FIVE ROADS, SUBWAY CLOSED FOR TRAFFIC

FIVE ROADS, SUBWAY CLOSED FOR TRAFFIC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.11.2021

Five roads were closed for traffic and vehicles were diverted on Friday morning due to the wet spell. The Rangarajapuram subway and Rajamannar Road in K K Nagar were closed for traffic since Friday morning. All vehicles were diverted towards Second Avenue.

At Valasaravakkam, traffic near Mega Mart was diverted towards Keshavardhani Road to reach Arcot Road.

The traffic on Vani Mahal to Benz Park was closed and diverted towards Habibullah road and Raghavaiah road. To facilitate the drain water work at Anna main Road in front of K K Nagar, GH. The traffic towards Udhayam theatre was allowed in the opposite direction. At Udhayam junction, heavy vehicles from Kasi theatre going towards Anna main road were diverted towards Ashok pillar.

Rangarajapuram subway and three roads in T Nagar, K K Nagar and Manali were closed on Friday morning. Traffic cops have been assigned to find out traffic blocks and report it to civic authorities. However, interior stretches like GN Chetty Roadm Rajamannar Salai and Adyar witnessed traffic bottlenecks during the day.

Places like T Nagar, Nandanam, Adyar, Mount Road and Periamet witnessed traffic jams during peak hours, while movement of vehicles slowed down in interior roads due to water-logging. In Kancheepuram, 100 villagers petitioned the collector to help them find an alternative route as the Walajabad - Avanur causeway was washed away in the rain.

As machines idle, suburban railway passengers suffer

As machines idle, suburban railway passengers suffer

Meera Nair TNN

Chennai:27.11.2021

Most of the automated passenger amenities like ticket vending machines, water dispensers and digital information screens are idling at city’s suburban railway stations despite high footfalls in these stations.

At West Mambalam station, all the three automatic ticket vending machines are not in working condition. While one is supposed to have been ‘fully automated’ machine, two others are to be manually operated. “They are not in working condition for a very long time,” said a lady clerk, adding, “I don’t’ know how long will they remain so.”

At Tambaram, of the four ticketing machines, two are out of order for the past many months, and a railway employee at the station said the issue had been communicated to commercial department and action awaited. Even the ATMs are in short-supply. Of the three ATMs at the main entrance, two are out of order, resulting in endless queue in front of the lone working ATM.

At West Mambalam, the rusted drinking water pipes, dirty floor and stench all around would put off even the thirstiest commuter. A woman commuter close-by advises those who care not to use water from the tap. “Buy from the RO units on platforms,” she says.

The UTS mobile ticket App of the railways too has not endeared itself to users, including youngsters, much. “App-based bookings are used by less than 20% of regular passengers,” said the clerk, adding that elders and less educated are not able to use them.

Pooja, a college student, said she had not even tried any app-based ticket booking or attempted the ticket vending machines as well. Lakshmi, a private company employee, said she was not even aware of the UTS mobile ticketing system operated by the railways.

Both at Tambaram and West Mambalam stations, the giant digital information board were not working, forcing commuters to wait in front of alreadycrowded counters for inquiry regarding train timings.

Senior citizens, handicapped and pregnant women find it hard to first inquire about timings at the counter, and then rush to catch the train. A railway employee the complaint has been forwarded to higher officials but it hasn’t received any positive yet.

The upgraded Tambaram station is a multi-modal hub handling much more number of trains than it used to be a mere suburban outpost. The station’s upgradation has not bought along more amenities on platforms.

Anna Library project: 20,000 rare books, journal s now a click away

Anna Library project: 20,000 rare books, journal  s now a click away

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 27.11.2021

Some of the rarest collections including a review of the shipping system of the East-India Company of 1798, the Madras Monthly Journal Medical Science of 1872, the Madras Agricultural Journal of 1929 and some rare Tamil literary works such as “Nandanar Charithira Keerthani: Chidambarakummi of 1895” are just a click away.

An Anna Centenary Library project is digitising rare books, journals, written manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts, documents and periodicals, rare photographs and paintings sourced from individuals and institutions across the state. “The readers can now read 20,000 rare books at the digital library on the website of directorate of public libraries (tamilnadupubliclibraries.org),”

said S Kannappan, director (incharge) of Public Libararies.

The team will first verify whether the books have already been digitised and whether they are copyrighted. “We are scanning copyrights of books and journals and other material to preserve them,” said S Kamatchi, coordinator, digital library project at Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram.

“There are many rare books and palm leaf manuscripts with individuals and institutions. If not preserved, they will eventually be lost,” she added. Under the project, around three lakh palm leaf manuscripts have been digitised besides books and journals.

Anna Centenary Library also entered into MoU with Madras University to scan rare books preserved in the university. “There are 10,000 rare books and journals, pamphlets are being preserved in the university library. ACL team will scan them and make available to all readers in their digital library. They will also provide the digital copy to the university,” said S Gowri, vicechancellor of Madras University.

Besides, rare books belonging to Presidency College and other institutions also will be preserved in digital form.

Singapore’s non-transit norm hits travellers to Far East, US

Singapore’s non-transit norm hits travellers to Far East, US

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 27.11.2021

Travellers from Chennai to the far-east and the US have been affected as Singapore is yet to allow transit for other countries. Due to this, Dubai and Doha are the only option transit options, resulting in fewer flights and pricey tickets.

Singapore was a popular transit hub for travellers from Chennai and other parts of the state to fly to Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and the US.

Travellers to the US have to spend ₹1.5lakh to ₹3lakh one-way to fly via Dubai and Doha because there are fewer flights to the Middle East.

Chennai-Dubai air fares continue to remain high as flights are full for the coming week. The traffic on this route is high because people are flying to UAE for holiday and business. Economy class return fare has touched ₹60,000 to ₹70,000 to Dubai. The usual fare was ₹19,000.

Singapore is allowing airlines to bring passengers only to the country and not for transit. Travel and tour operators have urged them to allow transit facility too.

Basheer Ahmed of Chennai Metro Travels said, “There is hope that Singapore may allow transit next month as India has announced resumption of scheduled international flights from December 15.” As there is already a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) agreement between India and Singapore, the destination will be treated as a safe country. This means full schedules and full capacity flights may be operated. They also can allow people to transit via Singapore, he said.

S Bhaskar of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said that Singapore is a popular transit hub and there was patronage for business class to destinations in the US on Singapore Airlines even though the fares were costlier than other carriers “The airlines should come forward to start more flights,” he said.

Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines have not resumed.

Bhaskar said that flights on Chennai-Dubai route are full. “People are booking business class because seats are not available in economy. The air fare is in the range of ₹70,000 for most of the days in December."

Singapore is allowing airlines to bring passengers only to the country and not for transit. Travel and tour operators have urged them to allow transit facility too

Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15

Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.111.2021

The Centre has allowed resumption of regular international flights from December 15, nearly 21 months after services were suspended on March 23, 2020. Now both Indian and foreign airlines can add capacity.

Air bubbles, that gave limited flights to some countries during Covid, will burst on December 14, allowing passengers flying between India and rest of the world to take connections from nearby hubs as per air service agreements. The increased connectivity will bring respite from sky-high airfares under the bubble system. The decision comes at a time when some countries like the UK and Italy are reimposing travel restrictions due to the detection of the new Covid variant in South Africa.

India could gain a lot from air travel move

India has become the first major south Asian country to open since the pandemic shook the world early last year and could gain a lot from the first mover advantage.

Covid high-risk countries will see a “calibrated resumption”, ranging from 75% to 50% of pre-Covid operations.

As on Friday, the Union health ministry’s list of “at risk” countries include the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel. But since air travel demand is nowhere close to pre-Covid levels, even this limited resumption will be enough for the present times and help lower fares. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) order on resumption of regular flights has placed countries in three different categories for a graded return to normalcy.

1. Countries not categorised as being at risk: Flights can be restored 100% by Indian and their carriers as per air service agreements (ASA). This includes over 90 countries from where fully vaccinated with approved jabs and Covid negative passengers can fly in quarantine free to India.

Full report on www.toi.in

Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists

Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists

27.11.2021

Heavy to very heavy rain that lashed Tamil Nadu on Friday will continue for the next 48 hours, the Meteorological department has said. A red alert has been issued for Chennai, Puducherry and most of the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.

At least five people died in rain-related incidents on Friday and 10,500 people were moved to relief camps in 12 districts, including 620 to five relief centres in Chennai. Twenty-one districts, including Chennai, have declared holiday for schools and colleges on Saturday. Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin district recorded 306mm rainfall in 24 hours till Friday morning.

The rain, which has been persisting over Sri Lanka, has started pounding northern districts, including Chennai, from Friday due to the shifting of wind convergence from south to north. At least 54 streets in Chennai were inundated and several subways were closed for traffic on Friday.

Nungambakkam received 3.38cm rain, while Meenambakkam recorded 2.4cm rain till 5.30pm on Friday. Corporation staff have kept 850 pumps ready and officials have been asked to be available for duty at night. TNN. P6&10

ROAD TURNS RIVER: Rajamannar Salai in Chennai’s K K Nagar was completely inundated

Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city

Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:26.11.2021

Two Andaman-bound flights from Kolkata operated by Vistara and Go First returned to the city on Thursday due to bad weather at Port Blair. The Vistara flight with 159 passengers had departed from Kolkata at 9.07am and returned at 1.12pm. The Go First flight left Kolkata at 8.10am with 180 passengers and returned at 3.13pm. The passengers were either refunded or rescheduled. A Port Blairbound flight from Chennai was diverted to Kolkata, but flew to the destination in the afternoon when weather conditions improved.