PUTTAPARTHI: VIPs anger Sai Baba's devotees

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/nation/vips-anger-babas-devotees/268823.html

PUTTAPARTHI: As thousands of devotees stood in serpentine queues through the night and early Monday outside Prashanti Nilayam for a glimpse of their 'god' Sathya Sai Baba lying in an air-conditioned glass casket, scores of VIPs, including politicians, celebrities, stars and top officials had the privilege to enter Kulwant Hall through the back door to see his frail body.

The brazen discrimination by the Sai Trust and the high-handed policemen was not confined to VIPs entry into the hall on the sly, but also to their vehicles that were allowed till the iron gates, while devotees had to walk a few kilometres to reach the Nilayam in this pilgrim town, about 150 km from Bangalore.

Though Baba's body was brought from the Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences to his abode eight hours after he breathed last around 8 a.m. Sunday, humble devotees, including men, women and children, had to wait for over four hours to file past the body for a few seconds amid hymns, devotional songs and music.

When hundreds of emotional devotees expressed outrage over the delay in letting them into hall by surging menacingly to gatecrash as their patience wore thin, trust volunteers in white and men in khaki went berserk and began pushing them back by shouting and caning without mercy.

"So many VIPs are allowed to see our god so quickly without standing in queue, while we have been made to wait hours to enter the hall," bemoaned S. Anjaneyulu, 43, a school teacher who came from Kurnool to pay his last respects.

As night fell and stars twinkled between passing clouds, the two queues that were formed separately for men and women got longer stretching 1-2 km from the Nilayam's main entrance through the wee hours of Monday.

"The trust authorities and police failed to regulate the queues and control the restive crowds from breaking away. It took me two hours to reach the hall and was shoved away in a second by the volunteers that prevented me from seeing Baba's body closely and paying my homage," lamented B. Venkanna, 54, a businessman and an ardent devotee of Baba for over two decades, told.

In contrast to the chaos and unruly scenes outside the Nilayam, trust volunteers maintained a semblance of order in the illuminated hall, where Baba's body was placed on a dais surrounded in a semi-circle by several trust members, close devotees, a few VIPs and teaching faculty of Sai educational institutes in the town.

Prominent VIPs seated close to the casket were Andhra Pradesh Health Minister J. Geetha Reddy, Ratnakar, Baba's nephew and son of his younger brother Janakiramaiah and Baba's personal caregiver Satyajit.

As devotees, many sobbing, filed past the body in quick succession, an eerie atmosphere prevailed in the sprawling hall, filled with the fragrance of fresh lily and jasmine and scented sticks.

To prevent crowding the hall, none of the ordinary devotees, except VIPs and trustees, were allowed to remain there more than a minute, while about 3,000 Sai Seva Dal volunteers sweated through Sunday night in guiding and escorting the people from entry to exit in bare feet.

"We managed to reach here by changing two buses en-route with great difficulty as there was such a rush to get into any vehicle passing through Puttaparthi. With hotels and shops shut in the town, we didn't have anything eat or sip since evening though we have not been hungry due to mourning," B. Parvathi, 48, a homemaker from Ananthapur, 70 km away, and Baba's devotee since her teens as her parents were his ardent followers.

Amidst tight security and deployment of about 6,000 policemen on round-the-clock duty to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident, this sleepy town in the backward region of Rayalaseema became a beehive of activity since the passing away of its 85-year-old guru who was godman to millions of his followers in India and around the world.

CHENNAI: A tale of potholes and neglect

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 23, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/a-tale-of-potholes-and-neglect/268071.html

CHENNAI: Motorists using the stretch of Dr Ambedkar College Road near Pulianthope slaughterhouse would perhaps be cursing the civic authorities every time they passed by. Full of gaping potholes, the road offered a bumpy ride that would be a litmus test for any vehicle’s shock absorbers, not to speak of the motorists’ backs that invariably bore the brunt.

A 50-metre stretch of the road, starting from Corporation’s Zone-III (Pulianthope) office up to Ganeshapuram subway, had been fully battered with potholes at many places for the past three months.

“Few months ago, when Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s convoy passed through the stretch when he visited parts of north Chennai, the civic body had done an elaborate but temporary patchwork at these spots to hide the actual condition of roads,” said Moideen, a resident of the adjacent Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements.

The ride would have been smooth for the Chief Minister and, thanks to his visit, the regular commuters would have enjoyed a bump-free ride for a few days. “But soon, things were back to square one,” Moideen lamented.

Dr Ambedkar College Road was an important thoroughfare that connected Vyasarpadi, Erukkenchery, MKB Nagar, Kodungaiyur and Korukkupet areas to Purasawalkam and the rest of the city.  Considered a lifeline for the residents of north Chennai, the road is widely used by motorists as well as public transport. The volume of traffic during peak hour was quite high.

Besides the number of trips of MTC buses made through the stretch, an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 cars, autorickshaws and two-wheelers used the road everyday. While all motorists bore the brunt, two-wheeler riders were among the worst affected as they found it  difficult to negotiate the potholes, especially during the peak hours.

Finally responding to local residents’ persistent requests to the Corporation to at least make the stretch motorable, the civic body had done some patchwork (as part of their road-laying works) in January, but in a few months, the road was back to what it was in December, Muthu, a resident of VOC Nagar, told Express.

According to the local residents, this particular stretch got damaged frequently due to continuous seepage of water from an underground Metrowater pipeline. “We have requested the department concerned several times, but nothing has happened yet,” said Kannaiah, another resident of VOC Nagar.

When contacted, a senior Corporation official told Express that patch work at the particular stretch would be carried out within a week. The official said that the long-pending road-relaying works were back on track after Election Commission’s relaxation of the model code of conduct.

மடியில் கனமில்லைன்னா...?

Source:http://www.dinamalar.com/splpart_detail.asp?id=68

மடியில் கனமில்லைன்னா...?

தாய்லாந்திலிருந்து சுற்றுலா கப்பல் ஒன்று, சமீபத்தில் சென்னைத் துறைமுகம் வந்தது. இதுபோல் கப்பல்கள் வரும்போது, அதுபற்றி படத்துடன் செய்தி வெளியிடுவதை வழக்கமாகக் கொண்டுள்ள பத்திரிகையாளர்கள், துறைமுகத்திற்கு சென்றனர். துறைமுக பி.ஆர்.ஓ., அலுவலகத்தில், முறையான அனுமதி கோரினர். 

"உங்களை படம் எடுக்க விட்டால், எடுக்க வேண்டியதை எடுக்காமல், எதை எதையோ படம் எடுத்து, "நிலக்கரி மாசு, இரும்புத்தாது தூசு...' என்று படம் போட்டு, செய்தியை வெளியிட்டு, துறைமுகத்திற்கு கெட்ட பெயரை ஏற்படுத்துகிறீர்கள். அப்புறம் எப்படி உங்களை உள்ளே விட முடியும். இந்த முறை அனுமதியில்லை' என, "கறாராக' கூறினார், பி.ஆர்.ஓ., ஜான்போஸ்கோ. 

சேர்மன் உள்ளிட்ட அதிகாரிகளும், தொடர்பு எல்லைக்குள் சிக்காததால், பத்திரிகையாளர்கள் வேறு வேலையைப் பார்ப்போம் என, புறப்பட்டனர். மூத்த போட்டோ கிராபர் ஒருவர், "மடியில் கனமில்லை என்றால் வழியில் பயமிருக்காது... இங்கே எல்லாமே கோல்மால்தான் போலிருக்கு... அதான் உள்ளே விடமாட்டேங்கிறாங்க...' என, "கமென்ட்' அடித்தபடி நடையைக் கட்டினார்.

CHENNAI: Ripon Building’s annexe to be ready by September

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 21, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/ripon-building%E2%80%99s-annexe-to-be-ready-by-september/267361.html

CHENNAI: The construction of the Rs 22-crore annexe for Ripon Building, which would house all the departments of the historic Chennai Corporation on its completion, has been put on top gear and the new jewel in civic body’s crown is expected to be completed by September.

There have been delays in construction in the past due to various reasons, including heavy water logging in the basement, unscheduled holidays by workers, and due to the Assembly election. But it has gained momentum in the recent days and the civic officials said that the project was well on target to be completed before the local body elections. 
Though about 150 workers are now engaged for different works at the site, it would be increased to beyond 200 in the coming days to speed up the construction. 
The building would have a basement floor, a ground floor and five more floors with a total floor area of 12,600 square metres. The basement of the building would be used as a parking place for all vehicles visiting the complex. 
To ease the movement of visitors, the building would be having lift facilities at three vantage locations and also be having staircases in three places, two on the front and one on the rear.

The building will also have a rear entrance from Moore Market site to reduce vehicle pileup, but the main entrance would be from the Ripon Building side only. 
Sources said the new building would also have frontal pillars like the ones in Ripon Building to picture the colonial architecture in contemporary pattern and post-modern style with regional architecture.

Once the new building is completed, all the administrative departments of the civic body, which has had offices in the Ripon Building and now shifted to other buildings, would be moved to the new sprawling campus. 
Ripon Building would be having chamber for Corporation Mayor and Council Hall in second floor, Commissioner’s office in first second floor.  The ground floor of the Ripon Building will be used for organising a permanent exhibition on Chennai’s heritage.

CHENNAI: ‘No damage to Ripon Building due to Metro Work’

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 21, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/%E2%80%98no-damage-to-ripon-building-due-to-metro-work%E2%80%99/267425.html

CHENNAI: Ruling out possibility of any damage to the Ripon Building due to Metro Rail works, expected to begin soon, Commissioner of Chennai Corporation, D Karthikeyan, on Wednesday said, “Nothing will happen to the century-old heritage building.”

Speaking to reporters after a routine assessment along with Metro Rail officials on Ripon Building premises, he said, “Since their (Metro Rail) work involves just a tunnelling to excavate earth to set up facilities inside the Ripon Building compound, it will not affect the historic structure in any manner.”

Besides, fixing of air ventilation shaft, which will be done at the end for the metro station, was also seven-metre away from the basement of the building. Hence, there was no chance of any kind of damage to the Ripon Building, he assured.

The Metro Rail would also relocate statues of Sir Pitty Theagaraya Chetty and Lord Ripon, and the Golden Jubilee Independence Day commemorative pillar erected in 1998 till the works were over. Sources said that the Metro Rail authorities would restore these facilities on completion of the work.

The Ripon Building, fondly called as the local ‘White House’ by Chennaiites due to its colour, is located near the Chennai Central Railway Station. Commissioned in 1913, it was built by a builder named Loganatha Mudaliar. It took four years to build the Indo-Saracenic edifice in white.Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, laid the foundation on December 12, 1909.

CHENNAI: Corporation's football ground lacks maintenance

By G Saravanan

Pictures by P Anand Kumar

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 20, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/a-neglected-football-ground/267051.html

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation’s only playground in Ward 32 (Vyasarpadi South), home to several budding footballers from the Vyasarpadi slums who have represented the country in various international events, is now in a state of disrepair due to lack of maintenance.

While the facilities were always bare minimum at the ground, construction of a health care centre by the Chennai Corporation on Sathyamurthy Nagar main road about a year ago made things really worse. The ground was used for dumping sand and construction material, reducing the play area for the footballers. Besides, lorry movement on the ground caused damage to the turf and has created undulations in several places. After the construction was over, the contractor did remove the materials, but the damage was done.

“Now, they need to level the ground by putting in more earth. Only then will it be play-worthy,” said N Thangaraj, a football coach with Slum Children Sports Talents and Education Development Society (SCSTEDS), an organisation that works for the betterment of the slum children in Vyasarpadi.

The situation has become so bad that in the past few months, the football-loving slum children were looking for a new ground in the area to practice the game they have come to love. This very playground has nurtured talents like Dilipan, who has been a steady member of the Indian Under-16 team, currently having a camp in Goa. Dilipan represented India in tournaments in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sri Lanka, said Thangaraj.

According to N Umapathy, Secretary and Coach of SCSTEDS, about 100 children, starting from the ripe age of three, received training on football basics at the ground for the past 10 years. 
“Enthusiastic slum children from the locality under the SCSTEDS banner got trained at this very ground for years. Last July, the team got an opportunity to visit Sweden to participate in the World Youth Cup, where they impressed even the Europeans with their dribbling skills,” said Thangaraj.

The team, comprising players below 18 years drawn from the locality, won an all-India tournament that helped it qualify for the Gothia Cup in Sweden. It was indeed a shot in the arm for the poor children, whose trip to the Scandinavian country was funded by a Mumbai-based corporate house, Thangaraj said.

“We have complained to the civic body and also spoken to it’s local elected representative to make the playground fully usable for slum footballers. But nothing has moved any further,” he rues.Corporation sources, however, said the modernisation of the playground would be taken up soon.

CHENNAI Port officials shut doors on journos

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 20, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/port-officials-shut-doors-on-journos/267096.html

CHENNAI: In a sudden move that caught media persons by surprise, the Chennai Port Trust on Tuesday denied entry to newsmen over what they called ‘continuing negative publicity’ about the Port in the local media.

“You people never do your duty in a perfect way and always give negative publicity to the Port” - this was the sarcastic reply given by John Bosco, the Public Relations Officer,  while denying entry passes to photo journalists from leading dailies in the city, who arrived to cover the arrival of a cruise vessel from Thailand at the port on Tuesday.

Despite news photographers’ plea for passes, an adamant Bosco asked all journos to leave the premises.

“When we allowed you (media) last time to cover such an event, instead of publicising the port as a cruise tourism destination, the media projected us as a dirty facility. Why should the port trust give entry passes to earn bad publicity again?” he asked.

According to sources, pollution due to handling of dusty cargoes like coal and iron ore had become a big issue inside the port premises and the management was making its best efforts to keep the media away from the interior roads that were blackened by the movement of coal-laden vehicles.

Though the Port Trust claimed to have a closed the conveyor belt and water sprinkler system to tackle dust from coal handling, pollution due to dusty cargo remained a pressing issue for residents living in and around Parry’s Corner and Royapuram.