Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, arraigned as an accused in a graft case relating to awarding of contract to a Canadian firm during his tenure as Power Minister in 1998, was on Wednesday granted bail by a CBI special court in Kochi.
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.
Vijayan was stopped with bullets and they were taken away from him at the Chennai airport when he was traveling to New Delhi on February 16.
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).
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Janata Dal-Secular president and former prime minister H D Dewa Gowda has dissolved the Kerala committee of the party led by veteran leader and former Member of Parliament M P Veerendrakumar.While Veerendrakumar alleged that Gowda has dissolved the state committee in accordance with the wishes of Kerala Communist Party of India-Marxist secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Gowda claimed that he had never even met Vijayan.
The CPI(M) today observed 'Black day' in Kerala in protest against Governor R S Gavai's decision to accord sanction to the CBI to prosecute former Minister and party's state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin graft case.
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.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran was to attend the United Nations World Tourism Organisation meet in Chengdu between September 11-16.
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.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have united in their demands, calling for the immediate resignation and arrest of P P Divya, a Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and district panchayat president, who leveled graft accusations against ADM Naveen Babu at his send-off function organised by colleagues at the Kannur district collectorate.
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.
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.
A 'man-eater' tiger that killed a woman two days ago was found dead in Kerala's high-range district of Wayanad on Monday and an autopsy on the dead cat revealed the presence of the victim's hair, dress, and a pair of earrings in its stomach, forest officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Karun Nair on a splendid triple-century against England in Chennai on Monday.
'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?'
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the decision was undertaken to avoid the illicit flow of liquor in the state amid a partial lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus after 67 confirmed cases were reported.
The 84-year-old Marxist veteran also likened the party's action on Saturday to suspend him and state party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to 'punishing children when they commit mistakes'.
In one of the worst natural disasters in Kerala, at least 123 persons were killed and 128 injured in massive landslides triggered by torrential rains in Wayanad on Tuesday. With hundreds trapped under the debris, sparking fears of mounting fatalities, rescue agencies were racing against time to pull out any survivors.
'Silence is the convention. Silence is appreciated. Silence is practical and silence is rewarded.' 'This is how sexual harassment in showbiz is normalised.'
The chief minister and the party secretary were at logger heads for the past several years and Pinarayi Vijayan has successfully emerged as the most powerful leader of the CPI-M in Kerala for the past few years cutting to size Achuthanandan who had in fact promoted Vijayan into the higher echelons of CPI-M power ladder.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, whose head may be on the chopping block, has decided to go hammer and tongs against his bitter rival in the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Pinarayi Vijayan. While answering questions on the party secretary's comment about the inclusion of a new nominee from the Janata Dal in to his cabinet, the Chief Minister said that it was not the party secretary (Vijayan) but the Left Democratic Front which is the ultimate decision maker.
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.
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.
'If you don't fulfil whatever they ask, you are in trouble.'
Remith, who suffered severe injuries on his head and neck in the attack that happened at 10.30 am, died on the way to hospital, police said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Chandravat, the Sah Prachar Pramukh of RSS in Ujjain, had announced the reward to avenge the killing of its workers in Kerala
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.
'Maybe this has created some minor issues which can happen in any party.'
The workers have been hospitalised after they suffered series injuries in the ambush by more than 10 CPI-M workers over political rivalry.
Amid protest over the proposed ambitious semi-highspeed SilverLine rail project, also known as K-Rail, the Kerala government on Saturday published the detailed project report that estimated the cost of project to be Rs 63,941 crore.
The health department said two of the persons on the contact list are from Palakkad, while four are from Thiruvananthapuram.
The Kerala High Court has ordered a further probe into an allegation that state Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian insulted the Constitution in a speech in July 2022. The court found that Cherian's words, including 'ideal Constitution to loot the people', and the use of certain Malayalam terms, could be interpreted as disrespectful to the Constitution. The court also criticized the initial investigation, finding it insufficient and biased, and directed the State Crime Branch to conduct the further probe.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Central Committee's endorsement of the expulsion of three personal staff of former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is being seen as a setback to the veteran leader locked in a bitter feud with the dominant faction led by state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
