'His report created a lot of negative reaction in Kerala and in a way, he was crucified for writing such a report.' 'I asked him, "Don't you feel frustrated?"' 'His reply was, "Have you read Bhagavad Gita Chapter2"?' 'He particularly mentioned verse 47, where Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, "Your duty is to work without thinking of the fruits you get".' "He said, "similarly, my duty was to do what best I could do without hoping for any rewards".'
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
CAG warns most states of fiscal imprudence as March spending overshoots limits, with key departments exhausting large portions of budgets in the last month of FY24.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a warning of significant rainfall in Kerala due to cyclone Fengal, currently positioned as a strong low-pressure area over northern Tamil Nadu.
Experts say the state's economy is grappling with hidden debt, rising welfare costs, and lack of transparency.
Eight persons remained trapped inside the tunnel since February 22, after a part of it collapsed.
'For the first time in this country, perhaps the first time anywhere, we are going to use backwardness index.' 'It is a fundamental shift in the discourse in the country's social justice.'
In a setback to the Kerala government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a law promulgated by it declaring Mullaperiyar dam as endangered, and restrained it from obstructing the Tamil Nadu government to raise the water level.
Kerala on Monday became the first state to adopt a water budget in a bid to come up with a solution to water scarcity in certain regions there. The first phase of the project would cover 94 gram panchayats and 15 block panchayats. The Public Water Budget was released by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, along with the launch of the third phase of the Ini Njan Ozhukatte (Let me flow now) project, for the rehabilitation of irrigation networks in the Western Ghats.
High nitrate levels have been found in groundwater of 440 districts across India, with 20 per cent of the samples collected exceeding the permissible nitrate concentration, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has said in a report.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rains of 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.
Poor dam management was considered as a major reason for the 2018 floods in the state that led to a loss of around Rs 50,000 crore and claimed as many as 483 lives, reports Shine Jacob.
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
TN has alleged that the whole exercise of the Kerala government was to nullify the orders of the court.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
The IMD also issued a red alert in the same 10 districts for August 3 also.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary V Gopal Swamy alias Vaiko was arrested, along with over 100 party workers, near Amaravathy in Tamil Nadu while he was on his way to Kerala on Friday.Vaiko was leading party workers to check whether the Kerala government was constructing a dam across the Pamba river.Water from the Pamba dam is used to irrigate thousands of acres of land in Tamil Nadu.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In a cruel twist of fate, a 25-year-old labourer who won a Rs 1 crore bumper lottery prize drowned in an irrigation pool before he could get the money.
Taking strong exception to the Kerala government's plan to construct a dam across the Siruvani river at Attapadi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday asked the Centre not to accord it technical clearance as it "violates" the final order of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
Finding fault with the method adopted by the CWDT in calculating the award, Kerala complained that the tribunal had taken the starting point, the inequitable imperial treaties of 1892 and 1924 to which the state was never a party.
The veteran Kerala Congress leader had been a dominant player in Kerala's coalition politics, serving under six chief ministers.
The news will augur well for the country as large parts have been witnessing agriculture distress and water levels in reservoirs in west and south India have dipped to low levels.
The meeting came in the backdrop of protests by farmers bodies against the release of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.
Heavy rains pounded south and central Kerala on Saturday wreaking havoc in many parts with some people feared missing in the landslides that occurred in hilly areas bordering Kottayam and Idukki districts prompting the state government to seek the assistance of the Army and Air Force for rescue operations.
It has also advanced into most parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of south interior Karnataka and remaining parts of south Bay of Bengal, according to IMD.
The two states are sharply divided over the height of the dam in Idukki district of Kerala.
The IMD said that there has been an increase in the rainfall activity in Kerala and monsoon could hit the state anytime now.
In the coming months, globally as well as in India, rice might remain a hot potato.
India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeared to have reservations about the Congress support to the 'liberation struggle' against Kerala's first Communist ministry led by E M S Namboodiripad, which was dismissed in 1959 within two years of coming to power.
With conditions not favouring its progress, southwest monsoon is expected to hit the Kerala coast by June 4, three days after its normal onset date, the MET department has said.
Kerala Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan made the announcement in the assembly while replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion moved by Congress-led UDF opposition on the serious situation prevailing in the state due to the sharp decrease in rainfall.
'The Megalithic period had a significant feature. Their pottery uses black and red clay.' 'Another identifying feature is that all Megalithic burial sites are oriented towards the east.'
Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani resigned on Tuesday night after pressure mounted on him from the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front to quit.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
Today, with the Lok Sabha polls only months away, any inter-state dispute over the Cauvery water dispute has the potential to take more political turns than otherwise, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
The southwest monsoon over the country is likely to be normal in July, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday in its forecast for the month.
The demand for extension of the GST cess regime among others was made by several state finance ministers at a pre-budget consultation called by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. Besides, many states also demanded raising the share of the Union government in the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). Currently, the central government and state government share in some CSS is 60:40 while in others it is 75:25.