The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Remove Soopy: CPI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 31. The CPI State secretary, Veliyam Bharghavan, today said that the Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, should be expelled from the Cabinet in the light of the High Court's verdict on the B.Ed. college issue. The verdict indicated that the Government had repudiated the court's directions while sanctioning B.Ed. colleges. The court's gesture in generously refraining from taking further action in the matter following an apology tendered by the Secretary for Education did not in any way diminish the seriousness of the offence, Mr. Bharghavan said. He added that Mr. Soopy had tried to mislead not only the court, but also the Legislative Assembly.

Load-shedding timings

With effect from February 2, there will be a slight change in the timings of the 30-minute load-shedding currently in force in the State. In a press release, the Kerala State Electricity Board informs that the load-shedding cycle from that day will start at 6-30 p.m. instead of the present starting time of 6-15 p.m. The areas that come under the first phase of load-shedding will thus have no power supply from 6-30 p.m. to 7 p.m. And the final phase will be between 9-30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Takes charge

M. Nazimuddin, former Deputy Collector (Vigilance - South Zone), has taken charge as the Secretary to the Commission for Police Performance and Accountability, constituted by the State Government in November 2003. The Commission, headed by the retired Supreme Court Judge, K. T. Thomas, has as its members the former Director General of Police, K. V. Rajagopalan Nair, and the former Additional Chief Secretary, T. N. Jayachandran. The office of the commission has started functioning in the PWD Rest House, Kottayam.

JD(U) flays Naidu

The State unit of the Janata Dal (United) is upset over the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu's statement the other day that the BJP would be contesting from 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State in the next general elections, leaving the remaining one (Muvattupuzha) to the Union Minister of State for Law, P. C. Thomas, whose party is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance. In a press release issued here today, the State president of the Janata Dal (United), K. Gopalan, said the neglect of other alliance partners by the BJP in its election strategy in Kerala was deplorable.

Stress on organic farming

The Agriculture Department has launched a scheme to promote organic farming in the State and market the produce inside and outside the country under the brand names `Kerala Organic' and `Kerala Naturals'. Stating this at a function here today, the Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gouri, said the State had received an assistance of Rs. 2.34 crores for this scheme from the Centre. She said vegetables and fruits produced without the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides were in good demand because of growing health concerns.

FACT: CM writes to Centre

The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, today urged the Union Ministry of Fertilizers and Chemicals to take the initiative in retaining the Udyogamandal-based industrial unit, the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. (FACT), in the public sector. The Union Government had earmarked the FACT, the biggest Central public sector company in Kerala, for disinvestment. As on March 2003, the company was having an outstanding liability of Rs. 497.2 crores, a bulk of which was for setting up an Ammonia plant. This debt had virtually made the operations of the company unviable in the recent times. Mr. Antony, in a letter to the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, proposed that this debt be converted into the Centre's equity in the company so that it could be relieved of the millstone around its neck. Earlier this week, the leaders of the `Save FACT Action Committee' had met the Chief Minister for his help in retaining the company in the public sector.

Sandal auction

Auction of sandalwood stored in the Marayur depot of the Forest Department today fetched a sum of Rs. 10 crores inclusive of levies. The quantity of sandalwood auctioned came to 75 tonnes, according to the Divisional Forest Officer of Munnar, Prakrithi Srivasthava. As many as 17 perfume manufacturers from places like Delhi, Mumbai, Kalkotta and Bangalore participated in the auction. The maximum price received for a tonne of sandalwood came to Rs. 17.02 lakhs. This is higher than the price fetched at the sandal auction conducted in Tamil Nadu recently, according to her.

Train rescheduled

Train number 5011 Thiruvananthapuram-Gorakhpur Rapthisagar Express, scheduled to leave at 4-45 a.m. from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station on February 1 has been rescheduled to leave at 1 p.m. on the same day due to the late running of the incoming pairing train, according to a Southern Railway press release.

Lawyers' Rights Day

KOCHI JAN. 31. The All India Lawyers' Union High Court Committee has demanded that the Clause 30 of the Advocate Act be implemented so that advocates can appear in all courts and tribunals on behalf of their clients. A meeting of the committee convened here today decided to observe February 12 as Advocates Rights Day and also to collect signatures of the entire advocate community in support of the charter of demands submitted to the Union Government as well as the State Government.

The committee also demanded that effective steps be taken to clear the pending cases in the High Court.

Move on foreign ships opposed

The Union Government's decision to permit foreign vessels for fishing in Indian coastal waters was against the norms laid down by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), according to Greenseas Centre for Fisheries Study & Manpower Development. A press release issued here today said the move would harm the fishing sector at a time when countries all over the world were working on ways to implement a Code of conduct for responsible fisheries. The Indian fishing boats should introduce additional equipment to catch Tuna fish in large quantities in order to thwart the plans of foreign vessels, the press release added.

Postal strike continues

KOZHIKODE JAN. 31. The postal strike called by various unions in Malabar region to protest against the alleged privatisation of the services disrupted postal services in the area as the strike entered the third day. Meanwhile, the Nadakkavu police today removed about 100 striking employees who staged a demonstration in front of the PMG office here.

The strike in the Kozhikode division entered the fifth day.

The PMG (Northern Range) has called for a meeting of all unions on February 3 to sort out the issue.