Suicide of three students reveals education malpractices
The January 24 suicide of three students of the SVS Medical College of Yoga and Naturopathy has revealed startling facts about its corrupt administration.
Saranya, Priyanka and Monisha got admissions to the college that is affiliated to the Chennai-based Dr MGR Medical College University.
However within two years, dissatisfaction set in over excess fees (Rs600,000 each), poor infrastructure, unqualified staff and rumours that no graduate from the college had got a proper job. Besides this, the girls were heckled by college official Vasuki Subramaniyam, her son and their driver for their middle class background and other reasons.
This incident has also shown that government universities in Tamil Nadu have outsourced 85% of higher education to private colleges with doubtful credentials. Often such colleges add these courses to get government grants and scholarship money which is never disbursed for students’ tuition, hostel or infrastructure fees. Instead students had to pay regular fees and being the first generation college goers were unaware of their rights.

Raja Ravi Verma’s grandson kidnapped,  freed in Senegal
Sreekumar Verma, an award winning Chennai-based novelist and playwright was kidnapped on January 23 in the West African country of Senegal and released a few days later.
Sreekumar is the great grandson of 19th century painter Raja Ravi Verma of the Travancore royal family. He had reportedly gone to Senegal to purchase Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings from a private collector. However Abdul, a Senegalese citizen who received him at Dakar airport told Sreekumar the deal had failed and checked him into a remote seaside hotel.
Abdul then took Sreekumar’s passport on the pretext of booking his return tickets but did not return. Sreekumar became suspicious and contacted the Indian consulate from the hotel. His son Karthik in Chennai also got a ransom call and alerted the city police and the Ministry of External Affairs. The Senegalese police and Indian diplomats managed to free Sreekumar before the incident spiralled into an international controversy.
The Chennai police have decided to take action only after Sreekumar returns to India.

Robbers kill employee, loot bank
A gang of criminals murdered an employee and looted Rs20mn worth of pledged jewels and over Rs200,000 in cash from a government-owned agricultural bank at Venmani village in coastal Nagapattinam district last week.
The bank has over 500 customers from three villages. Bank employees Kamaraj and Ganapathy were reviewing the records at closing time, when two men came in posing as computer technicians. They were followed by four others who tied up the employees and stole the vault key.
When Kamaraj tried to protest they strangled him with a rope and hung him from a ceiling fan. They also tied up Ganapathy before escaping with the loot. The gang had locked up the bank and neighbours were not suspicious until they heard Ganapathy’s cries for help.

India safe from Zika: officials
Despite a worldwide alert from the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, medical authorities say that India is completely safe.
Tamil Nadu State Health Department secretary P Kolandasamy said all precautionary measures have been taken at airports and sea ports and other entry points to the state.