Telangana Budget 2021 Live: Telangana Minister for Finance Harish Rao Thanneeru.Telangana Budget 2021 Highlights: Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao began presenting the state budget at 11.30 am Thursday. The state cabinet, presided over by chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, met on Wednesday evening at the CM’s camp office Pragathi Bahavan and approved the state budget for the year 2021-22 to be presented to the assembly on Thursday.
The budget session of Telangana Assembly and Council began on March 15 with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s address. Vote of Thanks to the Governor’s address was proposed on March 17. A general discussion on the budget and question hour is scheduled for March 20 and 23. The session will conclude on March 26.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office suggested a ‘promising budget’ this year. In a statement from the CMO on March 6, CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was quoted as saying that the state incurred a loss of Rs 50,000 crore due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact has risen to Rs 1 lakh crore.
The CM, however, pointed out that the state’s economy has revived and the income has increased in various forms in the post-COVID lockdown period. He then hinted at the possibility of more allocations in the coming Budget compared to the last financial year Budget.
Hari Nadar (Express photo)
The ruling AIADMK on Thursday lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against main opposition DMK's Senthil Balaji for allegedly threatening government officials during his campaign days ago. Balaji, DMK's Karur constituency candidate, while addressing a gathering on March 17 made the intimidating comment, the ruling party alleged in its complaint filed with Tamil Nadu CEO Satyabrata Sahoo.
He told people no official would prevent them from loading sand onto their bullock carts from river banks after party chief M K Stalin assumed office as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK alleged. Balaji said in case of them being prevented, they may call him over phone and the officer would not continue in his position, the AIADMK said in its complaint.
Producing Tamil extracts of Balaji's address which was also aired by television channels, the ruling party sought registration of a criminal case against him.
As per an order of the Madras High Court, barring permitted areas, no one had a right to transport and sell river sand without permission from authorities, the AIADMK said. Hence, Balaji's speech was a 'contempt' of court, violated poll rules, misled the general public, disrespected government servants and 'threatening' government officials, the AIADMK alleged and urged registration of a case against him.
R M Babu Murugavel, AIADMK advocate's wing joint secretary, said Sahoo has assured to look into the complaint and take appropriate action. (PTI)
A 25-year old elephant hit by an express train on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala Border succumbed to the injuries, Forest department sources said on Thursday.
The death of the pachyderm on Wednesday night took the number number of elephants which have died so far this year to five in the district, the sources said.
The elephant, which was moving on the railway track in Pudupathi village was hit from behind by the Thiruvanthapuram-Chennai Express train at 1.30 am on Monday last, suffered multiple injuries and was under treatment at the Chadivayal elephant camp.
The pachyderm's condition worsened on Wednesday evening and it died around 10.20 pm, Forest department sources said. (PTI)
A day after the Congress announced 14 out its 15 candidates for the elections in Puducherry, the party Wednesday said former Chief Minister V Narayanasamy will not be contesting the polls, prompting many to conclude that the high command was upset with Narayanasamy.
Narayanasamy was Chief Minister till last month. He tendered his resignation on February 22 after a Motion of Confidence was defeated in the Assembly. The floor test was called by L-G Tamilisai Soundararajan following a spate of resignations by Congress MLAs.
Congress’s decision not to field Narayanasamy has surprised many, given the fact that party leaders had been arguing there was a sympathy factor in his favour over the way his government was “toppled”. Several leaders had said the party was banking on the sympathy factor. They had also been claiming that there was anger against the BJP-led central government in the UT over the way former L G Kiran Bedi had functioned.
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Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan said on Thursday that the income tax raids on the premises of a party functionary in Tirupur could be politically motivated.
The actor-politician said he will respond after receiving the details from the department.
"Maybe. Let them give the details, then we will respond," Haasan told reporters when asked if the raids on Wednesday were politically motivated or for exerting pressure.
The party manifesto will be released very soon, he added. (PTI)
Following Captain Vijayakanth-led DMDK’s exit from the AIADMK alliance, and the party’s decision to join hands with T T V Dhinakaran’s AMMK, Vijayakanth’s wife Premalatha has announced her candidature from the Virudhachalam seat. In 2006, while contesting polls for the first time, Vijayakanth had won the seat.
With the DMDK chief unable to contest polls or lead campaigns due to poor health, Virudhachalam and Panruti were the two options before Premalatha to contest polls, and she opted for the former. Her decision is said to be based on two factors. First was her familiarity with the constituency which had elected Vijayakanth in the past. In fact, Premalatha had been quite active during Vijayakanth’s campaigns in the region. According to DMDK leaders, she would participate in door-to-door campaigns and was quite familiar with the villages and community heads of the area.
Secondly, although Virudhachalam is a traditional OBC-Vanniyar bastion which largely supports the Vanniyar-based Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) party, Premalatha, who belongs to the Telugu Naidu community, is targeting the non-Vanniyar and minority votes in the region. It is also an opportunity for the DMDK to fight its rival, the PMK, a party that was blamed for their exit from the AIADMK alliance.
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Amid rising COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, state Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan has issued direction to officials to increase the RT-PCR tests. Mini clinics, primary health centres, and temporary hospitals with all medical facilities will be set up in more numbers.
Tamil Nadu had recorded 945 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,62,374. The state recorded eight deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,564. Seven of them had succumbed due to comorbidities.
Telangana continued to witness a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with 278 new infections being reported on Wednesday, pushing the tally to 3,02,047, while the death toll rose to 1,662 with three more fatalities, the state government said on Thursday.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 35, followed by Adilabad and Nirmal districts with 28 and 24 cases respectively, it said in a bulletin.
The state saw a marginal spike in cases during this week with a large number of cases being reported from a few schools in the state. The bulletin said 111 patients recovered from the infection on March 17. The cumulative recovered cases stood at 2,98,120, while 2,265 were under treatment.
The bulletin said 59,905 samples were tested on March 17. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 94,19,677. The samples tested per million population was 2,53,081, it said.
The recovery rate in the state was 98.69 per cent while the case fatality rate in the state was 0.55 per cent. (PTI)
AIADMK MLA K Manickam was in for an unpleasant surprise when he arrived to campaign for the assembly elections at Thandalai village that falls in his constituency of Sholavandan in Madurai district in Tamil Nadu.
Over 50 women and children stood before the MLA and held plates filled with rice grains and took his aarti — a ritual held to welcome guests. The rice, which the women said they had bought from the public distribution shops in their area, was yellow and black in colour indicating that they were of poor quality.
The AIADMK workers accompanying the MLA were taken aback at this unexpected event and attempted to pacify the women.
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Following the conclusion of the Telangana budget speech, the House has been adjourned. The House will meet again at 10 am on Saturday.
Concluding his budget speech which was 1 hour and 40 minutes long, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao thanked Ministers and the staff of Commercial Taxes, Excise, Registration & Stamps, Transport and Mines Department for ensuring that the revenues of the State have not fallen even during the crisis created by corona.
"In the financial year 2021-22, I am proposing total expenditure of Rs.2,30,825.96 crore. Of this, revenue expenditure is Rs.1,69,383.44 crore and capital expenditure is Rs.29,046.77 crore. Revenue surplus in the Budget is estimated at Rs.6,743.50 crore and the estimated fiscal deficit is Rs. 45,509.60 crore", said T Harish Rao on the 2021-22 Budget estimates
Towards the construction of Police Command Control Centre in Hyderabad city, to be completed shortly, an amount of Rs.725 crore is proposed in this Budget.
The FM proposed an amount of Rs 610 crore for the construction of the New Secretariat in Budget Estimates 2021-22.
For the repairs of roads affected by floods and for regular maintenance, an amount of Rs.800 crore is proposed for R&B roads. The amount proposed for Panchayat Raj roads is Rs.300 crore.
Administrative sanction has been accorded for 21 new ROBs and RUBs. For this, an amount of Rs.400 crore is proposed.
An amount of Rs.8,788 crore is proposed in Budget Estimates 2021-22 for Roads and Building department.
"Since 2015, restoration of forests in 9.65 lakhs acres has been done. In the coming years, it is targeted to restore 10.5 lakh acres of forest land. Under the Haritha Haram programme conducted in four phases so far, 211 crore saplings have been planted from 2015 onwards. As per the Forest Survey of India, a Central Government institute, the greenery has increased by 3.67% since the formation of Telangana. An amount of Rs.1276 crore is proposed in Budget Estimates 2021-22 for Forest Department", said Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao.
Speaking about the measures taken by the state to fight the coronavirus, T Harish Rao gave details of the amount spent.
A sum of Rs 1178.28 crore was spent for isolation centres, medicines, beds, food and other necessities.
Rs.1,500 was provided as assistance to each family having a ration card for two months. This amount was transferred directly into their accounts. The government spent Rs.2,455 crore for this purpose. The government, he said, has taken utmost care of them.
As many as 6.47 lakh migrant workers were given Rs.500 each along with 5 kg of rice. The amount spent for this is Rs.107 crore.
Arrangements were made to transport 2,01,213 migrant workers to their native
places in 151 special trains. An amount of Rs.17 crore was spent by the State Government for the transportation of migrant labourers.
The Government provided an incentive of Rs.235.36 crore to the police, doctors and sanitation workers who were in the forefront of fighting corona tirelessly.
The Government even provided financial assistance to journalists affected by Corona.
An amount of Rs.25 crore was provided to advocates during Corona time.
A total amount of Rs.720 crore is proposed for the development of Temples, welfare of archakas and temple staff in Budget Estimates 2021-22.
Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that an amount of Rs.726 crore is proposed in Budget Estimates 2021-22 for the Tourism and Cultural sector.
"An amount of Rs. 2,363 crore is proposed in Budget Estimates 2021-22 for Civil Supplies Department. Today 2,79,65,218 people are getting 6 kgs of ration rice per month in the State", said Harish Rao.
# Rs. 3,000 crore to the RTC
# Rs. 8,788 crore for Roads and Building department
# Rs. 1276 crore for Forest Department
# Rs. 720 crore for the development of Temples, welfare of archakas and temple staff
# Rs. 750 crore for land acquisition required for Regional Ring Road
With an objective to develop civil aviation facilities in the state, the Government intends to construct airstrips in the secondtier cities in the state. An amount of Rs. 100 crore is proposed in this budget for this purpose, says the FM.
"While the national average annual growth of IT exports is only 8.09 per cent, the average growth of exports from our State is 17.93 per cent. An amount of Rs. 360 crore is proposed in Budget Estimates 2021-22 for IT Sector", said Harish Rao.
An amount of Rs. 11,046 crore has been proposed in the budget Estimates 2021-22 for the power sector
An amount of Rs. 2,500 crore has been proposed for industrial incentives.
An amount of Rs. 3,077 crore has been proposed for Industrial sector.
The proposed allocation for the new education scheme is Rs.4,000 crore in this budget. In the next two years the government will provide basic facilities in all the government schools on a large scale.
The Government has decided to provide buildings necessary for schools, take up repairs to buildings and to provide necessary furniture, toilets and other facilities. Modern technology will be used to put class rooms on digital platform.
The provision proposed for this important education scheme is Rs.2,000 crore. An amount of Rs.11,735 crore is proposed in BE 2021-22 for School Education. An amount of Rs. 1,873 crore is proposed in BE 2021-22 for Higher Education.
An amount of Rs.1,200 crore has been proposed under Rythu Bhima (farmers insurance) scheme in 2021-22 in the budget.
There is a record increase in the area under cultivation in Telangana State. The cultivated area increased from 1.41 crore acres in 2014-15 to 2.12 crore acres in 2020-21. This is an increase of over 49 per cent.
In a similar manner, crop production increased from 2.5 crore metric tonnes in 2014-15 to an estimated record production of 4.11 crore metric tonnes in 2020-21. The crop production has nearly doubled compared to 2014-15.
The farmers in Telangana produced crops valued at Rs.1.00 lakh crore last year, says FM in his speech which is very evident.
The budgetn this year has proposed a new scheme named CM Dalit Empowerment Programme, with an allocation of Rs.1,000 crore. These benefits will accrue to the Scheduled Castes following the introduction of this new programme, said T Harish Rao.
# Rs 15,030 crore for municipal administration and urban development department
# Rs 6295 crore for health and family welfare department
#Rs 250 crore for Warangal municipal corporation
# Rs 150 crore for Khammam municipal corporation
# Rs 200 crore for Musi river rejuvenation
# Rs 1000 crore for Hyderabad Metro rail
# Rs 250 crore for providing drinking water in new colonies within Outer Ring Road
# Rs 500 crore for integrated markets in towns
# Rs 200 crore for Vaikuntadhamas in towns
Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that the government will issue guidelines for building 2 BHK houses for the poor who own lands. In this regard, Rs. 11,000 crore has been allocated towards 2BHK housing scheme.
Presenting the state budget in Hyderabad today, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao said Rs. 3000 crore had been allocated towards interest free loans to women.
Further, Rs. 1702 crore has been allocated for women and child development department.
# Rs 5522 crore for BC Welfare department
# Rs 1606 crore for Minorities welfare department
A total of Rs 1000 crore has been allocated for the MBC corporation in the budget this year.
Presenting the state budget today, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao allocated Rs. 338 crore for the welfare of handloom workers.
# Rs 21,306.85 crore towards SC's special development fund
# Rs 12,304.23 crore towards ST's special development fund
# Rs 18 crore towards electricity subsidy for ST households
# 3000 crore for procurement of 3 lakh sheeps.
# 500 crore towards Kalyana Lakshmi scheme for OBCs
Presenting the state budget in Hyderabad today, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao announced a slew of fund allocation towards agriculture sector.
#Rs 14,800 crore for Rythu Bandhu investment support scheme for farmers
# Rs 5,225 crores towards farm loan waiver
#Rs 29,271 crore towards Panchayat Raj and Rural Development
# Rs 1,730 crore for animal husbandry department
# Rs 25,000 crore for agriculture department
# Rs 16931 crore for irrigation department
# Rs 400 crore towards comprehensive land survey
# Rs 11,728 crore towards Aasara pensions
# Rs 2750 crore for Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadi Mubarak schemes
Congress has named former minister K Jana Reddy as its candidate in the bypoll to be held on April 17 for the Nagarjuna Sagar assembly constituency in Telangana.
Reddy's name was announced by the party leadership in Delhi, Congress sources said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Born in 1946, Jana Reddyhad served as the Leader of Opposition in the previous Telangana Assembly and as a minister during the Congress regimes in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
He lost in the 2018 assembly polls. (PTI)
MLAs to get Rs 5 crore each for the development constituencies, says FM, and allots Rs 800 crore for the purpose.
Telangana GSDP grew by 1.3 per cent in 2020-21 as against a national growth rate of 13.5 per cent: says Harish Rao. The FM announces state budget of Rs 2,30,825.96 crore for the 2020-21.
Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao commenced his budget speech at 11.30 am today.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office suggested a ‘promising budget’ this year. In a statement from the CMO on March 6, CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was quoted as saying that the state incurred a loss of Rs 50,000 crore due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact has risen to Rs 1 lakh crore.
"We have worked hard to introduce a budget that will be good for the people of the state, for the welf are of the poor in line with the ideas of the Chief Minister and for the government to keep every word given to the people. fully confident that this budget will do good for the welfare of the people and the development of the state as intended," says Finance Minister T Harish Rao after visiting the TTD Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Jubilee Heels today morning to offer special prayers ahead of the budget presentation.
This Tamil Nadu election differs from recent state polls not just for the absence of both J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. In the fray are an alphabet soup of parties flowing seamlessly from one alliance to another.
There is the AIADMK alliance, including Vanniyar-based PMK and BJP. And the DMK-led group, including the CPM, CPI, the Dalit party VCK, IUML, another Muslim party MMK, and Vaiko’s MDMK. Then there is T T V Dhinakaran’s AMMK, which decided to contest alone after the AIADMK thwarted BJP efforts to get it on their side. The AMMK has with it the AIMIM and now Captain Vijayakanth’s DMDK.
There is the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of Kamal Haasan, who prevailed while Rajinikanth again promised only to deceive. The MNM has two allies, All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) led by Sarath Kumar, backed by Hindu Nadars in southern Tamil Nadu, and Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK), founded by conglomerate Pachamuthu. There are small-time but crucial veterans: Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (with followers among the downtrodden sections) and K Krishnaswamy’s Puthiya Tamilagam (backed by the SC community).
Come poll day though, it may be virtually an AIADMK vs DMK battle, with leaders across the political spectrum saying the two parties will together mop up 80% of the votes. Harking back to the DMK and AIADMK’s worst performances, post-Rajiv Gandhi assassination in 1991 and after Jayalalithaa’s corruption-tainted term in 1996, respectively, a minister says, “The two have always had minimum 20-22% votes. The fringe parties can’t hope for more than 15% votes.”
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The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 233 fever clinics in Chennai on Wednesday. A total of 19,806 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 105 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 39 camps had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with three camps.
The Telangana government is making efforts to check COVID-19 and would decide in another two or three days on schools as a large number of virus cases have been reported in a few educational institutions in the state.
Making a statement in the Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the COVID-19 cases started showing a rise again though it was thought to be coming to an end.
The virus was spreading in neighbouring Maharashtra, he said, adding that though a second wave has not occurred in the country, but the spread is gaining momentum now. All efforts were being made by the state health department to check the spread of the virus and the state Chief Secretary was also alerted, he said.
"We are concerned as it is (large number of cases) being reported in schools here and there. It is a matter of concern for us when it occurs in (welfare) hostels as they all are children and staying together," he said. "Whether to continue accommodating them or what to do, in another two-three days, I will also give a statement in the Assembly if possible. We cannot let our children suffer. So, we have to follow some policy," he said. (PTI)
It is election time and prohibition is back in focus in Tamil Nadu where the dry law was lifted about five decades ago.
Political parties, including the ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK and Congress, have pitched for a complete ban on liquor, albeit in a phased manner, making the promise in their respective manifestos for the April 6 assembly elections.
Total prohibition was in force in the state from 1937 to 1971 when the then DMK government headed by M Karunanidhi lifted it first.
The AIADMK and DMK have both bet on phased re- introduction of prohibition and closure of liquor outlets in a staggered manner in their manifestos. PMK, an ally of AIADMK, and MDMK, a partner in the DMK-led front, have also made an assurance to ensure liquor-free Tamil Nadu.
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Another high-intensity battle is on the cards in Telangana as the Election Commission of India Tuesday announced a byelection to the Nagarjuna Sagar assembly constituency to be held on April 17. The election was necessitated due to the sudden demise of sitting MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah on December 1 last year.
According to ECI, the gazette notification will be issued on March 23 and the nomination process will begin on the same day. Nominations will be scrutinized the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 3. After polling on April 17, votes will be counted on May 2.
Winning the election to Nagarjuna Sagar seat is crucial for all the three major parties- TRS, BJP, and Congress. After suffering a shocking setback in the byelection for the Dubbak assembly segment in November last, which the TRS was confident of winning riding on a sympathy wave following the sudden demise of its two-time MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy, the ruling party is wary of the threat from an emerging BJP. A win in Nagarjuna Sagar is necessary for the TRS to reinforce itself.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 945 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,62,374. Among these, Chennai reported 395 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,39,878. The state recorded eight deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,564. Seven of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 576 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,43,999.
As of Wednesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 5811. Till date, 5,20,916 males, 3,41,423 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, 1,84,85,460 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 71,888 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 258 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 189 are private facilities.
Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao will present the state budget at 11.30 am Thursday.
The state cabinet, presided over by chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, met on Wednesday evening at the CM's camp office Pragathi Bahavan and approved the state budget for the year 2021-22 to be presented to the assembly on Thursday.
The budget session of Telangana Assembly and Council began on March 15 with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's address. Vote of Thanks to the Governor's address was proposed on March 17. A general discussion on the budget and question hour is scheduled for March 20 and 23. The session will conclude on March 26.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office suggested a ‘promising budget’ this year. In a statement from the CMO on March 6, the CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was quoted as saying that the state incurred a loss of Rs 50,000 crore due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact has risen to Rs 1 lakh crore.
The CM, however, pointed out that the state’s economy has revived and the income has increased in various forms in the post-COVID lockdown period. He then hinted at the possibility of more allocations in the coming Budget compared to the last financial year Budget.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on Telangana Budget, 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 Southern Railway Wednesday announced the extension of special fare festival special trains and added that advance reservation for these trains will commence at 8 am on Thursday.
Extension of Train with the existing composition and stoppages and timings
Extension of Trains with existing stoppages, timings with revised composition
Extension of Train with Existing Composition and Timings with Elimination of Stoppages
With the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu set to take place in less than three weeks, candidates who will be contesting on behalf of their respective parties and those who wish to fight individually have been filing their nominations for the past couple of days. Among those individual candidates is Hari Nadar, who has filed his nomination papers for the Alangulam assembly constituency in the Tirunelveli district.
Hari Nadar identifies himself as a businessman and a social worker. The 39-year-old man, who is the coordinator of a political outfit called Panangattu Padai Katchi, is popular in Tamil Nadu for his unique appearance — he is always spotted wearing layers of gold.
As per the affidavit submitted by him, Nadar has around 11,200 grams of gold worth Rs 4,73,76,000 crore. He has movable assets of around 12,61,19,403 crore and immovable assets of around 11,50,000.
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The Southern Railway, in a release, announced that the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru will be inspecting the newly doubled Broad gauge line section with electrification between Tirumangalam and Tulukapatti section in Madurai Division March 19 and 20.
Further, the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru will also conduct a speed trial run between Tirumangalam and Virudhunagar section with electrification on March 19 from 3 pm to 5 pm.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru will also conduct a speed trial run between Tulukapatti and Virudhunagar section on March 20 from 12 pm to 2 pm.
The Southern Railway has cautioned people residing in the vicinity of Railway lines between between Tirumangalam and Tulukapatti stations in Madurai Division of Southern Railway not to approach or trespass the railway lines.
AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran will be contesting the Assembly elections from Kovilpatti near Tuticorin instead of the R K Nagar seat, which he won in the 2017 bypolls. Dhinakaran is believed to have opted for Kovilpatti because of the party’s success in the local body polls in the region in 2019.
In the Kayathar panchayat union (one of the two unions in Kovilpatti), headed by Dhinakaran’s close associate S V S P Manickaraja, AMMK has 13 councillors, while the AIADMK and the DMK have one and two councillors, respectively. Manickaraja also holds considerable influence over the Mukkulathur Thevar community in the region and Dhinakaran, also a Thevar, is hoping to bag their votes. He is also hoping to cash in on the strong sympathy among the community for Sasikala (a Thevar), who locals feel is being “threatened and cornered” by the BJP.
Kovilpatti is also being seen as a safe seat for Dhinakaran given that the AMMK candidate had polled about 20,000 votes in the Assembly segment in the last Lok Sabha elections.
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Hundreds of farmers have decided to file nominations from Kangeyam Assembly constituency in Tirupur district of Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming elections. The decision to contest the polls was taken as the demand by farmers for releasing water from Parambikulam-Aliyar Project has fallen on deaf ears.
The farmers likened the situation to one their predecessors created 25 years ago in Modakurichi in Erode district.
The ryots belonging to Vellakoil Branch Canal Water Protection Committee had gone on a five-day hunger strike demanding the release of water in January last, which was withdrawn after meeting the Chief Minister. Since there was no solution found, the farmers decided to file 1,000 nominations from Kangeyam constituency and a committee member filed his nomination on March 16, the committee sources said.
With over 100 nominations received by the committee at least 100 would file the nominations today, they said adding that more farmers would be filing their papers on Thursday and Friday to touch 1,000. (PTI)
The BJP on Wednesday announced its candidates for three more constituencies in Tamil Nadu for the April 6 Assembly polls, two days before the last date to file nominations.
The BJP had days ago named its nominees for 17 out of the 20 constituencies allotted to it by its partner AIADMK and now announced candidates for Thali (C Nagesh Kumar), Udhagamandalam (Bhojarajan) and Vilavancode (R Jayaseelan).
While filing of nominations opened on March 12, the last date to submit nominations is March 19 and the papers would be taken up for scrutiny the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 22 and election is scheduled on April 6, while counting on May 2. (PTI)
Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday accorded approval to a proposal to disburse grants in aid towards payment of pension and other retirement benefits of teachers and staff in government aided schools in the union territory.
An official release said the pension and retirement benefits were due to the staff since January 2020 (repeat January 2020) and the expenditure now approved related to disbursement of pension till February this year. The Lt Governor has also approved disbursement of salaries due to the staff and teachers in aided schools for last six months since February last year.
The grants in aid now sanctioned to 35 schools would entail an expenditure of Rs 27.85 crores to the government.
The staff and retired employees of the aided schools were up in arms against the government for months together urging the government to disburse the amount due for several months. They had staged protests at the Directorate of School Education office, took out rallies and laid seige to the Raj Nivas a few months ago.
Official sources said nearly 800 teachers and retired staff would be benefitted by the gesture of the Lt Governor. (PTI)
Telangana continued to witness a slight increase in tally of daily coronavirus infections with 247 new additions on Tuesday, pushing the gross to 3.01 lakh, while the toll climbed to 1,659 with three more fatalities.
Mancherial and Kamareddy districts saw a spurt in new cases after a large number of infections were reported from one school each in the two districts. Mancherial district accounted for the most number of cases in the state with 45, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri and Kamareddy districts with 41 and 35 cases respectively, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday.
It said 158 patients recovered from the infection on March 16. The cumulative recovered cases stood at 2,98,009, while 2,101 were under treatment. The bulletin said 60,527 samples were tested on March 16. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 93,59,772. The samples tested per million population was 2,51,471.
The recovery rate in the state was 98.75 per cent, while the case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent. (PTI)
Former Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy’s name was missing from the list of 14 candidates announced by the Congress party on Tuesday. The Congress is contesting in 15 of the 30 assembly constituencies. The candidate for Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, is yet to be be announced. The remaining seats are shared by alliance partners DMK (13), CPI (1) and VCK (1).
Former industries minister M O H F Shah Jahan has been fielded from Kamaraj Nagar. He had contested the last election in 2016 poll from Kalapet, a traditional Congress constituency. PCC president A V Subramanian is contesting from his hometown, Karaikal (north). Former Ministers M Kandasamy and R Kamalakannan have been fielded again in Embalam (reserved) and Tirunallar in Karaikal, respectively.
The Narayanasamy-led Congress government lost the confidence motion in February and the Union Territory came under President’s rule after nobody staked claim to form a government.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday took a swipe at the DMK over poll promises, saying a party should give only those assurances that could be implemented.
Recalling then DMK chief, the late M Karunanidhi’s 2006 poll promise of providing two acres of land free of cost to all landless farmers in the state, Palaniswami asked if the party fulfilled its assurance.
“Did they give. No. (DMK president MK) Stalin is desperate to get people’s votes by fooling and confusing them,” he said at an election rally at Aranthangi in this district.
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Scores of candidates, including an incumbent minister and a former minister each, filed nominations on Tuesday for the April 6 Tamil Nadu polls, with the number crossing 1,200. Since the nomination process began on March 12, 1,223 people including 210 women candidates have filed the papers, according to EC statistics.
AIADMK leader and Animal Husbandary Minister K Rathakrishnan (Udumalaipettai) and former DMK Minister I Periyasamy (Athoor) were among those who filed nomination Tuesday.
So far, Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, DMK President M K Stalin, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran, Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan and Naam Tamizhar Katchi leader Seeman have filed their nominations from various constituencies in the state.
Nomination closes on March 19. (PTI)
Director Siva has resumed the shooting of his forthcoming film Annaatthe, starring Superstar Rajinikanth in the lead. The filming is happening in the outskirts of Chennai. The filmmakers also have plans to shoot in Pollachi.
Sun Pictures, which is bankrolling the pictures, also revealed that Jagapathi Babu is the latest actor to join an already star-studded cast. This film will mark Jagapathi Babu’s third collaboration with Rajinikanth after Kathanayakudu (2008) and Lingaa (2014). He has become the south Indian film industry’s go-to actor to play the roles of a villain with swag. There are no details yet on the character that he will be playing in Annaatthe.
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