Man killed by elephant herd in Krishnagiri

A herd of 35 elephants killed a 65-year-old man at Kadur village in Bommathathanur, Denkanikottai, late on Sunday night.

When Govindappa stepped out of his hut on hearing a tamarind tree breaking, he was attacked by the herd.

He was living in the hut with his wife Maari (60) doing farming and rearing livestock for the last three decades.

The body of the deceased was later found badly damaged and the limbs were found a few meters away from the hut.

Govindappa’s death marks the sixth human casualty this year in the Hosur forest range from January. Five persons, including two women, were killed in elephant attacks up to May in the forest range.

An initial assistance of Rs. 25,000 as part of solatium was handed over to the victim’s wife by the Forest Department. A sum of Rs..2.75 lakh will be disbursed to the bereaved wife later.

15 of a family injured in mini bus accident

Fifteen persons who were part of a family were seriously injured when a mini bus went out of control and fell on its side after a front wheel suffered a flat tyre at Mathur on Thursday.

The passengers were travelling from Dharmapuri after attending a family function.

They had set out from Kolandhampalli village in Thirupathur in Vellore to attend a ‘valaikappu’ ceremony.

The injured persons were taken to the Krishnagiri Government Hospital, according to police sources here.

They had set out from Kolandhampalli village in Thirupathur in Vellore district to attend a ‘valaikappu’ at Dharmapuri

Embryo transfer technology, a success story in Hosur

R. ARIVANANTHAM

The district livestock farm produced 53 calves in 2012-13

The Hosur District Livestock Farm (DLF) has produced 53 calves using the embryo transfer technology in association with the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation between May 2012 and December 2013, said D. Saravanan, Head of the Embryo Transfer Laboratory, on Wednesday.

Dr. Saravanan told The Hindu that the technology offers better utilisation of superior germplasm of the female donor cow to produce maximum number of high yielding offspring in short period of time than the artificial insemination followed over the last five decades.

An embryo donor is made to superovulate and bred through the semen of a superior bull. Embryos that are seven to eight days old are collected from the donor cow by non-surgical method and are transferred to the recipient cows, which will develop the foetus. Excess embryos can be stored in frozen state for any number of years for future use. Embryos can also be sexed before being transferred to the recipients.

The DLF along with other agencies and university started embryo production through six Red Sindhi cows from DLF and 50 superior Jersey cross-bred cows from eight districts such as Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Salem, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Madurai and Coimbatore.

Cross-bred, poor milk yielding healthy cows were selected as recipients to carry embryos of the donor cows till parturition. Before the embryos were donated to the cows, they were screened for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis and Johne’s disease. So far, 271 embryos have been collected from 56 cows. These embryos were transferred to 257 recipient cows. Sixty-seven cows became pregnant and 53 calves (28 bull and 25 heifer calves) were born through embryo transfer technology. In Salem, two embryos were transferred to a cow and it delivered twin calves. In Namakkal and Tiruvannamalai, five calves were born through the embryo transfer technology.

The farmers receive incentives according to the number of embryos collected from their cows. The owners of donor cows were given an incentive of Rs.5000 per flushing, and Rs.1000 for every additional good quality embryo collected. A maximum of Rs.21,000 was given as incentive to a farmer in Salem, whose cow gave 21 good quality embryos. A total of Rs.3.65 lakh was given to 53 farmers, who gave their cows for embryo collection. Owners of the donor cows were given 90 kg of concentrated feed free of cost. The owners of recipient cows were given 30 kg of concentrated feed and an embryo from a superior germplasm free of cost. If the cow becomes pregnant, an additional 250 kg of concentrated feed was given to the owner of the recipient cow during the last trimester of pregnancy. If the cow delivers a bull calf, the animal husbandry department will purchase it from the farmer for Rs.5000 within 15 days after its birth. If a heifer (female) calf is born, the farmer can retain it .The animal husbandry department has purchased 22 bull calves from the farmers.

For the conservation and propagation of Red Sindhi breed of cattle, which is an indigenous milch breed in the list of threatened Indian breeds, embryos of pure Red Sindhi cows and bulls were collected and transferred to cross-bred cows at District Livestock Farm, Hosur. Fifteen recipient cows are pregnant now, which are due for calving in the month of September 2014. Embryos of Red Sindhi cows were also kept under frozen state for future transfer.

During the phase-I of the Embryo Transfer Technology, the DLF was funded to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh by the National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding (NPCBB) through the Tamil Nadu Livestock Development Agency

In Phase - II of the Embryo Transfer programme, animal husbandry department plans to conduct embryo flushings in 200 donor cows at four of its livestock farms and in 10 districts of Tamil Nadu with an aim to produce at least 300 calves and the NPCBB has sanctioned a fund of Rs. 2.5-crore for the project, Dr. Saravanan adds.

Case registered against 11 for extracting blue-metal on government land

Village Administrative Officer lodges complaint

A case has been registered against eleven persons for extracting blue-metal on Government land in Jagadap village in Kaveripattinam panchayat on Saturday.Police sources said that on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Village Administrative Officer Annamalai, the Kaveripattinam police have filed a case against eleven persons. Further investigations are on.

Accident

One person was killed and two others sustained grievous injuries in an accident near Krishnagiri toll gate on Sunday morning.Police sources said that the accident took place when Jawahar Ali (43) running a mutton shop in Shoolagiri was going to the shop in a bike along with his son Zia Ulla (17) and an employee Amanulla (25). The bike was hit by an unidentified vehicle. Jawahar Ali died on the spot, while the two others who sustained injuries were admitted at the Government Headquarter’s Hospital in Krishnagiri. Krishnagiri taluk police have registered a case and are investigating.

Two officials arrested for fraud

Annual audit of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank showed irregularities

Two officials of a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank (PACB), Ponneri near Harur were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Dharmapuri police on the charges of defrauding to the tune of Rs. 31.60-lakh in extending jewellery loan for imitation jewellery here on Saturday .

The two officials were placed under suspension immediately.

The fraud came to light during the annual audit of the PACB, which prompted the farmers to lay siege to the bank.

The officials along with the Harur M.L.A. P. Dillibabu rushed to spot, pacified the farmers to disburse assuring them of remedial action.

Two officials secretary of the bank were placed under suspension immediately by the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

It was found that Rs. 31.60 lakh was given as gold loan for pledging 200 g of imitation jewellery.

It was found that gold appraiser C. Suresh alias Samy of S. Pudupatti, who was working on commission basis, indulged in the malpractice.

Of the total Rs. 31.60 lakh, Rs. 13 lakh was recovered from the appraiser.

With a view to recover the balance amount, his bank accounts were freezed and some land documents were also seized from him.

Based on a complaint lodged by the Cooperative Department, the Economic Offences Wing of the district police arrested T. Jayanthi, Secretary and N. Murugan, the Cashier.

Welcoming the legal action, Mr. Dillibabu demanded a thorough probe into the functioning of all PACBs in the district.

The malpractice detected in PACB here was only a tip of an iceberg and more such malpractices might come to light if a thorough enquiry was ordered, he said. Mr. Dillibabu also submitted a petition to the Collector K. Vivekanandan in this regard.

Mr. Babu said that he was also concerned over delayed action though the culprits were caught red handed by the officials. Delayed action is delayed justice, he said.

He demanded that the District Collector should intervene in this matter and recover the defrauded amount through auctioning of the properties of the persons involved.

Police launched a manhunt for the appraiser C. Suresh alias Samy of S. Pudupati village.

Arrested officials were produced before a local court and were remanded in judicial custody.

In another incident, three persons including the Secretary Venkatesan, Senior Clerk Anandan and Clerk Rajendra Varman were arrested for defrauding Rs. 19.50-lakh in Cooperative society in Krishnagiri.

They were involved in malpractices including creating bogus documents for leave encashment for workers and showing increased sale in books of accounts to the tune of Rs. 19.50 lakhs at the Chennasandiram Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society near Veppanahalli.

On the basis of complaints lodged by the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, the Economic Offences Wing of the district police arrested the trio and remanded them to judicial custody.

Skill development training for differently abled

As many as 30 differently-abled persons are being given skill development training in repairing electrical appliances under the Pudhu Vazhvu Thittam, a livelihood programme for the poor and downtrodden, in Krishnagiri district.

One of the beneficiaries, A. Mehaboob Basha (28), a physically-challenged, said that the field staff of the programme motivated him to join the programme.

The 45-day training programme that started on June 4 will end on July 25. The participants will also be given training in cycle repairing, and wiring.

The training was given at a subsidised rate of Rs. 250 for the entire programme while usually the participants had to pay 10 per cent of the total fee charged by the company, said G. Kumaran, District Project Officer, Pudhu Vazhvu Thittam.

Participants like P. Thimmaraj (22) of Pukkasagaram, a physically-challenged, and M. Gangaraj (37), a visually-impaired from Athetti, are hopeful of starting their own shops.

The Pudhu Vazhvu Thittam is being implemented in 178 village panchayats in five panchayat unions in the district with the aim of improving the livelihood of the poor, differently abled, widows and orphaned women.

Mr. Kumaran said that so far 3,621 poor and downtrodden people were given training in DTP/Tally, tailoring, driving, beautician courses among others. Another batch of 30 students would finish the training in Uthangarai in another five days. The third batch would begin in Thally soon.

SBI donates ambulance to hospital

The State Bank of India donated an ambulance to Saint Louise Hospital in Krishnagiri recently.

CSR initiative

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the bank donated the ambulance worth Rs. 10 lakh to the hospital on behalf of the SBI’s main branch in Krishnagiri. The key was handed over to the hospital administrator F.S.M. Sowmya by M. Vijaykumar, regional manager, State Bank of India’s Regional Business Office (RBO) V, functioning under the Chennai Zone I.

H. Devaraj, chief manager, Administration of SBI’s RBO V, and N. Arumugam, chief manager, Krishnagiri main branch, were present. During the last financial year, the bank donated ceiling fans, Reverse Osmosis plants and solar lamps to schools located in villages around Krishnagiri 

Girl killed in accident

A two-year-old girl was killed after she was hit by a school van near Mathur in Krishnagiri district on Wednesday morning.

Police sources said that S. Haripriya was hit by a van belonging to a private matriculation school .

The incident took place when her mother S. Nandini was taking her elder child to the school van . It was alleged that neither the mother nor the driver noticed the victim going near the rear wheel of the vehicle. 

The girl was hit by the mud guard of the rear wheel when the driver started moving the vehicle. The girl sustained head injury during her fall and died on the spot. Mathur police have registered a case under sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of Indian Penal Code. The driver of the bus S. Madhu (30) of Narapandaalli in Tirupattur taluk in Vellore district was arrested. Further investigations are on.

Cash prize for toppers

The children of ex-servicemen who had scored over 1150 marks in Plus-Two examinations and above 450 marks in SSLC will be awarded cash prize by Krishnagiri Collector T.P. Rajesh.

A release from the Collector said that first three toppers in Plus-Two would get Rs. 5,000, Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 2,000 respectively, and for SSLC the prize would be Rs. 3,000, Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 respectively .

The students are advised to apply with their marksheets and relevant details of their claim as wards of ex-servicemen on or before June 13.

For further details contact the Office of the Assistant Director, District Ex-servicemen Welfare in person or over phone 04343 236134, the release adds.

Jamabandhi begins at five taluks in Krishnagiri district

Krishnagiri District Collector T.P. Rajesh (right) handing over a certificate to a girl during the Jamabandhi at the Hosur taluk office on Tuesday.

Jamabandhi, the annual auditing of village land accounts, began in Krishnagiri, Uthangarai, Hosur, Denkanikottai and Pochampalli taluks in Krishnagiri district on Tuesday. It will be held till June 20.

District Collector T.P. Rajesh inaugurated the Jamabandhi at Hosur taluk office.

Mr. Rajesh will be conducting the Jamabandhi at Hosur taluk office, District Revenue Officer P. Balasubramanian at Uthangarai, Hosur Sub Collector Praveen P. Nair at Denkanikottai, Revenue Divisional Officer V. Latha at Krishnagiri and District Backward Class Welfare Officer at Pochampalli taluk.

During the process, the public residing in the five taluks can approach the officials for patta, name change in patta, old age pension, farmer’s identity cards, widow’s pension, assistance to agriculture labourers and other issues related to the Revenue Department.

Petitions

Inaugurating the Jamabandhi at Hosur Taluk Office, Mr. Rajesh said that immediate action would be taken against petitions submitted by the public.

On petitions related to critical or problematic issues, action would be taken as early as possible.

As the Jamabandhi officer, Mr. Rajesh received 270 petitions at Hosur taluk office.

Implement rail link

Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda was urged to implement the much awaited 101 km long new railway line between Hosur-Jolarpet to cater to the needs of 30 lakh people living in Krishnagiri district.

In this connection, C. Narasimhan, Former Krishnagiri M.P. and front-line leader in BJP submitted a memorandum to the minister recently. He said that many people would be benefitted by the project.

Summer camp from May 14

A 10-day summer camp for children aged between 5 and 16

will be held on the premises of the District Music School on Old Bangalore Road here from May 14 to 23.

The camp is being organised by the Jawahar Balabhavan under the Department of Culture of the State 

Government. Children will be taught Bharatanatyam, vocal, drawing and yoga from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Interested parents could enrol their children by paying a registration fee of Rs. 50. Children will be given participation certificates.

For details, contact Project Officer, Jawahar Balabhavan, District Music School complex, Krishnagiri, on 94873 43401 and 96004 88765, according to a release.

All set for Election

Electronic voting machines, and all necessary materials required for the election scheduled for Thursday were moved to all the 1,620 polling booths in Krishnagiri, Veppanahalli, Uthangarai, Bargur, Hosur, and Thally from the Krishnagiri Collectorate on Wednesday.

Zonal officers accompanied the polling materials. Arrangements have been made to help differently abled persons to exercise their franchise.

They will be assisted by security personal, wheel chairs will be provided, if needed. Facilities such as toilets, and provide drinking water have been arranged in all the polling booths.

Polling materials were moved to the lone polling booth at Ekkalnatham, a village atop a hill in Veppanahalli assembly segment, using donkeys. The village is situated 3.5km above the plains. The polling booth at Ekkalnatham Panchayat Union Middle School was established for the first time during the last Lok Sabha elections.

Polling booths have been set up in other hilltop villages such as Ulibanda, Uduparani, Belpatti, Kottaiyur, Athinatham, Thottamanju, Kotakarai, Tholuvapetta, Sithapuram, Onnepuram, Bettamugilalam, Manjukondapalli and Mallahalli and three in Urigam village coming under the Thali Assembly segment.

In Dharmapuri, polling materials including EVMs, were moved to all the 1,615 polling booths. Donkeys were used to move the materials to booths in Kotturmalai and Erimalai under the Vattuvanalli panchayat.

Shun AIADMK, DMK: Chiranjeevi

R. Arivanantham

 Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi on Monday asked voters in the Krishnagiri Lok Sabha Constituency to shun both the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, alleging that they were looking for a post-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

Campaigning for Congress candidate A. Chellakumar, the Minister listed the welfare schemes implemented by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government (UPA) at the Centre.

The 108 ambulance services operated by the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and rice at subsidised price for the poor were some of the schemes the UPA government had implemented. However, State governments headed by Opposition parties were taking credit to these schemes, he said. Calling the BJP communal, Mr. Chiranjeevi said it would be dangerous for the country if that party formed the government.

He reached out to voters by speaking in Telugu as Krishnagiri shares a border with Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Alleges that the parties are looking for post-poll alliance with BJP

Poor rainfall kills neera yield; farmers hit

M. K. Ananth

Neera (palm nectar), a sweet, natural coolant, is collected from palm trees between mid January and May every year.

But the season is nearing its end quite early this year, as the yield from palm trees has come down heavily because of scant rain last year.

The number of persons selling ‘pathanir’ alongside the roads have came down too.

Medicinal value

The drink having medicinal value is usually collected twice a day.

It is used for making jaggery too. “Palm trees have very high drought resistance. But the neera yield is affected when rainfall dips,” said V. Vijayalakshmi, Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Palm Products Development Board.

She said that Krishnagiri district has more than two lakh palm trees. Mathur, Pochampalli, Eechanngadu, Muttapatti, Kalarpathi, Kodipathi, Madhampatti, and Chanipathi have a thick concentration of palm trees.

“There are about one lakh trees in Salem district. There is a thick population of these trees at Thanavathiyur, Vanavasi, Tharamangalam, and Periyampatti,” Ms. Vijayalakshmi said and added that not all the trees are used for tapping palm nectar.

She said that male palm trees begin yielding neera during the early days of the season — from mid January to February.

“They yield about 10 litres to 15 litres a day. The female trees begin yielding when the yield of male trees starts dropping. But the female trees yield 20 litres to 25 litres a tree a day and for a longer period,” she said.

This year the yield has dropped by 50 per cent and has badly affected the livelihood of people who depend on it for a living,” she added.

Krishnagiri: Where caste vies with Modi factor

R. Arivanantham

Infrastructure gaps impede development in Krishnagiri

The Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency has to its credit many specialities such as, the much contentious Cauvery River entering the State at Biligundlu, substantial mineral (granite) wealth and the hub of horticulture and floriculture products.

Bordering Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the influence of linguistic minorities such as ‘Vokkaligas,’ ‘Lingayats,’ from Karnataka and the ‘Reddys’ from Andhra Pradesh hold the key in three Assembly segments of Thally, Hosur and Veppanahalli. The other dominant communities are the OBC ‘Vanniyars’ who form 20 per cent of the electorate, the Dalits (16 per cent) and ‘Vellalars’ (11.5 per cent).

Since the 1951 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has won eight times in this constituency. Stalwarts such as C. Subramaniam (elected in the 1971 by-election) and C.R. Narasimhan, grandson of C. Rajagopalachari won the seat in the first two elections.

Over 1500 tiny and small ancillary auto industries, auto majors and a watch industry provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of locals and migrant labourers. Yet, the lack of efforts on the part of the Centre and State governments to improve industrialisation and infrastructure is a key issue in this constituency.

The SIPCOT industrial estate established in Bargur Panchayat Union on 1300 acres has not taken off due to lack of basic amenities. The Bolupalli SIPCOT industrial estate project is also yet to move ahead due to high land rates fixed by the authorities, says an office-bearer of the ‘Hosur Small and Tiny Industries Association.’

Further, Krishnagiri does not have a direct train to Chennai, as the train to Tirupathur was withdrawn nearly five decades ago. The proposed rail link between Jolarpet and Hosur via Krishnagiri and Shoolagiri is pending with the Planning Commission for over a year.

“The immediate demand is a direct train between Hosur and Chennai via Bangalore till the new rail line is laid’’ said M. Thulasidoss, Secretary, Hosur Payanigal Membattu Sangam.

Expansion of the Krishnagiri-Tiruvannamalai National Highway into four-lane has not happened.

Having zeroed in on this seat quite early, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) nominated its president G.K. Mani. He, in fact, started campaigning in October last year. The ruling AIADMK has fielded former District Panchayat Chairman K. Ashok Kumar from the ‘Vellala Goundar’ community and the DMK candidate is P. Chinna Pillappa, a lawyer belonging to ‘Kurumbar’ community.

The All India Congress Committee secretary A. Chellakumar, who has got the party ticket this time and N.S.M. Gowda of Janata Dal (Secular), who is contesting with the support of Communist Party of India (Marxist) are among the other key contestants.

The DMK has won the seat twice in the last two elections in 2004 and 2009, when it was an ally of the Congress. This time, both the parties face the PMK, which is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance that claims a ‘Modi factor’ in its favour. The poll code here is all the more hard to crack as the election date approaches.

Narendra Modi's Election Campaign Speech At Krishnagiri

Security to be strengthened for Modi’s campaign in Krishnagiri

The district police is gearing up for providing foolproof security to the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s election campaign meeting to be held in Krishnagiri on Wednesday afternoon.

Highly placed sources in the police department told The Hindu that they had received a tentative schedule of Modi’s visit to Krishnagiri.

As per the schedule, he would land at the private air strip Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) near Hosur and then proceed by a chartered helicopter to the meeting venue in Kanimedu near Krishnagiri.

As many as 3,000 police personnel from the nearby districts such as Dharmapuri, Tirupur, Namakkal, Tiruchi and Vellore including 12 companies of Tamil Nadu Special Police will be present for the meeting.

As many as two Deputy Inspectors General of Police, and six Superintendents of Police would be deployed across the district.

Ahead of Modi’s visit Subash G. Trivedi, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Coastal Security) from Gujarat reached Krishnagiri on Tuesday to inspect the security arrangements.

He had visited the Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) facility on Tuesday afternoon to check the security preparedness, the sources said.

After the Krishnagiri campaign meeting, Mr. Modi will go to Salem and Coimbatore.

After the public meeting in Coimbatore, Mr. Modi will leave for Ramanathapuram after an overnight stay, the party sources added.

NDA will bag 320 seats, says Vaiko

MDMK general secretary Vaiko addressing an election meeting in Mathur on Monday. Krishnagiri PMK candidate G.K.Mani is in the picture.

People who wish to have caste, and communal harmony and peace will prefer a government headed by the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, MDMK general secretary Vaiko said on Monday.

Mr. Vaiko was canvassing votes for the PMK candidate for Krishnagiri G.K. Mani and Dharmapuri candidate Anbumani Ramadoss at a series of meetings at Hosur, Shoolagiri, Krishnagiri, Bargur, Mathur, Pochampalli and Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district and at Palacode and Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district.

Mr. Vaiko said first-time voters wanted a change of guard and they would definitely vote for Mr. Modi, helping the NDA bag 320 seats and handing the BJP 272 seats (simple majority). The NDA would win all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. If that happened, “we can fight for the rights of Indian fishermen and those of the State in the long-pending Palar, south Pennar, Cauvery and Mullaiperiyar dam issues.

Condemning the incident in which stones were thrown at Mr. Anbumani Ramadoss, the PMK Youth Wing leader, Mr. Vaiko praised the restraint shown by PMK workers to avoid a clash. He also praised the swift action taken by Superintendent of Police Asra Garg.

Crorepati candidates in the race

The following are the candidates who have assets worth crores of rupees, contesting the elections from Krishnagiri, and Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituencies:

Anubmani Ramadoss (PMK)

The former Union Health Minister contesting from Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency has assets worth Rs. 31,08,818 which includes 960 gram of gold ornaments worth Rs. 27,69,600, cash in hand, and investments in shares. He has no immovable properties in his name. The income shown in the tax return for 2012-13 is Rs. 6.70 lakh.

His wife A. Sowmiya has assets worth Rs. 4,32,49,248 (20 kg silver, 2442 gram gold, and 20 carat of diamond). She has properties in her name inherited and self-acquired and investment in companies worth Rs. 26,21,93,500.

Her daughter S.A. Sanjuthra has assets worth Rs. 3,95,929 (94.749 gram of gold, silver), second dependent has assets worth Rs. 34,57,187 (3 kg silver, 905.26 gram gold, and 8.6 carat diamond) and her third dependent has assets worth Rs. 19,73,060 (3 kg silver, 500 gram gold, and 5 carat diamond).

Vazhapadi K. Ramasugathan (Congress)

He has assets worth Rs. 1,06,59,877 includes cash in hand, 300 gram gold, a four-wheeler, and investments in shares and insurance policies. His wife has assets worth Rs. 55,77,000 including 1000 gram of gold, and a car. Their daughter has assets worth Rs. 4,25,000.

He has immovable assets worth Rs. 18,99,40,000 including agriculture lands, and house properties. His wife has properties worth Rs. 9 lakh.

R. Thamaraiselvan (DMK)

The MP has assets worth Rs. 18,90,356 including 10 gram gold, two four-wheelers, a motor bike, and investments in insurance policies. He has properties worth Rs. 1,08,50,000.

P.S. Mohan (AIADMK)

He has assets worth Rs. 9,02,000. His wife has assets worth Rs. 9,00,159 (70 sovereign of gold ornaments). His immovable assets worth Rs. 1.5 crore.

Dr. A. Chellakumar (Congress)

The All India Congress secretary contesting from Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency has assets worth Rs. 1,22,72,537.88. His wife A. Devika has assets worth 27,58,729 (includes 800 gram gold, 2 kg of silver vessels and utensils). Their daughter has assets worth Rs. 8,95,279. Their son has assets worth Rs. 5,23,361.

Mr. Chellakumar has immovable assets worth Rs. 3,58,30,856 including a petrol bunk, and lands (self acquired and inherited).P. Chinnapillappa (DMK)

He has assets wroth Rs. 15,79,410 and immovable properties worth Rs. 14,88,43,000 (self acquired and inherited). His wife has assets worth Rs. 10 lakh.

Admission under Right to Education Act begins

Children between six and 14 entitled to free education

The admission process to fill 25 per cent seats in private educational institutions under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 began here on Tuesday (April 8).

Under the RTE Act, every child aged between six and 14 years is entitled to free education at the nearest school. In accordance with Government Order No. 60 of School Education Department (X-2) dated April 1, 2013, the private school (not minority schools) should reserve 25 per cent of the seats for poor children, for which the government will reimburse the fees.

Under the scheme, poor children from scheduled caste, schedule tribe, economically backward and below poverty line families can admit their children at the entry level in CBSE and ICSE Schools (except minority schools).

Parents of wards in the above categories who have an annual income below Rs. 2 lakh can admit their children to entry level classes in primary level in the schools located within one km from their residence and upper primary level within three km range.

Applications are being issued at the office of the Chief Educational Officer, Krishnagiri, and offices of District Education Officers, Krishnagiri and Hosur, free of cost till May 5, 2014.

Filled in applications in duplicate should be submitted on or before May 9, 2014, according to a press release issued by the Chief Educational Officer M. Ramasamy here on Wednesday.

Applications are being issued at the office of the Chief Educational Officer, Krishnagiri, and offices of District Education Officers, Krishnagiri and Hosur, free of cost till May 5

233 polling booths declared sensitive in Krishnagiri district

General Observer for the Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency, Lalhming Thanga verifying the records at the election control room at the Collectorate on Tuesday. District Election Officer T.P. Rajesh is in the picture.

District Election Officer and District Collector T.P. Rajesh said on Tuesday that as many as 233 polling booths have been declared as sensitive in the district.

Addressing an all-party meeting here, he said that 11 additional booths would come up in hilly and difficult terrain in the district in addition to the existing 1, 609 booths. Mr. Rajesh also said that four new booths in Thally assembly constituency, four in Hosur and three booths have been added to the Veppanahalli assembly constituencies in addition to the existing 1,609 booths.

He said that candidates can withdraw their nominations till 3 p.m. on Wednesday. After that the final list of candidates in fray would be published. Immediately after that, a meeting with the candidates would be convened for allotment of symbols.

Mr. Rajesh said that the last button in the EVM would be for pressing the NOTA option (None of the Above). Political parties have been asked to submit the list of polling agents along with the five numbers of photographs of agents.

The names of the candidates and symbols would be affixed in the presence of candidates. Booth agents should not carry mobile phone with them inside the polling booth. No agent would be allowed to go out of the polling booth after 3 p.m. on the polling day. A mock poll would be conducted before the actual polling starts.

The EVM machines would be sent to the assembly constituencies concerned in the presence of the General Observer. Booth slips would be issued by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Intervention of politicians during distribution of booth slips would attract stringent action.

Micro Observers from the Union Government and banks would be involved and web cameras would be installed at sensitive booths, Mr. Rajesh added.

The meeting was held in the presence of the General Observer Lalhming Thanga.P. Kannammal, Superintendent of Police, among others participated.

Stalin accuses AIADMK Govt. of dumping Hogenakkal scheme

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer M.K. Stalin on Tuesday accused the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government of dumping the Rs.1928-crore Hogenakkal Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation Scheme.

Beginning his election campaign for DMK’s Krishnagiri Lok Sabha candidate P. Chinnapillappa at Thally, Mr. Stalin said many areas, especially the rural habitations in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts, were yet to benefit from the scheme. (The scheme was drawn up to provide a solution to the problem of high fluoride content in ground water that caused health problems in the people of the two districts.)

The scheme was implemented because of the efforts taken by the previous DMK government. It was the DMK which took efforts to bring the scheme into reality with the financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

As much as 99 per cent of the scheme was over during the DMK rule, but the AIADMK government dumped the scheme after coming to power.

The scheme was dedicated by the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to the public in haste at the end of May last year through video-conferencing. Many rural habitations that were affected by fluoride in ground water were yet to get protected water under the Hogenakkal scheme. It was the DMK government which took a lot of efforts to implement various integrated drinking water schemes in the State such as the Ramanathapuram Integrated Drinking Water scheme and desalination plants. Providing protected drinking water to the public was the government’s duty. Instead of providing water free of cost, the only State selling bottled drinking water was Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin said.

Mr. Stalin also campaigned at Denkanikottai, Kelamangalam, Hosur, Shoolagiri, Kurubarapalli, Krishangiri, Bargur, Mathur and Pochampalli.

Later, addressing a public meeting at Uthangarai in the evening, Mr. Stalin dared the AIADMK Government to prove before a committee of legislators of various parties that it had implemented the Hogenakkal scheme totally.

Mr. Stalin also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of intending to cause communal unrest across the nation by pledging in its manifesto to build Ram Temple at Ayodhya and bringing about a uniform civil code.

Nominations of 12 candidates rejected in Krishnagiri

The nomination papers were scrutinised by the respective District Election Officers at 11 a.m. in the presence of the representatives of political parties and Independents. The entire process was monitored by the General Observers appointed by the Election Commission of India.

In Krishnagiri, District Election Officer T.P. Rajesh accepted 16 nominations out of the 28 filed. Twelve nominations were rejected.

General Observer

The General Observer appointed by the Election Commission of India for the Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency, Lalhming Thanga, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Mizoram, took charge on Monday. Mr. Lalhming held discussion with the District Election Officer T.P. Rajesh and other officials at the Travellers’ Bungalow. Public and representatives of political parties can lodge complaints to the General Observer at Room No. 80 at the Collectorate between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. everyday.

He can also be contacted over phone - 83000 77728/ 04343 231074; Fax; 04343 231052.

Liaison Officer to the General Observer: P. Jagir Hussein – mobile: 07402607000 and 09443218573.

Two expenditure observers, H. Ananda, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from Karnataka, and Madan Thimanpalli, an IRS officer from Andhra Pradesh, arrived in Krishnagiri on March 29.

Mr. Ananda will keep track of the expenditure of candidates in Uthangarai, Bargur and Krishnagiri Assembly constituencies and Mr. Madan Thimanpalli will keep track of candidates in Veppanahalli, Hosur and Thally Assembly constituencies. The contact numbers of the observers are: H. Ananda - 83000 77729 and Madan Thimanpalli - 83000 777730, a DIPR release said.

Nominated for Krishnagiri

N.S.M. Gowda, District Secretary of Janata Dal (Secular) was nominated by the party to contest from Krishnagiri constituency. This was announced by Mr. Gowda to journalists here. He said that he was defeated in the 2011 assembly elections from Thally constituency with a margin of a few thousand votes against the Communist Party of India candidate T. Ramachandran. The two left parties CPI and CPI (M) are supporting the party in the Lok Sabha elections, he said. Party leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda would campaign for him in the constituency in April. Mr. Gowda was the district secretary of the party for the last fourteen years.

Expenditure observers arrive in Krishnagiri

They will keep track of election expenditure by candidates

Two expenditure observers, H. Ananda, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from Karnataka and Madan Thimanpalli, an IRS officer from Andhra Pradesh, arrived in Krishnagiri on Saturday. Mr. Ananda will keep track of expenditure by Lok Sabha candidates in Uthangarai, Bargur and Krishnagiri assembly constituencies and Mr. Madan Thimanpalli will do the same for candidates in Veppanahalli, Hosur and Thally assembly constituencies.

The contact numbers of the observers are: H. Ananda 96009-09714 and Madan Thimanpalli 96009-07212.

The two officials held discussions with the District Election Officer T.P. Rajesh.

A general observer appointed by the Election Commission of India for the Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency was Lalhming Thanga, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Mizoram. It was expected that he would arrive on April 5.

Funds distributed to kin of deceased self-help group members

The Krishnagiri-based non-governmental organisation, Integrated Village Development Programme (IVDP), headed by Magsaysay awardee Kulandai Francis, distributed Rs. 2.10 crore as Life Security and Solidarity Fund to the next of kin of 422 SHG members who lost their lives due to accidents and diseases during the last year, at function held at the R.C. Fathima Boys High School in Krishnagiri on Saturday.

Handed over

Mariya Susai, Rector, Don Bosco College, Dharmapuri distributed the cheques to the next to the kin of the deceased in the presence of Kulandai Francis, President, IVDP.

R. Jesudass, Principal, Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, participated.

Presiding over the function, Mr. Kulandai Francis said that the scheme was being implemented for the last 13 years and as many as 3,018 kin of the deceased members of self-help groups had been given Rs. 10.10 crore.

Members

A total of 9,000 women SHGs with a total of 1,65,000 members are operating under the Integrated Village Development Programme (IVDP).

Manickam of Saint Mary’s Leprosy Hospital, Salem spoke on the occasion.

The scheme was introduced to help the families of those who lost their lives in accidents or because of disease, and to all those who had been permanently disabled in accidents from 2001.

Scheme was introduced to help kin of self-help group members who lost their lives due to accidents and diseases

Elephants return to Sanamavu again

Forty elephants which were driven to Jawalagiri Reserve Forests a month ago returned to Sanamavu Reserve Forests on Saturday morning, forest officials here said.

The elephant herd was prevented from entering Karnataka by Karnataka forest officials and people.

The movement of the herd towards Podur Pallam was prevented by the officials at Sinigiripalli, the other side of the Hosur-Royakottai road.

With this, the number of elephants at Sanamavu Reserve Forests and Melumalai has gone up to 55, the officials said.

Forest officials have been posted at Kukkalapalli, Pannapalli, Pathakottai, Uthanapalli, and Azhiyalam villages to prevent the animals from entering human habitations.

The team is led by Conservator of Forest (in charge) Dharmapuri Circle A.K. Ulaganathan, and Assistant Conservator of Forest A. Soundararajan, and Hosur Forest Ranger S. Sukumar.

The elephants would be driven back to Denkanikottai on Saturday night, an official said.

The herd of about 13 elephants which is roaming inside Podur Pallam Reserve Forests came out on Friday night.

They were sighted at South Pennar behind the Dakshina Tirupathi Temple.

A pair of elephants were roaming in Melumalai Reserve Forests after creating ruckus near Kaveripattinam, Krishnagiri, and other towns during the last one-and-a-half month.

Button rose cultivation hit by disease

R. Arivanantham

Button rose cultivation is hit by powdery mildew in Krishnagiri district.

V. Raja, a farmer from Kundalapatti village, near Kaveripattinam, told The Hindu that he lost 50 per cent of production because of the disease in the last one-and-a-half month.

He used to get 50 kg of flowers a day from his 75 cents. The selling price was Rs. 100 a kg.

T. Sundarraj, Programme Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, told The Hindu that the cloudy weather with intermittent drizzling will attract leaf dandruff, resulting powdery coating on leaf surfaces.

If severe, it might appear on stems and the flowers themselves too. Affected leaves eventually turn yellow, then brown. Dead foliage typically falls off the stem, though it will sometimes remain in place.

Although not fatal to plants, powdery mildew makes the foliage unattractive and repeated bouts of the disease will gradually weaken the plant.

To keep the disease at bay and control spreading, the farmers should spray a mixture of sulphur dust at 25-30kg/ha or calixin 1ml/litre is found effective in reducing the disease incidences.

Under high incidences spraying of difenoconazole 1ml/litre is very effective, said Mr. Sundarraj.

He suggested avoiding cultivation when humidity was high.

Watering during morning hours limits the build up of humidity in the crop in the night and avoid high plant densities which leads to heavy infection.

V. Venkatachalam, president, Krishnagiri Horticulture Federation, told The Hindu that button rose was being cultivated on over 500 acres in Krishnagiri district by over 500 farmers.

The federation was offering training to budding farmers on cultivation of cut rose, button rose, and other horticulture products.

P. Kaliappan, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Krishnagiri, said that the button rose cultivation was affected in over 100 acres in the district. The disease was vulnerable because of low temperature coupled with humidity. When the temperature improves, it would automatically vanish.

Woman found dead; probe ordered

N. Varalakshmi (23) was found dead at her in-laws’ house in Pannapalli under the Veppanahalli Police Station limits on Monday night. The police said that she married Nagaraj of Thorappalli village just a fortnight ago and were living with in-laws. Family disputes might have prompted her to commit suicide.

Since, the woman died before seven years into marriage, Krishnagiri Revenue Divisional Officer has been asked to conducting an inquiry. The body has been sent to Government Headquarters’ Hospital here for a post mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death.

Congress failed to meet people’s expectations : Minister Munusamy

The Congress, which is ruling the nation for the past 10 years, has failed to meet the expectations of the people, said K.P. Munusamy, Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development, Prisons, Law and Justice, here on Monday.

As part of the election campaign in Mathur Panchayat Union on Monday, Mr. Munusamy said that the AIADMK was the only party facing the Lok Sabha elections with confidence.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was the first leader to announce party candidates and begin campaigning much ahead of all the other party leaders.Whereas the other national and regional political parties are yet to close their alliance, this shows that the parties do not have self confidence in their winning chance, he said.He said that the Chief Minister implemented all her 54 promises made during the 2011 Assembly elections in 33 months and gained people’s support.AIADMK candidate K Ashok Kumar and party’s Krishnagiri Lok Sabha election in-charge Purasai K. Selvam accompanied Mr. Munusamy while he campaigned in 84 villages.

Vote to make Modi PM: Vijayakant

DMDK leader Vijayakant at an election meeting in Dharmapuri

Desiya Mupokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Vijayakant on Sunday sought votes to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for corruption-free governance in the Parliamentary elections and exhorted the electorate to vote for him and the DMDK in the 2016 elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. 

Canvassing for the NDA candidate for over 20 minutes, Mr. Vijaykant avoided mentioning the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and names of its candidates, PMK’s State president G.K. Mani in Krishnagiri as well as Anbumani Ramadoss in Dharmapuri. He charged that both the DMK and the AIADMK governments were anti-people and said that he hated politics based on caste and communal lines.

He said that the water from Rs 1928.80-crore Hogenakkal Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation scheme was yet to reach many areas in both the districts and dubbed the claims of the State government as false. While winding up his speech in Santhaipettai in Dharmapuri, Mr. Vijayakanth said he would come again for introducing and campaigning for the nominees of the BJP-led alliance.

Media monitoring cell has no journalist in it

--R. Arivanantham

Media Certification and Monitoring Committee has been constituted in Krishnagiri without including anyone who represents the media.

The committee is supposed to check paid news during elections — carrying advertisements in the pretext of news.

A release from District Election Officer T.P. Rajesh here said that the committee has been constituted after a consultative meeting held at the Collectorate on Thursday.

The following were the members: Mr. T.P. Rajesh (chairman); P. Balasubramanian, District Revenue Officer; Praveen P. Nair, Hosur Sub Collector; P. Shanmugam, secretary, Red Cross Society; and S. Kovalan, Public Relations Officer, DIPR.

In Dharmapuri district, the committee was constituted on January 28 itself, much before the announcement on Lok Sabha elections.

A release from K. Vivekanandan, District Election Officer, said that the following were the members: Mr. K. Vivekanandan (chairman), P. Menaka, R. Chandrasekaran, and Hanish Sekar, all Revenue Divisional Officers; Programme Executive of All India Radio, P. Chinnasamy, president of Tamil Sangam N. Rajendran; and A. Raghupathy, District Information Officer.

Krishnagiri District Election Officer could not be contacted over phone for a clarification.

Directive

According to an Election Commission directive if the Press Council of India is not providing names of journalists to be included in the committee, the District Election Officer can appoint either an independent senior citizen or journalist, who is willing and who, in the opinion of the DEO, is eligible in terms of background and record of neutrality.

This has been followed in Dharmapuri while constituting the cell.

Vijayakanth, Stalin to campaign

The leader of the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) Vijayakanth will undertake election campaign in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts on March 16, party sources here said.

V. Chandran, party’s Krishnagiri district secretary said that Mr. Vijayakanth would address the election meeting at the Coronation grounds near five road junction at 3 p.m.

After finishing his campaigning in Krishangiri, he would proceed to Dharmapuri.

In Dharmapuri, he would address the gathering either near the Rajagopal Goundar Park or at the Vallalar grounds at 5 p.m., said district secretary V. Ilangovan.DMK meeting

M.K. Stalin, DMK Treasurer and former Deputy Chief Minister will address the election meetings in Krishnagiri district on April 8 and in Dharmapuri on April 9, said Mr. T. Senguttuvan, Krishnagiri district secretary and Veppanahalli M.L.A. here on Tuesday.

Code of conduct did not spare even Mahatma

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi covered in Oldpet, Krishnagiri

It appears that the staff or the officials involved in ensuring adherence to the model code of conduct in force for the Lok Sabha elections got carried away in enforcing the code on statues in Krishnagiri. Two statues of the Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi – were also covered, as if he had been just another political leader. One statue is in Krishnagiri and the other in Hosur, officials confirmed on Tuesday evening.

The officials explained that the statue in Hosur was covered by the employees of the Hosur Municipality inadvertently and the cover was removed in the evening after some media persons sought clarification on this, said Municipal Councillor M. Elangovan.

As many as seven statues of political leaders were covered including that of Appavu Pillai, former Chairman of Hosur Town Panchayat.

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Pazhayapet in Krishangiri was also covered and even the local people had not noticed it for some time, said P. Ashok Kumar, Commissioner of Krishnagiri Municipality. “I went to the spot immediately after getting the information around 5 p.m. But, by then the cover was removed,” he said.

When contacted by The Hindu (NEWSPAPER), District Election Officer and Collector T.P. Rajesh clarified through SMS: “Yes. Mahatma Gandhi-ji statue are not covered in MCC (Model Code of Conduct). He is exempted.”

Cheating: case registered against chairperson of engineering college, husband

The District Crime Branch of the Krishnagiri police has registered a case against the chairperson of an engineering college and her husband for cheating an amount of Rs. 1.96-crore on Saturday.

In a complaint lodged by M. Senthil Mohan (45) and his sister M. Thenmozhi of Royakottai , they alleged that they were cheated to the tune of Rs. 1.96-crore by a D. Jayapal (42) and his wife J. Archana Kumari, Chairperson and Managing Trustee of the Archana Group of Institutions, Thimmapuram near Kaveripattinam, said M. Ganesan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, District Crime Branch.

He told The Hindu on Tuesday that the Mr. Senthil Mohan and his sister Thenmozhi had given Rs. 1.96-crore in six instalments after they were orally promised that they would be made the Managing Trustees of the Institutions.

The amounts received from the siblings were acknowledged by the bonds of Rs. 100 stamp paper.

They had mentioned in the stamped acknowledgement that the amount was received for college expenses and would be returned along with interest (without mentioning the rate of interest).

It was alleged that Mr. Jayapal failed to keep his promise and did not return the money.

Irked over this, Mr. Senthil Mohan registered a complaint with the District police. The Crime Branch registered a case on the advise of the Inspector General of Police, West Zone and Deputy Inspector General of Police A. Amalraj, Salem Range and the Superintendent of Police P. Kannammal under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code.

DSP Mr. Ganesan said that many cases were pending against the couple and hence those who have complaints can lodge them at 94425 63710 or at the District Crime Branch over phone number 04343 235155 with relevant records.

Police launched a manhunt for the college chairman and his wife.

Further investigations are on, police sources said.