Page 4 - Kerala Government

Sharon Raj murder: Kerala girl gets death sentence for poisoning ex-lover

Greeshma, a literature student from Tamil Nadu, and Sharon, a BSc Radiology student from Kerala, were in a year-long relationship that ended with Sharon's murder in 2022

'Rs 6,000 cr worth of projects implemented in Kerala's higher education'

Development projects worth Rs 6,000 crore have been implemented in the higher education sector over the past four years, Kerala Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice R Bindu said on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference, the minister said the state's higher education sector is being elevated to international standards. "A total of Rs 2,000 crore was allocated for infrastructure expansion. Significant advancements have been made in this sector through initiatives funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), Plan Fund, and the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)," she said. She also stated that the laboratory complexes established at Kerala University and MG University have become the largest facilities of their kind in South India. "Over the past few years, Rs 250 crore has been spent to upgrade the laboratory facilities at CUSAT to high standards," she added. The two-day conclave on higher education, organised by the Department of Higher

Tension in Angamaly-Ernakulam archdiocese in Kerala after police action

A tense atmosphere prevailed outside the Bishop House of the Angamaly-Ernakulam archdiocese here, after the police on Saturday evacuated from there several priests who were on an indefinite fast demanding withdrawal of certain documents issued by an Apostolic Administrator. Believers and priests strongly criticise the police action. They claimed before TV channels that the protesting priests were forcibly evacuated by the police from the Bishop House in the wee hours of Saturday. Visuals on TV channels also show that some of the protesting priests were injured in the police action. Several believers and priests, thereafter, began arriving in numbers at the St Mary's Basilica where the protesting priests were relocated and police were also seen in large numbers. The believers also got into a heated argument with police outside the Angamaly-Ernakulam archdiocese headquarters. They also accused Ernakulam ACP C Jayakumar of saying that the government was against the Angamaly-Ernakula

Kerala Cong MLA, 3 others booked for abetment in party worker's suicide

Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan stated that the Congress party would conduct its own internal investigation alongside the police inquiry

Kerala CM slams BJP minister for 'Mini Pakistan'; remark, says 'deplorable'

The Congress also denounced Rane's comments, linking them to past Communist Party of India CPI(M) statements about the victories of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad

Centre, state govt need to take initiative: Kerala LoP on Nimisha Priya

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier in the day confirmed its awareness of the death sentence handed to Nimisha Priya and assured that the government is providing all possible assistance

Kerala's eventful 2024 marred by disasters, scandals and political twists

The devastating landslides that wiped away three villages in Wayanad, Congress' thumping victory in the Lok Sabha polls and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's maiden electoral victory were the significant events that shaped the Kerala's socio-political scenario in 2024. The revelations of sexual abuse and harassment in the Malayalam film industry, brought to light by the Justice Hema Committee report, also stirred up the political pot due to the delay in disclosing the panel's findings, which followed allegations of rape against some key actors, including ruling CPI(M) MLA and actor M Mukesh. On 30 July, massive landslides occurred in the Chooralmala and Mundakkai regions of Wayanad, triggered by torrential rains, resulting in over 200 deaths, numerous injuries, and thousands being left homeless. It is considered one of the worst natural disasters in Kerala's history. Hundreds were left buried under the debris and many had to be pulled out by rescue agencies, which ...

Kerala seeks Rs 24,000 cr special package to tide over liquidity crunch

Emphasising the need for more central funding, Kerala on Friday demanded a special package of Rs 24,000 crore to tide over the state's liquidity stress as well as Rs 2,000 crore for relief works at Wayanad, which was devastated by landslides earlier this year. In a pre-Budget meeting here, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal also sought continuation of the GST (goods and services tax) compensation scheme to states until systemic issues are fully corrected and the original promise of GST revenue is attained. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, finance ministers from other states and senior officials, among others, were present in the meeting. "We reiterate our demand for a special package of Rs 24,000 crore to tide over the current liquidity stress by scheduling it over a period of two years from 2025-26," Balagopal said. Citing that substantial resources are required for relief works in Wayanad, he urged the government to provide a special package of Rs 2,000 crore in the

Consider excluding Rs 120 cr from airlift charges: Kerala HC to Centre

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre whether it can exclude around Rs 120 crore from the Rs 132 crore demanded as airlift charges for rescue operations carried out by the IAF in the state since 2006. A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S said if the Rs 120 crore was freed up in this manner, the amount can be utilised immediately for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad. The bench asked the Centre to consider giving permission to temporarily free up the Rs 120 crore and relaxing the NDRF/SDRF norms so that the amount can be utilised for the rehabilitation purpose. "It is for a noble cause, so the central government should not have a problem," the court said and listed the matter on January 10, 2025 to await the Centre's response on the aspect. During the hearing, the bench also said that the sending of the bill of Rs 132 crore as airlift charges in October right after the state sought financial assistance from the Centre for ...

Congress accuses Kerala CM Vijayan of acting with 'dictatorial mindset'

The opposition Congress in Kerala on Wednesday accused the ruling CPI (M) of being "intolerant" towards other political parties and denying them the freedom to freely function even in the home village of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Marxist party and CM Vijayan were acting with a "dictatorial mindset", which is unacceptable, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan told reporters here. He was speaking after visiting the recently vandalised new Congress booth committee office at Venduttayi near Vijayan's hometown of Pinarayi. The Congress has charged the CPI(M) with "orchestrating the vandalism" on Saturday last. Terming the incident as "highly unfortunate" and "condemnable", he said, "It was in the home village of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the office of a political party was vandalised and set on fire." The LoP sought to know what kind of democracy prevailed in the state as other political parties were not allowed to function even in the home village of the CM. Sathe

Kerala open to discuss new projects with Adani group: State min P Rajeev

Kerala is not averse to discussing any new project with the Adani group and will do so only if there is a "win-win" situation which benefits the people of the state as well, a senior state minister has said. However, the southern state is not keen to have any big industries which will cause pollution and ecological damage, P Rajeev, the Minister of Law, Industries and Coir, told PTI. The comments from the minister come even as there seems to be some unease among southern states when it comes to dealing with the Adani group, especially after the second richest Indian Gautam Adani and others faced charges of bribing officials to secure contracts. Rajeev said Kerala has a big investment from the Adani group in the Vizhinjam Seaport near its capital Thiruvananthapuram and added that the current government decided to go ahead with the project signed by the predecessors only because the benefits accrued to the state and its people through the ambitious transshipment port. He also clarifi

Kerala govt failed to utilise central funds for Wayanad rehabilitation: BJP

The BJP on Sunday accused the Left government in Kerala of "failing" to utilise the central funds in the SDRF and the NDRF for the relief and rehabilitation of Wayanad landslide survivors and carrying out "fake propaganda" against the union government. The saffron party said that the Narendra Modi government has provided sufficient funds to Kerala through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). "The Pinarayi government is sitting on available funds and blames the Centre," senior BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar alleged in a social media post. In a hard-hitting X post, he said the Centre has allocated over Rs 500 crore for this purpose through SDRF, which already has a balance of approximately Rs 700 crore. "The state has failed to utilise the Rs 700 crore in the calamity fund. People world over have donated to CM Relief fund. This is also not used. This is the hypocrisy of LDF and UDF, and their fake propaganda has

Wayanad landslide: No information on Centre's relief aid, says Kerala govt

Stepping up its attack on the union government over the lack of assistance for the landslide survivors of Wayanad, the Kerala government on Sunday said it was yet to get any information regarding the amount to be allotted to the state for their relief and rehabilitation. The Left government reminded that the state and the Centre were not enemy nations, but part of the same Constitution and requested the Centre to act as a "guardian angel" during the time of tragedies. Revenue Minister K Rajan said the state government has submitted all the details in connection with the landslide and the union government has not notified it so far if there was any mistake in the figures provided by them. The figures of the loss suffered during the landslide had to be submitted by the state initially and it was done without any fail, he told reporters here. Later, the state had submitted the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) in accordance with the norms. There was also no information about the

Kerala CM writes to railway minister, cites 'safety violations' in jobs

Chief Minister Vijayan said that it was apparent that they had not got any training or imparted with awareness of safe working near railway tracks

Intervention of Centre, RBI needed to curb cyber financial fraud: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday stressed on the need for a comprehensive cybersecurity framework for the financial ecosystem to address the increasing incidents of online financial fraud. He pointed out that the state has already sought joint intervention from the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India in this regard. With the growth of technology, cybercrime is also on the rise by the day, and the cyber police division of the state police is working effectively to check such frauds, the CM said. He was replying to a submission by Anvar Sadath (Congress) in the state assembly. "The state police have been creating widespread awareness through social media pages to guard against cyber financial frauds," the CM said. In Kerala, cyber police stations are there in all districts, and a toll-free number and exclusive website have been launched for people to lodge complaints against cyber crimes, he said. "Over 30,000 bank accounts involved in such frauds have already been

Kerala govt officers need CM's approval for official visits: Raj Bhavan

This clarification followed Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's recent statement regarding officers visiting the Raj Bhavan without prior authorisation from the CM

Kannur airport yet to get 'point of call' status from Centre: Kerala govt

The Kerala government on Friday said that Kannur airport was yet to receive 'point of call' status, enabling foreign airlines to operate services from there, despite several representations to the Centre and a recommendation by a parliamentary standing committee in favour of that. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh made this submission in the Assembly on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in response to UDF MLA Sajeev Joseph calling the CM's attention to the necessity of increasing the number of flight services from Kannur airport and to develop it into international standards. Rajesh said the issue of granting 'point of call' status to the airport was raised before the Centre several times. The CM himself met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu over this matter, he added. "The CM has submitted a memorandum to the Civil Aviation Minister on September 28," he said. A parliamentary standing committee has also recommended ...

LDF govt agrees to debate Thrissur Pooram disruption issue in Assembly

The LDF government on Wednesday agreed to debate in the House an adjournment notice moved by the UDF opposition to discuss the need for a judicial probe into the disruption of the iconic Thrissur Pooram festival in April this year. State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M B Rajesh, speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said that the adjournment notice' contents were similar to the notices moved on the last two days of the House. He contended that the opposition's intention behind moving the notice was to create a "political smokescreen" and raise in the Assembly the "wrong propaganda being spread through the media outside the House". "We will discuss the issue raised in the notice to reveal the opposition's true intentions," he said. In view of the government being agreeable to discuss the matter, Speaker A N Shamseer said the issue would be taken up at noon. The adjournment notice was moved by UDF MLAs, including Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Anoop Jacob and K K

One more test negative for Nipah, 134 fall under high-risk category

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday that the Nipah virus test result for another individual who had been in contact with the 24-year-old man who died of the virus in Malappuram last week has come negative, bringing the total number of negative results to 37. She said this after a high-level meeting led by her reviewed the situation here. Speaking to reporters, the minister said that two more people have been added to the contact list, both of whom are in the high-risk category. Among those on the contact list, 81 are healthcare workers. The minister said a total of 177 people are on the primary contact list, while 90 are on the secondary contact list. Out of those on the primary list, 134 individuals fall under the high-risk category. "Today, two people with symptoms have been admitted to the Manjeri Medical College Hospital. Including these two, a total of six people are undergoing treatment at the Manjeri Medical College Hospital, while 21 people are being treate

World Bank experts meet Kerala CM Vijayan, praise state's education reforms

In a significant boost to Kerala's efforts to revamp its higher education system, a team of World Bank experts on Monday met with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, praising the state's reforms and expressing interest in a collaborative initiative to draw international students to the state. The World Bank experts, including Nina Arnhold (Global Lead for Tertiary Education), Denis Nikolaev (Senior Education Specialist), and Ambarish Ambuj (Consultant, Education, South Asia Region), met the CM at his office here to discuss a potential partnership, according to an official release. The project seeks to attract foreign students to Kerala and improve the overall higher education system, with a focus on sustainability and social justice. "The World Bank representatives were impressed by the reforms taking place in the higher education sector. They expressed interest in collaborating with the state Higher Education Council to attract foreign students to Kerala as part of a related project,"