With Chennai grappling with an acute drinking water crisis since April, startups in the state have come up with several innovations to help conserve water.
READ | From meters to sensors, startups come up with unique solutions to beat Chennai water crisis
However, many of them are for use at the consumer end of the spectrum, helping consumers conserve water and reduce their water costs.
Popular Tamil actor Suriya has criticised the Centre’s Draft National Education Policy (NEP), saying some of its provisions would leave students from villages in a disadvantaged state.
READ | Actor Suriya criticises Centre’s draft education policy, gets flak from politicians
“The new education policy decides the future of 30 crore students across the country, I’m anguished that no one has come forward to talk about this. The focus is much on entrance exams but not on quality and equal education to all the students. Without giving an equal education, how do you expect quality from students?“ he asked while speaking at the Sri Sivakumar Foundation’s 40th-anniversary function.
Kollywood actor Suriya, in a letter addressed to actor Kamal Hassan thanked the latter for supporting Suriya's views against the draft New Education Policy in Tamil Nadu and for speaking up against the people opposing Suriya. The actor also extended his gratitude to Kamal's party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and thanked them for their support.
A painter fell down 20 feet and died while carrying out a painting job at the Chennai International Airport in Chennai today. CCTV footage from the airport showed the man losing his balance and plunging off a scaffolding to the ground.
Tamil Nadu Minister for School Education, K A Sengottaiyan announced today that 1248 government schools in the state will be converted into libraries. "All 1248 schools have very few students studying there. These students will be transferred to other government schools and the buildings will be converted into libraries.
The Greater Chennai Traffic Police conducted a road safety awareness programme at Sethu Bhaskara Matric Higher Secondary School at Pudur Main Road in Ambattur, Chennai today. The students and police took an oath to follow traffic rules and understand the importance of road safety.
On Monday, a 21-year-old student killed himself in the SRM Institute of Science and Technology Kattankulathur campus. This was the third such incident inside two months. A press statement from the college expressed anguish over the incident and stated that as a policy, support and guidance are being offered by the college to students who are in need of counseling. The cases are now transferred to CBCID for further investigation.
Director Pa. Ranjith on Wednesday extended support to actor Suriya, who slammed the state and the centre over the draft national education policy. In a statement on Twitter, Ranjith said he agrees to Suriya's comments over education policy and added that the actor has raised an important question in the current circumstances. "We will support Suriya who thinks and talks about the future of minorities, women, and students," he tweeted.
Anurag Singh, the Minister of State for Finance announced in writing at the Lok Sabha today that women employees who have been employed in public sector banks can avail a maternity leave upto two years. Singh said that this leave can be availed by the young mothers to raise their children for a period of two years, with no deduction of salary or termination of employment.
The world witnessed its last partial lunar eclipse of 2019 on July 17 from 01:30 am to 4 pm. The eclipse could be seen from India and countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America.
Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, the state president of BJP in Tamil Nadu addressed the proposed hydrocarbon and neutrino projects in the state today and said that the projects had been conceived towards the development of Tamil Nadu. Her comments came in the wake of Congress and its allies having formed a human chain in Chennai on Tuesday evening to protest against hydrocarbon projects in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
DMK's Kathir Anand, son of DMK treasurer Duraimurugan filed his nomination for the upcoming Vellore Lok Sabha poll today. The Election Commission will be conducting the Lok Sabha elections for Vellore constituency on August 5, 2019.
Lok Sabha elections for Vellore, which were scheduled to be held on April 18 were cancelled after Income Tax officials seized over Rs. 10 crore in cash from aides of Duraimurugan two days before the election.
Anna University in Chennai has revise their fees for the current academic year and has published the list on their website. As per the revised fee list, the cost of the courses offered by the university has been reduced.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced during the State Assembly session today a Milk Producer Union will be established for milk producers at Karur. He added that 10 workshops for buses will be built in the state at a cost of Rs. 50 crore.
Maniammal, the mother of Kollywood actor and comedian Vivekh passed away early morning today, aged 86. Her last rites will be performed at her native, Perungottur village in Sankarankovil on Thursday.
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) announced today that rain could be expected in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the next two days. Chennai can expect rainfall ranging from a light drizzle to heavy rain in the next two days.
The RMC also predicted that districts along the Western Ghats could receive heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday.
Chief Minister Palaniswami announced that two new flyovers will be contructed along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) in Chennai to ease the traffic congestion along the stretch during peak-hour commute. The flyovers will be constructed between Madhya Kailash and Tidel Park junctions on the Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway at a cost of Rs. 110 crore and will be completed in less than two years.
The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL that had been filed by the State Election Commission (SEC) against the two-year delay in conducting the local body elections in Tamil Nadu. The SEC had sought time until October 31 of this year to conduct the elections.
Tamil Nadu Law Minister CV Shanmugam today said he has written a letter to the central government asking why they have rejected and sent back the TN government's request (seeking exemption from NEET). Union home ministry on Tuesday said it has informed the Madras High Court that TN govt was informed about President of India withholding his assent for two bills relating to exemption from NEET on 22nd September 2017.
Manali, located in the north of Chennai city became the first among the 15 zones in the city to become a zero-waste zone. Close to 40 tonnes of garbages generated in this zone. These tonnes of garbages are then separated and sent to resource recovery centers (RRC) where they are converted into manure. To encourage the public about solid waste management, the officials have announced that Rs 2 will be paid per kilogram of segregated waste. The officials are planning to implement this project in other populated zones in the city.
The Greater Chennai Coporation (GCC) began its city-wide stray dog immunization drive on Tuesday at Madhavaram in Chennai. The anti-rabies drive is an initiative by the GCC to make Chennai a rabies-free city. Carried out at a cost of Rs. 77 lakh, the GCC aims to vaccinate 1050 stray dogs abover the age of three months every day.
Seven teams have been formed to vaccinate the dogs street wise. Dogs that have been inoculated will be marked with a vegetable dye and released back into the street they were oicked up from on the same day.
Eight of the ten youth who attacked the owner, staff and customers of a prtol bunk in Tambaram, Chennai on Monday surrendered themselves before the George Twon Magistrate court on Tuesday. The men were later remanded to Puzhal prison until July 30.
The accused were identified as Charu Hassan (26), S Karthikeyan (24), L Santoshkumar (25), M Abilash (25), M Ajith (25), M Venkatesan (26), Dhana Sekar (25) and D Jayaraman (25).
Following the footsteps of government organisations in Chennai, Metrowater too has joined the bandwagon and taken to social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook to address the complaints raised by citizens. The Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewarage Board (CMWSSB) sent their first tweet in tamil on Monday and later tweeted the same in English on Tuesday.
In their tweet, Metrowater addressed citizens and urged them to share their complaints and grievances to Metrowater via the social media platforms. The Twitter handle has already gained traction in two days, with citizens tweeting out complaints regarding water logging and bookings not being delivered in their areas. The CMWSSB has also been prompt in replying and ensuring that the concerned area engineer has been notified about the situation.
Tangedco announced a powercut in parts of the city from 9 am to 4 pm for carrying out maintenance work on Thursday. Neighbourhoods in and around Rajakilpakkam, Sholinganallur, Hiranandani area, Taramani and Thoraipakkam will be affected.
The a special team of police arrested Gopi Reddy, a native of Odisha on Tuesday for kidnapping a three-year-old child from Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M G Ramachandran Chennai Station on Sunday. Gopi was arrested after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) narrowed down the suspect based on CCTV footage from the station.
Gopi Reddy had kidnapped Somnath (3) on Sunday when the child was sleeping with his parents at the station. He had then boarded a train to Tambaram from Park Town Station and was seen leaving the Tambaram railway station around 12:45 am. Somnath was rescued by the police at Thiruporur on Tuesday afternoon. According to the police, Gopi had befriended the child's parents, both construction workers from Orissa on Sunday and had kidnapped the child while the parents were sleeping. The child was discovered missing around 2 am, following which Somnath's parents lodged a complaint with the RPF.
Residents of Krishna Apartments on Poonamallee High Road in Chennai were left bewildered last Saturday, when they saw their apartment block on TV and a man being led away. With no clue to what was happening in their complex, the residents found out much later that man, Syed Mohammed Bukhari, was being questioned in an alleged terror case.
READ | Terror detentions: A locked office, and a neighbourhood left in the dark in Chennai
Meanwhile, the Wahdat-e-Islami Hind, on its part, has maintained it is a religious organisation with no connection to radical thought.
Weather forecasters have predicted rain in Chennai today, with the minimum and maximum temperatures expected to be 27C and 35C respectively. The sky will remain overcast, with few areas in the city expected to receive rain during the day.
The Tamil Nadu Weatherman tweeted today morning that Chennai will receive light rain today, with thunderstorms expected in the city and across Tamil Nadu.
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