‘Doctors to be trained in advanced treatment protocols’

Health Dept. inks MoU with UK’s King’s College Hospital

21/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu’s Health Department, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UK’s King’s College Hospital, will impart training to doctors on advanced treatment protocols for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said.

Shortly after releasing a video to create awareness on Parkinson’s disease on Wednesday, she said the Kings College Hospital, in the first phase, was focussing on neurological disorders.

The MoU was signed during the visit of Chief Minister and Health Minister to the UK.

“The first focus is on bringing in treatment protocols for neurological disorders. There are advanced treatment protocols in many foreign countries. We will be training our doctors and starting the procedures here,” she said. Hands-on training and demonstrations would be organised for doctors, she added.

Rehabilitation unit

As per an announcement in the Assembly, a neurological rehabilitation unit will be established at the Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, K.K. Nagar at a cost of ₹64 crore. “When a person is diagnosed with a neuro-degenerative disease and is prescribed medicines, he/she also needs therapy on a long-term basis. This unit will cater to these needs. We are forming an expert committee to establish this unit and the views of survivors and NGOs will be obtained,” she added.

The release of the video, ‘Dancing with a stranger’, was jointly organised by SAAR Foundation (Support Awareness Action Rehabilitate) And IAPG (Indian Alliance of Patient Groups). The video features Shanthipriya Siva, an ophthalmologist who was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s eight years ago.

V. Natarajan, retired professor of Neurology, said there was a misconception among people that Parkinson’s was a deadly disease but there was no need for fear.

Lakshmi Narasimhan, head of neurology, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said, “It is a treatable disease but not curable. Patients should take medications and follow exercises to lead a normal life,” he added. R. Narayana Babu, director of medical education and Ratna Devi, founder of IAPG also participated

Anna univ, set for IoE tag, has 300 vacancies

Needs 1:12 Faculty-Student Ratio

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:21.11.2019

Anna University, set to secure the Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag, has 300 of 900 regular teaching posts vacant, sources said. “To achieve the academic and research goals under the eminence tag, the university needs a 1:12 faculty-student ratio for which it may need at least 1,200 faculty members,” an official said. The faculty members are now burdened with administration and teaching work that is hampering their research output. “Once the institute gets eminence tag, we may need to concentrate more on research in cutting edge areas and ease the academic burden of faculty members,” he added.

Since the last recruitment in 2014, the university has not able to take in new faculty members due to reasons including vacancy in vice-chancellor’s post, higher education department ban on recruitment to redeploy excess Annamalai University staff and the UGC ban citing a pending court case in following reservation in universities.

The university, which has been managing with the help of teaching fellows, recently calculated the vacancy positions to implement reservation in recruitment based on 200-point roster system after the state government directed universities to take department as a unit to implement reservation.

“The governor-chancellor has appointed his nominee and there is a delay in appointing state government nominee. After getting state government’s nominee, we will initiate the recruitment process soon,” said a top university official.

As per All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) norms on recruitment, the selection committee shall consist of chancellor’s nominee, state government nominee and experts.

Education consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said vacancies in Anna University should immediately be filled. “The university should give preference to faculty members in 30-35 age group who are working in cutting-edge areas and future technologies rather than recruiting people in the 40-45 age group.” E Balagurusamy, former vicechancellor, hoped the government would fill all vacancies. “The state government has agreed to IoE status. They would eventually fulfil all requirements for IoE.”

NEET mum on subject marks but low scorers still getting into MBBS

TNN | Nov 19, 2019, 04.53 AM IST

Last year, TOI had exposed how candidates scoring single digit, zero and negative marks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) got admission in medical colleges in 2017.
But are students with such low scores still getting in? Well, we can't be sure because this year the practice of giving the marks scored in individual subjects has been stopped with the National Testing Agency (NTA) releasing only percentile scores. But data accessed by TOI shows that there are hundreds, if not thousands, with single digit percentile scores in physics and chemistry who have got admission into MBBS.

For instance, a student whose score was 1.7 percentile in physics got admission in a private medical college. This means that 98.3% of students who wrote NEET scored higher than him in physics. Or that his marks fell among the bottom 1.7% scores of the 15.2 lakh students who took the test.

Mounting troubles for Mount Road

Potholes and bumps are a common sight at Thousand Lights. A big pothole right next to the Gemini Flyover has been the source of traffic snarls here.

Published: 20th November 2019 06:22 AM |

By Omjasvin M D and lensman R Satish Babu

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Anna Salai, or Mount Road, is a city landmark by itself. The 15-km stretch, connecting the old commercial centre of Parry’s Corner in the North, with the now-bustling industrial area Guindy in the South, is one of the most-important roads. Though it has the status of NH, it’s as battered and bruised as any other city road. Potholes, loose gravel, and lack of median markers, are a common sight. Express reporter Omjasvin M D and lensman R Satish Babu travelled to survey road condition.

Thousand Lights

Spencer Plaza

Technically, Mount Road is supposed to be a six-way road. But, thanks to unauthorised parking of vehicles, it has been reduced to a four-way road on many stretches. This results in traffic congestion.
Bus commuters too are hassled, as sewage flows freely on to the road near Spencer Plaza. The stretch between LIC and Thousands Lights was made two-way in August. But since then, a traffic signal has not been installed at the two junctions.

Teynampet
Lane separators painted in white or yellow are mandatory for a highway, as per the codes of Indian Roads Congress (IRC). However, in this stretch near the DMK party office, there are no lane separators, making the drive dangerous for small vehicles.

Omandurar Government Estate
The road near the Government Estate Metro Station has loose gravel scattered, making it slippery for bikers. Selvan, who uses the stretch often, says the maximum speed bikers can go on here is 30 kmph. Anything higher can result in skids and accidents.

Saidapet
The road near the Saidapet bus depot is filled with potholes, bumps and dust. For, every five minutes, a bus arrives and departs from the bus stand and hundreds of passengers use it too. The road has not been patched up even after the Chennai Metro Rail was inaugurated. Loads of sand remain causing pollution.

near LIC building
The roads around the iconic building, which once was a landmark for Chennai, are in bad shape. Underground electric line works have been delayed, causing chaos. The road has been dug up, and there are no signs of it being closed any time soon.

Madras varsity conducts 162nd convocation

He said that this year marks the 50th year of his graduation from the varsity.

Published: 20th November 2019 06:14 AM 

Nearly 95,000 candidates received their degrees in view of the convocation ceremony  P Jawahar

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The University of Madras used to fondly be called the ‘Cambridge of the South’, said T Ramasami, former secretary, department of science and technology and former director of Central Leather Research Institute, speaking at the 162nd annual convocation of the University of Madras on Tuesday. He said that this year marks the 50th year of his graduation from the varsity.

Nearly 95,000 candidates received their degrees in view of the convocation ceremony. Governor Banwarilal Purohit, along with Ramasami, gave away the degrees, medals and prizes.

A total of 884 students received their degrees in person while the rest received it in absentia, said P Duraisamy, the vice-chancellor of the varsity, speaking at the event. Among those who were present at the convocation, 701 candidates received their PhD, 95 received prizes and medals and 86 rank holders received their degrees.

Addressing the gathering, Duraisamy said the varsity has improved significantly over the last few years. “For example, the university has jumped 21 places in the NIRF ranking; from the 41st rank in 2017, we have come to 20th now,” he said. He added that the college is also moving technologically forward by formalising courses on digital platforms like SWAYAM and NPTEL as a part of the curriculum and uploading certificates on to the National Academic Depository (NAD).

He also said that the varsity is in the process of revamping the UG curriculum to include courses related to entrepreneurship, skill development, start-up, venture capital and financial markets, in consultation with the entrepreneurial bodies such as Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industries and MSMEs.

“In order to promote research, the existing administrative sections have been restructured and new offices of Dean (Research) and Director (Research Schemes and Projects), have been created. M Phil and PhD admissions have been made online to ensure transparency and we have established a scheme to grant `30,000 towards journal submission fee and book publication,” he said.

DVAC case against former VC

20/11/2019, V. VENKATASUBRAMANIAN, ,THANJAVUR

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Thanjavur unit, has booked a case against a former Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, Thanjavur, and three others on the charge of committing malpractices and irregularities in the appointment of professors and associate professors.

According to the FIR filed on November 14, G. Baskaran, former V-C, S. Muthukumar, former Registrar, G. Sakthisaravanan, former Personal Assistant to the Registrar, and N. Baskaran, former Distance Education Director, colluded with one another to appoint 10 professors and 11 associate professors in the university, overlooking the norms laid down by the UGC.

For selecting the ineligible candidates for these posts, the four accused reportedly accepted bribes ranging from ₹15 lakh to ₹40 lakh from each person. Further, they created false records and used the forged documents to help 21 candidates selected by them to receive the UGC scale salary. The accused also appointed 70 persons as daily wage employees in non-teaching positions.

12-year-old girl stopped from going to Sabarimala temple

Kerala police stop her at Pampa after examining her Aadhaar card

20/11/2019, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, ,SABARIMALA

Police personnel examining the Aadhaar card of a 12-year-old girl, who had come to offer prayers at Sabarimala.PTI

A 12-year-old girl from Puducherry, who had come with her father for darshan at the Lord Ayyappa temple here, was not allowed to proceed from Pampa on Tuesday morning.

The age of the girl had been shown as 10 in the ‘Virtual Q’ booking. Women police examined her Aadhaar card and found that she was 12 years old and refused to allow her to proceed further, the police said.

After those accompanying the child were informed about the current situation in Sabarimala, her father and other relatives proceeded to the temple.

‘Ready to wait’

A nine-year-old girl from Kerala, who came to the temple complex from Karnataka on Monday, had a placard around her neck that said “Ready to wait. Will visit the shrine after attaining 50 years.” Hailing from Thrissur, Hridyakrishnan said she had visited the shrine thrice thus far and would have darshan of Lord Ayyappa again only after she was 50.

The Pampa base camp is at the foothills of Sabarimala, about 5 km from the shrine. The Lord Ayyappa temple opened on November 16 evening for the two-month long Mandala-Makaravillakku pilgrimage season.

The State and temple precincts had witnessed protests by right wing outfits and BJP workers last year after the LDF government decided to implement the Supreme Court’s verdict allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine. However, the government is exercising caution this year, even though the top court has not stayed its verdict while posting various petitions on the matter to a larger bench.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has made it clear that Sabarimala was not a place for activists, and said the government would not encourage women who wanted to visit the shrine for publicity.

Deliberations on IoE status for varsity
20/11/2019, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

At its meeting on Tuesday, the State Cabinet deliberated on enabling Anna University to join the Institution of Eminence (IoE) scheme of the Centre.

Broadly, two decisions needed to be taken. One pertained to the formulation of a law, and the other, the cost, government sources said. As for the proposed law, there are some issues, especially those pertaining to reservation, which require deeper study. That the university cannot have constituent colleges once it gets the IoE status is another aspect to be considered. On the issue of the cost, the total amount required has been estimated at ₹2,500 crore, of which the Centre will provide ₹1,000 crore.

The government was keen on the university acquiring the IoE status, though it may take some more time to complete the formalities, sources said.

Sugar cards can be changed to rice cards

20/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Now, family cardholders can convert their sugar option cards to rice cards by which they can get rice and other items provided under the Public Distribution System. In a statement, Food Minister R. Kamaraj said there were many requests from consumers to convert sugar cards to rice cards. Such consumers can apply online through www.tnpds.gov.in and also at the respective assistant commissioner’s offices till November 26, said an official release here.

Getting a driving licence is now a breeze, thanks to Sarathi

However, owing to lack of awareness about the online process, people still depend on driving schools

20/11/2019, R. SRIKANTH ,CHENNAI

A few years ago, getting a driving licence (DL) or even a learner’s licence was a hellish exercise.

The difficulty in getting DLs and LLRs started right from the application stage — one would find it difficult to even get an application form that would normally be “sold” outside Regional Transport Offices (RTOs).

But since the full-fledged launch of the Sarathi software — which is part of the pan-India Pari Vahan software — in 2018, the system of issuing LLRs, DLs, renewal of DLs and other formalities has become easy, with all transactions, including the payment of fees, completely made online. The site can be browsed at https://sa rathi.parivahan.gov.in/.

Simplified procedure

Today, all one needs is a little bit of time and a smartphone or a computer to fill in forms and upload documents for an LLR — the first stage for getting a driving licence — through the Sarathi software, which is self-guided.

Once the online application is completed, a time slot will be allotted to visit the RTO concerned for fulfilling necessary formalities. For getting a permanent driving licence, the applicant has to just give the LLR number, and the database can then be accessed by the RTOs.

A senior official of the State Transport Authority said all RTOs in the city, numbering 24 (including Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur), are posted with a help desk personnel at the entrance (in some cases, Regional Transport Officer himself) to help direct different applicants to the respective officials.

When LLR applicants visit the RTO at the time allotted, an official will check the documents, carry out physical verification and make them take a written test of traffic regulations and signs, after which they will be sent to take a photo for issuance of the temporary driving licence. While RTO officials claim the process of issuing licences has been simplified, a section of residents believe going through driving schools guarantees LLRs/DLs.

But a senior official of the State Transport Authority denied that going through driving schools would help get LLRs or driving licences easily. He said since the launch of the Sarathi software, the possibility of showing “discretion” to applicants routed through driving schools had become a thing of the past. The official faulted a majority of the people for not being aware of the fact that LLRs and DLs are being issued through the online system. He said only 20-30% applicants were aware of the online system, as a large number of people still visited RTOs and had to be explained the procedures for filling in applications. He rued that despite making the online process easier and simpler, most applicants sought the help of driving schools.

Abilash Surendran, a resident of Pammal, got his twin driving licences for four and two-wheelers without much sweat, after he filed the application for his learner’s licence and driving licence through the Sarathi software.

CCTV cameras installed

The State Transport Authority official said a series of technological developments were happening at RTOs across the State. He said closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed at all RTOs. Awareness posters to help applicants fill in applications through the Sarathi software have been put up and verification of driving skills by Motor Vehicle Inspectors have been made stricter, unlike random verification followed until a few years ago, the official added.

The official said there was a plan to install CCTV cameras on the testing track in RTO North West soon. Only Anna Nagar has a full-fledged testing track in the city, while other RTOs use arterial roads for carrying out driving tests.

For issuing driving licence for heavy vehicles, tests are carried out at the two testing tracks at the Institute of Road Transport in Guimmidipoondi (North) and Taramani (South).

The official also said earlier integration of Sarathi software with the main server was an issue, but now all local servers had been linked to the main server, resulting in fewer instances of crashing and disabling operations.

Coughing up a lot for cracked mobile screens? may be an insurance can help
Mamtha.A@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.11.2019

Frequent physical damages and rising cost of smartphone repairs — sometimes equal to cost a brand new phone — is driving more phone buyers to insure them. Insurers see a 50%-60% rise in policies sold covering mobile phones. Mobile insurance policies range between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 for high-end phones.

“We have seen about 50%- 60% higher sales on mobile phone insurance compared to last year. About, 60%-70% of claims were requested against cracked screen, as the demand matches the customer’s concern,” Vivek Chaturvedi, head of marketing and direct (online) sales, Digit Insurance, said. Digit Insurance has seen loss claim ratio at 75% for its mobile insurance product.

A 26-year-old, Aparna Vijay, purchased an insurance for her iPhone. “I have finally bought a 12-month mobile insurance cover for my iPhone at ₹1,300, which is much cheaper than the five screen guards at ₹4,500 (₹900 each), which were replaced last year. Why use a phone case or a screen guard ruin that very experience.”

Unlike internal damages like software failure which are covered under protection plans offered directly by mobile phone companies, eligibility criteria for external damages to be covered under insurance policies differ from player to player. Online mobile insurer, Acko General Insurance’s Ashwin Ramaswamy, head of strategic partnerships, said, over 70% of claims are settled within 48 hours of the application submission. “We charge premium between the range of ₹149 and ₹2,999 (from low to high-end phones) on buyers. Screen damage is by far the single largest damage issue that we have received,” he added, which has a partnership with Amazon to sell mobile insurance policies, alongside phones. In the case of a phone loss due to theft, insurance companies entertain claims only with the First Information Report (FIR), without which the claim is rejected.

Likewise, any defects caused while repairing or cleaning the device is not eligible for a claim.

There are exceptional cases when insurers reject a claim as the damage to phone is caused by a friend or a relative. Chaturvedi, said, “In such case, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) linked covers will be helpful. Whether you use the phone or your family or friend does, this mobile insurance policy will be valid for all, as it is linked to the IMEI of the phone and not the user.”


DAMAGE CONTROL

Falling interest rates hit pensioners
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:20.11.2019

Pensioners have been hit hard by the trend of falling interest rates in the country. A study conducted by the country’s largest lender the State Bank of India estimated that pensioners have lost an average ₹5,845 annually due to the falling interest rate regime.

Taking the argument forward, it said considering that there are more than 4 crore pensioners, who have average term deposits of ₹3.34 lakh per account, the net impact on private final consumption expenditure — a barometer for consumption — due to low interest income is estimated at 0.3%.

The annual interest income at the rate of 8.5% in 2015 worked out to ₹28,390 and the present interest income at the rate of 6.75% was estimated at ₹22,545, which shows a loss of ₹5,845 annually.

The economy is passing through a low interest rate regime with RBI cutting rates for five consecutive times to boost growth. Inflation has also remained benign and low for a sustained period, hurting the real monthly returns of pensioners. RBI has reduced its key policy rate by 135 basis points from 6.5% at the beginning of the year to 5.15%. Deposit rates during the same period have come down by an average of 1% for most banks.

The SBI study backed the idea of according full tax rebate on the Senior Citizens Savings scheme (SCSS). Under this scheme a senior citizen can depoit ₹15 lakh and the current interest rate is 8.6%. “However, the interest on SCSS is fully taxable which is a major drawback ( the interest amount of ₹1 lakh deposit for 5 years is around ₹51,000, which is taxable),” the report said.

Jio joins Airtel & Voda with plan to raise tariffs

Youngest Telco Says Move Needed For Fresh Tech

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:20.11.2019

Reliance Jio, the country’s largest telecom operator, said on Tuesday it plans to raise tariffs, adding that the move is necessary to make fresh network and technology investments and factor in any regulatory interventions.

Its rivals Vodafone Idea and Airtel on Monday announced their decisions to increase tariffs from next month. When it happens, it will be the first significant tariff increase by the new telecom operator, which had disrupted the financials of the mobile industry through its aggressive plans after launching services in September 2016. “As per media reports, we understand that Trai is likely to initiate a consultation process for revision of telecom tariffs. Like other operators, we will also work with the government and comply with the regulatory regime to strengthen the industry to benefit Indian consumers and take measures, including appropriate increase in tariffs in next few weeks in a manner that does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments,” the company said in a statement.

The company said it plans to compete with rivals on the basis of quality and service in the marketplace.

“Jio will always keep the customer at the centre of everything and ensure that the customer continues to benefit the most.” The company said it will work aggressively on shifting 2G customers to a 4G eco-system so that data-driven benefits can be accessed by all. “…there are still over 40 crore Indian consumers who have not benefited from the advent of the latest technologies. We believe that the ambitious objectives of the ‘Digital India’ mission can be achieved only if India is made “2Gmukt” in the shortest timeframe possible… This requires continued investment at an industry level. Vodafone Idea and Airtel had said that they will increase tariffs in view of their unprecedented losses and heavy government dues and mounting debt.

Vodafone Idea and Airtel, which had reported record losses in July-September, said increase in tariffs will help them “remain viable”, while giving them elbow room to invest for network and technology expansion.

Voda, Airtel lose 50L users in Sep

New Delhi:Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel lost nearly 50 lakh users in September this year, while rival Reliance Jio added almost 70 lakh users, according to data from sectoral regulator TRAI. Total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and LTE) increased to over 117 crore. Bharti Airtel lost nearly 24 lakh users in September to take its user base to 32.6 crore. Similarly, Vodafone Idea lost almost 26 lakh users to take its user base to 37.2 crore. Jio had 35.5 crore. AGENCIES

AIIMS RISHIKESH TELLS ITS FACULTY

‘Sign leave application only in Hindi’

Dehradun:20.11.2019

Rishikesh-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has issued an order making it mandatory for all its faculty members to sign their leave applications in Hindi. The order, a copy of which has gone viral on social media, says that not just the applicant but also the forwarding authority should sign in Hindi

otherwise the leave application will not be accepted.

Talking to TOI, Dean Academics, Manoj Gupta said that the idea behind the order was to promote Hindi language. “We are simply trying to promote Hindi language as per the guidelines of the Centre. The leave application and other forms are in English and the applicant can fill those in any language, but only signature in Hindi is mandatory,” Gupta added. TNN

Notification Dr. NTRUHS 20.11.2019

MTC asked to pay ₹13L relief to injured cyclist

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
20.11.2019

A Chennai accident claims tribunal has directed Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) to pay ₹13.29lakh as compensation to a passenger who suffered injuries due to the rash and negligent driving by a bus driver.

According to the petition by M Meenakshi (40) of Salladaiyanpet, her bicycle was knocked down by a rashly driven MTC bus near Perumbakkam Main Road, in 2016. The woman was a vegetable vendor and as a result of the accident, she suffered 70% disability.

In response, MTC submitted that the cyclist was riding the vehicle in an unsafe manner and that the driver gave way for her, but she skid and fell near the left bumper of the bus and sustained injuries.

MTC said that contributory negligence had to be fixed on the woman.

After examining the submissions and documentary evidence, the tribunal noted that the accident happened only due to the rash and negligent driving by MTC bus driver. The tribunal also assessed the disability certificate from the regional medical board, which held the woman’s functional disability at 70%. She had suffered brain injury too.

After computing her loss of income, medical expenses and other factors, the tribunal held that the woman was eligible for a compensation of ₹13.29lakh. The tribunal directed MTC to deposit the amount within two months.

Sugar cardholders can change to rice: Govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2019

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced a special week-long drive for 10.19 lakh family card holders who had opted for sugar in the public distribution system (PDS) to change their cards to avail of all commodities, including rice. The move would entitle a family to get 5kg of rice per person (including a child) per month free of cost.

The average monthly off-take of rice in PDS is 3.13 lakh metric tonne. “Majority of those with sugar cards have demanded that the cards be changed to get rice and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has issued an order to that effect,” food minister C Kamaraj said.

All that the sugar cardholders will have to do is to submit applications with the Xerox copies from November 19 to 26. This can be done through www.tnpds.gov.in or block supply officials and assistant commissioners of the civil supplies department in the region.

The minister said the government would take speedy action to consider the applications and change the cards for rice.

All cardholders now get 500gmsper head a month subject to a maximum of 2kg a month. In the case of sugar cardholders, they are entitled to get 500gm per head a month plus an additional 3kg of sugar subject to a maximum of 5kg a month. The PDS outlets collect ₹13.5 a kg for Antyodaya Anna Yojana cards and ₹25 for all other cards.

NEWS DIGEST

NEET case: HC grants interim relief to student

Directing a student to cooperate with the inquiry in connection with the NEET impersonation case, the Madras high court has granted interim relief to him by asking the authorities not to arrest him till November 28. V Ravikumar and his son, residents of Chennai, filed two separate petitions before the high court seeking anticipatory bail as a case was registered against them in connection with NEET impersonation. Ravikumar said his son had cleared NEET and the allegation of impersonation in the exam arose due to mismatch of photograph in the hall ticket. When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, Justice G R Swaminathan inquired as to whether the student was involved in impersonation. However, the student said he himself had appeared for the examination.

DVAC books Tamil Univ ex-VC for graft: The Department of Vigilance and Anti Corruption has booked the former vice-chancellor and former registrar of Tamil University in Thanjavur and two others for malpractices and irregularities in the appointment of faculty and non-teaching staff at the institution during their tenure. Dr G Baskaran, former vicechancellor, S Muthukumar, former registrar, G Sakthisaravanan, personal assistant to the former VC, and N Baskaran, former director of distance education, Tamil University, were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Photo of abandoned girl released: The Trichy district administration on Tuesday released the photo of a four-month-old girl found abandoned on a bathing ghat at Mannachanallur in Trichy on July 19. Locals rescued the infant and Childline volunteers admitted her in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital. After basic treatment, the baby was kept in the hospital. She was named Prathiksha. The baby was later handed over to Saranalayam, an adoption centre in Coimbatore with a temporary custody order by the child welfare committee of Trichy.

Two trucks gutted in fire at Tasmac godown: Two trucks parked outside a Tasmac godown at Thuvakudi in Trichy were gutted on Tuesday. Security guards on duty at the godown found one of the trucks on fire around 6am. The fire spread to the other vehicle parked nearby. On being alerted, fire and rescue services personnel from the Navalpattu station rushed to the spot. A fire tender was deployed. One more team of firemen from BHEL also joined the operation. The teams extinguished the fire in 40 minutes, but by then both the vehicles were gutted. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the trucks were parked at the godown around 11pm on Monday to load liquor for supply in neighbouring districts.

Teacher suspended for corporal punishment: A mathematics teacher in Alangariyur panchayat union middle school in Erode district was on Tuesday suspended for resorting to corporal punishment. Selvaraj S of Bhavani beat 12 Class VII girls after they allegedly failed to complete homework given by him, A Eesan, a villager said. Soon, the district school education authorities and police reached the school. After inquiry, Bhavani district education officer K Palani suspended Selvaraj.

Changes to flight timings, gates to be notified faster

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2019

With the new boarding gate management system in place, passengers at Chennai airport will no longer have to rush from one boarding gate to another at the last minute as it will provide real time details on changes in flight timings, boarding gates and others on the flight information display screens at the terminals.

So far, the system was used only in Bengaluru airport. This is the first time the system is introduced at an Airports Authority of India (AAI) airport. There are plans to introduce it at all AAI airports in the future after it is tried out in Chennai.

Airport director S Sreekumar said airline staff will be able to update changes at the boarding gate itself and need not call up Airports Operation Control Centre (AOCC) every time they want to make a change.

“This was causing a delay in updating the information. The new system will also reduce the number of calls to the control centre thereby reducing the workload of staff,” he added.

As the changes will be fed into the system by the airline staff and airport staff immediately, all agencies involved in flight operations will be able to view the updates.

At most times, staff know about the changes in flight schedule and boarding gates well in advance but there’s a delay in communicating it to the passengers, leading to confusion and passengers are pushed to rush from one gate to another at the last minute as the announcement is made only when it gets closer to the boarding time.

Boarding gates are assigned to aircrafts almost an hour or two before departure so that it will reflect on the boarding pass. But because of constraints in the apron area and delay in arrival of flights, sometimes an incoming aircraft gets assigned to another gate.

This happens quite often because domestic carriers use the same aircraft to fly to multiple destinations and there will be delays in Chennai when there is air congestion at another airport.

“AOCC used to get hundreds of such calls with requests to update the changes. This was increasing the workload. The new system will help conserve manpower, space and machinery at the control centre,” he added.

Check-in counters and boarding gates have already been designed for use by any airline. The airport is also looking at e-boarding by which passengers can scan a barcode on their phones and walk in. This will be introduced in the new integrated terminal for passengers who register in DiGi Yatra system.

The new boarding gate management system at Chennai airport will provide real time details on changes in flight timings, boarding gates and otherss on the flight information display screens at the terminals

‘6 med colleges to be set up as per int’l norms’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2019

Minister for health and family welfare C Vijayabaskar on Tuesday said the six medical colleges coming up in different parts of the state would be established as per international standards. On the sidelines of an event in the city, the minister told reporters that steps were being taken to prepare blueprints for the upcoming medical colleges in Dindigul, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, the Nilgiris and Tiruppur districts.

Govt buses caught fleecing public, charge ₹10 to₹40 extra per ticket

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.11.2019

Fleecing customers is not a practice seen only among private buses or autorickshaws. Government buses too have joined the party as RTI replies reveal that more than 40 government buses collected between ₹10 and ₹40 extra per ticket from every passenger they have catered to since 2018.

These buses, which were to be operated as ordinary services, were run as express services that charge 1.2 to 1.5 times more than ordinary ones. A handful of cases are booked for the sake of it, but more than 500 violations can be identified across the state every day, activists said.

Any bus operator, be it the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) or private operators, is to collect fares as approved by the regional transport (district collectors) or state authorities based on permits issued, trip length, timing and type of service. Rules mandate all operators to exhibit a table with these fares in buses. But, many choose to give this rule the slip and collect excess fare.

In light of this issue, transportation activist Kathirmathiyon conducted a sample survey along 42 routes in west TN. He filed a series of RTI petitions seeking the approved fare tables and travelled in these buses to find out how much a ticket really costs. “Besides operating ordinary as express services, TNSTC Coimbatore has added stops illegally and has submitted wrong details about trip length while applying for permits,” he said.

Similar violations by TNSTC Villupuram were identified by activists in Chennai. While the approved fare for travel between Poonamalle and Tiruvallur is ₹31 per ticket for 29km, conductors collected ₹35.

“Instead of levying fines, regional transport offices should either suspend conductors’ licences or bus permits. The transport commissioner has written about this to his subordinates at least five times in the last two years, but there hasn’t been one suspension,” Kathirmathiyon said.

An official from TNSTC Coimbatore said, “No excess fare was collected even in special buses operated during Diwali. Express services are operated only when the length of the trip exceeds 80km. We operate 214 express and 1,028 ordinary services.”

Govt vows to follow 8-hour duty rule for PG docs at hospitals

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.11.2019

The system of eight hours of duty on shifts will be strictly adhered to for post-graduate medical students in government medical college hospitals, but depending on exigencies, they would have to work beyond hours considering the nobility of the profession, the government informed the Madras high court on Tuesday.

M Indumathi, deputy director of medical education, also assured the court that a proper and effective mechanism should be put in place on the compliance of a communication dated July 9, 2015, in connection with the duty hours of PG medical students.

Recording the submission, a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee observed that when a considerable amount of public money is spent to make such persons doctors, we should also preserve them to serve the society.

The issue pertains to a plea moved by doctor G R Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctors Association for Social Equality, seeking to implement 8-hour duty for PG students instead of the present 24/7 duty. When the plea came up for hearing, the petitioner submitted that despite the communication dated July 9, 2015, the eight-hour duty time is hardly implemented, and PG students are compelled to work round the clock even without a weekly holiday.

“The notification was issued as a result of continuous agitations and representations made by the medical students’ community as well as social welfare organisations and doctors. The failure on the part of the directorate of medical education to implement the guidelines is causing serious consequences in the life of the post graduate and UG CRRI students,” the petitioner said.

Non-implementation of the notification is in total violation of the basic human rights of the students, he added.

'நீட்' ஆள்மாறாட்ட வழக்கு டாக்டர் ஜாமின் மனு தள்ளுபடி

Added : நவ 19, 2019 01:10

மதுரை:'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள் மாறாட்ட வழக்கில், சென்னை டாக்டர் வெங்கடேசனின் ஜாமின் மனுவை, உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளை தள்ளுபடி செய்தது.

சென்னை, தண்டையார் பேட்டையைச் சேர்ந்தவர், வெங்கடேசன். சென்னை ஸ்டான்லி அரசு மருத்துவமனை டாக்டர். இவரது மகன் உதித் சூர்யா.'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள்மாறாட்ட புகாரில், இருவரையும், தேனி, சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி., போலீசார் கைது செய்தனர். உதித் சூர்யாவிற்கு, அக்., 17ல் உயர் நீதிமன்றக் கிளை, நிபந்தனை ஜாமின் வழங்கியது. அவரது தந்தையின் ஜாமின் மனுவை தள்ளுபடி செய்தது.வெங்கடேசன், 'செப்., 25ல் கைது செய்யப்பட்டேன். எனக்கு சிறுநீர் தொற்று, சிறுநீரக கல் அடைப்பு பிரச்னை உள்ளது. 'மதுரை மத்திய சிறை மருத்துவமனையில் சிகிச்சை பெறுகிறேன். முறையாக சிகிச்சை பெற வேண்டியுள்ளது. ஜாமின் அனுமதிக்க வேண்டும்' என, மீண்டும் மனு செய்தார். நீதிபதி, ஜி.ஆர்.சுவாமிநாதன் நேற்று விசாரித்தார்.அரசு தரப்பில், 'முக்கிய குற்றவாளியை கைது செய்யவில்லை. விசாரணை துவக்க நிலையில் உள்ளது. ஜாமின் அனுமதிக்கக் கூடாது' என தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது. மனுதாரர் தரப்பில் வாபஸ் பெற்றதால், நீதிபதி மனுவை தள்ளுபடி செய்தார்.

கலெக்டர் வைத்த 'டெஸ்ட்'; தாசில்தார்கள் 'பெயில்'

Updated : நவ 19, 2019 06:44 |


ராமநாதபுரம்: 'ஆதரவற்ற விதவைச் சான்றுக்கான விதிகள் என்ன' என ராமநாதபுரம் கலெக்டர் வீரராகவ ராவ் திடீர் தேர்வு நடத்தினார். இதில் தாசில்தார், துணை தாசில்தார்கள் தோல்வி அடைந்தனர்.

கலெக்டர் அலுவலகத்தில் நேற்று நடந்த குறைதீர் கூட்டத்தில் பரமக்குடியை சேர்ந்த பெண் ஒருவர், 'ஆதரவற்ற விதவைச் சான்று பெற தாலுகா அலுவலகத்தில் மனு கொடுத்தேன். தகுதியில்லை என கூறிவிட்டனர். சான்று வழங்க வேண்டும்' என மனு அளித்தார். தாசில்தாரை அழைத்த கலெக்டர் வீரராகவ ராவ், அந்த சான்றுக்கான விதிகள் குறித்து கேட்டார். அதற்கு தாசில்தார், 'ஆண்டுக்கு ரூ.72 ஆயிரம் வருமானம் இருக்க வேண்டும். சொத்து இருக்க கூடாது' என்றார். மற்றொரு தாசில்தாரிடம் கேட்டதற்கு, அவர் வேறு விதிகளை கூறினார்.

இதையடுத்து, 'சான்று பெற என்ன விதிகள் என எழுதி உங்கள் பெயரையும் எழுதிக் கொடுங்கள்' என தாசில்தார், துணை தாசில்தார்களுக்கு உத்தரவிட்டார். பத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் எழுதிக் கொடுத்தனர்.

அதை படித்த கலெக்டர், 'நீங்கள் எழுதியது அனைத்தும் தவறு. 2006 அரசாணையின் படி மாத வருமானம் ரூ.4000க்குள், ஆண்டு வருமானம் ரூ.48 ஆயிரத்திற்குள் இருக்கலாம். மறுமணம் செய்திருக்க கூடாது. இந்த இரண்டு தகுதியும் இருந்தால் சான்று வழங்கலாம். சொந்த வீடு இருந்தலோ, வாடகைக்கு விட்டிருந்தாலோ மாத வருமானம் ரூ.4000க்குள் இருந்தால் அவர்களுக்கும் வழங்கலாம். அரசாணையை நன்றாக புரிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். இது தெரியாமல் விண்ணப்பத்தை நிராகரிப்பது அநீதி' என்றார்.

Nursing the gender bias: Meet Stanly Jones, male nurse at Ayanavram Railway hopsital
For over two decades, Stanly Jones, chief nursing superintendent at Southern Railway Headquarters 

Hospital, has been trailblazing his way up the social ladder

Published: 19th November 2019 06:30 AM 

Stanly ranked first in south India in the Christian Medical Association of India for Nursing Exam in 1987  P Jawahar
By Vaishali Vijaykumar

Express News Service

CHENNAI: It’s 5.30 pm on a mundane Thursday. The Intensive Care Unit at Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital in Ayanavram smells of medicines. The patient monitor is beeping incessantly. Stanly Jones, chief nursing superintendent from the department, is busy round-the-clock, attending to patients and taking notes of their progress to show the concerned doctors. He’s on an evening shift for the week. Stanly takes some time off his schedule to talk to CE about being a male nurse and challenges in climbing the career and social ladder.

The he-man label

“Are you surprised by the number of male nurses in the ward? It has improved. We talk about sexism in all professions but nursing. When I joined this hospital, there were only two of us and now 60 out of the 250 functioning nurse staff are male. The initial days were a struggle. I was asked to collect a blood sample from a patient and she refused to identify me as a nurse. Only after calling up the management, she believed. We’ve gone past that stage of feeling unwelcome,” says Stanly, dressed in a crisp white pant and shirt. A maroon apron has to be worn while performing duties inside the ICU.

Stanly grew up in a time when nursing was considered strictly a female-dominated profession. After schooling, in 1984, he went on to pursue a three-year diploma in nursing at Scudder Memorial Hospital and School of Nursing in Ranipet. He worked at Scudder Memorial Hospital for two years and later moved to BM Birla Heart Research Centre, Kolkata, where he worked for three years in the cardiology department. At the age of 24, he assisted a cardiomyoplasty surgery that happened for the first time in South Asia at Kolkata Birla Hospital in the 90s.

Despite getting a better pay, he moved to Southern Railway Headquarters Hospital in Ayanavaram in 1992 due to family commitments. He has completed 27 years of service and still continues to work there. “I wanted to become a doctor but I couldn’t. My mother suggested I take up this profession since a few of my cousins were in this field already. I feel blessed about the decision and there’s no looking back. Until 1984, only three colleges and hospitals took in male nurses.

From 1989, missions and private hospitals started accepting male nurses. Several nursing institutes have come up in recent times. Men are seeing it as a lucrative career option and that’s a step forward,” shares Stanly who ranked first in south India in the Christian Medical Association of India for Nursing Exam in 1987.

Make way for men

Although the nurturing aspects of nursing may be seen as traditionally feminine, Stanly has seen the perception change. Male nurses excel in areas like an emergency ward, ICU and operation theatre duty.

“The profession expanded after men came into it. Now there are men pursuing midwifery courses while that was not the case a decade ago... we were even restricted inside the obstetric department,” says the 52-year-old, who is the first from Tamil Nadu to win the 2015 Florence Nightingale Award instituted by Tamil Nadu Nursing Midwife Council.

Caring without expectations
Keeping gender barriers aside, the larger picture of the nursing profession still seems to be unorganised and under-appreciated. Poor salary, short-staffed, bonds and agreements, and occupational hazards. Multiple issues seem to plague the profession.

“It’s usually the nurse who is more prone to get affected when there’s a disease outbreak. The shift timings are exhausting and pressure-filled Private hospitals tend to keep the original documents and certificates to themselves and hold nurses on a contract basis. As a result of which it becomes difficult to switch workplaces. Nobody addresses the stress nurses go through daily. We too experience fatigue because of the monotony of the job and deteriorating condition of patients. They’re held accountable for any situation at the hospital,” says Stanly.

Work is worship

Nursing is often known as a noble, and selfless profession in the health sector. Stanly respects his duties, the responsibilities that come along with it, and the satisfaction of saving lives.“Patients remember us and express their gratitude after treatment. We enjoy the privilege of being addressed as a brother or sister and thereby becoming a part of their families. If we’re open to learning from fellow mates without seeing seniority then the profession can grow leaps. Men need to be given a chance to prove their calibre. It’s a nurse who opens the eyes of a newborn and also closes the eyes of the dead. We need to recognise their efforts,” shares Stanly with pride and hope.

Marked absent for being 10 min late, bus driver attempts suicide

A government bus driver created flutter in Tambaram depot by attempting suicide, on Monday.

Published: 19th November 2019 06:35 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A government bus driver created flutter in Tambaram depot by attempting suicide, on Monday. The driver Harimuthu, sources said, was not allowed on duty by his branch manager as he reported late to work. An argument broke out between the duo, after which the manager marked the driver absent in the records.

Infuriated, Harimuthu went and bought some petrol in a plastic bottle, poured it over himself, and threatened to commit suicide. He was stopped from doing so by his colleagues. When contacted, a TNSTC senior official said the branch manager had lodged a complaint against the driver.”There was mistake on the branch manager’s part. An inquiry will be held,” the official said.

Will Agra be renamed?

Panel to examine if city had ‘old name’

19/11/2019, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,AGRA (U.P.)

An Uttar Pradesh department has set in motion an exercise to examine if this city was known by any other name in ancient times, triggering speculation that the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to rename Agra.

Agra’s Bhim Rao Ambedkar University has now constituted a committee to go into the issue, following a letter from the local administration, Vice-Chancellor Arvind Dixit said on Monday.

According to him, some Agra residents posted a demand to rename Agra on the State government’s Stamp and Registration Department website. This was then referred to Agra administration, which in turn approached the university.

In State capital Lucknow, there was no official confirmation on any such move. However, in the recent past, Allahabad has been renamed Prayagraj and Faizabad district is now called Ayodhya.

‘DMK will not exist after civic polls’

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER,TIRUPPUR

The DMK will not exist after the upcoming local body polls, Minister for Animal Husbandry Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan said on Monday.

Addressing mediapersons during an event for distributing welfare assistance in Uthukuli, he claimed that the schemes introduced by the AIADMK government will ensure its victory in the local body elections. “We have implemented many schemes for the people and we shall ask for votes based on the schemes,” he said.

Regarding actor Rajinikanth’s comments targeting Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the Chief Minister had been effectively implementing welfare schemes for the benefit of the people.

Mr. Radhakrishnan distributed welfare assistance worth ₹73.77 lakh.

Let Rajini first start a party, says Jayakumar

AIADMK will win in 2021: Minister

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Mocking actor Rajinikanth’s statement that a ‘miracle’ was waiting to happen, senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday said the miracle will be the AIADMK retaining power after the 2021 Assembly polls.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Jayakumar said his party neither believed in miracles nor luck, and was only dependent on the people who, he hoped, will vote the AIADMK into power in the 2021 Assembly polls.

When asked why his party was constantly under attack, he said the AIADMK was doing well, and hence, was “naturally prone” to criticism. “They want to become big [players] only by attacking us. But they cannot come close to the AIADMK,” the Minister said.

The AIADMK had grown thanks to the efforts of party founder M.G. Ramachandran, Mr. Jayakumar said. “Our leader did not come with athisayam [miracle] or adhristham [luck],” he added.

When asked if actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan will form a political alliance to challenge the AIADMK, Mr. Jayakumar said he will wait for Mr. Rajinikanth to first launch a party, something the Minister said the actor had been bragging about for years.

“Let actor Rajinikanth start a party first, and then, let us see whether those two actors come together. Even if they come together, let us see what their principles are in public life. Then, we will comment [on the issue],” he said.

Replying to a query on the local body polls, he said: “We [AIADMK] are not afraid of the local body polls. It was the DMK which went to the court to stall the polls. Based on the government’s undertaking in the Supreme Court, the elections will happen. The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission will announce the dates.”

Trains rescheduled

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER , SALEM

The Southern Railway has partially cancelled and diverted a few trains due to engineering works in Erode-Karur section on November 19 (Tuesday).

According to a release, Train no. 56110 Erode – Tiruchchirappalli Passenger will be fully cancelled and Train no. 56841 Tiruchchirappalli – Erode Passenger will be partially cancelled between Karur and Erode, Train no. 56825 Erode-Tirunelveli Passenger will be partially cancelled between Erode and Karur, Train no. 56320 Coimbatore - Nagercoil Passenger and Train no. 56712 Palakkad Town - Tiruchchirappalli Passenger will be diverted via Salem, Namakkal, partially cancelling and skipping stoppages between Erode and Karur.

Train no. 56826 Tirunelveli - Erode Passenger will be partially cancelled between Karur and Erode, Train no. 56846 Erode - Jolarpettai Passenger will be partially cancelled between Erode and Salem, Train no. 16340 Nagercoil - Mumbai Central will be regulated for 75 minutes at Karur, Train no. 56713 Tiruchchirappalli - Palakkad Town Passenger will be regulated for 50 minutes at Karur, a release said.

Man sentenced to 7 years for wife’s suicide

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER ,COIMBATORE

The Mahila Court here on Monday sentenced a 36-year-old man to seven years imprisonment for abetting wife’s suicide in 2014.

Sessions judge J. Radhika sentenced Walter Vincent of Karunya Nagar to undergo three years of imprisonment for subjecting wife to cruelty under Section 498 A and seven years of imprisonment for abetting her suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. The sentences will run concurrently. As per the charge sheet filed by police, Vincent’s wife committed suicide on June 27, 2014, following physical and mental torture by him. The couple had married in September 2011 and the woman gave birth to a daughter in 2012. Though Vincent had agreed to stay at the house of his wife at Perumpazhuthoor in Thiruvananthapuram, he later moved to Coimbatore and joined as faculty in a university.



The woman was forced to come to Coimbatore along with daughter. The charge sheet said Vincent did not take care of the child and sold 30 sovereigns of jewellery of his wife without her knowledge. Public prosecutor R. Sarojini said the judge imposed a fine of ₹ 2,500 each for the two sentences.

Man arrested

Sulur police on Monday arrested a Madurai native who is believed to have stolen around 150 cars from different States. A. Parameshwaran (39) was arrested by a special team of police from Kangeyampalayam.

Police said the accused had stolen around 150 cars, mainly from Kerala, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. In Tamil Nadu, he had stolen cars from Chennai, Erode, Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Karur.

The man landed in police custody when police were investigating the theft of a van from Sulur 10 days ago.

Police managed to get a surveillance camera visual of the man and identified him. He was traced to Kangeyampalayam along with the van on Monday.

Mechanical failure delays train in A.P.

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER,GUNTUR

A mechanical failure in Prasanthi Express delayed the train for more than two hours on Sunday causing a commotion in the railway station.

Railway sources said that a failure in the airconditioning in the A-1 coach of the train was noticed when the train chugged into the Guntur Railway Station. When the passengers brought the issue to the notice of the railway authorities, the railway personnel shunted out the coach and attached another coach. Tense moments were witnessed when the irate passengers entered into a verbal duel with the railway personnel.

Finally, the train moved on after two hours.

Petition writing is free at Madurai Collectorate

Nehru Yuva Kendra volunteers come to the help of needy

19/11/2019, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Grievance redressal meetings at Madurai Collectorate usually teems with people waiting to meet officials and submit their petitions.

These people come from all places across the district. After spending on bus fare, they cough up ₹30 to ₹100 with a ‘petition writer’ to ensure that their letters are written in the right format. The cost varies depending on one’s haggling techniques and the size of the petition.

But on this Monday, however, there was an unusual sight at the Collectorate. A group of 20 volunteers from Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) sat behind a long table and started writing the petitions for the public for free.

Collector T. G. Vinay said, “Many people travel long distances to submit their petition but end up seeking the help of writers who sometimes charge exorbitantly. To stop this practice, we approached a voluntary organisation which redirected us to this group of 20 people from NYK,” he said.

The Collector said the volunteers had been taught to just write the basic gist of each petition. “Most of the time, petitions are very long. We have told volunteers to write the gist and provide certain sub-heads so that it is easy for filing,” he said. He added that when the petitions are redirected to the officials concerned, they will file detailed reports.

M. Meenakshi, a volunteer, said they would be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday. Apart from volunteering to write petitions, people can also approach them for other basic help. "We are also interested in cleaning the campus. Differently abled people can come to us for other help as well,” she said.

Ms. Meenakshi said the volunteers would come in a batch of 20 on rotation. “This service is fulfilling. We also get to understand the working of the government machinery in a better way. People need not fall prey to petition writers any more,” she said.

Another volunteer P. S. Vaishnavi said the volunteers needed more training to write petition in a better way. The Collector said he would arrange a two-day workshop for the same.

S. Rajapushpam, a petitioner who has been coming to the Collectorate for three years, seeking a government job for herself, appreciated the novel service. “I come from Kallikudi and spend ₹75 for bus fare. Until today, I paid ₹40 for my petition. Now, I can save it. The volunteers are kind too,” she said.

Tenkasi district inauguration on Nov. 22

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will formally inaugurate Tenkasi district, which was recently bifurcated from Tirunelveli district, on November 22.

The Chief Minister, who is expected to reach Thoothukudi on Thursday evening and drive down to Tenkasi on the next morning, will preside over the 90-minute-long function and distribute welfare measures to beneficiaries.

He is likely to lay the foundation for an integrated collectorate complex, housing the district police office, which is expected to come up on a 50-acre government land at Aayiraperi. Although a formal puja was performed on Government Higher Secondary School ground near Tenkasi new bus stand on Monday for erection of pandal for the event, the venue is likely to be shifted to a school premises near Azad Nagar bridge where Mr. Palaniswami attended a function earlier.

Revenue officials caught on the wrong foot

Unable to explain eligibility for ‘destitute widow certificate’

19/11/2019, D.J. WALTER SCOTT,RAMANATHAPURAM

Several Revenue department officials were caught on the wrong foot at the public grievances redressal meeting here on Monday when Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao asked them to explain the eligibility for a widow to get ‘destitute widow certificate’ and conducted an on-the-spot ‘written test’ on the subject.

When a middle-aged woman, carrying a child, presented a petition to the Collector, stating that she could not get destitute widow certificate despite several attempts, Mr. Rao asked a revenue official from the block concerned to explain the eligibility mentioned in the Government Order for issuing the certificate.

When the woman official fumbled, the Collector asked officials from other blocks to spell out the eligibility criteria only to be surprised by wrong answers and a host of conditions put forth by them.

While one official said the annual income of the applicant should not exceed ₹24,000, another official said it should not exceed ₹21,000 and another official said the income limit was ₹48,000. They also said the applicant should live in a thatched roof house, should own no property and have no dependent.

As the officials gave varied and incorrect answers, Mr. Rao lost his cool and criticised them for being unaware of the Government Order. At one stage, he asked the officials to write down the eligibility and in the ‘written test’ too, they contradicted one another.

Later, Mr. Rao said a widow could be issued the destitute widow certificate if her total monthly income from all sources did not exceed ₹4,000.

She could live in a concrete house and even own a couple of acres of land, but the point to be considered was the income limit.

Pointing out that the officials fixed their own rules and guidelines, he said, “You would do gross injustice to petitioners if you denied them the certificate due to your ignorance of the Government Order.”

Release of Melavalavu convicts irks HC

Government told to produce orders today

19/11/2019, B. TILAK CHANDAR,MADURAI

Expressing displeasure over the release of the 13 convicts in the Melavalavu massacre case, the Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the State government to produce the orders passed in this regard.

A Division Bench of Justices S. Vaidyanathan and N. Anand Venkatesh directed the government to produce the relevant documents on November 19.

The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Rathinam, who challenged the release of the convicts.

‘Why the hurry?’

The court wondered how the 13, convicted of a heinous crime, had been released.

With six people killed and two courts, including the Supreme Court, confirming the convictions, what was the hurry to release the convicts, the Bench asked.

Stating that there were limits to government orders, it pointed out that even in the Dharmapuri bus burning case, the convicts had been released.

The 13 convicts were freed in connection with the MGR centenary celebrations, on grounds of good conduct.

No daytime flights for four months from Kochi

19/11/2019,KOCHI

The four-month-long runway re-surfacing work at Cochin International Airport is set to start on Wednesday and there would be no flights from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. till March 28, 2020. Since almost all services have already been re-scheduled, the project period would see cancellation of only five services — one service to Maldives, operated by Spice Jet, and four services in the domestic sector — , a statement from the airport said on Monday. PTI

Kerala varsity begins internal investigation into marks scam

19/11/2019

SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Arif Mohammed Khan

The University of Kerala has commenced an internal inquiry into the illegal modification of moderated marks that were obtained by students pursuing career-related courses.

The expert team, led by Pro Vice-Chancellor P.P. Ajayakumar, recorded the statements of senior officers, including the Controller of Examinations, Director of the Computer Centre, Joint Registrars and Assistant Registrars of various sections, and employees of the IT cell in the examination wing.

The panel, which comprised technical experts, including Syndicate member K.G. Gopachandran, Senate member K.S. Anil Kumar and Ignatius Kunjumon, a retired professor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology(CUSAT), also blocked the related hard disks from the examination wing as part of the ongoing probe. The team is likely to study the access patterns to identify the source of the alterations that had been made to the marks, sources said.

The inquiry also exposed various drawbacks of the existing examination software, including its inability to incorporate certain ‘conditions’ to selectively provide moderation. The university has also suspended the login credentials of most officials until further notice.

Meanwhile, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan summoned Vice-Chancellor V.P. Mahadevan Pillai to understand the circumstances that could have led to the ongoing controversy and the remedial measures that have been adopted to prevent such malpractices in future.

UDF walkout

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has demanded a judicial inquiry into the issue. The Opposition UDF staged a walkout in the Kerala Assembly on Monday demanding an impartial investigation into the complaints of Kerala University arbitrarily awarding marks for students of 16

Panel clears three more medical colleges

Institutes will come up in Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam and Tiruvallur

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT , CHENNAI

The Technical Evaluation Committee of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has given the “clearance” to establish three more government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu.

The State government had applied seeking permission to establish the colleges in Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam and Tiruvallur districts.

Health Secretary Beela Rajesh on Monday made a presentation to the committee in New Delhi.

The final decision on establishing the colleges will be taken by the Empowered Committee of the Union Health Ministry, official sources said.

“The Technical Evaluation Committee has cleared the proposal. Officials had to give a number of reasons for seeking medical colleges in these districts. For Nagapattinam, the emphasis was laid on the district having a long coastal line, and the fact that it was affected during the tsunami, and cyclones,” a reliable source said.

The source added that the Chief Minister has allotted land for all three proposed medical colleges.

Rajagopal is State’s Chief Information Commissioner

First serving govt. officer to be made CIC

19/11/2019, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

R.Rajagopal, Additional Chief Secretary attached to the Raj Bhavan, has been appointed the State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).

He was one among five candidates who were considered by the selection committee, headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, at its meeting on Monday morning. The other prominent candidate on the shortlist was T.K. Rajendran, former Director General of Police (DGP), according to a source.

An order announcing Mr. Rajagopal’s appointment was issued by Personnel and Administrative Reforms Secretary S. Swarna in the evening. The post of CIC had remained vacant since M. Sheela Priya demitted the office in May this year after she turned 65.

In its edition dated November 16, The Hindu mentioned in a report that Mr. Rajapgopal was one among those whose names were doing the rounds for the CIC’s post.

Mr. Rajagopal, who belongs to the 1984 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, is the first serving government officer to be made CIC.

All of his predecessors — S. Ramakrishnan (2005-10), K.S. Sripathi (2010-15), K. Ramanujam (2015-17) and Dr. Sheela Priya (2017-19) — held the post after their retirement from government service.

Barring Mr. Ramanujam, who is a former DGP, all others were retired IAS officers. According to the order, Mr. Rajagopal, who turned 58 in June this year, will hold the post for a period of three years.

Through another order of the State government, Anandrao Vishnu Patil, who is now Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, has been posted to the Raj Bhavan as Secretary to Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

Come Dec. 1, only one lane will accept cash at toll plazas

Others will only accept FASTags

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Smooth travel: FASTag cards, which can be procured online, have both pre-paid and postpaid modes.File PictureN. BASHKARAN

From December 1, only the extreme left lane at the 48 toll plazas under the control of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will accept cash.

All other lanes will be available only for vehicles with FASTags, that use radio frequency. “According to a 2014 notification, vehicles without the tags would have to pay double the amount due,” said Pavan Kumar, Regional Officer, NHAI.

Tie-up with banks

The authority has tied up with several banks that have opened point of sale counters at all toll plazas to sell FASTag cards that are affixed on the windscreens of vehicles. They can also be procured online. Motorists need to have some balance in the cards from which the toll fee would be automatically deducted at the plazas. The cards can be operated on pre-paid and postpaid modes. At present, trial is on at 35 plazas for vehicles with tags.

However, motorists don't seem to evince interest in getting the cards. Less than 30% of vehicles have tags at present.

3 professors quizzed over IIT student’s death

Girl’s roommates, staff to be interrogated

19/11/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

A special team headed by Additional Commissioner of Police C. Easwaramurthy on Monday interrogated three professors, whose names allegedly figured in the notes left by 19-year-old Fathima Latheef, the first year student who ended her life in her hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, 10 days ago.

Initially, the Kotturpuram Police registered a case treating it as an unnatural death. However, three days later, the parents of victim slammed the police for shoddy investigation and requested the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to order a thorough probe and demanded justice for the death of their daughter.

With notes downloaded from her mobile phone as evidence, the parents alleged that their daughter was driven to take the extreme decision due to harassment of faculty members.

With protests mounting, the investigation was handed over to a special team of police personnel from Central Crime Branch (CCB) headed by Mr. Easwaramurthy.

After recording the statement of her father Abdul Latheef on Saturday following his representation, the special team issued summons to the three professors, whose names figured in the notes left by the victim in her mobile phone.

On Monday, the professors were interrogated in an undisclosed location in the city. All their statements were duly recorded and further investigation is on, said sources. The special team is likely to continue its investigation with a few more staff members and the roommates of the victim, sources said.

It may be recalled that City Police Commissioner A.K.Viswanathan had promised expeditious investigation and quick action against those responsible for the girl’s death.

Now, Tirumala to give laddoos in jute bags

Swati.Bharadwaj @timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:19.11.2019

One of the richest deities in the world, Tirupati Lord Venkateswara is now showing the way when it comes to eliminating plastic and adopting new eco-friendly packaging practices for distribution of its famed laddoo prasadam to devotees.

On an average, about 3.5-4 lakh laddoos are sold at the temple premises per day, which translates into a requirement of around 70,000 plastic covers on a daily basis, as per estimates.

Now, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust that manages the temple, has joined hands with Aditya Birla group company Hindalco and Jute Corporation of India to roll out a pilot project on distributing prasadam in 100% recyclable aluminium foil laminated jute bags. Hindalco and JCI have already applied for a patent for the process of aluminium foil lamination of jute.

As part of the pilot, JCI has opened an exclusive prasadam distribution counter for sale of jute foil laminated bags at TTD and over 1 lakh metres of the laminated fabric or around 3 lakh bags have already been sold over the past two months. TTD additional EO AV Dharma Reddy said efforts are underway to reduce the use of plastic in a phased manner and make Tirumala plasticfree.

TTD officials said they have been trying to encourage and facilitate use of non-plastic packaging materials at prasadam distribution counters like paper boxes, paper bags and foil laminated jute bags. However, a chunk of the prasadam continues to be distributed in polythene bags albeit of over 51 microns.

UNHOLY ACT

Chidambaram temple priest slaps devotee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Cuddalore:19.11.2019

A temple priest was booked on charges of assaulting a woman devotee on the temple premises at Chidambaram in Cuddalore district.

Police said S Latha, 51, a nurse posted at a government primary health centre, visited Lord Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram to perform pooja for her son S Rajesh on his 21st birthday on Saturday.

She went to a shrine dedicated to Vinayagar inside the temple and gave the pooja articles to Dharshan Dikshithar, a member of the hereditary priests (podhu dikshithars) and custodians of the temple. She claimed that the

priest on receiving the pooja articles went inside the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine without noting down her son’s name and his star sign and performed the pooja.

When the dikshithar returned and presented the prasad to her she questioned him on how he performed pooja for her son without knowing his name and star sign. Soon, an argument erupted and in a fit of rage, the dikshithar reportedly slapped the woman. The incident shocked the scores of devotees in the temple.

They questioned the behaviour of the dikshithar. The priest claimed that the woman attempted to snatch his gold chain and he acted in self-defence to protect his belonging.

Devotees condemned the behaviour of the priest and demanded the authorities initiate stringent action against him.

The woman later lodged a complaint with Chidambaram town police station.

Police booked the priest under section 294-b (obscene songs and acts) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian penal code (IPC) and section 4 (penalty for harassment of women) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998.

Police launched a hunt for the priest, who absconded on learning that a case was booked against him. A video of the incident had gone viral on WhatsApp.

CAUGHT ON CAM

Govt teachers may soon be eligible for VRS, says minister

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:19.11.2019

Voluntary retirement scheme for government teachers completing 30 years of service is under the government’s consideration and it may be announced soon. This was revealed by Education minister K A Sengottaiyan after inaugurating the state-level 62nd Republic Day athletics at Kongunadu Engineering College at Thottiyam on Monday.

“An announcement in this regard will be made by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami within a week”, the minister said while replying to a question. Sengottaiyan said that the Tamil Nadu government was providing a number of measures to help sportsmen excel in their respective fields. He recalled that it was their late leader J Jayalalithaa who established a separate university for sports. “We have decided to hike incentives for sportsmen. Now they are getting Rs 100 a day. Efforts are on to provide free college education to 100 sports students who excel in their fields. Tamil Nadu government is now providing 3% reservation for sportsmen. There is also a plan to enhance the percentage for them,” he added.

He appealed to the student community to spare time for sports events on a par with studies as it would help build their physical and mental health.

A total of 2,099 boys and 2,236 girl students from across the 32 districts are participating in the sports meet to be held over six days.

Tourism minister Vellamandi N Natarajan, minister for backward classes and minorities welfare S Valarmathi and district collector S Sivarasu and officials from various departments were present at the event.

3 more med colleges to come up in coastal, tribal districts
MCI Technical Panel Gives Go-Ahead
Julie Mariappan & Pushpa Narayan TNN

Chennai:19.11.2019

Three more medical colleges are likely to come up in the coastal and tribal belt of the state, in addition to the six colleges approved by the Medical Council of India in October.

The technical committee of the apex regulatory body has given the green signal for colleges in Nagappattinam, Tiruvallur and Krishnagiri districts. The state will add 450 more MBBS seats once the empowered committee gives its nod. The meeting with the empowered committee will be held next week. Tamil Nadu health department officials said they would be able to add 1,350 more medical seats within the next two years.

In August, the cabinet committee on economic affairs had approved setting up of 75 government medical colleges by 2021-22. The Centre also offered to partially fund the project as it wanted to increase the number of medical colleges in the country. Tamil Nadu, which currently has 24 medical colleges, proposed new colleges in six unserved areas along with a justification on the need for a college in the areas, the land and the state’s willingness to provide the remaining funds to set up the colleges. It got a nod for all the six colleges in Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, the Nilgiris, Dindigul, Tirupur and Namakkal.

The state then applied for three more colleges. Before the state health secretary Beela Rajesh appeared before the technical committee, the state submitted several documents to show that it was keen on having at least one medical college in every district. The state also told the committee that it has already sanctioned ₹600 crore for the construction of the six new colleges without waiting for funds from the centre. “For the three new colleges, the proposals were sent on the instruction of the chief minister. We also had papers that showed the land allotted for these colleges. This was more than what the technical committee had demanded. Last time, we did this only after the technical committee’s approval. We also had justifications for each college in the respective district,” said a senior health department official.

For instance, the state said the coastal district of Nagapattinam had a high population of fishermen and was prone to be hit by cyclones and tsunamis. It also had at least two major tourists destinations – the Velankani Church and the Nagur Dargah. For Krishnagiri, officials pointed out how maternal mortality in the district was high compared to the state average along with the statistics on its high tribal population. They also showed how the district was prone to road accidents because of long stretches of national highways. They faced the biggest challenge when they were asked to convince why the state needs a college in Tiruvallur when its neighbour and state capital Chennai has four. “Although it is about 50km away from Chennai, travel time can sometimes go up to three hours,” officials said. The committee has now sent the papers to the empowered committee for further scrutiny.

Last week, the Tamil Nadu Medical Council urged the Medical Council of India and the state government not to start any more medical colleges. The council said that Tamil Nadu has one doctor for 709 people against the standard 1:1000 prescribed by the World Health Organisation. With the existing number of seats, the number of doctors in Tamil Nadu will double to 2.02 lakh by 2035, at a time when population growth is slowing down. The estimated population in 2015 will be just 13 crore, as against the present 8.15 crore, it argued. But state health officials said increase in seats will mean recruitment of more doctors, promotions for many senior doctors who can’t be promoted currently due to lack of vacancy. “A college with 150 seats will need at least 300 faculty members. The medical recruitment board will soon be one of the busiest hiring agencies,” the official said.