This Week Tamil Nadu: Wrong timing

Two second-rung DMK leaders have reportedly criticised Velupillai Prabhakaran,the late LTTE leader who has come to be known the leader of Sri Lankan Tamils

Wrong timing

Two second-rung DMK leaders have reportedly criticised Velupillai Prabhakaran,the late LTTE leader who has come to be known the leader of Sri Lankan Tamils and their supporters across the world. The criticism came at the wrong time. Even as M Karunanidhi and other top leaders were speaking about the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka at an international conference,former minister N K K P Raja,in Erode,apparently accused Prabhakaran of killing more Tamils than Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse besides assassinating Rajiv Gandhi. This was apparently an attempt to portray Karunanidhi in better light when the leaders actions during the closing phases of the war is being questioned. But the DMK quickly reacted that it had no connection with the reported comments,and added that they have sought explanations from Raja and another speaker.

Karunanidhi,the twitter mascot

A few days ago,the social media network welcomed its latest entrant,M Karunanidhi. The DMK patriarchs entry into the world of tweets is the result of an effort by J Anbazhagan,an MLA who now represents the Chepauk seat that Karunanidhi represented till his last term,and a staunch supporter of his younger son M K Stalin. A dedicated team will manage the account with Karunanidhi as the mascot rather than an active individual user. The tweets by kalaignar89 have been on predictable lines: a link to the resolutions moved at the international conference on Sri Lankan Tamils,the songs for that and follow-up actions. Hotly anticipated is a war of tweets between him and his prime needler,Subramanian Swamy,who is an avid tweeter himself.

Emu dream gone bust

The idea of emu rearing was sold in rural Tamil Nadu. Investors would make a deposit to companies that would give them the chicks and feed,and purchase the fully grown bird. Its meat and eggs were being sold at a premium,and even oil extracted from it was touted to have medicinal value. Now,the promoters have gone absconding after cases were filed against them,farmers have ended up spending all the money they could and cant run the business any more,the birds are hungry and have turned against one another in the pen to feed on their flesh to survive. The administration has finally stepped in and is trying to provide at least minimum feed to the birds. The animal husbandry department has been asked to look after the birds till they attain full growth and then sell them so that the investors can get some of the money back,while the police attach the properties owned by the promoters.