Latest news with #Saral
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Dampened ‘Saral' fest ends on high note
Tenkasi: The annual week-long 'Saral' festival in Courtallam, which began on July 20, came to a close with a vibrant dog show, a highlight among cultural programmes, on Sunday. However, this year's festival left tourists with some disappointment as bathing remained banned for nine consecutive days at the various Courtallam waterfalls due to persistent rain in the Western Ghats. At the dog show on Sunday, a total of 153 dogs, including Chippiparai, Rajapalayam, Kombai, Kanni, Chihuahua, Siberian Husky, Bull Terrier, St Bernard, Dalmatian and Dobermann, participated from Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, and Kanyakumari districts. Tenkasi collector A K Kamal Kishore and MP Rani Srikumar were present during the show. A team of experts from the Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences judged the best-performing dogs. A quiz to create awareness about care for dogs and a free anti-rabies vaccination camp were also conducted. Winning dogs were announced for each of 29 categories, and certificates were distributed. The overall champion was a Kanni dog in the Indian breeds category and a German Shepherd in the foreign breeds category. Further, as part of the festival, thappattam, silambattam, naiyandi melam, and karakattam were performed on the final day. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Binghatti Flare Binghatti Developers FZE Learn More Undo Folk art performances were also conducted. Meanwhile, persistent rainfall in Theni district filled the Vaigai dam up to 66ft against the 71ft capacity. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast heavy rain at isolated places in Theni and Tenkasi districts in the coming days.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
A.P. police count on welfare initiatives to keep Maoism at bay in tribal areas
The Alluri Sitharama Raju police have been coming up with a series of community welfare initiatives and development programmes aimed at steering the tribal youth away from Maoist ideology. Organised in collaboration with government and private agencies, these initiatives focus on building trust, boosting confidence and enhancing job opportunities. Under the flagship programme 'Saral' launched in January, Superintendent of Police Amit Bardar and ASP K. Dheeraj interacted with 42 students from Maoist-affected mandals such as G. Madugula, Pedabayalu and Munchingput. The sessions offered career guidance and awareness on job opportunities. Based on the students' qualifications, further assistance is being extended to help them secure jobs in the private sector. Another major initiative, 'Prerana', organised employment melas at Paderu, Chintapalli and Rampachodavaram. Notably, 80 youth from Chintapalli secured jobs at a phone manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, over 60 tribal youth were trained in Inventory control and welding through a programme organised in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding (CEMS) and funded by the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Visakhapatnam Port Authority. In September last year, a job mela, held in association with APSSDC and SEEDAP at Araku, placed 52 tribal youth in reputable organisations such as Apollo Pharmacy, Amazon and Muthoot Finance. Under the initiative 'Nirman', the police are introducing tribal students to new opportunities for personal and professional development. As part of this programme, the students are taken on study tours to industries, IT units, tourist places in metro cities to empower educated tribal youth by offering them exposure to industrial environments and potential career paths. Women empowerment, too, is receiving due focus. In March 2025, as part of 'Saral', a tailoring course was organised in coordination with ITDA-Paderu, in which training was offered to 80 tribal women. These apart, the police conducted medical camps under the name 'Sanjeevani' and regular interactive community meetings. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, a programme called 'Girijanulatho Mamekam – Aathmeeya Sammelanam' was organised, wherein the police interacted with 21 surrendered Maoists, providing each with ₹1 lakh for rehabilitation and assuring them of long-term support. Superintendent of Police, Amit Bardar said the community welfare programmes received positive response from the tribal communities. He noted that the youth showed much enthusiasm and a strong desire to achieve success in various fields. The police have been designing programmes that cater to the diverse aspirations of the tribal youth, whether they are pursuing higher education, seeking skill development or interested in sports. He highlighted the impressive talent among tribal youth in volleyball, which the police are actively encouraging. Volleyball tournaments are being organised across several mandals. To support and motivate the players, the police are providing volleyball kits and offering cash prizes to winners. The SP also stressed that these initiatives are not only aimed at empowering the youth but also at steering them away from negative influences such as Maoist ideology and illegal activities like ganja smuggling.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Rain fills waterbodies in western ghats; bathing banned at Courtallam
Tenkasi: Due to steady rainfall in the western ghats region of south Tamil Nadu over the past few days, waterbodies in Tenkasi are filling up, with the Adavinainar dam in Mekkarai reaching its full capacity of 132ft on Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rain for Theni, Tenkasi, and ghat areas of Tirunelveli, along with Kanyakumari, for the next couple of days. On Wednesday, the Adavinainar dam reached its full capacity for the second time in the last 30 days. Due to rain in the western ghats on Tuesday night, the dam continued to receive an inflow of around 100 cusecs, and the excess water was being discharged. People residing near the banks of the Hanumanadhi river were issued flood warnings. According to the IMD, in the 24 hours until 8.30am on Wednesday, the Adavinainnarkoil dam in Tenkasi recorded a maximum of 4cm of rain, while the Gundar dam in Tenkasi received 3cm of rain. The Periyar and Thekkadi region in Theni district also recorded 3cm of rain. Several parts of Tirunelveli also received rainfall. Meanwhile, bathing remained banned at all Courtallam falls on Wednesday due to increased flow, even as the 'Saral' festival held during the June-July season is underway, leaving tourists disappointed.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Saral pass is back! QR cards replace old system
Surat: The city civic body has resumed the Saral bus pass scheme, which had been suspended for nearly six months since Dec 2024. The service now operates through a prepaid card with a QR code, which will be scanned and verified by bus conductors. Previously, the Saral pass was issued via a Money Card managed by a private bank for Surat Municipal Corporation's (SMC) bus service provider, Siti Link Ltd. However, due to technical issues, the service was halted. "Since the services were suspended, regular Saral pass users were deprived of its benefits. Therefore, we have introduced a new system based on a prepaid card," said Somnath Marathe, chairman of the Public Transport Committee, SMC. The earlier system had around 1 lakh registered users, of which approximately 18,000 were regular commuters. With the service now restarted, these regular users will gradually regain access to the benefits. The majority of users are students, who can obtain the pass for Rs 1,000 per year. The same rate applies to women and senior citizens. Workers holding a Shramik card are eligible for a free pass, supported by govt and SMC subsidies. Since its launch in 2020, the Saral pass has gained popularity due to its affordability and convenience. "We received numerous requests from users to restart the Saral pass service. Although it was suspended due to technical issues, we have now relaunched it with an alternative system developed by SMC," Marathe added.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
BJP woos Bihari voters across country with 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' campaign
New Delhi: The BJP is seeking to woo migrant workers from Bihar in the run-up to the assembly election due later this year. It is running a campaign, 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', connecting with the people of Bihari origin residing in different states across the country. Besides, in March, the party organised Bihar Diwas celebrations at 65 locations where senior BJP leaders participated in programmes with non-resident Biharis . The party has listed 150 districts across the country and 75 dedicated teams have been tasked with collecting and mapping the data of Bihari voters , said people familiar with the matter. BJP general secretary Tarun Chug is in charge of the initiative and senior Bihar leaders as well as Union and state ministers are involved in the outreach programme, they said. The party has divided the outreach into two categories - 'voter' and 'supporter'. "There are people registered as voters in Bihar and there are some who have moved out but are supporters of the party. We are encouraging them to convince their family members to root for the party," Manish Yadav, state co-ordinator of the programme in Haryana, told ET. In Haryana, the party has shortlisted 14 out of 27 districts where there are migrants from Bihar. As per an estimate, there are about 500,000 Bihari residents in Haryana. The local BJP units are busy collecting and mapping data of Bihari migrants in 150 districts across states which is being fed on the BJP's internal 'Saral' app. As per the BJP's estimate, there are about 20 million non-resident Biharis living in different states, about 65% of which are still registered in Bihar as voters. This roughly translates into 13 million voters staying outside Bihar, the majority of which reside in states such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana and Punjab. BJP is also looking at the data which was collected during the first wave of the Covid in 2020, said people in the know. The Bihar government had then announced that Rs 1,000 each would be transferred into the accounts of the migrant workers. About 1.3 million applications were received, they said. BJP experimented with an outreach to migrant voters at a smaller level during the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, according to the people. However, Bihar is the first state where the party aims to implement it at a large level, they said.
