Kerala bus attacked near Hosur; Mullaperiyar row turns ugly

With the Mullaperiyar issue causing a considerable strain in the relation between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one or two incidents of violence have been reported. The recent one being when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus was attacked by unidentified men. Stones were pelted on the bus near the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border in Hosur. The police escorted the bus till Krishnagiri till it was deemed safe for travel.

The bus was coming from Kerala to Bangalore in the wee hours of Friday when the incident happened. The men started pelting stones when the bus was passing through Melumalai ghat section between Hosur and Soolagiri town in Krishnagiri. The front glass of the bus was shattered in the attack and the driver stopped the vehicle after passengers raised an alarm.

There has been reports of violence against Keralites in Tamil Nadu with incidents of vandalism on commercial establishments owned by Keralites. Violence have been perpetrated on Tamilians as well, with pilgrims from TN targetted in Sabarimala.

In spite of police allaying the fears of passengers, they refused to continue their journey. They only relented after police promised to escort them till the state border in Hosur. The passengers feared that they might be targeted again. Following this disturbing incident, the Krishnagiri district police have decided to provide escort for all Kerala buses headed to Bangalore through Hosur from the toll gate in Krishnagiri.

Over 550 CPI(M) cadres arrested for road blockade

As many as 561 cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were courted arrest for indulging in road blockade in about nine places in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts on Monday in protest against the hike in milk price, bus fare and the proposed power tariff on Monday.

In Krishnagiri the CPI(M) staged the road roko agitation in seven places including the district headquarters Krishnagiri.

A total of 230 CPI (M) cadres including 23 women were arrested by the police.

The District Secretary D. Ravindran participated in the agitation near Denkanikottai bus stand. As many as 55 cadres including seven women were arrested. R. Sekar, Taluk Secretary presides. S.R. Jayaraman, District Secretariat Member participated.

The response for the strike call by party evoked very poor response in the district headquarters, as only fourteen cadres of the party thronged for the agitation before the office of the Revenue Divisional Officer in the Old Bangalore Road. K. Michael Raj, District Committee Member, X. Irudayaraj, E.C. Member and G.K. Nanjundan, Taluk Secretary participated.

In Hosur, the agitation was held before the Municipal Office. P. Sundararajan, State Committee Member gave a special address. S. Vasudevan, Hosur Union Secretary presided. District Committee Members

V. Sethu Madhavan and G. Sekar participated. Forty five persons including five women were arrested.

In Shoolagiri, the party cadres staged the road blockade opposite to the Indian Bank. S. Anwar, Taluk Committee Member presided. C. Munusamy, District E.C. Member, S.G. Muniyappa, Block Secretary participated. Thirty nine cadres including 4 women were arrested.

In Pochampalli, Mr. S.P. Chinnasamy, Taluk Secretary presided over the agitation near the Round Tanna. M. Dharman, District Secretariat Member participated. Thirty five persons including five women were arrested.

K. Mahalingam, Taluk Secretary presided over the agitation at Uthangarai Round Tanna. V. Govindasamy, District EC member participated. Twenty-seven including one woman were arrested. About fifteen cadres including a woman were arrested near Singarapettai bus stand while they resorted to road roko, police sources said.

Mid-day meal scheme can be spiced up'

While commending the State government's nutritious mid-day meal scheme for children, a team from the Union Human Resource Ministry, which reviewed the programme in Tamil Nadu recently, has suggested that the menu could be spruced up by adding grains such as millet and ragi. “It can be boring for children to have rice and sambar every day. So, we have suggested that more varieties such as millets be introduced, provided it is practical and suits the taste of children,” said Rita Chatterjee, Joint Secretary, MHRD, who headed the team.

The Central team, which is touring various States to review the system of fund flow, payment of cost of food grains and infrastructure at noon meal centres, among others, visited three districts – Namakkal, Krishnagiri and Vellore. The team had several meetings in Chennai. Lauding the scheme, Ms. Chatterjee said there are many lessons that other States could learn from Tamil Nadu. The quality of rice, meticulous maintenance of record books and state of kitchens received special mention. Other suggestions offered to the Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme include improving community participation and packaging of food grains. “We noticed that when sacks of food grains reach school much is lost, FCI should take up packaging to ensure there is minimal loss in the process,” Ms. Chatterjee added.

Senior officials of said the suggestions are welcome and the modalities on bringing in more variety in the menu can be worked out.

The current menu includes white rice, vegetable sambar, and boiled egg served all five working days of the week. On Friday potatoes are also included in the menu.

Chef Damu, who was previously approached by the Department to spice up the mid-day menu, feels while millets are more nutritious than rice the challenge is in introducing these fibre foods in a State where a majority are rice eaters.

“It is important to break the monotony in the menu to make food more appealing and also to prevent wastage,” said Mr. Damu. Many varieties can be served even with ragi and millets by using the same ingredients in the menu.

According to K. Shanmugavelayutham, convener of voluntary organisation TN-Forces and who accompanied the Central team, the local bodies and school management committee should take part in supervision of mid-day meal scheme and also in suggesting the menu. “Nutrition and hygiene level should be improved further'', he added.

Over 550 CPI(M) cadres arrested for road blockade

As many as 561 cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were courted arrest for indulging in road blockade in about nine places in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts on Monday in protest against the hike in milk price, bus fare and the proposed power tariff on Monday.

In Krishnagiri the CPI(M) staged the road roko agitation in seven places including the district headquarters Krishnagiri.

A total of 230 CPI (M) cadres including 23 women were arrested by the police.

The District Secretary D. Ravindran participated in the agitation near Denkanikottai bus stand. As many as 55 cadres including seven women were arrested. R. Sekar, Taluk Secretary presides. S.R. Jayaraman, District Secretariat Member participated.

The response for the strike call by party evoked very poor response in the district headquarters, as only fourteen cadres of the party thronged for the agitation before the office of the Revenue Divisional Officer in the Old Bangalore Road. K. Michael Raj, District Committee Member, X. Irudayaraj, E.C. Member and G.K. Nanjundan, Taluk Secretary participated.

In Hosur, the agitation was held before the Municipal Office. P. Sundararajan, State Committee Member gave a special address. S. Vasudevan, Hosur Union Secretary presided. District Committee Members

V. Sethu Madhavan and G. Sekar participated. Forty five persons including five women were arrested.

In Shoolagiri, the party cadres staged the road blockade opposite to the Indian Bank. S. Anwar, Taluk Committee Member presided. C. Munusamy, District E.C. Member, S.G. Muniyappa, Block Secretary participated. Thirty nine cadres including 4 women were arrested.

In Pochampalli, Mr. S.P. Chinnasamy, Taluk Secretary presided over the agitation near the Round Tanna. M. Dharman, District Secretariat Member participated. Thirty five persons including five women were arrested.

K. Mahalingam, Taluk Secretary presided over the agitation at Uthangarai Round Tanna. V. Govindasamy, District EC member participated. Twenty-seven including one woman were arrested. About fifteen cadres including a woman were arrested near Singarapettai bus stand while they resorted to road roko, police sources said.

22 injured as bus overturns near Uthangarai

Twenty-two persons including an Inspector and a Head Constable were injured when a private bus they had traveled overturned near Uthangarai on Tuesday morning.

The accident occurred near Jogi Thanneerpallam when the private bus was on its way to Bengaluru from Villupuram. It was alleged that the axle of the bus was broken when it maneuvered in a deep pot hole on the National Highway No. 66.

All the injured including the Inspector Mr. Murugesan attached to the Singarapettai Police Station and the Head Constable Mr. Rajendran were admitted in the Uthangarai Government Hospital for treatment.

Mr. Murugesan reportedly sustained injuries in his forehead due to the broken glass pieces from the window panes. All of them were referred to the District Headquarter’s Hospital in Krishnagiri later.

Mathur police have registered a case and investigating.

Eye camp for ex-servicemen

Over three hundred ex-servicemen and their family members participated in the free eye camp held in Krishnagiri on Sunday.

The camp was jointly organised by the District Ex-servicemen Welfare Board and the Dr. Agarwal Eye Hospital at the Office of the District Ex-servicemen Welfare Board at Old Bengaluru Road in Krishnagiri town near the five road junction.

The ex-servicemen and their family members were screened for cataract, growing of flesh in the eye and other eye related ailments. A team of Ophthalmologists headed by Mr. Sathish from Dr. Agarwal Eye Hospital, Krishnagiri screened the ex-servicemen and their family members.

Major (Retired) M. Muthuram, Assistant Director, District Ex-servicemen Welfare Board inaugurated the eye-camp.

Website for Basic Amenity Reporting System launched in Krishnagiri

With a view to improve the basic amenities in rural and urban areas in the district and to know the status of the amenities and grievances, a dedicated website called Basic Amenity Reporting System (BARS) was launched in Krishnagiri on Tuesday.

Collector C.N. Maheshwaran launched the website at the meeting adjoining his chambers in the presence of the Assistant Director (Panchayat) Veerabadran and other officials from National Informatics Centre. He also claimed that this is first of its kind in the state.

Launching the programme as part of the e-Governance, Mr. Maheshwaran the development of villages is of paramount important for the overall development of the nation. Keeping this in mind, BARS, a monitoring system is being implemented in a phased manner to cover the entire 333 village panchayats and urban local bodies in the district.

Under the BARS system, every streetlamp, bore well pumps and motors for pumping drinking water would be given a unique identification number. Public can inform the local panchayat about the defect or damage in any one of the system. In turn it would be entered into the website by the concerned panchayat clerk. The complaints recorded in the website would be accessed by the Block Level Officials, the Assistant Director (Panchayat) and the District Collector to know the status of the grievances redressal etc. It is a centralized communication system which connects every panchayat to the collectorate, the collector adds.

An official from the NIC said that the BARS system was introduced in 10 to 15 villages initially, the required training for BDOs and other low level officials were given. All the electric pumps used for pumping drinking water, street light poles and bore wells in seven villages were given a unique identification number.

After the success of the trial, it would be extended to all the 333 village panchayats in the district in a phased manner. Anybody can access the features of the new website at the http://www.krishnagiri.tn.nic.in In future, the BARS system would be upgraded in such a way that even the public can access the website and enter their grievances pertaining to water supply motors, street lights and bore wells.

Mr. Maheshwaran also stated that the district has 10227 bore well hand pumps, 5862 electric motors for pumping drinking water and 50440 street lights. Assistant Director (Panchayats) Mr. Veerabadran and Mr. Sathiq, District Officials at National Informatics Centre accompanied the collector during the press briefing.