Page 10 - Kerala

India's groundwater extraction stage at 60% in 2022, says report

In 2022, around 87 per cent of the total annual ground water extracted that is around 208.49 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) was for irrigation which in 2020 was around 89 per cent

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 High Court refuses to stay appointment of VC in-charge at KTU

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the appointment of Kerala technical University vice-chancellor in-charge and said the matter will be heard on Friday. Justice Devan Ramachandran refused to stay a plea filed seeking to stay the appointment of Cisa Thomas as the vice-chancellor in-charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. While the advocate general told the court that the authority to recommend the name of the vice-chancellor rests with the state government, the Governor's lawyer stated that even temporary appointments can be made only in accordance with the UGC rules and regulations. The court has decided to implead the University Grants Commission in the case. A recent Supreme Court order had quashed the appointment of the vice chancellor of Technological University here for being contrary to University Grants Commission regulations. The Governor later appointed a VC in-charge which was challenged before the court today.

Kerala Tourism bags Responsible Tourism Global award in London travel mart

The Kerala Tourism has bagged the prestigious Responsible Tourism Global award at the World Travel Mart held in London. State Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas received the award on behalf of the department at London and said it was an encouragement for the Kerala tourism sector. The award was given for the STREET project implemented by the Responsible Tourism Mission under the Kerala Government. "I would like to share with you with utmost pride that the state Responsible Tourism and the Tourism Department has won the award for the water STREET project. Street is the acronym for Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism hubs and this was implemented from March 31, this year," Riyas said in a video message on Tuesday. The 'street' initiative is a water protection and conservation project in Tourism sector implemented with public participation. The minister said the Jury made special remarks about the water street project implemented at Maravanthuruthu in .

Kerala Governor bars two Malayalam channels from his press meet in Kochi

The press meet was held at the guest house in Kochi today morning

Kerala Guv blames ruling CPI-M for collapse of constitutional machinery

Asked about his stand on the replies of Vice Chancellors (of six universities) to the show-cause notice, Governor AM Khan said that he cannot reply unless he goes through their responses

Oligarchy prevailing in the state under CPI(M) rule, says Kerala Governor

Amidst the ongoing tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the Left government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday alleged that a system of "oligarchy" is prevailing in CPI(M)-ruled state and it was evident from the incidents of party cadres being appointed in government jobs. He made this remark while referring to the reports of a purported letter from the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor's office asking the "priority list" of CPI(M) cadres to be appointed in temporary posts in the civic body. "The letter which is being discussed in the press is not the first of its kind. Many such letters exist with people. They have become like an oligarchy in Kerala," the Governor said. He also claimed that the people were asking are all the jobs under Kerala government reserved for cadres and the university jobs for powerful people in Thiruvananthapuram. The Governor, while talking to reporters here, also claimed that the CPI(M) central leadership has distanced itself from Finance Minister K N ...

Woman IAS gives speech while holding son, triggers debate on social media

In a video, Divya S Iyer, District Collector-Pathanamthitta, could be seen sitting with her child on the dais in an event, and affectionately talking to him while standing up to deliver her speech

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

IMD issues 'orange alert' of heavy rainfall for three Kerala districts

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued an 'orange alert' for three southern districts of Kerala. The orange alert indicates very heavy rainfall of 6 cm to 20 cm. Very heavy rainfall (12-20 cm in 24 hours) is likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Pathanamthitta and Idukki today (Thursday), an IMD statement said. Similarly, very heavy rainfall is likely to hit Kottayam along with Pathanamthitta and Idukki on Friday, it said. The statement said rain or thundershower is likely at most places for the next five days under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over south Tamil Nadu and the neighbourhood. Northeast monsoon has been active over Kerala and rain occurred at most places in Kerala and at a few places in Lakshadweep in the last 24 hours, it added.

Inter-state school education disparity significantly down since 2017: Rpt

Kerala best state, Chandigarh best union territory (UT) for school education, says Performance Grading Index (PGI) released by Ministry of Education on Thursday

Congress launches state-wide agitations against Left govt in Kerala

The Opposition Congress party on Thursday launched State-wide agitations against the alleged anti-people policies and administrative failure of the Left government in Kerala. Hundreds of party activists took out protest-marches across the southern State, marking the beginning of the three-phase stir "Paura Vicharana" (trial by citizens). The march was taken out to the Secretariat, the administrative hub, in Thiruvananthapuram and to the respective Collectorates in other districts, party sources said. Marking the State-level inauguration of the agitation, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran led the march to the Secretariat. Inaugurating the march in front of the district Collectorate in Kozhikode, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan said the decision to launch a mass agitation against the CPI(M) government was jointly taken by the Congress and the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The stir was launched raising issues being faced by people which were being neglected

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

Driver of Kerala Minister's private secretary held for assault on woman

A contract driver of the staff of Kerala Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a woman recently when she was out for a morning walk near the Museum area here, police said. An officer of Museum police station said that the accused driver has also been arrested for trespassing into a house here recently. In view of the police recording the contract driver's arrest for the two offences, the minister ordered his immediate removal from being driver of his private secretary, according to a statement issued by his office. He also instructed the water authority to conduct an inquiry against the accused driver and take appropriate action, it said. According to police, the accused allegedly used the vehicle allotted by the water authority to the minister's private secretary for carrying out the offences. However, while being taken for evidence collection, the accused told reporters here that he was being falsely implicated in the case an

Kerala governor advancing BJP's political objectives, claims CPI(M)

The CPI(M) accused Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Tuesday of advancing the political objectives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by attempting to destabilise the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state. Addressing a press conference here, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged that Khan's actions had no sanction of the Constitution. "The CPI(M) Central Committee strongly denounced the steps being taken by the governor of Kerala to advance the political objectives of the BJP to destabilise the LDF government. The manner in which he demanded the resignation of the vice-chancellors of various universities in the southern state and later, the resignation of the state finance minister, has no sanction of the Indian Constitution. "The governor, in his capacity as the chancellor of the universities in the state, has no authority given by the University Acts passed by the state legislature to initiate such actions," he said. Yechu

Kerala govt enhances retirement age of state PSU employees to 60

The Kerala government has 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 committee had recommended that the retirement age of employees of all state PSUs shall be enhanced uniformly to 60 as in the case of central PSUs. However, this will not be applicable to those employees who have already retired in accordance with the prevailing rules. The state leadership of the All India Youth Federation (AIYF), the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI), protested against the government's decision to enhance the retirement age to 60, terming it as a move against th

Avian flu outbreak: Central team holds discussions with Alappuzha Collector

The high-level team of the Union Health Ministry to take stock of the avian influenza outbreak here on Sunday held discussions with the district Collector. A six-member team led by Senior Regional Director from the Office of Health and Family Welfare, Bangalore, Dr Rajesh Kademani, reached the state to investigate the outbreak in detail and submit a report with recommendations. The team held discussions with district Collector V R Krishna Teja, who informed the delegation that 15,937 ducks were culled in connection with the avian influenza. The Collector explained details of the culling and the precautionary steps taken by the district administration. The high-level team will visit in the coming days, places from where the outbreak was reported. District authorities informed the delegation that the Health and Animal Husbandry departments were closely monitoring the situation. The central team comprises experts drawn from the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Dise

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