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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Briefly

Encroachments removed

ERODE: Municipal officials on Wednesday removed encroachments at municipal colony and Periyarnagar.

The residents of municipal colony squatted on the road for half-hour when the officials tried to remove a board near a patta land.

The crowd dispersed after the police pacified them. - Staff Reporter

Gram sabhas on May 22

Krishnagiri: The Special gram sabha meetings scheduled to be held in all village panchayats on May 29 has been advanced to May 22, said the Collector, Mangat Ram Sharma here on Wednesday.

The electoral draft list for the assembly constituencies of Thally, Kaveripattinam, Krishnagiri and Bargur would be read out to the public during the meeting.

The Collector appealed to the public to participate in the gram sabha meetings and verify whether their names had been included in the list. Special camps would also be conducted on May 21 and 22 in polling booths for name inclusion and deletion, he said. - Staff Reporter

2 child labourers rescued

Dharmapuri: Two child labourers found working in brick kilns were rescued near here on Tuesday.

On instructions from the Collector, Sudeep Jain, a team conducted surprise raids on 10 brick kilns and rescued the child labourers. The children will be admitted to special schools.

Action has been initiated against the employers under the Child Labour Regulation and Abolition Act 1986. - Staff Reporter

Lorry falls into gorge

YERCAUD: A lorry from Salem which was proceeding to Yercaud lost control while negotiating a curve and fell into a 100-feet gorge in the Salem-Yercaud Ghat road on Tuesday. The driver escaped unhurt. Yercaud police are investigating. - Staff Reporter

Woman relieved of chain

Tuticorin: The police are on the look out for an unidentified gang, who snatched a 73-gram gold chain from a 40-year-old woman at Naalaattinputhur on Tuesday.

Police said Saradha was sleeping in front of her house when the incident occurred. — Staff Reporter

BSNL employees stage dharna

Tuticorin: Telecom employees affiliated to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Employees Union staged a dharna at Tiruchendur on Wednesday.

They demanded the authorities to issue post-paid (CellOne) and pre-paid (Excel) SIM cards through Tiruchendur, Udangudi, Sattankulam, Nazareth and Srivaikundam telephone exchanges also.

Police said 19 employees took part in the agitation. — Staff Reporter

Fisherfolk observe fast

Tuticorin: Fishermen of Taruvaikulam observed a fast here on Wednesday to press their demands, which include speedy disbursal of tsunami relief to them.

They also demanded that diesel should be made available at subsidised prices to the fisherfolk.

Police said 240 fishermen took part in the fast. — Staff Reporter

Gram sabha meeting

Tiruvarur: Special gram sabha meetings were held today at 364 village panchayats in the assembly segments of Tiruvarur, Nannilam, Mannargudi and Thiruthuraipoondi in Tiruvarur district.

P. Ekambaram, Collector, participated in the gram sabha meeting held at Velakudi in Mannargudi block. Draft electoral rolls have been displayed at 800 places in the district. Help desks have been opened at the Collectorate, offices of the Revenue Divisional Officers and taluk offices to help voters. — Staff Reporter

Mettur level

Tiruchi: The water level at the Mettur reservoir stood at 52.50 feet today. The inflow was 853 cusecs and the discharge 887 cusecs. — Staff Reporter

Conditional bail

for S.A. Raja

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to educationist S.A. Raja and three other accused in the murder Aladi Aruna, former Minister in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government and his friend, Ponraj.

While Raja was directed to stay in Chennai and sign before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate daily, K. Ravikumar alias Dog Ravi, Kannan and Paramasivam were asked to stay in Coimbatore and sign before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Justice A.R. Ramalingam, said. — Staff Reporter

New chariot for

Tiruporur temple

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HRCE) department to construct a new wooden chariot for the Kandaswamy temple at Tiruporur in Kancheepuram district.

The Chief Minister's order followed requests from devotees and temple authorities requesting her to provide a chariot, as it did not have one at present. They said the temple, about which saints such as Arunagirinathar, Vallalar and Bamban Swamigal had sung, was now managing with a temporary chariot for the brahmotsavam. (She worshipped at the temple on Monday, when the byelection results were declared.)

The Chief Minister asked the HR and CE department to complete the construction chariot at the earliest. The new chariot would cost Rs. 20 lakhs, says an official release. — Special Correspondent

Computer course for visually handicapped

CHENNAI: The Directorate of Collegiate education has invited applications from visually handicapped students for being trained in computer applications (word processing and spread sheet).

Ten graduate students will be selected to undergo the training, a release said. Applications can be had free of cost from the Presidency College. The last date for completed applications to reach the college is May 31. — Special Correspondent

Special train to Patna

CHENNAI: A special train will be operated between Mangalore and Patna via Chennai Central to clear rush of passengers. The special (0685) will leave Mangalore at 4 p.m. on May 26, arrive at Chennai Central at 8 a.m. on May 27 and reach Patna at 11.45 p.m. on May 28.

The composition of the train will be nine sleeper class, two general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches. Reservation for the special will begin from Thursday, says a railway release. — Special Correspondent

AUT plea on ad hoc appointments

COIMABTORE: The Association of University Teachers (AUT), Tamil Nadu, has urged the State Government to stop making ad hoc appointments for statutory posts of Registrar and Controller of Examinations in the universities.

N. Senthamarai, president, said there was "inordinate delay", extending to years, in making regular appointments to these posts in several universities. "The filling up of such posts on an ad hoc basis is most undesirable, rupturing the efficiency and confidentiality of the administration of the university". He said these appointees were neither able to contribute to the advancement of higher education nor take policy decisions. With regard to such appointments, there was a practice of advertising, interviewing and closing the file temporarily with the note "none found suitable." He appealed to the Chancellor and Pro-chancellor to get these posts filled by qualified persons on a regular basis. — Special Correspondent

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