Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the operator of the new airport at Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city, has ruled out withdrawing the user development fee (UDF) on both domestic and international passengers, saying it is needed to fund future expansion. On the contrary, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL) withdrew user fees for domestic passengers bowing to pressure from public, budget airlines and the government.
Kerala Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan made the announcement in the assembly while replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion moved by Congress-led UDF opposition on the serious situation prevailing in the state due to the sharp decrease in rainfall.
'Oommen Chandy may well prove to be the Teflon chief minister whose reputation cannot be tarnished,' predicts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The victory of the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front in 12 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state has made Chief Minister Oommen Chandy stronger as Kerala is one of the few states that bucked the anti-Congress trend in the country.
'The feeling is that Rajinikanth is pro-Modi than anti-Modi.'
Kerala government on Wednesday said it has decided to go ahead with its Air Kerala project to operate flights to the Gulf sector, despite reservations by certain quarters on the feasibility of the state operating an airline.
Amid massive protests by the opposition in the Kerala assembly state Finance Minister K M Mani, facing corruption charges in the bar licence issue, presented the budget on Friday morning.
Achuthanandan, who is seeking re-election from Malampuzha in Palakkad district, said the UDF did not implement any of the promises it made in its manifesto in 2001.
'In the long term, the party that is going to be irrelevant is the Left.' 'It seems absurd that the people of Kerala are the last ones to wake up to the reality that this kind of discredited dogmatic ideological politics has no place in the modern world.'
CM Pinnarayi Vijayan said 'deliberate' efforts were being made to destroy the state's unity and secular fabric.
'How and why did we lose so many seats in places where we were expected to win?'
In a rare gesture, not only the legislators of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-headed Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front, but the lone Bharatiya Janata Party member in the 140-member state assembly, O Rajagopal, also supported the resolution against the Centre, saying 'it is the democratic spirit'.
Meena said political parties should be responsible enough to decide to what extent they should use the Sabarimala issue during the campaign.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a boost to the saffron's hopes to make huge electoral inroads in Kerala, one of the toughest political terrains for the party, in the assembly polls likely to be held in April.
In an emotional response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's jibes at her Italian origins, Sonia Gandhi on Monday said India is her home and "it is here that my ashes will mingle with my loved ones".
A high voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, Assam Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. The massive polling exercise following COVID-19 health protocol and involving lakhs of personnel began at 7 am and the last hour from 6 pm to 7 pm was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation. The counting of votes in the states will be held on May 2.
The ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala has decided to shut down over 700 liquor bars attached to hotels below the five-star categories and make Sundays "dry days".
The Left rewrote history in Kerala on Sunday by becoming the first government to get a second term in four decades but its fortunes fell to a historic low in West Bengal where it failed to bag even one seat, resulting in its complete decimation in a state it once ruled for over three decades.
Modi said his government had made efforts to make all kitchens in the country smoke free.
Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kochi airports have hiked their landing charges by up to 45 per cent, increasing the operating cost for airlines at a time they are facing financial constraints because of the two months of grounding and weak demand.
'Congress is on the defensive about scams and corruption charges... The media is against the UPA.... The Nehru family is not just another family; it is a national wealth,'Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
'Someone who has lost a dear one to Covid; that person is not going to forget and will not vote for the BJP.'
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on whether to refer the matters pertaining to the ban on entry of women aged between 10 to 50 years at Kerala's Sabrimala temple to its constitution bench.
'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.'
The state asked the PMO to accommodate three more dignitaries, including DMRC Principal Advisor E Sreedharan.
The exit poll results were released at the end of the polling in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, marking the closure of voting in four states and Puducherry.
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?
'The regime -- and particularly the home ministry under Amit Shah -- have sought to suppress and destroy these struggles through intimidation, bullying, threats, through false cases, arrests, custodial torture, the use of draconian laws like the UAPA.'
Setting aside their political differences, the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front and Opposition Congress headed United Democratic Front, once again came together to launch a joint fight against the Centre on the CAA, which has seen unprecedented protests all over the country.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
AAI has got approval from Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to charge Rs 755 per departing international passenger for a period of 10 years.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
'I was very much aware of what was coming, but not to this extent.' 'If I had expressed what I felt, our campaign would have been in trouble.'
'Only when you are close to the party, will you understand what the BJP stands for.'
While even the Opposition doesn't believe that Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is personally involved in the solar scam, the Congress leaders reputation has been tainted. And while he tells Indulekha Aravind that it is only a conspiracy, it may have a bearing on the coming general elections
'Here is a woman who has got widespread appreciation for her work.' 'Social media was full of posts wanting her as the chief ministerial candidate.' 'This kind of popularity did not go well within the party.' 'See, today the party is Pinarayi Vijayan!'
The AGP, which has ruled the state on its own twice, will play the junior partner and contest 24 seats while the rest 126 will be divided among BJP and three smaller outfits, with the saffron party leading the alliance.
The government is considering allowing the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd to charge airport development fee from passengers to meet the shortfall in financing the cost of expanding and modernising the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the land of tourism like Kerala has turned into "nursery of terrorism", as he accused the Congress-led government of ignoring the state's development agenda.
All eyes are on the parties to see which of them can stake claim to power.
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