IOC may hike petrol prices again next month

State-owned Indian Oil Corp , the nation's largest fuel retailer, today said it may hike petrol price next month as the steep hike of Rs 5 per litre of May 15 was not enough to cover for the cost of crude oil.

"Even after the hike, we are today losing Rs 4.58 per litre. After including VAT, the desired increase at retail level comes to Rs 5.50 a litre," IOC Chairman R S Butola told reporters here.

The desired hike in price has been calculated based on the average crude oil price of the first fortnight of May. However, from June 1, which will take into account the average of second half of May when international rates moderated, IOC will lose Rs 1.15 per litre. After including VAT, the desired hike in Delhi would be Rs 1.35 a litre.

"We will have to take a view (on hiking petrol price) soon," he said. "Government is not compensating us for selling petrol at below international cost since June 2010 when its pricing was freed."

Butola, however, refused to say when the rates will go up. "We will have to consider the environment we operate in before taking that call."

On diesel, he said, the company will from June 1 expected to lose Rs 12.64 per litre. It currently loses Rs 14.66 a litre on diesel.

Similarly, on domestic LPG it is losing Rs 380.57 per cylinder and Rs 25.85 a litre on PDS kerosene.

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet on June 9 to consider raising prices of the three controlled commodities -- diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.

RECENT POLITICAL ISSUES IN KERALA

PAY FIXATION SOFTWEARE 2011 IS AVAILABLE FROM THIS BLOG

Mar George Alancherry Syro Malabar major archbishop

Bishop Mar George Alancherry was on Sunday installed as the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church and Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese at a solemn ceremony held at the St. Mary’s Cathedral Baslica at Cochin.
Church Administrator and Curia Bishop Bosco Puthur led the ceremony, which lasted for more than an hour. The Major Archbishop was brought to the church in a procession from the parish hall. The vicar of the Basilica welcomed Geroge Alanchery by presenting him a candle.

The ceremony started with Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio reading out the felicitation message of Pope Benedict XVI. Bosco Puthur later led the Major Archbishop to his throne. After the installation, the new Major Archbishop presided over the rest of the Holy Mass.

Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis of Malankara Church, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the 44 bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church were present at the ceremony.

Several Ministers, MPs, MLAs and leaders of various community, social and cultural organisations as well as representatives of priests and laity of Syro-Malabar dioceses from all over Kerala and outside participated in the ceremony.

George Alancherry, who was serving as bishop of Thuckalay diocese in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, was elected as Major Archbishop on May 26 by the Synod of Bishops.

The 66-year-old Major Archbishop succeeds Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, who died on April 1 after a prolonged heart ailment.

George Alancherry is the first head to be elected by the Church’s synod. The election is part of the new administrative system put in place within the Syro-Malabar Church after Pope John Paul II made it a Major Archiepiscopal Church in 1992.

Crucial UDF meeting today in Kerala

With the selection of Ministers running into a major controversy within the Congress, the UDF is holding a crucial meeting on Monday to decide on the IUML demand for a fifth Cabinet berth and to finalise the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The Congress is facing a Herculean task of having to first set its own house and that of the Front's in order as the Cabinet-formation has triggered widespread resentment both within the party and the Front.
With the IUML still sticking to its demand for the fifth Cabinet berth, the Congress is finding it hard to resolve the crisis

If the Congress concedes the IUML demand, then it would be faced with another daunting task of pacifying K M Mani who is gunning for the Speaker's post. The Congress is not ready to either accept the demand of the IUML or grant the Speaker's post to any of the constituents.
It is almost certain that G Karthikeyan of the Congress will be the Speaker and the Congress will be ready to give only the Deputy Speaker post to KC (M).
But it will be difficult for Mani to accept this offer due to the internal bickering in his own party.


Mani wants to properly accommodate P C George, who is not ready to accept anything short of the Speaker's post.
If the Mani faction is forced to settle for the Deputy Speaker's post then Prof N Jayaraj will be its nominee and this would trigger another bout of infighting in the KC (M).
The IUML leadership will be putting forward its demand for the fifth Cabinet berth during Monday's UDF meeting and a patch-up formula on this issue is highly unlikely to evolve.
According to some Congress leaders, Monday's meeting will be taking a decision only on the Speaker and Deputy Speaker posts.
The decision on the Cabinet expansion will be taken only later.
With the Assembly meeting on June 1 and the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker scheduled for the very next day, the Congress will be trying for an amicable settlement rather than going in for a confrontation with UDF constituents.
The election of the Speaker is crucial as it is done through a secret ballot and any resentment shown by a single member from the ruling front would prove costly for the Congress.

Local self government division may lead to corruption: VS

VS Achuthanandan said dividing local self government may lead to corruption while he was talking to media in Thrissur.

Kerala to allow private practice of doctors in Govt Medical Colleges

Congress-led UDF government in Kerala may soon allow doctors in government medical colleges to practise privately, an option banned by the previous LDF regime.

The government will hold discussions with all concerned parties and take a decision on allowing private practice of doctors of medical colleges, with some pre-conditions, said Health Minister Adoor Prakash.

The LDF government had banned private practice holding that doctors were not getting enough time for research and patients who approached medical colleges faced difficulties due to this.

"The Government's priority in health sector is to improve infrastructure facilities in government hospitals and also ensure good quality treatment," said Prakash.

He also said a 100-day action plan to develop facilities in government hospitals and preventive measures to check monsoon related diseases would be taken up on war-footing.

In order to overcome the shortage of doctors in hospitals, permission has been given to authorities to appoint doctors on temporary basis by holding walk-in-interviews at district levels, he said.

KP Dhandapani appointed as Advocate General

The cabinet meet on Monday has decided to appoint senior advocate K.P. Dandapani as Advocate General. P.C. Ipe will be made Additional Advocate General. Chandy said the appointments are made to the vacancies formed after the Advocate General and the Additional Advocate General of the last ministry resigned.

Lottery issue: Achuthanandan demands Chidambaram's resignation

Former chief minister VS Achuthanandan demanded resignation of home minister P Chidambaram in the wake of the Centre agreeing for a CBI probe into operation of other state lotteries in Kerala, accusing him of scuttling demands for such inquiry whenever the previous LDF government wanted it.

"Finally the Centre has agreed to a CBI probe. This is a welcome step. However, Chidambaram should step down as he had sought to scuttle demands of such a probe, whenever the previous LDF government wanted it," the CPM leader said.

He was reacting to the development in the lottery case in which solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam said the Centre was ready and willing to conduct an inquiry into allegations regarding the lottery operations

IUML announces names of four ministers

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala virtually snatched the chief ministerial prerogative from Oommen Chandy on Sunday when it announced its list of ministers and their portfolios. The party also unilaterally increased its quota and declared ministerial berth for Manjilalkuzhi Ali.

The initial agreement was that the IUML will have four ministers in the coalition government. If Ali is added, the League will have five ministers.

While announcing the names of its ministerial candidates and their portfolios here on Sunday, the party's state unit chief Panakkad Syid Hyderali Thangal said that Ali, the MLA from Perinthalmanna, will be sworn in later. He will hold the charge of the parliamentary affairs ministry.

The IUML, which has a strength of 20 in the new Kerala assembly, had initially agreed to a quota of four ministers in a Cabinet whose total strength was pegged at 20. With the League now staking claim to a fifth slot, the strength of the ministry will now become 21. IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty was sworn in as a minister alongwith Chandy on May 18.

The other ministers from the party's contingent will include former minister MK Muneer, VK Ibrahim Kunju and PK Abdu Rabb. The newly-appointed UDF ministry will be expanded on Monday with the inclusion of nine nominees from the Congress and one from the Kerala Congress (Mani). Chandy and six ministers were sworn in on May 18.

Meanwhile, resentment is brewing up among the Nadars and Dheevaras, the two important communities, for the denial of ministerial berths to any of their candidates in the Chandy Government .

The Congress had announced the names of its nine ministerial nominees on Saturday, which included its lone woman MLA P K Vijayalakshmi, who contested the polls as a nominee of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Others in the Congress list are former ministers Aryadan Muhammad, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, Adoor Prakash and A P Anil Kumar.

Congress MLAs K C Joseph, K Babu, C N Balakrishnan and V S Sivakumar will become ministers for the first time.

Poll analysis: CPM state secretariat meet today

A meeting of the CPM secretariat and the state committee for analyzing the poll results of CPM Legislature party will be held from May 23rd. The CPM state secretariat would meet on 23 and 24, while the state committee will meet on 25 and 26, party sources said.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat will attend the party secretariat meeting. Decision on the Opposition leader will be taken in next week’s meeting. Formal announcement of VS Achuthanandan as the opposition leader would be made after these meetings

CONGRESS MINISTERS OF KERALA

The lone Congress woman MLA P K Vijayalakshmi, who contested Kerala Assembly polls as a nominee of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, is among the representatives of the party to be inducted in the Oommen Chandy Cabinet, which is slated for expansion on Monday.

The nine-member list includes former ministers Aryadan Muhammad, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, Adoor Prakash and A P Anil Kumar, Chandy told reporters here Saturday.

Others who are chosen to be made ministers are K C Joseph, K Babu, C N Balakrishnan and V S Sivakumar.

Some prominent faces missing in the list are KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, former KPCC president K Muraleedharan and Deputy Leader of Congress in the previous Assembly G Karthikeyan.

Chennithala, who won from Harippad seat, has not shown interest to join the ministry despite pressure from the leadership.

Jayalakshmi was elected from Manathawadi (ST) seat in Wayanad district defeating CPI-M's K C Kunhiraman by over 12,000 votes.

Belonging to the Kurichya tribe, she is the first ST minister in Kerala and the youngest in the Cabinet.

A graduate in English literature and a university archery champion, Jayalakshmi was reportedly given the ticket to contest the polls as suggested by Rahul Gandhi, who recommended some 18 nominees in the list of candidates, half of who won the polls.

The list of ministers was drawn up after long discussions here and in New Delhi, keeping regional, caste and religious balance.

The selection had left some heartburns and protests. For instance, N Sakthan, elected from Kattakkada near here, voiced protest over exclusion of Nadar community in the list. Chandy said the UDF was keen to give representation to all communities and sections in the ministry, the coalition had "certain limitations in satisfying everybody" within the possible number of berths.

Nadar community not given representation in cabinet: Shaktan

N Shaktan MLA of Kattakkada has expressed his anger at Nadar community not being given a representation in the cabinet. He also said he has pressure from his party workers to resign the MLA's post

Puthur Sheela case: Kanakaraj gets death penalty

The main accused of the Puthur Sheela muder case, Kanakaraj has been given the greatest punishment of hanging till death.

The Palakkad Additional District and Sessions Court had yesterday acquitted Manikandan, the third accused in the murder case, for lack of evidence.

Kanakaraj was found guilty of various charges, including murder, robbery and attempt of murder.

Sheela, wife of a businessman, was killed in 2010 at her house at Puthur. Her mother Karthiyayini was also attacked by a three-member gang.

There were three accused in the case, including Sampath, the first accused, who later died in police custody. The custodial death of Sampath was currently being investigated by the CBI.

2G scam: Kanimozhi lodged in Tihar Jail

DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named as co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum scam, were today taken into custody after a special CBI court rejected their bail pleas.

CBI special judge O P Saini said: "Both the bail applications (of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar) are dismissed. As per the court orders, they are to be taken into custody."

Kanimozhi, who was accompanied to court by her husband Aravindan and clad in an orange salwar-kurta, tried to regain her composure after the judgment was pronounced and later told her supporters that "she was expecting the decision".

Her security guard burst into tears as the judge announced his decision.

The CBI had named Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, and Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators in its April 25 supplementary charge sheet after it traced an illegal money trail of Rs 214 crore in the scam.

As the judge pronounced the verdict, co-accused -- and former communications minister -- A. Raja looked shocked. The DMK MP is already in jail in connection with the case, related to irregularities in the allocation of airwaves to telecom companies that caused huge losses to the exchequer.

She has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act for taking bribe through Kalaignar TV -- a channel run by DMK -- in which a sum of Rs 200 crore was routed from Shahid Usman Balwa's firm DB Realty.

Kanimozhi and Kumar had appeared in court in the morning and were told that the decision on their bail pleas would be made after 1 pm. The hearing was then adjourned till 2.30 pm.

Also present in the courtroom were former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, Raja's aide R.K. Chandolia, Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom and Sanjay Chandra of Unitech.

Two officials of ADAG, Gautam Doshi and Hari Nair, who were also named in the charge sheet, were present in the courtroom.

Cineyug Film's Karim Morani was not present as he got exemption from personal appearance due to his ill health, while Surendra Pipara of Reliance, who is in judicial custody, was also not present in the court as he is undergoing treatment for a heart problem at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Kalaignar TV channel had earlier stated that the Rs.214 crore it got was a loan and paid back with interest.

Kerala Ministers Selection

Rajinikant shifted to ICU

Actor Rajinikant who underwent dialysis at has been shifted to ICU. He is said to be responding positively to the treatment.Superstar Rajinikanth, hospitalised in Chennai, has been shifted to the Intensive Care Unit to improve his breathing pattern, and is now showing positive response to treatment, doctors attending to the superstar have said.

A multidisciplinary team is involved, to closely watch his vital parameters to assess benefits from multi prong treatment strategies, the doctors added.

The Enthiran star, who suffered from viral fever and exhaustion recently, was admitted to Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre at suburban Porur days after he was discharged from another hospital where he was treated for allergic bronchitis and viral fever.

He had suffered from exhaustion on April 29, the first day of the shoot of his new period film Rana co-starring Deepika Padukone, which is being directed by K S Ravikumar.


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/rajinikanth-shifted-to-icu-showing-positive-response-to-treatment-hospital-106841?cp

Oommen Chandy and others take oath as new Kerala CM and Ministers.

Congress leader Oommen Chandy took oath for the second time as Kerala’s chief minister at Raj Bhavan. Governor RS Gavai administered oath to the newly elected CM on Wednesday.

67-year-old Chandy replaced AK Antony in 2004 following rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

Party leaders from all six allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) were also sworn in along with Chandy. The new ministers include Indian Union Muslim League's (IUML) P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.M. Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani), K.P. Mohanan of the Socialist Janata (Democratic) (SJ-D) party, T.M. Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), K.B. Ganesh Kumar of Kerala Congress (Pillai) and Shibu Baby John of the RSP (B). Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, former minister and UDF leader K.R. Gowri, and former Left ministers Thomas Issac, M.A. Baby, and K. Ramachandran were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.

After tea with the Governor, Chandy and his newly-formed cabinet drove to the state secretariat for its first cabinet meeting. The second round of swearing-in is expected to be held here May 23.

Chandy is perceived to be the best bet for Congress to lead the UDF ministry as it commands a wafer-thin majority with 72 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

Known for his organisational skills and administrative acumen, he is a key political player of Kerala for long and has played a vital role since 1970s in building the party as a mass force capable of taking on the CPI (M).

Chandy has been active in politics since school days and was an activist of Congress's student-wing Kerala Students Union.
His acceptability and popularity greatly helped the Congress to strike roots among the youth through the politically turbulent 1960s and 70s.

Chandy moved to the central role of the UDF left vacant by late K Karunakaran and A K Antony when he was chosen as chief minister for an interim term in 2004-06.

Though the entry of KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala into the electoral race this time had initially sent signals that he would throw his hat in the ring, he opted out paving the way for unanimous selection of Chandy as leader of Congress Legislature Party.

Since the 1970s, he has been a frontline soldier of the anti-Karunakaran camp in Congress in Kerala with seniors A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi, who emerged on the centre stage of politics drawing inspiration from the policies of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after the Congress split in 1969.

Born on October 31, 1943 to Karottu Vallakkalil-KO Chandy and Baby, Chandy had leadership skills since his school days as a participant of the children's forum Balajana Sakhyam floated by leading newspaper house Malayala Manorama.

Chandy is one of the few Congress leaders in Kerala who never aspired for any post at the Centre- both, in the party or in the cabinet. Similarly, he has never contested Lok Sabha polls or sought a Rajya Sabha berth, always preferring to be in Kerala.
When Antony quit as chief minister, Chandy was unanimously elected as CLP leader as other contenders were too weak to pose a credible challenge to him.

In his first stint as chief minister, Chandy turned out to be a leader with inexhaustible energy and resources criss-crossing the length and breadth of the state.

Despite having assumed power in politically trying times after the rout of the Congress in Kerala in 2004, his ministry ushered in a series of welfare measures and laid the foundation for some major projects like the Kochi Smartcity.

His wife Mariamma Oommen is a retired bank officer and the couple has two daughters and a son.

R Balakrishna Pillai gets parole without conditions

Kerala Congress(B) leader, R Balakrishna Pillai, has got parole without any conditions.

Oommen Chandy to take oath as Kerala CM

Veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy was on Wednesday sworn in as the 21st chief minister of Kerala along with six ministers.

The ministers who were sworn in are P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.M. Maani, K.P. Mohanan, T.M. Jacob, K.B. Ganesh Kumar and Shibu Baby John. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan.

The first meeting of the cabinet was scheduled to be held after the swearing-in, where portfolios for the ministers were expected to be finalised.

But some of the ministers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front government have a tainted past. P.K. Kunhalikutty, general secretary of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), was allegedly involved in the ice-cream sex scandal case.

T.M. Jacob, chief of KC(J), has a vigilance case against him in connection with the Kurian Kutty Karappara irrigation project.

K.M. Maani, chief of KC(M), is a former minister and has a pending vigilance case related to illegal power sale to a Bangalore-based private company.

Talks for ministry formation in Kerala

With the Congress-led UDF Ministry in Kerala headed by Oommen Chandy slated to be sworn in on May 18, internal and bilateral parleys among Congress and Front partners to form the cabinet gained momentum today.In the 21-member cabinet to be sworn in, the second largest partner Indian Union Muslim League with 20 MLAs and KC-M with nine MLAs have staked claim for five and four berths respectively in the ministry, UDF sources said.However, as per indications, KC-M would be satisfied with two ministerial berths and the post of Deputy Speaker K.M.Mani Finance,Law & Housing sources said. In the case of IUML, the party would not press their demand, if their demand for choice of porfolios were met.IUML got Four Ministers , PWD,education,LSGD,Industries.A consensus has been reached in the UDF to accommodate all the three single-member parties like KC-J, KC-B and RSP-B.With this, it is certain now that T M Jacob of KC-J, Shibu Baby Johan of RSP-B and K B Ganeshkumar of KC-B would become ministers.T.M.Jacob - Food and Civil Supply, Shibu Baby John - Labour,K.B.Ganesh Kumar - Tourism, SJD, the other partner which has two members in the new house is meeting later this evening and is most likely to choose K P Mohanan, elected from Koothuparamba as party's ministerial candidate.K.P.Mohanan - Agriculture According to Congress sources, a general agreement on list of Congress ministers in the cabinet had been arrived at and it would be submitted to the high command for approval.Among the probables in Congress list are senior legislators Arayadan Muhammed, K C Joseph, G Karthikeyan, P K Jayalakshmy, K Babu, T N Prathapan and Adoor Prakesh.Meanwhile, IUML is meeting at Panakkad in Malappuram district to choose their ministerial nominees and leader of the party in the assembly.In the April 13 assembly elections, UDF wrested power from CPI-M-led LDF with a slender majority. UDF has got 72 seats in the 140-member House.

Prakash Karat after Election Result - Press Meet

Prakash Karat after Election Result - Press Meet

Oommen Chandy to be the new Kerala CM

The UDF government with Oommen Chandy as Chief Minister would come to power in Kerala on Wednesday. The Congress Parliamentary party meet held yesterday unanimously elected Oommen Chandy to be the CM.

State vehicle strike to be held on Friday

A vehicle strike will be held on Friday, all over the state in protest against the steep hike in petrol price.

KM Mani's meeting with Congress leaders failed

The meeting held between KM Mani and Congress leaders over the formation of the next government has failed

Petrol price hiked by Rs 5 per litre

In its steepest hike so far, the price of petrol will be raised Rs 5 per litre in an over 8 percent increase from Saturday midnight. The increase comes only a day after the assembly poll results in five states, and was greeted by anger and derision from ordinary citizens and opposition parties.

By increasing the price of petrol by Rs. 5 a litre, the UPA government has given another cruel blow to the people who are already suffering from all-round price rise. After the deregulation of petrol pricing, there have been more or less a monthly increase in petrol prices. But since January 2011 no increase in petrol prices was announced by the oil companies. Obviously, the government had directed them not to do so keeping in view the assembly elections to five states.

Immediately after the elections, this steep increase in prices has been announced. This itself shows that the hike in the price of petrol is politically manipulated. The UPA government refuses to restructure the ad valorem tax structure on import of petro products. If the cess revenues earned by the government due to rise in international prices is returned to oil companies, then there would be no need to hike prices and burden the aam admi.

The people are not going to take this cynical policy which leads to increased inflation and price rise quietly. The Left parties call upon all its units to mobilize the people and organize protests against this fresh attack and demand a reversal of the deregulation policy.

According to officials, the three state-run companies will increase the price in a move to plug the losses suffered due to sale of subsidised domestic fuel.

In Delhi, petrol is currently priced at Rs 58.37 per litre, while it is Rs.63.08 per litre in Mumbai till Saturday. From midnight, it will be raised to Rs 63.37 and Rs 68.33, respectively.

In June last year, the government had allowed oil companies to set the price of petrol as per the market situation, following which they had raised the price of petrol by Rs.3 per litre.

Then, another substantial price rise took place in December 2010, when companies had hiked the price by Rs.3 per litre.

The last price hike was in January, when oil companies had raised the price by four to two percent. Thus, in the last nine months, the price of petrol has increased from Rs.47.93 per litre to Rs.63.37 - through nine revisions.

Despite the hike, oil company officials said they will still be losing about Rs 5 per litre of petrol, due to rising international crude prices, with India meeting eighty percent of its fuel consumption through imports. Another hike may be done next week, said officials.

There has been steady increase in the international prices, with the Indian crude basket priced at $113.09 per barrel Friday. The average of the previous fortnight from April 16-30 stood at $119.4 per barrel.

The last time the monthly average was above $100 level was in August 2008, when the crude basket price was calculated at $113.05 per barrel.

The biggest loss of the companies, however, is due to the sale of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene, whose price continues to be controlled by the government. Every day, oil companies lose Rs.495 crore due to the sale of these three products alone.

The empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) on fuel prices is scheduled to meet next week, to consider a proposal to raise prices.

According to sources, there are proposals to increase the price of diesel by about Rs.4 per litre. Similarly, cooking gas cylinder could become costlier by about Rs.20.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties condemned the hike in petrol prices Saturday, terming it as an "attack" and a "cruel hoax" on the common man.

The BJP said it would fight against the measure "inside and outside parliament" while the Left called it hypocrisy, coming a day after the election results to five states.

"The petrol price hike exposed the failure of the economist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the price hike was highly condemnable.

"This is a cruel hoax on the common people," he told reporters here.

Forward Bloc national secretary G. Devarajan said the government was "indulging in hypocrisy by increasing the prices of petrol just one day after the assembly poll results".

The moment the news flashed across the media, petrol stations in the city saw long queues of vehicles with people in a hurry to fill up the tanks before the hiked prices came into effect.

Arunkumar.O.B, Sr.Gr.Assistant in Secretariat, lamented that his transportation budget has spiked in the last one year.

"My petrol expenditure has doubled in the last one year. How will the common man survive after such a price hike," he wondered.

Vinay Verma, 32, wondered if the government could tolerate corruption among politicians and bureaucrats, which has drained the country's coffers, then why couldn't it also take on the burden of subsidy.

"I know that the hike is because of the international increase in prices. But what angers me is that the government can tolerate scams worth thousands of crores of rupees but fails when it comes to international fuel rates," lamented Verma, a human resources executive

Kerela elections 2011: A graceful defeat for Communist Party

People's mandate is vertically divided in Kerala. It is only in a technical sense that the UDF has a majority. The results substantively indicate that the LDF has reclaimed the confidence of the people. The CPM is the single largest party in the State with 45 seats and the Congress on its own has only 38 seats. With the Congress having lesser moral stake in the government formation, the might of the allies is going to be critical and decisive. The Muslim League sweep of the Malappuram district winning 20 out of the 23 seats it contested and Kerala Congress (Mani) win of 9 seats out of 13 in mid-Travancore indicates a minority consolidation towards favouring the UDF. However, in equivalence to this, there is a Hindu vote consolidation that has enabled the LDF to secure a good score. Perhaps the vertical polarisation has a communal angle to it.

The premium lesson for the Left parties, in this graceful failure, is that the people will endorse and support the Communist parties in its pursuit of realising the priorities and goals of the Left politics. The election result of Kerala has to be contrasted with the debacle of the Communist front in the West Bengal. Quasi-socialist underpinnings of the policy measures, the LDF government implemented towards the end of its term, activated its traditional support base. It was from this foundation, VS Achuthanandan, 87-year-old Chief Minister of Kerala, spearheaded his campaign. No doubt, the campaign of Achuthanandan has uniquely contributed to the change of fortune for the Left parties. It was obvious, right from the beginning of the election campaign, that the 'war cry' of the rebellious Chief Minister of Kerala is going to make an impact.

VS factor helped CPIM; Kerala votes against corruption

Outgoing Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan had a hat-trick win from Malampuzha by a huge margin. The VS factor has been much talked about in the elections where the people of Kerala joined him in his fight against corruption.

UDF win not as expected: Oommen Chandy

Congress leader Oommen Chandy has said UDF's win in the Assembly election by a narrow margin was not as expected by the party and said the party would analyse what went wrong.The UDF did not get the expected win in the assembly polls, said opposition leader Oommen Chandy. Talking to reporters in his constituency Puthupally, he said the Congress and the UDF will discuss the situation which led to the not so impressive win. Chandy said the wrong allegations levelled by the chief minister and some from the CPM influenced the poll results. There were no crisis in the UDF, he said.

VS Achuthanandan after resigning as Kerala CM - Press Meet

A day after the Left Democratic Front led by him lost the assembly polls, V.S. Achuthanandan resigned as the Kerala chief minister while the Congress-led United Democratic Front said it will introspect as to why its margin of victory was so thin.

Right from the morning, a steady stream of top officials and political leaders came to call on Achuthanandan.

Governor R.S. Gavai asked Achuthanandan to continue in office as a care taker chief minister till the next government takes office.

The Congress-led opposition barely managed to scrape through and got 72 seats in the 140-member state assembly which is just one seat more than the required minimum to run a government. The LDF secured 68 seats.

Meanwhile, State Congress president and newly-elected legislator Ramesh Chennithala said that though they have won the battle, their victory was not as they expected.

"We expected to win anywhere between 80 to 90 seats, but it did not happen. We will do an introspection as to why this happened," said Chennithala.

He went on to add that the slender majority is not going to be a bother.

"Generally if the margin of victory is big, then lethargy seeps in and creates problems. This small majority would be a great impetus to all of us to work as a cohesive unit."

"And no one needs to speculate that we will not be able to do a clean job. We will be a performing government and that's for certain," Chennithala told reporters in Kochi.

Assembly polls: LDF, UDF certain about Palakkad district

Watch how LDF and UDF look at Palakkad district in Assembly polls 2011.

All India Engineering Entrance exams: Students denied entry

A large number of students were prevented for appearing in All India Engineering Entrance exams as they failed to re register. The exams, earlier scheduled for May 3 were postponed to May 11 owing to question paper leak

EXIT- POLL - POST- POLL 2011 RESULT .The LDF is likely to win between 69 and 77 seats - CSDS Survey

The pattern may be broken. Famous for the consistency with which it has alternated between the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in every successive Assembly election, Kerala may create history this time by not staying true to its swinging ways.

According to a post-poll survey conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for CNN-IBN and the Week there is no clear cut winner in Kerala, but the LDF has slight edge in terms of seats and vote share. Although neither of them is decisive enough for Kerala Chief Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader VS Achuthanandan to sit easy.

The LDF is likely to win between 69 and 77 seats with the UDF a close behind bagging 63-71 seats.

It was widely perceived that the ruling LDF has its back to the wall and is battling to buck the trend of alternate fronts coming to power once in every five years. But Achuthanandan sounded confident of winning the Assembly elections for the second term during the campaign. And he may well have reasons to smile.

When the elections were announced, Kerala appeared all set for a boring repetition of a three-decade old cycle of oscillation of power in each election. There were some reports of V S Achutanandan’s having turned things around for the Left, but not many took this seriously. In a lighthearted vain I called it a conspiracy of the Malayali media to create suspense where none existed. The findings of the CSDS survey team led by Dr Sajjad Ibrahim show how uninformed such comments made by people sitting in Delhi can be.

The survey shows that the Left Front government enjoys a fairly decent approval rating, and not just among traditional LDF supporters. V S Achutanandan leads the popularity charts for Chief Minister’s position, way ahead of the Congress’s Oommen Chandy or any of his rivals in his own party. A suggestion that this 87-year-old leader may be too old to hold the CM’s position is dismissed vehemently, even by those below 25. It also hints at a more fundamental transformation in the political landscape of the state.

Slowly but surely, the proportion of ‘unattached voters’ has gone up in the state, thus creating a space for an open-ended judgment on the performance of government, detached from the iron law of alteration of government. We cannot be sure that the 30-year-old pattern will be reversed this time, but this possibility cannot be ruled out.

The edge that LDF seems to enjoy is because of the good work it has done in the field of electricity supply, drinking water, quality of education in government schools and medical facilities in government hospitals. While an overwhelming 83 per cent of voters are satisfied with the Achuthanandan government on the issue of electricity; drinking water (74 per cent satisfied), education in government schools (73 per cent satisfied), facilities in government hospitals (72 per cent satisfied) give the Front some breathing space vis a vis the UDF.

Even of the law and order front the government has done a decent job with 70 per cent of voters of giving their thumbs up despite the rise of fundamentalist groups in the last few years.

However, all is not lost for the UDF as the close nature of the contest and the penchant of the Indian voter to spring surprises means that there is still a ray of hope. Moreover, the Congress-led Front would be hoping that Kerala’s famed political roulette will bring it back to power.

The UDF is hoping to bag a hat-trick after its impressive victories in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the 2010 civic elections by highlighting corruption issues related to the present government. While it has made significant progress in narrowing the six per cent gap between its and LDF’s vote share during the 2006 Assembly polls to just one per cent this time around, its leaders would be praying that the slight advantage of 46 per cent to 45 per cent in favour of the LDF does not translate into a numerical superiority in terms of Assembly seats.

If the survey turns out to be on target, it will reverse the good showing by the Congress-led Front during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections where it won 16 seats out of 20 in the state. Some UDF leaders have been boasting that they would sweep the elections like they did in 2001 when the Front won 99 seats out of 140, but given the close race it seems unlikely that either alliance will cross the halfway-mark comfortably.

The Communists are no pushover in Kerala and have had a long association with the state. They first come to power with the first legislative Assembly of Kerala way back on March 16, 1957. It was the first time in the history of the world that a Communist party had come to power after winning an election. EMS Nampoothiripad as the chief minister.

Since then Kerala is one of the handful of states in India where the Communists have enjoyed power on and off.

However, the state is highly polarised politically where even a marginal swing could turn the tide either way. When the election dates were announced the popular feeling was that the LDF is on its way out. But the ruling coalition got a big boost after the end of uncertainty over Achuthanandan’s entry. He now seems to have taken the fight to the UDF camp in his characteristic aggressive style.

The electoral battle has been intense in all 140 segments, with no wave palpable in favour of either LDF or UDF.

As the 971 candidates who are in the fray in the state wait for the results, the country holds its breath to know if the Kerala voters have stayed true to the stereotype or have some surprises in store

Ayodhya case: SC stays Allahabad HC's verdict

The Supreme Court has stayed the Allahabad High Court's verdict terming as 'something strange' the judgement .The Supreme Court today stayed the Allahabad High Court's verdict dividing in three parts the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, terming as "something strange" the judgement although the parties had not asked for trifurcation of the land.

The court, while staying the September 30, 2010 judgement of the Lucknow bench of the high court, ordered status quo at the site.

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha, while terming the high court's judgement "as something strange," said the partition of the land was ordered despite none of the parties to the dispute seeking it.

While directing that there shall be no religious activity on the 67 acre land, acquired by the central government adjacent to the disputed structure, the apex court bench said the status quo shall be maintained with regard to the rest of the land.

Police Secret meeting in KM Mani's house

District collector Mini Anthony said an investigation will be conducted regarding the secret meeting held in KM Mani's house in Pala with police

Bin Laden death will not affect India- GK Pillai

Home Secretary GK Pillai has said that al-qaeda leader Bin Laden's death does not affect safety of India's home ministry.

Vellapally lashes out at Sukumaran Nair

SNDP general secretary Vellapally Natesan today came down heavily on Nair Service Society (NSS) acting general secretary G Sukumaran Nair for his “unsavoury” comments directed at Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan. Speaking to the reporters here today, Vellapally pointed out that none who have decorated the post of NSS general secretary has used such words as Sukumaran Nair,

Centre, Plantation Corporation responsible Endosulfan deaths: VS

VS Achuthanandan has stated that the centre and Plantation Corporation are to be blamed for the deaths related to Endosulfan. Minister PK Sreemathy has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of Endosulfan victim Prajitha

Protesters ransacked the private clinic of a doctor at the General Hospital here on Thursday and staged a sitin before the hospital gate following the death of a three-year-old girl, listed as an endosulfan victim.


The Health Department later suspended Dr Narayana Naik from service on the basis of a probe report sent by Dr Jose D' Cruze, District Medical Officer. The girl, Prajitha, who suffered from epilepsy was brought to the General Hospital for treatment on Wednesday evening by her mother Jayanthi.

The girl, daughter of Sasidharan, was brought to the hospital as she developed fever and drooled. Jayanthi was told at the hospital that child specialist was on leave and the hospital authorities refused to admit her though her mother showed the 'snehaswanthanam card' issued to endosulfan patients.

The hospital authorities directed her to go to the clinic of Dr Narayana Naik, child specialist. Jayanthi, a native of Nattakkallu in Mulleria and was a stranger to the area was stranded at the hospital waiting for help.

An autorickshaw driver took her to the clinic of Dr Narayana Naik, who examined the child. Since Jayanthi had no money with her the autorickshaw driver paid the doctor's fee of Rs 100. Jayanthi said though she showed the outpatient card, the doctor demanded `100 as his fee. Prajitha was brought back to the General Hospital and was admitted there. The victim's parents said though the doctor had told them that he would come back to the hospital later, he did not turn up. The girl was finally shifted to a private hospital in the town around 9 pm where doctors pronounced her condition to be serious and she died on Thursday morning.

The DYFI men took out a march to the hospital and tried to stage a sitin before the office of the hospital superintendent. However, the police prevented them from entering the hospital premises. The DYFI men then staged a sitin before the hospital gate.

The activists of Youth League, Youth Congress and Solidarity also took out marches to the hospital and staged a dharna. A group of DYFI men stoned the clinic of Dr Narayana Naik and his wife Dr Jyothi in Pulikkunnu around 11 am. Meanwhile, the body of Prajitha was sent to the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital for autopsy as demanded by the relatives of the victim.

38 th ANNUAL FUNCTION OF KERALA SECRETARIAT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION (KSEA )

38 th ANNUAL FUNCTION OF KERALA SECRETARIAT EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION (KSEA ) ON 05.05.2011 TO 07.05.2011 AT AKG HALL
INAUGURATED BY Hon.HOME MINISTER Sri.KODIYEARI BALAKRISHNAN
WELCOME SPEECH Sri.ANATHALAVATOM ANANDAN

NSS' equal distance policy, a fraud: Kodiyeri

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday hit back at an

organisation of Nairs, a major caste of the Hindu fold in the state, saying its leader belongs to that category of people who act like "servants of the corrupt". He was reacting to the comments of G Sukumaran Nair, acting general secretary of Nair Service Society (NSS), that Achuthanandan was a leader who did not believe in democracy and often defied his own party to carry on with his autocratic ways.

The Chief Minister told reporters that, "There are two types of leaders in the NSS. One category comprises real leaders. There are also people in the NSS who are subservient to corrupt people. Sukumaran Nair belongs to the second category." Nair had on Tuesday said that in last month's Assembly polls, the NSS deviated from its "equi-distance" policy from the LDF and the UDF to prevent Achuthanandan from becoming Chief Minister again.

However, Nair clarified on Wednesday that some of his remarks were taken out of context.

His comment triggered sharp reaction from the CPI-M with Home Minister and party politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan saying, "The words and expressions used by Nair against Achuthanandan were quite unbecoming of Kerala culture and its traditions of healthy debate."

Balakrishnan said the LDF knew "very well" that the NSS's claim of keeping equi-distance from the two coalitions was just a ploy to mislead people. However, it was good that the NSS leadership revealed its true stand, he said.

NSS has some hidden agendas behind it, If  UDF  win the election they can claim more Ministers from their community including Chief Minister and if LDF win again they can take  steps  to
prevent Achuthanandan from becoming Chief Minister again.

Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan by the US special forces ?

Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan by the US special forces. This, however, does not mean an end to the problem of terrorism, which has many dimensions.

The death of Osama Bin Laden, while being a setback for the Al Qaeda, will not result in an end to the extremist violence spawned by fundamentalism. At the same time, the methods used by the United States to fight the so-called global "war on terror", has only worsened the situation. In the name of fighting the Al Qaeda, the US devastated Afghanistan and Iraq. Tens of thousands of people lost their lives in these wars of aggression.

The fact that Bin Laden could live in Pakistan for so many years points to the linkage between the security establishment and some of the extremist groups operating there. The US had enlisted Pakistan to fight the Afghanistan government backed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The Pentagon and CIA had equipped and financed through the ISI, people like Osama, thus fuelling the later day Taliban and Jehadi fundamentalists.

The recent military intervention in Libya and the continuing war in Afghanistan, show that the United States has learnt no lessons from the past. State terrorism and fundamentalist terrorism feed each other. Unless the United States changes its approach of resorting to military force and state terrorism, the problem of terrorism cannot be tackled successfully.

Achuthanandan scored on Endosulfan, admits KPCC

Congress in Kerala Saturday admitted there had been ''lapses'' on dealing with the Endosulfan issue on which Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had campaigned vigorously seeking a countrywide ban on the pesticide.

With the Stockholm Convention at Geneva adopting a resolution to phase out the toxic pesticide, the KPCC executive meeting held here felt that the Left could gain political mileage out of the issue though it was Centre which "gave the nod to the decision to ban the pesticide all over the world."

The KPCC admitted it could not put up a strong defence against Achuthanandan''s campaign on the Endosulfan issue.
CPI-M-led LDF has been asking the Centre to ban Endosulfan which had allegedly caused over 400 deaths and serious health problems to 4,000 people in parts of Kasargode in north Kerala, where the pesticide was sprayed in a state-run cashew plantation. Endosulfan was banned in the state in 2005.

It had called a dawn-to-dusk hartal Friday, demanding countrywide ban on the pesticide coinciding with the final day of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Achuthanandan, who has been spearheading the campaign against Endosulfan for the last several years, hailed the Geneva outcome and had said "the pesticide lobby had to finally surrender before people’s movement."There had been "lapses" on the part of the Congress in dealing with the matter, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala told reporters here.

"However, India has reached a consensus with other parties concerned on the ban and a solution had been found to mitigate the sufferings of people in our state," he said.

MAY DAY 2011 ( MAY DINAM )