Pop singer Manohar dies

Sri Lankan pop singer/ actor Ceylon Manohar died on January 22 at his house in Kandansawadi, Chennai. Manohar had been bedridden with kidney problems for the past one year. He was 74. He leaves behind a wife and three children. Manohar began his career in the 1950s in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. He was drama director at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in the 1970s. His singing career began in 1970 when he sang for the Sri Lankan-based Great Friends Enterprises. His Tamil pop songs sung with a Sri Lankan twang like Surangani, Chinna Mamiye, Choodamanike and others became cult songs in India and abroad earning him the title of ‘pop chakravarthi’ (king). He has sung nearly 500 songs in his lifetime.In 1964 he debuted in the Tamil film Pasa Nila produced by Joe Devanand in Jaffna. He went on to act in 260 films in Tamil, English and Sinhalese languages. His 1977 film Vaadai Kaatru won the president’s award for best story. He has acted with Tamil superstars M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajnikanth, Kamalhaasan and Hindi film star Dharmendra.Driver kills self in traffic offence rowTirunelveli taxi driver Manikandan, 23, who set himself ablaze after an argument with a traffic policeman, died in a city hospital in Chennai. Manikandan took the extreme step after the traffic police stopped him in from driving without a seat belt. They briefly confiscated his licence, fined him and let him off. However, Manikandan began filming the police crackdown on other errant drivers with his mobile phone.The angered police confiscated his phone upon which Manikandan doused himself with a petrol-filled bottle and set himself on fire.Manikandan’s family and other taxi drivers protested outside the hospital demanding justice. One of the traffic policemen has been suspended.In another incident, fugitive Ravi was electrocuted after he climbed an electric pole while being chased by police at Kannathur in Neelangarai in suburban Chennai. Ravi, a Tirunelveli native, was suspect in two robbery cases.Investigations are underway in both cases. Fake notes gang bustedTwo men linked to a counterfeit currency gang were arrested at the Tiruvottiyur railway station in suburban Chennai. Acting on a tip-off, interstate police teams in disguise followed the men on the Guwahati Express from Assam to Chennai. When confronted the men, Pradeep and Kamal, jumped off the train. However, they were caught after a chase. Police recovered bogus currency notes, country guns and ammunition from them.The men confessed to having smuggled the items from Malda, West Bengal, and claimed they were printed in Bangladesh. They also claimed to be working for a larger gang whose kingpin Rafiq was jailed in Chennai’s Puzhal prison for drug trafficking and other crimes. Pradeep and Kamal met him in prison recently. The currency notes have been sent to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for analysis.Tamil Nadu gets six Padma awardsSix personalities from Tamil Nadu won the country’s prestigious Padma awards for 2018.They include music maestro Illayaraja, archaeologist Nagaswamy, wildlife conservationist Romulus Whitaker, R Vasudevan a chemistry scientist who pioneered and patented the laying of plastic-bitumen roads, folk singer/composer The Tamil Nadu government congratulated the winners who will receive the awards at a function in New Delhi soon.