From Zoom calls and distributing pamphlets with QR codes to setting up exclusive IVRS numbers, former IAS officer and Makkal Needhi Maiam’s candidate V Santhosh Babu is running a “hyper-digital campaign” to reach out to voters in the Velachery constituency after testing positive for Covid-19. A week after the party announced him as the candidate for Velachery, Babu tested positive. “I wish to inform my Velachery voters that I contracted COVID. How unlucky I am! I really want to meet with all of you and seek your blessings and votes. We will be going on a hyper-digital campaign and my teams will come and meet with you. Do vote for MNM and me!” he had tweeted.
READ | From hospital room, MNM’s Santhosh Babu runs ‘hyper-digital’ poll campaign
It’s a family friendship that goes back generations — starting with Anbil Mahesh Poyyamuzhi’s grandfather Anbil Dharmalingam and Udhayanidhi Stalin’s grandfather M Karunanidhi, continuing with their respective fathers Anbil Poyyamuzhi and Stalin, and now the two of them. As Mahesh, 43, walks 10 hours a day, seeking votes again in Thiruverumbur, the Tamil Nadu first family’s backing is clearly with him. There are at least 100 cadres in his entourage, mostly youth. His campaign office has huge posters of him and Udhayanidhi flanking Stalin.
READ | From Trichy, a story of two families, best friends forever
For assistance on COVID-19-related queries and mental health support in Chennai, citizens can contact the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) COVID-19 helpline 044 46122300 | Citizens can find the nearest GCC-facilitated COVID-19 fever clinic here | For lodging rain-related complaints and assistance during the monsoon, citizens can contact the GCC's monsoon helplines 044 25384530 or 044 25384540 or the control room 1913 (available 24x7)
Tamil Nadu biker was surprised when a traffic officer gave him the reason why he asked him to pull over, in a recent incident. It turns out that the officer’s ‘unexpected’ action was motivated by a Good Samaritan spirit as he wanted the biker to help an elderly woman who had dropped her medicine. A video that has gone viral captures how the medicine was returned to its owner.
‘Kindness costs nothing but means everything’ is the refrain that best describes the collective and chivalrous effort to help out a complete stranger and the act is winning wholesome praise on the internet. In the video shared by travel blogger and biker Arun Kumar Moolya, the officer is shown as asking him if he is from Karnataka. He then hands him a medicine bottle, saying that it was dropped by a woman passenger travelling ahead in a bus.
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He requested Moolya, who is popularly known as ‘AnnyArun’ on the internet, to chase the government bus on the highway and return the bottle of medicine to her. He didn’t think twice. After driving for some time, he managed to spot the bus and urged the driver to pull over before handing the medicine to her. “Mission accomplished!” the biker is heard saying in the end.
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Director Mari Selvaraj on Thursday stated that Pandarathi Puranam song from his upcoming film Karnan, starring Dhanush, will be henceforth called Manjanathi Puranam, thus sidestepping the litigation that could affect the film’s release next month.
“The immense love and support of the audience to my film Karnan makes me very happy. And the kind of respect and expectations that you have for me makes me want to be very responsible. I create every scene with great care and artistic sensibilities. And that is how I created Pandarathi Puranam,” Mari Selvaraj wrote in his statement.
While Pandarathi is not part of the popular vocabulary, there seems to be a great historical and emotional significance to it. After the song was released a few weeks ago, a native of Madurai moved the Madurai High Court with a welfare petition seeking action against the song. In the petition, he has allegedly claimed that the song insulted certain communities in Tamil Nadu. He also wanted a ban on the song and stop the film’s release until his concerns were addressed properly. According to reports, based on the petition, the court had ordered to send legal notices to the filmmakers, censor board and YouTube.
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Sleuths of the Income Tax department on Thursday conducted searches in premises linked to a noted DMK leader in Tamil Nadu, sources said.
The searches over suspected tax evasion began in the morning and it covered multiple premises connected to a prominent leader of the main opposition DMK, based in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district.
Further details related to the searches are awaited.
Assembly elections are scheduled on April 6 in Tamil Nadu and over the past few weeks, several premises associated with others, including political functionaries, have been searched in the state by income tax investigation officers. (PTI)
As many as 52 first-year medical students of a private college in Kancheepuram have tested positive for COVID-19. A total of six students residing in the hostel campus were isolated after they initially tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Following this, the college management conducted the test for the remaining first-year students residing in the hostel, and 46 of them were found to be positive.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, C Mahendran, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) at the Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute said the first-year block hostel has been closed and the campus area has been disinfected as per the COVID-19 protocol.
“There are 250 students in the first year. Six students had symptoms in the hostel so the warden immediately informed us, the students were Isolated and we sent their samples for RT-PCR tests. We received the report on Saturday and they were found to be positive. We immediately conducted the tests for all the students who were in contact. Till now, 52 first-year students have tested positive and 46 of them are asymptomatic,” he said.
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The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 20 Indian fishermen and detained two boats for allegedly fishing in that country's waters, officials in Rameswaram said on Thursday.
The fishermen, hailing from Rameswaram and Thangachimadam, were picked up from near Katchatheevu on Wednesday night by the Lankan navy, a senior Fisheries department official said.
They have been taken to a local naval camp there for further probe and are likely to be handed over to Lankan Fisheries authorities to be isolated along with the detained boats, officials said.
Fishermen association representatives expressed concern over such repeated instances of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu being arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and urged the Centre and state government to ensure their early release. (PTI)
The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai, has come up with a technique that might prevent people from slipping from the footboards of buses and getting run over subsequently.
The corporation has fixed auto-retractable rails on the sides of some of the buses. The rails will lower themselves automatically when the busses pass over a speed breaker on the road.
Despite multiple actions and fines, people, especially school and college students, are often seen traveling on the footboards. Unfortunately, they slip and are run over by the rear wheels of the buses. To avert such accidents, these rails will push them outside and prevent them from getting stuck under the wheels.
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Four members of a family in "heavy debt" allegedly died by suicide in Mancherial district, police said on Thursday. The four--a man, his wife, a daughter and son- were found hanging at their home in Kasipet mandal by one of their relatives on Thursday morning, they said.
The man was doing farming for the past several years on a land taken on lease but had recently suffered crop loss besides he had also debts which he took to perform his daughter's marriage last year, they said.
Based on preliminary investigation, a senior police official said, the man had taken loans from some people, and he was under debt to the tune of lakhs of rupees, which forced the family to take the extreme step.
In a suicide note purportedly written by the head of the household, he stated he was unable to repay the debts and decided to end his life along with the family members, the official said. A case was registered and probe was on. (PTI)
Telangana continued to witness a rise in new COVID-19 daily cases as 493 new infections were reported on Wednesday, taking the cumulative tally to 3,04,791, the state government said on Thursday. Four more people succumbed to the virus taking the death toll to 1,680, it said. As many as 3,684 patients were undergoing treatment, it said in a bulletin.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reported the highest cases with 138 followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (42) and Ranga Reddy districts (35).
A total of 56,464 samples were tested on March 24. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 98,45,577. The bulletin said 157 people had recovered on Wednesday taking the total number of recoveries to2,99,427.
The recovery rate and case fatality rate in the state was 98.24 per cent and 0.55 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, an official release said the vaccine wastage rate in the state stood at 0.80 per cent. (PTI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a complaint by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy against Justice N V Ramana, who is next in line to be Chief Justice of India, after an in-house inquiry.
A statement issued by the court said that “a complaint dated 6th October, 2020 sent by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to the Supreme Court was dealt with under the In-House Procedure and the same, on due consideration, stands dismissed”.
The communication added that “all the matters dealt with under the In-House Procedure being strictly confidential in nature, are not liable to be made public”.
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Kanimozhi, Thoothukkudi MP and Secretary of DMK’s women’s wing, speaks to The Indian Express ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on April 6.
Speaking on the electoral battle shaping up in the state, she said, "It looks very good, bright and positive for the DMK and the alliance. I think it is a definite win… I have travelled across the state, met people and they are quite upset and angry with the present government. They definitely want a change and they believe that change is the DMK. They want the DMK back in power because there is rampant unemployment. There is no investment in the state. The basic infrastructure and basic facilities… Nothing has been done. It is becoming a government where nobody can protest, nobody can ask questions… It is becoming very dictatorial."
Kanimozhi said that the outcome of the polls will signify a return to the right track and development for the state. "Tamil Nadu has always been at the forefront, but today we are slipping on all human development indicators. We have to put it back on track. As far as national politics is concerned, it will show that there are states which are different", she said.
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Petrol and diesel prices fell for the second consecutive day across the country on Thursday, March 25, 2021. This is the second straight revision in fuel prices this month. Prior to this, petrol and diesel prices were unchanged at their record highs for 24 days with the previous revision taking place on February 27, 2021.
Petrol is now available in Chennai at Rs. 92.77 per litre while diesel is available at Rs. 86.10 per litre.
In Hyderabad, the cost of petrol is Rs. 94.39 per litre while that of diesel is Rs. 88.45 per litre.
The DMK on Wednesday moved the Madras High Court with a plea to restrain the Election Commission from using electronic voting machines (EVMs) that were beyond the expiry period of 15 years, in the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
The other prayers of the DMK, represented by its Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi, were to provide CCTV live coverage/web-stream during voting in all the polling booths and voting centres, to install jammers at the strong rooms where EVMs are stored and at the counting centres.
However, the court said it does not appear that EVMs can be tampered with without touching them.
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 218 fever clinics in Chennai on Wednesday. A total of 18,595 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 92 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Tondiarpet (Zone 4) where 36 camps had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with three camps.
With the chorus to #FreeTNTemples growing louder, leaders from industry, media and political parties joined citizens online to make a peaceful yet strong demand to free Hindu temples from state control.
This entire movement about freeing temples from the clutches of the government is not an effort to protest, agitate or corner somebody. This is out of deep anguish, said Isha Foundation leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in a video message.
He called upon the people irrespective of caste or religion to support the movement. Also, he retweeted over 100 videos shot by citizens and Isha volunteers showing the condition of the temples which, he alleged, was shocking and alarming.
Everything that is Tamil is rooted in devotion and the fulcrum of this devotion is the temple, he said and described the anguish of devotees forced into silence as centuries and millennia-old temples crumble due to alleged government apathy and neglect. The campaign launched at the beginning of this month has spread in the social media with support from all quarters.
Jaggi Vasudev had written open letters to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and the Opposition Leader M K Stalin urging them to include in their poll manifesto the plan to free the places of worship from state control. (PTI)
The Madras High Court on Wednesday stayed proceedings in two defamation cases against former Union Minister and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran before the Special Court constituted for hearing cases against MPs and MLAs.
Justice N Satishkumar granted the stay while passing interim orders on the criminal original petitions from Maran.
While the first one related to his statement made on January 31, 2020 against state Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on an alleged scam, the second one pertained to his staging a dharna to condemn bus fare hike near Chetpet signal in Chennai on
January 29, 2018. (PTI)
It’s a family friendship that goes back generations — starting with Anbil Mahesh Poyyamuzhi’s grandfather Anbil Dharmalingam and Udhayanidhi Stalin’s grandfather M Karunanidhi, continuing with their respective fathers Anbil Poyyamuzhi and Stalin, and now the two of them.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Udhayanidhi, who is making his electoral debut, said he began his foray into politics campaigning for Mahesh in the 2016 Assembly polls, when Mahesh stood from Thiruverumbur, in his family’s pocketborough of Trichy. Even Karunanidhi had attended a rally for Mahesh, establishing him as one of the DMK’s next-generation faces.
As Mahesh, 43, walks 10 hours a day, seeking votes again in Thiruverumbur, the Tamil Nadu first family’s backing is clearly with him. There are at least 100 cadres in his entourage, mostly youth. His campaign office has huge posters of him and Udhayanidhi flanking Stalin.
A good orator, Mahesh says he has chosen to campaign on foot rather than use a vehicle. He would rather make a personal connect, he says.
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A total of 220 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 110 arrivals and 109 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM) is in the process of preparing constituency-specific manifestos that would be released soon, party chief and film actor Kamal Haasan said on Wednesday.
Though contesting the April 6 Assembly polls from Coimbatore South constituency, Haasan said he has been visiting all the 234 constituencies to know the needs of the electorate and incorporate them in the already released party manifesto.
Addressing election meetings in various areas in Coimbatore, he said the freebies being offered by various political parties would make the people remain poor.
He sought the cooperation of the general public to make Tamil Nadu a better state with necessary development and infrastructure facilities. (PTI)
DMK leader Dindigul I Leoni has come under fire after making a sexist remark at an election campaign rally in Coimbatore.
In a video clip of the speech doing the rounds on social media, Leoni can be heard saying women “have lost their figures, putting on weight after consuming the milk of foreign cows”. People present at the event can be seen clapping and laughing.
The incident took place when Leoni, TV talk show judge and DMK’s propaganda secretary, was campaigning for the party’s Thondamuthur candidate, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy.
“You know, there are many types of cows. In farms, you would have seen foreign cows. People use a milking machine for foreign cows. A person will switch on the machine and 40 litres of milk will come out in an hour. By drinking that milk, all our women have become fat like a balloon. Earlier, a woman’s figure looked like the number 8. They could carry children on their hips. But now, if they hold a child, it slips away because they have become like a barrel. All our children have also become fat,” Leoni said.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 1636 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,71,440. Among these, Chennai reported 633 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,43,287. The state recorded 12 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,630. Eleven of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 1023 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,49,064.
As of Wednesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 9746. Till date, 5,26,299 males, 3,45,106 females and 35 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 1,90,11,118 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 80,634 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 259 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 190 are private facilities.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on Tamil Nadu elections 2021, COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, UK COVID-19 virus in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and more across Chennai and Hyderabad throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.
The Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a detailed reply from the Election Commission over allegations of Puducherry unit of the BJP obtaining cell phone numbers of local voters to canvass through WhatsApp.
In his public interest writ petition, Anand, Puducherry unit president of the Democratic Youth Foundation of India, alleged that local BJP candidates had obtained the cell phone numbers from the Unique Identification Authority of India and created WhatsApp groups in their respective constituencies for campaigning.
He wanted the court to set up a special investigation team to probe the issue and restrain the BJP candidates from doing so.
When the matter came up today, counsel for the EC told the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy that the complaint received from DYFI in this connection has been forwarded to the Cyber Crime Cell for inquiry. The EC was directed by the bench to submit its reply on Friday. (PTI)
On March 25 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a nationwide lockdown in view of the rising number of Covid-19 cases. Almost a year later, India is experiencing a renewed surge in infections with many states reportedly in the grip of a second wave.
Starting from January last year, when the first case of Covid-19 was detected in India to administering over 32 lakh vaccine doses, the country has come a long way while dealing with the crisis.
Here is a timeline of events and where we stand now in our fight against the pandemic
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Foreign currencies amounting to Rs 1.13 crore were recovered from a passenger who was to board a flight to Dubai from Hyderabad on Wednesday, Customs officials said.
The currencies - USD, Omani Riyal, Saudi Riyal and UAE Dirhams - were concealed in savoury packets in the baggage of the passenger at the international airport, they said.
A case was registered and the passenger detained, they said adding that further investigation was in progress. (PTI)
From Zoom calls and distributing pamphlets with QR codes to setting up exclusive IVRS numbers, former IAS officer and Makkal Needhi Maiam’s candidate V Santhosh Babu is running a “hyper-digital campaign” to reach out to voters in the Velachery constituency after testing positive for Covid-19.
A week after the party announced him as the candidate for Velachery, Babu tested positive. “I wish to inform my Velachery voters that I contracted COVID. How unlucky I am! I really want to meet with all of you and seek your blessings and votes. We will be going on a hyper-digital campaign and my teams will come and meet with you. Do vote for MNM and me!” he had tweeted.
However, the setback didn’t stop him from his voter outreach. Speaking to Indianexpress.com from the hospital, Babu explained how he is connecting with voters with his party support in this difficult period.
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Fresh COVID-19 infections crossed the 400 mark in Telangana for the second day in a row on Tuesday, taking the total figure to 3.04 lakh, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday. A total of 431 people tested positive for the deadly virus. Two more succumbed to the illness raising the toll to 1,676. As many as 3,352 patients were undergoing treatment, it said.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation continued to report the highest number of cases with 111 followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (37) and Ranga Reddy districts (31).
A total of 70,280 samples were tested on March 23. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 97.89 lakh. The bulletin said 228 people had recovered on Tuesday taking the total number of recoveries to 2,99,270.
The recovery rate and case fatality rate in the state was 98.34 per cent and 0.55 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, an official release said the vaccine wastage in the state stood at 0.79 per cent. (PTI)
Indian Coast Guard ship 'Vajra', the sixth offshore patrol vessel to enhance coastal security, was formally commissioned into service in Chennai on Wednesday. At an event to mark the commissioning of the ship, Chief of Defence staff General Bipin Rawat formally unveiled a 'plaque' and the ship's name board 'Vajra' meaning 'Thunderbolt' at the Chennai Port Trust.
The ship was indigenously designed and built by Larsen and Toubro Ship building Ltd. Sixth in the series of seven offshore patrol vessels, Vajra is fitted with highly sophisticated navigation and communication systems.
The ship has a 30mm gun as main armament and equipped with 2 FCS controlled 12.7 mm SRCG (Stabilised Remote Controlled Gun) for enhanced fighting efficiency. Some of the hi-tech features of the vessel include -- an integrated bridge system, high power external fighting System, bow thruster and automated power management system.
The ship is designed to carry one twin engine helicopter with night flying capabilities and also four high speed boats, two rigid hull inflatable boats for taking up search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrolling. A pollution response equipment to contain oil spills at sea is fitted in the ship, which is propelled by twin MTU 8000 series engines, capable of achieving 26 knots of top speed and endurance of 5,000 nautical miles.
Deputy inspector general Alex Thomas is the commanding officer of the ship, which would have 14 officers and 88 men. The ship would be based at Tuticorin under the operational control of coast guard eastern region. (PTI)
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Hyderabad) Wednesday launched a certificate programme on business model innovation. The programme in collaboration with Business Design Lab targets business leaders, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs senior design and strategy professionals.
IIT-Hyderabad in its statement mentioned, “Businesses, whether big or small, must pivot their business models and strategies to stay relevant in the market. With unprecedented challenges emerging every day, strong leadership skills, a humane approach to building superior business models is imperative.”
The course is specially curated focusing on the market needs. Through the programme, the candidates can identify opportunities and design real-time experiments for discovering market needs and validate their riskiest assumptions, as per IIT-Hyderabad.
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At Thiagarajar colony, on the outskirts of Madurai, CPM Tirupparankundram candidate S K Ponnuthayi’s evening campaign is about to begin. Minutes before she arrives, her husband R Karunanidhi drives in, in an autorickshaw carrying flags along with a few party workers. It’s the same autorickshaw that he rides around town to earn his living.
Ponnuthayi, 46, who has had a long career as a CPM) worker, smiles when asked about the photograph of the couple in their autorickshaw that went viral on social media recently.
“The autorickshaw has been our source of income for years. But after seeing the photograph many people think I am just an autorickshaw driver’s wife who has made it big,” she says discussing the picture which was taken when she had gone to file her nomination papers as the DMK-led alliance’s candidate. “I have been doing public service since 1993. My husband is also an active party worker.”
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After remaining unchanged at their record highs for 24 straight days, petrol and diesel prices receded across the country on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
Diesel is now available at Rs. 86.29 per litre in Chennai, while diesel is available at Rs. 92.95 per litre.
In Hyderabad, petrol is available at Rs. 94.61 per litre while diesel can be purchased at Rs. 88.67 per litre.
Controversial former judge, Justice C S Karnan, arrested in December last year for allegedly making vulgar comments against women and remarks against judges, was granted bail by the Madras High Court on Tuesday.
As many as 10 cases were pending against the former judge of the Madras and Calcutta High Courts.
Accepting the undertaking given by Justice Karnan to the effect that he would not indulge in any such activities, Justice V Bharathidasan granted him the relief, that too a conditional one.
He should furnish two sureties for Rs 50,000 each and stay in the city, not tamper with the witnesses and appear before the Investigating Officers as and when required.
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Former Tamil Nadu Minister and AIADMK Rajya Sabha Member A Mohammedjan died on Tuesday. After he reported of uneasiness, the MP was taken to Walajapet general hospital in Ranipet district and he was declared brought dead by authorities, his relative said.
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, AIADMK top leaders, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, DMK president M K Stalin and PMK founder leader S Ramadoss were among those who condoled his death.
Purohit, said Mohammedjan's demise is "unfathomable loss to the people of Tamil Nadu and particularly to the AIADMK." He conveyed his deep condolences to the bereaved.
In their condolence, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam said they were deeply grieved by the death of Mohammedjan. A party worker since the early days of the founding of the AIADMK in 1972, he was loyal to founder M G Ramachandran and late Chief Minister 'Amma' (J Jayalalithaa) they said, adding he has worked for the party at various levels including as party's Ranipet town secretary. The two leaders conveyed their condolences to the bereaved family.
Stalin expressed grief over Mohammedjan's death and praised him for being the voice of Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha. Ramadoss praised Mohammedjan for his simplicity and condoled his death. (PTI)
Former Tamil Nadu Minister and AIADMK Rajya Sabha Member A Mohammedjan died on Tuesday. He was 72.
He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.
After he reported of uneasiness, the MP was taken to Walajapet general hospital in Ranipet district and he was declared brought dead by authorities, his relative said. "He had just returned home (Ranipet) after campaigning for the Assembly polls. After he said he was experiencing chest pain, we rushed him to the hospital and on the way he became unconscious. Doctors, after examination, said he died of heart attack," the relative told.
Mohammedjan was Minister of Backward Classes between 2011-13 in the cabinet of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. A noted AIADMK leader from the minority community in northern Tamil Nadu, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in July 2019. He was also the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board and joint secretary of AIADMK's minorities welfare wing. (PTI)
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the result for the Combined Defence Services (CDS) 2021. The candidates can check the result through the website- upsconline.nic.in. The recruitment exam was conducted on February 7.
A total of 6,552 candidates have qualified for the interview round to be conducted by the Service Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence, for admission to (i) Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 152th Course commencing in January 2022 Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, Course commencing in January, 2022 (iii) Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course (208 F(P)) commencing in July, 2020 (iv) Officers Training Academy, Chennai 112th SSC (Men) Course (NT) commencing in April, 2022 and (v) Officers Training Academy, Chennai, 26th SSC Women (Non-Technical) Course commencing in April, 2022.
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People will not allow DMK president M K Stalin to become the chief minister as they apprehend that anarchy will prevail in the state if the party was elected to power in the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Deputy Chief Minister and top AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam said on Tuesday.
He came down heavily on the previous DMK regime during which frequent power cuts were witnessed, apart from negative industrial growth, closure of industries and workers losing jobs.
During the 10-year AIADMK rule, the state has become power surplus and industries to the tune of Rs 6 lakh crore were started providing employment to over 19 lakh people, Panneerselvam said at a campaign meeting in Mettupalayam near Coimbatore.
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Indian graffiti artist ‘Daku’, who remains anonymous and mostly uses shadow-play in his works, has once again done an impressive job, in the form of an artwork. He has made a social commentary on a crisis situation in the country — that of the depleting groundwater reserves in major Indian cities.
In a social media post, the artist has explained that this time, his “experiments with shadows” has been done in the city of Chennai, wherein he has worked on a wall which shows people lining up to fill their buckets.
“I have been wanting to work on the topics which keep repeating in history. Chennai has a long history of water crisis. The city was not meant to the kind of metropolis it is today,” he wrote in the caption.
The work has been done for the St+art India Foundation, which has also shared the artwork on its page, revealing that it has been done in the Kannagi Art District, along with “@asianpaints, @chennaicorp, @csclofficial and Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board”.
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With several states experiencing a second wave of surge in Covid-19 cases, the Union Cabinet Tuesday decided to further open up the vaccination, making every person above the age of 45 years eligible for a vaccine shot from April 1.
On Tuesday, the Centre also made changes to the Co-WIN platform and communicated to states that unlike earlier, when the second dose of the vaccine would be scheduled for Day 29, beneficiaries will have the discretion to choose the date of the second dose within the extended interval of 4-8 weeks.
While the third phase of vaccination, for those above 45, will have the largest age cohort to be made eligible for the phase-wise administration of the vaccine so far, top sources told The Indian Express that the government will aim for a strategy of targeting subgroups among those above 45 years — such as teachers, the corporate sector, government sector, etc — in a bid to curb super-spreader events triggering the surge.
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The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to establish adequate/more number of NEET exam centres in Tamil Nadu to enable students appear for the qualifying exam in the state itself, for the next academic year.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Banerjee gave a direction to this effect while disposing of a public interest writ petition from advocate Veerapillai Ramesh of Tiruvennainallur in Villupuram district.
According to the petitioner, the NTA on February 23 invited online applications from the students to write the NEET for admission in medical courses for 2021-22. As many as 255 exam centres had been identified throughout the country. Of them, Tamil Nadu was allotted 28 and Puducherry one. Within a few hours it was declared that all the 29 centres were full.
Challenging this, the petitioner filed the present petition for a direction to the NTA to establish more exam centres in the state.
Disposing of the same, the judges directed the NTA to establish more number of exam centres in the state from the next academic year, as any such direction for the present year at this stage would create unnecessary confusion in the minds of the students. (PTI)
A total of 240 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 120 arrivals and 120 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.
The Telangana government has decided to temporarily close down all schools and educational institutions across the state, starting Wednesday, in view of rising cases of Covid-19, state education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy announced Tuesday.
The decision applies to all hostels, gurukul schools, government and private educational institutions in the state, except medical colleges. Online classes, however, will continue as usual.
After a thorough review of the prevailing situation and keeping in mind the health of students as well as teachers, the government has taken a decision to close all educational institutions in the state from March 24 as a precautionary measure at the request of parents, she said.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 1437 positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 8,69,804. Among these, Chennai reported 532 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,42,647. The state recorded nine deaths on Tuesday, putting the state toll at 12,618. Eight of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 902 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,48,041.
As of Tuesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 9145. Till date, 5,25,327 males, 3,44,442 females and 35 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 1,89,30,484 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 76,128 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 259 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 190 are private facilities.
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