Nirmala Seetharaman, the pride of Tiruchi

R. Krishnamoorthy

TIRUCHI,SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 09:53 IST

Students welcome Nirmala Sitharaman during one of her visits to Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchi.  

She is the second woman Defence Minister after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

Most Tiruchites were glued to the television on Sunday as the ‘daughter of the soil’ Nirmala Seetharaman took oath as the Defence Minister of the nation.

She is the second woman Defence Minister of the country after the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who held the post.

Faculties and students of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College where the new Defence Minister had studied B.A. Economics from 1977 to 1980, were on cloud nine.

Institutions in Tiruchi have always had the pride of place for having shaped the future of two former Presidents R. Venkataraman and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who had their moorings in National College and St. Joseph's College respectively.

The student days of Ms. Nirmala Seetharaman at SRC was as much impressive, recalled Usha Chandrasekar, retired Head of English Department.

Ms. Seetharaman had a continuous association with the English Department as an active participant in debates, discussions and quiz competitions, Prof. Usha said. The self-confidence and leadership material in her was very much evident even then, she said.

Ms. Nirmala had visited the college twice since 2011. When she visited for the first time during 2011, Ms. Seetharaman was the spokesperson of BJP.

Last year, the faculty and students had the privilege of interacting with her as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

During her 2011 visit, Ms. Seetharaman was elated to meet a few of her former teachers, and shared with them nostalgic memories of her student days.

She had thanked the teachers for shaping her overall personality.

Parents allege foul play in MBBS admissions

STAFF REPORTER

PUDUCHERRY,SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 04:27 IST

They plan to meet MCI officials tomorrow

Puducherry UT All CENTAC Students Parents Association (PCESPA) president M. Narayanassamy on Monday alleged irregularities in the admission of students to the medical seats in the fourth round of counselling.

Stating that the association would be lodging a complaint with the Medical Council of India (MCI), Mr. Narayanassamy said that the parents would meet the MCI officials on Wednesday seeking their intervention in the matter.

After three rounds of counselling conducted by the Centralised Admission Committee (Centac), 96 seats were vacant in one self-financing and two minority medical institutions.

“The colleges have to fill these vacancies as per the merit list and call for counselling in their institutions at the ratio of 1:10. The Puducherry government has announced 355 as the cut-off mark.

“However, the institutions have admitted students who have scored less than 109 marks which is contempt of court,” he said.

He alleged that the medical institutions were charging up to Rs. 25 lakh fee for the undergraduate courses. “Students who have scored below 109 marks and joined the institutions will be in trouble if the issue is brought to the notice of MCI. After September 30, 2016, these medical institutions had admitted students who had not applied for the course. Those medical students who got admissions to these colleges in this manner last year will now face trouble,” he said.

Classes start for first year students in MMC

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI,SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 04:13 IST

Amid protests against National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test across Tamil Nadu following suicide of medical aspirant S. Anitha, the inauguration of classes for first year MBBS students, who got seats through the recently-concluded counselling, began in Madurai Medical College on Monday along with other government colleges in the State.

Speaking at the function, D. Marudupandian, Dean in charge, asked the students not to feel like outsiders and approach senior professors any time for guidance.

Highlighting the history of the college and the outstanding list of its alumni, he wished the freshers to not only become successful doctors, but also good human beings.

Assuring that the campus would be ragging-free, students’ council members who spoke at the function said that the freshers could treat them as their own brothers and sisters.

A few parents of the fresh batch of students also spoke at the function. S. Indira Gandhi from Sivaganga district said that she was proud to see her daughter S. Akshaya join the same institution in which she was born. “I gave birth to twins. My delivery had complications and it was the GRH doctors who saved me. Since we were keen on making one of my daughters a doctor, Akshaya, a CBSE student, took another year after Plus Two to crack NEET,” she said.

The father of a State board student, who also took an extra year to crack NEET, said that they felt relieved after admitting him in the college after all the commotion over medical admissions in the past few months.

All the speeches made by MMC professors, senior students, and parents and students of the freshers’ batch at the inauguration were, however, expectedly void of any reference to Anitha’s death.

Many parents and students whom The Hindu approached to know their views on the girl’s suicide hesitated to comment on the matter.

Consumers slam hike in price of LPG cylinders

Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI,SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 05, 2017 03:45 IST

More pain ahead:Oil industry sources say prices will witness an upward trend till March.file photo  

Non-subsidised cylinder will now cost Rs. 607

Domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices have gone up by Rs. 74 per cylinder in September. Last month, the price of a non-subsidised cylinder in Chennai was Rs. 533 and this month it is Rs. 607.

Oil industry sources explained that this is just the beginning of the upward trend, which is likely to continue till March next year. “Unlike prices of petrol and diesel that are linked to crude oil prices, LPG prices are linked to international butane and propane rates. Butane and propane are combined to make LPG. The hike happens when consumption increases in the West when their heating requirement increases,” the source explained.

LPG prices are revised in the beginning of every month.

Last year in March, in Chennai, a cylinder of domestic LPG cylinder was priced at Rs. 746.50, which was the highest price that year, after which it came down to Rs. 533.

Consumers are grumbling about the increase. S. Lalitha, a resident of West Mambalam, said that already consumers were burdened by 5% GST on domestic LPG.

“We are shelling out more on petrol prices that have touched Rs. 72 a litre now. Though the government keeps saying that inflation rates are down, they don’t seem to be taking into consideration the prices of other goods. We now pay Rs. 1,500 as GST for a provision bill of Rs. 10,000, which is quite steep. Vegetables and fruits are very costly too. If prices keep going up, how can consumers like us afford things,” she asked.

T. Sadagopan, consumer activist, said that another problem that consumers face is that of subsidy amount being credited into incorrect bank accounts.

“Many have linked mobile numbers with their Aadhar numbers and after that, we are receiving text messages that the subsidy amount has been sent to some other bank account. Distributors and our bankers are unable to help consumers,” he said.

TN Govt issues advisory to parents about Blue Whale

tnn | Sep 6, 2017, 03:27 IST




CHENNAI: A day after a Madras high court directive asking the state government to step up vigilance, the Tamil Nadugovernment on Tuesday issued an advisory to parents and teachers to observe the behaviour of children closely to identify any unusual changes in the wake of the fast spreading 'Blue Whale Challenge' that has resulted in the deaths of several teenagers worldwide including India. The advisory has come in the wake of a youngster committing suicide in Madurai district recently. State DGP T K Rajendrantoo issued a similar advisory.

In a statement, the government said it is the children in the age group of 12 - 19 years, the most vulnerable group over the internet to be most prone to Blue WhaleChallenge and similar games. Psychologists have observed that children playing such online games tend to stay by themselves, stop interacting with family and friends, often talk about running away from home and even about death. There will be changes in their eating and sleeping habits too, the statement said.

Hence, both the parents and teachers are advised to observe the children's behaviour closely to identify any unusual changes like moodiness, less or no communication and lack of interest in studies among others, which may be an indication of the children falling prey to these "evil online games". If they find out any incidences of children playing this game, they are advised to stop them from using internet from any devices and to inform the local police authorities, besides providing psychological counselling to the player through government hospitals and NGOs.

The government asked members of the public and internet users to refrain from forwarding any online links related to this game and thereby make youth vulnerable. Any such act is illegal and is punishable as per law. It also advised people not to forward any such viral messages originating from not-so credible sources.

The statement also pointed out that 'Blue Whale Challenge' is technically not an application based game easily downloadable from websites or official play stores, but involves performing activities assigned by the administrator/curator of a closed group social media forum that include online gaming groups, message boards and other online community messaging areas. This game is available under different names such as A Silent House, A Sea of Whales and Wake Me Up at 4.20 AM and is mostly played using smart phones or similar devices.

University

DVAC sleuths raid former DD of medical services, two government staffs in Vellore

TNN | Sep 6, 2017, 03:52 IST

DVAC police registered a case against the three.

VELLORE: Sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) wing on Tuesday conducted a surprise raid at the house of former deputy director of medical services (TB) and two other government employees in Vellore for allegedly swindling over Rs 34.84 lakh by forging documents.

DVAC sleuths led by additional superintendent of police of the wing M Balasubramanian conducted the check at former deputy director Dr N U Raja Sivanandam's house at Sathuvachari. They also raided the houses of his associates Sridhar, steno-cum-typist at the district munsiff court, Vellore, and R Ramesh, an assistant in the deputy director of agriculture, from 8am on Tuesday.

Police said, Sivanandam was the deputy director of medical services in the district TB centre from January 15, 2007 to June 30, 2017. He misused his official position during from January 1, 2013 to September 30, 2015 and drew the salaries of 19 discontinued employees, including two doctors, who worked in the district TB office. Sivanandam had generated false documents and forged the signatures of the discontinued employees to establish that they were still in service. "He misappropriated government funds to the tune of Rs 34,84,791 towards the salary for the 19 employees, who were not in service," said a senior police officer.

The health department had not allowed Sivanandam to retire on June 30 this year. He was placed under suspension for indulging in the malpractice.

Sridhar aided Sivanandam to channelise the money. "He transferred the amount from Ramesh's bank account in a Sathuvachari branch of a nationalised bank. Sivanandam used the account to manipulate and misappropriate the government fund allocated towards the salary of the 19 emlpoyees," added the official privy to the investigation.

Since the prima facie had been established, DVAC police registered a case against the three under sections 465, 468, 471, 409 and 201 of IPC, read with section 13 (1) (c) and (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, read with 109 of IPC. "The raid was fallout of the case filed against the trio. We have seized documents related to the bank transactions and other documents from Sivanandam and two of his associates," the official added.

The DVAC police have also seized several lakhs of rupees that was obtained by producing bogus bills. The bills have been seized from the house of Sridhar and Ashok Kumar, an accountant in district TB office.