Central government’s counter-affidavit offers fresh hope Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts

The petition filed in 2014 against the TN government’s decision to remit the life sentences of the seven convicts is still pending before SC.

Published: 11th December 2018 01:48 AM 

Rajiv Gandhi, India's 6th Prime Minister was assassinated on 21 May 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu (Express File Photo)

By T Muruganandham

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Central government’s counter-affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on November 28, in response to a petition filed by the families of those who lost their kin in the 1991 bomb blast that killed  former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has given fresh hope to the seven convicts in the assassination case who are awaiting the decision of Governor Banwarilal Purohit on their release.

The petition filed in 2014 against the TN government’s decision to remit the life sentences of the seven convicts is still pending before Supreme Court.


The Centre, in its counter affidavit, said: “The petitioner has prayed to restrain the respondents from granting pardons.... till the disposal of the instant writ petition. In this regard, it is stated that the proposal of the government of Tamil Nadu... to release the seven convicts... has already been decided and rejected by the ministry vide order dated April 18, 2018.... No proposal in this regard is pending with the answering respondent and thus, the prayer is infructuous....”

“The Centre has given the green signal to the Governor to release the convicts. There are reports that he was awaiting the SC verdict to take a decision. Though legally there is nothing binding on the Governor to decide on the State’s recommendation, now, even the veil, in the form of the petition, has been removed,
with the Centre calling the petition infructuous,” K Sivakumar, counsel for Perarivalan, one of the seven said.

Man seeks action against sons

STAFF REPORTER

ERODE, DECEMBER 11, 2018 00:00 IST

A 70-year-old man came to the Erode Collectorate on Monday to submit petition.M.GOVARTHANM_GOVARTHAN

A 70-year-old man approached the district administration seeking action against his two sons for grabbing his land and failing to take care of him and his wife.

In the petition submitted to Collector C. Kathiravan during the weekly grievances redress meeting on Monday, K. Ramasamy Gounder of Kumilan Parapu in Chithode said that he was married to Deivalakshmi (65) and they had two sons, Eswaran and Palanisamy. He was running a bakery on his own land for many years and later his sons were running it. He said that his sons forced him out of the bakery and also refused to give money for their living.

He said that in the past two years he was forced to borrow money for their livelihood and he had filed a case in the court seeking financial assistance from their sons for their living. The case was pending in the court, he added.

He said that his sons had prepared fake documents and transferred the land and bakery worth Rs. 1.5 crore in their names. The petition said that his sons had filed a case in the court stating that the property belonged to them and not their parents.

He wanted the district administration to provide protection to him and his wife as they faced threat from their sons and also wanted his property to be retrieved. He also wanted his sons to give them maintenance cost.

Health Dept. to appeal for healthy snacks in offices

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 11, 2018 00:00 IST

Samosas and fried cashews are the regular accompaniments for tea during office meetings. Now, the Health Department is planning to make an appeal to government and private institutions to opt for healthy snacking during meetings.

“We are planning to issue an appeal to all institutions that at least during these hours, if not necessary, do not load yourself with such things. Instead, opt for healthier options such as fruit or vegetable salad, or peanuts,” J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, said at the 18th International Federation of Kidney Foundations Conference (IFKF), organised jointly by the IFKF and the Tamil Nadu Kidney Research (TANKER) Foundation on Monday.

Spreading awareness

Noting that Chennai was the diabetic capital of the country, he said that not much attention was given to prevention. He added that though there is awareness, change in behaviour is yet to come. Gamal Saadi, IFKF president, said there was a need to approach community and governments to increase awareness on kidney diseases.

Latha A. Kumaraswami, managing trustee of TANKER Foundation, said they started with two dialysis machines and presently, their seven dialysis units have 87 machines.

From June 1993 to till November this year, TANKER has provided 2,67,329 free and subsidised dialysis for 1,350 patients.

It has provided support of Rs. 183 lakh to 3,022 patients. The foundation does 3,708 dialyses per month, of which, 3,367 are free of cost.

156 NGOs lose licence to get foreign funds

New Delhi:11.12.2018

The home ministry has suspended foreign funding licence of 156 NGOs and associations issued under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010, for their failure to open bank accounts in one or more of the banks linked to the public financial management system (PFMS).

Among the associations barred from receiving foreign contributions for a period of 180 days, pending consideration of cancellation of their certificates, is Alliance Francaise de Bombay, a Mumbai-based NGO that is part of an international network and works under the triple umbrella of the French government, Paris-based Alliance Française Foundation and an Indian board.

Though the defaulting NGOs were served showcause notice on June 29 this year for not complying with a central government notice of December 6, 2017 asking FCRA-registered NGOs to open accounts, as mandated in Section 17 of the Act, in one or more banks integrated with PFMS, they had failed to file a response within the prescribed 15-day time limit. Integration of an FCRA-registered NGO’s bank account with PFMS, a web-based application for payment, accounting and reconciliation of government transactions, is aimed at keeping the government up to date about the frequency, number and quantum of foreign contributions made to and utilized by such NGO.

“..the said associations have neither given any reply/ response to the show-cause notice nor opened their bank accounts...in PFMS-integrated banks. Therefore, their certificates are liable to be cancelled as per the provision of Section 14(1)(d) of the FCRA, 2010,” the home ministry stated in an order dated December 6. However, the 156 NGOs did not open their bank account in PFMS-integrated banks which, in December 2017, totalled 32 with the number now going up to 59. TNN

156 NGOs lose licence to get foreign funds


New Delhi:

The home ministry has suspended foreign funding licence of 156 NGOs and associations issued under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010, for their failure to open bank accounts in one or more of the banks linked to the public financial management system (PFMS).

Among the associations barred from receiving foreign contributions for a period of 180 days, pending consideration of cancellation of their certificates, is Alliance Francaise de Bombay, a Mumbai-based NGO that is part of an international network and works under the triple umbrella of the French government, Paris-based Alliance Française Foundation and an Indian board.

Though the defaulting NGOs were served showcause notice on June 29 this year for not complying with a central government notice of December 6, 2017 asking FCRA-registered NGOs to open accounts, as mandated in Section 17 of the Act, in one or more banks integrated with PFMS, they had failed to file a response within the prescribed 15-day time limit. Integration of an FCRA-registered NGO’s bank account with PFMS, a web-based application for payment, accounting and reconciliation of government transactions, is aimed at keeping the government up to date about the frequency, number and quantum of foreign contributions made to and utilized by such NGO.

“..the said associations have neither given any reply/ response to the show-cause notice nor opened their bank accounts...in PFMS-integrated banks. Therefore, their certificates are liable to be cancelled as per the provision of Section 14(1)(d) of the FCRA, 2010,” the home ministry stated in an order dated December 6. However, the 156 NGOs did not open their bank account in PFMS-integrated banks which, in December 2017, totalled 32 with the number now going up to

59. TNN

156 NGOs lose licence to get foreign funds


New Delhi:

The home ministry has suspended foreign funding licence of 156 NGOs and associations issued under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010, for their failure to open bank accounts in one or more of the banks linked to the public financial management system (PFMS).

Among the associations barred from receiving foreign contributions for a period of 180 days, pending consideration of cancellation of their certificates, is Alliance Francaise de Bombay, a Mumbai-based NGO that is part of an international network and works under the triple umbrella of the French government, Paris-based Alliance Française Foundation and an Indian board.

Though the defaulting NGOs were served showcause notice on June 29 this year for not complying with a central government notice of December 6, 2017 asking FCRA-registered NGOs to open accounts, as mandated in Section 17 of the Act, in one or more banks integrated with PFMS, they had failed to file a response within the prescribed 15-day time limit. Integration of an FCRA-registered NGO’s bank account with PFMS, a web-based application for payment, accounting and reconciliation of government transactions, is aimed at keeping the government up to date about the frequency, number and quantum of foreign contributions made to and utilized by such NGO.

“..the said associations have neither given any reply/ response to the show-cause notice nor opened their bank accounts...in PFMS-integrated banks. Therefore, their certificates are liable to be cancelled as per the provision of Section 14(1)(d) of the FCRA, 2010,” the home ministry stated in an order dated December 6. However, the 156 NGOs did not open their bank account in PFMS-integrated banks which, in December 2017, totalled 32 with the number now going up to

59. TNN

Rival goes to high court, says new Tamil varsity VC is not qualified

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.12.2018

Even before G Balasubramanian, newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, Thanjavur, could chair his first syndicate meeting, allegations have cropped up that he doesn’t have the academic qualifications needed for the post.

M Ganesan, one of the three candidates shortlisted for the post, has moved the Madras high court stating that Balasubramanian provided false information on books published and international research events conducted. He has sought a direction from the court to quash the appointment. Two weeks' notice has been given to Balasubramanian and the court will hear the case on December 18. In his affidavit, Ganesan said Balasubramanian's curriculum vitae has no details with regard to conduct of research or academic events.

Balasubramanian worked in the Department of Dravidian and Computational Linguistics in Dravidian University, Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, from 2009.

The university's official website, which contains a list of international seminars, workshops and similar events conducted by various departments, doesn't mention Balasubramanian conducting any such event, the affidavit said.

This is a clear violation of the state government order (G O) no. 51. The order, which prescribes educational qualifications for the post of VC, mandates presentation of not less than two papers at international level academic or research events and experience of conducting at least one such event, said Ganesan, the petitioner.

The said G O states that VC candidates should have either published at least five research papers in University Grants Commission (UGC) listed journals after acquiring Ph.D or authored not less than two books.

Balasubramanian claimed to have published two books -- 'Reflections on Applied Linguistics' and 'Moziyial Oppu Nokku' in the year 2018.

Speaking to TOI, Ganesan claimed that both these books are not available at the Dravidian University, where he worked earlier, or in the market.

On whether non-availability in the market could be a criteria to call Balasubramanian's claim false, Ganesan said, "These are linguistics books and not Bibles to be sold out within a year of publication. Just to strengthen the eligibility criteria, Balasubramanian went to the extent of creating books, he alleged.

"There was no response from the government for more than 40 days to my complaint regarding this," he added, explaining the rationale behind moving the court.

When contacted, Balasubramanian said, "The matter is sub-judice and I don't wish to offer any comment".

Meanwhile, Tamil University syndicate members have requested the state higher education department not to conduct the syndicate meeting until the charges are cleared.

M Ganesan, one of the three candidates shortlisted for the post, has moved the Madras high court stating that Balasubramanian provided false information on books published and international research events conducted. The court will hear the case on Dec 18. Balasubramanian has refused to comment