- 30 minutes ago
This edition of Super 6 covers key political and civic developments across South India. The DMK launched an attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay after he attended a high-profile wedding reception in Chennai alongside actor Trisha and prominent leaders.
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00:01Hello and welcome. Good evening. You're watching Super 6 here on India Today. I'm Akshita Nandakopal.
00:06Over the next 30 minutes, I'll get you the top stories we're tracking this Friday.
00:09And at 6.30 this evening, we get you our weekly broadcast, India Today Explains.
00:14What have we got lined up for you in this edition of Super 6?
00:17Well, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay, being a part of a wedding in Chennai,
00:23a high-profile wedding with Jagan Mohan Reddy, with Gautam Adani, with KTR.
00:28He was there with Trisha. That sparked a political fight, with the DMK questioning his priorities,
00:34comparing it to the situation on the ground at Tamil Nadu, saying,
00:38the Chief Minister is busy at weddings, but here's how the people are suffering.
00:43Besides that, on the show this evening, we're also going to be talking about the Karnataka showdown over E20.
00:50The Karnataka government has said that they've conducted a reality check of E20 fuel
00:55that's available in several pumps across Bengaluru.
00:59And what they found is that it's not ethanol 20, but E31.2.
01:04What do I mean by that? We'll break that down for you in just a few moments here on Super
01:096.
01:09Let's get you the headman's best.
01:18It's a toxic welcome to Diwali.
01:21Amid worsening air in Delhi, grab three measures imposed on NCR to curb pollution,
01:25CGI says culture of Diwali gifts adds to pollution.
01:36NC Chief Farooq rubbishes rebellion within party meets disgruntled MLAs and assures to address their demands.
01:43MLAs demanding removal of ministers who completed two years in cabinet.
01:55Bomb threat to some of Mumbai's most prominent locations.
01:59Amitabh Bachchan's residence, Jalsa, bomb threat message sent to Bombay High Court.
02:02Agency's investigating threat message.
02:10Salman Khan breaks the silence of Matrubhumi controversy.
02:13He says, makers were not told to change the script by the government.
02:17Films released postponed for a third time as censor board is yet to clear the film.
02:24This is all bad news. It's not true at all.
02:39It's a happy dhanteras for investors.
02:42Stock markets rally for a second straight day.
02:44Sense exerges by over 1,700 points.
02:47Breaches the 81,000 mark for the first time in eight months.
02:50Indian markets the outlier.
02:52On a day, there was bloodbath in global markets.
03:07The political battle between the DMK and TVK is escalating.
03:12The DMK now going all guns blazing against Vijay, against the chief minister.
03:17Let's tell you about the event the chief minister, Vijay, attended yesterday.
03:22This was a wedding that took place in Chennai.
03:24Referring to this particular footage,
03:27the DMK now has been attacking chief minister, Vijay,
03:31questioning his priorities, saying, look at the state of affairs
03:33of what's happening in the city of Chennai,
03:36referring to law and order and other issues,
03:38and saying, look at what the chief minister is busy doing.
03:41They've posted a number of these videos
03:43that feature chief minister, Vijay,
03:45with actor Trisha at the wedding.
03:48Let's get your details in our report.
03:53Government of reels, while the state reels under multiple crises.
03:58That's the DMK's latest jibe at Tamil Nadu chief minister, Vijay.
04:03DMK MP Kani Modi has called the TVK dispensation a reels regime,
04:07taking aim at the government's alleged failure to address public grievances.
04:11In a video shared by the DMK MP,
04:14women are seen flagging concerns over atrocities against women,
04:17rising prices, and what they describe as the government's indifference.
04:46But Kani Modi's attack is just one part of the DMK's escalating offensive.
04:51The party's IT wing has unleashed a series of videos
04:54targeting Vijay over law and order.
04:57One video flags an alleged attack on an assistant inspector
05:00near Sengundram police station
05:02by a man reportedly under the influence of marijuana.
05:05The DMK has used the incident to question public safety,
05:08alleging that even uniformed police personnel
05:11are no longer safe under the TVK rule.
05:13The DMK has also accused Vijay of being disconnected from ground realities.
05:17Taking a dig at the CM's appearances at wedding receptions,
05:21the party alleges that while people are struggling,
05:24Vijay is busy attending celebrations and making reels.
05:27Another video targets the government over the plight of fishing communities,
05:31accusing Vijay of failing to stand by families affected by the cyclone.
05:40The DMK has questioned why the chief minister has not visited the affected families,
05:45accusing him of abandoning people after securing their votes.
05:49And then comes the drug controversy.
05:52The DMK IT wing has shared a speech by Vijay,
05:54accusing the chief minister of normalising drug consumption
05:57by portraying it as fun and enjoyment.
05:59The party has alleged that Vijay's remarks send a dangerous message
06:03to young people and students.
06:04It has also questioned the silence of those who supported TVK
06:07and sections of the media over the controversial remarks.
06:12The TVK meanwhile has hit back at the DMK invoking Periyar.
06:16TVK Minister Rajmohan accused DMK of looting the state while in power.
06:20He alleged that DMK looted money in procurement of books for Periyar Library
06:24and said that TVK would probe alleged corruption by DMK.
06:54From women's safety to drugs, from law and order to fishermen's distress,
06:57the DMK is mounting an all-out political offensive against Vijay.
07:01The message from the opposition is clear.
07:04The honeymoon period for the new government is over.
07:08With Anaga Kesev and Apoorva Jayachandran from Chennai,
07:11Bureau Report, India Today.
07:15This political controversy is this wedding that Chief Minister Vijay attended.
07:21Why did we see so many high-profile leaders come together this wedding in Chennai?
07:25Let's run you through exactly what this event was that took place on Thursday evening.
07:30It was a wedding reception that saw the likes of Jagan, that saw KTR, that saw Gautam Adani there.
07:36This was, in fact, the reception of Vyas Anil Reddy's daughter Shreya and her husband Ujwal.
07:41The reception was held in Chennai on Thursday evening.
07:44Who's Anil Reddy?
07:45He's the cousin of Jagan Mohan Reddy, which is why Jagan was almost playing an organiser.
07:50And Jagan is known to be a good friend of Chief Minister Vijay as well.
07:54And considering the event happened in Chennai,
07:56Chief Minister Vijay was seen attending with his mother as well as actor Trisha,
08:00who was among the guests.
08:01There were several political and business personalities who were also present.
08:04And Jagan, as we told you, his wife Vyas Bharti, his mother Vijayamma were present.
08:10Industrialist Gautam Adani with his wife, BRS Working President KT Ramarao with his wife,
08:15were also among the notable attendees.
08:17And since then, all these pictures, these videos have been going viral.
08:32Are we now seeing, playing out, a scam in book procurement in Tamil Nadu at the famous Periyar Library?
08:41Well, allegations of loot have come to the fore and the TVK government has also taken note.
08:46Now, the TVK has said that this is something that took place in the previous DMK regime.
08:52TVK's Raj Mohan has condemned this alleged book scam and has pinned the blame on the TVK.
08:59So, the political fight on the DMK, Begir Bharti, the political fight that's playing out on this,
09:04so much so that Kamal Hassan has also stepped in saying there's no greater insult to Tamil than this.
09:09Chief Minister Vijay has also taken to social media to slam what's happened and has promised that there will be
09:15a detailed investigation.
09:17This came to light after an author, very famous author in Tamil Nadu, Perumal Murugan,
09:22had spoken out about this alleged scam and since then, there's been a huge controversy over this.
09:31It's been a huge controversy over this year, and it's been a huge controversy over this year.
09:4418, 19, 20.
09:46This was our first question.
09:49For our latest book,
09:51you can explore it
09:53in January's 21st.
09:55It's in January's.
09:57It's in January's.
10:01They have some books on the go-ah
10:045 books.
10:06The collection of books in the UK
10:16Anaga Keshav is joining us live with blue details on this. Anaga, good evening. Run us through the details here.
10:21You know, while you're seeing a political fight, what are the allegations that have come to the fore, Anaga?
10:26Is this a scam that's happened, happening now, or something that happened to the erstwhile DMK government?
10:33Well, in fact, the primary allegation is that all of this loot happened during DMK's regime is the allegation that
10:40TVK has levelled.
10:42Right now, it was award-winning author Perumar Murgan who has raised very serious allegations.
10:47In fact, what he says is that I'm a very experienced Tamil author and I know at what price point
10:53are Tamil books usually priced.
10:54It's at the maximum 200 rupees or 300 rupees.
10:57But in a very, very suspicious way, in Peria's library, Tamil books are being sold at more than 1,500
11:05rupees.
11:06Why is that? Is this not exorbitant pricing? is what Perumar Murgan asks.
11:10And it just gets worse from here.
11:12The kind of books that's being placed in Peria's library, very, very questionable books.
11:17In fact, the details that is being written and printed in those books are factually wrong.
11:22Even the previous chief minister's names have been falsely printed.
11:28Many, many of those books are AI-generated books.
11:31And even there are just two particular publications, Agalvilaka and Phoenix Publications.
11:36And 2,000 books have been placed only from these two publishers,
11:40raising all the more questions about the nature in which,
11:44the manner in which books were being procured in the first place by the previous government.
11:49And therefore, the Tamil Nadu government says that they are setting up a special inquiry in this matter
11:54to really find out whether protocol was procured, was followed in the procurement of these books.
12:00It's not just TVK.
12:02Even left parties who usually, time and again, criticize TVK,
12:05have also demanded for a special investigation in this matter.
12:09Okay, Anika, thanks for those details.
12:10Now, as we told you, the questions that were raised about this book procurement
12:14was actually brought up by a very famous Tamil author, Perumal Murugan.
12:18He's spoken out about what he saw, how he unearthed the scam.
12:23Listen in.
12:36Apologies, we'll play that out for you, that reaction, in just a bit.
12:40He is the whistleblower, essentially, in this particular case.
12:44But a lot of reactions that have come in so far,
12:46as Kamal Hassan has also condemned this particular incident,
12:50then speaking out on this book scam, calling it an insult to Tamil.
12:54Now, besides this, Chief Minister Vijay has also taken cognizance, taking to social media.
12:59He has lashed out, saying that once again,
13:02TVK stands for Tamil tradition, for Tamil culture, for the language,
13:06will not let down people and will ensure that there is a detailed investigation.
13:11The allegation, therefore, is against the erstwhile DMK regime.
13:15And so the TVK, referring to this, is constantly, in fact, saying that we will ensure
13:21that there is justice.
13:22A big political fight, therefore, that's broken out on this.
13:29Okay, let's move on to stories now from Karnataka.
13:32We've been seeing for the last many months a huge debate over ethanol blending.
13:37And now the Karnataka government has come out with an expose,
13:41alleging that petrol samples that were collected across the state
13:44contained ethanol levels as high as 31.2%.
13:48Remember that currently in the markets, it's only at E20, which means 20% of ethanol.
13:53The Karnataka government says that when they conducted testing,
13:56it was actually at 31.2%.
13:59This test that the Karnataka government conducted found excess ethanol
14:03in samples from seven districts, including the city of Bengaluru.
14:07And so they've raised serious questions over fuel quality,
14:10over transparency and consumer safety,
14:12seeking answers from, in fact, the BJP on this.
14:16In all, according to the Karnataka government, 63 samples have been tested.
14:20They now plan to send their findings to the centre,
14:23seeking an immediate investigation and safeguards for consumers.
14:27This has led to also politics with the Congress once again questioning
14:30what was the hurry for the rollout of E20
14:33and also alleging that consumers are bearing the brunt.
14:39We started getting samples from different oil marketing companies and petrol banks.
14:46We drew around 63 samples, sent it to the same oil marketing companies,
14:52asked them various aspects of tests to be done,
14:55and one of the components of the test was,
14:57what is the percentage of ethanol you are blending?
14:59All 63 samples, the different oil marketing companies have dodged
15:03and not given us a specific answer for the percentage of ethanol blend.
15:08And when we got suspicious,
15:10we drew samples from different parts of the Karnataka again
15:13and sent it to private accredited,
15:16NABL accredited, ISO certified labs,
15:19and we found that up to 31.2% of ethanol is being blended
15:25by these oil marketing companies.
15:30Nagarjan Dwarkarnath is joining us live from Bengaluru
15:32with more details on this.
15:33This is extremely concerning, Naga,
15:35especially because already, you know,
15:37consumers have been worried about the impact of E20 on their vehicles.
15:41Now you've also got the Karnataka government suggesting
15:44that in all the samples that they collected,
15:46it was actually not E20, but technically E31.
15:50Has there been any clarification as the BGP in Karnataka responded?
15:57Karnataka has not responded to it
15:58because they don't have much information
16:01considering this is a union government subject.
16:03But what the Karnataka government has confirmed right now is
16:06they took 63 samples across seven districts,
16:09including Bangalore City,
16:11and sent them to the same oil company saying,
16:13give us the number of percentage of ethanol
16:15that is included in this fuel.
16:17But they didn't get the answer.
16:19It was very vaguely put up is what the government found
16:22in the reply given by the oil companies.
16:25And hence, they were not satisfied with the reply.
16:27They sent it to the private laboratories to get the number checked.
16:30And finally, it was found that it was not E20,
16:32but rather E31.2.
16:34That's the highest number of percentage of ethanol found in one sample.
16:39And it subsequently goes to 30%, 26%, 25%, 28%,
16:42depending on station, fuel station to fuel station.
16:45So, ideally, right now, it's nothing around 220%.
16:49The government of Karnataka is writing an official report
16:52to the central government and the petroleum ministry
16:54asking questions as to how is it that fuel with blended ethanol of 30%
16:58being sold as E20,
17:00because car showrooms, car dealers, car manufacturers,
17:03are of a stern opinion that their engines are not manufactured
17:06for E30 right now.
17:07And that's the reason why the government of Karnataka
17:09has taken this up very seriously.
17:12All right.
17:13Thanks very much, Nagarjo, for getting us those details.
17:15We'll await word, really, from the BGP,
17:17the central government on this,
17:18because the Karnataka government says
17:20that this is an expose of sorts
17:21that they've conducted in several districts across Karnataka,
17:25including in the city of Bengaluru.
17:30If it took three hours plus to reach the Bengaluru Airport,
17:34the Kempe Gauda International Airport from the city before,
17:37brace yourself,
17:38because it's now, in all likelihood,
17:40going to take even longer.
17:42An 18-month traffic diversion has been announced by authorities,
17:46which will essentially mean an absolute traffic nightmare.
17:49If it wasn't bad enough as it is,
17:51this diversion is the result of a new four-lane corridor
17:55that's being built,
17:55and so the one road that connects the city to the airport,
17:58the Ballari Road,
17:59is now going to be a no-go zone
18:00for buses, goods, vehicles.
18:02Cars can still use the stretch,
18:03but with construction.
18:05And if you know Bengaluru,
18:06you know this is a disaster waiting to happen.
18:09But here's why everyone's upset.
18:11It's good that, yes,
18:12a four-lane corridor is being built,
18:14but the timing couldn't be worse.
18:17This project should have been pushed
18:19till the metro was functional to the airport,
18:21because that would have given commuters another option
18:23and ease up traffic on that stretch.
18:26Secondly,
18:26the fact that these projects
18:28have never, ever been completed on time in Bengaluru,
18:31the Yellowhunkar flyover,
18:33the Ejipura flyover,
18:34I can go on and on with a long list of projects
18:37that have never been completed
18:38within the stipulated time frame in the city.
18:41The Bangalore Development Authority,
18:43the BDA,
18:44has some serious answering to do here.
18:45But with these diversions already being announced,
18:48ensure you plan your travel,
18:49watch out for all those diversions
18:51and optional routes,
18:52maybe even start a day before your flight
18:55to make it in time.
19:02Let's move on now to news from Kerala,
19:04where a teacher's protest
19:05has turned into a desperate battle for justice.
19:07After 120 days of agitation,
19:11of shaved heads,
19:12of hunger strikes,
19:13of eating grass as a symbolic protest,
19:15lower primary teachers are back on the streets.
19:17Congress' government now
19:19is citing financial constraints
19:21for not meeting their demands.
19:23A ground report by Shibimu.
19:42Kerala's lower primary school teachers
19:45are back on the streets.
19:47After more than 120 days of agitation
19:50and repeated rounds of talks,
19:52the teachers have resumed their protest,
19:54accusing the Satishan-led Congress government
19:57of failing to address their demands.
20:00They have now announced
20:02an indefinite hunger strike.
20:07At the heart of the deadlock
20:09is one key demand.
20:11A 1 to 25 teacher-student ratio.
20:14Kerala government has agreed
20:16to four of the teachers' five demands,
20:18but has refused to accept this one.
20:44It took a dramatic act of protest
20:47to bring this four-month-long struggle
20:49into the spotlight.
20:51On October 27th,
20:53secretary of the All-Keralam
20:54Lower Primary School
20:55Teacher Rankholders Association
20:57publicly shaved her head
20:59to draw attention
21:00to the teachers' demands.
21:04The agitation began on July 6th
21:07with blackface protests
21:08and hunger strikes.
21:10Talks offered a brief pause in August,
21:12but a September 30th meeting
21:14failed to break the deadlock.
21:17Well, the LPST rankholders here
21:19feel that making the teacher-student ratio
21:221 to 25 could actually solve the problem
21:24which the government has not accepted.
21:27And they are back to the streets
21:28outside the secretary,
21:29hoping that this will be accepted
21:31and they can call off this protest real soon.
21:34Till then,
21:34they are not moving out of this area.
21:35The meat,
21:37the tin,
21:38the criminalization,
21:38and the right people
21:38have to do that.
21:40They are not making the case
21:41in a long-bodied.
21:41They have to make the case
21:43in a long-税
21:44and also they have to take the cases
21:44because of the third-month-long
21:48or it's not coming
21:50we don't have to make it
21:50because of the LPST
21:54to be able to make it
21:54as well
21:55as well as the UPST
21:56as well as HSI.
22:04Chief Minister V.D. Satishan says the state cannot afford new posts now.
22:12But when teachers are driven to shave their heads, go hungry and even eat grass to be heard,
22:18can their desperation be ignored?
22:22Vishvi Molkeji, Bureau Report, India Today.