
Tamil Nadu Telangana Assembly Elections COVID-19 January 6, 7 Highlights: Tamil Nadu recorded 811 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,23,181. Among these, Chennai reported 228 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,26,937. The state recorded 11 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,188. Nine of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. The state discharged 943 patients following treatment, putting the total number of recoveries at 8,03,328.
A total of 24 passengers who had returned to Tamil Nadu from UK and 20 of their primary contacts have tested positive for COVID-19 till date. A total of 2300 passengers had travelled to Tamil Nadu from UK between November 25 and December 23, of which 2146 have been tested. Among these, 24 have tested positive, 2122 have tested negative and the tracing of more passengers is underway.
The Centre has shot down a Tamil Nadu government order that allowed full occupancy in movie theatres, directing the state to fall in line with the 50 per cent occupancy cap protocol. In a letter, the Ministry of Home Affairs also reminded the state government that it cannot dilute central guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act. Multiple guidelines issued by the Centre since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic have said that states can make lockdowns stricter but cannot give more relaxations than those provided by the Centre.
The Central Crime Branch has arrested four more people, including an employee of a mobile phone service provider, in connection with the supply of over 1,000 SIM cards to the Chinese gang allegedly behind the illegal online apps which provided instant loans and later collected exorbitant rates of interest by threatening and harassing people availing them.
A Chennai resident had claimed to have been threatened and abused by staffers of these online loan firms, saying he had availed a loan of Rs 5,000 through one of these apps but found that only Rs 3,500 had been credited to his account. He said he was pressured by the staffers to repay the full amount within a week. As he delayed his loan repayment, the staffers advised him to take a fresh loan from another app to clear his due and before he knew what he was getting into, he had availed loans through 40 such apps and his due amount had ballooned to Rs 4 lakh, he said.
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Hima Kohli was on Thursday sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in Hyderabad. Kohli, who was a judge of Delhi High Court, was administered the oath of office by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at an event held at Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Union MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, several Telangana ministers and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Kohli succeeded Justice R S Chauhan, who has been transferred as Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. (PTI)
A cyclonic circulation over Tamil Nadu coast is likely to bring rain and thundershowers in parts of Telangana in the next 48 hours, said the Hyderabad centre of the India Meteorological Department. The temperatures will also start dropping below normal after two or three days.
Director K Naga Rathna Thursday said parts of southern and central districts of Telangana are likely to receive rainfall. Hyderabad city will remain generally cloudy and will witness light showers in the same period. The minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to remain between 20-27 degrees C.
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Telangana Chief Minister's Office has announced that Chief Minister Sri K Chandrashekhar Rao will be undergoing diagnostic tests at Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad today afternoon.
A statement by the CMO said that the chief minister had complained of a burning sensation in the lungs. Rao's personal physician Dr MV Rao, Pulmonologist Dr Navneeth Sagar and Cardiologist Dr Pramod Kumar lated conducted preliminary tests and recommended that the Chief Minister undergo MRI, CT Scan and other tests at Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad.
As scores of Indian migrant workers got stuck in the Gulf when the coronavirus pandemic broke out early last year, forty-four-year-old Mamda Ashok considered himself lucky. For 12 years, Ashok, who hails from Telangana’s Nirmal district, had been working in Kuwait. It was just before the pandemic-induced lockdown came into effect that he was sanctioned a three-month holiday from the car wash station where he worked.
Come February 26, Ashok will complete a year being out of employment. He did not receive months of pending salary and end-of-service benefits. Like Ashok, over 20,000 migrant workers from across Telangana have lost their jobs in the Gulf owing to the pandemic and face an uncertain future, says Swadesh Parkipandla, president of Pravasi Mitra Labour Union.
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The GST officials of Medchal commissionerate arrested two industrialists and their auditor in Hyderabad Wednesday for allegedly defrauding the government to the tune of Rs 67.76 crore.
The officials from the anti-evasion wing arrested industrialists Arjun Chowdary, Kiran Chowdary, and their auditor Vikas Saraf for issuing fake invoices by the creation of fictitious firms and evading GST. Another accused Gordhan Singh, also an industrialist is absconding, said an official press release.
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Former Andhra Pradesh Tourism minister Bhuma Akhila Priya was arrested Wednesday in connection with the dramatic abduction of three businessmen Praveen Rao, Sunil Rao and Naveen Rao—all of them siblings— in Hyderabad. The three brothers were whisked away from their residence Tuesday night by a group of kidnappers who posed as Income Tax officials, after detaining other family members in another room. The TDP leader, according to police, is alleged to have planned and executed the abduction.
Hyderabad Police commissioner Anjani Kumar, speaking to the media, said that the police initiated a hunt for the kidnappers soon after receiving information about the crime. Special teams were formed and check-posts were erected on all important roads. “After realizing that they cannot escape, the kidnappers let off the three brothers near Narsingi (on the city outskirts) at around 3.30 am Wednesday. When they switched on their cell phones, they were traced and rescued,” he said.
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A 19-year-old woman, who stabbed her cousin to death as he tried to rape her, was set free by the Thiruvallur district police on the ground of self-defence. Thiruvallur Superintendent of Police P Aravindhan said the woman was released under Section 100 (when the right of the private defence of the body extends to causing death) and clause 3 (an assault with an intention of causing rape) of the IPC.
The incident took place around 5.30pm at Allimedu village in Sholavaram on January 2.
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 347 fever clinics in Chennai on Wednesday. A total of 20,023 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 216 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Anna Nagar (Zone 8) and Adyar (Zone 13) where 38 camps each had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with four camps.
Telangana recorded 379 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the total positives to over 2.88 lakh while three more deaths were added pushing the toll to 1,559.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 71, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri and Rangareddywith 37 and 36 respectively, a government bulletin said on Wednesday.
The total number of cases stood at 2,88,789 while recoveries were at 2,82,177. As many as 5,053 patients are under treatment and 41,246 samples were tested on Wednesday. Cumulatively, over 71.45lakh samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was nearly 1.92 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.53 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 97.71 per cent.
The Centre has shot down a Tamil Nadu government order that allowed full occupancy in movie theatres, directing the state to fall in line with the 50 per cent occupancy cap protocol. In a letter, the Ministry of Home Affairs also reminded the state government that it cannot dilute central guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act.
The Tamil Nadu government’s Revenue Department had Monday allowed complete occupancy in theatres following a demand from the film industry owing to festivities such as Pongal, when new movies are released. The move, however, had raised eyebrows within the government itself, with the state Health Ministry expressing reservations about the move at a time when a mutant coronavirus strain had entered the country.
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A total of 232 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 115 departures and 117 arrivals scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 24 passengers who had returned to Tamil Nadu from UK and 20 of their primary contacts have tested positive for COVID-19 till date.
Among the 24 primary cases, nine cases were reported in Chennai, three each in Thanjavur, Madurai, Nilgiris and Chengalpattu and one each in Theni, Nagapattinam and Coimbatore. Among the 20 contact cases, six were reported in Chennai, three in Thanjavur, two each in Nilgiris and Theni, four in Chengalpattu and three in Nagapattinam.
A total of 2300 passengers had travelled to Tamil Nadu from UK between November 25 and December 23, of which 2146 have been tested. Among these, 24 have tested positive, 2122 have tested negative and the tracing of more passengers is underway. Additionally, 3676 close contacts of the 2122 passengers who had tested negative were also tested for COVID-19 and were found to be negative.
All the UK returnees and their contacts have been kept in isolation wards, according to the Tamil Nadu Health Department.
Tamil Nadu recorded 811 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,23,181. Among these, Chennai reported 228 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,26,937.
The state recorded 11 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,188. Nine of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. The state discharged 943 patients following treatment, putting the total number of recoveries at 8,03,328.
As of Wednesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 7665. Till date, 4,97,552 males, 3,25,595 females and 34 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, 1,45,66,511 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 63,582 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 242 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 68 are government and 174 are private facilities.
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A day after it was reported that Chennai had received its highest single-day rainfall since January 1915, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has disputed the statement. The RMC said that Kelambakkam had recorded the highest rainfall with 21 cm recorded by the station and said that it does not fall under the Chennai region.
A 19-year-old woman, who stabbed her cousin to death as he tried to rape her, was set free by the Thiruvallur district police on the ground of self-defence. Thiruvallur Superintendent of Police P Aravindhan said the woman was released under Section 100 (when the right of the private defence of the body extends to causing death) and clause 3 (an assault with an intention of causing rape) of the IPC.
The incident took place around 5.30pm at Allimedu village in Sholavaram on January 2.
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The Anna University, Chennai released the notification for the Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET) 2021. The application process will begin on January 18 at 10 am and will conclude on January 12, 5 pm. Interested candidates will have to apply at tancet.annauniv.edu.
The exam is scheduled to be held on March 20 and 21 from 10 am to 5 pm. Those who clear the exam will be eligible to seek admission to MBA, MCA, ME, MTech, MArch, MPlan degree programmes for the academic year 2021-2022.
The entrance test for MCA and MBA will be held on March 20 while for MTech, MArch, MPlan courses it would be conducted on March 21, as per the official notice.
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As heavy rainfall battered parts of Chennai throughout the day on Tuesday, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Nungambakkam said the city had received the highest single-day rainfall in a century — since January 1915 — with an average rainfall of 123 mm recorded.
The day-long rainfall in Chennai was unusual, given that the city had received little rainfall during the northeast monsoon last year. Officials at the RMC said the rainfall was caused due to an easterly trough over the northern part of the state.
Parts of Chennai were left waterlogged following the showers that began at dawn on Tuesday, while water was released from the Chembarambakkam lake after the water level reached 23 feet at 8 am.
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