Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram which has gold worth over Rs 1 lakh crore is in the news again. The Supreme Court appointed Amicus Curie and former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanian has made some startling revelations in his report to the Apex court.
According his report, gold plating machines were found inside the temple leading to suspicion that gold at the temple is systematically being stolen by some 'very influential' people.
The report suggests that some people on the highest echelons of the temple administration may have something to do with it. It also raises serious questions over the manner in which the Travancore royal family is administering the temple.
Report talks about how an auto-driver was found dead in a well near the temple and the acid attack on another person.
The report, (a copy of the report is in the possession of CNN-IBN/IBNLive) says "it appears that there has been large scale breach of moral and fiduciary duties towards Sree Padmanabhaswamy and the temple, and the temple which is a public temple has been treated for all effects and purposes as a private fiefdom".
It also comes down heavily on the auditors accusing them of "failing in performing their ethical and moral duties".
The Amicus Curie has suggested that an independent team comprising people like former CAG Vinod Rai and a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India must conduct a fresh auditing of the temple.
The century old temple has been the royal family temple of the Travancore kings who ruled southern part of Kerala till it joined
the Union of India after Independence from the British.
The secret vaults in the temple have gold and gold ornaments worth over Rs1 lakh crore. The government is spending over Rs 1 crore on the security of the temple every month.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple wealth: Achuthanandan says his stand vindicated
Seizing on the report of amicus curiae pointing to "mismanagement" of the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, CPI-M leader V S Achuthanandan today said it only vindicated his stand that attempts were made to take away its riches to which UDF government turned a blind eye.
In the light of the report submitted to the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar should explain why the government did not take any step to ensure that the temple and its wealth were managed properly, he said in a statement here.
"When I said that there had been attempts to take away the precious treasures of the temple, the government not only took it lightly but accused me of casting aspersions on the Travancore royal house.
The report submited in the Supreme Court by amicus curiae Goapal Subraniam has vindicated what I had said," the nonagenarian leader said.
When the Kerala High Court directed the government to look into the possibilities of freeing the temple from the control of the royal house, the then LDF government headed by him had declined to challenge that in the apext court.
But further steps in that direction could not be taken as the assembly elections were declared, he said.
However, the UDF government that came to power in 2011 did not challenge the royal house when it approached the Supreme Court against the high court order, he said.
Amicus Curie Report
In a tragic incident, a 60-year-old woman and her grand-daughter were hacked to death at their residence at Alamcode near Attingal on Wednesday.
The deceased were Omana, 60, of Thushara House, Alamcode, and three-and-a-half-year-old Swasthika, daughter of Omana’s son Lijeesh.
The Attingal Police has taken the accused into custody who was identified as Nino Mathew, 40, hailing from Mamam.
Attingal CI M Anil Kumar said Nino, a married man, reportedly had an extra-marital affair with Swathi, his co-worker in a Technopark company and Lijeesh’s wife. Last week, Lijeesh grew suspicious over the affair after he found some SMSes sent by Nino to Swathi. Lijeesh, a KSEB staffer, had a quarrel with his wife following the incident, the police said.
''I have a surprise for you. Please wait till evening,'' reads a message sent by Nino Mathew to his lover Anu Santhi, after calling her before setting out to commit the murders. His target was actually Lijeesh, her husband. However, he killed Omana and Swastika before Lijeesh came home as he wanted to eliminate eyewitnesses, Nino told the police.
Circle inspector M Anil Kumar, who recorded Nino's arrest, said according to statements given by Nino and Anu, who is also in police custody, she was aware that Nino would kill her husband but she never expected him to kill her daughter too. It was about a week ago that Lijeesh found out about their illicit relationship from an SMS Nino sent to Anu. Lijeesh told Anu that she could move out with Nino but he would not let their daughter go with her. Anu informed this to Nino and told him that she was willing to go with him, provided Lijeesh was moved out of her life. ''The accused arrived at Lijeesh's house, 'Thusharam', fully prepared, with the necessary weapons and clothes to change after committing the crime,'' Anil Kumar said.
When he found that Lijeesh was out of home, he called him on his mobile phone. Lijeesh told him that he was at Chathanpara, where his new house was being built, and he would be back in 30 minutes. In the meantime, he went to the kitchen and hit Omana on the back of her head with a golf club, which was cut short to fit inside his bag. He then hacked her twice with a machete . He also hacked the little girl twice on her chest and waited for about 15 minutes for Lijeesh to reach home.
In a bid to portray it as a robbery-murder case, Nino stole the gold chain of Omana and the waist chain of Swastika, which the police recovered from his house at Kulathoor later. The arrest of Anu was recorded late in the night. The circle inspector said the mobile phone of Nino contained video clips of intimate moments between him and Anu.
Neighbours shocked: The deceased Omana's next-door neighbours, Jayan and his family, were at their workplaces when the crime took place. Omana's sister-in-law Thankamany and family, who lived a house away, had gone to Kilimanoor to invite close ones to her elder daughter's wedding in June.
''If we were around, we could have intervened and saved them when we heard the screams,'' said Thankamany, who sat shattered on the footsteps of her house, flanked by her two daughters.
For Jayan, who still thought the crime was the handy work of a robber, it was something hard to believe. ''My daughter works at Kollam Corporation Office and wife at Travancore Devaswom Board's office at Fort in the city. Both of them return very late in the evening, mostly after dark. Till now, they have not complained about any anti-social activity. We felt very safe here,'' he said.
Suraj Venjaramoodu bagged the Best Actor award in the 61st National Film Awards His portrayal of a sweeper in Dr Biju's directorial 'Perariyathavar' won him the fame.It is indeed a proud moment for all Keralites as well as for the whole Malayalam industry. Sura Venjaramoodu, who rose to fame with his comedy roles in movies and with the Trivandrum slang.
The Best Actress Award went to Geetanjali Thapa for her performance in Malayali actor-turned director Geethu Mohandas' film Liar’s Dice.Hindi movie ‘Shahid’, based on the life of murdered human rights lawyer Shahid Azmi, won the best actor award for actor Rajkummar Rao and the best director award for Hansal Mehta in the 61st National Film
Suraj has made it happen. With his outstanding performance in the movie Perariyathavar, he bagged the National Award for the Best Actor for the year. He said that he dedicate this award to all the Malayalis and the Malayalam industry. Earlier, comedian Salim Kumar too bagged the same award for his yet another brilliant performance for the film Aadaminte Makan Abu.
Perariyathavar was directed by Dr Biju and Suraj played the role of a sweeper in the film. It was a de-glam role and it mainly focussed on the difficulties faced by the marginalised people in the society. Indrans had also played a pivotal role in the film. This is Suraj's first National Award. Now, this has proved once again that the Malayalam industry is indeed blessed with having many profound actors who have extreme range in acting. Also, Dr Biju directed movie Perariyathavar wins the National Award for Best Environmental film. Malayali actress and director Geethu Mohandas' husband and cinematographer Rajeev Ravi bags the Best Cinematographer of her directed film Liars Dice. Best Actress Geethanjali Thapa too wins National Award for Best Actress for Liars DHindi movie ‘Shahid’, based on the life of murdered human rights lawyer Shahid Azmi, won the best actor award for actor Rajkummar Rao and the best director award for Hansal Mehta in the 61st National Film Awards ice. Shaji N Karun's Swapaanam too bags a National Award. Oneindia congratulates all the winners of 61st National Awards.
“It is a wonderful feeling. It is a tribute to Shahid Azmi. It is just his karma which has worked for the film and for us. It’s also a tribute to my team who stood by me for three and a half years while making this film,” Mehta said.
Reacting to the news, Rao said: “I am more than happy. It is the most important day of my life. Never expected this to happen. I am thankful to everyone actually Hansal Mehta, Shahid team and the audience. I am overwhelmed.” He shared the Best Actor award with Suraj Venjaramoodu, who was honoured for his performance in Malayalam movie Perariyathavar.
Among the first to congratulate Rao was his Kai Po Che director Abhishek Kapoor. He tweeted: @raj_kumar31 U Giant of an actor. Congrats on the #nationalaward. V proud if u.
Anand Gandhi directed ‘Ship of Theseus’ was named best feature film at the 61st National Film Award. ‘Gulaabi Gang’ won the award for Best Movie on Social Issues. ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ was named Best Popular film.
Best Actor (Female) went to Geetanjali Thapa for ‘Liar’s Dice’. Best Supporting Actor (Female) was shared by Aida Elkashef (Ship of Theseus) and Marathi actress Amruta Subhash for Astu. Saurabh Shukla was declared the best supporting actor for court-room drama ‘Jolly LLB’, which was also named the best Hindi film.
Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film will go to Marathi director Nagraj Manjule for his critically acclaimed ‘Fandry’. Nargis Dutt Award for best feature film on National Integration will be given to Balu Mahendra directed Tamil film ‘Thalaimuraigal’. The awards were announced by an 11-member jury headed by noted directed Saeed Akhtar Mirza.
In the language category, ‘Ajeyo’ was named the best Asamese film, ‘Bakita Byaktigato’ (Bengali), ‘December 1′ (Kannada), ‘Baga Beach’ (Konkani), ‘North 24 Kaadham’ (Malayalam), ‘Aajcha Diwas Majha’ (Marathi), ‘Thanga Meengal’ (Tamil) and ‘Na Bangaaru Talli’ (Telugu) were other winners. ‘Yellow’ (Marathi) and ‘Na Bangaaru Talli’ were given special mention by the jury. The other language winners were: ‘The Coffin Maker’ (English), ‘RI’ (Khasi), ‘The Crossing Bridges’ (Sherdukpen).
Interestingly, both the original and adapted screenplay awards went to Kannada films. P Sheshadri won the award for his original screenplay in ‘December I’ while Panchakshari won the award for adapting ‘Prakruti’. Best editing went to V J Sabu Joseph for the Tamil sports drama ‘Vallinam’ while best production design was won by ‘Miss Lovely’.
.jpg)
