Tambaram-Trichy highway to do away with blackspots, get safer

Tambaram-Trichy highway to do away with blackspots, get safer

NHAI Sanctions 105 Crore To Cut Down On Accidents, Improve Infra Along Stretch

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

17.07.2021 

In a bid to cut down on accidents along the Tambaram-Trichy highway (NH-45), the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has sanctioned `105 crore for constructing bridges, vehicle underpasses, additional lighting facilities and improving road alignment.

The fund allocation comes almost eight years after NHAI identified risky stretches on the NH-45. The highway is one among the top ten most perilous road stretches in the country with 27 accident ‘blackspots’ — a 500m stretch where at least five fatal accidents were reported in a year. At least 40 people died in road accidents at some of these 27 blackspots on NH-45.

NHAI was under fire for failing to take adequate measures to reduce accidents at these places identified in 2012. Tenders were floated but work got delayed due to legal issues and land acquisition hassles.

It was only last year that work started at half-adozen blackspots on the Tambaram-Tindivanam stretch at a project cost of `9 crore. This includes road junctions at Singaperumal Koil, Kattankulathur, Marimalaimagar, Paranur railway bridge and Acharapakkam.

NHAI, which cleared obstacles that caused accidents, put in place metal-beam crash barriers, rumble strips, additional speed breakers, road studs, traffic signals and retro-reflective traffic sign boards.

Construction of pedestrian bridges and installation of pedestrian guard rails were pending at a few locations, an NHAI official from Chennai Regional Office said.

“Blackspot rectification work was delayed due to the lockdown but it has reached the final stage now. We expect to finish it by July-end,” the official added.

However, motorists, who use the Tambaram-Trichy stretch regularly, said their complaints pertaining to street lights have gone unattended.

During the entire lockdown period, road lights near Singaperumal Koil junction were dysfunctional, said G Ganesh from Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Association. “Several motorists get blinded by the high beam without street lights,” he said.

NHAI had outsourced maintenance work of street lights on the stretch to a private contractor, but were unable to find electricians during the lockdown, Ganesh added.

Tenders have also been floated this month to rectify accident blackspots at Mamandur, Arasur and Ellis Chatram along Tindivanam-Ulundurpet stretch.

NHAI has set a one-year deadline to complete these infra projects.

On the progress of the project, public transport activist R Rengachari said, “The government should also speed up enforcement measures. The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system proposed for NH-45 has been pending for years now”.

ANPR project aims at installing 56 speed sensors and 168 cameras between Chennai and Trichy to automatically detect vehicles travelling above 100 km per hour and penalise them.

Right to be redacted: HC to study status of an acquitted man

Right to be redacted: HC to study status of an acquitted man

K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:17.07.2021 

As a simple Google search can make or mar a person’s character, his/her name should be redacted (obscured for legal or security purposes) from judgments if he/she is acquitted in a criminal case, the Madras high court has opined.

Invoking an individual’s right to privacy and the right to be forgotten, Justice N Anand Venkatesh said a Google-search would bring up court judgments, and a person’s name would be shown against alleged crimes even after he was acquitted of all judgments. However, considering the deep ramifications a redact order would bring along, the high court has chosen to hear the views of members of the Bar, including the prosecution, before passing a detailed order on the issue.

A man who was tried for rape and cheating, was convicted and sentenced by a trial court in 2011, but he was acquitted of all charges by the high court in 2014. He has now approached the high court for redacting his name from the judgment.

Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that the petitioner is now facing a very peculiar problem as his name gets reflected in the judgment as an accused, though he was acquitted of all charges. “Unfortunately, whoever types the name of the petitioner in Google-search is able to access the judgment of this court. According to the petitioner it causes a serious impact on his reputation in the eyes of the society,” he said.

Agreeing with the man’s contention, the court said, “today, the world is literally under the grips of social media,” adding that the background of a person is assessed by everyone through Google-search and the first impression is created depending upon the data that is provided. “It will make or mar the characteristics of a person in the eyes of the society,” observed Justice Anand Venkatesh.

The existing laws protect the identity of women and child victims, and their names are not reflected in any order passed by a court, the judge said, adding: “This right has not been extended to an accused person who ultimately is acquitted from all charges.”

The judge further observed it is also brought to the notice of this court that when a similar issue came up before the Delhi high court recently, interim orders were passed directing the websites concerned to redact the name of the petitioner. “It is also informed to this court that a new right called the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ is sought to be included in the list of rights that are already available under Article 21 of the Constitution,” he said.

Justice Anand Venkatesh then observed that though the court found that there was a prima facie case made out by the petitioner and that he was entitled for redacting his name, “this court wants to hear counsel appearing for the respondents and also the members of the Bar and understand the various ramifications before writing a detailed judgment on this issue.”

The judge requested the assistance of the Bar members in this case and posted the case to July 28 for further hearing.

Lockdown extended for 2 wks; edu institutes to remain shut: Stalin

Lockdown extended for 2 wks; edu institutes to remain shut: Stalin

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.07.2021

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced extending lockdown by two weeks ending 6am on July 31.

In an official statement, chief minister M K Stalin said that certain activities, remained prohibited, including inter-state public and private transport except Union territory of Puducherry, international air travel except the purposes permitted by the Union home ministry, cinema theatres, all liquor bars, swimming pools, all social, political gatherings, entertainment, sports and cultural events, schools and colleges and zoological parks.

“A maximum of 50 persons will be permitted for marriage events and 20 persons in funeral/last rites in a bid to contain the spread,” the chief minister said. The already permitted activities will continue in the state, except containment zones.

Stalin said that industrial training institutes (ITIs) and industrial schools, and typewriting/ shorthand institutes shall function with 50% students at a time and on a rotation basis from Monday. Teachers will be allowed to work in schools to facilitate admission of students, distribution of books and preparation of syllabus.

A maximum of 50 persons will be permitted for marriage events and 20 persons in funeral/last rites in a bid to contain the spread

MK STALIN  Chief Minister

Every decimal to count as no rounding off Class XII marks

Every decimal to count as no rounding off Class XII marks

Govt Move To Make College Admissions Hassle-free

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.07.2021 

A decimal point in Class XII marks can decide the fate of a student seeking admission in a college. That’s because marks will not be rounded off this year. This time, subject marks will have two decimal points to break the tie in ranking for engineering and arts and science seats.

An official in the school education department told TOI that Class XII marks will have two decimal points as per the government order. The department is introducing decimal points to avoid confusion in college admissions.

The directorate of government examinations (DGE) on Friday announced that the Class XII results will be declared on July19 and students can download their marksheets from July 22.

The state government cancelled the Class XII board exams due to Covid-19 second wave. As per the expert committee’s suggestion, it was decided to give weightage to Class X and XI board exams and Class XII practical and internal assessment. The Class X marks will carry a weightage of 50% while Class XI will carry 20% and Class XII will carry 30% weightage while computing marks.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said there will be a lot of students in the same cut-off due to the weightage system followed this year for awarding marks to Class XII students.

“We suggested giving decimal points to break ties in deciding rank for admissions to professional courses including engineering, agriculture courses. National Testing Agency is giving JEE (Main) results in up to seven decimal points. State government has decided to give results in two decimal points and I welcome the move as it would partially solve problems during admissions,” he said.

He further suggested looking at Class XI maths, physics and fourth subject marks in addition to Class XII marks in maths, physics and fourth subjects, date of birth and random number to break tie while ranking the students. “There are possibilities that many students in Class XII would have scored full marks in maths,” he added.

G J Manohar, principal of MCC Higher Secondary School in Chetpet, said the move would help the colleges during admissions.

Some principals differed and said many students will lose the advantage of getting two or three extra marks. N Vijayan, principal of Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tambaram, said students may lose three to four marks by not rounding off their marks in each subject. “The universal rule is to discard marks less than 0.5 and add one mark to more than 0.5 mark. Marks with decimal points may lead to some confusion,” he said.

Agnes Rita, principal of GRT Mahalakshmi Vidhyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Ashok Nagar, too said it would be better to round off the marks.

We suggested giving decimal points to break ties in deciding rank for admissions for professional courses including those in engineering and agriculture. The National Testing Agency is giving JEE (Main) results in up to seven decimal points

JAYAPRAKASH GANDHI

Career consultant

Egmore station gets two more escalators

NEWS DIGEST

Egmore station gets two more escalators

17.07.2021

Southern Railway on Friday opened two escalators at Chennai Egmore railway station allowing people to access the Gandhi Irwin Road. The station has five escalators, and the new ones have been installed in the area near the main entrance where people get down from autos and cabs. The facility was inaugurated by M Selvaraj, a commercial assistant retiring this month. Egmore railway station that has 11 platforms handles around 1.2 lakh commuters daily.

Vax priority for pregnant, lactating women & TB patients: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has announced that pregnant women, lactating mothers and patients with tuberculosis will be given priority at its Covid-19 vaccine centres. GCC has requested these women and patients to get their jabs soon. According to official data, a total of 733 pregnant women, 2,328 lactating women and 143 TB patients have received vaccinations till date.

Financial aid for unemployed youth: The Kancheepuram district employment exchange has invited applications from unemployed youth for its monthly financial assistance scheme. According to the scheme guidelines, youth who did not pass Class X are eligible to get ₹200 as assistance every month, Class XII passed candidates and graduates can get ₹300-₹600 per month. To apply for the assistance, visit www.tnvelaivaaippu.gov.in

‘Semen’ becomes ‘semman’, rapist almost escapes

HC ORDERS 5-YR JAIL

‘Semen’ becomes ‘semman’, rapist almost escapes

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.07.2021 

A typographical error of ‘semen’ being recorded as ‘semman’ (which means red sand in Tamil) almost allowed a rape accused to go scot-free, before the Madras high court stepped in and reversed his acquittal by a lower court.

Instead of mentioning that a two-and-a-half-year-old girl’s genitals had traces of ‘semen’, the chargesheet mentioned it as ‘semman’ — meaning red soil in the genitals. Citing the ‘dirt’ that might have got stuck as the child might have been playing around, the Tiruvarur district Mahila court freed the offender from the case. Justice P Velmurugan of the Madras HC, however, sentenced S Prakash of Tiruvarur district to five-year jail term and directed the government to pay ₹1 lakh compensation to the girl. In September 2017, Prakash raped the child when her mother stepped out to buy food. On her return, the mother found the child crying and noticed a white liquid on her private parts. She admitted the child to a hospital and lodged a complaint. The prosecution told the HC that while recording evidence before the trial court, the word ‘semen’ in English was typed as ‘semman’ in Tamil.

‘Culprits are escaping due to tech reasons’

Taking advantage of the mistake committed by a typist during trial, the defence had argued that what the mother found on her child was ‘red colour soil’ (semman) and no semen was found in the child’s undergarments.

Justice Velmurugan said the investigating officer should have made more effort, and added: “Culprits are escaping due to technical reasons and, unfortunately, investigation wing is also not up to the standard. The trial court also, at times, are not applying their minds and exercising their discretionary power either to direct for reinvestigation or searching for proof beyond reasonable doubt, giving benefit of doubt to the accused.”

Justice Velmurugan said in cases like these delay in filing FIR should not be fatal to the case of the prosecution. Pointing out that the police complaint clearly showed that the woman had meant white colour fluid and that it was the typist who wrote the English word ‘semen’ as ‘semman’ in ‘Tamil, the judge said, “admittedly, the defence side has taken flimsy defence that the mother stated as “semman colour.”

₹215 paid for one Covishield vax shot, ₹225 for Covaxin

₹215 paid for one Covishield vax shot, ₹225 for Covaxin

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:17.07.2021 

The fresh vaccine orders placed by the Centre are at a revised price of ₹215 for Covishield and ₹225 for a dose of Covaxin, according to an official source.

While the Centre was earlier procuring vaccines at ₹150 a dose, it had indicated that it will revise vaccine prices after the changed procurement plan came into effect from June 21. “We are on path to achieving the target of 50 crore doses by July 31, this is crucial towards meeting our target coverage by end of this year,” the senior official said. Nearly 40 crore doses were administered across the country till 10pm Friday. On availability of Moderna vaccine, the government said talks are going on.

Discussions have not yet concluded, says V K Paul

While the Centre has indicated an availability of 13.5 crore doses for July, a fresh order of 66 crore doses for government procurement along with an additional advance payment already made by the Centre to reserve 30 crore doses of Biological E’s Covid vaccine are expected to boost supply.

“The logistic management has to be linked at production and availability at field level, and while we appreciate the concern of states to get more vaccine doses, we must also appreciate how government of India is increasing production and parallelly ensuring that 75% of doses are given free of cost to states,” health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.

“...to and fro (talks) are going on over the contractual specifics. Discussions have not yet concluded. Currently, they have to respond to some of the points we have made and we will take it forward,” NITI Aayog memberhealth Dr VK Paul said.