TRIVANDRUM, 23 October 2005 — Air-India will operate 24 flights to carry Haj pilgrims from Dec. 3 to 21 from Calicut airport in northern Kerala to the holy city of Madinah, State Haj Committee Chairman K. Alikutty Musaliyar has said. The flights would be operated with Air-India’s Jumbo jet aircraft with a capacity to carry 465 passengers. The SHC has cleared a total of 13,002 pilgrims registered through it but only about 11,000 pilgrims are likely to undertake the pilgrimage. A temporary Haj camp would be opened near the airport where the pilgrims would put on the ihram and undergo security and emigration checks. The pilgrims will have to report at the camp eight hours before the departure, Musaliyar said.
Net Makes Calls Cheaper
Overseas calls are set to come down drastically in Muslim-dominated Malappuram, India’s first fully e-literate district. The district administration is providing massive training in Internet tools, including telephony, through some 400 Akshaya centers, the village communication hubs. While calls to West Asia through the traditional telephones cost Rs. 10 per minute, Internet telephony brings it down to Rs. 20 an hour. Around 300,000 members of some 650,000 families in the district are working in the Gulf and around one million relatives constantly keep in touch with them. “We are providing training in all IT tools so that the rural community benefits in all respects,” the Akshaya state coordinator T.K. Manzoor said.
Oh, Those Russians!
Stalins, Lenins, Brezhnevs and Kruschevs of Kerala met in their “Moscow” yesterday in a rare gathering of namesakes. They all narrated interesting experiences of carrying those names and chose not to utter a word on glasnost or perestroika. There were seven Lenins, three Stalins and two each Brezhnevs, Pushkins and Volgas among the gathering at the “Moscow” junction in Changanassery organized by the Russian Cultural Center here and sponsored by Qatar Airways. A “Roadoflot” bus took 12 “Russians” from the capital city to “Moscow”. All those Russians remain heroes for the ardent Communists in their south Indian stronghold.
Fight — Not for Winning
Without fail, India’s “most unsuccessful” candidate, Dr. K. Padmarajan, has filed his papers for the Lok Sabha bypoll to be held Nov. 18 here. And it would be his 73rd attempt to script a win — predictably with no success. His name already figures in India’s Limca Book of Records for contesting the highest number of elections including those against presidents and prime ministers and the 48-year-old now wants to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. A Keralite settled in the neighboring Tamil Nadu state, the long list of his opponents includes President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President K.R. Narayanan, former Prime Ministers A.B. Vajpayee, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Normal Monsoon
Kerala will get normal northeast monsoon that set over its coast on Oct. 12 this year, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Director K. Santosh said. During the current onset phase, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls occurred in the state on Oct. 12, 13 and 14 under the influence of an intense low pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal off Tamil Nadu coast coupled with a similar system over southeast Arabian Sea off Kerala coast. The monsoon is expected to gain momentum over the next couple of days. The northeast monsoon season between October and December constitutes 16 percent of Kerala’s annual rainfall of 310 cm.
Computer-Aided Fishing
The Kerala Swathantra Matsya Thozilali Federation (KSMTF) and South Indian Federation of Fishermen Society will set up computer-assisted information centers across the state for the fishing community. KSMTF President T. Peter said these centers would provide the information from Fishing Survey of India and other organizations on availability of fish and weather forecasts. It also helps the fishermen to get the best price for the catch avoiding middlemen. The KSMTF also has plans for a community radio to help the anglers engaged in deep sea fishing.
Mahan to Fly to Cochin
The Iranian Mahan Air is set to become the 16th airline to fly into Cochin with its maiden flight in December this year, the Cochin Airport India Limited (CAIL) Managing Director V.J. Kurian said. There will be three weekly flights from Tehran to the booming Kerala port city.
