People arrive to shop at a mall that reopened after authorities eased COVID-induced restrictions, in Chennai, Monday, June 28, 2021. (PTI)Tamil Nadu Chennai Coronavirus News July 21, 22 Highlights: Tamil Nadu recorded 1,872 positive cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the state tally to 25,43,040. Among these, Chennai reported 133 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,36,756. The state recorded 29 deaths on Thursday, putting the state toll at 33,838. 26 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2,475 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 24,83,676.
The opposition AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Thursday questioned the DMK government’s assertion that there was no oxygen-shortage related death in the state during the second Covid-19 wave, saying Chief Minister M K Stalin had stated otherwise in May. Referring to Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian’s statement on Wednesday that Tamil Nadu recorded no such deaths, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam said it amounted to completely concealing truth. Recalling Stalin’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 7, hours after the DMK leader was sworn-in as CM, Panneerselvam recalled he had sought increased allocation of oxygen to the state in view of the demand.
“The contradiction, when the CM’s letter is compared to what the Health Minister said, is apparent. Now there is apprehension if all the data issued by the government is like this,” Pannerselvam said in a statement.
Tamil Nadu recorded 1,872 positive cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the state tally to 25,43,040. Among these, Chennai reported 133 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,36,756. The state recorded 29 deaths on Thursday, putting the state toll at 33,838. 26 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2,475 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 24,83,676.
The opposition AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Thursday questioned the DMK government's assertion that there was no oxygen-shortage related death in the state during the second Covid-19 wave, saying Chief Minister M K Stalin had stated otherwise in May. Referring to Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian's statement on Wednesday that Tamil Nadu recorded no such deaths, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam said it amounted to completely concealing truth. Recalling Stalin's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 7, hours after the DMK leader was sworn-in as CM, Panneerselvam recalled he had sought increased allocation of oxygen to the state in view of the demand.
Politics will always form an important backdrop in his cinema whether it is speaking about Dalits or breaking the stereotypical image of the subaltern culture, says director Pa. Ranjith.
Ranjith, one of the most celebrated contemporary directors in Tamil cinema with films such as Madras and Rajinikanth-starrers Kabali and Kaala to his credit, explores the boxing culture of north Chennai in his latest film Sarpatta Parambarai.
According to the director, his past movies as well as Sarpatta Parambarai deal with the ground realities of the working class in the most natural way possible.
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A total of 28,90,251 people have been vaccinated in Chennai till date, with 19,878 people inoculated on Wednesday alone, according to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).
An assistant commissioner (AC) of the Madurai Corporation was shunted Wednesday after he issued a circular directing officials to keep basic facilities ready ahead of the visit of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat to the temple city.
In the circular dated July 10, AC Shanmugam directed the civic officials to carry out road repair works and fix street lights on the route which the RSS leader would travel. He added that the zonal officers should ensure that no road renovation is carried out during his visit.
This created uproar in the state. Madurai MP Su Venkatesan took to Twitter and said the Madurai Corporation should brief under which rule the following circular was issued.
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has removed 65,028 posters across all 15 zones in Chennai till Wednesday as a part of its poster removal drive.
Here are the details:
North Chennai - 14,206
Central Chennai - 16,292
South Chennai - 34,529
A commerical complex on Anna Salai in Chennai caught fire on Thursday morning. Firefighting operations are underway and efforts are being taken to rescue people stranded inside the building.
The Madras High Court has rejected a plea to restrain the State government from providing food packets to the poor from the ‘Annadhanam scheme’ during the Covid pandemic.
The PIL petition from K K Ramesh, managing trustee of Hindu Dharma Parishad in Madurai, sought to quash a May 27 order of the State government.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in a recent order said it was open to the petitioner not to partake of such a ‘gift’.
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Director Pa Ranjith’s Sarpatta Parambarai takes us deep inside 1970s north Madras (now Chennai) and its throbbing, vibrant culture of boxing. Like all of the director’s films, this one is also heavy on symbolism as it contemplates the fault lines in our society, which are based on religion, caste, and language. The film’s historical reminiscence packs a punch stronger than Kabilan’s right hook.
Sarpatta Parambarai begins right in the middle of a boxing tournament. A massive crowd has gathered to watch superstar boxers of north Madras in action. The high-voltage energy and enthusiasm of the Madras crowd for a sport that is not cricket is a revelation. Somewhere between the 1970s and now, people lost interest in a high-energy sport with a lot of real action and took to India’s national obsession. If the fascination of north Madras had been protected and nurtured, perhaps India’s sports business would have looked much different than it is today. Maybe, boxing might have been a very profitable profession for many. This film makes you think right in its opening sequence, which is always a good sign.
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Personnel of the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu police searched and seized two metal icons from a house in Puducherry on Wednesday, sources in the police said.
The sources told PTI that the seizure of the icons of Lord Nataraja and His consort was made based on information. The idols have been kept in a court in the Union Territory, they said.
No arrests have been made and further investigations begun, they added. (PTI)
Tamil director Pa Ranjith's much-awaited sports drama Sarpatta Parambarai released on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday. Starring Kollywood actor Arya in the lead role, the film is set in the 1980s and revolves around the boxing culture that existed in North Chennai.
Talking about the Tamil film, Ranjith told PTI, “I have brought sports into the framework of political drama for this project. Be it speaking about Dalit politics or breaking the stereotypical image of subaltern culture, I have always tried to convey this important message through my movies.”
The Tamil Nadu government is planning to formulate new schemes in order to attract more investments in the Information Technology (IT) sector, the State Information Technology Minister T Mano Thangaraj said on Wednesday.
The foreign investment meant for Tamil Nadu had gone to neighbouring states like Karnataka in the last 10 years, due to which there was a slump in development in the sector in the state, Thangaraj told reporters in Coimbatore. The vision of the Chief Minister was to set up IT parks all over Tamil Nadu and increase job opportunities and provide employment to educated youths, he said.
Thangaraj, who was reviewing the progress of construction of Rs 114 crore second Tidel Park in the Special Economic Zone, said that once completed this project will provide a lot of job opportunities to graduates and increase the revenue of the state.
The minister held discussions with the captains of IT industry, in the presence of IT Principal Secretary Niraj Mittal, Elcot Managing Director, Ajay Yadav and the district collector Dr Sameeran among others. (PTI)
The Madras High Court has recommended special training to the judges dealing with cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, so that they render proper and appropriate judgments.
Justice P Velmurugan made the recommendation recently, while dismissing a criminal appeal from a child rape accused, who challenged the conviction and sentence awarded by a lower court.
The trial court had held that the sentences were to run concurrently. Instead Justice Velmurugan said that it should run consecutively.
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The Tamil Nadu government has warned temple trustees/executive officers of disciplinary action if any property belonging to religious institutions are fraudulently transacted or registered.
Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran directed the joint commissioners, executive officers and assistant commissioners in the department to remain vigilant and thwart attempts to fraudulently register temple properties.
Issuing a set of instructions, in the wake of a Madras High Court order, he directed his subordinate officials that as per the judgment the religious institution shall approach the district registrar (administration) for conducting an enquiry under section 68 (2) of the Registration Act, 1908, if in case any property belonging to it has been transacted/ registered fraudulently.
"The competent authority should immediately register a complaint before the district registrar concerned if any transaction/registration fraudulently involving the temple properties comes to the knowledge of the temple trustees/ executive officers, and submit an action taken report to the head office," he said in the circular issued on July 19. (PTI)
A day after the Centre told the Rajya Sabha that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by state and Union territories during the second wave of Covid-19, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said no person died in Tamil Nadu due to lack of oxygen.
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A total of 152 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 77 arrivals and 75 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
The Tamil Nadu government is planning to formulate new schemes in order to attract more investments in the Information Technology (IT) sector, the State Information Technology Minister T Mano Thangaraj said on Wednesday.
The foreign investment meant for Tamil Nadu had gone to neighbouring states like Karnataka in the last 10 years, due to which there was a slump in development in the sector in the state, Thangaraj told reporters here.
The vision of the Chief Minister was to set up IT parks all over Tamil Nadu and increase job opportunities and provide employment to educated youths, he said.
Thangaraj, here to review the progress of construction of Rs 114 crore second Tidel Park in the Special Economic Zone, said that once completed this project will provide a lot of job opportunities to graduates and increase the revenue of the state.
The minister held discussions with the captains of IT industry, in the presence of IT Principal Secretary Niraj Mittal, Elcot Managing Director, Ajay Yadav and the district collector Dr Sameeran among others. (PTI)
The Tamil Nadu government has warned temple trustees/executive officers of disciplinary action if any property belonging to religious institutions are fraudulently transacted or registered.
Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran directed the joint commissioners, executive officers and assistant commissioners in the department to remain vigilant and thwart attempts to fraudulently register temple properties.
Issuing a set of instructions, in the wake of a Madras High Court order, he directed his subordinate officials that as per the judgment the religious institution shall approach the district registrar (administration) for conducting an enquiry under section 68 (2) of the Registration Act, 1908, if in case any property belonging to it has been transacted/ registered fraudulently.
"The competent authority should immediately register a complaint before the district registrar concerned if any transaction/registration fraudulently involving the temple properties comes to the knowledge of the temple trustees/ executive officers, and submit an action taken report to the head office," he said in the circular issued on July 19. (PTI)
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption police in Tamil Nadu launched searches at as many as 21 places of former Transport Minister MR Vijayabaskar. As per the reports, the raids are in connection with corruption allegations against Vijayabaskar.
Speaking to the reporters outside Vijayabaskar’s residence in Chennai, Selvam, Vijayabaskar’s lawyer said they are providing full cooperation with the department officials. “The officials said they have been told to check, we all know how these checks would come up. We have the account details… they asked us to provide the asset details in the period where he [Vijayabaskar] served as the minister. The former minister has provided his statement, everything is going as per the procedure,” he added.
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The opposition AIADMK on Wednesday slammed Karnataka for reportedly moving the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery-Gundar interlinking scheme, alleging it was done in the context of the state’s opposition to Mekedatu dam and was an expression of its “jealousy.”
AIADMK Coordinator O Panneerselvam said the Cauvery-Gundar interlinking initiated by the previous party-led government only entails diverting excess water to drier regions in Tamil Nadu and would not affect Karnataka.
The Rs 14,400 crore, 262 km project is aimed at diverting 6,300 cubic ft of surplus water during flood times to drier areas in the state’s southern districts and the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had laid the foundation stone for the first of the three-phase initiative in February this year.
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Tangedco has announced a power cut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 5 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
Koyambedu Market: Srinivasa Nagar, P H Road, Algammal Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Kanaga Sabai Colony, Perumal Koil Street and surrounding areas
Guindy: Parts of TNHB Colony, Periyar Nagar, TNHB 3rd Main Road, Sun North Phase, Moovarasampet Main Road, MGR Road, AGS Colony, Voltas Colony, Lakshimi Nagar 4th Stage, Parts of Hindu Colony, KK Nagar, Parts of Ramapuram, Gerugambakkam, Manapakkam, IPS Colony, Officers Colony, Thiruvalluvar Street and surrounding areas
Villivakkam: Sidco - 1st to 10th Blocks, Nehru Nagar, Ammankuttai, Balaramapuram, Ramakrishnapuram, Thirunagar, Venugopal Street, Sivan Koil, North High Court Colony, Reddy Street and Redhills Road
Adyar: VGP Selva Nagar 1st Main Road, Park Avenue 2nd Main Road (near Grand Mall), Dhandeeswaram 7th Main Road and surrounding areas
IT Corridor: Raju Nagar, Mettukuppam, PTC Quarters, Sakthi Garden, Pilaiyar Koil Street, Nehru Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Kannagi Nagar, Thoraipakkam, IAS Colony, Kaliamman Koil Street, Karapakkam, River View Colony and surrounding areas
Perumbakkam: Sithalapakkam, Varadhaarajaperumal Koil Street, ADB Avenue, TNHB Colony, MGR Nagar, Nookampalayam Road, Valluvar Nagar, Arasankalani Main Road, Nagalaksmi Nagar, Ottiyambakkam Village and surrounding areas
KK Nagar: 54th and 56th Streets, Alagirisamy Salai, Vembuliamman Koil Street, Moogambigi Street, Jai Balaji Nagar, Choolaimedu High Road, Kanniyamman Koil, Rangarajapuram, Nelson Manickam Road, Ambedkar Salai, Thangal Street, R.K Salai, Kings Park Apartment and surrounding areas
Tamil Nadu recorded 1891 positive cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 25,41,168. Among these, Chennai reported 138 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,36,623. The state recorded 27 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 33,809. 24 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2423 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 24,81,201.
As of Wednesday, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 26,158. Till date, 14,84,799 males, 10,56,331 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, 3,59,68,166 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 1,41,248 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 278 Covid-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 209 are private facilities.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu and more across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.
Tamil Nadu recorded 1,891 positive cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 25,41,168. Among these, Chennai reported 138 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,36,623. The state recorded 27 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 33,809. A total of 2,423 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 24,81,201.
With evolving technology, cyber offences have been on a rise in the city and in a bid to curb them, the Chennai Cyber Crime department released a series of awareness videos on One-Time Password (OTP) fraud, jobs and other scams on their social media channels. The department, through the videos, urged the public to think before initiating any transaction.
Police said fraudsters generally use the names of police officers, doctors and professors to con gullible people and urged the public not to send money through payment wallets and if they had sent it by mistake, they should immediately register a complaint at the cybercrime cell in the city.
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Disney Plus Hotstar on Wednesday announced that Nayanthara’s upcoming film Netrikann will premiere on its platform soon. Nayanthara plays a visually challenged woman in the thriller, which is written and directed by Milind Rau.
Netrikann is Milind Rau’s second directorial outing after the 2017 horror film Aval. The film is said to revolve around a serial killer who targets young women in Chennai.
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Fervour marked Eid-al-Adha, also known as Bakrid celebrations in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, with the devout offering prayers at mosques in conformity with Covid-19 protocols. The celebrations were low-key last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, confining the celebratory mood to the homes across the state.
Many who had eagerly turned up at the Triplicane Big Mosque in Chennai were asked to apply hand sanitiser before stepping in. The Triplicane Big Mosque, also called Wallajah Mosque, constructed in the Mughal architectural style, draws hundreds of people during Bakrid celebrations.
Special prayers were held across Tamil Nadu by the faithful, in mosques and other designated places and many said they prayed for an early end to the Covid-19 pandemic and all-round prosperity.
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister M K Stalin, AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami among others had extended Bakrid greetings. (PTI)
Industrial and logistics real estate platform ESR India on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to develop two industrial parks with an estimated investment of Rs 550 crore. ESR India and the Tamil Nadu government have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect at the Investment Conclave 2021 conference held on Wednesday.
The MoU is signed for the launch of two industrial parks in Kancheepuram and Krishnagiri districts of the state over the next five years, the company said in a statement. Once fully operational, the two projects have the potential to create over 4,400 jobs in the facility.
ESR India said the MoU will facilitate its proposed investment at Kancheepuram and Krishnagiri industrial parks by helping in streamlining land acquisition, approvals, clearances, and administrative processes as per existing policies, rules, and regulations of the state government.
"The government of Tamil Nadu has been very supportive in encouraging industrial developments in the state by creating a favourable business climate for industrial players," Abhijit Malkani, CEO and Country Head, ESR India said. "The MoU will see ESR invest Rs 550 crore to develop industrial parks in Tamil Nadu, offering 1,800 direct and 2,600 indirect job opportunities in the facility," he added. (PTI)
Tasked with the critical job of clearing BJP of its “outsider” tag in the land of Dravidian politics, in an interview to indianexpress.com, K Annamalai, the newly-appointed president of the saffron party’s state unit draws a difference between Congress, “a national party” and BJP, a “nationalist party”. The 37-year-old former Karnataka cadre IPS officer also expresses his views on NEET, the Mekedatu issue and reacts to the criticism that his party is trying to overshadow AIADMK to create a straight BJP vs DMK narrative in the coming years.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said the proposed Indian Marine Fisheries Bill, 2021 “has many disturbing clauses” and urged the Centre not to move it in Parliament in the current session and put it across for wider debate and discussion.
Many provisions in the proposed Bill went against the interests of the local fishermen communities and certain clauses infringe upon the rights of states under the State List of the 7th Schedule of Constitution of India, he said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre has proposed to move the bill during the current session of the Parliament, he said.
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The Tamil Nadu government is planning to launch a free vaccination drive through private hospitals in the state, for the benefit of public, by utilising CSR funds provided by private companies, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday.
Talks were held in this connection with 117 private hospitals in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Salem and the scheme will be launched in this city initially and later expanded to other parts of the state, Subramanian told reporters in Coimbatore.
The private companies that make contributions under the CSR initiative for the purpose will have the option to choose the hospital.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin extended greetings on the occasion of Eid today.
The increasing incidents of demolition of temples in the State in the name of encroachment, will lead to hatred and mistrust against the Tamil Nadu government, four heads of leading Mutts said on Tuesday. The State government should immediately intervene and put an end to the demolition spree, before it leads to unrest, the seers said.
The seers cited the recent demolition of a 125-year-old temple on the banks of Muthanankulam, a pond, by Corporation officials in the name of removing encroachments under the Smart City project. They said such acts have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus across the State.
The majority of Hindu temples were built either on the banks of the river or lakes so that the devotees can take bath or wash their legs and hands before entering the temples, which cannot be claimed as encroachment, Peruru Mutt senior pontiff, Sri Maruthachala Adigalar pointed out.
The officials could consult the head of mutts and other religious persons before taking decision to demolish and provide alternative land nearby so that the temples, symbolising Tamil cuture, can be rebuilt, he said. Moreover there are hundreds of places of worship of other religions in many areas where Corporation claims to be encroached, but only Hindu temples are targeted, they alleged.
The temples recently demolished included a 300-year-old temple near Basin Bridge in Chennai and 200-year-old Vazhavandan temple in Madurai, Adigalar said. Those present at the press conference included Kamatchipuram Mutt Head, Shivalingeshwar Swamigal, Goumara Mutt head Kumaragurupara Swamiji, Varadha Peetham head Manikandan Swamigal and Hindu Munnani State President, Kadeshvara Subramanian. The seers visited Muthanankulam and heard the grievances of the people. (PTI)
In an apparent bid to avoid contempt of court proceedings, a government official working in the Highways department on Tuesday volunteered to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to a woman for demolishing a portion of her house by ‘mistake’.
Recording the offer of the official, a division bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and R Hemalatha posted the contempt petition to July 23 for filing an affidavit and also for payment of the amount by way of a Demand Draft drawn in favour of the house-owner by the official.
Kavitha of Singiripatti village in Salem district had moved the High Court, challenging the October 15, 2020 eviction notice.
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It has been well over a year since Chennai-based vocal and Chitravina artiste and Guru Bhargavi Balasubramanian took to the stage for her live concerts. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns gave the performer and music teacher some much-needed time to work on her dream projects, while also continuing to teach and nurture young talents via the new normal – Zoom.
For years, the ancient composer Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi and his compositions have enthralled Bhargavi. The pre-trinity (Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri) composer who lived approximately from 1700 to 1765 is an enigma for Carnatic musicians, given that he neither took on disciples nor did he have any progeny to carry on his legacy.
During the lockdown, Bhargavi along with Sathish Kumar, an app developer from X Concepts, developed an app ‘Venkata Kavi’ and revamped a website (http://www.venkatakavi.org) dedicated to the ancient composer. The integrated website, which is a one-stop site for all the compositions of Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, contains close to 600 complete works of the composer, lyrics to his songs, pronunciation guides, a history of the composer, his contribution to music, musical facts, the historical significance of the songs and more.
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A total of 1,67,420 MT of cargo has been handled by the Chennai International Airport from January to June, 2021. This includes the transit of emergency supplies.
Union Minister L Murugan on Tuesday said it was "disheartening" that he missed the opportunity to get himself introduced in Parliament by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 19, when the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments.
On the first day of the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament, Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments amidst uproar over various issues by MPs from Opposition parties who did not even allow Modi to introduce the newly inducted Union ministers to the Upper House.
"I'm emotionally upset, as the first Arunthathiyar (SC) in the history to be Minister of State for MIB and Ministry of FAHD, Government of India, it is disheartening that I missed the opportunity to get myself introduced in the Parliament by our Honourable PM," Murugan said in a tweet. He lashed out at the "disturbance created by Congress and allies in the introduction of Council of Ministers which was the important day for SC,ST,OBC & women to get recognition."
Murugan, former BJP Tamil Nadu president, was inducted in the Modi-led cabinet in its July 7 reshuffle as Minister of State and was given Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and the Information and Broadcasting portfolios. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu on Tuesday received investment commitments to the tune of Rs 28,508 crore from 49 companies across various segments that will create 83,482 jobs in the state. The event, organised by the industries department and ‘Guidance Tamil Nadu,’ also saw Chief Minister M K Stalin laying the foundation stone for nine projects, entailing investments of Rs 4,250 crore that will generate 21,630 jobs.
An official release said 35 Memorandums of Understanding were signed in the presence of the chief minister, with a cumulative investment of Rs 17,141 crore, which would create 55,054 jobs.
Stalin also inaugurated five new projects with an investment commitment of Rs 7,117 crore and employment generation to 6,798 people. “The total investment committed in the 49 projects is Rs 28,508 crore and employment opportunities to 83,482 people”, the release said.
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Fishermen across the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu have been holding a protest to lift the ban on the use of purse seine nets by the fisheries department with those from Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam holding hunger strikes and urging the government to roll back the ban which they claim is affecting their livelihood.
On Monday, more than 200 women hailing from Devanampattinam, the coastal hamlet near Cuddalore, intensified their protest and sought to meet the collector to hand over a petition but were denied permission, following which, the women participated in a hunger strike near the Cuddalore-Nagapattinam road near the municipal park.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday inaugurated a 1.3 giga watt (GW) solar module manufacturing facility of clean energy firm Vikram Solar in Chennai. With the commissioning of the new unit, the company's cumulative PV module manufacturing capacity has reached 2.5 GW per annum, which is currently the largest in India, Vikram Solar said in a statement.
The new solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing capacity was inaugurated virtually by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. He was joined by Vikram Solar CEO Saibaba Vutukuri.
Vikram Solar has implemented digital production display boards, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence-enabled inspection for zero defect at the unit. The digitisation initiatives have further enabled seamless processes like lean manufacturing, reducing and controlling wastages, the statement said.
The company's Managing Director Gyanesh Chaudhary said, "We believe our new facility further strengthens not just Vikram Solar but the nation's solar manufacturing prowess and ecosystem. Apart from bridging the demand-supply gap for modules, our state-of-the-art facility will propel technological innovation, job creation and aid India's renewable energy targets," he added. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy on Tuesday laid the foundation for a Rs 30.85 crore market complex at Erode.
On textile effluents affecting the Kalingarayan canal, Cauvery and Bhavani Rivers, he said steps would be
taken to check this and a master plan will be drawn soon. (PTI)
Ousted AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala’s visit to a city hospital on Tuesday to meet veteran AIADMK leader and party’s presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan created a flutter in Tamil Nadu’s political circles.
Former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and a few other AIADMK leaders who were there at the time left the hospital complex after hearing of Sasikala’s visit, it is learnt.
Sasikala, who visited Madhusudhanan at the ICU and inquired about his health condition, said she wanted to meet the leader who was with AIADMK since 1952, when he formed the MGR Mandram in North Chennai at the age of 16. In a recent interview, Sasikala had recalled how Madhusudhanan and a few others saved late J Jayalalithaa from an attack of armed men at her residence in Poes Garden immediately after the death of party’s founder M G Ramachandran’s (MGR).
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Tamil Nadu recorded 1904 positive cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 25,39,277. Among these, Chennai reported 141 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 5,36,493. The state recorded 30 deaths on Tuesday, putting the state toll at 33,782. 26 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2439 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 24,78,778.
As of Tuesday, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 26,717. Till date, 14,83,709 males, 10,55,530 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, 3,58,26,918 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 1,33,962 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 278 Covid-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 209 are private facilities.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Tamil Nadu and more across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.