'The BJP has become a reasonably larger force in Tamil Nadu in the last two years.'
The year has come to an end and we are looking forward to 2020. While we think back of the events that shaped the year, we couldn't help but think of these awards for these personalities.
In his first poll rally for the April 6 assembly polls, Modi rooted for the Tamil language, culture and invoked the welfare legacies of M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, late chief ministers and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam icons.
The AIADMK leader, however, told cops he believed that the arrested middleman -- Sukesh Chandrasekhar -- was a high court judge.
Tightening restrictions further in select urban areas to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Friday announced a complete shutdown beginning Sunday in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai for four days, disallowing grocery shops as well and fully curtailing the movement of public. Also, Salem and Tirupur in western Tamil Nadu will be shut similarly, albeit for three days from April 26, and Palaniswami assured people that vegetables and fruits shall reach their doorsteps via mobile outlets.
'A person who came to take care of Jayalalithaa's personal needs slowly took control of her political life.'
Asserting that there was no split in the party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader from Sasikala camp M Thambidurai on Thursday requested the Election Commission "not to entertain" the dissenting cadres, who have staked claim to AIADMK symbol and sought fresh election to the general secretary's post.
The temple, situated in scenic landscape on 100 acres of land, has been made with 1.5 tonne of pure gold
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham on Monday named two party nominees for the Rajya Sabha election and announced that the third seat was being allotted to ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The sidelined leader's victory is being seen as a worrying development both for AIADMK and principal opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which finished third behind the ruling party.
"It has been learnt that Sukesh had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore for helping the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. Police have recovered Rs 1.30 crore from Sukesh and two cars -- a BMW and a Mercedes -- have also been seized," said a senior police officer.
The 12-MPs delegation, led by Rajya Sabha member V Maitreyan, submitted a memorandum in this regard to the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In their memorandum, they sought steps for instituting a probe which can be a judicial inquiry or a CBI probe. It can be decided by the President, Maitreyan said after meeting Mukherjee.
Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com meets the parents of Major Mukund Varadarajan, who was killed during an operation against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on April 25.
Mallikarjuna, a long time friend of Dinakaran who was also arrested, has also been remanded to police custody for five days.
Good intentions and elaborate roadmaps apart, there is an urgent need for the Tamil Nadu chief minister to come up with branded schemes like MGR's meal scheme, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Madras high court on Wednesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to reconsider its decision to convert late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence in Chennai into a memorial and declared her niece and nephew as the legal heirs of her property worth several crores. A division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose also suggested that Veda Nilayam, located in the upmarket Poes Garden area, be converted into the official residence of the chief minister of the state, while a portion of the property can be a memorial if needed.
The court said there was no infirmity in the poll panel's decision to allot the AIADMK name and two leaves symbol to the faction headed by Palaniswami.
The DMK's campaign appeared to be the most visible with propaganda at a feverish pace across the segment for the April 6 assembly polls and Stalin is the party's chief minister candidate.
Bypolls are due in the 20 constituencies, which have fallen vacant following the Madras high court last month upholding the disqualification of the 18 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs who back Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran and in view of demise of two sitting members, including DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi.
From helping their employees infected with the Covid-19 virus to vaccinating them or supporting the families of those who might have succumbed to the infection, several companies in India are trying to do their bit in this difficult time. Some have even widened their support net to include all stakeholders as well as an extended community. To the families of the employees it lost to Covid-19, Noida-headquartered IT services and consulting company HCL Technologies is, for instance, paying salary for a year, medical insurance for three years and extending support for their children's education for five years.
'They wanted a character, who could speak both Tamil and Hindi. That's how I got on board.'
The big question is: Will her release be a threat to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami? The answer is, while it may give him moments of nervousness, he will not be replaced, say political experts. T E Narasimhan reports.
Madhusudhanan, the party's presidium chairman, was the AIADMK's "unanimous" choice.
'I don't understand what is so wrong about my husband and me wanting to adopt a kid? Unfortunately, we don't know many (rather any) examples of couples who endorse our choice of adoption. 'I have realised that we have a huge battle to fight. In the end, I hope we don't lose,' says Divya Nair.
A new political crisis is brewing in the VK Sasikala camp in Tamil Nadu -- differences between Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and party general secretary Sasikala.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and various other top leaders have condoled Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise and paid glowing tributes to her.
Love, memorable, throwback pix to celebrate Mother's Day.
Ahead of Raksha Bandhan, Divya Nair tells us why it was difficult to find a place for her younger brother in her heart.
'The alliance led by the DMK is starting with 15% votes while the AIADMK is starting from scratch.' 'Minority votes may be crucial'
Here is our list of impressive debuts in Malayalam last year.
Bindu Sampath from Thiruvananthapuram is the voice of all those mothers who have lost their children to ISIS. Her habeas corpus petition for her daughter Nimisha, who got married and converted to Islam, was turned down. Now the NIA has found daughter and family to be with ISIS in Afghanistan, but Bindu has not given up hope to bring her back to India.
Urvashi Sharma talks about her acting comeback.
The chief minister said non-biodegradable plastic products, mainly polythene covers affect the environment, impeding water flow.
'It is not a merger. It is a commercial agreement reached for self-interest,' he said.
On October 18, the tax department had said searches had led to detection of undisclosed income of more than Rs 500 crore in addition to Rs 93 crore worth seizures, including gold jewellery and diamonds. A revised appraisal of such seizures now pegs its value at Rs 106 crore which includes cash (Rs 45 crore), gold jewellery and diamonds (Rs 41 crore) and foreign currency Rs 20 crore.
A lowdown on all the goings-on in the Malayalam film industry.
'If they really wanted to give him competition, the AIADMK should have contested the seat, not its ally the PMK.'
Don't be in a relationship for the sake of your children, Gokul Sreedhar wrote in a post celebrating his mother's second marriage.
From mending our broken toys and hearts to surprising us with their unconditional love, fathers are an unforgettable part of who we turn out to be.
The best part of this recipe is it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.
