Tamil Nadu News
Income Tax raids 40 locations linked to Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji, clash between DMK workers and officers
The searches were carried in Karur, Coimbatore and other cities, said reports.
On Friday, the Income Tax Department carried out raids at 40 different locations linked to Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji.
As per reports, the raids were conducted in 40 locations at premises, offices of government contractors having their association with Minister Balaji. The raids also include relatives of Balaji.
The searches were carried in Karur, Coimbatore and other cities, said reports.
V Senthil Balaji is the state’s Electricity Minister and is strongman of MK Stalin’s DMK from Karur. Balaji also holds the portfolio of Prohibition and Excise.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out between DMK party workers and IT officials who arrived at Balaji’s brother Ashok’s premises in Karur to conduct the searches.
The officials were allegedly asked to produce their ID cards and were questioned, party workers gathered in large numbers prevented the officials from doing their works and raised slogans.
Reports said, some also vandalised the authorities official vehicle breaking the mirror and windshield.
The raids come at a time when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is out on an official foreign tour.
The Supreme Court also had recently ordered a fresh inquiry against Minister Balaji and two others in connection to an alleged job recruitment scam in the state.
As per reports, Balaji has been accused of taking bribes from job aspirants in exchange of their recruitment in the state transport corporation between 2011 and 2015.
The opposition in the other hand has been making demands to remove Balaji from the state cabinet following the recent hooch tragedy in the state which took down the lives of 20 individuals.
A BJP delegation led by state president K Annamali had earlier also met Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi handing over a petition demanding dismissal of Balaji as a Minister for his alleged involvment in the cash for jobs scam.
India News
Tamil Nadu Govt honours Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair with Communal Harmony Award
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on January 26, handed over the Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award 2024 to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on January 26, handed over the Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award 2024 to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair during the 75th Republic Day celebrations in Chennai. Governor R.N. Ravi and other dignitaries were also present at the event.
The fact-checker Zubair has been working to debunk the fake news, circulating on social media platforms. Zubair through his Alt News portal has been analysing the veracity of the news coming out on social media and his work helps to prevent the occurrence of violence in society likely to be caused by fake news, the statement read.
The statement further brought attention to a specific incident during March 2023, where social media was loaded with misinformation that the migrant workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu.
It was noted that his website Alt News published the video after verifying the authenticity of the video footage. The footage in the video posted on social media had not actually taken place in Tamil Nadu and thus stopped the spread of rumours against Tamil Nadu and acted to prevent violence caused by caste, religion, race and language in the state, the citation said.
During the ceremony, CM Stalin also presented the Chief Minister’s Special Award to U Aayi Ammal, also known as Pooranam. Pooranam, who resides in Madurai district, donated 1.52 acres of her land to upgrade the Madurai East Panchayat Union Middle School to a High School in Y. Kodikulam. She made this generous donation in memory of her daughter Janani.
The Chief Minister awarded the Anna Medal for Gallantry, 2024 to three individuals. These included fisherman Yasaar Arafat from Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district, D. Daniel Selvasingh from Thadiveeran Koil in Tirunelveli, and Tahsildar S. Sivakumar from Srivaikundam in Thoothukudi district. Arafat led a group of over a dozen fishermen from Singithurai to rescue around 250 people who were stranded in the unprecedented floods on December 17 and 18 last year in Thanneerpandal village.
Tamil Nadu News
CM M K Stalin extends free breakfast scheme for govt school students in Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday extended the free breakfast scheme for all the government school students across Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday extended the free breakfast scheme for all the government school students across Tamil Nadu.
The chief minister celebrated the expansion by having breakfast with school students in Tirukkuvalai, Nagapattinam and sharing a meal with them, where M K Stalin’s father, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, was once a student.
This is not just a fund allotment but an investment in our children’s future. The Tamil Nadu government has invested in enhancing students’ minds and knowledge. This would definitely manifest in the form of talent and capacity-building which will profit the state, he said.
The state government has allocated Rs 404 crore for a programme launched in September last year. It aims to benefit 17 lakh enrolled children in over 31,000 schools in Tamil Nadu.
The chief minister had instructed elected representatives to launch the extension of the scheme in government primary schools in their constituencies.
The scheme was expanded after the pilot program that provided free breakfast to 114,000 students in grades 1-5. The program showed an increase in school attendance and improved the nutritional health of students in the state.
In September 2022, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu expressed his views on the scheme saying the scheme which has been rolled out for students of Class I to V in government schools is not a freebie, in fact, it is the foremost duty and responsibility of the State government to ensure its children are fed. Such schemes are the face of a government.
While speaking at the launch of the novel Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme, Stalin added that when he was interacting with students in a programme at Chennai, he asked a few students why they appeared tired and if they had eaten. The students responded him saying that they usually don’t eat in the morning, which struck a chord.
Many officials and teachers affirmed the same. That spark led to the birth of the free breakfast scheme. Through this scheme, every student shall enter classrooms with their stomachs full, he stated.
Tamil Nadu News
Mother jumps in front of moving bus, kills herself to arrange for child’s fees in Tamil Nadu, heart-wrenching video surfaced
The incident also exposed how people face difficulties who try to make their children’s lives better by educating them. Many people said that true development would mean that no one is forced in that situation to take such a step.
A heart-wrenching incident was reported in Tamil Nadu where a woman jumped off ahead of a moving bus after getting misleading information from someone that her family would receive Rs 45,000 in case she died in an accident.
In the video, a mother killed herself by jumping in front of the moving bus to arrange money for her son’s education. Reportedly, a woman was a safai karmachari at the collector’s office in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, the report said.
The woman made this fatal sacrifice because she was in need of money to pay her son’s college fees, so she decided to end her life to get the compensation of Rs 45,000.
The video has moved people. The internet users have expressed their grief and anguish over the incident. Netizens questioned and showed their anguish towards the situation that led a mother to kill herself for paying the education fees of her son.
The incident also exposed how people face difficulties who try to make their children’s lives better by educating them. Many people said that true development would mean that no one is forced in that situation to take such a step.
As per the police, a 46-year-old deceased woman was identified as Papathy, a resident of Salem district who was working as a sanitary worker in the Collector’s office. She had lost her husband long before and was a single mother parent to a daughter and a son. Papathy died after she came into a speeding that killed her at second Agraharam street in Salem. The police have registered a case, and an investigation is underway.
After inspecting the CCTV footage, the police were shocked to know that this was the woman’s second attempt to kill herself, Papathy had earlier attempted to jump before a moving bus but she could not succeed after a two-wheeler hit before she could fall into a bus. After a while, she repeated the act when another bus approached her. The entire episode was caught on camera, as per the reports.
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