1. Cauvery Water Dispute: AIADMK Announces Hunger Strike on 3 April
The controversy around the Cauvery water sharing issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has refused to die down. As the six-week deadline given by the Supreme Court to the Centre to formulate a scheme on the Cauvery dispute ends, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to hold a statewide hunger strike on Tuesday, 3 April. Earlier, the party had announced that the strike would be observed on 2 April.
PTI, quoting an AIADMK release, said that the fast would be held from between 8 am and 5 pm on Tuesday in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The Tamil Nadu government will also move the Supreme Court on the issue of constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), state fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said on Friday, 30 March.
Read the full story on The Quint.
2. Tamil Film Industry to Take out Procession on 4 April
Members of the Tamil film industry will take out a procession to submit a petition to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on 4 April at the Secretariat in Chennai. Senior actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth would be invited.
Speaking at a press meet, actor Vishal, president, Tamil Film Producers Council, said the strike, which had got extended for 30 days, would continue till all their demands were met: flexibility in ticket prices, computerisation and centralisation of tickets throughout Tamil Nadu and the formation of a Tamil Nadu Film Development Corporation. Sources in the producers’ council said that this was an effort to remove the strangle- hold of a few stakeholders, who seem to control the various parts of the film industry.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. 14 Former Residents of Hospice Reunited with Kin
As many as 14 former residents of the St Joseph’s Hospice in Paleswaram, Kancheepuram have been reunited with their families, after they were shifted to other care homes. Some families reportedly lodged missing complaints in local police stations to trace them. Sixty-year-old Arumugam, who was moved to a shelter belonging to the Greater Chennai Corporation that is managed by NGO Anbagam at Tondiarpet, was reunited with his son Sampath, 30.
The shelter coordinators reunited two more inmates with their families, out of the 40 who were sent in, in two weeks.Officials from the Corporation said that the hospice had several flaws in management.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. AVM Studios Absolute Owner of Copyright of ‘Karpagam’: HC
Concluding four years of legal battle over the world wide negative rights of ‘Kadhal Mannan’ and Gemini Ganesan-starrer Tamil film ‘Karpagam’, the Madras high court has declared AVM Film Studios as the absolute owner.
This apart, Justice M Sundar has also allowed the Studios to claim damages for infringement of their right from Amarjothi Movies, AVM Limited, and two others.
‘Karpagam’ released in 1963, features Gemini Ganesan, Savithri, SV Ranga Rao, MR Radha, KR Vijaya and Muthuraman as artists, produced and directed by KS Gopalakrishnan. Amarjothi Movies was the sole proprietor of the movie. During the hearing it was found that Amarjothi took a loan of Rs 4 lakh from AVM Limited and in 1964 it had assigned the entire world negative rights absolutely in favour of AVM Limited for 99 years and transferred the negatives in their favour.
(Source: Times of India)
5. HC Reserves Verdict in Law College Case
The Madras High Court has reserved its verdict on an appeal preferred by a group of 21 students of Dr Ambedkar Government Law College who were convicted by a lower court on 28 January 2016, for a violent clash between two groups on the campus on 12 November 2008 over the printing of pamphlets for Thevar Jayanthi.
Justice R Suresh Kumar deferred his decision, without mentioning a date on which the judgment would be delivered, after hearing the arguments advanced on behalf of the appellants as well as the prosecution. The trial court itself had suspended the three-year sentence imposed on the 21 convicts in order to enable them to go on appeal to the highcourt.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. TNERC to Take a Call on Wind Energy Banking in Next Order
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) said it would decide on the issue of wind energy bank in its next tariff order, after considering the views of stakeholders and based on its consultative paper. The banking facility allowed captive wind power generators to sell their surplus to distribution companies. This policy was adopted by the State government long ago to promote clean energy.
The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) had filed a petition with the TNERC, seeking removal of the facility and change of banking period to the calendar year from the financial year. In a recent consultative paper, the TNERC said wind energy banking had remained a bone of contention between Tangedco and power producers. With the State becoming energy surplus, the Tangedco says it was recording losses because of the additional cost incurred on banking while wind energy generators, on the other hand, cited concerns about the investments made factoring in the banking provision, it added.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Mob Mistakes Family for Concoction Sellers, Sets Their Vehicle Ablaze
Following the death of a 27-year-old man in Ayyapakkam, who is suspected to have consumed a concoction to lose weight, miscreants allegedly set fire to a vehicle suspecting that herbal preparations were being sold in it.
Pradeep, 27, a resident of Tiruveedhi Amman Koil Street in Ayyapakkam, purchased the concoction from a pushcart vendor a few days ago. He consumed it on Wednesday and around noon he felt uneasy. In the night, he complained of nausea and giddiness and was rushed to the GH. He died there on Thursday morning. The Thirumullaivoyal have police registered a case. Meanwhile, on Friday, around 15 miscreants spotted a van parked beneath a tree, suspected to be selling herbal oils. “They thought Pradeep had purchased the concoction from these vendors and set fire to the vehicle. They did not harm the family,” said a police officer.
(Source: The Hindu)