TN Assembly to meet tomorrow, Protem Speaker Karuppaiah to administer oath of office to TVK MLAs

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Chennai, May 10 (IANS) The first session of the newly elected Tamil Nadu Assembly will convene on Monday at 9:30 a.m., with Pro-tem Speaker MV Karuppaiah set to administer the oath to all newly elected MLAs following the formation of the new government led by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief C. Joseph Vijay.

Ahead of the Assembly session, Karuppaiah on Sunday took oath as the Pro-tem Speaker at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to the Cholavandhan MLA, who will preside over the initial proceedings of the Assembly until the election of the Speaker.

The election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly is scheduled to be held the following day.

Earlier on Sunday, TVK President Vijay was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at a grand ceremony attended by political leaders, film personalities, party workers and supporters.

Governor Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay, who later arrived at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat and formally assumed charge as the Chief Minister.

Vijay’s swearing-in marks a major political shift in Tamil Nadu, ending the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in state politics.

The actor-turned-politician assumed office after the TVK emerged as the single largest party in the recently concluded Assembly elections by winning 108 seats in the 234-member House.

Though the party fell short of the majority mark on its own, the TVK Chief comfortably attained the required number of 118 with the support of alliance and outside parties, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML.

With the backing of these parties, the TVK-led combine secured the support of 120 MLAs, paving the way for the formation of the new government.

Nine Ministers were also sworn in alongside Vijay as members of the new Council of Ministers.

The Assembly session beginning on Monday is expected to formally set in motion the Legislative functioning of the new government, with all eyes on the priorities and policy direction of the Vijay-led administration in the coming days.

–IANS

aal/khz

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While addressing the inauguration programme of different projects on the occasion of the 20th Foundation Day of Tripura Medical College and Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital at Hapania, on the outskirts of Agartala, during the past seven years health infrastructures have tremendously improved in the state.

“Number of patients referring to outside the state reduced by one third as almost all kinds of medical treatments including critical ailments, are now available in Tripura,” claimed Saha, who himself is a dental surgeon.

“Most people are not aware about the availability of the latest medical treatment facilities in Tripura and some people go outside the state spending huge amounts of money. We must create awareness about this. Now we have Artificial intelligence (AI), various other technologies and the internet with high speed, and we can think innovatively. We must use all these tools. We are working to create a new Tripura so that the next generation does not face any major challenges,” he added.

He said that from Tripura Medical College, around 13 batches of MBBS students have already passed out, maybe even more.

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“When a perfect person runs a college, I am really happy, but in the government sector people generally don’t like to take responsibility. The number of infrastructures will increase more, but we must also work on repairing the existing infrastructure so that it looks good,” the Chief Minister said.

Expressing his concern over the rising cases of drug abusers, CM Saha, who also holds Health and Family Welfare portfolio, said that a mass movement against drugs should be created.

“Taking drugs through syringes often leads to HIV infection, and AIDS can also occur as a result. People should be more aware and cautious in this regard. If necessary, consultation should be held in their respective areas and surveillance should be maintained,” the dental surgeon-turned-politician added.

He said that currently, there are three medical colleges in Tripura that have 400 MBBS seats and the government has been trying to increase the number and to start specialised medical courses in the state.

The event was attended by Health Secretary Kiran Gitte, Chairman of the Tripura Medical College Society Dr. Pramotesh Roy, CEO of the Society for Tripura Medical College and Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital Swapan Saha, Principal of Tripura Medical College and Hospital Professor Dr. Arindam Dutta, Medical Superintendent Professor Dr. Jayanta Poddar, Professor Dr. A.K. Chakma, and other eminent physicians.

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Seven terrorists killed as BSF foils infiltration bid from Pak in J&K’s Samba (Ld)

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BSF sources said a heavily armed group of terrorists, aided by fire cover by Pakistan rangers, tried to infiltrate into the Indian side of the International Border in Samba district.

“Seven terrorists have been killed during this foiled infiltration bid. The operation is still going on in the area,” sources said.

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Sakina Itoo, Jammu and Kashmir’s Education Minister, said that keeping in view the safety of students, all the private and government schools, colleges and universities will remain closed on Friday and Saturday.

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Pak-smuggler’s operative held with five pistols in Amritsar

Chandigarh, July 29 (IANS) The Counter Intelligence (CI) team of Amritsar has busted a cross-border arms smuggling module with the arrest of one of its operatives working under the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler, said Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday.

The arrested person has been identified as Bharatpreet Singh, a resident of Marhi Megha village in Tarn Taran district.

Police teams have recovered five sophisticated pistols, two 9 MM, two .30 bore and one .32 bore, from his possession, besides impounding his motorcycle being used for transporting the consignments.

DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused person, along with his two other associates, was acting upon the directions of Pakistan-based smuggler, who has been using drones to drop weapon consignments from across the border.

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Acting swiftly, police teams have intercepted suspect Bharatpreet Singh from Ibban village in Amritsar, when he was going to deliver the consignment to some party, and recovered illegal weapons from his possession, he added.

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–IANS

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