TN This Week: 6 Districts Declared ‘Flood Affected’ While Centre Denies Calamity

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday held a ‘cordial’ meeting with state Governor R N Ravi at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. They discussed the Bills in the Assembly that are awaiting Presidential assent. The meeting happened in the wake of the Supreme Court’s suggestion to the Governor to "meet and resolve" the difference with the Chief Minister.

On the health front, COVID-19 positivity in the State crossed 10% on Thursday. Tamil Nadu reported 40 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Friday, with a 36-year-old man succumbing to the infection.

On the education front, the School Education Department has formed a State-level Monitoring Committee (SLMC) headed by the Chief Secretary to fulfil the demands put forth by the school management committees (SMCs). The SLMC will monitor the infrastructure, teaching-learning, enrolment and retention, and school management.

For the first time in their living memory, 60 dalits from Rajavur village of Madathukulam taluk of Tiruppur district walked wearing footwear on ‘Kambala Naicken Street’ in the village late on Sunday.  By doing so, they broke the unwritten rule of the upper castes that barred dalits from walking on the street with slippers. Scheduled Caste members are not even allowed to ride cycles on the street, sources said.

Also, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) released the findings of a survey on caste practices in schools on Sunday. It has identified cruel practices of caste discrimination and oppression in schools. The victims include both students and teachers from socially backward Scheduled Caste (SC) communities. Read more

FLOOD RELIEF PACKAGE ANNOUNCED

In a significant move, the state government on Friday declared six districts in Southern Tamil Nadu as ‘flood affected’ and four districts in Northern Tamil Nadu as ‘cyclone affected’. 

Earlier, the state government urged the Centre to declare Tamil Nadu as a disaster-affected state but the Centre refused the state's request.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday announced a Rs 1,000 crore relief package, including housing facilities and loans for MSMEs and Self-Help Groups, for the rain-ravaged districts.

‘CAPTAIN’ VIJAYAKANTH LAID TO REST

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founder Vijayakanth was laid to rest with full state honours at the party headquarters in Chennai’s Koyambedu on Friday. Vijayakanth succumbed to pneumonia and died at a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday. He was 71 years old. 

The actor-turned-politician was Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu between 2011 and 2016. He came a bit quite close to testing the dichotomy of the two Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu.

PROTEST TO CLOSE FERTILISER FIRM

Nearly 200 residents of Periyakuppam and Chinnakuppam villages continued to hold a demonstration in front of the company premises, demanding its permanent closure after there ammonia leaked from the gas pipeline of fertiliser firm Coromandel International Limited in Ennore.

The ammonia gas leaked from an underwater supply pipeline to an industrial unit near Periyakuppam in Ennore, leading to hundreds of residents rushing out on to the roads, complaining of difficulties in breathing, and burning of eyes and faces, late on Tuesday.

TRIBAL MEN TIED TO TREE, BEATEN

Police have arrested three farmers belonging to the gounder community on charges of murdering a 55-year-old Narikuravar tribal K Senkottai (25) and attempting to kill his nephew T Kumar on a farmland at Thanthoni near Udumalpet on Wednesday evening.

Suspecting they were chicken thieves, the farmers tied the tribal men to coconut trees and beat them up.