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1. Probe Panel on Jaya’s Death Yet to Get Off the Ground
A month after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced that a Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired High Court judge would be set up to conduct a probe into the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, his government is yet to constitute the probe panel. His announcement had paved the way for the merger of the AIADMK (PTA) headed by O Panneerselvam with the AIADMK (Amma).
Since the merger, Panneerselvam, now Deputy Chief Minister, and his supporters, who had raised the demand for ordering a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death, have not made any public statement over the issue.
Source: The Hindu
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2. Train Heist: Special Teams Following New Leads
Over a year after the daring heist on-board the Salem-Chennai Express train, the CB-CID has uncovered that the compartment had originally departed from Kochi and not Salem as it was believed.
A senior police official of CB-CID said special teams had been constituted and were working hard to crack the case following the new lead. They also believe that the drilling of the hole on the roof did not happen, as it was originally thought, between Salem and Vriddhachalam, a distance of 138 km that is not electrified. But it could have happened from the original destination – Kochi.
Source: The Hindu
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3. ‘Idea of Simultaneous Elections Ridiculous’
Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai’s support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal for conducting simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and the Assembly has evoked strong condemnation from veteran politician and AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP SR Balasubramoniyan, who described it as a ridiculous idea.
“Mr Modi has proposed the idea to divert the criticism against him and his government’s failure on various fronts. Why should State governments sacrifice their full-term for his political game? In the case of Tamil Nadu, it has to lose two years in office if it agrees to face elections in 2019. Moreover, a snap poll will prevent a State government from finishing the development and welfare projects it had promised,” Balasubramoniyan said.
Source: The Hindu
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4. ‘Animal Welfare Can be Taught in Novel Ways’
Though a number of schools over the last few years have prescribed workbooks on environmental studies, held tree planting drives and hosted workshops and seminars on conservation of flora, nothing much has been done about animal welfare. However, the situation may soon change, thanks to the Madras High Court directive.
Hearing a public interest litigation petition, the Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu Curriculum Framework committee to consider including animal welfare as a part of the curriculum.
Source: The Hindu
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5. Man Gets Double Life Term in a Case of Twin Murders
The Madras High Court has acquitted one of the two death row convicts in a double murder case and ordered the other to undergo double life imprisonment for killing an 11-year-old girl after murdering her father in Tirupur in October 2015 because he reportedly failed to repay a loan of Rs 52,000.
A Division Bench of Justices PN Prakash and CV Karthikeyan set aside the conviction as well as the death sentence imposed on V Rangaraj (41), the fifth accused in the case, by a Mahila Court on the grounds that the prosecution had not marshalled sufficient material evidence to prove his involvement in the crime.
Source: The Hindu
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6. M-Sand Makers Asked to Apply for Product Approval
The Public Works Department has instructed manufacturers of M-sand to apply for approval from the PWD Assessment Committee to qualify for use in government projects.
In a circular, the PWD chief engineer has instructed officials to interact with the manufacturers for M-Sand for product approval. The applications should be submitted along with details of registration/licence and the facilities available including the machinery.
Source: The Hindu
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7. Mental Disability Not an Impediment to Success
Seventeen years ago, eight-year-old Sriram Srinivas with cerebral palsy and mental retardation attempted to learn walking, swimming and cycling.
Later, he went on to bag 13 medals in various championships.
His mother Vanitha Rajasekharan says, “We didn't expect any of this. All that I wanted was to see my child walk and get better. When someone said swimming and cycling could do him some good, we got him to learn it. He doesn't know what these accomplishments are but when people clap, he gets extremely happy and our day is made."
Source: The Hindu
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