Kerala has reported the season's first death due to H1N1 virus ahead of the onset of southwest monsoon as various types of viral fever spread in the state, including a large number of dengue cases.
India on Thursday summoned the Italian ambassador in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over killing of its two fishermen allegedly by security guards of an Italian ship off Kollam coast on suspicion of being pirates.
This is a story of a law graduate who had come to Kerala seeking spiritual answers only to be killed brutally allegedly by the warden of a mental hospital.
A youth from Bihar, who was arrested in connection with an incident at Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram in Kollam on August 1, had died of torture at the mental asylum where he was admitted after the incident, the crime branch said in Thiruvananthapuram.
The youth skipped parties and the elderly shunned the comfort of watching TV at home on the New Year's eve as thousands of people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act rang in 2020 with singing the national anthem at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.
As the clock struck 12, the protesting crowd burst into a cheer to greet the fellow protesters the new year, and moments later broke into the national anthem in unison which was followed by the slogan 'Inquilab Zindabad'.
Two Catholic priests from Italy visited the home of one of the two fishermen gunned down by marines of Italian ship Enrica Lexie, fuelling speculation that their mission was to explore possibilities of settling the case through out-of-court mediation.
The marines, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, had in their plea asked the Court to allow joint forensic examination of the weapons used in the shooting incident by Indian and Italian experts.
Two Italian marines charged with murder in connection with the killing of two Indian fishermen, were on Monday remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Kollam and sent to the Central Prison at Thiruvananthapuram.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi on Saturday called his Indian counterpart S M Krishna over the killing of two Indian fishermen by the guards of an Italian oil tanker off Kollam coast in Kerala. Krishna told Terzi that the captain the Italian oil tanker must cooperate with Indian law enforcers. Krishna said the law should be allowed to take its own course in connection with the incident.
A court in Kollam on Saturday rejected the bail application of two Italian marines accused in the fishermen killing case, holding that granting it might affect progress of the case.
The two Italian marines of 'Encrica Lexie', who shot dead Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15 had used two Beretta rifles to commit the offence, according to the report of the forensic sciences laboratory
The woman, who tested positive, is a student of Wuhan university and is undergoing treatment at the Thrissur Medical College Hospital. 3 people have been arrested for spreading false information about those who had arrived in the state from coronavirus affected countries.
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.
Though Shweta did not reveal the identity of the politician who allegedly harassed her at the President's Trophy boat race on Friday evening, media footage showed Congress MP N Peethambara Kurup from the area touching her but the lawmaker on Saturday strongly denied having committed such an act
Don't be in a relationship for the sake of your children, Gokul Sreedhar wrote in a post celebrating his mother's second marriage.
Pointing out that there were "serious defects" in the Italian government's plea seeking quashing of the FIR charging two of its marines with the murder of two fishermen, the Kerala high court on Thursday sternly told them that it will look into the petition only after these are "cured". The Italian government should not have an impression that the Indian Judiciary was so loose that anyone could file a petition before courts, Justice P S Gopinathan said in the open court.
If only the Italians had accepted that it was a wrong judgement on the part of the crew of the ship, apologised and offered adequate compensation, the matter could have been resolved. But their whole approach has been defiant, says T P S Sreenivasan.
With less than two weeks left for the April 13 assembly elections, the battle has warmed up for 30 seats in three southern districts of Kerala, seen crucial for both the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and Congress headed United Democratic Front.
The LDF lost Kochi and Thrissur corporations but managed to retain power with a wafer-thin margin in Thiruvananthapuram and held sway over Kollam city civic body with a comfortable majority.The UDF swept the municipalities in Malappuram, Kottayam and Idukki district and also put up an impressive performance in Ernakulam, Wayanad and Kasargode.
Kerala is clearly having its moment :)
Four youth were arrested from Ochira in Kollam district on Thursday for allegedly sending provocative SMS messages to friends relating to the Ayodhya issue.
A person from Kerala with a travel history to China has been tested positive. Health ministry said the patient is stable and is being closely monitored.
'The PM says he believes in discussion and debate, then why are discussions and debates not being allowed in Parliament?'
"We know that the Communists do not respect the Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined they would have such hatred," Modi said.
Eminent Malayalam litterateur O N V Kurup and noted Urdu poet Akhlaq Khan Shahryar have been chosen for the Jnanpith Award for the year 2007 and 2008 respectively for their contribution to literature.
Abdul Nasser Madani, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, who is facing an imminent arrest in the 2008 Bengaluru blast case claimed that the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have hatched a conspiracy to finish him off politically. Madani spoke to rediff.com's Arun Lakshman from Anwarassery,in Kerala's Kollam district on Wednesday.
Though many fishermen were brought ashore safely and admitted to hospitals, many are yet to recover from the shock of wrestling the lashing waves and seeing death face-to-face.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on Monday said Kerala government has asked Centre to take up investigation into the case of chopping off the hand of college lecturer T J Joseph allegedly by activists of radical outfit Popular Front of India.
The PDP leader, who was arrested from his orphanage-cum-madrassa complex earlier in the day, was brought to Bangalore from Thiruvanathapuram in a private airline flight amid heavy police security, with Joint Commissioner of Crime Alok Kumar and Assistant Commissioner of Police Omkaraiah escorting him.
"We are in close touch with Karnataka police. Madani will be arrested at the appropriate time. There is no confusion on his arrest between us," Kerala DGP Jacob Punnose told reporters at nearby Aluva.
Chairman of the People's Democratic Party and an accused in the Bengaluru serial blasts Abdul Nasser Madani is planning to move the Supreme court after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Karnataka high court on Tuesday.
Twenty people were injured, three of them seriously, when a gas tanker collided with a car and caught fire at Puthantheruvu near Kollam, Kerala, early on Thursday.
'In spite of all the sermonising from the political class, when they come in public, the ministers don't follow their own rules.' 'They don't mask.' 'If you look at the West Bengal election campaigning, if you look at the Assam election campaigning or if you look at Kerala election campaigning, they are not setting an example.'
People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani, who is facing arrest for his alleged role in the Bengaluru blasts case, on Tuesday claimed that he was innocent.Addressing a press conference in Kollam, Madani said, "I have no connection with the Bengaluru blasts."He said he was ready to surrender to the police and "my next move will be only according to the law".He added that he had full faith in the judiciary.
Facing arrest in the 2008, Bengaluru serial blasts case, PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani said he would surrender before the nearest court "in the coming days", the date for which would be announced on Monday.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
The IMD has predicted heavy rainfall over Karnataka and Kerala for the next few days.
With the country's long coastline increasingly becoming vulnerable to terror attacks, Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit Maharashtra and Kerala on Monday to review the security situation in the two coastal states.
Petitioner, Borris Paul of Kollam, Secretary of Young Lawyers Association, had submitted that the investigation be handed over to CBI as the present probe was not going in the right direction. He had also sought a free, fair and impartial investigation in the case relating to the murder of George.
