Chennai, Oct 23 : The activists of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) or Dalit Panthers Party in Chennai on Thursday blocked trains protesting against killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Activists of VCK, an ally of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK), raised slogans and said that they want to extend their support to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and other leaders against the alleged atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka.

"The protest has been held against the Central Government to take action in the Sri Lankan issue and so we blocked trains today. If our demands are not met by October

Chennai, Oct 23: Heavy rains over the past two days have disrupted normal life in Chennai. The rains have been occurring due to a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal.

Caused by a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal, rains have lashed parts of coastal India including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Lakshwadeep apart from Tamil Nadu.

“It''s raining heavily and so we could not go to college. There is no electricity. If the rain stops, we will be able to get on with our routine life," said Karthick, a resident.

The state''s meteorological department said the condition would remain the same for some more time.

Chennai, Oct 18 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark on the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, and said the remarks raised hopes of the Centre taking steps to halt the Lankan troops’ offensive against Tamils in LTTE-held areas.

The DMK chief, while writing in party organ “Murasoli”, said he found solace in the remarks of the PM and hoped the Centre would consider the demands of an all-party meeting here on October 14.

Elecon Engineering Company, a leading manufacturer of mechanical handling equipment has made announcement that the company has been awarded Rs 177.50 million order by Chennai based Techpro Systems.

 As per the contract, the company (Elecon Engineering) will design, engineer, manufacture, test, supply, fraction and commission of material handling equipments and other equipments for Techpro Systems.

On the other hand, Techpro Systems will provide one each of unidirectional stacker cum reclaimer and slewing boom stacker.

To strengthen its footprint in the Indian market, telecom gear manufacturer Nokia Siemens Networks has made announcement about the opening of its new Indian facility at Oragadam near Chennai, to make and distribute mobile communications equipment.

The company said that it will invest $70 million over the next 3 years in the facility and to generate 400 new jobs.