South

The meeting convened by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to discuss the current political scenario and Maratha quota stir stood cancelled as he had to attend DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi's burial in Chennai on Wednesday.

Hyderabad IKEA Store Launch: IKEA is set to leap into a milestone of sorts with the launch of its sprawling 37,000 square-metre store in Hyderabad today

Around 12 students of a school in Tamil Nadu fell ill after eating food in a suspected case of food poisoning even as the cook claimed it was a conspiracy to throw her out.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other political leaders in the country have expressed sorrow at the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi by recalling his contributions to cinema and politics.

The wooden casket with golden handles which carried the body of veteran politician M Karunanidhi has an epitaph he dictated to his son MK Stalin three decades ago.

The death of Dravidian stalwart Muthuvel Karunanidhi has signalled the virtual end of personality-driven bi-polar politics in the state, dominated by charismatic individuals of arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK in the past five decades.

The nine fishermen who went missing yesterday off the coast of Munambam, in Kochi, have not yet been traced, a defence spokesperson said today.

DMK leader M Karunanidhi, who died on Tuesday after a long illness, will be buried at Chennai's Marina Beach, where three other former chief ministers including J Jayalalithaa have memorials.

M Karunanidhi, a writer par excellence, began penning scripts for plays as a 20-year old. Over the years, his plays went on to became a vehicle for propagating principles of the Dravidian movement.

Emotional scenes were witnessed at the iconic Rajaji Hall in Chennai where veteran politician M Karunanidhi's body is placed in a glass casket, wrapped in the national flag. His son MK Stalin broke down on hearing that the Madras High Court has allowed his father's burial at Marina Beach in the city. Mr Stalin, who was standing by his father's body, was seen being consoled by his associates and party leaders. Party leader A Raja hugged him as the crowd shouted in relief.

As thousands flocked to the Rajaji Hall in Chennai for a last look at M Karunanidhi, their "Kaliagnar" who died at 94 yesterday, his party DMK and the ruling AIADMK slugged it out in court over a burial site.

MK Stalin has written a moving poem for his father M Karunanidhi, who he, like the rest of Tamil Nadu, had referred to him as Kalaignar, or scholar, for most of his life. In a hand-written poem, Mr Stalin wrote the poem as a tribute to his father, "For once, shall I call you father, my leader?"

M Karunanidhi, a towering figure in Tamil Nadu politics, was given a state funeral and buried at Chennai's Marina Beach on Wednesday, in the presence of the country's top politicians. A massive crowd followed the DMK patriarch's casket from Rajaji Hall, where leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid tribute to him earlier in the day. Two people were killed as the rush for a final glimpse of "Kalaignar", as the police used batons to control the surging crowds. The Madras High Court allowed Karunanidhi's burial at Marina Beach after overnight drama over the ruling AIADMK's refusal to give the five-time chief minister space at the beachfront which has memorials to three other former chief ministers including J Jayalalithaa. Karunanidhi died on Tuesday at 94.

People queued up in large numbers early this morning at Rajaji Hall here to pay their last respects to DMK president M Karunanidhi who died yesterday after prolonged illness.

M Karunanidhi died on Tuesday in Chennai. He was 94. Actor Rajinikanth and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited his house. The Tamil Nadu government announced a seven-day mourning in his honour.