Alliance University co-founder arrested for murder of ex-VC
Sudhir Angur had also plotted to murder his brother: Police

18/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,BENGALURU

Main accused Sudhir Angur and Suraj Singh being escorted by the police to the Commissioner’s office in Bengaluru on Thursday. V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Hours after Ayyappa R. Dore, former vice-chancellor of Alliance University, was found hacked to death near his house in R.T. Nagar, the police on Wednesday night arrested chancellor and co-founder of the university, Sudhir Angur, 57, and a university employee he had hired to carry out the murder.

Sudhir had allegedly also put out a contract on his younger brother, Madhukar Angur, whom he is at loggerheads with over the ownership of university.

Four months of planning

The former VC was murdered on Tuesday night while he was taking a walk at the HMT Ground in R.T. Nagar. The police believe that Sudhir set the ball rolling for the murder at least four months ago. “He turned to his employee Suraj Singh, 27, whom he had recently hired as an executive officer in the administration division of the university and offered him ₹1 crore to eliminate Ayyappa and Mr. Madhukar,” said Bhaskar Rao, Police Commissioner. Four other accused, who were with Suraj when he attacked Ayyappa, are on the run.

The siblings have allegedly been feuding for years over the ownership of the university, and have as many as 25 civil dispute cases pending before various courts. Ayyappa sided with Mr. Madhukar who had approached the Registrar of Companies (RoC) seeking ownership of the university. According to senior officials, Sudhir believed the RoC’s decision would favour his brother.

“Worried that he would not be able to claim ownership, Sudhir planned to eliminate both Ayyappa and Mr. Madhukar,” said a senior police official.

The official said that Ayyappa was close to Mr. Madhukar, and Sudhir was worried that he would use his local political connections to further his brother’s cause. Mr. Madhukar had also reportedly filed a complaint with the Higher Education Department seeking cancellation of the convocation ceremony of the Alliance University, which Sudhir had planned to hold on November 3. “This precipitated Sudhir’s plans to get rid of his brother,” said a senior police official.

The police have provided security to Mr. Madhukar. “I had a hunch that someone was following me. I discussed this with Ayyappa when I met him last Tuesday. His murder is unpardonable and Sudhir should be dealt with legally,” said Mr. Madhukar.

No OBC reservation for surrendered seats in MDS

Notification says 27% quota only in Central institutions

18/10/2019, STAFF REPORTER,CHENNAI

The notification issued last week for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) courses has once again triggered concerns among activists over the lack of reservation for Other Backward Classes in a section of seats available under the all-India quota.

Removing ambiguity over reservation for OBCs from last year’s notification, Section 12 of the notification issued now for MDS admissions for 2020 clearly states that the 27 % reservation for OBC as per Central government’s policy will be applicable only in Central government institutions and Central Universities for those from the non-creamy layer. This explicit mention, which was absent in last year’s notification, means that the reservation for OBCs will not be applicable to seats surrendered by State governments from institutions under its aegis for the all-India quota.

EWS quota

G.R. Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE), said what was more objectionable was that this year’s notification says that 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections will be provided in government dental colleges where the additionals seats have been sanctioned.

“For many years now, OBCs have been denied their share in the seats surrendered by State governments to all-India quota. While refusing to do that, the government is keen to implement reservation for EWS,” said Dr. Ravindranath, who filed a case earlier this year regarding regarding this issue in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Arguing that reservation for OBCs was won after intense political struggle, P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, said not even a few generations benefited yet since its implementation. “There is no rationale behind denying reservation. If these seats were not surrendered to all-India pool, OBCs would have benefited from State government’s reservation policy,” Dr. Ravindranath said.

Madras varsity ready to admit student on submission of documents

18/10/2019, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, CHENNAI

The University of Madras on Thursday told the High Court that it would admit T. Kirubamohan, 27, an active member of the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, in a master’s course on Buddhism if he submits an ‘eligibility certificate’ from the Registrar of the varsity and a recommendation letter from the head of the Department of Journalism and Communication, where he had obtained his first master’s degree.

Advocate-General Vijay Narayan informed Justice G. Jayachandran that the provisional admission of the student in M.A. (Buddhism) course was cancelled on August 28 only because he failed to submit the eligibility certificate and recommendation letter. Appearing on behalf of the university, the A-G said the two documents were essential for grant of admission as per the university prospectus.

He pointed out that the writ petitioner Mr. Kirubamohan had obtained a bachelor’s degree from Anna University and then obtained his Master’s in Journalism and Communication from the University of Madras. Thereafter, he was granted provisional admission in M.A. Buddhism in July which was later cancelled.

The university rules prescribe that admission in M.A. (Buddhism) would be granted only if the candidate had pursued his undergraduation either in Madras University or in any other accepted by the Syndicate as equivalent. Since the petitioner pursued his undergraduation in engineering, he must produce an eligibility certificate.

After recording his submission and the arguments advanced by Senior Counsel N.R. Elango, representing the petitioner, the judge directed the petitioner to approach the authorities concerned for documents.

The student must be admitted in the course, the judge ordered and added that the entire exercise should be completed within three weeks.

Bharathidasan University accused of violating State’s quota policy

AUT accuses institute of following Central Act
18/10/2019, STAFF REPORTER,CHENNAI

The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has condemned Bharathidasan University (BDU) for adopting the reservation policy as per a Central act, which is in contravention of Tamil Nadu’s policy, in the ongoing recruitment of 54 faculty members.

It has blamed BDU for adopting the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act of 2019, which says that the entire university must be treated as one unit while applying reservation policy, instead of the State government’s norms that demand that each department in the university be treated as a separate unit.

The notification of BDU inviting applications for the posts of 14 Professors, 14 Associate Professors and 26 Assistant Professors in in 28 departments was issued on July 8, 2019.

On August 29, Mangat Ram Sharma, Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department (HED), issued a clarification to all universities stating that the Central act did not apply to 13 universities under the aegis of HED.

Condemning BDU for going ahead with the recruitment as per Central act, M.S. Bala Murugan, General Secretary, AUT, said the ‘unilateral’ and ‘provocative’ move of BDU would complicate the situation in other universities and lead to arbitrary implementation and ‘sabotage’ of reservation policy.

‘Ethnic purity’

AUT, in a letter to the Principal Secretary seeking intervention, said the policy of treating university as one unit may be leveraged by vested interests to maintain ‘ethnic purity’ in departments of their choice by allocating vacancies in them to particular reservation categories. K. Pandian, former president, AUT, said the association, barring some concerns, was in principle favour of treating university as one unit as it increased the possibility of better representation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Communities.

“However, the problem here is about a State-run university going against the reservation policy of the State government. The Tamil Nadu government must clarify which policy is in force and whether individual universities can decide on their own,” he said.

P. Manisankar, Vice-Chancellor, BDU, said the notification treated university as one unit since it was issued before the clarification of Principal Secretary.

“The recruitment is not over. We have only received the applications. We have taken up this matter with the State government and are awaiting their concurrence or clarification. We will act accordingly,” he said.

Kuvempu University convocation Notification

HC grants bail to medico, rejects father’s plea in NEET case

‘Student’s father was the brain behind the whole episode’

18/10/2019, B. TILAK CHANDAR,MADURAI

Considering the age of the first medical student arrested in the NEET impersonation case, Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday granted bail to the student. However, the bail petition of his father was dismissed. Justice G.R. Swaminathan said the student’s father was at the centre of the scheme of things and his son had played along. It appears that the father was the manipulator and had drawn inspiration from the Tamil film, Vasool Raja MBBS, the court said. The court, apart from taking into account the age of the student, said that it appeared that the boy was seriously affected by the whole episode.

His continued incarceration was not required, the court said and directed the student to appear before the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the CB-CID, Madurai, daily as per conditions. Denying bail to the father, the court asked why the petition should be considered when he had failed to cooperate with the investigation.

Information from NTA

The court took cognisance of the information provided by the National Testing Agency that revealed the fact that an impersonator had written the exam in Mumbai in the student’s name, while the student wrote it in Chennai.

Dearness allowance for State govt. employees up 5%
Arrears to be with retrospective effect from July 1
18/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday hiked the Dearness allowance (DA) for its employees by 5% with effect from July 1.

“The additional instalment of DA payable under these orders shall be paid in cash with effect from July 1,” a Government Order issued in this regard said.

The payment of DA arrears from July to September this year would be drawn and disbursed immediately by existing cashless mode of Electronic Clearance System (ECS).

The revised DA would apply to the teaching and non-teaching staff working in aided educational institutions, employees under local bodies, employees governed by the University Grants Commission/All India Council for Technical Education scales of pay, the Teachers/Physical Education Directors/Librarians in government and aided polytechnics and special diploma institutions. Village assistants in the Revenue Department, noon meal organisers, child welfare organisers, anganwadi workers, cooks, helpers, panchayat secretaries or clerks in village panchayat under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department are also eligible for the revised DA.

Follows Centre’s move

It may be recalled that the Centre had recently enhanced DA to its employees with effect from July 1.

Purohit against freeing seven Rajiv case convicts

He disagreed with T.N. Cabinet’s stand

18/10/2019, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

Banwarilal Purohit has not conveyed anything in writing to the government.

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit is said to have informally indicated to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami that he is not inclined to agree with the Cabinet’s recommendation to release seven life convicts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

As of now, Mr. Purohit has not conveyed anything in writing to the government about his decision. But the hint from him is that he would not like to go along with the Cabinet’s recommendation made in September last year for premature release of the convicts, according to multiple sources.

No surprise

The Governor’s position should not be a matter of surprise, an official explained, in the light of a Presidential Order issued through the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in April 2018.

In response to the State government’s proposal in February 2014 and March 2016 to release the convicts, the order said the move would “set a very dangerous precedent and lead to international ramifications”.

Before making its recommendation in September last year, the government received opinion from Advocate-General Vijay Narayan too. He held that the Governor had “unfettered power” under Article 161 (to grant pardons and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases) to decide on their release.

In the last year or so, the State government sent a few reminders to the Raj Bhavan, but the response was that the matter was under “consideration”, said the sources.

Jaffna puts civil war behind, flight services resume after 40 years
An Alliance Air Flight From Chennai Touches Down To Mark The Inauguration
Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com

Jaffna:

After redeveloping Jaffna international airport, Sri Lanka is looking at further collaboration with India, especially the south, to develop its northern province.

Sri Lanka President M Sirisena inaugurated the airport, which was redeveloped at₹1,950 million (Sri Lankan rupee) of which India funded ₹300 million (Sri Lankan rupee). An Alliance Air flight from Chennai touched down to mark the commencing of commercial operations at the airport after a gap of 40years following the LTTEled civil war in the island nation.

At the inauguration, Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that India-Sri Lanka collaboration has potential for economic development of the Jaffna region. “India has shown willingness to develop Jaffna and funds were given. India has invested Sri Lankan ₹300 million to develop Jaffna airport. Fastest growing region in Indian Ocean will be South Asia. We should settle all issues by internal discussions and should not go to war that will lead to disappearance of South Asian miracle.” Northern province governor Suren Raghavan said the development of Jaffna airport was a step to improve an area that was in tatters once.

Hinting about the significance of Alliance Air flight landing at the airport on its day of inauguration, he said, “This is not a mere opening of an airport but to rebuild relations with international destinations. Now, it is easy to go to Chennai than to go to Colombo and then fly to Chennai.”

However, he pointed out the need to hand over land to around 2,000 families staying near Jaffna airport. “They are still like refugees and are yet to get their land back.”

High commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka have now truly touched the sky. “The inaugural flight was yet another example of India’s commitment to continue with people-oriented development projects in Sri Lanka. It was also a reflection of the shared commitment to further strengthen people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka which lies at the heart of the bilateral relationship.”

It may be recalled that Indian government had earlier extended grant assistance for the rehabilitation of runway and basic infrastructure at the Palaly airfield under the MoU concluded in November 2005 with the Sri Lankan government.

He said the people-oriented projects that were on in Sri Lanka include restoration of railway line, emergency ambulances, help to fishing community in Hambantota, IT centre at Jaffna, university auditorium, upgrading KKS harbour which will become port, and others covering housing, education, sports, water, livelihood.

Minister of civil aviation Arjuna Ranatunga, responding to a question on Chinese investment, said, “Our government does not have money. China has funds. Our projects are open to competition. We are planning to buy 2,000 buses. It is open to all. India, Malaysia, China or anybody can participate. So far there is no Chinese investment in developing airport infrastructure in Sri Lanka. But we do get a lot of flights bringing in Chinese tourists.”

(This correspondent was in Jaffna at the invitation of Alliance Air)

GRAND WELCOME: The Alliance Air flight gets a water salute at Jaffna International Airport on Thursday

HC notice to Centre on NEET cut-off for Indian med courses

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:18.10.2019

The minimum NEET cut-off mark for admission to Indian medicine courses such as Siddha and Ayurveda should be reduced by the central government, says a petition filed in the Madras high court by an Erode-based student.

G Naveenbharathy claimed that due to high NEET cut-off mark, 230 seats under government quota and 278 seats under management quota remains vacant for the academic year 2019-20. Admitting the plea, Justice G Jayachandran on Thursday directed the Union government to file its reply by October 30.

According to the petitioner, NEET was made mandatory for admission to Indian medicine undergraduate courses and alternative medicine courses such as homeopathy from the academic year 2019-20. But due to the high NEET cut-off mark prescribed by the authorities, many eligible students, who had secured good marks in Class XII board exams, failed to achieve the cut-off resulting in huge vacancies in both government and management quota seats, he said.

Pointing out that when similar situation happened in admission to dental courses, the cut-off marks were reduced by the government, the petitioner wanted the court to direct the government to follow the same procedure for admission to Indian medicine courses also.

As the last date for admission to such courses was October 15, the petitioner asked the court to direct the ministry to extend the admission date till November 15 as done during the previous year.

Pointing out that cut-off marks for admission to dental courses were reduced, the plea wanted HC to direct the government to follow the same procedure for admission to Indian medicine courses

NEET

NEET TWICE a year: Government hasn’t junked the proposal, says NTA chief

New Delhi:

Government is still considering the proposal to conduct National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the gateway to MBBS courses in India, twice a year, a recent media report has stated.

The report, published in the daily Indian Express has stated that confirmation to this effect has been made by the  Director National Testing Agency (NTA) Vineet Joshi who informed that the government is still considering the proposal

“We have received lots of communications from the students and teachers across the country and are, therefore, thinking of conducting it twice a year, like the JEE Main,” he told the daily.

Medical dialogues had eralier reported about the proposal that  had originated in the year 2018 when HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the ambitious plan of conducting the medical and dental entrance exam, along with the Joint Entrance Examination – Main for admission to engineering colleges, twice a year by the newly-formed National Testing Agency (NTA).

National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), whose conduction earlier was the responsibility of the Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) had consequently changed hands with the charge of conduction of this all India test falling on the shoulders of the newly formed National Testing Agency(NTA).

The proposal was being considered to help medical aspirants improve their scores the same year, unlike in the previous case, where a year-long wait was in store if any aspirant failed to do well in the NEET annual exam .

However, the Health Ministry later wrote to the HRD Ministry, raising concerns on conducting the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) twice a year as the examination calendar may put additional pressure on the students.

Following this, the plan which was initially slated to begin in 2019 was junked.

Now raising the topic again, NTA Director confirmed that the proposal has not been completely disregarded and is still under consideration.  The planning is at the initial stage and the exam authority will proceed only after receiving approval from the Ministry of Health, he informed. The daily also reports that the Health Ministry is considering the proposal.
If passed then the proposal will come into effect in 2021 and no changes will be there in 2020 timeline.

பாரதியார் பல்கலைக்கழகத்துக்கு புதிய துணைவேந்தர் நியமனம்: ஆளுநர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித் உத்தரவு 




கோவை பாரதியார் பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தராக நியமிக்கப்பட்ட பேராசிரியர் பி.காளிராஜுக்கு பணி நியமன ஆணையை ஆளுநர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித் வழங்கினார்.

சென்னை

கோவை பாரதியார் பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தராக, சென்னை அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழக உயிரி தொழில்நுட்பத் துறை பேராசிரியர் பி.காளிராஜை நியமித்து ஆளுநர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

இதுகுறித்து ஆளுநர் மாளிகை வெளியிட்ட செய்திக்குறிப்பில் கூறியிருப்பதாவது:

பாரதியார் பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தராக பேராசிரியர் பி.காளிராஜை ஆளுநர் பன்வாரி லால் புரோஹித் நியமித்துள்ளார். இவர் 3 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு இப் பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தராக பணியாற்றுவார்.

31 ஆண்டுகள் ஆசிரியர் பணி

பேராசிரியர் காளிராஜ் 31 ஆண்டுகள் ஆசிரியப்பணியில் அனுபவம் பெற்றவர். தற்போது அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் உயிரிதொழில்நுட்ப மையத்தின் ஐசிஎம்ஆர் மருத்துவ விஞ் ஞானியாக உள்ளார். அவர் பல்க லைக்கழக நிர்வாகத்தில் அனுபவம் வாய்ந்தவர்.

ஏற்கெனவே, அண்ணா பல் கலைக்கழக பொறுப்பு துணை வேந்தராகவும், டீன், உயிரி தொழில் நுட்பத்துறை தலைவ ராகவும், அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழக சிண்டிகேட் உறுப்பினராக 20 ஆண்டுகளாகவும் அவர் பணியாற்றியுள்ளார்.

கடந்த 1999 முதல் 2004-ம் ஆண்டு வரை அமெரிக்காவின் தேசிய சுகாதார மையம், இல்லினாய்ஸ் பல்கலைக்கழகம் மற்றும் ஸ்காட்லாந்தில் உள்ள கிளாஸ்கோ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் ஆய்வுப்பணிகளில் இணைந்து பணியாற்றியுள்ளார்.

இவர் 69 ஆய்வு கட்டுரைகளை வெளியிட்டுள்ளதுடன், 42 முனைவர் பட்ட ஆய்வு மாணவர்களுக்கு நெறியாளராகவும் இருந்துள்ளார். கடந்த 2013-ம் ஆண்டு, இந்திய உயிரிதொழில்நுட்ப ஆராய்ச்சி சொசைட்டியின் வாழ்நாள் சாதனையாளர் விருதையும் பெற்றுள்ளார். இவ்வாறு ஆளுநர் மாளிகை வெளியிட்ட செய்திக்குறிப்பில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

நெருங்கும் தீபாவளி: 5% அக விலைப்படியை உடனே வழங்கிடுக- ஆசிரியர் சங்கம் வேண்டுகோள்

சென்னை

தீபாவளி நெருங்குவதால், மத்திய அரசைப் போல் தமிழக அரசும் 5% அகவிலைப்படியை உடனே வழங்க வேண்டும் என்று தமிழ்நாடு ஆசிரியர் சங்கம் வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்துள்ளது.

இதுதொடர்பாக அச்சங்கத்தின் மாநிலத்தலைவர் பி.கே.இளமாறன் இன்று வெளியிட்டுள்ள அறிக்கையில், ''இந்தியாவில் அரசு வேலைகளில் இருக்கும் அனைவருக்கும் பொருளாதார விலைவாசி ஏற்ற, இறக்க அடிப்படையில், புள்ளியியல் கணக்கீட்டின்படி ஆண்டுக்கு இரு முறை அகவிலைப்படி வழங்கி வருவது நடைமுறையில் உள்ளது.

அதன் அடிப்படையில் மத்திய அரசு, ஊழியர்களுக்கு அகவிலைப்படி அறிவித்தவுடன் மாநில அரசும் தனது ஊழியர்களுக்கு அகவிலைப்படியை உடனடியாக வழங்குவது வழக்கம். கடந்த வாரம் மத்திய அரசில் பணிபுரிபவர்களுக்கு 5% அகவிலைப்படியை உயர்த்தி, அறிவிப்பு வெளியானது.

தற்போது தீபாவளிப் பண்டிகை நெருங்குவதால் தமிழ்நாடு அரசின் கீழ் பணிபுரியும் ஆசிரியர்- அரசு ஊழியர்களுக்கும் ஐந்து சதவீத அகவிலைப்படியினை உயர்த்தி வழங்கும்படி தமிழ்நாடு ஆசிரியர் சங்கம் சார்பில் வலியுறுத்துகிறோம்.

மேலும், அகவிலைப்படி நிலுவைத்தொகையை 01.07.2019 முதல் உயர்த்தி, ரொக்கமாக வழங்குவதன் மூலம் ஆசிரியர்- அரசு அலுவலர்கள், ஊழியர்கள், ஓய்வூதியதாரர்கள், குடும்ப ஓய்வூதியதாரர்கள் உள்ளிட்ட 18 லட்சம் பேரின் சுமார் ஒன்றரைக் கோடி குடும்பங்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியோடு தீபாவளி பண்டிகையைக் கொண்டாடுவர்.

பண்டிகை நெருங்குவதால் ஐந்து சதவீதம் அகவிலைப்படியினை உடனே வழங்க ஆவனசெய்யும்படி தமிழ்நாடு ஆசிரியர் சங்கம் சார்பில் முதல்வரை வேண்டுகிறேன்'' என்று தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

நீட் ஆள்மாறாட்ட வழக்கு: மாணவர் உதித் சூர்யாவுக்கு உயர் நீதிமன்றம் நிபந்தனை ஜாமீன்- தந்தை மனு தள்ளுபடி 

மதுரை

நீட் ஆள்மாறாட்ட வழக்கில் சிக்கிய சென்னை மாணவர் உதித் சூர்யாவுக்கு நிபந்தனை ஜாமீன் வழங்கி உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளை உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

நீட் தேர்வில் ஆள்மாறாட்டம் செய்த வழக்கில் சென்னையைச் சேர்ந்த மாணவன் உதித் சூர்யா, அவரது தந்தை டாக்டர் வெங்கடேசன் ஆகியோரை சிபிசிஐடி போலீஸார் கைது செய்தனர். இந்த வழக்கில் உதித் சூர்யா கைதாவதற்கு முன்பு உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளையில் முன்ஜாமீன் மனு தாக்கல் செய்தார். அவர் கைதான நிலையில் முன்ஜாமீன் மனு ஜாமீன் மனுவாக மாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்நிலையில் உதித் சூர்யாவின் ஜாமீன் மனு நீதிபதி ஜி.ஆர்.சுவாமிநாதன் முன்பு இன்று (அக்17) விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. அப்போது அரசுத் தரப்பில், "வெங்கடேசன் இந்த முறைகேட்டிற்குத் துணையாக இருந்தவர்கள் குறித்த முழுத் தகவலையும் தெரிவிக்கவில்லை. விசாரணைக்குப் போதிய ஒத்துழைப்பும் வழங்கவில்லை" எனத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

அதற்கு நீதிபதி, "அதனை ஏற்க இயலாது. இந்த வழக்கில் தொடர்புடையவர்கள் அனைவரையும் கண்டறிவது அவசியம்" எனத் தெரிவித்தார். தொடர்ந்து, "வழக்கு விசாரணைக்கு ஒத்துழைப்பு வழங்காத நிலையில் எதற்காக ஜாமீன் வழங்க வேண்டும்?" எனக் கேள்வி எழுப்பினார்.

அதற்கு மனுதாரர் தரப்பில், காவலில் எடுக்கப்பட்டு விசாரிக்கப்பட்டபோது, தகவல்களை வழங்கிவிட்டதாகத் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

இதனையடுத்து நீதிபதி, "இந்த வழக்கைப் பார்க்கும்போது 'வசூல்ராஜா எம்பிபிஎஸ்' படத்திலிருந்து திட்டம் கிடைத்துள்ளது போல் உள்ளது. மாணவர் உதித் சூர்யாவின் வயது மற்றும் மன அழுத்தப் பிரச்சனைகளைக் கருத்தில் கொண்டு, அவருக்கு மதுரை சிபிசிஐடி துணை கண்காணிப்பாளர் முன்பாக தினமும் காலை 10.30 மணிக்கு ஆஜராக வேண்டுமென்ற நிபந்தனையுடன் ஜாமீன் வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

ஆனால், வழக்கில் தொடர்புடையவர்களை அடையாளம் காண்பது அவசியம் என்பதால், தந்தை வெங்கடேசனின் ஜாமீன் மனு தள்ளுபடி செய்கிறது" என்று கூறி உத்தரவிட்டார்.

வாழ்க்கையைக் கெடுத்த தந்தை..

தொடர்ந்து நீதிபதி ஜி.ஆர்.சுவாமிநாதன், "மாணவர் உதித் சூர்யாவின் வாழ்க்கையை தந்தை வெங்கடேசன் கெடுத்துவிட்டார். அவரின் செயல்பாட்டைப் பார்க்கும்போது 'வசூல்ராஜா எம்பிபிஎஸ்' திரைப்படம்தான் நினைவுக்கு வருகிறது. அரசு மருத்துவராக இருந்த ஒருவரே இத்தகைய குற்றத்தைச் செய்யலாமா" எனக் கேட்டார்.

முன்னதாக, கடந்த விசாரணையின்போதும் நீதிபதி உதித் சூர்யா வழக்கில் அவரின் தந்தைதான் வில்லன் எனக் கூறியிருந்தார் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Madras HC grants bail to student arrested in NEET scam; father stays in prison

Justice GR Swaminathan passed the order while allowing a bail petition filed by the student. The judge however dismissed the bail petition of his father Venkatesan.

Published: 17th October 2019 12:11 PM

By Express News Service

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court granted bail to one of the medical students who was arrested for impersonating in NEET examination.

Justice GR Swaminathan passed the order while allowing a bail petition filed by the student. The judge however dismissed the bail petition of his father Venkatesan.

Justice Swaminathan recalled the CB-CID's statement that Venkatesan has not been cooperating with the investigation. "The accused appears to have drawn inspiration from the Tamil movie Vasool Raja MBBS," the Judge further remarked.

Since the investigation is at a crucial stage and the modus operandi of the accused is yet to be ascertained, not to mention that the identification of the impersonator is also not revealed by Venkatesan, the Court is not inclined to grant bail to Venkatesan, the Judge stated and dismissed his petition.

However, observing that the student appears to be a 'victim of his father's deeds' who seems to have manipulated and manoeuvred the whole offence while the son just played along, the judge allowed the bail petition of the student, on condition that he has to appear before the Deputy Superintendent of Police of CB-CID, Madurai, every day.

Pvt hospital told to pay Rs 2 lakh relief for wrong treatment

She alleged that owing to the faulty transfusions and to the wrong diagnosis by the doctor, she developed kidney problems.
 
Published: 17th October 2019 06:29 AM | Last Updated: 17th October 2019 06:29 AM | A+A A-

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Five years after a woman faced prolonged illness due to a faulty treatment, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chengalpattu, directed the hospital to pay her a compensation of `2 lakh for negligence during blood transfusion that resulted in kidney problems.

According to petition submitted by R Joyce of Melkottaiyur, on August 28, 2014, she underwent blood transfusion at Sri Meenakshi Nursing Home at Kandigai near Korattur, as suggested by doctors to alleviate pain in her breasts. She paid Rs 11,500 for the treatment. As there was something wrong with the transfusion, it was done for the second time at the nursing home’s own clinic at Perungalathur the next day.

She alleged that owing to the faulty transfusions and to the wrong diagnosis by the doctor, she developed kidney problems. Unable to bear the pain she was admitted to a private hospital in Tambaram, where surgery was performed on September 2, 2014 and she was discharged on September 18. After sending a legal notice to Sri Meenakshi Nursing Home, she filed a petition in the consumer disputes redressal forum, seeking a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh. Denying the allegations, the hospital counsel said that proper treatment was given to the patient who was present in there only for a few hours.

The forum, presided over by J Justin David and comprising members K Prameela and D Babu Varadharajan, observed that if the complainant had already had kidney problems, the hospital might have recorded the fact in the medical records while discharging her.

Check genuineness of all MBBS students admitted this year: HC
Court orders testing agency to provide fingerprints of all students to the police
 
17/10/2019 , Mohamed Imranullah S., CHENNAI

The Madras High Court has embarked on a major exercise of cleansing medical college admissions of issues like impersonation in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), students from private coaching centres getting an upper hand over poor students in admissions, and first-time NEET candidates being elbowed out of competition by those who make repeated attempts.

Justices N. Kirubakaran and P. Velmurugan on Wednesday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET, to share with the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) the thumb impressions of all 4,250 candidates who got admission in government and private medical institutions in the State this year so that it could be verified whether all of them were genuine candidates. Since the CB-CID had so far collected concrete material to prove that six students had got admitted to the MBBS course this year through impersonation in NEET, and was suspecting the involvement of 13 more, the judges felt it will be prudent to check the genuineness of all 4,250 students who had got admitted in government and private medical colleges, apart from deemed universities, this year.

CBI as respondent

After Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian said that almost all the impersonators for the six students had appeared for the test in other States, and some private coaching centres may have played a crucial role in the illegality, the judges suo motu included the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) too as a respondent to a case before them, for a central agency will be in a better position to probe a pan-India crime. “It is seen from media reports that during Income Tax raids, huge unaccounted money has been seized from coaching centres. In Karnataka also, there seems to be a fraud committed for getting admission in medical colleges... When around 14 lakh students compete for 38,000 medical seats available in the country, there is bound to be heavy competition and in that process, this kind of fraud takes place, denying medical seats to deserving candidates,” the judges lamented.

Stressing the need for implementing a foolproof system, like a combination of a fingerprint checking mechanism and facial recognition technology, to prevent impersonation in NEET, the judges said all stakeholders, including the Centre, State governments and the Medical Council of India, should constitute a committee to evolve a new method which won’t allow any kind of illegality. The judges ordered that the media should refrain from disclosing the identity of young students. It was the bounden duty of the government to provide counselling to the students who had been arrested and released on bail so that they do not end up taking any extreme step, they observed.

Authoring the interim order, the senior judge in the Bench directed the Central and State governments to submit by October 24 the details of students who had cleared NEET in the first attempt and those who had cleared it after multiple attempts. The judges wanted to know how many had cleared NEET by attending private coaching centres and how many had done so without assistance from such centres. The order was passed while the court was hearing a writ appeal that had complained of large-scale irregularities in filling NRI quota seats in private medical colleges.

TNOU convocation
 
17/10/2019 , Special Correspondent

A student of the Tamil Nadu Open University’s Bachelor of Computer Application department will be presented the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) award this year. The recipient, E. Priya, stood first in the degree programme.

She will receive the award at the university’s 12th convocation to be held on Friday.

At the event, 140 candidates who secured ranks will receive gold medals and 219 students who had secured second and third ranks at the university level will receive certificates. A total of 8,935 candidates are graduating this year, said registrar in-charge P. Thyagarajan.

Seven M.Phil degrees, 2,505 postgraduate degrees, 4,702 undergraduate degrees, 101 PG diplomas, 1,547 vocational diplomas and 73 diplomas will be distributed.

Answer scripts can be obtained by students under RTI, says HC
Petition filed by law university dismissed; told to dispose of applications

17/10/2019 , Legal Correspondent, CHENNAI 

Observing that evaluated answer scripts would fall squarely under the definition of the term “information” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005, the Madras High Court held that universities were bound to provide copies of such answer scripts to the examinees concerned.

Justice S.M. Subramaniam dismissed a writ petition filed by Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, challenging an order passed by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission on December 17, and directed it to dispose of all RTI applications made for the provision of copies of answer scripts.

The judge held that students should be given the option of seeking copies of their answer scripts either under the university rules, which might require them to pay a higher fee, or under the RTI Act, which enables applicants to obtain information from public institutions on payment of a nominal fee.

“The very object of the Right to Information Act, 2005, stipulates that democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information, which are vital to its functioning, and also to contain corruption and to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed. Accountability in public administration is of paramount importance,” the judge observed.

‘A record’

He recalled that even the Supreme Court in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) versus Aditya Bandhopadhyay (2011) had observed that an unevaluated answer script should be considered as a document or record and that an evaluated answer script must be construed as information.

“Examining bodies (universities, examination boards, CBSE, etc.) are neither intelligence nor security organisations and therefore the exemption under Section 24 of the Act will not apply to them. The disclosure of information with reference to answer books does not also involve infringement of any copyright and therefore Section 9 will not apply,” the judgment read.

“Resultantly, unless the examining bodies are able to demonstrate that the evaluated answer books fall under any of the categories of exempted information enumerated in clauses (a) to (j) of Section 8(1), they will be bound to provide access to information, and any applicant can either inspect the document/record, take notes or obtain extracts of certified copies,” the judgement read. © 2017 All Rights Re

NTA to hold common test for 15 central univs

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:17.10.2019

The national testing agency (NTA) will conduct a common admission test for 15 of the central universities of the country from the 2020-21 academic session. These will include universities of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka among others.

The human resource development ministry is likely to give a nod to the proposal on Thursday. NTA is in talks with other central universities as well to join the common test. This is the first time NTA has been entrusted with the task of conducting the Central University common entrance test (CUCET) which till last year was conducted by the University of Rajasthan. “There is addition to the list of the universities for the academic session 2020-21 making it 15. And more are likely to join as NTA is in touch with other new universities like the Central University of Manipur,” said a source in MHRD.

The common entrance test for the 15 central universities for 2020-21 academic session will be conducted in May, 2020. The test would be conducted for around 50 undergraduate courses, over 170 post-graduate and over 100 MPhil and PhD programmes.

NTA conducted a computer-based entrance test for Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University this year for a limited number of courses.

“NTA has the capacity and capability as the final aim is to make it a premium testing agency. It has already delivered glitch-free, transparent and secure testing for JEE (Main), NEET, UGC-NET, DU and JNU entrance tests,” said a senior HRD official.

These will include universities of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka among others

Ex-VC of pvt univ murdered in B’luru

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:17.10.2019

A 53-year-old former vice-chancellor of a private university was hacked to death late on Tuesday night in a playground about 100ft from his R T Nagar residence and 50 metres from the jurisdictional police station.

D Ayyappa Dore, 53, former V-C of Alliance University and RTI activist, was found in a pool of blood around 5.30am on Wednesday when his wife Pavana Dibbur, also a former VC of the university, started searching for him. She alerted a passing police patrol vehicle that her husband was missing and his mobile phone was ringing.

In no time, police personnel found Dore’s body at the HMT Ground. The body bore half-a-dozen hack marks, and police suspected the killers may have been armed with machetes. Dore is survived by wife, two daughters and an eight-year-old son.

Nurturing political ambitions, Dore had floated Jana Samanyara Party in 2017 and unsuccessfully entered Muddebihal fray in Vijayapura district in the 2018 elections.

Bengaluru City police commissioner Bhaskar Rao announced three special teams to nab the assailants.

Full report on www.toi.in 

Shop sells biryani for 5paise, turns crowd fav

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:17.10.2019

A biryani shop in Dindigul distributed packs of biryani for five paise on Wednesday to mark World Food Day (October 16), in a move to create awareness on the importance of preserving and maintaining old coins.

Sheik Mujibur Rahman, owner of the shop, said his visit to the Keeladi archaeological excavation site in Sivaganga district and the recent findings and reports about the site had enthralled him. “I realized how important it was to keep things that we used carefully for future generations to know about us. I decided to find out how many people had the five paise coins which are no longer in use,” he said.

He put up a signboard that the biryani, sold for ₹90 usually, will be sold for five paise. Hundreds of people thronged the shop with five paise coins in their hands on Wednesday.

Thirupathi, a customer said it was good that the shop had put out the sign two days ago as it gave them time to search for the five paise coin.

“My son rarely gets an opportunity to have biryani from the shop, so I found the five paise coin in a small tin box that my grandmother kept and came to the shop by 9.30am,” said Lakshmi, who got a pack. 



FIGHTING FOR SPACE

Exam answer sheet is information under RTI: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.10.2019

An evaluated answer sheet is information as defined under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and so a university cannot deny access to students, more so because the information does not fall under the exempted category for national security or copyright infringement, the Madras high court held on Wednesday.

Dismissing a plea moved by the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University challenging the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission’s order allowing students to get copies of answer scripts through RTI, Justice S M Subramaniam directed the university to supply them to students who wanted them.

The judge also rejected the university’s contention that it is governed by its own rules and said that the RTI Act overrides university statute.

The issue pertains to an order passed by the information commission dated December 17, 2018, directing the university to supply copies of answer scripts sought under the RTI Act by a student, Pavan Kumar Gandhi. Challenging the order, the university submitted that it is ready and willing to furnish copies of answer scripts on payment of charges prescribed under university rules.

Rejecting the contention of the university, the judge citied a series of Supreme Court orders and said, when an answer-book is evaluated by an examiner appointed by the examining body, the evaluated answer-book becomes a record containing the ‘opinion’ of the examiner. Therefore, the evaluated answerbook is also `information’ under the RTI Act.

Thus, there is no option for the university but to supply the evaluated answer scripts to Gandhi under the RTI Act, the court said.

Noting that the university cannot demand that students obtain copies of the script only by paying a prescribed fee, Justice Subramaniam relied on a apex court order which said that “the existence of two avenues is not mutually exclusive and it is up to the candidate to choose either of the routes. Thus, if a candidate seeks information under the provisions of the RTI, then payment has to be sought under the RTI Rules only”.

However, if the information is sought under the guidelines of the university, then the institution is at liberty to charge the candidates as per its guidelines, it added.

Under the law university rules, a student has to pay ₹500 to the controller of examinations to obtain copy of an answer sheet. However, as per the RTI rules, the applicant has to pay only ₹10 to get a copy.

The judge rejected the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University contention that it is governed by its own rules and said that the RTI Act overrides university statute

ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH TO ACE NEET IN STATE

Repeaters Grab 3 Out Of 4 Seats In MBBS Courses, Pointing To The Influence Of Coaching In Acing Medical Entrance

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com 17.10.2019

In a span of three years, the number of old students joining MBBS in Tamil Nadu has increased from 12% to 70%, after introduction of NEET. If the trend continues, the percentage of old students may touch 90% in the future.

The trend emerged from admission data provided by Directorate of Medical Education. The numbers, obtained through RTI, reveal that around 70% of students joining medical colleges in Tamil Nadu in 2019 were not straight out of school (seniors or repeaters) and had spent a few years preparing for the exam.

Of the 4,202 students who joined MBBS this year in the state, 2,916 were old students. While two students from the 2010 (Class XII) batch joined medical colleges, 2,371 from the 2018 batch have got admitted. Among 2,762 state board students who joined medical colleges, 2,402 students (87%) were repeaters. Of 1,368 CBSE students, 482 (35%) were old students.

In 2016, when admissions were last conducted based on Class XII marks, only 450 repeaters (12%) had joined the MBBS course. The huge number of repeaters joining MBBS courses points to the effect of an ever-growing NEET coaching industry.

According to sources, over 10,000 training centres, both formal and informal, have mushroomed all over the state in last three years, turning ‘NEET coaching’ into a Rs500 crore industry.

“NEET gives an advantage to old students as current students have to prepare both for board exams and common medical entrance,” said Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality.

He said the National Testing Agency should fix an upper age limit and cap number of attempts. “The syllabus for NEET also needs to be updated every three years to avoid giving undue advantage to old students,” he said.

At present, there is no limit on the number of attempts a student can make for NEET.

“It is becoming a trend that students need to spend one year extra for coaching to get MBBS seats. It takes time for students to change from board exam mode to competitive exam mode,” said Dr Prasad Manne, secretary, Kilpauk Medical College Alumni Association.

With more number of high scorers, the cutoff for the exam this year has shot up by 80 to 100 marks.

“With repeated practice and learning, a student with 300 marks last year is able to get 500 marks in his second attempt,” said P Swaminathan, secretary, SRV Schools.

The percentage of old students will increase in the coming years, he said. “The percentage of current batch students may go below 10% in a year or two.”

Fewer govt school students get through

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 17.10.2019

Government school students are not cracking NEET and bagging medical seats as much as they did three years ago.

From 34 students in 2016, the number of government school students joining medical colleges has plummeted to 2 this year. On the flipside, the number of CBSE students has risen from 35 in 2016 to 1,368 in 2019.

NEET was made mandatory for MBBS admissions in Tamil Nadu from 2017. Prior to that, admissions to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu were based on marks obtained in Class XII.

“Even the two students who cracked NEET were repeaters and not current batch students,” a source said.

After introduction of NEET for medical admissions in Tamil Nadu, only seven students from government schools joined MBBS in 2017, while five joined in 2018, according to the Directorate of Medical Education. So far, only 14 students from government schools have aced NEET in last three years.

“Unless there is a separate quota for government school students, they cannot enter into the medical colleges,” said Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality.

Some teachers believed that the NCERT syllabus-based NEET lends an unfair advantage to CBSE students. “Many state board students have not even seen NCERT books from which questions are asked in NEET,” a teacher said.

“There is a big gap in coaching facilities for government school students and those from other boards,” said P B Prince Gajendrababu of State Platform for Common School System, on prospects of government students cracking NEET.

Last year, 19,355 students were coached at state-run coaching centres.

HC bats for CBI probe into NEET cases

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.10.2019

The Madras high court on Wednesday asserted that it would be appropriate for a central agency to investigate the alleged impersonation in NEET as the fraud was a pan-India phenomenon and suggested facial recognition technology to confirm the identity of students.

A division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice P Velmurugan also directed the media to refrain from exposing the identity of the students, who are alleged to have impersonated. “The parents are responsible as they are the ones thrusting their wish upon children to become doctors. Therefore, the media shall refrain themselves from publishing the photographs or reveal their identity in the best interest of the students,” the bench said.

The court noted that it is the bounden duty of the government to provide counselling to students who have been arrested, even after they are released.

Directing the National Testing Agency (NTA) to provide fingerprint copies of all the 4,250 students admitted to MBBS courses in the state to the CB-CID to verify their credentials, the bench said, “The process of conducting examination, counselling and getting admission into the medical colleges should be designed in a way to make it a combined process by making use of thumb impression and facial recognition technology to confirm the identity of the students at every stage.”

The court then suo motu impleaded the CBI, the director general of health services, New Delhi, and 13 deemed-to-be private universities running medical colleges in the state as party respondents to the plea.

Noting that the role of NEET coaching centres in the fraud cannot be ruled out, the bench said that the centre government should bring in a procedure to register the coaching centres with an authority so that cases of fraud by coaching centres can be detected immediately.

Also, asserting that allowing students to give multiple attempts in NEET and permitting them to compete with freshers would amount to inequality, the court directed the authorities to provide the details of number of freshers admitted this year by October 24. 



CALL FOR ACTION

NEET impersonation case: Madras HC impleads CBI as respondent 

Chennai, Oct 16 (PTI) The Madras High Court on Wednesday impleaded the CBI as respondent in a case related to NEET impersonation, saying the role of coaching centres cannot be ruled out as students got admission by defrauding in the medical entrance examination held outside the state.

A division bench, comprising justices N Kirubakaran and P Velmurugan, impleaded the agency on its own while hearing a petition by S Dheera related to medical admissions.

The bench noted that since the students impersonated and got admission by writing the examination outside the state, the fraud should be an all-India phenomenon and many students in various states should have got admission by impersonation.

"Since the jurisdiction of CB-CID is only confined to the state government, it would be appropriate for a central agency to investigate into the matter as the medical colleges are located in various parts of our country and the fraud is pan India," the bench said and impleaded CBI as respondent.

Additional Advocate General P H Arvind Pandiyan submitted that the CB-CID which is probing the case, has till date arrested six persons, including four students.

He added that Tamil Nadu has 4,250 medical seats out of the 38,000 seats available all over India.

However, getting admission by impersonation has surfaced only in Tamil Nadu, he said.

The bench, while raising doubts about candidates who appeared for the exam, noted that the AAG had submitted that the CB-CID has received about 19 suspected candidates'' thumb impressions from the National Testing Agency.

It has to be verified whether the students who got admission were the same persons who wrote NEET, it said.

The court then directed NTA to send all details,including thumb impressions, which were taken manually, to CB-CID and file a compliance report by the next hearing, to find out if any other candidates have got admission by impersonation.

The bench restrained the media from publishing photographs or revealing identities of students who are said to have impersonated and got admission.

"It is only an allegation against the students and if their identities are revealed to society, they will be shamed, affecting their future," it said.

As they are young children, their rights have to be protected and mostly the students'' role is very restricted, except to act as per the directions of their parents.

The bench was of the opinion that there should be a foolproof method by which the admission process can be done and only meritorious students could get admission into medical colleges.

The entire process, right from conduct of exams,counselling and getting admission into medical colleges should be a ''combined process,'' making use of thumb impression and facial recognition technology to confirm their identities, it said.

For the purpose, the bench by itself impleaded the Director General of Health Services, New Delhi, as party respondent to this proceedings and then posted the matter to October 24.

Dheeranhad filed a petition against the order of a single judge, dismissing his plea for a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to undertake proper counselling and ''mop up'' procedure to fill up 207 management quota seats. PTI COR APR ZMN Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

'மாஜி' அமைச்சரின் கல்லுாரி ரூ.110 கோடி கடனுக்காக ஏலம்

Added : அக் 16, 2019 03:57


திருச்சி:முன்னாள் அமைச்சர்நேரு குடும்பத்திற்கு சொந்தமான இன்ஜி., கல்லுாரி, பள்ளி உட்பட, 80 ஏக்கர் நிலம், 110 கோடி ரூபாய் கடனுக்காக, 14ல் ஏலத்துக்கு வர உள்ளது.

தி.மு.க.,வைச் சேர்ந்த, முன்னாள் அமைச்சர் நேருவின் தந்தை, நாராயணன் பெயரில், கல்வி அறக்கட்டளை உள்ளது. நேருவின் குடும்பத்தினர், அறக்கட்டளை உறுப்பினர்களாக உள்ளனர். இந்த கல்வி அறக்கட்டளை சார்பில், திருச்சி, சோழன்நகரில், 80 ஏக்கர் பரப்பில், 'கேர்' இன்ஜினியரிங் கல்லுாரி மற்றும் பள்ளி செயல்பட்டு வருகிறது.

மேற்கண்ட நிலம் மற்றும் கட்டடங்களை அடமானமாக வைத்து, நாராயணன் அறக்கட்டளை சார்பில், கண்டோன்மெண்ட் இந்தியன் வங்கியில், சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் கடன் வாங்கப் பட்டுள்ளது.ஆனால் நேரு குடும்பத்தினர், கடனை செலுத்தவில்லை என்பதால், கடந்த ஆண்டு, வங்கி நிர்வாகம், அடமானம் வைத்த இடத்தையும், கட்டடங்களையும், தன் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் கொண்டு வந்துள்ளது.

அசலுடன், வட்டியுடன் சேர்த்து, தற்போது, 110 கோடி ரூபாயை, வங்கிக்கு செலுத்த வேண்டும். கடனை செலுத்தாததால், மேற்கண்ட சொத்தை ஏலம் விட, இந்தியன் வங்கி முடிவு செய்து உள்ளது. அதன்படி, நவம்பர், 14ல், கேர் கல்லுாரி, பள்ளி செயல்பட்டு வரும் கட்டடங்கள் மற்றும் இடம் ஏலம் விடப்படும் என, இந்தியன் வங்கி அறிவித்துள்ளது.நேரு குடும்பத்திற்கு சொந்தமான கல்லுாரி மற்றும் பள்ளி ஏலத்துக்கு வருவது, தி.மு.க.,வினர் மத்தியில் அதிர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

சுதா சேஷய்யனுக்கு கூடுதல் பொறுப்பு

Added : அக் 16, 2019 02:16




சென்னை:தமிழ்நாடு டாக்டர் எம்.ஜி.ஆர்., மருத்துவப் பல்கலை துணைவேந்தர் சுதா சேஷய்யன், தேசிய மருத்துவ ஆணைய உறுப்பினராக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்.

இந்திய மருத்துவ கவுன்சிலான, எம்.சி.ஐ.,க்கு மாற்றாக, என்.எம்.சி., என்ற, தேசிய மருத்துவ ஆணையத்தை அமைப்பதற்கான மசோதா, பார்லிமென்டில் நிறைவேறியது. இந்த ஆணையம், நாடு முழுவதும், புதிய மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரிகள் துவங்க அனுமதி மற்றும் அங்கீகாரம் அளித்தல், மருத்துவ இடங்களை அதிகரிப்பதற்கான ஒப்புதல் வழங்குதல் போன்ற பணிகளை, மேற்கொள்ள உள்ளது.

ஆணையத்தில், பகுதி நேர உறுப்பினர் தேர்வுக்கு, மாநில கவர்னர்கள், தங்கள் மாநிலத்தில் இருந்து, ஒருவரை முன்மொழியும்படி கேட்டுக் கொள்ளப்பட்டது. அதேபோல, மருத்துவக் கவுன்சில் தரப்பிலிருந்தும் பரிந்துரைகள் வரவேற்கப்பட்டன.நாடு முழுவதும், 65 பேரின் பெயர்கள் பரிந்துரைக்கப்பட்டு, அவர்களில், 19 பேர் ஆணையத்தின் பகுதி நேர உறுப்பினர்களாக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டனர்.

இதில், தமிழ்நாடு டாக்டர் எம்.ஜி.ஆர்., மருத்துவப் பல்கலை.,துணைவேந்தர் சுதா சேஷய்யன் மற்றும் மேற்கு வங்கம், டில்லி, குஜராத் உள்ளிட்ட மாநிலங்களின் மருத்துவ பல்கலையின் துணைவேந்தர்கள் இடம் பெற்று உள்ளனர்.விரைவில், தேசிய மருத்துவ ஆணையம் செயல்பட துவங்கும் என, எதிர்பார்க்கப் படுகிறது.

பிரம்மபுத்திரா யாத்திரைக்கு நவம்பர், 13ல் சிறப்பு ரயில்

Added : அக் 16, 2019 01:28

சென்னை:புனித நீராட, பிரம்மபுத்திரா யாத்திரை செல்வோருக்கு வசதியாக, தனி, 'ஏசி' சிறப்பு சுற்றுலா ரயிலை, இந்தியன் ரயில்வே உணவு, சுற்றுலா கழகமான, ஐ.ஆர்.சி.டி.சி., இயக்குகிறது.

இந்த யாத்திரை ரயில், திருச்சியில் இருந்து, நவ., 13ல் புறப்பட்டு, கரூர், சேலம், சென்னை பெரம்பூர் வழியாக செல்லும். இப்பயணத்தில், மேற்கு வங்கத்தில், கோல்கட்டா; அசாம் மாநிலத்தில், கவுஹாத்தி காமாக்யா சக்தி பீடம், வசிஷ்டர் ஆசிரமம், பிரம்மபுத்திரா நதியில், படகு சவாரி செய்யலாம். புனித நீராடலாம். உலகில் அதிக மழை பொழிவு உள்ள, சிரபுஞ்சி மற்றும் ஷில்லாங் பீக் பகுதிகளுக்கும் சென்று வரலாம். மொத்தம், 12 நாட்கள் 

சுற்றுலாவுக்கு, ஒருவருக்கு, 'ஏசி'யில், மூன்றாம் வகுப்புக்கு, 45 ஆயிரத்து, 820 ரூபாய்; இரண்டாம் வகுப்புக்கு, 49 ஆயிரத்து, 540 ரூபாய்; முதல் வகுப்பு பயணத்துக்கு, 57 ஆயிரத்து, 700 ரூபாய் கட்டணம் நிர்ணயிக்கப் பட்டுள்ளது. மேலும் தகவலுக்கு, சென்னை, எம்.ஜி.ஆர்., சென்ட்ரல் ரயில் நிலையத்தில் உள்ள, ஐ.ஆர்.சி.டி.சி., அலுவலகத்தை, 90031 40680, 90031 40681 என்ற, மொபைல் போன் எண்களில் தொடர்பு கொள்ளலாம்.

DVAC gets syndicate nod to probe into irregularities in TU appointments 

The preliminary enquiry made by DVAC found out violations of rules in the appointment of 21 professors and around 100 non-teaching staff in 2017.
 
Published: 15th October 2019 06:54 PM 

 
By Express News Service

THANJAVUR: The Syndicate of Tamil University has given permission to Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) to register a case against former registrar S Muthukumar and his personal assistant Sakthi Saravanan over alleged irregularities in the appointment of 21 professors and 100 non-teaching staff in the University during 2017. The decision was taken at the Syndicate meeting held in Chennai on Saturday.

The DVAC had conducted a preliminary enquiry and had sought Government’s permission to register a case against G Baskaran, former Vice-Chancellor, S Muthukumar, former Registrar, G Sakthi Saravanan, Assistant and P.A. to the registrar and N Baskaran, the Director of Distance Education.

The government clarified that permission was not required to register a case against G Baskaran, the former VC and N Baskaran as they were no longer public servants. Subsequently, DVAC sought permission from the Syndicate for filing cases against S Muthukumar, former registrar and G SakthiSaravanan who are still public servants.

The Madurai Branch of Madras High Court which was hearing a batch of petitions opined that the Syndicate cannot sit in judgment over the enquiry conducted by DVAC and the approval of the Syndicate was only a formal approval. Also, the court directed the Vice-Chancellor and the Syndicate to respond to the DVAC in two weeks time.

Following this, the Syndicate meeting of the Tamil University was held at Chennai on October 9 to decide upon according permission to DVAC to file regular cases. Though there was clear direction from the court, the meeting could not take a decision and it was decided to take the legal opinion.

However, when the meeting was held once again on October 12 (Saturday), at Chennai, the Syndicate accorded permission to DVAC to file a regular case. This decision was reported to the Madurai Bench of Madras High court on Monday.

It might be noted the preliminary enquiry made by DVAC found out violations of rules in the appointment of 21 professors and around 100 non-teaching staff during the year 2017. It is said many of the 21 persons appointed as professors did not guide a single Ph.D., scholar which was a requirement. Even some selected
candidate did not have Ph.D., in the relevant department.

Many eligible candidates with high Academic Performance Indicators (API) score were not selected whereas those with low scores were selected, the inquiry found. Some of those already working in the University were approached for 15-40 lakhs as gratification for promotion/appointment as Professor, the preliminary enquiry by DVAC revealed. As allegations were held as substantiated the DVAC proposed to register a regular case under various sections of Indian Penal Code and sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. With the permission of the Syndicate, it is learnt that DVAC would soon file an FIR in the case.

It was cadre who put up banner out of ‘love & affection’: Jayagopal

Justice CV Karthikeyan, following a plea from government counsel seeking time to file the counter-affidavit, adjourned the matter till Thursday (October 17).

Published: 16th October 2019 05:16 AM

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A daughter lost her life in the process of welcoming a daughter-in-law, the Madras High Court observed on Tuesday, referring to the death of techie Subashri in a road mishap after a hoarding put up for the wedding of former councillor C Jayagopal’s son fell on her.

The court made the oral observation while hearing the bail plea of Jayagopal. In his bail petition, Jayagopal submitted that it was his party cadre who put up the banners, out of ‘love and affection’, and he had no role in it. Police mechanically included his name in the FIR without conducting proper probe, he alleged.

Justice CV Karthikeyan, following a plea from government counsel seeking time to file the counter-affidavit, adjourned the matter till Thursday (October 17).

CM Palaniswami to receive honorary doctorate

The Chief Minister will also deliver the convocation address.

Published: 16th October 2019 05:08 AM 

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami. | File Photo

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, deemed to be university, will confer the degree of Honoris Causa (Doctor of Letters - D.Litt) on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami during its 28th convocation on October 20. The Chief Minister will also deliver the convocation address.

Along with Palaniswami, four others will also get honorary degrees. G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence (R&D) and Chairman DRDO, S Raja Sabapathy, Chairman and Director, Ganga Hospital will be conferred with honorary D.Sc., Degrees, Harris Jayaraj, music director-cum-composer and Shobana Chandrakumar, dancer and actor, will be conferred with honorary D.Litt degrees.

Already, former Chief Ministers M Karunanidhi and MG Ramachandran were conferred two doctorate degrees, while former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was honoured with five.

Duo yet to reveal NEET impersonator’s name

State Public Prosecutor tells Madurai bench the two accused in the case are not cooperating with investigation

Published: 16th October 2019 05:19 AM 

By Express News Service

MADURAI: The CB-CID told the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court that the medical student KV Udit Suriya and his father KS Venkatesan, arrested in connection with the NEET impersonation case, have not yet revealed the name of the impersonator.

Appearing on behalf of the CB-CID, State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan submitted that the duo was not cooperating with the investigation and that Venkatesan has still not revealed the name of the impersonator engaged by them to write the examination on behalf of Suriya.

It was also informed to the court that Venkatesan, pursuant to dismissal of his bail plea by a Judicial Magistrate(JM) court, had moved another petition on Monday before the Principal District and Sessions Court in Theni.

Recording the facts, Justice GR Swaminathan, who heard the case, directed the Registry of the High Court Bench to call for Venkatesan’s bail plea documents from the Sessions Court to hear the same along with Suriya’s petition at the next hearing on October 17. Earlier, the judge orally questioned the CB-CID as to why they have not sought for the custody of the two accused.

The father-son duo was nabbed by the CB-CID from Tirupati on September 25 and subsequently was arrested the following day. Their judicial custody was recently extended by the Theni JM court till October 24. So far, the CB-CID has apprehended nine persons, including a broker and four students and their parents in connection with the case.

Bail pleas rejected once again

The Theni Judicial Magistrate Court dismissed the bail petitions of two students Rahul and Praveen and their fathers who were arrested in NEET impersonation case. The bail petitions were filed on September 30. This is the third time the court rejected their bail petitions. Meanwhile, CB-CID police on Monday took one-day custody of Irfan, who had surrendered before Salem court in connection with the scam, and produced him before the court on Tuesday. Magistrate Panneer Selvam extended his judicial remand till October 25. Later Irfan was taken to Theni Prison. It may be recalled that Udit Suriya, another student, secured a seat in Government Theni Medical College using an impersonator. Suriya and his father Venkatesan are lodged in Madurai Central Prison. Following inquiries with them, police arrested students Rahul, Praveen and Priyanga and their parents in connection to the scam.

Express readers across South India help this Chennai student kickstart her career in medicine

Readers have made a total contribution of Rs 60,000 in cash, apart from sponsoring her medical text books, ever since Express carried an article about her success in cracking the NEET exam in July.
 
Published: 14th October 2019 11:16 PM 

 
  Charumathi at her residence in Perumbakkam (Photo| Special Arrangement)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Help has continued to pour in from various quarters towards the education of the Government school girl who cracked NEET after Express carried an article titled 'Govt school girl scripts a NEET success story' on July 27. Readers have made a total contribution of Rs 60,000 in cash, apart from sponsoring her medical text books, so far.

G Sankaran, a resident of Besant Nagar in Chennai made a contribution of Rs 25,000 for Charumathi J who now studies at the Thiruvarur medical college. "After I read the article, I thought this girl deserved a helping hand," said Sankaran.

A Bengaluru-based lawyer and a resident of Odisha, who want to remain anonymous, contributed Rs 5,000 each after reading the article that was shared by a relative. A resident of Vellore, who also wanted to remain anonymous contributed Rs 10,000 towards her education.

Charumathi went on to score 370 in her NEET exams despite being relocated to her house in Saidapet to the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board resettlement tenement in Perumbakkam. She was a student of the Government school in Kelambakkam. Her father, who has a juice cart, and her elder sister, had taken loans for her NEET coaching.

Earlier, an Express reader Parthasarathy R, a retired senior manager, Bank of India, had contributed Rs 10,000 and a retired television news producer Preetha A Anand had come forward to sponsor her medical  textbooks. Preetha has since contributed Rs 5,000 in addition.

Speaking to Express, Charumathi's sister said, " I'm thankful to each of them. The help is also timely since our father has not been able to go to work since he has been diagnosed with cancer. It'll help cover her annual fees of Rs 13,000 apart from other needs."

Varsity no place for politics: Dy. CM
 
16/10/2019 , Staff Reporter, Bengaluru

Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan defended the decision of the university to not conduct the programme.

“The university is not a place to discuss politics. These are places for learning,” he said. Sources in the Higher Education Department said the thinking was that his speech maybe “inflammatory” and may have an “adverse impact” on students. However, the department remained non-committal when asked if they had directed the university to call off the programme.

Parameshwara seeks time from I-T Dept. to produce documents

16/10/2019 , staff reporter, Bengaluru

G. Parameshwara

Former Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, who appeared before the Income Tax Department for questioning on Tuesday, sought more time to produce documents that the department had sought from him.

The I-T Department recently searched his premises and that of Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education (SSAHE), Tumakuru, of which Dr. Parameshwara is the secretary, over the alleged “medical seat blocking scam” at colleges run by the academy. The I-T officials had claimed to have uncovered undeclared income to the tune of ₹100 crore during these searches against SSAHE and another college in Kolar.

“The department sought several documents from me today. I have cooperated with the agency in their probe, but have sought four days to produce these documents. They have given me that time,” Dr. Parameshwara told presspersons at the I-T office on Tuesday.

Probe sought

He also sought a “thorough investigation” into the death of his personal assistant Ramesh. “There has been reckless speculation in media about his death. Some channels have even alleged that I got him killed, which has pained me. I will write to the Chief Minister and Home Minister seeking a thorough investigation into his death,” he said.

Medical seat scam in ..

Read more at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71606671.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

First pvt. train violates Railway tariff law
IRCTC can’t fix its own fare, say officials

14/10/2019 , S. Vijay Kumar, CHENNAI

The country’s first private train has contravened the Railways Act, 1989, since the Central government is the competent authority to decide on tariff and not the IRCTC, say top railway officials.

The much-publicised train service flagged off on the Lucknow-Delhi-Lucknow route earlier this month, charges a higher fare than the existing Shatabdi Express and other trains on the same route.

The issue is being closely watched in the context of the move to run 150 more trains in private mode.

The Indian Railways had entrusted IRCTC, its commercial tourism and catering arm, with the task of operating two premium trains using the fully air-conditioned rakes of the semi-high speed Tejas Express. The second private train will soon be run on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector.

While the first corporate-run train has received good feedback from passengers. who compared its amenities and on-board service favourably with global standards, senior railway officials say the tariff fixed is apparently in violation of the Railways Act. The fares are higher and there is hardly any change in the running time. Railway officials say the IRCTC is not empowered to fix the tariff.

CM awarded honorary doctorate 

16/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami would receive an honorary doctorate degree (Doctor of Letters) from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, a deemed university in Chennai on October 20.

The educational institution’s founder-chancellor A.C. Shanmugam heads the New Justice Party, an ally of the AIADMK.

Among the past recipients of honorary doctorate from the deemed university are actors Vijay and Vijaykumar.

HC to hear bail pleas of medico and his father together
Both the petitions pertain to the same case, says judge
 
16/10/2019 , B. Tilak Chandar, Madurai

The Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday adjourned the bail petition of Udit Surya, the first medical student to be arrested in the NEET impersonation case. The court will hear the student’s bail plea along with that of his father, V.K. Venkatesan.

Justice G.R. Swaminathan took cognisance of the fact that the father of the student had filed a bail application before the Theni Sessions Court. As both the petitions pertained to the same case, the judge said he will hear them together on October 17, and sought relevant papers in the case.

The court had agreed to treat the anticipatory bail petition filed by the student as his bail plea, considering his age. Earlier, the court took a serious view of the impersonation case. The father-son duo are currently lodged in the Madurai Central Prison.

In his petition, Surya cited health issues for quitting an MBBS course in the Theni Government Medical College. He denied the charge that another person had taken the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and attended counselling for medical admission on his behalf.

The CB-CID secured Surya along with his family in Tirupati on September 25. Subsequently, the father-son duo was remanded in judicial custody. Earlier, the Judicial Magistrate, Theni, denied bail to Mr. Venkatesan.

SRIHER doctors win awards for research work
 
16/10/2019 , Staff Reporter, Chennai

Doctors from the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, who presented their research work at a conference of the Malaysian Upper Gastrointestinal Surgical Society last week, won awards, according to a press release.

There were 26 research presentations, three lectures and one moderation. Three papers won awards, two in the student category: undergraduate student Vishnu J.M. and intern Nitesh Ramesh and one in the faculty category for a paper by N. Priyathersini. Prof. Sandhya Sundaram delivered a lecture on the expanding role of the pathologist in managing gastric cancer.

Life membership

Prof. S.M. Chandramohan, who delivered lectures on surgeries for tumours of the middle third of the stomach, was awarded an honorary life membership of the Malaysian Upper Gastrointestinal Surgical Society.

CM to get honorary doctorate

16/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

 

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will receive an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Letters) from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute on October 20. The institution’s founder-chancellor, A.C. Shanmugam, heads the New Justice Party — an AIADMK ally.

U.K. plans to recruit medical graduates, nurses from State

16/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

The Health Department would facilitate placement of medical graduates and nurses from the State for the National Health Service (NHS), England, through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB). In addition, Health Education England, would impart training to government doctors and nurses in the State.

On Tuesday, a team from Health Education England was in Chennai to discuss the modalities with officials of the Health Department.

Health Secretary Beela Rajesh and Mission Director of National Health Mission-Tamil Nadu K. Senthil Raj were present.

The meeting discussed modalities to take forward the memorandum of understanding signed during the visit of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to the U.K., officials said.

The officials and Mr. Palaniswami had detailed discussions on the action plan and the time schedule.

Hospital suspended from govt. health scheme

16/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

The State government has suspended Gleneagles Global Health City from the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) for its alleged involvement in diverting patients through 108 ambulance drivers. A senior official confirmed that the hospital was suspended from being an empaneled hospital under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme with immediate effect.

Detailed inquiry

“This action followed a detailed inquiry into their involvement in diverting patients to the hospital by bribing drivers of the 108 ambulance network. We have suspended the hospital from the scheme. They should fix the responsibility and act on those involved. We may then reconsider our decision,” the official said.

Other universities

Bengaluru: RGUHS may appeal against disaffiliated nursing colleges
TNN | Oct 14, 2019, 13:08 IST

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences

BENGALURU: Seven nursing colleges in the city, which were disaffiliated by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in January, have not only gone ahead and admitted students for this academic year, but also helped students file an appeal seeking they be allowed to write exams.

RGUHS vice-chancellor Dr S Sachidanand said they will file a counter-appeal as the court has directed them to allow the students, who are not even part of the university, to write exams. "We had not even permitted the colleges to admit students, and here they are asking for permission to appear for exams," Sachidanand said, adding that their answerscripts won't be evaluated. He said the university had published a public notice, informing students about the status of the colleges.

The seven colleges - Bethel Medical Institute of Nursing Sciences, Hosmat College of Nursing, Gayathri Devi College of Nursing, Pan Asia College of Nursing, Bethel College of Physiotherapy, Hosmat College of Physiotherapy and Hosmat Hospital and Educational Institution - were disaffiliated due to alleged involvement in a certificate scam.

Almost 200 students from these colleges have appeared for two papers. Sachidanand said the university was unaware that the colleges had even admitted students.

CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and minister for medical education, said he can't comment on the matter as it's in court, but promised swift action against the culprits. "More than the students, those responsible for this situation should be brought to book. I will escalate the matter to the highest investigating authorities," he said.

Exams live-streamed

In a first, RGUHS live-streamed its ongoing exams being held across 910 centres in 240 colleges. According to Sachidanand, 2,700 cameras are being used for the exercise. The live-streaming helped bring to the fore 14-15 instances of exam malpractices across the state.

Download the Times of India News App for Latest City News

4 national-level hockey players killed in MP road crash, 3 injured
Birthday Boy Among Those Killed; One Injured On Ventilator

P Naveen & Ramendra Singh TNN

Bhopal:15.10.2019

Four teenage national-level hockey players were killed in an accident in Hoshangabad early on Monday while on their way to play in the semi-final of All India Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Tournament. Three others are seriously injured — one of them is on ventilator.

One of those killed, Aadarsh Hardua of Itarsi, had turned 17 on Sunday and the group had gone to his hometown to celebrate his birthday. Aadarsh, 16-year-olds Shahnawaz Khan of Indore and Ashish Lal of Jabalpur, and Aniket Varun, 18, of Gwalior, died on impact. Shaun Gladwin, 22, Akshay Awasthi, 18, and Sahil Chaure, 19, are admitted to a hospital in Hoshangabad.

Akshay, who is on ventilator, has been in the Indian hockey team camp for two years — the select 32 from which 16 are chosen to represent the country. All those killed are MP Hockey Academy players and had several national tournaments under their belt.

Chief minister Kamal Nath expressed his grief, tweeting: “All these players were the pride of Madhya Pradesh. Not only the state, but the whole country had very high hopes of them. We have lost budding, talented players. The entire hockey world will always miss them.”

The tournament was cancelled after the tragedy as teams said they were too much in shock to play, the organisers said. The semi-finals and final were scheduled in Hoshangabad on Monday, and that is where the group was headed after spending the night at Shaun’s house in Itarsi.

All seven of them packed into a Swift Dzire owned by Shaun’s mother. With him at the wheel, they set off on the 18km trip to Hoshangabad around 6.30am. Their semi-final was due to start in an hour.

Near Risalpur village, on NH 69, the car veered off the road and crashed into a tree around 6.40am. Shaun, who survived the accident, told police he lost control while trying to avoid a head-on collision with a jeep. Hoshangabad SP M L Chhari said, “Initially, it seems that reckless driving had led to the crash. The car was at high speed at the time of the accident.”

Sports department officials said the players had taken permission to visit Itarsi to celebrate Aadarsh’s birthday. Hardua’s parents, too, reportedly called sports officials to allow them to leave camp for the night. Officials gave permission on the condition that they would arrange for accommodation in Itarsi so that they wouldn’t have to travel by night, and that they would report well in time for the semi-final the next day. They had gone barely 5km on Monday when they crashed into a roadside tree.

Nath’s media coordinator Narendra Saluja said that the CM has declared financial assistance of ₹2 lakh to families of each of the members of the deceased from his discretionary fund. Besides, these families will get ₹5 lakh as the players were insured by the state’s sports department, Saluja said. 



HIGHWAY OF DEATH: The mangled remains of the car carrying the hockey players on NH 69 in MP’s Hoshangabad district on Monday. The players were on their way to play in the semi-final of All India Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Tournament

Med seat scam money parked in a K’taka co-op society: I-T

BV.Shivashankar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:15.10.2019

A Tumakuru credit co-operative society has come under the scanner of income-tax department in the medical seat scam that was unearthed following raids on educational institutions run by former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara.

Investigations said Shiva Shree Souharda Credit Co-operative Society — with three branches in Tumakuru and one in Bengaluru — was the epicentre of alleged moneylaundering activities. The medical college management parked unaccounted money in the society, sources in the I-T department said.

During searches on Siddhartha Medical College and Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, run by Parameshwara, a senior I-T official said they found eight bank accounts opened in the society in the names of employees of educational institutes. After scrutiny, officials seized the accounts along with ₹5 crore in deposits.

Suspecting a money-laundering racket, the officials are examining all the accounts of the co-operative society. “The case is in preliminary investigating stages,” said Pathanjali, director general of income tax, Karnataka and Goa region.

Sources said the accused allegedly opened benami savings accounts in the names of employees with documents they submitted at the time of joining the medical colleges. Later, the accused deposited money into their accounts and converted them into fixed deposits. The employees were in the dark about this illicit operation until the I-T officials questioned them last week.

Sources quoting investigators said unaccounted money had been invested in real estate and hospitality sector, among others. “We are still looking at documents and recording stakeholders’ statements. We may take more time before submitting the final tax-evasion report to the finance ministry,” said R Ravichandran, director of income tax investigation.

College managements allegedly sold each seat under the management quota for a price between ₹50 lakh and ₹70 lakh. Of the 300 government seats in three colleges — two run by Parameshwara and the third by former Union minister RL Jalappa in Kolar district — I-T officials found some 186 seats converted into management quota.

Photographer who lost arm in accident to get ₹52 lakh

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:15.10.2019

The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Chennai, has directed an insurance firm to pay up ₹52.46 lakh to a 23-year-old youth who lost his right hand after a truck hit his two-wheeler. The tribunal noted he was working as a photographer and the accident resulted in a permanent disability that will affect his livelihood.

The petitioner, Soundararajan, was driving his twowheeler from Arcot Salai towards Anna Salai when a truck hit his bike from behind near Kodambakkam bridge on June 25, 2016. In the impact, he suffered grievous injuries and had to be shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) for treatment. He underwent amputation of his right forearm and had to pay for further surgeries at a private hospital in Porur.

Following his discharge from the hospital, he moved the tribunal seeking ₹1 crore as compensation for loss of livelihood. Soundararajan, who was 20 at that time, was working as a photographer and a photoshop expert in a private company.

The insurance company, in its response, denied that the accident had occured due to the rash driving by the truck and contended that it was was due to negligent driving by the petitioner.

Soundararajan appeared before the Medical board, which assessed his disablity at 85%. The tribunal noted that the insurance company did not contest the assessment by the medical board and also pointed out that the FIR and other documents indicated that the truck was responsible for the accident.

Considering the functional disability and other factors such as loss of income and loss of marriage prospects, tribunal judge S Umamaheshwari held that the petitioner is eligible for a compensation of ₹52.46 lakh

The tribunal had turned down the petitioner’s claim for compensation and did not agree with his contention that his accident was caused due to the truck driver’s fault