After IndiGo, GoAir asked to replace its Neo engines

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.10.2019
India’s aviation regulator on Tuesday directed GoAir to replace an engine each on 13 of its Airbus A320 Neos within a fortnight. While a similar order was issued Monday for 16 IndiGo A320 Neos due to four engine snags the airline saw last week, the directorate general of civil aviation says the instruction for GoAir is on “precautionary” grounds.

Now Pratt & Whitney (PW) needs to supply 29 replacement engines in 15 days — almost two per day — to avoid grounding of these 29 planes in peak travel season.

The regulator has said beyond 15 days, these 29 planes will fly only when they get a replacement engine. PW did not say how many replacement engines it will be able to give in that timeframe for the 29 affected Neos.

A GoAir spokesman said the airline “has not received any communication from DGCA in this respect. Whenever we receive any communication, at that point in time, we will evaluate and respond accordingly. We will continue to work on all directives/policies as stipulated by the DGCA.”

PW said in a statement it is “working in coordination with airline customers to incorporate upgrades improving the durability of the low pressure turbine in the PW1100G-JM fleet to address a known issue.”

Passengers stranded in Hong Kong as IndiGo changes B’luru flight number
Bengaluru:

Passengers on a Bengaluru-bound flight were stranded in Hong Kong overnight on Tuesday, after the flight was denied permission to fly and grounded due to a last-minute change in flight number by the airline.

IndiGo 6E 1774 was scheduled to depart from Hong Kong for Bengaluru at 8.50am. The flight number was then changed to IndiGo 6E 1771 and the flight took off at the scheduled time. However, a few minutes after taking off, the pilot announced that the aircraft did not have clearance to fly over Chinese airspace. The aircraft then returned to Hong Kong. Passengers remained seated on the flight for some time, but were later deboarded and the flight was cancelled.

Bengalurean Yajnesh, whose relatives were on board the flight, said, “The passengers were told by crew that the aircraft had to return to Hong Kong because the flight number was changed at the last minute. The airline has promised to fly all passengers to Bengaluru on Wednesday.”

IndiGo did not reply to TOI’s request seeking its version of the development. TNN

How a mill turns thousands of women workers graduates

Pratiksha.Ramkumar@timesgroup.com  30.10.2019

Fifty-eight full-time teachers on the rolls of a textile mill is unheard of. KPR Mills, one of the country’s largest apparel manufacturing firms, is using these teachers to educate its employees, many of them now graduates and postgraduates.

When Sujith Kumar, head of human resources at Infosys, was invited for a convocation in Coimbatore, he thought it was yet another customary event where graduates would be awarded degree certificates. But he was pleasantly surprised when he learned it was meant for its employees, all women mill workers, who had turned graduates.

“We keep reading about brilliant case studies across the globe but nothing comes close to what KPR Mills is doing for its employees,” he later wrote in a social media post.

Several others who have attended the convocation over the years go back with stories of the grit and determination displayed by women mill workers.

KPR Mills has for more than a decade helped nearly 24,000 women complete Class X, Class XII and graduation, apart from helping them take up job-oriented courses on teacher training and yoga. With a full-fledged teaching faculty, it has tied up with Tamil Nadu Open University and Alagappa University.

Executive director C R Anandakumar says 3,357 of his employees are now studying for various exams ranging from Class X, Class XII boards and computer diploma courses to post graduate degrees. The group, which had a sales turnover of ₹4,000 crore last year, has 22,000 employees.

The story of how it decided to educate its women employees is now an urban legend. “One day, my brother K P Ramasamy was interacting with employees when a woman employee expressed regret for not being able to continue studies because of financial constraints,” recalls managing director P Nataraj. “Since almost 80% of our employees live with us, we realised they have eight hours to spare. Why not arrange classes for them for 2-4 hours a day?”

The initiative, which began 14 years ago with 15-20 students from districts such as Ooty, Trichy and Vellore, has so far educated 24,356 girls. Till this year, as many as 4,848 girls have completed their graduation degrees.

The company does not insist on workers staying with it forever. “We encourage them to take up better jobs after finishing their education, because that’s what will uplift them and their families,” said Anandakumar.

Ashwini Sethumadhavan, a constable with the Chennai battalion from Tirupathur, joined the garment section of KPR Mills in 2009. She signed up for BCom the next academic year and simultaneously prepared for the police exam.

“The teachers and wardens helped me get books and other study materials for government exams, and helped me with coaching… if not for KPR Mills, I would have remained a mill worker for life,” says the 27-year-old. 


SOCIAL UPLIFT: Women workers of KPR Mills at a stitching facility in Coimbatore. Most of these workers are studying simultaneously

Expired drugs dumped on Kanchi lake bed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

Bundles of expired medicines dumped on a lake bed in Kancheepuram and torched have caused the colour of the water to change. Medical officials are examining the water.

The Vaira Mohan lake, also called Uthiramerur Big Lake, provides water for residents of Vedapayam, Andi Thangal, Kaliyampoondi, Kattupakkam, Uthiramerur, Thriupulivanam, Pennalur and other areas.

On Monday, residents were shocked to see bundles of expired tablets and medicines dumped on the lake bed and in the water. Most of the medicines were antibiotics which had expired a year ago.

With the drugs getting mixed up in the water, the colour had changed. Residents said even cattle were avoiding the lake as a result of the colour change.

Villagers too are avoiding using the lake, spread across about 5,000 acres, for washing and cleaning, fearing that the contaminated water would lead to side-effects and invite diseases.

Some of the drugs dumped on the lake bund were also half burned.

While residents have registered complaints, local panchayat officials are yet to show any interest in strengthening the lake bunds. This prevents rainwater from reaching the lake and instead flows out into the sea.

The bunds were artificially formed by dumping gravel across the lake, allowing the trucks and lorries to travel through, said Lakshmi Nathan of Kaliyampoondi. As these artificial bunds were not removed, water from the catchment areas don’t reach the lake and the water takes a detour to the sea. 



RESOURCE UNDER THREAT: Residents said they found bundles of expired medicines dumped on the lake bed and in the water. Some packets were found half burned

SRM students get over 6,000 offers in just three months
Period Sees 30% Jump Compared To Last Year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

The students of SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) have received 6,514 offers from more than 200 companies in this placement season so far.

The placement season for the university started on July

22. “In three months time, we have received more than 6,000 offers. The offers have increased by 30% when compared to the same period last year,” said Sriram S Padmanabhan, director of Career Centre at SRMIST. The placement season will continue till April 2020.

IT majors TCS, Infosys, Cognizant and Wipro made 4,749 offers combined at the end of day-one process, which is more than 50% compared to the previous year day-one offers.

At the conclusion of dayone, TCS made 1,437 offers (‘ninja track’), Infosys 1,315, Cognizant 1,175, and Wipro

822. Apart from this, TCS has made 183 offers under ‘digital track’.

“There is a big push towards going digital. Tech companies are recruiting more freshers who have skills so they can be trained and deployed,” he said.

Along with IT companies, the deemed university also witnessed a spike in hiring by IT product companies, startups and e-commerce companies this year.

“There is a strong demand from information technology product companies. E-commerce companies like Aamazon and tech startups also increased their hiring,” Sriram Padmanabhan said.

“In 2018-19, the university had a record of 600 companies visiting the campus. This year in three months, we have more than 200 companies. If the trend continues, we hope to get around 650 companies before April,” he added.

“Totally, 1,210 students have received super dream offers (₹10 lakh per annum) and dream offers (₹5 lakh per annum) so far. Besides, many students are also recruited by companies from the core engineering sector,” SRMIST said in a release.

The centralised placement process conducted at its Kattankulathur campus brings students from other campuses, including Ramapuram and Vadapalani.

This year, engineering colleges and Anna University also witnessed more than 30% hike in campus placements due to increased hiring by IT services companies. 

Accident victim loses 10% of compensation for riding triples on bike

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

A two-wheeler accident victim from Chennai lost 10% of accident compensation for riding triple.

B Syed Ahmed, 44, a resident of Royapettah, was working as a delivery assistant at a courier company. In May 2013, he was riding as the second pillion with his friends Mohamed Sherif and Ajeez on a bike. A tractor, coming from the opposite direction and driven in a rash and negligent manner, turned without any signal and collided with the bike. In the accident, Syed suffered grievous injuries. He was treated for hip dislocation and was left partially-disabled permanently. He could not continue to work as a delivery assistant.

The Tiruvallur police filed a case against the tractor owner G Narayanasamy Naidu and its driver K Chidambaram -- of Magaral village in Tiruvallur district -- for causing the accident.

Syed approached the Motor Accident Tribunal seeking a compensation of ₹12 lakh from the offenders and the insurance firm associated with the case, National Insurance Company Limited.

The insurance firm said the driver of the tractor did not have a valid driving licence. The tribunal observed that ₹5.2 lakh can be given as compensation to Syed for pain and suffering, loss of earnings and medical expenses, but he too was negligent and rode triple.

“In a rural road, therefore, the balancing power of the rider of the two-wheeler is necessarily restricted... Therefore this tribunal is inclined to fix the contributory negligence on the part of the petitioner herein is as 10%,” judge D Sivakumar noted.

SPICEJET PROBE

Mid-air PDA: Pink slip for off-duty pilot, crew

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:30.10.2019

An off-duty pilot and a flight attendant who spiced up their flight with inflight nuzzling lost their jobs after a passenger complained to the airline about their public display of affection last month on a SpiceJet Delhi-Kolkata flight.

“The first officer was travelling as an additional crew member and was not operating the flight. The flight attendant was on duty. They were seated in adjacent jump seats at the rear end of the aircraft,’’ said a source. Though passengers are seated facing the front of the aircraft, those using lavatories in the aft end of the aircraft would have caught sight of the canoodling couple; one in uniform, the other in civvies.

“The complaint said the flight attendant and a passenger behaved inappropriately and indecently on board the flight. An internal inquiry showed the passenger engaged in indecent conduct was a first officer pilot. Both crew members were questioned and thereafter terminated from service,’’ the source added.

SpiceJet warns its staff of strict action

To send a stern message to its crew, SpiceJet recently put out a flight safety case study, titled ‘Unprofessional behaviour at workplace’’.

The note said, “Uncultured practice at workplace driven by individual attitude may adversely affect the reputation of the company (airline), demoralise the co-workers and there could also be serious safety lapses and consequences.’’ “The involved cabin crew and first officer failed to maintain decorum and professionalism at workplace. They failed to set their personal life apart from professional, which is unacceptable on the work premises,’’ it said, adding that “employee shall always maintain the decorum and professionalism at workplace’’. A comment from SpiceJet was awaited at the time of going to the press. A senior commander said, “Any airline where such behaviour has been reported, the crew member has been dismissed.’’ “It isn’t courteous to display affection on board a flight, especially when in uniform. When it comes to public display of affection on board a plane, flight attendants and pilots generally feature as killjoys who break up the amorous pair and not the ones indulging in it,’’ said the commander.

TN withdraws ban on recruiting teaching staff in 13 govt varsities

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.10.2019

After a gap of two years, the Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn its ban on recruitment of new faculty members in the 13 state universities, a move that will help fill 1,000 teaching posts. If they manage to fill the vacancies by the year-end, the 13 universities can hope to improve their position in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Two years ago, the government had imposed the ban in a bid to get the universities to absorb the excess staff from Annamalai university, which they have been reluctant to do raising questions about qualifications. Last year, the ban stayed in place after the UGC directed states to freeze recruitment in view of the case in the SC on whether the reservation policy should apply to hiring for an institution as a whole or to separate departments.

Univs to not follow HRD directive on quota

The TN higher education department has clarified that the 13 state universities will not follow the Union HRD ministry directive to treat one institute as a unit for implementing reservation in recruitment. Instead, each department will be a unit. N Pasupathy, president, Association of University Teachers, has urged Bharathidasan University to implement reservation taking department as a unit as clarified by the state government in filling 54 teaching vacancies at the university. The university had advertised the vacancies taking institute as an unit to implement reservation.

State govt hampering recruitment, say univs

On August 1 this year, the high education department had also written to universities asking them to furnish reasons if a vacancy is not filled with the Annamalai university surplus staff.

Now an order from the higher education department says, “The ban imposed on the recruitment of teaching positions in the 13 universities under the aegis of higher education department vide government order dated 25.09.2018 is withdrawn and the universities may start up recruitment in teachers’ cadre.”

However, the state universities complain the state government is hampering recruitment by delaying appointment of its nominee on the interview panels.

For example, Anna University has more than 250 vacancies in teaching posts as there was no recruitment since 2014. “The university has completed calculating the vacancy positions to implement reservation in recruitment based on 200-point roster system. We have decided to take department as unit for implementing the reservation in teaching posts,” sources from Anna University said.

“We have written many letters to the higher education department with regards to the appointment of state government’s nominee. But, there was no response from the higher education department,” sources added.

Madras University is planning to give priority for 15 departments, which receive UGC’s grant and special assistance. “The university will seek the state government’s permission to fill the vacancies in the departments receiving financial aid under special assistance programme (SAP) and Centre for Advanced Study (CAS),” officials said.

The UGC has given 100 days’ time to fill all the vacancies. But, a majority of state universities are yet to start their recruitment process.

N.Pasupathy, president of Association of University Teachers has welcomed the move to lift the ban on recruitment at the universities. “Unlike the previous years, the universities should conduct the recruitment process in fair and transparent manner. The posts should be filled based on merit,” he said.

Nation mourns as 80-hr-long effort fails to bring Sujith alive
After Odour From Borewell, Op Called Off
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.10.2019

Hours after being pulled out from the 88-ft depth of an abandoned borewell decomposed and dismembered, the body of 2-year-old Sujith Wilson was laid to rest on Tuesday, as people across the state and the nation grieved along with his family. Teams of professionals who had been working to save the child since he slipped and fell into the well near his house at Nadukattupatti in Trichy district on Friday evening gave up the rescue effort after their worst fears were confirmed by the putrid odour of decomposed flesh. By 10.30pm on Monday, they switched to retrieval mode.

Nearly 600 people, including professionals from the state and national disaster management teams, those from companies such as NCL, ONGC, L&T, geologists and doctors had been struggling for 80 hours against odds to save Sujith.

“We knew that with every passing minute chances of survival were dim, but we clung on to hope and continued digging the trench. But as we dug, the sand in the borewell sank and fell on the boy. He was covered in mud. While removing the sand from the borewell, the stench hit us. It drowned all hopes,” state disaster management commissioner J Radhakrishnan said. 



Children mourn Sujith at the site of the borewell at Nadukattupatti

File report on borewells, HC tells govt

The Madras HC on Tuesday chastised the TN government as to whether it needs a dead body to implement every statute, and ordered authorities to produce details on action taken against violators who had failed to comply with the rules regarding borewells. Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee also said that media, particularly TV channels, had a responsibility to create awareness among public rather than just live telecasting such incidents. P7

We followed every rule in the book, went step by step: Radhakrishnan

Until then, the teams had been constantly monitoring the boy, who was initially stuck at 26 feet, and providing him oxygen. What added to their hope was the image on the thermal camera that showed 37°C — a normal body temperature.

“We followed every rule in the book and went step by step in planning and execution to save the boy,” said Radhakrishnan.

“We tried using a rope to rescue him, then quickly moved to mechanical contraptions with experts in the team until about 10pm on Saturday. When the terrain proved to be impossible, we decided to dig a trench alongside the borewell. It was a slow process as the terrain was extremely rocky. The Italian drill was moving at a pace of 10cm per hour and a more advanced machine that was brought in had an average speed of not more than 50cm per hour,” he said.

A robotic arm deployed by Anna University was about 5.4 inches wide, at least an inch smaller than the diameter of the pit into which Sujith had fallen.

Yet, being constantly reminded about a man who was pulled out of the debris of a multi-storey building that collapsed at Moulivakkam in Chennai after four days, the rescue mission laboured on.

Once it was confirmed the child was no longer alive, he called for a quick meeting with state and national disaster management teams, state police and fire services along with state ministers.

“Everyone agreed that it was inevitable. There were no evident signs of life. The boy was motionless under heaps of sand. We stopped digging the trench and pulled out oxygen supply. The team was asked to retrieve the body,” said Radhakrishnan.

By then a team of doctors and religious leaders had counselled the family members of the child.

By around 2.30am, the teams used pipes, pulleys and wires to pull out the body. Even during retrieval, finger nails were taken for DNA sampling. The body was sent to the hospital for postmortem.

Around 6.30 am, the body was directly taken to a graveyard at Fathima Pudur where it was kept for two hours for the public to pay homage.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and several others condoled the death of the child.

பெரியார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தில் பெரியாரை அவமதிப்பதா? - வீரமணி கண்டனம்

சென்னை

பெரியார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தின் நடவடிக்கைகள் தடுத்து நிறுத்தப்பட வேண்டும்; இல்லையேல், இதனை மக்கள் பிரச்சினையாக வீதிக்குக் கொண்டு வரும் வகையில் முதற்கட்டமாக கண்டன ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்தப்படும் திராவிடர் கழகத் தலைவர் கி.வீரமணி தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இதுகுறித்த இன்று அவர் வெளியிட்டுள்ள அறிக்கையில் ‘‘கடந்த 24.10.2019 அன்று சேலம் பெரியார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தில் நடைபெற்ற 19 ஆவது பட்டமளிப்பு விழாவில் தமிழக ஆளுநர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோகித், உயர்கல்வித் துறை அமைச்சர் கே.பி.அன்பழகன், கேரள முன்னாள் ஆளுநர் சதாசிவம் உள்ளிட்டோர் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.இவ்விழாவிற்கான ஏற்பாடுகள் தடபுடலாக நடந்தன; இதில்தான் இப்பொழுது சர்ச்சை எழுந்துள்ளது

விழாவிற்கான அழைப்பிதழில் பேராசிரியர்கள், ஆட்சி பேரவை உறுப்பினர்கள், ஆசிரியர் அல்லாத பணியாளர்கள் அனைவரையும் விட்டு விட்டு அச்சடித்தலில் தொடங்கியது சர்ச்சை. இப்பொழுது பெரியார் பல்கலைக்கழக தொழிலாளர் சங்கத்தினர் தொடர் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டு வருவதால் அனைவரையும் விட்டு விட்டு அழைப்பிதழ் அச்சடித்திருப்பது வேதனைக்குரிய ஒன்றாகும்.

ஏனென்றால் பட்டமளிப்பு விழாவிற்கான பட்டச் சான்று தயார் செய்தல் முதல் பட்டமளிப்பு விழாவிற்கான அனைத்து ஏற்பாடுகளையும் கவனிப்பது இவர்கள்தான்; இவர்களைப் புறக்கணித்ததால் ஆசிரியர் அல்லாத பணியாளர்கள் அனைவரும் பட்டமளிப்பு விழா வேலைகள் நடந்து முடிந்தவுடன் யாரும் உணவருந்த செல்லாமல் புறக்கணித்தனர்.

பணியாளர்கள்தான் புறக்கணிக்கப்பட்டனர் என்று பார்த்தால், யார் பெயரில் பல்கலைக்கழகம் இயங்குகிறதோ அந்த தந்தை பெரியாரின் படத்தைக் கூட அழைப்பிதழில் போடாமல் புறக்கணிக்க வைத்த சக்தி எது என்று ஆராய வேண்டியுள்ளது மட்டுமல்லாமல், பெரியார் சிலைக்குப் பின்னணியில் பிள்ளையார் சிலை, ஸ்வஸ்திக் சின்னம், சூலாயுதம் ஆகிய சின்னங்களை வண்ண விளக்குகள் (சீரியல் பல்பு) மூலம் இடம் பெறச் செய்தது ஏதோ தெரியாமல் செய்தது அல்ல.

கடந்த செப்டம்பர் 24 ஆம் தேதி எந்த மக்கள் பிரதிநிதியும் இல்லாத எச்.ராஜா, துணைவேந்தர் இல்லாத நிலையில் துணைவேந்தர் அறைக்குள் பாஜக பிரதிநிதிகள் 19 பேர், பதிவாளர் (பொறுப்பு) தங்கவேல், தமிழ்த்துறைத் தலைவர் பெரியசாமி, ஆர்எஸ்எஸ் பிரதிநிதியும், ஆட்சிக்குழு உறுப்பினருமான குமாரசுவாமி ஆகியோருடன் சுமார் ஒன்றரை மணிநேரம் ஆலோசனை நடத்தியது அப்போதே பலத்த சர்சையை கிளப்பியது.

புதிய துணைவேந்தர் வந்த பின், மதச்சார்பற்ற நிலையில் இயங்கி வந்த பெரியார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தின் வடிவம் மாற்றப்பட்டு வருகிறது. துணைவேந்தர் அறையில் திடீரென சரஸ்வதி படம் பெரிய அளவில் மாட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது.
அண்ணா பெயரில் தி.மு.க.வையும் இணைத்துள்ள அண்ணா தி.மு.க. ஆட்சியில், தந்தை பெரியார் அவமதிக்கப்படுவது வெட்கக்கேடு!

இதுகுறித்து தமிழக அரசிடமிருந்து விளக்கம் தேவை. ஆர்எஸ்எஸ் கூடாரமாக இருந்துவரும் பெரியார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தின் நடவடிக்கைகள் தடுத்து நிறுத்தப்பட வேண்டும்; இல்லையேல், இதனை மக்கள் பிரச்சினையாக வீதிக்குக் கொண்டு வரும் வகையில் முதற்கட்டமாக கண்டன ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்தப்படும் என்று எச்சரிக்கிறோம்.

திருந்த மறுத்தால் பல்வேறு அனைத்துக் கட்சிகள் ஒருங்கிணைந்த போராட்டங்களும் தொடரக்கூடும். பெரு நெருப்புடன் விளையாடாதீர் - பெரியாருக்கு அவமரியாதையா - பொறுக்க முடியாது’’ என வீரமணி தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

கல்வி நிறுவனங்களுக்கு பல்கலை மானியக்குழு உத்தரவு

Added : அக் 28, 2019 23:34

சென்னை:கல்லுாரிகள் மற்றும் பல்கலைகளில், பாலியல் பிரச்னைகளை தடுக்கும் வகையில், பாதுகாப்பு நடவடிக்கைகளை மேற்கொள்ள, கல்வி நிறுவனங்களுக்கு, பல்கலை மானிய குழுவான, யு.ஜி.சி., உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

பாலியல் பிரச்னையின்றி, பெண்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பான வளாகத்தை ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும் என்றும் தெரிவித்து உள்ளது. கல்லுாரிகள் மற்றும் பல்கலைகளுக்கு, பல்கலை மானிய குழு பிறப்பித்துள்ள உத்தரவு: உள் விவகார புகார் குழு ஏற்படுத்தி, பாலியல் தொல்லைகள் குறித்த புகார்களை பெற வேண்டும். பாலின வேறுபாடு மற்றும் பெண்களின் உரிமைகள் குறித்து, மாணவ - மாணவியர் மத்தியில், விழிப்புணர்வு ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும். மாணவியர் மற்றும் பெண் ஊழியர்கள் பாதுகாப்பை உறுதி செய்யும் வகையில், பாலியல் அத்துமீறல் தடுப்பு மற்றும் தீர்வு நடவடிக்கைகளை மேற்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

பெண்களுக்கான பாதுகாப்பு சட்ட விதிகள் குறித்து, விழிப்புணர்வு ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும். பெண்கள் பாதுகாப்பாக உணரும் வகையிலான வளாகத்தை உருவாக்க வேண்டும். மாணவர் குறைதீர்வு டிஜிட்டல் தளம் உருவாக்கப்பட வேண்டும். பாலியல் ரீதியான புகார்களை ரகசியமாக தெரிவிக்கும் வகையில், 1800 111 656 என்ற, கட்டணமில்லாத தொலைபேசி எண்ணை, கல்லுாரி வளாகத்தில் உள்ள அறிவிப்பு பலகையில் மாணவ - மாணவியருக்கு தெரியும் வகையில், வெளியிட வேண்டும். இவ்வாறு, உத்தரவில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

டில்லி பஸ்களில் பெண்களுக்கு இலவச பயணம்

Updated : அக் 29, 2019 05:24 | Added : அக் 28, 2019 22:26




புதுடில்லி டில்லி மாநகர பஸ்களில், பெண்கள், இன்று(அக்.,29) முதல் இலவசமாக பயணிக்கலாம். பெண்களின் பாதுகாப்புக்காக, பஸ்களில் சிறப்பு பாதுகாவலர்கள் பணியமர்த்தப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

டில்லியில், அடுத்த சில மாதங்களில் சட்டசபை தேர்தல் நடக்கவுள்ளது. இந்நிலையில், 'டில்லியில், மெட்ரோ ரயில் மற்றும் மாநகர பஸ்களில், பெண்கள் இலவசமாக பயணிக்கலாம்' என, அம்மாநில முதல்வர் அரவிந்த் கெஜ்ரிவால், சமீபத்தில் அறிவித்திருந்தார். முதல் கட்டமாக, மாநகர பஸ்களில் இந்த இலவச பயண திட்டம், இன்று முதல் அமலுக்கு வருகிறது.

வட மாநிலங்களில், 'பைதுாஜ்' என்ற பண்டிகை இன்று கொண்டாடப்படுகிறது. தங்கள் சகோதரர்கள் நீண்ட நாட்கள் ஆரோக்கியத்துடன் வாழ்வதற்காக, பெண்கள் வழிபாடு நடத்தும் பண்டிகை இது. இதையொட்டி, இந்த இலவச பயண திட்டத்தை, இன்று முதல் துவக்க, மாநில அரசு முடிவு செய்துள்ளது.

இது குறித்து, முதல்வர் அரவிந்த் கெஜ்ரிவால் கூறியதாவது: பெண்கள் பாதுகாப்பாக பயணிப்பதற்காக, பஸ்களில், 13 ஆயிரம் சிறப்பு பாதுகாவலர்கள் நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். பஸ்களில் பயணிக்கும் பெண்கள், தங்களுக்கு ஏதாவது பிரச்னை ஏற்பட்டாலோ, உதவி தேவைப்பட்டாலோ, பஸ்களில் உள்ள பாதுகாவலர்களின் உதவியை நாடலாம். ஊர்க்காவல் படையில் ஏற்கனவே பணியாற்றியவர்களில் பலர், இந்த பாதுகாவலர் பணிக்கு தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர். இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.

Your money and you at the age of 40

Ask yourself whether you have developed skills, knowledge and attitude for a secure income

Uma Shashikant  29.10.2019

A friend called to complain that he was being badgered to buy retirement planning products. He will soon turn 40. How should 40-year olds look at their financial position? What should concern or comfort them?

After the job-hopping spree of the early years of working, the 40s is the time to take stock. To ask whether one has developed a set of skills, knowledge and attitude to secure a stable and rising income.

If you are still complaining about your work or blame the world and everyone for preventing you from achieving your potential, you may be stuck in a less than optimal situation. Not all of us end up with jobs we love. But at some point, we have to evaluate what the job is delivering for us. The 40s is a reasonable point for that.

The primary financial goal for most is adequacy of income. We should get to a point in our lives where we are happy and content with what we earn. If we think there is a problem, we should have done enough to fix it. By the time you are 40, you must have a clear plan for your future income.

Adequacy of income is easily tested by the assets you have accumulated. If you are 40 and the only assets you have are the home you live in and the PF and tax saving investments you have done, you may not be doing enough. The insurance agent’s persistence needs explanation here.

How much insurance you need is a math that is designed to scare you. Insurance is your fall-back option. Should anything happen to you, your family should be able to earn an equivalent income by investing the insurance proceeds. They can do it if you have built assets too. Insurance is an arrangement to fill the gap, while you earn and build assets. As you accumulate wealth, your insurance needs drop.

The 40s is the nice mid-point in your earning years. When you do this midpoint evaluation, you must have enough in the bank at the end of the month; you should be paying off your credit card dues in full and you must not have EMIs that take up most of your income-Which brings us squarely to the adviser who is urging you to plan for retirement. When can you retire? If your wealth can generate enough income that replaces what you are already earning, you are ready to retire. The 40s is the time to ask that question.

If you are in a place where your income is poised to take off, you have to guard against lifestyle and the urge to spend it all on an extravagant lifestyle.

There is still one last piece: your asset allocation. If all your wealth is in the house you are living in, and you are habitually upgrading it to reflect your status, you may risk being asset rich and cash poor in retirement.

But the time you retire, you should have say 30% of your wealth in property, 30% in equity to offer growth and inflation protection, 30% in income assets that generate regular cash for your use, and the balance 10% for anything unexpected. The 40s is the time to set yourself towards building assets to a plan.

There is no perfect time for specific actions in personal finance. It is a journey with wealth, where we make plans but are willing to make mid-course corrections as needed. The 40s in the story is just an indicative point for evaluation. Do what sails your boat, but always ensure that your income, today and tomorrow is stable, secure and adequate.

The author is Chairperson of The Centre for Investment Education and Learning

‘Smartphone users neglecting security’

Sindhu.Hariharan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

Indian consumers may be regularly upgrading their smartphones, but hardly 10% of the user base invest in a protective security solution for their phones.

Even as the smartphone market reaches record highs when other consumer-facing sectors are in a crossroads of economic slowdown, less than 6% buyers spend additionally (an amount often just 10% of the mobile cost) on a paid anti-virus solution for the device, a recent techARC study of over 10 million smartphone users shows.

While user attention is focused on security threats on personal computers and laptops, cybersecurity analysts say mobile devices are more vulnerable.

“Given the kind of data a smartphone consists, and widespread use of social media and banking transactions on mobile devices, the risk of cyber threats to mobile devices is 10X that of PCs,” Satyajit Sinha, research analyst, Counterpoint Research, said. According to a recent study by Counterpoint, smartphone vendors too pay relatively little attention to operating system (OS) and security updates, with less than one-third of the sub-$200 smartphones updated to the latest version of Android.

Cybersecurity specialists say phishing campaigns, mobile malwares, credential thefts, ransomwares, SIM swapping, and other new-age attacks are increasing across mobile devices on both Android and iOS. Further, the fragmented nature of the Android market means a lot of vendors do not provide the latest OS versions for older models, further exposing users to vulnerabilities.

Mobile security solution providers say at the heart is lack of awareness of the kind of crippling attacks possible on a mobile, and users’ belief that it won’t happen to them.

For home-grown cybersecurity enterprise K7 Computing, for instance, just about 2% of their total customer base of over 10 million are for mobile anti-virus solutions, as majority consumers are focused on buying solutions for their PCs and laptops. “Most smartphone users don’t think security software is a must, but with lines between personal and professional user of smartphones blurring, they need to be secured,” K Purushothaman, CEO, K7 Computing, said.

Ritesh Chopra, director, Norton LifeLock India, says that though the company offers mobile protection tools at scale, and has made large inroads through tie-ups with Jio and Airtel, there is still a lag in adoption of the free service by consumers through the telco apps. “Users often wait for incidents to happen to them to realise the significance of privacy and data security,” Chopra said.

Even flashlight apps today seek irrelevant permissions to SMS inbox, and it is hence important for users to thoroughly scan through developer details to weed out malicious apps, says Rahul Tyagi, co-founder of cybersecurity startup Lucideus.

Some countries are also more vulnerable than others, Petter Nordwall, director - mobile product management, Sophos, says. A recent survey by the cybersecurity company showed that globally, while nearly one in ten (10%) threats were discovered on a mobile device, in the Indian market, this number almost doubles to 19%.

LESS THAN 6% PROTECTED

FIR no reason for rejection at college: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:29.10.2019

Observing that mere pendency of FIRs cannot come in the way of a student pursuing education, the Madras high court has directed Karur government arts college to admit a student who was denied admission to a PG course on that ground.

Petitioner K Surandhran, whose parents are agricultural labourers, had enrolled for BA History at the college from 2016-2019. After completing the course, he applied for pursing MA History at the college. He said that though he had a good score in the undergraduation course, his name did not figure in the list of eligible candidates published on July 12. When he inquired about it, the college informed him that he has not been selected owing to a communication from the police that FIRs were pending against him.

Though he submitted two representations to the authorities concerned, there was no response. Hence he moved the Madurai bench of the high court seeking to direct the principal of Karur government arts college to grant him admission to MA History course.

DVAC to probe cop for taking ₹2L bribe to solve theft case

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

An assistant commissioner of police (ACP) who worked with the central crime branch (CCB) of Coimbatore police is in a soup for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹2 lakh from a businessman. The bribe was to speed up investigation in a theft case of gold worth ₹75 lakh reported in October 2017. The ACP had returned ₹1 lakh of the bribe amount.

These details formed parts of an FIR registered by the state’s corruption wing, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) this month against the cop, T Somasekar, and his advocate friend P Vivekanandan. The investigation was headed by DSP C Rajesh of the agency’s Coimbatore wing.

According to a confidential inquiry conductedby DVAC,on October 12, 2017, L Thiyagarajan, founder and managing director of Swarnakalash Jewels in Coimbatore, reported to the Saibaba ColonyPolice Station the theft of 2kg of 22 carat gold jewellery and 200gm of 24 carat gold when he was travelling on a bus. The police station was under Somasekar’s administrative control then.

The DVAC said over a period of five or six meetings, Somasekar assured Thiyagarajan to expedite investigation of the case. The ACP had allegedly demanded a bribe for the same, saying the suspects were from differentstates. Thebribe amountfirstdemanded was ₹1 lakh, which was paid with a promise to solve the case within 100 days. The stolen property was tobe returnedthroughthecourt. The DVAC says on December 5 that year, Thiyagarajan gave ₹1 lakh to Vivekanandan based on instructions from Somasekar, who had come to the spot in his official jeep.

After a few days, Thiyagarajan contacted Somasekar astherewas no progress in the case, when another ₹1 lakh was demanded. The DVAC says Thiyagarajan agreed to pay it, once again unwillingly. The second paymentwas madeon December 23,2017, in a textile shop, where the bribe amount was used to settle a bill for 15 pants bought by Somasekar, the DVAC says.

The agency said the businessman travelled to states like Karnataka, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with investigating officials to assist them in recovering the stolen gold. Several accused were arrested but the loot was not recovered.

Frustrated, Thiyagarajan demanded that Somasekar return the bribe, the DVAC says. The latter returned ₹1 lakh in October 2018. The rest of the amount has not been returned yet, the DVAC said. Based on an inquiry, the DVAC has registered a case.

DVAC is probing an assistant commissioner of police who worked with the central crime branch, Coimbatore, for taking the money to expedite inquiry into a gold theft case

‘Bigil’ moment: HC lets students play in football tourney
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

Vijay-starrer ‘Bigil’ is about an all-woman football team making it to top tournaments and winning medals braving all odds.

Two students of Annamalai University earned their own ‘Bigil’ moment by approaching the Madras high court and winning a favourable order, which would help them take part in the south zone and All India University Women’s Football tournament 2019-2020. The tournament is to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Justice G Jayachandran set aside the university’s decision denying permission to P Juki and M Nandhini to participate in the tournament, and directed the authorities to grant permission to the duo if they are otherwise eligible to participate. The judge passed the order while disposing a plea moved by the two, pursuing M P Ed course in the department of physical education, challenging a communication issued by the university on October 21.

When they sought permission to participate in the competition, the university refused permission stating that the eligibility criteria of Association of Indian Universities restricted candidates who have not crossed 25 years of age, or not exceeding eight years from the date of qualifying in the first admission to the university or college affiliated to the university, from participation.

“Further, the candidates should not have crossed three years after passing the graduate course or equivalent while pursuing postgraduate course,” the communication said. Justifying the denial of permission, the university contended that since it has been more than three years the petitioners graduated, they were not eligible to participate in the tournament.

Opposing the same, the students argued that they have not crossed 25 years of age and hence were eligible to join graduation only in the year 2013, so the eight years embargo will not apply to them. They also relied on a judgment of the Kerala high court dated October 1, 2018, on the same issue, permitting students to participate in the competition.

Concurring with the submissions, Justice Jayachandran cited the Kerala high court judgment and allowed the girls to participate in the tournament.

The court set aside a decision by Annamalai University denying permission to two women for participating in a national football tournament

University ignores DCE warning, charges ₹5,000 a yr to issue experience certificates
Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

Despite a warning by the directorate of collegiate education (DCE) to not collect money, a deemed university in the city which demanded up to one year’s salary to issue experience certificates to faculty members, now has revised its ‘service fee’ to ₹5,000 per year.

However, aspirants for assistant professors’ posts said even that adds up to more than ₹40,000 if a candidate needs experience certificate for more than 8 years. The amount is more than a month’s salary for a majority of faculty working in private institutions.

The directorate of collegiate education warned colleges and deemed universities not to collect any fee for issuing experience certificates to present and former employees after a report that appeared in TOI on October 21. The report highlighted that a deemed university in Chennai demanded up to one year’s salary to award experience certificates.

“The university is now demanding ₹5,000 a year from those seeking experience certificates. Former faculty members have to pay ₹10,000 per year as ‘service fee’,” a candidate told TOI.

Though many colleges issue experience certificates to working faculty members, some deemed universities and city colleges demand resignation letters from those seeking experience certificates.

“Despite clear direction from the directorate of collegiate education, some still demand resignation letters to discourage candidates from applying for assistant professors’ posts,” another candidate said.

The Teachers Recruitment Board notified 2,331 vacancies in government arts and science colleges for which candidates will be shortlisted for interview based on experience and educational qualification. To prevent malpractices, the board asks candidates to produce experience certificates from current and previous employers, with pay acquaintance and attendance details. “Since the colleges are paying low wages, they are afraid to furnish details of pay acquaintance,” a professor said.

“The directorate of collegiate education or higher education department should maintain a database of all faculty members working in colleges in Tamil Nadu. Colleges should only be asked to bonafide their work experience. Since there are no details available on candidates, they have to depend on individual colleges,” said A R Nagarajan, adviser to NET SLET Association.

Officials clarified that there are clear directions to all colleges and deemed universities not to collect any fees from the candidates for issuing experience certificates. “If we receive any specific complaint against a college or deemed university, we will initiate stringent action,” an official said.

A report about the warning published in TOI on October 22

Neighbour’s objection is no ground to deny power supply, rules HC
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

The Madras high court has made it clear that the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) cannot deny electricity connection to a consumer even if their premises has no frontage on the street. In such cases, the supply line has to go upon, over or under the adjoining premises of the neighbours and the same cannot be objected to, it said.

Justice G Jayachandran passed the order on a plea moved by a Tirupporur resident, challenging a Tangedco communication dated August 27, denying electricity connection to her residential building citing that neighbouring land owners objected to it. Opposing the plea, Tangedco submitted that provisions of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Distribution Code, 2004, mandates that service connection cannot be granted if there is any objection. It said petitioner’s neighbours claimed there was a civil dispute pending regarding the title and that their right would be prejudiced if service connection was provided to the petitioner.

Pointing out the provisions of the code, Justice Jayachandran said, it provides for supply of energy to the consumers on certain conditions and if the consumer’s premises has no frontage on the street and the supply line has to go upon, over or under the adjoining premises of any other person, the intending consumer should arrange it on his own expense, leave licence or sanction before the supply is effected.

In this case, it was not the inability of the consumer to provide way leave but the objection of neighbours who have filed the suit in respect of the small portion of the land, to an extent of 889sqft, the judge said. The said suit cannot give any right or authority to the neighbours to object to provision of electricity connection to the petitioner, who is holding a larger extent of land, nearly 12,000sqft, the judge said. The court then directed the electricity corporation to provide power connection to the petitioner.

The court directed Tangedco to provide power connection to the petitioner

House surgeons join docs’ strike, Stalin wants govt to begin talks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

The fourth day of strike by the Federation of Government Doctors Association – a group of five service doctors’ outfits – saw some tense moments on Monday. Police entered the Madras Medical College campus when the association erected a tent minutes before it began to rain.

Just as police landed, house surgeons from the hospital joined the strike to extend their support. Some minor, nonemergency surgeries were cancelled and many patients were asked to either wait or return after a few days. The crowd at the outpatient ward swelled as work in several inpatient wards was delayed; emergency wards, labour wards, ICUs and cathlabs were functional. Directors of medical education, medical services and public health have been gathering information about doctors who did not sign the attendance for the last four days. “Their absence will be considered as unauthorised. It will be considered break in service,” said director of medical education Dr A Narayanababu. Director of public health Dr K Kolandaswamy also said absence will create a hindrance for doctors planning to apply for PG courses.

However, DMK president M K Stalin who met the striking doctors, assured them of his support. “Since October 25, more than 18,000 government doctors are protesting as the government has not honoured even its written assurance to them. Of the four demands, one relates to the doctors’ salary and others too are beneficial to patients. It is painful that instead of calling them for talks, the government is maintaining silence,” he said. Stalin urged the striking doctors to fight for their rights, but desist from endangering their own lives by going on fast. For more than a decade, doctors have been asking the government to implement the prospective clause of government order 354, which promises time-bound promotion in five, nine, 11 and 12 years of service. “We also want the government to appoint more doctors as per MCI norms, give us 50% service quota in medical education and conduct proper counselling before transfer of service postgraduates,” said Dr A Ramalingam of the Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association. TNDGA president Dr K Senthil said the Centre follows a dynamic assured career progression pattern where doctors are promoted in the 4th, 9th and 13th years. “We get their fourth-year salary in our 15th year and their 13th year salary in our 20th year. We work hard to keep Tamil Nadu’s health indices high, but we don’t reap benefits. Doctor are paid 200 as teaching allowance in medical colleges,” he said.

One of the doctors on indefinite fast had to be admitted, as her blood pressure dropped. On Saturday, Dr Suresh Gopal was admitted for high fever and on Monday, Dr Rama was taken for treatment. Dr Perumapillai, Dr Balamanikandan and Dr Mir Mohib continued their fast.

Police deployed on the fourth day of the doctors’ strike at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital

Principal, 9 lecturers of Amrita booked for abetting suicide 

According to police, they also tampered with evidence

29/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, Bengaluru

The principal and nine lecturers of Amrita School of Engineering, where a student died last week, have been booked for abetting suicide and destroying evidence.

The Parappana Agrahara police have issued notice to them to appear for questioning in connection with the suicide of the final-year engineering student on the college premises. Students alleged that harassment by the management had led to the student, G.N.N.K. Sri Harsha, ending his life.

Principal Dhanaraj Swamy and Rakesh S.G., Bhaskar B., Ravi Kumar, Ramesh T.K., Nipun Kumar, Amudha, Venkatesh B., Nagaraja S.R. and Murty N.S., lecturers of various departments, have been charged with abetment to suicide and destruction of evidence.

According to the police, the accused misguided the father of the deceased and did not allow him on the college premises when he visited around the time his son died.

The accused had even cleared blood stains from the spot and washed them off with chemicals, while also tampering with CCTV camera footage, the police said.

G. Vijaya Bhaskar, Harsha’s father, has accused the principal and staff members of torturing his son.

Harsha, a student of Electronics and Communication, jumped off the seventh floor of the college building days after a disciplinary committee of the college reportedly expelled him for protesting over water shortage in the hostel.

Doctors continue strike, two admitted to hospital 

TNGDA members to stay away from work for 48 hours on October 30, 31

29/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

The strike by doctors affiliated to the Federation of Government Doctors Associations (FOGDA) entered the fourth day on Monday. Two of the five doctors, who are observing indefinite fast seeking the Chief Minister’s intervention, were admitted to hospital after their condition deteriorated.

DMK president M.K. Stalin met the doctors, who are on fast on the campus of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), on Monday evening.

Barring emergency care, the striking doctors were boycotting outpatient services and in-patient care since October 25 for their long-pending demands, including pay band-4 at the end of 13 years of service instead of the present 20 years.

On Sunday, one of the doctors on fast, Suresh Gopal of Tiruvannamalai Medical College, was admitted to hospital after his condition deteriorated. On Monday, another doctor, Rama of Tiruvallur Government Hospital, was admitted. Doctors said that the two were admitted to the Intermediate Care Unit, and Dr. Rama was under close observation. The remaining three doctors — S. Perumal Pillai of Institute of Child Health, Egmore; Bala Manikandan and Mir Mohib Ali, medical officers of Primary Health Centres, Tiruvallur Health Unit Division; were continuing their fast.

While FOGDA comprises five associations of doctors, the Tamil Nadu Medical Students Association (TNMSA) extended its support to the strike on Monday. TNMSA comprises house surgeons and post graduates, and some of them took time out to be at the protest venue — Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital — on a rotation basis. “We cannot abandon patients nor can we get permission to take part in the strike. The work at the hospitals has to go on. So we took time out to visit the venue as a sign of extending our solidarity with the striking doctors. Today, we are paid a low stipend of ₹20,000. The strike is for our future too but it is disappointing that the State government has not responded,” a house surgeon said.

A. Ramalingam, convenor of FOGDA, said doctors affiliated to the federation were taking care of emergency care units and fever wards without signing the attendance. R. Jayanthi, dean of RGGGH, said services were not affected in the hospital because of the strike. There was less crowd as Monday was a holiday.

Meanwhile, on October 29, doctors belonging to Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) have decided to work for extra hours from 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. They would strike from work for 48 hours on October 30 and 31, according to K. Kalpana, secretary of TNGDA, Greater Chennai District.

Deepavali sales: Tasmac rakes in ₹355 crore over two days 

An increase of 8.23% in revenue registered, compared to previous year

29/10/2019 , Sangeetha Kandavel, CHENNAI 



in High spirits

Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (Tasmac), the cash cow of the State government, netted a revenue of around ₹355 crore from sale of liquor on Deepavali day and the day before, registering an increase of 8.23% compared to the previous year.

In 2018, it recorded a sale of ₹180 crore on Deepavali day and ₹.148 crore the day before, taking the total to ₹328 crore.

If one were to look at the data for three days this festive season, starting from October 25 to October 27, the revenue was ₹455 crore.

During the Deepavali season last year, from November 3 to 6 (four days), the government sold liquor worth over ₹ 602 crore.

“Liquor sales through Tasmac outlets have been quite impressive for the last three years. On an average, there has been a 10-12% increase,” said an analyst, who tracks the liquor market in Tamil Nadu.

“Earlier illegal liquor was flooding the market. But now Tasmac is strictly ensuring that such stock is prohibited from entering the State. Tasmac is the only source to procure liquor,” he added.

Also, the number of liquor outlets has increased this year. In 2018 (as on May 25), Tasmac had 3,866 retail vending shops and 1,456 bars attached to the shops.

According to the policy note 2019-20 of Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, as on May 31, 2019, Tasmac has 5,152 liquor retail vending shops and 1,872 bars.

For the year 2018-19, the government earned ₹31,157 crore through Tasmac. On an average, liquor worth ₹70 crore to ₹75 crore is sold per day across the State.

On weekends and festival days, the sales touch ₹100 crore band.

Tasmac sells over 356 brands of foreign spirits, beer and wine through its 165 licensed (FL-11) retail outlets.

This festive weekend, Tasmac sold liquor worth over ₹455 crore.

On Friday, the sales stood at ₹100 crore, on Saturday it went up to ₹183 crore and on Deepavali day it was ₹172 crore

On normal weekends, Tasmac sells liquor worth ₹70 crore to ₹75 crore on Fridays; on Saturday and Sunday, the sales numbers hover anywhere between ₹90 crore and ₹100 crore

PM calls CM to inquire about trapped toddler

29/10/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami over the phone to inquire about the ongoing efforts to rescue Sujith.

“My prayers are with the young and brave Sujith Wilson. Spoke to CM @EPSTamilNadu regarding the rescue efforts underway to save Sujith. Every effort is being made to ensure that he is safe. @CMOTamilNadu,” Mr. Modi said in a tweet on Monday afternoon.

Later in the day, Mr. Palaniswami also tweeted about his conversation with the PM. “Three Ministers have been deputed, along with Fire and Rescue Services, NDRF and SDRF personnel,” he said.

The CM said heavy-duty drilling machines and other equipment had been deployed, and experts from the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Tiruchi were at the site to provide necessary guidance. “Further assistance would be sought depending on the status of the rescue efforts,” Mr. Palaniswami said.

Plan to deploy robot came to nought 

Diameter of the well was an inch lesser than that of the robot

29/10/2019 , S. Vijay Kumar , CHENNAI

Scientists from Anna University tried in vain to deploy a robot to rescue Sujith from the borewell. The plan didn’t succeed as the diameter of the well was an inch lesser than that of the robot.

K. Senthil Kumar, Director, Centre for Aerospace Research, Anna University, who led a team of scientists to the spot over the weekend, said he was contacted by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters on Friday night to explore the possibility of rescuing Sujith using a special robot, developed with the help of a Chennai-based team of engineering students.

When informed about the idea, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, who was camping at the site of the rescue operation, requested the scientists to join the rescue work. “We reached Nadukattupatti on Saturday with the robot, which had two arms and was capable of lifting a 20-kg load easily. But unfortunately, the diameter of the borewell was an inch lesser than that of the robot, and we could not drop it down to Sujith, whose hands were clearly visible,” Dr. Kumar said.

Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, the technical team dropped a thermal camera to touch the fingers of the child. “After the system recorded 37 degrees Celsius, we immediately informed the Collector and other officials that Sujith could be alive but unconscious, since there was no bodily movement when another sophisticated camera was used earlier. Thermal cameras were successfully used to locate people alive and trapped under the debris at the site of the Moulivakkam apartment collapse and during the Uttarakhand floods (adults),” he said.

The team sensed that there was sufficient oxygen at that depth. “We are still having hopes since we rescued a construction worker four days after he was buried under debris in Moulivakkam,” he added.

Sea of visitors at site of rescue operation 

Political leaders inspect efforts and call on the toddler’s family

29/10/2019 , C. Jaisankar , TIRUCHI

Anxious wait: Visitors poured in from places as far as Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Erode and Karur districts. M. SRINATH

Thousands of people thronged Nadukattupatti to catch a glimpse of the marathon rescue operation.

The 5-km village road that leads to Nadukattupatti from the Tiruchi-Dindigul highway struggled to handle the mounting traffic. People from all walks of life, including politicians, voluntary rescue workers, officials and religious leaders, thronged the site of the rescue operation. Visitors poured in from places as far as Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Erode and Karur districts.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko, CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan, TMC president G.K. Vasan and DMK Rajya Sabha MP N. Siva were among the political leaders who inspected the rescue efforts and called on the parents of Sujith on Monday.

Prayers pour in

Prayers have been pouring in for Sujith Wilson from across the country, even as the mission to rescue him from an abandoned borewell continues.

Devotees at places of worship across the State offered special prayers for the two-year-old’s safe return.

#SaveSujith has been trending on Twitter since Friday night, with ideas and support coming in from people across the world.

(With inputs from Kathelene Antony)

Caught between a rock and a hard place 

The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar makes it very tough to penetrate
 
29/10/2019 , , Ramya Kannan, CHENNAI

As the nation watches Nadukaatupatti intently with bated breath, eager to see if Sujith will make it out alive from the borehole into which he fell, the challenge for the authorities engaged in the rescue operation continues to be the terrain.

While a certain restiveness seems to characterise the wait since the evening of October 25, the ground-level challenges, literally, have slowed down the rescue attempts.

The terrain is entirely rocky, and the presence of quartz and feldspar mineral content makes it very tough to penetrate through. Once the decision was taken to drill a parallel hole and then create a horizontal tunnel to the borehole, machines began digging a 1.2 m-wide tunnel. However, due to the nature of the terrain, the rate of drilling was much slower than anticipated, in turn leading to delays in rescuing Sujith, currently lodged at 88 ft.

“The rate of drilling in the formation using tungsten carbide drills is slow. More pressure cannot be given to the bit, since it will generate a greater vibration that might have disastrous consequences for the hole in which the child has been trapped. Also, with greater vibration, the possibility of burning the core bits also goes up,” says Commissioner of Revenue Administration J. Radhakrishnan.

“The problem is that there is only a few feet of earth from the surface. This is followed by beds of quartz, and then, feldspar, without any relief in the entire area. The bore itself is in solid rock,” explains Dr. Radhakrishnan, who has been overseeing rescue attempts.

According to the Mohs’ Scale of Hardness, indicating the relative hardness value of minerals, quartz is listed at 7, with diamond right on top at 10 (hardest).

Another problem, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, was that the diameter of the hole into which Sujith fell was a mere 4.5 inches. Since he was stuck in a tight space, attempts to raise him up by his hand or head were also risky, in that limbs might break off from the body. “On television, and with dramatised images, there might be an impression that the hole is much larger. But, in effect, it is just the span of a palm opened up from thumb to little finger. We have to be very careful,” he added.

Interview for MKU Registrar post on Nov. 7

29/10/2019 , Staff Reporter, MADURAI

Madurai Kamaraj University would conduct the interview for the post of Registrar on November 7, said Vice-Chancellor M. Krishnan.

The interview for 21 short-listed candidates was scheduled for September 23 but postponed due to ‘administrative delay.’

The panel

The Vice-Chancellor said three experts, Governor’s nominee, Chairman, Dean, a syndicate member, a woman and a Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe representative would form the interviewing panel.

Among the short-listed candidates were seven from within the university and two of them had been provisionally short-listed as cases were pending against them in High Court.

Cine clips

Last Updated : 28 Oct 2019 11:03 AM

100 கோடியைக் கடந்தது 'பிகில்' வசூல்: மொழி வாரியாக வசூல் நிலவரங்கள்

அட்லி இயக்கத்தில் விஜய் நடித்துள்ள 'பிகில்' திரைப்படம், உலகளவில் மொத்த வசூலில் 100 கோடியைக் கடந்துள்ளது.

மூன்றாவது முறையாக விஜய் - அட்லி கூட்டணியில் வெளியாகியுள்ள படம் 'பிகில்'. 180 கோடி ரூபாய் பொருட்செலவில் இந்தப் படத்தை பிரம்மாண்டமாக ஏஜிஎஸ் நிறுவனம் தயாரித்தது. பெரும் எதிர்பார்ப்பு நிலவியதால், அதிக விலை கொடுத்து இதன் வெளியீட்டு உரிமையைக் கைப்பற்றினார்கள்.
தமிழக வெளியீட்டு உரிமையை ஸ்கிரீன் சீன் நிறுவனம் சுமார் 83 கோடி ரூபாய் கொடுத்து வாங்கியது. ஆந்திரா, கர்நாடகா, கேரளா உள்ளிட்ட மாநிலங்களிலும் பெரும் எதிர்பார்ப்புக்கு இடையே இந்தப் படம் வெளியானது.
ஆனால், விமர்சன ரீதியாகக் கலவையாக இருந்தாலும், வசூல் ரீதியாகப் படத்துக்கு நல்ல வரவேற்பு கிடைத்து வருகிறது. தீபாவளி விடுமுறை நாட்கள் என்பதால் முக்கிய திரையரங்குகள் அனைத்திலுமே ஹவுஸ் ஃபுல் காட்சிகளாகவே திரையிடப்பட்டு வருகின்றன.

உலகளவில் மொத்த வசூலில் சுமார் 100 கோடியைக் கடந்து சாதனை புரிந்துள்ளது 'பிகில்'.

அமெரிக்காவில் இதுவரை 940K டாலர்கள் வசூல் செய்துள்ளது. இன்றைய வசூலின் மூலம் 1 மில்லியன் டாலரைத் தொடும் என்பது உறுதியாகிறது. இங்கிலாந்தில் 2.31 கோடி ரூபாயும், ஆஸ்திரேலியாவில் 1.59 கோடி ரூபாயும் வசூல் செய்துள்ளது. சென்னையில் மட்டும் வெள்ளிக்கிழமை - 1.79 கோடி, சனிக்கிழமை - 1.73 கோடி, ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை - 1.74 கோடி என மொத்தமாக இதுவரை 5.26 கோடி வசூல் செய்துள்ளது.

தெலுங்கில் விஜய் நடிப்பில் வெளியான படங்களில் சாதனை புரிந்துள்ளது 'பிகில்'. மொத்தமாக 10.5 கோடி வசூல் செய்துள்ளது. இன்னும் சில நாட்களில் இந்தப் படத்தின் உரிமையைக் கைப்பற்றிய விநியோகஸ்தர்களுக்கு போட்ட பணம் திரும்ப வந்துவிடும். அடுத்த நாட்களில் வரும் வசூல் அனைத்தும் லாபமே. விஜய் படங்களுக்குத் தெலுங்கில் மட்டுமே மார்க்கெட் குறைவாக இருந்தது. இந்தப் படத்தின் மூலம் தெலுங்கிலும் வசூல் நடிகராக வலம்வரத் தொடங்கியுள்ளார் விஜய். கேரளா மற்றும் கர்நாடகா ஆகிய மாநிலங்களிலும் சுமார் 10 கோடியைத் தாண்டியுள்ளது வசூல்.

தமிழகத்தின் மொத்த வசூல் கடந்த மூன்று நாட்களில் மட்டும் சுமார் 60 கோடி ரூபாயைத் தாண்டும் என தகவல் வெளியாகியுள்ளது. விரைவில் எவ்வளவு தொகை என்பது தெரியவரும். மேற்கண்ட வசூல் கணக்குகளைக் கூட்டிப் பார்த்தால் உலகளவில் 100 கோடி வசூலை 'பிகில்' படம் கடந்துள்ளது உறுதியாகியுள்ளது. 'துப்பாக்கி' படத்தின் வெற்றிக்குப் பிறகு அனைத்து மொழிகளிலுமே விஜய் படம் நல்லபடியாக வசூல் செய்து வருகிறது. 'புலி', 'ஜில்லா' மற்றும் 'தலைவா' ஆகிய படங்களைத் தவிர்த்து இதர விஜய் படங்கள் அனைத்துமே 100 கோடி ரூபாய் வசூலைத் தாண்டிய படங்கள் என்பது நினைவுகூரத்தக்கது.

Doctors

தமிழகத்தில் அரசு மருத்துவமனைகள் முடங்கும் அபாயம்: அக்.30 முதல் அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் 2 நாள் வேலைநிறுத்தம்- 18 ஆயிரம் மருத்துவர்கள் பங்கேற்பதாக அறிவிப்பு

தமிழ்நாடு மருத்துவர்கள் சங்க தலைவர் செந்தில் | படம்:எஸ்.கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி
மதுரை

தமிழகம் முழுவதும் அரசு மருத்துவமனைகளில் பணிபுரியும் 18 ஆயிரம் மருத்துவர்கள், நாளை மறுநாள் (அக்.30) முதல் 2 நாட்கள் வேலை நிறுத்தப்போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபடுவார்கள் என்று தமிழ்நாடு அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் சங்க மாநிலத் தலைவர் செந்தில் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.
அவர் இன்று(திங்கள்கிழமை) மதுரையில் செய்தியாளர்களிடம் கூறியதாவது:

கடந்த ஒன்றரை ஆண்டாக தமிழ்நாடு அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் சங்கம் சார்பில் அரசு மருத்துவர்களின் ஊதியம் மற்றும் பதவி உயர்வு கோரிக்கையை வலியுறுத்தி பல்வேறு போராட்டங்கள், நடத்தி வருகிறோம்.
அண்டை மாநிலங்களைப் போல் அரசு மருத்துவர்களுக்கு 4-வது ஆண்டு, 8-வது ஆண்டு, 11-வது ஆண்டு 13-வது ஆண்டில் பதவி உயர்வு படிபடியாக வழங்க வேண்டும். இந்தியாவில் 15 மாநிலங்களில் இந்த பதவி உயர்வு வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

அதுபோல், தமிழகத்தில் அரசு கலை மற்றும் அறிவியல் கல்லூரி, பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் பணிபுரியும் பேராசிரியர்களை விட அரசு மருத்துவக்கல்லூரிகளில் பணிபுரியும் பேராசிரியர்களுக்கு கிடைக்கிற ஊதியம்கூட எங்களுக்கு கிடைக்கவில்லை.

அவர்கள், ஆசிரியர் பணியில் மட்டும் ஈடுபடவில்லை. ஆனால், அரசு மருத்துவக்கல்லூரி மருத்துவர்கள் ஆசிரியர் பணியோடு, நோயாளிகளுக்கான மருத்துவமும் தினமும் 4 மணி நேரம் பார்க்கிறோம்.

அரசு எங்களுடைய இந்த நியாயமான கோரிக்கைகளுக்கு சுமுக தீர்வு காண நடவடிக்கை எடுக்காததால் வேறு வழியில்லாமல் 30, 31ம் தேதி 48 மணி நேரம் வேலைநிறுத்தம் போராட்டத்தை அறிவித்து உள்ளோம்.

இந்த போராட்டத்தில் அரசு மருத்துவக்கல்லூரி மருத்துவமனைகள், மாவட்ட அரசு தலைமை மருத்துவமனைகள், தாலுகா மருத்துவமனைகள் மற்றும் ஆரம்ப சுகாதாரநிலையங்கள் மற்றும் இஎஸ்ஐ மருத்துவமனைகளில் பணிபுரியும் 18 ஆயிரம் மருத்துவர்கள் கலந்து கொள்வார்கள்.

ஏற்கெனவே மருத்துவக் குழுவினர் வெவ்வேறு குழுவாக போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டாலும் தமிழ்நாடு அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் சங்கம், அரசு எப்படியாவது எங்கள் கோரிக்கையை நிறைவேற்றும் என்று கருதி அமைதி காத்திருந்தோம்.
ஆனால், அரசு இதுவரை ஒரு முடிவெடுக்காதநிலையில் வேலைநிறுத்தப் போராட்டத்தை அறிவிக்க வேண்டிய கட்டாயத்திற்கு தள்ளப்பட்டு உள்ளோம். பொதுமம்கள் சிரமப்படக்கூடாது என்பதற்காகவே நாங்கள் போராட்டத்தை தள்ளி வைத்துவிட்டு டெங்கு நோயாளிகளுக்கு சிகிச்சை அளித்து வந்தோம்.
தற்போது இந்த போராட்டத்தில் உயிரிழப்பை தடுப்பதற்கான அவசர சிகிச்சைப்பிரிவில் மட்டுமே மருத்துவர்கள் பணியில் இருப்பார்கள். மற்றவர்கள் யாரும் பணியில் ஈடுபட மாட்டார்கள்.

இந்தியாவில் 15 மாநிலங்களில் மத்திய அரசுக்கு இணையாக மாநில அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் நல்ல நிலையில் ஊதியம் பெறுகிறார்கள். அந்த வகையில் இந்தியாவிலே தமிழ்நாடு அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் 16வது நிலையிலே ஊதியம் பெறுகிறார்கள்.

அதுபோல், அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரிகளில் மருத்துவ மாணவர்களுக்கு ஆசிரியர் பணியில் ஈடுபடும் பேராசிரியர்களுக்கு நல்ல ஊதியம் வழங்கும் மாநிலங்கள் பட்டியலில் 29வது இடத்தில் பின்தங்கியநிலையில் உள்ளோம்.
இதை அனைத்தையும் விளக்கி சொல்லி அதை ஏற்றுக் கொண்ட தமிழக அரசு, இதுவரை எங்கள் ஊதிய முரண்பாடுகளுக்கு தீர்வு காண முற்படவில்லை.
தமிழ்நாடு அரசு நியாயமான கோரிக்கைகளை வலியுறுத்த வேறு வழியில்லாமல் இந்த போராட்டத்தில் அறிவித்து உள்ளோம்.
இவ்வாறு அவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

அரசு மருத்துவர்கள் போராட்டத்தில் அரசு மருத்துவமனைகள் இந்த இரண்டு நாட்களிலும் முடங்கும் நிலையில் நோயாளிகள் பாதிக்கப்படும் அபாயம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

UGC

UGC plans penalty to check capitation fee

Capitation fee refers to the amount charged in cash or kind in excess of the prescribed or approved fees to grant admission to someone who may not otherwise be deserving a seat .

Updated: Oct 27, 2019 00:28:28

By Amandeep Shukla

the University Grants Commission (UGC), is set to introduce regulations to curb the practice of charging capitation fee

The country’s higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC), is set to introduce regulations to curb the practice of charging capitation fee or any other form of profiteering by private deemed universities in professional education, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Following this private deemed medical and dental colleges will face action including penalties for charging capitation fees from students seeking admissions, the official said.

“The UGC is planning to create a regulatory mechanism for deemed varsities providing professional education. This will ensure that students do not secure admission through money power alone,” the official said.

Capitation fee refers to the amount charged in cash or kind in excess of the prescribed or approved fees to grant admission to someone who may not otherwise be deserving a seat .

The UGC had appointed a committee to draft the fee regulation norms for self-financed deemed universities for medical or dental courses following a direction by the Madras high court, an official of the commission said on condition of anonymity. The court had directed the UGC to constitute a committee to regulate the fee chargeable by self-financed deemed varsities for medical or dental courses after consulting stakeholders.

“The commission had formed a committee which finalised the draft for the regulations for dental and medical education imparted by private aided and unaided institutions which are deemed varsities. While there is a system of fee regulation for other colleges, there was none for private medical and dental colleges in the deemed category. The guidelines were recently put before the commission which has accepted them,” another senior official said.

“The suggestions of the committee, however, may soon be brought into public domain for stakeholder consultation. Once, they are finalised, the UGC (Fees in professional education imparted by private aided and unaided institutions deemed to be universities) Regulations, 2019, will be notified,” the official said.

According to the official, as per the proposed norms, fee committees will be constituted which will be headed by eminent educationists. These fee committees would assess if the fee levied by such private colleges is justified while taking into account social aspects such as share in population of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, economically weaker sections and backward classes in the area where the college exists and their educational needs.

The committees would also consider the average per-seat cost of imparting education on the basis of guidelines and instructions issued by UGC and the size of the aid received by these colleges.

“The institutions will have to maintain proper accounts and these fee committees will have the power to seek details about these accounts from the colleges,” the second official said. In case of violations, the fee committees may take stringent action against the profiteering body.

The fee committees shall be competent to impose fines of up to Rs 10 lakh per violation in addition to the refund of excess fee charged from the students, says a draft of proposed norms which was seen by HT.

“However, a stakeholder consultation will be held before finalizing the norms,” the second official said. He said that initially the plan was to bring in anti-profiteering norms for private medical or dental colleges which are deemed varsities but the UGC has decided to include other professional education institutions in the ambit.

First Published: Oct 26, 2019 23:29:33

Other Universities

Governor appoints Dr Mohanan Kunnummal as VC of Health University

27 Oct 2019, 07:53 AM IST

Mathrubhumi

English

News

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan rejected the recommendation of the government while appointing the new vice chancellor (VC) of the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS). Instead of the suggested names, Dr. Mohanan Kunnummal, member of KUHS governing council and dean of medicine, was appointed as the new vice chancellor.

The present VC M. K. C. Nair is retiring on October 27. The search committee headed by Dr. B. Iqbal had submitted three names to the government. Dr. Praveenlal Kuttichira, Dr. V. Ramankutty and Dr. Mohanan were in the list.

Among them, the government was interested to appoint Dr. Praveenlal Kuttichira who is former Medical Education Director and professor of Thrissur Jubilee Mission Medical College. CPM also recommended his name.

Dr. V. Ramankutty is the son of former chief minister C. Achutha Menon and senior grade professor at the Centre for Health Sciences. Both these names were rejected before appointing Dr. Mohanan. It is reported that the high level political connections in the central government led to his appointment.

Dr. Mohanan was a professor at the Department of Radio Diagnosis at Thrissur Medical College for a long time. In 2016, he was appointed as the principal of Manjeri Government Medical College. After retirement, he has been working as the head of the Department of Radio Diagnosis in Perinthalmanna MES Medical College.

Hailing from Kannur, Dr. Mohanan completed MD in radio diagnosis from Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and supervisory training course in Medical Administration. He has bagged many honours including the state government's award for best doctor in 2016.

He has served as the state president of Government Medical College Teachers Association from 2011 to 2014 and as the president of National Radiological and Imaging Association.

AILING MAN COULDN’T MOVE

Septuagenarian killed as fire engulfs locked house

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.10.2019

A 75-year-old retired tahsildar died at the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital on Saturday, a day after he suffered burns while trapped in a fire at his house in Avadi. Some of his neighbours had rescued the septuagenarian.

Police said Sankararaman, a resident of Thirumullaivoyal, stayed with his son Ramachandran who works at a private firm in the city. Sankararaman, who suffered from age-related illnesses and could not move around a lot, usually locked the house and remained indoors while his son was away at work. Police said neighbours rarely saw Sankararaman outside.

On Friday, there was a brief power outage in the neighbourhood. “Sankararaman was apparently sleeping on the sofa when the power supply was restored and may have not noticed. A spark from a faulty electrical cable might have set the sofa on fire which would have quickly engulfed the victim,” a police officer said.

Sankararaman called out for help. A few of his neighbours noticed smoke coming out of the locked house, broke open the door and rescued the elderly man. On being alerted, fire and rescue services personnel arrived and put out the fire.

He was taken to the KMCH in an ambulance and received treatment for acute burns. After his death on Saturday, the Avadi police personnel registered a case of accidental fire based on a complaint lodged by Ramachandran. Further investigations are on.

A police officer said Sankararaman was employed in the state revenue department and worked in Tiruvallur and a few other districts in various positions before retiring from the service as a tahsildar about 15 years ago.

Next year, yellow lights could get a second longer

toi 27.10.2019
The light is green as you approach the crossing. Half a dozen cars are in front of you. You slow down to turn and the light turns yellow. By the time you cross it, it is frowning red. A cop challans you.

Anyone who has been in this situation knows how unfair it is, but a Swedish engineer has fought against it for six years and seems to be winning now.

In 2013, Mats Jarlstrom’s wife was fined $260 when an automated camera caught her jumping a red light in Oregon, USA. She was only 0.12 second late.

Jarlstrom argued that the duration of the yellow light, which was fixed at 3.2 seconds in 1960, is inadequate for present-day traffic. It does not take into account scenarios in which a driver enters an intersection and slows down to turn. Increasing the duration of the yellow light by just over a second would make it much safer, he says.

Jarlstrom proposed a 4.5-second signal, and now the Institute of Transport Engineers, which is an international advisory body with members in 90 countries, has taken note of his recommendation. It is reviewing the existing rules and will submit a ‘Recommended Practices’ report to its board of directors early next year. If Jarlstrom’s recommendations are accepted, traffic signal cycles could change across the world.

For more: The Register

TIME FOR A CHANGE: The duration of the yellow light has remained fixed at 3.2 seconds for the past 60 years

Video shows mass copying in overcrowded Bihar college

Ajay Kumar Pandey & Faryal Rumi TNN

Muzaffarpur/Patna:27.10.2019

Picture an overcrowded college where students have spilled out from the classrooms and are sitting on the corridors, staircases and even the playground, writing their final-year undergraduate exams. Now, add the spectacle of mass copying to it.

That’s what happened at the Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav (RLSY) College, a constituent of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, in Bihar’s Bettiah town. The cheating came to light when a video surfaced on Saturday, showing hundreds of students sitting in small groups, at any place they could find, copying answers from each other.

The situation at several other colleges affiliated to the university was the same. Students of Mahesh Prasad Singh Science College as well as a couple of other colleges in Muzaffarpur were also seen sitting in the corridors and staircases owing to the mismanagement.

The RLSY College principal, Rajeshwar Prasad Yadav, said there was no space in the college building so the administration was forced to make them sit on floors. “The college building has the capacity to accommodate 2,500 students at a time. However, the university has allotted around 6,000 students for the examination at our college. How can we make space for so many at such a short notice?” Yadav said.

The principal added that he took up the issue of this massive overcrowding with the district administration, the vicechancellor of the university, local MLAs and other officials, but to no avail.

Yadav, however, denied that unfair means were being used by the students during the general studies examination. “The examinations went off peacefully under the invigilation the college teachers even though we faced space constraint in the college building,” he told TOI.

Full report on www.toi.in

TESTING TIMES

99-year-old yoga teacher passes away

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore:27.10.2019

The country on Saturday lost one of its oldest yoga exponents, V Nanammal, on Saturday. She was 99.

The resident of Ganapathy in the city shot to fame after she was conferred with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, last year for dedicating her life to teaching yoga to thousands. She had a huge following on YouTube for videos on yoga and naturopathy. She breathed her last around 12.30pm, her son V Balakrishnan said. “She had such a sound knowledge of her body that she predicted her death 40 days ago after performing my father’s death anniversary rites.

Though she led an active life and followed a healthy lifestyle, Nanammal recently suffered several falls and took months to recover. “One fall left her bedridden. She was having only coconut water and water for the last two weeks. She regained consciousness on Saturday morning and even talked to us,” Balakrishnan added.

When a mom stitched up her mite

Gokul.Rajendran@timesgroup.com

TOI 27.10.2019

The tense moments of “operation Sujith” on Saturday included a poignant scene of his mother showing great composure to stitch a cloth bag herself to help the rescue team lift her son.

The idea of using the bag to lift the boy out came from a Coimbatore team which was looking for help to stitch the cloth. On coming to know about it, Sujith’s distraught mother Kalamary volunteered since she saw that no tailor was around at that hour. “Yes, I stitched the bag for my son,” said Kalamary later.

However, much to the anguish of the mother and others, the bag did not serve its purpose.

“I had no idea there was an abandoned borewell near my house until my son fell into it,” Kalamary told TOI. The borewell was covered by maize plants and no one in the house except Devaraj, the boy’s paternal grandfather, knew about it. The woman also narrated the moments before her son fell into the well. “Sujith was sleeping near me last evening. He woke up and started playing outside our house. I was busy shifting the cattle when my neighbour screamed and came running to the spot. I too rushed there and to my horror saw my son screaming in the depths of the well,” said Kalamary.

Her elder son B Punith Roshan was also witness to the incident. “He fell into it (borewell) when I was reading outside the house,” said Punith. Everyone in the family and the village regretted their act of not closing the borewell properly. “As it was a joint property, we dug a borewell 600ft deep seven years ago. Since there was no yield, we abandoned it and dumped soil in it. The recent rain loosened it leading to the tragedy,” said Devaraj.

MOTHER’S LOVE: Kalamary stitches a bag for Sujith

TN doctors continue to strike, patients affected

Chennai:27.10.2019

Government doctors in Tamil Nadu continued their indefinite strike for the second consecutive day on Saturday demanding a salary hike. There were long queues in outpatient sections in most government hospitals in the morning, but the emergency departments, ICUs and fever wards were fully functional. At least five doctors were on hunger strike. Their health condition remained stable.

On Friday, Health secretary Beela Rajesh talked to the striking doctors. However, the talks failed. Doctors are asking the government to implement the prospective clause of government order 354, which promises time-bound promotion in five, nine,11,12 years of service.“We get their fourth-year salary in our 15th year and their 13th year salary in our 20th year,” said one of the striking doctors Dr A Ramalingam. TNN

Notification from TIMES OF INDIA

Woman falls in bid to avoid pothole, run over

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.10.2019

In a tragic incident on Friday night, a woman riding pillion with her husband near Poonamallee died after the man braked to avoid a pothole and she was thrown to the ground. A container truck ran over her, police said. Police identified the woman as Devi, 35, whose husband Ramadoss is a conductor with the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) depot in Kancheepuram.

Ramadoss, 40, and Devi were headed to his parents’ house at Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district for Diwali when the accident occurred. At Sadayappa Kalyana Mantapam near Nazarathpet, witnesses later told police, Ramadoss spotted an almost five-ft-wide pothole at the last minute and braked suddenly. A container truck, which was about 20 ft long, was close behind their vehicle and slammed into the twowheeler, police said, quoting witnesses.

While Ramadoss fell to the left, his wife was thrown to the road on to the right and came under the wheels of the container truck. She was killed instantly. Ramadoss was wearing a helmet, police said The residents of Kumananchavadi near Poonamallee planned to travel on the scooter till Kancheepuram and take a bus to Tiruvannamalai, a police officer said. A team of the Poonamallee traffic investigation wing soon arrived at the spot and sent the woman’s body to the government hospital in Chromepet for autopsy.

FATAL RIDE: Devi came under the wheels of a truck when her husband braked suddenly after spotting a pothole near Poonamallee

Woman, 58, falls after bike skids, dies

The injured Ramadoss was admitted to the same hospital. A case was registered and police began a search for the container truck driver who abandoned the vehicle and fled after the accident.

In a similar accident the same night, a 58-year-old woman riding pillion on her husband’s two-wheeler died after the bike skid on the Padi flyover and she was thrown to the ground. She suffered head injuries and was rushed to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital where she died. Police identified the victim as Kalyani, a resident of Kolathur.

Happy Diwali: City cops mug 3 men on Marina, pocket ₹10,000
A Selvaraj @timesgroup.com

Chennai:27.10.2019

An assistant commissioner of police has been asked to conduct a detailed inquiry after a government employee lodged a complaint saying he and two of his friends were assaulted and robbed by three police personnel on the Marina beach on Thursday.

In his complaint, Uthama Raja, who works at the Government Connemara Library in Egmore, said he was chatting with his friends on the beach around 9.30pm when three policemen arrived. “They abused us and asked us to leave,” Uthama Raja said.

Then, the complaint said, they threatened, assaulted and robbed the three of ₹10,000. He also named the police personnel in his complainant. He then went to Government Royapettah Hospital for treatment for the injuries suffered on the face before lodging a complaint.

A senior police officer later denied the charge and said no assault had occurred.

“The complainant was drinking along with two of his friends when a police patrol team approached them and asked them to stop consuming alcohol and to leave the place. This led to an argument.” The complainant did not mention the fact that he was consuming alcohol when the law enforcers arrived, another police officer said.

A senior officer said, “The alleged quarrel shall be verified and Uthama Raja and his friends will be questioned.”

LEGALLY YOURS: An assistant commissioner of police has been asked to conduct a probe