1. CWMA and CWRC Formed Sans K’taka Representation
The Centre on Friday constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC). Both bodies were formed without Karnataka’s representatives. The CWMA’s first meeting is tentatively fixed for 28 June.
An order from Ministry of Water Resources said CWMA will be headed by Central Water Commission chairman S Masood Hussain. CWMA and CWRC were notified on 1 June. Karnataka had till 12 June to nominate members but did not do so. TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami had written to PM for CWMA be convened.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
2. Arumugaswamy Commission Summons Jaya’s Doctors Again
KS Sivakumar, the doctor who coordinated former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s treatment, has been asked to return before Arumugaswamy Commission inquiring into her death. The fresh summons sent to Dr Sivakumar on Thursday came after a witness before the Commission seemed to contradict a part of his testimony. Dr Sivakumar had told the Commission that Dr K Archana, a duty doctor at the hospital, was present when he recorded an audio clip of Jayalalithaa at the Critical Care Unit on the night of 27 September, 2016.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Students ‘Hijack’ MTC Bus, Three Held
Four days after Chennai police detained 110 college students for creating a ruckus in public places, a group of college students allegedly ‘hijacked’ an MTC bus plying between Triplicane and Anna Nagar on Friday.
Police said the students boarded the bus near Pachaiyappa’s College at 2 pm. Some 20 other students, on motorbikes, blocked its path, bringing traffic to a virtual standstill. “They prevented the driver from halting the bus at bus stops. The students were banging the windows and the roof of the bus and singing,” said a police source.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. Coming Soon: Tax to Help Civic Body in Cleaning Up
Property owners in the city will have to pay more tax to the Chennai Corporation in the form of a user fee that will be levied for clearing garbage from the streets.
There are more than 12 lakh assessees in the city who pay property tax. All assessees in residential, non-residential and mixed use premises will have to pay the user fee for conservancy. However, there is no increase in property tax rates. The last time a hike was effected was back in 1998.
The user fee will be computed based on the property tax paid by the assessee every six months. It is still not clear if it will come to effect from October 2018 or with retrospective effect from April 2018.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Pallavaram Worker Dies Cleaning Sewer
A contract worker engaged by Pallavaram Municipality died of asphyxiation on Friday after he was made to enter an underground sewer at Chromepet to clear a blockage. A municipality supervisor has been arrested. The deceased, N Diwahar (24), was a resident of Otteri near Vandalur.
“On Friday, four men including Diwahar, were assigned the job of cleaning an underground drainage canal in Ambedkar Street. Though a suction lorry was deployed to clean the drainage, supervisor Marimuthu asked someone to get inside the canal to do so. Diwahar came forward to enter the 18-feet-deep canal. He was less than eight feet inside when he started being asphyxiated and signalled for a rope,” said a police inspector.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
6. 10 Tonnes of Artificial Mangoes Seized at Koyambedu
The Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department will write to the Koyambedu Market Management Committee suggesting cancellation of shop allotments for traders who repeatedly use harmful chemicals to ripen fruits.
On Friday, a team of officials conducted raids on 60 shops. They seized nearly 10.5 tonnes of artificially ripened mangoes and 5 kg of ethylene powder sachets.
In the past three months, officials of the Food Safety Wing have conducted four raids in the Koyambedu wholesale market and have seized nearly 24.5 tonnes of mangoes that were artificially ripened using ethylene powder sachets.
(Source: The Hindu)
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