News for Saturday, March 22

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HC orders rehabilitation of displaced families

CHENNAI, Mar 21: The Madras High Court has ordered that 350-odd families who were displaced by the acquisition of over 1,000 acres of land near Arakkonam for the INS Rajali Naval Air Station project in 1987 should be rehabilitated. The court directed that at least one person from each family be provided employment either at the Naval Air Station itself or in other defence projects. Disposing of two writ petitions, Justice E Padmanabhan said mere payment of compensation for the acquired land was not sufficient, as the families had been deprived of their livlihood. On behalf of the INS Rajali, it was submitted that eligible members of 173 families had already been provided jobs, and there was no commitment to provide employment to all those who had been displaced.
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Man murdered in Chennai residential area

CHENNAI, Mar 21: A 50-year-old man was found murdered in his flat on Marshalls Road, a residential area in the City--the latest in a series of crimes over the recent past, mostly targeting people staying alone. Police said the flat had been ransacked, and murder for gain was not ruled out. The victim, Manohar, was staying alone, and the crime came to light when relatives, suspicious when he failed to respond to telephone calls, went to his residence, and found that he had been fatally strangled. Police are investigating.
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Gold worth over Rs 1 crore seized from jewellers

CHENNAI, Mar 21: IT officials have seized gold worth a record Rs 1.21 crore from the premises of two jewellers in Tuticorin, apart from Rs 1.5 lakh in cash. Gold jewellery and cash were also seized from textile traders and a business family in the Union Territory of Pondicherry, and a money lender operating both at Dindigul and Chennai, in a major crackdown, Income Tax Department sources said.
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TN Govt to take steps to retrieve forest land

CHENNAI, Mar 21: The Tamil Nadu Government is taking steps to retrieve some 220 acres of land, originally earmarked for the social forestry scheme, which was assigned to the now disowned foster son of former State Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, and his aunt, Illavarasi. Action is also proposed to be taken against two former district collectors who cleared the assignment of the land. The Forest Department had planted Eucalyptus trees on the land, at Uttukkottai in Anna District, at a cost of Rs 31 lakh. Of these, Rs 1 lakh worth of trees had been chopped down to clear the land which was handed over to Sudhagaran.
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TN Govt. offers concessions to industries

CHENNAI, Mar 21: The TN Government has announced that industries holding either Government lands, or land acquired by Government and assigned to them, can claim permanent exemption from the Land Reforms Act for the area which is unutilised by them, subject to the condition that they do not sell this land without the Government's consent. State Revenue Minister, K Manoharan, also announced in the State Assembly that Government was examining a proposal to set up an "Institutional Complex" near Chennai to facilitate the Central and State Governments to implement prestigious projects.
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Ker.Govt. to bring in law regulating pvt.hospitals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Mar 21: The Kerala Government will soon bring in a law to regulate the functioning of private hospitals. State Health Minister A C Shanmughadas told the Legislative Assembly that the draft of the bill was ready.
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7 naxals killed in encounter with poliice

NARSAPUR (AP), Mar 21: Seven naxalites, including three women, were killed in an hour-long gun-battle with the police in the forest near Lakshmapur village in AP's Medak district this morning. Three others, at least one of whom was injured, escaped, and police have launched a manhunt to capture them. The extremists reportedly belong to the Gummadidala squad of the People's War Group. The encounter took place during combing operations being carried out by the police. The naxalite party came face-to-face with one police team, and, drawn by the sound of gun-fire, another team came up from behind, trapping the extremists. The naxalites kept up the firing even as they retreated deep into the forest.
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Ex-Ker CM chargesheeted in palmolein import case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Mar 21: Former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran has been chargesheeted by the State Government's Vigilance Department in the palmolein import case. A charge of criminal conspiracy was filed against six others also. They have been accused of causing a Rs 2.8-crore loss to the State exchequer by the 1991-92 deal to import 15,000 tonnes of palmolein through some private firms in Malaysia. Others chargesheeted include T H Mustaffa, a former Minister, and S Padmakumar, former Chief Secretary.
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2 held on kidnap charge

CHENNAI, Mar 21: Two Hyderabad-based businessmen have been arrested here on charges of kidnapping another businessman from Bangalore. The two, Ramaraju and Venugopal Reddy, along with five others, had reportedly entered into a deal with Ramakrishnan regarding the lease of some 200 acres of land at Payyanoor. Ramakrishnan refused to pay the bills for Ramaraju's cellular phone, which came up to Rs 17,000, and he was allegedly kidnapped and brought here. He managed to get in touch with his wife, who lodged a police complaint. The man has been freed.
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Kalyanotsavam performed at Upper Ahobilam

AHOBILAM (AP), Mar 21: A large number of devotees witnessed the "Kalyanotsavam" performed to Jwala Narasimha Swamy, with Chenchu Laxmi, at Upper Ahobilam today. The deity-bridegroom was represented by the 45th Jeer of the Ahobilam Mutt, Satagopa Narayana Yetheendra Mahadesika Swamy.
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Scheme to clean TN rivers on anvil

MADURAI, Mar 21: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is working on a scheme to clean up the major rivers in the Southern districts of the State. Board Chairman A P Muthusamy said the Cauvery, Vaigai and Tamiraparani were among the rivers which would benefit from the programme.
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Thrust on extended areas around Chennai

CHENNAI, Mar 21: Chennai Mayor M K Stalin proposes to pay more attention to extended areas and slums in the City during the next financial year. On the occasion of the presentation of the budget for the Chennai Corporation, he said work would soon begin to provide basic amenities, which had been lacking in these extended areas during the past 20 years. Priority is also to be given to malaria and mosquito eradication in the City.
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Meet to coin Tamil versions of English terms

COIMBATORE, Mar 21: A state-level conference is to be held here to coin Tamil equivalents for English political terminology, like socialism and commnunism. The meet, to be held on March 26 and 27 under the aegis of the Government Arts College, will be attended by about 100 faculty members of Political Science and Public Administration Departments from various colleges and universities in the State.
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Waste incinerator developed by MK Varsity

MADURAI, Mar 22: The Madurai Kamaraj University has developed a hospital waste incinerator, described by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board Chairman A P Muthusamy as a pioneering effort. The device has been developed by the School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources. Dr T M Haridasan, Head of the Department of Bio-energy, who spearheaded the development of the incinerator, said it used LPG to provide the initial fire, while bricks inside the incinerator sustained the temperature and supplied it for self-sustained combustion. Hospital waste, with a high moisture content, would be disposed of in an odourless manner, and the ash generated would be removed by water traps, he added.
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