COIMBATORE: Although the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has been taking numerous measures to clear the waste across the city and create awareness among people to stop open dumping, garbage piles can be found on several streets. The CCMC has put up warning sign boards and a piece of cloth to prevent people from dumping in the open. However, many of them, violating the rules, still dump their garbage near the sign boards. Currently, the civic body has turned its attention to the wate

CHENNAI: A dance teacher was arrested by the Neelankarai All-women police on Monday, on charges of sexually abusing two of his former students when he was teaching at the Kalakshetra Foundation over a decade ago. The students, both of whom have now settled abroad, had sent an online complaint to the city police which was forwarded to the Neelankarai all-women police who held inquiries. A case was registered in February this year. Following this, Sheejith Krishna (51) was apprehended from his hou

VILLUPURAM: The grand yearly festival at Koovagam village, celebrating womanhood embraced by trans women, began on Tuesday with trans women tying holy thread at the Koothandavar temple in Koovagam village in Kallakurichi, with over 5,000 trans women flocking the town for the festival. On Monday night, the beauty pageant Miss Koovagam was conducted by the South Indian Transgender Federation along with the District Social Welfare department in Villupuram. Riya from Erode won the Miss Koovagam titl

CHENNAI: The 20-year-old wife of Praveen (26), who was allegedly hacked to death by a five-member gang including the girls brother in a case of honour killing, died by suicide. The girl, Sharmila, attempted to kill herself on April 14 and was moved to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where she died on Monday night, without responding to treatment. Praveen's mother G Chithra said Sharmila was distraught after reading Praveen's post mortem report. In what Praveen's family claimed was a sui

NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the plea filed byChennai-based lawyer, Karuppiah Gandhi, seeking a direction to transfer the trials against incumbent State Ministers from TN to other States, should be dismissed. Senior lawyers Dushyant Dave and Amit Anand, counsel for appearing for Tamil Nadu govt, urged the apex court's two-judge bench, led by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta, to dismiss the plea filed by Karuppiah Gandhi be dismissed. Th

MADURAI: Amid the resounding chants of 'Govinda Govinda' ny lakhs of devotees and the blaring of speakers with 'Vararu Vararu Alagar Vararu', Lord Kallazhagar, draped in traditional green silk and mounted on his golden horse Vahana, entered the Vaigai river in Madurai during the morning hours of Tuesday. The procession of lord Kallalagar from Alagar hills to Madurai as part of the Chithirai festival is Madurai's largest festival. Throughout the procession lakhs of people would throng to venues t

COIMBATORE : Right to Information (RTI) activist N R Ravishankar alleged that the district school education department does not maintain basic details on how many toilets and urinals should be present in schools as per student strength. Speaking to TNIE Ravishankar said, Students from CCMA Government Higher Secondary School staged a protest last year condemning the lack of toilet facilities within the school premises. Later, parents also alleged that the school education department had not taken

PUDUCHERRY : When Shoma (name changed), a distressed mother from West Bengal, found herself at a crossroads as she could not afford her daughter's surgery and house rent, she approached Chief Minister N Rangasamy for assistance, who not only assured to bear the cost of the spinal implant surgery at JIPMER (around Rs 60,000) himself, but paid Rs 10,000 to cover the rent. A video of Shoma expressing gratitude towards the Chief Minister for his benevolence has gone viral on social media. She explai

COIMBATORE : Coimbatore forest division has advised people who will be visiting the shrine atop Velliangiri for Chitra Pournami to undergo a full body health check to avoid compliactions during trekking. Sources said the department would not insist that devotees must produce their medical report at the foothills before they proceed to climb to the temple. Boluvampatti forest range officer Suseendran said Devotees will be allowed only in the authorised route. People should not take any alternativ

COIMBATORE : A head constable attached to the investigation wing of Saravanampatti Police station died by suicide at his residence. The deceased was identified as Balakumar (38). A 2003 batch personnel, he lived in Ganapathi Maanager with his wife and two children. According to sources. his wife works in a private hotel. Recently, she got a promotion and relocated to the London branch two weeks ago leaving their two children under the care of her parents in Salem. Upon completing his election du

COIMBATORE : Commotion prevailed at the Government College of Technology (GCT) on Monday after vehicles belonging to the college staff were allowed to park near the strong room. Party agents who were on the college premises for surveillance work argued with the college staff for parking their cars near the strong room and asked them to park them near the parking lot allotted for all vehicles near the entrance. As staff questioned political party agents what their issue was when the police person

COIMBATORE : With polling over, the bitter rivalry that prevailed among cadres of different political parties has given way to camaraderie as functionaries huddle together on the campus of counting centre and watch the EVMs that are placed in strong rooms. With a gap of 45 days between polling on April 19 and counting of votes on June 4, the cadres have nothing else to do that chat as they watch the CCTV feed that is displayed on multiple screens in the Government College of Technology, where EV

KRISHNAGIRI : Krishnagiri collector K M Sarayu held a meeting with various departments on Monday at the collectorate to brace for water crisis and take necessary steps to resolve it. According to an official, the district administration is taking steps to resolve the water crisis in 333 village panchayats, Hosur City Municipal Corporation, Krishnagiri Municipality, and six town panchayats. Hogenakkal drinking water is supplied to all village panchayats and urban areas with 73. 54 million litres

DHARMAPURI : Farmers have urged the state government to announce Dharmapuri as drought-hit area. Farmers said that as heat wave has intensified and water bodies have dried up, there is a severe shortage of water for cultivation and livestock. Dharmapuri has been facing an intense heat wave over the past few weeks with the maximum temperature of 106.1oF recorded on Monday. The continuous heat wave has resulted in lakes and ponds getting depleted at a faster rate. Now with most of the water bodies

TIRUPPUR : For the third time in a row, P Vijayakumar (42), a farmer, has launched a hunger strike to close a stone quarry in Kodangipalayam panchayat in Palladam on Monday morning. Vijayakumar told TNIE, My first hunger strike was launched on August 30, 2022, after a stone near my farmland completely buried my survival. Earlier, I had lost more than 40 coconut trees in my farmland due to the depletion of groundwater, besides, my 60-foot well had also dried up. This is due to the giant stone qua

ERODE : Forest officials said the current summer rain at the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) will help reduce human-animal conflict. In addition, it will also prevent forest fires and lead to re-greening of forest areas. Some areas of STR also received heavy rains on Monday. Forest department officials said, Erode was experiencing extreme heat which led to severe drought in areas surrounding STR. This was severely affecting the animals living in the forest. However, now there is a slight reli

ERODE : Farmers from Lower Bhavani Ayakkattu Land Owners Association and Lower Bhavani Farmers Federation met the Chief Engineer of the Water Resources Department (Coimbatore region) on Monday regarding getting water from the Bhavanisagar Dam for LBP irrigation. Speaking to reporters here on Monday, K V Ponnaiyan, Lower Bhavani Ayakkattu Land Owners Association secretary said, The WRD was supposed to provide 11.5 tmcft of water from the Bhavanisagar Dam in four intervals starting from January 7

TIRUPPUR : Small dairy farmers have been hit after several thousand hectares of pasture land have dried up due to the summer heat throughout Tiruppur district. S Saraswathi, a farmer from Palladam said, I own just three cows. As a pack of green costs Rs 25, I completely depend on the pasture land around my house. However, the scorching heat has dried up all the grass in the pasture lands for several kilometres. Earlier, when I let my cows graze they kept wandering around but now due to the unbea

CHENNAI: Heatwave conditions continue to prevail over north interior districts of Tamil Nadu where the mercury went up several degrees above normal on Monday. Dharmapuri recorded its highest temperature in the past eight years on Monday, but Erode topped the chart with a sizzling 43 degree Celsius. The regional meteorological centre (RMC) in Chennai has issued a temperature warning till April 26. Due to high temperatures and humid conditions, hot and uncomfortable weather is likely at isolated p

CUDDALORE: The Srimushnam police in Cuddalore late on Monday filed a case against state BJP president K Annamalai under three sections of IPC for sharing a post on X (Formerly Twitter) which alleged that a woman was murdered near Chidambaram on the poll day on Friday for seeking support for BJP. The police had booked three individuals, including a person identified as Sinha who operates a twitter handle in support of right-wing ideologies, earlier on Monday for falsely sharing posts on WhatsApp

CHENNAI: Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Monday clarified that the periodic provisional turnout figures that were provided by his office on polling day was based on projections from figures entered in a mobile application by Presiding Officers (POs) in polling stations across the state. Sahoo offered these clarifications after wide variations between provisional polling figures and final figures led to a lot of confusion on Friday. In an interaction with reporters on Monday, he stres

NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government filed its objections in the Supreme Court on Monday, pertaining to the Survey of India (SOI) report on the construction of the mega car parking project near the Mullaiperiyar dam, and sought rejection of the report. The government affidavit was in response to the SOI report filed in the Supreme Court on March 5 in a sealed cover stating that the park is not constructed within the leased water area and does not affect the water reserve areas. The original suit

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has granted powers to the chief secretary to sanction the appearance of the advocate general (AG) or additional advocate generals in the Madras High Court. The power was earlier vested with ministers heading the departments. A Government Order to this effect was passed last month to streamline the process of sanctioning the appearance of the AG or additional advocate generals in order to avoid unnecessary delays caused while obtaining orders in circulation from

NILGIRIS: Unlike other areas, Nilgiris forest division has witnessed more forest fires so far in this year with one-and-a-half more months left for summer to end. Though most of the fires were man-made, officials cite the high temperature as another reason for the spurt in the incidents. According to four-year data of Tamil Nadu forest department (forest fire occurrences since 2020), which was accessed exclusively by TNIE, less than 30 incidents were recorded between February and May 2023. Howev

COIMBATORE: Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam (MMI), a social outfit, has urged the Tamil Nadu school education department to follow the High Court direction regarding admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in private schools. In a petition submitted to the school education department, MMI president V Eswaran stated that the online RTE admission process commenced on Monday. He stated that the school education department notified that children who live within a one-kilometre radius of the sc

CHENNAI: In a bid to redress taxpayers grievances, the Income Tax department of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry region is making special arrangements for taxpayers and their representatives to meet jurisdictional assessing officers and senior officers. The initiative is part of the Grievance Redressal Month from April 22 (Monday) to May 22. Under it, special attention will be paid towards the quick and effective resolution of grievances filed by taxpayers on the CPGRAM and e-Nivaran portals and throug

CHENNAI: Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court held that full compensation cannot be denied to an accident victims family on the ground that the bike-riding victim had not worn a helmet. He was disposing of an appeal filed by an insurance firm against the award of compensation to the family members of the victim, who was a student, in a fatal accident that occurred in 2010, when a bus rammed into him in Erode district. The insurance companys contention was that it cannot be ordered

CUDDALORE: After a gap of 10 days, the construction works of Vallalar International Centre in Vadalur resumed on Sunday, sparking tension in the area. The followers of Vallalar are awaiting the next hearing at the Madras High Court to determine their next course of action. The state government commenced the construction of the international centre on 3.42 acres of land in February after allocating a fund of Rs 99.9 crore for the project. However, the move faced opposition from the followers of t

CHENNAI: As many as 31 students with hearing impairment from Presidency College have bagged jobs during the placement drive conducted on April 3. According to college officials, in recent memory this is the first time that such bulk recruitment of students with hearing impairment has happened in the college. The college offers BCom, MCom and BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications) courses for students with hearing disabilities. It is a matter of immense joy for us. The move has not only encourag

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Congress will give your wealth to those with more children, jibe, by terming it as a toxic speech that was vile and deplorable. The chief minister was responding to Modis speech in an election rally in Rajasthan where he accused that the Congress, if elected, would distribute peoples wealth to infiltrators and those with more children, in an apparent reference to people belonging to Muslim community. I

TIRUNELVELI: A 15-year-old boy from Madhya Pradesh died after he was trapped in a stone quarrys crusher machine in Vadakku Seliyanallur village near Manur on Sunday. The deceased was identified as V Paramatma, a resident of Dindori in Madhya Pradesh. Paramatma and his co-workers were cleaning the crusher machine when one of the workers turned on the conveyor belt by mistake. Paramatma, who was trapped in the machine, died on the spot, sources said. The crusher units manager, D Perumal, filed a c

TENKASI: A woman belonging to a scheduled caste (SC) community alleged two of her relatives were arrested by the Kadayam police, based on a false theft complaint filed by the wife of a police special sub-inspector. The duo has been in jail since April 12 on charges of stealing Rs 500 from the SSIs wife. Addressing the media, the woman, R Simmi, said, On April 12, my relatives Bavani and Anjali, and I were travelling on a private bus from Surandai to Kadayam to collect used clothes from houses. T

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the Enforcement Directorate to file reply to a petition seeking registration of a case for money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against BJP candidate Nainar Nagendran and Congress candidate C Robert Bruce, both seeking their mandate in Tirunevelveli Lok Sabha constituency, on the basis of cash seizure from the persons related to them. A division bench of Justices MS Ramesh and Sunder Mohan directed the ED to file

CHENNAI: Former minister V Senthil Balaji was produced before the Principal Sessions and Special Court for PMLA Cases on Monday and was served the copies of bank documents regarding the money-laundering case registered against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the Enforcement Directorate. He was taken from the Puzhal Central Prison to the Principal Sessions Court amid tight security where he was served with the document copies as sought by him. Principal Sessions Judge S Alli a

CHENNAI: Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and BJPs state president K Annamalai have condemned the state government over the increasing drug menace in Tamil Nadu. In a press release, Panneerselvam expressed concern over the recent attacks on a state-run transport corporation crew in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district, and on police personnel in Kannagi Nagar, Chennai. He took a dig at the DMK-led state government for its lackadaisical approach in tackling the menace. He urged the state governm

CHENNAI: The first bench of Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad on Monday dismissed a petition filed by a BJP functionary seeking disqualification of C Manickam Tagore, the Congress partys candidate from Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency, for allegedly distributing tokens to influence the voters. The petition was filed by C Selvakumar, president of BJPs IT Wing in Virudhunagar district. He stated the supporters of the Congress candida

MADURAI: As the Chithirai festival at the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple is set to conclude on Tuesday, the temple car procession that is on its way to the Vaigai witnessed great pomp in Madurai on Monday. Several thousands thronged the Maasi streets on the eleventh day of the ongoing festival, while others gathered on rooftops to catch a glimpse of the divine spectacle. Ever since the festival was kickstarted on April 12, Madurai city has donned the attire and aura of a bride. This met

COIMBATORE: BJP functionaries in Sulur complained to the district collector on Monday accusing election officials of placing EVMs not in the order prescribed by EC. They said it was a deliberate attempt to divert votes against BJP and demanded a re-poll in seven polling booths in the constituency. In the complaint, R Ravikumar, president of BJP Sulur East Mandal stated that the name of BJP candidate K Annamalai and his symbol Lotus were given first in the EVM machine as per the alphabetical orde

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporations (CCMC) town planning department removed encroachments from 21 cents of land worth about Rs 10 crore in RS Puram, which was encroached for 35 years, on Sunday based on a recent Madras High Court order. The civic bodys 21 cents of land on VCV layout in RS Puram was originally a 40-foot wide road, but it was encroached by a businessman for the past 35 years. Besides encroaching it, the businessman had rented out a portion of the land for Rs 95,

COIMBATORE: Coimbatore International Airport handled more domestic and international passengers during the previous fiscal year compared to 2022-23, and has registered an increase of 13.6 %. According to sources in the Airports Authority of India (AAI), a total of 29.04 lakh domestic and international passengers travelled in 2023-24 and in 2022-23, 25.57 lakh passengers used the Coimbatore airport. Out of the 29.04 lakh passengers, 2.11 lakh were international passengers and 26.93 lakh were dome

DHARMAPURI: The invasive shrub Prosopis juliflora has spread on the dried-up Annasagaram Lake in Dharmapuri. The water body is dying a slow death with lack of water, pollution and overgrowth of the shrub, locally known as seemai karuvelam. Local residents have now urged the PWD-Water Resources Department (WRD) to take steps to clear the overgrowth of prosopis juliflora in summer itself. Clearing the overgrowth would improve the lakes storage. Works could be undertaken easily as the lake is dry o

KRISHNAGIRI: Despite voter awareness campaigns conducted by the district adminisration, Krishnagiri recorded 71.50% polling as against the 75. 95% recorded in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Apart from poll boycott in hilly region, few tribal region and rural areas recorded good turnout whereas urban areas recorded poor polling. A polling station at G Nagamangalam village in Bargur assembly constituency (AC) recorded the lowest turnout with just 210 people out of 620 voters casting their votes . The s

TIRUPPUR: At least 40% of the 2,000 shops and commercial establishments in Tiruppur city remained shut after workers who went home to cast their votes are yet to return. Kongu Traders and Shopkeepers Association president K Ramesh told TNIE, Though we were happy to send our workers to their native places to vote, many of them did not return on Saturday. Most of the workers are from Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, and Pattukottai Sivaganga Tirunelveli. They have extended their leaves. Some

ERODE: A case of suspicious death has been registered in connection with the recovery of the burnt body of a 72-year-old farmer near Perundurai in Erode district. The deceased C Palaniswami was a resident of Para Valasu, near Pungampadi, in Perundurai. His body was found on a bed in front of the farmhouse on Sunday morning. Police suspect he was murdered. Palaniswami owned four acres of agricultural land in the same area. His wife Maragatham had been living separately for some years due to confl

COIMBATORE: More and more vehicles with blue and red emergency vehicle lighting can be seen on the roads. The usage of such strobe lights was particularly more visible and rampant in the recent Lok Sabha election campaigns. The practice is becoming rampant as anyone can buy these VIP lights at local accessories shops and online. While the law prohibits the use of blue and red flash lights on any private vehicle, several people have started to use them on their vehicles, thereby baffling police a

A 74-year-old elderly woman, who arrived at the Kaniyanur Government High School polling station in Ranipet on Friday, was in a dilemmawhom to vote for as she received money from one party when her heart was with another candidate. Finally, after many hours of confusion and last-minute panic, her guilty conscience wonshe voted for the party that bribed her. However, despite all this, she expressed hope that dharma would win. Granny, gods are not on the candidate list! DJ party! AIADMK cadre, wh

THENI/TENKASI/KANNIYAKUMARI: In the wake of the bird flu outbreak in Kerala, officials in Theni, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts have intensified the adoption of preventive measures across Tamil Nadu-Kerala borders. In Kanniyakumari, vehicles laden with poultry and poultry products coming from Kerala were denied entry into the district, and sent back to the neighbouring state. Three teams of Kanniyakumari animal husbandry department officials have been tasked to ensure surveillance at the Ka

MADURAI: The Madurai district police are on the lookout for a gang who allegedly hurled a tiffin-box country-made bomb and grievously hacked a 28-year-old man over business motives in Keelavalavu village in the night hours of Friday. The injured person, identified as V Naveen of Rajaveethi in Keelavalavu, lost the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in the attack, and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Madurai. According to sources, the incident took place when Naveen was sit

CUDDALORE: A clash between two groups resulted in the death of a woman near Chidambaram, escalating tensions in the area. Police have arrested five people, including a woman, and an investigation is underway. According to sources, the incident stemmed from long-standing dispute between K Jayakumar, his brother K Jaishankar (50) of Pakkirimaniyam village near Srimushnam, Cuddalore district, and their relative K Kalaimani (35) and J Ravi (45). The dispute revolved around issues related to local bo

CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday condemned the state police department for the alleged custodial death of Santhakumar in Sevvapet police station in Tiruvallur district. In a press statement, Palaniswami expressed his shock over the incident and charged that the number of custodial deaths has been increasing ever since the DMK came into power but the government is not taking any step to control it. He urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to issue clear directives to th