Latest news with #Ramachandran
New Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
NDA ignored OPS, he must quit alliance: Veteran politician Panruti S Ramachandran
CHENNAI: Veteran politician and advisor to former CM O Panneerselvam's "AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee", Panruti S Ramachandran, on Monday said that it is high time that the leader disassociated himself from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance that has openly ignored him of late. Ramachandran's opinion gathered significance with the expelled AIADMK leader holding a conference of his outfit in September in Madurai. Sources closer to him said that during a recent meeting in Chennai, 60 out of the 82 district secretaries urged him to join hands with actor Vijay's TVK. Talking to TNIE, Ramachandran pointed out that both Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his past two visits, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to the state, did not give an audience to Panneerselvam, a former CM.
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Constitutionally anchored mechanism needed to balance judicial independence and accountability
Hyderabad: SeniorAdvocate at the Supreme Court of India and Distinguished Professor of Law at NALSAR, Raju Ramachandran, emphasized the need for a comprehensive, constitutionally anchored mechanism that strikes a balance between the independence of the judiciary and genuine institutional accountability. He underscored the importance of transparency, procedural fairness, and consistency in safeguarding both public confidence and constitutional integrity. Delivering a lecture as part of the ongoing Distinguished Lecture Series at the NALSAR University of Law on Saturday, delved deep into the theme 'Removal of Judges: From Justice V. Ramaswami to Justice Yashwant Verma' in his lecture. The session commenced with Prof. Anup Surendranath introducing the speaker. Dr. Malvika Prasad provided an overview of the Lecture Series. The event was graced by Prof. (Dr.) Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Prof. N. Vasanthi, Registrar, Prof. Sitharamam Kakarala, and students, faculty, and members of the legal fraternity. In his address, Ramachandran drew from historical instances, key legal developments, and his own experience as a member of the Inquiry Committee in the Justice V. Ramaswami case, the first and only full-fledged judicial impeachment proceeding in India. Ramachandran began by outlining the evolution of judicial tenure protections, starting with colonial frameworks and progressing to the post-independence constitutional safeguards designed to uphold judicial independence. He noted the anomaly presented in the 1964 case of Justice Jaffer Imam, who, suffering from mental incapacity, had to be persuaded by Prime Minister Nehru to resign in the absence of a removal procedure for incapacity short of impeachment. The lecture focused extensively on the Justice V. Ramaswami case. He recounted the procedural integrity of the inquiry and the political failure of the impeachment motion, which was defeated in Parliament due to abstentions by the ruling party despite the committee's adverse findings. Ramachandran criticized the limitations of the current constitutional and statutory framework, emphasizing the excessive dependence on the in-house mechanism, a non-statutory process developed by the judiciary to address allegations of misconduct. He noted that this mechanism lacks transparency, operates outside public scrutiny, and creates constitutional uncertainty when its findings influence or precede impeachment motions in Parliament. Discussing recent developments, Ramachandran drew attention to the case of Justice Yashwant Varma, where an internal committee recommended impeachment. He raised critical questions about the implications of such findings being challenged in court and how such parallel processes of judicial inquiry and parliamentary impeachment might undermine each other, potentially resulting in what he termed a 'reverse-Ramaswami scenario.'
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Tigress attacks supervisor at Thiruvananthapuram zoo
A supervisor at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo sustained injuries to his head after a tigress attacked him unexpectedly while he was cleaning its cage on Sunday morning. According to the zoo authorities, Ramachandran, supervisor at the zoo, had gone for a routine cleanup of six-year-old female Royal Bengal tigress Babitha's cage at around 11 a.m. when the attack happened. 'The tigress was at the other end of the cage. So, the supervisor who was outside the cage did not expect it to move suddenly to his side. He was cleaning the cage, when it charged at him and struck at his head through the bars. Since tigers have retractable claws, it will come out whenever it raises its paws. Fortunately, he only suffered a relatively minor injury on his head,' said P.S. Manjula Devi, Director of the Department of Museums and Zoo. Mr. Ramachandran was first taken to the General Hospital and later taken to the Government Medical College Hospital. He was discharged in the evening with four stitches to the head. According to the zoo veterinary surgeon Nikesh Kiran, the Forest department had caught the tigress from Wayanad and translocated it to the zoo. As a rehabilitated tigress, it is kept in a cage and not in the natural enclosure for display to zoo visitors. No violent incident has been associated with the tigress after it was shifted to the zoo. After the attack happened on Sunday, an emergency meeting was convened at the zoo, in which instructions were issued to the staff to not go too close to the cages. Another meeting to be chaired by the director has been scheduled for Monday.
News18
2 days ago
- News18
Tiger attacks employee at Thiruvananthapuram zoo
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 27 (PTI) An employee was attacked by a tiger while cleaning its enclosure at the zoo here on Sunday, officials said. Supervisor Ramachandran was attacked by the female tiger when he tried to change the drinking water in its cage from outside. The tiger, translocated from Wayanad, attacked the employee from inside the cage. He suffered head injuries, Zoo and Museums Director Manju Devi said. 'Ramachandran is a supervisor at the zoo. He is also in charge of the tiger enclosure. The attack was really unexpected. The incident happened when he tried to change the drinking water inside the cage," she told a TV channel. The big cat suddenly came running to the employee and hit him through the bars of the cage from inside, the director said. As he was changing the water with his head down, he suffered a minor injury above the forehead, she said. He was first rushed to the general hospital and then to the government medical college and was later discharged after being giving primary care and treatment, the director added. PTI LGK KH Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Citizen science data-backed study reveals widespread decline in India's birds
A recent study has revealed a significant decline in many of India's bird species, underscoring the urgent need for targeted and sustained conservation efforts. The State of India's Birds 2023 report, produced by a consortium of leading research institutions and conservation organisations, assesses the status of 942 bird species using data contributed by thousands of birdwatchers through the eBird citizen science platform. According to the report, 204 species have suffered long-term decline, and 142 are currently declining. 'Our findings reveal a sobering truth — India's diverse bird populations are facing significant decline, underscoring an urgent need for concerted conservation efforts,' said Vivek Ramachandran, Fellow, Wildlife Biology and Conservation Programme at NCBS, and an author of the study. Alarming trends The report represents one of the largest biodiversity monitoring efforts in the global south. It classified 178 species as 'high conservation priority', 323 as 'moderate priority', and 441 as 'low priority.' Birds with specialised diets, such as those feeding on vertebrate prey, carrion, or invertebrates, have declined the most, averaging over 25% long-term population loss. In contrast, species dependent on fruits or nectar have remained stable or even increased. Habitat specialists from grasslands, scrublands, and wetlands have experienced the steepest declines. Winter migrants to India have also declined more sharply than resident species, raising further alarm. Innovations in data handling According to a communique from NCBS, one of the main challenges of using eBird data is the variable effort put in by citizen scientists. Rather than standardising birding duration or distance, the team standardised analyses based on the number of species reported per checklist, which improved the comparability of data. All the software and analytical methods developed for the project are open source, allowing researchers worldwide to build upon them. 'The analysis leveraged citizen science data from the eBird platform and developed a robust methodology to clean, organise, and analyse this semi-structured data to overcome biases. This framework allowed for the assessment of a larger number of bird species than previously possible and is intended to serve as a blueprint for regions with limited resources for traditional surveys,' said Mr. Ramachandran.
