Latest news with #Chidambaram
Hindustan Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Manjummel Boys and Aavesham directors' next wraps up pre-production, here's when it will go on floors
One of the most anticipated upcoming projects from Malayalam has Manjummel Boys director Chidambaram joining hands with another hit director Jithu Madhavan of Aavesham fame. In the latest update, the pre-production work of the untitled movie has been completed, and filming will start next month. Here's everything we know about the exciting project. Chidambaram, Jithu Madhavan From Thudarum to Manjummel Boys and Aavesham, watch all the Malayalam blockbuster hits on JioHotstar via OTTplay Premium Manjummel Boys and Aavesham directors join hands After the phenomenal success of the 2024 Malayalam film Manjummel Boys, Chidambaram returns to direction with the upcoming venture which will be scripted by Aavesham director Jithu Madhavan. The film, which will have mostly fresh faces, will start rolling in August 2025, online reports have said. More details of the cast are not known. The film, backed by KVN Productions along with Thespian Films, was announced earlier this year. The yet-to-be-titled film marks the first venture of KVN Productions in Malayalam. The production house is also backing Kannada actor Yash's Toxic and Tamil actor Vijay's upcoming film Jana Nayagan, reported to be his last before venturing into politics. In the technical crew, most of the Manjummel Boys' team returns with Shyju Khalid as the cinematographer and Sushin Shyam as the music composer. Notably, Sushin had composed songs for both Aavesham and Manjummel Boys. The songs from Aavesham, starring Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil, became popular with the Illuminati track emerging as a chart-topper. Where to watch Aavesham and Manjummel Boys on OTT Both Aavesham and Manjummel Boys are available to stream on JioHotstar via OTTplay Premium. Manjummel Boys, one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films, is a survival thriller which also highlights the bond between a bunch of friends from a small-town in Kerala. On the other hand, Fahadh Faasil leads the action-comedy Aavesham as a gangster named Ranga in Bangalore. Among their upcoming projects, Chidambaram will reportedly mark his Hindi debut with a movie, backed by Phantom Films. Jithu Madhavan also has a film with Mohanlal in the pipeline. He had previously scripted the film Painkili, starring Anaswara Rajan and Sajin Gopu, but it failed to impress the audience.
Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
BBMP launches Rs 2.9 crore initiative to feed stray dogs with chicken, rice
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has recently rolled out a scheme to provide daily nutritious meals to around 4,000-5,000 stray dogs across the city's eight zones. Branded 'Kukkir Tihar', the program is a one-year pilot, extendable by another year based on its success. The BBMP said the initiative is part of its larger 'One Health' program, which also includes vaccination and animal birth control (ABC) efforts. Civic officials said the program, estimated to cost Rs 2.8-2.9 crore annually, is aimed at curbing stray dog aggression, reducing bite cases – which currently range between 500 and 1,500 per month – and supporting rabies control efforts through better monitoring and vaccination. Under the scheme, each dog receives a meal weighing between 367 and 600 gram, comprising 150 gram of chicken, 100 gram each of rice and vegetables, 10 gram of oil, and a pinch of salt and turmeric, delivering 465-750 kilocalories per serving. These meals are prepared in centralised FSSAI-registered kitchens equipped with CCTV surveillance and are distributed at 100-125 feeding points per zone before 11 am daily. The BBMP has invited tenders to onboard vendors for food preparation and for maintaining cleanliness around feeding spots. However, Tamil Nadu Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and many local residents have questioned the BBMP's priorities, arguing that funds would be better spent on sterilisation, vaccinations, or building shelters. Others have pointed out that the city spends Rs 22 per dog per day on meals, while the per-day mid-day meal allocation for a schoolchild stands at Rs 12.42. 'Is this true? Dogs have no place in the streets. They need to be relocated to shelters, where they can be fed, vaccinated & sterilised. Feeding & keeping them in a free roaming state in the streets is a huge health & safety hazard,' Chidambaram wrote on X. Reacting to the criticisms, a BBMP official said, 'The feeding program will also help in tracking, vaccinating, and sterilising dogs as part of Bengaluru's goal to eliminate rabies by 2030. Additionally, regular feeding improves the dogs' overall health, reducing aggression linked to hunger and aiding sterilisation efforts.' Bengaluru has an estimated 2.79 lakh stray dogs, with over 16,000 dog bite cases reported in May 2025 alone.
India Gazette
07-07-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
At least five banks have waived minimum balance requirement, customers have hit back against
New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Noting that at least five banks have waived the minimum balance requirement after customers 'hit back' by looking beyond banks at other avenues to place their savings, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said 'what reason could not do, economics has achieved'. In a post on X, Chidambaram, a former Finance Minister, said savings account holders have complained to banks against the government-introduced rule of 'minimum balance' in the account and that some banks earned hundreds of crores of rupees a year 'under this obnoxious rule'. He said the banks had been turning a deaf ear to the requests of customers. 'In the last few years, savings account holders have complained to banks against the government-introduced rule of 'minimum balance' in the account, and pleaded for waiver of the rule It was a reasonable request, but banks turned a deaf ear. If a customer failed to maintain a minimum balance, he/she was slapped with a penalty. Some banks earned hundreds of crores of rupees a year under this obnoxious rule,' Chidambaram said. 'Customers have hit back with looking beyond banks at other avenues to place their savings. Banks have caved in. At least five banks have waived the minimum balance requirement What reason could not do, economics has achieved! Hurrah!,' he added. There have been reports of bank deposit growth dipping, with customers looking to other avenues for parking their funds to earn higher returns. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks do not have any minimum balance requirement for Basic Savings Bank Deposit accounts (BSBD), including accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY). For accounts other than BSBD accounts, as per RBI's Master Circular on 'Customer Service in Banks' dated July 1, 2015, banks are permitted to fix service charges on various services rendered by them, as per their Board approved policy, while ensuring that the charges are reasonable and not out of line with the average cost of providing these services. Banks have been advised to identify basic services and the principles to be adopted/ followed by them for ensuring reasonableness in fixing such charges. Banks have also been advised to take steps to ensure that customers are made aware of the service charges upfront and changes in the service charges are implemented only with the prior notice to the customers. (ANI)
India Today
05-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Training of cops needed: Karti Chidambaram on Tamil Nadu custodial death
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Saturday called for holistic training of police forces across India, including Tamil Nadu, following the alleged custodial death of a temple security guard in the southern state last month.A post-mortem report of the victim Ajith Kumar, 29, accessed by India Today TV, revealed 44 injuries, including deep muscle contusions, brain bleeding and internal organ trauma. The findings strongly suggested prolonged and violent physical torture, leading to his an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Chidambaram said the police inherited the methods of brutality from British rule and called it a "police cultural problem". "It is gravely distressing. Custodial deaths are not happening for the first time in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. It has been happening for many years and across governments. This is one of the legacies of our colonial past," he said."Police are using brute force to quell the people. The same traits and operating procedures were passed on to the police in independent India and they continue to use these brutal methods," he for an attitudinal change in the police in dealing with sensitive matters, he said there should a holistic training of the police forces in India, beginning from the DGP to constable level."The only way to put an end to this menace is the wholesale training of police forces in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. There should be sensitivity training. Everyone, including the DGP to newly-recruited constables, should undergo this training in a systematic manner," he the Centre to step in and make police reforms, Chidambaram said professional police forces don't use third-degree methods to investigate a theft if the Opposition would pick up his remarks to attack the ruling DMK, the Sivaganga MP reiterated that custodial deaths had been an issue across governments."This is not the first time such things are happening in Tamil Nadu. When the BJP's ally, AIADMK, was in power, the custodial deaths of (shopkeepers) Jayaraj and Bennix in Tirunelveli happened (in 2020). I am not blaming Edappadi K Palanisami for that. I am also not blaming the Chief Minister (MK Stalin) either. DMK can't be blamed for it," he asserted that nobody took serious efforts to modernise the police forces in Sivaganga MP said the Tamil Nadu government handed the Ajith Kumar custodial death case to the CBI."Let the CBI investigate it and give its report. Let's wait for their findings," Chidambaram said in response to a question about a SIT probe into the AJITH KUMAR CUSTODIAL DEATHadvertisementAjith Kumar, a 29-year-old working as a security guard at the Bhadrakaliamman temple in Tiruppuvanam was picked up by the police on June 27 evening for interrogation in connection with a jewel theft case. The following night, he was declared brought dead by police at the government hospital in post-mortem report, which was performed for nearly three hours from 5.45 pm of June 29, revealed that Ajith Kumar's body had about 44 external injuries to his legs, arms, abdomen and chest and at least 19 of these wounds were "deep and extended upto the muscle".It said that Ajith Kumar had multiple abrasions with dark red scabs on his forehead, right cheek, eyebrow, right leg, left elbow, forearm, wrist, ankle and upper chest. Injuries were found on his right side and left side of his blood stains were noticed on both the ears and a brown-coloured fluid over both the nostrils and right angle of the mouth, the autopsy death could have occurred about 12-24 hours prior to post-mortem, the report by forensic surgeons of the Madurai Medical College Hospital said.- Ends(with inputs from PTI)Must Watch IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Wooden desks for better learning: IIT professor's appeal to Tamil Nadu government
The Swedish Government is trying to move back to the old conventional system from a hyper-digitalised setting in schools. They are emphasising the use of blackboard, chalk, printed textbooks, notebooks, pencils, and ink pens. The Swedish government says there has been a drop in fundamental reading skills with the use of smart TVs, iPads, mobiles, and high-tech ed. Citing this development, Prof. M. Chidambaram, Former Faculty, IIT Bombay, has requested that Tamil Nadu's state government form a committee to look into going back to the conventional method of teaching and learning. If this comes through, he recommends that the existing smart TVs, computers, and more can be transferred to nearby Government Arts Colleges, where such facilities are not available. Recently, Prof. Chidambaram visited a middle school that has Classes from 1 to 8 near Gorimedu, Salem. 'It is a good campus, has ample space for sports, Smart TVs, TVs, computer laboratory. For morning assembly, they use a conventional amplifying microphone set, which is not used in schools nowadays. In the classrooms, students from Class 1 to 5 sit on the floor and write, keeping the notes on their thighs. Whereas in private schools, they use electronic public address systems (PAS), Electric alarm systems, three or two-seated writing steel tables and chairs', he observed. Wooden writing desks Prof. Chidambaram provided this government school with wooden writing desks of 24-inch length, 15-inch width, 13-inch rear-end height, and 11-inch height at the front end. These wooden desks cost ₹500 per piece. Prof. Chidambaram also donated to that school a Public Address System (PAS), wiring set up with electrical alarms, and some sports kits. An amount of ₹85,000 was spent on these donations. At the Panjayath Primary School in Tharamangalam, Salem, Prof. Chidambaram provided writing desks for 200 students for Classes 1 to 5. He spent an amount of ₹1,00,000, with a partial financial support of ₹50,000 from his friend, who is a professor at a university. 'Since the school does not have any playground and no place for a Prayer assembly hall, we could not provide any sports material and PAS', he said. A total of 310 wooden desks were also donated to five schools in Dharmapuri district — PUPS Devarasampatti, PUMS Errahalli, PUMS Anumanthapuram, PUMS Thengamarathupatti, and PUPS Padaaram Kottai. Of these, 265 desks were contributed through donations by Prof. Chidambaram's senior alumni, amounting to ₹1,55,000. Additionally, Public Address Systems were donated to two of these schools, and all five schools received sports materials. An amount of ₹1,00,000 was spent on these enhancements. 'There is a strong need to appeal to the Tamil Nadu Government to ensure that every government primary and middle school is equipped with similar essential facilities', he said.
