AJ: Noted Malayalam poet, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan passed away this morning at a private hospital in Pathannamthitta.He was 73 and survived by wife and two children. He had been undergoing treatment for the last few months. Kadammanitta, was born on March 22, 1935 in Kadammanitta province of the present Pathanamthitta district. His childhood experiences, especially the Patayani songs, imparted strong influence in his literary work. With his powerful and mind provoking poems he became one of the gifted rebellious voices in modern Malayalam literature.

In 1992 he became the vice president of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham, and in 2002 its president. In 1996, he was elected to Kerala state legislative assembly from Aranmula constituency in Pathanamthitta district. He was awarded Kerala Sahithya Academy award in 1982.

AJ: The central team visiting the state to assess the places hit by summer showers will visit five districts. On April 4th , the team will visit Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam and on 5th, will visit Thrissur and Malappuram districts.

Meanwile Opposition leader Oommen Chandy blamed chief minister V S Achuthanandan for the delay in the proposed visit of central team for assessing loss occurred due to heavy summer showers in the state. Chief Minister should act properly after consulting various political leaderships for the immediate arrival of the team, Chandy said.

AJ: Chargesheet has been filed against former minister and Kerala Congress (J) chairman P J Joseph in connection with the flight issue. The case against Joseph was that he misbehaved with a woman co-passenger while flying from Chennai to Kochi on August 3. The chargesheet was filed at the Alathur Court by an investigating team led by assistant commissioner Kuppu Swamy. It has been stated that there are evidence against Joseph in the charge sheet.

AJ: Seven Congress workers were killed and 30 injured eight of them seriously, when a lorry rammed into a rally being taken out by the workers at Pothanikkad in Kothamangalam in Eranakulam district. Six bodies have been identified so far. The injured have been admitted to various hospitals at Kothamangalam. The six who have been identified are: Kuriakose, Iype, Esho Abraham, V P Pathrose, Kuttappan and Pratheesh Kuriakose. One body was yet to be identified. Police said the mishap occurred as the driver of the vehicle reportedly lost control. The driver has been taken to custody.

Leader of opposition Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who rushed to Pothanikkad, visited the injured at Mar Baselious Medical Mission Hospital and St Joseph Hospital, Dharmagiri. He said an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the accident details. A decision on payment of compensation to the victims' families would be taken later, he said.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has asked the Ernakulam District Collector, A P M Mohammed Hannish, to submit a detailed report on the accident immediately. In a statement, he also expressed shock and sorrow over the incident.

Senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran and KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala has demanded an inquiry into the accident. KPCC had announced a day's mourning across the state, while the party will observe three-day mourning in Ernakulam district.

AJ: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan distributed the relief amount for farmers who have lost their paddy cultivation in the summer rain at a function held at Thrissur Tagore centenary hall. Around hundred farmers got the compensation here.  In Kuttanad, Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran will distribute the relief amount. Roughly 30,000 hectares of paddy land in Kuttanad, Kerala's paddy heartland was thrown in jeopardy because of the unexpected rains Paddy crop in 17,000 hectares were completely destroyed, with incessant rains damaging 1,45,157 metric tonnes of paddy in a total of 28,231.4 hectares. 40,828 farmers were hit, according to a preliminary assessment by the high-level committee appointed by the government to study the damage. The state government has sought aid from the Central Government. The Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar has assured that a Central team would arrive in the State for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage and destruction caused by summer rain.

  
  




  

AJ: The state government announced Rs 10,000 per hectare as special financial assistance to farmers who lost their paddy crops during the recent unseasonal rains in the state.Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told reporters after a cabinet meeting, preliminary estimate, 1.40 lakh tonnes of paddy cultivated in 28,231 hectares was damaged in the rains and 40,826 farmers suffered losses. Most damage was reported from Kuttanad in Alapuzha district, considered to be the state's rice bowl. Paddy crops in 17,000 hectares of area were destroyed he said.

District collectors have been asked to prepare a report on damage to other crops as well in the rains such as mango, cashew, banana and pepper, the chief minister said adding steps would be taken to pay compensation to these farmers. He said apart from the already sanctioned Rs 12 crore for the compensation, an additional Rs 13 crore would be necessary for meeting the farmers needs.CM said state government has sought centre's assistance to meet the challenge." A three member Central team to assess the damage caused by the rain would arrive soon.

AJ: Renowned Malayalam play writer K T Mohammed (80) passed away at a private hospital Kozhikode. Mohammed is considered a symbol of unadulterated humanism. He wrote the screenplay of Malayalam's first colour movie, 'Kandam Bacha Kottu'. About 20 screenplays he has written for Malayalam films. Moreover he has moved his pen for about 40 dramas. He had held the post of Chairman to the Kerala Film Development Corporation and Nadaka Academy. He was a recepient of Kendra Sahitya Akademy award. He had also won several state government awards for his plays. His main works included 'Ethu Bumiyannau', 'Srishtti, Stithi, Samharam', 'Kadalpalam' and 'Turakkatha Vathil'.

AJ: The Thiruvananthapuram vigilance court ordered a vigilance probe against former minister Vakkom Purushothaman in connection with illegal assets case.
The probe was ordered by vigilance judge K Sasidharan on the case filed by Marakkar Haji of Malappuram. The probe will be conducted under the supervision of the court. Probe will also be conducted against Vakkom's sons Binu Purushothaman, Biju Purushothaman and son-in-law Rajagopal. The court has ordered to probe the case by an officer of SP rank and submit the report within three months.

AJ: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Recruitment procedures in the police force will be reformed.Recruitments will be conducted every year.The minister said the basic qualification to join the police will be made plus two. He asked the police to give due consideration to the ordinary people who approach police stations.

AJ: Chief Minister VS Achuthanadan has visit to the rain –hit areas of Thrissur to assess the damage and loss of paddy caused by the summer rain. He is mainly visiting the Karalam area and is accompanied by District Collector and MLAs. After the visit he said the compensation to the farmers, who suffered agricultural losses in the heavy showers, will be given in installments.VS said farmers' suicide has become an old proverb in the state. No one should encourage farmers to commit suicide in the name of agricultural loss. The meeting will also be attended by MPs, MLAs, and District Collector.

Menwile opposition leader Oommen Chandy visited the Thiruvarppu paddy fields in Kottayam, which has been severely damaged by the summer showers. The visit was to assess the damage and inform the centre about the agricultural loss. Chandy and KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala will be leaving for Delhi tomorrow for getting centre's aid so that the farmers can be compensated.

AJ: Christians today joined their brethren the world over in celebrating Easter with great devotion, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ after crucifixion.
Despite heavy rains lashing many parts of the state, the faithful in large numbers attended the Easter prayers and services in churches.Bishops and senior prelates led the services in churches of various Christian denominations as the day marked the culmination of the 50day season of prayer, abstinence and penance.Since the beginning of the Holy Week last Sunday, the devout had been spending much of their time in prayers recalling the supreme sacrifice of Christ.

AJ: Heavy summer rains continued to lash Kerala claiming eight lives and inflicting huge agricultural loss in the last few days as the state appealed to the Centre for providing emergency assistance to tide over the situation. In a fax message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan wanted a central team to be sent immediately to the state to assess the loss which as per initial estimates stood at Rs 50 crore. Ready-to-harvest paddy in a stretch of 20,000 acres had been damaged in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kottayam districts.

The loss is likely to mount as the farmers were finding it difficult to start harvesting as rains continued to batter these areas. The unseasonal rains also affected the prospects of cash crops like pepper and coffee, especially in areas of Wayanad and Idukki districts. Resistance by pro-CPI (M) farm workers union to the use of harvesting machines had allegedly contributed to the farmers' plight in Kuttanad, against which the Congress-led UDF had launched a campaign.

AJ: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said the Government in the state
will henceforth permit new schools in the state only after conducting
a detailed survey.
`More and more unaided schools are coming up in the state affecting
the very existence of Government and aided schools', he said,
inaugurating a Lower Primary School building at Marad.

There was a huge exodus of children from Government schools in the
recent past with about one lakh children seeking admission in unaided
schools last year alone.
V S also visited the proposed site at Nellikode village near here for
setting up a Information Technology Park The state Cabinet had
recently cleared the proposal for acquiring 68 acres of land on fast
track basis to set up the IT park, which would be the first such in
Malabar.

AJ: The Board of Approval (BoA) for setting up SEZs, under the ministry of commerce and industry, today granted the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status to 136 acres of land acquired for Smart City project at Kochi in Kerala. The board of approval (BoA) headed by G K Pillai, also directed the Kerala government to file a separate application for the land acquired from the KSEB. Ernakulam district collector APM Muhammad Hanish and Kerala IT secretary Ajayakumar were present in the board meeting.

AJ: The UDF started reaping fields as the organisations owing allegiance to the CPM did not allow to use the harvesting machines in Kuttanad. The Congress leaders said they are reaping due to widespread crop loss in the heavy showers.Inaugurating the harvesting, opposition leader Oommen Chandy said the government should be ready to compensate the farmers, who suffered heavy losses. He also stated that the government should stop exploiting the farmers. KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, KC Venugopal and many other leaders are present there.

AJ: The UDF opposition walked out of the Assembly accusing the
government of taking lightly the huge loss suffered by paddy growers
in Kuttanad region due to resistance to harvesting machines by pro-CPI
(M) farm workers union. The walk-out was followed by a day-long fast
by four UDF members in the foyer of the house while the government
rejected the opposition charge and turned down the demand for an
immediate discussion on the issue.

Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran said agriculture, revenue
and irrigation officials have been asked to assess the situation and
the government was ready to compensate losses suffered by the farmers.
'Flooding caused due to the downpour in the last few days had
constricted the use of harvesting machine and unions can not be blamed
for this'.

Disputing the minister's contention, opposition leader Oommen Chandy
charged the government with taking things too lightly and trooped his
side out of the house.
UDF members -Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, M Murali, Joseph M Pudussery
and Ummer- immediately began their fast in the foyer of the house
demanding the government to take the matter seriously.

A team led by the district collector visited the areas of Kuttanad
which has been badly affected by heavy rains. It has been reported
that a loss of Rs one million have been estimated in the rains that
lashed the district. Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran and
opposition leader Oommen Chandy visit Kuttanad.

AJ: Christians in the state celebrated Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus Christ's arrival in Jerusalem ahead of his trial and crucifixion. People congregated in churches across the state in large numbers to participate in Palm Sunday mass and took part in processions, in commemoration of the strewing of palm-branches by Christ's followers when he entered Jerusalem. Palm Sunday is known as Kuruthola perunnal as the faithful carry tender fronds of coconut leaves instead of palm branches while participating in the procession. The occasion also marked the beginning of the Holy Week, commemorating the last days of Jesus Christ culminating in the crucifixion on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter Sunday.

AJ: National Security Adviser M K Naryanan said Kerala and Tamil nadu
have been asked to closely monitor the activities of Tamil Tigers as
both states had presence of small LTTE pockets". Central intelligence
agencies were aware of "the presence of small LTTE pockets and their
counterparts in the two states have been asked to closely monitor such
activities," Narayanan told reporters. Narayanan, who was here to
offer prayers at the famous Sree Krishna temple in Amalappuzha.Central
Intelligence Bureau had informed the states about the possibility of
LTTE units in Sri Lanka getting help from their supporters in the two
southern states.

AJ: The state government will not allow to implement the suggestion of the Union Finance Minister in connection with the extension of working hours from eight to ten, Minister for Excise and Labour P K Gurudasan said in the assembly. The minimum wages of the plantation workers will be revised soon, the minister said while responding to a question during the question hour.

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 12: The Kerala IT.Com 2008, with the theme ''Kerala-The IT Destination,'' will kickstart at the Techopark, near here tomorrow.

The second largest IT exhibition in the country will see Sun Micro, Cisco, Infosys, IBM, IBS, NeST, NIIT, Intel, Microsoft and Wipro, State IT Secretary Ajay Kumar and Technopark CEO R K Nair told reporters here.

They said apart from IT majors in Karnataka, KSIDC, KINFRA, State Bank of India, C-DAC, Sybase, Computer Associate, CMC, HP, 3i infotech, DOEACC, Dell, Core Projects and TVS would display their latest and state-of-the-art products.

Kochi, Mar 12: Idea Cellular Ltd has overtaken public sector BSNL as the market leader for cellular phone services in Kerala, Company Chief Operating Officer, Kerala Circle, B Ramakrishna said today.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a prize distribution function here for the winners of the 'Idea Dhamaka' and 'Idea-Motorola SMS Contest,' Mr Ramakrishna said according to February 2008 figures of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Idea had a customer base of 2.5 million in Kerala against BSNL's 2.1 million.

Stating the market for mobile telephony was becoming increasingly competitive, Mr Ramakrishna said 2007 was a critical year for Idea with the company rolling out its services in nearly 1,000 towns across the country.

Kochi, Mar 12: Four eminent Indian and international companies have been shortlisted to prepare the master plan for the 'Smart City Kochi' Project.

Smart City Executive Director Fareed Abdul Rahman said in a statement here the shortlisting of the companies marked the next phase of the multi-crore-rupee project, designed to be a self-sustaining IT township.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan here in November last year. It is to be a joint venture between the Kerala Government and TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai.The project has an employment potential of 90,000 jobs.

AJ: Opposition leader Oommen Chandy said both the state government and
the home minister are trying to challenge the court. Court
intervention is common in some issues and a good government should be
prepared to obey the same. The stand of chief minister and Pinarayi
Vijayan is a challenge to the court verdict.UDF will not encourage
violence and the government should work in a proper way by keeping the
situation in mind, Chandy said.

KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala said home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
should resign from his post owning responsibility for the recent
violent incidents in Kannur.
He alleged that the CPM is trying to suppress political opponents in
Kannur. He welcomed the statement of the Kerala High Court directing
to deploy central force in the district. He said the statements of the
state government and Pinarayi Vijayan against it, is an insult to the
court.

BJP state general secretary M T Ramesh said CPM state secretary
Pinarayi Vijayan's statement against the Kerala High Court observation
on Kannur violence is challenging the court. The chief minister should
prosecute Pinarayi for the same. Leaders should be ready to obey court
orders. Pinarayi is trying to sabotage the peace making efforts of the
chief minister. It is not possible to restore peace in Kannur by
sharing stage with CPM criminal leaders.

AJ: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan took serious exception to the Kerala High Court criticising the state government for its failure to protect life and property in Kannur district, which was rocked by political violence last week. The judge's remarks were, however, hailed by Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Oommen Chandy.

The judge's remarks led to heated exchanges between the ruling and opposition members in the Assembly on WednesdayKerala High Court has said the only solution to serial political killings in Kannur, a CPM fortress, is timely deployment of central forces. Hearing a petition on the "cold-blooded" murder of Mohammed Faizal, who left the CPM and joined the National Development Front in Kannur, Justice V. Ram Kumar asked if the entire police force had become puppets in the hands of politicians and referred the case to the CBI.

According to the prosecution, 29-year-old Faizal, a newspaper boy, was killed on October 22, 2006, by CPM men. With the Kannur killings,seven have died in clashes between the CPM and the BJP since last week in the background, the judge wanted the governor to inform the Centre of the need for a permanent mechanism to check violence in the district "where manslaughter is a competing sport".

"If reports are to be believed, Kannur district, particularly Thalassery taluk, has over the years been the hotbed of political violence…. Blessed are those who die a natural death in Thalassery," he said. Thalassery is the home minister's constituency. CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the judge was biased. The government will appeal against his verdict.

AJ: Security for CPI(M)-BJP offices in the state has been tightened following the attack on AKG Bhavan in New Delhi. Security has been arranged to AKG centre and RSS office in the state capital. DYFI activists staged a march towards Mararji Bhavan, the BJP headquarters.

In order to restore peace in Thalassery, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan hold talks with RSS leaders atKannur Collectorate.The RSS leadership stated that no talks will be held with the CPM in connection with the Kannur violence. The party also said that they will support any measure to restore peace in Thalassery.

Menwile Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who were in New Delhi to attend the CPM central committee meet, returned back to the state.He returned to the state without attending the concluding session of the meet, upset with the latest round of political violence in Kannur involving BJP and CPM activists.

AJ: ADGP Jangpangi said special force has been deployed for maintaining peace in the violence hit areas of Thalassery. At least 59 persons have been arrested from the tension prevailing areas. As violence continued to rock the politically sensitive areas, two more CPM activists were hacked near Thalassery bus depot.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today called for an end to the "mad" violence in Kannur and said he will convene an all party meet to find peace in the district.
The CM disapproved the murder spree by CPI (M) and BJP workers and even suggested to his party men to desist from indulging in violence. Achuthanandan said he will convene an all party meeting soon to find peace in Kannur and will visit the district if needed. "The incidents there are unfortunate. If a breadwinner of a family dies, the family is orphaned''.

BJP vice president Venkaiah Naidu demanded central force should be deployed for restoring peace in the violence hit Kannur.Naidu asked the Centre to intervene to solve the Kannur issue. He also blamed Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as a mere spectator of political violence in Kannur.

AJ: The unabated violence allegedly involving CPI-M and BJP-RSS workers claimed two more lives. Taking the toll in the sporadic attacks since Wednesday to six in and around Thalassery near here as shoot-at sight orders were issued to rein in troublemakers. CPI-M worker Aneesh (32) was murdered allegedly by BJP workers at Puthur near Panoor this morning, while in an apparent retaliatory attack, K Suresh Babu (38) of BJP was stabbed to death by a group of suspected CPI-M activists near Kodiyeri.

DGP Ramon Srivastava has reached Kannur to visit the trouble prone areas. DGP  who held an emergency meeting with top district and police officials, and he told reporters that police had been ordered to shoot-at-sight those perpetrating violence. The situation in and around Thalassery, 22 km from here, continued to remain tense.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan termed as 'disappointing" on the ongoing political clashes in Kannur. VS said that he will hold talks with the concerned to solve the problems of Kannur.

KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala said the government as well as the police has failed in restoring peace.He said a central force should be deployed in Kannur to restore peace.He criticized chief minister for his visit to New Delhi in a situation like this. An all party should be convened in Kannur, said opposition leader Oommen Chandy. The recent political attacks in Kannur for the past four days have claimed six lives.

AJ: The state facing acute shortage of the commodity as domestic supplies continue to fall far short of the demand. The widening supply-demand gap has forced major supply chains, including the single largest co-operative vendor Milma, to source large quantities at a high price from outside the state to satisfy customers.

The state's total milk production was estimated to be around 21 lakh tonnes against a demand of 24.53 lakh tonnes a year. The output had steadily been on the decline from 27.18 lakh tonnes in 2001-02 to 21.18 lakh by 2006-07.

The domestic availability of Milma stood at about 6.20 lakh litres a day against its current demand of 10.50 lakh tonnes, forcing it to source the deficit from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and even Maharashtra. Significantly, Kerala's poor performance coincided with a resurgence in the dairy sector at the national level.

AJ: Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac presented  budget for 2008-09.The budget  mainly towards enhancing all welfare pensions for deprived sections, to Rs 200 a month. It sought additional mobilisation of Rs 188 crore and concessions to various sections to the tune of Rs 25.12 crore.There was also a significant proposal of earmarking Rs 14 crore to implement schemes based on the Sachar Committee report for the social and economic upliftment of the Muslim community.

Another proposal was slashing of aviation fuel tax to four per cent in the hope that the airlines would pass on the commensurate advantage to passengers. The budget announced a comprehensive health insurance scheme for all sections, apart from the centrally-supported scheme for the BPL category. The scheme would be implemented on a pilot basis in Alappuzha and Kollam districts.

In an environment-friendly step, the budget pegged the tax on plastic bags at 12.5 per cent while giving total tax exemption to paper bags.In a bid to evade tax evasion in second-hand car sales, the rate has been lowered to 0.5 per cent from four per cent.The budget proposed a Social Security Mission with a corpus of Rs 60 crore to co-ordinate various schemes.

AJ: An all party meeting would be called by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to discuss issues connected with setting up of a High Court Bench in the state capital. The meeting was called in the wake of last week decision by a full Bench of the Kerala High Court that the Thiruvananthapuram bench was not feasible. The date for the meeting would be decided later. The Kerala assembly had passed resolutions twice seeking a Bench of the High Court in Thiruvananthapuram. Lawyers affiliated to Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association were on the warpath demanding a High Court bench in the state capital with facility to file petitions.

AJ:  Veliyam Bhargavan has been re-elected as CPI state secretary for the fourth consecutive year. K E Ismail, assistant secretary who suggested his name was unanimously approved by the meet. He was first elected to the post in 1998. He became a full time party activist through students outfit and became a party member in 1949. From 1960 onwards, he was state committee member and in 1957 and 1960 he was elected to the assembly.

AJ: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was inaugurated the civil works for Air India's engineering and maintenance base unit near the international airport at
Thiruvananthapuram. The CM said that a master plan for the development of the airport in the state capital was being prepared. The proposed airport at Kannur would become a reality in the next three years. He said Air India should try to reduce the fares in different sectors.

Air India Chairman V Thulasidas said that, two new flights would be introduced from Thiruvananthapuram by the end of this month. A daily flight would be operated from here to Delhi through Kochi and another to Mumbai for connection to international services.

The hangar unit, an ultra-modern engineering facility, can accommodate two narrow body new generation aircraft at the same time. With rainwater harvesting, solar powered and CFL facilities, the base would be made eco-friendly to maintain the safety and service standards of Air India.

AJ: Sister Alphonsa will be officially declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church on October 12, Church sources said. Sister Alphonsa is the first person
to be conferred sainthood from the Kerala Church which traces its origins to the visit of  St.Thomas around 2,000 years ago to preach the gospel in India.

The decision to officially declare her a saint was taken by a meeting of cardinals held in Vatican Saturday, Fr. Paul Thalekkat, spokesperson of the Syro Malabar Church said.The declaration regarding the canonisation would be held in Rome and there would be celebrations and prayers in Kerala also.

Sister Alphonsa, who died at the age of 36 in 1946, was recognised as a saintly person during her lifetime itself. People who knew her sought her intercession soon after her death and many "miraculous healings" have been received at her tomb at Bharananganam, near Kottayam.

Sister Alphonsa was beatified and made Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1986. In June 2007, Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree approving the miracles that took place through the intercession of Alphonsa paving the way for canonisation.