After confessing to having thrown stones at a dog in Maduravoyal, a 27-year-old man from Chennai man will now have to perform community service with the Blue Cross for at least four weekends.

Writing for the Times of India, Sindhu Kannan reported:

The man, Vinoth Kumar, is employed in a shop supplying water cans in the locality. On Saturday night, at around 8pm, he was walking towards the shop, when a five-year-old stray dog barked at him. The youth pelted stones at the dog, leaving it with bleeding injuries in the left eye. Residents informed the police and the dog was taken to Madras Veterinary Hospital in Vepery for treatment.

Following a police complaint, Vinoth was detained and he confessed to having assaulted the dog. He also alleged that it had attempted to bite him.

Besides issuing an apology letter and agreeing to pay Rs 5,000 for the treatment of the dog, Vinoth was also asked to work with Blue Cross on any four weekends of his choice.

Speaking to TOI, Kamal Banger, owner of pet cab service Wagging Tails, who registered the police complaint, said:

"We opted for this, because we thought he should feel the pain undergone by these pets...We need to teach people, who harm dogs, the value of life and that can only come by helping them develop a sense of compassion.

Earlier this year, many animal rights activists had protested after two medical students filmed themselves throwing a dog off their terrace in Chennai.

The man who threw the dog off the terrace was identified as Gautam S, a final year student from Madha Medical college. The other medical student who was involved in the incident was Ashish Paul. 

They were arrested by the police but later granted bail. They were subsequently told to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh each with the Madras High Court for torturing the dog.

Read - Thrown off a terrace two months ago, Bhadra still has a wag in her tail

A 26-year-old doctor, who booked an Ola cab from Injambakkam on Sunday night, was in for a shock when two men allegedly tried to sexually assault her inside the cab.

Police arrested three men, including the driver of the cab on Monday.  

Police told The Times of India that the woman was travelling from East Coast Road to Anna Nagar, where she works at a private hospital.

After getting into the cab from Injambakkam, the cab driver Venkatesan picked two of his friends from VGP Peace Temple at ECR and said that they will soon get down. Suspicious about their motives, the woman called a friend and told her about the situation. The friend immediately called the Neelankarai police and informed them. The woman later told the police that the men had tried to sexually assault her.

The doctor began screaming, and another vehicle which was passing by, heard her screams and got the vehicle to stop. Police arrested the driver, but the other two men managed to flee from the spot.

On Monday, police arrested the other two men, Muthupandi and Sakthivel from Kottivakkam. Police has filed a complaint against the three men.

Meanwhile, Ola stated that the driver has been blacklisted and terminated from his job. Police told the cab operators to find a way to do proper background check before hiring drivers. 

The sessions court on Monday dismissed the bail petition of racer Vikash Anand and his friend Charan Kumar in the Porsche accident case. One auto driver was killed and 12 other people were injured in the accident.

The prosecutor rejected the plea stating that the accident has killed an auto driver and another man is in a critical condition in the hospital. He also added that the accident has caused a loss of property worth Rs 20 lakh, according to a report by Manish Raj in The Times of India.

Vikash Anand’s lawyer said that his client is a college student and that they are ready to pay fine. Charan Kumar’s counsel said that he had no connection with the offence, according to TOI.

Both Vikash and Charan Kumar had argued that the accident was “purely mechanical” and they also claimed that the police were invoking erroneous sections against them, according to The Times of India.  

In the bail petition, Vikash Anand stated that at 3 am, the car lost control and to avoid hitting a boulder, they swerved as a result of which their vehicle hit the auto rickshaws.

He has also claimed that he was not behind the wheel and that the car was being driven by his driver.

In the court, he said, “The accident was caused due to boulder and puncture of front wheel. Even no expert driver could have stopped the vehicle when the front tyre was punctured”, according to TOI.

He also stated that it was a “fashion” to file complaint under Sections 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 of IPC (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

However, Charan Kumar’s petition stated that the car was being driven by Vikash Anand and that he was a passenger in the car.

Just off Chennai’s IT Corridor, policemen stand every 200 metres at Kannagi Nagar in Thoraipakkam. But for residents of this colony, the men in khaki are sometimes more than just law enforcers. They are very often perceived a threat especially, to the young men in the neighbourhood.

The heightened police presence in this colony comes days after a gang set ablaze nine motorcycles at the Kannagi Nagar police station. The incident followed the death of 24-year-old Karthik, a suspect in a chain snatching case. While police claim that the young suspect succumbed to the injuries he suffered during the chain snatching, Karthik’s family call it a case of custodial torture leading to his death.  

A resettlement area for those affected by the 2004 Tsunami, Kannagi Nagar has since grown in size housing over 15000 families with more houses being constructed.

A police station was set up in 2010. Fifty-year-old Shanthi, a vegetable seller believes that crimes and other problems have reduced in Kannagi Nagar because of the police presence. “Six years ago, Kannagi Nagar was full of ‘rowdies’, we were scared of even walking on the streets, but now, the police questions whomever there is a complaint against,” she said.

But she claims that the interrogation often borders on custodial torture, saying it was wrong on the part of the police to torture suspects. “Police interrogates people for petty issues also, for driving the vehicle too fast or not having a license,” she noted.

For the residents of Kannagi Nagar, Karthik’s case, however, isn’t the first such incident of its kind. In March, a 17-year-old Dalit boy was illegally taken into police custody and allegedly tortured in what was believed to be a case of mistaken identity. The boy, also a resident of Kannagi Nagar, was picked up at night by policemen for allegedly stealing a mobile phone and then allegedly beaten up for two hours, until they realised they had the wrong man. “The death has led to too much tension in the area now,” Shanthi said.

Shayada another vendor said that other young men suffer because of certain ‘rowdies’. “Police interrogates everyone they suspect. The rowdies earlier used to sell alcohol and drugs on the roads, but all that has stopped after police checks,” she said.

Venkat*, a Kannagi Nagar resident said while many people have part-time jobs in the neighbourhood, nearly half of them are part of gangs and commit thefts.  “Once a person shows identity cards, police leaves them. But because of these gangs, the other half also suffers,” he said.

“The ‘Kannagi Nagar’ tag is enough for us not to get a job,” claimed Ambika*, another vendor. “Police is always patrolling at night. It was peaceful for the last one year and now it has again become violent after this Karthik case,” she observed.

Elamathi, (45), a daily wage worker believes that gangs from other parts of the city such as Pudupet have moved to the neighbourhood, sparking trouble. “They get drunk and create a brawl, they wound each other with knives. It is not even safe for girls to walk around in this area,” she stated.

Speaking to The News Minute, a source from the Kannagi Police Station said that most are petty cases like drunk people creating a brawl or theft. Asked about the custodial death, he said that in very few cases, custodial death happens. 

*Names changed on request.

Ask anyone with a smartphone in Tamil Nadu and they’ll tell you what they ‘know’ about Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s health.  You’re probably living under a rock, if you haven’t received an SMS or a WhatsApp/Facebook message of the 68-year-old leader’s health report.

Since her admission late on Thursday night at a private hospital in Chennai, forwards of Amma’s ‘progress report’ has been passed on from person to person, or in the case of WhatsApp, from group to group.  These social media health bulletins allegedly reveal everything from the CM’s medical diagnosis, her vital parameters to the date of her discharge. With medical terminology thrown in, the authenticity of these messages are never doubted, nor their source of origin verified.  

The steady stream of ‘updates’ has not been limited to Jayalalithaa’s health. On Monday, hours after AIADMK released its list of candidates for the local body elections due next month, there was wild speculation from both within the party and from political rivals, over whether the party supremo had, in fact, cleared the names.  

Many mischief makers also attempted to join the dots between the Chief Minister’s admission in hospital and the verdict in the Disproportionate Assets case.  One message reportedly states that the Supreme Court judgement on the DA case is not expected to come out soon as the judge is set to retire. A simple fact-check reveals that Judges PC Ghose and Amitava Roy, who are hearing the case, will serve in the apex court until May 2017 and March 2018 respectively.   

But the dangers of rumour mongering over Jayalalithaa’s health are real, spreading fear and panic across the state. This was evidenced on Monday when several IT companies in Chennai reportedly told their employees to return home early, fearing a law and order problem.  

Rise of WhatsApp journalism

While it’s easy to point fingers at a layman for believing such forwards, the real threat is when journalists and media organisations fall prey to unsubstantiated reports.  Rumours of Jayalalithaa being flown abroad for treatment was featured as ‘Breaking News’ on a national news channel after a message was circulated amongst Delhi journalists, but was quickly retracted after officials in the Tamil Nadu government swung into action.   

And although the channel was hardly the first media organisation to erroneously carry such rumours as factual news reports, the rise of “WhatsApp journalism” is both real and alarming.  

“At an informal level, sharing of information is useful,” says RK Radhakrishnan, Associate Editor of Frontline, but notes that as far as journalistic ethics are concerned, WhatsApp journalism is wrong.

Another senior journalist in Chennai laments that the basic rule of journalism, verifying news from at least two sources, has been thrown out since the advent of WhatsApp. “Everyone is a reporter these days. There are journalists who are part of over 100 news groups and this is bringing down the value of journalism,” he observes.

In the case of Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation, Radhakrishnan believes that it is essentially “desperate journalism”. With the hospital less than forthcoming when it comes to the VVIP patient, journalists are forced to source information beyond the two-line health bulletin. He, however, points out that some of the hospital sources that journalists cite, very often have no information on the Chief Minister’s health. In such a scenario, where information is tightly guarded, journalists, Radhkrishnan suggests, should make an informed choice on whether to forward such messages to friends and peers or whether to keep it to himself/herself.

Doctor-patient confidentiality?

Many argue that Jayalalithaa’s health should remain confidential and her doctors are bound by the Hippocratic oath. But journalists like Radhakrishnan argue that the public has the right to know about the Chief Minister, a democratically elected leader’s health. And while security may be a concern for government officials, rumour mongering can very often spiral out of control.

Following wild speculation over Jayalalithaa’s health during the weekend, doctors together with the Health Minister and the Health Secretary called for a press meet on Sunday to put an end to the rumours. But instead of addressing questions about the Chief Minister’s hospitalisation, the press meet was off-limits to reporters. Camerapersons were allowed entry to record the prepared statement of the hospital.

To kill all rumours surrounding the CM’s health, Radhakrishnan says, “The hospital has no escape but to give people the truth.”    

When 68-year-old R Rathinam, a retired head constable, tried to burn himself in Jayalalithaa’s name, it was not the first time he had gone to such lengths.  

On Monday, he poured kerosene on himself in front of the Salem Collectorate. Before he could strike a match and set himself on fire, the police quickly intervened and stopped him. He was admitted to a government hospital in Salem.

Speaking to The News Minute, he says, “I cannot bear my leader (Jayalalithaa) being unwell and being admitted in the hospital. I want her to live long. No one else can take her place.”

For him, the leader is god, he says. But this love for the leader is not limited to Jayalalithaa. In fact, it all began with MGR.

Rathinam grew up watching MGR movies. “I love his movies like ‘Madurai Veeran’, ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ and ‘Nam Naadu’,” he says.

But what began as a love for his favourite actor, slowly turned into complete devotion. “In 1985, when MGR said that he would step down from the post of Chief Minister, I consumed poison and tried killing myself,” says Rathinam.

He still cherishes the memory of his first meeting with MGR, he said, “I met him for the first time in 1985 and he asked me if he can do anything for me,” he said.

But why takes such extreme steps? “MGR and Jayalalithaa are my gods. They are more important to me than my family. I cannot bear if anything happens to them,” he says.

In 1987, when MGR died, Rathinam was given police protection to make sure that he did not do himself harm.

It turns out that the police had just cause for worry. In 2004, Rathinam took another extreme step at the Ramar Temple in Ayothiapattinam. “I wanted Amma to win the elections. So I cut off the last three fingers on my left hand. I wanted Amma to have a massive victory,” he says.

Even Jayalalithaa, was alarmed by this. “Amma wanted me to get my hands treated at the Apollo hospital in Chennai but I refused. How could I take back my offering which I have given to my god?” he asks.

He retired in 2006 as a head constable. But he continued to do campaigns for the AIADMK party in the district. According to The New IndianExpress, Rathinam would do street plays on his own to promote the party.

Currently recovering in the hospital, Rathinam’s condition is stable. Asked if he will do these things again, “If something happens to Amma, I will surely do something like this again,” he said.

The Madras High Court said that it appeared the local body elections in Tamil Nadu had been notified in a hurry. The court made the observation on Tuesday, while hearing a writ petition filed by DMK’s organising secretary, reported the Times of India.

DMK had approached the court seeking a directive to the state election commissioner to hold the civic pols sticking to the reservation norms for Scheduled Tribes, noting that there was not a single ST candidate in all 200 wards of the Chennai corporation. Arguing that notification process was not open at all, he also said that the election schedule was announced at 6:15pm on a Sunday, which was a holiday while filing of nominations was scheduled for the next day.

The Advocate General said the five-year term of the local bodies cannot be extended and it was mandatory that elections be held before the current term expires on October 24.

Tamil Nadu will go to polls for local bodies in two phases on Octobebr 17 and 19 while counting of votes will take place on October 21. 

The High Court has called for details of schedules and reservation from earlier elections. The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday.

With TN CM Jayalalithaa taking time to be discharged from Chennai’s Apollo Hospital, her many well-wishers are getting impatient and angry. And in their pain, they’re getting creative with the targets of their rage.

One well-wisher, for instance, has decided that modern medical science just isn’t effective enough. What Jayalalithaa’s fever really needs is a good talking to.

And so, this Amma supporter, Nellai A Suresh, has put up a poster in which he commands the fever not to touch “our goddess Amma”.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/Dinesh Akula

The text of the poster reads:

Stone-hearted fever,
Do not touch our goddess Amma, 
Don’t touch her, 
Don’t touch her, 
O daughter of the Gods! 
With God’s blessings,’ 
Rise once again with courage. 

Others are convinced the problem is more man-made. Another poster put out by the AIADMK Women’s Wing, for instance, thinks Apollo Hospital is to blame for Jayalalithaa’s long hospitalisation, since they’re forcing it upon her for filthy lucre.

Image Courtesy: Facebook/Srikumar Balakrishnan

This poster reads: 

“WE CONDEMN APOLLO

For keeping the respected god of our heart, Amma, in hospital and grabbing money, we condemn the management of Apollo Hospitals.”

On Monday, one ardent devotee of Jayalalithaa, attempted to set himself on fire unable to bear his grief over the news of her illness. R Rathinam, a retired head constable poured kerosene over himself outside the Salem Collectorate, but was stopped by the police before he set himself on fire.

Rathinam has taken other extreme steps to support Jayalalithaa and her political mentor MGR in the past, even going to the extent of cutting off three fingers on his left hand at a temple in Ayothiapattinam in 2004 so that Jayalalithaa could score a massive victory in the elections being conducted then.

Since Jayalalithaa was hospitalised late on Thursday night, Tamil Nadu, and particularly Chennai, has been in a feverish state, as rumour after rumour about the nature of her illness and the status of party affairs has spread like wildfire on social media and messaging platforms.

Despite a formal statement from doctors and the Health Minister and Health Secretary, these rumours continue to spread, as speculation refuses to die down on just how serious Jayalalithaa’s condition really is. 

The probe into the murder of Hindu Munnani spokesperson Sasikumar was transferred to the CB-CID by DGP TK Rajendran.

In his order on Wednesday, the DGP directed the investigating officials to hand over the case diary and other records to the CB-CID, reported The Hindu. He also ordered the ADGP CB-CID to appoint an investigating officer to probe the case.

Sasikumar was hacked to death by a gang of four people last week in Coimbatore. According to the police, he was returning home on a two-wheeler when the gang chased him on motorcycles and attacked him with sickles. He suffered about 11 cut injuries and was rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital.  

His death sparked unrest in Coimbatore as groups of people attacked vehicles, establishments.

There have been no arrests made so far with police making little headway in the case.

The floods which devastated Chennai last year, unearthed the massive morass that is the story of practically every metropolis: encroachment, especially of water bodies, and unplanned building creating an ugly cocktail of disaster when the skies pour.

That was also the story of Chennai.

One of the major reasons that Chennai flooded as badly as it did in December 2015, is because all of its natural drainage systems – primarily the Ennore Creek – were choked, and the incessant rains kept adding to the volume of water that was draining out painfully slowly.

Ennore Creek wasn’t killed overnight. What made its death invisible was the fact that it occurred over three decades, by acts of commission and omission.

Located to the north of Chennai, the Ennore Creek drains two rivers – the Araniyar and Kosasthalaiyar which meet at Ennore Creek before flowing into the Bay of Bengal at Mugathwarakuppam. In many ways, it is more important than the two rivers Adyar and Cooum which were the centre of focus during the floods and after.

Here are five major blows that figuratively broke the backs of the Araniyar and Kosasthalaiyar:

Flyash:

After the North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) was set up, 1990s onwards, hot water has been discharged into the creek. The plant devoured the salt pans surrounding it, to set up a flyash pond. Flyash from the pond leaked into the creek and deposited silt into the river. Ash pipelines laid on platforms further blocked the flow of water. Some of the ash slurry leaked into the river adding even more layers to the debris in the river.

Ash spilling from leaky pipelines have choked the river and the Canal

Dumping of earth:

The two ports located in the Ennore Creek region – Kamarajar Port and Kattupally Port have severely affected the salt pans, wetlands and mangroves in the region.

The Kamarajar Port, earlier known as Ennore Port, dumped a lot of sand dredged out from the ocean onto the Athipattu salt pans. The Chettinad Iron Ore and Coal yard now stands on the Athipattu salt pans.

Chettinad coal yard in 2016

Ennore Thermal Power Station has dumped earth into Buckingham Canal.

In the mid-2000s, the Vallur mangroves disappeared under the power plant set up by NTPC and TANGEDCO. The flyash pond of the power plant has prevented several streams of the Kosasthalaiayar before they can reach the Creek.

Bridges and Roads:

The first bridge to be constructed was a railway bridge, connecting Chennai to areas north of the city. But, the area around the pillars was dredged to restore the earlier water-carrying capacity of the river.

ETPS is planning to construct a conveyor belt with many pillars inside the river. There is also a broad mud road blocking about 100 metres of the river.

Construction debris betewen the columns of the bridge

Totally, there are 11 bridges and roads in the area, blocking the rivers and streams, and reducing the depth of existing channels. Meaning, that the rivers simply cannot handle their natural capacity of water. When the capacity is in excess of the normal rains and water flows, the result is there was all to see: Chennai, December 2015.

What can be done to save it?

It is crucial that all these blockages be removed. However, ports and power plants are general considered facilities of national importance and cannot be wished away. However, some of the lost wetlands, salt pans, and mangroves can be regenerated.

Mangroves being destroyed

One of the steps that can be taken is to remove the flyash from the creek and wetlands, and formulate a long-term solution to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible manner. The Buckingham canal too, needs to be de-clogged by removing flyash.

Desilt all the rivers, Buckingham Canal and feeder canals like Captain Cotton Canal, Otteri Nullah, Kodungaiyur drain.

Stop all further construction on saltpans, mangroves and other wetlands in the Ennore region in line with the Madras High Court's directions prohibiting conversion of wetlands.

(Images courtesy: David Grosman)

(Map courtesy: Pooja Kumar)

If Swathi had been alive today, she would have turned 25. A soft-spoken woman who is still remembered by her friends and family for her gentle nature and sense of humour, Swathi’s life was cruelly cut short in a way that none close to her anticipated.

 The brutal murder of the Infosys techie by her alleged stalker on June 24 earlier this year, sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu. Since then, much water has flown under the bridge.

The suspect Ramkumar was nabbed by the police from his hometown in Thirunelveli.  The intense media scrutiny on the case led to numerous discussions on women’s safety and gender-based violence. But there were other conversations too, along casteist and communal lines.

Not everyone was convinced that Ramkumar, the accused, was the killer. Politicians entered the fray, alleging that he was being framed. And with Ramkumar allegedly committing suicide in police custody earlier this month, conspiracy theories have once again risen to the surface.

But what about the family that is still in mourning for a daughter who will never come home?

On her birthday, Swathi’s sister Nithya, writes about the girl she grew up with and the family’s continued distress at the rumours that are being spread about her.

“There lived a happy go lucky girl in a quarters, who lived amidst her friends. One fine day the kiddo’s close friend shared the happy news of a younger sister’s arrival. She was fascinated to know that her friend has been blessed with a sister. So even she started praying vigorously for a sister. God too answered the kid’s prayer and on 29th September, the girl’s sister was born. The most awaited moment for the girl.

 She enjoyed and rejoiced the arrival of her sister. The elder and younger one were poles apart but in a good way. They both were like Tom and Jerry, kept fighting and pulling each other’s leg for almost everything. But they made sure none came in-between them. They remained protective of each other. As time gave many twist and turns of events in their lives, they were able to sail through everything with the help of their parents. Days, months and years rolled by.  Time tested their patience, but the four of them faced it bravely and positively by remaining a close knit family.

One fine day, in the month of June’16, a policeman arrived at their home just to inform that the younger one had been killed. The elder one rushed to the spot, just hoping it would be someone else. All her prayers failed, and to the surprise of everyone, it was her sister. The one who couldn’t bear a small cut was lying dead in a pool of blood, helplessly.

 With great difficulties, the family was fighting to get back to their routine. But the so called activists started spreading rumours about the departed soul. The family tried clearing the air, but in vain. There were too many wrong facts about the departed soul and her family. They couldn’t do much other than to mourn, just hoping that the true facts will emerge from the false. Now, the family has been left devastated and is hoping time will help them heal someday.

Happy Birthday my dear. If possible do return to us in some form. Love and miss you more than we could take.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has slammed Karnataka government for not respecting the Supreme Court’s orders directing the state to release water to the riparian states.

On account of ill health, Jayalalithaa’s speech was read out at the meeting convened on the directions of SC by the union Ministry of Water Resources on the Cauvery issue by P Rama Mohan Rao, Chief Secretary of Government of Tamil Nadu. A copy of the transcript of the speech is available with The News Minute.

Urging union government to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, Jayalalithaa said that only a professionally managed, neutral and technical body could resolve the issue.​

​Accusing the Karnataka government of being arrogant, Jayalalithaa said there was a need for the Cauvery Management Board to be set up to safety of Tamilians in Karnataka. 

Jayalalithaa said that the primary concern of the Tamil Nadu government, is to save this year’s Samba crop as there was a shortfall of 60.983 tmcft of water up to August 30. She said that Karnataka had repeatedly defied the SC orders in utter contempt.

The first two orders - September 5 order to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day for 10 days, and September 12 order to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day for eight days were not followed, she said.

According to these orders, a total of 17.366 tmcft of water had to be released to Tamil Nadu. The third order asking Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs per day from September 20 to September 28 (amounting to 3.62 TMC ft) was also not followed, she said.

Jayalalithaa said that for all these years, Karnataka did not release the stipulated 192 tmcft of water except when his reservoirs were overflowing.

She also blamed Karnataka government for orchestrating violence against Tamilians living in that state and accused various political formations and high level instigators of fanning the anger. 

Recalling the 1991 violence over Cauvery dispute, she said that Tamilians in Karnataka have lived in fear every time Tamil Nadu has asked for its rightful share of water.

She quoted an observation of the Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Reference in 1991, which says that no state can claim exclusive ownership of interstate river water so as to deprive the other states of their equitable share.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has been advised to stay for a few more days in the hospital for recuperative treatment, said a medical bulletin on Thursday.

In a statement issued late on Thursday Apollo Hospitals said Jayalalithaa, who was admitted to the hospital for fever, has responded well to the treatment.

"Necessary evaluation tests are being carried out. The Honourable Chief Minister has been advised few days stay in the hospital for recuperative treatment," Apollo Hospitals said.

On September 22, Jayalalithaa was admitted in Apollo for fever and dehydration.

Subsequently the hospital said she was cured of fever and was under observation and is taking normal diet.

Apollo latest health bulletin on #Jayalalithaa. Says she has responded well to treatment. Will stay few days in hospital pic.twitter.com/MXzmHREfwf

— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) September 29, 2016

On Friday, petrol bombs were hurled at a mosque and three nearby houses by unidentified people in Podanur in Coimbatore. No one was injured in the incident.

Petrol bombs were hurled at the Hithulah Sudin Sunath Jamath mosque at around 1am on Friday, and one of the houses on which the petrol bombs were hurled included the mosque administrator’s house Sadiq Ali.

Sadiq Ali told reporters that this incident had come in the wake of the September 23, 2016, incident in which petrol bombs were hurled at two other mosques in Coimbatore city. “Today, some people hurled petrol bombs at this mosque. They also threw petrol bombs on three nearby houses. The police should find the real culprits and also provide protection to the mosques,” he said.

On September 23, 2016, petrol bombs were hurled at a mosque in Kempatty colony and another one on Shanmugam Road, allegedly by Hindu Munnani members. However, the police claimed that such instances did not occur. Parts of Coimbatore city were tense and violence occurred after the fatal attack on Hindu Munnani spokesperson C Sasikumar on September 21.

On Thursday, C Sasikumar’s wife, Yamuna attempted suicide by eating cow dung powder and was rushed to a private hospital in Thudaliyur.     

A week after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was admitted at a private hospital in Chennai for fever and dehydration, DMK President M Karunanidhi has urged the state government to put to rest the rumours surrounding the CM’s health.

In a statement released on Friday, Karunanidhi said the Tamil Nadu government has a responsibility to inform the people regarding the health status of the Chief Minister. He also urged the Governor to ensure that this is done to allay the fears of the people.

 The 92-year-old leader stated that there were reports of Jayalalithaa attending a meeting on the Cauvery issue from her hospital bed, but there has been no photographic evidence either of her treatment at the hospital nor her meeting with the officials.

“Jayalalithaa should send a video message. This suggestion was given by PMK Chief Dr Ramadoss but the government has not responded to this. The newspapers report that Jayalalithaa is doing all the official work from hospital, so taking a picture of her in hospital and publishing it will not be wrong,” said the DMK leader.  

He also noted that several AIADMK party workers were confused over their leader’s health and were eager to know her health. Karunanidhi pointed out that unnecessary rumours were being spread on social media because of the lack of information, and that the police were unable to find out who were spreading the rumours.   

Drawing a comparison to former Chief Minister MGR’s stint in hospital, Karunanidhi said that the government at that time had a mechanism where officials informed the press and the people about his health status. Karunanidhi said, “A similar method needs to be adopted now. This is the best way to stop the rumour that is flying thick and fast.”  

Wishing her a speedy recovery, the DMK leader said, “I reiterate once again, even though I have ideological differences with her, I wish her a speedy recovery so she may resume her work.” He also added, “Even as I reiterate this, the state government should swing into action and put to rest all these rumours around her health and the governor should also ensure this is done. This Is the wish of the people of Tamil Nadu.”

Born in 1948, Jayalalithaa Jayaram’s pre-political life as a film actor is no secret.

We came across two rare photographs of Jayalalithaa from the extensive collection of 88 year-old film historian and chronicler, Film News Anandan based in Chennai and another that was circulating on social media.

Here are the stories behind them.

1. Epistle

The only English movie in Jayalalithaa’s entire career, it was also the first film that she began shooting for. Called Epistle, the movie was produced by former Indian President VV Giri’s son Shankar Giri.

Though the movie released officially in 1966, it never really did well amongst the masses. The movie was then re-released by Giri after Jayalalithaa became popular for some of the movies she had got a name for in that span – “Chinnada Gombe” in Kannada and “Vennira Aadai” in Tamil.

"Ramana Reddy was her co-actor. I never really saw the film. But it didn’t do well even after Jayalalithaa became popular unlike her other movies", says Anandan.

2. Ganga Gowri

This picture of Jayalalithaa acting in the Tamil version of the Kannada movie “Ganga Gowri” released in 1973 has a long story behind it.

She was born in the Mandya district of Mysore ( now Karnataka) in 1948 to a Tamil Vaishavite Brahmin Iyengar family belonging to Srirangam, Trichy. Participating in dance troupes from a young age, in the 1970s she was invited to be a part of a grand performance in Mysore as a part of the Dussehra exhibition. However, that year amidst intra-state tensions over prolonged talks on conversion of the state’s name from Mysore to Karnataka, a number of well-wishers communicated to her that it would be better if she didn’t participate.

She had earlier said in an interview  to Vikatan magazine that though she had been born in Karnataka and was fluent in Kannada, she was very much a Tamilian.

This however did not go down well with then Kannada activists. The statement came on the heels of  Vatal Nagaraj’s Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha party condemning her for cancelling her dance performance inspite of being a Kannadiga girl.

Listening to the advice from well-wishers, Jayalalithaa then backed out of the dance citing health reasons. It was a little while after this that famous Kannada director BR Panthulu approached Jayalalithaa to be a part of the Tamil remake of his Kannada movie “Ganga Gowri”.

Back then Tamil movies were shot only in Madras, Panthulu decided to shoot the movie in Mysore considering the reduced costs. However, what Jayalalithaa did not realise was that both the dates of the dance exhibition and that of the movie’s shooting was around the same time, says Anandan.

Anandan, then a PRO gathered together ten journalists to cover the shooting of Ganga Gowri and headed to Mysore from Chennai. A day after they reached, when shooting was going on at Premier Studio, a group of Kannada activists barged into the Premier Studio in order to confront Jayalalithaa.

Around 100 members of Vatal Nagaraj's Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha tried entering the studio demanding an apology from her.

Even though the 12 feet high gates were locked, they climbed over and entered the premises of Premier Studio, says Anandan, an eye-witness.

"They were yelling all kinds of abusive chants and every one of them carried a weapon of some sort", he says from memory. The producer, BR Panthulu, Jayalalithaa and the ten journalists from Madras were all inside the room locked from inside on the second floor of the studio.

“We (all journalists) surrounded her in one corner of the room when the protestors entered,” he says. When they started demanding that she apologise for her earlier statements on Kannadigas, Panthulu came forward and asked her to apologise to end the tense situation.

“I am a Tamil girl, not a Kannada girl,” she then said loudly refusing to apologise even as protestors gathered around her.

The only reason nothing happened was because she responded in Tamil and the protestors did not realise what was happening, he says in admiration of Jayalalithaa’s brave demeanour that day.

It was only when Director Swamy, also a man from Karnataka, explained the shame that such an attack on a Tamilian in their state would bring forth did the protesters finally decide to leave.

Jayalalithaa then left Mysore, returned to Madras and thanked the journalists who had helped her that day. 

3. Jayalalithaa with Karunanidhi

This is a picture of Jayalalithaa and Karuanidhi that started doing the rounds on social media on the day Jayalalithaa was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court.

Where was this picture taken?

There have not been too many occasions when the arch rivals have posed for a picture, even at a time that they were not political enemies.

We asked quite a few people about the picture.

The picture it seems was taken after Jayalalithaa first presented her dance-drama 'Kaveri Thantha Kalaichelvi' (The Artistic Daughter Bequeathed by the Cauvery). The show was in 1965 or 1967. 

It was a government function for which Jayalalithaa was renumerated to perform. The dance-drama was a great success and she performed it again in 1981.

The Chennai Police registered an FIR against popular social media user Tamizachi for spreading rumours over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's health. 

Tamizachi wrote on her Facebook wall on Thursday that she had received information from reliable sources that Jayalalithaa died two days ago. 

She also alleged that the AIADMK supremo was killed by the RSS because their plan is to start riots in Tamil Nadu. She has referred to cases like the Swathi murder case, the murder of Hosur VHP leader Soori, the murder of Hindu Munanni functionary Sasikumar and said that in all these instances, muslims were blamed and Jayalalithaa would have stood in the way of the RSS for starting Hindu-Muslim riots in the state and so she was killed.                         

In the post, she also added that the government should inform the public about the Chief Minister’s true condition if what she is saying isn't true and put all doubts to rest. 

AIADMK IT Wing had filed the complaint against Tamizachi for spreading rumours about Jayalalithaa’s health. The crime branch department has booked her under three sections- Section 153A(Promoting enmity between different groups), Section 505 (1) and (2)- (Statements conducing to public mischief).

Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016 and following that, there have been various rumours doing the rounds regarding her treatment and health. 

Jayalalithaa’s health: Her right to privacy vs our right to know, what is more important?

As rumours spread, ‘edit war’ breaks out on Jayalalithaa’s Wikipedia page

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday informed the Madras High Court that it would file a report stating the action taken against theatres, which charged exorbitant rates for ‘Kabali’ movie tickets.

A writ petition filed by Devaraj asked the court to direct the state government to take action against theatres that collected tickets at exorbitant rates. The case came for hearing on Friday before a single judge. The government pleader gave an undertaking to file a report, according to The New Indian Express.

The case was adjourned till October 21.

Devaraj, the petitioner, said that the theatres have collected much higher rates than set by the government. He also added that for movies with popular actors, the theatres charge high prices for the first five days. He also stated that the entrance fare was more than that set by the government.

The court has asked the government to form a special team to investigate and stop collection of extra fares.

Devaraj claims that when he went to watch ‘Kabali’ at a theatre in Perambur, he was charged Rs. 300 instead of Rs 50 set by the government.

The court dismissed the case and asked him to check if his representation had reached the authorities. The court also added that a special team should have been formed by the government earlier and publicised the constitution and operation of the team.

Devaraj claimed that no such information about the team was made known to the public, according to TNIE.    

A week after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was admitted to Chennai’s Apollo hospital, a doctor from UK’s London Bridge Hospital has been brought to help in the treatment.

Sources told The Times of India that after having discussions with doctors who are treating Jayalalithaa, Dr Richard John Beale has advised a few more tests to be done on the CM.

According to TOI, Dr Richard John is an intensivist who has done research on sepsis, acute respiratory and clinical nutrition.  

Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital on September 22. Since then, there have been only three medical bulletins issued by the hospital. Earlier they stated that she had fever and dehydration. On Thursday, the hospital said that she was improving and responding well to treatment.

However, DMK chief Karunanidhi asked the state government on Friday to release pictures of Jayalalithaa and inform the public about her health condition.

“What is their hurry, she is a lady patient and the first priority is you should give her proper care and treatment. I wish her a steady recovery and pray for that,“ TNCC chief S Thirunavukkarasar told TOI.

Jayalalithaa’s aide Sasikalaa along with Finance minister O Paneerselvam and a few other senior bureaucrats have been staying at the hospital, according to TOI.

Read: As rumours spread, ‘edit war’ breaks out on Jayalalithaa’s Wikipedia page

Read more: Jayalalithaa’s health: Her right to privacy vs our right to know, what is more important?