School rolls back dual fee decision after mass protests
Bala Vidya Mandir, a reputable private school at Adyar that sparked national outrage over a dual fee structure, rolled back the decision after a mass protest by parents and criticism by media last week.
The school came under the authorities’ scanner for demanding an annual fee of Rs60,000 for Classes 6 to 8 which was 67% more than what Tamil Nadu’s Private School Fee Fixation Committee had recommended. Those who paid extra would be entitled to 59 extra -curricular activities and services, while the regular students would be exempt. The exemptions covered excursions, foreign student exchange programmes, canteen facilities, school bus service and others.
However after protests, the school withdrew the fees, replaced the principal and issued a public apology.
Meanwhile a deadlock continued as Bala Vidya Mandir’s teachers demanded the reinstatement of principal Srinivasa Raghavan and correspondent S S Nathan.

Larvae found in infant formula
In the wake of a nation-wide ban on Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles, the Tamil Nadu Safety and Drug Administration (Food Safety Wing) has begun tests on Nestle’s infant formula after a taxi driver submitted samples contaminated with live larvae and rice weevils in Coimbatore last month.
K Prem Ananth had reportedly bought a 380g packet of Nestle’s NAN PRO3 formula for his 18-month-old twins. The twins developed skin rash and had to be hospitalised. Prem complained to Nestle customer support and they sent their area manager who offered replacement and a test at their company lab. However Prem rejected this and sent it to the Food Safety Wing.
The tests returned positive with a caution note that this could be a stray incident.

AIADMK leader Sulochana dies
Sulochana Sampath, organisation secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party and mother of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president E V K S Elangovan died after a brief illness in Chennai on June 6.
She was 86 and survived by a daughter and four sons including Elangovan.
Sulochana was the wife of late E V K Sampath, a Tamil Nadu Congress leader and nephew of rationalist leader E V Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar. Sulochana has held various posts in AIADMK’s women’s wing, Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation and others.

Green corridor to transport organs
Doctors harvested multiple organs including the heart of a brain dead accident victim and transported them to a Chennai hospital from Madurai last week.
The 29-year-old donor, a tea stall vendor from Dindigul, died in hospital after a road accident on May 31. Doctors counselled his family members to donate his organs.
The heart and liver were flown in from Madurai to Chennai. A special green corridor (non-stop thoroughfare) was created and the organs were transported by a waiting team to the hospital at Mogappair within 17 minutes and transplanted successfully.

Heritage club shut down
The Mahalakshmi heritage club, notorious for gambling, in G N Road in T Nagar was shut down after the suicide of two people who lost all their wealth in gambling.
Police arrested 23 influential members of the club and seized Rs900,000 from there. However the club reopened within hours. Some policemen accused their seniors of accepting bribes from members.