The Prime Minister came to the Tamil Nadu state on a two day visit. He landed at Chennai on Sunday evening. He was given a warm reception by state Governor K Rosaiah, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her cabinet colleagues, at the airport. Later the PM flew to Trichirapalli and reached Karaikudi to inaugurate the ''Ramanujan 125th Celebrations'' in the city.
The Prime Minister dared his visit to the state, amid threats of black flag agitations by opposition parties over the raging Mullai Periyar dam (MP DAM) and Koodankulam Nuclear power plant (KNPP) issues, Police made elaborate security arrangements, deploying about 5,000 Police personnel in the city and another 4,000 personnel in Karaikudi. Braving the security actor-politician Vijayakanth, accompanied by hundreds of his party men, attempted to take out a march towards Raj Bhavan, on Monday, but was arrested and later released. The DMDK led by the actor, condemned the central government's "inaction" on the MP Dam row with Kerala, the refusal to halt work at the KNPP and on the Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka.
Speaking at the 125th birth anniversary celebrations, in Karaikudi, of mathematical genius Srinivasan Ramanujan, PM said the mathematical community has a duty to find out ways and means to address the shortage of top quality mathematicians in the country. He also expressed the lack of interest of pursuing interests in Mathematics was a concern to the nation. Traffic was disrupted on Monday in Chennai owing to the PM visit and the protests.
PM was all praise for the union Home Minister. The Prime Minister said, "I am thankful to Mr. Chidambaram for bringing me to Karaikudi to inaugurate the Centre dedicated to the Indian Mathematics genius Srinivas Ramanujam." "Chidambaram and I have been colleagues working hand in hand since the 1990’s. I was then Finance Minister and he was Commerce Minister. Since 2004, I have been deriving immense support from his enlightened leadership as finance minister and now as a Home Minister," he said. "Whatever task is given to him, Mr. Chidambaram performs it with super aplomb," the Prime Minister said, amid applause from the audience.
Ms. Jayalalithaa met the PM after he settled at the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum reiterating her earlier requests to him including advising Kerala to abide by the apex court's order on the MP Dam row. Though the memorandum had other issues discussed like ensuring safety of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay, extending financial assistance to the state, exempting the state from the National Food Security Bill and allocation of coal supplies to the planned power projects, among others. But notably the issue of Nuke project was significantly missing in the document.
A DMK delegation headed by Mr Karunanidhi along with Kanimozhi, called on him at the Raj Bhavan and presented a memorandum seeking his intervention to put an end to attacks on Tamils in Kerala and ensure that Kerala complied with the 2006 Supreme Court order on the contentious MP Dam issue. The PM after patiently listening to the issue extended his assurance to take over the security at the dam.
At the 125th Birth Anniversary celebrations of noted mathematician Srinivas Ramanujan in Chennai, PM said, “We have gathered here today to celebrate the life and work of a great son of India and of Tamil Nadu, and one of the greatest mathematicians the world has seen. It is a pleasure to participate in this function in the memory of Srinivas Ramanujan, whose extraordinary genius so very brightly lit up the world of mathematics in the second decade of the last century. Men and women of such dazzling brilliance and deep intellect are born but rarely. Indeed, Srinivas Ramanujan's genius was ranked by the English mathematician G. H. Hardy in the same class as giants like Euler, Gauss, Archimedes and Isaac Newton. While we rightly claim Ramanujan as one of our own, he equally belonged to all humanity like the other great men and women in any sphere of human thought.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday inaugurated the Apollo Reach Hospitals at Karaikudi. He was accompanied by TN Governor Rosaiah and P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs. Designed as a 110-beds hospital, the technologically advanced multi-disciplinary Apollo Reach Hospital at Karaikudi will provide patients’ with services in 21 specialties including most of Apollo’s Centers of Excellence i.e. Cardiology and Cardio Thoracic Surgery, Neurosciences Orthopaedics, Emergency and Critical Care and Preventive Care. During the visit the PM also inaugurated another hospital in eye care, Vasan Eye Care Research Institute.
The whole visit went on well and the PM flew back to Delhi on Monday. Both the arch rivals had some moments to share with the PM. But neither of them questioned about the KNPP, which is worth noting. But notably the efforts of the police had to be lauded for their tight security in spite of threats of protests from parties across the state.
