A little over a year after it retained power in Kerala with a massive victory, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front suffered a huge setback on Friday in a bypoll held to Thrikkakara assembly constituency, with Congress candidate Uma Thomas winning with a historic margin of 25,016 votes, giving a boost to the morale of the party-led United Democratic Front in the southern state.
He also claimed that the people were asking are all the jobs under Kerala government reserved for cadres and the university jobs for powerful people in Thiruvananthapuram.
What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
Sports Minister V Abdurahiman said 20 deaths were confirmed on the basis of information from various hospitals where those pulled out from the water and inside the boat were admitted.
According to police, the tragedy happened when a portion of the fire-hit building collapsed over him, crushing the hapless man while he was busy dousing the raging flames.
Byju's has rolled back the decision to relocate 140 employees at one of its offices in Kerala after founder Byju Raveendran's meeting with Chief Minister P Vijayan and announced plans to hire 600 people in the state. The edtech major gave an option to all its 140 staff working at TVM product development centre in Thiruvananthapuram to relocate to Bengaluru as it was planning to shut down the Thiruvananthapuram office as part of its cost optimisation strategy. All these employees were also offered an assured path to return to Byju's in case they are unable to find a job in the next 12 months.
A tweet in Malayalam by Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, soon after his meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Emirates, has gone viral on social media as several expatriate Malayalis shared it on their virtual platforms.
Vijayan, in his detailed speech, said his government wanted to resolve the issue amicably within the framework of law and sought the support of everyone to participate in the process to settle the 140-day-long agitation.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Twenty-nine of the 30 incumbent chief ministers are crorepatis with Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy having the highest assets totalling Rs 510 crore, according to poll affidavits analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
A 23-year-old doctor was stabbed to death on Wednesday at a taluk hospital in Kottarakkara area of Kollam district in Kerala allegedly by a man, a school teacher under suspension, who was brought there by police after being involved in a fight with his family members.
The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala on Wednesday approved an ordinance that provides for stringent punishment, including imprisonment of up to seven years and a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for those found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to doctors, medical students, and others working in the health services sector in the state.
The SilverLine project, which is expected to considerably reduce travel time from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, cannot be implemented without approval from the Centre which appears to be giving it a second thought in view of the United Democratic Front and Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to it, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
The Left government in Kerala on Thursday withdrew a handbook for police personnel on duty at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala after the Bharatiya Janata Party raised a hue and cry over a mention in the book that all pilgrims can enter the temple.
Against the backdrop of Kerala's appetite for commonsense, it was assumed that this controversy would pass. Respect for rationalism and scientific outlook is strong in the state despite political forces gnawing at it for their own goals, observes Shyam G Menon.
Sharing a poster of the movie, Tharoor had tweeted on Sunday, "It may be 'your' Kerala story. It is not 'our' Kerala story."
The director, who gave memorable hits in Tamil and Malayalam, was 70 and passed away in his sleep following a cardiac arrest, his wife Amala Pothen said.
As the heavy rains continued on Wednesday also, Orange alert was sounded in 12 of the 14 districts of the state for the day.
'Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.' 'There was no rest for him as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.' Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who knew the former Kerala chief minister for half a century, salutes a beloved leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of its people.
The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday took a veiled dig at the Congress by asking it to safeguard its newly elected Karnataka MLAs from being poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party as was allegedly done by the saffron party in Goa amidst the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
As the controversy over Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt's remarks refused to die down, the chief minister said the Kerala society as a whole has not agreed with the Bishop's statement and expressed hope that he would "respond", sensing the stand of the public on the issue.
Two days after a fatal boat mishap had claimed 22 lives in the north Kerala district of Malappuram, murder charge has been slapped against the owner of the vessel who was caught from nearby Kozhikode, the police said on Tuesday.
The prime minister, who is on a two-day visit to the state, inaugurated, laid the foundation stone of and dedicated to the nation, railway and metro projects in the state worth Rs 4,500 crore.
In an unprecedented move, amidst the ongoing row between the Kerala governor and the Left Democratic Front government, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday shared with the media video clippings of him being allegedly heckled at a Kannur University event in 2019.
Minutes after she concluded her press conference, she told a TV channel that her colleague Sarith PS, who also worked with her at HRDS India, had been kidnapped in broad daylight from her home by 3 or 4 unknown people.
The government has ordered monoclonal antibody from Indian Council of Medical Research to treat the child. It is the only available anti-viral treatment for Nipah virus infection, though it has not been clinically proven yet.
He also rejected queries on whether a "cleansing act" was going on in the universities.
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.
The two women, who had earned their daily bread selling lottery tickets on the streets of Kochi, were allegedly sacrificed by the accused to settle their financial issues and bring prosperity in life, police said.
Antony, along with his wife Elizabeth, reached Chandy's residence in Thiruvananthapuram to bid adieu to his trusted lieutenant during trying times of their decades-long political career.
Given the politics behind it all, one possibility is for binding the governor to act according to the decisions of the state government and clarifying his position vis a vis bills and resolutions passed by the state assembly -- or, re-enacted if returned, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Adani can attract vessels at a much lower cost to Vizhinjam as he has the financial muscle to do so.'
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One of the lawyers representing the two Youth Congress workers confirmed that the court of judicial first class magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram directed the Valiyathura police to register an FIR.
Kerala Minister Saji Cheriyan on Wednesday announced his resignation amidst mounting criticism from various quarters, including the Opposition, over his controversial remarks against the Constitution recently.
'I have never seen a common man tapping a chief minister on the shoulder and giving him his petition, like needing money for a child admitted in a hospital.'
'The problem is with those who are entrusted with powers.'
Despite their opposition based on ideology, both the political Right and the political Left possess similar behaviour, observes Shyam G Menon.
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
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