Tamil Nadu   

Briefly

All-party meet on airport expansion

CHENNAI: An all-party meeting to discuss Chennai airport expansion plans will be held on May 22 at the Secretariat.

The Chief Minister will preside over the meeting which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Leaders of all political parties in the legislature have been invited to attend. — Special Correspondent

Karunanidhi greets Plus Two toppers

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi on Tuesday expressed happiness over the Plus Two examination results, which indicated a 9 per cent rise in the pass percentage than last year's results. The performance of the girls was better than that of the boys, he said.

Replying to a set of questions, he said the overall pass percentage of the girls was 9 per cent more than that of boys while the girls in Chennai Corporation schools had scored a pass percentage of 12 per cent above that of the boys. "I feel immensely happy. I extend my greetings to all the students who have passed and created records. Let the fame of the women grow!" he said. — Special Correspondent

Sengottaiyan given charge sheet copy

CHENNAI: A Special Court for CBI cases here on Tuesday furnished a copy of the charge sheet to former Minister K.A.Sengottaiyan in the `gifts case' against former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Mr. Sengottaiyan , who is an accused in the case, came to the court of the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases S. Meenakshisundaram and received a copy of the charge sheet.

The prosecution case was that when she was Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa had accepted demand drafts, cash and jewellery and claimed them as gifts in her income-tax returns. The CBI said she had accepted 89 demand drafts worth over Rs.two crore from 57 persons in 1992.

A former Minister Azhagu Thirunavukkarasu had been cited as another accused in the case. — Special Correspondent

Court rejects plea for CBI probe

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn a writ petition seeking a CBI probe into the encounter death of `Manalmedu' Sankar on February 5.

Holding that a writ petition under Article 32 was not maintainable, a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia asked the petitioner to approach the Madras High Court for relief. Senior counsel K. Subramanian, appearing for the petitioner, M. Manian brought to the notice of the Bench that the apex court in December last had directed the State police to provide protection to Sankar whenever he was taken to the court. He said despite that order the police had failed to provide protection and Sankar was killed in a fake encounter on February 5. — Legal Correspondent

PMK's campaign

on prohibition

CHENNAI: The Pattali Makkal Katchi on Tuesday launched a campaign for prohibition, with 125 members of the party's women's wing launching a Statewide trip to highlight the party's stand.

They will converge in Chennai where a public meeting will be held on Saturday.

S. Ramadoss, PMK founder, flagged off the tour at a function in the city. — Special Correspondent

Flag Day collection exceeds target

DINDIGUL : Flag Day collection for 2005-06 was Rs.39.06 lakh against the target of Rs.21.40 lakh for the district, according to Collector R. Vasuki.

"We could achieve this only with total cooperation of officials in all the departments. Governor Surjit Singh Barnala had praised their achievement and honoured the district administration with an appreciation certificate," she said.

Assistant Director for Ex-servicemen Welfare K. Kalyanasundaram had given the certificate to the Collector.

Fast observed

Tuticorin: The AITUC cadres observed a fast here on Tuesday to press their multi-point charter.

The agitators demanded that the authorities concerned take steps to enrol all TASMAC employees into regular payroll.

They also wanted severe economic measures to curb the rise in prices of essential commodities.

About 50 people took part in the agitation.

Water level

MADURAI : The water level in the Periyar dam stood at 108.6 feet (136 feet) with an inflow of 60 cusecs and no discharge. The level in the Vaigai dam was 29 feet (71 feet) with no inflow and a discharge of 41 cusecs. The combined Periyar credit stood at 752 mcft. Pulipatti recorded 2 mm of rainfall. — Staff Reporter

Mass cleaning

Coimbatore: The Residents' Awareness Association of Coimbatore and the Ramnagar Residents' Welfare Association will organise a mass cleaning programme at Ramnagar on May 20. Volunteers will take part in the cleaning programme from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Seminar held

Coimbatore: The Central Board for Workers' Education and the Bureau of Indian Standards conducted a seminar on hallmarking for the jewellers here. Sessions were held on the importance of hallmarking, criteria for certification of jewellers and the Bureau of Indian Standards hallmarking scheme.

Customer meeting

Coimbatore: The Chennai Petroleum Corporation will organise a customer meet on May 18 at the Residency. Its Managing Director, K.K. Acharya and Director-operations, K. Balachandran, will participate.

Programme

Coimbatore: The Pattali Makkal Katchi will stage street plays near Gandhipuram Express

Bus Stand demanding

total prohibition and to express the ill-effects of drinking habits on May 16 at 8 a.m. The Kancheepuram MLA, Sakthi Kamalambal, will participate.

Four injured

in accident

Coimbatore: Four two-wheeler riders sustained injuries when a private bus lost control and hit them on Aatuppalam - Ukkadam road on Tuesday morning. Irate residents of the area blocked the road for nearly 15 minutes paralysing the traffic during the peak hour.

Found dead

ERODE: An old woman was found dead by strangulation at Kaniyampalayam village near Sivagiri.

It is suspected to a case of murder for gain.

According to police, Nallammal (65), a widowed farmer, was residing with her son and daughter at the village for the past several years.

On her land, sunflower crop had been raised and to scare away the birds, she left the house on Sunday evening but was not home even when night fell.

Her family members grew suspicious and launched a search for her. They found her lying dead in the fields. Eight sovereigns of gold jewels she had been wearing were missing.

Kodumudi police registered a case of murder for gain and are investigating.

65 village panchayats selected in Perambalur

PERAMBALUR: Sixty-five village panchayats have been selected for implementation of `Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarichi Thittam' in the district during 2007-08, Collector Anil Meshram said. Special gram sabha meetings will be held on May 16 to finalise work to be taken up under the scheme. He inspected development work being executed in some of the panchayats on Tuesday.

SHGs get funds

PERAMBALUR: A sum of Rs.25.70 lakh has been distributed as revolving funds to 257 self-help groups in the district last year through Tamil Nadu Adi Dravida Housing and Development Corporation, Collector Anil Meshram said here on Tuesday.

Speaking at an awareness seminar, hesaid that about 160 beneficiaries received Rs.8-lakh loans from the Collector's Discretionary Funds.

Mettur level

TIRUCHI: The level in the Mettur dam stood at 75.35 feet against its full level of 120 feet on Tuesday. The inflow was 1,187 cusecs and the discharge from the dam was 1,500 cusecs.

— Special Correspondent

Flag Day collection exceeds target

DINDIGUL: Flag Day collection for 2005-06 was Rs.39.06 lakh against the target of Rs.21.40 lakh for the district, according to Collector R. Vasuki.

"We could achieve this only with total cooperation of officials in all the departments. Governor Surjit Singh Barnala had praised their achievement and honoured the district administration with an appreciation certificate," she said.

Assistant Director for Ex-servicemen Welfare K. Kalyanasundaram had given the certificate to the Collector.

Man robbed

RAMANATHAPURAM: A group of four persons on Monday robbed a businessman of Rs.1.65 lakh after attacking him with a knife at Karuthanendhal.

Sources said Karthikeyan (28) of Sivaganga district, was waylaid and attacked when he was returning from Karuthanendhal to Paramakudi in a two-wheeler. - Staff Reporter

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