'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
As counting is on in the five states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal -- here's a look at where the heavyweights stand.
With Pinarayi Vijayan set to be chief minister, what will be the role for party patriarch V S Achuthanandan? And what are the key takeways from the election results in Kerala?
Kerala CM wrote to EAM S Jaishankar, seeking his intervention in the matter.
The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court claiming that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was delaying giving his assent to bills passed by the state assembly, which was "defeating the rights of the people".
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.
''This chief minister is so obstinate that he is ready to use the police to attain his goal.' 'Had he been more mature rather than obstinate, Kerala would not have reached a boiling point.'
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.
He told flood affected people at Meppadi and Kaithapoil that as their representative, he has spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to ask for help for this region from the state and Central governments."
He appealed to Kerala to extend cooperation to store full water in the Mullaiperiyar dam.
'We waded through the wet mud into the school, and what we saw were dead bodies strewn all over.' 'We could also see parts of human bodies buried under the wet mud.' 'It was a sight I will never forget in my life. Total devastation everywhere.'
'The presence of Rahul Gandhi and his campaigning for the Congress will make a general difference, but whether it will make a saving difference, not sure.'
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present with the PM as he interacted with the students inside the train.
Eleven persons, three of them local Communist Party of India-Marxist functionaries, were sentenced to life imprisonment in the sensational T P Chandrasekharan murder case by a special court in Kozhikode on Tuesday.
The court said that in the instant case the investigating officer adopted a "lethargic attitude" throughout the investigation.
Police has registered a case and some persons have been taken into custody.
Kerala-based Kitex Garments, the world's second-largest children's garments producer, has landed in trouble after sporadic violence at its workers' camp led to an attack on the local police, injuring at least five officers. The local police told Business Standard that at least 156 migrant workers were detained after the incident and around 50 have been arrested so far. A decision on any possible action against the company will be taken after the investigation.
The direction to Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL), or K-Rail as it is popularly known, was welcomed by Congress-led United Democratic Front opposition as they termed it a victory of the first phase of the struggle against the semi-high speed rail corridor.
The apex doctors' organisation said it would knock the doors of the Supreme Court if the Kerala government does not enforce Covid-appropriate behaviour to curtail the rising menace of the viral disease by withdrawing this decision.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who undertook an aerial survey of rain ravaged areas of Idukki and Wayanad, said Kerala was in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc and the calamity has caused "immeasurable misery and devastation."
Distancing himself from the comments, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the LDF's stand is not to personally attack Gandhi.
The man was caught from near the Aluva bridge on Thursday evening where he was drinking alcohol. The suspect attempted to escape from the police by jumping into the nearby river and swimming away, but was caught with the help of local residents and pulled out of the water.
Teams of the NDRF have reached several places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the two states brace themselves for cyclone Burevi.
Vijayan, who filed his nomination on Monday, submitted he has immovable assets worth Rs 51.95 lakh, including two plots with a house. He has movable assets valued at Rs 2.04 lakh including Rs 78,048.51 in his bank account in the SBI, Thalassery Branch, 1000 shares worth Rs 10,000 in Malayalam Communication Ltd and shares worth Rs one lakh at KIAL. According to the affidavit, his total income is shown as Rs 2,87,860 for 2020-21.
Days after three infant deaths were reported in Kerala's backward tribal Attapady, the National Human Rights Commission has been petitioned about the issue seeking its urgent intervention and detailed probe.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 83 people were under treatment at various hospitals and the condition of 22 of them was 'serious'.
This is the third minister in the Vijayan cabinet to resign after the LDF government came to power in May 2016.
As Election 2024 hurtles towards result day in a medley of mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
'The problem is with those who are entrusted with powers.'
'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.
Besides being awarded Padma bhushan in 2011, Madavoor had also received the Sangeet Nataka akademi award in 1997, Kerala Kalamandalam award among others and had performed the world over.
Kerala IT Secretary M Sivasankar was removed as Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, in the backdrop of the gold smuggling controversy, where the role of a former woman employee of the IT department is being probed.
On matters relating to the Diaspora, the Centre needs to call the shots, suggests Ambassador T P S Sreenivasan.
'In the past, our movement was against the colonisers, but presently our struggle against communalism is a movement against those who stood with the colonisers'
Sticking to its demand for resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam, the Comkmunist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala on Friday rejected his proposal to set up a joint panel to examine the CCTV footage of the CM's office.
"We should understand how secularism gives birth to extremism by looking at the growth of conservative racist movements in the West. The situation of India will not be different if we fail to accept Indian secularism in its literal sense," the Bishop wrote in Church's mouthpiece Deepika.
Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Centre should re-examine its decision and the operation and management of the airportbe handed over to the Special Purpose Vehicle in which the state government has stake.
The Z+ security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel has been extended to Khan and Raj Bhavan, his office said in a post on 'X'.
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.
