This special report from India Today SoSouth delves into major headlines across southern India, led by the toxic cough syrup controversy. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramanian refutes claims from Madhya Pradesh, where over 20 children have died. Subramanian stated, 'Madhya Pradesh state alerted Tamil Nadu about the deaths that happened because of the syrup 25 days after the first child that got killed.' The bulletin also covers the Karnataka cabinet's decision to regulate RSS activities in public spaces, a move pushed by minister Priyank Kharge. Further south, a teacher and headmistress in Palakkad, Kerala, were suspended following the suicide of a student. In Hyderabad, a landlord was arrested for placing a hidden camera in his tenant's bathroom, and a hoax bomb threat was reported at Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan's Chennai residence.
00:00Hello, welcome, welcome to India Today's SoSouth, your go-to shop for any news that's pertaining to
00:20Southern States, be it politics, cinema, business, human interest stories or a story that matters to
00:26public. It's only on India Today's SoSouth where we deliver with our rockstar team of reporters to
00:32get you the flavor of South India. I have with me our rockstar set of reporters, Shibhi Moll from
00:38Kerala, Abdul Bashir from Telangana and also I have with me Sagai Raj from Karnataka. And up next we
00:46have a breaking news that's coming in from Tamil Nadu, the hot spot at the moment. Why? Because we
00:52have an election that's coming in. And today we have the assembly session that's going on where a
00:58very crucial topic was discussed. Let's get you that breaking on what exactly happened in today's
01:04assembly session. The opposition party here in Tamil Nadu, the ADMK took up the cold drift syrup
01:10issue. Why? Because the manufacturer of the cold drift syrup that killed more than 20 children in
01:16Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the very syrup that got manufactured, the killer syrup originated from
01:22Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram district. That is the Sunguvat Shatram. And that's why today some very
01:28crucial questions was raised, you know, was raised in the assembly for which the health minister,
01:34Masu Brahmaniam, gave a lot of clarifications. And throughout this bulletin, I'm going to take you
01:39through what exactly the health minister said. Number one, the point of clarification that's given by
01:44Health Subramaniam is that he says that Madhya Pradesh state alerted Tamil Nadu about the death
01:49that happened because of the syrup 25 days after the first child that got killed. He says that it
01:56was on September 4th that the first kid had died. And it's only after 25 days, that is on October 1,
02:03that the Madhya Pradesh government alerted Tamil Nadu. So that is where, you know, Madhya Pradesh has
02:08gone wrong is what Health Subramaniam says. Let's hear it from Health Subramaniam himself,
02:14who owned the floor of the house, gave that clarification.
03:35Deputy Chief Minister Uday Nidhi has named his dog as Rowdy and every day Uday Nidhi posts a picture with his dog.
03:41And it's regarding this particular issue that BJP's Vinod Selvam has taken it up, taken pot shots at Uday Nidhi by saying that he is very much fond of Rowdy's and that is why the law and order situation is deteriorating in Tamil Nadu is what BJP's Vinod Selvam says.
03:58Let's hear it from what Vinod Selvam really said.
04:05Lot of illegal trucks sell salt here. Not only in Chennai, throughout the state, everywhere that Kancha, like Chudu, Pethamati, like that so many trucks are selling.
04:19Well, of course, you know, like I told you, there is election season at the moment and my colleague Pramod Madhav has gotten on the campaign trial with BJP's Tamil Nadu State President Nainar Nagedran to get you an exclusive conversation on BJP's election strategy for the year 2026.
04:45Let's hear this interview of Nainar Nagedran.
05:15Now, now?
05:19News that's coming in from Tamil Nadu, the vice president, CP Radha Krishnan's residence in Chennai received a bomb threat.
05:27The mail came to DGP's office post which a bomb squad was immediately sent to his police garden residence.
05:33Of course, it was a hoax call that was made. It was a hoax email that was sent to Tamil Nadu's DGP's email ID.
05:41In fact, it's very interesting to note that in the last many, many weeks, Chennai has continuously been receiving bomb, you know, bomb threats.
05:49Be it the chief minister's residence or Vijay's residence in Panayur or be it after Trisha's residence.
05:54Since time and again, in the last many, many weeks, we have been receiving many bomb threats.
05:59And today was one such bomb threat to India's vice president, CP Radha Krishnan's residence here in Chennai.
06:05A bomb squad was immediately dispatched to the spot post which it was found to be a fake bomb threat.
06:10Well, that's it from the election state of Tamil Nadu.
06:27I'm tossing it over to my colleague Shibi Mughal who is getting you all the latest from Kerala.
06:32Thank you, Anaga.
06:42Well, in a major breakthrough in the Shabarimala gold theft case, the SIT has recorded the arrest of Unnikrishnan Poti who is the main accused in two cases.
06:53He was taken into custody yesterday by the SIT.
06:56The questioning went on for around 18 hours following which the arrest was recorded by the SIT.
07:01Remember, he's the prime accused in two cases.
07:04The first case is regarding the discrepancy of the, you know, regarding the weight of the Dwarapalaga idol.
07:10The second is regarding the door frame of the Sanctum Sanctorum at the Shabarimala temple.
07:15So, he's the prime accused in both the cases.
07:18The SIT we saw in the last one week visiting different locations, collecting information, recording statements and was based on that he was taken into custody.
07:26He was produced before the first class judicial magistrate in Rami Patanidatta.
07:31The court has now sent him to SIT custody till 30th October.
07:36So, that's the latest update that we are getting in this Shabarimala gold theft case that's been rocking the political scenario in Kerala since the last few weeks.
07:44Today, in another development, the gold cladded copper plates of the Dwarapalaga idols will be reinstalled at the Shabarimala temple.
07:52The temple will be opening today for the monthly puja.
07:55Once that is over, this gold cladded copper plates will be reinstalled to the Dwarapalaga idol structures.
08:02Today, we are writing a letter to the Honorable Home Minister of the country and we are going to certainly say this is becoming something that is unreasonable, intolerable,
08:17where the man who is accused of a crime, the minister accused of a crime, continues to be a minister and pontificate.
08:24The Devasam board chairman who has converted the Devasam board into a questionable organization which is accused of corruption, continues as chairman.
08:32And the chief minister is in Bahrain.
08:34They should not test the patience of Hindu believers in this state.
08:38They should not.
08:39Well, we are breaking news coming in.
08:49A teacher and a headmistress has been suspended at the Kannadi Higher Secondary School in Palakar following the suicide of a 9th standard student in Palakar.
08:59He was found dead on Tuesday at his residence and the family and some of his classmates have alleged that the class teacher was responsible for his suicide.
09:09Now, what we are understanding is that there was a clash between few students regarding a message that they sent each other on Instagram using foul language.
09:17Later, the teacher, one of the parents found this and informed the teachers.
09:21The class teacher questioned the children about this in the class.
09:24And following that, the issue that took place in the school, the child went home and died by suicide.
09:31Now, what the school administration is saying is that they have not caused any mental torture to the child.
09:36It was a normal questioning and a normal warning that was conducted after the parents informed the teacher about what had happened.
09:43The school headmistress has said that, you know, the teacher was just fulfilling a responsibility.
09:50And there was no such issue like the parents or the students are alleging.
09:55One of his classmates have alleged that the teacher said that this is a crime that can be reported to the cyber cell and he will be sent to jail for one and a half years.
10:03So, this caused mental distrust to him and that's the reason why he took this extreme step.
10:08The students came down, came out on the streets protesting against the management, demanding the dismissal of the teacher.
10:16Following which, the management has now decided to suspend two teachers.
10:20One is the class teacher, the other is the headmistress.
10:22The school has been shut for four days.
10:25The suspension is in place till the inquiry is completed by the management and the education department.
10:31Listen to the reactions.
10:32Thanks.
11:02Well, that's all we have from the Kerala segment over to my colleague, Sagai, who will bring you all the latest updates that's making news in the state of Karnataka.
11:27Thank you, Shubhi.
11:57including marching on the roads and holding events in public places and government premises.
12:03The cabinet decision came days after Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyankarge wrote to Chief Minister Siddharamaya,
12:11seeking a ban on RSS activities and its affiliated organizations.
12:16This comes after Priyankarge penned a letter to CM Siddharamaya urging strict action against government employees participating in RSS events.
12:26He cited civil service rules and requested a circular warning of disciplinary action.
12:33And BJP on the other side has called the decision undemocratic and questioned the Congress if RSS was anti-national or banned in India.
12:43BJP also reminded Congress that this was the same organization that fought against emergency imposed by Congress's government.
12:52You have written a letter requesting chief minister not to allow government officials to participate in RSS programs.
13:03And subsequently there was a discussion inside cabinet, sir. What is the decision?
13:06No, no, see, I'm not asking to make any new rules. There are already service conduct rules of the government of Karnataka.
13:13I'm just asking them to follow it.
13:15The officers seem to have forgotten their duty towards the government, their duty towards the people,
13:20and they seem to be behaving like free radicals.
13:23And they need to be reined in as per the laws, the rules that they have signed up for.
13:28If they are interested, let them seek voluntary resignation and do what they want.
13:42Breaking news coming in. Karnataka versus Andhra Pradesh, a face-off on Google AI Hub pages.
13:47After Nara Lokesh spice jide, Khargeth Jr. hits back at Nara Lokesh when it comes to the investment in Karnataka.
14:17Anaga, if you see off late, there is a Twitter battle between Nara Lokesh and Jr. Priyankarge.
14:28And how do you see this? Who is going to win the battle?
14:31And everybody knows that there is already investment going to Bengaluru,
14:34and these are new investment which is coming to Andhra Pradesh.
14:37But still, taking a jive at IT capital of India doesn't go well with the minister Priyankarge.
14:43Well, that's right. You know, in fact, ever since Google went the way of Andhra Pradesh,
14:51Priyankarge has severely been under fire.
14:53A lot of parallelisms being drawn between Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru.
14:57Why is it that Bengaluru, despite being such a strong IT capital,
15:01was not being able to draw a tech giant as tall as Google?
15:05$15 billion is the investment that we are talking about which went the way of Andhra Pradesh.
15:09It's not just Priyankarge that's under fire.
15:11Even in Tamil Nadu, TRB Raja had to face the ire of opposition parties,
15:16taunting and questioning TRB Raja as to why is it,
15:19despite the fact that Sundar Pichai hailing from Tamil Nadu, being a Tamilian,
15:23Google did not invest in Tamil Nadu, did not invest in Bengaluru,
15:26but in fact went the way of Andhra Pradesh.
15:28Big, big win in fact for Andhra Pradesh, but for the industries minister in the other states.
15:33Be it in Tamil Nadu or in Karnataka, they are, you know, having to answer a lot of questions,
15:38having to face a lot of taunts.
15:39Even in Tamil Nadu's assembly session yesterday, TRB Raja defended himself by saying
15:44that Tamil Nadu did try its level best to secure the Google,
15:48but I don't wish to talk more about that.
15:50Likewise, Priyanka Karge now also has to answer a lot of questions
15:54about Google going the way of Andhra Pradesh,
15:57leaving the hands of both Bangalore and Tamil Nadu.
16:00Thank you, Anaka. That's all from Karnataka.
16:14Let us go to our neighbouring state where Abdul Bashir will bring the latest from Telangana.
16:18Well, hidden camera horror in the city of Hyderabad.
16:36This incident has taken place in Vengalrao Nagar where an owner of a house
16:41has been alleged of setting up a hidden camera in the bulb.
16:45Well, this incident came to light recently when on October 4th,
16:49a married woman, a 23-year-old married woman along with her husband,
16:53were residing at a house owned by Ashok.
16:55And this person on October 4th,
16:58when a bulb stopped working in the bathroom,
17:01had called for an electrician and fixed a bulb.
17:03On October 14th, the husband of this married woman
17:06just tried to fix a loose screw there,
17:09wherein he discovered a camera.
17:11Now, this was a shock that was sent to the family members
17:14and immediately, police was called.
17:16The whole investigation has begun.
17:18A case has been registered.
17:19Now, during a confrontation of the victim with the owners
17:24where she had asked who the electrician is,
17:28what exactly has happened.
17:29The owner did not give the details of the electrician,
17:31nor did they confront the electrician
17:33and later threatened the woman of dire consequences.
17:37Well, the police have registered a case now
17:38and have taken into custody Ashok,
17:41the owner of the house,
17:43where Chintu, the electrician, is still on run.
17:46Now, this incident has sent a horror,
17:48a hidden camera horror in the city of Hyderabad.
17:54Well, that is it we have from the city of Hyderabad and Telangana.
18:05Over to you, Anaga.
18:10Well, that's it from the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
18:14and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana.
18:16This is the flavor of South India on India today.
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