Compiled by C. ARUNO, ALLISON LAI and R. ARAVINTHAN

       THE Parit Buntar MIC division chairman post was decided by a coin toss after the two candidates were tied on number of votes, Makkal Osai reported.

       The MIC party elections saw incumbent president V. Mutthiah and challenger Vigneswaran Thannirmalai tied with 65 votes each after the final tally.

       MIC central working committee member RT Rajasekaran who was the election officer conducted the coin toss that landed in favour of the challenger.

       The division is a significant one for the party with 23 branches.

       A total of 132 delegates from the branches cast their votes in the poll.

       > The Tamil Nadu state government will move to shut liquor shops operating near temples, the daily also reported.

       The state government has long faced calls to shut down the highly profitable state-run Tasmac liquor shops.

       Successive administrations under both major political parties have elected to continue operating the chain while selectively closing outlets to mollify specific grouses such as shops being located next to highways or close to schools.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.