CHENNAI: CPI members led by its floor leader, G Palanichamy, on Wednesdya walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly towards the fag end of the sitting, saying that they were not being given adequate opportunity in the house to raise issues affecting the people. Just before the walk-out, the CPI members were engaged in heated exchanges with the ruling party members. Sivapunniyam, a CPI member, raised objections when the Speaker K Kalimuthu, asked a CPI-M member, Mahendran, to speak on the debate on motion of thanks to the Governor for his address. Sivapunniyam wanted that he should be allowed to speak first. Kalimuthu pointed out that he was allowing only those who were left out on Tuesday due to paucity of time. Sivapunniyam's turn would come in the evening when the house meets. But this did not satisfy the member who was supported by his group leader, G Palanichamy. "We have come here only to raise people's issue and not to indulge in polemics like others," Sivapunniyam said without mentioning any party by name. Soon, the ruling party members tried to shout down at the CPI members. At one stage, both Palanichamy and minister P C Ramasamy, sitting opposite to him, were seen engaged in a verbal duel. "We will not be cowed down by such threats from the CPI," Ramasamy said. After CPI walked out, Kalimuthu said it was 'unfair' on the part of members to speak to the electronic media after a walk out, when the proceedings were on.
Jaya blames Karuna, Ramadoss for Cauvery issue
Thursday, January 30, 2003
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday blamed DMK President M Karunanidhi and PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss for the plight of farmers in the Cauvery delta. Intervening during the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address, she told the state assembly that in 1998, when the Cauvery Water Authority was formed, she had voiced her opposition, as it did not have powers. The very purpose of the authority, which was constituted under Supreme Court's instructions to monitor the implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, had not been achieved, she said. She said she had then asked Dr Ramadoss to oppose the move as both AIADMK and PMK had representation in the Union Ministry. But Ramadoss had not opposed the constitution of CRA, leading to the present problem, she said, adding that Karunanidhi had "agreed to the constitution of the CRA, without realising its implications." Crops in the Cauvery delta had withered due to failure of monsoon and non-release of adequate Cauvery water by the Karnataka government.
Use of mobile phones banned in State Assembly
Thursday, January 30, 2003
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly, on Wednesday banned use of cellular phones and pagers by MLAs and the press, inside the Assembly premises. An announcement to this effect was made by the Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu, in the house. He said despite instructions earlier, MLAs and mediapersons, did not switch off the mobile phones and pagers inside the house. Hereafter, nobody would be allowed to carry mobile phones and pagers switched on. The practice is being adopted in the Parliament also. Making a departure from the practice of allowing 20 questions a day during the question hour, even if it exceeded the stipulated one hour time, the Speaker did not allow any questions to be taken up after the one hour question hour was over.
12-year old boy found dead in Mariamman Temple tank
Thursday, January 30, 2003
MADURAI: A 12-year old boy was found dead in the tank of a Mariamman Temple here, early morning on Thursday. Police said the boy was found injured. The body had been seized and sent for postmortem to ascertain whether it was suicide or murder. Early this week an old woman was found dead in the tank. And another man had committed suicide in the same tank in December. This was the third death in the tank in the last one month, police said.
7 get death in Jakkammalpuram violence case
Thursday, January 30, 2003
MADURAI: Seven persons have been sentenced to death and an equal number given life imprisonment by a sessions court here for setting ablaze a bus and killing six persons in a dispute over money at Jakkammalpuram near Tuticorin in 1998. The Tuticorin District and Sessions Judge, Rathinaraj, slapped a fine of Rs 9.69 lakh on all the 14 sentenced in the case and also directed that Rs one lakh be paid to the families of each of the persons who died on March 4, 1998. While fifteen other persons were acquitted, two of the accused died even as the case was being heard. One of those sentenced to life was an AIAMDK member of the Tuticorin district panchayat. Police said a dispute between one Rajan and his married sister after she refused to return the money he had sent to her from Sri Lanka from 1973, led to clashes, in which several persons were injured. On March 4, 1998, Rajan's family members were returning home in a bus after attending a court hearing at Vilathikulam when a gang waylaid them and asked the passengers to get out. However, when six persons, reportedly Rajan's supporters, refused to do so, they were hacked to death and the bus was later set ablaze. Police arrested 31 persons, including two women in the case. Fifty one persons deposed in the court.
Nakeeran reporter arrested in Coimbatore
Thursday, January 30, 2003
The Criminal Investigation Department of the Tamil Nadu police arrested a Coimbatore-based reporter of Nakeeran magazine on Wednesday in connection with the murder of a youth allegedly by forest brigand Veerappan in 1998. A CID officer, a member of the special investigation team formed to nab Veerappan, arrested reporter Makaran alias Krishna Kumar from his residence at Coimbatore at 0530 IST, sources said. The sources alleged that the police was trying to uncover evidence to link not only the reporter with Veerappan, but also Nakeeran editor R R Gopal, who was involved in the negotiations to free Kannada film actor Rajakumar. Alleging that the police had manhandled the reporter, the sources said they had sent telegrams to the Centre, the state government and the Supreme Court informing them about the arrest.
STF nabs two Veerappan associates
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Special Task Force personnel arrested two close associates of brigand Veerappan in Jaageri forests area late last night. Police said on Tuesday that they arrested Joseph and Savariyappan, residents of Martalli, in the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. Both had played a vital role in the kidnapping of former Minister H Nagappa, who was subsequently found dead in the custody of the elusive poacher. Joseph confessed to his role in hatching a conspiracy to abduct Nagappa on August 25 last year and said he had been organising men and material for the brigand in Woddaradodddi, Dinhalli, Kadabur Kobe and Lokanahalli forest areas. Investigations revealed that Joseph had also taken another Veerappan associate Selvam (who was later arrested) in his motorcycle to identify the houses of both Mr Nagappa and also Minister Raju Gowda. They had also prepared the blueprint for kidnapping the 66-year-old Janata Dal leader. Police said the brigand had, in fact, funded Jospeh to purchase a tempo that could be used for the purpose. However, they seized the vehicle for default of payment of registration fees. Joseph had also received Rs two lakh from the brigand for the operations. Savariyappan had played a major role of acting as a conduit between Veerappan and some of the Tamil militant leaders who had come to meet the brigand. Interrogation of the two important members of the brigand could earn vital information about Veerappan operations, they added. Related News
Sasikiran inching towards title
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Sasikiran inching towards title Mumbai, Jan. 29. (PTI): Top seed and Grandmaster K Sasikiran of Tamil Nadu, drew his 18th round match against fifth seed GM Dibyendu Barua of Bengal, to increase his points tally to 14.5 in the 40th men's National "A" Chess Championship here today. In the 28th women's National "A" championship, top seed and WGM S Vijayalakshmi of Tamil Nadu, defeated overnight leader and unseeded Nisha Mohota of Bengal, in the 10th round. Vijayalakshmi, Nisha and third seed R Aarthie, who got a bye, are tied in the top spot with 7.5 points each. In other important matches involving Grandmasters, second seed P Harikrishna of Andhra Pradesh, drew with fourth seed S S Ganguly of Bengal, to move into the second spot with 12.5 points while third seed Abhijit Kunte of Maharashtra, drew with sixth seed IM R B Ramesh of Tamil Nadu. Kunte with 11 points to his credit is in the third spot while S S Ganguly and Ramesh have 10 and 7.5 points respectively. Results (Men's 16th round): S S Soman (5.5) drew with Sriram Jha (6.5); S Kidambi (9) drew with Suvrajit Saha (6.5); Pravin Thipsay (9) beat G B Prakash (8); K Sasikiran (14.5) drew with D Barua (11); Tejas Bakre (9) beat Lanka Ravi (8); P Harikrishna (12.5) drew with S S Ganguly (9.5); M R Venkatesh (10) beat P Mokal (5); Neelotpal Das (10) beat Arvind Shastry (6.5); V Saravanan (4.5) drew ith R Saptarshi (9); Abhijit Kunte (11) drew with R B Ramesh (7.5).
DMK installs new Kannagi statue
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Chennai, Jan. 12. (UNI): The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam installed a statue of Kannagi, the protagonist of the ancient Tamil literary work "Silappadikaram", at its youth wing office here this evening. At a simple but colourful ceremony, DMK president M Karunanidhi, in the presence of general secretary K Anbazhagan, youth wing leader M K Stalin and other party leaders and Tamil scholars unveiled the lifesize bronze statue. The installation of the eight-foot statue by the DMK comes after its agitation protesting against the removal of a 1968-installed Kannagi statue from the Marina by the present AIADMK Government in December 2001 and failure in acceding to the demand to reinstall it at the original location. The party decided to put up the new statue in the Youth Wing office near its party headquarters "Anna Arivalayam" after the authorities declined permission to the party to install the statue on the busy Anna Salai-Teynampet junction, saying that it would hinder traffic movement.
Tamil Cinema 2002: When The Stars Failed
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
2002 was an interesting year for Tamil cinema. First came the hype around Rajnikanth's film Baba. But the film was like a balloon blown so huge that it burst with a bang. It took some time for distributors, theatre owners and Rajni fans to recover from the rude shock. Then, Rajnikanth stunned everyone. He called all the distributors who suffered losses from Baba's failure and compensated their losses in cash. This was the first time in Tamil film history -- perhaps in Indian film history -- that a star had done something like this. The developments that followed Karnataka's refusal to release water from the Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu would make a wonderful script. Director Bharatiraja called all Tamil film artistes to join hands and stop power being sent to Karnataka from the central government's Neyveli power plant, located in Tamil Nadu, in retaliation. Only Rajnikanth objected to what he called a cheap gimmick. An infuriated Bharatiraja started a tirade against Rajnikanth. He called Rajnikanth (a Maharashtrian who grew up in Karnataka) an outsider who had no love for the Tamil people who had nurtured and loved him abundantly. Rajnikanth refused to be drawn into a verbal duel, but Bharatiraja's attack was so fierce that the star eventually held a press conference, something he has not done for several years, and announced his decision to fast for water from Karnataka. All the major stars except Rajnikanth assembled at Neyveli at a rally in protest against Karnataka. Except for rhetoric from some stars the rally was a damp squib. The very next day, Rajnikanth went on a fast in Chennai. His fans turned out in large numbers to support him. Eightyfour Tamil films were released during 2002. Twenty of them ran for 100 days. Not bad, considering the pathetic situation in other states. Superstars Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan may not have satisfied their fans but a small film made with unknown faces raked crores of rupees. Thulluvatho Ilamai was the biggest and surprise hit of 2002. Made for teenagers, the film tackled their problems and the generation gap that exists between parents and children. By taking the children's side and preaching to parents, the film was loved by youngsters. Of course, there were some titillating scenes too. Two more films brought in crowds -- Gemini, directed by Saran, starring Vikram and Kiran, and Run, directed by Lingusamy, starring Madhavan and Meera Jasmine. Gemini was the most talked about film of 2002. The song O Podu, sung by Anuradha Sriram, such a rage among youngsters that many attributed Gemini's success to it. Run, an action thriller, rejuvenated Madhavan's sagging career. It also introduced Meera Jasmine, a new face from Kerala, to Tamil audiences. Artistically speaking, Bala's second film Nanda, Thankar Bachan's Azhaki and Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal were considered the best films of 2002. Bachan's second film released during Diwali, Solla Marantha Katha, disappointed many who liked his earlier film. But like Azhaki, it caught the attention of Tamil audiences and is still running in many theatres. Says archivist Film News Anandan, "No film completed 175 days last year. Earlier, at least four films would complete 175 days." It was Vikram's year. By the end of 2002, Madhavan had caught up with him with Run's success. If it was a disastrous year for Rajnikanth, it was slightly better for Kamal Haasan whose comedies, Pammal K Sambandam and Panchathantiram, did reasonably well at the box-office, recovering their cost unlike his Aalavandan. For Vijayakant, the year-end brought some cheers as his Diwali release, Ramana, in which he played an elderly college professor, was a winner. But his earlier films, Devan and Rajyam, were disasters. After the debacle of Red and Raja, Ajit needed a hit. To some extent, Villain, his Diwali release, redeemed his position as the top hero. It was not a great year for Vijay either, but none of his films bombed at the box-office. Surya caught the attention of audience and critics with his excellent performance in Nanda. Shaam -- even though his films bombed at the box office -- and Srikkant, whose first film Rojakkoottam was a hit, are the Tamil film industry's rising stars. Shaam's Bala -- in which he appeared as an action hero -- and Srikkant's second film, April Maadathil, are doing average business. Among the actresses, Simran, Meera Jasmine and Sneha made a mark. Simran graduated from glamorous parts to roles with some substance. Tamil audiences were pleasantly surprised to see her as the mother of three children in Kannathil Muthamittal. She also turned in a great performance in Ramana as a mature woman. Now that Simran has moved to a different niche, Sneha took her slot. Having acted with young heroes in all her six films, she caught the attention of the younger generation. So also Meera Jasmine who bagged several prestigious films, including Bala's Pithamahan. Complains film historian Theodore Bhaskaran, "There were many new directors but they did not bring any new idiom or style because they had been trained by earlier directors. "A film that made a difference was Azhaki by Thankar Bachan," Bhaskaran pointed out. "His style was different. B Lenin got the Best Director National Award for Oorukku Nooru Per, but that a Tamil director got the Best Director Award went unnoticed in Tamil Nadu, an indication of the lack of sensitivity to good cinema. Nanba Nanba by Jayabharathy also went unnoticed." "2002 was a disappointing year except for these three films," he continued. "It is even more disappointing because they could not bring any change in the sensibility of the audience and other filmmakers."
Another Veerappan aide arrested
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Tiruchirappalli, Jan 9: The Tamil Nadu police, during their crackdown on associates of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, arrested yet another activist of the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA), suspected to be involved in the kidnapping of former Karnataka minister H Nagappa, police said yesterday. Kumaresan, treasurer of TNLA who was wanted in several cases, was arrested from his hideout at Andimadam in neighbouring Perambalur district in a midnight operation by the Cuddalore Delta police on Tuesday following a tip-off. He is the fourth TNLA activist to be arrested in connection with the abduction and killing of Nagappa. The Tamil Nadu STF had on Monday arrested three associates of Veerappan who were allegedly present during the abduction of Nagappa. Based on the information given by one of the activists, the Karnataka STF on Tuesday arrested three persons from Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district. Police investigation revealed that Kumaresan and his mentor Ilavarasan had sold an AK-47 riffle to Veerappan for several lakhs of rupees and the Sathyamangalam police had registered a case regarding this. Kumaresan was involved in several terrorist activities in the Jayankondam police station limits and criminal cases for kidnapping men and possession of explosives were also pending against him, police said. He was also an accused in the recent blasting of power transmission tower at Toppaiyankulam, near Cuddalore, which carried power from Neyveli to Karnataka. (Agencies)
Jaya urged to hold talks with Krishna
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Chennai, Jan 8: DMK MP from Nagapattinam constituency, A K S Vijayan, has urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to initiate a dialogue with her Karnataka counterpart to get Cauvery waters to save the standing samba crop in the delta districts. “Jayalalithaa should give up her adamant attitude and come forward to hold talks with Karnataka Chief Minister,” he said in a statement here last night. Vijayan claimed that a farmer, Shanmugham, had committed suicide in Mannargudi circle of Nagapattinam district. Two days ago, another farmer, Veeraiyan, had committed suicide near Thanjavur. Vijayan said Shanmugham had left a letter to the Chief Minister and the district collector that he was ending his life because of poverty. Meanwhile, CPM state secretary N Varadarajan, in a statement, demanded that the state government launch ‘food for work’ programme on a warfooting in the light of continuing suicides by poverty-stricken farmers in the delta region. Referring to the death of Shanmugham, he said the farmer had in a letter to the Chief Minister had clearly explained that he was taking the extreme step due to poverty in the wake of failure of crop. Conveying condolences to the family of Shanmugham, the CPM leader asked the government to extend necessary relief to the bereaved family and provide a job to one of the family members. (Agencies)
