1. Common Exams for Class V and VIII Proposed
Days after School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan said that discussions would be held on whether or not to have a common examination for Class V and VIII State board students, schools have been asked to gear up to conduct a common examination for these classes at the end of the current academic year.
Education officials at the district level have intimated schools about the common examination, which will be held for 60 marks. Students can take the two-hour exam in their schools. Schools with a class strength lower than 20 students will be assigned a centre in a school close by.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Teacher Attacked for Defending Girl from Harassers
Four alumni of a government school were arrested on Monday for allegedly attacking a teacher who confronted them for teasing a girl on Saturday at Tiruvallur. The police said the incident took place on Saturday and the arrest was made on Monday. Paramanantham (42), a resident of Annanur near Avadi, is working as a chemistry teacher for higher secondary students at a government school at Kadambathur in Tiruvallur.
“On Saturday evening, he was walking towards the Kadambathur railway station when four youth intercepted him and attacked him with hockey sticks and cricket bats. The four youngsters had covered their faces with handkerchiefs, according to eyewitnesses,” said a police officer.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. 49 Workers Land in City After 6-Month Ordeal in Malaysia
A total of 49 workers from Tirunelveli district returned to the city on Wednesday after a harrowing experience in Malaysia, where they were taken on tourist visas to work on power lines and transmission towers. Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, who received them on behalf of the State government, said that they had gone to work for an energy company but were not treated well.
“The workers said they were not even given food or water. They were kept captive in Bentong, from where they escaped and reached another place where the police interrogated them and placed them in a camp. The State government took steps and rescued them,” he explained. The workers had gone there in July-August 2018. In a video that they posted on social media in November 2018, the workers said they were being ill-treated and were in a forest far away from human habitation and had no money since they were paid only one month’s salary.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Encouraging Illegal Encroachments Draws Ire of High Court
A division bench of the Madras High Court has deprecated the practice of allowing an encroacher to file an application under Section 113-C of the TN Town and Country Planning Act, to maintain an illegal construction. The bench of Justices M Venugopal and S Vaidyanathan made the observation while disposing of a contempt application and a writ petition for and against construction in Avadi in Vilinjambakkam village on February 6 last.
While J Jothi filed the writ petition to regularise his building under Section 113-C of the Act, C Prabakaran sought to punish the Housing and Urban Development secretary and the CMDA member-secretary and the Avadi Municipality Commissioner, for not implementing an order dated March 23, 2016, against the building in question. The bench noted that on the basis of this section, the State government had passed two GOs on June 22, 2017, giving exemption in respect of development of certain buildings.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. ‘Treat Us On Par With PMK,’ Says DMDK to AIADMK
The seat-sharing negotiations between the AIADMK-BJP front and the DMDK has hit a roadblock, with the latter insisting that it should be treated “at least” on a par with the PMK, which has been allotted seven Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat.
Senior DMDK leaders on Wednesday said party general secretary Vijayakant was not willing to settle for anything less than the number of seats offered to the PMK. Besides, the DMDK was “extremely unhappy” that the AIADMK had finalised poll pacts with the BJP and the PMK before formally sitting down for talks with it. “Captain (Vijayakant) has asked for seats in double digits, pitching for not less than 9 Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat. The AIADMK has been tactfully planting stories that the DMDK will get only three or four Lok Sabha seats. This is unacceptable to us,” said a party leader, who did not wish to be named.
(Source: The Hindu)
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