The State Public Expenditure Review Committee on Thursday recommended pay revision and pension once in every 10 years. The committee in its report submitted before the legislative assembly also instructs that tenders should be called for the posts of securities, office cleaners, drivers, gardeners, sweepers etc.
The term of the committee is three years. The committee directs to appoint university grants commission in the state. The teaching grant system for private aided institutions should be completely reformed.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala got permission from Union Minister of State for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday for a project to start medical colleges in Kerala on Public-Private Partnership basis.
The Ministries of Health, Company Affairs and Power have given full consent to the first phase of the project, which is the Harippad Medical College.
The Ministry of Power would provide 25 acres of land required for constructing medical college at Harippad.
In a meeting held at New Delhi, Jyotiraditya assured Chandy and Ramesh that sufficient land would be allotted from the 900 acres of land belonging to National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Harippad. Land will be handed to Kerala on December. Permission has also been given to consider these lands as state government’s share.
The state government has formed a company for the construction of medical college at Harippad with the permission of Ministry of Company Affairs.
The company, which is named as Kerala Medical Infrastructural Ltd. (Med-Infra), is modelled on Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) at Nedumbassery. The estimated cost is Rs. 270 crore.
A director board comprising Health Department Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, Finance Department Secretary V.P. Joy, Health Department Director Dr. P.K. Jameela, Director of Medical Education Dr. V. Geetha, NRHM State Mission Director Dr. M. Beena, and Special Officer for new medical colleges Dr. P.G.R. Pillai has also been formed.
An application for registering the company was also submitted with the consent of Union Health Ministry. The Health Secretary will become the first chairman of the company.
The 76 % share of Harippad Medical College would be given to NRI Malayalis. The government’s share is land. The motto is to gather at first Rs. 80 crore through 1000 shares.
The KERALA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION published the Probability List containing the Register Numbers of candidates who are found provisionally eligible to be included in the Ranked list, subject to the verification of the Original documents, for selection to the post of RESERVE CONDUCTOR - STATEWIDE (Category No.
467/2010 )
in KERALA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION on Rs. 5250 - 10900 on the
basis of the Objective Type Test (OMR) held on 12/05/2012, 26/05/2012 and 09/06/2012.
For the Rank List please click the side link KSRTC RESERVE CONDUCTOR SHORT LIST
Bollywood actress Vidya Balan tied the knot with UTV head Siddharth Roy Kapoor today in a ceremony which saw a mix of both Punjabi and Tamil traditions.
The wedding rituals went on for over an hour at the well-decorated Green Mile Bungalow in Bandra in the presence of family members of the bride and groom.
"The wedding ceremony is still on, it is a mix of both Punjabi and Tamil traditions. The food served is South Indian," said a source close to Vidya.
Pretty bride Vidya wore a bright red south Indian silk saree with heavy gold ornaments while posing for photographers after the wedding. She was also wearing Punjabi-style chooda (wedding bangles) in her hands. Siddharth wore a yellow embroidered kurta. The food served was South Indian.
The 34-year-old actress underwent three changes in costume during the wedding ceremony, one of them being a mustard saree with a pink blouse, matching the groom's yellow kurta and pink turban. Siddharth's family members were seen wearing pink saafas, and the wedding procession arrived in typical Punjabi style, complete with dhol and 'balle balles'.
The wedding festivities for the couple began on December 11 with a private dinner which was followed by a mehendi ceremony on December 12. The couple will reportedly be hosting a reception in Chennai.
Vidya, who never confirmed rumours about her relationship with Siddharth, kept mum about her wedding as well and the celebrations are being kept as private as possible.
Actress Priyanka Chopra, as well as filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Kumar Taurani took to Twitter to congratulate the newly wed couple.
"Congratulations to my friends Siddharth Roy Kapoor and Vidya Balan! They make such a beautiful couple... here's wishing them happiness forever," said Priyanka.
Added Madhur: "My heart filled wishes to buddy Siddharth Roy Kapur and Vidya Balan for the new phase of their lives together. Congratulations to the beautiful couple."
"Congratulations to Siddharth Roy Kapur and Vidya Balan. God bless newly wedded couple," said producer Kumar Taurani.
There are reports that the newly weds are all set to hold a lavish reception in Chennai, but there is no confirmation of this report.
The wedding functions of sangeet and mehendi were attended by family members - Vidya's parents Saraswathy and P R Balan. The actress' elder sister Priya and brother-in-law Kedar.
A tweet from UTV Stars: "Bollywood Vidya Balan married Siddharth Roy Kapoor earlier in the morning today! We wish them a happy married life!"
The entire wedding has been hush-hush affair with only Bollywood celebrity Rekha being invited for mehendi.
The regulatory commission permitted the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to levy double charge per unit from consumers using above 300 units in a month. The new rate will come into effect from Dec 15 onwards and will last till May 31, 2013.
The state the government has decided to impose a fine of Rs.15 per unit in case of over use of electricity. Currently electricity allotted for domestic consumption is 300 units
The high tension and extra high tension consumers have been slapped a 25% power cut while 80% power cut has been imposed on consumers other than low tension household consumers. The new measures are expected to generate conservation of 5.7 million units of electricity.
The new surcharge, which may affect 1.8 million consumers will come into effect from Saturday onwards and will continue till May 31.
The Kerala government has planned to bring in Contributory Pension Scheme for employees joining the state service from 2013. The state government has decided to take the step as the liability of the exchequer by way of pension payment was set to mount hugely in coming years if the Statutory Pensions Scheme was continued.
Countering the opposition LDF's charge that such a decision would mean denial of long-enjoyed benefits to employees, Finance Minister K M Mani told the Assembly today that the switch-over was not only essential to arrest fiscal collapse but also to safeguard the security of employees in the future.
Reeling out statistics, Mani said currently the state had a total of 5.50 lakh pensioners against 5.37 lakh serving employees and the gap was set to widen every year. In 2001-02, the state required only Rs 1838 crore to meet the annual pension commitment, which now stood at Rs 8700 crore. This would steeply go up to Rs 41,180 crore in 10 years and to Rs 2 lakh crore in 20 years.
Rejecting the opposition charge that the government was running away from its responsibility by bringing in CPS, Mani said, in fact, the government would have to make an additional allocation of about Rs 72 crore a year as its contribution to the pension fund.
The employees would be required to contribute 10 per cent of their pay and dearness allowance to the pension fund. The government would also make a contribution to the fund.
Pensions would be available to employees who contribute to the fund for a specified number of years. Payment of full pension by government would be discontinued.
Opposition Leader V. S. Achuthanandan, CPI State Secretary Pannian Raveendran and the Joint Council of State Service Organisations have decried the decision to introduce contributory pension scheme.
The Opposition Leader said that the order to undermine statutory pension and impose ban on appointments was a challenge to the people and demanded its withdrawal.
He recalled that the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had promised in the Assembly that the contribution pension scheme would be implemented only after consultations with all concerned. The government was showing disrespect to the Assembly and democratic systems by dismantling the long-standing provision for statutory pensions through a government order.
Mr. Pannian Raveeendran said that order betrayed youth seeking employment in government service. The government was undermining statutory pensions following the economic policies of the Central government.
The Pay Commission defines the salary of the government employees by also including the pension amount.
If the contributory pension scheme is introduced it would have an adverse effect on it. An employee will only get
half of the pension on the contributory pension scheme compared with the normal pension,
also pointed out that by implementing the contributory pension scheme, the State Government would be at the mercy of the speculative market
. ‘’The equal pension amount from the employee and the government is
deposited in banks and uncertainty hare market. Depending on the market trend, the interest will fluctuate and there is
. If the banks or share market witness a collapse than the pension scheme will be doomed affecting thousands of government employees,’
Former India captain Rahul Dravid was scathing in his criticism after India's abject surrender in the Kolkata Test, questioning the "skill, ability and talent" of the players who are representing the country.
"People talk about attitude and say (the players) don't care because there is too much money in the Indian Premier League. That's one side of things but the main thing is their lack of skill and ability, which is more worrying for me. It raises questions as to the talent and quality of players coming through," Dravid told 'BBC Test Match Special'.
"One of the challenges India face is that our domestic cricket is not of the quality to allow players to seamlessly move into international cricket."
There is a lot of anger among the cricket-crazy Indian fans and the veteran of 164 Tests and 13,288 runs feels that it is absolutely justified.
"A lot of people are upset not just by losing but the manner of the defeats. India won three tosses and had the wicket in their favour in Mumbai and the best of the batting conditions here in Kolkata but they just haven't been able to capitalise or put up a fight," said Dravid, who had retired from international cricket last March.
Dravid along with Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag formed the core of a solid Indian Test team that reached the pinnacle of success winning in Australia, England, Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand.
"England have put a mirror up to the Indian cricket team and shown them the challenges that they face. Successful teams have a group of players who come through together and peak at the same time."
The 'Wall' feels that 'A' tours are becoming increasingly more important.
"I think having 'A' tours and the academy system is becoming more and more important and I think England have been pretty good with that in the way that the academy travels every winter to different parts of the world. I think that is something India can learn from England," Dravid said.
"It is about recognising that the Indian team is in a bit of transition and working out how to bring through young players who have the skill, technique, temperament and desire to play Test cricket."
Dravid also admitted that Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha didn't deliver as per expectations.
"India have been outbowled in the spin department and that's a worrying sign because spin has been our strength."
Although he is thoroughly disappointed with the Indian team's effort in the field and their general fitness standards, he was blunt in stating that it can't be used as an excuse.
"India have been poor in the field and their physical fitness is disappointing me. That's not an excuse. You can't demand runs, but you can at least demand accountability in terms of intensity and effort."
There is always a possibility that the Indian team would come back stronger and level the series in the final Test in Nagpur but the 40-year-old feels that there is a need for long-term planning.
"Irrespective of what happens in Nagpur, the lessons need to be learned from the series if India wants to be a consistently successful team and challenge again for the number one
V.S clear about his earlier statement, which had stirred up controversy, Leader of the Opposition V S Achuthanandan Sunday explained that he had never said that CPM tried to oust him from post of opposition leader. Nor did he say that any party member was involved. There was nothing pointing at any party member in that statement, Achuthanandan said.
Talking to newspersons here, he said he had clearly mentioned that the ruling party was trying to dislodge him from the post. 'I have not said that my party was planning t remove me from the post of Opposition leader,' he added. Earlier, the Opposition leader alleged that the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty were hatching a conspiracy to remove him from the post by framing cases against him in connection with the transfer of land to his relative during his previous tenure as the Chief Minister.
The comments he made before the media after High Court Single Bench's verdict to quash the FIR on Land Gift case against him has recently roused a controversy.
In reaction to the court verdict on the land transfer case Achuthanandan had accused state Industrial Minister, P K Kunhalikutty, of attempting to frame him in the case. He had also alleged that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy too backed Kunhalikutty and IUML in their attempt
As many as 45,000 Indians staying illegally in United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to seek amnesty announced by the Gulf country, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said.
The two-month amnesty announced by the UAE government asking illegal residents to either leave the country without penalty or regularise their visas will start today and will end on February 3.
The Minister in a letter written to various state Chief Ministers has also requested them to make provisions for free air tickets to poor and deserving workers from respective states held up in UAE.
"In the last amnesty in 2007, approximately 40,000 Indians exited UAE based on the ECs issued by the (Indian) mission. As per our mission estimate, around 45,000 Indian staying illegally in UAE will seek amnesty as and when it is announced," Ravi said in his letter.
As most of the illegal immigrants are poor and low paid workers they will not be able to meet the cost of air travel to India and the Indian Community Welfare Fund created by the ministry will not be sufficient top meet the demand, the Minister said.
"I request you (chief ministers) also to make provision for free air tickets to needy and deserving workers from your state who is permitted to leave UAE under the amnesty scheme. I am expecting appositive response from you," the minister requested in his letter.
According to the UAE government, the amnesty will apply only to those who have overstayed their visit or resident visas in the UAE and not infiltrators, who would be treated like criminals.
Illegal residents, who have overstayed can visit residency departments across the UAE to obtain out passes and leave the country without penalties. They can also regularise their visas after paying fines between December 4 and February 3.
The country had announced a similar amnesty in 2007 during which 342,000 illegal immigrants either legalised their stay or left the country. Around 300,000 illegal immigrants left the country under another amnesty, which ran between January and April, 2002.
Similarly in 1996, about 200,000 illegal residents left the country under a six-month long amnesty.
The tiger who gave sleepless nights to the residents of Wayanad for the past several days was shot dead using a tranquilizer Sunday morning. The animal had killed two goats and a cow Saturday morning. The residents who sighted the tiger Sunday morning informed the forest department and they with the help of the task force of Kerala and Karnataka shot the animal by 8.30 am.
A tiger which was on the prowl in some areas in the district since the last few weeks was shot dead by Forest Department officials on Sunday.
The presence of the tiger had terrorised people in Naikkatty, Kottamkara and Muthanga areas in the district. It had also killed a few domestic animals including a cow.
The tiger was evading capture by moving from one place to another thwarting the efforts of a special task force from Kerala and an expert team from Karnataka Forest Department to catch it with the help of trained elephants.
Surveillance cameras were placed at strategic points inside the forest after discussions with a three-member expert team that reached in Wayanad on Saturday night from Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Wildlife Warden S Srekumar said.
The animal was spotted at Thelapparmbu at about 8:15 am.
Though the combing team fired tranquiliser at it, the tiger fled the scene. When it was spotted in a nearby coffee plantation later, another shot of tranquiliser was given.
Later it was found dead, the official said.
A couple of weeks ago, a 15-year-old tiger, which had strayed into Thirunelly and killed four cows, was trapped in a cage by the forest officials and later released in the forests of Kerala-Karnataka border.
The tiger that strayed into Naikkatty, Kottamkara and Muthanga areas seems to be approximately eight-years-old from its pug marks, forest officials had earlier said.
In a novel mode of protest against price rise and LPG subsidy cut, thousands of CPI(M) workers, sympathisers and their family members in Kerala on Saturday cooked food on highway sides in the entire stretch of the state to "symbolically express their anguish" at the anti-people policies of the central and state governments.
Termed as "fire chain" protest, party leaders and workers, a majority of them women, set up brick hearths along the highways in the evening and cooked food on pots fired by logs and twigs. The party described the campaign as a symbolic way of conveying the anger of the common man against the policies of the Centre, including the cut in subsidised LPG and failure to rein in runaway inflation.
The CPI-M in Kerala Saturday staged a protest against the central government's decision to cap the number of subsidized LPG cylinders by cooking food at various points along highways in the state.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist activists set up about 7.75 lakh temporary ovens on the highways and women were asked to join the 775-km-long 'fire chain' protest in all the districts of the state.
Participating in the protest were wives of leader of opposition V.S. Achuthanandan and state secretary of Kerala CPI-M Pinarayi Vijayan, who cooked rice and tapioca in temporary ovens set up in the heart of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
Vijayan launched the protest at 4.30 p.m. He was later joined by Achuthanandan.
"Generally it's the males in our party who take to the streets. But the restriction of six LPG cylinders and the price rise is affecting women in every family," said Pinarayi Vijayan's wife Kamala Vijayan.
The cooked food was later distributed among all those present. CPI-M politburo member M.A. Baby and his wife Betty Baby also joined the protest.
In Manjeswaram town of Kasargode district that borders Karnataka, CPI-M's district secretary K.P. Satish Chandran led the protesters, while in Kalyikavilla that borders Tamil Nadu, CPI-M state committee member A. Nagappan led the protest.
I K Gujral, a quintessential old- school politician who rose to become Prime Minister heading a rickety coalition government in the late 1990s, died here Friday after a brief illness.
The 92-year-old left-leaning liberal breathed his last in a private hospital here at 3.27 PM after a multi-organ failure, family sources said. He was admitted to the hospital on November 19 with a lung infection.
The former Prime Minister, who was on ventilator support, was unwell for sometime. He was on dialysis for over a year and suffered a serious chest infection some days ago.
Gujral leaves two sons, one of whom Naresh Gujral is a Rajya Sabha MP and an Akali Dal leader, and brother Satish Gujral, who is a prominent painter and architect. His wife Sheila, who died in 2011, was a poet.
The body will be kept for public to pay respects at his residence in Janpath in central Delhi tomorrow morning and will cremated at 3 PM near Samata Sthal, the memorial of late Jagjivan Ram.
The news of his death was conveyed to Parliament by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde after which both the Houses adjourned. There will be a condolence references made to him on Monday.
Gujral had participated in underground activity in Punjab in his student days during freedom struggle and was in public service for decades.
An intellectual, he had propounded the 'Gujral Doctrine' of five principles for maintaining good neighbourly relations that became the hallmark of his policy of friendly relations with countries in South Asia.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Union Ministers and political leaders were among those who paid glowing tributes to the late leader.
"In his passing, the country has lost an intellectual, a scholar-statesman and a gentleman politician whose liberal and humanist vision was rooted in the teachings of the leaders of our freedom movement," the Prime Minister said in his message.
"I personally have lost a friend of long standing, whose wisdom, idealism and deep concern for social equity left a great impression on me and whose counsel and opinion I often sought and valued greatly," Singh said.
Gujral, who migrated from Pakistan after partition, rose to become the Prime Minister with a big slice of luck after he evolved from the grassroots -- starting as Vice President in NDMC in the '50s to later become a Union Minister under late Indira Gandhi and then India's Ambassador to the USSR.
He had left the Congress to join the Janata Dal in the late-1980s.
Gujral became External Affairs Minister in the V P Singh- led National Front government in 1989. As the External Affairs Minister, he handled the fallout of the Kuwait crisis following Iraqi invasion that displaced thousands of Indians.
He had a second stint as External Affairs Minister in the United Front government under H D Deve Gowda, whom he later replaced as Prime Minister after the Congress withdrew support in the summer of 1997.
He emerged as the consensus candidate after serious differences developed among the UF leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh and others as to who will become the Prime Minister.
It was another matter that his government survived only for a few months as Congress again became restive in the wake of Jain Commission report on Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and toppled the government.
Born on December 4, 1919 in Jhelum town now in Pakistan, Gujral belonged to a family of freedom fighters and had actively participated in the freedom struggle at a young age and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement.
Educated at DAV College, Haily College of Commerce and Forman Christian College, Lahore (now in Pakistan), Gujral took active part in student politics.
He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in April 1964 and was considered part of the 'coterie' that helped Indira Gandhi become Prime Minister in 1966.
Gujral was the Information and Broadcasting Minister when Emergency was imposed (on June 25, 1975), which brought in arbitrary press censorship, but was soon removed.
He was a Rajya Sabha Member twice between 1964 and 1976, a member of the Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991. With Lalu Prasad's help, he became a member of Rajya Sabha in 1992 after his election from Patna Lok Sabha constituency was countermanded.
He was re-elected to Lok Sabha in 1998 from Jalandhar in Punjab as an independent with help from Akali Dal.
A controversial decision of his government was its recommendation for President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in 1997, which the then President K R Narayanan refused to sign and sent it back to the government for reconsideration.
The father, brother and an uncle of a 13 year-old girl from nearby Dharmadom in north Kerala's Kannur district have been arrested for allegedly raping the minor for the past two years.
The shocking incident came to light two days ago when the 8th standard student of a local school was seen crying and refused to go home even after school hours. When one of her teachers enquired, the petrified girl narrated her plight.
The school authorities immediately informed the police and a complaint was registered.
The girl's father, her 15-year-old brother and an uncle have been arrested, Thalassery circle inspector, MV Vinod Kumar, who is probing the case said.
The brother has been sent to juvenile home while the other two were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.
The girl told police that she was sexually assaulted by the three since she was in her sixth standard.
According to Vinod Kumar, the victim has also told the police that her elder sister, who had committed suicide two years ago, had also been raped.
Meanwhile, Kerala vanitha commission chairperson, K Rosakutty told PTI that the incident was an 'insult' to Kerala's conscience. The commission would be writing to chief minister and home minister demanding re-inquiry into the case of the suicide of the victim's elder sister.
"This is a shocking case of two minor sisters being raped by family members. The elder sister, a standard 8 student, had committed suicide is the police version. But it needs to be probed as no proper inquiry was done then", she said, adding both the cases were related.
As uncertainty looms large about the victim's future, the commission was prepared to take her under its care, she said.
The victim has been presently housed at a home run by the child welfare committee. Efforts needs to be made to ensure that there were no interference in the case, she said.
Strongly condemning the incident, K Ajitha, president of "Anweshi", a women's organization, said anti-rape case clinics needs to be set up in the state as early as possible.
Kerala Rural Development Minister KC Joseph of the Congress on Monday severely criticized Union Minister Jairam Ramesh for his stand that Central funds for poverty-eradication programmes and women empowerment mission in the State would not be available to any organization other than the Kudumbasree self-help group.
“The Kerala Government is not a squatter at Union Ministers’ homes,” Joseph told newsmen in Kottayam referring to the Union Minister’s firm stand that funds for Centrally-sponsored programmes could not be provided any agency other than Kudumbasree, which, according to the Congress, had been hijacked by the CPI(M) despite its successful track record over the years.
Ramesh had the other day said that there could be several groups with the name “Sree” (referring indirectly to the Janasree Mission launched some time ago under Congress leadership) but Central funds would be given only to Kudumbasree, Kerala’s nodal agency for the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
Last month also, the Union Minister holding the Rural Development portfolio had clearly stated that the Centre would not allow replacement of Kudumbasree by any other organization. Coming at a time when the State Government was on a collision course with the CPI(M) over Kudumbasree, this statement had infuriated the Congress in Kerala.
“I don’t know who is (mis)leading Jairam Ramesh. There are about 40,000 self-help groups in the State. It would be good if all of them are getting funds... Kudumbasree is meant for women only. So what are we going to do with men’s self-help groups?” Joseph asked, adding that Ramesh’s stand could not be accepted.
In a veiled criticism against Kudumbasree for the kind of works it undertakes, Joseph said, “Development would not happen just by cutting the grass on or removing the dirt from the roadside. What we should be considering is how resources could be used to boost production. We should also think of how we can help dairy farmers.”
Responding to Joseph’s criticisms against Ramesh’s stand, CPI(M) central committee member and former Finance minister TM Thomas Isaac said that the Kerala Minister was trying to derail Centrally-sponsored schemes. This was being done to facilitate corruption, he alleged.
Kerala Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan on Monday said that the statement made by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Kudumbashree is true.
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh had taken a firm stand that the central funds for the state-level poverty eradication and women empowerment missions would be made available to Kudumbashree alone.
His strong support to Kudumbashree has disappointed sections in the state Congress who have been complaining that Kudumbashree has been hijacked by the CPI (M).
Responding to Ramesh’s stance, Rural Development Minister of Kerala K.C. Joseph on Monday said “The state government is not a squatter before residences of the central ministers.”
The 'Wall' feels that 'A' tours are becoming increasingly more important.
"I think having 'A' tours and the academy system is becoming more and more important and I think England have been pretty good with that in the way that the academy travels every winter to different parts of the world. I think that is something India can learn from England," Dravid said.
"It is about recognising that the Indian team is in a bit of transition and working out how to bring through young players who have the skill, technique, temperament and desire to play Test cricket."
