By Umaima Shafiq
Rail police reunite brothers
Nearly 24 years after his disappearance, Dhanapal was reunited with his younger brother in southern Virudhunagar district with the help of the Southern Railway (SR) police last week.
Dhanapal had reportedly left home after a fight with his father over his poor academic record in 1990. He wandered all over Tamil Nadu doing odd jobs.
Meanwhile his father died and his five siblings filed a missing person report. Search continued through the years until Parthiban, an SR police who had worked in Virudhunagar and seen Dhanapal’s police photo, found him sleeping on a platform at Chennai Central Station.
He spoke to Dhanapal, confirmed his identity and informed his family. Dhanapal’s family was relieved because they could now go ahead with partition of the family wealth.
Chairman of Kothari group dies in the US
Bhadrashyam Kothari, the chairman of Chennai-based Kothari business conglomerate, died of cancer in Houston, US on February 23.
The Kothari group’s businesses cover sugar, petrochemicals, fertilisers, chemicals and textiles.
Kothari was 54 and survived by wife Nina Kothari who is the sister of Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
A graduate of Chennai’s Loyola College, Kothari took over after his father died in the mid 1990s and expanded the group. He is credited with founding India’s first mutual fund- Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund. He also successfully fought a legal battle with his uncle D C Kothari over control of the Kothari Industrial Corporation.
Meat rice the main attraction at temple fest
Continuing an 80-year-old tradition, thousands of devotees thronged the annual festival at Muniyandi Sami temple in Vadakampatti village in Madurai to sample the 300kg of meat rice cooked for the deity last week. This is against the tradition of serving vegetarian fare at other temples.
Over 2,000kg of rice, 300 roosters and 83 goats were used to cook the rice that is sponsored by philanthropists and trust money. Vadakampatti is also the birthplace of the famed Muniyandi Sami hotels found throughout Tamil Nadu and other states. Folklore says that Subbaiah Naidu, a resident of Karaikudi, was inspired to start a hotel during a visit to this temple in 1930. He started a chain that has continued through generations of his family.
Cinematographer Vincent dies
Veteran cinematographer A Vincent died of old age on February 25 in Chennai. He was 87 and survived by wife, two sons who are also cinematographers and a daughter.
Born in Kozhikode, Kerala Vincent entered Tamil films in the 1950s and worked in dozens of movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. His teamwork with director C V Sridhar in hit films like Kalyanaparisu, Sumai Thangi, Nenjil Oru Alayam, Nilavu and Kathalikka Neramillai were critically acclaimed.
Screenwriter Chitralaya Gopu, writer Suka and other colleagues praised his technical skills, an eye for detail and artistic photography.
Marine institute not recognised
Even as parents wait for the mortal remains of their 19-year-old sailor son Vignesh from Malaysia, they found out that the institute where he studied in southern Tuticorin district is not recognised by the Director General of Shipping (DGS).
The Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) which is helping Vignesh’s parents in the death formalities has advised them to sue the Jams Marine Institute.