Chennai Central station’s name change is now official

PM Modi had announced the renaming to Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station at a public meeting.

Published: 07th April 2019 01:22 AM 

Chennai Central Railway station. (File Photo | Kajol Rustagi)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The State government has notified renaming of Chennai’s Central Railway station after late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, giving effect to an announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public meeting on March 6. The station is now the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station.


On March 9, the Union Home Ministry conveyed its ‘no objection’ to the proposal. Sources said the State then got permission from the Election Commission of India to notify the name change and issued an extraordinary notification in the government gazette on April 5.

Sources said the notification did not violate the model code of conduct as the announcement and ‘no objection’ were made ahead of notification of Lok Sabha polls. Senior advocate S Doraisamy filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against the notification, claiming it was issued in violation of the model code and should be withdrawn.

Chennai cops pool Rs 70000 to help Sudanese man go home

Mohammed Al Musthafa was held in August last year for allegedly threatening some boys with a knife when they tried to pick a fight.

Published: 07th April 2019 01:19 AM 

Musthafa with his benefactors

By Sahaya Novinston Lobo

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Twenty-seven-year-old Sudan national Mohammed Al Musthafa will be able to see his family in Khartoum after three years thanks to Chennai cops who pooled in close to Rs 70,000 to help him go home. Mustafa came to India in 2010. He failed his college final exams in 2016. He went to Sudan and returned the same year to re-take the exam but failed. His visa expired in 2017.


“I did not have money for studies or to go home. I stayed in Chennai from February 2018 on Marina Beach, doing odd jobs,” he said. On August 2, 2018, he was held by Marina police for allegedly threatening some boys with a knife when they tried to pick a fight. He was released in December.

“Last week, he came asking help to go home. We contacted his parents but they said they did not have money,” said a police officer. With commissioner AK Viswanathan’s nod, the cops pooled in some Rs 70,000 for flight tickets and expenses. His friends gave Rs 8,000.

He left for Sudan on Saturday. “He was overwhelmed as he hadn’t visited his family in three years. He wants to do farming,” said Inspector S Jayaraj, who made the arrangements.

Chennai: Safe walk ahead for Tambaram residents

Official sources from the State Highways department confirmed that the work will be over by November 2019. The total length of the skywalk-cum-FoB is proposed to be 240 m.

Published: 06th April 2019 07:27 AM |

The State Highways department began the construction of the FoB in January 2018 at a cost of Rs 17 crore | Martin Louis

By KV Navya

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In six months, crossing over to Tambaram railway station from West Tambaram bus terminus and vice versa, across the bustling Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road will be much safer as the construction of Foot over Bridge (FoB) will be completed by then.

Following numerous fatal accidents, where pedestrians were mostly hit by vehicles while trying to cross GST -National Highway 45 - the State Highways department began the construction of the FoB in January 2018 at a cost of Rs 17 crore. According to official data, nearly 60,000 pedestrians cross that point, daily.

Official sources from the State Highways department confirmed that the work will be over by November 2019. The total length of the skywalk-cum-FoB is proposed to be 240 m. It will enable people from West Tambaram bus terminus to reach Tambaram railway station directly.

“Work only began in June 2018 as the initial six months went off in obtaining clearance from several departments including Railway Traffic. Also, as the road is very busy, we only have permission to work from 11 pm to 4 am. We will complete the work before November, this year,” said an official from the State Highways department.

Additional facilities include installation of CCTV cameras, ramps, escalator, e-toilet and construction of a ticket counter at the point where the skywalk meets the station’s FoB. Though there is a pedestrian subway nearby, there is not much public patronage. Hawkers and small traders take up much of the subway, and the lights seldom work. So, the intended beneficiaries instead prefer to cross the road. “The subway is frequented by tipplers at night and incidents of groping are common. So, we avoid the subway and prefer to cross the road amid zipping vehicles instead. An FoB will be very helpful,” said R Miriyam, a college student. In 2014, authorities were forced to make a gap in the median and create a pedestrian crossing with a signal.

KR Gopalan, a resident of Chromepet, said traffic is chaotic at the point where the FoB is coming up, especially during weekends when mofussil buses wait on the road. Adding to the chaos, private buses take over much of the space on the eastern side of the GST Road. “Most of the FoBs in the city are vandalised, filled with garbage and serve no purpose. The officials must ensure that this FoB is well-maintained,” he said.

Daniel John a reisdent of Selaiyur said, “The traffic police are deployed near the crossing only during rush hours, and motorists don’t pay heed to the pedestrian signal.”

Medavakkam flyover in Chennai sees further delay of 18 months

Officials said that land acquisition issues have been sorted out and wqork on the remaining part of the flyover began last month.

Published: 06th April 2019 07:31 AM 

The width of the bridge will be 24m | Martin Louis

By KV Navya

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The traffic snarls on Velachery-Tambaram Road might continue till September 2020 as the work on the Medavakkam flyover, which began in 2016 will take at least another 18 months to be completed, confirmed officials from the State Highways department.

“The original bidder for the project was replaced by a new one in December 2018 as they failed to complete their work on time. Land acquisition issues have been sorted out and the work on the rest of the 65 per cent of the flyover began last month,” said an official from the State Highways department.

The flyover is being built at a cost of Rs 250 crore. The width of the bridge is 24 m while the service road will be 7.5 m on both sides.

Commuters travelling on the road have been suffering for the past few years due to flyover construction and delay in execution.

“Ever since the construction of the flyover began, we are witnessing bottlenecks even during non-peak hours, and the road has been narrowed drastically. Parking encroachments on either side of the road add to our woes,” said R Aswin, a regular commuter, adding that it is a task to drive at night.
According to official data, more than 60,000 vehicles ply on the Velachery-Tambaram Road as it connects East Coast Road (ECR) with the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). Numerous schools, colleges and residences are located along the stretch.

“We dread living in the area as our homes have turned into dust bowls due to the construction. The officials keep promising that the work will be completed in six months, but we have been suffering for the past three years,” said Kamini Lal, a resident of Medavakkam.

The section of the flyover that will carry traffic from Tambaram to Velachery crossing three junctions — Medavakkam-Mambakkam, Sholinganallur-Medavakkam and Mount-Medavakkam — will be 2.3-km long. The other section, which will allow motorists through from the other direction, will be 1.5-km in length.

High Court enhances compensation awarded to widow

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, APRIL 07, 2019 00:00 IST

Dismisses appeal by insurance company

Taking into account the plight of a widow, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court enhanced the compensation awarded by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. The court dismissed the appeal preferred by the insurance company against the tribunal’s order.

Justice N. Kirubakaran observed that it was cruel the woman had lost her husband when she was 29 years.

She might have had to face social stigma and mental agony as a result. Even the sight of a widow was not considered auspicious in our conservative society, for which, we should hang our face in shame, the court said.

Even after decades of social advancements and works of leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi, still women are not treated equally.


The court enhanced the compensation awarded by the tribunal from Rs. 4.49 lakh to Rs. 16 lakh along with an interest of 7.5% till the date of realisation.

The court directed the National Insurance Company to pay the compensation to the widow, her two minor children and her father-in-law within two weeks from the date of the order.

It is said that in 2003 the husband of the woman from Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, a temple priest, met with an accident when his two-wheeler was hit by a tractor that was taking a reverse. Subsequently, he succumbed to his injuries.

However, when it was argued that the deceased had in fact hit a stationary vehicle, the court refused the argument and observed that when there was an inconsistency or contradiction between the FIR and the statement on oath, the statement of oath should be given evidentiary value, as per a Supreme Court ruling.

Kancheepuram: a tale of years of neglect

R. Sivaraman

CHENNAI, APRIL 07, 2019 00:00 IST




Non-implementation of a silk park and failure to desilt lakes stand out as major issues in the reserved constituency

It is a direct contest between the ruling AIADMK and the main opposition DMK at Kancheepuram, an ancient town famous for its fine temples and silk sarees.

Maragatham Kumaravel, the sitting MP representing the AIADMK, defeated DMK’s Vedal G. Selvam, in 2014, by a margin of 1.46 lakh votes in the Kancheepuram Lok Sabha (reserved) constituency. Interestingly, in 2019, they are pitted against each other again.

In between, the DMK won five of the Assembly segments, which comprise the Lok Sabha constituency, and the party feels the anti-incumbency wave will work in its favour.

Meanwhile, the Thiruporur Assembly constituency is facing a bypoll after the MLA, M. Kothandapani of the AIADMK, was disqualified after he supported rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran.

Non-implementation of a silk park and a 4,000 megawatt ultra mega power project in Cheyyur, the failure to desilt major lakes, lack of underground drainage and drinking water supply facilities in urban areas and the non-availability of full-fledged medical facilities are key issues facing the electorate here.

Tourist attractions

Apart from Kancheepuram, it has other historical towns — like Mamallapuram, Uthiramerur and Maduranthakam, that are major tourist attractions — huge tracts of agricultural fields and lakes.

J.S. Selvam, an office-bearer of the Silk Weavers Cooperative Federation, said: “Ten years have passed since the Central government announced a silk park. There has been no progress. The welfare of handloom weavers has also been neglected.”

Kancheepuram town is plagued by a host of civic issues.

K. Bethuraj, organiser of the Gandhi Makkal Iyakkam, said the rulers had failed to provide underground drainage facilities and water supply to extended areas.

Lacking in facilities

“We are facing problems every day and the traffic is also bad. There is no long-term plan to create facilities to meet the needs of the town, despite rapid industrialisation in the district over the past two decades.”

D. Chozhan, a Siddha doctor and social worker in Uthiramerur, said, “The MP has not made frequent visits to redress the grievances. The large lake of Uthiramerur was not desilted despite her promise to augment water supply to 200 villages.” A large number of farmers and agricultural labourers are solely dependant on the water from the lakes in the constituency, he added.

“The present MP adopted a village called Orathi, but has not brought about any improvement.

Cheyyur and Maduranthakam have potential to attract investments, but they remain neglected. Even after a decade, the proposed ultra mega-power project is yet to take off,” said M. Srikanth, a social activist from Melmaruvathur.

Shrugging off criticism, Ms. Kumaravel said, “I have implemented many schemes the people wanted and a few more are pending. The BJP-led alliance will win the elections and we will be able to get projects our way.”

Rising prices

Mr. Selvam, the DMK candidate, said, “The price of LPG cylinders, cable TV and essential commodities are too high. So, there is a strong anti-incumbency wave in the constituency.” He promises more express trains to Chennai, healthcare facilities and employment opportunities.

The constituency has over 25% Scheduled Caste population and there are 21 candidates in the fray.

RECHRISTENED

Central renamed 1 mth after PM’s vow
EC Gives ‘No Objection’ With Riders

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.04.2019

Within three days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to rename Central railway station after former chief minister M G Ramachandran in his first election rally after striking an alliance with AIADMK, the Union government commenced its action to swiftly clear the proposal. The election commission gave the nod with some riders though: No propaganda shall be undertaken by any party to derive any political mileage from the move and no event shall be organised for renaming the station.

Following clearances from the Centre, Tamil Nadu government on Friday renamed Chennai railway station as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Central Railway Station. “The name of Chennai Central Railway Station situated in Chennai, Chennai district, Tamil Nadu, shall be changed as per the following schedule, from the date of issuance of this notification,” chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said in her order, which has been notified in an extraordinary gazette. The state cabinet had passed a resolution in September last year, recommending the Centre to rename the station on the sidelines of the former chief minister’s centenary celebrations.

Wasting no time, the Union home ministry headed by Rajnath Singh communicated its ‘no objection’ to the change of name on March 9. The Railway Board under Piyush Goyal’s ministry received the election commission’s clearance on March 20, within less than a week of its request. In a communication to the chief secretary on March 26, a copy of which is available with TOI, Railway Board executive director passenger marketing, Neeraj Sharma, conveyed the election commission’s “no objection”, exempting it from the purview of the model code of conduct. However, it came with some conditions.

One of the conditions is that, “There shall be no inaugural function in which political parties are invited either by the ministry and or by the Tamil Nadu government.” No hoardings of the former chief minister along with political leaders of Tamil Nadu shall be displayed on this occasion anywhere till the election process is completed was another condition. Yet another condition was: No other propaganda shall be undertaken by any political party in print/electronic and any other form of media to derive any political mileage from the renaming of the station. Southern Railway general manager in charge of Tamil Nadu and chief electoral officer of Tamil Nadu shall ensure strict observance/enforcement of the instructions.

Modi, while participating in the election rally at Kilambakkam on March 6, announced the decision to rename the station.

Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Central Railway Station

Hosp gets nod for spl cancer therapy

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.04.2019

Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre has got the approval of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to use highdose isotope therapy to test treatments for thyroid and neuroendocrine cancers. Isotopes are radioactive material that can kill the cancer cells, but AERB regulates the safe usage of these.

A press release said it has been providing nuclear scans and low-dose isotope therapies since 1995. “SRMC now has all facilities for diagnosis and treatment of various cancers,” the release said.

DREGS OF A TANK

RUNNING DRY: Reflecting the looming water scarcity in the city, a duck struggles to quench its thirst at an almost dry Kapaleeswarar temple tank in Mylapore on Saturday. Peak summer is still away but the levels of lakes are significantly low as compared to last year. The combined storage at the Poondi, Cholavaram and Red Hills reservoirs is 632mcft now. It was 3,279mcft water last April

As pilots fail to turn up, flyers wait inside aircraft for two hours

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.04.2019

Passengers of a Chennai-Delhi Indigo flight (6E 2976) had a tough time after they were forced to remain inside the parked aircraft for about two hours as the pilots failed to turn up on time on Saturday morning.

As the airline staff struggled to arrange an alternative, the cabin crew offered snacks and beverages to the passengers.

The flight, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30am, finally took off at 8am. Passengers boarded the flight at 6am via shuttle buses. “There was an update about 30 minutes after the flight was supposed to take off that there was going to be a delay due to operational reasons,” said Ankita Bose, a passenger.

On further questioning, the crew said the pilot wasn’t unavailable and then that he was at the international terminal going through customs. Passengers began to get agitated as there was no clarity about the reason or how long they would have to wait, she said. The air conditioning worked intermittently and a few passengers complained of stuffiness.

A statement from Indi-Go said, “Due to operational reasons, an alternative crew was required to be arranged to operate this flight. This caused a delay of one hour and 36 minutes. Our crew kept the passengers informed of the delay. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers.” An airport official said, “In such situations, airlines try to bring in the alternative crew as quickly as possible and operate the flight because disembarking of passengers will mean further delay and loss of take-off slot for the flight during the early morning peak hour.”

Osmania Medical College top official nabbed by ACB

By Author   TelanganaToday |

 Published: 4th Apr 2019 8:53 pm

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested Bhukya Balaji, Head of the General Medicine Department at the Osmania Medical College (OMC) for allegedly demanding money from medical students to pass them in the semester examination.

On March 2, Balaji called some students and told them that the exam did not go well and they were at risk of failing in the examination. He asked them to meet him the next day. When students met Balaji, he took their hall tickets and their contact numbers.

On March 3 evening, Balaji called and informed students that he was taking a risk to get them passed for which he demanded Rs.50,000 from each. When the students told him that they could not afford to pay such a huge amount, Balaji did not agree and insisted on to pay the amount.

He forwarded a photograph of a cheque in the name of one Rathlavath Srinu’s account name through WhatsApp to students and asked them to send a screen shot of the transaction to his WhatsApp number. On the same day, students transferred an amount of Rs.75,000 to Srinu’s account through Tez/Google Pay.

Based on a complaint received from students, the ACB registered a case after due preliminary inquiry and searches were carried out at Balaji’s office in OMC in Koti and residence in DD Colony. Police said many incriminating documents showing collection of money from medical college students were seized.

Documents related to sale and purchase of properties in his name and his family members were also found, according to a press release issued by ACB. The ACB officials produced Balaji before the special court for ACB cases after which he was remanded in judicial custody.

Anyone, who is acquainted with any facts and complaints pertaining to the same case, can forward them to ACB on WhatsApp number: 79010 99398. In case of demand of bribe by any employee of medical education department, the students and public can contact ACB’s toll-free number 1064 for taking action as per law.

Fake ticket racket in STC: 3 staff suspended

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | ZAKEER HUSSAIN

Published  Apr 6, 2019, 2:25 am IST

However, officials here then quizzed the conductor on duty that day on that particular route and a careful examination of the ticket.

The conductor on that TNSTC bus route from Salem had endorsed the cash payment behind the ticket, but the passenger had reportedly not cared to collect the remaining amount on alighting at Coimbatore that day.

SALEM: An alleged racket in printing of counterfeit tickets for buses operated by the State-owned Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has come to light in Salem division, leading to the suspension of three departmental staff working as cashiers in the Erumapalayam depot here.

Official sources said on Friday that the racket in printing fake bus tickets was detected when a passenger had come to the superintendent’s office at the new bus terminus here, showed the ticket he had purchased on board a Salem-Coimbatore bus recently. He demanded that the department return the cash owed to him as he had given a Rs 2,000 currency note for purchasing the ticket priced at Rs 101, while travelling from Avinashi to Coimbatore.

The conductor on that TNSTC bus route from Salem had endorsed the cash payment behind the ticket, but the passenger had reportedly not cared to collect the remaining amount on alighting at Coimbatore that day.

However, officials here then quizzed the conductor on duty that day on that particular route and a careful examination of the ticket revealed that it was a counterfeit bus ticket.

Further inquiries revealed that three employees in the Erumapalayam, who had been recruited for the post of conductor few years ago, had been working as cashiers in the depot for want of staff and their involvement in printing of counterfeit bus tickets was suspected.

The three staff members had allegedly colluded in printing counterfeit bus ticket books based on serial numbers from earlier printed tickets and circulating the bogus tickets, sources said, adding, pending further investigation, all the three were placed under suspension.

Insurance firm ordered to pay Rs. 1.18 crore to scientist’s kin

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

A court here has directed an insurance firm to pay Rs. 1.18 crore as compensation to the family of a scientist who was killed in a road accident three-and-a-half years ago.

According to prosecution, Karthik, 51, was a scientist working with Indian Space Research Organisation’s Propulsion Research Complex at Mahendragiri on Tirunelveli–Kanniyakumari border.

Fatal ride

The ISRO scientist was fatally knocked down by a speeding lorry at Vettoornimadam near here as he was proceeding to his relative’s house on his motorbike on October 24, 2015.

When the victim’s wife, seeking compensation, filed a case, Chief Judicial Magistrate Pandiarajan on Thursday directed United India Insurance to pay Rs. 1.18 crore to the family of the deceased within a month.

Medicos do a novel formation with bikes

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

THANJAVUR, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Students of Government Medical College here formed the image of a hand with protruding index finger by using their motorcycles on the college campus on Friday as part of Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation programmes organised by the District Election Wing.

The image sought to highlight the importance of having the indelible ink on the index finger without fail on polling day.

Strong room inspected

In Tiruvarur, where a by-election to the Tiruvarur Assembly Segment is to be held along with the Parliamentary elections, Election Observer (General) for Assembly by-election Chandrakanth Dange inspected the strong room at the taluk office where the EVMs are kept.

He verified the records pertaining to the equipment and also inquired about the security cover provided at the taluk office.

Show cause notices issued to 92 poll duty personnel

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

THANJAVUR, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

Show cause notices have been served to 92 persons who failed to turn up for the first session of election duty training programme held on April 3 in Thanjavur district.

Disclosing this in a press release, District Election Officer and Collector A. Annadurai said 11,662 persons were drawn from education and other departments for poll duty and intimations were sent to them to attend the first session of the election duty training held on April 3.

However, 92 persons did not turn up at the training centres allotted to them and hence show cause notices were served on them, he added.

In the second session of training to be held on April 7, demonstration of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machine would be conducted to help the polling staff to get accustomed with the functioning of the machine apart from the regular electronic voting machine components.

Necessary arrangements had been put in place for casting of votes by those deployed for polling duty on April 18 and the polling duty staff were advised to use the postal ballot facility without fail.

A total of 125 persons from Central government Offices, Central government-owned establishments and banks had been appointed as micro observers at 102 polling booths which had been identified as sensitive booths out of the 2,287 polling booths to be set up in Thanjavur district.

Tiruvarur

The second session of training for the 6,380 persons drawn for polling duty in 1,168 polling booths in Tiruvarur district would be held at the designated centres on April 7. The duty letters would be issued to them by the respective department heads, according to District Election Officer and Collector T. Anand.

65-year-old man arrested for duping investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PUDUCHERRY, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Friday arrested a 65-year-old man for allegedly duping investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore.

Speaking to reporters here, Senior Superintendent of Police (C&I) Mahesh Kumar Barnwal said, the accused M. Thiyagarajan of Otteri in Vellore district was running a chit fund agency Royal Agro and Dairy Pvt Ltd at Jawaharlal Nehru Street here.

Chit fund bait

Thiyagarajan had lured people to invest in the chit fund schemes of his firm promising them attractive returns. Around 1,000 people had deposited money with him. However, he avoided repayment.


Mr. Barnwal said that one S. Tamilselvan of Velrampet, who had invested Rs. 11.18 lakh as fixed deposit lodged a complaint with the CB-CID police on April 4 that he was cheated by the firm.

A special police team led by Sub-Inspector Jerome Jesmond arrested the accused in Vellore.

Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that Thiyagarajan had duped over 1,000 investors to the tune of Rs. 4 crore in Puducherry.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Tamil Nadu Police had also registered a case against him and properties valued at Rs. 38 crore were frozen by the police.

A case has been registered and further investigations are on. Superintendent of Police (CID) N. Selvam was also present.

‘Health Secretary may be summoned’

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

With the State yet to file a report on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to videograph post mortem, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday said that if there was no response, the court would be constrained to summon the Health Secretary. A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar adjourned the hearing by a week.

The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by advocate Arun Swaminathan from Madurai, who sought a direction to videograph post mortem across the State to avoid irregularities.

He complained that a cut-copy-paste procedure was followed while issuing the certificates and the conduct of post mortem was not in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Medical Code, he said.

Cannot quash case against former V-C: HC

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madras High Court has refused to quash a criminal case booked by the Kalapet police against Anisa Basheer Khan, former Vice-Chancellor (in-charge) of Pondicherry University, and three others on charges of fabricating certain documents in 2016 in order to ensure that she continued in the post despite having been relieved by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the quash plea filed by Ms. Khan, professor of economics M. Ramachandra, data entry operator N. Veerappan and private secretary to the V-C S. Rajkumar.

HC offers no relief for medical negligence

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 06, 2019 00:00 IST

The Madras High Court has refused to quash a criminal case booked against three doctors, including the owner of a hospital situated within Tondiarpet police station limits in Chennai, and two obstetricians, for having reportedly left behind a cotton swab inside the abdomen of a woman during a cesarean section-cum-sterilisation procedure.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the quash petitions filed by the doctors Rajendran, P. Shanthi and P. Vasantha and said that there were sufficient materials to prosecute them for the charge of having negligently left behind a foreign body, inside the abdomen, which had to be removed through another surgery.

The judge pointed out that the wife of the complainant, T. Mahesh, had to suffer abdominal sepsis due to the presence of the foreign body.

CONNECTED EVEN IN AIR

Airtel arm gets licence to provide on-board Net

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 06.04.2019

Leading telecom player Bharti Airtel has got the licence to provide inflight connectivity for on-board Internet in Indian airspace. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued Indo Teleports Limited (ITL), a subsidiary of Airtel, the inflight and maritime connectivity service provider licence. State-run BSNL has also been granted the same licence and its partner Inmarsat, a leading global mobile satellite communications player, earlier this week said they expect “to commence services later this year once the ground infrastructure and associated approvals are in place.” Once that happens, airlines can provide on board WiFi in Indian airspace on flight to, from, within and overflying India, enabling flyers to surf the net and send mails and WhatsApp messages.

Airlines that have on board WiFi let passengers surf, tweet, send text or WhatsApp message on their personal electronic devices at reasonably fast speeds in good connectivity zones.

Inflight WiFi connectivity is subject to factors like the number of concurrent users, satellite coverage, and weather conditions. Most airlines discourage voice calls to avoid inconvenience to fellow passengers. Till now, flight to, from, over and within India are not able to provide onboard WiFi as the same was not permitted in Indian airspace. While foreign airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar Airways have long said they want to provide this service here, Indian airlines like SpiceJet have also expressed a desire to provide onboard WiFi.

Failing to find sex worker, he raped 61-yr-old

New Delhi:06.04.2019

On Sunday night, Sudhir Kumar, 30, left home after having two bottles of liquor, one of which was stolen from a former colleague.

He looked around for a sex worker near Lajpat Nagar metro station, but failed to find one. He then entered the park near the metro station where he spotted an elderly mentally challenged woman sitting on a bench. He dragged the 61-year-old sitting to a corner and raped her. Sudhir had come to Delhi five years ago along with his elder brother, who got him a job at a dhaba in Lajpat Nagar.

During interrogation, Sudhir said he had seen the victim several times earlier in the park. When he found the woman sitting at her usual place on Sunday night, he decided to assault her. TNN

This doc prescribes voters alternative poll medicine

Devanathan.Veerappan@timesgroup.com

06.04.2019 TOI 

Electioneering by the Makkal Needhi Maiam candidate for Nilakottai assembly segment in Dindigul district is in complete contrast to the high-decibel campaigns of the established political parties.

Dr C Chinnadurai, a paediatrician, travels to villages in his own car, with only his driver, an assistant and a lawyer friend. Once they reach the village square, they set up a public address system – a mike and amplifier – and the doctor begins speaking. On the day before his campaign in an area, he makes sure pamphlets carrying the party’s manifesto reach the villagers.

“In minutes, crowds gather and start listening to my speech. Being a doctor, many people in each village recognize me and I can easily connect with them,” says Chinnadurai.

While candidates of established political parties are pumping in money into their campaigns, he says he has spent only ₹22,000 so far and already covered around 60 villagers. His budget is a maximum of ₹2 lakh and he is planning to spend it all from his own pocket.

“Kamal sir has told us to be frugal with election expenses. If one spends more money, he will be forced to embezzle public money to recover expenses and that’s where corruption starts. We are presenting alternative politics and people like it,” says Chinnadurai, who served in a government hospital in Nilakottai.

Chinnadurai says he has entered politics only to give back to society. His two sons are doctors now and live in Chennai. He has suspended practice until after the elections. The doctor says partymen are upbeat after Kamal Haasan’s campaign on Thursday, which received a huge response with a large number of people turning up on their own.

Basic amenities such as water and roads are big issues in Nilakottai. Some villages do not allow politicians to campaign saying they have done nothing to improve the situation. Chinnadurai says he hopes to change this. The basic requirements of the people can be fulfilled if MLAs and MPs use their local area development funds honestly, he says.


UNCOMPLICATED: Dr C Chinnnadurai travels in his own car with just his driver, an aide and a lawyer friend for campaigning

I HAVE SPENT ₹22,000 TO COVER 60 VILLAGES AND WILL SPEND A MAXIMUM OF ₹2 LAKH

Dr C Chinnadurai, MNM candidate for Nilakottai assembly seat

Hope appropriate appointment is given to para-athlete, says high court

Madurai:06.04.2019

The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has expressed hope that the district administration will give an appropriate appointment to the multiple medal winning para-athlete who was relieved of his night watchman job in a government department on a frivolous charge.

In March, a division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and S Ramathilagam had observed that it is disheartening that an athlete who has won so many medals is being treated in such a way and wondered why he was given only a watchman’s post.

When the petition came up for hearing again on Friday, the authorities concerned were not ready with the counter after which the court adjourned the hearing to April 15. The authorities are expected to respond to the queries raised by the court and file a status on the para athlete’s appointment by then. A Gopikannan Gopikannan, 36, of Madurai, in his petition stated that he has so far bagged 41 gold, 19 silver and 17 bronze medals in events up to international level.

In 2003, he was appointed as watchman of District Rural Development Authority. For this job, he had swept clean the backyard of secretariat wearing all medals and trophies to attract the attention of the chief minister’s special cell.

Gopikannan said he was issued employee identity card by the rural development department of Madurai district with the state government emblem. TNN

2 men snatch 23-year-old’s cellphone, stab him to death

Chennai:05.04.2019

A 23-year-old man was stabbed to death while resisting two cellphone snatchers in Shankar Nagar on Wednesday night.

The deceased, Raja Kanna of Mayiladuthurai, had come to the city in search of jobs 20 days ago. He was staying in a rented house in Pozhichallur and had started working at a food stall near Polichalur bus stop.

Around 11.30pm on Wednesday, two men on a two-wheeler intercepted him in Ponurangam Nagar and threatened him with a knife. When they realized he didn’t have any money, they tried to snatch his cellphone. When Raja tried to fight them, they attacked him with a knife. Raja was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries on Friday. Shankar Nagar police have registered a case. TNN

50k hosps, clinics yet to register with state

Directorate Has Received 18k Applications

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:05.04.2019

At least 50,000 clinical establishments, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories and scan centres may have to close down if they fail to apply for registration with the state health department under the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments Act, 2018 before May 31, the directorate of medical services has said.

Until Friday, the directorate had received just 18,000 applications from various establishments against the expected 75,000.

In March 2018, the state framed a legislation making it mandatory for all clinical establishments — public or private — to register themselves with the government. “The deadline for registration ended on March 31. As per the Act, from June 31, we can initiate action or close down those establishments which have not applied for registration. They still have some grace period left to register themselves,” said director of medical services Dr N Rukmini.

The directorate has a software that centralizes the whole process and enables online registration. Joint directors of medical services in the districts have also collected hand-filled applications along with a demand draft towards registration. The joint directors will inspect these establishments to ensure they fulfil the infrastructure and human resource requirements as specified in the Act. If the hospitals qualify, they will be given a licence for five years.

The new rules, health department officials say, were brought in to standardize establishments under the allopathic or Indian medicine stream. It specifies the floor space requirement, waiting area, safe drinking water supply and toilets. While doctors’ bodies such as the Indian Medical Association have welcomed the move, associations of Unani practitioners and diagnostic laboratories associations have moved court seeking exemptions or relaxations in the norms. “There are several single room labs in the state in many rural areas. They have not applied yet because they may not fulfil the requirement,” said Doctors Association for Social Equality (Dase) general secretary Dr G R Ravindranath.

The legislation mandates clinical laboratories in rural areas to have at least 500 sqft for sample collection, first aid, processing and report presentation. In the urban area, space should be 700 sqft to 1,500 sqft. The lab should ensure that adequate space is provided for reception, sample collection, isolation of biohazard, radioisotope-related work as per Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) rules.

The labs’ association have moved court seeking exemption. “The overheads will go through the roof if we are made to follow the rules. Eventually, we will have to bill patients more. In rural areas, people will not be able to pay so much and we will go out of business,” said Karthirvel R, who runs a lab in Nagercoil. “We hope rules are relaxed for us,” he said.

Man murders friend, posts pic on WhatsApp

Sindhu.kannan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.04.2019

A32-year-old man,who allegedly murdered a man in a drunken brawl and shared the photograph of the body on a WhatsApp group boasting of the act,was pickedup in Puducherry on Friday. A search is on for four others.

On Thursday, the Nandambakkam police received a message through Whatsapp saying a man could be have been murdered and buried in bushes at Army quarters in the Cantonment area. A team arrived and, in the presence of the tahsildar, dug up the body.

Residents told police many used the vacant plottosmoke ganja andbooze,buton Wednesday night they found a few going into bushes with shovels. Police identified the body identified it as that of Nandambakkam resident Subesh, 37, a history sheeter facing a murder case and several burglary cases. Investigations revealed that Subesh and his five friends went into the bushes to drink. Due to previous enmity over a love affair, his associates plotted to murder him. Anandan and Karthik hit Subesh with empty beer bottles and murdered him. Anandan then took a picture of the body and shared it on a WhatsApp group.

‘Removal of bogus staff caused dip in numbers’

06.04.2019

AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe told TOI that if sacked faculty members send him detailed complaints, he will look into the matter.

Relaxation in teacherstudent ratio cost 22,000 engineering faculty jobs in TN. How do you see this?

You should count the bogus faculty members shown in the earlier years. When the teacher-student ratio was 1:15, many colleges were not even maintaining a ratio of 1:30. Same faculty were shown in five different institutions. After linking Aadhaar number to PAN card, fake faculty members were removed. So the actual removal of faculty members is very, very little.

Colleges have submitted that they had more than 85,000 faculty members?

Due to poor admissions, some engineering disciplines were discontinued. Engineering colleges also cannot take the burden of all these faculty members. I am not saying there are no job cuts. But we have not received any such complaints.

Will AICTE act against colleges for sacking teachers?

Wherever we received specific complaints, we have taken action against managements. If the sacked faculty members come out with the name of the college and details, AICTE will look into it.

New I-T return forms seek more data from taxpayers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:06.04.2019

The government released on Friday new income tax return forms, which seek more disclosures from those who claim exemption on a large agricultural income, directors on the boards of companies, individuals with foreign assets or bank accounts as well as those holding shares in unlisted companies.

In a major change, the facility of filing paper returns will now be available only to those over 80 years. The government has said that ITR-1 or the Sahaj form will have to be filed by resident individuals with a total income of up to ₹50 lakh from salary or pension, one house property, other sources such as interest income, and agricultural income up to ₹5,000. Individuals are required to file their returns for FY2018-19 by July 31.

For the salaried, details of some of the allowances, such as house rent, leave travel, per diem, children’s education and relocation, too, will need to be shared. Earlier the tax authorities had sought details of taxable allowances but now there is a switch to exempt allowances.

“Several changes have been introduced to seek further details for cross-validation of income/information in an enhanced automated environment. This not only promises more efficiency for the government but also less questioning from tax authorities seeking further details while processing the returns. It will also help to check income escaping cases,” said Kuldip Kumar, partner at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

₹60k cr direct tax shortfall in FY19

The Centre is expected to close 2018-19 with a ₹60,000 crore shortfall in direct tax collections with a ₹11.38 lakh crore mop-up (till Friday), compared to the revised target of ₹12 lakh crore. Only savings on the spending side can help the Centre meet its fiscal deficit target.P 17

KEEPING TAB
Additional info to help I-T dept check on non-resident tax payers

For instance, additional details need to be provided in case agricultural income exceeds ₹5 lakh, which will include the district with pin code where the land is owned, the measurement of land and irrigation details. Those with overseas assets will need to provide details of foreign depository account, foreign custodian accounts, equity and debt interest and particulars of overseas cash value insurance contract or annuity contract.

“Taxpayers need to be very careful this time and will need to collate additional details/reporting requirements well in advance this year, in order to be able to fulfil the reporting requirements prescribed in new ITR forms. We also expect greater automated scrutiny of ITRs, based on extensive data/details required and furnished in ITRs,” said Shailesh   Kumar, director at Nangia Advisors.

The tax department has also sought details from those who are nonresidents. “The tax return forms have clearly tried to bring more transparency through disclosures for globally mobile employees who avail of relief under tax treaty. Details of residence in foreign countries, along with tax identification number, additional disclosure of assets held outside India, basis of determination of residential status in India and availability of tax residency certificate from foreign countries are some of the additional details which would be required to be quoted in the return of income,” said Amarpal Chadha, partner at EY India.

This will help the government check if non-residents such as software professionals working overseas are paying taxes as information will now be available under the automatic information exchange protocol, explained PwC’s Kuldip Kumar.

Also, a break-up of cash and noncash donations made will need to be provided in case you want to claim tax benefits for contributions made under the PM Relief Fund or to an eligible blind school.

Chennai’s 'Richie Rich' candidate declares 'Rs 1.76 lakh crore' assets 

PTI

Published Apr 4, 2019, 12:53 pm IST

If taken at face value, Jebamani Janata party's J Mohanraj would have been the richest candidate in the entire country.


 
The affidavit, a copy of which has been uploaded in the Election Commission's website, was filed by Jebamani Janata party's J Mohanraj, a retired police inspector, along with his nomination for the by election on April 18. (Photo: Facebook)

Chennai: "Cash on hand Rs 1.76 lakh crore and debt of Rs four lakh crore" may sound outlandish, but the deliberate false declaration was made in his affidavit by a candidate for the by-election to the Perambur assembly segment in Tamil Nadu.

The figures, which sarcastically refer to the notional value of 2G spectrum scam and the debt burden of the Tamil Nadu government, were mentioned by the son of a freedom fighter in a bid to expose chinks in the Election Commission's screening process of the mandatory declaration.

The affidavit, a copy of which has been uploaded in the Election Commission's website, was filed by Jebamani Janata party's J Mohanraj, a retired police inspector, along with his nomination for the by election on April 18.

If taken at face value, he would have been the richest candidate in the entire country.

Asked why he made the false declaration, Mohanraj, son of freedom fighter Jebamani, alleged that the 2G Spectrum case was not properly probed and it was his attempt to draw the attention to this aspect.

On the Rs 4 lakh crore debt he declared he owed to the World Bank in the "dues" column, the 67-year old retired police inspector told PTI it was a pointer to the Tamil Nadu government's "administrative inefficiency," which resulted in a huge debt burden to the tune of about Rs 4 lakh crore.

In the 2019-20 budget, the Tamil Nadu government had said the outstanding debt by the end of March 2020 will be Rs 3,97,495.96 crore.

Mohanraj, who had declared Rs 1,977 crore as his deposits in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when he filed his papers to contest from south Chennai, said he chose to present a fake declaration for one more purpose.

"You can declare whatever you want in the affidavit. The Election Commission will do nothing," he claimed and demanded that false declarations be made a criminal offence. Asked if action was taken against him for making such a declaration in 2009, he said, "I did not even get a notice."

He claimed that making false declarations was a criminal offence and it was made a civil matter only on April 26, 2014.

"This was done to protect a political bigwig who had concealed information about his assets while filing nomination from a Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu," he claimed.

An official had come out in the open about the bigwig and "it is in the public domain," he said.

Mohanraj said he was tired of writing to several authorities, including the Election Commission, seeking to make false declarations a criminal offence. "This (by making a false declaration to draw attention) is my way of working for the betterment of the nation," he said.

Mohanraj took voluntary retirement from the police department and said he did not mention that he owned a house in the declaration.

The only truth about his declaration was that his spouse had 13 sovereigns gold worth about Rs 2.50 lakh and Rs 20,000 cash on hand. "I mentioned Rs 3 lakh as jewel loan. But these jewels were auctioned."

Why Tamil Nadu people say they will not refuse bribes for votes

The state population feels that honesty is no longer a virtue reflected by the government machinery, especially at the lower rungs with which people interact.

Published: 05th April 2019 03:08 AM

By J Santhosh

Express News Service

SIVAGANGA: Voters are the kings in a democracy and hence they should not beg, said a popular actor in an awareness video released by the Election Commission. He was referring to voter bribing. “But my wife asks whether they (government officials) are not demanding bribe from us even for a simple signature? So why should we not take it for our votes,” asks M Karuppaiah of Naattarasan Kottai, a village near Sivaganga.

Tamil Nadu has in recent elections earned the dubious distinction of widespread voter bribing. Now it has almost become common knowledge that voter bribing is one of the assured ways to win an election in the State. The blame is placed as much on the people, as on political parties. But people in the State’s hinterland point to the plain reality. Honesty is no longer a virtue reflected by the government machinery, especially at the lower rungs with which people interact. So, why expect it from people alone? voters ask.


R Senthil, who is the community head of Kandanipatti village, says, “They (politicians) are taking our money. So they are simply returning it to us during elections. This is how many are seeing it.” The presence of Election Commission officials is felt everywhere in the highways, despite the sultry summer. Almost every vehicle is checked. But the villagers are confident that the politicians are capable of somehow delivering the money to them. Almost every villager seems to know the other village where recently cash was recently distributed and they say they will not turn it down when they too are offered money.

KR Gnanam, who runs a roadside eatery on the outskirts of Sivaganga town is one of the few who is worried about the trend. “People are taking bribes for votes. What can be done?” she says after placing a serious of complaints against the way politicians in the country are conducting themselves.

Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency is seeing a high profile battle between Congress’s Karti Chidambaram and BJP’s H Raja. There are a total of 26 candidates in the fray in the constituency. So, will the winner be the one who manages to bribe voters the most? Not everyone seems to be in agreement on that. “It is a sin if we take money from a person and not vote for him,” says Karuppaiah. But not many feel they must be so honest towards politicians. For instance, A Muthu, a shepherd in the barren lands between villages around Sivaganga, says people don’t feel any obligation to vote only for those who give them a bribe. “Why should we vote for them? They cheat us after taking our votes. So, we can also cheat them after taking their money.” he says.

Other common question posed by the villagers is: what to do when more than one party has given them bribes? Some said they solve the problem by one dividing the votes within the family between the parties that has given them money. Many said they do not feel any obligation to vote only for the party that has given them bribes. The money they took from parties does not comes in the way when ultimately deciding whom to vote. But the common man in the villages has a clear message: they are the real victims of lack of honesty in the government machinery and if we have to stop this cycle, the starting point should be the government, not them, voters point out.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: PG Medical Courses: Govt extends of last date MCI applications by medical colleges 

https://medicaldialogues.in/pg-medical-courses-govt-extends-of-last-date-mci-applications-by-medical-colleges/

Indian nurse leaves Saudi Arabia after long battle

IANS | Mar 24, 2019, 10.56 PM IST

JEDDAH: An Indian nurse who was stranded in Saudi Arabia along with her newborn baby following a dispute with her employer has finally left the Kingdom after a long legal battle.
Though Tintu Stephen, 28, had won a ruling in her favour from the labour court in Abha, she was barred from leaving the kingdom as her employed filed an appeal in the higher court, the Saudi Gazette reported.

However, in a rare move, the passport authorities granted her an exit-only visa without the consent of her employer after the intervention of the Saudi Human Rights Commission and other high-ranking officials, it said. She left for India on Saturday.

The employer had asked Stephen to deposit a guarantee money to ensure her return to Saudi Arabia after vacation to continue on her job until the contract period was over. The employer also filed a lawsuit in the court.

But the court rejected the employer's demand, paving the way for her return home.

The troubles for Stephen, a resident of Kottayam in Kerala, began when she sought maternity leave to go home in the early stages of her pregnancy, the Gazette said.

Her employer, a polyclinic in Abha where she worked as a staff nurse, delayed her request citing one or the other reason, according to Stephen.

She was arrested at Abha airport based on a complaint filed by her employer as she was about to board a flight to India, the daily said. She was freed on bail and eventually gave birth to a baby girl.

What prevented her from traveling back home after delivery was a runaway report filed by her employer.

Stephen then approached the governorate seeking justice and got the runaway report lifted.

When the court issued a judgment in Stephen's favour, the employer declined to issue her an exit visa saying he would file an appeal in the high court.

The aggrieved nurse, with the help of Indian Consulate representatives Ashraf Kuttichal and Biju Nair, then approached the Asir governorate and the Saudi Human Rights Commission.

Subsequently, the director general of passports in Asir Province issued her an exit-only visa without the consent of her employer, which is a rare move in the Kingdom, the report said.

Stephen came to Saudi Arabia on February 7, 2017 on a three-year contract. She said her recruitment agent had assured her that though her contract was for a three-year period, she could avail of annual vacations. She traveled home after one year to get married.

After spending a month in India, Stephen returned to work on May 19, 2018 only to realize that she was pregnant.

Now you can choose if you want to be added to a WhatsApp group

The messaging app has added that a new privacy setting in which an invite system will help users decide who can add them to groups.

Published: 03rd April 2019 06:56 PM 

For representational purposes (File Photo | Reuters)

By PTI

NEW DELHI: WhatsApp Wednesday said it will now allow its users to decide whether they want to get added to groups on the instant messaging platform.

The move assumes significance, especially ahead of elections in the country, as social media platforms are expected to play a major role in political campaigns to reach out to citizens in large numbers.

"WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, coworkers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience," the Facebook-owned company said in a statement.

The messaging app has added that a new privacy setting in which an invite system will help users decide who can add them to groups.


Previously, WhatsApp users could be added to groups without their consent.

To enable the feature, users can go to 'settings' option in WhatsApp app and select one of three options -- 'nobody', 'my contacts,' or 'everyone'.

"If they choose 'nobody', users will have to approve joining every group to which they are invited. Upon choosing 'my contacts' option, users from the person's address book will be able to add them to groups. In these cases, the person inviting you to a group will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat, giving the user choice of joining the group."

The user will be given three days to accept the invite before it expires, the statement said.

"With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive," WhatsApp said.

These new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting Wednesday, and will be available worldwide in the coming weeks to those using the latest version of WhatsApp, it added.

WhatsApp, which counts India as one of its largest markets with over 200 million users, had faced flak from the Indian government after a series of mob-lynching incidents, triggered by rumours circulating on the messaging platform, claimed lives last year.

Under pressure to stop rumours and fake news, WhatsApp had last year restricted forwarding messages to five chats at once.

It has also been putting out advertisements in newspapers and running television and radio campaigns offering tips to users on how to spot misinformation.

With ensuing general elections, the Indian government had warned social media platforms of strong action if any attempt was made to influence the country's electoral process through undesirable means.

One of the amendments being mulled in the IT intermediary rules (meant for online and social media platforms) will require them to enable tracing out of such originators of information as needed by government agencies that are legally authorised.

However, WhatsApp has so far resisted the government's demand for identifying message originators, arguing that such a move would undermine the end-to-end encryption and the private nature of the platform, creating potential for serious misuse.

Counselling for management seats in Tamil Nadu from Saturday

Over a thousand candidates were called for counselling on Wednesday and among them 747 attended and 165 seats were allotted.

Published: 04th April 2019 05:21 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI : On the third day of counselling for PG admissions, 877 seats were filled and 201 seats remained vacant in government medical colleges and government seats in private medical colleges. According to selection committee officials, on Wednesday, 1,015 candidates were called for the counselling. Among them, 747 attended and 165 seats were allotted. Among 165, 101 seats were allotted to service doctors, and 64 to private doctors. Thus, 61 per cent seats were allotted to service doctors, and 39 per cent seats to private doctors.

On the first day, total 290 seats were allotted. Of them, 112 seats were allotted to service doctors and 178 seats were allotted to private doctors, according to committee officials. On Tuesday, 422 seats were allotted. Among them, 145 went to service doctors and 277 seats to private medical practitioners .

So far, a total of 877 seats were allotted, including 358 seats for service doctors and 519 seats for private doctors. Forty-one per cent seats were allotted to service doctors and 59 to private doctors.Counselling to fill government seats in private and government medical colleges will go on till Thursday at the Government Multi Super-Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Estate here.The officials further added that the counselling to fill management seats in private colleges will begin on Saturday.

College staff disappointed over non-disbursal of salary

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

APRIL 04, 2019 00:00 IST

Despite a High Court directive to officials to raise salary bills by April 2, over 40 teaching and non-teaching staff of Devanga Arts College, Aruppukottai, on Wednesday returned home disappointed after Regional Joint Director of Collegiate Education (RJD) R. Baskaran “refused” to comply with the order.

The staff, who held a meeting with the RJD, insisted that an order be issued for disbursal of salary for February following a directive from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to the Education department to disburse salary by April 2. The order was issued on Friday.

“Meanwhile, the Director of Collegiate Education issued an order on April 2 to the RJD to act as per the court order. However, since no salary was received on Tuesday, around 40 of us met the RJD,” a teaching staff said.

Mr. Baskaran said he wanted to receive clarification from the Director’s office and also get legal opinion from the Government Pleader on the issue before acting on the order.

“We do not understand the logic behind his argument. When the court has issued a directive, and his higher official [Director] has given the nod to comply with the court order, why should he insist on legal opinion,” a MUTA member said.

The staff member said it was only a ploy to help another group of staff, whose appointment in the college had been challenged, also to get salary.

The court had restricted disbursal of salary to those who were appointed prior to October 4, 2017.

Petition challenges minimum eligibility criterion of TNTET

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, APRIL 04, 2019 00:00 IST

HC orders notice to State government

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the State on a petition that challenged the minimum eligibility of 45% to appear for the 2019 Tamil Nadu Teachers Eligibility Test (TNTET).

Justice G. R. Swaminathan ordered notice to the Teachers’ Recruitment Board and adjourned the hearing till April 4.

The writ petition filed by M. Devi of Pudukottai district said that the minimum eligibility of 45% for this year’s examination was inhibiting people, particularly the backward classes, from taking up the examination.

The petitioner said the eligibility criterion to take up the degree of Bachelor of Education as per Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Education University was 50% for the General category, 45% for Backward Classes, 43% for Most Backward Classes and 40% for the SC/ST. This eligibility criterion had been used to take up jobs as teachers.

However, the eligibility to take up TNTET 2019 was raised to 45% from last year’s 40%. This denied the chance of those from the Backward Classes who had scored more than 40% but less than 45% in their graduation to take up the examination.

The petitioner complained she was affected by this increase in percentage for eligibility and sought a direction to quash the TNTET notification.

Report calls for action against medical officer on harassment charges

Serena Josephine M.

CHENNAI, APRIL 04, 2019 00:00 IST

An Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) that inquired into complaints of sexual harassment has submitted a report to the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, seeking to initiate action against a block medical officer in Tiruvarur district. The report was based on complaints from urban health nurses, village health nurses (VHNs) and a patient.

The directorate is examining the report and will be taking appropriate disciplinary action against the block medical officer. The doctor was absconding, health department officials said. In March, the Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Tiruvarur, received at least eight complaints from urban health nurses, VHNs and a patient (a pregnant woman who had come for antenatal check-up) against C. Manavazhagan, block medical officer attached to the Urban Primary Health Centre in Mannargudi. The complaints ranged from attempts to sexually harass women, use of abusive language and sending inappropriate messages at night.

Vishaka guidelines

Later, the DDHS referred the complaints to the ICC as per the Vishaka guidelines. Chaired by Ranimuthulakshmi, a block medical officer, the committee had seven members including the district social welfare officer.

The complainants appeared and gave their statements, while six witnesses were also questioned. The committee summoned the doctor and he denied all accusations. Based on the inquiry, the committee concluded that all charges were true.

தேர்தல் பயிற்சிக்கு வராத அரசு ஊழியர்களை பணியிடை நீக்கம் செய்ய பரிந்துரை...!!
தேர்தல் பயிற்சிக்கு வராத 8 அரசு ஊழியர்களை பணியிடை நீக்கம் செய்ய தேர்தல் ஆணையம் பரிந்துரை செய்தது.

இதுகுறித்து மாவட்டத் தேர்தல் அதிகாரி தி.அருண் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை வெளியிட்ட செய்திக் குறிப்பு

புதுவை மக்களவைத் தொகுதி, தட்டாஞ்சாவடி சட்டப்பேரவை தொகுதி இடைத் தேர்தல் ஆகியவற்றுக்கு ஏப். 18-ஆம் தேதி வாக்குப்பதிவு நடைபெறுகிறது. அதற்கான ஆயத்தப் பணிகள் தீவிரமாக நடைபெற்று வருகின்றன.

இதற்கான பணிகளில் ஈடுபட உள்ள அரசு ஊழியர்களுக்கு முதல் கட்டப் பயிற்சி அளிக்கப்பட்டது. தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட ஊழியர்களுக்கு கடந்த 23-ஆம் தேதி முதல் 26-ஆம் தேதி வரை 4 நாள்கள் பயிற்சி அளிக்கப்பட்டது.

இந்த நிலையில், தகுந்த காரணமில்லாமல் முதல் கட்டப் பயிற்சி வகுப்பில் பங்கு பெறாத 92 அலுவலர்களிடம் விளக்கம் கேட்டு நோட்டீஸ் அனுப்பப்பட்டது. அதன்படி, 84 அலுவலர்களிடம் இருந்து விளக்கம் பெறப்பட்டது.

நோட்டீஸ் பெற்றும் எந்த விளக்கமும் அளிக்காத 8 அலுவலர்களை பணியிடை நீக்கம் செய்யவும், அந்த அலுவலர்கள் மீது துறை ரீதியிலான நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கவும் அந்தந்தத் துறைத் தலைவர்களுக்கு பரிந்துரைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக அந்தச் செய்திக் குறிப்பில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Posted by SSTA

Now, register online for Chittirai fest

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:04.04.2019
Paid darshan for which devotees can register online is among some measures being planned by the administration for the Chittirai festival beginning here on April

8. Even as the Madurai district administration is gearing for the LS polls, arrangements are under way at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple here for the Chittirai festival which will begin with flag hoisting, after which lakhs of devotees areexpectedto visitthetemple throughout the10-day event.

This year, after the flag hoisting, the coronation of Goddess Meenakshi, “Pattabishekam”, will be held on April 15, followed by “Digvijayam” on April 16 and the culminating event, the celestial wedding, on April17.

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the celestial wedding, which will take place in a stage to be erected at the junction of the north and west Aadi streets.

The entire area would be covered with special roofing and the marriage venue would be fitted with high capacity, 100-tonne air conditioners. The temple administration has decided to provide about 3,200 to 3,500 free passes to devotees on a first come, first served basis.

Paid darshan for the celestial wedding would be through ₹200 and₹500 tickets, for which devotees can register online on the website www.maduraimeenakshi.org. About 16,000 devotees would be accommodated for the event in the temple this year, according to temple sources. LCD monitors would be placed inside the temple at important places to help more people witness the ceremonies. Meanwhile, as the election dates are clashing with the car festival on April 18, arrangements are being made to ensure that parking facilities do not hinder the polling process or the festival. Polling booths near the festival area would have barricading to help the voters identify them.


Arrangements under way at the Meenakshi Amman temple

DOTE to conduct online engg counselling this year

Univ Asked To Provide Tech Help

A Ragu Raman TNN

Chennai:04.04.2019

The Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) will conduct the annual engineering counselling following the resignation of M K Surappa, vice-chancellor of Anna University from Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) committee. Anna University has been conducting counselling for the last 22 years.

The vice-chancellor resigned as chairman of the TNEA following the differences over reconstitution of TNEA committee in which DOTE commissioner R Vivekanandan was made cochairman of the committee.

“Since the chairman of the committee has resigned, the co-chairman will conduct the counselling this year. We have also asked the university to provide technical help for conducting the online counselling,” Mangat Ram Sharma, higher education secretary, told TOI.

Sources said after the vice-chancellor’s resignation, there were many letters exchanged between Anna University and higher education department with regard to the counselling.

However, there are still doubts whether the university professors would work under the DOTE commissioner.

“The university professors who were part of TNEA’s co-ordination committee had skipped the recent meeting for counselling. Now, the question remains whether the university will take part in the counselling process,” a professor said.

When enquired, the officials from Anna University said that involving two institutions in the counselling process will lead to confusion. “Either it has to be done by Anna University or without. If Anna University has to be involved then the vicechancellor has to be the head of the committee,” they said.

Earlier, the university has informed the higher education department that it was willing to conduct online engineering counselling this year as per the old GO.

Anna University had come in for great appreciation from students, parents and academicians for the efficient manner in which engineering admissions was being conducted through a single window counselling.

However, the issue erupted when TNEA committee was reconstituted and additional members were added.

“The committee was constituted in November 2017 for a period of three years. There is no need to reconstitute the present committee after completing just one year,” an official said.

Anna University has been conducting counselling for the last 22 years

School that detained LKG student refunds fees after govt steps in

Chennai:04.04.2019

The state school education department has sought an explanation from the private CBSE school in Adyar which detained an LKG student.

After TOI reported on the school forcing the parents to pay the fees for LKG again, the school management has returned fee of Rs 53,200.

“This is violation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. No school is allowed to detain students up to Class VIII,” said a senior official from the education department, adding that the department has sought an explanation from the school.

The four-year-old student from Thiruvanmiyur, studying ini Bharat Senior Secondary School, was made to repeat her course. The school withheld her annual exam results as she was ‘unable to read alphabets or write down numbers 1 to 10’, according to the school.

The girl’s parents said they were compelled to either get a transfer certificate for their daughter or make her study in the same class again ‘so that she can improve’.

The parents demanded return of Rs 15,000 fees paid by them as they were no longer interested in continuing their association with the school.

The school in response had said the decision was taken only after obtaining the parents’ consent and refused to refund the fees.

However, on Wednesday, hours after the news report was out, the school called the parents and returned the fees paid even for the previous year through a cheque. The parents are now looking for other schools in and around Thiruvanmiyur.

Anna Univ cancels degrees of 130 students involved in exam racket

A Ragu Raman TNN

Chennai:04.04.2019

Anna University has cancelled the results and degrees of 130 students after an inquiry committee confirmed their involvement in a major racket during November/December 2017 exams and special arrears exam in February 2018.

“Many of them received their degree certificates and some still have a few arrears. Now, all the 130 students have to reappear for exams,” a source in the university said.

The issue came to light when a faculty member found that a student cleared 20 arrears at one go and lodged a complaint. The university then formed an inquiry committee which collected details of all the students who had cleared several arrears at one shot. “We found the top sheets in answer scripts did not match bar codes and colour codes. In some of the answer scripts, the students mentioned wrong page numbers,” a source in the inquiry committee said.

Agents allowed students to write exams outside hall

The students and staff members involved in exam-related work were summoned by the committee members and questioned. It was found that technical assistants and peons colluded with agents and allowed many students to write outside the exam hall for a ‘fee’ of ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 from each.

Earlier, to streamline the exam process, the university decided to strictly enforce the rule that mandates BE students to complete the degree course within seven. It also provided them with a chance by conducting special arrears examinations last year.

“Using this, the agents targeted students who were having many arrears,” a source said. “They took out the original answer scripts from the bundle after the exam and handed over the blank answer sheets to the candidates. In some cases, the students were handed over original answer scripts which had blank pages,” he added. Last week, the university had terminated 37 temporary staff in connection with the exam racket.

New feature on WhatsApp allows you to choose group

Anam.Ajmal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:04.04.2019

You can now choose not to be added to a WhatsApp group. The instant messaging app on Wednesday launched a new feature which allows users to choose the groups they want to be part of by customising their privacy settings. India has 200 million WhatsApp users. “With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive,” WhatsApp said in a statement. The setting will start rolling out to users in phases, it added.

The move, coming a week before the beginning of the LS polls, assumes significance as social media platforms, including WhatsApp, are used to reach out to citizens in large numbers. The new feature enables a user to decide who can add them to a group by choosing one of three options available in his/her account’s privacy settings — “nobody”, “my contacts” or “everyone”.

Users can now choose ‘nobody’ in privacy setting

Earlier, WhatsApp allowed users to be added to groups without their consent and the only way to stop being a part of the said group was to “exit” it.

If users choose “nobody” in the privacy setting option, anyone inviting them to a group will have to send them an invitation link through private chat asking for their approval. The link will expire in 72 hours, and a fresh approval request can be made after that,” the Facebook-owned company said.

தேர்தல் 2019: கலக்கும் காளியம்மாள்

Published : 30 Mar 2019 17:52 IST

ரேணுகா




“உலகத்திலேயே இரண்டாவது சிக்கலான தொழில் செய்யக்கூடிய மீனவர்களைப் பாதுகாக்கச் சட்டம் கிடையாது. ஆனால், இங்கே சிட்டுக்குருவியைச் சுடுங்க, அதைக் கேட்க சட்டம் இருக்கு” என்ற தன்னுடைய உணர்ச்சிகரமான பேச்சால் மக்களின் கவனத்தை ஈர்த்துள்ளார் வடசென்னை நாடாளுமன்றத் தொகுதியின் ‘நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி’ வேட்பாளரான காளியம்மாள்.

நாட்டின் 17-வது நாடாளுமன்றத் தேர்தலுக்கான பிரச்சாரம் சூடுபிடித்துள்ளது. பொதுவாக, பெண்களுக்கான இட ஒதுக்கீட்டைப் பேசும் கட்சிகள்கூடத் தேர்தல் நேரத்தில் தங்களுடைய வேட்பாளர்களாகப் பெண்களைக் குறைந்த எண்ணிக்கையிலேயே நிறுத்துகின்றன. அதிலும் அவர்கள் திரைத்துறையினராகவோ பலமான அரசியல் பின்புலம் கொண்டவர்களாகவோ உள்ளனர்.

இந்நிலையில் தமிழகத்தில் நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ள பெண் வேட்பாளர்கள் பலர் குடும்ப அரசியல் பின்புலம் கொண்டவர்களாகவே உள்ளனர். இவர்கள் மத்தியில் எந்த அரசியல் பின்புலமும் இல்லாமல் தன்னுடைய மீனவச் சமுதாயத்துக்காகப் பல்வேறு போராட்டங்களில் ஈடுபடுவது, மீனவர் பிரச்சினையைப் பொதுச் சமூகத்தின் கவனத்துக்குக் கொண்டுசெல்வது போன்ற செயல்பாடுகளில் தொடர்ந்து ஈடுபட்டுவருபவர் காளியம்மாள்.

களத்தில் காளியம்மாள்

சீர்காழியிலுள்ள தனியார் கல்லூரியில் காளியம்மாள் பி.காம் படித்துள்ளார். அதன்பிறகு ஐ.எ.ஏஸ் தேர்வுக்குப் பயிற்சியில் ஈடுபட்டுக்கொண்டிருந்தபோதுதான் அரசியலில் ஈடுபட வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணம் தோன்றியதாகக் கூறுகிறார்.

இதையடுத்து தமிழக மீனவர்கள் இலங்கைக் கடற் படையினரால் கைதுசெய்யப்படுவதைத் தடுக்கவும் மீனவர்களை பாதிக்கும் கடலோர ஒழுங்குமுறைச் சட்டம், கடல்வளங்களை கார்ப்பரேட் முதலாளிகள் எளிதாகப் பயன்படுத்திகொள்ள கொண்டுவரப்படவுள்ள சாகர்மாலா திட்டம் ஆகியவற்றுக்கு எதிராகவும் பல்வேறு போராட்டங்களை முன்னெடுத்திருக்கிறார்; அதேபோல் கஜா, ஒக்கி புயலின்போது மீனவ கிராமங்களில் தன்னார்வ அமைப்புகளுடன் இணைந்து அவர் களப்பணியாற்றியிருக்கிறார்.

கடந்த பத்தாண்டுகளாக மக்கள் பணியில் ஈடுபட்டுவருகிறார் காளியம்மாள். துணிச்சல்மிக்க பேச்சாற்றல் காரணமாக மக்களின் கவனத்தைப் பெற்ற காளியம்மாள் சமீபத்தில்தான் நாம் தமிழர் கட்சியில் சேர்த்துள்ளார். “எங்களுக்குத் தேவையான அடிப்படை வசதிகளை ஆட்சியாளர்களிடம் கேட்டுக் கேட்டே சோர்ந்துபோய்விட்டோம். அதனால்தான் மக்கள் நலத் திட்டங்களை வகுக்கும் இடத்தில் ஒரு குடிமகளாக இடம்பெற வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணத்தில்தான் அரசியலில் நுழைந்தேன்” என்கிறார் அவர்.

முதல்கட்டத்திலேயே நாடாளுமன்ற வேட்பாளராக நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளார் காளியம்மாள். அவருடைய சொந்த ஊர் நாகப் பட்டினமாக இருந்தாலும் வடசென்னை போன்ற தொழிலாளர்கள், மீனவச் சமூக மக்கள் நிறைந்துள்ள பகுதி தனக்குப் புதிதாகத் தெரியவில்லை என்கிறார்.

“தொழிலாளர்கள், மீனவர்கள் ஆகியோரின் பிரச்சினைகளை முன்னிறுத்தியே என்னுடைய போராட்டங்கள் இருந்துள்ளன. இந்நிலையில் வடசென்னை போன்ற தொகுதியில் மக்களின் பிரச்சினைகளை முன்னிறுத்தி தேர்தல் பிரச்சாரம் மேற்கொள்வது எனக்கு அந்நியமாகத் தெரியவில்லை” என்கிறார்.

தொகுதியில் கடுமையான குடிநீர்ப் பிரச்சினை உள்ளது; அடிப்படைத் தேவையான கழிப்பறை போதுமான அளவில் இல்லை; கடலில் தொழிற்சாலைகளின் கழிவு கொட்டப்படுவதால் மீனவர்களின் வாழ்வாதாரம் பாதிக்கப்படுகிறது. இவற்றை எல்லாம் தனது பரப்புரையில் சுட்டிக்காட்டி வருகிறார் காளியம்மாள். காளியம்மாளின் எளிமையான தோற்றமும் திடமான பேச்சும் தொகுதி மக்கள்

மத்தியில் பெரும் வரவேற்பைப் பெற்றுள்ளது. பரப்புரையின்போது, ‘வீட்டை நிர்வகிக்கத் தெரிந்த பெண்களுக்கு நாட்டை ஆளத் தெரியாதா?’, ‘நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினராகத் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டால் மக்களின் உரிமைகளைக் கேட்டுபெறுவேன். இல்லையேல் மக்களின் கோரிக்கைகள் நிறைவேறும்வரை நாடாளுமன்றத்திலேயே போராட்டங்களை மேற்கொள்வேன்’ என்பது போன்ற அவரது பேச்சு மக்களிடம் எளிதாகச் சென்றடைகிறது.

காளியம்மாள் போன்ற எளிய வேட்பாளர்களும் அவரைப் போன்றவர்களின் பிரசாரமும் தேர்தல் நடைமுறைகளில் குறைந்த பட்சமாக சில மாற்றங்களையாவது ஏற்படுத்தும் என்று நம்புவோம்.