Chennai

Mar 28 2002

Tamil Veteran commedianne Manorama, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri by the Union government, today called on Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat.

The veteran actress presented the Chief Minister a shawl on the occasion, an official press release said.

Jayalalithaa who herself has acted with Manorama in several films, said, ' for an actress who has received worldwide acclaim, the award should have come earlier.

However, I am happy that you have been awarded the Padma Shri now.'

Aid for Gudiyatham couples Chennai(madras)

March 28 2002

Tamil Nadu C. M.Jayalalithaa today condoled the death of a couple from Gudiyatham taluk and sanctioned Rs one Lakh from the Chief Minister’s public relief fund to Uma, the couple’s daughter.

The cheque for this amount would be deposited with the Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation and the interest from this deposit would be made available to Uma.

Official press release said here today the Chief Minister had also sanctioned Rs 10,000 for performing the last rites of the couple. She ordered the district collector to provide a suitable job for the girl according to her qualifications.

Uma’s parents Velu (41) and Nalini (38), hailing from Kazhinjur village in Vellore district, consumed poison at the Secretariat complex yesterday afternoon, aggrieved over their inability to present a petition containing their grievances to Jayalalithaa.

They were admitted to the G.H. where they died last night.

TMC not yet decided on merger...Vasan

Chennai(Tamilnadu)

March 29 2002

The Tamil Maanila Congress has not yet decided on the merger with the Congress, TMC president G K Vasan told reporters here today.

He said the process of talks for the merger would take place only after the party took a decision on the issue.

Asked if the party would consider revoking the expulsion of TMC MLA D Kumaradass, Vasan said the party’s disciplinary action committee would consider it if Kumaradass expressed regret for his action in writing.

Kumaradass was expelled from the party last week for issuing statements to the press opposing any move for merging the TMC with the Congress.

Vasan said both the Central and Tamil Nadu govts should celebrate the birth centenary of veteran Congress leader and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu K Kamaraj, which falls on July 15 this year, in a grand manner all over the country.

Uneasy calm in Coimbatore

Coimbatore..(Tamilnadu)

March 28 2002

An uneasy calm prevailed in parts of Coimbatore city following the murder of an RSS activist in the suburbs today.

The man was stabbed to death, allegedly by a six-member gang who came on motorcycles, in Kovaipudur area when he was about to open his shop this morning, police said.

However, a top police official denied that the incident was sequel to the murder of a medical shop owner, belonging to another community, in R S Puram a day ago.

Security has been tightened in the govt hospital, where a post-mortem of the body, with multiple stab injuries, is being carried out. A large crowd has gathered in the area.

Additional forces had been mobilised in and around the city as a precautionary measure, he said.

The ADGP and IG were expected to reach the city by this evening, he said.

Pondy Govt plans new prison complex

PONDY...KARAIKAL

MARCH 27 2002

The Pondy administration is awaiting Central funds for a Rs. 39-crore project for construction of a sprawling prison campus on 14.5 hectares at Kalapet, the district Collector and Inspector General of Prisons, A. Anbarasu, told newspersons here. The funds had been sought in 1999 under a Centrally-sponsored scheme.

He said the present prison campus, which was 250 years old, had become cramped and rafters had become weak. It now housed 242 prisoners including 77 lifers.

A compound wall involving an expenditure of Rs. 44 lakhs had already been constructed at the site in Kalapet and the prison authorities were awaiting sanction of money from the Centre.

Following a skirmish between two groups of inmates over the screening of a video film, the department, with a view to managing the general situation properly, had decided to transfer 23 lifers to any of the jails in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government's reply was being awaited, he said. Meanwhile, for the purpose of maintaining discipline, some six lifers had been temporarily sent to the sub-jail in Karaikal. Everything was being done in keeping with the prison rules, he said.

Referring to reports in a section of the press that some of the prisoners were being converted to another community as a result of preaching done by a team inside the prison, he said there was no religious activity inside the prison by any organisation. As per rules, organisations of different denominations were permitted to talk in a general manner to the inmates and no conversion as such had been reported. The shifting of six persons to Karaikal was only on grounds of discipline, he added. A probe had been on to find out if the two prisoners, who had been released at the end of their jail term, had changed their religious allegiance, as had been reported, as a result of the preaching they received during their stay in the prison or subsequent to their release.

There was proper monitoring of the working of different religious organisations visiting the prison for preaching good things in a general manner for reformatory purposes. There were also visits by voluntary service organisations.

When a request came from a particular religious team for permission to talk to the inmates privately, the request was flatly turned down.

Anbarasu said he was doing frequent inspections of the prisons, and more often than not, without prior information. This was to enforce the monitoring mechanism absolutely and to ensure a proper and complaint-free ambience, he added.