CM opens Vandalur flyover for public

Flags Off 240 buses, Opens Sub-Stations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.01.2020

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday launched a slew of projects, including flagging off 240 buses for state transport corporations and inaugurating flyovers in various parts of the state, all at a cost of ₹ 211.66 crore, via video-conferencing from the secretariat. A much-awaited flyover at Vandalur near Chennai connecting the Outer Ring Road and the 2.65km-long Vandalur-Mannivakkam main road were opened for the public.

Keeping up his announcement made during the 2019-20 debate in the assembly, the chief minister opened 14 fire and rescue services’ stations. The stations are at Chennai (at Marina), Coimbatore, Namakkal, Salem, Erode, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam, Trichy, Kallakurichi and Chengalpet at ₹15.89 crore. The Marina station will be equipped with 50 commandos to ensure the safety of tourists and prevent them from accidents. The sanctioned strength of the new stations will be 162 personnel.

To strengthen the power transmission infrastructure, the CM inaugurated 91 substations built in 27 districts at a cost of ₹1,023 crore. “The government has been taking efforts to set up upgraded substations given the need to provide uniform supply, and prevent transmission loss, reduce maintenance expenditure and meet the required power demands,” said an official release.

Palaniswami launched a mobile application to book seats for long distance buses of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC). The government added 37 new buses to the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and 103 to SETC. Tamil Nast State Transport Corporation’s Villupuram division got 25 buses, while Salem division got 10 and Kumbakonam 35 buses. Madurai and Tirunelveli divisions got five buses each. As a token gesture, the chief minister flagged off seven buses from the secretariat. The 240 buses cost Rs 83.83 crore.

The other projects are at Namakkal, Tirupur, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Coimbatore, Ranipet, Tiruvallur and Nagapattinam. The metro wing of the highways department received six vehicles to clean the roads, repair potholes and remove silt from the storm water drains.

Palaniswami launched a mobile application to book seats for long distance buses of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC)

TNPSC scam: Cop whose four kin topped Group-II under lens

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.01.2020

The group of agents and others involved in the 2019 TNPSC Group IV exam scam, in which special ink was used to erase answers before new answers were included later, were also involved in a scam in the recruitment of Group-II officers in 2017, police have found.

Aspecial team stumbled upon the racket after some of the arrested told them how four members of the family of a policeman including his wife and brother got into Group-II service, ranked among the top 10. At least 14 people including some government employees have so far been arrested in connection with the scam in the exam held in September 2019. Armed with information about this startling disclosure, the investigation team has now written to the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), asking it to initiate inquiries into the earlier scam.

If the TNPSC finds further material, including the modus operandi, a separate complaint could be filed for a parallel investigation, police said. Investigators are also ascertaining the identity of the policeman, who is a native of Sivaganga district and is believed to be attached to a city police station, as well as those who got into government service by resorting to fraudulent means.

Collected ₹5L-₹10L from candidates, say arrested agents

Inquiries revealed that at least 37 people who appeared for the Group-II examination from the Rameswaram and Keelakarai centres in Ramanathapuram district, ranked among the top

100. All these people later got jobs in municipalities across the state, employment exchanges, social welfare department, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Board and various other departments.

The arrested agents have disclosed that they collected sums ranging from ₹5lakh to ₹10lakh from the candidates to chase their answer sheets in the earlier exam. An investigation officer said, “As per the confession of the arrested mediators, it appears that the policeman hailing from Sivaganga district played a key role in the recruitment scam.”

Sources said that another of the policeman’s brothers managed to get on to the list of candidates selected after Group-IV examination held in 2019, but no other details were available.

Late last week, after the scam in the September 2019 Group IV exam broke and the TNPSC banned 99 people for life, the CB-CID took over investigation. It has made several arrests and is hunting for many others thought to be involved. The fraud came to light after 32 of the 99 candidates, who appeared from just two centres in Ramanathapuram district ranked in the top 100. It was later discovered that the answer sheets of 52 of the 99 candidates had been manipulated

‘Review of mercy plea rejection is limited’

SC Bench refuses to accede to a request by Nirbhaya case convict

29/01/2020, KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL,NEW DELHI

Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case, in New Delhi. PTIPTI

The scope of a judicial review of the President’s decision to reject a mercy petition is “very limited”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday orally told the lawyers for Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh.

A three-judge Bench, led by Justice R. Banumathi, refused to accede to a request by Mukesh, represented by senior advocates Anjana Prakash, Rebecca John and Vrinda Grover, for perusal of the original files of the correspondence on his mercy petition and official notings.

Justice Banumathi said the court did not want to wade into an “uncharted territory”. “We do not deem it appropriate to concede the request and the same is declined,” the order read. The court would pronounce its order on Wednesday, she said.

‘Relevant records’

Ms. Prakash and Ms. John argued that the government’s affidavit was “evasive” about whether all “relevant records” on Mukesh’s incarceration were shown to the President for an informed decision. Ms. Prakash said the government was mum on the jail records on his solitary confinement. In several rulings, the court had held that solitary confinement for long would be a reason for grant of mercy.

The lawyers said Mukesh had suffered torture and abuse in prison. They asked whether his medical records from the time of his arrest to the present day were placed before the President. He had access to legal aid only in 2014, two years after the crime. They contended that the mercy petition was quickly rejected, in just a day, without proper application of mind. “How can you say the President did not apply his mind to the mercy plea,” Justice Banumathi asked. “The President did not apply his mind because all the records were not placed before him,” Ms. Prakash replied.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the Ministry of Home Affairs, said all the documents, supported by records, were placed before the President for a decision on the mercy petition. It was decided without delay because the Supreme Court itself had ruled that delay “has a dehumanising effect”.

“A quick decision on the part of the President does not necessarily mean he did not apply his mind… We [the President] cannot delay, we should not delay. It will have a dehumanising effect. Whether mercy is shown by the President or whether mercy is not shown by the President, either should be done as quickly as possible,” he contended.

Akshay, another Nirbhaya case convict, has filed a curative petition against his death penalty.

One day salary to be cut

29/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,BENGALURU

Upset with lack of attendance and participation of BBMP staff during the Republic Day celebrations held in the civic body’s headquarters on Sunday, Mayor M. Goutham Kumar has recommended that a day’s salary be cut from all those who were absent.

“We get two chances to show respect to our nation and national flag – Republic Day and Independence Day. It is our duty to show respect on these two days,” he said.

Visva-Bharati evicts student from hostel for recording V-C’s speech

University said video was used to ‘defame’ Vice-Chancellor
29/01/2020, BISHWANATH GHOSH,KOLKATA

Visva-Bharati University has evicted a student from its hostel for recording on his mobile phone the speech of Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty during the Republic Day function.

The university maintained that the video was used to defame the Vice-Chancellor and therefore the student was responsible. The student, Bijju Sarkar, who hails from a village in Bankura district, said he had merely forwarded the clip to a friend and it was never his intention to show the Vice-Chancellor in poor light.

Mr. Chakrabarty, in his speech, can be heard saying that even though anti-CAA protesters were reading out the Preamble of the Constitution, the Constitution itself was “brought into effect by minority votes”, with only 293 members of the Constituent Assembly drafting it. This portion of his speech was circulated on WhatsApp.

Handwritten notice

Late on Monday night, the proctor and the warden arrived at the Purba Palli Senior Boys Hostel (PPSBH) and extracted a confession from Mr. Sarkar that he had shot that video and then served him a handwritten eviction notice. The letter addressed to Mr. Sarkar, a second-year history student, was signed by the proctor, Sankar Majumdar.

When asked by The Hindu whether he had written the notice, Mr. Majumdar declined to reply and asked the reporter to contact the university PRO. The PRO did not answer his phone.

The student, fearing more drastic action, promptly vacated the hostel room and went back to his village. “I come from a very poor family and had bought the mobile phone last month with scholarship money. Many other students too were recording the Vice-Chancellor’s speech, then why was I singled out? I had merely forwarded the clip to a friend. I don’t want any more trouble because it’s the question of my future,” Mr. Sarkar told The Hindu over phone.

Only 13 lakh PAN card holders have filed income tax returns: Chief Commissioner
29/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Rajiv Vijay Nabar addressing an awareness programme in Madurai on Monday.R. Ashok

Although there are 62 lakh Permanent Account Number (PAN) card holders in Madurai region, only 13 lakh out of this population have filed their tax returns, according to Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Rajiv Vijay Nabar.

He was speaking at an awareness programme on Income Tax Compliance and Returns conducted by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Income Tax department, here on Monday.

He added that the Madurai Income Tax Commissionerate with jurisdiction over 10 southern districts, collected ₹ 2,000 crore as Income Tax last year. The target was ₹ 2,300 crore for a population of 1.70 crore.

“For this year, out of the target of ₹ 2,418-crore revenue, the Commissionerate had already collected ₹ 1206 crore. This is 51% of the target,” he said. He added that revenue growth percentage is more than in cities like Chennai.

The Chief Commissioner said that in the past, assessing officers were given the choice for scrutiny. This caused disputes and a lack of transparency. Through the new computer-aided selection of scrutiny, officers do not have a choice in the matter and they call for books of accounts for verification.

Speaking about grievance meetings, he said that the event allowed members from economically weaker sections of society to access a help desk.

He said that Southern India Regional Council of Chartered Accountants would also provide services on the second Tuesday of each month. Chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu, president N. Jagatheesan and senior officials from the IT Department participated.

5 killed, 8 injured in car-van collision in Rajapalayam
The deceased were returning from Courtallam
29/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,RAJAPALAYAM

Alas: The car that was involved in a head-on collision with a van on Tenkasi-Rajapalayam Road on Tuesday.ma29accident

Five persons were killed in an accident involving a car and a van in Rajapalayam in the small hours of Tuesday. Police said the deceased were from Sivakasi, who were returning in the car after visiting Courtallam.

They were identified as M. Muthukumar (27), B. Ayyappan (33), A. Anthonyraj (30), S. Sudalaimani (30) and N. Prabhu (29).

While Prabhu succumbed to head injuries after he was referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai, the others were killed on the spot.

The police said the accident took place at a curve on Tenkasi-Rajapalayam Road around 12.45 a.m. In the head-on collision, the front portion of the car was badly damaged and the body of Sudalaimani got stuck in the mangled remains.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel employed a wrecker van and an earthmover to retrieve the body from the car.

“We had to struggle for more than 30 minutes to pull the body out of the car,” said Rajapalayam Station Fire Officer S. Jeyaram. Following the accident, traffic on the busy section was disrupted for more than 30 minutes.

Initial probe suggested that the van, carrying some 17 persons, was driven rashly, Rajapalayam Deputy Superintendent of Police M. Nagasankar said.

Eight persons, including three women, travelling in the van were injured.

They were admitted to Rajapalayam Government Hospital.

The occupants of the van were returning to Shencottah in Tenkasi district after attending a wedding at Melur in Madurai district.