1. Central Station Renamed After MGR
Chennai Central railway station has been renamed as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Central railway station. In a notification issued by the State government, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan said the name of the railway station would be changed with effect from April 5.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the station would be renamed, during his visit to Tamil Nadu last month. The prime minister officially launched the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) poll campaign for parliamentary polls on the outskirts of Chennai city. The public meeting was held in the presence of leaders of all alliance partners. The BJP-AIADMK-PMK sealed an alliance on 19 February 2019, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP will be contesting on five seats in the elections.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Cuban Crocodile Dies at Chennai Crocodile Bank
In a huge loss, a Cuban crocodile has died mysteriously at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, located about 45 km south of Chennai on the East Coast Road. The Cuban crocodile is a critically endangered species and the Madras Crocodile Bank is the only facility in all of Asia to preserve pure gene pool of this species. A few years ago, the crocodile bank sourced one male and four female Cuban crocodiles for revival. On the night of March 30, one young female crocodile, which had no medical history of illness, died.
Though the exact cause is yet to be ascertained, conservationists suspect it could be due to the stress caused by loud music emanating from a newly built star hotel in neighbourhood. Internationally renowned herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, one of the early founders of the Madras Crocodile Bank, has expressed shock at the development. In a Facebook post that has gone viral, Whitaker said the death “coincided with another roaring event at the Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort & Spa next door”,
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Opinion Poll Predicts DMK Surge
An opinion poll conducted by the Cultural and Communication Centre (CCC) along with some Loyola College alumni has predicted that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance could win 27 to 33 Lok Sabha seats and nine to 11 of the 18 Assembly seats, where bypolls will be held this month.
Releasing the findings of the survey at a press conference in Chennai, the CCC coordinator Thirunavukkarasu claimed that the survey was conducted from March 17 to April 3 covering a sample size of 21,464 eligible voters. However, men constituted 64.4% of the sample size though women voters outnumbered men in Tamil Nadu. Soon after the survey findings were released, Loyola College principal issued a statement distancing the college from the survey and said the institution or its departments were in no way involved in conducting such opinion polls.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Police Chase Kidnappers, Rescue Businessmen in 2 Hours
In what looks like a typically edgy climactic scene from an action-packed film, the city police chased and arrested six persons within two hours after the accused kidnapped a businessman for a ransom of Rs five lakh on Wednesday night.
The man was kidnapped around 8 pm and rescued around 9.45 pm, said the police. Police said Rahul Chand (26) of Adhiappan Naicker Street at Sowcarpet is said to be a manager at a mobile phone manufacturing unit and is also involved in businesses related to gadgets in George Town and Sowcarpet. “Someone known to Rahul had tipped off the gang that kidnapping him would fetch them handsome money. The gang has kept tabs on Rahul for a while and staged the kidnap on Wednesday,” said K Jegadeeswaran, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kilpauk).
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. No Details on Farmers Supporting Chennai-Salem Highway: Govt
Revenue officials, overseeing the Salem-Chennai eight-lane green corridor project, have acknowledged that they do not have details with regard to farmers who are supporting the project. The project’s Special District Revenue Officer (land acquisition) M.G. Kumaravel, in a response to a questionnaire sent by N Ramasamy, a farmer of Poolavari panchayat in Salem, under the Right to Information Act, said the government did not have information on those welcoming the corridor.
Ramasamy had filed the application under RTI Act after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami reportedly said that most of the farmers were supporting the projects. He sought details of the “pro-project” farmers with survey numbers of their land.
(Source: The Hindu)
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