Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan -- a devotee of Marx and Engels, Lenin and Stalin for well over half a century -- was spotted with a man and child with a starling resemblance to St Nick aka Santa Claus aka Ded Moroz (as Santa is known in Vladmir and Josef's native Russia).
Even as political pressure was building against Ranjith, actor Siddique quit as the general secretary of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) amid voices from within his fraternity seeking his resignation.
The much-awaited report of the Justice Hema Committee, the government-appointed panel in 2019 that studied issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, comprises explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation, and ill-treatment being faced by women.
As pressure mounted, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front seemed to be supporting Mukesh, taking a cautious wait-and-watch stance.
As rescue operations in the landslide-hit areas of this north Kerala district entered fifth day, rescuers unearthed more bodies and body parts, taking the death toll to 215, with around 206 people still reported missing.
On a day a sexual abuse case was registered against actor Siddique based on a complaint by a woman actor, the Left government appears to have adopted a cautious approach in the case of MLA Mukesh, with two ministers indicating that further action hinges on the findings of the probe by the special police team.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday termed as 'baseless', Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the state government did not heed the Centre's warning regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.
The top court, meanwhile, permitted the state government to amend its plea to seek issuance of guidelines for the governors on grant or decline of assent to the bills passed by the assembly in a time-bound manner.
Even as the families of suspected deceased persons from Kerala mourn the loss of their loved ones in the Kuwait fire incident that claimed several lives, many of them are yet to receive any official confirmation from the authorities.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the rescue mission in the landslide-hit Mundakkai region of Wayanad could take a few more days, and appointed a cabinet sub-committee of four ministers to coordinate the rescue efforts.
Ranjith has reportedly rejected Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra's charge and said he was the "real victim" in the case.
Several people are still feared trapped in the debris after a series of landslides that occurred in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad.
Rescue teams on Friday used GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad to help locate survivors, amidst accelerated search operations after the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Army.
The Opposition Congress alleged that the blast, which occurred around 1 am according to the police, happened during the manufacturing of country-made bombs by some CPI-M supporters.
The death toll in the devastating landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district rose to 167 on Wednesday, while 191 were missing even as the rescue teams intensified efforts to find survivors trapped under the debris on the second day of the search operations.
The Kerala police have registered another case against Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar for allegedly making statements that promote enmity between different groups through social media posts in connection with recent blasts at a convention centre in Kochi.
'In India those who want change cannot bring about change, and those who can bring about change do not want change.'
Netto said that Christians in various parts of the country, especially in Manipur and north India, were being subjected to "cruelty and violence by dark forces" and alleged that there was no effective intervention against it by the authorities.
The construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, alongside the deployment of sniffer dogs and over 1,000 rescuers from Central and state emergency response teams conducting massive search operations, constitutes one of the largest rescue efforts in the Wayanad, devastated by a deadly calamity.
Khan, the anti-Communist propagandist of the day, should understand that the Communists were subjected to suppression before it came to power in the state through ballot in 1957, Vijayan said at a party programme.
Sankaran had been admitted to a private hospital near Kannur in Kerala for the past few days due to age-related ailments and died on Sunday night, they said.
A right-wing vlogger has been booked for allegedly spreading hatred via social media in connection with the recent blast at a religious gathering that killed four people near Kochi last week, police said on Wednesday.
In one of the worst natural disasters in Kerala, at least 123 persons were killed and 128 injured in massive landslides triggered by torrential rains in Wayanad on Tuesday. With hundreds trapped under the debris, sparking fears of mounting fatalities, rescue agencies were racing against time to pull out any survivors.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
According to the CPI-M, Aleida, who arrived in Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram, is likely to attend a party meeting on Tuesday and will participate in a public reception on Wednesday.
'We waded through the wet mud into the school, and what we saw were dead bodies strewn all over.' 'We could also see parts of human bodies buried under the wet mud.' 'It was a sight I will never forget in my life. Total devastation everywhere.'
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
The Governor and the ruling LDF in the state have been at loggerheads since the Supreme Court verdict quashing the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as VC of Kannur University and berating the Left government for its "unwarranted intervention" in the matter.
Kerala on Friday said a tearful goodbye to most of the 23 victims from the state who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy -- one of the biggest incidents to ever affect the state's expatriate community known for their dedication and hard work.
Tourist centres have been closed in many districts, including Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, and a night travel ban has been imposed in the hilly areas of Idukki district.
The tragedy occurred during the university's anniversary celebrations.
Intense heat swept through east India and parts of the southern peninsular region on Thursday, testing power grids and prompting the Kerala government to order closure of educational institutions till May 6.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday declared the southern state as India's first fully e-governed state where an entire range of government services have been digitised so that they can be provided to the citizens promptly and transparently.
Heart-breaking stories of sorrow and shock began emerging from various parts of Kerala as people learned about the death of their loved ones.
Bommai rejected all the key infrastructure related proposals of Kerala, saying it will damage the eco-sensitive zones and wildlife sanctuaries.
'Except that the population was much less.' 'I remember my uncle and family moving away from the base of a hill whenever it rained for more than a couple of days without a dry day in between.' 'Perhaps the older generations knew if it rained for more than a certain time, they must pack up to a camp or to a relative.' 'As some of the interviews of the survivors on the Malayalam television channels show, the elderly people had a premonition a tragedy would happen, and those who acted on those premonitions survived.'
In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi, Modi said some INDIA bloc leaders left the Lok Sabha and moved to the Rajya Sabha as they have no courage to contest elections.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
Vijayan said that the trailer of the Hindi film, at first glance, appears to be "deliberately produced" with the alleged aim of creating communal polarisation and spreading hate propaganda against the state.
Nothing is going to change in a hurry unless attitudes change and punishments are speedy and fair, notes Ramesh Menon.
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