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Dr Krishnasamy criticizes DMK govt decision to convert digital meters to smart meters

By
The Commune
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Dr. Krishnasamy, the founder and president of the Puthiya Tamilagam Katchi, on Saturday criticized the DMK government’s plan to convert digital meters to smart meters, claiming that the move will lead to corruption in the purchase of new meters.

Dr Krishnasamy said, in a press release issued on July 3,” When we were wondering why the Tamil Nadu government has not started any plan that may lead to corruption, Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji announced that digital meters will be replaced with smart meters in Tamil Nadu. The measure, according to the Electricity Minister, will help the department avoid a 900-crore loss.”

Dr. Krishnasamy went on to say that the energy department’s 900 crore loss was caused by long-running corruption in the power generation sector, and not by digital meters.

He goes on to explain that importing inferior coal at exorbitant rates, as well as purchasing and using substandard transformers and spare parts, are all contributing to the sector’s corruption.

While explaining that there is no difference between digital meters and smart meters, he said,” For the past few years, digital meters have been fitted to all users, including homes, businesses, and factories. Now DMK government has said that they will use ‘smart meters’ instead of digital meters to minimize the sudden loss of Rs 900 crore in the power sector. But, the minister has failed to understand that smart meter is also a digital meter and there is no big fundamental difference between the two.”

He concluded by adding that the DMK government should not confuse people between smart meters and digital meters, and the move will result in huge amounts of money being wasted.

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India reports record high exports of $95 billion in June quarter

By
The Commune
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The Minister of Commerce & Industry, Railways and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal held a press conference today to showcase the achievements of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Q1 (April – June) of 2021-22. He mentioned how an ambitious target of USD 400 billion exports has been set for 2021-22.

Shri Piyush Goyal said that sector-specific interventions, involvement of all the stakeholders and functioning of the Government as a whole helped in achieving the growth. Simplification of procedures, extension of timelines and licences, all of that has resulted in the record performance of exports, he added. He specially thanked the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji for leading from the front, and holding discussions with various stakeholders through webinars after the Union budget, and encouraging everyone to put in their best.

Shri Piyush Goyal further said that the performance of the services sector has also been excellent, and despite the pandemic, almost 97% of 2019-20 service export levels were achieved in the last FY. He said that after deliberations with the stakeholders, he is confident that USD 350 billion service exports can be achieved by 2025, and may even go up to USD 500 billion very soon.

The press conference was also attended by Ministers of State for Commerce & Industry, Shri Som Parkash and Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. The Secretaries of the Department of Commerce and DPIIT then briefed the media about the achievements of their respective departments.

Highest Ever Merchandise Exports in the history of India

Highest ever merchandise exports of USD 95 billion in Q1 of 2021-22 has been achieved in the history of India. This is 85% higher than exports of Q1 of 2020-21 and 18% higher than the exports of Q1 of 2019-20. It is also 16% more than the previous highest Q1 exports of 2018-19 (USD 82 billion) and is higher than the earlier peak of exports in Q4 of 2020-21 (USD 90 billion).

Labour intensive sectors seeing rapid export growth

Several Labour-Intensive sectors have seen rapid export growth. The exports in the engineering goods sector has increased by USD 5.2 billion over Q1 of 2019-20. Likewise, Rice exports growth has remained positive since May 2020 and rose by 37% in Q1 of 2021-22 compared to Q1 of 2019-20

India’s Exports Performance Vis-a-vis Major Economies in April 2021

India showcased robust export performance in April 2020 compared to major economies of the world. As compared to April 2019, India’s exports growth during April 2021 was higher than other major advanced economies like the European Union, Japan, USA, Republic of Korea & United Kingdom

Record FDI Inflows

India received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2020-21 of USD 81.72 billion. This is higher by 10% compared to USD 74.39 billion achieved in 2019-20. The positive momentum continues with FDI inflow of USD 6.24 billion during April 2021, which is 38% higher than April 2020.

Startup India

Number of startups recognised by DPIIT has crossed 50,000 and is spread across 623 districts in India. With these startups nearly 1.8 lakh formal jobs have been created by 16,000+ recognised startups in 2020-21. Several times more have benefited from the Startup ecosystem.

Reducing Compliance Burden

To improve the ease of doing business and reduce the compliance burden 6,426 compliances have been reduced in Phase-I. 3,177 compliances are being been reduced in Phase II. The timeline for Phase I was 31st March 2021 & Phase II is 15th August 2021.

Investment Clearance Cell

The National Single Window System is a one-stop digital platform to obtain clearances & approvals. In the phase-1 of integration,  43 Depts/Ministries & 14 States Single Window Systems are being on-boarded. The pre-launch version is undergoing extensive testing and we are gearing up for a soft launch.

The Hon’ble Minister concluded by saying that the world sees India as the trusted and reliable partner, and has more confidence in India’s capability to provide quality products and services on time. With the goods and services gaining momentum, a large number of employment opportunities will be generated, the economy will strengthen, revenues will increase, and the government will be able to help the disadvantaged sections in a more substantive manner.

(published from PIB)

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DMK cadres extort COVID vaccine tokens in Erode, attack youth for questioning their atrocity

By
The Commune
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Tension erupted after DMK cadres extorted tokens for the COVID vaccine and stopped a female teacher from entering the vaccination centre at Erode.

Erode DMK cadres stormed the vaccination centre at the Government Girls’ High School near Panneerselvam Park in Erode, extorting tokens from government officials, closing the entrance and refusing to issue tokens to those in the queue.

Residents allege that it has been customary for DMK cadres to extort 40 out of every 100 tokens for COVID vaccination, and that those 40 tokens were exclusively handed to family and acquaintances of DMK cadres.

On Friday, as DMK cadres were extorting tokens as usual, a youth who was waiting to get vaccinated questioned them about why they were extorting tokens. An accomplice of the DMK union secretary Sasi Kumar began assaulting the youth who questioned them, angered by the questioning. Instead of controlling the DMK cadres, the police officers present at the vaccination centre sent the youth out.

The DMK cadres then locked the school gate and refused entry. They also stopped the entry of a school teacher who attempted to enter the school for work purposes.

The school teacher got enraged by the DMK cadres’ behaviour and began arguing with them. She was later whisked away by other teachers. Journalists who attempted to record the scene were also intimidated by DMK cadres.

(with inputs from Dinamalar)

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270-year-old tank found in Avinashi near Coimbatore

By
The Commune
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In the early days when there were no motor transport, people used to travel on bullock carts or walk all the way if they had to go from one place to another.

For the benefit of the travelers,  rulers of those times used to build tanks, plant trees along the roads, and also boulders to place weight on at frequent intervals. In villages, tanks made of of stones were built near the road which used to be filled with water drawn from wells for animals like cows and goats to quench their thirst.

One such stone tank was found by historians Mudiyarasu, Sivakumar and Praveen Kumar in front of the Pillayar Temple at Adarampalayam in Pappangulam panchayat near Sevvoor.

The inscription on the tank mentions ‘Kaliyuga’ and notes the year as 1751 AD. The 7 feet long and 2 feet wide tank could be atleast 270 years old. According to the inscription on the inscribed on the walls, the tank was built by one Pandiyammala, the daughter of Paccha Gounder.

(With inputs from Dinamalar)

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Complaint filed against Doctors Without Borders for violating visa rules and providing medical aid to Maoists

By
The Commune
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SC ST Rights Forum, an activist collective working for the rights of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) against the international humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) for violating Indian VISA rules and aiding Maoists.

In its letter to the MHA and the FCRA Division of the Ministry, SC ST Rights Forum has alleged that representatives of Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF) are visiting interior Tribal areas bordering Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh in violation of Indian Visa Rules. It is noteworthy to mention that this area is one of the hotspots of the infamous ‘red corridor’.

It has been alleged that people from foreign countries belonging to the MSF have been providing medical aid to Maoists in the grab of humanitarian assistance. It is to be noted that the Chattisgarh government had banned MSF back as early as 2007 for aiding Maoists.

 

The complaint stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs, recently in March 2021, has provided FCRA license (FCRA Reg No: 231661886) to Medicine Sans Frontiers to receive foreign funds.

“We raise our serious objections over providing FCRA license to this organization and request you to please consider ground reports of public officials in this regard before taking such steps. We also request your good office to cancel the FCRA license allotted to Medicine Sans Frontiers.” the complaint stated.

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Apathy of HR&CE officials in repairing pavement of Aththi Varadhar Temple

By
The Commune
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The government official’s indifference in repairing a damaged pavement at Aththi Varathar Temple has angered devotees and the general public.

The idol of Lord Aththi Varadhar was taken out of the holy tank of Varadarajaswamy temple in Kanchipuram after 40 years in 2019. The idol was kept in Vasantha mandapam for darshan and more than one crore devotees throng the temple before the idol was immersed back in Ananthasaras tank at the Sri Devarajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram on July 1, 2019. Millions of people, from Presidents of India to commoners, sought Aththi Varadhar’s blessings.

In this situation, the pedestrian pillars that collapsed amid the throng of devotees during the inauguration ceremony are still unrepaired by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department officials. Nearly hundreds of pillars fell down because of the crowd that visited the temple two years ago. However, the damages are still not repaired by the concerned officials.

After the city of Kanchipuram was designated as a traditional city by the Central Government, special funds were allotted to preserve the tradition of the Kanchipuram temple. The devotees alleged that the municipal administration is not making proper use of these funds and failing to replace the damaged pillars.

(with inputs from Puthiyathalaimurai)

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DMK executive accused of sexually harassing deceased man’s wife demanding payment of usurious loan

By
The Commune
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A DMK office bearer near Eriyodu in Dindigul district has been accused of sexually harassing a woman demanding that she pays back the loan taken by her husband who is now dead.

It is being said that the woman’s husband Sakthivel had taken a loan of ₹80,000 from Pazhanisamy for agricultural purposes at an usurious rate of interest.

After Sakthivel died two years ago, Pazhanisamy has been constantly harassing the former’s wife through phone and in person asking for to repay the money. He had also allegedly made derogatory remarks and sexually abused her demanding that she pay back the loan or face the consequences.

The DMK office bearer had reportedly kept harassing the woman despite she already paying back more than twice the principal amount.

A complaint has been lodged with the police.

(With input from News J)

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Islamic occult practitioner sexually assaults women on the pretext of ‘Spiritual Treatment’

By
The Commune
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Love Jihad Bihar

The police in Kerala have arrested an occult practitioner identified as Syed Hassan Koya for sexually harassing a housewife on the pretext of solving family problems.

The women had gone to this occult practitioner for ‘spiritual treatment’ at Chalissery in Pallakad district and Koya sexually harassed the woman on the pretext of solving family problems.

The 35-year-old woman accused Syed Hassan Koya, a native of Karukaputhur, who reportedly attempted to rape the complainant on June 28 when she had visited his house.

Under the pretext of solving her family problem, Koya led her to a special room in the house to perform the ‘special traditional treatment’ and as she entered the room he tried to sexually assault her inside.

However, she was able to get away from his clutches and ran away from the place and lodged a complaint with the Chalissery police.

The police raided the residence of occult practitioner Koya and arrested him for sexually assaulting the housewife. The police have recovered an ID card from the accused’s house, which claimed that Syed Koya was the President of the expatriate wing of an organisation called the International Commission of Human Rights. 

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Pak PM says China’s Communist Party is alternative to western democracy, accepts Chinese treatment of Uighur Muslims

By
The Commune
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The Islamic State of Pakistan on Thursday (July 1) categorically accepted the “Chinese version” of the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province because of its “extreme proximity and relationship” with Beijing reports Indian Express.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in a television interview had also said that he will never publicly question China on the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province. 

However, on Thursday, as the Pakistani PM was speaking to Chinese journalists, Khan said that China’s version of the Uyghur issue was completely different from what was being reported in Western media and said, “Because of our extreme proximity and relationship with China, we actually accept the Chinese version.”

PM Khan went on to add, “It is hypocritical. There are much worse human rights violations taking place in other parts of the world. But Western media hardly comment on this.” He also praised the Communist Party of China (CPC), calling it an ‘alternative’ to Western democracy.

He said, “The CPC has introduced an alternative model and they have beaten all Western democracies in the way they have highlighted merit in society.”

This comes at the heels when the United States (US), European Union(EU), and many other nations have accused China of committing genocide against the Uyghurs in resource-rich Xinjiang province, and have also called for an international probe by human rights groups.

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Thoothukudi CSI church denies voting rights in secretary election for marrying Roman Catholic

By
The Commune
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Christians from the Nazareth zone CSI Church in Thoothukudi protested against the incumbent secretary for the removal of their names from the electoral roll.

The most affluent church in the district, the CSI Church in Nazareth Zone in Thoothukudi district, has fierce competition for the post of the secretary who controls the church’s assets.  Industrialist SDK Rajan, the current secretary of the church, manages the multi-crore assets, schools, and colleges owned by this church.

The church election committee is preparing for the secretary election, which is set to take place in August. In this situation, there are complaints that the names of many voters of churches in many towns including Thangammalpuram and Bandaravilai have been removed from the voter list.

Christians affiliated with the Church alleged that incumbent secretary SDK Rajan has removed voters’ names to ensure that he is elected again.

The name of a young man and his family was removed from the voter list for marrying a Roman Catholic woman in Bandaravilai. They alleged that hundreds of names were removed from the voter list at the instigation of SDK Rajan, setting a new rule that whoever works in Chennai has the right to vote only if they are in the Nazareth Zone for at least 120 days.

The couple protested by locking the election committee room inside the church and demanded that their names be added to the voter list.

Police arrived on the scene when tensions were high near the church and persuaded protestors to disperse, but the protesters remained persistent in their demands. When questioned about the charges made by the voters, Church secretary and industrialist SDK Rajan said that the names were deleted only in line with the guidelines.

(with inputs from PolimerNews)

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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