for the next few days because of the impact of heavy rain that is likely to hit Puducherry, Cuddalore and further south.

A seven-day forecast shows that the city will experience rain at night or during the day till January 7. There will be light rain till Tuesday and moderate rain on Wednesday and Thursday. An IMD forecast for the next 48hours said: “The sky condition is likely to be generally cloudy. Light to moderate rain is likely to occur in some areas.”

However, there is a heavy rainfall warning for Tuesday which says that “heavy rain is likely at isolated places over Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Cuddalore areas.” This is expected to have an impact on the weather in Chennai, said a met department official.

The city and its suburbs received good rain on Saturday night. Kelambakkam, on OMR, recorded 3cm; Mamallapuram 2cm; Tambaram, Chengalpet, Sholingnallur, Madurantakam, Sriperumbudur, Chennai airport and Alandur received 1cm.

A seven-day forecast shows that the city will experience rain at night or during the day till January 7. There will be light rain till Tuesday and moderate rain on Wednesday and Thursday

SRMC Convocation 2021

 

Online registration for SRM’s BTech entrance exam begins

Online registration for SRM’s BTech entrance exam begins

Chennai:04.01.2021

SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) has launched online registration for its BTech entrance exam SRMJEEE (SRM Joint Engineering Entrance Examination) 2021.

The entrance exam is likely to be held in the second week of April in 127 cities across the country and five countries in the middle-east including Dubai, Doha and Kuwait.

Candidates who qualify in the exam can get admissions in all campuses of SRMIST. The deemed university said it will announce the entrance exam and joint counselling dates as per the instructions and notifications AICTE and state governments.

“Candidates applying for the entrance exam should have secured a minimum aggregate of 50% marks in maths, physics, chemistry/ biology for all campuses except Andhra Pradesh,” SRMIST said. TNN

COVID CONCERNS

TNPSC Group I examination: 49% candidates absent

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  04.01.2021

The group I preliminary exam of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission was held on Sunday, with 49% of the candidates absent. Of the 2,56,954 who applied, 1,31,264 appeared and 1,25,690 were absent, mainly due to the travel restrictions triggered by Covid-19. Usually, around 30% candidates are absent for the preliminary exam.

Answering all questions and affixing the thumb impression on the OMR answer sheets, to prevent malpractices, were among the mandatory rules for students.

Candidates said more weightage was given to Tamil Nadu-related questions and the difficulty level was high.

“As per the new measures, candidates need to shade answer to all questions. If they don’t know the answer, they have to shade the answer not known option. The commission also allotted additional time to write each of the five options shaded by them for all questions,” said Sucharithan, who appeared for the exam.

Some said introduction of the additional option just a few days before the exam had led to a few mistakes, while others said more weightage was given to the history of social reform movements and leaders in the state. “The exam is conducted only for 66 vacancies. Many candidates have gone back to their native places and due to travel constraints, they have skipped the exam,” a woman said.

The TNPSC also introduced Thirukkural and development administration as new topics while revising the syllabus.

“Students found it difficult to answer the development administration questions. Question paper pattern is moving from factual questions to conceptbased questions which is good,” said Sathyashree Boominathan, managing director of King Makers IAS Academy.

On the huge absentees, he said, “Usually, the gap between the number of candidates applied and appeared is 30%. Covid-19 pandemic and long-delay have affected the preparation and confidence of candidates leading to more absentees.”

While the number of applicants fell from the usual 5 lakh to 2.5 lakh, some said the lack of an option to change exam centre could have led to some absentees. “Many might have skipped exam due to Covid-19. The long delay and the pandemic might have affected confidence,” said U Sivabalan, academic head, TNPSC exams, Shankar IAS Academy.

Fake marksheet gang was active for 22 yrs

Fake marksheet gang was active for 22 yrs

Mastermind A Retd Jal Nigam Employee: STF

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:  03.01.2021

The gang running a degree and marksheet racket unearthed by Special Task Force from Alambagh on Friday was active for the past 22 years and had given fake marksheets and degrees to hundreds of people for jobs and admissions, said officials on Saturday.

As many as 342 marksheets and 115 degrees of Lucknow University, eight marksheets of Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, 34 marksheets of MA and 50 blank marksheets of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, were seized along with eight blank marksheets of Government Polytechnic in Lucknow, and marksheets of various schools and institutes.

The officials said the gang charged price for marksheets as per the need of the seeker.

Dy SP, STF, Avnishwar Chandra Srivastava, who is conducting the probe, said the interrogation of the three arrested accused, identified as Sunil Kumar Sharma, Lallan Kumar and Vishwajeet Kumar, has revealed that the gang was active since 1998.

“Sunil Sharma, the gang’s mastermind is a retired government employee from Jal Nigam, Lallan worked as a private school teacher, and Vishwajeet was the printer,” said the officer.

“The trio used to charge money as per the requirement. If one needed marksheet for a job then they charged from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending upon the post, while for admissions they charged Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, depending upon the course,” he said. Marsksheets with masters in science were the most sought ones, the officer said.

“We are tracing some people who came in their contact and took fake marksheets,” the DySP said.

They used to target candidates studying in coaching institutes of tier-two cities and those approaching offices of job consultants.

They started the fraud in 1998 when there was huge demand for fake certificates, their business dipped when digitization started in 2014, he added.

Officials said the gang charged price for marksheets as per the need of the seeker