8 months ago, Chennai’s floods devastated the city. Thus ensued another flood - of concerns, problems and solutions. 

But damage control doesn’t happen overnight. Arappor Iyakkam, a citizen’s forum, took one step forward to address the system with a massive social audit.

Crowdsourced from people from various walks of life, representatives from each locality helped put together a citizen’s report complete with maps and specific problem areas.Chepauk MLA J Anbazhagan was the only MLA present.

On Sunday, the collective organized ‘Kelu Chennai Kelu’ – a massive public hearing in which close to a 1000 people participated.

This large convention of flood-affected Chennai residents, residents associations, students and citizen movements was held to bring to the government’s attention the condition of various waterways in Chennai, flood preparedness and what the government needs to do before the monsoons. 

People from more than 20 areas of Chennai presented their reports on the condition of waterways and flood preparedness.

A panel consisting of Retd IAS Devasagayam, High Court appointed Amicus Curiae for Illegal Constructions, Suresh, IIT Prof Sudarshan Padmanabhan, Retd PWD Engineer Thirunaavukkarasu took note of these concerns.

“ We are majorly pushing for transparency. The government should disclose their plans before the monsoons. They should make their storm water drain maps public,” says Jayaram Venkatesan, Convenor of Arappor Iyakkam. Jayaram says some pertinent points were raised by citizens regarding encroachments.

“ In the case of Chembarambakkam reservoir, the sluice gates were opened only after a long wait for the senior official’s approval. Unless they decentralize the power and use engineers at the local level, nothing can be done,” he adds.

Jayaram observes that the corporation has started desilting storm water drains.

With regard to encroachments, he presents a workable process, but it matters little when up against a thriving real-estate mafia.

“The waterbodies are turned into patta lands by tahsildars and encroachments abound as a result. We need to ask the government to grant special status to these waterbodies so they can be protected. And that special status list needs to be transparent too.”

Arappor Iyakkam along with the panel will prepare a report from the public hearing and hand it over to the Government for suitable action.

A section of Nadigar Sangam members on Saturday alleged that General Secretary Actor Vishal had cheated and misused Nadigar Sangam funds of more than Rs.3 crore. 

They also claimed that many poll promises had not been fulfilled.

In a media interaction on Sunday, Vishal refuted the corruption allegations against him saying, "In the present Nadigar Sangam, we have nothing to hide. Everything is transparent. We have proof that all the allegations against me are wrong, and we will reveal this soon. We will come up with a list of irregularities by the previous members in 10 days. 

Actor Nassar, the president of Nadigar Sangam said in a press release that he and his team had been working tirelessly for the welfare of all members with utmost integrity. 

He also said that he would be filling a complaint with Police Commissioner tomorrow against those aimed at tarnishing image of Nadigar Sangam.

Last year, Vishal and team locked horns with the former Nadigar Sangam President Sarath Kumar demanding the construction of a building at the Nadigar Sangam land and levelled several corruption charges against Sarathkumar and team. 

This led to a rift creating two factions during the polls. 

Eventually, Vishal’s team ousted Sarath and won the elections hands down.

Expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP M Sasikala Pushpa, who is facing sexual harassment case filed by her two domestic aides, on Mondaysaid she would not resign from the Upper House.

"There is no question my resignation from the Rajya Sabha," Sasikala, told reporters in Chennai on her arrival from Singapore.

Sasikala, who was expelled from AIADMK earlier this month, said she will be appearing before the Madras High Court's Madurai bench to respond to an allegation of having played fraud on the court while filing an anticipatory bail application registered by Thoothukudi police against her and her family members for allegedly ill-treating and sexually abusing two domestic aides.

The court had directed the MP to appear before it on Monday and explain how she could have signed a petition in Madurai on August 17 authorising her lawyer to argue the advance bail plea on behalf of her when the police claimed that she did not enter Tamil Nadu ever since the case was registered early this month.

On August 11, the Delhi High Court had asked Tamil Nadu government not to take any coercive action till August 22 against the expelled AIADMK MP, her husband and their son in the case.

The domestic servants, who reportedly worked at Pushpa's house in Tamil Nadu, had filed a police complaint alleging that they were tortured and sexually harassed.

The High Court had also asked her family to approach the appropriate court in Tamil Nadu for relief by then.

The Supreme Court had on August 26 granted protection from the arrest to her for six weeks in the case.

She was expelled from the AIADMK after an altercation with DMK MP Tiruchi Siva at the Delhi airport earlier last month. Since then she has alleged that she was being threatened into resigning from her post.

After 17 years, the Chennai Press Club will finally hold elections for the post of office bearers in three months. This after the Madras High Court ordered elections to the press club and appointed retired judge Justice K Chandru as election commissioner. Justice MM Sundresh also observed that the current office bearers, who have been running the club since 1999 were not elected legally. 

The court order comes after an acrimonious fight between different groups of journalists, all staking claim to the prestigious recreational and welfare club. Apart from not holding elections, several journalists allege maladministration, misuse of funds and lack of transparency in the running of CPC.

In 2009, R Mohan, a journalist with a Tamil daily filed a case against the Club.  But with no movement in the case, another journalist, Subbaiah working for Tamil channel, Puthiya Thalaimurai impleaded in the case in 2011.  “My prayer was for elections to be held in the Press Club. As journalists we put out all issues and problems that society faces but in our own field we can’t do it, then it’s hypocritical,” said Subbaiah.

In 2012, the Madras High Court ordered fresh elections to be held. But the ruling was stayed after CPC’s office bearers challenged the order.  

While Subbaiah expressed happiness at Monday’s court verdict, the journalist said he would not hesitate to go back to court if the election process is stalled. “Let whoever come after elections but we want elections to be held,” he said.

Bharati Tamilan, the Joint Secretary of CPC, refused to comment without seeing the court order.  But noted that they were also for holding elections in the Club.

Meanwhile, congratulations have been pouring in for another group of scribes, who have come under the banner, “Mission Press Club”. Prakash, a journalist with Tamil Magazine, Nakkeeran and a part of “Mission Press Club” said, “The Press Club is free from the clutches of a group that has been conducting illegal affairs. Democracy has been retained among journalists and the court order will encourage able journalists to come forward in the future.”  He alleged that a number of issues pertaining to the welfare of journalists including wage board and pension had been kept in the backburner for several years and that the High Court’s order will “create a conducive atmosphere” for their discussion.   

While elections will take place within three months, the Madras High Court has also directed Justice Chandru to verify members of the Club, who joined after 2011.  

“Who manages Press Club is irrelevant. What needs to be strengthened is the journalists’ union that is divided especially at a time when reporters are facing restrictions and defamation cases,” argued Shabbir Ahmed, a television journalist and a member of CPC. Calling it an ego clash between several senior journalists over the powerful body, Shabbir said it is high time that unions get their act together and play a major role in the welfare of journalists.

While Chennai Press Club will now finally see elections, last held in 1999, journalists like Shabbir and Prakash point out that other unions in the state also face allegations of lack of democratic functioning. “I don't remember when was the last time elections were conducted for journalists’ unions. As far as I am concerned the role of Press Club is limited and need of the hour is to democratise and strengthen Journalists unions in the State,” noted Shabbir.     

Also read: Blame-game ensues as Chennai journos squabble over ‘undemocratic’ media clubs and unions

Brand Amma has no limits it seems. After Amma canteens, water, salt, mixies, grinders, laptops and what not, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has announced Amma parks and Amma gyms.

Tamil Nadu government will set up 500 'Amma Gyms' for youth and develop as many 'Amma Parks' for the public in rural areas.

In a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said 500 'Amma Gyms' would be set up in rural areas to promote physical and mental health of youth, at an estimated total cost of Rs 50 crore. Each gym would be set up at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, she said.

Jayalalithaa also announced setting up of 500 'Amma Parks' in village panchayats with all amenities, including play equipment for children, toilets, cement benches for seating and paved pathways for walking at a total outlay of Rs 100 crore.

Other initiatives announced:

1. In an initiative to help kin of those admitted as in-patients' in state-run hospitals, 23 'short stay homes' will be built at a cost of Rs 11.62 crore in districts, including Chennai, where those attending on patients could stay back.

2. The Chief Minister unveiled a host of other initiatives, including converting incandescent bulbs used for street lighting into energy efficient LED to bring down spend on electricity consumption bills by 35 per cent and steps to completely do away with open defecation.

3. As part of efforts to fully do away with open defecation in town panchayat areas, this year 90,150 lavatories would be built at a cost of Rs 108.18 crore and 2,620 more toilets will be built under community toilet plan at a cost of Rs 17.03 crore.

4. Jayalalilthaa said under MNREGA and Swachh Bharat Mission this year, 15.17 lakh toilets would be built in rural households.

5. Referring to deployment of 'sanitation guards' in 9,000 village panchayats under solid waste management programme who segregate garbage, she said the plan would be extended to the remaining 3,524 village panchayats.

6. At an outlay of Rs 800 crore, under the TN Rural Roads Development Scheme, 900 km of mud roads would be asphalted, 1,400 km of damaged tar roads repaired and 1,200 km of tar roads needing repairs on a lower scale refurbished.

7. She said 1,200 small irrigation tanks would be refurbished at a cost of Rs 300 crore, which would help increase water table and storage levels.

8. On dairy development, the Chief Minister announced setting up of an industry to manufacture polythene film for making sachets to pack milk in Villupuram district at a cost of Rs 82.54 crore.

Read: The mind boggling list of every Amma product and service launched in last 5 years

DMK’s 80 suspended MLAs will return to the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday after being suspended by Speaker P Dhanpal on August 17 for unruly behaviour in the House. Ahead of their return, the ruling AIADMK has put up posters across Chennai poking fun at rival DMK’s 89 MLAs.

The poster shows DMK MLAs in the Assembly while comedian Vadivelu suggests that the people of Tamil Nadu must have voted by mistake for them.

Punning on the number 89 – a reference to the total number of DMK MLAs in the House, the poster refers to the opposition violating Assembly rules. It also refers to 1989 – the year the DMK was voted back to power but was dismissed two years later.

Put by an AIADMK party member, the poster has names of Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar and AIADMK's Madurai north MLA V V Rajan Chellappa. In 1991, the DMK party was suspended by Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar for allegedly supporting Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The posters also show Chief Minister a J Jayalalithaa laughing at the conversation.

A five-year-old male elephant was found dead by villagers at Hassanure forest area in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) on Monday.

Forest department officials said people from Panahalli forest settlement in Hassanure forest in STR spotted the dead elephant and informed them.

They rushed to the spot along with a veterinary doctor and found the dead pachyderm and the mother elephant nearby, trumpeting loudly and not letting anyone to go near the carcass.

After a two-hour struggle, they managed to scare away the mother elephant back into the forest, after which a post mortem was conducted on the dead elephant, the officials said.

The carcass was later buried in a nearby area.

The officials said they were awaiting the veterinary doctor's report to ascertain the exact cause of death of the elephant.

At the dimly lit wards of the Tiruvallur Government Hospital, a worry still persists. Every case of fever has been screened, checked and discharged or admitted accordingly. 40-year-old Karthi from Chengaram, who has been admitted for a fever, is relieved that critical patients have been shifted to the Egmore Government Hospital. Like many other patients in the ward, he is recovering slowly, and praises the district collector for her timely intervention.

"It is too premature to say that the six deaths in the district have been caused by dengue. It seems to be different strains and we have sent them to a lab," the Deputy Director said, adding, “It could be dengue or leptospirosis or a combination."

For the last few days, confusion has been brewing in the sleepy village of Adiandrawada on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra border. Its residents have lost 4 of their children after two tested positive for dengue. “We don’t have dirty water or a bad drainage system. We always keep our houses clean. We keep the tanks clean. Where are the mosquitoes coming from?” asks Navin Kumar, who lost his 5-year-old brother, Mohan Rao, after days of uncertainty. 

At least 140 homes in the village are beginning to learn that dengue isn’t a dirty water problem – it’s a stagnant fresh water one. The disease is caused by the Aedes egypti mosquito that breeds in stagnant fresh water. Rains aggravate the problem because rain water is fresh water, and when it starts stagnating in tanks, tyres or pots, it has to be cleared. Especially pot water has to be changed once in three days or it can turn into a breeding ground for the mosquito. Rats are also a possible problem in the area.

Shanthi, who lost her youngest child, a nine-year-old, to dengue in the second death that was reported, is skeptical of the mass cleaning drive that the government has adopted. “Is it okay if they put medicine in the water tank? Are they tricking us?” she asks. 

A major concern, health officials say, are open tanks, pots of water and empty coconut shells that are found littered in the interior roads. This is not the first scare that the villagers have had – Navin says a fever broke out among at least a 100 people last month after a few spells of rain.

But Adiandrawada bounced back with paracetamols prescribed by the primary health care doctor who services three villages in the area. They, however, weren’t prepared for a worrying situation. Ahead of Adiandrawada is Kaverirajapuram, where the first case of dengue was reported.

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. The Aedes mosquito’s eggs can hatch into a larva in less than a day. There is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it, the only treatment is to attend to the symptoms.

As of Monday afternoon, 88 persons are currently undergoing treatment for fever, 24 have reported fever, 2 are critical and 26 patients have been discharged. 120 persons had been seen as outpatients so far.

Numbers have considerably come down, doctors say. “14 teams have been formed, we have deputed doctors where inpatients are high. They are strategically located. Entomologists have been deployed and 5 fogging machines have been making the rounds. At Kaverirajapuram and Adiandhrawada, there were open, filthy drains earlier in the week. The drains were subsequently cleaned and new pipelines were laid, but it is likely, a public health official said, that their water had been contaminated.

The district administration has been trying to contain the situation from multiple fronts.

Sanitary workers have been engaged and self-help groups have been mobilized. “We think that somewhere on the grassroots level, there is absolutely no awareness and focus on sanitation, and waste that has piled up has not been cleared by the local panchayats,” says Sundaravalli, the District Collector. 

“We cannot pinpoint cross-migration as a cause. Mobility of cattle and people is high and many workers migrate to Tamil Nadu to work in construction sites. We have got cross notifications from Andhra, and high cases have been particularly reported from Nagari in AP. We have collaborated with Andhra. Kaverirajapuram has the most cases,” says Kolandaisamy, the Deputy Director for Public Health. All cases from Adiandhrawada and Kaverirajapuram are being directly referred to the Chennai General Hospital. 

Another problem, District Collector Sundravalli feels, are quacks. So far, 9 quacks have been arrested – 4 in Tiruttani, 2 in Ponneri and one in Tiruvallur. “These quacks are “allopathic” doctors with a 12th grade education. They tend to prescribe a large dosage of analgesics, which can prove fatal and cause internal bleeding. Painkillers like ibugesic, normally prescribed for fever, should be avoided because of the tendency of the dengue viruses to cause hemorrhages,” says a senior health official from the Medical and Rural Health Services. Further, the possibility of many pharmacies selling over the counter drugs without a prescription has also been considered, and the district drug control department is currently tackling the problem. 

“We have started a mass cleaning here in Tiruvallur to kill adult mosquitoes and clear garbage. Clean drinking water stalls have been set up. 14 vehicles from the health department have been performing awareness rounds across villages. We’ve shared WhatsApp numbers for people to inform us about fever or quacks in their area. We are focusing on anti-egg activity, by using anti-bleaching powder in sumps and tanks. A fever monitoring unit has been set up. We are likely to contain the situation by September 2nd,” says the District Collector.

More than three days after his arrest, SRM Group Chairman TR Pachamuthu and his son Sathyanarayanan told the Madras High Court that they would deposit Rs 69 crore in the court. This was conveyed to the High Court by Pachamuthu’s lawyer during the hearing of a cheating case filed against producer and Vendhar Movies Managing Partner, S Madhan and Pachamuthu.

Over 100 parents filed a complaint with the police alleging that they had paid around Rs 50 lakh each on the guarantee their wards would get an MBBS seat. 

Read: SRM Pachamuthu arrest: Edu barons exposed repeatedly, will it be different this time?

Parents, however, objected to Pachamuthu’s offer to deposit the cash in court and requested that the amount be paid directly to them.

The SRM Group Chairman’s counsel also claimed that someone had falsely used the name of the college to get money from aspiring students.

Pachamuthu’s lawyer has also filed a petition agreeing to pay the amount to the court.

This case has been adjourned to September 15.

Read: SRM Group chairman TR Pachamuthu arrested by Chennai police

Two medical college students from Chennai will have to pay a sum of Rs 2 lakh each for throwing a dog from the rooftop of a building. This came after the Madras High Court directed Dr MGR Medical University to decide on the quantum of penalty amount to be paid by each student.

On Tuesday, a disciplinary committee formed by the Dr MGR Medical University directed Gautam Sudarshan and Ashish Pal to pay Rs 2 lakh each to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

The fine set by the University is unprecedented. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the maximum fine is Rs 50 for cruelty to animals. Latest reports suggest that this sum could be hiked to a meagre Rs 100. 

The 34-second video, shot by Ashish Pal showed Gautam Sudarshan holding a dog and flinging it from the rooftop had gone viral in July, with activists and citizens outraged over the horrific act of animal cruelty. The dog was later found by activists Anthony Rubin and Shravan Krishnan and they named her Bhadra.  

The High Court's direction came on the basis of a writ petition filed by the two students challenging the university's decision to suspend them. While hearing the petition, the court directed the University to decide on course of action to be taken. The court will soon hear a case filed by by animal right activist Anthony Rubin. He had called for psychiatric evaluation of the two students and whether they were mentally sound enough to be capable of becoming doctors. Rubin has also asked the court to make the two accused do community work with any charitable association. The Chennai police filed the case under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act against both Gautam Sudarshan and Ashish Pal after Rubin had filed a complaint initially.

The Humane Society International/India offered a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who was willing to voluntarily provide valid information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person.

They were arrested on July 6.  After police received a tip off, the hunt began for the absconding suspects. They surrendered in Chennai and were produced before the Sriperumbadur Court but were later granted bail.

The dog was later found alive and rescued by animal rights activists.  

Since Monday, hundreds of Ola drivers have been protesting outside the Ola office at Ekkaduthangal in Chennai. When Ola was initially launched, drivers say they were asked to make at least three rides, but it was then made mandatory that they make 15. The drivers get Rs 6,000 as incentive for completing the 15-ride target.

Drivers often don’t know what customers’ complaints are and if they approach the office, they are not given an explanation. “Even if we call the helpline, they claim to not know the reason and tell us to call the Bengaluru headquarters,” complains Manikandan, an Ola driver for the past six months. For a driver, a complaint from a customer could cost a day’s work. We are demanding a conference call facility where we can directly talk to a customer,” he says. 

Ola drivers have been asked to be available to customers round-the-clock, but Manikandan says they cannot manage. “We are demanding a duty time of 10 hours instead of 24,” he says. Drivers also receive a penalty on personal complaints, which they now demand to be removed.

“It may show on the map that we are two minutes away, but the road might be a one-way and the U-turn could be 2-3 km away; or the traffic could delay us. Customers get annoyed and they complain. Our ride then gets cancelled and we have to report to the office immediately and won’t be allowed to work the rest of the day,” he says.

The prime demand of the drivers includes star rating based customer feedback system be delinked from their incentives and removed altogether, the Rs 100 cancellation payment for drivers if a booking is cancelled after the driver reaches the customer and toll rates to be charged from customers.

However, the crux of the demands revolves around increasing the fares for all categories of cabs from current levels, which drivers say are unrealistically low. "We do not want incentives either. The surge pricing issue makes customers give us low ratings, after which we do not get good incentives anyway," pointed out Manikandan. 

This is not the first time that the Ola Chennai office has seen drivers gather to demand resolution of issues. A few months ago, around 20 drivers along with their supporters took up delayed payments of transactions done on Ola money. 

On August 23, 2016, a woman and her second husband were allegedly beaten up by about 200 people living in their locality in Kanchipuram district, over allegations that the man had sexually abused his one-and-a-half-year-old step-daughter.

Sharada*, who worked as a domestic help, had been living with her family in the village until recently. About 10 days ago, she had shifted from Semmenchery along with her husband and daughters. On August 23, she dropped off both her daughters, aged four years and one-and-a-half-years, at a Balwadi centre in the morning. She went back around 11am to take her younger child to a hospital as she had injured her leg after falling from the cot the previous day.

When she came back home in the afternoon, she claimed, her husband had been locked up inside the house, which was surrounded by a crowd of about 200 people. She claimed that she and her husband were then beaten up by the crowd over allegations that her younger daughter had been sexually abused by her husband.

Sharada denied any sexual abuse and alleged that the crowd had been gathered by members of Childline present on the scene. "I was beaten up by the crowd trying to save my husband. They even came to tear my clothes. I and my husband got into an auto and somehow reached the (Pallikaranai police) station," said Sharada. 

P Manorama, Director of CHES, a collaborating partner of Childline Foundation India tells a different version of the story. “The Balwadi teacher with other five local women took the child to a Public Health Centre (PHC) where the doctor said that they have a suspicion of child sexual abuse as her legs, lips and private parts were swollen,” she said.

After this, the Balwadi teacher informed the Slum Clearance Board officer about the case. “Around 1pm, Childline members were called by the Slum Clearance Board Officer saying that a case of sexual abuse of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl had been reported by a Balwadi teacher. Around 4pm, five members reached the Balwadi. Already about 40 people had gathered at that place and were shouting at the husband, accusing the man of sexual abuse. Our members tried to stop them,” she said.

An FIR was registered under the POCSO Act at the Pallikaranai station. The FIR states that sexual abuse is suspected as parts of the victim’s body were swollen. Childline also produced a report on August 24 from the local PHC that expressed suspicion of a case of sexual abuse.

However, later in the evening of August 24, following a medical examination of the child, the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children denied incidence of sexual abuse.

Sherin, co-founder of the Nakshatra foundation, which is involved in the case on behalf of the family, has alleged that Childline failed to follow the proper procedure of reporting the case to the police, who would pursue the investigation. "They should be following the protocol instead of gathering a crowd and beating up the couple, they should have just handed over them to the police. How can the couple even go back to their house now?” According to The Hindu, the Kanchipuram Child Welfare Committee has given a clean chit to the couple. CWC Kanchipuram member Zaheruddin Mohemmed told the paper that Childline should have informed CWC.

Currently, the children have been returned to the care of their parents. While the Child Welfare Committee had asked for custody of both the children, Nakshatra foundation had claimed that no evidence had been presented of child sexual abuse, and so the children cannot be taken away from their parents. The family is currently staying with relatives as they are unable to return to their house in due to the hostility from others in the neighbourhood. 

*Name changed to protect privacy 

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in naming Madurai airport after Tamil freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar.

In a letter to the prime minister, he said it has been a long-standing demand of the people of Tamil Nadu to rename the airport and honour Thevar.

The Rajya Sabha MP said he had requested the Vajpayee government as well as the previous UPA regime to name the airport after the freedom fighter and that both the governments had accepted his proposal.

But, he said, renaming of the airport was not possible as concurrence of the state government was not received.

"Now, I urge you to have your office review the record and direct the renaming of the Madurai Airport as Muthuramalingam Thevar International Airport," Swamy said in his letter.

The Election Commission has censured the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for violating the provisions of the Model Code during the assembly polls, saying its manifesto gave no rationale to meet the financial requirement for fulfilling promises such as free distribution of washing machines.

"... The Commission...censures your party and also advises you and your party to be more circumspect and adhere to the provisions of Model Code of Conduct, particularly Para VIII of the Guidelines relating to Manifestos, in future," the EC order of August 23 addressed to party supremo J Jayalalithaa said.

Though the show cause was issued in May, the order came after three months.

In a separate order, the Commission also asked Opposition DMK to be "more circumspect" and adhere to the provisions of Model Code of Conduct, particularly those relating to manifestos.

On May 14, the poll watchdog had issued show cause notices to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and DMK President M Karunanidhi for violating model code, saying their election manifestos do not "substantially" fulfil its guidelines.

The Commission had said the two parties had not complied to its guidelines on manifestos. It had asked them to reflect the rationale for the promises made in their manifestos and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirement for the same.

EC said it went through the reply to AIADMK to the show cause notice and found it "unsatisfactory".

"... It has been observed that no rationale or/and detail on the ways and means to meet the financial requirement for fulfilling such promises has been given in the manifesto for certain promises, like, waiver of all farm loans due to co-operative banks, free distribution of washing machine, steam boiler, idli cooker for Adi-dravidar and tribal welfare hostels, gift coupons of Rs 500 for all ration card holders to purchase handloom textiles from co-optex at a cost of Rs 500 during Pongal festival...," the order said.

In its order on DMK, addressed to Karunanidhi, the poll body said that though the rationale and ways and means to meet the promises have now been given, the same should have been given while issuing the manifesto.

In its show cause notice to the two Tamil Nadu parties, the Commission had referred to the guidelines on election manifesto for political parties and candidates.

It had reminded the two parties of section 3, which says that "in the interest of transparency, level-playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that the manifesto also reflects the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirement for it.

"Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled."

Parties in Tamil Nadu are known to promise things such as colour TV, mixer grinder, ceiling fans and free rice in their election manifestos.

In yet another incident which served as a chilling reminder of the murder of Infosys employee Swathi in Chennai, a 19-year-old engineering student was bludgeoned to death by a former student of the college in her own classroom in Karur.

According to reports, Sonali, who was a third year civil engineering student at the Karur Engineering College on the Karur-Erode road, was with her friends in the classroom on Tuesday morning when 21-year-old Udhayakumar, a former student and known to be her friend, came to the classroom to meet her. They had a conversation before an argument broke out, and an angry Udhayakumar picked up a broken wooden log nearby and started beating her with it.

He also attacked a professor and some other students who came to Sonali’s rescue. 

Sonali was found in a pool of blood in her classroom, and was later rushed to the hospital where she died.

Udhayakumar has been arrested.

TOI reports, “For the past 10 days, Udhayakumar had been at his native place at Velloor near Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district.From there he tried to speak to Sonali, but could not.

Angered by her sudden change, he came to Karur and straightaway went to the college and confronted the girl.”

“Stable-government - sustained growth” - thus begins TN government’s full page advertisement for 100-days of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in her second consecutive term, on the front-page of all leading dailies in Tamil Nadu. Less than three months after AIADMK’s euphoric victory retaining its leadership, TN woke up advertisements with long list of “achievements” of the present government on Wednesday morning.

From reducing TASMAC shops to providing free electricity of 200-750 units to handloom and powerloom weavers, the advertisement has not left out any perceived achievement by the government.

It states that about 1.91 crore people have benefitted under the scheme of provision of 100 units of free electricity to all households and also about the additional subsidy of Rs 1, 607 crore per annum to TANGEDCO. It also mentions other schemes like providing marriage assistance for girls, providing 4 to 8 grams of gold.

Also mentioned are waiving off of medium and long term loans of farmers, extension of Chennai Metro Rail Phase I from Washermenpet to Thiruvottiyur and free bus passes to 31.12 lakh school and college students.

It also talks about Tamil Nadu Police Mobile App for citizens to avail online services and also allocating of about Rs 890 crores for providing laptops to students.

The Jayalalithaa government is known to spend on massive advertising at important milestones of its government, from 100 days to the pre-election season. The advertising stint for this term has just about begun. 

Image: Screengrab from The New Indian Express

In the silent corridors of power in Tamil Nadu, some decisions are made through whispers. Controversies could often be buried through stealth, keeping the media and people guessing on what really happened. The recent suspension of two top bureaucrats in Tamil Nadu stands testimony to the TN government’s ways.

On Monday, journalists in Tamil Nadu received information that a senior IAS officer, who is also a former Chief Secretary of the state government, had been suspended from service. There was no official confirmation, but several sources in the government confirmed K Gnanadesikan had been asked to not report to work.

He wasn’t alone. It later emerged that the Commissioner of Geology and Mining Atul Anand, three officials belonging to the Geology and Mines department and three executive engineers in the pollution control department too were suspended. 

The suspensions were made without the government announcing any kind of enquiry against the officers, that too in spite of one of them having been the Chief Secretary of the state for one and half years. The orders were never made public or released to the media.

Julie Mariappan of TOI has since reported that the TN IAS Officers’ Association has convened its general body meeting on September 1, and it is being speculated that the recent suspensions will be discussed at the meeting.

Meanwhile, speculations over the reasons for suspension are aplenty.

The suspension of mining and pollution department officials points to possible discrepancies in the mineral and sand mining sector. While some reports say that Gnanadesikan was in the line of fire after a central report pointed out discrepancies in mineral mining in the state, other reports say he was in trouble for certain permissions given for sand mining.

The third theory is that Gnanadesikan had to take the fall for the huge debts incurred by TANGEDCO, an agency he had headed for years. Several allegations have been made against him and former power minister Natham Vishwanathan for taking controversial decisions in allotting power contracts and tenders.

“TANGEDCO has debts running into thousands of crores, but that is not recent. Why was Gnanadesikan then appointed CS in spite of these losses? Why is he being suspended now? This makes no sense and the government is not instilling confidence in bureaucrats,” a former top bureaucrat from the state told TNM.

The suspension of senior officers is not the IAS Officers’ Association’s only bone of contention. “Many senior postings have been delayed, there are also frequent transfers. We will take this all up,” a member of the association said.

But will the association have the pluck to pass a resolution against the government or even make adverse remarks? Unlikely, says an IAS officer. “This in Tamil Nadu,” he chuckled adding that there are dim chances of the association taking any such steps. 

In an incident eerily similar to the Swathi murder case in Chennai, a 24-year-old teacher in Thoothukudi was allegedly hacked to death in a church by a man for rejecting his advances.

On Wednesday morning around 9am, Kegan, (27), working as a labourer, came into the St. Peter’s church and hacked Franscina to death. She was rushed to the Thoothukudi government hospital but died at 10:50am, said the police.

Following the alleged murder, Kegan committed suicide by hanging himself to death. The Thoothukudi police told The News Minute that he was in love with the school teacher but she rejected him. Francina was expected to get married on September 8 to another man working in Qatar.

An FIR has been registered against the accused on Wednesday.   

Image: St. Peter's Church, Thoothukudi

Actor-Producer Arun Vijay, who was charged for drunken driving when he crashed his car into a police vehicle stalled outside the Nungambakkam police station early on Saturday morning, surrendered to the police on Tuesday.

According to reports, after the accident occurred, Arun Vijay left with his father and veteran actor Vijaykumar, promising to turn up for an inquiry by the traffic police, but failed to do so. Amidst reports on Tuesday that the actor had absconded, he surrendered at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic (South). He was produced before the Magistrate Court, and was later let off on bail.

Meanwhile, the actor released the image of a handwritten note on social media, in which he stated that he would never abscond from the law, and had not been in town “for reasons related to work and due to my mental agony”. He asserted, “As a law abiding citizen, I shall face the charges against me.” 

The actor also said he couldn’t understand why the issue “got blown out of proportion without getting the facts straight and not knowing the real picture.”

Arun Vijay rose to fame when he co-starred with Thala Ajith Kumar in “Yennai Arindhaal”. He is currently awaiting the release of his maiden production venture “Kuttram 23”, in which he plays a policeman.

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On Sunday, an ecstatic 19-year-old Sonali informed her family living in Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu that she had scored 80% marks in her semester exams. The third-year civil engineering student at the Karur Engineering College and her family celebrated without an inkling of the agony that lay ahead.

At 9:30am on Tuesday Sonali was attending her classes in college. A young man walked into class and started having a loud argument with her. Suddenly, he took a wooden block and started bludgeoning her. When Sonali’s shocked professor tried to restrain him, Udayakumar hit him too.

Udayakumar was a former student of the college, but was dismissed last semester for having low attendance.

On Tuesday morning, he entered the college premises claiming to take re-admission in the final year but went straight to Sonali’s classroom.

Sonali was immediately taken to Apollo Hospital in Karur and later shifted to Apollo Hospital in Madurai. But her injuries were too grave and the blood loss severe, Sonali died around 3pm at the hospital.

Udhayakumar was arrested near Mariammankoil in Karur within three hours of the incident, said the police. Inspector of Special Branch, Francis, told The News Minute, “The investigation is in the process. Udhayakumar claimed that he and Sonali were in a relationship for the last one-and-half-years, but Sonali had begun to ignore him for the past one month which led him to murder her,” he said.

But according to many in the college who have spoken to the media, it was just a one-sided affair. Though Sonali knew the student, she had stopped interacting with him after his suspension, say some reports.

Sonali is an only child. Her father had also passed away. Sonali’s uncle Rajesh told The News Minute, “She knew Udayakumar as he was studying in the same college. He was dismissed from the college last semester.” Udhayakumar hails from Velloor near Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district. 

She had never complained about him to her family, said her uncle. “We do not know why he killed her. We have been trying to contact the college to ask about the incident. But they are not responding. They just admitted her to the Apollo Hospital in Karur and left. We have been calling the director, but got no response,” said Rajesh.

The post-mortem was conducted on Wednesday. The family is waiting to speak to the college authorities and know more about the incident. “We will wait till they come and tell us about the incident,” said Rajesh.

Sonali’s case is eerily similar to that of Swathi who was hacked to death at the Nungambakkom railway station in July.