CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday launched searches in at least six locations in Chennai and one in Katpadi in Vellore district, linked to a money laundering case against S Pandian, former superintendent of Tamil Nadus Department of Environment, who is an who is an accused in a corruption case filed by the State Directorate of Vigilance and Anti- Corruption (DVAC) in FIR. . In December 2020, DVAC had filed the case against Pandian after a surprise check at his office in Tamil

PUDUCHERRY: CPM has urged the Puducherry government to revise the criteria granting reservation only to Origin (indigenous) SCs, who were residing in the UT before 1964 , aligning it with the criteria set for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Most Backward Classes (MBC) which offers reservations to residents who settled in the UT before 2001. In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister N Rangasamy, CPM State Secretary S Ramachandran called the existing 1964 cut-off year for SC reservations unfair

CHENNAI: Three people, including a 17-year-old boy, drowned in the pond of the Vaithya Veeraraghava Perumal Temple in Tiruvallur on Tuesday morning while performing a ritual as part of a religious ceremony, . The deceased were identified as Veeraraghavan (24) from Tenkasi, Venkataraman (19) from Ambattur, and Hariharan (17) from Kundrathur. All three were students at a religious mutt in Selaiyur and were part of a five-member group that had come to the temple for a ceremonial observance. Accordi

PUDUKKOTTAI: Tension prevailed in Vadakadu village near Alangudi after a violent clash broke out following the Muthumariamman temple festival on Monday night, according to sources. Members of the Muthuraja and SC/PR communities, who reportedly had prior enmity, got into a confrontation that escalated when a man from one group was attacked with a sickle by members of the other group. In the ensuing violence, a hut and two two-wheelers were set on fire. A government bus was also vandalized, with i

VILLUPURAM: Kallakurichi Collector M S Prasanth released an admission awareness booklet announcing that the Government Eklavya Model Residential Higher Secondary School in Vellimalai will revert to co-education format on behalf of the department of tribal welfare, on Monday. Collector Prasanth said that the school, located in Kalvarayan Hills, was the first residential school established in Tamil Nadu by the Tribal Welfare Department. Initially co-educational, the school has been functioning in

TIRUNELVELI: Minister for Public Works Department E V Velu said that a public library at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore will soon be built at Palayamkottai. He was speaking to media persons after inspecting various developmental works in Tirunelveli on Monday. The minister, accompanied by collector R Sukumar, visited the proposed library site, which is spread across three acres near the District Industries Centre in Palayamkottai. Velu added that the new library in Tirunelveli would include a

TENKASI: Citing deficient water infrastructure at a government college in Alangulam in Tenkasi district, Tirunelveli MP C Robert Bruce has petitioned Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiaan to sanction Rs 70 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board for establishing a drinking water facility at the institution. In a memorandum submitted to the minister during a recent meeting at the secretariat, Bruce pointed out that over 892 students and staff members of Alangulam Governme

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has stayed further proceedings on the closure report filed by the CBI in an idol theft case, following a petition filed by former Idol Wing IGP Pon Manickavel that it was not filed before the competent court. A case was registered against former DSP Kader Batcha and two police personnel for stealing idols and selling them to a dealer named Deenadayalan for Rs 15 lakh. The case was re-registered and probed by the CBI based on an order passed by the

CHENNAI: Electricity Minister S S Sivasankar on Monday launched a new website www.tngecl.org for the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) to promote green energy initiatives in the state. He also inaugurated a dedicated portal vendor.tnebltd.org for TNEB vendors, and introduced new Human Resources Management (HRM) services for employees through ems.tnebltd.org. According to an official release, the TNGECL website will not only provide detailed information on green energy sour

CHENNAI: The DMKs re-election bid seems stronger than ever before and the party is betting big on welfare schemes to retain power in 2026. Ever since coming to power in 2021 after a decade-long gap, the party led by Chief Minister M K Stalin has invested its time, energy and money into welfare programmes, targeting women and students in particular whose votes can tilt the scales in favour of the Dravidian major. The first big move came within the very first month of assuming office with the in

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is planning to establish a government-run cloud exchange hub, aiming to position the state at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation. The initiative, part of broader efforts to expand Chennais data centre ecosystem, is expected to support research, analytics, and technological advancements. Speaking at the 7th ASSOCHAM Conclave on Smart Datacenters & Cloud Infrastructure, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, the states Minister for Information Technology and

MADURAI: Madurai Aadheenam Harihara Ghanasambantha Desika Paramacharya Swamigal on Monday rejected the clarificiation issued by Kallakurichi police that there was no attempt to murder him during his travel to Chennai on May 2, and said police is acting in a biased manner in the issue. In a two-page press note, the Aadheenam denied that he did not lodge any complaint about the accident. The Aadheenam said he alerted police immediately after the accident and elaborated about it to several police o

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday provided compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to two writers and the legal heirs of three more writers, whose works have been nationalised by the Tamil Nadu government. He presented the cheques to them at the valedictory event of the Tamil Week celebrations, being observed for the first time this year in honour of the eminent poet Bharathidasan. The five writers are Kavikko Abdul Rahman, Mervin, A Pazhani, Ko Ma Kodhandam and Pulavar Ilama Tamilnavan. The

CHENNAI: The state government will soon issue a G.O. declaring May 5 as Traders Day, fulfilling a long-standing demand of businessmen, Chief Minister M K Stalin said. Speaking at a traders conference on Monday, Stalin reiterated his governments commitment to welfare of traders and highlighted several pro-trader initiatives. Stalin said the Dravidian model government has enrolled 88,496 traders in the Tamil Nadu Traders Welfare Board and assured them of continued support. He also made several ann

COIMBATORE: A 80-year-old woman was killed in broad daylight by her grandson, allegedly over a dispute over accident compensation in Sundarapuram on Monday. The victim, Manonmani, was a resident of Sathiyamoorthi Nagar near Mariamman Temple in Kamaraj Nagar. Her son Murugesan died in a road accident three years ago in Velandhavalam. Following Murugesans death, his family was awarded a compensation of Rs 15 lakh. Of this, Rs 6 lakh was given to his widow Lakshmi, while his sons Sivakumar (25) and

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalins Dravidian model of governance continues to win accolades nationally and internationally, with Tamil Nadu emerging as a role model for other states, a statement from the government has said. Flagship schemes like the Chief Ministers breakfast scheme and Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam have earned praise on international platforms, including the United Nations. Tamil Nadu was recently honoured as the Best state for promoting sports at the FICCI TURF 2024 conclave in Ne

TIRUCHY: Days after relocating a statue of the late actor Sivaji Ganesan to Williams Road, the Tiruchy corporation has now planned to shift it away from the new site, citing it had been classified as government poramboke. The statue would be relocated to a private plot of land near the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), said officials. On April 28, the statue was shifted from the Palakkarai roundabout to Williams Road, for it to be unveiled by Chief Minister M K Stalin during h

CHENNAI: Ever since Dravidian politics took root in Tamil Nadu, it has been well established that the state has displayed an inherent tendency to oppose attempts at centralisation of powers by the union government. Fuelled by the strident opposition against Hindi imposition since pre-independence and a strong sense of pride in the Tamil identity, the state has almost stood out among others in its resistance against encroachment on the autonomy of states. Among the two major Dravidian parties, it

CHENNAI: Condemning the manner in which candidates were frisked ahead of NEET, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Monday said that there was violation of rules as a man had to take off his wifes (candidate for NEET) thali for her to take the exam. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, Subramanian referred to Sundays incident at an exam centre in Tiruppur, where a candidate was allegedly asked to remove her thali before entering the hall. It was an ugly situation and an unprecedented

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently imposed Rs 25,000 cost on a history-sheeter from Kanniyakumari for filing a petition over personal vengeance. As the petitioner claimed to be the chairman of an educational trust, Justice B Pugalendhi directed him to pay the cost within a month to the Kanniyakumari chief educational officer, who in turn was instructed to use the amount for the welfare of schools in remote villages. In his petition, J Spurgeon Samuel had alleged that on

CHENNAI: In a rare development pointing to a shift in smuggling tactics, Customs officials at Bengaluru International Airport arrested two Thai women for allegedly attempting to bring in exotic wildlife, including a baby monkey and protected birds, from Thailand into India around three weeks ago. According to sources, the arrests indicate that international wildlife trafficking syndicates based in Thailand and Malaysia may now be employing foreign nationals as carriers to evade detection by Cust

NILGIRIS: A wild tusker triggered panic in Nilakottai Bazaar near Gudalur on Monday morning after it strayed into the residential area, injuring a man, damaging a parked car and storming into buildings before being driven back into the forest. The elephant entered the locality around 7.30 am from the nearby Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and broke into a toilet. The tusker then climbed on the terrace of another building and descended a flight of stairs, damaging an iron grille in the process. H S

COIMBATORE: Collection of fluids in the air sacs of the lungs (pulmonary edema) likely claimed the life of a 26-year-old Kerala-based doctor during trekking at Topslip in Ulanthy forest range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) near Pollachi on Sunday, revealed the postmortem report on Monday. Sources in the Vettaikaranpudur hospital confirmed to TNIE the postmortem of the deceased, Ajzal A Sain, a resident of Thiruvanathapuram, revealed that some fluids were stuck in his lung, causing him breathing

THOOTHUKUDI: A dismissed police constable was arrested in a theft case on Monday for allegedly entering a house, after breaking open its doors, in Vijayarajapuram in Seerkatchi village near Meignanapuram. Sources said the suspect M Karkuvel (33) of Tiruchendur allegedly entered the house of Petchiammal (62) when the latter was not at home. Shocked to notice a man standing in her house, upon her return, Petchiammal screamed, hearing which, several neighbours rushed to the spot and caught hold o

COIMBATORE: Following the murder of an elderly couple living alone in a farmhouse in Erode district recently, the state police department has increased the patrolling units along irrigation canals, as suspects are believed to be using such channels passing through farmland to reach their target. Covering the districts of Tiruppur, Erode, and Coimbatore, which rely on major irrigation projects such as the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP), Lower Bhavani Project (LBP), and Noyyal River irrigation

COIMBATORE: With summer holidays, private schools and play schools are organising special camps violating norms due to the laxity of educational officers, allege activists. Citing the alleged drowning of a four-year-old girl in a water tank at a play school in Madurai last week, they demanded regulation or a ban on summer camps held by private schools, considering childrens safety. In Coimbatore too, such summer camps for children are now being conducted by private schools without any checks as

COIMBATORE: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has floated a tender for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the 27-km Neelambur Bypass Road , which connects Madukkarai to Neelambur. The stretch, a vital part of the Salem-Cochin National Highway, was recently handed over to NHAI by L&T ahead of schedule, following talks facilitated by the Union government. Sources said NHAI already has a DPR in the works for the widening project and will complete it in the coming months. The road, ori

COIMBATORE/THANJAVUR: Rain accompanied by unusually strong gale and thunderstorms uprooted banana plants on several acres, upended electric poles, and snapped power lines in Coimbatore and delta districts on Sunday, leaving thousands of houses without power till Monday afternoon. In Coimbatore city and neighbouring areas alone, at least 400 localities reported power outage, sources said. Senior electricity board officials said the damage to power infrastructure in Coimbatore city was the worst i

CHENNAI: The University of Western Australia (UWA), one of Australias renowned institutions, is planning to establish a branch campus in Tamil Nadu a decision poised to deepen educational and diplomatic ties between the two countries. The move follows high-level discussions held between UWA Chancellor Diane Smith-Gander and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in Chennai on Monday. The campus proposal also includes Maharashtra, with both states identified as high-performing economies ripe for in

THOOTHUKUDI: Thoothukudi police nabbed four persons, allegedly involved in stealing diamonds from a merchant from Chennai, at Pudur Pandiyapuram toll plaza in Thoothukudi in the early hours on Monday. The suspects were identified as L John Loyd (34), S Vijay (24), R Rathish Kumar (28) of Chennai and G Arun Pandiyarajan (32) of Paramakudi. Initially, they were taken to the SIPCOT police station. The four suspects, following an inquiry, are being escorted to Chennai. Sources said that a group of m

VILLUPURAM: Surrounded by rare literary treasures and century-old volumes, R Mohana Sundaram has turned his home into a haven for book lovers. With over 4,100 books including more than 100 rare editions his personal library has earned him the District Collectors Best Home Library Award in Villupuram in February this year. Now 63, Sundaram is a literature graduate and currently works as a manager in a private school. His journey with books began during college, where regular visits to the libra

TIRUPATTUR: A 10-year-old boy died drowned in a lake in Chinna Ponneri near Jolarpet in Tirupattur district on Saturday. The child, identified as S Bhuvanesh, was the son of M Sukumar, who runs a grocery shop, and Sathya. Bhuvanesh was the youngest of the couples three sonsthe other two being Akhilesh and Abinesh. According to sources, Bhuvanesh, a Class 5 student at a private school, had gone out to play with his friends on Saturday evening, as schools are currently closed for the holidays. Whe

CUDDALORE: Six persons, including a former functionary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), were arrested on Saturday in connection with a counterfeit currency racket that surfaced at a farmhouse near Tittakudi, police said. The main accused, P Selvam (39) of Atharnatham village under Ramanatham police limits, was previously involved in an assault case. Last month, a police team attempting to arrest him at his farmhouse found he and his associates had fled. During a search, officers seiz

COIMBATORE: After Chennai and Madurai, the health department has taken steps to form special flying squads under the drug administration department in all districts across the state. Officials from the department said preliminary work has started to launch the squads, and it is designated to curb drug abuse cases based on intelligence inputs. During the discussion on the Demands for Grants in the Assembly last month, Health Minister Ma Subramanian announced that they would launch special flying

COIMBATORE: After years of delays and design revisions, the long-pending flyover project at Singanallur junction on Tiruchy Road in Coimbatore is finally inching forward. The National Highways wing of the State Highways Department has submitted a revised estimate of Rs 180 crore to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeking approval and funding to kickstart construction. The Singanallur junction, a notorious traffic bottleneck, was one of three critical intersections in the city

PUDUCHERRY: AIADMK Puducherry State Secretary A Anbazhagan on Sunday criticised Congress leaders V Narayanasamy and V Vaithilingam for making baseless allegations against the NDA government and misusing the name of former PM Rajiv Gandhi for political purposes. Speaking to reporters at the AIADMK office, Anbazhagan said the former chief ministers were misleading the public with unfounded claims. The NDA has a clean track record. These allegations are politically motivated. AIADMK strongly condem

DHARMAPURI: In 2019, the state government had announced the Pulikarai-Jarthalav project at a cost of Rs 30.38 crore to bring surplus water from the Chinnar river basin to Pulikarai lake through a canal system. The project was aimed at tackling acute water shortage impacting Palacode taluk and improving irrigation area of 432.8 acres. Six years later, this project is yet to be implemented, and farmers, aggrieved by the delay, urged the administration to take steps to hasten the project. Speaking

DHARMAPURI: Tomato and mango cultivators in Belrampatti village of Palacode taluk have urged the horticulture department to assess damages caused by summer showers and provide compensation. Last week, the district received a spell of summer showers, giving much-needed relief from the heatwave. However, farmers from Belrampatti in Palacode said that the summer showers have destroyed many acres of tomato and mango crops. Speaking to TNIE, S Chinnasamy from Palacode, said, The rains on Friday and S

KRISHNAGIRI: Ten persons near Hosur were arrested for cheating a woman in a treasure hunt scam on Sunday night. The woman lost Rs 7 lakh.The accused have been identified as A Sasikumar (61), N Sasikumar (48), A Sankar Ganesh (43), P Selvaraj (61) of Tiruppur, B Prabhakar (37) of Dindigul, N Rajkumar (41) of Salem, S Natarajan (48) and P Muthukumaravel (48) of Cuddalore, S Prakash Gupta (68) of Andhra Pradesh and K Lakshmikanth (58) of Bengaluru. Police said, The complainant K Radhamma (46) of Sa

NILGIRIS: A 23-year-old migrant worker died and four others were injured when a pickup in which they were travelling slid into a tea field at Thuratti near Ooty on Sunday morning. The dead woman, Dhasmikha, is a native of Jharkhand. She was residing with her husband at Mahadev Ketti-Palada, said police sources. Dhasmikha, her husband Mahadev and four others were returning to Ooty in a van after working in a carrot field in Kozhimattam. When the van reached Thuratti, its driver A Sathish (31) los

DINDIGUL: The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board), Dindigul, owes Tangedco (Dindigul) Rs 6.7 crore in arrears for power consumption until financial year 2024-25, a reply to an RTI TNIE filed has revealed. While the power utility mentions having sent frequent reminders and notices in this regard, TWAD Board officials blame the delay in payment of bills by local bodies it supplies to for the inability to clear the arrears. According to the reply to TNIE s RTI query, Dindigul TW

NILGIRIS: Two persons from Kerala were arrested by the Nilgiris forest division personnel on charges of killing a gaur in Kallakorai village near Ooty on Saturday night. The duo allegedly shot dead the animal for its meat. The culprits were identified as A Aneesh Mon (43) and M Zissar (45), residents of Vazhikakadavu in Nilambur in Kerala. After killing the animal near the tea estate, the duo was returning in a pickup van when locals gathered at the spot after hearing the gunshots. They alerted

NAGAPATTINAM: Country boat fishers in Seruthur and Vellapallam of the district stayed put on shore for the second consecutive day on Sunday as part of their protest against the mid-sea attack, allegedly by Sri Lankan sea pirates, on their men while they were fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Friday. Over 20 fishermen from Vedaranyam, Seruthur and Akkaraipettai in the district who ventured into sea in four groups were attacked by suspected SL pirates late on Friday.

CHENNAI: The announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on conducting a caste-wise census alongside the upcoming population census is a major political victory for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai on Sunday. Addressing a public meeting titled Save the Constitution in Chennai, organised as part of a nationwide campaign by the Congress, Selvaperunthagai said the caste census had been a long-standing demand of Rahul Gandhi to ensure fair reservation and equalit

CHENNAI: Slamming AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for claiming that the AIADMK-BJP alliance was formed happily, DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi on Sunday accused the principal opposition party of betraying Tamil Nadus interests by aligning with the saffron party. Palaniswami must list what benefits he secured for Tamil Nadu through this alliance. In contrast, the DMK, as part of the Congress-led UPA from 2004 to 2014, brought several landmark initiatives to the state, Bharat

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held that for conviction under charges of criminal conspiracy, it is not necessary that the accused should have direct involvement in the crime or be physically present at the crime scene. A bench of justices G Jayachandran and R Poornima observed so while confirming the conviction of eight persons for the murder of a man in Madurai in 2014 while hearing a batch of appeals filed by them challenging the life sentence imposed by a sessions co

COIMBATORE: The Vice Chancellor (V-C) search committees for four more universities will be constituted this week, higher education secretary C Samayamoorthy told TNIE. This follows the setting up of V-C search committees for Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, Periyar University in Salem, and Bharathidasan University in Tiruchy, all of which come under the state higher education department. A couple of days ago, the state government released a fresh notification constituting the V-C search comm

CHENNAI: A majority of the students who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday described the paper as moderately difficult. While the physics section was considered tough, chemistry had a few tricky questions, and biology, though relatively easy, was time-consuming. Given the overall difficulty compared to previous years, students and coaching centres expect the cut-off marks to drop, at least marginally. According to sources, nearly 1.5 lakh students had regist

CHENNAI: Thousands of teenage ration card holders in Tamil Nadu are at risk of losing access to subsidised food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as outdated Aadhaar biometrics recorded years ago have stalled their e-KYC verification. According to official sources, most of the affected teenagers are school students aged 13 to 17 from economically disadvantaged families. Their Aadhaar biometrics were recorded five to six years ago when they were under the age of 10 and the system

TIRUPPUR: A couple riding home on a two-wheeler with their daughter died after falling into a pit dug up for the construction of a bridge on the DharapuramKangeyam Road in Tiruppur district in the early hours of Sunday. The 12-year-old child, who survived the accident, spent a harrowing four hours in the pit until police arrived and rescued her. Collector T Christuraj directed officials to issue notice to the contractor after visiting the spot as there were neither barricades around the pit nor