1. AIADMK Forms Panel for Seat-Sharing Talks
Making its position formal on having electoral partners for the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling AIADMK on Wednesday, 23 January, announced that a five-member committee comprising senior leaders was formed to hold seat-sharing talks with other parties. The panel consists of KP Munusamy and R Vaithilingam, former ministers, and now deputy coordinators of the party. P Thangamani, SP Velumani and JCD Prabhakar, all organising secretaries, are the other three members. It was on Tuesday, 22 January, that Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar spoke about alliance partners.
On separate occasions, Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister and co-coordinator, and O Panneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister and coordinator of the party, had earlier hinted at the need for an electoral tie-up.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. 96 Accident-Prone Areas Across National Highways in TN
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified a whopping 96 accident black spots across national highways in the state, thanks to poor quality of design and engineering. The Union Ministry has finally agreed to take measures to eliminate these black spots after being pulled up, repeatedly, by the State Road Safety Council for failing to control accidents along highways. Poorly designed national highways have been blamed for more than 30 percent accidents in Tamil Nadu, the safety council has pointed out.
Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways of state — which maintain 5,491 km roads in Tamil Nadu — informed the State Road Safety Council that 96 black spots had been identified and corrective measures were being taken.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Kodanad Case: HC Passes Gag Order Against Journalist
Just hours after Delhi-based journalist Mathew Samuel addressed the media in Chennai on Wednesday, 23 January, alleging the involvement of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the 2017 Kodanad estate heist-cum-murder, the Madras High Court passed a gag order restraining him and six others from talking to the media on the issue. Justice K Kalayanasundaram also granted an interim injunction restraining the seven individuals from circulating a video clip and other connected materials prepared by them levelling “baseless” allegations against the chief minister on social media.
The injunction was granted at the instance of the CM in his personal capacity. Palaniswami had moved an urgent defamation suit in the High Court on Wednesday demanding damages of Rs 1.1 crore from the seven individuals, including Samuel’s colleagues Jibin Pulian Godan, Shija Anil, Shivani and Radhakrishnan apart from V Sayan and C Valayar Manoj, who were the accused in the case.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. ‘Restrain Tamil Film Producers Council From Holding Ilayaraja Event’
A writ plea has been filed in the Madras High Court to restrain the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) from conducting a programme to felicitate music maestro Ilaiyaraja at a function in the city on February 2. Justice K Kalyanasundaram, before whom the application arising out of a civil suit came up for hearing on Tuesday, 22 January, ordered notice to the council, returnable by 28 January.
The application also sought to restrain the council from conducting the annual general body meeting on 25 February. Its main prayer is to appoint a retired judge of the HC as administrator to hold election for selection of office-bearers to the council and its executive council and to hold the AGM.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Police Intensify Search to Find Woman’s Torso, Head
The city police have intensified their investigation to trace the missing torso of a woman whose limbs were found severed and thrown in the city’s largest dump yard at Perungudi on Monday. 21 January. From Tuesday, 22 January, police teams have fanned out to various parts of city in search of the missing torso and head.
Police personnel questioned the lorry drivers who transported garbage from the collection point in Valluvar Kottam. They also scrutinised the CCTV camera footage to find out the lorries which carried garbage from street bins to the collection point. Garbage, collected from various parts of the city are dumped in the sprawling yard at Perungudi. On Monday evening, a few conservancy staff were levelling the garbage in the southern part of the yard and noticed a heavy bag. Out of curiosity, they picked up the bag and were shocked to find a hand and two legs inside.
(Source: The Hindu)
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