The Hindu : Kerala News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 17, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Half-day holiday today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 16. The Government has declared a half-day holiday tomorrow for the Government employees in connection with Karkkidaka Vavu. An official press note said today that the employees need report for work only in the afternoon.

Antony's condolence

The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, has expressed deep grief at the Kumbakonam incident which claimed the lives of several schoolchildren. He also sent a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, J. Jayalalithaa, in which he said he and the people of Kerala shared her grief and that of the people of the State and the bereaved families over the tragedy.

Veliyam flays privatisation

The CPI State secretary, Veliyam Bhargavan, has come down heavily on the Government decision to sell off 10 State public sector units. In a statement here today, Mr. Bhargavan wondered why the Antony Government was pursuing a policy of indiscriminate privatisation which had been rejected by the people in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Although the Government was making it appear that it was only disinvesting its stakes in the units, in reality property worth crores of rupees would also change hands along with it. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, owed an explanation to the people on why his Government was pursuing such a policy even after it had been proved disastrous at the national level, the CPI leader said.

Workshop on ST procedures

The Centre for Taxation Studies (CTS), an autonomous institution under the Government of Kerala, is oragnising one-day Workshops on Sales Tax Procedures at Kozhikode on July 22, Ernakulam on July 23 and at Thiruvananthapuram on July 26. To be led by tax experts and officials, the workshop is intended to provide practical training to Post Graduate Diploma in Taxation (PGDT) students, sales tax practitioners and others by addressing practical issues relating to sales taxation. The fee for the workshop is Rs.50 for the students and Rs.100 for others. Those who wish to participate in the workshop may please register their names with the Registrar, Centre for Taxation Studies, Thiruvanathapuram - 18 over phone (0471-490883).

SBT system goes live

The Real Time Gross Settlement System went live in the State Bank of Travancore today. It will enable the immediate utilisation of funds as the settlement is effected continuously in real time. At present the banks are not able to lend or borrow funds among themselves after the close of the Bankers Clearing. But with the RTGS in place, the banks will get more time to lend and borrow funds as the RTGS day begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m. The system will phase out paper settlement of high value payments by corporates and customers. Operational, legal, systemic credit and liquidity risks will also be reduced to the minimum.

Ministers to visit Wayanad

KOZHIKODE JULY 16. The Agriculture Minister, K.R. Gouri, the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, and the Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani, will visit the families of farmers who committed suicide in Wayanad. Public Relations Department sources said the Ministers would reach Kalpetta in the morning and visit the houses of the farmers who had committed suicide to get a first hand information.

Later a meeting with officials will be held at the Collectorate.

A meeting with representatives of political parties is also scheduled.

Meeting postponed

PATHANAMTHITTA July 16. A meeting of the district-level expert committee (DLEC) on river bank protection and regulation of sand-mining scheduled for today has been postponed to July 23, according to an official release issued by the District Collector, who is also the chairman of the committee. The meeting would be held at the Collectorate Conference Hall on July 23, the Collector said.

Brown sugar seized

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 16. The city police seized brown sugar and ganja from three youth from a vacant plot near Anayara, Kadakampally, in the Pettah police station limits on Thursday night.

According to the police, 17 packets of brown sugar weighing 1.700 gm and ganja weighing 61.25 gm were seized from the youth. The police gave the name of the accused as `Pacha' Vikraman, Aji and Satheesan, all residents of Anayara.

Puppetry workshop

KASARAGOD JULY 16. A week-long puppetry workshop under the joint auspices of the Thrikkaripur-based Folkland and the Kerala Folklore Akademi got under way at Thrikkaripur, near here, today. Aimed at reviving the dying art, the puppetry master from Australia, Smith, will lead the workshop being held at the Folkland Hall.

PNB opens ATM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 16. The 14th ATM of the Punjab National Bank was inaugurated at Cherthala today by the chairperson of the Cherthala municipality, Aleykutty John. N. Subramanian, Regional Manager, welcomed the gathering and Sanal Kumar, senior manager, Regional Office, proposed the vote of thanks.

Award

E.J. Joseph, Assistant Engineer of the Electricity Board in Thrissur has been selected for the Rashtriya Gaurav Award of the India International Friendship Society. It will be presented to him at a function to be held at Chennai on July 30.

Puppetry workshop

KASARAGOD JULY 16. The week-long puppetry workshop, under the joint auspices of the Thrikkaripur-based Folkland and the Kerala Folklore Akademy got under way at Thrikkaripur near here today. Aimed at reviving the dying art of puppet show, the renowned Puppetry master from Australia, Smith, will lead the workshop to be held at the Folkland hall. Noted puppet artists and others are expected to take part in the workshop.

RTA meeting

The next meeting of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) would be held on July 20. The meeting to be held at the collectorate conference hall would begin at 10-30 a.m.

Classes

KOZHIKODE JULY 16. The Kerala High Court Justice K.A.Abdul Gafoor will inaugurate the district-level legal literacy classes for undergraduate girl students at a programme to be held at the Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College here on July 17. The District and Sessions Judge, M. N. Krishnan, will preside. The keynote address will be delivered by the Calicut Zamorin, P. K. S. Raja. The initiative is part of the new project of legal literacy classes being launched by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA).

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