TN This Week: CM Stalin Strips PTR of Finance Ministry, Makes Him IT Minister

The strong cyclone Mocha, which originated over the Bay of Bengal on Thursday, was lying parallel to the Tamil Nadu coast, causing cloudy conditions in the city. However, hot weather returned to many places in the state on Saturday as Mocha moved northwards.

The Directorate of Government Exams (DGE) Tamil Nadu on May 9 declared the result for the standard XII exams. The overall pass percentage in the state this year is 94.03% which is a minor increase from the previous year’s 93.76%.

The Tamil Nadu government on May 9 filed a defamation case against the state BJP chief K Annamalai for his "DMK files". Annamalai recently alleged that CM MK Stalin was paid Rs 200 crore in 2011 to fix a Chennai Metro contract. He also claimed that leaders of the DMK own assets worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore earned through corrupt means among other charges.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Annamalai claimed DMK leaders have a claim in the Aarudhra scam. Many BJP leaders are accused in the case. Read more

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Friday said that while the linguistic reorganisation of states was necessary in the 1950s, the “politics” around the linguistic differences has now become “overwhelming” and “it keeps weakening the unity” of the country.

Thousands of auto-rickshaw drivers staged protests across Tamil Nadu on May 9, demanding a revision of metre charges. Read more

NewsClick brings you a round-up of the happenings in the past week in Tamil Nadu.

PTR REMOVED FROM FINANCE

In a minor reshuffle of portfolios of his council of Ministers, CM Stalin on Thursday divested Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) of his finance and human resources management portfolios and allocated them to senior Cabinet member Thangam Thennarasu. Rajan is the new minister for information technology and digital services.

T Mano Thangaraj, formerly in charge of IT will now be the minister for milk and dairy development, a department that was held by S M Nasar. Nasar was, however, dropped from the Cabinet.

M P Saminathan, the minister for information and publicity, will now additionally oversee the Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture department.

Meanwhile, three-time legislator and DMK IT wing secretary TRB Rajaa has been sworn in as minister and has been given the portfolio of industries.

"If 'PTR tapes' is the only reason for shifting PTR out of the finance department, then PTR did not do anything wrong. It is the DMK first family (which is on the wrong side of the law)." said BJP chief Annamalai who has released a tape in which PTR is allegedly accusing Stalin’s family of raising Rs 30,000 crores through corrupt means.

INVESTMENTS

Korean MNC car major Hyundai Motor India announced long-term investments of Rs 20,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, to be spread over the next 10 years. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government for an investment on electric vehicle battery pack assembly unit with a capacity of 1,78,000 units a year. It is expected to start work in 12 months and create employment for around 500 people.

Technology firm Cisco announced on Wednesday said that it would start manufacturing operations in Tamil Nadu. The facility would create about 1,200 jobs.

KERALA STORY BAN

The theatres in Tamil Nadu decided to stop the screening of The Kerala Story film amid poor reviews by the audience as well as protests against the film in the state.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought replies from the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments on a plea of the producers of The Kerala Story challenging the ban in the two states.

Appearing for Tamil Nadu, the additional advocate general of Tamil Nadu, Amit Anand Tiwari, said that since the ban was imposed by theatres and multiplex owners, the notice may not be issued to the state. He also said that all security arrangements are in place.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for producers of the movie, said there is a de facto ban in Tamil Nadu as theatres screening the movie are being threatened and they have dropped the screenings.