Cancer specialists and public health officials optimistic that incidence of cancer will come down
With the Union Health Ministry categorising pan masala and gutka as banned food products because they contain tobacco, there is fresh hope among cancer specialists and public health officials that incidence of cancer caused by these items will come down.

The Tamil Nadu Government has announced plans to set up a 311-acre satellite township near Chennai to provide affordable housing.

A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here alleging that the Madurai Collector and Executive Officers of Uthangudi, Y. Othakadai and Narasingam Panchayats have not taken steps to clear the garbage and drainage water stagnation abutting the exclusive pathway for High Court judges on the eastern side of the court compound.

Underscoring that the growth of a State would be judged best by the quality of well-connected roads, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced various projects, including the development of three Chennai roads to international standards and extension of East Coast Road (ECR) up to Kanyakumari.

Digging trenches, improving solar fences get priority
The Forest Department is embarking on a Rs. 3-crore project to prevent man-elephant conflict. The project included measures to augment availability of fodder and water. The State Government recently sanctioned Rs. 4.5 crore to the Coimbatore Forest Division. Of which Rs. 1.5 crore was for setting up a regional kumki camp at Chadivayal.Coimbatore Forest Division is spread over 690 sq km in six ranges, of which 400 sq km is conflict-prone. The division has 58 villages and 315 route km of forest boundary.

Power Secretary P. Uma Shankar said 1000 MWe would be added in the next quarter and another 1000 MWe in the last quarter of this year.
The Vallur Power Project (3x500), the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)'s joint venture with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, was well on target. “The first unit will be ready by the end of this year,” said Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC.

People residing in Koodankulam, Idinthakarai and nearby villages plan to go on hunger strike on September 11, at Idinthakarai in Tirunelveli district.

The district administration has decided to open a flood monitoring cell within the Collectorate in near future and the people could inform about the consequences of natural calamity during northeast monsoon.

Former students and professors joined the students of Pachaiyappa’s College on Tuesday to voice their unhappiness over the acquiring of land for the proposed construction of a Metro Rail station on the campus.
Demanding that the Metro Rail station proposed to be constructed there be relocated to another place, over 400 students staged a protest near the Memorial Hall.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved verdict on Sterlite Industries' interim application seeking a stay on the operation of the Madras High Court judgment ordering closure of its copper plant at Tuticorin and discharge of its workers on payment of compensation.

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