1. I-T Seizures Hint at Benami Transactions
As the searches by the Income Tax department on the properties of jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her family members continued for the fourth day on Sunday, investigators said they had recovered documents pertaining to the purchase of assets worth several hundreds of crores of rupees across Tamil Nadu, which, they suspect, are benami transactions.
The number of locations where simultaneous searches were carried out came down to 37 across Chennai, Coimbatore and Puducherry, while incriminating documents were seized from about 150 other locations over the past three days. A senior Income Tax officer involved in ‘Operation Clean Money’ told that the objective of the massive exercise was to unearth benami assets.
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read: Will Raids on Places Linked to Sasikala Have Their Desired Effect?
2. Sharp Showers Make a Comeback
After a brief lull in the northeast monsoon, the city received heavy rain on Sunday night. According to the Meteorological Department, Nungambakkam recorded 52 mm of rainfall at 11 pm on Sunday and Meenambakkam 18.2 mm. The intense rainfall led to waterlogging on roads, disrupted traffic and exposed lacunae in civic infrastructure in several localities. Met officials said heavy rainfall is likely to continue at isolated places over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Sunday though began on a sedate note with the skies remaining cloudy for most part of the day. It was towards the evening that the city began receiving intense rainfall. As of 8.30 pm, the rainfall recorded in Nungambakkam was 22.2 mm while Meenambakkam had received 0.3 mm.
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read: Heavy Rain in Chennai Sparks Fear of Deluge ‘Version 2.0’ Again
3. Car Rams Parked Autorickshaws, 1 Killed
A 40-year-old autorickshaw driver died when a speeding sedan driven by an inebriated college student, Naveeth Ahmed, crashed into five autorickshaws parked on Cathedral Road early on Sunday. Four of Naveeth’s friends, also college students, were in the car and have been booked for abetting the crime. The incident took place around 1.45 am on a pavement outside a jewellery shop. The victim, Rajesh, was sleeping in one of the autorickshaws, police said. A few of the autos toppled in the impact.
The car came to a halt after ramming a Tangedco junction box. A few passers-by and autorickshaw drivers informed the police control room immediately. Police personnel arrived at the scene and detained Naveeth and his friends, Harikrishnan, 21, Kirankumar, 19, Vishal Rajkumar, 19, and Vinoth, 20. “Naveeth and Harikrishnan were found to be drunk,” said a police officer.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. All Eyes on the Music Season
It’s the time of the year tourists flock to Chennai — the weather is pleasant, the music season is to begin soon and hotel rooms will start filling up. Vidya R, a resident of Bengaluru, is looking forward to coming to the city for the music season. In 2015, she was not sure she would come at all due to the floods but finally made it for a very short while. This year however, she will probably be here for 10 days, she said.
The last two years have not been great for tourism due to natural disasters, but this year, hoteliers and travel agents are hoping the season will be much better. “There should be a 15-20 percent growth in inbound tourism to Tamil Nadu this year,” said Pawan Gupta, managing director, PK Holidays. While people in the State are also looking forward to travelling, there are budget constraints, Gupta said. However, there could be a 5 percent increase in outbound travel as well, he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
Also Read: Chennai’s Marghazi Fest to Go on, Although Some Artists Pull Out
5. CM Announces Rs 1,000 Crore for Construction of Check Dams
After the successful implementation of the kudimaramaththu scheme to desilt tanks across the State last year, the State government would construct check-dams across the rivers to improve the groundwater table and boost farming operations at an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced.
The Chief Minister said the desilting of irrigation tanks under the kudimaramaththu scheme at an outlay of Rs 100 crore during the last fiscal had increased the storage level of 1,519 irrigation tanks by 30 percent while nourishing the farms of thousands of farmers. Hence, the government had decided to go ahead with this programme during this year also by allotting Rs 350 crore. Moreover, check-dams across the rivers at vantage points would also be built on an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years.
(Source: Times Of India)
6. State to Commission Survey on Bonded Labour
With the aim of reining in bonded labour, the Tamil Nadu government, which recently rolled out a State Action Plan to tackle the issue, has decided to commission a survey to determine the approximate number of people involved in the illegal practice in the State. “We need to know the number of persons involved in this, and there is also a need to find out which are the districts where the practice is most prevalent. We have decided to commission a survey for the same, which would help us in understanding the issue better,” Secretary of State for the Labour and Employment department Mangat Ram Sharma said.
In line with a judgment of the Madras High Court on a Public Interest Litigation plea filed by Roseann Rajan in December last year, the State government had in March this year nominated a State-level officer to handle the release, rehabilitation and prosecution in cases involving bonded labour, before rolling out the State Action Plan in September.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Group Foster Care Eludes Children in TN
Group foster care, an alternative to foster care which helps in de-institutionalising children in need of protection, is yet to take off in the State. Officials from the Social Defence Department point out that currently, facilities and finances are inadequate to implement the model.
According to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, group fostering is a family-like care facility for children, who are without parental support. Under this set-up, a group of children are placed under a woman caretaker and provided with all necessary facilities and support like that of a regular household. The children here are meant to have their own rooms, study material and all the amenities they need.
(Source: The Hindu)
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