RK Nagar bypoll case: I-T recovery proceedings stayed

TNN | Feb 8, 2020, 01.33 PM IST

CHENNAI: In a relief to an income tax assessee whose premises were raided along with that of state health minister C Vijayabaskar in April 2017, leading to the cancellation of bypoll to RK Nagar constituency, the Madras high court has stayed all recovery proceedings against the assessee.

The income tax officials, who raided the premises of R Nainar Mohammed in Chennai on April 7, 2017, in continuation of the search warrant issued in the name of state health minister C Vijayabhaskar, recovered Rs 2.94 crore from him.

However, alleging procedural violations, Nainar Mohammed filed the present petition in the high court saying the search that took place on April 7, 2017 pertained to financial year 2017-18 and the returns accounted for the entire seized cash. Therefore, the very basis of the unexplained or undisclosed income for the years 2017-18 and 2018-19 does not arise, because the income has already been shown and the assets are illustrated in the accounts.

Justice Anitha Sumanth, before whom the case came up for hearing on Friday, directed the income tax to file its reply by February 24, and added: "Let no recovery proceedings be initiated till then." The petitioner approached the court challenging the assessment order of deputy commissioner of income tax, central circle for the year 2018-19, assessing his total income as Rs 4,52,48,500, including the amount seized at the time of search.

At the time of search on his premises, several slips apparently showing boothwise expenses pertaining to RK Nagar assembly elections were recovered. Apart from the slips and and papers totalling Rs 64 lakh, an amount of Rs 2.95 crore was also seized. Originally he had declared an income of Rs 1.49 crore.

Rajiv Gandhi case convicts: Tamil Nadu governor holds key to freedom

TNN | Feb 9, 2020, 04.25 AM IST

CHENNAI: One signature — that of Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit — now stands between the seven life convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and their freedom.
Not the central government, not the Supreme Court and not even the state government. It is now the governor who shall sign their premature release warrant. The central government’s affidavit in the Madras high court, in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by India’s longest serving woman prisoner, Nalini Sriharan, on Friday referred to the Supreme Court’s order and said it is the governor who shall take an appropriate decision on the matter. It even said the fate of A G Perarivalan’s mercy petition, pending before Purohit, too hinged on the ‘discretion’ of the governor.

There are only three routes to clemency — by the President under Article 72 of the Constitution, by the governor under Article 161 of the Constitution, and by the state government under Section 435 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The President has rejected it multiple times and the Tamil Nadu government’s bid to invoke CrPC Section 435 bombed after the Centre moved the Supreme Court and got an order stating that ‘consultation’ in respect of a case probed by central agencies would mean ‘concurrence’. The Centre rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s early release proposal and made it clear long ago that it is against the premature release of the seven.

Only Article 161, available to the governor, is left. Bitten once, the Tamil Nadu government adopted the Article 161 route on September 9, 2018, and recommended the case to the governor, who is sitting on it for more than 18 months. Of course, constitutionally, a governor can take time to decide and need not explain the reason for delaying the decision. Concurring with this leeway available to the governor, advocate M Radhakrishnan, counsel for Nalini, says it will not mean the constitutional office can withhold the decision for an indefinite period. Radhakrishnan advised Nalini to adopt a rather adventurous route of filing a habeas corpus petition, which primarily deals with illegal detentions.

Since Article 161 does not allow any discretion for the governor and because he is constitutionally bound by the state cabinet resolution, every day’s delay on his part amounts to extension of illegal detention of Nalini, he said.

Can courts engage the governor in litigation when a Constitution bench judgment in the Rameshwar Prasad case (2006) clearly says the President or governor should not be made answerable to court? The immunity available to the two under Article 361 is absolute, the apex court said, adding that even notice cannot be served to them nor they be ever asked to appear in court. The same judgment, however, says courts cannot be silent spectators if these constitutional authorities do not perform their duties. Without sending notice to them the court could adjudicate legality or otherwise of their action or inaction.

There are at least three constitutional bench judgments — Maru Ram (1980), Kedar Singh (1989) and Sriharan alias Murugan (2015) —which say the governor has no discretion and that cabinet decision is binding on him.

On this count, the status of Tamil Nadu governor is quite unenviable, as he is torn between a constitutional obligation to offer nod to a state cabinet decision and personal or ideological necessity to sail with the Centre’s stand. There is also a theoretical possibility of Madras high court allowing Nalini’s petition by declaring that her continued incarceration is either unjustified or unlawful due to the unexplained delay by the governor in making the only option available to him.

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கல்விக் கட்டணம் 200 மடங்கு உயர்வு; துணைவேந்தர் அலுவலகத்தை முற்றுகையிட்ட புதுச்சேரி மத்திய பல்கலை. மாணவர்கள்மாணவ, மாணவிகள் போராட்டம்
புதுச்சேரி  07.02.2020

200 மடங்குக்கு மேல் கல்விக் கட்டணம் உயர்ந்துள்ளதைக் கண்டித்து புதுச்சேரி மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தர் அலுவலகத்தை மாணவ, மாணவிகள் முற்றுகையிட்டுப் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர்.

புதுச்சேரி காலாப்பட்டில் புதுச்சேரி மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழகம் இயங்கி வருகிறது. இங்கு 5 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட மாணவ, மாணவிகள் படித்து வருகின்றனர். முன்னெப்போதும் இல்லாத வகையில் மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் கல்விக் கட்டணம் உயர்த்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இதையடுத்து மாணவ, மாணவிகள் இன்று (பிப்.6) பேரணியாக வந்து, துணைவேந்தர் அலுவலகத்தை முற்றுகையிட வந்தனர். அதையடுத்து தடுப்புகள் வைத்து மாணவர்கள் தடுக்கப்பட்டனர். ஆனால், தடுப்புகளை அகற்றியும் தூக்கியெறிந்தும் துணைவேந்தர் அலுவலகத்தை முற்றுகையிட்டு மாணவர்கள் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டனர்.

இது தொடர்பாக, மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர் பேரவைத் தலைவர் பரிட்சய் கூறுகையில், "புதுச்சேரி மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் நடப்புக் கல்வி ஆண்டில் கல்விக் கட்டணம் 200 முதல் 300 மடங்கு வரை உயர்த்தப்பட்டது. அதனைக் கண்டித்து மாணவர் பேரவை மற்றும் பல்வேறு மாணவர் அமைப்புகள் சார்பாக உயர்த்தப்பட்ட கல்விக் கட்டணம் மற்றும் புதுச்சேரி மாணவர்களின் இலவசப் பேருந்து சேவைக்குக் கட்டணம் நிர்ணயித்ததைத் திரும்பப் பெற வலியுறுத்தி தொடர் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டோம்.

அதனைத் தொடர்ந்து பல்கலைக்கழக துணைவேந்தர் தலையிட்டார். மாணவர்களின் கோரிக்கையைப் பரிசீலிக்க நிர்வாகம் மற்றும் மாணவர் பேரவை நிர்வாகிகளைக் கொண்ட குழு அமைக்கப்பட்டது. அக்குழுவின் கூட்டம் 3 முறை நடைபெற்றது.

ஆனால், அக்குழு உயர்த்தப்பட்ட கல்விக் கட்டண உயர்வைத் திரும்பப் பெறுவது குறித்து ஆக்கபூர்வமான முடிவை மேற்கொள்ளவில்லை. மாறாக, கல்விக் கட்டண உயர்வைத் திரும்பப் பெற முடியாது என்றனர்.

20 ஆண்டுகளுக்கும் மேலாக மாணவர்களுக்கு வழங்கப்பட்ட இலவசப் பேருந்து சேவைக்குக் கட்டணம் வசூலிப்பதிலேயே குறியாக இருந்தனர். இதற்கு மேல் பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகத் தரப்புடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தை என்பது கண்துடைப்பாகவே அமையும் என்பதால் உயர்த்தப்பட்ட கல்விக் கட்டண உயர்வைத் திரும்பப் பெறக்கோரி துணைவேந்தர் அலுவலகம் உள்ள புதுச்சேரி மத்திய பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாக அலுவலகம் உள்ள கட்டிடத்தை முற்றுகையிட்டுள்ளோம்" என்றார்.

போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டு வரும் மாணவ, மாணவிகள் கூறுகையில், "உயர்த்தப்பட்ட கட்டணங்களைக் குறைக்க வலியுறுத்தி கடந்த வருடம் முதல் போராடி வருகின்றோம். இதுவரை குறைக்கப்படவில்லை. தற்போது மீண்டும் பேருந்து கண்டனம் கூடாது, உயர்த்தப்பட்ட கட்டணத்தைக் குறைக்க வேண்டும், எந்தவித புதிய கட்டணத்தையும் விதிக்கக்கூடாது என வலியுறுத்திப் போராடுகிறோம். இதை துணைவேந்தர் அறிவிக்கும் வரை போராட்டத்தைக் கைவிட மாட்டோம்" என்றனர்.

சிலிண்டருக்கு சரியான விலை கிடைக்க டிஜிட்டல் பேமென்ட்

Added : பிப் 07, 2020 04:32

கோவை:இண்டேன் சிலிண்டருக்குரிய சரியான விலையை வாடிக்கையாளர்கள், டிஜிட்டல் பேமன்ட் மூலம் செலுத்தும்படி, இந்தியன் ஆயில் நிறுவனம் அறிவுறுத்தியுள்ளது.இதன்படி, சிலிண்டர் புக் செய்தவுடன், வாடிக்கையாளர்கள் பதிவு செய்துள்ள மொபைல் எண்ணுக்கு, http://payit.cc/L1xxxxxx என்ற ஆன்லைனில், பணம் செலுத்துவதற்கான 'லிங்க்' அனுப்பி வைக்கப்படும். இந்த லிங்கை கிளிக் செய்து, சிலிண்டருக்கான சரியான தொகையை, நெட் பேங்கிங், இ - வாலட், கிரெடிட் மற்றும் டெபிட் கார்டு போன்ற ஆன்லைன் பேமன்ட் வழிமுறைகள் வாயிலாக செலுத்தலாம். இதன்மூலம், சிலிண்டர் டெலிவரிக்கு பின் வாடிக்கையாளர்கள் எந்த விதமான கட்டணத்தையும் செலுத்த வேண்டியதில்லை. மேலும் தகவல்களுக்கு, 0422 - 224 7396, 224 0696 ஆகிய எண்களில் அழைக்கலாம்.

தூக்கு தண்டனை நிறைவேறுமா?; 'நிர்பயா வழக்கு இன்று விசாரணை

Updated : பிப் 07, 2020 06:45 | Added : பிப் 07, 2020 06:41

புதுடில்லி: 'நிர்பயா' வழக்கில், குற்றவாளிகளுக்கான துாக்கு தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்ற தடை விதித்து, டில்லி உயர் நீதிமன்றம் பிறப்பித்த உத்தரவை எதிர்த்து, மத்திய அரசு தாக்கல் செய்த மனுவை, உச்ச நீதிமன்றம் இன்று விசாரிக்கவுள்ளது.

டில்லியைச் சேர்ந்த மருத்துவ மாணவி நிர்பயா, 2012ல், ஒரு கும்பலால் பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்யப்பட்டு, ஓடும் பஸ்சில் இருந்து துாக்கி வீசப்பட்டார். மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்ட அவர், சிகிச்சை பலனின்றி உயிரிழந்தார்.இந்த வழக்கில், முகேஷ் குமார் சிங், 32, பவன் குப்தா, 25, வினய் குமார் சர்மா, 26, அக் ஷய் குமார், 31, ஆகியோருக்கு துாக்கு தண்டனை விதிக்கப்பட்டது. டில்லி திகார் சிறையில், இவர்களுக்கு துாக்கு தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்ற இரண்டு முறை, 'வாரன்ட்' பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டது.

கருணை மனு, மறு சீராய்வு மனு என, நான்கு பேரும், மாறி மாறி மனு தாக்கல் செய்து வருவதால், தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்றுவது ஒத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது. கருணை மனுஇது தொடர்பான வழக்கில், டில்லி உயர் நீதிமன்றம் நேற்று முன்தினம் பிறப்பித்த உத்தரவு: குற்றவாளிகளில் நான்கு பேருக்கும் ஒரே நேரத்தில் தான் துாக்கு தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்ற வேண்டும். கருணை மனுக்கள் நிராகரிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு மட்டும், முதலில் தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்றுவது, மற்றவர்களுக்கு அதன் பின் தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்றுவது என்பது, சட்ட ரீதியாக சரியாக இருக்காது. எனவே, அடுத்த ஏழு நாட்களுக்குள், குற்றவாளிகள் தரப்பிலிருந்து வேறு புதிய மனுக்கள் தாக்கல் செய்யப்படாவிட்டால், எந்தவித தாமதமும் இன்றி தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்றலாம். அதுவரை தண்டனையை நிறுத்தி வைக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு, டில்லி உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவு பிறப்பித்தது.
நிராகரிப்புஇதை எதிர்த்து, மத்திய அரசு சார்பில் உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தில் நேற்று மனு தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டது. இந்த மனுவில், 'குற்றவாளிகளில் நான்கு பேரில், மூன்று பேரின் கருணை மனுக்கள், மறு சீராய்வு மனுக்கள் நிராகரிக்கப்பட்டு விட்டன. 'ஆனாலும், இந்த மூன்று பேருக்கும் தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்ற முடியவில்லை. எனவே, தண்டனையை தாமதமின்றி நிறைவேற்ற உத்தரவிட வேண்டும்' என, கூறப்பட்டிருந்தது. இந்த மனு, நீதிபதிகள், என்.வி.ரமணா, சஞ்சீவ் கன்னா, கிருஷ்ணா முராரி ஆகியோர் அடங்கிய அமர்வு முன், நேற்று பரிசீலனைக்கு வந்தது. அப்போது, இந்த மனுவை இன்று விசாரிப்பதாக நீதிபதிகள் அறிவித்தனர்.

சிறை அதிகாரிகள் மனு

குற்றவாளிகள் அடைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள டில்லி திகார் சிறையின் அதிகாரிகள் சார்பில், டில்லி செஷன்ஸ் நீதிமன்றத்தில் நேற்று மனு தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டது. அதில், 'குற்றவாளிகளுக்கான தண்டனையை நிறைவேற்ற, புதிய, 'வாரன்ட்' பிறப்பிக்க வேண்டும்' என, வலியுறுத்தப்பட்டது. இந்த மனு தொடர்பாக, இன்றுக்குள் பதில் அளிக்கும்படி, நான்கு குற்றவாளிகளுக்கும், 'நோட்டீஸ்' அனுப்ப, நீதிபதி உத்தரவிட்டார்.

'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள் மாறாட்ட வழக்கு

Added : பிப் 07, 2020 00:38

தேனி: 'நீட்' தேர்வு ஆள்மாறாட்ட வழக்கில், மேலும் ஒரு மாணவரை, சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி., போலீசார் கைது செய்தனர்.அரசு, தனியார் மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரிகளில், எம்.பி.பி.எஸ்., படிப்பிற்கான மாணவர் சேர்க்கை, 'நீட்' தேர்வு மூலம் நடக்கிறது.

இதில், ஆள்மாறாட்டம் செய்து, வேறு ஒருவரை தேர்வு எழுத வைத்து, கல்லுாரியில் சேர்ந்த முறைகேடு தெரியவந்தது. இத்தேர்வு முறைகேட்டில், தேனி அரசு மருத்துவ கல்லுாரியில் சேர்ந்த, மாணவர் உதித் சூர்யா, அவரது தந்தை, டாக்டர் வெங்கடேசன் முதலில், தேனி, சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி., போலீசாரால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டனர்.இதை தொடர்ந்து, புரோக்கர்கள் மூலம், வெவ்வேறு கல்லுாரிகளில் சேர்ந்த பிரவின், ராகுல், இர்பான், பிரியங்கா ஆகிய, நான்கு மாணவர்கள், அவர்களின் பெற்றோர் என, 10 பேர் கைது செய்யப்பட்டனர்.கைது செய்யப்பட்டவர்கள், ஜாமினில் உள்ளனர். இவ்வழக்கில் தொடர்புடைய, புரோக்கர் முருகன் மட்டும், தேனி சிறையில் உள்ளார்.

இந்நிலையில், சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி., போலீசார் விசாரணையில், சென்னையில் உள்ள, ஒரு தனியார் மருத்துவக் கல்லுாரியில் படித்த, மாணவர் பவித்திரன், 20, என்பவர், நேற்று கைது செய்யப்பட்டு, தேனிக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லப்பட்டார்.இவரது சொந்த ஊர், கிருஷ்ணகிரி. இவரும், 'நீட்' தேர்வு முறைகேட்டில் ஈடுபட்டு, கல்லுாரியில் சேர்ந்தது, தெரிய வந்தது. மாணவரிடம், போலீசார் விசாரித்து வருகின்றனர்.இவ்வழக்கில் முக்கிய புள்ளியான, ரஷீத்தை இன்னும் கைது செய்யவில்லை.

சம்பளம் கொடுக்க பணமில்லை திண்டாடும் வீட்டு வசதி வாரியம்

Added : பிப் 06, 2020 22:43

சென்னை; மாதச் சம்பளம் வழங்க பணம் இல்லாததால், வைப்பு நிதியை பயன்படுத்த வேண்டிய நிலைக்கு, வீட்டுவசதி வாரியம் தள்ளப்பட்டு உள்ளதாக, ஊழியர் சங்கங்கள் புகார் தெரிவித்து உள்ளன.

இதுகுறித்து, வீட்டு வசதி வாரிய தொழிலாளர் முன்னேற்ற சங்கம், வாரிய நிர்வாக இயக்குனருக்கு எழுதியுள்ள கடிதம்:கடந்த இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளாக, 5,000 அரசு ஊழியர் குடியிருப்புகள் கட்டுவதற்கு, 1,200 கோடி ரூபாய் வாரிய நிதி செலவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த நிதியை அரசிடம் இருந்து திரும்ப பெற, உரிய நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு வாரிய நிதி செலவிடப்பட்டதால், பொது மக்களுக்காக வாரிய இடத்தில், வீடு கட்டி விற்க முடியாத நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

முன் எப்போதும் இல்லாத வகையில், இம்மாதம் ஊழியர்களுக்கு சம்பளம் பட்டுவாடா செய்ய, வைப்பு நிதியை பயன்படுத்த வேண்டிய நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.மக்களிடம் நிலவும் தேவையை கருத்தில் கொள்ளாமல், பல இடங்களில் கட்டப்பட்ட, 2,800 வீடுகள் விற்கப்படாமல் உள்ளன. இவற்றை விற்கவும், அரசு நிதியை விரைந்து பெறவும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு, கடிதத்தில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

MKU enters its 54th year of existence

The Madurai Kamaraj University will enter its 54th year of existence on Thursday, TNIE takes a look at the past, present and potential of the institution.

Published: 06th February 2020 01:09 PM 

By Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam

Express News Service

MADURAI: The Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) will enter its 54th year of existence on Thursday. As a celebratory mood wash over the institution, TNIE takes a look at the past, present and potential of the institution.

In the past

The Madurai Kamaraj University, originally called the Madurai University, came into being through a bill passed in the Legislative Assembly of the State in 1965. Former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and last President of the Justice Party Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan (PT Rajan) donated his land for the University. In his honour, the university's main campus was named 'Tamilvel PT Rajan Maligai'. T P Meenakshi Sundaranar was the first Vice-Chancellor of MKU.

The Madurai University was established in 1966 and was renamed The Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) in 1979 in honour of Bharat Ratna K Kamaraj. The university has so far produced over one crore graduates in the last 52 years. The varsity was conferred with the status of 'University with potential for Excellence (UPE)' by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2005 and is now striving achieve the status of Institute of Eminence. The MKU is a member of the Association of Indian Universities.

Present

Vanchinathan, Legal Advisor of Save Higher Education Forum, claimed that political intervention and favouritism in appointments over the past 20 years led to the university's glory declining steadily. He alleged that the present V-C did not take firm decisions to weed out corruption. "Corruption will be rooted out only if all democratic elections, including those of students associations, are held," he added.

MKU's Former syndicate member and former Additional Controller of Examination Prof(retired) Srinivasan said that the MKU's biological science and bio-technology departments were known across the world. Many an eminent professor from the university was pioneer in both the science and arts streams.

On request of anonymity, a teaching faculty from the MKU said that once, MKU's courses in bio-technology, biological science, mathematics were highly competitive. At that time, an all India entrance examination was held to admit students to the courses. The university had the honour of having such professors in art subjects like E Muthiah, Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan, Kannan, Tharabai, Nalini among others.

Potential

Vice-Chancellor M Krishnan told TNIE that in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), MKU now stands at 45th place from its earlier 56th. Four faculties from the university received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards. "Till date, 14 faculties, including me, from the university have been elevated as Vice-Chancellors, whereas several alumni are IAS/IPS/IRS officers," he said. On the achievements of the university, he said that 50 per cent of the tuition fees have been waived off to encourage student enrolment. "The university is now striving to get the A++ grade in NAAC," he added.

The university's T P Meenakshi Sundaranar Library has the second largest collection of books among University Libraries in Tamil Nadu. The MKU has a modernized central Library with 3 lakh books, 15,000 e-journals, 3,000 e-books, 55,000 reference and 3,00,839 text books.

No more conventional courses; go for emerging areas, says AICTE to institutions
Published: 06th February 2020 01:17 PM 

By S Mannar Mannan

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: In line with its National Perspective Plan, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided not to allow existing institutions to start new programmes or increase the number of existing programmes in conventional areas like mechanical or civil, from the coming academic year.

Rather, the institutions would only be allowed to start a new programme or increase intake in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, robotics, quantum computing, data sciences, cyber security, 3D printing and design, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality(AR/VR).

Out with the old, in with the new

A high-level committee constituted by the AICTE had in last year come out with a short and medium-term perspective plan for engineering education in the country and recommended institutions not to create any new capacity starting from 2020 academic year. It pointed the low capacity utilisation of 49.8 percent (capacity vs enrolment) in undergraduate and post graduate courses as the reason for its directive.

In addition to this, like last year, the AICTE has also decided to reduce intake by 50 percent in institutions that had 30 per cent or less sets filled in the last five years.

Consortium of Self-Financing Professional Arts and Science Colleges in Tamil Nadu, Joint Secretary, TD Easwaramoorthy said, "Private college managements themselves are interested in reducing intake in courses like civil, mechanical and electrical and start courses like AI. In fact, even top colleges are planning to voluntarily reduce their intake."

Regarding AICTE's plan to cut admissions by half in select institutions, he said, "Last year, the AICTE took out 2.5 lakh seats across the nation using this rule. So, this year, there will not be much reduction in the number of seats available, under this condition."

Strict guidelines

The AICTE had also warned that its council will not issue Extension of Approval (EOA) unless 60 per cent of the eligible courses in any technical Institution is accredited in three year's time.

This was part of the Approval Process Handbook for 2020-21, released by the AICTE on Wednesday. The AICTE would start accepting online applications for extension of approval for existing institution and also for new institutions from Thursday and fixed the last date for submitting application as February 29.

Mind the staff

The AICTE has also insisted technical education institutions to ensure timely and complete payment of the salary to faculty members by Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) through nationalised banks. Expert visiting committee shall ensure the faculty availability by the annual salary paid statements of the faculty in addition to their physical presence, the apex regulatory body said.

It also asked college managements not to demand original degree certificate from the faculty members and also asked the latter to avoid the practice of leaving an institution in the midst of the semester without completing the courses assigned.

In the case of post graduate degree programmes like ME, M Tech, the AICTE has relaxed the faculty-student ratio from the earlier 1:12 (one faculty for every 12 students) to 1:15 now.

Vibrance 2020: VIT Vellore is new sports champ

The sports events, as part of Vibrance 2020, which began last week, included hockey, volleyball, throwball, tennis, cricket, football, tennis and cyclathon.

Published: 07th February 2020 05:21 AM |

The overall sports championship trophy is handed over to VIT Vellore by Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla at ‘Vibrance 2020’ in VIT Chennai | Ashwin prasath

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla handed over the overall sports championship to Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, at the inaugural function of Vibrance 2020. It is the annual sports and cultural festival of VIT Chennai. The three day event began on Thursday.

The sports events, as part of Vibrance 2020, which began last week, included hockey, volleyball, throwball, tennis, cricket, football, tennis and cyclathon. Over 160 programmes including 21 sports events forms the festival. Over 10,000 participants from various institutions are expected to participate from all over India during the course of the event, said a VIT statement.

Piyush Chawla also signed a cricket bat and ball and handed it over to the sports team of VIT Chennai on the occasion. Students thronged to watch a performance by music composer Devi Sri Prasad. On Thursday, over 300 students competed in the marathon from Kelambakkam to the premises of VIT Chennai. The theme of the marathon was “Save Water Bodies.”

Over Rs 6 lakh worth prize money is up for grabs for students participating in the various competitions at Vibrance 2020. The statement added that the budget of the festival was around Rs 57 lakh. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President, VIT, Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director, VIT and Anand A Samuel, Vice-Chancellor were also present on the occasion.

Submit report on Mannady encroachments, says High Court

Apart from this, several unauthorised eateries and hotels have come up. Due to the authorities’ inaction, the public is inconvenienced.

Published: 07th February 2020 06:34 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A PIL petition has been filed in Madras High Court for a directive to authorities concerned, to remove encroachments by hotels and eateries on Mannady Street and its footpath at Broadway within a time frame. Petitioner N T Arasu, a resident of Mannady for about 40 years, said encroachments by unknown and floating population has become a big nuisance.

Apart from this, several unauthorised eateries and hotels have come up. Due to the authorities’ inaction, the public is inconvenienced. Apart from traffic jam due to encroachments, pedestrians are at great risk as they have to use the carriageway. There have been many accidents. Even if the outlets are licensed, they violate the terms and conditions of Greater Chennai Corporation.

Most eateries are not preparing the food in a hygienic manner and this adversely affects health of consumers. Food safety officers are not to be seen anywhere near these units. Wasted food is dumped in drainage resulting in blocks, petitioner said.

A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha, directed the authorities, including Greater Chennai Corporation, to file a detailed report with regard to the steps taken to remove the encroachments.

MKU App soft launched

07/02/2020, , SANJANA GANESH,MADURAI

Madurai Kamaraj University has soft launched its Application on Google Play Store on Thursday.

T. Dharmaraj, Faculty Coordinator, who is in charge of the Application, said that by using the App students could monitor their attendance, check timetable, pay fees, get access to e-books and videos and coordinate with their professors on their assignments. “The App also has a template for creating a resume which can be sent through this integrated platform to the placement cell,” he said.

It had been planned to bring out a Smart Card for marking attendance, checking books at library and entering laboratories. The university had tied up with State Bank of India to provide ATM cards to the students. Students could also use the App’s emergency portal if they wanted to be taken to hospital or register a complaint with grievance cell. “Teachers can upload their lecture notes and check their own attendance. Since the university is connected through Wi-Fi, uploading takes place real-time. Biometric attendance system is to be installed at 70 places on the campus,” he said.

Since everyone in the university, right from the Vice-Chancellor to the administrative staff, would be on the App, students and teachers could send one another friend requests and use it as a sort of social media platform. Although the App was being tested, it would be officially launched by Vice-Chancellor M. Krishnan on February 20, Mr. Dharmaraj said.

Tihar jail moves Delhi court seeking fresh date for execution of Nirbhaya convicts

PTI | Feb 6, 2020, 03.37 PM IST

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has sought response by Friday of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on an application seeking issuance of fresh death warrants against them.

Additional sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana sought the convicts' response on an application moved on Thursday by the Tihar Jail authorities for the fresh death warrants.

The trial court had on January 31 stayed "till further orders" execution of the four convicts in the case - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

SC to hear today if Nirbhaya convicts can be hanged separately

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:07.02.2020

The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday a petition by the Union government seeking permission to hang those death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case whose mercy pleas have been rejected by the President.

The President has rejected the mercy petitions of three of the four death row convicts — Mukesh, Akshay and Vinay — while the fourth, Pawan, is yet to file a mercy plea. The Centre is challenging the decisions of the Delhi high court and the trial court, which concurrently ruled that all four have to be executed simultaneously.

This means none of them will be executed till Pawan’s mercy plea is filed and decided by the President. Additional solicitor general K M Nataraj requested a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana for urgent listing of the Centre’s appeal against the February 5 order of Delhi HC, which had refused permission for separate hanging of the convicts. Justice Ramana ordered listing of the appeal on Friday before an appropriate bench.

The Centre said, “The question is whether a convict who has exhausted all his remedies can still frustrate the mandate of law merely because mercy petition of one of the co-convicts is pending before the President and another co-convict has not even filed the mercy petition. In other words, can one convict, by sheer inaction — calculated and designed or otherwise — frustrate the mandate of law?”

The Centre said Delhi Prison Rules and manual make it clear that there is no such mandate for simultaneous execution of all condemned convicts involved in one case. “In the peculiar facts arising in the Nirbhaya case, when appeals with regard to all convicts were dismissed by the Supreme Court as far back as 2017 and mercy petitions in case of Mukesh and Vinay Sharma are already dismissed by the President, the special court was not justified to suspend the execution warrants,” the Centre said.

Full report on www.toi.in

The Centre is challenging the decisions of the Delhi high court and the trial court, which concurrently ruled that all four have to be executed simultaneously

AICTE fixes 1:15 faculty-student ratio for deemed univs, autonomous colleges

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.02.2020

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has fixed 1:15 faculty-student ratio for deemed universities, autonomous colleges and accredited engineering colleges. The approval handbook for 2020-21 was released on Wednesday.

The latest move of the AICTE, which in 2018-19 diluted the 1:15 faculty-students ratio to 1:20, resulting in more than 22,000 faculty members losing their jobs in Tamil Nadu alone, is expected to increase the demand in TN. Many teachers from the state are now employed in states such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, say sources. “Deemed universities and autonomous colleges are not the same as other institutions. They were given special status for providing quality education. So, they need to ensure 1:15 faculty-students ratio,” a senior AICTE official said.

However, the decision to relax the faculty-student ratio for PG courses from 1:12 to 1:15 may not affect many, say faculty members, pointing out that PG admissions have come down and many faculty members have been given pink slips.

The AICTE also said technical institutions should have 60% of their courses to be accredited in the next three years and asked the expert committee to ensure faculty availability by the annual salary paid statements in addition to their physical presence. Institutions should not demand original degree certificates from faculty members at the time of joining the institution, it said, adding that doing so would attract punishment including ban on admission for one year and withdrawal of approval. This follows the suicide of T Vasanthavanam on November 12, 2018, after he was denied the original certificate from a city college where he worked.

K M Karthik, founder of All India Private Colleges Employees Union, said the new faculty-students ratio would bring down unemployment.

A few autonomous colleges said it would be difficult to recruit 25% additional faculty before the March 5 deadline. “We may have to recruit more than 50 faculty members. It is difficult to recruit more members before first week of March. We need more time,” said B Chidambararajan, principal of Valliammai Engineering College, Chennai. “The regulation does not specify whether the 1:15 ratio will apply from 2020-21.”

TNPSC scam: Key accused surrenders

CB-CID To Take Him Into Custody

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.02.2020

Prime suspect and brain behind the TNPSC examination scam surrendered before a Saidapet court on Thursday. The CB-CID, probing the alleged malpractice, had been hunting for S Jayakumar, 45, for the last two weeks even as investigators arrested 32 people in connection with scams in the 2019 Group IV exam and the 2017 Group II-A exam.

The 23rd metropolitan magistrate court directed that Jayakumar be remanded till Friday and be produced before the CB-CID court in Egmore on that day. CBCID investigators are expected to take him into custody for detailed questioning. Police constable Sithandi and Jayakumar are the main suspects in the scam.

Police circulated his photographs at airports, major railway stations and bus terminals to prevent Jayakumar from escaping to another state or country. A week ago, police, who suspected Jayakumar’s role in both scams, conducted searches at his Mogappair house and seized a laptop, pen drive and more than 60 special ink pens apart from documents. Police also found that Sithandi, who was arrested from Sivaganga, had collected ₹82.5 lakh from seven job aspirants who cleared the 2017 group II-A exam and were selected for government jobs then. Meanwhile, the CBCID has taken accused Omkanthan into five days police custody in connection with the TNPSC Group IV exam scam. Omkanthan was assigned to assist TNPSC staff Manickavel in transporting the answer sheets from Rameswaram to Chennai. Around 8 pm on September 1, 2019, after loading the answer sheets in a van, Omkanthan kept the key with him. Jayakumar followed the van in another vehicle.

Meanwhile, with the detention of a VAO, recruited in 2016 through TNPSC exam, for suspected job fraud, the CB-CID suspect malpractices in the VAO test held then. The VAO allegedly gave ₹15 lakh to Jayakumar to get selected. Five others, who were selected as VAOs after writing the exam in February 2016, are also under the scanner.

BSNL customers begin to feel pinch of poor service

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.02.2020

Almost a week after more than 50% BSNL employees made an exodus, availing themselves of the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), subscribers have started feeling the pinch of poor services. While city residents are witnessing the impact on mobile services, those in suburbs are complaining about drop in broadband internet speed.

Sadagopan, a resident of Pattabiram on the western outskirts of the city, and a long-time subscriber of BSNL’s broadband facility, said he was forced to surrender the service. “Services have gone from bad to worse in the last one week. I have just surrendered my broadband connection and switched over to another service provider,” he said.

According to him, the exodus of employees that left the state-owned telecom provider services further dwindling, has resulted in virtual sabotaging of communication services. “We can see the impact at BSNL telephone exchanges and customer service centres, which are struggling due to acute shortage of workers. Suburbs in Tiruvallur district are the worst hit as several localities are dependent only on BSNL for broadband services since there was no alternative or competitors,” he said.

BSNL mobile phone subscribers in the southern suburbs of Guduvancherry, besides core parts of the city, said they are running from pillar to post in search of better signal. Another long-time BSNL subscriber, who has his office at Anna Nagar, said several customers are continuing with BSNL landline connections due to their affinity towards phone numbers. “I have been using this telephone number for the past three decades. The issue is there is poor response to attend to problems,” Sridharan said.

BSNL Chennai circle chief general manager Santhosham said necessary steps are being taken to attend complaints of customers. "We are re-deploying the existing staff to all exchanges to ensure that none remain unmanned. Moreover, we are in the process of outsourcing certain technical works such as attending complaints at customer’s location,” he added.

While city residents are witnessing the impact of mass exodus of employees on mobile services, those in suburbs are complaining about drop in broadband internet speed

பாகீரதி, வயது 105 ; 4ம் வகுப்பு, 'பாஸ்'

Added : பிப் 05, 2020 22:44




திருவனந்தபுரம் : கேரளா, கொல்லத்தை சேர்ந்த, ௧௦௫ வயது பாட்டி, நான்காம் வகுப்பு தேர்வினை எழுதி, அதில் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றுள்ளதால், இந்தியாவின் மூத்த மாணவி என்ற பெருமையை பெற்றுள்ளார்.

கேரள மாநிலம் கொல்லத்தை சேர்ந்த, 105 வயது பாகீரதி அம்மாள், நான்காம் வகுப்பு தேர்வில் வெற்றி பெற்றுள்ளார். மாநில கல்வியறிவு திட்டத்தில், பாகீரதி அம்மாள், கடந்த ஆண்டு கொல்லத்தில் தேர்வு எழுதினார். அதன் முடிவுகள், நேற்று வெளியானதில், அவர் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றுள்ளார்.பாகீரதி பாட்டிக்கு, இளம் வயதில், படிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற ஆர்வம் இருந்துள்ளது.

ஆனால், சிறு வயதில் அவரது தாய் இறந்ததால், சகோதரர்களை கவனிக்கும் நிலை ஏற்பட்டது.அடுத்து, 30 வயதில் பாகீரதியின் கணவர் இறந்ததால், ஆறு குழந்தைகளை வளர்க்க வேண்டிய நிலை உருவானது. இந்நிலையில், 105 வயதில், நான்காம் வகுப்பில் தேர்ச்சி பெற்று, நாட்டின் மூத்த மாணவியாகி உள்ளார்.முதுமை காரணமாக பாகீரதி அம்மாள் கூடுதல் நேரம் தேர்வு எழுதியுள்ளார். இதில்,275க்கு,205 மார்க் எடுத்துள்ளார்.

ஒன்பது வயதில், மூன்றாம் வகுப்புக்கு மேல் கல்வியை தொடர முடியாத பாகீரதி அம்மாள், 105 வயதில் தேர்வு எழுதி, 4ம் வகுப்பு, 'பாஸ்' செய்துள்ளார். இதனால், பாகீரதி அம்மாவிற்கு பாராட்டுகள் குவிந்து வருகின்றன. அடுத்து, 10 ம் வகுப்பு தேர்வு எழுதவிருப்பதாக அவர் கூறினார்.

டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி., ஊழியர்களின் சொத்து பட்டியல் கணக்கெடுப்பு

Added : பிப் 05, 2020 23:56

சென்னை: தேர்வு முறைகேடு விவகாரத்தை தொடர்ந்து டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. ஊழியர்களின் சொத்து கணக்கை திரட்ட அதிகாரிகள் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளனர்.

அரசு பணியிடங்களை நிரப்ப டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. என்ற அரசு பணியாளர் தேர்வாணையத்தின் வழியாக போட்டி தேர்வுகள் நடத்தப்படுகின்றன. இதில் 'குரூப் - 4' தேர்வில் நடந்த முறைகேடுகள் அனைத்து துறைகளிலும் அதிர்வை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

குரூப் - 4 தேர்வு மோசடியில் போலீசார் அரசு ஊழியர்கள் அதிகாரிகள் இடைத்தரகர்கள் என பல்வேறு தரப்பினர் ஈடுபட்டது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது. அதே போல் அனைத்து மோசடிகளுக்கும் உடந்தையாக சில டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. ஊழியர்கள் செயல்பட்டதும் அம்பலமாகியுள்ளது.

இதனால் டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. மீதான நம்பகத்தன்மை இளம் தலைமுறையிடம் குறைந்து விட்டது. டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. தேர்வில் தேர்ச்சி பெற பயிற்சி மட்டுமின்றி லட்சக்கணக்கில் பணமும் தேவை என்ற எண்ணம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்நிலையில் தேர்வு முறைகேடுகளுக்கு டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. ஊழியர்கள் பலர் நேரடியாகவும் மறைமுகமாகவும் உடந்தையாக இருந்துள்ளதை சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி. போலீசார் கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளனர். டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. அதிகாரிகள் குழு நடத்திய விசாரணையிலும் இது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.

எனவே டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. ஊழியர்கள் மற்றும் அலுவலர்களின் வருமானம் மற்றும் சொத்துக் கணக்கை சேகரிக்க டி.என்.பி.எஸ்.சி. உயர் அதிகாரிகளும் சி.பி.சி.ஐ.டி. போலீசாரும் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளனர். இந்த பணிகளை துவங்க அரசிடம் ஒப்புதல் கேட்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.இப்பணி துவங்கினால் வருமானத்துக்கு அதிகமாக சொத்து சேர்த்த ஊழியர்கள் பினாமிகள் பெயரில் சொத்து குவித்த பலர் சிக்குவர் என எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

கல்வியியல் பல்கலையில் 50 ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு பட்டம்

Added : பிப் 05, 2020 21:26

சென்னை: தமிழ்நாடு ஆசிரியர் கல்வியியல் பல்கலையின் பட்டமளிப்பு விழா நேற்று நடந்தது; 50 ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு பட்டம் வழங்கப்பட்டது.

தமிழ்நாடு கல்வியியல் பல்கலையின் இணைப்பு பெற்ற, 700 கல்லுாரிகளில், பி.எட்., - எம்.எட்., - பி.எட்., சிறப்பு கல்வி ஆகிய பட்டப் படிப்புகள் நடத்தப்படுகின்றன. இந்த பல்கலையின் ஒன்பதாவது பட்டமளிப்பு விழா, சென்னையில் நேற்று நடந்தது. கவர்னர் பன்வாரிலால் புரோஹித் தலைமை வகித்து, பட்டங்களை வழங்கினார். இதன்படி, 48 ஆயிரத்து, 737 பி.எட்., பட்டதாரிகள்; 2,510 எம்.எட்., பட்டதாரிகள்; 45 எம்.பில்., மற்றும், 72 பிஎச்.டி., ஆராய்ச்சி படிப்பு முடித்தவர்கள் பட்டங்களை பெற்றனர். சிறப்பு விருந்தினராக பங்கேற்ற, உயர் நீதிமன்ற ஓய்வு பெற்ற நீதிபதி விமலா பேசியதாவது:கடின முயற்சி, பெற்றோர், குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களின் ஒத்துழைப்பு, ஆசிரியர்களின் சிறந்த பயிற்சி ஆகியவற்றின் காரணமாக, பட்டம் பெற்றுள்ளீர்கள். இதை, ஒவ்வொரு நேரமும் மனதில் நினைத்து, பட்டதாரிகளின் செயல்பாடுகள் அமைய வேண்டும். இன்ஜினியரிங், மருத்துவம், கட்டடக் கலை, கல்வியியல் படிப்பு என, அனைத்து வகை படிப்புகளிலும், நாட்டில் சிறந்த மாநிலங்களில் ஒன்றாக, தமிழகம் திகழ்கிறது. கல்வியியல் படிப்பை சர்வதேச அளவில், உயர்ந்த அந்தஸ்துக்கு எடுத்து செல்ல வேண்டும்.ஆசிரியர்களால் மட்டுமே, சிறந்த விஞ்ஞானி, மருத்துவர், இன்ஜினியர், அரசியல் அறிஞர், தொழில் வல்லுனர், வழக்கறிஞர் என, பன்முகங்கள் உள்ள அடுத்த தலைமுறையினரை சிறப்பாக உருவாக்க முடியும். பட்டம் பெற்ற பட்டதாரிகள், இந்த பணிகளை முன்னெடுத்து செல்ல வேண்டும்.இவ்வாறு, அவர் பேசினார்.

உயர்கல்வி துறை அமைச்சர் அன்பழகன், செயலர் அபூர்வா, பல்கலை துணைவேந்தர் பஞ்சநாதம், பதிவாளர் பாலகிருஷ்ணன், தேர்வு கட்டுப்பாட்டு அதிகாரி கோவிந்தன் உள்ளிட்டோர் பங்கேற்றனர்.

வங்கி கணக்கில் ரூ.3௦ கோடி வரவு: பூ வியாபாரியின் மனைவி அதிர்ச்சி

Updated : பிப் 06, 2020 00:31 | Added : பிப் 06, 2020 00:28 |

பெங்களூரு: கர்நாடக மாநிலம் பெங்களூரில், பூ வியாபாரி மனைவியின் வங்கி கணக்கில், திடீரென, 30 கோடி ரூபாய் வரவு வைக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது.

இது குறித்து, போலீசார் விசாரணை நடத்துகின்றனர்.கர்நாடகாவில், முதல்வர் எடியூரப்பா தலைமையில், பா.ஜ., கூட்டணி ஆட்சி நடக்கிறது. இம்மாநில தலைநகர் பெங்களூரில், சையத் மாலிக் புர்ஹான் என்பவர், பூ வியாபாரம் செய்து வருகிறார். இவருடைய மனைவி ரெஹானாவின் வங்கி கணக்கில், திடீரென, 30 கோடி ரூபாய் வரவு வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

அதிர்ந்து போன சையத் மாலிக் கூறியதாவது:என் குடும்பத்தின் மருத்துவ செலவுகளுக்கே பணம் இல்லாமல் தவிக்கும் நிலையில், டிச.,2ம் தேதி வங்கி அதிகாரிகள் சிலர், என் மனைவியின் சேமிப்புக் கணக்கில், 30கோடி ரூபாய் வரவு வைக்கப்பட்டது எப்படி என, கேள்வி எழுப்பினர். ஆதார் அட்டையுடன், வங்கியில் நடைபெறும் விசாரணைக்கு, என் மனைவியை அழைத்து வர வேண்டும் என, அதிகாரிகள் கூறினர். சில ஆவணங்களில் கையெழுத்து கேட்டனர். நான் மறுத்து விட்டேன். என் மனைவியின் வங்கி கணக்கில், 90 ரூபாய் மட்டுமே இருந்தது. இந்த அளவு பணம் எப்படி வந்தது என, எனக்கு தெரியவில்லை. இது குறித்து, போலீசார் மற்றும் வருமான வரித்துறையினரிடம் புகார் அளித்துஉள்ளேன்.இவ்வாறு, அவர் கூறினார்.

சையத் மாலிக் புகாரின் படி, தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப சட்டத்தின் கீழ் வழக்கு பதிவு செய்துள்ள போலீசார், 30 கோடி ரூபாய் வரவு வைத்தது யார் என, விசாரணை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர்.

Big temple, big moment and big crowd made Thanjavur’s day

Wednesday’s consecration had lakhs of devotees and tourists checking into the town from across the nation and other countries for a glimpse of the spectacle.

Published: 06th February 2020 05:41 AM 

Scores of people gathered at Brihadeeswarar temple to witness the consecration; (inset) holy water being poured over Kalasam | mk ashok kumar

By N Ramesh

Express News Service

THANJAVUR: Regarded as the Chola era’s architectural marvel, the Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur stands testimony to the unquantifiable amount of labour and artistry put forth by the subjects of the kingdom back in 1010 AD. Fondly called the “Big Temple” for its vast horizontal spread and vertical reach, it also holds the international tag of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So when the consecration of this 11th century Chola edifice took place after 23 years, it was a moment of awe that dazzled in its brilliance and strikingly graceful in all its regal splendour.

The presiding deities are Peruvudayar and Periyanayagi at the temple. Wednesday’s consecration had lakhs of devotees and tourists checking into the town from across the nation and other countries for a glimpse of the spectacle. Devotees trickled into the temple complex from 5.30 am to get a vantage spot to view the proceedings. Around 7.25 am, priests brought the pots containing water collected from the Cauvery, Ganges and Yamuna out of the yagasalai where prayers were conducted for five days. The procession reached the Raja Rajan Vayil Gopuram around 7.40 am.

Sivachariars took the pots through makeshift steps to the Vimanam (tower over sanctum) of the shrines of Peruvudayar, Periyanayagi, Chandeswarar, Varahi, Vinayakar, Murugan and atop the Raja Rajan Vayil and Keralanthakan Vayil towers. Musicians played Siva Vadhyam all along. Around 9.21 am, officials atop the tower waved green flags to the crowds gathered, signalling the beginning of the consecration.

Big Temple consecration turns into cultural extravaganza

Sprinklers were used to spray holy water from atop the 216 feet high vimanam

“It was quite some experience witnessing an event of this magnitude and such enthusiastic crowd. I was excited watching the rituals, music and emotions displayed. I did not know the consecration was to take place when we arrived, we are very glad we got an opportunity to participate in it,” said Steve who came with his kin from France on a sight seeing trip.

Ramesh K, who was inside the temple complex, lauded the administration for arrangements. “So many precautionary methods have been taken keeping in mind the 1997 accident. We are lucky to have watched it from close quarters.” Similarly, S Gopal expressed joy of watching the consecration that was performed after 23 years.

Actor Parthiban was also present at the event. He said his happiness doubled with Tamil finding a prominent place in the rituals. Elaborate arrangements had been made to spray holy water used for consecration through sprinklers which left devotees pleasantly surprised. These were used as water from the pots could not be sprinkled by hand from atop the 216 feet high vimanam. Free shuttle services ensured people reached bus stands without much hassle.

Nirbhaya case convicts will be hanged soon, says Law Minister
He expresses anguish over attacks on women across India

06/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Ravi Shankar PrasadRanjeet Kumar

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has assured the Lok Sabha that convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case will be hanged soon.

He said that the culprits were trying to delay punishment by using legal provisions despite their mercy petitions having been turned down by the President as well as the Supreme Court.

Mr. Prasad was responding to several members, especially women MPs, across party lines who have raised the issue of attack on women in various parts of the country.

Expressing deep anguish over such incidents, he said, “I have deep concern in this regard.”

“As far as hanging of convicts in the Nirbhaya case is concerned, the Supreme Court has already sentenced them to death. We are very strict... justice will be delivered. The convicts will be hanged soon,” the Minister said.

On January 7, the trial courts had issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts in Tihar jail on January 22, but the same was deferred as one of the convicts filed a mercy petition.

The subsequent date — February 1 — was also put off as all the legal remedies were to be exhausted by the convicts.

Members also highlighted the recent incident of wherein a 25-year-old college teacher was set ablaze by a stalker in Wardha, Maharashtra.

Devotees witness Kanthuri festival

Govt. providing free sandalwood for festival since 2013

06/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,NAGAPATTINAM

Devotees witnessing ‘Sandhanakoodu’ procession in Nagore on Wednesday.

Anointment of sandal paste on tombs, the highlight of the 463rd annual Kanthuri festival at Nagore Dargah, took place early on Wednesday.

Earlier, a large number of devotees witnessed the ‘Sandhanakoodu’ procession taken through main roads in the town. The dargah was provided with sandalwood by the government for conversion into paste. The State government has been providing free sandalwood for the festival since 2013. After smearing on tombs of saints, the sandal paste was distributed to devotees and pilgrims in the early hours. The holy flag was mounted on January 26, and the Peer of the Dargah who began the three day fast on February 3 will proceed to the seashore on Thursday as part of the ceremony.

The dismounting of the holy flag will be carried out at about 8.30 p.m. on Saturday night.

Demolition of portion of GRH to begin in June

A new JICA-funded structure will replace it: senior official

06/02/2020, SANJANA GANESH

New building

Estimated cost: ₹330 cr.

Number of storeys: 6

Number of depts: 5

Number of modular operation theatres: 24

Deadline: 2022

Deputy Director of Medical Education T. Sabeetha on Wednesday said the demolition of a portion of Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) would begin in June. A new structure funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would come up in its place.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Sabeetha said the State government had received approval for construction of a six-storied structure, along with the ground floor, upon consultation with experts from JICA. While the ground floor would host the emergency room for cardiology, a section for radiodiagnosis and the central sterile supply department, the outpatient ward would be located on the first floor.

All wards would be on the second and third floors. The rest of the floors would have operation and post-operation theatres and intensive care units.

“Work is finally picking up pace with respect to the project. We are beginning the process of listing the equipment necessary for each department such as workstations for anaesthetists, patient monitors, defibrillators, ventilators, ECHO machines and ECG machines,” she said.

Since the machines would include high-end equipment, there was a need to prepare extensive lists and seek approval from JICA representatives before procurement.

The first-level consultation meeting with experts from GRH, representatives from JICA and the Directorate of Medical Education was held here on Monday. The building was expected to become functional by 2022.

A total of ₹330 crore had been estimated for the project that envisaged 24 modular operation theatres with pore-free walls to disallow dust from settling in, making the environment more sterile.

The building would house five departments: General Surgery, ENT, Plastic Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery.

Dr. Sabeetha added that although they had received the State government’s approval for land rights at the site in Thoppur where the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project was slated to come up, there was little clarity about when construction of the medical college and hospital would begin.

JICA representatives were expected to revisit the site and reorganise the existing detailed project report prior to any further move.

The AIIMS project was proposed in December 2018 at a cost of ₹1,264 crore.

HC takes serious view of pregnant woman’s death due to ‘medical negligence’

Husband’s petition alleges there was no one to attend to her at UPHC

06/02/2020, STAFF REPORTER

Taking a serious view of the death of a 22-year-old pregnant woman due to medical negligence, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sought an explanation of the incident that took place in September last.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by S. Manimuthu, resident of K. Pudur in Madurai and husband of the deceased M. Sakthikali, on Tuesday.

Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana directed the Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital, the GRH Multipurpose Health Supervisor and the Inspector of Police, K. Pudur, to file separate affidavits as to why Mr. Manimuthu was not informed about the cause of his wife’s death.

In his petition, Mr. Manimuthu said his wife was admitted to K. Pudur Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) for her first delivery. After a check up, the duty doctor assured him of normal delivery and left the clinic. Within minutes, his wife experienced labour pain. However, there was no one to attend to her for hours except a nurse. There was a delay in referring her to GRH.

A commotion ensued at the UPHC with the staff unable to deal with the situation and his wife, lying in a pool of blood, breathed her last at the primary health centre. It was only then that the staff made arrangements to take the deceased to GRH. The authorities concerned were yet to issue a post-mortem report and the death certificate, he said.

Blaming the authorities concerned for medical negligence, the petitioner sought a compensation of ₹10 lakh.

It was only after the court pulled up the authorities for not issuing the death certificate during the forenoon session, it was issued by afternoon and the court was informed of the same.

The case was adjourned till February 11.

Secretariat staff seeks advance bail in TNPSC recruitment case

Three batchmates of the applicant have been arrested
06/02/2020, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

A Secretariat staff has rushed to the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a case being investigated by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) regarding alleged irregularities by the candidates in clearing examinations conducted by Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission (TNPSC) for Group II-A and Group IV services.

The petitioner, D. Kavitha, 39, now serving as an assistant in the Department of Finance at the Secretariat, feared that the police might arrest her since they had apprehended her batchmates M. Vignesh, Sudha and Sudha Devi in connection with the case. She claimed to be on maternity leave at present and was delivered of a baby boy on January 23.

According to the petitioner, she had got appointed in government service after clearing the TNPSC Group II services examinations held for 2017-18. She wrote the examination at St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School at Verkodu in Rameswaram on August 6, 2017 and secured 48th rank overall and sixth position in communal ranking. Her batchmate M. Vignesh had written the examination at the same centre and secured 46th rank. However, he was recently arrested by the CB-CID sleuths for having reportedly paid money to clear the examinations. Since two other women too had been arrested, the petitioner apprehended that she might get arrested despite having to take care of a just born baby.

Since she was on maternity leave, there was no chance of her tampering with the records, the petitioner said and undertook to furnish solvent sureties and abide by any condition imposed by the court in the event of being granted advance bail.

Delayed Vandalur flyover to be ready by mid-March
Foot overbridge to come up for pedestrians

06/02/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Finishing touches: Work on Vandalur flyover in progress.B. Velankanni Raj

The 711-m-long flyover in Vandalur, on GST Road, will be completed by mid-March. Construction of the bridge portion of the ₹55-crore work is over and the Highways Department is currently constructing approach ramps.

“We have already started filling up the ramps with flyash and have been ramming it down. Black topping, painting and road sign installation will simultaneously be taken up,” said an official. The Department had earlier completed work on construction of stormwater drains and formation of service lanes on either side.

On completion, the flyover, at the ‘T’ junction of the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road and the GST Road, will allow traffic through, with no need for waiting for the signal. Work on the six-lane flyover began in September 2016, and took more time than what was planned initially due to delay in land acquisition, labour issues, non-availability of sand, round-the-clock plying of vehicles on the National Highway and an increase in the prices of cement. The contractor got the land for the project about eight months later than planned.

Bridge planned

Keeping in mind the thousands of visitors to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur every day, the Department has planned to construct a foot overbridge to facilitate easy crossing of the GST Road for pedestrians. It will come up in between the flyover and the zoo gate. Several times, pedestrians just run across the road that has very heavy traffic, causing accidents. Kannagi Nagar resident Priya, who visited the zoo, welcomed the idea of a pedestrian facility. She suggested that small shops selling refreshments could be allowed on the foot overbridge, so that families could have something on their way out.

Centre moves SC in Nirbhaya case after HC rejects its plea
Plea to separately execute death sentences dismissed

06/02/2020, KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL,NEW DELHI

Nirbhaya’s mother outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.PTI

The Centre on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court within hours of the Delhi High Court’s rejection of its plea to separately execute the death sentence of the Nirbhaya gang-rape convicts.

The Centre had challenged a January 31, 2020 decision of the sessions court to postpone the issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts, especially Mukesh Kumar Singh, whose mercy petition had already been declined by the President on January 17.

The government has argued in the Supreme Court that under the Delhi Prison Rules of 2018 the pendency of legal remedies or mercy petitions of other co-convicts would have no bearing on the fate of a convict whose plea for mercy has already been rejected.

‘Miscarriage of justice’

The government has argued that the 2018 Rules does not prohibit the execution of death sentence of co-convicts, one by one, on the rejection of their respective mercy petitions.

Deferring the execution of death sentence of all the four convicts, specifically when Mukesh’s mercy plea has already been dismissed by the President, has led to “gross miscarriage of justice” to the victim’s family as well as the society as a whole, the government contended. The convicts, the Centre said, were taking the judicial process for a ride.

The High Court judgment, however, held that the 2018 Rules observe that pendency of any application filed by one convict would necessarily require the postponement of the death sentence of all his co-convicts, even those whose mercy plea had been rejected.

CMCH performs first cadaver organ harvest, donation

Feb 6, 2020, 04.36 AM IST

Coimbatore: For the first time, the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Wednesday declared a patient brain dead and harvested his organs.

The donor patient, a 35-year-old man from Kattabettu in the Nilgiris, had fallen from the top of his under-construction house.

While the CMCH doctors transplanted a kidney into one of their kidney failure patients, the other kidney was donated to a patient in Salem Government Hospital and liver was donated to a private hospital in the city.

Though doctors at CMCH began performing live donor kidney transplants in 2017, they are yet to perform a cadaver transplant as they are yet to harvest organs from a brain-dead patient. However, doctors at Salem GH have had performed first organ harvest on January 21 this year.

Welcoming the first cadaver organ transplant in CMCH, a senior health department official said, “It is critical that government hospitals perform organ harvests, because this way even poor people can access cadaver organs. Only when a GH declares brain death and donates organs, will more organs circulate in the government hospital pool benefitting poor patients.”

CMCH dean Dr B Ashokan said they received a 35-year-old male patient referred from Ooty on February 2. “He had fallen accidentally from a height in his house and suffered head injuries. He was referred to CMCH after being given first aid in a nearby hospital,” he said. “Despite our neurology team treating him, he did not respond,” he said. On Tuesday morning, 48 hours after the accident, doctors performed the first sleep apnea test. By evening, they performed the second test again which elicited no response. The doctors declared him brain dead on Tuesday evening. The hospital’s grief counsellor, appointed by MOHAN foundation, Nishanth, first informed their family and broached the subject of organ donation. The patient’s wife and relatives agreed, said the hospital’s medical superintendent.

The Tamil Nadu Transplant Authority (TRANSTAN) was then informed. They allotted one kidney to a patient in CMCH waiting for a donor, another kidney to a patient in Salem GH and liver to Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital.

Since it was an accidental death and a medico-legal case, it became an uphill task for the authorities to get nod from the Nilgiris police for organ harvest and post-mortem.

The organ harvest surgery began at 11am. By 2pm, the three organs and cornea were harvested. Police organized green corridors CMCH to KMCH and Salem GH. “This is the first time we are harvesting cadaver organs. We hope this is the start of a successful cadaver organ harvest and transplant program,” Dr Ashokan said.

CMCH gets nod to perform liver, heart transplants

TNN | Feb 6, 2020, 04.35 AM IST

The transplant authority of Tamil Nadu has given permission to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) to perform liver and heart transplants. Now that the hospital has performed its first cadaver harvest surgery, it plans to start liver transplant programme as well soon. The hospital had applied for permission to start liver transplants in 2018-end.

Speaking to TOI, dean of the hospital Dr B Ashokan said the liver from the donor, Siva Perumal, had been allotted to a patient in Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, because the donor’s blood group did not match with those of their liver failure patients. “We started our liver treatment programme around a year back, and some of our patients have also been put on TRANSTAN waiting list. However, the top patient who was ready did not match with the donor, so we had to give away the liver,” he said. “However, we hope that the next time we get a cadaver organ harvesting in our hospital, we can retain the liver for our own patients,” he added.

Liver transplants in the district and region are only being performed by private hospitals. “We have well-equipped intensive care units, ventilators, staff and surgeons who have trained at Stanley Medical College and under liver transplant expert Dr Mohammed Rela himself. We have created an exclusive ICU for liver transplant patients to prevent the risk of infections,” said Dr Ashokan, during an earlier interaction with TOI.

The GH performing transplants is critical, because a liver transplant costs at least Rs 25 lakh in private hospitals and a kidney transplant costs Rs 3.5 lakh. Though both procedures are covered by the Tamil Nadu Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, many hospitals perform very few procedures under the government insurance. “The state insurance scheme rarely covers 75% of all costs incurred, and we are not allowed to demand extra payments also. So, we have a limit on the number of cases done under the insurance scheme and some patients have to be refused because of it,” said a coordinator of a multi-specialty hospital on Avinashi Road.

A mixed bag for Madurai docs in Neet PG exam

TNN | Feb 2, 2020, 04.17 AM IST

Madurai: Two days after the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Post Graduate (Neet PG) exams were declared, major medical entrance coaching centres in the city said that though the performance of candidates from Tamil Nadu was satisfactory with quite a few securing top ranks in the All India Rankings, the results were not good as last year’s results.

“We are yet to sort out the complete results and confirm our toppers. Tamil Nadu has got the maximum pass percentage at 55 per cent. However, when it comes to top ranks, the number of top ranks from Tamil Nadu in the top 1000, which is usually around 200 is sadly less than 100 this time around,” said Dr Arun Kumar, co-ordinator of a Neet PG coaching centre. A few students from Madurai Medical College have secured top 1000 ranks this year.

The co-ordinator of another Neet PG coaching centre, Tamil Selvam, said that many students from Madurai and Tamil Nadu have scored between 600-900 marks. “A score above 650 is likely to guarantee that students get admission in colleges within Tamil Nadu itself,” he said. The cut-off scores for this year for General Category, SC/ST/OBC, and UR-PWD are 366, 319 and 342 respectively. The individual score card of the candidates who appeared for Neet PG exam 2020 can be downloaded from the website https://nbe.edu.in by Monday.

Madurai Kamaraj University, Harvard University to work on genomic research

TNN | Feb 3, 2020, 01.56 PM IST

MADURAI: By next month, Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) will be finalizing a pact with Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology and Harvard University to carry out genomic research on fossils recovered from sites like Keezhadi. Talks have been underway to ink an MoU between the two universities since September 2019.

Speaking to TOI, professor K Balakrishnan, HOD of Immunology at MKU, who is to lead the research team said that the process of inking an MoU with Harvard University is still only in the pipeline. "Everything will be finalized soon. The Tamil Nadu government has agreed to provide fossils from various archaeological sites including Keezhadi for DNA extraction and subsequent research. However, we are yet to reach an understanding with Harvard University," he said.

The research work is to be carried out under the guidance of DR R Pitchappan, a scientist in the field of immunology, infectious diseases and human genomics. MKU is hoping for a majority of the research work to be done at the research facility and laboratory that is currently being established in Madurai at the university.

Last year, the university authorities had said that initial research in Madurai will be done by experts in different departments like immunology, sociology and history from MKU and archaeological experts from across India and abroad. Later, research was to be done by experts at Harvard University in the United States with advanced research facilities. The final research findings will then be finally published via the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology.

No delay in taking action against CoE on graft: MKU VC

TNN | Feb 4, 2020, 04.51 AM IST

Vice-chancellor (VC) of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), M Krishnan on Monday said that there is no delay in taking action against the controller of examination (CoE) O Ravi over the graft charges against him. Meanwhile, Ravi has claimed that the charges against him are part of a conspiracy against him.

On January 23, an unauthorised person reportedly accessed the consolidated mark sheets of various centres in the office of the CoE. The VC is also said to have acted on a tip-off, nabbing the person in the act. When confronted Ravi, he denied having any link to the person.

Last week, general secretary, MKU Principals’ Association, I Ismail, sought the suspension of the CoE and a DVAC probe for allegedly collecting Rs 3 crore bribe from various distance education centre coordinators in Tamil Nadu and other states by distributing consolidated mark statements without collecting fees dues to the university. tnn

Authorities were sleeping after SC confirmed death sentence, says HC

TNN | Feb 5, 2020, 04.54 AM IST

New Delhi: Critical of the delay in the Nirbhaya case, Delhi high court on Wednesday said “authorities concerned were sleeping” after the Supreme Court confirmed death sentence of the four convicts in May 2017.

“I have no hesitation in saying that after dismissal of the special leave petition (SLP) by the Supreme Court in May 2017, nobody took steps for issuance of death warrants for their execution,” Justice Suresh Kait observed.

Listing how each of the convicts adopted “delay tactics” the high court noted that Mukesh Singh filed a review against the apex court’s dismissal of his appeal after a lapse of 186 days, while Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta moved a similar plea after a lapse of 225 days. Fourth accused Akshay Thakur took the most time, seeking review plea after a delay of 950 days.

It said even after the reviews were dismissed by SC the state’s authorities “waited for reasons best known to them” till December 2019, to approach trial court and seek a black warrant.

The Delhi government had moved the court for death warrants nearly two years after SC had dismissed the appeals against confirmation of death penalty. Before the government and Tihar Jail administration acted, Nirbhaya’s family moved the trial court in February 2019, seeking a date of hanging to be fixed. The high court also pointed out that Singh and Sharma filed curative plea after a gap of 550 and 549 days, respectively, from the date of dismissal of their review pleas.

On Wednesday, high court also plugged a loophole in Delhi jail rules, making it clear that Tihar and other jail authorities in the capital can now move to execute death warrants as soon as a death row convict loses the criminal appeal before the apex court, instead of waiting till review or mercy plea is filed.

Removing the confusion created by 2018 revised Delhi Prison Rules that led to crippling delay, the court interpreted these to hold that the bar on separate hangings exists only till the time appeals in Supreme Court are pending.

Satisfied but will be happy only when convicts are hanged: Nirbhaya's mother

PTI | Feb 5, 2020, 04.51 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi on Wednesday said she will be happy only on the day when convicts in the 2012 gangrape and murder case are hanged, shortly after the Delhi high court gave a week's time to the four for exhaustion of all legal remedies.

"I am satisfied but I will be happy only on the day when the convicts will be hanged. The court has given them a week's time, we will wait till then. This was the government's appeal and the government will think over it how early could they be hanged," she said.

A 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16 and 17, 2012 inside a moving bus in South Delhi by six men before being thrown out on the road.

On Wednesday, the high court said all the four convicts have to be executed together, not separately, and dismissed the Centre's plea against the trial court's order staying the execution of their death sentence.

It also faulted the authorities concerned for not taking steps for issuance of death warrant after the rejection of appeals of the accused by the Supreme Court in 2017.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait directed the convicts to exhaust within seven days all the remedies available to them after which the authorities should act as per law.

The high court, however, said, "It cannot be disputed that the convicts have frustrated the process by using delaying tactics."

Nirbhaya case: President rejects clemency petition of convict Akshay Kumar Singh

PTI | Feb 5, 2020, 08.34 PM IST

NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the four men facing the gallows in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, home ministry officials said on Wednesday.

Singh filed the mercy petition before the president a few days ago.

The president has rejected Singh's mercy plea, an official said.

Kovind has already rejected the clemency petition of two other accused in the case Mukesh Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma.

Delay in starting approval process by AICTE likely to affect engg admissions

TNN | Feb 5, 2020, 04.13 AM IST

Chennai: More than a two-month delay in starting approval process by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for 2020-21 may affect the engineering admissions in the next academic year.
Usually, AICTE would start inviting applications in the first week of December for extension of approval, variation of intake, starting new courses and new technical institutions. But, so far the council did not release the approval process handbook due to a litigation. “Affiliation and approval is a long process that would take four to five months. Due to delay in starting the process, it may go beyond month of May and that it would affect the admission process,” principals of engineering colleges said.

“The technical council would give 45 days to 60 days to apply for approval process. Then it will take another two to three months to scrutinize the applications and give its approval. It would also make visits to new technical institutions and surprise visits to some of existing institutions,” said B Chidambararajan, principal of Valliammai Engineering College said.

“Though Anna University would send inspection teams to colleges before the approval process, they would issue extension of affiliation only after receiving approval letter from AICTE,” he said. After getting approval and affiliation, the colleges need submit the orders to directorate of technical education (DOTE) for starting admission process. So, all the process should be over before May to start engineering counselling in June.

S R R Senthil Kumar, principal of Sona College of Technology in Salem said without approval process handbook the colleges cannot apply for approval or affiliation for a new course.

“The technical council has permitted the universities to offer courses in eight emerging areas including AI, machine learning and data science, internet of things (IoT), cybersecurity. Many institutions wanted to start new BTech in artifiicial intelligence and data science. But, without knowing nomenclature of the course, the colleges will find it difficult to set up lab and hire faculty members,” he said.

When contacted, AICTE officials said the approval process handbook for would be released this week. “The Supreme Court has delivered the judgement. The council is now vetting the regulations,” officials said adding engineering admissions will not be delayed.

Tamil Nadu: Six students of private varsity attack each other with machetes

TNN | Feb 5, 2020, 09.01 AM IST

CHENNAI: A clash between two student groups at a private university at Kattangulathur in Chengalpet district on Tuesday turned ugly, with both groups attacking each other with machetes. A video of the incident went viral on social media. No one was injured and a complaint is yet to be filed.

In the video, a small metal item on the ground was mistaken for a pistol. Police later said it was a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun. The video shows six students chasing and beating one another near the canteen. Suddenly in the video, a student hurls a machete at another student but misses. The latter chases his rival and swings the machete.

All of those seen in the video clashing with their rivals, identified as students of the Fashion Designing and MBA streams, were later taken to the police station and a probe is on.

Police said that it was only after the video was telecast on soem Tamil TV channels that they came to know about the incident and rushed a team of personnel to the spot.

HC refuses to interfere with search warrant against ex-minister Senthil Balaji

TNN | Feb 6, 2020, 04.42 AM IST

Chennai: In a setback to former transport minister Senthil Balaji, the Madras high court on Wednesday refused any relief against a warrant issued by a magistrate for central crime branch (CCB) to search his residence.

Justice P D Audikesavalu, refusing to entertain an urgent mention made by the ex-minister’s counsel, said such relief could not be sought in an anticipatory bail application. “If you are aggrieved by the warrant issued by the magistrate, you have to challenge the order through a separate petition. Such relief cannot be ordered in a bail application,” the judge said.

The issue pertains to a complaint lodged against the former minister with the CCB alleging that when he was transport minister he duped people of Rs 2.31 crore along with his associates promising jobs in the state transport corporation. In connection with the complaint, CCB conducted raids at the residence and other premises of Balaji. Therefore, apprehending arrest, Balaji moved the anticipatory bail application. Admitting the application and as an interim relief, Justice Audikesavalu orally instructed the CCB not to harass Balaji.

On Wednesday, when the court commenced proceedings post lunch, advocate A Saravanan made a mention before Justice Audikesavalu saying police are taking coercive steps by affixing search notice in his residence, directing him to appear before the investigating officer on February 6 and to open the lock of his Chennai residence. Even after the high court ordered authorities not to take any coercive steps against the DMK MLA, police are not obeying the direction, he complained. Public prosecutor A Natarajan, however, submitted that CCB had obtained appropriate order from the jurisdictional magistrate to conduct the search.

Madras high court halts cheque bounce appeals, to examine power of lower courts

TNN | Feb 6, 2020, 05.31 AM IST

CHENNAI: Cheque bounce cases pending in all sessions court in Tamil Nadu will come to a halt, as the Madras high court on Wednesday directed them to keep in abeyance all appeals against acquittals ordered by magistrates until further orders.

A full bench comprising Justice M M Sundresh, Justice V Bharathidasan and Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the interim order while hearing a reference made to the bench to decide as to whether the sessions courts had jurisdiction to hear such appeals or it must be moved only before the high court.

The reference was made by Justice P N Prakash, who wanted the chief justice to constitute a full bench to decide several questions of law, including whether such appeals can be entertained by sessions courts under Section 372 of CrPC or by the high court under Section 378(4) and (5) of CrPC or whether there are concurrent remedies available with the right to the complainant to elect the forum of their choice.

When the reference was taken up for hearing, the full bench passed the interim order and ordered notices to bar associations including the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), and Madras Bar Association (MBA) to submit their views and posted the hearing to February 25.

Though the issue was decided by a full bench in 2016, which held that such appeals can be made only before a sessions court, the decision was negated by the Supreme Court. Since the issue propped up once again while Justice Prakash was hearing a similar case, he referred the matter to the Chief Justice to decide whether it would deem fit to constitute a full bench to take a decision on the issue.

SC awards ₹1cr to accident victim with 100% disability

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.02.2020

A decade after a 12-year old girl met with an accident which led to 100% physical disability and left her with the mental age of a nine-month-old for the rest of her life due to brain injuries, the Supreme Court on Wednesday came to her rescue awarding compensation of more than ₹1crore including interest.

Kajal, a bright young girl, was travelling on a tractor with her parents on October 18, 2007 when it was hit by a truck. She suffered serious injuries resulting in damage to her brain and was left with a very low IQ besides severe weakness in all her limbs. As per the medical report, her mental age will remain that of a 9-month old child throughout her life. This means while lying on the bed, she will grow with physical and biological attributes of an adult woman, including menstruation etc, but remain a 9-month-old child in her mind.

Noting that the pain and suffering which Kajal, who has turned 24, has to go through the rest of her life, a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta said this is a case where departure has to made from the normal rules to do justice and assuage her suffering. The court awarded a compensation of ₹62.27 lakh to her along with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum on that amount since 2007. “This child will remain bed-ridden for life. Her mental age will be that of a nine-month-old child. Effectively, while her body grows, she will remain a small baby. We are dealing with a girl who will physically become a woman but will mentally remain a 9-month-old child. This girl will miss out playing with her friends. She cannot communicate; she cannot enjoy the pleasures of life; she cannot even be amused by watching cartoons or films; she will miss out on the fun of childhood, the excitement of youth; pleasures of a marital life; she cannot have children who she can love let alone grandchildren. She will have no pleasure. Hers is a vegetable existence,” the court said.

Full report on www.toi.in

Honoured to have our house as trust office, says Parasaran

Rohan.Dua@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.02.2020

K Parasaran, the 93-year-old Supreme Court lawyer who represented Hindu parties in the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid dispute, and his family could hardly contain their emotions on Wednesday as their three-storey house in Delhi's Greater Kailash-1 was declared the office of the newly formed trust that would oversee the mandir's construction on a 67-acre land in Ayodhya.

"I am just one of the trustees. There are others," he smiled. There are 15 trustees in all for the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khsetra Trust.

Parasaran's lawyer son Mohan told TOI, "We are of course happy. But at the same time, it is a very onerous responsibility. Parasaran senior, my father, has been involved in the Ayodhya matter since 1991. He, after deep thought, accepted this offer. The offer was made by the home ministry. With his experience, he will be able to manage the Trust aided by very able and distinguished trustees."

Their house, R 20 in Greater Kailash 1, an upscale locality in the capital city, buzzed with activity as his personal aide for 33 years, Muthuswami, answered the phone that rang relentlessly.

Inside the house, framed photographs of Lord Ventakeshwara, Ram and Ganesha adorned the walls lined below by an extensive collection of law books and small plaques. Among them hung the Padma Bhushan citation that he received from then President A PJ Abdul Kalam in 2003.

Woman seeks divorce after husband objects to her TikTok videos

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

06.02.2020

Bengaluru: A woman with a few lakh followers on videosharing app TikTok chose to part ways with her husband of 12 years after he vehemently objected to her posting videos that he termed were ‘damaging to family values.’ Faris and Najma (names changed) married in 2008 and had a son in 2014. A sales representative, Faris landed a job in Saudi Arabia and left his wife with her parents. “Three years ago, the woman’s neighbour introduced her to Tik-Tok and she got hooked. With a pseudo handle, she started making videos and enjoying the online attention,” said Ekbal Ahmed, a senior counsellor at Parihar family counselling centre at the police commissionerate. He handled the couple’s case after they approached the centre.

Earlier in 2019, Faris received a shocker when a friend sent him a TikTok video of his wife allegedly performing an obscene dance. “He confronted his wife, who accused the friend of morphing her images,” Ahmed added. Unconvinced, Faris quit his job in October and returned to his wife and confronted her. But she accused him of of doubting her. “Finally, she admitted to having made and posted numerous videos on TikTok. The husband then approached police, who referred the matter to us. We tried to reconcile the couple through counselling,” said the senior counsellor.

But the woman was determined to continue being on TikTok. The couple is headed for divorce and is set to battle it out over their son’s custody.

Thousands witness Big Temple consecration, done after 23 yrs

Vincent.Arockiaraj@timesgroup.com

Thanjavur:06.02.2020

Thousands on Wednesday witnessed the grand consecration at the Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple) in Thanjavur, conducted after a gap of 23 years. As per court order, the ceremony was performed in both Tamil and Sanskrit. A group of Odhuvars recited Thirgnanasambandhar’s Thirumurai before pouring holy water on the ‘Kalasam’ erected atop the Vimanam (temple tower) of the Big Temple at 9.21am after vedic hymns were recited in Sanskrit by priests.

The events had begun on January 27. Poorvanga puja and eight Kala Yaga pujas were held on February 1, and the event concluded with the final phase of eight Kala puja on Wednesday morning. Later, holy water from Ýaga Salai was taken to the temple tower in a procession.

P Maniarasan, coordinator of the Big Temple Rights Retrieval Committee who had initially demanded that the ritual be conducted in Tamil, said, “Our efforts to bring Tamil in the forefront during the consecration have succeeded. Not only the Big Temple but all the temples, whether owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) or private parties, Tamil should be the main language during rituals. We want to conduct ‘kumbabishekam’ (consecration) in all the temples in Tamil.” Meanwhile, several departments of the state government along with the HR&CE made elaborate arrangements for devotees to have a hasslefree darshan. Collector M Govinda Rao participated in the event. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed at the temple. Inspector general of police (central zone) A Amalraj supervised the security arrangements.


GRAND FEST: The Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur all decked up for the grand occasion on Wednesday evening

ASI officials keep close watch on devotees

Thanjavur: Over 70 officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were deputed to check if any structure, inscription, sculpture in the Big Temple was being damaged during the consecration ceremony on Wednesday. The ASI is currently working on renovation of the temple, the total being worth ₹50 lakh. ASI has so far done chemical cleaning of sculptures, inscriptions and structures, including all gopurams and Vimanam inside the temple. ASI conservation assistant S Shankar said, “We had deputed around 70 officials to take care of the monument. Their job was to prevent any damage to the structures during the ceremony. They also kept an eye on devotees and prevented them from causing any damage to the structures.” He said garbage accumulated inside the temple premises during the ceremony would be cleared during night hours. TNN

17 years on, 2 IPS officers get clean chit

Chennai:06.02.2020

Two criminal appeals filed by two IPS officers and pending in the Madras high court for 17 years, were finally disposed of on Wednesday, when the court trashed a sessions court order convicting the officers under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Justice M Dhandapani, acquitting E Hariharane (since deceased) and G Veeraraghavan, who had both served as directorsgeneral of police, fire services department, between May 1989 and July 1992, said: “The trial court totally got carried away by the figures portrayed than by the materials, in black and white, available before it to come to a reasonable and justifiable conclusion. Therefore, left with no alternative, this court is inclined to set aside the conviction and sentence recorded by the trial court as being devoid of any merit.”

The prosecution had alleged that the two officers had incurred a pecuniary loss of ₹1.77 crore and ₹31.56 lakh to the exchequer in the purchase of pumps, construction of emergency rescue tender and purchase of high capacity portable pumps. It said the officers floated and finalised tenders and awarded the contract in breach of not only the tender conditions, but also giving a go-by to specifications, thereby facilitating pecuniary advantage to the supplier. It said the conspiracy was hatched by the officers between May 1989 and July 1992. TNN