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DC
`60 crore has Diabetologist Cricketer Sanath
Chennai ● Monday ● 10 January 2011 5
State
been allotted to V. Mohan Jayasurya to unveil
repair and lay received an the jersey of cricket
roads: Mayor honorary event, ‘Chennai’s
M. Subramanian D.Sc degree. Super Sixes’.

State ● CULPRITS PUT ADVERTISEMENTS OFFERING LUCRATIVE JOBS flipping through

scan Pavement
Mother
Express
Couple held for duping bookshops
lure many
reaches city
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI
jobseekers of `5 crore
DC CORRESPONDENT lodged a complaint with the
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI

Jan. 9: If the annual book

Jan. 9: Mother Express, a
photo exhibition on rail
showcasing the life and
deeds of Mother Teresa,
was welcomed at the Cen-
tral railway station in the
city on Sunday by division-
al railway manager S.
Anantharaman.
The train, designed by the
committee of heritage and
culture of the ministry of
railways, will cover over
100 cities and towns across
the Indian railway network
and showcase Mother Tere-
sa’s selfless service to the
poor and destitute through
rare photographs culled out
from the archives.
Burglars
COIMBATORE
Jan. 9: The Coimbatore
police has arrested three
people including a woman
for running a fake employ-
ment exchange and duping
more than 100 jobseekers
upto `5 crore in Coimbatore
and neighbouring districts.
Coimbatore police com-
missioner C. Sylendra Babu
said R. Kaleeswaran, 33, his
live-in partner Renu alias
Rasia, 27, and father
Rajendran, 55, were
involved in the job scam.
Their modus operandi was
to put advertisements claim-
ing that there were job
openings in leading compa-
nies across Tamil Nadu.
Sometimes Kaleeswaran
modus
operandi Jobseekers
were called
for “interviews” and off-
ered jobs based on their
qualifications. Applicants
in turn paid service
charges of up to `5 lakh.
and Renu contacted candi-
dates who posted their
resumés on employment
websites. Jobseekers were
called for “interviews” and
based on their qualifications
Renu would promise a
lucrative job in leading con-
cerns. In turn she would
demand a service charge of
up to `5 lakh.
The fraud came to light
when Nesamanoharan of
Kangeyampalayam in Sulur
Coimbatore police commis-
sioner, alleging that
Kaleeswaran had duped her
son of `1 lakh after promis-
ing to get him a job.
Investigating officers said
Kaleeswaran moved his
placement office to Salem a
few months ago after the
cops launched a hunt for
him. The accused had run
placement centres called
Sri Kumaran Tech in
Ramanathapuram, Lakshmi
Industries Placement in
Singanallur, Gandhipuram
and Info Computer
Technology in Salem and
Coonoor districts.
A car, motorcycle, several
cheque books, 13 passports
and other documents have
been seized from them.
fair in Chennai is attracting
more crowds every year,
pavement bookshops are in
no way lagging behind,
thanks to the hundreds of
book lovers who still fre-
quent the roadside stalls.
Almost every author and
title is available on the
pavement, with copies in
fairly good shape.
Ranging from Shake-
speare’s As you like it,
which was published in
1954, to Chetan Bhagat’s
books published in 2009,
pavement shops have alm-
ost all kinds of books and
sell them at a discount too.
Bookseller K. Nand-
Visitors glance through books displayed at the 34th Chennai Book Fair, in the hagopal, who opens his
city on Sunday. — DC ‘store’ at 11 am says he is
busy throughout the day.

steal silver,
cell phones
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI
Jan. 9: Burglars struck at a
pawn shop and a mobile
phone store and made away
with one and a half kg of
silver items and 20 mobile
phones in Kattupakkam on
Saturday night.
Police said, the incident
came to light on Sunday
morning when the shop-
owner Prathap, 24, of
Annai Indira Nagar came to
open his two shops.
The burglars broke open
the shutters of the two
adjacent shops to loot jew-
ellery and other valuables,
police said. Based on a
complaint from Prathap,
Poonamallee police has
registered a case and is on
lookout for the culprits.
TN breaks vow, TNSTC to strike Producers lay rules for theatres
D. DANIEL RAJ
DC | COIMBATORE
Jan. 9: Trouble is brewing
for commuters in Coimbat-
ore with Tamil Nadu State
Transport Corporation
workers here upset over the
interim relief announced by
the state, as it did not meet
the promise made by the
ruling party in its election
manifesto.
Union members of the rul-
ing party have torn up circu-
lars put up in TNSTC
offices and are planning to
go on a massive strike.
An interim relief of
between `2,000 and `4,534
was announced for all per-
manent staff of TNSTC, or
around 93,000 workers,
excluding 35,000 tempo-
rary workers, which,
LOCKED HORNS
UPSET: TNSTC work-
ers here upset over
the interim relief
announced by the
state, as it did not meet
the promise made by
the ruling party in its
election manifesto.
NO RELIEF: An interim
relief of between
`2,000 and `4,534 was
announced for all per-
manent staff of TNSTC.
TNSTC employees say, is
far from satisfactory.
“In the election manifesto,
they promised to get salary
for TNSTC workers on par
with TNEB workers. But
this is just one third of what
◗ A meeting of CITU
members will be held
Monday morning to
discuss the issue and
other trade unions will
join in the afternoon.
◗ Union members of
the ruling party have
torn up circulars put
up in Tamil Nadu State
Transport Corporation
offices and are calling
for a massive strike.
the TNEB workers are get-
ting. Why has the promise
not been kept?” asked CITU
state deputy secretary P.
Kaliappan in a concersation
with Deccan Chronicle on
Sunday.
With Assembly elections
on the anvil, the previous
election manifesto still
remains only on paper, he
said, adding, “The strike
will be launched at any
time. A meeting of CITU
members will be held Mon-
day morning to discuss the
issue and other trade unions
will join in the afternoon.”
AITUC state vice-presi-
dent M. Arumugam said
full details of the text had
not yet been released but, as
per the announcement, the
wage increase was only a
meagre 18 per cent, as
against the 44 per cent
promised.
He also claimed that only
the ruling party union had
signed the settlement, while
other registered unions
were not called for the talks.
ANUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
DC | CHENNAI
Jan. 9: The Tamil Film Pro-
ducers Council at a meeting
on Sunday passed several
stringent resolutions, inclu-
ding cancellation of licen-
ces of theatres that sell tick-
ets at higher rates than per-
missible, and that movie
halls must run Tamil films
for 36 weeks in a year.
Sources said with only
nine hits among almost 200
Tamil films released in
2010, the hard-hit producers
were forced to take action.
After thanking chief min-
ister M. Karunanidhi for his
benevolent gestures towar-
ds the Tamil film industry,
including the recent housing
scheme, council chairman
Ramanarayanan, who chai-
red the meeting, said sheer
carelessness resulted in
most films released last year
not recovering their cost.
Among the other resolu-
tions passed was that the
producers would insist that
the government exempt all
Tamil films (all non-dubbed
movies) screened in up to
75 theatres from entertain-
ment tax. However, films
playing in more that 75 cin-
ema halls should not be
exempted from the tax.
The council requested the
government to increase the
grant given to small film
producers from `7 lakh to
`10 lakh.
Recalling their earlier
agreement with the South
Indian Film Artistes Associ-
ation, the council said the
producers will pay 70 per
cent of the salary of the
artistes during the shooting
stage and the rest just before
the film’s release.

CHENNAI REVISITED
Romanesque edifice
hosted key city events
GEORGE ADIMATHRA
DC | CHENNAI
Jan. 9: Victoria Public
Hall, also known as Town
Hall, in Chennai was erect-
ed to honour Queen Victo-
ria on her golden jubilee.
This Romanesque build-
ing that was opened to the
public in 1887 has wit-
nessed numerous stage per-
formances, lectures and has
also, at times, been trans-
formed into a ballroom in its
heydays.
From the outside, one
can’t guess that this red
brick and lime mortar build-
ing between Chennai Cen-
tral and Ripon Buildings
houses two large halls, one
on the ground floor and the
other on the first floor,
which are large enough to
comfortably seat 600 people
each.
The inclusion of Corinthi-
an architectural features, as
well as its unique square
tower complete with a pyra-
mid roof, gives an alluring
beauty to the building.
“The hall, which was
designed for public gather-
ings has witnessed impor-
tant events like the protest
meet following the collapse
of the Arbuthnot Bank and
also the first demonstration
of cinema,” historian V.
Sriram says.
“Despite being unsuitable
for dramatic purposes,
mostly due to its inferior
acoustics, Victoria Public
Hall was frequented by
drama groups, the most
important of them being
Suguna Vilasa Sabha
(SVS).”
“The Sabha’s association
with the hall went on for
over 40 years. Besides SVS,
several officers’ associa-
tions and amateur groups
considered it as the first
venue for their dramatic
performances,” Mr Sriram
adds.
The downfall and neglect
of the hall started along-
Victoria Public Hall in the city, which was opened in
1887 to honour Queen Victoria, was in a state of
neglect for a long time but work to restore the struc-
ture has commenced.
side the degradation of the
People’s Park and follow-
ing appeals by heritage
enthusiasts, the state gov-
Corporation set to
open more clinics
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI
Jan. 9: The city corporation
is all set to open more dental
and eye clinics, as well as
dialysis centres in north and
south Chennai, following
the good public patronage
received from existing clin-
ics in the areas.
“With private clinics
fleecing the public, the cor-
poration clinics, if well
maintained, will be a boon
for the public,” opined
mayor M. Subramaniam.
The specialised clinics,
which were recently inau-
gurated for eye and dental
ailments, have become a hit
with the residents of north
and south Chennai.
Following this, the city
corporation is gearing up to
open additional dental and
eye clinics across the city
within ten days. The open-
ing of two dialysis centres is
also on the cards.
New dental clinics had
been announced after health
— DC
ernment initiated plans to
restore the building to its
former glory, work on
which is now underway.
“With private
clinics fleecing the
public, the corpora-
tion clinics, if well
maintained, will be
a boon for them”
M. Subramaniam,
Mayor of Chennai
department officials found
that there was poor oral
hygiene and increasing den-
tal ailments among the
city’s youngsters, in a
recent study by the corpora-
tion focussing on children.
The corporation is also
planning to open eye clinics
and a 600-bedded commu-
nicable diseases hospital in
south Chennai.
“We are planning to open
one dental clinic in each
zone. However, it will take
some time for the estimate
to be ready as the hospital-
requires central government
funding for construction,”
said the mayor.