1. EPS-OPS Win Battle for AIADMK's Two Leaves Symbol
In a massive victory for the ruling faction of the AIADMK party, the Election Commission on Thursday announced that the party’s two leave symbol would be assigned to the merged EPS-OPS camp. This decision comes eight months after the EC froze the symbol.
It also comes after EC heard arguments from the two factions of the AIADMK – one led by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and his Deputy O Panneerselvam, and the other led by ousted leader VK Sasikala. After EC’s announcement, Chief Minister E Palaniswami expressed his happiness, thanking the party workers for their support. EPS also denied allegations that they were awarded the symbol wing due to their proximity to the BJP.
Read the full story here.
Also Read: ‘Two Leaves’ Symbol: Don’t Write Dhinakaran’s Obituary Just Yet
2. Sathyabama Univ Student Blames Strict Rules for Girl’s Suicide
A day after violence broke out on the campus of Sathyabama University outside Chennai following a student's suicide, the girl’s senior spoke about how they are fed up with the university’s strict rules that is adding to their woes. A first-year student from Andhra Pradesh had allegedly committed suicide by hanging in her hostel room inside the campus.
Elaborating on the way the events unfolded, a senior in the Computer Science department, said, 'The girl was caught copying and the teacher told her that she will have to repeat the paper. Upset, she went to her hostel room, sent a video of herself to her twin brother saying she is going to commit suicide. ' What caused fury amongst the students was that the brother alleged that even when he went to the hostel to enquire, he was questioned by the hostel authorities instead of acting immediately.
Read the full story here.
Also Read: I Love You, I’ll Miss You: Sathyabama Victim in Last Msg to Twin
3. RK Nagar By-election Date May Be Announced on Friday
The Chennai District Election Office is gearing for the by-election to the Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency. The Election Commission is expected to announce the date of the by-election on Friday. The Assembly constituency fell vacant following the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on 5 December.
As the Model Code of Conduct is expected to come into force by afternoon, several government events organised for the distribution of welfare measures have been advanced, with officials planning to conduct them before noon on Friday. After the Model Code of Conduct comes into force, the Chennai Corporation officials will not commence any civic infrastructure work. On Thursday, District Election Office officials scrambled to ensure all processes relating to the conduct of by-elections to the RK Nagar Assembly constituency are in place.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. IIT-M Placed 264th in World Ranking
The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 that was released on Thursday has placed the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras at the 264th rank among world universities. Known for its electrical engineering programme, it is placed among the 51-100 rank band for the subject and 18th in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) ranking.
Anna University is placed 85th among BRICS countries. Reputed for its chemical engineering programme, the university is ranked in the 201-250 band among the BRICS countries. Among world universities, it is placed in the 651 to 700 rank band for citation per faculty of research papers. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is ranked 105th and the Madras University is placed in the 171-180 band among BRICS countries.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Demonetisation Resulted in 56 Lakh People Becoming IT Payees: Venkaiah Naidu
The demonetisation exercise undertaken by the government in 2016 has resulted in 56 lakh people joining the ranks of Income Tax payees, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said. "After this demonetisation, 56 lakh people have joined the Income Tax paying people. There will be further addition and once the tax net is widened, tax rate will come down," he said, speaking as chief guest at the 160th anniversary celebrations of Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Vice President said the bank's' interest would also come down once the money comes to the banks. He said the purpose of demonetisation was to bring the unaccounted money in banks. Money lying in various places "has come to banks with an address", he said.
(Source: Moneycontrol)
Also Read: The Black and White of Demonetisation on Its First Anniversary
6. Two River-Linking Projects Likely for State: Gadkari
Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that his Ministry was exploring two river-linking projects that would solve Tamil Nadu’s water scarcity. The Minister said that he had asked a team of technical experts to look at the proposal. He said that the team’s report was due in a month, after which he will convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana to seek approvals. The Central government will fund 90% of the project.
Gadkari — who also handles the Road Transport, Highways and Shipping and River Development portfolios — made the announcement after a review meeting of the projects being implemented in the State Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami led the State government team and later addressed a joint conference with Gadkari at the Crowne Plaza, Chennai Adyar Park. The Chief Minister welcomed the proposal. “I believe that this project will end our farmers’ struggle to find water. We thank the Minister for conceptualising this project,” Palaniswami said.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Channel to Divert Surplus from Chembarambakkam Lake
A portion of surplus water from Chembarambakkam lake could now be stored in abandoned quarries at Sikkarayapuram. The Water Resources Department has created a link channel to transport water to the quarries, to be used to augment city’s water supply. Chembarambakkam lake now has a storage of 1,396 million cubic feet (mcft) against its capacity of 3,645 mcft, and the sluice gates have not been opened. However, the new channel, which branches out of Thanthikal channel near Sikkarayapuram, already carries rainwater tapped from the catchment areas enroute.
It may be recalled that water from 22 abandoned quarries was used to tide over water crisis in the city. Storage in some of these quarries have been replenished during the recent spell. Officials of the WRD said two irrigation channels — Thanthikal channel and Manapakkam channel — carry surplus water from the Chembarambakkam lake whenever the sluice gates are opened. The Thanthikal channel, which travels for 2.5 km, transports water to Porur lake.
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read: Will Chennai’s Rain-Induced Woes Ever End?
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