1. Metro Phase 1 Extension Tunnelling Nears Completion
With a compact network and smaller stations, the Chennai Metro Rail Phase I extension project, inaugurated by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa last July, is proceeding towards completion in mid-2019.
In a first milestone for the project, a tunnel boring machine (TBM) drilled through the earth from Thyagaraya College to Korukkupet on 24 September covering a distance of 1 km. The second TBM will reach this location in another two weeks. Tunnelling work, considered to be one of the most difficult parts of Metro Rail construction, was done at a record speed of 11 metres a day and hence, it was finished five months ahead of its deadline of February 2018. Usually, tunnelling is carried out at a speed of 6-8 metres a day.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. ‘An Attempt to Isolate Sasikala’s Family’
By raising suspicions over the treatment administered to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa a year after she was hospitalised, some Ministers and leaders of the unified AIADMK are attempting to further isolate deposed party leader VK Sasikala and her family members, according to political commentators.
That Forests Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan, who not long ago fiercely defended Sasikala and even claimed that he and other leaders had periodically interacted with Jayalalithaa in hospital, has publicly apologised for “lying” then, would vouch for this attempt.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Course on Ethics Soon at Madras University
Adopting a recommendation by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the University of Madras will include a chapter on ethics, anti-corruption and vigilance in all under-graduate and post-graduate courses.
The inclusion of these topics would equip the university’s students with knowledge about organisations and agencies associated with tackling corruption such as the Central Vigilance Commission and how they can go about filing complaints regarding corrupt practices.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. ‘Set Up Panel to Probe Sexual Harassment Complaints in Schools’
Taking a serious note of the laxity on the part of the management of a government school in Kancheepuram district in initiating action on complaints of sexual harassment against a teacher, the Madras High Court has asked the Director of School Education to take steps to constitute Internal Complaints Committees in all schools.
While hearing a plea moved by a teacher, against whom multiple complaints of sexual harassment were made by a student and fellow woman teachers, the judge underscored the need to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee as per Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
(Source: The Hindu)
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5. Three Injured in Blast at Cracker Packing Unit
Three persons sustained serious injuries in a blast at a fire cracker packaging unit at Kancheepuram on 24 September morning.
Police sources said a fire broke out at around 11 am. The roof of the house came down crashing and the fire also damaged neighbouring houses. Fire service personnel doused the fire in about an hour and a half. The reasons for the blast in the unit are yet to be ascertained. The unit was functioning in a house with asbestos roof in which a huge quantity of chemicals and crackers were stored. The owner is absconding.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Residents Want TASMAC Shop Closed
Hundreds of residents of Padi Kuppam Road, including school students and women, staged a protest on 24 September demanding the closure of a Tasmac shop that reopened recently. They claimed tipplers on the road had made the stretch unsafe for people.
For the past 10 years, the Tasmac shop was functioning on Padikuppam Road. It was closed after the Supreme Court directed the respective State governments to remove liquor shops on National and State highways. However, it was reopened two weeks ago after stretches of the highway running inside the city were denotified as city roads.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Two Arrested on Charge of Assaulting Child
The Kannagi Nagar police on 24 September arrested two men on charges of harassing and inflicting burn injuries on a 12-year-old boy over the past two days.
According to police, Ajit, 12 (name changed), is a class 6 student. The victim’s family was not on good terms with their relative, Nandakumar, 28.
On 23 September, Nandakumar and his friend Pradeep, 26, came in search of the boy’s father. As he was not at home at that time, they assaulted Ajit and inflicted burn injuries on him.
(Source: The Hindu)
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