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VOL: 2 ISSUE 57March 17, 2009
Chennai, March 17 :
 Even as the advocateshave carried on with theiragitation of boycotting thecourts, a large number oflitigant public thronged theHigh Court, appearedbefore the respectivecourts, argued their casesas parties-in-person andobtained interim orders intheir favour, on Monday.and also today.They argued theircases in Tamil and the judges, who gave a patienthearing, also spoke inTamil. The court officersassisted the litigant publicin representing their cases.The familymembers of the accusedin bail and anticipatorybail cases were alsoseen in the court halls.After goingthrough thepapers, the judges passedinterim orderson merit. Insome othercases, theyadjourned thehearing.Insome cases,where therewereprocedural or technicaldiscrepancies, thepetitions were returnedwith an advice to thelitigants to correct themand file afresh. In onesuch case, R SenthilKumar, running anelectronic shop inMadipakkam, argued hiscase and Justice KMohanram orderednotice to the authoritiesconcerned, returnable intwo weeks. His grievancewas that the localAssistant Commissionerof Police Rajamanickamand his subordinatesharassed him in a case,which was purely civil innature. He prayed for adirection to transfer hiscase against the policepersonnel to the CBI. Inanother case, over 40students, mostly women,appeared before JusticeV Ramasubramaniam,and got the stay orderalready granted lastweek, extended till March30.They arguedthat they were deniedappointment as assistantagricultural officers, asthe institution from whichthey received thecertificates, was not anapproved one.On Tuesdaytwo women presentedthe case of their sonsbail, which they weregranted after goingthrough the merits of thecase on a personalsurety of Rs. 10,000/-The women in tearspresented the pettycrime and told the judgethat their wards were in jail for the past twomonths.The agitatingadvocates set up freelegal aid service centresin three places on theHigh Court premises,including the one nearthe Family Court mannedby women advocates,and offered assistance tothe litigant public in filingpetitions and arguing thecases as parties-in-person.Meanwhile theadvocates of the SaidapetCourt burnt the report ofJustice SrikrishnaCommission expressingtheir protest.
Litigents present their casein person in T N Courts
Chennai , March 17
Atotal of 1,16,787 studentsfrom Tamilnadu andPuducherry will appear forthe Matriculation Tenthboard exams which beginstomorrow. . According to apress release issued byDirectorate of GovernmentExaminations here onMonday, there has beenan increase of 10,864students appearing for theMatriculation exams thisyear with 6,399 of themboys and 4,465 girls. InChennai alone, 16,369students would sit for theexams with 8,537 of themboys and 7,832 girls.Similarly, 4,697students will appear for theAnglo-Indian Boardexaminations beginningtomorrow. Compared tolast year the number ofstudents appearing forthe examinations hasincreased by 108. Of the4,697 students, 1925 areboys and 2,772 are girls.In Chennai alone, 2,148students will sit for theexams with 897 boys and1,251 girls.The SSLC andOSLC board exams willcommence from March25. As many as 8,42,350students from Tamilnaduand Puducherry areappearing for the exams.Of them, 4,16,512 areboys and 4,25,838 girls.Compared to last year,this year has been anincrease of 59,125students.The number ofgirls appearing for theexamination hasincreased to 29,916 andboys have increased to29,209. In Chennaialone, 19,697 studentsare appearing for theexamination whichincludes 37,779 boysand 18,082 girls.A total of 1,361students will appear forOSLC exams. Of them608 are boys and 753 aregirls. The above examswill conclude on 8 April.The exams will be held at2,788 centres across theState. Flying squads willbe formed and strictaction would be takenagainst students if theyare found copying duringthe examinations, therelease said.
Matriculation exams from tomorrow
 
Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 17, 2009Page 2
Chennai, March 17:
Star power will be a guidingfactor in deciding the fateof AIADMK leadersseeking party tickets inTamil Nadu in theupcoming generalelections.Sources in theparty said AIADMKsupremo Jayalalithaa, whointerviewed the aspirants,asked them to submit theirhoroscopes too.They saidJayalalithaa is determinedto win all 39 Lok Sabhaseats in the state and theunion territory ofPuducherry and is leavingno stone unturned."She does notwant to take any chancesthis time and wants allher candidates to win.One's star power playsan important role in eachperson's life and hencewe asked the aspirants tosubmit their horoscopes.There is nothing wrong init," the sources said.Jayalalithaa,known for her strongbelief in astrology andnumerology, alwayschooses auspicious timeeven to visit her partyoffice. She is also said tohave her own team ofastrologers whom sheconsults before takingimportant politicaldecisions.In the first roundof screening ofapplications, those wholacked financial capabilityto spend onelectioneering wereeliminated.In the secondround, the selection isbased on the applicant'seducational qualificationand loyalty to theleadership. But,ultimately the aspiranthaving a strong starpower will be the clincher,sources said.
Star power crucial for ticketseekers in AIADMK
Chennai, March 17:
 The District ConsumerDisputes Redressal Forum(North Chennai) hasdirected the StandardChartered Bank in ParrysCorner to pay within sixweeks, a compensation ofRs 50,000 to a customerfor deficiency in service.The forumcomprising its president PRoasiah and members TKamalakannan and MSheela gave the directionwhile passing orders on acomplaint from E VijayAnand, an advocatepractising in the MadrasHigh Court, praying for adirection to the bank to payRs 2 lakh towardscompensation.According to VijayAnand, he opened asavings bank account withthe bank and was providedwith a debit card and hemaintained the minimumbalance of Rs 10,000.When heattempted to withdraw Rs5,000 through an ATM inRoyapettah on January30, 2005, the equipmentdisplayed that theaccount was frozen.When approached, thebank official told him thatsince he was notoperating the account fortwo years, it had beenfrozen and advised him todeposit some amount toactivate it. Thecomplainant depositedRs 10,000 and the totalbalance was 31,800. Heissued a self-cheque forRs.31,800 on February 1,2005 but the same wasreturned with theendorsement that`restricted account’.Hence, the presentcomplaint allegingdeficiency in service onthe part of the bank.In its counter,the bank submitted thatsince the complainanthad not operated hisaccount for about twoyears, the same wasdeclared `dormant’. Theselfcheque was returnedas the signaturemismatched with theoriginal, it added.Rejecting thesubmissions, the forumobserved that the actionof the bank was againstthe rules. It had notinformed thecomplainant that his SBaccount would be treatedas dormant if the debitcard was not used for twoyears. ``On perusal ofthe documents, we are ofthe view that there isdeficiency in service onthe part of the bank.’’
Bank penalised for deficiency in service
Chennai, March 17:
Veteran character artisteand former AIADMK MLARadha Ravi is all set to jointhe ruling DMK soon.As a prelude, theactor called on the partychief and Chief Minister MKarunanidhi at hisGopalapuram residencehere on Monday.Ravi wasaccompanied by his familymembers. Whencontacted, Radha Ravisaid that he had beensidelined by the AIADMKhigh command for quite along time though he had avery good rapport with theparty cadre.The actor said hehad sent 25 letters to theAIADMK supremo butwithout any response.AIADMK sourcessaid the actor had fallen outof the grace of the partyleader a couple of yearsago.Ravi, who wasthe sitting MLA fromSaidapet, was not givenparty ticket to contestagain from theconstituency during the2006 Assemblyelections.For the past oneyear, the actor had notbeen invited for the publicmeetings of the AIADMK.In this backdrop, Ravimet Karunanidhi, whilegiving funds for the SriLankan Tamils a coupleof months ago.Ravi said afortnight ago that whenhis mother passed away,Karunanidhi had sent acondolence messageand Local AdministrationMinister MK Stalin methim and conveyed hiscondolences.Further, the CMhas directed the DMKcadre not to engage inbirthday celebrations forStalin in and around theareas where myresidence is located...Iwas moved by thisgesture,” Ravi said andadded that he would jointhe DMK very soon.Ravi waselected as MLA fromSaidapet constituency in2001 and held the post till2006.It may berecalled that ActressRadhika, Radha Ravi’ssister, was expelled fromthe AIADMK in 2006, justsix months after her joining the party alongwith her husbandSarathkumar
Actor Radha Ravi to join DMK
Chennai March 17 :
 Apollo SpecialityHospitals, Chennai hasintroduced CyberKnifeRobotic Radio SurgerySystem, therevolutionary treatmentof cancerous and noncancerous tumours.Said Dr Prathap Reddy,Executive Chairman,Apollo Hospitals Group,"In our continuingendeavor in providing thebest treatment for cancer,we have brought to thelatest in South East Asia,and most advancedtechnology CyberKnifeRadiosurgery System."Hitherto inoperable orhighly challengingconditions today have achance of treatment withthe robotic radiosurgerysystem the CyberKnife.For instance, lung cancercould not be treated withtraditional radiationtechniques due to highrisk of radiation damageto the surroundinghealthy tissue as tumoursin the lungs move as thepatient breathes.CyberKnife systemfollows the lung tumoraccurately while thepatient is breathing.Tumors in the spine,particularly metastatictumors are challenging totreat with surgerybecause of the proximityto the spinal cord. TheCyberKnife System cantrack tumor and thepatient's spinemovement during thetreatment, henceminimising the risk ofdamage to surroundingtissues. CyberKnifesystems have alsoshown promising resultsin treating prostatecancer."The CyberKnife is a non-invasive alternative tosurgery. The source ofthe therapeutic x-ray (theLinear Accelerator) ismounted on a computercontrolled robotic arm. Itcan aim a pencil likebeam exactly at thetarget from any directionof the space. Thisflexibility results in a'never seen beforeprecision with whichbeam target reach anddestroy the lesion. It'ssuccessful in thetreatment of cancerousand non-canceroustumors anywhere in thebody, including theprostate, lung, brain,spine, liver, pancreas andkidney," explainedRomesh Kaul, Presidentand CEO, AdvancedMedical Systems groupPTE.Developed by DrJophn.R.Adler, Professorof Neurosurgery andRadiationoncology atStanfordUniversityMedical Centre,the CyberKnifeRoboticRadiosurgerySystem is thefirst system inthe worlddesigned to treattumorsanywhere in thebody with sub-millimeteraccuracy. Manyof thecomplications associatedwith other conventionalcancer therapies areminimised or eliminated bythe CyberKnife system.“During a CyberKnifeprocedure, a patient liescomfortably on thetreatment table, whichautomatically positions thepatient. Anesthesia is notrequired, as the procedureis painless and non-invasive. The treatment,which generally lastsbetween 30 and 90minutes, typically involvesthe administration ofbetween 100 and 200radiation beams deliveredfrom different directions,each lasting from 10 to 15seconds," elaborated Dr PMahadev, SeniorConsultant RadiationOncologist.
Apollo, Chennai IntroducesAdvanced Cyberknife
Chennai, March 17 :
The First Bench of theMadras High Court todayadvanced the hearing ona batch of petitions filedby advocates, seekingaction against policeofficials in connectionwith February 19 violenceinside the court complexfrom March 26 to March18.Senioradvocates N G R Prasad,Ms R Vaigai, Ms ShanthaKumari andPrabhakaran, mentionedbefore the benchcomprising Chief JusticeH L Gokhale and JusticeF M Ibrahim Kalifulla totake up the casesimmediately.The first benchposted the matter alongwith suo-motu cases inconnection with theFebruary 17 and 19incidents, in which JanataParty presidentSubramanian Swamywas attacked by a groupof lawyers inside thecourt hall and the police-advocates clash in thecourt premisesrespectively taken up by abench headed by formerActing Chief Justice S JMukhopadhya.JusticeMukhopadhaya, whounderwent a treatment inthe Apollo hospital in thecity from March 6, wasdischarged from thehospital on March 15.JusticeMukhopadhaya is likely toresume work fromtomorrow.
-Agencies
HC advances hearing onpetitions filed by advocates
 
Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 17, 2009Page 3
News You Can Use
Bangalore, March 17:
Three new species ofbacteria, which are notfound on Earth and whichare highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, have beendiscovered in the upperstratosphere by Indianscientists. One of the newspecies has beennamed asJanibacter hoylei, after theDistinguishedAstrophysicist FredHoyle,the second as Bacillusisronensis recognising thecontribution of ISRO in theballoon experiments whichled to its discovery and thethirdas Bacillus aryabhataafter India’s celebratedancient astronomer
 
Aryabhata and also the firstsatellite of ISRO.According to Mr. BR Guruprasad, PRO,ISRO, the experiment wasconducted using a 26.7million cubic feetballooncarrying a 459 kgscientific payload soaked in38 kg of liquid Neon, whichwas flown from the NationalBalloon Facility inHyderabad, operated bythe Tata Institute ofFundamental Research(TIFR). The payloadconsisted of a cryosamplercontaining sixteenevacuated and sterilisedstainless steel probes.Throughout theflight, the probes remainedimmersed in liquid Neontocreate a cryopump effect.These cylinders, aftercollecting air samplesfrom different heightsranging from 20 km to 41km, were parachuteddown and safelyretrieved. These sampleswere analysed byscientists at the Centerfor Cellular andMolecular Biology,Hyderabad as well as theNational Center for CellScience (NCCS), Punefor independentexamination, ensuringthat both laboratoriesfollowed similar protocolsto achieve homogeneityof procedure andinterpretation.The Analyticalfindings are summarisedas follows:In all, 12bacterial and six fungalcolonies were detected,nine of which, based on16S RNA genesequence, showedgreater than 98%similarity with reportedknown species on earth.Three bacterialcolonies, namely,PVAS-1, B3 W22 and B8 W22were, however, totallynew species. All the threenewly identified specieshad significantly higherUV resistance comparedto their nearestphylogeneticneighbours. Of theabove, PVAS-1,identifiedas a member of thegenus Janibacter, hasbeen namedJanibacterhoylei. sp. nov.The secondnew species B3 W22 wasnamed as Bacillusisronensis sp.nov. andthe third new species B8W22 as Bacillusaryabhata.Theprecautionary measuresand controls operating inthis experimentinspireconfidence that thesespecies were picked upin the stratosphere.While the present studydoes not conclusivelyestablish theextra-terrestrial origin ofmicroorganisms, it doesprovide positiveencouragement tocontinue the work in ourquest to explore theorigin of life.This multi-institutional effort hadJayant Narlikar fromtheInter-UniversityCentre for Astronomyand Astrophysics, Puneas Principal Investigatorand veteran ScientistsU.R. Rao from ISRO andP.M. Bhargava fromAnveshna supported asmentors of theexperiment. S. Shivajifrom CCMB and YogeshShouche from NCCSwere the biology expertsand Ravi Manchandafrom TIFR was in chargeof the balloon facility.C.B.S. Duttwas theProject Director fromISRO who was in chargeof preparing andoperating the complexpayload.This was thesecond such experimentconducted by ISRO, thefirst one beingin 2001.Even though the firstexperiment had yieldedpositive results, it wasdecided to repeat the
Discovery of new micro-organismsin the stratosphere
The balloon carrying scientific payload which discovered new micro-organisms. Discovery of new micro-organisms in the stratosphere.Photo: Courtesy ISRO 
Tsukuba, Japan, March17:
A new walking,talking robot from Japanhas a female face that cansmile and has trimmeddown to 43 kilograms tomake a debut at a fashionshow. But it still hasn'tcleared safety standardsrequired to share thecatwalk with humanmodels.Developers at theNational Institute ofAdvanced IndustrialScience and Technology, agovernment-backedorganisation, said their"cybernetic human,"shown today, wasn't readyto help with daily chores orwork side by side withpeople - as many hoperobots will be able to do inthe future."Technologically, it hasn't reached thatlevel," said HirohisaHirukawa, one of therobot's developers. "Evenas a fashion model,people in the industry toldus she was short and hada rather ordinary figure."For now, the 158centimetre tall black-haired robot code-namedHRP-4C - whosepredecessor hadweighed 58 kilograms -will mainly serve to drawand entertain crowds.Developers saidthe robot may be used inamusement parks or toperform simulations ofhuman movement, as anexercise instructor, forinstance.HRP-4C wasdesigned to look like anaverage Japanesewoman, although itssilver-and-black bodyrecalls a space suit. It willappear in a Tokyo fashionshow - without anyclothes - in a specialsection just for the robotnext week.
-Agencies
Female robot to hit Japan catwalk
London, March 17:
Creditcards, trainer shoes, socialnetworking sites, and GPStechnology have made it tothe list of things that havechanged the world.To mark theNational Science andEngineering Week, apanel of 20 experts fromthe BritishScienceAssociationhave drawn up alist of the top 10things that havechanged theworld, reportsThe Telegraph.
Here is the listin full:
1. GPSTechnologyOriginally developed as anavigation system by theUnited States military, theGlobal Positioning Systemis now used in cars, aircraftand boats.2. The Sony WalkmanIn 1979 Sony spawned theera of wearabletechnology with its iconicpersonal stereo. TheWalkman quickly changedlistening habits andbecame hugely popular as jogging culture took the1980s by storm.3. The Bar codeThe boring sets of blackand white lines can now befound on almost everysingle item bought from ashop. Norman Woodlandfirst developed an earlyform of the bar code in1949 by combining ideasfrom movie soundtracksand Morse code to helphim speed up storecheckouts. And now storescan instantly accessproduct details, prices andstock levels with a sweepof a laser.4. TV DinnersConvenience food reallytook off in the 1970s andtransformed the wayfamilies atemeals, thehigh-street, thecountrysideand nationalhealth.Traditionalfamily dinnersaround thetabledisappearedand pre-packaged "ready meals"eaten on the sofa becamethe norm.5. PlayStationAlthough games consoleshad been around for sometime, Sony's PlayStationtook gaming out of spottyteenager''s bedrooms andinto adult living roomswhen it was released in1994.6. Social NetworkingEveryday, more than threebillion minutes are spentby computer users onFacebook. Along withother social networkingsites such as MySpaceand Twitter, it hascompletely changed theway we interact and whowe interact with.Millions ofpeople now communicatetiny details of theirprofessional and personallives by poking, twitteringand posting. Online socialnetworking has allowedpeople to rekindlefriendships with friends theylost touch with years ago.7. Text messagesText messaging has createda new vocabulary and newgrammar that is almostincomprehensible to thosewho do not use it. LOL andFYI have now passed intoeveryday English.8. Electronic MoneyCredit cards gave us greaterconvenience for spending,greater security and theability to spend moneyanywhere in the world.9. MicrowavesMicrowaves -electromagnetic radiationwith wavelengths rangingbetween 1 millimetre andone metre - are used bymobile phones, wirelessbroadband internet andsatellite television.They also gave us a new wayof cooking food while the USmilitary has developed a"less-than-lethal" weaponthat can blast victims with aheat wave.10. TrainersTrainers changed fashionand the feet of generationsever since the GoodyearMetallic Rubber ShoeCompany first used a newmanufacturing process tomeld rubber to cloth in 1892.With the help ofcelebrity endorsements bysporting superstars such asbasketball legend MichaelJordan, trainers turned frombeing purely practicalclothing for sport into afashion item.
Top 10 ''inventions''
of 00

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