The Hindu : Kerala News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

PSC to conduct probe

Thiruvananthapuram Sept. 3. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has decided to conduct a detailed inquiry into the complaint that calculators were allowed to be used in the objective type OMR examination conducted by it on August 21 for the selection of Assistant Engineers in the Public Works and Water Resources Departments. The Commission, which met here today, took the decision after conducting a preliminary inquiry into the complaint. It had never allowed calculator to be used for the test and had informed the candidates about it 20 days in advance. The preliminary inquiry had failed to unearth any proof to substantiate the complaint. As part of the detailed probe, it asked candidates with complaints to meet the Controller of Examinations of the PSC and furnish the details and proof to him by September 10. Those who cannot appear in person should provide the details to the official in writing.

Advani to attend BJP `sibiram'

National leaders of the BJP, including L. K. Advani, J. Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Shourie, Sanjay Joshi and L. Ganesh, will attend the `sibiram' being organised by the State unit of the party at Perumbavoor, in Ernakulam district, on September 9 and 10, according to the party's State president, P. S. Sreedharan Pillai. At a press conference here today, Mr. Sreedharan Pillai said the `sibiram', in which all BJP functionaries at the State and district-level would participate, was to discuss the strategies to be adopted in the coming days to strengthen the party in the State. The BJP's growing influence in the State was evident in the recent Lok Sabha elections and the party was resolved to press this advantage home, he added.

Indo-U.K. collaboration

The Malabar Chamber of Commerce and the East Midlands Ethnic Food Forum (EMEFF) of the U.K. will sign an MoU for boosting bilateral trade and investment in the food-processing sector at a function to be held in the Taj Residency in Kozhikode on September 7. The agreement envisages exchange of information to enhance technology transfer opportunities for joint ventures, e-commerce-based trade opportunities and collaboration on projects. The MoU is the result of the joint initiative of the U.K. Trade and Investment of the British Deputy High Commission, Chennai and KINFRA.

Cut in export subsidy flayed

The Minister, K.M. Mani, has described as unscientific the slashing of the export subsidy on natural rubber from Rs. 3.50 to Rs. 1.75 per kg by the Centre. In a statement here today, he said that the decision which followed the lifting of port restrictions on the import of rubber would do much harm to the rubber growers. He stated that it was as part of the steps to increase the price of rubber that the subsidy was introduced. Some 75,000 tonnes of rubber was exported last year making use of the subsidy. This year, only 6,000 tonnes could be exported because of the delay in issuing the subsidy order. He felt that the export would pick up only if the old subsidy was restored. He urged the Centre not to take any decision that would push down the price of rubber, which had picked up after a long lean period. The CMP leader, G. Sugunan, also asked the Centre to withdraw the decision, which he dubbed as anti-farmer and against the interests of Kerala.

SBT sets up audit panel

The State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has set up an Ad hoc Committee on Procedures and Performance Audit on Customer Service at its head office level in Thiruvananthapuram. The committee is headed by the CGM of the bank, P.P. Pattanayak. The former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University, N. Purushothaman, is its non-official member. During its tenure of one year, the committee is expected to implement the recommendations of the Tarapore Committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on procedure and performance audit of public services extended by the banks to the common man. The prevailing practices and procedures will be reviewed and if required will be modified. It can also suggest rationalisations and modifications to existing RBI guidelines and instructions if found necessary.

C-DiT empanelled

The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DiT) has been selected to do multimedia productions for the Union Government's Science and Technology (S&T) Department. In a press release here today, C-DiT said it had been included in the panel of agencies to execute multimedia projects for the S&T Department through a national-level selection process. The C-DiT had done several multimedia productions, including the `Green Citadel' for the Forest Department, `75 years of Malayalam Cinema' for the Chalachithra Academy, IT Literacy CD for the Akshaya project and School IT Resource CD for the IT@School project. The New Media, Visual Communications and Educational Informatics teams of the C-DiT were spearheading the execution of such projects, the press release added.

Teachers' Day celebrations

KOZHIKODE SEPT. 3 . The State-level programmes in connection with this year's Teachers' Day Celebrations organised by the Education Department will be held at Town Hall here on September 5. The Director of Public Instruction, A. Ajithkumar, will hoist a flag to mark the beginning of the celebrations on the Town Hall premises here at 9 a.m. The awards for teachers in primary and secondary schools from the 14 districts, awards for the best Parent-Teacher Association and other awards will be distributed at 3 p.m. Mayor Thottathil Raveendran will preside. The State-level competitions for teachers who had won the district-level competitions will be held at the venue. The competitions will be inaugurated by playwright, K.T.Muhammed. The Kozhikode Corporation health standing committee chairman, M. Bhaskaran, will preside. The District Collector, Rachana Shah, district panchayat office-bearers, MPs and MLAs in the district are expected to attend the function.

Kathakali

PATHAAMTHITTA Sept. 3. A major Kathakali performance on Poothanamokshom, Duryodhanavadhom and Nalacharitham will be held at the Sree Vallabha temple in Thiruvalla tomorrow evening. The noted Kathakali singer, Sankaran Embranthiri, will sing the verses. The noted Kathakali artistes, Kottackal Sivaraman, Kottackal Chandrashekharan, Sadanam Krishnankutty and Kalanilayalam Unnikrishnan will perform, according to the temple authorities.

Camp

The St Gregorios Cardio-Vascular Centre attached to the St Gregorios Mission at Parumala near Thiruvalla will organise a free cardiac check-up camp at the hospital premises tomorrow. According to the hospital administrator, Alexander Koodarathil, the camp will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cardiologists, Johnson George, Madhu Paulose Chandy, Saji Philip, Rameswar, G.Sumitran and Shibu Johnson would lead the camp.

CPI(M) meet

The district meet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will be held at Kozhencherry from December 26 to 28, according to a statement issued by the party district committee here today.

Programme

An awareness programme on diabetes and geriatrics, jointly organised by the Omalloor grama panchayat, the Arya Bharathi High School (ABHS) and the St Mary's English Medium School, will be held at the ABHS Auditorium at Omalloor near here tomorrow afternoon. The noted diabetologist and geriatrician, Jyotydev Kesavadev, will deliver the keynote address. The local MLA, K. K. Nair, will inaugurate the programme.

Conference

KOLLAM Sept. 3. The Kollam district conference of the Kerala NGO Association will be held at Punalur on September 8 and 9. The district president of the association, P. Soman Pillai, will hoist the flag. The Congress leader, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, will formally inaugurate the conference on September 9.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala