The upcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other urban local bodies (ULBs) will be conducted using ballot paper, due to Covid-19 and other factors, the Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) announced Monday. The SEC had recently sought the opinions of political parties in this regard.
READ | Amid Covid-19, polls to Hyderabad civic corporation, other ULBs to use ballot papers
Speaking to indianexpress.com, K Partha Sarathi, the state election commissioner, said that along with the pandemic, multiple factors made the SEC choose ballots over EVMs, one of them being the non-availability of VVPATs.
Also Read | Amid EPS-OPS tussle, AIADMK may defer announcement of CM candidate
Engineer couple Preetha and Manikandan, who work in top IT firms in Chennai, developed an interest in preserving native breeds of cattle during the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu in 2017.
READ | Meet an IT couple in Chennai running a dairy farm from their garage
“We had no plan (to raise cows) ever, it just happened. Both of us share a common interest in agriculture though we only have basic knowledge about it. During the Jallikattu protests, we became curious about the native cattle breeds. We travelled all the way to Erode to see ‘Kangeyam Kaalai’, a native cattle breed. Without a second thought, we bought a cow there. Owing to lack of space at our residence in Adambakkam, we tied it in our garage, which is around 500 square feet in area.”
Director SS Rajamouli on Tuesday announced the resumption of the shoot of his multi-crore period film Roudram Ranam Rudhiram, popularly known as RRR. The filmmakers released a dramatic video, Rajamouli-style, to give a glimpse of how the cast and crew are adjusting to the “new normal” on the sets.
The video begins with crew members reopening the giant doors of the magnificent sets, which will bring back 1920s British India to life on the big screen. We then see the sprawling sets and props, which have been gathering dust for about six months now, being dusted and re-polished. Of course, temperature and oxygen levels of all crew members are being checked before letting them inside the sets. And the 6-feet distance between each other along with face masks seems to be the new norm.
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The production of SS Rajamouli’s ambitious project RRR came to a grinding halt in March following the COVID-induced lockdown. During the lockdown, Rajamouli and his family also contracted the virus and made a full recovery without any major complications.
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has identified 36 containment zones in Chennai till date.
Here are the names of the streets across the city's 15 zones:
Kolathur - Anjugam Nagar 2nd Street, Poompuhar Nagar 25th Street and Jayanthi Nagar 4th Street
Ambattur - Lenin Nagar 9th Cross Street; New Anna Nagar 4th Cross Street, Cholapuram - 6th Main Road; 1st Main Road Thendral Nagar, Korattur - Pandiyan Street Thathanakuppam, TNHB, Station Road; Athipet - New Century Road; Padi - Park Road, North Park Road, Mettukulam; Anna Nagar West Extension - TVS Avenue; Thirumangalam - TNHB Flat; Mogappair West - 3rd Block, Vellalar Street and Mogappair - Trinity Church Road Golden George
Ayanavaram - New Street
Triplicane - Akbar Street and Vallabha Agraharam
Rukamani Street, Kuriba Shankar Street and Annamalai Nagar 3rd Street
Phase I 17th Cross Street
Mugalivakkam - Suba Shree Nagar 4th Street; Adambakkam - Surendar Nagar 4th Street and Nanganallur - Voltas Colony 1st Street and Hindu Colony 1st Street
Velachery - Gandhi Nagar, ASK Nagar 1st Cross Street; Adambakkam - Mahalakshmi Nagar 7th Cross Street and Kalaignar Nagar 4th Street
Neelankarai - Periya Neelankarai Kuppam and Kadaikuttaimedu - Gandhi Nagar
The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu was expected to announce its chief minister candidate for next year’s Assembly elections on October 7. The announcement could now be delayed, thanks to an evolving conflict in the party between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam.
The crisis in the AIADMK started after party supremo J Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016. An Income Tax raid and massive seizure of new currency notes worth crores a month after Demonetisation from Sekar Reddy, a mining baron who had close ties with AIADMK leaders, was the turning point for the party.
Three years later, those who scripted the events and played roles in it have to mobilise maximum strength to face the upcoming general polls to defeat the powerful DMK now. The united AIADMK with EPS and OPS have BJP too in their alliance. There were talks in progress to unite the Sasikala faction with the ruling party again. And a crisis has emerged now from OPS camp seeking more space and power in the party structure.
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The new detection of coronavirus cases fell further on Monday, this time aided by the low-testing that happens on a Sunday. Just about 61,000 new cases were discovered across the country, the lowest in about six weeks. It was in the month of August that India had been reporting between 60,000 and 70,000 cases a day.
In fact, Maharashtra, the state with the highest caseload, reported just about 10,200 cases on Monday, its lowest since August 17. Andhra Pradesh had only about 4,200 cases, the lowest since July 20. Bihar reported less than 1,000 cases for the first time since July 11, while Delhi had less than 2,000 cases after almost a month.
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As many as 20 children allegedly trafficked and forced into child labour were rescued from three bangle-making units in Hyderabad’s Balapur Monday. All the children hail from Bihar.
According to the police, the accused exploited the financial situation of the children’s parents and lied to them to convince them to send the kids to Hyderabad. Here, they were made to work in deplorable conditions and kept locked, said the police.
Five persons have been arrested and a case has been registered against them under section 370(a) (exploitation of a trafficked person), 374 (unlawful compulsory labour) of Indian Penal Code, section 79 (bondage of a child for employment) of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, section 14(1) of the Child Labour Act 1986, and section 18 of the Bonded Labour Act, 1986 at Balapur Police Station.
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Accusing AIADMK’s Kallakurichi MLA of abducting his 19-year-old daughter and “violating his trust”, a temple priest in Tamil Nadu doused himself in petrol and threatened to set himself on fire before the police stepped in and took him in custody. A Prabhu, a 36-year-old Dalit MLA, married Soundarya on Monday morning at his residence. The bride’s father, who did not agree to the wedding, tried to barge into their residence and attempt suicide.
A senior police officer said: “It is a fact that both the MLA and the girl had a relationship. Girl’s parents complained that the MLA was in love with her for the past four years (even when she was a minor) while the MLA claims that their affair was hardly four months old.”
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A Chennai-based preacher, who worked as secretary with the English section of publications of the Scripture Union, a Christian group, was suspended from all responsibilities on Monday after a group of women alleged that he had sent them online messages through social media sites to sexually exploit them. The alleged incident took place when the victims were students at a school in Vellore – all 20 or so victims were in the same institution. They are now in their early-twenties.
After allegations surfaced on social media on Sunday, the Scripture Union and the Children Special Service Mission Council of India said in a statement on Monday that the accused, Samuel Jaisunder, was placed under suspension “with immediate effect” following “serious allegations” against him. The statement said: “He is directed not to carry out any Scripture Union related work during the period of suspension. Proper inquiry will be conducted as per rules and regulation of the organisation.” Jaisunder could not be contacted till late evening.
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Actor Tamannaah Bhatia has tested positive for coronavirus. The actor shared the news on Monday via an Instagram post.
Tamannaah said she admitted herself to a private hospital in Hyderabad last week after testing positive for COVID-19. The actor added that she has now been discharged.
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1983 persons tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday in Telangana and 2381 persons recovered from the disease. The cumulative caseload stands at 2,02,594. Of them, 1,74,769 persons have recovered and 1181 have succumbed to the disease.
As many as 21,784 of the 26,644 active patients are in home isolation or institutional quarantine in the state. As much as 70 percent of the cumulative caseload is asymptomatic, according to the state's medical bulletin.
Among the deceased, 61 percent are males. As much as 47 percent of the fatalities are in the age group 21 to 40 years. About 13 percent of the fatalities occurred in children upto 20 years of age.
Overall, about 45 percent of fatalities are reported to be without any comorbidities.
The Cyberabad police Monday arrested four more persons allegedly involved in the kidnap and murder of Hemanth Kumar, a 28-year-old interior designer in Hyderabad, who was allegedly killed by his in-laws on September 25 for marrying their daughter who belongs to a higher caste.
In connection with the case, the police had earlier arrested 14 persons, 12 of whom are members of his wife Avanthi’s family, including her parents Donthireddy Laxma Reddy (54), and Donthireddy Archana (44). It was stated by the police that the accused conspired to kill Hemanth and hired killers to execute their plan.
On Monday, the police arrested Somayala Raju (52), Erukala alias Banapuram Krishna (33), Mohammed Pasha (32), and Byagari Sayanna (48). According to a police press note, Somayala Raju, a close friend of the main accused Guduru Ygender Reddy, was present in all conspiracy meetings and coordinated with the hired killers. Sayanna was previously involved in two murder cases in Patancheru police station and is a rowdy-sheeter of IDA Ballarum police station.
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The upcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other urban local bodies (ULBs) will be conducted using ballot paper, due to Covid-19 and other factors, the Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) announced Monday. The SEC had recently sought the opinions of political parties in this regard.
The term of the current GHMC council ends in February 2021 and elections are expected in December or January. The SEC is also mulling use of e-voting applications for senior citizens, disabled persons, and the poll personnel. If implemented, it would be a first in the country.
In a press statement, the SEC said that responses were received from eight out of 11 recognised political parties. Of them, five were in favour of ballot paper, while two did not give a definite opinion and one was in favour of using EVMs. The AIMIM and Congress remained non-committal, while the BJP demanded the use of EVMs.
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Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 116 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities, with 58 arrivals and 58 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
Tamil Nadu recorded 5395 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 6,25,391. Among these, Chennai reported 1367 positive cases, bringing the city's total to 1,74,143.
Tamil Nadu recorded 62 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 9846. 59 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. The state discharged 5572 patients following treatment yesterday, putting the total number of recoveries at 5,69,664.
As of Monday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 45,881. Till date, 3,77,541 males, 2,47,819 females and 31 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 77,82,736 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 82,725 samples having been sent yesterday.
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, lockdown in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Tamil Nadu rains and more across Chennai and Hyderabad. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday inaugurated completed projects of the Higher Education Department at various places today and also laid the foundation for establishing infrastructure facilities of the higher education department, an official press release said.
Buildings and hostels constructed for students at a cost of Rs 58.21 crore at government arts and science colleges, government engineering colleges, government polytechnic colleges in various districts and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University were inaugurated by the chief minister.
EPS also laid the foundation through video conferencing from the Secretariat in Chennai for postgraduate and research wings for new departments of Computer Science, Physics and Commerce, hostels for students and residences for the Vice Chancellor on premises of Thiruvalluvar University, Katpadi to come up at a total cost of Rs 25.25 crore, the release said.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Monday announced the completion of the acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. (KPCL) for an enterprise value of Rs 12,000 crore.
According to a filing with Bombay Stock Exchange, Adani said the acquisition will result in APSEZ having a controlling stake of 75 per cent in KPCL from the CVR Group and other investors In FY21, the port is expected to generate an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of approximately Rs 1,200 crore.
KPCL is a multi-cargo facility port situated in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, a state which has the second largest coastline in India.
This acquisition will accelerate APSEZ's stride towards 500 million metric tonnes per annum by 2025 and is another step in implementing its stated strategy of cargo parity between west and east coasts of India.
IndiGo has announced special flights between Chennai and Trichy this month. A total of nine Airbus 320 aircrafts will be operated between October 1 and October 24.
The functioning of old generation private banks has come under the spotlight with shareholders of two private sector banks, Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and Dhanlaxmi Bank firing their chief executive officers in the span of a week and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) taking a close scrutiny of their operations. While there are no strong promoters for these banks, a clutch of powerful investors are calling the shots with the stage set for a takeover or merger of these banks, sources said.
Last week, shareholders of the struggling LVB voted against the appointment of seven directors to its board, including that of S Sundar as the MD and CEO, and the promoters KR Pradeep and N Saiprasad. Although these banks have been in existence for several decades, they have no promoter groups who can take these banks forward.
Problems in Chennai-based LVB were simmering for quite some time. “The RBI has let the situation linger at Lakshmi Vilas Bank linger for too long. It cannot afford another accident in the financial sector after IL&FS, PMC and Yes Bank,” said Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Limited (IiAS), an advisory firm, that advised shareholders to vote against the re-election of directors.
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Two days ahead of the announcement of the AIADMK's Chief Ministerial candidate, AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday hinted at the probability of a 'decision' considering the welfare of the people and cadres.
Amid a standoff with party co-coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami over constituting a 11-member steering committee and on who should be the Chief Minister candidate of the party for the 2021 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Panneerselvam, on his twitter handle gave a cryptic message. The Deputy Chief Minister said he had so far taken 'decisions' only considering the welfare of the Tamil Nadu people and AIADMK cadres.
In future too, he would continue to take 'decisions' taking into account the interests of the people and party workers, he said. 'Whatever has happened has happened for good. Whatever is happening, is happening for good. Whatever is going to happen will also be good,' he said.
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Andhra Pradesh has also been showing a consistent decline for the last few weeks. The daily detection of cases have fallen from a level of about 10,000 to just about 6,000 now, while the number of active cases has nearly halved in the last one month, from over a lakh to less than 55,000 now.
On Sunday, less than 75,000 new infections were detected across the country. This was the third straight day that this number has remained below 80,000. This has not happened since the end of August. For the last few days, there has been a reduction in the number of reported deaths as well. On Sunday, only about 900 deaths were reported, the lowest number since the third week of August, barring an aberration on September 28 when less than 800 deaths were reported.
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Engineer couple Preetha and Manikandan, who work in top IT firms in Chennai, developed an interest in preserving native breeds of cattle during the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu in 2017.
“We had no plan (to raise cows) ever, it just happened. Both of us share a common interest in agriculture though we only have basic knowledge about it. During the Jallikattu protests, we became curious about the native cattle breeds. We travelled all the way to Erode to see ‘Kangeyam Kaalai’, a native cattle breed. Without a second thought, we bought a cow there. Owing to lack of space at our residence in Adambakkam, we tied it in our garage, which is around 500 square feet in area.”
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The Maharashtra forest department has asked its Telangana counterpart for two pairs of breeding lions to increase the animal population at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The SGNP has also sought two tigers from Nagpur’s Gorewada Zoo.
Earlier, SGNP authorities had sent a proposal to Chief Wildlife Warden of Maharashtra, Nitin Kakodkar, requesting two pairs of lions for captive lion safari and two tigers at SGNP.
Currently, there are three sibling lions in SGNP: two male Ravindra (17) and Jespa (9) and a female Gopa (9). Since inbreeding of wild cats is not allowed by the Central Zoo authority, SGNP has requested for a breeding pair of lions.
SGNP has also requested the state to get a captive tiger from Gorewada zoo.
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Following criticism from DMK MP and PMK Sunday regarding train ticket confirmation SMS being sent in Hindi, Southern Railway took to Twitter to clairfy that language is an option in e-ticketing.
"In this regard, it is clarified that while registering the details under the section titled 'profile' in the IRCTC website, one needs to indicate the preferred language - either English or Hindi, to enable receipt of ticket related messages in the language of one's preference" (sic), the Southern Railway tweeted.
A DMK MP and NDA constituent PMK on Sunday criticised rail users in Tamil Nadu allegedly receiving train ticket confirmation SMS in Hindi, with the Parliamentarian lashing out at “Hindi imposition”.
Southern Railway however clarified that the issue was the result of a particular user selecting Hindi as the preferred language while registering in the IRCTC website. “Language is an option in e-ticketing,” a Southern Railway release said.
Earlier, DMK MP from South Chennai, Thamizhachi Thangapandian, took to Twitter to share a screenshot of the SMS purportedly received in Hindi. “The #GovernmentofIndia despite its promises to not impose Hindi, continues to impose the language through insidious means. Stop forcing Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking states,” she said.
In a series of tweets, she tagged the Railway Ministry and urged it to take urgent steps to ensure non-Hindi speakers are also able to access the IRCTC services. “#StopHindiImposition,” she added.
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A seizure of 21 kg of jewellery by the Customs officials at the domestic air cargo complex of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad Saturday is likely to open a can of worms.
Even after 24-hours of the seizure, to the surprise of the officials, nobody has approached the officials to stake claim of the seized consignment. At least a dozen jewellers, some of them said to be big players in the market, are now under the scanner, it is learnt.
Of the seized gold, as much as 18 kg was found in the form of gold jewelry. This comprises silver-coated bangles indicating the intent to conceal gold. Another 2 kg is in foreign-marked gold biscuits suspected to have been smuggled into the country. A kilogram in diamond-studded jewelry, diamonds and a Rolex wristwatch were among the seized material.
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The DMK Women’s Wing led by its chief Kanimozhi will take out a candle light march towards the Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Monday seeking justice for the 19-year-old Hathras woman who died after being assaulted and allegedly gang-raped in UP, the party said on Sunday.
DMK President M K Stalin alleged that the safety of minorities, woman and the members of SC/ST community in Uttar Pradesh was “generally a question mark.” “The media is also feeling a lack of safety. The Centre has a duty to address this and ensure the safety of all,” Stalin said in a statement in Chennai.
“The DMK Women’s Wing has proposed to take out a march to the Raj Bhavan insisting on this,” he said, adding, Kanimozhi, Lok Sabha MP, will lead the protest. The women party workers will gather to take out the candle light march seeking justice for the killing of the Hathras Dalit woman, he added.
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Telangana's Covid-19 cumulative caseload has crossed 2 lakh mark. With 1335 new cases reported Sunday, the COVID-19 total now stands at 2,00,611.
On Sunday, only 36,348 tests were conducted as against a weekday average of over 50,000 tests.
2176 patients recovered and eight others succumbed to the disease Sunday. The total fatalities in the state stand at 1171 as of date. The highest number of cases continue to be reported from the Greater Hyderabad region. On Sunday, 262 positive cases were reported.
The case fatality ratio stands at 0.58% and the state's recovery rate is 85.93%. As many as 87092 samples have been tested per million population.
Tamil Nadu recorded 5489 positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state tally to 6,19,996. Among these, Chennai reported 1348 positive cases, bringing the city's total to 1,72,773.
Tamil Nadu recorded 66 deaths on Sunday, putting the state toll at 9784. 60 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. The state discharged 5558 patients following treatment yesterday, putting the total number of recoveries at 5,64,092.
As of Sunday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 46,120. Till date, 3,74,285 males, 2,45,680 females and 31 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 77,00,011 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 84,159 samples having been sent yesterday.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, lockdown in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Tamil Nadu rains and more across Chennai and Hyderabad. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.