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Friday, December 26, 2025
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Watch: DMK MLA’s men and party’s cadres fighting in the middle of the road over COVID relief distribution

By
The Commune
-

Infighting between a DMK MLA and a union secretary during the Corona relief material distribution event near Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district ended in a scuffle.

The DMK Ulundepet MLA and Union Secretary attended the relief distribution function held at Sentha Nadu area of Ulundurpet.

DMK Union Secretary Vasanthavel, who did not like the presence of MLA Manikkannan, had a heated argument with him. The argument escalated at one point, and they started hitting each other hard. Frightened by this, the public despised the DMK rulers and returned home dissatisfied without getting relief materials.

The incident in which a democratically elected DMK MLA forgot his honor and wrestled in the street with his fellow party volunteers near Ulundurpet has caused discontent among the people.

In another such incident in Tirupur, former DMK councilor Masoodu shouted at the party executives at a function attended by DMK MLA Selvaraj that he had not been treated with respect at party events and began assaulting party cadres who tried to stop him. This made quite a commotion in the area.

(with inputs from NewsJ)

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Debunking the propaganda on Lakshadweep reforms

By
Ashok Kumar
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The Lakshadweep administration’s move to bring reforms to the islands has invited sharp criticism from Congress and the Left parties. While the Union Territory Administration has stated that Administrator Patel’s proposals are aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of residents as well as promoting the islands as a tourist destination comparable to the Maldives, opposition parties have taken advantage of the opportunity to promote their own agenda which will be inimical to national interest. Some of the misinformation spread by opposition parties, celebrities with vested interests, and media outlets must be debunked here.

Cow Slaughter and Beef

PROPOSAL: An order from the Administration seeks to ban the slaughter of cow, calf, bull, and buffalo without a certificate from a competent authority. It prohibits the sale, transport, and storage of beef and beef products. Penalties include a jail term of up to one year and a fine of ₹10,000.

PROTEST: Residents view the rule as a direct infringement on their culture and eating habits.

TRUTH: According to the authorities, cows and cattle for meat are limited on the islands, with a population of little more than 1,200. Therefore, the government needs to protect it for breeding and agricultural activities. The government also clarified that these regulations will not be applicable to animals – other than a cow, bull, or bullock – being slaughtered for religious purposes.

BJP’s national vice-president A.P. Abdullakutty and several other leaders clarified that the objective is to protect the milch animals and has nothing to do with Lakshadweep being a Muslim-majority island and their religious beliefs.

Lakshadweep collector S Asker Ali said that only those associated with its illegal business and those who have personal interests are making a hue and cry against this legislation. He added that the decision to remove meat from the mid-day meal scheme is to include fish that is readily available on the island, which will benefit local fishermen by providing a quick market for their harvest.

Two-child policy

PROPOSAL: Under the Draft Panchayat Regulation 2021, the Administration aims to bar people with more than two children from becoming a member of the gram panchayat.

PROTEST: Locals are protesting this motive saying that it infringes on their political rights.

TRUTH: The government has clarified that the objective of the proposed law is to control the population. The law states that for those who already have more than two children, the regulation does not disqualify them provided they do not have further children after the date on which the rule comes into effect. This legislation is already in place in states like Andhra, Odhissa, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

Serving Liquor To Tourists

PROPOSAL: The Administration has decided to allow liquor to be served at resorts on inhabited islands.

PROTEST: Residents are protesting against this as Islam forbids alcohol. They say that the move will lead to a proliferation of liquor sales on the island, which had been observing near-prohibition until now.

TRUTH: Collector S Asker Ali clarified that liquor permits would be given only to resorts for tourists, not for locals. He also stated that liquor is already available at the resorts on the uninhabited island of Bangaram.

Land Acquisition Powers

PROPOSAL: The Administration brought in a draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) to oversee the development of towns on the islands, with sweeping changes in the way land can be acquired and utilized.

PROTEST:  They fear large infrastructure and tourism projects can destabilize the ecology, and that the notification gives powers to the Administration to remove small landholdings of ST residents.

TRUTH: The government has stated that it intends to make Lakshadweep the next Maldives of India, which will necessitate a number of development projects such as road, airport, and power production facility expansion. The administration wants visitors from all over the world to come to Lakshadweep, which will increase employment opportunities and raise the standard of living for inhabitants. The lagoons have been devastated by the diesel generators that have been utilized on the island for decades, according to Island Administrator Praful Patel. He added that the new legislation will enable to build of new solar and wind power plants.

The Lakshadweep administration is also developing three water villa projects in Minicoy, Kadmat, and Suheli in collaboration with NITI Aayog on the lines of Maldives. Work will start in August. The Agatti airstrip is being expanded so that Boeing and Airbus planes can land here.

Also, as there are inadequate facilities for higher education, the administration has taken the initiative to set up a nursing college and paramedical college in Kavaratti and a polytechnic college in Minicoy.

Anti-Goonda Regulation

PROPOSAL: The draft Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation provides for powers to detain a person for up to one year to prevent him from “acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”. It allows for detention for anti-social activities from six months to a year without legal representation.

PROTEST: Residents are skeptical of the need for such stringent law in a Union Territory with one of the lowest crime rates in the country. They allege it has been brought in to arrest those opposed to the Administration.

TRUTH: According to Collector S Asker Ali, while the island remains peaceful, there have been complaints of narcotics, weapons, and live ammo being seized. He said the regulation is required to keep the “youth from getting misguided by illegal businesses”

Reports added that 300 kg of heroin worth ₹3,000 crore, five AK-47s, and 1,000 live rounds were confiscated from a boat near Minicoy islands a few weeks ago and several cases of marijuana and liquor smuggling have been filed too.

Covid-19 SOPs

PROPOSAL: Lakshadweep did not record any case of COVID-19 in the first wave. However, Last December, Covid-19 SOPs were diluted by doing away with mandatory quarantine for travelers at Kochi and Kavaratti. Instead, anyone with a negative RT-PCR certificate issued in the previous 48 hours could travel to Lakshadweep.

PROTEST: The change led to the island losing its ‘green zone’ tag and a spurt in infections in subsequent months. Islanders blame the Administration for mismanagement in the handling of the pandemic.

Truth: Ahead of Ramadan, the islanders visited Kerala for shopping, and Kerala was one of the worst affected states during the second wave, which led to a rise in the number of cases in Lakshadweep. However, since the administration made proactive steps to control COVID infections, the number of cases has decreased, and approximately 75% of the population has been vaccinated.

Secular parties’ appeasement policies to woo Muslims have always resulted in retrograde outcomes, and this time is no exception. Opposition parties’ and other vested interests in the islands are carrying out an organized misinformation campaign to block reforms in Lakshadweep would not help the people of Lakshadweep.

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Female Inspector and Head Constable suspended for selling confiscated liquor during lockdown

By
The Commune
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A female police inspector and a Head Constable from Trichy have been suspended for allegedly selling liquor seized during the curfew.

Inspector Sumathi, who was in charge of inspecting vehicles in Trichy’s Sirukanur area during the COVID restrictions, confiscated several liquor bottles that crossed her area in vehicles over the last two months.

However, it was alleged that the number of bottles confiscated was not properly reported to higher authorities and that bottles held at the police station were sold to outsiders for a higher price during the lockdown.

Following this, on the orders of the police high command, Additional Superintendent of Police Palvannanathan came to the Sirukanur police station and questioned the police personnel working in the police station.

The footage recorded on the CCTV camera fitted in the police station was also examined. Both Inspector Sumathi and Head Constable Raja, who worked at the same station, were suspended in this instance for selling seized liquor at a higher price during the curfew.

(with inputs from Thanthi)

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Bosnian woman who spent more than 500 days guarding river from being exploited granted ‘Green Nobel’

By
The Commune
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Maida Bilal, the woman from Bosnia, who spent more than 500 days guarding the Kruscica river in the country against being exploited has now been awarded a green Nobel. She gathered a team of women from her village and fought against the hydropower project that was to be established in the village which would completely rupture the river’s ecosystem.

The Goldman Environmental Prize is called the ‘green Nobel’, and is awarded to those who guard and preserve the environment, and is awarded across the 6 continents. Bilal is the European winner of this year’s prizes.

“We have defended the river for 503 days, physically 24 hours a day,” Bilal told Reuters. “If needed, we’ll guard her for another 5,300 days.” Bilal, a trained economist, said, “I lost my job, I lost my friends, my daughter was bullied in school. I would lie if I said it was easy, but then I did it in spite of everything. I have a daughter and don’t want her as a grown-up to face the same problem as her mother.”

Maida is now all the other plants that are to be established all across the country and has been enduring a lot of violence during her fight. Although her fight would have originally gotten over in 2018, the parliament has still not approved the bill that was proposed to ban construction of mini plants. This is getting delayed due to conflict in interest by political parties and pressure from investors.

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Communist Govt in Kerala removes ingredients list and benefits of ‘panchagavya gritham’ from Oushadhi website

By
The Commune
-

Oushadhi, the ayurvedic medicine company run by the government of Kerala, has taken down the ingredients list and the benefits of Panchagavya Gritham that was present on their website. This move comes days after news was published that the Communist Government in Kerala was selling medicines made out of cow dung claiming that this would boost memory and improve concentration.

It is to be noted that Panchagavya Gritham completely out of products obtained from the cow, like cow dung, cow urine, ghee, curd, etc. This medicine is also been claimed to cure mental disease, jaundice, fever, and epilepsy.

It is to be noted that, in 2020, the Kerala government had sought the permission of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to incorporate cow urine as ayurvedic medicine for COVID treatment. Following this, this panchagavya gritham has now garnered attention on social media. Oushadhi is one of the largest public-sector ayurvedic companies in the country and produces 498 ayurvedic formulations. The last recorded revenue of the Kerala government from this sector was in 2015 and was recorded as ₹82 crores.

Communists in India often resort to mocking Hinduism for cow worship and engage in hurting religious sentiments of Hindus by organizing beef eating festivals. Communist sympathizers on social media who often resort to derogating Hindus by making ‘Gau mutra’ jibes found themselves in a fix after it was revealed that their own government had endorsed products made out of cow waste.

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Australian born ISIS bride Zehra Duman released just 2 months into a 7-year jail sentence in Turkey

By
The Commune
-

Australian-born ISIS bride Zehra Duman has walked free from a Turkish prison just two months into a seven-year jail sentence and now she is living a new life with her two children as a free woman in Turkey, reports dailymail. 

Duman fled from her family in Melbourne in 2014 when she was 19 to sneak into Syria after being recruited to ISIS by the Australian party boy turned jihad extremist, Mahmoud Abdullatif.

As per reports she later married Abdullatif and allegedly masterminded an ISIS social media campaign where she called for the murder of Australians, Britons, and Americans. Duman became a key ISIS recruiter, posing with machine guns and urging other Westerners to leave civilisation and join the Islamic regime. 

After Abdullatif’s death in a US airstrike, she went on to marry two more ISIS fighters and each fathered a child with Duman before they too were killed.

It must be noted that Duman holds dual Australian-Turkish citizenship through her family heritage and is one of at least 65 Australian women and children who are now living in a camp in northeastern Syria near the Iraq border.

She and her family begged the Australian government to be allowed to return but she was stripped of her citizenship by the government because she also had Turkish citizenship. She later managed to enter Turkey with the help of smugglers and was immediately arrested by authorities.

Last September Duman was sentenced by a Turkish court for six years and 10 months for recruiting brides to join ISIS and sharing Islamic State propaganda on social media. But was released just two months into the sentence as she told the court that she was the only person who could care for her two children, Jarrah, five, and Layla, two.  

At present, her whereabouts are unknown, and is living at an undisclosed location ever since.

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Cabinet approves Deep Ocean Mission

By
The Commune
-

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on “Deep Ocean Mission”, with a view to explore deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.

The estimated cost of the Missionwill be Rs. 4077 crore for a period of 5 years to be implemented in a phase-wise manner. The estimated cost for the first phase for the 3 years (2021-2024) would be Rs.2823.4 crore. Deep Ocean Mission with be a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India. Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission.

The Deep Ocean Mission consists of the following six major components:

  1. Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible: A manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6000 metres in the ocean with suite of scientific sensors and tools. Only a very few countries have acquired this capability. An Integrated Mining System will be also developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from 6000 m depth in the central Indian Ocean. The exploration studies of minerals will pave way for the commercial exploitation in the near future, as and when commercial exploitation code is evolved by the International Seabed Authority, an UN organization. This component will help the Blue Economy priority area of exploring and harnessing of deep sea minerals and energy.

 

  1. Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services: A suite of observations and models will be developed to understand and provide future projections of important climate variables on seasonal to decadal time scales under this proof of concept component. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of coastal tourism.

 

  1. Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity: Bio-prospecting of deep sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilization of deep sea bio-resources will be the main focus. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Fisheries and allied services.

 

  1. Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration: The primary objective of this component is to explore and identify potential sites of multi-metal Hydrothermal Sulphides mineralization along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges. This component will additionally support the Blue Economy priority area of deep sea exploration of ocean resources.

 

  1. Energy and freshwater from the Ocean: Studies and detailed engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered desalination plant are envisaged in this proof of concept proposal. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of off-shore energy development.

 

  1. Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology. This component is aimed as development of human capacity and enterprise in ocean biology and engineering. This component will translate research into industrial application and product development through on-site business incubator facilities. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Biology, Blue trade and Blue manufacturing.

The technologies required for deep sea mining have strategic implications and are not commercially available. Hence, attempts will be made to indigenise technologies by collaborating with leading institutes and private industries. A research vessel for deep ocean exploration would be built in an Indian shipyard which would create employment opportunities. This mission is also directed towards capacity development in Marine Biology, which will provide job opportunities in Indian industries. In addition, design, development and fabrication of specialised equipment, ships and setting up of required infrastructure are expected to spur the growth of the Indian industry, especially the MSME and Start-ups.

Oceans, which cover 70 per cent of the globe, remain a key part of our life. About 95 percent of Deep Ocean remains unexplored. For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30 per cent of the country’s population living in coastal areas, ocean is a major economic factor supporting fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods and blue trade. Oceans are also storehouse of food, energy, minerals, medicines, modulator of weather and climate and underpin life on Earth. Considering importance of the oceans on sustainability, the United Nations (UN) has declared the decade, 2021-2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. India has a unique maritime position. Its 7517 km long coastline is home to nine coastal states and 1382 islands. The Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030 enunciated in February 2019 highlighted the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.

Published from PIB

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Couple from TN wins hearts after donating ₹37 lakh from their wedding fund for COVID relief

By
The Commune
-

A couple from Tirupur in Tamilnadu have won hearts after they donated ₹37 lakh from their wedding fund for COVID relief. Anu and Arul Pranesh from Tirupur had originally estimated their wedding budget at a whopping ₹50 lakh. But, on June 14, they decided to get married on a ₹13 lakh budget.

This decision was not just influenced by their philanthropic nature, but also by the fact that a lot of the wedding guests were apprehensive to attend because of the COVID restrictions and fear of infections.

Noticing these discrepancies, Arul Pranesh, who runs his family business of selling plastic products, had conferred with his bride-to-be. They had then decided that this would be the right decision, and reduced their wedding budget. “Even the wedding hall owner returned our rental advance,” he recalled. “However, as the family elders decided not to postpone the wedding, we got married at the Vattamalai Angalamman temple with minimal attendance after taking permission from local authorities.”

It is to be noted that their family is a member of the Rotary Club of Tirupur and regularly engage in philanthropic activities and give out donations for various charities.

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Miscreants encroach Sevilimedu Mariamman temple land in Kanchipuram

By
The Commune
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Devotees and residents around the Mariamman temple in Kanchipuram have expressed dissatisfaction over the temple’s land being encroached upon by encroachers and the Tahsildhar’s inaction on complaints received.

A complaint was filed with the Tahsildhar on April 13, alleging encroachment on land belonging to the Mariamman temple in the Sevilimedu area of ​​Kanchipuram district.

According to the complaint letter, despite warnings from nearby residents, an individual constructed a house on 2160 square feet of temple land. It further stated that the encroached site was where the villagers and devotees used to celebrate the annual temple festival.

The villagers, however, complained that the Tahsildhar, who received the complaint, had taken no action, resulting in increased encroachment of temple lands.  The people in the area have also accused the Tahsildhar of failing to act on any petition submitted on their behalf in the Tahsildar’s office.

It is worth noting that the Chennai High Court recently stated that the temple lands should be protected and that immediate action should be taken on complaints related to the temple property encroachment.

(with inputs from Kathir news)

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NIA files chargesheet against suspected ISIS operative in Chennai

By
The Commune
-

A suspected ISIS operative from Kerala was charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before the NIA Special Court in Poonamallee, Chennai.

According to the NIA, the case was initially filed by the ‘Q’ Branch CID, Chennai City Police Station against Syed Ali, 31, a resident of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, in connection with the arrest of a group of people who conspired in Salem and Chennai to fraudulently activate Airtel and Vodafone SIM cards using multiple identity documents without the knowledge or consent of the people involved.

Upon investigation, it was found that the accused had utilized the SIM cards for terrorist operations. On January 21, the NIA re-registered the case and took over the investigation. An investigation by NIA found that these SIM cards were given to ISIS terrorists Liyakath Ali and Khaja Moideen.

On Tuesday, NIA charged Syed Ali under sections 120B, 471, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), sections 18, 38, and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, and Sections 4 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

NIA added, “Syed Ali had assisted Khaja Moideen in using the dark web, encrypted communication to communicate with a foreign-based handler and had also participated in conspiracy meetings and arranged safe hide-outs. In order to further this conspiracy, he had also procured explosive materials and gadgets to experiment with IEDs.”

The case is currently being investigated further.

(with inputs from Kathir news)

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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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