Palaniswami’s courtesy call to Guv sans OPS raises eyebrows
Chennai: An hour-long meeting between Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday evening, raised eyebrows of many. Significantly, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was absent during the meeting. Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar and Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan were, however, present. Though the government release described it as a courtesy meeting, there could be obviously more to it since the duration of the meeting was long. Ten days ago, the State told the Madras High Court that the governor was expected to pass an order regarding the recommendation of the State Cabinet for the release of the seven convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Hence, the issue might have been discussed during the meeting.
8 AMMK functionaries arrested for kidnapping businessman
Chennai: Eight AMMK functionaries were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a textile shop owner when an extortion attempt didn’t go as per plan. Police said Rajisheik John (30) runs a textile shop in Velachery. “John had borrowed `1.5 lakh from Baskar, district youth wing president of AMMK, two months ago. While John had paid the money a few weeks ago, Baskar allegedly demanded `10 lakh from him threatening to murder him,” said a police officer. When John refused to pay, Baskar, along with seven others kidnapped him. They held John captive and assaulted him. By tracking Baskar’s mobile number, the police arrested the eight men.
After suspension from DMK, Radha Ravi returns to AIADMK
Chennai: Actor turned politician Radha Ravi, who had joined DMK in March 2017 after the demise of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, on Wednesday returned to the AIADMK in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. This is not the first time he is shifting his loyalties. Ravi represented Saidapet constituency between 2001-06 as AIADMK MLA. He was not given party ticket to contest the 2006 Assembly elections. In 2009, he indicated that he would be joining the DMK soon. However, a year later, he rejoined AIADMK. Recently, Ravi was suspended by the DMK after he made derogatory remarks
against actor Nayanthara.
Government set to sue Tamil daily for defamation
Chennai: The State on Wednesday ordered filing a defamation suit against Tamil daily Dinakaran for carrying a report in its edition dated June 6. A release said on June 5, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had posted a tweet urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include Tamil as an optional language for study in other States. While reporting this, the daily carried a news item under the headline (in Tamil): “CM supports three language policy which imposes Hindi; leaders strongly opposes. This news item was carried contrary to the fact and by twisting the truth and in a manner that would bring disrepute to the image of the CM and his office. The defamation case will be filed against the editor, publisher and printer of the daily, before Principal Sessions Court in Chennai,” the release said.