After identifying the man who was the patient zero or index case of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the state government on Saturday began looking for the source and place from where he got infected by seeking details of his mobile tower locations.
The child had been scheduled for surgery to remove a sixth finger on her hand at the Maternal and Child Care Centre of the Medical College Hospital.
One of those infected with the virus was a nine-year-old boy.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Who says fast food places know how to make burgers best. You can too. And well.
Here's some sizzle from the IIFA Utsavam night, which was dedicated to the south film industries of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday, recalled "an old name of Rahul Gandhi" to attack the Congress leader, who a day earlier had wondered why the Marxist veteran was not jailed by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre, unlike two other chief ministers of Opposition-ruled states.
BJP president Amit Shah is chairing the meeting attended by top party leaders from across the country.
Shailaja, who had won accolades for containing the Nipah infection effectively in 2018, said the southern state has a protocol and standard operating procedure (SOP) to effectively fight the infection and prevent its spread.
He said scientists have noticed a trend of very deep cloud systems developing over the southeast Arabian Sea, and added that sometimes, these systems intrude into the land, like in 2019.
The Nipah virus has killed two people and infected two others in Kerala's Kozhikode district, the state government said on Tuesday.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
Until five days ago, the action committee, formed to work for the release of Rahim, could raise only a meagre amount but as the campaign intensified, help poured in from Kerala people from across the world, the organisers said on Friday.
'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.'
The deadly landslides in Kerala's ecologically fragile Wayanad district were triggered by a heavy burst of rainfall, made 10 per cent heavier by climate change, according to a new rapid attribution study by a global team of scientists.
He said, during a press meet in Kannur, that during the LS polls, alliances were being formed in various states as part of the platform and its result was that the Bharatiya Janata Party was being largely isolated.
The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where Rahul Gandhi won for the second time in a row, comprises three assembly constituencies each in the tribal district of Wayanad and the Muslim-dominated Malappuram, as well as one in Kozhikode district where Christians hold a significant vote base.
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.
Kerala Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said an inquiry has been ordered.
There is a definite attempt to put the landslides on the backburner because news of them and climate change worry Wayanad's tourism and real estate businesses greatly. Whatever I experienced of Wayanad's 2024 by-elections; the July landslides were not a burning issue, observes Shyam G Menon.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
ADGP (law and order), M R Ajith Kumar told reporters that the interrogation of the accused was underway and further details cannot be disclosed at this point.
The Maoists have warned that if the government does not stop unfairly targeting them and charging false cases against them, what happened in Kochi at the Jehovah's Witnesses convention can be expected during the 'Hamas rally of fake comrades' in the district, an official said.
At around 9.45 pm, when the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city, an unidentified man poured an inflammable liquid on a co-passenger and set him on a fire resulting in burn injuries to at least eight persons, police said.
Kerala is the only state, other than West Bengal (2001 and 2007), in India to have reported Nipah virus cases. Kerala is the only state, other than West Bengal (2001 and 2007), in India to have reported Nipah virus cases. The previous outbreaks in the state were in May 2018, June 2019 and September 2021. This explains the anticipation and readiness this year, reports Shine Jacob.
Several people are still feared trapped in the debris after a series of landslides that occurred in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad.
The police search comes just a couple of days after a group of SFI activists allegedly trespassed into the Kochi office of the news channel and intimidated the staff.
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.
IPC Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with the intent to cause riot) was invoked against the professor.
This will also help test the effectiveness of preventing the entry of Nipah in target cells.
As Kerala battles severe heat, the meteorological department has issued a maximum temperature warning for 12 districts for the upcoming five days.
The searches covered the properties of accused Shahrukh Saifi and other suspects, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency said.
The court passed the interim order on Thursday while deciding on the allegations of plagiarism against Varaha Roopam.
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.
Meteorologists earlier said Cyclone 'Biparjoy' had been impacting the intensity of the monsoon and that its onset over Kerala would be 'mild'.
Announcing candidates for the remaining four seats in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its state chief K Surendran in the high-profile Wayanad constituency against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
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.
A source in the medical college said the suspect, who was caught from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on the Wednesday, was admitted there after his examination.
The investigating team, which has been granted custody of Shahrukh Saifi, had on April 12 taken him to Kannur for collecting evidence from the two train coaches of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train in which he had set fire to some passengers leading to the death of three persons, including a two-year old child.
