Amma: A tenacious leader who broke the glass ceiling

December 6, 2016

Chennai, Dec 6: Her supporters hailed her as 'Amma' (mother) and 'Puratchi Thalaivi' (revolutionary leader); her critics called her a ruthless autocrat who usurped democratic processes. But in a state where the reel is inexorably fused with the real, Jayaram Jayalalithaa proved herself to be one of the most tenacious politicians who served the state as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for three terms. Known as Tamil Nadu's iron lady, Jayalalithaa, who hails from Mysore, is famous for her tough, spontaneous and populist decisions.

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Mentored by her senior acting colleague and former state Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa formally joined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1982, at the age of 34. She worked hard to climb the party ranks to become the propaganda secretary, much to the chagrin of seasoned partymen, and was soon nominated to Rajya Sabha. MGR may have brought her to politics, but she rose to the top purely on her own merits, breaking new grounds for women.

When MGR was taking treatment in the US for his illness, AIADMK had to face the Parliamentary and Assembly polls in 1984. Jayalalithaa spearheaded her party to a spectacular victory, proving that she is equal, if not better, than her mentor when it comes to galvanising her party. After MGR's demise in 1987, AIADMK split vertically with Jaya heading one of the factions. In 1989 polls, she was elected from Bodinayakkanur and became the first woman leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly.

In February that year, the party united under her leadership and she was elected the General Secretary. In 1991, Jayalalithaa led her party to a crushing victory to become the second woman Chief Minister of the state; MGR's widow Janaki being the first as she led a government that lasted for just 28 days. Jayalalithaa also became the first woman leader to complete a full term in the government, ruling the state from 1991 to 1996.

One specific incident that defined her early career as a legislator was the brawl inside the Tamil Nadu Assembly during which her sari was torn and abuses were hurled at her. A tearful and dishevelled Jayalalithaa left the Assembly complex that day vowing to return as Chief Minister, something she managed with in two years. Allegations of massive corruption made her government unpopular and she lost the 1996 elections to her rival DMK, which lodged several cases against her that she continues to fight until now.

Known for her strict handling of state bureaucrats, Jayalalithaa never hesitated to punish the civil servants who failed to discharge their duties. Jayalalithaa's early years were spent in Bengaluru, where she studied at Bishop Cotton Girl's School. As her family moved to Chennai, she went to the Presentation Convent Church Park School, where, after matriculating in 1964, she won a Government of India scholarship for higher studies.

Her dream of further studies was abruptly cut short, when her mother Sandhya persuaded her to act in films at the age of 16. She soon grew busy acting in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and even doing a movie in English. Her only English movie titled 'Epistle' was released in 1961 and was produced by Shankar Giri, son of former President VV Giri. The most memorable of her Bollywood movie was Izzat, in which she played opposite Dharmendra, who later joined the BJP.

A voracious reader, Jayalalithaa was known to carry books to the film set and read between shots. Her favourite authors include Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Danielle Steel, Pearl S Buck and James Hadley Chase. She maintains a large library with several collections. Asked what she thought of the description of her as “iron butterfly”, Jayalalithaa said: “I agree with the description 'iron', but why 'butterfly'? I don't think the word 'butterfly' fits me at all."

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Agencies
July 4,2020

The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

The image was taken on July 1 when MOM was about 7,200 km from Mars and 4,200 km from Phobos.

"Spatial resolution of the image is 210 m.

This is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames and has been color corrected," ISRO said in an update along with the image.

Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.

According to ISRO, "the violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta."

"Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche & Grildrig) are also seen in this image," it said.

The mission also known as Mangalyaan was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last "many years."

The country had on September 24, 2014 successfully placed the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft in orbit around the red planet, in its very first attempt, thus breaking into an elite club.

ISRO had launched the spacecraft on its nine-month- long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013.

It had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1, 2013.

The Rs 450-crore MOM mission aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scan its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).

The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments - Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Consumer watchdog Which? has claimed that more than one billion Android phones and tablets are vulnerable to hackers as they no longer supported by security updates.

According to the research report, the most at-risk phones are any that run Android 4 or older and those smartphones running Android 7.0 which can not be updated are also at risk.

Based on data from Google analysed by Which?, two in five android device users around the world are no longer receiving the important updates. Currently, those devices are unlikely to have issues, but the lack of security leaves them open to attack.

"It is very concerning that expensive Android devices have such a short shelf life before they lose security support, leaving millions of users at risk of serious consequences if they fall victim to hackers," Kate Bevan editor Which? said in a statement.

"Google and phone manufacturers need to be upfront about security updates with clear information about how long they will last and what customers should do when they run out. The government must also push ahead with planned legislation to ensure manufacturers are far more transparent about security updates for smart devices and their impact on consumers," Kate added.

Android phone released around 2012 or earlier, including popular models like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Sony Xperia S, are particularly at risk to hackers.

Which? has made suggestions to Android users on what to consider if they have an older phone that may be at risk.

Any Android device which is more than two years old, check whether it can be updated to a newer version of the operating system. If it is on an earlier version than Android 7.0 Nougat, try to update via Settings> System>Advanced System update.

In case a user is not able tto update the phone, the device could be at risk of being hacked if it is running a version of Android 4 or lower.

A user also need to be careful about downloading apps outside the Google Play store and should also install a mobile anti-virus via an app.

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Agencies
July 10,2020

In a first, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the service of summons and notices, a necessity in almost all legal proceedings, through instant messenger like WhatsApp as well as by e-mail and fax.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde observed that it has been brought to the notice of the court that it is not feasible to visit post offices for service of notices, summons, and pleadings. The bench also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and R Subhash Reddy observed that notice and summons should be sent through e-mail on the same day along with instant message through WhatsApp and other phone messenger services.

The bench clarified that all methods should be deployed for a valid service on the party. "Two blue ticks would convey that the receiver has seen the notice," noted the bench.

The bench declined the request of the Attorney General for specifically naming WhatsApp as a mode of effectuating service. The top court noted that it would not be practical to specify only WhatsApp. The apex court also permitted RBI to extend the validity of cheques in the backdrop of lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Senior advocate V Giri representing RBI informed the bench that he had circulated the note regarding validity of a cheque as directions issued on the previous hearing.

The bench noted that it will be in discretion of the RBI to issue orders which are suitable to alter the validity of the period of a cheque.

During an earlier hearing on the matter on July 7, the Attorney General contended before the top court that the Centre had some reservations in connection with the utilization of mobile applications like WhatsApp and other apps for service of summons. The Centre's top law officer informed the apex court that these apps claimed to be encrypted, and they were not trustworthy.

The RBI counsel had contended before the top court that it was considering clarifying the validity of a cheque which has been reduced to 3 months from 6 months.

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