QChennai: Cyclone To Hit TN by 29 Apr; Nadigar Sangam to Form ICC

Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said a cyclone storm was likely to be heading toward Tamil Nadu by 29 April. Representative image only.

(Photo: IANS)

1. Cyclone on Course, Heavy Rains Predicted in Chennai by 29 April

It is very likely to move northwestwards toward the Tamil Nadu coast along and off east coast of Sri Lanka and is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 48 hours (Photo: The Quint)

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said a trough of low pressure had formed and so, a cyclone storm was likely to be heading toward Tamil Nadu by 29 April. “A trough of low at mean sea level lies over the Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal with a cyclonic circulation aloft extending upto 3.1 km above mean sea level.

Under its influence, a low-pressure area is very likely to develop over the Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining central parts of the South Bay of Bengal to the southeast of Sri Lanka by Thursday. It is very likely to intensify into a depression during the subsequent 36 hours,” the IMD said.

(Source: The New Indian Express)

2. Months After #MeToo Allegations Hit Tamil Film Industry, Nadigar Sangam to Form ICC

The ICC constituted will be the official internal complaints committee. It will take care of the welfare and protection of women.(Photo: iStock)

The South Indian Artistes’Association (SIAA) or Nadigar Sangam has set the ball rolling for the formation of an internal complaints committee (ICC) to handle complaints of sexual harassment from its members. A group of actors from the association met on Tuesday to hold a preliminary discussion regarding the same.

As of now, the committee includes actors Karthi, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Rohini, Kitty alias Raja Krishnamoorthy, Poochi Murugan, Lalitha Kumari and Krishna Raveendran. In a short press release, the association had said,  “A special committee has been set up by #NadigarSangam to safeguard and protect the self-respect, public life evaluation and self-esteem of artistes.”

(Source: The News Minute)

3. ED Attaches Rs 40 Crores Assets of Alagiri's Son

The ED attached the properties, including lands, buildings and fixed deposits of Olympus Granites Pvt Ltd and others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the illegal granite mining case. (Photo: Twitter/@dir_ed)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached 25 movable and immovable properties worth Rs 40.34 crore of a firm owned by former Union Minister and DMK leader MK Alagiri's son Alagiri Dhayanidhi in the multi-crore illegal granite quarrying scam in Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu Police had also charged Dayanidhi and S Nagarajan, partners in Olympus Granites, with encroachment of government land and taking away large quantity of granite illegally without quarrying in the permitted area.

Read the full story here.

4. ‘Don't Link Us to Easter Bombings’: Tamil Nadu Thowheeth Jamath

Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the NTJ, with help from an international agency, was behind the suicide bombings that primarily targeted churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.(Photo: AP)

A day after the Sri Lankan government named a local radical group National Thowheeth Jamath(NTJ) as those behind the deadly bombings that claimed over 300 lives in the island nation, a group with a similar-sounding name in Tamil Nadu has requested that it not be linked to the terror suspects.

Many media houses, which covered the Minister’s statement also mentioned the Tamil Nadu Thowheeth Jamath(TNTJ) in their reportage, with some calling it a ‘counterpart’. Addressing the press in Chennai on Tuesday, TNTJ Deputy General Secretary Abdul Rahman requested media houses not to link the two groups.

(Source: The News Minute)

5. For Phase II, Chennai Metro Will Need Less Private Land

Chennai Metro will need 1,309 properties, of which 104 are residential and the remaining 937 are commercial.(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

To ensure fewer residents are affected, a major part of Chennai Metro’s phase II project will be built on government land. According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the whole project, estimated to cost Rs 69,180 crore and spanning 119 km, across 128 stations, will need 120.98 hectares of land.

Of this, Chennai Metro will require 27.19 hectares of private land and the remaining 93.79 hectares will be government land. “This time, we made a conscious decision to primarily use government land and ensure that a minimum number of people are affected,” said an official.

(Source: The Hindu)