Tag: Kerala

‘The Kerala Story’ is Sangh Parivar’s ‘love jihad’ propaganda..: CM Vijayan

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday slammed the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ film, saying they were taking up the Sangh Parivar propaganda of projecting the state as a centre of religious extremism by raising the issue of ‘love jihad’ — a concept rejected by the courts, probe agencies and even the Union Home Ministry.
Vijayan said that the trailer of the Hindi film, at first glance, appears to be “deliberately produced” with the alleged aim of creating communal polarisation and spreading hate propaganda against the state.
He said that despite the issue of ‘love jihad’ being rejected by probe agencies, courts and the MHA, it was being raised in connection with Kerala as the main premise of the film only to humiliate the state in front of the world.

The CM, in a statement, said that such propaganda films and the alienation of Muslims depicted in them should be viewed in the context of Sangh Parivar’s efforts to gain political advantage in Kerala.
He also accused the Sangh Parivar of trying to destroy the religious harmony in the state by “sowing the poisonous seeds of communalism”. A couple of days ago, both the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala and the opposition Congress hit out at the controversial upcoming movie ‘The Kerala Story’, saying freedom of expression was not a licence to spew venom in society, and the film was an attempt to destroy the communal harmony of the state.
‘The Kerala Story’, written and directed by Sudipto Sen, is portrayed as “unearthing” the events behind “approximately 32,000 women” allegedly going missing in the southern state. The film falsely claims they converted, got radicalised and were deployed in terror missions in India and the world.
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#Kerala #Story #Sangh #Parivars #love #jihad #propaganda. #Vijayan

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 30, 2023
BJP accuses Kerala government of appropriating good schemes of Centre

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Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP on Saturday accused the CPI(M)-led Kerala government of appropriating the good schemes of the party-ruled Centre and having the habit of passing their failures onto the Union government.
The saffron party also said the state government’s data servers need to be upgraded and urged the administration to not point fingers at the National Informatics Centre (NIC) that developed the software storing the information.
“We condemn this attitude and remind LDF that such cheap politics will not benefit them. The robust common sense of the citizens of this country understands what is right and what is wrong,” senior BJP leader and the party’s Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar said citing the “latest example of the problem faced by Keralites in getting ration and pension this week.”

“The state government has said that there is a technical glitch on the servers of NIC. The fact is exactly the opposite. The problem is not with NIC servers, which only maintain the software, but with the Kerala state data centre and servers, which are maintained by the state government. Their own failure, which they are now passing on to NIC and the Central government,” Javadekar said in a statement here.
Stating that existing servers at the Kerala state data centre hosting the public distribution system (PDS) application need upgrading as they have been in use for more than seven years, the former Union Minister said running a PoS (point of sale) system for rations is a state government’s responsibility.
He said the NIC has developed the application, which is being used in 22 states, and it has time and again asked the Kerala government to change and upgrade the capacity of the servers hosting the PDS.
“Very recently, the servers have been upgraded, and NIC is helping the state government migrate the data to the new servers on a war footing. To facilitate the data migration, the state government itself decided to shut down PDS without telling Keralites the real story,” Javadekar alleged.
The senior BJP leader said Aadhar authentication is the responsibility of the respective states, which are Authentication User Agency (AUA), and alleged that the Aadhar authentication platform of the Kerala government is not stable and the dispensation has never bothered to set it right.

“Therefore, authentication in ration shops has become a problem in Kerala. The Kerala government requested that UIDAI do Aadhar authentication on NIC servers to make the system stable. The state government has not told this story to the people of Kerala,” he alleged.
Javadekar further claimed that the Kerala government has issued an order for pensioners to be enabled exclusively through Akshaya Centres run by the state government.
He said a petition was filed in the High Court against the exclusive rights given to Akshaya Centres to provide services to pensioners.
“The High Court has stayed the services from Akshaya Centres and ordered further that the state should grant Common Service Centres and other agencies to have access Jeevan Rekha and provide an open portal for eligible pensioners to access Jeevan Rekha software,” he said, adding that the Kerala government should learn that “such kind of political tricks won’t work” anymore.
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#BJP #accuses #Kerala #government #appropriating #good #schemes #Centre
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023
Movie ‘The Kerala Story’ an attempt to destroy state’s communal harmony: Ruling CPI(M)

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Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress in Kerala on Friday lashed out against the controversial upcoming movie ‘The Kerala Story’, saying freedom of expression was not a licence to spew venom in society, and the film was an attempt to destroy the communal harmony of the state.
‘The Kerala Story’, written and directed by Sudipto Sen, is portrayed as “unearthing” the events behind “approximately 32,000 women” allegedly going missing in the southern state. The film falsely claims they converted, got radicalised and were deployed in terror missions in India and the world.
In a strongly-worded Facebook post, Culture and Youth Affairs minister Saji Cheriyan said the movie was part of the Sangh Parivar propaganda to implement “their tried-and-tested method of creating unrest” among the communities by spewing venom in society.

“Kerala is a state which is known for communal harmony… This movie could be seen as an attempt by the Sangh Parivar to destroy the secular fabric of the state… This is a conspiracy to divide and create unrest in society,” Cheriyan said.
The Congress party urged the government not to give permission to screen the controversial movie as it aimed to create “communal divisions in society through false claims”.
Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan rejected the claims of the movie makers and said it was clear that the intention of the upcoming movie was to tarnish the image of the state at the international level.
“Permission should not be given to screen the film which falsely claims that 32,000 women in Kerala have been converted into Islam and became members of ISIS,” the Congress leader said.
‘The Kerala Story’, starring Adah Sharma, is set to be released in cinemas on May 5.

Cheriyan said freedom of expression was not a licence to spew venom in society. “We will consider legal action against such fake propaganda,” he added.
Satheesan also said this was not an issue of freedom of expression but part of an attempt to implement the Sangh Parivar agenda of creating divisions in the society by casting aspersions on minority groups.
“No one should think that Kerala can be divided by spewing the poison of communalism,” he said, adding that the state would stand united — as has been its tradition — against this “deliberate move to foster religious rivalry”.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M), also lashed out against the film and said its trailer itself hurt religious sentiments.
The DYFI in a Facebook post alleged that the medium of cinema was being misused by the makers of the movie to create communal divisions in society and to tarnish the image of the state.
The Left outfit also sought stern action against the film.
In a press note issued earlier this week, the filmmakers announced the release date with a poster that shows a burqa-clad woman with a tagline “Uncovering the truth that was kept hidden.”
The film’s writer-director Sudipto Sen’s earlier movies are ‘Aasma’, ‘Lucknow Times’ and ‘The Last Monk’.
‘The Kerala Story’ is backed by Sunshine Pictures Private Limited, founded by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who serves as the producer, creative director and co-writer on the film.
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#Movie #Kerala #Story #attempt #destroy #states #communal #harmony #Ruling #CPIM
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
Vipul Shah: ‘The Kerala Story’ aims to become voice of thousands of women

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Mumbai: Film director and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah talked about his film ‘The Kerala Story’, in which actress Adah Sharma is playing the role of Fathima Ba, a Hindu Malayali nurse, who is among the 32,000 women who went missing from Kerala and were then recruited to the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) after being forced to convert to Islam.
As the story is based on true events, Vipul said that it involved a lot of research and it is an attempt to bring out the truth in front of everyone.
He said: “The film is an amalgamation of years of research and true stories which have never been dared to be told before, it will uncover many hidden truths that have been hidden for long. It will uncover the dangerous threat radicalisation poses to the women of our nation and will create awareness about this conspiracy being hatched against India.”

Directed by Sudipto Sen, it is a story of four women and how from being regular college students in Kerala, they became part of a terror organisations.
“The film aims to become the voice of tens of thousands of women across the globe who have been indoctrinated and exploited for terrorism and other crimes,” added Vipul.
Apart from Adah, the film also features Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani.
It is slated to hit theatres on May 5.

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#Vipul #Shah #Kerala #Story #aims #voice #thousands #women
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 26, 2023
UAE-based Indian bizman plans to launch new Indian airline ‘Air Kerala’

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Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Indian businessman is planning to launch new Indian airline— Air Kerala catering to expatriates, local media reported.
Afi Ahmed, managing director of UAE-based Smart Travels, is currently exploring different strategies to turn the Air Kerala project into a reality.
In March 2023, Afi Ahmed paid local company 1 million Dirhams (Rs 2,23,26,532) for the airkerala.com domain name.

Air Kerala had been a project that was announced by the Kerala government in 2005 and was registered as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) in 2006.
As per a report by Khaleej Times, it aims to provide a relief to Keralites living in the UAE against skyrocketing ticket prices and shortage of airline seats.
Air Kerala project has been suspended several times, despite being a hotly debated topic for years.
The domain name airkerala.com was initially purchased in 2000 by domain sales portal Executive Bachelors.com, a subsidiary of UAE-based investment company 1971.
In 2005, the site’s estimated value was around 2.5 million Dirhams. Although numerous parties have expressed interest in the domain since then, this is the first time Executive Bachelors.com has sold the coveted domain name.

“I was looking for a domain for my B2C project,” Afi Ahmed told Khaleej Times.
Since announcing his intention to revive the airline, Aafi said, he has seen an outpouring of support from the Malayali community in the UAE.
“Several businessmen have approached me and pledged to contribute money to get the project running,” he added.
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#UAEbased #Indian #bizman #plans #launch #Indian #airline #Air #Kerala
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
Kerala: PM Modi to flag off India’s first Water Metro in Kochi

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Kochi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India’s first Water Metro that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.
Water Metro is a unique urban mass transit system with the same experience and ease of travel as that of the conventional metro system. It is very useful in cities like Kochi.
“Kochi’s water metro project is a unique project which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This is a game-changing transport system because Kochi is surrounded by many islands and out of them 10 islands are very important and thickly populated,” Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited told ANI ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Loknath Behera.

“Those who depend on main lands will be getting a sustainable, regular, and luxurious transport system at a very affordable price,” he added.
According to the officials, the Modi government has made a conscious choice to avoid a one-size fits all approach in providing infrastructure and connectivity. A prime example of this approach is seen in the expansion of metro connectivity in the country.
Prime Minister Modi, who is on a visit to Kerala, will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3200 crore.
Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by PM Modi.
During the event, PM Modi will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.

Earlier on April 24, the Prime Minister who landed in Kerala for a two-day visit, held a mega roadshow in Kochi on Monday.
Sporting traditional Kerala attire, PM Modi walked through the streets of Kochi. People queued up on both sides of the road and cheered for the Prime Minister. They also showered flower petals on him. PM Modi was also seen shaking hands with people.
After walking for over 15 minutes, the security personnel escorted him to an SUV.
He will flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on Tuesday.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with academia.
As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, data analytics, cyber security, smart materials etc, said the PMO statement.
The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1,515 crore.
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#Kerala #Modi #flag #Indias #Water #Metro #Kochi
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
Modi asks youth to script a new Kerala, slams traditional rival fronts

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Kochi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking to the youths who had turned up in huge numbers on Monday evening said the BJP will always be with the youth, while the traditional fronts have failed in their duty to lift the youth.
“Over the years a lot of opportunities for the youth in Kerala were lost due to the ideological difference of opinion between two traditional political fronts. While one party gave more importance to develop their party, the other political front gave more emphasis to one family and both of them failed the youths,” said Modi.
“We the BJP are trying hard to improve exports from here, but some here are engaged in gold smuggling and are letting the youth down,” said Modi.

He said this at the SH College ground while speaking to more than 20,000 youths waiting for him.
“The country is progressing rapidly and I want Kerala also to make use of it and be part of it. I want that you the youth should script a new history for Kerala and you should take the lead for it and I am ready to follow you,” said Modi to huge applause.
He then spoke about the huge potential that tourism offers to Kerala and asked the youth to make use of it.
“During my Mann Ki Baat radio programme I do get a lot of letters and in the upcoming 100th edition of it, I will again take up the issues of the youth,” said Modi.
Turning to political issues of how the BJP is being perceived, he told the youth that the country is getting divided in the name of caste, creed, religion and the youth should come forward against it.

“Be it in northeast or in Goa, some big communities have appreciated the BJP and in Kerala also there is scope for change in this respect,” added Modi.
Modi arrived at Kochi around 5 p.m. for a two-day trip to Kerala, dressed in typical local style and surprised many when he decided to walk a good part of the 1.8 kms as part of his roadshow.
While the original programme was that he will be in a vehicle, he surprised everyone when he decided to walk down the streets.
Thousands of people were waiting for long and they were taken aback when they saw Modi walking past waving to them.
As he walked the people showered flowers on him.
After walking for about 20 minutes he got into his vehicle but stood and greeted the people waiting on either side of the road and also on top of the buildings.
He reached the venue to a tumultuous welcome and greeted the people on the dais. The star of the moment appeared to be Anil Antony, son of the country’s longest serving Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who had joined the BJP earlier this month.
Seeing Anil, Modi stopped near him, patted him on his shoulder and exchanged pleasantries.
On Tuesday he will reach the state capital to flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat train and launch a slew of projects. Around noon he will fly to Surat.
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#Modi #asks #youth #script #Kerala #slams #traditional #rival #fronts
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 24, 2023
UAE: 2 Indian expats from Kerala killed in separate accidents

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Abu Dhabi: Two Indian expats died in separate transport accidents during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays in the UAE, a media report said.
38-year-old Sharjah-based Abhilash, had gone boating with his colleagues in Khor Fakkan when the accident took place, the Khaleej Times newspaper reported.
Three other people, including a child, were injured in the accident with at least one of them in critical condition, the Sharjah Police said on Monday.

There were 16 passengers on the boat when the accident took place, the report said, not mentioning the exact date or time of the accident.
Abhilash’s body is presently being kept at the mortuary in Khor Fakkan Hospital. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
In another accident, 35-year-old Subeesh Chozhiyamparambath, from Kerala was killed and two others severely injured when a car in which they were travelling crashed in Al Mafraq area of Abu Dhabi.
Subeesh from Palakkad was travelling from Al Samha to Mussafah for Eid shopping when he met with the accident on April 20.
An Abu Dhabi resident for the past two years, Subeesh worked at a landscaping company, and died exactly a month before turning 36 years-old.

“It was a multiple-car crash in the Al Mafraq area. Subeesh along with two others were sitting in the back seat. The car they were travelling in was hit. Subeesh is no more,” his cousin told Khaleej Times.
Of the two people travelling with Subeesh, one person has been admitted to the ICU with severe injuries, and another has sustained minor wounds.
“Subeesh got engaged. He was making plans to get married once he returned sometime later this year,” said a relative, adding that the Indian Embassy helped them finish necessary paperwork for repatriation.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#UAE #Indian #expats #Kerala #killed #separate #accidents
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 24, 2023
PM Modi to embark on 2-day tour of MP, Kerala

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Madhya Pradesh as well as Kerala and the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu from April 24 to 25, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation of projects worth over Rs 25,000 crore.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, he gave a glimpse of programmes in which he will participate during the next two days.
PM Modi will first participate in the National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations at Rewa, Madhya Pradesh on April 24.

Incidentally, Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls later this year in December, and in this context, the Prime Minister’s repeated tours to the state since the past few weeks hold a lot of political significance.
Also, during the event, PM Modi will inaugurate an integrated eGramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at Panchayat level.
He will lay the foundation and dedicate to the nation projects worth around Rs 17,000 crore.
On April 25, Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat Express at Thiruvananthapuram central railway station.
After this, he will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation, development projects worth more than Rs 3,200 crore, at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.

Later during the day, Modi will visit NAMO medical education and research institute and then will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation, various development projects worth more than Rs 4,850 crore at Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
PM Modi will also inaugurate the Devka seafront at Daman.
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#Modi #embark #2day #tour #Kerala
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
AAP appoints Kerala state president, national general secretary

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New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its bid to expand its wings in South India has made an organisational revamp and appointed Advocate Vinod Wilson Mathew as the new president of its Kerala unit and PC Cyriac as National Joint Secretary on Saturday.
The party also appointed two State Vice Presidents, one State General Secretary, two State Secretaries, one State Treasurer, 10 different Wings Presidents and 14 District Presidents.
AAP will bring new faces and have an organisational revamp in Kerala after the local body polls, said the then party State election in-charge Vinod Mathew Wilson in February this year.

“AAP has decided to contest in three panchayat wards and one block panchayat ward in Kerala in the upcoming local body bypolls. AAP is contesting against the immoral politics of the CPI(M) in Kerala. We will perform well in these seats and open an account in Kerala,” the AAP leader told media persons.
Wilson said, “AAP National Committee has decided to find new faces who can influence Kerala and bring them to the leadership of the party in Kerala.” He said such names will be announced in the coming time.
Attacking Congress, the AAP leader said the main opposition party in Kerala has been showing a “disappointing performance”.
Wilson said AAP’s new organizational structure in Kerala will soon be in place. He said the party had already held protests across Kerala including the Raj Bhavan March against the Adani issue and issues pertaining to the budget.
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#AAP #appoints #Kerala #state #president #national #general #secretary
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023