After a prolonged search, Fire Service and Rescue Department personnel today recovered the bodies of two youths who drowned in a temple pond at Melmalaiyanur near here on Sunday. Police sources said that a group of devotees Bangalore had came on a pilgrimage to the Melamalaiyanur temple on Sunday. Some of them got into the pond named Agni Theertham for a holy dip. Two of them, N. Viswanathan (18) and R. Ramesh (17) got drowned.
The fire service personnel recovered the bodies on Monday.
Ashok Leyland will open five more driving schools in different parts of the country to conduct professional training programmes, its Managing Director R. Seshasayee has said.
Plans have been made to open schools in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The firm had approached the State governments seeking permission to open the schools, the Managing Director told reporters here on Monday.
“The firm had initiated a number of programmes for the welfare of the drivers. Opening driving schools and the launch of scholarship scheme for the children of the drivers are some of the initiatives taken by the company. The firm currently has driving schools in two places, including Namakkal. One more school will be opened in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Unauthorised structures coming up on an apartment premises in the city, after these were demolished earlier by the Coimbatore Corporation, were pulled down again by its demolition squad on Monday.
There were two instances of violation at the apartment premises on West Ponnurangam Road at R.S. Puram.
First, unauthorised structures were being built on the parking space earmarked in the building plan approved by the Corporation. Second, a totally unapproved three-storey apartment was also being built on whatever open space was left. In the process, it encroached upon the mandatory setback space.
Both violations were detected four months ago and the structures demolished immediately. But, these were being built again.
Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra made it clear that the civic body was upset at the way its authority and the rules were challenged by persons constructing these structures, despite the action taken four months ago.
“We will not keep quiet as this is a serious issue. We will take severe action because no regard has been shown for rules,” he said. An official in the squad said that during the action taken earlier, the owners of the building were told of the violations.
Four months later, the totally unauthorised building had been constructed up to the first floor and pillars had been raised for the second floor. The aim was to build a three-storey apartment by encroaching upon the setback space also. Besides, the parking lot in the old building was again turning into a flat.
“There will be periodical inspection of buildings under construction across the city, to know whether these conformed to the building rules,” the Commissioner said. The setback space should be provided.
The education scholarship given to students of minority communities should be extended to deserving students from all communities, BJP's spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said on Monday.
She was here to take part in the agitation organised by her party in Coimbatore against the education policy of the State government “discriminating” other students including Hindu Dalits.
Talking to reporters at the party headquarters, she said Tamil Nadu, the State of Kamaraj, who ensured universal free education, could not follow such a discriminatory policy.
“The government should extend the scholarship to all students to meet the criteria prescribed for the same,” she said, adding that the protest in Coimbatore and Tirupur received good response from the general public.
Mrs. Seetharaman said the BJP's Central leadership had decided to highlight the issue in Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday ordered that the Radhapuram bus stand in Tirunelveli district be named after former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj.
Making an announcement, the Chief Minister, in an official release, referred to the demand in certain quarters that the bus stand be named after Kamaraj.
Noting that two persons were on a fast [last week] at the Satyamurti Bhavan, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee headquarters, in support of the demand and were arrested on a complaint given by the headquarters secretary of the party, Mr Karunanidhi said he had ordered their release.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the bus stand was set up at a cost of Rs. 77 lakh on the initiative of the local Member of Legislative Assembly M. Appavu, who belongs to the ruling party.
It was nine months ago that the issue over the naming of the bus stand arose. At that time, the Chief Minister clarified that the government had not issued any order naming the Radhapuram bus stand after his parents, Muthuvelar and Anjugathammal.
As for the statues of his parents, he had explained then that the local MLA had borne the expenses for their installation and maintenance. The authorities had given permission for the installation on condition that this should not pose any difficulty to vehicular movement. Mr Karunanidhi had also directed the district administration that the statues need not be unveiled then.
When Deputy Chief Minister M. K. Stalin declared open the bus stand in October, he refrained from unveiling the statues in view of the Chief Minister's directive. A month later, a host of dignitaries, including Assembly Speaker R. Avudaiappan and Ministers T.P.M. Mohideen Khan and Poongothai, garlanded the statues.
