Is Sasikala getting released? This query haunts jail officials

Is Sasikala getting released? This query haunts jail officials

Rajiv.Kalkod@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  03.07.2020

In between their regular duties, police officials at Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, have another task to attend to — answering phone calls or emails seeking information on former AIADMK secretary Sasikala Natarajan’s early release.

The grapevine about Sasikala’s release is something these officials have to regularly deal with. “If we say no, they ask us ‘why’, if we say that we are unsure, they ask ‘when will she be released’. Speculation about her release date has turned out to be a major headache for us,” said prison authorities.

While such questions usually peak in the run up to Republic Day, Pongal and Independence Day celebrations every year, the corona anxiety now seems to have triggered another wave of queries.

Sasikala, her foster-son VN Sudhakaran and close associate J Ilavarasi have been lodged in Central Jail since February 15, 2017, after the Supreme Court set aside their acquittal by the Karnataka high court. Their release date is fixed for February 15, 2022, provided they pay a penalty of Rs 10 crore each. In case they don’t, their jail term will get extended by another year.

A senior prison official said answering questions on Sasikala’s release gets tough. “People who make such queries are of the opinion that we can release her as per our wish. Last week, a man identifying himself as a local politician from Tamil Nadu asked why we should not write to Karnataka government seeking her release? Before disconnecting the call, which was made on the landline, he hyperventilated that we hate her and that’s why we are not making any attempts for her early release,” he said.

Another officer said whenever a list of convicts, proposed for premature release, is drawn up, word reaches Tamil Nadu, saying Sasikala’s name is in the list. “The nature of her punishment doesn’t fall under ‘premature release’. Only convicts imprisoned for life are entitled to premature release. We try to explain this to those calling us from TN and Karnataka, but in vain,” he said.

The rumours get stronger whenever politicians from TN visit her in person. “Local channels there start beaming news saying the time has come for her release. We are flooded with phone calls and emails on the matter,” said an official from Central Prison.

LOOKING BACK

In September 2014, the special trial court of judge John Michael Cunha had sentenced former Tamil Nadu chief minister late J Jayalalitha, Sasikala, Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi under Section 109 of IPC read with section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act to four-year simple imprisonment. Jayalalitha had been fined Rs 100 crore.

Private operators to run 12 pairs of trains from K’taka

Private operators to run 12 pairs of trains from K’taka

Christin.MathewPhilip@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  03.07.2020

You could soon be able to travel in private trains from Karnataka to Guwahati, Delhi, Howrah, Ranchi, Patna, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Visakhapatnam and Jaipur. Railways has decided to allow private players to run 12 pairs of trains from the state.

Most of these trains from Bengaluru are likely to be operated from Third Coaching Terminal Byappanahalli, which is expected to be operational by October. Private firms will operate trains on Mysuru-Bhubaneswar, Kalaburagi-Mumbai, Mangaluru-Chennai routes.

While private-run trains may improve punctuality, reliability and upkeep of coaches, many passengers are worried about the fare structure.KN Krishna Prasad, a member of Karnataka Railway Vedike, said: “Private trains may improve passenger experience and other facilities, but there is no clarity on the fare. If they charge more than double the railway fare, low-income people may not be able to afford it.”

He said the timing given for the Bengaluru-Delhi private train is almost similar to the existing timing of Bengaluru-Delhi Rajdhani. “We’ll have to wait and see how they run both trains parallelly and its impact on Rajdhani. There won’t be any concessions for senior citizens and the differently abled in private trains and food served on-board may also be expensive.”

A railway source told TOI: “We’re operating several passenger services on loss-making routes as well as suburban trains as a social obligation. But if private firms start running only on long-distance profitable routes, then we’ll be under severe loss. Private operators will not run trains for charity and their aim will be to make profit. Cleanliness of trains and stations has improved drastically over the years.” According to him, poor infrastructure is causing delay in train services. Work on doubling, quadrupling, electrification and automatic signalling is yet to be completed in most sections which results in delays, he said, adding that occupancy rate of trains will be affected if private firms are given preference. “We’ll not cancel any existing train. The proposal to invite private companies to operate trains is still in the initial stage. There’s a huge demand for trains so occupancy rate of those run by the railways won’t be affected,” SWR chief public relations officer E Vijaya said.

Union ministry of railways on Wednesday invited request for qualifications (RFQs) for private participation for operation of passenger train services on over 109 pairs of routes across the country.

Apple, Google take down 59 Chinese apps from app stores

Apple, Google take down 59 Chinese apps from app stores

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  03.07.2020

Apple and Google have taken down the 59 Chinese apps ordered blocked by the Indian government from their app stores following instructions from the authorities.

The government had on Monday banned 59 Chinese applications saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. A day later popular short video app TikTok was taken down from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The other 58 Chinese apps have now also been removed.

Google said that it has temporarily blocked access to the banned apps on its India Play Store. “While we continue to review the interim orders from the Government of India, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not disclose details of the apps that Google had blocked. TNN Similar action has been taken by the Apple App Store.

PG courses: Dual degree not allowed, clarifies DU

MISSION ADMISSION

PG courses: Dual degree not allowed, clarifies DU

Mohammad.Ibrar@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 03.07.2020

In its first-ever open house for PG admissions, Delhi University officials received a barrage of queries. While most of the applicants were eager to know if they could edit their forms, several others were worried about the PG entrance exams as National Testing Agency was yet to release the dates.

The webinar saw over 1,600 applicants joining in through Google Meet and Facebook.

At the start, the applicants were informed about the PG admissions and that there were two modes of getting admission—merit-based and entrance-based, with 50% of PG seats for each. Those from outside DU will have to go through the entrance test.

Dean of admissions at DU, Shobha Bagai, however, stated that DU students can also opt for entrance-based admissions as there are several courses that only have entrancebased admissions.

Bagai added that she and other members of the admission branch have been receiving several queries about editing of forms.

“You should try to fill the form with focus so that you make no mistakes. If you don’t have certificates, you can upload old certificates for now but at the time of admissions, you will have to upload new certificates. We will inform you about the dates for that,” she explained.

Many applicants were also keen on knowing if they could apply for multiple courses in DU.

To this, Suman Kumar, admission branch member, said that “DU has not accepted the UGC’s directions of dual degrees. And the dual degree option will be valid only when you apply in two different universities. No student can take admission simultaneously in two courses at DU.”

Clearing doubts about the admission process, senior PG admission official Ashutosh Bharadwaj stated that applicants need not visit any department or college for physical verification of their documents. “Due to Covid-19 situation, the process will be done online and applicants have to log into the portal, select the course and apply there. The department will verify their documents online.”

No UGC nod, TNOU cancels admissions for 2018-19 B Ed

No UGC nod, TNOU cancels admissions for 2018-19 B Ed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  03.07.2020

The Tamil Nadu Open University has cancelled B Ed admissions for the 2018-19 batch as the University Grants Commission (UGC) didn’t for the programme. TNOU also said it would reimburse admission and exam fee paid by 306 candidates who joined the course.

UGC approval was made mandatory for all Open and Distance Learning mode courses from 2018-19. Till then, universities were offering B Ed courses with National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) approval.

“TNOU admitted students to the B Ed course following NCTE approval and appealed for UGC approval for the two-year degree programme. But UGC has said students were admitted without its approval and based on its direction, we are cancelling BEd admission for 2018-19 batch,” TNOU registrar K Rathnakumar said in a letter to students. Admissions had been given with the clause that they were subject to the UGC recognition,” he added.

Though the university spent money on study material and conducting contact classes, the syndicate has decided to refund the money collected from candidates who will have to submit their name, B Ed registration number, bank account number and other details.

Due to streamlining of ODL courses, UCC approval was made mandatory for all courses from 2018-19. “We made many attempts to get UGC approval for the BEd degree. But, we could not get it as the appellate authority meets once in a year. Now, due to the pandemic, the UGC has decided not to entertain applications for recognition or approval of UG and PG courses for 2020-21. If we offer a degree without UGC's approval, our students will not be eligible for government jobs. We don't want our students to suffer,” said TNOU vice-chancellor K Parthasarathy.

Though the university spent money on study material and conducting contact classes, the syndicate has decided to refund the money collected from candidates

Lockdown still intense, but city’s roads choked

Lockdown still intense, but city’s roads choked

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:03.07.2020

With lockdown still in force, a few roads in the city and suburbs saw surge in the traffic on Thursday. Since most of the city roads are barricaded, those venturing out had to take a longer route to reach their destinations, leaving that particular stretch crowded.

More barricades have been erected in places where the number of COVID-19 cases were high. Some of the local residents of these places have now started using two wheelers instead of walking to buy essentials. Commercial areas like Purasaiwalkam, Sowcarpet, Flower Bazaar, Triplicane, T Nagar, Tambaram and Velachery witnessed heavy traffic and some autorickshaws were also seen commuting on these roads. Despite of several warnings from the authorities, many two-wheelers were seen plying with pillion riders without masks or helmets. Police sources said that not less than 1000 vehicles are seized everyday for flouting the norms.

Though some of the stretches are barricaded to stop vehicle movement, some of the motorists were seen trying to remove the brricades trying sneak in.

“Some of them study the routes where there are no barricades and also take advantage of the absence of police personnel and use bikes,” said a SI, who was posted at T Nagar.

“The motorists whose vehicles argue with the us whether it is possible to walk looking for grocery shops,” said the SI. “We have blocked all the main roads and keep only a particular road free, to discourage people from travelling unnecessarily. This will also ensure, they get caught during the police check,” said a senior police officer.

FLOUTING THE RULES: A busy Peters road in Royapettah

Pvt schools seek TN nod to collect 70% of fee

Pvt schools seek TN nod to collect 70% of fee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:03.07.2020

Private educational institutions have requested the Tamil Nadu government to permit them to collect 70% of the annual fee payable by students in three installments during the lockdown period.

“Various associations of private institutions have made representations to the state seeking permission to collect 70% of the annual fee so they would be in a position to pay salaries of staff and take care of the maintenance costs,” advocategeneral Vijay Narayan informed the Madras high court.

Narayan made the submission in response to a public interest writ petition moved by E Gopalakrishnan seeking direction to the state to restrain private educational institutions from demanding fee from parents.

He added that a single judge of the court was already seized of a batch of petitions filed by associations of the institutions, challenging the government order restraining them from collecting fees during lockdown. The single judge has passed an interim order directing the government to consider the representation of the institutions and come up with a solution by July 8, Narayan said.

Recording the submissions, a division bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy adjourned the hearing to July13.

According to the petitioner, though the state has prohibited institutions from demanding fees during the lockdown period, most schools and colleges are insisting that parents pay the fees.

Citing various news reports that highlighted the issue, counsel for the petitioner Balaji Thirumoorthy submitted that such actions are nothing but violations which are punishable under the Disaster Management Act. “The educational officers of the state are empowered under the Act to initiate criminal action against such violators,” Balaji said.

Therefore, the petitioner wanted the court to direct the state authorities to ensure strict implementation of the GO passed under the Disaster Management Act. On June 23, while admitting the pleas moved by associations of institutions challenging the restriction, a single judge of the court wondered as to how the state could expect private schools and colleges to pay salaries to their staff if they are prohibited from collecting even minimum fees.

Advocate-general Vijay Narayan told the Madras high court that private institutions wanted to collect 70% of annual fee to cover staff salaries and maintenance costs