Man convicted for sending ‘flying kisses’, molestation

Man convicted for sending ‘flying kisses’, molestation

Rebecca.Samervel@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:06.11.2021

Making observations such as “the name and fame of the family of the victim is lowered down due to the incident”, a magistrate court convicted and sentenced a 28-year-old man for sexually harassing and molesting his neighbour by sending her a flying kiss and verbally and physically abusing her when she objected to his behaviour.

The court noted that despite all odds, the woman mustered courage and entered into the witness box and underwent the test of cross-examination where she was accused of having an affair with him. The court, however, said it was one-sided love and that was the motive of the accused. “No lenient view could be shown to the accused as the same might convert into grave or very grave offence. Moreover, the name and fame of the family of the informant (survivor) is lower(ed) down due to the incident,” the Kurla magistrate’s court said.

The court did not allow the accused Istikar Shaikh’s (28) plea to be released on a bond of good behaviour under the Probation of Offenders Act instead of serving a sentence.

“In the instant matter, the accused has committed very serious offence, as the same is against a woman. The provision of Section 354 of the IPC is enacted to safeguard public morality and decent behavior. Therefore, if any person uses criminal force upon a woman with the intent or knowledge that woman’s modesty will be outraged (Section 354), benefit of probation cannot be extended to him,” the court said.

On June 14, 2019, at 9 am, the survivor’s parents had gone out to work. According to the prosecution, the accused came at the door of her house and started sending flying kisses and making abusive gestures. The survivor told the accused to go away. Enraged, the accused abused her in filthy language. He then caught hold of her hand and dragged her outside. The survivor and her sister screamed for help. The neighbours gathered. Then accused then pulled her stole and touched her inappropriately. Cops were called and the accused was arrested.

The court denied the defence claims that the survivor and accused were having an affair and due to a fight she falsely implicated him.

“Defence brings no iota of evidence in the line of its defence except by mere suggestions which are denied by the informant and witnesses. One cannot reach to a conclusion that the present complaint is lodged by informant under pressure and aftermath of the quarrel. Thus, the defence of accused is not only improbable to be believed but also flimsy in nature,” the court said.

The court said the ‘evidence establishes that... the accused insulted the modesty of informant by hurling words thereby intruding upon her privacy and intentionally insulted her’

Man orders passport cover, but gets passport too

Man orders passport cover, but gets passport too

Kozhikode: 06.11.2021

A man in Kerala’s Wayanad district has claimed that he was delivered a valid passport by an ecommerce giant along with a passport cover for which he had placed an order a few days ago.

Midhun Babu, hailing from Kaniyambetta in Wayanad district, said he had placed the order with Amazon for the passport cover on October 30.

When it was delivered on his doorstep on November 1 the packet had contained the passport cover and to his surprise, a passport was also found inside the pouch.

The passport belonged to a teenaged boy from Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district.

Babu said he reported the incident with Amazon customer care but failed to get a proper response as to what to do with the passport.

“I spent about 40 minutes speaking with three executives of customer care. But none told me what to do with an important document like a passport. Later, on advice of a friend of mine, I approached the police and surrendered the passport,” he told PTI on Friday.

There was no immediate response from Amazon. PTI

Canada yet to recognise Covaxin

Canada yet to recognise Covaxin

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  06.11.2021

Canada is yet to recognise Covaxin even after World Health Organisation (WHO) gave emergency use listing for Bharat Biotech’s Covid jab.

A spokesperson of the Canadian high commission in Delhi on Friday night said the accepted Covid-19 vaccines by the country are: Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2); Moderna (Spikevax, mRNA-1273); AstraZeneca/Covishield (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222) and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S). The list does not include Covaxin.

Responding to a TOI query on Covaxin, the spokesperson said: “Covid-19 drug and vaccine submissions are prioritised and reviewed on an expedited timeline, above the usual performance standards, without compromising safety, efficacy and quality standards, due to the public health need… Timing for the completion of Health Canada’s review depends on many factors, including but not limited to a need for additional data, discussions with the sponsor, and requirements for updates to safety information.”

Delhi-based Dr Arvind Kumarsaid, “Vaccines are medicines developed by scientists for the good of humanity. Their use should be above any political or geographical considerations. Denying the benefit of these vaccines as a means of restoring a semblance of normalcy in today’s pandemic-infested world, nullifies the great work being done by our scientists. This should be avoided. We in the fraternity look forward to a day when the world’s vaccine pool is used for the good of humanity without any bias.”

Stalin celebrates Diwali with Narikurava, Irula communities

Stalin celebrates Diwali with Narikurava, Irula communities

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  06.11.2021

The festival of light this year ended the long struggle for basic amenities by Narikuravar and Irula communities in Pooncheri village and neighbouring areas in Mamallapuram near Chennai and laid the path for “a new and dignified life”.

The villagers were unanimous in their praise of chief minister M K Stalin, who visited their village on Deepavali day on Thursday “to restore their dignity”. Henceforth, “we will be treated with respect and not looked down upon. The CM’s visit has sent across a clear message to government officials”, said Ranjith and his neighbours.

The CM later tweeted that the core ideology of the Dravidian movement was to protect the self-respect of the marginalised section of the society to ensure social justice. There was a long way to go to get rid of the social evils (caste and class divide) that have been deeply entrenched in society for thousands of years, he added.

Stalin, on Thursday, reached out to the Narikuravar and Irula community people with a bundle of welfare measures worth ₹4.53 crore as Diwali gifts. “It is the day to light up the lives of the Irula and Narikuravas communities,” said Stalin.

“Ashwini was not denied food, but respect. It is an opportunity for the government to restore it,” Stalin tweeted, recalling a recent incident when the Narikurava woman from the village and her community members were denied food during an annadhanam at a temple managed by the n Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE). Ashwini had aired her grievance and alleged discrimination which was videographed and widely circulated. HR & CE minister P K Sekar Babu sat with her for annadhanam at a temple in Mamallapuram Friday last and promised to bring the CM to their village.

“He gave us respect and new meaning to our lives. Now, we will live here with hope that our children will get a good education and our community will be taken care of,” said Ashwini. She added that the CM asked about the well-being of her family members. “It was a great gesture by Periya Thalaivar (a great leader),” she added.

The CM distributed house pattas worth Rs 3.52 crore to 81 people during a programme organised in the village. He also gave community (ST) certificates to 88 Scheduled Caste members, narikuravas welfare and ST board membership cards and loans to the beneficiaries. He directed authorities to address their grievances and extend welfare measures within two weeks. He visited their homes and interacted with family members.

The CM issued orders to take up development work worth ₹75 lakh under the Kalaignar Urban Development Scheme. He instructed officials to construct anganwadi centres and additional classrooms in a panchayat union primary school. “There is no darkness in our village and our lives anymore,” said Vellaiamma, pointing towards the streetlights.

WARM GESTURE: Chief minister M K Stalin at the house of Ashwini, a Narikurava woman, in Pooncheri on Thursday

‘CM must apologise for not greeting people for Diwali’

‘CM must apologise for not greeting people for Diwali’

Madurai:  06.11.2021

Union minister of state for fisheries and animal husbandry L Murugan has said that chief minister M K Stalin is practising “modern untouchability” by not greeting Hindus of the state for Diwali. “The CM should come forward to unconditionally apologise to the people,” he told reporters during an interaction at Rameswaram on Friday.

“How fair is it to greet people for other religious celebrations and neglect the festival celebrated by Hindus who are the majority? It is modern untouchability against Hindus and Tamils,” he said. Murugan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a historic gift to the people by reducing VAT on fuel on Diwali eve. “He reduced petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and of diesel by Rs 10 a litre. It is a big announcement that will facilitate development and reduce the cost of transportation. The states where BJP is in power have also reduced VAT on fuel,” he said.

He added that Puducherry government has cut tax by Rs 19 a litre and the Tamil Nadu government should also reduce VAT on the fuels. TNN

Anna univ sem exams in physical mode in Dec

RESTORING NORMALCY

Anna univ sem exams in physical mode in Dec

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

6.11.2021

Chennai: With engineering colleges reopening physical classes, Anna University on Friday announced that it would conduct semester exams next month in physical mode.

"All the internal assessments and end semester examinations including elective courses, laboratory courses, theory cum laboratory courses for BE, BTech and postgraduate courses, BArch, MArch for the academic session September to December 2021 for affiliated colleges shall be held in physical mode," a circular issued by the academic courses director to the principals of affiliated colleges said.

The university also allowed the colleges to suspend the mandatory educational tour for BArch students. "As an alternative each student can submit an independent study report of places of architectural interest from secondary sources for evaluation. In addition, any field or study visits as part of the regulations for various programmes under faculty of architecture and planning can be replaced through secondary sources of information, if visits are not possible," the circular added. The university has also decided to allow students to attend online classes for only five periods considering the network connectivity issues for those studying at the university departments.

The university will also conduct the arrear papers in physical mode.

Some colleges also have decided to conduct a model exam to train the students to write exams for three hours.

Doctors give fake life certificates; face misconduct charges

Doctors give fake life certificates; face misconduct charges

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 6.11.2021

Two doctors, including a government lady doctor, are facing medical council proceedings for misconduct, as they had issued ‘life certificates’ to dead persons. A government doctor in Royapettah government hospital in the grade of civil assistant surgeon, who issued life certificate to a dead man, who killed himself by suicide, was summoned by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council, an apex body regulating medical practice in the state.

Dr R Shanthini issued the medical certificate on January 10, 2018 to R Krishnakumar, three years after the man ended his life in July 2015. Two days later his life certificates were used to sell properties in his name. In November 2019, Krishnakumar’s wife lodged a complaint with the council stating the “fake” certificate by the doctor aided her relatives to illegally sell properties without consultations with the legal heir.

In another, complaint dated December 19, 2020, Bangalore-based R Vinod Kumar said that Hosur based Dr KP Badri Prasad conspired with one M Narasimhan to issue false life certificates for two women – Sabitha J and Shylaja Jayasurya – about a year after Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP) issued their death certificates. While Sabitha had died on October 16, 2019, her mother Shylaja died on July 18, 2020. Yet, on September 7, 2020, Hosur-based Dr K P Badri Prasad issued them “life certificates for the purpose of registration of documents based on power of attorney”.

On December 19, 2020, Vinodh Kumar filed a complaint against Dr Badri Prasad. On January 19 the council sent him a memorandum seeking explanations for the complaint. “These complaints come under misconduct and are gross violations of TN Medical Council code of ethics (professional etiquette and ethics),” said Tamil Nadu Medical Council president Dr K Senthil.

The following month, Dr Badri Prasad wrote to council stating that he was conned by one Narasimhan who brought two “similar looking” women to his clinic and that he could not see them clearly as they were seated 6 feet away due to the pandemic. Dr Prasad said his face shield and the plastic curtain between them made it difficult for him to see their face clearly. He also urged the council to verify the authenticity of the BBMP certificates. The certificate is also available on the BBMP webpage.

While the state council called for disciplinary proceedings against the two doctors, the council is also planning to organise awareness programmes for doctors and members of the public on legal provisions. Over the last two years, the council has been receiving complaints against doctors issuing fake certificates for death and life, he said. “We want our doctors to know that such things can land them in trouble. They may not only lose their licenses, but may also have criminal charges framed against them,” Dr Senthil said.

The state council is planning to hold awareness programmes for doctors and members of the public on legal provisions