CBI files case against Maran in phone scam
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against former federal telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran for tampering with telephone wires that caused the national exchequer a loss of Rs4.4bn.
In 2006, Maran allegedly installed 360 heavy duty Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) telephone lines at his residence on Boat Club Road in Chennai that were then extended to the Sun TV offices owned by his brother Kalanidhi Maran on Anna Salai.
These wires were ostensibly installed for Dayanidhi’s ministerial work but used by Sun TV to transmit high speed commercial data without paying surcharges as they were in the name of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Two former BSNL general managers Bramhanathan and N P Veluswami have also been indicted.
Baby stolen from hospital recovered
A newborn boy was recovered within eight hours of being stolen from a private hospital at Thiruvalluvar Nagar in Krishnagiri district last week.
Police arrested Kalaiselvi, 23 and her mother Savithri, 55, for kidnapping the baby from the hospital nursery and taking him away in a cloth bag. However the hospital surveillance camera recorded their actions that helped police catch them. They said they stole the baby because Kalaiselvi was childless.
The baby was restored to his parents Pavithra and Srinivasan.
In a separate incident, a two-month-old baby girl found abandoned at the Erode railway station was given to a Christian convent though many childless couples wanted to adopt her.
Scientist at nuclear plant commits suicide
A scientist working at Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant committed suicide by jumping into the sea in suburban Chennai last week.
V R Shivaramakrishnan, 42, had gone to Kalpakkam’s jetty with a radiation survey meter. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel guarding the area were stunned when he suddenly climbed the railing and jumped into the sea. Immediately fire personnel and coast guard began a search but could only recover his body hours later.
Shivaramakrishnan lived with his family at the Kalpakkam Township. Police are investigating though no formal complaint has been filed.
Kalpakkam is a planned township with a nuclear power plant and several government-funded research stations.
Girl drowns at amusement park
A nine-year-old girl drowned in a wave pool while on a family outing to the Kishkintha private amusement park in suburban Chennai last week.
Afreen’s father Anwar Siddiq working in the Gulf had come to India for a vacation. Investigations are underway.
In May 2006, a six-year-old girl from Guduvancherry also drowned at a swimming pool in Kishkintha. Similar fatal accidents have been reported at amusement parks near Kishkintha including a woman who fractured her skull after being thrown off a joyride at EVP World at Chembarambakkam. These parks are notorious for poor maintenance, lack of lifeguards and safety standards.
Three killed in warehouse fire
Three people including a school student were killed and 14 injured while they were arranging cardboard crates of firecrackers at a warehouse at Chengam in Tiruvannamalai district about 250km from Chennai last week.