Basant Panchami is dedicated to Devi Saraswati, the goddess of learning and an auspicious occasion to visit shrines in her honour.
Anandu Krishnan, a 26-year-old man, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding people of several crores by promising scooters, sewing machines, home appliances, and laptops at half price using fake CSR funds from major companies. The total fraud is estimated to be around Rs 600-700 crore. Krishnan was operating the scam since 2022 by registering societies and convincing people that he was the National Coordinator of the National NGO Federation and that he had been entrusted with managing the CSR funds of various companies. He collected money through 62 "seed societies" and used his political links to convince the victims. The police are investigating the role of certain political leaders in the fraud.
'The situation is quite bad. We are trying to rescue people. Right now we are giving them food and water so that they can at least survive until the water recedes,' says Squadron leader V Joshi.
A total of 311 people from various districts are under observation, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.
The Army, the National Disaster Response Force, police and the fire force along with the locals began rescue operations on Sunday morning at Koottickal and Kokkayar panchayats where over a dozen people are listed to be missing due to numerous landslides accompanied by heavy downpour since Saturday.
The results of blood samples of the student, which were tested at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, have confirmed Nipah, she said.
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.
'I lost several of my friends, a lot of people I know are severely injured and in hospital. It will take time for all of us to recover.' 'You can't blame any single political party for using their influence to get the fireworks okayed. It is an election year and everybody wants to please the people.'
'One wrong input meant instead of rescuing one person, four people in the helicopter would gone down.' 'That was the risk I was supposed to take.' 'It was like balancing on a pin.' 'In an ordinary situation, I would not have done that operation at all because it was extremely risky. But this was an emergency.'
'Reluctance to go against temple rituals is understandable and the Hindu vote bank is extremely important at the ensuing elections.' 'But even the devout Hindus will not hold it against the government if the opportunity presented by the tragedy is utilised at least for a temporary ban.' 'Later, it may be too late as it might dawn on people that a hundred lives are not too much of a sacrifice to save a tradition,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Around six lakh people have been housed in over 2000 relief camps in the two states.
'When I applied for the job of santhi, I applied as a person who was eligible.' 'When I joined the temple at the age of 21, it was because I got the 4th rank in the list.' 'Now, everybody is talking only about my caste. I am above all that; it doesn't matter to me and to the people with whom I am associated with.'
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
