Page 10 - Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu overtakes Gujarat in new investor registrations for September

Rising investor numbers hint at a shift, yet broad household uptake stays low

Palaniswami criticises CM Stalin for ignoring monsoon crisis, praises films

AIADMK general secretary and Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday lashed out at Chief Minister M K Stalin over the government's handling of the ongoing monsoon-related issues and charged the CM with becoming a "full-time movie critic". Palaniswami has been raising the issue of crop damage in the state due to the heavy monsoon rains. In a social media post, the LoP said he could feel the indescribable pain of the farmers when he held the sprouted paddy crops in his hands recently. "But the hands of the CM that need to hold this paddy are holding those of the film crew," he said in an apparent reference to Stalin recently watching Tamil movie 'Bison' and congratulating its director and the team. Although, there was nothing wrong in watching movies or lauding the talented movie crew, he said. "But, forgetting why he became chief minister, the puppet CM has become a full-time movie critic and this is a matter of concern," Palaniswami said. Referring to Sta

CBI takes over Karur stampede probe that killed 41 at actor Vijay's rally

The CBI has taken over the probe of the Karur stampede, in which 41 people were killed during a political rally of actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), officials said Sunday. A special team of the CBI has already visited the site at Velusamypuram in Karur, Tamil Nadu, they said. Forty-one people lost their lives and over 60 injured in the stampede that occurred at the TVK meeting addressed by Vijay on September 27. As per procedure, the CBI has re-registered the FIR of the state police and also informed the local court about the development, they said. The case was handed over to the CBI by the Supreme Court on a petition filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) for an independent probe. The apex court directed the director of CBI to appoint a senior officer to take over the investigation and appoint some other officers for the assistance of the officer. The court also set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by former apex court judge Ajay Rastogi to

Heavy rains raise levels of dams, trigger mudslides in parts of Kerala

Heavy rains continued to lash parts of Kerala on Saturday leading to rise in water level of dams in Palakkad, Idukki and Thrissur districts. The rains also led to minor mudslides in parts of rural areas of Thiruvananthapuram district, causing damage to homes. Water levels in Walayar, Malampuzha, Moolathara, and Chuliyar in Palakkad dams approached their maximum storage capacities, prompting authorities to open the shutters by several centimetres. Water levels reached the 'red alert' status in various dams, including Ponmudi and Madupetty, in Idukki and 'orange alert' status in Sholayar dam in Thrissur. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department informed that it would be releasing surplus water from the Periyar Dam. It said that two radial surplus shutters of Periyar dam R2 and R3 will be opened to one meter by 12 noon and five vertical surplus shutters V1, V2, V3, V4 and V5 will remain open at 1.5 meters The present discharge of water from the dam is 1780 cusecs (Cubic

Airline fined for denying passenger to travel over single-name passport

The Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the Gulf Air Airlines to compensate a former Tamil Nadu legislator for denying him travel at Moscow airport as his passport did not contain his surname. The airlines has been directed to pay a compensation of about Rs 1.4 lakh with nine per cent interest per annum from the date of travel, to former MLA and advocate Nizamudeen, the affected passenger. This resident of Periamet here was stopped from boarding the Gulf Air flight at Moscow airport because his passport had a single name. On February 9, 2023, he was scheduled to travel by Gulf Air flight from Moscow to Dubai via Bahrain but was denied travel as his passport had contained only his name Nizamudeen without the surname. Nizamudeen claimed that he was allowed to board a flight from India to Moscow under the same name in the passport. He had a meeting in Dubai the next day but the airline's ground staff was "inconsiderate" to his requests and made h

TN sanctions ₹186 cr to provide free meals to Chennai sanitation workers

The Tamil Nadu government has accorded administrative sanction for Rs 186.94 crore towards providing free meals to the sanitation workers in the Greater Chennai Corporation for three years. The move will facilitate the GCC to provide meals to about 29,455 conservancy workers, including staff working under the private contractors, at 512 locations, a government order issued by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department said. The announcement comes close on the heels of prolonged agitation by the sanitation workers protesting against the privatisation of waste management operations in two zones under the GCC, and regularisation of jobs. The free meal scheme is among the six special welfare initiatives announced by the government on August 14. The civic body will hire a catering agency on contract for three years to prepare food in designated kitchens. The meals prepared in compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India norms, will be packed and ...

Low pressure likely to intensify into depression off Andhra, TN coasts

The Meteorological Department on Wednesday said the well-marked low-pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal off North Sri Lanka coast moved northwestwards and is likely to intensify into a depression on October 22. The Met Department noted that the weather system lay over southwest Bay of Bengal off Tamil Nadu coast at 5. 30 am on Wednesday. "While moving northwestwards, there is a possibility for the (weather system's) intensification into a depression over southwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal off north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts during next 12 hours," said the Met Department in a press release. Thereafter, it is likely to move across north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts during the subsequent 12 hours. Under the influence of the well-marked low pressure area, the Met Department observed, extremely heavy rainfall is likely over isolated places in Nellore, Prakasam, Tirupati, Annamayya, Chittoor and Kadapa districts. It also .

Rain batters TN, Mettur Dam reaches full capacity, schools, colleges shut

Rain continued to batter Tamil Nadu causing a sharp rise in the water levels of the reservoirs and in Chennai, tree branches fell due to overnight downpour. The Mettur Dam, the largest reservoir in the state, reached its Full Reservoir Level (FRL). The widespread rain forced the administration in several districts to declare a holiday for schools and colleges on Wednesday. Apart from the intermittent spells of heavy rain in Chennai, widespread showers thrashed the coastal districts. Chief Minister M K Stalin, who chaired a meeting of officials to review the preparedness for the Northeast Monsoon in the wake of heavy rain forecast by the IMD, directed the officials to be vigilant and remain on the field for rescue and relief activities. Heavy rains were reported from Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai and also Tuticorin districts. The IMD has issued a red alert for parts of Tamil Nadu owing to the formation of a low ..

TVK transfers ₹20,00,000 aid to families of karur stampede victims

On October 15, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that a total compensation of Rs 4.87 crore has been issued to the families of victims in the stampede during TVK chief Vijay's rally in Karur

CM Stalin accuses BJP govt of bias, says people have numerous questions

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday alleged that the Centre was totally prejudiced against the state. Not only state Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu, who pointed out the fiscal prejudice against Tamil Nadu, but also the hearts of the people in the state were filled with many questions, he said. "I (wish to) ask some of them. How can corrupt individuals emerge clean from the 'washing machine' after joining the BJP alliance?" Stalin repeated his 'washing machine' analogy to accuse the BJP of laundering the reputations of tainted politicians. "What kind of arrogance is it that the country's important schemes and laws are named only in Hindi and Sanskrit? Why are Union Ministers limiting our children by telling them unscientific superstitions? What are you going to achieve by creating chaos through Governors in the states ruled by the opposition parties?" Stalin asked in a post on 'X' tagging Thangam Thennarasu. He questioned the alleged vote rigging to cheat people's .

Southern dams fill as heavy rains lash TN; Chennai sees continued downpour

Heavy rain lashed many parts of Tamil Nadu, with the southern districts experiencing intense showers on Saturday as the rainfall activity gained momentum following the onset of Northeast Monsoon. The reservoirs in the south received copious inflows while in Chennai, the moderate to heavy rain since October 17, caused sudden inundation in certain places. According to the weather office, the Northeast Monsoon set in over Tamil Nadu on October 16. Moderate to heavy rains were expected in areas along the Western Ghats and southern districts, while coastal regions, including Chennai, will continue to receive moderate showers, it said. The upper air cyclonic circulation over the Southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Lakshadweep area persisted over the same region and under its influence, a low pressure area is likely to form over Southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep area. As a result, Tamil Nadu is likely to experience moderate to heavy rain till October 22. Rain pounded Kanyakumari, ...

Await Presidential Reference before challenging Guv's referral: SC to TN

The Supreme Court on Friday told the Tamil Nadu government to await the outcome of the Presidential Reference to decide its plea challenging Governor R N Ravi's decision to refer the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to the President instead of granting his assent. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran said the matter will be heard after the Constitution bench judgement on the issue. "You will have to wait for the outcome of the Presidential Reference.You will have to wait hardly for four weeks.The reference has to be decided before November 21 (Gavai's retirement)," the bench said. The apex court on September 11 reserved its judgement on the presidential reference, which asked if a Constitutional court can impose timelines for governors and President to assent to bills passed by state legislatures. During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, submitted that the Governor cannot refer the bill to the President after

Bomb threat at Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan's Chennai home a hoax

The threat was sent to the Tamil Nadu DGP via email, prompting a police and bomb squad search; officials later confirmed it was a hoax and began tracing the sender

Karur stampede: TVK leaders released after court rejects custody extension

Last month, a local court in Karur in Tamil Nadu had sent two TVK functionaries to a 14-day judicial custody till October 14 in connection with the stampede

Karur stampede: Total ₹4.87 cr aid issued to victims' families, says Stalin

Stalin stated that the government was developing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for crowd control and preventing such tragedies from occurring in the future

Foxconn investing ₹15,000 cr in Tamil Nadu, reiterates Minister TRB Rajaa

Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa on Tuesday reiterated that Taiwan-based Foxconn company is investing Rs 15,000 crore in the state, and will create 14,000 new jobs. "It is 100 per cent true," the minister said, reacting to PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss' post on 'X', claiming that the news is "false". Whenever job opportunities are assured for Tamil Nadu's youth and good things happen, some people have made it a habit to play politics with those employment opportunities due to political prejudice, the minister said in a post on 'X'. "In today's global political climate, bringing an investment into India is incredibly difficult. Without understanding the various geopolitical issues involved, he (Dr Anbumani) must stop issuing these politically prejudiced and childish statements," the minister said. He added that these are job opportunities that have been secured after nearly a year of struggle. Earlier in the day, Anbumani posted on his official 'X' account that the Foxcon

TN Assembly session begins with tribute to 41 victims of Karur stampede

The Tamil Nadu Assembly session commenced on Tuesday with the House passing a resolution to condole the tragic death of 41 persons during a stampede in Karur on September 27. Immediately after the House met, Speaker M Appavu read out a resolution and conveyed the heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families whose kin died during the stampede at a meeting of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam addressed by its founder actor-politician Vijay. He said Chief Minister M K Stalin directed the officials and medical professionals to provide good treatment to the injured and also rushed to the hospital and consoled the affected families. The Chief Minister announced solatium to the families of the victims and also the injured, Appavu said and urged the members to observe two minutes' silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls. Following this, the DMK, AIADMK, BJP, Congress, the VCK and other members stood up to pay their respects. The House made obituary references to former

TN man sends hoax bomb threat to Karnataka CM, dy CM homes, probe launched

A probe has been launched to trace a man from Tamil Nadu who allegedly sent a hoax email recently threatening to blow up the residences of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, police said on Tuesday. The emails were sent from a particular ID to the Tamil Nadu DGP on October 11, following which officials of the Karnataka police were immediately alerted and necessary precautionary measures were taken, they said. The purported email from aarna.ashwinshekher@outlook.com claimed that four RDX devices and several IEDs had been planted at the residences of both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister and would be detonated remotely. As per protocol, precautionary measures were initiated, and the Bengaluru police carried out combing operations at both residences with the bomb detection and disposal squad. However, after thorough checks, the emails were declared a hoax, a senior police officer said. A case was registered by the police on .

Widespread rains expected in TN, Pondy; heavy rain alert for 4 districts

The Regional Meteorological Centre here has predicted widespread light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry due to the influence of an upper air cyclonic circulation. Over the next 24 to 48 hours, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Theni and Tenkasi districts are expected to receive heavy showers. Palar Anicut in Ranipet district, Ayinkudi in Pudukottai, Tenkasi, Ammundi in Vellore district received the highest amount of rainfall recording 8 cm each in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said on Tuesday. Rameswaram, Vadapudupattu district in Tirupathur, Sivagiri (Tenkasi), Sivaganga district, Tondiarpet (Chennai) Bodinaickanur (Theni) MGR Nagar in Chennai received 1 cm of rainfall each in the last 24 hours. In Chennai and its neighbourhood, the bulletin said the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy. "Light or moderate rain with Thunderstorm and Lightning is likely to occur in some areas," the bulletin added.

Foxconn to invest ₹15,000 cr in Tamil Nadu, create 14,000 engineering jobs

Foxconn's new ₹15,000 crore investment in Tamil Nadu will focus on AI, value-added manufacturing, and R&D, creating 14,000 high-value engineering jobs across locations