-The Hindu   The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on Monday, deferred till March the hearing on the Mullaperiyar dam issue, saying it will wait till the Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee submits its report. The decision was taken at a meeting of the full commission of the NHRC, a senior NHRC official said. “The commission has decided to wait till the empowered committee submits its report on February 29,” the official said. The NHRC had...

The floodgates have opened on a movie ominously titled DAM999, which some political parties in Tamil Nadu feel is toeing the line of neighbouring Kerala in a dispute between the states. A section of Tamil Nadu politicians feels the movie, produced and directed by a Malayali businessman, relates to the controversy around the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in central Kerala. Tamil Nadu holds the lease rights to the dam for 999 years...