1. Washermanpet Protests Continue for 13th Day
The sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Washermanpet in Chennai entered the 13th day on Wednesday. The violence in the locality on 14 February led to a Shaheen Bagh-like situation, with hundreds of women launching an indefinite protest against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).
Two of the locality’s narrow alleys — Sajja Munusamy Street and Aziz Mohamed Street — have been packed with more than 1,000 women and children wearing anti-CAA and NRC bandanas and raising anti-CAA and azadi slogans. On the 13th day of the protest on Wednesday, the protesters conducted a baby shower function for a pregnant Hindu woman in a grand manner. The woman, Bagyalakshmi, is a resident of the area and was brought to the stage.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Packaged Water Units Begin Strike
Around 1,700 licensed companies supplying packaged drinking water began an indefinite strike on Thursday after the Madras High Court directed the state to immediately close borewells from where some of these units are extracting groundwater without obtaining the mandatory no-objection certificate (NOC).
Three major umbrella organisations – Greater Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association, Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association and Coimbatore Region Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association – have jointly announced the strike.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Activated Charcoal Not a Permitted Food Additive
Some food trends become an instant hit, others not so much. However, the recent fad involving activated charcoal has prompted the Food Safety Department to step in. The department has now written to all food establishments in the city not to use activated charcoal in proprietary food. The reason: activated charcoal is not a permitted food additive, say officials and nutritionists.
A Ramakrishnan, designated officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department, Chennai, said the department has written to all food establishments in the city not to use activated charcoal in proprietary food. This would include all Indian recipes such as dosa, idli, sambar and pongal, and not snacks. “Activated charcoal is not mentioned in the food additives list. It is not permitted as an additive for batter in the additive regulations,” he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Illegal Water Extraction Units Face HC's Wrath
Coming down heavily on the rampant illegal extraction of groundwater across the State, a division bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday warned it would summon the Chief Secretary if authorities fail to implement a 2017 court order directing them to seal unauthorised units tapping groundwater for commercial purposes.
The Division Bench comprising Justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar was hearing a PIL moved by MV Sivamuthu of Neat India organisation, seeking penal action against industries that exploit groundwater. The bench came down heavily on the officials, for not complying with the earlier order that passed various directions, including the constitution of a monitoring committee.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Pizza Delivery Exec Nabbed for Harassing Woman Customer
A delivery executive of a leading pizza outlet in the city and his three other associates were apprehended by the city police after they reportedly circulated a woman customer’s number after she scolded him for delayed delivery. The victim, Gayathri Sainath, 40, a child artist in the Mani Ratnam film Anjali, willingly revealed her identity in order to send a message to other young women to be careful while using the mobile application for food delivery.
She is now a fashion designer. On February 9, she ordered pizza online using a mobile application. After a while, the delivery executive of the pizza outlet repeatedly called her complaining that he could not locate the address. While she was guiding him over the phone on the direction to her house, he was rude to her.
(Source: The Hindu)
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