TN This Week: House in Session, Online Gaming Ban Re-adopted

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan presented the state budget 2023-24 on Monday. He announced The much-awaited monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to women heads of families, in accordance with the DMK’s poll promise. Read more

The state Agriculture Budget was presented on Tuesday. AIKS Tamil Nadu said the budget was a ‘disappointing’ one and that expectations were not met in the budget. Read more

Campaigns are being held across Tamil Nadu towards the April 5 Mazdoor Kisan Rally in Delhi. Read more

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore and Tirupur are facing a labour crunch due to the exodus of migrant workers to their hometowns for Holi and fears fueled by rumours of attacks.

More than 10 tin sheet houses, where north Indian migrant workers resided in Namakkal, were set on fire by miscreants past midnight on Tuesday demanding a prompt investigation into the murder of a young woman.

Following relentless harassment based on her gender and Dalit identity, trans-woman Nasriya resigned, on March 18, from the Special Juvenile Aid Police (SJAP) in the Coimbatore district.

The post of Tamil Nadu’s State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) has been vacant for over four months. Right to Information (RTI) activists say it has made access to information, transparency, and accountability difficult in the state.

Tamil Nadu received moderate to heavy rains in various parts of the state. Certain neighbourhoods in the big cities were waterlogged.

NewsClick brings you a round-up of the happenings this week in Tamil Nadu.

OPS-EPS TUSSLE IN ASSEMBLY

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday passed the Bill to ban online gambling for the second time in six months after Governor RN Ravi returned it.

O Panneerselvam (OPS), the expelled leader of the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday welcomed the Bill on behalf of the party and triggered a ruckus in the state Assembly.

Opposition leader and AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) objected and claimed that OPS could not speak for the party.

EXODUS FROM BJP CONTINUES

An exodus of the functionaries and cadres of the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit continues as Chengalpattu district vice president Gangadevi Shankar, along with around 100 women, quit the party and joined the AIADMK.

CTR Nirmal Kumar, who recently quit the BJP and joined AIADMK, said “Instead of reaching out to the minorities and earning their trust, the state leader was unnecessarily involved in sensitive issues and has caused irreversible damage to the prospects of the party for the next 15 years,” referring to BJP Tamil Nadu chief Annamalai.

FIRECRACKER UNIT BLAST

A massive explosion ripped apart a firecracker unit near Kuruvimalai in Kancheepuram district on Wednesday noon, killing 11 persons, five of them on the spot.

During the summer, it is prohibited to operate the firecracker unit from 9 am till sunset. However, the unit was reportedly operating against the rules.

A CASE OF HONOUR KILLING

C Jagan (25) was allegedly hacked to death in broad daylight in Krishnagiri on Tuesday afternoon for marrying S Saranya (20), who belonged to the same community.

Chief minister M K Stalin informed the Assembly on Thursday that Shankar, who murdered Jagan, was an area secretary of the AIADMK. The party strongly opposed the claim.

‘NO OUTSOURCING’

Opposing the GO outsourcing city corporation and municipal body works, workers held a demonstration in Salem on Friday under the leadership of CITU.

Local body workers held a rally in Salem. Image credit: CITU, Tamil Nadu