The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 08, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Highway status accorded

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM FEB. 7. The Government has declared nine more roads in the State as State Highways. They were: the Guruvayur— Althara— Ponnani (28.6 km), Vypeen— Pallippuram (25.5 km), Varkala— Paripalli— Madathara (44.5 km), Parappanangadi— Areecode (42.5 km), Alappuzha— Arthunkal— Chellanam— Thoppumpady (51.23 km), Mannarakulanji— Pampa (60 km) and Kappad beach— Thiruvannur— Kuniyilkadavu— Atholi— Cheekalode— Nanmanda— Narikuni— Koduvally— Komassery— Kodencherry— Chembukadavu— Thusharagiri (67 km).

Wages to be revised

The Government would revise the minimum wages of those working in umbrella making units in the State. Accordingly, the employers would have to pay dearness allowance in addition to the basic pay at the rate of Rs. 3.50 per point for every point above 100. If any unit was already paying a higher amount, they should continue to do so. Any objections or suggestions to the proposal should be forwarded to the Secretary, Labour and Rehabilitation (E) Department, Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, at the earliest.

Exemption from surcharge The Government has exempted the turnover from the sale of liquor and beer in military canteens from Sales Tax surcharge. It has been given effect from January 1, 2000. But the surcharge already paid will not be repaid.

Committee reconstituted

The Estimates Committee of the Assembly has been reconstituted. The new committee will be chaired by E. T. Mohammed Basheer and will consists of P. K. Abdu Rabb, K. Babu, M. P. Gangadharan, K. C. Joseph, K. Muhammed Ali, Pirappancode Murali, P. Narayanan, Thermbil Ramakrishnan, K. P. Satheesh Chandran and K. C. Venugopal.

N. S. Sreenivasan honoured

The State Government has honoured N. S. Srinivasan, chairman of the Research Council of the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre. He was presented a memento and a ponnada as part of it. It has been done in recognition of his meritorious services as the Adviser of the City Road Improvement Project under the Capital Region Development Programme of the Government.

Government warns of action

The Fisheries Minister, K. V. Thomas, today warned of action against those who released waste water into rivers and other water spreads. The warning has been issued in the wake of reports about the appearance of a large number of dead fish floating on the water in some parts of Ernakulam district and Thanneermukkam in Alappuzha district. The Minister deputed officers of the Fisheries Department and the Aquaculture Development Agency to look into the matter as soon as he learnt about it. They made enquiries along with the officials of the Pollution Control Board and the samples are being tested. He has asked the officials to complete the enquiry expeditiously. He warned of strong action if any industrial unit is found to be responsible for the pollution of the water in these places.

`Exclude from service tax'

The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, has written to the Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, urging him to exclude parallel colleges from the service tax. The Chief Minister said parallel colleges too had contributed significantly to the educational achievements of the State. They cater to relatively poor students with low marks in the examinations. Educated young men who were not making much profit ran many of these colleges.

Murali's induction hailed

THRISSUR FEB. 7. The Revenue Minister, K. M. Mani, has said that K. Muraleedharan's induction into the Cabinet will strengthen the United Democratic Front (UDF). Mr. Mani told reporters here on Saturday that the problems in the Congress seemed to be over and that the UDF would romp through the upcoming electoral test. Asked about the number of seats his party would demand, Mr. Mani said that every party in the UDF would get the seats it was eligible for.

Spirit seized

PALAKKAD FEB. 7. The Chittur police have seized 8,575 litres of spirit estimated to cost Rs.7 lakhs that was being smuggled into the State bypassing the Meenakshipuram check post in a truck. The truck driver, Vijayakumar, has been arrested, the police said. The spirit, stored in 254 cans of 35 liters each, was being taken to Kochi, the police said.

Minister's assurance

The Electricity Minister, Kadavoor Sivadasan, has said power connection would be given on a priority basis in the Nelliampathy Hills. He was inaugurating the construction of a 33-KV sub station in Nelliampathy on Saturday.

`CM supports corrupt Ministers'

KOCHI FEB. 7. The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has accused the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, of supporting Ministers involved in allegations of corruption and favouritism. Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a study centre at the A. P. Varkey Mission Hospital at Aarakunnam here today Mr. Achuthanandan said the statements made by the Metropolitan of the Jacobite Syrian Church, Yuhanon Mar Philexinos against the Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, in the B.Ed colleges issue were a clear testimony to the rampant corruption being perpetuated by the Government.

50 delegates to attend meeting KOLLAM Feb.7. Fifty delegates from the State would attend the 20th national conference of the Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Associations of India (FMSRAI), to be held at Hyderabad from February 9.

Prosecution order criticised

The novelist, Perumbadavam Sreedharan, has said that the prosecution order issued by the Home Department against the general secretary of the Bharatheeya Rationalists Association, Sreeni Pattathanam and two others, was a challenge to the freedom of writers. In a statement here today, Mr. Sreedharan said writers were prone to delve into facts on ideologies, individuals and institutions.

MSF conference

MALAPPURAM FEB. 7. The Egyptian journalist, Fahmi Huvaidi, will inaugurate the State conference of the Muslim Students' Federation (MSF) here on February 13. Salim bin Nasser, orator from Sultanate of Oman, would be the chief guest on the occasion.

National seminar

KOZHIKODE FEB. 7. Centre of Excellence, a coaching centre for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students set up jointly by the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K), and the SC\ST Department, will organise a national seminar at the Seminar Hall on the IIM-K campus at Kunnamangalam near here on February 9. According to a release here today, the topic of the seminar is `Rethinking cultural studies in India: Emerging concerns in the new millennium'. The IIM-K Director, A.H. Kalro, will inaugurate the seminar. Manas Ray, Fellow, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, will deliver the first Centre of Excellence national lecture on the topic `A difficult decoupling: Religion and politics in enlightenment modernity' at the seminar.

Rehabilitation

The Muthalamada Sneham Charitable Trust has drawn up a mega rehabilitation project for leprosy patients in the State. Addressing a press conference here today, the trust chairman, Sunildas, said the programme, already launched with the adoption of 35 leprosy patients from Muthalamada panchayat in Palakkad district, would be extended to all panchayats in the State soon. The trust would provide medical facilities, food and clothes to the patients, wherever possible. Those who have to be hospitalised and rehabilitated will be taken care of by the trust.

Medical camp

KASARAGOD FEB. 7. The Disa Kala Kayika Vedi in association with Ideal Diagnostic Laboratory is organising a free blood group testing and eye testing camp at Delampady Government High School near here on February 15. At a press conference here today, the vedi office-bearers said they would provide pairs of spectacles free of cost to those who require it. The vedi would extend financial support to poor patients who would require cataract surgery. The Uduma MLA, K.V. Kunhiraman, will inaugurate the camp at 9 a.m.

Elected office-bearers

KOLLAM FEB. 7. The District Collector, Rajan Khobragade, and K. Shaukath Ali have been elected president and secretary respectively of the District Child Welfare Society. The other office-bearers are S. Sudheendran and N. Raveendran, vice-presidents, C.D. George Pattathanam, joint secretary, and D. Shakunthala, treasurer. The executive committee members are K. Sivamohan, K.B. Vasantha Kumar, M. Ibrahim Kutty, T.D. Dathan, G. Radhakrishna Pillai, Don Bosco, Kuttanad Sivaraman Nair and Faseela Beevi.

National seminar

Inauguration

PALAKKAD FEB. 7. The State-level awareness campaign for the rainwater conservation programme was inaugurated by N.N. Krishnadas, MP, here on Saturday. The meeting was organised by the National Service Scheme of the Department of Higher Secondary Education. The NSS cell programme coordinator, Thomas John, presided. K. Achuthan, MLA, the District Collector, Sanjeev Kaushik, and others spoke.

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