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Brahmapuram: A Tragedy That Was Waiting To Happen, Thanks To Mismanagement By Communist Govt

By
Anand Krishna
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Recently Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, announced in the state Assembly that a vigilance investigation will be conducted into the fire occurred in Brahmapuram waste plant of Kochi. Additionally, a special police team will investigate the criminal case related to the fire that broke out at the plant, causing the garbage hill to smoulder for 12 days and resulting in a toxic haze over the commercial hub of Kerala.

Social media users expressed their disapproval of the government in relation to an incident, and called for stringent measures to be put in place. They used the hashtag #GodsOwnTrash, which originated from the term “God’s own country,” a popular moniker for the state of Kerala, to highlight their discontent. The netizens accused the CPM government of remaining silent on the issue, and pointed out that not a single leader had spoken out against the lack of proper management.

Even though the fire was doused the smoke surrounding the responsibility for the fire still hangs overhead. The Congress-led Opposition previously criticized Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for not speaking out about the issue despite holding the portfolios of the Pollution Control Board, Environment, and Climate Change. However, in a statement to the Assembly, the Chief Minister announced the appointment of an expert committee to investigate the factors that led to the fire at the Brahmapuram waste plant. 

The Zonta Problem

Biomining is a process that can convert waste materials from landfills into useful resources, which can be beneficial for the environment. The authorities in Kochi began moving the city’s trash to a facility in 2007, leading to the accumulation of a significant amount of legacy waste at Brahmapuram. As a result, biomining became necessary to manage the solid waste at the site, which the state government took over from the Kochi Corporation. Zonta started the biomining process on January 15 and aimed to recover the dumpsite land within 18 months while sorting, collecting, storing, and selling the recoverable items from the legacy waste. The government has reported that 28% of the work has been completed so far.

The entry of Zonta Infratech into the waste management sector has raised questions, with some suggesting that the company was selected without proper scrutiny or justification.

The Zonta company is also spreading its wings across Kerala but the sudden emergence of the company and its ties with the ruling party is slowing coming in to the fore. Zonta Infratech, the company currently under scrutiny for its handling of the Brahmapuram waste treatment plant, has been awarded contracts to handle waste management in three additional cities in Kerala. Despite ongoing allegations and criticism of the company’s activities, it has been tasked with installing a biogas plant in Kollam and setting up waste-to-energy plants in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Experts have pointed to the state’s shift away from successful decentralised waste management policies as a factor in the Brahmapuram controversy, with senior officials and CPM members divided on the issue. The decision to use WTE plants, overseen by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, has been criticised, with officials suggesting that solid waste management should have been prioritised. 

How Mismanagement By Communist Govt Led To The Fiasco

But, the corporation has been operating the yard without proper authorization since 2010 and has repeatedly violated pollution control regulations, prompting warnings from government agencies and the NGT. However, a massive fire broke out on March 2, 2023, which is believed to be the largest and longest fire in Brahmapuram’s history. It is unclear how much progress Zonta would have made between the government report’s release and the nine-month mark. The site still appears to have heaps of waste that are several years old, indicating that a considerable amount of work remains to be done. The tragedy has raised concerns about the project’s prospects and the effectiveness of biomining. Poor planning, ineffective management, and corruption, which have yet to be substantiated, are reported to be the primary causes of the unfortunate incident.

Although the recent fire at the Brahmapuram garbage dumping yard in Kochi has been extinguished, it has revealed serious mismanagement of waste disposal by the Kochi Corporation. The fire, which started on 2 March 2023, forced firefighting crews to work around the clock to contain the flames, and toxic fumes generated by the fire have caused air quality to deteriorate in Kochi and its surroundings. Despite the government claiming victory against the fire, concerns about the cause of the fire and the potential poisoning of the area remain. Protests have erupted in Kochi due to the poor air quality caused by the fire; the people blame the poor governance by the state government and Cochin corporation for the disaster fire. Reports show that the Air Quality Index has risen to dangerous levels, with locals experiencing respiratory issues and some residents moving out of the city. According to the reports, the Air Quality Index as of Sunday was above 200 and officials in the pollution control board had said that it might cross 300. 

https://twitter.com/_gautham_g_/status/1634885846393573377

 

Then there are the revelations regarding involvement of CPM leader’s son in law and illegal gratification enjoyed by the party leaders in relations to the waste site. The controversy surrounding the contract of Brahmapuram waste treatment plant has led to a response from CPM leader Vaikom Viswan, who denies having helped his son-in-law secure the contract. Viswan spoke to the media, stating that he did not intervene on behalf of his family and welcomes any investigation into the matter. This comes as allegations have been made concerning the awarding of the bio-mining contract in Brahmapuram to his son-in-law’s company. The former mayor of Kochi, Tony Chammini, has challenged Viswan’s involvement and is considering legal action. 

Swapna Suresh, who is the main accused in the gold smuggling case, has once again accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his former principal secretary M Sivasankar of wrongdoing. She took to Facebook to allege that Sivasankar was involved in awarding the contract for the Brahmapuram solid waste processing plant to Zonta Infratech, and that the CM remained silent due to Sivasankar’s involvement. Swapna has also requested that the CM retrieve the mobilisation advance paid to the company and distribute it to the public. In addition to this, she has recently accused the CPM of attempting to bribe her into silence in the gold smuggling case with an offer of Rs 30 crore through an intermediary. https://www.facebook.com/krishnakumarswapna/posts/10161042649090680

A Tragedy That Was Waiting To Happen

Despite the visible pollution crisis in Kochi, the Pinarayi government in Kerala remains in power like modern Nero playing music while the citizenry chokes to death. There are numerous reports suggesting a corruption network between leaders of the communist government and contractors involved with the Brahmapuram plant. The Brahmapuram fire adds to a long list of corruption allegations against the Left in Kerala, including cases related to gold smuggling, SNC-Lavalin, drug smuggling, and terror networks. It is crucial for the people of Kerala to take a strong stance against this corrupt government in order to restore the state to its former status as “God’s own country” instead of the “communists’ own country.”

The committee, which will include technical experts, will recommend measures to prevent such incidents in the future and improve waste management. The investigation will also examine whether the Kochi Municipal Corporation effectively monitored waste management and complied with the Pollution Control Board’s guidelines for running the plant. While the drama of blame game and technical committees continues, the people of Kerala are left with an ineffective administration which cannot even handle waste disposal in the only major metro city in Kerala. 

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12 Tamil Fishermen Released Following Annamalai’s Request And MEA’s Intervention

By
The Commune
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After intervention from the Ministry of External Affairs and Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai, the twelve Indian Tamil fishermen who had been apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy were released.

Shaa hails from Akkaraipettai in the Nagapattinam district. Twelve fishermen from Nagapattinam namely, Anandamani (44), Raja (32), Veeraiyan and his son Ravi (48), Mathibalan (36), Kaththalingam (50), Ramamurthy (38), Anbu (32), Velmai (48), Raghu (38), Dinesh (26) and Chitravel (42) went for fishing taking the mechanized boats of Shaa on 7th of this month from Nagai fishing harbor in Akkaraipettai.

In this situation, on March 11, when they were fishing near Kodiyakarai South-East sea, Sri Lankan Navy arrested them on charges of fishing across the border. Their fishing boats were seized and taken to Sri Lanka’s Kaangesan port, where all twelve Tamil fishermen were investigated.

After hearing about the arrest, family members of the detained fishermen arrived at Nagai Akkaripettai port and sobbed. They requested that both the central and state governments take action and release the imprisoned fishermen.

In this instance, on March 12, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai wrote a letter to Dr. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, requesting his intervention in securing the detainees’ prompt repatriation. In his letter, Annamalai said,” We bring to your attention yesterday’s arrest of 16 Fishermen from Pudhukottai and Nagapattinam by the Sri Lankan navy. Two fishing boats belonging to them have also been seized during the arrest. We request the kind intervention of our External affairs ministry for the early repatriation of the detainees.”

In this case, the Sri Lanka Paruthithurai court released all 12 Nagapattinam fishermen who had been detained by the Sri Lanka Navy. Relatives of imprisoned fishermen rejoiced upon hearing the news. Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai thanked Minister for External Affairs Jaishankar and Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka for their immediate intervention and release of 12 detained fishermen.

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Pawan Kalyan Rally Does Not Quench Voter Curiosity

By
Shivani
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On 14 March 2023, Telugu actor turned Pawan Kalyan held a rally in coastal Andhra, from Vijayawada to Machilipatnam to commemorate his political party’s (Jana Sena Party- JSP) 10th anniversary of formation. The rally was reported to have drawn moderate to large crowds along the planned rally route.

Pawan’s fans, JSP party supporters, and the general public expected significant news/comments related to formal political alliances, a firm election strategy, a timeline for this year’s political rallies, clarity around Pawan’s political goals, focus on targeted communities, etc.

Members of the press and Telugu voters were somewhat disappointed with inadequate clarity on all things political from Pawan and his party’s leaders. First of all, there was no mention of a solid and formal pre-poll or post-poll alliance with either the BJP or the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Over the last three years, after Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP win in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh state elections, there have been a few well-publicised meetings and informal announcements of “collaboration” between Pawan Kalyan and the BJP or between him and the TDP supremo, N Chandrababu Naidu. All such informal joint statements had been aimed at the common goal of defeating the current YSRCP party. With about a year to go for the mid-2024 Andhra Pradesh state elections, the people of the state had been looking forward to a formally agreed upon and inked intent of fighting next year’s polls together. However, there were no major surprises or revelations announced at the March 14 anniversary celebrations that the people were hoping for.

Perhaps, it is too early to expect announcements of confirmed political announcements, election goals, and strategy?

Some observations from the Pawan Kalyan/JSP rally were:

1) His claims of being open to an alliance with both, the BJP and the TDP (not ruling out one or the other).

2) Pawan alluding to the fact that he had not yet been extended a strong, formal, satisfactory offer of electoral partnership from either party.

3) He was trying to reach out to the Muslim community – he stated that he probably lost the support of the Muslims when he hobnobbed with the BJP and clarified that the Muslim community would not be negatively impacted by his future leadership regardless of whether he aligned with the BJP or not.
He stated, “My Muslim brothers and sisters have distanced themselves from me after the alliance with BJP. If ever there is an attack on Muslims, I will quit the alliance. As long as I am with the BJP, there will be no attacks on Muslims.”

4) At this rally and meeting, there was no special outreach to the Christians, perhaps because of the strong, general perception in Andhra Pradesh that Christians had voted in unison for a fellow Christian convert, current CM Jagan Reddy of the YSRCP ruling party, during the last state elections.

5) Pawan Kalyan alluded to his uncomfortable predicament in holding joint meetings and sharing a common agenda with the state’s BJP unit because of a likely misunderstanding or miscommunication between the Central BJP leadership and the State’s BJP unit. Supporters are hoping for a possible common agenda between the two parties and a resolution of the issue soon enough, as state elections are fast approaching in about a year (Andhra Pradesh elections are scheduled to be held in the first half of 2024).

6) Pawan’s core base lies with the Backward Classes (BC) and the Other Backward Classes (OBC). He belongs to the Kapu caste, which was granted a long-standing demand for a BC status. He was careful about expressing excessive or unconditional support for the TDP, a party led by a forward-caste leader, N Chandrababu Naidu, who is Kamma Naidu/ Chowdary by caste. Yet, he made it clear that parties and politics aside, he admired and appreciated Naidu’s work and the significant progress made under Naidu’s leadership both in the undivided Andhra Pradesh state (before its division into Andhra and Telangana) as well as in the new, residual state of Andhra Pradesh.

7) Pawan Kalyan had some sharp words of criticism for Jagan Reddy’s openly casteist politics and emphatically stated that people should come together regardless of caste identity for the future of the state, ruined by Jagan Reddy’s casteist politics, corruption scandals, and irresponsible financial debts. He promised a fair and just caste representation if voted to power.

8) Responding to a challenge by the ruling YSRCP party to contest all 175 Assembly seats in the next election, the JSP party founder said that his party’s target is to win a majority of the seats in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and soundly defeat the YSRCP!

From the tone and tenor of Pawan Kalyan’s meeting, political analysts have surmised that Pawan is likely looking for an alliance with the BJP or the TDP, albeit one that is satisfactory for him and his party, in terms of the number of seats offered in partnership, some plum post-poll postings, sharing of resources, etc.

The BJP hasn’t made any significant promises yet, and it continues to have an informal understanding of sorts with Jagan Reddy’s ruling YSRCP party while Pawan and Reddy are open and obvious political foes with both parties often taunting and challenging each other in the public domain.

The TDP is currently playing it cautiously because of caste formulations and sensitivities (some of the other BC communities are wary of Pawan’s caste), because they’re aiming to win back votes from his community with their own effort and also because it is widely believed that it was Pawan’s party that split the traditional BC/OBC vote share of the TDP, ultimately giving the new YSRCP party an electoral advantage with their calculation of a unified SC, ST, and minorities vote, back in the 2019 state elections.

What does Pawan’s political future look like? Will each of the major contenders in Andhra Pradesh politics (TDP, JSP, BJP, YSRCP) go it alone or stitch up alliances, either pre-poll or post-poll? In the meanwhile, the neighbouring Telugu state of Telangana is a potboiler right now, ahead of this year’s state elections in a triangular face-off – the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi party (BRS) and a fast-gaining BJP are competing for the top post with the TDP, the Congress, the YSRTP and others trailing behind.

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TN Law & Order: Woman Assaulted, Robbed And Dragged In Broad Daylight, Man Closes Business Due To Harassment By Drug-Addicted Goons

By
The Commune
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A 54-year-old professor at Anna University in Tiruchirapalli was attacked and dragged on the road by a man after she refused to lend him money. This video has gone viral on social media.

In the video that is circulating on social media, the man can be seen dragging an unconscious Seethalakshmi on the road holding her leg.

The accused has been identified as Senthil Kumar, a 32-year-old hailing from Thirukattupalli in Thanjavur district. The victim Seetalakshmi works as a professor at Anna University. Seetalakshmi was walking alone near a school on Sunday when the incident happened. Senthil Kumar hit her on the head with a wooden plank.

The accused then pulled Seetalakshmi off the road and onto a footpath, stole the keys to her two-wheeler, took her cell phone, and then fled the scene.

Later, the victim Seethalakshmi registered a complaint at the Cantonment Police Station. Based on Seethalakshmi’s complaint and CCTV footage, police arrested Senthil Kumar from Pazhamanari, Tamil Nadu. Senthil, however, broke his leg while attempting to flee from the police on a two-wheeler after it ran into the median.

The accused Senthil Kumar is now undergoing treatment for his fractured leg at Trichy government medical college hospital.

Opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami questioned the maintenance of law and order in the state, saying, “In recent years, Tamil Nadu has seen an increase in the brutality of rowdies who have no fear of anyone. These incidents where law and order go for a toss won’t reach Chief Minister Stalin because he is preoccupied with PR politics, like King Nero playing the fiddle while Rome was burning.”

In another such incident showing breakdown of law and order in the state, a shop owner in Keezhbazaar in Thakkolam near Arakkonam in Ranipet district, forced to shut down his business indefinitely, citing the brutality of Rowdies in the area under the influence of Ganja.

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50,000 Students Absent For Plus Two Tamil Exam, DMK Govt Shifts Blame On Parents And COVID

By
The Commune
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In a shocking development, nearly 50,000 students from Tamil Nadu who had registered for the Plus Two exam missed the Tamil Exam exam that was held a few days ago. A consultation with the authorities and teachers was held on behalf of the school education department, led by minister Anbil Mahesh Poiyamozhi.

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh said,” The maximum number of absentees were from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Dindigul, Tiruvannamalai, and Kallakurichi districts. Instead of waiting for the exams to get over and then analyzing the reasons behind the number of absentees, we have asked the Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) to work with schools and find out about the absentees after every exam.”

Minister said,” 5.6% of the total students did not appear for the 12th Board Tamil language exam. An online discussion with all officials including CEOs was held.”

“During board exams, the average absenteeism rate is around 4.5 percent. But the absenteeism rate has reached 5% this year. We are meeting with chief educational officers on Thursday and have already directed officials to investigate the reasons for exam absenteeism,” said the education minister.

He further said,” Of the absent students, 38,000 were from government schools; 8,500 students from government-aided schools, and over 1,000 students from private schools.”

He also stated that making students all pass during the COVID period, as well as a change in the attitude of students after COVID, are some of the reasons for students not attending the exam. He said,” In order to prevent the student from dropping out of school, we did not remove students from the list even if they had failed the Plus one exam. We provided “Hall Tickets” so that even if the students missed class, they could still show up at the last minute to take the exam. We will try to identify students who have not taken the exam, hold special classes for them, and encourage them to take the special exam in June. We’re going to hold management committee meetings at the school level on March 10 and April 24 in order to lower the rate of absenteeism.”

He further stated,” It has come to light that the parents, instead of sending their children to school, took them to work. After COVID, there is a situation where ‘counseling’ has to be given not only to the students but also to the parents. Parents must also be responsible and willing to send their children to school.”

He added,” Teachers’ salaries consume Rs 31,000 crore of the Rs 33,000 crore allocated in the budget for school education. Only Rs 2,000 crores are spent on school improvements!”

Minister Anbil Mahesh attempted to place the blame for absenteeism on the parents through his statement. Minister Anbil Mahesh opted to blame the parents rather than the teachers, who receive more than 95% of the budgeted funds for education in schools.

It is worth noting that about 47,000 out of the 9 lakh students who took the Class 10 state board exam in Tamil Nadu last year failed the Tamil language paper. This begs the logical question: Who is at fault—teachers or parents?

Nearly 40,000 students missed the 12th annual board exams last year. The supplementary instant examinations were taken by 51,000 candidates, including those who failed the final examinations.

(with inputs from Dinamalar)

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RTI Reveals Over ₹400 Cr Missing From Samayapuram Mariamman Temple Fund, HR&CE Dept Says Funds Are Safe

By
The Commune
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Over ₹400 crore have gone missing from the Samayapuram Sri Mariamman Temple Fund, according to temple activist T R Ramesh. In a tweet, Ramesh accused officers of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department of reducing temple deposits by 92% of savings, which is both illegal and against temple welfare. Ramesh alleged that the department bought cars with temple funds and appointed drivers for minister use, in addition to taking 12% of fees as administration charges and 4% as audit fees.

And if they incur any expenses concerning the administration of the temple, it must be only with the 12% they take. He alleged that the dept bought cars worth ₹12-15 lakhs (Innova/Scorpio) with Samayapuram Mariamman temple funds and was sent to the Commissioner’s office for use by some officer there. The expenses include petrol bills and insurance charges. This is above and beyond the 12% they take, said TR Ramesh. According to TR Ramesh, the car is being used in Chennai and money is being sent to a particular petrol bunk where they have an account for petrol purchases. This buying of cars and appointing drivers for use by state ministers is not restricted to this temple but also to Swami Malai temple, Kapaleeshwarar temple, and Tiruvannamalai among others, he alleged.

In an RTI filed by Ramesh requesting a 5-year income and expenditure statement, while no extraordinary expenses were spotted, the savings/investments of the temple raised eyebrows. Right up until 2021, the funds looked intact, however, in December 2022, 92% (approximately ₹422 crore) were missing from just this temple.

It was also discovered that there is no trustee for this temple, and the board of trustees alone can make all administrative decisions concerning the temple. This disappearing of huge amounts of funds is not happening at this temple alone, he said. Apparently, ₹70 crore have disappeared from Kapaleeshwarar temple (from an existing saving of about ₹80 crores) and about ₹100 crores from Madurai Meenakshi temple have also disappeared.

Pazhani Kumbhabishekam

The Pazhani temple’s Kumbhabhishekam was conducted with grandeur and was attended by a large number of devotees from across the country and the world. Following the event, the temple authorities announced that the Mandalabhishekam would be completed in three days, which is a significant reduction from the usual 48-day period. This announcement raised concerns among devotees that the temple’s rituals were being compromised.

TR Ramesh filed a petition regarding the Pazhani temple, and an urgent hearing was held on a holiday at the Chief Justice’s residence. The judge ruled that the Pazhani temple is a wonder of the world and that the pujas and rituals must be conducted as per tradition. This ruling has brought relief to devotees who were concerned about the temple’s rituals being compromised.

There are concerns that temple funds and rituals are being neglected, and the current dispensation does not seem to care. 

 In a video interview with Pesu Tamizha Pesu YouTube channel, T R Ramesh spoke about this issue among other corruption activities done by the TN HR&CE dept.

There are concerns that the government is using funds meant for temples in Tamil Nadu for other purposes. The funds are reportedly being used for road laying and building colleges and schools in the state under the HR&CE’s name instead of the temple’s name. This has raised concerns among devotees who are worried that the funds meant for the temples are being misused.

There have also been reports of jewellery belonging to temples such as Srirangam or Thiruvotriyur being stolen by the authorities themselves. However, no serious action has been taken on the issue, which has further raised concerns among devotees.

After the matter of the missing funds at Samayapuram Mariamman came to light, Tamil Nadu HR&CE Department Minister Sekar Babu clarified that the temple deposits are safe.

However, this raises questions as to where those ₹420+ crores are, as they are not seen in the temple records as received in the RTI. 

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This Is How DMK Fin Min PTR Derided RBI Guv Who Has Now Got Int’l Guv Of The Year Award

By
The Commune
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Shaktikanta Das, the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has been named Governor of the Year for the Asia-Pacific region by Central Banking, a global central banking forum. The award recognizes Das’s outstanding leadership and contributions to the Indian economy during his tenure as RBI governor.

Shaktikanta Das has been credited with implementing a range of policies aimed at stabilizing the Indian economy and supporting growth. These include measures to improve the availability of credit, strengthen the banking sector, and manage inflation. It is worth noting that Shaktikanta Das is a seasoned bureaucrat with over 37 years of experience in various positions in the Indian government, including as the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs and the Revenue Secretary. He was appointed as the RBI Governor in December 2018.

This comes as a snub to the likes of Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan, who is known for making personal remarks against anyone he disagrees with. 

In a tweet he made in 2019, he made fun of the decision to select an ex-IAS (Shaktikanta Das) with a degree in history over someone with a Ph.D. in economics. 

In another tweet in 2020, he ridiculed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, once again for his educational qualifications amidst the Covid crisis, that someone with “an MA History may not be the ideal RBI Governor”.

The Finance Minister’s statement sparked a debate on social media, with many criticizing him for his remarks.

PTR has a very long history of being a rabble-rouser on Twitter and blocking anyone who questions his double standards left, right, and centre. 

Even recently, PTR hounded a female journalist, Sandhya Ravishankar on Twitter on the migrant workers’ issue, and against The Hindu Publishing Group’s Chairperson Malini Parthasarathy who had tweeted about Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi’s clarification on the Tamil Nadu versus Thamizhagam debate. 

He had also made derogatory remarks about business news journalist Chandra R Srikanth, targeting her based on her caste identity. 

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Tejasvi Surya Awarded Best Debutant Parliamentarian At Lokmat Parliamentary Awards

By
The Commune
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Tejasvi Surya, the President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bengaluru South constituency, has been awarded the Best Debutant Parliamentarian award from the Lokmat Parliamentary Awards.

Tejasvi Surya was presented the award at a ceremony held on March 14, 2023, in New Delhi by Shri. Ramnath Kovind.

The Lokmat Parliamentary Awards recognise and honour outstanding achievements and contributions of Members of Parliament across various categories. Tejasvi Surya was selected for the Best Debutant Parliamentarian award for his exceptional performance in the Parliament since being elected as a first-time MP in the 2019 General Elections.

Tejasvi Surya is a Swayamsevak and a lawyer, he was elected as MP at the age of 28 and he has been the President of the BJP’s Youth Wing since 2020.

Upon receiving the award, Tejasvi Surya expressed his gratitude and thanked PM Narendra Modi, the BJP leadership, party workers, and the citizens of Bangalore South Lok Sabha Constituency.

Tamil Nadu BJP President tweeted congratulating him for the achievement.

Tejasvi Surya has been a vocal and active MP in the Parliament and has raised several important issues related to the welfare of his constituents and the country at large. He has also been actively involved in the BJYM, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and has played a crucial role in mobilising and energizing the youth toward the BJP’s vision of building a strong and prosperous India.

The Awards were conceived in 2017 and boasts a distinguished jury headed by NCP President, Sharad Pawar that selects the awardees. The Lokmat Parliamentary Awards is becoming a significant platform for recognizing and rewarding excellence in parliamentary work. With this award, Tejasvi Surya joins the ranks of distinguished parliamentarians such as former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, Lal Krishna Advani, Hema Malini, Meenakshi Lekhi, who have been recognized for their exceptional contributions to the country’s legislative process.

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The Truth About Andhra Village Allegedly ‘Excommunicating’ Family For Converting To Christianity

By
The Commune
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dalit christians caste discrimination

Recently there was a campaign on social media that a family had been expelled from  Devalampallepalem village of Singarayakonda Mandal, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh,  for accepting Christianity and building a church on their plot of land.

After the video clip with a Telugu TV channel logo became viral, some pastors and self-proclaimed Christian leaders initiated large-scale agitation. When Nijam Today investigated the matter, it came to light that the viral video clip of the ex-communication of a family was actually from the year 2018. Some people made it viral on social media by grabbing a five-year-old video clip portraying it as a recent incident.

Nijam Today even investigated the veracity of the incident to know whether that family was excommunicated by the villagers for believing in Jesus Christ. In this regard, Nijam Today has obtained recent video statements by the Devalopallepalem villagers condemning the allegations against the entire village on Social Media. The village is made up predominantly of persons from the fishermen’s community. So what is the truth? Has there been a social boycott of a Christian-converted family in the said village?

As per the statements of the villagers, it has come to light that some people who converted to Christianity occupied the land belonging to the Ram temple in the village in 2017 and built a church illegally. After two years, the members of that Church were split into two, and one of the members, named Mr Nagaraju, established a new church, brought a pastor named Yona from another area, and started running his new Church. This is where the problem started.

According to the villagers, the Pastor named Yona used to trouble the villagers through the indiscriminate use of loudspeakers around the clock. He used to conduct all-night prayers with shrieks and screams starting from midnight. The villagers used to wake up in shock from sleep after being disturbed by these all-night prayers. The sick, the elderly and, in particular, students preparing for various examinations were worst affected. All pleas of villagers to stop all-night prayers or do night prayers without loudspeakers fell on deaf ears.

Villagers also said that Pastor Yona started misbehaving with the village women. He said that only young women should come for special gatherings for all-night gatherings. In addition, Pastor Yona used to claim that Jesus Christ would enter his body and speak through him. This attracted many women who fell for his false claims. The women who came under his trance started neglecting their families and routine domestic work and started to spend more and more time inside the church, in the company of Pastor Yona.

As the activities and all-night prayers of Pastor Yona led to marital discord and family disputes, Nagaraju, who established a new church and invited Pastor Yona from outside, was called and asked not to bring Pastor Yona to the village but to have someone else pray with the Pastor. Nagaraju rejected the proposal outright, leading to quarrels and disputes in the village. As a result, Nagaraju left the village and complained to the local police station that the villagers had expelled him for converting to Christianity.

Five years have passed since this incident happened. The police enquired into Nagaraju’s allegations and concluded his complaint had no truth. They tried to bring a truce between both sides, but Nagaraju insisted that a case be registered. Ever since Nagaraju filed a false complaint against the villagers, the revenue and police officials have arranged several meetings in the village and assured Nagaraju that he is free to live in the village and practice the religion of his choice. The only condition of the villagers was that Pastor Yona should not come to the village to conduct prayers in the church. But Nagaraju used to repeatedly raise the false accusation that he would be beaten up if he goes to the village. The villagers called Nagaraju several times to return to the village and resume his everyday life, but he declined their offer. It is worth noting that Nagaraju’s family members were present in the village during the recent Sankranti celebrations held in January 2023.

The villagers cautioned that they would move criminal proceedings against the self-proclaimed Christian leaders and pastors if they continue to sully the name of their village by making false accusations of ex-communication of Christians from the village.

This article was originally published in Nijam Today and has been republished here with permission.

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“Shut Up And Sit Down”: DMK Min Ponmudi Yells At Old-Woman Explaining Her Grievances

By
The Commune
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In yet another instance of DMK ministers abusing common people, DMK Minister Ponmudi yelled at a woman to ‘shut up’ when she came to him to express her grievances.

Speaking at a gathering in Tirukovilur, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister Ponmudi stated that 22 months have passed since their election to office and that the government is currently working on multiple initiatives at once, with work being done both in villages and cities.

He added that, with KN Nehru as Minister for Municipal Administration, Chief Minister MK Stalin has been doing a lot of work, whether in Chennai, Thirukovilu, or Vizhupuram.

As Minister Ponmudi was speaking, a woman got up and said she wanted to give him a petition. Minister Ponmudi became enraged and mocked the lady, yelling at her, “shut up and sit down!” in a derogatory voice.

After realizing that he was displaying his anger to a woman in public, Ponmudi attempted to downplay the incident by asking irrelevant questions to the woman. Ponmudi enquired about her husband from the women. When she said her husband had passed away, Ponmudi responded with a laugh, “He has passed away? So sad.”

This is not the first time that Ponmudi has spoken like this in public. A few days ago, at a function in Villupuram, Ponmudi said to the women who had expressed their grievances, “As if you people of this village voted for me! Coming and questioning me! Sit down!” In another instance, Ponmudi also insulted women who were using the free bus service by referring to them as “OC Bus” users.

(With input from Dinamalar)

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