Rural library contests in Krishnagiri

In an effort to encourage students in rural areas to use libraries, and to help develop their literary talents, the district administration plans to conduct rural library competitions on December 24.

A release from District Collector R. Ananthakumar said that under the flagship programme of Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (AGAMT), emphasis was given to setting up of libraries in rural areas. Under the scheme, it was made mandatory that each village have a library. A total of 205 villages were taken up under the scheme in 2006-07 and 2009-10, and library buildings were constructed.

Basic infrastructure was developed and 1,005 books under different categories supplied to these libraries. An honorary librarian was appointed in each of the AGAMT village libraries.

The panchayats have been asked to submit their detailed action plan in this regard and take decisions at the special Grama Sabha meeting on December 20.

The rural library competition will include spotting geographical places on maps, memory tests based on books in AGAMT libraries, debates, and poetry recitation. The competitions will be held in the respective libraries in the 205 village panchayats. The first two winning candidates would be given prize money of Rs. 200 and Rs. 150 respectively along with certificates.

Dalits from Adi Dravidar Colony, Avadanapatti village, near Krishnagiri have accused three caste Hindu families of encroaching upon a vacant land meant for public purpose in their colony for the last eight years.

Over 50 persons thronged the Collectorate and submitted a petition to District Revenue Officer, C. Prakasam here on Monday demanding that the encroachments be removed.

The Dalits alleged that caste Hindus had erected two flag posts and hoisted a PMK flag and a Vanniyar Sangam flag and fear that it will flare up community clash.

In a petition, they alleged that three persons had encroached upon the land meant for a school and built houses and shops. Besides, the caste Hindu families blocked the flow of sewage into the main outlet from the Dalit colony.

This resulted in stagnation of sewage for more than a year posing serious health hazard to the residents.

Receiving the petition, Mr. Prakasam assured the Dalits to take action with the consultation of District Collector V. Arun Roy, who is away in Chennai on an official visit.

Rally on energy conservation held in Krishnagiri

Employees of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) and school students took out a rally here on Monday to spread awareness among people on the importance of energy conservation.

The rally was flagged off by Mr. S.K. Perumal, Executive Engineer, TANGEDCO near the R.C. Fathima Church in Bangalore Road.

The rally passed through the main thoroughfares such as Telephone Exchange Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Round Tanna, Old Bangalore Road and K. Theatre road before culminating at the TANGEDCO office.

The rally was organised by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) in association to mark the National Energy Conservation Week from December 14 to 20.

Flagging off the rally, Mr. S.K. Perumal appeals the consumers to replace the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps and to use the energy-efficient electrical appliances and install solar water heaters.

Students and employees raised slogans urging people to save energy and use energy efficient appliances at their home and work place. Energy conservation should begin at home.

“Everyone should take precautions to ensure that the electrical appliances are used only when it was absolutely necessary,” the participants stressed.

The employees and students holding the placards that bore the message about ``fast depleting conventional sources of energy and also the growing demand for energy across the world, They also stressed that the increased energy consumption had caused huge damage to the environment. Conserving energy would help protect the Mother Nature.

Pamphlets on energy conservation were also distributed to the public during the rally.

Hogenekkal project will be completed before scheduled time: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin today expressed confidence of completing the Hogenekkal Integrated Drinking water project before the scheduled time of December 2012.

Talking to newspersons after launching the fourth phase of the project to be carried out at a cost of Rs 475 crore, he said the prject, which was scheduled to be completed in December 2012, could be completed before the schedule time.

Mr Stalin, after launching the fourth phase at Thinoor, near here, held discussions with officials and instructed them to speed up the work and complete the project well ahead of the time schedule.

The drinking water project, being implemented at a total cost of Rs 1928.80 crore, would benefit people in 6,755 habitations in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

After the completion of the fourth phase, the fifth and final phase would be taken up at a cost of Rs 360 crore, he said.

Cabinet grants concessions to set up automobile battery unit

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi chairing a Cabinet meeting at the new Secretariat on Monday.

The State Cabinet on Monday decided to provide concessions for Base Corporation to set up a Rs.350-crore plant in Krishnagiri district for manufacturing batteries for automobiles.

The proposed plant will come up in Anekollu village of Denkanikottai taluk and provide direct employment to 400 persons, according to an official release.

The 49th meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and held in the new cabinet chamber at the new Secretariat (Omandurar Government Estate), directed Collectors to carry out quick and proper assessment of human and cattle losses caused by the latest spell of cyclone. The Cabinet also gave its nod for the proposal to reduce stamp duty for purchase of land [in the Guindy Industrial Estate] belonging to the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (TANSI) to house the office of the Cooperative Sugar Federation. Approval was accorded to the merger of TANSI's subsidiary, State Engineering and Servicing Company of Tamil Nadu, with the parent firm.

The meeting ratified the reduction in qualifying marks for admission to engineering colleges.

At the beginning of the meeting, Law Minister Durai Murugan commended the Chief Minister for the construction of the new Assembly complex.

Wanted naxal arrested by 'Q' Branch police

A wanted naxalite, eluding the police net for more than 30 years, was arrested by the 'Q' Branch police, dealing with cases of terrorism and extremism.

'Q' Branch sources said the naxalite, Jeeva, was arrested at Thirunindravur in adjoining Tiruvallur district.

Acting on a tip off, a special team raided his hideout and arrested him.

Several cases had been pending against him.

He was one of the key accused in the murder of one Appasamy in Krishnagiri district, who was killed in a bomb attack several years ago.

He was produced before a Magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. He was later lodged in Puzhal Central prison.

Describing it as a prize catch, the sources said Jeeva was one of the key members of the naxal movement when it was active in Krishnagiri district about three decades ago.

Suspected Bodo militant caught in TN

A Bodo Militant from the North-Eastern State of Assam and three others were detained at Hosur, a place once known for naxal activities, by the Krishnagiri District Police in Tamil Nadu, early today.

Reports received at the police headquarters here said the arrests were made by Special Police following information from their counterparts in Assam.

The police team raided their hideout and detained them. The suspected Bodo Militant was identified as Lang Dang who was working in an industrial unit in Hosur.

His brother Vinay Kumar Baswa Chari and two others who had given them shelter --Raja Koda and Vinay-- were also detained for interrogation.

Police said the Assam Police were informed of the detention. A team from the North Eastern State was expected to land in Hosur to take them to Assam after obtaining necessary warrants.

CPI (M) demands digging of new canal from South Pennar River

P. Dillibabu, Harur CPI (M) M.L.A. at the demonstration in front of the Shoolagiri Panchayat Union office recently. Photo: N. Bashkaran.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged the State Government to bring water to Shoolagiri and Maruthandapalli lakes by digging a new canal from South Pennar River at Gamonthotti area.

Speaking at a demonstration in front of the Panchayat Union Office in Shoolagiri recently, the party's MLA from Harur, P. Dillibabu, appealed to the district administration to review the scheme as it would help farmers to undertake cultivation without depending on rain water.

He also demanded the administration to speed up the process of retrieving the land from encroachers allotted for construction of bus stand abutting Krishnagiri-Bangalore National Highway.

Steps should also be initiated to allot a common burial ground.

The party also urged the administration to set up high mast lamps at important junctions in the town and construction of compound wall for the Shoolagiri Government Higher Secondary School.

Mr. Babu alleged that the State Government was denying patta to poor people.

He also alleged that the Government was silently withdrawing the two-acre free land without any announcement. More than 15 lakh poor people were not given free house site patta. D. Ravindarn, District Secretary, CPI (M) demanded an exclusive market complex for vegetables, green leaves and mint leaves, which is grown in large quantity in and around Shoolagiri. Over 300 party cadres participated in the meeting.

S. Anwar, Shoolagiri Union Member, presided over the demonstration. C. Munusamy, R. Sekar, S.R. Jayaraman among others participated.

e-district programme to be launched on October 15

Collecting details: Collector V. Arun Roy (right) inspecting the Common Service Centre at Bargur on Monday.

The e-district programme will be launched in Krishnagiri on October 15 as part of the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP). As a prelude to this, Collector V. Arun Roy inspected the functioning of the Common Service Centre (CSC) at Bargur town, near here, on Monday.

The Common Service Centres in the district were franchised to the 221 unemployed youths. The nodal agency for CSCs is SREI Sahaj e-Village Limited.

Mr. Roy checked how people send their petitions through CSC, how the rail ticket reservation facility is being utilised and how many people are visiting the centre.

Later, the Collector also gave instructions to the franchisee that the petitions submitted by the general public were sent to the Village Administrative Officers and the concerned official immediately.

The officials should verify the details after the field visit and issue the necessary certificates to the beneficiary as quick as possible.

Among the services that will be offered by the CSCs are booking tickets, recharging accounts, banking transactions, financial inclusion and access to various e-governance initiatives. Each valid user would get a Citizen Account Number that would eventually be replaced with the unique identification number.

A one-time registration would suffice. Currently, a user can obtain certificates of birth, death, community, nativity and solvency.

Rajagopal, Tahsildhar, E. Dwarka Prasad, District Manager, SREI Sahaj e-Village Limited and T. Manoharan, Public Relations Officer accompanied the Collector.

Confederation of Private Schools formed

A Confederation of Private Schools in Krishnagiri district was formed recently. V. Chandrasekaran, Correspondent of Sri Vidya Mandir School, Uthangarai was elected district president.

Mr. Chandrasekaran told reporters here that the new organisation was formed to bring unity among private schools in the district in fighting for their legitimate and genuine demands.

Mr. Chandrasekaran said the school fees fixed by the Justice Govindarajan Committee was against natural justice. The federation demanded that they should be allowed to collect Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 a student from Standard VI to Plus- Two and Rs.12,000 to Rs. 16,000 from LKG to Standard V in all schools.

The association demanded that a seat be allocated to private education institutions in the coming MLC election in the state. Private institution should announce a common candidate for contesting the elections on their behalf in all the seven Graduates and seven teacher constituencies in the state.

The meeting decided to convene a district conference of confederation on October 9 at Krishnagiri, in which teachers working in all streams and staff working in private schools will participate.

The following are the other office-bearers of the confederation: R. Kongarasan, Nalanda School, Krishnagiri (district secretary); Selvaraj, Selva Matriculation School, Bargur (district deputy secretary); Sridhar, Parimalam Matriculation School, Hosur; A. Noorullah Sherief, Cresent School, Karapattu; and K. Sivaraj, Annai Veilankanni School, Bargur (vice-presidents); S. Annamalai, Rotary School, Krishnagiri (district treasurer).

Private bus operators' fare high

Private bus operators started fleecing the rural passengers with fare hike, without proper permission from the competent authorities. They have increased the fare arbitrarily all of a sudden without any prior information to the public.

Heated arguments between the passengers and crew members have become a common scene in many routes from and to Krishnagiri, such as Tirupathur, Hosur and Dharmapuri and Uthanagarai in the district.

The fare hike by the private bus operators was also raised at the farmers’ grievances meeting by Mr. S. Alagirisamy, District Secretary of the BSNL Employees Union of the combined districts of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, on Thursday.

While replying to the complaint, Collector Mr. Arun Roy said that he too received some complaints from the public and the Regional Transport Officers were asked to check this menace immediately. Show-cause notice was also issued to one of the operators in this regard.

Further to this, a survey conducted by this correspondent on Friday morning revealed that many private bus operators are fleecing the public despite a severe warning by Mr. N. Palanivelu, Regional Transport Operator, in September.

A private bus plying between Hosur and Krishnagiri was charging Rs. 18 on Friday (original fare was Rs. 15.50). Another operator collected Rs. 11 from Pochampalli to Krishnagiri as against the original fare of Rs. 10. Like wise Rs. 6 was collected from Bargur to Krishnagiri as against the original fare of Rs. 5 and Rs. 8 instead of Rs. 7 from Karimangalam to Krishnagiri. Of the four operators, one issued ticket even without the name of the transport.

Mr. N. Palanivelu told The Hindu that he was asked to take action against the private operators by Collector Mr. V. Arun Roy on September 27. Upon his instruction he had convened a meeting of the private operators the next day and instructed not to increase the fare, failing which, severe action would be initiated. A circular was also issued to all the private operators in this regard, the following day.

The Inspectors attached to the Office of the RTO were conducting surprise checks and slapped fines for overload and other violations etc.

Mr. Palanivelu also assured that he will look into this issue immediately and will take suitable action in this regard.

D. Ravindran, District Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) told The Hindu that it is an act of injustice to the rural masses. Unofficially the government had given its green signal for hiking the fare to the private operators, he alleged. He said, the party is vehemently opposing the fare hike.

Karunanidhi inaugurates Indian Bank branches through video conferencing

A live feed from the hamlet, beamed into the Chief Minister’s chambers showed him and the top brass of the Indian Bank. "This is the first branch of Indian Bank under its financial inclusion plan," the Bank Chairman and Managing Director T.M.Bhasin told The Hindu, minutes ahead of the inauguration.

The branch meant a lot for the people – Self Help Groups would have better access to credit and all the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme could be channelised through the bank, leaving no scope for any wrong doing on the payment part.

In all, the Chief Minister inaugurated 21 branches and 31 ATMs of the Indian Bank spread across 11 States and two Union Territories. In a short speech after the inauguration, the Chief Minister lauded the Bank for lending to the priority sector and also SHGs in Tamil Nadu.

Of the branches inaugurated on Wednesday, apart from the Kurubarapalli branch, two microsate branches at Kaveripatnam (Krishnagiri) and Usilampatti (Madurai) will focus exclusively on financing to Self Help Groups.

Mr.Bhasin said that with the 52 banking outlets, the number of Indian Bank branches jumped to 1796. It also had 1062 ATMs. Of the total, Tamil Nadu had 768 branches (43 per cent of the total) and 532 ATMs.

Anup Sankar Bhattacharya, Executive Director of Indian Bank said that the Bank will continue to focus on priority sector in the coming years.

Heavy rush at District Employment Exchange

A total of 1,190 people, including 660 women, registered their B.Ed qualifications with the District Employment Office here on Monday, said K. Gandhi, Employment Officer on Tuesday.

He said four special counters, two each for men and women, were opened at the exchange to clear the mad rush to ensure the seniority in government postings.

Men and women thronged the exchange at the cooperative colony from early morning. Most of them came with their spouses and children and parents.

Police personnel were deployed to control the crowd.

Candidates were made to sit on the terrace of the building for certificate verifications prior to the registration.

Candidates who have finished their B.Ed in other districts and native of Krishnagiri district were allowed to register their names.

Special sale launched at Co-optex

The HinduCollector V. Arun Roy (left) glancing at a silk saree show-cased the Co-optex showroom in Krishnagiri after inaugurating the Deepavali discount sale on Thursday. Photo: N. Sridharan

A 30 per cent special rebate sale for Deepavali festival was launched at the Co-optex outlet in Krishnagiri on Thursday.

Collector Mr. V. Arun Roy inaugurated the special rebate sale and had a glance at the silk and designer sarees show-cased at the outlet.

Inaugurating the sale, Mr. Roy made an appeal to the public to join in the regular monthly savings schemes introduced by the Co-optex, for the members of the savings scheme need not pay the last instalment, as it would be borne by the Co-optex as an incentive.

He said the sales target fixed for the Deepavali season was Rs. 50 lakhs. During the last Deepavali season the sales was Rs. 39 lakhs.

The sales in the outlet touched Rs. 38.90 lakhs between April 1 to August 31 this year against the (2010-2011) sales target of Rs. 1.60 crore. The total sales during the last fiscal (2009-2010) was Rs. 1.38 crore, as it was the Platinum Jubilee for the Co-optex, he added.

He said the sales target fixed for the Salem region for the current financial year was Rs. 21 crore. Deepavali special sales target fixed for the year is Rs. 6.45-crore against the sales of Rs. 5.14 crore during the last fiscal.

To mark the festival celebrations, additional 5 per cent rebate would be given to the students and media personnel.

New designer saris and other textile materials were introduced for this festive season for sale across the 13 sales outlets in Salem region which includes Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

Pochampalli school set on fire after boy's death

A mob went on the rampage and set on fire a private school in Pochampalli in Krishnagiri district of western Tamil Nadu as a 11th class boy was run over by the school bus right in front of the building on Monday morning.

Ten rooms, including seven classrooms were damaged in the incident, but the 1,300 students escaped without injury. As the angry mob entered the school campus, the police safely escorted the students out of their classrooms. The school correspondent is absconding and a search is on, police said.

"No student is injured. We safely brought them out of the classrooms," Bargur DSP K Gunasekaran told TOI.
Around 8.40am, 16-year-old Suresh Krishnan had reached the entrance of the Anna Arivagam school on the Pochampalli Main Road when one of the school buses hit him head-on.

The boy lay dead in a pool of blood right in front of his school. The bus was just coming out of the campus after dropping about 50 students when the tragedy took place. "The boy suddenly swerved left and the bus driver could not control the vehicle and hit him," said a police official.

Within 10 minutes, the bereaved father Krishnan, who is a tailor in Pochampalli, arrived with his relatives and friends and demanded action against the school authorities. Police reinforcements arrived and the local police personnel tried to pacify him. As the crowds swelled and the situation threatened to go out of control, the police asked the students to leave the campus immediately.

While the students were scampering out, a mob entered the campus and barged into the office of correspondent K Syed. As he was not available, the mob set ablaze his office, computer and records rooms on the ground floor.

The degree certificates of some of the teachers which were kept in the records room were also burnt by the mob.
Then they entered the first storey of the three-storeyed school building and torched seven classrooms. All the tables and chairs in the classrooms were burnt.

Meanwhile, additional police reinforcements descended on the campus and drove away the rioting crowd. Fire fighters too rushed in and battled the blaze for nearly four hours. The police arrested bus driver Muvendran, 30, for rash and negligent driving.

The English-medium school was sought after by parents in the villages in and around Pochampalli and Bargur. Police suspect the mob attacked the school because the correspondent was known to be strict and had refused admission for the children of some of the locally influential people. Police are searching for the miscreants who went on the campus rampage.

Hubli Railway Division protet in Hosur

Protest: Members of Hosur Payanigal Membattu Sangam staging a demonstration in front of the Hosur Railway Station on Sunday.

HOSUR: Hosur Payanigal Membattu Sangam has demanded bringing rail routes near Hosur under Salem Railway Division and accused the Hubli Railway Division of sidelining Tamil Nadu’s interests.

Opposing the “step-motherly” treatment being meted out by the Hubli Railway Division, more than 700 members, including 200 women and children, staged a demonstration in front of the Hosur Railway Division on Sunday. They said their agitations and petitions to Railway authorities, Central ministers and peoples’ representatives did not evoke the desired response.

The association demanded train services to Chennai from Hosur via Bangalore until a permanent rail link was established between Jolarpet to Hosur via Krishnagiri and asked for extension of the recently introduced Bangalore-Anekkal train to Hosur.

It also sought introduction of Bangalore-Hosur-Erode fast passenger, operation of Nagercoil-Mumbai express weekly thrice, halt of Kochchuveli-Yeshwantpur Garibrath express at Hosur.

It also asked for a new train service between Mysore-Rameswaram via Hosur, daily inter-city train to Bangalore from Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore, creation of new rail route to Jolarpet from Hosur via Krishnagiri and early implementation of the Karur-Salem railway line project. Krishsnadoss, vice-president, Hosur Payanigal Membatttu Sangam led the agitation. R. Ramalingam, president, HOSTIA, Durai, president,

Federation of Residents’ Welfare Association, Hosur, and Venkatrama Reddy, former Hosur MLA participated.

Hosur-Krishnagiri road project goes to Relince-Infra

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) on Thursday announced that it had won the Rs.925-crore Hosur-Krishnagiri road project from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Tamil Nadu.

The six-laning of the 60-km Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch on NH 7 will be built on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) toll basis. “Reliance Infrastructure is happy to win the Hosur–Krishnagiri project, which is the 10th road project of the company,” the company said in a statement here.

The Hosur-Krishnagiri project will start generating revenue immediately after achieving financial closure which is expected within the next six months. The company will spend on the six-laning and maintenance of Hosur-Krishnagiri section of NH-7. The company said it bagged the project facing stiff competition from 15 other bidders based on highest premium amount of Rs.66.90 crore.

Krishnagiri-Puducherry NH requires repair

Mr. Sugavanam made an appeal at the Lok Saba recently that the NH 66 was converted to National Highways three years ago, immediately after that the government allocated Rs. 700 crore for repairing the damaged road. In spite of this, the maintenance work is yet to start on this stretch of 200 km.

The M.P. demands the Ministry of Highways to take up the project on SOS basis to benefit lakhs of people including foreigners who throng in large numbers at the Thiruvannamalai Shrine Temple and the GIPMER hospital and Aravindar Ashram in Puducherry.

Due to the absence of maintenance work, the road was badly damaged and the condition was unmotorable in several stretches leading to frequent accidents.

3 daily wage workers died of electrocution in Krishnagiri

Three daily wage workers were died of electrocution while erecting a flag-post for a religious outfit on Sunday.

According to police, R. Ananthan, S. Suresh both hailing from Annamalai Nagar and N. Udayakumar of Chinna Elathagiri were electrocuted and thrown for some distance when the flag-post they were erecting came in to contact with a overhead live wire.

They were rushed to Hosur General Hospital and were pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.

It was told that Ananthan and Suresh were cadres of Hindu Munnani and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

Bodies of the employees were handed over to the families of the deceased. Hosur SIPCOT police have registered a case and investigating.

Hogenakkal drinking water scheme to be completed before 2012

The Rs 1,928.8 crore Hogenakkal Drinking Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project works were under progress and potable drinking water would be supplied in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts before the stipulated project completion period of 2012, Tamil Nadu Deputy chief minister MK Stalin said today.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting the ongoing works of the Japanese aided project and water treatment plant and construction of two ground level reservoirs of 120 lakh litre capacity each in Madam village, Stalin said as per instructions from chief minister M Karunanidhi, the works on these projects were were being included under 'special care'.

He said works on the projects were scheduled to be completed in five phases in two segments.

The first segment comprised of 1,2,3 and 4 phases which were started on February 22 this year and scheduled to be completed within 30 months.

The water treatment works were started on April 14, he said.

The works for the second phase was inaugurated today for the construction of six lakh litre water capacity ground level reservoir (GLR) in Dharmapuri town and 14 lakh litre water capacity GLR work in Savulur village in Nallampalli union.

He said all the works were being undertaken within the Tamil Nadu border and there was no violation of crossing borders to Karnataka.

Earlier, Stalin launched the newly constructed Rs 4.90 crore Pennagaram Town Panchayat Drinking Water Development Scheme.

Three hospitals in Krishnagiri to get blood storage facilities

Three government hospitals in Denkanikottai, Shoolagiri and Uthagarai will soon get blood storage facilities. Steps in this regard were decided during a meeting at the District Headquarters Hospital in Krishnagiri on Saturday.

After inspecting the facilities at the hospital, Mr. Arun Roy, Collector and Mr. M. Masilamani, Joint Director about the functioning of the hospital came up with the plan to improve the facilities for the patients at Denkanikottai, Shoolagiri, Pochampalli and Thaly.

Mr. Roy instructed the officials to pursue the matter with the Drugs and Quality Control Inspectors and get the nod for opening blood storage facilities at Denkanikottai, Shoolagiri and Uthangarai hospitals.

Officials were directed to appoint more sanitary works to keep the General Hospital clean and two additional dhobis for washing the clothes.

Mr. Roy also asked the officials to get a maximum interest for the Perpetual Fund of Rs. 89 lakh created by the then collectors’ for the Patient Welfare Society through public contributions.

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees fight for MBBS

Chennai: Nagaraj, a 17-year-old staying at Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district, scored a cut-off percentile of 197.75 out of 200 in the 12th standard. But he did not get admission to the MBBS course in a government college: Reason: he is the son of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees A Karuppaiah and Annakilli, who arrived in India from Vavuniya in the early 1990s.

Though born in India, Nagaraj does not have citizenship rights because of the refugee status of his parents. Fortunately for Nagaraj, Agaram Foundation (founded by film actor Suriya) intervened and ensured his admission to a private medical college under the management quota.

The foundation has taken up the onus of paying Nagaraj’s fee. “I approached the foundation asking them to sponsor my engineering education as my second choice. I knew that pursuing medical education in a private college will be impossible. But thanks to Agaram, I can now hope to become a doctor,” a relieved Nagaraj told DNA.

Agaram officials agreed that Nagaraj had applied for aid for pursuing engineering. “We have a stringent process of selecting beneficiaries, which includes a visit to their homes. On interacting with him, we got to know that his real aspiration was to become a doctor,” the officials said.

But there are scores of children like Nagaraj whose aspirations of professional education will remain unfulfilled despite scoring well. According to the Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation (OfERR), there are nearly 20,000 school-going children among Sri Lankan refugees.

Ramanathan, a 24-year-old staying at the Trichy camp, has a sorry tale to tell. A class topper, he too wanted to pursue medicine and got admission in a private college in Salem in 2005. He was supported by his brother from Sri Lanka, but had to discontinue his studies after his brother died.

“My parents first came to India in 1986 and went back when they were told the ethnic conflict had ended. They were forced to return in 1990 and we have been staying at the Trichy camp since then. I completed my 12th in 2004 and joined a private medical college in Salem in 2005. But I had to discontinue it after my brother died in 2006. My mother returned to Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, there was a change in the college management and the new management demanded the full fee,” he lamented.

Ramanathan, who is now staying with his aged father at the Trichy camp, works in a provision store. He is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.

OfERR director (advocacy) M Sakkariyas said every year his organisation pleads with the Centre to provide the refugee children admissions in professional courses. “We have so far not got a positive response from the Centre,” he said.

There is some good news though. The state recently announced that the refugee children could seek admission in colleges affiliated to Anna University through counselling process. The counselling is in August 11 and 12.

The Hindu Students of the Government Middle School in Kuralnatham village in Veppanahalli Panchayat Union being screened for food poisoning at the PHC in Veppanahalli in Krishnagiri district on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: N. Bashkaran

Over hundred students complained of vomiting and giddiness after having eaten food at the noon meal centres at two government schools in Krishnagiri on Wednesday.

According to sources, as soon as the students ate the food which had egg at the noon meal centre at the Government Middle School in Kuralnatham village, Veppanahalli Panchayat Union, four vomitted, and many others complains of giddiness in the afternoon.

Soon after, the students — 44 male and 36 female — were rushed to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Veppanahalli with the help of 108 EMRI and police ambulances. Many students went home after taking first aid at the PHC. In the evening, three students were given glucose intravenously and all were were said to be out of danger.

A team of doctors led by Dr. Mohamed Noorudin screened the students who were then given first aid at the PHC.

110 students affected in another school

Meanwhile, 94 male, 16 female students from the Government Middle School at Nekkunthi in Periyamuthur Panchayat near Krishnagiri were admitted with complaints of vomiting and giddiness at the District Headquarters Government Hospital in the afternoon. All except three children were given first aid at the hospital.

Krishnagiri Tahsildhar K. Rajagopal, Revenue Divisional Officer A. Noor Mohamed visited the school and the Primary Health Centre.

It was alleged that rotten eggs were the reason for the food poisoning in both the schools. Preliminary investigation is on, said revenue officials.

Israeli agronomists train Tamil Nadu mango growers

These agronomists study the trees, which are over three decades old and suggest pruning of certain parts of the trees, sans causing any damage.

"Mango is a major fruit crop of Tamil Nadu. Nearly 1, 00,000 hectares of land is under mango cultivation. The average yield of the state is nearly eight to 10 metric tonnes per hectare, whereas the average yield of Israel country is 20 to 25 metric tonnes per hectare. They are getting three times of yield than us. Hence, we are very much interested to adopt the technologies that has (have) been followed in Israel," said Subbian, Joint Director of Horticulture Department, Krishnagiri.

Under the National Horticulture Mission, the Indian government has procured two machines used in the Canopy Management Pruning System Machine.

These machines boast of multi functions such as plucking fruits to reduce post harvest losses and spraying insecticides.

"We are here to demonstrate the rejuvenation of old gardens, which are about 57 years old, in a gradual way. We will be rejuvenating this orchard; we have four different manners (means), which we will be trying here. This is a test programme between three and seven years, which we will be following up in collaboration with the Department of Horticulture here," said Cliff love, an Israeli horticulture scientist.

Kidnapped baby rescued;

A kidnapped male baby was rescued by a special team of police within 24 hours of the occurrence of the crime on Wednesday.

Police sources said that R. Ramakka of Kamarajar Colony in Berigai in Krishnagiri district lost her three-month-old child at the new bus stand in Krishnagiri on Tuesday.

The child was allegedly kidnapped when Ramakka left the baby to the care of Dhanalakshmi, hailing from Krishnan Koil Street in Krishnagiri, to buy food for her daughter.

On return, she found the woman missing with the baby. She lodged a complaint with the Krishnagiri town police station.

The police traced Dhanalakshmi and on enquiry she confessed that she had handed over the infant to a couple Siva and Girija, residing at Perambur in Chennai.

On direction from A.G. Babu, Superintendent of Police, a special team rushed to Chennai and rescued the baby and handed over to Ramakka on Wednesday.

Dhanalakshmi, Rani and Girija were arrested by Krishnagiri town police.

Higher mango prices leave a sour taste in the mouth

Unusually this mango season has seen lesser arrivals and higher prices, taking the fruit beyond the reach of most of the commoners in Karur district.

With the arrival of summer, several seasonal fruits make their appearance. They include varieties of mangoes, cucumber, watermelon, palm fruit besides coconut from several places. They not only quench the thirst of parched throats but also tickle the taste buds, enticing the people with their everlasting appeal.

Traditional horticulturists say that the yield would be good in alternative years, with one dull year interspersing two good seasons. But this year has fallen in the low ebb as far as yield and consequently arrivals are concerned, pushing up the prices across all varieties from common varieties to exquisite ones.

“This crop season has not been beneficial to us as too hot a climate during the flowering period, windy and rainy germination stage conspired with hot sunny weather conditions during the fruit growth cycle hampered yield,'' points out working president of Cauvery Delta Farmers' Welfare Association and major mango grower Mahadanapuram V. Rajaram.

There have been very heavy losses in the mango gardens raised at Mahadanapuram, Krishnarayapuram, Karungalapalli, Thanneerpalli and Nadupatti in Karur district. The returns have been poor and the produce is not fetching us remunerative prices either, aver the growers. In fact some growers say that they have been offered only half the regular lease rates, courtesy the lesser yield in the gardens in several areas.

In some other areas of Karur district, the yield has been less than one-third plunging the growers into despair. “What to do we are left to the mercy of nature and it has played truant this year,'' rues C. Govindasamy of Karur noting that his gardens have got him only half the regular lease prices and that too after much bargaining.

Whatever was left of the gardens was cleaned up by the recent gale and strong winds followed by rain over the past three days.

As for the retail customers and common man, those fruits that were selling at Rs. 20 to 30 a kg have become dearer by another Rs. 20 or more as the arrivals dwindled. Sendura variety sells for Rs. 30 and 40 a kg, Banganapalli Rs. 50 to 60 a kg, Alphonsa Rs. 60 to Rs. 70 a kg and Himam Pasanth Rs. 100 a kg.

The arrivals even from Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri besides those from Andhra Pradesh have been pretty less and so the price is reigning high, point out retailers who are hit hard and were finding it difficult to to cart sale and head load sales.

Israeli scientists to train Krishnagiri farmers

Sharing views:Israeli diplomat Avribarzur (left), Counselor - MASHAV (Science & Agriculture) at its embassy in New Delhi, holding discussion with Collector V.K. Shanmugam in Krishnagiri recently. —

KRISHNAGIRI: Israeli scientists will give training to farmers of Krishnagiri on latest technologies available in agriculture sector, Collector V.K. Shanmugam said here recently.

Israeli diplomat Avribarzur, Counselor - MASHAV (Science & Agriculture) at its embassy office in New Delhi, visited the district two days last week. During his stay here, he went round the poly green-houses and studied cultivation of vegetables and flowers under horticulture in Krishnagiri, Hosur and Kelamangalam areas.

He inspected the poly green-houses set up with government subsidy in Chinna Vellatharapalli, Pennapalli and Achettipalli areas in Hosur.

He enquired about the cultivation of capsicum and rose on small land holdings by the farmers with the help of the Agriculture Department.

Methods

With regard to methods of cultivation and fertilization, Mr. Avribarzur advised the farmers to reduce the application of fertilizers and liquefied fertilizers.

He also visited the agriculture fields where cabbage and beans are being cultivated using the precision farming method.

Later, he visited the mango orchards at Veppalampatti, Mahadevagollahalli and Jagadevi near Krishnagiri.

Later, he interacted with Mr. Shanmugam and officials from Agriculture, Horticulture and Agriculture Engineering Departments at the Collectorate.

Mr. Shanmugam said that the salubrious climate in the district was suitable for mango cultivation.

Hence, he requested Mr. Avribarzur to give training to the farmers on latest technologies to reap maximum benefits and extend technical know-how available in Israel.

Mr. Avribarzur said that he would send a team of agriculture experts in July this year to give training to the farmers in Krishnagiri district.

During the inspection, R Subbaian, Additional Director of Horticulture, accompanied Mr. Avribarzur.

First rural BPO in Krishnagiri District boosts employment

The first government-run rural BPO in Chennai's Krishnagiri District is proving to be a boon for youths wanting jobs.

At present over one hundred rural youth, both male and female, in the age group of 18 to 35 years are employed at Fostering Technologies in Rural Area (FOSTeRA), the BPO established in year 2007 by District of Rural Development Agency (DRDA).

The employees here earn a monthly salary of Rs 5000 to Rs 8,000.

"The objective is to take IT to rural areas and to provide employment and also create entrepreneurship. The rural BPO provides employment for local people in the age group of 18 to 35, with the qualification of plus two, graduate and above," said Ashok Kumar, CEO, FOSTeRA.

The nature of the job is voice process and non-voice process. About 300 young people have already been put through voice and non-voice training.

"Here it is night as well as day shift. I have got job to work in day shift. The call center has hired many rural people," said Anjana, an employee.

FOSTeRA Krishnagiri, is planning to increase its capacity from the present 25 to about 500 by the end of October, and after that it will employee around 1000 people working in two shifts.

Multi-national companies like telecom and banking are looking at FOSTeRA to outsource their help desk, credit card processing, form filling and editing work. (ANI)

Heavy rain lashes Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri

Heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning occurred at many parts of Krishangiri and Dharmapuri districts on Monday evening.

Widespread rain occurred at Dharmapuri, Pennagaram, Harur and Pappireddipatti in Dharmapuri district.

Power supply was affected at many places as TNEB officials took precaution to prevent untoward incidents. Trees got uprooted at Anchetti and Denkanikottai.

A coconut tree was caught fire in the lightning at Theerthagiri Valasai village in Vellakkuttai Panchayat near Uthangarai.

Rainfall

Theerthagiri, tahsildar, Uthangarai, visited the affected places.

Anchetti registered a maximum rain of 37 mm. Rainfall registered in Krishnagiri district are: Hosur and Nedungal 26 mm, Denkanikottai 24, Uthangarai 19, Royakottai 18, Krishnagiri 16 and Thaly 7 mm.

Police adopt village in Melpoongurithi

P. Sivanandi, Inspector General of Police, West Zone, addressing at an awareness programme at the Melpoonguruthi village in Bargur Panchayat Union on Tuesday.

The Department of Police, Tamil Nadu, adopted Melpoongurithi village in Bargur Panchayat Union located on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border on Tuesday. Launching an awareness programme at the village, Inspector General of Police, West Zone, P. Sivanandi instructed villagers to alert the police if they found anyone roaming under suspicious circumstances in and around their village.

Mr. Sivanandi said the informer's confidentiality would be maintained and they would be rewarded.

He said such awareness programmes would help strengthen the bond between the people and the police, paving way for crime-free villages in the region.

Through such programmes, the district police along with the local police will help villages get the necessary basic amenities like water, road, street light.

The police will also help identify sponsors to educate children and get employment for educated youths of the village, he added.

As many as 500 children were sponsored by the police in the Coimbatore region alone. A barber's son who could not continue his professional education was supported by the police.

Besides this, the police would arrange loans through banks and financial institutions for buying milch animals to improve the livelihood of the villagers, Mr. Sivanandi said. He also announced a reward of Rs. 1,000 for informers.

Deputy Inspector General of Police G. Venkatraman said the Melpunguruthi village was selected for the awareness programme because of its crime-free record.

V.G. Rajendran, Chairman, Bargur Panchayat Union said, people cultivating in small piece of lands in the forests for a longer period were denied patta by the forest department. Because of this, they were finding it difficult to lead their life.

He requested the police department to take up the issue with the government and help the villagers get patta for the land in which they were undertaking cultivation..

Superintendent of Police A.G. Babu welcomed the gathering. Additional Superintendent of Police D. Magesh Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Bargur, K. Gunasekaran and Inspector of Police Rajkumar, among others, attended the awareness programme.

Scant rainfall hits export of mango pulp in Tamil Nadu

The export of mango pulp from Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri region has been adversely hit due to inadequate rainfall during the northeast monsoon this year.

Incidentally, Krishnagiri is the second largest exporter of pulp in India and second largest producer of mangoes in the world.

Krishnagiri and the neighbouring Dharmapuri district boasts of more than 45,000 hectares of mango orchards, with a total annual output of mangoes in the range of over 300,000 tonnes.

A major part of the processed pulp is exported to the Middle East and European countries.

In 2009, around 11,250 tonnes of pulp were exported to foreign countries.

"Last year, we had produced 8,500 containers that is 1,50,000 tonnes of mango pulp. Out of which 75 percent was exported and 25 percent was used for domestic purposes," said Madhavan, Managing Director, Paiyur Fruit Private Limited, Krishnagiri.

The annual total turnover in mango pulp industry is around five billion rupees, but it is speculated that it would be bleak to the extent of 50 percent as compared to the previous season.

"This year the graph of mango pulp production is drastically affected due to monsoon failure. We are expecting only 25 percent of production as compared to last year," said Madhavan.

Seven child labourers rescued in Hosur

Seven child labourers were rescued from brick kilns in Hosur area, said a release from Collector V.K. Shanmugam said here on Monday.

The release said those rescued were: Latha (13), Murali (14), Siva (14), Soundarya (14), Perumal (11), Kalaivani (10), Raman (9).

Officials are taking efforts to admit these children in special schools run by the National Child Labour Project or Residential Bridge Schools in the district.

Action

Legal action has been initiated against employers who had engaged the children to perform hard work in their brick kiln. Inspector of Factories Dinakaran, Medical Officer, Latha, Project Officer, Project Officer, NCLP and Balachandran, Field Officer, NCLP were involved in the rescue operation.

170 students score centum in core subject

A total of 170 students secured centum in core subjects in the March 2010 Plus-Two examinations.

M. Baskaran, Chief Education Officer told The Hindu on Saturday that 82 students secured centum in mathematics, 9 in physics, 26 in chemistry, 26 in biology, 11 in computer science, three in commerce, nine in accountancy and four in economics.

Toppers

The following are the toppers in languages:

Tamil – U. Gayatri (197), S.V. Mandir MHSS, Uthangarai; English – C. Karunya (195), S.V. Mandir MHSS, Uthangarai; Telugu – G. Saraswathi (188), Government G. HSS, Hosur; Urdu – A. Gazala Sultana (180), Govt. Urdu HSS, Hosur; Kannada – A. Madhushree (188), Maharishi HSS, SIPCOT, Hosur; Hindi – K.S. Anupama (191) St. Joseph's MHSS, SIPCOT, Hosur; Sanskrit – R. Shruthi (198), Maharishi HSS, Hosur; French – R. Prasad (180), Maharishi HSS, Hosur.

Mr. Baskaran said that District Education Department is planning to hold intensive special coaching classes for over 900 students who lost in mathematics examinations.

Coaching classes

The coaching classes would be conducted in two batches in Krishnagiri and Hosur towns with the help of NGOs in the district, who have come forward to volunteer themselves for the cause of educating poor children.

These students can write the supplementary examinations to be conducted during June and continue their higher studies without wasting one year, he adds.

Girls outshine boys in Plus-Two examinations

Krishnagiri District Collector V.K. Shanmugam (second right) giving away Rs. 5,000 each and a trophy to State second rank holders C. Karunya (left) and M. Dinesh (second left) at Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Krishangiri on Friday. M. Baskaran (right), Chief Educational Officer, is in the picture.

M. Shantini, Sri Vidya Mandhir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Uthangarai.

M. Shantini, Sri Vidya Mandhir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Uthangarai.

M. Shantini, Sri Vidya Mandhir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Uthangarai.

KRISHNAGIRI: As usual, this year too girls outshone boys in the Plus-Two examinations. A total of 15,909 students (8043 boys; 7866 girls) appeared for the 2010 examinations in the Krishnagiri revenue district comprising Krishnagiri and Hosur Education Districts. Out of this 12,232 students (5988 boys; 6244 girls) passed. The pass percentage of the district jumped to 76.89 per cent this year from 72 per cent during the last academic year.

Due to the constant efforts of the district administration, education department with the help of the non-Governmental agencies, the performances of the Government Higher Secondary Schools rose by 5 per cent than the last year, V.K. Shanmugam, Collector told The Hindu.

Constant efforts and inspections of schools that have performed poorly during the last academic year (2008-09) and through personal motivation helped a lot, Mr. Shanmugam added.

C. Karunya, M. Dinesh of Sri Vidya Mandir Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Uthangarai, scored 1,186 out of 1,200 becoming second in the state. M. Dinesh scored centum in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics and 193 each in Tamil and English.

C. Karunya of the same school got centum in biology and mathematics, 198 each in physics and chemistry and 195 each in Tamil and English. Both of them are district toppers in Krishnagiri district.

M. Shanthni and M. Saranya of the same school came second scoring 1,182. Shanthini got centum in physics and mathematics and scored 198 in biology and 199 in chemistry, 190 in English and 195 in Tamil. Saranya scored 199 each in physics, chemistry and biology, 198 in mathematics, 194 in Tamil and 193 in English.

R. Vinodhini of the same school came third in the revenue district with a total of 1,181 with centum in mathematics and physics. All these candidates are district toppers in the Krishnagiri Education District.

In Hosur Education District G. Sandhya of Maharishi Matriculation Higher Secondary School came first by scoring 1,180 marks.

P. Balasubramani of the same school came second with 1,178 marks. Kaviya K. Srinivasulu, K. Kathiresan, G. Kalpana and Sabana Sulthana came third scoring 1,172 marks.

Certificate verification process for teachers' posts begins

The process of verifying the certificates of 732 candidates to fill in the vacancies for the post of Graduate Assistants in Government High and Middle Schools began in Krishnagiri on Wednesday.

Chief Education Officer M. Baskaran inspected the verification process at the Government Boys High Secondary School in Krishnagiri.

Speaking to The Hindu, he said that nine teams were involved in verification process. The selection would be done on the basis of 1:5 of the total candidates invited through employment exchanges for the certificate verification on seniority basis.

The process would lasts for another three days. The list of candidates (subject wise) called for the verification has been released in the website of the Teachers Recruitment Boar (TRB).

Those who have not received letter from TRB for certificate verification can download the selection list and participate in the verification camp. Candidates have been asked to bring four copies of passport size photograph and identity card with their photo pasted and attested by a competent authority.

As many as 31,170 candidates were called for filling up of the 6,332 posts lying vacant in various Government High and Middle schools across the State.

392 vacant posts

in Krishnagiri

Over 390 posts are vacant for Graduate Assistants out of the 2,042 sanctioned in various subjects in Krishnagiri district, Mr. Baskaran said.

Demonstration on trapping fruit fly in mango held

A demonstration was held at Moongilpudur village, near Krishnagiri, on Tuesday on how to trap fruit flies that affects the growth of mango.

Inaugurating the demonstration, District Revenue Officer P. Prabhakaran said such demonstration would be held in all the Panchayat Unions in the district for which the Government has allocated Rs. 1 lakh through Dr. Perumal Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

Agriculture experts from the Kendra explained about the cheap equipment designed by them called ‘Phermones Trap' to save the fully-grown mango from fruit fly called ‘Bactocera Dorsalis'

Mango varieties such as Bangaloora, Alphonsa, Senthura, Banganapalli and Malgoa are cultivated on more than 35,000 hectares in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts.

Fruit fly affect mango production during April and May by nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

The ‘Bactocera Dorsalis' used to lay two to 15 eggs inside the skin of the mango. When the larva comes out from the eggs, these mango get rotten.

Explaining the features of Phermone Trap, T. Sundararajan, Project Coordinator, Dr. Perumal KVK said that they had designed the trap to help mango growers to save it from the flies at the harvest stage itself. The trap cost Rs. 65.

To safeguard from this fly, farmers can keep at lease six pheromones trap to attract the male flies and control their population.

K. Gunasekar, Technical Expert (Soil) welcomed the gathering. T.I. Ramesh Babu, technical expert (Horticulture), proposed a vote of thanks.

K. Rajan, Joint Director (Agriculture), N. Arulmozhi, Executive Engineer, Agriculture Engineering, H. Arulmozhi Devan, Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry among others participated.

Rs. 1,432-crore credit plan for Krishnagiri

Krishnagiri Collector V.K. Shanmugam (third left) releases the Annual Credit Plan for Krishnagiri at a District Consultative Meeting.

A Rs. 1,432-crore Annual Credit Plan was released for Krishnagiri district for 2010-11 by V.K. Shanmugam recently. The first copy was received by M. Vijayakumar, Manager, Reserve Bank of India.

The plan envisages Rs. 1,299-crore bank loan under the priority sector, which is 19.76 per cent higher than the last year's.Releasing the Credit Plan at the district consultative meeting here, Mr. Shanmugam directed officials of the Mahalir Thittam and Non-governmental Organisations to identify credit rated groups before the end of April 2010.

Such credit rated groups would be segregated by the district administration in all the blocks and they would be linked to the banks.

He asked bankers to accord priority in extending loans for drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, precision farming, cut flower cultivation and other allied sectors of agriculture.

Of the total credit outlay, agriculture sector gets the lion's share of Rs. 786.06-crore including a crop loan of Rs. 457.53-crore, 29.80 per cent higher than last year. Rs. 328.53-crore has been projected for agricultural term credit.

Of this, Rs. 29.78-crore has been allocated for minor irrigation and land development, Rs. Rs. 80.18-crore for horticulture and Rs. 5 2.45-crore for allied activities of horticulture.

For other Non Farm Sector, the envisaged credit outlay was Rs. 167.90 crore and for other priority sector such as retail trade, small business, transport, housing loans, education loan have been allocated Rs. 360-crore which includes Rs. 56.32 crore has been allocated for education loans. Rs. 401.41-crore has been projected for government-sponsored schemes.

Cooperative banks

Of the total credit outlay, Rs. 1187.86-crore would be extended from commercial banks, which constitute 91.44 per cent of the outlay, and the remaining Rs. 111.23-crore loan from Cooperative banks and other lending institutions. G. Muthappan, Deputy General Manager and Dharmapuri Circle Head, Indian Bank said 158 villages with over 2000 population were identified in Krishnagiri district to bring them under the financial inclusion, which would pave way strengthen the rural banking services.

V. Thirumalai, Assistant General Manager, NABARD; B. Vadivel, Manager, Lead District Bank; and M.R. Rajendran, Chairman, District Panchayat; spoke on the occasion.

Number of HIV-affected persons has come down in Krishnagiri district

The number of HIV-affected persons has come down considerably in Krishnagiri district during last year, K. Chandramouli, Director, National Aids Control Organisation, said here on Friday.

Mr. Chandramouli inspected the operations of Anti-Retroviral Testing (ART) centre at the district headquarters hospital, STD clinic, blood banks and counselling centre in Krishnagiri along with Shambu Kallolikar, Project Director, Tamil Nadu Aids Control Society.

Inspecting the blood bank, Mr. Mouli enquired with the officials whether they had enough stock of blood to meet emergency requirement and also about the refrigeration system at the bank.

He enquired about the number of patients visiting the ART centre daily and how the HIV-affected persons were counselled at the 17 centres called ‘Nambikkai Maiyam' across the district.

He was informed that on an average 50 to 70 HIV affected persons were visiting the ART centres and as many as 120 to 140 new HIV-affected persons were registered at the centre.

They were being counselled or given treatment on a continuous basis. Apart from this, those identified through the 17 counselling centres were also given continuous treatment.

He also enquired about the number of patients visiting the STD clinics and how they were motivated to undergo treatment at the clinic.

He also visited the community care centre run by the District Aids Control Society and asked the inmates about the treatment given at the centre and how they felt after the treatment.

Mr. Mouli instructed the officials to identify HIV-affected persons through blood donation camps and give continuous guidance and counselling. Those suffering from STD should be sent for HIV test. Those afflicted with HIV should be given continuous counselling through field workers. Awareness camps should be conducted on a regular basis in the district.

Later, he along with Mr. Kallolikar distributed education assistance of Rs. 3000 each to 100 children.

During the inspection, V.K. Shanmugam, Collector, M. Masilamani, Joint Director (Health), T. Kavin, Project Manager (Aids Control), P. Shanmugam, Secretary, Red Cross Association and G. Karunanidhi, founder, HIV-Positive Network, accompanied him.

Rain with strong wind uproots trees

Heavy rain with strong wind uprooted trees and advertisement banners and hoardings were torn on Wednesday morning.

An old tamarind tree was uprooted on Tirupattur road, near Bargur, and damaged the compound wall of a school. Due to it, traffic on the route was affected for more than hour. As a precautionary measure, power was shutdown in many parts of the town on Wednesday night.

Power supply was affected in and around the Government General Hospital due to sudden failure of the transformer in the Papparapatti area in Krishnagiri town till Thursday evening.

Though the temperature during day time was at its peak, the cool breeze and the rain brought respite in the evening. Residents spent a sleepless night due to power failure. Denkanikottai registered the highest rainfall of 25 mm on Wednesday night.

Rajaji ‘illam' kept under lock, tourists disappointed

First Indian Governor General of India C. Rajagopalachari, affectionately called Rajaji, was born in Thorappalli village near Hosur in Krishnagiri district.

A small tiled house, where he was born and brought up, was taken over by the state government on December 10, 1978 on his birth centenary. It is now being maintained by the Department of Information and Public Relations.

The village is 10 km from Hosur and 2.5 km from the Bangalore-Chennai National Highway. A bronze bust of Rajaji was commissioned by the government at a cost of Rs. 2 lakh and was unveiled by Minister for Information and Public Relations Parithi Ilamvazhuthi on December 24, 2009.

“Though the government of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has been honouring the leaders of the yesteryear and Tamil scholars by creating Mani Mandapams and memorials, it has kept the Rajaji Illam under lock for more than a month,'' said a tourist from Karnataka.

Rain lashes Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri districts

Rain-hit: The compound wall of the Forest Ranger's office on Bangalore road in Krishnagiri collapsed on Friday night due to heavy rain.

DHARMAPURI/KRISHNAGIRI: Rain with thunderstorm and lightning lashed many parts of Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri districts on Friday night.

This brought down the mercury level on Saturday.

Weather was pleasant and the sky remained cloudy all over the districts.

Some parts of the Dharmapuri district experienced rainfall for three days from April 20.

Rainwater stagnated in the low-lying areas in the town.

Rainfall registered in Dharmapuri district: Dharmapuri town 89 mm, Collectorate 65 mm, Pennagaram 64 mm, Palacode 45 mm, Pappireddipatti and Marandaalli 40 mm and Harur 35 mm.

Rain lashed Krishnagiri district from evening till mid night Friday.

In some place it was drizzling till morning. Shoolagiri registered a maximum of 95 mm rainfall.

Farmers expressed happiness as the ground water level is expected to increase.

Compound wall collapse

Compound at the Forest Ranger's office in Krishnagiri collapsed due to the rain.

No one was injured as it happened at night.

Rainfall registered in many parts of Krishnagiri district: Shoolagiri 95 mm, Krishnagiri Reservoir 85 mm, Krishnagiri town 75 mm, Thaly 73 mm, Nedungal 68 mm, Royakottai 51 mm, Hosur 50 mm, Barur 47 mm, Denkanikottai 25 mm, Uthangarai 23 mm and Anchetti 16 mm.

Rs. 4.98 cr. disbursed under Agriculture Workers' Scheme

As many as 4,690 people benefited under the State Government's Agriculture Workers' Protection Scheme to the tune of Rs. 4.98 crore for the past one year, Collector V.K. Shanmugam has said.

A review meeting was held at the Collectorate recently. Presiding over the meeting, Mr. Shanmugam scrutinised the applications received for various assistance such as marriage assistance, compensation for natural death and accidents and old-age pension etc.

Applications

The applications received from the agriculture workers were scrutinised block-wise by the Collector and the action taken on the applications was taken up for review at the meeting.

During the meeting, Mr. Shanmugam said that under the marriage assistance of the members Rs. 7.43 lakh was disbursed to 187 persons, for the marriages of sons and daughters Rs. 47.68 lakh to 1164 persons, for natural death and last rites Rs. 2.07 crore to 1,659 persons, for accident deaths and last rites expenses Rs. 1.89 crore to 185 persons and old-age pension totalling Rs. 45.66 lakh was given to 1,485 people during the past one year.

Officials were instructed to scrutinise the applications from the agriculture labourers on priority basis and disburse the assistance as early as possible.

Likewise the applications received for educational scholarships, maternity assistance and Janani Suraksha Scheme should be disbursed to the agriculture workers without any delay through the concerned departments.

P. Prabhakar, District Revenue Officer, K. Alagesan, Special Deputy Tahsildhar (Social Security Scheme), K. Rajagopal, Tahsildhar and other officials participated in the review meeting.

photo:SSLC runing in krishnagiri

Collector V.K. Shanmugam inspecting the SSLC examination centre at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Krishnagiri on Tuesday.

photo:SSLC runing in krishnagiri

Collector V.K. Shanmugam inspecting the SSLC examination centre at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Krishnagiri on Tuesday.

Archana Institute of Technology 'malpractice' canceled 1st sem Anna Univirsity exams

Anna University-Coimbatore has cancelled first semester examinations held at the Archana Institute of Technology in Krishnagiri.

The decision follows the findings of a committee appointed to inquire into allegations of malpractices that took place in the first semester examinations held in January 2010. Vice-Chancellor (officiate) T. Kannadasan told a press conference here on Tuesday that the university had received information that mass copying had taken place in physics, chemistry and mathematics examinations.

This was confirmed by the committee, which concluded there was “very strong evidence” of such malpractices. Faculty from the PSG Institute of Technology, Coimbatore Institute of Technology and Knowledge Institute of Technology and a Syndicate member were part of the investigation team.

Registrar S. Palaniswami said more than 85 physics answer scripts had similar answers with same mistakes. Further decision, including the date of re-examination, would be taken only after the investigation was complete and the Senate took a decision. Mr. Palaniswami said the committee was yet to talk to invigilators, the university representative who was present during the examinations and others concerned. It would require a few more sittings to arrive at the final decision.

Mr. Kannadasan said the university had sent a notice a couple of days ago to the engineering college seeking an explanation. The college was yet to respond. The university would also issue show-cause notice to disaffiliate the college. In addition to the action against malpractices, the university had also issued a notice to the college seeking explanation for claims it had made in advertisements.

The Vice-Chancellor (officiate) said the college had claimed cent per cent pass while two of the 124 students had failed.

Krishnagiri District Website contain Outdated information

Need for revision: A look at the ‘contact us' page of the Krishnagiri district website, http://krishnagiri.nic.in, reveals several discrepancies. The page still shows S. Nagarajan, who was transferred before May 2009, as the District Revenue Officer. However, another government website correctly shows P. Prabhakaran as the District Revenue Officer.

The websites of the district maintained by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi, with inputs provided by NIC officials in the district and state, contain many discrepancies.

Though the district has been a pioneer in e-governance, the information in the website regarding top officials remains outdated. If one follows the link to the district's webpage from the State Government website, www.tn.gov.in, the page reveals several mistakes. Among top officials, only the Collector's name, V.K. Shanmugam, is mentioned correctly.

The content in the ‘contact us' page is also confusing.

Information on other officials has not been updated in the Government Officers page in the website maintained by NIC at Chennai and New Delhi. These officials include the District Revenue Officer P. Prabhakaran, who joined on October 19, 2009; Personal Assistant to the Collector (General) C. Narayanan, who joined on December 16, 2009; Addititional Collector (Development) G. Luxmipriya, who joined on December 12, 2009; Hosur Revenue Divisional Officer M. Selvaraj , who joined on December 12, 2009; and Pochampalli Tahsildhar A.P. Subramaniam.

District Informatics Officer S. Sadiq Ali told The Hindu on Wednesday that the district website http://krishnagiri.nic.in is maintained by NIC in New Delhi with the inputs given by its staff attached to the District NIC office at the Collectorate.

Whereas the website http://www.krishnagiri.tn.nic.in is maintained by the NIC office in Chennai, and the updation of information is carried out by NIC officials at the district by accessing the webpage with the help of the login id and password assigned to them.

Mr. Ali added that whenever top officials are changed, the information should be given to the department by the Personal Assistant to Collector (General), so that it can be updated in the web pages.

According to him, they are developing a new website as per instructions from the Collector with all updated information.

The new website would be available on the Internet shortly, he added.

Official inspects rimary Health Centres (PHCs)

Secretary V.K. Subburaj on Wednesday made a surprise visit to the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the district along with the Collector V.K. Shanmugam.

He was here to participate in a review meeting convened by the Health Minister, M.R.K. Panneerselvam, for Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts.

Immediately after the meeting Mr. Subburaj inspected the PHCs at Sindagampalli and Bargur and held discussion with the medical officials to improve the facilities at the PHCs. He asked the in-patients whether they are getting medicines and food properly.

Rain brings relief in Krishnagiri

KRISHNAGIRI: Sudden rain in the evening in Krishnagiri town brought relief from the heat of the past one week.

Though more than a month is left for summer, the district had been witnessing high temperatures during the day for the past few days.

The sudden rain with thunder and lightning was welcomed in the town.

Fire mishap averted

HOSUR: A major fire accident was averted due to the timely intervention of the revenue officials near Hosur on Monday.

R. Muniraj, Tahsildhar, told ‘The Hindu’ that the scrap materials that were kept in a private plastic recycling company on the Bagalur Road caught fire in the afternoon. Fire-tenders were called from Hosur, Krishnagiri and Denkanikottai. The fire was put out with the help of the chemical foam brought from the Ashok Leyland unit.

Soon after the fire was noticed, TNEB officials were asked to shutdown power and a nearby TASMAC shop was also ordered to be closed to avert major accident, Mr. Muniraj said.

Fire mishap averted

HOSUR: A major fire accident was averted due to the timely intervention of the revenue officials near Hosur on Monday.

R. Muniraj, Tahsildhar, told ‘The Hindu’ that the scrap materials that were kept in a private plastic recycling company on the Bagalur Road caught fire in the afternoon. Fire-tenders were called from Hosur, Krishnagiri and Denkanikottai. The fire was put out with the help of the chemical foam brought from the Ashok Leyland unit.

Soon after the fire was noticed, TNEB officials were asked to shutdown power and a nearby TASMAC shop was also ordered to be closed to avert major accident, Mr. Muniraj said.

Tenaksi, Erode and Krishnagiri top ranks in XII state board exams

CHENNAI: The top ten rankers this year in the Class XII State Board Examination are from Tenkasi, Erode, Krishnagiri, Karur, Hosur, Dharmapuri, Cheranmahadevi, Thoothukudi and Namakkal districts. Those with the first language Tamil from Chennai do not figure among the toppers.The Director of Government Examinations, Vasanthi Jeevanandam, announced the results on Thursday.Students with first language as Sanskrit have secured higher marks. Four city students scored the highest percentage in the State. The top four students are from DAV Matriculation HSS, Choolaimedu and DAV HSS, Gopalapuram.

Though their overall score is 1,190 out of 1,200, they are not being acknowledged as State toppers, having not chosen Tamil their first language.Four students from Tenkasi, Erode, Krishnagiri and Karur have scored 1,183 out of 1,200, while two students from Hosur and Dharmapuri have secured 1,182, and students from Cheranmahadevi, Thoothukudi and Namakkal have got 1,181 each.The overall pass percentage, however, has declined by 1.4 per cent this year — from 84.4 per cent to 83 per cent.

The March 2009 examinations saw 6,89,467 students appear, of which 6,40,844 appeared through schools. Though 48,237 more students appeared this year, the number of students for vocational subjects saw a jump of nearly 7,471 students.The girls (85.5 per cent) excelled yet again as their pass percentage was nearly five per cent more than the boys (80.3 per cent).More students this year scored 60 per cent as about 3,83,762 crossed the mark.