It is increasingly clear that for the BJP to try and establish itself as an electoral force in Tamil Nadu, the party has to come out of the old Brahminical mould, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The CBI has dispatched a special team to conduct the probe in which several Tamil Nadu Police personnel are under the scanner and some have already been arrested by the state police, they said.
A time has thus come when state encouragement for rural students led to empowerment of the socio-economically marginalised sections of the population. It included women. Today, with greater exposure and consequent enlightenment, it has gone beyond 'empowerment' to become 'entitlement', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
She visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at a hospital in Chennai, on all five days of her parole period.
Tamil Nadu's unending legislative fight for exemption from NEET has now flagged the question if it's time to review the Supreme Court's famous verdict in the 'Mandal case', fixing 50-per cent upper-limit for all reservations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The court dismissed the plea filed by P Vetrivel, MLA, a supporter of sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran, and imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on him for "wasting the time of the court".
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu had begun seeing Governor Ravi's decisions and actions as a part of the state BJP's non-stop criticism of its government and directed from Delhi, a view strengthened by the governor's decision to return the NEET exemption bill, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The protesting fishermen have refused to accept the body of the fisherman unless a central minister visits the island and gives them an assurance that such incidents would not happen again, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President S Emiret said.
As of now, 1,77,500 people have been housed in over 351 camps, the chief minister said, adding food, and medical amenities were being provided to them by the government.
This is part of the nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 5,027 crore, including Hero Group-backed Ather Energy's over Rs 600 crore investment, to establish a manufacturing facility for e-vehicles.
The governor enquired "about the general administration of the affairs of the government," a Raj Bhavan release said.
'We have done nothing wrong and I don't understand why they are sending a notice'
AIADMK had decided to 'de-link' V K Sasikala and Dinakaran from the party.
Here is the glimpse of the political turn of events in the state
Will acting LG Soundararajan invite N Rangaswamy to form a government or recommend President's rule, so close to the assembly election, asks 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.
In the midst of huge job losses as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has signed 17 MoUs for an investment of Rs 15,100 crores that aim to provide 47,100 jobs. But a clearer picture on where the projects stand will emerge only after the Covid-19 induced fear psychosis ends, to see if popular protests will derail them like they have done so many others, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Now that an elected chief minister is at the helm, it is high time the Centre initiate discussions to appoint a full-time governor at the earliest, given that the state is set to face some challenging times, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the presidential elections over, the time has come for Prime Minister Modi to show Tamil Nadu that the state's interests are safe under him, says R Rajagopalan.
The memorial has been built at a cost of Rs 15 crore on land alloted by the Tamil Nadu government at Kalam's village Peikarambu.
It will be the year of preparation for the electoral test in Uttar Pradesh, due in 2022. But before that, the West Bengal Assembly election will set the mood for the rest of 2021.
Back of the envelope calculations put government expense on each of the new schemes promised by the DMK and the AIADMK at tens of thousands of crores. But then, neither party has said how they are going to also address the mounting debt burden either, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision, hailing it as a 'grand victory for the 'Amma (Jayalalithaa) government' and the state's farmers'.
The farmer said he was impressed and had benefitted by welfare schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
Jeyanandh Dhivakaran, son of Sasikala's brother, V Dhivaharan, is making headlines in Tamil Nadu politics, reports Gireesh Babu.
V K Sasikala, late J Jayalalithaa's confidante would return to Tamil Nadu on February 7 from Bengaluru and a grand welcome from party cadres awaited her right from the state's border, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary T T V Dinakaran said in Madurai on Wednesday.
Modi said search operations to trace the missing fishermen in Kerala and Tamil Nadu would continue and expressed hope that all of them would come back home before Christmas.
The judiciary has often shied away from contesting the speaker's right or that of the legislature, but it has not always avoided taking a close look at the processes employed and arrive at conclusions that are binding on all concerned, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The party unanimously elected veteran Duraimurugan as general secretary and senior leader T R Baalu as treasurer. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and seasoned party leader K Ponmudi were elected as deputy general secretaries.
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.
The very timing of the Phalke Award on Rajini now, days ahead of Tamil Nadu voting in the assembly election, may have taken away the seriousness and credibility attaching to the Centre's decision, making it sound every bit political, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kovind requested Modi to advise him about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers; and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan
It is thanks to these internal differences that the much-awaited merger between the two factions has not made any headway so far, reports R Rajagopalan.
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.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar journeys through villages and towns, districts and cities for a reality check.
An inquiry commission, set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death, will look into the circumstances leading to her hospitalisation last year and subsequent treatment, the government has said.
The 62-year old MLA, born on June 10, 1958 incidentally died on his 62nd birthday today and he is the first legislator victim of COVID-19 in the state and perhaps the first elected representative to die of the virus induced illness in the country. Anbazhagan battled severe COVID-19 triggered pneumonia and his health condition rapidly deteriorated early morning on Wednesday, Dr Rela Institute and Medical Centre, where he was treated said in a statement.
Dinakaran recalled the difficulties faced by party workers in carrying forward their organisational work without a name.
There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assemble constituencies, a more than 200 percent increase, in view of the COVID guidelines, according to the Election Commission which had drawn flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic.
"A stand was taken to seek his (Dhanapal's) removal based on the circumstances at that point of time. The party, however, now feels that the motion was not warranted," Stalin said on the opening day of the assembly session in Chennai.
