Coronavirus effect: kin of students studying in China a worried lot

Many want Centre to provide updates

27/01/2020, R. KRISHNAMOORTHY , S. POORVAJA ,TIRUCHI / CHENNAI

Relatives of students from Tamil Nadu studying in universities in China are gripped by anxiety and helplessness in the backdrop of the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

Hundreds of students from the State are pursuing higher education in various universities in China. Their relatives have been trying to reach out to them for several days now.

P. Arun, a resident of Pudukottai, said he was worried about the well-being of his brother P. Manishankar, a student of Wuhan University.

“The assurance on Sunday morning by the Central government to safeguard Indian students in China has given us hopes. But, there has been no further update. We feel helpless and expect some quick action,” Mr. Arun said.

Ravi, whose son, Robin Raj, from Nagapattinam, is studying medicine at the Wuhan university, sounded relieved after a telephonic talk with his son in the afternoon.

“I could gauge from our conversation that the Chinese authorities have planned to translocate the stranded people in Wuhan to a neighbouring province. As of now, no one has been permitted to go from Wuhan,” he said. A student from Tenkasi, who is pursuing medicine in Qingdao, said that since it is vacation time, many students had already left for their home town in Tamil Nadu.

“There are about 150 students pursuing medicine here. Some students who decided to stay back have booked tickets to Tamil Nadu last week since a few cases were reported in Qingdao as well,” said the student.

Centre in touch

Central government officials are in touch with Indian students in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province. They are also talking with local governments regarding their safety and the possibility of their return, sources said.

The officials are contacting universities to find out about the re-opening dates and several institutions have deferred the reopening. Students have been advised to avoid non-essential travel.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine along with Airports Authority of India officials, continues to screen passengers from China at airports in Chennai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore. Isolation wards are ready in all government medical college hospitals. K. Kolandaswamy, director of public health, said thermal screening along with symptomatic screening was being done at the airports.

(With inputs from Serena M. Josephine)

TNPSC scam: accused re-marked scripts in a moving vehicle and replaced them

Record clerk Omkanthan hoodwinked escort team to aid offender

27/01/2020, S. VIJAY KUMAR,CHENNAI

The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police on Sunday arrested H. Omkanthan, 45, a TNPSC record clerk, for allegedly handing over the key to a safe containing answer script bundles to prime suspect Jayakumar of Chennai, who made fresh entries on select papers and replaced them at an opportune time. The police searched Omkanthan’s premises and seized a couple of mobile phones.

Investigators said the accused, in a midnight operation, took away the answer scripts of the TNPSC Group-IV Services examination from a vehicle and tampered with them, before replacing them.

Investigation revealed that Jayakumar had approached Omkanthan, seeking his help to access the answer scripts, and had offered him ₹15 lakh as a bribe. After taking ₹2 lakh as an advance, the clerk managed to get himself posted in Ramanathapuram district for examination duty on September 1, 2019.

Omkanthan was part of a team also comprising another TNPSC employee, Manickavel, and a police constable entrusted with transporting the answer scripts from the Sivaganga treasury to the TNPSC headquarters in Chennai in a parcel vehicle. After collecting the sealed bundles of answer scripts around 8 p.m., the team left for Chennai, and Jayakumar followed it in another vehicle.

At 10.30 p.m., the team stopped for dinner. While the others were in the restaurant, Omkanthan handed over the key to the safe to Jayakumar, who took select bundles away in his car. During the next few hours, he made fresh entries on the answer scripts of candidates from whom he had taken money. However, he could mark answers only on 39 answer scripts owing to time constraints.

When the escort team stopped near Vikravandi for tea, Jayakumar replaced the bundles, returned the key to Omkanthan and fled. The record clerk was aware that some candidates had used evaporative ink to mark answers, and that Jayakumar had made fresh entries.

The answer scripts reached the TNPSC headquarters shortly after noon. The offence took place in the intervening night of September 1 and 2, 2019 along the Sivaganga-Chennai national highway.

While a search is on for Jayakumar, a special team has arrested A. Balasundaraj, 45, of Seelayampatti in Theni district, who was a middleman in the scam.

Parrying questions on whether the TNPSC staff had checked the seal on the safe and the answer script bundles when they received the consignment, a CB-CID official said the investigation had revealed that both the seals were tampered with. The statement of the accused would further be corroborated with technical evidence, he said.

The CB-CID has so far arrested 9 persons, including three candidates, in connection with the scam. Investigation is on to determine who leaked the question paper to the prime suspect.

Candidates in soup

Sources in the investigation agency said all the 99 candidates who had paid for clearing the examination fraudulently and had used the pens with evaporative ink provided by the accused would have to face action, irrespective of whether or not they had passed.

High court acquits man jailed for assaulting policeman
K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:27.01.2020

Madras high court has set aside the conviction and sentence imposed on a man who assaulted a police constable in Madurai in 1997, saying the trial court had not examined important witnesses.

The prosecution case is that constable Rathinamani of Teppakulam police received a phone call informing him that a person was being assaulted by seven others at Kuruvikaran Salai on March 28, 1997. When Rathinamani and an SI were searching for the accused in the southern and northern banks of Vaigai river, one of the accused, appellant Sikkandar, assaulted him using a sickle in which he sustained injuries.

Following the incident, the police registered a case against Sikkandar and he was arrested. The fast track court in Madurai convicted and sentenced him to undergo three years imprisonment under section 332 (voluntarily causes hurt to any person being a public servant in the discharge of his duty as such public servant) of IPC on June 30, 2009. Sikkandar moved HC Madurai bench the same year challenging the order.

On perusal of the submissions, Justice B Pugalendhi observed that the police constable was assaulted by a rowdy element and the complainant is the same police constable. “Even though the investigation was conducted in such a shabby manner, the trial was concluded even without examining the relevant witnesses for arrest and recovery as well as the doctor who provided treatment to the constable,” he said. Though an SI accompanied the constable at the time of occurrence, the person was also not examined. Hence the judge noted that it was not safe to sustain the conviction and sentence and acquitted the appellant of the charges framed against him.

Justice B Pugalendhi said the investigation was conducted in a shabby manner and the trial was concluded without examining the relevant witnesses

UGC asks universities not to award degrees without its approval

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.01.2020

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all universities and institutions not to award any new degree without the prior approval from the commission.

Many private institutions are offering degrees in new areas without UGC nod. Students enrolled in such courses face issues when they opt to apply for government posts or pursue higher education.

“It has been observed that some universities/ institutions are awarding unspecified degrees leading to litigation and different problems for the students conferred with such degrees. The universities are once again requested to abide by the provision of section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956, and award only such degrees as have been specified by the UGC,” UGC secretary Rajnish Jain said in a circular to all universities. The circular said the consolidated list of UGC approved degrees is available on UGC website.

Suspects manipulated answer sheets in moving car; TNPSC staff among 2 more held

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.01.2020

With the help of an employee from the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) scamsters manipulated answers scripts of 52 candidates who appeared for Group IV exam in a moving vehicle on the intervening night of September 1 and 2, the CBCID said in a release on Sunday.

Two more people including TNPSC employee H Omkanthan were arrested on Sunday, taking the total people arrested in the scam to nine since probe began on Friday.

Omkanthan came in contact with broker Jayakumar of Mogappair through an agent named Palani last year, a release from the CBCID said. After striking a deal, Jayakumar had asked Omkanthan to select Keelakarai and Rameswaram examination centres for exam duty, the release said. Jayakumar reached the place a day earlier, and after collecting cash from the candidates, he gave them the special pens with vanishing ink to write the exam with.

Jayakumar followed the van ferrying answer scripts to Chennai, for which Omkanthan was one of the escorts, in a car. When the van was stopped around 10.30pm for dinner near Sivaganga, Omkanthan took Manickavel (other escort), the van’s driver and a policeman guarding the vehicle to a restaurant on the other side of the road after parking the vehicle.

Omkanthan sat others in the restaurant and handed over the keys to the answer sheets locker to Jayakumar. Jayakumar opened the van, took the bundles out and made changes in the car all night while following the van. The answer sheets were put back in place when the van was stopped for tea near Vikravandi around 5.30am.

Police said the main suspect, Jayakumar, is still absconding, and police teams are searching for him.

TNPSC aspirants want previous exams probed
Trainers Call For A More Secure Exam System

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.01.2020

After the busting of a major scam in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission’s Group IV exam, many candidates said such malpractices have been going on for years and demanded that earlier exams conducted by the commission be investigated.

On Friday, TNPSC suspended 99 candidates for life for resorting to malpractices in the Group IV exam held on September 1, 2019, after finding that answer sheets of 52 candidates who appeared from Rameswaram and Keelakarai centres in Ramanathapuram district were shaded after the exam. Agents supplied candidates pens with special ink which would disappear after a few hours to enable them to shade correct responses in OMR sheets later. Of 52 candidates, 39 ranked within the top 100.

In the 2017 Group II-A exam, some candidates alleged, the topper answered 191 of 200 questions correctly and got 286.5 out of 300 marks, appearing from a centre in Ramanathapuram district. A few other toppers also wrote from Rameswaram and Keelakarai, they alleged.

Karthikeyan, who has been preparing for competitive exams for last three years, said such malpractices prevented genuine candidates from getting jobs. “I narrowly missed appointment as the candidates with same marks got preference. I am a post-graduate and I cannot make any more attempts to enter government service...,” he said.

Radian IAS Academy founder R Rajaboopathy said the scam was busted because the agents tried to be too smart. “Nearly 40 toppers from just two centres is impossible. Had they guessed the cut-off marks and given just above the cut-off marks the scam would have gone unnoticed,” he said.

He said scamsters were targeting recruitment based only on exams like Group IV and Group II-A. “By introducing multiple stage exams and strengthening security at exam centres, such scams can be prevented.”

U Sivabalan, academic head (TNPSC exams), Shankar IAS Academy, said many previous exams could have also been manipulated. “TNPSC should release names of the 99 candidates and should probe previous exams for malpractices. The racket could have influenced even Group I, Group II exams (multiple stage exams). It should consider moving from OMR sheets to online tests to prevent scams.”

SETC bus staff, passengers vandalise Paranur toll plaza
Argument Over Paying Of Toll Fee Led To Melee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:27.01.2020

Enraged passengers along with the driver and conductor of an SETC bus vandalised a toll plaza at Paranur near Chengalpet on Sunday. The flashpoint was an argument between the bus conductor and a toll plaza worker around 1pm.

A few toll booth and gadgets were damaged, resulting in a halt in toll collection for the entire afternoon. Traffic resumed on the stretch after two hours after the intervention of police personnel.

Chengalpet superintendent of police D Kannan said, “We have detained two people each from both sides and will book a case.” The available CCTV camera footage shows that it was an impulsive reaction by the public and not a premeditated one. Police will analyse the camera footage further to help nab suspects involved in the rampage, said the officer. “It was a riot-like situation with passengers and motorists on one side and toll plaza staff on the other,” a witness said.

The SETC bus from Koyambedu was headed towards Trichy. Around 1pm, it reached the Paranur toll plaza, where the toll plaza staff demanded the bus crew to pay toll charges, though government buses are usually not required to pay toll. Pasumpon, the bus conductor, and the driver approached a toll booth staff, Muthu, and sought to know why were they being asked to pay toll.

As the SETC staff and Muthu entered into an argument, another toll booth staff attacked the driver and conductor, sources said. Soon, passengers of the bus got down and came in support of the bus crew, police said.

Angered over the attack on them, the SETC crew used their bus to block the traffic lanes. Passengers of the bus and other motorists joined them in damaging the window panels of the toll counters, CCTV cameras and several gadgets used to collect toll. Other bus drivers and conductors joined in support of their colleagues and vandalised the toll booths.

IN TATTERS: The damaged interiors of the toll booth at Paranur