BBC Tamil service suspended after 76 years

The BBC terminated the Tamil radio service on April 30, 76 years after it was started on May 3, 1941.In the beginning the two-hour programme was broadcast on a weekly basis before its timings were increased. It covered news, entertainment, Tamil translations of English classics, history and in-depth reporting.Sampathkumar, a former correspondent said: “For people in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka who were keen to know more about current affairs and international news in particular and wanted to listen to it in a language they were comfortable with, the Tamil broadcast was a staple. The radio broadcast was always known for its objective reporting of the Sri Lankan civil war and had a lot of listeners from there.”A BBC release explained that the service had been suspended as listeners had switched to TV, Internet and online social media.Government doctors call off protestThe Government Doctors’ Associations in Tamil Nadu who had struck work for the past fortnight over admission norms in postgraduate courses and cancellation of National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) exams for medical admissions called off protests last week.The doctors were reportedly placated after Health Minister C Vijaya Bhaskar met them and agreed to consider their demands.The strike was against an April 17 ruling of the Madras High Court cancelling the 50% reservation of seats in postgraduate courses for government doctors.Instead their admissions would be finalised based on NEET and their service in remote areas of the state.The protests intensified after the Madurai Bench of the High Court gave a split verdict last week. The strike affected government hospitals and primary health centres.Brother held for robbery at sister’s homeA theft of gold jewellery and Rs200,000 in cash from a house in Salem was solved within a day last week.The robbery took place at the three-storey home of Vijayalakshmi, a widow who lived with her two children at Kitchipalayam area. Her brother Bhaskar’s family lived on the top floor while her aged parents lived on the ground floor.The family had a joint business in iron hardware and plywood. The robbery took place when the family members except Bhaskar had gone for a visit to Tirupati temple. On their return they alerted police, who suspected that it was an inside job as only a bathroom window had been broken and the house had only one entrance.Based on this they interrogated the family and zeroed in on Bhaskar who confessed to the crime. He admitted that he had tampered with the surveillance cameras and also arranged for the family’s trip during the robbery.Ex-principal of Loyola College dies aged 85Father Joseph Inchakal, a former alumnus and principal of Chennai’s heritage Loyola College died on May 4 at his native town of Kozhikode in Kerala.He was 85 and had been in coma for a month after a fall.Fr Joseph obtained a degree in physics from Loyola College. He did his master’s and a doctorate from the US before rejoining Loyola as head of the department of physics.He soon became an able administrator and introduced autonomy for Loyola in 1978, a first for any college in South India. This system allowed Loyola to function independently of any university and produce exemplary graduates who became leaders in their field. He also founded Loyola’s photography and philately club.