1. DRI Busts Gold Smuggling Racket, 4 Held
Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have busted a gold smuggling racket by arresting four persons including the kingpin on Wednesday. A total of 20 kg of gold worth nearly Rs 7 crore was seized. The sleuths conducted raids in parts of the city and nabbed four persons. The kingpin, from Choolaimedu, revealed that his operatives fly to Mumbai and Delhi airports.
“They meet passengers smuggling gold in the transit area and then fly back to Chennai with the gold. They bring out the smuggled goods with ease as there is no checking in domestic terminals. Most often the gold is smuggled from Dubai,” said a DRI officer. The gold is sold in the grey market.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Local Bodies Spend Lakhs Ferrying Plastic Waste to Cement Firms
Local bodies can now get rid of their high calorific plastic waste by giving them off to cement factories. But this arrangement is bleeding local bodies around the city dry. To transport plastic waste to cement companies, five municipalities are spending more than Rs 30 lakhs each month.
Over the last two years, 54 local bodies have been sending their ‘high calorific, non-recyclable’ wastes such as plastics and thermocol to cement factories in the state. Of these, 49 local bodies send it to Ultratech Cements in Ariyalur. The factory only pays transportation costs for waste from local bodies within a 100 km radius, say government officials. As a result, local bodies such as Tambaram, Pallavaram, Pammal, Sembakkam and Anakaputhur will have to fund the cost of transporting the waste out of their own pocket.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. ‘Indian Thatha’ Returns to Fight Corruption
Kamal Haasan will face the cameras for director Shankar’s big budget film, Indian 2 , from Friday in Chennai. Actor Kamal Haasan is expected to juggle his film commitments with his new role as a politician. With the film likely to be the actor’s swansong on the silver screen, it is sure to be one of the most awaited films of Mr. Haasan’s career as fans are going to see ‘Indian Thaatha’, an idealistic freedom fighter taking on the corrupt, at a time when corruption has become normalised in the society.
The fans on social media have already been curious about what kind of social issues the film will highlight. The first film that released in 1996 was a blockbuster, fetching Kamal Haasan yet another National Film Award for Best Actor. Sources in Lyca Productions say that the three day schedule will begin at the Memorial Hall in Chennai this week and the filming is likely to continue for seven days on the sets erected in Gokulam studios.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. MTC Told to Pay Rs 14 Lakh to Girl Who Lost Vision
Nearly three years after an MTC bus hit a minor and caused grievous injuries to the victim to the extent of her losing vision in the right eye, a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal has directed the transport corporation to pay a compensation of Rs 13.99 lakh to her. The accident, in 2015, occurred due to the rash and negligent act of the bus driver, the victim submitted.
Counsel for MTC denied the allegations and said the two-wheeler rider drove rashly and negligently losing control and dashing the front side of the bus and sustained injuries. The injured who was aged 16 then did not have a driving licence, counsel submitted.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. A Kaanum Pongal Sans Incident
Elaborate security arrangements made by the Chennai City Police helped thousands of visitors who made a beeline for the Marina beach celebrate Kaanum Pongal without any major incident on Thursday. The security arrangements consisting of watchtowers, installation of temporary barricades, deployment of drones and a heavy posse of policemen on the beach helped.
The Marina beach swelled with the holiday crowd as the day progressed. Every year, the major problem faced by the police is children getting lost in the crowd. For the past few years, the police have taken to putting bands on their arms with details of their parents and mobile number and this has helped in tracing the parents immediately. On Thursday, 15 children were reportedly lost but were traced within minutes. There were no complaints of jewellery theft, police said.
(Source: The Hindu)