The Tamil Nadu government has declared that 23,000 hectares covering nearly 45 villages in coastal Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts will be taken over for a petrochemical complex and oil exploration project. The government said the area would be utilised for petroleum refineries that could generate jobs for local residents and improve road, rail and air connectivity to the region. Despite a two-year feasibility study that gave a go-ahead to the project, social activists fear that fertile regions are been taken over. There is also concern that the quake and tsunami-resistant mangrove forests in these villages will be destroyed.
Meanwhile two men have been charged with sedition for calling on the public to oppose oil exploration projects in Neduvasal village in Pudukottai district and Kathirmangalam village in Thanjavur district.
Fireman killed in bakery blaze
A fireman was killed and three others injured while fighting a fire at a bakery in Kondugaiyur, Chennai. The blaze reportedly started after an electrical short-circuit which led to a cooking gas cylinder exploding inside the premises. The accident occurred when the shop was closed.
In a separate incident, a female worker died and seven other women were injured in an explosion at a fireworks manufacturing unit in Puliparaipatti in Sivakasi town, about 45kms from Madurai. The women were stringing firecrackers when the accident occurred. Though workers in open sheds nearby managed to escape, the two women died on the spot.
Jayalalithaa court case dismissed
The Supreme Court has struck down the last court case pending against former chief minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa in a hearing in New Delhi. Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016. The court ruled that with her death the case was no longer valid.
The case related to Jayalalithaa having violated Section 177 of the Indian Penal Code by filing nominations to four constituencies of Bhuvanagiri, Krishnagiri, Pudukottai and Andipatti in the 2001 general elections. At the time, the Supreme Court had barred her from contesting the polls due to conviction in a corruption case. The case oscillated between the Madras High Court and Supreme Court with subsequent appeals by Jayalalithaa and her detractors from 2007 to last week.
Coimbatore to get metro rail
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami has announced that Coimbatore city will have metro rail facility within a few years. Coimbatore, colloquially known as the Manchester of the south for its textile and industrial spare parts manufacturing industries, has welcomed the proposal. However citizens cautioned there should be a feasibility study funded by the federal government before beginning the long-term project.
Travancore royal dies aged 90
Indira Bai, the daughter of Sethu Lakshmi Bai, the late Queen Regent of Kerala’s Travancore royal family, died in Chennai. She was 90. She is survived by her son Sreekumar Verma and daughter Shobana Verma. Indira Bai was twice married. Her first husband died after three years of marriage in 1949 and she married his cousin K K Verma, the founder-chairman of India Meters and Chennai Kerala Samajam.
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