Page 55 - Kerala

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

Internet for everyone has become reality with launch of K-FON: Kerala CM

Internet access to everyone has become a reality in the state, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday after launching K-FON -- a government-owned broadband service provider. After launching the service, which in its initial phase would provide internet connections to 14,000 households in the state, Vijayan, in a dig at the Congress-led UDF opposition, said there were those in Kerala who were opposed to any kind of development in the state. The Congress-led UDF opposition boycotted the launch of the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) alleging corruption in the implementation of the project. In a press conference held at Kochi, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan contended that such an "extravagant" event was being conducted in the Legislative Assembly at a cost of over Rs 4 crore when various welfare schemes and pension payments were stalled due to lack of funds. Satheesan also alleged that the optical fibres were not made in India, but were inste

Low-pressure system may influence monsoon advance towards Kerala: IMD

Skymet says it could arrive around June 9

Malayalam actor and mimicry artist Kollam Sudhi passes away at 39

Malayalam actor and mimicry artist Kollam Sudhi died in a car road accident as three other mimicry artists, Binu Adimali, Ullas, and Mahesh had undergone injuries

Formation of low-pressure system may influence advance of monsoon to Kerala

A cyclonic circulation which is set to develop into a low-pressure area over the southeast Arabian Sea and intensify in the next two days is expected to critically influence the advance of the monsoon towards the Kerala coast, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. The weather department, however, did not give a tentative date for the arrival of the monsoon in Kerala. "Westerly winds over the south Arabian Sea continue to prevail up to 2.1 km above mean sea level. However, because of a cyclonic circulation over the southeast Arabian Sea, the cloud mass is more organized and concentrated over the same area and there has been some reduction of clouds off the Kerala coast in the last 24 hours. "Also, under the influence of this cyclonic circulation, a low-pressure area is very likely to form over the same region during the next 24 hours. It is likely to move nearly northwards and intensify into a depression over the southeast and adjoining east central Arabian Sea during t

Senior leaders get 'factionalism' notice in Alappuzha CPI(M) unit of Kerala

Their explanations will then be scrutinised in the next state committee meeting of the party and sources in the know of things say that it wouldn't be surprising if a few heads roll