<span style="color: #222222;">The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy consulted the 'medical experts team on the lockdown' in the Secretariat at Fort St. George in Chennai this morning. The meeting has been held in the wake of the third phase of the nationwide lockdown drawing to a close on Sunday. Mr. Palaniswamy is said to have discussed about the possible additional relaxations in the restrictions in the light of the present epidemiological situations.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, the panel led by the RBI ex-Governor C Rengarajan constituted by the Tamil Nadu Government to strengthen its fiscal situation, met today in Chennai. The panel has been mandated to recommend in three months the ways of boosting the fiscal situation and revitalize the economy in the state.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, the total Covid-19 infected cases in Tamil Nadu has surged past the 9000-mark yesterday with the confirmation of 509 new cases. It has propelled the state into the third spot in terms of the total number of infections.<br />''<br />''In the meantime, paddy procurement in Tamil Nadu this season has exceeded the previous year records despite the lockdown.<br />''<br />''In a positive development on agriculture front, paddy procurement in Tamil Nadu is set to exceed the previous year record. Even during the lockdown period from 24th March to 11th May, the state food department has procured 2.87 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers as stated by it. In the whole season so far, 22.51 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been procured and six lakh tons more is expected during the remaining few weeks into the season. The Food department says it would be 20 per cent more than what was realized last year. Though paddy has registered an impressive record, most of the horticultural produces met with severe stress in many parts due to logistical bottlenecks during the lockdown as they are perishable in nature. Meanwhile, from the Food Corporation of India, the state has lifted 5.2 lakh tonnes of food grains during the lockdown period from 25th March till last Tuesday, for its public distribution system. It includes 5.04 lakh tonnes of rice under the National Food Security Act and the PM Garibh Kalyan Ann Yojana. </span><br />