Malayalam novelist Kovilan dies

THRISSUR: Noted Malayalam novelist Kovilan died at a private hospital atKunnamkulam near here early today.
He was suffering from some respiratory problems, his family said.
Kovilan (87) is survived by two daughters and a son.A freedom fighter, Kovilan, whose real name was V V Ayyappan, worked in the Royal Indian Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1948 to 1968 in the Corps of Signals.Born on July 9, 1923 at Kandanassery in Guruvayur, Thrissur, Kovilan was a recipient of the state government’s highest literary honour Ezhuthachan Puraskarom in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Malaylam literature.

Petrol, diesel prices...............

Ahead of the empowered group of ministers’ (eGOM) meeting Monday to consider pricing policy on petrol and diesel, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) opposed any move by the government to hike prices of petroleum products. The BJP said any hike in prices of petrol and diesel will further increase prices of essential commodities. The CPI-M politburo in a statement Sunday described the likely hike in the petroleum products as “unwarranted”. “It will have a direct impact on purchasing power of common citizens,” BJP spokesman Tarun Vijay told IANS. He said the exercise to consider hike in prices of petrol and diesel should be “deemed as a failure of the United Progressive Alliance government on economic front, ironically run by an economist prime minister”. Asked about the decisions taken for decontrol of diesel and petrol prices by the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, he said “those decisions were taken in different circumstances when prices were under control”. The eGOM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss pricing policy of petrol and diesel, including pricing decontrol. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday to discuss fuel price issue and decontrol of petroleum products. The CPI-M too, like the BJP, came out against any hike in petrol and diesel prices. In a statement issues at the end of two-day politburo meeting here Sunday, the party said any hike in prices of petroleum products will be unwarranted. “There are reports that the government is considering a further increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and other petroleum products. This will be totally unwarranted and impose a crushing burden on the people in view of the continuing increase in food prices and inflation,” the statement said. The Congress, however, said that the government had always taken a carefully considered decision on prices of petroleum products. “The prices have been increased only when there is no other option. The hike has been minimum and what is necessary,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

Health Minister P K Sreemathy said......

Health Minister P K Sreemathy had said that the media was trying to create a fuss by saying that viral fever was haunting the state. The Health department conducted a study on this issue and the reports reveal that the mosquito density inThiruvananthapuram district was fast increasing when compared to other dis

Bangalore blast

 PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, who was recently questioned in connection with the 2008 Bangalore blasts case, today denied having any role in the serial attacks that claimed the life of a woman. While admitting that Bangalore Police had elicited some information from him and his wife Soofiya at Kochi, he said it was not a lengthy interrogation as made out by a section of media. Madani, undergoing treatment in a hospital here for ortho-related complaints, told a television channel that Bangalore Police had questioned him for about 15 minutes and sought details of some district leaders of his party.
According to reports, Madani and his wife were questioned based on statements given to police by T Nazeer, an accused in the Bangalore blast.

• 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

K. Radhakrishnan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, was Saturday named the next chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
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