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Tuesday, Jul 13, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Briefly

Vilasini award for Leelavathy

THRISSUR JULY 12. `Appuvinte Anweshanam' written M. Leelavathy has bagged the Kerala Sahithya Akademi's Vilasini Endowment Award for this year. According to a release, the award carrying a purse of Rs.50,000, a plaque and a citation, will be presented to Dr. Leelavathi in August. The Vilasini award is being given every two years, and the first winner was P.K. Rajasekharan in 1999. The book was selected for the award the judging committee comprising S. Guptan Nair, Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri and M. Gangadharan. The book is a study on nine novels of C. Radhakrishnan which have some similarities.

Privilege motion against Gouri?

Thiruvananthapuram July 12. The CPI(M) member, M.V. Jayarajan, is understood to have given notice for moving a privilege motion against the Agriculture Minister, K.R. Gouri, for allegedly misleading the House on suicides of farmers. Mr. Jayarajan said that the Minister had given the House wrong information by stating in the House on July 7 that the Government had no reports about the number of suicides by farmers. She had also given a similar reply in writing to a question on June 30. However, the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, had stated in a written answer to a question on June 15, 2004 that 3,162 persons had committed suicides on account of debts and loss of employment after the UDF Government came to power.

Aryadan to head panel

The senior Congress leader, Aryadan Mohammed, would head the five-member committee nominated by the KPCC president, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, to study and help the party formulate its stand on the Narendran Commission report. Mr. Pillai said in a statement here today that Mr. Mohammed would be the convener of the committee, which would have Mr. Therambil Ramakrishnan, K.V. Thomas, N. Sakthan Nadar and Adoor Prakash as members. The committee has been nominated as per the decision of the KPCC executive meeting held here on Saturday. The main task of the committee would be to give recommendations to the party leadership on the stand to be adopted on the Narendran Commission report. The report is due to be discussed at the UDF meeting in the coming days. The June 2 UDF meeting had directed all the constituent parties to discuss the issue at their respective party forum and formulate their positions for discussions.

Funds for local bodies

The Government has sanctioned the fourth instalment of Plan allocation to the local self-government institutions this financial year. The Minister for Local Self-Government, Cherkalam Abdulla, said the instalment was for July and was to be drawn through the PD Accounts.

Memorial service

PATHANAMTHITTA July 12. A Holy Mass and a memorial service on the 30th day of demise of Mor Osthatheos Benyamin Joseph Metropolitan would be held at the Mor Ignatius Diara Church at Manjanikkara at 8.30 a.m. on July 17. The Metropolitan of the Simhasana Church and Institution of the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch, Julious Kuriakose, and the Assistant Metropolitan, Deevannaseos Geevarghese, would be the chief celebrants.

Hospital

equipment

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM JULY 12 . The Minister for Rural Development, C. F. Thomas, will distribute hospital equipment collected by the activists of the Kerala Aikyavedi at a State-level function to be held in Neyattinkara on July 22. Addressing a press conference here today, the president and the general secretary respectively of the organisation, A. Zakir Hussain and Malayil Radhakrishnan, said that the equipment had been collected as part of an effort to solve the problems faced by the Government hospitals, with the help of public participation.

Gandhi awards

The chairman of the Kerala Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, P. Gopinathan Nair, the managing trustee of the Kottayam-based Indian Jevakarunya Charitable Trust, Joseph Chandy and the Holy Angels' Convent Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram, have been selected for the first Mahatma Gandhi National Award, 2003 instituted by the Mahatma Gandhi Global Trust. Mr. Gopinathan Nair has been selected for promoting religious harmony in Marad in Kozhikode district after the violence in May last year, Mr. Chandy for social work and the Holy Angels' school for its contributions in the education sector.

Action against moneylenders

KASARAGOD JULY 12. The district unit of the Blade Action Committee has decided to intensify its fight against the nexus between private moneylenders and anti-social elements operating in the district. Private moneylenders are colloquially known as `blades'. The committee sought the cooperation of the people to identify the links of the Tamil Nadu-based blade mafia, and to caution unwary customers. The committee president, V.V.Ramesan, and its secretary, Arjun Thayalangadi, has urged customers who are being harassed by the mafia to contact the committee (Telephones: 9447285836, 04994-256301).

Action against private moneylenders

Demand for new panchayat

The Balal Mandalam Congress Committee has urged the Government to bifurcate Balal panchayat and constitute a new panchayat with Malom as headquarters. They alleged that all the 12 wards in the panchayat had not benefited from development activities as the panchayat is spread over a vast area.

Anniversary

KOZHIKODE JULY 12. The Chairperson of the Kerala State Women's Commission, M. Kamalam, inaugurated the anniversary celebrations of the Chavara Vanitha Samskarika Vedi at the Chavara Cultural Centre here on July 11.

Folklore festival

KOZHIKODE JULY 12 . The playwright, K.T. Mohammed, will inaugurate a two-day programme that would highlight Moplah folklore, here on July 14. The event is being organised by the Kerala Folklore Akademi.

A seminar on Moplah folklore and staging of Moplah art forms have also being arranged. This was part of the Akademi's plan to conduct indepth studies into the folklore of various groups and to highlight the contemporary relevance of folk art forms in the State, the Akademi Chairman, M.V. Vishnunamboothiri, the secretary, Suresh Babu Elayattoor, and the Akademi member, T.K. Vijayaraghavan, said here today.

The Moplah folklore programme to be held at the Kozhikode Town Hall would include an exhibition of ancient Moplah literary works. The exhibition would be opened by the deputy mayor, Abdul Latif. The topics for the seminar include `Moplah Malayalam', `Moplahs and Kerala culture' and `folk traditions of Moplah songs'.

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