What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The air hung heavy with grief as an Indian Air Force aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 14 of the 45 Indians who died in a devastating fire at a building in Kuwait landed at Delhi's Palam technical area from Kerala's Kochi on Friday evening.
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.
'If Pinarayi Vijayan gets another term, Kerala will be a state where everybody has a house.'
The clash between the rival parties broke out on Monday night and the situation is under control now.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday stepped up his attack on the Left government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by accusing the latter of directing the police not to lodge a case when he was heckled at the Kannur University in 2019.
The cancellation of UGC-NET, amid the raging row over NEET, led to questions being raised over National Testing Agency's (NTA) capability to conduct exams of larger magnitude.
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.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was present inside the house when the incident took place, a police official said.
The health department said two of the persons on the contact list are from Palakkad, while four are from Thiruvananthapuram.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Zika has been reported in Kerala and it was not unexpected as it is spread by the Aedes Aegypte mosquitoes, which causes dengue and Chickungunya.
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.
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.
In a stunning electoral victory, the ruling Communist Party if India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), rode back to power in Kerala winning 99 of the 140 seats, bucking the over four decade long trend of Communists and Congress-led United Democratic Front coming to power alternatively.
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.
If a 15 seconds-long mic problem merits a case being registered, then the police risk an avalanche of complaints of similar and greater gravity, seeking their intervention, notes Shyam G Menon.
Arun Jaitley will visit Kerala on Sunday. The same day, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam will discuss law and order with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
'The media is portraying the Malayalam film industry as the worst place, but that's not true.'
Hanan Hamid walked the ramp wearing a traditional half-saree to promote Khadi products here.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out 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).
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.
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 rivalry between party veteran V S Achuthanandan and Communist Party of India-Marxist Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan appears to be heading to a flashpoint, pushing the party to its worst crisis in recent times.
BJP activist Remith was hacked to death in the home town of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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.
The Kerala assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to refrain from implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country.
The fallout from the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry intensified on Monday as a case was filed against well-known filmmaker Ranjith, and several female actors stepped forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
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 Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala on Monday put on hold the implementation of the controversial amendment to the state Police Act citing criticism from various quarters.
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.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
Justice Beevi was admitted to the private hospital a few days ago due to age-related ailments and breathed her last on Thursday afternoon around 12.15 pm, an official source said.
As pressure mounted, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front seemed to be supporting Mukesh, taking a cautious wait-and-watch stance.
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.
The actor met with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed the political situation in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
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