1. Thiruvalluvar's Religion a Subject of Scholarly Debate
The ongoing political controversy over the origins of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar is nothing new. The religion to which he belonged has always been a subject of debate among scholars. Even a perusal of four different works does not offer much clarity on the subject.
The works are: A History of Tamil Literature , Mu Varadarajan (Mu Va), Sahitya Akademi, 1988; Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature , Volume-V, Sahitya Akademi, 1992; A History of South India (Fourth Edition), K A Nilakanta Sastri, Oxford University Press, 2000; and Tamil: A biography , David Shulman, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2016. In his work, MuVa noted that there were many anecdotes surrounding the name of Thiruvalluvar, but literary critics gave no credence to them. The name referred to “a clan or an occupational group”.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Man Hacked to Death by Lover's Husband
A 28-year-old man was murdered in front of his office at Karapakkam on Tuesday morning. Police said Murali (28) from Semmencherry Tsunami Quarters, who was working in a pharmaceutical company, was having tea at a shop when a bike-borne man attacked him with a knife. Murali was rushed to the government hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Adyar DCP, Pakalavan said CCTV footage was scanned and the suspect identified. Preliminary investigations revealed that Murali, Aravindan and a woman were co-workers in the company. Murali and the woman were in a relationship and later broke up.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. City No Longer Water Starved: Metrowater
With the storage in city’s major lakes steadily increasing, Chennai Metrowater on Tuesday announced that the city is no longer reeling under water crisis. Chennai is officially out of water shortage, the water agency tweeted from its official handle. Senior officials of Metrowater said the five major waterbodies, including those in Poondi, Red Hills and Veeranam tank, have a storage of 4,026 million cubic feet (mcft) against the combined storage of 12,722 mcft. Poondi reservoir continues to receive Krishna water.
The water agency had earlier used buffer sources, including agricultural wells and water from Jolarpet through train, to manage the acute crisis. It is now shifting to conventional sources of supply mainly from waterbodies and has stopped drawing groundwater from agricultural wells. Rains and Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh have stepped up the storage in the otherwise dry lakes in the city.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Swiggy Assures Background Check of Delivery Partners
Food delivery app, Swiggy, in a statement on Tuesday said safety of both, the customers and delivery partners, is a matter of utmost importance for them. The statement was issued a day after three Swiggy delivery executives were booked on charges of allegedly assaulting a customer in Ashok Nagar.
‘’We are aware of this unfortunate incident in Chennai and have been in constant touch with all parties involved. While this issue has been closed by the investigating authorities with a warning given to both parties, we will continue to extend our full support for any investigations,’’ said the statement.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Three MNM Poll Candidates Join BJP, Two More May Follow Suit
Three functionaries of actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam, who contested in the last Lok Sabha polls, joined the BJP on Tuesday. One of them claimed that two more MNM candidates will join the national party soon. The three members – Srikarunya Subrahmanyan (Krishnagiri constituency), N Rajendran (Arakkonam), and T Ravi (Chidambaram) joined the BJP after meeting former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, according to a press release issued by the latter’s office.
Rajendran claimed that there was a ‘corrupt’ coterie around Haasan and that the Lok Sabha candidates had been left in the lurch following their defeat in the polls. “Mr Haasan is the epitome of honesty and integrity. There is absolutely no doubt about that. But there are a bunch of people in that party who are corrupt, and there are people who are taking a wrong approach. They should have been removed. But instead, they are promoting all these people,” Rajendran alleged.
(Source: The Hindu)