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Wednesday, Mar 02, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

UDF convener's demand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MARCH 1. The United Democratic Front convener, P.P. Thankachan, has demanded concerted action against those behind the trouble at coastal Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram district in order to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. In a statement here today, he also urged the Government to take immediate steps for rehabilitating the victims who lost their houses and household items. He said that it was because of the prompt action taken by the police that the incident did not develop into a communal flare up. Mr. Thankachan asked the Government to help the family of Praveen who had been murdered in the most cruel manner and of Ashraf who had been killed allegedly by the RSS.

WEATO gesture

The WEATO, the welfare agency of the fishermen of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram working in the UAE has made a contribution of Rs.4 lakhs for the tsunami victims. A cheque for the amount was handed over to the Archbishop M. Susaipakiam by the secretary of the organisation, Eugine, in the presence of John Curson, chairman; Markose who had contributed Rs.1 lakh, and John Bosco. Fr. Rajasekaran, secretary to the Archbishop, was also present.

Civic polls in September

The Government proposes to hold the local bodies election as scheduled in September, the Education Minister, E. T. Mohammed Basheer, told the Assembly today. Replying to the discussion on the Kerala Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, the Minister said steps were on to hold the election as scheduled. However, he also put the rider that the actual date of election would depend on completion of ward delimitation and revision of voters' list. The Bill adopted by the House today stipulates that the membership of grama panchayats and block panchayats should be between 12 and 22 and that of district panchayats between 16 and 32.

KPCA stages dharna

The Kerala Parallel Colleges Association (KPCA) organised a mass dharna in front of the Secretariat on Monday to press a 17-point charter of demands. The demands included withdrawal of service tax imposed by the Centre, setting up of a welfare fund for teachers and other staff, unification of the course registration and examination fees of universities in the State and recognition of parallel colleges as educational institutions. The dharna was inaugurated by the CPI leader and former Minister, J. Chitharanjan.

Luxury tax proposal criticised

The Kalyanamantapam Owners' Association has come out against the luxury tax of 10 per cent imposed on bigger wedding halls by the State Government in its budget. In a memorandum submitted to the Government, the Association said that it was because the expenditure was high for the maintenance and upkeep of the bigger wedding halls that they collected higher rent. The people opted for them because they had enough space, including parking space, and were clean. They would have to incur higher expenditure if they opted for smaller and less clean halls. The Association felt that instead of discouraging ostentatious marriages, the tax would only increase the expenditure for conducting marriages. The Association felt that ostentation could be brought down only through education.

Free ration supply extended

The free ration being given to the workers of plantations that are remaining closed is being extended for one more month from today. Each family will get 5 kg of rice per week. In Idukki, the ration will be given to workers who do not have ration cards on the basis of the yellow cards distributed by the Labour Department.The rice will be supplied by the Food and Civil Supplies Department and the cost of distributing it will be met from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. The beneficiaries will be selected by the District Collectors in consultation with the Labour Department.

Held on graft charge

The Vigilance Anti-Corruption Bureau on Monday arrested the village officer of Alacode, Idukki, K. P. Janardhanan, on the charge of accepting Rs.500 as bribe for issuing a certificate. The official allegedly demanded the money from a person who approached him for a certificate to apply for a loan from the Department of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The man approached the Vigilance with a complaint and a team led by the Vigilance Dy. SP, K.V. Jose, trapped the official when he accepted the money.

Lottery sellers' plea

R. Satheesh Kumar, State president, Lottery Vyapari, Agents and Sellers Association, has called for making the State Government Lottery more attractive when the Government relaunched it. Inaugurating a convention organised by the Association here today, he said that the lottery should be modernised and the number of draws should be increased for the purpose. The lottery would be able to provide the livelihood of lakhs who depended on it only if the number of draws was increased. Mr. Satheesh Kumar asked the Government to utilise the Rs.20 crores set apart for the rehabilitation of lottery ticket sellers following the ban for helping the really disabled, sick and suffering among them. He wanted the Government to return the Rs.10 crores collected from the agents with interest. The convention adopted a resolution demanding assistance including interim relief for those affected by the 35-day-old ban.

Minister's health improves

The condition of the Minister for Local Self-Government, K. Kutty Ahmed Kutty, has improved. Mr. Kutty, who has been convalescing after an accident in the critical care unit at Medical College Hospital, will be shifted to the VIP room on Wednesday, hospital sources said.

Elected Milma director

Thrissur March 1. P.A. Balan Master has been elected director of the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma). He is being made director for the fourth time. He had recently won the Ernakulam Regional Cooperative Milk Producers' Union elections, a press release said.

Two killed in accident

Palakkad March 1. Manikantan, 52, and his son Suresh, 21, were killed when the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a truck at Panakkadavu near Thrithala in the district today.

They were on their way to Pattambi, where Manikantan was running a hotel, the police said.-PTI

Jewellery shops to be closed today

KOLLAM March 1. Jewellery shops in the district will be closed on Wednesday as the All-Kerala Gold Merchants' Association is organising a protest against the 2 per cent tax on branded jewellery imposed in the Union Budget. The president of the association, S. Abdul Karim, said the shop owners would hold a demonstration in front of the Central Excise office here on Wednesday. He said the Central Excise had started enforcing the tax, which the association termed unjustified.

Workshop

Thrissur March 1. A workshop on `Intellectual property rights and patent protection' will be held here on March 2 by the Small Industries Service Institute and the Confederation of Indian Industries. S. Gunasegaran, general manager of the Small Industries Development Bank of India, will inaugurate the workshop.

Protest

ALAPPUZHA March 1. The CPI (M) Alappuzha district committee has protested against the attack on the committee's car carrying the district secretary, G. Sudhakaran, at Thiruvambady here on Monday night. Mr. Sudhakaran's car was damaged when a group of people attacked it with iron rods. The assailants later escaped. The CPI (M) district committee said two groups fought pitched battles at Thiruvambady on Monday but the police arrived at the scene only an hour later.

Symposium

`Nirmaan-2005', a symposium and exhibition on water resource management, is being organised by the Civil Engineering Department of Government Engineering College here from March 2. M. Achuthan, former professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, will inaugurate the three-day programme.

The subjects to be discussed are `environmental engineering and water resource engineering', `management of wetland and relation to river basins', `transportation engineering', `remote sensing' and `rainwater harvesting'.

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