Saturday, November 27, 2021

As machines idle, suburban railway passengers suffer


As machines idle, suburban railway passengers suffer

Meera Nair TNN

Chennai:27.11.2021

Most of the automated passenger amenities like ticket vending machines, water dispensers and digital information screens are idling at city’s suburban railway stations despite high footfalls in these stations.

At West Mambalam station, all the three automatic ticket vending machines are not in working condition. While one is supposed to have been ‘fully automated’ machine, two others are to be manually operated. “They are not in working condition for a very long time,” said a lady clerk, adding, “I don’t’ know how long will they remain so.”

At Tambaram, of the four ticketing machines, two are out of order for the past many months, and a railway employee at the station said the issue had been communicated to commercial department and action awaited. Even the ATMs are in short-supply. Of the three ATMs at the main entrance, two are out of order, resulting in endless queue in front of the lone working ATM.

At West Mambalam, the rusted drinking water pipes, dirty floor and stench all around would put off even the thirstiest commuter. A woman commuter close-by advises those who care not to use water from the tap. “Buy from the RO units on platforms,” she says.

The UTS mobile ticket App of the railways too has not endeared itself to users, including youngsters, much. “App-based bookings are used by less than 20% of regular passengers,” said the clerk, adding that elders and less educated are not able to use them.

Pooja, a college student, said she had not even tried any app-based ticket booking or attempted the ticket vending machines as well. Lakshmi, a private company employee, said she was not even aware of the UTS mobile ticketing system operated by the railways.

Both at Tambaram and West Mambalam stations, the giant digital information board were not working, forcing commuters to wait in front of alreadycrowded counters for inquiry regarding train timings.

Senior citizens, handicapped and pregnant women find it hard to first inquire about timings at the counter, and then rush to catch the train. A railway employee the complaint has been forwarded to higher officials but it hasn’t received any positive yet.

The upgraded Tambaram station is a multi-modal hub handling much more number of trains than it used to be a mere suburban outpost. The station’s upgradation has not bought along more amenities on platforms.

Anna Library project: 20,000 rare books, journal s now a click away


Anna Library project: 20,000 rare books, journal  s now a click away

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 27.11.2021

Some of the rarest collections including a review of the shipping system of the East-India Company of 1798, the Madras Monthly Journal Medical Science of 1872, the Madras Agricultural Journal of 1929 and some rare Tamil literary works such as “Nandanar Charithira Keerthani: Chidambarakummi of 1895” are just a click away.

An Anna Centenary Library project is digitising rare books, journals, written manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts, documents and periodicals, rare photographs and paintings sourced from individuals and institutions across the state. “The readers can now read 20,000 rare books at the digital library on the website of directorate of public libraries (tamilnadupubliclibraries.org),”

said S Kannappan, director (incharge) of Public Libararies.

The team will first verify whether the books have already been digitised and whether they are copyrighted. “We are scanning copyrights of books and journals and other material to preserve them,” said S Kamatchi, coordinator, digital library project at Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram.

“There are many rare books and palm leaf manuscripts with individuals and institutions. If not preserved, they will eventually be lost,” she added. Under the project, around three lakh palm leaf manuscripts have been digitised besides books and journals.

Anna Centenary Library also entered into MoU with Madras University to scan rare books preserved in the university. “There are 10,000 rare books and journals, pamphlets are being preserved in the university library. ACL team will scan them and make available to all readers in their digital library. They will also provide the digital copy to the university,” said S Gowri, vicechancellor of Madras University.

Besides, rare books belonging to Presidency College and other institutions also will be preserved in digital form.

Singapore’s non-transit norm hits travellers to Far East, US


Singapore’s non-transit norm hits travellers to Far East, US

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 27.11.2021

Travellers from Chennai to the far-east and the US have been affected as Singapore is yet to allow transit for other countries. Due to this, Dubai and Doha are the only option transit options, resulting in fewer flights and pricey tickets.

Singapore was a popular transit hub for travellers from Chennai and other parts of the state to fly to Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and the US.

Travellers to the US have to spend ₹1.5lakh to ₹3lakh one-way to fly via Dubai and Doha because there are fewer flights to the Middle East.

Chennai-Dubai air fares continue to remain high as flights are full for the coming week. The traffic on this route is high because people are flying to UAE for holiday and business. Economy class return fare has touched ₹60,000 to ₹70,000 to Dubai. The usual fare was ₹19,000.

Singapore is allowing airlines to bring passengers only to the country and not for transit. Travel and tour operators have urged them to allow transit facility too.

Basheer Ahmed of Chennai Metro Travels said, “There is hope that Singapore may allow transit next month as India has announced resumption of scheduled international flights from December 15.” As there is already a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) agreement between India and Singapore, the destination will be treated as a safe country. This means full schedules and full capacity flights may be operated. They also can allow people to transit via Singapore, he said.

S Bhaskar of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said that Singapore is a popular transit hub and there was patronage for business class to destinations in the US on Singapore Airlines even though the fares were costlier than other carriers “The airlines should come forward to start more flights,” he said.

Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines have not resumed.

Bhaskar said that flights on Chennai-Dubai route are full. “People are booking business class because seats are not available in economy. The air fare is in the range of ₹70,000 for most of the days in December."


Singapore is allowing airlines to bring passengers only to the country and not for transit. Travel and tour operators have urged them to allow transit facility too

Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15


Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.111.2021

The Centre has allowed resumption of regular international flights from December 15, nearly 21 months after services were suspended on March 23, 2020. Now both Indian and foreign airlines can add capacity.

Air bubbles, that gave limited flights to some countries during Covid, will burst on December 14, allowing passengers flying between India and rest of the world to take connections from nearby hubs as per air service agreements. The increased connectivity will bring respite from sky-high airfares under the bubble system. The decision comes at a time when some countries like the UK and Italy are reimposing travel restrictions due to the detection of the new Covid variant in South Africa.


India could gain a lot from air travel move

India has become the first major south Asian country to open since the pandemic shook the world early last year and could gain a lot from the first mover advantage.

Covid high-risk countries will see a “calibrated resumption”, ranging from 75% to 50% of pre-Covid operations.

As on Friday, the Union health ministry’s list of “at risk” countries include the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel. But since air travel demand is nowhere close to pre-Covid levels, even this limited resumption will be enough for the present times and help lower fares. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) order on resumption of regular flights has placed countries in three different categories for a graded return to normalcy.

1. Countries not categorised as being at risk: Flights can be restored 100% by Indian and their carriers as per air service agreements (ASA). This includes over 90 countries from where fully vaccinated with approved jabs and Covid negative passengers can fly in quarantine free to India.

Full report on www.toi.in

Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists


Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists

27.11.2021

Heavy to very heavy rain that lashed Tamil Nadu on Friday will continue for the next 48 hours, the Meteorological department has said. A red alert has been issued for Chennai, Puducherry and most of the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.

At least five people died in rain-related incidents on Friday and 10,500 people were moved to relief camps in 12 districts, including 620 to five relief centres in Chennai. Twenty-one districts, including Chennai, have declared holiday for schools and colleges on Saturday. Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin district recorded 306mm rainfall in 24 hours till Friday morning.

The rain, which has been persisting over Sri Lanka, has started pounding northern districts, including Chennai, from Friday due to the shifting of wind convergence from south to north. At least 54 streets in Chennai were inundated and several subways were closed for traffic on Friday.

Nungambakkam received 3.38cm rain, while Meenambakkam recorded 2.4cm rain till 5.30pm on Friday. Corporation staff have kept 850 pumps ready and officials have been asked to be available for duty at night. TNN. P6&10


ROAD TURNS RIVER: Rajamannar Salai in Chennai’s K K Nagar was completely inundated

Friday, November 26, 2021

Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city


Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:26.11.2021

Two Andaman-bound flights from Kolkata operated by Vistara and Go First returned to the city on Thursday due to bad weather at Port Blair. The Vistara flight with 159 passengers had departed from Kolkata at 9.07am and returned at 1.12pm. The Go First flight left Kolkata at 8.10am with 180 passengers and returned at 3.13pm. The passengers were either refunded or rescheduled. A Port Blairbound flight from Chennai was diverted to Kolkata, but flew to the destination in the afternoon when weather conditions improved.

Emergency landing after flyer collapses, man declared dead at hosp


Emergency landing after flyer collapses, man declared dead at hosp

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: 26.11.2021

An AirAsia flight from Guwahati to Bengaluru made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport late on Wednesday night after a passenger lost consciousness on board. He had no pulse and, on being taken to a hospital in Kolkata, was declared dead by an attending doctor.

Ashok Kumar Jha (52), travelling by flight I5 0673, lost consciousness while the plane was travelling through the Kolkata flight information region. The pilot then contacted the ATC in Kolkata and requested emergency landing.

“The 134 passengers and six crew members landed in Kolkata at 10.35pm. After the unconscious passenger was examined, he was taken to Charnock Hospital along with another person travelling with him. The patient was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction and his pulse rate/BP were not recordable,” an airport official said.

At 11.41pm, the flight took off for Bengaluru with 132 passengers and six crew members.

Mumba: Parents sell newborn for ₹1L, booked


Mumba: Parents sell newborn for ₹1L, booked

Pradeep Gupta@timesgroup.com

Kalyan: 26.11.2021

The police have booked the parents of a 15-dayold for selling their infant for Rs1 lakh to a doctor running a children’s hostel in Kalyan in Dombivli. Police also booked the doctor, who runs a private children hostel in Kalyan.

The police said the accused Priya and Santosh hails from Shelar Naka area in Dombivli.

Police sources said when the woman became pregnant for the third time, they consulted the doctor, at whose hostel the couple had already given up one child. The doctor gave the couple Rs1 lakh to pay for the delivery and other expenses and said he would take care of the child.

Despite spike, Bhopal continues to stay ‘unmasked’


#MASKINDIA

Despite spike, Bhopal continues to stay ‘unmasked’

Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

Bhopal:26.11.2021

Even as Covid cases are inching up in the city, people continue to ignore the precautionary norms for protection from infection of the deadly virus and more worrisome is the fact that their numbers are rising by the day. Decision of the state government to lift all Covid restrictions, administration and police giving up on efforts to enforce the Covid protocol at public places has only contributed to a popular belief that wearing masks, maintaining social distance or washing of hands with soap or sanitiser is no longer necessary.

Meanwhile, the state government has allowed the opening of schools, colleges, hostels and coaching classes with 100% capacity and students, too, are being callous towards observing Covid norms, which may turn out to be risky.

A scene outside Nutan Girls College and adjacent Subhash School of Excellence on Thursday afternoon showed why school students are more vulnerable to the virus. While girls coming out of college campus were largely wearing masks, students of Subhash School of Excellence were mostly without masks, even those who had masks on their face were not properly worn and there was a sizeable crowd of students just outside the school gate; laughing, talking and calling out for an ice cream vendor standing nearby.

“You can check for masks when the students come into the school but as they run out after the classes, nobody can ensure that they are all wearing masks. We on our part try to see that the students observe Covid norms but children are children, you know”, said a teacher of the school, who, too, had come out of the school campus after the leave.

It’s not that all the college students are observing Covid norms. Staff in several colleges would tell you that students don’t wear masks even when asked to. But, there is a vital difference between school and college students. All the college students are vaccinated, most of them having both the doses while most of the school students are not. Moreover, if college students are not observing Covid norms, it’s deliberate but school students, particularly the smaller ones may simply forget to pull up the mask if it falls below their nose or gets stuck on their chin.

However, it’s not only the children who are vulnerable to Covid infection but also their elders, who in place of setting an example before their school or college going wards by keeping the masks on or not getting into a crowded place, in most cases don’t seem to be bothered about Covid protocol at all.

“Weather is changing. We have had a long spell of festivals. Now, it’s marriage season. So, people are socialising a lot. In such a situation, you only expect Corona cases to go up. And, people would do well to continue observing caution despite restrictions taken off by the state government. Lifting of restrictions doesn’t mean throwing caution to wind and not observing Covid norms”, said a senior faculty at Gandhi Medical College.


NO COVID CONCERN? Shoppers without mask at New Market on Thursday

Wearing a mask would not only save people from Corona but also from pollution. During winter pollutant particles in the air don’t go up, they are around you and harm your body as you breathe. Air quality index shows that air quality in the city is poor. So, it would only be advisable that people wear masks not only to prevent the spread of Coronavirus but to avoid breathing polluted air

—Subhash C Pandey ENVIRONMENTALIST

K’taka students among 10,000 NEET toppers double in 2 years


K’taka students among 10,000 NEET toppers double in 2 years

Delay Provided More Time For Prep: Experts

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  26.11.2021

The number of students from Karnataka among those securing the top 10,000 ranks in NEET-UG has more than doubled this year from pre-Covid times — 436 state students made it to the 1-10,000 bracket as compared to 351 in 2020 and 198 in 2019.

The number of those who secured more than 700 marks out of 720 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG) this year was nearly four times more than that of 2020. As many as 11 students from Karnataka scored above 700 in 2021. As per the data shared by National Testing Agency, no student could get over 700 in 2019. In 2020, three students managed to make the cut.

In the top 50,000 ranks, there are 2,291 students from Karnataka, an increase of 279. In the first one lakh students, 5,364 are from Karnataka. The number was only 4,775 in 2020.

In the bracket of 650-699 marks, Karnataka has 212 students this year, as against 143 last year and 32 in 2019. In all, there are 629 students who scored above 99 percentile from Karnataka. The number of students in the 600-649 bracket remains more or less the same with only nine more entering it. In the 550-599 group, 42 more students secured the marks, taking the total to 1,328.

The trend in Karnataka is in sync with the national performance, where there is an 83% increase in the total number of candidates scoring more than 700. TOI had reported that state-wise candidates from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh continued their dominance in the exam.

Experts say the numbers are overwhelming. “There are two reasons why students are scoring well in NEET,” said Sridhar G, founder, Deeksha. “When NEET started, the physics and chemistry papers were on a par with JEE papers. But after the pandemic, the papers were made simple and faithful to NCERT,” he said.

“Additionally, with board exams getting cancelled students could focus completely on NEET. The delay in conducting the test also gave them more time to prepare,” he added.

Sridhar said this has also contributed to improvement in the relative performance of Karnataka students in comparison with other states. “This is because in Karnataka most students who take NEET are first-timers. Unlike states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, repeating is not a culture here, as the engineering options are very good. Repeaters have the advantage of not focusing on board exams, which the freshers also got this time. This provided a levelplaying field to both,” he said.

Mahesh Yadav, south India head of Allen career institute, said students have also adjusted well to the online mode. “Last year, they were not as comfortable with online classes as they were this year. They have been in regular touch with teachers now. With classes going online, students also saved time they spent on travel,” he said.

However, whether the cutoff for UG medical/dental admissions will rise will depend on the seat matrix, which is yet to be announced in Karnataka.

HC commutes death for 3 Shakti Mills rape convicts to life term


HC commutes death for 3 Shakti Mills rape convicts to life term

Swati.Deshpande@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:26.11.2021

Eight years after two shocking gang rape cases in the abandoned Shakti Mills premises in central Mumbai, the Bombay HC commuted the death sentence awarded to three convicts involved in both crimes to life imprisonment on Thursday.

The court upheld their conviction for gang rape and other offences and said the sentence shall mean “rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of their natural life” with no remission, including parole and furlough. It dismissed an appeal by another convict and upheld his life term.

“Women are the backbone of every nation and therefore, they deserve their due respect and honour. Honour and respect for women are the marks of a civilised society,’’ the HC said.

Convicts don’t deserve to assimilate in society: Court

A bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and P K Chavan said the crime was grave and the convicts “don’t deserve to assimilate in society”. “The statute has not prescribed mandatory death penalty. Although the offence is barbaric and heinous, it cannot be said… the accused deserve only death penalty,” said the HC, adding they “deserve imprisonment for life to repent the offence committed by them as death puts an end to the concept of repentance”.

Vijay Jadhav, 19 at the time of the crime, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh (20) and Mohammed Salim Ansari (27) had been sent to death row in April 2014 by the trial court in a case of gangrape of a photojournalist, then 22, on August 22, 2013. Besides the three, one person was sentenced to life and a minor accused was penalised under the juvenile justice board. The accused did not appeal the death penalty.

The three had got the death sentence as they were also convicted in another gangrape of a 19-year-old telephone operator on July 31, 2013, on the same premises at Mahalaxmi.

Their court-appointed counsel Yug Chaudhry cited several irregularities in the trial court proceedings in awarding them death sentence under section 376E of the IPC, a stringent law for repeat offenders, saying the charge was not invoked as per law. But special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi argued that the law permits death sentence for second conviction and the “sequence and time of the offence is immaterial”.

On March 20, 2014, the sessions judge had first held the three common accused guilty for the gangrape of the telephone operator and about 30 minutes later, pronounced a guilty verdict in the case of the photojournalist too. In this gap, the state had made a plea to invoke section 376E. The court, therefore, handed the death sentence.

The HC bench held that it was not a case of a previous conviction “since both the sessions cases were being tried simultaneously and the conviction in both was on the same day without giving an opportunity to the accused to place before the court the mitigating circumstances”.

It added: “In a case like the present one, the court cannot ignore the fact that this incident had shocked the conscience of the society and there was public outcry.” But the court cannot punish based on public outcry alone, it is a court’s duty to consider the case “dispassionately’’ and it cannot ignore legal procedures. “A sentence of death is irrevocable and therefore, the basic principle in sentencing policy would be life imprisonment as a rule and death penalty as an exception,” the court added.

On Thursday, in a separate judgment, the high court dismissed an appeal and upheld the life sentence of Mohd Ashfaq Shaikh, 25, for the July 31 gangrape.

In the death sentence confirmation hearing, the HC said “there is no doubt that the incident as narrated by the survivor on August 22, 2013, had occurred in the backdrop and in the manner in which it was narrated. The courage of the survivor needs to be appreciated’.


The statute has not prescribed mandatory death penalty. Although the offence is barbaric and heinous, it cannot be said the accused deserve only death penalty... they deserve imprisonment for life to repent the offence committed by them as death puts an end to the concept of repentance

—BOMBAY HC

A sentence of death is irrevocable and therefore, the basic principle in sentencing policy would be life imprisonment as a rule and death penalty as an exception

Court

[NEET- AIQ] Our Only Concern Is That The More We Push The Admissions Back, The More The Delay In The Term: Supreme Court


[NEET- AIQ] Our Only Concern Is That The More We Push The Admissions Back, The More The Delay In The Term: Supreme Court


25 Nov 2021 7:51 PM


"I have instructions to say that the government has decided to revisit the (EWS) criteria and we will formulate a committee and we would decide within four weeks. Till then, whatever assurance we have given to your lordships continues. Counselling would wait for four more weeks", SG Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath was hearing a batch of petitions filed by NEET aspirants challenging the decision of the Central Government to introduce 27% OBC and 10% EWS reservation in the NEET-AIQ.

Justice Chandrachud observed, "That is a very good thing. Let it be done scientifically. You can revisit the criteria. We are not coming in the way at all. But our only concern is that the more we push the admissions back, the more the delay in the term. That is something you have to take a policy decision on."

"Would your lordships want us to consider whether to continue with the present criteria in this year?," asked the SG.

"Not the present criteria because then we have to hear this matter. If you can, for the EWS, since this process is going on (unclear)...in this willy-nilly, the term gets pushed back (unclear)", said Justice Chandrachud.

"I will take instructions", said the SG.

Justice Chandrachud noted, "What happens is that we are at the end of November. Suppose you complete it by the end of December and then implementation etc and then the terms would begin only sometime in February-March. Two months, the students are losing the time. This is something you may want to consider."

The SG then said, "Then the other option would be that for the present Academic year, we go with this criteria which is not per se arbitrary, although it may not have been planned..."

"That is their challenge. Now you have also felt the need to do it. We don't want to say anything more right now. We don't want to give our mind at all right now. We have to hear both sides. We are seized of this matter now. You may apply the EWS criteria itself from next year so that the student can get admissions...", remarked Justice Chandrachud.

"Deferring the constitutional amendment should be the last thing...", advanced the SG.

"That is only an enabling provision", said Justice Chandrachud.

"But that is brought into the operation. The government intends to enforce it", submitted the SG.

Justice Surya Kant noted, "EWS is a very pragmatic and progressive kind of reservation for which the State must be credited. The only issue is as to how to adjust it, whether horizontal or vertical.."

Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, for the petitioner, advanced, "The people getting more than 70,000 Rs. per month, can they be called EWS? Eight lakh limit is the question."

Justice Surya Kant said, "For that, they can work out."

"That is what we are doing", assured the SG.

"You were supposed to do it before Diwali", submitted Mr. Datar

Justice Chandrachud said, "If you push them too much, too fast, then there would be another set of petitions challenging the arbitrariness"

"We are closing on 17. 16 is the last working day. They can atleast report to the court by the 12 so that in the miscellaneous week we can have some idea whether to go on with the counselling or not go on with counselling", told Mr. Datar.

Justice Chandrachud reflected, "If they have to do it, let them do it in a proper way. We don't want to push them in a situation where they do something in an improper way- you know, all the problems that we have noticed in our order. Four weeks is not unreasonably long. I am only worried that medical admissions and the medical year is being postponed."

"Your Lordships may consider keeping in mind that while other appointments may come, but where it has started, it may not come to a standstill...", submitted the SG.

"We will record your statement and we will say that they want four weeks and we will place it on the reopening", said Justice Chandrachud.

Justice Surya Kant noted, "There is a challenge to EWS/OBC. There might be candidates among the SC/ST also. Would you want to make space in the reserved category?"

"That would be a forward-looking way. I will put it to the government", responded the SG.

Proceeding to dictate the order, the bench recorded, "SG Tushar Mehta, for the Union of India, with ASG K. M. Natarj, states that the Union of India has taken a considered decision to revisit the criteria for determining the economically weaker sections in terms of the provisions of the Explanation to Article 15 of the Constitution, inserted by the 103rd Amendment Act 2019. The SG states that a period of four weeks would be required for this exercise, and pending its conclusion, the date for counselling shall stand postponed. In the circumstances, the assurance which was earlier placed on record of this court would continue. Accordingly, we direct that further hearing be listed on January 6, 2022."

The Centre had on October 25 assured the Supreme Court that the counselling for NEET-PG 2021 shall not commence until the Court decides the validity of the Centre's decision to introduce OBC and EWS reservation in All India Quota.

The assurance came when senior advocate Arvind Datar, who appears for NEET aspirants in the batch of petitions challenging the decision of the Central Government to introduce 27% OBC and 10% EWS reservation in the NEET-AIQ, mentioned before the bench headed by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud that in terms of an official communication from the Director General of Health Services that in respect of students participating in NEET-PG, the counselling is to commence from October 25, 2021.

Clarifying this, ASG K. M. Nataraj assured, "Mr. Datar has got the communication which was sent only to the colleges for the purpose of verification of seats. There is one more clarificatory notification which has been issued today. Otherwise, counselling will not begin unless the issue has been dealt with by the court somehow."

"We will take your word for it then, so long as the students are not counselled. We will take your word that counselling is not starting till we decide one way or the other. Students will be in a serious problem otherwise...", observed Justice Chandrachud.

"Certainly, Your Lordships. And if there is any problem at all in the future, Mr. Datar can contact me directly", asserted the ASG.

Justice Chandrachud also told Mr. Datar that he may feel free to approach the ASG in case of any issue in this regard.

The Central Government had to face tough questions from the Supreme Court on October 21 over its decision to adopt the criteria of annual income of Rupees 8 lakhs for determining the eligibility for Economic Weaker Sections(EWS) reservation in the NEET-All India Quota.

The bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice BV Nagarathna expressed unhappiness at the Centre not filing an affidavit on the issue, although the Court had raised several doubts about the EWS criteria on the previous hearing date (October 7).

The bench sought to know what was the exercise undertaken by the Centre for adopting this criteria. Pointing out that Rs 8 lakh was the criteria for creamy layer for OBC reservation, the bench asked how the same criteria can be adopted for OBC and EWS categories, when the latter has no social and educational backwardness.

"You must have some demographic or sociological or socio-economic data. You just cannot pull out 8 lakh from thin air...you are making unequals equals by applying the Rs 8 lakh limit", Justice Chandrachud told Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj.

"In OBC, people who are below 8 lakh, they suffer from social & educational backwardness. Under the constitutional scheme, EWS are not socially & educationally backward", Justice Chandrachud pointed out.

While the bench agreed that the EWS criteria was ultimately a policy matter, it added that the Court is entitled to know the reasons adopted for arriving at a policy decision to determine its constitutionality.

The bench at one point even warned that it will stay the EWS notification.

"Please show us something. You had 2 weeks to file an affidavit. We can stay the notification & in the meanwhile you do something", Justice Chandrachud said.

However, the ASG pleaded to not stay the notification and undertook to file the affidavit at the earliest. The ASG submitted that he needed to get instructions from the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Department of Personnel and Training, which were added as respondents later. The petitions were filed only with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as the respondent. The ASG submitted that the draft of the affidavit was ready and will be filed within 2-3 days.

The bench passed an order formulating certain issues on which it sought specific responses from the Centre. The issues are :

1. Whether the Centre undertook any exercise before arriving at the criteria to determine EWS.

2. If the answer is affirmative, is the criteria based on Sinho commission report. If so, place the report on record.

3. The income limit for determining creamy layer in OBC and EWS is the same, that is Rs 8 lakhs annual income. In the OBC category, the economically advanced category is excluded as social backwardness diminishes. In such a scenario, whether it would be arbitrary to provide similar income limit for EWS and OBC, as EWS has no concept of social and economic backwardness.

4. Whether difference in rural and urban purchasing power has been accounted for while deriving this limit.

5. On what basis asset exception has been arrived at and has any exercise been undertaken for the same.

6. Reason why residential flat criteria doesn't differentiate b/w metropolitan and non-metropolitan area.

The bench observed in the order that the Court must be apprised of on what basis has the EWS income criterion been arrived at.

"We make it clear that we are not entering area of policy but need the disclosure for adhering to constitutional principles", the bench clarified in its order.

The bench also pointed out in its order that as per the explanations to Articles 15(6) and 16(6), the State Governments notify the criteria for EWS.
The explanation included in 103rd Constitution amendment, under Articles 15 & 16 says that the economically weaker sections "shall be such as may be notified by the State from time to time on the basis of family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage". In this backdrop, the bench asked the basis for the Centre notifying the EWS criteria on a uniform basis across the country.

[NEET- AIQ] Our Only Concern Is That The More We Push The Admissions Back, The More The Delay In The Term: Supreme Court

[NEET- AIQ] Our Only Concern Is That The More We Push The Admissions Back, The More The Delay In The Term: Supreme Court

Religious conversion can’t undo caste status, says HC


Religious conversion can’t undo caste status, says HC

Refuses Inter-caste Certificate To Dalit Man

Sureshkumar.k@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 26.11.2021

Conversion from one religion to another religion will not change the caste of a person which he belongs to, Madras high court has ruled, nixing a bid by a Dalit man, who embraced Christianity, to obtain an inter-caste marriage certificate to get priority in government jobs. Dalit-converts are treated as backward community (BC) members and not as SCs, as per law.

In Tamil Nadu, weddings involving a forward caste member with SC/ST, or a wedding between a BC member and an SC/ST are treated as inter-caste weddings entailing priority in government jobs.

Justice S M Subramaniam, reiterating that merely because of conversion and his consequent categorisation as a BC member, a Dalit cannot claim his marriage to another Dalit as an inter-caste marriage, said: “The petitioner admittedly belongs to Christian Adi-Dravidar community and by virtue of conversion to Christianity he was issued with the Backward Class certificate. However, by birth, the petitioner belongs to 'Adi-Dravidar' community and change of religion will not change the community. The classification of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Most Backward Classes, Backward Classes and Other castes will not change the caste.”

It was the case of S Paul Raj that he belonged to Christian Adi-Dravida possessing a Backward Class certificate. He married G Amutha, who belongs to Hindu Arunthathiyar community. Postmmarriage, Paul Raj claimed that it was an inter-caste marriage since he was now a BC member and not a Dalit. A BC member’s marriage with an SC member shall be treated as an inter-caste marriage, with all attendant benefits, he claimed. He relied on a December 28, 1976 government order which says: "Where one of the spouses belongs to SC/ ST, then inter-caste marriage certificate has to be issued in favour of the petitioner”.

He moved the high court after the Salem district officials rejected his contention, pointing out that he himself hailed from a Dalit community and that his conversion will not undo his caste status.

Upholding the finding, Justice Subramaniam said: “In the event of a converted person claiming inter-caste marriage certificate, it would pave way for the citizen to abuse the benefit granted under the inter-caste marriage quota. The repercussion will be large and, therefore, the inter-caste marriage certificate has to be issued only if any one of the spouses belongs to the Scheduled Caste and other spouse belongs to the other caste, but not otherwise.”

It was the case of S Paul Raj that he belonged to Christian Adi-Dravida possessing a BC certificate. Postmarriage, he claimed that it was an inter-caste marriage since he was now a BC member and not a Dalit.

Upset at being ‘linked to girl’s suicide’, teacher ends life


Upset at being ‘linked to girl’s suicide’, teacher ends life

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:26.11.2021

A 44-year-old private school teacher in Karur hanged himself to death on Wednesday evening after leaving a note blaming his extreme act on students who allegedly linked him to the suicide of a 17-year-old girl student a few days ago.

A Saravanan, a maths teacher, took permission from the school and went to his father-in-law’s house at Sengattupatti in Trichy where he hanged himself in a room in the upstairs. He is survived by his wife and two sons. The girl, who was a student of the same school, had ended her life at her house on November 19 after leaving a suicide note blaming sexual harassment for her action though she did not name anyone. The only daughter of her widowed mother, she was also attending NEET coaching at the school. Stating that she should be the last victim of sexual harassment, she said she was afraid of revealing the identity of the perpetrators of the crime. Vengamedu police which booked a case of suspicious death could not get any clue about her allegations.

Police said Saravanan was not taking classes for the girl as she was in another section. However, some students made insulting comments against him, stated Saravanan in his suicide note. A facebook post while regretting his action, praised Saravanan’s dedication to teaching saying several students had benefited from it. Thuraiyur police brought Saravanna’s body to the government hospital for postmortem and are investigating.

A Saravanan took permission from the school and went to his father-in-law’s house in Trichy where he died by suicide

66 fully vaccinated Dharwad medicos test +ve for Covid


66 fully vaccinated Dharwad medicos test +ve for Covid

Basavaraj.Kattimani@timesgroup.com

Hubballi:26.11.2021

Dharwad district which was reporting daily fresh Covid cases in lower single digits for three months saw a frightening surge in infections on Thursday with 66 fully vaccinated students of a medical college testing positive for coronavirus in the past 48 hours.

The infected students of SDM College of Medical Sciences, Sattur, Dharwad, have been isolated and quarantined in the college hostel. The two hostels on the campus where they were staying have been barricaded. Offline classes have been suspended till further notice.

Sources said this is a first major Covid cluster outbreak after colleges and schools were reopened n Karnataka for in-class learning a couple of months ago.

Principal Dr Ratnamala Desai told TOI that two students developed fever and were admitted to hospital after attending a college event on November17. On Monday, they tested positive for Covid. “Immediately, we tested nearly 300 students who participated in the event and 64 of them tested positive on Wednesday, taking the total to 66.”

Most of the infected students are from the third year.

(Additional inputs by Gururaj Jamkhandi)

Full report on www.toi.in

ADB approves $1.5 billion loan to India for purchase of Covid-19 vaccines
New Delhi:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion loan to help India purchase safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is expected to cofinance an additional $500 million for the project, the ADB said. The loans will fund at least 667 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for an estimated 317 million people. It will support India’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan which aims to fully vaccinate 944.7 million people aged 18 years old and above, accounting for 68.9% of the population. Priority groups include healthcare and frontline workers, senior citizens, and those aged 45–59 years with comorbidities. TNN

Singapore-bound passengers in a fix over norms


Singapore-bound passengers in a fix over norms

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy/Chennai:  26.11.2021

Flying to Singapore continues to be a hassle, especially for those with permanent residency who have come to Tamil Nadu during the pandemic, as there are fewer flights from Chennai, Trichy and Madurai.

Singapore Airlines have started Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flights from Chennai from November 29 so that people who pay Singapore dollars 125 and get an approval can enter Singapore without the seven-day quarantine, if the rapid test on arrival is negative. However, passengers flying from Trichy and Madurai by other flights have to undergo the quarantine which is inconveniencing.

Arul Lazaran of United Travels said people from other cities are requesting to be booked on the flight from Chennai because they can avoid the quarantine which is expensive. As demand is high, the oneway fare to Singapore is ₹19,000 from Chennai for travel in the first week of December on the Singapore Airlines flight.. The fare was ₹5,000 in the pre-Covid days.

However, travellers, especially those from towns like Trichy, which has more diaspora presence, have demanded for more flights between airports in the state and Singapore as vaccinated travel lane flights are available only from metros.

The Trichy international airport which handled around 80,000 passengers for Singapore – in both directions, during this pandemic has not been included in the list. Trichy has handled around 60,000 outbound passengers and around 25,000 inbound travellers during this pandemic period from and to Singapore respectively, the highest when compared to other airports.

As of now, the Air India Express has been operating four flights on a weekly basis between the Trichy-Singapore sector. According to airport sources, Scoot Air is going to resume its weekly five services and IndiGo Air a daily service in this sector shortly.

CM writes to Centre for more flights

Chennai:

Chief minister M K Stalin has urged the Union government to have more flights to Singapore and Malaysia as Tamils with permanent residency are struggling to return after arriving in the state during the pandemic.

In a letter to the civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Stalin has urged the union government “to make a temporary air transport bubble agreement with Singapore and Malaysia at the earliest for providing temporary airline services and resolve the difficulties faced by the Tamil diaspora in Singapore and Malaysia.”

He also said that “they have to travel through Dubai, Doha and Colombo which is causing serious inconvenience and financial burden as they have to pay more air charges and travel long distances due to the detour.” TNN

Govt doctor kills self at city hotel


Govt doctor kills self at city hotel

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.11.2021

A government doctor ended his life on Thursday by administering himself a lethal injection, police said.

A Maheshwaran, 34, a native of Cuddalore, who was working as a general practitioner in Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH), was found dead at a star hotel on Dr Radhakrishnan Salai in Mylapore.

Maheshwaran left a suicide note stating that no one was responsible for his death, and that he was taking his own life due to stress, police said.

The doctor, a resident of Krishnapuram in Maduravoyal, had been working at the GRH for the past three years as a surgeon. On Wednesday, he booked a room in the hotel. While on the way to the hotel, he asked his driver, Karthik, to stop the car near a medical store on Royapettah High Road and bought some medicines.

As Maheshwaran didn't turn up for work on Thursday morning, his friend Vinod tried to contact him. His phone was switched off.

His friend went to the hotel and found the room locked from inside. The staff used a master key to open it and found Maheshwaran lying dead on a bed. There were five empty vials and an intravenous kit, police said, adding that a needle was found in his vein.

The body wa sent for postmortem. Maheshwaran is survived by his wife, Nandhini, a doctor, and a five-year-old daughter.

Anna university can fill 400 engg seats


Anna university can fill 400 engg seats

State Allows Counselling Again After Neet Results

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:26.11.2021

The state government has allowed a second phase of counselling to fill 400 engineering seats on Anna University's four campuses that fell vacant as the selected students opted for MBBS.

Usually, these seats (700 last year) in reputable colleges remain vacant. For the first time, the higher education department on Thursday allowed counselling to fill them. "The huge vacancies affected Anna University's NIRF ranking 2021 in which it slipped by four ranks in engineering and university categories compared to 2020. Now, the second phase will give the opportunity to meritorious students to study at the university's four campuses. It will improve the university's ranking and rating points in NAAC accreditation," an official from Anna University said.

"This second phase of counselling can be done after giving a reasonable time to pool vacancies in colleges," said higher education secretary D Karthikeyan in the order permitting it.

The government asked the director of technical education to conduct second phase counselling for students already registered and admitted to fill these vacancies and to conduct subsequent phases of counselling if the need arises.

Sources said the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions committee is likely to conduct at least two rounds during the second phase, first to fill the existing vacancies and the second round to fill new vacancies. As per AICTE's revised academic calendar, the last date to admit new students is November 30.

"Those who have already registered and enrolled alone will participate in the second phase counselling. So, the last date won't apply to this counselling," a source in the higher education department said.

Of 95,000 students who got allotment in Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions 2021 counselling, around 10,000 have not joined the colleges, the source added.

Top colleges said it's a good move as they would get a larger pool of candidates to fill vacancies.

"As per the usual practice, the self-financing colleges were allowed to fill lapsed seats from their applicants. In this second phase of counselling, top colleges may get better candidates from the larger pool," said V E Annamalai, principal of SSN College of Engineering in Chennai.

Meanwhile, engineering colleges are worried that internal counselling will leave more vacant seats in tier-2 and tier-3 colleges.

"If the second phase counselling allows fresh students also to apply, it would boost the admissions. Giving upward movement will affect even top colleges as students will prefer government institutions over private colleges. Tier-2 and tier-3 colleges may have more vacancies as students want to move to tier-1 colleges," said P Selvaraj, secretary, Consortium of Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges in Tamil Nadu.

Hundreds of seats in reputable engineering colleges fall vacant every year as students who joined leave once they get admission to MBBS and BDS courses

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