Actor Dileep In another new avatar

Dileep will soon be seen as Satya Sai Baba. The actor talks about his preparations for this role Talking to Dileep is exactly like watching him in his films. His adorably wacky humour is intact and he speaks with refreshing originality. It is evident that he loves talking, taking time to answer every question in great detail. And while he does so, a good many laughs are guaranteed. “Are you here to interview me?” he asks, clad in an off-white silk shirt and a matching dhoti, on the sets of Kamath and Kamath he is doing with Mammootty. “Are you sure it is me?” he asks again and the small crew of people around him bursts out laughing. He then leads us into his swanky caravan and settles down on the chair placed in front of the mirror. The box office has received his My Boss well and he is still basking in the glory of his mega success Mayamohini, but the real game changer is yet to come, he feels. Dileep will be playing Satya Sai Baba in a multilingual project by Telugu director Kodi Ramakrishna. Homework The actor, who has experimented unabashedly with his on-screen persona, feels he is still coming to terms with the magnitude of the role he has taken on and the responsibility that comes with it. “The project is huge and for the first time, I am doing something this big that is not a comedy. And let me tell you, I am a bit tensed. The Baba is an international figure. He has millions of devotees all over the world. When I am playing someone like him, there is so much that I need to do… so much that I need to understand about the person,” he says. Homework for the role is elaborate, Dileep explains, as it entails watching countless videos of Satya Sai Baba. “Getting his mannerisms right is a challenge. There is a peculiar way in which he walks. It is extremely important that I get it right.” He describes how he was overwhelmed by the Baba’s humanitarian activities. “He has done things that no man or Government has done in a country like ours. If you go to his hospital in Puttaparthi, you will know what I am talking about. Free medical service to so many people is not something an ordinary human being can do,” he says. Visits to the Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi and the Satya Sai Trust Hospital reaffirmed his respect for Baba’s personality, Dileep says. “It is vital that I am convinced about the person I am portraying.” Research did not end with watching videos. Dileep began gathering materials on Baba, books written on him, including prayer books. Though a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, there wasn’t much he knew about Satya Sai Baba until he signed the film, he says. So is he a devotee now? Dileep pauses a moment, smiles, and says, “I had a small experience, which makes me believe in him.” He is now a vegetarian and a teetotaller. “I may even continue to be so even after the film releases,” he says. The mega-budget film will be simultaneously released in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. Hindi, English and Malayalam, too are on the cards. Critics have often attacked him for the choice of roles and his range. “It does not bother me. Ultimately, it is the people I want to please. If you know the pulse of your audience and as long as they enjoy your films that is all that matters,” he signs off. Credits: ANASUYA MENON The Hindu

Air Kerala take off on April 14: Chief Minister Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram : Air Kerala, the state government's airline, would be launched April 14, 2013, to coincide with Vishu, new year's day in the Malayalam calendar, says Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. 'It (Air Kerala) will be airborne April 14. The only question is whether the first flight will be an international or domestic one. Next month, we will be applying to the director general of civil aviation with the preliminary capital of Rs. 100 crore, which we will raise by then,' Chandy, who is convalescing after a leg injury, told IANS during an exclusive chat. The chief minister explained that under the rules, an airline can only fly international routes after completing five years of domestic service; there is also a stipulation about the number of aircraft that an airline operating internationally should have. 'But Air India Express was given a relaxation in rules when it started international operations. They said it was because it was a subsidiary of Air India. So, when the state government put up the application, we also sought similar exemption. Moreover, at the moment, we are given to understand that one foreign airline is allowed to fly in here, without observing these stipulations,' Chandy said. Chandy first took up the project in 2004. After he stepped down in 2006, the project lay in cold storage, during the tenure of the Left government. On returning as chief minister last May, one of the first decisions Chandy took was to revive this project. He has received support from Malayalee businessmen in the Middle East. 'We have, in principle, decided to float shares of Rs.10,000 each and we were surprised when our own Malayalee businessmen there (in the Middle East) who employ thousands of employees agreed to take shares in their employees' names. Each of them employ more than 20,000 employees, so the issue of raising money of Rs.500 crore is not at all a problem. We are confident our dream will soon take flight,' Chandy said. Chandy has drawn out a schedule, and fixed April 14 as the target date for launch of the new airline. And if Air Kerala is unable to fly international, it will at least take to domestic skies. With Air India having opened a brand new hangar facility in the Thiruvananthapuram airport, Air Kerala, on entering into a contract with Air India and paying the maintenance charges, can use the hangar here, the chief minister said. Air Kerala will also have access to the engineering department of Air India, so it will not need to recruit engineers, he added. Air India was given the land for setting up the hangar free of cost by the Kerala government. What this means, though, is that Air Kerala can only lease B 737-800 aircraft; these are what the hangar here is equipped to service.

’Emerging Kerala’ attracts proposals worth over Rs 26,000 cr

Kochi: The 'Emerging Kerala' global investor meet, aimed at showcasing the state as an investment hub, concluded here Friday, with the government saying that the event attracted investment proposals worth over Rs 26,000 crore from both India and abroad. Terming the event as a "huge success", Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the proposals include setting up of an engine assembly unit by German auto maker Volkswagen that is worth about Rs 2,000 crore. The three-day event, which was boycotted by the principal Opposition party Left Democratic Front, saw participation of people from as many as 36 countries including the US, the UK, China, Japan and Canada. Addressing the valedicatory session, Chandy said 45 specific project proposals. Including BPCL's earlier proposal of Kochi Refinery expansion - for over Rs 18,000 crore - the overall investment plans would be worth more than Rs 40,000 crore. BPCL today inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government for providing certain tax concessions for the expansion activities. A total of 555 proposals were discussed at various Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) meetings at the summit. According to the Chief Minister, the 142 proposals deliberated at the B2G meetings would be taken up for further consideration immediately and a final decision would be taken "within 90 days". The government would soon be setting up an Investment Clearance Board for faster implementation of proposed projects. Other major investment proposals include Rs 570 crore pre cast concrete structure manufacturing unit and Rs 500 crore solar energy plant. Briefing reporters at the end of the summit, Chandy wondered why the Opposition boycotted the event which was aimed at boosting investments into the state. "Not even a single piece of land was sold or given on lease. Still, the Opposition boycotted 'Emerging Kerala' for the sake of boycotting...," he said. Opposition parties had alleged that the government was making a platform to give the state's natural resources to private people. The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 12. Over three days, more than 4,600 delegates participated. From now onwards, this summit would be organised every two years. The government plans to establish a Technology Innovation Zone in about 10 acres of land in Kochi, entailing an initial investment of Rs 100 crore. "The Zone will also house more initiatives like the start up village on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in other technology areas and verticals in telecom, data analytics, animation and gaming, nanotechnology and biotechnology," Chandy said. The Chief Minister said that the government would soon sent out notices to private entities, who are yet to develop projects in land allotted to them by the government. "We will give them (those who have not utilised the government land) another six months to develop their projects. If they are not doing it in the specified time, we will take back the government land," he said.

Kerala, God’s own country, up for SALE

Nizar has a solution for everything under the sun. Even for corruption, that stands in the way of a high speed bullet train or a multi-storied convention centre. Outside his cabin, a middle-aged woman waits for an appointment. She has been struggling to get an approval to start a small-scale unit in her village for the past two years. Nizar asks her to wait outside, perhaps like every other day. Poor folks live a life in waiting. Like fire-files, their hopes, flicker and fall dead. Nizar straightens his polyster Mundu neatly to the left side and chants in Malabari Malayalam: there should be a consensus amongst all parties when it comes to corruption. Just look at our neighbouring states. Both the ruling party and opposition here should emulate this formula. Divide kickbacks equally for every project approved. The ratio, he says, can be worked out: 15:10:10 for Congress, CPM and Muslim League. We would be happy even if we get 5%, you know, after all corruption should not come in the way of state’s development. Nizar works as an officer at the District Industrial Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. He offers me Sulemani chai, a symbol of love and Muslim brotherhood. He and his colleagues at the industry ministry, headed by P K Kunhalikutty, has proposed an out- of –the-box idea to remove the backwardness of the state: construct a multi-storied convention centre in the middle of the iconic Chandrashekran Nair stadium situated in the heart of the state capital. Chandrashekhar Nair stadium It is like having a world trade centre in the middle of Wankhade stadium in Mumbai or say inside Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi.Investments, he says, will not be problem. Afterall, the project is an integral part of the urban infrastructure project, awaiting for investment in the Emerging Kerala global investor's meet to be inaugurated by prime minister Manmohan Singh in Kochi next week. This stadium land-grab is an icing on the cake, like an ultimate grotesque avatar of corruption. Out of the 200 odd proposals awaiting for investments, there are hardly a few worth mentioning, and a majority of them are land-grabs masquerading as development projects. After Times of India did a campaign against this Tugalkian project there was a hue and cry and Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy was forced to scrap around 50 unviable proposals after an initial scrutiny. But instead of admitting that Congress was a riding a corrupt horse called Indian Union Muslim league that spares no opportunity to make an easy killing, Chandy defended that these proposals were not final and they were put forward by different companies for public review. Industry minister P K Kunhalikutty, the wily fox he is, corrected him and said that these were indeed projects put forward by the industry department. Greed, like Nizar, is a great survivor. Kerala has been caught up in this mirage of development for quite time now. Planners are clueless on how to chart a sustainable development plan without disturbing the fragile eco-balance of the state, that still has one of the best green covers in the country. The pint-sized state does not have enough barren land to start huge industrial units, so the only option is to develop its coast, like say Singapore. The state should also promote eco-tourism, like say in Venice and Switzerland, countries which have showcased its shallow network of waterways and blue mountains to weary world-travelers with great success. Kerala, infact has much more to offer. An ancient heritage older than Aryan civilization, organic eco-systems and religious beliefs close to nature; Auryvedic sciences and art forms that evolved over thousands of years. But the Nizars of the state are hell-bent on taking us on a different path. My colleague, G Rajiv, wrote a piece two weeks ago, on how bulk of the people-centric projects like education institutions and health care hospitals were proposed to come up in Malappuram, a Muslim majority district. The Times of India did not play up the story, considering the fact that we are a secular newspaper and did not want to hurt any particular community. But the fact remains that Muslims in the state, unlike in the other parts of the country, are well-off. Malappuram today brings in the maximum foreign remittance into the state. It is districts like Wayand (a tribal district), Idukki and many parts of North Malabar that needs specialty hospitals and good educational institutions. The ruling, Congress party, is forced to succumb to the bizarre demands of its ally, Muslim league, to remain in power. The main opposition party, CPM, has failed to bring up these issues, as it has lost all its credibility and principles, and has degenerated into a fascist monolith, indulging in Stalinist political murders for survival. Religion based, vote-bank politics overrides everything. Thankfully, a majority of Keralites still consider themselves Malayalees first, and then maybe think of their religious identity in their private spaces, that is if they are believers.This is no mean achievement, considering communal right wing parties are biding their time, waiting to fill the ever widening secular vacuum in the state. (Nizar is not the real name of the officer who spilled the beans of the scam. The ministry will make him a scapegoat if his identity is revealed. He is just an echo of His Masters Voice.) Artice appeared in Times of India - by Viju B

God's own country to get own airline ?

Kochi: Given the large number of Keralites who would offer it patronage, and given also the large number of them regularly fleeced by airlines, it is surprising that this idea took so long reaching fruition. The proposal for the state's own airline is now moving in the right direction, Excise Minister K. Babu said. Besides a large number of tourists who travel to Kerala, which the state's tourism department advertises as 'God's own country,' there are also a large number of people from the state working in other parts of the country and the world, especially the Middle East. Speaking to IANS, Babu, who is also director and board member of the country's first private-public funded Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), said a decision to conduct a feasibility study on the launch of 'Air Kerala' was taken, and it would be set up as a venture of the state government, in collaboration with CIAL. 'CIAL chief V.J. Kurian has been asked to prepare the feasibility report and the airline will be set up as a venture of the state government and CIAL, with shares from the public, especially non-resident Keralites,' Babu said. 'We decided to approach the prime minister when he is here next week to see that certain conditions are waived by the Centre, because to start international operations, the airline should have successfully operated in the domestic sector besides owning a stipulated number of aircraft,' said Babu. An airline of and for Kerala has been a pet project of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The matter was first raised when Chandy was chief minister between 2004-06. After he returned to office last year, serious deliberations on the start of an airline were taken up. Middle East business honcho M.A. Yusuf Ali is another person who has been floating this idea and recently quit the board of Air India on the grounds that if he continues to be on that board, there would be a conflict of interest. Speaking to IANS, State Minister for Non-Resident Keralites K.C. Joseph said that this would be one of the major projects that would be presented at the session of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) at the 'Emerging Kerala' investor meet to be held here Sep 12-14. 'We want the full support and confidence of the NRKs and besides this airline project, we are also pitching for a Middle East-Kochi shipping service basically aimed at the lower strata of those who are employed in the Middle East, who just cannot afford exorbitant air fares,' said Joseph.

Father of White Revolution Verghese Kurien dies

Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution, passed away in Nadiad, Gujarat in the wee hours on Sunday. He was 90. Kurien, who turned 10 million farmers into a legendary cooperative, passed away due to old age, sources said. 'Kurien died a natural death due to his age,' GCMMF MD said. Kurien's body will be kept at Anand for public to pay tribute. His last rites will be held in the evening. Kurien revolutionised the milk industry when he produced milk powder from buffalo milk. The rest of the world used cow milk to make milk powder. Born in Calicut, Kerala on November 26, 1921 he graduated from Loyola college of Madras and did his BE from university of Madras. He then went to US on a government scholarship to earn his Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan university. After his return, he joined Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited in 1949 which was formed at the initiative of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel who asked Kurien to help set up a dairy processing plant from where journey of Amul and Kurian began. The Amul pattern of co-operative became a success and it was replicated throughout Gujarat. The different dairy unions were later brought under the banner of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation.

Pre-paid mobile numbers to lose ISD facility soon - NRI family's to affected more

New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI has asked telecom companies to de-activate the international calling facility in pre-paid numbers and restore it only after a subscriber gives his explicit consent to avail this facility. "Inform all pre-paid subscribers having ISD facility, through SMS, within 10 days of the date of issue of this direction, that ISD facility of the subscribers shall be discontinued after sixty days," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a directive to telcos. "If such subscribers want to continue with ISD facility, they should give their explicit consent for availing such facility within 60 days of the receipt of the SMS," it added. TRAI has issued this directive following complaints from consumers about missed calls from international telephone numbers which are often premium numbers charging high tariff, prompting the consumers to make call to such numbers. TRAI said it has also been receiving complaints from consumers about receiving calls and SMSes from international numbers informing them about winning of prizes or lottery and prompting consumers to call a particular number to claim the prize or lottery money. "These numbers are international numbers, which are often premium numbers charging higher tariffs. By responding to such calls/SMS the consumers have to pay unintended charges," Trai said. The regulator has asked telecom operators to inform subscribers through SMS, within 10 days of the direction, that pre-paid cellular mobile telephone service consumers need not respond to all missed calls from unknown international numbers or calls about winning prizes or lottery. Trai has asked telecom service providers to send such SMS to consumers every six months and provide easy and transparent opt-in and opt-out facility to the consumers of the cellular mobile telephone service for activation or deactivation of ISD facility.

Mohanlal and Joshi's 'Run Baby Run' is a gripping thriller

There is always a consistency in Joshiey and he has expertise in creating a big hit, whenever he is with fine scripts. Having been able to safeguard his popularity as a hit maker, Joshiey has come up on this Onam with the film 'Run Baby Run' starring Mohanlal. Yet another example of well crafted gripping thriller, that is sure to go well with festival audiences. 'Run Baby Run' is certain to end up as a hit, if marketed well. The movie has the precise doses of actions, thrills, lighter moments and finer sequences which are also laced with a fine performance of the cast. The movie, with the media industry as its backdrop, tells the unending race between the television channels, for gaining better rating points and creating their exclusive scoop. And so, it seldom moves out of the media men in action and their political opponents. Mohanlal appears as a high profile cameraman, Venu, who is regular on the panels of international giants like Reuters. He is currently back to his homeland, after some skirmishes with his dear ones, which made him leave the state almost a five years ago. Then it was his fiancee Renuka (Amala Paul), a budding journalist, who embittered Venu for a costly sting story. That story also languishes the political aspirations of Bharathan Pillai (Sai Kumar) and industrialist Rajan Kartha (Siddique). And when Venu come back to Kochi, they are also back with a vengeance. At Kochi, Venu teams up again with Renuka, whom he hates the most. And as they are into another sting activity to expose a real time assassination of a politician, they unknowingly lands up into a heap of troubles, which rip-off their credibility as journalist and how they manage to clear the confusion, forms the rest of a story. The highlight of the movie is the even pace with which the thriller has been executed by Joshiey with the aid of his editor Shyam Sasidaran. The first independent script by Sachi, is good and never leaves a space for the viewers to think about the pitfalls and illogical developments, which helps the movie to trek to the climax with not much difficulty. Though the love angle and the song appear as a sore thumb due to the little chemistry between its lead stars, who have the age differences of more than a generation. The simple and direct narratives laced with action, suspense, and twists makes it a fiery roller coaster ride. In the acting side Mohanlal excels once again, playing with ease the role of a TV cameraman. The role doesn't offer anything new to experiment, for one the most versatile actors, while Amala Paul just manages to play to the demands of the role of a junior, who can go to any length for her credit lines. The rest of the cast is ok, while Biju Menon gets the maximum claps for another soft role. Joshiey is also supported by excellent camerawork, R D Rajasekhar, who has done fine work for his art department. The only noticeable song in the movie, Attumanal, sung by Mohanlal is also well pictured. On the flip side, the regular cliched villainy from Sai Kumar and Siddique, offer little to increase the unpredictability. Also the illogical points in the narratives are plenty and usual with this sort of adrenaline pumping thriller. Regular news casters masquerading as others to deceit the officials and police, adds to the foolishness of the investigators, who doesn't look for the call list of the persons they are after, appears pretty stupid. The pace slackens a little in the second half, but Joshiey manges pull off the plot to the climax without much complexity. But for the lovers of relatively well made thrillers, 'Run baby Run' is definitely your movie and you may love to see it, more than once. Forget the little glitches and watch the wonderful performance of Mohanlal. Review Credits:Ibnlive

Happy Onam to Malayalees around the World

Allapuzha 2 houseboats go up in flames 1 Dead

Thiruvananthapuram: One person was killed when two houseboats went up in flames in Kerala's tourist location of Alappuzha. Investigations are on to establish the cause of the ire, police said Thursday. 'Three houseboats were docked at the site. Two were gutted in the fire. The third was moved away before the flames could reach it. A casual worker who was sleeping in one of the boats died,' said Tomy Pulikattil, a leading houseboat operator in Alappuzha who witnessed the fire. 'We are given to understand that the fire was caused by a leak in a cooking gas cylinder in the kitchen of one of the houseboats,' said Pulikattil. The cause of the fire, however, will only be known with certainty once investigations conclude. The accident happened at a time when tourists were visiting the state in large numbers in view of Onam. More than 400 houseboats in Alappuzha have been serving visiting tourists. Locals heaved a sigh of relief that the damage was restricted to two houseboats. The loss is estimated at Rs.70 lakh.

Tanker explosion: death toll rises to 6

Kannur: With Ramlath and Geetha succumbing to injuries following the explosion of LPG tanker at Chala in Kannur, the death toll in the mishap has risen to six. Five out of the six deceased victims are women. Rama and Nirmala, died here Wednesday morning. They were under Abdul Aziz (55), a Chala resident and a woman who was identified as Sreelatha (47) are others who have been killed in the explosion. The condition of the injured are said to be highly critical. The tanker lorry was on its way to Kannur from Kozhikode when the incident occurred. Casualties could have been averted had the driver and cleaner of the vehicle informed the authorities on time and alerted the locals about the accident which happened at around 11 pm. The tanker overturned after hitting a divider near the Chala bypass junction in the Kuthuparamba-Kannur Road. The vehicle started emitting thick white smoke soon and exploded within 15 minutes. Around 20 houses and 10 shops nearby were gutted. Most of the injured were living in the houses nearby. The driver cabin of the ill-fated tanker was blown away and fell 30 metres away in front of a shop. Thirteen injured persons have been admitted to Pariyaram Medical College hospital. Twelve others have been admitted to Kannur AKG Hospital.

Krishna Iyer reacts on TP murder

 Kochi: V R Krishna Iyer who was the first law minister in the first EMS ministry said that it is really sad that CPM was being named in the killing of T P Chandrashekaran and feels ashamed to have entered politics. He was reacting to the murder of TP in angst.
He said there are vast changes happening in the CPM now though during the times of tiff between Pinarayi and VS nothing much changed. 'I'm saddened by this. I'm pained. A party which was formed by AKG and others painstakingly are undertaking murders by making a list. And this kind of news is really agrieving,' Krishna Iyer said with tears in his eyes.
'Does murder make socialism? Does blood make socialism? I feel like staying away from politics. If this is what politics is made of, then I would not have stepped into it. People's protection and their life is politics. The ongoing tiff between Pinarayi and VS are the root cause for many issues'.
Instead of working in unison, conflicts are happening. One says something and the other contradicts. That is not right. The strength lies in working in unison, said Krishna Iyer.

Shukkur murder: T.V. Rajesh’s bail plea rejected

Kannur: A first class judicial magistrate's court here Tuesday rejected the bail plea moved by CPM MLA T.V. Rajesh.
Rajesh had surrendered before the court yesterday after the High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Rajesh who has been remanded to 14 days judicial custody is currently interred at Kannur Central Jail.

Jayarajan's remand extended till Aug 27

Kannur: The remand period of P Jayarajan, who is presently lodged at the Kannur central jail in the Shukoor murder case, was extended for 13 more days till Aug 27. He was produced at the Kannur Judicial Magistrate Court on Tuesday as his remand was to end today. Jayarajan's advocate has not submitted a fresh bail plea as his earlier plea for bail was dismissed by the High Court.

Two cops suspended for allowing Jayarajan to travel in pvt car

Kannur: Two police personnel have been suspended for reportedly allowing jailed CPI(M) leader to travel in a private vehicle to Kozhikode medical college for a medical check up, in violation of prison rules.
The two, an armed reserve camp senior police officer and civil police officer were suspended on the orders of Superintendent of police Rahul S Nair.
Nair had sought an explanation from them on how Jayarajan was allowed to travel to the hospital in a private vehicle,accompanied by party activists, allegedly in violation of jail rules.
However, Jayrajan went back to Kannur in a taxi from medical college hospital.
Jayarajan,lodged in Central prison here in connection with the murder of an IUML activist, was given treatment at Kozhikode Medical College hospital for his hearing problem, after which he was taken back to jail.Jayarajan was arrested on Aug 1 by the Special Investigating Team probing the murder of IUML youth wing activisit Abdul Shukkoor in February this year. PTI 

Jayarajan takes own vehicle for medical treatment

 Kozhikode: P Jayarajan who was arrested and lodged at the Kannur central jail in connection with the Shukkor murder case, was taken to the Kozhikode Medical College hospital for medical treatment in his own vehicle accompanied by police. This was in violation of all rules.
The rules that need to be followed when taking a jail inmate for medical treatment were violated in this case and this created a row.
Jayarajan entered the hospital after accepting his well wishers response. After his medical treatment, Jayarajan left in another vehicle.

Kerala heading towards drought: Deficient rain in five districts

Thiruvananthapuram: With decrease of 41 % rain in the state, the state is heading towards a major drought. The deficiency in rainfall in five districts was recorded over 50 %. The rainfall were 57 % in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha, 56 % in Kollam , Pathanamthitta 59 % and 68% in Wayanad.
Indian Meteorological Department has specified conditions for declaring drought. As per this, during South west monsoon, if the rain deficiency is 26 % to 50 %, then it would be declared drought hit and if it is more than 50% its acute drought.
As per statistics, it is learnt that most of the districts are heading towards drought.
According to MDI India's crucial monsoon is expected to be 15 per cent deficient this season, the first indication of a drought in three years.The country has received 20 per cent less rains than normal since the delayed onset of monsoon in June. Till yesterday, the country had received 378.8 mm rainfall against the normal of 471.4 mm.

CPM responsible for violence: Antony

Thiruvananthapuram: Lashing out at the CPM in Kerala, senior Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony Saturday blamed it for the recent incidents of political violence in the state.
Instead of doing a self-introspection on the incidents of political violence, the CPM in Kerala was indulging in more mistakes, Antony told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
CPM has failed to understand that a majority of the people in the state were against political violence, he said. Kerala has changed a lot, the CPM did not understand this, he said.
It was unfortunate that CPI-M, the main opposition party in the state, has played a "vital" role in most recent incidents of political violence, he said. The party should take steps to end this trend, he said.
Earlier, Antony inaugurated a seminar here, organised as part of an international Expo conducted by the Coir Board from August 12 to 16 at Kochi, to showcase all the technologies developed by it and its collaborators.
Antony said Centre would extend all possible help for the revival of traditional industries including coir in the state.
Coir sector should adopt new marketing methods with new products suitable to the present time to capture domestic and international market, Antony said.

TP Murder: Charge sheet to be submitted before August 10

Kozhikode: The SIT probing the murder of RMP leader TP Chandrasekharan will submit a single charge sheet including both attempt to murder and conspiracy hatched to kill TP in 2009. The decision was taken as the SIT received legal advice that it would be better if both incidents were mentioned in a single charge sheet. As part of this both cases would be clubbed as one. Earlier the conspiracy hatched to murder Chandrasekharan in 2009 and his murder in May were dealt as two different cases.
But on issues of helping the accused go underground and SIM card issues, separate charge sheet will be prepared.
The list of accused have been prepared with Kodi Suni, TK Rajeesh, Kirmani Manoj, MC Anoop, Shinoj, Muhammed Shafi and Sijith as main accused.
It is stated that the charge sheet would be submitted before August 10 at the Vadakara First Class Magistrate Court. There would be 40 accused in the charge sheet. CPM leaders P Mohanan, Karayi Rajan would be included in second part of charge sheet.

CPM hartal harthal in Kerala on Thursday

Kannur: Senior CPM leader and party's district secretary in the Marxist fortress Kannur P. Jayarajan arrested on charges of concealing conspiracy to murder was remanded to judicial custody Wednesday.
The CM has called the arrest politically motivated and has called for a state-wide hartal Thursday.
Jayarajan was arrested earlier in the day and taken to a Magistrate Court when he arrived office of the Town Circle Inspector here for questonng. Jayarajan has been  charged with IPC section 118 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life).
Abdul Shukkoor, an activist of the Muslim Youth League (IUML) was murdered allegedly by CPM activists at Keezhara near Kannavam in the district in February this year.
A tense situation prevailed in the area after party activists too out a protest march against the arrest.
Jayarajan, however, dubbed the charge as "fabricated and politically motivated".
Talking to reporters before appearing before the police team, he alleged "anti-CPM elements" in the police and a section of media had been spreading canards against the party

Widespread protests in Kannur; Prohibitary orders clamped

Kannur: Widespread clashes were reported in Kannur following the arrest of CPM district secretary P Jayarajan. Prohibitary orders were clamped in the district for 2 days.
Stones were pelted at police vehicles including the vehicle of Kannur SP. Police resorted to hand grenades.
Clashes were reported in the march held towards the Koothuparamba CI office too. Stones were pelted against police and some mediamen were injured in the stone pelting.
Payannur Congress Block president A P Narayanan's house was completely destroyed. The Congress office and the League office in Koothuparambu were also attacked.
Trouble also broke out in front of the Kannur CI office where Jayarajan appeared in the morning for interrogation. Stones were pelted towards the Iritty police station and an SI was injured in the attack.
Protest marches were held by CPM activists in Kannur town after Jayarajan was arrested. Protest march was also held in Neeleshwaram. Police used grenades to disperse the protestors.

Shukoor murder case: P Jayarajan arrested

Kannur: Police arrested CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan in connection with the Shukoor murder case. His arrest was recorded when Jayarajan appeared before the special investigation team for interrogation. Jayarajan reached the Town CI office in the morning along with a contingent of leaders and activists who accompanied him from the district committee office. MP Jayarajan, P K Sreemathi, James Mathew MLA were also with him.
Jayarajan was arrested under Section 120B, 118 for criminal conspiracy and for not stopping the crime though he was aware of it. With Jayarajan's arrest being recorded, his followers went into a protest mode and stoned police vehicles. He was taken to the court despite the strong protest by CPM activists. The police had infact taken all precautionary steps anticipating his arrest.
P Jayarajan was directed to appear before the probe team on Wednesday morning following the statement given by T P Rajesh MLA who was interrogated here the other day. And the police wasted no chance to arrest him. Jayaraj termed it politically motivated and blamed the CM for dancing to the tunes of IUML. He also said that the anti-legal activities of the police should be defeated.

Police suspect moral policing to be behind College Girls Hair Cut

Thaliparamaba : Police today registered a case under Sec 354 IPC (criminal force to woman with intent to outgage her modesty) in connection with yesterday morning's incident in which a girl's hair was cut while she was on way to college.
Police said the incident happened when the girl, studying at the Sir Syed Institute of Technical Studies, attached to the Sir Syed College in Thaliparamba, was on the way to college.
According to police, the long hair of the girl, daughter of a BSNL employee of this district, was cut by unidentified persons.
She got into the bus at Keecheri and got off at Thaliparamba Bus Stand and started walking on a narrow road.
Only after reaching classroom, she found the hair was cut partly.
Since the bus stand was crowded, the incident might have happened in the narrow street only, police felt.
Police suspect moral policing to be behind the incident Investigation was going on.

60 hotels closed down,; 300 served notice

Food Safety officials continued raids of hotels in cities and towns across Kerala State on the second day on Wednesday for detection of low quality food items. Altogether 60 hotels were ordered to be closed and 300 hotels were served notices seeking improvement in quality and standards. The raids covered 700 hotels on Tuesday and 60 hotels on Wednesday .
The raids come in the wake of the death of a youth in Bangalore allegedly after he consumed 'shawarma' from a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. Health Minister V. S. Sivakumar told a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram that the Food Safety and Standards Act would be enforced strongly in the State.
Sivakumar said that Act provided for payment of compensation in case of harm from food poisoning. In case of death from food poisoning, the owner of the establishment that supplied the food item would be liable to pay a compensation of up to Rs. 5 lakh to the next of kin. In case of poisoning that could be fatal, the compensation can go up to Rs. 3 lakh. In other cases, it would be up to Rs. 1 lakh.
He said that the customers should demand and keep bills from hotels, as these could be important evidence for preferring the claim. District level food safety officers should be contacted on the toll free number  1800 425 1125  in case of food poisoning.
The Minister said that the government had organised more than 3,000 awareness classes on the Act since August last year. Hundreds of establishments were issued improvement notices as the law was new. Those hotels that failed to comply with the norms would be closed down.
In Ernakulam district raids were held in as many as 550 hotels and 39 were asked to close down and 253 were served notice.
In Kozhikode raids were held in 40 hotels . Two hotels, Broast restaurant in Kottuli and Arabian Dines in Annie Hall road were closed down.
In Munnar raids were held in 15 hotels and three were served notice. In Kollam raids were held in 35 hotels and in Kannur and Thalassery in 15. In Malappuram 32 hotels were served notice, 6 in Palakkad and four in Wayanad were given notice.
The hotels ordered to be closed (after giving improvement notices) in Thiruvananthapuram were Hotel Meena, Hotel Lekshmi and Hotel Devi at the General Hospital junction and Hotel Radhakrishna at Medical College Junction and Hotel Coffee Bar on the Chalakuzhi Road.

Shawarma outlets close for week

Kochi: The Food Security Officials today issued notice to all 'shawarma' outlets in the city to close down for one week in view of the findings that many of the outlets functioning in the city were without proper hygienic conditions.

The government had intensified raids in hotels following the death of a youth after taking Shawarma from a hotel in Thiruvanthapuram two days back.
The officials asked the outlets selling the Arabic food shawarma, to prepare the food in glassed cabins and without such facilities, no outlets could be permitted to function.
The raid conducted in many major cities and closed three hotels in Kochi and one each in Thrissur and Kottyam after seizing decayed foods from the hotel, sources said.
Because of the delicious Arabic food, there was a huge demand for the food, particularly among children, and the shawarma outlets musrooms in each and every nook and corner of the state without adequate hygenic conditions, officials said.

Houseboat business struggles to stay afloat

A houseboat trip on the backwaters of Alappuzha or Kumarakom is billed as one of Kerala's exotic tourism products. But the future may not be bright for the 'product'.
For five days, nearly 650 houseboats did not ply due to a tiff between owners and employees over payments. The impasse ended Friday evening after the two parties had conciliatory talks with Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar, and the employees were given pay hikes.
'We do not see a bright future for this exquisite tourism product,' said Tomy Pulikattil, owner of 12 houseboats in Alappuzha.
'For obvious reasons, many of us are looking for other avenues. We are leaving for China early next week to look for other lines of business,' said Pulikattil, who has tried several innovations to rev up business -- from conference houseboats that can seat 100 people to ayurveda clinic houseboats.
The impasse began after CITU-backed Kerala House Boat and Resort Workers Union sought higher pay and perks before the annual review of wages.
'Normally, once every two years, we do a review and increase the pay package of our employees. This time it was due in August,' said Pulikattil.
'But much before that, they demanded a wage hike from Rs.4,500 to Rs.10,000 a month and an increase in the daily allowance from Rs.125 to Rs.300. We refused and decided not to ply the boats.'
Each houseboat usually has three full-time employees.
However, following Friday's talks, the salary of the employees was hiked to Rs.6,850 and daily allowance to Rs.170.
Jacob Samuel, president of All Kerala House Boat Owners Association, told IANS that the situation were not rosy.
'This was a product, which, for some years, was unique to Kerala. But things changed. Sri Lanka and Kashmir are now competing with us,' said Samuel.
'Moreover, air fares to Kerala has sky-rocketed. Now, the increase in wages is going to be a big burden.'
The new wages will be effected from July.
Currently, the rates for an overnight houseboat ride for a couple, inclusive of three full meals and tea and snacks, starts at Rs.4,000 on an average. This may go up.
'We have no other but to hike the daily rates. To break even, we have to charge at least Rs.5,500,' said Samuel. 'The annual maintenance charges has also gone up and we have to shell out a minimum of Rs.two lakh. Things are going from bad to worse.'
Members of the association said that during off season, they do not get more than 10 bookings a month while during the season (August to February), there are 22 bookings a month.
However, houseboat employees rue that since the cost of living was going up, they had no other option but to demand a pay hike.

CPM ordered release of Jayakrishnan Master murderer

2010 Kannur: The only murderer convicted in the brutal murder of BJYM State secretary Jayakrishnan Master inside the school classroom at Mokeri is to be freed in connection with the Independence Day celebration. The decision has been taken by the council of Jail board advisor's consisting of CPM district secretary P Sasi, P Jayarajan and others. The Home Minister is also a member of this board. By threatening the witnesses CPM were able to acquit all other accused and now the sole convict will be released .This is Kannur were rule of the land is dictated from party offices. If P Sasi , Jayarajan and Kodiyeri says to release a murderer from jail then no one has any right to question it. Prison officers are mere stamp pads to sign the orders from CPM party office. The convict Pradeepan of Panur has completed only 10 years of his life term. He along with three others were sentenced to death for the killing of Jayakrishnan Master. The death sentence of the lower court was upheld by the Kerala High court citing that the killing ranked among the rarest of rare cases. However Supreme Court reduced the sentence to life and freed all the other accused except for Pradeepan. Jayakrishnan Master was murdered in Dec 1, 1999 in a classroom of Mokeri High school in front of his students. Unprecedented brutality : Jayakrishnan Master`s murder was an act of unprecedented brutality which has no parallels even in this land of brutal political murders. On 1st December 1999 at around 10.35am, the class teacher of Mokeri East U.P. School in Koothuparambu near Panur in Kannur district and vice- president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Kerala State K.T. Jayakrishnan was conducting class for his 6th standard students. Suddenly, his bodyguard (provided by the state government to protect his life due to threats from communist criminals) disappeared and seven CPM activists entered the class room, shouted slogans and warned the students not to move, blocked the class room's entrance, took sword-sticks and razors in their hands, came near Jayakrishnan Master and stabbed him several times. Jayakrishnan Master fell on the floor, but the heartless communist criminals did not stop and continued to stab him. After more than 48 ante-mortem injuries all over the body, Jayakrishnan Master breathed his last within five minutes. After confirming his death, a CPM man wrote a warning to the witnesses -- children and other teachers -- on the blackboard that if anyone gave evidence to the police or the court, they would be killed. They left the place in procession, walking along the public road brandishing the blood-stained weapons as if they were celebrating a victory. The most horrible murder was committed in front of students less than 11 years old. The young children were shocked as their most respected class teacher was brutally murdered in front of them. The incident created psychological problems for many children who had to undergo counseling. Yes, this is exactly what happened in broad daylight in a school classroom seven years ago on 1st December 1999. The CPM once again proved they are ''professionals'' in murdering any person at any time at any place. The only ''sin'' committed by the Jayakrishnan Master was that he believed in an ideology (Hindutva) which the CPM could not tolerate. It was in 1996 that BJP's Kannur district secretary Panniyan Chandran was killed by CPM criminals in front of his wife. BJP suffered a major setback after the murder of Panniyan Chandran. But Jayakrishnan Master undertook the responsibility and lead the organization with the support of another 14 full-time committed party activists in Kannur. The tireless and committed work of Jayakrishnan Master boosted party activities in Kannur. He conducted a series of public meetings which attracted massive crowds. He informed the public about the criminalization of CPM in Kannur district. The increasing public support and the dedicated work of Jayakrishnan Master worried the CPM's district leaders which led them to plan to ''liquidate'' him. On various occasions the CPM's local leaders warned openly that ‘we will get our next target very soon’. K.T Jayakrishnan Master was a most respected person among the local people. He was a very soft spoken person loved by all. There were massive crowds to listen his speeches anywhere in Kerala, specially in Kannur district. He was not in the habit of insulting or ridiculing his political opponents. The CPM murdered Jayakrishnan Master only because of the growing popularity of the deceased and the fact that he was propagating an ideology (Hindutva) which they could not tolerate. The CPM goons did not even considered the mental trauma that the children would have to suffer on seeing such a terrible murder in front of their eyes. The brutal murder left an indelible scar on the minds of the students who witnessed it and this could affect their personality development. Many have joined other schools. Most of the students had to undergo counseling. News Archives

Jayakrishnan Master Lives in the Hearts of Thousands

13 th Jayakrishan Master Balidan Divas was on December 1, 2012 On 1st December 1999 at around 10.35am, the class teacher of Mokeri East U.P. School in Koothuparambu near Panur in Kannur district and vice- president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Kerala State K.T. Jayakrishnan was conducting class for his 6th standard students. Suddenly, his bodyguard (provided by the state government to protect his life due to threats from communist criminals) disappeared and seven CPM activists entered the class room, shouted slogans and warned the students not to move, blocked the class room's entrance, took sword-sticks and razors in their hands, came near Jayakrishnan Master and stabbed him several times. Jayakrishnan Master fell on the floor, but the heartless communist criminals did not stop and continued to stab him. After more than 48 ante-mortem injuries all over the body, Jayakrishnan Master breathed his last within five minutes. After confirming his death, a CPM man wrote a warning to the witnesses -- children and other teachers -- on the blackboard that if anyone gave evidence to the police or the court, they would be killed. They left the place in procession, walking along the public road brandishing the blood-stained weapons as if they were celebrating a victory. The most horrible murder was committed in front of students less than 11 years old. The young children were shocked as their most respected class teacher was brutally murdered in front of them. The incident created psychological problems for many children who had to undergo counseling. Yes, this is exactly what happened in broad daylight in a school classroom years ago on 1st December 1999. The CPM once again proved they are ''professionals'' in murdering any person at any time at any place. The only ''sin'' committed by the Jayakrishnan Master was that he believed in an ideology which the CPM could not tolerate. It was in 1996 that BJP's Kannur district secretary Panniyan Chandran was killed by CPM criminals in front of his wife. BJP suffered a major setback after the murder of Panniyan Chandran. But Jayakrishnan Master undertook the responsibility and lead the organization with the support of another 14 full-time committed party activists in Kannur. The tireless and committed work of Jayakrishnan Master boosted party activities in Kannur. He conducted a series of public meetings which attracted massive crowds. He informed the public about the criminalization of CPM in Kannur district. The increasing public support and the dedicated work of Jayakrishnan Master worried the CPM's district leaders which led them to plan to ''liquidate'' him. On various occasions the CPM's local leaders warned openly that ‘we will get our next target very soon’. K.T Jayakrishnan Master was a most respected person among the local people. He was a very soft spoken person loved by all. There were massive crowds to listen his speeches anywhere in Kerala, specially in Kannur district. He was not in the habit of insulting or ridiculing his political opponents. The CPM murdered Jayakrishnan Master only because of the growing popularity of the deceased and the fact that he was propagating an ideology (Hindutva) which they could not tolerate. The CPM goons did not even considered the mental trauma that the children would have to suffer on seeing such a terrible murder in front of their eyes. The brutal murder left an indelible scar on the minds of the students who witnessed it and this could affect their personality development. Many have joined other schools. Most of the students had to undergo counseling. More than 400 dedicated Hindu activists have been killed by CPM goons in Kerala and West Bangal during the past several years. The manner in which the crime was committed by CPM shocked not only Jayakrishnan Master's relatives but also the entire community. He was mercilessly butchered when he was unarmed and engaged in the noble act of imparting knowledge to his beloved students. The time and venue of the crime had been calculatedly chosen by the blood-thirsty assailants. They knew they could not kill him at his house or on his way to school. So the CPM selected the temple of learning as the place to execute the murder. After five years of investigations, the additional District Sessions Court and later Kerala High Court served death sentences on five of the seven accused after convicting them under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Out of seven accused, the sixth accused had been acquitted by the Sessions Judge. The seventh accused died after being hit by a train. The court confirmed the sentences and observed that the murder was committed inside a classroom in front of the students. The accused had not made any attempt to conceal their identities. The Kerala High Court judge said “the accused trespassed into the classroom and translated their evil design into action by committing the murder of K.T. Jayakrishnan in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner”. CPM activists demonstrated in front of the Sessions Court and High Court after the verdict. They shouted slogans against the judges and even threatened to kill them. A whopping sum of more than twenty million rupees was mobilized in no time by the CPM to fight the legal battle. As advised by the CPM state secretariat, all the five convicts have submitted their appeal to the Supreme Court against the death penalty. But, in a sudden development, the present CPM-led Kerala government replaced the public prosecutor with a weak person while arranging top criminal lawyers of the country headed by Ram Jethmalani for the murder convicts. There are reports that the CPM has already paid millions as advocate fee to Jethmalani to defend the convicts and some backdoor negotiations are also under way with the help of the CPM's central leadership to ensure that the murder convicts do not get the death sentence at any cost. As expected in one of it's black day in Indian Judiciary the supreme court itself aquitted the daylight murderers of Jayakrishnan master inspite of so many witnesses! News Archives

Pinarayi Vijayan's C.P.M is now International

Read the following news item appeared in B.B.C 28th May 2012 India Kerala Communist leader says party kills rivals Police in India's Kerala state have registered murder charges against a local Communist leader who recently told a rally that his party had killed political rivals in the past. MM Mani said they would continue to do the same in the future. His comments related to political killings in the state's Idukki district in the 1980s. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), of which Mr Mani is a member, has distanced itself from the statement. The party's state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said Mr Mani's speech was a "mistake and against the political line of the party". Mr Mani has been charged with "murder, conspiracy and destroying evidence", Idukki police superintendent George Verghese told the BBC on Monday. The state's Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said the government would allow the "law to take its own course". Mr Mani later said he was only narrating the history of resistance put up by the party in the past during adverse political situations. Correspondents say his comments have come as a major embarrassment to the state CPI(M) whose activists are under arrest in connection with the recent murder of a party rebel, TP Chandrasekharan.

Coconut plucking could be monkey business in Kerala

Coconut plucking could be monkey business in Kerala Can a monkey do a man's job? Yes, when it comes to climbing tall coconut trees and plucking its fruits - a skill that has been hit by labour shortage, say the Kerala authorities. With fewer people in the state willing to take up the arduous and risky job, the coconut business has taken a beating. To keep up the supply of the fruit, trained monkeys seem to be the best alternative, feels the state's agriculture department. 'Coconuts are essential to the traditional lifestyle and livelihood of the people of Kerala. However, the coconut business has dropped drastically due a shortage of tree climbers,' K.R. Vijayakumar, deputy director of the Kerala agriculture department, told IANS here. 'So we have a proposal where monkeys can be trained to carry out the task of plucking coconuts. The animals can be better than humans in coconut plucking. And it will also be cost effective.' The proposal is not new since monkeys are being used for plucking coconuts in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, he said. But if implemented in India, he foresees animal activists protesting against the move. 'Due to animal cruelty laws, animal rights groups may protest against the move. So we have not been able to pursue the proposal,' Vijayakumar said. However, he said like elephants are trained to pick up logs and ox trained to plough, monkeys too can be trained to pluck coconuts. 'Monkeys are smart animals and can get nuts from even tall and slender trees. Plucking coconuts is not a simple task,' he said. Kerala has more than 15 million coconut trees and requires at least 40,000 climbers to pick the fruits, according to data from Coconut Development Board in Kochi. However, with rising literacy rate and immigration to the Gulf, few people in Kerala are interested making a living by climbing coconut trees all day, he said. 'A trained monkey can climb 500 coconut trees a day. A human cannot climb more than 50 trees a day since it takes a person over 10 minutes to climb. This also involves a lot of risk,' he said. He said a training centre for monkeys could be set up where trainers from Indonesia and Thailand teach some monkeys on a trial basis and make them pick coconuts. However, others differ. 'A coconut tree produce about 60 nuts every 45 days and as it flowers continuously, the nuts ripen at different times. Monkeys being monkeys cannot decide whether a nut is ready to be plucked or not,' said a member of the Coconut Development Board who did not want to named. The member, instead, favoured robots over animals when it came to picking climbing trees and picking coconuts. However, an agriculture department official countered the objection, saying that the board's efforts to use climbing equipments, including robots, for the job, and setting up a coconut climbing training institute had not worked out. 'We are facing an acute shortage of coconut tree climbers and we need to address the issue as since sale of coconut is one of our important industries,' said Biju Mathew, a coconut farmer. 'When the government can start a USD 20,000 competition to develop three coconut-picking machines, why can't it accept the idea of monkeys climbing coconut trees?'

Narendra Modi Strongly Reacts against C.P.M Murder Politics

Gujarat CM Narendra Modi & Cong spokesman Rashid Alvi criticised the CPM leaders and the Centre for not acting punitively against party leader M M Mani's boast of murdering their political opponents.AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi today took on CPM saying that the language used by them is similar to that of terrorists. Modi was reacting to a speech made by CPM's Idukki district secretary M M Mani in which he stated that there had been instances of the party eliminating political rivals. "When leader of a political party says that we murder our political rivals, it is dangerous to our democracy. Where is NHRC (National Human Rights Commission)? We should raise our voice against such acts. Our workers keep giving their lives in Kerala," Modi said. "Is Delhi government sleeping and what is Kerala government doing on the issue," Modi remarked. "This language is same that of terrorists, Maoists and Naxalists," he further said. Mani's speech had sparked a raging political row in the country with the Congress and BJP saying it exposed CPM's "politics of violence". Speaking at a CPM event yesterday, Mani was trying to de-link the party from the May 4 murder in Kozhikode that has led to the arrest of about half a dozen of its leaders and activists. "If the party had had any role in the murder, it would not have been afraid to admit it," Mani bragged. As proof, he reeled off details about three earlier murders of political opponents. Mani said the CPM had in the past drawn up a list of opponents in his district and, consequently, three Congress activists were killed. The first, Ancheri Baby -- a worker of Congress labour arm INTUC -- was bumped off in the 1980s; another was hacked to death and the third beaten to death, he said. For good measure, Mani warned that the party would not shy away from neutralising its foes in the future, too, if necessary. His comments have come as a blow to CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's efforts to distance the party from the Chandrasekharan murder on the ground that physical annihilation of detractors was not part of party policy. Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy described Mani's comments as "serious" and said that suitable legal action would be taken. Rubbing it in, he asked Vijayan to react to Mani's claims. State police chief Jacob Punnoose has asked the district superintendent of police for a report on the contents of Mani's speech. Leaders of the ruling United Democratic Front have demanded that a case be registered against Mani. The mother of Ancheri Baby asked a private TV channel that the 1980s killing should be reinvestigated. All the seven people arrested in the case were acquitted for want of evidence. As for Chandrasekharan's murder, sources claim the investigators have obtained evidence that the plot was hatched at the higher levels of the party. ANI | May 28, 2012, AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi on Sunday criticized the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the central government for not condemning and acting punitively against party leader M M Mani's boast of murdering their political opponents. Addressing a function of BJP supporters in Ahmedabad, Modi described Mani's boast as shameful and questioned whether human rights organizations across the country, and in other parts of the world, were sleeping and not taking up this issue with more vigour. Alvi described the boast as tragic and unfortunate, and demanded that the CPI-M leadership apply strictures on Mani, an influential Kerala CPM leader. Mani had in a statement "revealed" that the party had "killed" political opponents in the past, pushing the Marxists on the back foot at a time they are trying to disown the murder of a former rebel. The Kerala CPM outfit, which is led by Pinarayi Vijayan, said that Mani had deviated from the party line, and therefore, his statement is disowned. Ironically, Mani, the CPM's Idukki district secretary, made his explosive remarks while trying to defend the party against allegations of plotting the killing of T P Chandrasekharan, who had left the CPM in 2008 and floated the Revolutionary Marxist Party. Speaking at a CPM event on Saturday, Mani was trying to de-link the party from the May 4 murder in Kozhikode that has led to the arrest of about half a dozen of its leaders and activists. "If the party had had any role in the murder, it would not have been afraid to admit it," Mani bragged. As proof, he reeled off details about three earlier murders of political opponents. Mani said the CPM had in the past drawn up a list of opponents in his district and, consequently, three Congress activists were killed.The first, Ancheri Baby - a worker of Congress labour arm INTUC - was bumped off in the 1980s; another was hacked to death and the third beaten to death, he said. For good measure, Mani warned that the party would not shy away from neutralising its foes in the future, too, if necessary. His comments have come as a blow to CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's efforts to distance the party from the Chandrasekharan murder on the ground that physical annihilation of detractors was not part of party policy. Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy described Mani's comments as "serious" and said that suitable legal action would be taken. Rubbing it in, he asked Vijayan to react to Mani's claims. State police chief Jacob Punnoose has asked the district superintendent of police for a report on the contents of Mani's speech. Leaders of the ruling United Democratic Front have demanded that a case be registered against Mani. The mother of Ancheri Baby asked a private TV channel that the 1980s killing should be reinvestigated. All the seven people arrested in the case were acquitted for want of evidence. As for Chandrasekharan's murder, sources claim the investigators have obtained evidence that the plot was hatched at the higher levels of the party. TOL

Mohanlal Skips Birthday Celebration on Account of Two Mothers Pains

Chandrasekharan murder: Three taken into custody

Kozhikode: The Kerala Police Saturday took into custody three suspects who are believed to be involved in the brutal murder of a former firebrand leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who was hacked to death near here. T.P. Chandrasekharan, 51, was killed in Onchiyam near here Friday night while returning home on a two-wheeler. Police said his face was badly disfigured. The vehicle which the killers used, an Innova, has also been taken into custody. Speaking to IANS, a top police officer on condition of anonymity, said that those who have been picked up include facilitators, who are also likely to be involved in the crime. 'So far, no arrests have been made. But the investigation is going on. We are certain that we will be able to crack the case,' said the top police official. Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told the media in New Delhi: 'As of now it looks like a pre-planned attack. A special police team has been formed to investigate it.' Chandrasekharan's body was taken from the Kozhikode Medical College hospital to the Town Hall for the public to pay homage and from there, it was taken to his home town. The funeral will take place Saturday night. Everywhere, huge crowds had gathered to have a one last look of the popular local leader who was brutally murdered. Meanwhile, both the ruling coalition as well as the opposition traded charges over the murder. The Congress Saturday blamed the CPI-M for the murder. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had called for a 12-hour state-wide shutdown Saturday which went off peacefully with shops and offices downing their shutters, but vehicles were allowed to ply. State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala, who reached Kozhikode told reporters that he has got information that this was a brutal crime that had the concurrence of the CPI- M. 'And now, it is for the police to come out with the truth. This crime shows how the CPI-M deals with its political adversaries,' said Chennithala. Home Minister T. Radhakrishnan has ordered a probe. Without naming anyone, he said it was known who was behind the murder. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy arrived from New Delhi in the wake of the incident. He reached the home of the deceased and met up with the immediate family members and assured them that the police will crack the case and the guilty will be booked. Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor Vaikom Viswam denied the CPI-M's hand in the killing. 'This is (meant) to malign our party,' he said. 'We demand an impartial inquiry.' Chandrasekharan was close to former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who now heads the opposition in the assembly, who came to pay his last respects. Chandrasekharan had left the CPI-M in 2008. In the 2009 local body polls, he led his newly-formed Revolutionary Marxist Party to victory in his home panchayat in Onchiyam and also in the nearby villages.

CPI state secretary CK Chandrappan passes away

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI stalwart C K Chandrappan, a dominant figure of Indian mainstream Left or the last several decades and former Lok Sabha member, died in a private hospital here today, party sources said. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer for the last few months and was admitted to hospital two days back after he suffered an infection.

CPI's Kerala state secretary, Chandrappan (77) is survived by wife Bulu Roychoudhury, who was with him when the end came. Chandrappan was elected to Lok Sabha from Thalassery in 1971, Kannur in 1977 and from Thrissur in 2004. He was also elected to Kerala Assembly twice from hometown Cherthala. Hailing from the Communist fortress Vayalar in Alappuzha district,he was born on November 10, 1936 as son of Ammukutty Amma and C K Kumara Panicker, the legendary leader of the Vayalar uprising that shook the princely state Travancore on the eve of Independence.
Entering politics at a very young age as activist of the Communist Party's student wing AISF, he held all-India positions in the Communist youth and student outfits. As a youth leader, he participated in the struggle for liberation of Goa from Portuguese hold. Ideologically, Chandrappan was known as a follower of late leader S A Dange, who famously propounded the line of Congress-Communist strategic alliance. However, he remained with the parent party when some of Dange's followers left
the party in late 1970s.

He became the party's Kerala state Secretary last year and was re-elected for a three year term to the post last month. Suave, softspoken and studious, Chandrappan made a deep impression as a serious debater in Parliament and assembly as he was well versed in a wide range of international and national issues. PTI

Credits M/E

Anoop Jacob sworn in as MLA

Thiruvananthapuram: Anoop Jacob, who was elected to Kerala assembly from Piravom as UDF candidate, took oath as member of the House today.

In the bypoll necessitated following the death of his father T M Jacob, Anoop retained the seat for Kerala Congress
(Jacob) with an impressive margin of 12,070 votes over his CPI-M rival M J Jacob when the votes were counted yesterday.

Anoop is expected to be inducted in the Oommen Chandy cabinet as he is the lone member of KC-J, a constituent of the
ruling Congress-led UDF.

Anoop, 34, a first-time MLA, took oath before the start of the zero hour in the House. Before taking oath, he sought the
blessings of leaders in the front row including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan.

The state committee of the UDF would decide on the date of his induction in the cabinet and also the portfolio. His
father was holding Food and Civil Supplies portfolio at the time of his death in last October. PTI

CPI-M behind newspaper agents' strike: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The ongoing strike by a section of agents affiliated to the CITU which had disrupted distribution of newspapers in some parts of Kerala is the handiwork of CPI-M which is using `coercive' methods to threaten dailies which did not toe their line,Public Relations Minister K C Joseph has said.

In a statement here, Joseph said the strike imposed by CPI-M's trade union outfit disrupting newsaper distribution
was a threat to freedom of the press.

He said the CITU should make it clear why they exempted party-owned newspapers from the stir.

'The strike is a direct attack on freedom of expression and free journalitic activities. Social and cultural leaders
should come out in protest against the unwarranted strike,' Joseph said in the statement.

A section of newspaper agents in the state have been on strike for the last few days demanding increase in commission,
resulting in disruption of distribution of mainstream papers in some areas. PTI

Thumping Victory for UDF - Anoop Wins with margin over 10000

The Congress-led United Democratic Front's (UDF) Anup Jacob won the Piravom assembly by-election in Kerala Wednesday.

Anup Jacob, 34, son of former minister T.M. Jacob, won with a margin of 12,070 votes, defeating his father's old rival, M.J. Jacob of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). While Anoop Jacob (Kerala Congress-Jacob), a constituent
of the UDF, garnered 82,756 votes, LDF'S M J Jacob got 70,686 votes. BJP's K R Rajagopal polled 3241 votes.

It took only 2 hours for the counting process to get over. Counting which began at 8 am was over well before 10 am.Counting first began at the Tiruvankulam and Chottanikara panchayats.

Postal votes was taken up first and LDF candidate M J Jacob took a initial lead. After that Chottanikara and Thiruvankulam panchayat votes were taken up where M J Jacob took a initial lead of 200 votes.

But LDF camp expected a lead of more than 2000 votes from these two panchayaths but secured a lead of only 200 votes. With this lead the LDF camp lost expectations. Later UDF gained clear leads in every panchayat. Anoop who secured lead after the counting of Mulathuruthy panchayath, gradually increased his lead. After the counting was completed in Ambaloor, the lead rose to 5000 and shot up after the counting of Piravom and Thirumaradi. His lead crossed 10,000 after the counting in Elanji panchayat and he bagged a lead of 12,070 votes.

The counting began at 8 am at the Nirmala Juniors school, Muvattupuzha. The results are expected after 10 rounds of
counting.

Over 400 police personnel have been deployed for security.

A record polling of 86.3 per cent was registered in the constiutency this time.

Anoop Jacob is the UDF candidate and his LDF rival M J Jacob.

The bypoll was necessecitated following the death of former minister, T M Jacob, father of Anoop Jacob.

With the death of T M Jacob, the UDF strength in the 140 member Assembly had gone down to 71, while in the LDF camp,
the recent resignation of Neyyatinkara MLA, Selvraj has reduced its strength to 67.

T M Jacob had won by a slender margin of 157 votes in 2011 assembly polls.

Kochi: In a boost to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala Wednesday retained the Piravom assembly seat with its candidate Anoop Jacob winning by a margin of 12,070 votes.

While Anoop Jacob (Kerala Congress-Jacob), a constituent of the UDF, garnered 82,756 votes, LDF'S M J Jacob got 70,686 votes. BJP's K R Rajagopal polled 3241 votes.

There were nine candidates in the fray in the March 17 bypoll, whose outcome today has given a boost to Chandy, who is running the government with a wafer thin margin.

Both the UDF and the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) had launched a stiff fight in the constituency, represented by Anoop's father and former minister T M Jacob. His death necessiated the bypoll.

A record polling of 86.3 per cent was registered in the constituency this time.

The battle was crucial for both the fronts as UDF's stregth had been reduced to 71 in the 140 member assembly with the death of T M Jacob, while LDF's strength had come down to 67 with the recent resignation of Neyyatinkara Selvaraj of CPM from the assembly that led to his expulsion from the party later.

The UDF camp is upbeat as the victory was by a margin of over 12,000 votes as T M Jacob had won by a slender margin of 157 votes in 2011 assembly polls.

The UDF had accepted the challenge of the LDF that the poll outcome would be a referendum on the nine-month-old Oommen Chandy led government's performance

Jagathy's condition stable, remains on ventilato

Kozhikode: The condition of Malayalam film actor Jagathy Sreekumar, who was admitted to a hospital here after he met with a road accident, is stable, doctors attending on him said today.

The condition of the actor, who underwent an emergency surgery after the accident on March 10, 'is stable at present', Dr Abdullah Cheriakkat, Managing Director, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment, told reporters here today.

The 61-year actor, who suffered multiple injuries in chest, abdomen and leg, was responding to medicines well and his blood pressure and functioning of kidneys are normal. However, he will continue to remain in ventilator for a couple of days
more, he said.

He said surgeries for correction of right thigh and right arm fractures would be done 'most probably' tomorrow depending on his condition.

Sreekumar,who has acted in over 1,000 films doing a variety of roles, largely as a comedian, met with the accident on his way to Kodagu in Karnataka for the shooting of a new movie when his car rammed into the road median and overturned at
nearby Tenhippalam in wee hours on March 10.

Works on about 10 projects in which Sreekumar figures are held up in view of the accident, sources in film industry said. PTI

Police withdraws case registered against women for offering Pongala

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen chandy said that police action of registering cases against women who had offered pongala in the Attukal temple was without the knowledge of the Government and the case has been withdrawn .The DGP has been asked to give a detailed report regarding this matter, he said.

Police registered case against over 1000 women who offered Pongala during the Attukal Pongala ritual. The police registered a case as per the Kerala High Court verdict banning roadside meetings.

DGP Jacob Punnoose said though the policemen who registered case explained that the case was registered as a routine affair, he sought an explanation from them.

DGP said immediate explanation has been sought and action would be taken against the deputy police commissioner PC Mohanan who ordered to file a case. DGP said the pongala does not come under the purview of HC order. Various political leaders have expressed their protest on the issue.

P.K.Narayana Panicker passes away

Changnacherry: P.K. Narayana Panicker, considered to be one of the leading lights of the Nair Service Society (NSS), the social organisation of the Kerala's Nair community, passed away here Wednesday afternoon, He was 82.

RSS chief visits Sivagiri Mutt

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 14 (PTI) RSS Sarsanghchalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat today visited the famed Sivagiri Mutt at Varkala near here, founded by saint-reformer Sree Narayana Guru. Bhagwat was received by the head of the Mutt Swamy Rithambharananda and other sanyasins. He offered floral tribute at the 'samadhi' of the Guru and the nearby Sarada Mutt. A major spiritual centre in Kerala, Sivagiri Mutt was founded by Sree Naryana Guru, the 20th century reformer who profoundly influenced Kerala society through his message of "one caste, one religion and one God for men".

E.Sreedharan visits project area of proposed monorail

Kozhikode: E Sreedharan, former chairman of Delhi metro rail corporation visited the proposed project site for monorail connecting Kozhikode medical college and Karippur Airport. Sreedhraran examined 13 locations from Medical College to Ramanattukara. He denied divulging anything about the inspection. He will hold talks with PWD minister VK Ibrahim Kunju on Monday.

The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase would be from medical college to Ramanattukara, second phase from Meenchantha to Karippur and third phase from Elathoor to Kozhikode. The expected cost if Rs 1500 crore.

Court rejects Madhani's plea

Bangalore: The Bangalore First class Metropolitan Magistrate rejected the plea filed by Abdul Nassar Madhani to exclude him from the Bangalore blast case. The court ruled that Madhani will have to face the hearing and the charge sheet will be read out to him on February 27. Madhani had stated in his plea that he had been included as accused in the case wrongly. The court had been hearing the pleas submitted by Madhani and many others in relation to the case. Adv. P Usman is representing Madhani.

Ex-CJI Balakrishnan in a soup over graft

A bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar asked Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati to take instructions in this regard and report back to the court by March 12.


New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought to know from the government if it had taken any action or proposed to take any action on complaints alleging corruption and other charges against National Human Rights Commission chairperson K.G. Balakrishnan.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar asked Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati to take instructions in this regard and report back to the court by March 12.

The bench sought a status report on complaints against Justice Balakrishnan while hearing a petition by NGO Common Cause, seeking a direction to the Centre to initiate the process for removal of the NHRC head in view of charges of misbehaviour against him.

The NGO had sought an intervention as the government was reportedly ignoring complaints against him. It alleged that Justice Balakrishnan faced charges of amassing benami properties, suppressing the fact that former Union minister A. Raja had been accused of attempting to interfere with the course of justice and approving false RTI replies pertaining to assets of judges during his tenure as the CJI.

Common Cause counsel Prashant Bhushan said there had been no response to complaints sent as early as in April.

He said about 20 properties had been acquired by his brother and two sons-in-law between 2005 and 2009 when Balakrishnan was in the Supreme Court. He had also given a false statement denying any complaint against Raja.

Bhushan said NHRC chairperson could be removed if a reference is made by the government to the Supreme Court and the court, after an inquiry recommends removal. With the government not making a reference, he sought a mandamus to the government for performing its duty.

Justice Kapadia, however, raised questions on another petition by a lawyer seeking removal of Justice Balakrishnan. "How can we do so?'' Justice Kapadia observed, referring to the provisions pertaining to removal in the Human Rights Act.

Bhushan said the court could always intervene when the government fails to perform its duty under law. "The court is not helpless in any situation but we need justification for intervention," Justice Kapadia said. The Supreme Court, had earlier permitted the CBI to take "necessary action" on complaints against Justice Balakrishnan.

Communists in Kerala squabble like never before

Thiruvananthapuram: Forget Left unity, the two Communist parties in Kerala have been at each other's throats for a while now. It has reached a crescendo with the smaller of the two, the Communist Party of India (CPI) warning 'big brother' Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) to immediately stop abusing it.

'Don't provoke us, we give you an ultimatum that please stop uttering abuses against us. We will not take it anymore. Please stop saying that our state secretary Chandrappan is a 'Dangeist'. Don't forget that you were part Dange too,' said C. Divakaran, senior CPI legislator and minister in the V.S. Achuthanandan cabinet (2006-11).

S.A. Dange was one of the founder leaders of the Communist Party in India. In 1964 the Communist party split with the CPI-M taking shape. One of the main reasons why the split took place was Dange always had a soft corner for the Congress, while the CPI-M was dead against that.

Divakaran hit out against the CPI-M after its newly re-elected state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan attacked Chandrappan and asked him to ensure that he 'stops speaking nonsense that our party conference was done by an event management company'.

'How dare someone say this. We will not accept this irrespective of whoever has said it. We are a party which is very strong at all levels, and there is no point in feeling jealous of us,' was Vijayan's direct diatribe against CPI state secretary C.K. Chandrappan.

The ties between the two 'red parties' went from bad to worse ever since the CPI-M decided to hold its state party conference here at almost the same time as the CPI was to hold its state meeting at Kollam.

While the CPI-M's meeting got over here Friday night, CPI's conference came to a close Saturday night.

Chandrappan, considered one of the most soft spoken Communists, even said that leaders should use decent and respectable language while speaking.

'I apologise to the CPI-M if my statement that their state conference was done by an event management firm hurt them. Everyone knows who is indulging in loose talk. It is best if all speak in a civilised manner because the public is watching everything,' said Chandrappan.

On Sunday, veteran CPI-M legislator E.P. Jayarajan hit out at Chandrappan again.

'Chandrappan speaks nonsense and he does not possess any of the qualities of the previous state secretary Veliyam Bharghavan. Chandrappan's utterance will only help the Congress party and it will be a blow to his own party,' remarked an angry Jayarajan.

With daggers drawn, the coming days will see which way the war of words between the two 'red parties' takes. In the '70s, the CPI and the Congress was in unison and ruled Kerala and it is often referred to as the best ever government the state has seen.
A Mathrubhumi Report

Popular Kerala singer detained, freed by Saudi police

Thiruvananthapuram: Popular Malayalam singer K.G.Markose was first detained and then released by Saudi Islamic police Saturday while on a tour of Saudi Arabia to hold a stage programme celebrating India's Republic Day.

"The incident occured Friday evening at 7.30 p.m when the singer was proceeding to AL-Qatif near Damamm after having performed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. He was on a visit to stage a programme celebrating India's Republic Day organised by a Kerala group there," said an official from Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy's office to IANS.

He added: "The reason behind his arrest, as being told to us, is that a notice with Markose's picture in Malayalam was being circulated and this is against the kingdom's laws. What we are given to understand is that the organisers of the musical programme also did not take the required sanction."

Markose also spoke to IANS over telephone.

"Right now, I am in a police station in Dammam and they are verifying my papers and so far there has been no arrest. They have found out that I am on a visit visa and am sure that very soon I would be asked to leave the station. The officials are very nice to me and I have no problems here at all. I have been told that this programme did not have the required permission from authorities," said Markose.

After efforts by various non-resident Malayalis in the Gulf and Oomen Chandy's office, Markose was finally released late Saturday evening.

Markose, who has been a professional singer for the past three decades is a very popular devotional singer and has also sung in Malayalam films.

Sahikkan Vayyathe - V.S

CPI-M denies attack on Achuthanandan at party meet

Thiruvananthapuram: Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Thursday denied media reports that party delegates launched an attack on veteran comrade and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan at the ongoing state party conference here.

On the sidelines of the conference, Balakrishnan, home minister in the Achuthanandan government (2006-11), told the media persons that the CPI-M was not a party 'where we target others in the party'.

'The media has got it all wrong, and the reports that appear in the media that a particular leader has been attacked are wrong. It is baseless,' said Balakrishnan.

For the past two days, there has been a flurry of media reports that Achuthanandan was attacked mercilessly by many of the party delegates.

The organisational report, a portion of which was telecast on TV news channels, showed Achuthanandan in poor light.

Party general secretary Prakash Karat told the conference that a portion of the report which has reference to Achuthanandan will be 'frozen' and the politburo and the central committee will look into it before the upcoming party Congress scheduled to be held at Kozhikode.

Balakrishna Pillai Vs Ganesh Kumar

Thiruvananthapuram: R Balakrishna Pillai said the party decisions against minister K B Ganesh Kumar would be intimated to the UDF. He was speaking after the meeting of Kerala Congress Pillai group here on Friday. Pillai has entrusted two persons from state committee to deal with the issue. He also blamed the media for taking side with Ganesh Kumar.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy had told on Thursday that the UDF would intervene in the Balakrishna Pillai-Ganesh Kumar issue as Kerala Congress is an ally of the UDF. Balakrishn pillai is a veteran leader and his party lends support to UDF. Nobody has apprised him about the ongoing issue but the UDF would intervene as it is our ally, Chandy said.

Though the tiff between father and son may split Kerala Congress Pillai group, there is a strong feeling that the Congress may support Ganesh Kumar. The govt is on a slender majority of just 2 MLAs and there are no options left before the UDF. This had been duly convened to Pillai, Chandy said.

Nine websites, including Kerala Govt’s defaced:

New Delhi: Nine official websites including that of the Power Ministry, Maharashtra, Kerala and Uttarakhand Governments were defaced in the recent past, forcing the authorities to strengthen cyber security safeguards.

The websites www.kumbh2010haridwar.gov.in, www.ueppcb.uk.gov.in, www.gov.ua.nic.in/ujn, www.cdodoon.gov.in, www.arunachal.nic.in,www.bee-india.nic.in, www.civilsupplieskerala.gov.in, www.mpcb.gov.in and www.informatics.nic.in were defaced, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said in an RTI reply.

"A number of hacking attempts are made on daily basis on governments websites hosted on NICNET servers. It is not possible to accurately quantify these. The attempts are usually effectively blocked by security controls put in place," it said.

The Ministry was asked to give details of hacking attempts being made on the governments websites in the last ten years (2001-11) along with the names of Uniform Resource Locater (URL) of the portals and source of such attacks.

However, the NIC said that "no such compilation is available" on the URL or name of the portals which were victims of cyber attacks.

"Source of an attempt is mostly traced through Internet protocol (IP) numbers making these attacks. However, the IP number may not be correct country since usually attacker attempt to masquerade their origin," the NIC said in reply to an RTI query filed by PTI

A look alike picture of Jesus Christ's "The Last Supper" Puts C.P.M in Trouble

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's Marxists are in trouble again -- this time over a look alike picture of Jesus Christ's The Last Supper.

The Congress has hit out at the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) after the CPM's labour wing put up the controversial picture.

It showed US President Barack Obama in the centre of a supposed Last Supper flanked by "disciples" Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, L.K. Advani and Oommen Chandy.

"They (CPM) say they have the highest regards for Christ. But they do all sorts of things which belittle Christ and Christianity," Chandy said in Kottayam.

"The CPM should immediately apologise for the poster," he said.

Spokesperson of the Synod of Catholic Bishops, Paul Thelekkat, said using The Last Supper to make a political point was wrong.

"The CPM has hurt the sentiments of believers," he told reporters.

CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the party had no role in preparing the posters.

"This was not done by our party. When our party leaders came to know of this, they went to the place and removed them. It is not our policy to belittle Jesus or Christianity," Vijayan said here.

Only last week the Congress condemned the CPI-M for using a Jesus Christ portrait at an exhibition as part of its state conference.'

The painting of Christ was placed along with Communist icons including Che Guevera at an exhibition titled "Marx is Correct".
M.M Report

Hibi Eden ties the knot

Kochi: The youngest MLA in Kerala Assembly, Hibi Eden Monday tied the knot with Anna Linda, a former television anchor. The solemn ceremony that took place at St Francis Xavier Church, Kaloor was followed by a reception, well-attended by political and religious leaders.

Archbishop Francis Kallarakal conducted the wedding that lasted for about one-and-half hours. The groom was wearing a black suit, while his bride was clad in an ivory gown.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala, speaker G. Karthikeyan, Union Ministers Valayar Ravi, K.V. Thomas, Mullapilli Ramachandran and K.C.Venugopal attended the grand reception held at Gokulam Convention Centre here.

BJP dares Rahul to become PM

Lucknow:The Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday dared Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to become India's prime minister, saying it would reveal his 'capability' to run the country.

'Let Rahul take the prime minister's seat. The whole country will see what he is capable of doing and how much capability he has to run the country,' BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference here.

'There is not much that he is required to do for riding on to the PM's office. All that Rahul needs to do is to ask Manmohan Singh to step down and then go and occupy the chair,' he said.

'After all, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) still has two years to go, so let him show what mettle he has,' he added.

Prasad was reacting to his Congress counterpart Abhishek Manu Singhvi's remark that Rahul's leadership in the Uttar Pradesh elections has come like a storm to take the Congress party on the road to victory.

Out to run down the Gandhi scion, the BJP spokesman said: 'I would like to cite an example of what Rahul's much-hyped campaign did at the state assembly elections in Bihar.'

'The Congress lost its deposit in 17 of the 22 places that he led the party's campaign (in), while its overall tally came down from nine to 5.'

Reacting sharply to Prasad's remarks, Singhvi who was also in town said: 'The BJP leader's statement reflects how clearly his party has realised the ground reality that the Congress is all set to ride on to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 and will be back in power at the centre too in 2014.'

New law in K'tka: Permanent resident should learn Kannada

Bangalore: The Karnataka government has begun proceedings on the rule that permanent residents from other states should learn Kannada. A direction on the same was issued by Karnataka development authority months before, which was formed for encouraging Kannada culture and language.The authority chairman earlier gave recommendation to those who are interested to become permanent resident should learn Kannada and be made mandatory.

Majority working in IT firms and other companies are from other states and especially Malayalees. Many are viewing it apprehensively. But some pointed out that implementation would be practically difficult as people won't get enough time to learn the language owing to busy work schedule. The authority stated that within one year the other state workers should pass Kannada equivalent to 7 th standard. They also sought to implement online learning facilities. Those who are interested to study can approach the authority. The authority also asked to make professional course like medical engineering course in Kannada which would affect lakhs of student from other states.