1. Thousands Stranded at Central Station
On Sunday, when the city stayed indoors due to the ‘janata curfew’, tense moments prevailed at the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Chennai Central railway station, as thousands of migrant labourers, waiting to get to their home towns, were caught unawares after the trains stood cancelled.
According to the police, most passengers had come from Kerala on Saturday night, hoping to go to their home towns — mostly in Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — on Sunday. After arriving in Chennai, the Southern Railway, with the help of the Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force (TNDRF), screened many of them for COVID-19 symptoms. The police then made them leave the station. The Southern Railway requested the Greater Chennai Corporation to make arrangements for the labourers.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Veteran Tamil Actor, Writer and Director Visu Passes Away at 75
Tamil actor, writer, and director Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan, popularly known as Visu, passed away in Chennai on Sunday. He was 75. The actor had reportedly been suffering from age-related health issues.
Visu started his career on the stage, working with theatre artiste YG Parathasarathy’s drama troupe. He began writing scripts for stage, before shifting to the film industry as an assistant director to K Balachandar. Visu wrote scripts and dialogues for the director’s films. This period of collaboration saw Visu writing the script for the Rajinikanth-starrer Thillu Mullu, in which he also has a cameo. He later took on small roles in the director’s films, before branching out on his own as a writer and director.
(Source: The News Minute)
3. Mass Blooper: Rajini's 'Viral Theory' on Twitter Junked by Doctors
Actor Rajinikanth on Saturday released a statement and video urging people of Tamil Nadu to extend their full cooperation to the nation-wide ‘janata curfew’ called for by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. India, that is currently in Stage 2 of COVID-19 pandemic, should be prevented from moving on to Stage 3, the actor said, in the minute-long video posted on his official Twitter handle. However, doctors and social media users slammed the portion of the video in which he suggested that the spread of the virus could be contained by the curfew.
“If the coronavirus is kept from spreading for 12 to 14 hours, it can be stopped from moving on to Stage 3. This is why Prime Minister Modi has called for the janata curfew on 22 March,” he said.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. ‘We Are Not Suppressing Figures Regarding COVID-19’
Describing as baseless the allegation that the state has been suppressing the figures regarding COVID-19, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar has said a complete lockdown is the best option to control the spread of the disease. In an interview on Sunday, he said the state was prepared for the worst.
“Yes, there is a seasonal flu that has similar symptoms. Earlier, we were insisting on people getting themselves tested if they had fever, cough and breathlessness. But since Saturday night, breathlessness triggered by acute respiratory syndrome or pneumonia is sufficient to warrant the test. This way, we can prevent the spread of the virus in the community. There is no dearth of testing kits or beds in isolation wards,” he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. 29-Yr-Old Man Sexually Assaults Minor, Then Throws Her Off Terrace, Killing Her
In an incident that sent shockwaves across the city on Saturday, a 29-year-old man allegedly sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl and threw her from the terrace of a three-storey building at Maduravoyal in the wee hours. The Class V girl succumbed to her injuries. Six months ago, the suspect had moved to the building where the victim also stayed.
Around 2 am on Saturday, the girl went to the toilet and did not return for a long time. After searching for her in vain, her parents alerted the police control room. “We found the child unconscious and bleeding from her nose behind the building. She was rushed to a private hospital in Ayanambakkam, but the doctors there declared her brought dead,” said a police officer.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
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