1. Unusual Demand for Caste Reclassification in TN
In an unusual development in a state that has witnessed violent agitations demanding reclassification of castes for acquiring benefits of communal reservations in jobs and college admissions, six communities have begun building pressure on the Tamil Nadu government to delist them from the Scheduled Castes.
The six communities are Pallars, Kudumbar, Devendrakulathar, Pannadi, Mooppar and Kaladi. Their demand — spearheaded, among others, by Puthiya Tamilagam founder K Krishnasamy — is that they must be grouped under the common name of ‘Devendrakula Vellalar’ and removed from the Scheduled Castes list. Members of these communities have a good presence in south Tamil Nadu.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Over 50 IMD Stations Across TN Malfunction
Even as India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced the onset of the northeast monsoon on Wednesday with an ‘Orange alert,’ which means ‘Be Prepared,’ over 50 of its weather stations which record rainfall in the State are reportedly not working or functioning properly. Taramani ARG in Chennai is one of the systems that went rogue.
IMD maintains a network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Rain Gauge (ARG) stations across the State to measure rainfall on a real-time basis. The data generated helps administrators in staying prepared for the monsoon and in disaster management.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Man Steals Rs 4 Lakhs from ATM in Chennai
An unidentified person broke open a white-label ATM near Avadi and escaped with Rs 4 lakh in cash on Friday. White-label ATMs are set up, owned and operated by non-banking entities. One such equipment is located at the Kavanur junction in the Muthapudupet police station limits.
On Saturday morning, pedestrians noticed that the machine was damaged and alerted the police. A team from the Muthapudupet police station inspected the site. “The machine was broken open using a welding device and the money was stolen from it,” said a police officer. When the police tried to check the CCTV camera footage, they found foam sprayed on the cameras.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. First Train for Washermenpet Metro Flagged Off
The first of the 10 train sets ordered for the Phase-I extension project from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar was flagged off from Sri City on Saturday. The train was flagged off by Pankaj Kumar Bansal IAS, Managing Director, Chennai Metro Rail along with Odin Bruno Alstom, Managing Director for rolling stock and components at the Alstom Sri City facility
Chennai Metro Rail has awarded the contract in March 2018 to the consortium of Alstom Transport, France and Alstom Transport India Limited for the supply of 10 train sets with the same configuration and specifications as supplied to Phase-I project. The trainsets are being manufactured at the Alstom’s factory at Sri City, near Tada, Andhra Pradesh. The cost of the supply is about Rs 200.00 crore with loan assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Rain Lashes Parts of City, To Continue for Two More Days
Rain lashed several parts of the city on Sunday, and will continue for a few more days. Areas like Perambur, ICF, Alwarpet, T Nagar, Adyar, Anna Salai, Ashok Nagar, Mambalam and Thoraipakkam received good showers on Sunday morning, while several other areas received short spells of rain during the day. This kept the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius, two degrees lower than the normal for the day.
Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam received 2 cm and 1.2 cm of rainfall, respectively, at 5.30 pm, officials of the Meteorological Department said. The sky is likely to be generally cloudy. Light to moderate rain is likely to occur in some areas, the officials said. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 32 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius, respectively, the officials added.
(Source: The Hindu)
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