QChennai: Madras HC Asks EC to Ban Bogus Voters & More

Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.

1. Ban Bogus Voters from Exercising Franchise: HC

Expressing shock over the 47,783 bogus voters whose names were found on the electoral rolls of the Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency, the Madras High Court on Wednesday said it expected the Election Commission of India (EC) to ban such voters for life from exercising their franchise, if they were found to have deliberately included their names in the voters’ list multiple times.

“Unless such strong measures are taken and messages are sent, these sort(s) of evil attempts will continue, which will result in [a] mockery of democracy,” the judges said.

(Source: The Hindu)

2. Chennai Police Inspector Shot Dead in Rajasthan While Trying to Nab Suspects

Madhuravoyal Law and Order Inspector S Periyapandi was shot dead in Rajasthan when he was trying to catch the suspects in the Kolathur burglary that took place a few weeks ago. Nathuram, from Pali district in Rajasthan, and his associate Choudhary, from Jodhpur, were allegedly involved in the burglary at a pawn shop in Kolathur. They had drilled a hole on the ceiling and looted the valuables.

Following this, a special team was formed and they went to Rajasthan to nab the suspects. When Periyapandi and team went to their place of hiding and tried to nab them, Nathuram and his aides fired at them. While Periyapandi was shot dead, Kolathur Inspector TM Munisekar was injured.

(Source: The Hindu)

3. Industrialist Karthik Narayanan No More

Chennai-based industrialist CV Karthik Narayanan died on Wednesday morning in Chennai, in a hospital. He was 79, and is survived by his wife Uma, son Ramgopal, and daughter Gayathri.

Narayanan, was chairman, UCAL Products Pvt Ltd, UCAL Auto Pvt Ltd, director at UCAL Travels Pvt. Ltd and an independent director at Sundram Fasteners Ltd (SFL). He also spearheaded Standard Motor Products of India Ltd, which was an iconic brand in the 1980s and 1990s. He is known for translating Kalki’s epic Ponniyin Selvan into English.

(Source: The Hindu)

4. 'CM Has Not Made Proper Survey of Ockhi Damage'

Alleging that no proper survey of the damage caused by Cyclone Ockhi in Kanniyakumari district had been done even 15 days after the cyclone struck, DMK working president MK Stalin said on Wednesday that even Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami did not pay proper attention to the problems faced by the people in the district.

“The Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and IAS officers are contradicting one another on the data. The Chief Minister went there and returned in the evening and there are no details about whether he visited the affected areas and met fishermen and their families. He reviewed the situation as if he chaired the AIADMK party meeting and made a few announcements,” he told reporters after submitting a representation to Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

(Source: The Hindu)

5. NGT's Fiat to IIT-M on Protection of Animalss

The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday extended the scope of its earlier order to protect all animals on the IIT-Madras campus that are mentioned in the Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board informed the bench that it did not find any plastic waste inside the campus near the Krishna Gate, Velachery Gate and the STP area. The report comes after the NGT had directed the TNPCB and Chennai Corporation to file replies after inspecting whether IIT-M had cleared the campus of solid waste and construction debris.

(Source: The Hindu)

6. Tepid Response to Regularisation Offer

The State government’s regularisation scheme for unapproved layouts and plots and the abolition of norms for open space reservation (OSR) has been operational for the last seven months, but it has evoked only a subdued response among people.

As of now, applications have been received for hardly 10 percent of the total number of unapproved layouts – 41,387 – in the state. This pertains to areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP). As many as 124 applications have been submitted for full layouts.

(Source: The Hindu)

7. Pay Rs 55.91 Lakh to Businessman, SBI Told

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai, has directed the State Bank of India to return Rs 55,91,300 along with interest of 18percent a year from 28 February 2011 till the date of realisation to a businessman for deficiency in service.

Manickam had taken loan of Rs 10.20 crore as a customer of SBI, also utilising the bank guarantee for government work contract. All the bank guarantees expired in 2007. According to his petition, after the expiry of bank guarantees, the SBI forced him to deposit Rs 55,91,300 for the expired guarantees. SBI refused to return the deposit made against the guarantees.

(Source: The Hindu)