Saravanan's Blog

நன்றி : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6731910.ece Valerie Elliott, Consumer Editor Organic food gives no health benefits to consumers, according to research for the Food Standards Agency published today. The watchdog stopped short of advising consumers that buying organic produce was a waste of money but its message was clear — choosing to eat organic food will make no important difference to a person’s overall health. Eating a healthy balanced diet is the only important thing, the report concluded. The research — which is the first and biggest study ever undertaken of scientific papers published in the past 50 years on the health and diet benefits of organic food — will come a blow to the organic food industry which is now worth £2.1 billion a year in the UK. The findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also threatens to put the FSA on a collision course with organic champions such as the Soil Association. The ...

Fisher people may take to arms if problem is ignored it says சென்னை, ஜூலை: A DVD titled ‘Kayapatta Kadarkarai’ (Wounded Coast) highlighting the problems of Tamil Nadu fishermen, due to the Kacchateevu issue and illegal sand mining on the coast, was released on Friday. “We pray for the Ceylon (Sri Lanka) cricket team to win India-Sri Lanka matches, otherwise the Lankan navy beats us. They beat us, if we protest here. They beat us for lost matches and the Indian navy too doesn’t protect us,” says a fisherman in the documentary. The DVD highlights these problems and informs that 132 fishermen have been killed at sea by the Lankan navy and over 1100 have been maimed or wounded by them. It concludes that in accordance with international law and its legal precedents Kacchateevu should belong to India and if the problem continues to be ignored by the central and state governments then the fisher people could take to arms to protect themselves and their livelihoods. Fisherman Care’ an organisa...

சிறீலங்கா அதிபர் மகிந்த ராஜபக்சவின் ஆட்சியில் 34 ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டிருப்பதாக, “இலங்கையின் சனநாயகத்திற்கான ஊடகவியலாளர் அமைப்பு” கண்டனம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது. 2004ஆம் ஆண்டு சிறீலங்கா பிரதமராகப் பதவியேற்ற மகிந்த, 2005ஆம் ஆண்டின் பிற்பகுதியில் சிறீலங்கா அதிபராகப் பதவியேற்றிருந்தார். அனைத்துலக ஒலிபரப்புக் கூட்டத்தானம் தமிழ் வானொலியின் மட்டக்களப்புச் செய்தியாளர் ஜி.நடேசன் 2004ஆம் ஆண்டு மே மாதம் 31ஆம் நாள் சுட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்டது முதல் இதுவரை தர்மட்ணம் சிவராம், புண்ணியமூர்த்தி சத்தியமூர்த்தி உட்பட 34 ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர். இவர்களின் பட்டியலை வெளியிட்டுள்ள இந்த அமைப்பு, 34 பேரில் 30 பேர் தமிழர்கள் எனவும், மூவர் சிங்களவர்கள் என்றும் மற்றையவர் முஸ்லீம் சமூகத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர் என்றும் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளது. படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டவர்கள் தவிர, மேலும் பல ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் சிறீலங்கா படைப் புலனாய்வாளர்கள், மற்றும் துணைப்படைக் குழுக்களால் தாக்கப்பட்டும், அச்சுறுத்தப்பட்டும் இருப்பதுடன், மேலும் பல வெளிநாட்டு ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் நாட்டைவிட்டு வெளியேற்றப்பட்டுள்ளனர். சண்டே ரைம்ஸ் பத்திரிகை...

வரதராஜப்பெருமாள், தயவுசெய்து வராதே ராஜப்பெருமாள – ரோஜா ரஹ்மான் எழுதியவர் கதிர் on July 19, சோர்ஸ்: http://www.meenagam.org/?p=6015 அப்போது எனக்கு ஆறு வயதிருக்கும். இந்திய இராணுவம் எமது மண்ணில் கால்பதித்த ஆரம்பக்காலம். வன்னிமண்ணின், ஒரு அழகான கிராமம்தான் எனது இருப்பிடம். நான் படித்த பாடசாலையோடு இணைந்தே இந்திய இராணுவ முகாமும் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. பாடசாலைக்கு முன்புறமாகச் செல்லும் பிரதான வீதியால் போய்வரும் இளைஞர்கள், இந்திய இராணுவத்தால் கைதுசெய்யப்பட்டு முகாமினுள் அழைத்துச்செல்லப்படுவார்கள். சிறிது நேரத்தில் அங்கே ஓலக்குரல் கேட்கும். பின்பு சிறிது சிறிதாக அடங்கிவிடும். ஏன் இப்படி என்று யாரிடமும் கேட்கமுடியாது. புரிந்து கொள்ளுவதற்கான பக்குவமும் என் வயதிற்குக் கிடையாது. என் மனம் யாரையாவது கேட்கவிரையும். ஆனால் அனைவரிடமிருந்தும் மௌனமே பதிலாகக் கிடைக்கும். காரணம், நான் சிறுவன் என்பதால் யாரிடமும் உளறிவிடுவேன் என்பதாகவும் இருந்திருக்கலாம். அப்போதெல்லாம் சில தமிழ் இளைஞர்கள் இந்திய இராணுவத்துடன் சேர்ந்து ஆயுதம் ஏந்தியபடி உலாவுவதை நான் கண்டிருக்கிறேன். அவர்களே, வீதியால் செல்லும் தமிழ் இளைஞர்களை,...

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT MORE FROM LANKAN GOVERNMENT? Commission declares Sencholai a justifiable military target No orphanage: LTTE training camp The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) headed by Nissanka Udalagama, former Supreme Court Judge, has comprehensively cleared the Air Force of any Human Rights violations. PCOI declared Naddalamottankulam training centre falsely called Sencholai orphanage by the LTTE was a camp situated in jungle area where school children were forcibly taken by the LTTE for training purposes. The air raid took place on August 14, 2006 and by that time the LTTE had commenced a series of attacks on the Security Forces under the cover of the CFA and the retaliatory action by the Air Force was justified as Sencholai was a military target. The Commission found the LTTE responsible for indirectly causing the death and injury to the school children by exposing them to the risk of air attack at a LTTE training facility in a jungle area. Several international NGOs a...

G Saravanan Published on 21 Jul 2009 CHENNAI: The move by the State Commissionerate for the Disabled to appoint a District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer (DDRO) as Assistant Director for Special Schools, has sent a shock wave among the blind teachers and students, as they feel it would derail several programmes that has been received due importance in the last two years by the department. According to members of the Blind Welfare Rights Association, a united body of blind school teachers and students in the State, a file related to the appointment has been in circulation for the past few weeks and in its final stages. As per the government’s rules, the post of Assistant Director for Special Schools, should be filled in only by principals of the 23 special schools and particularly from 10 schools for the blind. When a separate Commissionerate for the disabled started in early 90s, Kuppusamy, who was from a blind school, was appointed as the first Assistant Director for Special Schools...

இலங்கையின் வரலாற்றில் கறுப்பு ஜூலை என வர்ணிக்கப்பட்ட இனக் கலவரம் நடந்து இருபத்தாறு ஆண்டுகளாகின்ற போதிலும் 1983 ஆம் ஆண்டு ஜூலை 23 ஆம் திகதி மூட்டப்பட்ட தீ இன்னும் அணையவில்லை. தமிழர்களின் துயரம் தொடர்கிறது. இனப்பிரச்சினையும் தீரவில்லை. அந்த இனக் கலவரத்தினால் அகதியான பல தமிழ் மக்கள் இன்றுவரை அகதிகளாகவே வாழ்க்கையைத் தொடர்கின்றனர். உள்நாட்டிலும் வெளிநாட்டிலும் அகதி முகாம்கள் தொடர்கின்றன. சாத்வீகப் போராட்டம், ஆயுதப் போராட்டம், அரசியல் போராட்டம் என பல்வேறு போராட்டங்கள் நடந்த போதிலும் தமிழினப் பிரச்சினை தீரவில்லை. தீர்வு கிடைக்குமென்ற நம்பிக்கையும் மங்குகின்றது. பிரச்சினையும் போராட்டம் புதிய வடிவம் எடுக்கின்றன. இச்சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் 1983ஆம் ஆண்டு இனக் கலவரத்தையும் , தொடர்ச்சியாக கலவரங்களினாலும் போரினாலும் இறந்தவர்களையும் நினைவு கூர்ந்து மறைந்தவர்களுக்கு அஞ்சலி செலுத்த வேண்டும். இவ்வாறு ஜூலை கலவரம் பற்றி வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கையில் செங்கொடிச் சங்கப் பொதுச் செயலாளர் ஏ. ஓ. இராமையா தெரிவித்துள்ளார். பாலஸ்தீன அகதிகள் நிலையில் தமிழ் அகதிகள் 1983 ஆம் ஆண்டுக்குப் பின் தேசிய மற்றும் சர்வதேச மட்டத்தில் குறிப்பாக...

Published Date: 18-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 17: A SENSE of job insecurity is gripping the 28,000 corporation staff, as the civic body proposes to do away with over 500 different posts from its various departments including health,family welfare, mechanical and revenue as part of its drive for administrative reforms to reduce its financial burden. According to a leaked dossier on the civic body’s proposed administrative reforms, the corporation is likely to abolish most of the posts from the mechanical, health, family welfare, bus route roads, Council, education, parks, revenue, solid waste management and storm water drain (SWD) departments. Atleast 1500 employees may lose their jobs or promotions in this drive. Though these employees would not be asked to leave the Corporation, they might be forced to accept new posts and follow systems of work. A union leader, who requested anonymity, said: “Unable to create more avenues of revenue generation in the civic body, higher offic...

Published Date: 18-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 17: IN a paradigm shift from the State’s ‘Tamil-only policy’ in elementary education, the 320-year-old Chennai Corporation is all set to start English medium classes in its 25 primary and middle schools spread across its 10 zones from August 1. A resolution regarding the introduction of English medium classes is expected to be taken up for discussion at the Chennai Corporation’s Council Meeting slated for July 22 at Ripon Building. Here is how the system will work: Student intake for the 25 English medium schools will happen only for Class I. Students in all the other classes will continue to stay with Tamil medium. Over the years, the entire school would turn into English medium. According to sources, the civic body’s aim to start English medium classes would not dilute its stance on giving due importance to Tamil (for elementary education). Three schools each from the corporation’s 10 zones have been identified for the new medium...

Published Date: 16-JULY-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 15: FATE of the 27 container loads of essential humanitarian relief items , sent by Tamils living in Europe for the three lakh Lankan Tamil civilians in the Vanni area of Northern Sri Lanka, hangs in balance as the Sri Lankan Red Cross Society (SLRCS) demanded SL Rs 76 lakhs for the entire distribution process. These containers of relief materials landed at Colombo Port on last Thursday, but are still lying uncleared there. Uncertainty looms large over distribution to the needy Tamil civilians, who were displaced by the war and now living in the government-run ‘camps’. According to G Subramanian, executive director of Manitham, a Chennaibased human rights organisation and the local representative for Vanni Mercy Mission, United Kingdom, said, “S H Nimal Kumar, honorary national secretary of SLRCS through Indian Red Cross Society has sent a letter to Mercy Mission organisers to remit SL Rs 76 lakh immediately to carry out the distri...

Published Date: 16-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 15: IN a significant departure from his predecessor’s revenue plans, the new chairman of Chennai Port Trust Capt Subhash Kumar has said that the port will continue handling of iron ore and coal cargoes as shifting it to neighbouring Ennore Port would affect the port’s sustained revenue in coming years. In an exclusive interview to The New Indian Express after taking over the chairmanship of the 126-year-old Chennai Port, Capt Subhash Kumar said: “Moving such cargoes would only help the port to attain the ‘Clean Port in India’ tag, but compensating the revenue losses due to such shift would be very difficult and it would have an adverse impact on the port’s future development plans.” The previous Chairman K Suresh had on several occasions said that handling of such cargoes would be reduced gradually and shifted to the adjacent Ennore Port by 2013. Prior to the elevation for the coveted post, Capt Kumar has been the Deputy Chairman o...

Published Date: 15-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 14: A Home Guards couple, who had been thrashed by a sub inspector (SI) attached to D1-Triplicane police station in full public view last May, have been sacking on grounds of ‘indiscipline’.Commissioner of Police T Rajendran, who signed the order a few days ago, said the action was based on enquiry report submitted by the Assistant Commissioner of Police of Triplicane police station. Home Guards Sashikumar and his pregnant wife Reena, residents of ICF Colony, were allegedly thrashed by an SI for objecting to an obscene remark made by the owner of a restaurant on Anna Salai where they were waiting for delivery of food packets they had ordered. “We have been victimised for speaking out about the ordeal,” Sashikumar and Reena told Express. Both of them were appointed as Home Guards in 2006. While Sashikumar was assigned to the K3-Aminjikarai police station, Reena was working with the F1-Chindadripet police station. The incident happen...

Published Date: 14-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 13: A CHENNAI Corporation staff, working with the Malaria department, has been accused of cheating more than 20 women by promising jobs in the civic body’s sanitary and general departments. The victims, most of them illiterate and hailing from suburban Red Hills, told Express that, Nuguraj, working in the Malaria department in 68th division (Anna Nagar East — Zone Five), has cheated them by collecting Rs 50,000 each with a promise of jobs in the Chennai Corporation. Gajalaksmi, one of the victims and neighbour of Nuguraj, said, “It all started some 18 months ago, when I approached Nuguraj for a job to tide over financial crisis at home as he posed among the locals as an official working in the civic body’s headquarter.” With his luring words of better job in the civic body, Gajalaksmi gave him money(Rs 50,000)but the shock came very recently when she came to know that Nuguraj had cheated her after collecting the cash. Not only Gaja...

Published Date: 11-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 10: IN a landmark order, the Tamil Nadu Information Commissioner slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board’s Public Information Officer (PIO) for deliberately avoiding to furnish details sought by an RTI applicant. The commission, besides directing the TNEB chairman to recover the penalty amount from the delinquent officer and report the fact to the commission within 15 days, asked the chairman to take severe departmental action against him for violating the RTI Act deliberately and report the details of action taken within 30 days. In a detailed two-page order, the commission also directed the TNEB chairman to supply the information to the applicant at his residence within 10 days and asked to pay Rs 500 as compensation for the intransigent nonsupply of information by the department. “It’s indeed a landmark order and my sustained effort using the RTI tool brought me the needed relief,” a jubilant R Nataraj...

Published Date: 10-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 9: FOR Selvi, wife of Panaiyur Kuppam fisherman R Elumalai and who went missing in March 1996 and was later found dead near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh after 10 days, the wait for getting the financial relief from the government gets longer and longer as the official machinery is ‘still processing’ her application. Thirteen years have passed by now, but the officials in the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department are still processing my application for financial relief (given to family m e m b e r s o f d e a d fisherman),a visibly upset Selvi told Express. A lot has changed in Selvi’s life after the unnatural death of the sole breadwinner, husband Elumalai (reg no-156 in Panaiyur Kuppam Fishermen Cooperative Society) 13 years ago. Though she struggled a lot during these years to bring up her three children, it was her two sons who dumped their school bags to become breadwinners for the family. With their earnings from fishing, Selvi married...

Published Date: 9-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 8: MV Cap Colorado, the ship carrying 27 containers of relief material for internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils, ran into rough weather as the Lankan Navy surrounded the ship and prevented it from reaching the Colombo port through Wednesday. Late in the evening, bowing to pressure from different quarters, including the Red Cross which is consignee of the relief goods, the Lankan authorities permitted the container vessel to berth at Colombo. Earlier, MV Captain Ali, also known as Vanangaa Mann, which was carrying most of the same cargo meant for internally displaced Tamils living in different government- run camps in Northern areas was turned away, leading to its berthing at Chennai recently. According to Subramanian of Sea Consortium, the vessel operator for Colorado, the ship was stopped when it was entering the Sri Lankan waters. “They also ordered the ship to be anchored in deep sea since the Lankan government was not sure abo...

Published Date: 8-July-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 7: DECKS have been cleared to restore the glory of the historic Victoria Public Hall as the Tamil Nadu government gave its administrative sanction to the Chennai Corporation’s multi-crore renovation proposal under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) few days ago. “As the government sanctioned the project, we will now proceed with the tendering process for selecting the contractor to restore the historic building at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore,” Mayor M Subramanian told Express. Once the tendering process and identification of contractor are over, the work of restoring past glory of the weathered building would be completed within a few months time, Subramanian added. A visit to the hall, which is sandwiched between historic buildings like Ripon Building and Chennai Central Railway Station, revealed that the stage, which played host to a number of eminent personalities including Swami Vivekananda, Gopal K...

Published Date:4-july-2009 - (NIE) G Saravanan Chennai, July 3: TWO passengers on the Mercy Mission ship MV Captain Ali, ex-SLMM monitor Kristjan Guðmundsson of Iceland and Uthayanan Thavarajasingam, a Tamil volunteer from United Kingdom, have sought chief minister M Karunanidhi’s intervention as Indian immigration officials blocked their departure to their home countries through Chennai. According to sources, the ship’s local coordinator had arranged air tickets for their departure via Chennai’s international airport twice in the last 24 hours, but immigration officials blocked the move by declining to issue temporary visas to facilitate their visit to the airport. Agni Subramaniam, local coordinator for the ship, said, “Immediately after docking in the Chennai Port by Thursday evening, we tried to get the consent of the immigration officials about the passengers’ return journey since they were desperate to get back to their countries.” “They assured us with temporary visas for both...

Published Date: 3-july-2009 G Saravanan Chennai, July 2 AFTER weeks of dilly-dallying, Indian authorities on Thursday gave permission to allow ship MV Captain Ali, which was on a mercy mission to Vanni, to dock at the Chennai Port and unload relief materials sent for internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils from Europe almost two months ago. According to sources from the mercy mission’s headquarters in the United Kingdom, the ship was permitted to enter Chennai Port around 5 pm and it docked in by 7.30 pm following clearance from the Centre after the shipping agents submitting the necessary papers. Agni Subramaniam, executive director of Manitham, who does the coordination for the ship in the city, said: “There were hectic activities in the national capital for the last many days to get the government’s nod and finally on Thursday evening, the government allowed the ship to enter Chennai Port.” The ship with loads of relief materials gathered from Europe, set sail on May 7 from Port of ...

Published Date: 2/7/2009 - (NIE) G Saravanan Chennai, July 1: IN a landmark order, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has said that the power of attorney (PA), given by anybody, could be used to obtain RTI information. The order has come on the heels of a petition filed by a Chennai-based RTI activist R Natarajan who was denied information on the ground that there was no specific instruction under the RTI Act for providing information to anyone with a power of attorney. Natarajan had moved an RTI application using power of attorney to obtain information regarding status of his relative’s application to the regional passport office (Chennai) seeking a duplicate passport as it was delayed. The CIC order allowing people to seek RTI information using power of attorney was an eye-opener for many government offices, which continuously dodge RTI applicants on one or another ground to evade information, Natarajan told Express. The order eventually became a legal permission for RTI acti...

Published Date: 27-06-2009 - G Saravanan Chennai, June 26: A waste disposal proposal at the Kuthambakkam village has annoyed its residents as they fear the model village will be turned into a dumping yard. Identifying a meadow in the village as a place for waste disposal for six municipalities -- Ambattur, Thiruverkadu, Valasaravakkam, Maduravoyal, Porur and Poonamalle by the Tamil Nadu government without consulting the village panchayat leader has further irked the villages. Kuthambakkam has been a model village for total development with the support of the state government. Successful projects like Samathuvapuram, roads under Namakku Naame scheme some examples that can be attributed to this village. In the past the government had also abandoned a massive satellite township project at the request of the locals. R Elango, former president of Kuthambakkam panchayat staged a massive dharna at the village centre recently to seek government’s attention on the issue. Residents are shocked...