വിഴിഞ്ഞം തുറമുഖം (ഒരു വീക്ഷണം: ഏലിയാസ്‌ ജോണ്‍)
Jose Pinto Stephen Vizhinjam Port in the point of view of Elias John   Vizhinjam is a fishermen’s village on the coastal shore of the Arabian Sea. Christians and Muslims are the two dominating groups of people in this beautiful region. It is a natural port and the government was trying to install an international seaport in Vizhinjam. Promise was given many years ago. But it still remains as a paper document and no one knows when it will become a reality. Lots of...

Sachin Tendulkar said MS Dhoni would make a good captain: Sharad Pawar
 Mumbai Cricket Association chief Sharad Pawar has revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who batted for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain of the Indian team after Rahul Dravid expressed his desire to give up captaincy in 2007. "Sachin loves to lend a helping hand to fellow players, especially the juniors, and believes in team spirit. Humility is his middle name. He gave up captaincy to concentrate on his game," Pawar wrote on his blog on Sunday. "Now, a cute story...

Shweta did not raise any complaint: CM
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday said that film actress Shweta Menon has not raised any complaint with regard to incident in which the actress had to suffer misconduct form a parliamentarian at a boat race function in Kollam last week. Shweta had only explained the troubles she had to under go. She had also conveyed that it was the statements made from some quarters after the incident that had pained her, the chief minister said.

CHOGM: Manmohan tells Rajapaksa he is not coming
 Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday sent a letter of regret to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, explaining why he is not attending the Commonwealth summit in Colombo next week. The letter, whose contents were not disclosed, was sent following the UPA government's decision to scale down the level of India's participation at the Nov 15-17 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo. This followed emotive protests by Tamil Nadu parties and...

No petrol for helmet rule violators in Kochi
In a move to make helmet must for two-wheeler riders, the  Road Security Authority has decided not to provide petrol for the rule violators here from now on. The Authority has decided to implement this idea on an experimental basis for three months in the city limits. It has entered into a consensus with 18 petrol bunk owners regarding this. The Authority plans to expand this regulation to other cities and across the state after getting the feedback from the people of...

Nitaqat: 15 more Keralites arrested
Fifteen Keralites were arrested during raids conducted in Saudi Arabia on Saturday after the end of the grace period for Nitaqat law (Saudisation). Five Keralites - Muhsin and Najeeb hailing from Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram Vallakkadavu natives Hashim and Aboobaker, and Abdul Rahman from Kasaragod - were arrested earlier. They, along with Suresh, Jamsheer, Vaudevan and Jaffer, who were nabbed on Saturday, have been shifted to the deportation centre at Buraidah. Kunjumohammad...

Goedkope Mode Christian Louboutin Schoenen Amsterdam Online Winkel
Dit seizoen bij Paris mode week, we revved onze motoren met Yazbukey, dan verdraaid onze weg door een psychedelische party scene met Olympia Le-Tan. De beste Louboutin Amsterdam winkel voor dames. Snel en woedend, sexy en gratis, Donna Jordan-geïnspireerde meisjes wielen in Lubeck om brandstof voor een wild illegale rendez-vous op de drag strip voor Yazbukey's louboutin amsterdam Lente / Zomer 2017 tonen. Met een knipoog naar racelegende Danica Patrick en inspiratie uit Russ...

KSRTC appeals to Supreme Court over diesel subsidy
The Kerala Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has appealed to the Supreme Court for a new affidavit from the Centre regarding subsidy for diesel. Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily had earlier made it clear that the Centre would reinstate the subsidy on diesel for public-transport companies. The state transport department appealed for an explanation on the steps taken on the basis of Moily's assurances.

CAB’s ’Sachin Festival’ turns out to be a damp squib
The hype built around Sachin Tendulkar's swansong match at the Eden Gardens fizzled out on Friday as there was no airshow of 199kg of rose petals shower, and no celebrity attendance as the opening Test against the West Indies folded up inside three days without going into the weekend.  "We had made all the arrangements for the fifth and the fourth day. Even the permission from ATC (Air traffic control) was taken for the two days. We didn't expect that the game would end on...

Service tax defaulters under scanner, says Chidambaram
 Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said government would 'very closely' focus on sectors prone to chronic service tax evasion like consultancy, IT and real estate. He said he had noticed chronic tax evasion in various cities (like Chennai) in contract service, maintenance and repair service and sectors like consultancy, IT, real estate, mining, transport operators, advertisement, storage and warehouse, manpower and recruitment and security services. The...

Thachankary writes to CM for probe against DGP, Chief Secy
Inspector-General of Police Tomin J Thachankary has sent a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy requesting a probe against the Director General of Police (DGP) and Chief Secretary. Thachankary said the DGP's advice to the Chief Secretary to discharge him of police service is unlawful. He said the DGP's advice is against the rules. Thachankary also stated that the contents of the letter sent to the Chief Secretary are wrong. In his letter to the CM, he demanded...

No decision yet on PM attending CHOGM: MEA
Amid indication that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to attend the CHOGM summit in Sri Lanka, the external affairs ministry on Saturday said no decision has been taken on the visit which has been opposed by parties in Tamil Nadu as well as a section in Congress. Spokesperson in the MEA Syed Akbaruddin said government was yet to communicate to Sri Lanka who will lead the Indian delegation at the Commonwealth heads of government summit on November 15-16 and did not give a direct...

SC stays Gauhati HC verdict holding CBI unconstitutional
The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed a Gauhati high court order that held the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 'unconstitutional' in its November 6 ruling.   The stay came after the Union government moved the apex court against the verdict on Saturday, contending it would adversely impact thousands of criminal cases pending across the country. An apex court bench issued the order in a hearing held at Chief Justice P Sathasivam's residence and scheduled the...

Discharge of Pinarayi Vijayan 'improper': Swami
Terming as "improper" the discharge of CPI(M) Kerala state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin corruption case by a CBI court, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today said the high court should quash it. "This discharge is improper and the high court should strike it down," Swamy told reporters here. "I have read the FIR (in Lavalin case). There was a strong prima facie case laid out. How would this man be discharged?" he asked. Alleging that...

P C George takes on judge over Lavalin verdict
: Coming down heavily on the Judge who delivered the Lavalin verdict, Government Chief Whip P C George has on Thursday said that it is quite comprehensible that CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was exempted from the Lavalin case because of the lack of evidence. But the CAG report has clearly stated the loss of Rs 374 crore in the Lavalin transaction. How come such a huge amount drained off without the knowledge of the board chairman and the members?, P C George asked. Wither go...

Fans disappointed as Sachin Tendulkar falls cheaply
 They queued up to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat in his penultimate Test but even before fans at the Eden Gardens settled down on their seats, they were left disappointed when the retiring icon walked back to the pavillion just 41 minutes after coming in. When Tendulkar came in to bat just 39 minutes after the second day of the first India-West Indies Test began, some of his fans were still trickling into the stadium as not many had expected an early fall of Indian wickets. And...

Explosion at Moolamattam Power House again
An explosion has occurred again at the switch yard in the power house here. The transformer, which carries electricity to the Madakathara substation, exploded on Thursday. The powerhouse's functioning has been stopped for now. Power supply has been curbed state wide after the explosion.

Remanded CPI(M) Leader Meets Wife, 3 Cops Suspended
In a serious violation of prison rules, a CPI(M) leader remanded in connection with a political murder case met his wife and party functionaries in a hotel in Kozhikode while being taken for a medical checkup. After the visuals of the incident surfaced in the media, three policemen, who escorted the undertrial from the sub-jail in Kozhikode, have been suspended. According to police sources, P Mohanan, an accused in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case, met his wife and party MLA K K...

Narendra Modi rakes up Patna blasts to attack Nitish Kumar
Escalating his attack on Nitish Kumar, Narendra Modi today raked up the issue of Patna blasts to allege that the Bihar Chief Minister was insensitive and had "arrogantly" refused a proper probe into the attack which he claimed was aimed at him and other BJP leaders. Modi said Kumar was enjoying a "mehfil" (party) when bombs were exploding at his election rally in Patna last week and drew a contrast with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, saying he had...

Balakrishna to drive custom-made Harley Davidson
A Harley Davidson motorbike worth Rs.20 lakh has been specially designed for actor Balakrishna for his upcoming Telugu political drama tentatively titled "Legend". "Balakrishna will be seen riding a Harley Davidson bike in one of the songs. It has been custom-made especially for the song and it cost the producers Rs.20 lakh. He (Balakrishna) also chose the colour of the bike as yellow for personal reasons," a source from the film's unit told IANS. Directed...

L&T wins Kannur airport runway tender
Larson and Tubro Mumbai has won the tender for constructing the runway at the proposed Kannur airport, a minister said Tuesday. Speaking to reporters here, state Minister for Excise K. Babu, who also looks into the aviation sector, said the work will start this month itself.  "L&T was selected after their bid was the lowest at Rs.694 crore among the four companies which came into the last round," Babu said.  The airport is coming up in an area of around...

Assembly ethics committee wants George to be censured
In a setback to the government Chief Whip P C George, the Privileges and Ethics Committee of the Assembly has recommended censuring him for his derogatory remarks against senior politician and JSS leader K R Gouri. The Committee, headed by former KPCC President K Muraleedharan, submitted its report to Speaker G Karthikeyan today after getting evidence on a complaint in this regard, sources said. However, opposition members in the committee gave a dissent note demanding that George,...

Mars mission on track, spacecraft's orbit to be raised tomorrow
A day after its successful launch, India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft was functioning smoothly in the Earth's orbit and ready for orbit raising operations on Thursday. "Since its injection into Earth's orbit yesterday, it has been functioning smoothly on the orbit. We are planning to perform orbit raising manoeuvres in the early hours of tomorrow," an Isro spokesman said. Right now, the Mars Orbiter Mission is on its first round around the Earth, Isro sources...

UP police takes over safety of Narendra Modi's Bahraich rally
The Uttar Pradesh Police has Tuesday taken over the security of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's Nov 8 rally venue at Bahraich, amid a growing threat perception to his safety. Officials said the rally ground is not accessible to common people, and only Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) workers and office bearers with "valid identification" will be allowed at the venue. Taking no chances after the serial blasts at his rally in Patna last...

Relief for CPM leader Vijayan in corruption case, CBI court drops him from accused list
In a major relief to CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, a CBI court here on Tuesday dropped him and five others from the list of accused in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case dating to mid-1990s when he was the power minister. Allowing the discharge petition of Vijayan and the others, CBI special judge R Raghu said the prosecution had failed to establish the fraudulent intention, abuse of official position and element of cheating attributed against them in awarding a contract to...

1.34 lakh Indians return, Govt watching situation in S Arabia
With 1.34 lakh Indian workers already returning to the homeland, the government is closely watching the situation in Saudi Arabia which is targeting illegal foreigners under its new labour policy, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi today said. Asked about the drive in Saudi Arabia under which foreigners who have not corrected labour and residency status under its new labour policy - Nitaqat - are being deported, Ravi said that till now no incident of harassment of Indian...

Mars Orbiter Mission launch a success, put into Earth's orbit
India has launched a rocket it hopes will allow it to join an elite group of space explorers to Mars. The country's space research organization (ISRO) launched its orbiter to the Red Planet on Tuesday -- only NASA, the former Soviet Union and the Europeans have previously been successful in operating probes from Mars. Japan made an attempt with the Nozomi orbiter in 1998 but it failed to reach the planet and a Chinese probe was lost along with the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission...

22 Patna blast victims still in hospital; to miss Diwali
As many as 22 of the nearly 100 people injured in a string of explosions here last month are still undergoing treatment in hospital and will miss Diwali, officials said Sunday. "More than seventy people injured in serial blasts were discharged till Saturday and only 22 injured are undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital here," said Bimal Karak, an official of Patna's premier hospital where the injured were admitted. According to hospital...

Countdown begins for India's Mars Orbiter Mission
The 56 and-a-half hour countdown for the launch of India’s first space mission to Mars, slated for November 5, commenced on Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. “The 56 hours and 30 minutes countdown started as per schedule at 06.08 a.m. It is proceeding smoothly,” a spokesman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said over phone this morning. ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV C25, carrying India’s first inter-planetary...

Statutory body to regulate electronic media needed: HC
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has said that the country requires a statutory forum for electronic media which people may approach to ventilate their grievance. The observation came from a division bench of Justice Devi Prasad Singh and Justice Ashok Pal Singh on a petition filed by activist Nutan Thakur against alleged 'media trial'. The bench said that for any misconduct committed by the print media statutory forum is available in the form of Press Council of...