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October 2002
Thursday, October 31, 20022 new rice varieties releasedTHRISSUR: Changam and Dhanu, two high-yielding varieties of rice, have beenreleased by scientists of the Kerala Agricultural University's research station at Onattukara in Alappuzha district.A KAU press release here said the varieties were found appropriate for cultivation in the Onattukara tract over an area of 73,000 hectares in Kollam and Alappuzha districts. Changam is short duration dry sown rice variety evolved by combination breeding which is a semi-small variety in nature with a duration of only 98 days for maturity with a yield of 3838 kg grain per hectare and 4222 kg straw, the release said. Dhanu is a high-yielding photosensitive variety suitable for the Mundakan season. It has been developed by mutation breeding from the popular variety, PTE 20, with a yield potential of 3750 kg grain per hectare, it said. Thursday, October 31, 2002New collector for WayanadPTITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: K Goplan was on Wednesday appointed as the new collector of Wayanad in place of R Prabakaran who was posted as additional commissioner, revenue. Talking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister A K Antony said Dinesh Sharma was posted as new excise commssioner and Sajan Peter, secretary, taxes. Thursday, October 31, 2002Viral meningitis outbreak suspected in ErnakulamKOCHI: Health authorities here suspect an outbreak of viral meningitis in Ernakulam district, with 71 patients, mostly children, admitted to various hospitals with symptoms of the disease.The Director of Health Services, Dr V K Rajan, along with a five-member team from the Thiruvananthapuram medical college on Wednesday visited patients at various hospitals, as also areas in Paravur and Vaduvokkod, from where the maximum number of cases have been reported. Deputy District Medical Officer Dr Ramani said that blood samples of patients had been sent to the Pune virology laboratory for viral culture and for conformation of the airborne disease. The results were expected within two or three days, she said. Fever, headache and vomiting are the symptoms of the disease, which is caused by inflammation in the meninges, the membranes. Thursday, October 31, 2002Nursing college to be opened todayKOCHI: The Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre's (AIMS) College of Nursing will be inaugurated by Union Health minister Shatrughan Sinha on November 1.Union Minister of Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi will preside over the function, AIMS said in a press release here. Union Minister of State for Urban Development O Rajagopal would also be present. A textbook on geriatric medicine will be released by State Health minister P Sankaran. Thursday, October 31, 2002PDP's secretariat march turns violent; vehicles and shops damagedA protest march to secretariat organised by PDP seeking the release of its chairman Abdul Nasser Mauhdany turned violent.The police resorted to a lathi-charge after protestors set fire to vehicles parked along the road and attacked shops. About 100 vehicles have been damaged. Several people have been injured. Inaugurating the demonstration, Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai said the A K Antony government is protecting real terrorists while keeping genuine public workers like Mauhdany in jail. He deplored what he called the ingratitude on the part of the UDF government. Thursday, October 31, 2002Heavy rain likely in TN, Kerala, LakshadweepPune, Oct 31 (UNI) Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep during the next 48 hours.Rain or snow is likely at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir. Rain or thundershowers are likely at many places in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep, at a few places in Rayalseema and coastal and south interior Karnataka and at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and north interior Karnataka. Mainly dry weather will prevail over the rest of the country. Northeast monsoon has been vigorous in Tamil Nadu and active in Kerala. Rain or thundershowers have occurred at a few places in coastal and south interior Karnataka and at isolated places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Rayalseema. Mainly dry weather prevailed over the rest of the country. Day temperatures were appreciably to markedly above normal in east Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra, Konkan and Chattisgarh and were above normal in Assam, Manipur, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, south Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Andhra Pradesh. They were appreciably below normal in south interior Karnataka and were below normal in Rayalseema and Tamil Nadu. They were normal over the rest of the country outside West Bengal and Sikkim from where data were sparse. Night temperatures were appreciably below normal in Jharkhand, Marathwada and Telengana and were below normal in Tripura, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and south Kerala. They were above normal in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Saurashtra and Kutch and were normal over the rest of the country outside West Bengal, Sikkim, Rajasthan and coastal Karnataka from where data were sparse. Thursday, October 31, 2002Kerala BJP fails to attract Ezhavas, NairsThe Bharatiya Janata Party's attempt to end its electoral drought in Kerala by gaining acceptance among religious and social organisations has fizzled out with leaders of two influential communities refusing to go along with the Sangh Parivar.The BJP wanted to bring together scattered Hindu organisations, especially the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, representing the backward Ezhava community, and the Nair Service Society, championing the interests of the upper caste Nair community. As per a plan mooted by BJP president Venkaiah Naidu at a party meeting in Thiruvananthapuram a couple of months ago, the party was to contest the next assembly election with their support. The Ezhavas were staunch supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist until the party sought to sideline their leader K R Gowri and targeted their institutions during the previous Left Democratic Front regime. However, rather than support the BJP, the SNDP is showing signs of returning to the CPI-M fold. SNDP president P K Vidyasagar and general secretary Vellappally Natesan had on Tuesday held a meeting with CPI-M politburo member V S Achutanandan in Thiruvananthapuram. Though neither has divulged the details of the discussions, the meeting resulted in the SNDP calling off its nearly month-long agitation against the CPI-M. The meeting came in the wake of a concerted attempt by the SNDP to wean away the Ezhava population from the CPI-M. The SNDP had succeeded in setting up several branches in CPI-M citadels in north Kerala fighting the money and muscle power of the party. The CPI-M had also given vent to its ire against the Ezhavas for breaking their traditional kinship with the party. At that time, the BJP and members of the Sangh Parivar had backed the SNDP against the CPI-M, which the latter viewed as an attempt to woo the Ezhavas. The ceasefire between the SNDP and the CPI-M has naturally dampened the spirits of the Sangh Parivar. With the NSS, the Sangh Parivar had a rather humbling experience. NSS general secretary P K Narayana Panicker cancelled his appointment with Vishwa Hindu Parishad all-India general secretary Mohan Joshi at the NSS headquarters at Changanacherry in Kottayam district early this week. The NSS leadership was apparently angry over the publicity the Sangh Parivar had given to the personal meeting. They felt the propaganda was aimed at exploiting the name of the NSS for political mileage. "We will not allow any political party to interfere in our affairs and exploit the goodwill we enjoy for political gains. We have no intention of aligning with any political party, including the BJP," said G Sukumaran Nair, assistant secretary of the NSS. Subsequently, VHP state organising secretary Kummanam Rajashekharan described the NSS as 'un-courteous'. "If Changanacherry Arch Bishop Joseph Powathil could warmly welcome the VHP leader, there was no reason for the NSS to deny him an audience," he said. "We only wanted to maintain our traditional friendship with the NSS," he added. BJP state president C K Padmanabhan believes the media focused on the Panicker-Joshi meeting at the behest of its political opponents who wanted to frustrate its plan to build bridges with the NSS. The NSS had been closely associated with the VHP since its formation in 1966. NSS founder Mannath Padmanabhan was the one to light the lamp at the inauguration of the VHP unit in Kerala at the Guruvayoor temple. The BJP had targeted the Hindu social and religious organisations after failing to elicit the support of smaller parties, which are firmly entrenched in either the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front or the opposition LDF. Earlier, the party had unsuccessfully courted the Kerala Congress (M), a regional party championing the interest of Christians, during the last assembly election. Though the KC (M) remained elusive, the BJP succeeded in engineering a split in the party with one faction joining the National Democratic Alliance. Thursday, October 31, 2002Malaysia Top On Kerala's Tourism PromotionTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM (INDIA), Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has been listed by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Ltd as its main Southeast Asian market and has lined up various programmes to attract more Malaysian tourists to the South Indian state.Kerala Tourism managing director, Dr K. Elangovan, said that while the state's focus all along had been on the Western market, the Sept 11 incident had brought about many changes. "Malaysia is a new market for us. All these years, it has been overlooked. Promoting two-way tourism between the two countries would bring mutual benefits," he told Bernama in an interview here recently. In line with the potential for two-way tourism, Kerala Tourism would be undertaking various promotional programmes and also participate in trade fairs and roadshows to promote the beauty of Kerala to Malaysian people, he said. Most foreigners who currently visit Kerala are from Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. Elangovan said exploring the Malaysian market and other similar markets like Singapore was viable as these countries had centuries old historical, cultural and trade ties with India and also Kerala in particular. Looking at possible factors hampering better two-way tourism between Kerala and Malaysia, he said the non-existence of direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Thiruvananthapuram could be one. "Once Malaysians start to come here in a big number then it will create more interactions and the Kerala people will also start to travel to Malaysia. "There will be better connectivity then," he said. Kerala, known for its rich greenery, heritage palaces, forts, famous historical buildings and beautiful beaches receives about 5.5 million domestic tourists and about 270,000 foreign tourists annually. This southern state is world known for five major tourist attractions -- namely its beaches, backwater cruise, heritage islands, hill resorts and wildlife sanctuaries -- usually all located within 200 km radious of one another. One growing interest with tourists is in ayurveda, the ancient medical treatment and massage. The backwaters of Kerala, popularly compared with Venice by tourists, meanwhile is another attraction with backwater cruises being popular with tourists and boat-races attracting a large number of people, especially during festivals like Onam. Kerala which has about 22 percent Muslims, 20 percent Christians and Hindus making up the rest of the population is also a popular destination for religious and pilgrimage based tourism. For example, the famous 12th century mosque at Madayi in the Kannur district, was built with white marble said to have been brought in from Arab. The Jamaat mosque in Malappuram is also another famed mosque. The St.Francis Church, in Cochin built by the Portugese in 1510 is believed to be the first church built by the Europeans in India while the seven-storey tower Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple is another attractive landmark in the city. Kerala's buildings and forts have the architectural influence of the Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Portugese, Phoenicians and the British. On the other hand, Cochin known as the "Queen of the Arabian Sea" has one of the finest natural harbours in the world and known for its beautiful beaches and rivers, backwaters and its cultural mix. Thursday, October 31, 2002Andhra boys, Kerala girls emerge championsMargao, Oct. 31. (UNI): Andhra Pradesh regained the boys' title after four years while Kerala girls emerged as the new champions of the 20th junior national softball championship organised by the Goa Softball Association, which concluded here at Nehru Stadium Fatorda today.Defending champions, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra, had to be content with the third place in boys and girls events respectively. In the boys final today Andhra Pradesh scored a comfortable 14-6 homes win over Chandigarh. Sudarshan 3, Abhinav 3, Zakhiruddin 2 shone for AP, while Niraj 3, Diwan, Rajesh and Atul made one home each for Chandigarh. In the third place match, Madhya Pradesh blanked Rajasthan by 3-0 homes. Sarab, Sachin and Javed made one home each for winners. In the girls event Kerala were declared champions on better performance by the tehnical committee when the final tie against Madhya Pradesh was abandoned yesterday due to rain. Kerala were adjudged winners by one home difference then MP. Kerala were leading by 8-7 at the time of interruption of the play after completing six and half innings yesterday. Madhya Pradesh had played six innings while Kerala had played only five. Thursday, October 31, 2002PDP march turns violentThiruvananthapuram, Oct. 31. (PTI): Several persons were injured in heavy stone-pelting and a few vehicles damaged as a march, organised by the People's Democratic Party, turned violent in front of the Government Secretariat today, police said.Police chased away the protesters after some of them allegedly barged into the secretariat and pelted stones protesting denial of loud speaker facility to party leaders to address about 7000 marchers who had converged before the secretariat by the afternoon. The marchers pelted stones at the sign boards of shops and vehicles, including those of mediapersons, parked in the area. Police said no arrests have been made so far. Tension prevailed in the area for some time but the situation was now under control. The march was organised in pursuance of the PDP demand that the UDF Government intervene to secure the release of party leader, Nasser Madani, detained in a Tamil Nadu jail in connection with the Coimbatore bomb blasts case. The PDP had claimed that the UDF had promised on the eve of the 2001 Assembly polls that it would help secure Madani's release if voted to power. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Ayurveda Congress; 2500 delegates attendAbout 2500 delegates, including a large number of representatives from both developing and developed countries, will attend the four-day World Ayurveda Congress being inaugurated by Union Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha in Kochi on November 1.The international conclave spread over nearly 30 sessions would discuss the need for developing the traditional system of medicine in view of its immense and even infinite potential for exports. Disclosing this at a news conference here today, prof K I Vasu, Working Chairman, Swadeshi Science Congress, which is organising the Congress, said the meet would aim at enhancing India's share in the prevailing estimated global herbal market of a whopping Rs 530 billion of which India's present share was only a paltry Rs 3.5 billion. Integration of various systems of medcine in the light of the belated recognition of the importance of ayurveda by World Health Organisation(WHO) and enhancing the confidence level of the practitioners of Ayurveda would be among the purpose of the congress which was also expected to come out with a 'Kochi declaration', Dr Vasu said. A six-day exhibition of Ayurveda Medicinal Plants and a Herbal Trade Fair would also be organised in connection with the congress to be addressed by prominent leaders ncluding Union Ministers Nithish Kumar and O Rajagopal besides Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony, he added. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Cochin University to host three-day Asia-Pacific SeminarCochin University to host three-day Asia-Pacific Seminar on intellectual property rightsProtection of Intellectual property in genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore of the developing countries will be the topic of discussions at the three-day Asia-Pacific Seminar being held in Kochi from November 11. Organised by the School of Legal Studies of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) and sponsored jointly by the Geneva-based Wolrd Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) under the United Nations and the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, the seminar will be attended by a large number of delegates including representatives from nearly 40 countries, CUSAT Vice Chancellor N Unnikirhsnan Nair told mediapersons in Kochi on Tuesday. The seminar would aim at preparation of the specifications of a database for traditional knowledge relating to Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources and Traditional Folklore and extending legal protection to it. The initiative for this process was set in motion by WIPO in 1999 in the wake of increased incidences of piracy of traditional knowledge possessed so far by the developing countries, he said. Technical aspects of documentation of Traditional Knowledge and Alternative Dispute settlement on Intellectual property issues would be among the topics for discussion at the seminar to be inaugurated by Union Higher Education Secretary S K Tripaty, Dr Unnikrishnan Nair added. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Gang goes on rampage, 4 hurtTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A four-member gang went on the rampage, attacking people and shops, at Melarannoor and Karamana this evening creating a scare in the area. There was a deliberate attempt from certain quarters to give communal colour to the incident.According to police, the gang came in an ambassador car, KET 9999. They attacked a few shops and vehicles before uprooting flag posts of the RSS and the BJP in the area. The gang later attacked a group of boys who had come to attend a function. Four persons were injured in the incident. They have been admitted to a local hospital. On receiving the information about the attack, a police party chased the car and managed to intercept it near Bangladesh colony. While three of the gang members managed to escape the police net, Zakir, who is also the owner of the car, was taken into custody. Meanwhile, a group of persons believed to be RSS supporters attacked a few shops near Killipalam. The police have intensified patrolling in the area. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Mammootty sets up shop at Video ParkTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi, the Kinfra Film and Video Park may soon have another big star setting up shop – Mammootty.According to reliable sources, Mammootty has evinced interest in setting up a unit at the park which would use high-definition television (HDTV) technology for making feature films. HDTV is a burgeoning digital technology which is now much in demand among filmmakers in the West because it cuts down production costs drastically. The technology has only just arrived in India. Mammootty, according to sources, had visited the Park premises recently and was impressed by what he saw. The formalities for purchase of land and setting up of the unit will begin in the near future. The project is likely to cost more than Rs 10 crore. The ace actor, the sources added, had come close to investing in Kinfra’s IT park more than a year ago, but his proposal for call centres did not materialise. High-definition video system (HDVS), experts say, can be described as a wide-screen video medium that offers an image compatible to 35 mm film. It generates flicker-free images even on the largest of screens. High definition cameras record images on a cassette-type tape, which can be re-used for more than five films without any quality deterioration, and after completion of the post production process, the finished work (final edited form) is transferred to film, shot by shot. There is, therefore, no wastage of raw stock. Steven Spielberg is among the high-profile directors who have experimented successfully with this technology. In the West, HDTV started becoming popular after the economy soured following the September 11 attack. The jury is still out on whether the crossover of HDVS to film for theatrical purposes is a revolutionary development or just a passing fantasy, but more and more independent filmmakers are taking to the technology because it ensures lower costs. Industry watchers say that judicious use of the technology would help shore up the struggling Malayalam film industry. Experts are of the view that high-definition video will not totally supplant film, at least in the near future, for the old motion picture film still has a razor thin edge when it comes to quality. However, there is a general view that the HDTV camera offers more creative freedom for cinematographers and that makers of films with special effects would do better using it for their works. Meanwhile, Mammootty has also expressed his desire to invest in a project to set up a chain of multiplexes at the three major cities in the State. The actor is understood to be looking for partners to invest in the project and had recently held discussions with Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty and KSIDC MD Jiji Thomson on the subject. The proposal for multiplexes is to be presented at the coming Global Investors’ Meet (GIM). Sources said that a Haryana-based firm has evinced interest in the project. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Call for IMC probe into kidney racketThiruvananthapuram, Oct 29: The Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly V S Achuthanandan today said he would ask the Centre to conduct a probe by the Indian Medical Council (IMC) into the kidney transplantation scandal in two hospitals in Kerala’s Kozhikode District involving tribals from Idukki district.Addressing a press conference here, he said the inquiry report exonerating doctors and hospitals from the allegations was an attempt to “save the doctors and hospitals”. He said only an inquiry by the IMC would bring out the facts. He also asked the state government to take action against the hospitals and doctors who indulged in kidney trade. It was reported that tribals of Idukki district were exploited by “kidney agents” promising huge amounts for their organs. (Agencies) Wednesday, October 30, 2002Heavy rush for BSNL mobile cardsKOZHIKODE: Heavy rush was witnessed at the BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) Customer Service Centre at Mananchira here even as the BSNL started the distribution of application forms for its pre-paid cellular mobile connections.BSNL deputy general manager S Bose said that more than 3,000 application forms were distributed from the centre on Monday. ‘‘The number of applicants would be much higher as one can use the photostat copies or can download the forms from the BSNL website,’’ he said. The Customer Service Centres at Kozhikode, Vatakara and Kalpetta will function exclusively for the cellular mobile service for the coming two weeks. Other routine works have been shifted to the GM’s office, according to official sources. The Kozhikode SSA has been sanctioned 10,000 Excel SIM cards in the first phase. ‘‘It would be supplied on first come, first served basis. And it would take almost another month to begin the second phase,’’ official sources said. The network in Kozhikode and Wayanad covers major towns including Kozhikode, Feroke, REC - Chathamangalam, Koyilandy, Vatakara, Chombala, Kalpetta, Mananthavadi, Sulthan Bathery, Meenangadi, Puduppadi, Thamarassery, Koduvally, Payyoli and Elathur. The network is connected mostly through the optical fibre systems to ensure high quality speech. The services provided for pre-paid connections include voicemail, digital and data messaging services, internet access through wireless application protocol (WAP) apart from the roaming facility in southern states. The nation-wide roaming will be available for post-paid subscribers from the beginning. Wednesday, October 30, 2002CM should give up Home portfolio: PadmanabhanTHRISSUR: BJP State president C K Padmanabhan on Monday said that Chief Minister A K Antony should give up the Home portfolio as he had failed to effectively handle the State police department.He told mediapersons that in the past 17 months of UDF rule, the State had become a haven for anti-social elements. There is clear evidence about the increasing nexus between the police and underworld in the State, he said. He said the police policy of the Chief Minister had come in for open criticism from within the Congress and the UDF. Padmanabhan alleged that the Chief Minister was using the DGP and police force for enforcing his hidden agenda. The BJP leader, however, declined to elaborate. Answering a query, he said that political non-interference in the functioning of police does not mean a totally free hand to the police. He alleged that the DGP is acting as the Home Minister in the state at present, which is objectionable. Padmanabhan warned that the ineffective handling of police and non compliance of promises made by the UDF government to the people are leading to serious social tension in the State. The promise to allocate land to the tribals is yet to be fulfilled by the government resulting in forcing the tribals to take law into their own hands. The state capital has become a garbage bin as the waste generated in the city has not been cleared for the past several days. Answering another query, Padmanabhan said that VHP all-India secretary Mohan Joshi had decided to meet NSS general secretary P K Narayana Panicker at Changanassery without consulting the BJP. ‘‘NSS is a good host and VHP should introspect on why the NSS leader avoided meeting with the VHP leader, ’’he said. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Backlash in PanangadFlames of backlash in Panangad; irate mob burns down 17 hutsKOCHI: Seventeen huts along the Anjuthaikkal bund, from where the Gopalakrishnan murder case accused hail, were set afire by an irate mob on Tuesday afternoon. With this the brutal murder case has taken a serious turn. Though the police had nabbed three of the alleged culprits, presumably with the help of local people, they could not stop the people from giving vent to their anger and frustration over the criminal and anti-social activities sponsored by the dwellers of these hutments on encroached land. What irked the people most was the callousness with which the local police station treated the complaint filed by Gopalakrishnan minutes before his death. (He was killed while returning from the station). ``We had given innumerable complaints to the police about these people, but all of them fell on deaf ears. Had they sent at least two constables to the area after the complaint was filed by Gopalakrishnan, he would not have been killed,'' said Xavier, a resident of the area. Local people, though silently, approved of the burning of the huts as the gang had been harassing and terrorising the area for a long time making it even difficult for women and children to walk along the way. ``They did not even allow women to draw water. Some of them even hid under the small bridge and made filthy comments,'' pointed out another person. The gang, after committing the murder, had damaged a number of houses on the way. ``They broke the doors and windows, threatened and abused us. We even heard some female voices. We were afraid to come out,'' said Venu, pointing at the damaged house of his neighbours. The families which had to bear the brunt of the people's anger included those who had nothing to do with the episode. "We pleaded with them to spare our huts. Now we don't know what to do", said Mary Poulose, who rushed from her working-place only to find her house burning. "A group of people came in the morning and asked us to take away all our belongings and said they were going to burn down our huts. We took whatever we could,'' said Gopi, who lost his hut. Meanwhile, DIG B S Mohammed Yasin has announced that a special investigation team will be constituted for the probe. Patrolling will be intensified and the department will keep a strict vigil over the area. He, however, ruled out setting up of a permanent picket in Panangad. ``Panangad is not a problematic area. We don't foresee any further trouble. The police will intensify monitoring,'' he said. Promises apart, Panangad has not been getting the adequate khaki cover to insulate itself from acts of rowdyism. The area had been witnessing several people's initiatives to leash the menace. ``We had conducted an adalat on September 27 in the presence of top police officials to deliberate on the issue,'' point out K V Shanmayi, president of the Maradu panchayat, and ward member Kunjamma Augustine. ``The adalat was held under the banner `We want a peaceful life'. But the support from the police was always found wanting,'' she complained. ``We can only blame the police for yesterday's murder. They should have acted on time,'' said Thomas, a local resident. The residents have even prepared a list of hot-spots for easy policing. Central Godown of Water Authority, Land owned by Irrigation Department, S.N Junction, SVUP School, Railway tunnel and the either sides of Kundannoor bridge figure in the list, pointed out P J Johny, convener of Janakeeya Goonda Virudha Samithy. The need for immediate redressal of local peoples' grievances was underscored once again today when the local residents convened a public meeting at Panangad. Earlier, a 12-hour hartal was observed to protest against the killing. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Finnish firm to make $ 10 m investmentKOCHI: Finland-based Lockepole Technologies Inc., today announced a 10 million dollar (approx. Rs 50 crore) investment near Kochi to establish a Product Development Centre (PDC), which will conceptualise, design and develop software for the company's embedded systems.This will be Lockepole Technologies' second development centre in the country, the first being at Airoli in Navi Mumbai. The Finnish company has reported a worldwide turnover of 18 billion dollars in 2001 and employs about 11,000 people. The company's product range comprises innovative and highly sophisticated equipment such as convergence box, cellular signal booster and convergence phone. The investment is being made through its Indian subsidiary Lockepole Technologies India Ltd and the Kochi development centre is expected to come up by November 2003. The PDC, which is coming up at Vapalassery, near Cochin International Airport, Nedumbassery, will also provide employment for about 180 persons. ``We employ about 180 persons at our Airoli centre and we expect the same at our proposed centre at Kochi,'' said an official. Addressing a news conference here, Prince John Periapurath, country manager of Lockepole Technologies India Ltd., said the company will also soon launch its products, known under the brand name Mobile Cartel, through exclusive outlets across the country. To begin with, three products _ the Mobile Cartel convergence box (Cbox), Mobile Cartel convergence phone (Cphone) and Mobile Cartel convergence signal booster _ will be made available through the outlets. The product range has the approval of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The Cbox is a device that enables the convergence of internet, e-mail, television, telephone and fax and is priced at Rs 6,800. The Cphone employs the Satellite Data Packet Switching technology that enables the user to switch between various carriers and networks. The embedded device in the Cphone can access the satellite enabled worldwide data network and carry voice over internet protocol (VoIP). ``Cphone gateways allow the user to speak for unlimited hours and stay connected,'' John Periapurath, who is a native of Pala in Kottayam district, said. The convergence signal booster as the name suggests is used to improve weak cellular signals and to enhance the range of a cellphone. ``The Mobile Cartel convergence signal booster is ideal for use in vehicles, marine vessels and remote project management,'' he said. The product pricing starts from Rs 2000. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Work-to-rule stir hits communication backboneKOCHI: The ‘work-to-rule’ strike by the BSNL and MTNL employees that will turn one-week old on Tuesday has hit the communication backbone with almost all areas, except local dialing, experiencing intermittent snags.The strike has affected all sectors that utilise online leased circuits, including the cellular phone operators, rail and air travel reservations and new-age banking, which are experiencing occasional snapping of links. Sources in BSNL said the strike has now started affecting the inter-district nodes, which will have a negative impact on group dialling. Districts like Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kannur and Kozhikode have been the worst hit. The long distance STD and ISD calls have already been affected and the impact will spread in the coming days, union representatives said. Private cellular operators BPL and Escotel, along with the newly-launched BSNL pre-paid ex-cel, is feeling the heat of the strike by the Telecom Engineering Officers Association (TEOA) who are demanding payscales on par with other Public Sector Units. ‘‘Customers with roaming facility have called up to say they have been affected. Minor snags have been experienced by other users in districts like Alappuzha and some smaller towns,’’ said V G Somasekhar, chief operating officer, Escotel Mobile Communications. Roaming facility gets affected as the network uses the BSNL communication link while in the State, he added. Banking service of major players has not been affected in any significant way because of the availability of backups. ‘‘There have been intermittent snags. But we have the capability to switch over to a different communication system,’’ says Hari Vellore, regional head, HDFC. Meanwhile TEOA all-India vice-president, K O Alias, in a statement said, the authorities should not view the fact that the employees are taking maximum care to minimise hardships to the general public and commercial consumers as weakness on their part. Wednesday, October 30, 2002KSU chief, 11 others hurt in police actionKOLLAM: KSU State president P.C.Vishnunath and 11 others were injured when a group of KSU activists clashed with the police here on Monday. The injured have been admitted to the district hospital here.Three policemen were also injured in the clashes. The KSU has called an education bandh in the State tomorrow in protest against the police action. A tense situation prevailed at the SN College following recounting of votes in the election to the posts of chairman and magazine editor of the college union. Both these posts were won by KSU candidates in the elections held last Friday. However, the results were withheld as the SFI demanded recounting of votes. According to the SFI, the total votes polled had not tallied with the number of votes for the winning candidates of these two posts. The college authorities had declared a holiday for the college today. The KSU workers led by Vishnunath held a protest march to the college against the recounting of votes which ended in a showdown with the police. KSU district president P.Jermias alleged that the SFI activists supported by the CITU workers provoked violence after the KSU candidates won in the recounting also. He alleged that both the police and the SFI-led anti-social elements attacked the KSU workers. Vishnunath said that he was beaten up by the police even after disclosing his identity. The police sources said that the KSU activists tried to prevent the police from removing an INTUC worker from the spot. The SFI leaders alleged that the INTUC worker carried lethal weapons and had come to the college campus for attacking them. A group of KSU activists held a march in protest against the police action in the city and blocked the vehicular traffic this evening. The results of the college union elections in the SN College have not yet been announced. KPCC DEMAND: KPCC general secretaries Thalekkunnil Basheer, Rajmohan Unnithan and M.K.Raghavan who were in Kollam in connection with the DCC leadership camp visited the injured KSU activists at the District Hospital. They urged the government to take stringent action against the policemen who attacked the students. he KPCC has taken the issue very seriously, they said. Earlier, UDF convener Oommen Chandy also visited the students at the hospital. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Govt inviting serious consequences on Mahdani issue: PDPThiruvananthapuram, Oct 29 (UNI) The People's Democratic Party (PDP) today warned that the Kerala Government was ''inviting serious consequences'' by taking an ''adamant'' stand against the release of ailing party chief Abdul Nasser Mahdani, lodged in a Tamil Nadu jail for the last four-and-a-half years without being chargesheeted.PDP General Secretary Poonthura Siraj told newspersons here that his party would not be responible for any consequences that might arise out of the denial of conditional bail during the Ramadan month to Mr Mahdani, imprisoned as the 15th accused in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts case. He said the PDP was not demanding the withdrawal of cases against Mr Mahdani, but was only requesting for a conditional bail so as to enable him to seek medical aid. ''He has not been arrested under POTA, TADA or NSA. There is only a criminal case pending against him. It is not fair on the part of the authorities to put him behind the bars for the past four-and-a-half years without trial.'' Stating that the A K Antony government had betrayed them on the issue, he said the PDP activists would stage a Secretariat march on October 31, urging the UDF government to fulfil its pre-election promise to them. ''Had Mr Antony spent ten minutes on the issue, Mr Mahdani would have been released from jail by now,'' he added. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Isolated heavy rain in KeralaIsolated rains occurred in Kerala on Tuesday, while light rain occured at a few places in Lakshadweep.According to an observatory report, the chief amounts of rainfall reported in cms are: Kollam 3, Ottapalam 2 and Punalur one. Alappuzha recorded the highest maximum temperature of 34 degree celsius while Punalur recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 22 degree celsius. Forecast valid until the morning of October 31: Rain or thudershowers will occur at few places in Kerala and isolated places in Lakshadweep, the report said. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Fed up Kerala University VC may call it a dayTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala University Vice-Chancellor B Ekbal may call it a day as he is reportedly fed up with the ``unethical and mafia model operations'' of a group of Syndicate members which violates the very sanctity of higher education.Dr Ekbal, an eminent neurosurgeon and public health activist, was handpicked by the last CPM-led LDF government for the post. Ironically, among his detractors within the university establishment are leading CPM men. It all started with the Senate passing a regulation for conducting entrance examinations for admitting students with 40 percent marks to the Law Academy Law College in accordance with the provisions of the Bar Council. The Law Academy went against the University decision and by the end of the episode, a section of the Syndicate members, including Koliyakode Krishnan Nair, the brother of Law Academy manager Narayanan Nair and a CPM nominee in the Syndicate were gunning for the Vice-Chancellor. According to the regulations passed by the Senate, the entrance examinations were to be conducted by the university. The Law Academy had however entrusted an outside agency with the job of conducting the examinations. The university opposed this move and informed the Academy that it would conduct the entrance exam. The Law Academy refused to budge and finally cancelled the examinations, choosing to admit students to the college on the basis of marks and interviews. Soon after the Law Academy controversy ended, another one cropped up, giving the anti-VC camp an opportunity to defame him. The Syndicate sub-committee report on the transfer of students from other states to the medical colleges in the State created a hue and cry and the Vice-Chancellor was in the line of fire. The sub-committee's report was scheduled to come up for discussion at the Syndicate meeting last Friday but it was not placed as UDF members, including K Mohankumar MLA, did not attend the meeting. Mohankumar was on an official tour to Chattisgarh as part of an Assembly committee. The sub-committee had been appointed following reports of irregularities in the issuance of a no-objection certificate for transfer of a student from a medical college in Bihar to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college this year. The controversy was that the registrar had issued the NOC without the knowledge of the Vice-Chancellor or the Pro-Vice-Chancellor. Those who opposed the NOC was of the view that only the Vice-Chancellor could issue the NOC for inter-state transfer. Vice-Chancellor B Ekbal had earlier sent back the report pointing out some factual errors in the report. The sub-committee report said that the Vice-Chancellor had not ordered an inquiry into the controversy before the issue came up at the Syndicate meeting. However, sources close to the Vice-Chancellor said that he had, while sending back the sub-committee report, stated in it that he had asked the Pro-Vice-Chancellor to inquire into the incident even before it came up before the Syndicate. The PVC had placed the report at the Syndicate meeting held on the following day itself, he pointed out in the report. Koliyakode Krishnan Nair had strongly criticised the Vice-Chancellor at the Syndicate meeting for sending back the report. The Syndicate, in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor who could not attend the meeting owing to personal commitments, decided to place the report at the next Syndicate meeting scheduled for November 7, without referring it to the Vice-Chancellor. The sub-committee comprising P A Hilal Babu, K Mohankumar, MLA, and Koliyakode Krishnan Nair was appointed as the earlier sub-committee, comprising V Thankamani, Madhu S Nair, Rani, Bhaskaran, K Prasad and Thoppil Gopalakrishnan, could not evolve a consensus on the issue. According to sources in the university, the issuance of the NOC was actually a non-issue and the registrar had issued the NOC as the Medical Council had granted migration to the student. There was nothing in the university statute against granting NOC to students from other universities, they pointed out. The medical council had granted the transfer to the student on compassionate grounds following the death of her parent. The allegations raised by a section in the university was that the student was the daughter of a classmate of the Vice-Chancellor. But sources in the university pointed out that while Dr Ekbal had studied at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college, the father of the student was an alumnus of the Alappuzha Medical College. Wednesday, October 30, 2002Kerala, Services enter semi-finalsIMPHAL, OCT 29 (PTI)Defending champions Kerala and Services entered the semi-finals of the 58th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, winning their respective quarterfinal encounters at the Khumen Lampak stadium here today. While Kerala prevailed over a spirited Assam 3-1, thus pipping strong contenders Bengal to the second spot from Group-A, Services won 2-0 against Railways and qualified for semi final by better goal average at the cost of Maharashtra from group B. The young Assam side forged ahead in the 37th minute when Saran Sonar gave a brilliant pass to the fast moving Sanjiba Rongpi who netted in from close range. The goal was a result of defensive lapse from Vinu Jose who was also guilty of several other blunders in the box during the match. The defending champions picked up the momentum in the second half and maintained constant pressure on the rival citadel. T Asif Saheer came close to scoring in the 50th minute but the brilliant Assam custodian Jitu Chetri made a valiant save. Kerala's equaliser finally came in the 70th minute when referee S M Balu pointed to the penalty spot after Chetri brought down K Ajayan inside the box. K Bineesh kept his cool to convert the penalty. Seven minutes later Kerala's T Usman sent a measured cross to S Ignatious who made no mistake to make it 2-1 for Kerala. With seconds to go for the hooter, Abdul Naushad got a clear ball inside the box and scored to make it 3-1. Kerala topped Group-A with six points with Bengal placed second with three, followed by Assam who had no points. In the second match, Services scored a goal in each half against Railways to top group B. Services shot into lead in the 13th minute when Raghu Kumar sent in a measured pass to Preetam Bahadur who netted in. The Railways, for whom the match was inseconsequential as they were already out of the reckoning, however made some smart moves, particularly through striker Janak Basumatary but failed due to poor finishing on every occasion. On the hour, Preetam Bahadur scored his second goal of the match when he headed in a measured cross from the left flank that beat the Railways goalkeeper all ends up. Services who ended up with equal four points alongwith Maharashtra qualified for the last four stage by better goal average. Kerala would now lock horns with Services in the first semifinal on November 1 while tomorrow's Group-C and Group-D matches would decide the other two semifinalists. The final is slated for November 5. Tuesday, October 29, 2002Kochi to have academy for modellingKOCHI: Kerala's fashion capital is all set to add one more gem to its crown. A modelling academy and talent search institute, where budding and aspirant models and compeers will be trained and exposed to the nuances of the arts, will come up in Kochi in a couple of months.Training for the first batch of students is expected to begin latest by January next year. The academy will offer two-months course in modelling and related fields for both males and females between 18 and 25 years of age. Thirty students will be taken in at a time after a screening test. Classes will be conducted on Saturdays and Sundays and will be handled by experts. The students will be exposed to a two-day workshop, handled by Prasad Bidappa and David Whitbread, well-known figures in the modelling industry. Experts will be brought in from Mumbai also. Sessions on self-grooming, image building, ramp walking, communication skills, general knowledge, dietary, aerobics, physical development and similar topics will be conducted by experts in the respective fields. The students will also be given their portfolios prepared during the conduct of the course. The school is being set up by Prime Time Unlimited (PTU), a Kochi-based event management group, and will operate from its upcoming premises on Emmy Square on Kadavanthra-Vyttila road. It will have facilities for workout, a stage and a ramp. ``The interiors of the school premises is getting ready and the school will be launched once that is over,'' said PTU Operations and Design director Ayyubi M. Apart from the theoretical lessons and interactive workshops, the students will also be exposed to several shows and other programmes during the course. They will be counselled individually on the opportunities available in modelling and related industries so that they choose the most appropriate career. ``A good percentage of models in Bangalore or Mumabi are Keralites, who are forced to pursue their passion in alien lands as there aren't many openings in Kerala,'' said PTU Marketing director Haseena, narrating the story behind the academy. The course has been designed in such a way that even college-going students can attend it. ``The Kerala society being conservative still, we have made it mandatory for the students to obtain their parents' permission to join the course,'' she added. ``Modelling is not just walking on the ramp. There are options to take up advertising, compeering for television programmes and other shows and a host of other careers. Our course is to help aspirants take the first step,'' said Arabind C, business development officer, PTU. Tuesday, October 29, 2002Kerala down Bengal 3-2Imphal, Oct 27: Defending champions Kerala remained on course for another triumph after pipping a strong Bengal side 3-2 while Maharashtra got past last year`s semi finalists Railways 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 58th National football championship for the LG Santosh trophy at the Khuman Lampak main stadium in Imphal on Sunday.The game was level, 1-1, at half time. Bengal took the lead first when Surya Bikash Chakravorty delivered a perfect cross to Chandan Das, who made no mistake to put his side ahead in the 20th minute. However, 11 minutes later, Kerela returned the favour with S. Ignatious who heading home a cros from Abdul Hakim. Kerala, then, went into the lead in the 59th minute when Ignatious scored the second goal off a good ball from Ashis Saheeer. Bengal drew parity in the 79th minute. Chandan Das started the move, lobbing the ball to Dipendu Biswas who headed it down to Sandip Das who scored from close range. With the scores tied 2-2, both teams went all out for a win. It was Kerala who scored in the 87th minute with Ignatious delivering a cross to Usman who scored off a header to give his side the win. In a Group B encounter, Maharashtra notched up a solitary goal in the first half through Nausad Moosa (37th minute) and that was good enough to see them to victory. The match began on a dull note with the defences of both sides holding strong. Railways wasted a close chance when Subhash Chakravarty shot wide from an advantageous position in the 20th minute. The winning goal came soon after with Moosa, waiting in the opponents` box to receive the corner kick, headed home past the Railways custodian. PTI Tuesday, October 29, 2002Sinha to open world ayurved meetVadodara, Oct. 28. (PTI): Union Health Minister, Shatrughan Sinha, will inaugurate the All-World Ayurved Conference at Kochi in Kerala on November 1.Sinha said here that he would be present at the opening of the Ayurveda confrence instead of the Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani, who was earlier scheduled to inaugurate the meet. During its four days' deliberations, the conference would discuss ways to promote Ayurvedic medicines in the country and the world, Sinha said, adding experts from various countries would be attending the conference. There are many medicinal plants in the country and in the years to come India will be in a position to beat China in the business of Ayurvedic medicines, the Minister said. He said during his recent visit to Germany in connection with a seminar, he advocated the use of Ayurvedic medicines that had no side effects. "Nobody talks about the death of 50,000 persons per year due to side effects of allopathy drugs in America. If one person dies due to side effect of Ayurvedic medicine, they make it a big issue," he said. Tuesday, October 29, 2002Kerala athletes complain of biasKerala's leading athletes are complaining that they are being discriminated against. They say certain Amateur Athletic Federation of India officials from north India are showing bias towards them.The athletes, who won medals the just-concluded Asian Games at Busan, were participating in an interactive session with reporters at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club on Monday. Bobby Aloysius, who won a silver medal in high jump, alleged that some influential officials from north India often sideline talent from the south. Also present at the session were were K M Beenamol, her brother Binu, Anju Bobby George, Jincy Phillip, Manjima Kuriakose and hockey player Dinesh Nayak. Aloysious charged that "Manjima was sidelined for the (women's) 400 metres relay" at the Asian Games in Busan. "At the last moment, another athlete ran the race. This happened because there is no one to protect the interests of athletes from the south," she said. Ten of the 42-member Indian athletics team at the Busan Games were from Kerala. Nine of them won medals. Double gold medal winner Beenamol complained that trials for various events are held outside the state as there is no one to take up the case of athletes from Kerala. "Most of the time when the trials occur outside the state, the inclement weather is a detrimental factor," she observed, hastening to add that it was also because of lack of facilities in the state. But most of the athletes agreed that things could have been better had they been based in Kerala itself and not left home to take up jobs in other states. "I left Kerala for a good job with the Customs. I don't think I would have got such a good job if I had to work in Kerala," said the 24-year-old Kerala-born Tamil Nadu-based Anju, who won a gold medal in the women's long jump at the Games. The Kerala government honoured the Asian Games medal winners by taking them in a convoy through the capital's main street on Monday. Each gold medallist was given a cash prize of Rs 300,000, while the silver medal winners got Rs 200,000 and bronze awardees received Rs 100,000. ADVERTISEMENT Monday, October 28, 2002Mohan Lal in Coimbatore.Exit Satyan Anthikad and enters Thulasidas. Coimbatore becomes the location for a second Malayalam film in four weeks time. Satyan Anthikad finished his shooting with Jayaram and Soundarya in Coimbatore and Thulasi das moved in for the location test in this second major city in TN. Thulasidas has scheduled 30 days of shooting of his film BRAMHACHARI with Mohanlal in the lead.Another film, which has Coimbatore as its location, is CHRONIC BACHELOR with Mammootty in the main role. Siddique who earlier had cast Mammootty in HITLER is directing this film. Siddique has scheduled his shooting from December 15. Monday, October 28, 2002Mammootty in 'Pattalam'.Lal Jose at his zenith of film career with MEESAMADHAVAN, which completed 100 days, is ready with his next script. He has selected picturesque Vagamon in high ranges valley in Kottayam district as his location and he has named the film PATTALAM.Lal Jose who did a film with Mammootty earlier- ORU MARAVATHUR KANAVU- has selected him for the lead role in this semi humor film. PATTALAM is a story of a village burnt in a communal conflict where a company of armed force came to maintain peace. Even after the clash is contained the company stays back in the village and an entirely different behavior is seen in the village. Lal Jose has identified the narrative style to entertain people and his PATTALAM will be a fast moving rustic film. Subair and Sudheesh who produced MEESAMADHAVAN produce this. Lal Jose and Regi have written the script. Monday, October 28, 2002Kavya Madhavan in MIZHI RANDILUMTime and tide is in favor of Kavya Madhavan for she gets a lifetime role in 'MIZHI RANDILUM' written and directed by Ranjith. With Samyuktha Varma now quitting the world of films for a family life, it is Kavya Madhavan to whom the directors are entrusting good roles. She has a consistent record of moderate commercial success. The super hit MEESA MADHAVAN helped her to consolidate her position as number one heroine in Malayalam.Kavya Madhavan has got the lead role in 'MIZHI RANDILUM' and there is no hero though Dileep has a guest role appearing here and there. The cast has Jagathy, Indrajith, Innocent, Narendraprasad, Kunchan, Kalpana, and all senior artists except Indrajith. SaratchandraVarma writes the lyrics. Monday, October 28, 2002Kunchako Boban and Meera Jasmine in KASTHURIMANWhen Lohita Das announces a film one can expect a literary touch even in it. He does not give a hint of the story on the contrary it is an abstract idea that he gives us.The first P R copy of KASTHURIMAN, his new film, which begins shooting in TRICHUR, soon, informs us that we humans are like Kasturiman -Antelopes. Antelopes are always after the deer musk, so are we humans ever in search of love. We do not identify love that comes our way, or the love offered to us. Nor will we give it others. Still we are yearning for love. Lohita Das the scriptwriter and director of films with literary quality is attempting this idea of love in KASTURIMAN. Lohita Das says love is that touches and wakes up one's soul. It is the unification of two entities. Lohita Das extracts the essence of this idea and injects it into a story of a young man and girl. He sets the illusory city life and simple rustic life as background for the film. Kunchako boban and Meera Jasmine are in the lead. They are Sajan Joseph and Priyamvada in this story. The other actors are Cochin haneefa, Salim kumar, Sreehari and new artists. Monday, October 28, 2002Ranjith shelves MohanLal filmRanjith put Mohanlal film on hold and is immediately doing a low budget film. Mohanlal was interested in Ranjith film MARAM PEYYUMPOL but some hitch has delayed this project. It was to be produced by actor Augustine. Mohanlal is presently doing the K Madhu film and next he will join the Thulasidas film.Monday, October 28, 2002Vinayan casts Mohanlal!Nobody thought Vinayan would make a film with Mohanlal in the lead. If we need an explanation here we have one. Years back Vinayan made his first film with a new comer named Madanlal. Madanlal was a look alike of super star Mohanlal. The names sounded similar as well. Madanlal was shown as a barber in some scenes.Obviously Mohanlal fans were offended. Madanlal never did appear on screen after that. Vinayan also had a share of the criticism for making such a film. We have no idea if he had a design to tarnish Mohanlal's image. However everybody thought it was in bad taste. Vinayan has a chance to erase the old image now. He directs a film with Mohanlal, which is produced by Mani of Sunitha productions. It is their 50th film. The heroine is to be decided soon. Monday, October 28, 2002Mizhi RandilumIt would appear that director scriptwriter Ranjith is going through a bad time. But he disproves it by launching his third film MIZHI RANDILUM. ('In those both eyes'). What he announced immediately after he finished 'NADANAM' was a simple film 'MARAM PEYYUMPOL' with Mohanlal but as the talk in tinsel town goes Ranjith could not bring down the remuneration of the actor for that one. The date of Mohanlal got diverted away for a bigger project. Ranjith and Augustine with a vengeance immediately embarked upon a simpler project that would be definitely welcomed by the viewers of Kerala.He handles a woman oriented subject this time. He was all for super star action movies mixed with high sentimental drama like DEVASURAM and its sequel. It was believed that he is not capable of thinking small budget films. His characters were all huge and super humans. But what we see now is Ranjith thinking and doing small and beautiful subjects. MIZHI RANDILUM is a production of actor Augustine under the banner of St Jude's films, which has started in Ottappalam. Actually Ranjith is going through a bad time with 'NANDANAM' his co production with actor Siddique is still not able to get into commercial circuit. Distributors could neither release it on the agreed date nor gave the rights back. Ranjith has high hopes on the film and his clout could not alter the fate of the film lying presently in tin boxes. Further he announced that NANDANAM would be remade in Tamil and Telugu. It did not happen. He announced another film but suddenly kept silent there after. But it is happy to see him immersed in work undeterred by all these. Monday, October 28, 2002'I never expected a backlash' -Shaji KailasThe title of the most precious director in Malayalam belongs to Shaji Kailas. He entered the Malayalam film scene 13 years ago with a thriller named 'NEWS'. It was a low budget film. Right from the beginning he was a domineering and hard working director. He continued his experiments with SUNDAY 7 PM, SOUHRUDAM, NEELAKURIKKAN, DR PASUPATHI, but Shaji Kailas could not achieve the position he wanted. He had to wait till 'TALASTHANAM', which catapulted to him into an ace director. He proved a firebrand director in no time.It was hits and hits all the way till the latest 'THANDAVAM'. It only earned bad name for him. "I never expected such a backlash", Shaji admits. He is still not recovered from the shock. As a result he has not even started planning his next film. What do you think the reason for the failure of 'THANDAVAM'? It could be that it followed 'PRAJA' and 'ONNAMAN' which presented Mohanlal as the action hero. A third film in succession with Mohanlal as action hero failed to entertain the masses. If 'THANDAVAM' was released after a couple of films with Mohanlal in light roles, it could have become a super hit. What do you say about the complaint that the dialogues came with double meaning and certain dance sequences crossed the limits? There are certain formulae for the commercial films. The dance sequences were included as a part of it. Nobody pointed out the dances were of bad taste while in the planning stage or at shooting stage. It was not evident either at the preview. Further it was consulted upon before picturisation. But from the first day of release some quarters with vested interests had started spreading that 'THANDAVAM' was a sleazy film. What was the necessity to cast an expensive dancer like Mumtaj in this film? It did not do well to the success of the film, did it? It was not my option. It was a suggestion from the producer. He has publicized from the start that Mumtaj was acting in TANDAVAM. I had no other choice on this account. If I had avoided her that would only have affected badly the prospects of the film. You always select heroism as the central theme. Why? People dream of heroes who react and act in hard situations. They at least want these sorts of characters in films. I believe these types of themes are popular with the masses. But don't you think the villains outsmarted the heroes in 'SIVAM' And 'THANDAVAM'? Hero becomes relevant at the cost of villain. It happened the villains in those films became strong. In our times the villain s are the ones more glorified. See the importance Bin Laden gets internationally. Veerappan gets more footage and space in media. In earlier films you executed the villains by the most violent methods you can think. Of late you let them free. Why this change? Since the political murders in the state especially in Kannur district grew in numbers I thought I would not do anything that may fan the vengeance even though it is fictional. I decided that my films should not brew more of that and influence the political murders. This was a policy I accepted in those days. SIVAM depicted the contemporary political scene. But you had dropped this kind of theme years before. The curious thing is that you chose these themes only when United Democratic front was ruling. Five years before and now. You never did this kind of films when Left front was in power. Why? I did such films when working with Ranji Panikkar. It changed when Ranjith came as my scriptwriter. His subjects were different. When B Unnikrishnan came with this subject 'SIVAM'. The fact that filmmakers get more material during the rule of UDF is also a reason for such political thrillers. Do you feel that the failure of THANDAVAM is mainly due to the changing of your favorite scriptwriters like Ranji and Ranjith? To a certain extent, yes. I could communicate with them more effectively. One can see the result was achieved in those films. In SIVAM you tried to establish Biju Menon as an action hero. But it did not happen. Where did you think you have gone wrong? Biju has the capacity of an action super hero. It is just unlucky that he could not reach there. Babu Antony was specially offered a role in 'THANDAVAM' but it was completely edited out. What happened? That role appeared excessive and not contributing to the totality of the film. Further it made the film lengthier than it was required after shooting. You announce a lot of films but only a few are finished. Why? I never announce these films myself. When we discuss projects those associated with the projects inform the media just out of enthusiasm. I have no control over it. I shall see to it that no film of mine is announced before it is sure to launch. You have directed some humor films earlier. Will you direct comedy films in the future? No. Viewers are expecting a particular genre of films from me. Action films. They may not accept comedy from me. Further producers approach me to direct action films only. You did a number of films with Suresh Gopi. He is not seen in your projects these days. Why? Yes we did a few films together. We will be doing more in the future. What happened to 'DIAL 100' with new artists? We did not get the right kind of youngsters for the subject. Meanwhile a film with the subject had just come. I am not interested in DIAL 100 any more. What are your new films? Earlier VYAGRAM with Mohanlal in the lead was thought of. Ranji Panikkar is writing this. But it may not come as expected now. Another project is a Mammootty film for which Ranji panikkar writes. Another one is a film on script written by director Vinayan. But I shall wait till Annie gives birth to our second child. It will be two months from now. Monday, October 28, 2002Pop-carnDirectorNassar Producer Kameela Nassar The Tamil actor and director Nassar had made offbeat films like Devathai, Avatharam and a commercial crass like Mayan in the past. But none of these films have done well in the box-office. So now Nassar is all set to woo the box-office Gods once again with Pop-carn, a short form for pop carnival. In a casting coup of sorts he has managed to rope in the Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and Simran as husband and wife with Simran’s real life sister Jyothi playing their daughter in the film. In a nutshell the story is about Mohanlal, a musician falling in love with a fusion dancer, Simran. They marry but due to artistic ego fall out which is told as a flashback. The film starts with Mohanlal as a big time music director whose music is a craze among the youth. Even his own daughter played by Jyothi likes his music and tries to bring her father and her mother together but in vain. The film has shades of the classic Guru Dutt film Kagaz Ke Phool. Said Nassar, “I admire the films of Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt who had their own distinct character. But Pop-carn is a modern family drama about relationships”. Nassar and his music director Yuvan Shanker Raja have created a new fusion music that’s elevated and uplifting. One of the songs was recently picturised on the beaches of Goa. The cast also includes Vivek, Alphonsa, and a Mumbai model Sakthi. The camera is by Sridhar and Vikram Dharma is the stunt master. Kameela Nassar produces the film. Monday, October 28, 2002The Bamboo BoysRemember the English comedy film The Gods Must Be Crazy in which African Bushman discover modernity? It was a hilarious comedy where an African Bushman encounters technology for the first time – in the shape of Coco-Cola bottle. Even at that time it was considered a racist film that went all out to eulogise the white man.Now one of our directors Ali Akbar who specialises in low budget comedy films seems to have been inspired by the Hollywood flick and his latest film Bamboo Boys tells the story of four adivasis- Kalabhavan Mani, Harisi Asokan, Cochin Haneefa and Salim Kumar. They live in isolation in a jungle and later come to a big city in search of a doctor to treat their chief’s wife. These Bushmen will entertain you as they encounter modern technology for the first time like ceiling fan, lift and a telephone. These characters would be communicating in sign and grunts for a major part of the film, which would be ‘action comedy’ for the masses. Bamboo Boys may lack social conscience as far as the way we treat the adivasis, but in comedy crazy Malayalam films anything is possible. Monday, October 28, 2002Plan to open up engineering colleges to non-KeralitesTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With a large number of engineering seats falling vacant, the State Government is planning to allow students from other States to participate in the entrance examination from 2003.However, students from outside the State will be considered only for payment seats. A quota will be fixed for them. Higher Education Principal Secretary K Mohandas told this website's newspaper that the proposal was under active consideration. This followed a demand by managements of private engineering colleges as well. The private college managements are finding it difficult to fill the payment and NRI quota seats now. Students from the State are allowed to participate in the engineering entrance examinations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and they are considered for a fixed quota in payment seats in these states. Opening up the entrance examination in Kerala will be a natural reciprocation. Kerala has not been allowing students from other States in its engineering colleges as it had only limited number of seats till recently. But the number of engineering colleges went up to 71 and total seats to 16,000 from 17 engineering colleges and 6,000 seats in 1999. Commissioner for Entrance Examinations C K Viswanathan told this paper that the final picture of the vacant engineering seats would emerge only after the publication of the third reallocation list which is being prepared now. The third reallocation list is likely to be published on October 31. He said that more than 300 candidates had not joined the colleges after the second reallocation list. The third list would cover these seats and also that of some new engineering colleges. Last year, with lesser number of engineering seats (around 10,000), over 300 seats had fallen vacant in the State on the completion of admission. Monday, October 28, 2002Adoor's new film set for commercial release in FranceUNITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan's latest venture 'Nizhalkkuthu' (shadow kill) will be commercially released in France in January and later in many other foreign countries. The commercial release has been finalised and ten prints with French sub-titles would be used forbefore doing so in India. French company Arcam Internation, the co-producer of the film, would have the rights for the film in France. 'Nizhalkkuthu', which comes six years after Adoor's last feature film 'Kathapurushan', is set in the 1940s in the princely state for Travancore and centres round the life of a hangman. Popular character actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan plays the lead. Known to be a perfectionist, Adoor has chosen his favourite Mankada Ravi Varma as the cinematographer. The film was well accepted by the international audience when it was screened at venice and Toronto film festivals. There were three screenings each at Venice and Toronto and each one of them was packed. ''the film will be screened in at least half-a-dozen international film festivals in the coming months,'' Adoor said. First, it will be screened at the London festival next month, then followed by Rome festival, competition section of the Nantes festival, the Rotterdam festival and at Pusan. Negotiations were being held with distributors for the commercial release of the film in Switzerland, Germany and a number of other countries. He is eager to release the film in India as well. Monday, October 28, 2002Janu springs a surprise on cops; enters Aralam FarmKANNUR: Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha leader C K Janu has said that the land at the Aralam Farm rightfully belonged to the Adivasis and that they will establish their right over this land despite the government move to scuttle the earlier proposal for distribution of vacant land at the farm to landless Adivasis.Janu, who entered the Aralam Farm on Saturday night and held a meeting of Adivasi families even as the police made an abortive move to prevent her from entering the farm, disclosed that she and her followers had no plan to take over the land using force, on Saturday, as made out by a section of the newspapers. She said her only intention was to hold a meeting at the farm and she had succeeded in doing so inspite of the elaborate preparations made by the police and the farm workers to block her. Janu had gained entry into the farm avoiding the main gate and taking a different route, virtually taking the police and the workers by surprise. She clarified later that her intention was to avoid a confrontation with the police and the workers. Janu's meeting at the farm was held in the light of kerosene lamps and she was not ready to meet the police or the farm officials. She said the Adivasis would enter the land at Aralam and build settlements there only after making adequate preparations. A six-day-long Gothra pooja would be held in the second week of December and the steps to take over the land would be initiated only after the pooja, she said. Adivasi leaders M Geethanandan, K K Gopalan, Sreeraman Koyyon and V Balan also were with Janu as she entered the farm and held the meeting. She returned from Aralam early on Sunday morning. Monday, October 28, 2002Suicide rate on the rise in KeralaPTITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Faced with the problems of a 'transitional society', suicide rate in 'consumerist' Kerala is on the rise touching a high 31.5 per lakh a year against the National average around 10 per lakh. Mental health experts and social scientists attribute growing incompatability between income and needs, break-up of joint families, unchecked alcoholism and drug abuse and spread of media as major factors contributing to the death wish gripping the country's most literate state. "Disparity between income and needs is the main factor that drives people to kill themselves in most cases," said Dr Suraraj mony, secretary, State Mental Health Authority. Figures with the State Mental Health Authority show that in the 1990s, suicide rate in Kerala stood at 27.1 per lakh a year against the National average of 9.2. Besides, cases of family suicide are also on the rise with 59 cases reported in 2000 alone. Though the progress Kerala made in health education and service sectors are remarkable, its reflection is missing on the economic front. Steadily dwindling industrial investment and an ever-shrinking agricultural base over the last three decades had a telling impact on the income profile of the state, where educated unemployment is one of country's highest. Being an educated society, minimum needs of even a working class family in Kerala is much more than its counterpart in any other state, according to experts. According to the Mental Health Authority (SMH), 'bankruptcy' was found to be cause 991 cases of suicide reported in 1999. As many as 239 cases were attributed to unemployment, 398 to insanity, 1365 to diseases. As many as 24 cases of suicide due to 'exam failure' were reported the same year, throwing light into the sense of insecurity gripping the middle-class children destined to grow up in a highly competitive milieu. According to Dr Mani consumerism alone could not be faulted. Weakening family system was found to be eating into the vitals of the state's mental health. Problems like drug abuse and alcoholism, often leading to suicide, could be tackled more effectively by adoption of 'moral policy' at the family level, as it used to be the case in the past. Spread of media in the wake of satellite and IT revolution had contributed no less to the growing death wish. "Death and violence become an entertainment on the small Screen," observed Dr Mani. "People are yet to acquire social and mental skills to cope with realities. Keralites are fortunate enough to live in an evironment marked by absence of climatic extremes, devastating natural calamities or major wars. Suddenly they are caught in the vortex of fast-pace social change." Challenge before the mental health planners was how to create social and health support systems to help people face the situation. The state mental health policy formulated couple of years had its thrust on this aspect, Dr Mani added. Monday, October 28, 2002Antony warns Cong activists against becoming power brokersKOLLAM: Chief Minister A K Antony has warned Congress activists against becoming power brokers under the UDF Government.Inaugurating the leadership camp organised by the District Congress Committee in Kollam on Sunday, Antony said that his Government would not hesitate to order probe if allegations of corruption were levelled against party workers. He said that he was against all sorts of recommendations and stood for maintaining transparency in the administration. He also emphasised the need for maintaining transparency in fund collection for the party. The Chief Minister said that since the Government maintained transparency in the sanctioning of engineering, medical and nursing colleges, not a single allegation of corruption could be levelled against the Government in this regard. ‘‘Criticisms give me strength in public life and I don’t like flattery’’, he said. However, he called upon the party workers to raise criticisms against the Government only in party forums. Levelling criticisms outside party fora was not fair, he said. He reminded the Congress workers that the UDF could win the confidence of the people and return to power only by not repeating the mistakes of the previous LDF government. Though the CPM had amassed enormous wealth and started a TV channel during its regime, the people rejected the party in the elections, he said. He said that though there were criticisms that the UDF was weak while in the Opposition, it could win more number of seats than in the 1960 elections held after the liberation struggle. Antony said that things had been changing for the better under the UDF rule. The prices of agricultural products including coconut and rubber had improved. The law and order situation had also improved and there were no incidents of violence in the Malabar region. He said that steps would be taken to improve the situation in the traditional industries soon. DCC president Sooranadu Rajasekharan presided over the function. KPCC disciplinary committee chief C.V.Padmarajan was among those who spoke. Monday, October 28, 2002Southern Railway to run special trains to tackle winter rushUNITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Southern Railway will run several special trains from November two to February three to clear the rush during winter season. Railway sources said on Sunday that special trains would run from Ernakulam to Rajkot, from Bangalore to Kollam and from Chennai to Kayamkulam and Thiruvananthapuram Central. Advance reservation for the above special trains have already commenced. The 651/652 Ernakulam-Rajkot special will run every week. The 651 will depart from Ernakulam at 1820 hrs on Sunday to reach Rajkot at 2125 hrs on Tuesday. In the return direction, the 652 will depart from Rajkot at 1700 hrs on Wednesday to arrive at Ernakulam at 0630 hrs on Friday. The 617/618 Bangalore-Kollam special will run every week. The 617 will depart from Bangalore at 2015 hrs on Sunday to reach Kollam the next day at 1115 hrs. In the return direction, the 618 will depart from Kollam at 1915 hrs on Monday to reach Bangalore at 1015 hrs the next day. The 635/636 Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central will be bi-weekly. The 635 Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central bi-weekly special will depart from Chennai Central at 2115 hrs on Monday and Friday to arrive at Thiruvananthapuram Central on Tuesday and Saturday at 1600 hrs, according to the Railways. In the return direction, the 636 will depart from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 2000 hrs on Tuesday and Saturday to arrive at Chennai Central at 1400 hrs on Wednesday and Sunday. The 605/606 Chennai Central to Kayamkulam will run as a weekly special train. The 605 special train will depart from Chennai Central on Wednesday at 2115 hrs and will arrive at Kayamkulam at 1330 hrs, the next day. In the return direction, the 606 will depart from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 1430 hrs on Thursday to arrive at Chennai Central the next day at 0645 hrs. Monday, October 28, 2002Unusual Monsoon Spells Disaster For Crops In KeralaKochi/Thiruvananthapuram, October 27: The recent rains, which lashed Kerala after a dry spell, following scanty monsoon, have spelt disaster for several crops except rubber and cardamom. The loss, which the unprecedented rain caused to crops, is yet to be estimated, though farmers and agriculture department officials confirm that the rain spread havoc, especially among the banana and paddy fields in the state.The unusual monsoon, which meteorological department officials said, was a continuation of the below normal South-West monsoon and a precursor to the North-East monsoon which is due sometime next week. The Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development in Kozhikode has just begun a survey of the havoc caused and it would take another week before the work is completed, director Tamilselvan told FE. According to Spices Board sources, the sudden monsoon outburst would help farmers have one more pick as there would be yet another flowering. The scanty monsoon earlier did not affect the crop much as the frequent drizzle proved beneficial then though it would have affected irrigation during the early part of next year. The below normal monsoon had hit the pepper plantations hard as rain induces spikes usually around July/August. But this time the spikes induced were much less and the continuous downpour over the last three weeks would see the sprouts wither away. According to rough estimates, there would be around 40 to 50 per cent fall in pepper production this year. The recent rain would only add to bringing this further down, board official said. Former Coconut Development Board chairman Joseph Alappat said the unprecedented rain would affect most of the crops. Pepper and banana plantations were the worst hit, he said, adding it was too early to estimate the loss and given the trend, there was little the government would do to compensate for the loss. However, the domestic rubber demand has not turned its face from Kerala rubber bourses yet. This time, it is the monsoon pattern that sustained the uninterrupted farm-to-market supplyline of rubber stocks in a price-buoyant period. Despite the initial panic stirred by the monsoon truancy, tapping without using the rain guards was possible in this period. And just as the heat climbed beyond the rubber crop optimum, the downpour had started. “It was as if the rains were all for rubber,” Kerala Agriculturalists Association president KK Joseph (Palai) told FE. During the peak demand time, the erratic farm-market movements often letdown the farmers from making fair price-realisations. Even when the margin between the Rs 45.02 per kilo international price and Rs 38.78 per kilo is an import-inviting situation, the threat has been less because of the unwavering supply line this time. There has been forecast of a heavy North-East monsoon, but the farmers are not too apprehensive. The November rains, however fierce, tends to be in the evenings, leaving the mornings sunny, dry and ready for rubber tappers, said Dr Mathew Mathew, who heads Kanjirapuzha Planters Association. Rubber Board has been making a survey on the increase in production during this season which is to be completed only next month. About 15 per cent of the small-holding farmers had left their plantations untapped during last season due to poor price realisations, Mr Krishankutty, market expert, Rubber Board pointed out. These farms might have given better yield this year supported by the rain pattern. This could also have have played a role in the increased production, he said. Monday, October 28, 2002Priest held for molesting girlThiruvananthapuram, Oct. 27. (UNI): Police have arrested a priest on the charge of sexual abuse of a 20-year-old girl, who became pregnant.Vellarada police said 30-year-old K Varghese, who was arrested from Pathanamthitta yesterday, was produced before the court today. The priest of the Kappiyode Church at Chemboor, near here, had befriended the girl at a prayer meeting held at the church and later molested her. The priest, who is married and has three children, went into hiding after the girl became pregnant. He had initially offered to marry her, but later backtracked. Fr Varghese was arrested by a special team after the girl's family lodged a complaint with the police. Monday, October 28, 2002Chartered European flights boost Kerala tourismThe tourism industry in Kerala, hit by the September 11 attack on the United States, is to get a major boost with chartered flights from Europe arriving from next month.The first chartered flight of the tourist season from the United Kingdom is scheduled to land here on November two with 300-odd tourists. Sources in the State Tourism department said the chartered flight would be from Gatwick in Britain. The 16-hour flight to Thiruvananthapuram would have a brief stopover in Bahrain. A wide-bodied aircraft, with a seating capacity of 330, is to be operated jointly by JMC, Manos and Air Tours. The chartered flights are to be operated every Saturday, till April end. The local handling of the tourists who land by these chartered flights would be by Thomas Cook and Trans Orient. The tourists are expected to undertake a 16-day excursion to the hillstation at Ponmudi, near the state capital, to Kanniyakumari in the adjacent district of Tamil Nadu, besides covering destinations like Kumarakom, Munnar, Thekkady and Kochi. They will stay at the Kovalam beach resort for a day, on arrival, before moving to other destinations. Tourism department sources said that the chartered tourists from UK were expected to spend one to four weeks in the state. After visiting destinations in the neigbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, they will have to return to Thiruvananthapuram for the return flight. UNI Monday, October 28, 2002One dead in cholera outbreakThiruvananthapuram, Oct. 27. (PTI): The outbreak of cholera in parts of the coastal belt claimed its first victim when a three- day-old infant died in a government hospital here last night.District health authorities have confirmed that the new-born died due to cholera at the SAT hospital in the city. The mother of the baby is a resident of Vizinjam from where suspected cholera cases were first reported. Meanwhile, the State Government stepped up measures to contain the spread of the disease in the district, where nine cases of cholera have been confirmed so far. Monday, October 28, 2002Bankers bristle at charge over low credit-deposit ratioTHE banking community in Kerala, which has come under a fresh bout of attack by the political establishment holding it responsible for the persisting low credit-deposit ratio in the State, has denied that deposit monies are being diverted for lending outside."This is not true, and falls flat on its face if only because the prevailing dull investment climate is generic to all States' and hardly compels diversion of deposit funds for onlending,'' according to Mr G. Umesh Shenoy, General Manager, Kerala circle of Canara Bank. The bank is also convenor of the State Level Banker's Committee (SLBC), the common platform for all nationalised banks operating in the State. According to Mr Shenoy, all banks are faced with a problem of plenty, vis-a-vis deposits. Only, the CD ratio may be slightly better in some States — barring Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and a couple of others which are very backward. "Even in those States which have traditionally enjoyed better CD ratios, we find there are hardly any avenues available for fresh lending,'' he said. According to Mr Shenoy, this tussle between the political establishment and bankers has been going for a long time. The political class maintains that public sector banks have not been doing anything more than raising deposits and siphoning off the monies for lending elsewhere. According to Mr Shenoy, they may have a valid case in that banks that have been mobilising large deposits from funds available with the NRI population; generally, 60 per cent of the deposits have come to be sourced from NRIs. Another 10 to 20 per cent could well be traced to ex-NRIs. This practice of lending outside may have been true till a few years back when banks here found it extremely profitable to lend wherever the investment climate was exceptionally good. But not any more, with credit off-take being badly affected in the wake of globalisation and the consequential problems attributable to economic liberalisation. The CD ratio cannot be improved by merely providing money to Government-sponsored schemes like PMRY, SGSRY etc. "There are hardly any new industries coming up in the State. Probably, the Government can help us by pointing out to us which are the industries that have come up here and which we have refused to lend to,'' Mr Shenoy said. On a different plane, banks are actually incurring a loss carrying these deposits. Some of them, Canara Bank included, have found it expedient to cut deposit rates. But they still have to contend with deposits acquired at higher rates of 12 per cent and more. Because of lack of avenues for lending, banks are being forced to put their money in Government papers and call money where the rates are below six per cent. "Even while we are incurring losses, we can't just stop accepting deposits. We can only hope to regulate it to some extent by tinkering with interest rates. But, we would like to view the current slump as a temporary phenomenon and therefore we would continue to accept deposits even while risking loss. If we stop taking deposits altogether now, we would well be made to run after depositors in a prospective scenario where credit off-take begins to look up,'' Mr Shenoy added. Wanted: Level-playing field THE main grouse of the nationalised banks in Kerala is that they have bore the brunt of the long-drawn CD ratio controversy while private banks, some of them headquartered in the State, have been spared much of the barbs despite posting comparatively poorer individual CD ratios themselves. According to the State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), nationalised banks, with average CD ratio of 43 per cent, have for some reason become the favourite whipping boy for all, while private banks are quietly enjoying the scene from the sidelines. This when these banks have fared none the better in the CD ratio sweepstakes. Quoting statistics, SLBC sources said as on June 2002, Federal Bank, the largest private bank and with the home base advantage, posted a CD ratio of 46.44. Dhanalakshmi Bank based in Ernakulam returned 41.41. But, the Thrissur-based Catholic Syrian at 26.71 and Ernakulam-based Lord Krishna at 23.56 fared way below expectations. Kozhikode-based Nedungadi Bank posted a somewhat respectable 44.02, while Thrissur-based South Indian Bank registered a modest 36.55. Monday, October 28, 2002Santosh Trophy: Kerala beat BengalImphal, Oct 27. (PTI): Defending champions Kerala pipped strong contenders Bengal 3-2 while Maharashtra got past last year's semi finalists Railways 1-0 in the quarter-final matches of the 58th National Football championship for LG Santosh Trophy here today.Poor defence cost Bengal dearly as they surrendered their early lead through Chandan Das in the opening session and failed to hold on after Sandip Das drew parity in the second half of the Group A match played at the Khuman Lampak Main stadium. Kerala rode on a double strike by S Ignatius and a winner by Usman minutes before the long whistle to earn full points against their formidable opponents. The match was also marred by frayed tempers. Two Bengal players, Das and Anupam Sarkar were shown yellow cards for arguing with the referee. In a Group B encounter, Maharashtra notched up a solitary goal victory through Nausad Moosa in the 37th minute. The match began on a dull note with neither team being able to penetrate the rivals' defence. Railways wasted a close chance when Subhash Chakravarty shot wide from an advantageous position in the 20th minute. The winning goal came soon after with Moosa, waiting in the opponents' box to receive the corner kick, headed home past the Railways custodian. Saturday, October 26, 2002Kerala to honour Busan medal winnersThiruvananthapuram, Oct 25 (UNI) Busan Asian Games medal winners from Kerala will be honoured by the State Government and the Kerala Sports council at a function here on October 28.Chief Minister A K Antony would give away the cash awards for the medal winners. The government had announced a cash award of Rs three lakh for each gold medal, Rs two lakh for each silver and Rs one lakh for each bronze. The coaches the medal winners would be given Rs one lakh each. Saturday, October 26, 2002IA flight makes emergency landingIA flight makes emergency landingKochi, Oct. 25. (PTI): An Indian Airlines plane to Mumbai from Thiruvananthapuram made an emergency landing at the Nedumbassery International Airport here after its windshield developed a crack, airport sources said today. Forty-one passengers were on board the plane which landed about 2.30 p.m. yesterday and immediately all of them were off-loaded. Fire engines and ambulances were kept ready at the airport to meet any emergency situation. The Mumbai-bound passengers were later sent by a Jet Airways flight. The damaged aircraft was flown to Mumbai for repair, the sources added. Saturday, October 26, 2002‘Kerala Sayahnam’ a big hitMUSCAT — ‘Kerala Sayahnam’, organised by Majan Hotel in association with the Oman and UAE Exchange, at the hotel pool lawns late on Friday was a great success.The tickets for the show were all sold out a day before the event. “We had around 1,000 spectators for the event and all of them enjoyed the show,” said the organisers. They also relished the buffet of authentic Kerala foods which included kappa, meenkari, idiyappam, chatni, etc. Singer Markose and cine artiste Chanchal were highly appreciated by the crowd for their sterling performance. Markose sang famous songs like Idayakanyake, Pooparikkan, Salaathullah, etc. His delivery of the latest hit Ente Ellam from the film Meesa Madhavan was well appreciated. Chanchal performed bharathanatyam, classical and cinematic dances. The show and artiste coordination was done by Melody Music Centre and coverage and telecast was done by Asianet Malayalam Channel. The event was sponsored by Air-India, Oman United Agencies and Muscat Apollo Saturday, October 26, 2002Justice Gupta CJ of Kerala High CourtPunjab and Haryana High Court Judge Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta has been appointed Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court by the President of India. A notification to this effect was issued by the Central Government today. He will be administered the oath of office “sometimes next week”.Enrolled as a lawyer on February 28, 1963, Mr Justice Gupta was designated senior advocate on December 10, 1982. As a practising advocate, he was a part time member of the teaching faculty at the Law College, member of Panjab University’s law faculty, besides member Board of Studies in Law. Mr Justice Gupta was elevated as Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge on March 15, 1991. During his tenure, Mr Justice Gupta has delivered several landmark judgements both on criminal, civil and taxation side, besides on constitutional issues. As many as 29 notifications issued by the Punjab government to acquire over 10,000 acres for setting up a new town of Anandgarh were annulled. This is not all. In the first ever judgement of its kind in the country on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Prevention of Terrorism Act, Mr Justice Gupta’s Division Bench had significantly held that the “Act rightly aimed at reducing the procedural tangles”. Mr Justice Gupta had also delivered verdicts on petitions against the film industry, including one against Gadar. He also remained in the news for his judgement in the Mansa recruitment case. Mr Justice Gupta was always appreciated by the Bar as a “bold Judge” always performing his duties “without fear or favour”. Known for his “quotable quotes”, he was also praised for his humane approach in handling sensitive issues. Thursday, October 24, 2002Pension scheme for non-resident Keralites approvedTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After years of deliberations, Kerala's cabinet has finally approved an insurance-linked contributory pension scheme for non-resident Keralites (NRKs), returnees and Keralites settled outside the state.The scheme is to cover about 15 lakh NRKs, 10 lakh Middle East returnees to the state and Keralites settled in other parts of India. "Yes, we have given approval for this scheme and it would be ready shortly", Chief Minister A.K. Antony said at the post-cabinet briefing to mediapersons here on Wednesday. The minimum premium payable would be Rs 20,000 a year, which could be paid in monthly, quarterly or annual instalments. The scheme will provide a slew of benefits to the policyholders who may opt for five-year, 10-year and 15-year covers. As per plans the maximum age of entry would be 55 years and there would be a provision for a lumpsum premium payment for those above 50. Pension would be paid out from the period chosen by the policyholder and would continue till his/her death. Speaking to IANS M.M. Hassan, Minister for NRKs, said that the approval of the scheme is a major achievement for his department. "The scheme would be there in a month's time. We need to print the brochures and finish other paper work before we start it." The newly formed ROOTS Corporation has been entrusted with managing it after the previous fund manager, Non- Resident Keralites' Welfare Agency, wound up. The entire fund collected through premiums would be used solely for welfare activities for NRKs, who have always been the backbone of the state's economy, said the minister. He said that this was the first time a scheme on these lines has been implemented in India. The scheme has been built with the support of the Life Insurance Corporation, United India Assurance and the Kerala government, he added. Thursday, October 24, 2002Kerala mulls tapping wind energyTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is beginning to seriously consider tapping its huge wind energy potential.With big players in the sector saying at a meeting in Kochi that they would invest if the government created the infrastructure to tap Kerala's potential of generating 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy, the authorities said they were giving the matter serious thought. "We are looking into how we could incorporate their ideas in projects and showcase them during the forthcoming Global Investors' Meet," Tourism minister K.V. Thomas, who inaugurated the meet organised by the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology, told IANS. Kerala generates only two MW of wind energy now. In contrast, neighbouring Tamil Nadu generates 50,000 units of wind energy every year. Said Thomas John Muthoot, a Kerala-based businessman who has set up eight windmills at Muppanthal in Tamil Nadu: "The best place in Kerala is in Ramakalmedu in Idukki district, but a lot of infrastructure like roads and other facilities have to come up. "If the government is ready to take this up, we would be glad to invest in a few windmills in Kerala," the entrepreneur said. The cost of setting up one windmill is Rs.1 crore. While the major players are willing to invest that kind of money in Ramakalmedu, they say one big problem is that there is no provision at present to transfer electricity generated into the Kerala State Electricity Board grid. Among those who took part in the Kochi meeting were NEG Micon, Vestas RRB India, Suzion Energy and the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, the apex body of wind turbine makers. Eight potential investors also participated. Thursday, October 24, 2002Kochi reporter gets Gulf awardKOCHI: M K Harikumar, staff reporter of the Kochi unit of Kerala Kaumudi, a leading Malayalam daily, has been selected for the Gulf Prathibha Excellent Award 2002, instituted by the Kala Sahithya Vedi, Dubai. The award carries a certificate and a cash award of Rs 20,000. "This award is being given to outstanding writers in Malayalam under the age of 45 years," a Vedi press release said. The award would be given at a function in Dubai in the last week of this month Thursday, October 24, 2002Ayyappa `abhisheka' tickets to be sold through info centresSABARIMALA: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which administers the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa here has made arrangements for the sale of 'abhisheka' tickets through its information centres started in various states and through the counters of Dhanalakshmi Bank functioning outside the State, TDB president N Babu said.The 'abhisheka' tickets would also be sold at the major temples of the Devaswom elsewhere in the State. He said about a dozen oxygen parlours would be opened between Pampa and Sabarimala for the convenience of pilgrims visiting Sabarimala during the two-month season starting from November 16. Steps had also been taken for opening a modern cardiology centre at Pampa in cooperation with the Mata Amritanandamayi Centre of Health, Kochi, during the coming season. He said free food would be distributed to a minimum of 2,000 pilgrims every day at Sabarimala during the coming season. Photo identity cards would be distributed to all special duty staff, businessmen and volunteers stationed at Pampa and Sabarimala, he said. Two new ambulance vehicles would be deployed at Pampa. He said about 1,000 permanent staff of TDB and 1,500 daily wages workers appointed by it would be on duty at Sabarimala during the season. Thursday, October 24, 2002Malayalam channel to air Karunakaran's Gulf tourIANSTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Malayalam satellite television channel will air a serialised documentary on former chief minister K. Karunakaran's just concluded visit to the Gulf. Titled "Leader in Arabia", the five-episode documentary will be broadcast on Asianet Television from the first week of next month. Karunakaran visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar on his six-day tour, during which he attended a slew of programmes arranged by expatriate Keralites in the region. Thiruvallom Bhasi, director of "Leader in Arabia", said the documentary consists of interviews with various personalities, including Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal and her husband. "This was the first time Padmaja's husband shared his thoughts with the media," said Bhasi. Padmaja reportedly speaks in the interview about the trials and tribulations through her father's long political career. "There were close to 50 meetings which he (Karunakaran) took part in during the six-day trip and the most touching was the reception he got in the labour camps," said the director. Salim Mankuzhi, who has scripted and hosted several TV programmes, has written the script for the documentary. Thursday, October 24, 2002'God's own country' plagued by suicideMental health authorities say growing consumerism and declining family ties are leading people to end their lives in India's best-educated state, Kerala, where there are 25 suicides every day.Kerala, known as "God's own country" for its vast backwaters, beaches and forests, is also hit by India's highest suicide rate, with 31 out of every 100,000 people killing themselves every year, according to the state-run National Crime Records Bureau. And it is estimated that the number of unsuccessful suicide attempts is 10 times more than the number of people committing suicide. Kerala also has India's highest literacy rate, at more than 90 percent. But the education has not always been a blessing. "Suicide in Kerala seems to be the culmination of a chain reaction triggered by a voracious appetite for consumer items, the debt trap and alcoholism," said Suraraj Mani, secretary of the state-owned Kerala State Mental Health Authority. "It is also due to a high rate of literacy and the accompanying dose of a high degree of unemployment with over half a million youths without jobs," Mani told AFP. "The aspirations of the people of Kerala are high but their pockets are empty." Kerala is biggest market for psychiatric drugs in southern India and the per capita consumption of alcohol in Kerala is the highest in the country at 8.3 litres a year. "So, when the basic parameters of a society are abnormal, it is not very difficult to assume why people have a tendency to commit suicide," Mani said. T S Arun Kumar, a clinical psychologist in Thiruvananthapuram, said as the family structure changes, so do means for emotional support. "In Kerala the family life still upholds traditional value systems to a great extent while the society is changing rapidly in socio-cultural and economic dimensions towards a more competitive and consumerist value system," Kumar said. "Changing family structure and social dynamics result in a lack of emotional support within the family set up. Every member of the family becomes vulnerable amidst these changes," he said. Psychiatrists said the most disturbing trend was a recent increase in suicides by whole families. "Over the past five years they (family suicides) have been on the increase," said psychiatrist Elizabeth Vadakekara, who runs a suicide prevention counselling center. "The first of this kind was reported in the early 90s. Since then, there has been a steady flow of such reports from all over Kerala," she said. Health minister P Sankaran, said the state was in the process of implementing a mental health policy. Mani said Kerala's high suicide rate may even be partially the result of its spell-binding scenery. "The land is beautiful, the rains abundant and the climate does not touch extremes. In such a situation, the people tend to turn inwards and concentrate even on the minutest problems in their lives." "The geographical parameters which make Kerala 'Gods own country', may itself be one of the reasons for the high rate of suicide." Thursday, October 24, 2002Beenamol to get Rs 8 lakh reward from Kerala GovtUNITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ace athlete Beenamol will receive the highest cash prize of Rs eight lakh from the Kerala Government, which on Wednesday announced the special rewards for the 11 medal winners from the State at the Busan Asian Games. Chief minister A K Antony told newsmen after a meeting of the State Cabinet here on Wednesday that a reward of Rs three lakhs would be given for each gold medal, Rs two lakhs for each silver and rs one lakh for each bronze. The coaches of each of the medal winners would be given Rs one lakh each. Accordingly, Beenamol, who won gold medals in 800 m and 4x400 m relay and silver in 400m, would get the highest of eight lakhs as reward. Her brother K M Binu would get rs two lakhs for clinching silver medal in 800 m. Thursday, October 24, 2002BSNL launches mobile service in KeralaOffering a competitive tariff package and wide coverage, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) on Wednesday launched its cellular service in Kerala.With the launch, BSNL became the fourth mobile service provider in the state after Escotel, BPL and Airtel. Chief Minister A K Antony made the first call from the BSNL mobile network by talking to Cooperation Minister M V Raghavan at a function organised here. Actor Mammootty received the first starter kit from the Chief Minister. The BSNL had set up the network by spending Rs 144 crore, envisaging a customer base of 3,26,000 in two phases. It had set up 247 towers to ensure coverage in 119 cities and towns across the state. The network would serve more than 2,000 km of National and State higways. The charges for the outgoing calls from BSNL mobile would be Rs 2.40 per minute during peak hours(0800 hrs to 2200 hrs) and Rs two per minute during off-peak hours(2200 hrs to 0800 hrs). Incoming calls would be charged at Rs 1.20 per minute during peak hours and no airtime charge during the off-peak hours. UNI Thursday, October 24, 2002Dismissed CRPF recruits remandedKochi, Oct. 23. (PTI): Sixteen CRPF recruits, who were arrested and dismissed from service for allegedly misbehaving with some school girls in a train were today produced before a court here which remanded them to judicial custody till November 5.They were produced before the judicial first class magistrate Leelamani. The recruits, who had been subjected to an identification parade at the Police Training College, Thycaud in the state capital yesterday, had been identified by the students and staff of the Beersheba Higher secondary school at Pirpra in Madhya Pradesh as their 'tormentors'. They were subsequently arrested. Action against the CRPF recruits was initiated following a complaint to the railway police here by the school principal, who was travelling in the train along with his students on a study tour of Kerala, on October 18. About 50 CRPF recruits, all hailing from Uttar Pradesh were on their way to the CRPF camp at Pallipuram from the Rampur training camp in the Thiruvananthapuram-bound Kerala Express. The accused, all in their early twenties, had been brought to Kochi this morning for being produced in the court. Thursday, October 24, 2002Air Sahara to cover south India, induct more jetsWith the phased induction of eight jets starting next month, Air Sahara has decided to expand its network across the country with a focus on south India."We hope to induct the first two jets by November 15, and get two each every month. We will use these aircraft to expand our network in every region, starting from south India," CEO Uttam Kumar Bose said in New Delhi today. With Chennai as its regional base in the south, Air Sahara plans to connect major south Indian cities like Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Tirupati and Coimbatore as soon as the first two jets arrive next month, Bose said, adding that the two aircraft would be based in Chennai. The carrier has already announced the introduction of two daily flights between Delhi and Chennai from October 27. Wednesday, October 23, 2002K G George takes charge as MACTA chairmanKOCHI: Malayalam film director K G George on Tuesday took charge as chairman of the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA).The following are the other elected office-bearers who took charge on Tuesday: P G Vishwambaran (vice-chairman), Sibi Malyalil (general secretary) Shibu Chakravarthy (secretary). V C Ashok and B Ashok took charge as executive committee members. The members on Tuesday took charge after a lower court here dismissed a petition by a rival faction headed by Sreekumaran Thampy challenging their election. The court had earlier restrained them from taking charge. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Couple hurt as bus hits carKOCHI: An old couple was injured when the car in which they were travelling was hit by a private bus at Vyttila junction on Tuesday.Joseph, 65, former general manager, Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd, and his wife Susamma, 61, retired professor from Maharaja's College, were on their way to Aroor when the accident took place. Both of them suffered head injuries and have been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Ernakulam Medical Trust. The private bus was negotiating a U-turn at the junction when it hit the car. This is the third accident involving private buses within the last two weeks. Wednesday, October 23, 2002BSNL cellular service launch on WednesdayKOCHI: The State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is foraying into the cellular telephony market on Wednesday in the State with an aggressive ``inaugural price offer.''The BSNL officials have now informed that the launch in Kochi will also be held on Wednesday. With the attractive inaugural package, which is valid for 90 days, BSNL hopes to garner a good number of subscribers. Earlier, the launch of BSNL cellular service in the city was slated for Thursday. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Private bus operators plan stirKANNUR: The Kerala State Private Bus Operators’ Federation has decided to launch an agitation demanding immediate measures to resolve the crisis facing the private bus industry in the State.Announcing the decision here on Tuesday, M Khalid Mundappilly and M S Premkumar, office-bearers of the Federation, said private bus operators would take out a march to the Secretariat as part of the agitation. The other demands raised by the Federation were, declaration of the private bus sector as an industry, formation of a regulatory committee as a permanent system to resolve the difficulties caused by the frequent hike of diesel price and withdrawal of unlawful travel concessions to students. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Quality improvement programme at engineering collegeTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Teachers opposing the World Bank-supported Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET), are to be offered transfer or deputation to other Government engineering colleges.They will be replaced with teachers from other colleges who are interested in the programme. This will be part of the proposal to be placed before the Education Minister by the Higher Education Department for effective implementation of the programme. When contacted, Higher Education Principal Secretary K Mohandas told this website's newspaper: ‘‘It is meaningless for the teachers opposing the programme to continue in the college as the entire programme envisages better teacher participation.’’ The proposal for special transfer/ deputation is in the initial stage and details will have to be worked out, he added. CET, the only college from the State currently expected to apply for the Quality Improvement Programme, may get an assistance of up to Rs 150 crore rather than Rs 50 crore – Rs 60 crore as was touted earlier, with World Bank lifting the upper ceiling for the aid. There are about 300 teachers in the CET at present. A handful of them are openly opposing the programme and supporting the SFI-led agitation against it while another section remains undecided and uncommitted. A few teachers have come out in support of the programme. The World Bank programme would devote considerable amount of money for the professional improvement of teachers which will include training at reputed international and national institutions. Chances are also that the teachers would get additional perks for quality time spent for the programme. The Higher Education Department is hopeful that the Quality Improvement Programme will lift the quality of education at the CET to that of the IITs. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Autonomy to engineering college Human chain organisedTHIRUVANATHAPURAM: A section of students, their parents, teachers and non-teaching staff of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, on Tuesday organised a human chain demanding withdrawal of the Government move to grant autonomy to the college.College union chairman Ebin M Manuel read out the oath. Prof M R Saratchandra Das and Ajay Prasad spoke on the occasion. The organisers later announced that they would intensify the strike if the Government went ahead with the move to grant autonomy to the college. They also wanted the Government to invite them to talks before taking the final decision on autonomy. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Govt’s economic policies draw flak at UDF meetTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Antony Government on Tuesday drew flak at the UDF liaison committee meeting for its economic policies which several ruling front leaders described as IT, biotechnology and private investment-oriented. They said that the agriculture and traditional industries were being largely ignored.The leaders called for a humane face for the economic reforms programme. They demanded that the focus should not be narrowed down to Global Investors’ Meet. Reacting to this, Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty said that a programme should be put in place for taking care of farmers and people in the traditional industries. A proposal for an employment generation scheme in agriculture and traditional industries was accepted at the meeting. The details would be worked out by the Cabinet. Sources in the UDF said that senior Congress leader K Karunakaran was also vocal against the ‘‘undue thrust on IT and GIM’’. There was particular criticism that though the Government had gone to town over the Rs 210-crore package for these two sectors, nothing much took place. DGP CRITICISED: The style of functioning of DGP K J Joseph was criticised at the meeting as he was accused of handling the Police Department as he liked. Leaders, cutting across party lines, alleged that the freedom given to the police was being misused and this did not suit a popular Government. The police were also accused of not treating political leaders with respect. Chief Minister A K Antony reportedly assured the leaders that he would ask police to give due respect to public men. He, however, said that there was no question of accepting recommendations by ruling front leaders for transfers and postings in the Police Department. RAGHAVAN WARNED: According to sources, KPCC president K Muraleedharan warned Cooperation Minister M V Raghavan against sidelining Congressmen in cooperative societies. He accused Raghavan of treating his department as a fiefdom. The Chief Minister was also categorical that what Muraleedharan said was the opinion of the Congress party. GOWRI COMPLAINS: Agriculture Minister K R Gowri reportedly complained at the meeting that she was not consulted in taking over the Plantation Corporation land for Adivasis. She was also upset over handing over Plantation Corporation chairmanship to Kerala Congress (M). Wednesday, October 23, 2002Kerala mulls tapping wind energyIANSTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is beginning to seriously consider tapping its huge wind energy potential. With big players in the sector saying at a meeting in Kochi that they would invest if the government created the infrastructure to tap Kerala's potential of generating 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy, the authorities said they were giving the matter serious thought. "We are looking into how we could incorporate their ideas in projects and showcase them during the forthcoming Global Investors' Meet," Tourism Minister K.V. Thomas, who inaugurated the meet organised by the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology, told IANS. Kerala generates only two MW of wind energy now. In contrast, neighbouring Tamil Nadu generates 50,000 units of wind energy every year. Said Thomas John Muthoot, a Kerala-based businessman who has set up eight windmills at Muppanthal in Tamil Nadu: "The best place in Kerala is in Ramakalmedu in Idukki district, but a lot of infrastructure like roads and other facilities have to come up. "If the government is ready to take this up, we would be glad to invest in a few windmills in Kerala," the entrepreneur said. The cost of setting up one windmill is Rs.10 million. While the major players are willing to invest that kind of money in Ramakalmedu, they say one big problem is that there is no provision at present to transfer electricity generated into the Kerala State Electricity Board grid. Among those who took part in the Kochi meeting were NEG Micon, Vestas RRB India, Suzion Energy and the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, the apex body of wind turbine makers. Eight potential investors also participated. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Dhanwanthari Jyothi Rally on Oct 28 & 29KOCHI: The Dhanwanthari Jyothi Rally in connection with the World Ayurveda Congress-2002 being organised by Swadeshi Science Movement and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be held on October 28 and 29.Kochi Devaswom Board president V Vijayaraghavan will inaugurate the rally on October 28 at Dhanwanthari Temple, Nelluvai. The rally will be given reception at important Dhanwanthari temples, ayurveda colleges and ayurveda institutions by Thrissur Pouravali, Vaidyarathnam Ayurveda College, Sree Raghavan Thirumulppadu Ayurvedic Research Foundation, Chalakkudy, Pattarumadam Ayurveda Nursing Home, Angamaly, Kerala Pharmacy, Aluva, Thottuvai Dhanwanthari Temple, Parathuvayalil Ayurveda Nursing Home,Keezhillam, and Thodupuzha Pouravali on October 28. The rally will be received at Sreedhareeyam Ayurveda Research Centre, Koothathukulam, Nellikkattumana Dhanwanthari Temple, Kottayam district Government Ayurveda Hospital, Vayaskkarakunnu Balakrishna Ayurveda Pharmacy, Sreesankara Ayurveda Nursing Home, Changanassery, SD Pharmacy, Alappuzha, Maruthorvattom Dhawanthari Temple and Government Ayurveda College, Tripunithura on October 29. The rally will end at the Ayurveda Congress venue, Durbar Hall, Kochi, on October 30, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, October 23, 2002HC orders police protection for Imam Razi TrustKOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the Circle Inspector of police, Mala, to give adequate police protection to the Imam Razi Muslim Educational Charitable Trust, Mala, its members and staff for running the Kamaliya Super Specialist Hospital and the proposed Medical College at Mala.Police protection is against any obstruction and hindrance caused by L A Hassan of Mala, B Saidalavi Haji of Ponmudam, Malappuram, K M A Rasheed of Pulampara Pallakkad, A Kunhalan of Panakkad, Malappuram, M Ibrahim Kutty of Narukara and A P Abdul Hakkim of Kanthapuram and their supporters until further orders from the court. Wednesday, October 23, 2002HC ‘no’ to police protection for Baselios IIKOCHI: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to direct police authorities to afford protection to Baselios Marthoma Mathews II, the Catholicos of the Orthodox faction of the Malankara Church, and the two Metropolitans of Kandanad Diocese, to enter St Mary’s Jacobite Church, Kandanad, and offer prayers in connection with the ongoing annual feast.The court, however, directed the State Government and police authorities to afford adequate police protection to the vicar of the Orthodox faction, Fr George Mattammel, for the conduct of the religious services, against any possible disturbances from Fr John Punnachalil, vicar of the Partriarch faction, and Thambu Geoege, Church secretary, and their followers and sympathizers. The Bench comprising Justice S Sankarasubban and Justice A Lekshmikutty said the petitioner wanted to conduct the religious services with the Catholicos and others participating and that this should not be disturbed by the Jacobite faction. Even though the Civil Miscellaneous Petition in this respect was argued at length with respect to facts and law, the judges said they did not think it necessary to depend on these arguments, since the writ petition filed by Fr Mattammel was to be heard and decided. However, the court said, it could not be denied that the petitioner, Fr George Mattammel, is the vicar and is entitled to conduct religious services in the church in question. The Bench pointed out that the District Court, Ernakulam, had not turned down the request of the receiver of the church to approach the appropriate police officer for affording adequate security measures to keep peace and tranquility in and around the church in connection with the annual church feast. It is, therefore, just and proper to issue an order to afford adequate police protection for the conduct of religious services against any possible disturbances by the Jacobite faction. The Bench has also directed the respondents to file counter affidavits. The petition was directed to be posted along with connected matters. According to the petitioner, Baselios Marthoma Mathews II has the exclusive right and control over the churches. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Kerala agents boycott government lotteryiansTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 300,000 agents in Kerala have decided to stop selling tickets of the State government-run lottery to protest its "callous attitude". The agents said they were taking this drastic step as the government had refused to heed their demand for a ban on private online lottery schemes like Playwin that were eating into their earnings. "We have no option but to boycott the lottery of the Kerala government because it has not heeded our demands to ban the computer-aided lottery schemes of private companies," V. Bharathi, president of the Kerala Lottery Agents' Association, told reporters here Tuesday. "As a result of the boycott, close to four million tickets, each costing Rs.50, will go unsold," he said. "The callous attitude of the government with regard to our plea is seriously going to affect the families of the 300,000. The government appears to have given licenses to five more private companies and is planning to come out with online lotteries itself. This is too much," said Bharathi. The association alleged state Industries Minister P.K. Kunjalikutty planned to hand over the government's online lottery scheme to a Dubai-based businessman. Since the Kerala government took over the running of lotteries 35 years ago, it has been minting money. Last year its lottery department earned about Rs.15 billion. But the state-run lottery has recorded a 20 percent dip since the entry of online schemes. Karamana Narayanan, general secretary of the association, pointed out that in 1985, when then finance minister K.M. Mani imposed tax on the agents, the association's boycott forced the government to burn thousands of lottery tickets. The tax was eventually withdrawn. "We will be forced to go in for a similar complete boycott if the government does not mend its ways," said Narayanan. An agent here said ever since the online lotteries made an appearance in Kerala, his daily sales had dropped by almost 50 percent. "I was earning my livelihood by selling these tickets and now I find it difficult to make ends meet," the agent told IANS, The agents' association also alleged there was something fishy in Playwin, the online lottery scheme promoted by media mogul Subhash Chandra. They pointed out that for the third time a Keralite had won the top prize The latest Keralite to win Rs.45 million was from Tripunithura in Kochi district in the central region of the state. Earlier one person from the northern region and one from the southern area of Kerala had won. "In our meeting we had discussed this issue and we had said the next winner would be from central Kerala and that has come true. The government has to intervene and stop this business," said Bharathi. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Harassment of girl students: 16 CRPF recruits arrested, lose jobsTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Railway police on Tuesday arrested 16 CRPF recruits who had harassed a group of girl students from Madhya Pradesh on the Kerala Express. The services of all the 16 have also been terminated.The recruits were taken into custody after they were identified by the victims at an identification parade held at the Police Training College here. The girls pinpointed the 16 accused from among the 53 recruits who were paraded before them in groups comprising 10 each, in the presence of witnesses including lady teachers and school principal Shaji Varghese. Those who have been arrested are Pawan Kumar, 23, Gopal Singh, 20, Ajith Kumar, 23, Naresh Pal, 23, Hitler Singh, 23, Manoj Kumar Dubey, 21, Ram Kumar, 24, Dinesh Kumar Yadav, 22, Sanjay Kumar, 20, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, 23, Ashok Kumar Mishra, 23, Nisar Ahmed, 20, Vinod Sagar, 22, Rajan Singh, 22, Ravi Kumar Sharma, 20 and Neeraj Kumar, 23. All of them are from Uttar Pradesh. The arrested persons, who have been sent to the Armed Reserve Police Camp and Railway Police Camp, would be produced before the Ernakulam First Class Magistrate on Wednesday. A case had been registered under section 354 IPC for outraging the modesty of woman, section 323 IPC for causing simple injury, sections 143, 147, 149 IPC for unlawful assembly with common intention of committing an offence and section 145 of the Railway Act which pertains to misbehavior on the train. The identification parade, in which 13 victims took part, began at 11 am and was over by 3.30 pm. CRPF DIG M C Joseph, CRPF Regional Training Centre principal Gopinathan Nair, Railway SP K J Thomas, Ernakulam Railway DySP Bazil Joseph and Railway CI, Thiruvananthapuram Ramesh Kumar were present. The identification parade at the office of the Railway police at Ernakulam Junction Railway Station had been postponed on Monday after Railway police raised objections to the accused CRPF recruits appearing in uniforms for the parade. Sixty-one students of Beersheba Higher Secondary School in Madhya Pradesh including boys and girls, accompanied by the school principal and two teachers, had boarded the Kerala Express from Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, on October 16. Around 50 trainee CRPF personnel on the same compartment were on their way to the Regional Training Centre at Pallipuram here. Meanwhile, the students left for Kanyakumari as part of their education tour. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Faithful fans for ‘naadan’ foodTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chinese and north Indian dishes definitely have their own takers, but ‘naadan’ food still commands a substantial and faithful fan following, going by the response to the naadan food festival currently on at the Hotel Regency here.According to the organisers, the response to the festival has been extremely good. ‘‘We brought in a chef just for the festival. The turn out has been excellent. In fact, we had a collection of more than Rs 20,000 on Sunday’’, said P Shivkumar, hotel managing director. The menu is as mouth-watering as they come. For starters, there is pazhampori, rasavada and elayappam. Kappa-meen, which has a special place in many a Keralite heart, comes for just Rs 40 while appam can be enjoyed with ‘mutta roast’ (Rs 30), ‘kozhi curry’ (Rs 50), mutton curry (Rs 70) and vegetable curry (Rs 25). Puttu, payar and pappadam come for Rs 30 a plate while puttu with ‘kozhi curry’ as well as idiyappam with ‘kozhi curry’ can be had for Rs 50 each. Idiyappam with mutton curry is slightly more expensive at Rs 70 per plate. For veggies, there is vegetable stew with idiyappam for Rs 25. There are as many as eight varieties of dosas at the festival. Regency special, say organisers, has been a hit with the crowd. The other variants are egg dosa (Rs 25), chicken dosa (Rs 30), vegetable dosa (Rs 25), onion dosa (Rs 25), thattu dosa (Rs 15), ghee dosa (Rs 20 ) and masala dosa (Rs 25). The festival will be on till October 27. According to the organisers, there is a plan for a sea food festival in December. Wednesday, October 23, 2002UDF admits its govt's rule in Kerala ""not upto the mark"Admitting that the performance of the 16-month-old A K Antony government in Kerala had failed to rise upto people's expectations, the ruling UDF today resolved to take certain corrective measures.A day-long brain-storming session of the high-power committee of the Congress-led Front felt the slow pace of development due to financial crisis and open criticism against the Government by UDF leaders themselves have damaged the image of the ministry, Front convener Oommen Chandy said. UDF leaders' criticism of the government have given an impression to the people that there was no unity in UDF and this was the main obstruction for the government in carrying out development activities, he told reporters after the meeting at Aruvikkara, 20 km from here. The session to evaluate the UDF governemnt's functioning was called in the wake of complaints that development works were in a slow pace in various sectors, Chandy said, adding it was a critical introspection by the ruling front partners who also came out with "constructive" suggestions. The police policy of the Government also came up for discussion. While endorsing Antony's line that police should render justice to all in a non-partisian manner, UDF members said the "freedoom" given to police personnel were being misused by some persons who were trying to sabotage the Chief Minister's good intentions. Antony assured that he would look into the matter and take necessary action. Strict instructions have been given to police to be courteous to public workers and take seriously the complaints of people's representatives, he said. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Kerala eyes Gulf investorsKerala, a cash-starved south Indian state, is hosting a Global Investor Meet in January 2003 to attract investment in some ambitious projects including a plan-ned IT city, said visiting officials. Two local groups from Abu Dhabi have expressed interest in the upcoming IT city in Kochi.Foreign Direct Investment in Kerala has been low despite thousands of Keralites working in the Gulf and elsewhere. Since the last decade, the state has attracted just Rs2,500 million in FDI, mainly in the IT sector. "We want to change the scenario. So we have drawn up a new policy framework to attract investment. We expect or are at least targeting Rs500 billion in the next five years," said P.K. Kunha-likutty, Kerala's Minister for Industries and Information Technology. "We have great expectations in Gulf countries due to the large number of people from the state, the proximity and traditional relations," he added. The low FDI in the past has been mainly due to a "poor perception" of Kerala as an investment destination. A team of high-level officials are on a tour of the Middle East to promote and drum up support for the upcoming investor meet, initiated by the state government. "However, we will have strong private participation although it is a state-government initiative." PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the global accounting major, has been engaged to assist the state government in this endeavour. John Mathai, principal secretary (industries), Government of Kerala, said two Abu Dhabi groups have evinced interest in the project although it was yet on the drawing board. "The two Arab groups have expressed interest in the IT city project at Kochi which will be like the Dubai Internet City, spread over 200 acres. We are encouraging investors in this project but a lot more has to be finalised," he added. Wednesday, October 23, 2002Dubai firms keen on Kerala IT cityDubai, Oct 22. (UNI): Two Abu Dhabi-based business houses have evinced interest in investing in the proposed information technology city in Kochi, visiting Kerala Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty has said.He said Kerala, passing through a major financial crisis and attracted one of the lowest foreign direct investments in India, was trying an image makeover by hosting the Global Investor Meet in January 2003. Since the last decade, the FDI flow was an abysmal Rs 250 crore, mainly in the IT sector, despite having a sizeable population working abroad. "We want to change the scenario. So we have drawn up a new policy framework to attract investment. We expect or are at least targeting Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years," said Kunhalikutty, who is also Kerala's IT minister. "We have great expectations from Gulf countries due to the large number of people from our state, the proximity and traditional relations," he said, Gulf News reported today. The low FDI in the past has been mainly due to a "poor perception" of Kerala as an investment destination. A team of high-level officials is on a tour of the Middle East to promote the upcoming investor-meet. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the global accounting major, has been engaged to assist the state government in this endeavour. John Mathai, principal secretary (industries), Government of Kerala, said two Arab groups had expressed interest in the IT city project at Kochi, which would be like the Dubai Internet City, spread over 200 acres. "We are encouraging investors in this project but a lot more has to be finalised," he added. Tuesday, October 22, 2002Kerala plantations in crisis, free rice to be distributedThe Kerala government has ordered the distribution of free rice in the state's plantation sector where thousands of employees are now facing starvation. Low returns and high costs have already forced over half of Kerala's private tea plantations to shut down, and now, other estates too are facing a similar crisis.Out of the 41 tea plantations in Idukki district - all privately-owned - there is neither work nor wages in 24 plantations. Estate owners say they have been losing so heavily that they have had to close down, leaving the workers to fend for themselves. Neelambaran of Peermade Plantations, said, "The wage structure is too high. Workers have benefits for maternity, weather protection and even for travel, apart from a bonus. The workers' wages comprise too many benefits." However, Sreejan, a labour researcher, remarked, "The workers are living like cattle. They have neither food nor medicines and are dying. But there is no one to stand up for them and their misery is being ignored as routine." Search for solutions In Thiruvananthapuram, the state is talking to owners, workers and financial institutions to try and come up with solutions to the crisis. A committee will help the estates get a better price for tea. At present, it is being sold for less than Rs 25 a kilo, although consumer prices are upwards of Rs 70. The government has also announced several immediate relief measures for the workers, including 10 kilos of free rice every week. A K Antony, Chief Minister, Kerala, said, "We are committing a lot of money to these measures, which include two weeks of free rice, support for children's education, medical camps and repair of plantation roads." The government is to meet again with those in the plantation sector next month to work out a long-term solution acceptable to everyone. Hopefully the solution would be one that will reopen the closed estates and provide both owners and workers a fair deal. Tuesday, October 22, 2002Kerala govt encourages Malayalam in office workKerala govt encourages Malayalam in office workTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT 21 (PTI) In a bid to promote usage of Malayalam in administrative work, Kerala government will reward its employees who use "lucid and simple" Malayalam in their work with good service entries and special awards. "The government will encourage the employees handling files in lucid and simple Malayalam. This forms part of the process of introducing Malayalam as the administrative language in all departments within the next four years," state Information Minister Hassan told a press meet here. "Promoting Malayalam as adminstrative language is for people's convenience. This involves no language fanaticism. English will continue to be used in matters where it is required like correspondences with the central Government." Making Malayalam the administrative language would not be at odds with e-governance, thanks to the software developed by agencies like the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, he said. Training programmes for employees on use of Malayalam as office language, now solely conducted by the Institute of Management in Government in the state capital, would be held at regional levels in Kochi and Kozhikode. This year's Malayalam Week celebrations would be held from November 1 to 7 with seminars and cultural programmes here, he added. Tuesday, October 22, 2002Kerala announces relief for sinking plantation sectorKerala announces relief for sinking plantation sectorIANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has announced immediate relief for its crisis-ridden plantation sector, especially its 24,000 odd workers who have been jobless for several months. Decreasing productivity and falling prices of coffee, tea, rubber and cardamom have led to the closure of nearly 24 estates, mainly producing tea and coffee. But relief appears to be at hand, with Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony on Monday promising free supply of 10 kg of rice every week for workers in the sector. The announcement came after Antony and his senior ministerial colleagues held a four-hour long meeting here with trade union representatives, bank officials, estate owners and officials of local bodies. Among other short term measures are plans to hold medical camps in areas where salaries have not been paid for some time. "We have also directed officials concerned to ensure that the food for work scheme is introduced, schemes to provide drinking water taken up and that the children of the 24,000 plantation be provided education," said Antony. He expressed unhappiness over the attitude of nationalised banks towards the sector. "These banks are not doing what their counterparts are doing in neighbouring states. I have already expressed my concern to the prime minister and the union finance minister," said Antony. A Plantation Standing Committee will be appointed to look into the problems of the sector. Members of the committee will include trade union representatives, estate owners, legislators, government officials and bank representatives. The meeting has also asked the labour secretary to formulate corrective measures and submit them to the cabinet at the earliest. "Once the report is submitted, we will look into what else needs to be done to help the plantation sector come out of the crisis." But opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who toured estate areas in Idukki district, blamed the state government for not pressurising the central government to change its policies. "An accord has turned Sri Lanka into a source of cheap tea and the state government has taken no steps to pressure the centre to rectify the anomalies in the accord," said Achuthanandan. Monday, October 21, 2002Shivering Hotel Industry Awaits VisitorsMumbai, October 18: Winter worries have begun for the Indian hotel industry. Though there are some revival hopes, the picture is still blurred on average room rates (ARR).The industry seems to be unable to reach a consensus on how much of a hike can be expected from the season. While some expect stagnant rates, others hope for a rise of anywhere between 5-15 per cent. Everyone though seems to be banking on winter. According to Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India secretary general SM Korde, the situation can only improve. “I can’t comment on what the ARR hike will be, but hotels have been aggressively promoting their individual properties. That, combined with the fact that this is traditionally the season when international tourist in-flows are the largest, should ensure that this season will begin the recovery for the industry,” he said. According to Indian Hotels Company Ltd (Taj group) senior vice-president (sales and marketing) Ajoy K Misra said, occupancies will bring the real gains for the season, with ARRs dependent on a number of factors. “We expect occupancy and ARRs to go up in this coming winter season. I would guess between 7-12 per cent, dependent on various factors though,” he said, adding, “In fact, occupancies are already getting to be very encouraging. This scenario will vary from city to city. While the ARR’s will go up, the real gains will come from the increase in occupancy.” Le Royal Meridien’s general manager and regional co-ordinator West Asia Julian R Groom said, “As demand grows, corporate business returns average rate will rise by 5-10 per cent. Occupancy will firm up and grow at a similar rate for the season. The winter season is likely to give more confidence to the industry and help bring back stability into the market dependent on the international demand — the deciding factor on a ‘bounce back’! An increase in ARR will have a positive impact on hotel revenues, not only in the room rate, but in ancillary spends, such as telephone, laundry etc as the client profile changes.” Delyse Briganza, vice president (sales and marketing) of Kamat Hotels is even more optimistic, “We expect the ARR to rise this season by about 15 per cent at the very least. Occupancies should have a corresponding rise of about 15 per cent. After a long period of recession the economy is finally looking up. World over the economy is cautiously looking up. While the winter of 2002 may not reach the pre-September 11 position, it will definitely go up and will be a launch pad for the next year,” she said. On the other hand JW Marriott (Mumbai) general manager Hans Georg Roehrbein disagreed. “Average rates are not going up, since there is still excess inventory and will continue to go down. Occupancies are rising for us and are stablizing in this season, partially because of an seasonal increase in demand, but this demand is not strong enough to push up rates; and partially because rates are lower and it is more affordable to stay in 5-Star deluxe hotels these days versus the past,” he said. Monday, October 21, 2002HC suspends sentence of prime accused in Suryanelli caseA Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today stayed with conditions the sentence against A S Dharmarajan, the prime accused in the Suryanelli sexual harassment case.A bench comprising Justice G Sasidharan and Justice Kurien Joseph stayed the life imprisonment sentence imposed by the Special Court, Kottayam, on condition of executing personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two other sureties for like amount. The accused should neither enter Idukki district nor leave Kerala without the Court's approval, the order said. The special court had sentenced the accused on July 11, 2002 on various charges including criminal conspirary, kidnapping and gang rape of a ninth standard girl of Suryanelli. Dharmarajan had allegedly taken the girl after pretending to be in love with her and had indulged in the criminal acts along with others. There were 43 accused in the case which took place a few years ago and the Special Court had disposed of the case against others earlier. Dharmarajan, who had absconded was tried after being caught later and convicted and sentenced. UNI Monday, October 21, 2002'Madala Pooja' celebrations in Guruvayoorappan templeNEW DELHI, OCT 20 (PTI)The popular Sree Uttara Guruvayoorappan (Sri Krishna) temple in East Delhi has drawn up big plans for the 41-day long "Mandala Pooja" celebrations commencing from November 17. The festivities at the temple in Mayur Vihar will be marked by special rituals like "Ayyappan Vilakku" in the traditional Kerala style and "Sastha Preethi". Performance by eminent artistes of Carnatic music and classical dance and rendering of devotional songs will also mark the festivities. The temple organised the just concluded Navratra festivities with special poojas. 'Saraswati Pooja' was the highlight when hundreds of toddlers were initiated into learning. Meanwhile, K Madhavan Nair was re-elected as President of the Arsha Dharma Parishad which manages the temple. V N N Pillai and G K Nair were elected as Vice Presidents, while K Prabhakaran was elected as Secretary. Monday, October 21, 2002Bids invited for Vallarpadam container terminalNEW DELHI: Rejecting the sole bid of P&O Ports of Australia, the government has re-tendered the long- pending Vallarpadam container transshipment project at the Kochi port.Initial pre-qualification bids have been invited for development of a Rs 1,900-crore International Container Transshipment Terminal at Kochi port, official sources said. The Shipping Ministry had earlier decided to reject the bid of P&O Ports due to its involvement in operating the near-by container terminal at Colombo. It felt that P&O Ports should be involved in either Colombo or Kochi but not both because the two ports lie on the main shipping line and are equi-distant or next door to one another, they said. Recognising, however, the time required for the development of the ICTT, Cochin Port Trust (CPT) intends, as a first step, to enhance and, when necessary, expand and operate the Port's existing Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal at Willingdon Island by the selected BOT operator initially, till ICTT is developed and operations are shifted there. The BOT operator is likely to be finalised in three months time, sources said, adding that the terminal would be constructed in 33 months. The project is now proposed to be developed as BOT scheme using the revenue sharing format as against the royalty method planned initially. Leading port operators such as CSX Corp, PSA Corp, West Port, Hutchison International Port Holdings, Port Klang Authority, among others, are expected to participate in the project during the fresh round of tendering. The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) will take lead in completing the road bridge to Vallarpadam and in dredging the existing channel to be deepened to about 15 metres, sources said. The road link to Vallarpadam Island is being implemented through Government of Kerala. Twenty per cent of the work has already been completed and the link to the mainland will be ready by October 2003. Due to non-availability of handling and transportation infrastructrue, ultra-panamax vessels currently skip Indian ports and call on transshipment terminals at Colombo, Singapore and to some extent Dubai. Except a few mainline vessels calling at Nhavasheva (Mumbai), about 70 per cent of containers from India are carried to their final destination by transshipment at Colombo, Dubai, Salalah, Port Klang and Singapore. Kochi has the same locational advantages as Colombo and can serve the needs of the Indian subcontinent as a whole, sources said. "It will not only attract the container traffic now being transshipped via Colombo and feeder vessels but also function as a collection centre for overland containers from all parts of India," they said. Monday, October 21, 2002HUDCO to help state develop infrastructureTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT 20 (PTI)Minster of state for urban development and poverty alleviation O Rajagopal today said HUDCO would provide Rs 600 crore financial support to major projects in Kerala, particularly in the housing and infrastructure sectors, during the current fiscal. Addressing a press meet after inaugurating the premises of HUDCO's regional office here, he said HUDCO planned to support construction of highways, road overbridges, develop a habitat centre here, as also North-South express highways and set up health, tourism and ayurvedic parks at Kochi. HUDCO had asked Kerala to prepare a project to develop the pathway from Pamba to Sannidhanam in Sabarimala with community toilets, night shelters, refreshment centres and drinking water facilities for pilgrims, he said, adding that HUDCO would finance the project. On the achievements of the NDA government at the centre, he said the governemnt had brought about all-round development in all spheres, especially in education, health, tourism, Information Technology and agriculture. In rural development, 60 lakh houses had been built all over India under a programme in the last three years, with the aim of achieving the 'one house per family' target by 2010. He claimed that the Below Poverty Line category had come down to 26 per cent due to implementation of various welfare schemes by the state. The long pending issue relating to payment of Rs 1,000 crore arrears by the state housing board owed to HUDCO had been solved and HUDCO had started providing finance, he said. Monday, October 21, 2002Media exaggerating Togadia's remarks: BJPPress Trust of IndiaKozhikode, October 20: The Kerala unit of the BJP on Sunday blamed a "section of the press" for "exaggerating" certain remarks by VHP leader Praveen Tagodia and charged anti-BJP forces with vigorously carrying on their "false propaganda" against the Centre. "What is the need for the Congress to make such a hue and cry when Tagodia himself has made it clear that his remarks were not aimed at any particular person", BJP's state Vice-President P S Sreedharan Pillai said. "Clearly, the Congress is over-reacting to the issue. Unfortunately, a section of the press is also engaged in blowing it out of proportions", Pillai, the lone national executive member from the state, said. The VHP had made its views known on AICC President Sonia Gandhi occupying the Prime Minister's post in such an eventuality, in view of her Italian identity, he said and added that there was no attempt to debase political culture. The Congress condemnation of Togadia's remarks was a "political gimmick", he said, adding that this was nothing but "part and parcel of its false propaganda against the BJP". Sunday, October 20, 2002Literate Kerala, too, has child marriagesNEW DELHI: It is a cruel irony that Kerala, with 100 per cent literacy for women, is finding it difficult to cope with child marriages.A survey conducted by the Joint Women Programme (JWC) has found that parents are forcing even 11 and 12 year-old girls to marry much older grooms. The study cites the example of 13-year-old Sajida who was married off to Rahim in Perinthalmanna in north Kerala. Pregnant at 14, the doctors were forced to do a hysterectomy on her because her uterus was not sufficiently developed to bear a child. Rahim served her a talaq the day she returned back home from hospital. Sheila, married off at 14 to Manoharan in a Malappuram village, became a mother at 15. Manoharan left for the Gulf and has refused to have any contact with her since. The JWC has collected its primary data from nine villages in Malappuram district using the records of deliveries maintained in government hospitals for the last five years. Usha Venkatakrishnan, who has spearheaded the study in Kerala, said, "From the 202 cases that we studied, we found that 18.5 per cent of the deliveries were by 17-year olds. Several were as young as 13," she said. A break-up of the 1,232 marriages held in this district between January-June 2000 reveal that 19 girls belonged to the age group of 11-13. More than 200 girls were between 14-15 age group and most of them bore their first child within the first year of marriage. In Bangalore, a similar study was undertaken in six slums, including the Kormangala slum, in which 9,000 households were studied with the same results. "These girls have not completed puberty. Pregnancy for them can prove a life-threatening experience," explained P.Roberts who headed the Bangalore team. Jyotsna Chatterjee, JWC director, said, "In India, every five minutes, one woman dies during maternity. On an average, India has 125,000 maternal deaths every year. A large number of those who die are young adolescent girls." Veena Rao, secretary, department of women and child, admits that "maternal mortality is on the rise" but believes that the concept of late marriage is difficult to enforce. "Attitudinal changes in society can only be brought about through advocacy. This is easier said than done because it means invading the privacy of a household," says Rao. PGD Chakravarty, joint secretary in the same department, believes these findings are restricted to girls in the lower socio-economic groupings. "The latest census has shown the average age of marriage has risen to 19," he added. Similar surveys are being conducted in Rajasthan, UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Sunday, October 20, 2002Kerala inland ferry set to improveNEW DELHI: Kerala’s navigational facilities are set to improve with the extension of the national waterway to cover the entire length of the state.National Waterway Three will now be extended by 355 km to touch Kasaragod in the north and Vizhinjam, near Kovalam, in the south. The permission was granted in the course of the Second Inland Water Transport Development Council meeting held here Friday. Kerala plans to invest Rs.680 million in the project. “With the approval of the federal government on the waterway extension, the National Waterway Three would cover a distance of 560 km now,” Kerala Irrigation and Water Supply Minister T. M. Jacob told IANS. “The National Waterway Three will be extended from Kottapuram to Kasaragod in the north and Kollam to Vizhinjam in the south,” the minister said. Jacob said the federal government has agreed to grant 90 percent of the project cost through its official funding agency, Inland Waterways Authority of India. Kerala is to arrange for the remaining 10 percent from its fiscal budget. The Kottapuram-Kollam waterway covering a distance of 205 km is currently under development, he said. “The work on the extension will be undertaken after completion of the estimate and detailed planning as there are two tunnels on the Kollam-Vizhinjam route that needs expansion too.” Kerala is also planning to step up the development of some of its feeder canal projects like Kanoli canal in Kazhikode. “We have already completed almost 90 percent of the Kanoli canal project. We hope to complete the project within a year,” the minister said. Sunday, October 20, 2002Kerala seeks Centre's nod for Rs 500 cr loanThiruvananthapuram, Oct 20. (PTI): Kerala government has sought the Centre's permission to borrow Rs 500 crore from the open market to carry forward development works in the state, Chief Minister A K Antony said today.Addressing a press meet here on his return from New Delhi after attending the conference of Chief Ministers, he said Kerala had also asked the Centre to release Rs 25 crore to start relief works and meet the losses suffered by farmers following the heavy rains last week. The state expected a favourable decision, he said. Kerala had also asked for immediate release of 25,000 tonnes of foodgrains under the food-for-work programme for plantation workers, who, he said, were facing acute poverty. The state had informed the Centre of its readiness to carry forward the reform process provided it helped Kerala meet the practical problems while implementing it. Reforms should be for the people's benefit and should force development. "We are against reforms just for the sake of reforms", he said. Antony said all the states wanted the central government to release more funds as they were facing severe financial crunch. Kerala had also agreed to switch over to VAT from April 2003 on the condition that the Centre would bear the losses suffered by the state on account of the switchover, till the 12th Finance Commission announced the award, he added. Sunday, October 20, 2002Dope tests at Busan Asiad were a farce: UshaNew Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Indian sprint queen P.T. Usha has termed the dope tests conducted at the Busan Asian Games as a "farce" and expressed surprise that middle distance runner Sunita Rani had tested positive.In an interview to the Indian Express newspaper, Usha also suggested the establishment of a Dope Control Commission that would function independent of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Amateur Athletics Federation of India as the testing facilities in the country were "full of loopholes". She also admitted that doping has existed in India since the 1982 Asian Games here due to the emergence of "the so-called technical experts from abroad, particularly from Russia and the Ukraine." For Usha, Sunita's disqualification was "shocking" even as it was surprising. "Frankly, I did not expect anyone to get caught as the dope tests at the Busan Asian Games were a farce. No one, not even the top officials, seemed to have taken the process seriously," Usha told the Indian Express. Usha, widely considered the golden girl of Indian athletics, ruled virtually unchallenged in the 1980s. Her crowning glory was at the Seoul Asian Games in 1986 when she won three gold medals. "Normally, athletes have to submit their urine samples for testing within seconds of finishing their events. In Busan, though, athletes were roaming around with their trainers or talking to mediapersons instead of reporting for the tests," Usha maintained. "In most cases, samples were collected after two hours. How can the test be foolproof in such circumstances?" Usha wondered. She also expressed surprise at the lackadaisical manner in which the dope tests had been conducted at Busan, pointing out that Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson had tested positive at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. "One doesn't understand why the Korean organisers decided to attach lesser significance to the dope tests this time. In some events in Busan, the bronze medallists were not even asked to submit their samples," the Indian Express quoted Usha as saying. She also called for a thorough probe of the Sunita Rani episode. "The official records say that she is guilty. If that is true, someone should enquire into how she was cleared for selection by the Sports Authority of India laboratory in New Delhi. If the lab's certificate was flawless, then there is a chance that she was given the banned substance in Busan," Usha told the newspaper. Sunita, who had won the gold in the 1,500 metres and the bronze in the 5,000 metres, was stripped of her medals after she tested positive for nandolene. As a result, India, which had originally finished seventh in the overall medals tally with 11 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals for a total of 36, slipped down a notch. Sunday, October 20, 2002Indo-US venture at Kochi KINFRA parkThe foundation stone for the Canned Pineapple Processing Plant, an Indo-American joint venture project of Nirmal Agro Industries (India) Limited, which would be beneficial to the farmers would be laid at the KINFRA Export Promotion Industrial Parks, Kakkanad, on October 21.Fr Joy Arambankudy, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Managing Director, Nirmal Agro Industries Ltd, said the company had signed an agreement with Ashco Enterprises, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, for the project. The total project cost would be Rs 320 million and the production was likely to start in a year, he said. The US collaborator has 33 percent participation in the equity and will transfer technology for fruit processing and can manufacturing and undertake 100 percent marketing of the pineapple products in US, he said. Pineapple was cultivated in over 25,000 hectares of land in the state and the supply of the raw material would be ensured throughout the year, he said. The solid waste of pineapple would be converted as vermi compost and would be distributed to the farmers for promoting organic farming, he said adding the plant would have the capacity to process 120 tons of pineapple every day. The cans would be manufactured in the plant with tinsheets imported from USA, he said. Ascho and their associates have 40 years of experience in food processing and maintains over 60 food processing facilities in USA and Canada. Sunday, October 20, 2002Vigilance court dismisses plea against CM, colleaguesThe Vigilance court in Thrissur has dismissed as 'non maintainable' a petition, alleging that Chief Minister, A K Antony and two of his cabinet colleagues had 'siphoned off' about Rs 386 million from the tribal development fund.The petitioner, one Rajan from Thodupuzha, had alleged in his petition that the Chief Minister, the SC/ST minister, Dr M A Kuttapan and Tourism minister, K V Thomas, had 'mismanaged' the fund. The Vigilance Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, S Sathinathan, conducted a probe and sought necessary details from the tribal development officers in Ernakulam, Idukki and Kottayam districts. The enquiry commissioner found that there was no irregularity or mismanagement of the fund. Sunday, October 20, 2002Open wells not to be regulated in stateKerala Irrigation Minister T M Jacob has clarified that there is no restriction and no need for obtaining special permit for digging open wells for domestic use in the state."This is clear in the new Kerala Ground water (Restriction and regulation) act 2002", Jacob said. However, Jacob said permit and restrictons will be made under the Act in the notified areas where there is over exploitation of groundwater. As per a study groundwater had been over-exploitated in three blocks one each at Kasaragode, Kodugallore and Chirayinkizhil. The groundwater situation was criticial in seven blocks and semi-critical in five blocks, he said. Further study would be carried out in these blocks to locate the exact place where the ground water has depleted more and these areas would be declared as notificed areas for the purose of ground water protection. Other 136 blocks in the state were delcared safe in the case of ground water as per the study,he pointed out. Jacob said rules under the act would be ready within three months. The act would not cause any hardship to people,he said adding the bill was introduced as per the direction of the centre for protecting the ground water sources.The model bill was also send to the state by the centre for the purposes. The act was brought with a good intention and there was no provisions in it that would affect open wells for domestic use. There would be some restrictions in the use of groundwaterfor industrial purposes, he added. Sunday, October 20, 2002Casino to put Rs 200 cr in 3 properties, go publicNEW DELHI: Kerala-based hospitality major Casino Group is planning to invest Rs 200 crore in three new properties and go public in the near future. With half-a-dozen properties under its belt, the closely-held company is also venturing out of Kerala to set up a beach resort in Karnataka.The other two projects in the pipeline are a forest lodge at Munar on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border and conversion of a tile factory at Quilon into a heritage property. "Being a closely held company imposes limitations on investment capabilities. Since we have large projects on the drawing board, we are thinking of diluting our stake in the group," George Dominic, director at Casino, said while elaborating the group’s expansion plans. Casino owns the Bangaram Island resort in Lakshadweep besides a beach resort, a hill resort and a backwater resort in Kerala in addition to two hotels at Kochi. The dilution of stake by the Dominic family is likely to be done through private placement, followed by a public issue at a later date. The plan to bring in other stakeholders and go for large projects indicates that the group is modifying its conservative approach. The Munar project, for example, involves acquisition of 100 acres of land covering tea and coffee plantations. The Casino group plans to build 20 to 30 ‘tea bungalows’ in colonial style amid tea gardens. Tented accommodation with modern amenities would be set up in the forest while some wooden suites would be built in heritage style. "Plantation would go on in at least 50 per cent of the land we acquire. The resort will exist side by side, without distorting the natural habitat and the plantation activities," Dominic said. An elephant path also falls within the area identified for the project and the current plan is to leave it undisturbed. A major portion of the investment in this project would go into acquisition of land. The other large project being undertaken by the group is a resort at Om Beach near Gokarna in coastal Karnataka. Land has already been acquired and the construction activity here will follow the architecture of the local villages, he added. Mud and straw will form a major ingredient of the construction. The location is close to Goa and the Casino group plans to build the resort in a simple but comfortable style. Dominic said the group has taken over a tile factory at Quilon for converting it into a heritage property. While tile production would continue to go on, 30 rooms would be built in the factory premises. The property is being branded as The Old Tile Factory with the aim of interesting those keen to know about the tile industry which was once popular in Kerala. It will be a different experience, he said. The Casino group is also building Kerala’s first palace hotel at Palakkad. With the aim of offering lifestyle of the Maharajas of the region and ayurveda services, the group has taken over the Kollengode Palace on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on a 45-year lease. The heritage property will have only 18 rooms in its main building with modern amenities blended with a palace backdrop. The palace is said to have been built in the 19th century in Kerala style architecture with European influence. Sunday, October 20, 2002Literate Kerala, too, has child marriagesNEW DELHI: It is a cruel irony that Kerala, with 100 per cent literacy for women, is finding it difficult to cope with child marriages.A survey conducted by the Joint Women Programme (JWC) has found that parents are forcing even 11 and 12 year-old girls to marry much older grooms. The study cites the example of 13-year-old Sajida who was married off to Rahim in Perinthalmanna in north Kerala. Pregnant at 14, the doctors were forced to do a hysterectomy on her because her uterus was not sufficiently developed to bear a child. Rahim served her a talaq the day she returned back home from hospital. Sheila, married off at 14 to Manoharan in a Malappuram village, became a mother at 15. Manoharan left for the Gulf and has refused to have any contact with her since. The JWC has collected its primary data from nine villages in Malappuram district using the records of deliveries maintained in government hospitals for the last five years. Usha Venkatakrishnan, who has spearheaded the study in Kerala, said, "From the 202 cases that we studied, we found that 18.5 per cent of the deliveries were by 17-year olds. Several were as young as 13," she said. A break-up of the 1,232 marriages held in this district between January-June 2000 reveal that 19 girls belonged to the age group of 11-13. More than 200 girls were between 14-15 age group and most of them bore their first child within the first year of marriage. In Bangalore, a similar study was undertaken in six slums, including the Kormangala slum, in which 9,000 households were studied with the same results. "These girls have not completed puberty. Pregnancy for them can prove a life-threatening experience," explained P.Roberts who headed the Bangalore team. Jyotsna Chatterjee, JWC director, said, "In India, every five minutes, one woman dies during maternity. On an average, India has 125,000 maternal deaths every year. A large number of those who die are young adolescent girls." Veena Rao, secretary, department of women and child, admits that "maternal mortality is on the rise" but believes that the concept of late marriage is difficult to enforce. "Attitudinal changes in society can only be brought about through advocacy. This is easier said than done because it means invading the privacy of a household," says Rao. PGD Chakravarty, joint secretary in the same department, believes these findings are restricted to girls in the lower socio-economic groupings. "The latest census has shown the average age of marriage has risen to 19," he added. Similar surveys are being conducted in Rajasthan, UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Saturday, October 19, 2002TDB, AIMS to set up hospital at PampaPATHANAMTHITTA: Travancore Devaswom Board president N Babu has said that the board will set up a hospital with a cardiology unit at Pampa in association with the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in the coming pilgrimage season.Babu said at a new conference that the hospital with eight beds would have 20 specialist doctors. The AIMS had agreed to provide a mobile cardiology unit at Pampa, he said. The hospital would be functional through out the year with the required medical staff working as volunteers, he said. He said that the board would set up base camps at Kottarakkara, Punalur, Pandalam, Aranmula, Ettumanur, Vaikom and Aluva with resting space, drinking water, comfort stations and parking lot. For the pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, the TDB would arrange resting facilities at Vandiperiyar where the board is in possession of around 25 acres of land, he said. The Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had shown keen interest in opening information centres at Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mahalingapuram. At these centres, provision would be made to sell `Neyyabhisheakm' tickets, he said. To a question on the appointment of non-Brahmins as melasanthis at Sabarimala, Babu said that as far as this year's selection was concerned, there was no legal hurdle as per the experts' opinion sought by the board. In the coming year, the board would hold discussions with parties concerned and take a decision regarding the constitutional aspects, tradition and faith. Babu said that the free food scheme would be implemented during the coming season itself by providing food to 2,000 pilgrims a day. The board would take steps to increase the number if required, he said. In view of the court order banning shops on the trekking path from Pampa to Sannidhanam, the board would set up 12 outlets to provide free medicated drinking water and supply snacks and mineral water at fair price. As many as 12 oxygen parlours would be set up on the trekking path, he said. The board had requested the Government to introduce a uniform police set-up on the holy hillock during the two-month pilgrim season, he said. Identity cards would be made compulsory for the employees of various government departments, Devaswom and those working in the shops. The Devaswom Vigilance SP would co-ordinate the affairs in this regard, he said. Repairing and resurfacing of Chalakkayam-Pampa road and maintenance of buildings at Sannidhanam and Pampa would be completed before the beginning of the season, he said. TDB members D Sasidharan and Charupara Ravi, Devaswom Commissioner Ayyappan Nair, Chief Engineer Sadasivan Nair and Devaswom Vigilance SP M Padmanabhan were present at the news conference. Saturday, October 19, 2002Kerala says no to tighening OD, WMA; seeks more grant to loanNEW DELHI, OCT 18 (PTI)With severe financial strain on the exchequer, Kerala today asked the Centre not to go ahead with further tightening of overdraft and ways and means advances taken from RBI and sought more grants than loans from plan assistance to states. Pointing out that the state was facing a "difficult" financial situation, Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony also asked the Centre to consider debt swap by either swapping the high cost loans with new ones at 10 per cent interest or take interest stream on the high costs loans and convert it into a long 15 year loan at seven per cent interest. "Further tightening of the scheme for regulating overdraft and ways and means should not be contemplated," he said here at the Chief Ministers' conference, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, which doubled the state's salary bill and led to a decline in share of central taxes, had created a huge burden of committed expenditure, leaving the state with very little access to resources for funding development activities. Kerala's fiscal deficit was Rs 3,039.97 crore with a revenue deficit of Rs 2,535.64 crore in 2001-02. Considering the need for funds, Antony said the pattern of plan assistance needed a revision and that "mere routing of funds to the Consolidated Fund of the state for Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) will not help the state government." He said the plan pattern, which is 70 per cent loan and 30 per cent grant, may be revised as 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant with effect from this fiscal. Saturday, October 19, 2002Kerala seeks to bring shine back to silk industryIANSTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is renewing efforts to kick-start its sericulture industry after two failed attempts to grab a bigger share in the Indian silk production pie. Kerala last year produced only 2.56 tonnes of silk compared to its neighbour Karnataka, which spins out 60 percent of India's total silk production of 15,000 tonnes. While silk production in Karnataka dates back to the 18th century era of Tipu Sultan, the first earnest attempt to develop the sector in Kerala came only in the early 1970s through the efforts of the Central Silk Board in Wayanad district. But the efforts could not be sustained. In 1989, the then Left Democratic Front (LDF) government allotted a small amount in the budget exclusively for sericulture, which was brought under the Khadi and Village Industries Board. Just as things began picking up, the board decided to delink sericulture operations, which were brought under Serifed, an autonomous body, in October 1994. Consequently, several workers were given marching orders and thus ended the second attempt to build the sericulture sector. Now Serifed is planning another drive to revive the industry and make it a viable option for Kerala farmers. "Today we have the world's best V-one mulberry tree and the best bivoltine worms, which produce the world's best quality silk," Serifed chairman Victor T. Thomas told IANS. "These assets will come in handy." To generate interest, Serifed is organising a two-day national conference here later this month on silk design and product diversification. Experts from across the country are expected to attend the meeting. Over the years, due to the lack of consistent policies, the area under mulberry cultivation in Kerala has fallen drastically. While in 1997-98 Kerala had 2,224 acres under mulberry cultivation, last year it fell to just 381 acres. And the total number of mulberry cultivators has fallen from 3,437 in the 1990s to 565 now. P.K. Mathew, a farmer in Kottayam district, told IANS on the telephone: "I used to cultivate mulberry and it was lucrative. But due to the inconsistent policies of the government, I had to stop. But I would be glad to take it up once again." He said there were several advantages in mulberry cultivation and sericulture. "The biggest advantage is that unlike other sectors this could be managed by members of the household itself. Besides, it is eco-friendly." And the returns are good, said Victor of Serifed. "From one acre of mulberry cultivation, a farmer would easily get a net profit of Rs.60,000 a year on an average." Serifed has identified 125 village council areas where sericulture will be taken up in a big way. "To help the farmers we have opened offices in all the districts and also sub-centres for collection of cocoons. The Central Silk Board is also helping us with a grant of Rs.80 million," said Victor. Saturday, October 19, 2002'Most Valuable Performance by an Indian' award for BeenamolNew Delhi,Friday, October 18, 2002: Asian Games' double gold- medallist K M Beenamol has been chosen for the Samsung "Most Valuable Performance by an Indian" award for her spectacular show in the 16-day meet at Busan.Besides the two golds, which she won in the women's 800m and 4X400m events, the 27-year old athlete from Kerala also bagged a silver medal in the 400m to help India put up one of their best performances in the Games' recent history. The diminutive runner, who was selected for the award by five eminent Indian sports journalists present in Busan during the Games, would receive a complete range of products from Samsung India Electronics Limited, official sponsors of the 14th Asian Games. The criteria for the MVP award were - creating a world and/or a Games record, consistency in performance in relation to previous Games, winning multiple gold medals and fighting spirit and according to a Samsung India press release Beenamol met the maximum number of the criteria among the Indian medal winners to bag the award. (PTI) Friday, October 18, 2002New head priest for SabarimalaSabarimala, Oct. 18. (PTI): Sankaranarayanan Namboodiri from Pinarayi in Kannur district was today selected as the new head priest of Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.He was selected as "Melsanthi" (head priest) for a one-year term through draw of lots at the "Sannidhanam" (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple. The new Melsanthi would take charge on November 16, when the temple reopens for the Mandalapooja season, the Travancore Devaswom Board President, N Babu, said here. Unnikrishnan Namboodiri of Chennithala was selected as the new Melsanthi of the Malikappuram temple, he added. The selection was made through draw of lots from among nine priests shortlisted after an interview, Babu said. A nine-year-old girl from Kottarakkara drew the lots at Sabarimala in the presence of TDB officials and devotees. Friday, October 18, 2002Transport strike hits normal lifeThiruvananthapuram, Oct 18. (PTI): Normal life across Kerala was hit today as private transport vehicles kept off the roads in response to a 24-hour strike to protest the 'steep hike' in automobile insurance premium.The protest by vehicle owners associations and trade unions began midnight last night. Police said no violence was reported from anywhere. While private buses, taxis, autorickshaws and trucks kept off the roads, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated its services normally. The strike, sponsored by the Joint Action Council of owners' associations including bus and truck operators federations, is demanding a roll-back in the 'steep hike' in automobile insurance premium. Major transport unions have pledged their support to the protest. Kerala High Court had directed the state government to ensure that the strike did not disrupt normal life. Friday, October 18, 2002Kerala says no to tightening overdraft, WMAWith severe financial strain on the exchequer, Kerala on Friday asked the Centre not to go ahead with further tightening of overdraft and ways and means advances (WMA) taken from RBI and sought more grants than loans from plan assistance to states.Pointing out that the state was facing a "difficult" financial situation, Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony also asked the Centre to consider debt swap by either swapping the high cost loans with new ones at 10 per cent interest or take interest stream on the high costs loans and convert it into a long 15 year loan at seven per cent interest. "Further tightening of the scheme for regulating overdraft and ways and means should not be contemplated," he said at the chief ministers' conference, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, which doubled the state's salary bill and led to a decline in share of central taxes, had created a huge burden of committed expenditure, leaving the state with very little access to resources for funding development activities. Kerala's fiscal deficit was Rs 3,039.97 crore with a revenue deficit of Rs 2,535.64 crore in 2001-02. Considering the need for funds, Antony said the pattern of plan assistance needed a revision and that "mere routing of funds to the Consolidated Fund of the state for Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) will not help the state government." He said the plan pattern, which is 70 per cent loan and 30 per cent grant, may be revised as 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant with effect from this fiscal. Friday, October 18, 2002Koonan LimpsDileep’s much hyped Kunjikoonan which took a decent initial, started sliding by the fifth day. And with heavy rains followed by floods in Kerala, the film has been badly hit especially in Malabar area. Dileep’s most expensive film costing Rs 1.90 crores including print and publicity may just break even in the long run.Dileep’s dual role as the handicap Koonan is being appreciated, but Dileep as the handsome Prasad is receiving all the hoots and jeers. Some of his fans found the film to be melodramatic and slow moving. Still the film cannot be written off and in the long run it may turn out to be a commission earner. Now all eyes are on Dileep’s next release Gramaphone on November 29 and Kalyana Raman on Christmas day. Friday, October 18, 2002Back to Roots!Meera Jasmine, the hottest heroine in Tamil cinema after the runaway success of Run has refused some of the best banners and heroes in Tamil to resurrect her mentor Lohithadas’ career in Malayalam.When Vijay wanted her to do his latest film, she is rumoured to have told him that she has no dates. Any other heroine worth her salt would have postponed her Malayalam venture with Boban Kunchakko and done the Vijay film. But Meera is made of sterner stuff as she is more keen to bail out Lohi, who introduced her with Sutradharan than be paired opposite Vijay. This Kunchakko-Meera film is titled Kastoori Maan and it is a mature love story where Meera has a meaty role. Meera has given 40 days call sheet and will continue with her Tamil assignments only after completing this film. Friday, October 18, 2002Dileep Turns ProducerFinally Dileep has become a producer, with the backing of Malayalam cinema’s biggest financier and distributor Swargachitra Appachan.Last week after seeing the opening of Kunjikoonan, Appachan was convinced that the current number one hero has the best initial. Appachan had made Mohanlal, a superstar earlier with his marketing techniques with films like Aaram Thampuram and Narasimham. In fact after Appachan split with Mohanlal, the actor was not able to dish out even one hit! Now Dileep will do two films with Appachan. The first one will be C.I.D Moosa, a slapstick comedy entertainer which will release for Vishu 2003 and is directed by a newcomer. Dileep’s younger brother Anoop who looks after his career is doing the entire production work. The next film will be director Lal Jose’s where the Meesa Madhavan team tries to recreate the magic once again. Appachan is keen to produce the film himself and release it for Onam 2003. Friday, October 18, 2002Welcome Back, MukeshThe long forgotten Mukesh who had done some excellent comedies like Godfather was relegated to doing sidey roles. But now, Mukesh has suddenly become busy as he is doing seven films at the moment and all of them are rollicking comedies. Mukesh has moved into the slot vacated by Jayaram who is yet to reconcile himself to the bitter truth that Dileep has eclipsed him.Why are producers after Mukesh whose last film Pakalpooram was a moderate hit? His films are made on a shoestring budget of Rs 60-70 lakhs including print and publicity and even if the films runs for a week in main station it is a safe bet. Added to that satellite channels looking for slapstick comedies to fill in their comedy shows, find Mukesh’s film hot. Mukesh is also willing to give equal footage to other comedians like Jagathy, Harisri Asokan and even Salim Kumar in his films and he completes a film in a record 25 days. His two films Vasantha Malika and Sahodaran Sahadevan are ready for release. Last week Mukesh completed Tenali Raman where he is paired with Jagathy and Aishwarya. And Mukesh comes cheap at Rs 5-6 lakhs compared to Dileep who is charging a whopping Rs 25 lakhs. Friday, October 18, 2002Pranayamanithooval'Pranayamanithooval': A peep at Thulasidas's latest filmDirector Thulasidas, who has directed over 25 films which includes many hits, is getting ready with his latest film 'Pranayamanithooval', produced by P.K.R.Pillai, under the banner of Shirdi Sai Productions. While Thulasidas' last film 'Dost' was about friendship versus love, 'Pranayamanithooval' tackles love from a different perspective. 'Pranayamanithooval' has as its central character, three young people - Vinod, Balu and Meera. Vinod is a smart young college student. Meera, a young girl who has been mesmerized by his charming looks, starts loving him, but never ever gets the chance to express her love for him. Something always seems to come in the way. Vinod too develops a liking for Meera, but that too remains untold. In the meantime, with the entry of Balu (who acts in ad-films), things take a new turn. Jayasurya, who had been introduced in Vinayan's 'Oomapenninu Uriyaadapayyan', does the role of Vinod."This is the first time that you are going to hear Jayasurya speak on screen, since in 'Oomapenninu Uriyaadapayyan' he played a dumb character", says the director, in a light-hearted manner. Vineeth Kumar, who has been well-known as a child star and later became a hero with 'Kanmashi', is Balu. In the role of Meera, is debutante Gopika, who hails from Thrissur. Also in the caste are Harisri Asokan, Cochin Haneefa, T.S.Raju, Manka Mahesh, Ravi Vallathol, Zeenath,etc. Kaloor Dennis does the script based on a story by Thulasidas. Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri does the lyrics and Mohan Sithara does the job of composing these songs. Anil Gopinath wields the camera while G.Murali is in charge of the editing department and Gireesh Menon, the art direction. Cool Jayant, Kala and Kumar-Shanti do the dance direction. 'Pranayamanithooval' will be brought to the theatres by Shirdi Sai Release and Pallavi Arts. Thulasidas was on the look out for a suitable face to do the role of Meera in 'Pranayamanithooval'. He tried many new faces, only to be disappointed and even approached some established stars, who however were busy. It was at this time, just before shoot was to begin, that a photographer brought him the photograph of a young girl. The face seemed made for the role of Meera. Anyhow Thulasidas did not make a final decision. At night, Thulasidas' wife called from home saying that there was a photograph in a weekly and it looked like that girl might fit the role. Thulasidas checked it up and found that it was the same girl whose photo he had seen that day. So, it was finally decided. And Gopika was asked to come immediately. A screen test was held and she was okayed for the character. Gopika's father says that though she was earlier invited to act in Fazil's 'Kai Eththum Dooraththu', she could not take it up as it was exam time. And now, since she has written and passed her exams and has joined her graduation course, she agreed to try her hand at acting. Gopika is very happy. She is confident and satisfied, since she had got the chance to play a very lively and somewhat dynamic character. She is now ready to pursue a career in films, provided she gets good roles from good filmmakers. Until then, let's just wait for the film to complete shooting and watch this comedy on the big screen! Friday, October 18, 2002KrishnapakshakilikalK.J. Abraham Lincoln, who has been a part of Malayalam cinema for many years now, as a film journalist and a leading PRO, took to direction over a year ago with 'Mazha Peyyumbol'. Made on a very limited budget, the film had some technical flaws. But the theme and treatment was taken note of. And now, banking on the experience that he has gained from his first film, Abraham Lincoln is getting ready with his second directorial venture, 'Krishnapakshakilikal' produced by Pradeep Paliyath under the banner of Saptavarna Films. The film, shot in and around Perumbavoor in a single schedule of 23 days, has in its cast, an impressive array of names like Revathy, Narendra Prasad, Saikumar, Bindu Panicker, etc.The theme of 'Krishnapakshakilikal' is very different and significant. The story of the film revolves around a young widow Mary (played by Revathy) and her son Jolly (played by Amal). Mary, whose husband was killed in an accident, toils hard so that her son gets a good education. And the way things happen in the school life of Jolly, proves that her efforts are not wasted. Among the central characters are - another young boy Rajesh (played by Shyamsunder), Rajesh's father and RDO Hareendran (played by Saikumar), a headmaster (played by Narendra Prasad) etc. And around these and some other very vibrant characters is woven the plot of 'Krishnapakshakilikal', which also stars Pradeep Paliyath, Karthika, Kalabhavan Santhosh, Baby Sanusha, Philomina Puthussery etc. Scripted by A.K.Puthusserry, 'Krishnapakshakilikal' features cinematography by Muralikrishna, lyrics by Bharanikkaavu Shiva Kumar, music by Raveendran, background score by Johnson, art-direction by Kailas Rao, editing by Vijayakumar, make-up by Pattanam Rasheed and costume-designing by Kukku Jeevan. R.K.Menon is the production controller. The film will be brought to the theatres by Saptavarna Release. If with 'Krishnapakshakilikal', Pradeep Paliyath makes his entry as a producer, Pradeep's young son Shyamsunder too makes his debut in this film as a child star. 'Krishnapakshakilikal' has many new child stars in the cast and Shyam is one of them. Shyam had got certain offers earlier, but his parents did not take them seriously. But when Pradeep himself was producing a film and when Abraham Lincoln suggested that Shyam should do the role, they gave it a thought and finally consented. Judging by the general opinion, Shyam is very likely to do Papa proud. As of now, he is very happy after doing the film. Friday, October 18, 2002Dileep does a DravidThe baby-faced actor is continuing in his improbable winning streak as his latest release Kunhikoonan, looks destined to become a mega grosser.A bewildered industry, which has of late seen even the likes of Mohanlal and Mammooty take a tumble, is caught speechless by Dileep's stupendous box-office performance. Kunhikoonan, which features him in a double role including the eponymous hunch-backed, buck-toothed character, has had a very good opening and looks set for a jubilee run. The success of Kunhikoonan has ensured that Dileep's remuneration has gone up by a few lakhs. According to industry reports, Dileep is tied up for the next three years. But producers are queuing up at his door. By a conservative estimate, he has at least 15 films in hand. As it happens, all of them are big banners and big directors. Sources say, Dileep is now commanding a price that no actor has ever done in the history of Malayalam films. So what makes Dileep tick? Simple! Simple stories. Simple acting style. Simple living style. Producers say the biggest advantage of having Dileep in your film is that he brings star appeal without any starry baggage. He also does not require larger than life roles to project himself. As one wag put it, "Dileep is a star with a next-door neigbour acceptance". In that sense, he is Malluwood's Dravid. Both of them have been quietly dignified and phenomenally successful. Wednesday, October 16, 2002Death toll in Kerala rains risesThe flood situation in north Kerala, which had been witnessing heavy rainfall since Saturday last, showed signs of improvement today even as the current spell of torrential rains claimed nine lives in the past four days.Official sources said there was let-up in the torrential rains today and no death was reported from any part of the state. However, two persons, who ventured into the sea for fishing, were reported missing. Four deaths were reported from Malappuram, two from Kasargod and one each from Kannur, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. As many as 80 houses were destroyed and 356 houses partially damaged due to the downpour. Preliminary reports said crops worth Rs 80 lakh were damaged. The rail and road traffic in the Kozhikode-Kannur sector that were disrupted was restored today. The flood situation in Kannur, which recorded the century's heaviest rainfall of 37 cm during the 24 hours ending 0830 hrs yesterday, also improved. UNI Wednesday, October 16, 2002Rain-hit Kerala seeks Rs 25 crore central assistanceTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT 16 (PTI)Kerala today asked the Centre to provide Rs 25 crore as relief assistance to tackle the situation arising out of torrential rains lashing the state since last week, which had claimed 11 lives besides causing losses of crops and property to the tune of Rs 50 crore. A meeting of the state cabinet which took stock of the situation, announced emergency assistance to the affected families and released Rs two crore to meet relief costs. The devastation was extensive in Kannur, Kasargode, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram districts due to heavy rains caused by a depression in the Arabian sea last week, Chief Minister A K Antony told reporters. The Government would provide Rs 50,000 each to the next of kin of those died, Rs 5,000 for those having suffered injuries, Rs 25,000 for houses fully damaged and Rs 10,000 for houses partially damaged, he said. Several villages in northern districts remained cut off as roads had been washed off by flash floods and landslides. Preliminary estimates put the loss inflicted by the monsoon fury at Rs 50 crore, Antony added. Wednesday, October 16, 2002'Nandanam' in TamilScenarist-turned-director Renjith, whose debut directorial venture Ravanaprabhu was a hit and whose second film, the yet-to-be released Nandanam has already become a talked-about film, has his hands full of new offers. Renjith is to direct Swami, the Tamil remake of Nandanam, to be produced under the banner of Swargachithra. Swami, which will have a debutante doing the male lead, will have Navya Nair doing the female lead and will feature lyrics by Vairamuthu and music by A.R.Rehman. (It is being buzzed that Nandanam is to be re-made in Telugu and Kannada too). The other film that Renjith is to do, is a Malayalam film based in the U.S. and produced jointly by Triveni Films and Grihalekshmi Productions. Yet another film that Renjith will be doing is Maram Peyyumbol, to be produced by popular actor Augustine under the banner of St. Jude Creations, with Mohanlal and Nandita Das in the lead roles. The film will feature script by Renjith himself, lyrics by Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma and music by Raveendran and will commence shoot in the second week of October. Wednesday, October 16, 2002Actress Oorvasi escapes accidentSouth Indian actress Oorvasi who made her debut into the Tamil film industry through K.Bhagyaraj's film 'Mundanai Mudichu' has made quite a number of films in Tamil and Malayalam as heroine. She later entered the comedy genre of films and showed exemplary timing as far as comedy concerns. She has captivated our hearts in films like 'Michael Madana Kamarajan', 'Magalir Mattum', 'Mayabazaar 1995' and Kamal's recent film 'Panchathanthiram'. The talented actress almost escaped death when the car she was traveling rammed into a cycle and skidded off the road near Valliyur, Tamilnadu. The actress who was on her way to Trivandrum after a shooting for the TV serial 'Pudhumai Penn' had booked a car to get back to Trivandrum. On her way back to Trivandrum she met with the mishap and was lucky to be spared with minor injuries.Wednesday, October 16, 2002Jayaram dead?Malayalam actor Jayaram who is known more to the Tamil films through his comedy roles in films such as 'Thenali' and 'Panchathanthiram' had to go through an unwanted and forced comical relief in real life when a prankster decided to announce that the actor died of heart attack in a local cable channel in Palghat, Kerala. The news spread like wildfire throughout the area and soon fans were seen lighting incense sticks and putting garlands for the actor's photo. A shocked friend of Jayaram called up the actor's resident in Chennai to convey his condolences and was even shocked to hear Jayaram personally answer the call. A distressed mother-in-law of Jayaram who called up from Kerala refused to keep the phone down till her the actor came on the line to convince and calm her down. When the actor got back to the shooting of 'Anbe Sivam' Kamal Hassan couldn't refrain himself from passing a witty comment to Jayaram saying that this usually only happens to V.I.P's where they are killed in gossips many times before they actually die.Wednesday, October 16, 2002'Kunjikoonan' in trouble?The latest Malayalam Dilip-starrer Kunjikoonan which has the actor playing dual roles (Kunjan, a hunch-back cripple and Prasad, a smart college student) has apparently run into trouble. The film, which has been doing well, has recently invited the wrath of social activists who have complained to the High Court saying that the film ridiculed the handicapped. The High Court has, in turn, asked the censor board to see if the complaint was true. However, the actor Dilip, director Sasi Sankar and writer Benny have denied this allegation.Tuesday, October 15, 2002Keralappiravi' celebrations in DohaThe Confederation of the Kerala Organisations, is organising the 'Keralappiravi' celebrations Indian Community Recreation Club in Doha on October 18.Congress MP, Ramesh Chennithala, will attend the programme. According to the organisers, this is the first-ever event in Qatar to be jointly organised by the Kerala associations. The four-time Member of Parliament is likely to attend a function at Dukhan too, said Thomas Philip, joint coordinator of the Confederation of the Kerala Organisations in Qatar. The confederation is planning to organise a six-hour show, consisting of games, competitions, educational and cultural programmes, as part of the Keralappiravi, said coordinator of the programme, Mohan Ayroor, Asianet Radio will be airing the programme. Tuesday, October 15, 2002``Kerala Pravasi Sangom'' coming up for NRKsAn organisation for the cause of repatriate Malayalees, titled ``Kerala Pravasi Sangom'' will be launched in Kozhikode with a rights-declaration meet on October 19.Former Chief Minister E K Nayanar will formally inaugurate the body at the convention to be attended by Minister for Welfare of non-resident Keralites M M Hassan as chief guest. CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Janata Dal (S) state president M P Veerendrakumar, LDF convenor Paloli Mohammedkutty, A K Premajam, MP, and Vijayaraghvan, MP, would also attend. Talking to newsmen in Kozhikode on Tuesday, Sanghom secretary Payyoli Narayanan claimed that Governments which received a heavy flow of foreign exchange from NRIs took little interest in the case of repatriates. Office-bearers of the forum said about Rs 36,000 crore NRE deposits received every year and over Rs 5,000 crore had been so far collected as emigration funds but no measures had been taken for their welfare. They also disclosed that the forum would launch a chain of super markets, financial institution and various projects to tap travel and tourism potentials in State. Tuesday, October 15, 2002Private Bus strike on Oct 18Nearly two million vehicles, from two-wheelers to trucks and buses in the private sector, will stay away from roads on October 18, in response to a 24-hour motor bandh called by different organisations against the recent hike in insurance premium.Addressing a press conference here, trade unionist and joint action council leader Elamaram Kareem said all the vehicles, coming under the insurance coverage, would join the token stir, beginning from October 17 midnight. With over 30,000 private buses and the trucks operating from other States keeping off the roads, the movement of passengers and goods are set to be affected badly. The joint action council of the motor workers unions, Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation, Kerala State Lorry Owners Federation, Two-wheelers Association have jointly called for the bandh. However, vehicles of hospitals, Newspapers and media, emergency trips like marriages and deaths have been exempted from the bandh. Certain areas near Pattambi has been also been exempted on account of feast at Naranathu Temple, in Malappuram district. The action council leaders claimed the insurance premium was hiked up to 300 per cent in Kerala against the directions by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and adding to the burden on the vehicles owners already hit by rise in petroleum prices and that of spare parts. ``We are not for reducing the increased tariff but for total withdrawal of the same,'' Mr Kareem said urging the intervention of the State and Central governments in this regard. There are over 2.3 million vehicles registered so far in the State and two wheelers accounted for about 1.2 million, according to the latest reports. Tuesday, October 15, 2002Santosh Trophy from Nov 17Imphal, Oct 15: Hosts Manipur take on Himachal Pradesh in the inaugural match of the 58th All India National Football Championship for the LG Santosh Trophy beginning here on November 17.A record number of 32 teams are participating in the 20-day championships, sponsored by LG. Last year`s champions Kerala, runners up Goa and two semifinalists Railways and Tamil Nadu figure in the quarter final. UNI Tuesday, October 15, 2002New college seeks shareholdersPromoters of a new education project in India have arrived in Bahrain to raise money for the scheme.They are appealing to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to invest in a new BD395,500 College of Science and Technology. The college will be affiliated to the University of Calicut and run by the Malabar Higher Educational Society (MHES). "We have already received a boost of BD79,100 from around 100 NRI shareholders in Qatar," said project executive committee president Dr C M Kunhimoosa in a Press conference held yesterday at the Bangkok Restaurant, in Umm Al Hassam. "We hope to raise the same from Bahrain during this visit." Profits from the college will be equally divided among shareholders and their children will receive special benefits if they choose to study at the institution. Meanwhile, the society was formed to promote the welfare of socially, educationally and economically backward communities in Kerala - especially in Malabar. It aims to establish, maintain and run educational and technical institutions, engineering colleges, polytechnics, training schools and research centres to train poor students. The society will provide scholarships, distribute study materials, open libraries, reading rooms, vocational training camps and career centres as part of its charitable activities. This new college venture will be situated in 25 acres of land in Cherandathur, Vadakara, Kerala. "An elaborate building complex is being planned to accommodate an administrative block, classrooms, a reading room and all other facilities," added Dr Kunhimoosa. "The society is headed by a patrons board who will be in charge of the project." Promoters are in Bahrain as part of their Gulf promotion tour and will leave for Saudi Arabia on Friday. A lecture on the whole project will be held tomorrow at the Al Osra Restaurant, in Manama, from 7.30pm. It is open to all free of charge and will be followed by dinner. People interested in the project should contact P P Abdul Razaq on 9884197, P P Hameed on 9190364 or T P Azees on 9409709. Tuesday, October 15, 2002Let up in rain, northern districts yet to recoverTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT 15 (PTI)Though there was a let up in torrential rains today in North Kerala, the region was yet to recover from the brunt of monsoon fury which in its current spell claimed nine lives since late last week. According to official sources, four deaths were reported from Malappuram, two from Kasargode and one each from Kannur, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram since Saturday last. Two persons were reported missing. A series of minor landslips were reported from the eastern settlers' belts in Kasargode, Kannur and Kozhikode districts, causing extensive crop loss and property damage. Rail traffic between Kannur was from affected villages have been shifted to relief camps. Rivers and canals in northern districts are still in spate, and in many places village roads were severely damaged. As per preliminary official estimates, crops worth over Rs 80 lakh had been lost. Revenue Minister K M Mani directed district administrations to undertake relief works on a war-footing. Tuesday, October 15, 2002Heavy rains brings smiles to many in KannurUNITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kannur in northern Kerala on Monday received 37 cms of rainfall, an exceptionally heavy downpour during the last 100 years. Local meteorological station director Kunhu Kunhu Kutty told UNI that the rainfall, recorded during the 24 hours ending 0830 hrs on Monday morning, was an all-time record for the district. The earlier record was 36 cms on June 6, 1924. Kannur was among a majority of the 14 districts of Kerala, which had been receiving good rainfall during the last four days, bringing cheers to the state, which received very poor rainfall from the southwest monsoon since June. This year, Kerala received 35 per cent less than normal rainfall from the monsoon. This was the record lowest rainfall since 1975 when the State's receipt was 33 per cent less than normal rainfall. Kutty said Kannur's 37 cms of rainfall on Monday was the second-highest in Kerala during the past 100 years. The highest-ever for the century recorded by Thiruvananthapuram was 40 cms of rainfall on October 18, 1964. However, the highest rainfall recorded so far over Kerala was at Tirurangadi on May 9, 1885 when that tiny town in northern Malappuram district received 62 cms. Besides Kannur, Hosdurg and Taliparamba in north Malabar recorded heavy rainfall of 16 cms and 13 cms each, followed by Kozhikode, nearby Karipur airport and Mankombu (Alappuzha district) five cms each, besides Kottayam, Manjeri (Malappuram district) and Munnar (Idukki district) four cms each. The official said the heavy rain would continue to lash Kerala during the next 48 hours as the southwest monsoon has been vigorous over the State. Though the current rainfall, accompanied by thunder and lightning, was typical of the Northeast Monsoon, the metreological station maintained that the retreating monsoon was yet to set in over Kerala. Kutty said there was a low pressure over Lakshadweep with an upper air circulation extending up to mid-tropospheric levels. It was as a result of this that the Kerala experienced widespread rains during the last four days. Though the low pressure had subsequently moved to Konkan and Goa coasts, Kerala continued to get moderate to vigorous rainfall under its impact and the trend would continue during the next 48 hours. Tuesday, October 15, 2002North Kerala hit by torrential rains, 5 dead, traffic disruptedTorrential rains over the past three days has paralysed life in the northern districts of Kerala and left five persons dead and three missing.The rains are the result of low pressure over the Arabian Sea near the Lakshadweep Islands. The dead have been identified as Gopalankutty (78), Imbichikoya (43), Abbas (38), Ayshumma (45) and Gopalakrishna Menon (74). Three persons, one each in Malappuram, Kasargod and Kannur districts, went missing and several houses damaged following floods and landslides, according to reports reaching Thiruvananthapuram. The rains have also wrought extensive damage on standing crops besides uprooting hundreds of arecanut (beetlenut) and coconut trees. Preliminary estimates have put the loss at Rs 20 million. Rail and road traffic beyond Calicut (towards Mangalore) was disrupted following water logging in some places in Kannur district. As a result, the Mangalore-Chennai Mail and the Kannur-Calicut passenger trains were cancelled. Several long-distance trains have been rescheduled and the railways have employed buses to ferry stranded passengers between Calicut and Kannur. Many rivers in Kannur and Kasaragod districts are in spate. An official release in Thiruvananthapuram said 50 villages in Kannur district have been flooded, leaving more than 500 families stranded. Some others have been shifted to safer places. Revenue Minister K M Mani has directed the district collectors to hire fibre boats to rescue marooned people. Over 25 relief camps have been set up so far to provide shelter to the uprooted people. Landslides were reported from several places, including Sreekandapuram, Ullikkal and Udayagiri in Kannur district and Kattukukkai, Thekkil and Chattamchail areas in Kasargod district. A control room has been opened in Kannur district to coordinate the relief efforts but incessant rains have been a major stumbling block. K K Kunjukutty, director of the forecasting wing of the meteorology department in Thiruvananthapuram, said that Kannur had recorded a rainfall of 37 cm, the highest in this period since 1924. He said the low pressure formed over the Lakshwadweep Islands was moving towards Karnataka and Goa but Kerala would continue to experience heavy and widespread rainfall for another three to four days. Tuesday, October 15, 2002Kerala CPM faces flak over hooch scamOct. 14. — The CPI-M in Kerala and its central leadership have been asked to come clean about accusations that several senior party leaders have been on the payroll of the hooch king, Manichan, now languishing in jail.As many as 21 leaders of the CPI-M reportedly figure in Manichan’s diary which he had maintained as his pay-roll. Manichan is in jail in connection with the deaths of many people allegedly after consuming hooch supplied by him last year. The general secretary of the Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and the cooperative and ports minister in the AK Antony government, Mr MV Raghavan, has asked the CPI-M in Kerala and its central leadership to come clean on the issue. Following the allegations, the Kerala CPI-M had set up an internal inquiry which found that former Trivandrum district party committee secretary and state committee member, Mr Satyaneshan, had taken Rs 35 lakh from Manichan. Following the reported confession of Mr Satyaneshan, he and another local leader were expelled from the party at a recent state committee meeting attended by Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Mr Prakash Karat and Mr S Ramachandran Pillai. However, the party has been stonewalling the allegation that names of a total 21 leaders figured in the Manichan diary. Also the state leadership has rejected the request of an inquiry commission, which has been looking into the scam, to provide it the details of the findings of the probe. Talking to The Statesman, Mr Raghavan, who was a top-ranking CPI-M leader before he was expelled for challenging the party line, dared the state CPI-M and the central leadership to reveal the full details of the probe findings. “The reports clearly say as many as 21 CPI-M leaders were in the pay-roll of Manichan. It claims that 19 of them have been pardoned by the party leadership when they said money was taken for the party funds. If the CPI-M leadership has nothing to hide, why are they not handing over the findings of the party inquiry to the inquiry commission. Are they saying party leaders could accept money from anti-socials provided it was for party funds? If so, can murders be committed for the party? The leadership should explain.” When The Statesman contacted Mr Surjeet before he left on a foreign trip, the CPI-M general secretary said party members could not accept money for personal use or party funds from anti-socials and cited the action against the two Kerala leaders as a sign of the party’s resolve to deal firmly with such cases. When asked why the 19 leaders have been reportedly let off the hook, he said: “No other names came before us. That’s all.” But Mr Raghavan said if the party had revealed the contents of its internal inquiry “all names will be exposed”. Mr Raghavan alleged that the leaders close to Mr EK Nayanar and Mr Achuthandan, had connections with the hooch king and demanded an explanation as to whether they were accepting money at the behest of the top leadership. “It has become clear that money was paid by Manichan to the senior CPI-M leaders when the Nayanar government was in power. “What was the quid pro quo? The CPI-M should reveal it.” He asked the state CPI-M to make public the details of the real estate that the party owns in Kerala and disclose the source of income for acquiring it. “I can say the Kerala CPI-M easily owns real estate worth Rs 1,000 crore. They have a five-star hotel like party headquarters at Trivandrum (AKG Centre), independent luxurious flats for the state secretariat members, besides owing prime property across the state.” Monday, October 14, 2002Dileep emerges as Kerala's new superstarMovie buffs in Kerala are celebrating the birth of a new superstar nearly after a decade, in Dileep, whose boy-next-door image is virtually reversing the fortunes of a crisis-hit industry.Almost all the prints of the Rs 1.5-crore movie titled Meesa Madhavan, from a young crew with Dileep in lead are still running to packed houses even after 110 days and have reaped in several crores to rewrite the very basics of showbiz grammar. Close on the success, Kunhikoonan with Dileep in a double role is also into an initial buzz. If his imposing predecessors Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi(the other three super stars and all national award winners), had some thing very rare in them to win the coveted tag, the mimic artiste-turned-actor reached the spot with no spectacular magic. Unlike the others, he had neither of their macho cult, mannerisms, acting prowess nor the acumen. Still people, especially family viewers, loved him. His expressive face came in handy in his march to success. He has even converted his short stature as a positive factor. "I have a rough idea of my pulses and the pulse of the viewers. Because of my mimicry experience, I know how and what the common people enjoy. And at the same time, I do not take all the offers which come my way", Dileep evaluates himself. Dileep gives due credit to the team work too behind a cinema acknowledging the efforts of the director and the script-writer. Meesa Madhavan, by Lal Jose who had just three films under his belt, came almost as an elixir for the crisis-ridden industry which sank about Rs 225 crore in the last six years. And especially when the astronomical amounts charged by the superstars alone made the industry shell out Rs 90 crore making it almost bankrupt. In a place like Kerala, where a film has a maximum 30-35 prints, ensuring 100 days in all 30 of the 33 centres of release is something beyond imagination at this time and unheard of in the industry, according to a distributor in the field. The film, telling the story of small-time Robin Hood, has neither the subtlety of parallel cinema nor the vulgarities of an utterly commercial venture. But it proved to be an entertainer to the core, thanks equally to the skills of Lal Jose and the 'ordinary' Dileep. According to veteran S Jayachandran Nair, in a recent review, the viewers have been waiting for such a film sans the jumbling dialogues or monologues, vulgarities from sex-bombs or hard macho punches. "It is an experience of joy running as a cool stream in a relaxed mood of mind", he sums up. UNI Monday, October 14, 2002Rains lash Kerala; Toll rises to 14Three people were killed as heavy rains hit Kerala Monday taking the death toll over the past week to 14, police said.The body of a 38-year-old man was washed ashore and a woman died in the northern Kasargod district of the state when the roof of her house caved in, a police spokesman said. "The body of a boy who was drowned in flood waters was also recovered in the adjoining Kannur district. Two others are reported missing from the same district," police spokesman Manoj Abraham told AFP. The torrential downpour, accompanied by strong winds, flooded most regions of northern Kerala and swept away houses in low-lying areas. Villagers were evacuated to government-run schools by rescue workers. A weather official at the Meteorological Centre in Thiruvananthapuram said Kerala recorded the highest rainfall in more than 25 years during the onset of the northeast monsoon in October. "The average rainfall during the period has been about 11 to 16 centimeters and it has been 65 per cent more than the normal for the October to December period," he said. Monday, October 14, 2002Banks offer to fund studies on Kerala expatriatesIANSTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Top commercial banks in Kerala have expressed interest in funding research on the socio-economic condition of the state's natives settled abroad. Among the banks that have offered funds is Kerala's premier financial institution, the State Bank of Travancore (SBT). The SBT and three other banks have made the offer, said S. Irudayarajan, a senior member of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) faculty who was part of a three-member research team that has conducted two such studies. "The interest shown by them is understandable taking into account the huge NRK (non-resident Keralite) deposits these banks hold," Irudayarajan told IANS. According to the State Level Bankers' Committee, NRK deposits in Kerala touched an all time high of Rs.257.9 billion against total deposits of Rs.528.2 billion. There are about 1.6 million Keralites settled in several foreign countries, especially in the Middle East. The first study on their socio-economic condition was conducted in 1998. It centred on a sample 10,000 families across the state that had members working abroad. The second study was done two years ago in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to find out about the living and working conditions of migrants from Kerala. The state government had given Rs.1 million to the research team for this study. Irudayarajan said the researchers were considering the banks' offer for funds and trying to determine how it would work. "It could either be by way of setting up a corpus fund wherein these banks contribute and then use the interest portion generated as funds for conducting field surveys and studies," he said. Funds are the biggest problem for researchers these days, conceded Irudayarajan, who is currently preparing for a study on the socio-economic condition on Indian migrants in Saudi Arabia. Another project in the pipeline is a repeat of the 1998 study. "We are planning to do a survey in another 10,000 households to find out the present picture of the NRKs. Now that five years have passed since our first study, we are hopeful of new findings," Irudayarajan said. Monday, October 14, 2002`Friends' to go in for free softwareTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 13. The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), which ran into a copy right-related controversy over the software it developed for `Friends' here recently, has decided to go in for free software.The C-DIT said in an official release here on Thursday that the Secretary (Information Technology), Aruna Sunderarajan, had given permission to develop Linux-based software for `Friends' (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for Disbursement of Service). The C-DIT said it would develop the software in collaboration with volunteering firms and organisations. Firms and organisations interested in the development of application software in Linux-based systems can join the effort. The C-DIT would give the leadership and coordinate the efforts. Applications for joining the venture should reach the C-DIT before October 20. The `Friends' centres under the Information Technology Department now use Windows-based software. The C-DIT, a Government agency, had entrusted its development to a private firm. Subsequently, modification of the system was entrusted to another private firm. Police raided this firm on complaints that it was using the source code developed by the first firm for further development of the system. The C-DIT was accused of passing on the source code to the second firm. Meanwhile, the Government has declined permission to Pattenchery panchayat in Palakkad district to its request to use GNU/Linux on computers to be purchased by it. The panchayat had adopted a resolution urging the Government to allow it to use GNU/Linux and forwarded it to the Government. It received a reply from the Secretary (Local Self-Government) six months later directing it to use Windows as the operating system. Apart from the issue of the Government forcing a costly software over free software on the panchayat, the Government Order has raised questions about the autonomy of the panchayat. The order showed that the panchayat, which is described as a local self-government after decentralisation, did not have even the freedom to make a choice of the software. An official of the Information Technology Department said it had no objection to the panchayat using GNU/Linux-based systems. However, issues of servicing the software were involved. The official said he would be talking to the panchayat authorities to ascertain facts and would be helping it in its choice. Several countries are now turning to open and free software for its e-governance programmes. They include several European countries, China, Taiwan, Australia, Egypt, Pakistan and Nepal. The free software licence, which is called `copy left', gives the user freedom to use, copy, learn, modify and redistribute the software under the same terms. Monday, October 14, 2002Female foeticide on the rise: KamalamTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 13. Selective female foeticide, previously unheard of in Kerala, is now being increasingly reported from many parts of the State and is a cause for alarm, the chairperson of the State Women's Commission, M. Kamalam, has said.Inaugurating a district-level camp on violence against women, organised by the Vayalar Memorial Youth Club here on Saturday, she pointed out that the State, which was ahead of all other States in matters of health, women's status and literacy, now had the dubious distinction of being in the second place, when it came to sex-related crimes. Violence against women had gone up in the State like never before and even little children were not left alone. The new Commission has so far settled about 7,000 cases through adalats. However, going by the number of new cases reaching the Commission here, the Commission could hold sittings every day and still not finish settling cases, she said. People, media and the women themselves should delve into the root cause for this spurt in the crimes against women. Mothers should pay more attention to the emotional needs of their daughters and try to become the soul-mates of their children, Ms. Kamalam said. Monday, October 14, 2002Floods, landslips in Kannur, KasaragodKANNUR. Heavy rain continued in Kannur and Kasaragod for the second day today leaving many low-level areas inundated. Two persons were reported dead in the rain-related calamities in Kasaragod.The incessant rain that lashed the northern parts of the State since Saturday caused flood and landslip in some parts of the districts. According to reports, nearly 200 families living in low-level areas in Vembrana, Perumbla and Kayyoor in Kasaragod, had been shifted to safer places. Many of the rivers in the region were in spate due to the heavy rain. Ayishumma (45) died when the shed attached to her house at Pilampoor in Kasaragod collapsed in the morning. She was inside the shed when it caved in. The body of Abbas (38) of Ullal here, who was among the two persons reported missing while mining sand in the Shiriya river near Kumbala, was found washed ashore this morning. The other man, Aboobacker of Pazhayangadi near Kannur, was still missing. A search is on for him. Relief operations Our Special Correspondent adds from Thiruvananthapuram: The Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani, has directed the Kannur and Kasaragod Collectors to rush urgent relief to areas affected by landslips and floods. An official release said that financial assistance would be given to the next of kin of people who died in the monsoon-related havocs. Families from the flood affected villages had been shifted to safer places. Agriculture crops had been damaged in strong winds in Udayagiri and Ulickal panchayats in Kannur district. The Vellarikundu bridge was under water. Monday, October 14, 2002State mulls over posting of KSIDC chiefTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 13. Faced with propriety questions and protests from within, the State Government is understood to be reconsidering its decision to post the former Chief Secretary, V. Krishnamoorthy, as the executive chairman of the State's premier industries promotion agency, the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC).At a time when the State is preparing for the Global Investors' Meet, upsetting the equations within the KSIDC, which is coordinating all the work, it is not likely to bring any rewards. Top official sources told The Hindu that the Government was, therefore, having second thoughts on posting Mr. Krishnamoorthy as the executive chairman of the KSIDC. Two weeks have elapsed since the Chief Minister, during a Cabinet briefing, announced the decision on the posting. However, the Government order on the subject is yet to be issued. Sources said the matter had been kept pending for further evaluation by the Cabinet since the procedural problems relating to posting an executive chairman in the KSIDC too had been pointed out to the Government. As a State public sector undertaking, the chief executive of the KSIDC, as per the rules and procedures, is its managing director. The KSIDC is authorised only to have a part-time chairman and at present, that post is being held by a senior retired IAS officer, T. K. A. Nair, who is also chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board of the Union Government. Mr. Nair had come here to take up the post at the personal request of the former Industries Minister, the late Suseela Gopalan, towards the later half of the previous LDF Government's tenure. She had then considered it as a "prize catch'' and had publicly expressed her hope that his guidance as an experienced and highly respected officer would do a world of good to the State in its efforts to promote industries. With him as the part-time chairman and another senior IAS officer, Jiji Thomson, as the managing director, the KSIDC staff have been putting in a good team effort in the past many months preparing the ground for the success of the State's most ambitious project to attract investments, the Global Investor Meet. Early this year, the entire KSIDC staff, in a gesture unheard of in the public sector in the State, had even taken a pledge to work extra hours without extra remuneration for the success of the global meet. Introducing a "new and unknown element'' into the scheme of things at this juncture has already given rise to fears about spoiling the team spirit that is now evident in the KSIDC. The unions in the KSIDC have sent a strong representation to the Government stating that it would "demoralise the staff''. According to them, it would be like putting a new captain to lead a cricket team which is "on a winning streak and showing excellent team spirit''. Because, posting an executive chairman would effectively mean that the present managing director would cease to be the chief executive of the organisation. The unions are hurt that the Government has not shown the basic courtesy of ensuring an honourable exit to Mr. Nair, though he will be the last person to display any protest over that. Another point the staff unions have taken up is whether all the austerity measures the Government is speaking about are applicable only to the lower level staff. The part-time chairman has been working in the KSIDC without any remuneration, allowances, or even facilities such as an official car. An executive chairman in that place would mean a salary at the level of the Chief Secretary, besides all the other expenses. On the one hand, the Government is slashing many benefits such as medical reimbursement to the ordinary employees and, on the other, it is spending lavishly on a new top post. Monday, October 14, 2002Atrocities against women on the riseTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 13. Atrocities against women are on the increase in the State. The State Women's Commission and the law enforcement machinery have so far been unable to reverse the trend.Some of the cases being reported these days are extreme cases of cruelty against women and minor girls. These include child abuse, rape and murder and cases showing the extreme level of debauchery like sexual abuse of a burn victim in hospital. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, had asked a recent conference of police officials to take steps to end the atrocities against women. However, this seems to have little effect. Moreover, even police officials are accused of conniving with people running sex rackets in Thiruvananthapuram and other places. In the latest complaint before the State Women's Commission, an organisation of women had accused even a Superintendent of Police of providing a helping hand. Incidents of police arresting women at night are also not rare. A question often being asked is whether the assumption of power by the UDF had encouraged those running sex rackets. It is no secret that politicians, especially those belonging to the UDF constituents, are among people partonising or providing protection to sex rackets. So, there is reason to believe that the change in Government emboldened them, though Mr. Antony has taken the stand that the police would act without considering who are behind the rackets. The Government's action of dissolving the State Women's Commission headed by a former judge and making a political appointment to the chairman's post only served to send wrong signals. The commission is now perceived to be weak and political. The Government was found wanting in giving effect to the commission's past recommendations and not offering it full support. Apart from the increase in number of atrocities against women, Kerala is registering an increase in the number of women reported missing and women committing suicide. During the past year, 971 women and 336 children have gone missing in the State. Since last May, 2,131 people have been reported missing, of which 60 per cent are women and children. About 50 per cent of the missing women were young-- between 19 and 30 years. Last year, 123 women and 85 children were murdered as against 264 men. The number of harassment cases filed at various police stations in the State exceeded 5,250. They include dowry harassment and domestic violence. More than 500 rape charges have been booked between May 2001 and 2002. Though protection offered by politicians is a factor behind the increasing incidents of crimes against women as in the case of other crimes such as drug trafficking and sandalwood smuggling, a major factor is the social milieu. Kerala is caught between conservative attitudes towards sex on one end and permissiveness on the other end. The opening up of society, consumerism, trends encouraged by mass media and other factors compound the situation. Hence, the increasing atrocities against women is not something that can be tackled as a law enforcement problem alone. Perhaps, it is time that psychologists, sociologists and cultural leaders too gave a deeper look at the issues and came up with answers. Monday, October 14, 2002CM inaugurates engg. collegeCHERUTHURUTHY The stubbornness with regard to scrupulously following the ideologies led to the stalling of the State's progress, according to the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony.Inaugurating the new Jyothi Engineering College of the Thrissur Archdiocese at Vettikkattiri, near here, on Saturday, Mr. Antony said that the obstinacy in not allowing the private sector to enter the State technical education sector led to the stalling of the State progress. "Unnecessary stubbornness was not good. Only if the students in the State receive the highest standard of education in the technical sector can they compete with others in the present circumstances. But the Government was financially helpless to invest more in professional education in the State.'' Stressing that Keralites could easily adapt themselves to new technology, the Chief Minister said that the people of the State tried to waste time by simply arguing all the time. "If we reduce the time of arguing per day from 24 hours to just 2 hours, it would be good for themselves as well as the State. We should change in the changed circumstances.'' He said that there would be an opportunity of 5 lakh jobs for nurses in the U.S. in the next 5 years. "We have to exploit this opportunity. Already, two medical colleges have started and two will soon start functioning. Government will also give permission to start 19 nursing colleges in the State.'' He said that now that large number of professional colleges had come up, the stress should be on the standard of education. "There will be no monopoly in the professional education sector as has been earlier. Only those institutions maintaining standard will remain while others will close down like uneconomic schools.'' He also announced that the Government would take steps next year to announce State professional entrance results well ahead of the announcements of professional entrance results of other States. Speaking on the occasion, the former Education Minister, P. J. Joseph, said that though everybody had expressed doubts whether the increase in the number of seats of engineering courses will ultimately create an excess of engineers in the country this was not the case. He said that the relevance of studying languages had not been lost, but has increased as knowledge of English and non-English languages of engineering students will help them fetch jobs abroad. "Recently, a multinational company that interviewed engineering students from Kerala selected only a couple of students. The main reason was not their lack of expertise in the technical subjects, but lack of communication skills.'' He asked the Government to immediately have a manpower planning and plan future professional courses on the basis of this planning. He also called for an `extensive education programme' in which the students will reach out to the people of the panchayats near their educational institutions and would try to help them with their technical knowledge. The students could also plan social work in such a way that it did not affect their academic pursuits. Monday, October 14, 2002Ganja worth Rs 75 lakh seizedKochi, Oct 12: Police seized about 137 kg of ganja, worth about Rs 75 lakh, which was being transported by rail from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala this morning and arrested six persons in this connection.The seizure was made from the Kerala Express train when it reached Ernakulam South station, police said adding the contraband was being taken to Chengannur from Warangal. The arrested included two women. Two others managed to escape. All the arrested were from Andhra Pradesh, the police added. (Agencies) Monday, October 14, 2002Indian School move clouds kids’ futureDubai, Oct 13: The decision by the well-known Varkey Group to close down one of its schools after the authorities here refused to allow a fee hike has clouded the future of 1,500 students studying there.The decision to pull down the shutters on the 10-year-old VIP school, affiliated to both the Kerala Board and CBSE, has taken students and the 80-odd teachers by surprise. According to school principal Aziz Akhtar, the management took the decision after it was unable to meet the cost of moving into a new campus and turning into a one-shift school. "We are sorry, but had no choice" he told the Khaleej Times. The ministry allows only 20 per cent hike while the school raised the fee by 40 per cent, the daily said. The unexpected move could jeopardise the future of students, particularly those in grade nine and eleven who will sit for a public examination soon. Parents of one such student said they were hoping that the UAE Education Ministry will persuade the group not to close down the school without giving adequate time to students to find alternative avenues. They also hoped the Indian embassy will take up the matter with the ministry and the school management. Incidentally, G Balasubramanian, the Director, Academics of the CBSE was recently here to attend a workshop at the Indian community-managed Indian High School but it is not known if he was informed of the matter and whether he will raise it with the CBSE in New Delhi. (Agencies) Monday, October 14, 2002Raj TV to launch Malayalam channelChennai, Oct 12: Raj Television Network Ltd is to launch a Telugu channel by early next year and a Malayalam channel later as part of its Rs 23 crore expansion plans, a top company executive said.The exact date of the Malayalam channel launch is to be decided, M Raajhendran, chairman and managing director of the Chennai-based TV channel, said here today. The network, which had a capacity to transmit 10 channels, would have a new logo and better graphics from October 14 when it would be completing nine years, he said. The network, which presently owns and operates two Tamil satellite channels, has lined up several good serials that would provide variety and class. The channel, in association with another commercial establishment, would also run an interactive live contest with instant rewards to promote its prime Raj TV Tamil channel between 2000 hrs and 2230 hrs for three months from October 14. The channel would be organising musical roadshows in 10 towns in Tamil Nadu on the eve of the coming new year, Raajhendran said. (Our Correspondent) Monday, October 14, 2002CPI launches `save capital' campaignTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 13. The Communist Party of India (CPI), on Saturday, launched a mass signature campaign, people's appeal, as part of its `save capital city' programme.In addition to booths to be set up at important junctions, party squads will visit houses to collect signatures for the campaign, `People's Appeal.' The city committee secretary, Kadakampally Mohanan, inaugurated the booth in the Peroorkada area. P.S.Naidu, Ajayan Kudapanakunnu and D.Sukumaran spoke. The former AIR director, M. K. Sivasankara Pillai, inaugurated the campaign at Kudapanakunnu. The actor, Kollam Thulasi, inaugurated the programme at Valiyasala, and M. C. Babu inaugurated it at Chakkai. Monday, October 14, 2002Madhani cadres block Antony convoyThrissur, Police chased away a group of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) volunteers when they blocked Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony’s convoy at Pattambi in the neigbhouring Palakkad district today.Police sources said the incident took place when Antony was on way to participate in a function here. The volunteers were demanding steps for the release of PDP leader Abdul Nassar Madhani, an accused in the Coimbatore bomb blast case, now lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison in Tamil Nadu. Twelve volunteers were taken into custody in connection with the incident, police said. (Agencies) Sunday, October 13, 2002Fake document case HC direction not to arrest seafood exporterKOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday directed that K C Babu, a prominent seafood exporter, should not be arrested till October 17 in connection with the fake intelligence document case.K C Babu, managing director of Baby Marine Exports Ltd, chairman and managing director of Uniroyal Marine Exports Ltd, executive director of India Vision Ltd, had moved an application for anticipatory bail as he apprehended arrest in connection with the case. Meanwhile, Justice N Krishnan Nair has reserved orders on a writ petition filed by S Chandramohan, correspondent of Rashtra Deepika daily, seeking to permit him to engage a lawyer of his choice to be present with him during interrogation in connection with the fake document case and during polygraph or similar tests, if any, to which he might be subjected to. S Chandramohan has claimed that he is not in any way connected with the fake document case and has alleged that he was being harassed and tortured by the police though he had been cooperating with the department for the last one-and-a-half months appearing before the investigating officer as and when required. Sunday, October 13, 2002Lying on a bed of nails for an entry in GuinnessTHRISSUR: Lying on a bed of nails by carrying another bed of nails loaded with cement bricks weighing 188 kg is beyond the imagination of a person. But 52-year-old Shafat has done it in front of public at a performance in the Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.Shafat said that he was able to do this `Hata Yoga' performance because of his continued practice of yoga for many years. With the public performance, he hopes to get an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. Sunday, October 13, 2002PDP postpones agitation in wake of talks with socio-cultural leadersPTITHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The People's Democratic Party on Saturday announced postponement of the proposed agitation from oct 16 by family members of party leader abdul nasser madhani, who has been lodged in a Tamil Nadu jail in connection with the Coimbatore serial bomb blast cases, to demand his release on parole. PDP central committee member Poonthura Siraj told reporters here that Madhani in a statement had announced the decision to postpone the agitation in the wake of talks held by PDP leadership with several social-cultural leaders and former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer and the assurance given by UDF convener Oomen Chandy and transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar on their demand. The PDP leadership a few days ago had held talks with judge Krishna Iyer in the presence of Chandy and Kumar to initiate steps within the framework of law to get justice for Madhani, now lodged in Coimbatore central prison. Siraj said the agitation plan to block state ministers remained suspended. Sunday, October 13, 2002KMJC protests police inspection of MadrasasThe Kerala Muslim Jama-Ath Council (KMJC) protested against inspection of madrasas throughout the state by the special branch police in the wake of the recent demand raised by Viswa Hindu Parishad(VHP) leaders for closing down madrasas.Talking to media persons in Kochi, Council General Secretary A Pookunju wanted the state Chief minister to make clear as to whether the inspection was on specific instruction of the Centre or the state government itself. The Jama Ath council should not allow the police to inspect madrasas and take the list of students, teachers and the syllabus being followed by these institutions, he said. Mr Pookunju also demanded an apology from the state Chief Minister, holding charge of home portfolio, for extending heavy police protection to the VHP International President Ashok Singhal and General Secretary Pravinbai Thogadia for "insulting the Muslim community" throughout their recent state-wide tour. Saturday, October 12, 2002Kumarakam Rajappan deadTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Noted music director Kumarakam Rajappan, 56, died at Medical College Hospital here on Friday evening following liver complaint. Cremation will be held on the premises of his residence in Kumarakam at 2.30 pm on Saturday.He is survived by wife Lalitha Rajappan, a play back singer, son Vinod and daughter Kavitha. Rajappan, who had been in the city for the past two weeks to compose music for a new drama, vomited blood yesterday at the hotel where he stayed. The body was kept at the office of the drama troupe and was later taken to his native place by 9 am after his colleagues and friends paid their homage. An integral part of the professional theatre, Rajappan had scored music for hundreds of dramas and a few cinema. He had won many awards, including the one instituted by the State Government. Saturday, October 12, 2002Land Cruiser deal was for Rs 25,000KASARGOD: The Mumbai police on Friday collected details from the family of Hassainar alias Hassan of Thalangara, here, in connection with the probe into the ownership of the Toyota Landcruiser used by Bollywood star Salman Khan.Bandra Sub-Inspector M J Khale and constable Jakthab visited the house of Hassan on Friday morning. Since the police team saw the house locked, they approached his relatives who told them that Hassan’s wife Reshma alias Nazeema was at the Malik Dinar hospital as one of her children was getting treatment there. They questioned Nazeema but could not collect much details since she appeared ignorant of the whereabouts of her husband in Sharjah. She reportedly told the police that since her husband used to call her over phone every Friday, she did not bother to collect his address in Sharjah. The Mumbai police team said they were told that Hassan came back home in January as a bankrupt man. His house on the Patel Road in Thalangara here was a modest one, they said. According to the Mumbai police, Hassan had received Rs 25,000 in the deal of importing the Landcruiser from Sharjah by using his TR (Transfer of Residence) facility. His relatives told the Mumbai police that Hassan is not so rich unlike other Gulf returnees who had spent a long period in the Gulf. Though Hassan had gone to the Gulf way back in 1983 he did not seem to have earned much. The probe team from Mumbai said the police there were under the impression that Hassan was a very rich person. Saturday, October 12, 2002Cong denies giving assurance to PDP on Mahdani's releaseThrissur: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K. Muraleedharan, MP, on Friday said that his party had not given any assurance to anybody on the release of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Abdul Nasser Mahdani from prison.Participating in a meet-the-press programme of the Press Club, he said the decision of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) was to take a humanitarian approach towards under-trial prisoners, including Mahdani who is in a Tamil Nadu jail for the last four years in connection with the Coimbatore serial blasts case. He said the PDP would be considered for representation when the State-run corporations and boards were reconstituted. Saturday, October 12, 2002"Sahana Samaram" by SNDP activistsVolunteers of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP),the socio-cultural organisation of Ezhava community, held dharnas in 100 centres in state on Friday as part of it "Sahana Samaram" to protest against alleged 'intolerance" by CPM cadres to actitvities of SNDP in north Kerala.SNDP General Secretary,Vellappalli Natesan inaugurated Dharna in Thiruvananthapuram. Volunteers inclduing many women also took out marches in many centres to protest against the attitude of CPm towards SNDP. SNDP leadership had accused CPM of challenging organizational freedom of SNDP in the northern parts of state, fearing that the spread of Yogam activities would dent CPM hold in the region. Saturday, October 12, 2002LDF dharna against power hike peacefulHundreds of activists of CPM led opposition Left Democratic Front in Kerala took part in state-wide protest on Friday against recent Governemnt decision to hike power tariff.LDF volunteers held dharna before Kerala State Electricity Board offices in different centres. They also took out marches before dharna was held. No untoward incident during the protest was reported from any part of the state, Police said. Volunteers held dharna till afternoon and dispersed themselves after that, Police said. Government had announced a marginal increase of tariff hike ranging between 25 paise and One Rupee per unit for domestic consumers and 50 paise increase per unit to industrial consumers on October 9. Saturday, October 12, 2002Party discipline would be maintained:K MuraleedharanKPCC President,K Muraleedharan said discipline in party would be maintained and decision of disciplinary committee would be implemented.Speaking at a meet the press programme in Thrissur on Friday, Muraleedharan said case of Shobhana George MLA was under the consideration of disciplinary committee. Reiterating that cabinet reshuffle was not on cards, he said it was the prerogative of Chief Minister. "If the Chief Minister expressed the desire of a cabinet reshuffle, then the party would make suggestions",he added. Activities for strenghtening the party would be intensified. Justifying the recent power tariff hike,he said CITU representatives had not objected to Electricity Minister's proposal for hike in power tariff during a meeting of electricity minister with trade unions leaders. He said that it was not proper to object to activities of SNDP in certain districts by by CPM. SNDP, NSS, MES were all social organisations and their activities should be allowed without disturbance in the state. Referring to allegations that UDF governance in state was controlled by christian lobby, Muraleedharan said, Goverment in Kerala was not under the control of any caste or religion. Congress led UDF strongly supported secularism, he added. Answering a question he said it was essential to start trial of PDP leader Abdul Nassar Madhani without delay and find out whether he was guilty or not. "It was not correct to remand anybody to judicial custody without framing charges and subjecting to trial for an unlimited period,he added. Friday, October 11, 2002Reliance to lay 2500-km fibre network in KeralaKozhikode: Kerala Communications Network, part of the Reliance Infocom, will lay 2500-km fibre network in Kerala as part of its 35,000-km national network towards establishing international long distance I&T centre at Kochi.Disclosing this here on Friday, company official K V R Murthy said the network services included code digital mutliple access (CDMA) technology WLL phone services, scheduled to be commissioned very shortly. Such phone services would be functioning through base transitive stations (BTS) by wireless communication. Murthy, who is the General Manager of the north region, also allayed as `baseless' fears in some quarters with regard to the BTS towers. "It is fully eco-friendly and will do no harm to any part of the social life,'' he said referring to the criticism and resistance at some areas. Friday, October 11, 2002Expatriates demand formation of Edanaadu districtDubai: Expatriates from the central Travancore town of Tiruvalla, in a memorandum to the Kerala government, have demanded the formation of Edanaadu district with Tiruvalla as its headquarters.The Tiruvalla Gulf Welfare Association in a memorandum to the government, which was handed over to the Convener of Kerala's ruling United Democratic Front Oommen Chandy, and member of the Legislative Assembly K C Joseph during their recent visit to Qatar, said this was a long-standing demand, the Gulf Times reported. ''The formation of Edanaadu district is a long-standing ambition of the people of central Travancore due to the hardships they face on account of the current location of the district headquarters and the backwardness being experienced in cultural, educational and industrial sectors for decades,'' a spokesperson of the association said on Sunday. The forum has decided to launch a public campaign in Kerala to press its demand. Friday, October 11, 2002Protests against power tariff hike increasesTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hike in power tariff has called for wide spread protest from all walks of life. Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that the increase is strangling household consumers and that there was no such huge electricity tariff hike in the history of Kerala.The government has not taken any plans to give the Rs 46,350 million indebted to the electricity board. The government has not directed for any austerity measures. The government has not taken steps to remove the 4% tax imposed by the state on naphtha and NSHS used in the production of electricity. He added that the government has not thought of an alternate way other than the electricity tariff hike. V S Achuthanandan also said that all these are done as per the ADB rules in order to privatize the electricity board. Chief Minister had already said that all new hydel electricity projects would be given to private parties on contract basis. V S Achuthanandan said that this is the first step taken in order to completely privatise the electricity board and this will lead to increase in electricity charges. Ina separate statement, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has also slammed the government for the hike. DYFI leader T Sashidharan has warned of a severe agitation in the state to counter the government move. Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP is planning to move the Court to stall the tariff hike. BJP state organizing secretary P P Mukundan told a press conference on Wednesday evening that his part would consult eminent lawyers on the subject and approach the Court. Mukundan said that the statistics that the government provides is not acceptable, as the KSEB accounts have not been audited for the last four years. Electricity Workers Federation Working President A N Rajan said that the electricity charge hike and the reduction of the rights of the employees would cause wide scale protest. SUCA State Secretary CK Lukas and the NGO Front President Kallada Napoleon said that the government has to face strong democratic agitations until the hiked electricity charge is completely withdrawn. Friday, October 11, 2002Ayyappa Panikker refuses to accept Vayalar AwardTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This year's Vayalar Ramavarma Literature Award was to be given to Dr Ayyappa Panikker but the later has requested the authorities to avoid him from the award.The award committee chaired by Thirunellor Karunakaran decided to give Vayalar award for the work "Ayyappa Panikkarude Krithikal". In a press meet held yesterday at the Mascot Hotel, Vayalar Ramavarma memorial trust president and former chief minister P K Vasudevan Nair declared the award. After declaring the award officially PKV rang up Dr. Ayyappa Panikker to convey the message but the later requested to avoid him for the award. Following this ONV Kurup too called Panikker but he stood his ground. Following this Trust secretary C V Thrivikraman met Dr. Ayyappa Panikker at his residence twice, but could not reach a truce. The Vayalar trust met again in Mascot Hotel and decided to abide by their decision. "Ayyappa Panikker has not yet denied the award. So the decision remains. Not rejecting is same as accepting. Only the presentation ceremony remains and it can be decided later", C V Thrivikraman told this website's newspaper. PKV had rung up Panikker and said that the award was unanimously decided. But Panikker humbly asked PKV to avoid him. PKV passed the phone to ONV Kurup sitting besides him but could not change the mind of Panikker. Following this Thrivikraman went in person to the residence of Dr Panikker but his visit turned futile. Panikker again humbly asked him to make a rethink. Thrivikraman reached in the evening but Panikker did not budge from his decision. " There are lots of new works by new writers. The works selected for award was some old works by me. It was just regrouped three years back. The poems are very old", Panikker said. This is the first time in the history of Vayalar award that the honor is being refused. It was the 26th award that was announced on Thursday. The first award went to Lalithambika Antharjanam for Agni Sakshi" in 1977 and last year's award went to T Padmanabhan for his collection of stories " Puzha Kadannu Marangalude Idayilekku". Those who attended the press conference other than PKV includes trust vice president N Ramachandran, Vice President Prof. ONV Kurup and other judging committee members. Friday, October 11, 2002Emirates seeks direct Dubai-Kochi flightsNew Delhi: Emirates, the international airline of UAE, has said it is interested in acquiring a stake in India's domestic carriers if the government opens the civil aviation sector to foreign investment. The airline also wants to start daily direct flights to Kochi from Dubai and connect other cities like Bangalore and Kolkata, Nabil Sultan, Emirates' General Manager for India and Nepal, said here."Yes, we have shown interest in the past (in acquiring stake in domestic carriers) and I can't see why we can't show interest again but there are certain criteria. We are a commercial organisation and if a thing makes sense commercially and things are viable for us, then definitely we are interested," Sultan said. However, he said the airline would seek management control if it bids for taking shareholding in any airline. Government is currently considering the N K Singh committee report which has suggested that foreign equity cap in the two national carriers, Indian Airlines and Air India be increased from 40 to 49 per cent. Sultan said discussions were on with the government to start flights to Kochi and also to increase the number of frequencies as per the bilaterals between India and UAE. "Ideally, we want to have daily operation to Kochi. If you ask me for my wishlist, we will operate from all over India," he said. Emirates presently has 37 flights to India, including 18 flights to Mumbai, seven to Delhi, four to Chennai and eight to Hyderabad. Stating India as an attractive market for Emirates, Sultan said the airline has tied-up with three domestic tour operators--Kuoni SOTC, Thomas Cook and Dewan Travels to offer holiday packages to foreign tourists, especially from Europe. "India is definitely a growing market. One of them is leisure travel for foreign tourists. Indian travellers are also interested in package holidays for which we are working closely with tour operators," he said. Sultan said discussions were on with the Kerala government to attract more tourists to the South India state. "Kerala as a state offers so much. We want to bring massive number of tourists from Europe. We have already given detailed presentations to the Kerala government highlighting how to bring tourists. The objective of this is to create capacity," he said. Emirates presently uses the state-of-the-art Airbus A-300 for its India operations which has 440 seats. He said the airline enjoyed a good passenger load factor on all its Indian flights despite the slowdown in the global aviation industry after the September 11 events in the US. "Overall, this year has been extremely good. Over the last few years, our growth has been phenomenal," Sultan said. Friday, October 11, 2002HC restrains Jacobite CatholicosKOCHI OCT. 10. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the police to see that Baselius Thomas I, Catholicos of the Jacobite group did not enter the St. Jacob Jacobite Syrian Church, Allapra, Perumbavoor, and did not perform services in the Church on October 14 or any other date.The Bench comprising Justice S. Sankarasubban and Justice A. Lakshmikutty issued the directive on a writ petition filed by P.K. Kurian and other Orthodox faction members. According to the members of the parish, there was an interim injunction of a civil court restraining the Catholicos from entering the Church. While ordering police protection, the Bench said that the petitioners had proved that the Church belonged to the Angamaly Diocese. Besides, the Catholicos was likely to violate the interim injunction. If the tendency was to ignore the order, it might lead to unfortunate events. Friday, October 11, 2002Airport `shooting': FSL probe onTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 10. The Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) here has embarked upon the laborious process of reconstructing the `firing incident' at the airport security office on Tuesday in which three Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were seriously injured.Experts from the ballistics and serology divisions of the FSL are assisting the probe headed by the Director (FSL), Vishnu Potti, himself a veteran in ballistics. The Valiathura police is yet to hand over the 9 mm pistol to the FSL experts. The `blunt nosed' bullet which caused the injuries is lodged inside the body of Sub Inspector, K. P. Vinod. In such classic cases of close quarter shooting, the FSL experts usually verify the limbs and body of those involved for evidence of `gunshot residue'. When a gun is fired, the burnt components of the propellant or the charge are discharged through the muzzle end along with the projectile. Some of the gunshot residue, which is dispersed through the breech end of the weapon, tends to stick to the hand or body of the person who fired the gun. This kind of evidence helps the experts determine who fired the weapon. The FSL will also be seeking custody of the uniforms worn by the CISF men at the time of the shooting incident. Analysis of the gunshot residue on the clothes will help determine the range and angle from which the shot was fired.The 9 mm pistol will also be subjected to test firing. Friday, October 11, 2002AMS launched in kochiThe BSNL, Ernakulam launched the Answering Machine service (AMS) in kochi, making it the fourth city in the country to have such a facility.Subscribers under three telephone exchanges in the city can avail of the service, which ensures that a customer never misses a call or message. George Eden, MP, inaugurated the facility. Kochi Mayor, Dinesh Mani, was among those present. The other cities having the facility are Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. Friday, October 11, 2002Recognition for sree narayana collegeState government has granted recognition for Sree Narayana college at Kumarakom in Kottayam.Unaided, self-financing college will start functioning this year at SNDP union building. Initially the college will start three year course on B.Sc biotechnology and B.Com Computer application, SNDP Union President (Kottayam) k.K. V.Babu told reporters in Kottayam on Thursday. Later job-oriented degree and post-graduate courses will be introduced. An amount of rs.20 lakh has already spent, he added. Construction for the main building will start at 25 acre land in Kumarakom soon, he said. Friday, October 11, 2002SaamamThe arty director Sivaprasad (Vembanad, Bheri) turns commercial with Saamam. The story is set in one of those border villages between Kerala and Tamilnadu and is all about the happenings in a poor Brahmin family.Shastrikal (Nedumudi Venu) and his beautiful wife Lakshmi(Jaya Prada) have two children Viswanathan (Kunchakko Boban), a parallel college lecturer and Divya (Suja Karthika) who has some mental problems. Even though they are poor the local gownder (Lal) or chieftan provides them with a house and security. The ‘gounder’ is a well-known womaniser and Viswanathan suspects that he is after his mother. This creates confusion and hatred in his mind against the ‘gounder’, which forms the crux of the story. The heroine Uma of Kuberan fame, has a crush on Viswanathan. The film also has Cochin Haneefa, Sudhish, Sumitra, Ravi Menon and Kannur Srilatha. The story and screenplay are by Dr. Radhakrishnan and camera is by K.S. Nambiar who was Sivaprasad’s professor at the Pune Film institute. Editing is by Beena Paul and art by Kaladharan. But the highlight of the film will be that world famous violinist L.Subramoniam turns music director with this film. The film is based on classical music and has lyrics by Ramesan Nair. Friday, October 11, 2002ChirikkudukkaChirikkudukkaDirector T.S.Saji Producer Dinesh Panikkar The story of Chirikkudukka goes like this. Harikrishnan (Jayachandran) works as a sales manager under Satyavan (Cochin Haneefa), who deals with cars. Sumukhan (Jagadheesh) and Premanandan (Baiju) too works in the same company. Harikrishnan sees Sunandini (Deepthi Prasad) and falls in love with her. But things were not easy for our hero, as Sunandini has three sisters who had to be married off before he could propose to her father (Janardhanan). Now, Harikrishnan is on the look out for three eligible bachelors for his sisters-in law and how he accomplishes this task forms the rest of this hilarious film. Produced by Dinesh Panikkar and directed by T.S.Saji, the film introduces Kuttikkal Jayachandran, the popular compere of Surya TV’s 'Comedy Time' to the big screen. The heroine is also a debutant, Deepthi Prasad. Script is by Vinu Kiriyath. Anil Gopinath is the cinematograper. The cast also has Madhupal, late N.F.Varghese, Kalpana and Kanakalatha. The film will be brought to theatres by Vismaya release. Friday, October 11, 2002I want to do MBA -Jo MolStudious Jo Mol is backIt is not everyday that an up and coming actress takes a break from her career to pursue studies and then comes back to take off from where she left off. In this time of tough comeptition, nobody is ready to budge even an inch, not to speak of taking a sabbatical for nearly a year. But then Jo Mol has been like that. Always taking chances. The winsome actress is just back after taking time off to complete her undergraduation in Kozhikode. After her comeback, she is now acting in films like Thilagam, Thillana Thillana and Unniarcha. Jo Mol now looks very relaxed and refreshed. "Yes, my batteries are recharged," she says with her flashy grin. How risky was taking a hiatus? And was she conscious of that? "Frankly, I don't know," she says."I had to complete my studies. So I left. I did not think of too many things". It did not matter to Jo Mol that her place in the industry might be usurped by some other wannabe. "How can I help it," she says. "You should do what is important to you". "For me completing my graduation was very important. This does not mean that I don't take my film career very seriously. But I had to take my pick," she says, with understanding that belies her age. Now that she is back, what are her plans? "I will put my shoulder earnestly to the wheel. I have got a decent number of films. I have also got offers from Tamil. But I am not ready to rush through. I will take it one step at a time". But what if her come back bid fails? She smiles. "I can go back to studies. I want to do MBA". Happy are those who can have choices in life. Jo Mol has lot of choices. Friday, October 11, 2002Manoj begins his second inningsIt is difficult being an out of work actor.It is also difficult being an out of work actor who is also the husband of a star actress. Manoj K Jayan understands both the feelings. He has taken both in his stride. His perseverance seems to have paid off. He has been roped in to play the hero in the film titled Sakshi. After doing bit roles and supporting characters, this is indeed a good break for Manoj. Further, he is also playing an important role in hotshot director Vinayan's film Kattuchembakkam. But quite typically Manoj is not ready to break into a song and dance. He knows things can be quite chimerical. Manoj has gone through that before. For, in the early 90s, soon after Sargam, Manoj was considered the next star on the Malayalam firmament. But things didn't turn out that way. Though Manoj was never really out of circulation, the big film offers never really came to him. But that did not exactly deter him. He kept persevering. Even when his wife Urvashi was a much bigger star than him, he did not allow that to put him off. Manoj kept himself focussed, making do with whatever came his way. Little wonder then things are looking up now. The hero's role in Sakshi is particularly gratifying. For, it signifies Manoj's return to big time cinema.The film is directed by Biju C Kannan. Others in the film include Meghanath, Arif Ahmed, Bhanupriya, Nayana. "Yes, things are better now," Manoj says with typical terseness. This time around Manoj is not ready to let slip his chances. Sakshi will hopefully bear witness to that. Friday, October 11, 2002Money and MohanlalThey say troubles don't come alone.Mohanlal will vouch for this. The Malayalam top-star, who is enduring a lean patch in his career with his last few films having flopped spectacularly, now has the mortification of being short changed by his producers. The cheque he had received as remuneration for the Hindi film Company from the producer trio of Aswini Dutt, Ram Gopal Verma and Boney Kapoor bounced. Mohanlal presented the cheque seven times, finally he decided enough was enough and slapped a case against the producers in a Chennai court. As if that is not enough, there is further trouble for him. The producer of the film, Maram Peyyumbol, has reportedly told Mohanlal that he is unable to pay him the amount agreed upon. Comedian Augustine is producing this film while Renjith is directing it. Augustine met with some unforeseen financial problems, sources say. In the event, he went to Mohanlal and said that he was in a position to pay only 70 per cent of the fee agreed upon. Mohanlal, who is smarting under a series of failures, took this as a personal slight and walked out of the film in a huff. Sources close to him say that Augustine could have put across things with nicety. His bluntness made Mohanlal feel that his remuneration was being chopped because his market was very fluid. At least for now, Maram Peyyumbol is off. Friday, October 11, 2002SeethakalyanamSeethakalyanam for JyothikaIt might be a last-ditch effort. After seeing her market in Tamil evaporate, the cherubic Jyothika is now coming to Malayalam. Though this is not her first foray into Malluwood (she has done a film with Priyadarshan), this is certainly her most important career move. It is appropriate then that she has some of the better talents in Malayalam film industry to work with. The film titled Seethakalyanam will feature Jeyaram as the hero. Directed by Rajeev Kumar, Seethakalyanam will also have the hugely talented Jagathy Sreekumar in an important role. Jyothika is obviously happy about the film, but she does not feel that her roles have dried up in Tamil. "I agree some of my movies have not done well of late. But that is not due to me. Mind you, I am still very young in the industry," she says. She is right in a way. Jyothika has been around for just over 4 years. But in this short span she has worked with all the stars in Tamil. She is also getting very popular in Kannada. Jyothika looks very slim and stylish now, after loosing several kilos. There are rumours that she will soon get married to actor Surya. "I think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. We (Surya and I) started together. We have been good friends. We meet each other. That is about it," she fumes. So is it because of these rumours that Jyothika is moving out of Tamil? "No, I have long wanted to do films in Malayalam.Only now things have fallen in place," she says. In the event, Seethakalyanam is a nice and auspicious title for Jyothika to get her innings started in Malayalam. But 'kalyanam' is something she would rather not talk about now. Friday, October 11, 2002SamyukthaShe was in the news; in international press. New York Times in its report on 18 July informed the readers that 'She is the Julia Roberts of Malayalam language films' while reporting the incident in which she along with her family had been taken by FBI officials for questioning on a false alarm raised by a fellow passenger on flight.Well, she is back in her hometown Trissur. She is proud to have her house designed to her fancy and liking. Built in the traditional style, the house named 'Kovilakam' - apt for a Kovilamma for the Varmas are from the royal family - is finished in record time. She appears to have retired from films with the intention of getting married. Samyuktha Varma the most sought after heroine speaks to Indiainfo.com You have been invited by the super star Rajnikanth to become his heroine in 'Baba', and by Kamal Hasan in his 'Anbe Sivam'. Why did you reject these precious offers, which any other actress would have jumped at instantly ? When the producers approached me to become the heroine, I was required to sign a contract to act as a model. I had a feeling that as a model I might compel me to wear sexy costumes that would make me uncomfortable. I am not interested in such roles. I want my films worthy of seeing in the company of my parents and my younger sister. If in the future when my husband or my children watch my films they should not be ashamed or uncomfortable. No, I don't want to do such films. Further I was asked to remain unmarried for a period of one year. I was not sure then whether I could meet the demand. So you are getting married soon? Not yet finalized. But it does not mean that I should totally discount my individual rights on the professional front. What was the reaction from Rajnikanth camp? Rejecting an offer of heroine role by somebody was their first experience, I was told. But they had complimented me on that count. They respected my sentiments and the personal priority of placing family life above every thing. While I do not regret, I consider the offer as recognition of my work. It is for the same reason I had rejected the offer from Mr. Kamal Hasan. But you have acted in the Tamil version of Thenkasippattanam? The role I had in Thenkasippattanam was not different from that of Malayalam original. It was the same director also. A high degree of decency was maintained by way of costumes and nature of the role. Nobody would accuse me of anything after watching the film. I was not 'glamorous' in that film. You said the marriage is not yet finalized. Why have you cut down the number of films considerably? Even earlier I had not accepted more number of roles than I could handle during a considerable period. I will accept good roles. I never expected this much fame and acceptance. Not expecting any either. I am content. Will you continue acting after marriage? Marriage itself is not decided. But news has spread long ago that you are going to marry Mr. Biju Menon? Marriage will take place on its own course. That will be formally announced and intimated also. Let the date be fixed. Can I marry on a date that is decided by the media? It is Biju Menon? Wait and see! Have you seen the film 'Sivam' in which Biju Menon was the hero? No. Hasn't he asked to see the film and let him know your opinion? We have not met since Sivam released. Not even over phone? I have yet to get phone connection in my new residence. Cell phone? It is with my father. What are the new films you are signed to act? The first film is the one which cinematographer Vipin Mohan is going to direct. It is Vipin Mohan who did the cinematography for the first film I acted. Dileep will be the hero. Then comes the film Chronic Bachelor. Mr. Mammootty is the hero. Siddique and Lal will jointly direct the film. Sibi Malayil has asked my dates for his next film. What do you do at leisure ? I listen to music and watch T V Programs. Do you cook? Somewhat. I have learned watching my mother doing it. I can prepare Aviyal, Erissery, Olan, Sambar and so on. What happened to your education? Studying in regular college is almost done. I have registered as a private candidate now. Friday, October 11, 2002KunjikoonanDirectorSasi Sankar Producer Milan Jaleel Cast Dileep, Navya Nair, Manya Dileep has also fallen into the superstar syndrome as proved by his latest film Kunjikoonan. He uses the age-old method of being there in every frame of the film by doing a double role. If the central character is an ugly handicap, the other is a handsome hunk to satisfy the superstar ego. Even though the film is marketed as a comedy, it is actually the tale of a desolate and helpless handicap. Kunjan (Dileep) is a handicap with bucktooth and hunch back. He owns an STD booth and though he is positively ugly he dreams about marrying a beautiful girl. Thoma (Cochin Haneefa) owns a light& sound shop near to Kunjan’s shop and Chandran (Salim Kumar) is the ‘sound engineer’ there. Chembakam (Navya Nair) is a blind girl in a circus troupe that comes to the village. When her father dies in an accident Kunjan helps her by giving her a job in the STD booth and slowly he starts loving her. He lies to Chembakam that he is very handsome, but fears a day when she gets back her sight and rejects him. One of the regular customers in Kunjan’s booth is Prasad (Dileep) who is a basketball coach and he is in love with Lakshmi (Manya) who is the daughter of a police officer. As the father does not approve the marriage Prasad and Lakshmi plans to elope, but on that day a local thug Achu intervenes and Lakshmi is killed. Kunjan is the witness to this murder and soon Achu is arrested. Lakshmi’s eyes are donated to Chembakam and she gets her sight. She sees Prasad and mistakes him for Kunjan and hugs him. On seeing this Kunjan is heartbroken and he leaves the village. But Chembakam waits for him till one day she finds him begging in front of a temple! The highlight of the film is Dileep in the title role and he is extraordinary. Here is one of his most lovable performances as the handicap, though as the handsome Prasad he just passes muster. Navya Nair is a revelation and she is the next Manju Warrier in the making. Director Sasi Sankar has taken a leaf out of Vinayan’s diary and leaves the audience exasperated. Verdict: Entertainer Friday, October 11, 2002Meesa Madhavan nearing 100 days.
MEESA MADHAVAN is creating history in recent times by running continuously for 80 days in theaters it released first. No doubt MEESA MADHAVAN will at this rate of viewer flow, run for 150 days.
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