The terror in Mumbai took its toll on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was killed during the anti-terror operations in Mumbai on Friday. He hailed from Cheruvannur in Kozhikode. His father, Unnikrishnan, and mother lives in a home near Yelahanka air force station, Bangalore. Sandeep, who turned 31 on March 15, commissioned in June 1999, Sandeep was part of the 7 Bihar Regiment. In 2006, he signed up for the National Security Guard, the elite commando force raised to fight terror. The family had no idea Sandeep was part of the operation in Mumbai. He had not informed them for security reasons. He was an incredible sportsman. His teachers remembers that he held various records in sports, and had dreamt of joining the forces from when he was in Class III and even came to school in a crew cut. He was a bright student. Sandeep passed Class XII with distinction from Frank Anthony and joined the NDA in 1994. His uncle's home at Beypore near Kerala in Kozhikode district was in a sombre mood as the news came that Unni, 28, is no more. He was seriously injured on Thursday night when he led an NSG commando group to flush out the terrorists at the Taj hotel in south Mumbai where the terrorists had been holding a number of people hostage.

Another tragedy of the terror attack was the death of a father and son. Anish Prabhu, a 24-year-old Malayali youth and his father Murugan have been killed in the terror attack at VT station. Aneesh accompanied by his father had gone to Mumbai for a medical examination to Mumbai, mandatory for the Qatar job he was seeking. He was caught by the bullets of terrorists at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Wednesday night.

A 48-year-old Varghese Thomas, an official at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel was also reported as killed on Thursday.


In the meantime, Security had been beefed up in Kochi airport. A special airport security committee has been convened and evaluated the security arrangements in and outside the airport, airport sources said. Quick Reaction Team (QRT) will be put on alert. All the baggage of passengers would be checked thoroughly, the sources said. Secondary ladder point checking will also be introduced. Police and CISF would intensify patrolling of airport. Kochi city police commissioner Manoj Abraham has said that the city has been put on high alert in the wake of terror strikes in Mumbai. Star hotels in the city have been directed to install security mechanisms.

"There should be no reason for panic in the state in the wake of terror attacks that took place in Mumbai yesterday (Wednesday)," said CM Achuthanandan. State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters that there was high alert at the pilgrimage centre of Sabarimala, where the peak season is on. "The police are doing their job there and are leaving nothing to chance," said Balakrishnan.

Kochin naval command is also on alert and the Sabarimala is also put on alert as it is the pilgrimage season in kerala.

Kochi, Nov 21: Second accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case Fr Jose Poothrukkayil today filed a petition in the Kerala High Court, challenging the order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, granting the CBI 14 days' custody of the three accused in the case. In the first arrests in the case, Father Jose Putarika, 56, a former Malayalam professor at the Kottayam college where Abhaya studied, and Thomas Kottor, 61, the Diocesan chancellor of the Catholic Church at Kottayam, were picked up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday. The third, 45-year-old Sister Seffi, who belonged to the same convent as Abhaya, was arrested Wednesday.

The petitioner contended that remanding of an accused to police custody for 14 days at a stretch was illegal and violative of human rights. He also submitted that the CBI had violated the guidelines which should be followed while arresting a person and had kept him in custody for more than 30 hours before producing him in court.

CBI Joint Director Ashok Kumar said "It is the endeavour of the CBI to complete the investigation of the case as expeditiously as possible and as directed by the Kerala High Court," Abhaya's elderly father Thomas said he was happy that the CBI had finally made an arrest. "We want to know more details... This arrest is going to be a big boost for the closing of the case; don't worry, if there is a god, the case will be solved and the truth will come out," Thomas told reporters.

Responding to the arrests, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the way events unfolded have shown that "some people command a lot of respect but incidents like this prove that this very same people can do otherwise also".

Labels: Top-Stories

European power equipment maker Borri and Kerala-based Unitek Power Solutions, are jointly setting up a rs 30 crore modern manufacturing plant at Pazhanganad in Ernakulam district to cater to Indian and overseas markets. Fausto Beoni, Managing Director, Borri, told that India is an "interesting country with a huge potential. Indian market will grow very fast". There were also plans to recruit Indian engineers who would be trained in Italy, he said adding 80 persons have already been recruited. More people would be taken in phases. Borri will be taking a 10% stake in Unitek and the modalities in this regard are being worked out, he said. Unitek expects a turnover of Rs 75 cr this year, he added. Presently, the Unitket Borri products were installed in various industrial and marine establishments, textile units, hospitals and oil fields. MD John Zachariah said 'The Indian market will grow very fast. Also, I do not see a recession in the oil and gas sector. Energy will not be affected much,'' he added. The Pazhanganad plant, the first investment by Borri in India, will concentrate on mechanical and fabrication work while modules and PCBs would be imported from Italy. ''Almost 50 per cent of the work would be done here,'' Mr Zachariah added. Besides standard UPS systems in the 10 to 40 KV range, the plant would also manufacture customised systems for industrial applications. Unitek was expecting a turnover of Rs 75 crore this year, Mr Zachariah added.

Labels: Business, Ernakulam

New Delhi, Nov.7 : The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh
Kalmadi today (November 07) signs MoU with Olympic Committee of government
of Kerala for the 35th edition of the national games going to be held in the
month of May in 2010. “This opportunity of hosting the Games will give an opportunity for Kerala to come up on the national scene in a big way once again,” said Mr. Kalmadi. "Today we have signed MoU with Olympic Committee,
Government of Kerala for the 35th edition of the National Games, which are
going to be held in May in 2010. As per the agreement, Kerala would raise infrastructure by March 2010 at Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode for conducting the Games later that year. Kerala had last hosted the Games in 1987. "New champions will create through national games, so the national games are being organised every year," said Kalmadi. The infrastructure will get ready for commonwealth games by 2009 and no doubt that it will be the best of commonwealth games. We have conducted several meeting for security measures. We have
won 76 medals in common youth games, so what will happen in senior, you know
well," added Suresh Kalmadi. Kerala Sports Minister Vijay Kumar,said “Kerala has been a front-runner in churning out many athletes on the national and international scene and we want to continue that tradition. The National Games in 2010 will provide that opportunity and we want to cash in on the chance.” Two traditional disciplines of Kerala, ‘kalaripayattu’ (martial art) and boat racing would be held as demonstration sports during the Games. The Kerala Government had set aside Rs. 100 crore for the Games project, including that for the development of infrastructure, said Director of Sports, V. Kishore.

Labels: Sports