The existing overbridge will continue to operate alongside the new bridge to help distribute passenger flow.

Southern Railway upgrades Tambaram station amenities at cost of Rs 24 crore

The existing overbridge will continue to operate alongside the new bridge to help distribute passenger flow.

Lifts being erected at Tambaram railway stationPhoto | Express

Express News Service

Updated on:

15 May 2026, 8:39 am

CHENNAI: The Chennai Division of Southern Railway on Thursday announced that passenger amenities at the Tambaram railway station are being upgraded at a cost of Rs 24 crore.

Tambaram railway station handles about 1.67 lakh passengers daily including suburban commuters, long-distance and interstate passengers. As part of the ongoing development works, a new 8m-wide foot overbridge connecting the eastern and western sides of the station, running across all 10 platforms, has been commissioned, according to a statement.

The existing overbridge will continue to operate alongside the new bridge to help distribute passenger flow. To further improve accessibility, work is underway to install nine lifts and 10 escalators across the platforms. The facilities are expected to be commissioned in phases shortly.

According to the statement, continuous train operations pose technical challenges in executing the works. All activities are being carried out in a live operational environment without disrupting train services, requiring phased execution, strict safety measures and coordinated inter-departmental planning.

Work is also underway to improve road access to the new overbridge, develop parking facilities on the western side, as well as install platform shelters and coach guidance boards, added the statement.

NEWS TODAY 16.05.2026

State unlikely to enforce NMC order on MBBS fees for four­ and­ a­ half­ years

State unlikely to enforce NMC order on MBBS fees for four­ and­ a­ half­ years

 The Hindu (Kochi) A.S. Jay­anth KOZHIKODE 4 May 2026

The recent dir­ect­ive of the National Med­ical Com­mis­sion (NMC) to med­ical col­leges in the coun­try to levy fees from MBBS stu­dents only for four­ and­ a­half years is unlikely to be imple­men­ted in Ker­ala now.

In the order issued on April 7, the NMC had said that col­lect­ing fee from stu­dents for the entire dur­a­tion of the course for five years or five­ and­ a­ half years would not be per­mit­ted. The MBBS course com­prises four­ and­ a­ half years of aca­demic study, fol­lowed by one year of com­puls­ory rotat­ing intern­ship. In gov­ern­ment med­ical col­leges in Ker­ala, the annual fee is over ₹30,000, while in self­f in­an­cing col­leges it is around ₹8 lakh and above for the gen­eral cat­egory and ₹21 lakh and above for the NRI cat­egory.

This fee is determ­ined and revised by a fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee. It is now headed by retired High Court judge K.K. Dineshan. However, the incum­bent LDF gov­ern­ment is unlikely to take a decision on the dir­ect­ive now, as its ten­ure is set to end soon.

Mr. Dineshan told The Hindu recently that the fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee was bound by judg­ments of the Supreme Court of India and the Ker­ala High Court, as well as laws passed by the Ker­ala Legis­lat­ive Assembly. 

He said the fee fixed by the com­mit­tee for a batch would remain in force for the entire five year course. He poin­ted out that the High Court had, in 2022, cla­ri­fied that the NMC’s office memor­andum stip­u­lat­ing gov­ern­ment fees for 50% of seats in self­ fin­an­cing med­ical col­leges need not be imple­men­ted in Ker­ala.

Mean­while, the Ker­ala Uni­versity of Health Sci­ences (KUHS) is of the view that the dir­ect­ive should be imple­men­ted in the State.

KUHS Vice­ Chan­cel­lor Mohanan Kun­num­mal told The Hindu that other States such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were already plan­ning to enforce it. “However, we are not in a pos­i­tion to express our views on this because KUHS is not part of the fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee… There is a con­ten­tion that the entire course fee is divided over five years, so it can con­tinue that way. 

But such an argu­ment has not been explained any­where offi­cially,” he added. ‘The NMC said that col­lect­ing fees for five years or more was not con­sist­ent with the pre­scribed aca­demic struc­ture of the MBBS pro­gramme and could res­ult in charges for peri­ods that do not con­sti­tute aca­demic teach­ing. 

“Any instance of non­com­pli­ance shall be viewed ser­i­ously and appro­pri­ate action ini­ti­ated by the Com­mis­sion, as per the extant stat­utory and reg­u­lat­ory pro­vi­sions,” the order added.

The Real Reason Jayalalithaa 'Humiliated' Vijay In 2013 — And Why It Makes His 2026 Oath Extraordinary

Published By :

• News Desk
• News18 Cities

Edited By:

• Sumedha Kirti

Last Updated:May 11, 2026, 13:01 IST

Jayalalithaa put him in the back row in 2013. He returned to the same stadium as Chief Minister in 2026. Tamil Nadu's best revenge takes time — but always lands.

She compared herself to Draupadi after her 2013 humiliation and returned as CM. Then she did it to Vijay. He said nothing. He, too, came back.

In 2013, Tamil Nadu’s most powerful politician humiliated its biggest film star at a stadium in Chennai — gave him a back-row seat, like he didn’t matter. Thirteen years later, that same film star walked into that same stadium as Chief Minister. Some stories write themselves. This one took a decade.

The occasion was the Centenary Celebrations of Indian Cinema — a grand, glittering event attended by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Vijay arrived, already unhappy. His film Thalaivaa had faced serious release problems and nobody — not the industry, not the state government — had stood by him. He came anyway, half-heartedly.

What happened next became industry legend. While actors of his age and stature were seated in the front rows, Vijay was given a seat at the very back. He was silent, sitting alone — until Chiyaan Vikram, who had been given a front-row seat, chose to walk back and sit beside him. Aishwarya Rajinikanth followed. Vijay said nothing. He did not complain. But Tamil Nadu noticed.

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Was This Deliberate — And Why Did Jayalalithaa Do It?

Almost certainly. By publicly humiliating Vijay at such a high-profile event, Jayalalithaa was sending a message — discouraging his political ambitions at a time when he was still primarily a film star, preventing him from gaining a foothold in her domain.

Tamil Nadu had already seen one actor — MGR — storm the political establishment through sheer mass adulation.

Jayalalithaa, who had learned the game under MGR herself, knew exactly what a back-row seat could communicate. In Tamil Nadu’s cultural context, where film stars are often revered, the act of being publicly sidelined was a symbolic slap.

Does Tamil Nadu Have A History of Humiliation Fuelling Political Comebacks?

Remarkably, yes — and the parallel closest to home is Jayalalithaa herself. In 1989, Jayalalithaa was allegedly assaulted inside the Tamil Nadu Assembly — her saree and hair pulled amid violent chaos between DMK and AIADMK members.

Walking out in tears, she compared herself to Draupadi from the Mahabharata and vowed she would never return to the Assembly except as Chief Minister.

Two years later, she won the 1991 election and kept that vow. The woman who weaponised humiliation to fuel her own rise used the same weapon on Vijay — and created the same fire.

The entire stadium erupted when Vijay began his speech as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu — at the very same Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium where he had once sat silently in the last row. Jayalalithaa gave him a back seat in 2013. He took the head seat in 2026. In Tamil Nadu politics, it seems, the best revenge is always a long time coming — and always spectacular when it arrives.

Busted by DVAC, office assistant jumps to death

Busted by DVAC, office assistant jumps to death 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK   16.05.2026

Trichy : An assistant at the block development office in Tiruvarur jumped to death from the third floor of his office building on Thursday evening while being interrogated by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) officials after his arrest, along with the BDO, for accepting a bribe. 

The deceased was identified as R Suresh Kumar, 51, a resident of Thuvakudi in Trichy district. According to sources, Bharathidasan, a resident of Tiruvarur district, went to the office a few days ago seeking a plot approval receipt. The BDO for village panchayat scheme, S Swaminathan, along with his assistant Suresh Kumar, allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹7,000 to issue the receipt. Bharathidasan lodged a complaint with DVAC in Tiruvarur. After conducting a preliminary inquiry, DVAC confirmed the bribe demand and planned a trap. The sleuths gave Bharathidasan ₹7,000 in currency notes laced with a chemical powder to be handed over to the two officials. On Thursday afternoon, as Swaminathan and Suresh Kumar took the money from Bharathidasan, the DVAC team caught them red-handed. During the inquiry, Suresh Kumar excused himself for a break, went to the terrace and jumped off the building. (Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 04424640050)

NEWS TODAY 15.05.2026