ChennaiTown.com

The second wave of parents' protests over schools' violation of the fee structure fixed by the Justice Govindarajan Commitee started to roll on Thursday when parents of students in the CSI Bains School, Kilpauk, in the city created a stir over the school's demand for the second term fee, which was much higher than what was prescribed in the fee structure.

This despite the recent order by the committee that schools have to abide by the fee structure fixed by it for this year, till it comes out with a rerevised fee structure in the next year. About 250 parents protested, over the second term fees collection.

A parent who protested said that not just for the first term, the school had demanded excess fees even for the second term, much higher than prescribed by the committee.

According to parents, the school has not given the regular calendar and diary to the students, where the fees for all the three terms are mentioned officially; instead, they have sent oral instructions indicating the fees.

Chennaiites turned out in droves for the Marg Chennai Marathon in aid of GiveLife charity, as over a lakh people turned up at Anna Square early on Sunday to participate in the 7-km City Run and the 21-km Half Marathon.

The sky was largely overcast but the mood was completely upbeat, what with huge participation from NGOs and colleges. Corporates too chipped in to do their bit at the marathon.

Mayor M Subramanian flagged off the City Run at 6 am, touted to be the fun event at the marathon. This run, which had no prizes, saw young and old running and walking in good cheer. The yoga freak that he is, the Mayor, though, did not take part in the run. “I had to oversee a lot of the organisations,” he said with a smile.

Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi flagged off the Half Marathon, the event for the serious runner. “The response to this event has exceeded my expectations,” she beamed. “It’s nice to see corporates and NGOs coming together for a cause.”

Marg, the main sponsor of the event, expressed happiness with the response to the event. “Our cause is fulfilled,” its Chairman and Managing Director GRK Reddy said.

The city police have announced traffic regulations in connection with the GiveLife Chennai International Half Marathon 2010 scheduled on August 29.

The marathon will commence from Anna Square and culminate at the Annai Velankanni Church at Besant Nagar. The corridor connecting Kamarajar Salai, Santhome High Road, Beasant Avenue Road up to Annai Velankanni Church will be partially closed.

Vehicles coming from Adyar and proceeding to north Chennai will be diverted via Thiru Vi Ka Bridge, Greenways Road, RK Mutt Road, Luz Junction, Anna Salai, Dams Road, Harris Road, Pantheon Road Roundabout, Dr Nair Bridge and turn right to reach Parry's Corner.

The unexpected pre-monsoon rains, coupled with a good harvest, have brought the down prices of vegetables at the Koyambedu wholesale market, though the good news for the consumer has failed to translate into lower prices at retail shops across the city.

The cost of vegetables like onions, tomatoes, carrots, beans and green peas has dropped significantly thanks to incessant rains, which have given the growers a sense of optimism.

V R Soundararajan, a member of the Koyambedu Market Management Committee, said unexpected rains in the southern states for the past few weeks have helped the vegetable growers to get a good harvest this time around.

On Thursday, carrots were being sold at Rs 28, beans at Rs 25, green peas at Rs 78, drumsticks at Rs 28 and onions at Rs 13 per kg at Koyembdu market, he said.

Though the prices of most of the highly consumed vegetables had come down from Rs 7 to Rs 10 per kg, it had not reflected in retail sales as P Vanitha, a regular at the Perambur vegetable market pointed out.