Santhanam had given an advance of Rs30mn to Shamughasundaram after finalising the design. Later he changed his mind and wanted his money back. Shamughasundaram kept evading him which angered Santhanam. Finally the actor and his manager Ramesh met Shanmughasundaram at his Valsaravakkam office. The realtor had an advocate with him.
A heated argument led to physical blows and they started throwing things at each other. Office staff separated them and took them to hospital.
Later the realtor filed a case of physical assault against Santhanam. Police issued an arrest warrant but backed off after Santhanam filed an anticipatory bail in the Madras High Court.
Industrialist dies of overdose of anaesthesia
Leading industrialist Manikkam Ramaswami, the chairman of Loyal Textiles group, died of an overdose of anaesthesia during a dental procedure at a private hospital in Chennai on October 3.
He was 56 and survived by his wife and daughter.
Ramaswami was the third generation scion of the Rs1bn Loyal Textile Mills covering spinning mills, garment yarns and the 168-year-old watch retailer chain P Orr& Sons.
He was revered among business conglomerates as a visionary. He had also been president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the cotton textiles export promotion council of India (TEXPROCIL) and South India Mills Association (SIMA).
Historic Binny building razed
The historic Binny Mills building on Armenian street in Chennai was razed last week.
The 200-year-old building was in the heritage list of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). It was in their Grade-II list, and buildings in this category are marked for their significant architecture and their landmark location in the area. The 35,000 sq ft premise was constructed in 1812 by John Binny and his partner Dennison as offices for their banking, shipping, textile and insurance firms.
The land was acquired from Armenians who were the earliest missionaries and traders to settle in India in the 8th century.
The building was reportedly demolished because architects had certified it as unfit for occupancy after a recent fire.
Paralympic winner in murder case
The Madras High Court has admitted a case of murder against T Mariappan from Salem, who won gold in high jump in the Rio 2016 Paralympics, last week.
The petitioner Muniyammal, from Salem accused Mariappan of driving her son Sathish to suicide by threatening and beating him up. She said that Mariappan had become angry with 19-year-old Sathish for hitting his motorbike against his new SUV parked outside a wedding venue in Omalur town of Salem last June.
A depressed Sathish left home and was found dead near railway tracks the next day. The case has been posted for an October 24 hearing.
Textbooks on mobiles for blind students
Visually impaired students of Class X, XI and XII who are writing board exams this year will have additional aid in the form of textbooks on their mobile phones along with the existing Braille books and audio formats.
The devices developed with the help of software giants Samsung, Cognizant and Bookshare have been distributed to 150 students.