1. Police Told to Curb Violence, Softly
A high alert has been sounded across Tamil Nadu as political parties, Tamil organisations and others geared for a statewide bandh on Thursday, 5 April, to protest against the Union government’s failure to form the Cauvery Management Board.
In a note to Commissioners/Superintendents of Police, the Director-General of Police has called for all-out efforts to maintain peace amid continuing agitations such as rail/road roko and demonstrations. Adequate forces should be deployed to protect vital installations and essential services. Issues concerning the Cauvery water dispute, the Sterlite unit in Thoothukudi, cooperatives elections and the Neutrino project needed deeper attention on the part of senior officers.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Chief Minister Briefs Governor About Situation in Tamil Nadu
A day after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi, Governor Banwarilal Purohit held a 30-minute-long discussion with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on the prevailing situation in Tamil Nadu against the backdrop of the Cauvery protests.
Palaniswami’s senior cabinet colleagues, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, accompanied him during the meeting at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. Emerging from the meeting, the Chief Minister told reporters that he apprised Purohit of the situation in the State and responded to the Governor’s queries. “We have given him a satisfactory reply”, Palaniswami emphasised.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Vishal Meets Cinema Owners to End Crisis
In the face of the soured relationship between Tamil film producers and cinema owners since the former declared a strike on 1 March, Tamil Film Producers Council president Vishal has been reaching out to the owners individually in an effort to address the issues raised by the producers – need for transparency in collections and end to prohibitive internet booking charges.
Vishal has been meeting them and exploring the possibility of signing individual contracts with producers on the sharing of revenue and profits. “A lot of single-screen cinema owners have met me and had discussion. All this while many producers did not know the owners and this is one way to get to know them better. Dealing directly with theatre owners will bring in lot of transparency”, he added. The actor clarified that his intention was not to bypass distributors but come up with newer business models. “Distributors will continue to stay with us”, he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. IPS Officer Files Plea Against Betting in IPL Matches
A serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has filed a public interest litigation petition in the Madras High Court to restrain the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from conducting the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches without putting in place sufficient precautionary measures to prevent betting and match fixing.
Interestingly, the petitioner G Sampath Kumar, holding the rank of Superintendent of Police, is facing a criminal case on the charge of having extorted Rs 60 lakh from bookies involved in the 2013 IPL match-fixing scam. However, a February 2014 order suspending him from service was revoked last month after he was given a clean chit in the departmental enquiry.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. HC Takes up 10-Year-Old I-T Case Against Sasikala
A tax case filed by the Income Tax department, about 10 years ago, challenging an order passed in former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala’s favour by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, came up for hearing before the Madras High Court on Wednesday.
The Division Bench comprising Justices TS Sivagnanam and N Seshasayee recorded a submission made on behalf of the standing counsel for the I-T department TR Senthil Kumar that the convict was now in (Bengaluru) prison and that he required time to go through the Supreme Court judgment in the disproportionate assets case before conducting the tax case.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Hearing Begins on Petition Over CM’s Confidence Vote
The Madras High Court on Wednesday began hearing a writ petition filed and argued in-person by an advocate, seeking to declare as unconstitutional, null and void a motion of confidence moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and passed on the floor of the Assembly on 18 February 2017.
In his arguments, the petitioner, K Ravi, recalled the incidents that transpired after former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death on 5 December 2016, and pointed out that the present Deputy Chief Minister, O Panneerselvam, had then assumed charge as Chief Minister right on the day of her death. Pointing out that there was complete pandemonium in the Assembly on the day the motion of confidence was passed, the petitioner said the entire exercise was a farce since the MLAs had not voted of their own free will and their act of staying in a resort when the State was facing political turmoil was not what could be expected from elected representatives.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. PM to Inaugurate DefExpo on 12 April
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Defence Expo 2018 on 12 April to be held at Tiruvidandai near Mahabalipuram from 11-14 April. As many as 47 official delegations from various countries have confirmed their participation, with 13 of these being at the ministerial level. Companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Saab, Airbus, Rafale, Rosonboron Exports, United Shipbuilding, BAE Systems, Sibat, Wartsila, Rhode and Schwarz will be present, a press release from the Defence Ministry said.
As of 30 March, as many as 671 exhibitors have confirmed their participation, including 517 Indian exhibitors. Nearly 15 percent of the total exhibition space has been booked by MSMEs, the release said. However, the number of exhibitors is nowhere near the 1,000 who participated in the event in Goa in 2016. The expo, for the first time, will project India’s defence manufacturing capabilities to the world, and showcase Brand India as an exporter of defence systems and components, the release said.
(Source: The Hindu)