Malayalee Engineer killed in Nigerian plane crash

Monday, June 04, 2012: A Malayalee was also killed in the Nigerian plane crash on Sunday, which claimed 153 lives. Rijo Eldos (25) from Neriyamangalam was killed in the mishap.
He was working as a Hardware Engineer in a private company in Nigeria for the past 2 years.
The commercial airliner crashed into a densely populated neighborhood in Nigeria’s largest city on Sunday night, killing all 153 people on board and others on the ground in the worst air disaster in nearly two decades for the troubled nation.
The cause of the Dana Air crash remains unknown.

Schools to reopen after summer vacation today

Monday, June 04, 2012: The schools in the state will reopen after summer vacation tomorrow. As many as 3.3 lakh students are expected to join Class I this year. Earlier, the school reopening was scheduled on June 2 but was later postponed to June 4.
There are 12,644 schools in the government, aided and unaided sectors in the State, Education Minister had told.
The opening day will be celebrated as ‘Pravesanotsavam’, aimed at generating greater learning interest among students. Teachers and senior students will welcome the tiny tots to the schools with sweets and balloons.
The State-level inauguration of ‘Pravesanotsavam’ would be held at Ernakulam Girls Higher Secondary School.

Pan Masala ban: No sign of strict enforcement

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the schools set to reopen after the summer holidays, it’s now the turn of the parents and the police officials to feel the heat over enforcing the ban slapped on gutka and pan masala by the State Government.
Although it was announced that a combined team comprising officials from the Revenue, Health and Police Departments would oversee the enforcement, there are no signs of any such orchestrated move from the three parties.
“We have not yet received any such order from the top. If we receive one, then we would certainly act on that order,” said City Police Commissioner T J Jose.
Food Security Commissioner Biju Prabhakar   also appeared clueless on whether the order was passed or not.
“The order might have been issued in the State yesterday itself,” he told  over phone from New Delhi. This laxity on the part of the officials has   forced many schools to institute special committees to check the sales of the banned items.
Meanwhile, the Education Minister issued a statement that ‘Dharma Sena’, a committee to cultivate moral values, would be formed in all schools. This committee would comprise 10 parents and would look into issues like sales of intoxicants like gutka and pan masala to students.
The present state of affairs indicates that the banned stuff would be sold clandestinely. “We have registered many cases against shop-keepers for selling gutka and variants of pan masala. The raids are being conducted under the direction of the respective SIs. The police patrolling will be intensified near schools and colleges and they will take care of the gutka sales. If any further action is needed, then that will be decided after the review meeting with Assistant Commissioners and Circle Inspectors,” Jose said.
But the manpower crunch in the Police Department is casting doubts over its efficiency to deal with the issue.

Kerala CM's office going green, with solar power

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Whatever may be the verdict from Neyyatinkara, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s office is going to be bright and sunny from Monday. For, a part of the Chief Minister’s office is shifting to solar power, an energy source he has been interested in for a while now. This will also mark the unofficial launch of ‘Surya Keralam’, an extensive solar power programme to be implemented by Centre For Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), in collaboration with the Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), Energy Management Centre Kerala (EMC)and the state electricity department.

“What we envisage in the pilot programme of Surya Keralam is the setting up of solar units in 10 government schools, 10 primary health centres, 10 panchayat offices and 10 homes. If this turns out to be successful we will upscale it,” said K Mohankumar, deputy director of C-DIT.The C-DIT officials have already held discussions with Minister for Panchayats M K Muneer, who is upbeat about the project. Discussions are also under way with Education Minister Abdu Rabb and Health Minister V S Shivakumar.The solar unit for chief minister’s office has been designed by Shyamkumar, technical director, Trivandrum Global City Initiative (TGCI), who has already set up a number of functional solar units in the city, including a street lamp project for NABARD.“What we are setting up at the CM’s office is a 1 kw unit project, the same as was set up at former ANERT director RVG Menon’s home. Since the CM’s office is functional almost 24 hours of the day, we will be converting all lights to solar energy in the first phase,” said Shyamkumar.“If we could convert the 24 tube lights in CM’s office the LED way, a huge amount of energy could be saved. Initially, we are thinking of converting two of these tube lights to LED, just to demonstrate the amount of energy that could be saved,” he added.Since LED lights will consume only half the power, the solar power generated could be used for double the time. When 70 per cent of power stored in the battery is exhausted, the inverter switches back to KSEB line. The remaining 30 per cent is saved for any possible interruption in the KSEB power supply.Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had opted to go Green in March this year when his official residence-cum-office switched to solar power.

Woman killed in road mishap

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A woman was killed and her daughter seriously injured when the two-wheeler, the injured was riding, was hit by a KSRTC low-floor bus near Nedumangad on Saturday morning.  

The deceased has been identified as Nirmala, 53, of Uzhamalakkal. The accident occurred near Azhikkode around 9 a m. Nirmala was riding pillion with her daughter Deepa towards Thiruvananthapuram route when the bus, belonging to Vithura depot, hit the two-wheeler.  According to the police, the accident occurred when the bus was negotiating a curve. The mid-section of the bus hit the two-wheeler and in the impact Nirmala fell on the road. The rear wheels of the bus ran over her causing instant death.  Deepa also fell and sustained serious injuries. She was admitted to the Medical College Hospital here. Aruvikkara police have registered a case against the bus driver.

Anees a key link between inter-state sex rackets

TIRUR: The prime accused in the Tirur sex racket case, Anees Mohamed, has been part of the sex trafficking for more than a decade.

Police said that Anees was a key link between various inter-state sex rackets. He is accused in several cases of sexual abuse and rape in seven police stations across Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. Seven cases have already been registered against him in Malappuram district alone. In the beginning, Anees concentrated on Calicut University campus. He travelled in luxury cars inside the campus wearing costliest gold ornaments to lure the girls. He grew as a key link between different sex rackets in South India seven years ago. “He is handling around 50 sub-agents at a time. His sex racket is capable for supplying girls at any time and any point,” Tanur Inspector of Police N C Santhosh, who is investigating the case, told Express. The investigation team which travelled to places like Ootty, Mysore and Goodallur etc have found that Anees had close links in all the areas. His name is familiar with each sex racket agent in these localities.The gangs used to exchange girls among them for profit.  Anees used to hand over girls under her custody to other rackets.Anees, who has married four times, used his third wife to lure the girls to the gang. His gang also had other women members to coax the girls into the racket. The police have registered cases under IPC Section 366 and 377 against the accused persons in the Tirur sex racket case.Police said there were six more persons involved in the case in Kerala. Seven persons from Tamil Nadu are also involved in the case. Investigations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been intensified to arrest the rest.