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The Hindu
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
34 Chennai Councillors silent despite over 370 speaking slots across 37 Council meetings
A total of 34 Councillors of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) have not spoken in the Zero Hour of the general Council meetings so far. These include 30 representatives from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), two of the Indian National Congress (INC), one of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and an Independent. Since May 2022, the GCC has conducted 37 Council meetings and three Budget sessions with Zero Hours. If a minimum of 10 speakers were permitted during Zero Hour every meeting, there were at least 370 speaking opportunities available. This would have given every Councillor a chance to speak, and roughly 170 more slots available for repeated speakers. Ward and zonal meetings The Councillor of Ward 2, S. Gomathi Santhosh Kumar, who has not spoken at the Council meetings, said that there were no issues in the ward, and that the Chennai Corporation was resolving matters efficiently at the ward and zonal committee meetings. A resident of Ward 140, R. Thiagarajan, raised concerns about traffic congestion during peak hours near a private school by Kittu Park, along with roadside encroachments by vegetable vendors, posing risks to pedestrians. He also noted the absence of a nameboard for Arangappan Street, recently renamed, which has led to confusion. DMK Councillor M. Sridharan of this ward responded that after these matters were flagged at the ward and zonal committee meetings, GCC assured to install 84 new nameboards and hold a mass eviction drive of roadside vendors. 'Since solutions for the problems were resolved, there was no need to speak at the Council meetings,' he added. Ward 173 Councillor D. Subashini of the INC, another Councillor who has not spoken at the Council meetings, said she had not officially spoken, but raised queries in written form to the Corporation and received replies for the matters. On Gandhi Nagar residents pointing out a sunken road and an unauthorised shed beside a temple in her Ward that can be raised at the Council meetings, she said residents of these areas usually approached officials directly. 'As I inspect slum areas mostly, I was not aware of this issue, and will check on it,' she added. Meanwhile, AIADMK Councillor J. John of Ward 84, who has spoken multiple times at the Council meetings, alleged that several ward-level issues remained unresolved and were therefore raised in Council meetings. Party heads Council floor leader for the INC and Ward 6 Councillor M. Samuel Diraviam stated that all 13 party Councillors should be given chances, at least once a year. He said some INC Councillors submitted grievances to him, which were addressed during Zero Hour at the meetings. He said, 'All those who requested to speak had been accommodated, but those who did not submit requests could not be encouraged, as the intention behind their remarks would be unknown i.e. may be not related to ward's problems.' AIADMK floor leader and Ward 7 Councillor K. Karthik said there are 15 Councillors from the party and all were offered a fair chance to speak. 'The matter did not come to my attention so far. Maybe Ward 190 Councillor [P. Sivaprakasam], did not want to speak. I will look into the matter,' he said. He added that the usual process involved submitting a speaking request to the Council department, which then forwarded it to the ruling party leader for vetting. Finalisation of speakers often takes place at the last minute, and this left many Councillors of other parties are unprepared, he mentioned. DMK floor leader and Ward 106 Councillor N. Ramalingam stated that those who had not spoken were being encouraged often to take a chance. He said that those who have not spoken so far would be considered for speaking at the Council meeting Zero Hour in the coming months. He added that there was no conflict or other issues for some Councillors not speaking, and the matter was only circumstantial.
Business Wire
18 hours ago
- Business
- Business Wire
NETSCOUT Empowers Customers to Defeat Cyberthreats With AI-Powered DDoS Defense
BUSINESS WIRE)-- NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. (NASDAQ: NTCT), a leading provider of observability, AIOps, cybersecurity, and DDoS attack protection solutions, today announced new AI-backed enhancements to its NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense and NETSCOUT Arbor Enterprise Manager Adaptive Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) solution to help customers further automate operations, enhance defense, and improve reporting. These powerful enhancements leverage AI to intelligently automate defenses against an expanding array of attack vectors, enabling customers to accelerate their response to DDoS attacks to better protect their most critical applications and services. The Arbor Edge Defense and Arbor Enterprise Manager solution utilizes the ATLAS Intelligence Feed, derived from monitoring over 700 Tbps of Internet traffic in real-time across over 500 ISPs and 2,000 enterprise sites from over 100 countries, representing approximately 50% of global Internet activity at any given time. AI/ML algorithms run in the ATLAS cloud infrastructure as part of a unique data collection and analysis pipeline that delivers actionable intelligence to NETSCOUT solutions that are constantly updated. ATLAS Intelligence Feed fuels all Arbor DDoS protection products with intelligence on devices that are actively conducting DDoS attacks or are a part of specific DDoS attack infrastructures and botnets. This allows up to 80% of all DDoS attacks to be mitigated without the need for further analysis. 'IT buyers' security concerns signal a growing demand for integrated application protection and availability technologies to identify and mitigate DDoS threats,' said Chris Rodriguez, research director, security and trust, International Data Corporation (IDC). 'According to IDC buyer research conducted in April 2025, 41% of organizations stated that online attacks, including DDoS incidents, cost over $100,000 in damage, with 5% stating more than $1 million. With the increased use of AI/ML to launch cyber-attacks, organizations need to invest in intelligent solutions to continuously detect new attack types and threats to avoid costly damage to critical IT infrastructure.' The new enhancements to the Arbor Edge Defense and Arbor Enterprise Manager solution include new features to support deployment in demanding multi-site enterprise environments, and further automate the mitigation of sophisticated DDoS attacks: Strengthened data segmentation through scoped user access that allows administrators to limit the visibility of specific operations teams to specific defended locations and infrastructures. Automated IP protocol flooding detection and mitigation to block these evolving attacks when they occur. Enhanced DDoS dashboard that provides more detailed information, enabling even greater visibility and control for operations teams, even when defenses are automated. On-demand, automated reports ease the flow of information across security teams and their management. 'We're continually innovating to stay ahead of the growing array of DDoS cybersecurity threats as part of our Adaptive DDoS Protection strategy,' said Scott Iekel-Johnson, area vice president, DDoS and threat intelligence at NETSCOUT. 'With these enhancements, we're helping customers intelligently automate their defenses—delivering stronger protection against evolving DDoS attacks while simplifying how they manage and analyze threats.' Visit our website to learn more about our award-winning Adaptive DDoS Protection solutions. About NETSCOUT NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. (NASDAQ: NTCT) protects the connected world from cyberattacks and performance and availability disruptions through its unique visibility platform and solutions powered by its pioneering deep packet inspection at scale technology. NETSCOUT serves the world's largest enterprises, service providers, and public sector organizations. Learn more at or follow @NETSCOUT on LinkedIn, X, or Facebook. ©2025 NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. All rights reserved. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
The Hindu
20 hours ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Nursing graduates, Kerala Government Nurses Union object to draft rules for nurses' appointment in State
A group of nursing graduates and government nurses have objected to the recently issued Draft Special Rules governing the Kerala Public Health Nursing State Service and the Kerala Public Health Nursing Subordinate Service. As per an earlier government order, only those with a BSc degree in Nursing were qualified for posts such as Maternal and Child Health Officer and District Public Health Nurse. Nursing graduates, who did not wish to be quoted, claim that the government is now trying to supersede the above rules and make Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs)—who do not have any degrees—eligible for these senior-level posts. They say that these posts demand advanced knowledge in epidemiology, health programme planning, community health, and policy execution—areas where degree-level training is essential. There is a possibility of the quality of public health services getting compromised if properly qualified people are not appointed to these posts, the nursing graduates point out. 'May devaluate BSc course' They also say that the new Draft Rules could devaluate BSc (Nursing) course. The new rules could effectively place nursing students who invest years in acquiring comprehensive training, both theoretical and clinical, on a par with those who clear certificate courses. Degree-qualified professionals may see no career progression or exclusive opportunities. The nursing graduates also claim that the draft rules violate High Court directives on the issue. They urged the government to reconsider the decision and maintain BSc (Nursing) as the minimum qualification for posts such as Maternal and Child Health Officer and District Public Health Nurse. Separate promotional pathways could be created for ANM-qualified nurses without compromising the professional and academic standards required for leadership roles, they add. 'Unions not invited for talks' Meanwhile, Sajith Cherandathur and A. Sheeraj, functionaries of the Kerala Government Nurses Union (KGNU), alleged that the government did not invite leaders of major nurses' unions to a recently held discussion on the Draft Special Rules. In a memorandum to the Health Secretary, the KGNU pointed out that BSc (Nursing) or Post-Basic BSc (Nursing) were the basic qualification for posts such as Maternal and Child Health Officer, District Public Health Nurse, and Public Health Nurse Tutor as per the guidelines of the Indian Nursing Council (INC). For teaching posts, MSc (Nursing) with specialisation in Community Health Nursing or Public Health Nursing was required. The union claimed that the recruitment guidelines followed by the Kerala Public Service Commission at present were outdated and not in tune with these guidelines. Also, there are many qualified nursing officers under the Directorate of Health Services who are being denied promotion because of the current rules. The union demanded that the recruitment criteria for these posts should follow the INC guidelines. Also, those with MSc (Nursing), BSc Nursing, Post-Basic BSc (Nursing), and MSc (Nursing) with specialisation in Community Health, Public Health or OBG should be considered for these posts.
UPI
2 days ago
- Business
- UPI
Trump announces 25% tariff on India, warns of additional 'penalty'
President Donald Trump announced a 25% on tariffs on imports from India on Wednesday, while warning of an additional penalty. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 30 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will not only levy a 25% tariff on India but will add an additional financial "penalty" as well. In a Truth Social post Trump complained that while "India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high," which he alleges are among the highest imposed by any nation. "They have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country," he said. Trump also accused India of buying "a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia and are Russia's largest buyer of energy" at a time when Russia continues its war on Ukraine. "ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!" he added. Because of these accusations, Trump said India will not only start paying a 25% tariff on Friday, but will be further financially penalized, although he did not explain what exactly that "penalty" will be. Companies currently importing goods from India pay a baseline 10% tariff. One of India's major political parties, the left-leaning Indian National Congress, or INC, took immediate umbrage with Trump's comments, calling out Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relationship with Trump. The INC posted to X Wednesday that Modi has campaigned for Trump, and "hugs him like a long-lost brother." "In return, Trump goes on to impose such harsh tariff on India," the statement continued. "It is a catastrophic failure of foreign policy. An entire nation suffers from the consequences of one man's 'friendship.'" It is unclear if Modi, a member of the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party, has yet to publicly comment on Trump's declarations.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Net FDI has fallen steeply, domestic investors gripped by 'fear': Congress slams government
, The Congress on Monday (July 28, 2025) claimed that the net foreign direct investment has fallen steeply while domestic investors are gripped by 'fear and uncertainty', as it asked the government to support incomes, end its 'crony capitalist and tax terrorism' policies, fix the GST, and protect Indian industries from Chinese dumping. The opposition party's assertion came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reported remarks that India's private sector investment has not kept pace with the growing public expenditure. Also Read: Why has net FDI inflow plummeted? In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, 'The Finance Minister has finally acknowledged what the INC had been saying for a long time: that private investment continues to be sluggish and is not growing at the pace desired and also expected.' 'This is even after the significant corporate tax cuts of September 2019, undertaken just before the Howdy Modi event that was held in Houston in support of President Trump's re-election,' Mr. Ramesh said. He further said that net FDI has fallen steeply while domestic investors are gripped by 'fear and uncertainty' – thanks in large measure to 'tax terrorism and policies that only favour a couple of business groups'. 'The growth of mass markets for consumption goods is being hampered by a decade-long stagnant wages crisis and a flawed GST, which awaits fundamental reform,' Mr. Ramesh argued. 'Finally, the 'dumping' of cheap imports from China – which is taking place despite the loss of Indian territory in Ladakh – has also led to the closure of domestic manufacturing units, foreclosing the possibility of new investments,' he said. 'Acknowledgment is the first step. Now comes the hard part – the government needs to take action to support incomes, put an end to its crony capitalist and tax terrorism policies, fix the GST, and protect our industries from Chinese dumping,' Mr. Ramesh said. The Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the economy, claiming the issues of rising prices, decreasing private investment, and stagnating wages were hitting the common people hard.
