Aid ship crew’s SOS for help

Published Date: 20-June-2009

G Saravanan

Chennai, June 19: THE health condition of 13 crew members of the mercy mission ship, MV Captain Ali, anchored in the international waters outside Chennai, is fast deteriorating and two of them fell sick as the stock of fresh water in the ship went down to alarming levels.

According to Agni Subramaniam, executive director of Manitham and coordinator of things in the city for the ship, said, “Of the 13 crew in the ship, two people, one from Iceland and another from Syria, fell sick and they wanted to return to their country for treatment via Chennai.”

Both the people who fell sick on board were members of ex-Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM). He also said that the freshwater reserve in the ship has gone down to alarming levels and if they were not given immediate supplies, there is a strong possibility that every one in the ship would fall sick.

A c c o rding to an emailed reply to Express from Vanni Mercy Mission headquarters in London, Arjunan Ethirveerasingam, co-ordinator of the mission, said that since Sri Lanka government refused to allow the ship to unload the relief materials (cargo) in Colombo, the ship is currently awaiting permission to unload the same in Chennai Port after due permission.

The ship is currently anchored at 18 nautical miles from Chennai coast (location GPS coordinates: 13 06n 80 19e) and awaiting permission from the Chennai Port authority to enter Chennai Port and discharge (unload) its humanitarian cargo for distribution to refugees living in the state. The ship with loads of relief materials gathered from different parts of the European nations set sail on May 7 from Fos-Sur- Mer, France, on the second leg of the “Mercy Mission to Vanni”. Captain Ali is carrying approximately 884 metric

tons of food, medicine and other essential humanitarian relief items destined for the 330,000 Tamil civilians in the Vanni area of Northern Sri Lanka displaced by the war. The “Mercy Mission to Vanni” began the first leg of its journey from the Port of Ipswich, UK, on April 20.,

Dubbed Tigers, Indians in custody

Published Date: 17/6/2009 - (NIE)

G Saravanan

Chennai, June 16: SETHU Kannan, an Indian national, has been languishing in a government-run special camp for Lankan refugees at Poonamallee despite a bail issued by a court in a case against him for allegedly smuggling ball bearings, used in ammunition, for the LTTE.

The 35-year-old has been illegally detained for the last one year. Three others — Bharathi Dasan, Bhoominathan and Sashi Kumar from the coastal Ramanathapuram district and Pudhucherry, also face a similar fate as the Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu police has portrayed them as Sri Lankan refugees and accomplices in the ball bearings smuggling case.

Like his father, Kannan, a resident of Vattamvalsai village near Uchipuli in Ramanathapuram district, used to visit Sri Lanka on business. During one such visit in the late 80s, ethnic conflict in the nation escalated all of a sudden forcing Kannan to return to Tamil Nadu with a group of Tamil refugees.

Upon his arrival, local police at Mandapam detained the whole group, including Kannan, for interrogation and sent them to nearby refugee camps. Though Kannan tried to convince officials that he was an Indian and should be allowed to go home, they shifted him to a Sivakasi refugee camp.

Kannan, meanwhile, managed to contact his family. Camp officials then allowed him to leave the camp to live with his family. However, in March 2007, the Q Branch arrested Kannan from his house for alleged involvement in a ball bearings smuggling case.

He was sent to a prison near Trichy and a case was registered against him. Kannan moved a bail plea in the case and a Trichy court gave him bail in February 2008 after the police failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated time.

But the Q Branch forcibly ‘rearrested’ him in front of the jail entrance and sent him to a special camp for Lankan refugees at Chengalpattu. Then he was moved to another special camp at Poonamallee. When contacted, a senior Q Branch official said that like Kannan many inmates in the camp claimed they were Indians and “we felt that it was just to evade proceedings.” On a question about Kannan’s nationality, the official said, “We will prove his nationality in court.”

Kannan’s advocate Pugalenthi has filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking his release from the camp meant for Lankan Tamil refugees linked to the banned LTTE outfit. “No one in Q Branch was willing to take this case to its logical end,” said Pugalenthi.,

For family, wait gets longer

Published Date: 17/6/2009


G Saravanan

Chennai, June 16: FOR Sethu Kannan’s illiterate wife Kaleeswari and three children, Sarojini, Sudhakar and Suresh, abject poverty will not deter their hope of bringing their father out of a special camp in the city exclusively meant for Lankan refugees.

“We have all the documents, from ration card to passport, to prove that Kannan is an Indian and we will not allow our sole bread winner to languish in the camp under illegal detention,” Kaleeswari told Express over phone from Ramanathapuram.

In the 80s, Kannan went to Lanka for business. As the ethnic crisis escalated, he escaped from Lanka and landed in the Tamil Nadu coast along with Tamil refugees. Ever since, he has been in and out of Lankan refugee camps and jails multiple times.

The cops claimed that he was working for the LTTE. For a few years, Kannan was allowed to rejoin his family in Ramanathapuram district.That is when Kannan got married to Kaleeswari from a nearby village.

This was in the mid-90s and they have three children: a daughter and two sons. With the family’s sole breadwinner now in detention, Kaleeswari’s life changed a lot. She now earns Rs 100 per day as a daily wage labourer and looks after the children and her aged parents.

“When Q Branch picked up my husband outside the in February 2008 (despite bail orders), Kannan assured me that he will be back in six or seven months. Fifteen months have passed by , but he is yet to return,” a visibly shaken Kaleeswari told Express.

“As like other children, we also want our father to be with us on all days,” said his children. Sarojini, who is in Class VIII in a village school, aspires to become a lawyer so that no more Kannans are holed up in special camps illegally.

According to his lawyer Pugalenthi, Kannan’s detention might have happened based on his record as a refugee (at Mandapam camp), since they used to detain Lankan refugees for involvement in smuggling goods to the LTTE.,

Indian Tamils languishing in Poonamalle special camp on hunger strike

G Saravanan:
Chennai, June 11:
Four Indian Tamils, languishing in special camps for Lankan Tamil refugees at Poonamalle and Chengalpet even after getting proper bail orders, have began their indefinite hunger strike inside the camp.
According to sources, all the four persons, three from coastal Ramanathapuram district and one from Union Territory of Pudhucherry, have refused taking food for the last few days apparently over the denial of their basic human rights for the last one-year.
However, the authorities managed to convince three others, but Sethu Kannan still continuing his hunger strike, the source added.
According to S Manoharan, a lawyer who represented such special camp detenu in Madras High Court regularly, said, “Most of them have sent their representations to the Home Secretary of the state proving their nationality but no one listen to them.”
Sethu Kannan was arrested in a smuggling case in 2007 and sent to Puzhal Prison. In 2008, he got bail in the case and released from jail. But, Q Branch of Tamil Nadu Police arrested him at the prison gate and sent him to special camp for Lankan Tamil refugees at Poonamalle for interrogation.
The camp specially used to house people who enter the country without valid papers, but most of the detainees here are only Lankan Tamils, Manoharan said.
Eom.Saravanan

South Korea to free two Indian sailors held for oil sleek

Chennai, June 11:
The news of apparent release of two Indian marine officers, who were arrested by the South Korean authorities for causing the country’s worst ever oil spill 17 months ago, came as a big reprieve for sailors community living in the country.
Reacting to the verdict setting both Indian mariners free, Capt. Rajesh Tandon, managing director of V Ships India (which employed both), said, “This morning’s verdict by the Appeal Court of the Daejeon District Court Ist Criminal Division in South Korea, to once again find the senior officers of the Hebei Spirit, not guilty of the crime of destruction of property, following the ruling by Korea’s Supreme Court that the two should never have been imprisoned, will be hailed by all in the shipping industry as justice at last.”
During the fist week of December in 2007, the Hebei Spirit, a Hong Kong-registered tanker fully loaded with crude, was at anchor off the west coast of South Korea near the port of Taean.
A drifting South Korean crane barge of Samsung Heavy Industries, which had broken free from the tugboat towing it, punched holes in the tanker's sides. More than 10,000 tons of crude oil poured from the tanker into the sea, coating a 45-kilometer stretch of the coast. It was the largest oil spill in South Korean history.
Contrary to the international (maritime) laws, the Korean authorities detained Captain Jasprit Chawla and Chief Officer Syam Chetan (both from Punjab State) of the Hebei Spirit and issued exit ban on them till the legal proceedings gets over there.
“The Appellate Division of the district court during its review in April found that the two officers could not be jailed as they were not responsible for the destruction of property,” Rajesh added.
The verdict will enable the two senior officers of the crude carrier to return to their families in India after more than 550 days of an enforced stay in Korea, some spent in prison.
While the verdict enables the two officers to return home, the charges of causing pollution still stand and V.Ships is determined to work towards having these charges removed from the officers' records, Rajesh further said.
Speaking to Express over phone from Mumbai, Abdulgani Y Serang, general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI), said, "Though justice was delayed in this case, we welcome the verdict which proved that both the Indian officers were not at fault.”
The management of V Ships also thanked people across the world, leading shipping companies, all the major shipping organisations, unions and seafarers in India who marched and demonstrated to pressurise Korean government to release both the officers.
Eom.Saravanan

Stalin kick starts Metro Rail project near Koyambedu

Chennai, June 10:

Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated the piling work for the construction of elevated viaduct from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar for the Chennai Metro Rail project at a venue near Koyambedu.
Speaking after the formal launch of works for the ambitious project for the city’s transportation, Stalin said, “The estimated cost of this project is Rs.14,600 crores including escalation, Central taxes and interest during the period of construction.”
While 59 per cent of the cost will be met by concessional Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) loan of the government of Japan, Indian government and Tamil Nadu administration would share the remaining 41 per cent, Stalin added.
The state Cabinet took a decision to implement the Metro Rail project in Chennai in June 2006. This project aims at providing Chennai with a fast, reliable, convenient, efficient, modern and affordable mode of public transport, as a lasting solution to the city’s growing transport needs.
The Government ordered the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR), which was entrusted to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The project was declared a ‘special initiative’ under the direct control of the Chief Minister.
The project has now been transferred to the Deputy Chief Minister. The DPR was submitted on November 1, 2007 and the Tamil Nadu Cabinet approved the project a week later.
The government created a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Chennai Metro Rail Limited for implementing this project. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs at the Central Government approved the Chennai Metro Rail Project at its meeting on January 28, 2009.
Phase-1 of the Chennai Metro Rail Project consists two corridors with a combined length of 45 kms. Corridor-I, with a length of 23.1 kms. (14.3 kms. underground and 8.8 kms. elevated), will run from Washermenpet to the Airport via Anna Salai.
Corridor-II, with length of 22 kms. (9.7 kms. underground and 12.3 kms. elevated), will run from Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount via Koyambedu. The portions of Corridor-I from Washermenpet to Saidapet on Anna Salai, and Corridor-II on Periyar EVR Salai and Anna Nagar Second Avenue, will be underground and the remainder would be elevated one.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited has awarded its first tender on February 13, 2009 for the construction of elevated viaduct from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar for a length of 4.5 kms. to Soma Enterprise Limited, Hyderabad, at a cost of Rs.199.20 crores.
Soil tests have been conducted at three locations in 100 Feet Road (opposite to SAF Games Village (Koyambedu), opposite to Ambica Empire, Vadapalani and opposite to Hotel Karaikudi, Ashok Nagar). Five metres on either side of the median of the road (approximately one lane) for a length of 80 metres are used in each location for the soil tests.
Metro Rail alignment will be running on an elevated structure after Thirumangalam up to St Thomas Mount in the Corridor-II. For this purpose, pile will be driven and piers will be installed over the pile cap and superstructure (box girders) will be constructed on the top of it.
The Chennai Metro Rail project has set a record amongst contemporary projects as the fastest in reaching financial closure, by securing Japanese Government funding in just 12 months and Government of India funding in 14 months, whereas this process took more than 2 ½ years in other cities.
Besides other officials, K S Sripathi, Chief Secretary, T V Somanathan, managing director of Chennai Metro Rail, M Subramanian, Mayor of Chennai Corporation and Ankineedu Maganti, managing director of Soma Enterprises participating in the ceremony. The whole project is expected to be operational by 2014-15.
Eom.Saravanan

Clean chit for family of five from US after H1N1 scare at city airport

Published Date: 14/6/2009
G Saravanan

Chennai, June 13: This scare at the aerodrome was of a different kind; And, at the end it was somewhat like a hoax: at least a happy story — well, almost. Health officials at the Anna International Airport swung into action in the wee hours on Saturday after a family of five Indians travelling from California was found with suspected swine flu symptoms on their touchdown here. However, by evening the results of their tests showed the parents and their three children didn’t suffer from the (A) H1N1 pandemic. The doctors, nonetheless, advised the family to be in selfquarantine for a few more days, according to officials at the airport.

Earlier in the day, around 2.30 am, Muralitharan, 45, a doctor by profession, his wife Sarika, 35, and their children, aged six and four and six months were suspected to be carrying the H1N1 virus when they arrived in city by a Lufthansa flight. They were found suffering from cough, cold and high fever — visible symptoms for swine flu. During the mandatory screening, the team of doctors quarantined them at an area designated for such cases in the airport premises. Soon they were sent to the Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH) at Tondiarpet.

CHD Director Dr Lakshmi Devi said several pertinent tests were conducted on the family considering they were coming from the zone that was badly affected with the feared disease. “We also collected blood samples of the quarantined persons to check for H1N1 virus.” However, the Chennai Corporation that runs the hospital later informed that the doctors did not find any clinically visible symptoms of swine flue on the five persons. “No test proved them being HINI-positive,” Health Officer P Kuganantham told newspersons. Doctors at Chennai airport have in the last few weeks collected around 40 blood samples of air passengers with suspected swine flu virus from different destinations — and all of tested negative during clinical tests, he added. The CDH discharged all the five, but as a precaution counselled self-quarantine for few days at home. The airport sources said the family had their plan to take the next available flight to Coimbatore so as to reach their native Telugupalayam. The checkup did derail that, but the family can still breathe easy.,