With just about a year left for Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, a rift has started emerging between the ruling AIADMK and the BJP. How this will impact the late J Jayalalithaa’s party as it tries to hold on to power for a third consecutive term depends on many factors including the plans of the national party and the re-entry of ousted party general secretary V K Sasikala, expected to walk out of prison in the next three months or so.
READ | Explained: Why, ahead of TN Assembly polls, the AIADMK govt is nervous about BJP
To start with, the party unity has been impacted by then CM O Panneerselvam’s attempt to wrest power from Sasikala soon after Jayalalithaa’s death. There is already chatter on who will become then next chief minister — Palaniswami or Panneerselvam. Many top leaders confirm that despite this confusion, Palaniswami will remain the party’s man for the top job.
Also Read | Restrictions amid Covid, Chennai’s idol makers stare at losses this Ganesh Chathurthi
A fresh sign of discord is showing among AIADMK ministers over the demand for a second capital for Tamil Nadu to ensure administrative efficiency. Political observers believe the state government has taken a leaf out of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, which has approved a three-capital plan.
READ | AIADMK ministers seek second state capital in Tamil Nadu
As the clamour grew, Minister for Tamil Culture and Archaeology Mafoi Pandiarajan said Palaniswami would take a final call on the issue. The demand has been raised several times in the past. In 2004, there was much debate between Madurai and Trichy when the government sought to establish a new bench of the Madras High Court. It was eventually set up in Madurai.
Several experts including doctors and economists from Bengaluru have urged the GST Council to increase ‘compensation cess’ on all tobacco products, ahead of its scheduled meet on August 27.
According to the group of experts, an additional 'compensation cess' on cigarettes, bidis and smokeless tobacco products would provide revenue of Rs. 50,000 crores. “Coronavirus pandemic has impacted the economy of the country in such a way that it will need unprecedented financial resources to recover from the shock. Levying additional compensation cess on all tobacco products will help boost the economy," economist and health policy analyst Dr Rijo John said.
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Meanwhile, Dr S Venkatesh, Cardiologist at Aster RV Hospital opined that levying compensation cess on sin products like cigarettes, bidis and other tobacco products would also make them unaffordable to some. "It also curbs the virus spread as tobacco users with compromised immunity are at greater risk when confronted with COVID-19," he added.
Chennai has 13,255 active cases. Here are the active cases in the top 10 zones in Chennai:
Thanks to the weekend effect, there was a significant drop in the number of new cases of novel Coronavirus reported on Monday. Weekends usually see a big drop in the number of tests that are being conducted. That results in discovery of fewer number of new infections. Since the reports of RT-PCR tests usually take a day or two to arrive, the drop in new cases is most visible on Mondays. This has been a trend that has been going on for quite some time.
This weekend the dip in the testing numbers was more pronounced, because it came immediately after a new high of over one million tests a day was achieved. After 10.23 lakh tests on Friday, the number dropped to 8.01 lakh on Saturday, and further to just 6.09 lakh on Sunday. As a result, the number of new cases detected came down to less than 61,500 on Sunday, and dropped further to 60,975 on Monday.
Monday also saw the highest number of recoveries being reported so far, over 66,000. Coupled with the drop in the new cases, it led to a situation when the recoveries exceeded the new infections. A decreasing trend is also being seen in the number of deaths being reported. After a high of 1,092 deaths reported on August, the number has been coming down steadily. On Monday, 848 deaths were reported.
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After months of speculation over his entry into politics, former Karnataka IPS officer Annamalai Kuppusamy, popularly referred to as ‘Singham Annamalai’, is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party president J P Nadda and Tamil Nadu state president L Murugan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Speaking to IndianExpress.com, Kuppusamy said his decision to join the BJP was taken a week ago. He said he was entering politics as the country needed better governance, and there was a need to put the common man at the centre of the narrative.
“In the past, I’ve said I didn’t want to get labeled with any party. But, over a period of time, I started feeling the country needed a political change as much as a social change. I felt the BJP was a natural fit for me because my principles aligned with them. They provide a platform to leaders based on merit. It’s a nationalist party with a larger vision for the country, which is why I decided to join them,” he told IndianExpress.com.
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Former IPS officer K Annamalai, popularly known as ‘Singham’ of Karnataka Police will join the BJP today in Delhi in the presence of BJP National General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao and Tamil Nadu BJP State President L Murugan.
Ever since he hinted at entering electoral politics, Annamalai Kuppusamy has been at the receiving end of both bouquets and brickbats. The former Karnataka cadre IPS officer has served as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Bengaluru South as well as Superintendent of Police in Udupi and Chikmagalur districts. After he quit his job, the former cop has been busy with organic farming in his hometown Karur. He has also started ‘We The Leaders Foundation’ to empower youngsters and train them for better job opportunities and to help farmers by promoting organic farming.
The officer first dropped hints of nursing political ambitions when opened up in a January 2020 TV interview. He said he quit his job and wanted to expand his horizon a bit more and politics could be an option. He said he likes Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being an honest man.
READ | I am waiting for Rajini sir to announce his plan and then I will take a call: ‘Singham’ Annamalai Kuppusamy
Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai todayfrom 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 75 flights will fly between Chennai and major cities today, with 37 departures and 38 arrivals scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
Tamil Nadu recorded 5967 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 3,85,352. Among these, Chennai reported 1278 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 1,26,677.
Besides Chennai, 306 cases were reported in Chengalpattu, 226 in Kancheepuram, 320 in Thiruvallur, 52 in Ariyalur, 387 in Coimbatore, 370 in Cuddalore, eight in Dharmapuri, 132 in Dindigul, 189 in Erode, 56 each in Kallakurichi and Thirupathur, 149 in Kanyakumari, 23 in Karur, 61 in Krishnagiri, 74 in Madurai, 63 in Nagapattinam, 59 in Namakkal, 75 in Nilgiris, 26 in Perambalur, 187 in Pudukottai, 30 in Ramanathapuram, 121 in Ranipet, 273 in Salem, 47 in Sivagangai, 94 in Tenkasi, 119 in Thanjavur, 193 in Theni, 145 in Thiruvannamalai, 111 in Thiruvarur, 98 in Thoothukudi, 77 in Tirunelveli, 76 in Tiruppur, 104 in Trichy, 159 in Vellore and 156 in Virudhunagar districts.
Tamil Nadu recorded 5967 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 3,85,352. Among these, Chennai reported 1277 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 1,26,677.
Tamil Nadu recorded 97 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 6614.
As of Monday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 53,282. Till date, 2,32,679 males, 1,52,644 females and 29 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
The state discharged 6129 patients following treatment yesterday, putting the total number of recoveries at 3,25,456.
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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 Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday congratulated paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu on his selection for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year, saying "we are proud of him."
Thangavelu is among the five sportspersons from various disciplines selected by the Union Sports Ministry for the country's highest sporting honour for this year.
"My heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Mariyappan Thangavelu for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country's highest sporting honour," Purohit said. "We are proud of him," he said in a Raj Bhavan statement, adding, Thangavelu, hailing from Tamil Nadu, has brought pride to the country and the state.
He recalled Thangavelu had won gold in high jump in Rio 2016 Paralympics. "I am sure that he will win many more gold medals for India in the international Paralympic games in the future. May he continue to win big tournaments in future for India and Tamil Nadu in the coming years," the governor said.
With nearly 70,000 new cases detected on Friday, the number of confirmed infections of novel Coronavirus has crossed the three-million mark now. It has taken just eight days for the number of confirmed infections to increase from 25 lakh to 30 lakh.
But it is the first time that the number of days taken to add five lakh cases has remained stagnant. The journey from 20 lakh to 25 lakh cases was also made in eight days. Before that, every five lakh milestone had been coming in lesser number of days.
Simultaneously, the number of active cases, those who are yet to recover from the disease, also crossed seven lakh on Friday. The active cases are increasing at a much slower rate, because, these days, almost 90 per cent of the new cases every day is getting compensated by the people who are being declared recovered from the disease.
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Chennai has 13,223 active cases on Monday, after the city recorded 1298 fresh cases on Sunday.
Here are the active cases in the top 10 zones in Chennai:
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai has forecast heavy rainfall in parts of Tamil Nadu today owing to upper air convection. Several districts had received heavy rainfall yesterday after nearly a week.
The RMC has forecast light showers in parts of Thiruvallur, Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruppur, Thiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, Namakkal, Perambalur, Trichy, Karur, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Theni and Tenkasi.
Heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms have been forecast in parts of Salem, Dharmapuri, Pudukottai, Sivagangai and Madurai.
Following reports of singer-actor S P Balasubrahmanyam testing negative for coronavirus, his son SP Charan released a video refuting the reports.
SP Charan’s PRO had earlier in the day released a statement which read, “Thanks for your continuous support and prayers for my father. My father is fine and stable. His corona test has become negative. Will keep you posted about the updates.”
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Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai today from 9 am to 2 pm to carry out maintenance work.
Here are the affected areas:
A total of 80 flights have been scheduled to fly between Chennai and major cities today, with 40 arrivals and 40 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
With just about a year left for Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, a rift has started emerging between the ruling AIADMK and the BJP. How this will impact the late J Jayalalithaa’s party as it tries to hold on to power for a third consecutive term depends on many factors including the plans of the national party and the re-entry of ousted party general secretary V K Sasikala, expected to walk out of prison in the next three months or so.
To start with, the party unity has been impacted by then CM O Panneerselvam’s attempt to wrest power from Sasikala soon after Jayalalithaa’s death. There is already chatter on who will become then next chief minister — Palaniswami or Panneerselvam. Many top leaders confirm that despite this confusion, Palaniswami will remain the party’s man for the top job. ‘The OPS camp may push for his significance, but he is losing clout inside and outside the party. When we merged, he had 11 MLAs. Hardly five of them are with him now,” said a senior AIADMK minister.
Many AIADMK leaders believe the alliance with BJP is only bringing long-lasting harm to the party. However, the party in a way owes is very existence now to the BJP. Without the active role of the BJP and even some RSS leaders, the merger of rival factions led by EPS and OPS wouldn’t have happened in 2017. Without the merger, the ruling dispensation would have lost their strength in the Assembly before a powerful opposition led by DMK.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 5975 positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state tally to 3,79,385. Among these, Chennai reported 1298 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 1,25,389.
Besides Chennai, 352 cases were reported in Chengalpattu, 222 in Kancheepuram, 354 in Thiruvallur, 64 in Ariyalur, 392 in Coimbatore, 380 in Cuddalore, 12 in Dharmapuri, 178 in Dindigul, 45 in Erode, 93 in Kallakurichi, 181 in Kanyakumari, 49 in Karur, 19 in Krishnagiri, 105 in Madurai, 22 in Nagapattinam, 47 in Namakkal, 87 in Nilgiris, 30 in Perambalur, 155 in Pudukottai, 38 in Ramanathapuram, 155 in Ranipet, 261 in Salem, 43 in Sivagangai, 140 in Tenkasi, 116 in Thanjavur, 170 in Theni, 53 in Thirupathur, 100 in Thiruvannamalai, 29 in Thiruvarur, 91 in Thoothukudi, 158 in Tirunelveli, 75 in Tiruppur, 97 in Trichy, 180 in Vellore, 160 in Villupuram and 10 in Virudhunagar districts.
Tamil Nadu recorded 5975 positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state tally to 3,79,385. Among these, Chennai reported 1298 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 1,25,389.
Tamil Nadu recorded 97 deaths on Sunday, putting the state toll at 6517. As of Sunday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 53,541. Till date, 2,29,068 males, 1,50,288 females and 29 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, 42,06,617 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 70,127 samples having been sent yesterday.
The state discharged 6047 patients following treatment yesterday, putting the total number of recoveries at 3,19,327.
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.