
Chennai: Two years after she stormed into Fort St George, the seat of power in Tamil Nadu, with a massive victory, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has a mixed bag of results to show so far.
Forcing the central government to gazette the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal by filing a case in the Supreme Court, distributing relief to farmers in the drought-hit areas; urging retrieval of the Katchatheevu islet from Sri Lanka; and setting up of Amma Canteen (budget canteen) selling food at subsidised rates are said to be some of the achievements of Jayalalithaa government.
THE AIADMK government has also fulfilled most of its election promises with free fan and mixie-grinder given to six million families at an outlay of Rs 3,370 crore and free laptops distributed to around 1.66 million students involving an expenditure of Rs 2,766 crore. However, the power problem plaguing the state remains a big challenge, while the steep hike in prices of essential items is said to be one of the negative points against the AIADMK's two year rule.
"It has been a challenging period for Jayalalithaa and she has overcome the challenges meritoriously. In the case of Cauvery water issue with Karnataka or the Mullaperiyar Dam dispute with Kerala, Jayalalithaa has notched up success," D Pandian, state secretary of Communist Party of India, told reporters....
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08:20 PM, May 16, 2013

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday described as unjust the latest hike in diesel prices as she slammed the Centre with having failed to take steps to control skyrocketing prices and "scams in all departments." This was the fourth time oil companies have effected hike since January 2013 and the measure aimed at mobilising revenue for government would severely affect the poor people, she said in a...

01:48 AM, May 11, 2013

Chennai: A 26-member British business delegation, led by Kenneth Clarke, cabinet minister and the prime minister's trade envoy, will visit Tamil Nadu this week to promote healthcare partnership with the state. In a statement issued here, the British High Commission said Clarke is expected to meet Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Health Minister KC Veeramani May 8, 2013. "On May 9, 2013 he will deliver a speech at a conference...

05:35 AM, May 07, 2013

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said her government would upgrade 12,500 acre of barren land into cultivable farm land with adequate water facilities while announcing several schemes for ushering in a second green revolution in the state. "With food production to be affected owing to the reducing cultivable land, my government this year will upgrade 12,500 acres of barren land and to set up proper water...

04:46 AM, May 07, 2013

Chennai: With voting for Assembly Elections in Karnataka over, DMK chief M Karunanidhi urged the Centre to set up Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to give effect to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal orders. Karunanidhi sought to remind the Centre on the statement by Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat that establishment of regulatory mechanism to govern the water sharing among the riparian states of the...

08:21 PM, May 05, 2013

Erode (TN): A petrol bomb on Sunday was hurled at the office of AIADMK MLA SS Ramanidharan by unidentified attackers, police said on Sunday. Nobody was injured, they said, adding, some furniture and air-conditioner in the building were damaged in the incident. Ramanidharanm, who represents Anthiyur constituency, was not in the office at the time of the incident. Police, quoting eyewitness, said some unidentified persons came in motorcycles to the...

05:00 PM, May 05, 2013

Chennai: DMK president M Karunanidhi on Friday told PMK leaders -- especially the jailed S Ramadoss -- to mind their language and requested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to release him on humanitarian grounds. Asked about the arrests of S Ramadoss and his son and former union minister Anbumani Ramadoss, the DMK leader said: "I am worried over the filing of cases and jailing PMK leaders for their hate...

05:40 AM, May 04, 2013

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday made a series of announcements to strengthen the state police. The announcements include annual recruitment of personnel for police and fire services departments, construction for their housing, creation of youth brigade, extension of closed user group telephony facility to family members, residential school for children and others measures. Jayalalithaa also announced hike in food allowances to Rs 200 from Rs 85...

05:58 AM, Apr 24, 2013

Colombo: Sri Lanka has rejected moves to block trade with Tamil Nadu and has insisted that economic relations should not be disrupted despite political tensions, an official said on Thursday. "There were reports regarding a protest by a port employees' organization which said their members will refrain from handling or processing Indian supplies due to the situation in Tamil Nadu," Port and Highway Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardana said. "I am...

03:54 AM, Apr 05, 2013

A group of unidentified men attacked the office of a Tamil newspaper in Sri Lanka's former war zone on Wednesday, injuring several staffers and damaging equipment at the publication known for its government criticism. ...

05:51 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Trade unions manning Sri Lanka's main port have threatened to block about $2 billion worth of imports and exports to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, media reports said in Colombo on Wednesday. ...

05:22 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Cyrus Broacha takes on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the latest episode of 'The Week That Wasn't'. He also made fun of M Karunanidhi, who has pulled out of the UPA government over Sri Lankan Tamils issue. ...

03:15 PM, Mar 31, 2013

Sukumari's husband passed away when she was quite young. She is survived by her doctor son Suresh Bhimsingh. ...

07:35 AM, Mar 27, 2013

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not only to ask for shifting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from Colombo this November but also boycott the meet and the leaders' retreat. ...

06:11 PM, Mar 25, 2013

Shaken up by DMK chief M Karunanidhi's threat of pulling out his ministers from the UPA Cabinet if his demands on the UNHRC vote against Sri Lanka are not met, the Congress on Monday sent its leaders to placate him. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad met Karunanidhi at his residence in an attempt to bridge differences between...

06:43 PM, Mar 18, 2013

The External Affairs Ministry said Sri Lankan authorities arrested 19 fishermen on Wednesday and another 34 on Thursday for allegedly fishing in Sri Lanka's waters. ...

03:26 AM, Mar 15, 2013

Describing the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka as a "huge humanitarian problem" which has to end, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday that India will ask the island nation's government for an independent inquiry into allegations of human rights violations there. ...

05:01 AM, Mar 08, 2013

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj was voted as the most admired female politician followed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in a survey conducted by shaadi.com. ...

01:56 PM, Mar 07, 2013

Against the backdrop of acid attacks that claimed the lives of two young women, Tamil Nadu Government on Tuesday said it will take steps to control and regulate sale of the chemical. "A Bill (in this regard) will be moved during the coming Budget session of the state Assembly and adopted," Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said in a statement here. ...

03:51 PM, Feb 26, 2013

Hundreds of telegrams have been sent to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa by cable TV operators here, protesting against the online system of payment of subscription. The Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable Television Corporation, a government entity, recently issued a notification extending to the subscribers the facility of online payment of monthly subscription of Rs 70. ...

10:46 AM, Feb 26, 2013