Tirupathur (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 1 (ANI): Amid the row over the ban on beef biryani at Ambur Biryani Festival, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on Monday said there is should not be any restrictions and discrimination towards beef biryani during district level biryani festivals.

Chennai April 21 PTI Tamil Nadu on Thursday posted 39 fresh COVID-19 cases pushing the caseload to 3453390 as the state continued to witness an increasing trend The toll remained 38025 with zero fatalities being recorded in the last 24 hours a medical bulletin said Taking cognizance of the rise in new cases the government directed the health department to step up testing of samples to around 25000 a day from the present 18000 cases After visiting the Indian Institute of Technology Madras IIT-M Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said 12 people at the campus have tested COVID-19 positive Meanwhile COVID-19 recoveries grew to 3415 lakh with 26 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours leaving 256 active infections Chennai which has been reporting cases below 20 over the last few days accounted for the majority of new coronavirus with 21 cases followed by Chengalpet six while Vellore and Thanjavur recorded two cases respectively Kancheepuram Nagapattinam Namakkal Tirupathur Tiruvallur Tiruvarur reported one case each The state capital leads among districts with 751356 cases overall A total of 18825 samples were tested in the last 24 hours pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 660 crore the bulletin said Noting that adherence to COVID-19 norms in public places is on the wane of late Radhakrishnan said the state government is yet to announce relaxation of restrictions Though some states have announced relaxation on wearing face masks in public places Tamil Nadu Government is yet to make such an announcement he said Urging people not to lower their guard he said the daily cases in New Delhi spiked as of Wednesday and a similar situation may emerge in Tamil Nadu if people show laxity in following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour It has been decided to increase the total number of samples that were tested by the health department per day It was 16000 16583 yesterday today it will be 18000 18825 we have directed department authorities to increase the total number of samples collected per day to 25000 he said On the 12 people who tested positive in IIT-M campus he said they were vaccinated doing fine and do not require hospitalization We have collected 365 samples as of today at IIT Madras and a necessity may arise to test 1500-2000 people here in the locality if positive cases increases he said People should understand that the prevalence of the virus decreased in the state during the first second and third wave of Covid-19 because people followed the COVID-19 behaviour Now the cases have increased to 39 across Tamil Nadu and by following the coronavirus protocols they public can prevent its spread he added PTI VIJ ROH ROH

Chennai Mar 24 PTI United States Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin on Thursday urged women students to show compassion stand up for people in need and giving back to communities was a wonderful form of transformational leadership After presenting the diplomas to 442 women students at Islamiah Womens Arts and Science College in Vaniyambadi Tirupathur on their 21st Graduation Ceremony she said whether it is at home locally nationally or globally I urge you heed to the advice of American author poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou Become what you respect mirror what you admire Islamiah Womens Arts and Science College was established by the Vaniyambadi Muslim Educational Society a century-old organisation catering to the needs of socially marginalised and financially underprivileged people of the region The Vaniyambadi Muslim Educational Society in 2009 inked a partnership with the US Consulate Chennai and the US Embassy in New Delhi to hold English Access Micro-scholarship Programme for economically disadvantaged students aged between 13 and 23 years Over the last 13 years over 450 students have successfully completed the programme The programme aims to help underserved school students between 13 and 23 years develop communication in English leadership skills besides celebrating the shared values of the United States and India PTI VIJ VIJ SS SS

Chennai Feb 28 PTI Continuing to report a downtrend in new COVID-19 cases Tamil Nadu added 366 infections pushing the tally to 3449373 while the death toll mounted to 38004 with one more fatality the health department said Recoveries eclipsed new cases with 1013 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours aggregating to 3405624 leaving 5745 active infections a medical bulletin said After reporting new cases in triple digits for several weeks infections in Chennai dropped to 96 followed by Coimbatore adding 54 cases Chengalpet 40 while 24 districts reported new cases in single digit The state capital also leads in the overall tally with 749946 infections among districts Mayiladuthurai Perambalur Tenkasi Tiruvarur and Tirunelveli and Villupuram each reported nil new cases in the last 24 hours A total of 55994 samples were tested in the last 24 hours pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 64398334 Meanwhile Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said six more government medical colleges were required in the state and a team would be making a request to the Union Health Ministry during its visit to New Delhi later The six medical colleges were planned to be set up in Perambalur Mayiladuthurai Tenkasi Ranipet Kancheepuram and Tirupathur he said Subramanian said the 11 medical colleges inaugurated in January by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have commenced admission process and today 100 students are being welcomed at the medical college in Tiruvallur With the addition of the 100 students it is happy to note that the total number of students admitted to medical colleges increases to 1550 this year he said PTI VIJ VIJ HDA HDA

Chennai Feb 25 PTI Tamil Nadu on Fridy added 507 new Covid-19 infections to the caseload of 3448088 while three deaths took the tally to 38000 until now said the Health Department Recoveries eclipsed new cases with 1794 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours The total recoveries were 3401938 so far a bulletin said Among districts Chennai accounted for the majority of fresh infections with 133 cases followed by Coimbatore 76 and Chengalpet 58 while the remaining were spread across other districts Chennai the State capital leads in the overall cases with 749605 infections till date Ariyalur Kallakurichi Theni Tirupathur recorded nil cases each while 22 districts saw the numbers in single digit A total of 66366 samples were tested thus pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 64218370 till date Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said the Centre has ordered private healthcare facilities to get rid of vaccines nearing expiry and get a new set of vials Based on the guidelines issued by the Centre the Health Department today issued a fresh set of vaccines to Apollo Hospitals and MGM Healthcare he told reporters This come in the wake of the Director of Public Health T S Selvavinayagam instructing all deputy directors of health services to review the vaccine availability PTI VIJ NVG NVG