No changes at the helm-et
During the latest edition of the Greater Chennai Corporation Council meeting, Ward 39 councillor Devi Kathiresan had everyone in splits when she suggested that councillors be exempted from the helmet rule. She said, “I go for inspection on my two-wheeler. How will the people know that I am the one who is coming (if I am wearing a helmet)? So councillors should be exempted from wearing helmets.” She added that she was recently fined for not wearing a helmet. Everyone had a good laugh but Mayor R Priya said that rules are the same for everyone and that she cannot be granted an exemption.
Fair deal
Organisers of the 11-day book fair that was inaugurated at Silver Beach in Cuddalore on Friday were in for a rude shock when they found some tables, chairs, etc. missing from the venue. It later came to light that a few villagers, under the influence of alcohol, had taken away these items from the venue. Following a request from the police, the local panchayat members made announcements and warned of police action if the stolen items were not returned. The ploy worked and the stolen items were returned to the book expo ground.
Give Tamil names
The Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department organised a ‘Samuthaya Valaikappu’ event in Erode on September 25. Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy and Erode MP A Ganesamurthi participated in the programme and provided welfare assistance to pregnant women. Many of the women who participated in the event already have children. The minister and the MP asked some of the women the names of their children and when said they have kept modern names for them, the minister and the MP suggested that the women give Tamil names to their children.
The foreign hand
With months to go before the parliamentary election, a section of BJP functionaries has begun portraying Ananthan Ayyasamy, a US returnee and the party’s state vice-president of the Other States and Overseas Tamil Development wing, as their Tenkasi candidate. Ananthan also has the blessing of a Tenkasi-based corporate CEO, who is close to senior BJP leaders and some Union ministers. Ayyasamy, who had coordinated BJP state president K Annamalai’s yatra, was also asked to coordinate the two-day Tenkasi visit of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi. The governor shared the dais with Ananthan in the events. Before the AIADMK-BJP breakup, the Tenkasi seat was said to be allocated to Puthiya Tamilagam founder Dr Krishnasamy in the NDA alliance. “The present scenario may change based on Krishnasamy’s decision on which party he will support,” said a political analyst.
‘Public’ity servant
A minister recently insisted that he inaugurate the upcoming office space of a telecom and media conglomerate. A senior company official said they had originally planned to open the office by inviting senior executives of the MNC from the United States of America, but since the minister insisted they had to organise a ceremony the minister inaugurated the project. The official wondered whether this was an act of seeking publicity.
(Contributed by Mohan, Bagalavan Perier B, P Srinivasan, Thinakaran Rajamani and Vaitheeswaran B; Compiled by Ashok Subramaniam V)