500 kiosks will be set up: Indian Bank chief

Vellore:Indian Bank CMD M. S. Sundara Rajan speaking at the bank’s centenary celebrations in Vellore on Sunday.Indian Bank proposed to set up 500 kiosks all over the country to enable its customers to make easy transactions using the internet. The bank has sought permission of the Reserve Bank of India to establish them, according to its Chairman and Managing Director M.S. Sundara Rajan.

Once the proposal was approved, the kiosks would be set up in all States, Mr. Sundara Rajan said. The bank had introduced Smart Cards for its customers in the Vriddachalam and Dharavi branches. Under the scheme, the bank staff would visit customers at their doorsteps, take their photographs, scan them and issue Smart Cards then and there.By swiping the card in the kiosk set up on the bank premises, the account-holders could make transactions. The scheme would be extended to all over the country, he said while participating in the centenary celebrations of Indian Bank organised by the bank’s Vellore Circle Office at Sangamam Marriage Hall here on Sunday.

The CMD said the bank would play its role in enabling the nation to achieve an economic growth rate of 10 per cent. “It is necessary to improve skills of youth to achieve this, which is possible only through education. Indian Bank wants to facilitate youth to have access to higher education by providing them more education loans.”Mr. Sundara Rajan said that the bank would join hands with the VIT University to introduce several schemes in the district, which included assistance to entrepreneurs to set up small-scale and medium industries.

The bank had already started a loan scheme in association with the firm Bosch under which it provided loans to carpenters, electricians, autorickshaw mechanics and plumbers, enabling them to set up ancillary units to supply components to Bosch. A similar scheme would soon be introduced in the Vellore circle, he noted.The CMD said that the bank had invested Rs.200 crore for introducing core banking solutions to facilitate “anywhere banking”.Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav called upon Indian Bank to provide more educational and crop loans.G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, appealed to all to open a bank account. At present, only 70 per cent of the people had accounts. M. Kathiresan, Circle Head, Indian Bank, Vellore, said that the 75 branches in Vellore Circle had deposits and loans totalling about Rs.1,600 crore. Out of the 75 branches, 38 had CBS facility, which would be introduced in the remaining branches soon, he noted.

Children's home inaugurated

Vellore:A children’s home, constructed at a cost of Rs.15.71 lakh on the premises of the Old Age Home run by the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) at Poigai in Vellore, was inaugurated by Sri Sakthi Amma, managing trustee of Sri Narayani Peedam, Thirumalaikkodi, on Saturday. Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav presided. Susheela Suryaprakash, secretary of — Special Correspondent.

West Coast exp will stop at Wallajah road

Vellore:Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu introduced the stoppage of the train Nos.6627/6628 Chennai Central-Mangalore-Chennai Central West Coast Expresses at the Wallajah road railway station on Wednesday.Mr. Velu said that once the new rail route from Tindivanam to Nagari was completed, the railway station would become a junction. At present, 24 trains stop at that station.

About 3,500 passengers board trains at the station every day, and the station realised an average revenue of Rs.1.05 lakh a day, and it earned a revenue of Rs. 3 crore last year.Consequently, the station would be upgraded from ‘E’ grade to ‘D’ grade. Railways would soon undertake improvement works at a cost of Rs.25 lakh in the station, he noted.The Minister inaugurated the unreserved ticketing system and introduced the stoppage of the train Nos.2695/2696 Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Central Superfast Expresses at the Vaniyambadi railway station later in the day.

NYK Youth Development Complex inaugurated

Vellore:Members of the Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), functioning under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, should play an active role in monitoring the implementation of welfare and development schemes to ensure that the benefits reached the targeted sections, Durai Murugan, Public Works Department Minister, said here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the NYK Youth Development Complex at Thiruvalam Road in Katpadi, Mr. Durai Murugan said that the youth should remain apolitical so that they were able to concentrate on constructive activities. Suresh Kodikunnil, vice-chairperson of NYK Sanghatan, said that the NYKS got a meagre allocation of funds for its activities. He urged the Planning Commission to allocate more funds to enable the kendras to take up more activities for rural developmen.More than two lakh youth clubs, with a membership of 50 lakh, were functioning under the NYKS all over India. At present, many NYK coordinators were looking after two or three districts, which they found to be difficult.

The Centre has approved a proposal of the NYKS to make fresh recruitments to fill the vacancies. With the Centre’s nod, the NYKS would recruit district youth coordinators and assistant coordinators, he said. More than 80 per cent of the NYK offices in the country were functioning in rented premises.This stood in the way of the smooth functioning of the kendras. He thanked Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav for having helped the NYK in the district for constructing a building of its own. This was the biggest building for an NYK district office in India, he said.

G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, said that it was predicted that India would be one of the top three developed countries in the world between 2040 and 2050. The development of the country depended on the extent to which the youth in the relevant age group (16-20 years) were given the opportunity for higher education. At present, less than 10 per cent of this age group had got this opportunity. Mr. Yadav called upon the NYK members to play their role in environmental protection and rural development. They should revive the practice of “kudimaramathu” (maintenance of village). D. Deivasigamani, District Youth Coordinator, NYK, Vellore, said that the NYK Youth Development Complex had been built jointly by the NYK and the State Government.

M. Sadacharavel, Zonal Director, NYKS, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Zone, said that Rs.2.5 crore would be spent on youth development in the district. K.M. Khader Mohideen, Vellore MP, and C. Gnanasekharan, Vellore MLA, spoke. Mr. Suresh Kodikunnil, Mr. Viswanathan and Mr. Yadav donated Rs.10,000 each on behalf of the NYK to various youth clubs.

Training for police to tackle naxalite

Vellore:District Forest Officer, Vellore, K. Manickam presenting the first prize to a trainee at the camp in the Amirthi forests near Vellore on Tuesday. Vellore SP N. Arivuselvam (extreme left) is in the picture.The 15-day jungle training camp, organised by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) for the first batch of 22 policemen of the district, concluded at the Amirthi forests about 27 km from here on Tuesday.

Participating in the valedictory, N. Arivuselvam, District Superintendent of Police, said that while Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts were already identified as prone to naxalite infiltration, Vellore and Thiruvallur districts, which have borders with Andhra Pradesh, were also identified as naxalite-prone last year.The apprehension of three naxalites in the forest of Periyakulam, which was far away from naxalite-infested Andhra Pradesh, had led to a State-wide alert and combing operations. When the naxalites could easily access the forests in Periyakulam district, it might not be difficult for them to infiltrate into Vellore district, which had a 220-km border with Andhra Pradesh.

This was the deciding factor in conducting combing operations in the district. As part of the measures to tackle the naxalites, it was decided to conduct a special jungle training camp for the policemen in order to equip them to tackle the naxalites. While a Naxalite Special Division has been formed with one inspector, two sub-inspectors and two constables to gather intelligence, border vigilance committees had been formed and also seven check-posts formed along the border areas. Policemen should be physically fit and mentally alert as naxalites are capable of making surprise attacks.The commandos trained in this camp would be used only for operations in Vellore district and they would train other policemen, he noted.

Trainees Madhuraj, Prabhakaran and T.K. Sachidanandam got the first, second and third prizes respectively for their performance.K. Manickam, District Forest Officer, distributed the prizes. Mr. Arivuselvam distributed certificates. L. Ramadoss, ADSP, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, and A.K. Parthasarathy, ADSP, District Crime Records Bureau, spoke. The trainees were taught rock-climbing, global positioning system and firing. Trainee Govindasamy proposed a vote of thanks.

Heavey rain

A banana field near Sandhavasal in Tiruvannamalai district which was flooded owing to the heavy rain that lashed the district on Saturday and Sunday.Heavy rain lashed different parts of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts on Sunday.Several paddy and banana fields in the two districts were flooded. The following are the chief amounts of rainfall recorded (in mm) in different parts of the region during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Monday: Sholinghur and Tirupattur – 40 each, Melalathur – 23, Arcot - 22.2, Walajapet – 22, Arakkonam - 20, Alangayam - 17, Vellore - 14.8, Gudiyatham - 12.4, Ambur - 7 and Vaniyambadi - 4.

Painting competition for schoolchildren held

Vellore:About 230 children from various schools in the district participated in a painting competition here on Friday.It was organised by the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW)-Tamil Nadu, Vellore branch, at the Government Muslim Higher Secondary School to select students for their national-level competition.B. Munirathinam, president of the Vellore District Drawing and Painting Artists Association, inaugurated the competition. Thilagavathy Ramaiah, honorary secretary of the ICCW, Vellore district, said children were divided into five groups, including two groups for special children.

A committee, headed by Mr. Munirathinam, selected 15 prize-winning paintings — the first three best paintings in each of the five groups. Devika Rani, member of the project administrative committee of the ICCW, proposed the vote of thanks.

Following are the winners in the various groups:

Ordinary category:
The three groups are as follows: Green group: I prize — L. Lavanya (Ethiraj Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Sathuvachari); II prize — S. Yamini (Sri Narayani Vidyalaya, Thirumalaikkodi); III prize — R. Joel Vasanthu (Grace Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ranipet).
White group: I prize — T. Dinesh Kumar (Government Boys High School, Poondi); II —Niranjan Kumar (Sri Narayani Vidyalaya); III — Sudhakar (GBHS, Poondi).
Blue group: I prize — N. Benazir Begum (St. Mary’s HSS, Vellore); II — R. Dilipanraj (GBHSS, Poondi); III — J. Mithra (Sri Narayani Vidyalaya).Special category
The two groups under the category are as follows:
Yellow group: I prize — Vennila (WORTH Trust School for the Hearing Impaired, Katpadi); II — K. Abhinaya (Vidya Niketan, Katpadi); III — P. Ashok (WORTH Trust School for Hearing Impaired).
Red group: I prize — D. Anand (GBHSS, K.V. Kuppam); II — Guruprasad (IELC School for the Hearing Impaired, Ambur); III — R.B. Veerabhadran (GBHSS, Gudiyatham).

Job fair

Vellore:The TMI First — a division of TMI network — is organising a job fair in association with the Career Guidance and Placement Cell of Auxilium College on the college premises in Gandhinagar here from 10 a.m. on July 21 and 22. Graduates (including B.E. graduates) and diploma holders of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 batches with more than 45 per cent marks are eligible to participate. Life insurance, financial services and engineering companies will participate, according to a note from the principal of the college.

Free eye camp

Vellore:A total of 2,065 persons, comprising 1,030 men and 1,035 women, were treated at a free eye treatment-cum-Intra-Ocular Lens camp organised by the Vellore District Blindness Prevention Society, Rotary Club of Ambur, Farida Social Service Organisation and the Good Samaritan Eye Hospital, Matrapalli at the Hasnath Girls Higher Secondary School in Ambur on Saturday.

A total of 151 persons were selected for cataract surgery. Steps were taken to provide free spectacles to 895 women and 923 men. A.M. Ikram, Assistant Commandant General, Tamil Nadu Home Guards, Vellore Range was the chief guest. Ophthalmologists T.A. Senthilnathan, N. Sathyaraj Nesan and Vinodhini, Secretary of the Rotary Club of Ambur G. Venkatesan and others participated in the camp.

More SPF for tackling naxalites

A commando-trained special police force (SPF) will be formed in Vellore district for tackling any emergency arising out of possible attacks by naxalites during the ongoing joint combing by the police and the Naxalites Special Division in villages on the Andhra Pradesh border, according to N. Arivuselvam, Superintendent of Police, Vellore district.

Mr. Arivuselvam, who led the second combing operation on a 14-km route along the border villages from Christianpet to Vallimalai on Saturday, told reporters at Vallimalai that those selected for the SPF would be provided commando training in the Amirthi forests in batches for 15 days from July 17.He said 60 border village vigilance committees had been constituted to collect information from the public about persons found moving under suspicious circumstances in the villages. Ten-member police teams were visiting the villages every day to record the grievances of people.Besides the Superintendent of Police, two Deputy Superintendents of Police, two Inspectors, four Sub-Inspectors and 24 police constables took part in the combing operation on Saturday.

New pro-chancellors for VIT Univ

Vellore:Sekar Viswanathan and G.V. Selvam took over as the new Pro-Chancellors of the VIT University, in the presence of the Chancellor G. Viswanathan and Vice-Chancellor P. Radhakrishnan, on the University campus here on Saturday.They succeed Sankar Viswanathan and G.V. Sampath, who relinquished office as Pro-Chancellor (Academic) and Pro-Chancellor (Administration) respectively. Mr. Sankar Viswanathan and Mr. Sampath would continue to be members of the Board of Management of the University, according to Mr. Viswanathan

Talking to newspersons later, the Chancellor said he wanted the VITU to be a model for other private educational institutions.“We want healthy competition in the field of education. Employment opportunities are increasing all over the world and we should prepare the students for it,” he said.Mr. Sekar Viswanathan said the new team would work towards making VIT University the best educational institution in the world, as envisaged by the Chancellor.Mr. Selvam said the VITU had already received accreditation from the British Government for its courses. It would obtain U.S. accreditationbefore the silver jubilee celebrations of the VIT University in 2009, he added.

Poompuhar craft mela

Vellore:The Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation, Poompuhar, will organise a craft mela — an exhibition of handicrafts, handloom and jewellery — at Thungabadra Hall of Hotel Ganga (Khanna) here from July 2 to 15. Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadhav will inaugurate the exhibition at 5 p.m. on July 2. It will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. till July 15, including on Sundays, says a release.

Thiruvallur's university launched website

Vellore:The results of the undergraduate examinations of the Thiruvalluvar University held in April/May 2007 will be published on the university’s new website, http://www.tvuni.org/, which was launched by Vice-Chancellor L. Kannan here on Thursday.Talking to newspersons, Dr. Kannan said that students could see the results, including marks on the website. Besides, the results and mark sheets would be despatched to all affiliated colleges so as to reach them on Friday. A total of 52,026 students, comprising 25,387 men and 26,639 women appeared for the April/May 2007 examinations.Dr. Kannan said that the university was going to introduce the semester pattern for all undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses (except B. Ed.) from the academic year 2007-2008.

The syllabi for the semester pattern had been meticulously prepared by the respective Boards of Studies. This was a breakthrough for the university, which has been following the non-semester pattern till 2006-2007. The Department of Chemistry was under conversion as Department of Applied Chemistry.The Vice-Chancellor said that the 108 affiliated colleges comprised 56 arts and science colleges, 49 B. Ed. colleges and three oriental title colleges.The 56 arts and science colleges comprised 11 Government colleges, nine aided colleges and 36 self-financing colleges. In reply to a question, Dr. Kannan said that the university had sent proposals to the Government for Rs.44 crore for the construction of own buildings for the university, for which 100 acres of land have been identified in Serkadu.The Government was in the process of issuing an order. The university could get the 12-B status entitling it to the receipt of funds from the University Grants Commission only when it had its own buildings, he said.

SSLC/OSLC special supplementary examinations

Vellore:The SSLC/OSLC special supplementary examinations will be conducted from July 3 to 12 for those candidates, who appeared in the March/April 2007 public examinations but failed in one to three subjects and also for private failed candidates, according to a release from the Regional Deputy Director of Government Examinations, Vellore.Regular candidates could obtain their admission cards at their respective schools from June 29 to July 2.

Private candidates could obtain the admission cards at the following centres on the same dates:Cheyyar education district: St. Paul’s High School, Cheyyar; Tiruvannamalai education district: S.R.G.T.S. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tiruvannamalai; Tirupattur education district: T.M.S. HSS, Tirupattur; Vellore education district: Government High School, Sathuvachari.The Matriculation/Anglo-Indian School Leaving Certificate special supplementary Examinations will be conducted from July 2 to 12 for private candidates failed in one to three subjects.

The private candidates who applied through the schools will be issued the admission cards at the respective schools from June 28 to 30, while those, who applied directly, will be issued the admission cards at the following centres from June 28 to 30:Cheyyar education district: Government High School, Cheyyar; Tiruvannamalai education district: Gandhinagar Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tiruvannamalai; Tirupattur education district: Lions Matriculation HSS, Tirupattur; Vellore education district: Government HSS, Sathuvachari.

Train delayed due to fracture at rails

Vellore:Several Chennai-bound trains were delayed by one to two hours, after a fracture was detected on the rails at the Latheri railway station near Katpadi on Tuesday morning.According to railway police sources, a Chennai-bound goods train going to Katpadi was diverted via the loopline at the Latheri railway station to allow the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express to pass at 6.45 a.m. The driver of the goods train heard a strange sound and got down to inspect the joint between the main line and the loopline.

He detected the fracture and alerted the Station Master, who signalled the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express to stop. The timely action by the goods train driver averted an accident. All other Chennai-bound trains were stopped at stations en route.Railway officials and engineering staff reached the spot and repaired the fracture.Railway Protection Force sources said that such fractures were common during winter and summer.

3 day training programme

Vellore: Scientists, professors and engineers are taking part in a three-day training programme on “Geomatics in Natural Disaster Management”, which began at the Vellore Institute of Technology University here on Monday.

The participants are from the Department of Science and Technology, Bharathidasan University, Border Roads Organisation, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Defence Terrain Research Laboratory, National Institute of Disaster Management, Central Building Research Institute and other institutions N. Vinod Chandra Menon, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, inaugurated the programme, organised jointly by the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management (CDMM), VIT University, and the Centre for Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi. Prof. Menon released a CD-ROM on the title, “Learn to Live with Lightning”.G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of the VITU, said that in India, there was a breed of disaster managers, who knew little about geomatics.

There were also a large number of specialists in geomatics, who did not know much about natural disasters. Such training programmes would go a long way in correcting the situation, he pointed out.R.K. Bhandari, chairman, CDMM, underscored the challenge that lies ahead in finding reliable and cost-effective solutions for practical problems in disaster management, using the flood of new knowledge and emerging technologies.

Govt.collage counselling will start from June 25

Vellore: Counselling for admission to government arts and science colleges in the Vellore region under the single window system will be held from June 25 to 29.The counselling would be held as per the following timetable fixed by the Joint Director of Collegiate Education Vellore Dr. (Ms.) Saroja in consultation with the Principals of the various colleges:Muthurangam Government Arts College, Vellore and Government Arts Colleges in Ponneri, Tiruttani and Chingleput: June 25 (B.Sc.), June 26 (B.Com., B.B.A. and other commerce-related subjects) and June 27 (B.A.).

Thirumagal Mills Government Arts College, Gudiyatham and Government Arts College, Tiruvannamalai: June 26 (B.Sc.), June 27 (B.Com., B.B.A., etc.) and June 28 (B.A.). Arignar Anna Government Arts College for Women, Walajapet and Government Arts College, Cheyyar: June 27 (B.Sc.), June 28 (B.Com., B.B.A., etc.) and June 29 (B.A.).The Principal of the Muthurangam Government Arts College, Vellore R. Jayachandra Singh said that a total of 4,469 applications have been received for 684 seats in the various courses offered by the college, with science courses alone accounting for 1,919 applications. The number of seats on offer in the college is as follows: First shift: B.A. Economics and B.A. History - 40 each in English and Tamil medium; B.A. English Literature - 40; B.Sc. Maths - 40 (English medium) and 35 (Tamil medium); B.Sc. Physics and B.Sc. Chemistry (20 each in English and Tamil mediums); B.Sc. Computer Science - 32 (only English medium); B.Com. - 60 (only English medium).Second shift: B.Sc. Maths (60), B.Sc. Computer Science (99), B.Com. (66) and B.A. Economics (12).Counselling will begin at 10 a.m. on all days.

National and State Awards for physically challenged

Vellore:The District Disabled Rehabilitation Centre here has invited applications from physically challenged persons in the district and those, who served them, for receiving the national and state awards.An official release said in a release that 25 national awards under the categories of “Best Employee” and “Best Self-Employed” would be given to the visually challenged, speech impaired, orthopaedically challenged, leprosy-cured and mentally challenged employees in Government departments, public and private organisations.For details, eligible individuals and organisations could contact the District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer, Disttrict Diability Centre, District Panchayat Office Complex. Perumalsamy Building, Officers’ Line, Vellore-632001 before June 30.

FP operation theatre was commissioned

Vellore:A family planning (FP) operation theatre was commissioned in the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Odugathur on Thursday. Sterilisation was performed on five women on the first day itself.According to S. Rajasekharan, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Vellore, the Odugathur PHC was one of the five PHCs for which the district administration had sanctioned a sum of Rs. 6 lakh from the Collector’s Development Fund for the establishment of FP operation theatres. The other four are the PHCs in Ussoor, Timiri and Moodhur and the additional PHC in Pallikonda.

Similar operation theatres were already in existence in the PHCs in Ponnai, Punnai, Lalapet, Puduppadi, Kaniyambadi, Banavaram and Anaicut. The PHC would be functioning round-the-clock with four doctors with an eight-bed special labour ward and a 30-bed family planning special ward-cum-general ward. It benefited a population of 10,995 coming under the jurisdiction of the health sub-centres in Thongumalai, Jardhankollai and Palambattu.

Thorappadi town panchayat president resigns

Vellore: President of the Thorappadi town panchayat K. Sugumar, against whom a no-confidence motion was to be initiated on Wednesday, resigned “owing to family circumstances” following dramatic developments in the panchayat office. The council has 15 members, comprising five from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, three from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, two from the Pattali Makkal Katchi, one from the Congress and four Independents. Though the PMK had only two councillors, the president’s post was allotted to it.

Following the dissatisfaction of a majority of the councillors with the panchayat president, 10 out of the 15 councillors, including the DMK councillors and the three AIADMK councillors, on May 21 gave notice for a no-confidence motion against him.Assistant Director of Town Panchayats Thiruvengadam had announced that a special meeting would be held on Wednesday to take up the motion.When councillors started assembling in the council hall, DMK district presidium chairman T.A. Mohammed Saqhy and Vellore panchayat union DMK secretary R.P. Ezhumalai stopped the DMK councillors from proceeding to the hall and persuaded them not to attend the meeting and press for the motion.

But the councillors including vice-president Thirumal announced that they would resign in the presence of the presspersons if the no-confidence motion was not allowed.Later, after negotiations, Mr. Saqhy and Mr. Ezhumalai requested PMK leader N.T. Shanmugam, to secure the resignation of Mr. Sugumar. On the request of Mr. Shanmugam, Mr. Sugumar offered to resign.Following his resignation, eight councillors, including the five DMK councillors, offered to withdraw the no-confidence motion.