தமிழக உள்ளாட்சி தேர்தல்: 40 ஆயிரம் மின்னணு ஓட்டுப்பதிவு எந்திரங்கள் தயார்

         தமிழ்நாட்டில் விரைவில் உள்ளாட்சி தேர்தல் நடை பெற உள்ளது. மாநகராட்சி, நகராட்சி, பஞ்சாயத்து யூனியன், பஞ்சாயத்துகளுக்கான தேர்தல் அக்டோபர் மாதம் நடைபெற வேண்டும்.தேதி பற்றி இன்னும் முடிவு செய்யப்பட வில்லை. வார்டு வாரியாக வாக்காளர் பட்டியல் தயாராகி வருகிறது.

         உள்ளாட்சி தேர்தலுக்கான அனைத்து ஏற்பாடுகளும் நடந்து வருகின்றன. 2006-ம் ஆண்டு நடந்த உள்ளாட்சி தேர்தலில் 10 மாநகராட்சிகள், 148 நகராட்சிகள், 561 நகரப்பஞ்சாயத்துக்களுக்கு மின்னணு ஓட்டுப்பதிவு எந்திரங்கள் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டன. இந்த முறையும் நகர்புற பகுதிகளில் உள்ளாட்சி அமைப்புகளுக்கு மின்னணு ஓட்டுப்பதிவு எந்திரங்களை பயன்படுத்த முடிவு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன. இதற்காக மத்திய தேர்தல் கமிஷன் தமிழக தேர்தல் ஆணையத்துக்கு 40 ஆயிரம் மின்னணு எந்திரங்களை வழங்குகிறது.

           கிராமப்புற பகுதிகளில் பொது மக்கள் கிராம பஞ்சாயத்து உறுப்பினர், பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர், பஞ்சாயத்து யூனியன் வார்டு கவுன்சிலர், மாவட்ட பஞ்சாயத்து உறுப்பினர் ஆகியோரை தேர்ந்து எடுப்பதற்காக 4 ஓட்டுகள் போட வேண்டியுள்ளது. எனவே கிராம பகுதிகளில் ஓட்டு எந்திரங்கள் பயன்படுத்தப்படவில்லை. மாநகராட்சி மேயர், மாவட்ட பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர் ஆகியோர் தற்போது கவுன்சிலர்கள் மூலம் தேர்ந்து எடுக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். இவர்களையும் முன்புபோல நேரடியாக பொது மக்களே தேர்ந்து எடுக்க வேண்டும் என்று அ.தி.மு.க. கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளது. இதுகுறித்து ஆலோசனை நடந்து வருகிறது. 

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States give wrong data to evade environmental norms in Cuddalore and VAPI : CSE

       State governments furnished misleading information on critically polluted industrial areas to let the regions off an environment ministry moratorium list, an investigation by the Centre for Science and environment (CSE) has revealed.

         The environmental group, which evaluated the pollution status in the industrial hubs of Vapi, Gujarat and Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, found that the pollution levels in both the areas exceeded the permissible norm, many times over.

          Both Vapi and Cuddalore along with 21 other critically polluted areas across the country were removed by the environment ministry from its moratorium list since October 2010. This means these areas will now be able to go ahead with new projects and expansions. The regions were let off the hook after the respective state pollution control boards submitted an action plan on how they plan to deal with the menace of pollution.

           However, analysis by CSE shows that the pollution mitigation plan submitted by Vapi and Cuddalore are misleading and devoid of certain vital measures. The tests conducted by CSE in April this year at Vapi show the presence of heavy metals like mercury and poisonous compounds like arsenic and cyanide. Nevertheless, the action plan makes no mention of any study of the existing surface water quality or its impact on people and ecology.

          Similarly, the Cuddalore action plan also gives a miss to the presence of major air pollutants such as benzene, volcanic organic compounds, visible impact of pollution on groundwater and surface water and their impact on people in the neighbouring villages. The investigation proves that the environment ministry was in a hurry to remove the critically polluted tag at Vapi and Cuddalore. Instead of applying a strict monitoring regime to assess pollution, it relied on promises made on paper to lift the moratorium. The ministry did not even carefully assess the projections made by the state pollution control boards, which would have nailed the lies in the mitigation action plans, the environmental group alleged.

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Madurai Kamaraj University Starts Five year Ph. D. programme in genomics from this year

The Hindu S.R. Rao, Adviser, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, speaking at Madurai 

Kamaraj University's School of Biological Sciences on Friday.

          Madurai Kamaraj University, on the occasion of former Chief Minister Kamaraj's 109th birth anniversary, has introduced a five-year integrated Ph. D. programme in Genomics from this academic year. The programme is sponsored by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

            S. R. Rao, Adviser, DBT, inaugurated the programme on Friday at the School of Biological Sciences of the university. The DBT has sanctioned Rs.11.7 crore for introducing this programme; Rs.5 crore has been released initially to create state-of-the-art infrastructure and establish a well-equipped research laboratory. Mr. Rao said that the DBT-Interdisciplinary Programme in Life Sciences was started in the University of Hyderabad as part of an experiment in 2007. “What we found in three years was that the number of Ph. Ds increased, fellowships increased, impact factor rose and publications went up by 12 to 13 per cent.”

          For the second batch, the DBT selected Banaras Hindu University and Osmania University based on their research performance and publications. Now, it had chosen Madurai Kamaraj University; the University of Rajasthan; MS University, Baroda; Karnataka University, Dharwad; and the University of Calcutta.

Genome initiatives

             Talking about DBT's projects, he said that genome initiatives in India were moving ahead and in the next year it had been planned to have 100 genome sequencing programmes. The DBT was also planning to come out with ‘Ignition Grant Projects' for industry entrepreneurs. The ‘Star College' scheme for strengthening life science and biotechnology education and training at undergraduate level would be intensified in colleges across the country. Stating that there had been an ever increasing new global partnership, he said that Madurai Kamaraj University, being a top class institution in life sciences, was lagging behind in becoming a stakeholder and asked the researchers to apply for these partnerships.

         P. Gunasekaran, Senior Professor, School of Biological Sciences, and coordinator for the programme, said that it was a dual degree programme in which a student could get M.Sc. and Ph. D. degrees in five years. By joining this integrated programme, students could come out with improved skills in genomics, molecular medicine and drug discovery. The top 15 meritorious students would get an offer to continue Ph.D. for the next three years. During their Ph.D. period, students would get a monthly fellowship of Rs. 14,000. Those students who qualify for NET would get a higher fellowship of Rs. 16,000 to Rs.18,000.

          Prof. Gunasekaran said that MKU was keen on boosting research works in the areas of “ Disease Diagnostics and Therapeutics.” The faculty would carry out extensive research for the ultimate development of novel diagnostic methods and assays for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other infectious diseases. The new state-of-the-art laboratory would have Rs. 2-crore worth equipment called LC-MS-MS for proteme and metabolome profiling of biological samples. This would be useful for diagnostic biomarker discovery from body fluids and other tissues of patients with other diseases.

        The university would also purchase ‘High Content Cell Imaging System' equipment for the purpose of drug discovery research. “We are keen on developing collaborations with Madurai Medical College and other recognised clinical research centres in Madurai and other places in south India to develop translational research initiatives for the betterment of diagnosis and therapy,” he said. M. Rajiakodi, Registrar (in charge), R. Jayaraman, Special Officer, and G. Marimuthu, Chairperson, School of Biological Sciences, spoke. 

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