UPSC Exams - Extra Chance For Final Attempt Candidates Would Amount To Differential Treatment : Centre's Affidavit In Supreme Court

UPSC Exams - Extra Chance For Final Attempt Candidates Would Amount To Differential Treatment : Centre's Affidavit In Supreme Court: The Department of Personnel and Training has filed an Affidavit before the Supreme Court submitting that an extra chance will not be provided to candidates who have exhausted all their attempts

Customs seize ₹36 lakh worth gold, smartphones at airport

Customs seize ₹36 lakh worth gold, smartphones at airport

Chennai:26.01.2021

Customs officials seized ₹36 lakh worth gold and electronic gadgets from two passengers who arrived from Dubai at the city airport on Monday.

Based on a tip, customs officials intercepted Rawther Naina Mohamed, 50, and Ibrahim, 46, both of Ramanathapuram, at the exit gate after they arrived from Dubai. Upon searching, gold paste bundles, gold cut bits containing a total 705 grams of gold, worth ₹35.92 lakh were recovered and seized under the Customs Act. Sleuths further found six expensive mobile phones, worth ₹4.2 lakh, in the checked-in baggage and seized them too. Further investigation is on.

Govt regularisation of unapproved plots extended till Feb 28

Govt regularisation of unapproved plots extended till Feb 28

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.01.2021

The state government on Monday extended the scheme for regularisation of unapproved layouts and plots till February 28, more than two years after the scheme ended. The one-time amnesty scheme, The Tamil Nadu Regularisation of Unapproved Layouts and Plots Rules, 2017, was launched in May 2017 and closed in November 2018 after three extensions.

The housing and urban development department said the latest extension was to provide an opportunity to those who missed the chance to apply for regularization.

This followed a letter from the director of town and country planning (DTCP) that representations had been received from various organizations to extend the scheme.

The DTCP suggested the scheme be extended by another six months as many had missed applying for regularization as they did not know it had ended and some others because they expected it would be extended.

Moreover, during the housing and urban development department’s virtual interaction with real estate associations in June last year, there was a demand for extending the scheme, Monday’s order said.

Subsequently, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) also sought extension of the scheme.

Accordingly, the housing and urban development department has extended the scheme till February 28, 2021.

Application for regularization can only be made online, said the order signed by D Karthikeyan, secretary of housing and urban development department.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu chapter chairman S Sridharan said, “Extending the scheme will bring more housing plots under the bracket of regularization.”

Girl, 5, dies after measles shot: SHRC tells govt to pay ₹2L relief

Girl, 5, dies after measles shot: SHRC tells govt to pay ₹2L relief

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.01.2021

The State Human Rights Commission recommended a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the father of a five-yearold girl who died a day after she was administered the Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine at the Institute of Social Paediatrics, Stanley Medical College Hospital, in 2018. The commission had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident based on a newspaper report.

D Gopi, father of D G Thanishka, had submitted that the child did not suffer from any health issues before she was administered the vaccine around 11am on May 2, 2018. Within 15 minutes, Thanishka complained of breathless, severe burning in the eyes and fainted. She was then taken to the emergency ward by hospital staff and the parents were not allowed to see her, he said. She was pronounced dead the next day.

In response, Selvi, assistant professor at the Institute of Social Paediatrics, the dean and the head of the department at the institute denied allegations of medical negligence and irregularities. After the vaccination, the child had developed anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) which was promptly identified and treated. The respondents denied allegations of not allowing the parents to see the child. Further, they said 20 children were administered the shot that day from the same MR vial and no other complications were reported.

Based on the evidence, commission member D Jayachandran observed, “It is not in dispute that the child died due to pulmonary edema with pneumonitis and acute tubular injury of the kidneys. But the respondent has not produced any document to show that the child died due to individual immune response to the vaccine,” and ruled that the Government of Tamil Nadu pay ₹2 lakh relief.

Investment fraud: Properties worth ₹207cr attached

Investment fraud: Properties worth ₹207cr attached

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.01.2021

Enforcement Directorate, Chennai, provisionally attached 1,081 immovable properties spread across 3,850 acres worth ₹207 crore in Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Chennai in a money laundering case where the accused allegedly defrauded public in the guise of investment.

The attached assets are in the name of M/s Disc Assets Lead India Ltd, M/s Eagles Eye Real Estates, M/s Meadow Realtors and its key managerial personnel.

The investigation was initiated by Economic Offences wing of TN police who booked a criminal conspiracy and cheating case against M/s Disc Agrotech Ltd, Disc Assets Promoters Ltd, Disc Asset Lead India Ltd and its directors V Janarthanan, N Umashankar, N Arunkumar, C Srinivasan, T Shyamchander and S Jeevalatha in 2006. They had allegedly collected money from public in various parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala promising them land in return. The money was collected in instalments.

ED initiated a case under Provision of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on TN police’s FIR.

Investigation by the central agency revealed that the directors of the company had floated many entities like Dal Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd and Aiyan Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd to collect money from public on behalf of Disc Assets Lead India Ltd to circumvent legal impediments of the SEBI Act. The total money collected amounted to ₹1,273 crore.

Investigation under PMLA by ED revealed that the invested amount collected from depositors was utilised in purchase of immovable properties in Tamil Nadu in the name of the company, its directors and other unrelated entities.

A major portion of the collected amount was siphoned off by the directors of the company through entities which were floated by them with their close relatives as directors or partners. The accused persons had cheated their depositors by neither allotting them land nor returning their investment.

One arm of Kilkattalai flyover to be ready by Feb

One arm of Kilkattalai flyover to be ready by Feb

Oppili.P@timesgroup.com

Chennai:26.01.2021 

One arm of the flyover on Thorappakkam-Pallavaram radial road at Kilkattalai junction will be open for public in mid-February. About 50% of the congestion at the junction is expected to reduce once the 700-metre arm is opened.

A senior state highways department official said 95% of work on the flyover, delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and rain from the northeast monsoon, was completed.

The project is expected to be ready by the first week of next month and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is expected to inaugurate it a week later.

Asked about the progress of work on the flyovers at Velachery and Medavakkam ones, the official said the two projects were still best with problem including of land acquisition.

At Velachery, realignment of the Metrowater pipeline and sewer line, which had caused the delay, was a major issue. Also, work on the two-level flyover is more complex because construction at the higher level can be taken up only when work on the one below is completed, the official said.

In May, when the ₹186 crore Velachery flyover is thrown open to the public, motorists can finally breathe easy. Currently sweating out in long lines of stranded vehicles, they can breeze through to Taramani, Tambaram or Saidapet and vice versa. The junction is a key link to the IT corridor for residents of several interior areas.

Similar is the situation at Medavakkam where the 2.3km long flyover, the longest in the city, is coming up. Given its proximity to Sholinganallur and a few other areas along the IT Corridor, reducing congestion was a major issue. With scores of residential colonies having sprung up in the vicinity, vehicles stretching for lines in all directions during the morning and evening rush hour became common.

Constructing a flyover at the junction had been a long standing demand of people in the area.

TAKING SHAPE: The flyover that’s coming up on Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road

Airlines wary of flying people from UK to Chennai

Airlines wary of flying people from UK to Chennai

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.01.2021

Airlines have become cautious while boarding passengers from London to Chennai and other cities in the country as the Union government has instructed that passengers flying via transit airports should not be allowed.

Checks are also high Dubai, a popular transit hub, after an airline got penalised when a Covid-19 positive passenger flew from the UAE to Chennai recently. Airlines are checking documents at Dubai to find out if all passengers to Chennai are originating from Dubai or whether they are coming from the UK.

The heightened travel restrictions in London and document screening in Dubai have affected passenger confidence to travel abroad, said Basheer Ahmed of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).

Earlier, passengers from London were allowed to fly via transit airports such as Paris, Frankfurt, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and a few others. Now this has been stopped as the government wants to restrict the number of passengers who land in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi from the UK.

An airport official said the scrutiny of documents is high at airports abroad. “This has made travel a hassle for people, especially those who want to come from the UK because there are fewer direct flights to Chennai. Air India is flying while British Airways is resuming schedule only from next month. There is an uncertainty whether the flights will continue or not.”

“A majority of the people have to land in Mumbai and Delhi. But they have to spend more to travel to Chennai by domestic flights because domestic fares have increased,” said Ahmed.

A London-Chennai oneway ticket costs Rs 30,000 while London-Mumbai flight costs Rs27,000 for travel in the second week of next month because the route has more flights. However, passengers have to pay Rs 4,500 to 5,000 on the Mumbai-Chennai leg. Most of the travel is not booked much in advance as there is a need for registrations and approvals.

People are hesitating to travel from Chennai to London unless they have to travel for business or work because cases are high in the UK and the country has put in a lot of restrictions.

Passengers do not want to get stuck abroad if their test there turns positive. “It is going to make people wary of traveling to destinations even when they are open for leisure and business travel,” an airline official said.