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VOL: 2 ISSUE 58March 18, 2009
Chennai, March 18,
Amid intense efforts byCongress to bringVijayakant's DMDK intoDMK-led front in TamilNadu, BJP has also helddiscussions on a possibletie-up with the actor-turned-politician for theLok Sabha polls.The BJP, whichis without any allies in thestate so far, has held"some preliminary talks"with DMDK, BJP statepresident L Ganesan toldreporters here.Mr. Ganesan,however, declined toattach much importanceto the talks with the party,which polled eight percent of the votes in the2006 Assembly electionsand is perceived to be asignificant player in theParliamentary polls.The statepolitics, of late, hasalready seen the twomajor regional partyDMK and AIADMKbecoming part of UPAthe newly made thirdfront respectively.Congress hasopenly expressed itsdesire that DMDKshould be part of theDMK-led front andreportedly stepped upefforts to wooVijayakant's party. But,Tamil Nadu CM andDMK chief MKarunanidhi had deniedhaving extended anyinvitation to the DMDKand blamed a section ofmedia for such reports.Mr. Ganesansaid DMDK could retainits 'identity' as a partyopposed to the twoDravidian parties if italigned with BJP."DMDK willlose its identity byaligning with either ofthe (Dravidian) parties,but can retain it byaligning with BJP," hesaid.Mr. Ganesansaid parleys were alsoheld with the All IndiaSamathuva MakkalKatchi (AISMK), led byactor R Sarathkumar.
-Agencies
Chennai, March 18:
TheParkava Kula communitycomprising Moopanars,Nainars and Udayars is just raising its head aftera century of its existance.The 100-year-old Tamil Nadu ParkavaKula Sangam, whichclaims that thecommunity has over 65lakh voters, is proposingto float the party with aview to striving for thewelfare and growth of thecommunity.Chairman of theSRM group of insitutions,T R Pachamuthu, whoalso heads the ParkavaKula Sangam'sparliamentary board(High Level Committee),is the key person behindthe move. who is ablysupported byMotherland PicturesKovaithambi.Addressing themedia, Mr. Pachamuthusaid that continuouslytheir community isdenied the opportunitiesby major political partiesin Tamil Nadu. Hence tomake their voice heard atthe state level and at thecentral level theircommunity is organsinga massive rally on March29 at Kallakurichi nearVillupuram and that wilshow our strength to thepolitical parties.It may be notedthat the Parkava KulaCommunity is the deciderin almost 40 assemblyconstituencies of theState and that theparties woo them inevery election.Having over onecrore voters belonging totheir community in thestate the Sangam seekssufficient representationas a Sangam in theforthcoming parliamentaryelections. At a later date islikely to become a politicaloutfit said Lawyer Rajanwho is also a high levelcommittee member.Talking on thesidelines of the meetingMr. Pachamuthu said wewant our requests to beacceded by the politicalparties and we wouldsupport them in toto.With therejuvenated Parkava KulaSangam outfit takingshape Tamil Nadu is all setto see another caste basedparty in the near future.
-Staff Reporter
BJP tries to wooVijayakant's DMDK
Parkava Kula communityraising its head in TN
Photo S. Mohan 
 
Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 18, 2009Page 2
Chennai, March 18 :
Sonow we have to wait forsome more days to knowwhich way the PMKswings. The party’sgeneral body meeting,scheduled for Wednesdayto decide on pre-pollalliance, has been calledoff, according to partysources.“Till Monday, wewere of the impression thatthe meeting would be heldon Wednesday but sincewe have not been informedabout it even by lateTuesday evening, theymust have called it off,”Party founder SRamadoss fears that thecadre might crossvoteand undermine theparty’s chances ofwinning as many seats asit won in the lastelections. He is alsoconcerned over the partylosing its credibility if itwere to go back to theDMK after the verbalduels betweenRamadoss and CM MKarunanidhi.According toparty sources, AnbumaniRamadoss feels that thePMK vote bank hasshrunk and it would besafer to sail with the VCK.On the other hand, anAIADMK alliance wouldmake it difficult for theparty to win seats, as theAIADMK and MDMK donot have a strong base inthe northern districts. Soit may need the DMK andCongress to win seats inthe region, considered aPMK bastion.
-Agencies
said a district-levelleader, and member ofthe general council.The eleventhhour cancellation of thegeneral body has beenattributed todifferencesamong thetop brass ofthe partyover theissue ofalliance.It issaid thatUnion HealthMinisterAnbumaniRamadoss,favours theDMK-Congress combine, whilesenior leader KaduvettiGuru wants the party togo with the AIADMK-Leftcombine.However, morethan the individualpreferences of theleaders, the largerquestion appears to bethe ability to win and long-term political survival.
Ramadoss postpones alliance decision
Chennai, March 18:
The Tamil Nadu PressPhotographersAssociation on Tuesdayurged the City PoliceCommissioner KRadhakrishnan to initiateaction against theadvocates who wereallegedly preventingthem from doing theirduties and alsoassaulting them. Theassociation membersmet Radhakrishnan at thecommissionerate officeand complained againstthe advocates whoreportedly assaulted theTamil daily photographer.
-Agencies
Take action against lawyers, cops
Chennai March 18
Language bloopers andconceptual questionsdismayed the Class XIIstudents writingEconomics paper of theState Board Examinations,here on Tuesday .The mostcommon complaint was thequestion number 78, whichwas on the elasticity ofdemand. It requiredstudents to explain themethods of measurementof price elasticity ofdemand in detail whereasthe Tamil question wasworded differently and didnot mention that a fewaspects of the question hadto be answered in detail,said an Economics teacherat a Government HigherSecondary School in city.But anotherEconomic teacher said thequestion number 78 wasmore explicit in Englishthan in Tamil. The studentsof Tamil medium attemptedthe question in detail onlybecause it was for 20marks, but the languageblooper had resulted inconfusion for theexaminees, he said.Janaki Raman,an Economics teacher atthe Corporation HigherSecondary School, CITNagar, said six one-markquestions were not as perthe blueprint rules givenby the Department ofGovernmentExaminations. He alsosaid the exam papershould carry questionsonly from the back of thebook but this examcontained questionswhich were conceptualand not exactly thosegiven at the back of thebooks.There was ahuge gap between thequestions given inEnglish and Tamil with noexact translation, he said.It just confused thestudents and a lot of timewas wasted inunderstanding thequestion, he added.According to SugantiRajaraman, anEconomics teacher at aState Board SyllabusSchool in T Nagar, thestudents were baffled asthey attempted the one-mark questions first withthe general assumptionthat they were not verydifficult.CChandrashekhar, aClass XII studentadmitted that thequestion was indeedconfusing but most of hisfriends had attempted itsomehow. However,students of privateschools said that theyencountered no suchproblem while attemptingthe paper. There are atotal of 81 questions inthe exam paper,including three 20-markquestions.
-Agencies
Plus 2 exam blues: Economicspaper hoodwinks
Chennai, Mar 18 :
TheMadras High Court hasordered notice on a quowarranto petitionquestioning the legalvalidity of the appointmentof Mr K Panchalan asRegistrar of IIT-Madras.Admitting thepetition filed by IIT SC/STEmployees WelfareAssociation generalsecretary V Neethinathan,Justice VRamasubramanianyesterday directed the IITadministration and theCentre to file counterwithin two weeks.Seeking toknow under whatauthority Mr Panchalanwas holding the post, thepetitioner sought torestrain him fromfunctioning as registrar.The petitionerfurther submitted that theadvertisement for thepost of registrar issued inAugust 2007 hadstipulated severalconditions tailor-madefor Mr Panchalan.Describing theselection process asmockery, the petitionerassociation wanted theauthorities to recover thesalary from the terminalbenefits of the registrar,scheduled to retire fromservice this month.
-Agencies
HC orders notice on IITRegistrar appointment
Chennai, Mar 18 :
TheMadras High Court hasupheld Tamil Nadu LandReforms (Fixation ofCeiling on Land) SecondAmendment Act, 1994.Dismissing abatch of writ petitions byR Sivashanmugam andothers challenging theconstitutional validity ofthe amendment Act,Justice K Chandru, citingrulings, said it was clearthat the legislature hadthe power to enact aretrospective legislationfor the purpose ofclarifying certainambiguities.The presentamendment did not makea new amendment tosection 22, but only gavea statutory backing to theinterpretation given bythe Supreme Court in acase, the judge said.According to thestatement of objects andreasons, the amendmentwas to make the sectionin consonance with theprinciples laid down bythe Supreme Court and tomake it clear that if anytransfer or partition, hadthe effect of reducing theextent of surplus land inexcess of the ceilingarea, such transfer orpartition whether bonafide or not, should beconstrued as defeatingthe provisions of thelegislation.It was also tomake provisions forvalidating all acts done orproceedings taken by theauthorised officer and toreopen the past cases,based on the apex court's judgment.The Judge saidif an Authorised Officerhad given an order infavour of any of thepetitioners ignoring thelegal provision, such anorder could only be a nullityas it had not taken note ofthe true legislativemeaning as well as theintent and purport ofSection 22.The provision asamended by the impugnedAct had restored thecorrect meaning and thespirit of the Act. The Judgesaid the petitioners had novested right in making atransfer to defeat the verypurpose of the legislativeinjunction over suchtransfers.Further, theamendment itself had putan embargo by prescribinga limitation for reopeningthe issues beyond fiveyears from the date of thegazette notification.
-Agencies
Tamil Nadu Land ReformsAmendment Act upheld
 
Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 18, 2009Page 3
News You Can Use
Mumbai, March 18:
Anorganisation researchingNetaji Subhas ChandraBose's death on Tuesdaycriticised Italianambassador AlessandroQuaroni's remarks thatthere was no point incontinuing research onwhether Netaji died in aplane crash on August 18,1945.In a statement,Mission Netaji, theresearch unit said, there isa historical evidence whichheld Netaji did not die in aplane crash.Mr. Quaroni at the112th birth anniversary ofNetaji in Kolkata recentlysaid, "I don't see any pointin continuing with theresearch on whether hedied in a crash or not."Mr. Quaroni isthe son of diplomat PietroQuaroni who helpedNetaji escape to Moscowin 1941.Mission Netajicited reference to a notepreserved in thePrinceton UniversityLibrary which clearlyquotes Mr. PietroQuaroni as saying that hedid not think the news ofBose's accidental deathwas true.The Mission'sstatement also refers to anote written by MahatmaGandhi's biographerLouis Fischer who metMr. Pietro Quaroni inMoscow in November1946 and quoted himsaying it was possible"that Bose is still alive".Mr. PietroQuaroni had told Mr.Fischer that Netaji "didnot want the British tolook for him so the falserumour of his death wascirculated and he may bebiding his time for areturn to India."V.P. Saini,convenor of the NetajiSubhas Kranti Manch,which is also researchingNetaji's death has askedthe Italian Prime Minister,in a letter, whether theambassador wasspeaking on behalf ofItalian government.
- Agencies
Mission Netaji contests Italianenvoy's views on his death
Washington, March 18:
 The space shuttleDiscovery docked with theInternational Space Station(ISS) on Tuesday for aconstruction mission thatwill allow the station todouble its crew.The Discoverywill deliver the fourth andfinal solar panel that willenable ISS to double thesize of its crew to sixastronauts. Threespacewalks are planned toinstall the solar panels andconduct other constructionprojects. Twospacewalkers will put thepanels in place onThursday with help fromthe station's robotic arm."Welcome to the SpaceStation, Discovery. We'reglad you're here," the ISScrew said as the two craftmade contact at 2120GMT above Australia.The mission willalso deliver Japaneseastronaut Koichi Wakata,who is to officially join thepermanent crew on theorbiting space stationlater Tuesday. Inrecognition of theJapanese crew member,the first permanent ISSresident from thatcountry, Discoveryastronauts awokeTuesday morning toRadio Exercise, a songused by Japaneseschool children toexercise, and performedby the Tokyo BroadcastChildren's Choir.The shuttlelaunched Sunday afterweeks of delays causedby concerns abouthydrogen fuel valves anda later leak in a fuel vent.
-Agencies
Discovery docks with space station
Washington, March 18:
 British researchers claimthat hormone kisspeptinshows promise as apotential new treatmentfor infertility.The study, ledby Dr Waljit Dhillo fromImperial College London,has shown that givingkisspeptin to women withinfertility can activate therelease of sex hormones,which control themenstrual cycle.According toresearchers, the studycould lead to a newfertility therapy forwomen with low sexhormone levels.Kisspeptin is aproduct of the KISS-1gene and is a keyregulator of reproductivefunction.Animals and humanslacking kisspeptinfunction do not gothrough puberty andremain sexuallyimmature.Dr Waljit Dhilloand colleagues havealready shown thatkisspeptin treatmentleads to the production ofsex hormones in fertilewomen.Now, they have extendedtheir research to look atthe effects of kisspeptinin women whose periodshave stopped due to ahormone imbalance.In this study, agroup of ten women whowere not menstruatingand infertile, wereinjected with eitherkisspeptin or saline.Blood sampleswere then taken tomeasure their levels ofluteinising hormone (LH)and follicle stimulatinghormone (FSH), two sexhormones essential forovulation and fertility.Theresearchers found thatkisspeptin led to a 48-foldincrease in LH and 16-fold increase in FSH,when compared to thecontrol treatment.This is the firststudy to show thatkisspeptin can stimulatesex hormones in womenwith infertility and presentskisspeptin as a potentialnew therapy for humaninfertility.Dhillo said: This isa very exciting result andsuggests that kisspeptintreatment could restorereproductive function inwomen with low sexhormone levels.Our futureresearch will focus ondetermining the bestprotocol for repeatedkisspeptin administrationwith the hope ofdeveloping a new therapyfor infertility."The research isbeing presented at theannual Society forEndocrinology BESmeeting in Harrogate.
- Agencies
KISS' therapy for infertile women
Berlin, March 18:
In aneffort to reverse the declinein international touristarrivals in the country afterMumbai terror attacks,India has launched a newtourism promotioncampaign to woo theforeign visitors.The newcampaign 'Visit India Year2009' has been launched atthe current InternationalTourism Exchange in Berlinto present the country as anattractive destination forthe holidaymakers.The campaign is a joint initiative by thegovernment and thetourism industry to winback international visitorswho have stayed awaysince the terror attacks inMumbai last November,said Secretary for TourismSujit Banerjee, wholaunched the campaign at aconference of internationalmedia and travel traderepresentatives.India's tourismindustry has to cope withglobal terrorism and globaleconomic downturn, whichare threatening to put abreak this year on adecade of phenomenalgrowth in internationalarrivals, driven by thesuccessful 'IncredibleIndia' marketingcampaign and steadyimprovements in thetourism infrastructure,Banerjee said to anews agency.Internationaltourist arrivals inIndia continued togrow last year evenafter the financialcrisis began to unfoldin some majortourism marketssuch as the UnitedStates and Britain,but the Mumbaiattacks dealt a severeblow to foreign touristtravelling to the country,he said.Internationalarrivals have been fallingsince November and thistrend gained momentumthis year, Banerjee said."Therefore, thegovernment has joinedhands with leadingairlines, hoteliers, holidayresorts and touroperators in thisambitious marketingcampaign to bring backforeign tourists byoffering them a widerange of incentives andbonuses during theperiod between April andDecember, 2009."According to theestimates of the IndiaTourism Office,international touristarrivals in India slumpedto around 5.6 per cent in2008 to 5.37 millionvisitors after averaging10 per cent up toSeptember. Theirnumber dropped to morethan 17 per cent inJanuary, 2009.The decline ininternational touristarrivals comes after Indiaachieved a 14.3 per centgrowth with arrival of5.08 million tourists in2007. A similar growthwas registered in 2006when over 4.45 millionforeigners visited thecountry.Between 2003and 2007, the number ofinternational arrivals inIndia went up from 3.09million to 5.37 million.The airlinesparticipating in thecampaign, Air India, JetAirways and KingfisherAirlines will offer a"companion free ticket"for every ticketpurchased forinternational anddomestic flights.Connecting flights to thedeparting airports areincluded in the final travelcosts.The IndianTravel Agents'Association (IATO) offersholiday-makers a freesightseeing tour in a cityof their choice.
'Visit India Year 2009'
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