Chennai: The work to rescue 2 workers who are still trapped in a stone quarry in southern Tamil Nadu resumed on Tuesday after a pause and Chief Minister M K Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 15 lakh each to the families of 2 deceased workers.Intense efforts are on to rescue the workers in the mishap site and the National Disaster Response Force and police and fire personnel are continuing the rescue operation, Stalin said. A solatium of Rs 15 lakh each would be provided to the families of two deceased workers, he said in a statement. While the government would provide Rs 10 lakh, the remainder of the assistance shall be borne by a welfare board for workers. As many as 6 workers were trapped in rubble after huge boulders fell on them on the night of May 14 in the 300 feet deep stone quarry at Adaimidhippankulam in Tirunelveli District.Subsequently, 3 workers were brought out by NDRF personnel and one of them succumbed to his injuries and the other two were being treated in a hospital. While the body of another worker was taken out of the debris late Monday night after halting rescue operations for sometime, 2 more workers continue to be stuck under mounds of rock fragments. The body of the fourth worker was pulled out by a National Disaster Response Force team, assisted by police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel. On Monday, officials had said that the work to rescue workers was put on hold considering 'unstable rocky upper surface'. It was continued later and the body of the worker was brought out.—PTI

The work to rescue 2 workers who are still trapped in a stone quarry in southern Tamil Nadu resumed on Tuesday after a pause and Chief Minister M K Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 15 lakh each to the families of 2 deceased workers.

Rescue work resumes in TN quarry, CM announces solatium

Tamil Nadu

Chennai: The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a fresh case against Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, for allegedly facilitating visa of 250 Chinese nationals after receiving illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh, officials said on Tuesday. The CBI on Tuesday morning started coordinated search operations at nine locations in multiple cities in the country, including Karti Chidambaram's residence in Chennai, they said.The searches are being conducted at three locations in Chennai, three in Mumbai, one each in Karnataka, Punjab and Odisha, they added. "I have lost count, how many times has it been? Must be a record," Karti tweeted without specifying. In the new case which is off shoot of an ongoing probe, the CBI has alleged that Karti Chidambaram had received Rs 50 lakh alleged bribe to facilitate visa of 250 Chinese nationals during the United Progressive Alliance regime, the officials said.He is already under probe in getting Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance for INX media, they said.—PTI

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a fresh case against Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, for allegedly facilitating visa of 250 Chinese nationals after receiving illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh, officials said on Tuesday.

CBI raids Karti Chidambaram for facilitating visas to Chinese

Tirunelveli: The three workers trapped in a stone quarry near here are feared dead as the operation by the National Disaster Response Force to rescue them had to be put on hold on Monday in view of unstable rocky upper surface at the site, officials said.The NDRF team managed to identify the spot of a worker who was covered under boulders in the quarry at a depth of about 300 feet, but they could not make further progress as pieces of rocks kept falling down and a chunk of a big boulder appeared to give way, the officials said adding that in view of such a scenario, the operation had to be put on hold as of now. The rescue work is expected to recommence on Tuesday. Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Kumar Jayant along with district officials inspected the spot and told reporters that teams would be constituted to inspect quarries in the state.As regards the Adaimidhippankulam site where&nbsp;six workers got trapped, he said the rescue work is the priority and other aspects would be looked into later.In view of unstable rocky upper surface, as of now 'we cannot risk the lives of the rescuing team', the top official added. On the night of May 14, as many as six workers got trapped in a stone quarry pit at Adaimidhippankulam hamlet near here after huge boulders came rolling down. On Sunday, three workers were brought out and one of them succumbed to his injuries later and the other two are being treated in a hospital.—PTI

The three workers trapped in a stone quarry near here are feared dead as the operation by the National Disaster Response Force to rescue them had to be put on hold on Monday in view of unstable rocky upper surface at the site, officials said.

Tirunelveli quarry mishap: Rescue ops on hold due to unstable rocky surface

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday signed an MoU with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Chennai Port Trust, and the Indian Navy for building a double-tiered elevated expressway connecting the Chennai Port and Maduravoyal. The MoU was signed in the state Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.The proposed 20.565 km elevated expressway would be built at an outlay of Rs 5,855 crore. As per plans, local vehicles will ply between Chennai Port and Koyambedu in the first tier and in the second tier, heavy vehicles will ply between Chennai Port and Maduravoyal. The foundation stone for the project was laid by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009 and the outlay was pegged at about Rs 1,655 crore. At that time, the UPA government was at the Centre and the DMK was part of it. However, when the AIADMK under J. Jayalalithaa came to power in the state, the project was stopped on environmental grounds.—IANS

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday signed an MoU with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Chennai Port Trust, and the Indian Navy for building a double-tiered elevated expressway connecting the Chennai Port and Maduravoyal.

TN signs MoU with NHAI, others for elevated expressway

Chennai:&nbsp;Flagging the "serious disruptions" faced by the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged the Centre to initiate a series of steps including making mandatory for spinning mills, declaration of cotton and yarn stocks to rein in the price rise.Despite the Centre notifying withdrawal of import duty levied on cotton, the situation has not improved and prices of cotton and yarn continue to rise, Stalin told Prime Minister Narenda Modi in a letter. "This precarious situation has widespread ramifications for the textile industry in Tamil Nadu. A large number of spinning, weaving and garment units face the danger of closure due to unsustainable demands on their working capital and price mismatch between the agreed price of supply to the buyer vis-a-vis the cost of production," he said in the letter, released by the state government on Monday. The growing discontent in the industry and among the weavers was 'alarming,' he said and sought for a series of steps to handle the situation. "As an immediate measure, stock declaration for cotton and yarn may be made mandatory for all spinning mills so that ginners and cotton traders can obtain actual data on cotton and yarn availability," he told Modi.He also wanted cash credit limit of the spinning mills to purchase cotton to be extended up to 8 months in a year, as against the existing three. "Similarly, margin money sought by the banks at 25 per cent of purchase value may be reduced to 10 per cent since banks are calculating the purchase stock value at lesser rates than the actual purchase/market rates in the market," he added.—PTI

Flagging the "serious disruptions" faced by the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged the Centre to initiate a series of steps including making mandatory for spinning mills, declaration of cotton and yarn stocks to rein in the price rise.