TAMILNADU

Naduwould soon hold talks withKeralaatThiruvananthapuramto resolve various inter-state water disputes including strengthening of Mullaperiyar dam and implementation of Pamba-Achankoil-Vaippar link, which would help divert 22tmcft of water to Sankarankoil, Kovilpatti, Sivagiri, Srivilliputhur, Rajapalayam, Sathur and Tenkasi taluks in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu had sanctioned Rs9.8 crore for the work. The state has also sanctioned installation of seismic instruments at the dam at Rs99.9 lakh. TheTamil Nadu governmentalso requires permission from Kerala to cut 23 trees to complete the strengthening work of Baby dam and repair the ghat road. Due to the obstructionist Attitude of Kerala government, it was getting delayed, the minister said.
On Pamba-Achankoil-Vaippar link, Duraimurugan said the project could help generate 500MW power for Kerala. Despite Tamil Nadu giving its concurrence for preparing a detailed project report, Kerala was not in favour of the project, he said.

The Tamil Nadu government also wants Kerala to give nod to the modified proposal of Pandiyar-Punnampuzha project, proposed by the DMK government in 2006. The project was expected to generate 60MWhydropowerand divert 7tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) water through a 27km long tunnel to Moyar in Bhavani sub-basin to meet the drinking and Irrigation needs of some drought-prone areas. After conducting preliminary study, a feasibility report had been prepared to facilitate discussions with Kerala

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister M K Stalin in which minister forIndustries, Official Language, Tamil culture and archeologyThangam Thennarasuand chief secretaryV Irai Anbualso participated.

Earlier, chief minister Stalin had ordered the institution of an award to honour those who worked for the Growth and betterment of Tamil Nadu and Tamils. Sankaraiah, who entered public life at a young age, went on to become a student leader, participated in the nations freedom struggle, got elected to the legislative assembly and worked for the growth of Tamil Nadu and the cause of Tamils, would be the first recipient of the award, a statement from the Tamil Nadu government said.

Central Marine Research Institutes regional centre atMandapaminTamil Nadureleased 1.6 milliongreen tiger shrimp seedsinto the sea.

The exercise was carried out under the project, Sea ranching ofgreen tiger shrimp(Penaeus semisulcatus) post larvae (PL) in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu funded by department of fisheries, Union ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, under the central sector scheme component of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

The shrimp seeds were released by the staff of Mandapam regional centre in the presence of Dr G Tamilmani, head-in-charge and principal investigator of the project.

A total of 58.24 million green tiger shrimp seeds have been sea ranched in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar since the initiation of the project in February 2022. The sea ranching programme was coordinated by senior scientist of the centre Dr B Johnson.

Taking forward the debate over Federalism, Naduchief ministerM K Stalinon Tuesday opposed the Centres proposed amendment to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, charging that the amendment sought to restore the revisionary powers of the Union Government, which was struck down by theSupreme Courttwo decades ago.

Stalin was following up on a representation from theTamilfilm Industry in this regard. In letters sent to Union information and broadcasting minister,Prakash Javadekarand law and Justice, communications, electronics and information technology ministerRavishankar Prasad, the chief minister said, The draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021, has given rise to serious apprehensions not only in the minds of the film Fraternity and film industry but also among all well-meaning sections of Society that cherish freedom of expression.

Announcing the rollout of one of its key poll-time assurances made in 2021, the ruling DMK on Monday said the scheme providing Rs 1000 per month assistance for eligible Women heads of families will be launched in September this year.

Coinciding with Dravidian stalwart and party founder, the late CN Annadurai’s birth anniversary on September 15, the launch of the ‘game-changer’ initiative would come months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, where the DMK has set its eyes on its led alliance sweeping all the 39 seats in Nadu and the lone Puducherry segment.

State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Monday presented Budget 2023-24 in the Assembly and announced that the monthly assistance scheme would be launched by Chief Minister M K Stalin. Making the announcement in his Budget address, he said said the modalities were being worked out for the scheme’s implementation and Rs 7,000 crore has been set apart in the budget for the plan. It shall be a “game changer in the socio-economic life of women of the State,” he said. Dravidian icon and DMK founder CN Annadurai’s (1909-1969) birth anniversary falls on September 15. He was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 1967 and 1969, leading the first non-Congress government in the state in post-independent India.

The Rs 1,000 assistance for women family heads is one of the electoral assurances made by the DMK ahead of the 2021 Assembly election and it eventually became a very popular promise.

Often targeted by the main opposition AIADMK for ‘not implementing,’ it, the DMK regime had to reiterate many times that the scheme would soon see the Light of the day. DMK President and CM Stalin, during his campaign for the recently held Erode (East) bypoll, had assured of an announcement on the date of launch of the assistance scheme. It would be made known in the Budget presentation, he had then said.

In Tamil, the assistance is officially known as “Magalir Urimai Thogai,” which means “Women’s Right to Assistance.” Women heads of eligible households would get the financial assistance. Tabling the Budget, Rajan said that owing to the unprecedented and difficult reforms undertaken, “we have reduced the annual Revenue Deficit of around Rs 62,000 crore which we inherited on assuming office (May 2021), to around Rs 30,000 crore in the Revised Estimates of the current year.”

This is notwithstanding the several “massive welfare schemes” that are being implemented during the last two years, he said. Fare free travel for women in State-run buses and breakfast scheme for government school students are among the several schemes being implemented. Even as Rajan began his address, the principal opposition AIADMK attempted to raise issues which led to a din for a while. The party MLAs later staged a walkout. Despite accomplishments, the minister said “we are bracing for challenging times ahead,” in view of unprecedented Inflation, the continuing war in Ukraine and volatility in the global economy and Financial Markets.

“We have outperformed by growing faster than the national Average in the previous year and by significantly lowering the Revenue Deficit and Fiscal Deficit when compared to that of the Union Government,” he said adding it was a testimony to Stalin’s Leadership.

The Finance Minister announced setting up of a “state of the art global Sports city” in Chennai and Rs 25 crore for “factory skill schools” and Metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai. Rajan also announced renovation of the Jawaharlal Nehru Outdoor Stadium here at an estimated cost of Rs 25 Crore. Udhayanidhi, son of CM Stalin is the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development.

Rajan said the free breakfast scheme for primary students has led to increase in attendance, between 10-30 per cent in schools. In the upcoming financial year, the government would construct classrooms, laboratories and toilets at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore, he said. The Budget also reflected the DMK regime’s social Justice, Tamil development and cultural ideological focus, as seen in several announcements.

It includes a memorial here for Tamil martyrs Thalamuthu and Natarajan, who sacrificed their lives to protect Tamil in the struggle against “Hindi imposition,” a grant of Rs 5 crore for propagation of ideals of Dr BR Ambedkar by translating his works into Tamil, holding an international conference on Tamil computing and promotion of sea cruises that connect places of significance in Tamil culture.

The government would extend the free bus pass scheme to to 591 more elderly Tamil scholars. “Tamil art, music, architecture, sculpture, crafts and dance reached their pinnacle during the Chola period and their glory spread far and wide. To highlight the contribution of the Cholas who ruled the world, and to preserve artefacts and relics of that age, a grand Chola museum will be set up in Thanjavur,” he announced.

TheTamil Nadugovernment decided to invoke the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on those who misbehave during online classes. It also decided to frame guidelines to prevent sexual harassment of students during online classes conducted by schools and educational institutions.

Chief minister M K Stalin said that theschool Education departmentwould frame guidelines for conducting and regulating online classes in a week for which a committee comprising the commissioner of the school education department, Police officials of cybercrime wing and crime against children, academicians and IT experts will be constituted. It will also frame the rules to ensure that sexual harassment can be prevented.

: Naduis at a historic moment as we are entering the next major era ofIT innovation, state finance ministerPalanivel Thiaga Rajansaid on Friday.
“While cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been better at drawing talent, our time is now. We must use this transition in the world of tech to areas like fintech, IoT and others and reclaim our spot as the best ecosystem for technology,” thefinance ministersaid. He was speaking at the inaugural session of day two of the Umagine tech conference in Chennai.

Rajan said Silicon Valley was once a sleepy farmland and went through many transitions to arrive at where it is now. Similarly, TN too has the talent and has been a pioneer in leveraging tech, according to him.

Seeking to bring about aparadigm shiftin the government’spaddy procurement system, the is all set to rope in private players to process paddy procured by the civil supplies corporation fromfarmers. Sources said the government would sign agreements with private players for 10 years.
Drenching of paddy bags in direct procurement centres (DPCs) will be a thing of the past as modern rice mills of 200TPD (tonnes per day) would come up at Theni, and six units of 500TPD would come up at Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and Thiruvarur districts. These centres to be established by private players would have adequate warehouses/silo to store 1,500MT/3,500MT. They would also have facilities for post-harvesting activities, said sources.

The rice will be sent for public distribution in bags of 5kgs-50kgs as stipulated by the Civil Supplies Corporation.

The state procures 40 lakh tonnes of paddy annually. It hulls paddy in its own 21 rice mills and through 592 private hulling agents. They have a minimum capacity of 100TPD. Frequent cyclonic storms result in moisture level rising in paddy. Hence, they require post-harvest drying facility.

The rice mills and hulling agents, however, lack drying and storage facilities, which results in large scale damage to paddy and deterioration of quality of rice and by-products. “Tenders will be floated in a few days to engage private players to save the paddy from getting spoilt and improve the quality of rice being supplied to PDS outlets,” said a senior official.

The Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that it has decided to recover losses to the tune of 5,832.44 crore from private beach sand mineral exporters, seize all the stocks available with them and constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe illegal mining since 2000-01.

In a counter-affidavit filed before Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, who were seized of a suo motu PIL taken up in 2015, Industries Secretary S. Krishnan sought the courts nod to seize 1.55 crore tonnes of stocks and hand them over to Indian Rare Earths Limited, a central Psu.

The counter-affidavit pointed out that the government had originally issued 64 beach sand mining licences (52 in Tirunelveli and six each in Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts) to seven miners. However, following complaints of large-scale illegal mining, the government banned the mining as well as the transportation of beach sand Minerals in 2013.