College students stage protest

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, FEBRUARY 05, 2019 00:00 IST

Students of Rathinam Technical Campus (Institute of Technology) staged a protest against the institution alleging harassment of students from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.

A few of the 100-odd students, who protested first inside the campus and later on the road, said that that the college management had asked a few of the SC and ST students having arrears of over 10 papers to vacate the hostel.

The students said the management had prepared a list of 45 students with arrears of over 15 papers and asked them to report with their parents on Friday. When the parents were present, a senior faculty asked a few of those students to look at exploring the possibility of joining a government-run college and hostel.

Now the management was in the process of preparing a list of students with arrears of over 10 papers and had planned to ask them to leave the hostel and also college, the students alleged.

The students said they were also protesting against the college principal entering the women's hostel a month ago.

The students claimed that in their talks with the police and management, the latter had agreed to their demand for replacing the principal within 10 days.

Chief Executive Officer of Rathinam Group of Institutions R. Manickam said the SC and ST students who were on government scholarship for education and the institution’s support for hostel and food misused the facilities by staying in the hostel but working outside.

The college had identified only such students and decided to pull them up and that too only in their academic interest because they had more than 50% arrears.

The college had 545 students from the two communities but only around 10% of those students had the problem of poor attendance and academic track record. It was these students that the college wanted to engage. Mr. Manickam also denied allegations that the principal had entered the women’s hostel at night. He said the principal was a part of the team of academic and administrative officers who entered the hostel to undertake infrastructure development works.

As for the students' demand for removing the principal, he clarified that the college had only promised to explore the possibility.

Cars parked on footpaths to be fined Rs. 80 an hour

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 05, 2019 00:00 IST

Parking management system from next week

The Chennai Corporation has decided to levy a fine of Rs. 80 per hour for cars parked on footpaths. The fine amount for motorcycles will be Rs. 20 per hour.

Beginning next week, the parking management system will start operations in areas such as Anna Nagar, Besant Nagar, Purasawalkam and Marina Beach, covering 4,200 parking slots. The system will be expanded to cover 12,000 parking spaces in various parts of the city in the first phase.

The civic body will also collect fines from those who park in no-parking zones. “The fines will be Rs. 160 per hour for parking on a footpath along a road in premium parking areas. The parking management system will identify the violators and the total time of parking in the no-parking areas. Violators cannot escape without paying fine,” said an official.

The civic body has started installation of cameras in all the localities to identify violators. Ahead of the launch of the system, the civic body has started identifying premium parking spaces along roads in posh residential and commercial neighbourhoods.

Premium parking fee

After the system becomesfunctional, commuters who park vehicles along such roads would have to pay 100% higher charges. The premium parking charges will be Rs. 40 per hour in such areas. Normal parking charges is Rs. 20 per hour.

"Khadher Nawaz Khan Road will be the first road to have premium parking slots," said an official. Other roads that are likely to get premium parking slots are Avvai Shanmugham Salai, St.Mary’s Road and Besant Nagar Second Main Road.

How OnePlus gained edge in India

Avik.Das1@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:05.02.2019

When OnePlus launched its first mobile phone nearly five years ago, its main target market was the US and Europe. India was nowhere in its radar. The Chinese company wanted to be an online brand and operate in the premium smartphone market. But in India at the time, e-commerce was in a nascent stage, and the premium phone pie was small.

What happened soon after surprised company executives. “Within five months we noticed that a lot of users from India were buying the phone on Amazon’s global website using an US address, and then auto forwarding it to India through Aramex, a Dubai-based logistics company. They were undeterred by the customs duty, which could increase the cost by ₹5,000,” recalls Vikas Agarwal, general manager for One-Plus in India.

A closer monitoring of website traffic trends showed that India was among the top seven countries in sales, though the company was not selling in India. “That’s when we decided to launch here,” says Agarwal, who was the first employee for OnePlus in India when he joined in October 2014. The first set of phones were introduced in December that year. Four years hence, India is OnePlus’s single largest market, accounting for 33%, or $466 million, of the company’s total revenue of $1.4 billion in 2017. China is the second biggest market, while Europe and America make up the rest. In the last few quarters, OnePlus has also become the biggest premium smartphone (those above ₹30,000) player in India, overtaking Samsung and Apple. And all of this has come from just one new product that it launches every year. “What has clicked is the positioning, the focus on the premium segment. They were at the right place at the right time. When they entered, the premium market was just 1-2%, which has now grown to 5-6%.

With their strategy of one device per year, and attractive pricing, they positioned the brand really well,” Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research, said.

What has worked most for the company is the pricing. In this extremely price-sensitive market, OnePlus is seen as great value for money.

Its 6T model sells for about ₹38,000 on Amazon, significantly lower than Samsung’s Galaxy S9 at ₹61,000 and Apple’s iPhone X at about ₹85,000.

Pathak says the features in premium segment smartphones such as full-screen displays, biometric security, dual-cameras, faster processors and support for artificial intelligence, have acted as catalysts for consumers looking to upgrade from mid-segment smartphones. Another strategy that has worked well for the Shenzen-based company is the word of mouth it gets, and its social media strategy to target a new consumer base.

Not only are loyal OnePlus consumers upgrading, but the company is also attracting customers who previously used an Apple or a Samsung phone.

No TA/DA for Army officers sparks uproar

New Delhi:05.02.2019

In a notification that led to an uproar in the armed forces on Monday, the principal controller of defence accounts (PCDA) has declared it will no longer process claims by Army officers going on courses, assignments and postings due to lack of funds.

“Due to insufficient funds available under temporary duty and permanent duty heads of Army officers, no TA/DA (travelling allowance), advances and claims can be processed till receipt of sufficient funds under the relevant heads. However, the facility for LTC (leave travel concession) will continue,” said the PCDA (officers). Under the defence ministry, the PCDA is entrusted with pre-audit and payment of pay and allowances and all claims of Army officers.

The notification predictably led to outrage in the Army, which has around 42,000 officers and almost 12 lakh soldiers. “It can potentially disrupt the Army’s day-to-day functioning. For instance, over 50% of officers on temporary duty at any given time have been tasked to attend courses, which are less than 180 days in duration, at different places,” said an officer.

The overall transportation and other expenses for all officers, JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and jawans are said to cost around ₹4,000 crore per year. But PCDA was apparently given only ₹3,200 crore, which has been exhausted in the run-up to the ongoing fiscal coming to an end on March 31.

TNN

Fancy that! A car number for ₹31 lakh

Anasooya.S@timesgroup.com

Thiruvananthapuram:05.02.2019

The owner of a ₹1 crore-worth Porsche 718 Boxster spending an additional ₹31 lakh to get a fancy vehicle registration number is nothing unusual. K S Balagopal, a resident of Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram, won the registration number ‘KL-01-CK-1’, for his brand new Miami Blue colour sports car by paying ₹30 lakh at the auction held at the regional transport office (RTO), Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday. This was in addition to the ₹1 lakh he had paid as reservation fees for the fancy number.

Proprietor of Devi Pharma, a leading pharmaceuticals distribution company, Balagopal, who owns a fleet of luxury cars, has set a new record in auction of fancy vehicle registration numbers in the state by engaging in a fiery bid against NRI businessman Shine Yousef. Yousef quit after quoting ₹25,00,500 as Balagopal hiked the next call to ₹30 lakh. The previous record was also in the name of Balagopal, who won the number KL-01-CB-1 at ₹19 lakh for his Land Cruiser in 2017.

Another bidder R K Anand Ganesh, also an NRI, was in the race in the initial phase but dropped out after quoting ₹10,50,000.

“The new series in vehicle registration number was released when I bought the sports car. So, I decided to reserve the first number for my car. Sensing that other bidders will not withdraw, I quoted a higher amount to win it at any cost. Only when the officials at RTO informed me, I came to know that it was a record,” said Balagopal.

For full report, www.toi.in

Kowdiar resident K S Balagopal bought the registration number ‘KL-01-CK-1’ for his new sports car

50 students enrolled with sham varsity in US return

Sudipta.Sengupta@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:05.02.2019

At least 50 students enrolled with the sham University of Farmington, Michigan, have returned home over the last two days. While most of them are from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, some are also from neighbouring Karnataka, said US-based organizations assisting these students.

“About 25 to 30 of them landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) late on Sunday night, while another batch of 25 to 28 reached the city on Monday. These are students that we know of. There could be some more who have returned without informing us,” said Phani Bobba, an Atlanta-based legal consultant in the know of things. He added: “As these students had not been arrested, we advised them to go back to India as soon as possible. We are simultaneously working on expediting the release of those under detention.”

Though relieved to be back home, there’s a new challenge facing them here – the burden of hefty loans. Considering most of them had availed of student loans, amounting to anywhere between ₹20 and ₹30 lakh, they are now worried about repaying them. “These loans also attract high interest rates of 15%-16%, which significantly increases the total amount. It is going to be a challenge for them and their families to close these loans,” said Jalagam sharing how most students who’ve returned unscathed aren’t willing travel to the US again.

50% wage cut for prisoners is unconstitutional, says HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:05.02.2019

The provision in the Tamil Nadu prison rules, which allows for deduction of 50% of wages earned by the prisoners for their upkeep is unconstitutional, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court held and asked the state government to provide for a lesser and reasonable percentage of deduction.

A division bench of Justice K K Sasidharan and Justice G R Swaminathan pointed out that Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits ‘Begar’ — a labour or service which a person is forced to give without receiving any remuneration.

“Taking work without paying adequate remuneration is also begar. Likewise, making a substantial deduction from wages without any justifiable reason would also constitute begar and a violation of Article 23 of the Constitution,” the court said and noted that the prisoners in Tamil Nadu are not paid the wages as prescribed in the Minimum Wages Act. It is unconstitutional besides being unreasonable, the court noted.

The court made the observations in response to a petition filed by activist K R Raja, who sought court intervention to strike down the provision in TN Prison rules and also asked to set aside the 20% deduction of wages credited to the victim compensation fund.

The government, in response, opposed the petition and submitted that average cost of food, clothing and other amenities provided to workers comes to ₹153 per day per prisoner. Even though 50% of wages is deducted for the upkeep of the prisoners — the deducted amount being ₹100, ₹90 and ₹80 from the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled respectively, is not sufficient to meet the costs, the state submitted.

After perusing the submissions made, the court held that the provision for deduction from prisoners’ wages for the purpose of compensating the victims cannot be questioned since it was made only pursuant to and in terms of directions given by the apex court. “We are of the view that apportioning 1/5th of the prisoners’ wages for crediting to the victims’ compensation fund cannot be said to be unreasonable,” the court said. However, the court held that deduction of 50% of prisoners’ wages is unconstitutional.

IN SUPPORT: Deduction wages substantially without any justifiable reason violates Article 23 of the Constitution, the court noted