TN proposes underground hydel station in Nilgiris

The Tamil Nadu government proposed a series of power generation and related infrastructure development projects worth around Rs 20,000 crore, including a Rs 7,000 crore underground hydel power station in Nilgiris district.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in the State assembly that, the 2,000MW underground hydel power station at Sillahalla in Nilgiris will take 8-10 years for completion and works will be taken up in two phases. The efforts are aimed at making the state a power surplus one.

Ms. Jayalalithaa announced establishing 56 sub-stations in different parts of the state ranging between 33 KV and 400 KV, at an estimated cost of Rs 8,000 crore.

While a series of projects were nearing completion in the coming days, the government would also go in for long-term power purchase of 1000 mw for 15 years on a ‘Case-I’ bidding basis starting this October.

          She said, electricity-related infrastructure will also be strengthened and a scheme has been prepared for Rs 5,000 crore with Japanese assistance.

The Chief Minister allotted Rs. 500 crore towards procuring 20,000 new transformers and announced an investment subsidy of Rs 20,000 for domestic consumers opting for solar power in their homes. She said 10,000 persons will be benefited in the first phase of the initiative.

High Tension and Low Tension power transmission lines to the tune of 15,000 km will be established at an estimated cost of Rs 850 crore, she said, adding, 11 lakh new domestic, industrial and agricultural power connections would be given this year.

DMDK MLAs suspension - questions ahead

            Six MLAs of the Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) were suspended from the Assembly for one year for their involvement in the attack on S. Michael Rayappan, Radhapuram MLA, in early February. When Speaker P. Dhanapal announced his ruling, many Opposition parties including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Congress and the Puthiya Tamizhagam staged a walk out, shouting slogans against the decision.

Immediately after question hour, chairman of the Privileges Committee and Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman submitted the panel’s recommendations to the House, which were accepted by voice vote amid protests from sections of the Opposition, which wanted a discussion.

Mr. Dhanapal announced that the six members –

·        Mr. V. C. Chandhirakumar (Erode East)

·        Mr. K. Nallathambi (Egmore)

·        Mr. D. Murugesan (Chengalpattu)

·        Mr. S. Senthilkumar (Tiruverumbur)

·        Mr. B. Parthasarathy (Virugambakkam)

·        Mr. R. Arulselvan (Mayiladuthurai)

would remain suspended from the House for one year and would not draw salary or enjoy other concessions entitled to them.

The Speaker said there was no need for discussion on the issue as all members were witness to what happened on February. The video recording of the incident was shown to the privilege panel members to ascertain the identities of those involved. Moreover, the committee, which discussed the issue before coming out with its recommendations, had representations from various parties. While describing the action of the suspended members as unbecoming of their position, the Speaker asked whether the Opposition felt that nothing had happened. He then ordered the suspended members to leave the House.

On February 8, 2013 a clash erupted between loyal DMDK members and rebels who spoke in support of the ruling party. Some of them exchanged blows with Mr. Michael Rayappan. The Speaker referred the issue to the Privileges Committee under Rule 226 of the Assembly Rules after Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam demanded appropriate action, describing the incident as “barbaric and shameful.” The incident took place after a rebel MLA, K. Tamil Azhagan, raising a supplementary query during question hour, asked other members of the DMDK to follow his example in serving the people of the constituency – a reference to his meeting the Chief Minister to discuss constituency matters.

Can they take part in RS polls?

The suspension of six Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) MLAs has sparked a debate on the question whether the suspended members could take part in the Rajya Sabha elections to be held a few months later. While one school of thought is of the view that the MLAs would not be able to take part in the polls so long as their membership stands suspended, another school says that the punishment of suspension essentially pertains to their functioning as MLAs but cannot be extended to the Rajya Sabha elections, the participation of which does not form part of proceedings of the Assembly.

Asked for his view, Praveen Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, says that when and if the matter comes up before him, it would be referred to the Election Commission. It is up to the EC to take a final view on the matter. The language used in the resolution that was adopted by the Assembly on the punishment would have to be perused, apart from examining precedents, if any. Technically speaking, the DMDK has 29 MLAs, even though five of them are functioning independent of the line of approach of the party leadership. With the suspension of six MLAs, the effective strength comes down to 23 which includes the five rebel MLAs.

This also triggers a question over the status of the DMDK as an important Opposition party.

Thanks to its original strength, the party was recognised so and its leader, Vijayakant, as Leader of Opposition. As per the Assembly rules, a party which has secured more than quorum strength – (For Tamil Nadu it is 24 seats in the Assembly polls) – will be recognised as a legislature party and the one having the largest number of Members other than the ruling party will be the principal Opposition party.

TN Assembly passes resolution on 'Eelam'

            The Tamil Nadu Assembly urged the Centre to move a resolution in the United Nations Security Council seeking various measures against Sri Lanka, including a referendum on creation of Eelam. Considering the future of Sri Lankan Tamils, such a referendum should be held among Tamils living in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, says the resolution, which the House adopted unanimously through a voice vote after it was moved by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Urging the Centre to stop calling Sri Lanka a “friendly nation,” the Assembly demanded that an independent international inquiry be conducted into “genocide” and “war crimes” committed in the final phase of the Eelam War in 2009; those found guilty be produced before an international court and given appropriate punishment; and till the Sri Lankan government stopped repression of Tamils, an economic embargo be imposed on the island nation.

Coming down heavily on the Centre government for its approach to the issue, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that even though two years had gone by since the Assembly adopted a resolution (which had demanded, among others, that the government impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka), the Centre had done nothing. In her speech during the debate on the Governor’s address last month, she appealed to the Centre to get a resolution passed at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the basis of the 2011 Assembly resolution, but the government, which comprised the DMK, did not bother about it.

For the crimes against humanity committed, whole world must boycott the

Sri Lankan Administration. Unfortunately, lives lost are not American or

European lives - The world will ignore this tragedy!

Khurushid rejects T.N. resolution on Eelam:-

The government rejected the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution that asked the Centre to stop treating Sri Lanka as a friendly nation and to slap sanctions on it while demanding a referendum on a separate Tamil Eelam. External Affairs Minister Mr. Salman Khurshid told Karan Thapar in Devil’s Advocate programme on CNN-IBN that there is no question of [our] accepting them. That is not the only State that has a stake in this. What about the others? There are many other States. There are many other Assemblies. The rest of India is not supporting this.

When Karan Thapar asked about the Tamil Nadu Assembly’s three important resolutions, he said a firm “NO” to each of the three demands. He added that, if all of India was to support, it was another matter. But if one State supports something, it is sensitive to their concerns but do not necessarily have to...

The Assembly resolution urged the Centre to take firm steps against Colombo until the “suppression” of Tamils was stopped and those responsible for “genocide and war crimes” faced a credible international probe. The resolution came on the heels of Ms. Jayalalithaa’s letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo in November this year. On the issue of CHOGM in Colombo, he said the government had an open mind about it but made it clear that as of today it was a party to the collective decision.