Chennai Apr 22 PTI Auto major Tata Motors on Friday gave away 101 electric vehicles to customers hitting the milestone of the highest delivery made on a single day in Tamil Nadu The deliveries comprised 70 units of Nexon SUVs and 31 Tigor sedans at an event held through Srilakshmi Auto Enterprises in Chennai It is heartening to see faster adoption of green mobility We are proud to join the e-mobility movement This will set an example for other states as well Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Senior General Manager network development and EV sales Ramesh Dorairajan said in a company statement Tata Motors is constantly working towards educating and enhancing the adoption of electric mobility in India and we hope that more people join this green wave as we mobilise the nation to EvolveToElectric he said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 26 PTI Tamil Nadu inoculated 592008 lakh people against COVID-19 in the 26th mega vaccination exercise on Saturday of which 164779 received their first dose while 401731 got the second dose the health department has said As many as 25498 people received the precautionary booster dose during the campaign a press release said In Tamil Nadu 9219 per cent of people over the age of 18 years received the first dose while 7612 per cent got the second dose In the 25th mega vaccination camp conducted till last Saturday March 19 vaccines were administered to 390 crore people Vaccinations to 12-14 year olds commenced on March 16 and till date 1192322 people received the first dose On vaccinations to 15-18 year olds the release said 2867806 people received the first dose and 2080468 second dose the bulletin said The precautionary booster dose was administered to 778122 people till date since the commencement of exercise on January 10 2022 In view of the vaccination camp today there would not be any special inoculation exercise on Sunday March 27 the release said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 26 PTI Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin who is on a visit to Dubai to woo investors invited industry captains and business leaders to invest in the state saying opportunities were available in abundance On his maiden overseas trip after assuming office in May 2021 Stalin while addressing a conference organised by the Guidance Tamil Nadu said I take this opportunity to invite you to Tamil Nadu to engage in a partnership of investment innovation growth and prosperity Holding that the United Arab Emirates and Tamil Nadu share a long history of rich cultural and trade relations he said we are committed to develop and strengthen this relations There is keen interest to further strengthen the trade ties between Tamil Nadu and UAE and this is evident after seeing the number of participants in this conference he said Terming Dubai as a beautiful city Stalin said it is not only beautiful but has also become a place where a large number of business activities take place Fifty years back the population was less than one lakh in Dubai But today it has grown and people are in awe globally he said The chief minister listed out some of the popular landmarks of Dubai including the 2217-feet tall Burj Khalifa shopping malls Palm Jumeirah Islands and added that it recorded a strong growth as a business centre Appealing to the industry captains to invest in Tamil Nadu Stalin said he has taken up such an overseas trip after assuming office to strengthen the economic relations between Tamil Nadu and Dubai I invite you all to make big investments in Tamil Nadu he said Despite the COVID-19 pandemic Tamil Nadu has signed 124 memoranda of understanding MoUs attracting investments of USD 8 billion thereby creating two lakh jobs he said Tamil Nadu has registered a positive GDP growth of 58 per cent in 2020-21 in contrast to negative growth in most economies This clearly shows the faith and confidence that global investors have reposed on Tamil Nadu he said Noting that his government has drawn up plans to increase the states GDP to USD 1 trillion by 2030 Stalin said the government has taken up measures like upgrading infrastructure developing the skills of the employees among others to achieve this feat In this context there are large number of opportunities that are available for you to invest There are opportunities available in abundance in the real estate tourism and hospitality sector he said adding that the state was home to more than 75 Fortune 500 companies Our doors are always open to do business and to take up investments he said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 26 PTI Over two kilograms of gold worth Rs 114 crore was seized from passengers in two different incidents at the airport here Customs department officials said on Saturday In the first incident the department officials intercepted a passenger who arrived here from Dubai on Friday and recovered gold concealed in his inner garments during a personal examination an official release from Commissioner of Customs Chennai Airport said In the second incident on Saturday the sleuths intercepted a man on arrival from Sharjah and seized gold paste packets wrapped in adhesive tape concealed in his inner wear A total of 236 kg of gold worth Rs 114 crore was recovered from the two passengers under relevant sections of Customs Act 1962 The passengers were arrested and further investigation was on the release said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 25 PTI The commercial taxes and registration department in Tamil Nadu has achieved the all-time highest in terms of revenue generated during the 2021-22 financial year the state government said on Friday Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P Moorthy in an official release said the revised budget estimate for 2021-22 was fixed at Rs 9610966 crore and the target was achieved on February 15 As of March 24 2022 the commercial taxes department has generated revenues of Rs 10034601 crore he said The registration department had set a target of Rs 1325267 crore under the revised budget estimate for 2021-22 and has breached it on March 23 2022 As of March 24 the registration department has collected revenue of Rs 1340651 crore he said Following the increase in revenue the commercial taxes and registration department during the current financial year has surpassed the projected revenue target and achieved the feat the release added PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 25 PTI Noted jewellery retailer Kalyan Jewellers on Friday strengthened its retail footprint with a new outlet inaugurated in neighbouring Chengalpet district the company said on Friday The retail store is the jewellers 25th outlet in Tamil Nadu 124th in the country and 154th store globally we are delighted to announce the launch of this new showroom in Chengalpet We would like to extend gratitude to our brand ambassador Prabhu Ganesan for being part of this growth journey Kalyan Jewellers Chairman and Managing Director T S Kalyanaraman said in a press release Actor Prabhu is one of the brand ambassadors of the jeweller and along with top executives of the jewellery retailer inaugurated the showroom on Friday The jeweller said as part of ensuring safe retail environment to the public due to COVID-19 pandemic it has launched We Care COVID-19 guidelines along with the appointment of a safety measure officer to ensure safety protocol guidelines were strictly followed PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 22 PTI The mikeless concert aimed at providing opportunities for children below the age of 15 years organised by city headquartered non-banking finance company Sundaram Finance would be conducted after a gap of two years the company said on Tuesday The monthly concert organised on the first Sunday of every month at the Nageswara Rao Park in the city was held for 14 years till March 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic struck and halted the event The concert series in which 1400 children have performed has been included in the Limca Book of Records for the longest running open air mikeless conferences The monthly kutcheri concert in the park would be re-launched on April 3 with a one-hour flute performance between 7 am and 8 am The Sunday Kutcheri in the park has served as a launch platform for budding young artistes for 14 years and has now become an integral part of Chennais cultural fabric Sundaram Finance Managing Director Rajiv Lochan said we are excited to re-launch the open air mikeless kutcheri at the Nageswara Rao Park and look forward to providing opportunities every month to children to showcase their musical talent in front of an informal audience at the park he added PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 20 PTI Over 70000 new jobs that were available in more than 500 leading companies are up for grabs at a mega job fair inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin near here on Sunday Stalin presented job offers to 20 aspirants as part of kicking off the campaign that was held near the city organised by the labour welfare and skill development department an official release said Job aspirants from the city and also hailing from neighbouring Chengalpet Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts took part in the event in which more than 500 leading private companies were taking part These companies have announced 73950 vacancies and Chief Minister M K Stalin handed over appointment orders to 20 job seekers as part of launching the event the release said Special measures were taken in association with the district administration and police department to serve the job seekers with disability who were interested in taking part in the job fair According to the release 36 mega job fairs were conducted in which 41213 job seekers received employment offers since May 2021 On the occasion Stalin also launched a television programme in the government-run Kalvi TV that would offer training to candidates interested in taking up competitive examinations the release said Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises T M Anbarasan Minister for labour welfare and skill development department C V Ganesan and a host of senior government officials took part in the inaugural the release added PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 19 PTI More than 134 crore eligible people in Tamil Nadu have not received the second dose of vaccination against COVID-19 and they should make use of the Mega Vaccination Camp conducted every week by the health department state Minister Ma Subramanian said on Saturday The Minister for Health and Family Welfare inspected the 25th Mega Vaccination Camp currently underway in the city At the camp he said 361283 children in the age group of 12-14 years have received the jabs as against the eligible 2121 lakh Vaccination to this age category commenced on March 16 across the country In Tamil Nadu on a daily basis two lakh vaccination doses are being administered As many as 13435505 people are eligible to receive the second dose and are yet to get vaccinated while 5182974 people are yet to receive the first dose of vaccination in the state They should make use of the Mega Vaccination Camp conducted on Saturdays by the health department he said Subramanian said currently 7680645 doses of vaccines were available with the health department The minister said 3100 panchayats out of a total 12585 panchayats in Tamil Nadu have achieved 100 per cent vaccination status in their region and very soon they would be honoured by certificates signed by Chief Minister M K Stalin He said of the 57891000 eligible persons above the age of 18 years the health department has administered vaccines to 53228642 while 43224269 received second dose of vaccinations On the status of precautionary booster dose he said 409588 people above the age of 60 years have received the third dose The minister said monitoring of people in the 13 districts bordering Kerala have been intensified as COVID-19 cases increased to 847 on Friday while in Tamil Nadu it stood at 61 on Friday with zero fatalities Lakhs of people travel to Tamil Nadu from Kerala Due to the increase in cases in Kerala it has been decided to intensify the measures in the border districts he said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Mar 18 PTI The budget presented by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Friday has laid emphasis across all the sectors and also earmarked adequate funds to enable comprehensive development a senior government official said Adequate funds have been allotted to several existing schemes introduced by the government and also to new schemes so that there is a substantial increase in states own tax revenues SOTR said Additional Chief Secretary Finance department N Muruganandam We are expecting a good growth in SOTR because of various reasons The economy is picking up and hopefully there will not be any disruptions as compared to the last two-three years therefore SOTR should go uplot of technologies are being included in government departments like registration department commercial taxes department So we hope actual SOTR will increase substantially he told reporters Explaining some of the salient features of the budget he said to upgrade the infrastructure for several government schools about Rs 7000 crore has been earmarked in the budget for the next five years which would be utilised for setting up smart classrooms computer labs construction of compound walls 18000 new classrooms among others Last year the government had set up model schools in 10 districts This year it will be expanded to another 15 districts and an amount of Rs 125 crore is being allocated for this purpose he said As part of encouraging women to take up college education he said the government would deposit Rs 1000 every month in the bank accounts of those students who pursue higher education in government colleges after completing studies in government schools Elaborating further he said only 46 per cent of girl students take up graduation after finishing school and this scheme was announced to encourage more women pursue higher education About six lakh girl students are studying in various government schools They stand to benefit out of this scheme he said To upgrade infrastructure in government-run colleges Rs 1000 crore has been set up for the next five years of which Rs 250 crore is allotted for this year the senior bureaucrat said Noting that several schemes were announced towards creation of new jobs Muruganandam said the government would encourage start-ups and those products manufactured by these entities would be directly procured by government departments To encourage start-ups to be on par with start-ups in Bengaluru New Delhi and Hyderabad many schemes were announced in the budget The innovative products manufactured by the start-ups will be procured by government departments he said The finance secretary said Tamil Nadu was holding a key position in exports and added that Rs 100 crore has been allotted as special fund to boost exports This fund will be utilised to upgrade infrastructure in places like Vaniyambadi Ambur he said This budget has laid emphasis for overall growth across sectors he said and pointed out that for the first time since 2014 revenue deficit is set to decrease by over Rs 7000 crore Though the revenue deficit since 2014 has risen every year in an intimidating manner it has been changed for the first time this year he said According to Minister Thiaga Rajan Tamil Nadu would see a reduction in the absolute level of the revenue deficit by over Rs 7000 crore reversing an alarming trend of increasing deficits every year since 2014 we are poised to see a significant reduction of the fiscal deficit from 461 per cent down to 380 per cent even during such a challenging year the minister said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA