Page 17 - Pinarayi Vijayan

Vizhinjam attack was with 'clear ulterior intention', says Kerala CM

Breaking his silence over the recent violent attack on a police station by anti-seaport agitators, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday criticised the incident, saying such protests took place with a "clear ulterior and heinous intention" to destroy tranquility in the society. There were widespread attacks against the police and public threats to attack the police station, but the police force cleverly realised the intention of the assailants, he said, addressing the passing out parade of a new batch of women police constables here via online. The CM, however, did not directly mention the fishermen community who had been staging protests against the upcoming Vizhinjam port and the Latin church which was leading the agitation. Appreciating the law enforcers for handling the issue sensibly, he said the peaceful atmosphere continued to prevail in the land because of the responsible behaviour of the police personnel despite attacks and injuries they suffered. "We have ..

Constitutional values are facing serious threat in the country: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said constitutional values like secularism, democracy and federalism are facing serious challenges in the country and hurdles are being created in realising the true federal concept of complacent states, a strong Centre and dynamic local self-governments. The fundamental democratic principle that the state governments, elected by the people of the respective states, should play an equal role with the central government in the development of the country is being forgotten, he said in his Constitution Day message. Since 2015, November 26 is observed as Constitution Day to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. Earlier, the day was observed as Law Day. "India's Constitution, which encompasses the ideals of our anti-imperialist struggle, is facing a wide array of challenges on this 73rd anniversary of its adoption. It's time to join the fight to fend off such threats and defend its ...

Kerala CM to dedicate India's biggest business jet terminal on Dec 10

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will dedicate the country's first charter gateway -- the Business Jet Terminal -- at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on December 10, the airport authorities said on Tuesday. With the commissioning of the terminal, which is constructed at the erstwhile domestic terminal (T2), CIAL will join the elite club of four airports in the country having a dedicated private jet terminal. "The Business Jet Terminal is going to be India's first Charter Gateway, which will serve as a platform to integrate business jet service, tourism and business conferences," CIAL said in a release. The facilities include covered car parking, drive-in porches, a grand lobby, five opulent lounges, business centre, check-in, immigration, customs, health and security checking zones along with duty-free shop and foreign exchange counter for the smooth movement of the discerning guests, it said. The terminal facility also includes a safe house for security ...

No early end in sight: Why are governor and Kerala govt in a tussle?

The fight between the Vijayan govt and Governor Khan has only intensified since Dec 2019

Kerala governor take up pension for personal staff of Ministers issue

Sources in the know of things said that Khan has decided to work on this and is studying the practices followed by other states

Setback for CM as Kerala HC says pvt secretary's wife lacks qualifications

Ragesh is a former Rajya Sabha member of the CPI-M, who hails from Kannur and considered a close aide of Vijayan

Thousands of CPI-M activists lay siege to Kerala Governor's residence

Vijayan and the Governor have been at loggerheads ever since he refused to ink Ordinances or Bills which are concerning the higher education sector.

Kerala govt taking steps to make future generations more skilled: Vijayan

The Left government is continuously taking steps to mould the future generations into being more knowledgeable and skilled as a society's development is determined by the living standards of the children in it, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday on the occasion of Children's Day. Vijayan, in a social media post on the occasion that is also the birth anniversary of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, said the Department of Women and Child Development was created to coordinate the government activities and schemes for the welfare of children. He said one such scheme was the 'Poshakabalyam' project which aims to ensure nutrition of children. Besides, implementation of the smart Anganwadis in the state, sanctioning Rs 3.2 crore towards financial assistance of orphans and parenting clinics in all panchayats of Kerala were the other major positive steps taken by the Left government, he said in the post. The Chief Minister further said that even Nehru .

Muraleedharan terms move to remove Kerala Guv as 'constitutionally invalid'

Muraleedharan demanded the Pinarayi Vijayan government release the evidence that the Governor had tried to saffronise the universities in Kerala.

Kerala govt sends ordinance to axe governor as chancellor to Raj Bhavan

The CPI(M)-led government in Kerala on Saturday sent its ordinance to remove the Governor from the post of Chancellor of universities in the state, to the Raj Bhavan for approval, days after the cabinet had taken a decision in this connection. Raj Bhavan sources confirmed that the ordinance to replace the Governor as Chancellor of varsities and appoint eminent academicians in that role, has reached for the assent of Arif Mohammed Khan. However, it is unlikely for Khan to promulgate the ordinance soon as the tussle between him and the state government over the issue was yet to die down, sources added. The Pinarayi Vijayan-headed government on Wednesday had decided to come out with the ordinance, a move opposed by both the Congress and BJP. The opposition parties have alleged that the cabinet decision was aimed at turning universities in Kerala into "Communist centres".

Kerala amends deemed varsity rules to remove Guv as its chancellor

The LDF government on Thursday amended the rules of Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university to remove the Governor as its Chancellor

Governor vs government face-off intensifies in three southern states

Friction between Governors and the ruling dispensation in three non-BJP ruled southern states escalated on Wednesday, with Tamil Nadu seeking a recall of R N Ravi, Kerala proposing the ordinance route to replace Arif Mohammed Khan as Chancellor of state varsities, and Tamilisai Soundararajan expressing doubts of her phone being tapped in Telangana. While the Telangana Governor also claimed of an "undemocratic" situation in TRS-ruled Telangana, ruling DMK and its allies told President Droupadi Murmu that Ravi's acts were unbecoming of those in the gubernatorial post and sought his sacking. The ruling LDF in Kerala, which has had a number of run-ins with Governor Khan, said it has decided to come out with an ordinance to replace the Governor as Chancellor of universities in the state and appoint eminent academicians to that post, a move opposed by both the Congress and the BJP. The Kerala cabinet, which met in Thiruvananthapuram, decided to recommend to Khan to promulgate the ordinanc

Kerala govt launches scheme to reimburse tech license cost to startups

Kerala has launched a scheme to reimburse the expense incurred by the nascent startup ventures to procure technology licenses from government research institutions in the country to commercialise and scale up their products. Under the project titled 'Technology Transfer Scheme', implemented through Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the government will reimburse upto Rs 10 lakh to startups purchasing or sourcing technology from government research institutions and working on them to develop products that could be commercialised. KSUM CEO, Anoop Ambika, said this scheme will help startups in the State to gain greater access to know-how required for turning their ideas into marketable products. KSUM, in a release said, it has invited applications from eligible startups to avail the benefits offered by the scheme. "This is a highly rewarding scheme that will encourage our startups to innovate on their ideas without bothering about the cost involved," Ambika said. As part of the fiscal .

Kerala governor appoints Ciza Thomas as VC of APJ Abdul Kalam University

The Governor made the appointment of Thomas, who is the senior joint director of the Directorate of Technical Education

Will intervene if CMO is involved in gold smuggling: Kerala governor

Vijayan on Wednesday had said that Khan was behaving in such a manner as if he was running a parallel government

Kerala governor rejects CM's allegations of interference in VC appointments

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday rejected allegations by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the former was politically interfering in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to universities in the state and offered to resign if even one example of the same could be shown. Khan also openly challenged the Chief Minister, asking whether he would be able to resign if he was unable to prove or substantiate his allegation. "They (Left government, CM) are saying I am doing this (action against VCs) to bring RSS people. If I have nominated even one person, not just of RSS, any person, on my own using my authority, then I will resign. Will he (CM) be able to resign if he is not able to prove it? I am asking you (media)," he said, speaking to reporters in New Delhi. "When you make such a serious charge against me, you have to substantiate the same," he added. He was responding to reporters when his stand was sought on Vijayan's allegations against him on Wednesday at a convention

Byju's decides not to shut its Kerala centre after founder meets CM

Byju Raveendran reiterates his commitment to the state, says company spokesperson

Kerala govt revokes decision to enhance retirement age of PSU employees

The Kerala government on Wednesday announced rolling back its decision to enhance the retirement age of employees of all state PSUs to 60 years. A decision to this effect was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, a CMO statement said here. The move comes following strong protests by the opposition Congress and BJP alleging that the LDF government's decision was "betrayal" of the youth of the state, who are dreaming of a career in the public sector. The government had enhanced the retirement age of employees of most of the state PSUs uniformly to 60, drawing sharp criticism from a left-wing youth organisation. The order was issued on Saturday based on the recommendations of an expert committee, which conducted a comprehensive study on the formulation of a common framework for pay/ wage structure of PSUs in the state except Kerala State Electricity Board, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Kerala Water Authority. The expert panel ha

No police officer who commits wrongs should be protected: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said no police officer who commits a wrong should be protected, and such a stand would ensure that everyone worked honestly and without fear. Speaking on the occasion of Kerala Police Formation Day, Vijayan said there were isolated incidents of police personnel or officers indulging in activities which were wrong or against the discipline of the force and such individuals should not be protected. "Anyone who cannot uphold discipline and regulations of the force can be a part of the police -- this is the stand that should be taken. Then only everyone can work honestly and without any fear," he said. His words assume significance as recently there have been several instances of police brutality and illegal actions which garnered media attention. From incidents of beating up people inside the police stations to stealing mangoes from a roadside shop, all were reported in the media in the last month from the state. While warning of "str

Kerala gold smuggling case: CM's ex-secy misusing state machinery, says ED

The Enforcement Directorate has told the Supreme Court that M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and accused of gold smuggling, has been influencing other accused and using state machinery to fabricate false cases against it and the investigating officer. The Kerala government machinery turned against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after Sivasankar's role was detected in the smuggling case and false cases were registered against directorate officials to derail probe and trial, the agency alleged. "Even though a letter was sent by the CM (chief minister) of Kerala to the PM (prime minister), when the investigation progressed and the role of his own then principal secretary was detected, the state machinery turned against the ED and registered false cases by influencing the accused and making efforts to derail the investigation and trial," it said. The ED filed its response in reply to the counter affidavit filed by Indian Administrative