News Analysis India

Tag: MK Stalin

  • TN has right ecosystem for all sectors, govt committed to inclusive growth: CM Stalin 

    Media outlets should not forget that only those who appreciate good deeds also have a right to scold, he said.

  • Tamil Nadu CM Stalin greets Mamata Banerjee on her big win

    By PTI

    CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday greeted his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee on her landslide win in the Bhabanipur by-poll.

    “Congratulations to Mamata Banerjee on her resounding victory in the Bhabanipur by-election. The massive mandate reconfirms the unassailable confidence that the people of West Bengal have reposed on you,” Stalin tweeted.

    Congratulations to @MamataOfficial on her resounding victory in the Bhabanipur by-election. The massive mandate reconfirms the unassailable confidence that the people of West Bengal have reposed on you.#MamataBanerjee
    — M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 3, 2021
    Five months after spearheading TMC to a landslide win in the assembly election, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee scored a personal point with a massive victory on Sunday in the Bhabanipur by-poll with a record margin of 58,835 votes.

    Her victory, which came after her surprise defeat in Nandigram in assembly elections held earlier this year, was expected by most analysts.

  • Governor hails TN govt efforts in tackling Covid; vows to function within parameters of Constitution

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi after assuming office has hailed the Tamil Nadu government efforts in tackling the Covid pandemic while vowing to function within the parameters of the Constitution.

    Addressing reporters after being sworn in, the Governor said, “It is too premature to say anything on the performance of the state government. But I am sure the government is doing well because of the way it handled the Covid pandemic. The infection has come down.”

    Ignoring the charges being made against his appointment to the gubernatorial post, the Governor told reporters, “Look, the slate of our relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in days to come.” 

    This comes as a section of political parties opposed his appointment as Governor and alleged that there is an ulterior motive behind his appointment since he had held high-profile positions in the police department and with the Intelligence Bureau.

    Reacting to a query on whether he would be visiting the districts as his predecessor Banwarilal Purohit did, the Governor said, “Just minutes ago I was sworn in. One thing I know, this place has a popular government mandated by the people and the governance is the responsibility of the government. The Governor is to function within the parameters of the Constitution. I will try my best to keep that in mind.”

    Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Ravi said, “I am delighted, indeed feeling humble to be in the land and amidst the people which is one of the most ancient cultures and civilization in the world.  Our country has benefited enormously from the intellectual, spiritual, and artistic wealth of the place and the political wisdom. In fact, this place and the people have influenced and shaped to a great deal the very idea of India.  I am looking forward to being in the service of the people to the best of my ability and the space that the Constitution gives me.”

  • Pawar, some CMs likely at Sonia Gandhi’s meeting for Opposition strategy against Modi government

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Top Opposition leaders including some chief ministers are expected to attend a virtual meeting called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday amid efforts to evolve a common strategy against the NDA government, sources said.

    Gandhi’s office is learnt to have sent invites to NCP president Sharad Pawar and the chief ministers of West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee), Maharashtra (Uddhav Thackeray) and Tamil Nadu (MK Stalin) who have accepted the invitations.

    The meeting on August 20, which also happens to be the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, is a part of the Congress party’s efforts to unite various Opposition parties on key issues confronting the country and defeat the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections.

    Several Opposition parties displayed a show of unity during the just-concluded Monsoon session of Parliament when they took on the government to seek a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row, besides the farm laws and other issues.

    The meeting also comes in the backdrop of the government demanding strict action against those indulging in unruly behaviour in Rajya Sabha during the passage of the Insurance Amendment Bill.

    The meeting also comes close on the heels of a similar dinner meet hosted by Congress leader Kapil Sibal, where top opposition leaders favoured unity among like-minded parties to defeat the BJP.

  • No change in vaccine distribution ratio between govt and private hospitals for now: Centre

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Despite a clear demand by at least two states recently to revise the Covid vaccine allocation between government and private channels from the existing 75:25 to 90:10, the Centre has made it clear that it’s not happening anytime soon. 

    Naveen Patnaik and MK Stalin, Chief Ministers of Odisha and Tamil Nadu, in their separate letters to the Centre over the past few days, had said that the Union government should take a further relook at the distribution of Covid vaccines in India. 

    While revising its earlier Covid vaccination policy, which came into effect on June 21, the Centre is now procuring and supplying 75% of the Covid vaccines being manufactured in India which is being administered for free to all adults in government facilities. 

    But 25% of vaccines continue to be up for supply by the private hospitals, as also was happening earlier as part of the Centre’s decentralised and liberalised vaccination policy. 

    Also, private hospitals have been permitted to charge Rs 150 per dose apart from the cost of the vaccine to the hospital. 

    In their letter, Patnaik and Stalin, however, contended that the share of participation of the private sector in their states has been rather poor. 

    In Odisha, while only about 4-5% of the vaccine administered have been in the private hospitals, this percentage is a little better — at 10% — in Tamil Nadu. 

    ALSO READ | Cipla gets licence to import Moderna’s Covid vaccine

    In its review meetings, top authorities in the Union health ministry too have taken up the matter with several states—mainly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, among others — saying that the participation of the private sector needs to grow. 

    In a press briefing on Covid status in the country on Tuesday, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry in response to a related question said that the vaccination policy has just been revised and while feedback from states is welcome, there was no plan on radar to incorporate further changes immediately. 

    “We keep discussing with states (vaccination policy) and if the need be we will always examine the suggestions but the new policy has come into effect from June 21 only and it has pushed up the average daily vaccinations remarkably which shows that it is working well,” he said. 

    So far, over 33 crore vaccine doses have been administered in India and while the CoWin dashboard by the government does not give a break up between doses provided in the government and private centres, it is understood that the private share may be less than 20%. 

    Incidentally, the suggestions by Tamil Nadu and Odisha come even as the Centre has been pushing the states to raise the private sector participation. 

    In a strategy paper issued on the new vaccination policy, the government had minced no words in indicating that the allotment of 25% of vaccines produced to private hospitals is aimed to incentivise manufacturers, by allowing them to sell a portion at a comparatively better price.

  • MK Stalin takes oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

    Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin was sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Friday at Raj Bhavan here.

    He was administered the oath by Governor Banwarilal Purohit

    Along with Stalin 33 other ministers from his party also took the oath.

    The names include 19 former ministers and 15 new faces. There are two women among the newly sworn-in ministers.

    Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday approved the recommendations made by Stalin regarding MLAs to be appointed ministers and their portfolios.

    Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi does not figure in the list of ministers. DMK had fought the elections with its allies and got an absolute majority on its own.

    Stalin will hold several portfolios including Home, General Administration, Special Initiatives, Special Programme Implementation and Welfare of Differently-Abled Persons.

    Medical and Family Welfare portfolio has been assigned to former Chennai Mayor Ma Subramanian and Water Resources has been given to DMK general secretary S Duraimurugan. Udhayanidhi’s close aid Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has been given charge of School Education department.

    S Raghupathy will handle the law department, R Sakkarapani will be minister for Food and Civil supplies, T Mano Thangaraj of Information Technology and Palanivel Thiagarajan of Finance and Human Resources.

    The ministers include K N Nehru (Minister for Municipal Administration), I Periasamy (Minister for Cooperation), K Ponmudi (Minister for Higher Education), EV Velu (Minister for Public Works), MRK Panneerselvam(Minister for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare), KKSSR Ramachandran (Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management), Thangam Thennarasu (Minister for Industries), S Muthusamy (Minister for Housing and Urban Development), and K R Periakaruppan (Minister for Rural Development) and T M Anbarasan (Minister for Rural Industries).

    The list also includes MP Saminathan (Minister for Information and Publicity), P Geetha Jeevan (Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment), Anitha S Radhakrishnan (Minister for Fisheries, Fishermen Welfare and Animal Husbandry), SR Rajakannappan (Minister for Transport), K Ramchandran (Minister for Forests), V Senthilbalaji (Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise), R Gandhi (Minister for Handlooms and Textiles), P Moorthy (Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration), and SS Sivasankar (Minister for Backward Classes Welfare).

    It has PK Sekarbabu (Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments), SM Nasar (Minister for Milk and Dairy Development), Ginjee KS Masthan ( Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils welfare), Siva V Meyyanathan (Minister for Environment-Climate Change and Youth Welfare and Sports Development), C V Ganesan (Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development), M Mathiventhan (Minister for Tourism), and N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj (Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare).

  • Exit polls 2021: West Bengal too close to call, DMK has cruising victory, LDF to enjoy second turn

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Chances of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress retaining power in West Bengal appeared too close to call, while Assam is likely to give the BJP another shot at power, if exit poll projections on Thursday are anything to go by.

    In Tamil Nadu, exit polls predicted a crushing victory for the MK Stalin-led DMK, while the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF appeared comfortably ahead in the race to retain power in Kerala. As for Puducherry, exit polls put it in the BJP’s pocket.

    ABP News CVoter predicted the Trinamool getting between 152-164 seats, while BJP could get between 109- 121 in West Bengal. The Left alliance, including the Congress, is expected to get between 14-25. On the contrary, the Republic- CNX polls gave the BJP a slight edge by projecting 138-148 seats for the party in the 294-seat Assembly and 128-138 to the Trinamool.

    The eight-phase polls in West Bengal ended on Thursday evening. As for Assam, the BJP-led NDA is likely to beat antiincumbency to retain power. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll gave 75-85 of Assam’s 126 seats to the NDA.

    The Congress’s grand alliance is likely to win 40-50 seats, it predicted. In Tamil Nadu, the exit polls predict a landslide for the Opposition DMK alliance, giving it a staggering 165 of the 234 seats that went to polls.

    The AIADMK, which had the BJP as its ally, could end up end up with 66 seats. As for Kerala, the LDF is all set to retain power with the poll of polls predicting 84 to LDF, 54 to UDF and 2 to the BJP. If the India Today- Axis exit poll is to be believed, the LDF is expected to win around 104-120 seats, UDF 20-36, BJP 0-2 and others 0-2.