The Hindu : Kerala News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Tsunami toll rises to 34

ALAPPUZHA JAN. 6. One more person who was injured in the tsunami attack here died today raising the death toll in the district to 34. Rappel (88), Panakkal house, Andhakaranazhi, who was undergoing treatment Cherthala Taluk Hospital, died this morning, said an official release.

Hoteliers' gesture

The Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association district committee has donated Rs.25,000 to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for providing food to people staying at tsunami relief camps in the district. According to the district president, Muhammed Kunju, this is in addition to the Rs.2 lakhs donated by the association State committee.

College staff zonal meet

KOZHIKODE JAN. 6. The north zone conference of Kerala Private College Ministerial Staff Federation will be organised at St. Mary's College, Sulthan Bathery, on Saturday. N.D. Appachan, MLA, will inaugurate the conference. The keynote address will be delivered by Thomas Paul, Principal, St. Mary's College. More than 500 representatives from the five northern districts will take part in the conference.

Legal aid clinic for the poor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JAN. 6. The Law Department proposes to set up a `legal aid clinic' based at the Secretariat to extend free legal service to the poor, the Minister for Law, K.M. Mani, has said. Inaugurating the modernisation programme of his department at a function today, he said that the poor should not be denied justice for want of legal assistance. Hence the proposal to set up the cell. The department would shortly network over the Internet the office of the Advocate General, the Law Office in New Delhi and the offices of all the Government lawyers and district prosecutors. This will facilitate better coordination in the conduct of the cases, Mr. Mani said.

NTPC plant to get more water

The State Government today agreed to supply 59 cusecs (about 15 million litres a day) of water from Kallada and Achenkoil rivers for the proposed 1,950 MW expansion programme at the Kayamkulam unit of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, gave this promise to top officials of the NTPC, who met him here for a discussion. The Electricity Minister, Aryadan Mohammed, and the Water Resources Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, also attended the meeting.

More facilities at Kozhikode MCH

The work costing over Rs. 6. crores for improving the facilities at the Kozhikode Medical College and Hospital will be completed soon. The Health Minister, K.K. Ramachandran, said today that it included the casualty new block, the first floor of the casualty, ICU for medicine surgery, modernisation of casualty operation theatre, additional operation theatre for orthopaedics, reconstruction of drainage on campus and hostel for general nursing and midwifery. The Finance Department had given its approval for constructing a leukaemia ward at a cost of Rs. 23.5 lakhs. The construction of A, B, C and D blocks, including roofing at a cost of Rs. 60 lakhs was under the Government's active consideration. Steps were nearing completion for procuring modern medical gadgets worth Rs. 2.65 crores for the hospital.

Result of HDC examination

Result of the Higher Diploma in Cooperation and Business Management (HDC & BM) final examination, conducted by the State Cooperative Union in August 2004, has been announced. Sindhu R. Nair, of the Cooperative Training College, North Paravur, secured the first rank and Siya M. Samad, also of the same college, bagged the second rank. The winner of the third rank is V. Mridula Nath of the Cooperative Training College, Pala. Applications in the prescribed form, for revaluation of answer papers, should reach the Secretary, State Cooperative Union, Sahakarana Bhavan, Oottukuzhi, Thiruvananthapuram, before February 3.

Free technical services offered

The Kerala State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) has offered free technical services to the Government for rebuilding the tsunami-hit areas and the rehabilitation of its victims. The offer was made when a delegation from the Institution called on the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, in Thiruvananthapuram today and handed over its contribution of Rs. 1 lakh to the relief fund. The delegation consisted of among others N. Jayachandran, chairman, N. Rajkumar, secretary, and N.T. Nair, former chairman.

New route of hill highway

The new route of the proposed hill highway has been approved by the Government. It will begin from Nandarapadavu in Kasaragod district and end at Kadukkara in Thiruvananthapuram district, the total distance being 960 km. The new route has been prepared after incorporating some changes suggested by the MLAs from the Kasaragod and Palakkad regions.

Health Minister to take action

The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, has referred the case of the Endosulfan victims of Kasaragod district to the Health Minister for taking whatever action he thought fit in addition to the measures announced by Mr. Chandy during his recent visit to the affected areas. He also asked the Minister to look into the demand for more medical facilities made by the people during his mass contact programme. This follows reports that the people were not fully satisfied with the steps taken by the Government so far.

Trains rescheduled

The Railways have rescheduled the 6317 Kanniyakumari-Jammu Tawi Himsagar Express, scheduled to leave from Kanniyakumari at 2.05 p.m. on January 7. According to an official release here, the Himsagar Express would depart from Kanniyakumari on the same day at 3.30 p.m. The rescheduling had been done due to the late running of the pairing train. The Railways have cancelled the 335/336 Ernakulam-Kayamkulam-Ernakulam Passenger trains between Alappuzha and Kayamkulam from January 10 to April 30. According to a railway release, the cancellation of the passenger trains had been done in order to undertake track maintenance work in the Alappuzha-Kayamkulam section.

Coast Guard staff gesture

KOCHI JAN. 6. The Coast Guard officers and civilian staff working at various stations, including ships, contributed their mite towards rehabilitation of the tsunami-affected people along the State's coast.

The contribution was apart from the service they rendered for rescue operations in the wake of the tsunami attack of December 26.

The Commander of Coast Guard (Kerala and Lakshadweep regions), DIG M.S. Dangi, handed over a cheque of Rs. 30,000 to the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy.

Mr. Dangi said that this contribution was in addition to their one day's wages which was handed over to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

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

Kerala