What’s in a name?
A sudden outburst of ‘Yaar andha Mahesh’ (Who is that Mahesh) from a councillor against a local contractor who was found drunk on the job, left the deputy mayor (who also happens to be Mahesh) stunned during the corporation council meeting. As the councillor’s cries of “Who is that Mahesh? Why are we saving him?” continued to echo in the hall, he was left briefly confused when his emotional speech was met with giggles from fellow councillors who took a childlike delight in seeing the deputy mayor squirming in his chair.
The councillor had meant to persuade the council to terminate the contract awarded to a certain Mahesh, who he and a few other councillors said, was not only shoddy in his work but was also found drunk on multiple occasions at the worksite.
Rebooting an endgame
April 26 - not many may remember the significance of the day, but not Madurai Marvel fans. As four years have passed since the death of Iron Man, posters were put up in the city mourning his death on screen in the film Avengers: Endgame. Unable to stomach the death of Tony Stark, the fans have requested Marvel Studios to make use of time travel and bring a new version of Iron Man back to life on screen.
Cruel intentions
Captain Miller had made the wrong headlines in the last few days after it was learned that the movie unit did not have the required permits to shoot near a reserved forest area in Mathalamparai village, apart from multiple violations. MDMK councillor Rama Udayasuriyan had submitted the complaint to authorities against the shooting and the Tenkasi collector was quick to stop the shooting, but soon gave permission after they obtained permits.
Udayasuriyan was unhappy with the quick turn of events and decided to approach the court. However, he claimed that an opposition party MLA through his supporters is pressuring him to withdraw his complaint and not to approach the court against the movie unit. This is the same MLA who invited the victims of Ambasamudram custodial torture to a press meet and praised suspended Balveer Singh IPS in front of them and mediapersons.
One for eternity
Greed is an addiction. Saying goodbye to it is not an easy task, especially when it involves money. An inspector of police from Tiruvallur is all set to retire by the end of May and is making sure that he gets his due share before he leaves. While his colleagues and family members are busy with his retirement function, he is busy on calculating his retirement benefits.
He has instructed shop owners and businesses under his jurisdiction to contribute to his retirement package for his services. This also applies to people who have given him mamool in other police station limits as well. Sources say he is expecting the retirement package by mid May.
Power play
In politics, nothing is written in stone as alliances are divorced or disregarded at a whim for better prospects. In a recent council meeting, Tiruchy Corporation tabled its decision to outsource sanitation works. The DMK-led council was expecting some opposition from parties like CPI, CPM and VCK, and was hopeful of convincing them.
However, DMK was taken aback when Congress also joined the agitation and raised its objection. Caught off-guard and on the backfoot, the mayor tried his best to convince the alliance parties about the practical difficulties of withdrawing the outsourcing plan.
Not ready to listen, the alliance parties staged a walkout. Left red-faced, sources said that Congress would get an apt response from DMK. It is an open secret that Congress needs DMK support to stay in power and not the other way around.
(Contributed by: Nirupama Viswanathan, Vignesh V, Thinakaran Rajamani, Sahaya Novinston Lobo, Jose K Joseph; Compiled by Affan Abdul Kadar)