Nayan: Taken aback by the falling number of students opting for basic sciences, the Indian Science Congress, the all-powerful body of the country's scientific community, is coming out with a comprehensive action plan to attract more number of students to science courses.  "The theme for the 96th Indian Science Congress to be held at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Shillong will be Science Education and Attraction of Talents," said Prof Pramod Tandon, vice chancellor, NEHU.

Nayan: The absence of Union defence minister A. K. Antony and the three service chiefs at the funeral of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw took an interesting turn with former Chief of Army Staff Ved Prakash Malik taking the top brass at the defence ministry to task for insulting one of the greatest generals the country has seen.  Gen Malik said the defence minister should have attended the ceremony.

Nayan: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was accorded a state funeral here on Friday as thousands of people thronged the Wellington barracks to pay their homage to ''Sam Bahadur'' or "the general", as he was affectionately called by the community that he had endeared himself to during his 37 years of stay at Coonoor.

Nayan: Those who knew Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw well strongly believed that he was immortal. One of the last links between vintage past and high-tech modernity, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw won all the battles he had fought, most of them by fighting with his back to the wall.  He resurrected Indian pride, which was demolished by the Chinese in the 1962 war.

Nayan: Prof Mannar Jawahar, who assumed office as new vice-chancellor of Anna University, Chennai,  relaxed the ban on the use of cell phone. However, dress code regulation will continue.  "Students can now bring cell phones into the campus but they cannot use it in classrooms. They have to switch it off during class time. Otherwise, we will take stringent action against them. But they can use it during lunch hour and after class hours," he said and added that cell phone is like an infant. "If you know to lift an infant, you can, otherwise you should not attempt it. The same applies for cell phones. Parents say they are unable to contact their children, so the students can use them during lunch hour and after class hours," he said.

Nayan: Rural students in Tamil Nadu, especially those belonging to the Adi Dravidar and most backward communities, will be initiated into the world of nano technology, bio technology, bio information technology and other new avenues in science and technology, thanks to an innovative campaign launched by Science City, the Chennai based autonomous organisation under the department of higher education.  Dr Rajendra Kumar, collector, Tiruvallur, inaugurated a three-day summer science camp for school students in the rural areas of the district. This is an attempt to reach out to the under privileged groups so that they too get a chance to know more about the world of science and technology, said Dr V Varaprasada Rao, vice-chairman, Science City.

Nayan: Nine students, mostly from rural districts, have secured first rank in this year's Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission. The Anna University here released the rank list. Rekha Rajendran from Melmugam village in Salem district topped the rank list securing 200 out of 200.  Other students who secured the same mark and hit the pinnacle are, S.V. Manoj Kumar from Erode, V. Arun from Kanchipuram, T. Dinesh from Krihsngiri, S. Venkatesh from Thanjavur, Pallavi from Chennai, Vignesh from Tirunelveli and E. Manoj Kumar from Pudukkottai. These nine students who topped the list scored full marks in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and optional subject.

Nayan: With no breakthrough yet in the alleged murder over MGR's property even 20 days after the incident, the nephews and nieces of the late chief minister claimed that the much talked-about will of the late leader was a forged one.  The claim of the only blood relatives of MGR was based on documentary evidence such as the "suspicious" insertions and corrections in the draft of the will, and MGR's signature on the will was radically different from a 1977 lease agreement on Alandur fish market he had signed.

Nayan: The Chennai arrested a cook from Otteri for sending hundreds of obscene messages and death threats to his former employer, a middle-aged woman entrepreneur and local BJP leader. Jayanthi (40), from Thiru Vi Ka Nagar near Sembium, lived with her son and ran a business outlet in the same neighbourhood. She also held a key post in local BJP womens' wing.  A few months ago Jayanthi had given a mobile phone to her domestic help Mohan (35) who also stayed in their house and sometimes participated in her party activities. Last month, Mohan vanished from Jayanthi's house and within a few days Jayanthi started receiving sexually-explicit SMSes from his mobile phone. According to the police, she received at least 500 such messages.

Nayan: At least 43 South Indians, including a 79-year-old man and six women, are languishing in Lankan jails for more than 8 years, according to a Chennai-based human rights group.  "There are 40 Tamils and 3 Malayalis now imprisoned in Lanka. They are behind the bars for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotics into the island nation. In addition to these people, there are many fishermen who were held by Lankan Navy.  They are languishing in various jails in Sri Lanka without any legal support. Some of them have spent   15 years in jails," alleged  Mr G Subramanaian, co-ordinator of organisation for protection of Indians' rights abroad (OPIRA).  

Nayan: The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) had described the UPA government's $ 100 million aid to the Sri Lankan Government as an ''unforgivable betrayal of the Tamil race'' in one of its resolutions adopted during the party conference at Chennai.  It also accused the UPA government of following wrong economic policies such as allowing online trading of essential commodities thereby causing financial burden and hardship to the people.

Nayan: Chennai Corporation has identified 35 corporation school children with heart ailments who would undergo surgery shortly. According to mayor M. Subramanian, the corporation, in association with the state government, would give Rs 1.20 lakh for each child towards their medical expenditure. After inaugurating a free dental camp for corporation school children at Washe-rmenpet on Wednesday, Mr Subramanian told this newspaper that earlier the state health minister M.R.K. Paneerselvam launched a heart care scheme for children aged below 12, of corporation, government-aided and private schools.

Nayan: The AIADMK and PMK, expected to hold hands for the Lok Sabha elections, may begin their courtship during the September 1 wedding between PMK leader  G.K. Mani's son and the daughter of a senior AIADMK functionary. With both AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss slated to grace the function, there is every possibility that the wedding, likely to be held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, will assume greater political significance than being another social occasion.  

Nayan: The conciliatory talks between striking Neyveli Lignite Corporation contract workers and management remained inconclusive even as NLC authorities have begun worrying that the generation from lignite fired thermal power plants would soon hit rock bottom. On the other hand, workers are upset that the management is unwilling to consider even their basic demands. Excavation of lignite from the mines, its movement and also power generation have been crippled due to the strike for the last few days. On Tuesday, the NLC managed to produce a mere 800 MW as against the normal generation of 2,490 MW. The TNEB - the sole major beneficiary of the NLC plants  drawing 800 to 1,000 MW per day - is likely to be severely affected by the strike. TNEB's average daily requirement from NLC ranges between 800 MW and 1,000 MW. The rest (about 1690 to1490 MW) is sold to neighbouring states of Karnataka, Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry through the grid.

Nayan: The cyber crime cell of CB-CID, Tamil Nadu police, has arrested a 25-year-old woman from Bangalore for allegedly hacking into the e-mail account of a defence employee from Nilgiris and misused his contacts for financial benefit. Three male associates of the woman from Bangalore had already been arrested for the same crime.  Police identified the arrested woman as Ritu Anderson aged 25, mother of a six-month-old child.  According to Ms S. Mallika, superintendent of police, CB-CID, the police found that the hackers had impersonated as S.D. Paul a defence store keeper from Nilgiris and had sent an e-mail to his friend in Kuwait seeking Rs 75,000.