Medical college girls catch thief in Dharmapuri hostel

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | SANJEEVI ANANDAN

PublishedAug 7, 2018, 3:28 am IST

Other girls caught the thief who entered the room of another girl to rob valuables including a cell phone and laptops.

The nabbed thief was handed over to policemen on duty at the DGMCH outpost. He gave his name as Madesh, 25, a habitual offender and native of Jogir Kottai village, near Jittandahalli in Dharmapuri.

Dharmapuri: One person was caught by hostel girls for a robbery bid here and handed over to the police while his associates escaped. In the early hours of Monday, one girl staying on the fourth floor of the hostel premises of students studying in the Dharmapuri government medical college and hospital (DGMCH), spotted a few strangers loitering in the verandah and raised an alarm. Other girls caught the thief who entered the room of another girl to rob valuables including a cell phone and laptops. His associates escaped leaving their man to his fate.

The nabbed thief was handed over to policemen on duty at the DGMCH outpost. He gave his name as Madesh, 25, a habitual offender and native of Jogir Kottai village, near Jittandahalli in Dharmapuri. Madesh told police that the gang consisting of three others from Coimbatore, entered hostel buildings by climbing the walls in the rear of the property. They would then rob whatever they could from rooms left unlocked.

In yet another incident, Indoor police of Dharmapuri arrested a 55-year-old shepherd of Kattukottai near Somanahalli in Dharmapuri. He was arrested for assaulting his 44-year-old wife Parvathi, as she did not give him money to drink alcohol. He attacked her with a machete. Neighbours took Parvathi to the government hospital and she is said to be out of danger.

My heart will be in Tamil Nadu, says Chief Justice Indira Banerjee as she bids farewell to Madras HC

She will take oath as a judge of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. She is the second woman Chief Justice to head the chartered HC, following Chief Justice Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar appointed in 1992.

Published: 07th August 2018 03:39 AM | Last Updated: 07th August 2018 03:39 AM 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: “I will physically be in Delhi. But my heart will be in Tamil Nadu,” said Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, as she bade farewell to the Bar on Monday.
She will take oath as a judge of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. She is the second woman Chief Justice to head the chartered HC, following Chief Justice Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar appointed in 1992.

Commending the professional competency of lawyers at this Bar, she said at her farewell that the Madras High Court is the best. “When I was first being sent here, I found a lot of people being somewhat apologetic. But I think I will now go and tell them that this is the best High Court for a judge. I am thankful to the members of the Bar that they have not abstained from work even a single day in my tenure,” she said, speaking about her 16-month stint at the court.

She said she was thrilled when she was offered to take up the mantle of Chief Justice of this court as she already had a soft corner for the State.

Stressing the need for a paradigm shift from a court-centric approach to a litigant-centric, service-oriented approach, she said that she had personally requested the Chief Minister to ensure that the projects to renovate the heritage structures of the court were not stalled for want of funds or administrative delay.

Next interim CJ of HC

Justice Huluvadi Gangadharappa Ramesh, the seniormost judge of the Madras High Court, will perform the duties of the Chief Justice of the court, once Chief Justice Indira Banerjee relinquishes charge, a notification of the Union Law Ministry said on Monday. Justice Ramesh will perform the duties until the new Chief Justice of the High Court, Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, assumes office. Appointed recently as a judge of the Supreme Court, Indira Banerjee attended a farewell party hosted at High Court.

Periyar University to hold passport, driving licence camps for its students

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SALEM, AUGUST 07, 2018 00:00 IST

Periyar University will organise passport and driving licence camps on its campus for the benefit of its students, P. Kolandaivel, Vice-Chancellor, has said.

The University authorities will hold discussion with the Coimbatore Passport Office and the Transport Department officials shortly for holding the camps for the provision of passports and driving licences to eligible students, Mr. Kolandaivel said while speaking at the inaugural of the two-day workshop on soft skills by the Department of Microbiology of the University recently.

These special camps will form part of the many soft skill development activities planned by the University departments.

Free education policy

The Vice-Chancellor said that the University would implement the free education policy for the benefit of the bright students belonging to the economically weaker sections. One top student from each department would be identified by an expert committee and recommended for fee waiver throughout their period of study.

Soft skills

He said that nurturing soft skills in students was the foremost task of the teachers and the University had proposed to do the same systematically in every university department.

Acquiring English language skill was paramount to every student and scholar in the university especially in higher learning institutions.

The Vice-Chancellor called upon the student community to take full advantage of the available resources in the campus to enhance their skills.

R. Balagurunathan, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, and R. Dhandapani, faculty member, also spoke.

How hi-speed   internet can affect your sleep

London: 06.08.2018  times of india

Access to highspeed internet may reduce the duration and quality of your sleep, according to a study.

The research, published in the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, found that individuals with Digital subscriber line (DSL) access tend to sleep 25 minutes less than their counterparts without DSL internet. DSL is a technology for bringing high-bandwidth internet to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines.

The researchers from Bocconi University in Italy and the University of Pittsburgh in the US conclude that access to high-speed Internet reduces sleep duration and sleep satisfaction in individuals that face time constraints in the morning for work or family reasons.

“Individuals with DSL access tend to sleep 25 minutes less than their counterparts without DSL Internet,” said Francesco Billari, a professor at Bocconi University. “They are significantly less likely to sleep between seven and nine hours, the amount recommended by the scientific community, and are less likely to be satisfied with their sleep,” Billari said.

The effect that the researchers find is largely driven by individuals that face time constraints in the morning and by the use of electronic devices in the evening, and not by their use throughout the day.

“Digital temptations may lead to a delay in bedtime, which ultimately decreases sleep duration for individuals who are not able to compensate for later bedtime by waking up later in the morning,” Billari said.

Among teenagers and young adults (aged 13-30), there is a significant association between insufficient sleep and time spent on computer games or watching TV or videos in the evening, researchers said. PTI

Paracetamol ads on TV for awareness on fever mgmt soon

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:06.08.2018

You may soon find advertizements of paracetamol – a commonly used medicine for relief from pain and fever. In a move to create public awareness on management of fever associated with common selflimiting conditions such as cold and flu, dengue and chikungunya, the drug regulator has decided to exempt paracetamol from the current law prohibiting advertizement of medicines.

At a recent meeting, the Drug Technical Advisory Board allowed drug makers to advertize paracetamol for “fever”. However, companies cannot advertize their particular brand as the regulator’s go ahead comes with a caveat that the exemption from the law shall be provided for “generic name paracetamol” and “not for brand name”, an official told TOI.

Paracetamol is one of the top selling generic medicines in India and is available under more than 200 brands. Some of the popular brands include Calpol, Crocin, Sumo L and Tamin. Industry estimates show 4.77 lakh tablets of paracetamol worth ₹1,008 crore were sold in India in 2017-18.

An official said the decision was taken because use of paracetamol is very common and creating awareness would also mean that patients would avoid taking unnecessary drugs, especially antibiotics.

Jet pilots suspended for Riyadh runway mishap

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:06.08.2018

The mystery behind the Mumbai-bound Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 veering off into soft ground at Riyadh airport last Friday has been solved. The pilots mistook a taxiway — pathways leading off the runway to parking bays — for a runway and attempted a take-off.

Licences of both pilots have been suspended, said Lalit Gupta, joint director-general, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, on Monday. Pilots are generally de-rostered after any “incident”, pending investigation. The tougher decision points to the gravity of the incident. In 2000, a Singapore Airlines plane crashed after a similar mistake killing 81.

“The aircraft attempted take-off from taxiway (K), parallel to take-offdesignated Runway (R33),’’ said a statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s Aviation Investigation Bureau on Sunday. It added that the visibility was high and there were no obstacles on the taxiway. “The aircraft accelerated with full take-off power and exceeded the taxiway onto unpaved area…” A Jet Airways spokesperson said: “The matter is currently under investigation and we cannot comment.” Last week, the airline said in a statement flight 9W 523 “departed the runway, following an aborted takeoff... All 142 guests and seven crew members safely evacuated”.

Experts are taken aback by the error. “What’s strange is that it occurred at night, when the white runway-edge lights and the blue taxiway lights are clearly visible. It’s not easy to mistake a runway for a taxiway at night,’’ said a senior instructor with a foreign airline.

Firstly, there are the runway markers: the piano key markings that indicate the threshold, the runway number and the white runway-edge lights. Most importantly, the runway centre-line is indicated by 30m dashes with 20m gaps (illuminated when needed), while taxiway centre-lines are a single, solid line, with blue taxiway-edge lights. Then there is the navigation display map in the cockpit and navigation aids like the localizer signals that indicate whether the aircraft has lined up along the correct runway.

The incident has raised questions, the ambit of which extends beyond the cockpit to include the role played by Riyadh airport officials and also Jet’s training standards and operational practices.

On May 28, Riyadh air traffic control had issued a permanent notice to pilots, controllers that a new taxiway K (Kilo) is functional. But the current aerodrome chart released by Saudi Arabia does not show taxiway K. Consequently, the Jeppesen airport chart, consulted by pilots, also does not show it.

Very few against Salem greenfield project: Centre

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:06.08.2018

Though there are more than 12,000 landowners whose properties are to be acquired for the Chennai-Salem greenfield corridor, only about 35 have approached the court so far, the Centre told the Madras high court, adding: “It is being projected as though everyone is opposing the project.”

This apart, a Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has made it clear that the legislation under which the lands are acquired cannot be assailed and the challenge can be only whether the project is for public purpose or the compensation provided is adequate, additional solicitor-general G Rajagopalan argued on Monday.

“Right to own property is not a fundamental right, therefore such acquisition of land cannot be challenged,’ Rajagopalan added.

As to the allegation that the acquisition process cannot be commenced without obtaining the environmental clearance from the Union ministry of environment, the solicitor general said the law barred only the commencement of the project before obtaining the clearance, and that there was no prohibition to acquire land.

To this, advocate T Mohan representing 35 affected landowners, submitted that the particular provision of the NHAI Act said the authorities could only ‘secure’ the land before the environment clearance. The term ‘secure’ means that they can secure the land from encroachment by third parties, but it does not mean that the authorities can acquire the lands before the environmental clearance, he said.

Explaining that the process involves various stages, another petitioner said it should start with a feasibility report based on which terms of reference would be issued followed by a draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) would conduct public hearing thereafter.

But in the case of Chennai-Salem greenfield corridor, so far the EIA draft notification had not been issued based on which public hearing should be conducted in which grievances of the public would be considered. The authorities are trying to bypass the public hearing and directly acquire the lands, which is illegal, he said.

He pointed out that there was no enabling provision in the act to acquire the lands before environmental clearance or even to measure the lands. This apart, they must submit the landownership pattern prior to the commencement of the project detailing the extent of forest, private, public and revenue land involved in the project. So far, this has not been done by the authorities, he added.

Asserting that the land acquisition is not an eminent domain, Mohan added that it is a matter of livelihood and right to land.

The other petitioners also pointed out that in case the project is cancelled, there is no provision in the act to return the land to its original owners and it can be given only to the state to use it for other purposes.


Several farmers have protested against land acquisition for the proposed greenfield corridor between Chennai and Salem