Tamil Nadu first state to quarantine Maharashtra

With a Pune girl becoming the first H1N1 fatality in the country, Tamil Nadu has become the first state to issue a formal travel advisory, cautioning people against travel to the flu-hit districts of Maharashtra, and has made special arrangements at the Chennai railway station to screen passengers arriving on trains from Mumbai and other parts of the state. All trains from Maharashtra are being directed to Platform No. 1 at the Chennai Central.

Tamil Nadu Director of Public Health, S Elango, issued a travel advisory on Wednesday, urging people not to visit, unless absolutely essential, the districts of Pune and Satara in Maharashtra where the Epidemic Act has been invoked following the death of 14-year-old Reeda Shaikh on Monday.

Elango said the advisory was issued following a government review meeting over the H1N1 situation. The state government also invoked the Public Health Act of 1939, an amended form of the Epidemic Act.

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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam thinks they are Chennai Super Kings

With the swearing in of the Prime Minister and his uled for 6.30 pm Friday at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Congress worked overtime today after allies bargained hard for ministerial berths and the DMK, mounting pressure, declared it had decided to stay out of the government and lend outside support.

“The formula by the Congress is not acceptable to the DMK, Honourable Prime Minister has discussed with DMK chief Karunanidhi. At the end, my leader Karunanidhi advised me to inform that DMK will support from outside,” party leader T R Baalu told reporters. Incidentally, the Congress is not keen to have Baalu and A Raja back in the Cabinet.

Despite the DMK announcement, Congress leaders indicated that negotiations would resume. While the DMK was pressing for eight berths (four Cabinet Ministers and four Ministers of State), the Congress was said to be offering six berths (three Cabinet, three MoS). Even if it were to settle for six berths, the DMK was adamant on four Cabinet posts.

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As Lanka closes in on Tigers, boat with refugees lands in Tamil Nadu

As Sri Lankan troops advanced on the last redoubt of the Tamil Tigers and the exodus of people trapped in a coastal strip crossed 62,000, a boatload of starving Tamil refugees landed on the Tamil Nadu coast this morning. Refugees claimed that over 80 boats carrying civilians were headed for the Indian mainland but officials said intelligence inputs pointed to only four boats making the journey.

Nineteen refugees, including eight women and two children, reached Arcothurai near Point Calimere in Nagapattinam this morning after sailing for nearly 24 hours in a small fishing boat. Police officials said the refugees had no food or water. They were taken to the Mandapam camp in Rameshwaram where a large number of Lankan Tamil refugees are housed.

“Now that the battlefield has shifted to north-east Lanka, people in former LTTE-controlled areas like Mullaithivu and Puthukkudiyiruppu are trying to flee the war by escaping to the Indian mainland,” an official said. As a result, Nagapattinam

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Two top Tigers surrender, Lanka says Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam end near

Two top Tamil Tiger leaders today surrendered be-fore the rapidly advancing Sri Lankan forces, signalling an imminent collapse of the LTTE as troops closed in on Vellamullivakkal, the possible hiding place of rebel chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

Velayutham Dayanidhi, better known as Daya Master, a former media coordinator of the Tigers, and George, a close aide of slain LTTE political wing head S P Thamilchelvan, gave themselves up to the army at Putumathalan in the no-fire zone (NFZ) where the battles are raging, Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

This is the first time that LTTE cadres have surrendered as Tigers are known for swallowing cyanide pills than giving themselves up. The two leaders are likely to be flown to Colombo to be produced before a court, the spokesman said.

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Tigers cornered in Lanka, Tamil Nadu parties make it a poll issue

Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, which account for 40 seats in the Lok Sabha, will vote only in the last phase of the elections on May 13 but as news of the imminent fall of LTTE trickles in from across the Palk Strait, not many in the fray are willing to take a chance. Almost all political parties in Tamil Nadu have announced protests for the sake of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, the more virulent ones like MDMK’s Vaiko even warning of a “bloodbath” if LTTE chief V Prabhakaran is harmed.

The ruling DMK, while declaring thatit will not go back on its alliance with the Congress over the issue, is organising a protest rally tomorrow, demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has sent a telegram to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — it is also addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram — urging the Centre to intervene and “save theTamil race” from annihilation. Karunanidhi will himself lead the “Tamil’s rally” in Chennai and “all like minded parties” are expected to participate.

The DMK move seems to have been prompted by protests by the MDMK and PMK, among the most active parties campaigning on the issue.

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Cyclone Nisha claims 180 lives, another one brewing

Nisha, a tropical cyclone formed off the coast of Tamil Nadu, was the first cyclone since 1971 to batter the state. This delay, however, was over-compensated since its landfall on November 27 left at least 180 dead till Thursday. The cyclone has displaced over 20 lakh people and affected nearly 40 lakh while damaging lakhs of hectares of crops and wrecking public infrastructure worth several hundred crores.

Now, another low pressure area has been reported off the coast, which, if strengthened, is expected to bring more rain and burden the already-stretched Government machinery that is yet to complete the rehabilitation work in the areas affected by Nisha.

The Cauvery delta and the coastal districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore were the worst-hit. Incidentally, these districts had recorded less-than-normal rainfall in the last North East Monsoon.

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