Country’s first post office ATM opened

Union Finance Minister P. Chidamabram inaugurated the country’s first post office savings bank ATM at the Head Post Office in T. Nagar. The ATM was part of an IT modernisation project of the Department of Posts. He said a total of ` 4909 crore. had been allotted for the modernisation in the interim budget. “the launching of the ATM was a step towards making the department completely technology oriented one”, he said adding that the core Banking solutions (CBS) scheme would benefit as much as 1,55,000 post offices. The ATM world run on a trial basis for six months.

C.M. kick starts work on Super-critical power plant

Work on the state’s first super-critical thermal power plant of 660 megawatt (MW) to be set up on the premises of the Ennore Thermal Power Station (ETPS), was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister.  Estimated to cost of ` 4,956 crore, the power plant is expected to be commissioned in 42 months. It is called super critical as its technology is associated with better heat rate, less coal firing, less CO2 emission and more environment – friendly functions when compared to conventional plants using sub-critical technology.

Japan launches a a powerful next generation satellite

Japan launches a powerful next-generation weather satellite from Japanese space port at Tanegashima Island. The four-tonne spacecraft is jointly developed by the US and Japan.

Gandhi Peace Prize 2013

Well known Chipko pioneer and an eminent Gandhian, Mr. Chandi Prasad Bhatt is awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize 2013.

World’s biggest bitcoin exchange

World’s biggest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Cox, files for bankruptcy, saying it lost all its virtual coins due to hacking, Meanwhile, Vietnam bans bitcoin, declaring it a non-legal tender.

AP Assembly suspended

The Union Cabinet recommends imposing President’s rule in Andhra Pradesh while keeping the Assembly in suspended animation.

Work days raises MGNREGA

The Union Cabinet raises number of workdays under MGNREGA from 100 to 150. This will benefit more than 14 lakh families in the country.

New UK visa centre to make process easier

The UK visa Application centre of VFS Global in the city has moved to new premises that are bigger and promise applicants better services. The shift to the new premises, on the 2nd floor of Fagun Towers, Ethiraj Salai, Egmore, comes in the backdrop of an increase by five per cent in the number of UK vises issued in India last year as compared to 2012.

Bonus marks for three doctors who served in remote areas

The Madras High Court has directed the Directorate of Medical Education to grant bonus marks to three doctors for their service in remote/difficult areas and publish the rank list accordingly for admission to post-graduate degree/diploma courses.

Ennore port renamed after Kamaraj

The third major port in Tamil Nadu at Ennore, has been renamed Kamarajar Port Ltd. The decision, which came a few days ago in the form of Union Cabinet approval, was formalised with Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, unveiling a plaque at a function. With this Tamil Nadu has an airport in Chennai, and a seaport named after the legendary congress leader and former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj.

IMS plans 2 year M.Phil clinical Psychology course

To make a start at dealing with the staggering shortage of clinical psychologists in the state, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is planning to start an M.Phil course in clinical psychology. The two year programme, which may take in about four students initially, will be the first of its land in the govt. sector in Tamil nadu. “The initiative is still in the planning stage. Once it is approved, we can begin hopefully by the next academic year”, said a senior official at IMH.

First Electric Passenger bus in India

The first-of-its-kind service in India, an electric passenger bus with zero-emission level, is inaugurated in Bengaluru. The AC 31-seat coach, manufactured by BYD Auto, is expected to cost ` 2.7 crore.

Honesty Oscars – 2014

Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan’s song  ‘Mujbse bogi shuruaat ….’ is nominated in the best activist anthem category of Honesty Oscars 2014.

Largest Solar Power Plant in India

India and Israel sign a number of agreements on cooperation in legal assistance, public and homeland security.

Literary critic Ti.Ka.Si passes away

Tamil writer and literary critic, who encouraged generations of writers, T.G. Sivasankaran popularly known as Ti.Ka.Si in the literary world, died on 25th yesterday at Tirunelveli, his home town. Winner of the Sahitya Akademy award, Ti.Ka.Si would have turned 90 years on March 30.

Avadi municipality plans tax for garbage collection at doorstep

In a novel initiative to improve solid waste management, Avadi municipality plans to levey service tax on the collection of garbage from the doorsteps of residents. A resolution on collecting ` 50 as monthly charge for door-to-door collection of garbage was approved by the municipal council some weeks ago. When implemented, Avadi municipolity would be one among the handful of local bodies in the state collecting service tax for solid waste management.

Ennore LNG terminal work set to gain momentum

Indian Oil Corpn’s project to set up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Ennore, a facility that has potential to fuel industrial development in the state and parts of the region as well, is set to gain traction in a couple of months. Such a situation prevails, following the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest’s environmental and Coastal regulation zone clearance earlier this month, and the consequent decision to place before IOC Board the project update for approval. “It is a very important clearance” as only after this can work on the site begin. The next stage, by April, would be to get the Board’s approval afresh in the context of the clearance. An update on the land availability and cost-original estimate was ` 4,320 crore will be provided.

Urban common e-service centres

Fourteen urban common e-service centres, wherein people can remit power water and sewerage bills and property tax, have been inaugurated by Chief Minister through video-conferencing, in Chennai. Initially, these centres have been set up at three taluk offices, three zonal offices of the Chennai Corporation two depots of Chennai Metrowater and six offices of the urban credit co-operative societies. They will be run by the Electronic  Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. and the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency.

New book on best practices in teaching

How often have we heard professionals say that something sounds good in theory, but note in practice? with the book “Innovations in pre-services education and training for English language leachers’, the editors, Julian Edge and Steve Mann, have tried to turn that around. “Often, people have this idea that there is a theory that needs to be applied. We have heard teachers say that this sounds good in theory but may not work in a classroom. What we are essentially saying is that what is not good in practice is not good in theory as well”.

State to get more coin-vending machines

Be it at markets, bus and railway stations, or other busy public places in the city, Coin-vending machines (CVMs) are set to make life easier for traders and the public. Following a push from the RBI, public sector lenders along with private and foreign banks are gearing up to install CVMs in their branches and in public places for exchange of currency notes with coins. A total of 65 CVMs were inaugurated at various bank branches across Chennai recently.

Greenhouse gases

Researchers find that volcanic eruptions in the early part of the twenty-first century have cooled the planet due to reflection of sunlight by aerosols produced. This cooling balances out the warming produced by the greenhouse gases.

Pak unveils new National Internal Security Policy

Pakistan unveils new National Internal Security Policy with fundamental shift in its approach on tackling terrorism, including surgical strikes by military against attackers.

Navy Chief resigns

Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi resigns after INS Sindhuratna accident, which left two officers dead and seven injured.

Soon, pay by mobile for automated parking

In three months, the city will have its first set of automated parking slots for cars. Chennai Corporation plans to commission 2,000 parking slots in 147 locations across the city. There will be two ways to use the automated parking system. The users will have to either register online with the company to be selected or will have the option of using pre-paid coupons. They can pay using their mobiles. For online registration, the user will have to provide car number, name and mobile number. Each of the parking slots in the city will also have a unique parking lot number. The registered users will pay parking charges at the end of the month based on their use of parking space in the city.

Germany Chancellor receives Israel’s highest civilian honour

German Chancellor Ms. Angela Merkel receives Israel’s highest civilian honour, the Israeli Presidential medal of Distinction.

Protein Science Young Investigator Award – 2014

Chennai-born Mr. M. Madan Babu from MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK, wins the Protein Society’s Protein Science Young Investigator Award for 2014.

Dubai Duty Free Championship

India’s Somdev Devvarman records the biggest win of his career by beating world number five Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina who retired midway on medical grounds, in the first round match of the men’s singles Dubai Duty Free Championships in Dubai.

Ibrahim Mahlab is appointed Egypt’s new PM

Mr. Ibrahim Mahlab is appointed as Egypt’s new Prime Minister after the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mr. Hazem El-Beblawi resigned.

Jalan Committee submit report for Bank Licences

Bimal Jalan Committee on new Bank Licences submits its report to the RBI.

Advani inaugurates the Narmada-Kshipra Rivers

Senior BJP leader Mr. L.K. Advani inaugurates the Narmada-Kshipra Rivers Link project at the village Mundala Dosdar, Ujjaini in Indore district, Madhya Pradesh.

Soon, pay by mobile for automated parking

In three months, the city will have its first set of automated parking slots for cars. Chennai Corporation plans to commission 2,000 parking slots in 147 locations across the city. There will be two ways to use the automated parking system. The users will have to either register online with the company to be selected or will have the option of using pre-paid coupons. They can pay using their mobiles. For online registration, the user will have to provide car number, name and mobile number. Each of the parking slots in the city will also have a unique parking lot number. The registered users will pay parking charges at the end of the month based on their use of parking space in the city.

UK report on malaria parasite

Researchers based in UK report a breakthrough in malarial research by identifying a single protein, AP2-G, which acts as a “master-switch” that triggers the process in the malaria parasite that spreads the disease.

India drops the anti-piracy law against the Italian marines

India drops the anti-piracy law against the Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012. The marines – Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone – will now face murder trial under the IPC and special laws.

Increase enrolement ratio in higher education

President Pranab Mukherjee called for increasing substantially the gross enrolment ratio of students in higher education. He said there had been a phenomenal expansion of physical infrastructure of higher education with over 735 universities and 37,000 colleges. Yet the enrolment ratio of students in higher education in India was well behind U.S. and Germany. On the potential of shipping industry, the President pointed oct that only about 10 per cent of the country’s trade was carried out through Indian ships.

Impact of MP funds on civic works minimal

Impact of the local area development scheme of the members of parliament (MPLADS) from the 15th Lok Sabha, on civic infrastruture maintained by the Chennai Corporation, has been insignificant. Three MPs from the city have accorded priority to other departments when compared to civic works of the Corporation. Under the corporation new civic facilities, new civic facilities to the tune of 3.47 crore have been commissioned in the past five years under MPLADS. Residents can expect the corpn’s civic development works to the tune of 1.08 crore in the North Chennai Lok Sabha constituency, under MPLADS of the 15th Lok Sabha.

Rio Open Tennis

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal exhibits his mettle yet again by defeating Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 to win the Rio Open, his 43rd career clay court title.

ONGC-GAIL Delhi Open Challenger Trophy

Men’s : Somdev Devvarman of India defeats Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 to lift the ONGC-GAIL Delhi Open $100,000 Challenger trophy in Delhi.

Women’s : Wang Qiang of China defeats Yulia Beygelzimer of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3 and lifts ONGC-GAIL Delhi open $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Delhi.

Speaker is appointed as the Interim President of Ukraine

Mr. Oleksandr Turchynov, newly elected Parliament Speaker, is appointed as the Interim President of Ukraine by the Opposition.

Five times strength in first voting in 16th General Elections

India’s electorate for general elections-2014 will be 81.5 crore, about five times its strength in first voting, according to a summary revision data released by the Election Commission.

C.M. inaugurates hospital buildings across state

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open hospital buildings, constructued at a cost of around 253 crore in different districts across the state. A building to house trouma care and super-speciality unit at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (constructed at a cost of 55 crore); a multi storeyed complex at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Govt. Hospital for Women (53.55 crore); a 300 bedded building at the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for children ( 18.47 crore), a 30 beeded building for regional gariatric care at the Madras Medical College; a hostel building for nursing students of the Kilpauk Medical College (2.89 cr.), buildings to have public health laboratories in Tirunelveli and Trichy ( 2.42 crore); 20 upgraded primary health centres (14.9 crore) and 118 primary health centres ( 100.44 crore) were among the structures inaugurated.

Vision 2023 sets target of ` 15 lakh core investment

The second phase of the Tamil Nadu vision 2023 documents, unveiled by Chief Minister contains reports on the sector strategy approach and profiles of infrastructure projects proposed for implementation in the identified sectors. The document-whose first part was released in March 2013 includes profiles of 217 infrastructure projects in six major sectors – energy, transport, industrial and commercial infrastructure, urban infrastructure and services, agriculture and human development.

1,600 women employees to help roll out Chapathis

With Chapathis to be served in all the Amma Unavagams, more than 1,600 women employees have begun – working in the canteens to roll out Chapathis. More than two lakh chapathis were prepared by them on 21st Feb. Nearly eight more women will be working in each canteen. Later, machines which were purchased for the purpose would be used, according to an official of Chennai Corporation. A plate of two chapathis and dal is priced at ` 3.

LIBA Terasa Award for Corporate

Cement manufacturing company, ACC Ltd. was awarded the Mother Teresa Award for Corporate Citizenship by Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA). The award is an annual honour given to a company for initiating environmentally conscious actions and extending service to under-privileged sections of the society, said Peter Xavier, Director, LIBA.

India the first Asian nation to get ITF silver certification

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) announces that India is the first Asian nation to get ITF silver certification for its coach’s education system.

Dubai Open Tennis – Venus champion

Seven-time Grand Slam-champion Venus Williams of US wins the WTA Dubai Open, outplaying Alize Cornet of France, 6-3, 6-0.

Obama hosting Dalai Lama

China strongly reacts to President Mr. Barack Obama hosting Dalai Lama and summons a top US diplomat.

Italy’s youngest PM sworn

Italy’s youngest-ever Prime Minister Mr. Matteo Renzi and his Cabinet are sworn in by President Mr. Giorgio Napolitano.

First Indian to be elected to ADB

Ms. Lakshmi Swaminathan becomes the first Indian to be elected as the President of the Administrative Tribunal of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

15th Lok Sabha last session end

Both Houses of Parliament are adjourned sine die. This marks the end of the last Parliamentary Session of the 15th Lok Sabha, in which total 177 Bills have been passed.

Small buses to connect city’s MRTS stations

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will soar use small buses, plying the city and its suburbs as feeder services for the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). There are a total of 17 MRTS stations across the city and every day, over 78,000 passengers use the services. Stations such as Chennai Park Town, Thirumayilai, Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery have good patronage as bus stops are located nearby. However, around ten stations, including Kotturpuram, Chepauk, Light House, Greenways Road and Perungudi, do not have proper connectivity to main roads. Passengers are forced to walk for a minimum of are kilometre to reach the nearest bus stop. To help such passengers the MTC will be operating the small buses as feeder services. We will soon be running small buses to and from the stations, especially during peak hours, said a source from the MTC.

Queen Mary’s to go solar over 2 years

One of the oldest colleges in the country, Queen Mary’s college, plans to go solar soon, to commemorate the 100th year of its existence. The college will begin with installing 15 solar streetlights inside the campus, and-then work-towards making the administrative buildings completely solar.

Now, learn all about libraries

CBSE students may soon get to go to their school libraries not just during the designated hour, but also to understand the workings of classification, cataloging – library – related technologies and library automotion software, among other aspects, CBSE’s recently introduced elective library and information sciences – for classes XI and XII is an attempt to make library sciences relevant to today’s generation. And, in the first few days, it seems to have got city principals interested.

OP treatment needs good insurance cover

With shorter treatment durations becoming the order of the day, experts say there is a need to make health insurance cover for out-patient department (OPD) treatment robust, and reach out to masses with affordable costs. So far, attempts by health insurance companies to cover or lifestyle diseases such as diabetes to a small extent, and not on a stand alone basis. We are making attempts to make this coverage robust”, said D. Rama, Asst. Vice-President, product cell, Star Health Insurance.

IGIA receives the Airport Quality Service Award 2013

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) receives the airport Quality Service Award for 2013 announced by Airports Council International, based on passenger satisfaction survey.

IPL-7 will be held in foreign shores

Citing inability to provide adequate security because of upcoming electrons, Home Minister Mr. Sushilkumar Shinde announces that IPL-7 will be held in foreign shores instead of India.

Ukraine’s coalition caretaker govt.

Ukraine’s President and the opposition reach a deal, where Mr. Viktor Yanukovych agrees to early presidential election, cede key powers to Parliament and form a coalition caretaker government.

Akash missile successfully test

Indian Army successfully flight-tests surface-to-air missile Akash from the Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.

Rajya Sabha passes the Whistleblower Bill

Two years after Lok Sabha’s clearance, the Rajya Sabha passes the Whistleblower Bill, without any changes.

50 more small buses for suburbs

In a bid to improve road connectivity, Chief Minister rolled out fifty more small buses in the city and suburbs. Procured at a cost of ` 7.60 crore, the buses rolled out in Oct. last year focussed mostly on southern and western suburbs, including some parts of the city. There are a few buses for north Chennai.

Two multi-level parking lots for T.Nagar

T. Nagar will get two multi-level parking lot-cum-commercial complexes on Usman Road and Sivagnanam Street. Mayor announced the proposed facilities at the budget meeting held at Ripon Buildings. The Usman Road building will come up on the spot where an old shopping complex belonging to the civic body is located”. T. Nagar is a commercial area where there is no parking space. This facility will provide a solution to the problem”. It would have 12 floors with mechanical parking facilities. The Sivagnanam St., building will provide basement parking. A shopping complex will also be constructed at Shenoy Nagar.

Now, Amma theatres to offer affordable entertainment

Soon, affordable movie tickets for the entire family could ease the load on your budget. Chennai Corporation announced the establishment of Amma Cinema Theatres on vacant land in various parts of the city. Announcing 132 welfare and development scheme in the Corporation budget 2014-15, Mayor said the tickets would be affordable for the poor and the middle class. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has directed officials to devise a strategy to screen new blockbuster feature films in the proposed facilities to be constructed by the civic body.

Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Awards 2014

Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Awards-2014 for excellence in social work is given to Mr. Kapil Nischol.

Asia Cup – Indian team captain Kohli

Virat Kohli is named Captain of the Indian team for Asia Cup, in place of M.S. Dhoni who has to undergo 10-day rehabilitation for his injuries.

Facebook announce buying the text messaging application WhatsApp.

Facebook Inc. announces buying the text messaging application WhatsApp, in order to dominate mobile messaging.

North and South Korea separated by war

Hundreds of relatives from North and South Korea separated for more than 60 years by Korean war, meet in a state-organised reunion at Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea.

SC stay on order of releasing the convicts in the Rajiv assassination case

Supreme Court stays the Tamil Nadu government order of releasing the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case.

Now free us, say Rajiv case convicts

Hours after the Supreme Court Commuted their death sentences to life-terms, the three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case expressed happiness and claimed justice had been done. A three-judge bench had earlier held that the inordinate delay in the disposal of their mercy petitions by the President entitled then to the relief. In the Central Prison, Vellore, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan – the three convicts on death row-were waiting anxiously until Doordarshan broke the news in the prison.

Melting of sea Ice by Sunlight

A study shows that the Earth’s ability to reflect sunlight is diminishing due to drastic melting of sea ice in Arctic.

Ukraine witnesses its worst violence in post-Soviet history

Ukraine witnesses its worst violence in post-Soviet history, in which 26 are killed and more than 750 injured, in the capital Kiev, in the street battles between the security forces and the protesters.

China the largest buyer of gold in the world in 2013

China outshines India to emerge as the largest buyer of gold in the world in 2013.

AP Chief Minister resign

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy submits his resignation to Governor Mr. E.S.L. Narasimhan in Hyderabad over Telangana issue.

McCullum – Test triple century

Brendon McCullum becomes the first New Zealander to amass Test-triple century, batting for nearly 13 hours for a match-saving 302. New Zealand clinch the two-match series 1-0 with a draw in the second Test, defeating India at Wellington, New Zealand.

Russia and Estonia sign a historic border pact

After twenty-three years of negotiations Russia and Estonia sign a historic border pact. Estonia is last of the three Baltic States to have legalised its border with Russia.

Bahrain King 3 days visits in India

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain arrives on a three-day state visit, his first visit to India, to boost bilateral ties.

Telangana Bill gets approved in Lok Sabha

Telangana Bill gets approved in the Lok Sabha after the BJP helps the UPA push it through. Now, the Bill will be presented in Rajya Sabha.

German bank to fund Green Energy Corridors Project

The 1,593 Cr. Green Energy Corridors project of the Tamil nadu Transmission Corporation (TANTRANSCO) will be the state’s first power project to be funded by the K & W, a German Development Bank. Announced in the state budget tabled in the Assembly a few days ago, the project will cover essentially southern, western districts of the state, where most of the windmills were etablished. The corporation is carrying out transmission projects at a cost of 5,000 crore, with loan assistance of ` 3,572 crore from the Japan International Corporation Agency to strengthen the transmission network, especially in Chennai.

Chennai-Colombo-Gulf cargo service begins

The maiden arrival of vessel M.U. Sinha perfect at the Chennai Container Terminal Ltd. (CCTL) marked the commencement of the direct weekly cargo service of Chennai-Colombo Gulf (CCG) from Chennai operated by Simtech shipping through its agent greenways shipping, the service will connect Chennai with Gulf countries. The vessels with a carrying capacity of 1,200 Twenty foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) on containers.

Pakistan New High Commissioner of India

Mr. Abdul Basit is appointed as the new Pakistan High Commissioner to India. he will replace Mr. Salman Bashir.

Interim General Budget 2014-15

Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram presents Interim Budget for the fiscal year 2014-15 to cover expenditure until the Government’s term ends in May.

Co-optex chairman gets Loyola award

“The education provided by Jesuits gave me the competence, support and motivation in my walk in the path of justice”, said U. Sahayam, Chairman of Co-optex. He was addressing the audience after receiving the Loyola award 2014, for his diligent service to society, at the commemoration of the Jesuit jubilees. Ten other dignitaries from various walks of life including Dr. V. Mohan MLA Ms. Bala Bharathi, Justice K. Chandru (retired judge, High Court, Madras) and media person Sajay Pinto were all conferred with the jubilee awards.

` 300 crore for rectifying ‘Black Spots’

In a bid to curb road accidents, the state govt. announced a special project to rectify road engineering defects along ‘Black spots’ or accident prone stretches across Tamil Nadu. Announcing this in the budget, Finance Minister said the fund for conducting road safety compaigns would be doubled and the exercise intensified. Besides 65 crore for road safety measures, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa ordered allocation of 300 crore of which ` 150 crore would be released in 2014-15, for attending to the ‘Black Spots’ with proper civil engineering works. Going by the State Crime Records Bureau statistics 16,175 persons were killed in 5,072 road accidents in 2012.

First ride in a Chennai Metro train

At a Quarter to twelve on Feb. 15, afternoon, the train operator switches to ‘isolater mode’ and presses the start button. With a slight jolt, the Chennai Metro Rail train takes off from CMBT Metro Rail station. Since it is only a trial run, the train crawls at 10 kmph on the elevated corridor and reaches Ashok nagar in half an hour. While the train open automatically, they shut only ofter the driver looks at the CCTV cameras and hits the close button. The pre-recorded announcements inform passengers of the route and destination details; this, apart from the electronic route map in both English and Tamil on either side of each car. Should there be an emergency, there is an internal manual alarm or passengers can speak directly to the train operator through the intercom : there is also a helpline which will enable passengers to conduct CMRL.

64th Berlin International Film Festival

Chinese film Bai Ri Yan Huo (or Black Coal, Thin Ice), directed by Yi’nan Diao, wins the Golden Bear for best picture at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Killa, a Marathi film directed by Avinash Arun wins the Crystal Bear for the best film award by the Children’s jury.

Asian Indoor athletics championships

India’s shot putter Om Prakash Singh Karhana claims Gold in the 6th Asian indoor athletics championships in Hangzhou, China.

Water Commission report on scrapping of Dams

A Central Water Commission report recommends scrapping of 15 of the 44 dams planned across the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh.

New Chief Postmaster General for T.N.

T. Murthy, a 1981 cadre Indian Postal Service Officers, has been appointed as the Chief Postmaster General, Tamil Nadu Circle with immediate effect, according to a PIB statement. He was serving as chief  Postmaster Generlal, Assam circle has in a 33 year span held various posts in West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Muharashtra, Assam and and at postal headquarters in the New Delhi. He also marked as Financial Advisor to Chief  Postmaster of Small Savings, Govt. of T.N.

Thyagabrahma Nadha Vibushan title

Musician M. Balamuralikrishna was conferred the ‘Thyagabrahma Nadha Vibushan’ title Sri Thyagabrahma Gana Sabha R. Seshasayee, of Hinduja Group, who conferred the award on the musician, said the title was appropriate for him as it had nadha in it, which is the primordial part of music. Balamuralikrishna, has about 400 compositions to his credit which includes varnams and kritis. Between the age of 4 and 7, he learnt about 300 various and performed his first concert at the age of 8.

International Gandhi Award 2013

Hon’ble President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee confers the International Gandhi Award for the year 2013 to Dr. Vijaykumar Vinayak Dongre and Prof. Guocheng Zhang at New Delhi.

Delhi Assembly suspended

Union Cabinet approves the recommendation of Lieutenant-Governor Mr. Najeeb Jung of keeping the Assembly in suspended animation and imposing the President’s Rule in Delhi.

State going through difficult financial situation

The state budget for 2014-15, unveiled, without any new taxes or increase in the existing levies has been drawn up despite the “difficult financial situation” prevailing as a result of the economic slowdown. Stating this Tamil Nadu Finance Secretary K. Shanmugam, told that the slowdown  has resulted in a downward revision in the revenue growth targets in the current fiscal. In the times ahead, the state, he under scored, has to be “prudent and careful in launching new schemes”. Likewise, it needed to think a lot before offering concessions on existing levies. Some of the state govt., he said in response to a query, were a food subsidy of 5,000 crore, which was expected to go up to 5,200 crore in the coming fiscal; electricity subsidy of nearly ` 5,200 crore.

Record sum again for school education

One again, a record sum has been allocated to the School Education Department in the budget 17,731.71 crore this year against last year’s 16,965.30 crore.  For supply of free text books, bus passes etc., 1,631.53 crore has been allocated. He said 5.5 lakh laptops will be provided at the cost of ` 1,000 crore.

Over ` 493 crore more for health

An amount of 7,005.02 crore has been earmarked for health sector in the budget, an increase of over 493 crore as compared to last year’s 6,511 crore. The allocation includes 757.5 crore for the Chief Ministers Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.

State budget unveils schemes to attract investments

To attract investments from large and small players and spread the industrial activities throughout the state, the Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam has announced conducting Global Investors Meet (GIM), a special package for development of land for industrial purposes and a scheme for formation of 10 clusters for micro industries. Since May 2011, the state had attracted investment of 10,660 crore and provided employment to over 10,000 people. It was now planning to hold GIM in Oct. in Chennai to further promote growth of industry and infrastructure in the state, for which 100 crore had been provided in the budget.

100 more state medical shops

A 100 more medical shops (Amma Marundagam) will be opened under co-operatives to ensure that medicines are available at a reasonable prices. Already 210 medical shops were functioning in the state, and 20 crore from the Price stabilisation fund would be utilised for opening new medical shops. Finance Minister said the state was ensuring food security for all through examplory universal PDS and the subsidy for 2014-15 had been increased to 5,300 crore. He said intra-state river linkage was a priority and 119.98 crore had been allotted for it. The irrigation sector gets 3,669.79 crore.

T.N. budget accords priority to social sector

The economic slow down that marked the State’s Own Tax Revenues notwithstanding, the Tamil Nadu Budget for 2014-15 has set aside a major share for the social sector. The budget, presented by Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam, also laid considerable emphasis on development of agriculture, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and infrastructure sectors. He said it had become a “daunting task” for the State to adhere to the Tamil Nadu Fiscal Responsibility Act target without impinging on the state’s ability to invest in critical sectors “Further, with the proposed investment of 42,185 crore under plan expenditure will cross 1.07 lakh crore, as against the overall 12th plan target of ` 2.11 lakh crore”, he said.

John Kerry one day visit in China

US Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry meets Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping in Beijing during his one-day visit to the country. The key issues of the talks are North Korea and regional tensions with Japan over maritime disputes.

Italian PM resign struggled with a rampant economic crisis

Italian Prime Minister Mr. Enrico Letta resigns after just 10 months at the head of a fragile coalition, in which he struggled with a rampant economic crisis.

Highest food-grain production in the country

The Union Agriculture Ministry gives the estimate of 263.20 million tonnes of food-grain production this year, which is the highest ever food-grain production in the country.

Arvind Kejriwal cabinet resigns

Forty-nine days after Mr. Arvind Kejriwal assumed charge as the Chief Minister of the minority government in Delhi, he along with the entire cabinet resigns after his attempts to introduce Jan Lokpal Bill in Assembly failed.

From Mongolia to Tirunelveli

A bar-headed goose with a neck collar, spotted in Koonthankulam bird reserve in Tirunelveli district, has flown in all the way from Mangolia. The adult female, wintering at Koodankulam pond, was spotted by Nagercoil-based school teacher and environmental educator S.S. Davidson, during his routine visit to the bird reserve. The collar was bright orange with the English letter ‘S’ and number ‘6’ written on it Mr. Davidson wrote to ornithologists in other countries seeking information about the bird.