CALICUT, India, 2 July 2006 — The Kerala Haj Committee will select those who will go on pilgrimage this year through the official channel by drawing lots at the committee office here on Thursday. The committee has received some 14,000 applications, according to officials. Though Kerala’s quota is only 5,577, more than 10,000 applicants are likely to get the chance by utilizing unused quota of other states. Those who missed the chance the last time will be automatically put on the new list. The committee sent only 11,504 pilgrims for the last Haj out of the 13,002 applicants. The first Haj flight from India is expected to take off Nov. 23 and the return flights will begin Jan. 5.
New College Admission Rules
The Kerala Assembly has passed a bill to regulate admissions and fee structure in private professional colleges, allowing 15 percent “NRI quota” with higher fees. According to the new law, seats in the general merit category have been restricted to 18 percent, 50 percent to backward sections and the physically challenged, 15 percent to the privileged (management) seats and one percent each to sports and arts quotas. The state will have the right to determine the minority status of the colleges that will admit not less than 50 percent students from the minority community to which the institution belongs.
New Medical College
The Prestige Education Trust in the northern Cannanore district has received the approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to set up a medical college at Anjarakkandy. The proposed Kannur Medical College has sanction to start MBBS course with 100 seats, medical director and dean P.P. Venugopalan and medical superintendent O.T. Yusuf Thayyil said.
