Republic day 'renews' bonhomie between Stalin and Guv

CHENNAI: The 74th Republic Day set the stage for renewing the ties between Chief Minister M K Stalin and Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi as the gubernatorial head of the State unfurled the national flag in the presence of the Chief Minister on Marina.

Earlier in the day, Stalin received the Governor with a bouquet and introduced senior officers of the defense forces and Tamil Nadu police to him near the Labour Statue on Kamarajar Salai. The Governor unfurled the national flag and subsequently accepted the salute from the forces during the ceremonial march past. The Chief Minister and Governor have rubbed shoulders after acrimony erupted between them in the State Assembly on January 9.

The Chief Minister responded to the Governor's invitation by attending the "at home" reception hosted by the latter at Raj Bhavan Thursday evening. Accompanied by a few of his cabinet colleagues, Stalin attended the tea party, which the allies of the ruling DMK boycotted in protest of the Governor's delay in giving assent to the bills adopted by the State Assembly and preaching Sanathan Dharma among the RSS ideologies in public.

Gallantry awards presented

Subsequently, the Chief Minister distributed the Anna medals for gallantry to government servants/civilians for their acts of bravery. The gallantry medal under government servant category for 2023 was distributed to head constable P Saravanan of Chennai in recognition of his timely and selfless act during his stint in Aminjikarai police station on January 31, 2022. Male nurse Jayakumar Ponnarasu of Vellore also received the award from the Chief Minister under the government servant category for saving the lives of 47 newborn babies and 11 mothers by risking his own life on duty at Government Kasturba Gandhi Mother and Child Care Hospital in Triplicane. J Antonysamy of Thoothukudi, N Sreekrishnan of Kanyakumari and A Selvam of Thanjavur were awarded the gallantry awards under general public category.

The Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony award was presented to M A Inayathulla for promoting communal harmony in Coimbatore. Inayathulla, along with the Sunnath Jamath Federation of Coimbatore District, visited Kottai Sangameswarar Temple and conveyed their regret for the car explosion near the temple on October 23, 2022 to the temple administrators and officials on November 3, 2022 and expressed their intention to maintain brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims in the city. Inspector D E Priyadarshini of Central intelligence unit in Chennai, inspector K Jayamohan of prohibition enforcement wing in Thanjavur, sub inspector S Sahathevan of CIU in Salem, sub inspector B Enayath Basha of CIU in Villupuram and head constable S Sivanesan of Palur police station in Chengalpattu were presented with Gandhi Adigal Police Medals by Stalin. Chief Ministers trophies for the best police station were presented to Tirupur north police station, Tiruchy Fort police station and Dindigul Taluk police station. The Chief Minister also presented C Narayanasamy Naidu Award for highest productivity in rice was presented to G Vasantha of Pudukottai district.