Medico out on bail: Counsel

Medico out on bail: Counsel

Bengaluru:24.12.2021

A postgraduate orthopaedic student, Vijay Bharadwaj, who was arrested by Amrutahalli police on charges of abusing a homemaker and her daughter travelling in a four-wheeler before stalking them, was released on bail by a local court on the day of his arrest and not as reported earlier, said his counsel HL Jayaramu.

Based on the case filed by the homemaker, police had arrested Bhardwaj under section 354A (sexual harassment) and 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) of IPC on December 14. TNN

CBI gets nod to prosecute top DME officials in Vyapam scam

CBI gets nod to prosecute top DME officials in Vyapam scam

P.Naveen @timesgroup.com

Bhopal:24.12.2021

The Madhya Pradesh government has permitted CBI to prosecute a former director and a joint director of the state medical education department for their alleged role in the Vyapam scam related to pre-medical test-2013.

CBI officials say this would be ‘the end’ of their investigations into the Vyapam scam. “It was only after a letter from the central vigilance commission that the state government released their sanctions,” said a CBI officer, adding that the charge-sheet would be filed before December 30.

After CBI chargesheeted 500-plus people, including some high profile businessmen in the PMT 2012 scam, Vyapam whistleblowers had accused the central agency of overlooking the PMT 2013 case in which they claimed around 200 state quota seats were ‘auctioned’ by six private medical colleges.

Dr Anand Rai, one of the whistleblowers in the Vyapam scam, had filed a complaint before Supreme Court, alleging that state quota medical seats were sold to ineligible students by private medical colleges in PMT-2013.

‘No panchayat poll without OBC quota’

The Madhya Pradesh assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday that panchayat polls should not be held in the state without OBC reservation. Last Friday, the Supreme Court had directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to stay the poll process on OBC-reserved seats in panchayats, and re-notify them for the general category. It triggered a political storm in Madhya Pradesh, with ruling BJP and opposition Congress blaming each other. This has led to noisy scenes in the assembly as well. TNN

Chennai-Salem highway: NHAI seeks TN help

Chennai-Salem highway: NHAI seeks TN help

Wants To Finish Social Impact Study

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:24.12.2021

The National Highways Authority of India has sought to revive the stuck Chennai-Salem greenfield expressway by urging the state government to issue directions to district collectors of Salem, Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai and Kancheepuram to cooperate for completion of social impact assessment study and preparation of environment impact assessment report for the project.

The central agency, so far, has not received any written communication from the state government to drop the project, sources said.

The Supreme Court in December last had upheld the notification for acquisition of land for the ₹10,000 crore green corridor project and directed the NHAI to get environmental clearance for the project before carrying out land acquisition. “To get the environmental clearance, the Union environment ministry has suggested that studies have to be carried out on the field for which the state government’s cooperation is required. It is not forthcoming despite a communique to the top state government officials recently,” said an NHAI official.

The NHAI has to do a comprehensive socio-economic assessment with emphasis on the impact of ongoing land acquisition on the locals living around the proposed alignment. An assessment of impact on local biodiversity, wildlife corridors and its mitigation strategy, including baseline generation, wildlife movement, and identification of corridors along 277.3km corridor has been completed by the department of environmental science and engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad. Similarly, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, completed an ecosystem study.

In a related development, Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari had told Rajya Sabha last week that the project would be completed by 2025. “NHAI has appointed M/s KITCO (a Kerala government undertaking) to carry out the socio-economic study. After completion of this study, the environmental impact assessment report has to be prepared and submitted to the pollution control board to hold public hearings,” said the official. None of the collectors have responded yet.

Meanwhile, sources said chief minister M K Stalin in his memorandum presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, had requested the Centre to drop the project.

Chennai sees sharp rise in infections

Chennai sees sharp rise in infections

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.12.2021

Tamil Nadu reported a marginal increase in fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday when the state reported 607 new cases compared to 604 on Wednesday. The sharpest rise in infections was reported from Chengalpet, Chennai, Cuddalore, and Ranipet.

Two passengers each from Europe, the UK, and the US tested positive for the viral infection. In addition, three people from Andhra and two others from Bengal who came by road also tested positive.

Chennai, which continued to report cases in three digits, had the highest number of new cases on Thursday with 145 new infections.

The eight deaths, meanwhile, took the state toll to 36,707. At the end of the day after 689 discharges, there were 6,889 patients on the active registry. Thirty-one districts reported zero deaths.

Meanwhile, 1.8 lakh people took the vaccine on Thursday. “The mega vaccination camps will be held on Sundays (December 26 and January 2, 2022) instead of Saturdays for the next two weeks,” health minister Ma Subramanian said.

Pondy records 8 new Covid cases

Puducherry on Tuesday reported eight fresh infections of Covid-19 even as an equal number of patients recovered in the last 24 hours ending at 10am on Tuesday. The active number of cases remained at 146. Of them, 111 are under home isolation and treatment. The UT did not report any deaths due to the deadly virus maintaining the toll at 1,880. The fatality rate of the infection remained at 1.5% and thre recovery rate at 98.5%. Authorities have so far administered 13.63 lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to the beneficiaries. TNN

Rlys cancels seven trains, diverts two

Rlys cancels seven trains, diverts two

Chennai:24.12.2021

Southern Railway has cancelled seven trains including Chennai-Bengaluru-Chennai Shatabdi Express and Chennai-Jolarpettai Yelagiri Express, diverted two trains and will short terminate Mysuru-Chennai Superfast Express at Katpadi on Friday due to structural damage to a bridge between Mukundarayapuram and Tiruvalam on Arakkonam-Katpadi section.

Several passengers were affected on Thursday night after three trains were cancelled and seven diverted after the crack was detected.

TNN

Murder of college student: Three girls among 9 arrested

Murder of college student: Three girls among 9 arrested

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.12.2021

The Tiruvallur police on Thursday arrested nine people including three minor girls for the murder of a Mannivakkam college student whose body was exhumed at Eechangadu near Arambakkam on Saturday.

Police said that the arrested minor girls — two school students and one from a college — were sent to an observation home. While the main accused — Ashok Kumar, 21, of Kandigai village and Levin, 22 of Red Hills — surrendered on Tuesday, the other accused were identified as Moses, 21, Stephan, 21, Praveen Kumar, 21, and Jeganadhan, 20, of Ponneri. Police said they were employed at factories in the locality.

The deceased college student — Premkumar of Mannivakkam, — threatened the two schoolgirls with recordings of their phone conversations and a few videos and extorted ₹50,000 from each. He even warned that he would show up at their houses if they did not part with the money.

One of the girls then approached her elder sister, a college student, who in turn sought help from Ashok Kumar, her Instagram friend, police said.

As instructed by Ashok Kumar, the girls asked Prem Kumar to come to an appointed spot in Red Hills. They had asked him to erase their photographs and phone recordings in Prem Kumar’s possession, but he and his friends kidnapped Prem Kumar on a two-wheeler and took him to Eachangadu where the gang members smoked ganja. Premkumar’s friend, who accompanied him to the spot, fled and after Ashok and the others began to attack Prem Kumar. “The girls were part of the crime as they did not approach us till the body was exhumed,” said an officer.

The girls were also part of the crime as they did not approach police till the body was exhumed, said an officer

Video of fire officer ‘demanding’ bribe viral on social media

Video of fire officer ‘demanding’ bribe viral on social media

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:24.12.2021

A video of a fire and rescue services department officer in Kancheepuram demanding a bribe of ₹3 lakh to issue an NOC to a private medical college building goes viral on social media.

Sources said an officer in the Vellore zone fire and rescue services department and Kancheepuram fire department had recently inspected a building constructed at a medical college in Thandalam for NOC.

When a representative from the college approached the Kancheepuram officer about issuing NOC, the officer asked for ₹3 lakh.

However after a long bargaining, the officer was seen agreeing for a sum of ₹1.50 lakh as advance.

The representative who was seated opposite the officer, secretly shot the video on his mobile.

Efforts to contact the fire officer proved futile as severalphone calls went unanswered. A senior fire officer said that they too had seen the video and that an internal probe is on in the case. “The action would follow based on the report,” he said.

When a representative from the college approached the officer about issuing NOC, the officer asked for ₹3L