Rajinikanth praises Kamal Haasan, calls him 'efficient'

Agencies
February 23, 2018

Chennai, Feb 23: Tamil superstar Rajinikanth today praised his contemporary and Makkal Neethi Mayyam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan, saying the "efficient" star would earn people's confidence.

Responding to Haasan launching his political party MNM at Madurai on Wednesday, Rajinikanth, who is also set to take the political plunge, said though he and Haasan would be taking different paths, their destination would be only public welfare.

"Though, all (of us) tread different paths, what matters is public welfare," he told reporters here.

Asked about his opinion on the MNM, Rajinikanth said Haasan was an "efficient" person.

"Kamal is efficient. He will earn people's confidence," he said.

The February 21 launch of Haasan's party was "very nice," and was well organised, he said, adding that he had already wished the 'Vishwaroopam' star on his political journey but has once again extended his greetings after the launch of the MNM.

While Haasan launched his party Makkal Neethi Mayyam on Wednesday, Rajinikanth had announced in December last year that he will enter politics.

Haasan had yesterday written in a Tamil weekly that he had earlier held a "secret" meeting with Rajinikanth to inform about his decision to enter politics.

The duo had then decided that even if they were in opposing camps, the respect for each other should be maintained.

On Sunday, days ahead of the launch of his political party, Haasan had met Rajinikanth and held discussions, and later met DMK President M Karunanidhi.

Meanwhile, responding to a question today, Rajinikanth welcomed the all-party meeting convened by the Tamil Nadu government yesterday to discuss the Cauvery issue.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K Palaniswami, was attended by DMK Working President and state Leader of Opposition M K Stalin, among others.

The meeting had decided that an all-party delegation will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to set up the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority as per the apex court's order to set up the bodies within six weeks.

The all-party meeting was held days after the Supreme Court reduced the quantum of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu by 14.75 tmcft.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Kochi, Jul 11: Johnny Paul Pierce's five-month stay in Kerala has been a soul-soothing experience for 74-year-old US citizen. He now wants to spend the rest of his life here.

"Kerala is a beautiful place to live in. This is my fifth trip here. I usually stay here for six months. It is such a magical place to be and I want to share that with people from the US," Pierce told ANI.

He came to India on February 26 on a tourist visa and is staying at Kandanadu in Kochi.

According to Pierce's Advocate, his tourist visa is valid up to January 26, 2025. But on this visa, he can only stay consecutively for 180 days.

The guidelines of the Indian government permit continuous stay for only 180 days for foreigners on tourist visas. His 180 days were set to expire on August 24, which the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) extended to August 30.

The US citizen has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to convert his tourist visa into a business visa. The petition will be considered next week.

Pierce has sought a directive to the government to permit him to apply for the conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa and also to extend his stay, without having to leave the country.

"I am making a petition for an extra 180 days to stay. And I would also like to get a business visa in order to begin a tour company to bring people from the US to Kerala after the coronavirus. I wish my family could also come here. I am very impressed with what's is happening here. People in the US don't care about COVID-19," he said.

He talked about the risk of going back to his home country saying, "There are only 27 deaths in Kerala and in the US there over 1.3 lakh deaths. I do not want to go back to the US. I am 74 years old and I am at risk. This is a very safe place for me. I hope India embraces and allows me to stay."

"There's chaos in the US due to COVID-19 and government is not taking care like India. I want to stay here," he added.

Pierce further talked about his future plans, saying that if he is allowed to stay, he would like to lease a small resort and make a retirement community, which will be a COVID free zone.

Lastly, he made an appeal to the Indian government to let him stay in India saying that "all the immigration rules were made before COVID-19."

"There should be special consideration for people like me," he added.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Perambalur, Jan 2: Veteran Tamil writer Nellai Kannan was arrested in Perambalur for criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah during a protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Tirunelveli Police had registered the FIR against the writer for the speech delivered at a meeting, which was called by the Social Democratic Party of India on December 29 last year.

The police have booked him on the basis of multiple complaints filed by BJP leaders.

Kannan has been booked under Sections 504, 505(1) and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

New Delhi, Aug 9: Indian on Sunday achieved a grim milestone after recording the highest single-day spike of 64,399 coronavirus cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 861 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative toll to 43,379.

With the new cases, the country's coronavirus count has reached 21,53,011 including 6,28,747 active cases and 14,80,885 cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra has 1,47,355 active coronavirus cases, the highest in the country.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,19,364 samples were tested on August 8 while over 2.41 crores samples so far have been tested in the country.

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