Stalin accepts EPS challenge to open debate, but has conditions

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Stalin accepts EPS challenge to open debate, but has conditions

Asks CM To Give Green Nod To Be Probed By CBI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 08.01.2021

DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday accepted the challenge posed by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for an open debate on the corruption charges levelled against him and his cabinet members. But Stalin’s acceptance has come with a few conditions.

Participating in an election campaign in Erode district, chief minister Palaniswami on Wednesday challenged Stalin to an open debate on the corruption charges levelled by the DMK and submitted as a petition to Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit. The chief minister has been maintaining that the allegations of corruption and irregularities are baseless.

“The chief minister has issued a challenge to participate in an open debate. I accept the challenge. But before that, the chief minister has to do a few things. Let him move the Supreme Court and get the stay, ordered by the apex court, on CBI inquiry against the chief minister vacated. Let him move the court tomorrow (Friday) saying he is willing to face the inquiry and get the necessary order,” Stalin said in a statement.

“Let the chief minister convene a cabinet meeting and pass a resolution tomorrow itself (Friday), requesting the governor to grant permission for investigating the corruption charges, submitted as a petition by the DMK. Let him also agree to subject himself to an inquiry for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income and write a letter to the governor,” Stalin said. “I am ready. Are you ready chief minister Palaniswami?” Stalin asked.

The AIADMK is the only party in the country that had a CM who was jailed for corruption and was forced to step down due to the charges. “CM Palaniswami has been subjected to CBI inquiry but brazenly claims he has not indulged in any irregularities and is trying to bury the truth,” Stalin said and listed, once again, the DMK’s charges of irregularities committed by the AIADMK government.

Terming the repeated charges of land grabbing by DMK functionaries as total lie, Stalin said it is the AIADMK that has been in power for the past 10 years and Palaniswami has been CM for the past four years. “How many people from the DMK have been convicted under land grabbing charges,” Stalin asked.

Meanwhile, the DMK has extended the deadline for holding the people’s grama sabha meetings till January 20. While it was decided to hold 16,500 meetings from December 23 and January 10, heavy rains had forced the party to cancel several meetings, DMK said in a statement.

S Rly changes names of two trains from city

S Rly changes names of two trains from city

08.01.2021

Southern Railway has changed the names of two trains departing to the same destination within a gap of 15 minutes. The names were creating confusion among passengers. No. 06181/ 06182 Chennai Egmore-Sengottai Express has been renamed Chennai Egmore- Karaikudi - Sengottai Express. No. 06182 Sengottai – Chennai Egmore Express has been renamed Sengottai – Karaikkudi - Chennai Egmore Express. No. 02661 Chennai Egmore – Sengottai Express has been renamed Chennai Egmore – Madurai – Sengottai Express. No. 02662 Sengottai - Chennai Egmore Express has been renamed Sengottai–Madurai – Sengottai Express. TNN

276 engg seats in AU colleges wasted

276 engg seats in AU colleges wasted

Toppers Who Took Seats Leave To Pursue MBBS After Med Counselling

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  08.01.2021

As many as 276 students have discontinued BE and BTech courses this year in top TN colleges including Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chromepet, to study medicine and other courses. These seats meant for top rankers will lie vacant.

While CEG has 77 such seats, MIT and ACT have 67 and 55, while School of Architecture and Planning has two. In the university’s constituent colleges, 75 seats are vacant.

Unlike for medical courses, there is no second round counselling for engineering. Experts said more seats have fallen vacant during online counselling compared to single window counselling.

Professors from Anna University said such huge vacancies began appearing after the Supreme Court fixed August 15 as admission deadline for BE, BTech courses. It was later extended to August

31. “Engineering counselling should be conducted only after medical counselling to reduce vacancies in premier colleges,” said former vicechancellor E Balagurusamy, adding that medical and engineering counseling under one roof may not be possible. “TNEA (Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission) committee can have its own deadline for admissions keeping in mind the huge vacancies. It can also represent to the regulatory authority and university for seeking extension,” he said.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said it was a huge waste of seats. “Many, who otherwise would have studied in Anna University colleges, are spending huge money to study in self-financing colleges.”

Anna University vicechancellor M K Surappa said the government should delay engineering counselling until counselling for IITs and NITs starts. “It should conduct a second round to fill vacant engineering seats after medical counseling.”

Sasikala may be released from prison by Jan 27, lawyer tells HC

Sasikala may be released from prison by Jan 27, lawyer tells HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 08.01.2021

V K Sasikala, close aide of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who is at present incarcerated in a Bengaluru prison after being convicted in the disproportionate assets case is likely to be released by January 27.

A submission to this effect was made by her counsel before the Madras high court on Thursday while seeking adjournment of an appeal moved by the income tax department against Sasikala.

When the plea came up for hearing, Sasikala’s counsel submitted that the case might be adjourned after January 27 as she is likely to be released by then so that they would be able to get instructions directly from her. Recording the submission, a division bench of Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice T V Tamilselvi sought the opinion of counsel for income tax T R Senthil Kumar.

As he submitted that the department has no objection for the adjournment, the court posted the plea on February 4 for further hearing.

The issue pertains to returns filed by Sasikala for assessment year 1994-95 for ₹28.86 lakh. Subsequently, a raid conducted by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) found that she had concealed purchase of 80 acres of land during the assessment year.

Therefore, based on the DVAC report, the income tax department passed an order dated March 14, 2002, demanding tax to the tune of ₹48 lakh.

Aggrieved, Sasikala challenged the order before the income tax appellate tribunal (ITAT) which quashed the assessment order. Challenging the tribunal’s order, the department moved the present appeal in the high court.

On February 5, when the plea came up for hearing, Sasikala pointed out that the department chose to withdraw a similar appeal pending against actor Rajinikanth citing a circular issued by central board of direct taxes (CBDT) dated September 8, 2019, directing the department to not go on appeal in cases valued below ₹1 crore. She sought the court to direct the department to extend similar relief to her since the value of the appeal is below ₹1 crore.

Refusing to withdraw the appeal, the department informed that Sasikala could not seek relief under the circular since prosecution had already been initiated in her case.

Dental colleges in M’luru bounce back

Dental colleges in M’luru bounce back

Kevin.Mendonsa@timesgroup.com

07.01.2021

Mangaluru: Dental colleges, badly hit during the lockdown and for months thereafter, are slowly returning to normal. Patients are returning in decent numbers and this in turn is helping both UG and PG students gain clinical practice.

Interns and PG students stayed at home when colleges closed in March and resumed duties only in November. Dental students had a problem since people were postponing visits for fear of the virus and this was affecting their hands-on experience.

That has now changed with patients returning. Colleges say they follow SOPs strictly to ensure safety of both patients and students.

Dr Karthik Shetty, professor and head of department of conservative dentistry and endodontic, Manipal College of Dental Sciences (Mangaluru), said medical students learn largely through observation, but it is the exact opposite for their dental counterparts.

“We had a shortage of patients when colleges resumed. However, currently there is a regular footfall of patients and this is helping with clinical practices,” he said.

Some colleges have continued with a blend of mannequin/simulation/models and patients. Dr Akhter Husain, dean, Yenepoya Dental College, pointed out many colleges, to a certain extent, prefer mannequin/simulation for learning. There is also the practice of sharing one patient with multiple students. For example, three students prepare separate dentures for a single patient.

“We have been also following strict protocols, but it is risky for students so we send patients to them only after a complete scan. Social distancing and other norms are followed on the campus as well. A single class is now taken in two more classrooms using audio-visual systems,” Dr Akther said.

AJ Institute of Dental Sciences says about 80% of its clientele has returned. Dr Nillan K Shetty, principal of the college, said they are now only allowing post graduate students to handle patients. “We will allow undergraduates in a staggered manner,” he said.

Pollachi rape case: AIADMK worker, two more arrested

Pollachi rape case: AIADMK worker, two more arrested

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore:  07.01.2021

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested three men, including an AIADMK student wing functionary, in connection with the sensational Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case. The arrested were identified as K Arulanantham, 34, of Vadugapalayam in Pollachi, T Heron Paul, 29, of Achipatti in Pollachi and P Babu, 27, of Vadugapalayam.

Arulanantham, Pollachi town secretary of AIADMK students’ wing, was expelled from the party following the arrest. The party has instructed members not to have any links with him.

The arrests were made after a magistrate court recorded the statements of three survivors a few weeks ago. “The women said that the arrested men, along with N Sabarirajan abducted them in a car in June 2018, sexually assaulted them and threatened to leak the footage,” a source said.

The accused were booked under sections of 354 A (sexual harassment), 354 B (assault or use of criminal force against woman with intent to disrobe), and 39 4 (robbery) of the IPC; Section 66 E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998. They were produced before the mahila court in Coimbatore. Judge R Nandhini Devi remanded them in judicial custody till January

20.

In February 2019, a 19-year-old woman from Pollachi had registered a complaint with the district police alleging that a gang sexually assaulted her in a car, shot a video of the incident and used it to demand money from her. After a case was registered, a few more videos filmed by the accused surfaced. The accused allegedly befriended women using fake accounts on social media, sexually abused them, filmed it and used the videos to threaten them.

A month later, the case was transferred to CBI and five people - K Thirunavukkarasu, 27, N Sabarirajan, 25, M Sathish, 29, T Vasanthakumar, 25 and R Manivannan, 29 – were arrested. They are lodged in the Salem Central Prison. Members of All India Democratic Women's Association and the women’s wing of DMK staged a protest in front of the court demanding justice for the survivors.

K Arulanantham, 34, of Vadugapalayam, Pollachi town secretary of AIADMK students’ wing, was expelled from the party following the arrest. The party has instructed members not to have any links with him

More rain expected in the next 48 hours

More rain expected in the next 48 hours

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

07.01.2021

After rain clouds moved over north Tamil Nadu and dumped nearly 148mm of rainfall in the heart of the city in two days, weathermen have forecast more rainfall for Chennai and its neighbouring regions over the next 48 hours.

While the intensity of rain may be less, private forecasters and bloggers said the city and its suburbs could begin getting the next round of near-intense spells from January 9.

N Puviarasan, director of the Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said light to moderate rain is likely in some areas, while the skies may be generally cloudy for the next 48 hours. Temperatures are likely to be at a maximum of 29 deg C and a minimum of 24 deg C. “This is due to the easterly wave,” he said. Such waves are a type of an atmospheric trough, which is a low pressure over a larger region. As they move from east to west, low-level winds or opposing winds enter the trough, converge and cause convection.

Chennai subdivision has so far recorded 160.6mm rainfall since January 1 against a normal 4.7mm. This in-cludes Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam stations registering 147.8mm and 170.8mm in the last two days. The northeast monsoon spill over this month comes after it left an 33% excess rainfall during peak rainy season in 2020 with 1040.8mm against an average 784mm. Last year, the city recorded a 16% surplus rainfall before the onset of southwest monsoon in the rest of the country with 53.4mm against a normal of 46.1mm. This took the annual 2020 rainfall in Chennai to a 21% excess with 1,572.3mm against a normal of 1,303.9mm.

Outside the city, Kelambakkam rec-orded the highest spell of around 262mm in the last two days.

Skymet Weather, in its post, said an-other heavy spell is likely in the city and suburbs as well as for north coastal regions of Tamil Nadu around January 9 and 10.

Blogger Pradeep John, in his post, said for the next two days the rainfall in-tensity in Chennai and neighbouring Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Chengelpet may reduce. “Rainfall will pick up from January 9 to 12. But that too may be on and off spells,” he said. “Delta region may see good rainfall in this period. Might turn out to be heavy,” he added.