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.
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.
'Farewell to the unique artist who loved like a mother and taught many things like a teacher.'
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Distancing himself from the comments, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the LDF's stand is not to personally attack Gandhi.
A special session of the Kerala Assembly is being convened on Wednesday to discuss the three contentious central farm laws and pass a resolution against the acts, whose repeal is being insisted by farmers agitating at the borders of Delhi for nearly a month.
Hanan Hamid walked the ramp wearing a traditional half-saree to promote Khadi products here.
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.
A Red alert, indicating heavy to very heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, has been sounded for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathnamthitta and Alappuzha districts on December 3, while Orange alert (6 cm to 20 cm rains)for Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts the same day.
The verbal duel between the Congress and BJP over the controversial 'love and narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, intensified on Sunday with the former saying it does not want the Sangh parivar to gain foothold here while the latter claimed that both CPI (M) and Congress were cornering the Bishop over the issue.
Seeking to reach out to the fishing community in poll-bound Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday interacted with the fishermen at Thangassery beach in the district.
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.
'They don't just kill their enemies, they chop off limbs, sever heads.' 'How can anyone kill a teacher in front of small children and a son in front of his parents?'
Sachidanandan's Ayyappanum Koshiyum released just before the COVID-19 outbreak and was a smash hit.
Verification of 733 persons under the four categories of bedridden, mentally challenged, physically handicapped and those suffering from cancer has been completed, Kasaragod collector said.
'How can we tolerate such high-handedness?'
Amid debate whether the Centre's decision to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to all above 18 years was triggered by the Supreme Court's recent remarks on the jab policy, a class Vth student of Kerala, Lidwina Joseph, has written to Chief Justice N V Ramana lauding the top court for its effective intervention and saving lives in the fight against pandemic.
"Some are encouraging these Maoists to take up arms against the government," he alleged and asked the government to look into it.
Flaying both the Congress-led United Democratic Front and Bharatiya Janata Party-National Democratic Alliance and a section of the "right wing" media for trying to tarnish the image of the government and its development and welfare programmes, he said the people have rejected their 'vicious propaganda' by giving the Left a decisive mandate.
After a review meeting held at the Pathanamthitta District Collectorate to assess the situation, Rajan and state health minister Veena George said at a press conference that it has been decided to open the Kakki dam to release around 100-200 cumex water which would increase the water level of Pampa river by around 15 centimetres.
Arun Jaitley will visit Kerala on Sunday. The same day, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam will discuss law and order with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala on Tuesday became the first state to fix the floor price for vegetables, which would be 20 per cent above the production cost, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy lent support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government's fight with the Centre.
Former head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the longest-serving bishop in India Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom died of age-related ailments on Wednesday, a church spokesman said.
The leadership needs to put all other government business aside, control the pandemic and save human lives. Searchlights are going to be held by the world community in the weeks and months ahead as the fatality rates start shooting up and Indians die like flies, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party would deliberate on its failures and do course correction after internal deliberations.
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday dismissed as wrong the allegations that two nuns belonging to a Kerala-based congregation were "attacked" during a train journey via Uttar Pradesh recently and alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was "making false statements" on the issue.
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 Finance Minister K N Balagopal has sought systemic changes in the GST structure, saying every state and consumer has lost because of its basically flawed architecture that has also led to rampant revenue leakage for the states. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime came into force in July 2017. Even though the framework is focused on having a one-nation-one-tax model, quite a few items, including petroleum products and liquor are still out of the GST purview.
The KCBC, in a statement, said that even the United Nations reports have made it clear that money earned from drug trafficking is being used for terrorist activities.
'The claim that Hindi unifies our country is absurd. That language is not the mother tongue of a majority of Indians. The move to inpose Hindi on them amounts to enslaving them. The Union Minister's statement is a war cry against the mother tongues of non-Hindi speaking people'
Indian evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest. The government is not charging the rescued citizens for the evacuation flights.
'Rahul Gandhi wants a group under the name 'new generation'. But look at the people who surround him.'
BJP activist Remith was hacked to death in the home town of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of island administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.
The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to issue an ordinance empowering it to deduct salaries of its employees to mobilise funds to fight Covid-19 in the state. The move comes a day after the high court had stayed an order of the Left Front government for salary cut of its employees, observing that it lacked legal backing.
The gold, weighing over 30 kg, was seized from the "diplomatic baggage" that had landed by air cargo at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport recently from the Gulf.
With the BJP continuing to be the constant combatant, centrifugal pressures will rise. Fractured relations between the Centre and the states as between BJP and non-BJP ruled states is a sizeable risk owing ahead, warns Shekhar Gupta.
As the low-pressure area in the south-eastern Arabian Sea intensified into a severe depression on Friday, heavy rains lashed many parts of Kerala and huge tidal waves started hitting low-lying coastal areas.
