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7 Mixed Bag MONDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2017 CHENNAI NT Bureau Chennai, Nov 20: Times are changing and so is tech- nology, students with a knack to un- derstand and learn new technologies are given preference in organisations today, said Virtusa Corp global deliv- ery head Sreekanth Lapala. He said this while handing over the prizes to the winners of the compa- ny’s hackathon event, NueralHack on IoT and machine learning in the third edition of its engineering academia connect programme Headstart 2017 held in Chennai on Saturday. ‘The main objective of these two events is to bring to light talents from diverse engineering colleges across India. The winners will be given a package of Rs 5 lakh per an- num working with Virtusa corp at the beginning of their career itself. We have set up 11 centres of excellence across the country in partnership with some of the best technical institutes to skill students in technologies like data science, cloud, CRM at the col- lege level thus making them industry ready,’ he added. On the occasion, VIT University School of Information, Technology and Engineering, dean, Aswani Ku- mar, said, ‘With changing industry environment, students today require extensive knowledge about the new technologies which are gradually changing the way IT industry is func- tioning. Virtusa is helping us train our students on new technologies, mak- ing them industry ready.’ More than 160 placement officers from various engineering colleges across the country attended the pro- gramme. Virtusa Corp chief people officer Sundararajan Narayanan was also present during the event. Revealed; What cos look for in budding talents Virtusa Corporation executive vice-president Sundararajan Narayanan presenting the award to the winners of ‘Headstart 2017’ in Chennai on Saturday. Make people self-reliant, Bedi tells Pondy govt Puducherry, Nov 20 (PTI): Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today appealed to the territorial government to promote self reliance among people of the Union Terri- tory by providing them easy ac- cess to assured health services and skill devel- opment centres. In her twit- ter handle, the former IPS officer said, ‘Biggest welfare scheme the people of Pu- ducherry need the most is promotion of self reliance. This means gradually moving away from dependence on basic minimums to being skilled and healthy to generate for themselves (people) to be self reliant. It is the duty of the government of the day to provide people easy access to assured health services, skill devel- opment centres, micro credit to start small enterprises.’ Voicing concern over lack of elected panchayat institutions in the Union Ter- ritory, Bedi said, ‘Having elected pan- chayats as mandated by the Constitu- tion and financially resourced is what people of Puducherry need the most.’ She rued that election was not held for over a decade for the panchayats. The Congress government in Pu- ducherry and Bedi have been at loggerheads over several issues ranging from medical admissions to civic problems for over a year with the latter accusing her of interfering in the administration of the Union Territory. T SANTHOSH MATHEVAN Chennai, Nov 20: Have you ever travelled from Chen- nai to Kanyakumari via Tiruchi by road? If so, you are alleged to be cheated by a couple of toll plazas located in these stretches of NH45 and NH45B. Based on the responses for the Right to Information (RTI) peti- tion filed recently seeking the validity of the toll plazas located along various National Highway segments in Tamilnadu, it is being claimed that two of the major toll plazas in NH45 also known as the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) road have not produced any proof document on extension of their toll collection period. D Sampath Raj, a youth ac- tivist hailing from Saidpet in the city recently filed an RTI petition seeking the information on the validity of various toll plazas across the State for collecting the toll for using the road. ‘I had sought the information regarding all toll plazas located in the routes Chennai-Kanyakumari, Chennai-Coimbatore and Chennai- Pondicherry. It has been over a month since I had filed the petition and only a couple of segments of the NHs in the State have replied,’ said Sampath. According to the replies received by Sampath, only the Toll Plazas located along Krishnagiri and Ulundurpet, Dindigul to Samayanal- lur and Madurai to Kanyakumari have replied. ‘Still now, I have not received any information regarding the toll pla- zas along Chennai to Tiruchi and Chennai to Salem segments of the NHs.’ When asked what made him to apply for that, Sampath said, ‘Already, a lot of allegations regard- ing the delay in exten- sion of concessionary over toll collection period for the toll plazas along the Chennai-Tiruchi section of the GST.’ Sampath said that the time has got over long back, and the toll plazas still have not taken steps to extend the concessionary over toll collection period. ‘It was based on the newly formed ToT mechanism over RTI reply reveals plazas collect money even after validity expired Chennai - Tiruchi / Total Distance : 332 km Sl. No. Toll Plaza Car / Jeep / Van (Rs.) 1 Vanagaram 40 2 Paranur 55 3 Athur 50 4 Vikravandi 75 5 Sengurichi 50 6 Thirumandurai 50 7 Samayapuram 40 Total 360 Chennai - Coimbatore / Total Distance : 513 km Sl. No. Toll Plaza Car / Jeep / Van (Rs.) 1 Vanagaram 40 2 Paranur 55 3 Athur 50 4 Vikravandi 75 5 Sengurichi 50 6 Veeracholapuram (West) 45 7 Nathakkarai 45 8 Mettupatti 45 9 Vaiguntham 55 10 Vijaymangalmam 50 Total Charges 510 How much you pay the existing BoT mechanism, these toll plazas received these extension period through competitive bidding.’ Under this newly launched ToT model, the rights of collection of user-fee or toll on selected national highway built through public funding are proposed to be auctioned and assigned to a concessionaire for a period of 30-years against an upfront payment of a lump-sum amount to the government. The concessionaire is also responsible for the operation and maintenance of the national highways during the tenure. The project had got Cabinet approval in August 2016. The Cabinet Com- mittee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) authorised NHAI to monetise 75 pub- licly funded national highways that are operational and have been generating toll revenues for at least two years. ‘Of these, four publicly funded highway segements are along NH45 that did not meet with the rules of the project.’ According to rating agency ICRA Ltd, these 75 projects with a road length of 4,376 km can yield around Rs 35,600 crore under ToT model. When News Today contacted a top official from the Regional Office of the National Highways, he said, ‘There are, basically, three types of tolling methods for NHs in the country namely BoT (Build-Operate-Transfer), OMT (Operate-Maintain-Transfer) and public funding. Of this, public funding was brought under ToT (Toll-Operate- Transfer) citing to monetise it. So, the competitive bidding process differs with respect to the type of the toll plaza in- volved in it.’ According to the official, the OMT are still under way and so there would be lag in the response.’ However, Sampath denied it by saying that the toll plazas are already under monetisation. ‘They have been collecting the fee for a very long time. Also only four of them are under OMT method, while the rest are BOT. So, what about the rest?’ He said, if the toll plazas really have not extended their toll period, the loss met by the public due to this is very high. ‘As many as seven toll plazas within a stretch of 332 kilometers in GST are collecting without the proper validity to collect. It costs up to Rs 360 for a normal car or a jeep. While there are 10 toll plazas between Chennai and Coimbatore for which a total cost of Rs 510 is paid for a car journey,’ Sampath said. SOURCE: NHAI ‘I had sought the information regarding all toll pla- zas located in the routes Chennai-Kanyakumari, Chennai-Coimbatore and Chennai- Pondicherry’ Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami releasing the new draft school syllabus in Chennai today. Man attempts suicide at city police station NT Bureau Chennai, Nov 20: An accused attempted to com- mit suicide inside the lock-up of K9 Thiru Vi Ka Nagar police station here last night. The man, Saravanan, a resi- dent of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, was remanded related to an offence. ‘The victim tried to injure his neck with a tube light hanging in the roof of the lock-up. Fortunately, the po- lice personnel intercepted the accused and prevented him from inflicting any inju- ries. They took him for treat- ment to a nearby hospital’, police said. It is said that Saravanan faces 15 crime and three murder cases against him. Further, he is facing three cases under Goondas Act too. It is reported that the incident took place around 11.30 pm. NT Bureau Chennai, Nov 20: For all those who don’t know what ‘Operation Bawaria’ is, well, it’s one of the most high profile investigations and subsequent arrests done ever in our country. In involves searching for a gang from Bawaria community, a tribe based out of Rajasthan. That particular gang members were al- legedly involved in many crimes in outer Tamilnadu including the murder of AIADMK Gumudipoondi MLA K Sudarsanam. DGP SR Jangid was the man who led a team that arrested dreaded Oma Bawaria, the leader and his men from the community in Uttar Pradesh in the operation that started in 2005. This episode has become the storyline for Karthi’s latest action drama film, ‘Theeran Adhigaram Ondru. He comes across a shocking murder case in his area, where an entire family is brutally murdered by unidentified assailants. As he digs deeper, he finds out that there have been more such murder cases pend- ing all over Tamilnadu. Over the course of the next eight years or so, he hunts down the criminals and finally, his search ends in Rajasthan where some members of the Bawaria commu- nity are responsible for this series of murders are found. Theeran Adhigaram Ondru is hailed by critics as a well-researched film which not only thrills the audience but also educates us about the history of crimes and how thugees, the assassins of medieval India shaped the law and order in the pre-Independence era. And that makes a huge difference to the film-viewing experience. What is Operation Bawaria? Karthi’s movie throws light on 10-year-old action saga of TN cops NT Bureau Chennai, Nov 20: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palan- iswami today released the first draft of Tamilnadu State Board Higher Sec- ondary Syllabus for classes 1 to 12. The renewal which had come after a gap of 12 uears was widely anticipated by students and academicians. Sources from the Education depart- ment say that the new draft will be re- leased on the tnschools.gov.in website. Parents and teachers wishing to pro- pose changes to the draft can submit their observations in the next 15 days. The draft will be finalised by the end of January 20185. School Education minister, K A Sengottaiyan in an event at Chennai Museum had promised a revision of the syllabus. The unupdated old syllabus was cited as one of the main reasons for poor performance of State Board students in national level competitive exams like NEET and IIT-JEE. This leads to the rise of students opting for CBSE syllabus across the state. The revised syllabus will have new topics such as robotics, nano-science and gender issues. The Tamilnadu Curriculum Framework Committee headed by Anna University former Vice-Chancellor M Anandakrishnan formulated the new syllabus. CM unveils new school syllabus India bats for safety Kolkata, Nov 20: Lankan seamer Suranga Lakmal generated bounce and sharp lateral movement both ways to dismiss three top-order batsmen, giving Sri Lanka a chance to upset India on the fifth day at the Eden Gardens. Indians managed 306 for 7 after lunch with skipper Kohli is waging a lone battle. He was unbeaten on 82 and giving him company was Bhuvaneswar Kumar. Sri Lanka didn’t produce many threatening deliveries on the fourth afternoon, when Lakmal was off the field for close to half an hour. He came charging in on Monday and was the only bowler to hit a high 130 kmph range and produce enough seam movement. First, he set KL Rahul up with a set of deliveries hung outside off. Rahul too was patient, waiting for Lakmal to overpitch. Then came the big, booming inducker, attacking the pads and stumps. Rahul’s balance was thrown off by the change in line as he fell over a flick, and the ball found a considerable gap between bat and pad. He produced the ball of the morn- ing to have Cheteshwar Pujara, who became the ninth player to bat on all five days of a Test, caught at gully. A back of a length delivery kicked up off the pitch a lot higher than Pujara expected and it lobbed over to Dil- ruwan Perera at gully, who took a sharp, low catch. NT Bureau New Delhi, Nov 20: The controversy surrounding Padmavathi has turned worse as a BJP office-bearer from Haryana today said that he would double the bounty on the heads of actor Deep- ika Padukone and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali to Rs 10 crore for showing Rajputs in a bad light in the lat- est movie Padma- vathy. Par- ty’s chief media co- ordinator Surajpal Amu who made the announcement, also threat- ened to break the legs of Ranveer Singh who plays the role of Alaud- din Khilji, the Delhi Sultan obsessed about the legendary 13th Century Queen of Chittor. Asking his cheering audience if a Rs 10 crore bounty cannot be of- fered instead of the 5 crore offered by a man from Meerut, he was quick to add a disclaimer. ‘We do not want to take law into our hands, but if someone raises an eye at our sisters and daughters, they will be punished,’ he said in the speech peppered with threats and inflam- matory comments. Padmavathy film is based on the legend of Rani Padmini (also known as Padmavati), a legendary Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padma- vat, an Awadhi language epic poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muham- mad Jayasi in 1540. According to Padmavat, she was the wife of Ra- tan Sen (called Rawal Ratan Singh in later legends), the Rajput ruler of Mewar. In 1303, Alauddin Khalji, the Turko-Afghan ruler of the Delhi Sul- tanate, laid siege to the Chittor Fort in Rajputana. According to Padma- vat, Khilji led the invasion motivat- ed by his desire to cap- ture Rani Padmini. The men of the city stormed out in a final mortal sally to kill as many of the enemy before falling. Rani Padmini is said to have committed jauhar (self-immolation) along with all the other women of the city to protect their honour and to avoid being captured by Khalji. The film became a subject of con- troversy during production. There were allegations from groups such as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a Rajput caste organisation, claiming that the film is depicting inaccurate facts, portraying the Rajput queen Padmavati in bad light, with activists vandalizing the sets of the film. How- ever, a sting operation conducted by an Indian news channel showed that the activists had planted the contro- versies in order to extort money from the filmmakers. Padmavati , problems and pressures Movie controversy turns worse Angry BJP, Rajputs up the ante OLLWAYS ROLLED
