Chennai Apr 23 PTI Advocates may seek permission to appear online before the Supreme Court Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana said here on SaturdaySpeaking on aspects related to inclusivity at an event held at the Madras High Court Justice Ramana batted for higher representation of women at all levels of the legal profession Inclusivity does not stop with only representation of women The social and geographical diversity of the nation must find reflection at all levels of the judiciary he saidA judge from a particular region understands the issues of that area better and a judge from a marginalised section of the society could understand the issues of the marginalised people betterAnother aspect of inclusivity relates to the geographical barriers faced by both litigants and lawyers while appearing before the Constitutional courts he notedReferring to senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson introducing a private members Bill in Parliament to enable setting up of regional benches of the Supreme Court he said I am not aware if the Government of India has expressed its views on this subject Further the top courts Chief Justice said I have in consultation with brother and sister judges in the Supreme Court continued with online hearing for miscellaneous days which we had started during the pandemic On non-miscellaneous days advocates can still seek the permission of the court to appear online he saidThis is to enable advocates from all over the country to continue their practice before the Supreme Court I hope this practise continues and is further strengthened in the future He appreciated the Tamil Nadu government for extending a helping hand to lawyersI would like to compliment the Chief Minister M K Stalin who is working hard for the bright future of the state Chief Justice Mr Bhandari informs me that the Chief Minister and the government are extremely co-operative in his efforts to strengthen the judiciary PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Apr 21 PTI The ruling DMKs student wing on Thursday expressed shock over Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevanis arrest by the Assam police and alleged political ulterior motive to itThe partys student wing expressed confidence that the Gujarat MLA would walk free soon by beating the false caseThe Gujarat legislator getting arrested by Assam police all of a sudden for posting a tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi has political ulterior motive and it is shocking the party allegedThe DMK said it stood behind Mevani and asserted that the leader from the western state would not fear such tactics of the BJP governmentIn a statement youth wing secretary CVMP Ezhilarasan described Mevani as his friend and asked him to remain strong Stand courageously my dear friend The DMK youth wing stands behind you The DMK functionary who is also an MLA said he was confident that the Gujarat legislator would attend a two-day national conference of his partys youth wing here on April 30 and May 1Mevani is one of the special invitees to the proposed DMK meet here PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Dec 30 PTI Actor-politician Kamal Haasan-led Makkal Needhi Maiam on Thursday demanded that the DMK government emulate Maharashtra and pass a Bill in the Assembly to redefine the powers of Governor in respect of state-run universitiesAfter obtaining recommendations from experts the Tamil Nadu government should adopt a Bill in the Assembly to amend provisions to redefine the scope of powers of Governor in matters related to state government run varsities a party release saidWelcoming the passage of a Bill in Maharashtras legislative council that gives more powers to the Higher and Technical Education Minister with regard to the state-run varsities the actor-led party said it had always stood for state autonomy and decentralisation of powersThe MNM said both the DMK and AIADMK which had alternately wielded power in Tamil Nadu did not take forward such a proposalOn December 28 The Maharashtra Legislative Council passed the Maharashtra Public University Third Amendment Bill 2016Opposition BJP had claimed that it undermined the Governors powers and would lead to more political interference in the administration of universities PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Dec 27 PTI A block of a residential building complex housing 24 flats collapsed here on Monday reducing tenements to a huge mound of rubbleNo casualties were reported as residents moved out of their flats hours before the collapse after noticing widening cracks in their blockDomestic appliances however were buried in the debrisThe collapsed block was part of a large residential complex at Thiruvotriyur in north Chennai developed in 1993 by the TN Urban Habitat Development Board TNUHDBChief Minister M K Stalin ordered alternative housing arrangements and an assistance of Rs 1 lakh to each of the 24 affected families an official release here saidIn September 2021 the government had renamed the TN Slum Clearance Board established in 1970 as the TNUHDB PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Dec 26 PTI Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday inspected infrastructure amenities and availability of medical oxygen here to tackle Omicron strain of COVID-19 34 cases of which has so far been detected in Tamil NaduAs many as 115 lakh beds have been readied in government and private sector hospitals as a precautionary measure and steps are being taken to create 50000 more beds if warranted at COVID care centres an official release here saidStalin inspected an oxygen manufacturing plant at the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Hospital and amenities there to treat coronavirus patients The CMs inspection comes amid concerns over the new virus variant and a debate on whether or not a third wave would emergeThe CM visited a state facility here that houses an oxygen cylinder warehouse for emergency purposes life saving emergency medical equipment supplies and ambulancesAlso he inspected the emergency control room and state war room to tackle the pandemic and a 24x7 vaccination centreAs on date the government said infrastructure is in place in various government hospitals to ensure additional availability of 244 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen per dayThe facilities to store liquid medical oxygen has been augmented further to ensure storage of 1731 tonnes and separately 167 tonnes could be produced by utilising 17940 oxygen concentratorsAlso there are approximately 25000 oxygen cylinders of different categories and capacities in ready for use modeOf the 34 Omicron cases detected so far 12 were discharged and 22 admitted in hospitals for treatment a medical bulletin said PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Nov 25 PTI Party workers seeking to contest the urban local body elections expected to be held soon are invited to receive and submit applications from November 26 to 28 the AIADMK announced here on ThursdayApplications could be obtained from the respective district party offices and aspirants from here may receive it from the headquarters Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Maaligai a party release saidThe application fee prescribed to contest for the post of Corporation councillor is Rs 5000 To contest for the position of ward members in municipalities and town panchayats the fee is Rs 2500 and Rs 1500 respectively a statement issued by party leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami saidThe applications could be received and submitted between 10 AM and 5 PM from November 26 to 28 the party saidPolls to urban civic bodies including the Greater Chennai Corporation here besides other corporations municipalities and town panchayats are expected to be held soonFor the ruling DMK it was a huge win in the rural civic polls held last month in nine reorganised districts besides bypolls in local bodies in some other regions as well PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Oct 24 PTI Effective December 1 the price of a matchbox would be Rs 2 from the present Rs 1 and this is in view of a rise in production cost triggered by an increase in price of raw materials the industry body said on SundayConsumers would however get more matchsticks in a box when they buy it at Rs 2 up from 36 matchsticks to 50 per boxThe proposed price increase comes after a gap of 14 years Secretary of the National Small Matchbox Manufacturers Association V S Sethurathinam saidThe price of raw materials have increased leading to a jump in cost of production he said adding we have no other option but to increase the selling Maximum Retail Price price The price of all the 14 key raw materials have increased A kilo of red phosphorous has increased from Rs 410 to Rs 850 wax from Rs 72 to Rs 85 pottasium chlorate Rs 68 to Rs 80 splints sticks from Rs 42 to Rs 48 Outer box Rs 42 to Rs 55 and inner box from Rs 38 to Rs 48 Like this the price of all raw materials have increased manifold he told PTIThe rise in fuel prices is also a factor It has led to an increase in transportation cost Hence from December 1 the price of a matchbox would be increased to Rs 2 MRP from the present Rs 1 he saidAfter about six months we may review the situation In 2007 the price was increased from fifty paisa to Rs 1 per matchbox However Sethurathinam said the count of matchsticks in a matchbox would be increased to 50 from the present 36 When you pay Rs 2 you will get 50 matchsticks The price increase would help tackle the situation that has arisen due to the rise in production cost and the decision to go for a hike was taken after discussions with all associations he saidAbout five lakh people are dependent on the matchbox industry directly and indirectly and 90 per cent of the workforce is women he saidTamil Nadu is a leading manufacturer of matchboxes and Kovilpatti Sattur Sivakasi Thiurthangal Ettayapuram Kazhugumalai Sankarankoil Gudiyattam and Kaveripakkam are the major production centresApproximately there are 1000 matchbox units which includes small and medium sized matchbox manufacturers as well PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Oct 22 PTI Searches were held on Friday by vigilance sleuths here and in Salem in connection with a case of Rs 2722 crore disproportionate assets against C Vijayabaskar who was the Health Minister in the previous AIADMK regimeIn Chennai the searches were held in the residence of a former personal assistant to Vijayabaskar in the office of a property developer and another person The raid was conducted in a hospital in Salem the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption saidThe searches were carried out after obtaining a warrant from a court in Pudukottai the agency addedA case was filed by the DVAC on October 17 against Vijayabaskar for possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 2722 crore The following day searches were held in 50 locations in the state PTI VGN ROH ROH