1. Minister’s Tip Helps Rescue Teen from Blue Whale Trap
Based on an alert from SS Ahluwalia, Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the Chennai Central Railway Protection Force (RPF) rescued a 17-year-old boy who had come to the city to end his life as part of a Blue Whale game task.
RPF Inspector V Mohan said he received a call from the minister’s personal assistant around 10:30 am on Saturday and the picture of the boy was sent to him. Subsequently, the minister explained that the boy had left his house in Siliguri, West Bengal, for ending his life in Chennai, the last task of the game.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Over 600 Medical Teams to Help Rain Victims, Says Palaniswamy
Tamil Nadu government has pressed into service 601 medical teams to cater to people in rain-affected areas in different parts of the state, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Sunday.
Already, 401 medical camps were in place in affected parts of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Nagapattinam district among others, he said, after flagging off an additional 200 medical teams, taking the number to 601. These medical camps will be useful to prevent spread of diseases that come up during the monsoon time, he said, and urged people to immediately visit the nearest medical camps if they had any symptoms of illness.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Another Low Pressure Brewing: Met Dept
Even as the Meteorological Department on Sunday said that rain over the state and Puducherry will reduce over the next few days, it is also closely watching a low-pressure area over South China Sea that is likely to emerge into the Andaman Sea by Tuesday morning.
This system could strengthen the northeast monsoon flows in the Bay of Bengal. “We are watching it and we will let you know about it when it does emerge. It is too early to comment on it,” said SB Thampi, Deputy Director General, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Tangedco Removing Road Across Kosasthalaiyar
A couple of days after the regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change held that a road constructed across the Kosasthalaiyar in Ennore by Tangedco was illegal, work on demolishing it began on Sunday.
Tiruvallur Collector E Sundaravalli visited the spot with officials on Sunday morning. “By then, Tangedco had started the road clearing work,” she said.
The Collector said work on 350 metres of the road had started by evening.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Idol Wing CID Team Cracks 22-Year-Old Case
An Idol Wing-CID team attached to the Economic Offence Wing has cracked a 22-year-old ‘antique’ idols theft case with the arrest of three persons with links to the international idol smuggler Subash Kapoor.
The accused – R Nachu alias Lakshmi Narashiman, 53, of Mahalingapuram in Kancheepuram district, and R Omaidurai, 68, and his brother Annadurai, 59, of Mylapore, Chennai, who were arrested in Tiruchi on Sunday – had stolen two idols of Dwara Balagar from Munreswaramudaiyar temple, believed to be 1,600 years old, at Athalanallur village near Veeravanallur in Tirunelveli district in 1994, and allegedly sold them to Kapoor, who, in turn, channelled the antique idols to the art gallery at Canberra in Australia for Rs 4.98 crore.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Fishermen Net Pre-Monsoon Bonanza
It was a special catch for the fishermen of Kovalam. Though they go out to the sea every day and sell their catch on returning, this time, they were selling sea bass (koduva) they had reared in cylindrical cages that had been kept in the open sea.
“In each cage, around 800 fingerlings were given to us, and each kg fetched around Rs 300,” said K Murugan, one of the 120 fishermen involved in the project. The Fisheries Department provided cages, nets and feed free of cost with funding from the World Bank.
A total of Rs 2.20 crore has been allocated for the scheme by the Bank for which as many as 800 youngsters in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram have registered for training, officials said.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Ephedrine Seized at Chennai Central Station
In a joint operation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Chennai Central Railway Protection Force (RPF) seized 50 kg of ephedrine that is worth over Rs 3 crore. The contraband was hidden in a bag of wheat flour.
According to the police, having received information that a few people were attempting to smuggle ephedrine, NCB sleuths approached the RPF.
In the wheat flour bag, the sleuths found bags containing white powder.
“Upon checking, we found the concealed substance was ephedrine, which is used to manufacture methamphetamine, a widely abused party drug,” said an officer.
(Source: The Hindu)
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