Court orders upgrade of library set up by the DMK
The Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to maintain and upgrade the Anna Centenary Library set up in 2007 by the former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government at Kotturpuram in Chennai.
The state-of-the-art library, touted as the second largest in Asia, fell into disrepair after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party came into power in 2011. The library management had stopped buying books, shut down the air conditioning and not repaired three elevators within the four-storey complex.
Based on the petition of a Chennai resident, the court ordered two lawyers to inspect the complex and took action after they submitted a report. In order to generate revenue, the court suggested renting out the auditorium, conference halls, seminar halls and amphitheatre instead of keeping them shut.
The court also ordered the refurbishment of the digital library.
Library members claimed that the AIADMK government had ignored the library because of political differences with the DMK.
Heritage art form faces struggles for survival
A heritage craft of carving miniatures from the pith of the foamy sola plant, a river bank reed, is struggling for patronage, despite being funded by Poompuhar, a federal government arts and crafts trust, in Tiruchi.
R Jamburaj, who is a fifth generation craftsman said the reed’s spongy inner core is cured to get sheets of white paper-like quality, which are then shaped into miniatures of forts, temples, wedding ornaments, headgear and idols. They are glued together with a home-cooked starch but Jamburaj says the skill lies in not revealing the joints.
This craft was brought from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu by the rulers of nearby Thanjavur. They gave Jamburaj’s family a royal licence to become artisans in the 1820s. Jamburaj’s father ran a school to train craftsmen and was a board member of Poompuhar.
However Jamburaj fears that this delicate craft is being phased out due to lack of awareness and government apathy.
TN strikes it rich with Smart Cities initiative
Twelve cities in Tamil Nadu have been shortlisted in the Smart City Mission by the central government, making the state second only to Uttar Pradesh (which has 13 cities earmarked), in the initiative.
Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu announced the names of the 98 cities chosen in a nationwide sweep to create integrated city planning, and where the central government’s policies such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation will be implemented.
The cities in Tamil Nadu that made it to shortlist are: Tiruchurapalli, Tirunelveli, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Tiruppur, Salem, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai, Erode, Tuticorin and Chennai.
Female medical student killed
A 32-year-old medical student doing Masters at Kilpauk Medical College was found murdered at her rented apartment in Maduravoyal in suburban Chennai last week.
Police traced her alleged killer Depnath Harindam, a 22-year-old youth from Tripura who was her neighbour. He confessed to have strangulated Sathya while stealing her mobile phone. Later he sold the phone to a dealer who took his photo before buying it.
Police traced the phone through its IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) number.
