Madras HC refuses to stay sexual harassment probe against college faculty
Justice S Vaidyanathan, in the order on August 13, said that there is no justifiable ground to interfere with the probe.

Published: 17th August 2019 06:09 AM

By Express News Service

The Madras High Court has declined to quash a showcause notice issued to a teaching faculty member of the Madras Christian College (MCC) who is facing sexual harassment charges from at least 34 female students.

Samuel Tennyson, an assistant professor in the Zoology department of the college, in a writ petition had sought to quash the fact finding report of the college's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) dated April 17, 2019. The report had stated that Tennyson had sexually harassed female students. He also sought to quash the consequential second show cause notice dated May 24, 2019.

Besides the probe, the college management had issued him a warning and barred him from paper-evaluation work and internal examinership for the end semester 2018-2019. He was also barred from accompanying students for tours for three years.

Tennyson argued in the court that the ICC did not given him certain documents and statements he had sought to defend himself. The college and the committee said that sufficient opportunity was given to him to defend.


Disposing the petition, Justice S Vaidyanathan, in the order on August 13, said that there is no justifiable ground to interfere with the fact finding report as well as the second show cause notice. However, the judge, without going into "the question of who is at fault in the present case", observed that the government should think of amendments to laws meant for women protection "to prevent its misuse so as to safeguard the interest of the innocent masculinity too."

The court also observed, "we have to ask a question for ourselves as to whether those laws are invoked by women with genuine reasons."

The judge felt it appropriate to point out that Christian missionaries are always attacked as there are several accusations against them for indulging in compulsory conversion of people of other religions into Christianity. Now, there is a general feeling amongst the parents of students, especially female students, that co-educational study in Christian institutions is highly unsafe for the future of their children even though they impart good education and preach morality to students. "As long as a religion is practiced in streets in lieu of its worship places, like temple, mosque and church, such devastation, as in the present case, does occur and will be mushrooming."

Noble cause: 87 cadaver organ donations so far in TN this year

A total of 377 organs and 197 tissues harvested from donors have been utilised

Published: 16th August 2019 06:13 AM

By Sinduja Jane

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu, the pioneer State in organ donation programme, has so far received 87 cadaver donations this year and utilised a total of 377 organs harvested from the donors, according to data accessed by Express from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu.

The data for January to August 13 showed among harvested organs, 377 organs and 197 tissues were utilised.

The cadaver transplant programme started in 2008 with seven donations. The number increased from 59 in 2009 to 87 in 2010. Then, it decreased to 70 in 2011. However, donations increased from 83 in 2012 to 185 in 2016. But, due to controversies over the preference given to foreign patients, the numbers witnessed a dip and total came down to 160 in 2017 and 140 in 2018.



Transplant surgeons and others attributed the decrease in 2018 to the controversy. However, health department officials denied it, saying that the number is still high.


Meanwhile, speaking to Express, Dr R Kanthimathy, member-secretary, Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu, said, “The government is organising various programmes to increase awareness and we see good response, especially college students. The awareness is good. So, the donations are expected to increase further as the year is yet to end.”

Dr Kanthimathy said the officials were doing awareness programme including skits, rangoli competition and others involving students. “In Pudukottai district also an awareness marathon is organised on August 17. Not only in the districts, but in Chennai also, the department is conducting programmes,” she said.

Power shutdown in parts of Chennai on August 19, check list here

Power supply will be suspended by Tangedco on Monday from 9 am to 4 pm in Avadi, Rajakilapakkam and Taramani areas.

Published: 17th August 2019 08:33 PM

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: For carrying out maintenance work, power supply will be suspended by Tangedco on Monday from 9 am to 4 pm in these following areas. According to a statement from Tangedco, power supply will be resumed before 4 pm if work is completed.

AVADI: SS Nagar, Vallalar Nagar, Anna Street, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Moorthi Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Padmavathi Nagar, STV Nagar, Subramani Nagar.

RAJAKILAPAKKAM : Velachery Main Road Part, Bharathi Park Street, IOB Colony, Muthalamman Koil St, Karnam St, Kulakkarai St, Rajeshwari Nagar and Extension, Kamarajar St, VGN Milano, Manimegalai St Extension, Ramakrishnapuram Thangakarai St Area.

TARAMANI: Velachery Road, Venkatapuram.

Heavy rain lashes drought-prone areas

170 mm of rain recorded in Vellore; many areas flooded

18/08/2019, STAFF REPORTER ,VELLORE

A caring owner:A woman carries her dog to safety in knee-deep water at Indira Nagar in Consalpet of Vellore district on Saturday. C. Venkatachalapathy C. Venkatachalapathy

The drought-prone areas of Polur and Kalasapakkam in Tiruvannamalai district and Vellore town received heavy rainfall on Friday night.

Water stagnation and power shutdowns disrupted life in most areas.

In Vellore, it rained for about three hours on Friday evening causing floods at several places. It soon turned into a downpour early on Saturday which has brought the temperature in Vellore down significantly since the last fortnight.

Water entered houses in Indira Nagar, Kansalpet, and Auxilium School in Katpadi. People had to spend sleepless nights because of the incessant downpour. In the past 24 hours, Vellore recorded the highest rainfall of 170 mm while Katpadi recorded 110 mm. “This is surely a boon to water-starved areas, but it highlighted lack of infrastructure in the municipal corporation areas,” said Selvam, a trader from Salavanpet. There were incessant rains in Alangayam, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Arakkonam and Kaveripakkam. The average rainfall in the district was recorded to be 40.59 mm. In Tiruvannamalai district, Kalasapakkam received the highest rainfall of 190 mm.

The break-up of rainfall was given as Polur 100 mm, Tiruvannamalai 50 mm, Kilpennathur 60 mm, Chetpet 7.5 mm, Sathanur Dam 40.60 mm, and Chengam 40.40 mm. The average rainfall in the district was 58.88 mm.

Vellore district administration declared a holiday for schools and colleges due to rain on Saturday.

There were reports of heavy rain in many other districts, including Cuddalore, Ariyalur and Villupuram.

Athi Varadar collections soar, but expenses abound

Temple administration has spent ₹4.5 cr.; municipality seeking ₹19 cr. from govt.

18/08/2019, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

The Police Department is expected to seek reimbursement for the amount it has spent over and above what had been earmarked for it. S.R. Raghunathan

The Athi Varadar festival has made the Devarajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram richer by at least ₹11.5 crore.

As per an initial estimate, of the overall amount, around ₹7.5 crore has been earned through collections in the temple’s hundials; ₹2.5 crore through the online booking of tickets; and ₹1.5 crore through the Annadanam scheme, according to a senior official monitoring the conduct of the 48-day festival, which came to an end on Saturday.

As for the expenditure, a total of ₹29 crore, allotted by the government originally towards the arrangements to be made by departments and agencies like the Public Works, Highways and the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco), is said to have been spent. Besides, expenses were incurred in making extra arrangements for cleaning and providing drinking water, toilets and sheds.

Already, the Kancheepuram municipality has approached the government, seeking ₹19 crore towards expenses incurred during the festival.

The temple administration has spent ₹4.5 crore.

The Police Department is expected to seek reimbursement for the amount it has spent over and above what had been earmarked for it. As per a conservative estimate, around ₹45 crore may have been incurred additionally, which includes salary for the temporary staff hired.

An official said the “overwhelming response” of the devotees had forced the authorities to make more arrangements than originally planned.

The maximum number of devotees expected to visit the temple on auspicious days like Ekadasi was one lakh. But on an average, every day, 1.5 lakh devotees turned up.

Swelling numbers

In the first 17 days, around 22 lakh people visited the temple. But in the subsequent 30 days, the number of devotees was almost four times this figure. After the idol was placed in a standing position from August1, the devotees’ figure rose further. As per a conservative estimate, around 50 lakh people visited the temple since the beginning of this month. All these aspects provided justification for the additional expenditure, the official explained.

Business model of newspapers has become strained, says N. Ram

‘Centre has stopped providing advertisements to The Hindu following the publication of articles exposing irregularities in Rafale deal’

18/08/2019, STAFF REPORTER,CHENNAI

N. Ram, Chairman, THG Publishing Private Ltd., handing over a souvenir to K. Ranganathan, Assistant Vice-President (Retd.) Advertisement, The Hindu, at the first anniversary celebration of The Hindu Retired Employees’ Welfare Association in Chennai on Saturday. M. VEDHANM_VEDHAN

The business model of newspapers is strained, and obtaining advertisements in general is a challenge today, N. Ram, Chairman, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, said on Saturday.

The Central government had stopped providing advertisements to The Hindu following the publication of articles exposing irregularities in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, he added.

Addressing the one year anniversary celebration of The Hindu Retired Employees’ Welfare Association (THREWA), he said, “It is no secret. The Central government has stopped advertisements. Some of the public sector companies have also stopped.” He added that the newspaper had not approached the Centre over the issue as it was not right to do so.

He said that though there was growth, the print circulation among the younger generation was stagnant. He stressed the importance of organisations like the Alliance for Media Freedom and the Madras Union of Journalists, which is part of the alliance and is providing support to THREWA in safeguarding the rights of journalists.

Appreciating the efforts of THREWA, he said that employees of The Hindu, who were loyal, hard-working and skilled, were the mainstay of the organisation. “Without them, The Hindu would not have become India’s most-respected newspaper,” he added.

All the former employees who spoke at the event recollected how democratic the workplace was and how The Hindu took exemplary care of its employees.

Mr. Ram said one of the biggest achievements of the organisation was helping the families of its employees in getting their children educated and facilitating their personal development. “Thirty percent of the credit for this should go to management while 70% should go to the employees themselves,” he said.

He released a souvenir brought out by THREWA.

‘Why is a law graduate’s natural choice not the legal profession?’

18/08/2019, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,NEW DELHI

Ranjan Gogoi

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has said there is a need to look at the role and functioning of lawyers and understand why a law graduate’s natural choice is not the legal profession in spite of great attractions and opportunities.

The CJI, who was speaking at the seventh annual convocation of National Law University in New Delhi on Saturday, said the purpose of law schools was to bring out lawyers who would serve the country as prospective leaders of the bar, adjudicators on the Bench and educators and teachers.

He said it was time to analyse whether the five-year law course, a combined degree in law and arts, had met its objectives. The course was aimed at developing socially conscious lawyers who serve society by developing skills in the field of advocacy, legal aid, legislation or reforms, he said.

CJI Gogoi also spoke about the hefty fee structures in law schools and said “if the existing fee structure acts as economical barrier to education, then in a country like ours, it is nothing short of a tragedy”.