Tamil Nadu - Jan 2013

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JAN 2013 CURRENT AFFAIRS - TN

murugesansenthil.blogspot.com

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CONTENTS:- # Topic Page No

01 TN proposes death sentence for rapists........................ 03 02 TN Minorities Panel reconstituted…………………………. 05 03 Pennycuick Memorial…………………………………………. 06 04 Chennai’s Sister City…………………………………………. 07 05 Republic Day Awards…………………………………………. 08 06 2013 Padma Awards from TN………………………………. 10 07 Multi-super speciality Hospital…………………………….. 11 08 TN Government Awards……………………………………… 15 09 Operation Hamla2…………………………………………….. 16 10 Delta farmers gets insurance cover……………………….. 20 11 MoU between TN & Chhattisgarh …………………………. 23 12 36th Chennai Book Fair……………………………………… 31 13 Kattupalli Port………………………………………………….. 35 14 Students reading poor……………………………………….. 36

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With more people calling for harsher punishment and speedier justice in rape cases, Tamil Nadu has become the first State to unveil an action plan for curbing sexual offences against women. In a 13-point plan, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa mooted severe punishments like death penalty and chemical castration for sexual offenders through amendments in Central Acts.

Expressing grief over the death of the 23-year-old gang rape victim in New Delhi, Ms. Jayalalithaa said her government would set up fast track Mahila courts in each district to deal with sexual crimes against women, appoint women investigating officers and prosecutors to make the police probe and trial more gender-sensitive. Efforts would be made to expedite the trial by holding daily hearings. The Goondas Act, a preventive detention law, would be amended to include sexual offenders under the Act’s purview.

Sexual offences against women would be considered grave crimes henceforth; investigation would be supervised by deputy superintendents of police. Women inspectors, or in their absence, women sub-inspectors would assist the enquiry. Superintendents of police and Deputy Inspectors General would conduct a monthly review of such cases.

IGs would submit a report in 15 days on the number of cases of sexual crime under investigation and pending in courts to the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order).

The Centre would be requested to bring in amendments to introduce death penalty and chemical castration for sexual offenders and prevent them from getting bail till the trial is completed. The State government would bear the entire medical expenses of victims of sexual violence and assist them in their rehabilitation. Like Childline, an integrated women’s helpline would be in place with the help of service-minded individuals, activists working for welfare of women and involving trained professionals capable of handling women in distress.

Efforts would be taken to install CCTV cameras in all public buildings to easily identify those involved in crime against women. Plainclothes policemen would also be deployed at sensitive installations like malls and women’s colleges to monitor the movement of those who harass women.

TN PROPOSES DEATH, CHEMICAL CASTRATION FOR RAPISTS

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What is Chemical Castration? Chemical Castration involves the injection of anti-androgen drugs every three months to reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, ad capacity for sexual arousal.

On a day when Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced an

action plan to make the State safe for women, a look at police records capture the enormity of the challenge. Within 57 months —from January 2008 to September 2012—over 3,000 cases of rape were reported in the State, while only around 270 were convicted. In other words, one in 11 cases alone reached finality. Legal experts cite various

As few as 25 countries apply the death penalty for non-homicidal rape. They are: USA, China, Belarus, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan. The only major democracy in that list is the USA.

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factors for the low rate of conviction, right from under-reporting and delay in reporting the incident and probe continuing till the case is taken up for trial.

The experts say that in many cases, the victim does not report the incident immediately to police, making it difficult to gather evidence. They also blame the sluggishness of investigating agencies in gathering evidence or obtaining forensic results, even when the crimes are reported immediately. Delay in obtaining test results also takes place due to a crunch in manpower or infrastructure.

REPORT CARD (JAN 2008 – SEP 2012)

Cases Reported 3, 060 Charge sheet Submitted 1, 700 Acquittal / Discharge 1, 217 Cases Pending 1, 747

Convicted Cases 270

The State government has reconstituted the Minorities

Commission and Bishop Dr M Prakash has been appointed chairman of the commission. The chairman will hold officer for a period of 3 years from Jan 01, 2013. Chairman: Bishop Dr. M. Prakash Member(s):

Alhaj S Syed Kamil Sahib Justin Selvaraj Prof A M James U Sudhir Lodha K Kalamani Sardar Manjit Singh Nayar

TN MINORITIES PANEL RECONSITUTED

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Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated a memorial for

Pennycuick in Lower Camp of Uthamapalayam taluk, Theni district. Pennycuick was the British engineer who constructed the Periyar dam

in Idukki district of Kerala. Built at a cost of Rs. 1.25 crore on the premises of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) along the Theni-Kumuli National Highway, the memorial has a bronze statue of Pennycuick. Some old photographs and memorabilia used by Pennycuick also form part of the memorial. In April, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the memorial. Exactly a year ago, she announced the construction of the memorial.

Narrating the history of the Mullaperiyar dam and the struggle of the British engineer, Ms. Jayalalithaa announced that the new central bus stand under construction in Theni would be named after Col. Pennycuick. She said that, one should have courage, mental stability and determination to succeed. If one possessed these qualities, success was certain. The Mullaperiyar dam is an example of this.

About Mullaperiyar Dam:- Made of lime and surki, the Mullaperiyar dam was built during 1887-1895. Its total cost was around Rs. 85 lakh. The full reservoir level of the dam is 152 ft with capacity of 10.56 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft). Nearly 70,000 hectares of the composite Madurai and Ramanathapuram districts form part of the irrigation network. Following a controversy over the safety of the dam in 1979, the water level was lowered to 136 feet as a temporary solution. Since then, there has been no change in the level. Usually public places are named after Indians. Probably for the first time in the post Independence era, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has fittingly named a public place in memory of a British man. It is a welcome decision.

PENNYCUICK MEMORIAL

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After Kuala Lumpur in 2010, San Antonio in Texas is set to enter into a sister-city agreement with Chennai Corporation. A 30-member business delegation led by the mayor of San Antonio visited the Chennai. San Antonio is one of the most populous cities in the United States. Many detailed project reports readied by Corporation officials have been shaped on projects implemented in San Antonio. Efforts to restore the ecosystem in the Cooum River are likely to be based on the model adopted in the city.

A team of officials from the State had earlier visited the U.S. to study how San Antonio was restored. It was based on their report that projects such as the first nature trail with boardwalk were planned in Chennai a few years ago. The Chennai Corporation, with the assistance of private consultants has, also prepared a detailed project report on a 1.6-km stretch of the banks of the Cooum near College Road.

The sister city agreement is likely to be an ideal platform to facilitate cooperation pertaining to environment, culture, tourism and industry in the State. Chennai has sister city relationships with the following cities of the world. Country City State/Region Since Russia Volgograd Volgograd Oblast 1966 USA Denver Colorado 1984 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Federal territory 2010 USA San Antonio Texas 2013

The co-ordination committee of various farmers’ associations that met in Tiruchi has urged the State government to pass a unanimous resolution in the Legislative Assembly, requesting the Centre to invoke Article 262 (2) to settle the Cauvery issue.

What is Article 262 (2)? This provision empowers Parliament to come out with a law that bars jurisdiction of courts including the Supreme Court over matters concerning inter-state river water dispute

CHENNAI’S SISTER CITY

FARMERS’ PANEL URGES TO INVOKE ARTICLE 262(2)

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Six persons were presented the Anna Medal for Gallantry by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, among which the bravery shown by M. Raja, a clerk working at the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Bank at Thalavaisamuthiram in Tirunelveli district, stood out. He received Rs one lakh and gold medal worth Rs 5,000.

According to the State government’s citation, Mr. Raja acted swiftly and overpowered a masked man who entered the office and threatened to shoot the Assistant Secretary. The citation further said that, this gave the terrified customers a chance to hide themselves even as the masked man continued to fire till he exhausted all bullets. Mr. Raja held the masked man in such a way that the bullets did not hit anyone. But he suffered burn injuries on both palms as he had held on to the barrel of the gun. His act saved Rs 16.52 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 crore.

Other recipients of the Anna Medal for Gallantry were late M. Devaraj (Kancheepuram), late T. Jawahar (Tiruvannamalai), L. Siva (Erode), P. Thangavel, Plot Watcher, Palacode Range and Fire and Rescue Station staff attached to Denkanikottai station.

The Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award was given to M. Ayub Khan from Kumbakonam Town.

Gandhi Adigal Police Medals were given to for police officials who have done outstanding work in curbing illicit liquor. The awardees are N. Devarani, I. Eswaran, S. Vimala, K. Sakthivel and K. Stalin Chandrasekar. Farmer gets award for cultivation feat:-

At a time when paddy cultivation is no longer considered lucrative and farmlands are being converted into housing plots, Mr. P. Solaimalai, a farmer from Madurai, has achieved a rare feat by producing 8,272 kg paddy per acre against the normal production of about 3,800 kg per acre. He achieved it by using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) for cultivation. On Republic Day function, Mr. Solaimalai received a special award from the Agriculture Department on the occasion of Republic Day for getting the highest yield under SRI.

He is the first farmer to receive the award, which carries Rs 5 lakh cash and a gold medal worth Rs 3,500. Mr Solaimalai said he bought CR1009 variety from Pattukottai and used it for cultivation under SRI.

REPUBLIC DAY AWARDS

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He said that, the variety can be used only for making flour and is not desirable for rice because of its size, unlike other paddy varieties that could be harvested in 110 days; CR 1009 took 150 days for harvest.

Award Winners Raja (Tirunelveli) late M. Devaraj (Kancheepuram) late T. Jawahar (Tiruvannamalai) L. Siva (Erode) P. Thangavel (Dharmapuri)

Anna Medal for Gallantry

Team of 6 fire and rescue service personnel

Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award

M. Ayub Khan (Kumbakonam)

N. Devarani I. Eswaran S. Vimala K. Sakthivel

Gandhi Adigal Police Medals

K. Stalin Chandrasekar.

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Padma Vibhushan: 0 Padma Bhushan: 02 Smt. Sree Ramamurthy Janaki – Art Shri. Ramamurthy Thyagarajan – Trade & Industry

Padma Shri: 04 Shri. Lakshmi Narayana Sathiraju – Art Shri. S K M Maeilanandhan – Social Work Ms. Rajshree Pathy – Trade & Industry Prof (Dr) T V Devarajan – Medicine

Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund has signed an agreement with German-government owned KfW bank. The agreement would fetch an assistance of Rs. 520 crore for implementing the phase II of the Tamil Nadu Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Financing (SMIF-TN) Project.

As per the phase-II of the SMIF-TN, various infrastructure works like drinking water, sewage and road projects would be implemented by June 30, 2018. The initiative come sin line with upgradation of infrastructure of 10 cities in Tamil Nadu to international standards as per the Vision 2023 document that was released by the Chief Minister earlier.

The German development bank has already given Rs. 500 crore for various infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu in July 2008.

ADGP (Coastal Security Group-Tamil Nadu) C Sylendra Babu ADGP (Crime-TN), Prateep V Philip IGP Vigilance and Anti Corruption, AM Gunaseelan

are among 88 officers who have been awarded President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service on the occasion of Republic Day 2013.

Besides, 21 Police personnel of Tamil Nadu were also selected for the Police Medals for Meritorious Service by the government this year.

2013 PADMA AWARD WINNERS FROM TN

GERMAN BANK TO ASSIST TN

POLICE OFFICERS: PRESIDENT’S MEDAL

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Declining to interfere with a major policy decision of the

AIADMK government, the Madras High Court upheld the shifting of the Legislative Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex back from the Omandurar Government Estate to Fort St. George and the plan to convert the structure into a multi super-specialty hospital and a government medical college.

Dismissing petitions challenging the shifting of the Secretariat and the proposal to use the building as a hospital, a specially-constituted Division Bench comprising Justices K.N. Basha and N. Paul Vasanthakumar said the decision to convene the sitting of the Legislative Assembly and the Secretariat was purely a matter of internal procedure adopted by the Legislature. This court was not entitled to interfere in the said decision, particularly when no violation of any constitutional provision was attracted.

The decision to establish the hospital was announced in the Assembly, which also approved it. It was a policy decision to convert the complex into a hospital. The court said the decision to convert the structure could not be stated to be arbitrary. The policy would promote and protect public interest, more particularly, weaker sections for getting better and expert treatment for serious ailments.

It is made clear that the government should take all necessary steps for giving treatment to the poor and deserving people free of cost. The petitions were filed by R. Veeramani and S.A. Miyajan. Mr. Veeramani, contended that the government’s decision was arbitrary and opposed to public interest. The decision to convert the Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex, which was specifically designed and constructed for that purpose, into a hospital was due to non-application of mind and based on no material.

Accepting the submission of Senior Counsel Rakesh Dwivedi and Advocate-General A.Navaneethakrishnan, the Bench said on a perusal of Art.174 of the Constitution (Sessions of State Legislature, prorogation and dissolution), it was evident that the Governor should from time to time summon the House to meet at such time and place as he thought fit. The provision nowhere stated that the same would apply only for first sitting as contended by the petitioner’s counsel. The words used were ‘from time to time’ and ‘to meet at such time and place.’ Messrs.Justices Basha and Paul Vasanthakumar said for implementing

HIGH COURT UPHOLDS SHIFTING OF ASSEMBLY COMPLEX

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the decision to establish a hospital, an expert committee was constituted which visited the Omanthurar Government Estate along with technical experts, including architects. Based on their opinion further steps were taken for converting the ‘A’ Block of the new structure into a hospital. The government’s decision was perfectly valid and legal.

The government decision could not be stated to be arbitrary or hasty without any material on record. If a multi-super specialty hospital was established, it would promote public interest. The authorities had obtained environmental clearance and a no objection certificate from the Fire and Rescue Services Department for the conversion of the new building. Applications had been made to the TNPCB and the CMDA.

As the issue of grant of environmental clearance for the conversion was pending before the National Green Tribunal, the court said it could not go into that aspect. It was the authorities’ specific stand that the present endeavour was not to make any new construction, but only to modify the existing structure.

As per the submission before the court, the present government had proposed to spend Rs.26.94 crore to change the Assembly complex as a Multi-Super Speciality Hospital. Fort St. George would be renovated at a cost of Rs.28 crore.

Work begins to convert into hospital:

Within hours of the Madras High Court upholding the government’s decision to convert the Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex on the Government Estate on Anna Salai into a multi-super-specialty hospital, the authorities lost no time in beginning construction. Trucks carrying sand and other construction material and earth-movers moved into the complex late in the evening and helmeted workers and supervisors got busy. Officials said the work had begun on both the hospital in Block A and the proposed medical college in Block B.

Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the new complex in ‘A’ Block on March 13, 2010. In the new building, the first session was held during April and May 2010, second session in November that year, third in January 2011 with the Governor’s address and the four sessions was in February 2011.

The six-storey structure which spans an area of 9.3 lakh sq ft will now house a super specialty hospital. SC too upholds the High Court’s judgment.

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Floors Treatments

Ground Emergency & Outpatient ward, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery

I Clinical outpatient ward, surgical oncology, hand reconstruction surgery and vascular surgery

II Diagnostic labs (microbiology and pathology labs), administration office

III IV

General War

V Special Ward VI Operation Theatre Block B Medical College (to be built) THE MAKING OF A HOSPITAL: A 5-YEAR SAGA June 2008: Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi lays foundation stone March 2010: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurates the complex February 2011: Interim budget presented in the new Assembly May 2011: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa abandons secretariat complex and takes oath in Fort St. George August 2011: Jayalalithaa announces a multi-specialty hospital and medical college in the secretariat premises January 30, 2013: Begins to work as hospital

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that, a memorial for Karikalan, the Chola king who built the Grand Anicut (Kallanai) across the Cauvery, will be set up to honour his selfless service. She said this, while she inaugurated the memorial for Col. Pennycuick in Theni, who built the Mullaperiyar dam.

Chief Minister said that, the Grand Anicut, which the Chola king built 2,000 years ago, is not only the oldest dam in the country but also an engineering marvel. The dam is beneficial to crores of people even today.

MEMORIAL FOR KARIKALAN

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Farmers welcome Chief Minister’s announcement: Farmers in Thanjavur district welcomed the announcement by

Chief Minister for the memorial for Karikalan. Farmer association said that besides building and perpetuating the memory of Karikalan, the right tribute to him will be to protect the irrigation system he bestowed on us. It should be maintained properly. The memorial was a welcome move and it should bring into the minds of the people about the importance of irrigation. The demand for memorial for Karikalan had been pending since 1996.

As expected, a vast majority of those who thronged beaches and other public haunts in the city on Kaanum Pongal travelled by MTC buses. And this helped the transport corporation rake in nearly a crore more on a single day. An MTC official said that, MTC earned Rs. 3.3 crore when over 37 lakh persons travelled by bus. On other days, MTC’s daily earnings total up to Rs. 2.5 crore.

The MTC has a fleet strength of 3,637 buses. Apart from the nine buses which were sent for routine fitness tests, the full strength was pressed into service. The official also added that, the situation today is better than, say, two years ago, when there were nearly 300 buses lying unused. MTC also raked in a mean sum by levying fines on ticketless commuters. A total of Rs. 1.62 lakh was collected.

The most fine was collected from Anna Nagar roundabout — about Rs. 7,000. Such checks are carried out during festivals when patronage for MTC increases. Further, in a bid to increase revenue, MTC will request the police to bar share autorickshaws from parking in and around bus stands. They eat into the MTC’s revenue in a big way. The transport department has stopped issuing permits to share autorickshaws. MTC has also shifted focus to better maintenance of its fleet and crew. The entire work force has been divided into morning and night shift teams, on a rotational basis. Also, special squads have been formed to monitor the maintenance of the buses.

PONGAL GIFT: MTC COLLECTS RS 1 CRORE IN SINGLE DAY

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The State Government has chosen Communist Party of India

(CPI) State secretary D. Pandian for its ‘Annal’ Ambedkar award this year. The award winners that are instituted in the name of Tamil scholars and national leaders are, Kalaimamani N. Murugan (Seyon) Thiruvalluvar award K. Samarasam Thanthai Periyar Award K.R.P. Manimozhiyan Perarignar Anna Award Singaravadivel Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Award Bharathi Kavalar K. Ramamurthi Mahakavi Bharathiar Award S.N. Kandasamy Paavendar Bharathidasan Award Prema Nandakumar Thiru.Vi.Ka Award N. Rajagopalan (Malayaman) K.Aa.Pe. Viswanatham Award D Pandian Annal Ambedkar Award

The awards carry a cash component of Rs 1 lakh, one sovereign gold medallion and certificate.

Tamil Nadu government has appointed the former Chief Secretary of the State, Mr. Debendranath Sarangi as advisor to the State Government with effective from January 1, 2013. As per the government order, Mr. Sarangi will be in the cadre of Chief Secretary, and will hold the post for one year or till the need for it cease, whichever is earlier. He held the post of Chief Secretary for one year and a half.

Only occasionally does the government create the post of Advisor, that too, in the grade of Chief Secretary. It is a customary practice to create such a post when the State is under President’s rule.

An officer of the 1977 batch Indian Administrative Service, Mr. Sarangi retired after serving as Chief Secretary since May 2011. The new Chief Secretary of the State is Ms. Sheela Balakrishnan.

TN GOVERNMENT’S AWARDS

DEBENDRANATH SARANGI – ADVISER TO TN GOVERNMENT

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The Union Tourism Ministry has selected the Mamallapuram temple complex, along with nine other heritage sites in the country under its “Clean India” campaign. Launched as a pilot project at Qutub Minar during May 2012, the campaign is aimed at increasing tourist arrivals, creating or improving basic infrastructure at these places and providing a hygienic environment. In the first phase, the Ministry has identified 36 monuments.

The Ministry facilitated the adoption of 10 important Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments by the Institutes of Hotel Management (IHM) and the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management under Campaign Clean India. The Quality Council of India (QCI) will carry out an independent and objective evaluation of the state of cleanliness specific to each monument chosen for adoption. It will classify the improvement over the adoption period either as average, good, very good and excellent. Based on the QCI classification, the Ministry will extend awards with citation to adopters.

Tamil Nadu Tourism department had suggested several heritage sites in the State, including Brihadeeswara Temple, Srirangam Temple complex, Vellore Fort and Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple but yet to get the notification.

In an attempt towards assessing the preparedness of the Chennai City Police in case of a terrorist attack, a 48-hour mock operation, code named ‘Hamla 2’, commenced in Chennai city (Jan 03, 2013 – Jan 05, 2013). The drill took the city’s residents by surprise but was highly successful.

Police teams combed the airport, railway stations, hospitals, beaches and other vital installations and apprehended 17 decoys. ‘Hamla 2’, an operation orchestrated by the Chennai City Police in coordination with the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and the Coastal Security Group, kickstarted in Chennai and along other costal locations of Tamil Nadu up to Kanyakumari. This follows ‘Hamla 1’, which took place six months ago.

The drill that is being carried out in various stages includes the deploying of police teams to protect high value targets, collecting of intelligence on the coast line, interception of intrusions, detection of any sabotage material and interrogation of intruders.

MAMALLAPURAM TEMPLE: PART OF “CLEAN INDIA”

OPERATION HAMLA 2

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Nilgiri Tahr, the State animal of Tamil Nadu, is likely to be spotted again on the Glenmorgan Mountains in The Nilgiris and Thirukurungudi ranges in the Kalakad — Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), both original habitats of the Tahr until it went out of sight some years ago. Acting on the suggestion of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBW), the Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to the State Forest Department for the reintroduction of the Nilgiri Tahr in these two ranges. It was A.J.T. Johnsing, former Director of Wildlife Institute of India, who suggested that the Tahr be first introduced in Glenmorgan Mountain from Mukuruthy National Park, a known habitat of the Tahr in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, and thereafter plan reintroduction in KMTR.

Both Thirukurungudi and Glenmorgan were original habitats of Nilgiri Tahr, say wildlife officials in the State. In KMTR, Thiruvannamalai Mottai, Nandoothi Moottai and Panchamthangi Moottai were the three original habitats. Till 1995, the animal was sighted in these places. However, there are no direct sightings in any of these areas now and there are indications of its presence in Thiruvannamalai Mottai and officials believe a small population of Tahr could be still living there.

These areas have rocky patches and grass lands above them. In Thiruvannamalai Mottai area, northern and eastern portions were full of rocky patches and the southwest corner is covered by Shola forests. Hence, the place was once the ideal habitat for Tahrs, said a senior officer. Glenmorgan near Mukurthi National Park in The Nilgiris was also originally a Tahr habitat. Later the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board took over some areas to construct quarters for their staff. This, and the regular forest fires in the area must have driven the Tahr population away from the habitat, says a former wildlife warden.

Now the quarters have been abandoned but a critical habitat study has to be done before translocating a sizeable number of Tahr from Mukurthi National Park to Glenmorgan.

REINTRODUCE OF NILGIRI TAHR IN TWO RANGES

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Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said a Tea Cluster-Common Facilitation Centre would be set up near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore at an estimated cost of Rs. 15 crore to give a boost to tea industry in the Nilgiris. Participating in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Kundah Industrial Cooperative (Indco) Tea Factory at Yedakad about 30 km from Udhagamandalam, she said the centre would have facility for storing, blending, testing and marketing.

A new Indco factory would be established at Nanjanad near Udhagamandalam at an estimated cost of Rs. 5 crore to cater for the growers. Listing the steps taken to help small tea growers of the Nilgiris during her tenures, Ms. Jayalalithaa said for the first time in the world ‘Teaserve,’ an auction centre in the government sector, had been opened in Coonoor in October 2003.

Pointing out that the objective was to help the producers realise fair prices, the Chief Minister said she was gratified that over the last ten

years it had been doing well. In 2005 a Small Tea Growers Protection Scheme had been introduced and subsidy at the rate of Rs. 4,200 per acre had been disbursed to 50,152 growers.

Considering favourably a demand of tea manufacturers, the government had ordered the reduction of value added tax on processed tea from 4% to 1%. Subsidy had also been provided to upgrade the machinery in the cooperative tea factories in order to improve the quality. In the current tenure, steps had been taken to give an additional amount of Rs. 2 a kg of raw tea leaves to the members of the 15 Indco tea factories. It had benefited 22,000 growers to the tune of Rs. 17.20 crore.

A grant of Rs. 5.46 crore had been released to the Indco factories to modernise their machinery and increase the production capacity.

BOOST FOR TEA INDUSTRY: RS 15 CRORE CLUSTER

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Efforts of the government apart, the Indco factories should evolve new ways to increase their sales. Drawing a parallel, she said in 2001, her government had introduced the “Ooty Tea” concept and sold the brand through the Public Distribution System. Over the last 12 years, 317 lakh kg of tea had been produced under the scheme and sold for Rs 280 crore. From the profit earned Rs 26 crore had been shared with the Indco members.

Urging the tea growers and producers to help achieve the goals set under the government’s Vision 2023 programme, Ms. Jayalalithaa declared that she was ready to extend all possible assistance to them. They must work hard and be self confident. Ms. Jayalalithaa released a golden jubilee souvenir, launched the sale of new 250 gram pouches of ‘Ooty Tea’ and inaugurated the sale of Ooty Tea through Aavin outlets.

As many as 90 bids have been received by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) for a quantum of 500 megawatt (MW). This is in response to the TANGEDCO’s tender for the purchase of solar power to the tune of 1,000 MW.

Technical bids were opened by the TANGEDCO officials in charge of the tender. After scrutiny, price documents of eligible bidders will be taken up for consideration. The entire exercise of selecting developers is likely to be completed in a month.

The floating of bids was carried out as a sequel to the Solar Energy Policy of the State government which was unveiled a few months ago. As per the policy, high tension consumers including information technology parks and special economic zones and low-tension commercial consumers have to meet three per cent of their energy requirements through solar energy by the end of this year and six per cent from January 2014.

As the TANGEDCO is the agency to administer solar power obligations (SPO), it has decided to facilitate prospective investors by procuring energy generated from their plants through long-term power purchase agreements. Besides, the HT and LT commercial consumers can fulfil their obligations by purchasing power from the Corporation at tariff applicable to solar power. It is for these reasons that the tender has been floated. After the selection of developers is done next month, power purchase agreements (PPA) will be signed in a couple of months.

TANGEDCO RECEIVES 90 BIDS FOR SOLAR POWER

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At least 1.75 lakh more farmers in the Cauvery delta have been

brought under the net of insurance cover for their samba crop. During 2011-2012, around 3.5 lakh to 3.75 lakh farmers enrolled themselves with the authorities for crop insurance. For the current year, as per provisional figures, the number is 5.4 lakh.

The increased coverage has been attributed to the State government’s intensive drive to achieve universal coverage of farmers in the delta, which covers Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Tiruchi districts besides Chidambaram and Kattumannarkoil taluks of Cuddalore.

On Dec 2012, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced a package of measures to the delta farmers including the government’s decision to provide insurance cover to all farmers in the delta. As on that date, about 1.7 lakh farmers had gone in for crop insurance cover. When the deadline for insurance coverage was over on December 31, the figure was 5.4 lakh. (Even this figure is provisional as some more proposals through banks have to reach the insurance authorities).

Of the five districts, Thanjavur accounts for a maximum number of farmers covered with about 1.89 lakh. The figures for other districts are Tiruvarur – 1.36 lakh; Nagapattinam – 1.16 lakh; Cuddalore – 73,380 and Tiruchi – 26,130. The achievement of such a large number was possible due to a combination of efforts by the Agriculture Department along with other agencies concerned including the district administration. As many as 1,217 facilitation centres were opened for enrolment of farmers for the insurance cover.

The other significant aspect is the coverage of non-loanee farmers for crop insurance. As regards loanee farmers, it is mandatory that they take insurance cover. Of about 5.4 lakh farmers, non-loanee farmers account for 3.92 lakh. Towards universal coverage, the State government has remitted about Rs. 27.67 crore to the Agriculture Insurance Company of India. The per-acre sum insured had been kept at Rs. 8,692. Besides, under the State Disaster Relief Fund, compensation for paddy would hereafter be Rs. 5,000 per acre instead of the earlier Rs. 4,000 per acre to Rs. 5,000. Totally, the farmers, in the event of crop loss, would get Rs. 13,692 per acre. The insurance cover has been taken under the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and its modified version.

DELTA FARMERS GET INSURANCE COVER FOR SAMBA CROP

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Chief Minister Jayalalithaa constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam to study further relief to be provided to farmers in the Cauvery delta region. She also announced a Rs. 300-crore scheme to distribute Pongal gifts to 1.84 crore ration-card holders. The gift package, each costing Rs. 160, will include one kg raw rice, one kg jaggery and Rs. 100 for buying other ingredients for Pongal. She said that, this will ensure that people will happily celebrate the Pongal festival.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said she had already ordered relief to the extent of Rs. 13,692 per acre under crop insurance scheme and disaster relief fund. The high-level committee, she said, would study the drought situation and crop loss and make recommendations regarding taluks and unions that should be declared drought-hit areas.

She said, relief should be given to farmers in due time based on the recommendation. My government will also ensure that farmers are not subjected to any difficulty and release relief in a fair manner. She said the committee would include the Electricity Minister, Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister, Housing Minister, Agriculture Minister, Co-operative Minister, Food Minister and Fisheries Minister. The Revenue Administration and Relief Commissioner will be the member secretary and secretaries of the departments concerned will be ex-officio members.

The Chief Minister said in order to provide compensation to farmers who had lost livelihood and were facing unemployment, the government would undertake works for desilting water bodies to ensure effective water management to create large-scale employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. She said due to the failure of the North-East monsoon and Karnataka’s refusal to release water as per the distress sharing formula, there was a delay in releasing water from Mettur dam and the water already released was also stopped. She said, this has affected samba cultivated in the delta region and thaladi in the tail-end region.

PANEL FORMED TO STUDY MORE RELIEF FOR FARMERS

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Taking advantage of its excellent connectivity across Tamil Nadu, the state-owned State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) has begun a courier service, in a move to diversify its business and earn more revenue. In a public-private partnership venture, SETC has launched the low-cost ‘7c’ courier service, which will cater to 10 city corporations in the state, apart from Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The courier charges are as low as Rs 7 for a 250 gm package for any distance, and the 1,256 buses of SETC’s fleet will be used for the service.

SETC floated a tender last year and finalised the bidder. It agreed to share its fleet for the logistics operation under a PPP model, said an SETC top official in Chennai. Chennai-based V-Speeds Logistics won the bid and rolled out an economically viable logistics option.

The service is aimed at utilising the SETC fleet in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Our motto is ‘same day delivery’. The courier booking centres are conveniently located near SETC depots across the state. SETC was the obvious choice when it came to offering an economically viable courier service across the state. 7c delivers consignments of up to 25 kg. The waybills for the package are bar-coded and delivery is confirmed via SMS or e-mail, minimising possibility of loss of consignments. SETC officials said they have ensured that there is no discomfort to passengers or the crew due to courier service, as all packages are loaded on buses hours before passengers embark and unloaded only after they disembark.

According to a study, Tamil Nadu’s renewable energy potential has been estimated at over 7,20,000 MW, comprising mainly solar photovoltaic (259,000 MW), onshore wind (196,854 MW) and Concentrating Solar Power (78,505 MW).

The Action Plan for Comprehensive Renewable Energy Development in Tamil Nadu states that even if 20 per cent is achievable, the State could produce up to 140,000 MW of power from green energy sources by 2020 to meet the 15 per cent target set by the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

SETC UNVEILS NEW LOW-COST COURIER

RENEWABLE POWER POTENTAIL OF TN: 7.2 LAKH MW

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Tamil Nadu has a huge potential for off-grid solar applications. In fact, the rooftop photovoltaic installation potential for the State, based on the gross availability of concrete roofs, is about 30,000 MW, according to the study. New regulatory measures like feed-in tariffs for rooftops or net metering can significantly alter the scenario by reducing the financial viability gap.

Tamil Nadu could be expected to produce 36,000 MW of renewable energy in the next 10 years. And each mega watt of renewable energy could generate 10 jobs and by next 10 years. In other words, the State can create 3.6 lakh green jobs within 10 years.

Turning to the solar water heating potential for the State, the report states that 16.15 million square metre solar energy collector area would translate into a water heating potential of 33 million litres per day. The study also assessed the solar water pumping potential at 7,041 MW. This would result in substantial savings in electricity and grid losses, it said while stressing the need for a taluk level study to assess actual substitution potential.

State Energy Minister Mr. Natham R Viswanathan met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Mr. Raman Singh and expressed his State’s willingness to establish a thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh to overcome the power shortfall in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government wants to establish a thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh to overcome shortfall of power in the southern state.

Tamil Nadu is at present facing a shortage of 4,000 MW and Viswanathan invited the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to install a power plant. The minister also said that according to the energy policy of the Chhattisgarh government, the host state would get priority to buy the first 30 per cent of total generation of power, while 7.5 per cent of power will be sold at variable cost only.

During the discussion, Raman Singh said that the Union Coal Ministry had allocated coal block Gare Pelma Sec-2 in Chhattisgarh for mining to a joint enterprise of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and Maharashtra State Mineral Corporation Limited, ‘Maha-Tamil Collieries Limited’, in August 2006. According to the agreement, Tamil Nadu has 78 per cent partnership in mining while Maharashtra has 22%.

TAMIL NADU & CHHATTISGARH MOOTS POWER PLANT

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Despite Tamil Nadu’s repeated pleas, the Central government has not yet notified the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. The rights of Tamil Nadu over Cauvery water should be ensured, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said at Kodanad near Kotagiri in the district, while launching the distribution of special Pongal pack. The failure of the monsoon had raised doubts over the survival of the crops in the delta region.

She said that, the government would fully compensate whatever loss was incurred by the farmers. Further, a committee headed by Finance Minister Mr. O. Paneerselvam had been formed to identify areas to be declared drought-hit. The committee would also work out how much more compensation could be given to farmers.

The Chief Minister said that as the government was keen that all sections of society should celebrate Pongal, it had been decided to give 1.84 crore rice-drawing card holders covered under the Public Distribution System (PDS) the special pack worth Rs.160 which consisted of one kg of raw rice, one kg of sugar and Rs.100 in cash.

Ms. Jayalalithaa also distributed free saris and dhotis to a few beneficiaries.

FARMERS WILL BE FULL COMPENSATED

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In the new publication of voters roll list for the state, as many as 11 lakh names of voters in the State have been removed from the roll. This is an outcome of a household survey undertaken by the poll authorities as part of the summary revision of the roll during October-December last year. As usual, the reasons of death and migration of voters within or outside the State, also hold good this time too.

It is in Tiruvallur district that a maximum number of deletion had taken place. A little over 99,000 names had been removed from the roll. Chennai came next with 83,510 and Vellore – 79,590.

As part of the revision, the details of around 22 lakh electors had been included. Women outnumbered men with the admission of about 11.43 lakh applications. In the case of men, the figure of addition was 10.63 lakhs. Three hundred and forty three applications of transgender had been accepted. Kancheepuram accounted for the maximum number of inclusion of names with 1.54 lakh followed by Chennai – 1.46 lakh and Vellore – 1.42 lakh.

The net increase of electors had been witnessed in Kancheepuram with around 1.28 lakh. Tirunelveli came second with a net addition of 99,593 electors and Coimbatore – 98,611.

At the time of publication of the draft electoral roll in October last, the State had about 5.04 crore electors. According to a release issued by the CEO, the total number of electors to total population ratio in Tamil Nadu, as per the final roll, is 69.22 per cent, which was is in line with the census ratio of 18+ population to total population.

WOMAN VOTERS OUTNUMBER MEN IN TN POLL ROLL

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These days, electricity consumers in parts of the State other than Chennai have some respite from the acute power shortage, as the duration of load shedding has gone down considerably. What was 12 hours to 14 hours a day three months ago is now seven to eight hours. In parts of Coimbatore, the duration is even lesser – around five hours. Significantly, the consumers are being subjected to less load shedding in the night.

In October, they had to endure six-hour-long load shedding between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., whereas it is three hours now experiencing, according to a source. The decrease in the duration of load shedding has come at a time even as the authorities are maintaining 12-hour three-phase supply to agriculturists in the Cauvery delta. In addition, the average daily energy consumption is around 210 million units (MU), about 30 MU higher than that of October.

The improvement in the supply position has been attributed to a host of factors. Thermal power plants of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) are producing more. On an average, they are generating around 2,500 megawatt (MW), whereas they were producing about 1,800 MW three months ago. The quantum of electricity purchased through power exchanges has gone up. At present, it is in the range of 470 MW to 725 MW. Three months ago, the State was able to get 80 MW to 270 MW.

Since the middle of December, 150 MW is being procured from the Grid Corporation of Odisha (Gridco) during 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight. This arrangement will go on till March 31. Besides, by participating in an e-bidding, the TANGEDCO has been able to secure up to 430 MW capacity of inter-regional transmission for February.

The possibility is being explored to buy additional power from co-generation plant owners, using coal, during crushing and non-crushing seasons. The authorities have tied-up with a private power producer whose plant in Saminatham of Tuticorin district is about to be commissioned. This will enable the supply of 150 MW.

An additional unit of 600 MW at the Mettur Thermal Power Station is expected to generate power within January. Initially, 400 MW will be produced. One such unit at North Chennai Thermal Power Station is expected to generate around 250 MW by the end of January.

LESSER DUARTION OF POWER CUTS ACROSS STATE

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As regards the Vallur project, jointly implemented by the TANGEDCO and NTPC, the first unit of 500 MW, which is generating 300 MW on an average, will run on full load by January end. Another unit of 500 MW is expected to commence production next month with about 300 MW. In the case of Vallur, the share of Tamil Nadu from each unit is about 350 MW when the unit produces to its capacity.

If these plans fructify, the State will get at least 1,000 MW by the beginning of March. As of now, the State is able to meet its demand to the tune of 9,500 MW.

LOAD SHEDDING: A COMPARISON Period Morning Peak

(MW) Evening Peak (MW)

8 3, 238 2, 943 9 3, 227 2, 210

October 2012

10 3, 193 4, 084 8 2, 152 2, 327 9 2, 351 1, 969

January 2013

10 2, 052 1, 861 Morning peak: 7-50 a.m; Evening peak: 6-45 p.m

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has given the go ahead for the Chennai Corporation to set up as many as 1,000 tiffin centres across the city. The outlets are aimed at providing nutritious and healthy food to the slum dwellers, daily wage earners and unorganised workers in the city at a subsidised price.

Jayalalithaa gave the administrative approval for the first phase of the project, which will see one tiffin centre set up in each of the Chennai Corporation’s 200 wards. These centres would sell each idli for Rs 1, sambar rice for Rs 5 and curd rice for Rs 3.

She also ordered the setting up of a committee under the City Health Officer to supervise the functioning of these centres. Jayalalithaa also ordered the allocation of 500 metric tonnes of rice to the Chennai Corporation for use in these tiffin centres. The statement confirmed the government’s commitment to ensure healthy and nutritional food is available to those from the lower economic sections.

1000 TIFFIN CENTRES IN CHENNAI

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The statement noted that a majority of those who lived in the city’s slums were daily wage earners, manual labourers and drivers, and that the number of migrant labourers who stay in the city for a short period has gone up. These sections are unable to spend enough on food because of their low earnings. The Corporation’s 1,000 tiffin centres are expected to benefit these daily wage earners, manual labourers, cart pushers, rickshaw pullers, auto drivers and other unorganised workers.

Children less than eight years of age may not be permitted alone in swimming pools of amusement parks, hotels, apartments, schools or other similar institutions in the State. The government, which is set to approve one of the first comprehensive regulations for pools ever formulated by a State, may empower ‘pool managers’ to permit such less-than-eight-year-old children in pools only under parents’ supervision.

A team of urban planners, fire and rescue service personnel, Education Department officials and representatives of the Sports Development Authority of India has incorporated such recommendations in the draft of the comprehensive regulations sent for government approval.

The pools to be regulated after government approval will include all those artificial waterbodies measuring more than seven square metre with a minimum depth of 60 cm.

All amusement parks with pools will have to appoint a doctor to monitor users round-the-clock. Pool managers will have the responsibility of permitting users or denying permission. Legal action may be initiated against pool managers who fail to permit users according to the proposed regulations. The recommendations have been made to ensure that pools have enhanced safety provisions. The need for regulations gained momentum after the government last year framed a Bill detailing safety norms to be followed with regard to swimming pools in schools. The recommendations are in response to the death of a nine-year-old boy in the swimming pool at PSBB School, K.K. Nagar in August 2012.

KIDS UNDER 8 MAY BE BARRED FROM SWIMMING POOLS

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Sharing Tamil Nadu’s concern over the poor realisation of water through the 152-km-long Kandaleru-Poondi Canal, Andhra Pradesh agreed to take immediate steps for early completion of repair work on the canal. A decision to this effect was taken at the 42nd meeting of the inter-State Liaison Committee at Fort St. George, Chennai. Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Sheela Balakrishnan and Minnie Mathew, both belonging to the 1976 batch of officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), led their respective teams.

A breach of the canal in Uppalamadagu near Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh has led to the sharp reduction in the inflow. Even though 600 cubic feet of water (cusecs) is being released from the Kandaleru dam [the terminal storage point in Andhra Pradesh on the Krishna water supply system], the realisation of water by Tamil Nadu has been

around 150 cusecs. As an alternative measure, water is being conveyed through pipelines at the point of Uppalamadagu.

At the meeting, Tamil Nadu urged the neighbouring State to have the repair work completed by summer. It even volunteered to extend help in the quick execution of the work, according to an official release. Tamil Nadu wanted at least 350 cusecs to be realised at its end.

The meeting also decided to constitute a standing committee of technical experts, which would include Chief Engineers in the Irrigation department of the two States besides the Chief Engineer of the Chennai Metrowater. As Chennai is the beneficiary of the Krishna water supply system and Chennai Metrowater is responsible for drinking water supply to Chennai, the water agency’s representative has been included.

The release stated that as the Kandaleru reservoir had a storage of 17.6 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against its capacity of 58.6 tmc ft, a request was made to AP to ensure the release of water till October; provide about 8 tmc ft more for the current year and give 12

ANDHRA PRADESH: AGREES TO COMPLETE CANAL WORK EARLY

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tmc ft for the entire year of 2013-2014. As of now, Tamil Nadu received 3.9 tmc ft against its share of 12 tmc ft. Tamil Nadu also called upon Andhra Pradesh to make arrangements for storing five tmc ft in Kandaleru for release during January-April.

The Andhra Pradesh officials informed their Tamil Nadu counterparts that their government was examining operational rules governing the release of water to Tamil Nadu.

The diesel price revision of Rs 11.67 per litre is expected to hit further the cash-strapped Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation.

According to a top official in the corporation, the decision to hike the diesel price has come at a time when the TNSTC was facing a crisis.

The additional burden due to the revision from Rs. 49.80 per litre to Rs. 61.67 per litre would force the corporation to cough up Rs. 58 crore per month for diesel throughout the State. The corporation operated 22,300 vehicles from its depots covering

90.20 lakh km in all districts in the State. The total diesel consumption was around 48,000 kilo litres per month for the corporation’s entire fleet, which serviced 2.20 crore passengers every month.

After a long gap of 11 years, the State had effected a revision in bus fares in 2011, when the price of diesel per litre was Rs 43.83. Now, there is a hike of 40 per cent after the revision. The Union government announced that for bulk consumers, who include Railways, State transport undertakings, defence, cement and power plants and mines, the price revision came into effect without subsidy, while for private consumers, the revision was a meagre 45 paise per litre.

Senior trade union activist V. Pitchai of the CITU condemned the latest hike in diesel prices. In normal trade practice, for bulk purchases the price is less, while for retail purchase it is higher. In this case, the Centre had dealt a blow to the State transport undertakings by lifting the subsidy.

ADDITIONAL BURDEN FOR TNSTC

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The TNSTC was already in the red and its normal functioning was difficult. With the severe hike, the corporation might find the going tough. TNSTC Staff Federation State joint general secretary S. Sampath said the corporation operated on a no-profit basis, with the sole aim of serving the public. The government offered many sops to different sections of society.

A senior official in the Madurai TNSTC said that the corporation would consider scaling down its operations, especially on less profitable routes.

The 36th edition of the Chennai Book Fair came to a close, with more than 9 lakh visitors getting an opportunity to browse through 10 lakh titles over the course of 13 days. The fair, held at the YMCA Grounds in Nandanam, had 746 stalls and their combined sales touched around Rs. 12 crore.

R.S. Shanmugam, president of the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), which organised the fair said that, what began with just 22 stalls in 1976 has grown today to over 700 stalls.

He added that, on January 19 alone, there were over 1 lakh visitors. The fair has become a forum where discussions are held with authors on various issues. Many of them picked up Tamil novels especially ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham’ and ‘Ponniyin Selvan’. The book fair had something for everyone. From kolam books with up to 1,000 different patterns to water-colouring books for Rs. 23 each, children and adults alike were enthralled by the range of titles on sale. Many parents picked up for children were world maps and globes. (Nearly 2500 maps sold in 13 days of the fair) And sales personnel say that every year, the book fair has only been seeing an increase in sales figures and numbers of visitors. Approximately, every year there is an increase of 20 per cent in sales. Madras High Court judge D. Hariparandaman said that even small books reflected the society of the time they were written in. He said that books brought in change, and that they had even on occasion, led to a change in governments. In her address, Madras High Court judge S. Vimala said she was happy to see such large crowds at the fair buying books.

36TH CHENNAI BOOK FAIR

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In a few years, the expanded city can hope for improved water supply, thanks to yet another desalination plant. Chennai Metrowater has initiated process to set up the third desalination plant in the city. The water agency recently appointed a consultancy firm to prepare a detailed project report for the proposed plant at Pattipulam along the East Coast Road. The plant will have the capacity to treat

200 million litres a day (MLD) of seawater. This is twice the capacity of the desalination plants at Minjur (in pic) and Nemmeli. The latter will begin operations soon.

Aecom India Private Limited along with GHD Pty Limited, Australia, and Watek Engineering Corporation, USA, will prepare the project report on the feasibility of a desalination plant at Pattipulam which is four kilometres away from the Nemmeli plant.

The demand for water has grown by leaps and bounds after the recent expansion of the city. There is a shortfall of nearly 360 MLD owing to demand from various quarters, including bulk consumers, adjacent municipalities and industries. Nearly 831 MLD is supplied to the expanded city.

While the Minjur plant generates 100 MLD of treated water to cater to the northern parts of the city, the one in Nemmeli, which is to be commissioned in the next two months, will serve the southern parts of the city, including Tiruvanmiyur, Velachery and fast-developing suburbs along the IT corridor. Officials of Metrowater said that as there are no other reliable sources for augmenting the city water supply and bridge the widening gap between demand and supply. To meet increasing demand in the future, the proposed plant at Pattipulam can be expanded to treat 400 MLD of seawater.

THIRD WATER PLANT FOR CHENNAI CITY

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Nearly 200 landless women and widows in eight districts of the State have been working under the umbrella of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective network to do farming and allied activities for the last three years.

Interestingly, when vast tracts of lands are being sold off to realtors in the name of development, thus bringing down cultivable areas, the women’s collective has been instrumental in identifying wastelands. It has also identified lands that have been left fallow by owners in Tuticorin, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Salem, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Kancheepuram, and Thiruvallur districts to help single, widowed women in the villages take up cultivation.

The land is taken on a three-year’ lease and women are trained by experienced and well known experts in A-Z of crop cultivation techniques, making bio-inputs and ways to prevent infestation using their own bio pest repellents.

The main aim of collective farming is to discourage migration from villages and to provide food security to the families. The institute conducted a study in 13 villages to understand the lifestyle of destitute and widowed women. The study found that many of these women have either small pieces of fragmented rain-fed lands, or no land at all.

The majority of them did not have the required investment for growing crops and many of them did not have access to proper water sources. Empowerment of rural women has always been an important agenda in our collective. We conduct annual meetings in our office and several women attend these meetings. During one such meet, some of them voiced their grievance that being the sole bread-winners for their families, they were finding it difficult to lead their daily lives as they could not get any work as labourers throughout the year. Though sometimes they went to towns to work as construction labourers or domestic help, they came back to their village after some time due to health and family issues. Empowering such women posed a big challenge for us.

The collective debated this problem for some years before it hit upon the idea of forming the women into groups and helping them do some agriculture-related activities.

The groups were also asked to identify fallow lands for growing some crops, the size of the land, lease period, types of crop to be grown, opening a bank account, revolving system of labour — all under the

COLLECTIVE FARMING

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supervision of the network. The network funded Rs. 10,000 to the groups for all their farming related activities.

At present, the women do not market their produce grown organically outside the village. The crop yield from collective farming provides food for their family for at least 15 days a month. Though the groups, at present, have not gained much financially, they are confident of earning a decent income from selling their produce in the future. Considering the high cost involved in purchase of seeds, the network is planning to develop seed producers in their group and establish a seed bank for their village.

The Madras High Court granted an interim injunction restraining authorities from allowing anybody to carry on business and run shops or eateries on the entire stretch of the Marina beach, Chennai. The First Bench comprising the Acting Chief Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice Aruna Jagadeesan passed the interim order on a petition by one K. Balaji, president of Gandhiji Consumer Forum. The Bench admitted the petition and posted the matter for further hearing.

The petitioner, who is a lawyer, said the Marina beach, which was the second longest beach in the world, was today “the dirtiest beach in the world.” The beach was in a pathetic and shabby condition and foreign tourists were afraid of visiting it. He said that, the careless and negligent attitude of the authorities had affected the reputation of the city.

According to the petitioner, several shops and vendors had been allowed to do business all over the beach, with shops in temporary structures and merry-go-rounds finding a permanent place on the sands. Failure to implement the Food Safety and Standard Act had allowed all sorts of unhygienic food to be sold. The eatables sold were adulterated, substandard, unhygienic and injurious to health. Newspapers had highlighted the pathetic condition of the Marina beach.

He said that, to bring the beach to international standards and restore it to its past glory as contended by the Chennai Metropolitan Beach Committee, drastic steps should be taken.

MADRAS HC ASKS TO CLOSE EATERIES IN MARINA

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Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated the Rs. 3,375-crore Kattupalli minor port-cum-shipyard through video conferencing. A joint venture between Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), the minor port is spread over 1,143 acres in nearby Tiruvallur district and has a ship building yard, the biggest in the country. The port can handle big cargo ships, vessels carrying LNG and petroleum fuel and also has fabrication facilities for ship building. International Container Terminal Services 9ICTS), Philippines, has been accorded to operate the container terminal.

While thanking the Chief Minister, company officials invited traders to make use of the new facility that could be used an alternative venue for Ennore and Chennai Port. While it might be too early to say when the next vessel would arrive, an official hoped that exim activities would pick up in the coming months. Meanwhile, Ennore Port officials have decided to convene a meeting of trade representatives within a fortnight to hear their grievances. Once again, Port users have called for widening the North Chennai Thermal Power Station road as the Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti road is likely to become busy due to container traffic. Cement plant at Karur: Ms. Jayalalithaa also inaugurated a cement plant set up by the Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited at Kagithapuram in Karur district through video conferencing. Built at a cost of Rs. 100 crore, the plant will be the first to use lime sludge and fly ash from the residue of the paper factory. The plant would provide employment to 300 persons.

KATTUPALLI PORT

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Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012 shows that, Tamil Nadu is edging closer to attaining 100% enrolment and children are joining school earlier even in rural areas, but the reading and arithmetic skills of students continue to remain poor.

Tamil Nadu has shown further improvement in student enrolment compared to last year, with the percentage of children not in school going down from 0.9% in 2011 to 0.6% in 2012

Less than 45% of children in Class 1 can identify alphabets in their mother tongue, while only 3% of Class 2 students can read their Tamil textbooks. ASER 2012 does not find significant improvement in reading skills of students compared to last year.

Less than 50% of Class 1 students can recognize numbers 1 to 9. By Class 5, only 13% know division, only 16% of Class 3 students can do simple subtraction. The difference in arithmetic skills among children going to government and private schools is only around 10%. Tamil Nadu has been ahead of most other states while introducing reforms in school education. It’s paid off in enrolment rates, but the latest survey tells the story that, Children are coming to school but learning nothing. The survey also says that, teachers in government schools don’t insist the children to study. They consider teaching a profession that pays well. Whether a child learns or not depends on whether the teacher is interested. There is nobody to question them about the progress of the child. Private school teachers are more committed because the management holds them accountable. In rural and semi-urban areas, there is no distinction between private and government school teachers. Many small private schools recruit teachers with a poor academic record for low salaries. They are not qualified to handle children. Every fortnight primary and upper primary government school teachers attend training to implement reforms. Many attend only because the education department insists on it. They chat, giggle, sleep or complain about losing a weekend. Is Right to Education a wrong one? With Right to Education Act mandating that all children be promoted up to Class 8, parents have nothing to gauge the progress of their child. Only in high school, do teachers find that the child can’t even read a paragraph, or do solve simple arithmetic problems.

ENROLMENT IS UP, BUT READING IS POOR

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Parent’s mentality: In urban and in big private schools, educated parents question the teacher when the child does not study well. In rural areas, the parent thinks the child is not intelligent enough to cope with the syllabus.

TAMIL NADU: Students comes to school but learn nothing

Can the govt act now at least? The future generation is virtually lost

ENGLISH COMPREHENSION Close to 17% of Class 8 students can’t

read and understand small letters Class I V VIII

Can’t read or write 58 5.2 2.1 Reads Capitals 15.8 9.8 4.1 Reads small letters 19.6 27.9 17 Reads simple words 5.6 33 30 Reads easy sentences

0.9 24 46

READING Only 22.5% of Class 8 Students can

read Class I texts Class I V VIII

Can’t read 56.6 3.3 0.6 Can read letters 29.6 6.6 1.6 Reads letters 9.9 26.6 10 Reads std I texts 3 33.6 22.5 Reads std II texts 0.8 29.9 65 MATHS Basic arithmetic functions stump most

kids Class I V VIII

Can’t read nos 46 2.4 0.8 Can recognise 1-9 33.8 5.8 1 Can read 10-99 17.9 39.3 20.8 Can subtract 1.9 39.6 40 Can divide 0.3 13 37.4

- 38 -



News in bits and pieces:- Chairman of TN Backward Commission:

Justice M S Janarthanam Chairman of TN Minorities Commission:

Bishop Dr M Prakash Chairperson of TN State Commission for Women:

Visalakshi Nedunchezhiyan Chairperson of TN Commission for Protection of Child Rights:

Saraswathi Rangasami

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Documents

Tamil Nadu - Jan 2013