TAMILNADU

TheTamil Nadugovernment issued an order giving effect to waiver of loans taken from on gold up to five sovereigns or less.

The move will cost the exchequer about 6,000 crore. The department of co-operation, food and Consumer protection issued the GO stating that CMM K Stalinhad, on September 13, announced that the gold loans taken from cooperative banks till March 31, 2021, will be waived off based on certain criteria to benefit the needy.

The DMK had promised to waive off the loans in its election manifesto earlier this year. The government also issued guidelines to identify eligible and ineligible beneficiaries to avail of the waiver.

Among others, if a ration card holder and members have one or more gold loans (gross weight up to 40g) in one or more cooperative banks, they will be eligible for the waiver.

The city corporation has started work to make 22 micro composting centres (MCCs), which were lying defunct, operational following a recent direction from theNational Green Tribunalto do so within four weeks.

The chairperson of the state monitoring committee of the for solid Waste Management inTamil-nadu”>Tamil Nadu, to stop unloading of fresh daily waste at the Vellalore dump yard. Out of 34 MCCs in the city, only 12 are operational at present.

The commissioner, along with other officials, inspected a defunct MCC at Pullukadu. On opposition from people to setting up micro composting centres in residential areas, Pratap said theSupreme Courthad ordered that no one could move the court seeking closure of MCCs.

Naduis working on a Transgender Policy, and suitable amendments would be brought in Police conduct rules to punish police personnel who harass members of the LGBTQ+ community. A submission to this effect was made by the State Government in the Madras High Court which is seized of a case relating to the alleged police harassment of a same-sex couple.

When it was suggested to the court that the judiciary too must also be sensitised on the issue, Justice Anand Venkatesh directed theTamil Nadu Judicial Academyto file a report on the steps taken to conduct sensitisation programmes to judicial officers across the state. If a single person is elevated as a judge of a high court it would have a huge impact, the judge said.

TheTamil Nadugovernment will bring a fresh legislation to ban online rummy in the state. This follows a directive from chief minister M KStalin, state law minister S Reghupathy said here on Wednesday. While the development comes in the wake of the Madras on Tuesday quashing the existing legislation banning online rummy, the opposition AIADMK has asked the State Government to approach theSupreme Courtand get a stay on the order.

In a statement, minister Reghupathy said chief minister Stalin, when he was the leader of the Opposition, had demanded ban on online rummy.

The then AIADMK government had hurriedly passed a legislation on November 21, last year, to ban online rummy in the state.

Subsequently, a petition was moved against the legislation in the Madras high court. On Tuesday, the court ruled against the ban and quashed the legislation, citing lack of clarity on why the state introduced a blanket ban on online games. The court had however said there was no bar on the state from bringing a fresh legislation, Reghupathy said.

The state archaeology department, which is conducting the third phase of archaeological excavations atMaaligaimedunearGangaikonda Cholapuramin Ariyalur district, has unearthed a stone pillar which is believed to be the remnant of a Chola-era palace.

According to official sources, the stone pillar measures 6.4 metres in length and 72cm in width.

It was discovered at theUtkottaiexcavation site, approximately 1 km from Maaligaimedu.

The first phase of excavation took place between February and September 2021. The second phase of the excavation was undertaken between February and September 2022. Gangaikonda Cholapuram, once a prosperous trading town, flourished as the capital city of the Cholas.

Nadurose six spots in the national ranking of the startup ecosystem of states released by the Centre’s department for promotion of Industry and internal trade (DPIIT).

Tamil Nadu stood at the 11th spot, categorised among “leader” states in the state startup rankings 2021. In the previous ranking exercises (2019 and 2018), Tamil Nadu was at the bottom-most category, classified as an “emerging ecosystem” for startups.

The report noted that Tamil Nadu has shown “remarkable performance” through the evaluation pillars of institutional support, fostering innovation and Entrepreneurship and capacity building for enablers.
The setting up of Tamil Nadu startup and innovation mission (Tansim), an agency driving the state’s startup ecosystem, and launch of Tanseed to support startups with a seed grant of up to 10 lakh were mentioned as key initiatives.

The citys water supply is set to be augmented, withKrishna waterfrom neighbouring Andhra expected to reach zero point inTamil Naduwithin the next10 days.

At present, officials in that state have blocked the flow from the Kandaleru reservoir at the state border itself, diverting it for farmers there.

The Kandaleru reservoir now has 45 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) against the full capacity of 68 tmcft, a comfortable level that allows the state to release water to Nadu.

The Poondi reservoir in Tiruvallur district, one of the five supplying Chennai city, is the culminating point for Krishna river water before it flows through an open canal into the reservoir at Red Hills. At present, the Poondi reservoir has 413 mcft (million cubic feet) of water, which is 12.78% of the total capacity of 3,231 mcft.

TheTamil Nadustate government on Saturday extended by four months the deadline for the high-level committee headed by retired chief justiceD Murugesanto submit its report on the state Education policy.

The committee will submit its report by the end of September 2023, school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said in a statement.
The formed a 13-member panel in June last to frame a distinct state education policy keeping in mind the interests of education and future of the youth in the state. The government gave the panel one years time to submit its recommendations.

The state government opposes several key features of the National Education Policy 2020 including conducting common entrance tests for all UG courses, introduction of a three-language formula and conducting common exams for classes III, V and VIII. It also opposes introduction of a four-year degree and giving the option of multiple exits saying that it would encourage more dropouts and create two-types of graduates.

This species is only the third skink species discovered from the Indian continent in the past thousand years. The body of the reptile is slender, only about 7 cm, and the color is sandy brown. The inconspicuous limbs of stone dragons make them look like snakes. Most stone dragons are diurnal and non-toxic. As we all know, skink feeds on insects such as termites and small spiders. It is currently classified as a vulnerable species.

Stating that the common exams for classes III, V and VIII and multiple exits in the degree programmes will increase dropouts, Naduhigher Education ministerK Ponmudy said the National Education Policy (NEP) cannot be accepted fully.

The minister said the enrolment in government colleges had increased by 95,000 due to opening of 31 new government arts and science colleges in the past two years.

He said the State Government had sanctioned Rs 100 crore for improving the Infrastructure in 55 government arts and science colleges under Perunthalaivar Kamarajar College Development Scheme.