Chennai, AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday stepped up her lobbying for the candidature of NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for the upcoming Presidential elections. She spoke to several non UPA leaders including BJP leader LK Advani, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader AB Bardhan, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu in an effort to build consensus in Sangma's favour. . "As part of her campaign for Sangma, Jayalalithaa has spoken to the leaders over the phone and asked them to support Sangma who is also a tribal leader from north east and capable person for the presidential post," a statement issued by the AIADMK headquarters here stated. It also recalled Sangma's meeting with Jayalalithaa on May 15 at the state secretariat in Chennai. Jayalalithaa officially announced her support for Sangma on May 17. Jayalalithaa's latest initiative comes two days after she asked all parties to "rise above political considerations," and support the tribal leader for the top constitutional post. . In a coordinated move, Jayalalithaa and her ...
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Chennai, The launch of the Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) is a major step forward for India but it must increase its capacity and launch many more satellites to be considered a serious player in making military satellites, says an official of a US-based space consultancy firm. "Risat-1 represents another step forward for India. Its synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which enables imaging through bad weather conditions during both day and night, will assist Indian land management, agriculture monitoring and resource observation. The satellite mission is in keeping with India's traditional use of space assets for social benefit," David Vaccaro, programme manager at the Futron Corporation, told IANS in an e-mail interview. He, however, said India cannot be considered a major force in building military satellites at present. "With the development of SAR imagers and applications, India is increasingly capable of producing satellites that could be used for surveillance and military reconnaissance. However, for it to become a greater player in this regard, it must first increase its capacity to build and launch such satellites quickly, and in larger volumes," Vaccaro ...
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Chennai, With the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant all set to commence power generation, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday demanded that the entire power produced from it be given to the state. "Now I understand that nuclear fuel loading is going to take place in the next few days in the first unit of the plant of 1000 MW capacity. It is expected that criticality will be reached in the following 20 days or so, leading to power generation from the first unit of the plant", she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Recalling her March 31 letter to him in this regard, she said details with regard to action on the allocation of the entire power to be generated from the KNPP to the state were "yet to be known". In the backdrop of the first unit of KNPP expected to attain criticality, Jayalalithaa said she would like to remind the Prime Minister about her earlier request. "I am sure that you will do the needful by accepting the absolutely justified demand of our state", she ...
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Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to trust the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on unwilling states. She also urged Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the matter. In a letter to the prime minister, Jayalalithaa said: "I request the formation of NCTC may first be ordered to be held in abeyance and a meeting of chief ministers may be convened to discuss this matter. "The views of chief ministers will have to be given due consideration and a purposeful discussion on counter terrorism should be made possible. I request an early reply in this matter." Her demand follows a statement by the Home Secretary that the office memorandum on NCTC has not been withdrawn and is deemed to have come into effect on March 1. Expressing surprise at the central government convening a meeting of chief ministers April 16 to discuss internal security issues including NCTC, she said: "It is indeed unfortunate that, without taking into consideration the views and sentiments of chief ministers, the constitution of the NCTC is sought to be steamrolled into existence." States critical of ...
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Chennai, After giving the green signal to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday demanded that the entire 2000 MW power to be generated by its two units be given to the state in view of the "severe power shortage." In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said it would be "proper and justifiable that the entire power to be generated from the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is made available to Tamil Nadu." "This is also inevitable as the transmission corridor congestion problem still continues and has also been brought to your notice," she said in the missive coming almost two weeks after the state cabinet gave the nod for the plant. The chief minister pointed out that out of the 2000 MW to be generated by two units in KNPP, Tamil Nadu has been allocated a share of 925 MW only. She recalled she had already made a request of allocation of 1000 MW from Central pool last year against which a "mere 100 MW" was made available to the state which was facing "severe power shortage". "I hope that this request will be positively considered by you. May I also reiterate that we require and deserve this power?" she ...
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Chennai, The ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK, a key UPA component, on Thursday took credit for India's vote in favour of the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka for war crimes at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council ( UNHRC) in Geneva. AIADMK supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa in a statement claimed that her continuous efforts in pressing the Centre over the issue yielded the desired result. DMK chief M Karunanidhi thanked PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi for India's vote against Sri Lanka. He, however, added, "I have written to the PM indicating that there is apprehension among Lankan Tamils about possible attacks on them. Request him to kindly prevent such undesirable developments." In TN, there was jubilation among both the Dravida parties as well as other smaller nationalist parties over the outcome of the vote coming as a shot in the arm for them in political ...
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Chennai, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has told DMK chief M. Karunanidhi that a suitable outcome would be reached on the Sri Lankan issue soon, according to her letter released Monday. Acknowledging the DMK's chief March 9 letter, Gandhi in her letter dated March 15, copies of which were released to the media by the DMK here, said: "I have been informed that the government is fully aware of the important issues involved and is engaged with all parties to find a just solution." "I believe the prime minister is writing to you in this regard. I hope that a suitable outcome is reached soon," she said. Amid increasing pressure from coalition ally DMK, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday assured parliament that India was "inclined" to vote in favour of a UN resolution over Sri Lanka's "war crimes" and hoped it will ensure the Tamil community in Sri Lanka "equality, justice and self-respect". Karunanidhi was quick to welcome the prime minister's assurance, describing it as "a victory for the Sri Lankan ...
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Mumbai, Kingfisher Airlines operations continued to be disrupted for the third consecutive day with around 14 flights cancelled Monday, a day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took a serious note of the developments and asked the airline CEO to appear before them on Tuesday, an airport official said. Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) officials, despite repeated attempts, declined to confirm or deny the developments. Instead, they repeatedly said that "we shall issue a statement when required" and refused to comment on the potential action by the DGCA. The cancellations have affected incoming or outbound flights in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. The abrupt flight cancellations had created major problems for passengers waiting to travel after having booked their tickets months in advance, an official at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said. However, Sunday, the beleaguered carrier reeling under financial losses had claimed that despite flight disruptions since the past couple of days, it has not shut down any stations from its schedules, an official said. The developments have also worried passengers intending to travel on ...
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Chennai, Vigilance officials on Friday conducted raids at premises belonging to former DMK minister K R Periyakaruppan across Tamil Nadu in connection with a disproportionate assets case. The raids by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption were in progress in Chennai and Sivaganga districts, DVAC sources said. A Sivaganga report said vigilance officials raided the houses and office premises of the former minister and his close relatives there. Periyakaruppan, former Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments minister, is the latest among several DMK leaders and former ministers besides MLAs to face police and DVAC action either on land grab charges or allegations of disproportionate assets after the AIADMK government came to power in April last year. DVAC had earlier conducted raids at the houses of nine former DMK ministers, J Anbazhagan, MLA and former legislator B ...
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Chennai: Indian Coast Guard is in the process of activating four new stations and two air stations besides inducting over 12 ships and 10 aircraft in its force in the immediate future as part of a major expansion and modernisation drive, an official said today. "The capacity building projects of the Coast Guard and Marine Police are under full swing. We are in the process of activating four new stations, two new air stations besides inducting more than 20 ships and 10 aircraft in the immediate future," Coast Guard Regional Commander (East) Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma said. He was speaking at a function at the Chennai Port where three Coast Guard ships - ICGS Avvayar, ICGS Habbah Khatun and ICGS Rani Jindan were decommissioned with full military honours, a Coast Guard release said. Sharma said a major expansion and modernisation plan of the coast guard was underway and it was important to "pay off these ships." The coastal areas have rapidly grown as major economic hubs and industrialisation along with the development of sea ports and power generation including nuclear plants close to the coast "required utmost vigil and preparedness" on the part of the ...
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