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May 2002
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Onnaaman
Mohanlal, an ace performer, has done his best to satisfy his fans, but it is high time that he realises that such 'repetitive' roles could do more harm than good to his career. The others including N.F.Verghese as Salim Bhai, Remya Krishnan as Kamala, Biju Menon as Vishnu have nothing much to do, since they've been cast in stereotyped roles. Kavya Madhavan appeals as Suhra, Salim Bhai's daughter. The songs, penned by Gireesh Puthencherry and tuned by Thampy Kannamthaanam's favourite S.P.Venkatesh are below average, and not very memorable. Fiery dialogues, fights, dances, bloodshed... all those things that have been seen in the Mohanlal films of this genre - like 'Narasimham', 'Praja', 'Aaraam Thampuraan', 'Ravanaprabhu' and so on, are also there in 'Onnaaman'. Which is probably what makes the film a tad tiresome as it goes on. In fact, Mohanlal's lengthy dialogue during the climax, actually tries our patience. But, as well-wishers of the film fraternity, one hopes 'Onnaamun' becomes a hit... atleast to revive the industry's flagging morale. Storyline Ravishanker, a street-urchin comes under the patronage of Salim Bhai, a self-styled messiah of the masses and a don too. When Ravishankar grows up, he becomes an adviser to Salim Bhai. With the help of his gang of young friends, Ravishankar soon emerges as a leader of the poor and the oppressed. Naturally, the 'bad' guys led by Gulab Chand Sha, resent him and do everything possible to eliminate Ravishankar. How Ravishankar combats the 'evil' forces with the help of his friends, his ladylove, the district collector Kamala and the ACP Vishnu.S.Pillai form the rest of the story. (Source:hansazone)
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Mammootty as advocate in Fazil film
Mammootty was busy answering people. The war of words between the artists association and film chamber filled the press and Mammootty being the office bearer had to attend a lot of calls. He was there in Cochin to join Fazil's unit. The nature and details of his role in the film is not revealed much by the director. It has an element of suspense in it. He is acting as an advocate. He is known as Gopi Vakkil. Gopi Vakkil is instrumental in leading the story into several turns. He appears in the climax scenes also. Mammootty had earlier visited the location in Punnamada to spend a few moments with the new artists. They became more confident in the presence of the super star and became friendly within no time. He told Nikita that she could learn any language if she could master Malayalam. She could learn Malayalam. But Mammootty did not know that she had already learnt Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarathi, Marathi, and Telugu even before learning Malayalam! She has also acted in a Telugu film.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Nedungadi Bank, Lord Krishna Bank, Federal Bank and Catholic Syrian Bank probed in Rs 336-cr hawala case
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Reserve Bank of India has deputed a team to probe the Rs 336-crore suspected hawala case involving four scheduled banks headquartered in Kerala. The 5-member inspection team led by the Chief Inspecting Officer of the Department of Banking Supervision at the RBI Regional Office here left for Mumbai the other day. The team is led by a Chief Inspecting Officer. The others in the team are Inspecting Officers. The team was originally scheduled to leave on Wednesday. However, the trip was advanced following instructions from the RBI Central Office in Mumbai. Sources said that the team would look into the dealings of these banks in the Mumbai branches. The Central Office selected a team from the Regional Office here with a view to extend the investigations into the headquarters of these banks in Kerala in the second stage. The banks which carried out these transactions were Nedungadi Bank, Lord Krishna Bank, Federal Bank and Catholic Syrian Bank. It was earlier found that the entire amount was telegraphically transferred from Mumbai to the account of one Surendran in separate bank branches located in Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Palakkad and Coimbatore between October 1999 and July 2000. In most of the cases, the deposits, single remittances running over Rs 1 crore, were withdrawn on the same day or within three days. The Enforcement Directorate and other Central agencies are also looking into various aspects of the deal.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Minister’s talks with Bishop kick up a row
ALAPPUZHA: Tourism Minister K V Thomas’ visit to Alappuzha Bishop House along with government officials on Tuesday to discuss the development projects of the Government and the Minister’s declaration to assist in the development works of Alappuzha Diocese has kicked up a row, with SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappalli Natesan and Kerala Muslim Jama-at Council State secretary A Pookunju, who is also the IUML State working committee member, coming openly against the Minister. It was reportedly said the Minister had held discussions with Alappuzha Bishop Stephen Athipozhiyil on Wednesday on government projects. The Alappuzha Diocese had submitted a memorandum to the Minister and at a public meet, the Minister had declared that the Government would actively participate in the welfare projects of the diocese. Vellappalli said Thomas’ visit would create bad precedence. He opined that Keralites would lose faith in a Minister who indulges in such activities. The communal harmony, prevailing in the State, would be affected if other religious heads also demand such visits of government representatives for their cooperation before implementing projects. He said Thomas had also participated in a Latin Catholic bishops’ meet to prepare the guidelines for the implementation of welfare schemes of the community members. This does not befit a secular party leader. Pookunju said the council was against Ministers visiting religious heads. It was not right for a Minister to visit a religious head which could endanger religious harmony.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Corruption: CM warns ministers, coalition partners
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister A K Antony has warned his Cabinet colleagues, UDF partners and officials that there will be nobody to come to their rescue if they are found abetting corruption or accepting bribe. He was reacting to questions on the recent arrest of top officials including an RTO and a Fire Force director for accepting bribe. When his attention was brought to the reports that officials had been under pressure from Ministers and respective political parties to collect money for them, Antony said that none would be spared if found guilty. The Government was serious and determined to end corruption in the Government offices. There were reports that the RTO, who was arrested in Thrissur, had in his possession coupons of the Kerala Congress (B). Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar belongs to the Kerala Congress (B). Antony admitted that corruption was still rampant in some sectors of the Government service. The Government had issued strict instructions to its officials not to indulge in fund-raising for any political party. ‘‘If any official is caught on charge of raising funds, he cannot be saved by any political party. It does not matter whether it is a ruling or Opposition party.’’
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Usha School of Athletics dedicated to the nation
KOYILANDY: The new Government policy concerning private participation in the sports sector will help India emerge as a sports superpower by 2012, said Union Minister of Sports Uma Bharti, here on Wednesday. The Minister told the mediapersons that the Government has signed an MoU with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), as a first step towards the implementation of the policy. ``The involvement of the private sector would help the country scale new heights in sports. It would also help us improve our sports infrastructure in a big way,'' she said. Earlier, dedicating the Usha School of Athletics to the nation, Uma Bharti announced that the project would be a joint venture of the Government of India and the former track queen. ``This could be considered as the beginning of a new era in Indian sports,'' she said, adding that the Government has also decided to launch more sports academies as joint ventures of the public and private sectors, in all the States. ``The funds for this scheme have already been allocated in the 10th Plan,'' the minister observed. Uma Bharthi said the Usha school would be first such institution to have Government backing, as part of the new sports policy. ``Any sports academy launched by private individuals or groups with a minimum of 51 per cent share, will be eligible for Government support. The only criteria would be the genuine sports interest of the people behind the project.'' OLYMPICS BID: The Minister said the Government decision to make a bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, was not just another `Uma's fancy' as was sarcastically commented by a section of the media. ``We are quite serious about the idea. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had also given the green signal to go ahead with the proposal.'' She said the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been asked to prepare a draft for the bidding to be placed before the Union Cabinet. ``I'm sure India can host the event with the cooperation of the Centre, State and private sector. The Games would not cause any additional economic burden to the Government. It will be a self-financed Olympics.'' Uma Bharti recalled that ten years ago, nobody had expected China to bid for the Olympics 2008. Sunil Dutt MP, inaugurating the school's physical fitness centre installed by the Rotary Club, said that the Government should attach greater significance to its health and sports policies. Earlier P T Usha spoke about the objectives of the school. A K Premajam M P presided. Evegeny Vladimirov, former coach of chess legend Garry Kasparov, Abdussamad Samadani MP, A C Shanmughadas MLA, T P Ramakrishnan MLA, M K Nalini, district panchayat president, Mohana Chandaran, president of Kerala Sports Council, P V Gangadharan, V Muraleedharan, P T Ummer Koya, Kaithapram, K A Kuriyachan and O M Nambiar `crowned' the twelve trainees of the school's first batch. Olympians and international athletes Suresh Babu, Rosa Kutty, Padmini Selvan and Kumari Shibulal of Akshaya Bangalore also were present.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
'Sathakodi Archana' concludes
The 60-day-long 'Sathakodi Archana Maha Yajnam,' the first of its kind to be performed in any temple in Kerala, ended at Malayalapuzha Devi Temple in Pathanamthitta district on Wednesday afternoon. The Archana, which began on March 31, came to a close with `Brahma Kalasa abhishekam' at 3 pm. The preparatory ceremonies of the Kalasa abhishekam started early in the morning with Ashtadravya Mahaganapathi homam conducted at the Yagna Mandapam around 6 am. This was followed by recital of Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas. When the potent 'Bhadrakalee Sahsranamam' was chanted hundred crore times by 1,000 Brahmins drawn from various parts of the State, ''abhishekam'' was performed to the idol of the Devi from the 'Brahmakalasam.' About 48,000 kg of flowers brought from Tamil Nadu was used for the 'Archana.' The 'Brahma Kalasam' and eight 'Parikalasams' were taken in a procession accompanied by 'Panchavadyam' and other temple paraphernalia into the sanctum sanctorum after completing the circumambulation of the Temple thrice. At the auspicious time coinciding with the 'Uchapooja,' Tantri Adimuttathumatom Sukumara Bhattathiripad performed the 'Maha Kalsabhishekam.' Thousands of devotees attended the closing ceremony. Travancore Devaswom Board officials including Board president D Babu were also present.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Sudhakaran to visit Pooyamkutty
The State Forest Minister K.Sudhakaran will be visiting Pooyamkutty forest belt on June 2nd for an on-the-spot assessment on fresh encroachments reported in the area. Announcing this at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, the minister has also invited media persons involved in reporting about this and also any other persons who are aware or who have genuine information about encroachments to accompany him during the visit. The minister had earlier visited Pooyamkutty once and denied reports that encroachment have taken place in the area. But, later the Opposition leader and some media persons visited the area and reported massive encroachments. Sudhakaran said that he decided to take up the trip once again since he would not like to discard the statements of Opposition leader and the media.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Tense situation at Kattakada
A tense situation prevailed in Kattakada for sometime on Wednesday afternoon when scores of CPI (M) workers marched to the local police station demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Manikantan Nair (42) who was allegedly tortured in police custody on Sunday. Manikantan, who was arrested in connection with a drunken brawl by the Kattakada police on Sunday, had developed chest-pain at his residence on Tuesday. After preliminary care at a local clinic, he was rushed to the Medical College Hospital where he died at around 12-30 p.m. Local residents and CPI (M) workers have accused the Kattakada police of torturing Manikantan in police custody on Sunday and believe that the third degree treatment had resulted in his death on Tuesday. However, senior police officials have termed the allegation as false and baseless. When contacted, the SP (Rural), G. Lekshman, said that Manikantan was arrested along with one Suni and Rajan, both BJP workers, on Sunday afternoon following a drunken brawl at the funeral of two persons who had committed suicide. They were brought to the police station at around 4-30 p.m. All were let off on bail by around 8-30 p.m. Mr. Lekshman said that Manikantan had taken a stiff beating from the BJP workers before the police arrived on the scene. He said Manikantan was never harassed at the police station or subjected to third degree treatment as alleged by local residents. Meanwhile, local police officials said that the preliminary inference of the forensic experts at the Medical College was that Manikantan had died of a massive heart attack. However, the police were waiting for the detailed post-mortem report before giving a concrete statement on the cause of Manikantan's death. The body of Manikantan was cremated at his residence in the presence of a huge crowd. The Leader of the Opposition, V.S.Achuthanandan, visited the house of the deceased.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Security tightened at Kochi naval base
Southern naval command has tightened security around the naval base in Kochi, outlying naval establishments and warships berthed at naval jetties in view of the tense situation along the Indo-Pak border. Armed sentries have been posted with instructions to fire at anyone who tries to gain unauthorised entry into the naval base, a navy press release said. The waterfront security has also been enhanced and all craft and boats approaching naval ships within 50 metres are liable to be fired upon, the release said.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Adivasis to intensify stir
The Adivasi Kshema Samithi, (AKS) which is spearheading an agitation demanding allocation of land to landless tribals, would intensify its stir from Friday onwards. As part of the plan, the Adivasis would block roads at 30 centres in Wayanad district on May 31. in other parts of the state, dharnas will be held to express solidarity with the striking Adivasis. The AKS has accused the UDF government of cheating Adivasis after giving them ?tall promises? and also accuse the jail authorities in the state of ill treating Adivasis who are lodged in jail following the agitation. According to the AKS office-bearers, 1,076 Adivasis, 899 of them women, are now behind the bars. Significantly, the AKS is agitation has no coordination with the agitation led by CK Janu and is viewed as part of an attempt by mainstream political parties to wrest the initiative from her in matters related to Adivasi development.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Monsoon sets in
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MAY 29 .The onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala was formally declared by the Met office here today, with heavy to very heavy rainfall being recorded in the southern districts of the State and Kochi. The Met Director, V.K. Gangadharan, said the onset this year was two days earlier than the normal date of June 1. Last year, it was May 23, a full week ahead of the June 1 schedule.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Lal
Tall, bearded and rough - not at all hero material! That's what Lal may seem at the outset. But he is currently one of the busiest stars of Malayalam cinema. Lal, hailing from Ernakulam began as a mimicry artist, performing along with his friend Siddique. Together, Siddique and Lal worked as scenarists and associates to noted filmmaker Fazil. Then they took to direction with 'Ramji Rao Speaking', a trend-setting comedy and the duo later came up with big hits like In Harihar Nagar, God Father, Vietnam Colony etc (They don't direct together at present. Siddique directs films and Lal acts). Lal took to acting with Jayaraj's Kaliyattom and won praise and appreciation. Then came films like Ormacheppu, Kanmadam, Punjabi House, Arayannangalude Veedu, Chandranudikkunna Dikkil, Mazha, Randaam Bhaavam, Thenkaasipattanam, Unnathangalil, One-Man Show etc. Recently, he gave an impressive performance as Maanikyan in Jayaraj's Kannagi, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. He is also doing the lead role in Bharath Gopi's new film Ente Hrudayaththinte Udama, which is likely to win him accolades. Lal has also established himself as a producer and distributor. Here's Lal, in a quick chat with Hansazone... Q: How did you become an actor? A: Jayaraj had asked me to do a role in his 'Johny Walker'. But since I was not interested in acting then, I somehow evaded it. But when he made Kaliyattom, he insisted that I do the role of Paniyan, based on Shakespeare's Iago. His insistence and a lot of pressure from my friends made me take up the role. Q: How did you feel while doing your first character on screen? A: I was not very confident. After doing the film, I even said in some interviews, that I wouldn't act in even a single film after that. I felt that I was not a good actor. But later, when I saw and assessed my own performance, I was wonderstruck. I gained a lot of confidence and thus I continued as an actor. Q: You're a good dancer too, on-screen. Where did you learn it? A: I never learnt dancing. I have a sense of rhythm and music in me. Combined with this, I have the capability to imitate anything, especially since I am a mimicry artist. All this, with able guidance from well-experienced dance masters, projects me as a dancer on screen. Q: Acting or directing - which do you prefer most? A: I prefer acting to directing. Not that I don't like directing. It has its own charm and attraction. But acting satisfies me more that directing. That's all. Q: Of your many characters on screen, which is your favourite? A: A rather difficult question indeed! For me, all my characters have their own importance and appeal. (Muses a moment) Yes, I love my character in Thenkaasipattanam a lot. I liked, or rather loved, doing it. Q: Any plans to direct a film soon? A: Again a difficult question! To be frank, I don't know the answer. All I can say is this - if it happens, it happens. Otherwise, no. Let's wait and see. Q: About Siddique and you, what's wrong between you two? A: Nothing at all. We are still close friends. It's just that due to some very personal reasons, we don't direct films together. Q: So, won't you direct any film together in the future? A: Can't say. Who's seen the future?
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Mammootty stars as military officer in 'Karmegham'
Mammootty in Karmegham... directed by S P Rajkumar. The film is about a military officer who returns to his village after ten years, to find his sister mentally deranged, her lover missing and the village antagonistic. How the officer saves the nation by making supreme sacrifices, is the story. Abirami plays Mammootty's ladylove. Priyadarshini is the sister and new-find Subash, her lover. Cinematography is by Ramnath Shetty and the film has Manorama, Radharavi, Vadivelu, Vinu Chakarvarthy, Vijay, Ilavarasu, C R Saraswathi and Jeeva in the cast. Music is by Vidyasagar.The film is produced by Rajambal, Subadra and Subramani under the banner of S S R
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Art-direction for Kerala's transport ministry!
Looks like promotional campaigns are in, even in in Kerala's Transport Corporation. Ever since actor Ganesan took charge as the transport minister of Kerala, the emphasis on re-vamping the fleet of buses is on. Naturally, Ganesan has turned to National Award winning art director Saboo Cyril to lend his aesthetic touch to the vehicles. After Saboo worked his magic with a dash of green and yellow, the Kerala transport fleet (with buses bought at Rs.4 lakh) looks like those sensational luxury airbuses plying the highways of the US. Now, Saboo is all set to transform the Ernakulam bus station too. Guess we'll soon see a replica of the bus station in Spain or US, right here in Ernakulam. After which, will Ganesan rope in Sarika to change the uniforms, Mohanlal for a promotional ad or woo the crowds with huge hoardings? Remains to be seen what this 'image building' exercise will do for the ministry and for the transport industry's coffers!
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Kiran Tandon enters Malayalam cinema
She played the Marwadi girl in 'Gemini'. Now, she's all set to play Mohanlal's heroine in his latest film 'Thaandavam'. Kiran is the cousin of Raveena Tandon. She made her foray in the Tamil industry with the big budget 'Gemini'. She was into modeling before she decided to enter filmdom. She says that she had been receiving many a Hindi film offers, but she wanted to stick to modeling instead. But that didn't keep her from accompanying her famous cousin to all her shooting spots. Soon, she ended up appearing in a film or two. That was when AVM happened. Her friends from the modeling field were the greatest motivators for her, she says. But, the offers that she had got weren't good enough. It was around this time that Raveena's manager had brought the AVM offer to Kiran. First , she hesitated if she should accept the role because she didn't know the language. It was only when director Charan assured her that she accepted the role. She doesn't mind doing sexy roles but her love is for glamorous ones. BIO-DATA Real Name: Kiran Tandon Petname- Tandoori Place of birth- Mumbai Height and weight- 6', 72 Kgs (Whew) Role model- Her cousin Raveena Tadon Favorite actor- Hritik Roshan Fav Actress- Meenakshi Sheshadri Boyfriend? - Secret. Interest- Books Now that you've reached Cinema, how do you feel? Nothing unusual. Why didn't you participate in the MS India contests? Maybe because I wasn't that good looking. How did your interest in modeling come about? My desire to shine as a model. Some say that you are headstrong. Only some do, right? Better leave them alone. Will you act in sex films? NO. What would you do if you run into the man of your dreams? Marry him, of course.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
BJP march turns violent; 7 cops injured
KANNUR: Several persons including seven policemen were injured when a jail march organised by the BJP ended up in stone-throwing at the central jail premises here on Monday. Among the policemen injured in stone-throwing were Valapattanam Circle Inspector Padmanabhan, Armed Reserve Sub-Inspector Rajendran and head constable Bhaskaran. The Circle Inspector whose forehead was injured had to be admitted to the district hospital here while the others were treated as out-patients. The BJP had organised a march to the central jail on Monday demanding jobs for the jobless. The trouble started after the march was formally inaugurated by BJP district president O K Vasu. A section of the BJP men tried to enter the restricted area near the main entrance to the jail even as the police forced them to retreat. One of the BJP workers sustained injuries and this resulted in some of the marchers pelting stones at the police. Efforts by the leaders of the march to pacify the party workers proved futile and the traffic was blocked for a couple of hours following the incident. The police later took into custody several BJP workers in connection with the incident.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Kerala to ban use of anti-biotics in aquaculture
KOCHI: The Kerala Government proposes to ban use of anti-biotics in aquaculture to ensure quality and food safety, State Fisheries Minister K V Thomas said on Monday. Addressing a three-day National symposium on 'Seafood Safety-Status and Strategies' here, he said a legislation in this regard was under consideration. Laws banning use of drugs in aquaculture was in vogue in states like Andhra Pradesh, he pointed out. He said the European Union (EU) countries were particular about seafood safety and if anti-biotics residue was found in seafood it might lead to rejection of consignments. Prof Thomas said seafood processing plants in the state would be modernised with central assistance to meet stringent quality tests by EU countries. Steps would also be taken to ensure hygiene at fishlanding centres. He called upon the fish processing industry to cooperate with the government by modernising prawn peeling sheds. Inaugurating the symposium, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) chairman Jose Cyriac said India had been able to maintain its seafood export target despite stringent quality tests by importing countries like the European Union, Japan, US and China. It exported four lakh tonnes of seafood valued at Rs 6,000 crore during 2001-2002. Speakers at the symposium, organised by the Society of Fisheries Technologists (India), stressed the need for prescribing standards for seafoods marketed within the country. No testing labs existed for that purpose and bulk of the 5.5 million tonnes of catches were being sold in the domestic market without any quality test. Fisheries scientists from different institutions spread over the country are attending the symposium, organised in association with the Kochi-based Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT).
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Rajagiri ties up with WMU
KOCHI: The Rajagiri International School of Science and Technology has joined hands with Western Michigan University (WMU) to introduce a twinning programme for engineering disciplines, in addition to the existing programme for MBA. According to an agreement signed last week, students will be admitted to four-year bachelors degree courses in various branches of engineering. Of this, two academic years will be in the extensive Rajagiri Kakanad campus and the rest in WMU’s sprawling campus in Kalamazoo Michigan, USA. ‘‘The WMU already has affiliations with colleges in Bangalore and Chennai. The agreement will help us make available all opportunities enjoyed by students in these cities to our students,’’ pointed out Fr Jose Alex Oruthayappally, managing director of Rajgiri Vidyapeedh, Kakanad. Admissions to these 2+2 courses in Computer Science and Electrical branches of engineering have begun. An additional enterprise taken up by Rajagiri is in the field of IT education. In collaboration with ‘Promethe’ the training division of Sofker Solutions Pvt Ltd, Rajagiri is shortly starting various short-term and long-term IT courses. Sofker solutions is primarily engaged in software development but also conducts parallel programmes for training in IT. ‘‘Our aim is not only to give our students an education in software but also impart knowledge in the fields of life,’’ said Jacob Mamplasherry, the MD of Sofker Solutions.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Aluva massacre: CBI begins probe
ALUVA: Beginning the investigation into the sensational Aluva massacre, a CBI team today inspected the house, in which six members of a family were found murdered last year. Manjooran Augustin, wife Baby, children Jessmon and Divya, mother Clara and sister Kochurani were klled in their house, on January 6, 2001. The special investigation team of local police had found one Antony behind the massacre. Crime Branch, which further investigated into the case, confirmed the findings of local police. Later, Kerala High Court ordered the CBI to probe into the case. CBI personnel, led by superintendent G Venkitaraman (Chennai), reached the late Augustine’s house on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Dileep returns to carry the show forward
KOCHI: The face- off between Malayalam cine actor Dileep and the film producers in the state is heading for a truce. After consulting the senior actors in the filmdom, including Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu and Innocent among others, Dileep on his arrival from Germany on Tuesday said that the ‘‘problem’’ will be amicably settled and that he did not mean to offend anyone. It was his absence that caused the issue to snowball into a serious problem, he said referring to the arrest of film producer Dinesh Panicker on a complaint filed by him on a bounced cheque. Even recently he had shared the same table with Dinesh Panicker on the sets of the movie ‘Meesha Madhavan’, but it was his intransigent attitude regarding payment that led to this debacle, the actor said claiming that he had many more cheques from producers that were overdue. Claiming that Panicker was not in any financial trouble as he had made movies later, Dileep said that if he had meant to offend all producers he could have filed suits against others also. How can a case which was only a personal matter be interpreted as a move against the producers? he asked. Likewise, he had no conflict with actor Mohanlal as reported by the media, as he had played an important role in making him an actor. Reacting to the reported decision of the organisations of film producers, distributors and cine exhibitors to ban him from films for two years, Dileep said it was for the cinegoers to decide whether he should be banished from the screen. Earlier in the morning, Dileep who returned from his European tour following the controversy was given a rousing welcome by his fans at the Kochi International Airport in Nedumbassery. He was presented with garlands when he arrived along with other cine actors Kalabhavan Mani, Kavya Madhavan, Nadirsha and scriptwriter-director Lohithadas.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Dileep returns to carry the show forward
KOCHI: The face- off between Malayalam cine actor Dileep and the film producers in the state is heading for a truce. After consulting the senior actors in the filmdom, including Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu and Innocent among others, Dileep on his arrival from Germany on Tuesday said that the ‘‘problem’’ will be amicably settled and that he did not mean to offend anyone. It was his absence that caused the issue to snowball into a serious problem, he said referring to the arrest of film producer Dinesh Panicker on a complaint filed by him on a bounced cheque. Even recently he had shared the same table with Dinesh Panicker on the sets of the movie ‘Meesha Madhavan’, but it was his intransigent attitude regarding payment that led to this debacle, the actor said claiming that he had many more cheques from producers that were overdue. Claiming that Panicker was not in any financial trouble as he had made movies later, Dileep said that if he had meant to offend all producers he could have filed suits against others also. How can a case which was only a personal matter be interpreted as a move against the producers? he asked. Likewise, he had no conflict with actor Mohanlal as reported by the media, as he had played an important role in making him an actor. Reacting to the reported decision of the organisations of film producers, distributors and cine exhibitors to ban him from films for two years, Dileep said it was for the cinegoers to decide whether he should be banished from the screen. Earlier in the morning, Dileep who returned from his European tour following the controversy was given a rousing welcome by his fans at the Kochi International Airport in Nedumbassery. He was presented with garlands when he arrived along with other cine actors Kalabhavan Mani, Kavya Madhavan, Nadirsha and scriptwriter-director Lohithadas.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Stringent restrictions on merchant navy ships
KOCHI: The Indian Navy has decided to impose stringent restrictions on merchant navy vessels against the backdrop of thickening war clouds. A security drill has been evolved and it will be activated soon. Sources told this newspapers websites that all Indian-registered merchant navy ships have been asked to intimate their position to harbour master, Mumbai. It has also been decided to initiate examination anchorage procedures immediately. By initiating examination anchorage or examination services procedure, the Navy will now stop all merchant navy vessels at a stipulated point outside the port limits. A boarding party will board the vessel and search it for any contraband. ‘‘The search team will also be given fire support from shore should they face some resistance from the ship. In Kochi, INS Dronacharya will be on standby to give cover fire,’’ sources said. The move comes in the wake of fresh intelligence inputs warning of possible suicide attack using ships on major ports. ‘‘One needn’t hit the port. Any block created at the sea mouth will affect our traffic. So the decision to stop all vessels outside port limits,’’ sources pointed out. Similarly, the night movement of merchant vessels may also be regulated. Unconfirmed reports said the exercise has already begun in Mumbai. Enquiries made with the Cochin Port Trust revealed that no such orders have reached here. Port sources, however, confirmed that the Navy has been given the go-ahead to carry out examination services. Meanwhile, security has been further tightened at the Southern Naval command here. The blanket around all outlying naval establishments, ships and jetties has also been thickened. Armed sentries have been stationed at vantage points with fully-loaded weapons. Orders to shoot anyone trying to gain unlawful entry to the base have also been issued, sources said. The waterfront security has also been enhanced and all crafts and boats approaching naval ships to less than 50 metres are liable to be fired upon.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
'Three squads were ready to strike at three bus stops during load-shedding'
Clues point to CPM role in Uthaman murder KANNUR: The gruesome killing of RSS activist Uthaman at Keezhur last Wednesday was a pre-planned operation carried out with the full blessing of the CPM leadership while the bomb attack at Eyyambole in Thillankeri panchayat on the following day in which two persons including a 65-year-old woman was killed was part of a defensive move by the CPM. The police team probing into the case has got certain vital clues, that might expose the role of the CPM leadership in the murder of Uthaman, a bus driver who was hacked to death by a mob at Keezhur on May 22. According to information received by the probing team, Uthaman was done to death by the same 'hit squad' that had killed Vikramchalil Sasi, one of the accused in the E P Jayarajan murder attempt case. The probing team has information that three squads, who were assigned to kill Uthaman, waited at three bus stops _ at Chavassery, Uliyil and Kezhur _ on the same night. As per the plan, one of the squads was to strike at the time of load-shedding. The first two squads failed because of the delay in load-shedding, but the mission was successfully carried out by the third and final squad, waiting at Keezhur. What makes the police suspect that the killers of Vikramchalil Sasi were involved in the murder of Uthaman is that all the seven accused in the Sasi murder case were on parole when Uthaman was killed. Uthaman, driver of a private bus operating between Kozhikode and Kootupuzha near Iritty in Kannur, figured in the CPM hit list following the killing of CPM activist Jayaseelan of Veliyambra one and a half years ago. Uthaman was the prime accused in the Jayaseelan murder case. It may be recalled that Uthaman was killed a few hours after leaders of the CPM and Sangh Parivar had agreed at the monthly all-party peace review meeting to maintain peace in the district at any cost. Ammu Amma, 65, aunt of Uthaman and Shihab, 21, driver of the jeep in which she was returning along with some local BJP leaders from Thillankeri after attending the funeral of Uthaman, were killed in a bomb explosion at Eyyambode in Thillankeri panchayat near Mattanur. According to the police, this operation was carried out by CPM activists who were keen to counter a suspected attack on the nearby CPM branch office. "The CPM mob was checking every BJP-RSS vehicle as they feared that the party branch office would be attacked in retaliation to the killing of Uthaman. They threw country bombs on the jeep when the driver refused to stop," said a police official, adding that the CPM bid to protect their branch office could not in any way justify the killings of two innocent people. RSS' RESPONSE: Even as the Sangh Parivar State leadership is hell bent on honouring the truce declared between them and the CPM, a group of RSS workers in the district is getting ready to avenge the killings of Uthaman and the two others, it is reported. "Our leaders are trying to make political mileage out of these killings. But our workers want to avenge the killings," a local RSS leader told this paper. "We do not rule out the possibility of an immediate retaliation. But we are very careful to avert further killings," said District Superintendent of Police, Manoj Abraham when asked about the RSS threat. RSS District Karyavahak Suresh Babu said that the leadership was very keen to avert further bloodshed in the Thillankeri region even though it had no doubt about the role of the CPM leadership in the recent killings. "The CPM has a double standard. But we, at least, want to prove that we are not like them," he added.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Murali flays farmers’ outfits
KOTTAYAM: KPCC president K Muraleedharan, MP, on Monday lambasted certain farmers’ organisations for attacking the UDF Government, and at the same time, turning a blind eye towards the Centre’s ‘‘anti-farmer policies.’’ Muraleedharan, who completed the district leg of the Navachetana Yatra, led by him, warned that farmers’ organisation would not be allowed to take law into their hands. It was unfair for any outfit to evaluate the UDF Government and the Centre with the same yardstick. Because, the former has always been sympathetic to farmers’ woes, while the latter has proved its anti-farmer approach via its various policies, he said. He maintained that steps taken by the Government on the Mathikettan encroachment had the nod of all members of the UDF and there was no move to isolate Revenue Minister K M Mani on this issue. To a query, he said the Government’s policy matters are being ratified after discussions in the UDF Liaison Committee. Even in the case of the Chief Minister’s portfolios, that procedure is followed. The KPCC president made a dig at Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai, without naming him, while referring to the recent referendum in the KSRTC. He said the recognition of the TDF in the referendum had, in fact, overturned the plans of certain quarters to hand over the corporation’s trade union sector to the CITU. On Kerala Congress (B) keeping away from the UDF meetings, Murali said that party should think whether such an approach would have been possible if it were in the LDF fold.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
I have done nothing wrong: Dileep
KOCHI: Popular Malayalam and Tamil film actor Dileep, who is at the centre of a storm for filing a case against a producer for a bounced cheque, on Tuesday said he had done nothing wrong and had no regrets for having taken the producer to court. Dileep, who arrived at Nedumbassery airport here after some stage shows in Europe, told reporters that the case was in court since the last three years and the court will decide the outcome. On his future course of action, Dileep did not spell out anything except that the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) would decide. The actor said he would be consulting senior actors Mammooty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Innocent before deciding his next course of action. "I had only asked for my remuneration for acting in the film Udyapuram Sultan. I do not feel that what I have done is wrong," he added. Hundreds of fans of the actor had gathered at the airport to receive him.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Malayalam film industry dithering amid polarisation
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Malayalam film industry, which is already divided on the move by the producers to ban film stars from acting on the teleserials, seems to be dithering amid one more controversy kicked up by their reported decision to boycott actor Dileep for filing a cheque bouncing case against a prominent producer. The cold war between the film producers, who were badly hit by the success of TV productions and the actors, became more pronounced a few days ago when producer Dinesh Panicker was arrested by the police on a complaint filed on behalf of actor Dileep by his brother that two cheques given by the producer for a total amount of Rs 1.9 lakh had bounced. The cheque case had affected the already worsening relationship between the two predominant sections of the film industry and what followed next was a flurry of open statements by both the sides criticising each other. The arrest of Panicker was not taken lightly by the film producers whose organisations -- the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, the Film Producers Association and the Cine Distributors and Exhibitors Association -- gave a sharp and quick retaliation to Dileep for his "hasty action" by reportedly resolving to boycott him for two years if he failed to tender an apology and pay a fine of Rs 20 lakh. But the film actors, who were already frustrated by the move of the film chamber to ban them from acting on TV serials and other productions, came to the rescue of Dileep and minced no words to condemn what they described as the attempt by the chamber to silence the actors and curtail their personal and creative freedom. The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) president came out strongly in defence of Dileep. While leading producer Joy Thomas asserted that the film chamber would be steadfast in its decision to boycott Dileep, Kerala Theatres Association President S Chandran described the cheque case as 'inhuman' and said, "If actors start doing this, 80 per cent of the producers will have to languish in jails." Expressing solidarity with Dileep, who married versatile and popular Malayalam actress Manju Warrier three years ago, actor Rajan P Dev reacted sharply against the boycott move and said "it is nothing but sheer rowdyism. Please don't threaten us. Only the people can reject an actor." Superstar of yesteryears, Madhu, patted Dileep on the back for his "courageous action," and pointed out that he had a big album of bounced cheques given by producers. Superstar Suresh Gopi said all the actors and actresses would stand solidly behind the AMMA president. "If I were in the place of innocent, I would have reacted more strongly. The move against Dileep is absurd." Kerala Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar, who was a busy actor in films and the small screen till he became a member of the A K Antony cabinet, questioned the wisdom of the decisions of the producers organisations. He wondered if any organisation enjoyed the right to impose restrictions on any individual. "The boycott decision is nothing but an infringement on the fundamental right of an individual to work. I have heard of ban on smoking and ban on arrack. It is for the first time that I am hearing about a ban on an individual." Leading comedian and character actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan sought an apology from Dinesh Panicker for presenting the cheque that bounced, putting Dileep into hardship. Actresses Nityadas and Vani Viswanath also justified the action of Dileep, and suggested that remuneration to artistes should be given in cash. What is feared generally is that the division in the film industry would further aggravate the crisis in Malayalam cinema. The Malayalam film industry is in the midst of the worst ever crisis now with just four films hitting the box office last year. What sends an alarming signal is the fact that 25 per cent of the 1,600 theatres in the state h already been converted into marriage halls. Statistics show that at least 25 per cent of the theatres are on the brink of closure. In this context, the meeting of the Film Chamber of Commerce and other organisations of the producers and the AMMA on May 30 is very crucial to decide the fate of the already sagging Malayalam film industry. Meanwhile, a Kochi report said Malayalam cine actor Dileep returned from a European tour to a tumultous welcome by his fans at the Kochi International Airport in Nedumbassery on Tuesday. A large number of his admirers were present at the airport with garlands when he arrived along with other cine actors Kalabhavan Mani and Nadirsha and scriptwriter-director Lohithadas. Talking to mediapersons at the airport, Dileep said he had nothing against Dinesh Panicker. Reacting to the reported decision of the organisations of film producers, distributors and cine exhibitors to ban him from films for two years, Dileep said it was for the cinegoers to decide whether he should be banished from the silver screen.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Rajagopal calls for action against encroachments
KOTTAYAM: Union Minister of State for Railways O Rajagopal has said the Centre welcomes the steps taken by the Kerala Government to check encroachments in the forest areas of the State, but felt that more concrete action is needed. The Centre is inclined to even make use of satellite data to effectively monitor encroachments. He told reporters here on Monday the Centre had taken a very serious view of the consistent encroachments in the State. The Centre’s demand for a detailed report from the State on encroachments should be viewed in this context. The minister said a lot was being heard about encroachments, eviction and resettlement in Mathikettanmala. ‘‘Action should be taken against all encroachers,’’ he said. On the allegations of communal slant to the encroachment issue as well as the threat by organisations like Infam to take up the Mathikettan evictees’ cause, Rajagopal reserved his comments. He said the nation’s President will be elected through consensus and that the NDA or the BJP had not taken a decision on the nominee and discussions were open. Among the names floated now are noted scientist Bharat Ratnam Abdul Kalam, Vice-President Krishan Kant, eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani and Dr Karan Singh. Rajagopal said personally he favoured Abdul Kalam, whose name was first circulated by the Samajwadi Party. ‘‘The candidature of Kalam, who hails from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, will do the North-South balancing act,’’ he said. On the opposition to the proposed Erumeli rail line, Rajagopal said deviation in the line could also be looked into. Further projects on doubling of existing lines essentially depends on finance. If the Kerala is willing for cost-sharing to a minimum of 50 percent as many other states do, more railway development work could be taken up.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Spats between Malayalam actors and producers over payments
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Actors and producers in the Malayalam film industry seem headed for a showdown after an upcoming star got a filmmaker arrested for not paying his dues. The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes and the Film Chamber, a body of producers, distributors and exhibitors, have locked horns after Dileep had producer Dinesh Panicker put behind bars last week. Dileep had approached a court seeking immediate action against Panicker on a cheque dishonour case. The producer was arrested from his house in the State capital and taken to the court at Alwaye, 200 km away, where he was remanded in custody. Panicker reportedly owes Dileep Rs 190,000 for acting in a film three years ago. The Film Chamber met at Kottayam Sunday evening and decided to ban Dileep for two years and impose a penalty of Rs 2 million on him. The chamber is worried as the floundering industry has many filmmakers who owe stars big sums. "Close to Rs 10 million worth cheques are with various artistes, but none of them ever did what Dileep did. This is in bad taste," said an angry producer. Another producer said the some members of the chamber favoured using new faces in their future ventures to teach the top actors a lesson. The actors' association also met Sunday under its president, Innocent. Superstars Mammooty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi attended the Thiruvananthapuram meeting, which decided to back Dileep. "We would ensure that Dileep gets justice," said Innocent. Top producer G. Suresh Kumar rued the controversy. "I sincerely hope that better sense prevails among all. If the situation worsens, the entire industry would be affected," Suresh told . The Malayalam film industry, which used to churn out 160 films annually at one time, managed to release just about 80 last year. And Kerala, which used to have the highest number of movie theatres in proportion to the population, has seen their number fall from 1,400 to around 900 over the last five years.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
From academics to dating, Kerala varsity website has it all
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The newly hosted Kerala University website not only deals with academic matters but also provides links to two popular dating websites from its opening page. The University had notified new on-line courses in association with the C-Dit. C-Dit had developed the university site and still maintains it. Though the downloadable application forms for the new on-line courses has been opening in a mutilated format, the links from ‘www.keralauniversity.com’ to dating sites are working extremely well. The chat facility was attached to the website by customising ‘para chat’, a foreign chat programme. The links from the university chat room go to ‘americansingles.com’ and ‘friends finder.com’. While the americansingles.com introduce itself as the only site which is ‘dedicated exclusively to serving the needs of REAL singles looking for REAL relationships’, the other site say that ‘our free Cupid service will automatically notify you by e-mail when that ideal person you look for becomes a member’. The university ‘chat’ also provides affiliate programmes through which people can earn dollars by affiliating their websites with americansingles.com.
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Kerala govt is to legislate on eco-tourism
KOCHI: The Kerala Government proposes to bring in a legislation for conservation and preservation of the State's natural resources and heritage properties, Tourism and Fisheries Minister K V Thomas said on Monday. A Bill in this regard would be presented in the next session of the State Assembly, he said inaugurating a two-day conference on "Ecotour Kerala-2002", organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (Kerala Chapter). Prof Thomas said several spots had been identified for the promotion of eco-tourism and the projects would be taken up one by one. Thenmala in Kollam and Thattekkad in Ernakulam districts were among the spots identified for promotion of eco-tourism. He said of the 12 Government guest houses, nine would be leased out to the private sector for their proper running. The deal would be cent per cent transparent giving no room for complaint from any quarters.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Actor Dileep returns today amidst controversy
Even as the row continues between the Malayalam film artists and producers continue over the latter's ban on actor Dileep from working in the film industry for two years, the actor who is in the eye of the storm will return to Kochi today after cutting short his German tour. Dileep who has been in regular touch with the Film artists Association, AMMA, has been instructed by the organisation not to make any public statement on his arrival in Nedumbassery airport today. As reported earlier,' reconciliatory efforts under the aegis of MACTA, a film technicians' association is already on to solve the crisis. Meanwhile, mixed responses are emanating from the film industry regarding the ban by the Film Chamber on Dileep, with strong sections arguing for and against the ban. Those who oppose the ban believe that the Chamber decision was immature. It will badly affect Malayalam cinema if an actor, most of whose films were hits in recent times, is banned, they feel. Even some producers are themselves questioning the possibilities of the ban and feel that it will cause heavy losses, as Dileep is one star who delivers one hit after another with ease. Most of these producers have bought his dates in advance. And some have even given advance money also. Some of them are already completed some parts of Dileep movies. According to the agreement they are not entitled to demand back the remaining money from the star. On the other side, there is a strong resistance group in the form of AMMA, who are already planning to go on the warpath against the Chamber's ultimatum banning film stars from involving in TV. The Dileep issue has made things hotter in the organisation. AMMA has voiced opposition to any attempts to control or restrict the activities of artists.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Abdul Kalam a better choice, feels Rajagopal
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Railways, O Rajagopal, on Monday said in his own opinion, renowned scientist Dr Abdul Kalam, would be a good choice as a Presidential candidate. He told media persons in Kottayam that though the BJP and NDA had not taken a final decision regarding a nominee for the Presidential post he was of the personal opinion that Kalaam would be a better choice on merits. "Though people from various walks of life like politicians and teachers have become Presidents, no scientist has ever adorned this highest office so far", he said. Rajagopal said though the choice of a candidate for the Presidential post was still open and BJP and NDA was yet to take a final decision, many names had been suggested by various quarters including that of the Vice-President Kishan Kant, Ram Jethmalani and Dr Karan Singh. He said Kalam's name had come up for discussion now since the name of another South Indian, P C Alexander, proposed by Shiv Sena, had been opposed by Congress for the reasons best known only to it. Kalam's name was first proposed by Samajwadi Party, which was also suggested by Trinamool Congress. But, he said, both the BJP and NDA had however come to an understanding that the present incumbent, K R Narayanan, need not be given a second term.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Film fraternity likely to sort out Dileep issue
Even as the actor, Dileep, is returning from Germany tomorrow following the row over the arrest of the producer, Dinesh Panicker, the fraternal organisations are likely to sort out the issue by evolving a mechanism to prevent the repetition of such incidents in future, sources said. Save the heated discussion at the meeting in Kottayam, the Film Chamber has not so far decided in principle to impose a ban on Mr. Dileep for five years, the sources said. Neither the producers nor the artistes are keen on complicating the issue. The producers, distributors and exhibitors are pained at the way legal action has been initiated against Mr. Panicker for allegedly failing to honour a cheque worth Rs.1,90,000. The artistes feel that the opinion to ban a popular actor like Mr. Dileep was rather an extreme step. Mr.Dileep is learnt to have taken up the issue regarding non-payment of the cheque in the respective forum officially and with senior artistes personally many times, but to no avail. Hence he decided to move the court. Mr.Dileep has never thought things would go out of hand, the sources said. The key players in the industry do not approve of the practice of dishonouring cheques and denying salaries to artistes, but they say that if other artistes too take a cue from Mr.Dileep and start initiating legal action, more producers and distributors would be in trouble. This would malign the industrial milieu and have a bearing on its future prospects. According to a senior exhibitor, this is not the first incident in the history of Malayalam cinema. The superstars, Mammootty and Mohanlal, may have such cheques worth crores with them. Madhu and the late Prem Nazir too had to face such problems. This should have been sorted out amicably, he said on condition of anonymity. The arrest of Mr.Panicker just proved to be a vent for the simmering differences to come to the fore. The reported decision of the joint council of producers, distributors and exhibitors to impose curbs on popular artistes acting in television serials had also sparked off a heated debate. The sources said the council decision was misinterpreted. No blanket ban has been imposed. The council only wanted artistes to exercise a self-restraint in the interest of the industry. If the superstars and popular artistes conduct stage shows abroad during the festive seasons and those shows are aired io television channels, this would have telling effect on the theatre returns. They should desist from conducting such programmes during Onam, Vishu and Christmas and the council was never trying to shackle their creative instincts, the sources said. Those films which have generated a fairly good opinion among the family audience flopped at the box-office since families remain glued to television sets. This has led to closure of theatres. The number of theatres has dwindled from 1,300 to 900. The Government seems to be unmoved by the plight. In spite of the crisis no step has been taken to reduce either the power charges or taxes. This has enraged the council and often it is an echo of their frustration, a senior council member said. The council has also imposed curbs on the producers who make films and television serials simultaneously. Such producers have been told to stick to either one of them. A concrete decision is yet to emerge. In spite of the war of words, those in the industry feel that a saner sense will prevail on the artistes and producers and the crisis will blow over. Clarification The film involved in the controversy over the non-payment of cheque to Mr. Dileep is `Udayapuram Sultan' and not `Kuberan', the producer, G. Suresh Kumar, has said.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
A tightrope walk for Murali
After completing a rather successful first leg of his Navachethana Yatra, the KPCC president, K Muraleedharan, has entered the rather difficult and complicated second phase. The KPCC president has undertaken the yatra for the proclaimed purpose of mobilising funds for a new building that would house the omini KPCC. But the unstated purpose of the yatra is to build his image as a front ranking leader in time for either the next organisation elections or even the Assembly polls. The image-building exercise has apparently been meticulously planned. Mr Muraleedharan's statements and responses have been politically correct. He has not hesitated to articulate his opinions on various issues, be it the relations between the Congress and its coalition partners in the UDF or the action of the Assembly Speaker imposing curbs on visual media coverage of the House proceedings. Mr Muraleedharan began his yatra on a positive note for his party, because he dared to confront the Kerala Congress(B) and its Transport Minister, K B Ganesh Kumar, for what he termed `wayward ways' of running the Transport Department. He has spoken in tough language when it came to performance of Ministers, promising a total evaluation of Congress Ministers' functioning. He has been able to position himself as a president who is above factional pulls and has even earned the praise of his detractors such as Vayalar Ravi and Ramesh Chennithala. Some of his ardent defenders are from the Antony faction in the Congress. Never before has the relationship between the KPCC president and the Chief Minister been so cordial as of now. This represents the unity of purpose of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) and the KPCC. Mr Muraleedharan can take satisfaction from the fact that the dissensions in the CLP are far more projected that in the KPCC. Mr Muraleedharan has gravitated towards the Chief Minister during the last one year. He has been in the forefront offering all support to Mr Antony. He stood steadfastly with Mr Antony during the strike by Government employees. He was also instrumental in shaping the KPCC's support for the UDF's toddy policy. However, Mr Muraleedharan has found himself forced to speak against his own father and mentor, K Karunakaran, who has carved out a niche as a hard critic of the Antony Government. The differences, though on the surface, have confused Karunakaran supporters, leaving them wondering if they would be protected by Mr Muraleedharan, who has by now gathered around him his own trusted men. Mr Antony and his men have made it a point to capitalise on the father-son differences. Mr Antony is willing to ignore Mr Karunakaran as long as Mr Muraleedharan supports him. Mr Muraleedharan's first leg in Malabar was not a complicated affair. With all Congress leaders, irrespective of the factional affiliations, lined up for the yatra, Mr Muraleedharan has capitalised on the chance. But he would be travelling a difficult political path in South Kerala, where the Congress party is working up a new political equation under Mr Antony's guidance. He would have to relate himself to the tricky caste equations of South Kerala where the NSS and the SNDP together account for a major force. Mr Muraleedharan has been cautious in his reactions to a horde of issues like the Mathikettan encroachment. He would also face questions relating to feasibility of the Government's decision to go in for toddy shop licensing. The SNDP has already started making noises about the toddy shop licensing system. Mr Muraleedharan could either upset Mr Antony's attempts to build the new political equation of appeasing the Ezhava community or make use of the occasion to renew his relations with the community leaders as a front ranking Congress leader.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Visual media: Speaker sticks to decision
The Speaker, Vakkom Purushothaman, said here on Tuesday that he proposed to enforce the restrictions imposed by him on telecasting of Assembly proceedings strictly. The Speaker told a press conference that private channels were allowed to telecast proceedings during the LDF rule following the arrival of the Kairali channel on the scene. He was considering even withdrawal of the facility for the telecast of the proceedings by private channels. Mr. Purushothaman said that the instructions issued by him on telecasting of the proceedings were intended to keep the prestige and dignity of the House. It would be wrong to show certain happenings that sometimes occur in the House. He said that the restrictions were nothing new. Similar rules existed for the coverage of the proceedings of Parliament by Doordarshan. Parliament had framed them based on the practice at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and other countries. The Speaker did not answer how Rule 306 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business authorised him to impose restrictions on the media. The Rule said that the (Legislature) Secretary shall cause to be prepared a full report of the proceedings of the Assembly at each of its meetings, and shall, as soon as practicable, publish it in such a form and manner as the Speaker may, from time to time, direct. Asked whether he should not have consulted the Leader of the House and other leaders as he derived his powers from the House, Mr. Purushothaman said he was not required to consult them regarding the administration of the Assembly. Asked what he would do if the House disagreed with him, the Speaker said the matter needed to be decided only if that happened. "I take my decisions not on the basis of who all are agreeing or disagreeing. I do what I think is good.'' He said that there was no precedent of allowing a free hand to the visual media in the coverage of the proceedings. If the previous Speaker had taken a different decision, the present Speaker had the right to correct them. "The Speaker decides the rights and wrongs here. I do not know what is the practice regarding telecasting of proceedings in other State legislatures,'' he said when press persons pointed out that the visual media was free to record the happenings in other State Assemblies. Asked about his attending the AICC meeting, Mr. Purushothaman said the Speaker has to be impartial only in the Assembly. For instance, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, Sivaraj Patil, had attended party meetings. He said he was not considering whether his party had benefited from free television coverage of the proceedings in the past. Even Parliament had not felt that the people should see all that the members were doing in the House. Asked whether it was not better to check disorderly behaviour in the House instead of clamping down on the media, Mr. Purushothaman said he wanted to know whether everything happening in the House was under the control of the Speaker. He claimed that the prestige of the House had improved in the eyes of the people after he assumed the office of the Speaker. He said that he would not call the instructions censorship. But they were indeed restrictions, and he did not propose to reconsider the matter.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Actors, producers lock horns
By Sanu George, Indo-Asian News Service Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 Actors and producers in the Malayalam film industry seem headed for a showdown after an upcoming star got a filmmaker arrested for not paying his dues. The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes and the Film Chamber, a body of producers, distributors and exhibitors, have locked horns after Dileep had producer Dinesh Panicker put behind bars last week. Dileep had approached a court seeking immediate action against Panicker on a cheque dishonour case. The producer was arrested from his house in the state capital and taken to the court at Alwaye, 200 km away, where he was remanded in custody. Panicker reportedly owes Dileep Rs.190,000 for acting in a film three years ago. The Film Chamber met at Kottayam Sunday evening and decided to ban Dileep for two years and impose a penalty of Rs.2 million on him. The chamber is worried as the floundering industry has many filmmakers who owe stars big sums. "Close to Rs.10 million worth cheques are with various artistes, but none of them ever did what Dileep did. This is in bad taste," said an angry producer. Another producer said the some members of the chamber favoured using new faces in their future ventures to teach the top actors a lesson. The actors' association also met Sunday under its president, Innocent. Superstars Mammooty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi attended the Thiruvananthapuram meeting, which decided to back Dileep. "We would ensure that Dileep gets justice," said Innocent. Top producer G. Suresh Kumar rued the controversy. "I sincerely hope that better sense prevails among all. If the situation worsens, the entire industry would be affected," Suresh told . The Malayalam film industry, which used to churn out 160 films annually at one time, managed to release just about 80 last year. And Kerala, which used to have the highest number of movie theatres in proportion to the population, has seen their number fall from 1,400 to around 900 over the last five years.
Monday, May 27, 2002
P.T. Usha's athletics school ready to take off
Thiruvananthapuram, Resting on her laurels is the last thing P.T. Usha, India's former sprint queen, believes in. Determined to make up for the Olympic medal that she narrowly missed giving India - it would have been its first in athletics - at Los Angeles in 1984, Usha is all set to start producing top class women athletes at her school opening Wednesday. Usha, who set courses the world over aflame with her scorching pace and earned the nickname "Payyoli Express," takes to the tracks again with her Usha School of Athletics. The school is located in her hometown Payyoli near Kozhikode, a port town about 600 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. Usha, 38, is determined to create a world-class nursery for athletes with the sole aim of churning out Olympic medal winners. She hopes to realise this ambition by 2012. India's Minister for Sports Uma Bharti will inaugurate the school. Usha and her husband Sreenivasan have toiled unceasingly for years and raised Rs.8.4 million for the school to be built on a 32 acre plot and estimated to cost Rs.200 million. The Kerala government has chipped in with Rs.1.5 million. Speaking to over telephone from Payyoli, Usha said she was close to getting foreign exchange clearance from New Delhi. Once permission is granted, foreign contributions would start pouring in, she added. Twelve girls are ready to begin training at the school that will initially run from a rented place. These girls were picked up from among 437 candidates from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala after putting them through nearly 60 tests to measure various parameters. "See, what we have is a long-term perspective. The 12 girls already selected are in the age group of 11-13. Only in the year 2010 would event-based training start for them and we hope to get an Olympic medal in 2012," said Usha. These girls would simultaneously be given formal education at a nearby school and their training would be confined to morning and evening hours. "Usha would be with them on Saturdays and Sundays, while on other days the girls would be trained by a chief coach and his two assistants," said Sreenivasan. Sreenivasan said that sponsorships had started trickling in and would increase sufficiently in the coming months as several business houses had already committed themselves. "Institutions such as the Bangalore-based Akshaya Trust created by the employees of Infosys (Technologies) are our major sponsors at present. Several others have expressed their willingness to sponsor the present batch of students. The yearly expense on each student will be about Rs.100,000." "Once the school gets fully ready, we would require a yearly budget of Rs.15 million," said Sreenivasan. Usha said she was grateful to Indian Railways and Mysore-based Central Food Technology and Research Institute as well as the Indian Olympic Association, the Kerala Sports Council, the Sports Authority of India and the Amateur Athletic Federation of India for their support to the project. Usha said she was also looking forward to a tie-up with the U.S.-based Santa Monica Club for technical help. "For a three-year contract with them we have to pay $100,000, and we are looking for a sponsor. We have had to say no to several sponsors because their conditions are unacceptable to us. Anyway, we hope things would work out fast," said Usha.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Around 200 persons embrace Buddhism
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 200 persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on Sunday embraced Buddhism at a conversion programme organised jointly by the SC/ST All-India Confederation-Kerala and Lord Buddha Universal Society at the Muslim Association Hall here. The function coincided with the Buddha Purnima Day. Sri Lanka-Kerala Buddhist Association secretary Millewa Upasena Tera offered ‘deeksha’ to Confederation president K Raman Kutty and others, who embraced Buddhism. A book on Buddha’s life and teachings written by R Aniruddhan was released on the occasion by Pune-based Thrilokya Dharmachakra activist Dharmachari Chandrabodhi.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Film awards presented
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State film awards were presented here this evening at a spectacular ceremony which had the right mix of music, dance and star power. Thousands thronged the Poojapura maidan, the venue. Taking the audience back to the early days of Malayalam cinema was the recreation of a song from the film ‘Balan’. Neyyatinkara Komalam, Prem Nazir’s first heroine, spoke about the period. Yesudas was honoured on the occasion, with Mayor J Chandra presenting a ponnada to the singer. Later, Jayachandran, P Susheela, Sujatha and M G Sreekumar sang a song written by Girish Puthencherry on Yesudas, with music by Sreekumar. The first award to be presented was the J C Daniel award, to P N Menon. Menon, who received the award from Chief Minister A K Antony, thanked the Academy for remembering his contributions to Malayalam cinema. This was followed by a ‘ganamanjari’, in honour of P Bhaskaran, O N V Kurup, Vayalar, Raghavan Master, Baburaj, G Devarajan and V Dakshinamoorthy. Soorya Krishnamoorthy was in charge of the much-appreciated cultural programmes. The function was attended by most of the big artistes, including Mohanlal and Mammootty. Mammootty presented the best actor award to Murali while Suhasini received the best actress award from Mohanlal. Lal also gave away the special jury award to Jayaram. Cultural Affairs Minister G Karthikeyan presided over the function.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Engineering entrance examination begins
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The entrance examination for admission to engineering colleges, attended by 44,895 candidates, began at 116 centres in the State on Sunday with the Physics and Chemistry papers. The Mathematics paper will be held on Monday. The aptitude test for Architecture, to be attended by 12,477 candidates, will be held at 31 centres on May 28. The entrance examination for medical/agricultural courses will begin on May 30 at 100 centres. This will be attended by 36,349 candidates this year. While 25,923 candidates are writing both the engineering and medical/agricultural examinations, 18,972 are writing engineering alone and 10,426 medical/agricultural alone. Of the total applicants for the engineering examination, 55 per cent are boys and 45 per cent girls. But for medical/agricultural examination, only 40 per cent are boys and 60 per cent girls. Compared to last year, 7,377 more candidates are writing the examinations this year. Thiruvananthapuram district has the distinction of sending the highest number of candidates for the examination – 9586. Ernakulam comes second with 7603 candidates and Thrissur third with 6524 candidates. Wayanad is sending the lowest contingent – 484. As many as 21 per cent of the candidates are writing the examination for the second time.
Monday, May 27, 2002
And quiet rests God’s Own Country
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘God’s Own Country’ seems to be out of bounds for Pakistan if one were to go by the attitude of the officials here. Even as other States are busy with security drills of the civil defence machinery, a mechanism that is intended to take care of civilians during war, Kerala has not felt the need to have more than one official to take care of the 3.5 crore people of the State. However, the absence of a proper set-up has not deterred the Home Department from issuing a ‘‘general alert’’ to the District Collectors and SPs to activate the civil defence machinery. Kerala has the Commandant General of Fire Services doubling up as the Commandant General of Civil Defence machinery, but he has no one under him. Though all cities are classified for civil defence network depending upon the threat perception, barring Kochi no other city in the State has drawn out a civil defence plan. Thiruvananthapuram is considered strategically important and sensitive place owing to the location of the Southern Air Command, Pangode Military Centre and ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. In other States, the civil defence machinery which constitutes the police department, fire services, local bodies, voluntary organisations, hospitals besides several other Government and private agencies, have already formulated preliminary plans. In some States, the civil defence mechanism has even conducted mock drills in the backdrop of mounting border tension. ‘‘It is true that the threat perception to Kerala is not high. But with distance becoming a non-issue due to missile technology, can there be any room for complacency?’’ asks a police officer. Meanwhile, the police have stepped up surveillance around vital installations like the Southern Air Command, Southern Naval Command, ISRO, Cochin Shipyard, Cochin Port, FACT, Cochin Refineries, Nedumbassery, Karippur and Thiruvananthapuram international airports. The State police is also coordinating with the CISF which manages the internal security of most of the Central Government institutions.
Monday, May 27, 2002
Chamber threatens ban; AMMA backs Dileep
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst reports that the Film Chamber had decided to impose a two-year ban and a Rs 20,000 fine on Dileep, AMMA, the body of film artistes, rallied solidly behind the actor, saying that it would not take such a decision lying down. ‘‘We heard about the Film Chamber deciding to ban Dileep for two years and if what we hear is true, we will not sit quiet. We will ensure that he gets justice. The Film Chamber has not given anything to us in writing and once we get that, we will decide on our course of action. Everyone, including Mammootty, Mohanlal and the others, are solidly behind Dileep,’’ said Innocent, AMMA president. Innocent, on hearing the news, also called up Manju Warrier, Dileep’s wife, and assured her that Dileep had the full support of his fellow artistes. The actor is now in London. According to reports from Kochi, the Film Chamber is yet to officially declare a ban on Dileep for moving court against producer Dinesh Panicker, who allegedly failed to honour a cheque given to the actor, but such a suggestion did come up at a meeting that was held at Kottayam on Saturday. The initial move was to ban the actor for five years but the meeting finally decided that two years would be enough. A final decision would be taken only after May 30, when reconciliatory talks involving AMMA, the Chamber and MACTA would be held. Many producers and distributors attended the meeting which urged producers to cancel all future projects involving Dileep. All ongoing projects would not come under the proposed ban. BAN ON ARTISTES: The executive committee of AMMA met here this afternoon to discuss the Film Chamber ban on film artistes appearing in television serials. According to sources, the meeting was inconclusive but the organisation has decided that the Chamber’s decision need not be taken at face value. The meeting is also understood to have appointed a committee, including Janardhanan and Siddique, to hold further deliberations with MACTA to try and bring about an amicable settlement to the row that is threatening to split the film industry into two. MEETS ANTONY: Innocent, Mammootty, Mohanlal and Jayaram on Saturday met Chief Minister A K Antony and appealed to him to take concrete steps to help the film industry weather the crisis it now finds itself in. Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty and Transport Minister K B Ganeshkumar were also present at the meeting.
Monday, May 27, 2002
‘Palakkad-Erode EMU for Onam’
PALAKKAD: Union Minister of State for Railways O Rajagopal has said the Palakkad-Erode Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) train would be commissioned as an Onam gift to Keralites. Addressing mediapersons here on Sunday, Rajagopal said initially there will be eight coaches. The coaches and seats for the EMU are being manufactured at the Integral Coach factory, Perambur. The design of the seats would be decided by the Divisional Railway Manager after his visit to the factory. The train will run once daily between Erode and Palakkad and ply two trips between Palakkad and Coimbatore in the interim. PALAKKAD-CHENNAI SUMMER SPECIAL: The Palakkad-Chennai summer special would be extended for a month till June 30. In the last one-and-a-half months, it ran with more than 90 percent capacity for sleeper class and 86 percent for air-conditioned coaches. The Kannur-Bangalore special train is running with full capacity. TRIANGULAR STATION RULED OUT: The expert committee, constituted for studying the proposed setting up of the triangular station and the bulb line at Shoranur, has proved that they were unfeasible. Instead, the facilities at the Bharathapuzha station would be improved. COMPUTER RESERVATION FACILITIES: Computer reservation facilities would be provided at eight more centres, including Kalpetta, Malappuram, Idukki, Ottapalam and Angadipuram apart from the present 29 centres. The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) would be installed at Kasaragod ,Thalassery, Kannur, Tirur, Ottapalam, Alappuzha and Kayamkulam also. JANASHATABDHI EXPRESS: The Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam Janashatabdhi Express will run by September. The Ernakulam-Kozhikode Inter City Express will run before and after office hours from July and also the Nagercoil-Egmore Express. RETIRING ROOMS: The Railways is thinking of leasing retiring rooms to private agencies if the experiment in progress at Mumbai succeeds.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Girls outsmart boys in Kerala SSLC exam
Girl students fared better than boys by bagging most of the ranks in the SSLC examinations held in April last. Out of the eight who won the first three ranks, five are girls. The first rank was bagged by Meetu. R of the Kanikkamatha Convent GHS, Palakkad, who secured 591 out of 600, while Sweeto Vargheese of Holy Angels Boys EMHS, Ollur, bagged the second rank securing 590 marks. The third rank had six claimants who secured 589 marks. The rank was shared by Anueeja. S (St. Chrysostoms GHS, Nellimoodu), Anup. K. John (St. Mary's HS, Kizhakkekara, Kizhakketheruvu, Kollam), Suma. T (St. Josephs EMHS, Sulthan Bathery), Aneesh Ghosh. T. A (NSS HS, Thrissur), Indu. M and Shyama. S. Nair (St. Thomas CEM GHS, Olavakkode). Wayanad district secured a rank for the first time through Suma. Neethu S.Kumar of St. Michael's Girls HS, West Hill, Kozhikode, tops the list of Scheduled Caste students. Belonging to the Cheramar community, she secured 579 marks. A.Selvi of Dr. AMMRHSS for Girls, Kattela, Sreekariyam, Thiruvananthapuram, came out first among the ST students by securing 558 marks. She belongs to the Irulan community. Announcing the results at a press conference here today, the Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, said the Government was seriously thinking of replacing the rank system with the grade system with effect from next year. There would be nine grades instead of ranks. However, the decision, which had been approved by the curriculum committee, was yet to be approved by the Government, he said. Mr. Soopy said that from next year, there would be only six papers for the SSLC exam instead of the present 12 and that the duration of the examinations would be three hours instead of two. The minimum grade for the selection of various subjects for higher studies would also be implemented. The Minister also added that the "Save-a-Year'' examination would be made applicable to the SSLC examination and the Government would observe 2002-2003 as "Quality Improvement Year''. As many as 3,49,347 students out of 5,81,520 who appeared for the examination (60.07 per cent) in 2,640 centres in the State, Lakshadweep, Mahe and the Gulf countries came out victorious this time. The number of students who appeared for the examination this year had increased by 13,439 over last year. The percentage of pass without moderation had gone up by 6.33 per cent while the percentage of pass after moderation also went up by 4.4 per cent compared to that of last year. In the school-going category, 29,827 students secured distinction, 71,351 in first class and 53,283 in second class, which is higher than that of last year. The results of as many as 65 students have been withheld for having involved in malpractices during the examination. The results of 450 students have been withheld for other reasons. However, the number of schools which registered 100 per cent pass in the SSLC examination dropped to 224 from 233. Of these, nine are Government schools, 64 aided and the remaining unaided. The SSLC cards would be sent to the respective District Education offices before June 10. In Thiruvananthapuram, the authorities of the schools should obtain the SSLC cards from the Pareeksha Bhavan on June 10. The applications for the scrutiny and revaluation of the answer sheets would be received at the office of the Controller of Examinations till June 15. The fee for revaluation of each paper is Rs. 400 and Rs. 50 for scrutiny of the answer sheet.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Party fund raising: CM reacts strongly
The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, today came down heavily on officials raising funds for various political parties. Reacting to news reports about such activities reported from Thrissur, Mr. Antony said that strong actions would be taken against those who raised funds for political parties, irrespective of whether they belonged to the ruling or Opposition parties. He said that he was making such a reaction on the first instance of such an occurrence. "If officials are caught raising funds for political parties, they will not escape punishment,'' he said. larifying his point, he said that he was not opposed to political parties raising funds, but the practice of using government officials should be discouraged at all costs. The issue related to the arrest of an official of the Motor Vehicle Department in Thrissur in a bribery case and the subsequent seizure of fund-raising coupons of the Kerala Congress(B), the party of the Transport Minister, K. B. Ganesh Kumar. There are quite a few who read more meanings into the Chief Minister's statement, especially in the context of the Kerala Congress(B)'s tiff with the UDF leadership. However, Mr. Antony made it clear that his statement was not directed at any specific party and that he had made a general statement, which was a kind of message to the officials. The Kerala Congress(B) chairman, R. Balakrishna Pillai, said that his party had started investigation into the Thrissur incident and that it would not hesitate to take action against any of its office-bearer or worker if they were guilty of raising funds using officials. He said that his party had in fact given clear instructions to partymen not to tap officials while raising funds. He said that there was no harm in political parties issuing coupons to mobilise money.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
CITU, pro-UDF union win referendum
The CITU-affiliated Kerala State Road Transport Employees' Association and the INTUC-led pro-UDF Transport Democratic Federation are the recognised unions in the KSRTC. When the votes polled at the referendum conducted on Thursday were counted today, only these two organisations had the support of more than 20 per cent of the total electorate required for recognition. Of the total 26,320 voters in the list, 24,906 exercised their franchise. The CITU-affiliated union polled 13,404 votes and the pro-UDF union, 7,271 votes. The other organisation in the fray was the AITUC-led Transport Workers' Coordination Council. It could garner only 4,165 votes. There were 66 invalid votes.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Major city schools pipped at the post
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM City schools got pipped at the post in this year's SSLC `rank rat race', with not a single school managing to find its students in the top three ranks. It was one mark that separated Lakshmi Rajan of the Carmel Girls' High School from the list of third rank holders; also preventing her from becoming the lone entrant from the city schools in the `coveted' top three rank lists. Of the 231 students who figure in the first fifteen ranks list, only 37, are from schools in Thiruvananthapuram city. Even in this list, the distribution of rank holders from rank four down, is not even. There is just one candidate from city schools for ranks four, six seven and nine. There are two candidates from the city who have secured ranks 8 and two, rank 11. There are 3 candidates who have secured rank 13 and four each for ranks 10 and 12. It is for rank 14 that there are maximum claimants from schools in Thiruvananthapuram-10, while there are eight claimants from city schools for rank 15. Of the city schools that managed to make the `first fifteen' rank list, the Carmel GHS tops the list with 10 rank holders from its fold. The Holy Angels Convent and the Nirmala Bhavan School come second with six ranks each. The Cotton Hill Girls High School comes third with 5 rank holders while the Model Boys High School has a lone rank holder in the first fifteen list. No other Government school in the city was able to find one of its students in the top fifteen ranks. Of the 37 `first fifteeners' from the city 28, are from unaided schools, six from government schools and the rest from the aided schools. Twenty-three schools from the Thiruvananthapuram educational district were able to secure cent per cent pass in this year's SSLC examination. Of these 21 schools are in the unaided sector while the rest, two, are from the government sector. A total of 44,844 candidates had written the examinations from schools falling under the Thiruvananthapuram revenue district. Of these 12,662 students passed from government schools, 11203, from aided schools and 4884, from unaided schools. The pass percentage for girls is 35.67 while that for boys is 28.44; a total of 64.11. The average mark secured by girl students from the district is 289 and by boys is 253. The average mark secured by all the students writing from Thiruvananthapuram revenue district is 272. The pass percentage of Government schools in the district is 60.64, while the corresponding figure for aided schools is 58.97 and that for the unaided schools is 98.31. The average mark in the district for students of Government schools is 251, while it is 249 for those from aided schools and 446 for students from the unaided schools in the revenue district.
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Toppers prefer medicine and engineering
PALAKKAD MAY 25. The first rank holder of the SSLC examination this year, Meetu R. of Kanikyamatha Convent Girls High School here, said that her systematic study from the very beginning of the high school without out going for any tuition classes helped her to get the first rank. Her brother, Rahul Remanan, was the 15th rank holder in the SSLC Examination last year. She told The Hindu at her residence in the quarters of the Government Victoria College on College Road where her father, V.G. Remanan, and mother, P.K. Sarala, are professors, that she would like to go for medicine after her Plus Two. She said that she had studied herself completing the portions every day. She did not go for any tuition classes from the very beginning. Her mother, a chemistry professor helped her in science lessons. She said that she used to get up early in the morning and study for two hours and in the evening she used to study from 5 p.m .to 10.30 p.m. Even during the examination time there was no late sitting for studies. She said that she had expected to come within the first five ranks but did not expect the first rank. Her teachers also had expected a rank for her. She said that she used to participate in the cultural programmes in the school like fancy dress, drama, etc., for which she won many prizes. She studied up to fifth class at the Lions School and since then she was studying in the Kanikyamatha Convent School. Now the Meetu and her parents are worried that there are no good schools in Palakkad town where there was Plus Two courses. So she may have to go to Thrissur to join a good Plus Two school. When the Finance Minister K. Sankaranarayanan felicitated the rank holders at the function here today, the parents requested him to sanction Plus Two courses in the private schools that had achieved shining resultus in the SSLC examinations in Palakkad district. The Minister promised to look into this problem. Now Plus Two courses are sanctioned only in the Government schools in the Palakkad town area. The third rank holder, Indu. M. of St. Thomas High School said that she wanted to go for medicine after the Plus Two. Her father K. Ramachandran is working in merchant navy and mother, Manora is a teacher at the Hemambika L.P. school. She had also expected rank like her parents and teachers. She went for tuition for mathematics and science. Shyama S. Nair of the same school who shared the third rank wanted to go for engineering. She and Indu had studied in the same class since first standard sitting next to each other. She said that she did not go for tuition. She was a regular participant of music, science exhibitions etc., in the school youth festival and had won many prizes. Her father Sukumaran Nair is working as the head of the Mechanical Department of the NSS Engineering College.
Thursday, May 23, 2002
`Samavayam-2002' to be in Germany
KOCHI. The second edition of the global non-resident Keralite meet, `Samavayam', will be held at Dingdon, near Dusseldorf in Germany on August 23. `Samavayam-2002' will be held as part of the World Malayalee Council's annual conference to be held at Dingdon from August 20-25, the Non-Resident Keralites Welfare Minister, M.M. Hassan has said. The Samavayam-2001 was held at Kochi. Mr. Hassan said the programme would also act as a pre-session to the global investor meet planned for November. A large number of Malayalees, including potential investors, were expected to attend the Samavayam. A team of Ministers and senior Government officials would attend the meet, he told newspersons. Mr. Hassan told a news conference on Wednesday that the Confederation of Indian Industries would work in partnership with the Norka Department and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to promote the global investor meet. The CII's Kerala president, Pamela Anna Mathew, and the KSIDC managing director, Jiji Thompson, signed an agreement for `strategic alliance' for the GIM. The CII would participate in the GIM road shows. The Minister said the Government was trying to get the passenger ship service between Kochi and the Gulf resumed. A global tender had been invited a couple of months back for the ship service. The ship service had to be stopped abruptly because of the Central Government's insistence that the service strictly follow international maritime rules regarding passenger convenience. He said his department had recently set up a committee to run a campaign against fake recruitment for employment abroad. The committee, headed by him, would comprise senior police and Labour officials as well as the Protector of Emigrants.
Thursday, May 23, 2002
Road safety drive begins
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. The State police have embarked on a month-long intensive enforcement drive aimed at cracking down on traffic and road safety violations. The drive has been initiated by the Director General of Police, K. J. Joseph, following a spurt in road accidents in the State. The decision to launch the intensive enforcement drive was taken at a recent meeting on road safety chaired by the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony. Unlike earlier initiatives where the police role was limited to checking vehicle documents, the focus would now be on catching offenders red-handed. "The earlier pattern of enforcement was to wave down vehicles and check documents. This time, police would check offences committed by drivers while the vehicle was on the move,'' a senior official said. The police drive will concentrate solely on cracking down on violations, which are likely to cause accidents if left unchecked. The police would crack down on drunken driving, overspeeding, failure to dim headlights, use of halogen lamps which has a luminescence above the specified limit, overtaking through the left-side, rash driving, use of air-horns and playing music loudly while the vehicle is on the move. ``We would not be checking for tax tokens or vehicle registration books. If a driver overtakes at a road-segment where overtaking is prohibited, he would be stopped and booked for the offence," an official said. Intensive patrolling of highways and link roads at night would be a special feature of the drive. Road safety violations occur mostly during night. Police would also crack down on overloading in vehicles conducting parallel services, cargo lorries as well as private stage carriages. The competitive racing between private buses to get passengers would be checked. The DGP has instructed all district SPs to provide two jeeps with a Sub Inspector, Assistant Sub Inspector and adequate men for patrolling National and State highways during the intensive drive period. The Regional Transport Officers would be provided with three police constables to assist the patrolling and checking conducted by the Motor Vehicle department. The district SPs and Commissioners of Police have been instructed to personally monitor the drive to ensure effective enforcement. A sub-divisional level officer (Dy.SP) will be nominated by the district police chiefs to supervise the intensive drive. The DGP has also said that all officers detailed for the special drive would be treated as part of the traffic police and will have the power to slap fines (compounding). The Range DIGs have also been asked to give special attention to the drive. The second phase of the Chief Minister's programme to check accidents would involve "black spot studies'' or scientific assessment of accident prone stretches, points and junctions in the State
Thursday, May 23, 2002
RTO office computerisation soon
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM A software for computerising Regional Transport Offices (RTO) of Motor Vehicles Department has been developed and the first computerised RTO office will be that of the State capital. Disclosing this at a press conference here today, the State Transport Commissioner, K. P. Somarajan, said the computerisation of 60 offices of the department spread over the State would be taken after plugging the loopholes and response from public. The acceptance of vehicle tax, issuing of permits for vehicles and renewal of driving licence will be made through computers. The Transport Commissioner said although the Computer-Aided Learner's Licensing System (CALLS) will be introduced in the capital from May 23 for issuing learner's licence, the existing objective written test will continue for another two weeks. To a query, he said the tenders for introducing Smart Card driving licence by the Motor Vehicles Department had received response. But, the Union Government insisted that the capacity of the card should be enhanced from 1 kilobyte to 4 kilobyte. The traffic signal system being introduced in busy points such as P.M.G Junction, MLA Quarters Junction, Secretariat, Azad Gate and Pulimoodu in the capital to ensure the smooth flow of traffic would also be commissioned soon.
Thursday, May 23, 2002
All set for 33rd State film awards presentation
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MAY 22. Preparations are in full swing for the presentation of the 33rd State Film Awards at a function to be held here in the evening of May 26. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy is sparing no effort to make the event colourful as well as memorable, informed K.V.Mohankumar, its secretary. A major attraction would be the `Geethamanjari', a musical-cum-visual representation featuring the first song from the very first Malayalam talkie `Balan' to those from the later productions which would be enacted on the stage.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Onnaman, to incur huge losses!
Mohanlal’s big budget Onnaman costing Rs 4 crore by the time it reached the theatres, is proving to be a wash out! After being houseful in all-releasing centres for the first two days, the film started sliding from the third day itself. The word of mouth on the film is that it is nothing but a rehash of his earlier ‘don’ films like Rajavinte Makan, Aryan, and the recent Praja. ‘Good Knight’ Mohan and his Shogun films, the distributor will lose almost Rs 2 crores. It is a very bad news for Mohanlal whose films like Praja, Company and now Onnaman has flopped in his home state. Swargachitra Appachen, the distributor for Praja had lost Rs 1.5 crores on the film, while Chandana who had purchased Company for Rs 52 lakhs (the highest paid for a Hindi film in Kerala) will lose Rs 25 lakhs! Today Mohanlal’s superstardom is at stake and everything depends on the Shaji Kailas directed Thandavam due for Onam.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Biju Menon's "Minnal"
Biju Menon has always believed in himself. He stood strong and confident even in the face of harsh criticism, when critics wrote that he could not carry off a film on his own. They said he was too staid to be a star material. But Biju was unperturbed. He knew his time would come. And it did, for Meghamalhar was proof enough of his unpretentiousness. The movie, apart from confirming his film-making abilities, also established Biju Menon as a front-line performer. And now there is a new impetus in Biju's career. Ace director Sibi Malayil has gone ahead and cast him as the hero for his new film Minnal. Sibi Malayil, a sensitive director known for his emotional family dramas, is, this time, adding some gut-wrenching action too. "Biju fits the bill for this film," says the director. "He can emote well and can also come up with robust action moves," he says appreciatively. Biju too is suitably impressed with the turn of events. "Meghamalhar is a major break for me in the sense that it has given me a new status in the industry. It is one of the few films of our times, which has won critical acclaim and commercial viability," he points out. "I hope Minnal also does that," he adds hopefully. In Minnal, Biju's herione is the talented Geetu Mohandas. She also hopes that she continues the goodwork of Sesham in Minnal. Others in the cast will be Murali, Kalabhavan Mani, Babu Antony, Thilakan, Kalpana, Lalitha, Vijayakumar, Harishree Ashokan and N F Varghese.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Love in the backdrop of war
It is a theme that has fascinated film-makers since time immemorial. One that has been successful since time immemorial, too. Little wonder then that ace director Vinayan has got on to that bandwagaon. His new movie is set against the backdrop of war and centres around the subject of love. Says the man with the Midas touch in Malayalam movies, "It is an idea that has been with me for a long time. But for some reason or the other, it got postponed. Now it is becoming a reality." As it happened, the film went on to the floors a long time ago. But was shelved for various reasons. Now the film is back on rails. After a schedule in Kasargode, the film's shooting is currently on in Alapuzha. "It is set in the backdrop of Kargil," he says. But why Kargil? "Frankly, it could be any war. But Kargil is a convenient contemporary reference point." Befitting a man on a success streak, Vinayan has cast another hugely successful star as the hero. Yes, Dileep is playing the lead while Prabhu is cast in an important character. Up and coming Tamil actress Laila is the heroine. Other popular names like Manoj K Jeyan, Mukesh, Kalabhavan Mani, Jagadish and North Indian actor Mukesh Rishi also add weight to the cast. "There are plenty of incidents in the story. And war movies cannot be taken with a limited cast." The movie has the potential to touch some raw nerves as it is essentially about an Indian soldier falling in love with the daughter of a Pakistani jailor. "There are no controversies here. It is just a story," he points out. But in these troubled and over-sensitive times, such themes are fraught with danger. But Vinayan differs. "My feeling is that this is the need of the hour." Brave words. But let us wait and watch.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Play it again Samyuktha
The comely actress, whose Tenkasi Pattinam in Tamil is scheduled for release later this month, wants to call it quits and settle down to home and hearth along with her long-time beau Biju Menon. But her family, it is said, wants her to continue acting. Samyuktha's family members reportedly feel that she can put off her marriage plans by at least six months and instead concentrate on the plethora of offers at hand. Of course, the doe-eyed Samyuktha is doing a couple of Malayalam movies, including that of Sathyan Anthikad's, in which she stars opposite Jeyaram. Interestingly, there are also more offers from Tamil producers and directors. "The feed-back to Tenkasi Pattinam's rushes in Tamil is very good. Many people here are impressed by her simple and straight forward acting skills," says Dakshinamoorthy, a leading distributor. But Samyuktha, not unsurprisingly, seems to be confused whether to accept the offers in Tamil or not. When she committed to Tenkasi Patinam in Tamil, she said it was her only shot in Tamil. However, things are slightly different now. "It is an uneviable situation," accepts Joseph Kuruvilla, a Malayalam distributor. "But strangely, it keeps happening to Samyuktha. A few months ago, she had to decide between Malayalam films and her marriage. Now it is between Tamil films and marriage," he adds. Perhaps, what is an important contributor to the whole scenario is Biju Menon's lukewarm career. "Frankly, if he had been more successful, surely Samyuktha would have quit films long time ago," he adds. Just as well then Biju's career is looking bright. He has just now signed a movie with Sibi Malayil. And if it clicks, it will be only a matter of time before he permanently establishes himself as a frontline actor. Till then, the tune will be Play it again Sam. If not from her parents, at least from her fans.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Sindhu Menon: Up and coming
There are actresses who ooze star quality. Then there are those who exemplify simplicity. Sindhu Menon belongs to the latter category. This young and upcoming heroine has rendered noteworthy performances in films like Uttaman, Ee Nadu Innale Vare and Aakaashaththile Paravakal. Sindhu Menon is no doubt is slated for big things in films. However, Sindhu is not ready to get carried away by these vaulting expectations of her. Instead, she says she is content to take one step at a time. Her main concern now is her forthcoming release Anuvaadamillaathe. Directed by veteran I V Sasi, this movie can, to a certain extent illumine Sindhu’s career path. In Anuvaadamillaathe, the comely actress plays the role of a young, impish girl named Neena. "It is not a character totally unlike me. So, I really enjoyed essaying the role," she giggles. The hero of the film is Vimal, former child artiste who won the State award in 1985. "It is a major film for him too. So he has also given his best," Sindhu points out. It has been a major learning curve for Sindhu, working under the baton of I V Sasi. " What I can say about him? He is one of the big names in the industry. It has been a great honour to have worked with him," she says with obvious delight. The film, Sindhu says, boasts a youthful subject. "The story, per se, may not be all that different. But the treatment is,’’ she says.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Forthcoming Films: Mukesh, Lal and Boban
Mukesh in 'Vasanthamaalika'... Suresh Krishnan, who had earlier directed 'Bharthaavudyogam' and 'Achchaneyaanenikkishtam' is getting ready with his third film 'Vasanthamaalika', produced by Jayalekshmi Films. Miserly Balu, who is working in a garments company dreams of making big money. 'Vasanthamaalika' tells the story of this young man and his love for Nandini, a colleague in the company. Mukesh is Balu while Umashankari, who has been introduced in the recently released 'Kuberan', is Nandini. Also in the cast are Jagathy Sreekumar, Jagadeesh, Kalabhavan Mani, Sai Kumar, Nadirsha, Bindu Panicker, Raji Menon and Swathy. Lal in 'Ente Hrudayaththinte Udama'... Renowned actor Bharath Gopi who is also a noted director, has taken up for adaptation the popular novel 'Ente Hrudayaththinte Udama' by well known writer Perumbadavam Sreedharan. Produced by Ramesh Kurian and Babu Thoppil under the banner of Dreaming Tiger Productions, Ente Hrudayaththinte Udama' tells the story of Pavithran and Uma, who are close. Uma is a college lecturer and loves poetry. She grows intimate with Pavithran, who is an idealist and a revolutionary at heart. The relationship between Uma and Pavithran is beyond conventional definition. When Pavithran gets killed, Uma sets out trying to understand the meaning of her relationship with Pavithran. The quest forms the theme of the film. Lal is Pavithran and Vani Viswanath again gets a meaningful role as Uma. Kunchacko Boban in 'Mayamohithachandran'... Shibur the associate of noted director Sathyan Anthicaud, makes his debut as an independent director with 'Mayamohithachandran', produced by Arjun Vengara and Rejin Suresh under the banner of Saurav Arts. Sharath Chandran alias Chandran, who is a postman, falls head over heels in love with Maya, who has grown up in the U.S. Maya too pretends to love him. Chandran doesn't realise that Maya's love is not real. He tells all his friends about his love. But when he realizes the truth, he is in for a real shock. Teenage-sensation Kunchacko Boban dons the role of Chandran, debutante Renuka plays the role of Maya. Also in the cast are KPAC Lalitha, Nedumudi Venu, Manoj K Jayan, Bharath Gopi, Prithviraj, Janardhanan, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Mala Aravindan and Cochin Haneefa.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Pakalpooram
'Pakalpooram', produced by Santhosh Damodaran under the banner of Damor cinema and directed by the Anil-Babu duo seems to have a right mix of those ingredients which could make it a commercial success. It is a horror-story told in a rather lighter vein compared to the usual horror films. Mukesh does well as Gouridasan, while Geethu Mohandas also performs well. Salim Kumar as Maanikyan and Harisri Ashokan as Ayyappankutty, Gouri's friend, give their best. Others in the cast include Riza Bawa, Babu Namboothiri, Jagathy Sreekumar, C.I. Paul etc. who provide adequate support. Debutante Kavitha Jose is OK. Lyrics by S. Rameshan Nair, set to tune by Raveendran with background score by Rajamani are the highlights of the film. Shaji has done excellent camerawork while artwork by Rasi too deserves mention. Hope the Anil-Babu team gets another hit in 'Pakalpooram'. Story Line Brahmadathan Namboothiri (Riza Bawa) of Suryamangalam (an ancient Brahmin household) goes to Brahmadesham temple, which is haunted by a wild spirit. To bring the spirit under his control, he has to first provoke it by having a physical relationship with a virgin within the premises of the haunted temple. He does this and finally tames and contains the spirit. Brahmadathan Namboothiri returns home to his family and his wife. In due course, his wife gives birth to a son. On the same day and at the same place, the lady whom he had used to provoke the spirit too gives birth to his son. Fate intervenes and the two babies exchange places. Thirty years later Gouridasan (Mukesh), the son of Brahmadathan Namboothiri again reaches the same Brahmadesham temple to tame the very same spirit. He has to do it all over again, since the anklet in which the spirit had been contained had been stolen by a thief Maanikyan (the other son of Brahmadathan Namboothiri). Gouridasan fails in his mission and returns, but not alone. During his stay at the place, he meets and falls in love with Seemanthini (Geethu Mohandas), a beautiful young girl. But unknown to him, Seemanthini is to change the course of things for him.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Onnaman Opens!
Mohanlal’s long delayed Onnaman has at last released on May 12 all over Kerala. The film is taking a fantastic opening, but opinion is divided about the film. The initial response is that the film is no Narasimham or Ravana Prabhu, but is much better than Praja. Some people say that the second half is slow and the film is being trimmed by at least 20 minutes. However the trade is anxious about the box office performance of the film, as Onnaman is a big budget film and it cost distributor Good Knight Mohan over 4 crore! Now the big question is whether the film will recover its cost? It is early days and the fate of the film will be known only by the second week. However monsoons have set in all over Kerala, which might affect the collection of the film.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
"Nizhalkoothu was never a contender at Cannes"-Adoor
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India’s best known director is peeved with the media for saying that his new film Nizhalkoothu was a contender at Cannes, but was pipped by Devadas to the prestigious film festival on the French Riviera. Adoor says that his film is yet to be completed and the postproduction of the film will be done in Paris in July. His argument was that Nizhalkoothu was never in the race and it was just media imagination that was running wild. But sources in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting say that Sushma Swaraj abhors arty films and was pushing for Devdas. Last year when she was in Cannes, the festival director himself had told her that he wanted to hold a retrospective of an Indian director other than Ray. She had suggested Raj Kapoor as she wanted to erase tags like ‘art’ and ‘commercial’ and celebrate good cinema. Swaraj and her minions at the ministry saw to it that Adoor and Shaji.N.Karun were not entertained at the Cannes.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
War of words
A war of words has broken out between the Kerala Film Chamber (KFC) and top Malayalam film artists. The bone of contention is that Malayalam artist’s association AMMA's president, Innocent has said that artists would continue to do television and cinema together. The all-powerful KFC controlled by Malayalam film distributors and exhibitors blame the small screen for the decline of Malayalam films at the box office. Their argument is. Who will come to the theatre, when all major stars can be seen on Television in their drawing rooms? But more shocking was KFC’s notice to superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal that they should discontinue with their television productions. Said a peeved spokesperson of KFC, Mammootty’s Megabytes' afternoon soap Jwal |
