TN Guv addresses Assembly, says govt geared up to tackle Omicron;  boycotts 

The Tamil Nadu government is fully prepared to tackle Covid's Omicron variant and the challenges it poses, Governor R N Ravi said on Wednesday in his maiden address to the state Tamil Nadu Assembly, while the principal opposition  staged a walkout and boycotted his speech to target the ruling DMK.

As soon as Ravi began his address, Leader of the Opposition (LoP), K Palaniswami stood up and started reading out from a prepared text to corner the DMK regime on various issues including on the law and order front.

The members were on their feet during this time, and later they trooped out of the House, led by the LoP. All along, the ruling benches thumped the desks while Ravi spoke on government's initiative. 

Public transport to operate at 50% capacity; all Pongal celebrations postponed

50% occupancy on all busses, trains, metros. Pongal festival organized by both govt and pvt organizations has been postponed. Places of worship to be closed for the public on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Amusement parks not allowed to operate. 

Pongal festival celebrations organized by both government and private organizations have been postponed. Places of worship will be closed for the public on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Amusement parks will remain closed.CM Stalin has decided to enhance Covid-19 restrictions': MA Subramanian

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramaniam said that Chief Minister MK Stalin had decided to enhance the Covid-19 restrictions in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases. Imposition of Sunday lockdown, ban on entry of people to places of worship on weekends and closed to schools are among the few restrictions that will be imposed, Subramanian said. 

A detail bulletin from the state government is awaited. 

Jaya memorial: Madras HC dismisses appeal against take over of late leader’s residence

A division bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed the third party appeal from the challenging the ruling of a single judge, quashing all orders passed to convert late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s Veda Nilayam residence here to convert it into a memorial for her.

There were a lot of procedural irregularities in the process, starting from acquiring the property and converting it into a memorial, a division bench of Justices Paresh Upadhyay.

Tamil Nadu government along with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has revised its strategies and ramped up facilities to tackle the spread of the infection. GCC said the Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam would be converted into a Covid Care Centre with over 900 beds.

On Tuesday night, Chief Minister MK Stalin along with GCC Commissioner Gangandeep Singh Bedi and other officials inspected the facility. The facility will have 11 kg of oxygen storage, and of the 904 beds, 504 will be oxygen.

Tamil Nadu: 3 killed in firecracker unit blast in Virudhunagar, 4 injured

Three people died and four others were injured in a blast at a firecracker unit near Sattur in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday morning. The incident happened around 7.30 am at the Solai Fireworks unit in Manjalodaipatti village. The owner of the fireworks unit Karuppasamy (40) of Vijayakarisalkulam and workers Kasi (40) and Senthilkumar (35) died on the spot.