LDF demanding Chief Minister's resignation
The Left Democratic Front (LDF)-led Opposition in Kerala Monday disrupted the Assembly session demanding Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's resignation. The Assembly session resumed on the day after its adjournment a fortnight back amid vehement protests by opposition. Soon after the Question Hour, the Opposition wanted an adjournment motion to discuss the recent developments in solar scam. Deputy opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan moved the request for adjournment motion. The...

Kerala High Court gave the government two weeks time to inform its views regarding solar scam
Kerala High Court Monday gave the Kerala government two weeks time to inform its views regarding entrusting of investigation to CBI in the solar scam, which has rocked the state since the past few days. The direction in this regard was issued by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran on a petition by one K Sudhakaran of Kottarakara seeking CBI probe into the scam. When the petition came up before the bench, Advocate General K P Dandapani did not express any...

Court rejected Shalu's bail plea
First Class Judicial Magistrate court here approved police plea for Shalu Menon's custody for further interrogation and evidence gathering on Monday. The court rejected Shalu's bail plea and send her to police custody for three days. Shalu, a danseuse and member of the Central Film Censor Board, was on Saturday remanded to judicial custody by a First Class Judicial Magistrate after hours of questioning by investigators led to vital clues of her connections with the prime accused...

Cracks found on the runway of Calicut Airport
Cracks found on the runway of Calicut Internation Airport, Karipoor, in Kozhikode district. Authorities told reports here that a portion at the east side of the runway has been found damaged. The cracks appeared didn't yet cause any problem for regular landing and take off activities. But the damage may cause problems if the air traffic increase, the airport authorities said.

Youth should be imparted education and skill training- Shashi Tharoor
Youth of the country should be imparted education and skill training so that they could grab the opportunities the 21st century offered, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor Saturday said. The country had a youthful society that could be dynamic productive working age population at a time when the rest of the world is ageing, he said speaking on 'Global opportunities and modern education' at an event here. 'We need to educate the young in...

Shalu Menon has been remanded to custody untill Monday
 Shalu Menon, one of the accused in the Solar scam, has been remanded to custody untill Monday by the First Class Judicial Magistrate court here on Saturday. The court will consider a police plea for Shalu's custody on Monday.  The prosecution has asked for custody of Shalu Menon and Biju Radhakrishnan for further questioning. Shalu has been remanded in the women's prison in Attakulangara, Thiruvananthapuram. Shalu, a dancer and television actress, was...

Boeing 777 crashed at San Francisco International Airport
A Boeing 777 operated by Asiana Airlines crashed while landing Saturday at San Francisco International Airport. Flight 214 left Seoul's Incheon International Airport earlier Saturday and flew 10 hours and 23 minutes to California, according to FlightAware, a website that offers tracking services for private and commercial air traffic. Anthony Castorani, who witnessed the flight land from a nearby hotel, said he saw the plane touch the ground then noticed a larger plume of white smoke.

Social media has become important in India: Shashi Tharoor
Kochi: Along with its other incarnations like print and broadcast, social media, too, has become influential in the country, Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Shashi Tharoor, said on Thursday. Nobody can now ignore social media given the influence it exerts in politics, business and society, Tharoor said at the launch here of 'Insight Media City (India) Private Ltd', billed as the country's first private media city. He said that although the present...

Complaint against solar scam tampered
The complaint that led to the arrest of Tenny Joppan in the solar scam had been tampered, according to the clerk of Sony, the advocate of Sreedharan Nair, who had filed the complaint. The clerk, Radhakrishnan, said that the complaint filed by Sreesharan Nair was modified to refer to the CM in the case. It was done as per instructions from Sony, Radhakrishnan said. Sreesharan Nair, who had filed the complaint against the solar firm, was allegedly kept in the dark about the change. It is...

Saudi Arabia has extended the deadline for Nitaqat.
The government of Saudi Arabia has extended the deadline for Nitaqat. The government said that the deadline has been extended to November 3. The development was announced by the Ministry of Employment hours before the older deadline was to have expired. It is believed  that in the past three months, 16 lakh people have either rectified their residence status or have left Saudi Arabia because of Nitaqat. This includes about one lakh Indians. The state is to enhance...

Umman Chandy releases master plan for Markaz Knowledge city
A road connecting Wayanad directly to Karippur airport in Kozhikode would become a reality soon, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Sunday. "In this century of knowledge, we should be able to utilise fully technical knowledge," Chandy said after releasing the master plan for 'Markaz Knowledge city' here. Markas knowledge city under the aegis of the Markazu Ssaquafathi Ssunniyya, a Muslim organisation, is an integrated township of global standards comprising...

CM should return the UN award or else the UN should take it back - V S Achuthanandan
 V S Achuthanandan has called on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to return the UN award he received recently. The opposition leader claimed that Oommen Chandy and his office had influenced the UN for the award and added that either the CM should return the award or else the UN should take it back. V S alleged that the CM's office had helped fraudsters and claimed that he had opposed moves to award the CM from the very onset. VS also alleged that the CM's office had spread...

CM's resignation inevitable: Pinarayi
Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M today said the resignation of Oommen Chandy has become 'inevitable' as more proofs were being revealed about the alleged links between his office and the main accused in the solar scam. With the arrest of Tenny Joppan, former personal aide of Chandy in connection with the solar scam, the involvement of the Chief Minister's office in the crime had come to light, CPI-M state unit Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here. 'The continunance of Chandy...

Tenny Joppen remanded to judicial custody
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's former personal assistant Tenny Joppan was today remanded to judicial custody in connection with the 'solar panel' scam, rocking the state for the last two weeks. Joppan, arrested yesterday after hours of grilling by a special police team probing the case, was produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate, Pathanamittta, and sent to the district jail for 14 days after all legal formalities. A long time personal aide of...

Kodiyeri demands judicial probe
Kozhikode: CPI(M) Politbureau member and Deputy leader of opposition in the Kerala assembly, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, today demanded a judicial probe into the solar panel scam. Balakrishnan alleged that attempts were being made to scuttle the case. If economic offences over Rs 30 lakh have taken place then it should have been informed to the Central Enforcement, but it was not done, he alleged. Demanding Chandy's resignation, he said Chandy should present himself before the...

Congress and IUML has equal responsibility to maintain their relationwhip
Malappuram: Indian Union Muslim League today said that both Congress and IUML has equal responsibility to maintain their relationwhip in the United Democratic Front. Speaking to reporters after IUML party leadership meeting here, party General Secretary E T Muhammed Basheer said the relationship between Congress and IUML was several years old. The relation between league and Congress was for all, he said, adding 'Congress can take their decision and IUML their decision' on whether that...

Modi to head BJP campaign
Panaji : After much speculation, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was Sunday named chairman of the BJP campaign committee for the Lok Sabha election scheduled for 2014. Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh made the terse announcement at the end of the party's two-day national executive committee here. He told the media that he had decided to make Modi chairman of the campaign committee with a view to take the party to victory in the coming Lok Sabha battle. 'Whatever...

Wife bats for Jose Thettayil
Kochi: The wife of beleaguered former Kerala minister Jose Thettayil Monday came out in support of her husband, stating that he was not involved in the alleged sexual exploitation of a woman. A 30-year-old woman recently alleged that the former minister and his son Adarsh repeatedly sexually exploited her last year and the visuals of the alleged acts were telecast by TV channels here. Thettayil's wife Daisy held a brief press conference and said that her husband was innocent. 'We...