Rajini to launch TV channels?
Chennai, Dec 21: Ahead of the launch of superstar Rajinikanth's political party, efforts are underway for starting a television channel by a forum floated by him, with the actor authorising the use of his name and photograph in its logo.
Rajinikanth has informed in a letter to the Registrar of Trademarks that an application made by the forum chief for trademarks be processed and he had no objection to the use of his name and photo in the logo of the proposed channel.
The matter came to light after the letter went viral on social media and sources close to the Tamil actor Friday confirmed its veracity.
Administrator of the Rajini Makkal Mandram, seen as a precursor to his party, V M Sudhakar applied for the trademarks 'SUPERSTAR TV, RAJINI TV, THALAIVAR TV,' all references to the actor.
The move is seen as keeping in line with the tradition of political parties in Tamil Nadu having their own TV channels to effectively propagate their policies and programmes.
While the ruling AIADMK had recently launched 'News J' to propagate its views, a bouquet of channels under the 'Kalaignar TV' and the Marans-owned 'Sun TV' are said to be backing the opposition DMK.
'Jaya TV', managed by the relatives of jailed aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, V K Sasikala was originally a mouthpiece of the AIADMK, but now backs sidelined party leader T T V Dhinakaran since his fallout with current Chief Minister K Palaniswami last year.
In his letter to the Trademarks Registrar, Rajinikanth said he had "no objection to use my name, photo on the logo and label", adding the applications may be processed to the "next level".
The 68-year old actor had announced taking the political plunge in December 2017 while interacting with his fans here.
He had then said his to-be-launched political party will contest in all the 234 assembly segments in Tamil Nadu in the next elections, due in 2021.
Speculations of Rajini's political entry had started way back in 1996 when he made some 'frank' criticism of the then Jayalalithaa government.
He extended open support to the then DMK-Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) combine, which swept the 1996 assembly polls.
TMC was floated by veteran Congressman, late G K Mooapanar, after he quit the national party.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
