The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 01, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Briefly

Birthday greetings

CHENNAI JULY 31. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today greeted the Governor, P.S. Ramamohan Rao, on the occasion of his birthday. She telephonically conveyed her warm felicitations, sent a bouquet and a letter of greetings, according to an official release.

Southern Railway in-charge

CHENNAI JULY 31. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) General Manager, Shivendra Kumar, will be in-charge of Southern Railway as the General Manager following the superannuation of V.Anand, according to a railway release.

Allowance for pensioners

CHENNAI JULY 31. The Railway Board has sanctioned a monthly medical allowance of Rs. 100 to retired employees/family pensioners with retrospective effect from December 1, 1997. To claim the allowance, the pensioners will have to give a declaration that they have not availed themselves of any treatment since the date of their retirement from railway medical centres which are 2.5 km away from their residence, says a railway release.

Online facility

CHENNAI JULY 31. Southern Railway has introduced an online facility for customers know the exact location of their consignments. According to a release, the service is being made available through the freight operations information system (FOIS) and is accessible through a helpline. It is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. all days, except on Sundays, and will have a dedicated telephone (2535 4455). Customers who want information about their consignment should give the date and name of the booking station so that the rake can be tracked.

Bomb threat

By Our Staff Reporter

Tuticorin July 31. Security for the Tuticorin Thermal Power Station (TTPS) has been strengthened after the chief engineer, Ayyappan, received yesterday an anonymous letter threatening that the generation units would be blown up if the administration failed to ensure the right pay to contract labourers. Police personnel have been deployed in the residential areas and TTPS units.

The letter, purportedly written by a sympathiser of a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit, said the labourers got only Rs. 60 instead of Rs. 100 a day. The labourers, who raised their voice against this "injustice", were threatened by contractors and engineers. "Since we have got adequate numbers of atom bombs and other explosives, we'll blow up the TTPS units. The school buses of TTPS, residential complexes of the engineers and other officials of the TTPS will also not be spared," the letter warned.

Bid to smuggle rice foiled

By Our Staff Reporter

Coimbatore July 31. A flying squad of the District Supply office intercepted five lorries bound for Kerala and seized 1,380 bags of PDS rice, which was allegedly being smuggled across the Tamil Nadu border in the early hours today.

The lorries, laden with 70,000 kg of rice meant for distribution in Karur, Namakkal and Salem districts, were intercepted at Walayar around 2 a.m.

The drivers were taken into custody.

2 killed in car-lorry smash

CUDDALORE July 31. Two persons were killed and four injured when their car and a lorry collided near Veppur in the early hours today. The deceased are Ilayamurthi (30) and car driver Jayamurthy (35). The injured have been admitted to the Cuddalore government hospital. The car was going from Cuddalore to Palani.

Throws child, herself before train

By Our Staff Reporter

Nagercoil, July 31. A woman, along with her five-month-old child, threw herself in front of the Kanayakumari-Mumbai express at Agastheeswaram, near here, today. According to police sources, Indira (23) of Agastheeswaram took the extreme step following a misunderstanding with her husband.

The Railway protection force sent the bodies for post-mortem.

P. H. Pandian awarded Ph.D.

CHENNAI JULY 31. The former Assembly Speaker, P.H. Pandian, has been awarded Ph.D. in Law by the Madras University. According to Mr. Pandian, the subject chosen by him for research was "A study on certain factors associated with the sentencing decisions by the judges in murder cases."

Explaining the reasons for the choice of theme for his research, he said there was a debate in the United States on the "arbitrary and discriminatory exercise of discretion in awarding death penalty for murder cases." The same problem existed in India also, he claimed. He received the doctorate on July 9.

`Youth Sunday'

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JULY 31. The Tamil Nadu Catholic Youth Movement will celebrate the first Sunday of August every year as `Youth Sunday'. Social welfare programmes, awareness campaigns and public meetings will be conducted to mark the day.

As part of the decision, 200 blood donation camps, 20 eye donation camps, 75 health camps and tree plantation at 150 locations besides 50 meetings to promote communal harmony, will be organised across the State tomorrow.

Holiday declared

Dharmapuri July 31 . In view of the Adi Perukku festival, August 2 has been declared a public holiday by the district administration. All Government offices and educational institutions would remain closed that day. To compensate for the holiday, Government offices and institutions would function on August 14.

Arrested

Dharmapuri July 31 . A 35-year-old man was arrested on charges of murdering his wife at Pennagaram here on Friday. The police said that Raja had killed his wife, Sivammal (30) by attacking her with deadly weapons. She died on the spot. Family dispute was said to be the reason behind the murder.

Goats charred

ERODE JULY 31 . Fifteen goats were charred to death, and a house destroyed in a fire accident at Vellakoil on Thursday. According to the police, the fire that broke out at midnight at a grocery shop in Bharathynagar spread to the house attached to the shop. The grocery shop was destroyed damaging several materials.

The fire also spread to the cattle pound of the house, killing 15 goats. Vellakoil fire and rescue services officials put off the fire.

Inspection

ERODE JULY 31 . Thatched sheds in markets and places of public congregation including temples, mosques and churches would be removed, the Collector, D. Karthikeyan, has said. He visited some schools in the district today along with the Revenue Divisional Officer, R. Gajalakshmi, and officials from the Education Department.

The Collector said that thatched sheds in schools were replaced with fireproof sheds. He urged the theatre owners to replace canteens of thatched sheds with fireproof sheds.

Local bodies would not permit roadside shops to erect pandals for their shops. Anganwadis and noon meal centres in thatched roofs would be removed to safer places, he added.

Man killed

Tuticorin July 31. G. Chandran (35) of Shastri Nagar in Kovilpatti, a labourer, was killed when a speeding autorickshaw hit him at Kayathar on Friday night.

The police said the auto hit Chandran when he was walking on the road with his elder brother, G. Murugan (51).

The auto driver, V. Paulraj (27), was arrested.

Inspected

Nagercoil July 31. The Collector, Rajesh Lakhoni, today inspected dilapidated school buildings at the Kavimani Desika Vinayagam Government Girls' Higher Secondary School and directed officials to construct new buildings under the `education for all' scheme and small savings incentive fund.

Based on information given by officials of the educational department, the Collector made alternative arrangements for the school students studying in over nine rooms under tiled roofs.

Driver killed

MADURAI JULY 31. A 32-year-old van driver, Rajkumar, of Ettyapuram in Tuticorin district was killed on the spot, when his speeding vehicle rammed into a stationary lorry near Valayankulam near Madurai airport last night.

The Perungudi police have registered a case.

Water level

MADURAI JULY 31. The level in the Periyar dam stood at 116.60 feet with an inflow was 496 cusecs and a discharge of 900 cusecs. The level in the Vaigai dam was 38.19 feet with an inflow of 564 cusecs and a discharge of 930 cusecs. The combined Periyar storage was 2746 mcft.

Thaniyamangalam received a rainfall of 17 mm, followed by Idayapatti - 14.2, Melur - 13 and Periyar dam - 5 mm.

Last date extended

TIRUCHI JULY 31. The last date for issue of applications for M.Phil courses of Bharathidasan University has been extended to August 20, according to the Registrar (in charge), V. Ayothi.

Mettur level

TIRUCHI JULY 31. The level in the Mettur dam stood at 72.52 feet today. The inflow was 8,707 cusecs, and the discharge 5, 850 cusecs.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu