SC allows Tamil Nadu govt to find means to sell liquor through online or physical outlets

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Tamil Nadu government to find out ways and means to sell liquor, whether online or at physical outlets in the state. The top court had last month stayed a Madras High Court order, which had directed the closure of all state-run liquor shops and allowed only the online sale of liquor in the state during the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.

The court was hearing a petition seeking directions to not open Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shops in the state.

A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, said it is not for a court to lay down how liquor can be sold. "These are for the State governments to decide what to do," the bench said.

 

Tamil Nadu government had filed a petition before the Apex Court challenging the Madras High Court order on the matter. Madras High Court had passed the order after hearing a number of petitions and finding violation of the social distancing norms, as ordered by the Centre to prevent the spread of coronavirus, at the liquor shops.

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Tamil Nadu Govt Changes Names Of 1018 Places

The Tamil Nadu government has changed the spellings/names of 1,018 places in the state closer to their Tamil origin as their current names are anglicised. The initiative was taken by the Tamil Development Ministry in the year 2018 and many Tamil linguistic experts along with the district administration were part of this work to change the names of the districts/areas to have the exact Tamil sound while pronounced in English. Most of the names of the areas and districts are named in Tamil even before the British era and some names have been changed by the later governments.

The names were kept based on geography, demography, and other local factors in the particular district or area. But most of the Tamil names sounded different when they were pronounced in English and hence the state government decided to change the names in a way that could give Tamil sound even while pronounced in English. Triplicane in Chennai is an English word coined by the colonial rulers and the actual name is Thiruvallikeni, which means a lotus pond of the famous temple at the locality.

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