Arun Janardhanan

Sabarimala temple opens today: While many women said the court has no power on issues of faith and belief, many said they want to visit the shrine but have put off the plan fearing a blowback from conservative believers.

Her letter to the Election Commission comes at a time when speculation of a possible alliance between the BJP and AIADMK in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections is rife.

The order comes two days after the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption told the court there were no irregularities in awarding the contracts.

Besides questioning the role of Purohit and his officers in the sex scandal, reports in a weekly had alleged that Nirmala Devi had visited them.

The statement comes days after journalist R Gopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly Nakkeeran, was arrested for the reports against TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

R Gopal was arrested under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — “assaulting President, Governor etc with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power”

Speaking to the media, Dhinakaran said that his first meeting with OPS was in July 2017, after his release from Tihar prison in connection with a Delhi Police case. After his return, Dhinakaran said, OPS sent a message through a mutual friend seeking to meet.

The Election Commission is expected to announce soon the dates for bypolls to Thiruparankundram and Tiruvarur Assembly seats.

Kiran Bedia said, “He went on and on beyond reasonable time. Awards too had to be given to the deserving.”

There were no formal statements from the companies on the strike.

Opposition counters Maldives President Abdulla Yameen's claims of development with serious charges of his ‘authoritarian regime’ that imprisoned or forced to flee almost all the top opposition leaders and even Supreme Court judges in the last two years.

Yameen’s rival, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, represents the Opposition coalition of four political parties and has served as a parliamentarian for about 25 years.

In a recent speech, Raja had alleged that the department’s officials were taking bribes and selling off temple lands to private parties.

State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said action will be taken against Jagadeesan. Opposition leader and DMK chief M K Stalin demanded punishment for those who vandalise Periyar statues.

Raja denied the charges and said the video had been edited. Pudukottai police booked him and seven others under eight sections of IPC.

Among the seven convicts who may benefit from the Cabinet decision, Perarivalan is from Jolarpettai in Vellore district, Nalini from Chennai and Ravichandran from Madurai.

M K Alagiri rally in Chennai: Other than Alagiri and his son Dayanidhi Alagiri, Mannan, a former deputy mayor of Madurai city, will be the leading face in today's rally.

Tamil Nadu student arrest: Under fire from rival parties for complaining against a student and having her arrested, Soundararajan defended her decision, saying Sofia should not have done that on board an aircraft.

"She shouted that slogan and used the word ‘fascist’, raising her fist and all. I thought I shouldn’t ignore a terrorist, so I filed a petition,” the TN BJP chief said.