TN Health Minister Ma. Subramanian and other officials inspect a govt mega vaccine camp being held in Adyar. (Twitter/ChennaiCorp)Chennai, Tamil Nadu News Highlights: Active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu surged to 40, 260 as the state added 10,978 infections on Saturday, with Chennai recording nearly half of the new cases with 5,098 infections. As per the department, 1,525 people recovered from the disease and were discharged in the last 24 hours.
The state currently has at least 30,817 active cases, according to official data. The sharpest increase of new cases was reported in Chengalpet with 1,039, followed by Thiruvallur 514, Coimbatore 408, Kancheepuram 257, Vellore 216, Tiruchirappalli 184, Tuticorin 160, Madurai 149, Tiruppur 127, Salem 119, Kanyakumari 117, Ranipet 113, Tirunelveli 104, and Erode 103.
In view of the full lockdown announced by the Tamil Nadu government to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Chennai division of Southern Railway has revised the schedule of suburban trains on Sundays with effect from Jan 9. The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced night curfews that came into effect from Jan 6 and full lockdowns on Sundays to be in effect till Jan 20 as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday adopted over 12 Bills including one that entrusts the TN Public Service Commission with the task of recruitment of personnel in public sector undertakings to further open up job opportunities for the rural youth.
Chennai: Policemen stop people during the night curfew between 10 pm to 5 am imposed by the Tamil Nadu government to curb the spread of COVID-19, at Marina Beach in Chennai, Thursday, Jan. 06, 2022. (PTI Photo)
Fresh Covid-19 cases breached the grim 10,000 mark in Tamil Nadu as it added 10,978 infections, pushing the caseload to 27,87,391, while the toll mounted to 36,843 with 10 more fatalities, the health department said on Saturday.
The department said 1,525 people recovered from the disease and were discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 27,10,288 leaving 40,260 active infections.
After recording nil Omicron cases over the past few days, 64 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 185 till date, a medical bulletin said.
The last time when Tamil Nadu reported over 10,000 cases was in April 18, 2021 when it added 10,723 new cases. Nearly half of the new Covid-19 cases reported today were contributed by Chennai with 5,098 infections, followed by Chengalpet 1,332. (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said people will be permitted to travel during the complete lockdown on Sunday to attend family functions including weddings by producing invitations.
Police would extend their full cooperation to such travellers who display invitations to attend the family functions including marriages, an official release said.
Following a sharp increase in Coronavirus cases and the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the State government introduced night curfew from Thursday and announced complete lockdown on Sunday to contain the spread of the pandemic.(PTI)
Samagra Shiksha, functioning under the School Education department, is taking care of the children affected by Dyslexia through special teachers, the Madras High Court has been informed.
A submission to this effect was made by the School Education department in its counter affidavit filed before the Court in response to a PIL petition, recently.
The petition from K Elango prayed for a direction to the department to set up an expert committee to identify the students afflicted with Dyslexia and organise state-wide counselling for children addicted to social media and to revamp the parents-teachers association based on a representation. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Minister Gingee K S Masthan on Saturday appealed Tamils living abroad to invest in the state and said the role of expatriate Tamils was essential for economic development.
The Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non Resident Tamils' Welfare said Tamils living abroad should come to Tamil Nadu to start business and Chief Minister M K Stalin was taking special steps in this connection.
Masthan made these comments at an event in which Dr Vishnu Prabhu was appointed as the Trade Commissioner of Papua New Guinea in the presence of Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan here on Friday, a press release said. (PTI)
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has shared the Tamil Nadu State lockdown guidelines in English, on its official Twitter account. As per the guidelines, night curfew will be imposed throughout the state from 10 pm to 5 am.
The guidelines also mention that citizens residing in Tamil Nadu will need to wear masks and will need to appear for thermal screening while making use of inter-state bus services. Additionally, essential services will be permitted during the night, and petrol and diesel bunks will be operational as well.
The Madras High Court has ruled that an evangelist who made offending remarks against Hindus cannot claim immunity after outraging religious beliefs of others and stated he cannot be equated as a neutral commentator or a stand-up comedian like Munawar Faruqui.
Partly quashing an FIR filed against priest P George Ponniah who was booked under different sections of the IPC including outraging religious sentiments, Justice G R Swaminathan said such immunity would be available only to rationalists or satirists or even academics under the Constitution.
The judge, while batting for an individual's decision to convert from one religion to another, however said "religious conversions cannot be a group agenda." (PTI)
Puducherry witnessed a big jump in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 280 infections being reported during the last 24 hours ending 10 am on Saturday pushing up the overall tally to 1,30,278.
The new cases identified at the end of examination of 3,554 samples were spread over Puducherry 234, Karaikal 27 and Mahe 19.
Director of Health G Sriramulu said the active cases were 825 with 96 patients being in hospitals taking treatment and the remaining 729 patients in home isolation. (PTI)
Passengers will now need to carry vaccine certificates showing they are fully vaccinated to travel in Chennai suburban trains.
All TASMAC shops and related liquor stores will be closed on Jan 9 as a complete lockdown will be observed in Tamil Nadu
The AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court upholding the 27 per cent reservation in all India Quota (AIQ) seats for medical admissions, and claimed this was a victory for its sustained struggle on the quota issue.
The main opposition party also lashed out at its rival, the ruling DMK for claiming credit in the matter, alleging it had not made the smallest effort in the quota issue.
AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator K Palaniswami also vowed to oppose the 10 per cent EWS quota. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin chairs an all-party meeting to discuss the future course of action on the State's demand for exemption from NEET.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday launched a broadside against the AIADMK on governance and said the opposition party has no locus standi to talk about the prevailing law and order in the State or providing relief to the rain-affected.
Firing sharp barbs at the arch rival, even as he thanked it for being on the same page on seeking exemption from NEET for Tamil Nadu, Stalin remarked, "see if your hands are tainted before accusing."
Winding up the debate on motion of thanks to the governor for his address to the Assembly, the Chief Minister said "the AIADMK has no locus standi to talk about the law and order situation in DMK rule or about disbursing relief to the rain-affected." (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has announced that power will be suspended in parts of Chennai today for carrying out maintenance work in the city.
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. Find full list here.
As many as 2,388 people were fined in Chennai on Friday for not masking up, according to an updated shared by the city corporation.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that 77.3% of eligible population in the state has been vaccinated with first dose of the vaccine and 61.46% with second dose.
There is no scope for any irregularity in initiatives here under the Smart Cities Mission during his party-led regime, AIADMK top leader Edappadi K Palaniswami said in Chennai on Friday.
Palaniswami alleged that sub-standard commodities were being given away to people under the harvest festival 'Pongal' gift hamper distribution plan. Insects were found in wheat flour and jaggery is also sub-standard, he alleged and showed video clips of people making the allegations. He also alleged 'irregularity' in procurement of sugarcane for distribution under this scheme. (PTI)
Crop loans to the tune of Rs 501.69 crore extended to 51,017 farmers of Salem and Namakkal districts in Tamil Nadu will be waived to facilitate them to avail fresh loans to raise crops, state Cooperative Minister I Periyasamy said on Friday and assured that appropriate measures would be taken to ensure irregularities did not occur in future.
Irregularities in disbursement of loans to farmers in both the districts, in violation of norms fixed by the state-level technical committee for disbursing loans and disproportionate to their land holdings, came to light during a field-level investigation by the Cooperative department. (Read more)
DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court order upholding the validity of 27 per cent OBC quota in admissions to medical courses.
Lauding the order, Stalin said due to the continuous struggle of his party over the past several years in both the political and judicial fronts, reservation for OBCs would be implemented for the first time and from this year in admissions to All India Quota seats. (Read more)
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday adopted over 12 Bills including one that entrusts the TN Public Service Commission with the task of recruitment of personnel in public sector undertakings to further open up job opportunities for the rural youth.
A Bill to amend the TN Cooperative Societies Act, 1983 was passed to make visually impaired persons and those unable to write due to any physical disability eligible for being elected or nominated as a member of a board of any registered cooperative society. (Read more)
In view of the full lockdown announced by the Tamil Nadu government to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Chennai division of Southern Railway has revised the schedule of suburban trains on Sundays with effect from January 9.
The Southern Railway has appealed passengers taking suburban trains to adhere to Covid-19 behaviour and extend their cooperation, a press release said here on Friday.
Accordingly on Sundays, 113 EMU services would be run between Chennai Central - Arakkonam Sections, 60 services in the Chennai Central - Gummidipoondi route, 36 services in Chennai Beach - Velachery MRTS section and 120 services in the Chennai Beach - Chengalpet sections. EMU specials would also be operated between Avadi-Pattabiram Military Siding 'E' Depot, Pattabiram-Pattabiram Military 'E' Siding Depot, the release said. In total, 343 train services would be operated on Sundays, a press release said in Chennai. (PTI)
The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit held a demonstration here on Friday against the Congress regime in Punjab over a security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the border state.
Former Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, several other state-level leaders, party MLAs, including M R Gandhi and Vanathi Srinivasan along with cadres held the protest. They slammed the Congress government in Punjab for their 'lackadaisical attitude' that resulted in the security breach.
Led by the party's state unit chief K Annamalai, a delegation of BJP leaders later called on Governor R N Ravi. (Read more)
Daily Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu reached a new high on Friday as 8,981 fresh infections were recorded, taking the overall tally to 27,76,413. With eight more fatalities, the toll reached 36,833. A total of 984 people recovered in the last 24 hours leaving 30,817 active infections.
The sharpest increase in fresh infections were recorded in Chennai with 4,531 cases, followed by Chengalpet (1,039), Thiruvallur (514), Coimbatore (408), Kancheepuram (257), Vellore (216), Trichy (184) and Thoothukudi (160). The test positivity rate in Chennai, as of January 6, stood at 11.5 percent.
Read more
The Chengalpet district administration has shut the showroom of a popular textile chain near Chennai after 22 of its employees tested positive for Covid-19. As many as 210 employees of the store were tested as part of a random sampling conducted recently.
The Saravana store in Chromepet was closed in the wake of an order by District Collector A Rahul Nadh. This comes after 81 students at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) recently tested positive for the virus.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, a health official in Chengalpet district said the samples of the employees at the store were taken on Wednesday and the results came on Friday.
Read more
A video that showcases a woman's priceless reaction after receiving a brand new mobile phone from her son, has gone viral. The video has also been shared by Indian actor R Madhavan on Twitter.
A popular retail chain near Chennai has been closed by the district administration after its employees tested positive for COVID-19. As many as 210 employees were tested and the sample results of 22 had returned positive.
The Self- Baggage Tagging and Drop facility has been introduced at Chennai Airport. With the help of the Self Baggage Drop service, passengers will be able to print their boarding passes and baggage tag at the same time.
Passengers will be able to affix tag themselves on their baggage from the CUSS Kiosks (Common Use Self Service) provided in the terminal. This will also help in minimizing human errors like incorrect tagging at check-in counters.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has requested the cooperation of all school education institutions, for the vaccination of children aged above 15 years.
deleting_message
Coimbatore District Collector GS Sameeran inspected the Walayaru check post located on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. He said only those who have received both the doses of the vaccine and have the necessary documents will be allowed to enter the district.
Wondering if God can be summoned by a court to be produced for inspection, the Madras High Court has pulled up a lower court for ordering the authorities of a temple in Tirupur district to produce the ‘Moolavar’ (presiding deity) idol, which had been stolen, traced and installed at the shrine after following the rituals and ‘Agama’ rules, for verification.
Justice R Suresh Kumar said the lower court judge, instead, could have deputed an advocate-commissioner to inspect/verify the veracity of the idol and recorded his findings/report. The judge pulled up the lower court in Kumbakonam, which is dealing with idol theft cases, for ordering the authorities to produce the said idol belonging to the Paramasivan Swamy temple in Siviripalayam in Tirupur district.
Read more
The Greater Chennai Police has beefed up security to effectively implement the lockdown restrictions issued by the Tamil Nadu government to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state. The night curfew (10 pm – 5 am) imposed by the government came into force on Thursday. As per the guidelines issued by the Chief Minister, the state will observe a complete lockdown every Sunday, starting January 9. Commissioner of Police Shankar Jiwal said 10,000 police from law and order, traffic and armed-police wings will be on duty.
In an advisory issued on Thursday, Jiwal said as many as 312 vehicle checkpoints have been set up at various points within the city police limits. Police personnel on two-wheeler and four-wheeler beat vehicles will be on rounds to check if commercial shops and other entities are following the norms.
Read more
Tamil Nadu's principal opposition party, AIADMK on Thursday condemned the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit and demanded that stern action be taken against those responsible. The office of the Prime Minister is beyond party politics, AIADMK top leader K Palaniswami said adding that position commands respect all over the world.
Palaniswami, also the leader of opposition in Assembly, said stern action should be taken against those responsible for the security breach. Condemning the incident, the AIADMK leader said the central and state governments should take determined action to prevent such security breach in future. (PTI)
A video of a Tamil Nadu traffic police officer beating up an agent of online food delivery service Zomato in full public view at Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district has gone viral on social media. The policeman has been identified as Dharmaraj, a special sub-inspector with the traffic division in the Srivilliputhur region and the delivery agent as Venkatesh.
The incident happened on Sunday and in the video, Dharmaraj is seen getting up from his bike and holding the delivery agent by his collar. Dharmaraj goes on to slap Venkatesh several times before taking him to the police station.
Read more
The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday held ‘peaceful marches’ throughout the State condemning the Congress government in Punjab for “causing a major security breach” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy in Ferozepur. The party announced a series of protests for a week to “expose the designs of the Congress” to the public.
“The major security breach to the Prime Minister’s convoy occurred about 25 km from the Pakistan border. This only showed the callousness of the Congress government in that State,” BJP State chief K Annamalai claimed.
Read more
The Supreme Court on Friday, has given nod to NEET-PG admissions with 27% quota for OBCs, 10% for economically weaker sections for 2021-22. It has also decided to accept the recommendations of the Ajay Bhushan Pandey committee and stick to Rs 8-lakh criteria for identifying Economically Weaker Sections for the current admission cycle.
A two-judge bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna had concluded hearing on the matter on Thursday and reserved its verdict. Counseling for the NEET-PG has remained suspended due to the pendency of the petitions.
Read more
Over 10,000 police personnel have been deployed by the Greater Chennai City Police for effective implementation of the night curfew imposed by the state government between 10 pm to 5 am.
The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong note of arrest of former AIADMK minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji during the pendency of his appeal before it against the denial of anticipatory bail by the Madras High Court in an alleged government job scam case. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana was also irked over the raids conducted by state police on the lawyers representing Bhalaji who was swiftly arrested following the rejection of pre-arrest bail plea by the high court.
“What is this? Is it proper for the government to go ahead when this court is considering the matter? With COVID-19, we are unable to list all matters. Heavens were not going to fall if you could have restrained yourself. Why do you attack and raid lawyers… Is it your intention that the Supreme Court should be deprived of hearing the matter,” observed the bench also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
Read more
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said that a Pongal event, to be attended by PM Modi, on Jan 12 has been deferred due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, it’s not clear if an event in Virudhanagar, where PM Modi will share stage with CM MK Stalin for the inauguration of 11 new medical colleges in the state, will take place as planned. Annamalai said only the state government would be able to comment on whether the Virudhanagar event would go ahead as per schedule.
Read more
Covid-19 cases continued to rise in Tamil Nadu Thursday, with the state recording 6,983 fresh infections, pushing the caseload to 27,67,432. With 11 deaths, the toll reached 36,825. As many as 721 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 22,828 active cases. The positivity rate stood at 5.42 per cent. Those who had tested positive included 44 returnees from domestic and overseas locations.
Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpet contributed the maximum cases in the state. Chennai recorded 3,759 cases while 816 and 444 cases were recorded in Chengalpet and Thiruvallur. Other districts including Coimbatore (309), Vellore (223), Kancheepuram (185) also witnessed a sharp rise in cases.
Read more
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:
Pallavaram: Old Santhai road, Police Quarters, Srinivasa Perumal koil street, Periyapalayath amman koil street, Anjaneyar koil street and above surrounding areas.
Siruseri: Siruseri Village, XL Real Appartment, Sabari flats, Vels college road.
Perambur/Paper mills road: Kamaraj street, Ragavan street, Mallipoo nagar, Padam street, Elumalai street, Janakiram nagar 4 th & 5 th street and above surrounding areas.
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.
Covid-19 cases continued to rise in Tamil Nadu Thursday, with the state recording 6,983 fresh infections, pushing the caseload to 27,67,432. With 11 deaths, the toll reached 36,825. As many as 721 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 22,828 active cases. The positivity rate stood at 5.42 per cent.
Those who had tested positive included 44 returnees from domestic and overseas locations.
Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpet contributed the maximum cases in the state. Chennai recorded 3,759 cases while 816 and 444 cases were recorded in Chengalpet and Thiruvallur. Other districts including Coimbatore (309), Vellore (223), Kancheepuram (185) also witnessed a sharp rise in cases. Read more
The authority to appoint vice-chancellors should vest with the state government and a resolution would be adopted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in the Budget session in this regard, the government informed the House on Thursday. Answering PMK's G K Mani, who made a mention on matters connected to the appointment of vice-chancellors while speaking on the motion of thanks to the governor for his address, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi referred to the process followed in such appointments in other states. --PTI
In two new clusters, students of two institutes — Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) and Madras Christian College (MCC) — tested positive for Covid-19. While a total of 67 hostel students (48 boys and 19 girls) tested positive for Covid-19 since December 30 at MIT near Chromepet in Chennai after the institute started getting its students tested, as many as 12 were found to have contracted the virus at the MCC hostel after 130 samples were tested.
On December 30, when the first batch of six students tested positive at MIT, all students who were in close contact with them and their other contacts were isolated. In the subsequent days, the authorities kept conducting tests and while every other day someone or the other student tested positive, Wednesday, samples of 53 students returned positive for Covid-19.
Read more
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday announced an all-party meeting on January 8 here to discuss the next course of action on the state’s demand for exemption from NEET, as an Assembly bill in this regard is pending with the Centre.
Contending an all-party delegation MPs under DMK Lok Sabha member T R Baalu couldn’t secure an audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, the Chief Minister claimed that the Centre had not acted on the Tamil Nadu Assembly Bill seeking exemption for the state from NEET.
Read more
The DMK in Puducherry on Thursday appealed to the Centre and the Puducherry government to cancel plans to conduct the National Youth Festival here from January 12. Saying that the number of fresh Covid-19 have been on the rise in the recent days and the youth festival organised by the Central government in association with the Puducherry administration would prove to be a 'super spreader' of the virus, opposition DMK leader R Siva called for the five-day event to be cancelled.
He also urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is scheduled to inaugurate the festival on January 12 to avoid taking part in the festival in view of the rise in the number of cases. In this regard, Siva, Leader of Opposition in the territorial Assembly, said medical experts have already cautioned against gathering of people in public places.
He said the New Year celebrations in Puducherry on the night of December 31 had proved to be a 'step in the wrong direction.' The DMK leader said with participants expected from various parts of the country including from states where the Omicron variant was spreading rapidly, the Puducherry government should reconsider plans to conduct the festival. (PTI)
In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in Chennai, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Wednesday asked the management of all hotels, wedding/banquet halls, community centres, temples in the city to inform it about bookings made for functions, without any delay. Issuing a circular, Corporation Commissioner Gangandeep Singh Bedi said that the order was to be implemented with immediate effect.
Read more
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Thursday inaugarated 42 special ambulances to ferry Covid-19 patients. The ambulances were inaugarated in the presence of Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan among other officials.
The Tamil Nadu government Thursday said that there will be no travel restrictions for students who are giving their UPSC and TNPSC exam on Sunday. The students will have to carry their exam ticket and ID proof along with him.
The union territory of Puducherry witnessed a jump in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 129 being added in the last 24 hours, a senior Health department official said on Thursday. The union territory had clocked 73 new infections on Wednesday and 66 on Tuesday.
The 129 new cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Thursday pushed the overall tally to 1,29, 821, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services G Sriramulu said in a release here. While Puducherry region (the capital of the union territory) reported 84 fresh cases, Karaikal logged 36, Mahe (8) and Yanam (1), he added.
There was however, no fresh fatality in the last 24 hours and the death toll remained at 1,881. The test positivity rate also shot up to 3.58 per cent (as against 2.68 per cent on Wednesday) and the fatality and recovery rates were 1.45 per cent and 98.24 percent respectively. Sriramulu said the number of active cases stood at 399 with 72 patients undergoing treatment in hospitals and 327 patients in home isolation. (PTI)
The Greater Chennai Police has booked 10,321 people for violating Covid protocals by not wearing masks in public places and has collected a fine of Rs 20 lakh since Sunday. In a press release, the police said that a special team comprising of police inspectors and policemen has been deployed to ensure that the rules are being follow. The team stops those who do not wearing masks in public places and fine them, the release added.
Chennai Metro Rail has decided to reschedule the metro train services from 5.30 am to 9.00 pm, instead of 11.00 pm, on all weekdays due to Covid-19 restrictions, including night curfew and Sunday lockdowns. In a press release, CMRL said that it has decided to reschedule the metro train services from Thursday (January 6) until further orders.
On January 9, the train services will remain suspended due to the complete lockdown.
Read more
Health Department Principal Secretary J Radhakrishnan Wednesday said that the government has stepped up the health infrastructure with 1.16 lakh beds readily available to treat Covid-19 patients in the state of which the occupancy level was below 5 per cent.
"The overall occupancy as of now is below five per cent. We have the medical infrastructure, we have required stock of medicines, and as Health Minister said earlier, we will be having 100 centres that would offer treatment on traditional Indian medicine,” he said.
“Those patients (in Tamil Nadu) who were affected with Omicron were having infection on their upper respiratory tract unlike severe infection caused to the lungs (due to delta variant of Covid-19). That is some sort of comforting information, But at the same time, we cannot rule out that Omicron variant will not affect the lungs,” Radhakrishnan said.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday evening, Health Department Principal Secretary J Radhakrishnan urged the public not to let their guard down with the surge in Omicron cases across the country. Saying that the health department has issued the guidelines regarding Omicron, he asked people not to panic and follow the safety guidelines issued by the government.
Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan has posted Secretary to government E Vallavan, an IAS officer, as Collector of the Union Territory. Vallavan would continue to hold the charge of Secretary to Local Administration , Information and Publicity Departments, besides the post of Excise Commissioner, a press release said.
The appointment of Vallavan as Collector comes into immediate effect, said the release. He succeeds Purva Garg who was transferred to Chandigarh in the last week of December. (PTI)