'RUDRA' will be a special character for me, says Director Anurag Kashyap

Imaikkaa Nodigal, with the magnanimous starcast of Nayanthara, Atharvaa and Raashi Khanna will see Anurag Kashyap, the director who made heads from around the world turn & look at Indian films with new awe and apppreciation play the baddie. It is surprising that, although Anurag Kashyap has always loved, adored and followed Tamil films and also has a very friendly connection with directors like Vetrimaaran; this will be Mr.Kashyap's first ever association with tamil films in any manner.

Imaikkaa Nodigal which is being produced by Mr C J Jayakumar of Cameo Films is being directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu of De'Monte Colony fame. The cinematography of the film is by R D Rajasekhar and music by Hiphop Tamizha. Important sequences of the film have already been shot with the lead actors in live locations in Bangalore and Chennai and the shoot will go on in the coming months in Chennai and other locations in India.

"What pulled me towards acting in Imaikkaa Nodigal is the role. RUDRA is not your typical baddie. He doesn't just smoke, drink, order his men around and indulge in item numbers. He is menacing, scary, smart and cunning. This strange mixture that forms the role is what tempted me to take it up although I was tied up with my own projects back in Mumbai. When the audience watch the movie in theatre, if I'm able to evoke the tiniest of fears in them, as Rudra, I'll consider my work done."

Having shot with the team for a few days, Anurag Kashyap has nice things to say about the team. "It's great to see youngsters take up the initiative and do interesting films like this. Films that demand a lot of experience and detailing. I'm surprised by Director Ajay's command over the medium. DOP RD Rajasekhar is a friend of mine and I've had the joy of working with him in A R Murugadoss's Akira before this. His frames are a delight to watch. Additionally, the production has been impeccable. Every need of the artistes, technicians and the film is being taken care to the tee."

While three schedules of the film are already over, there are a couple more schedules to go as the film will wrap up by the end of April. All eyes are on Imaikkaa Nodigal and Anurag Kashyap tells us that it will be worth the wait.

"I can't wait to see the movie on screen myself!" signs off Anurag enthusiastically.

Radharavi joins DMK

Popular actor Radha Ravi today enrolled himself in the DMK again. He was with the AIADMK earlier.

Speaking to reporters after joining the party in the presence of M K Stalin, he said Stalin is the only eligible leader in Tamil Nadu politics now.

The actor, who had joined AIADMK in 2010 after being in DMK, said it was like 'home coming' for him.

"For the last few days, I have been informing (MLA) Sekhar Babu and (Actor and MLA) Vagai Chandrasekar that I would join DMK. Since tomorrow it is Thalapathi's (Stalin's) birthday, I thought of joining the party today itself," he said.

"Today is also my mother's death anniversary", he told reporters, adding: "I feel like coming back to my home".

Radha Ravi is the son of yesteryear actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika Sarathkumar. He is a former chief member of the South Indian Film Artistes' Association.

He is known for his roles as an antagonist in Tamil films and a he acted in Chellamae serial. He is also known for his controversial criticism of other film personalities.

Stalin turns 65, DMK members gift books

DMK working president and leader of opposition M K Stalin has turned 65 today. To mark the occasion, party members will gift him books, as per a request by him.

Karunanidhi is visiting the memorial of Anna and Periyar, besides seeking the blessings of his father and DMK president M Karunanidhi and mother Dayalu Ammal.

Stalin has asked his supporters to avoid extravagant banners and posters to celebrate his birthday, which might lead to "disenchantment among the public."

Instead, Stalin wanted the DMK members to gift him books on his birthday and organise welfare programmes.

"Out of love, many party members gift me glittering shawls on my birthday. With changing time and sartorial preferences, shawls have become useless pieces of cloth and gifting them has become meaningless. Instead, revive the habit of gifting books that would help one lifelong," he said.

A meeting of DMK's district secretaries held in Chennai on Tuesday, chaired by Stalin, discussed a host of issues, including local bodies elections expected soon.

OPS to go on hunger strike on March 8 seeking probe into Jaya's death

The AIADMK faction led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam would stage a hunger strike on March 8, reiterating its demand for an investigation into the death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa.

They would observe a day long fast in front of all revenue district headquarters on March eight, demanding a speedy, independent, free and fair centrally-monitored probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge to unravel the the 'mystery' behind the death of Jayalaltihaa, a move which was welcomed by Opposition DMK leader M K Stalin as 'belated'.

Meanwhile, a team of AIADMK MPs backing Panneerselvam submitted a representation to President Pranab Mukherjee, calling for an investigation into Jayalalithaa’s death.

Dr V Maitreyan, Rajya Sabha Member, led the delegation and submitted the memorandum enlisting the suspicions over the circumstances under which the late Supremo of AIADMK was taken to the Apollo Hospitals on September 22 last.

“We urged the President to take steps for a high level inquiry, either by a judicial commission or by the Central Bureau of Investigation,” he told reporters.

AIADMK 'Presidium Chairman' E Madhusudhanan said the fast would be held from 0900 hrs to 1700 hrs on that day and appealed to all loyal AIADMK cadres, youth and public to participate in large numbers in demanding justice for the mystery behind Amma's death.

Bala's next with Jyothika-GVP titled Naachiyar

The first look poster and title of Jyothika's next film directed by Bala were launched by Suriya on Tuesday.

The film has been titled Naachiyar with G V Prakash Kumar playing a lead role and the music for the film is by maestro Ilaiyaraja.

To be produced by Bala's B Studios and EON Studios, the film will have cinematography by 'Theni' Eeswar of Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai fame and editing by Sathish Suriya of Irudhi Suttru fame.

Suriya posted on Twitter: "Jo you're always blessed and deserve the best!! Can't be more happier to tweet First Look of Bala Anna's #Naachiaar #Jyotika #DirectorBala."

According to sources, he principal shoot of the film will begin in March. A city based subject, it is said to be based on a real life incident.

The first look poster has Jyothika in a lungi and jeans shirt, giving a bath to a small baby with a shabby looking GV Prakash in handcuffs and chewing a neem stick.

Bhavana back to shoot, thanks all

Actress Bhavana who faced molestation from an unruly gang, is back to work. In the meantime, she has also thanked everyone who has supported her.

"Life has knocked me down a few times, it showed me things I never wanted to see. I experienced sadness and failures. But one thing is for sure, I always get up. #ThankYouAll #ForTheLove #ForThePrayers," she said.

The actress recently joined the shooting of her new movie with Prithviraj titled, Adam, and was welcomed to the sets with huge claps by the cast and crew.

After completing the day's shoot, the brave actress went to the police station in the afternoon and took part in the identification parade of the accused who have been arrested.

Bhavana was molested by a gang in a moving car. The entire film industry stood by her. Her fans supported her and assured her that they will join her in this fight.

The police have arrested seven members including the prime accused and the Kerala government has promised strict action.

Yuvan's Super 20

Yuvan Shankar Raja has successfully completed his 20 years in film industry on Monday (27.02.1997).

Speaking on the occasion, he said, "I am here sustaining because of the love of my fans and music lovers. For me it looks as if I came only yesterday.

The ups and downs during this period had not deterred me. Music is my passion and only the years of my role as a film's music director can be counted and not my stature as a basic music composer.

I am a born musician and will remain the same until last. I deeply thank them from my heart for all their support in all these years. I take this opportunity to thank all my Producers, Filmmakers, the stars, the media and the fans for imposing faith on me.

Iam grateful to my father for molding and growing me up with a sound attitude that could let me concentrate on music. My 20th year will be marked by the production of my maiden film as a producer “ Kolaiyudhir Kalam”. Talks are on to announce my next project at the earliest."

Yuvan is a singer-songwriter, film score and soundtrack composer, and occasional lyricist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films.

The youngest son of noted film composer Ilaiyaraaja, he began his musical career in 1996, at age 16, when he composed the film score for Aravindhan. After initial struggle, he made his big break with the Thulluvadho Ilamai soundtrack (2001), and evolved as one of Tamil cinema's most sought-after composers by the mid-2000s.

DSP To Pay Tribute To Mandolin Shrinivas

Music director Devi Sri Prasad is all set to pay tribute to his guru Mandolin Shrinivas in a grand manner this year.

DSP is going to launch a Song called "GURAVE NAMAHA" as a tribute to Sri Mandolin Shrinivas.

DSP himself has conceptualised, composed n sung the song and also played Mandolin for which the lyrics were written by Sri Jonnavitthula garu in SANSKRIT..

In connection with this DSP says

"The Greatness of a GURU cannot be expressed in words..

So I tried to express it through MUSIC !!

I composed this song in KEERAVANI RAAGA , one of the most favourite raagas of my GURU Sri MANDOLIN SHRINIVAS ANNA..

I made the concept in such a way that

Each of the 7 notes explains one unequalable Divine quality of My GURU..

I wanted this song to be in SANSKRIT to make it more Musical and Universal as my GURU has fans all over the World !!

So I approached Sri Jonnavitthula garu with the concept and he immediately accepted my request and wrote the most Beautiful lyrics for this song !!

I also got a MUSIC VIDEO made for this song with rare and beautiful performance clips of Shrinivas Anna.. And I would like to thank each and every fan of his who helped us in collecting this footage from various parts of the World !!

My wish is to reach this song to millions of ANNA's fans who worship him as GOD , as this song is about his LEGACY and also the greatness of a GURU..

We are releasing this song on Mandolin Shrinivas Anna's Birth Anniversary on 28th FEB through LAHARI MUSIC..

This song is dedicated to every great GURU who brings Meaning to our Lives !!"

On the same day , as every year Mandolin Rajesh (Brother of Mandolin Shrinivas) and DSP along with SS INTERNATIONAL LIVE are organising a TRIBUTE CONCERT for SRI MANDOLIN SHRINIVAS called "THE GREAT MANdolin" featuring Legendary Musicians like USTAD AMJAD ALI KHAN, DRUMS SIVAMANI, MANDOLIN U RAJESH and many more Amazing artistes..DSP is also performing along with them..

Shrinivas, who passed away in 2014, was a child prodigy himself and he brought in his own style of performing music on the mandolin. It was he who introduced DSP to mandolin at a very young age, and impressed with the young boy's potential, Shrinivas wanted DSP to become a mandolin player like him. Over the years, after turning music director in film industry, DSP had made his admiration towards his guru quite evident. And the music video that he's going to release on Shrinivas' birth anniversary is going to be a befitting tribute to his guru.

“The song ‘Pori Vaithu’ will portray the soft side of a cop” says Vishal Chandrasekar

As the release date March 3rd is fast approaching, the excitement level for Arun Vijay – Mahima Nambiyar starrer ‘Kuttram 23’ is increasing to its peak. One of the main reasons for that excitement is, composer Vishal chandrasekar’s soulful melodies and theme based background scores. Produced by Inder Kumar under the banner ‘Redhan - The Cinema People’ and released by Across films in 300 theaters in Tamilnadu, the most expected Medical – Crime – Thriller Kuttram 23 is directed by Arivazhagan.

“Arivazhagan sir a type of person who always gives attention to details, and he perfectly extracts what he wants from his technicians. I really feel proud to compose for his film. There are four songs in Kuttram 23 and among those, Pori Vaithu song is really a special one for me, because it portrays the soft side of a cop. This song is built with common words related to cop such as Jail, Pistol, etc, but instead of using usual Tamil words for these terms, lyricists Viveka has gone for pure traditional Tamil words. The response that we get from the Audience for our Kuttram 23 album has really put me at the peak of happiness, and I am pretty confident that the BGMs will make the Audience to travel along with the script” says Vishal Chandrasekar confidently.

Edappadi presents 106-page memorandum to Modi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately release relief funds for the drought-hit state and for the damage caused by Cyclone Vardah.

He presentd a 106-page memorandum to the PM, which had many demands of Tamil Nadu.

Reiterating the state's demand, Palaniswami sought Rs 39,565 crore as drought relief package and Rs 22,573 for the damage in the cyclone.

Palanisami also pressed for the formation of a Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee for the implementation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

In a memorandum presented to Modi during his 30 minute meeting with him in New Delhi this evening, the first after he assumed office on February 16 and won the floor test two days later, Palaniswami urged him to instruct the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to take any further action in this regard only after adequate consultation with stakeholders and ensuring that the interests of the farmers were fully safeguarded.

''It will not be advisable for ONGC to proceed with any mining activity in Neduvasal village without clearance from the State Government'', he added.

This is first official visit of Palaniswami after he replaced O Panneerselvam as the Chief Minister. A statement issued by the Tamil Nadu Information and Public Relations Department said that the Chief Minister raised a number of issues with the Prime Minister.

It is immediately not known as to what the response of the Prime Minister was to the long list of demands of the Chief Minister.

Cops refusing permission for Jaya b'day events: Panneerselvam

Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has alleged that police did not grant permission to his supporters to celebrate the 69th birth anniversary of his predecessor late J Jayalalithaa on Friday.

In a statement, he said, "When permission was sought for holding programmes such as rallies, hoisting of party flags and distribution of welfare schemes, police refused it."

Meanwhile, with several MLAs and MPs of the AIADMK faction led by Panneerselvam hailing from the western region of the State, the rebel camp is planning to hold its first zonal level conference in Salem soon.

Addressing a gathering of office-bearers of the party from Salem at the residence of Panneerselvam on Greenways Road on Monday, the dethroned chief minister said Salem could be the ideal venue as it had played a historic role in shaping the political trajectory in the State.

Panneerselvam has lashed out at DMK working president MK Stalin for demanding the removal of portraits of late party supremo J Jayalalithaa from government offices, saying it smacked of political indecency.

In a hard-hitting statement, he said Jayalalithaa was loved by people for her pro-people welfare measures and they would be outraged if any attempt was made to remove her portraits from government offices.

Soundarya Rajinikanth's car hits auto

A car driven by Soundarya Rajinikanth hit an autorickshaw at Alwarpet in Chennai, injuring auto driver Mani.

According to sources, Mani sustained minor injuries and Soundarya's brother-in-law Dhanush spoke to him over phone and pacified him.

On Monday, Soundarya and Dhanush, among others, attended a joint function of Power Pandi and VIP-2 teams.

"#PowerPandi #Vip2 teams together ... !! Loving life. Loving our job !!!" she posted on Twitter, along with a photograph.

Soundarya is a graphic designer, producer and director who primarily works in the Tamil film industry. She is the founder and owner of Ocher Picture Productions.

Soundarya began her career in films as a graphic designer. For those starring her father Rajinikanth, she designed the title sequences. She became a noted film producer through Goa (2010). She made her début as a director in the film Kochadaiyaan. At present, she is directing VIP-2.

Dhanush appears in court

Actor Dhanush today appeared in the Madurai bench of the Madras high court in connection with a case filed by a couple who claimed he was their son.

On Friday, Dhanush's petition seeking to quash the proceedings initiated by a judicial magistrate court in Melur based on a case filed by R Kathiresan (65) of Madurai and his wife Meenakshi (53) came up for hearing before Justice G Chockalingam.

The couple sought maintenance from the actor claiming that the actor was their son.

In addition to the school certificates, the actor’s counsel also submitted additional materials to prove that Dhanush first movie Thulluvadho Illamai got released on May 6, 2002 contradicting the couple’s claim that the actor had registered for employment in June 2002 and that he was subsequently admitted to class 11 in a Sivaganga school.

Though the transfer certificate submitted by the actor doesn’t mention any identity marks, the TC certificate submitted by the couple mentions the identity marks on his body. Hence the judge directed the actor to appear in person before the court on February 28 for verifying the claimed birthmarks.

On June 21, 1993, the birth certificate was issued. It means ten years after the birth of the petitioner (actor), the certificate was issued. If the certificate was true, the actor had to study Class 5 at that time.

How a birth certificate, issued after ten years of his birth, could be issued without mentioning the name of the child, asked the couple's side.

Tsonga back in Top 10

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga claimed a second title in as many weeks and surged into the world top 10 after beating fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the final of the ATP Marseille Open on Sunday.

The Frenchman won his ninth match in a row and celebrated his third Open 13 Marseille title on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 win against countryman Lucas Pouille. The 31-year-old Tsonga outplayed his younger compatriot, breaking the 23 year old twice to cruise in 69 minutes.

The title gives Tsonga 14 for his career and his second for 2017. He won the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam a week ago by defeating then-World No. 11 David Goffin.

"This is the second week in a row that I'm heading home without a loss, it does not happen so often," said the 31-year-old Tsonga, who completed his win in just more than an hour. "It's good for my confidence."

The former Australian Open runner-up broke once in each set and added a third Marseille trophy to his collection after victories in 2009 and 2013.

"I played great tennis all week, like last week," said the in-form Tsonga. "I was never in too much danger. I served very well each time it was close."

Mourinho's challenge to Manchester stars

Jose Mourinho has challenged his Manchester United stars to use their dramatic League Cup final win against Southampton as a springboard to bigger prizes.

Mourinho became the first Manchester United manager to win a trophy in a debut season by lifting the EFL Cup at Wembley Stadium and the boss was “emotional” when discussing the success, praising two-goal hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic and applauding the efforts of Southampton.

He has now won the competition four times in total following previous triumphs with Chelsea, which makes him the most decorated manager in League Cup history alongside Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough.

Mourinho thinks striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will stay at the club for another year.

Ibrahimovic, 35, joined United in the summer on a one-year deal - with an option to extend his stay at Old Trafford for a second season.

Now Mourinho wants his players to learn from the winning feeling as they chase FA Cup and Europa League titles this term, and ideally Premier League and Champions League glory next season.

"The reality is that we want more: my contract is long, I have two more years with this one, so hopefully I can win more," Mourinho said.

Chennai Power Shutdown Areas on 28-02-2017

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on 28-02-17 between 9.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. for maintenance work.Supply will be resumed before 2.00 P.M. if the works are completed.

MANALI NEW TOWN AREA: Elathaoor, Rajiv Gandhi nagar, MMDA Phase 1 & 2, Vaikkadu 200 feet road, Sadaiyan kuppam, Ponneri high road, HT consumer.

KODAMBAKKAM AREA: Kodambakkam hi road (one part), Nungambakkam hi road(one part), Cathedral garden, Prakasam st, Habibullah road (one part), Vidyodaya st, Padamavathy road, Contran smith road, Cathedral road, Thiruveethiyan st, Western st, Kamala st, Ganesh st, Gopalapuram 1st st, Greams road (one part).

RAMAPURAM KOTHARI NAGAR AREA: Kothari nagar, Senthamil nagar, Aneez nagar, Kandasen nagar, Annai sathya nagar, Gangai avenue, Rajiv Gandhi nagar, Mogambigai nagar, Raghavendra nagar.

NAPPALAYAM AREA: Vichoor, Kulakkarai, Ganapathy nagar, Periya Echankuzhi Ponniamman nagar.

AGARAM AREA: SRP colony 10-15th sts, KC Garden 1 – 6th sts, SRP koil north st (part), Paper mills road (part).

KOLATHUR AREA: Thenpalani nagar, Sivasakthi nagar, Mahatma Gandhi nagar,Dr. Ambedkar nagar, Dhanrajapuram, Selvi nagar, Rajan nagar.

SEMBIUM GANDHI NAGAR AREA: Lakshmiamman koil st, Jawahar road, Nazher Husain, Ramana nagar (part), Perambur East area, MH road south, S.S.V.Kovil (part), MPM st (part).

RAMAPURAM AREA: Bharathi salai, Valluvar salai, Sathiya nagar, Sabari nagar, Mugalivakkam, Manapakkam, Ramapuram, Poonamalle, Nesapakkam,Jayabalaji nagar, Venkataraman salai, Soolai Pallam (MGR Nagar),Venkateswara nagar, Kolapakkam.

KOLATHUR AREA: Kamaraj school, Thanikachalam nagar 2nd main road A Block, Kumaran nagar, Bhasyam st, Devagi Ammal st, Prabhu st, Annai Gandhi nagar, Velavan nagar, Sakthi vinayagar Koil st, Anjugam nagar 7th st, Redhills road, Samdariya colony, Dhakshinamoorthy st.

SEMBIUM AREA: Kanchi nagar, Secretariat colony, Perambur Redhills road, Simmum avenue, Moorthi ngagar Kattida Thozilar nagar, Balaji nagar, Suria nager, Akabar nagar, Nehru nagar, Burrial Ground, Subramani nagar, Vinayagapuram, Lakshmi nagar, Blaji nagar KVR nagar, Babuji Nagar, RRC flat (R.H. road), Perumal koil (part), Anna st, TVK st, Parimalam nagar, Surapet road (part), Vinayagar koil, Ganesh nagar, Thirumal Srinivasan nagar.

KODUNGAIYUR AREA: T.H. road, Teachers colony, Gandhi nagar, Muthumizh nagar 1 to 4th and 7th Block, Thiruvallur salai.

VELACHERY AREA: Park avenue, part of Tharamani link road, Seshathi puram, Baby nagar, Ramagiri nagar.

MOGAPPAIR EAST AREA: West end colony (part), Golden colony & Flats, Jeevan Bima nagar, Radial house, T.V.S.colony & avenue (part), Collector nagar(part), Olympic colony, Akshaya colony, Bakkiathammal nagar, TNHB flats, Periyar st, Officer’s colony, Krishna &amamp; Silver aparts, Bharathiyar st, Elango nagar, Moorthy nagar, Padi pudhu nagar, Kalaivanar colony, Ram nagar, Sakthi nagar.

PAMMAL AREA: Pammal, Anna salai, Anakaputhur, Nagalkeni, Pozhichalur, Shankar nagar & adjoining areas, Cowl Bazaar.

Chennai Power Shutdown Areas on 27-02-2017

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on 27-02-17 between 9.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. for maintenance work.Supply will be resumed before 2.00 P.M. if the works are completed.

NAPPALAYAM AREA: Manali New Town, Manali Milk Depot.

MADIPAKKAM AREA: Erikarai st, Deivanai nagar, LG nagar, Karthikeyapuram 2nd to 13th st, Nandhi nagar, Anna nagar, Ramamurthy nagar, Madurakali amman nagar, Sakthi nagar.

PAPER MILLS ROAD AREA: MSM main & 1-3 st, Jaibeem nagar, State Bank colony, George colony, Lakshmi nagar, Vasanth appartment, Kennady square north, Kennady square one part, Anbalazan nagar, Prakasam st, T.V.K. nagar one part, Balram st.

PERAMBUR RAJAJI NAGAR AREA: Senthil nagar 1 to 17 st, Ayappa nagar 1 to 6 st, 200 feet road, Srinivasa nagar 3&4 st.

Mahaan Sri Raghavender "Sapthaha Mahostavam" at " Dakshina Mantralaya" Nanjangud Sri Raghavendra Swamy, Mutt, Triplicane

Under the instruction of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt Head Sri Sri 1008 Sri Subhuthendra Thertha Swamy Mahaan Sri Raghavender "Sapthaha Mahostavam" is being celebrated at " Dakshina Mantralaya" Nanjangud Sri Raghavendra Swamy, Mutt, Triplicane.

Starting from 27.2.2017 as his Pattabisegam Day till 5.3.2017 as his Birthday.

From 1.3.2017 to 5.3.2017 daily different Homams are being performed from 7.30 am to 8.30 am. Devotees can participate in all the Homams by paying Rs 500 and Rs 200 for a single Homam.

All the Sapthaha days Annadanam will take place around 1 pm.

On 2.3.2017 Thursday special prayer will be held at 6 pm for the students appearing on 10th Std and 12 Std Public examination. All the students with parents are requested to participate on this event to get the blessings of Sri Raghavender.

On 5.3.2017 as Sri Raghavender's Birthday special Laksha Pushparchanai will take place.

Arrangements for the same were carried out by Mr Ramachander Joshi, Manager Triplicane and ex PRO Sri Murali Swamy " Dakshina Mantralaya" Nanjangud Sri Raghavendra Swamy, Mutt, Triplicane.

All the devotees are requested to participate in the "Sapthaha Mahostavam" and get the blessings of Mahaan Raghavender.
T Raghavan

Edappadi Palaniswami in Delhi to meet Modi

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami left for New Delhi on Sunday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will meet Modi and other senior Union ministers to discuss issues relating to the State. This is his first trip to the Capital after taking over as the new chief minister.

During his two-day visit , Palanisami is likely to take up various other issues including exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET.

During his meeting with Modi, Palaniswami is likely to take up various issues, including exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and seeking funds to address damage caused by cyclone Vardah, among others.

A few senior ministers and bureaucrats are part of Palaniswami’s entourage. They will stay in Delhi for three days.

He would also take up the issue of approving the project design for implementing the Avinashi-Athikadavu project, Kerala’s move to construct check dams across the Bhavani and the constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board, too.

Jallikattu youth start political party, to contest in civic polls

Youngsters who were part of the recent protest for Jallikattu at Marina in Chennai have floated a political party, named 'En Desam, En Urimai' (My Country, My Right).

One of the core members, Ebenezer, said that the party was born after repeated anti-people moves by the governments so far.

“For over 40 years, the governments ruling us have been doing us grave injustice. Instead of undertaking welfare measures, they are involved in scams. To add insult to injury, there is neither transparency nor whole-hearted effort. We no longer need such people to rule us,” he said.

Ebenezer, Sathya, Praveena, Suganya, Karthi, Suthathira Devi, Prakash and Prasad were named the co-ordinators of the party and a flag was also launched.

The tricolour flag has in its middle a youngster breaking chain of slavery. While anyone interested to serve the society can become a member by paying Rs 10, those who want to become an office-bearer in the party should have to undergo a screening process.

Based out of the city, the core committee members of the party were instrumental in engaging the protesters at the Marina. They were the ones who erected a large LED screen on the beach to telecast pro-Jallikattu videos to keep up the spirit of the protesters.

Vaikom Vijayalakshmi calls off wedding

Popular singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, who got recently engaged to Santhosh last year, seems to have called off her wedding.

Announcing the break-up through a press meet, Vijayalakshmi said that Santhosh had put forward certain conditions asking her to stop musical programs after the marriage. He had asked her to pursue a career as a teacher in a school, she said.

Also, he backtracked from his promise to stay with her parents and insisted on putting up with one of his relatives.

“He had agreed to stay with me in my own house, even after the marriage. But he went back on his word soon after the engagement. So I decided to drop the marriage plans,” she said.

Vijayalakshmi's father has been quoted saying that that it was better to have said no in the beginning rather than regretting later.

Vijayalakshmi added that she was not forced by anyone to backtrack from the proposed wedlock and that the decision was her own.

A letter from Lakshmi

Actress Lakshmi Manchu, who is popular in Kollywood thanks to Kadal and Maranthen Mannithen, has penned an open letter on Bhavana issue.

She said: "Just when we think we have shaken off the ghosts of our past and are finally moving on, something happens to show us how far we still have to go. I’ve been wanting to talk about this since I heard what happened to my colleague, the Malayalam actress that was brutally kidnapped and assaulted. But I was so shocked, I could barely process it…

Women in our country are either prayed to as goddesses or hidden behind closed doors. The lucky ones are eventually respected as mothers and wives.

But is that all there is to a woman? In an era when women are far from safe, is it right to continue praying to Goddess Lakshmi, Parvati, Durga, Saraswati, and Kali?

Is it okay to pray to them when we continue butchering their daughters in the name of moral policing? When we continue to engage in activities and rituals like dowry, revenge stirring out of estranged love, sexual assault, marital rape, eve teasing, and the list could go on forever!

This not something new. This has become such a normal part of our lives, mind you, 'normal'. We are used to waking up to news of more and more women being assaulted, kidnapped, insulted, raped, broken down into societal notions of what women should be...

Yes, I am also enraged about what happened with a Malayalam actress recently. If the abduction and the sexual assaults weren’t enough, the media made it worse by 'accidentally' leaking her name!

We live in a world when, as women, everybody owns our bodies but us! I see this every day in the entertainment industry, where women are used as props rather than full-fleshed characters. Ah, flesh! That sells, item songs do, too.

What about women with three-dimensional characters? What about the portrayal of actual women? This incident that occurred with a member of our Malayalam sorority isn't the first, nor is it the last... And I want to take this opportunity to share how j, too, feel unsafe. We normalize the behavior that scares us. But it is NOT NORMAL nor should it be our reality!

We are frightened to roam the streets alone. To go home by public transport. To walk down a street when a gang of boys appear. To wear clothes that we like. To just exist! If there's just one thing we should get out of this, it is that we aren’t really safe.

Telling our women to stay behind closed doors after dusk, to cover up, to not drink, to not smoke, to not smile too much, to not be over-friendly, these aren’t solutions. We need to teach our children to respect women and their bodies.

We need to teach our girls to demand this respect for themselves. We need to keep raising our voice, keep speaking up for the wronged, keep understanding what’s right, and keep working towards a better future.

Love, light and hope Lakshmi Manchu."

9 drown, many injured in sea, as joy ride on boat turns tragic

At least nine people were drowned and many others rescued and admitted to hospital, when the fishing boat in which they went for a joy ride capsized in the sea off Manappadu near Tiruchendur in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday evening.

According to a government official, rescue operations were underway. The incident occurred near Manappadu area of Tuticorin. The cause of the accident is yet to be determined.

“Nine persons lost their lives and 19 were rescued when a boat capsized off Manapadu coast. Three families from Tiruchendur seems to have booked the boat,” District Collector M. Ravi Kumar said.

Those rescued were admitted to private and government hospitals in the district, he said.

Asked about reports that boat was carrying people in excess of its capacity, Kumar said only a detailed probe would throw light on it, as also on the reasons for the capsize.

The victims were identified as A Sundareshwaran (7), V Surendran (10), S Aakash (9), women J Muthulakhsmi, A Usharani, S Murugeshwari, K Suganya and G Muthulakhsmi and M Jeyaraman (42).

CM announces Rs 2 lakh solatium to boat mishap victims

Soon after the boat mishap incident, chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami has announced Rs two lakh each to the family of the dead.

In a statement, he expressed deep condolences and said Rs two lakh each would be given to the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

District Collector M Ravikumar, who visited the spot, said all the victims were tourists, who had hired the fibre glass fishing boat for a fun ride that led to the tragedy.

He said 19 people were rescued and taken to hospitals, where nine of them were declared brought dead.

Shortly after the tourists set sail, the boat was caught in a tidal wave and capsized. The passengers in the boat raised an alarm and local fishermen rushed to the spot.

This is the first major boat accident in Tamil Nadu after the one that occurred at Pulicat lake on December 25, 2011 killing 22 persons.

Kamal strongly opposes hydro carbon project

Kamal Haasan has expressed his opposition to the proposed hydro carbon project of the central government in Pudukottai district.

The actor-filmmaker, who is lately vociferous in various issues, said on Twitter: "Any corporate success story that begins with destroying nature & the livelihood of the poor, in retrospection will be a bad plan.TN beware."

"Nature can supply for all our need but not for even one man's greed. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi," he added.

He said further: "Students of TN. Way to go. Maintain peace. You speak 4 farmers & people of TN. See how elders are with you treating you as equals. Bravo."

"Bravo Hounarble.CM of Pondicheri for your clear stand on Hydrocarbaon project. My salute," he concluded.

Actor Thavakkalai passes away

Popular Tamil comedy actor Thavakalai alias Chittibabu died in Chennai on Sunday. He is 42 and is survived by wife Podhumani.

Thavakkalai had acted in over 70 films in six Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.

To name a few among the most memorable roles he has enacted on screen is that of a notorious primary school student in K Bhagyaraj's Mundanai Mudichu and as Janakaraj's son in Pandiyarajan's classic rural romantic comedy Aan Paavam.

Thavakalai, who came home Saturday night after attending the shoot of a Malayalam film, started vomitting Sunday morning. He asked his wife to get him water, and collapsed after drinking it, as he suffered a massive cardiac arrest.

The mortal remains of the deceased actor has been kept at his residence at Vadapalani, Chennai and the funeral would happen today.

Many film personalities and the South Indian Artistes Association have condoled his death and recalled that he was a simple and affectionate person.

East African Community is becoming an Economical and Political reality Addresses the Media onboard

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that the East African Community is taking shape as an Economical and Political Community and many of our programmes and initiatives in the region will no longer be purely bilateral but will have to be adapted to work for the entire community. He was addressing the Media Onboard Air India One aircraft while returning back from a 5-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda, today. The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President said that there had been a gap in high level visits to both of these countries and this visit filled that gap. He further said that the level of discussions in both the countries were extremely warm and cordial, adding that his meetings went beyond pro-forma. The meeting with the President of Uganda was substantive and productive and reinforced our long standing ties, he said.

The Vice President said that India's approach, as long standing friends, has been to give our African partners assistance in their developmental programmes in those areas where they want and it is them to convert that into specific requests. He further said that the broader issues of India's approach to cooperation with African Countries are well known and well appreciated. One issue of concern to both I diamond and Africa is scourge of terrorism and there was a total meeting of minds in condemning terrorism in all shapes and forms, he added.

The Vice President said that the visit of Kigali Genocide Memorial was a tribute to the determination of the people of Rwanda and that he was glad that they were able to overcome that heart-rending disaster and re-build their country.

Reacting to a question on trade imbalance, the Vice President said that there was trade imbalance with Uganda as India exports a lot of things to them and their export basket to India was presently limited. He further said that there are two ways to address this; one by increasing the products in their export basket and two; instead of exporting finished goods from India to Uganda, some Indian manufacturers could set up their manufacturing units in Uganda.

Responding to a question on Parliamentary cooperation with both countries, the Vice President said that there is a need for having more Parliamentary interactions. He further said that a Parliamentary visit from Rwanda and Uganda will expose them to what is happening in India and witness our developmental programmes.

Reacting to a question on India sustaining engagements with Africa, the Vice President said that it was a part of Government's policy and that the India-Africa summit and various other initiatives make this evident. He further said that the sheer size of Africa with 54 countries and one billion people, create enormous chances of cooperation and of sharing our experience and skills which are useful to them. Africa also has enormous resources which can be useful as India's development requirements come up, he added.

61 CAVALRY Bags the Army Polo Championship

The famous Army Polo Championship that commenced on 31 Jan 2017 saw a thrilling final match on Friday between 61 CAVALRY and Army Service Corps after tough round of league matches which also saw participation from Corps of Artillery, Remount and Veterinary Corps and Armored Corps.

Army has dominated Equestrian Sports for a long time producing a large number of Asian Games medalists, World Cup players, Padam Shree and Arjuna awardees and is pursuing it as part of it’s Mission Olympics programme.

Army Polo Championship which was re-instituted in year 2015 after a gap of ten years witnessed the participation of some of the renowned players in the Indian Polo Circuit like Col Navjit Singh Sandhu and Lt Col Ravi Rathore playing at +2 and +5 handicaps respectively. Lt Col Ravi Rathore who is the highest handicapped polo player in Indian Army has also played four World Cups for the Indian Polo Team.

Lt Gen RV Kanitkar, Quarter Master General, presented the Army Polo Championship Trophy to 61 CAVLARY in the presence of a big audience including many senior officers

Oil Spill: 30,000 fishermen families to get Rs 15 crore as relief

Tamil Nadu government has announced a grant of Rs 5,000 each to 30,000 families of fishermen in the coastal areas in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts whose livelihood was affected due to the recent oil spill following collision of two cargo ships near Ennore Port.

In a statement, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said soon after the incident on January 28, a total number of 5,700 persons including officials from the state government and volunteers, jumped into action on a war-footing and cleaned up the sea for more than 25 days.

"Due to the oil spill, the livelihood of fishermen in Thiruvallur, Chennai and Kanchipuram districts were affected as they were unable to go to the sea and people were not ready to buy the fish," he said.

"As there has been a delay in getting the compensation from insurance companies, Chief Minister K Palaniswami who conducted a review meeting yesterday, announced an interim relief of Rs 5,000 to be given to each of the 30,000 fishermen families living in the affected areas", the statement said.

"The total cost of Rs 15 crore will be borne by the government and two fish markets will be set up in Ernavoor and Nochikuppam localities at a cost of Rs 75 lakh by the government for their benefit".

Listing out various steps taken by the government to minimize the woes of the fishing community, he said he also chaired a meeting in this regard at the secretariat and decided to allocate Rs 15 crore as interim relief.

Deepak claims ownership to Jaya's properties, plans to move court

A fresh rebellion seems to be brewing in the Tamil Nadu politics, only days after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy won a trust vote in the state Assembly.

According to reports, Deepak Jayakumar, Jayalalithaa’s nephew, has staked claim to her Poes Garden residence in Chennai, where Sasikala stayed before her sentencing in the Disproportionate Assets (DA) case. He said he would also go to court.

Deepak claimed that the former Chief Minister had bequeathed her properties, including her Veda Nilayam bungalow in Poes Garden here, to his sister Deepa Jayakumar and him, by leaving behind a will.

Deepak said Sasikala assuming the top post was “unacceptable” to the people of Tamil Nadu. He also asserted that party members did not favour TTV Dinakaran’s appointment as Deputy General Secretary of AIADMK.

“They are trying to bring family rule.. probably they both forced Sasikala to hand over the party to them,” he alleged.

In an interview, Deepak said, “I will pay the Rs 100 crore fine for my aunt Jayalalithaa. I don’t have money, so I will sell properties. I can’t say which property I am going to sell. But Poes garden belongs to me and Deepa."

Allu Arjun-Lingusamy film not shelved

There were reports that Telugu actor Allu Arjun's debut movie in Tamil, which is to be helmed by Lingusamy, was dropped. But the claim has been denied.

Lingusamy took the twitter and put end to all the speculation and posted on the wall of twitter, “#Sandakozhi2 will be Commencing Shortly & @StudioGreen2 - @alluarjun Project will commence immediately after this. #NoMoreRumours #Vishal.”

The upcoming venture will mark the Telugu actor Bunny’s entry into Kollywood. Currently he is busy in the shoot of ongoing flick DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham under the direction of Harish Shankar. Actress Pooja Hegde is playing lead role in the production venture of Dil Raju.

In September, Allu Arjun along with Lingusamy and producer KE Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green announced the project in Chennai at a press meet, much to the excitement of his fans in Kollywood.

Earlier reports also suggested that the film faced uncertainty before it was officially announced. According to reports, after Lingusamy narrated the story to Allu Arjun, the project was put on hold due to unknown reasons and the director approached Junior NTR with a different subject.

A R Murugadoss-Mahesh Babu film gets release date

It's official. Mahesh Babu’s Tamil-Telugu bilingual with director AR Murugadoss will be hitting the screens on June 23.

“Be our guest in theatres, Opens June 23 !!!! ... Very excited @urstrulyMahesh", Murugadoss posted on his microblogging page.

The movie, which is touted to be an action entertainer is rumoured to be titled 'Bharat Ane Nenu' in Telugu, has Rakul Preet as the female lead. Tamil title is being worked out.

Amidst secrecy, the movie's director however revealed on the Maha Sivarathri day that they are planning to release it on June 23, on the eve of Eid-Ul-Fitr.

Actor-filmmaker SJ Suryah, who gave a stunning performance in the Tamil film Iraivi, has been roped in to play the prime antagonist in the film.

The movie is also expected to have a special scene on Jallikattu towards the climax. A 30 second teaser video of the film is expected soon.

Modi unveils 112 ft Shiva statue, hails Yoga as health assurance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said yoga was the passport for health assurance and since it fights
stress it was one of the strongest weapon to have peace.

He called for efforts to protect nature and mould human activities to bring them in sync with ecological surroundings. He also termed unity in diversity as the speciality and strength of the Indian culture.

"This (Maha Shivaratri celebrations) symbolises a spirit of vigilance, that we have to protect nature and mould our activities in sync with our ecological surroundings," he said addressing a gathering after unveiling a mammoth 112 feet bust of 'Adiyogi" Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga Foundation in Coimbatore.

The beauty of yoga ws it is ancient, yet modern. It is constant but yet evolving. The essence of yoga has not changed, he added.

Pointing out that the changing lifestyles of the 21st century have brought their own set of challenges, Modi said lifestyle related ailments, stress related diseases were becoming more and more common.

"The communicable ailments can be controlled but what about
the non-communicable ones", he asked.

"This is Yoga, Yoga is a journey from me to we," he said, emphasising India's biggest strength was its diversity. Modi began his speech by greeting people in Tamil "Ungal Ellorukkum En Anbana Vanakkam."

Founder of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev, said the bust of 'Adiyogi' was built in eight months. He also lauded Modi for practising Yoga.

Deepa starts new forum, says she will contest from R K Nagar

J Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar launched a new political forum called 'MGR AMMA Deepa Peravai', on her aunt 69th birth anniversary on Friday.

Unveiling her plans at her T Nagar residence, Deepa said that she was immensely happy to embark on her political journey on the birth anniversary of Jayalalithaa.

"I will continue my work as the political heir of Amma," she said.

Addressing a crowded press conference at her home, Deepa said her political journey had "begun" and also unveiled a flag depicting the images of Jayalalithaa and M G Ramachandran which she said was only a flag of the Forum named as 'MGR AMMA Deepa Forum'.

Responding to a query, Deepa said the people desired that she contest from R K Nagar constituency that fell vacant following the demise of the late AIADMK supremo.

Flanked by her husband Madhavan, Deepa said that she would retrieve two leaves symbol of AIADMK. "Democracy has been murdered," she said, recalling the recent political developments in the state. "I have begun journey to retrieve the people of Tamil Nadu from these traitors."

Deepa said she will contest elections from the RK Nagar constituency which was represented by her aunt.

Deepa also did not rule out an alliance with former chief minister O Panneerselvam, who lost a high-stakes gamble of revolting against AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, who was jailed in a corruption case barely a few days ago.

Court asks Dhanush to show birth marks

The Madras High Court on Friday directed actor Dhanush to appear before it on February 28 in connection with a case filed by a couple who claimed he was their son.

On Friday, Dhanush's petition seeking to quash the proceedings initiated by a judicial magistrate court in Melur based on a case filed by R Kathiresan (65) of Madurai and his wife Meenakshi (53) came up for hearing before Justice G Chockalingam.

The couple sought maintenance from the actor claiming that the actor was their son.

In addition to the school certificates, the actor’s counsel also submitted additional materials to prove that Dhanush first movie Thulluvadho Illamai got released on May 6, 2002 contradicting the couple’s claim that the actor had registered for employment in June 2002 and that he was subsequently admitted to class 11 in a Sivaganga school.

Though the transfer certificate submitted by the actor doesn’t mention any identity marks, the TC certificate submitted by the couple mentions the identity marks on his body. Hence the judge directed the actor to appear in person before the court on February 28 for verifying the claimed birthmarks.

On June 21, 1993, the birth certificate was issued. It means ten years after the birth of the petitioner (actor), the certificate was issued. If the certificate was true, the actor had to study Class 5 at that time.

How a birth certificate, issued after ten years of his birth, could be issued without mentioning the name of the child, asked the couple's side.

Husband clears the air on Suchitra's tweets

Actor Karthik Kumar, husband of RJ-singer-actress Suchitra, has sought put to full-stop to the controversy about tweets by her wife.

In a statement online, she said, "Good morning. The last few days have been very disturbing for us as a family as Suchi's twitter account was hacked.

Today we have retrieved her account. All the tweets published last few days were not by Suchi and is completely false.

I personally apologise to all the people concerned as I understand the stress it would have caused them. I request the media to show sensitivity and not sensationalise this. Thank you all for the support.

And now, let us have a look at some of the latest tweets on Suchitra's profile.

"Smbdy would also like me to warn my followers about a huge sex scandal that is about to erupt in an ashram near Coimbatore. Please stay safe."

"That's my arm - from rough handling by #Dhanush's team. Sorry buddy - disqualified."

"I didn't want to out this #Dhanush I always play fair. But @SadhguruJV Won't stop messing. So war, it is."

"This is the ultimate truth. I was attacked and everyone was told to not help. Thanks bro."

Mahashivratri 2017 - Live from Isha Yoga Center, India

Chennai Power Shutdown Areas on 25-02-2017

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on the following dates in the following areas between 9.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. for maintenance work. Supply will be resumed before 2.00 P.M. if the works are completed.

GUINDY AREA : Tiny sector & Mini Tiny sector (Developed plots and Adjacent areas), Industrial Estate, Guindy, Tiny Sector, Labour colony, Guindy, Arulayampet, Reddy st, Parthasarathy koil st, Ambal nagar, North phase, Poonamallee road, Electronic complex, JN Salai, Inner ring road, Ekkattuthangal, Nagi reddy Thottam, Pillayar koil st.

TI CYCLE AREA : Krishnapuram, Ram nagar, Lenin nagar, Kamarajapuram, Municipal Court, Tass Estate part, Thiruvenkata nagar, Cholapuram road part, Cholapuram road, C.T.H.road, Stedford Hospital, O.T.Bus stand, Mounaswamy Madam st, Oragadam road, Teachers colony, Municipal Office, Varadharajapuram, Post office, Ambattur Rly.station bazaar, Sivananda nagar, Sourth park st, School st, Ambattur Market, Ramapuram, Thasildhar office.

PADI AREA : Balaji nagar, Palla st, TVS nagar, Annai nagar, Agraharam, North, East & Central avenue, Sakthi nagar, Part of Housing Board, Entire Padi, TVS colony & avenue, Kumaran nagar, Devar nagar, Thathan kuppam, Senthil nagar, Santhi nagar, Srinivasa nagar, Vivekananda nagar, Teacher’s colony, Puthuthagaram.

NANGANALLUR AREA : Medavakkam main road, Madipakkam koot road, Senthuran colony, Raghava nagar 3rd ,4th ,5th ,6th, 11&12th sts, Raghavana nagar 12th main road, Defence colony, Anna st, part of Gopal colony, part of Madipakkam main road.

SEMBIUM AREA : India Piston –I, Tafe-I st point.

THIRUVERKADU AREA : Thiruverkadu, Thiruverkadu Co-Op nagar, Goparasanallur, Mooventhar nagar, Pillaiyarmadanthangal, Ashok Nandavanam, Ishwarya garden, P.H.road, Saveetha Dental Hospital, KGP nagar, Rani Anna nagar, Perumalagarm, Kendriya Vihar, Vada Noombal, Noombal road, Abirami nagar, Mahalakshmi nagar, K.P.S.nagar, Sundaracholapuram, Velappan chavadi, Mathiravedu, Kaveri nagar, Pallikupam, Veeraragavapuram, Kaduvetti, Kumaran nagar, Leelavathi nagar, Selvaganapathy nagar, Balaji nagar, Parivakkam, Mettupalayam, Pidari thangal, Kolapancheri, Chokkanallur.

SHOLINGANALLUR AREA : Sholinganallur, Semmenchery, Semmenchery TNSCB, Thoraipakkam, Kannaki Nagar, PTC Quarters, Karapakkam, VGP Avenue, Okkiyum Pettai, Kumaran Kudil, Parthasarathy nagar, Mettukuppam, MK Chavadi, Part of OMR, Chandrasekaran Avenue.

MADURAVOYAL NORTH AREA : North Mada st, PH road, Mettukuppam road, Karthikeyan nagar, Vel nagar, Kannan nagar, Pallavan nagar, Seemathamman nagar, Lakshmi nagar, Gangai Amman nagar, Bakyalakshmi nagar, Sivapootabam, Vanagaram, Krishna Industrial Estate, Ganesh nagar, Vanagaram Mettukuppam, Anna Industrial Estate, Alapakkam Main road (part), Erikarai Srilakshmi nagar, Jayaram nagar, Kandhamapuram, Balaji nagar, Kanni Amman nagar, Subulakshmi nagar, Rajarajan nagar, Balaji nagar.

IYYAPPANTHANGAL AREA : Iyyappanthangal, V.G.N. nagar, Ashok Brindavan nagar, Subbaiah nagar, Mettu st, Balaji nagar, R.R. nagar, Part of – Kattupakkam, Valasaravakkam, Porur garden phase 1 &2, Ramasamy nagar Urban 3, Paraniputhur, Karambakkam, MPL road, part of Arcot road, part of Vannagaram, Officer colony, Rajeswari colony, Thirumurugan nagar, Chettiyar Agaram, Om sakthi nagar, Jai nagar, Ganapathy nagar, Vivekanandhar nagar, Sairam avenue, Sapthagiri nagar, Thiraviyam nagar, Samayapuram, Prestige Bella vista.

EPS, OPS, Deepa compete to mark Jaya's birthday

The camp led by AIADMK geneal secretary V K Sasikala including chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the rival faction led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam and the team led by Deepa Jayakumar today separately celebrated the birth anniversary fo Jayalalithaa.

A function was held at AIADMK headquarters and it saw the participation of Palaniswami, party deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and others.

Tributes were paid to a portrait of Jayalalithaa at the residence of Panneerselvam. Deepa started her new forum today and distributed goodies to the needy.

"I'm not eyeing Poes Garden," said Deepa. Palaniswami and other top leaders from Sasikala camp will participate in public meetings from February 24 to 28 to commemorate the birth anniversary.

Sasikala said every year Jayalalithaa's birthday was celebrated with fervour, but "I never thought this year will turn out to be so challenging." "That Amma is not with us makes me more sad. After having celebrated her birthday with her for the past 33 years, I feel lonely this year in her memories. My thoughts revolve around her," she had said.

Meanwhile, the faction led by Panneerselvam issued a statement saying the party flag would be hoisted across the state and free food would be provided to the poor. The statement was released by E Madusudanan. MLAs, MPs and senior AIADMK leaders would participate in the functions, said Madusudanan.

Second trial run for pedestrian plaza at T Nagar tomorrow

Greater Chennai Corporation will conduct its second trial run for the T Nagar pedestrian plaza on Saturday.

A release said, as a first step towards creating this plaza, a part of the road was converted into a pedestrian zone for the first trial run conducted on November 20th, 2016 (Sunday).

Owing to the success of the first trial, a second trial run has been planned for the 25th of February, 2017 (Saturday) from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm for which following Traffic arrangement are proposed in Thyagaraya Road from Bashyam road (Panagal Park) to Dr. Nair Road.

(i) Diversion plan on Thyagaraya road for the vehicles plying from Bashyam road (Panagal Park) towards Anna Salai :

1. Buses and two wheelers only WILL BE ALLOWED to ply on this stretch as usual.



2. Cars, Autos, Shared Autos, vans etc WILL BE RESTRICTED TO PLY on Thyagaraya road. Alternatively these vehicles have to take diversion at G.N. Chetty Road and take right at Dr. Nair Road and reach Anna Salai.

(ii) Diversion plan on Thyagaraya road for the vehicles plying from Anna Salai towards Bashyam Road (Panagal park) from Thanikachalam Road Junction:

1. Buses and two wheelers only WILL BE ALLOWED to ply on this stretch as usual.



2. Cars, Auto, Share Autos, vans etc WILL BE RESTRICTED TO PLY on Thyagaraya road. Alternatively these vehicles have to take diversion at Thanikachalam Road and take right at Venkata Naranayana Road and reach Bashyam Road (Panagal park).

(iii) Vehicular traffic from G.N.Chetty Road to (i) Raja Mannar street (ii)Kamalabai Street & (iii) Muthu Krishnan Street and Vehicular traffic from Venkatanarayana Road to i) Nana Street (ii) Sivagnanam Street (iii) Deena Dayalu Street (iv) Sundaram Street (v) Sivaprakasam Street (vi) Kannadasan Street (vii) Bagavandham Street & viii) Raja Street are closed for general public except for residents of that particular street.
Alternative Parking Plan (Customers who want to shop in Pondy Bazaar)
Car Parking
1. Cars coming from Prakasam Road & G. N Shetty Road, can park their vehicles in Bashyam Road in front of Panagal Park and Chennai Middle School ground at Prakasam Road

1. The Cars approaching Thyagaraya road from Anna Salai, Thanikachalam road & Dr. Nair road can park their vehicles at proposed Multi Level Parking (MLP) Site opposite to Hindustan Petroleum bunk on Thanikachalam road or on the on-street parking space available between Boag road junction & Dr.Nair road junction.
   Two Wheeler Parking


2. Two Wheeler coming from Prakasam Road & G. N Shetty Road, can park their vehicles in Chennai Middle School ground besides Prakasam road Junction.



3. Two Wheeler approaching Thyagaraya road from Anna Salai, Thanikachalam road & Dr. Nair road can park their vehicles at proposed Multi Level Parking (MLP) Site opposite to Hindustan Petroleum bunk on Thanikachalam road or on the on-street parking space available between Boag road junction & Dr.Nair road junction.
   Eco- Friendly battery operated cars will be operated within pedestrian zone on both the sides of Thyagaraya road to take care of senior citizen, differently abled, children and pregnant women for the short distance commutation within the pedestrian plaza zone.
   In addition, to enhance interest among pedestrians/shopping commuters, some activities on health, drawing competition and recreational activities on smart city for children and appropriate street plays are planned.

The result of the survey will then be compiled and used to shape the final design of the proposed pedestrian plaza.

Apollo ready to reveal Jaya's treatment secrets

The Apollo Hospitals at Chennai has informed the Madras High Court that the photographs of late J Jayalalithaa taken at the hospital were not released to the media as per her desire.

It also said the bulletins released by it in connection with the medical treatment administered to her was in accordance with her wishes.

A submission to this effect was made on Thursday, in response to a PIL filed by P A Joseph seeking appointment of three former judges of the Supreme Court to conduct a probe in this regard.

In its counter-affidavit, the Apollo Hospitals chairman said: "All information released by Apollo Hospitals pertaining to the treatment of the late chief minister was done as per her wishes."

"The late chief minister had expressed her desire that no photographs of hers be released, and that any information released about her medical treatment emphasize the positive aspects such as potential recovery and release from hospital," the hospital chairman Pratap C Reddy told the court on Thursday.

The hospital stated that if the court insisted they were ready to submit the full details of treatment given to the former Chief Minister.

Deepak revolts against Dinakaran, supports OPS

Breaking his prolonged silence, Deepak Jayakumar, nephew of late Chief Minister J Jaylalithaa, has stirred a hornet's nest by stating that he would inhert her Poes Garden residence and that he would accept AIADMK General V K Sasikala's nephew T T V Dinakaran's leadership in the party.

Deepak, who has been vocal about his support for Sasikala taking up the post of the party's general secretary, has now questioned why her nephews TTV Dinakaran and Dr Venkatesh were inducted into the party, with the former even being made Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK.

"Dinakaran is not fit to be the party deputy general secretary. My aunt was opposed to family politics. She only got Dinakaran MP post, and she only threw him out of the party too," Deepak said.

Deepak said, “I will pay the Rs 100 crore fine for my aunt Jayalalithaa. I don’t have money, so I will sell properties. I can’t say which property I am going to sell. But Poes garden belongs to me and Deepa (his sister).”

Deepak said, "My aunt (Sasikala) is already there (as general secretary). OPS anna (brother) should be given Dinakaran's post."

Deepak alleged that there was an attempt by Sasikala's family to stamp their authority on the AIADMK and claimed that the cadre will not accept this.

"This is the most stupidest thing to do, to handover the party to TTV Dinakaran. The cadres won't accept this," he said.

GVP launches visually challenged singer

GV Prakash Kumar, who happened to hear a song sung and uploaded online by a visually challenged woman called Jyothi, immediately reached out to her and offered her a chance to sing a song in his upcoming film, Adangathey.

"Yes this wonderful singing talent Jyothi will be making her debut in my next musical album #adangathey ✨✨ god bless," the music composer turned actor posted on his social media page.

Sources say that GV Prakash has seen Jyothi’s works on Facebook and impressed with her singing ability, the composer made her croon for a special number in Adangathey.

Adangathey is an upcoming Tamil action-thriller film written and directed by Shanmugam Muthusamy, starring G. V. Prakash Kumar and Surabhi in the leading roles, with Sarath Kumar, and Mandira Bedi in supporting roles. The film began production during July 2016.

Sri Green Productions began a new film venture directed by Shanmugam Muthusamy and featuring G. V. Prakash Kumar in the lead role during July 2016.

The team initially announced that Vaibhavi Shandilya would portray the leading female role, but she was later replaced by Surabhi.

Actor Sarath Kumar was also chosen to portray supporting roles, along with Thambi Ramaiah. For his role in the project, Sarath Kumar grew a beard and stated that it would be a "re-entry" for him back into Tamil films after a brief hiatus.

Mandira Bedi was also signed on to appear in the film after the director felt that she could portray a North Indian police officer in the film. He approached her about the role after following her posts on social media and feeling she would be apt for the character.

Dhanush-Durai-Santhosh Narayanan together again

Dhanush has confirmed he will reunite with his Kodi director Durai Senthil Kumar for another project. Interestingly, the director's maiden movie 'Kaaki Sattai' too was produced by Dhanush.

"Yes. After blockbuster 'Kodi', Durai Senthil Kumar is writing his next for me. Too early to disclose further details. Thank you," Dhanush posted on his microblogging page.

Dhanush is currently busy wrapping up his maiden directorial Tamil venture Power Paandi, in which he also plays a cameo. The film has Rajkiran as hero.

Also, Dhanush is on the verge of completing shooting for Tamil action romantic Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon.

We learn that Santhosh Narayanan is likely to be retained for the new Dhanush-Durai film as well. His songs in Kodi went on to become hits.

Dhanush has also signed a project with director Karthik Subbaraj. With back-to-back projects, Dhanush's next with Durai Senthilkumar is likely to go on the floors next year.

Closed: 500 TASMAC shops from today

Starting Friday, Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd, popularly called TASMAC, will bring down the shutters on 500 liquor shops and 169 bars across the State.

With this closure, the number of liquor outlets now stands at 5,700. Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had promised phased prohibition in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections and today (February 24) is her birthday.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswmi on Thursday said the outlets would be closed from Friday.

He said 500 liquor shops and 169 bars would be closed from today and jobs of all the surplus staff would be protected by providing them alternate employment in TASMAC office.

Analysts say that the closure would result in a ₹2-3 crore loss per day. Currently, TASMAC sells liquor worth ₹67-70 crore per day through its outlets across the State.

Palaniswami on his first day in office on February 20, signed five files, including the one to close down 500 TASMAC shops as part of the AIADMK's promise made in the manifesto during the Assembly elections last year that total prohibition would be introduced in the state in a phased manner.

Jayakumar becomes finance minister of TN

In the first rejig of the new state cabinet on Thursday, fisheries minister D Jayakumar was allotted finance and personnel and administrative reforms portfolios held by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Jayakumar will now head the Finance, Planning, Legislative Assembly, Elections and Passports, Personnel and Administrative Reforms and Personnel and Administrative Reforms (training) departments in addition to his current Fisheries portfolio.

Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao "accepted the recommendation of the Chief Minister," in this regard, a Raj Bhavan communique said.

"The subjects Finance, Planning, Legislative Assembly, Elections and Passports, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Training), hitherto dealt with by the Chief Minister may be reallocated to D Jayakumar," it said.

Jayakumar will now be designated as Minister for Fisheries, Finance and Personnel and Administrative Reforms, it added.

Jayakumar is from north Chennai, the stronghold of veteran leader E Madhusudanan who had joined O Panneerselvam in revolting against interim general secretary VK Sasikala. Importantly, the RK Nagar constituency that fell vacant after the death of late leader J Jayalalithaa falls in this area.

Main accused in Bhavana molestation case arrested

The hugely anticipated arrest of Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the abduction and alleged rape of Bhavana ended at the additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court in Ernakulam.

Dramatic scenes unfolded at the District Court Complex on Thursday when Pulsar Suni alias Sunil Kumar arrived before the ACJM court to surrender along with Vigeesh, another accused.

The police forcibly picked him up from the accused box of the ACJM ( Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate) court, leading to protests by lawyers present there.

In the past week, there was no escaping Pulsar Suni as the prime accused in the actress attack case hogged headlines and prime time TV news space.

He was taken to a nearby police station where his arrest was recorded and later shifted to the police club in Aluva where he will be questioned.

The police had been on the lookout for Sunil and had come close to nabbing him from Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Karthi completes 10 years as hero

It was during the same time a decade ago Karthi Sivakumar's maiden heroic venture Paruthi Veeran hit the screens.

Even as his fans are celebrating the occasion, the actor has thanked one and all.

"This day 10 years back Paruthiveeran released. Ever since you all have been extremely kind and showered me with love," he said.

He added: "I've had my highs and lows but you all have been there for me and made my life beautiful. Am always indebted for that and will continue to put in my best efforts."

He said further: "Thank you and Love you all! Sincere thanks to God, Family, Anna, My Directors, Technicians, Producers, Co-stars, Friends of media, Pandian master, Theatres, Distributors and My dear Fans!"

Paruthiveeran is a romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer Sultan. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan and Ganja Karuppu and Sujatha Sivakumar playing supporting roles.

Produced by Studio Green, it features a soundtrack and score composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Ramji and editing by Raja Mohammad.

Chennai Power Shutdown Areas on 24-02-2017

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on 24-02-17 between 9.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. for maintenance work.Supply will be resumed before 2.00 P.M. if the works are completed.

NANGANALLUR AREA : Part of Nehru colony, College road, Ellaimuthu amman kovil st, Gandhi salai, Gandhi lane, Kumaran st, Puzhuthivakkam, Joseph st (1,2,3rd st), Poonthottam st (1st and 2nd , 3rd st) , Venugopalapuram (1st and 2nd st).

AYAPAKKAM AREA : ICF colony, Ayapakkam, Ayapakkam TNHB, Athipet Mettu st,Kuppam, KSR nagar, VGN Shanthi nagar, Melayanambakkam, Konraj kuppam,Agaragaram, Devi nagar, Chelliamman nagar, Chinna koladi, Jothi nagar,Moonru nagar, Ezhil nagar Annanoor and surrounding areas.

PAPER MILLS ROAD AREA : MSM main & 1-3 st, Jaibeem nagar, State Bank colony, George colony, Lakshmi nagar, Vasanth appartment, Kennady square north, Kennady square one part, Anbalazan nagar, Prakasam st, T.V.K. nagar one part, Balram st.

Chennai Power Shutdown Areas on 23-02-2017

Power supply will be suspended in the following areas on 23-02-17 between 9.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. for maintenance work.Supply will be resumed before 2.00 P.M. if the works are completed.

SEMBIUM AREA : T.H.road,Teachers colony, Muthumariamman koil st, Kauveri salai, M.H. road, Chinna Kuzhandhai st (1 to 4), Raja st, SSV kovil st, Kamaraj salai, GNT road part, Gandhi nagar st (1 to 4), Jambuli st,Kattabomman main road, Kattabomman st (1 to 9), R.V. nagar, Seetharaman nagar, Kamaraj salai, St. Mary’s road, KKR avenue, Pallavan salai, TVK nagar (part), Gowthamapuram Housing Board, Jawahar st, Rani Ammayar st, MPC st, E.B. road, Singara Mudali st, Indira nagar west, Chinnathamburan st,KKR nagar, Ambakkar nagr, Mictic colony, Kannabiraan kovil st, Talco Leather Estate, Jambuli colony, KKR town and Garden, Palaniyappa nagar,Thapal petti, Veerapandian st, Kamarajar nagar (1 to 9), Gandhiji st (1 to 7), Renukkamman kovil st (1 to 5), MPM st, B.B. road, Nelvayal road,Perambur High road.

MMDA COLONY AREA: A- Block to R- Block, Kamala Nehru nagar 1st and 2nd st,Sidco, Ashoka nagar, Subbarao nagar, Veerapandi nagar, Rani Annanagar,Kalki nagar, 100 feet road.

ARUMBAKKAM AREA: Metha nagar, NM road, MH colony, Railway colony, Ampa Skywalk, Franko India, Vaishna College, Govindan st, Collectrate colony,Ayyavo colony, Gayathri Devi Wardex.

CHOOLAIMEDU AREA: Sakthi nagar 1st to 5th st, Thiruvalluvapuram 1st and 2nd st, Thiruvengadapuram 1st and 2nd st, Nelson Manikam road, East & West Namachivayapuram, Choolaimedu High road, Gill nagar, Abdulla st, Basha st, Neela Kandan st, Khan st.

KODAMBAKKAM AREA : Bajanai Koil 3rd and 4th st.

AZHAGIRI NAGAR AREA : Thamizhar Veethi, Elangovadigal nagar, Bathmanaban main road, Gangai amman koil st, Periyar Pathai part – II, Ayyappan nagar,Lakshmi nagar, Andavan st.

KOTTIVAKKAM AREA : Kandhasamy nagar, Periyar salai, VGP Layout, Govindha nagar, Sangam colony, LP nagar, ECR main road, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Seaward road, KK road, Anna st, Valmiki nagar, AGS colony, North, South & East,West mada st, Natco colony, Vaembuli amman kovil st, New beach road, Thiruveethiamman kovil st, Muthalamman kovil st, Pillaiyar kovil st, Bajanikovil, Venkateshwara nagar 1 to 21st st, Thiruvalluvar nagar 1 to 58th st,Karpagambal nagar, Raja st, Journalist colony, Balakrishna road,Thulukanathamman kovil st.

VELACHERY AREA : Vijaya nagar, Sarathy nagar, Seetharam nagar,Varatharajapuram, part of Velachery main road, Gandhi salai, Andal avenue, Seva nagar, Soni nagar.

VILLIVAKKAM AREA : Thiru nagar, Thirumangalam road, Venugopal st, Radha Krishnan st, Sai Murugan st 1st to 3rd st , Lakshmi st, NRN compound & NRN colony, New Avadi road, MTH road.

Sasikala writes to AIADMK members from jail

AIADMK general secretary Sasikala is constantly in touch with her party cadre despite being inside the jail.

She has written a letter to her party asking them to celebrate late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s birth anniversary on February 24.

Sasikala, in her letter, has stated that a grand celebration conducting public welfare events across the state should take place.

Meanwhile, Sasikala has again applied for ‘better amenities’ in prison.

According to a report in NDTV, Sasikala has claimed that she deserves better facilities owing to her ‘age and poor health’.

The AIADMK chief, lodged in Parappana Agrahara jail, wants a cot, a table fan, a mattress and an attached bathroom, said the report.

The 59-year-old returned to the Central Jail on the city's southern outskirts a week ago to serve a four-year sentence upheld by the Supreme Court after she was held guilty of corruption in a two-decade-old wealth case.

7 fall from moving train in Chennai, 3 killed

Three commuters were killed on the spot, and four others injured, when they were hit by a signalling post near St Thomas Mount railway station today.

The students were standing on the footboard of a Chengalpet -Chennai Beach suburban train when the bag of one of the victims was caught in a signal post between Palavanthangal and St Thomas Mount railway stations, dragging him down, according to a Railway Protection Force officer.

Dr P Vijayakumar, Superintendent of Railway Police Force said, “Seven people fell while traveling on the footboard of the suburban train. Three of those who fell have died in the incident.”

Those injured have been rushed to the Chromepet General Hospital.

The accident took place around 9 a.m. and the train was moved to Beach station the after injured were rushed to the GH. The bodies were removed to the hospital for post mortem.

The deceased and the injured were students. They were yet to be identified. It was not known where they were studying.

CM announces panel to revise salary of govt staff

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced formation of a committee to recommend to the government on the revision of salary of its employees, in line with those of Seventh Pay Commission.

The committee, which has top officials as its members, has been asked to submit its report within four months’ time before 30 June.

The Seventh Pay Commission recommended a 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay. The state committee will study the implementation of revised salary and pension payouts under the pay commission.

Following the submission of the report, those working with the Tamil Nadu government can expect an increase in their pay.

Palaniswami said in a statement that the committee would have to submit its report to the government before June 30. “The committee comprises the Finance Secretary, Home Secretary, School Education Secretary, Labour Secretary and a Member-Secretary.

This committee will suggest measures to implement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations as in vogue for Central government employees. The committee will have to tweak the recommendations to adapt them to the local requirements, said the statement.

TN Assembly chaos: Governor submits report to President

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao has sent a report to President Pranab Mukherjee on the commotion witnessed in the State Legislative Assembly when the motion of confidence was moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday last.

Palaniswami had won the vote of confidence by a steep margin amid stormy situation in the House.

The Governor has sent a report to the President and the Centre, sources said without divulging further details.

Meanwhile, DMK working president M K Stalin will call on the President on Thursday evening to present his case on the assembly incidents.

Sources said the DMK leader was also trying for an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Monday, the governor got a "factual report" from assembly secretary A M P Jamaludeen on the entire proceedings from the time the House assembled at 11 am on February 18 until it was adjourned sine die around 3 pm.

Raj Bhavan officials said the report by the governor to the president was based on the allegations and report of the Assembly secretary.

Samantha's future brother-in-law wedding called off

Telugu top star Nagarjuna's son Akhil Akkineni and fiancee Shriya Bhupal have ended their engagement months before their Italy wedding. It was reportedly Akhil and Shriya's decision.

It is to be noted that leading Tamil actress Samantha is engaged to Nagarjuna's elder son Naga Chaitanya, while Akhil is his younger son.

Akhil and Shriya have been dating for a few years now and got engaged in a private ceremony in 2016 at the GVK House, owned by GVK Reddy, grandfather of Shriya.

According to reports, the engagement was called off by Akhil and Shriya while Nagarjuna and GVK Reddy reluctantly gave in.

The two were planning to tie the knot in May 2017 in Italy. Quoting sources close to the family, a report in The New Indian Express suggests that many invitees who had already booked their tickets to Italy have been asked to cancel their travel plans.

There was talk that there is trouble in their paradise ever since the duo was spotted having a huge fight at the Hyderabad airport recently.

It's official: Trisha in Saamy 2

Trisha, who shared the screen space with Vikram in Saamy, will be the heroine of the film's sequel too.

Like Saamy, Saamy 2 will be directed by Hari with Vikram playing Aaruchamy, the no non-sense rough and tough police officer.

Confirming the same, Trisha took to her social networking page to express her happiness and said that she was excited to be back on board with the team.

"Wudnt call it a circle but looks like I'm back to where I started😉 #SAAMY2 #onboard #doubletheaction #doublethelove #excited #Trish62," she has posted.

Saamy is a 2003 Indian Tamil action film written and directed by Hari. presented by K. Balachander and produced by Pushpa Kandasamy under banner Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Vikram, Trisha and Kota Srinivasa Rao in the lead. music was composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Upon release, the film was highly successful at the box office. It was remade in Telugu as Lakshmi Narasimha (2004) starring Nandamuri Balakrishna and Asin, in Bengali as Barood(2004 film) starring Mithun Chakraborty, in Kannada as Ayya (2005) starring Darshan and Rakshitha and later in Hindi as Policegiri (2013) starring Sanjay Dutt and Prachi Desai.

Tight security ahead of PM's visit to TN tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Coimbatore on February 24 to unveil the 112-feet tall face of Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Centre.

Tight security cover will be thrown in and around the city during the one-day visit, police said.

The unveiling of Adiyogi is part of the largest Mahashivaratri celebrations in the country which will be telecast live, simultaneously in seven languages through 23 satellite television channels and several online platforms.

The festivities of Mahashivaratri begin at 6 PM and conclude at 6 AM, the next morning. The nightlong celebrations include the powerful midnight meditation and discourse by Sadhguru, cultural performances by Kailash Kher, Rajasthan Roots with Kutle Khan, Sounds of Isha (Isha’s home grown, anomalous group of musicians) and dance troop Nritarutya. Maha Annadanam or the offering of food will be made for all.

“We want to place these tall faces of Adiyogi in four corners of the country. The first one is in the south, at the Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. The eastern one will most likely be in Varanasi. For the north, it will be somewhere north of Delhi and the western one will be in Mumbai,” Vasudev said over email.

“Essentially, we have taken small pieces of metal and put it together. This is a very hard way to do it, but it is the most inexpensive. This is unique – it hasn’t been used elsewhere,” he said.

Stalin holds Sasi responsible for Jaya's death

Holding Sasikala responsible for the death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa, DMK working president MK Stalin on Thursday said that if the death of the former CM is probed, she will be sentenced to life imprisonment.

"If proper probe takes place into J. Jayalalithaa's death, the person, who is in jail for four years now, will be awarded lifetime imprisonment," Stalin told media.

Stalin, who with his party workers staged a hunger strike against Chief Minister Edapaddi K. Palanisamy's trust vote, said, "The hunger protest, which we are undertaking today, is not for us but against 'benami' rule established in Tamil Nadu."

Claiming that the State Government headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami would not last its term, DMK working president on Wednesday said that his party would soon be returned to power and institute an inquiry commission to probe the “mystery” behind the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Unlike the previous protests, Wednesday’s event saw the organisers earmarking a couple of boxes exclusively for students and youth.

As soon as the hunger strike began at Thennur Uzhavar Sandhai grounds, students and youth were made to sit in the area allotted to them. Close to a dozen of students and youth, including the organisers of the pro-jallikattu protest, were given an opportunity to speak about the political situation in the State.

Prashanth's dad all praise for Vijay Antony

Veteran actor-director Thiyagarajan, father of Prashanth, has played a key role in Vijay Antony's upcoming film Yeman. And he is all praise for the music composer-turned-actor.

“After a few years break, I started taking up acting offers but I’ve been extremely choosy about my acting roles," he said.

"Normally there will be few scripts which urge you to accept the project immediately and Yaman is of that kind. With many twists and turns, Yaman is purely set against a political backdrop in which I play a political prime mover," he said.

Thiyagarajan added: "It is a very powerful film, Jeeva Sankar has come up with a hard-hitting script and Vijay Antony will reach more heights through this Yaman movie."

Following the huge consecutive hits ‘Naan’, ‘Salim’, ‘India-Pakistan’, multilingual blockbuster ‘Pichaikkaran’ and the super hit ‘Saithan’, the composer and actor Vijay Antony turned out to be the blue-eyed boy among the Producers and Distributors.

And now the actor’s next movie Yaman, which has actor Thiagarajan in a very important role, is creating more hype among the audience.

Starring Vijay Antony and Miya George, the most anticipated political drama Yaman, directed by Jeeva sankar is ready for a grand release on 24 February 2017. Yaman is produced by Raju Mahanlingam under the banner Lyca Productions and Fatima Vijay Antony under the banner Vijay Antony Film Corporation.

Simran with Aravind Swami

Aravind Swami's next ventue Vanangamudi, which is being helmed by Selva, will have Simran in a key role.

The film bankrolled by Magic Box Production House's Ganesh has Rithika Singh as heroine. And Simran is doing a pivotal role.

"Simran is getting connected with the movie by portraying a police officer's role," said a press release.

The cast also includes Nanditha, Thambi Ramaiah, Chandhini, Hasini, Harish Uththaman, Naagi Needu, Raj Kapoor, Ramesh Pandit, OAK Sundar playing predominant roles.

With DOP by Gokul, Music by D.Imman, Editing by Antony and Art by Shiva Yadav, the movie is expected to be called for a great project, it added.

"The movie would certainly bag more appreciation and definitely would gain success at the box office business for the bunch of talents grouped as cast and crew."

Meanwhile, the wrong hearsay about the title of the movie as "Vanangamudi" is completely denied by the team also the movie is to be entitled officially in short notice of time.

Kohli is an intense cricketer: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh has heaped laurels on Indian captain Virat Kohli by saying that he is an intense cricketer who thrives on.

Speaking during a session at the SporTale - sport themed literary festival in Pune, Harbhajan said, "Virat is a very intense cricketer. He likes to take on the responsibility and expects the same from his team. That has really worked well and the team has performed beyond expectations."

Comparing Kohli with Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan said they played in different eras and faced different bowlers and comparison would be unfair.

"Still I will place Sachin Tendulkar higher than Kohli because the kind of bowlers he faced were better than what they are now," he said.

He however said the standard of bowling has fallen over the years.

"Overall cricketing standards have gone down over the years. In a T20 match a team takes 4-5 wickets in 10 overs and then expects the same in a one-day match," he said.

He added: "On English pitches one has to wait for maybe 30-35 overs to get two wickets."

Stokes to skip England matches for IPL

England cricketer Ben Stokes, who fetched a record deal of Rs 14.5 crore deal at the IPL acutions, will skip his country's two-match ODI series against Ireland.

For, the richest UK cricketer will be available for the entire duration of 14 league matches of Rising Pune Supergiants.

According to a report in Cricinfo, Mumbai Indians' Jos Buttler and Kolkata Knight Riders' Chris Woakes will also be available for entire league stage and will only return post 14 May.

Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills both believe that their lives have been changed overnight, after being signed for record-breaking fees by Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively during a dramatic day's bidding at the IPL auction.

Stokes and Tymal Mills were snapped up for record sums of Rs 14.5 crore and Rs 12 crore by Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively.

"It has been a pretty incredible week and, considering you normally have your most exciting times when you're playing, it's been an amazing and interesting few days," Stokes said.

DMK hunger strike across TN, Stalin in Tiruchi

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is holding a hunger strike today at all district headquarters in the state, days after its MLAs were forcibly evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

DMK, whose MLAs were en masse evicted from the state assembly before the voting on the confidence motion on Saturday, announced the state-wide hunger strik, protesting what it called was "murder of democracy".

Stalin, who is attending the hunger strike in Tiruchi, alleged that he along with his MLAs were forced out of the assembly and manhandled by the martials in the process.

On Saturday, he also met the governor following which he led a protest at Marina beach.

In a representation submitted to Rao, Stalin, also the leader of the opposition in the assembly, urged him to "nullify the entire proceedings" to "protect the spirit of democracy and the Constitution".

DMK Rajya Sabha members RS Bharathi, TKS Elangovan, and Tiruchi N Siva submitted the representation.

Stalin added that the party MLAs are trying to meet President Pranab Mukherjee. We’re trying to meet President Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on this regard; Have sought time to highlight the Assembly situation, Stalin said.

Civic polls in TN to be conducted before May 14

The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold local body elections before May 14.

The local body elections happened last in 2011 in which the AIADMK had been victorious. They won all the 10 mayor seats, 584 councilors, 89 municipal chairmen’s, 1681 councilors, 285 local panchayat chairmen, 2855 ward member seats. The DMK was decimated in local body elections.

On October 4, 2016, a single judge bench of the high court set aside the September 26, 2016 election notification issued by the SEC on petitions by Opposition DMK and other political parties citing non-compliance of Tamil Nadu Panchayat (Elections) Rules, 1995, following which the polls scheduled for October 17 and 19 were cancelled.

A Bench of Justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and S.M. Subramaniam directed the state poll panel to conduct civic polls before May 14.

As the school examinations and evaluation of answer sheets would be held in April, the elections could be conducted in May, the counsel said.

This time, the elections assume importance in view of the recent political upheaval in the state after CM Jayalalithaa’s death. There was a long-drawn power struggle between O Panneerselvam and Sasikala Natarajan that brought AIADMK on the verge of a split.

Tamil film director dies at 103

Legendary Tamil film director Antony Mitra Das died in Chennai on Monday evening. He was 103 years old.

He made films in Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhalese and served in the Army during the Second World War.

Mitradas was born in Madurai on 3 November 1913. He did his B.A. Statistics at American College, Madurai. His passion for film direction took him to Calcutta, and he enrolled in an institute run by Balchandani.

There the noted director Ellis R. Dungan had come to deliver a guest lecture. Dungan was much impressed by Mitradas and recommended him to T.R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres, Salem.

Thus he got the opportunity to direct his first film Dayalan starring P.U. Chinnappa in 1941, as soon as he finished his studies at the film institute.

Mitradas' best known films are Baalyasakhi, Avakasi and Pizhaikkum Vazhi. Avakasi was a turning point in the career of Prem Nazir. Duppathage Duka is the remake of the Tamil hit Ezhai Padum Padu and was a huge hit in Sinhalese.

With the outbreak of the World War II, he felt the necessity to serve the nation. He joined the army and was posted in Singapore and Chittagong during 1942-1945.At the end of the war, he restarted his film career and directed a few films.

Anirudh sings in Simbu's music

Music director Anirudh is singing a song in Santhanam's Sakka Podu Podu Raja, which has music by Simbu.

STR posted on his microblogging page: "What a changeover !!! I'm recording and @anirudhofficial is singing .Thanks ani :) #SakkaPoduPoduRaja @iamsanthanam."

Interestingly, STR had sung a track called 'Peiyophobilia' from Anirudh's most recent release, Rum.

Sakka Podu Podu Raja is an upcoming Tamil comedy film directed by Sethuraman and produced by VTV Ganesh.

The film features Santhanam, Vaibhavi Shandilya and Vivek in the leading roles. Featuring cinematography by Abinandhan Ramanujam and edited by Anthony, the film began production in October 2016.

In October 2016, VTV Ganesh announced that he would finance a film directed by newcomer Sethuraman, which would feature Santhanam and Vaibhavi Shandilya in the lead roles.

The film was launched with a small ceremony during the middle of the month and the lead pair in attendance.

In early November 2016, it was announced that production had begun and Ganesh had signed on comedian Vivek to play a supporting role, while Sampath Raj and Robo Shankar joined the cast.

Smart ration cards from April 1: TN minister

Tamil Nadu food minister R Kamaraj has said smart family cards will be distributed to the people of the state from April 1 this year.

He said the universal public distribution system, in which rice is supplied to all rice cardholders without any discrimination, inaugurated by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, will continue and the introduction of the National Food Security Act will also be simultaneously implemented without the one affecting the other.

A review meeting, headed by the Minister, was held at Ezhilagam on Tuesday during which the civil supplies and consumer protection offi cials took part.

Stating that 5.65 crore people have seeded their Aadhar details with their family cards, he said this amounts to 80 per cent of the state's population. The minister asked officials to take steps to collect the details of the remaining persons too.

On the question raised on what happened to Rs 318 crore allocated to the smart card project, the Minister said that on 18 September 2014 quotation was asked and on 2 March 2015, an agreement was made for the project.

He said that out of the 5.77 lakh complaints received at the grievance redressal camps conducted by his department, 5.55 lakh have been addressed. "Such camps are conducted in Tamil Nadu alone," he said.

HC accepts CB-CID report that Ilavarasan committed suicide

Nearly four years after dalit youth Ilavarasan was found dead on the railway tracks in Dharmapuri district after being separated from his girlfriend, triggering prolonged caste unrest in the state's northern districts, the CB-CID has concluded that it was a case of suicide.

In 2012, after Ilavarasan married a caste Hindu girl, violence broke out in three colonies in Dharmapuri. A year later, on July 4, 2013, the boy was found dead near a railway track.

When the petition from Ilavarasan’s father Elangovan of Natham Colony in Dharmapuri district seeking transfer of the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising outstation officials came up before the bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice R Mahadevan, the CB-CID filed a report stating that Ilavarasan had committed suicide.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday agreed, accepting the police report. Ilavarasan's family, however, alleged that the police intimidated their son's close friend and another relative to give statements that would corroborate their suicide theory.

Divya's father had committed suicide after she eloped with Ilavarasan. In June 2013, when Divya's mother filed a Habeas Corpus petition in the court, she chose to go with her mother and got separated from Ilavarasan.

Subsequently, Ilavarasan was found dead on a railway track in Dharmapuri district on July 4, 2013.

A promise from Sneha to fight sexual abuse

Close on the heels of sexual abuse and harassment faced by her colleagues Bhavana and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Sneha has come out with a statement.

Sneha has promised in her letter that as a mother, she will teach her son to look at women with respect and treat them with the dignity that they amply deserve.

She condemned the acts against her colleagues and also the two small girls Rithika and Nandhini who lost their lives to the lust of animals masquerading as humans.

Already, Miya George has expressed worry over the safety of actresses.

The Amarakaviyam and Indru Netru Naalai actress, who was last seen in the recent release RUM, has said no one has the right to ill-treat women.

"This is so shocking! It is not possible to have a man accompanying us every time we travel as a part of our profession," she said.

"Usually it is the mothers who accompany most actors. But once we leave the state it is not possible. So we are on our own, trusting the travel and stay arrangements made by the production team," she said.

She added: "This incident has been an eye-opener for our fraternity that we have to be more careful in future.”

Miya stated more: "Bhavana was travelling as a part of her work. Her perpetrators should be scared now that she has filed a complaint."

Vidya Balan opposite Rajinikanth?

The team of Superstar Rajinikanth's next film is in talks with Bollywood actress Vidya Balan to play the female lead in the movie.

"The makers of the film met Vidya Balan recently, and have finalised her as the lead. However, they are still working on the dates, and only then the official agreement would be signed," sources said.

To be produced by Dhanush, the yet-untitled film is expected to roll from May. Meanwhile, Rajinikanth is wrapping up his much-awaited sci-fi thriller 2.0.

Kabali was among the most successful Indian films of 2016 in which Rajinikanth played an ageing don based in Malayasia. It was directed by Pa Ranjith, who is likely to direct the spin-off as well.

Earlier too, there were reports that Vidya Balan had been approached for Kabali, before Radhika Apte was finalised as the female lead.

Meanwhile, directed by Shankar, 2.0 starring Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey and Adil Hussain is slated to released on Deepavali.

Lord Sri Parthasarathy Temple Theppa Utsavam

Lord Sri Parthasarathy Theppa Utsavam is starting on 28.2.2017

Programme

26.2.2017 to 28.2.2017 @ evening 6.30 pm for Lord Sri Parthasarathy

1.3.2017 @ evening 6.30 pm for Lord Sri Narasimhar

2.3.2017 @ evening 6.30 pm for Lord Sri Renganathar

3.3.2017 @ evening 6.30 pm for Lord Sri Ramar

4.3.2017 @ evening 6.30 pm for Lord Sri Gajendra Varadhar

All the devotees are requested to participate in the Theppa Utsavam, enjoy and get the blessings of all the deities.

Arrangements for the same is being made by Mrs T Kaveri, ML Joint Commissioner / Executive Officer Deputy Commissioner / Executive Officer / Thakkar (Additional Charge)
T Raghavan