Rain gods show mercy, Chennai witnesses sunny morning

PTI | Nov 5, 2017, 11:22 IST

Sun came out in Chennai and neighbouring districts, raising hopes of stagnant water receding.

CHENNAI: Sun shone bright in the capital city and its neighbouring districts on Sunday morning, bringing respite to citizens facing the monsoon fury for the past few days.

However, problems of water stagnation continued in some parts of the city and its suburbs such as Pallikaranai.

Sun came out in Chennai and neighbouring districts, raising hopes of stagnant water receding.

Special rescue and relief teams have been formed even as dams and reservoirs were being monitored to prevent anti-social elements from creating problems, the government had said in a statement on Saturday

Blue Whale Challenge: West Bengal teenager comes to Chennai to commit suicide, rescued

Siddharth Prabhakar| TNN | Nov 5, 2017, 12:16 IST

The boy, hailing from an affluent family, told the RPF that he was going to commit suicide as part of the Blue Whale Challenge.

CHENNAI: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) at Chennai Central station on Saturday evening rescued a 17-year-old boy who had boarded a train from West Bengal as instructed by the admins of the Blue Whale Challenge game. The boy, hailing from an affluent family, told the RPF that he was going to commit suicide as part of the Blue Whale Challenge.

The RPF in Chennai got a tip off from Delhi about the teenager who had travelled from Siliguri to Kolkata, where he boarded the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express on Friday.

Photos and other details of the teenager were sent on WhatsApp to top RPF officials in Chennai. But it was not known which train he had boarded.

A special team under the leadership of RPF inspector Mohan was formed to check all trains coming from Northeast.

On Saturday evening, Mohan and his men found the teenager loitering at the station after the Coromandel Express arrived here. At first he tried to evade. However, later he confessed that he was instructed to go to Chennai by the Blue Whale game admins. He is a first year BA student.

"His notebooks have descriptions on different ways of committing suicide, like hanging, jumping off a train and stabbing oneself. He told us that he would be given further instructions after coming to Chennai by the admins. The teenager seemed to be in a confused state of mind," Mohan told TOI.

The RPF said his parents had been informed and they would flying down to Chennai on Sunday. His father is a school principal.

After counselling by Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials, he will be allowed to go with his parents.

Weathermen forecast short spells till Tuesday

TNN | Updated: Nov 6, 2017, 06:13 IST



CHENNAI: Weathermen have forecast short spells of rainfall until Tuesday, following which the city is likely remain dry. North Chennai was battered with rain on Sunday, while southern parts remained relatively dry. Nungambakkam recorded only 3mm rainfall in the 12 hours until 8.30pm on Sunday.

According to Skymet weather meteorology vice-president Mahesh Palawat, the city is likely to experience a dry spell for more than a week after Tuesday. "There may be light showers now and then during the dry spell. The temperature may rise by a few degrees from Wednesday," Palawat said.

The met office has forecast a few spells of rain or thundershowers with heavy spells at times on Tuesday.

A trough of low over lies over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining southeast Tamil Nadu and Comorin area, as per a met bulletin. This weather system has brought rainfall on Sunday. Palawat said, "The trough of low near the TN coast will likely move away and head towards south Andhra Pradesh coast in the coming days. Hence Tamil Nadu will be left dry after that."

The met office said that a low pressure area is likely to emerge over Andaman sea and neighbourhood Tuesday. "The system over Andaman sea, as per weather models, will move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh. It may bring a few light showers in the city on Tuesday," Palawat said.

During the 24 hours from 8.30am on Saturday to 8.30am on Sunday, the city received only 1cm rainfall at Nungambakkam. Anna University, DGP Office (Mylapore) and Chennai Airport received 2cm rainfall each. Southern and delta districts received heavy rainfall, with Papanasam (Tirunelveli district) recording 14cm rainfall, Nagapattinam (Nagapattinam district) 12cm, Karaikal (Karaikal district) 11cm, Thiruthuraipoondi (Tiruvarur district) and Cuddalore (Cuddalore district) 9cm each.

The maximum and minimum temperature on Sunday was 29.4 °C and 23.7 ° C.

Traffic snarls likely as PM Modi visits Chennai today

TNN | Updated: Nov 6, 2017, 05:48 IST



CHENNAI: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will arrive in Chennai on Monday for a one-day visit to take part in two functions. Landing at Chennai airport at 9.55am by a special aircraft, he is scheduled to address BJP party workers at gate six of the airport before proceeding to INS Adyar by helicopter where chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Paneerselvam will receive him.

Modi will proceed by road to Madras University Centenary auditorium in Chepauk to take part in 75th anniversary celebration of Daily Thanthi newspaper at 10.30am. He will also be present at the wedding of retired IAS officer T V Somanathan's daughter at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Centre in Raja Annamalaipuram.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place at airport, near INS Adyar, the route from INS Adyar to Madras University campus and at Raja Annamalaipuram. More than 10,000 police personnel will be deployed to manage traffic. Traffic is expected to be slow as roads will be closed for movement of Prime Minister's convoy between 10.20am and 10.30am and between noon and 12.15pm. There will not be traffic blocks near the airport on GST road. However, sources said there may be slow traffic because BJP workers may be converging to meet the leader near the airport.

Tigress Uthra gives birth to four cubs at Vandalur zoo

P Oppili| TNN | Updated: Nov 6, 2017, 05:46 IST


CHENNAI: Four tiger cubs are the latest addition to Vandalur zoo. TigressUthra delivered the cubs on Sunday morning bringing the total number of tigers at the zoo to 30.

A senior wildlife official said an animal keeper went to the enclosure in the morning and on noticing the cubs, informed authorities. The tiger Vijay is the father of the cubs, he said.

Vijay and Uthra mated in the month of July. The pregnancy was confirmed by zoo veterinarians in the last week of July. The gestation period for a tigress is 110 days, said a veterinarian.

The mother and cubs have been kept away from the gaze of visitors. Closed circuit television with monitors will observe the behaviour of Uthra and her cubs. The zoo has observed this system for the last seven years whenever the tigers delivered cubs. This will help the mother provide the required care to the cubs, said a zoo biologist.

Uthra was rescued from the forests of Sathyamangalam when she was abandoned by her mother a few years ago. She came to the zoo when she was just a couple of months old. She is now seven years old, said zoo officials.

The sex of the newborn cubs is yet to be established. It will take at least a week. It is difficult to say if all the four cubs will survive, zoo officials said.

Their survival depends on the care provided by the mother. New mothers may not know how to feed their cubs leading to the cubs dying of starvation, the veterinarian said.

In 2015, the zoo got a new breed of tiger cubs. These cubs were the offspring of a Bengal tiger and a white tigress. This new breed of tigers was called heterozygous and they have the strong qualities of both the Bengal and white tigers, said a wildlife officer. After several years, the zoo has tiger cubs delivered by a tigress rescued from the wild.

Woman sets mother ablaze in TN

Devanathan Veerappan| TNN | Nov 5, 2017, 21:15 IST

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MADURAI: A 45-year-old woman was hospitalised with serious burn injuries after her daughter allegedly set her ablaze, apparently angry over her mother's resistance to her love affair.

Police have arrested S Karpagajothi, 21, of Vettaiperumal Kovil Street, Rajapalayam town, in Virudhunagar district in this connection. Her mother, S Packialakshmi, is being treated at the Sivakasigovernment hospital.

Karpagajothi was allegedly having a romantic relationship with her colleague working in a spinning mill, and Packialakshmi was not happy with the affair.

Police said she asked Karpagajothi to end their relationship immediately and reprimanded her when she refused to do so. There were constant flare ups between the two after Karpagajothi failed to budge an inch despite her mother's repeated pleas to ditch the man she was in love with, the police said.

Irked by this stiff resistance and scolding, Karpagajothi decided to kill her mother and continue the relationship with her colleague.

On Saturday, she doused Packialakshmi with kerosene and set her ablaze while she was asleep. As the mother screamed for help after being set on fire, neighbours rushed into the house and rescued Packialakshmi. She sustained burns on her face and chest and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.

She was then shifted to Sivakasi Government Hospital which has better facilities to treat patients with burns.

The Rajapalayam South police received a complaint from the mother and registered a case.

Karpagajothi was produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Karpagajothi has been living with her mother ever since her father Sundaramahalingam deserted the family.

The accused had completed schooling and had been working in a spinning mill in the same locality.

Kamal Haasan says he will definitely start a political party, hopes fans will fund it

Abdullah Nurullah| TNN | Updated: Nov 5, 2017, 18:28 IST


HIGHLIGHTS

The actor made the announcement during the 39th anniversary function of his welfare association

The actor said he would take the first step towards the launch of his party by dedicating a mobile app to his fans.

Kamal said he was confident that his fans would fund his political party.

CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Haasan on Sunday unequivocally stated that he will launch a political party soon.

"I will surely start a party and enter politics," said the 62-year-old actor during a function to mark the 39th anniversary of his welfare association (Kamal Haasan Narpani Iyakkam) at Kelambakkam near Chennai.

The actor said he would take the first step towards the launch of his party by dedicating a mobile app to his fans on occasion of his birthday on November 7. The mobile app will be used to keep account of funds the actor receives from fans.

Kamal said he was confident that his fans would fund his political party. "I will not deposit the funds in Swiss banks. Instead I will try to bring back our money that is lodged in the Swiss banks," Kamal said.

"Don't swallow poison handed to you in the name of religion," Kamal Haasan said, adding that he never advocated bringing down temples and that persecution has become commonplace in today's politics.

"It does not matter how many people are opposing us. What matters is what we are going to do. I am ready to take all the beatings. To beat again and again, I am not the mrindangam (a percussion instrument).

The actor urged the public to get involved in relief work in flood-affected parts of Tamil Nadu.

Kamal said, "We fail to look back at history and end up repeating the same mistakes. Nature's fury does not discriminate between the poor and the rich. Do we need to wait until we lose lives to the natural disasters?"

He said it (the meeting) was just a beginning. "I will hold 50 more meetings like this," he added.