TAMIL NADU: Fishermen Assns Hail Resolution on Katchatheevu

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on June 11, 2011:
By G Saravanan
Chennai: Several fishermen associations in the state as well as the Katchatheevu Retrieval Movement have welcomed the government’s resolution towards retrieving Katchatheevu that was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.

“We are happy that the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has taken the right step towards retrieving the island from Sri Lanka by passing a unanimous resolution at the Assembly,” Seethayin Maindan, coordinator of Katchatheevu Retrieval Movement, which has been advocating this decision for long,told Express.
The AIADMK government should not stop after passing the resolution, which will help the state’s claim on the island. The party’s MPs should also move a private member bill in Parliament to question the legality of the agreement entered into between Indian and Lankan governments, Seethayin Maindan demanded.
Moving such a private bill would clarify the Centre’s stand on the agreement and it will eventually help the party’s MPs to take the issue for a logical conclusion in a time-bound manner, he added.
Besides, fishermen associations have also hailed the state government’s resolution on Katchatheevu. Speaking to Express, K Bharathi, president of South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said, “The state government has taken a right step towards retrieving the fish-rich island.” 
“Besides retrieving the island from Lanka, the AIADMK-led government needs to win back the fishing rights for all Indian fishermen around the island from the neighbouring country as it would only help for any peaceful settlement,” Bharathi said. Echoing the same, S A Mahesh, president of All Indian Traditional Fishermen Association from Kanyakumari, said, “We feel that the resolution is a first and firm step towards retrieval.”

TAMIL NADU: 'Set up Lok Ayukta to curb corruption'

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on June 9, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/set-up-lok-ayukta-to-curb-corruption/282394.html

CHENNAI: In the wake of the raging 2G spectrum scam and several other high-profile scams that have projected the country in a bad light, the city-based Right to Information Movement (RIM) has appealed to the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to establish Lok Ayukta in the state to eradicate corruption.

In a two-page memorandum presented to the Chief Minister on Tuesday, the movement appealed that the institution of Lok Ayukta is intended to eradicate the vice of corruption, favouritism, nepotism, abuse/misuse of power and to maintain probity, transparency and improve efficiency in public administration.

Speaking to City Express, John Lopez, President and Chief Executive of the movement, who is spearheading the campaign for setting up Lok Ayukta in the state, said, “It will address the inadequacies of the current anti-corruption systems and have the power and independence to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption.”
Many states in our country — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh — have set up Lok Ayukta to deal with corruption in the respective states.

In states like Orissa and the Punjab, it’s called Lokpal while the Chattisgarh government has enacted an ordinance called Lok Aayog Adhyadesh. “Chief Minister Jayalalithaa should study this issue and pass an order to establish an institution of Lok Ayukta in the state,” Lopez said.

Tamil Nadu, which is among the most developed states in the country in many developmental aspects lags behind in respect of the institution of Lok Ayukta, he added. To builtd up their case for such a setup in the state, RIM will be meeting the Karnataka Lok Ayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde in Bangalore on June 13. They are expected to seek a draft for Tamil Nadu Lok Ayukta from Hegde and the same would be presented to the state government.