Houses of two medical college owners searched

Houses of two medical college owners searched

Bengaluru:18.02.2021

Income tax officials on Wednesday carried out searches at two private medical colleges and their staff in three cities.

They said the searches were conducted at the houses of medical college owners and employees and that of a minister’s driver in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Davanagere. The raided colleges were located in Rajajinagar and Chikkabanavara.

Officials said the raids happened in the backdrop of complaints that the colleges were illegally demanding exorbitant money for admission. More educational institutions will be searched, they said. TNN

Preparations begin to hang a woman for 1st time post-1947

Preparations begin to hang a woman for 1st time post-1947

Anuja Jaiswal, Ishita Mishra, & Sandeep Rai TNN

Mathura/Dehradun/Meerut: 18.02.2021

The Mathura district jail has started preparations to hang a woman for the first time in independent India.

Shabnam Ali, 38, was convicted of killing seven members of her family — her mother, father, two brothers, sister-in-law, cousin and 10-month-old nephew — by serving them milk laced with sedatives and then slitting their throats.

Shabnam, 25 then with a double MA, wanted to marry Saleem, a class VI dropout, but her family did not want her to. Both were sentenced to death in 2010 by the sessions court in Amroha in UP, where they are from. Over the next11 years, Shabnam went to the Allahabad high court, the Supreme Court, the President and then the Supreme Court (SC) again. In January last year, her review petition was dismissed by the SC. However, she has notexhausted all judicial remedies. Though her lawyer told TOI that they have not been informed about a death warrant being issued in the one year since, at the Mathura district jail, the only one in the country where women can be hanged, preparations are afoot.

“We have not received any death warrant but have started preparing … Last year in February, the executioner, Pawan Jallad, had inspected the hanging house and said that there was a problem with the structure of the gallows. We are fixing that now. We have also just ordered two hanging ropes from Bihar’s Buxar central jail,” Mathura senior jail superintendent Shailendra Maitrey told TOI on Wednesday. Built 150 years ago, the gallows has never been used in independent India. Step-sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit have been on death row for kidnapping 13 children and killing at least five of them. A woman from Lucknow, Ramshri, had been sentenced to death in1998 but it was commuted to life imprisonment after she gave birth to a child in prison. So, the hanging house, with creaking structures and covered in overgrowth with decades of disuse, would take a while to set in order.

UNUSED FOR DECADES: The 150-year-old gallows was inspected by the executioner Pawan Jallad in February last year. It is being fixed and prepared for use now, jail officials said

HR&CE official summoned by HC; may face contempt

HR&CE official summoned by HC; may face contempt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.02.2021

The Madras high court summoned the joint commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department incharge of Srirangam temple for having failed to implement an order.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, observing that the officer may have to face contempt of court proceeding, directed the officer to appear before the court on February18 to explain why the court’s order was not complied with.

On January 6, the bench directed the officer to constitute a committee comprising religious leaders and department officers to conduct Urchavams in Sriranganathaswamy temple. The court also directed the department to file a status report in six weeks.

When the plea came up for hearing on Wednesday, the petitioner informed the court that the committee had not been constituted citing Covid-19. Recording the same, the bench passed the interim order.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by Rangarajan Narasimhan alleging that religious functions and rites at Trichy Srirangam Temple are not conducted as per shastras, but as per the whims and fancies of department officials.

Therefore, he wanted the court to direct the state government to constitute a committee comprising religious heads to decide the manner in which such functions are to be conducted. To this, the court observed when the government imposes certain restrictions to protect the life and health of public, the same must be adhered to. However, if such religious functions can be performed with minimal participation of the public, the same can be done while following the Covid-19 protocol, the court added.

The issue pertains to a plea alleging that religious functions at Trichy Srirangam Temple are not conducted as per shastras but as per the whims of department officials

High court issues warrant against former Anna univ VC Kalanidhi

High court issues warrant against former Anna univ VC Kalanidhi

Academic Fails To Appear Before The Court Twice

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 18.02.2021

Incensed by willful failure of former Anna University vice-chancellor A Kalanidhi to appear in court despite orders, the Madras high court has issued a warrant against the academic and ordered authorities to secure and present him before the court on February 25.

A division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Sathi Kumar Sukumara Kurup issued the directions on Tuesday, and said: “Today, when this appeal is taken up for hearing counsel for the appellant (Kalanidhi) submits that Dr Kalanidhi is out of India and therefore he could not appear before this court. On the other hand, counsel for the respondent submit that Dr Kalanidhi is very much available in India, and his non-appearance before this court is willful and wanton.”

Also, when Kalanidhi’s counsel sought to withdraw an appeal filed by the former vice-chancellor, who had challenged a single judge verdict concerning an Anna University premises occupied by Indian Society for Technical Education, the bench said: “We are not inclined to grant such permission to counsel for the appellant (Kalanidhi) to withdraw this appeal.”

On February 2, the bench was informed by the Indian Society for Technical Education that they had not authorized Kalanidhi to file the writ appeal at all. On hearing this, the bench had directed Kalanidhi to appear before the court on February 10.

On February 10, however, his counsel said the February 2 order could not be communicated to Kalanidhi and hence he could not appear before the high court.

Acceding to his request, the bench then fixed February 16 as the date for Kalanidhi to appear before the court. When it was taken up as scheduled, it was submitted that the academic was abroad and could not appear in court.

It was in this context that the bench issued the bailable warrant against the former vice-chancellor and directed the authorities to secure him.

The bench also gave details of his residential address, besides his telephone numbers to authorities concerned.

The high court ordered authorities to secure and present the academician before the court on February 25

Chennai likely to get rain over weekend, but not over 5 mm

Chennai likely to get rain over weekend, but not over 5 mm

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.02.2021

The cricket Tests ended just in time for the city to be treated to some showers. Weathermen have forecast light rain at the end of this week because of the easterlies strengthening in the presence of a cyclonic circulation.

While IMD has forecast light to moderate spells over a few places across the state, private forecasters and bloggers said Chennai and its suburbs may receive some spells at least for two days.

For the next 24 hours, IMD has forecast dry weather over Chennai and the rest of the state. The city and its neighbourhoods may record temperatures at a maximum of 31°C and a minimum of 22°C with partly cloudy skies. But by Friday, the agency has forecast light rain at isolated places over coastal Tamil Nadu while dry weather may prevail over rest of the state. On Saturday and Sunday, the intensity is likely to increase as light to moderate rain with thunderstorms have been forecast at a few places over the state. Experts said the spells would be due to a cyclonic circulation over southwest Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka ,which is likely to strengthen the incoming easterly winds to the state.

Skymet weather, in an online post, said rain and thundershowers are expected all along the coastline from Chennai to Kanyakumari between Friday and Sunday. “The quantum of rain is not going to exceed 5mm in this wet spell,” the forecaster also said.

Climatologically, the city is comparatively dry during February as it receives an average 3.4mm, which is the lowest amount of rainfall in the year.

Weather blogger Pradeep John in his post said the westerly trough, a region of elongated low pressure in the westerly winds, which usually affects north India may at times move down to south India bringing some weather activity. “Unlike monsoon spells, these rains are difficult to forecast as they do not occur in a widespread area,” he said. After Sunday, a prolonged dry spell till the end of February is likely.

Class XII board exams from May 3; surprised, say schools

Class XII board exams from May 3; surprised, say schools

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.02.2021

The Class XII state board exam schedule took many schools by surprise as they were expecting the exams to be held by the end of May or early June. According to the time-table announced by the directorate of government exams (DGE) on Wednesday, the exams will begin on May 3 and end on May 21.

More than 8 lakh students will appear for the boards this year. Exams will be conducted from 10am to 1.15pm with the first 15 minutes being given to read the question paper and verify particulars in the answer sheet.

Schools said the new time-table gives them just 74 days to complete the syllabus, revise the lessons and hold model exams. Some teachers said they may have to rush through the lessons to finish the syllabus. However, others said the time-table will ensure the next academic year started on time.

Students TOI spoke to said they need more time to prepare and lack writing practice. “We are hoping to get our doubts from online classes cleared. With two to three chapters in each subject still pending, we needed more time. But the board exam schedule gives only around 70 days to prepare,” said Divya, a Class XII student from the city.

Tisha Karen, another student, said a one-day gap between biology and chemistry exams is “not ideal”.

Principals said DGE could have given one more month time considering the pandemic. “We have not completed the portions,” said Agnes Rita, principal of GRT Mahalakshmi Vidhyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ashok Nagar.

“June would have been ideal as schools need more time. Exams before June will have a huge impact on the performance of students,” said N Vijayan, senior principal of Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tambaram.

But K John, headmaster of Thiru Vi Ka Higher Secondary School in Shenoy Nagar said being an election year, the DGE has come out with a schedule “keeping various aspects in mind”. “Students also need to prepare for exams JEE and NEET and schools have to start next academic year on time,” he said.

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