NEWS

The Tamil Nadu government will install a statue of Colonel John Pennycuick in the United Kingdom, said Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday.

MK Stalin announced that permission was obtained from the local authorities in Pennycuick's hometown, Camberly, to install Colonel John Pennycuick's statue.

Colonel John Pennycuick was a British engineer who built the Mullaperiyar dam in 1895 in Kerala's Idukki which provides water to Theni, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai and Madurai districts. The dam is currently operated by the Tamil Nadu government.
Pennycuick is highly respected by the people of the five districts in Tamil Nadu and is even worshipped by many.

The central government has cancelled multiple deals for the purchase of short-range Surface-to-Air missiles and a tender for the purchase of 14 choppers for the Indian Coast Guard. This decision is being viewed as a strong message to the domestic defence sector.

A decision in this regard was taken during a meeting of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi on Friday. The meeting was held to review import deals with foreign vendors, top government sources told India Today.

This was the first in a series of meetings of the Defence Ministry to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has dismissed state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat from the Cabinet, the Chief Minister's Office informed on Sunday. Harak Singh Rawat, MLA from Kotdwar, has also been expelled from the BJP for a period of six years.

Harak Singh Rawat is likely to join the Congress on Monday in the presence of Harish Rawat and other senior party leaders.

Sources said CM Dhami had written to the Governor recommending that Harak Singh Rawat be removed from the Uttarakhand Cabinet.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday hit out at Congress leader P Chidambaram saying that her party made formal alliance offer to Congress in Goa and that if former Union Home Minister isn’t aware of details, he should talk to his leadership. Congress leader P Chidambaram had said that the fight is between Congress and the BJP in Goa and others should reach out to the Congress to form an anti-BJP front.

Chidambaram, in an interview to a Goa-based channel, said that while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had expressed desire for an alliance, there was no definitive proposal as such.