Former Madras HC judge now working as a farmer after retirement
Two videos of former Madras High Court judge A Selvam have been going viral on social media for the last few days, for all good reasons. Clad in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and a towel tied around his head, the veteran judge is seen ploughing a field on a tractor with aplomb.
After his superannuation at the age of 62, A Selvam took off to his native Pulankurichi in Tiruppattur Taluk of Sivaganga district, to pursue what he always wanted to do - agriculture.
"In times when retired judges take up post-retirement jobs as a one-member commission or as a judicial member of a tribunal, Judge A Selvam, who served as a high court judge for 13 years is now doing agriculture in his land,” read a part of the WhatsApp message in Tamil.
When told about the message, Judge Selvam laughs it off and saying that it was what he wanted to do for a long time.
“Agriculture is my original profession and I don’t feel a big shift from my past profession as a judge,” he says.
A Selvam comes an agricultural family that has been growing crops for around 100 years. “Fortunately or unfortunately, I studied well and hence was sent off to Madurai to study Law,” quips the retired judge, who served as a judge in Madurai and then came to Chennai as a Judge at the request of Justice Sanjay Kishen Kaul in 2015.
Retired in April 2018, the former judge is now tilling his five-acre ancestral field in Pulankurichi.
A typical day for A Selvam begins at 6 am and ends at 6 p.m. He ploughs the land himself, drives the tractor and knows all the operations related to agriculture.
“Now, I have sowed paddy in the field. Once I harvest it, I will sow vegetables and groundnut. Paddy is the main crop here,” he says, adding that instead of paying someone from outside to work in his field, he finds it gratifying to learn the activity by himself and doing it.
Law is a closed chapter
Starting his legal career in 1981, he gradually rose from being an additional judge in Tiruvannamalai District court to being one of the permanent judges of the Madras High Court.
Living in the midst of nature makes him happy, he says. A shot of retd. HC judge A Selvam on his tractor. pic.twitter.com/IOPsL2Vzle
— Megha Sreeram (@meghasreeram) August 3, 2018
In a career spanning 31 years, Judge A Selvam has delivered at least 10 judgments in open courts and has hardly reserved an order.
Recalling his long career in the judiciary, he says, “From my personal experience, I can say that the judiciary is not very effective in India. I am not blaming the Judiciary entirely for this, but this helps the corrupt politicians to thrive. The Judiciary should be independent and must do its job of serving the people."
He also fondly recollects the three former judges of the Supreme Court whom he had admired for their work during the course of his career -- Justice VR Krishna Iyer, Justice KT Thomas and Justice Panicker Radhakrishnan.
“I had an opportunity to meet and spend time with Justice VR Krishna Iyer in Kochi, a week before he passed away. I will cherish that memory. Although I do not know much about the three judges personally, I always look up to their judgments and their actions,” he says.
In fact, he exercised these principles in his life, on the day of his retirement. He handed over his car keys immediately after his tenure and went home from the Madras High Court in his personal car.
Now that he has “closed one chapter in his life”, as he puts it, judge Selvam signs off saying, “What gives me true happiness is doing agriculture on my land here and get a good harvest. It feels great to be in the midst of nature.”
courtesy : thenewsminute.com
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Sensex falls by 322 pts as Trump imposes reciprocal tariffs on 60 countries; IT shares lead losers
Mumbai, Apr 3 (PTI): Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed down on Thursday due to selling in IT shares amid a global sell-off as US President Donald Trump unveiled reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries, including India.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 322.08 points or 0.42 per cent to close at 76,295.36. During the session, it plunged 809.89 points or 1.05 per cent to hit an intraday low of 75,807.55 but recovered some of the losses as pharma shares advanced.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 82.25 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 23,250.10. The index declined by 186.55 points or 0.79 per cent to a low of 23,145.80 in early trade but later pared some losses.
President Trump, in a historic measure to counter higher duties on American products imposed globally, announced reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries. The US imposed a 27 per cent tariff on Indian goods while imposing a 10 per cent baseline tax on imports from all countries.
"This is Liberation Day, a long-awaited moment. April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. We are going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy," Trump said in his remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday.
IT shares led the losses with TCS falling the most by 3.98 per cent. Tech Mahindra declined by 3.79 per cent, HCL Technologies by 3.71 per cent and Infosys by 3.41 per cent.
"The imposition of very high reciprocal tariffs by the US on its major trading partners, including India, will likely have large negative consequences for global and US GDP growth, global and US inflation, and the profitability of certain sectors and companies in India," Sumit Pokharna, VP-Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities said, adding that a sequential revenue decline for all large Indian IT service companies for the March'25 quarter is expected due to seasonal weakness, lower billing days, and marginal deterioration in demand.
Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel were also among the laggards.
PowerGrid, Sun Pharmaceuticals, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Asian Paints, Nestle India, Titan, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
"The Nifty index opened lower in response to the US tariff announcements but saw some recovery due to resilience in select heavyweight stocks. This helped trim losses in early trades, leading to a range-bound session," Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
In broader markets, the BSE smallcap gauge rose by 0.76 per cent and the midcap index went up 0.31 per cent.
Market breadth was positive as 2,809 stocks advanced while 1,175 declined and 139 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"The domestic market initially showed signs of recovery but ended with modest losses after the announcement of a relatively lower... tariff on US imports. The IT and auto sectors experienced selling pressure due to US slowdown concerns and disruptions in the supply chain," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said.
Nair further, said pharmaceutical stocks benefited from being exempt from the tariffs. Nonetheless, robust domestic macroeconomic data and lower crude oil prices aided the broader market performance.
Although the tariff presents short-term challenges, India's economic resilience and bilateral trade agreement may help mitigate the overall impact, he added.
According to Choice Wealth' Vice President Nikunj Saraf, the US tariff on Indian exports introduces near-term economic headwinds, affecting key industries like automobiles, textiles, and gems & jewellery.
While India's trade surplus with the US is significant, prolonged tariffs may force us to explore alternative economic partnerships to safeguard growth.
If these duties persist and impact our economy, a strategic shift toward newer markets and domestic resilience will be imperative. The focus now must be on strong trade negotiations and proactive policy measures to mitigate risks, Saraf said.
Among the sectoral indices, Focussed IT plunged the most by 4.13 per cent, IT (3.78 per cent), Teck (2.85 per cent), Auto (1.14 per cent), Metal (0.99 per cent), Oil & Gas (0.59 per cent), Consumer Discretionary (0.24 per cent) and Energy (0.38 per cent).
On the other hand, Utilities, Power, Healthcare, Telecommunication, Consumer Durables, Services, and FMCG were among the gainers.
Despite, market ended in the red territory, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose by Rs 35,170.32 crore to Rs 4,13,33,265.92 (USD 4.83 trillion).
In Asian markets, Tokyo's Nikkei plunged the most by nearly 3 per cent, followed by Hong Kong (1.52 per cent), Seoul's KOSPI (0.76 per cent) and Shanghai (0.24 per cent).
European markets were trading lower in the mid-session deals. Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 3.68 per cent to USD 72.19 a barrel.
Meanwhile, foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,538.88 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 2,808.83 crore on a net basis.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded 592.93 points to settle at 76,617.44, and the NSE Nifty climbed 166.65 points to settle at 23,332.35.
