Chennai Jan 20 PTI Tamil Nadu on Thursday added 28561 new infections to its COVID-19 aggregate which rose to 3042796 while 39 more fatalities took the toll to 37112 the health department said Recoveries climbed to 2826479 with 19978 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours leaving 179205 active infections a medical bulletin saidChennai which accounted for majority of the fresh cases has reported a decline with 7520 new cases followed by Coimbatore 3390 Chengalpet 2196 Kanyakumari 1148On Thursday Chennai had recorded 8007 cases Those who tested positive today include 14 returnees from domestic and one individual from the UK The number of RT-PCR tests conducted in Tamil Nadu breached the 6 crore-mark with 154912 samples being tested in the last 24 hours pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 601 croreMeanwhile Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said the health department expects to administer precautionary booster dose to 10 lakh people by end of the month After launching the weekly special camp to administer the Precautionary Booster Dose to eligible individuals he said 552754 people were eligible to receive the booster doses and this number was expected to reach 10 lakh by end of the month In order to vaccinate these 10 lakh people with a precautionary booster dose we have organised special camps which will be held on Thursdays This exercise is being held in 600 locations across Tamil Nadu he told reporters On the Mega Vaccination Camp launched by the department he said till date 332 crore people benefited from 18 such campaigns conducted across the state Coming Saturday January 22 we will be holding a mass vaccination drive with 50000 camps on that day he said Subramanian noted that till date 886 per cent of the population in Tamil Nadu has received the first dose of vaccination while 634 per cent both the jabsOf the 3340 lakh eligible people between the age of 15-18 years old we have vaccinated 25 lakh so far he saidTamil Nadu launched the vaccination drive for the adolescents on January 3 PTI VIJ ROH ROH

Chennai Jan 20 PTI Vigilance raids were conducted on Thursday in different parts of Tamil Nadu and in Telangana at the premises of AIADMK leader and former Minister K P Anbalagan in connection with a disproportionate assets caseAnbalagan was the Higher Education Minister in the previous AIADMK governmentThe Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption DVAC Dharmapuri registered a disproportionate assets case against the former Minister and four of his close family members even as sleuths simultaneously raided 58 premises linked to him in Dharmapuri Salem and Chennai districts besides in TelanganaDuring the searches the authorities seized material objects and incriminating documents pertaining to the case In addition to an amount of Rs 28798650 gold ornaments weighing about 6637 Kilograms about 1385 Kilograms of silver and unaccounted cash of Rs 26531650 and bank locker key were seized Further investigation is onAnbalagan is the sixth former AIADMK Minister to come under the scanner of the DVACThe FIR registered by the Deputy Superintendent of Police DVAC under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 named Anbalagan and accused him of being involved in corrupt activities and intentionally enriching himself illicitly and acquiring properties and pecuniary resources on his name and on the names of his family members disproportionate to his known source of income The case pertains to his acquisition during his term in office as Minister between 2016 and 2021Anbalagan aged 62 is accused of illicitly enriching himself to the tune of Rs 1132 95755 on his name and that of his family members and others disproportionate to their known sources of income His assets should not have exceeded Rs 101039663 during the check period the DVAC saidAlso named in the FIR were Anbalagans wife A Maliga sons A Sasi Mohan and A Chandra Mohan and S Vaishnavee his daughter-in-lawThe affidavits filed by him during the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections and information received from credible sources were taken into account for arriving at the quantum of disproportionate assets the FIR saidA petition had been filed by N Krishnamoorthy in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the DVAC to take up investigation with regard to his petition sent to the department in which he alleged that Anbalagan had amassed wealth disproportionate to his incomeAnbalagan representing the Palacode Assembly Constituency Dharmapuri district is the sixth former minister from the main opposition party to come under the vigilance net over alleged disproportionate assets with the others being MR Vijayabhaskar SP Velumani K C Veeramani C Vijayabaskar and P Thangamani PTI JSP ROH ROH

Chennai Jan 20 PTI The Tamil Nadu government will prepare a detailed project report to implement the second phase of the Hogenakkal combined drinking water project for Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts at an estimated cost of Rs 4600 crore Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Thursday Announcing a slew of schemes for the district the Chief Minister said the proposed project would further augment the drinking water supply to the people The Hogenakkal combined drinking water project was launched by former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 2008 when Stalin held the Local Administration portfolio This water supply and fluorosis mitigation project caters to the requirement of 3 municipalities 17 town panchayats and 7639 rural habitations in the two districts Dharmapuri always reminds me of the self-help group programme launched by Kalaignar as late Karunanidhi was called and the Hogenakkal project Stalin said while virtually inaugurating several completed projects in Dharmapuri district laying the foundation stone for new initiatives and providing welfare assistance to the beneficiaries from here In order to further enhance the quantum of drinking water being supplied through the Hogenakkal project a detailed project report will be evolved to implement the second phase of the project at an estimated cost of Rs 4600 crore the Chief Minister said Also he announced a new flyover between Kottaiyur in Salem district and Ottanur in Dharmapuri district to decongest the traffic new link road projects for Rs 250 crore a new milk processing plant for Dharmapuri a new SIPCOT Industrial Park for Dharmapuri besides an additional office building within the Dharmapuri collectorate at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore The Chief Minister inaugurated government buildings constructed at a cost of Rs 4620 crore laid foundation stone for 591 new buildings totally valued at Rs 3542 crore in Dharmapuri district An official release here said the Chief Minister distributed welfare assistance to about 13587 persons on the occasion PTI JSP BN BN

Chennai Jan 20 PTI Integrated payments technology company FSS Financial Software and Systems has partnered with the United Arab Emirates-based YAP a digital banking platform to deliver secure digital first-card experiences to consumers in the Middle-East and African regions Under the partnership YAP and FSS would work to deliver greater value to customers by combining the FSS Unified Card Issuance Platform with emphasis on virtual card issuance and support 3D secure option YAP services will initially be available in the UAE and soon be rolled in the Gulf Council Cooperation markets and Ghana said a statement from the company According to a study by McKinsey the number of digital transactions in the UAE was growing at an annual rate of more than nine per cent between 2014-2019 We are delighted to work with YAP on its ambitious goal to be the regions leading digital bank and making secure digital payments seamless and accessible to everyone said CEO of FSS Jaishankar A L FSS Unifed Card issuance platform powers 800 million cards globally and is designed to help worlds most innovative financial institutions launch game-changing products he said FSS United Issuance Platform enables YAP provision instant open loop virtual cards linked to its wallet app with unique security features such as a unique card number and an expiry date for utility payments said the statement PTI VIJ NVG NVG