A phone helpline, named ‘Manasu’ has been launched in Tamil Nadu for transgenders on Friday.

The helpline number '044-25990505' will assist transgenders, whose population is about 50,000 in the state.

The Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative is being administered by Voluntary Health Service (VHS).

Dr. Lakshmi Bai, Project Director, TAI –VHS, said, “For those who want to understand the issues related to transgenders, this helpline will serve as a gateway of information and counselling.”

Kolakombai (Tamil Nadu), Mar 13 : Forest authorities rescued a four-year old bear, which got trapped in solar fencing in Tamil Nadu.

The bear was rescued at a cardamom estate in Kolakombai village of Nilgiri district of the state.

According to the officials, the bear must have got trapped in the fencing while searching for food in the estate.

The animal was discovered by an estate official who was doing the early morning rounds of the state and then informed the forest officials.

Chennai, Mar 8 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) General Secretary and the party's coordinator for Kerala and Tamil Nadu Suresh Mane on Sunday said the party would field candidates in all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

"Our party will contest all 40 seats, including the one in Puducherry. This is to show the political strength of BSP in Tamil Nadu," Mane said.

He said the party had already selected 12 candidates who would file their nominations for the polls, while the names of the other candidates would be announced in a phased manner later on.

Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu), March 7 : Chairman of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) S K Jain has said that one more site may be identified to set up an additional reactor with Russian cooperation.

He said this while interacting with media persons after the 22nd joint coordination committee meeting with the visiting Russian delegation of nuclear Experts at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu on March 6.

Arurur (Tamil Nadu), Mar 5 : Hundreds of women residing in a village in Tamil Nadu have become self-reliant after the launch of numerous self-help groups in the area.

Women residing in Arurur village in Dharmapuri district in the state who have been involved in mat design industry, producing various types of color mats, are earning a good livelihood.

"We are making mats under the scheme organised by the local panchayat (village council). The Government of Tamil Nadu has given two lakh rupees for the development of this business. Lots of people have taken jobs under the scheme. With these self-help groups, we are now earning good income. It is very helpful to us," said Senthamari, one of the women benefited by the project.

Possible alliances for 2009: Erstwhile UPA partners, the Left and MDMK, have walked out. DMK, Congress and PMK are likely to stay together despite differences. The Left is trying to woo AIADMK, but Jayalalithaa is not inclined. She would, instead, prefer Congress, which is not willing at this point.

Issues: Every party in the state is espousing the cause of Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire between the Lankan army and LTTE. AIADMK and now the Left are crying “constitutional breakdown” following the lawyers versus police clash at the Madras HC.