Beneficiaries wait to receive a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Krishnagiri, Monday, June 14, 2021. (PTI Photo)Tamil Nadu Chennai News September 20, 21, 22 Highlights: Tamil Nadu logged 1682 fresh covid cases today taking the total number of active cases to 17, 027. The state also recorded 21 deaths and 1627 recoveries. Among districts, Coimbatore reported the highest with 235 covid cases followed by Chennai (194).
In other news, The Tamil Nadu state election commission has directed the collectors of nine districts to form flying squads for one to three panchayat unions where rural local body polls will be held on October 6 and 9.
As per the official release, the flying squads would comprise executive magistrates in the rank of tahsildars, revenue divisional officers besides police personnel. They need to check and act on complaints of violation of model code of conduct, anti-social activities, threat, intimidation, and bribing of voters with liquor and cash.The elections will be held in two phases on October 6 and October 9 in nine districts – Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruppatur, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi.
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Holding that all is not well, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Commissioner of Land Administration to inquire into the matter of transfer of patta of a piece of land in suburban Chromepet, in favour of a leather factory, said to be owned by a DMK MP. A division bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Krishnan Ramaswamy gave the direction, while passing interim orders on a writ appeal from Quentin Dawson of Moovarasanpet, challenging the August 24 2020 order of a single judge, passed in a writ petition in favour of the leather factory, represented by its vice-president Vairakumar. (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday signed Memorandum of Understanding for 24 projects worth Rs 2,120.54 crore, while Chief Minister M K Stalin said the government's goal is to increase the state's exports to USD 100 billion by 2030. The state government's Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Trade and Investment Promotion Bureau (M-TIPB) entered into an MoU with Flipkart/Walmart for promotion of e-commerce among MSMEs in Tamil Nadu through a supplier development programme. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu logged 1682 fresh covid cases today taking the total number of active cases to 17, 027. The state also recorded 21 deaths and 1627 recoveries. Among ditsricts, Coimbatore reported the highest with 235 covid cases followed by Chennai (194).
Tamil Nadu CM today inaugurated the 'Export Exhibition' at Kalaivanar Arangam.
A special police team investigating into the Kodanad murder-and-heist case on Wednesday interrogated two of the accused in the case. According to police, six people reportedly escaped to Kerala via Gudalur after the crime was committed on April 24, 2017. As the case was re-opened for further investigation by five special police teams, one team summoned the two to appear before it today. (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu state election commission has directed the collectors of nine districts to form flying squads for one to three panchayat unions where rural local body polls will be held on October 6 and 9.
As per the official release, the flying squads would comprise executive magistrates in the rank of tahsildars, revenue divisional officers besides police personnel. They need to check and act on complaints of violation of model code of conduct, anti-social activities, threat, intimidation, and bribing of voters with liquor and cash. Read More
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer T Natarajan tested positive for COVID-19 at a scheduled RT-PCR test ahead of his team’s IPL 2021 encounter against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Wednesday. Despite the positive test, the match will go ahead in Dubai.
The 30-year-old, who is currently asymptomatic, has isolated himself from the rest of the squad. Six close contacts of the player have also been placed in isolation. T Natarajan hails from Salem, Tamil Nadu.
Prices of petrol and diesel continued to remain unchanged across the country for the 17th successive day on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The prices of the key auto fuels were last revised on September 5 when petrol and diesel prices were cut by 15 paise per litre each in the national capital.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs. 98.96 per litre and diesel costs Rs. 93.26 per litre.
Prices of petrol and diesel continued to remain unchanged across the country for the 17th successive day on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The prices of the key auto fuels were last revised on September 5 when petrol and diesel prices were cut by 15 paise per litre each in the national capital.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs. 98.96 per litre and diesel costs Rs. 93.26 per litre.
A 50-year-old inebriated man damaged six ATMs with a hammer on Monday, after his attempts to loot cash from the machines failed. The man was finally arrested by Chennai police near CTH Main Road.
The cops said that they received information on Monday evening that a man was damaging an SBI ATM located on Prakash Nagar Main Road. The T-11 Tiruninravur patrol team was alerted and the man was caught. The arrestee, Seshadri, is a resident of Prakash Nagar in Tiruninravur.
Police said that the accused was upset as he had an argument with his wife recently. Of the six ATMs damaged by the man, three belonged to the SBI and one each to the Axis Bank, Canara Bank and the Union Bank of India.
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A total of 48,94,362 people have been vaccinated in Chennai till date, with 14,020 people inoculated on Tuesday alone, according to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).
Among these, 36,50,888 people have been administered Covishield, with 25,07,492 people having taken the first dose and 11,43,396 people having taken the second dose.
A total of 12,43,474 people have been administered Covaxin, with 7,31,795 people having taken the first dose and 12,43,474 people having taken the second dose.
The Kovalam beach in Chennai and Eden beach in Puducherry have now been awarded the prestigious ‘’Blue Flag’’ certification, an international eco-level tag taking the number of such beaches in the country to 10.
“Happy to announce India has now 10 International blue flag beaches with the addition of Kovalam and Eden beaches this year and recertification for 8 beaches which got the tag in 2020. Another milestone in our journey towards a clean and green India led by PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji,” Union Minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted.
Eight nominated beaches namely Shivrajpur- Gujarat, Ghoghla- Diu, Kaskarkod and Padubidri – Karnataka, Kappad –Kerala, Rushikonda – Andhra Pradesh, Golden – Odisha, and Radhanagar- Andaman and Nicobar were also recertified. These eight beaches had got the Blue Flag certification in 2020.
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India is a federal country; the Indian Constitution distributes the legislative field of education among both states and the Union. The establishment (incorporation), regulation, and winding up of universities is an exclusive state subject. That power is denied to the Parliament.
Admission of students, appointment of teaching faculty, conduct of examination, declaration of results, conferment of degrees, fixation of syllabus are all included within the regulation of the university. “Coordination and determination of standards in higher education” is an exclusive field conferred on the Union. The Union has to co-ordinate with states before fixing such standards. According to the Supreme Court, “The word coordination does not merely mean evaluation but also harmonising relationship for concerted action”.
Without such consultation with the state governments and treating them as equal partners, the Union cannot decide the standards by itself. Even after the 42nd Amendment, the legislative field of “incorporation”, “regulation” and “winding up” of the universities, carved out from education, remains with the states.
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Ending weeks of negotiations, the BJP prevailed over its alliance partner AINRC and nominated S Selvaganapathy as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Puducherry.
Sources close to the AINRC high command said Chief Minister N Rangasamy was pushing hard for his close aide and former health minister Malladi Krishna Rao for the post. However, the BJP top brass was firm on nominating Selvaganapathy.
A former nominated MLA, Selvaganapathy runs a popular private school in the Union Territory and has an RSS background. He is also serving as the treasurer of the BJP local unit.
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Ending weeks of negotiations, the BJP prevailed over its alliance partner AINRC and nominated S Selvaganapathy as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Puducherry.
Sources close to the AINRC high command said Chief Minister N Rangasamy was pushing hard for his close aide and former health minister Malladi Krishna Rao for the post. However, the BJP top brass was firm on nominating Selvaganapathy.
A former nominated MLA, Selvaganapathy runs a popular private school in the Union Territory and has an RSS background. He is also serving as the treasurer of the BJP local unit.
Read more
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has said that 65,571 saplings have been planted till Tuesday as a part of the civic body's tree plantation drive in the city. Of these, 472 were planted on Tuesday alone.
Here are the details:
North Chennai - 95
Central Chennai - 254
South Chennai - 123
In what might be one of the single biggest hauls of heroin in the country — amounting to nearly 3,000 kg, worth Rs 21,000 crore — a court in Bhuj has sent a couple arrested from Chennai on 10-day remand. Six persons, including Afghan nationals, held in Delhi with cocaine and heroin in their possession on Tuesday are being probed for possible links to the case, sources said.
The heroin believed to be from Afghanistan was discovered at Mundra port in Kutch district on September 16 in two shipping containers imported from Bandar Abbas Port in Iran, by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Ahmedabad zone officials, acting on a tip-off.
Sources said multiple searches are ongoing in Ahmedabad, Gandhidham and Mandvi of Gujarat as well as Delhi and Chennai, and that “involvement of Afghan nationals in the drug racket might be possible”.
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After a man from Chennai was arrested for allegedly cheating a woman in Chinchwad, a probe by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police has indicated that the suspect could have cheated more than 100 women after contacting them via matrimonial websites and defrauding them of crores of rupees.
Last week, the suspect, Premraj Thevraj, a resident of Chennai, was arrested for allegedly cheating a woman of Rs 11 lakh by entering into a fake marriage with her. He had met the woman on a matrimonial website in April, police said.
Thevraj was arrested after a well planned operation in which he was asked to come to Pune by the complainant and a trap was laid, police said. Upon searching him, the police had seized seven cell phones, 13 SIM cards, two Aadhar cards, two PAN cards and two driving licences from him.
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The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday requested the Centre to postpone resumption of exports of Covid-19 vaccines, saying only one third of the country’s population have been fully inoculated so far and 115 crore vaccines are still required to give the shots to all the people.
Minister for medical and family welfare Ma Subramanian put forth the request after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that exports of surplus Covid-19 vaccines would resume next month under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme.
Talking to reporters after unveiling the simulation centre at Apollo Hospitals in Vanagaram on Tuesday, Subramanian said the global medical fraternity welcomed the vaccination programme in India, as inoculating people holds the key in the fight against the COVID-19 virus.
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It was a question, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had faced before as well. When he was on his routine morning walk on Tuesday, a woman, all smiles and amid laughter asked him the secret behind his youthfulness.
"It is diet control," replied Stalin with a gentle smile. The woman, who was also doing her morning exercise told the Chief Minister that people are all happy since he is looking into all matters concerning the state and coming up with right schemes and appropriate measures.
She said she had conveyed her best wishes to him about two years ago for becoming the Chief Minister.
A video clip of the conversation, in which a couple of other walkers also appear, has surfaced in the social media. Stalin, who is lean, had faced similar questions before and his replies had been more or less similar.
The Chief Minister is a regular walker and rides a bicycle often to destinations like nearby Mamallapuram, not missing an opportunity to greet people and interact with them on his way. (PTI)
The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to recover the loss caused by the illegal miners and quarry owners in the state and collect compensation for damaging the ecology.
A person who has indulged in illegal mining for a considerable period before being caught should be made to pay, including for the harm done to the environment, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu said.
“It will not do for the State to merely report that the illegal mining activities undertaken by certain persons have been stopped. So that it is a deterrent to future intruders, the State has to realise due compensation from the perpetrators of illegal mining, including on account of the desecration of the ecology and the biodegradation.”
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The Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld a 2017 notification of the Centre, ordering removal of crash guards and bull bars in the front and rear of four wheelers.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu upheld the notification while dismissing two writ petitions from manufacturers of automobile accessories.
The manufacturers challenged the December 7, 2017 notification of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the consequential acceptance and implementation thereof by the state government by its letter of December 26, 2020 issued by the Chief Secretary.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 1,647 positive cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 26,48,688. Among these, Chennai reported 198 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,48,097. The state recorded 19 deaths on Tuesday, putting the state toll at 35,379. 17 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 1,619 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 25,96,316.
As of Tuesday, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 16,993. Till date, 15,46,181 males, 11,02,469 females and 38 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, 4,56,04,563 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 1,50,159 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 298 Covid-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 229 are private facilities.
Two children of Chennai’s New Washermanpet area were admitted to Stanley Government Hospital after they consumed an aerated drink bought from a shop near their residence.
According to sources, Lakshman Sai (6) and his cousin Omeshwaran (8) had been playing near their house Monday and had bought a bottle of aerated drink called ‘Meriba Panneer Soda’ for Rs 10.
After drinking the soft drink, the kids experienced some discomfort and despite forcefully trying to vomit, they felt dizzy. The duo was then rushed to the hospital.
Read more
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two foreigners in connection to its probe into a case of fraudulent foreclosure and withdrawal of fixed deposits belonging to the Chennai Port Trust (CPT).
The arrested individuals have been identified as Boussiomo Steve Bertrand Yannick from Cameron and Musasa Ilunga Lucien alias Bo Bo from Congo. The CBI had earlier arrested nine individuals in the case.
“The CBI conducted search operations at Ramapuram, Chennai and arrested two foreign nationals. They were reportedly on student visas but could not produce original passports. During the search, laptop, mobile phones, camera, printer and certain documents relating to Kamarajar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, bank fixed deposits and logos of different government organizations in India were found,” the CBI spokesperson said.
Read more
Tangedco has announced a power cut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm for maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
Tambaram:
Kadapperi: Rail Nagar, Arputham Nagar, Amman Nagar and Burma Colony
Radha Nagar: GST Road, Saravana Store, Balaji Bhavan and surrounding areas
Adyar: Appar Street, Tiger Varadachari Road, Rukumani Nagar, Beach Road, Paari Street, Gangai Street, Thirumurgan Street and surrounding areas
Vysarpadi: MC Road, Adam Street, BC Press Road, Pichandi Lane, West Madha Street, Mariyadoss Street and surrounding areas
Arumbakkam: Srinivasa Nagar, Semathamman Nagar, Nerkundram, Krishna Nagar, Kamarajar Street, Perumal Koil Street and surrounding areas
Perungudi: Kazura Garden, Ranga Reddy Garden, Mettu Colony and ECR, Habiba Street, MGR Road, Chinna Neelangari Kuppam, Ambedkar Nagar, Periyar Salai, Kandasamy Nagar, Pachayappan Street and surrounding areas
Redhills: Vivke Akbar Avenue, Jothy Nagar, P.T Moorthy, Mahalakshmin Nagar, Maruthupandy Nagar and surrounding areas
Read more
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast light to moderate showers in parts of Tamil Nadu today. According to the RMC, parts of Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore and Ranipet districts will receive rainfall today.
Citizens in Chennai woke up to overcast skies as parts of the city received moderate showers at dawn.
Vanakkam Chennai!
Welcome to today’s live blog. We bring to you the latest news on Tamil Nadu rains, 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.
Two children of Chennai’s New Washermanpet area were admitted to Stanley Government Hospital after they consumed an aerated drink bought from a shop near their residence.
According to sources, Lakshman Sai (6) and his cousin Omeshwaran (8) had been playing near their house Monday and had bought a bottle of aerated drink called ‘Meriba Panneer Soda’ for Rs 10.
After drinking the soft drink, the kids experienced some discomfort and despite forcefully trying to vomit, they felt dizzy. The duo was then rushed to the hospital. Read more
Two children in Chennai’s new Washermanpet area were admitted to Stanley Government Hospital after they consumed an aerated drink from a shop nearby to their residence. According to sources, Senthil Kumar is a city government bus driver and a resident of New Washermanpet. His son Lakshman Sai (6) and his relative’s son Omeshwaran (8) had been playing near their house on Monday. Both of them purchased a Rs 10 aerated drink 'Meriba Panneer Soda' and had consumed it. They had experienced some discomfort. The children had attempted to vomit forcefully, but as they were dizzy and uncomfortable, they were rushed to the hospital.
Speaking to Indianexpress.com, Stanely Hospital Dean Balaji said the vitals of both the children are normal and they would be under observation for a couple of days. The Food Safety Department has sealed the shop and sent the samples of the drink to the laboratory. Further, the department directed the officials to seize the unregistered Rs 10 bottle drink sold across the state.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) fixed a bug on its e-ticketing platform after a plus two lad from the city raised an alarm over the presence of Insecure direct object references (IDOR) - a type of access control vulnerability in the booking site.The IT wing of the IRCTC which took note of the complaint, immediately resolved the vulnerability issue that has been reported, a senior official said on Tuesday.
"I accidentally discovered a critical IDOR that leaks the transaction details of millions of travelers, when I was trying to book tickets on August 30. It was the most common bug. Immediately, I reported about it to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).P Renganathan, a plus two student of a private school in Tambaram here," said. (PTI)
Slamming reports that appeared in the wake of the recent vigilance raids at his properties, former Tamil Nadu minister KC Veeramani said efforts were being made to malign his image.
On Thursday, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) raided 35 premises linked to the AIADMK leader and reportedly seized cash, jewels, luxury cars including a Rolls Royce, among other assets.
Addressing reporters at Tirupattur on Monday Veeramani said, “Our family has a legacy. I was used to imported cars from an early age. My father got me a Mercedes Benz when I was studying Class VII. More than 10,000 workers used to work for us, we still run our factory. Even my wife hails from an affluent family.”
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has said that 65,269 saplings have been planted till Monday as a part of the civic body's tree plantation drive in the city. Of these, 407 were planted on Monday alone.
Here are the details:
North Chennai - 69
Central Chennai - 237
South Chennai - 101
Petrol and diesel prices continued to remain steady across the country for the 16th successive day on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The prices of the key auto fuels were last revised on September 5 when petrol and diesel prices were cut by 15 paise per litre each in the national capital.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs. 98.96 per litre while diesel costs Rs. 93.26 per litre.
Seventeen Anganwadi children have been hospitalised after consuming a noon meal that allegedly had a dead lizard in it at Boothamkattikambalimedu in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district on Monday.
As per the reports, an Anganwadi worker identified as Jayachitra and helper Amsavalli served the noon meal to the children. Soon, three children complained of nausea and started vomiting, and some of them were found to have discomfort. All 17 children were taken to Cuddalore government hospital in an ambulance.
Cuddalore collector K Balasubramaniam visited the hospital and enquired about their health. “We received reports that a lizard was found in one of the plates served to the children. Samples of the food have been sent to labs for testing. All 17 children who were admitted to the hospital have been discharged today (Tuesday). The collector has ordered the food security officers to probe into this incident and also told them to check the quality of food at Anganwadi centres across the district. Departmental action would be initiated against the workers if they are found guilty,” an official at the Cuddalore district office said.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin was found having a pleasant interaction with morning walkers at Adyar in Chennai.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday urged the Centre to allocate an additional 50 lakh doses of Covid vaccines every week, to enable the state in vaccinating all the uncovered eligible persons by the end of October, apart from administering the second dose to those due to receive them.
Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the “resounding success” of two mega Covid vaccination camps held on September 12 and 19, where a cumulative 45-lakh odd jabs were administered to the public across the state.
“The Government of India has supplied 3.97 crore doses of Covid vaccine and 2.21 crore (0.5 ml) AD syringes to the state, till September 19, 2021. By deriving more doses out of the each 10 ml vial, the State has been able to vaccinate 4.13 crore persons in Government Covid Vaccination Centres. The state realises that despite the levels of vaccinations achieved in the state, it still has a large eligible population which is yet to get vaccinated and this continues to make the state vulnerable for Covid cases,” Stalin said.
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Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan met the residents in the union territory at their houses on Monday to urge them to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Handing over bouquets to the residents who had received the vaccine already she said, "It is the duty of everyone to get vaccinated so that Puducherry can emerge at the earliest as a coronavirus-free Union Territory..."
She was accompanied by the legislators M Vaithianathan (Congress) and P M L Kalyanasundaram (Bharatiya Janata Party).
Later, she told reporters that she has held discussions with the Chief Minister N Rangasamy on upgrading the facilities in government hospitals. "The intention is to ensure that the hospitals in Union Territory are upgraded. No patient should have the grievance of not having facilities to take care of their health," she said. "I have also constituted medical teams for each Assembly constituency to visit every resident in the area to ensure all get the vaccine," she said.
The Lieutenant Governor said if people get vaccinated there would be no room for the pandemic to affect them and that there would no need for hospitalisation. "Only those who have not received the jabs were facing the necessity of treatment at hospitals," she said. (PTI)
The Madras High Court on Monday rejected a PIL plea to quash an order of the Election Commission of India, affixing its seal of approval to the amendments made to the AIADMK party constitution at the general council meeting held in 2017, which saw among others, O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami being elevated as Coordinator and Joint Coordinator, respectively, of the party.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu rejected the plea, while dismissing a PIL petition from advocate B Ramkumar Adityan of Tiruchendur, a party man, seeking to quash the May 4 2018 order of the ECI as illegal and consequently direct the other authorities to strictly adhere to all the provisions of the Rules and Regulations and the constitution of the AIADMK, while holding organisational elections.
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The Justice A K Rajan Committee appointed by the M K Stalin government on the ‘Impact of NEET on Medical Admissions in Tamil Nadu’ found that 90% of those who cleared NEET in 2020 in the state had taken coaching, while nearly three-fourths (71%) were repeat applicants.
The study commissioned by the state government, which introduced a Bill in the Assembly last week seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu students from the centralised medical entrance exam, said NEET was successful “mainly and predominantly” for the above category of applicants, including those who had gone through a “long-term coaching curve”.
With NEET appearing to favour urban, richer applicants, the committee said it has “created a generation of doctors and teaching faculties from mainly the privileged communities — the affluent, the creamy, the urban genre — who are well away from the grass root realities of the diverse social structure”. It recommended an immediate return to the practice of medical admissions through higher secondary scores.
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Steps would be taken to prevent incidents of man-human conflicts in the Nilgiris district of in Tamil Nadu, Forest Minister of the State K Ramachandran said on Monday.
He told reporters in Udhagamandalam that the Union Environment Ministry has rejected the proposal to start rope-car system in the district and that a special legal committee would be formed to decide the future course of action in this regard.
Ramachandran was there to inaugurate the desilting of a canal for smooth flow of rainwaters and warned those involved in illegal quarrying in the district. (PTI)
The Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice on a petition challenging the election of AIADMK's R Viswanathan from Natham Assembly constituency in Dindigul district, in the April 2021 elections.
Justice N Seshasayee ordered the notice, returnable in six weeks, while entertaining the petition from the unsuccessful DMK candidate M A Andiambalam, Monday. The petition sought to declare the election of the returned candidate Viswanathan, as illegal and void.
Petitioner's senior counsel P Wilson contended the elected candidate had suppressed certain material facts in Form 26 (nomination affidavit) and misused the government machinery. He had also caused disturbances during the election meetings and indulged in corrupt practices of bribing the voters with cash, counsel said.
He distributed sarees, liquor bottles and distributed Rs 10,000 each to 926 women self-help groups (SHGs). He had, thus, spent about Rs. 34.26 crore, over and above the limit prescribed by the Election Commission, Wilson added. (PTI)
State Election Commissioner of Puducherry Roy P Thomas on Monday said elections to civic bodies would be held shortly.
In a statement, he said the polls for the 1,149 posts (five chair persons of Municipalities, 116 Municipal Councillors, 108 commune panchayat council members, 108 village panchayat presidents and 812 village panchayat ward members.
The civic polls were last held in 2006 and for various reasons the elections could not be held in 2011 at the end of expiry of five-year term of the elected bodies.
Thomas said the poll panel has uploaded the electoral rolls relating to all the five municipalities (two in Puducherry and one each in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam) and 10 commune panchayats (five each in Puducherry and Karaikal regions). The Union Territory presently has 10.03 lakh voters as per details uploaded on the website of the State Election Commission. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Monday announced that the state government will absorb the education, hostel and counselling fees of candidates admitted to professional courses under the 7.5 per cent quota set aside for government school students.
At an event organised at Anna University, Stalin handed over allotment letters to 50 candidates who have been admitted to various engineering courses under the quota.
“Your dream of becoming an engineering graduate is going to be fulfilled today. I know the struggles you would have faced to reach this place. Your parents have made a lot of sacrifices to send you here. You should make use of the opportunity. Many of you could become entrepreneurs. Approach everything from a scientific point of view. Students from rural areas should join higher education institutions in the city. The DMK government has implemented various schemes to enable this whenever we were in power,” Stalin said.
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Cartoonist Mathi, who entered the field of journalism at the age of 21, has entered digital media and continues his journey through a website www.mathicartoons.com which was launched here on Monday.
The website features 2,000 select cartoons of his. They were chosen from about 17,000 cartoons that were published in newspapers, weekly magazines and vernacular dailies since 1990.
The website was unveiled by Dr M Manickam of ABT- Sakthi Groups. Tamil actor Siva Karthikeyan was also present on the occasion. (PTI)
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and allies including the Congress, Viduthalai Siruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) staged black flag protests at several locations across the state on Monday urging the Centre to withdraw the farm laws and condemning the government’s role in the Pegasus row, hike in fuel prices, privatisation, unemployment and economic crisis, among other issues.
The parties said the protest is against the anti-people policies of the BJP and raised slogans demanding stabilisation of the economy and reduction in soaring fuel prices. Party leaders and activists across several districts joined the protest from their respective locations to avoid gathering in large groups amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The Justice (retired) A K Rajan committee to study the impact of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on aspirants from the socially disadvantaged sections in medical admissions in Tamil Nadu has said the qualifying exam will take the state back to pre-independence days and wanted the government to eliminate it at all levels by following the required legal and or legislative procedures.
Alternatively, the State government may pass an Act indicating the need for eliminating NEET for medical education, and get the President’s assent for the same. The report, earlier submitted to the state government, was made public on Monday.
Last week, the state Assembly had adopted a bill to override NEET, in the backdrop of alleged suicides of many medical aspirants who had either failed to crack the exam or had appeared for it, after the committee had submitted its report.
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Eighty-five developmental schemes would be implemented to develop Erode district, Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy said on Monday.
Inaugurating a mass cleaning programme near Erode, the Minister said the civic officials would arrange the cleaning and desilting of all the water courses. The central bus-stand in the district would be developed and three temporary bus-stands at Solar, Arachalure and Gani Rowthar tank area would be set up. He said the government has decided to convert the Chikkaiah Naicker College, an aided institution, into a government college.
He said the Institute of Road Transport Technology (IRTT) thast is running an engineering college near Chitode would also be converted into a government engineering college where 35 per cent of the seats would be allotted to wards of the government road transport employees. (PTI)
Tangedco has announced a power cut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm for maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
Tambaram:
Adyar: Appar Street, Tiger Varadachari Road, Rukumani Nagar, Beach Road, Paari Street, Gangai Street, Thirumurgan Street and surrounding areas
Taramani: Kottivakkam Nehru Nagar 11th , 12th & 13th links and Nehru Nagar 2nd & 3rd Main Roads
Perambur: Thenpalani Nagar, Jayaram Nagar, Venkateshwara Nagar, Adhinath Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Rajan Nagar, Lakshmi Nagar, Subramaniapuram and surrounding areas
Ponneri: Arasur, Vellodai, Annuppambattu, Perumbedu, Ponneri, Athipattu, Saikiruba Nagar, Thatchoor, Panjetty Andarkkuppam, Madhavaram and surrounding areas
Tondiarpet:
Sembium: T.H Road, Teacher’s Colony, Raja Street, Kamaraj Salai, Kattabomman Main Road, Jawahar Street, E.B Road, Indira Nagar West, Ambedkar Nagar, Thapal Petti, Gandhi Street, Perambur High Road, S.S.V Koil Street and nearby areas
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Tamil Nadu recorded 1,661 positive cases of Covid-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 26,47,041. Among these, Chennai reported 206 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,47,901. The state recorded 23 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 35,360. 22 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 1,623 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 25,94,697.
As of Monday, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 16,984. Till date, 15,45,237 males, 11,01,766 females and 38 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, 4,54,54,404 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 1,53,034 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 298 Covid-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 229 are private facilities.
As most of the political parties protested against what they termed as anti-people and anti-farmer policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre, BJP's agricultural wing on Monday described the protests as petty politics that aims at confusing the farmers.
The workers and leaders of DMK, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi hoisted black flag atop their houses and raised slogans against the Centre's policies. The Left parties condemned the farm laws and demanded their withdrawal.
Reacting to the demonstration, president of the agricultural wing G K Nagaraj criticised the protests that, he said, were being held to confuse the farmers by saying the legislations would not promote the welfare of the ryots. (PTI)
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.
Tamil Nadu's daily new covid cases showed a marginal dip on Monday compared to the previous day's additions, but the number of active cases continued to inch upwards and stood at 16,984.
The state clocked 1,661 new infections today, 36 lesser than on Sunday. However, with the new cases outnumbering the 1,623 recoveries on Monday, the active cases went up.
The number of active cases on Sunday was 16,969, even as they have been on the upward trend for the past few days. The state witnessed 23 deaths, including one person with no comorbidities.
The cumulative positives stood at 26,47,041 while the new deaths took the total fatalities to 35,360, according to a government bulletin. (PTI)
The Supreme Court Monday took strong note of Tamil Nadu State Election Commission's (TNSEC) plea seeking 6 to 7 months more for concluding processes related to local bodies elections, saying the government can go for all elections except the local bodies.
“The government can do anything which it wants to do. But whenever the issue of local bodies elections come up, they say, no, no,” a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana observed while hearing the plea.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state poll panel, said the entire work force was busy with the assembly polls in the state in February and March and then COVID-19 hit the work related to the local bodies elections.
After hearing brief submissions, the bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, sought the response of petitioner S Shankar, who had initially filed the PIL seeking holding of local body polls in the state, within two day on the plea of the state poll panel.
“This court vide order dated June 22, 2021 while disposing of the miscellaneous application, granted extension of time till 15th September, 2021 to complete the entire process including publication/notification of election schedule and the result thereof before 15th September, 2021 as the Constitutional mandate to conduct elections in the time bound manner cannot be defeated in any manner,” the bench said in its order. (PTI)
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to immediately evict all those who are occupying the properties of a temple in the city as tenants/lease holders illegally and recover the revenue loss from officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department and the temple, who had colluded with the tenants/lease holders.
Justice S M Subramaniam gave the direction while disposing of a writ petition from K Senthilkumar last week.
The petitioner submitted that land measuring 3,227 square feet on MTH Road, belonging to Sri Agastheswara Swamy temple in Villivakkam was assigned to his ancestor, who had put up a superstructure some 30 years ago. In 2011, the petitioner acquired the property registered in his name by the Sub-Registrar. As the temple initiated eviction proceedings, he moved the High Court with the present petition.
Disposing of the same, the judge directed the Tourism, Culture and Endowment department and the HR&CE to complete the eviction proceedings in all aspects and take over possession of the properties and deal with the same in accordance with the provisions of the HR&CE Act and more specifically, for the benefit of the temple administration, immediately. (PTI)
Steps would be taken to prevent incidents of man-human conflicts in the Nilgiris district of in Tamil Nadu, Forest Minister of the State K Ramachandran said on Monday.
He told reporters here that the Union Environment Ministry has rejected the proposal to start rope-car system in the district and that a special legal committee would be formed to decide the future course of action in this regard. Ramachandran was here to inaugurate the desilting of a canal for smooth flow of rainwaters and warned those involved in illegal quarrying in the district. (PTI)
Eighty-five developmental schemes would be implemented to develop Erode district, said Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy said on Monday. Inaugurating a mass cleaning programme near here, the Minister said the civic officials would arrange the cleaning and desilting of all the water courses.
The central bus-stand in the district would be developed and three temporary bus-stands at Solar, Arachalure and Gani Rowthar tank area would be set up. He said the government has decided to convert the Chikkaiah Naicker College, an aided institution, into a government college.
He said the Institute of Road Transport Technology (IRTT) that is running an engineering college near Chitode would also be converted into a government engineering college where 35 per cent of the seats would be allotted to wards of the government road transport employees. (PTI)
DMK leader and member of Parliament Kanimozhi on Monday lashed out at the BJP-led government at the Centre over problems faced by farmers.
Accusing the Narendra Modi government of enacting laws and launching initiatives that do not augur well for the people, she said it had not spared even the students as it continued to hold NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test). “The biggest issue is the Centre doesn't want to resolve the issues. It is not prepared to listen to the problems of farmers,” she said and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the farm laws.
Speaking to reporters here after leading a black flag protest against the Centre as part of the nation-wide protest by the parties opposed to the BJP, she slammed the Centre on the farm legislations and said they were against the interest of the farmers. The government chose to increase the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG when the economy is sliding.
“How can people manage with the day-to day living when the prices of fuel and LPG are increased in spite of the slide in the economy? The government promised to create number of jobs before coming to power but created none,” Kanimozhi said. “We have registered our opposition on behalf of the women's wing with the DMK's struggle against the anti-people policies of the BJP government,” she said.
DMK's youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin led a protest in the city. The party workers raised slogans denouncing the Centre and demanded steps to stabilise the soaring prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. (PTI)