CHENNAI: IIT-Madras will host the 9th annual international edition of Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youths (SPIC MACAY) festival from May 20 to 26. The institute had previously hosted the convention twice -- 1996 and 2014, a statement said. Renowned artistes will perform at the event, which will witness the participation of over 1,500 students. The convention is open to only school and college students who have registered for the event. Accommodation and

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice to the state government seeking a reply to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition praying for safe footpaths for pedestrians and bus shelters for commuters in Chennai city. The vacation bench of Justices PT Asha and N Senthilkumar directed the state government, Greater Chennai Corporation and the other respondent authorities to file the reply by May 29 and adjourned the petition. The Public Interest Litigation was filed by G Devadoss Gandhi

CHENNAI: An illegal animal boarding facility functioning under pathetic conditions in the middle of a residential locality in Kattupakkam was busted on Thursday and 14 malnourished dogs bearing multiple injuries and skin infections were rescued. Independent animal rescuers and members of the Tamil Nadu Animal Welfare Board with the help of police shifted the dogs, including three puppies, to two shelters for necessary care and immediate treatment. TNIE visited this boarding facility run by Swarn

CHENNAI : What if you could vent out your feelings with someone without the fear of being judged? What if you had someone who could listen to you without any bias? A person who could see you without actually seeing you? This is what MyRafiky an organisation that promotes mental health positivity, and fosters the development of a friendly community for mental well-being offers with their novel blindfolded conversation sessions, in which people get to share their feelings with a stranger while b

CHENNAI: We all grew up listening to the glorious tales of how our freedom fighters put their lives at stake and how the torchbearers in various fields brought name and fame to the country with their works. But wasnt it weird to note that not a lot of womens names were woven into these narratives? Well, here are three authors, Anwesha Senguptha, Supurna Banerjee, and Simantini Mukhopadhyay, reshaping this notion as they talk about the tale of 30 revolutionary women and their contributions in the

CHENNAI : Knowing no bounds of imagination, kids of ages five to 10 gathered with their parents on Sunday at Lil Trails, Adyar, to watch, learn, and participate. These tiny tots were seated on a small bench in a well-lit room with walls doodled with animal figures, tapping their eager little feet in anticipation for a symphony of storytelling and immersive theatre, an artistic blend of creativity and social messaging. Crea Play in collaboration with Lil Trails organised an interactive theatre pe

CHENNAI : LOrigine du Monde (The Origin of the World), an 1866 oil painting by Gustave Courbet, is a masterpiece that has enthralled many, and repulsed many too. It depicts a nude in detail: thighs open, bedsheet lifted up and one breast visible, the vulva front and centre. That vulva is not a stylised depiction, as seen in numerous ancient sculptural forms from around the world that predate this work (from European sheela na gigs to Indian yonis), nor is it an insinuation. It is realistic: fles

CHENNAI: In light of a 250-tonne iron hoarding falling on a petrol bunk in Mumbai and killing 15 people, Chennai corporation commissioner J Radhakrishnan has instructed officials to ensure that all illegal hoardings are removed in the city. A special drive can be held for inspecting the structural stability of banners and hoardings if the owners claim to have permission or legal protection, he told officials, adding that public spaces should be the focus of the drive. During a routine review, th

CHENNAI: A one-year-old boy died after a portion of a sunshade collapsed on him when he was playing outside his house on Tuesday evening. The boys mother, who was nearby when the incident occurred, is currently under treatment for injuries. According to the police, the boy was identified as M Kabilan. The police said the boys father Manikandan (30) was a construction worker and the house was 50-years-old. On Tuesday evening, Kabilan was playing outside his house and his mother was nearby. As he

CHENNAI: The Chengalpattu district court on Wednesday declined bail to three accused in the Pallikaranai caste killing case. The case pertains to a gang of five allegedly hacking a Dalit youth, G Praveen, to death on February 24 this year. The youth was murdered after he married D Sharmila, who belonged to the OBC-Yadava caste. A case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was filed by the Pallikaranai police and subsequently, five men were arrested. Noting that this was a case of honour

CHENNAI: As much as the jersey, players, ball and the net, the physical setup is important for any sport to thrive, consistency, motivation, dedication, and determination are equally significant for any sportsperson to succeed. These attributes make have led Kaviya M, Sivapriya C and Ananthi A to be shortlisted for the Under 20 Womens India Camp (Volleyball), and Prithika S for the Under 18 Womens India Camp (Volleyball). Staying at the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) hostel, t

CHENNAI: At the age of 13, ace Indian rider Kavin Samaar Quintal was drawn into motorsports, thanks to his grandfather Pratap Kumar and uncles Krish Kumar and Kirthan Kumar. The motorsports buffs have participated in the motor races at Sholavaram and Sriperumbudur tracks. Watching the races that his uncles participated in made him also choose the sport. Following in their track, Kavin made a stunning debut in the 2024 FIM JuniorGP World Championship taking a top-10 finish in the Stk European cla

CHENNAI: City corporation schools registered a pass percentage of 80.08 while government schools in the state recorded a pass percentage of 85.75 in class 11 examination on Tuesday. Pass percentage of boys in corporation schools stood at 70.98 and girls at 87.24. Keerthika V of Pulla Avenue Girls High School secured 592 out of 600, the highest among all corporation school students. She also scored the highest marks last year in the class 10 board exams in corporation schools (497). Her father, V

CHENNAI: The priest of a popular temple in Parrys Corner was booked by the Virugambakkam police on Monday for allegedly raping a woman after making her consume a spiked drink. According to a complaint filed by the woman, Karthick Munusamy, the priest, later promised to start a life together by tying her a thali, but coerced her to abort her foetus and also tried to push her into having sex with another man in return for money. Though the incidents allegedly took place in late 2022 and early 2023

NEW DELHI: One of the most widely circulated stories from my childhood revolved around astronaut Neil Armstrong allegedly converting to Islam after hearing the azaan upon landing on the moon. It was said that his conversion led to his exclusion from mainstream media and subsequent space missions. For many Muslims, it was a moment of great pride the God we worshipped seemingly affirmed by a White man on the moon. Had people not believed this story, they might have questioned the Americans about

CHENNAI: Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (free radicals) can be generated endogenously (by mitochondria, peroxisomes, and phagocytic cells) and exogenously (by pollution, UV exposure, xenobiotic compounds, and cigarette smoke). The negative effects of free radicals are neutralised by antioxidant molecules synthesised in our body, like glutathione, uric acid, or ubiquinone, and those obtained from the diet, such as vitamins C, E, and, A, and flavonoids. Different microelements like selenium

CHENNAI : Mustard seeds, mor molaga (buttermilk chillies), pacha molaga (green chillies) and curry leaves. For over 70 years, these are the ingredients that have gone into my thayir saadam (curd rice). And four generations of my family relish every bit of it, says Meenakshi with a proud smirk. Sitting confidently in an old wooden chair, the 96-year-old great-grand-paati of four smiles wide with excitement, her eyes twinkling with childlike mischief the moment she hears the word curd rice. In the

CHENNAI: HCL along with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) announced new initiatives in the HCL Squash Podium Program. HCL National Doubles Championship has been revived after a gap of 17 years. The event will go on till today. It is the first event planned as a part of Squash Podium Program at the Indian Squash Academy, Chennai. The championship is bringing together a pair of top-seeded players including Abhay Singh with Velvan Senthil Kumar, Pooja Arthi with Rathika S, competing in

CHENNAI: The Kumaran Nagar police booked four persons, including two police personnel, on Monday for cheating a woman cop of Rs 40 lakh under the pretext of getting her higher returns through online trading. Police said the accused had returned Rs 10 lakh out of the total Rs 50 lakh they took from the woman. The accused have been identified as Muthulakshmi, who was sacked from police service a few months ago, her brother Soundarapandian, Krishna Prashanth, head constable (crime wing) at Thousand

CHENNAI: Five men were killed in a road accident near Kalpakkam along the East Coast Road (ECR) in Chengalpattu district on Tuesday night. The police said that they were returning to Chennai from Puducherry when the car in which they were travelling hit a stray cow that suddenly crossed the road. In the impact, the driver lost control of the car and rammed into a tree that was beside the road. While three of them died on the spot, two of them succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. The dece

CHENNAI: A 20-year-old college student, who also worked as a part-time auto driver, was hacked allegedly by three men in broad daylight near Tambaram on Sunday evening. The suspects, who surrendered at the Chitlapakkam police station on Sunday night, were initially arrested for attempt to murder, but the section was altered to IPC 302 after the victim succumbed to his injuries early Monday morning. Police said the deceased, Udhayakumar, had differences with one of the suspects over an autoricksh

CHENNAI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has shelved its plan to build a dedicated two-lane corridor on the Chennai bypass connecting Puzhal to Perungalathur. Official sources said the decision stemmed from concerns that it could encourage reckless driving within the designated two-wheeler lane. The initial plan was to create a dedicated lane for bike riders and regulate their movement, as they have been negotiating from all three lanes on the carriageway, leading to accidents. H

CHENNAI: As an ode to the yesteryear stalwarts of theatre, every year Dharini Komal, director and owner of Komal Theatre, presents five short plays by five eminent playwrights. This year, too, on May 10, she brought to the stage, Sirukathaikal Medaiyil, to celebrate the works of T Janakiraman, R Chudamani, Sujatha, Komal Swaminathan and Indira Parthasarathi with the theme Padaipalikalai Kondaduvom. The first play staged was Akbar Shastri, a short story written by Janakiraman. It was about a trai

CHENNAI: While not really a womens game as I have found many men very deft at playing the game, the fact remains that almost every young girl of my generation and many of the subsequent generations have grown up playing five stones. Its a simple game and I remember picking up the blue metal stones that would lie on the side of the road for construction. Great care was taken to ensure the stones were carefully selected for size and shape. Although many had sharp edges, as we played the game, the

CHENNAI: Versatility may well be the middle name of Devi Jerina, who for over three decades, had taken a sabbatical from the Tamil stage. The cheerful news for her die-hard fans is of her return to working on the project Kaikeyi. Over 8,000 stage shows, rubbing shoulders with stalwarts SV Ramadas, RS Manohar, SA Ashokan, Jaishankar, Vijayapuri Anandan, and their ilk, this dubbing artiste in movies had left an indelible mark in television and movies. According to noted playwright KP Arivanandam,

CHENNAI: A tribute to singer MS Subbulakshmi, a compelling tale of a just married woman, caught in the quagmire of her mothers deceitful mind and the new home, a tale of a school teacher fulfilling his childhood desires, and a few social plays the ten days of the 33rd annual Kodai Nataka Vizha had something for everyone. The dramas that were presented on stage included Surukku Pai helmed by Koothapirans grandson R Vignesh, a story about a grandson stealing his grandmothers belongings; Vallamai

CHENNAI: Scattering of loose gravel on Velachery main road near Pallikaranai as part of the work to raise its height, has left the stretch prone to accidents. On Saturday night, a man commuting via this patch injured himself after he lost control of the bike and fell onto the gravel, bruising his face and hands. The state highways department had decided to increase the road height as a measure to prevent flooding in the area. The substandard civic work has led to the accident on Saturday. Loose

CHENNAI: Two elderly women who were sleeping outside a house near Ashok Nagar were injured after a car, driven by a woman in an inebriated state, ran over them on Saturday night. According to Guindy Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) police, the woman took the narrow road as per the direction provided by Google Maps. The accused, Vaishali Patil (48) of Maharashtra who was staying at her relatives house at Kodambakkam, was arrested. She had taken the relatives car for a drive late Saturday night. A

CHENNAI: To prevent school and college students from travelling on the footboard, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has installed automatic doors on over 900 buses across the city. Additionally, glass panels have been installed on windows near the entry and exit stairs of buses, thereby restricting access to the rods that footboard travellers use for hanging. The retrofitting works on both deluxe and ordinary service buses, which commenced in February this year, ended recently. The me

CHENNAI: Dots, dashes, demarcations. These arbitrary thin lines that crisscross ocean and land, arguably teach us our first idea of global boundaries, during dreary geography classes. Dots, dashes, us vs them. Boundaries leak beyond maps, and spill into the world, brewing hateful divides. Hurtling past the boundaries of a map, Thangboilal Vaiphei and Andrew, like many citizens from Manipur, cross through National Highway 102B, to reach Churachandpur. The wobbly road of 102B is the only way for t

CHENNAI: When Pasal was arrested by Sub-Inspector Janarthanan for alleged possession of 1.1kg ganja near a low-income settlement in Triplicane, he was 24, Mumbai Indians had just won their first IPL trophy, Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and both J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi were alive. By the time he was acquitted last month, Singh had long retired from politics, the two Dravidian leaders are dead, MI had won the IPL five times and Pasal had marked his 34th birthday behind bars. Elev

CHENNAI: The collection of data to prepare the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), a long-term vision document that provides the strategy for integrated development of land use and transport planning in the Chennai Metropolitan Area for 5,904 Sq.km, was a big challenge for Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA). The authority cut down the time to prepare the roadmap by seeking help from Tangedco in collecting data. According to sources, the lack of current land use plan was a ca

CHENNAI: As part of ECR expansion under Bharatmala project, NHAI is carrying out a major bridge work inside Odiyur lake, for which tonnes of debris and earthen material are being dumped in the waterbody. While NHAI officials say all necessary clearances have been obtained, environmentalists demand protection for Odiyur lake from future land diversion as it is a biodiversity hotspot and attracts close to one lakh migratory birds annually. They say Odiyur is as important as Point Calimere and Veda

CHENNAI: A 54-year-old daily wage labourer who was caught for drunk driving near Teynampet attacked the traffic police after one of them informed the persons wife that he was detained on Friday night. According to sources, the policemen initially asked the man to leave his bike and walk back home. A tow vehicle was also called to take away the bike. When police realised that the man might not be able to walk home safely, one of the personnel called the persons wife to arrange for a vehicle. Howe

CHENNAI: Anna University Vice-Chancellor R Velraj emphasised the importance of acquiring field-related software proficiency alongside regular education, while delivering the graduation day address at Sairam Engineering College and Sri Sairam Institute of Technology on Friday. He encouraged the students to learn software skills alongside their academic education to improve their employability. A total of 1,474 engineering graduates, including 165 postgraduate students, received their degrees from

CHENNAI: The class 10 pass percentage in corporation schools in the city has again fallen short of the overall state average. While the state average stood at 91.55%, the corporation schools managed only 79.1%, which is slightly lower than last years figure of 79.60%. Official sources said that while many corporation schools in the core city area fared better than last year, the schools that were handed over to the corporation from extended areas performed poorly, bringing down the overall pass

CHENNAI: Hit first, hit hard, and keep hitting victory will be yours. These words of his father kept ringing in Colonel Jangvir Lambas head as he took the uphill task of participating in the 38th edition of the Marathon des Sables, known as the toughest race on Earth. The race, covering 253.5 km done in various stages in Morocco, deep within the Sahara Desert, saw 52-year-old Lamba emerge victorious. Despite the sheer difficulty level associated with the ultramarathon extreme temperatures of 4

CHENNAI: The girls went through days of huddling together in the classrooms with textbooks sprawled across the tables at Government Girls Higher Secondary School Perambur. Dissecting the intricacies of Accounting and delving into the depths of Mathematics, the students exchanged notes and encouraged each other to prepare well. Knowing when to take a pause in between their study sessions, they wove in breaks where they transformed the same classroom into a dance floor, shedding the weight of worr

CHENNAI: Traveling in the metro, I was reliving the events that occurred an hour ago. I had left my home upset. My eyes welled up and the heart could open floodgates anytime. The uneasiness started looming as my breathing became difficult. I was so much in fear and could not think of anything. I started hyperventilating when a co-passenger held my hand and assured me everything will be alright. Her voice was calming and her words comforting. This comfort given immediately to the person experienc

CHENNAI: In 2019, V Pavithra (14) and her younger sister Keerthiga moved from Devalur village in Vellore to Chennai, along with their father, in search of a better life. However, with just the fathers meagre income, they couldnt even afford a rented house in the city. The girls, then aged 9 and 4, were forced to live on the pavement. Their lives took a U-turn when Karunalaya, an NGO, rescued and moved them to a shelter for homeless girls in Tondiarpet. Pavithra is now a little rockstar with her

CHENNAI: A student from the Nungambakkam Girls Higher Secondary School, B Sadhana, has topped the class 10 public examination among Chennai Corporation school students. Having scored 492 out of 500, with centums in science and social science, I am extremely happy, she told TNIE. The 15-year-old lives in a one-room housing board tenement in Nungambakkams Pushpa Nagar, with her parents, sister and grandfather. Her father P Balamurugan is a data entry operator, her mother B Vijayalakshmi a homemake

CHENNAI: Two men and a minor boy were arrested by Thiruvanmiyur police for allegedly killing a 58-year-old woman by slashing her neck with a knife inside her house. The suspects were identified as R Vignesh (20), M Dheena (21) and a 17-year-old boy. Vignesh and Dheena used to come to the boys house when his parents were away and the trio would consume liquor. Recently, the minor had also brought his girlfriend to the house. His neighbour, S Ponni (58) of Ranganathapuram, allegedly informed all t

CHENNAI: The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) is likely to announce the service provider which will develop and operate mobile applications for facilitating multi-modal journey planner and QR-based unified ticketing in the Chennai Metropolitan Area soon after the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha election is lifted. The tender to select the service provider for integrated ticketing was announced earlier this year. Sources said the evaluation and finalisation of the

CHENNAI: A 30-year-old man allegedly hacked his elder brother to death and surrendered at the Ponneri police station on Wednesday night. The deceased, Sivakumar (33), was allegedly in a relationship with the mother-in-law of his younger brother. According to Ponneri police, Sivakumar earned a living as a lorry driver. He was married and they had two children. On Wednesday evening, he was in his fathers house when some men, including his brother Devendhran, came to the spot and argued with him. W

CHENNAI: A 33-year-old travel agency employee died by suicide on Thursday allegedly due to mounting debts. According to the Egmore police, the deceased, M Gopinath, had a debt of at least Rs 1.25 lakh which he had borrowed from friends and a mobile loan application. Gopinath was unmarried and used to live with his parents in Pudupet. He had discontinued his studies after class 10. His parents claimed that he had repaid Rs 40,000 which he had borrowed from a loan application. However, demanding m

CHENNAI: A five-year-old girl, who was attacked by two Rottweiler dogs near Thousand Lights, underwent surgery on Thursday and her condition is stable now. Official sources said the surgery was over by 6 pm without any complications. The child, R Suraksha, had suffered from a torn scalp along with injuries to other parts of the body after she was attacked by the two dogs near a corporation park . Though she seems to be fine physically, she needs trauma counselling to process the enormity of the

CHENNAI: A 54-year-old man from West Mogappair in Chennai was allegedly beaten to death by three men near Salem on Monday. Kundrathur police said the deceased man, K Venkatesan, had taken Rs 12 crore from one of the suspects under the pretext of securing government jobs for some persons. On Sunday, after dropping his younger son Santhosh at a college in Kundrathur for NEET exam, Venkatesan and his wife Lakshmi (40) left for Salem in their car. They had told Santhosh that they were visiting a rel

CHENNAI: Two days after two pet dogs mauled a five-year-old girl at a public park in Thousand Lights, two more cases of dog bite have surfaced in the city. A Pomeranian dog allegedly bit a 10-month-old baby girl at a park of an apartment complex at Thalambur on Saturday and police registered an FIR regarding the attack on Tuesday. The babys father Girish had brought the child on a pram to the park. Meanwhile, Velayudham brought his pet dog to the park on a leash. As the dog was standing near the

CHENNAI: In separate incidents, two elderly women were threatened and attacked inside their houses at RK Nagar and Ashok Nagar by unidentified men on Tuesday. 85-year-old M Saraswathi, who was sleeping at her house in RK Nagar around 12 pm, heard a knock on the door. When she opened the door, two men barged into her home and one of them tried to strangle her. They stole 2.25 sovereigns from the house and locked the door from outside before fleeing, police said. Hearing Saraswathis cry for help,

CHENNAI: An unidentified man disguised himself as a police personnel and allegedly stole 10 sovereigns of gold ornaments from two college students on Tuesday. After classes at a private college near Ambattur, Lokesh and Kavitha (names changed) went to a juice shop near Ambattur Bypass Road in the evening. As they were leaving from the shop, a bike-borne man approached them. Though he was wearing casual clothes, the man told the students that he was a policeman and that they had to give him all t