The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 27, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Ombudsman

PATHANAMTHITTA March 26. A sitting of the Ombudsman, Justice K. P. Radhakrishna Menon, will be held at the Government Guest House here on April 7, according to an official release issued by the Public Relations Department here today.

Demand

The Congress Thiruvalla mandalam committee at its meeting held at Thiruvalla today demanded that the Revenue authorities take immediate steps to ban sand-mining from the wetlands in Peringara panchayat. The DCC secretary, Satheesh Kochuparampil, addressed the meeting.

PF adalat

KOTTAYAM MARCH 26. The Provident Fund Commissioner would hold an adalat for the benefit of EPF members belonging to Kottayam and Idukki districts on April 12. The sitting would be held on PF Sub-Office premises from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those interested should submit their complaints before April 5, according to a press release.

Admission

The entrance examination for admission to Class IX for the year 2004-05 of Navodaya Vidyalaya will be held on May 23. Class VIII students can apply. The last date for application is April 10. For details visit 'www: navodayakottayam.com'.

Honour

KOZHIKODE March 26. The Chavara Cultural Centre in association with the Kerala Environment Protection Council will honour the noted academic, M.S. Valiathan, at a function to be held here on March 31. Dr. Valiathan's book `The Legacy of Charaka' would be introduced by C.K. Ramachandran on the occasion, the director, Jolly Alavelil, said.

Anweshi Home

The cine director and actress, Revathi, will lay the foundation stone for the Anweshi Home being built at Kottooli here by the Anweshi Women's Counselling Centre at a function on March 31. The Mayor, Thottathil Raveendran, will preside. The Anweshi president, K. Ajitha, the writer, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the District Collector, T.O. Sooraj, among others will speak at the programme.

150 MW more power sought

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM March 26. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, today sent an SOS to the Union Minister for Power, Anand Geete, requesting for the allocation of an additional 150 MW of electricity to the State from the national grid. An official press release said the State was finding it difficult to manage the demand for power supply for want of sufficient water in the hydel reservoirs. Mr. Antony also told the Union Minister that the State was yet to get its share of power from the capacity addition made at the Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

Teachers' training begins

Thousands of school teachers are participating in the first round of training, organised by the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI), in the new grading-based evaluation system introduced by the Government for Standard X from the coming academic year onwards. The five-day training is being held in all the 36 educational districts in the State. The teachers, in batches of 50 to 60, are also being given training to handle the new textbooks which will be introduced in the tenth standard. Resource persons from the District Resource Group (DRG) are handling separate sessions for Malayalam, English, Hindi, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Biology and for Social Science subjects. The teachers participating in the training sessions are being given Rs. 65 a day, as allowance and, Rs. 5 , as refreshment charges.

SBI opens a dozen ATMs

The State Bank of India (SBI) opened 12 ATMs in different parts of the State today. The ATM at Valiyavila in Thiruvananthapuram, one of the 12, was inaugurated by the Chief General Manager of the bank, C. Narasimhan. He said that the number of ATMs of the bank in the State had crossed 100 and that the bank proposed to double it next year. The ATM cards were issued free of charge to the customers. They doubled as debit cards also and could be used for purchases.

Tie-up for flight services

IBS Software Services, a Techopark-based company providing software support in travel, transportation and logistics sectors, has entered into an agreement with Cendant Travel Distribution Services (TDS), a company having business all over the world. This was announced by the Chairman and Managing Director of the IBS, V.K. Mathew, here on Thursday.

The agreement is to develop and provide what is called the `iRes' passenger services system to Cedant TDS to replace the existing system for passenger reservations, inventory control, fare and ticketing and departure control needs of commercial airlines.

Vets forum plea

The Indian Veterinary Association, Kerala has asked the Government to distribute the remuneration of those who had worked as enumerators for the 17th Cattle Census held in the State without further delay. Its general secretary, L. Ravikumar, said in a statement today that the work was done by educated youngsters. They did it accurately and under a time-bound programme. The entire work was completed months ago.

Award for doctor

P.K. Jayrus, Head of Holistic Medicine of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, has been selected for the `Athuraseva ratnam puraskaram' of the Pathanapuram Gandhi Bhavan. It will be presented to him by the Labour Minister, Babu Divakaran, at a function to be held at Kollam on March 28.

Permit for school buses

KOLLAM March 26. The Regional Transport Officer, M.D. Chandrabose, has said that all educational institutions operating bus or van services for their students should obtain service vehicle permits the RTOs concerned before April 30. Besides, the drivers employed in such vehicles should have a minimum driving experience of ten years and they should not be those who have been penalised for drunken driving or over-speeding. Speed governors should be installed in all heavy vehicles by June 1 with a speed limit of 40 km per hour. All vehicles should have shutters at the doors and proper help should be rendered to students by a person at the door. The number of students transported in a vehicle should be as per the rules.

Meat export opposed

KOCHI MARCH 26. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has decided to oppose the proposed move by the Meat Products of India to export meat to Iraq. C.K. Abdul Aziz, working chairman of the party, today urged the Kochi port workers not to cooperate with the export of meat for consumption by American soldiers based in Iraq. He criticised both the UDF and LDF for not protesting against the export move. Mr. Aziz said the party was opposing the move as a mark of protest against the imperialist forces involved in the killing of hundreds of Iraqis.

PDP final list on March 31

The PDP working chairman, C.K. Abdul Aziz, today announced the possible candidates' list of the party for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Chirayankeezhu: Varkala Raj and K.A.Hassan; Kollam: K.A. Hassan and Kollurvila Nazimuddin; Alappuzha: K.S. Nazar and P.M. Sherif; Mukundapuram: Sabu Ali and Abdulsalam; Thrissur: M.V. Renjith and Chavakattu Abduhaji; Ottapalam: Kunnathur Srinivasan and Vallikunnam Prasad, and Ponnani: Abdul Nasar Maudany. Mr. Aziz said the final list would be announced on March 31.

CPI(ML) Red Flag candidates

The CPI(M.L) Red Flag has decided to field its candidates in Ernakulam and Vadakara constituencies for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. T.B. Mini, State committee member of the party, will be the candidate in Ernakulam and K.T. Kunjikannan, State secretariat member, will contest from Vadakara. P.C. Unnichekkan, CPI (M.L) secretary, said here today that the party would organise a campaign highlighting the need to evolve a Left movement to counter globalisation and fascism. The campaign would be held between March 31 and April 7. A meeting would be held in Kochi on April 7 in connection with the conclusion of the campaign, he added.

Chemical leakage

KOZHIKODE MARCH 26. A Maharashtra-bound tanker lorry carrying toluene (an explosive material) lost control and skid off the road at the Kallai Road on Friday morning, causing a small leakage of the chemical onto the road and nearby land. Officials from the Kochi Refineries reached the spot and emptied the chemical from the tanker lorry to another one. The traffic police have registered a case in this connection. The lorry was coming from Kochi. Meanwhile, District Collector, T.O. Sooraj, said that he had asked the Kozhikode Tahasildar to submit a report on the impact of the toluene leakage within two days.

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