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Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Government staff to strike

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM NOV. 24. A meeting of various unions of Government employees and teachers today decided to strike work on January 18 to persuade the Government to begin work on their next pay revision. The strike is also to press for additional pay till the revised emoluments are fixed since the pay revision is already overdue. The unions, further, want all the benefits that have been withdrawn from the employees to be restored. The office-bearers of the Action Council of State Employees and Teachers, the Joint Council of Teachers' and Service Organisations and the Aikya Vedi of Teachers' and Service Organisations attended the meeting. In a joint statement, the leaders of these organisations, C. H. Asokan, M. N. V. G. Adiyodi and P. P. M. Ashraf, urged the other unions also to join them in the strike, which was for a common cause.

New district judges

The Cabinet today approved a list of 15 persons for appointment as District Judges in the Higher Judicial Service of the State. They are Chief Judicial Magistrates A.A.Vijayan (Kasaragod), C.N.Prasannan (Thodupuzha), P.Nandanakrishnan (Kozhikode), S.Sarika Devi (Pathanamthitta), K.M.Mohammed Yousuf (Kollam), R.Narayanan Pisharady (Thrissur), T.V.Anil Kumar (Kottayam), Thomas Kurian (Palakkad), E.B.Rajan (Thalassery), N.Sugunan (Alappuzha), R.Suprabha (Manjeri), N.Anil Kumar (Ernakulam), G. Harindranath (Thiruvananthapuram), V.Vijayakumar (Kalpatta) and D. Premachandran (Thiruvananthapuram).

Packed commodities

The Government proposes to distribute packed commodities through select ration shops from February. The Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Adoor Prakash, announced after a meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram today that the norms for selecting the ration shops were finalised in consultation with the representatives of the ration dealers organisation. According to them, ration shops with a minimum of 350 cards were eligible to be selected provided they had an area of 250 sq. ft. Ration shops within 2 km of Maveli and Labham stores would not be selected for the programme. A common colour would be given to the ration shops selling packed commodities.

MES Medical College

The inauguration of the Medical College set up at Perintalmanna in Malappuram district by the Muslim Educational Society and the ancillary medical institutions will be done by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. The function will be attended by Ministers from the Centre and the State, representatives of other countries and educationists. A meeting of the State office-bearers, standing committee chairman and district presidents of the MES held in Thiruvananthapuram recently also decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organisation in a grand manner in February.

Women's march

The joint action council of women's organisations would take out a march to the Assembly on the opening day of the next session beginning on December 1 to press for the ouster of the Industries Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, and firm action to nab the guilty in the Kiliroor sex racket case. The AIDWA State secretary, P. K. Sreemathy, and president, M. C. Josephine, told a news conference here today that they also wanted the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, to step down in the light of his failure to take stern action in the two cases.

State schools science fair

KOTTAYAM Nov. 24. The Kerala State Schools' Science-Maths-Work Experience-Special Schools' work Experience- Social Science and IT Mela will commence here on Thursday. The four-day festival will be inaugurated by the Education Minister, E. T. Mohammed Basheer, at the MT Seminar School grounds on Thursday morning. According to the organisers, the mela has been organised at five different venues. They include MT Seminary School, St Joseph's Girls' Higher Secondary School, St Ann's Higher Secondary School, MD Seminary Higher Secondary School and Baker Girls High School. The valedictory function and distribution of prizes will be held on Sunday.

Binoy Vishwam's charge

KOZHIKODE NOV. 24. Binoy Vishwam, MLA has alleged that the difficulties faced by rail passengers on the Shornur-Kozhikode route on Tuesday, reportedly due to the checking by Railway Safety Commissioner, was a result of the continuing neglect of Railway towards the Malabar region.

In a statement here, he flayed the Railway authorities decision to chose November 23 and 24, when the public depended solely on rail transport due to the bus strike, as days for the Safety Commissioner's checking. Trains bound for Mangalore were delayed by even seven hours as a result, he alleged.

Church consecration

KOLLAM Nov. 24. The Kollam Bishop, Stanley Roman, will consecrate the rebuilt Infant Jesus Church at Moothakara here on November 25. The church, which is more than 400 years old is a well-known pilgrim centre. Constructed in the year 1610, the church was earlier rebuilt in 1780. The new structure has been designed to resemble the old structure. The consecration rituals will commence at 4.30 p.m., the parish priest, Paul Ettuveettil, said in a statement here today.

Minister to open check-dam

PATHANAMTHITTA NOV. 24. The Water Resources Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, will inaugurate the newly constructed check-dam on the river Achenkoil near the Valiyakoickal Temple bathing ghats in Pandalam on Sunday. The check-dam has been constructed to maintain an optimum water level and normal flow in the temple ghats during the lean period.

IMA district meet

The annual district meeting of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pathanamthitta chapter, will be held at the Aban auditorium here on Friday. In a statement issued here today, the IMA district co-ordinator, Jose Abraham, said a reception would be accorded to the IMA national president, P.V.George, and the State president, Mohammed Rasheed, in connection with the annual meet. The IMA district chairman, George John, will preside over the meet.

Seminar

KOTTAYAM NOV. 24. The University Grants Commission (UGC)-sponsored national seminar on WTO and Agriculture will be held at Government College, Nattakom, on Thursday. The seminar will be inaugurated by G. Karunakaran Pillai, member UGC. Tharian George, deputy director (economics), Rubber Board, will speak on ``Crisis in the plantation sector and trade policy reforms in the era of globalisation,'' during the first academic session. This will be followed by a paper on WTO and agriculture trade in Kerala by Francis Cherunilam, Professor, School of Management Studies, Cusat. The third session will have Martin Patrick of Government College, Chalakudy, speaking on WTO and agro processing.

Training centre

Inauguration of training centre

THRISSUR NOV. 24. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, will inaugurate a training centre for teachers of the mentally challenged children at the Pope Paul Mercy Home at Peringandoor, near here, on Friday. The Speaker, Therambil Ramakrishnan, the Forest Minister, K.P. Viswanathan, and the Archbishop Mar Jacob Thumkuzhy are among those who are expected to attend the programme. The building of the training centre has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 70 lakhs, a release said.

Ad firm

bags award

The Valappila Communications has been selected for the award for the best advertising agency instituted by the Kerala Students' Cultural Organisation. The agency was selected through a poll conducted in colleges in the State. The award would be presented by the Cultural Affairs Minister, A.P. Anil Kumar, at a function to be held here on Thursday. T. N. Prathapan, MLA, will preside, a press release said.

Literary workshop

The district panchayat will organise a literary workshop at the Cosmo Hall at Kattur, near here, on November 27. The workshop will focus on short stories. The writer C. V. Sreeraman would inaugurate the two-day workshop, a press release said.

Seminar

KOTTAYAM NOV. 24. The University Grants Commission (UGC) sponsored national seminar on WTO and Agriculture will be held at Government College, Nattakom, on Thursday. The seminar will be inaugurated by G. Karunakaran Pillai, member UGC. Tharian George, deputy director (economics), Rubber Board, will speak on ``Crisis in the plantation sector and trade policy reforms in the era of globalisation,'' during the first academic session. This will be followed by a paper on WTO and agriculture trade in Kerala by Francis Cherunilam, Professor, School of Management Studies, Cusat. The third session will have Martin Patrick of Government College, Chalakudy, speaking on WTO and agro processing.

`No unity talks'

P. J. Joseph, chairman, Kerala Congress (J), has put at rest all speculations regarding his party's reported unity talks with the Kerala Congress (Jacob) faction. While unity among various Kerala Congress factions was a good thing, there were so many practical problems to be sorted out, he said. To a question, he said any such moves would be in accordance with the LDF position on the issue. The State conference of the party will be held in May 2005 and the various district conference in the run up to the State conference will commence in December, he said.

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