This cafe serves ‘death’ to customers 

Times of India 16.04.2018

Dying for a cup of coffee? You will feel right at home at Bangkok’s new “death awareness” cafe, a macabre, Buddhist spin on the themed-cafe craze where customers are urged to confront their own mortality — and live better lives as a result.

With drinks called “death” and “painful” on the menu and a skeleton splayed out on a couch in the corner, the meetyour-maker theme is alive and well at this open-air lunch spot in the Thai capital.

But the centrepiece of the “Kid Mai (Think New) Death Cafe” experience is a decorated white coffin where customers are encouraged to lay down for a few minutes to contemplate their final moments — and secure a discount on a drink.

“I feel like I am in a funeral,” 28-year-old Duanghatai Boonmoh said with a laugh as she sipped a chocolate “death smoothie” on a recent Saturday afternoon. She and other curious customers took turns climbing into the wooden box as friends sealed the lid.

“The first thing that came to my mind was, what if no one opens it?” Duanghatai said after emerging from the coffin. The cafe’s owner says his restaurant is more than just a gimmick or dark take on the cute and cuddly coffee shops common in the Thai capital, which boasts everything from cat, husky and meerkat cafes to unicorn and mermaid-themed eateries.

“When one is aware of their own death, they will do good. This is what our Lord Buddha teaches,” he explained. The casket experience is also a way to nudge the country’s technology-addicted youth to step back and reassess their personal lives.

The cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is now posted with signs asking questions like: “What is the purpose of your life?” AFP 


CONFRONTING MORTALITY

Train travels 2km, leaves 5 wagons behind 

Times of India 16.04.2018

Balasore: Exactly a week after 22 coaches of an express train rolled on for about 13km without an engine in Odisha’s Titlagarh, a similar lapse on Saturday evening in Balasore district belied the railways’ claim of better preparedness.

Around 6.30pm on Saturday, agoods train kept moving ahead for two kilometres — between Bahanaga and Panapana stations — despite five wagons getting detached from it. The South Eastern Railway zone has ordered a probe.

Railway sources said the 60-wagon, limestone-laden train was moving towards Tata from Dhamra port station in Bhadrak district when the coaches got detached. The train, however, moved on for two kilometres without either the driver or the guard noticing the separation. In fact, the disconnected wagons themselves continued to run for about half a kilometre. The train was travelling at a speed of around 50kmph.

After noticing the problem, the driver stopped the train at Khantapada station. TNN

A shocked and angry nation unites against Kathua, Unnao horror

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 16.04.2018

Protests against the brutal gangrape-cum-murder of an eight-year-old girl in J&K’s Kathua and the rape of a 16-year-old by a BJP legislator in UP’s Unnao erupted across the country on Sunday. Scores of people hit the streets, condemning the government’s response in both the cases and demanding justice for the hapless girls and their families.

In Mumbai, a large number of people turned up at Carter Road in Bandra to protest against both the cases. Protesters carried placards and shouted slogans seeking justice for the rape victims and harsh punishment for accused persons. “The crowd that gathered here today is scared and worried. People are disappointed with corruption within the police and degrading law and order situation,” said Abha Singh, lawyer and activist.

In Gujarat, the horrors of Kathua and Unnao shook people’s conscience as hundreds thronged the streets on Sunday. Residents of Dhabgarvad locality in Ahmedabad held a protest march at which children displayed placards, expressing outrage over the Kathua incident. A group of young girls sought justice for the Unnao rape survivor as well.

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which is led by Hardik Patel, has joined the protests. Its members held a candlelight march inAhmedabad. Similar protests were also held in Vadodara, Surat and Junagadh.

Similarly, in the national Capital, hundreds of people gathered at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, under the banner “Not In My Name”.

In Chandigarh too, citybased volunteer groups, Bekhauf Azaadi and Not In My Name, along with a group of over 12 senior lawyers, organised a protest.

In Unnao’s home state UP, women gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Chowki Chauraha in Bareilly, carrying placards. They demanded capital punishment for those guilty.

Similar protests were witnessed in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam as well.

17-yr-old gang-raped in Patna, two arrested

Patna: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped in Patna on Saturday. The incident took place near a railway line close to the GPO Golumber area in the heart of the city.

Following an alert by a vendor and a loud cry by the survivor, two persons were arrested, City SP (Central) D Amarkesh told TOI on Sunday. “Two more accused are on the run,” he said.

“The survivor, from Nalanda district, told police that she had come to Patna by train on Saturday night to meet one of the accused, with whom she had been in touch since last couple of days,” the SP said. TNN

Girl, 4, sexually assaulted in Odisha

Balasore: A four-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in Nilagiri area of Odisha’s Balasore district. A resident of Hatasahi on Saturday lodged a complaint alleging that his daughter was sexually assaulted by his neighbour on April 13, police said. The girl was playing outside the house when the neighbour offered her chocolates and called her to his house where she was assaulted, police said. PTI


SEEKING JUSTICE: People hold placards as they participate in a protest against the Kathua and Unnao rapes, in Mumbai on Sunday

BCI asks bar bodies to call off strike

The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Sunday asked the Jammu and Kathua bar associations to call off their strike and decided to send a five-member team headed by a former high court Chief Justice to probe the alleged incident of misconduct on part of the lawyers there in connection with the Kathua rape-murder case. BCI chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra said if any lawyer is found guilty, the council will go to the extent of cancelling the legal practice licence. The decision came after its general body meeting which was convened on Sunday. PTI

Mighty rats bring down three-storey Agra building

Deepak.Lavania@timesgroup.com 16.04.2018

Agra: Thousands of rats, burrowing underground for years, made a three-storey building fall down in Agra on Sunday morning. The incident occurred near Mankameshwar temple, an area which has grocery traders’ establishments which are very old. The rat population of the area, which has always been high, has exploded so much in recent years that the rodents have been burrowing under houses, damaging sewage and pipelines and other infrastructure. The foundations of dozens of houses have been weakened, officials said.

On Saturday evening, after heavy rains, water entered these underground burrows and the owner of the house vacated it along with his family. Hours later, the building collapsed. The entire incident was caught on camera and went viral on social media.

Sudhir Kumar Verma, the owner,Verma said, “My ancestral house was destroyed in seconds. My family and I had a narrow escape. We tried everything possible to get rid of the rats, and stop the damage to the foundations, but nothing worked. After the recent rains and highspeed winds, the walls developed cracks. We knew it was a dangerous situation, but not that the building would collapse like this.”

Agra mayor Naveen Jain said, “Although the house that collapsed was old, it is true that several localities in the old city area have a major rodent problem and foundations of houses have been damaged. Crores of rupees of development works in the last few years have been wasted. I will meet with councilors and officials to work out a problem.” 



TUMBLING DOWN: The house collapsed at Kacheri Ghat locality

Students ‘told to do sexual favours’, teacher suspended

TIMES NEWS NETWORK   16.04.2018

Madurai: A woman assistant professor working in a private college at Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar has been placed under temporary suspension after a group of girl students in the college complained to the management that she tried to lure them into doing sexual favours for higher officials of Madurai Kamaraj University to get marks and money. A phone conversation that took place on March 15 was recorded by the girls and has been doing the rounds on social media. The incident resurfaced on Sunday as a private Tamil news channel telecast the response of the faculty member to the complaint.

The girls, studying in the Devanga Arts College, approached the college authorities on March 19 and complained about the faculty member who works in the mathematics department.

The faculty member admitted that it was her in the conversation with the girls, but said it was wrongly understood by the girls.

“There was no reason on record for my suspension from the college, but after inquiring, I came to know that it was due to this (audio conversation) reason. They said the committee will investigate further, but they have not called me so far,” she told the reporter on television. When questioned further about the conversation, she said, “It was me who spoke and I have already admitted it, but the message was not how it was understood by the girls.”

Meanwhile, secretary of the college R Ramasamy held a press conference on Sunday explaining the action taken by the college. He said the faculty member had gone to attend a refresher course in MKU on March 9. As soon as the complaint was received, she was asked to report back to the college. As soon as she returned on March 21, the suspension order was handed over to her.

A committee formed by the college is conducting a probe and further action would be taken based on its outcome.

When contacted, Virudhunagar superintendent of police M Rajarajan said they have not received any complaint so far.

Vice-chancellor of MKU P P Chelladurai said, “I suspect the entire episode was stagemanaged by the college management as I formed a committee 25 days ago to investigate misappropriation of funds in the college. We are planning to file a complaint on Monday,” he said.

‘Student was suspended on disciplinary grounds’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK   16.04.2018

Coimbatore: Principal of the Government Law College KS Gopalakrishnan on Sunday denied that first-year student R Priya was suspended for speaking on the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kashmir.

“In the second hour on April 13, the English lecturer, a guest faculty, asked the students to speak on a subject-related topic. Priya, who rose to speak, accused the boys in her class of being male chauvinists. That led to a quarrel. When professor R Ammu went to inquire, Priya banged on a table, shouted at her and stopped the professor from doing her duty,” Gopalakrishnan told reporters.

However, the students who had given the complaint against Priya, said she had indeed spoken about the Kashmir incident. “She started by speaking about the minor victim and then went on to say male chauvinism was the cause. It turned into a heated argument about women’s choice of clothes. After her speech, Priya created a commotion when another boy student started speaking. Later, she also got into a quarrel with professor Ammu,” said a student, who had given a complaint against her.

Priya was suspended based on written complaints from 10 boys as well as from the professor, said Gopalakrishnan. “Immediately after the suspension, we formed an inquiry committee comprising senior professors Durga Lakshmi and Kumuda, which would submit a report in two days. Now, as the issue has gained so much publicity, we would submit the report to the director of legal studies, and based on his direction, take further action,” he said.

When asked why Priya was not asked for an explanation before being suspended, Gopalakrishnan said she had not approached him on Friday. “I was expecting her to give her version, but she didn’t come. Also, as a professor had given a written complaint, I suspended her,” the principal said.

Gopalakrishnan said the suspension was issued to prevent clashes between students and also to ensure Priya’s safety. “In the past months, about seven students were suspended for various reasons. Their suspensions were revoked within a week.”

Priya had been instigating students to protest against the government, he said. “While students have the right to be part of any political outfit, they should not bring their political activities into the campus. For the past two years, the campus has been free of politics and clashes. We have been taking action to keep such incidents away from the campus,” he said.

While the students and professor Ammu, who had filed complaints against Priya, were present at the press meet, there was no representation from Priya’s side.

Forum directs college to return certificates of student who dropped out 8 years ago

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  16.04.2018

Chennai: A consumer forum came to the aid of a student whose original certificates were held up by a city dental college, where she discontinued the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course after a year, eight years ago. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (North) directed the management of a city dental college to return the original certificates of a student, who had discontinued the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course after a year, eight years ago, and also slapped a fine of ₹55,000 on the college management for causing her mental agony.

According to a petition by the student’s father, M Sundaravadanam, his daughter Thirupurasundari had joined the BDS course in July 2010 at Priyadarshini Dental College and Hospital in Aminjikarai under management quota.

“While she was in her second year, she developed health complications, due to which she had to discontinue (the course) in August 2011,” the petition noted.

Sundaravadanam had paid a fee of ₹3.64 lakh for the first and second academic years in separate instalments— in September 2010 and December 2011. Since his daughter had discontinued her studies, he requested the college management to return her original certificates and the transfer certificate in January 2013. However, the management demanded that Sundaravadanam pay the pending fee of ₹2 lakh for the academic year 2012-13 and said that the original certificates would not be returned till then.

In his petition, Sundaravadanam stated that he then approached various government authorities to instruct the college to return the certificates. His attempts bore no fruit and hence he approached the consumer forum. In its counter petition, the college management claimed that the student discontinued due to family circumstances.

“It was clearly explained that the total number of students admitted for the particular year was fixed at 100 by the authorities and any discontinuation in the middle of the course cannot be filled, and the vacancy will continue for the remaining period causing monetary loss to the institution,” the counter petition stated.

The consumer forum bench comprising president K Jayabalan and member M Uyirroli Kannan after perusing the documents said there was no rule produced by the college management that says a student had to pay remaining academic fee and ruled that the college committed deficiency in service.

The bench imposed a fine of ₹55, 000 on the management and directed the management to return her original certificates — Class X and XII marksheets, transfer certificate and community certificate — within six weeks.