Page 53 - Kerala

Live-in couples can't claim divorce thereon, rules Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has said that when two parties decide to live together by virtue of a mere agreement, and not in accordance with any personal law or the Special Marriage Act

Kerala CPI(M) secy Govindan says his statement on media misinterpreted

Under attack from various quarters for his statement targeting the media, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Tuesday made a U turn, claiming that his remarks were misinterpreted and that he did not say the media would face legal action for reporting against the Left government in the state. Accusing the media of adopting the approach of making sheep into dogs, Govindan said here that he was only responding to the "conspiracy" involved in blaming the state secretary of SFI, the student wing of the CPI(M), in connection with a mark list controversy in a government autonomous college in Kochi. A woman journalist of a leading news channel was booked by police in a conspiracy case on SFI leader P M Arsho's complaint. Adopting a hard stand on the matter, Govindan had said that any anti-government or anti-SFI campaign in the name of reporting would invite action. His statement targeting the media was slammed by opposition parties, cultural icons, and the media fraternity in the souther

Disappointed to hear of proceedings against journalists in Kerala: Tharoor

Congress leader also posted a picture carrying the famous quote of French writer Voltaire, "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

Difficult to deal with stray dogs due to certain provisions: Kerala govt

Facing flak from various quarters over the death of an 11-year-old differently abled boy in a stray dog attack in Kannur district of the state, the Kerala government on Monday blamed central legislations for not being able to effectively deal with aggressive vagrant canines. Terming the incident as "extremely unfortunate and painful", State Minister for Local Self-Governments M B Rajesh said certain provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules issued under it need to be relaxed for effectively dealing with the nuisance posed by stray canines. He claimed that it was difficult to set up and run ABC centres as per the central norms as the rules stipulate that sterilisation should be done in an AC operation theatre, the dog should be treated there for four days and be released only after the wound is healed. The minister, in a statement, further claimed that the government was taking all precautions and measures to prevent such tragic .

Kerala 'a beacon of progressive ideas', says CM Vijayan at diaspora meet

Kerala shines as a beacon of progressive ideas where every voice matters and the spirit of unity paves the way for a brighter future, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. Vijayan on Sunday addressed hundreds of members of the diaspora community from the state at a public event in Times Square. On Saturday, he inaugurated the American Regional Conference of the Loka Kerala Sabha, a non-resident Keralites' convention in New York. "We have made giant strides in every sector over the last six years," he said. Addressing the public event at the centre of the popular Times Square, Vijayan highlighted Kerala's progressive values, social harmony and equitable growth. He outlined infrastructure development and investments in public schools and the health system and other sectors undertaken and economic growth and development achieved by his administration. He further said the state is a model of inclusive development and has emerged as an example of people-centric progress. Compassio

Cyclone 'Biparjoy' turns intense, IMD predicts heavy rain in Kerala

The cyclonic storm, 'Biparjoy' has developed into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rain in Kerala for the next five days.

250,000 volunteers in Kerala to be trained to detect zoonotic diseases

The volunteers will receive guidance from health officials at the district level

'Road accident death rate fell in Kerala after AI cameras started working'

Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju has said the road accident death rate has come down in the state after the Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras became operational. Raju, after an evaluation meeting of the AI cameras installed across the state as part of the 'Safe Kerala' project, addressed the press here on Friday and said 3,52,730 violations were detected by the cameras from June 5 to 8. He said Keltron, which verifies the detections, uploaded 19,790 cases on the integrated transport monitoring system and the Motor Vehicles Department has issued challans in 10,457 violations. "On an average, 12 road accident deaths were reported in Kerala per day, but after the installation of the AI cameras it has come down to 5-8 in the state," Raju said. He also said seat belts will be made mandatory for the drivers and front seat passengers of heavy vehicles from September 1. "Among the violations, 7,896 were by passengers in cars by not wearing seat belts. 6,153 were riding without hel

Kerala govt orders vigilance probe against Satheesan in FCRA violation case

The Kerala government has ordered a vigilance probe against Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, V D Satheesan, in a case related to receiving foreign funds from abroad, for a project in his constituency, allegedly violating the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). According to government sources, the order on preliminary vigilance probe is based on the complaint lodged by an action council alleging that foreign funds were received in violation of the FCRA. The inquiry was ordered after verifying the veracity of the claims made in the complaint, sources said. After the 2018 deluge, Satheesan had initiated a project 'Punarjani', to construct houses for those who lost their houses. The complaint sought to investigate the FCRA violations and Satheesan's foreign trips seeking support for the project.

Kerala can save Rs 9k cr in 5 yrs if it switches to 100% renewable energy

Kerala can save Rs 9,000 crore over a five-year period if they replace coal power purchases with renewable energy contracts by 2040, according to a new study. If the southern state replaces its scheduled purchases of coal power from central sector plants with new renewable energy at an average tariff of Rs 3/kWh, the state would save approximately Rs 969 crore per annum, it said. The report also suggests a transition pathway that sees the most expensive central sector power contracts phased out first, saving the state Rs 4,505 crore through the phase-out of 1560 MW of coal power by 2026-27, the study further said. The significant findings were made by think-tank Climate Risk Horizons (CRH). This finding comes just months after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the state will aim for 100 per cent renewable energy over the next 17 years. In addition to explaining the financial and climate-related benefits of this move, the CRH report also charts out the transition pa

Kerala to form grievance redressal cells in unis following student suicide

: In the wake of protests over the alleged suicide of an engineering student of a private college in Kottayam district, the Kerala government on Thursday announced the formation of 'grievance redressal cells' to look into complaints lodged by students in colleges and universities in the state. Shraddha, a second-year student, was found hanging inside her hostel room on June 2. Students had alleged that some teachers were harassing them in the name of internal tests. But, the college management rejected the charges and said they didn't know why the student committed such an act. Student outfits including the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and KSU had held separate protest marches to the private engineering college in Kanjirappally against the 'suicide' of the student. The proposed panel would be headed by principals in colleges and heads of the departments in universities respectively. Higher Education Minister R Bindu, who made the announcement during a press conference here,

Monsoon arrives in Kerala; conditions favorable for rains' advance: IMD

June 1-8 rain 60 per cent deficient; 52% of India net cultivated area relies on monsoon

Health ministry unveils food safety index, Kerala secures top ranking

Among the larger states, Kerala secured the top ranking, followed by Punjab and Tamil Nadu Among the smaller states, Goa emerged as the leader on food safety index

Kerala Financial Corporation records four-fold jump in profit at Rs 50 cr

Kerala Financial Corporation, a Kerala government-owned finance firm, on Wednesday said it recorded about four-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 50.19 crore in the financial year ended on March 31, 2023. The company has earned a net profit of Rs 13 crore in the preceding fiscal. Total income has increased to Rs 694.38 crore against Rs 518.17 crore last year, Kerala Finance said in a statement. The interest income rose by 38 per cent to Rs 543.64 crore. The loan portfolio increased by 37 per cent to Rs 6,529.40 crore as against Rs 4,750.71 crore in the preceding year. With the state government infusing a share capital of Rs 200 crore as of March 31, 2023, the capital adequacy ratio of Kerala Finance improved to 25.58 per cent against 22.41 per cent a year ago. This is against the minimum of 15 per cent prescribed for non-banking financial companies by RBI.

Kerala launches KFON to bridge digital divide with affordable internet

With an estimated cost of Rs 1,611 crore, KFON aims to ensure internet connectivity for approximately 2 million BPL households

Monsoon rains over Kerala likely in next 48 hours, says IMD forecast

June rains over most parts of India are expected to be 'below normal' during the four-month southwest monsoon

Kerala govt launches drive to improve green cover over 3,000 temples

The CPI (M)-led government in Kerala has adopted a divine way to tackle climate change and its negative impacts in the state. It has launched an ambitious project to improve the green cover of over 3000 temples being managed by five Devaswom Boards under its control. Besides, the project also envisages preserving the water resources by renovating the abandoned temple ponds and protecting the sacred groves in the state. 'Devankanam Charuharitham' (Beautiful Green Abodes of God), the project will be implemented in 3800 plus temples across the state that are managed by five Devaswom Boards. State Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan inaugurated the project on June 5 on the occasion of World Environment Day by planting a sapling on the courtyard of the headquarters of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) here. Travancore Devaswom Board President K Ananthagopan said that an order in this regard has been issued and circulated to all devaswom boards in the state. "The Devaswom boards in Ker

Film exhibitors to shut cinema for 2 days as movies release early on OTT

The Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) on Tuesday announced they will close down cinema halls across the state on June 7 and 8 protesting against the early release of movies on OTT platforms. FEUOK's decision came after the producers of the movies, '2018' (2023) and 'Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum' (2023) which were running successfully in theatres, agreed to premiere the films on OTT platforms. "The movies, '2018', 'Pachuvum Adbhudha Vilkakkum', were running successfully in theatres. We have decided to mark our protest, against the early release of such movies on OTT platforms, by closing the cinema halls on June 7 and 8... "We have been repeatedly requesting the government to grant permission for OTT release of movies only after a stipulated period of time after its theatrical release," FEUOK president, K Vijayakumar said at a press meet here. He said the early release of movies will make it difficult for the theatre owners to run cinema halls. "We cannot run the

K-FON project rife with corruption, alleges Congress-led UDF opposition

A day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Congress-led UDF of only looking for ways to oppose development in the state, the opposition on Tuesday hit back by alleging that the Left government's K-FON project was rife with corruption. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly V D Satheesan alleged that there was corruption in the escalation of the project cost by 50 per cent from Rs 1,028 crore to Rs 1,548 crore and also in the award of the sub-contracts. Satheesan claimed that the project cost was escalated by 50 per cent based on a letter by M Sivasanker, former principal secretary of Vijayan, who is an accused in two criminal cases -- the Life Mission scam and the gold smuggling through diplomatic bags. He further alleged that while the project tender was won by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), the work contract was finally given to a company connected to the CM. "All this indicates corruption," the LoP contended. He also termed as a 'lie' the LDF ..

FarmersFZ selected for UN's 'Accelerator Programme' for food startups

A Kerala-based startup, Farmers Fresh Zone (FarmersFZ), has been selected for the 'Accelerator Programme by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN