Claiming that the day-long strike called by eight Left unions and 40 federations received huge response, union leaders said that a large number of protesters were arrested on Wednesday while road, rail and air transport services took a hit.
The city of Chennai, erstwhile Madras, is all set to celebrate its 369th birthday on August 22, 2008. For, it was on this day in 1639 that a sliver of land where Fort St George is located, was handed over by the local Nayak rulers to the East India Company.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed 74-year-old Japanese woman Emiko Yamada to take custody of her 25-day-old grandaughter Manji, born to an Indian surrogate mother.
Rampant cynicism and pessimism pervades the national scene as we celebrate our 61st Independence Day, essentially due to the leadership vacuum at the top.
Three months old snow leopard 'Emba' inspects his enclosure during his first outing on August 19, 2008 at the zoo in Rostock, northeastern Germany. 'Emba' is the first offspring of the snow leopards living at the Rostock zoo since 1989. (AFP)
It is only four years since the Madras Day began to be celebrated. K Sreedevi talks to the leading lights behind the annual event and discovers how a casual chat over a steaming cuppa turned out to be the trigger.