TN This Week: Third Judge Begins Hearing Senthil Balaji Case, Governor Visits Amit Shah

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday accused the BJP-led central government of using the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) against non-BJP states, alleging that those speaking against the proposed legislation were being threatened with raids by the central investigating agencies.

Amid tensions between BJP and AIADMK, the latter’s general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Thursday expelled a party functionary who organised an event in Villupuram on Wednesday where 39 couples got married in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K Annamalai.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi in the backdrop of the ongoing row over the construction of the Mekedatu dam. He said the Cauvery water sharing is “not an ordinary matter but a life issue” and that the state will never give consent for the construction of the dam by Karnataka.

The state government on Friday issued detailed guidelines and eligibility criteria for availing the first-of-its-kind honorarium scheme for women heads of families. Named Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam, the scheme is scheduled to be launched on September 15.

In a shocking incident, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Coimbatore range) Vijayakumar reportedly killed himself on Friday morning. The officer allegedly grabbed his gunman Ravichandran’s pistol and shot himself point-blank on the forehead at the camp office.

Police personnel helped carry a Dalit woman’s body for burial after upper caste villagers refused passage to her ancestral village and buried it with security in Krishnagiri district.

Acknowledging the link between road accidents and sufficient rest to drivers, Tamil Nadu government has made it mandatory for hotels and lodging houses to provide dormitories for drivers who accompany the guests.

The amputation of a 1.5-year-old infant’s right arm, which his mother alleges is a case of medical negligence at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), has sparked a controversy in Tamil Nadu.

With the onset of the Southwest monsoons in the neighbouring state of Kerala, the number of dengue fever and rat fever cases in Tamil Nadu has seen a big surge. Measures have been taken to prevent the spread of an epidemic.

Members of the Tamil Nadu Nutrition Meal Employees Association staged a demonstration in Madurai on Monday, demanding that the state government stop privatising the breakfast programme.

Farmers in Krishnagiri district on Wednesday demanded the implementation of Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, 24/7 free power for agriculture, irrigation and procurement of food grains at MSP based on the Telangana model that bailed out the peasant community from distress.

Seeking to offset the soaring price of tomatoes, the state government on Tuesday launched the sale of the commodity at Rs 60 a kilo at fair-price shops in Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode and Vellore.

The AIKS submitted a memorandum to the Adidravidar and Tribal Welfare department, seeking to quash the conditions prescribed and eradicate the slackness in implementing the FRA in the state. Read more

The SC will on July 14 hear the pleas against a proposed ‘pen monument’ for former Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi on Marina beach. There is strong opposition from environmentalists and fisherfolk for the project. Read more

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

SPLIT VERDICT IN HABAES CORPUS CASE

The Supreme Court directed the Madras high court to have a three-judge bench to expeditiously hear the habeas corpus petition of arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji’s wife following a split verdict pronounced on Wednesday by a division bench. Justice Karthikeyan was appointed the third judge and began the hearing.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi arrived in the national capital amid the continuing war of words with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin over the order sacking jailed DMK minister Senthil Balaji from the state Cabinet. He met Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday.

GUTKHA SCAM RESURFACES

The Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan on Thursday said it was yet to grant sanction to prosecute four former AIADMK ministers in two cases of corruption because the state’s anti-corruption wing was yet to submit a report in the alleged gutkha scam investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Raj Bhavan’s response came a day after Tamil Nadu’s law minister S Regupathy wrote to Governor Ravi seeking speedy action in the two cases and 13 other bills pending with him. The issue sparked a political controversy with the law minister saying the Raj Bhavan’s statement was “misleading”.

EB WORKERS HOLD PROTESTS

Tamil Nadu Electricity Board workers staged demonstrations in front of district collectorates demanding regularisation of their services.

TNEB workers gathered in large numbers. Image courtesy: CITU, Tamil Nadu

Hundreds have been working under contract in each district for several years. They were earlier paid at piece rate for erecting poles and transformers, but most of them are being used as assistance for wiremen and get pittance.