A day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that the state government had taken action against those involved in the Karuvannur bank scam case, the Congress-led UDF opposition on Thursday reiterated its allegation that he was protecting the culprits behind the fraud. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the assembly V D Satheesan alleged that the chief minister was defending and protecting those who looted over Rs 500 crore from cooperative banks in Thrissur. Vijayan on Wednesday had said that if one bad grain was found in a bowl of rice, the entire bowl cannot be thrown away. In response to this, Satheesan contended that the chief minister needs to realise that the entire bowl was full of bad grains. The LoP further contended that the stand taken by Vijayan amounts to discrediting the cooperative sector in the state and turning a blind eye to the suffering of the investors. He said that even the opposition does not want the cooperative sector to be harmed and urged the ..
Allegations of bribery have cropped up against a personal staff of Kerala Health Minister Veena George following which the opposition Congress demanded a probe into it. Haridasan, a resident of Malappuram district on Wednesday, alleged that a personal staff member of the minister accepted Rs 1 lakh as bribe for the appointment of his daughter-in-law as a government medical officer. He alleged that a middleman approached him, saying such appointments were being made through the minister's office, and asked him to pay a huge amount as bribe in instalments. A former office secretary of CITU, the trade union wing of the CPI(M), in Pathanamthitta, who allegedly acted as a middleman, also accepted a bribe for the said appointment, he claimed and added his daughter-in-law, however, didn't get the job. Haridasan also released through the media some purported evidence of money transactions between him and the minister's personal staff member. Later in the day, he said officers of the speci
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues started their state-wide regional review meeting here on Tuesday in order to assess the public mood and review the performance of the state government. Vijayan chaired the south regional review meeting that would discuss various programmes of the government and would also seek the opinion of the public regarding the implementation of the same, official sources said here. The South regional review meeting includes the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta. All senior officials of government departments, apart from district collectors from the three districts and ministers from these districts were present at the review meeting. NGOs and prominent social workers were also invited to the meeting. The media was not allowed to cover the details of the review meeting. After the meeting of government department officials, a review meeting with senior police officials of these districts will be held i
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the state will conduct a seroprevalence study on the Nipah virus being repeatedly found in Kozhikode district
The total number of Nipah infections confirmed in the state is six, of which two persons have died, and four persons are being treated
Kerala has so far confirmed a total of six cases of Nipah infection since the latest outbreak in the Kozhikode district
In the wake of the Nipah outbreak in this north Kerala district, the state government has launched an OPD service under its e-Sanjeevini telemedicine system. The launch of the special out patient department (OPD) service in connection with Nipah was highlighted by Kozhikode District Collector (DC) A Geetha. In a Facebook post, the DC said the new service would help address doubts related to Nipah and those showing symptoms of infection can seek medical assistance without having to go to a doctor. Geetha said that the e-Sanjeevani Nipah OPD service will be available from 8 am to 5 pm. E-Sanjeevani platform is a system where you can seek treatment from the comfort of your home without visiting the hospital. Apart from the regular OP, the services of specialist doctors are also assured every day, the DC's post said. The Collector, in another post, said that while caution has to be exercised, there was no need to fear bats or attack them. She cited reports of attacks on bats in the
Nipah virus: Two people have died in Kerala due to the virus and two others are undergoing treatment in a private hospital after testing positive
The state experienced its first outbreak in June 2018 in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, claiming 17 lives
Dealing a crushing blow to Kerala's ruling LDF, Congress candidate Chandy Oommen on Friday retained for the party-led UDF, the Puthuppally assembly seat, which his father and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy held for over half-a-century. Chandy Oommen trounced his main rival Jaick C Thomas of CPI(M) by a huge and historic margin in the bypoll. The 37-year-old Oommen defeated Thomas by a margin of 37,719 votes in the bypoll battle that saw a nearly month-long vigorous campaigning by leaders of the Congress, CPI(M), and BJP for their respective party candidates. While Oommen gathered 80,144 votes, Thomas could get only 42,425 votes. Though the BJP leadership exuded confidence of a good show in the politically significant bypoll, the saffron party could not feature prominently in the contest. BJP candidate Lijin Lal finished a distant third, falling behind the LDF contestant by gathering a total of 6,558 votes. Analysts agreed that the outcome was on expected lines, with the sympa
The chief minister said that in class 11 and 12, 12 subjects with 44 textbooks are from NCERT. Naturally, students of 11 and 12 are getting textbooks prepared by NCERT with vested interests
: Senior CPI (M) leader A C Moideen MLA on Wednesday termed the raid carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at his residence here as "pre-planned," and said he would co-operate with any investigation. The central agency conducted a 22-hour-long search at his house in connection with the money laundering probe linked to an alleged Rs 100 crore fraud in the party-controlled Karuvannur cooperative bank here. The search began on Tuesday morning, and continued till early today. The ED sleuths left at 5.15 am. Addressing the media, the former minister of Cooperation and Industries said the investigators verified his bank account details and that of his family members besides checking other property documents kept at the residence. "The ED officials searched the entire premises. My bank account details, as well as those of my wife and daughter, were examined. The property documents kept at the house were also examined," he said. He said he was told by the investigators that one
The Chief Minister said that Rs 3,500 crore has been allotted in the latest state budget for research and development
Venugopal, while speaking to ANI said that Rahul Gandhi is ready to cooperate with the Kerala government for the betterment of the state
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday moved a resolution in the state assembly against the BJP-led central government's plan to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country. After the resolution was moved by the Chief Minister, several amendments and modifications were suggested by the Congress-led opposition UDF that welcomed the Left government's move. The Chief Minister said the Kerala Legislative Assembly was concerned and dismayed at the Cente's move to impose UCC and termed the action as "unilateral and hasty". The CPI(M)-led government's decision came amid an ongoing campaign against the UCC by both the ruling Left and the opposition UDF in the state, as well as various religious organisations in the state. Both the fronts had organised seminars separately in Kozhikode recently against the UCC, in which the representatives of various religious outfits took part. The Law Commission of India had last month received submissions from the public regarding ..
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday accused the Centre of creating obstacles in the state's development by its various policies like considering loans taken by KIIFB as debt of the state. Speaking in the Assembly, the Chief Minister alleged that the Centre was arbitrarily adding loans taken by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) to that of the state, resulting in reduction of the borrowing limits of the government. The response from Vijayan in the House came while answering a query regarding projects being funded by KIIFB and their status. He also gave details of the extensive funding of numerous projects in the state across various sectors like infrastructure, roads, fisheries, education and coastal area development among others. The Chief Minister further said that development projects that the state intends to carry out will be done by the government despite "hurdles" created by the Centre. Vijayan said that while the huge borrowings by the ...
After a brief lull, heavy rains lashed various parts of Kerala with the central and northern districts facing the wrath of the monsoon. Districts authorities in Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur declared a holiday for all educational institutions in view of the heavy rains forecast for Monday. The Met department has issued a yellow alert for nine districts of the state- Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kasaragod apart from Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur. According to government sources, a total of three persons lost their lives on Sunday in various incidents related to rain. Two minor boys, Hadhi and Hashir from Wayanad district lost their lives on Sunday after they suspectedly fell into a water body while on their way to tution class. A youngster drowned in Thrissur district on Sunday. Meanwhile, the state disaster management authority said a few relief camps have been opened in Idukki, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts and as of now, 38 persons have been housed ..
Falling into the trap, the victim believed the scamster was a representative from a genuine organisation with an actual job offer
The Kerala government on Wednesday approved the approach document for the 14th Five Year Plan (2022-27), which, according to it, aims to transform multiple sectors of the economy and the entire state into a modern society. The document was approved by the state Cabinet, chaired virtually by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is currently on a tour to the US and Cuba, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said here. According to it, Kerala will continue to focus on areas including health, education, housing, social welfare, social justice, and gender justice, which together will serve as a force for accelerated growth of the productive sectors in the economy. The government said science and technology, higher skills, and skills available in the knowledge economy will be used to enhance the growth of agriculture, allied activities, modern industry, infrastructure development, and income-generating services. The economic policy will be designed to modernise and ...
Union Ministers Parshotham Rupala and L Murugan on Saturday took part in various events in Thrissur and Kochi as part of the seventh phase of Central government initiative 'Sagar Parikrama' programme and interacted with the people of the coastal region. They also received petitions from those working in the fisheries sector. The Union Ministers also attended and addressed the 'Sagar Parikrama'- 'Theera Sadas' programme at Thriprayar. Union Fisheries Department, Officer on Special Duty, Abhilaksh Likhi, said the Government of India was committed to the welfare and development of small fishermen in Kerala under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). The PMMSY scheme by the Ministry of Fisheries was launched to bring about ecologically healthy, economically viable, and socially inclusive development of the fisheries sector in India. Likhi said that the Centre was ensuring that the livelihood of the fishers was protected and all necessary steps would be taken for addressing