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First BSF contingent arrives in Madurai as Tamil Nadu polls scheduled on April 6

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The Commune
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tamil nadu polls

The first contingent of the Border Security Force (BSF), comprising 1130 personnel divided into nine companies, arrived in Madurai on Sunday.

The nine companies have been deployed in Madurai and adjacent areas, as the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the coming weeks. They were sent to Tenkasi, Tuticorin and Nagercoil districts.

The BSF personnel were tested for COVID-19 after their arrival.

The elections for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly are scheduled to be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of the votes will be done on May 2.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is contesting the polls in a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They will face off against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by MK Stalin, who has allied with the Congress However, the Congress and the Dravidian party have recently been at hostilities with one another.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan’s recently launched political party, the Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM), is also contesting the polls. The pro-Hindu Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) is also in the fray.

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After bureaucrat dismisses villagers’ concerns, LRPF seeks action against illegal construction of church

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The Commune
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illegal church lrpf landgrab
Representational photograph

The Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) wrote to Kalpana Kumari, the Revenue Divisional Officer (Sub-collector), Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh and asked that action be taken against the illegal construction of a church in Kurnool district.

Residents of Jillela village in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district had earlier approached Kalpana Kumari and petitioned her to stop the illegal construction of a church in the village. They told the IAS officer that despite the objections from the villagers, the pastor had gone ahead with the unlawful construction.

However, Kalpana Kumari had dismissed their concerns and had said that India is a India is a secular nation. She had said that people of all faiths and religions – be they Hindus, Christians or Muslims – have the right to construct their places of worship and use them. Earlier, The Commune had reported on how, in a similar case in the state of Andhra Pradesh, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of police, a pastor and other individuals had threatened and filed cases under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities (Prevention) Act against villagers who objected to a church being constructed in their village.

Unfortunately, according to the letter sent by the LRPF to the Revenue Divisional Officer, Christian groups in the state used this episode to denigrate the Hindu communities and downplay the communities’ anxiety regarding Christian missionary activities. The Christian groups came out with videos, memes and posts on social media ridiculing Hindus, claiming that “Hindu fanatics” were “snubbed” by the bureaucrat. One such post on social media is linked here.

“This has hurt the sentiments of all Hindus who have seen/read these posts. While the people from Christianity have gone ahead with unauthorised church construction in violation of multiple rules, it is the Hindus who are left to feel guilty”, the letter stated.

The letter further states that while the villagers may not have been fully conversant with the rules governing construction of religious structures, their objection to the construction of the church is genuine. Moreover, the letter indicates what kind of illegalities are involved in the construction of the structure.

The Andhra Pradesh Gram Panchayat Land Development (Layout and Building) Rules, 2002, Rule No 26 states that:

“No site shall be used for the construction of a building intended for public worship or religious purposes without the prior approval of the Collector of the District who may refuse such approval if, in his opinion, the use of the site for the proposed construction of the building is likely to endanger public peace and order, after giving an opportunity to the applicant to show cause against such refusal”

The letter states that in the present case, the construction is unauthorised and has no permissions from the concerned public authorities. Also, it appears that the said construction took place on agricultural land, which is another violation of rules.

The Section 3(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Land (Conversion for non Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 clearly states that:

“–No agricultural land in the State shall be put to non-agricultural purposes, without the prior permission of the Competent authority”.

Section 3(2) – An application for such conversion of the agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes shall be made before the Competent authority in the form prescribed along with conversion tax..”

Pointing out the illicit nature of the construction, the LRPF sought an inquiry into the matter and demanded action against the perpetrators.

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Afghan Foreign Min welcomes Russia’s statement calling return of Taliban regime ‘unacceptable’

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The Commune
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afghanistan russia
Pictured: Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar (R) and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov

The Russian Federation has expressed its strong opposition to the return of the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan and said that it prefers improvement in the ongoing peace efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

This statement from Russia came as Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar visited Moscow and met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Lavrov said that Moscow was in contact with other countries involved in the Afghanistan peace process. He urged that the Taliban avoid putting new demands in the talks. “Our main message to the Taliban is to resume meaningful dialogue as soon as possible, avoid further escalation of violence to reach to a conclusion and respect the decisions of the UN Security Council,” Lavrov said.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has welcomed Russia’s stance. “We strongly support Russia’s position on the Afghan peace process, particularly the stance that the return of Taliban regime will not be acceptable,” Atmar said hours after his meeting with Lavrov on Friday. “We also welcome Russia’s stance on the UN sanctions on the Taliban,” Atmar added.

A statement from the MoFA said that Russia is not in favor of removing the names of Taliban leaders from the UN blacklist without any progress in the Afghan peace talks. “The Taliban shouldn’t be removed from the sanctions list unless they abide by their commitments toward peace,” Atmar said.

“Durable peace in Afghanistan is possible only within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Republic will not allow international terrorism to operate in Afghanistan and this is in the interest of Russia”, Atmar further stated.

Meanwhile, State Ministry for Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi called on the Taliban to demonstrate flexibility in the talks and agree on a ceasefire. “Afghans want an end to the bloodshed. Afghans want dignified peace, Let’s not waste this opportunity. The solution lies in the negotiating table,” Naderi said.

“The second round of talks is quite important. This round should move forward without any delay,” said Assadullah Saadati, the deputy head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.

Russia bats for transitional coalition government in Afghanistan

Earlier, Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov in an interview with Sputnik had said that Moscow prefers that all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan agree on the establishment of an inclusive and transitional coalition government.

Kaboluv stated that Russia believes it would be good if there was a transitional coalition government in place in which the Taliban had political status. He said the peace talks in Doha have failed, calling for the peace process to proceed in the Moscow format with the presence of the US, Russia, China and Afghanistan’s neighboring nations.

The Russian envoy said that the talks in Doha are only about making contact, not peace negotiations.

The Afghan Republic and the Taliban negotiators held their third meeting on Thursday evening after over a month-long deadlock in the talks with the main focus on the agenda of the negotiators. The meeting was held in working group level that is aimed at finalizing the agenda of the negotiations.

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DMK party leader arrested over scuffle with Panchayat Vice President

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The Commune
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dmk manifesto gram panchayat

DMK party leader Shiva from Kodaikanal’s Poondi village was arrested after a complaint was filed against him for engaging in a scuffle with the village’s Gram Panchayat Vice President. The Gram Panchayat Vice President’s husband had complained to the local police about his constant harassment, leading to the arrest.

On the 22nd of February, Shiva had allegedly gotten engaged in a brawl with the woman, regarding his differences with the latter over the employment granted to the villagers under the 100-day employment scheme. This caused the her to subsequently file a case against him with the local police. The woman, along with her husband, complained to the police about the DMK leader’s harassment.

The police moved this issue to the district court and following a series of investigations, Shiva was tried in court. The district judge then ordered the local police to arrest Shiva and put him behind bars. Following this order, Shiva was arrested early on Thursday.

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Tamil Nadu CM announces waiver for jewel loans and women’s self help group loans

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The Commune
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loan waiver jewel loans

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami announced that loans taken by pledging up to 6 pieces of jewelry from cooperative banks and loans taken by women’s self-help groups will be waived. The Chief Minister told the legislature that the move was taken as the normal life of the people was affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, and so this waiver was much needed for the public to get back on their feet. The Chief Minister clarified that this waiver would come into immediate effect and the required financial allocation would be made by the Tamil Nadu government.

It is to be noted that only a few weeks ago, the government had waived ₹12,110 crores worth of farm loans availed by 16.43 lakh farmers from cooperative banks.

“This announcement has facilitated farmers in continuing cultivation works without any difficulty in the forthcoming year,” the Chief Minister said during the announcement of the waiver.

It is to be noted that it was only in January that DMK President MK Stalin had promised a waiver of farm and jewel loans if his party was elected to power. In light of this, the CM pointed this out in the assembly and claimed that AIADMK was the only party that kept its word and fulfilled promises.

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Actor Santhanam tweets in support of Sadhguru’s plea to free temples from govt control

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The Commune
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santhanam sadguru temples tamilnadu

Isha’s Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev had posted a tweet saying how close to 12,000 temples were in ruins all around Tamilnadu with no one to care for them. The tweet read, “11,999 temples dying without a single pooja taking place. 34,000 temples struggling with less than Rs 10,000 a year. 37,000 temples have just one person for pooja, maintenance, security etc! Leave temples to devotees. Time to #FreeTNTemples.”

He went on to tag the CM of Tamil Nadu, DMK leader MK Stalin and actor Rajinikanth. He went on to say in the video that was posted that just like how the East India Company had left the temples of India in a dilapidated state by bludgeoning them, the present situation was such that they were slowly being suffocated into going out of existence by depriving them of resources and funds. He elaborated on the need for temples and explained how entire towns were built around them, and how they had been instrumental for the flourish of civilization.

He then beseeched that, since a single person would be unable to maintain the temples, the government should consider giving the responsibility of managing temples back to the devotees, and that the logistics could be figured out later.

Tweeting in favour of this, Actor Santhanam had tweeted saying, “Completely agree with @sadhguruJV. Leave it for devotees. Sad to see so many places of worship without a single pooja taking place. Very little done for maintenance, security etc. #FreeTNTemples.” This caused a stir online, flooding the microblogging platform with tweets in support as well as in opposition of the tweet.

BJP’s Asuvathaman and Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) welcomed Actor Santhanam’s tweet. Many netizens were surprised to see a Kollywood actor giving voice to an issue that has been a subject matter of debate among the Hindu community.

https://twitter.com/drpsvvardhan/status/1365657863629152257

However, one netizen pointed out that when the actor had run into a trouble with a BJP man a few years back, he reportedly threatened the person that he knew DMK chief MK Stalin.

Some others netizens like Savukku Shankar pointed out that Santhanam was a ‘Sanghi’ and also took a dig at his caste saying that ‘he was a Vanniyar and hence would have no brains’.

https://twitter.com/savukku/status/1365604051631566853

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Twitter spat erupts between DRM Chennai and CMRL over fare and facilities

By
The Commune
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Chennai metro fares

It all started when the suburban train services department’s handle @DRMChennai put out an illustration showing the comparison of fares between their services and that of the Chennai Metro Rail. This contained a table showing how the fares for the same distance travelled by suburban local trains were almost 5 to 10 times lesser than that of the Chennai Metro Rails.

Their caption said, “Equally fast and most economical. Chennai Suburban Services.” The tweet went on to add, “This information was shared as there was a demand from public. Chennai Suburban system and CMRL complement each other and provide enhanced connectivity to Chennai city. We are working together in many areas for better connectivity.”

Replying to this, the @CMRLofficial, which is the handle of the Chennai Metro Rail, said, “Hi @DrmChennai, Well we do provide Round the Clock Security, AC Coaches and well maintained state of the art Metro Stations with on time train schedules!”

This Twitter spat quickly became viral, as Twitterati started supporting either side in this online debate. Supporters of the Metro came up with arguments as to how the suburban trains had a huge pickpocketing menace and had unhygienic standards of maintenance. Some even went ahead and pointed out that the time schedules were rarely adhered to and that one could only dream of reaching one’s destination on time while sticking to suburban train travel. Those in support of the Suburban rail services retorted about how the affordability of the Chennai metro services was highly questionable, and that not everyone was able to go on a metro train.

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Man kills leopard with bare hands after animal attacks his family

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The Commune
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man kills leopard

A man in Karnataka’s Hassan district showed great courage and strength when he bare-handedly strangled a leopard to death after the animal attacked his family.

Rajagopal Naik is a resident of Arasikere taluk in Hassan district, Karnataka. He was on his way home, along with his wife Chandramma and their son Kiran. The family of three were travelling on a motorcycle when, suddenly, a leopard leapt at them from the bushes near the road.

The leopard bit Kiran’s leg and attacked Chadramma. Rajagopal, seeing his family in peril, fought off the leopard with his bare hands. He grabbed the leopard by the neck and began hitting the animal on the head with his elbow. The leopard struggled to break free and even swiped at Rajagopal with its claws, injuring him.

Undaunted, the brave man did not let go of the animal but tightened his hold on the leopard’s neck, choking the beast to death.

Rajagopal and his family were later taken to the nearest hospital for treatment and to get their wounds bandaged. Officials from the forest department arrived at the scene of the incident and took away the carcass of the leopard. The leopard’s body was sent to a veterinary hospital for an autopsy.

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PM Modi to be honoured with CERAWeek global energy and environment leadership award

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The Commune
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modi CERAWeek award

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the CERAWeek global energy and environment leadership award in an annual international energy conference to be held next week.

The CERAWeek 2021 Conference will be held virtually from March 1 to March 5. It is the premier annual international gathering of energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial and industrial communities – and energy technology innovators.

The conference is being organised by IHS Markit, a leading Anglo-American firm working in the information services industry. The firm has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions.

A press release from IHS Markit said that PM Modi will also deliver a keynote address at the event. Newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm is expected to deliver the first address at CERAWeek. The award comes as India is seeking to transition from conventional fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, to solar and other renewables to meet its energy needs. The government is also pushing for a massive adoption and mainstreaming of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country and is also looking to build other e-mobility infrastructure in the next few years.

According to the press release, the PM will be participating in a special plenary with Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit and conference chair on Friday, March 5. “He will also receive the prestigious CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award in recognition of his commitment to sustainability in energy and the environment”, the press release stated.

“We are pleased to warmly welcome the Honorable Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, to CERAWeek by IHS Markit 2021,” Yergin said. “In charting its path towards economic growth, poverty reduction and a new energy future, India has emerged at the center of global energy and the environment, and its leadership is crucial to meet climate objectives for a sustainable future while ensuring universal energy access. We look forward to Prime Minister Modi’s perspectives on the role of the world’s largest democracy and are pleased to honor him with the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award for his commitment to expanding India’s leadership in sustainable development to meet the country’s, and the world’s, future energy needs”, it said.

‘The New Map: Energy, Climate and Charting the Future’

CERAWeek 2021: The New Map: Energy, Climate and Charting the Future will examine a new global map being shaped by dramatic shifts in energy and geopolitics—a map defined by changing policies, technology, alliances, geopolitics, and possibly collisions in global commerce and politics.

The conference is inspired by Daniel Yergin’s book The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations. The conference program will focus on key themes related to Energy Transition; Geopolitics, Economics and Markets; Investment and Financing; Technology and Innovation; Mobility and the Future Workforce, the press release said.

This year marks the 39th edition of the conference and is the first time that it will be an all-virtual event. CERAWeek 2021 and the related Innovation Agora will feature more than 245 speakers from 29 countries.

Other speakers at the event are John F. Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, United States and Bill Gates, co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and founder, Breakthrough Energy. Executives from the world’s leading oil and energy corporations like BP, TOTAL SE, Saudi Aramco, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, etc will attend. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, the secretary general of OPEC is also a speaker at the conference.

Gina McCarthy, the national climate advisor to The White House, US Senator Joe Manchin who is also chairman, U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Norwegian minister of petroleum and energy Tina Bru and Pratima Rangarajan, the CEO of OGCI Climate Investments will attend the conference as well.

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Temple land belonging to Madurai Azhagar Temple encroached by DMK party members

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The Commune
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A complaint has been lodged with the district administration demanding the immediate removal of flags belonging to various political parties that have been installed on temple-owned land in Madurai.

Koodal Azhagar Perumal Temple in Madurai is one of the 108 Divya Desams and has a public road leading to the temple along the four-foot hall. This space for florists and lamp sellers is currently being used by the DMK and AIADMK and the public has accused the DMK parties of occupation.

A petition has been filed with the district administration and the corporation on behalf of the devotees demanding the immediate removal of the flagpole with the pedestal erected here. People have demanded that the district administration should remove these flag poles before the election as the assembly elections are to be held in Tamil Nadu at present.

Despite the fact that the parties have different ideologies, the fact that they have been occupying the land on the temple premises and erecting a flagpole has caused great dissatisfaction among the devotees in the area. Social activists say the only way out for the government to control the temples is to prevent politicians from looting and misusing temple property.

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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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