Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
- Kannur police charge case on K. Sudhakaran
- PB Salim, the new Kannur Collector-In-Charge
- K. Radhakrishnan named new ISRO chief
Kannur police charge case on K. Sudhakaran
The Town Police here on Monday evening registered a case against K. Sudhakaran, MP, following a report by District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan.
The case was registered under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duties), Section 448 (criminal trespass) and Section 294-B (use of obscene language) of the Indian Penal Code. Though the offence under Section 353 is a non-bailable offence, police officers declined to say whether the MP would be arrested in connection with the case.
Congress leaders including Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy went into a huddle in the capital to discuss the situation. The police said the case was registered in connection with Mr. Sudhakaran’s alleged argument with election officials at the taluk office here on October 16. The case raised apprehensions in UDF circles that the police might arrest the MP.
Kannur police charge case on K. Sudhakaran
PB Salim, the new Kannur Collector-In-Charge
The Election Commission Friday removed Kannur District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan and appointed two observers following complaints by the Congress party of irregularities in the Nov 7 by-poll process.The commission, however, rejected the Congress’s demand for a new voters’ list in the politically volatile Kannur assembly constituency.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has criticised the poll panel’s decision to change the district collector.
“We are appointing two observers. The two observers and the joint CEO have been told to camp there, so that each complaint coming in the press should be looked into and a report submitted to the election commission,” said Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla in New Delhi.
Chawla said the commission has decided to remove the district collector and got a panel of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officers from the Kerala government for appointing a new collector at Kannur.
“We have got a panel. We are in the process of selecting a new district election officer, district magistrate. Yes, we are changing the existing official,” he told reporters.
Balakrishnan had come under attack from the Congress which alleged that he did not take an impartial stand when it came to preparing the voters lists.
Rejecting the Congress’s demand for another voters list, Chawla said: “The voters list is sealed. Cannot change it. One of the things that we must prevent is that there must not be any fraud.”
According to the office of the state revenue minister, the three names suggested by Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan include Ishita Roy, Sanjay Kaul and P.B. Salim, an official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Congress leader and Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran maintained that Balakrishnan “did not do a clean job” when it came to preparation of the voters lists.
Reports indicate that the commission had asked the state government to include two specific names, but these have not been included.
“The commission is free to appoint anyone it thinks is fit for the job and it need not go by the list submitted by the state government,” said Sudhakaran.
The CPI-M reacted in anger to the poll panel’s move.
“The Election Commission is acting on the behest of the Congress party,” said CPI-M Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, who is in the national capital to attend the party’s central committee meeting which started Friday.
“The commission has crossed all limits by giving such directions. It is anti-democratic. It should not be reduced to a puppet at the hands of the Congress,” Vijayan told reporters here.
The Congress on Tuesday asked Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to remove all officials, including the district collector, to ensure a free and fair by-election Nov 7.
Winning the Kannur seat has become an issue of prestige for both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
The Congress has fielded A.P. Abdulla Kutty, who till early this year was a two-time Lok Sabha member of the CPI-M, while the Marxist party has fielded a heavy weight candidate in M.V. Jayarajan, who had won from the nearby Edakadu constituency in 1996 and 2001.
Kutty was booted out of the CPI-M ahead of the May general elections for violating party discipline.
The only time the ruling LDF has won the Kannur seat was way back in 1977.
PB Salim, the new Kannur Collector-In-Charge
K. Radhakrishnan named new ISRO chief
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Armed with a fax copy of his appointment Radhakrishnan, who takes over from G. Madhavan Nair, visited the famed Sree Krishna Temple Guruvayoor here Saturday evening.
Radhakrishnan said he was told of his appointment by phone from New Delhi. He then gave the number of the temple board office here where his appointment copy was faxed.
“Religion and science go hand-in-hand. And when the two join it is nice,” said Radhakrishnan, when asked about the official communication reaching him at the temple.
Radhakrishnan takes over from Nair Oct 31.
Radhakrishnan did his electrical engineering degree from Kerala University in 1970. He also holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore and a doctorate from Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur.
He said that his first priority would be to see that the first indigenously developed cryogenic engine be made ready for the launch of the GSLV.
“A huge responsibility has been placed on me and at this moment I would like to thank all my gurus (teachers) and among them are Nair and other former ISRO chairmen like Kasturi Rangan and U.R. Rao,” Radhakrishnan told reporters.
Starting his career with the ISRO as an avionics engineer in 1971, he went on to hold key positions such as director of Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres under the umbrella of National Natural Resources Management System (1989-97).
In 2000-2005, Radhakrishnan was with Department of Ocean Development (presently Ministry of Earth Sciences) as the founder director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and the project director of the Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges.
He was also the vice chairman of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of Unesco 2001-05.
Radhakrishnan is a member of the Indian delegation to the UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space since June 2006.
K. Radhakrishnan named new ISRO chief
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