Tag: Kerala

Kerala to raise Rs 400 cr for Adani Ports as part of Vizhinjam agreement

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Thiruvananthapuram: As part of the agreement between the Kerala government and Adani Ports, the former will now have to give Rs 400 crore to the latter as the construction of the breakwater at the upcoming Vizhinjam port is going forward.
According to the agreement between the two, Kerala will have to provide Adani Ports Rs 400 crore when 30 per cent of the breakwater is completed and they have been knocking on the doors of the government for a while.
The state government has been caught in a debt trap and its financial position has been in tatters hence they are unable to honour the commitment to the port builder. With time running out, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has now decided to take a loan of Rs 400 crore from HUDCO.
The Vizhinjam port has been a dream project of successive governments and was finally cleared by the then Oommen Chandy government (2011-16) and Adani Ports was the lone bidder for the project.
The work began on December 5, 2015.
Gautam Adani had then announced that the first ship will berth there on September 1, 2018, in a record time of less than 1,000 days, but due to various reasons things went haywire. State Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil has now said that the first ship will berth in March 2023 and the first phase of the port will be commissioned in 2023.
The project first stalled in 2017 after cyclone Ockhi hit the construction site and a portion of the constructed breakwater was washed away and since then the shortage of limestone, the most essential raw material for the project, caused another delay.
The total cost of the port project is Rs 7,525 crore and the state government has contributed 500 acres of land.

According to the plan, this would be one of India’s deepest ports once completed, and 80 per cent of the country’s cargo trans-shipments will go through here.
Adani Ports, which was the lone bidder for the project, had sought a Rs 1,635 crore grant for the construction purposes.
According to the agreement, Adani will operate the port for 40 years, extendable by 20 more years, while the state government will get a portion of the revenue from the port after 15 years.
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#Kerala #raise #Adani #Ports #part #Vizhinjam #agreement
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 13, 2023
Plea in Kerala HC seeking to declare circumcision on children as non-bailable offence

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Kochi: A plea was filed in the Kerala High Court on Friday seeking to declare the practice of non-therapeutic circumcision on children as illegal and a non-bailable offense.
The plea, filed by an organisation called Non-Religious Citizens, also seeks a directive to the Union government to consider legislation prohibiting the practice of male circumcision. It alleged that the practice of circumcision is a human rights violation against children.
The petitioners, claiming to be social activists in Kerala, contended before the court that circumcision leads to several health problems including trauma besides other risks.
The plea said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the UN to which India is a member and signatory, by virtue of its provisions emphasize that all children have the right to live in a secure, loving environment, free from any form of harm, assaults, abuse, and discrimination.
“Each member of the covenant is duty-bound to ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms recognized in the covenant is violated has an effective remedy,” it said.
The practice of circumcision is compelled to be done on the children, not as their choice but they are being compelled to be followed only because of the unilateral decision taken by the parents, wherein the child is having no option, the plea said.
“This is a clear violation of the provisions of the international treaties…,” the plea said.
Alleging that several incidents of deaths of infants have happened in the country due to the practice of circumcision, the plea said the practice of this ritual is cruel, inhuman and barbarous, and it violates the valuable fundamental right, “right to life”, of the children postulated under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

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#Plea #Kerala #seeking #declarecircumcisionon #children #nonbailable #offence
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 11, 2023
Kerala: Will Pinarayi ‘hug a cow’ this Valentine’s Day? quips Congress

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Thiruvananthapuram: Soon after reports of a new Rs 49-lakh cow shed at Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence surfaced, State Congress president K.Sudhakaran took a swipe at Kerala Chief Minister asking him whether he will “hug a cow” this Valentine’s Day.
“With a state-of-the-art cow shed at Vijayan’s official residence, the only thing that now remains to be seen is whether the chief minister will celebrate Valentine’s Day as a Cow hug day,” asked Sudhakaran.
The latter never misses any chance to attack Vijayan by pointing out that till date the CM has not attacked neither Modi nor Amit Shah.
On being asked by the media on Thursday, all Vijayan said was first it was stated that there was a music system installed in the cow shed, then came another report without any mention of it.
Neither denying nor confirming the reports, Vijayan, said, “All that happened is there was damage to the compound wall of the residence and everything was handled by the concerned departments.”
Immediately after the statement, the concerned government order that gave the sanction for the cowshed at a cost of Rs 49 lakhs surfaced in the media.
The trolls in social media also had a field day trolling the state government over its “hypocrisy”.
One of the incidents which is now being discussed is when legendary four-time Congress Chief Minister K.Karunakaran met with a serious road accident, he was advised to go swimming. After swimming at a state-run hotel in the capital city, a decision was taken to build a pool at the official residence.

This was met by huge protests by the then top CPI(M) leader and three-time former Chief Minister E.K.Nayanar who said if the Left returns to power, the pool will be used to bathe the dogs.
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#Kerala #Pinarayi #hug #cow #Valentines #Day #quips #Congress
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 10, 2023
Kerala: 29-yr-old Shihab Chottur walks to Pakistan for Haj

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A 29-year-old man from Kerala, who has set out on an 8,640 km journey on foot to Makkah to perform Haj 2023, reached Lahore, Pakistan on Monday, February 6, 2023.
Shihab Chottur took to Instagram and wrote, “Alhamdulillah reached Pakistan.”
Earlier on Sunday, Shihab Chottur made the announcement through a YouTube vlog, he has finally received official papers from Pakistan, permitting him to travel through the country.
“I had commenced my journey on June 2 and till February 2, I had been waiting for one paper and now I have received it. It’s now just hours remaining for me to set foot on Pakistani soil. I will resume my journey on Monday,” he said in the video.

For the past four months and nine days, Shihab has been staying at Aafiyah Kids School, Khasa, Amritsar, Punjab, waiting for the transit visa.
Shihab has already covered a distance of 3,300 km. About 40 per cent of the journey has already been completed from Kerala to Punjab.
After passing through Pakistan, he will reach Makkah in Saudi Arabia via Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, where he will perform his duty of Haj.
Shihab’s Kerala-Makkah journey
Shihab Chottur, who runs a supermarket, set off on his incredible journey from Athavanad, near Kottakkal, in Malappuram district, Kerala, on June 2. Every day, he walks at least 25 kms.

He will apply for the Haj pilgrimage after his arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Shihab is currently accompanied by three of his friends on this journey from Kerala to Makkah. A six-member team from Karnataka is following him in the current extension to facilitate their journey.
Shihab, grew up hearing stories of people travelling all the way from Kerala to the holy land of Makkah on foot during ancient times which made it his life’s dream to walk all the way to Makkah.
Shihab had been getting a rousing welcome as he passes through states with a large number of people thronging roads to greet him and catch a glimpse of him.
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#Kerala #29yrold #Shihab #Chottur #walks #Pakistan #Haj
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023
Kerala: 20-yr-old Shihab Chottur walks to Pakistan for Haj

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A 29-year-old man from Kerala, who has set out on an 8,640 km journey on foot to Makkah to perform Haj 2023, reached Lahore, Pakistan on Monday, February 6, 2023.
Shihab Chottur took to Instagram and wrote, “Alhamdulillah reached Pakistan.”
Earlier on Sunday, Shihab Chottur made the announcement through a YouTube vlog, he has finally received official papers from Pakistan, permitting him to travel through the country.
“I had commenced my journey on June 2 and till February 2, I had been waiting for one paper and now I have received it. It’s now just hours remaining for me to set foot on Pakistani soil. I will resume my journey on Monday,” he said in the video.

For the past four months and nine days, Shihab has been staying at Aafiyah Kids School, Khasa, Amritsar, Punjab, waiting for the transit visa.
Shihab has already covered a distance of 3,300 km. About 40 per cent of the journey has already been completed from Kerala to Punjab.
After passing through Pakistan, he will reach Makkah in Saudi Arabia via Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, where he will perform his duty of Haj.
Shihab’s Kerala-Makkah journey
Shihab Chottur, who runs a supermarket, set off on his incredible journey from Athavanad, near Kottakkal, in Malappuram district, Kerala, on June 2. Every day, he walks at least 25 kms.

He will apply for the Haj pilgrimage after his arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Shihab is currently accompanied by three of his friends on this journey from Kerala to Makkah. A six-member team from Karnataka is following him in the current extension to facilitate their journey.
Shihab, grew up hearing stories of people travelling all the way from Kerala to the holy land of Makkah on foot during ancient times which made it his life’s dream to walk all the way to Makkah.
Shihab had been getting a rousing welcome as he passes through states with a large number of people thronging roads to greet him and catch a glimpse of him.
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#Kerala #20yrold #Shihab #Chottur #walks #Pakistan #Haj
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023
Kerala: Woman professor molested by bike-borne men

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Thiruvananthapuram: A middle-aged woman professor, who had arrived here to attend a literary festival, was molested while on her way to her rented apartment.
The incident happened on Friday night when the woman and two of her friends were returning at 11.45 p.m. after attending the literary festival.
The festival was organised by the ‘Matrubhumi’ group at Thiruvananthapuram in which several noted writers and thinkers participated and sessions concluded late into the night.
When she was returning from the festival venue, two bike-riding men without a headlight on their bikes assaulted the woman and shoved her into the ground in a dark area near the venue. The woman professor was a little behind her two friends and when she cried for help the others arrived and the assailants escaped from the area.
The Kerala Police have not been able to identify or nab the culprits so far.
It is to be noted that a woman doctor was molested a couple of months ago, during early morning hours near the place where the woman professor was assaulted. The accused, was, however, traced by the police in a few days’ time, and found that he was the driver to the private secretary of the Kerala Water Works minister.
There are more than seven cases of assault and molestation against women that had been reported in the past three months in Thiruvananthapuram, which is boasting of a 3,000-strong police force that includes the Director General of Police (DGP), ADGP, an array of IGs and several SPs in the state capital.
A woman college professor from the state capital while speaking to IANS said, “It is really frightening as to what is happening in the capital city. I am working at a government-aided college here and the woman professor who was assaulted the day before yesterday is my good friend and we had just parted from the venue of the literary festival. If the police do not immediately catch the culprits, we will be forced to sit at home during evening hours and early morning hours. The capital city seems to be becoming out of bounds for women.”

Police, however, said that they were on the track and that the culprits would be soon arrested. A senior police officer told IANS that the police were acting fast and that the culprits would be soon booked.
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#Kerala #Woman #professor #molested #bikeborne #men
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 5, 2023
Kerala trans-couple set to welcome baby next month

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Kozhikode: A transgender couple in Kerala has announced that they are expecting a baby next month, in possibly the first such pregnancy of a trans person in the country.
Ziya Paval, a dancer, took to Instagram and announced that her partner, Zahhad, is now eight months pregnant.
“We are about to realise my dream of becoming a mother and his dream of becoming a father. An eight-month-old foetus is now in (Zahhad’s) belly… From what we came to know, this is the first trans man’s pregnancy in India…,” Paval said in the Instagram post.
The couple, who have been living together for the past three years, were undergoing hormone therapy.
However, Zahhad, who was transitioning to become a man, has stalled it to conceive a baby.
Zahhad was undergoing the process for breast removal surgery that was stopped for the pregnancy.
Paval has thanked her family and the doctors for their support.

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#Kerala #transcouple #set #baby #month
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
Kerala HC directs govt to release properties of those who have no connection with PFI

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Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to release the erroneously attached properties of certain persons as part of recovery proceedings initiated against Popular Front of India (PFI) workers in connection with the damage to public property, in violence, during a hartal called by the banned outfit last September.
“The 2nd respondent, Additional Secretary shall forthwith ensure that the properties of those persons who have no connection with the additional 13th respondent Organisation, which have been erroneously attached by the Revenue Recovery authorities of the State Government, are released by lifting the attachment on the said properties,” the court said.
A division bench comprising justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias C P said the lifting of the attachment shall be evidenced by appropriate orders issued in that regard which are communicated to the persons concerned.
On January 23, the state government had informed the high court that it has attached the properties of 248 banned Popular Front of India (PFI) workers as part of recovery proceedings and there were disputes with regard to the attachment in Malappuram district and action will be taken to correct the same.
“The Revenue authorities have informed that there were some disputes in respect of properties attached, especially in Malappuram district. They have contended that they are not office bearers or do not have any relation with the Popular Front of India. Genuineness of these objections are being examined and necessary action will be taken in accordance with law,” the government had said.
The PFI leaders are accused in the case related to the hartal called by the organisation against the nation-wide raids on PFI offices and arrest of its leaders following its ban.
The state police have registered a total of 361 cases and arrested 2,674 people.
Earlier, the High Court had asked the banned PFI and its ex-state general secretary Abdul Sathar to deposit Rs 5.2 crore with the Home Department towards damages estimated by the KSRTC and the state government in connection with the hartal-related violence, saying they must be held accountable for it.

Sathar, when he was the state general secretary of the outfit, had called for the hartal against the nation-wide raids and arrest of its leaders, and then allegedly absconded.
Hours after the PFI was banned, he had issued a statement saying the outfit had been disbanded in the wake of the Home Ministry’s decision and subsequently, he was arrested.
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#Kerala #directs #govt #release #properties #connection #PFI
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
After two years in jail, Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan walks free

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After spending two years in Lucknow jail, Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan finally walked out free on Thursday. The sessions court had ordered his bail the previous day.
“I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail. I don’t know who’s benefiting from me being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid,” he told NDTV after his release.
Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras district where a Dalit woman had died after being allegedly gang raped. A case was lodged under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act).
He was arrested by the Mathura police for having links with the Popular Front of India and being a part of a “conspiracy” to instigate violence.
However, after the Supreme Court of India granted bail to the journalist in the UAPA on September 9 and Allahabad High Court also granted the same in the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), Kappan’s release was marred by difficulties in finding two local sureties.
A surety is a person that assures the defendant will attend his or her court hearing after being granted bail.
In 2020, a Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. Her body was cremated by the police and village administration without the knowledge of her family members leading to widespread protests and condemnation.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
Nothing in Union Budget to solve economic disparities in country: Kerala CM

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the Union Budget 2023-24 does not attempt to solve the growing economic disparities in the country.
Vijayan, reacting to the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament, said that it only further strengthens the concentration of wealth among corporates.
The Chief Minister, in a statement, also expressed the view that the budget has not taken a regionally balanced approach.
In the statement, he also said that it was disappointing that the long-sought demand of Kerala for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) or rail development projects in the state, found no mention in the budget.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023