VOL: 3 ISSUE 1Chennai, July 22, 2009

Chennai, July 22:

Thelongest solar eclipse of the21st century cast a shadowover much of Asia onWednesday, plunginghundreds of millions intodarkness across the giantland masses of India andChina.Ancientsuperstition and moderncommerce came togetherin a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity which couldend up being the mostwatched eclipse in history,due to its path over Earth'smost densely inhabitedareas.While the well-heeled took to the skies towatch the phenomenonfrom specially charteredplanes, others took to holywaters to purify themselvesas the sun's rays weresnuffed out from Mumbai toShanghai.The cone-shaped shadow, orumbra, created by thetotal eclipse first madelandfall on the westernIndian state of Gujaratshortly before 6:30 am(0100 GMT).It then racedacross India, blackingout the holy city ofVaranasi on the banks ofthe Ganges, squeezingbetween the northernand southern tips ofBangladesh and Nepalbefore engulfing most ofBhutan, traversing theChinese mainland andslipping back out to seaoff Shanghai.Monsoonclouds in India and badweather over easternChina spoiled the partyfor millions who had gotup early to watch thesolar blackout.In Mumbai,hundreds of people whotrekked up to the Nehruplanetarium clutchingeclipse sunglassesfound themselvesreaching for umbrellasand rain jackets instead.Heavyovernight rainturned torrential just asthe eclipse was due tostart."We didn't wantto watch it on televisionand we thought thiswould be the best place,"said 19-year-old studentDwayne Fernandes."We could'vestayed in bed," he said."Maybe, we'll just tell people we did seeit," suggested hisclassmate Lizanne DeSilva.A total solareclipse usually occursevery 18 months or so,but Wednesday'sspectacle was special forits maximum period of"totality" -- when the sunis wholly covered -- of sixminutes and 39 seconds.Such a lengthyduration will not bematched until the year2132.Superstitionhas always haunted themoment when Earth,moon and sun areperfectly aligned. Thedaytime extinction of thesun, the source of all life,is associated with war,famine, flood and thedeath or birth of rulers.Desperate foran explanation, theancient Chinese blameda sun-eating dragon. InHindu mythology, the twodemons Rahu and Ketuare said to "swallow" thesun during eclipses,snuffing out its light andcausing food to becomeinedible and waterundrinkable.In the run up toWednesday's eclipse,some Indian astrologershad issued predictionsladen with gloom andforeboding, whilesuperstition dictated thatpregnant women shouldstay indoors to preventtheir babies developingbirth defects.A gynaecologistat a Delhi hospital saidmany expectant mothersscheduled for July 22caesarian deliveriesinsisted on changing thedate.For others it wasan auspicious date, withmore than one millionHindu pilgrims gathering atthe holy site of Kurukshetrain northern India, wherebathing in the watersduring a solar eclipse isbelieved to further theattainment of spiritualfreedom.Those who couldafford it grabbed seats onplanes chartered byspecialist travel agenciesthat promised extendedviews of the eclipse as theychased the shadoweastwards.Travel firm Coxand Kings charged 79,000rupees (1,600 dollars) for a"sun-side" seat on aBoeing 737-700 aircraftthat took off before dawnfrom New Delhi for a three-hour flight.In Shanghai,hotels along the city'sfamed waterfront Bundpacked in the customerswith eclipse breakfastspecials."The clouds movein and out, then all of asudden you see it," saidGlenn Evans, 46, a USexecutive with a cosmeticscompany who lives inShanghai and was viewingthe eclipse from a rooftopbar along the Bund.Eclipse not visiblein TaregnaAn overcast skydisappointed hundreds ofthose gathered here towatch the longest solareclipse of the century earlythis morning.

Solar eclipse spreads cloakof darkness over Asia

Contd. from page 2

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 22, 2009Page 2

Tamil Nadu

Chennai, July 22:

Theextended Budget sessionof the Tamil NaduAssembly was adjournedsine die on Tuesday.The House whichmet on June 17, adjournedafter passing demands forgrants for variousdepartments.On the last day,the House passed as manyas 30 Bills, including theTamil Nadu appropriationBill.The Tamil Nadu Police Bill,moved by Deputy ChiefMinsiter M K Stalin was,however, referred to theselect committee aftermembers of Congressand Opposition partiessuggested that it bereferred tothe selectcommittee,before beingpassed in theHouse.Duringthe session,the Housepassed Bills,makingregistrationof marriagescompulsoryandprohibitinggovernmentand aidedschools fromcollectingexorbitant fees in theguise of providing qualityeducation.A Unionminister trying toinfluence a Judge of theMadras High court in ananticipatory bail pleacase of a Doctor and hisMBBS student sonrocked the House,leading to the enmasseeviction of the AIADMKled opposition MLAs.The Sri Lankangovernment decision tosend back a vessel,carrying relief materials,sent by Tamils inEuropean countries tothe Lankan Tamils, alsodominated theproceedings.Following theintervention of ChiefMinister M Karunanidhi,the relief materials wereshifted to a cargo vessel,which was then sent tothe affected LankanTamils.During thissession, Mr M K Stalinoccupied the third seat asDeputy Chief Ministerafter Chief Minister andFinance Minsiter andleader of the House KAnbazhagan.Mr Stalinreplied to the debate onthe demand for grants forpolice department onbehalf of the ChiefMinister.After thepresentation of theBudget for the year 2009-10, on February 17, theHouse was adjourned onFebruary 26 in view of theLok Sabha elections, itmay be recalled.It met from June17 to take up the demandfor grants for variousdepartments.

Extended Budget session of Tamil Nadu House adjourned sine die

Bangalore, July 22:

The Tiruvalluvar statuteto be inaugurated inBangalore in first week ofAug. was postponed dueto EC's refusal to grantpermission since bypollis being conductedaround that time and themodel code of conduct isin force. Hence the EChas refused permission.The KarnatakaChief Minister has in turnannounced that theinauguration will be heldat the convenience of TamilNadu chief Minister Dr. M .Karunanidhi after Aug. 18.Accordingly the statue ofSarvagna to be installed inChennai is alsopostponed.

Tiruvalluvar statueinauguration postponed

Chennai, July 22:

TamilNadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi Tuesdaywithdrew a privilegemotion moved againsttwo communistlegislators who hadallegedly madederogatory remarksagainst the stateassembly speaker.The motion wasmoved againstSivapunniam of theCommunist Party of India(CPI) and K.Balabharathi of theCommunist Party ofIndia-Marxist (CPI-M).The chief minister saidthe charges are ofgeneral nature and thatsuch motions werebrought by the previousAIADMK governmentagainst a DMK memberand newspapers.This brought theAIADMK members totheir feet who walked outprotesting the chiefminister's remark.The motion wasmoved by Tamil NaduElectricity Minister Arcot N.Veeraswami Monday afterthe two members allegedlymade derogatory remarksagainst Speaker R.Avudaiappan to reportersJuly 17 about his style ofconducting the assemblyproceedings.

No privilege motion againsttwo Tamil Nadu legislators

Chennai, July 22:

TamilNadu Chief Minister MKarunanidhi on Tuesdayadvised members of theruling DMK and its alliesto avoid sycophancywhile placing theirrequests.The ChiefMinister made this clearin the assembly, when MrP N Periannan (DMK),representingPennagaramconstituency, hailed MrKarunanidhi as the heroof 'Golden rule' in thestate and aphilanthropist, whileseeking solatium to thefamily of a woman killedin a fire mishap in hisconstituency.''There is noneed to shower praise onme and the membersneed not be sycophantsto seek such reliefs'', hesaid, adding themembers should not beunder the wrong notionthat they could get thingsdone by showeringsycophancy.He said themembers were givenvery little time to participatein debates or raisequestions and they shouldnot waste their time bybeing sycophants.Mr Karunanidhiadvised the members notto praise him or hisministerial colleagues.Replying to Mr TVelmurugan (PMK), theChief Minsiter said thegovernment would takeserious steps to abolishusury and 'Kangaroocourts' (''Kattapanchayat'')in the state.

Don't praise me sky high:Karunanidhi tells DMK members, allies

Chennai, July 22:

A judicial Commission haspinpointed "communal illfeeling" and lapses bythree police officials asreasons for the clashbetween two groups ofstudents at a college herelast year, which led togrievous injuries to four ofthem.The Justice PShanmugam Commission,that probed the clash at DrAmbedkar Law Collegehere on November 122008, found existence of"communal ill-feeling" inthe hostel.TheCommission's report,tabled in the Tamil NaduAssembly on Tuesday, alsofaulted three police officialsfor 'lapses' in preventingthe caste clash, despiteprior intelligence."In the DrAmbedkar GovernmentLaw College, enmity basedon communal ill feelingbetween two groups ofstudents exists...Hostelstudents function as agroup. In the college, theMukhulathor communityalso functions as a group",the Commission observed.The report saidboth groups celebrate thebirthdays of Dr Ambedkarand Thevar Jayanthi (birthand death anniversariesof freedom fighterMuthuramalinga Thevar,revered by the Thevarcommunity)respectively".The dayscholars allegedly pastedposters in and around thecollege for celebratingThevar Jayanthi onOctober 30, where theword Dr Ambedkar wasreportedly omitted,which, the Commissionsaid, triggered the clash.This act had ledto a verbal duel betweenthe two groups onNovember six, 2008,resulting in the allegedassault of hostel studentsthe next day. The othergroup retaliated onNovember 12.While AssistantCommissioner KNarayanamoorthy andInspector Sekar Babuwere suspended, thenCity PoliceCommissioner R Sekarwas transferred.TheCommission concludedthat the police teamposted before the lawcollege "failed to takesteps to prevent theclash." Despiteintelligence reports overa possible clash andentry of students, policedid little to prevent it.Not only didpolice not enter thepremises, but also'suppressed' a writtencomplaint and alsophone requests from thethen College Principalrequesting assistance,when they appearedbefore the Commission.TheCommissionrecommended thatdepartmental action beinitiated against them.As for the Law college,the Commission calledfor banning any caste-based associations in thehostel, among othersteps.

Commission submits report onChennai Law students clash

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Chief MinisterNitish Kumar and hisdeputy Sushil KumarModi were among thosewho had come to thissubdivisional town, 30km from Patna, which isone of the best places forviewing the eclipse.Incidentally, itwas at Taregna whereancient astronomerAryabhatta (orAryabhatha, 476-550AD) studied themovement of stars.Astronomers,scientists, tworepresentatives fromNASA were present asalso the members ofMumbai-based NGOSPACE. The VIPs weregathered on the rooftopof a two-storey hospital.Some of theviewers also broughttripod-mountedtelescopes to witness therare event.SPACErepresentative AmitabhPandey said that theeclipse was not visiblebecause of cloud cover.A report fromSiliguri in North Bengalsaid that the sky wasovercast there too withrains since last night.It was alsoraining heavily inneighbouring Jalpaigurifrom where the totaleclipse would have beenvisible.The InterUniversity Centre forAstronomy andAstrophysics, NorthBengal UniversityCoordinator told PTI thatrains marred the chancesof viewing the eclipse atJalpaiguri and Siliguriand in the rest of northBengal.In Chennaipeople thronged the BirlaPlanetorium and viewedthe Solar Clipse. Over4000 people convergedin and had a glimpse ofthe century's marvel. Dr.Iyyamperumal DirectorScience City said thatthis is the longest everSolar Eclipse of theCentury and similar onewill appear on June 13,2132. which is almostafter nearly 123 years.Our Tirunelveli staffer adds: The Sun was eclipsed bythe moon to nearly 40%and this was shown to thestudents who thronged theScience Centre with thehelp of the telescope.Theeclipse which began at6.35 ended at 7.15.Science Centre staffersGopalakrishnan andJebarajan made elaboratearrangements andexplained in detail theelcipse and its effects tothe students who hadassembled there.The last totalsolar eclipse was onAugust 1 last year and alsocrossed China.The next will beon July 11, 2010, but willoccur almost entirely overthe South Pacific, whereEaster Island -- home ofthe legendary moai giantstatues -- will be one of thefew landfalls.

Solar eclipse spreads cloak . . .

Contd. on page 1

Times Chennai E-PaperJuly 22, 2009Page 3

Chennai, July 22:

TheMadras High Court hasmade it clear that DowryProhibition Officers(DPOs) should ensure fullcompliance with the rule inthe Tamil Nadu DowryProhibition Rules whichmakes it mandatory ontheir part to conductsurprise checks anddiscreet enquiries and takeappropriate action.A Division Benchcomprising Chief Justice HL Gokhale and Justice DMurugesan whiledisposing of a writ petitionsaid it was commonknowledge that allinstances of dowryharassment may not cometo light and in such cases,discreet enquiries shouldbe conducted to find outthe truth. Whenever, theDPO came across suchinstances, they shouldtake necessary action.The petitionersubmitted that whiledealing with informationabout matrimonialdisputes arising fromdowry offences, thecurrent practice in TamilNadu was that all theaccused were arrestedwithout preliminaryinvestigation and withoutany attempt to bringrapprochement ofparties. Procedural rightthat safeguarded a partyin litigation was a naturalhuman right. Deprivationor denial of the right wasdestruction of justicesystem.The petitionwas filed to ensure thatthe provisions of DowryProhibition Act and therules were implemented.It sought a direction to theTamil Nadu Governmentto enforce theperformance of DPOswith independentcharges to them asdirected by the SupremeCourt in a case, toattempt reconciliationand conductinvestigation under therules.Thegovernment informed thecourt that DPOs hadbeen appointed in alldistricts. Upon receivingspecific complaints, theyproceeded to takenecessary action ascontemplated under therules.

DPOs should follow DowryProhibition Rules strictly: HC

Chennai, July 22 :

Threepeople, including a four-year-old boy, werecharred to death and fiveothers injured in a firewhich gutted about 50huts at J J Nagar insuburbanKorukkupetarea inNorthChennailate lastnight.Policesourcessaid a shortcircuit wassaid to bethe reasonfor the fire, which tookplace around midnight.A majority ofpeople, living in hutments,were fast asleep when thefire broke out killing Mary(26), Sanjay (four) andAnandan (50) on the spot.Five others, whosustained burns, wereadmitted to KilpaukMedical College Hospital.More than half adozen fire tenders andmetro water tanker battledhard to bring the fire undercontrol. ChennnaiCorporation Mayor visitedthe spot and met the fireaccident victims today

3 killed, 5 injured in fire mishap

Chennai, July 22:

TheMadras High Court hasgranted an interim stay onan order of the SecondAdditional District Munsif atCoimbatore as confirmedby the PrincipalSubordinate Judge,Coimbatore, in a caserelating to provident fundcontributions from NEPCAirlines and two sisterconcerns, NEPC Textilesand NEPC Tea Garden.Justice S Palanivelugranted interim stay andordered notice on anappeal filed by theEmployees Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO).In its complaintbefore the Sub-Judge,Coimbatore, the companysubmitted that providentfund contributions hadbeen effected in respect ofits employees with theEPFO. The airline divisionof NEPC Airlines hadsuspended its operation.Meanwhile, itcame to learn that as pera Central governmentnotification of March2001, provident fund wasapplicable to aircraftestablishments andairlines other than aircraftand airlines owned orcontrolled by theCentral andState governments alsowith effect from April one,2001. The companiessubmitted that the EPFOcould not recover anyamount from them priorto that date.In view of thenotification, theorganisation was notentitled to retain theemployer’s contributionin respect of theemployees of the airlinecompany on anygrounds.But the EPFOwas attempting torecover the alleged duesof Rs 90 lakh asemployer’s andemployees’ contributionfrom the other twoconcerns withoutrefunding the PFcontribution to the airlinecompany.The prayer wasto restrain the EPFO fromrecovering Rs 90 lakhfrom the two concerns.On an appeal by theEPFO, the PrincipalSubordinate Judgeconfirmed the lowercourt’s order.Challengingthis, the provident fundauthorities preferred anappeal, filed by counsel SVaidyanathan, before theHigh Court.

HC grants interim stay

Chennai July 22:

Rejecting the oppositionview that the bill forregulating collection offees by private schoolsshould be referred to aselect committee of theAssembly, the DMKgovernment on Tuesdaygot the law passedthrough voice vote, butpromised to amend itfrom time to time, ifnecessary.When the TamilNadu Schools (FeeRegulation) Bill, 2009was taken up forconsideration, allies aswell as the oppositionexpressed doubt that thelegislation could bemisused and argued thatthere was a need forcertain amendments inthe draft bill to ensureproper implementation.Initiating the debate onthe bill, Congress whipPeter Alphonse said aroad laid with goodintention should not leadto hell. The committee todetermine the fee inprivate schools, asenvisaged in the bill,would have a retired highcourt judge as chairman,but otherwise it would bepacked with bureaucrats,with no academician orschool managementrepresentative. Theabsence of stakeholderscould result in misuse ofpowers, heapprehended. Thedistrict committeesvested with powers toinspect any school hadno teachers orparentteacherassociation members, hesaid, highlighting thepossibility of politicisingthe provisions to actagainst minorityinstitutions by futuregovernments as judicialpowers have beenvested with thecommittees.Former schooleducation minister C VShanmugam pointed outthat both the inquiringofficers and thepunishing authority werethe same, and this couldlead to complications. Aclause in the bill hadwatered down the penalprovisions by granting the judiciary the right to reducethe term of imprisonment tobelow three years. Asaccording to the bill, thoseconvicted for havingcontravened the provisionsof the Act, would bepunishable withimprisonment for a term notless than three years andextending up to sevenyears, the loophole in thebill had to be rectified, hesaid.PMK floor leaderGK Mani asked thegovernment to place the billbefore the public for debateand consult academiciansto improve on it. Admittingthat a law to send shiversdown the spines of schoolmanagements that fleecedparents was the need of thehour, he urged the Speakerto refer it to a selectcommittee to make it fool-proof. CPM, CPI andMDMK all urged thegovernment to forward thebill to the select committee.In reply, school educationminister ThangamThennarasu said thegovernment was very clearin its objective of enacting atough law to end extortionin the name of fee inschools. As the SupremeCourt has ruled in a casethat fee structures shouldfixed by a committeeheaded by a retired highcourt judge in privateeducational institutions, hewas confident of regulatingfee in private schools, hesaid.As thegovernment wanted tosend a strong and clearmessage to privateschools, the minister askedthe members to pass thebill and not delay it.Changes, if necessary,could be incorporated atthe time of making rules tooperationalise the bill’sprovisions, he appealed.The House passed asmany as 31 bills by voicevote.

Tamil Nadu Schools (Fee Regulation)Bill, 2009 passed

Chennai July 22:

TheClass of ’84 of MadrasChristian College willrevisit the college nextmonth to participate inthe batch’s silver jubileereunion, keeping up atradition begun in August2006 by the Class of ’81.Around 150 alumni of thebatch had beencontacted and wereexpected to visit thecollege on August 14. Toregister for the eventcontact Edwin on 9444170048 or the Alumni andPublic Relations Officerat 22397731/ apro@mcc.edu.in, apress release said.

MCC Class of ’84to revisit college

Chennai, July 22:

Chennai CorporationCouncil, which met today,witnessed unruly sceneswith members of the PMKand DMK screaming andthrowing water bottles ateach over the issue relatedto alleged grabbing of landbelonging to theThirumangaleeswararTemple at Koyambedu. .During a call attentionmotion at the meeting, PMKfloor leader Jayaramanraised the land- grabbingissue by saying that aprivate company hadobtained permission fromthe Chennai MetropolitanDevelopment Authority(CMDA) to build a complexon 42.31 acres onJawaharlal Nehru Salai atKoyambedu.The HinduReligious and CharitableEndowmentsDepartment contendedthat a portion of the land,measuring 3.03 acres,belonged to the temple.At that juncture,a drinking water bottlewas seen flying from theDMK Councillors’ row,which created a ruckusand PMK Councillorsrose from their seats towalk out. Later, the PMKmembers raised theissue, which led toheated argumentsbetween Jayaraman(PMK) and Floor leadersSaidai P Ravi and NRamalingam.Intervening,Corporation Mayor MSubramanaian said thaton the basis of a CMDA’splan permit, theCorporation had givenapproval for the buildingwork.He also saidthat on perusal of theapplication for buildingpermit, the earlier ownerof the land had sold 1.26acres to the CentralPublic WorksDepartment many yearsago but the applicationmentioned only theremaining 1.77 acres,which was disputed.‘When theCMDA gave its approval,it had stipulated thatthere should be noconstruction work on thedisputed land’, he said,adding that the approvalwas based on theguidelines of the SecondMaster Plan.The Mayor alsorecalled StateInformation Minister andCMDA chairman ParuthiIlamvazhuthi’s speech inthe Assembly recentlythat as mentioned in theSupreme Court order, theconstruction could betaken up on thoseportions of land otherthan the disputed portion.

Chaos at Corporation council meeting

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