Villupuram district registers 74.11 per cent results

VILLUPURAM: Villupuram district has secured impressive pass percentage in Secondary School Leaving Certificate examinations held during March-April.

Of the total 39,022 candidates who appeared for the examinations, 28,921 got through, thus attaining a pass percentage of 74.11. This is 6.12 per cent higher than that of 67.99 per cent secured last year.

In Anglo-Indian stream, R. Nivetha of Sacred Heart’s Higher Secondary School, Villupuram, has secured 484 marks out of 500 to emerge as the State second-rank holder.

In all 58 schools, including 23 under the State Board and 35 in the matriculation stream, secured cent per cent results. Of them, 10 are government schools, double the figure of what was obtained the previous year, according to P.A. Naresh, Chief Educational Officer.

Mr. Naresh told The Hindu that two schools situated on Kalvarayan Hills too achieved the distinction of having secured all-pass. Government schools that obtained full pass percentage are located at Eraiyur (near Thiruvakkarai), Nedi Mozhiyanur, Kongarapattu, Vanur, Kunnam, Athiyur Thirukkai, Pithanthurai, Vellimalai and Adi Dravidar Welfare Department-run school (both on the Kalvarayan Hills) and another ADW Department-run school at Vikkiravandi.

A total number of 248 candidates secured centum in various subjects, including 207 in mathematics, 40 in science and one in English.
District toppers in State Board

The district toppers in the State Board schools are as follows:

First rank is being shared by two candidates - V.L. Suganthi of Government Girls’ High School at Thirukkoilur (491 out of 500 marks), and, V.Sushmitha of the Sakthi High School at Kaniyamur (491).

Second rank is being shared by two, including G.N.P. Kiran Diwakar of St Annes’ Higher Secondary School at Tindivanam (489), and, A. Ashok Raj of Sakthi High School at Kaniyamur (489).

Third rank is being shared by three – P. Swastika of St.Philomena’s Hr.Sec.School at Tindivanam (488), R. Aruna of Mt.Park HSS and Thiagadurgam (488) and J. Jayamohan of Vivekananda HSS at Erwaipattinam (488).
Matriculation stream

In the matriculation stream, of 2,774 candidates who sat for the examinations, 2,665 passed.

The toppers are: P. Sivanandini of A.K.T.Mat.HSS at Kallakurichi (485), S. Hasmitha of St.Joseph of Cluny Mat.HSS at Tindivanam (483), and, N. Hemalatha of E.S.Mat.HSS at Villupuram (482) and S.Baktha Kolagalan of Gnananda Mat.HSS at Thirukkoilur (482).

In the Anglo-Indian stream, of 204 candidates who appeared for the examinations, 201 passed, and all three top rankers are from Sacred Heart’s HSS at Villupuram such as R.Nivetha (484), P.Pradip Kumar (476) and P.Sageetha (475).

In the oriental stream, out of 119 candidates who took the examination, 104 were successful. Rank-holders are all from Kamakoti Oriental High School at Villupuram. They are J. Tamilselvi (460), S. Ananthi (451) and K. Mukesh (417).

“All ATMs will be fully secured to the base”

CUDDALORE: All Automated Teller Machines of Indian Overseas Bank will be fully secured to the base and care will be taken about their location too, said B. Baskaran, Senior Regional Manager, IOB, Puducherry region.

He was speaking at a customers meet at Manjakuppam branch of the bank on Wednesday. He was on his maiden visit to the branch after recently taking charge as Senior Regional Manager.

Mr. Baskaran told The Hindu that it was unfortunate that some culprits had taken away an ATM in Chennai. It was because the ATM was of removable type. Such a thing would not happen again anywhere, he said.

ATMs helped banks to render better service with lesser number of staff and the customers too benefited because they could withdraw money at any time.

The IOB would increase the number of ATMs in the region, comprising the districts of Cuddalore, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai besides Puducherry, Mr. Baskaran said.
Silver jubilee in October

The IOB (Puducherry region) would be celebrating silver jubilee in October and the bank’s focus would be on attracting low-cost deposits such as savings bank and current account holders.

Besides core banking, IOB would also concentrate on para-banking, including life insurance services, sale of gold coins, mutual funds and so on. Emphasis would be on lending to the priority sector, including agriculture, and, small and medium entrepreneurs, because these sectors have the potential to create a good number of jobs in rural areas, Mr. Baskaran said.

Of 53 branches in the region, 29 were in rural areas. During the last financial year (2008-09), the bank mobilised deposits to the tune of Rs. 1,164 crore and gave away advances to the tune of Rs. 761 crore in the region. The bank now aimed at doubling its performance in the next couple of years.

Mr. Baskaran said that the bank would also periodically organise health camps, diabetes awareness camps and social events. Sale of gold coins and disbursement of gold loan (of Rs. 900 per gram) had also picked up.

Branch managers have been instructed to give away educational loans to the needy, he added.

Petroglyphs’ found on dolmen

CHENNAI: In what has been termed an unusual rock art discovery, petroglyphs, which are engravings made with a hard tool, have been found on the slab-stones of a dolmen for the first time in Tamil Nadu. These were at a spot adjoining Beruthorapatti hamlet, near Kallampalayam, close to the Moyar river in Nilgiris district.

The dolmen, which is in a collapsed state, belongs to the megalithic period (circa 1000 B.C. to 300 B.C.). Significantly, this dolmen is circular in shape and had a slanting roof made of several slab-stones. Normally, dolmens are rectangular in shape with four slab-stones forming the walls and the capstone.

K.T. Gandhirajan, who headed the team that made the discovery on May 20 with the help of a local Irula tribal person, called it “a rare, unusual discovery.” While petroglyphs have been found in three rock-shelters in the State — at Perumukkal in Villupuram district, Erpattu in the Niligiris district and Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district — this is the first time they have been found on a dolmen. (Pre-historic men erected dolmens made of granite slabs either to take shelter or to mark a burial place). This particular dolmen has two petroglyphs.

Of the two, one has a unique pattern: a big circle, with concentric lines, placed on a flattened base. It has spur-like projections on either side a little above the base. Inside the circle are nine small circles arranged in a pattern, with three straight lines crossing each other. The big circle is overarched by a semi-circular arc. The other petroglyph, found on an adjacent slab, has the engraving of a fish. It is an “X-ray fish” with the innards chiselled.

Mr. Gandhirajan, who specialises in art history, said the circles were “perfect in shape with a good geometry and a marvellous composition.” The engravings were carved on stones facing the east. He was certain the petroglyphs were contemporaneous to the dolmen, which could be 2,300 to 2,500 years old and belong to the Tamil Sangam age. The dolmen could have been a shrine or the home of the tribal chief, he said.

The team comprising Mr. Gandhirajan, M.V. Ganesh, K. Narendran, photographer Thanigai Mani and an Irula tribal person named Chandran made the discovery while returning from a temple festival of the Irula and Baduga tribes in Allimoyar hamlet. The team found 20 collapsed dolmens near Vanchiyur. On venturing further into the forest, it discovered about 100 dolmens near Beruthorapatti. Most of them had been wrecked by humans or elephants.

The dolmens were of three varieties: normal rectangular ones with a capstone; circular ones made of slab-stones meeting at the top to form a roof; and bigger circular dolmens, with a diameter of about 6 metres, with unfinished roofs. One of the big dolmens had the two petroglyphs.

Mr. Gandhirajan, who is documenting “rock art in Sangam age environment in Tamil Nadu” under a project sponsored by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, said it would be difficult to find even petrographs, which are rock art forms of humans, animals, battle scenes and so on, in dolmens.

First visuals of Prabhakaran's dead body

Sri Lankan army recovered the body of slain Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran on Tuesday and splashed its images on the national television after LTTE claimed that he was alive and that the group would continue to fight for a separate homeland.

"Prabhakaran's body was found near Nandikadal lagoon (in the No Fire Zone)," Army Chief Gen Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address just an hour after LTTE raised questions over his death with its new international spokesman S Pathmanathan saying Prabhakaran was alive and safe.

The images of the body aired by the television showed Prabhakaran in full battle fatigues with the bullet hole on the temple with his head resting on a newspaper.

Prabhakaran's face was intact with eyes wide open and the image bore a close resemblance to the stocky moustached rebel leader. The TV also showed his dog tag and a LTTE identity card bearing his number 0-01.

The images were shown on television as Pathmanathan came out with a statement. "Our beloved leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive and safe. He will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people."

The statement was carried by the pro-LTTE website TamilNet.com.

The new face of the LTTE, who according to sources, is based in some South-East Asian country went on to accuse the Sri Lankan forces of "crimes against humanity", saying the outfit's civil leaders B Nadesan and S Pulideevan were killed in "cold blood" when they had come to the Army's 58th division with white flags to negotiate an end to conflict.

The LTTE claims created ripples within the Lankan Government and the Army Chief went on television to state categorically "reports from the battlefield confirmed this morning that they have identified the body of Prabhakaran, this ruthless terrorist leader".

"The fighting was yesterday. He was killed yesterday and the body was identified today," he said.

Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said "we will give the body to an undertaker. We cannot just throw the body in the jungle. We are civilised country."

Conflicting accounts of the Tiger leader's fate came a day after Sri Lankan forces wiped out the entire top LTTE leadership to claim to have ended one of the world's bitterly fought ethnic wars.

AIADMK wins South Chennai

Chennai : AIADMK wins South Chennai Lok Sabha seat with Chitlapakkam S Rajendran defeating DMK's R S Barathy by a margin of 32,400 votes. In Villupuram (SC) constituency, AIADMK's M Anandan defeated VCK's Samidurai by 2,797 votes.

Abdul Rehman of IUML wins Vellore seat by over 1.05 lakh votes, defeating AIADMK's MKK Vasu.

The CPI (M) won the Coimbatore seat, with K N Natarajan defeating Congress' R Prabu by 38,664 votes. - Agencies

Will the PMK’s winning streak continue?

Doesn’t your party change alliance partners depending on which way the election wind is blowing, asked a journalist of Anbumani Ramadoss recently. The former Union Minister and face of the Pattali Makkal Katchi at the national level replied that it is untrue that the PMK chooses to back winning combinations. Rather, it is the PMK’s presence in a combination that makes it victorious, he said.

Agree or not, even the PMK’s fiercest critics acknowledge that the party has almost perfected the art of making politically smart and correct moves, especially before elections. The party has never been on the side of a losing alliance since the 1998 Lok Sabha election, when it allied with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

In the 1999 Lok Sabha poll, the PMK bagged five out of seven seats it contested in the State.

During the 2001 Assembly polls, it won 20 out of 27 seats. Three years later, in the Lok Sabha election, the party notched up victories in all the six seats (including Puducherry) it contested. In the 2006 Assembly election, it captured 18 out of 31 seats. Political watchers are waiting to see whether the party will perform well once more and — more importantly — retain its spotless record of being a part of the winning alliance.

The PMK, now part of the AIADMK-led front, is a valuable partner in any coalition in that it can effectively bring in huge chunk of votes in nearly 15 Lok Sabha constituencies. Very few sub-regional parties can match the PMK in this regard.

The party, which emerged as an off-shoot of the Vanniyar Sangham’s fierce agitation in the mid-1980s, has its following essentially in the northern districts of Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram and in parts of the western districts, including Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. In the central region, it has a significant base in Nagapttinam, Perambalur and Ariyalur districts.

Its sway over the core support base was evident even in its electoral debut during the 1989 Lok Sabha election. In Dharmapuri, the party pushed the DMK to third place and secured almost 30 per cent of the vote. In Arakkonam, Tindivanam (now called Villupuram) and Chidambaram constituencies, the party polled 21 per cent to 26 per cent votes. This was when the Congress-AIADMK combine swept the State, bagging 38 out of the 39 constituencies. Two years later, despite the sympathy wave in favour of the Congress-AIADMK front following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the party almost repeated its showing in most of the constituencies. Again, in Dharmapuri, the PMK finished second. In 1989 and 1991, it contested alone.

After a modest performance in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections when it faced the polls along with the Congress (Tiwari), the PMK has been fighting elections in the company of either the DMK or the AIADMK since 1998.

The party’s strength lies in the facts that its influence is high in certain pockets and that its votes get transferred to the combination that includes it. This was evident in the Assembly poll three years ago. The DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance, which then included two Communist parties and the PMK apart from the Congress, won 50 out of 70 constituencies in the districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.

Several reasons are cited for the PMK’s success. The presence of the Vanniyar community in a geographically-contiguous belt has given the party a strong footing. The political mobilisation of the Vanniyar community has a longer history than that of any other community, says Tindivanam K. Ramamurthee, former president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and now heading the State unit of the Nationalist Congress Party. (His rebellion on the eve of the 2006 Assembly election forced the Congress leadership to appoint M. Krishnasswamy, another Vanniyar, as the TNCC leader.)

The Vanniyar agitation compelled the State government in March 1989 to create a category – Most Backward Classes – and earmark 20 per cent for the category. The DMK was in power at that time too and M. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister, quoting official statistics, said the Vanniyars, with 65 lakhs, formed the majority of the MBC-Denotified Communities grouping of 122 lakhs.

A professor of political science, who has been associated with several political surveys carried out in the State, says that the PMK’s two nominees in the United Progressive Alliance government — Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss and R. Velu — gave the impression of being active Ministers and that this has generated a positive image of the party among educated sections, cutting across the communities.

The party has its share of critics. Panruti S. Ramachandran, who was the first PMK Member of Legislative Assembly and now the presidium chairman of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, says the PMK can no longer boast of holding the Vanniyar card as its preserve. This is why its founder S. Ramadoss is raising issues such as protection of Tamil language and culture. Besides, the younger generation in the community is being drawn towards the DMDK and its leader Vijayakanth.

Contesting this, Dr. Ramadoss says the PMK has evolved as a political force. Now, it is focused on broader issues that affect society. Issues concerning agriculture, education and employment are being vigorously pursued. For the last seven years, the party has been bringing out alternative budgets for the State and for the last two years exclusive documents on agriculture. “Ours is the only party which has been carrying on a strong campaign in favour of prohibition. We held women’s conferences in all the districts, demanding total prohibition. Likewise, our youth rallies, held throughout the State, were hugely successful,” he says, adding that the younger people, who went away from the PMK fold, are coming back.

Tough battle for AIADMK at Villupuram

VILLUPURAM: At a time when the DMK alliance is sailing through troubled waters in many parts of the State, with issues such as frequent power cuts and the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils set to affect its poll prospects in the Lok Sabha elections, the alliance seems to be in a comfortable position in Villupuram.

The DMK alliance is banking on the successful implementation of its schemes and loan waiver for farmers in this reserved constituency, which comprises a number of beneficiaries.

The clean image of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi candidate, Justice K Swamidurai, is an asset. He has made the fight tough for his opponent, the AIADMK contestant M Anandhan, who is a former minister.

“I got a loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh,” said S Dhandapani, a farmer from Thogaipadi village. Likewise, a number of people in the surrounding hamlets have benefited through the loan waiver scheme from cooperative banks. “Our vote is only for ‘Star’, the symbol of VCK,” he said.

According to sources, Minister for Higher Education, K Ponmudy, who represents the Villupuram assembly segment, has ensured that the benefits of the schemes reached the maximum number of people. Subsequently, over 75 per cent of the population in the neighbouring assembly constituency of Vikravandi, which is represented by the DMK, have got free colour TVs. According to sources, a large section of Dalit votes would be polled in favour of the VCK.

On the other hand, the AIADMK is campaigning along with the PMK, which is expected to transfer its Vanniyar votes to the alliance partners. A large section of the electorate in Tindivanam, Tirukovilur and Ulundurpettai, who have not benefited from these freebies, could vote in favour of the AIADMK. “The freebies were provided only in the Minister’s (Ponmudy) constituency,” alleges Kaliamurthy, a resident of Alampadi village, which falls under Tirukovilur. He said: “The Government has done nothing for our welfare. Then why should we vote for the DMK alliance?” Similarly, the NREGS, the ambitious project of the Centre, offering 80 days of work for the rural populace, has not fully reached the farmers.

Aravan’s brides

A temple festival takes place during the last fortnight of April every year in the village of Koovagam in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. While in many ways similar to temple festivals that take place in many other villages across the region, the Koovagam festival attracts hundreds if not thousands of hijras and aravanis from South India and increasingly, the rest of the country.

The temple’s presiding deity is Aravan or Koothandavar. Local lore has it that during the Mahabharata, the Pandavas keen on ensuring their victory in the war with the Kauravas wanted to conduct a human sacrifice. Not surprisingly, they found it difficult to find someone willing to be sacrificed. Fin­ally, Aravan, the son of Arjuna and the tribal princess Kannigai, came forward offered himself as the object of the sacrifice — with one condition — that he spend one night of marital bliss before he was sacrificed.

This task proved even more difficult as no king was willing to give his daughter in marriage to Aravan, only to be widowed the day after the wedding. Finally, god Krishna appeared as a woman and married Aravan. And after spending his one night of ‘marital bliss’ with Krishna in female form, Aravan was sacrificed the next day.

The hijra ritual takes place along the same lines. Hijras and aravanis are ceremonially married to the idol of Aravan (and hence the name Aravani is a term of identity that many hijras adopt). Often hijras come to Koovagam with their lovers or ‘husbands’ and on the penultimate night of the festival, they all exp­erience a night of ‘marital bliss’. On the last date of the festival, a huge effigy of Aravan pulled through the narrow streets of Koova­gam and ceremonially, Aravan is beheaded and his body set to flames, re-enacting the scene from the Mahabharata. Symbolic of their ‘widowed’ status, the hijra’s dress in white, break their thalis and bangles.

The Koovagam festival also sees a number of other cultural events and some health initiatives. The ‘Miss Koovagam’ contest, a bea­uty pageant for hijras has been regularly held for several years now, and the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society conducts health camps for hijra’s and disseminates safe-sex information at the Koovagam festival.

Ask any hijra of how long hijras have been making their annual trip to Koovagam, and you would probably get the answer that the hijra festival at Koovagam is a time-honoured tradition, a cultural practice dating back centuries, if not more. The temple festival, it would in all likelihood be answered, is an essential cultural practice of any hijra or aravani in south India.

Certain historians however, point out otherwise — that the practice of hijras coming to marry Aravan’s idol merged more recently and the practice of men marrying the idol of Aravan was largely and still remains a practice of certain castes in Tamil Nadu. It is entirely plausible for a hijra to affronted by such a claim, that the hijra festival at koovagam is a practice adopted by hijras recently, as such a assertion may perhaps undercut a hijra’s claim to a certain cultural authenticity and sense of identity and history.

Similar issues of identity, history and cultural practice have dominated recent events. Is it in our culture to celebrate Valentine’s day? Is ‘pub culture’ an alien culture? Are spaghetti-strap clad women un-Indian? ‘Culture’ is the fertile ground on which ideas of one’s native-ness or alien-ness are played out. Notions of an authentic culture are more often than not, rooted in a sense of history.

So a cultural argument against, say ‘pub culture’, would go something like this: There is no history of Indians, especially women, drinking in pubs. Hence it is a recent phenomenon and cannot be said to be rooted in Indian culture. It is therefore an ‘alien culture’, and hence it is bad. A counter argument could der­ive its strength from challenging the historical truth of that statement, by drawing out instances of women drinking alcohol in public, or of how many, many centuries ago a certain king celebrated public drunkenness.

Near-identical arguments are made for and against homosexuality. Those opposed to

homosexuality would argue that it is inherently un-Indian, has never been accepted by Indians and that white people brought homosexuality to India. In response, some would argue that there are many instances of homosexuality in India’s history and culture and would point to text like the Kamasutra or to poems written by Amir Khusro.

Back in Koovagam, it would be difficult for anyone to assert that the Miss Koovagam contest is one that is rooted in history or from time immemorial. Yet, is it a culturally ‘inauthentic’ practice? Merely because it has existed only for the past couple of years, does it make this hijra beauty pageant un-hijra? Maybe ‘culture’ is not something that is rooted solely in the past, and perhaps history does not make unshakable and eternally binding claims on the present.

The beauty and value of ‘culture’ is that it is something that is open to change, dynamic and fluid. The idea that culture is a monolith, and is resistant to change and is something that needs to be protected and insulated from various influences will lead to a ‘culture’ that can, for example, only see Charlie Chaplin as Catholic and oppose his statue, or looks at cassettes and CD’s of the latest Bollywood numbers as corrupting influences.

Jayalalithaa hits out at Manmohan

VILLUPURAM: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his “silence” over the killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Addressing an election rally here, Ms.Jayalalithaa said when the Sri Lankan government was “annihilating” ethnic Tamils, Dr.Singh was keeping quiet.

She pointed out that when a question was posed to Dr.Singh as to why Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochchi’s name was dropped from the ‘wanted’ persons list in the Bofors gun deal, he replied that it was not proper to hurt others in such a manner. But, the Prime Minister did not suffer any pangs of conscience when “genocide” was taking place in Sri Lanka.

Ms.Jayalalithaa reiterated that creation of Tamil Eelam was the only solution to the issue. If her alliance emerged victorious in all 40 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry she would press for sending the Indian Army to Sri Lanka for creating Eelam.

She alleged that Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram were hand in glove in the three-hour fast “drama” enacted by the former recently. How could persons holding responsible positions hoodwink people, she asked. No sooner the fast was called off the Sri Lankan forces killed hundreds of Tamils.

If the AIADMK-led alliance won all the 40 seats, Tamil Nadu would be in a position to handpick the Prime Minister. She said during the five-year Congress rule, petroleum prices had gone up, several farmers committed suicide, terrorism acquired menacing proportions, economy was in a shambles and India’s sovereignty was subjugated to the U.S.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said that she did not have a family but considered the people of Tamil Nadu her family. If they reposed full faith in her and gave a complete victory she would get all rights for the State. Earlier, at Kallakurichi she promised train services on the Chinna Salem –Kallakurichi – Thiruvannamali sector.

She also addressed meetings at Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai.

Former judge seeks people’s verdict

VILLUPURAM: An important transit point to Chennai and a gateway to South Tamil Nadu, Villupuram town is yet to see any substantial development, except the four-lane highway.

The newly formed Villupuram (reserved) constituency is quite backward in terms of education, standard of living, industrial growth and agricultural production.

The constituency comprises the six Assembly segments of Tindivanam (reserved), Vanur (reserved), Villupuram, Vikkiravandi, Thirukkoilur and Ulundurpet.

Since agriculture, which provides livelihood for a majority of the population, is an unviable proposition now, farmers have been selling their land to realtors. A substantial chunk of farm lands along the four-lane highway have been converted into housing plots.

This has rendered many farm labourers jobless. However, some of them are employed thanks to the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Due to the lack of sufficient opportunities, migration of workers to the proverbial greener pastures in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and to even to the Gulf countries continues.

The coastal area in the district is vulnerable to sea erosion and hence, there have been a series of agitations seeking remedial measures. The Sri Lankan Tamils issue is an emotive one in this region and has gained prominence in the campaign.

On the educational front, the saving grace is the establishment of two government engineering colleges at Villupuram and Tindivanam, affiliated to Anna University, Chennai. A government medical college is also coming up at Villupuram.

For improving the standard of school education and increasing the funds allocated to the field, the VCK is insisting upon reverting education from the Concurrent List to the State List, which it believes will help in deciding the medium of instruction.

Retired Judge of the Madras High Court K. Swamidurai of the VCK is locked in a direct contest with M. Anandan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam here.

Earlier, the VCK had chosen to field S.P. Velayutham for the seat. But soon after the High Court passed a stricture ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into a land deal he was involved in, the party changed the candidate.

Mr. Swamidurai, who had served as a member of the State Human Rights Commission, is now a member of the sub-committee of the Sri Lankan Tamils’ Rights and Welfare Forum launched by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

The AIADMK has replaced P. Murugan, who figured in the first list of the party candidates, with former AIADMK Minister Mr. Anandan. There are 17 other candidates in the fray.

The presence of the DMDK and the BSP candidates in the field would split the Dalit votes to a certain extent and so also the Eraiyur issue, in which there is an undercurrent of tension between Dalit Christians and Vanniyar Christians.

Mr. Swamidurai seems to be on a stronger wicket than his opponents by virtue of the ruling DMK’s schemes.

Koovagam beauties

CHENNAI: Two transgenders from Chennai, Priya and Lalitha stood second and third in the Miss Koovagam 2009 contest held at Villupuram on Tuesday. Rekha from Madurai came first in the beauty contest organised by ARM, a non-profitable, non-governmental organisation working for the past 13 years in the field of STI/HIV/AIDS along with APAC,VHS-USAID. The idea behind the competition was to imbibe self esteem in transgenders and to encourage the community to create a platform to express their knowledge ,skills and talents in arts and culture.

More than 2000 transgenders participated in the Miss Koovagam 2009 competition. Selection was on the basis of their personality, HIV/AIDS knowledge, social concern and their services delivered to their community. The three winners were given the title of Miss Koovagam, second and third respectively with a cash prize of Rs 4000,Rs 3000 and Rs 2000.

R Janagaraj, Chairman, Villupuram Municipality, Dharmalinga, Joint Director, Health services, Villupuram District,Pusparaj, Program Manager-IEC, APAC, A Bakthavatclam, Executive Director, ARM, A J Hariharan, founder secretary,ICWO, I Ambalavanan, Director,PDI,Sathish, Rotary District Secretary, Villupram District attended the program and presented the prizes.

For the questions aimed at testing the knowledge of participants on STI/HIV/AIDS, only nine of them got the answers correctly from amont the 300 transgenders who participated in it.

Additional ballot units arrive in Villupuram

VILLUPURAM: In view of the large number of candidates contesting the Villupuram (Reserve) and the Kallakurichi Parliamentary Constituencies, District Collector R.Palanisamy, who is also District Electoral Officer, has requisitioned additional ballot units.

There are 19 candidates in the fray for the Villupuram Lok Sabha seat and 29 for the Kallakurichi seat. However, each ballot unit can accommodate only 16 candidates, along with their names and symbols.

(An Electronic Voting Machine generally consists of a ballot unit and a control unit. However, depending upon the exigencies as many as four ballot units could be attached to a single control unit).

Therefore, it is necessitated to attach additional ballot unit to the control device. As such 2,000 additional ballot units were brought from Chennai on Friday and kept in safe custody in the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation godown here.

The new consignment of ballot units was received by District Revenue Officer S.Viswanathan.

He told the reporters that technicians would check the new arrivals and keep them poll-ready.

Security had been provided at the TNCSC godown, he added

Villupuram Collector warns of severe action against poll training absentees

VILLUPURAM: District Collector R.Palanisamy has said that only three categories of officials are exempted from attending the training programmes on election procedures and on the operation of the Electronic Voting Machines.

They are: expectant mothers, severely handicapped persons and those undergoing treatment as in-patients. They should produce proper medical certificates as proof of their inability to attend the programme.

In a statement here, the Collector, who is also the District Electoral Officer, had stated that as many as 12,668 officials had been assigned the election duty.

The first phase of training programme for them was organised in 13 centres across the district on Thursday. The details of the EVMs and the conduct of the model elections were also conveyed to the polling officials through screening of short films.

The Collector personally supervised the programmes at Ramakrishna Higher Secondary School in Villupuram and at another centre in Ulundurpet. The Collector voiced concern over the extent of absenteeism in these programmes (at least 40-50 officials excused themselves in each centre).

Taking a serious view of the absenteeism, the Collector stated that they were abstaining from the duty without any valid reasons. If they do not discharge their responsibility properly they would attract departmental action as well as legal proceedings as provided under the election rules. The Collector noted that the next phases of training would be provided on May 5 and 9.
Training in Cuddalore

At Cuddalore a similar training programme was organised in the presence of District Collector Rajendra Ratnoo, who is also the District Electoral Officer, District Revenue Officer S.Natarajan, Personal Assistant (General) M.Rajendran, Office Manager (Crime) R.Abaranji and Tahsildar M.G.Rajendran. The Collector said as many as 9,540 polling officials would undergo the training on how to handle the EVMs in three phases. Training was organised at nine centres such as Cuddalore, Panruti and Chidambaram (two each), and, Kattumannarkoil, Thittakudi and Vriddhachalam (one each).

Beset with agrarian issues and poor development

Kallakurichi: The Kallakurichi Lok Sabha seat, a newly-formed constituency, is a typical example of what ails rural Tamil Nadu. It is characterised by agrarian problems and low level of economic development.

Shortage of farm labour coupled with growing demand for higher wages is the common problem faced by small and medium farmers, who raise paddy. Several cane farmers are sore at “unremunerative” State Advised Price for sugar cane.

Absence of a railway network in Kallakurichi town and drinking water shortage at Attur in Salem district are among the problems. In view of limited scope for employment, the youth go to urban areas, especially Bangalore.

D.Mahalingam of Moorar Palayam, who owns five acres near Sankarapuram, and Mohammed Ali, a cane farmer of Kallakurichi town, wonder why the government has not come forward to set up new sugar mills in cooperative or public sector while the number of private mills is on the rise.

Unemployment will be tackled effectively if there are more public or cooperative sugar mills, they stress.

P.Govindan, president of the water users’ association at Mathur in Kallakurichi block, is aware that mechanisation holds the key to the problem of labour shortage. More encouragement has to be given to small and medium farmers to use machines. He would be happy if harvesting machines are in place for sugar cane, too, as in the case of paddy.

What bothers K.Sudanthara, village panchayat president of Madhavacheri in Villupuram district, is that many persons have not yet realised the value of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. “It can be used for transforming our villages. For example, our water resources can be revitalised… Unfortunately, there is a perception that it is just a means for making quick money.”

At the political level, an interesting battle is on the cards between two erstwhile allies, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Pattali Makkal Katchi.

The DMK has fielded one-time Member of Parliament of Cuddalore Adhi Sankar. The PMK’s nominee is K.Dhanaraju, MP representing the now-defunct Tindivanam constituency.

There are a number of other contestants in the fray such as L.K.Sudish of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam and Vijaya T.Rajendar of the Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Both Mr.Adhi Sankar and Dr.Dhanaraju are drawing flak from voters. Inaccessibility of the DMK nominee and obstructive attitude of the PMK candidate towards the Kallakurichi railway project are the charges being made against them. However, both deny the charges. Mr.Adhi Sankar explains his achievements during his previous tenure (1999-2004) and recalls that all the villages were given funds from the MP Local Area Development Scheme.

Dr.Dhanaraju says the problem in the delay in the implementation of the railway project in Kallakurichi is actually due to the dispute over the alignment. Though he does not prefer any specific alignment, he has made it a top priority for implementation.

Mr.Sudish promises to make the area a leading trading centre. Mr Rajendar favours the extension of the proposed railway network up to Tiruvannamalai.

When Mr.Adhi Sankar’s candidature was announced early this month, the response of the local Congress was initially lukewarm.

A section of the Congress cadre openly opposed it. However, the differences seem to have been overcome and S.Sivaraj, Congress Member of Legislative Assembly representing Rishivandiyam, says his party will work for the DMK nominee.
Strong points

The State government’s schemes of rice at Re.1 a kg and distribution of free gas stoves are the DMK’s strong points.

DMDK leader Vijayakant is still a draw among the youth, especially in rural areas. However, the odds appear to be in favour of the PMK nominee, given the political arithmetic and the desire among certain sections of voters for a change.