VOL: 3 ISSUE 1Chennai, July 21, 2009

New Delhi, July 21

: In abreach of protocol, formerpresident APJ AbdulKalam, who is exemptedfrom security checks due tohis status, was frisked byan American airlines at theinternational airport herebefore boarding theaircraft.The civil aviationministry has ordered aprobe into the incidentinvolving the groundsecurity staff ofContinental Airlineswhich subjected Kalamto security check beforehe was to board aNewark-bound flight onApril 24."The incidenttook place on April 24 atthe Indira Gandhiinternational airportwhen Kalam wastravelling to the US. Hewas treated like anordinary passenger,"sources close to Kalamsaid.They saidKalam did not take up theissue with thegovernment. "It is theairline policy to checkeveryone. They neverlisten to any Indianagency," they said.Civil aviationminister Praful Patel saidthe Bureau of CivilAviation Security (BCAS)is investigating the matterand action will be takenagainst whosoever isfound responsible."I just got toknow about the incident.We will ask for correctiveaction and we will ask theconcerned people toapologise," he toldreporters here.Describing theincident as a "normalsecurity procedure", theairline public relationsofficer Aparna said "thereis no special rule for VIPsand VVIPs. This is theprocess the airlineadheres to."The formerpresident also had to"surrender" before thestaff for a complete bodycheck, the sourcesclaimed.Aparna saidKalam was "verycooperative" and "hehappily underwent theentire process".DIG CISF(airport security) UdyanBanerjee said the firstlevel of security check,which is conducted by theforce, was waived but asecond level of checkingis done by the airlines.This is not forthe first time an IndianVIP has been frisked atan airport. Last year, thethen external affairsminister PranabMukherjee was frisked atMoscow airport. In 2003,the then defence ministerGeorge Fernandes wasalso made to undergosecurity screening in theUS.

Political parties condemn the act

Political partiestoday condemned theincident involving thefrisking of formerpresident APJ AbdulKalam by the staff of anAmerican airliner herewith the BJP seeking anapology on the issue fromthe government."Thegovernment shouldtender an apology. It's amatter relating to protocoland they have aresponsibility in it," seniorparty leader ShahnawazHussain told reportersoutside Parliament.Another partyleader Rajiv Pratap Rudysaid the behaviour metedout to the formerpresident is "totallyunacceptable""Theresponsibility of securityof airports in India is ofCISF, which also carriesout the frisking work," hesaid adding action shouldbe taken against the staffof the foreign airline forthis breach of protocol.Terming theincident as "unfortunate",CPI-M's Sitaram Yechurysaid, "We would also like toknow whether the incidenthappened due to the namewhich in that case makes itall the more serious."SP chief MulayamSingh Yadav said thegovernment shouldseriously raise objectionsover the incident.Congressspokesperson JayanthiNatarajan said if there hasbeen a breach of protocol,action will be taken by thegovernment after theprobe."If such a breachof protocol has happened,we need to look into it. I amsure if there has been abreach of trust, action willbe taken by the ministryafter a probe," she said.The Congressleader said every timethere is a breach ofprotocol, it has been takenup with the countryconcerned andexplanations were offered.Noted lawyerRam Jethmalani said theconcerned airline mustapologise. "It is absolutelybad manners on their part."

Abdul Kalam frisked; India irked

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 21, 2009Page 2

Tamil Nadu

Karur, July 21:

Vehiculartraffic on the busy Karur-Dindigul highway wasaffected for nearly twohours as some villagers ofVelliyanai resorted to roadroko at Velliyanai near heretoday.They weredemanding that theauthorities reconstruct aroad bridge on theVelliyanai-Jagadabihighway, which wasdamaged about one yearback.In support of thevillagers, most of theshops in Velliyanairemained closed.

Villagers stage road roko;disrupts vehicular traffic

Virudhunagar, July 21:

The toll in the devastatinginferno that broke out in aprivate fire crackermanufacturing factory atNamaskarithanpatti villagenear Sivakasi, yesterday,rose to ten, with the deathof two more people today.Police sourcessaid K Murugan (39) and SChinna Muniyandi (40),who were admitted toGovernment RajajiHospital (GRH) at Maduraiand Government Hospital(GH) at Sivakasi,respectively, succumbedto their injuries, thismorning, taking the toll toten.As many as eight seriouslyinjured were gettingintensive treatment in theburns ward at GRH, while18 others were gettingtreatment at Governmenthospital in Sivakasi andVirudhunagar. Thecondition of six injured wasstill critical, hospitalsources said.Meanwhile, aspecial police teamarrested V Muthusamy,foreman and SRajadurai, manager ofthe Sri Krishna FireWorks factory undersections 304 A (II)(causing death bynegligence), 286(negligent conduct withrespect to ExplosiveSubstance), 337(causing hurt by actendangering life orpersonal safety ofothers), 338 (causinggrievous hurt by actendangering life orpersonal safety of others)of Indian Penal Code andsection 5 of IndianExplosive Act.The owner ofthe factoryRadhakrishnan wasabsconding and policehave launched anmassive search to arresthim.The fireengulfed the cracker unitand triggered series ofexplosion, destroying 35rooms and godownsinside the factory.The tragedyoccurred when theworkers were fillingexplosive powder incracker varieties,including rockets.Manufacturing of firecrackers was in full swingin the factory in view ofcoming Deepavalifestival.The deceasedwere M Ravi (33), PSokkar (28), KRamasamy (48) his sonR Karuppasamy (25), SSundaravalli (46), MMuthu Karuppayee (26),G Subbulakshmi (35), MMurugan (29), S ChinnaMuniyandi (40) and KMurugan (39).This was thesecond major fire mishapin a cracker unit in southTamil Nadu within afortnight. Nineteenworkers were killed in aninferno in a private fireworks at Vadakkampattivillage in Usilampattitaluk of Madurai on Julyseven.

Toll in cracker unit fire rises to 10

Chennai, July 21:

Thanks to heavy inflowdue to rain in catchmentareas of Karnataka andKerala, the sluice gatesof the Mettur Dam will beopened for irrigation onAugust seven, TamilNadu Chief Minister MKarunanidhi announcedin the State Assemblytoday.Making aStatement under Rule110, Mr Karunanidhi saidthe release of water fromthe Mettur Dam wouldhelp farmers in Cauverydelta areas to take upSamba crop cultivation.He also urgedthe farmers in the Deltaareas to take upagricultural worksfollowing theGovernment's decision torelease water from theMettur Dam.The ChiefMinister said the inflowinto the Mettur Dam hadincreased significantlydue to heavy rain in thecatchment areas ofKarnataka and Kerala.The water levelin the Mettur Dam, whichstood at 60 ft on July 14,rose to 81 ft yesterday asagainst its full capacity of120 ft.The inflow intothe reservoir was 60,000cusecs.''If the presentsituation continued, thestorage level in the damis expected to touch the90 ft in the next twoweeks,'' Mr Karunanidhisaid.''Consideringthis, it has been decidedto release water from theMettur dam from Augustseven to enable farmers inthe Cauvery delta areas totake up cultivation ofSamba crop,'' he added.Water from theMettur Dam wouldnormally be released onthe scheduled date of June12. However, it could not bereleased this year due topoor storage level in thedam and also due to lack ofrains in the catchmentareas, throwing a spannerin the hopes of farmers whowere gearing to take upcultivation.However, therehas been heavy rain overthe last few days inKarnataka, resulting inincreased inflow into theMettur Dam, bringingsmiles in the faces of thefarmers.

Mettur Dam to be openedfor irrigation on Aug 7 : CM

Tiruchirapalli, July 21:

The city-based Dencity, adental care unit of theKMC speciality hospitalhas successfullyperformed implantsurgery on a 74-year oldUK national.HospitalManaging Director DrChandrakumar andDencity incharge DrIyeppan Sankar toldnewpersons here lastnight that Tommy Xavierreported to the hospital toreplace his missing rightupper and lower backteeth and left upper backteeth.They said MrXavier, who got removedof those teeth 10 yearsback, had never botheredabout their replacement.What inspired him wasthe treatment provided tohis brother-in-law PeterHart (50) by the Dencity,recently.They said MrHart had removabledentures but of little useas he was not able tochew anything properly.Nobody offered him'implant supporteddenture treatment plan'as he was treated byradiation therapy 15years back forLymphoma.But the Dencity offeredhim mini-implant (interimimplants) supportedlower denture(Procedure performedunder intravenoussedation) and he wasdoing very well now, theyadded.This inspired MrXavier to seek treatmentfrom Dencity, they saidand added that they tookradiographs and C scan ofMaxilla and Mandible withDENTASCAN software.The scan was convertedinto simplant planningsoftware mode.They said insimplant planner all theplanning was done andvirtually implants wereplaced. Once the patient'sconsent was obtained forthis treatment, the planningalong with the patientsmodel was sent toMaterialise Dental,Belgium to make aCAD/Cam surgiguide.Using thissurgiguide as a surgicaltemplate, implants wereplaced in five locations inthe upper jaw and one inlower jaw of Mr Xavier, theyadded.

City hospital performs implantsurgery on UK national

Vellore, July 21:

Ninesandalwood trees weremissing from theTamilnadu IndustrialExplosives Limited (TEL)premises here onMonday.Vellore DistrictForest Officer (DFO) T VManjunatha, whoinspected the site fromwhere the trees weresmuggled, told that thetrees were too small to beof any value to themiscreants as it couldonly be used as firewood.“They were so small thattheir circumferenceranged between 20 cmand 40 cm,” he said.Expressinggrief over the continuingincidents of sandalwoodsmuggling in the district,he said the total value ofthe trees was just aroundRs 2,000.Ruling outsuspicion that outsiderscould have come into thewell-wired and protectedTEL campus, hesuspected the hand ofworkers of the factory onthe incident.According tohim there was an internalproblem between adivision of workers andthe management withregard to their wages.Claiming this tobe the first such incidentin the factory premises, hesaid that the remainingsandalwood trees therenumbered 12. He said thatthey would be sending aletter to the managingdirector and generalmanager of the factorydemanding an explanationfor the incident.From their endthey have started trackingthe already arrested andreleased sandalwoodsmugglers in the region.It is worthmentioning that the forestdepartment had leased 700acres of land for setting thefactory way back in 1986.

Nine sandalwood trees missingfrom TEL premises

Chennai, July 21:

TheTamil Nadu Governmenttoday announced asolatium of Rs one lakheach to the families of tenpeople killed in a ghastlyfire mishap at a private firecracker manufacturingfactory atNamaskarithanpatti villagenear Sivakasi, yesterday,and also ordered a probeinto the cirumstances thatled to the accident.Replying to aSpecial Call Attentionmotion given by membersof various political parties inthe State Assembly, ChiefMinister M Karunanidhisaid the Government hasaccepted the report of theDistrict Collectorrecommending Rs one lakhcompensation to thefamilies of those killed andRs 50,000 to thoseseverely injured as theyhailed from a poor familyand were working aslabourers.Accordingly, anassistance of Rs one lakheach would be paid tothose killed, Rs 50,000each to 13 seriously injuredand Rs 25,000 each totwo people who suffered30 per cent burns in thefire accident.Mr Karunanidhiexpressed his heartfeltcondolences to thedeceased families andsaid the assistance, asrecommended by theCollector, would be paidfrom the Chief Minister'sPublic Relief fund.He said soonafter he came to know ofthe accident, he haddeputed his Cabinetcolleagues K K S S RRamachandran andThangam Thennarasu,representing the District,to console the injured atthe hospital and alsoasked them to inspect thefire site.The Ministersheld discussions with theCollector and alsoassured best of medicaltreatment to the injured.Stating that thelicence for the crackerunit was renewed tillDecember 2011, MrKarunanidhi said 200workers were working in52 units of the factory.The licence to thecompany had temporarilybeen suspendedfollowing the accident.The ChiefMinister also announcedthat a probe undersection 9(1) of the IndianExplosives Act 1984 hadbeen ordered into thecircumstances that led tothe fire.The DistrictAdditional Magistrate andthe District RevenueOfficer would conduct theprobe, he added.He said thegovernment had alsoasked the officials tomonitor whether thefireworks manufacturingunits and its godowns hadput in place adequate

CM announces solatium tofire victims, orders probe

ReadTimes ChennaiE-PaperToday andevery day

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 21, 2009Page 3

Chennai, July 21:

TheChief MetropolitanMagistrate (CMM) court,Chennai has convictedand sentenced 'Nakkeran'bi-weekly Magazine EditorNakkeeran Gopal and itsAssociate Editor AKamaraj to two-yearimprisonment in adefamation case filed byAIADMK MP T T VDinakaran.Delivering the judgement, CMM Judge RSethumadhavan said,Gopal and Kamaraj werefound guilty for the offenceunder Section 500 readwith 501 of the IndianPenal Code (IPC).''While passingsentence, this court has tobalance the Right to Livepeacefully and with dignityof an individual and theRight of the Press toPublish the informationabout the conduct of publicfunctionaries.'' ''While thecourt has high respect tothe freedom of the Pressand their fair criticism onthe conduct of publicfunctionaries, it feels thatPress cannot defameanybody without any basisbecause publication madeabout an individual cannotbe retracted and anydefamation which lowersthe reputation of theindividual cannot berestored by merelypunishing the accused,''the Judge observed.The Judgefurther said the courtwants to take a lenientview to impress upon theaccused to regret for theirillegal act.The Judgedirected Gopal andKamaraj to publish anapology statement on theMagazine cover in BoldLetters in the ensuing twoissues. ''They shouldmention in theirstatement that theyregret and apologise toMr Dinakaran for theirbaseless allegationagainst him,'' the Judgeordered.In the case offailure to publish theapology, the accused aresentenced to undergoimprisonment for aperiod of one year oneach Count. Thesentences are ordered torun concurrently undersection 428 CrPC. theJudge said.n hisdefamation case, MrDinakaran said,Nakkeeran hadpublished an offendingarticle in the issue datedSeptember 19, 2003 onthe front page of theMagazine with aphotograph of him. Thearticle alleged that Rs 40crore were said to havebeen seized from hishouse at New Delhi, afterbreaking open the lock ofthe premises as per thedirection of the then TamilNadu Chief Minister JJayalalithaa with the helpof Intelligence Officers,Dinakaran contended." In the nextissue published onSeptember 23, 2003also, the same offendingstatement waspublished", he added.He further saidthe accused withoutverifying the correctnessof the contention, editedand published thecontent in the Magazinewith an intention to causeharm to his reputation inthe general public andthe accused had notacted honestly or in goodfaith.''The accusedhad knowledge that suchpublication would harmmy reputation,''Dinakaran alleged.Whileconvicting Gopal andKamaraj the Judge said, "the complainant provedhis case beyond doubtwith evidence and thatthe publication made bythem was without anymaterial. The articleoffended the reputation ofthe complainant withknowledge that it wouldharm his image".

Editor, Associate Editor get2 yr jail for defamation

Chennai, July 21:

TheMadras High Court heldas valid, the proviso toExplanation II (5) toSection 16 of the TamilNadu Advocates' WelfareFund Act.Allowingappeals by the BarCouncil of Tamil Naduand the Tamil NaduGovernment challengingan order of a singleJudge, a Division Benchcomprising Justices PJyothimani and ArunaJagadeesan said in theabsence of anylegislative incompetencyon the part of the StateGovernment in makingthe impugnedamendment and on thefacts and circumstancesof the case, finding thatthe object of conferringthe benefit on one groupof advocates was with areason, it was of the viewthat the change did notsuffer from constitutionalillegality or could not bedeclared ultra vires to theConstitution.The StateGovernment brought anamendment to the Act bywhich a new scheme wasintroduced. The schemestated that in the event ofdeath of a memberadvocate, his nominee orlegal heir would be paid RsOne lakh and this wasincorporated inExplanation II (5) to Section16 of the Act.The provisodenied the benefit of RsOne lakh to a memberadvocate who retired fromgovernment service andenrolled as advocate andwas also receiving pensionor gratuity or other terminalbenefits from the State orCentral government.The sum hadbeen increased to Rs Twolakh from February 2001.

HC holds proviso of Advocates'Welfare Fund Act valid

Chennai, July 21:

Theprincipal of the MadhaEngineering Collegecollege Dr MPremjeyakumar hasresigned. The aeronauticalengineering course for thenew academic year hasbeen disaffiliated. This isthe outcome of the visit ofthe three-membercommittee constituted toinvestigate the excess feeand capitation feecollection in engineeringcolleges. The committeeheaded by Dr ARamasamy visited thecollege on Monday.There werecontinuous protests fromstudents over increase inthe fees in the engineeringcollege in Kundrathur andopen letters to varioushigher education officialsincluding office bearers ofTN State Council forHigher Education andAnna University.The officialsincluding TANSCE vicechairman Dr Ramasamy,member secretary DrBhaskaran, ViceChancellor of University ofMadras Dr SRamachandran and ViceChancellor of AnnaUniversity Dr P MannarJawahar among othersasked the principal toproduce documentspertaining to feecollection and admissionprocess followed in thelast academic year.When heexpressed his inability todo so, other facultymembers including thedean were questioned.Clarifying to the medialater, Dr Ramasamy said:“The principal said thathe has been receivingcomplaints from thestudents and thecomplaints wereforwarded to themanagement but noaction was taken. Hence,unable to handle thepressure to do his job, hetendered his resignation,a copy of which has beenprovided to us.”The principalclarified that on theoccasions when he hadraised the issue ofexcess fee collection tothe management, he wasinformed that running acollege required financesand the managementwas finding it difficult todo so. He also said thathe was resigningbecause he was unableto handle the pressure.Later, the teamvisited the chairman’soffice only to see that theofficials at the office werenot present. There werereports that someparents had interactedwith office personnelthere a few minutesearlier. But when theteam visited the office,there was only areceptionist there.“We could notsee any document in thecollege, and hence anotice will be issued tothem and another visitwould soon be made toinspect the documents,”said Dr Ramasamy.The team alsoinspected the laboratoryfacilities offered for theaeronautical course inthe college followingcomplaints by thestudents that there wasno necessaryinfrastructure in thecollege.Dr P MannarJawahar said there wasno laboratory facilities forthe department ofaeronautical engineeringfound on inspection andcurrently the studentswere sharing a laboratorywith the mechanicaldepartment students.

Madha Engineering principalquits on excess fee issue

Chennai, July 21:

UniverCell – The Mobilechain store is all set torock the college campuswith a new trend forcollege students.Buy Nokia3110c, Nokia 7210, andNokia 5130 and if you area college student flashyour college ID card inany of the UniverCell

Chennai, July 21:

Inwhat could blow the lid offa human traffickingracket, the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureauofficials on Mondayarrested the protector ofemigrants, Chennai, RSekar and two of hisagents on charges ofcorruption. The CBIofficials also seizedaround Rs 1.5 crore fromhis house and office anddocuments of propertiesworth several crores ofrupees.“All theproperties have beenregistered in the name ofbenamis. He has beenpushing people to foreigncountries to do menial jobs by forgingdocuments andcollecting huge sumsfrom them throughagents,” a CBI official toldmedia.store and get a scratchcard you will get superband amazing gifts likeRebook Shoe, FastTrackwatches. Awesome giftswill be there for thepurchase of selectedmobiles.If you are luckyenough you may get astylish bike too. So itstime to carry your ID cardThe CBI officialsstumbled upon the racketwhen the CBIsuperintendent’s officereceived information thatSekar, along with hisclose associate AnwarHussain wasapproaching RavindraBabu of Andhra PradeshStudents and ParentsWelfare Trust atEllaiamman Koil Street,West Mambalam tosecure an engineeringseat for Sekar’s son SMadhu by paying severallakhs as capitation fee.CBI officials recheckedthe authenticity of thisinformation andconducted a surprisecheck at the office ofRavindra Babu andseized Rs 13 lakh whichthey were carrying to payas the capitation fee.Investigationsrevealed that Sekar hadand rush into UniverCellstores and purchaseselected models of Nokiamobile and become theluckiest in your gang.The NokiaUnivercell Cool Campusoffer is on till July 31 rush into your nearest store andflash your college ID card,and you will get a chance tomake others jealous.already paid Rs 5 lakh toRavindra Babu towardscapitation fee in May thisyear. “It looks like a hugeracket. Sekar gaveemigration clearance to allthe applicants brought tohim by his associateagents, overlooking allprescribed norms andcollected money for that.Anwar Hussain of ClassicTours and Travels, whoworks as an emigrationclearance agent, collectedthe money on behalf ofSekar, a 1962 batch IRSofficer. Whenever Sekarneeded money, Anwarused to deliver it to him.The amount for admissionof Madhu was also broughtby Anwar as per Sekar’sdirection,” the officialadded. A corruption casehas been registeredagainst R Sekar, DRavindra Babu and AnwarHussain.

Nokia UniverCell Cool Campus 2009

Protector of emigrants held for corruption

Chennai, July 21:

Topublicise its researchworks in diverse fields,the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Madras (IIT-M) launched a research journal, a quarterly, onMonday. The journal willbe available online.Launching the printedversion of the journal,which will deal withspecific areas ofspecialisation such asmechanics, AnilKakodkar, chairman,Atomic EnergyCommission (AEC), saidthat scholarly journalshelped academiciansworldwide to enrichknowledge and sharpenskills in their respectivefields. “Many educationalinstitutions, industriesand researchorganisations benefitfrom research journalsbecause getting accessto research workconducted by premiereducational institutionslike IITM is rare.Research journals helpscholars sharpen theirskills and focus onresearch activities. Inatomic energy, too, wewill look forward to this journal,” he said.Kakodkar, who is alsochairman of IIT-Bombay,mooted the idea of forminga school of researchscholars comprisingfaculty members ofpremier educationalinstitutions to providescholarly work in diversefields. Speaking at thelaunch of the journal, M SAnanth, director, IIT-M,said unlike in IIT-Kanpur,the faculty at IITs inMadras, Bombay andDelhi did not write manybooks in their areas ofspecialisation. Publishingthe research journal wasalso an effort to revive thehabit of writing books andproducing scholarly workthat would benefit society,he added.