Tamil Nadu

Politics

DMK MPs staged a walkout in Parliament, with TR Baalu saying the Bills were adopted by the state Assembly but rejected by the Centre after 27 months.

TNM Staff

File image/PTI

The DMK on Monday slammed the Centre for rejecting two resolutions passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly seeking exemption to the state’s students from writing the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). DMK members walked out of the Lok Sabha when the government did not respond. DMK's TR Baalu raised the issue during Zero Hour, saying the Bills were adopted by the state Assembly but were rejected by the central government after 27 months."Are we ruled by the Centre? The Centre did not consider the value of the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly," Baalu said amid uproar in the House over the political crisis in Karnataka. Amid the din, Baalu demanded a response from the government. When the government did not respond, the DMK members trooped out of the House. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam said that the Assembly cannot pass a resolution condemning the Centre’s rejection of Tamil Nadu’s NEET-related bills. He was responding to Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin’s demand to pass a resolution on Monday. He stated that the state government is considering getting legal opinions about filing a review petition related to the issue in the Supreme Court. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu since its introduction, and both major political parties in the state had vowed to get an exemption for the state from NEET in their election manifesto in the run-up to the general elections. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed the resolutions in 2017 seeking to admit students to MBBS and dental courses in Tamil Nadu based on their class 12 marks. While the then Union Minister for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman promised that the Centre would cooperate if the state government brings an ordinance seeking exemption from NEET for a year, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal made it clear that NEET is here to stay and added that he would convince the AIADMK to that effect. With IANS inputs

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Weather

Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain.

TNM Staff

PTI/Image for Representation

Even as the July sun continues to beat down certain areas in the state of Tamil Nadu, with maximum temperature likely to be 2-4 degree Celsius above normal in some parts, the next 48 hours could bring light to moderate rains in isolated areas of the state. The latest bulletin from Regional Meteorological Centre forecasts that Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain on Monday and Tuesday. Rainfall is expected to continue over isolated areas in the state until July 10, as per current bulletin. Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Madurai districts are also in line to receive light rains for the next two days. Chennai, however, is expected to only remain cloudy for the next two days, with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 40 and 30 deg Celsius respectively. Temperature warning for the next two days has been issued for Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Madurai, Karur, Perambalur, Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, and Tiruvarur districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry where the said places are expected to record 2-3 degree Celsius above normal. Pradeep John, Tamil Nadu’s most followed weather blogger, wrote in his latest entry that Nilgiris and Valparai Ghat areas are expected to see good action on July 9 and 10 following which rainfall is expected to reduce. As per early records from July 8, the chief amount of rainfall recorded in G Bazar, Nilgiris is the highest at 5 cm. Lower Kothaiyar Arg in Kanyakumari, Avalanchi, and Devala in Nilgiris have recorded 3 cm each, coming second. Eight days into July, Tamil Nadu has cumulatively recorded 35.9 mm rainfall as opposed to its normal reading of 69.6 mm, thereby giving it a deviation of 48% from normal. Puducherry, for the same period, has recorded just 19.7 mm while its normal stands at 92.2 mm.

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Tech

A report submitted to the Madras High Court details the number of requests made to social media giants by law enforcement agencies in Tamil Nadu regarding the removal of content and account information.

TNM Staff

In a report submitted to the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government has revealed details regarding the number of requests from law enforcement authorities in the state that Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Google have complied with and those pending before the social media giants. The report, submitted on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, forms part of the government documents laid before the court in connection with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The PIL seeks to link social media accounts of individuals with the Aadhaar, in order to force social media giants to cooperate in cyber crime investigations. The report, filed by the Deputy Secretary to Government, Information Technology Department, classifies requests by law enforcement agencies in the state to the tech companies under three categories— Account Information & IP Logs request, Content requests and Content removal requests. According to the report, city police across the state have made the maximum number of requests, primarily for removal of content. A total of 1,636 requests have been made to Facebook as of June this year by law enforcement authorities in the state. The CBCID has primarily sought account information and Internet Protocol details while city police has mainly asked for content removal. The city police have made 276 account information requests, of which Facebook has furnished details for 141. Of the 902 content removal requests sent, Facebook has complied with 584, which is 65 percent. As for district police, they have made 175 requests for account information and IP logs of which Facebook has furnished details in 50 percent of the cases. 166 content removal requests were made by the district police across the state with regard to removal of content, of which Facebook has removed content in 95 instances. Overall, 1093 content removal requests were made of which 62 percent of these requests lead to Facebook removing 683 posts. Interestingly, of the social media companies, YouTube received the second highest number of content removal requests from law enforcement agencies in Tamil Nadu. A total of 252 requests were made, mostly by the city police, for content removal. YouTube responded positively in 131 instances, removing 55 percent of the content. Similarly, YouTube's parent company Google has been sent a total of 137 requests by law enforcement in the state, seeking account information. In 106 cases, Google has provided this information. However, the report by the state government does not reveal the nature of these requests or the circumstances under which they were made. It is unclear if most of these posts were political in nature or were asked to be removed because of their criminal nature. While social media companies do have reporting mechanisms, it is unclear how the government has opted to use them or have classified the cases for each complaint they have received or indeed the nature of these complaints. The additional information would make for insightful reading of the figures submitted by the government. For example, the report reveals that 16 content removal requests were made to WhatsApp, of which none were complied with. However, WhatsApp is a direct messaging platform where the company has little control over the content shared among its users. As far as Twitter is concerned, law enforcement has sought account information and IP logs in 31 cases and content removal in 15 cases of which they have been complied with in 18 and 8 instances respectively. Here too, the low numbers for this social media platform are unexplained by any supporting information. At a meeting of social media companies and law enforcement agencies from the state, held in May this year, the companies explained why they could not always comply with requests of law enforcement agencies in every case. For example, social media companies noted that they often receive requests for information from unofficial email addresses of police officials which makes it difficult to gauge who is sending a request. Some social media companies said that they did not retain certain specific information requested by the agencies or, since these companies are headquartered in the USA, that they are restricted by American law to share such information. Even as the controversial PIL has been slammed for the massive implications on individual's privacy, the Madras High Court has allowed the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) to intervene as petitioners in the case. The IFF has opposed the linking of Aadhaar to social media accounts citing the concerns to individual liberties.

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Politics

Kanimozhi and Tamilisai contested in Thoothukudi in the general elections in which the former won by a large margin.

TNM Staff

BJP State President Tamilisai Soundarajan filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking to declare void the election of Kanimozhi as the Member of Parliament from Thoothukudi. She sought the court’s intervention, pointing out alleged discrepancies in Kanimozhi’s nomination affidavits. The petition filed in the Madras High Court on Monday alleged that all four nominations filed by DMK’s Kanimozhi had substantial defects and hence she sought the court to declare her election as an MP void. The petition says there are discrepancies on three counts in the electoral affidavits filed by Kanimozhi. A voter in two constituencies She alleged that while Kanimozhi had stated that her name is enrolled as a voter in Chepauk- Triplicane legislative assembly constituency in one part of the affidavit, it has been misstated as Thoothukudi in the latter part of the same affidavit. The petition also claimed that since this was a defective, incomplete and improper nomination, the District collector, who was also the District Electoral Officer should have rejected the nomination. Suppression of income details of husband and son Another issue that has been mentioned in Tamilisai’s petition is Kanimozhi’s declaration that her husband Aravindhan and son Adithyan do not possess Permanent Account Number (PAN) in India and the incomes earned by them in the last five years have been declared as ‘Not Applicable’. Tamilisai’s contention was that Kanimozhi should have mentioned the National Registration Identity Card numbers of both of them and should have mentioned details about the income details of the duo as per their documents filed in Singapore. “The Petitioner (Tamilisai) submits that by wilfully failing to submit information with regard to the tax status of her husband and son in Singapore and the income received by them, the First Respondent (Kanimozhi) has filed a false affidavit which materially affects the result of the election and consequently the failure of the returning officer in accepting the nomination of the First Respondent is improper and he ought to have rejected the same,” the petition stated. The petition also points to the fact that as per the affidavit, Adithyan has invested substantial amount of money in banks in India and Singapore. “In such circumstances it is inconceivable that the said Aravindhan does not have a PAN number or has not filed income tax returns in India. In such circumstances, there is deliberate suppression of information by the First Respondent with regard to the PAN number as well as the status of income tax returns of Mr. Adithyan,” the petition read. Cash for votes The third accusation levelled against Kanimozhi is that on March 25, Kanimozhi and Anitha Radhakrishnan, the DMK MLA from Tiruchendur visited Umarikadu village for campaigning and many women were given money for taking ‘aarathi’ for Kanimozhi. This was telecast in news channels and consequently an FIR was registered against Anitha Radhakrishnan, Kanimozhi and six others for illegal payments in connection with an election. However, the video that went viral showing the MLA distributing cash to women performing aarathi had been doing the rounds on social media much before the polls were notified and hence would fall outside the scope of Model Code of Conduct. The Election Commission of India had taken cognizance of the matter back then and was conducting inquiries into the matter. When TNM reached out to Kanimozhi's counsel P Wilson (who has also been nominated to the Rajya Sabha), he said, "We have read the petition and will face the case legally."

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Court

The Tamil Nadu government wants to convert the vast residential property of the former CM into a memorial.

TNM Staff

The Madras High Court on Monday came down heavily on the state government’s plans to convert the Veda Nilayam residence in Chennai of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa into a memorial asking if it was necessary. Posing the question to the government, the court asked, “What is the necessity to convert the former Chief Minister’s residence into a memorial by spending taxpayer’s money?” The court was hearing the petition of AIADMK functionary Pugazhendi who had asked that an independent executor be appointed to administer the late AIADMK supremo’s estates. In 2018, Jayalalithaa’s niece and nephew, J Deepa and J Deepak, approached the Madras High Court seeking letters of administration to be made to her properties. On Monday, they reiterated their objection to the Veda Nilayam residence being converted into a memorial. They also contended the decision of the government to acquire the property for just Rs 35 crore when the market value of the 10-ground property in the heart of the city would be well over Rs 100 crore. Stating that there were many ways to remember Jayalalithaa, a Division Bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose asked what was the need to spend public money on the memorial. It also observed that the Ministers of the government were invoking the late leader’s name at the beginning of every speech. Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016, and is believed to have left no will. This led to multiple claims to her Veda Nilayam residence, a sprawling 24,000 square feet property in Poes Garden, a posh residential neighbourhood. Concerns grew since Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala was residing in the property. However, with Sasikala’s conviction in the Disproportionate Assets case and her subsequent imprisonment, the Tamil Nadu government announced in August 2017 that the house would be converted into a memorial. The matter has been posted for further hearing on July 22.

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Elections

Former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has been allotted one seat by ally AIADMK, is also in the fray.

IANS

File image

Former state Ministers A. Mohammed John and N. Chandrasekaran, the two AIADMK candidates, on Monday filed their nomination papers here for the upcoming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. N.R. Elango of the Opposition DMK also filed his papers. Former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has been allotted one seat by ally AIADMK, is also in the fray. As is DMK ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) Secretary General Vaiko, who had filed his papers on Saturday, along with the two DMK nominees, M. Shanmugham and P. Wilson. Vaiko, who had earlier served as a DMK Rajya Sabha member from 1978 to 1996, has been convicted in a sedition case and a final decision on his nomination will be taken by the Returning Officer during the scrutiny process on Tuesday. In case Vaiko's candidature is found in order, DMK's Elango is expected to withdraw his papers by July 11, the last date for withdrawing nominations. Speaking to reporters at Dindigul on Monday, Vaiko said that it was he who had suggested to the DMK to field an alternative candidate in case his own papers were rejected, following which Elango had filed his nomination. Expressing confidence that his papers would be accepted following scrutiny, Vaiko also said that Elango would withdraw once his own nomination was accepted. The AIADMK has 123 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, while the DMK has a strength of 101. DMK ally Congress has seven MLAs, there is one Independent member, while two seats are vacant. The elections are being held to fill up the vacancies caused by the retirement of five Rajya Sabha members -- T. Rathinavel, V. Maitreyan, K.B. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan (all AIADMK), D. Raja (CPI) -- and the resignation of DMK's Kanimozhi following her win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

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Politics

While a majority of the parties that attended the meeting like the DMK, the MDMK and others opposed the move, some parties voiced their support.

IANS

Political parties in Tamil Nadu on Monday presented mixed reactions on the 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society, as proposed by the Central government, in an all-party meeting on the issue held here. While a majority of the parties that attended the meeting like the DMK, the MDMK and others opposed the move, some parties voiced their support. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam stressed that after discussing with the legal experts, the government will take a decision that will not impact the existing 69 per cent reservation in the state. The all party meeting was convened to discuss extension of 10 per cent reservation to EWS (those whose annual income is less that Rs 8 lakh or own farm land less than five acres) in medical colleges and also on the EWS concept. Major opposition parties like the DMK, Congress, the DMDK, the PMK, the MNM, the NTK and others participated in the meeting. In his introductory remarks, Panneerselvam said the Medical Council of India (MCI) had sought the views of implementing EWS in the admissions this academic year itself."There are 24 medical colleges in Tamil Nadu with 3,500 seats out which 15 per cent, that is 525 seats are allotted to central quota. In the remaining 85 per cent seats, that is, 2,975 seats, 69 per cent are reserved as per the reservation policy of the state government," he said. According to Panneerselvam, if the state government agrees to reserve 10 per cent seats for EWS, as per MCI guidelines, then the state can get an additional 1,000 medical college seats."The state will get an additional 850 seats after allocating 150 seats to the central quota. So out of the total 3,825 seats for Tamil Nadu (2,975+850 seats) a total of 586 additional medical seats will be available for the reserved quota after the allocation of 838 seats under EWS," he said. DMK President M.K. Stalin, however, said on the pretext of getting 25 per cent additional medical seats, the state government should not implement reservation for EWS which will be a setback for the Dravidian movement. He said reservation is the fundamental in delivering social justice and Tamil Nadu has set an example for others. Stalin said the first amendment to the Constitution was made to state that reservation can be made only for socially and educationally backward classes. Citing a media report, he said that in 71 Central government departments, only 14.94 per cent employees belong to the backward class. According to Stalin, reservation based on economic criteria will dilute the reservation policy in the state.

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Power

The newly-announced thermal plants mark a departure from the norm since most thermal units belonging to the state are coal-based.

TNM Staff

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has announced the setting up of two new gas-based thermal plants in Chennai. The plants, intended to meet the ever-growing power needs in the state, will be created at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore. Each plant would be 730 MW in capacity. According to the Times of India, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) has been tasked with setting up the plants in the northern part of the city. The newly-announced thermal plants will be powered by natural gas, a departure from the norm since most thermal units belonging to the state are coal-based. The plants will be located at the premises of the old GMR power plant in Basin Bridge area, north Chennai. The previously functioning GMR units, which were decommissioned last year, were naphtha-based, a liquid hydrocarbon mixture. One senior TANGEDCO official told the newspaper, "We will prepare a detailed project report and seek loan from power finance companies before floating tenders. It will take at least five years for the units to generate power. The fuel will be sourced through a pipeline from the Indian Oil terminal at Ennore." The GMR site is about 30 acres. That is adequate for the LNG-based units. The official continued, "Based on the Supreme Court order, we had to replace equipment in thermal units with modern ones so that fly ash does not pollute the air in the areas. There are several complaints from residents living in areas close to thermal units about fly ash pollution.” According to The New Indian Express, new equipment will be established at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore to prevent releasing of effluent from five thermal power stations in open air as per a Supreme Court verdict. New substations, each of 230 MW capacity, will be set up at Vembakkam in Tiruvannamalai district, Nallur in Namakkal district and Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district at a total cost of Rs 510 crore.

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Court

The court observed that not every candidate who has participated in the selection process for TNPSC could afford to approach the court.

TNM Staff

The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) came under fire from the Madras High Court on Monday for continuing to repeat errors in question papers and answer keys even as it had been entrusted with the important task of recruiting for the government. According to The Hindu, Justice V Parthiban pulled up the personnel recruitment agency of the state for making mistakes in as many as 24 questions in the preliminary written examination conducted in March this year. The judge reportedly wondered how the errors were repeated in spite of a warning issued by a Division Bench of the High Court in 2009. A decade earlier, the court had cautioned TNPSC to bear in mind the candidates who took the exam and their future, which depended on the selection. The newspaper quoted the Justice as observing, “Despite the above observations of the Division Bench several years before, it appears that the commission has not taken cue from such caution by the court. If only the commission had taken into consideration the observations of the Division Bench in all seriousness, it could have avoided the defects that have crept in now. It appears that despite its past mistake, the commission has handled the present important selection of Group-I Services in a cavalier fashion. The credibility of the Commission would be at stake before the public at large if the mistakes are often repeated. A philosopher said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The commission, which probably did not remember its past mistakes, has repeated the same in the present selection. It is needless to mention that by framing defective question and keys, it is possible that meritorious candidates lose their opportunity to be selected ultimately for public service.” However, the judge rejected a petition to quash the final answer keys published by the TNPSC in April this year and the subsequent selection of candidates who qualified for the main examinations. According to The New Indian Express, the court reasoned that the Commission itself had identified the defects in the key answers and questions and had attempted to rectify its mistakes by setting up an expert panel. The petitioner did not qualify for the exams even after the revised marks were added.

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Crime

The apex court had granted him a deadline on July 7 to surrender after it had upheld the life sentence awarded by the Madras High Court.

TNM Staff

Wikimedia Commons/Kamalakannan

Refusing to allow anymore extensions, the Supreme Court ordered the owner of Saravana Bhavan hotels, P Rajagopal, to surrender immediately after his life sentence was upheld by the court. He was given a deadline to surrender before the police or the court on Sunday; however, he failed to do so. Rajagopal, who had filed a petition on Monday, had sought more time to surrender. The apex court reportedly slammed his request and asked why he did not indicate his illness all these days and instead filed a petition for an extension at the last minute. The petition cited health issues as the reason for seeking the extension in the deadline. In March, the Supreme Court had upheld the verdict of the Madras High Court, sentencing Rajagopal to life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of Prince Santhakumar. The case dates back to 2001 when Rajagopal’s henchmen had kidnapped Santhakumar when he, along with his wife Jeevajyothi and her family, were on their way to Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu. His body was later found in Kodaikkanal. Jeevajyothi was the daughter of Rajagopal’s employee. Rajagopal had earlier tried to pursue Jeevajyothi after an astrologer advised him to marry her and take her as his third wife. She had fallen in love with Santhakumar and had married him. Rajagopal continued to pursue her even after her wedding despite her resistance. When she threatened to approach the police for help, Rajagopal had told her that he would use his ‘money power’ and had continued to harass the couple. In 2004, a Sessions Court found Rajagopal guilty of the crime and sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Rajagopal challenged this verdict in the Madras High Court, which enhanced the punishment to life imprisonment. He then appealed in Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict of the High Court in March 2019 and granted 100 days to Rajagopal to surrender. The deadline ended on Sunday, July 7. However, Rajagopal cited health issues and got himself admitted in the hospital on July 4 and did not surrender on the allocated date.

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Arrest

Nandhini and Anandan were arrested on June 27 for contempt of court, for allegedly questioning the court and the government on whether liquor was a medicine or an intoxicant.

TNM Staff

Facebook

Anti-liquor activist Nandhini and her father Anandan were granted bail by the Tirupattur judicial magistrate court in Madurai on Tuesday. The bail was granted when they were taken to the court for extension of remand. Nandhini and Anandan were arrested on June 27 for contempt of court on the orders of the Judicial Magistrate court. They were remanded and lodged in Madurai central jail even though Nandhini’s wedding was scheduled to be held on July 5. The court ordered her arrest on June 27, when she had appeared in court in relation to a case dating back to 2014. As per the details of the case, Nandhini and Anandan had protested in front of a TASMAC outlet in 2014 and distributed pamphlets in Tirupattur bus stand. They had also allegedly staged a dharna when the police had told them to distribute pamphlets without disturbing the public. The police had booked the duo on charges of abusing the police and preventing public servants from discharging their duties. When Nandhini had appeared in court on June 27, she reportedly asked the court if liquor was a medicine, a food item, or an intoxicant. She had also allegedly argued that according to section 328 of the IPC, selling intoxicants through TASMAC was a crime. Despite the magistrate telling the duo to not raise questions that are irrelevant to the proceedings, they allegedly continued to question the government and the court. The court then initiated suo motu proceedings for contempt of court against the duo and ordered their arrest. Nandhini, who has been an anti-liquor activist since her school days, was supposed to get married on July 5. Her arrest and subsequent remand, within days of her impending wedding, caused social media outrage which led to #ReleaseNandhini trending on June 28 and 29. After she was remanded, the magistrate offered to release the duo on bail, if they produced sureties.

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Education

Critics say this move would effectively stop children from marginalised backgrounds from attending private schools.

Megha Kaveri

Image for representation / PTI-file photo

A recent announcement by the Tamil Nadu School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan in the Assembly about a proposed amendment to the RTE rules in the state is being opposed by most stakeholders, except for private schools. The state government is planning to introduce a ‘distance clause’, which will effectively limit access to children from marginalised backgrounds to private schools of their choice. The amendment, if approved by the cabinet and passed in the Tamil Nadu legislature, will be on the same lines as Karnataka, where a parent has to send their child to a school within 1 km from their home. Critics say this would effectively stop children from marginalised backgrounds from attending private schools. Congress MP from Karur, Jothimani, who took up the issue in Lok Sabha last week during Question Hour, says if such an amendment is brought in, it will make RTE ineffective in the state. Speaking to TNM, Jothimani says, “What will happen is since most private schools are not near a slum or a locality dominated by those from underprivileged communities, nobody from these areas will be eligible to attend these schools.” Fear of govt schools shutting down? The government says this move is being planned to prevent many government schools in the state from shutting down. In his speech in the Assembly, DMK MLA CVMP Ezhilarasan said that though the RTE does not differentiate between the RTE quota allocation in government and private schools, most parents prefer to admit their children in private schools. This has led to a decline in the strength in government schools and hence the government must give priority for government schools while admitting students under the RTE quota, he said. Minister Sengottaiyan's announcement came in response to this speech. Jothimani however points out that it is the choice of the parents to send their children to whichever school they want, in order to provide good education. “Why should poor people be restricted to government schools alone?” she asks. Brushing away the justification given by the government, Jothimani says that there are various reasons government schools are shut down. “Migration of people from rural areas to urban centers in search of livelihood is one of the major reasons why schools there are shutting down. We also have to fight the perception that government schools are bad,” she says, calling the move an atrocious and an unfair one to those from marginalised backgrounds. Move against social inclusion Dr Prahalathan, Co-founder of Bhumi, an NGO that works on RTE and in the education sector, says that the proposal will defeat one of the core purposes of the Act. “The primary goal of Section 12(1)C of the RTE act is to create social inclusion. It is not a subsidy mechanism by which poor people are sent to private schools. This purpose of the act is completely defeated if this change comes into force,” he says. “Admissions to government schools have been decreasing even before the RTE act. Take the case of Karnataka – it decreased despite the existence of a similar restriction,” he says and adds that the government should instead focus on further improving the quality of and perception about government schools to attract students and parents. S Arumainathan, President of the Tamil Nadu Students-Parents Welfare Association tells TNM that he sees no logic in this proposal. “The government must either bring an exemption to all private schools by saying that RTE admissions will be given only for government schools and use those funds to develop and improve government schools. Or it must apply the RTE quota for all schools without bias,” he says. Private schools rejoice However, the news of a conditional clause in the RTE rules has brought cheer to the representatives of private schools in Tamil Nadu. It has been a long-standing complaint by the private schools in Tamil Nadu that despite allocating seats for RTE, reimbursements from the state are far too less for the facilities provided for the students. They also have complaints about delays in payments by the government. “It is a great move,” says Lakshmi*, a Correspondent of a leading private school in Pollachi, “We were initially promised that we would be reimbursed the fee fixed by the fee committee for RTE quota students, but then the government suddenly changed it to reimbursement on a per-child-cost. This amount was almost 50% less than the fee fixed by the committee.” She says private schools have huge overheads due to additional facilities like good labs, libraries, playground etc being made available for the students and that the amount reimbursed by the government is hardly enough to cover these costs. “The school fees are already regulated by the government, but then they further reduce from that for RTE students. How is it enough for us to run the institution?” she questions. *Name changed on request Read: Are CBSE schools in TN gaming their admission schedule to evade RTE quota?

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Crime

It was close to 6 am on Monday morning and a pungent odour swept into Leon's residence. Almost immediately, he felt his eyes and nose stinging.

Priyanka Thirumurthy

49-year-old Leon Shashi, a fisherman from Vaniyakudi village in Kanyakumari district, smelt the danger before he heard it. It was close to 6 am on Monday morning and a pungent odour swept into Leon's residence. Almost immediately, he felt his eyes and nose stinging. As he rushed out with his wife and two children, he noticed almost a hundred villagers running to safety while holding wet cloths to their nose. "We all thought it was some sort of a gas leak and switched off our stoves and shut down the transformer," says Leon. "But the smell was unbearable and as we stood there, I could feel my skin starting to itch and burn. That is when we heard a disturbing sound emanating from the ice factory," he explains. And while the villagers outside failed to comprehend what this meant, inside the 18-year-old Amali ice plant in Kanyakumari, a lone worker was struggling to fix a broken pipeline that carried potent Ammonia gas. Used as a refrigerant, Ammonia gas is fatal when concentrated, can cause skin burns and damage the windpipe and lungs when inhaled. And it was now burning its way through the air around the plant, affecting residents."My 60-year-old neighbour Vasantha Kumari inhaled the gas and collapsed within minutes," says Leon. "Her son, Soosai Michael had to rush her to a Government hospital in Nagercoil. I dropped my wife and children at a relative's house about one kilometre away and came back to investigate," he says. But even as pandemonium descended upon the village, firefighters responded to the danger only an hour after the leak. Did factory try to hide leak?"The pipeline that connected the ammonia cylinder to a valve in the factory had developed a fissure at around 6 am," admits an officer involved in the operation. "But we were informed only at 7 am. There was only worker in the factory and those in charge were trying to fix the issue themselves, without involving any government officials. A cover up was underway and when all their efforts failed, they called the fire department," he adds. According to the officer, by the time department members arrived at the spot, the gas had spread up to 50 feet and 28 firefighters including those deployed from neighbouring villages struggled to enter the premises of the building."This was new to us. We were wearing masks and protective gear but our skin, eyes, nose and throat were all burning as we attempted to enter. Just standing there was giving us splitting headaches," says the officer. "We then began to hose down the area in an effort to dilute the gas in the air. It took us close to two hours just to reach the pipeline," he adds. And when they did, the damage to the pipeline was clear. A stop gap measure of welding had been adopted to an already existing crack but the pressure within had broken another part and firefighters couldn't get any closer."Finally we managed to close the main valve, to stop the gas supply," says the officer. "It took us three hours to finish this operation and could have been done sooner if we were informed. Even now our officers are recovering from the exposure to the chemicals on Monday," he adds. According to villagers, a similar leak took place close to four years back but was controlled by the factory. The Amali ice plant is owned a 45-year-old man named Reslin who belongs to the Kodimunai village. But when contacted, the factory dismissed allegations made by villagers and firefighters. Factory owner arrested"This is being said by the community because they are jealous of our owner's growth. He used to be a part of the community and sold lobsters but has grown immensely over the last two decades," says Das, a mariner who works with Amali. "The valve was not closed properly. That is all. The claims of a broken pipeline are all false," he adds. However based on the complaint by the hospitalised woman's family, Kanyakumari police has arrested Reslin and booked him under sections, 284 ( Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 287 (Negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

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Arrest

He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Madras High Court for abducting and murdering Prince Santhakumar in 2001. This decision was upheld by the Supreme court in March 2019.

TNM Staff

Hours after the Supreme Court rejected his plea, P Rajagopal, the owner of Saravana Bhavan hotels surrendered before the IV Additional Sessions court in Chennai. In a bid to evade surrender, Rajagopal had gotten himself admitted in a hospital on Thursday. He then approached the Supreme court asking for an extension citing health reasons. But the Supreme Court gave no relief and ordered Rajagopal to surrender immediately. The man, convicted in a murder case, had no other option but to surrender himself and came to the Chennai court in an ambulance from Vijaya Hospitals in Vadapalani on Tuesday evening. The Supreme Court had, in March 2019, upheld the life imprisonment sentence earlier awarded to him by the Madras High Court. The case against Rajagopal dates back to 2001 when his henchmen kidnapped and murdered Prince Santhakumar when the latter was on his way to Tiruchendur with his wife Jeevajyothi and her parents. Santhakumar’s body was found in Kodaikkanal. Rajagopal was interested in marrying Jeevajyothi and take her as his third wife based on the advice of his astrologer. However, Jeevajyothi had spurned his advances and married Santhakumar, whom she had fallen in love with. Rajagopal continued to pursue her even after her wedding despite her resistance. Though she resisted his advances and threatened to seek help of the police, Rajagopal had told her that he would manage the police with his money power and continued to harass the couple. In 2004, Rajagopal was found guilty and was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. He challenged the verdict in Madras High Court, which enhanced the punishment and sentenced him to life in prison. He appealed against this order in the Supreme Court which, in March 2019, upheld the decision of the High court. The apex court also granted him time till July 7 to surrender before the police or a court. However before his deadline on July 7, he got admitted to a hospital in Chennai citing health reasons and failed to surrender on the deadline.

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Awards

Iniyan, a native of Erode in Tamil Nadu, went undefeated in the Under 18 section of the championship.

TNM Staff

Just a few months after being made India’s 61st chess Grandmaster, 16-year-old Iniyan Paneerselvam bagged the gold medal at the Commonwealth Chess Championship held in Delhi. Iniyan, a native of Erode in Tamil Nadu, played in the Under 18 section and went on to become the undefeated champion after winning all seven consecutive matches played in his category. He was the only player in his division to have won every round he played. “I am extremely proud of him. He has worked really hard to achieve this. He has been playing since he was 5 years old and today he has come so far,” said Paneerselvam, Iniyan’s father. “This is definitely not a small achievement and I am immensely proud of the fact that Iniyan has achieved such a feat. He is someone who is very passionate about the game and has been playing for several years now,” says Dinesh Babu, a member of the Erode Chess Association, which the teenager has been a part of for several years. The Commonwealth Chess Championship takes place annually and players from Commonwealth countries have been taking part in the tournament since it was first created in 1950. However, it was only in 1985 that India had its first win thanks to Grandmaster Praveen Mahadeo Thipsay. Iniyan was conferred the title of ‘Grandmaster’ back in March after having met all the guidelines as stated by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). In June 2018, he completed the last requirement and crossed an International Chess Federation rating of 2500, after which he was eligible for the title. He is India’s 61st Grandmaster. Following this, Viswanathan Anand India’s first Chess Grandmaster (who was conferred the title in 1987), tweeted to congratulate the teenager on his achievement.

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Politics

Vaiko was recently convicted in a sedition case and sentenced to one-year jail term by a special court in Chennai.

TNM Staff

The suspense over MDMK General Secretary Vaiko's candidature for the July 18 Rajya Sabha election in Tamil Nadu ended on Tuesday as his nominations were accepted. Some doubts were raised about the acceptance of his nomination papers as Vaiko was recently sentenced to one-year jail term by a special court in Chennai in a sedition case. Sedition is not listed as one of the offences under the Representation of People's Act, 1951 for which disqualification is attracted regardless of the prison term, thereby allowing Vaiko to contest. The acceptance of Vaiko’s nomination means that he will return to the Rajya Sabha after 23 years. He was Vaiko had served as Rajya Sabha MP for 18 years between 1978 and 1996. Thereafter, he was elected as Lok Sabha MP from Sivakasi in 1998 and in 1999. An ally of DMK in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the MDMK was allotted one Rajya Sabha seat as a part of the alliance agreement. According to a statement issued by K.Srinivasan, Returning Officer and Assembly Secretary, a total of seven nominations were accepted and four were rejected. As there were apprehension about his nomination not being accepted, Vaiko had asked DMK President M.K. Stalin to field an alternate candidate from his party. Accordingly N.R. Elango of the DMK had also filed his nomination which was also accepted. He is likely to withdraw from the race. The other contestants are: M. Shanmugham and P. Wilson (both DMK), A. Mohammed John and N. Chandrasekaran (both AIADMK) and Anbumani Ramadoss of PMK. The AIADMK has 123 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, while the DMK has a strength of 101. DMK ally Congress has seven MLAs, there is one Independent member, while two seats are vacant. The elections are being held to fill up the vacancies caused by the retirement of five Rajya Sabha members -- T. Rathinavel, V. Maitreyan, K.B. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan (all AIADMK), and D. Raja (CPI) -- and the resignation of DMK's Kanimozhi following her win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. (With IANS inputs)

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Water Crisis

A Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) official said that it would be known only on Wednesday morning when the first trip of the water train from Jolarpet to Chennai would begin.

TNM Staff

Water-starved Chennai was hoping to receive its 10 MLD water per day from Jolarpet from Wednesday onwards, but unexpected delays in completing the works has made officials unsure of when the supply of water might begin. While the workers were initially confident of finishing all works by Tuesday evening and starting supply on Wednesday morning, they have missed this schedule as of now. An official from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) had told The Hindu that it would be known only on Wednesday morning when the first trip of the water train from Jolarpet to Chennai begins. Reports state that a trial run to pump water into the pipeline was scheduled for Tuesday morning but got delayed. Workers were busy getting the water mains ready near the filling point while TANGEDCO workers were installing a transformer near the pump house in Mettusakkarakuppam where the underground storage tank with a capacity of 5.05 lakh litres is located. A 3.2 km pipeline connecting Mettusakkarakuppam to the railway yard in Jolarpet was being readied by TWAD Board authorities. Explaining the reason for the delay in works, an official was quoted by the New Indian Express as saying, “We had to encounter some problems in running the pipe under a culvert. It took a little more time on Monday, so other work too got delayed.” An official from TWAD Board had told The Hindu that officials and contract workers were working round the clock in three shifts to meet the deadline. As many as 50 wagons with capacity of 55,000 litres each have been brought from Rajasthan and kept ready at the water filling point in the station. The Chief Minister had sanctioned a fund allocation of Rs 65 crore for the entire project. According to the plan, water will be transported four times a day at a volume of 2.5 million litres per trip, where it will take more than three hours to fill these wagons to their capacity of 2.5 million litres.

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Weather

The sky will remain generally cloudy with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 39 and 28 degrees respectively, in Chennai on Wednesday.

TNM Staff

PTI/File Image

Chennai, which had been simmering for the past few days with temperatures reaching upto 40 degree Celsius, is expected to get cooler with the Regional Meteorological Department predicting light showers in some areas of the city on Wednesday. According to reports, parts of Tambaram, OMR, Anna Nagar and parts of Anna Salai received good rain on Tuesday evening as part of the break monsoon season effect. According to weather blogger Pradeep John, this is expected to last for 10 days. The sky will remain generally cloudy with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 39 and 28 degree Celsius respectively, in Chennai on Wednesday. Light to moderate rain is likely to continue in a few places over Tamil Nadu until July 13. Due to heavy rainfall in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli on Tuesday, the highest amount of rainfall at 6 cm has been recorded at Kottaram in Kanyakumari. Mylaudy and Kanyakumari in Kanyakumari district received 3 cm of rain on July 9. Heavy rain is likely to continue in these areas on Wednesday as well. The Met Department has also issued warning for some parts of the state where maximum temperature is likely to be 2-4 degree Celsius above normal. These areas include Vellore, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Madurai, Karur, Perambalur, Tiruchirapalli, Nagapattinam, Tiruvannamalai districts of Tamil Nadu and Karaikal, Puducherry area. On July 8, Kanyakumari district recorded highest amount of rainfall in the state. When its normal recording is expected to be 3.6 mm for the said date, the district received 14.4 mm rainfall, exceeding the normal by 301%. Yet its cumulative for the 8-day period beginning July stands at 172.9 mm, a departure of 19% from its normal recording of 212.5 mm. As for the rest of the state, while July 8 should have cumulatively received 2.4 mm rain in total, it has recorded only 0.3 mm. It’s 8-day average too has a 50% departure, recording 36.1 mm of rain instead of the normal 72.0 mm for the said period.

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Pointing to the continuing caste violence in the state, the court stated that political parties fanned caste based divisions in the state for their benefit.

Priyanka Thirumurthy

Taking suo motu cognisance of the caste killings in Thoothukudi, where a 55-year-old father murdered his daughter and her husband over an inter-caste marriage, the Madras High Court slammed the government and the police on Tuesday. Pointing out to the continuing caste violence in the state, the court stated that political parties fanned caste based divisions in the state for their benefit. The court's observation come following the murder of a couple in Thoothukudi just months after their wedding. Solairaj, 24, a salt pan worker from Thanthai Periyar Nagar who belonged to the Parayar community, was in love with his co-worker A Jothi, 24, who belonged to the Pallar community. Owing to the fact that they belong to different castes, Jothi's family opposed their relationship. But the couple went ahead and got married, only to be brutally slaughtered, allegedly by Jothi's father. A bench consisting of Justices Manikumar and Subramania Prasad pointed out that caste based crimes continue to take place despite the court directing several measures to counter and control them. The court then demanded that the state submit a list of districts with the number of 'honour killings' that have taken place in them and point out where the occurrence is most. The government has also been directed to submit a report on steps taken to prevent caste based crimes, for which they have sought eight weeks time. In April last year, distressed by the killing of young couples in the name of family honour, the Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to implement measures to protect couples. The court had given nine directives that included establishing a special cell in each district to receive complaints of threat to inter-caste couples. The court had given districts three months to constitute these cells. Justice V Ramasubramanian had also directed the government to set apart a fund to protect those fleeing from the threat of murder. The court further expressed displeasure that in the last three years, at least 81 similar caste killing have occurred and that if the government had acted as required, this would not be the case. The bench was further critical of political parties and the police. The judges stated that even in the State Assembly, parties that have been elected give importance to caste and promote communal politics. The court questioned what the status of the bill against Honour killing was in Parliament and demanded answers from the Centre.

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Environment

Chennai is currently in the grips of a serious groundwater crisis, which is being worsened by over-exploitation of this resource in this time of crisis, writes activist Nityanand Jayaraman.

Nityanand Jayaraman

PTI

To understand Chennai’s painful relationship with water, it is important to understand water and its relationship to land. Water that falls from the skies tends to move in two directions: vertically downwards, and laterally down a gradient. The vertical movement is what facilitates groundwater recharge. The lateral movement facilitates drainage. En route its destination to a large water body or the sea, water may encounter depressions where it will gather and stay. Excess water continues to move laterally until it encounters the next water body or joins a larger drain. During its stay in a water body, the water moves upwards (evaporation) and downwards (percolation). The remainder is what we see in a water body. How much water percolates and how much flows away (run-off) depends on the nature of the soil. Sandy soil will soak up the water; run-off will begin only after the sand is saturated. Such areas are great as natural recharge zones. Clayey soils are less permeable than sand; so, when water falls on clayey soils, there is less percolation and more run off. Such soils are also good for location of large surface level storehouses of water. Rainwater percolation pits could be built in such surfaces to facilitate more recharge than would be normally possible due to the clayey nature of the surface soil. Chennai is currently in the grips of a serious groundwater crisis, which is being worsened by over-exploitation of this resource in this time of crisis. Radical steps are required specifically to replenish, conserve and sustainably harvest groundwater. Open spaces are key to replenishing groundwater. However, Chennai’s masterplan itself has sanctioned a groundwater disaster by allowing dense construction in areas critical for groundwater recharge. Slide 1: The tentacle-like formation in Siruseri is a sandy recharge zone where waters from three directions (North, West and South) converge to run east to join the backwaters stretching down to the Kovalam estuary. This natural formation is critical for groundwater recharge in the region. However, this has now been paved over to set up the Siruseri IT Park. Slide 2: Okkiyam Maduvu, visible as a curving waterbody on the top left corner of the slides drains Pallikaranai marshland into the Buckingham Canal. Here, the Canal itself appears to have been carved out of the marshland that extends to the eastern side of the Canal as well. The eastern marshlands enclosed within the red polygon have all but disappeared under the urban onslaught. Slide 3: The lands on either side of the Buckingham Canal are fantastic infrastructure. To the west of the Canal, a large unbuilt marshy land is visible with low-lying lands at the bottom left hand corner. This is the convergence point for waters from that region which then flows in a northeasterly direction to the Canal. To the east of the Canal is sandy soil ideal for recharge. Both have been paved over indiscriminately. Slide 4: The lands surrounding Adyar river near the airport are largely open. Water that falls here will first percolate and then run-off when the land is saturated. The land-use in this region was changed from agriculture (open earth) to paved surface to accommodate a second runway for the Chennai airport. Slide 5: As you read this, encroachment is ongoing at Kovalam Creek. Watch the space bounded by the black line. A structure that appears to be a road is being constructed across the backwater. The western portion will be filled up and constructed upon. These are just five reasons why Chennai will be punished by water – desalination plant or no desalination plant. Nityanand Jayaraman is a Chennai-based writer and social activist

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16-year-old Grandmaster Iniyan wins gold medal Commonwealth Chess Championship

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In pics: How construction in 5 Chennai areas has prevented groundwater recharge