Archive for April 2012
OP ticket charge hike withdrawn
Apr 17, 2012
Health Minister V S Sivakumar has announced that the government is withdrawing the recent hike in OP ticket charges in government hospitals. This was the first file that the new Health Minister signed after assuming office. The old OP ticket rates (Rs.1) would continue, he said. It was just last week that the government had issued orders revising the OP ticket rates in government health-care facilities. While the BPL category patients were exempted, the OP ticket charge for APL category was hiked to Rs 5. However, this had sparked off widespread protests with opposition leader V S Achuthanandan leading the charge that this was an anti-people measure and that it was the government's responsibility to take care of the health of the people.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar has announced that the government is withdrawing the recent hike in OP ticket charges in government hospitals. This was the first file that the new Health Minister signed after assuming office. The old OP ticket rates (Rs.1) would continue, he said. It was just last week that the government had issued orders revising the OP ticket rates in government health-care facilities. While the BPL category patients were exempted, the OP ticket charge for APL category was hiked to Rs 5. However, this had sparked off widespread protests with opposition leader V S Achuthanandan leading the charge that this was an anti-people measure and that it was the government's responsibility to take care of the health of the people.Petrol pump operators threaten strike on April 23
Tuesday, April 17, 2012:
Thiruvananthapuram: Petrol pump operators today threatened to go on a one-day strike on April 23 demanding a hike in commission they get on fuel sales.
“It has been decided that all petrol pumps of public sector oil marketing companies in the country shall observe one day protest closure in the first instance from midnight of April 22-23 till the midnight of April 23-24,” Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) General Secretary Ajay Bansal said here.
Further, FAIPT, which claims to represent dealers of over 40,000 petrol pumps in the country, will go on an indefinite strike from midnight of April 29-30, if their demands are not met.
He said the oil ministry has not implemented recommendation of its own committee that was constituted to go into the issue of commission paid to dealers.
The committee headed by Joint Secretary (Marketing) in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had recommended a dealer commission of 0.39 paise per litre on petrol and 0.17 paise a litre on diesel. But the ministry gave only 0.27 paise for petrol and 0.15 paise for diesel.
“Our demand for 5% commission on the invoice value of petroleum products has been turned down by the committee without any proper reason,” he said.
Thiruvananthapuram: Petrol pump operators today threatened to go on a one-day strike on April 23 demanding a hike in commission they get on fuel sales.
Further, FAIPT, which claims to represent dealers of over 40,000 petrol pumps in the country, will go on an indefinite strike from midnight of April 29-30, if their demands are not met.
He said the oil ministry has not implemented recommendation of its own committee that was constituted to go into the issue of commission paid to dealers.
The committee headed by Joint Secretary (Marketing) in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had recommended a dealer commission of 0.39 paise per litre on petrol and 0.17 paise a litre on diesel. But the ministry gave only 0.27 paise for petrol and 0.15 paise for diesel.
“Our demand for 5% commission on the invoice value of petroleum products has been turned down by the committee without any proper reason,” he said.
Sabarimala temple to close after Athazhapuja tomorrow
Tuesday, April 17, 2012:
Pathanamthitta: The eight-day Vishu festival at the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala which began on April 10 will draw to a close after the Athazhapuja on Wednesday.
The Temple Melsanthi N. Balamurali prepares ‘Vishukkani’ inside the sanctum sanctorum yesterday and darshan began at 4 a.m. on Saturday.The Vishukkani darshan will be held between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The holy hillock witnessed a heavy rush as hundreds of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had arrived.
Pathanamthitta: The eight-day Vishu festival at the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala which began on April 10 will draw to a close after the Athazhapuja on Wednesday.The Temple Melsanthi N. Balamurali prepares ‘Vishukkani’ inside the sanctum sanctorum yesterday and darshan began at 4 a.m. on Saturday.The Vishukkani darshan will be held between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The holy hillock witnessed a heavy rush as hundreds of devotees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had arrived.
Prakash Karat to continue as general secretary
Comrade Prakash Karat was
unanimously re – elected as the
general secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
at the 20th Party Congress here on Monday.
M A Baby in politburo, K K Shailaja in central committee
KOZHIKODE: M A Baby has been selected to the CPM politburo. K K Shailaja Teacher from Kerala has reached the central committee. Two posts have been kept vacant in the 89-member central committee.
15 members were elected to the politburo. Some of them, including state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, S Ramachandhran Pillai, Sitharam Yechuri, Biman Basu, Maniksarkar, Budhadebh Battacharya, K Varadarajan, B V Raghavalu, Nirupam Sen and Brinda Karat were inducted to the politburo. MA Baby, CITU national president AK Pathmanabhan, West Bengal Opposition Leader Surya Kant Mishra are the new faces at the politburo.
Meantime, V S Achuthanandan, who has not been included in the politburo, will continue as the central committee member. He was not included in the politburo considering his age.
Shailaja is the state president of Janadhipadhya Mahila Association and CPM state committee member.
Google doodle pays homage to photographer Eadweard Muybridge
An interactive doodle—a series of photographs that move to depict a galloping horse in motion—was search giant Google's tribute to photographer Eadweard Muybridge on his 182nd birth anniversary on Monday.
Google's doodle for Monday: a tribute to photographer Eadweard Muybridge, whose photographic skills captured a horse in motion. Monday was Muybridge's 182nd birth anniversary. Screengrab from Google.com
Visitors to Google's homepage were greeted with an interactive doodle showing a series of photos of a horse galloping.
Clicking on the doodle would make the series of photos move, giving the impression the horse is in motion.
As with past doodles, another click on the doodle would take the visitor to a Google search results page for Eadweard Muybridge.
The doodle has its roots in a series of stopped-action motion studies completed in 1887.
At the time, Muybridge photographed a horse in motion using a number of cameras, after his friend Leland Stanford, railroad magnate and governor of California, made a bet that when a horse gallops, at some point all four of its feet are off the ground at the same time.
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| Eadweard Muybridge |
Google's doodle for Monday: a tribute to photographer Eadweard Muybridge, whose photographic skills captured a horse in motion. Monday was Muybridge's 182nd birth anniversary. Screengrab from Google.comVisitors to Google's homepage were greeted with an interactive doodle showing a series of photos of a horse galloping.
Clicking on the doodle would make the series of photos move, giving the impression the horse is in motion.
As with past doodles, another click on the doodle would take the visitor to a Google search results page for Eadweard Muybridge.
The doodle has its roots in a series of stopped-action motion studies completed in 1887.
At the time, Muybridge photographed a horse in motion using a number of cameras, after his friend Leland Stanford, railroad magnate and governor of California, made a bet that when a horse gallops, at some point all four of its feet are off the ground at the same time.
No fifth minister for League: High command
Apr 9, 2012
The Congress high command has decided not to give a fifth minister for the Muslim League. The high command will convey this to the League and in the mean time she will decide on what post should be given to them.
The high command has entrusted a special team to pacify League on the fifth ministerial issue. Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, political secretary of Sonia Gandhi Ahmed Patel and AICC in charge of Kerala Madhusoodanan Mistri will hold talks with League leaders. The high command has directed to solve the problems in the UDF within two days.
The Congress high command has decided not to give a fifth minister for the Muslim League. The high command will convey this to the League and in the mean time she will decide on what post should be given to them.
The high command has entrusted a special team to pacify League on the fifth ministerial issue. Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, political secretary of Sonia Gandhi Ahmed Patel and AICC in charge of Kerala Madhusoodanan Mistri will hold talks with League leaders. The high command has directed to solve the problems in the UDF within two days.
VS not included in PB
April 9, 2012
Kozhikode:The PB panel prepared by the CPM Politburo here does not contain the name of party stalwart VS Achuthanandan.
It gives the hint that that he is unlikely to make a comeback to the PB this time. VS was removed from the PB in 2009. There were rumors that he will make a comeback to the politburo this time.
However, the final decision on the issue will be taken by the Central Committee.
It gives the hint that that he is unlikely to make a comeback to the PB this time. VS was removed from the PB in 2009. There were rumors that he will make a comeback to the politburo this time.
However, the final decision on the issue will be taken by the Central Committee.
CPI(M) 20th Party Congress Inauguration
Apr 4, 2012
KOZHIKODE: Charging the Congress and BJP with harming the country's interests by pushing neo-liberal policies, the 20th CPI (M) party Congress began with a call to build an alternative of Left and democratic forces to address the problems being faced by the country and people.
"People are looking for an alternative. The Left and democratic parties alone could provide such an alternative," CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said inaugurating the party's all-India meet being attended by over 700 delegates.
Stressing that opposing neo-liberal policies would be a "central task" of the party, Karat said both BJP and Congress were pursuing the same policies and there was nothing to choose between them as far as corruption was concerned.
Both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have "failed" to address vital issues like price rise and food security and their economic policies had cast a huge burden on common people in the last two decades, the CPI (M) veteran said.
"We, with other Left and secular democratic parties, will be launching joint struggle against these policies", he said.
He said the foreign policy of the Manmohan Singh Government of fostering strategic alliance with the US as its focus was "inimical" to the country's sovereign interests.
Referring to the electoral reverses suffered by the party in West Bengal and Kerala, he said the party Congress would examine and identify the faults and correct them.
KOZHIKODE: Charging the Congress and BJP with harming the country's interests by pushing neo-liberal policies, the 20th CPI (M) party Congress began with a call to build an alternative of Left and democratic forces to address the problems being faced by the country and people.
"People are looking for an alternative. The Left and democratic parties alone could provide such an alternative," CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said inaugurating the party's all-India meet being attended by over 700 delegates.
Stressing that opposing neo-liberal policies would be a "central task" of the party, Karat said both BJP and Congress were pursuing the same policies and there was nothing to choose between them as far as corruption was concerned.
Both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have "failed" to address vital issues like price rise and food security and their economic policies had cast a huge burden on common people in the last two decades, the CPI (M) veteran said.
"We, with other Left and secular democratic parties, will be launching joint struggle against these policies", he said.
He said the foreign policy of the Manmohan Singh Government of fostering strategic alliance with the US as its focus was "inimical" to the country's sovereign interests.
Referring to the electoral reverses suffered by the party in West Bengal and Kerala, he said the party Congress would examine and identify the faults and correct them.
Six killed as car hits lorry
Apr 3, 2012
THRISSUR: Six persons, including a woman, were killed and another injured in a road accident at Mannuthy Tuesday. The incident occurred in the afternoon at Thottapady on Thrissur -Palakad National Highway when the car in which the victims were travelling collided with a lorry. The car was proceeding to Thrissur from Bangalore and the lorry was on its way to Palakkad.
The dead were identified as Shaju, Varkey, Thomas Kutty, Laly. Alex and Francis.
Laly was a native of Thrissur and others were from Changanassery.
They were relatives. The occupants of the ill-fated car were returning after attending a funeral at Bangalore. The injured were hospitalised.
The dead were identified as Shaju, Varkey, Thomas Kutty, Laly. Alex and Francis.
Laly was a native of Thrissur and others were from Changanassery.
They were relatives. The occupants of the ill-fated car were returning after attending a funeral at Bangalore. The injured were hospitalised.
