Explore Business Standard
Kerala Assembly
The Congress-led opposition staged a walkout from the Kerala assembly on Friday after Speaker A N Shamseer denied them permission to move an adjournment motion to discuss the alleged disappearance of over 4 kg of gold from Sabarimala. The Speaker denied permission to the motion, saying that according to the rules of procedure of the House, a matter or issue which is sub-judice -- pending before the court -- cannot be discussed in the assembly. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said that there was precedence of sub-judice issues being discussed in the House, to which the Speaker said, "Precedence cannot supersede rules, and someone has to bell the cat. I am belling the cat now." Satheesan further said that the issue raised by the opposition was a serious one, as the High Court has ordered a probe into the matter. He also said that Ayyappa devotees are disappointed over the issue of over 4 kgs of gold going missing from Sabarimala. "Since permission has be
The Kerala assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the central government to withdraw its move to allow deep-sea mineral mining off the coast of the state. The resolution moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was passed amidst the opposition UDF MLAs protesting in front of the Speaker's dais accusing him of acting as an "agent" of the ruling front. The UDF MLAs were protesting for not allowing the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan to complete his speech before walking out as their demand to adjourn the business of the house to discuss ASHA workers' protest was not accepted. Due to this protest, the deep-sea mining resolution was passed without discussion. The Kerala government has already made it clear that the Centre's move to initiate deep-sea mining along the state's coast cannot be allowed at any cost and the concern of the state's fishermen community in this regard has already been conveyed to the union government. Both the criteria in the
The Kerala assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the central government to withdraw the draft UGC guidelines and issue a revised version. The resolution was moved in the House by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who said that the assembly was of the clear opinion that the draft UGC norms do not reflect the spirit of the Constitution. The CM said that universities in the various states function according to the laws passed by the respective state legislatures as they have the power to establish and supervise the universities. The central government only has the power to coordinate and fix standards for higher education and research institutions, he said. By ignoring these facts and without holding discussions with all the stakeholders, the Centre issued the draft guidelines which completely exclude the opinions of the state governments, including on the appointment of Vice Chancellors, and therefore, they are "incompatible with the federal system and democracy",
The budget session of the Kerala assembly commenced on Friday with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar reading out the Left government's policy which claimed that the state was facing a liquidity stress due to declining share of union fiscal transfers. In his policy address marking the commencement of the 13th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly, Arlekar said the state "has been facing stress on government finances" despite taking "earnest measures" for revenue mobilisation and rationalising expenses. The reason for this was the "tapering of revenue deficit grants and cessation of GST compensation", he said while reading out the policy address prepared by the state government. Arlekar said that the state government has highlighted problems faced by it and the ameliorative measures to the 16th Finance Commission in a detailed memo. Besides this, the Governor said the state government was also committed to rehabilitation of all those affected by the devastating landslide
The Palakkad assembly constituency, which saw a high octane campaign that gave rise to scores of controversies, saw a voter turnout of 70.01 per cent till 6.49 pm on Wednesday after voting in the bypoll concluded in over 86 per cent of the polling booths. This was a decline from the 73.83 per cent turnout recorded in the assembly polls held in the state in 2021. When polling started at 7 am, it proceeded slowly with a low turnout of only 1.11 per cent at 8 am, according to figures released by the Election Commission (EC). By noon, five hours after voting commenced, the turnout reached 30.48 per cent. It took another three hours after that for the turnout to cross the 50 per cent mark. At 6.49 pm, the turnout reached 70.01 per cent after voting concluded in 159 of the 184 polling booths in the constituency, the EC said. It said that this was not the final figure as in the remaining booths, people were waiting in line to cast their votes. There were long queues outside many booths
The Kerala Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution against the proposed amendment to the Wakf Act by the Centre. State Minister for Minority Welfare, Wakf and Hajj Pilgrimage, V Abdurahiman presented the resolution for the government, alleging that the proposed amendments by the union government are against the values and rights ensured in the country's Constitution and a gross violation of the federalist principles. The resolution alleged that the proposed bill, which is now under the consideration of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, violates the fundamental rights, right to belief, federalism, secularism, and democracy. The proposed bill also aimed at seizing the powers of the states in enacting laws related to the Wakf and violates the federal principles of the Indian Constitution, it said. "The move to omit democratically elected members from the Board and to include only nominated members and a chairman nominated by the nominated members would be completely again
The Congress-led UDF opposition on Friday claimed the Left government in Kerala was on the "defensive" about the incidents of sexual harassment and abuse mentioned in the Justice K Hema Committee report and that is why it was not being discussed in the state Assembly. The opposition allegation came after Speaker A N Shamseer denied permission to a notice moved by the UDF MLAs to adjourn the House and discuss the issue of alleged lack of further probe in connection with findings in the report. Shamseer said that permission was being denied as the issue was under the active consideration of the Kerala High Court. Raising strong protest against the Speaker's decision, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, claimed the notice was moved as Shamseer himself had said the issue should not be raised as a question in the House and to move a submission or something else. "It is an insult to the House if we do not discuss this issue which concerns women. We are strongly protestin
The Kerala Assembly was adjourned for the day on Monday after a protest on the floor of the House following an intense verbal spat between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan who traded charges. Angry opposition members climbed the podium of Speaker A N Shamseer who tried to conduct the business amid the ruckus, and even held a black banner preventing the House from seeing his face. The heated war of words between the CM and the LoP escalated after Vijayan strongly criticised the latter for attacking the chair. The controversy began when Satheesan announced the boycott of question hour, protesting the conversion of 49 starred questions into non-starred ones. Watch and Ward personnel had to forcibly push MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress) away when he tried to enter the Speaker's dias amidst the melee. A visibly angry CM rose and said blocking the Speaker's sight with banners cannot be allowed in the House at any cost. The slogans in the banner, .
The Kerala Assembly was adjourned for the day on Monday after a protest on the floor of the House following an intense verbal duel between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan. Raising slogans against the CM, members of the opposition UDF allegedly climbed the podium of Speaker A N Shamseer and held up a banner, preventing the House from seeing his face. This prompted Vijayan to condemn the opposition's actions. As the protest and sloganeering escalated, and the Congress-led UDF members were reluctant to return to their seats despite repeated requests, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day. The government decision to discuss the opposition's adjournment notice regarding the controversial remarks allegedly made by the Chief Minister about Malappuram was withdrawn. The second day of the session commenced on a stormy note with the enraged opposition expressing displeasure to Speaker Shamseer over the altering of 49 starred questions into ...
Search operations started early Saturday with more than 1,300 rescuers, heavy machinery and sophisticated equipment being deployed to look for survivors from the ravages of the landslides that have killed more than 200 people. Private companies specialising in the field of search and rescue, and volunteers have also joined the operations led by the army, police and emergency service units. However, huge boulders and logs brought by landslides and deposited in the residential areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala are posing a significant challenge to rescue efforts to locate people believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. As many as 210 people have died and 273 were injured in the massive landslides that hit Wayanad district in the wee hours of July 30. Around 300 people are suspected to be missing and rescue operators are battling adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings. The district administration had on Friday divided t
Military personnel on Wednesday intensified search and rescue operations in Kerala's Wayanad district where landslides have claimed more than 160 lives, with the Army saying that it recovered over 80 bodies and rescued nearly 1,000 people. Extremely heavy rain triggered the landslides in the hilly areas of Wayanad early on Tuesday, leaving at least 167 people dead and more than 200 injured. Another 191 people were missing. The Army has set up a Command and Control Centre headed by Maj Gen VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, along with Brig Arjun Segan at Kozhikode for coordinating Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts, a senior official said. Brig Segan carried out a reconnaissance of the affected areas in the early hours of Wednesday and guided the Army columns for further conduct of the rescue operation. The troops are conducting rescue operations along a six-kilometre stretch of landslide-affected areas. The troops forming
The Kerala Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to officially change the state's name to Keralam'. The Assembly passed the resolution for the second time because the Union Home Ministry, which reviewed the first resolution, suggested some technical changes. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who moved the resolution, wanted the union government to change the southern state's name from "Kerala" to "Keralam" in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of the country. Moving the resolution, the CM said the state was called Keralam' in Malayalam and that the demand to form a united Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities had strongly emerged since the time of the national freedom struggle. But the name of our state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This Assembly requests the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it as Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution and have it renamed as Keralam'
The BJP in Kerala on Tuesday continued to mock the Congress party's decision to field Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad, which was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, and said the grand old party may consider her husband Robert Vadra in the upcoming by-poll in Palakkad assembly segment. BJP state chief K Surendran and senior leader V Muraleedharan criticised the Congress leadership over their decision and alleged that they had cheated the people of Wayanad. Surendran, who had contested against Rahul Gandhi in the April 26 Lok Sabha polls in the hill constituency, said it is once again proven beyond doubt that the Congress is the only "tool" for the so-called Nehru-Gandhi family to serve their family's interests. In a post on 'X', he said: "Mr @RahulGandhi claimed that Wayanad is his family. Now he has decided the candidature of his own sister claimed that Wayanad is his family. Now he has decided the candidature of his own sister @priyankagandhi to the upcoming by-election in Wayanad. Hope that Mr ..
The Kerala government on Thursday said it will provide Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to the families of the people from the state who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy that claimed 49 lives and left 50 others injured. The decision was taken at an emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the morning, a statement issued by his office said. According to information received by the government, 19 people from Kerala died in the incident, the statement said. The cabinet also decided to provide Rs one lakh financial assistance to those injured in the incident, it said. A decision was taken to immediately send state Health Minister Veena George to Kuwait to coordinate the efforts to provide treatment to those injured and bring back the bodies of those who died in the tragedy, it further said. The statement also said prominent businessmen M A Yusuff Ali and Ravi Pillai have informed the CM that they will provide Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, to each o
The Left government in Kerala has achieved a record revenue increase from Rs 47,000 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 77,000 crore in 2023-24, helping to mitigate financial challenges posed by the BJP-ruled Centre, according to state Finance Minister K N Balagopal. "We've managed a record increase in the state's own revenue even as the Centre financially squeezes us. The state's own tax revenue rose from Rs 47,000 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 77,000 crore in 2023-24," Balagopal said. He pointed out that this represents a 60 per cent increase in the state's own tax revenue over just three years. "Without this increase, Kerala's economy would have collapsed due to the central government's anti-state policies." The minister also noted that the state government is doing everything it can to handle the crisis caused by the Centre's reduction in tax allocations and debt limits. Balagopal, who is also a senior CPI(M) leader, said that Kerala successfully brought national attention to the Centre's alleged
A day after polling concluded for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress on Saturday alleged that voters were harassed and the election machinery was hijacked by the ruling CPI(M) in the state with an aim to bring down the turnout percentage. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the alleged hijacking of the election machinery by the ruling CPI(M) was one of the reasons for the decrease in polling percentage this year as compared to the turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Despite heightened political fervour and anticipation about the general elections for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the process concluded with a notable decrease in voter turnout, as the figure stood at 70.22 per cent at 8pm yesterday. This figure, while significant, was quite a drop from the polling percentage of 77.84 per cent registered in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Venugopal claimed that there were glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in three to five per cent of the polling booths in
In an unusual move, the Kerala government has petitioned the Supreme Court against President Droupadi Murmu withholding assent to four bills passed by the state assembly. It has requested that the President not granting assent to the bills -- University Laws (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021; the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and the University Laws (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill, 2022 -- without stating any reason be declared unconstitutional. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has made the Union government, the Secretary to the President of India, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and his additional secretary parties to the case. Besides several other reliefs, the state government has also sought direction to declare illegal Governor Khan reserving a total of seven bills, including these four, for the consideration of the President. "The conduct of the Governor in keeping Bills pending for long and ...