Unlike previous year's Christmas celebrations which were dampened by the pandemic, there were no restrictions in place for this year's Christmas celebrations in Kerala. (PTI/File)Chennai, Tamil Nadu Live News: As experts warned that of the Covid-19 cases related to the Omicron strain may increase if public gathered in large numbers during festivals, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin urged people to avoid crowding and follow Covid-19 protocols. Stalin, after chairing a high level consultative meeting, appealed to the people to fully cooperate with the government to control the spread of the virus.
With Tamil Nadu reporting 34 cases of Omicron variant so far and considering Christmas and New Year celebrations besides the harvest festival of Pongal next month, Stalin held a meeting of medical, public health experts and top officials at the Secretariat.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Friday issued a fresh set of comprehensive guidelines following the emergence of Omicron strain of the coronavirus and said that the norms should be strictly adhered to. Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine T S Selvavinayagam said the testing should be done for individuals who had taken up international travel during the last 14 days, healthcare workers with symptoms of Covid-19 and those patients having severe acute respiratory infection (SARI).
In other news, a consortium of CBSE-affiliated schools in Tamil Nadu has sought the nullification of the first phase of board exams for classes 10 and 12 this year, citing large-scale “corrupt and fraudulent practices” in a letter to Board officials in Delhi.
The structural damage to the British-era bridge in the Arakkonam-Katpadi section, due to the recent cyclones in the Bay of Bengal that hit Tamil Nadu in November and resultant floods which caused havoc to the structure necessitated the Southern Railway to divert 12 trains in the route, the Southern Railway said on Friday.
Announcing the diversion of trains due to temporary suspension of traffic on Bridge no. 299 between Mukundarayapuram and Tiruvalam stations in Arakkonam-Katpadi section of the Chennai division, the Southern Railway urged the people to plan their travel in view of the changes made in the pattern of express train services on December 25 and 26, respectively.
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Tamil Nadu Friday reported over 597 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths, the Health Department said. The death toll reached to 36,714. With over 681 people recovering from the infection, the number of active cases are currenly at 6,798. A total of 1,02,947 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5,67,25,248. Chennai reported 146 cases and Coimbatore reported 90 cases on Friday.
With Christmas and New Year celebrations round the corner, Chief Minister M K Stalin Friday chaired a high-level consultative meeting with medical, public health experts and top officials at the secretariat to take stock of the Covid-19 situation in the state. With experts warning that the Omicron strain of the virus may spread if there are large gatherings, Staling appealed to the people to avoid crowding and follow Covid norms strictly.
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The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department to maintain status quo in respect of establishing a college on the land belonging to Athanur Amman Temple in Tiruchengode taluk in Namakkal district. Justice R Suresh Kumar granted the injunction while passing interim orders on a writ petition from Tamilarasi Deivasigamani, recently and posted the matter for further hearing on January 4.
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A consortium of CBSE-affiliated schools in Tamil Nadu has sought the nullification of the first phase of board exams for classes 10 and 12 this year, citing large-scale “corrupt and fraudulent practices” in a letter to Board officials in Delhi.
The CBSE Schools’ Management Association (CSMA) — which represents around 350 schools in the state — flagged alleged incidents of manipulation, including leaking of answers to school students through WhatsApp and hard copies. CSMA said this was due to poorly planned changes and sudden implementation of a new assessment system this year.
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Tamil Nadu on Friday issued a fresh set of comprehensive guidelines following the emergence of Omicron strain of the coronavirus and said that the norms should be strictly adhered to.
Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine T S Selvavinayagam said the testing should be done for individuals who had taken up international travel during the last 14 days, healthcare workers with symptoms of Covid-19 and those patients having severe acute respiratory infection (SARI).
Read more
The structural damage to the British-era bridge in the Arakkonam-Katpadi section, due to the recent cyclones in the Bay of Bengal that hit Tamil Nadu in November and resultant floods which caused havoc to the structure necessitated the Southern Railway to divert 12 trains in the route, the Southern Railway said on Friday.
Announcing the diversion of trains due to temporary suspension of traffic on Bridge no. 299 between Mukundarayapuram and Tiruvalam stations in Arakkonam-Katpadi section of the Chennai division, the Southern Railway urged the people to plan their travel in view of the changes made in the pattern of express train services on December 25 and 26, respectively.
Read more
Tamil Nadu on Friday issued a fresh set of comprehensive guidelines following the emergence of Omicron strain of the coronavirus and said that the norms should be strictly adhered to. Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine T S Selvavinayagam said the testing should be done for individuals who had taken up international travel during the last 14 days, healthcare workers with symptoms of Covid-19 and those patients having severe acute respiratory infection (SARI).
For the international passengers arriving to the state, he said, they should self-register on the Air Suvidha Portal before the scheduled travel and also upload a negative RTPCR report of Covid-19. Each passenger should submit a declaration with respect to authenticity of the report, he said.
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Vanakkam Chennai! Welcome to today’s live blog. We bring to you the latest news on Covid-19, politics, features, entertainment, sports, weather, art and culture from across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow our live blog and @ie_chennai to stay up to date with what’s happening in the state.
Legendary filmmaker K S Sethumadhavan died on Friday at his residence in Chennai. He was 94. Known as a ‘literary’ director who directed over 60 films in his career, Sethumadhavan who lived in Chennai was suffering from age-related ailments.
Sethumadhavan is often mentioned as a man whose works significantly contributed to the evolution of Malayalam cinema. Born in 1927 in Palakkad, he was known for his social melodramas. Some of his significant works in Malayalam film history include Odayil Ninnu (1965), which was based on a novel by P Kesavadev, portraying the life of a rickshaw-puller.
It was his Malayalam movie ‘Kannum Karalum’ (1962) that first introduced Kamal Haasan as a child artist into the Malayalam cinema. It was Sethumadhavan who made Haasan a hero too for the first time in the movie, ‘Kanyakumari (1974). Kerala veteran actor Mammootty also made his first appearance in Sethumadhavan’s ‘Anubhavangal Palichakal’ (1971). Read more
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday launched the CM Dashboard monitoring system that will enable Chief Minister M K Stalin to get real-time information on important matters including rainfall patterns, water storage levels in reservoirs and health-related among others. MK Stalin launched the dashboard in Chennai, an official release said.
“Understanding the need for real-time information, proper monitoring, increased efficiency of government, cutting down of delays and taking prompt decisions, he had already directed a team to prepare dashboards that would achieve the requirements listed above,” it said.
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The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Thursday announced that metro travel cards will soon be available through authorised agencies besides Metro stations. Pradeep Yadav, I.A.S., Managing Director, CMRL said that the step was being taken to insure that travel cards are easily be available to public in all modes thereby enabling a smooth travel experience for them.
The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court on Thursday that the state Governor alone would have to take a decision on the issue relating to former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, M K Surappa who is facing charges of corruption and other malpractices. Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram told Justice V Parthiban that the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of all the universities in the state, alone is the competent authority to deal with the issue.
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The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to strictly implement the Rules and regulations relating to slaughter of animals in the state. Justice S M Subramaniam gave the direction recently while disposing of a writ petition, filed by V Panneerselvam of Pangal village in Nagapattinam district in 2015.
The relief sought for in the petition was for a direction to the executive authority of Pangal village panchayat to take suitable action against a person, who was slaughtering goats and sheep and running a meat shop without obtaining necessary license from the competent authority.
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A case has been registered against a lawyer, who was caught in an inappropriate act during a virtual hearing by a single judge on December 20 and investigation is on, Tamil Nadu Public Prosecutor Hassan Mohammed Jinnah told the Madras High Court on Thursday. As directed earlier on December 21, Jinnah said this to a division bench of Justices P N Prakash and R Hemalatha, which had initiated contempt of court proceedings against the lawyer.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced constituting a committee under a retired High Court judge to recommend to the State, the premature release of certain categories of life convicts, the government said on Thursday.
The panel, comprising among others Mental Health expert, Medical Education Director, advocate with expertise in criminal procedure code and one from the Prisons department, will be headed by retired judge of the Madras High Court, Justice N Authinathan, an official release in Chennai said.
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Tamil Nadu recorded a marginal increase in Covid-19 cases on Thursday with 607 people contracting the virus in the last 24 hours. The state’s cumulative count stands at 27,42,224, the health department said. As many as eight people have succumbed to the virus, pushing the toll to 36,707, a medical bulletin informed. Chennai and Coimbatore accounted for the majority of new infections with 145 and 92 cases, respectively, while the remaining was spread across other districts. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday launched an environment-friendly initiative – Meendum Manjapai Vizhipunarvu Iyakkam – reviving the yellow coloured cloth bag that was an integral part of daily life in the past. This awareness campaign on using ‘yellow’ cloth bag or ‘manjapai’ as it is called in Tamil, is aimed at encouraging the people to return to the use of this eco-friendly bag and discard the plastic bags.
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Nalini Sriharan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was Thursday granted a month’s parole by the Tamil Nadu government which considered a request from her ailing mother, Padmavathi.
The state government’s decision was revealed by the government counsel before the Madras High Court on Thursday during a hearing of the petition filed by Padmavathi. Citing age-related reasons, she asked the court to direct the state Home Secretary to grant parole for her daughter.
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Parts of Chennai will face a power shutdown from 9 am to 2 pm, with supply expected to resume before 2 pm if the work is completed.
As per a press release given by the company, the following neighbourhoods in Chennai will be affected:
Tambaram/Perumbakkam: Velacherry Main Road, Patel Road, Ranganathapuram, erikari Road, CBI colony, Pushpa nagar, Perumbakkam Main Road, Ravi Street PALLIKARANAI Dharmalinga nagar, Vivekananda nagar, Sai ganesh nagar, Thulukanathamman Koil Street, , Sai balaji nagar, Gandhi street
Radha Nagar: Viswakarama Flats, TVS Flats, Nagathamman koil street, Maninaickar street, Sanathi street, Suguna colony, Andavar street and above surrounding areas.
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Vanakkam Chennai! Welcome to today’s live blog. We bring to you the latest news on Covid-19, politics, features, entertainment, sports, weather, art and culture from across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow our live blog and @ie_chennai to stay up to date with what’s happening in the state.