logo
Biker killed as CMRL girders crash at Manapakkam in Chennai

Biker killed as CMRL girders crash at Manapakkam in Chennai

CHENNAI: A biker was crushed to death after two I-girders, which were recently erected, collapsed on Thursday night at a Chennai Metro Rail construction site near the main gate of the L&T head office in Manapakkam.
While the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) and police officially confirmed the death of the biker, police sources said one more person could have gotten trapped under the girder. 'It is being ascertained whether the motorcycle had a pillion rider,' a CMRL statement said.
The crash happened around 10.30pm along Corridor 5 of the Chennai Metro Phase II expansion project. According to CMRL officials, the girder, part of an elevated viaduct, came crashing down after one of its supporting frames slipped.
Police fear one more person may be trapped under concrete girder
In elevated metro construction sites, precast I-girders are usually lifted and placed between piers to form the base of the viaduct over which metro trains will run.
Senior CMRL officials rushed to the site, and the statement from the agency said efforts to clear the mammoth concrete structure were under way on a 'war footing' in coordination with contractors.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Moral policing shadows couples in Chennai
Moral policing shadows couples in Chennai

The Hindu

time4 hours ago

  • The Hindu

Moral policing shadows couples in Chennai

Does the sight of young lovers or people of different genders hanging out together irk Chennaites? This February, advocate Thilagavati confronted a patrolman who harassed her for being with a male friend at night on Patinapakkam beach. She had recorded the encounter and uploaded it on social media. This led to much discussion on the topic of moral policing in public places in the city. Uproar over Ms. Thilagavati's experience had led to the officer being transferred. But the woman later faced cyberbullying about which she complained to the cyber police. 'More than men, women are targeted by law enforcement officers in such circumstances,' she says. Courts not supposed to do moral policing: Supreme Court sets aside HC order against Tehseen Poonawalla Many young men and women complain of similar experiences of being victims of the moral police brigade, that have left them traumatised. 'Couples, especially teenagers, are easily targetted. They are then threatened and blackmailed into bribing or assault,' says Ms. Thilagavati. Out with her boyfriend in Anna Nagar Tower Park, Thamizh, a woman in her twenties, says that they too were picked on by policemen. 'It happens all the time. Sometimes they even call up our parents,' she tells The Hindu. Even as she was speaking, a policewoman stared down at the young couple and asked them to 'move ahead.' They silently obeyed. UCC Bill 'introduces moral policing, criminalises autonomy' 'It is not good for young people if their future spouses see them being with another man/woman. Girls should carefully choose good boys that their parents approve of. They can do these intimate things after marriage also. Why now? That too in public,' reasons Meena (name changed), head constable at a police station in Anna Nagar. Meanwhile, a senior police officer of the Greater Chennai Police says, 'Policemen are not instructed to confront couples, unless a safety issue arises. They have the right to be together in public.' The 8.8 acre Thiru. Vi. Ka. Park in Shenoy Nagar has 26 security personnel and reportedly no CCTV camera inside. It is known for its watchful guards who spring into action when men and women sitting together even begin to think of holding hands. They whistle, glare down and show hand gestures before directly confronting the couples. 'We have instructions from the CMRL to interfere when couples sit too close together,' says Surya, a guard there. Sartorial preferences of women should not be subjected to moral policing: HC 'The Thiru. Vi. Ka. Park is designed in a way that there are no hideouts for couples to do inappropriate things. Every corner has high visibility and is covered by guards, who have been told to prevent intimacy between couples,' confirms a CMRL official, on the condition of anonymity. Those facing moral policing can assert their rights under Articles 19 (freedom of expression) and 21 (right to life and liberty). The Supreme Court and Madras High Court have upheld personal liberty under Article 21, affirming adults' rights to consensual relationships and privacy in public spaces. 'They can demand specific legal grounds for intervention, refuse arbitrary demands, and record interactions as evidence. Unlawful detention can be challenged with a habeas corpus and complaints can be filed with the Human Rights Commission or Women's Commission,' says Sonam Chandwani, an advocate. 'Healthy interaction between the opposite sexes should always be encouraged,' says advocate and human rights activist Sudha Ramallingam. 'In Western cultures, couples openly engage in public display of affection and this is not looked upon as vulgar. Why should it be vulgar here? I don't understand what morality or decency people are trying to uphold and impose by moral policing,' she adds.

AT&T's $177 million data breach settlement wins US court approval
AT&T's $177 million data breach settlement wins US court approval

Time of India

time6 hours ago

  • Time of India

AT&T's $177 million data breach settlement wins US court approval

A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval on Friday to a $177 million settlement that resolves lawsuits against AT&T over breaches in 2024 that exposed personal information belonging to tens of millions of the telecom giant's customers. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said in a ruling that the class-action settlement was fair and reasonable. The deal resolves claims over data breaches that AT&T announced in May and July last year. Depending on which breach is involved, AT&T has agreed to pay up to $2,500 or $5,000 to customers who suffered losses that are "fairly traceable" to the incidents. After payments are made for direct losses, the remaining funds will be distributed to customers whose personal information was accessed. AT&T did not immediately comment. One of the incidents resulted in the illegal downloading of about 109 million customer accounts at the U.S. wireless company. AT&T disclosed that its call logs were copied from its workspace on a Snowflake cloud platform covering about six months of customer call and text data from 2022 from nearly all its customers. In March 2024, AT&T said it was investigating a data set released on the "dark web" and said its preliminary analysis showed it affected approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. The company said the data set appeared to be from 2019 or earlier. The Federal Communications Commission is also investigating. In September, AT&T agreed to pay $13 million to resolve an FCC investigation over a data breach of a cloud vendor in January 2023 that impacted 8.9 million AT&T wireless customers. The FCC said the data exposed in 2023 covered customers from 2015 through 2017 that should have been deleted in 2017 or 2018.

UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals
UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals

Economic Times

time14 hours ago

  • Economic Times

UAE rule, wary I-T to deter dodgy crypto deals

Mumbai: In the lane to launder money, the skill to move cryptos to control companies and properties in Dubai has been honed over the past few years. But treading that alley would soon become tougher. Dual, albeit unrelated, developments in India and the UAE would force money movers to devise new tricks. First, Income tax (I-T) officials, hunting for illicit homes of Indians over the past six months, now strongly suspect that some property purchases were made with cryptocurrencies; second, a new regulatory regime in the Middle East country, would soon end payment in cryptos, other than stable coins, to freely buy goods and services. "When Indian residents use crypto to purchase real estate, they bypass Indian banking channels and FEMA scrutiny. But, under the new UAE regulations (expected from August), merchants would no longer accept crypto directly. Only entities licensed by the UAE Central Bank would be allowed to convert stablecoins to AED after collecting full KYC. While this framework ensures the buyer's identity is recorded, it remains unclear whether such data would be shared under the India-UAE tax treaty," said Purushottam Anand, founder of the law firm Crypto raiding a leading UAE developer having roots in Mumbai and clients across India, a northern office of the I-T department found that more than 460 buyers in the 650-odd property deals have no record of having remitted money through banks to acquire the properties. According to findings which were shared with other I-T centres two months ago, the arm of the UAE realtor which brokered the deals was aided by a network of 86 sub-brokers who later shared details with the tax office. According to tax circles, some of the clients had paid in cryptos, probably under the belief it would go untraced. Earlier this year, the department had found that hundreds of mule accounts were opened by a few persons in Kerala to deposit cash, use the money to buy cryptos -either on local platforms or through peer-to-peer transactions-and then move the coins to other wallets before encashing the them in UAE, or buying assets like properties, or transferring them to third parties. "When digital assets move from exchanges to P2P platforms or private wallets, monitoring becomes difficult, creating opportunities for illegal activities such as ransomware attacks, laundering, tax evasion, and potentially terrorist financing. Although the exchanges are required to report 'suspicious transactions', including withdrawals, with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India, such risks can be further addressed through stricter enforcement of TDS provisions, i.e. Sections 194S or 195, ensuring tax compliance for all crypto transactions, whether conducted on or off exchanges. Additionally, specifying the reporting entities and the format for disclosures under Section 285BAA will improve traceability," said Ashish Karundia, founder of the CA firm Ashish Karundia & Co. 'PAYMENT TOKEN REGULATIONS' The new 'Payment Token Services Regulation' lays down the rules and conditions established by the UAE Central Bank for granting a licence or registration for payment token services-which include payment token issuance, token conversion, and token custody and transfer. Under the rules no merchant or anyone in the UAE selling goods or services can accept a virtual asset unless it's a dirham payment token issued by a licensed issuer. Also, a bank cannot act as a payment token issuer. UAE is working on Dirham-linked stable coin (like USDT or Tether which is pegged to the dollar)."This would have implications for India which has close economic and financial ties with the UAE. By bringing digital assets such as payment tokens under a structured licensing and anti-money laundering framework, the regulation adds a layer of safety and transparency to cross-border digital financial flows. For Indian individuals and businesses engaging in the UAE's digital economy, on one hand this means greater clarity, reduced risk of fraud, and alignment with global best practices; on the other hand, the clear prohibition on anonymous crypto instruments like privacy tokens reinforces the global trend toward traceable and regulated digital transactions. This is something India is also actively pursuing through its own financial intelligence mechanisms. This would deter transactions in property, high value luxury products bought by Indians in UAE using crypto tokens," said Siddharth Banwat, partner at CA firm Banwat & Associates dealers said the UAE rules are not entirely fool-proof as coins can be routed through platforms in multiple jurisdictions whose cooperation would be vital to spot the trail. But the very presence of licensed intermediaries collecting and storing information would deter money movers.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store