1. Expelled AIADMK Chief VK Sasikala's Husband M Natarajan Passes Away
Jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala's husband M Natarajan passed away at a hospital in Chennai at around 1:35 am as a result of a severe chest infection.
According to the reports from Puthiya Thalaimurai, Natarajan's body has been taken to Sri Ramachandra Medical hospital for embalming.
The 76-year-old was admitted to the intensive care unit, Gleneagles Global hospital on March 16 with severe chest infection and was on put on ventilator support.
In October last year, Natarajan was admitted to the hospital, where he underwent a liver and kidney transplant.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
2. Kurangani Trekkers Chose Unapproved Route: Palaniswami
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday said two trekking teams to Kurangani took an unapproved route and the forest fire spread quickly due to the presence of lemongrass having oil content. While the first team of 12 people from Erode and Tirupur took an entry pass only for 10 March, they stayed in the forest without permission the next day also. The second team from Chennai entered without any permission.
Replying to the issue in the Assembly during zero hour, the CM said of the 36 trekkers, 17 died of injuries. The bereaved families were granted a solatium of Rs 4 lakh each. The injured were also given financial assistance. A committee headed by senior IAS officer Atulya Misra, appointed to inquire into the tragedy, would submit report in two months.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Doctors in Hurry to Catch Flight Render Cadaver Heart Useless
In a startling incident in the state that ranks number one in the country in organ donation, the heart of a 17-year-old boy was wasted during cadaver harvest process at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here on Sunday. The reason? The doctors of a hospital in Chennai, who retrieved the lungs, apparently had to catch their return flight and were not in a position to wait for an official nod for another private hospital to retrieve the heart.
On Sunday, the organs of B Gopinath (17), a resident of Karur and a class XII student who was declared brain dead, were harvested at GRH. Son of Balakrishnan, a painter, Gopinath suffered severe head injuries in a road accident that happened on Friday. The accident happened at a time when his board examination is scheduled to be held the next day. He was admitted to GRH for the same night.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. Wait Until 29 March: Panneerselvam on Cauvery Issue
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday said there is still time for the Central government to set up the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) as per the Supreme Court orders.
Speaking in the assembly, Panneerselvam said: "We will wait till the end of this month, then take the next course of action".
He said the state has to wait for the six weeks deadline given by the Supreme Court to get over.
Earlier DMK leader MK Stalin said the ruling AIADMK should support the no-trust motion to be moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) against the Central government.
Panneerselvam said the Cauvery issue against Karnataka should not be compared with the Andhra Pradesh situation.
(Source: IANS)
5. Chennai Corporation Gears Up for Another Status-quo Budget
For the second consecutive year, the city Corporation’s budget is expected to largely maintain status quo in the absence of a council, while focusing on lowering the deficit. City Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan said that a ‘regular’ budget had been passed and would be made available to the public shortly.
“The focus is going to be on infrastructure and we’ve tried our best to keep the deficit low,” he said. Last year, a deficit budget of Rs 102.56 crore was passed. While the Corporation did not revise property tax rates last year even with the high court rapping the civic body for not revising the tax rates since 1998, it remains to be seen if the rates would be revised this year. Recently, the state government withdrew property tax exemptions granted to private educational institutions.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
6. Bomb Threat to Airport; Two Men Held
Police identified them as Deepu Anand (29), from Koppampatti village in Thuraiyur, Tiruchy, and K Sakthi Saravanan (28), staff at a tech major in Sholinganallur. Now working as a librarian in his native Thuraiyur, Deepu contacted Saravanan to seek his help to obtain a job suited to his educational qualification. Saravanan agreed to help but sought Rs 25,000. Believing him, Deepu handed over the money a few weeks ago.
After receiving no updates, Deepu reached Chennai, and on Sunday night, met Saravanan at a friend’s house for drinks which led to a quarrel. Deepu suddenly snatched Saravanan’s phone and called the police control room to inform that the latter was planning to trigger a blast at Chennai airport. Saravanan grabbed the phone back and said it was Deepu who was planning the explosion and cut the line.
(Source: DTNext)
7. Truckers’ Strike Called Off After Talks With Port Officials
According to members of the association, the officials from the Container Freight Stations held talks with their union leaders and they agreed to their demands like speedy disbursal of freight charge for trailers which has been pending for six months. The officials also agreed to pay 20 per cent hike in the hiring charges of these trucks and trailers.
N Manoharan, President of Tamil Nadu Trailer Owners Association, said, “We are happy that the Port officials accepted our demands and we have called off the strike. Trailers will resume duty from Tuesday morning.”
(Source: DTNext)
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