An 85-year-old man set himself on fire in southern India to protest what he perceived as the central government’s efforts to “impose” Hindi – a language that is primarily spoken in the north – as the national language, police said. MV Thangavel demonstrated on Saturday (November 26, 2022), in front of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK party office, of which he was a member, raising slogans against “Hindi imposition.” Then, he reportedly set himself on fire after dousing himself with petrol. Although the party workers and the public tried to save the elderly man, he died of self-immolation at the scene, according to NDTV. “Modi government stop imposing Hindi. Why do we need to choose Hindi over our literature-rich Tamil... it will affect future of our youth.” – the placard he was carrying read. Read more: Indian police detain man accused of killing Australian woman because ‘her dog barked at him’ In the 1960s, the then-ruling Congress party sought to make Hindi the nation’s official tongue, inciting enduring resentment in southern India. The majority of the languages spoken in southern India are Dravidian, a language family different from the Indo-European that includes Hindi. Just under 44 percent of Indian citizens, or less than half, speak Hindi, according to the census conducted in 2011. While state administrations in India use regional languages, English is the country’s primary official language. However, a group of lawmakers led by India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah reportedly proposed making Hindi the nation’s official language last month, including for technical education like engineering and medicine. Read more: India's tribespeople seek formal recognition of ancient nature-worshipping faith The usage of Indian languages was encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described the use of English as having a “slave mindset.” But opponents accuse his administration of trying to impose Hindi over the southern Indian languages, causing anger in south.

Bangladesh National Chess team will leave Dhaka for Chennai on Wednesday (July 27) to participate in the 44th World Chess Olympiad to be held in Mahabalipuram in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from July 29 to August 9. A record number of 162 teams from 157 countries will participate in this year's Chess Olympiad while a  record number of 188 teams from 183 countries will compete in three other categories --Braille, Silence and Physically Disabled. Read: 2nd Div Chess: Eight teams sharing top slot Members of Bangladesh Chess Team in 44th World Chess Olympiad are : KM Shahidullah (Vice President, Bangladesh Chess Federation and Delegate to Congress): Syed Shahabuddin Shamim (General Secretary, Bangladesh Chess Federation, Head of Delegation), Dr. Shoaib Riaz Alam (Joint Secretary, Bangladesh Chess Federation),  Zakir Ahmed, Noor Alam  (Bangladesh Chess Federation),  Haroon Or Rashid ( Match Arbiter and International Referee), Open Division Men's teams: Captain -FIDE Instructor Masudur Rahman Mallick. players: Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Rajib (Rating-2377), Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman (Rating-2424), Grandmaster Niaz Murshed (Rating-2413), FIDE Master Mehdi Hasan Parag (Rating-2227) and FIDE Master Tahsin Tajwar Zia (Rating-2307), Women's Team: Captain: National Instructor Mahmuda Haque Chowdhury Moly,  players: Woman Candidate Master Jannatul Ferdous (Rating-1815), Woman FIDE Master Shamima Sharmin Shireen (Rating-1995), Woman Master Najrana Khan Eva (Rating-1829) and Woman FIDE Master Noshin Anjum (Rating-2027) and Umme Taslima Prativa Talukdar (Rating-1769). Grand Master Niaz Murshed has already reached Chennai.

Eleven people, including two children, died of electrocution while 15 others sustained burn injuries when a temple chariot they were riding on touched a high-tension wire in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu early on Wednesday morning, officials said. The tragedy occurred at Kalimedu in the state's Thanjavur district, some 370km from Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai. Also Read: Van driver electrocuted in Chandpur "Of the deceased, two were children, while the injured are being treated at hospital. A case has been registered in the matter and investigation is underway," V Balakrishnan, Tamil Nadu's inspector general of police, told the local media. Local TV channels aired a video of the tragedy in which the chariot can be seen completely gutted in fire after coming into contact with the power transmission line. The video has gone viral on social media.   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin condoled the deaths, saying he was "deeply pained", and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the bereaved families.  

At least 14 people have died in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu during days of heavy rains, officials said Thursday. Several districts in the state are on high alert, bracing for more torrents as a depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal was set to cross northern Tamil Nadu on Thursday evening. The Indian Meteorological Department warned of intense rains in isolated places. Read:9 Hindu devotees die in India road crash The heavy rains first struck over the weekend, hitting the capital, Chennai. Photos and videos from the city showed residents wading through knee-deep waters and vehicles nearly submerged in the heavily flooded roads. Two people died in the last 24 hours, said N Subbaiyan, the director of the state’s disaster management, adding that the other 12 were killed over the past few days. At least 800 huts have been destroyed this past week by the rains, said Kumar Jayant of the state's revenue department. Multiple teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed to help local authorities with rescue efforts. In Chennai, which is among the worst hit, officials have evacuated hundreds of people from vulnerable areas. Authorities have also set up over 100 relief centers and distributed free food, local media reported. Flights into Chennai have been suspended. The rains this week are among the heaviest to hit the city since 2015. Experts have warned that more heavy rains can trigger further flooding and devastation. Read: 10 dead in India Covid hospital fire “The public should not go out,” Greater Chennai Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi told New Delhi Television on Wednesday. He said authorities had managed to drain the majority of the floodwaters, but cautioned that low-lying areas could once again get inundated. Rains at this time in Tamil Nadu are not unusual, but experts have warned that climate change has exacerbated the problem, making the downpours more intense and frequent. Last month, flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 28 people in neighboring Kerala state.

Weird as it may seem, but Mamata Banerjee on Sunday tied the knot with a 29-year-old man named Socialism at a simple ceremony in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Well, the bride is not the 66-year-old firebrand Chief Minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, who decimated the Communists in 2011, but a namesake of hers. The bride's parents named her after the Bengal politician when the latter was with India's Congress party. Mamata, the politician, quit the Congress in 1998 to form her own party, the Trinamool Congress. On the other hand, the groom's father, a local Communist party leader, named his son Socialism as he was born when the erstwhile Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. "I was in Class X when I understood the significance of my name after my friends started talking about it," Mamata Banerjee, the bride, told the local media. On the Bengal Chief Minister, who recently came back to power for the third time in Bengal, the bride responded, "She is a strong woman. I am very proud to say that." Last month, Mamata scripted history by single handedly pulling off an astounding victory in the assembly election. She not only defied anti-incumbency but also staved off a huge challenge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP. Bengal witnessed the most high-profile contest in India's recently held state elections. While Mamata harped on being Bengal’s daughter, the BJP asked people to vote for "change and socio-economic development" after 50 years of Communist and Trinamool Congress rule.

In a dramatic U-turn that has shocked millions of his fans, south Indian superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday decided not to join active politics.

Putting years of speculation to rest, south Indian superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday announced that he will launch a political party in January next year to contest in the upcoming assembly elections in his home state of Tamil Nadu.

Heavy rains have been lashing Tamil Nadu's Chennai as Cyclone Nivar hurtles toward India's southeastern coast.

A regional action film titled 'Jallikattu' -- which derives its name from the traditional bull-taming event in the southern state of Tamil Nadu -- is India's official entry to the Oscars 2021.

Balasubramanian Kumar was critically ill and bed-ridden in his village of Kandhampatti in Tamil Nadu state when his family noticed he had stopped moving on Monday afternoon, reports Independent. Then, his family members thought he died after he had stopped moving. They called for a freezer box to b