Ex-IAS officer resigns from varsity V-C search panel

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, AUGUST 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Former Higher Education Secretary K. Ganesan, who was last week appointed as the government’s nominee on the three-member search committee to shortlist names for the post of Vice Chancellor at Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, has resigned citing personal reasons.

His nomination to the Search Committee had earlier drawn criticism from a section of academics. They alleged that incompetent persons were appointed as Vice-Chancellor to some State universities during the erstwhile DMK regime when Mr. Ganesan was heading the Higher Education Department.

Confirmed

Sources in the Bharathiar University Vice-Chancellor Search Committee confirmed to The Hindu on Wednesday that Mr. Ganesan had resigned.

Earlier, he had informed the university Registrar that he would not be in a position to meet the Tamil Nadu Governor-Chancellor for a meeting that was scheduled on Wednesday evening.

The other members of the Search Committee are Syndicate nominee S.P. Thyagarajan, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, and Senate nominee C. Subramaniam, a former Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, Thanjavur.

A section of academics expressed concern that Mr. Ganesan’s resignation would further delay the process of shortlisting names for the post of Vice-Chancellor for the university, which is headless for over one-and-a-half years.

However, Association of University Teachers State president N. Pasupathy said the Syndicate and Senate nominees to the Committee were elected six months ago and only now the Government named its nominee. It would be better if the Government were to dissolve the search committee and constitute it afresh.

That it would take another two or three months for the constitution of a new search committee did not matter because the Bharathiar University academic community had already spent more than one-and-half years without a Vice-Chancellor.

Sri Ramachandra varsity launches B.Tech courses

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Sri Ramachandra University has launched two B.Tech engineering courses. The two courses will each admit 60 students. The branches offered are: B.Tech Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence and B.Tech Cybersecurity and Internet of Things.

The four-year programme will include practical and theory sessions, according to provost of engineering programmes V. Raju. Students will have equal hours of theory and practical sessions. Those who had taken Cybersecurity and IoT would also be trained in AI, according to him.

“The courses have a lot of potential to bridge the gap in technology in the country,” said Pratyush Panda, a faculty from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, who would also be teaching the students.

He said it was a wonderful opportunity for the university, which also had a medical college and hospital, to develop a centre of excellence.

High Court dismisses plea filed by Raj Bhavan official against

transfer

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2019 00:00 IST

He had alleged mala fide intention behind the move

The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition filed by an Under Secretary in the Governor’s Secretariat accusing Additional Chief Secretary R. Rajagopal of having transferred him from Chennai to the Raj Bhavan at Udhagamandalam with a mala fide intention of punishing him.

Justice V. Parthiban agreed with Advocate General Vijay Narayan that the petitioner S. Nagaraj had failed to prove the allegation of mala fide beyond any pale of doubt and the court could not interfere with a transfer order, passed due to administrative exigency, on the basis of conjectures and surmises.

“Such presumption can be dislodged by the petitioner only if he comes with much stronger case of bias or malafide against His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu and also the first respondent (Mr. Rajagopal) in his personal capacity,” the judge said while upholding the transfer order issued on May 29.

“The plea of mala fide is easier to make against the officials but it is difficult to prove. And unless proof is presented to this court to substantiate that the very foundation of transfer was for a mala fide consideration, this court cannot per se act on such apprehended malice on the part of the officials concerned,” he added.

The judge pointed out that the petitioner was originally appointed as a Steno Typist in the Animal Husbandry department of the State government in August 1983 and got absorbed in the Governor’s Secretariat after being shifted there in 1989. In 1997, there was an attempt to send him back to government service as he was on deputation.

He challenged the repatriation before the High Court and succeeded in obtaining favourable orders from the High Court as well as the Supreme Court in 2013. He also filed a contempt of court petition in 2014 which was listed for hearing in February this year when a Division Bench took serious note of the issue.

It was only after that the petitioner was promoted on February 19 as Under Secretary and given all service benefits, he was posted to the Raj Bhavan at Udhagamandalam. However, on the same day another order was issued cancelling the posting and letting him work in Chennai.

Explaining the reason for the cancellation of the February 19 transfer order, the A-G told the court that it was done because of the visit of the President to the Raj Bhavan in Chennai.

‘How fair is it to spend Rs. 30 lakh for biryani feast?’

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Judges appalled to hear about advocates’ association library lying in a dilapidated condition

The Madras High Court on Tuesday expressed dismay over Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) having spent around Rs. 30 lakh for a biryani feast during its recently held Annual Day celebrations without bothering to spend the association money fruitfully for the betterment of its historic library, lying in ruin.

A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and R. Pongiappan were taken aback to read a report submitted by a committee comprising senior counsel A.E. Chelliah, M.K. Kabir, V. Selvaraj and Sudha Ramalingam on the poor shape in which the association premises as well as its library had been maintained over the years.

The committee, after inspecting the association premises and the library on July 25, said, it was appalled to find the entire place in disarray and unclean. “All law reference books as well as reports in the library were moth eaten and ruined. Book shelves were infested with rodents and we were informed that there is possibility of even snakes being present,” it said.

The court was further told that ancient reference books belonging to the Queen’s Bench and King’s Bench were uncared for and dusty, the committee said.

“This committee is of the view that emergent steps under the supervision of the Heritage Committee as well as Building Committee (both constituted by Chief Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani and comprising of High Court judges) of the High Court should be taken to repair the roof/ceiling, clean the entire premises and undertake pest control measures,” the report read.

The committee went on to warn that failure to act fast could lead to the roof of the heritage building collapsing any time. The report was filed on the basis of a direction issued by the Bench during the hearing of a writ petition filed by advocate K. Sathyabal accusing the office-bearers of the association of having indulged in various irregularities. After perusing the committee’s report, the judges directed the association to file the income and expenditure statement for the last five years after it was orally reported that though the association’s revenue was around Rs. 2 crore every year, the expenditure was nearly Rs. 1.5 crore and that it was left with a bank balance of just Rs. 2 crore.

T.N. had highest percentage of I-T assessment errors in FY18

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Tamil Nadu had the highest percentage of Income Tax assessments with errors, with a revenue effect of Rs. 1,644.16 crore during FY 2017-18, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) report tabled in Parliament.

The report on direct taxes for the year ended March 2018, pointed out the details of ten States with the highest incidence of assessments with errors, where more than 10,000 assessments were checked.

Tamil Nadu had 1,914 cases with errors and at 8.71%, the highest percentage of assessments with errors, followed by Madhya Pradesh (8.62%), the CAG noted in the report tabled in Parliament on July 30.

The Income Tax Department needs to take corrective action in respect of errors noticed in the assessments, it also said.

The CAG also noticed irregularities related to incorrect allowance of ineligible claims of business expenditure as exemption.

During 2017-18, irregularities on this account were found to be highest in Maharashtra (60%) and Tamil Nadu (28%), it said.

The CAG also pointed out that during FY2017-18, 2,739 cases, with tax effect of Rs. 2,735.17 crore, became time-barred for remedial action. Out of it, Odisha alone accounted for 34.57%, followed by Tamil Nadu at 28.51%.

Tamil Nadu had 288 time-barred accounts with a value of Rs. 779.83 crore, it said.

“The Department should ensure that remedial action is taken in time so that such incidences do not recur,” the CAG said.

Six ex-Jet pilots caught cheating on cam in exam

DGCA Grounds Them For 6 Months

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:01.08.2019

Six former Jet Airways senior pilots appearing for written exams that would permit these Boeing 737 pilots to fly A320 aircraft for IndiGo were caught cheating on camera by a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) invigilator. Last week, the regulator grounded these pilots for a period of six months, after which they will need to reappear for these exams.

The exams were conducted in-house by IndiGo in the presence of a DGCA invigilator. “Most of the six pilots were Jet Airways examiners on Boeing 737 aircraft. They openly consulted each other for answers to the multi-choice questions. They were very casual about the written exams,” said a source. Though the six pilots are highly experienced on Boeing 737, the questions pertained to the A320, the aircraft they would eventually fly for IndiGo. The minimum marks needed to clear this exam are 70%. “Even as the pilots inquired around hunting for answers, the invigilator recorded the happenings,” said a source.

Director general of civil aviation Arun Kumar confirmed the six pilots have been grounded and will reappear for exams after six months.

After Jet Airways suspended its flight operations in April, the six pilots had joined IndiGo. However, since IndiGo does not operate Boeing 737 aircraft, the pilots had to undergo what’s called “type-rating.” It’s a certification given by the regulator to pilots to fly a certain aircraft type — the A320 in this case — after the pilots have completed additional training and cleared the exams.

Type-rating training starts with ground training classes where pilots learn about systems on the particular aircraft, its performance, limitations etc. At the end of ground exams training, the pilots have to clear a written exam. Due to manpower shortage, since the past 8-9 years, the DGCA has allowed airlines to carry out type-rating exams. A flight operations inspector from DGCA goes to invigilate the exams.

“When the footage of pilots consulting each other reached the DGCA, action had to be taken. For six months, the pilots will be on ground as they won’t be able to fly for IndiGo. Their type-training program has stopped for now,” said a source.

The pilots openly consulted each other for answers to the questions and they were very casual about the written exams, said a source

Madras Race Club to hand over 1.6 acres to Ooty administration

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Udhagamandalam:01.08.2019

The Madras high court on July 25 ordered the district administration to reclaim 1.6 acres of the 55-acre race course in the town from the Madras Race Club (MRC).

The MRC owes about ₹642 crore to the state government as lease amount due. Taking into consideration the need for a parking lot – a long pending demand – in the town, the district administration sent a proposal of takeover of four acres from the tail portion of the Ooty race course.

Last February, the revenue officials conducted a survey at the race course and earmarked the area just opposite to ATC bus stand for the parking lot. Meanwhile, the MRC approached the Madras high court challenging the proposal. However, in an order on June 27, the court allowed the district administration to reclaim the four acres. But, the MRC went for an appeal citing that the surveyed slice of land includes a portion of sand track as well as main track.

When the appeal came up for hearing on July 25, the court directed the district administration to reclaim the surveyed 1.65 acres. Nilgiris collector J Innocent Divya told TOI: “We are waiting for the copy of the order from the court to proceed further.” CEO of MRC T Raman said, “Yes. The court has directed to hand over 1.65 acres of land of Ooty race course to the district administration. But the case is not yet over. A hearing is posted for next week.” Activists are up in arms against the stand taken by the MRC on handing over the land. They demand that it is high time the government take back the whole land from the MRC as the whole area — marshy land — is ecologically very important to the hill town.