A major fire destroyed tonnes of paper at the 200-year-old government central press building in Mint area of Chennai last week.
The fire caused by an electric short circuit was first noticed by some employees. It took 25 fire personnel around five hours to put out the blaze. The destroyed material estimated to be worth around Rs1.5mn consisted of old birth, death and community certificates, departmental forms, gazettes and exam question sheets of past years.
More than 1,600 employees working at ten buildings in the complex blamed the government for not auctioning the papers or replacing the old electrical wiring of the press. Fortunately no human lives were lost.
The British East India Company built the press building in 1807 to mint coins and manufacture gunpowder. After independence in 1947, it became the government printing press under stationery and printing department of Tamil Development and Culture Ministry.
Court orders hospital to conduct surgery
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has asked a hospital to remove broken pieces of surgical equipment left in the abdomen of a woman in 1989.
Arumugham, a watchman, told the court that his wife Indrani had a surgery in 1989 for an abdominal cyst at the government hospital. After the operation she often complained of stomach pain but the doctors sent her away with tablets and painkillers.
The surgical error came to light when Arumugham did a scan at a private hospital in May this year.
Government hospitals in Tamil Nadu are notorious for careless treatment, bribery for subsidised medical care and poor maintenance of equipment.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up at the government Rajaji hospital in Chennai following a rise in the frequency of angry patients attacking doctors and hospital staff over inappropriate treatment.
Rope car snag sparks panic among pilgrims
Several pilgrims remained suspended in mid-air for three hours when eight rope cars stopped due to technical snag at the hill temple in Palani in Dindigul district last week.
The cars remained suspended at a height of 150-200ft above the ground. However, the temple authorities immediately shut off power and with the help of fire personnel who climb the rope way supplied the pilgrims with biscuits and water.
They then attached rope ladders to the cars and brought down the pilgrims in single file. The rope service has been suspended temporarily.
Last year the same service was stopped when two men were killed after the rope broke loose from the cars. The Palani temple provides rope car, winch and two walkways for pilgrims to reach the hill shrine.
Jewellers abscond with cash, gold
Two brothers who opened five jewellery showrooms in the past year disappeared with gold and cash worth millions of rupees leaving customers, two nationalised banks and business partners in the lurch in Coimbatore.
Reports said Balaji and Ashok Kumar, owners of Swarnalatha Jewellers, had borrowed Rs75mn from two branches of State Bank of India, taken gold bars on credit from business partner Senthil Kumar and collected thousands of rupees from 1,500 customers through their jewellery chit schemes.
Police took action based on the complaint of Senthil Kumar. They found that the brothers had disappeared with their families and switched off all their mobile phones. Police have sealed their flats and business premises and frozen their bank accounts.