Chennai Times #PLASTICGOTTAGO

PLASTIC-FREE LIVING CHEAT SHEET

23.12.2018

The writer is the Director (Urban Governance), CAG
The #PlasticGottaGo campaign is run by Chennai Times in collaboration with Citizen consumer and civic Action Group.
Satyarupa Shekhar

We’re now saddled with landfills, climate change, plastic oceans, water shortage, pollution, microbeads that fish are eating, microfibres that humans are inhaling, and the chemicals used for colours and scents that we are all exposed to. Businesses must redesign their products and processes. But as consumers, we can choose to live a life that is free of plastics and toxicity. Here's the second ready reckoner to help you along this journey to break free from plastic and say plastics gotta go.

TIPS TO REDUCE PLASTIC IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

Read the product label and avoid anything with polyethylene in it.

Use bamboo toothbrushes and earbuds/swabs.

Look for tooth powder and ditch the paste tube.

Use a bar soap instead of liquid soap. Look for bar soaps the come with no or paper packaging.

Use shave soap instead of shaving cream in a can or tube. Try wooden or bamboo combs and hair brushes made from natural bristles. Bring back your steel reusable razor with stainless steel blades. Switch to reusable sanitary products.

HOW TO COMPLETELY AVOID PLASTIC IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

Look out for shampoo bars. You can also learn to make one at home or buy from someone who makes them.

Deodorant also comes in glass and paper packaging. Better still, make your own chemical and plastic-free deodorant from baking soda. Just add a few drops of essential oil and use with cotton.

Try hair salves, gels and pomades that come in tins or glass jars.

You can also make your own lip balms and lotions. Check out online or join a class near you.

Look into plastic-free sunscreen options.

Buy toilet paper without plastic wrapping or in cardboard boxes.

There are natural dental floss that come in refillable containers. Look out for those coated with natural wax rather than microcrystalline wax, which is petroleum-based.

TIPS TO REDUCE PLASTIC DURING TRAVEL

Carry your own plastic-free cosmetics and toiletries. Avoid using the ones in hotels as they are usually packed in small plastic containers that are destined for landfills.

Bring your own water bottle, cutlery and travel mug. Even on the plane! Airlines are among the worst polluting industry, so do your bit to reduce plastic waste. Make your own snacks, so you do not have to buy packaged food.

Carry your own headphones.

Refuse the mini bar! Shop for food and drinks locally. Even if you cannot avoid snacking, at least, you can ensure that you don't leave a ton of plastic behind.

WHY DO WE NEED TO ELIMINATE PLASTICS IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS?

Many personal care products, such as toothpaste and facewash, contain microbeads that are sometimes inadvertently ingested during use. They also cannot be filtered. So, they are released into the oceans.

Diapers, pads and wet wipes are made of polypropylene and contain lots of harmful chemicals. When flushed, they amass in the sewerage system and cause blockages and sewage backups.

Many personal care products are designed to come in small quantities that need frequent restocking. The packaging is also meant to convey quantity and quality. Unfortunately, all this heads to landfills and the ocean once they are used.

Plastics are held together with chemicals called plasticiser. Two of them are cause for grave concern: bisphenol-A (known as BPA) and phthalates. BPA and phthalates can be found in detergents, shampoo, soaps, and hair sprays. These plasticisers are classified under the umbrella of ‘endocrine disrupting compounds, which means that they can block the action of our natural hormone system’. They can also exacerbate conditions such as diabetes, which causes kidney damage, and are associated with increased cancer risk, early sexual maturation, decreased male fertility and aggressive behaviour.

Check if the products contain — polyethylene, polypropylene or polystyrene? The presence of these ingredients would classify this product as one that you DO NOT BUY.

Second check — conduct an additional investigation. Look out for ingredients such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PTFE (polytetrafluroethylene) and nylon.

TIPS TO REDUCE PLASTIC FROM YOUR CLOSET AND ACCESSORIES

Avoid synthetic materials with names like: polyester, acrylic, lycra, spandex, nylon. In other words, plastic fabric. And all synthetic fabrics create microfibre pollution when laundered.

Buy shoes and slippers made from natural rubber, rather than plastic.

Alter and modify your clothes and shoes at your local tailor and cobbler.

Switch to bags and shoes made of cotton, bamboo or leather. Look out for wooden watches made from 100% recycled timber, including Indian rosewood, mahogany, coffee tree and teak.

Look cool in handcrafted wooden sunglasses from sustainable materials, including FSC-certified wood, cottonbased acetate, and repurposed skateboard decks.

If you use makeup, buy products free of glitter and minimal petroleum-based oils. Buy pressed makeup that comes in bamboo palettes or seed paper, which can be planted in your garden!

Look for brushes made from recycled aluminium, bamboo and other natural fibres.

Check out reusable cloth balls for your plastic-free makeup routine. They can be tossed into your washing machine without fear of releasing microfibres in to the water.

Support brands that use packaging made of 100% tree-free paper, cotton and bamboo. Bamboo is renewable, one of the fastest growing plants in the world, and versatile.





Do let us know about your experiences as you strive to go plastic-free. Share your stories, both setbacks and successes. You could get featured in our paper or win some cool merchandise. Email us at

ctnoplasticcampaign@gmail.com

Use #PlasticGottaGo and don’t forget to tag us on Twitter @ChennaiTimesTOI, on Facebook @ChennaiTimesOfficial and on Instagram @ChennaiTimesTOI

21 years after acquittal, HC convicts rape case accused
Trial Court Ruled Act Consensual, Had Got Age Wrong

Shibu.Thomas@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:23.12.2018

Twenty-one years after he was acquitted of the charge of raping an 11-year-old girl, a Nashik resident was convicted by the Bombay high court on Saturday.

A division bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and Vishwas Jadhav overturned a 1997 trial court order acquitting Macchindra Sonawane (who was 19 at the time of the incident and is now 41), and held him guilty of rape and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment. The bench refused a plea to show the accused leniency over the two-decade delay and directed Sonawane to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to the survivor. Sonawane has been given a month to surrender.

The high court said the sessions court had erred and acted in a “casual or cavalier manner”. It had freed the accused relying on an x-ray ossification test of the survivor that estimated her age as 14. Taking into consideration the 2-3-year margin of error, it determined that the survivor’s age was 16, which was the age of consent at that time.

The HC asked the legal services authority to trace the survivor and help her get compensation under the Maharashtra government scheme. “Even though the incident took place in 1996, we remain with the fervent hope and confidence that protecting the confidence of the common man in the institution entrusted with the administration of justice is reaffirmed,” said the bench.

On December 1, 1996, the survivor, who was alone at her home in Nashik, visited Sonwane’s shop for medicine for her headache. Sonawane forcibly dragged her into his room, raped her and threw her out of his house. The suvivor’s family found her outside the house in bloodstained clothes and took her to a hospital where it was confirmed that she suffered forcible sexual intercourse.

Police arrested the accused for rape. In 1997, a sessions court acquitted him. The trial court concluded that the incident was consensual saying there were no injuries to show that the survivor had put up resistance and her story that she had gone to get medicines was not believable. The trial court relied on an x-ray ossification test of the survivor that estimated her age as 14, took into consideration the two- to three-year margin of error, and concluded in favour of the accused, after determining that the survivor’s age was 16. Prior to 2013, 16 was the age of sexual consent in India, now it is 18.

Additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh, while arguing the state’s appeal against the acquittal, said the trial court had erred in determining the survivor’s age. The prosecutor pointed out from the evidence that the survivor had not yet hit puberty and had not even started menstruating. Further, her physical features as well as lack of development of sexual characteristics revealed that she was below 14.

The high court agreed and said the trial court had mechanically determined the age and had wrongly given the benefit of “plus-two, minus-two years” principle to the accused who had committed a heinous crime. Since the survivor was held to be a minor and consent was immaterial, the high court still dealt with the issue of consent.

“The absence of any injury on her body cannot lead to a conclusion that she had given her consent and all that it indicates is that she did not put up resistance. Lack of any resistance or absence of injury on the body of the victim are of no consequence vis-à-vis the issue of consent,” said the bench.

For full report, www.toi.in

The HC asked the legal services authority to trace the survivor and help her get compensation under the Maharashtra government scheme

‘Govt. not bound to give alternative work to plastic companies’

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, DECEMBER 23, 2018 00:00 IST

Rajendra Ratnoo, Commissioner of Disaster Management, speaking at a conference in Madurai on Friday.S. JamesS_James

It can only facilitate good environment for units making alternatives to plastics

Taking exception to the demand from companies manufacturing single use plastics that they should be provided suitable alternative arrangements by the State government for banning the use of such items from January 1, 2019, Rajendra Ratnoo, Commissioner of Disaster Management, said that it was not the duty of government to do so.

Speaking at a regional-level awareness conference on the ban, he said it was not the government that asked the companies to open plastic manufacturing units.

However, he highlighted that what the State government will instead do is to facilitate a business environment where companies manufacturing alternatives to plastics and recycling of plastic waste can thrive.

“The ban on single use plastic companies may affect a few big companies. The ban will, however, help a large number of small scale and cottage units,” he added.

He suggested that the companies making banned plastic items can try moving to recycling of waste and other related activities.

Shambhu Kallolikar, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests Department, said that though 14 single use plastic items are getting banned from January 1, 2019, these items contributed only 5 to 6% of the total plastic items in use.

Stating that the change was already being witnessed with the use of these items getting reduced to a considerable extent, he expressed hope that use would be stopped from January 1, 2019.

K.C. Karuppannan, Minister for Environment, said that the proposed ban on plastic was part of a series of measures implemented by the AIADMK government to safeguard the environment.

Cooperation Minister ‘Sellur’ K. Raju and Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar also spoke.

Collectors from Madurai, Pudukottai, Dindigul, Theni, and Sivaganga spoke on the measures being taken in their districts to ensure that the ban would be successfully implemented from next month.

ஏழு ரூபாய் சம்பாதித்த போது கிடைத்த மகிழ்ச்சி ஏழு கோடி வருமானத்தில் இல்லை: இளையராஜா

Published : 21 Dec 2018 17:38 IST

வி.சீனிவாசன்

சேலம்



இளையராஜா: கோப்புப்படம்

எப்பொழுது கேட்டாலும் புத்தம்புது பூ போல இருப்பதே பாடல்; அதுவே பாடலுக்கான தகுதியாகும் என, சேலத்தில் 75-வது பிறந்த நாள் விழாவில் இசையமைப்பாளர் இளையராஜா பேசினார்.

சேலத்தில் உள்ள தனியார் கல்லூரியில் இசையமைப்பாளர் இளையராஜாவின் 75-வது பிறந்த நாள் விழா நடைபெற்றது. இதில் கலந்துகொண்ட இளையராஜா கல்லூரி மாணவ, மாணவியரிடம் பேசியதாவது:

"இசையை உருவாக்க முடியாது; இசை என்பது உருவானது. பறவை, அருவிபோல தானாக வருகிறது. நான் எதையும் உருவாக்கவில்லை. ஸ்விட்ச்போட்ட மாதிரி மெட்டு என்னிடம் கொட்டுகிறது. காலம் முழுவதும் எப்பொழுது கேட்டாலும் எந்த பாடல் அன்றலர்ந்த புத்தம் புது மலர்போல, நீங்கள் கேட்கும் பாடலை கேட்டு மகிழ்கிறீர்ளோ அது தான் பாடலுக்கான தகுதி. மாணவ, மாணவியர்கள் கல்லூரிக்கு வருகிறீர்கள், படிக்கிறீர்கள், சென்றுவிடுகிறீர்கள். ஆனால், நீங்கள் புது நீரோட்டம் போல எங்கும் பாய்ந்து, பசுமையாக இருக்க வேண்டும். நீங்கள் செய்யும் பணி நெஞ்சில் நிற்கும் ஈரம் போல, எப்பொழுதும் பசுமையாக இருக்க வேண்டும்.

எனக்கு படிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற ஆசை, ஆனால், ஜோசியர் எனக்கு 8-ம் வகுப்பு மேல் படிப்பு வராது என கூறிவிட்டார். சேரன் செங்குட்டுவன் மூத்தவன் இருக்கும் இளையவரான இளங்கோவடிகளே பட்டத்தரசராவார் என ஜோசியர் கூறினார். ஜோசியரின் கூற்றை பொய்யாக்க இளங்கோவடிகள் துறவு பூண்டதைபோல, நானும் ஜோசியத்தை பொய்யாக்குகிறேன் என்றேன்.

ஆனால், எட்டாம் வகுப்பு முடித்து ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு சேர கல்வி கட்டணம் ரூ.25 எனது அம்மாவிடம் இல்லை. வேலைக்கு சென்று பணம் சம்பாதித்து படிக்க, எனது அம்மா இசைவு தந்தார். வைகை அணை கட்டிட வேலை நடந்து கொண்டிருந்தது. அதில் பைப் மூலம் தண்ணீரை பாய்க்கும் வேலையில் உற்சாத்துடன் சேர்ந்தேன். தண்ணீரோடு சேர்ந்த எனது பாடல் சத்தத்துடன் வைகை அணையின் கட்டுமான பணி நடைபெற்றது.

அவ்வப்போது கட்டுமான பணியை மேற்பார்வையிட பொறியாளர் எஸ்.கே.நாயர் வருவார். அப்போதெல்லாம் கட்டுமான பணியிடத்தில் எழும் பெரும் சத்தத்தை பொருட்படுத்தாமல், யாரையும் கவனிக்காமல் தண்ணீரை பாய்த்தபடி எனது பாடல் வரி ஒலித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கும். மேற்பொறியாளர் என்னை பார்த்து என்ன படித்திருக்கிறாய் என்றார். எட்டாம் வகுப்பு என்றேன். அவர் அலுவலக சிப்பாந்தியாக பணியில் சேர்த்த அழைத்து கொண்டு சென்றுவிட்டார். அங்கு பாட முடியாத என்ற ஒரே வருத்தம் மட்டுமே மிஞ்சியிருந்தது.

வேலைக்கு சேர்ந்து நான் சம்பாதித்த முதல் மாத சம்பளம் ஏழு ரூபாய் புத்தம் புதிய நோட்டை கையில் வாங்கியதும் ஏற்பட்ட மனகிளர்ச்சியுடனான உள்ளார்ந்த மகிழ்ச்சியில் வானளாவி பறந்த மனது, ஏழு கோடி ரூபாய் சம்பாதித்தபோது அந்த சந்தோஷ அனுபவம் கிடைக்கவில்லை. எனவே, சந்தோஷம் என்பது பணத்தில் இல்லை, அவரவரின் மனதில் தான் உள்ளது"

இவ்வாறு இளையராஜா பேசினார்.

நடைபயிற்சி சென்ற பெண்களிடம் செயின் பறித்த 2 பேருக்கு தலா 20 ஆண்டுகள் சிறை: பண்ருட்டி நீதிமன்றம் அதிரடி தீர்ப்பு

Published : 21 Dec 2018 08:39 IST

விருத்தாசலம்

செயின் பறிப்பு - சித்தரிப்பு படம்

கடலூர் மாவட்டம் நெய்வேலி டவுன்ஷிப் பகுதியில் என்எல்சி ஊழியர்கள் வசிக்கும் பகுதியைச் சேர்ந்த பெண்கள், மாலை நேரத்தில் நடைபயிற்சி செல்வது வழக்கம். அந்த வகையில் கடந்த 2007 முதல் 2010 வரை வெவ்வேறு தினங்களில் நெய்வேலி வட்டம் 12 மற்றும் 20 பகுதிகளில் நடைபயிற்சி மேற்கொண்டிருந்த பெண்களிடம் பைக்கில் வந்த மர்ம நபர்கள் செயின் பறிப்பில் ஈடுபட்டனர். இது தொடர்பாக தனலட்சுமி, ஜானகி, மணிபாலா, சித்ரா உள்ளிட்ட பாதிக்கப்பட்ட பெண்கள், நெய்வேலி டவுன்ஷிப் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் அளித்திருந்தனர்.

இப்புகாரின் அடிப்படையில் 10 செயின் பறிப்பு சம்பவங்கள் தொடர்பாக நெய்வேலி மாற்றுகுடியிருப்பைச் சேர்ந்த செந்தில்குமார் (33), வட்டம் 4-ஐ சேர்ந்த வசந்தராஜா (35) ஆகிய இருவரையும் போலீஸார் கைது செய்தனர். இது தொடர்பான வழக்கு விசாரணை நெய்வேலி சார்பு நீதிமன்றத்தில் நடைபெற்று வந்த நிலையில், பண்ருட்டி நீதிமன்றத்துக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டது. பண்ருட்டி குற்றவியல் நீதிமன்ற நடுவர் கணேஷ் முன்னிலையில் வழக்கு விசாரணை நடைபெற்று, நேற்று தீர்ப்பு வழங்கப்பட்டது.

அதன்படி ஒவ்வொரு வழக்கிலும் தலா 2 ஆண்டுகள் வீதம் 10 வழக்குகளிலும் இருவருக்கும் தலா 20 ஆண்டு சிறை தண்டனையும், ஒவ்வொரு வழக்கில் தலா ரூ.1,500 வீதம் 10 வழக்குகளுக்கு ரூ.15 ஆயிரம் அபராதம் விதித்து தீர்ப்பளிக்கப்பட்டது. அரசு தரப்பு வழக்க றிஞராக தேவசுந்தரி ஆஜரானார். தீர்ப்பைத் தொடர்ந்து செயின் பறிப்பு கொள்ளையர்கள் இருவரும் சிறையில் அடைக்கப்பட்டனர்.

சொமாட்டோ சம்பவமும் ஒரு உணவக அதிபரும்!

Published : 21 Dec 2018 09:24 IST

கோம்பை அன்வர்




சொமாட்டோ சம்பவம் எல்லோருக்கும் தெரிந்திருக்கும். தங்கள் செல்பேசி செயலி மூலம் ஆர்டர் செய்யும் வாடிக்கையாளர்களுக்கு உணவகத்திலிருந்து உணவை வாங்கிச் சென்று கொடுக்கும் நிறுவனம் இது. அப்படி வாடிக்கையாளருக்குக் கொடுக்கச் சென்ற உணவில் கொஞ்சத்தை அதைக் கொண்டுசென்ற ஊழியர் எடுத்துச் சாப்பிட்டார். இதை ஒருவர் படம் எடுத்து, சமூக வலைதளங்களில் பகிர, விளைவாக அந்த ஊழியர் பணிநீக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார்.

இது, ஒரு பிரபல சென்னை உணவகத்தில், 25 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் நடைபெற்ற ஒரு சம்பவத்துடன் ஒப்பீடு செய்யத் தூண்டுகிறது. 1990-களில் எழும்பூர் ஓட்டல் ஒன்றில் நடந்த ஒரு சம்பவம். சிக்கன் 65 விரும்பி ஆர்டர் செய்தவருக்கு சர்வர் கொண்டுவந்து வைத்த தட்டைக் கண்டதும் அதிர்ச்சி. வழக்கமாக ஆறு துண்டுகள் இருக்கும். அன்று ஒன்று குறைவாக இருந்தது.

அடிக்கடி வந்து விரும்பி உண்பவர்போலும். எண்ணிக்கை குறைவது சந்தேகத்தை எழுப்ப, கல்லாவுக்குச் செய்தி போகிறது. மேலாளருக்குச் செய்தி செல்ல, அதை எடுத்துச் சென்ற சர்வர் விசாரிக்கப்படுகிறார். ஒரு துண்டு எடுத்துச் சாப்பிட்டதாக ஊழியர் ஒப்புக்கொள்ள, அவரைப் பணியிலிருந்து நீக்கப் பரிந்துரைக்கிறார் மேலாளர். இரவு உணவக அதிபர் வருகிறார். தவறு செய்த ஊழியர் அவர் முன் நிறுத்தப்படுகிறார். பெரியவர் “உண்மைதானா?” என்று கேட்க, ஊழியர் “பசித்தது, எடுத்துச் சாப்பிட்டுவிட்டேன், தவறுதான்” என்று கண்ணில் நீர் வழிய ஒப்புக்கொள்கிறார். மேலும் சில கேள்விகள், ஊழியரின் வறுமை நிலை புரிகிறது. அவர் சம்பளத்தை மட்டுமே நம்பி ஊரில் குடும்பம் இருக்கிறது என்பதையும் உணர்கிறார் உணவக அதிபர்.

மேலாளரிடம் திரும்பி, “பசியோடு இவர் ஏன் வேலை செய்ய வேண்டும்? கஸ்டமர்களைக் கவனித்தால் மட்டும் போதாது, ஊழியர்கள் நேரத்துக்கு நன்கு சாப்பிட்டார்களா என்பதையும் மேனேஜர் பொறுப்பாகப் பார்க்க வேண்டும்” என்று அறிவுரை சொல்லிவிட்டு, அடுத்தொன்றைச் செய்கிறார். “இனி நேரத்துக்குச் சாப்பிட்டுவிட்டு வேலை செய்யுங்கள், இதுபோன்ற தவறு இனி நிகழக் கூடாது” என்று அறிவுறுத்திவிட்டு, அவருக்குச் சம்பளத்தையும் கொஞ்சம் உயர்த்துகிறார். வேலை போகப்போகிறது என்று பயந்திருந்த ஊழியருக்கு இன்ப அதிர்ச்சி. நிறுவனரின் மறைவுக்குப் பின்னரும் அந்த ஊழியர் ஓட்டலில் தொடர்ந்து பணியாற்றினார் என்கிறார்கள்.

கடும் போட்டியில் சந்தையைப் பிடிப்பதே முதன்மையாகவும், லாபம் மட்டுமே குறிக்கோளாகவும், நிரந்தர ஊழியர்களைத் தவிர்த்து காண்ட்ராக்ட் தொழிலாளர்களை அடிமைகளாகக் கருதும் எண்ணற்ற கார்ப்பரேட் நிறுவனங்களில், இன்று மனிதர்கள் வெறும் எண்ணிக்கையாக ஆகிவிட்ட நிலையில், மனிதாபிமானம் காணாமல்போகின்றது. இதில் மிகக் குறைந்த விலையில் அனைத்தையும் எதிர்பார்க்கும் வாடிக்கையாளர்களும் குற்றவாளிகளே!

மாவட்ட செய்திகள்

கேளம்பாக்கம் அருகே கார்-மோட்டார் சைக்கிள் மோதல்; முதியவர் படுகாயம் போக்குவரத்து கடும் பாதிப்பு


கேளம்பாக்கம்-வண்டலூர் சாலையில் கார்-மோட்டார் சைக்கிள் மோதிய விபத்தில் முதியவர் படுகாயம் அடைந்தார்.

பதிவு: டிசம்பர் 22, 2018 03:23 AM

திருப்போரூர்,

சென்னை ஈஞ்சம்பாக்கம் பகுதியை சேர்ந்தவர் கணேசன் (வயது 60). தனியார் நிறுவனத்தில் பணிபுரிந்து வருகிறார். நேற்று காலை கேளம்பாக்கம்-வண்டலூர் சாலை புதுப்பாக்கம் அருகே மோட்டார் சைக்கிளில் சென்று கொண்டிருந்தார்.

அப்போது அவருக்கு பின்னால் வந்த அடையாளம் தெரியாத கார் மோட்டார் சைக்கிள் மீது மோதிவிட்டு சென்றதாக கூறப்படுகிறது. இதில் கணேசன் படுகாயம் அடைந்தார். காரை பின்தொடர்ந்து வந்த பஸ் விபத்துக்குள்ளான மோட்டார் சைக்கிள் மீது மோதியது. இதில் மோட்டார் சைக்கிள் நொறுங்கியது. படுகாயம் அடைந்த கணேசனை பொதுமக்கள் மீட்டு கேளம்பாக்கத்தில் உள்ள தனியார் ஆஸ்பத்திரியில் அனுமதித்தனர்.

விபத்து காரணமாக கேளம்பாக்கம்-வண்டலூர் சாலையில் ஒரு மணி நேரம் போக்குவரத்து பாதிக்கப்பட்டது. இது குறித்து கேளம்பாக்கம் போலீசார் விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.

மாவட்ட செய்திகள்

ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனையில் லஞ்சத்தை தடுக்க புதிய குழு



சென்னை ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவ மனையில் லஞ்சம் மற்றும் ஊழலை தடுக்க புதிய குழு அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

பதிவு: டிசம்பர் 22, 2018 04:00 AM
சென்னை,

சென்னை ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனையில் நேற்று அந்த மருத்துவமனையின் ‘டீன்’ டாக்டர் ஜெயந்தி நிருபர்களுக்கு பேட்டியளித்தார். அப்போது அவர் கூறியதாவது:-

ராஜீவ்காந்தி பொது மருத்துவமனையில் 62 கண்காணிப்பு கேமராக்கள் பொருத்தப்பட்டு செயல்பட்டு வருகிறது. இந்த நிலையில் தற்போது ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனையில் லஞ்சம், ஊழல் மற்றும் திருட்டு சம்பவங்களை தடுக்கும் வகையில் கூடுதலாக 125 நவீன கண்காணிப்பு கேமராக்கள் பொருத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. இதன் மூலம் மருத்துவமனை வளாகம் முழுவதும் கண்காணிப்பில் இருக்கும்.

21 கேமராக்கள் மருத்துவமனை வெளி வளாகத்திலும், 104 கேமராக்கள் மருத்துவமனை கட்டிடங்களிலும் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. வெளி வளாகத்தில் பொருத்தப்பட்டுள்ள கேமராக்கள் 280 மீட்டர் வரை பார்க்கக்கூடிய திறன் உடையதாகும். இந்த கண்காணிப்பு கேமராக்கள் இரவு நேரங்களிலும் தெளிவாக படம் பிடிக்கும் வசதிகள் கொண்ட நவீன வகை கேமராக்கள் ஆகும்.

புதிய குழு

ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனையில் லஞ்சம் மற்றும் ஊழலை தடுக்கும் வகையில் தினமும் 2 பேராசிரியர்கள் கொண்ட குழு அமைக்கப்பட உள்ளது. இந்த குழு தினமும் மருத்துவமனையின் அனைத்து வார்டுகளையும் ஆய்வு மேற்கொண்டு அவர்களது அறிக்கையை கொடுக்கும். அந்த அறிக்கையின் அடிப்படையில் தக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.

தனியார் ஒப்பந்த ஊழியர்கள் மீது கொடுக்கப்பட்ட புகார்களின் அடிப்படையில் 5 பேர் மீது நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது. மேலும் ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனையில் கடந்த சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு லஞ்ச ஒழிப்பு அதிகாரிகள் ஆய்வு மேற்கொண்டனர். லஞ்ச ஒழிப்பு அதிகாரிகளிடம் இருந்து உரிய அறிக்கை வந்தவுடன், அந்த அறிக்கையின் பேரில் ஊழியர்கள் மீது தக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.

தகவல் பலகை

மருத்துவமனை வளாகத்தில் உள்ள மைதானத்தில் புதிதாக வண்டிகள் நிறுத்த வசதிகள் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. சென்டிரல் ரெயில் நிலையத்துக்கு செல்பவர்கள் மருத்துவமனை வளாகத்தில் தங்கள் வண்டிகளை நிறுத்தி விட்டு செல்கின்றனர். இதனால் இந்த புதிய வாகன நிறுத்த ஏற்பாடுகள் செய்யப்பட்டு இருக்கிறது.

மேலும் பிரேத பரிசோதனை நிலையத்தில் தான் அதிக புகார்கள் வருகிறது. இதனால் அங்கு தனி தகவல் பலகை வைக்கப்பட்டு, இறந்தவர்கள் விவரங்கள் உள்ளிட்ட தகவல்கள் அங்கு எழுதிவைக்க ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. மேலும் ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனை பிரேத பரிசோதனை நிலையத்தில் லஞ்சம் கேட்டால் பொது மக்கள் 8939642648 என்ற எண்ணில் எஸ்.எம்.எஸ்(குறுந்தகவல்) மூலமாகவோ அல்லது மருத்துவமனை நிலைய அதிகாரியிடம் புகார் கொடுக்கலாம்.

இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.

பேட்டியின்போது ராஜீவ்காந்தி அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனை கண்காணிப்பாளர் டாக்டர் நாராயணசாமி மற்றும் மருத்துவமனை நிலைய அதிகாரி டாக்டர் இளங்கோ ஆகியோர் உடனிருந்தனர்.

Any failure in uploading docus may lead to CBCId probe on officer: Madras HC

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

PublishedDec 21, 2018, 12:50 am IST

On account of his intervention, in the last few days, the officers have uploaded documents in the CCTNS platform in around 80 cases.

Madras high court

Chennai: Noticing the failure of the police in uploading the documents relating to Motor Accident Claims cases in the CCTNS online platform, the Madras high court has observed that if there is any failure in future, the court will have no option but to direct the CBCID to investigate into the allegation and prosecute the police officer and others who were in league with him.

Passing interim orders in the case relating to bogus motor accident claims, Justice P.N.Prakash said Vijayaraghavan, counsel for Cholamandalam Insurance company, invited the attention of this court with regard to around 100 cases in which MCOP claims have been filed with hard copies of documents prior to them being uploaded in the CCTNS platform. This is undoubtedly in clear violation of the circulars issued by the DGP and Additional Commissioner of police directing the investigating officers to upload the relevant documents in the CCTNS platform. “It is obvious to this court that the police officers are in league with some vested interest and are handing over hard copies of documents to a chosen few, for them to capture the victims and file MCOPs. In the opinion of this court, the act of such investigating officers, undoubtedly, will fall within the ambit of “misconduct” as defined under the Prevention of Corruption Act, for which, Police investigation can be ordered”, the judge added.

The judge said however, on instruction Government advocate P.Kritika Kamal pleaded that ulterior motives cannot be attributed to all the investigating officers and most of them, out of sheer force of habit, must have parted company of the documents to the victims before uploading them in the CCTNS platform. She also submitted that there were some technical snags in the network which were a stumbling block for uploading the documents in the CCTNS platform. She also submitted that pursuant to the orders of the court , R.Sudhakar, Joint commissioner of Police has held a conference of investigating officers and has exhorted them to follow the directions of the Supreme court and this court and the orders of DGP and ACOP and has warned them all of serious action. On account of his intervention, in the last few days, the officers have uploaded documents in the CCTNS platform in around 80 cases.

“This court is constrained to observe, at this juncture, that if this court stumbles upon any deviation in the future, this court will have no option but to direct the CBCID to investigate into the allegations and prosecute the police officer and others who were in league with him”, the judge added.

The judge also granted time till January 15, 2019 to the state government to scrutinize the Delhi rules and in consultation with the State Crime Records Bureau, bring forth necessary amendment to the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Tribunal Rules to make the CCTNS platform workable.

PM Modi condoles death of ‘Rs 5 Doctor’ Jayachandran

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | SHWETA TRIPATHI

PublishedDec 22, 2018, 4:15 am IST

Dr Jayachandran would treat patients for free, and if the patient willingly offers him money he would take a token amount of Rs 5.

Dr Jayachandran with a young patient. (Source:twitter)

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has joined the hundreds of admirers who paid homage to the people’s doctor Dr S Jayachndran. The ‘Rs 5 Doctor’ passed away on Thursday after suffering from a brief illness. “Chennai based Dr S Jayachandran is a hero. His was a life purely for the betterment of others,” wrote PM Modi on Twittter.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also mourned the demise of Dr Jayachandran saying “I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of ‘` 5 doctor’ Dr Jayachandran.”

Mentioning his contribution towards the welfare of society, CM Palaniswami wrote on twitter, “He had been serving the poor section of the society since 1971 in Ramapuram and was charging only ` 2 earlier for medical care. It is an immense loss to the society. I extend my deepest condolences to his family and the people of Ramapuram.”

The ‘Makkal Maruthuvar’ Dr S Jayachandran believed in a completely non-commercialised medical care system and served the people of Chennai for 44 years. He started his clinic at his home at Venkatachalam street in Old Washermanpet in 1971 without taking financial help from anyone. In those days, he used to charge only 25 paise. He later shifted the clinic to Kasimedu.

An alumnus of Madras Medical College, Dr Jayachandran would treat patients for free, and if the patient willingly offers him money he would take a token amount of `5. Some of his patients recall that he would help elderly patients with mode of transportation if they were injured and could not afford auto-rickshaws.

While economically weak people saw him as a Messiah, he also had a queue of wealthy patients who would offer to pay him more than his fixed amount of ` 5. Dr Jayachandran insisted on accepting the fee in the form of medicines that he would give to those who couldn’t afford it.

Dr Jayachandran leaves behind a wife, who is also a doctor, and three children. His compassionate attitude towards patients coming from all sections of the society is an example of selfless service for the medical profession.

Family doctor, now only memory of past

The likes of Dr Jayachandran are a rarity now, in the current scenario of commercial healthcare sector and corporate medical treatments. Most households complain that the physicians have lost the humane attitude that used to be there with the family doctors earlier.

“Physicians no longer smile, no longer enquire about the wellbeing of the family, no longer recall the past ailments,” says 89-year-old S Srinivasan. “They are only interested in referrals to super-specialists, unnecessary scans and screening tests, and are very indifferent, shrugging off when the worst happens to the patient, while all the time they are obsessed with billing,” he adds.

Traditionally, the doctors to whom families visited regularly in case of any ailments irrespective of his/her specialisation were called “family doctors”. They would give primary treatment and based on the condition he/she referred the patient to a specialist for further care. Family medicine now stops at the consultant who makes the diagnosis.

“The history of medical treatments of all the members of the family used to be recorded in the mind of family doctors. We now visit doctors with a bundle of medical records and then it goes ahead with further referrals and screening tests that might be even unnecessary,” said 80-year-old G Poorna, a resident of Adyar.

General physician Dr S Vijayaraghavan says, “The approach of doctors towards the patients is more of a disease-centric than pro-active patient centric attitude. There has been a complete shift in the way medical care is being offered in the current scenario than a few decades back. While the advancement of technologies has helped in the treatment of emergency cases, allopathic treatment for the management of chronic diseases has been taken completely in the wrong way.”

“Chronic diseases are mainly the symptoms due to fault in the lifestyle and diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, stress and depression and they need not be dealt with medicines only, but lifestyle modifications,” he adds.

Though the advancement in the healthcare sector has helped to come up with remedies for various ailments, the confidence that patients had in medical profession and doctors has deteriorated over the course of time.

Vedic researcher S Ramachandran says that pharmaceutical companies are funding the medical researches and that has created the disease-centric set up in medical field. “A patient gets brainwashed to undergo numerous tests and corporate hospitals hardly reveal the details of treatment being provided to the patient on a regular basis. The medical research is attracting revenue with the growth of medical industry and pharma groups.”

As the advancements in healthcare has changed the face of medical sector to corporate sector, medical practitioners are of the opinion that medical profession cannot be practised in the same way as it used to be 25 years back and technological advances are a necessity.

The era of clinics in every locale headed by a registered medical practitioner is now gone and everyone heads to a hospital in case of headaches and high temperatures, says renowned cardiologist and chairman of Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Dr K M Cherian

“The bond between the doctor and the patient that existed two-three decades ago is now lost. Nowadays doctors need more of a complete diagnostic approach to offer better services and various screening tests such as MRI are done even for small complaints such as headaches. However, people are aware of the commercialisation of the medical set up and they seek treatments in corporate hospitals,” said Dr Cherian.

...

Chennai: Rare surgery performed on a pre-term child

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | ASHWINI SEKAR

PublishedDec 22, 2018, 5:20 am IST

Jayanthi from Mundiambakkkam was admitted in the hospital on the August 24 and her baby was diagnosed with Fungal Endocarditis.

Director of Institute of Child Health Dr Arasar Sreelalar and Dr G K Jaikaran, head, pediatric cardiothoracic surgery department checks the pre-term baby who underwent an open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with fungal endocarditis at Institute of Child Health on Friday. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: A rare open-heart surgery was performed for a lowest weight pre-term child diagnosed with fungal endocarditis at Institute of Child Health recently.

Jayanthi from Mundiambakkkam was admitted in the hospital on the August 24 and her baby was diagnosed with Fungal Endocarditis. The pre-term baby weighing 1.72 kilograms had a fungal mass in tricuspid valve. Despite being treated with antibiotics and antifungal drugs for more than a month, the medicines did not respond and no resolution of the fungal mass could be sought.

Hence the preterm baby was taken for an open-heart surgery on November 26 and was successfully operated and external tubes were removed postoperatively on December 1. The patient has recovered very well and is now fit for discharge on the December 21.

“This is a rare occurrence in premature infants with more than 50 percent mortality in not operated patients and more than 80 percent mortality in operated patients. This patient is the lowest weight pre-term baby operated for open heart surgery in Tamil Nadu at the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme,” said Dr G K Jaikaran, head, paediatric cardiothoracic surgery department.

PM Modi calls Chennai’s beloved Rs 2 doctor Jayachandran a hero; Here is why he was called the 'People’s Doctor'

Dr Jayachandran began his practice in the 1970s, in North Chennai’s Old Washermanpet, and he charged only 25 paise in his initial years of practice.

Published: 21st December 2018 10:43 PM 

PM Modi (L) | Dr Jayachandran (R) (PTI and Youtube screengrab)
By Amrutha Kuber

Online Desk

Chennai’s Dr Jayachandran or 'Makkal Maruthuvar' (People's doctor) -- as he was fondly called by numerous residents -- passed away in the city on 19th December. PM Modi on Friday paid tribute to the North Chennai doctor who only charged his patients Rs.2, calling him a hero and said, “his was a life purely for the betterment of others.”



Narendra Modi
✔@narendramodi

Chennai based Dr S Jayachandran is a hero. His was a life purely for the betterment of others. https://www.thebetterindia.com/167395/chennai-doctor-death-tribute-inspiring-hero/ …
18.5K
5:25 PM - Dec 21, 2018
Twitter Ads info and privacy


Chennai's Beloved ‘Rs 5 Doctor’ Passes Away: Why He Was a Messiah to The Poor - The Better India

Many residents of Chennai are in a deep state of mourning after Dr S Jayachandran, the famous ‘₹5 doctor,’ passed away earlier today after suffering from a brief illness. The compassionate doctor...thebetterindia.com
5,297 people are talking about this

In a testament to his legacy, hundreds of people paid homage to him at his house in Old Washermenpet from where he treated his patients.

Here’s everything you should know about him:

He began his practice in the 1970s, in North Chennai’s Old Washermanpet, after which he moved to Kasimedu.

He charged only 25 paise in his initial years of practice. One of his patients, K Rajeshwari, said, "I knew him for the last 40 years. He is our family doctor. At a time medical service has turned into a business for many doctors, he looked at it as a humanitarian service," she said.

His aim was to serve the people. Since people from North Chennai are from economically weaker sections of society, he wanted to help them.

According to media reports, he also helped patients by providing auto fare for the elderly after they visit him.

He made himself available for patients even at 1 am, even gave money to patients and sometimes also offered them food.

If some of his patients could not afford the consultation fee, he would treat them for free.

Despite help from various trusts for donations, he refused and instead insisted that they buy medicines and donate so that he could treat his patients free of cost.

He also referred his patients to scan centres so they would get concessions.

He was also nominated by friends and well-wishers for Padma Shri award in 2016 on the grounds of humanitarian service, his friend N Raman, former director of Botany Department, University of Madras said. "He deserved the award, but he didn't receive it," said Raman.

He did not, however, pay much attention to his own health! He never slept or ate on time, one of his patients, Om Prakash said. "When I was young, I have seen him going around narrow streets of North Chennai on a bicycle to treat patients,” he added.

Over the years, he has been honoured with multiple awards, including:

Knighthood Award in 2008 by Grand Magistry of Knights of Charity of St. John Jerusalem.

Lifetime achievement award by Dr MGR Medical University in 2012.

Doctors Day Award for 2005, 2006 and 2009 from Indian Medical Association.

Best Social Service Doctor Award by former Governor of Tamil Nadu K Rosaiah in 2013.

He is survived by his wife Dr Veni Jayachandran, two sons and a daughter, all doctors by profession.

Nine-year-old Chennai bound passenger becomes Dubai's billionth passenger

To pick the lucky passenger, Dubai Airports used its passenger traffic forecast to narrow down the selection to a specific flight and approached Emirates to make a random selection.

Published: 21st December 2018 01:58 PM |

For representational purposes (File | AP)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Nine-year-old Arjun who was travelling from United States to Chennai became the billionth passenger to land in Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Airports and representatives from across the aviation sector and the emirate of Dubai gave the airport’s billionth warm welcome to nine-year-old Arjun along with his mother Ramya, father Venkatesh and thirteen-year-old brother Varun, who arrived from Orlando, Florida on Emirates flight EK220.

The billionth customer is arguably the most significant in a long litany of achievements since the airport first opened in September 30, 1960 with a tiny terminal building and a runway of compacted sand. Today the hub is widely considered a benchmark for its quality infrastructure, passenger and cargo volumes and high service levels despite unrelenting growth. Dubai airport handles an average of 7.5 million customers every month and this year broke its own traffic record thrice with more than 8.3 million customers in a month.

The airport took 51 years – from September 30, 1960 to December 31, 2011 – to reach its 500 millionth passenger but clocked the remaining 500 million in just seven years. Over the past 11 years alone Dubai Airports has opened seven major facilities with an investment of almost $12 billion. Five of those have been at Dubai including Terminal 3, Concourses A, B, D and the complete refurbishment and expansion of Terminal 2.

Contract woman staff arrested for leaking Anna University exam paper

The CBCID officials arrested Kanchana, who worked at the University for about 13 years as a temporary worker.

Published: 22nd December 2018 02:09 AM 

Anna University in Chennai (File | EPS)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Crime Branch-Criminal Investigating Department (CB-CID) sleuths arrested a woman who worked at the Anna University, allegedly for leaking the mathematics question paper recently.

The CBCID officials arrested Kanchana, who worked at the University for about 13 years as a temporary worker. Sources said that she did not do it for money but to help her nephew, Suresh who sought her help.

The CBCID officers on Wednesday arrested two college graduates, K Suresh Kumar and A Harikrishnan. Since Kanchana was working in the Office of Controller of Examinations at the University, Suresh sought her help. She took a copy of the question paper and gave it to Suresh who in turn, handed over to his friend Harikrishnan and also circulated it to his friends.

On December 3, during the exam, Anna University officials were alerted by some anonymous students that the question paper for the Mathematics II paper of the engineering stream, was already leaked.The University has decided to revamp the working system of the office of the Controller of Examinations in the next two weeks, said Dr M Venkatesan, Controller of Examinations, speaking to Express. He said steps would be taken to ensure that temporary staff do not get access to question papers.


“The accused is a clerical staff who was hired temporarily. We terminated her as soon as we heard about the arrest,” he said.

Bereaved family hunts down fake doctor in Chennai

The shocking revelation came to light after months of efforts by the family of a 48-year-old woman who died in May after being treated by the accused Ranjith.

Published: 22nd December 2018 02:22 AM 

Image used for representational purpose only.

By Sahaya Novinston Lobo

Express News Service

CHENNAI: A ‘fake’ doctor had been practising in various hospitals in the City, including a prominent multi-specialty hospital at Mylapore, for several years.

The shocking revelation came to light after months of efforts by the family of a 48-year-old woman who died in May after being treated by the accused Ranjith, at the Laksha Multi Speciality Hospital, Mylapore.

The Mylapore police on Wednesday filed a cheating case against Ranjith and Dr Senthil Kumar, the managing director of the hospital.


The police acted only after the family, by its own efforts, verified with the State and the National medical councils and found that the registration number submitted by Ranjith, belongs to another retired doctor with a similar name from Adyar.

The police did not act on the case despite issuing a ‘Community Service Register’ receipt on August 28, acknowledging the complaint.

The doubts about Ranjith, practising in the Mylapore hospital, arose in April when K Jothi, aged 48, and fighting cancer, suffered sudden death on May 18 in the hospital.

“We had some suspicion about Ranjith from the beginning. But when he performed a surgery a week before her death, my mother suffered a seizure and was admitted in ICU,” Bala Shankari, Jothi’s daughter, told Express from Puducherry.

She said they grew concerned over the deteriorating health of Jothi and were preparing to shift her to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital on May 18, when the staff told them Jothi had started bleeding and was critical. Ranjith had attended to her in the ICU and a few minutes later, she was declared dead.

“While we were weeping over the demise of our mother, Ranjith started playing a sentimental song in his mobile phone inside the ICU ward,”said Bala Shankari. The family’s suspicion over Ranjith grew stronger when the hospital is said to have delayed issuing the medical reports and bills.

The family said they lodged a complaint with the Mylapore police over the issue, but no action was taken. When they raised the questions over Ranjith, the police officers had defended him and gave the family his medical council registration number. But when the family approached the State and national medical councils with the number and asked for the address of the doctor, they were given that of a doctor based in Adyar.

“We gave this information to the police, but they simply brushed it aside saying that no one was present at the address. So we went to the given address and found there was another retired doctor, but with the name ‘Ranjith Kumar’. Only after we informed this to the police, they summoned Ranjith in August last week,” said Bala Shankari.

Police said Ranjith was absconding after he appeared once at the police station in last week of August. But a police officer involved in the investigation said they still did not file an FIR since they “expected him to appear again”. The family in the meanwhile, filed petitions to various authorities, including CM’s cell.

The Mylapore police finally on Wednesday night, filed an FIR on charges of cheating against Ranjith and the hospital managing director Senthil Kumar.

“We found that Ranjith was not a qualified doctor and we are looking out for him,” said the officer. However, he opined that the hospital management was also a victim since they too were cheated. He also acknowledged that the hospital did not do a proper background check on him.

When Express on Friday visited the hospital, the staff at the reception said Dr Senthil Kumar was not willing to talk to the press on the issue since the police investigations are on. However, later in the evening, an advocate representing the hospital, called Express and defended the hospital.

“Senthil Kumar had met Ranjith in two other private hospitals where he had gone for consultations. During such a visit, Ranjith had volunteered to work in this hospital also and Senthil Kumar accepted it. He only asked for the registration number and when he checked, the name showed as ‘Ranjith Kumar’. He did not probe further and that has now landed the hospital in trouble,” said the advocate who gave his name as Antony.

He said Ranjith had worked in the hospital for over two years. As per Ranjith’s claims made to the Laksha Multi Speciality Hospital, he was working for nearly 8 years in various hospitals in Chennai before joining them.

The advocate claimed that they traced Ranjith’s address and spoke to his mother.

“She said he was once studying in a medical college in Bengaluru, but was not sure whether he completed the course. We are also helping the police in tracing him,” said the advocate.

In her complaint, Bala Shankari has also named a senior doctor at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, as having referred Jothi to Laksha Multi Speciality Hospital.

The police have filed a case under section 15 (3) of the Indian Medical Council Act and IPC sections 419 (personation) and 420 (cheating).

RGUHS to ask colleges to stream examinations live

Tanu Kulkarni

BENGALURU, DECEMBER 22, 2018 00:00 IST

A file photo of students writing an RGUHS examination.

Aim is to curb malpractice, particularly in connivance with college managements

Postgraduate medical and dental students as well as those enrolled in allied health science courses may no longer find it easy to get away with cheating during examinations. From May 2019, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will be watching them closely as it has decided to ask affiliated colleges to livestream exams online.

The university has decided to initiate this step after several officials pointed out that malpractice was rampant, often in connivance with college managements.

M.K. Ramesh, Registrar (Evaluation) of the university, said that although they had made it mandatory to install CCTV cameras at exam centres, the records were not being checked. “If we get any complaint of malpractice, there is no way for us to verify it as the college either claims the cameras were not working or would have switched them off at the time. We often get complaints a fortnight after the exam is conducted, and the colleges are not able to give us the footage,” he said.

Greater accountability

The web-streaming mechanism will bring more accountability into the system. Colleges will have to stream the exam online using CCTV.

Dedicated team

“A dedicated team will sit in the university’s headquarters in Bengaluru and continuously monitor the situation. If they do not receive footage of a particular examination centre, our flying squads will be sent to the college to check for malpractices,” Prof. Ramesh said.

These measures will be inforce for the May 2019 postgraduate exams. Colleges will have to preserve the footage for at least six months after the exam is completed. A circular is to be sent to all the colleges soon.

In the past, the RGUHS has found that students use Bluetooth devices to get answers read out by their friends and relatives. Some have also been involved in tampering of answer scripts.

The move has been welcomed by students and faculty members.

“Merely installing CCTV cameras is of no use. Web streaming of answer scripts will certainly curb malpractices and will ensure that students who have worked hard can write the exam without any disturbance,” said Soujanya S., an MBBS student.

A dedicated team will sit in the university’s headquarters in Bengaluru and continuously monitor the situation. If they do not receive footage of a particular examination centre, our flying squads will be sent to the college to check for malpractices

M.K. Ramesh,

Registrar (Evaluation), RGUHS

MSU prof. sacked for sexual abuse

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUNELVELI, DECEMBER 22, 2018 00:00 IST

3 others relieved for ‘dereliction of duty’

The Syndicate Committee of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) has resolved to relieve a professor, who is facing sexual harassment charges, under “compulsory retirement”.

“The Syndicate Committee that met on Thursday resolved to relieve P. Govindaraju from the MSU under compulsory retirement,” said one of its members. The committee also resolved to “terminate from service” three faculty members of the Department of English, for “dereliction of duty”.

After Dr. Govindaraju, formerly Head, Department of Communication, MSU, allegedly called a woman research scholar at the odd hours over the phone and sexually harassed her, Vice-Chancellor K. Baskar, Registrar S. Santhosh Baboo, Women’s Cell of MSU, Syndicate Committee and the Internal Complaints Cell of MSU received CDs containing the controversial conversations.

Independent probes

As the Internal Complaints Cell (ICC), after examining the research scholar, found Dr. Govindaraju guilty, the ICC submitted its report recommending “further action on this issue by a competent probing agency (police)”, while the Syndicate Committee grilled the faculty member under question.

“Since both investigations have found Dr. Govindaraju of guilty , the decision was made,” a source said.

On the termination of three faculty members of Department of English, sources said “dereliction of duty” was the prime charge they were facing. “After complaints were received against the faculty members R. Ramesh, J. Jenitha and N. Poovalingam, a probe panel, headed by a former Director General of Police was formed,” the sources added

Leaders condole death of ‘Rs. 5 doctor’ Jayachandran

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 22, 2018 00:00 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday expressed their condolences over the death of north Chennai’s famous ‘Rs. 5 doctor’ S. Jayachandran. DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin had, on December 19, condoled the death of the the 71-year-old alumnus of the Madras Medical College.

RGUHS asks colleges to stream exams live

BENGALURU, DECEMBER 22, 2018 00:00 IST

A file photo of students writing an RGUHS examination.

Postgraduate medical and dental students as well as those enrolled in allied health science courses may no longer find it easy to get away with cheating during examinations. From May 2019, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will be watching them closely as it has decided to ask affiliated colleges to livestream exams online.

Times of India 22.12.2018

Mallya unlikely to be allowed to appeal extradition order till Jan

Naomi Canton

22.12.2018

Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya will have to wait till the end of January to file his appeal against a UK court’s ruling in favour of his extradition to India to face trial for defaulting on loans.

On December 10, the Westminster magistrates’ court ruling was sent to the UK home office for consideration. The decision to officially order the extradition is now in the hands of home secretary Sajid Javid. Javid has 60 days to make a decision, but he can apply to the court for an extension if he needs to seek information from the Indian government.

Javid also has to allow 28 days for representations by the defence, which he must consider before writing up his decision. After he makes his decision, the losing side has 14 to appeal against the decisions of both Javid and the court.

Earlier this week, Mallya’s solicitor Anand Doobay said his client would be appealing the Westminster magistrates’ court’s decision. “Mallya has now been able to consider the court’s decision and intends to file an application for permission to appeal at the appropriate time,” he said. While making his decision, Javid will weigh the risk of Mallya facing charges different from the ones he is being extradited for once he is back in India.

CBI and ED will now need to get their paperwork in order. It may have won a ruling in favour of extradition, but the British judge had embarrassing things to say about their presentation of evidence.

District judge Emma Arbuthnot criticized the evidence presented by the Indian government more than once for being repetitive and said it contained “many witnesses producing similar information”.

Court finds Indian bank officials complicit

London: While Indian bank officials are yet to be convicted back home, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot has pronounced them guilty. She wrote in her December 10 judgment: “I find a prima facie case of conspiracy to defraud which involves not just KFA (Kingfisher airlines) executives but also the named bankers in IDBI.” She said there had been a “catalogue of failures of the bank of different levels” which included “the failure to abide by their own rules when it came to a new client… and to investigate the representations that KFA made at various stages to obtain the loans”. TNN

Hide-&-seek game turns fatal: Boy, 2, dies, dad kills self

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore:22.12.2018

A simple game of hide-and-seek among a man and his children ended in a terrible tragedy at Kanuvai in Coimbatore on Thursday evening. A two-year-old boy drowned and his grief-stricken father committed suicide.

Reconstructing the events, police said R Manikandan, 32, who runs a mobile shop, was playing hide-andseek with his daughter Devadharshini, 5, while his son Dejashvin, 2, toddled around the house. Their mother Poovitha was asleep in a bedroom, resting as she had hurt herself in a fall while playing with the children a few days ago.

Police said Manikandan and Devadarshini took turns to go up to the terrace to keep count while the other hid inside the house. They had been playing for around an hour when Manikandan must have noticed his son was missing. He apparently did a quick search and found the child had drowned in a water tank, which was at ground level without any protective cover or wall.

Without raising an alarm, Manikandan asked an unsuspecting Devadharshini to again go up to the terrace and count while he hid himself. Devadharshini came down in a bit but could not find her father. She found the door of one room was locked. The girl then woke her mother up. Poovitha too tried to open the door but in vain. She then went outside to look through the window and found her husband hanging from the ceiling. Poovitha raised the alarm and neighbours gathered.

It was then that she started searching for her son. Poovitha found the body of the two-year-old in the open water tank. Poovitha and Manikandan had been married for six years.

The Thudiyalur police sent the two bodies to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for postmortem. The bodies were handed over to the family on Friday.

R Manikandan had been playing hide-an-seek with his two children when he found his son had drowned in a water tank. Without raising an alarm, Manikandan went to his room and hanged himself

Univ sacks prof for sexual harassment
Audio Tapes Were Sent To Registrar

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.12.2018

Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU), a state-run institution in Tirunelveli, has ordered a professor charged with sexual harassment of a research scholar to go on compulsory retirement. A meeting of the university syndicate took the decision on Thursday.

In October, the university registrar Santosh Baboo got an anonymous complaint, along with a compact disc or audio recordings, alleging that P Govindaraju, 58, then head of the department of communications, had made lewd remarks at a female research scholar over phone. The university soon suspended him on charges of sexual harassment.

The university’s internal complaints committee formed under the Vishakha guidelines verified the audio samples and found the allegations to be true, said Baboo. The report was tabled in the syndicate meeting which unanimously resolved that the professor should be placed under compulsory retirement, he said.

Interestingly, Govindaraju was a member of an earlier internal complaints committee that dealt with sexual harassment complaints on the campus.

He was named as one of the members of the organising committee of a two-day national conference on ‘Media literacy in the digital age’, scheduled on January 31, 2019.

The conference is being organized by the department of communication. Some faculty members questioned how Govindaraju can be part of the committee for an acdemic function when he was facing sexual harassment charges.

Responding to this, Baboo said that the invite that was shared with the faculty was an earlier one on which Govindaraju’s name was printed by mistake. “We have deleted his name and made the correction. He is no longer on the organising committee,” Baboo said.

Baboo said Thursday’s syndicate meeting also decided to terminate the services of three professors — R Ramesh, N Poornalingam and J Jenitha — of English department following complaints that they were not working as expected and they were not “student friendly”.

On getting complaints against the three professors, the university formed a disciplinary committee consisting of external members. The committee, after two sittings to go into the complaints, submitted a report to the university.

“The report was tabled in the syndicate meeting which decided to terminate their services,” Baboo said.

In October, the university registrar Santosh Baboo got an anonymous complaint alleging that P Govindaraju, 58, then head of the department of communications, had made lewd remarks at a female research scholar

GH display board to show real time postmortem data

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.12.2018

An electronic board displaying the number of bodies to undergo postmortem and the expected time for the procedure will be placed outside Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital to help grieving relatives waiting outside the mortuary get real time information.

The move is expected to reduce chances of corruption and avoid conflicts with mortuary staff, the hospital announced.

Postmortem is conducted by the hospital in case of unnatural deaths as in road accidents, falls or suicide or when case of death cannot be ascertained (brought dead). The department of forensic medicine has already started putting up handwritten display boards with details including time of receiving the body, name of police station that has registered the case, status of inquest, and expected time of postmortem.

In the last few months, the hospital has received complaints that staff demanded bribes to take bodies out of freezer and release them after postmortems. Similar complaints from patients’ relatives were also received inside ward.

After holding discussions with the police in August and October, the hospital has added more than 120 high resolution cameras on campus to prevent corruption and other crimes inside the ward, hospital dean Dr R Jayanthi said at a press conference on Friday. “Ever since, there were no cases of robbery or harassment filed by the police outpost,” she said.

A week ago DVAC officials raided various government hospitals following charges of corruption.

Two senior doctors in the post of professors are also posted each morning as vigilance officers of the day to inspect different wards, she said. Based on the reports, at least five housekeeping staff from various wards have been terminated after patients complained of harassment for bribes in the last six months.

“Around the same time, we have initiated inquiry against five permanent staff. They have been transferred to other departments pending inquiry,” she said.

Doctors at the hospital said after the security beef up there have not been any incident of relatives of patients beating up doctors in emergency and casualty wards. “It is also because we now have set protocols to reduce waiting time in the emergency department and this has reduced mortality rates by nearly 85% since January,” she said.

The move is expected to prevent chances of corruption and avoid conflicts with mortuary staff, the hospital announced

Retd teachers won’t get job extension mid yr

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:22.12.2018

The state government has done away with extension of services for teachers whose tenure ends during an academic year.

At present, a teacher whose retirement date falls after June (beginning of an academic year) is given extension till March-April (end of the academic year). Given the surplus teaching strength in government schools, school education department officials said the extensions were causing an additional financial burden in terms of monthly salaries.

A government order released in connection with this stated that teachers who retired at the age of 58 would no longer be re-employed. The practice of re-employing retired teachers began in 1959 when there was a shortage of teachers and government found it difficult to find replacements in the middle of an academic year. This in turn had an adverse impact on the students’ academic performance. To avoid this, teachers were allowed to serve till the end of the academic year.

On an average, 2,500 teachers retire each year and 500 of them receive extensions, shows data. But now TN has 15,000 surplus teachers, say government reports. With 2.3 lakh teachers, the teacher:student ratio is around 1:25. Despite lack of subject teachers and existence of singleteacher schools, it is comfortably above national average.

So, re-employment of retired teachers was an additional financial burden and doing away with it won’t impact the students, read orders issued by Pradeep Yadav, school education secretary. Also, most of the teachers are not allotted classes regularly and some are promoted to do administrative work in district level education department offices, it added. The GO exempted schools where there are no surplus teachers.

In a related development, the government has decided to take strict action against teachers who go on unauthorised leave. District and chief educational officers have been instructed to take strict action against such absentees, failing which disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against them, read a circular sent to schools. The circular warned that pension and other benefits of teachers who die during such unauthorised leave period will be stopped.

Special classes during holidays

Chennai:

The school education department has decided to conduct special classes for Class X, XI and XII students during the half-yearly holidays. A circular sent to schools stated that the classes will be optional and students willing to study for NEET or annual board exams can attend. Teachers who have been instructed to finish half-yearly paper evaluation before reopening will assist the students. The 413 special NEET coaching centres will also be functional during the 10-day break. TNN

Ludhiana Municipal Corporation returns RTI application without even opening it

TNN | Dec 20, 2018, 01.01 PM IST

LUDHIANA: What may be termed as the careless attitude or the lethargic approach of the officials of Zone D office of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana, an RTI application filed to seek some information from the tehbazari department was returned to the application without even opening it.

An application was filed seeking information under RTI Act by a city resident Satyendra Prakash Srivastava was returned to him by civic officials and officials did not mention any reason of not opening it. They only mentioned on the envelope that there are several Public Information Officer in the Zone D so applicant should write complete address of concerned PIO.

A resident of Civil Lines Satyendra Prakash said, “I had demanded information regarding total challans being done by Tehbazaari wing of MC and since MC Commissioner sits in zone D I simply wrote Zone PIO over letter.” He said it is duty of MC to guide people about RTI as well but there are no boards in MC office where names of concerned PIO or APIOs should be mentioned clearly.

However, the applicant rued that by returning the application, civic officials show a ‘who cares’ attitude about the RTI Act but he will file first appeal in this case.

When contacted MC Commissioner KP Brar on the issue, she admitted that civic official should not have returned the application this way, and the application should have been transferred to the concerned PIO. She revealed that MC had RTI Information cell which was not properly functional but now the working of the same cell would be streamlined.

Meanwhile the city based RTI activist Rohit Sabharwal said that civic officials cannot return the RTI application even if it is not concerned with any branch. As per the RTI manual, it is their duty to transfer the application to the concerned PIO under section 6(3) of RTI Act. “It is a kind of refusal by the civic officials and now a first appeal can be filed by the applicant” he adds.

The RTI activist rued that MC has appointed so many PIOs and APIOs just to confuse the public and nothing has been done to educate people about RTI.

He advocated that MC employees care too hoots about the RTI Act and they need to be taught about the act be arranging special classes.

Another RTI Activist Kuldeep Khaira alleged that MC officials always try to befool the RTI applicant to hide their poor working and they always make such lame excuses when it comes to supply information sought under RTI Act.

Family alleges medical negligence in boy’s death

S. Prasad

PUDUCHERRY, DECEMBER 21, 2018 00:00 IST

Relatives of the 16-year-old Manibharathi, on the right, block traffic in Puducherry on Thursday.S. S. Kumar

Manibharathi was taken to Indira Gandhi govt. hospital thrice after he fell sick

Irate family members and relatives of a 16-year-old boy who died at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital on Thursday resorted to a road blockade on the Vazhuthavur Road alleging medical negligence on the part of the hospital.

The victim A. Manibharathi, hailing from Velan Nagar in Saram, was studying Plus One in the Navalar Nedunchezhian Government Higher Secondary School in Lawspet. Manibharathi was returning from school on Monday when he consumed a chocolate offered by a stranger. However, he fell ill after consuming the chocolate and his mother Jayalakshmi and sister Manju took him to the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital at Kathirgamam. The doctors on duty treated him and sent him home. As his condition did not improve, the family again went to the hospital for the next two days and he was treated as an outpatient and sent home.

When Manibharathi’s health deteriorated on Wednesday, his family rushed him again to the hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.

On information, the victim’s relatives, along with Kathirgamam MLA N.S.J. Jayabal and former MLA Ashok Anand, resorted to a road blockade in front of the hospital on Vazhuthavur Road on Thursday alleging medical negligence.

Shortage of doctors

Mr. Jayabal expressed his displeasure over the shortage of doctors and lack of facilities at the hospital and said this had resulted in the death of several patients visiting the hospital over the last one year. He said the doctors on duty had not provided proper treatment to Manibharathi and accused them of negligence.

The agitators also demanded that disciplinary action should be initiated against the doctors who were on duty and that the post-mortem examination should be conducted under the supervision of a magistrate at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer).

Later, Mr. Jayabal and Mr. Ashok Anand, accompanied by the relatives of the victim, met hospital director Dr. V. Govindaraj demanding an investigation into the boy’s death. Dr. Govindaraj said that a report would be submitted to the Health Secretary and if any negligence was found on the part of doctors, action would be initiated against them.

The hospital also agreed to the relatives’ demand that the post-mortem examination be conducted at Jipmer following which they withdrew their protest. Traffic was disrupted on the Vazhuthavur Road for over an hour due to the blockade.

HC sets aside disqualification of candidate

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, DECEMBER 21, 2018 00:00 IST

Directs official to allow her to attend medical examination

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside disqualification of a candidate following an anomaly in the conduct of physical efficiency test held for the post of Grade II police constable, jail warders, firemen and armed reserve police constable.

It was hearing an appeal from the woman from Virudhunagar, who challenged the time recorded for covering 100 metres as part of physical efficiency test. She claimed that though she had covered 100 metres in 17 seconds, it was recorded as 18 seconds, following which she was disqualified.

A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and P.D. Audikesavalu took cognisance of video evidence in the case where it was established that the candidate had indeed completed the event in 17 seconds. Observing anomaly in the recording of timing in the event, the court observed that the time was recorded manually by using a stop watch.

The court said that no mechanism had been evolved for automatic recording of time taken by candidates and selection committees were still depend on stop watches to record timings. The authorities should adopt scientific manner of recording timings.

It directed the Chairman, Sub-Committee, Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board, Virudhunagar, to allow the candidate to take part in a medical examination to be held for selection to the post of grade II police constable.

Jayalalithaa not convicted by apex court, says High Court

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 21, 2018 00:00 IST

A fitting tribute:There is nothing wrong with building a mausoleum for Jayalaliathaa with public money, argues government.M. VEDHANM_VEDHAN

Reserves order on building mausoleum at State expense

Doubting whether former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa could be termed a convict in the absence of a conclusive finding by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case against her, the Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on a public interest litigation petition filed against constructing a mausoleum for her at State cost.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam deferred their verdict, without mentioning the date of pronouncement, after hearing elaborate arguments advanced by Advocate-General Vijay Narayan and advocate T. Sivagnanasambandan representing petitioner M.L. Ravi of the Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi. Pointing out that the Supreme Court’s February 14, 2017, judgment simply states that an appeal preferred against her acquittal from the case by the Karnataka High Court stands abated in view of her death on December 5, 2016, Justice Sathyanarayanan said: “In a judgment, ultimately what counts is the result, not the observations made here and there.”

The petitioner had claimed that Jayalalithaa was “convicted” in a disproportionate assets case and hence taxpayers’ money should not be used for her mausoleum. However, not objecting to use of private funds, he also wanted the public money that had already been spent for the construction to be recovered from the properties left behind by the dead leader.

Marina burials

In his affidavit, Mr. Ravi also insisted on stopping the practice of converting the 2.8 km-long Marina beach into a graveyard by burying the mortal remains of one leader after another. So far, the remains of former Chief Ministers C.N. Annadurai, M.G. Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa and M. Karunanidhi had been buried on the beach.

Filing a detailed counter affidavit to the PIL petition, the State government asserted that Jayalalithaa was not convicted by the Supreme Court and hence, there was nothing wrong in constructing a mausoleum for her at the Marina beach.

ராமேஸ்வரம் ரயில்கள் மதுரையிலிருந்து புறப்படும்

Added : டிச 20, 2018 23:37



ராமேஸ்வரம், பாம்பன் ரயில் துாக்கு பால பணிகள் முடிவடையாததால் இதுவரை மண்டபத்தில் இருந்து இயக்கப்பட்ட ரயில்கள் ஜன., 2 வரை மதுரையில் இருந்து இயக்கப்படும் என அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.பாம்பன் ரயில் பாலம் நடுவில் துாக்கு பாலத்தில் இரும்பு பிளேட்டில் டிச.,4ல் விரிசல் ஏற்பட்டது. ரயில்கள் செல்ல தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டு புதிய பிளேட் பொருத்தும் பணி முழுவீச்சில் நடக்கிறது.228 டன் எடையுள்ள துாக்கு பாலத்தில், இரு பாலமும் இணையும் இடத்தில் சற்று தாழ்வாக இருந்ததால் நேற்று மதுரை கோட்ட ரயில்வே பொறியாளர்கள் ஜாக்கி மூலம் சமமாக வைத்து அடிப்பகுதியில் புதிய இரும்பு பிளேட்டை பொருத்தினர். இப்பணியின் போது அதிர்வு, விரிசல் ஏற்படுகிறதா என்பதை கண்டறிய பாலத்தில் அதிநவீன கேமரா பொருத்தி மானிட்டர் மூலம் கண்காணித்தனர்.ஜன.,2 வரை பாம்பன் பாலத்தில் பராமரிப்பு பணி நடக்க உள்ளதால் இதுவரை மண்டபம் ரயில்வே ஸ்டேஷனில் இருந்து இயக்கப்பட்ட கன்னியாகுமரி, திருப்பதி எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் ரயில்கள் மதுரையில் நிறுத்தப்பட்டு அங்கிருந்து செல்லும் என்று ரயில்வே நிர்வாகம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.

தமிழகத்தில் 36 எஸ்.பி.ஐ., வங்கி கிளைகள் மூடல்

Added : டிச 21, 2018 07:51





சென்னை : தமிழகத்தில் மதுரை, கோவை, புதுச்சேரி உள்ளிட்ட நகரங்களில், 36 எஸ்.பி.ஐ., கிளைகள் மூடப்பட்டு உள்ளன.

எஸ்.பி.ஐ., என்ற, பாரத ஸ்டேட் வங்கியுடன், ஐந்து துணை வங்கிகள், 2017 ஏப்., 1ல் இணைக்கப்பட்டன. இந்த மிகப்பெரிய இணைப்பு, இந்திய வங்கி வரலாற்றில் முக்கிய இடம் பிடித்தது. இதையடுத்து, அருகருகே உள்ள பல்வேறு கிளைகள் மூடப்படும் என, அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது. இதன் ஒரு பகுதியாக, சென்னை வட்டத்தில், 36 கிளைகள் சமீபத்தில் மூடப்பட்டுள்ளன.இது குறித்து, வங்கி அதிகாரிகள் கூறியதாவது:

எஸ்.பி.ஐ., சென்னை வட்டம், சென்னை, 1, 2, சேலம், மதுரை, திருச்சி, கோவை என, ஆறு மண்டலங்களாக பிரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. தமிழகம் மற்றும் புதுச்சேரி முழுவதும், இதன் கீழ் அடங்கும்.இதில், ஐந்து வங்கிகள் இணைப்பின் போது, பல்வேறு கிளைகள் மூடப்பட்டன. தொடர்ந்து, பல்வேறு கிளைகளை மூடவும் திட்டமிடப்பட்டிருந்தது.இதன் அடிப்படையில், சென்னையில், எழும்பூர் ரயில் நிலைய சாலை, எழும்பூர் நெடுஞ்சாலை, பாரிமுனை, முத்தியால்பேட்டை, ஜி.என்.செட்டி சாலை, தணிகாசலம் சாலை, அண்ணா சாலை, மேற்கு தாம்பரம் கிளைகள் மூடப்பட்டன.

மேலும், மதுரை, புதுச்சேரி, பொள்ளாச்சி, காஞ்சிபுரம், திருச்சி உள்ளிட்ட பல நகரங்களில் உள்ள கிளைகளையும் சேர்த்து, 36 கிளைகள் தற்போது மூடப்பட்டுள்ளன. இவற்றில், எஸ்.பி.ஐ., கிளைகள் இரண்டு; மீதம் உள்ளவை, துணை வங்கிகளின் கிளைகள். இவை, அருகருகே இருந்ததால், மூடும் சூழலுக்கு தள்ளப்பட்டன. மேலும், மூடப்பட்ட கிளைகளின் வாடிக்கையாளர் கணக்குகள், அருகில் உள்ள கிளைகளுக்கு மாற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன. இவ்வாறு அவர்கள் கூறினர்.

ரயிலில் 'ஷாப்பிங்' வசதி; புத்தாண்டில் துவக்கம்

Added : டிச 21, 2018 04:26 |



மும்பை : ஓடும் ரயிலில், பயணியர், 'ஷாப்பிங்' செய்யும் வசதி, புத்தாண்டில் துவங்கப்பட உள்ளதாக ரயில்வே நிர்வாகம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.

ரயில் பயணத்தில் தேவையான பொருட்களை எடுத்துச் செல்ல மறந்த பயணியரின் வசதிக்காக, ரயிலிலேயே ஷாப்பிங் செய்யும் திட்டத்தை, மேற்கு ரயில்வே செயல்படுத்தவுள்ளது. இதையடுத்து, மேற்கு ரயில்வே மண்டலத்தின், 16 எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் ரயில்களில், 'ஷாப்பிங்' வசதி துவங்கப்படவுள்ளது. இந்த திட்டத்திற்காக, தனியார் நிறுவனத்துடன் ஒப்பந்தம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ரயிலில், சீருடை அணிந்த இரண்டு விற்பனையாளர்கள், பொருட்கள் அடங்கிய, 'டிராலி'யுடன் வருவர். அவர்களிடம் இருந்து, பயணியர் தங்களுக்கு தேவையான, அழகு சாதன பொருட்கள், வீட்டு உபயோக பொருட்கள், சமையலறை சாதனங்கள் மற்றும் உடற்பயிற்சி கருவிகளை வாங்கலாம். உணவுப் பொருள், சிகரெட், புகையிலை மற்றும் குட்கா போன்றவற்றை விற்பனை செய்ய அனுமதியில்லை. பயணியருக்கு பொருட்களின் பட்டியல் வழங்கப்படுவதால், தங்களுக்கு தேவையானவற்றை எளிதாக தேர்ந்தெடுக்க முடியும்.

முதல்கட்டமாக, வரும் ஜனவரி முதல் வாரத்தில், மும்பையில் இருந்து இயக்கப்படும் இரண்டு ரயில்களில், இந்த வசதி அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. படிப்படியாக மற்ற ரயில்களிலும் இந்த வசதி அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்பட உள்ளது. இதனால், ரயில்வேயின் வருமானம் அதிகரிக்கும் என, ரயில்வே அதிகாரிகள் கூறினர்.

அதிகாரிகள் வேலைநிறுத்தம்; வங்கிகள் இன்று முடங்கும்?

Added : டிச 21, 2018 05:15



சென்னை : 'இன்று(டிச.,21) நடக்கும் வேலைநிறுத்தத்தால், காசோலைகள் பரிவர்த்தனையில் பாதிப்பு இருக்காது' என, வங்கி அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

'மத்திய அரசு அதிகாரிகளுக்கு இணையாக, வங்கி அதிகாரிகளுக்கு ஊதியம் வழங்க வேண்டும். தேசிய வங்கிகள் இணைப்பு, கிராம வங்கிகள் இணைப்பு முடிவுகளை கைவிட வேண்டும்' என்பது உட்பட, பல்வேறு கோரிக்கைகளை வலியுறுத்தி, அகில இந்திய வங்கி அதிகாரிகள் கூட்டமைப்பினர், இன்று, நாடு முழுவதும் வேலைநிறுத்தத்தில் ஈடுபடுகின்றனர்.

வங்கி அதிகாரிகள், இன்று வேலைநிறுத்தத்தில் ஈடுபடுவதால், வங்கிகளின் செயல்பாடு பாதிக்கப்படும். நாளை, நான்காவது சனிக்கிழமை என்பதாலும், மறுநாள் ஞாயிறு விடுமுறை என்பதாலும், இரண்டு நாட்கள், வங்கிகள் செயல்படாது. 24ம் தேதி, திங்கள் கிழமையும், வங்கிகளுக்கு விடுமுறை என, தகவல் கிளம்பியது. ஆனால், அதை அதிகாரிகள் மறுத்துள்ளனர். திங்கள் கிழமை, வங்கிகள் வழக்கம் போல் செயல்படும். ஆனால், 25ம் தேதி செவ்வாய் கிழமை, கிறிஸ்துமஸ் விடுமுறை, அதற்கு அடுத்த நாள், 26ம் தேதி, அகில இந்திய வேலைநிறுத்தம் என்பதாலும், வங்கிகள் செயல்படாது.

காசோலை பரிவர்த்தனைகளை மேற்கொள்ள, அதற்கான அதிகாரிகள் நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதால், காசோலை பரிவர்த்தனைகளில் இன்று எந்த பாதிப்பும் இருக்காது என வங்கி அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

Sloppy evaluation: Student’s score leaps from 48 to 80

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:21.11.2018

After a legal battle, a student from Anna University who was denied marks in a re-evaluation mess-up was finally awarded more than 40 marks extra, which he deserved.

Originally, the student from Coimbatore secured an E grade — the least grade provided to students who score from 40 to 50 marks. Now he has been awarded a B grade (70-80 marks).

TOI on November 27 reported that the varsity evaluated two answer scripts of S Manimaran, a mechanical engineering student from a private engineering college affiliated to Anna University, incorrectly.

Manimaran was awarded 48 and 49 in his semester papers — dynamics of machines and heat & mass transfer. These were the only two papers in which he scored less than 50. Shocked, he obtained copies of his answer scripts paying ₹300 per paper and cross-checked the content with his college faculty, using answer keys released by the university. An internal evaluation by his professors suggested he deserved more than 85 and 68 marks in the said subjects.

Based on this, Manimaran applied for a re-evaluation paying ₹400, but saw no change in his grades. The incorrect evaluation had brought down his overall score to less than 80%, the minimum score required for admission into top foreign universities, according to TOI’s report.

Following this, he had approached the Madras high court seeking relief, which directed Anna University to reevaluate the papers using two professors, independently. Based on the professors’ responses, the university has agreed in court to change the student’s grade from E to B. Advocates who appeared on behalf of the student, said, “Professors should be careful while evaluating students’ answer scripts. Not everybody can afford to spend on reevaluating answer scripts or approach courts .”

A TOI report about the evaluation, on November 27

‘Don’t deny legal aid to court martial accused’

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:21.12.2018

Changing a 64-year-old Army regulation that denied legal assistance to the accused during court-martial proceedings, the Supreme Court ruled that principles of natural justice demanded that whenever an accused Army person sought legal assistance during trial, he/she must get it. Sepoy Jaswant Singh faced summary court-martial (SCM) proceedings on two counts — assaulting a superior officer and using abusive language against a subedar who picked on him for being improperly dressed for parade. The SCM found Singh guilty of assaulting the superior officer, ordered his dismissal from service and six months of imprisonment in civil jail. The Armed Forces Tribunal dismissed his appeal. He moved the Supreme Court.

SC says there’s clear violation of principles of natural justice

Before a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah, Singh’s counsel Major K Ramesh said his client had requested the commanding officer in July 2009 for permission to hire a civil advocate to assist him during the SCM but it was denied citing Regulation 479 of Army regulations, which provided that a civil advocate was permissible to only those persons who were facing trial for an offence punishable with death sentence.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Chandrachud said on the contrary, Rule 129 of Army Rules, 1954, provided that in an SCM, the accused may have a person to assist him during the trial, whether a legal adviser or any other person. “The expression ‘may’ must be read to mean that the person who is proceeded against has the option on whether or not to engage a legal adviser or any other person. It represents an entitlement to be represented,” he said.

Interpreting ‘may’ in Rule 129 as ‘must’, the bench said, “In view of the specific provision of Rule 129, the commanding officer was evidently in error in declining the assistance of a lawyer on the ground that legal assistance could be admissible only where the offence was punishable with death.”

Referring to the case in hand, the SC said, “Singh had rendered seven years of service. He was pitted against his commanding officer. In the face of Rule 129, there was no reason to deny him the benefit of legal representation which he desired at his own expense. For these reasons, we are of the view that there was clear violation of the principles of natural justice.” It rejected additional solicitor general Pinky Anand’s argument that no prejudice was caused to Singh because of non-provision of lawyer during trial.

The bench said, “The prejudice is too evident. Singh was dismissed from service and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. Both his livelihood and liberty were taken away. In the circumstances, we allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the AFT and the decision which has been taken on the basis of the summary court martial.” This order will permit Singh to rejoin the Army even though he has served his six-month sentence.

Univ officials among seven booked for hoarding teak logs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:21.12.2018

Forest department officials in Trichy on Thursday arrested three people in connection with illegal hoarding of teak trees inside Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN) campus.

Seven people have been booked under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 that includes the registrar and assistant registrar of the university. However, officials from the forest department maintain that university officials have been booked for being the key administrators and they are unlikely to be arrested.

Teak trees being raised by the forest department near the university campus were uprooted during Cyclone Gaja last month. They were cut into pieces and placed on the sides of roads by forest department near the university premises while clearing debris. Six of the logs went missing a few days ago, prompting the forest department to carry out a probe. A team of foresters confiscated the missing logs from the university campus.

According to forest department officials, three of the arrested had taken the wooden logs inside the campus. Two security guards of the university who are suspected to be involved in the illegal activity were relieved from work by the university on Thursday. “They were on duty on the day the logs were taken into the campus and are likely to be arrested soon,” said forest department sources. The logs could not have been taken into the campus without involvement of a university insider, officials said. Meanwhile, the university in a statement said the activity happened without the knowledge of its authorities.

All that glitters is gold at Anna varsity
Toppers to Get 10g Medals Of Yellow Metal

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:21.12.2018

Toppers at this year’s Anna University convocation will be presented medals made from 10g of gold, which costs ₹32,000 each, and not the gold-plated discs distributed till last year. Sixty-six students will be receive the medals of real gold at the convocation scheduled for Saturday.

M K Surappa, vice chancellor of the university, said, “The gold medals are presented as a recognition of the students’ efforts.”

The students are selected based on their overall academic performance in eight semesters and excellence in other disciplines including sports. Of the 66 medalists, 35 were from the four university departments and others were from non-autonomous affiliated colleges across Tamil Nadu.

Chennai students dominated the medal list securing 48 of the 66 ranks. Students from College Of Engineering, Guindy will be receiving the most number of medals

(15) followed by Alagappa College of Technology (9).

Till last year, students were presented with medals that contained 2g to 3g of gold plated on silver, which cost about ₹3,000 each.

A total of 1.5 lakh students will be receiving their degrees on Saturday at the ceremony, which will be presided over by K Vijayraghavan, principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, at Vivekananda Auditorium in CEG.

This is the second convocation ceremony organised by Anna University in 2018. Last year, the degree awarding programme was put on hold as the VC post was vacant.

Besides this, 1,077 candidates will also be receiving their doctorates from Banwarilal Purohit, Tamil Nadu governor and chancellor of the university. Earlier this year, 1,304 were awarded PhDs.

The VC's report will discuss plans to develop the Centre for Aerospace Research in a full-fledged manner. KP Anbalagan, state higher education minister, is expected to present the special address.