785 surplus staff of Annamalai University may get salary cut
HC Dismisses Plea Against Notice

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.11.2019

The Madras high court has dismissed a batch of appeals moved by Annamalai University employees, grade I and II special officers, challenging showcause notices issued to them seeking an explanation why their pay scale should not be reduced to that of assistant section officers to reduce the financial burden of the university.

All the 785 officers were appointed pursuant to orders of vice-chancellor without sanction of the finance committee or the syndicate and they became surplus in terms of workload, causing a loss of ₹60 crore per annum.

The appeal challenged the orders passed by a single judge assailing the showcause notices. Dismissing the appeals, a division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee said, “This court is of the opinion that challenge to the impugned showcause notice is pre-mature. This court, on an independent application of mind to the entire materials, is of the view that there is no error apparent or infirmity in the reasons assigned by the learned judge in the impugned common order passed in the writ petitions and finds no merit in these writ appeals.”

According to the showcause notice dated August 13, 2018, the continuance of these 785 surplus officers in employment without no work but with full pay, cripples the financial situation of the university causing huge deficit every year and posing imminent threat to the very existence of the university.

“With the intent of striking a balance between the deteriorating financial position of the university and avoiding retrenchment of these surplus officers, who have no work, the university has been exploring the possibility of accommodating these surplus officers against some other cadre for the time being namely, assistant section officers in the pay scale of ₹9,300-₹34,800 + GP ₹4,600,” the notice read.

The university is of the view that the proposal, although might reduce your present scale of pay of ₹15,600- ₹39,100 + GP ₹5,400, would contribute to a certain extent to the financial stability of the university. The university intends to process this proposal after taking your remarks/explanation in this regard, it said.

Madras high court throws out TN quota in promotions

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

PublishedNov 16, 2019, 2:50 am IST

The Roster Point System in Tamil Nadu has its own distinctiveness involving its unique characteristics.

Madras High Court.

Chennai: In a major setback to the Tamil Nadu government, the Madras high court has declared as ultra vires and unconst ice) Act, 2016, which fixed seniority through roster point (reservation) in the state government services.

A division bench comprising Justices M.M.Sundresh and RMT. Teekaa Raman declared sections 1 (2), 40 and 70 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act as ultra vires and unconstitutional. The bench passed the order on a batch of petitions and appeal from the aggrieved government servants. The bench said a roster point system qua seniority deprecated by the court brought back with anterior date, tracing the power in Article 16 (4) of the Constitution of India and thus, removing the basis was under challenge before it.

The Roster Point System in Tamil Nadu has its own distinctiveness involving its unique characteristics. The 200 point roster was being followed at present leading to mandatory 69 percent vertical reservation on communal basis. Reservation includes Horizontal and Internal while adopting 69 percent reservation.

Vertical Reservation was with respect to adequate representation on the basis of community, while Horizontal Reservation would include sub-sects and special categories, such as, women, destitute widows, ex-serviceman, physically handicapped and persons studied in Tamil Medium etc. Incidentally, the state does not choose to follow the mandate of the Apex Court in eschewing creamy layer, the bench added.

The bench said there was yet another facet in the roster point system. A roster fixed was also taken for the fixation of seniority. A person selected under the roster will get his seniority determined accordingly as against merit in a single selection process. This was put to challenge in the earlier round of litigation.

A division bench of the court in Santhosh Kumar case has held that the selected candidates were to be conferred seniority based upon merit and not the roster point. This was taken on appeal by way of SLP, which were also dismissed. To remove the basis of the judgment of the division bench as confirmed by the Apex Court, Section 1 (2), 40 (1) and 70 and 71 of the TNGS (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 were introduced, the bench added.

The bench said a meritorious reserved category candidate accommodated against ‘general turn’ should not be made to suffer despite being more meritorious. Rule 35 (a) cannot be read as resorted to by the government overthrowing merit as against roster point qua seniority. The 200 point roster was nothing but a mechanism to fill up vacancies in the respective quota and therefore, cannot be elevated to that of merit when it comes to seniority, the bench added.

The bench said in the case on hand, the state government took umbrage under Article 16 (4) of the Constitution of India to get over the dictum of the Court.

“We may note that the Constitutional bench of the Apex court has already held and which was taken note of by other decisions, that Article 16 (4) does not authorise such an action unless there is an express provision like the one introduced by way of 77th and 85th amendments in Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution.

As it is an express statement of law, we are constrained to hold that the state of Tamil Nadu does not have the power, authority or cachet to introduce the impugned provisions tracing Article 16 (1) and 16 (4) of the Constitution as their source of power, we are constrained to note that we are dealing with a case involving all sort of reservations at the level of seniority when there is no material available nor produced before the court”, the bench added.

The bench said, “We hold that the impugned provisions do not have the legal sanctity under Article 16 of the Constitution of India. Even assuming that the same is in existence, the adequacy and the need for reservation have not been supported by requisite materials. Therefore, on both these grounds, the provisions are to be declared as ultra vires and unconstitutional”.

Kerala University marklist seized from accused

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedNov 16, 2019, 3:17 am IST

The university has ordered an inquiry into the incident after the DRI submitted a report to the higher authorities.

Kerala University

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala University marklists are easily available to even smugglers. Unfilled marklists of the university were seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence recently from the residence of Vishnu Somasundaram, the key accused in a gold smuggling case and an associate of the late musician Balabhaskar.

The university has ordered an inquiry into the incident after the DRI submitted a report to the higher authorities claiming that they had confiscated seven unfilled marklists with signatures and seal from the residence of Vishnu during the raids conducted on June 14. Vishnu, on bail in the gold smuggling case, is absconding. Sources said that the DRI will soon submit a letter to Higher Education Principal Secretary Usha Titus to launch a probe. At present, the marklists are in the possession of the DRI.

Vishnu and Prakash Thampi, another associate of Balabhaskar, had smuggled in 720 kilograms of gold through the Thiruv-ananthapuram airport.

The DRI had nabbed beautician Sareena and KSRTC conductor Sunil on May 13 while they were trying to smuggle in 25 kg of gold through the airport.

Others, including Vishnu and Prakash Thampi, were arrested later and Vishnu absconded when they were released on bail. As Customs Superintendent Radhakrishnan was among the accused, the DRI handed over the probe to the CBI.

Kerala University Vice-Chancellor V.P. Mahadevan Pillai, who ordered a probe into the incident, asked the DRI to provide him the details of the confiscated marklists. The university was issuing digital marklists for various examinations for the past many years, said Mr Pillai.

Chennai: Students demand safer academic space

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published  Nov 16, 2019, 2:44 am IST

The body should include psychologists, mental health experts, sociologists, educationists, faculty of IITM and other professional stakeholders.

Students of IIT Madras stage a protest in front of the Central Lecture Theatre demanding an external expert panel to carry out a mental health study among the students on campus. (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Students of the IIT on Thursday staged protest in front of the Central Lecture Theatre in the institute, demanding among other things an external expert panel to carry out a mental health study among the students on campus.

While the tragic death of Fathima has come as a shock to the student community, “the inaction of the administration regarding the structural issues that have led to more and more suicides is appalling and must be protested against”, the students said in a petition to the Director.

Fathima’s father Abdul Latheef speaking to media

The students sought a “safer academic space” for the students amid some allegations that the Institute is dominated by an elite class and the commoner student is looked down upon. They reminded the administration of the resolution of the Student Legislative Council last semester remains unattended and must be implemented at once “to set up a body of outside experts to study the overall mental wellbeing of the students in the institute and on the effectiveness of the existing platforms and mechanisms to tackle all the issues faced by students in the campus”.

The body should include psychologists, mental health experts, sociologists, educationists, faculty of IITM and other professional stakeholders and must look into the pressures faced by students, especially those from marginalised social backgrounds including SC/ST, women, and queer communities. “The recommendations of the body should be acted upon.” They said.

Their petition to Director also called for the setting up of a ‘complaints and grievances redressal committee in all departments at the earliest to provide any needed assistance to the friends and classmates of Fathima.

Drugs worth Rs 1,081 crore seized in the last 19 months: RTI

PTI | Nov 15, 2019, 08.53 PM IST

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police has seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 1,081 crore in the last 19 months and arrested 1,073 people for drug-related crimes, an RTI query revealed.

The number of people arrested in drug-related cases more than doubled as of September 2019 compared to the previous year, the information obtained from the Anti- Narcotics Cell revealed.

The RTI query filed by activist Anil Galgali sought information regarding the number of drug-related cases, arrests, seized drugs and their value.

The police has provided the data from January 1, 2018 to September 2019.

"We have recovered narcotics worth Rs 1,081 crore in the last 19 months (between January 2018 to September 2019) and arrested more than 1,000 people, which includes drug peddlers," said Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police (ANC).

As per the data shared by the police, a total of 1,363 kg of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, MD and LCD were seized in the whole of 2018.

The drugs seized last year are valued at Rs 1,016 crore and 395 accused were arrested for drug-related crimes of which 194 were marijuana users, the RTI query stated.

From January 1 to September 30, 2019, around 169.4 kg of narcotic substances, worth Rs 64.64 lakh were recovered by the police, the data revealed.

The number of accused has doubled this year with 678 arrests, the query stated

"The ANC has been working relentlessly to curb drug menace in the city and it is because of our team's efforts that the number of arrests have increased this year compared to last year," Lande said.

HC to Bihar govt: Submit report on steps taken by panel formed for setting up para-medical council

TNN | Nov 7, 2019, 07.23 PM IST

PATNA: The Patna high court on Thursday granted four weeks to the state government for filing report on action taken by a four-member committee for formulating the rules and regulations for establishing a para-medical council at state level. The court also observed that enough time had already been granted to the state for formation of the council.

The direction was given to the state after it submitted a supplementary counter-affidavit apprising the court about a four-member committee which was formed by the health department on October 3 for preparing draft notification for constituting the para-medical council.

The state government also submitted that the committee was working actively to finalise the necessary draft for constitution and functioning of the council and four weeks be granted to file a reply.

The order for submitting a report on action taken by the committee was given by a division bench of Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Ashutosh Kumar while hearing a batch of four PILs including one filed by Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists, where court was urged to direct the concerned officers for taking action against all those pathological laboratories which were running against the rules and regulations under Clinical Establishment (central government) Rules, 2012, which was amended last year.

It was during hearing on this issue that court had asked the state government over the situation for forming a council which would act as a regulating body for para-medical staffs as well as technicians working in such laboratories.

The four-membered-committee was formed by the health department only after the same division had asked the state government that what actions were taken for formation of the state para-medical council on September 19. The court had granted six-week time to the government for filing a reply on the matter.

Along with submitting action taken report, the court on Thursday also directed state government to file reply within four weeks on an interlocutory application (IA) filed by a private pathological laboratory at Gaya that how it was declared as one running illegally.

The petitioner had pleaded that the report submitted by the state government over legal and illegal laboratories was not in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines and they were not provided opportunity to produce any document proving that laboratory was running in accordance with the law

MBBS student, MBA graduate among three suicides reported

TNN | Nov 16, 2019, 04.58 AM IST

Nagpur: Three suicides, including one of an MBBS student and another of an MBA graduate, were reported at different locations in the city on Thursday. 

After registering the cases as accidental deaths, police have started investigations.

In the first incident, Jajzlan Kazi, 21, who was a second year student of MBBS at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH), hanged himself from a hook on the wall in his study room at his Ayappa Nagar residence on Thursday.

This was the second case of suicide by an MBBS student in the recent past.

On Friday, the atmosphere at the IGMCH mortuary was emotionally charged with classmates and teachers offering their condolences to Kazi’s relatives.

After returning from namaz in the afternoon, Kazi went straight to his room around 2pm and took the extreme step, a relative told TOI.

Kazi’s father Jawed Hussain, a lab assistant at a college in Gandhibagh, said, “I left for work in the morning and after that, went to IGMCH to deposit Kazi’s fees. As the clerk was not in his seat, I went home and learnt that Kazi is in his room since afternoon. I knocked at his door, but he didn’t respond. I peeped from the rear window of his room and saw something suspicious. My wife thought that he was sleeping but I insisted that the door be broken and when we did that, we found our son lying dead. I still can’t understand why he took such a drastic step. He should have at least spoken to us if he was going through any problem. My son was a bright student.”

Kazi’s last rites were performed on Friday in the presence of his family, relatives and friends.

In another incident, Mrunali Dongre, 24 committed suicide on Thursday by hanging herself just days after her parents started looking for a groom for her.

Mrunali, an MBA in finance and marketing, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom in Bhilgaon.

Cops said when Mrunali’s parents asked her for her preference regarding the groom, she did not respond. Though no suicide note was found at the spot, cops have taken Mrunali’s phone into custody to investigate the case thoroughly.

In the third incident, Priya alias Avni Chudaman alias Deshmukh, 32, committed suicide by hanging herself at her home when she was alone. Priya took the extreme step when her father-in-law had gone to bring his grand children from school.

Cops said the reason behind the suicide is still unknown. No note was found from the spot.

2012 batch KGMU intern sexually harasses junior in library, booked

TNN | Nov 16, 2019, 06.43 AM IST

LUCKNOW: An MBBS intern of 2012 batch in King George's Medical University (KGMU) was booked on charges of sexually harassing a junior in the central library of the university. Though the incident took place on Tuesday, the FIR was lodged by the university chief proctor on Thursday. 

This is the third incident of harassment or violence involving KGMU students in which a complaint with the police was lodged in this academic session so far.

According to the FIR, the accused harassed a group of juniors in the 24-hour central library study hall at around 9.40pm on Tuesday by misbehaving with them and throwing away their belongings. One of the juniors, a 2014 batch girl student, alleged that the accused also touched her inappropriately. She said that the accused first made an attempt to talk to her but when she refused, he touched her with wrong intentions. The group then informed senior faculty members and chief proctor. They also claimed that the accused had harassed them and other batch mates earlier as well.

The junior students also lodged a written complaint with the chief proctor, who later registered an FIR.

Chief proctor RS Kushwaha said, "Both female and the male students complained about how the accused harassed or assaulted them. Since the behaviour of the accused person was inappropriate, we have lodged the complaint with the police who will investigate the case and based on their findings, will take necessary action. The accused is currently working in the forensic department and his entry in hostels and library has been barred."

"The librarian has been instructed to allow entry to only those who have a valid pass," he added. SHO, Chowk, Pankaj Singh said, "We are recording the statements of the eyewitness of the incidents and the victim, following which we will take action against the accused."

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

சென்னை பல்கலை பட்டமளிப்பு விழா

Added : நவ 15, 2019 23:06

சென்னை : சென்னை பல்கலையின், 162வது பட்டமளிப்பு விழா, வரும், 19ம் தேதி, பல்கலையின் நுாற்றாண்டு விழா அரங்கில் நடக்க உள்ளது. பல்கலை வேந்தர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித் தலைமையில் நடக்கும் விழாவில், உயர்கல்வி அமைச்சர் அன்பழகன் பங்கேற்கிறார்.மத்திய தோல் ஆராய்ச்சி நிறுவனத்தின் முன்னாள் இயக்குனர் ராமசாமி, சிறப்பு விருந்தினராக பங்கேற்கிறார் என, பல்கலை செய்திக் குறிப்பில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

High Court rules quota cannot outweigh merit in govt job promotion

Thus, the contention raised that neither the rule nor the Act has been challenged cannot be countenanced because they do not provide for such a procedure.

Published: 16th November 2019 06:38 AM 

Madras HC (File | EPS)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court on Friday ruled that a reserved candidate having secured lesser marks than other meritorious ones, cannot supersede them by getting into the general turn, for which procedure is not even contemplated either in rules or in the law.

Article 16 of Constitution cannot be invoked to justify the case of a less meritorious candidate being fitted into a general turn though others are in queue. Such a procedure is totally arbitrary to say the least. 

Holding that the roster point system adopted by government in fixing seniority of government servants is nothing but an indirect way of providing reservation even beyond 69 per cent, a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and RMT Teekaa Raman declared Sections 1(2), 40 and 70 of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 as ultra vires and unconstitutional.

The bench was passing final orders on a batch of writ petitions from engineers in State service praying, among other things, for a directive to authorities to prepare the seniority list for promotion only as per merit and marks obtained in the exams by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, without following the rules of reservation.

The bench said a procedure, which is being followed contrary to rule, cannot be approved by the court, especially when it affects the rights of the citizen. Section 27(d) of the Act and Rule 22(b) merely provide for meritorious reserved candidates to adopt for reserved category when it confers better benefit. However, a reserved candidate, having secured lesser marks than other meritorious ones, cannot supersede them by getting into the general turn.

Thus, the contention raised that neither the rule nor the Act has been challenged cannot be countenanced because they do not provide for such a procedure.

In this case, the State has taken umbrage under Article 16 (4) of Constitution to get over the court dictum. However, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had already held, which was taken note of by other decisions, that Article 16 (4) does not authorise such an action unless there is an express provision like the one introduced by way of 77th and 85th amendments to Article 16 (4A). As it is an express statement of law, the judges said they are constrained to hold that the State does not have the power, authority or cachet to introduce the impugned provisions tracing Article 16(1) and 16(4) as their source of power.

HC modifies directions on bribe as advisory 

Case relates to a charge against Kanniyakumari policeman

16/11/2019 , B. Tilak Chander , Madurai

The Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday modified a single bench order giving a series of directions to the Home Department and Director General of Police with regard to taking action against police personnel who indulged in collection of mamool or bribe.

A Division Bench of Justices T.S. Sivagnanam and R. Tharani modified the directions as an “advisory,” which shall be taken in the right spirit.

The court said that the directions were passed in a writ petition pertaining to a service matter and not a public interest litigation petition. The observations made were beyond the scope of the prayer in the writ petition, the court said.

The single bench had directed the Home Department and the DGP to issue consolidated instructions to authorities competent, to register criminal cases against the demand and acceptance of bribe under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The single bench passed the set of directions while hearing the petition filed by a policeman M. Ramasamy. He was issued a charge memo after a complaint was made against him for collecting bribe during a routine vehicle check on a highway in Kanniyakumari district.

An inquiry was conducted and the charges against him were proven. However, he claimed that he was innocent and sought to quash the order. The single bench refused him the relief. He filed an appeal against the single Bench order. Refusing him the relief, the Division Bench modified the order of the single Bench.

‘Govt. not to entertain women in Sabarimala’ 

It has decided to wait for verdict by larger SC Bench on review pleas

16/11/2019 , N.J. Nair , THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Awaiting opinion: The Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala will open on Saturday for the annual pilgrim season.LEJU KAMAL

The Kerala government has decided not to allow women in the menstruating age group to visit the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple and to wait till a seven-member Bench of the Supreme Court takes a final call on a batch of review petitions referred to it for final scrutiny.

The government decision on Friday came after legal opinion offered by Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad.

The Supreme Court decision on Thursday to refer major components of its September 28, 2018, verdict granting unrestricted entry for women of child-bearing age to the temple for another review, has offered the government the leeway to defer imposition of the earlier judgment.

While hearing the review petitions in October 2018, the Supreme Court explicitly stated that the verdict stands and has not been stayed, but no such specific mention has been made as part of the latest decision. Hence, it has been resolved to wait for a final decision, government sources said.

The CPI(M) State secretariat that met here on Friday adopted a complementary stance and resolved against granting entry to women to the temple. Since many crucial components of the September 28, 2018 verdict had been referred for review, it was felt that the government should not allow women to the hill shrine, party sources said.

It has been clarified that the party has not diluted its stance on gender equality and will stick to its stand to abide by the court decision on the issue. The latest decisions of the government and the political leadership have eased the pressure on the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the Sabarimala temple.

At this station, dog looks out for passengers 

Abandoned pet joins forces with the security personnel at the Chennai Park station
 
16/11/2019 , Dennis S. Jesudasan, CHENNAI 


 
Duty beckons: Chinnaponnu barking at footboard travellers at the Chennai Park Railway Station. B. Jothi Ramalingam

It’s the most ubiquitous sight across the country — a dog curled up on a railway platform — and would hardly merit a second look.

But the black-and-tan dog asleep under an old fan near the Station Master’s room at the Chennai Park Railway Station in Tamil Nadu is no ordinary canine but an active volunteer with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) unit deployed at the busy commuter hub in the city.

On the job

Chinnaponnu, who was abandoned at the station over two years ago, has seriously taken up the job of assisting the RPF in warning commuters illegally crossing the railway tracks and those travelling on the footboard of the suburban trains.

“She is not a trained dog but after watching us warning people crossing the tracks and travelling on the footboard, Chinnaponnu has learnt the drill. As we do our duty, she joins us and does her ‘duty’,” says RPF head constable G.C.D. Chiranjeevi.

When some passengers discreetly attempt to cross the tracks behind the back of the policemen on duty, Chinnaponnu barks and alerts them.

She also makes sure that nobody travels on footboard.

V. Senthamizhan, who works at a kiosk at the station, says the dog keeps to herself but is watchful of the surroundings.

“She once helped the police catch a man who was running away after snatching the mobile phone of a commuter,” recalls S. Sureshbabu, who works at another kiosk.

“I saw her owner from Tiruvannamalai, who said the family had to abandon her because their landlord did not allow them to keep a pet at home. But, they visit her once a month. It was from them we got to know her name is Chinnaponnu,” says Sureshbabu.

(See video at http://bit.ly/ChinnaponnuDog)

Govt. seeks nod for medical colleges in three more districts

16/11/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

After getting the nod for six government medical colleges last month, the State government has applied for three more at Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam and Tiruvallur, and is set to make a presentation to the Technical Evaluation Committee of the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare. A senior official of the Health Department said they submitted applications nearly three weeks ago.

“We have already identified lands for the colleges in Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri and Nagapattinam. We will be presenting our case to the committee on Monday,” the official said. Health Secretary Beela Rajesh will be part of the meet.

After flagpost accident, victim’s leg amputated

 16/11/2019

Rajeswari

Strapped for funds, the family was turning to relatives and friends for help.

A relative had also sought support online to meet expenses.

Commenting on the development, DMK Singanallur MLA N. Karthik said that the AIADMK government’s silence on the issue only showed how "insensitive and inhumane" it was.

"It is not that the government is unaware of the issue. Journalists in Coimbatore had posed a question about the accident to none other than the Chief Minister. My party had also staged a protest on Thursday. Despite being aware of the issue, the government has done nothing. No official or ruling party member met the family. This only shows how inhumane the government is,” he said.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said he was unaware of the accident. He said there was no court order against flagposts. A few weeks ago Subasri, a young techie, died in a road accident caused by the fall of a hoarding installed by an AIADMK functionary in Chennai.

Stalin seeks resolution against NEET

16/11/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI

DMK president M.K. Stalin on Friday urged the AIADMK government to convene the winter session of the State Assembly to adopt a fresh resolution to do away with NEET.

“The government should not resort to the meaningless argument that it had sought reasons behind the Centre rejecting the earlier resolution. The new resolution should be sent to the President for assent before the commencement of NEET,” he said.

HC declares as unconstitutional portions of Govt. Servants Act

‘Roster system for reservation in appointment cannot be followed for seniority’
 
16/11/2019 , Mohamed Imranullah S., CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Friday declared as unconstitutional certain provisions of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act of 2016 and held that the 200-point roster system followed in the State for providing reservation in recruitment could not be followed for fixing seniority and granting promotions.

Justices M.M. Sundresh and RMT. Teekaa Raman held that the seniority should be fixed based on merit alone and not on the basis of roster points since otherwise it would lead to a less meritorious reserved category candidate getting ahead of a meritorious backward class candidate who had got selected under the general category. The judges declared as unconstitutional Sections 1(2), 40 and 70 of the 2016 Act since they not only prescribe determination of seniority in accordance with the rule of reservation followed at the time of their recruitment but also give a “retroactive” and not just restrospective effect to such a procedure by stating that it shall be deemed to have come into force from January 1, 1955.

“We find the presence of manifest arbitrariness in the provisions under challenge. Neither there appears to be any power available (to enact the legal provisions) nor procedure followed. This appears to be a knee jerk reaction to circumvent and nullify the judgment of a Division Bench of this court in Santhosh Kumar case (2015) which had attained finality,” the judges said.

Authoring the verdict, Justice Sundresh also said, “We do not find any fairness in action on the part of the official respondents. A ‘Welfare State’ will have to keep in mind the interest and one and all. Any action of the State should be a balancing one and therefore, a basic rational approach is required. Unfortunately, the distributory justice appears to be missing.”

He pointed out that another Division Bench led by Justice V. Ramasubramanian, now a Supreme Court judge, had in 2015 dealt with the same issue in detail and ruled against following the roster system for fixing seniority. To circumvent that decision, the government had inserted the provisions under challenge in the 2016 Act and it is nothing but “legislative arbitrariness,” he added.

After declaring the provisions as unconstitutional, the judges directed the government to redraw the seniority as per the present judgment within 12 weeks.

IIT-M student’s father demands a fair probe 

Abdul Latheef meets CM, DGP; raises doubts about death

16/11/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI 


 
Abdul Latheef, father of Fathima, handing over a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Friday.

Abdul Latheef, father of Fathima Latheef, the first- year student who was found dead last Saturday on the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) campus, raised suspicions over her death and demanded a probe to bring out the truth.

Mr. Latheef, accompanied by a few others, met Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami at his residence and appealed to him for a fair probe into his daughter’s death. The Chief Minister reportedly assured him that a probe would be conducted and the guilty brought to book.

Earlier, after meeting Director-General of Police (DGP) J.K. Tripathy at the State police headquarters, Mr. Latheef said the DGP assured him that the culprits would be brought before the law. The Kerala Chief Minister and the DGP of that State had contacted Mr. Tripathy and urged that the accused be arrested at the earliest to ensure that such crimes were not committed against any other girl.

Mr. Latheef said in one of the notes in her phone, his daughter blamed a professor of Humanities for her drastic step. He wanted the professor arrested. He said his daughter was frightened of the professor. It was difficult for her to attend class. She did not even go to collect her answer sheets. “I have doubts about her death. The CCTV footage has not been given to us yet. Where did she find the rope that was found in her room? After her death too, people have entered the room. We are not sure if Fathima was killed or it was suicide. I am a helpless man from Kerala and I want all your support. Only a thorough investigation can bring out the truth,” said Mr. Latheef.

“One more Fathima should not happen in this country. No person with such potential or calibre should die like this. Was she killed or was it a suicide? The media should find out,” he said.

Meets Stalin

Mr. Latheef met DMK president and Leader of Opposition in Assembly M.K. Stalin and sought his support in the matter. DMK students’ wing staged a protest on Friday in front of the IIT campus, demanding that persons responsible for Fathima’s death be arrested.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Meghalina, who is the chief investigation officer, visited IIT and began the probe.

Tamil Maanila Congress leader G.K. Vasan said in Tiruchi on Friday that a proper investigation should be conducted into Fathima’s death. He said steps should be taken to make sure those responsible for her death were brought to book.

Can’t make public steps related to 2017 R.K. Nagar bribery case, EC tells HC 

FIR was quashed by a single judge of the court without poll panel’s knowledge

16/11/2019 , Legal Correspondent, CHENNAI

The Election Commission (EC) on Friday told the Madras High Court that it cannot make public the steps being taken by it with regard to the 2017 Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar bypoll bribery case First Information Report (FIR), which got quashed by a single judge of the court without its knowledge.

A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and M. Nirmal Kumar was told by Niranjan Rajagopalan, standing counsel for EC, that his instructions were that for the present, the commission did not want to disclose details in public though it had submitted all requisite information for the exclusive perusal of the court.

The submissions were made when senior counsel P. Wilson, representing N. Maruthu Ganesh, the DMK candidate during the 2017 bypoll, insisted that the EC, Income Tax department as well as the police should be ordered to make public all documents related to the issue on hand.

“They want to keep everything top secret. In a democracy, there should be some transparency. We want to know what is happening. They cannot withhold all important documents and ask me to argue this case. They are not revealing crucial information,” senior counsel argued after filing a memo insisting upon disclosure of all documents.

The EC had rescinded the bypoll in April 2017 after the I-T sleuths raided several places and seized crucial documents from the residence of the Health Minister. The documents were related to ₹89.65 crore having been reportedly given to various Ministers, including Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, for distribution among voters of R.K. Nagar.

Then, AIADMK had fielded T.T.V. Dhinakaran as its candidate in the constituency. Though an FIR was registered by the Abhiramapuram police here at the instance of the EC with regard to seizure of money, it got quashed by a single judge of the High Court in March 2018 without the commission’s knowledge.

Hence, Mr. Ganesh had approached the court insisting upon a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the entire issue. During the course of hearing of the case on Friday, Justice Sathyanarayanan pointed out that former AIADMK Minister V. Senthil Balaji, who was also allegedly involved in the distribution of money, had now swiched to the DMK.

Later, he granted time till December 18 for the EC to file its reply to the memo preferred by Mr. Ganesh.

`ராணுவத்தில் வேலை, இரவு உணவு தேவை!' - மர்ம நபரின் மோசடியால் கொதிக்கும் கும்பகோணம் ஹோட்டல்கள்

கே.குணசீலன்  vikatan 14.11.2019

கும்பகோணத்தில் உள்ள ஹோட்டல்களில் செல்போனில் பேசிய மர்ம நபர் ராணுவத்தில் பணிபுரிவதாகக் கூறி உணவு ஆர்டர் கொடுத்து மோசடி செய்த சம்பவம் அதிர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.



மர்ம நபர் பேசிய செல்போன் எண்ணில் இருந்த புகைப்படம்

ராணுவத்தில் பணிபுரிவதாகக் கூறி ஹோட்டல்களில் உணவை ஆர்டர் செய்து நூதன மோசடி செய்த நபரால், கொந்தளிக்கின்றனர் உணவக உரிமையாளர்கள்.

`கோயில் நகரம்' என்று அழைக்கப்படுகிற கும்பகோணத்துக்கு இந்தியா முழுவதுமிருந்து சுற்றுலாப் பயணிகள் வந்து செல்கின்றனர். இந்தநிலையில், கடந்த சில தினங்களாக கும்பகோணத்தில் உள்ள சில சைவ மற்றும் அசைவ ஹோட்டல்களை செல்போன் மூலம் தொடர்புகொள்ளும் நபர் ஒருவர், `நாங்கள் ராணுவத்தில் பணிபுரிகிறோம் எங்களுக்கு இரவு உணவு தேவைப்படுகிறது' என இந்தியில் பேசி ஆர்டர் கொடுப்பதை வழக்கமாக வைத்திருக்கிறார்.

உணவு தயாரான பிறகு கடை ஊழியர்கள், சம்பந்தப்பட்ட நபரைத் தொடர்பு கொண்டு, `சாப்பாடு ரெடியாக இருக்கிறது வந்து வாங்கிக் கொள்ளுங்கள்' எனக் கூறினால், `நாங்கள் ரயிலில் வந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறோம், உங்கள் ஏ.டி.எம் கார்டு விபரம் இருந்தால் சொல்லுங்கள். ஆன்லைன் மூலம் பணத்தை செலுத்திவிடுகிறேன். வேறு ஒருவர் வந்து உணவை எடுத்துச் செல்வார்' எனக் கூறியதை நம்பி ஊழியர்களும் ஏ.டி.எம் நம்பரைக் கொடுத்துள்ளனர்.

பின்னர், மீண்டும் போன் செய்யும் அந்த மர்ம நபர், `உங்கள் செல் நம்பருக்கு ஓ.டி.பி வந்திருக்கும். அதைச் சொன்னால்தான் பணம் உங்கள் வங்கிக் கணக்குக்கு வரும்' எனக் கூற, ஹோட்டல் ஊழியர்களும் ஓ.டி.பி நம்பரைக் கொடுத்துள்ளனர். சிறிது நேரத்தில் அந்த ஊழியரின் வங்கிக் கணக்கிலிருந்து போனில் பேசிய மர்ம நபர்கள் ரூ 20,000 எடுத்து மோசடி செய்திருப்பது தெரியவந்துள்ளது.

பணம் போனது ஒருபுறம், ஆயிரக்கணக்கில் மதிப்புடைய பார்சல் கட்டப்பட்ட உணவு வீணாவது மறுபுறம் என இரட்டிப்பு நஷ்டம் ஏற்பட்டதை ஹோட்டல் ஊழியர்களால் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியவில்லை.

இப்படி ஏமாந்துவிட்டோமே என யாரும் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் கொடுக்கவில்லை. ஹோட்டல் உரிமையாளர்கள் சங்கத்தில் மட்டும் புகார் தெரிவித்தோம்.ஹோட்டல் உரிமையாளர்

இந்த நூதன மோசடி குறித்து ஹோட்டல் உரிமையாளர் ஒருவரிடம் பேசினோம். ``மகாமகம் குளக்கரை அருகே உள்ள சைவ ஹோடல்கள், தலைமை தபால் நிலையம் அருகே உள்ள அசைவ ஹோட்டல் ஆகியவற்றின் செல் நம்பருக்கு அழைத்த மர்ம நபர் ஒருவரால் நாங்கள் மிகவும் நஷ்டப்பட்டுவிட்டோம். இப்பகுதியில் பல மாநிலங்களில் இருந்தும் பயணிகள் வருவதால் ஓரளவுக்கு இந்தி பேச தெரிந்த நபர்கள் ஒவ்வொரு ஹோட்டலிலும் இருப்பது மோசடி நபர்களுக்கு வசதியாகிவிட்டது. மர்ம நபர் அழைத்த வாட்ஸ்அப் எண்ணில் மூன்று பேர் ராணுவ உடையில் இருக்கும் போட்டோ உள்ளது. அவர்கள் வட நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள்போல் இருக்கிறார்கள்.

ராணுவ உடையில் இருக்கும் போட்டோவைப் பார்த்து ஊழியர்களும் உண்மையென நம்பிவிட்டனர். அந்த ஊழியரின் செல் நம்பருக்கு எஸ்.எம்.எஸ் வந்த பிறகுதான் மோசடி செய்யப்பட்டதே தெரிய வருகிறது. இதேபோல் இன்னும் சில ஹோட்டல்களில் பேசி வங்கிக் கணக்கில் பணத்தை எடுத்து நூதன முறையில் மோசடி செய்துள்ளனர்.

மகாமக குளம்

இப்படி ஏமாந்துவிட்டோமே என யாரும் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் கொடுக்கவில்லை. ஹோட்டல் உரிமையாளர்கள் சங்கத்தில் மட்டும் புகார் தெரிவித்தோம். அனைத்து ஹோட்டல்களுக்கும் அந்த போட்டோவையும் அந்த நபர் பேசிய ஆடியோவையும் அனுப்பி, `இதுபோன்று பேசினால் யாரும் ஏ.டி.எம் விவரத்தைத் தந்து ஏமாந்துவிடாதீர்கள், இவர்கள் மோசடி நபர்கள்' என எச்சரிக்கை செய்வதுடன் விழிப்புணர்வையும் ஏற்படுத்தி வருகிறோம்.

ராணுவத்தின் பெயரைச் சொல்லும் இவர்கள் உண்மையிலேயே அங்கு பணி செய்கிறார்களா இல்லையா... அது அவர்களுடைய போட்டோதானா என்பதைக் கண்டறிய காவல்துறையினர் தாமாக முன் வந்து வழக்கு பதிவு செய்து விசாரணை நடத்த வேண்டும்" என்றார் வேதனையுடன்.

Doctor who took bribe from pregnant woman for delivery gets three years in jail, rigorous imprisonment
   
Tuesday 12 November, 2019 | 12:31 AM READ MALAYALAM VERSION

THIRUVANNATHAPURAM: The Vigilance court has sentenced Kollam Mundakkal Udayamarthandapuram native Dr Rinu Anas Ravuthar to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 50,000 for demanding bribe from a pregnant woman for delivery.

The incident happened on December 2, 2011 at Kollam Kadakkal Taluk hospital, where the heavily pregnant woman Raseena was rushed after she developed labour pain. The doctor demanded Rs 3500 bribe for delivering her baby.

The instruction of the doctor was to handover the money to him at his private clinic.

Later, on the basis of the complaint, the Vigilance officers of the Kollam unit gave currency notes smeared with Phenolphthalein to him, asking him to hand it over to the doctor.

The Kollam collector was also apprised of the plan and according to his instruction, two Tehsildars were sent to witness the doctor receiving bribe. When Raseena’s husband gave money, the doctor didn’t receive it by hand and instead, asked him to place it on the table.

Though the Vigilance officials examined the hands of the doctor, no traces of the ink was found. Though the defence lawyer highlighted this point, the judge said that it was convinced of the offence committed by the doctor.

Vigilance legal advisor Unnikrishnan S Cherunniyoor appeared for the Vigilance.

Chennai: Babysitter held for molestation 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Nov 13, 2019, 1:59 am IST

Dad attacks 19-yr-old, hands him over to cops.

Chennai: A babysitter accused of molesting a one-and-half-year-old girl was attacked by the girl’s family and handed over at the Tambaram All Women police station, on Tuesday morning.

The accused was identified as Ramesh (19) of Kannadapalayam near Chengalpet. The incident happened on Sunday and the accused was on the run since then, but was caught by the girl’s family on Tuesday.

According to police, the infant daughter of a couple who worked as daily wagers, was left in her grandmother’s custody when the couple were at work. On Sunday morning, the old woman had work in Chengalpet and after the couple left for work, the accused, Ramesh, was asked to babysit.

Around 1 pm, when the mother came home, she found the baby crying. When asked about it, Ramesh did not reply and fled from the spot. The child did not stop crying and she seemed exhausted. On Monday, the mother took her child to the Chromepet government hospital, The doctor who examined the child told the mother that the child had been repeatedly raped. The girl was shifted to Egmore Children’s hospital and is under treatment.

A police complaint was lodged by the family and a search launched for Ramesh. Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, the girl’s father found Ramesh and assaulted him. He was later handed over to police.

The Tambaram all-women police booked the accused under the Pocso Act and remanded him in judicial custody.

Madras high court restrains Dindigul Star Biriyani from using trademark 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Nov 13, 2019, 2:06 am IST

The food preparations made and served in Ambur Star Biriyani hotel has acquired enormous popularity through out Tamil Nadu and other states.

Madras high court

Chennai: The Madras high court has restrained Dindigul Star Biriyani from in any manner infringing the trade mark and trading style “Ambur Star Biriyani” by using the offending trade mark and trading style “Star Biriyani” or any other mark which are similar to the trade mark “Ambur Star Biriyani”.

Justice N.Satish Kumar granted the interim injunction on an application arising out of a suit filed by M.Anees Ahmed, represented by its proprietor, M/s Ambur Star Biriyani.

Applicant's counsel Vijayan Subramanian submitted that originally the great-grand father of the plaintiff late Hasain Baig was a cook in the kitchens of the Arcot Nawabs. His great grandfather was a well-known cook during Nawabs period. His great grandfather got very popular while cooking for royal family wedding of Nawabs and he became very popular among various kings who attended the royal family weddings of the Nawabs. His great grandfather started his own hotel under the name of “Ambur Star Biriyani” in the year 1890 at Ambur. After his demise, the plaintiff's predecessors continued the business in the name of Ambur Star Biriyani all over the world. The food preparations made and served in Ambur Star Biriyani hotel has acquired enormous popularity through out Tamil Nadu and other states by virtue of extensive tourist flow through Ambur Town as it was the transit point for Bangalore, Tirupati, Salem, Pondicherry and Chennai, Vijayan Subramanian added.

He said the trademark and trading style Ambur Star Biriyani was being associated exclusively with the original business commenced by the plaintiff predecessors at Ambur and subsequently extended to other cities in Tamil Nadu by the plaintiff. The trading style and trade mark Star Biriyani was being exclusively associated with the plaintiff and their predecessors. While so, Raja, represented by its proprietor, Dindigul Star Biriyani had approached the plaintiff and requested for a franchise to run the hotel named Ambur Star Biriyani during August 2019. The plaintiff refused to grant franchise to run the hotel named Ambur Star Biriyani. The defendant had commenced adopting identical trademark and trading style “Star Biriyani” in respect of their hotel business on October 27, 2019 by adding Dindigul to the prefix to the mark Star Biriyani and named it as “Dindigul Star Biriyani”. The defendant has adopted the identical trademark and trading style to deceive the general public and to make them believe the food preparations served at their place has the connection with plaintiff's hotel. If the defendant was allowed to continue the illegal acts in adopting the plaintiff's trade mark and trading style and vend food preparations under the offending trade mark, the plaintiff would be put to very serious loss, hardship and injury. Apart from the loss that was being caused, the plaintiff also fears that well earned reputation would be spoiled by the substandard food being served at the defendant's business premises, Vijayan Subramanian added.

Govt. allows migrants to change Aadhaar address

14/11/2019 , New Delhi

The government has allowed migrants to change their address on Aadhaar by giving self-declaration — a move aimed at helping them open bank accounts and promoting their financial inclusion. The changes were made by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules. PTI

PIL against need for sex-change certificates for amending passport 

HC seeks External Affairs Ministry’s response by Dec. 12

14/11/2019 , Legal Correspondent, CHENNAI

The Madras High Court has sought the response of the Centre by December 12 to a public interest litigation petition challenging the insistence of Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) certificates from those who apply for making changes in the column meant for mentioning the sex of a person in his/her passport.

The petitioner said, such insistence was clearly unconstitutional and in violation of every individual’s fundamental right to life and personal liberty.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and N. Seshasayee ordered notice to the Union Ministry of External Affairs Ministry and clubbed the PIL petition filed by T.D. Sivakumar along with another similar petition that was already pending in the court. The other case had been filed by transgender activist Grace Banu Ganesan, 29, of Chennai seeking horizontal reservations in education and employment for transgender and intersex persons.

In that case too, an objection had been raised with regard to the transgender and intersex persons being subjected to physical examination before enrolling them as members of a welfare board instituted by the government.

The petitioner’s counsel had contended that the choice of mentioning the sex should be given to the individuals concerned and they should not be made to undergo the rigors of physical examination by a team of doctors.

Physical examination

During the course of hearing of that case, the judges had sought for an explanation from the State government as to why such physical examination had been made mandatory while entertaining applications from the transgender.

In the present case too, Mr. Sivakumar, an LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer) activist, said, the insistence on SRS certificates had been held to be illegal by the Supreme Court in a recent verdict.

Further, the need for such certificates had been dispensed with by many countries when it came to issuing passports, he added.

Govt. doctors await call for talks 

Two weeks after federation of doctors’ associations called off strike, no word yet

14/11/2019 , Special Correspondent, CHENNAI 


 
Representatives of FOGDA at a press meet in Chennai on Wednesday.

Close to two weeks after they called off their indefinite strike, doctors affiliated to the Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) are disappointed that the State government has made no efforts to call them for talks. They have urged the Chief Minister and Health Minister to convene talks and take steps to fulfil their long-pending demands.

Lakshmi Narasimhan, convenor of FOGDA, said they met Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar six times after withdrawing the strike, urging him to convene talks with the federation. FOGDA had launched a State-wide indefinite strike on October 25 that lasted for seven days.

“We called off the strike without any conditions on November 1, following requests from the Chief Minister and Health Minister. The Health Minister had said that the government was ready to convene talks with the striking doctors and arrive at a solution to our demands if we withdraw the strike. After we called off the strike, we met the Health Secretary who said that a meeting would be held the following week,” he told reporters on Wednesday. He said when they met Dr. Vijayabaskar in Pudukottai, the Minister said that an announcement on pay band-4, which was “acceptable” to all, would be made, and other demands would be discussed. “But till now, neither have we been called for talks nor has there been any indications from the government to convene them,” he said.

FOGDA has been demanding pay band-4 as per a prospective clause in Government Order 354, implementation of GO (4D)-2 on doctors posts’, taking into account the number of patients instead of students’ strength, counselling for service postgraduates and retaining 50% service quota in postgraduation courses.

FOGDA has also urged the government to revoke the transfers of doctors who participated in the strike. Many State and district-level organisers of the strike were transferred.

Courts cannot appoint Fit Persons to manage temples, rules High Court 

Power to do so rests exclusively with the State government, says Division Bench

14/11/2019 , Legal Correspondent, CHENNAI

In a significant ruling, the Madras High Court has held that courts cannot appoint a Fit Person to perform the functions of a board of trustees of a temple, during exigencies, since such power to appoint came under the exclusive domain of the State government, under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act of 1959.

Justices R. Subbiah and T. Krishnavalli agreed with Additional Advocate General P.H. Arvindh Pandian that courts at best could only direct the government to appoint a Fit Person to manage the affairs of a temple and not pick and choose a lawyer or any other individual, on its own, to administer temples under the control of the HR&CE Department.

The judgment was passed while allowing an appeal preferred by the government against an order passed by a single judge of the High Court on April 24, 2019, appointing advocate M. Baskar as a Fit Person to manage the affairs of Chennai Sri Kalikambal Kamateswara Devasthanam, located on Thambu Chetty Street in Parrys Corner.

The appointment was made until an elected body takes charge of the Devasthanam. Assailing the decision, the AAG said Section 47(1)(c) of the HR&CE Act empowers only the government to appoint a Fit Person through the Commissioner, Joint Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of the HR&CE.

Election to board

Concurring with him, the judges set aside the single judge’s order with an observation that it was for the government to appoint a Fit Person for the management of the Devasthanam. They also left it to the government to conduct the elections to the board of trustees at the earliest, as it had been done in the past.

Though a request was made on behalf of some of the devotees to allow the Fit Person appointed by the single judge to continue until an elected body takes charge of the administration, the Division Bench rejected it in limine. “We are not in a position to accept the request,” the judges said.

“When the appointment of a Fit Person is contrary to Section 47 of the Act, the Fit Person appointed by this court cannot be permitted to continue to perform his duties any further. When a statute prescribes a particular act to be done in a particular manner, it should be done only in that manner and not in any other manner,” the Bench asserted.

‘Office of Chief Justice of India comes under RTI Act’ 

Transparency, accountability go hand-in-hand: SC Bench
 
14/11/2019 , legal correspondent, NEW DELHI 



The office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi declared on Wednesday.

The main judgment of the Constitution Bench authored by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the Supreme Court is a “public authority” and the office of the CJI is part and parcel of the institution. Hence, if the Supreme Court is a public authority, so is the office of the CJI.

Justice Khanna, who shared his judgment with CJI Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta, observed that “transparency and accountability should go hand-in-hand”. Increased transparency under RTI was no threat to judicial independence, he held.

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, in his separate and concurring opinion, eloquently observed that “judicial independence is not secured by the secrecy of cloistered halls”.

மக்களே உஷார்! சார்ஜ் போட்டிருந்த செல்போன் வெடித்ததில், தூங்கிக் கொண்டிருந்த இளைஞர் பலி!
By ENS | Published on : 12th November 2019 01:15 PM |

இளைஞர் பலி

புவனேஸ்வர்: சார்ஜ்ஜில் போட்டபடி, செல்போனில் பேசாதீர்கள் என்று பொதுமக்களிடையே விழிப்புணர்வு ஏற்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருக்கும் நிலையில், உறங்கும் போது செல்போனை அருகே சார்ஜில் போடும் பழக்கம் கொண்டவர்களை அதிர்ச்சியில் ஆழ்த்தியுள்ளது இந்த சம்பவம்.

ஒடிசா மாநிலம் புவனேஸ்வரில் ஜகத்சிங்புர் மாவட்டத்தில் சார்ஜ்ஜில் போட்டிருந்த செல்போன் வெடித்ததில், அருகே உறங்கிக் கொண்டிருந்த 22 வயது இளைஞர் மரணம் அடைந்தார்.

ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை இரவு இளைஞர் உறங்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கும் போது, முழுவதுமாக சார்ஜ் ஏறிய செல்போன் திடீரென வெடித்துச் சிதறியது. இதில், அருகே இருந்த குணா பிரதான் என்ற இளைஞர் மரணம் அடைந்தார்.

பாரதீப் பகுதியில் ஜெகன்னாதர் கோயில் கட்டும் பணியில் ஈடுபட்டு வந்த தொழிலாளியான குணா பிரதான் மரணம் குறித்து தகவல் அறிந்து விரைந்து வந்த காவல்துறையினர், இளைஞரின் உடலைக் கைப்பற்றி பிரேத பரிசோதனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.

இந்த சம்பவம், தினமும் இரவில் தலையணைக்கு அருகே செல்போனை சார்ஜில் போட்டபடி உறங்கும் அனைவருக்கும் கடும் அதிர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

மாணவன் கைரேகை ஆய்வுக்கு உத்தரவு

Added : நவ 13, 2019 01:08

மதுரை : 'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள்மாறாட்ட வழக்கில், மாணவரின் கைரேகையை ஆய்வு செய்ய, உயர் நீதிமன்ற கிளை உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

சென்னை, கோபாலபுரம் மாணவர் ரிஷிகாந்த், 19, அவரது தந்தை ரவிகுமார், 61, உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளையில் தாக்கல் செய்த மனு:'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள் மாறாட்ட வழக்கில், சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி., போலீசார் எங்களை விசாரணைக்கு அழைக்கின்றனர். எங்களை கைது செய்வரோ என அச்சப்படுகிறோம். முன்ஜாமின் அனுமதிக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு, மனுவில் கோரியிருந்தனர் .நீதிபதி, ஜி.ஆர்.சுவாமிநாதன் உத்தரவு:ரிஷிகாந்தின் கைவிரல் ரேகை பதிவுகளை ஆய்வு செய்ய வேண்டியுள்ளது. இதற்காக அவர், சம்பந்தப்பட்ட கல்லுாரியில் ஆஜராக வேண்டும்.

மனுதாரர்கள் இருவரையும் கைது செய்யக்கூடாது என ஏற்கனவே பிறப்பித்த உத்தரவு, நவ. 19 வரை நீட்டிக்கப்படுகிறது.இவ்வாறு, அவர் கூறினார்.

வேலை இல்லாமல் 10 ஆயிரம் டாக்டர்கள்

Added : நவ 13, 2019 00:34

சென்னை : ''டாக்டர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை தொடர்ந்து அதிகரித்து வருவதால், அவர்களுக்கு வேலை இல்லாத நிலை ஏற்பட்டு வருகிறது,'' என, மருத்துவ கவுன்சில் துணை தலைவர் சுரேந்திரன் கூறினார்.

தமிழக மருத்துவ கவுன்சில் துணை தலைவர் சுரேந்திரன் அளித்த பேட்டி: தமிழக மருத்துவ கவுன்சிலில், 1.40 லட்சம் டாக்டர்கள் பதிவு செய்துள்ளனர். இவர்களில், 1.15 லட்சம் பேர், தமிழகத்தில் பணியாற்றுகின்றனர். உலக சுகாதார நிறுவனம், ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு, ஒரு டாக்டர் இருக்க வேண்டும் என, வரையறை செய்துள்ளது. தமிழகத்தில், 719 பேருக்கு, ஒரு டாக்டர் உள்ளனர்.மக்கள் தொகை வளர்ச்சி விகிதம் குறைந்து வருகிறது;

டாக்டர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை அதிகரித்து வருகிறது. இந்த நிலை தொடர்ந்தால், ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு, இரண்டு டாக்டர்கள் என்ற, நிலை வரும். டாக்டர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை அதிகரித்து வருவதால், வேலைவாய்ப்பு இழக்கும் சூழல் ஏற்படும். தமிழகத்தில், 10 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட டாக்டர்கள், வேலை இல்லாமல் உள்ளனர்.எனவே, டாக்டர்களின் எண்ணிக்கையை அதிகரிப்பதற்கு பதிலாக, மருத்துவமனைகளின் தரத்தை மேம்படுத்த வேண்டும். பணம் சம்பாதிக்கவும், ஆடம்பரத்துக்காகவும், டாக்டருக்கு படிக்க வேண்டாம் என்ற, விழிப்புணர்வு ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும்.

ஆண்டுக்கு, 4,500 பேர், எம்.பி.பி.எஸ்., முடிக்கின்றனர். அவர்கள், முதுநிலை மருத்துவம் படிக்க, அதற்கான இடங்களை அதிகரிக்க வேண்டும். இதுகுறித்த பரிந்துரைகளை, மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகளுக்கு அனுப்பியுள்ளோம். இவ்வாறு, அவர் கூறினார்.

On convocation day, JNU students protest against fee hike, clash with police

The protest, which has entered its third week, is against the new hostel manual which has recently been passed by the University’s hostel committee.

DELHI Updated: Nov 11, 2019 21:58 IST

HT Correspondent

Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Students of JNU protest outside All India Council For Technical Education during JNU convocation, against fee hike in New Delhi on 11 November 2019(Biplov Bhuyan/HT)

Hundreds of slogan-shouting students of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) clashed with the police outside the campus on Monday as they protested against the administration’s “anti-student” policies, including a 300% raise in hostel fee.

The protests, which started in the morning, escalated as the day progressed with angry crowds of students pushing against police personnel in anti-riot gear.

It forced Union human resource development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to remain inside an auditorium close to the campus for more than six hours.

The students are demanding the withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, which they claim has provisions for the fee hike, dress code and curfew timings.

JNU has hiked the rent for a single room from Rs 10 to Rs 300, that for a double room from Rs 20 to Rs 600 and one-time refundable mess security deposit from Rs 5,500 to Rs 12,000.

JNU students clash with cops during protest against fee hike
JNU students protested outside the AICTE building in Vasant Kunj against the new hostel manual.

“Police while exercising restraint have kept the situation under control. We are in contact with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) authorities as well as students. Our talks with the students are on,” Delhi Police’s spokesperson Mandeep S Randhawa said, according to news agency ANI.

Earlier in the morning, the students wanted to march to the auditorium of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), about 3km away from the university campus in south Delhi, where vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu was addressing the university’s convocation.

But they were stopped a short distance away. AICTE’s gates were locked and security personnel were stationed in and outside the premises.

Barricades were placed outside the north and west gates of the JNU campus as well as on the route between the AICTE auditorium and the university on Baba Balaknath Marg and in nearby areas, a police officer said.

Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory on Twitter asking commuters to avoid Nelson Mandela Marg where the JNU students are protesting.

“Traffic movement is closed on Nelson Mandela Marg from Vasant Vihar to Vasant Kunj (both carriageways) due to demonstration. Kindly avoid the stretch,” they tweeted at 5:47pm.

Slogans, tambourines

Students broke police blockades and marched towards AICTE around 11.30am. They beat tambourines, shouted slogans like “Delhi Police Go Back” and called vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar a “thief”.

The police had to use water cannons to disperse the protestors and detain some of them, officials said.

Union HRD minister ‘Nishank’ was stuck inside the AICTE auditorium for more than six hours as protests by JNU students escalated, forcing him to cancel two events later in the day, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

‘Nishank’ along with vice-president Venkaiah Naidu was at AICTE to attend JNU’s third convocation ceremony. While Naidu left the premises before the protest escalated, Nishank had to stay inside.

JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) said in a statement that the fee rise “crushes the dream of equality”.

“The fee hike will affect an overwhelming number of students. It denies those from the deprived sections to avail education if they cannot pay,” JNUSU said in a statement.

“It crushes the dream of equality irrespective of the ability to afford. Other provisions like Dress Code and Curfew timings reflect the regressive dystopia that the admin wants JNU to become,” the students’ body added.

The Union HRD minister left the AICTE premises around 4.15pm after he spoke with the office bearers of JNUSU and assured them that their demands would be looked into.

“Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank held positive talks with JNU students about their problems today at the AICTE campus. The Union Minister assured that their problems will be resolved soon,” the ministry tweeted.

‘Not the end’

The HRD minister has promised that students’ union would be called for meeting to the ministry.

“Historic day for us that we broke barricades, reached the convocation venue and met the minister. This could happen because we were united,” JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.

“This is not the end of our movement. We urged the HRD minister to ask the V-C to have a dialogue with the students. It is due to the V-C that things have come to be like this,” the JNUSU president said.

“We will have to ask the executive council members to reject the hostel manual in its upcoming meeting on Wednesday,” Ghosh said.

They, however, were not able to meet V-C Jagadesh Kumar.

Students wanted to meet the vice-chancellor and demand the withdrawal of the draft hostel manual.

The protest is part of the agitation against several other issues like restrictions by the administration on entry to the Parthasarathy Rocks, attempts to lock students’ union office, according to the students.

The students’ union has been on a strike against the draft hostel manual, which was approved by the inter-hall administration. The union has said they would continue to until the hostel manual is withdrawn.

(With agency inputs)

Institution-Industry Connect: UGC Seeks Public Response On Draft Report

The draft report, "Enabling and Enhancing University Linkage Programme", is prepared by a Working Group constituted by the UGC.

Education | Edited by Shihabudeen Kunju S | Updated: November 12, 2019 17:17 IST

The UGC asked the stakeholders to send their suggestions on the report latest by November 22, 2019.

NEW DELHI:

The University Grants Commission or UGC, the higher education regulator, released a draft report on 'Social & Industry Connect for every institution' seeking views and suggestions from stakeholders including teachers, students, researchers and those involved in the field. The draft report, "Enabling and Enhancing University Linkage Programme" which is available online, is prepared by a Working Group constituted by the UGC to study the subject in depth and evolve a strategy as well as road map for implementation towards enhancing the linkages.

"In its report", according to the Commission, "the working group proposes specific measures to create an enabling eco system for fostering and enhancing university-industry linkage".

"It has been decided to solicit views/suggestions from stakeholders including teachers, students, researchers and those involved in the field. The draft report on "Enabling and Enhancing University Linkage Programme" are available on UGC website," the Commission said.

The Central Government Body which works under the Ministry of Human Resource Development asked the stakeholders to send their suggestions or comments on the report latest by November 22, 2019.

"... active engagement of industry personnel in academic activities along with exposure to students/research scholars to industrial settings through internships help in development of the desired skill-set," says the report.

"In developed countries, the alliance has been operative and standing viable for close to 4 decades, unruffled by the changes and shifts in the political landscape. Although, India is home to nearly one thousand universities, it has not fully realized the true potential of U-I collaborations, barring a few sporadic cases of such alliances," it adds.

The Working Group was consisted of Prof. l. K. Bhat, Prof. Rupinder Tewari, Prof. Ravindra D. Kulkarni, Dr. D Yogeswara Rao, Prof. Dileep Malkhede, Prof. A. K. Sapre and Dr. Renu Batra.
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RGUHS introduces Kannada textbook for 1st-yr students

tnn | Nov 11, 2019, 04.30 AM IST

Bengaluru: For the first time, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has introduced a Kannada textbook for non-Kannadiga first-year students to learn the local language with the help of easy tools.

It was launched on November 5 during a Kannada Rajyotsava event. The university enrols nearly 18,000 students for its MBBS, BDS, pharma, nursing, ayurveda, unani, homeopathy, yoga and naturopathy courses every year. For MBBS and BDS, the number of non-Kannadiga students is over 30-35%. It’s much higher for other courses, with 45-50% of the students coming from other states.

Though learning Kannada was encouraged earlier as well, no textbook was available. “The Balake Kannada textbook has only been introduced to encourage students to learn the language. All colleges affiliated to RGUHS have to appoint a Kannada teacher,” said Dr S Sacchidananda, director, RGUHS. The textbook is likely to be introduced for the current batch (2019-20). Co-authored by Dr PS Shankar and Dr P Mahadevaiah , the bilingual textbook helps students learn basic conversation in Kannada. It also contains medical terminology — including body parts, anatomical structure and symptoms of common disorders — which will enable students to converse with patients.

“The book contains words and small sentences, and also has English meanings. It familiarises students with consonants, vowels and compound consonants. The annexure at the end features medical terms in Kannada. This has to be utilised while teaching,” explained Dr Shankar, professor emeritus, RGUHS.
The students’ association welcomed the move. “It will help medical students, especially during their one-year internship. Learning a new language is always good,” said Dr L N Reddy, president, Resident Doctors’ Association in Karnataka.

Kamal will face the same fate as Sivaji in politics: Palaniswami

‘Actor started party as he had become old and film opportunities were on the wane’

13/11/2019, , VIGNESH VIJAYAKUMAR,SALEM

On the offensive: The CM took a dig at Kamal Haasan over his party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls. File photo

Countering the criticisms levelled at him by actor-politician Kamal Haasan, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has said Mr. Haasan will face the same fate as thespian Sivaji Ganesan in politics.

“They say there is a [political] vacuum [in Tamil Nadu]. Why then did they not contest the Nanguneri and Vikravandi bypolls? Mr. Kamal Haasan is a ‘tall leader’. How many votes did he get in the Parliamentary election? He has launched a political party because he has become old, and opportunities for him in films have started to decline. That is his democratic right, and there is nothing wrong in it. But it is not okay to simply criticise others,” Mr. Palaniswami said.

Speaking about his political journey at a meeting of AIADMK workers on Tuesday, Mr. Palaniswami said he joined the party in 1974, and had been working for the welfare of the people for 45 years. He said he rose through the ranks by organising protests and working for the people’s welfare and winning their support. “What welfare measures have they [actors] implemented for the people? They continue to act in films and increase their income. They are trying to paint a picture of their having huge support among the public. Everyone is aware of what happened when Sivaji Ganesan started a political party and faced elections. He [Mr. Haasan] will face a similar fate. What does he know about politics? Does he have any idea how many panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations exist and what the needs are of the people residing there?” the Chief Minister asked.

When asked whether he thought actor and aspiring politician Rajinikanth will also face a similar fate, the CM said he was “not ready to answer based on assumptions”.

Regarding the National Highways Authority of India’s decision to scrap projects worth around ₹5,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Palaniswami said the projects were scrapped owing to delays in the acquisition and handing over of land for their implementation as a result of litigations and opposition from the public. He added that the public and the media should support the government in implementing development projects. The CM said he will discuss this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on his next visit to New Delhi.

Residents protest against transfer of inspector
13/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

In an unusual gesture, women resorted to a spontaneous protest opposing the transfer of a police inspector from Kasimedu.

Inspector P.R. Chidambara Murugesan was recently transferred from Kasimedu and posted as Ambattur Inspector. However, women squatted on the road against this. A woman said, “We will not allow our inspector to be shifted. As long as he was here, there was no occurrence of crime and rowdies were controlled.”

Students should help improve country’s economy: Smriti Irani
1,701 graduands receive degrees at convocation held in VIT

13/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

From left, VIT chancellor G. Viswanathan, Union Minister Smriti Irani, Indian Bank MD Padmaja Chunduru and VIT vice-president G.V. Selvam at the convocation in Chennai.M. Karunakaran

Students should make the best use of the knowledge they acquire to improve the country’s economy, said Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Textiles and for Women and Child Development, during her convocation address at the Vellore Institute of Technology’s Chennai campus on Tuesday.

Ms. Irani, cited research studies by the students of the institute and said, “Artificial intelligence in healthcare is slated to grow by 40% and value of of AI in healthcare will reach US$6.6 billion in India in 2021.”

“The market for AI in agriculture will grow to $2.6 billion in the next two years. In education technology, it is set to grow to $252 billion,” she said. Earlier, she opened an auditorium on the premises.

Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director, Indian Bank, said students had many options unlike in the past. She urged graduates to take a decision after weighing the pros and cons of their decision. The bank has been the pioneer in the self-help group movement with around six lakh SHGs comprising 42 lakh women, mostly in Tamil Nadu and the southern States, Ms. Chunduru said.

VIT chancellor G. Viswanathan said if the government wants to increase the gross enrolment ratio of higher education then it should invest at least 6% of the GDP in the sector.

Women empowerment

The concentration of women in the workforce has fallen. Representation of women in the country’s administrative sectors (currently 15%) and judiciary (11%), policy making (Assembly 9% and Parliament 11%) must be increased to enable women participate in economic development. For this to happen, the government should offer free higher education to women, as it was being done in over 30 countries, he said.

As many as 1,701 graduands received their degrees, including 64 Ph.D students.

A health centre at Medavakkam

13.11.2019

Residents of Medavakkam have got a reason to cheer as Dr Kamakshi Memorial Hospital has launched a multispeciality clinic there, which was inaugurated by Justice PT Asha, Additional Judge, High Court of Madras, on November 9. She was awarded the Outstanding Woman Lawyer award by the Women Lawyers Association, during the Sesquicentennial celebration of the High Court of Madras.

After serving the community for nearly 15 years in Pallikaranai, the hospital is now looking to extend their services. It is believed that the institution has earned a good name in terms of medical services, infrastructure, expert doctors and facilities under the guidance of its founder chairman, Dr TG Govindarajan. This health centre is said to be equipped with necessary medical needs and their services are said to include healthcare for the entire family, encompassing child-care, women’s health, geriatrics, weight loss, bone and joint and much more. They also boast of facilities like laboratory, USG, echo and physiotherapy services.

In addition to this, the multispecialty clinic is also said to have a 24/7 pharmacy and a digital X-Ray department. A fully equipped ambulance whose availability is just a phone call away is another service the institution is said to have.

For further details call: 89395 88488

Justice PT Asha, Additional Judge, High Court of Madras, inaugurating the multispeciality clinic

Women tahsildars in Telangana, Hyd told to carry pepper sprays

Sushil.Rao@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad  13.11.2019

: Women tahsildars in Hyderabad and across Telangana have been asked to carry pepper sprays to defend themselves from possible attacks, officials said on Tuesday, a week after Vijaya Reddy, a mandal revenue officer, was burnt alive in her office in Hyderabad.

There are nearly 1,000 tahsildars in the state, including 400 women.

“While the attack on Vijaya was unexpected, the least women tahsildars can do now is to be on guard and take precautions. Since women are more vulnerable than men, we have advised them to be more vigilant and carry pepper sprays,” V Lachi Reddy, president of the deputy collectors’ association told TOI.

Vijaya was burnt alive by farmer Kura Suresh, and since then several other women tahsildars have faced similar threats by farmers. There have been some incidents of people walking into the offices carrying a bottle of petrol. In one instance, when the bottle was placed on the table, it was immediately removed by alert officials.

Full report on www.toi.in

‘A person on the verge of death can’t tell false tale’
K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:13.11.2019

Stating that no false story can be penned down or concocted by a person, when he/she is on the verge of death, the Madras high court has confirmed the conviction and life sentence awarded by a lower court to a person who murdered his wife by setting her on fire in Theni district.

According to the prosecution, the appellant Govindaraj assaulted his wife using a stick and set her on fire on July 20, 2010, after she kept insisting him to redeem her pledged jewellery. Though the woman was taken to the hospital, she died due to severe injuries. The Bodi Town police station registered a case and arrested Govindaraj. The Theni fast track mahila court on June 28, 2017, convicted and awarded life sentence to Govindaraj.

Govindaraj moved the high court Madurai bench in 2018 seeking to set aside the conviction and sentence.

The counsel appearing for Govindaraj said that his wife poured kerosene on herself in order to threaten her husband which eventually resulted in her death.

Move to regularise 4,000 guest lecturers sparks debate

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:13.11.2019

The state government’s move to regularise guest lecturers in government arts and science colleges has stirred a major debate as aspirants argued that it is against the rules of reservation and UGC regulations.

As many as 2,423 guest lecturers work in shift-1 and 1,661 in shift-2 in 114 government arts and science colleges across the state. They work for just ₹15,000 a month.

The directorate of collegiate education (DCE) asked the regional directorates to gather the details of qualified guest lecturers working in government colleges for more than five years. As per the direction, the guest lecturers with NET/SLET/SET or PhD qualification with five years experience may be regularised.

While the move raised the hope of guest lecturers in government colleges, professors and aspirants criticised it saying the appointment won’t be based on merit.

They pointed out that many colleges appointed guest lecturers without following the roster system or open advertisement. “Regularising them based on their experience would set a wrong precedent,” a professor said, adding it would facilitate corruption in appointment. Along with the guest lecturers in government colleges, lecturers in private colleges too work for a low salary, he added.

V Thangaraj, president of Tamil Nadu All Government Colleges UGC-qualified Guest Lecturers’ Association, said the guest lecturers have contributed immensely in the absence of regular teachers in government colleges. “The state government is not regularising all the guest lecturers. Of 4,000, only around 2,100 may have UGC qualification with five years’ experience,” he said. He also said the guest lecturers should be appointed through advertisements in newspapers.

A functionary from Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers’ Association said all aspirants should get equal opportunity for government jobs. “We are not against guest lecturers. But, they have to come through due process. Their experience in government arts and science colleges alone should not be the criterion,” the functionary said.

Tamil Nadu Government Colleges Guest Lecturers Welfare Association vice-president S Vasanthakumar said the state government is considering regularisation after continuous protests by the guest lecturers. “Some vested interests are opposing the move by the government and planting wrong information,” he alleged.

Officials from higher education department said the government is considering the demand and is yet to make a final decision.

“Many guest lecturers have been working for more than 12, 13 years in the government colleges. On humanitarian grounds, the state government is considering their demand. We will follow reservation and roster system if we regularise them,” officials said.

DVAC yet to act in ₹350cr police scam

Officials Involved In Racket Not Summoned

A.Selvaraj@timesgroup.com

Chennai:13.11.2019

Nearly two months after the state home department ordered a vigilance probe into the ₹350crore police equipment purchase scam, directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) sleuths are yet to summon officials allegedly involved in the scam for inquiry.

Superintendent of police (technical services) M Anbuchezhian, who was named by the home department for criminal misconduct and possibly causing pecuniary loss to the government, continues in his post. His continuation in the office may hinder an impartial inquiry, say senior officials. He transferred the superintendent of ministerial staff, the custodian of key documents in the technical services, to Ramanathapuram last week. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “How can we give statements against a sitting officer above us in the hierarchy? The transfer of Rajan Singh sends a clear message to us that it could happen to anyone of us. We are being intimidated by the move.”

Officials in the technical services department said the transfer was initiated on administrative grounds. The transfer order was endorsed by ADGP (technical services) Ashok Kumar Das. The department had forwarded some of the documents pertaining to the scam to the DVAC in September last. The probe agency has assigned a deputy superintendent of police to begin investigation by summoning the ministerial staff, who maintained the records, and officials related to the issue. Plans are on to issue formal summons to those awarded contracts by Anbuchezhian as technical services SP.

DVAC officials have visited some of the contractors registered as ‘A’ class vendors with the technical services department and collected documents pertaining to the scam. Anbuchezhian, who has been holding the post of SP (technical wing) since 2013, was a part of tender scrutiny committees that fixed the eligibility norms for companies bidding for equipment such as digital mobile radio systems, CCTVs and other electronic items.

TN sanctions ₹600cr for 6 medical colleges

Land For Colleges Identified

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.11.2019

The state government has identified locations for setting up six new medical colleges in six districts and released ₹600 crore for kickstarting the construction work.

While this would increase the number of MBBS seats in the state by 900, the government is likely to begin admissions by 2021. Land has been identified and transferred for establishing the new medical colleges in Dindigul, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, the Nilgiris and Tiruppur districts.

In six identical orders issued on Tuesday, health secretary Beela Rajesh said that the government examined the proposal of the director of medical education and sanctioned the release of ₹100 crores for the construction of each medical college. As per estimates, each medical college would require ₹325 crore for construction, of which the state government’s share would be 40%. The remaining 60% funds would be borne by the Centre.

According to the government order, the new medical colleges are being constructed in land parcels of nine acres at Kooraikoondu in Virudhunagar, 11. 28 acre plot in Tiruppur town, Rakkiyapaayam group of Nallur village in Tiruppur district, 25 acres in a village in Udhagamandalam, 8 acres at Adiyanathoo village in Dindigul district, 10 acres in Siluvampatti village in Namakkal district and 9 acres at Pattinamkathan village at Ramanathapuram district.

The land has been transferred to the department of health and family welfare. The state government has also obtained approval of the technical evolution committee of the Centre and issued essentiality certificate for starting the new government medical colleges.

Each medical college will be offering 150 seats that would push the total seats available in the state to 4,150 seats. “The aim is to complete constructions and seek permission from MCI to start admissions for first year MBBS by 2021 in all six colleges,” director of medical education R Narayanababu told TOI.

The new medical colleges are based on the state government's decision on ‘one government medical college’ in each district.

Two doctors barred from practising for ‘negligence’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:At least two doctors have been barred from practising by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for a year on charges of ‘misconduct and negligence’. It has also banned six other doctors for six months for advertising their names on online directories to increase footfalls in their clinics. Fines were imposed on six other doctors.

On Tuesday, the council resolved to suspend Tiruchengod-based Dr V A Raghupathy for negligence and inadequate post-surgical care that led to loss of vision in a patient. A disciplinary committee found him guilty during inquiry and recommended action.

Another doctor from Theni, Dr Elango, was also removed from the rolls for a year as he was found aiding a quack practise medicine in the district. Five other doctors who were supporting Dr Elango were asked to pay a penalty. The council has removed the names of both the doctors from the state medical registry.