Saravanan's Blog

A view of Mullaperiyar Dam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border at Kumily, near Idukki. File Photo: H. Vibhu Source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2761320.ece There can be no question of Tamil Nadu giving up its rights over Mullaiperiyar. Its waters are not exclusively Kerala's, but an inter-State resource governed by the principles of inter-State rivers BY DURAI MURUGAN In the latest intensification of the Mullaiperiyar controversy, I see the media discourse not only tilted in favour of Kerala but also seeking to paint Tamil Nadu in a bad light — as an adamant State not concerned about the safety of the people in the neighbouring State.   The propaganda by Kerala , which was started way back in 1979 with an article in a Malayalam newspaper, has become so institutionalised now that I see independent experts and activists voicing opinions that fail to take into account Tamil Nadu's considered standpoint. One of the reasons for the national media overlooking Tamil...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 31, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/detained-korean-ship-drifts-to-shore/348486.html CHENNAI: Detained South Korean flag cargo vessel ‘OSM Arena’, anchored off the Chennai Port with a 14-member crew, drifted towards shore near INS Adyar in the wee hours of Friday due to gusty wind and rough seas. The vessel has been anchored off the port for the past 22 months following a Kolkata High Court order. According to Chennai Port Trust sources, Coast Guard was informed immediately after the vessel began dragging its anchor due to rough seas. Due to gusty winds, the vessel drifted eastwards and reached around 600 metres from the shore between mouth of Cooum River and the Port’s coal yard near INS Adyar. The vessel was afloat in 12 to 13 metres of depth and action was being taken to shift it with the assistance of port tugs into deeper waters, sources told Express. There was no danger to the vessel or the...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 30, 2011 Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/tn-trawlers-reach-safety-on-ap-coast/348226.html CHENNAI: Owners of the mechanised fishing trawlers that left Kasimedu Fishing Harbour more than a week ago and remained untraceable near Nizampatnam Bay area for the past two days heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday evening after most of the stranded boats and crew reached safety . Confirming the news to Express, M E Raghupathy, president of Chennai-Tiruvallur- Kanchipuram District Mechanised Boat Fishermen’s Association, said that he received telephone calls from Krishnapatnam and Nizampatnam in Andhra Pradesh in the afternoon, confirming the safe arrival of Kasimedu fishing trawlers. “I received phone calls from crew members of various trawlers, who were earlier untraceable due to inclement weather in Nizampatnam Bay area. By noon on Wednesday, most of the boats reached safe locations there,” Raghupathy said. It ma...

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 29, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Men-in-hamlets-to-be-ready-for-emergencies/347857.html CHENNAI: With the severe cyclonic storm Thane’s landfall along the city’s northern coastline certain, t he situation at the 14 odd fishing hamlets along the Chennai and Tiruvallur districts has changed dramatically since Wednesday evening. Male members of the fishing community have been asked to stay in group in every hamlet to meet any emergency due to gusty winds and torrential rain brought by cyclone Thane. Speaking to Express from Thalankuppam, one of the vulnerable fishing hamlets near Ennore creek, Mahesh, a local fishermen said that the situation has changed dramatically inside his hamlet since evening as all reports from weathermen predict a certain landfall of the severe cyclonic storm near the city. “Local officials and village administrative officers (VAOs) are in constant touch with the village heads from the fi...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 29, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/SOS-to-rescue-700-stranded-fishermen/347852.html CHENNAI: Owners of more than 100 mechanised fishing trawlers that sailed from the Kasimedu Fishing Harbour five days ago  and now stranded near the Nizampatnam Bay in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, have appealed to the State government and the Indian Coast Guard (Eastern Region) to rescue their boats and 700-odd men onboard, before the arrival of Cyclone Thane. Speaking to Express, S Venugopal, president of Tamil Nadu Coastal Mechanised Boat Fishermen Welfare Association, said, “ We have received reports that about 100 mechanised boats from Kasimedu are now stranded near Nizampatnam Bay area due to rough sea conditions and we appeal to the Coast Guard to act swiftly to move them to a safer locations before cyclonic storm Thane reaches the area .” When the meteorological department alerted fishermen about the storm...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 29, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/corporation-announces-'best-councillor'-awards/347771.html CHENNAI: In a bid to make the Chennai Corporation councillors get closer to their voters with their public welfare activities , the civic body has announced a new scheme, wherein the selected members would receive ‘Best Councillor’ awards and a citation from Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.  According to official sources, the ‘Best Councillor’ award would inspire the winning elected representatives to involve them more into social services activities in their wards. The Corporation Council Meet held few days ago had given its nod for the resolution pertaining to the scheme and fixed the criteria for the selection. T he Chief Minister would distribute the newly instituted award of recognition for the selected councillors during the Independence Day or Republic Day celebrations. The 200 Councillors, w...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 28, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Corporation-roads-set-to-get-plastic-coat/347572.html CHENNAI: Taking a giant step towards increasing lifespan of its roads that get battered every monsoon, the Chennai Corporation has planned to include plastic waste while re-laying roads from January next .  According to Ripon Building sources, inclusion of plastic waste into the bitumen mix for re-laying Corporation-maintained roads would improve the quality of roads and also solve the problem of plastic disposal in the city. “By using the plastic waste for re-laying roads from next week, the civic body would be able to dispose of the nagging problem of handling non-degradable plastic wastes in the city and its dump yards ,” civic body sources told Express. According to them, the civic body’s authorities were in the process of finalising the roads on which the scheme would be implemented first in a couple...

Source: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2011/1213_ss_gps.html DENVER, December 13th, 2011 -- The Lockheed Martin [NYSE : LMT] team developing the U.S. Air Force’s next generation  Global Positioning System has delivered the program’s pathfinder spacecraft to the company’s Denver-area facility. The pathfinder, known as the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST), will now undergo final assembly, integration and test activities in a new facility designed to maximize efficiencies and reduce costs of satellite production. The GPS III program will affordably replace aging GPS satellites while improving capability to meet the evolving needs of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide. GPS III satellites will deliver better accuracy and improved anti-jamming power while enhancing the spacecraft’s design life and adding a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems . The GNST is a full-sized, fligh...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on Dec 27, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/build-memorial-pillar-fishermen-urge-jaya/347224.html CHENNAI: On the seventh anniversary of one of the most tragic natural disasters in recent Indian history (December 26, 2004 Tsunami), a fishermens’ association on Monday appealed to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to construct a ‘ Tsunami Memorial Pillar’ in the city to create awareness about the day to future generations . Speaking to Express at Pazhaverkadu, after paying homage to those swept away in the massive tidal waves that struck the Chennai coast eight years ago, K Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association (SIFWA), said, “ We appeal to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to construct Tsunami Memorial Pillars in select places in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts to create awareness to the future generations about the importance of the day.” It may be noted that the coa...

By G Saravanan Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on Dec 27, 2011 Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/aavin-fails-to-pull-down-pavement-outlets/347196.html CHENNAI: Though the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Ltd (Aavin) has admitted that 11 of its franchisee retail outlets (FROs) are being illegally operated on Chennai Corporation’s pavements, it has failed to take any action against them. As per Aavin’s rules,  applicants for FROs should have place of their own place or a rented premises for operating the facility.  “Admitting the very existence of such FROs on  pavements itself is proof that they are illegal and no action on them for more than four months now shows that the Aavin authorities are not interested in removing them,” R Natarajan, an activist who obtained the information through RTI, told ‘Express’. It all began more than a year ago when the Corporation authorities failed to remove one such outlet on a pavement near th...

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on December 23, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/major-revamp-for-corporation-run-schools/346112.html CHENNAI: Spelling out the much-anticipated process to improve quality of education in the Corporation-run Chennai Schools, Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy on Thursday announced that a detailed survey on how to improve enrolments in its educational institutions has already been initiated and a major revamp is on the cards. Replying to a resolution at the Corporation Council meet allowing distribution of five types of cereals as evening food for 16,000-odd class X and XII students, who will be attending special classes before taking their public exams in another three months, Duraisamy said , “As per the direction of the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to improve quality of education in Corporation-run Chennai Schools, we have launched a detailed survey.” “The survey, which has been initiated to find the pointers like why enrolment...

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on December 23, 2011: Source: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/corporation-to-reclaim-stalin-office/346108.html CHENNAI: Irked over the Chennai Corporation’s resolution reclaiming the office premises of Kolathur MLA M K Stalin, members of the Opposition DMK party on Thursday staged a walkout. When the subject (in a resolution numbering 34) taken up for discussion in the Council, DMK leader in the house, Subash Chandra Bose, raised his hand to speak on the issue. Though Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy initially declined to allow him to speak and the AIADMK members also created a noisy atmosphere to stop Bose from making any statement on the issue, he got the Mayor’s nod to speak finally. While Bose was in the process of explaining how the MLA office was allotted to Stalin, R K Nagar MLA P Vetrivel, despite the Mayor’s instruction not to interrupt his speech , questioned the rational behind allocating the office to Stalin. Vetrivel trained his ...

THE STORY..... 500 TN women workers rescued from Kerala border Source: http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/500-TN-women-workers-rescued-from-Kerala-border/340832.html THENI: In one of the worst incidents of mob frenzy over the ongoing Mullaiperiyar dam safety row, n early 500 women estate workers from Tamil Nadu were held hostage and some of them allegedly sexually harassed in Idukki district in Kerala on Monday. Theni district officials here swung into action and held a series of parleys with their counterparts in Idukki to rescue the women late on Monday night. “ We received an alert that nearly 500 women from Cumbum and Theni who had gone to Idukki to work in the private cardamom estates were detained there since Monday afternoon. We held talks with the Idukki Collector and the Kerala police and managed to rescue the women from the Kumili-Tamil Nadu checkpost at Thekkady. Our police too played a decisive role in the mission,” Theni Collector K S Palanisamy told Express. So...