The Hindu : Kerala News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Pilgrim dies of heart attack

PATHANAMTHITTA DEC 19. A Sabarimala pilgrim, hailing from Salem Chinna-Tirupati in Tamil Nadu, died of heart attack today. R. Perumal (51), developed chest pain while climbing the Appachimedu. He was rushed to the Sree Ayyappa Health Amenities Society Cardiology Centre at Sannidhanam where he was declared dead, later. The body was taken to Salem.

Office-bearers

KOLLAM Dec. 19. C. Rajan Pillai and Sabu Xaviour have been elected president and secretary respectively of the Kollam unit of the Kerala Gazetted Officers Union. The other office-bearers are: B. Vijayan Pillai and R. Ganesh (vice-presidents), R. Madusoodhanan Pillai and D. Antony (joint secretaries) and Manoj Johnson (treasurer).

Nominated to Sahithya Akademi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Dec. 19. The Government has nominated two more persons to the general council of the Kerala Sahithya Akademi. They are V. Madhusoodanan Nair and K.M. Chummar. The Government had earlier nominated 15 persons to the Akademi general council.

CME programme

The Association of Kerala Medical Graduates and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin are conducting a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme here on December 29 and 30. Nearly 200 foreign delegates, in addition to more than 300 from India, will attend the programme, the organisers said in a press release today. The objective is to bring the latest developments in the medical field from all parts of the world to India, the organisers said.

Award for educationist

The Council for Teacher Education, a national organisation promoting innovation in teachers' education with headquarters in Jaipur, has selected educationist K. Sivadasan Pillai for its `Award of excellence' for 2004. In a press release here today, the organisation's Kerala Centre said the award is in recognition of Dr. Sivadasan Pillai's contributions in the field of teachers' education in the State. He is the chairman of the Kerala Centre of the organisation. The award carries a purse of Rs. 11,000 and a citation.

Monitoring progress of cases

The Revenue and Law Minister, K.M. Mani, has said that a new system to monitor progress of cases on a day-to-day basis will come into effect by January 6. The system titled `Court cases monitoring solution for law offices' will become operational with the linking of the Thiruvananthapuram District Government Pleader with the Law Department. The system will be extended to other districts in the second stage. Once the project is fully operational, all the law officers of the Government, the office of the Advocate General and the Law Department's office in New Delhi will become connected over the Internet. The project is being implemented at an estimated outlay of Rs. 76.87 lakhs.

Train rescheduled

Train No 3352 Alapuzha-Dhanbad Tata Express scheduled to leave Alappuzha at 6 a.m. on December 20 will depart only at 9.30 a.m. This is owing to the late running of the pairing train, a Southern Railway release said here today. — UNI

Tourism promotion

Joint efforts of the Kerala Government and private players in the tourism sector have set an example for the rest of the nation, the Union Tourism Minister, Renuka Choudhury, has said. Speaking at the release of a `Kerala Tourism Handbook,' brought out by the Tourism India magazine in association with the Kerala Tourism Department, in London recently, Ms. Choudhury said the handbook can be a model for other States, a release said here today. It is noteworthy that besides setting up infrastructure facilities, Kerala has done good marketing of the State's tourism brand, she said. The handbook is a step forward in this direction, she added. Receiving the first copy of the book from the Minister, the Union Tourism Secretary, Uma Pillai, said the new resorts and projects coming up in Kerala are of high standard and are capable of meeting the future demand also. — UNI

The Tourism Director, T.S. Sooraj, said the development of infrastructure without disturbing the environment has won international recognition for the State.

Ganja plants destroyed

Madikeri Dec. 19. Ganja plants valued at over Rs. 6 crores, grown illegally near the Karnataka-Kerala border, were destroyed by the police on Saturday. Four persons, all from Kerala, were arrested in this connection. The police said the plants were grown on a five-acre farm, about 22 km from Sollekolli, near Makutta, on the Karnataka-Kerala border. Ganja stems were also discovered in over 10 acres of land in the region where the smugglers had harvested the crop. The police recovered a gun from the arrested. — PTI

Church services

KOCHI DEC. 19. The Jacobite Syrian Church has decided to change the timings of the night services for Christmas and Easter so as to end all the services by midnight. According to the new schedule, Christmas celebrations, 2004, will begin at 9 p.m. in the churches and end by midnight.

The practice now is to begin the services at midnight and end them by the early morning next day, said a press release from the official spokesman of the Church, Varghese Kallappara, here on Sunday. For the first time, Fr. Kallappara said, the Church has decided to allow a mass at 6 p.m. at the St. Mary's Cathedral at Elamkulam, Kochi. The Church has decided to reduce the preparation and fast period for the celebrations and reception of the Eucharist from 12 hours to six hours, he said. The change in timings has been effected in keeping with the opinion of the faithful, it said.

Workshop for mathematics teachers

The Department of Mathematics of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) will organise a workshop for mathematics teachers at the Higher Secondary level between January 20 and 23, 2005.

The workshop is open to teachers from Government, aided and unaided schools. Sixty teachers will be admitted to the workshop. Preference will be given to those with less than six years of experience.

More details can be had from Cusat on telephone numbers 0484 - 2577518 / 2575288. Applications have to sent to A. Vijayakumar, Regional Coordinator (INMO), Department of Mathematics, Cusat, Cochin - 682 022. The e-mail address is vijay@cusat.ac.in

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala