M K Alagiri (File photo)After getting actor-turned-politician Khushbu into its fold, the state unit of BJP is working towards obtaining the support of another prominent face, M K Alagiri, the elder son of late M Karunanidhi, and brother of DMK president M K Stalin. Ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, an alliance with Alagiri may give shape to a broader political front in the state.
READ | Karunanidhi’s elder son Alagiri likely to form a political outfit, join BJP-led alliance
Sources in the state BJP unit and the Alagiri camp confirmed there has been significant progress in the alliance talks. If everything goes as per the plans of the national party, Alagiri will likely meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 21, when the latter is scheduled to visit Chennai.
According to sources, Alagiri’s new political outfit may be called ‘Kalaignar DMK’ or ‘KDMK.’ Alagiri’s son Dayanidhi may also back the new party. “Like Stalin’s son Udayanidhi who heads the DMK youth wing, let Dayanidhi also assume the same position in KDMK,” said a source.
Also Read | Ahead of Amit Shah’s Tamil Nadu visit, AIADMK slams ally BJP over ‘Vetrivel Yatra’
The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday said that the height of Polavaram dam will not be reduced, and that the project would be completed next year. Opposition Telugu Desam Party had earlier alleged that the YSR Congress Party-led government buckled under pressure from neighbouring Telangana to reduce the height of the dam.
READ | Not an inch of Polavaram dam will be reduced, AP asserts
However, AP Water Resources Minister Anil Kumar Yadav brushed aside the allegations and said on Monday: “We have affirmed that there will not be any reduction in height of the project and the project will be completed on time… Not an inch of the height of Polavaram project will be reduced. It will be ready by December 2021.”
For assistance on COVID-19-related queries and mental health support in Chennai, citizens can contact the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) COVID-19 helpline 044 46122300 | For lodging rain-related complaints and assistance during the monsoon, citizens can contact the GCC's monsoon helplines 044 25384530 or 044 25384540 or the control room 1913 (available 24x7)
As part of the unlock guidelines, the government has allowed the opening of gymnasiums in non-containment zones with all COVID-19 precautions in place. However, as of now, there is low footfall at gyms as compared to pre-COVID times.
Besides following standard guidelines, fitness centre chains like Cult.Fit has also put in additional protocols. Naresh Krishnaswamy, its growth and marketing head, says, “We started opening our centres in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon in September and tested our safety protocols. After seeing positive response from our members and on-ground teams, we opened our centres in several other cities like Vishakapatnam, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore, Chandigarh, Jammu, Mysore, Ludhiana, Kochi and Amritsar in October. In the coming weeks, we are also re-opening some of our centres in Mumbai and Pune following the same stringent Cult CARES measures we have been adhering to.”
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Elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will be held on December 1 and counting of votes will take place on December 4.
At a press conference, state election commissioner C Partha Sarathi said that the nominations would be accepted from November 18. Candidates can file their nominations before the returning officer between 11 am and 3 pm. The last date for filing nominations would be November 20. Filed nominations will be scrutinized on November 21 and the last date for withdrawal would be November 22.
Partha Sarathi said the election process to 150 divisions of the municipal corporation will be completed before December 6.
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Cre-A Ramakrishnan, one of the tallest figures in the Tamil publishing industry passed away in Chennai on Tuesday morning. He was 76. Ramakrishnan was undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at Omandurar Government Hospital in Chennai.
In a career spanning over more than four decades, Ramakrishnan has brought out Tamil translations of various literary works in Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, etc. Ramakrishnan founded Cre-A Publications in 1974 and many works of great Tamil writers like Ashokamitran, G Nagarajan, N Muthusamy, Sa Kandasamy were published by him. Ramakrishnan was also a pioneer in introducing various technological advancements.
The demise of Ramakrishnan has left a void in the Tamil literary world. Various political leaders including DMK president MK Stalin, AMMK’s TTV Dhinakaran, MNM leader Kamal Haasan, MP Tamizhachi Thangapandian expressed their condolences.
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The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Tuesday announced that it will extend services beyond special buses scheduled till Monday to operate to various destinations in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
“For the convenience of the travelling public, KSRTC will continue to operate all regular services from different places of Karnataka to various places of Tamil Nadu State as being operated earlier. The services will be operated keeping in view the density of passengers,” a KSRTC statement read.
Officials added that it is mandatory for all passengers to wear mask and to make use of the online ticketing facility to avoid crowds at bus stations.
Dr AM Arun, the founder of Vasan Eye Care, died in Chennai on Monday morning. The cause of death is still unclear.
According to reports. Arun (51) suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Monday morning and was rushed to a private hospital in Chennai where he was pronounced dead. According to PTI, the police, quoting preliminary inputs, said the death appeared to be only of natural causes. However, few other media reports suggested that Arun died by suicide.
A case of suspicious death has been registered by the city police. The body was sent to the Omandurar Multi-Specialty Hospital for postmortem.
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Composer Yuvan Shankar Raja took to Twitter on Monday to express happiness over his song “Rowdy Baby” becoming the most-watched Tamil song on YouTube. The music video, which features a groovy dance performance by Dhanush and Sai Pallavi, has garnered over 1 billion views on YouTube.
“It was a sweet surprise for me when I was notified by my fans, that the Rowdy Baby has created another milestone, & has reached billion views, Alhamdulillah. Thanking everyone on this,” he wrote on his Twitter page.
“Rowdy Baby”, choreographed by Prabhu Deva, was created for the 2018 gangster drama Maari 2, which was a sequel to director Balaji Mohan’s 2015 movie Maari.
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Chennai recorded 414.60 mm of rainfall over the last 24 hours as parts of the city received moderate to heavy showers. The average rainfall recorded was 37.69 mm.
Here is the breakup of rainfall recorded across Chennai until 6 am:
The India Army will conduct a mega recruitment rally in Secunderabad, Telangana from January 18. The interested, eligible candidates can attend the recruitment rally to be held till February 28 for enrolment of soldier tech (AE), soldier general duty, soldier tradesmen, outstanding sportsmen (open category).
The candidates need to possess 45 per cent marks in matriculation/ SSC for the Soldier GD post, and either 8th/ 10th pass for the position of soldier tradesman. For soldier tech (AE), the candidates need to pass intermediate science with 50 per cent marks and 40 per cent in subjects- physics, chemistry, maths and English. For Soldier Clk/SKT, the candidates required to score 60 per cent marks in plus 2 with 50 per cent marks in subjects like maths/ accounts/ bookkeeping.
The upper age limit of the candidates for the post of a soldier should not cross 21 years, for other posts- 23 years. The selected candidates at the recruitment rally have to appear for the common entrance examination. The dates of which will be notified later.
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 383 fever clinics in Chennai on Monday. A total of 17,811 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 400 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Teynampet (Zone 9) where 49 camps were set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with four camps.
A video showing actor Thavasi seeking financial help for his cancer treatment is going viral. The disease has taken a severe toll on Thavasi as he has lost a lot of weight.
“I have acted in films from Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993) to the latest Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe. I never thought that I would get such a disease,” Thavasi said in the video while seeking help from members of the film fraternity.
Thavasi’s unfortunate predicament throws light on the sorry state of junior actors, who spend their entire lives as extras on film sets in the hope of catching a big break.
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The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday said that the height of Polavaram dam will not be reduced, and that the project would be completed next year.
Opposition Telugu Desam Party had earlier alleged that the YSR Congress Party-led government buckled under pressure from neighbouring Telangana to reduce the height of the dam.
However, AP Water Resources Minister Anil Kumar Yadav brushed aside the allegations and said on Monday: “We have affirmed that there will not be any reduction in height of the project and the project will be completed on time… Not an inch of the height of Polavaram project will be reduced. It will be ready by December 2021.”
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The reservations for fully reserved daily special trains between Chennai and Tirupati commenced at 8 am today. The trains are scheduled to begin operations from November 19 (Thursday).
The train will depart from Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M G Ramachandran Chennai Central station at 6.25 am and will reach Tirupati at 9.40 am the same day. The train will have stoppages at Ambattur, Tiruvallur, Arakkonam, Tiruttani, Ekambarakuppam, Puttur and Renigunta before reaching Tirupati.
The return journey will commence at 10.15 am from Tirupati and the train will reach Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M G Ramachandran Chennai Central station at 1.40 pm the same day. The train will have stoppages at Renigunta, Puttur, Ekambarakuppam, Arakkonam, Tiruvallur and Perambur before reaching Chennai.
Telangana recorded 952 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the tally to nearly 2.59 lakh while three fatalities pushed the toll to 1,410. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 150, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri 77 and Bhadradri Kothagudem 71, a government bulletin said on Tuesday.
As many as 13,732 patients are under treatment and 38,245 samples were tested on November 16. Cumulatively, over 49.29 lakh samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was over 1.32 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 94.14 per cent.
After getting actor-turned-politician Khushbu into its fold, the state unit of BJP is working towards obtaining the support of another prominent face, M K Alagiri, the elder son of late M Karunanidhi, and brother of DMK president M K Stalin. Ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, an alliance with Alagiri may give shape to a broader political front in the state.
Sources in the state BJP unit and the Alagiri camp confirmed there has been significant progress in the alliance talks. If everything goes as per the plans of the national party, Alagiri will likely meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 21, when the latter is scheduled to visit Chennai.
According to sources, Alagiri’s new political outfit may be called ‘Kalaignar DMK’ or ‘KDMK.’ Alagiri’s son Dayanidhi may also back the new party. “Like Stalin’s son Udayanidhi who heads the DMK youth wing, let Dayanidhi also assume the same position in KDMK,” said a source.
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A total of 187 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 94 arrivals and 93 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
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:
Tamil Nadu recorded 1725 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 7,59,916. Among these, Chennai reported 497 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,09,167.
The state recorded 17 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 11,495. Sixteen of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. The state discharged 2384 patients following treatment, putting the total number of recoveries at 7,32,656.
As of Monday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 15,675. Till date, 4,59,073 males, 3,00,810 females and 33 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, 1,11,36,662 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 63,777 samples having been sent yesterday.
Chennai’s Anna University will hold the supplementary exams for undergraduate and postgraduate courses from November 17 to 21 in two shifts. The varsity has released the date sheet for all courses and colleges affiliated to it.
These exams are for those students who had faced technical issues due to internet connectivity and the disruption of electricity during the final exams held earlier. The absentee candidates and those whose results mentioned WHRX (withheld re-exam) during online exams will also be allowed to appear, as per the official notice.
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Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on northeast monsoon, COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, lockdown in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and more across Chennai and Hyderabad through the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.
The Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Tamil Nadu has released the NEET merit list for admissions to MBBS/ BDS courses. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar has tweeted about the release of the NEET merit list, the candidates can check it through the website- tnhealth.tn.gov.in.
“The rank list for the TN #Medicalcounselling is published. As committed by Hon’ble CM, the list includes the 7.5 per cent reservation for govt school students. The counselling will commence from 18th Nov at Nehru Indoor Stadium w/ social distancing norms. My best wishes! @CMOTamilNadu,” Health Minister tweeted.
This year, the state government has reserved 7.5 per cent seats for government school students in medical admission. The new law will provide a 7.5 per cent horizontal quota for students who have studied in state government schools and qualified in NEET for admissions to undergraduate medical courses. The 7.5 per cent quota will be ensured for students who have studied from classes 6 to 12 in government schools.
The horizontal reservation shall be provided in each category of vertical reservation followed in Tamil Nadu within 69 per cent reservation from the academic year 2020-21.
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Fully reserved daily special trains between Chennai and Tirupati will commence from November 19. The train will depart from Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M G Ramachandran Chennai Central station at 6.25 am and will reach Tirupati at 9.40 am the same day. The train will have stoppages at Ambattur, Tiruvallur, Arakkonam, Tiruttani, Ekambarakuppam, Puttur and Renigunta before reaching Tirupati.
The return journey will commence at 10.15 am from Tirupati and the train will reach Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M G Ramachandran Chennai Central station at 1.40 pm the same day. The train will have stoppages at Renigunta, Puttur, Ekambarakuppam, Arakkonam, Tiruvallur and Perambur before reaching Chennai.
The reservations for the train will commence at 8 am on November 17.
After getting actor-turned-politician Khushbu into its fold, the state unit of BJP is working towards obtaining the support of another prominent face, M K Alagiri, the elder son of late M Karunanidhi, and brother of DMK president M K Stalin.
Ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, an alliance with Alagiri may give shape to a broader political front in the state.
Sources in the state BJP unit and the Alagiri camp confirmed there has been significant progress in the alliance talks. If everything goes as per the plans of the national party, Alagiri will likely meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 21, when the latter is scheduled to visit Chennai.
Read more
Biological E. Limited (BE), a city-based vaccines and pharmaceutical company has initiated a Phase I/II clinical trial of its COVID-19 subunit vaccine candidate in India following approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI).
The announcement was made jointly by BE, Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Dynavax), a US-based vaccine focused biopharmaceutical company, and Baylor College of Medicine, a health sciences university in Houston.
“We are very happy indeed to transition our potential vaccine candidate to clinical trials and offer one more potential option for the prophylaxis of COVID-19,” said Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited.
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Actor and former Bigg Boss Tamil contestant Losliya’s father S Mariyanesan passed away in Canada on Sunday following a cardiac arrest.
Fans of Bigg Boss Tamil took to Twitter to condole the demise of Mariyanesan.
Mariyanesan became popular among the Tamil-speaking audience after he appeared on the third season of Bigg Boss Tamil. In an episode, he along with his wife and daughters paid a surprise visit to Losliya inside the house. And that encounter led to high-drama after he confronted Losliya about her relationship with co-contestant Kavin.
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Supreme Court judge U U Lalit on Monday recused himself from hearing pleas seeking action against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy for levelling allegations against the judiciary. “I have difficulties. As a lawyer, I had represented one of the parties. I will pass an order for it to be listed before a Bench without me,” Justice Lalit said, reported news agency PTI.
A bench comprising justices Lalit, Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat was to hear three petitions seeking various reliefs against Reddy. The pleas alleged that Reddy not only wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde levelling allegations against the judiciary but also held a press conference in which false statements were made.
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Anna University, Chennai will hold the supplementary exams for undergraduate and postgraduate courses from November 17 to 21 in two shifts. The varsity has released the date sheet for all courses and colleges affiliated to it. These exams are for those students who had faced technical issues due to internet connectivity and the disruption of electricity during the final exams held earlier. The absentee candidates and those whose results mentioned WHRX (withheld re-exam) during online eams will also be allowed to appear, as per the official notice.
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The friction between the ruling AIADMK party and its ally BJP in Tamil Nadu has widened up as the former’s mouthpiece ‘Namadhu Amma’ slammed saffron party’s ‘Vetrivel Yatra’ asserting that processions that aim to disrupt the peace and the harmony in the state will not be allowed.
In a column titled ‘Be it Karuppar Kootam or those who hold the saffron flag,’ Namadhu Amma said “The peaceful state of Tamil Nadu will not allow any processions or yatra that aims to divide people on the basis of caste and religion. Those who are concerned must understand this. Time and again, Tamil Nadu, the cradle of Dravidian movement, has proven to the entire country that religions are present to guide the human beings and not to propagate hatred.”
With Home Minister Amit Shah scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu next week, Namadhu Amma’s strongly-worded column has created ripples across both camps.
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Chennai recorded 257.10 mm of rainfall as parts of the city received moderate to heavy showers today morning. The average rainfall recorded was 23.37 mm.
Here is the breakup of rainfall recorded across Chennai:
Telangana reported 502 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday, the lowest in recent times, as the tally rose to nearly 2.58 lakh while three fatalities pushed the toll to 1,407, the state government said on Monday.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 141, followed by Rangareddy (72) and Medchal Malkajgiri (33), a bulletin said.
As many as 14,385 patients are under treatment and 17,296 samples were tested on November 15. Cumulatively, over 48.91 lakh samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was over 1.31 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 93.87 per cent.
The teaser of Vijay’s much-anticipated film Master has been garnering big numbers on YouTube. The makers had released the teaser of the film on November 14. The video has already garnered more than 23 million views and two million likes, a new record of sorts.
XB Film Creations, the production house behind Master, took to Twitter to announce the big feat. On Sunday, a day after the video was dropped, the official Twitter page posted, “Good morning nanba, 16hrs 16M+ Views and 1.6M+ Likes, Master Teaser Becomes Most Liked Teaser in India. Idhu beast mode.” And last night, the handle posted, “Namma #VaathiRaid semma dhool!22M views and the #MasterTeaserRage continues. Naaliku epidi nu paapom! Good night maapis. #MasterTeaser #MasterMostLikedTeaser #Master.”
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has collected 18.673 tonnes of cracker waste across all 15 zones of Chennai following Diwali celebrations in the city over the weekend. While the Tamil Nadu government had not banned firecrackers in the state, citizens were allowed to burst crackers for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 272 fever clinics in Chennai on Sunday. A total of 5889 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 156 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Teynampet (Zone 9) where 52 camps were set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with four camps.
Citizens in Chennai woke up to cloudy skies as parts of the city received moderate to heavy showers early Monday morning.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), parts of Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Thoothukudi, Mayiladuthurai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam are expected to receive heavy showers today. A few districts are also expected to receive thunderstorms.
The IMD has also forecast heavy rainfall in neighbouring Puducherry and Karaikal.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on northeast monsoon, COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu, lockdown in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and more across Chennai and Hyderabad through the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.